A signed First of Lord of the Flies on the floor close by his bullet-riddled body
So, I noticed yesterday that Quill and Brush are having a sale, 50% off some pretty desirable titles. Checking to make sure the books really were ‘on sale’, I came across the same book – Martin Amis’s The Rachel Papers, Signed – listed with Second Story Books. The only difference in description being this : ‘Comstock Collection Q&B.’
A quick search of which yielded this:
"If you follow book news you may have caught a snippet of this story. In July 2007, noted book collector Rolland L. Comstock was murdered in his home in Springfield MO that housed over 50,000 books. Nicholas Basbanes wrote about Comstock in the Madness Redux section of Patience and Fortitude….The Comstock family had to deal not only with the shock of Rolland’s untimely passing, but also with the shock of 50,000 books. They contacted the only bookman they knew: Nicholas Basbanes. Turns out Basbanes is a good friend of Allan Stypeck, owner of Second Story Books. Stypeck and Allen Ahearn of Quill and Brush are dealing with all book matters for the Comstock estate. From what I understand no stone is unturned and even film and book rights have been tied up. No surprise really. Stypeck runs a huge operation in Maryland and DC that covers every aspect of bookselling, including a radio show. Ahearn is a giant in the book game. He and his wife Patricia wrote a price guide that was a book-collecting bible before the internet took over pricing for the majority of modern first titles. About 1500 books, I suppose the crème of the Comstock collection, found their way into a catalog under the direction of Quill and Brush. Certain favorites of Comstock, like Ian McEwan, Don DeLillo, Penelope Fitzgerald, John Banville and Edna O’Brien, were offered by Quill and Brush before the catalog was assembled. Tens of thousands of books went to Comstock’s alma mater, Drury College. That left 25,000 titles, and they are now housed at Second Story Books’ warehouse at 12160 Parklawn Drive in Rockville"
Call me macabre, but wouldn’t owning a ‘Comstock Collection’ item, hold a certain ghoulish cache, at least for some?
But wait, the plot thickens: Comstock died of gun shot wounds. He made it to the kitchen where he fell to his death, a signed First of Lord of the Flies apparently lying on the floor beside his body.