A Medicine For Melancholy - Inscribed To August Derleth Bradbury, Ray Association Copies,Science Fiction & Fantasy

First Printing. Octavo (21.5cm); black cloth, with titling and decorative elements stamped in silver on spine and front cover; dustjacket; [11],12-240pp. Inscribed by the author on the front endpaper, the month after publication, to August Derleth: "For August Derleth – With continued friendship and wood wishes from Ray Bradbury – 2/17/59." Spine ends gently nudged, boards slightly splayed, with some light staining to covers; internally fresh; Very Good+. In the dustjacket, designed by Joseph Mugnaini; unclipped (priced $3.75), gently spine-sunned, with some light foxing on verso; Near Fine. Bradbury's fifth collection of short fiction, gathering 22 stories, including "The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit," "The Day It Rained Forever," and "Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed," et al. A key association copy, inscribed to author and Arkham House publisher August Derleth (1909-1971), who solicited and published Bradbury's first book, Dark Carnival, in 1947. By 1944, Bradbury was immersed in books and anthologies recommended by Derleth, who had been following the younger author's career in Weird Tales with great interest. "Derleth had come to appreciate the unique perspective and style that Bradbury brought to the pages of Weird Tales, and in early 1945 he drew Bradbury into his circle of authors by giving him the green light to develop his own story collection for Arkham House. This arrangement also provided Bradbury with opportunities to appear in anthologies that Derleth edited for other publishers in New York.Although Derleth did not ask for the role, he became a de facto advisor for Bradbury through the middle 1940s" (Eller, Johnathan R. Becoming Ray Bradbury, pp.116-117). Bleiler (The Guide to Supernatural Fiction) 260.