Posts Tagged ‘Books’

Library Additions: Two Small Press Firsts

Wednesday, June 9th, 2021

Two more items from that ongoing collection sale on eBay:

  • Derleth, August as Stephen Grendon. Mr. George and Other Odd Persons. Arkham House, 1963. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with possibly a tiny amount of spine fading, right at the edge of perceptability, an extremely bright and attractive copy. Stories written by August Derleth under his open pseudonym, most of which appeared in either Weird Tales or The Arkham Sampler. 100 Books by August Derleth, page 93 (“Awaiting Publication”). Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House, 70. Thirty Years of Arkham House, 70. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries, 72. Nielsen, Arkham House Books, 74. Currey, page 148. Chalker/Owings, Science Fantasy Publishers, page 32. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction, 524. Bought off eBay for $48.

  • Howard, Robert E. Almuric. Donald M. Grant, 1975. First hardback edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Currey, page 248. Locke, Spectrum of Fantasy, page 117. I put off picking up these Donald M. Grant Howard firsts for quite a while since they seemed readily available, but that no longer seems to be the case. Bought off a fellow Biblio dealer for $18.
  • Library Addition: Two Stephen King Critical Books

    Thursday, June 3rd, 2021

    Someone sold off a large science fiction collection on eBay, including a great deal of Stephen King. All the actual King books went for way more than I bid, but I did pick up a couple of King reference works:

  • (King, Stephen) Blue, Tyson. The Unseen King. Starmont House, 1989. First edition hardback, #24 of 100 copies with a signed, numbered sheet done for The Overlook Connection laid in, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Critical companion of Stephen King works that had never (up to this publication) been republished. I’m sort of half-assedly collecting all these Starmont House/Borgo Press SF/F/H critical hardbacks when I find them cheap. Won off eBay for $15.50.

  • (King, Stephen) Terrell, Carroll F. Stephen King: Man and Artist. Northern Lights, 1990. First edition hardback, #158 of 400 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine- slipcase with two pinprick nicks to the top rear. Critical companion. Won off eBay for $30.51.

  • Library Additions: Two Michael Swanwick Chapbooks

    Tuesday, June 1st, 2021

    Or, to be more pedantically correct, two states of the same Michael Swanwick chapbook:

  • Swanwick, Michael. The Book of Blarney. Dragonstairs Press, 2021. First edition chapbook original, #44 of 50 signed, numbered copies, this one in a patterned darker green wraps (call it state A, no precedence), a Fine copy. “Four whimsical, cynical vignettes on the theme of Ireland’s religious and literary history. 5 ½ by 4 ¼ inches. Wrapper of Nepalese lokta paper, in two different states. Decorated with an applied harp label and green ribbon. Numbered and signed by the author. Issued in an edition of 50, 11 of which were distributed to participants of Michael Swanwick’s virtual kaffeklatch at 2021 Boskone.”
  • Swanwick, Michael. The Book of Blarney. Dragonstairs Press, 2021. First edition chapbook original, #48 of 50 signed, numbered copies, this one in solid emerald green wraps (call it state B, no precedence), a Fine copy (though with a wrinkle present in the wraps paper). Both editions sold out the same day they were offered for sale.
  • I will have a very small number of copies available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog (which next on the to-do list after finishing my taxes).

    Library Addition: The Sandman Overture Absolute Edition

    Thursday, May 27th, 2021

    An unexpected addition to my Absolute Sandman collection:

    Gaiman, Neil and J. H. Williams III. The Sandman Overtures Absolute Edition. DC Comics, 2018. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine slipcase, sans dust jacket, as issued. Given to me as a birthday gift.

    Honestly, I was unaware this even existed, as I haven’t kept up with Gaiman’s prodigious comics work. I think I already had all the other Absolute Sandman volumes, but I still lack the Absolute Death collection.

    Library Addition: Signed Hardback First of 100 Books by August Derleth

    Tuesday, May 25th, 2021

    My long-term goal of obtaining a complete Arkham House collection gains another important volume:

    Derleth, August. 100 Books by August Derleth. Arkham House, 1962. First edition hardback, one of only 200 hardback copies, a Near Fine- copy with wear at head, heel and points (and a few traces elsewhere) on the decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Inscribed by Derleth: “Best wishes,/August Derleth.” Bibliography. Simultaneous with a much larger paperback run. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House, 65. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries, 67. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide, 69. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House, 65. Currey, page 155. Tymn Schlobin Currey, A Research Guide to Science Fiction Studies, 247. Chalker Owings, The Science-Fantasy Publishers, page 32 (which notes this was actually published in 1963). Bought off Biblio for $360.

    Library Addition: Signed, Limited Edition of Jack Vance’s Cugel’s Saga

    Thursday, May 20th, 2021

    Here’s a Jack Vance limited edition that I’ve been looking to pick up for quite a while:

    Vance, Jack. Cugel’s Saga. Underwood Miller, 1983. First limited edition hardback, a presentation copy of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine- copy with slight crimping at head, in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with some age darkening to the spine and touches of wear at head, heel and points, in a Fine- slipcase with a few traces of wear. Sequel to Eyes of the Overworld. Hewett A71b, which notes the slipcase was actually issued later than the book itself. Cunningham 19b, which notes that there were 50 PC copies. Bought off eBay for $202.50, which is about half of what normal copies usually go for, much less a presentation copy with the slipcase.

    Library Additions: Two Signed Harlan Ellison Edgeworks Firsts

    Tuesday, May 18th, 2021

    Two more signed Ellison firsts to replace unsigned copies.

  • Ellison, Harlan. Edgeworks 1: Over the Edge/An Edge in My Voice. White Wolf, 1996. First edition hardback thus (and first hardback edition of Over the Edge), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Ellison.
  • Ellison, Harlan. Edgeworks 2: Spider Kiss/Stalking the Nightmare. White Wolf, 1996. First edition hardback thus, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Ellison.
  • Library Addition: Signed Copy of The Ray Bradbury Companion

    Thursday, May 13th, 2021

    Another book in my quest to get a signed copy of every Ray Bradbury-related book:

    (Bradbury, Ray) Nolan, William F. The Ray Bradbury Companion. Gale Research, 1975. First edition hardback (no statement of printing as per Currey), a Fine copy in a sound, Very Good slipcase from which numerous small (tackhead sized and smaller) pieces of the affixed wrap-around paper label have chipped away, plus a few other touches of dust and wear, sans dust jacket, as issued, signed by Bradbury on page 37. Critical companion on Bradbury’s work. Currey, page 59. Tymn, Schlobin, Currey, 221. Bought off eBay for $59.

    Library Addition: Signed First of Poul Anderson’s Flandry of Terra

    Tuesday, May 11th, 2021

    Here’s one of those books I heard good things about in my youth but never actually read:

    Anderson, Poul. Flandry of Terra. Chilton, 1965. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with bumping at head and bumping and slight rubbing at heel, in a Fine- dust jacket with slight wrinkling at head and heel and a touch of rubbing, signed by Anderson. Currey, page 10. Anatomy of Wonder 4, 3-7. Bought off eBay for $22.50.

    Library Additions: Chizmar, Wagner Little Books

    Monday, May 3rd, 2021

    Two more Borderlands Little Books:

  • (King, Stephen, and Peter Straub) Chizmar, Richard, and Johnathon Schaech. A Little Silver Book: A Screenplay Borderland Press, 2021. First edition hardback, #498 of 1,000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. A screenplay based on Stephen King and Peter Straub’s Black House. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount.

  • Wagner, Karl Edward. A Little Ochre Book of Occult Stories. Borderlands Press, 2016. First edition hardback, #165 of 500 numbered copies signed by editor Stephen Jones. Short story collection. Bought for $30 off eBay.