Obelists

[George Hanbury]

Have recently come across C Daly King's Obelists Fly High - dates from 1935 and seems to be the only one of his books that's been kept in print (my copy was a Dover paperback). An absolute classic, and I'd like to read more in the series but a search of UK booksellers in Abebooks.com only throws up various editions of 'Fly High' and one copy of Obelists en Route which at £1250 ($1800!!!!) is, ah, a wee bit out of my price range - about £1240 out to be exact....

But what I'd really like to know is, what ARE "Obelists"? Can anyone out there enlighten me?

Cheers.

[awrobins]

I'd recommend registering "wants" on Advanced Book Exchange; it's free, and you automatically get e-mailed when books show up on ABE (sometimes other people beat you to them--e.g. I've been beaten to a $20 DEVIL KINSMERE and a $17 HANGMAN'S HANDYMAN, books that usually see for hundreds of dollars--but I've also got some bargains). Also, don't restrict yourself to UK booksellers; I've purchased books on ABE from around the globe--Australia, Switzerland, South Africa, you name it. If you're patient enough to request surface mail, the shipping costs usually aren't too bad.

OBELISTS AT SEA was published by Penguin Books, which may be your best bet. But the only copy on www.bookfinder.com is about $50, so you may want to register a want for that also. (I'm visiting the UK in May and if I see a cheap copy of this, I'll let you know.)

As far as I can tell from the WorldCat database, the only books by King with the word "Obelists" in the title are OBELISTA AT SEA, OBELISTS EN ROUTE, and OBELISTS FLY HIGH. But there may be others in the series without "Obelsits" in the title.

I don't know what Obelists are, either. I had thought it might have something to do with oboes or obelisks, but the word isn't even in the Oxford English Dictionary. (The verb "obelize" means to mark a word with an obelus, i.e. "to condemn as spurious or corrupt"; does this make sense? Do the Obelists expose fakes? I've heard of these books but never read them.)

Good luck,

Arthur

[Dave]

e.g. I've been beaten to a $20 DEVIL KINSMERE

That was me. The very suprised dealer wondered why so many people were calling about the book

[awrobins]

I just checked Cooper and Pike's DETECTIVE FICTION: THE COLLECTOR'S GUIDE. According to this book's article on C. Daly King:

"Inscrutably, two definitions of the word "obelist" are given: "a person who has little or no value" in OBELISTS AT SEA, and "one who harbours suspicions" in OBELISTS EN ROUTE."

In addition to the three OBELISTS books mentioned, this book lists three other books by King featuring the same detective, "a young New York policeman named Michael Lord": CARELESS CORPSE, ARROGANT ALIBI, and BERMUDA BURIAL. I checked www.bookfinder.com but all I found was a copy of the first for $850 and of the last for $1,750.

[Keith]

I think it is somebody who manufactures shepard hooks, candle holders and foral baskets etc.I found a site called Obelists from Fulton Square and this was their business.Hope this helps.

[George Hanbury]

Keith
Thanks for the information - and belated thanks too to the others who responded to my original query.

George