Archive for August, 2022
Monday, August 29th, 2022
Another signed/limited Lansdale edition from SST.
Lansdale, Joe R. Moon Lake. Short Scary Tales Publications (SST), 2022. First limited edition hardback, #101 of 500 signed, numbered copies (matching my other SST Lansdale limiteds), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket with business card, shipping card and tissue paper seal laid in.
I’ll have copies of this for sale in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Tags:Short Scary Tales (SST) Publications
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Wednesday, August 24th, 2022
Another Jack Vance lettered edition:
Vance, Jack. The Kragen. Subterranean Press, 2007. First edition hardback, Letter Z of 26 lettered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine traycase. Supplements a copy of the signed, numbered edition. Bought off eBay for $295.95.
There are still several Vance Subterranean lettered editions I’m looking for…
Tags:Books, Jack Vance, Limited Editions, Science Fiction
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Monday, August 22nd, 2022
This is the last item I bought from the UK dealer I bought two Heinlien firsts in the same order.
Brin, David. The River of Time. Dark Harvest, 1986. First edition hardback, copy “Q” of 52 signed, lettered copies, a Fine copy (maybe Fine- with the spine of the gold biding showing a slight greenish tinge) in a Fine wooden “slipcrate,” sans dust jacket, as issued. Short story collection. Chalker/Owings, page 119. A lot of the Dark Harvest slipcrate editions were leather or imitation leather, but I have no idea what to call this goldish binding. This is the fourth Dark Harvest slipcrate edition I’ve bought, after George R. R. Martin’s Portraits of His Children, Joe R. Lansdale’s The Nightrunners, and Chet Williamson’s Dreamthorpe. Bought from a UK dealer for £50, which works out to less than the original $100 list price.
Tags:Books, Dark Harvest, David Brin, Limited Editions, Science Fiction
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Sunday, August 21st, 2022
The final two items from the private seller culling his collection. Both of these were $5 each.
McCutheon, Marc. The Online Price Guide to Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror. McCutheon, 2000. First edition trade paperback original (essentially just side-stapled 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheets), a Fine- copy with slight bend at top front corners. An odd self-published volume claiming to list online prices realized for a wide variety of SF/F/H books, and while the authors hit most of the biggest names, the selection is otherwise somewhat random and haphazard. Has some tidbits for things that are potentially useful, but fails to provide a lot of title-specific first edition point information (like the various dj states of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot). I can see this being slightly useful for a real newbie the year it was published, but is of extremely dubious utility now. An oddity I bought cheap just because I had never heard of it and there was almost no information about it on the internet.
Wells, Stuart W., III. The Science Fiction Heroic Fantasy Author index. Purple Unicorn books, 1978. First edition trade paperback original (simultaneous with a hardback edition), a Very Good+ copy with 1/2″ tear at bottom of front spine-join, with light soiling along spine. A reference listing of genre books that was (like Marshall B. Tymn’s American Fantasy and Science Fiction: Toward a Bibliography of Works Published in the United States, 1949—1973) born obsolete, already superseded by far more comprehensive reference works published the same year. What was in the water that everyone rushed their SF/F/H bibliographical works into print in the 1978-1980 timeframe? You had Currey’s indispensable Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors: A Bibliography of First Printings of Their Fiction, you had the Firebell update of Bleiler’s Checklist, you Locke’s Spectrum of Fantasy, the first edition of Nichol’s Science Fiction Encyclopedia, the first two volume’s of Tuck’s own SF Encyclopedia, Tymn etc.’s Fantasy Literature, Miller’s Jack Vance bibliography Fantasms and even the Magill’s Survey of Science Fiction set. Extend it just a little into the early 80s and you get Bleiler’s Guide to Supernatural Fiction and the Levack bibliographies. And all this was just before the advent of desktop publishing.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Purple Unicorn Books, reference works, Science Fiction, science fiction bibliography, Stuart W. Wells III
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Wednesday, August 17th, 2022
Two more first editions from that private collector sale:
Clarke, Arthur C. Tales From The White Hart. Harcourt, Brace & World, 1970. First hardback edition (no statement of printing on copyright page, as per Currey), a Near Fine+ copy with what appears to be a 1″ slight sticker pull inside front cover and tarnishing to “o” in “from” gold metal colored lettering on spine, in a Fine- dust jacket with just a trace of edgewear at heel. A collection of “club stories,” sort of the English version of the American tall tale. Currey, page 115. Bought for $40.
Koontz, Dean R. Odd Thomas. Bantam Books, 2003. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bumping at head and heel, slight haze rubbing to reflective surfaces, and one small spot of blind-side staining at heel. Another book Scott Cupp recommended. Bought for $7.20.
Tags:Arthur C. Clarke, Books, Dean R. Koontz, Horror, Science Fiction
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Friday, August 12th, 2022
Three more books from that private collector culling his collection.
Pohl, Frederik. Midas World. St. Martin’s, 1983. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with the barest bit of bumping at head and heel, and a trace of fixing to inside covers, in a Very Good+ dust jacket with a 3/16th” chip at head, a 1″ closed triangular tear with associated nailhead-sized chip to upper front near spine (and small piece of blindside tape reinforcement), and a few pinpricks of abrasion along the spine, signed by Pohl. Over-graded by the seller as Fine/Fine, but I only paid $12 for it, and a copy with a better jacket to marry should be cheap.
Silverberg, Robert. The Book of Skulls. Scribner’s, 1972. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Silverberg. Hugo and Nebula finalist. Replaces a slightly less Fine signed copy. Bought for $45.
Pellegrino, Charles, and George Zebrowski. The Killing Star. AvoNova, 1995. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Zebrowksi. Supplements a paperback edition inscribed to me by Zebrowski I received for Nebula consideration. Bought for $9.
Tags:Books, Frederik Pohl, George Zebrowski, Robert Silverberg, Science Fiction
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Tuesday, August 9th, 2022
To get closer to completing my Philip K. Dick first edition hardback collection, I picked up an imperfect copy of a very rare first.
Dick, Philip K. The World Jones Made. Sidgwick & Jackson, 1968. First hardback editionb, an Ex-Library copy on which the dust jacket has been plasticized to the boards, with the front flap pasted onto the rear free endpaper, with library stamps, and slight age-darkening to pages; call it a Very Good Ex-Lib copy. Dick’s second published novel, originally published as half of an Ace Double. Probably the second hardest UK Dick hardback first to find (after The Penultimate Truth, which I already have), and it usually lists for several grand. Levack, 48g. Wintz & Hyde, Precious Artifacts, SF30.8. Currey, page 159. Bought from a UK book dealer for £327.
The only real hardback PKD firsts I lack (discounting Omnibus editions, etc.) is the Gregg Press Dr. Bloodmoney and the Doubleday Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said.
Tags:Books, Philip K. Dick, Science Fiction
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Wednesday, August 3rd, 2022
All three of these were from a private collector culling his own collection:
King, Stephen. The Dead Zone. Viking, 1979. First edition hardback (“First published in 1979 by the Viking Press” on the copyright page), a Fine copy in a Fine, first state (price of $11.95 and code 0879 on the bottom of the flap), Mylar-protected dust jacket, inscribed by King: “To Brian —/Be well, hope you/like this/Stephen King/10/13/79.”). King’s seventh novel, and the fifth under his own name. Collings, Horror Plumbed, A7. Spignesi, The Shape Under the Sheet, pages 241-247. Waiter/Golden/Wagner, Stephen King Universe (Cemetery Dance edition), pages 187-194. Bought for $240.
King, Stephen. Gerald’s Game. Viking, 1992. First edition “preview edition,” one of 2,000 hardback copies with a handwritten note by King printed on the front free endpaper distributed at the 1992 American Booksellers Association convention, a Fine copy in a Fine printed and stapled cardboard slipcase, sans dust jacket, as issued. Collings, Horror Plumbed, A45. Waiter/Golden/Wagner, Stephen King Universe (Cemetery Dance edition), pages 285-290. Bought for $48.
King, Stephen. Pet Sematary. Doubleday, 1983. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Replaces a slightly less attractive copy. Collings, Horror Plumbed, A22. Spignesi, The Shape Under the Sheet, pages 301-304. Waiter/Golden/Wagner, Stephen King Universe (Cemetery Dance edition), pages 269-278 Bought for $15.
Tags:Books, Horror, signatures, Stephen King
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Monday, August 1st, 2022
Three Heinlein firsts bought from two different sources:
Heinlein, Robert A. Beyond This Horizon. Fantasy Press, 1948. First edition hardback, #413 of 500 signed, numbered subscriber copies (Currey State A), a Very Good copy with former owner George Price’s name and address on inside front cover and a quote from Hamlet (“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”) written on the front free endpaper in the same hand, with bumping at head and heel and a few faint spots of foxing to first few pages, in a Good+ dust jacket with 1/2″ chips to heel and bottom front cover, 1/4″ tackhead-sized chip to spine (affecting bottom of “O” in “HORIZON”), plus a few lesser chips, creases, rubs and general wear. Inscribed by Heinlein: “For George W. Price/All good wishes!/Robert A. Heinlein.” George W. Price ran Advent Publishers and participated in the 1959 Chicago Worldcon bid, and he seems to be still alive at age 93. Heinlein’s second novel. Currey, page 232. Chalker/Owings, page 158. Barron, Anatomy of Wonder 4, 3-84. Bought for £350 from a notable UK book dealer.
This is the fourth signed Heinlein I’ve added to my collection. For others, see here and here.
Heinlein, Robert A. Glory Road. Putnam, 1963. First edition hardback (no statement of printing on copyright page, as per Currey), an Ex-Library copy with front free endpaper excised, discard stamps, abrasion wear along bottom boards, light paste-ghosts to inside covers, reinforcement to front and rear gutters, etc.; call it a Good+ Ex-Lib copy in a Very Good+ dust jacket with 1/32″ strip of loss at very bottom of heel, slight wear and creasing at head and heel, trace of crease along front spine join, thin, closed 2″ tear/crack along spine to middle of back cover, slight wear at points, and the barest trace of those paste ghosts to blind side; actually a very presentable copy of the dust jacket. Replaces another Ex-Library copy (non-first) in my collection. Currey, page 232. Bought for $16 from a collector culling his collection.
Heinlein, Robert A. The Menace From Earth. Gnome Press, 1959. First edition hardback, a Near Fine+ copy with slight bumping at head, heel and points (and far less than usual age darkening to the cheap later Gnome Press paper) in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with one 1/8″ closed tear and associated triangular crease to bottom rear dust jacket, very slight age darkening to spine, trace of edgewear to rear flap, and a few traces of dust soiling to white over, otherwise an extremely nice example of the dust jacket. Short story collection, including the classic “By His Bootstraps.” Currey, page 233. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, page 109. Chalker/Owings, page 205. Kemp, The Anthem Series, page 278. Barron, Anatomy of Wonder 4, 3-87. ISFDB notes no price on dust jacket (as is the case here). Bought for £250 from a notable UK book dealer.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Fantasy Press, Robert A. Heinlein, Science Fiction, signatures, small press publishers
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