Posts Tagged ‘Books’
Wednesday, August 26th, 2020
I essentially have all Joe’s first editions, so now I’m collecting the states of the first edition I didn’t already own…
Lansdale, Joe R. The Big Blow. Subterranean Press, 2000. First edition hardback, #178 of 250 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase. Bought for $30.40 after dealer discount.
Lansdale, Joe R. The Big Blow. Subterranean Press, 2000. First edition hardback, copy of D of 13 lettered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine traycase. Bought for $124.80 after dealer discount. Thirteen is an awfully small number for a Lansdale lettered edition…
Both supplement a trade edition inscribed to me by Joe.
Tags:Books, Horror, Joe R. Lansdale, Limited Editions, Subterranean Press
Posted in Books, Horror | No Comments »
Monday, August 24th, 2020
More chabooks:
Matheson, Richard. Counterfeit Bills. Gauntlet, 2004. First edition chapbook original, a Fine copy, signed by Matheson. Bought off eBay for $36.52.
Swanwick, Michael. Gulliver’s Wife. Dragonstairs Press, 2020. First edition chapbook original, #33 of 50 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. Sold out upon publication. Bought from the publisher at full price.
(Wolfe, Gene) Swanwick, Michael. Swan/Wolfe. Dragonstairs Press, 2020. First edition chapbook original, #50 of 100 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy (save some slight wrinkling at head; since the outer paper wrapper is bigger than the inner chapbook page block, I suspect this is an endemic problem). Transcription of a Swanwick interview with the ReReadingWolfe podcast. As noted in the acknowledgements, I actually suggested the creation of this chapbook. Bought from the publisher at the usual bookseller discount. Sold out shortly after publication. I’ll have copies of this for sale in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Tags:Books, chapbooks, Dragonstairs Press, Fantasy, Horror, Michael Swanwick, Richard Matheson, Science Fiction
Posted in Books, Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction | No Comments »
Monday, August 17th, 2020
The signed Ray Bradbury buying spree continues apace, all bought off eBay:
Bradbury, Ray. Forever and the Earth. Croissant & Company, 1984. First edition hardback, #20 of 300 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a glassine dust wrapper, as issued. Script for a radio dramatization. Bought for $50.
Bradbury, Ray. A Chapbook for Burnt-Out Priests, Rabbis and Ministers. Cemetery Dance, 2001. First edition hardback, a PC copy of 350 signed and numbered copies, a Fine copy save a dime-sized spot of discoloration on front free endpaper (possibly a paper flaw), in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase. Mixture of prose and poetry. Supplements a trade copy. Bought for $29.99.
Bradbury, Ray. The Ray Bradbury Chronicles Volume 4. Byron Preiss Visual Publications, 1993. First edition hardback, #548 of 1,000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought for $35. I now lack only volumes 1, 3 and 5. Weist, Ray Bradbury: An Illustrated Life, page 183.
Tags:Austin, Books, Cemetery Dance, Fantasy, graphic novel, poetry, Ray Bradbury, Science Fiction
Posted in Books, Fantasy, Science Fiction | No Comments »
Friday, August 7th, 2020
Two post-first limiteds from a Subterranean Press 50% off sale:
Martin, George R. R. and Lisa Tuttle. Windhaven. Subterranean Press, 2019. First edition hardback, #259 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Supplements the 1981 Timescape first edition inscribed to me by Martin and Tuttle. It’s been my experience that only a small fraction of Martin’s Game of Thrones fans exhibit any interest in his science fiction and horror work. Bought for $62.50.
Mieville, China. The Scar. Subterranean Press, 2019. First edition hardback, #404 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Supplements a signed copy of the 2002 Macmillan (UK) first edition. Bought for $62.50.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, George R. R. Martin, Limited Editions, Science Fiction, Subterranean Press
Posted in Books, Fantasy, Science Fiction | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 5th, 2020
A new National Book Auction/Worth Auctions notice came in via email, and it made me wonder what happened to the legal case against owner David Hall for defrauding a consignee. It turns out he pled guilty back in February:
Local auctioneer David Hall was again in court on Monday to accept a plea for cheating a Tompkins County man out of $227,000.
Hall, a resident of Spencer, plead guilty to second-degree Grand Larceny, a class C felony, for taking items on consignment valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars and not paying out the proceeds to the consigner after the items sold at auction.
The victim in the most recent case, as part of a saga of lawsuits brought against the auctioneer for defrauding customers, consigned thousands of his late brother’s items to Hall’s Freeville-based company Worth Auctions and National Book Auctions back in Feb. 2017.
Hall was indicted on the second-degree grand larceny charge in August. Though there are sales records from auctions throughout the spring and summer of 2017, Hall allegedly only ever paid out the seller $50,000 of the $325,000 he made selling the items. As part of the plea, Hall must pay full restitution in the sum of $227,100 to the victim.
Hall faces a heavy financial penalty, as well as possible jail time. Grand Larceny in the second degree carries a maximum possible period of incarceration of 15 years. Hall is due for sentencing in Tompkins County Court on April 2, at 1 p.m.
In May, Hall was ordered to pay more than $1 million in restitution after it was found that he had defrauded more than 100 consumers since 2015 following a case prosecuted by the New York Attorney General’s Office.
I cannot find any update on sentencing. Maybe that’s another thing delayed due to the Wuhan coronavirus…
Tags:book auction, Books, coronavirus, crime, David Hall, National Book Auctions
Posted in Books, crime | 1 Comment »
Friday, July 17th, 2020
Here are some Subterranean Press books I picked up at the usual dealer discount over the last few months.
Blaylock, James P. The Gobblin’ Society. Subterranean Press, 2020. First edition hardback, #259 of 1000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Blaylock’s latest Steampunk Langdon St. Ives adventure.
Butler, Octavia. Unexpected Stories. Subterranean Press, 2020. First edition hardback, #391 of 1000 copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Contains two newly unearthed stories, plus an introduction by Nisi Shawl and an afterword by Butler’s agent and literary executor Merrilee Heifetz.
Kelly, James Patrick. King of the Dogs, Queen of the Cats. Subterranean Press, 2020. First edition hardback, #131 of 1000 signed numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Novella about a circus of uplifted cats and dogs.
Swanwick, Michael. The Postutopian Adventures of Darger and Surplus. Subterranean Press, 2020. First edition hardback, #183 of 1000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Swanwick’s loveable con artists are back in this short story collection.
I have all of these for sale through Lame Excuse Books.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, James P. Blaylock, James Patrick Kelly, Michael Swanwick, Octavia Butler, Science Fiction, small press publishers, Steampunk, Subterranean Press
Posted in Fantasy, Science Fiction | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 15th, 2020
Jack Vance’s estate sold off some of his contributor copies recently. I bid on many, but only won this one:
Vance, Jack (Terry Dowling and Jonathan Strahan, editors). Minding the Stars (The Early Jack Vance, Volume Four). Subterranean Press, 2014. First edition hardback, a PC copy of 26 lettered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine- traycase with one small fingernail-tip sized indention at bottom front, with a provenance card from the Vance estate laid in. The only edition signed by Vance. Bought off eBay for $255.00. The other traycase editions I bid on went for substantial more.
Tags:Books, Jack Vance, Limited Editions, Science Fiction, Subterranean Press
Posted in Books, Science Fiction | No Comments »
Saturday, July 11th, 2020
Had to scramble to pick this set up:
Wilhelm, Kate (John Pelan, editor). Masters of Science Fiction: Kate Wilhelm (Volumes One and Two). Centipede Press, 2020. First edition hardback, #457 of 500 numbered hardbacks signed by the editor and artists Jim and Ruth Keegan, both Fine copies in Fine dust jackets, with dust jacket protectors, new and unread.
For some reason I’d fallen off the Centipede Press mailing list, so I actually had to purchase these at cover price of $90 for the set. (The indignity!)
Tags:Books, Centipede Press, Kate Wilhelm, Science Fiction, small press publishers
Posted in Books, Science Fiction | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 7th, 2020
Here are two Ellison limited editions I refrained from picking up when they were published:
Ellison, Harlan. Getting in the Wind. Kicks Books/Edgework Abbey, 2012. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy with four postcards, a pair of dice, a signature plate signed by Ellison, in a dropbox, with a picture of the cover pasted on front, in a plastic bag with a seal for “Sex Gang Perfume.” (This one with the seal broken so I could look at the contents.) An elaborate production. This copy and the following reprint all the stories from Ellison’s very early PBO Sex Gang, published as by Paul Merchant in 1959, along with other very early Ellison stories. Richmond, Fingerprints in the Sky, page 52.
Ellison, Harlan. Pulling a Train. Kicks Books/Edgework Abbey, 2012. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy with four postcards, a a switchblade comb, a signature plate signed by Ellison, in a dropbox, with a picture of the cover pasted on front, in a plastic bag with a seal for “Sex Gang Perfume.” (This one with the seal unbroken.) An elaborate production. This copy and the above reprint all the stories from Ellison’s very early PBO Sex Gang, published as by Paul Merchant in 1959, along with other very early Ellison stories. Richmond, Fingerprints in the Sky, page 56.
These two limited editions were originally offered at $150 each. I thought they were nice, but not $150 nice. Bought off eBay for $50 each.
Believe it or not, you could actually buy “Sex Gang perfume” from the publisher’s website as well…
Tags:Books, Edgeworks Abbey, Harlan Ellison, Limited Editions, signed
Posted in Books, Science Fiction | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 17th, 2020
Actually, Swanwick was only the interviewer on one, but author of the other two:
Dozois, Gardner, with Michael Swanwick. ‘She Saved Us From World War Three’: Gardner Dozois Remembers James Tiptree, Jr. Temporary Culture, 2020. First edition chapbook original, one of 225 copies printed, a Fine copy in a Fine black envelope, as issued. Swanwick interviews Dozois on the subject of the reclusive Alice Sheldon AKA James Tiptree, Jr., who corresponded with Dozois and met him in person at least once. Haven’t read it yet, but the story Gardner told was that as a CIA analyst, Sheldon was told to look at satellite photographs the government, fearful of a nuclear first strike, thought showed hundred of mobile Soviet missile launchers. She told them they were hay drying carts for the fall harvest. (Neal Barrett, Jr. used to tell a story about how he had prevented World War III. He was with the army in West Germany in the late 1950s, and his night watch superior had gotten liquored up and wanted to invade East Germany. “I don’t think that’s a very good idea, sir.”)
Swanwick, Michael. The Devil’s Bestiary. Dragonstairs Press, 2020. First edition chapbook, #8 of 45 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in dyed paper wrappers. A short alphabetical vignette bestiary of supernatural creatures. Out of print upon publication.
Swanwick, Michael. The Death of Aubrey Darger. Dragonstairs Press, 2020. First edition chapbook thus, #14 of 100 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. Excerpted from the 2015 novel Chasing the Phoenix.
I will have copies of all three chapbooks available in the Lame Excuse Books catalog currently in progress.
Tags:Books, chapbooks, Dragonstairs Press, Fantasy, Gardner Dozois, James Tiptree Jr., Michael Swanwick, Neal Barrett Jr., Science Fiction, small press publishers
Posted in Books, Fantasy, Science Fiction | No Comments »
