First published in 1974, The Great White Space is a horror novel by British author Basil Copper. The novel, which is dedicated to H.P. Lovecraft and August Derleth, follows a crew of researchers as they embark on an expedition into a remote part of Asia. The story appears to be inspired by Lovecraft’s famous tale At the Mountains of Madness.
Copper was a newspaper editor and journalist who published his first story at 14 and began publishing novels in the late ’60s. Copper is was known for writing cosmic horror, including Cthulhu Mythos tales. However, the bulk of his work is hardboiled detective fiction; he published more than 50 novels in this genre. He served as the chairman of the Crime Writer’s Association from 1981 to 1982.
Copper was heavily involved with August Derleth’s publishing house, Arkham House, which specializes in weird fiction. He edited collections of Derleth stories, and also wrote original stories featuring the Derleth character Solar Pons. Copper received the first-ever lifetime achievement award from the World Horror Convention in 2010.
This cover, which is unsigned and uncredited, was released by Manor Books in 1976. Founded in 1972, Manor Books primarily published thrillers and men’s adventure novels. While many of their later books included a Seal of Guaranteed Reader Satisfaction, this title offers no such guarantee.