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The
Conan Chronicles – Sources
Stephen Jones has graciously recompiled the list of sources used to typeset the text for the British edition of The Conan Chronicles. Because Robert E. Howard's fiction has been so brutally expurgated and edited in the past, it is important to know whether or not the sources for the text were edited or unaltered in order to determine whether or not the current text can be considered "pure" of other writers' sensibilities. For those interested in doing literary criticism and studies, and even for those who simply want to read what the original author intended, authentic, unedited text is a must. Access to pure text is especially important for literary criticism and studies, as any conclusion drawn from erroneous or distorted data will itself be distorted. Previous reports of the textual sources used for The Conan Chronicles have been inaccurate at best. It was said that 80% of the stories were taken directly from their original Weird Tales appearances. With this new list we find that only two of the stories were taken directly from the original Weird Tales. This might be worthy of some concern, however most of the texts of interest were taken from acceptable, secondary sources with but a few exceptions. Two of the most important exceptions being: "Black Colossus" and "Shadows in the Moonlight." The text for both stories were unfortunately taken from the bowdlerized Conan library published by Donald M. Grant Publishers. Because some Howard books published by D. M. Grant have been found to be expurgated for content, the purity or authenticity of D. M. Grant's entire library of Robert E. Howard books has become suspect and is therefore, unless otherwise determined, an unacceptable textual source. Also taken from unacceptable sources were the texts for most of the posthumously published Conan tales, story fragments, and synopses: "The God in the Bowl," "The Snout in the Dark," and "Drums of Tombalku." One other thing marring the authenticity and correctness of the text in The Conan Chronicles is an uncharacteristically large amount of typos found throughout the book. However, Millennium/Orion/Gollancz Publishers have achieved a measure of respect with their two volumes of Conan tales. Unlike most Conan paperbacks published by prior companies, Gollancz and Stephen Jones did make a good faith effort to go back to unaltered texts in order to showcase the brilliance of Robert E. Howard's poetic prose. The fact that Gollancz fell short does not diminish their few accomplishments in the series. "The Black Stranger," "The Frost Giant's Daughter," "The Hall of the Dead," and "The Hand of Nergal" have all been typeset without posthumous collaborations or alterations, for example. "Wolves Beyond the Border" was typeset directly from photocopies of original manuscripts, and a pleasant surprise was that "Notes on Various Peoples of the Hyborian Age" was also taken from its manuscript rather than its first appearance in print. Lastly, "Cimmeria," that has almost never been published without errors, is taken from one of two acceptable sources and is presumably free of errors here. Although certainly not the books of pure Conan stories that we all had hoped for, The Conan Chronicles is definitely a step in the right direction in Howard publishing. The mere fact that the two volumes contain only stories by Robert E. Howard, without "posthumous collaborations" or pastiches by other authors, is enough to recommend the books -- and more than enough to praise Millennium/Orion/Gollancz Publishers and Stephen Jones for their excellent intentions in the realm of presenting some of the world's best literature, even if the end result was not what everyone had hoped for. Cheers!
THE CHRONICLES OF CONAN I: The Hyborian Age - Red Nails, Berkley, edited by Karl Edward Wagner The Tower of the Elephant – Skull-Face and Others, Arkham House The Hall of the Dead (fragment) - The Last Celt, edited by Glenn Lord The God in the Bowl - The Tower of the Elephant, Donald M. Grant Publishers Rogues in the House - Skull-Face and Others, Arkham House The Hand of Nergal (fragment) - The Last Celt, edited by Glenn Lord The Frost-Giant's Daughter - Echoes of Valor II, Tor, edited by Karl Edward Wagner Queen of the Black Coast - Weird Tales Magazine The Vale of Lost Women - Magazine of Horror #15 The Snout in the Dark (draft) - Jewels of Gwahlur, Donald M. Grant Publishers Black Colossus - Black Colossus, Donald M. Grant Publishers Shadows in the Moonlight - Black Colossus, Donald M. Grant Publishers A Witch Shall Be Born - The People of the Black Circle, Berkley, edited by Karl Edward Wagner Shadows in Zamboula - Red Nails, Berkley, edited by Karl Edward Wagner The Devil in Iron - The People of the Black Circle, Berkley, edited by Karl Edward Wagner The People of the Black Circle - The People of the Black Circle, Berkley, edited by Karl Edward Wagner The Slithering Shadow - Weird Tales Magazine Drums of Tombalku (draft) - The Pool of the Black One, Donald M. Grant Publishers The Pool of the Black One - The Pool of the Black One, Donald M. Grant Publishers
THE CHRONICLES OF CONAN II: Notes on Various Peoples of the Hyborian Age - manuscript Red Nails - Red Nails, Berkley, edited by Karl Edward Wagner Jewels of Gwahlur - Jewels of Gwahlur, Donald M. Grant Publishers Beyond the Black River - Red Nails, Berkley, edited by Karl Edward Wagner The Black Stranger - Echoes of Valor, Tor, edited by Karl Edward Wagner Wolves Beyond the Border (draft) - manuscript The Phoenix on the Sword - Skull-Face and Others, Arkham House The Scarlet Citadel - Skull-Face and Others, Arkham House The Hour of the Dragon (verse) - The Hour of the Dragon, Berkley, edited by Karl Edward Wagner The Hour of the Dragon - The Hour of the Dragon, Berkley, edited by Karl Edward Wagner Cimmeria (verse) - The Howard Collector, edited by Glenn Lord |
