Posts Tagged ‘Books’
Tuesday, July 27th, 2021
This came in a while back, but was at the bottom of a stack.
Turtledove, Harry. The Best of Harry Turtledove. Subterranean Press, 2021. First edition hardback, #268 of 1,000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread.
I will have copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog (currently in progress).
Tags:Books, Harry Turtledove, Science Fiction, small press publishers, Subterranean Press
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Monday, July 19th, 2021
Three more Jack Vance (or related) firsts:
Vance, Jack. Mazirian the Magician: Tales of the Dying Earth, Book 1. Spatterlight Press, 2021. First separate hardback edition and first thus, a Fine- copy in decorated boards with wear at head and slight bump at heel, otherwise new and unread, sans dust jacket, as issued. First separate edition under this title, a corrected reprint of The Dying Earth originally published as the first volume of the Vance Integral Edition, with a new introduction by Michael Moorcock. Bought for $57.36 from Amazon, the only venue for order fulfillment, which makes me think trying to obtain a perfect copy would be an exercise in futility. Supplements a VIE, the Underwood-Miller hardback first of The Dying Earth, and a paperback reprint of The Dying Earth Vance signed for me at the 1985 NASFIC in Austin. (Still need the Hillman PBO.)
Vance, Jack. Vandals of the Void. The John C. Winston Company, 1953. First edition hardback, a Very Good copy with some soiling/grubbiness to the boards, a touch of dust staining to page block edges, in a Very Good dust jacket with one 1/4″ chip at top rear corner, a 1/32″ chip along bottom rear edge, a closed 1/4″ triangular tear at top front, fading to red portion of spine, plus edgewear at points and slight rubbing, but overall a very attractive copy of the dust jacket. I bought this off eBay for $41.00 to marry the dust jacket to my signed but jacketless copy. Hewett, A3. Cunningham, 81a.
(Vance, Jack) Robert Offutt Jr., editor. The Many Worlds of Jack Vance & The Horns of Elfland. Robert Offutt Jr., 1978. First edition illustrated fanzine, a Near Fine copy with a crease near the top at the spine. Features the Vance’s “The Secret” the first chapter of an illustrated adaptation of The Eyes of the Overworld, etc. Second (and last) volume of an illustrated, semiprozine quality publication dedicated to Vance’s work (though the cover illustration, “Boromir’s Fall,” is obviously from The Lord of the Rings). Chock-full of illustrations from Rod Whigham, who later did a great deal of comic book work. Hewett, M31b, who notes there were 1,000 copies of this printed. Bought off eBay for $25.
Tags:Books, Dying Earth, Jack Vance, Michael Moorcock, Science Fiction
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Monday, July 12th, 2021
Here are some Armchair Fiction titles I picked up during a sale, all of which are (though POD editions) either first editions thus or first book editions of works originally published in magazines, and are mostly works that have fallen out of copyright.
Anderson, Poul. Masters of Science Fiction, Volume 9: Poul Anderson: “The Star Beast” And Other Tales. Armchair Fiction, 2014. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Short story collection. “The Long Return” and “World of the Mad” haven’t been reprinted since their original magazine appearances.
Anderson, Poul with Lester Del Rey and Frederik Pohl. A Twelvemonth and a Day b/w Preferred Risk. Armchair Fiction, 2016. First edition trade paperback original for the Anderson, a Fine copy. Supplements a signed hardback first of Preferred Risk.
Campbell, John W. and Aladra Septama. When the Atoms Failed b/w The Dragons of Space. Armchair Fiction, 2016. First edition trade paperback originals, a Fine copy. Contains “When the Atoms Failed” (one print reprint) and “The Metal Horde” no print reprints) from Campbell, and the Septama had never been reprinted previously (though, according to Bleiler’s Science Fiction: The Gernsback Years, it’s really bad…).
Shaver, Richard S. The Shaver Mystery Book Eight. Armchair Fiction, 2020. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Supplements volumes 1-7.
Silverberg, Robert. Masters of Science Fiction Volume 13: Robert Silverberg The Ace Years, Part Three. Armchair Fiction, 2018. First edition trade paperback originals, a Fine copy. Reprints three more Ace PBOs: Invaders From Earth, Collision Course and The Silent Invaders, plus a new forward, a book cover gallery, and “The Songs of Summer.”
Silverberg, Robert, and Randall Garrett, and Laurence Manning. The Beast With 7 Tails b/w The Wreck of the Asteroid. Armchair Fiction, 2021. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. The Silverberg/Garrett “The Beast With 7 Tails” has never been reprinted since it’s appearance in Amazing Stories in 1956, and The Wreck of the Asteroid has not been reprinted since being serialized in Wonder Stories in 1932-3. Bleiler’s Science Fiction: The Gernsback Years says that the Manning is “A competent adventure story with reasonable development.”
Except for The Ace Years, Part Three (already sold!), I will have copies of all these available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, currently in progress.
Tags:Armchair Fiction, Books, Frederik Pohl, John W. Campbell, Lester Del Rey, Poul Anderson, Print-on-Demand, Robert Silverberg, Shaver Mystery
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Monday, July 5th, 2021
When Centipede Press announced they were going to do a trio of Philip K. Dick novels as a hardcover set in an edition of 300, I knew there were going to disappear quickly, so I snapped a set up:
Dick, Philip K. The Cosmic Puppets with Dr. Futurity with Vulcan’s Hammer. First editions thus for The Cosmic Puppets and Vulcan’s Hammer, first hardback edition for Dr. Futurity, each #92 of 300 signed, numbered copies, each signed by Michael Swanwick, Peter Strain, and Chris Moore, each Fine copies in Fine dust jackets and a Fine slipcase, still in shrinkwrap. (The lines you see over the top and bottom of Vulcan’s Hammer are the shrinkwrap join lines.) The Cosmic Puppets was done as a Severn House hardback, and Vulcan’s Hammer as a Gregg Press hardback, and I have both of those, but I thought it behooved me to pick up the first hardback of Dr. Futurity, even though I had to pay cover price for the set. And indeed, it was pretty much out-of-print immediately upon publication.
And if they make this into a regular series of PKD books, I guess I’ll have to pick up those too…
Tags:Books, Centipede Press, Limited Editions, Michael Swanwick, Philip K. Dick, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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Thursday, July 1st, 2021
This is a book set that was originally due out a year ago and, like so many other things, got delayed.
Straub, Peter. The Complete Short Fiction of Peter Straub Volume One and The Complete Short Fiction of Peter Straub Volume Two. Borderlands Press, 2021. First edition hardbacks, #321 of 350 signed, numbered copies, Fine copies in Fine dust jackets. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount. I believe that is already out of print, but I will have copies available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog (due Real Soon Now).
Tags:Books, Borderlands Press, Horror, Limited Editions, Peter Straub, small press publishers
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Monday, June 28th, 2021
I blame Michael Swanwick for this one, who noted “articles about him claimed that he wrote a story a day and never published any.” So when I saw a signed copy of this pop up in the list of items for sale from that big collection on eBay mentioned in previous posts, I picked it up.
Skelton, Red. The Great Lazarus. Skelton Publications, 1986. First edition hardback (stated), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Skelton. Swanwick says it may qualify as magic realism. Bought off eBay for $24.50.
If you’re under a certain age, Red Skelton’s name probably means nothing to you. Even more so than Jerry Lewis, his style of comedy went so far out of fashion in the 1970s that he’s little remembered now, despite having a variety show that lasted 20 years on prime time television. Skelton was once so important that he was considered a mime equal to Marcel Marceau (with which he did a series of shows) and talk show host Mike Douglas (another name largely lost in time) once had an entire week of shows where Skelton was the only guest. These days, all the things he excelled in (broad comedy, clowning and mime) are deeply out of fashion.
Sick transit gloria mundi…
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Red Skelton, TV
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Wednesday, June 23rd, 2021
Here are two different signed, limited edition anthologies from different publishers that, spine-out, look a whole lot like each other because they were printed using the same printing and binding technology. Chalker/Ownings called it the “Newcomer-Dikty process,” which turned out to be an early example of what became “Print On Demand” publishing, though both books below are true first editions with defined print runs.
Cahill, James, editor. Lamps on the Brow. James Cahill Publishing, 1998. First edition hardback, #70 of 274 numbered copies signed by all the contributors, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, in a Fine slipcase, as issued. Low print-run anthology of original stories (all save the last one by A. E. van Vogt), featuring Gene Wolfe, Mike Resnick, Andre Norton, Bruce Bethke, etc., plus an introduction by Ben Bova. I also have Ten Tales, a similar Cahill anthology. Cahill was active in the 1990s, publishing books by Joe R. Lansdale, Tim Powers, etc. I also think he did some mystery limited editions. Bought off eBay for $58, slightly more than half the original publication price of $100.
Rusch, Kristine Kathryn, editor. Pulphouse Winter 1990: Issue Six. Pulphouse Publishing, 1990. First edition hardback, #196 of 250 numbered copies signed by all the contributors, a Fine- copy with a tiny crease at head, sans dust jacket, in a Fine slipcase, as issued. Back in the dim mists of the late 1980s, I thought the black trade edition of Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine, with it’s faux leather, embossed covers and deckled edges, was fairly attractive. Many of the Author’s Choice Monthly volumes were also worthwhile. Then Pulphouse wildly overproduced a huge variety of material nobody wanted, almost single-handedly depressing the market for small press books in the early 1990s. This volume has work (and signatures) from Avram Davidson, George Alec Effinger, Bradley Denton, Charles De Lint, Susan Palwick, etc. “Shrunk,” the Effinger story, is actually one George brought to the second Turkey City Writer’s Workshop I ever threw, which he said he had just missed selling to Playboy. According to him, Alice Turner had said “Well, I looked at it, and looked at it, and I finally decided it just wasn’t right for us.” Said George: “Do you realize what she said? ‘You just missed $5000 by that much.’ Tell me what’s wrong with it! I’ll walk to New York on my knees and fix it!” I already have all 12 issues of the trade edition of the hardback magazine run, and pick up the signed editions when I find them cheap, and I now have four. Chalker/Owings (2002), page 715. Bought off eBay for $25, more than half off the original offering price of $60.
Tags:A. E. van Vogt, Ben Bova, Books, Bradley Denton, Bruce Bethke, Fantasy, Gene Wolfe, George Alec Effinger, James Cahill, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Mike Resnick, Pulphouse, Science Fiction
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Thursday, June 17th, 2021
Two more small press firsts:
Bull, Emma, and Will Shetterly. Double Feature. NESFA Press, 1994. First edition hardback, #24 of 175 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine slipcase. Short story collection by this pair of married Minnesota writers. Bought off eBay for $20.50.
Hodgson, William Hope (Sam Moskowitz, editor). Out of the Storm. Donald M. Grant, 1975. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Uncollected fantasies, with Stephen Fabian illustrations. Bought off a fellow Biblio dealer for $20 after discount.
Tags:Books, Emma Bull, Fantasy, Horror, NESFA Press, Sam Moskowitz, small press publishers, Stephen Fabian, Will Shetterly, William Hope Hodgson
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Wednesday, June 16th, 2021
Another Tim Powers limited edition from Charnel House:
Powers, Tim. Artificial Light. Charnel House, 2021. First edition hardback, #67 of 100 signed, numbered hardback copies in Japanese Red Snow Dust silk (the same material used for Charnel Houses’ edition of Powers’ Collected Stories), a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. A beautiful Charnel House production. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount. There’s also a lettered state and a wraps state (not seen).
I’ll have copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Tags:Books, Charnel House, Fantasy, small press publishers, Tim Powers
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Thursday, June 10th, 2021
Three new R. A. Lafferty firsts, two signed (one by Lafferty).
Lafferty, R. A. The Collected Short Fiction Volume Six: The Man Who Never Was. Centipede Press, 2021. First edition hardback, #40 of 300 numbered copies signed by Neil Gaiman, John Pelan, and Jacob McMurray, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Presumably the last volume edited by John Pelan, who died April 12. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount. Normally I would have copies available, but all the copies I’ve been allocated have sold to people who bought previous volumes with matching numbers.
Lafferty, R. A. The Early Lafferty II. United Mythologies Press, 1990. First edition chapbook original, #57 of 100 signed, numbered copies, a Near Fine copy with some phantom creasing on the top left front cover. Bought for $49.99 off eBay. The signed copy of this chapbook original sold for $7, and the unsigned for $4, and both editions are now scarce and pricey.
(Lafferty, R. A.) Cheek, Kevin, editor. Feast of Laughter Volume 5. Kistic Press, 2020. First edition trade paperback original (POD publication), a Fine copy. Ongoing anthology series of Lafferty interest, including fiction, essays, etc. Includes three Lafferty works (“The Hands of the Potter: An Idyll” (which seems to be fiction, and not in the ISFDB), “Astérix et Cléopâtra” (a review of the French comic) and “Riddle Writers of the Ithmus,” a short essay. Plus contributions from Michael Swanwick, Howard Waldrop, etc. Bought from Amazon at full price, since they do fulfillment (and hence the link on the title).
Tags:Books, Centipede Press, Fantasy, R. A. Lafferty, reference works, Science Fiction, small press publishers, United Mythologies Press
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