Archive for the ‘Books’ Category
Monday, October 21st, 2024
L. W. Currey had a sale, and this is the item that jumped out at me as worth picking up:
Wandrei, Donald. Dark Odyssey. Webb Publishing, 1931. First edition hardback, 118 of 400 signed, numbered copies, a Very Good copy with significant wear at head and heel and bumping at points, in a Good+ only dust jacket with 1 1/2″ spine loss at heel, 1″ spine loss at head, plus a few 1/4″ chips at dj top edge, wear at points, and a bit of rubbing; not great, but a mostly complete example of the notoriously fragile gold foil dust jacket. Poetry collection. At a 94 years old, it’s not the oldest dust jacket in my collection (I have an H.G. Wells first in dust jacket from 1922), but it is among the oldest. Bleiler Checklist (1978), page 202. Bought for $25, marked down from $50.
Tags:Arkham House, Books, Donald Wandrei, Horror, L. W. Currey, poetry, signatures
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Wednesday, October 16th, 2024
Another Dragonstairs Press book but this one is a bit different than their usual fare.
Davidson, Avram, and Grania Davis. A Goat For Azazel: The Grandson of Eszterhazy Returns…Again. A Ghost Novel. First edition chapbook, #80 of 80 copies signed by afterword author Michael Swanwick. Pitch for a proposed Dr. Eszterhazy novel, including sections on setting, protagonists and an extensive plot synopses. “Hand-stitched, with wrappers made of Mexican amate bark paper, chosen to commemorate Avram’s and Grania’s years in Mexico.” Sold out within hours of being offered for sale.
I will have a small number of copies available for sale in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Tags:Avram Davidson, Books, chapbooks, Dragonstairs Press, Fantasy, Michael Swanwick
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Monday, October 14th, 2024
Another signed Bradbury first:
Bradbury, Ray. That Son of Richard III: A Birth Announcement. Roy A. Squires, 1974. First edition chapbook original, #LXIII of 85 the signed “Autograph Edition,” a Fine- copy with just a trace of wear at tips, in a Near Fine+ original Autograph Edition publisher’s envelope with slight age darkening at edges and slight bumping at tips. Chalker/Owings, page 589. Bought for $50 (marked down from $80) on eBay.
Unnoted in Chalker/Owings is the fact that two of my three copies have a “PZ” glyph inscribed on the lower right side of the introduction page, just barely visible in the scan.
This is my third copy of this Bradbury chapbook, following an association copy inscribed to Lord John press founder Herb Yellin and an unsigned copy of the “ordinary” edition. The ordinary copy has this, but the one inscribed to Yellin doesn’t. Bit of a mystery…
Edited to add: Mystery solved! I checked with fellow bookseller (and Old Earth Books publisher) Mike Walsh to see if he could solve the glyph mystery, and he directed me to bookseller Terrance McVicker of Bats Over Books, who had the answer:
The “PZ” you note in your query is actually “ZN,” printed on top of each other, if you turn it sideways. It stands for “Zerkall Nideggen.” Nideggen is a Japanese paper, but Zerkall was the German manufacturer. I think what Zerkall did was buy the pulp paper from Nideggen, then process it in their factory.
What your seeing is the Zerkall Nideggen watermark. The sheet before cutting, measured 24″ X 36″ and there was a watermark in the lower right-hand corner of the full sheet. Which meant that, when the sheet was cut to quarto size, only one out of eight pages would have the watermark. Printers usually try to get one watermarked page per book/booklet, but it doesn’t always work out that way.
Thanks for the info!
Tags:Books, chapbooks, Moby Dick, poetry, Ray Bradbury, Roy A. Squires, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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Wednesday, September 18th, 2024
Three more very cheap purchases from that storage locker sale:
Anderson, Poul. The Last Viking Book 3: The Sign of the Raven. Zebra Books, 1980. First edition paperback original (no other date or printing, as per ISFDB), a Near Fine- copy with one spine crease, one crease along front spine join, small bend to top front corner, and mild edgewear. Bought for 50¢.
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. Harper Perennial, 2006. Trade paperback reprint, a Very Good copy with writing to heel and general wear. Just a reading copy of a book I’ve long heard good things about. Lots of academic essays at the back I think I’ll feel free to skip. Bought for 50¢.
Frances Leonard and Ramona Cearley, editors. Conversations With Texas Writers. University of Texas Press, 2005. First edition trade paperback original (simultaneous with the hardback edition), a Near Fine copy with phantom crease to rear cover and slight wear to tips. Interviews with and essays on Texas writers, including Joe R. Lansdale, Bruce Sterling and Robert E. Howard. Bought for 50¢.
Not a bad haul for $1.50…
Tags:Books, Bruce Sterling, Fantasy, Horror, interview, Joe R. Lansdale, Poul Anderson, reference works, Science Fiction, Texas, Zora Neale Hurston
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Tuesday, September 17th, 2024
Three used books, two of which were bought extremely cheaply.
Asimov, Isaac. Foundation’s Edge. Doubleday, 1982. First edition hardback (“First Edition” stated and gutter code of M36 on page 365), a Very Good copy with bumping at head and heel, slight creasing to spine, a few tiny nicks to bottom boards, in a Very Good dust jacket with several tackhead-sized abrasion spots to bottom front panel, bumping at head and heel, and shallow loss of points. Hugo Award winner. Replaces a Book Club edition bought and read before I started collecting first editions, and supplements a copy of the Whispers Press signed/limited edition. Usually this would not qualify as a sufficiently attractive to pick up, but it was literally $1 at a garage sale from a storage unit.
King, Stephen. Storm of the Century. Book-of-the-Month Club, 1999. First hardback edition, being a trade paperback original, a Fine-/Fine- copy with slight bumping at head and heel and just a trace of wear at dj points. The BOMC is the first hardback, but I’m not sure there are any points to determine first vs. later printings. Collings, Horror Plum’d: An International Stephen King Bibliography and Guide, A64.b. Bought for $1.
Ruff, Matt. Lovecraft Country. Harper, 2016. First edition hardback, a Near Fine+ copy with bump at heel, sans dust jacket, as issued. Basis of the HBO TV series. Bought for $13.49 from Half Price Books.
Tags:Books, Cthulhu, Half Price Books, Horror, Isaac Asimov, Science Fiction, Stephen King
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Wednesday, September 11th, 2024
I’m still working my way through the Temeraire books, but haven’t read any of Naomi Novik’s other works, so I was happy to pick this up.
Novik, Naomi. A Deadly Education. Del Rey, 2020. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy in a Fine- dust jacket with bumped corners. First book in The Scholomance series. Bought from Half Price Books for $11.92.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Half Price Books, Naomi Novik
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Monday, September 9th, 2024
Another Charnel House signed/limited Tim Powers first:
Powers, Tim. Empty Chamber. Charnel House, 2024. First edition hardback, #54 of 250 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in embossed boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. New novella, elaborately decorated with gold and black Tarot-cardesque illustrations. “Handbound in full Corvon® Rust: An acrylic-coated, latex-saturated paper that imitates oxidized metal in all facets. A metal paper with a rusty finish. Printed on Mohawk 80lb. Superfine.” An attractive production. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount.
I will have a small number of these available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Tags:Books, Charnel House, Fantasy, Tim Powers
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Monday, September 2nd, 2024
This is one of the few Jack Vance titles I lacked.
Vance, John Holbrook. The Man in the Cage. Random House, 1960. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with slight bumping at head and heel and a few small, mild abrasions to topstain on pageblock, in a Very Good dust jacket with bumping and shallow loss at head and heel, with associated creasing at heel, 3″ scratch to rear panel, slight dust staining to white portions of dust jack, tiny, partial, thin abrasion line down middle of spine, spine possibly very slightly faded, small stamped “49” in a circle next to the (unclipped) price on front dust jacket flap, mild spotting to top and outer edge of rear flap, and mild foxing to blind side of dust jacket. Hewett, A10. Cunningham, 54.a. Levack/Underwood, Fantasms, 29.a. Currey, page 499. Bought from a customer who saw this on my Want List for $35.
Tags:Books, Jack Vance, Mystery, Science Fiction
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Wednesday, August 28th, 2024
Another Borderlands Little Book:
Doyle, Arthur Conan (Mark W. Whitback, editor). A Little Orange Book of Odd Orchestrations Borderlands Books, 2024. First edition hardback, #463 of 500 copies signed by the editor, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Fantastic stories, several of which are covered in Bleiler’s Supernatural Fiction, pages 159-161, and Bleiler’s Science Fiction: The Early Years, pages 203-209. Part of their “Past Masters of Horror and Fantasy” series, focusing on late 19th/early 20th century writers.
I will have a small number of copies available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Tags:Arthur Conan Doyle, Books, Borderlands Press, Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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