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Cover of The Coming of Conan
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The Coming of Conan

Gnome Press

Edition format

Publication date: 1953

Introduction

King Conan is the fourth published and contains several Howard stories (see notes and contents).

The Gnome Press edition of Conan was the first hardcover collection of Howard's Conan stories, including all the original Howard material known to exist at the time, some left unpublished in his lifetime. Not published in order of previous publication, Gnome's volumes were organized to present the stories in order of their internal chronology, the sole exception being Tales of Conan, which skipped around to present random episodes from various points in the protagonist's career. Some stories in two of the later volumes (The Coming of Conan and King Conan) were completed or revised by L. Sprague de Camp; another (Tales of Conan) consisted of non-Conan Howard stories that de Camp rewrote as Conan yarns. The last published volume of the Gnome edition was the first Conan story by an author other than Howard, namely Björn Nyberg, and was revised by de Camp.

Notes

Edited by L. Sprague de Camp.
Library of Congress copyright record states publication date is 1953-10-25.
"First Edition" on copyright page. Cover artist credited on rear jacket flap.
de Camp's introduction has no title.
"The Hyborian Age, Part 1" is split into two parts, the first on pp. 15-16, the remainder pp. 70-81.
"An Informal Biography of Conan the Cimmerian" begins on pp. 82-83, then has pieces at the beginning of each Conan story.

Originally written by Robert E. Howard as a Conan story, "The Frost-Giant's Daughter," that was not accepted for publication. REH rewrote the story with a different hero (Amra) and changed the title to "The Frost King's Daughter." "The Frost King's Daughter" was published by THE FANTASY FAN in March 1934 as "Gods of the North." L. Sprague de Camp found the original manuscript, extensively rewrote it, and named it "The Frost Giant's Daughter" where it appeared in FANTASY FICTION #1 dated August 1953.
Limited edition of 4000 copies

Source: Wikipedia.

Edition and production details

Language
English
Edition
1st
Edition format
Hardcover with dust jacket
Publication date
1953
Pages
224
Publisher / imprint
Gnome Press
Cover art
Frank Kelly Freas
Illustrations
None

9 linked Howard works

26 contents entries

  1. "Introduction" by L. Sprague de Camp
  2. introduction (The Coming of Conan) • (1953) • essay by L. Sprague de Camp 8 · introduction
  3. "The Hyborian Age" (Part 1 of 2)
  4. Letter to P. Schuyler Miller, March 10, 1936 ("Dear Mr. Miller: / I feel indeed honored...") • (1953) • essay by Robert E. Howard 9 · essay
  5. Letter to P. Schuyler Miller, March 10, 1936, "I feel indeed honored that you and Dr. Clark …"
  6. Letter to Donald Wollheim, date unknown ("Dear Wollheim: Here is something which Two-Gun Bob...") • (1953) • essay by H. P. Lovecraft [as by HPL] 13 · essay
  7. H. P. Lovecraft letter to Donald Wollheim
  8. The Hyborian Age: Part 1 • [Conan] • (1953) • short fiction by Robert E. Howard (variant of The Hyborian Age 1938) [as by John D. Clark and Robert E. Howard] 15 · story
  9. An Informal Biography of Conan the Cimmerian by John D. Clark, Ph.D. & P. Schuyler Miller
  10. The Shadow Kingdom • [Kull of Valusia] • (1929) • novelette by Robert E. Howard 17 · novelette
  11. "The Shadow Kingdom"
  12. The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune • [Kull of Valusia] • (1929) • short story by Robert E. Howard 57 · story
  13. "The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune"
  14. The King and the Oak • [Kull of Valusia] • (1939) • poem by Robert E. Howard 69 · poem
  15. "The King and the Oak" (poem)
  16. An Informal Biography of Conan the Cimmerian • (1953) • essay by John D. Clark, Ph.D. and P. Schuyler Miller [as by John D. Clark and P. Schuyler Miller] 82 · essay
  17. "The Tower of the Elephant"
  18. The Tower of the Elephant • [Conan] • (1933) • novelette by Robert E. Howard 84 · novelette
  19. "The God in the Bowl"
  20. The God in the Bowl • [Conan] • (1952) • short story by Robert E. Howard 117 · story
  21. "Rogues in the House"
  22. Rogues in the House • [Conan] • (1934) • novelette by Robert E. Howard 140 · novelette
  23. "The Frost Giant's Daughter" (See Notes)
  24. The Frost-Giant's Daughter • [Conan] • (1953) • short story by L. Sprague de Camp and Robert E. Howard (variant of The Frost Giant's Daughter) [as by Robert E. Howard] 174 · story
  25. "Queen of the Black Coast"
  26. Queen of the Black Coast • [Conan] • (1934) • novelette by Robert E. Howard 185 · novelette

Contributors

L. Sprague de Camp
Editor, Introduction author
Frank Kelly Freas
Cover artist
Ph.D.
Essayist

Additional related terms

Preserved from the former REH World tagging system; these terms have not yet been assigned as contributors, characters or subjects.

Bibliographic and editorial layers

Bibliographic source layer

Title
The Coming of Conan
Publisher
Gnome Press
Date
1953
Source file
comingofconan-gnome.html

REH World editorial layer

Title
The Coming of Conan
Publisher
Gnome Press
Date
1953
Source provenance

This record combines the preserved source bibliography with a reviewed REH World editorial overlay. Editorial values are displayed when present; the imported bibliography remains the source fallback.