A Little Yellow Book of Carcosa and Kings, by Robert W. Chambers was published in 2022 by Borderlands Press. Limited to 500 copies, it quickly went out of print. I found a copy online recently for a decent price vs. the usual “twice the going rate or far higher” prices usually listed for out of print books.
This book is numbered and signed by editor Lisa Morton, as Chambers died quite a few years ago. I’ve read a couple of Chambers’ short stories in paperback collection that contains more of his stories than the Borderlands Press book. Those stories weren’t as gripping as some other writers from the same time period, but apparently he has a strong core of fans. It contains the four stories related to the King in Yellow: “The Repairer of Reputations,” “The Mask,” “In the Court of the Dragon,” and “The Yellow Sign.”
A Little Yellow Book of Perilous Tales, by Sax Rohmer (2024). This latest entry in Borderlands Press’ little books series is edited by one of my favorite writers, F. Paul Wilson. Wilson’s written his own imitations/pastiches of Rohmer’s Yellow Peril tales. So, what better writer to bring out a new collection of Rohmer than someone familiar with Rohmer’s work, someone who lacks all fear in the publishing world? Also limited to 500 copies, and signed by Wilson, it’s the fourth “yellow” books in this series. (In both this case, and for Chambers, the “yellow” in the title certainly applies).
I’ve never read anything by Rohmer, but I’m familiar with the name. Born Arthur Henry Ward, Rohmer was a English novelist whose first published story appeared in 1903. Rohmer died in 1959, succumbing (ironically) to Asian flu. Noted for his “Fu Manchu” tales, Rohmer’s work first arose in the aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion. This makes sense, given the “yellow peril” nature of his tales.
Perilous Tales collects four stories, three of which feature another Rohmer character, Madame de Medici. Wilson’s made his own spin on this character in his Repairman Jack novels, plus a couple of short stories. “The Zayat Kiss,” a non-Medici tale, features an early appearance of Fu Manchu. There’s a great introduction by Wilson, which covers his interest in and literary relationship to Rohmer. He also wrote brief prefaces to each story. Such small details are highly valued, at least by me.
As far as the series of Little Books from BP goes, I now only lack seven books. All of those seven are in the hard-to-find or damned-expensive variety. All of those seven are long out of print, so finding them at “acceptable” prices will be a matter of luck. It will be interesting to see where this series goes, as there are many possibilities, both in terms of the past and the present.
