Storyville, Volume 1 through Volume 158 (consecutive and nearly complete run of the magazine) by Wright, Laurie, editor - 1965

Essex, Great Britain: Storyville Publications, 1965. First edition. Paperback. Near Fine. Softcover magazine--6 1/4" x 8" format. Lot (not bound) contains 158 consecutive issues of the magazine, from the first, in October 1965, to issue number 158 in June 1994. (There were a few additional issues published between 1984 and 1995--see below.) All issues in very good or better condition. Each issue of this noted British magazine for collectors of classic jazz and blues records contains several articles, reviews, photos, discographies, and ads. Each issue about 40 pages. There are two copies of issue #119. One has a signed, typed note from the editor (to a subscriber) laid in. From an obituary for editor Lawrence (Laurie) Wright, who died in 2010: "Issue 1 appeared in October 1965. Initially a typical enthusiasts’ fanzine it grew rapidly into what became a peer-reviewed journal of scholarship overseen by Laurie and The Storyville Team. Laurie bought a used Gestetner offset printer to print the publication, which was then collated, folded, stapled and trimmed on equipment ranging from Victorian in vintage to home-made, by other members of the Team. The entire text was prepared for plate-making by Team members on four Olympia typewriters with a Congress-Elite font, using manual half-and quarter-spacing to justify the print columns, first by inspired guesswork then acquired skill, saving typesetting cost. In 1973, Dave French and an IBM Compositor joined the effort, saving labor, eyesight and operator patience, and taking the efficiency level a step beyond Gutenberg. This volunteer crew made the bi-monthly operation financially achievable, inspired substantially by Laurie’s impetus. The schedule was maintained, with very few hiccups; these largely caused by external forces such as postal strikes (another nationally British trait) for 162 issues up to June 1995, upon which Laurie published four biennial volumes, solo, up to 2003. Laurie used his time in retirement thereafter, to carry out detailed analyses of the African-American press, which brought to light a mass of additional data and a postulated re-dating of the activities of the Paramount record label." Special shipping arrangements may be necessary for overseas orders.