Ray Bradbury didn't sit one down day and decide to write his classic novel Fahrenheit-451. As with Something Wicked This Way Comes Bradbury's tale of censorship had its roots years earlier--in at least 9 short stories or novellas. While published in 1953 the genesis of F-451 can be traced back to 1944. Over the next several years Bradbury tinkered with the idea in a number of short stories--a few that have been collected a number of times, some that appeared just once and others that have remained unpublished . . . Until now.

Gauntlet's upcoming Match to Flame: The Fictional Paths of Fahrenheit-451 traces the roots of F-451 in Bradbury's earlier fiction. Edited by Donn Albright, the book is a must for those who have marveled at F-451. The centerpiece of the book, is of course, "The Fireman" a novella published in Galaxy '51 (1951). Copies of Galaxy '51 on eBay (when they appear) sell for $150 and up.

Signed by Bradbury, this is bound to become one of his classics both for scholars looking into the history of F-451, collectors interested in obscure and unpublished Bradbury material that will not see publication anywhere else, and readers of great fiction. The Lettered edition, as always, will contain a wealth of additional material including the previously unpublished short story "The Castle."