Sinister Barrier

Overview:

  • Title: Sinister Barrier
  • Author: Eric Frank Russell
  • Year: 1948
  • Publisher: Fantasy Press
  • Price: $3.00
  • Pages: 253
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • Type: Novel
  • Title Reference: Sinister Barrier
  • Notes:
    • "First Edition" stated on copyright page although this is actually the first US edition.
    • Cover artist credited on the title page, the front flap of the dustjacket and signature visible on cover.
    • Issued in two states: 500 copies with a numbered leaf signed by the author inserted and a 3,500-copy trade edition. Both editions had the same dustjacket and price.
    • Limitation page (on glossy paper) contains a version of the cover illustration and the statement "This first edition is limited to 4,000 copies of which 500 are numbered and autographed."
    • "The Science-Fantasy Publishers, 3rd Edition" by Chalker & Owings (page 158) claims there were 3,084 copies (of which 500 had the signature sheet) plus an additional 834 "Greenberg variants" (Fantasy Press sheets bound by Martin Greenberg's Pick-A-Book operation).
    • Follows the text of the original version printed in Unknown in March 1939. [Currey]. This does not agree with Chalker & Owings (see above) who claim that this edition was re-written by Russell at his insistence.
    • This edition contains a new foreword by Russell dated January, 1948.
    • Interior illustrations consist of full-page B&W plates on the frontispiece and pages 63, 139 and 232.