The Essential Conan is a collection of Conan short stories written by Robert E. Howard. The book was published in 1998 by the Science Fiction Book Club. It collects the editions of the Conan books, edited by Karl Edward Wagner and published by Berkley Books in 1977. Most of the stories originally appeared in the magazines Weird Tales, The Phantagraph and The Howard Collector. The Wagner editions were the first to virtually reproduce Howard’s original stories without any editorial changes other than typo fixes.

Contents

• The Hour of the Dragon • (1935) • interior artwork by Vincent Napoli
•  The People of the Black Circle • (1934) • interior artwork by Hugh Rankin
•  Red Nails • (1935) • interior artwork by Hugh Rankin
•  Red Nails • (1935) • interior artwork by Harold S. De Lay
• [viii] •  Map of the Hyborian World • (1977) • interior artwork by John Mayer
• 9 • Foreword (The Hour of the Dragon) • (1977) • essay by Karl Edward Wagner
• 17 • The Hour of the Dragon • (1969) • poem by Robert E. Howard
• 19 • The Hour of the Dragon • [Conan] • (1977) • novel by Robert E. Howard (variant of Conan the Conqueror 1950)
• 193 • Afterword (The Hour of the Dragon) • (1977) • essay by Karl Edward Wagner
• 207 • The People of the Black Circle • [Conan] • (1977) • collection by Robert E. Howard
• 215 • Foreword (The People of the Black Circle) • (1977) • essay by Karl Edward Wagner
• 223 • The Devil in Iron • [Conan] • (1934) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
• 257 • The People of the Black Circle • [Conan] • (1934) • novella by Robert E. Howard
• 335 • A Witch Shall Be Born • [Conan] • (1934) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
• 379 • Jewels of Gwahlur • [Conan] • (1935) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
• 421 • Afterword (The People of the Black Circle) • (1977) • essay by Karl Edward Wagner
• 427 • Red Nails • [Conan] • (1977) • collection by Robert E. Howard
• 435 • Foreword (Red Nails) • (1977) • essay by Karl Edward Wagner
• 445 • Beyond the Black River • [Conan] • (1935) • novella by Robert E. Howard
• 445 • Shadows in Zamboula • [Conan] • (1935) • novelette by Robert E. Howard
• 533 • Red Nails • [Conan] • (1936) • novella by Robert E. Howard
• 611 • The Hyborian Age • [Conan] • (1938) • short fiction by Robert E. Howard
• 634 • Afterword (Red Nails) • (1977) • essay by Karl Edward Wagner

Notes

Based on the original text from WEIRD TALES.Omnibus edition collecting THE HOUR OF THE DRAGON, THE PEOPLE OF THE BLACK CIRCLE, and RED NAILS.
Edited by Karl Edward Wagner
Contains original pulp illustrations from WEIRD TALES.
Includes a folded poster of the cover art.
Combines three previous Howard volumes published by SFBC. SFBC #17988 on back of dust jacket
The SFBC edition was retypeset and introduced numerous errors.

Cover artist, Ken Kelly, credited on the rear jacket flap.