Posts Tagged ‘Books’
Monday, June 8th, 2020
FACT honcho Robert Taylor was giving away books as part of downsizing before a move, so I picked up several books both for my own library and the next Lame Excuse Books catalog (now in progress). All but one of the books below are from Robert:
Beaumont, Charles. The Magic Man and Other Science-Fantasy Stories. Fawcett Gold Medal, 1965. First edition paperback original, a Very Good- copy with crease across bottom front corner, spine creasing and abrasions, age darkening to pages and general wear. Reginald, Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature Volume 1, page 40.
Beaumont, Charles. Shadow Play. Panther, 1964. First UK edition and first edition under this title, a Very Good- copy with chipper bottom front corner, spine creasing, age darkening to pages and general wear. Originally published in the U.S. in hardback as The Hunger and Other Stories. Reginald, Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature Volume 1, page 40. Some overlap between these two.
Bethke, Bruce. Headcrash. Warner Books, 1995. Advanced reading copy of the paperback original first edition, also mass market paperback size, a Fine copy, signed by the author. Bethke was doing some pioneering cyberpunk work (indeed, his story “Cyberpunk” probably coined the word in 1980, but wasn’t published until 1983), but most of it didn’t get published until after the 1980s. This is his first stand-alone non-tie-in novel. Philip K. Dick award winner. Obtained directly from the author. I’ll have another copy available in the next Lame Excuse books catalog.
Disch, Thomas M. Echo Round His Bones. Berkley Medallion, 1967. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine+ copy with slight edgewear, touches of wear elsewhere, and usual slight foxing and slight age-darkening of pages. Currey (1979), page 164.
Disch, Thomas M. The Genocides. Berkley, 1965. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with just a trace of edgewear and the usual foxing and age darkening to pages. Supplements the UK first hardback edition. Currey (1979), page 164. His first novel.
Disch, Thomas M. White Fang Goes Dingo. Arrow Books, 1970 (interestingly, Currey (both 1979 and 2002) says 1971). First edition paperback original under this title (an expanded version of 102 H-Bombs), a Fine- copy with slight edgewear and slight age-darkening to edges of pages. Currey (1979), page 165.
Lansdale, Joe R. Act of Love. Zebra Books, 1981. First edition paperback original, a Very Good copy with 1/4″ chip at top front cover near spine, slight spine creasing and slight general wear. Inscribed by Lansdale: “For Robert,/Hope you like it). Joe Lansdale.” (Robert said he had another copy of this title). His first novel. Supplements at least four other editions (including the Kinnell hardback first), but I lacked the PBO until now. Person, “Joe Lansdale: Notes Toward A Bibliography,” Nova Express Volume 3, Number 4, page 26, I.1. Hankow, A Checklist of Joe Lansdale, A1.
Malzberg, Barry. The Many Worlds of Barry Malzberg. First edition paperback original (no statement of printing on copyright page and $1.25 price, as per Currey), a Fine- copy, with a trace of edgewear and one pinhead-sized black mark near bottom edge of back cover. Short story collection.
Miller, Jr. Walter M. The Best of Walter M. Miller, Jr. Pocket Books, 1980. First edition paperback original, a near Fine copy with faint spine creasing and touches of wear. Short story collection, all from the 1950s.
Pumelia, Joe, and Bill Wallace (as M. M. Moamrath). The Cruse of the Kritix. “Deathnell Publications, 1932″ (actually Kenneth Donnell, 1976). First edition chapbook original, a Fine copy in a Very Good+ dust jacket with semi-closed 1/4” tear at top front with associated wrinkle, faint spotting along spine, and a few very small tears elsewhere. Lovecraftian parody.
Proctor, Geo W. Fire at the Center. Fawcett Gold Medal, 1981. First edition paperback original, a near Fine- copy with 1/32″ deep x 1/4″ wide loss at head of top front cover, slight edgewear, rim of foxing to interior covers, and slight age darkening to pages. Novel dedicated to the early Turkey City Writer’s workshop attendees.
Scholz, Carter. Cuts. Chris Drumm, 1995. First edition chapbook original, a Fine- copy with slight age darkening to edges. Short story collection.
Simak, Clifford D. and Jeff Sutton. So Bright the Vision b/w The Man Who Saw Tomorrow. Ace Double, 1968. First edition (no statement of printing and price of 60¢, as per Currey), a Very Good+ copy with small chips at corners of Sutton side, spine creasing, name or word on Sutton blurb page. Plus usual foxing. Currey (1979), page 447.
Tags:Books, Bruce Bethke, Carter Scholz, Charles Beaumont, FACT, Horror, Joe R. Lansdale, Jr., M.M. Moamrath, PBO, Robert Taylor, Science Fiction, Thomas M. Disch, Turkey City, Walter M. Miller
Posted in Books, Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 13th, 2020
I picked up four books in the Borderlands Press Little Book series:
Campbell, Ramsey. A Little Green Book of Grins & Gravity. Borderlands Press, 2020. First edition hardback, #498 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. A novella, “The Enigma of the Flat Policeman,” supposedly in the manner of John Dickson Carr, along with an introduction and an afterword.
Castle, Mort. A Little Cobalt Book of Old Blue Stories…And Stuff. Borderlands Press, 2018. First edition hardback, #492 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, sand dust jacket, as issued. Nine stories, one original to this volume.
Grant, Charles L. (Hank Wagner and Kathryn Ptacek, editors). A Little Black book of Quiet Horror. Borderlands Press, 2019. First edition hardback, #498 of 500 numbered copies signed by the editors, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Four stories. Now out of print from the publisher.
Morrell, David. A Little Gold Book of Protector Tales. Borderlands Press, 2017. First edition hardback, #337 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Three stories, plus an introduction.
I will have copies of the Campbell and Grant volumes for sale in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Tags:Books, Borderlands Press, Charles L. Grant, David Morrell, Hank Wagner, Horror, Mort Castle, Ramsey Campbell
Posted in Books, Horror | No Comments »
Monday, May 11th, 2020
A UK book club edition, not the true first, and one I only picked up for the signatures:
Silverberg, Robert, editor (Vonda N. McIntyre, Marta Randall, Joan D. Vinge). The Crystal Ship. The Science Fiction Book Club (UK)/Reader’s Union, 1981. Book club reprint, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by editor Robert Silverberg, and contributors Marta Randall and Joan D. Vinge (each twice, once on the title page and once at their novella). Bought for $9, marked down from $15 at Half Price Books during a coupon sale just before the lockdown came down.
Tags:Books, Joan D. Vinge, Marta Randall, Robert Silverberg, Science Fiction, signatures, Vonda N. McIntyre
Posted in Books, Science Fiction | No Comments »
Friday, May 8th, 2020
When I saw they only did 600 copies of this, I thought “I better pick some up.”
Robinson, Kim Stanley. Stan’s Kitchen. NESFA Press, 2020. First edition hardback, #171 of 600 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Short story collection.
I’ll have copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Tags:Books, Kim Stanley Robinson, NESFA Press, Science Fiction
Posted in Books, Science Fiction | No Comments »
Thursday, May 7th, 2020
Part Two:
(Bradbury, Ray) James Tucker and Erin Mckee, editors. Touchstone: Celebrating the Lives of Fritz Leiber and Ray Bradbury. Mysterious Stranger Press, 1978. First edition trade paperback original, a Near Fine copy with slight crease to bottom front corner, a stray ink mark to bottom outer pageblock edge, and a touch of grubbiness to the uncoated covers, signed by Bradbury and McKee, with 183/977 written at the bottom right corner of the title page (presumably the limitation). Odd mélange of festschrift, bits of fiction from the two authors, a bibliography, etc. Includes contributions from Harlan Ellison, Poul Anderson, William F. Nolan, Richard Lupoff (as Ova Hamlet), etc. Reginald, Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature 1975-1991, 29608. Not in Currey. Not in The Undead (which had a lot of obscure Bradbury items listed). Not in Morgan, Fritz Leiber: a Bibliography 1934—1979. Not in Staicar, Fritz Leiber. Not in a whole damn lot of things it should have been in (but it is in the ISFDB). Found literally in Dreamhaven’s basement, and I think I ended up paying something like $16.
Disch, Thomas. Fun With Your New Head. Doubleday, 1971. First U.S. edition and first edition under this title, previously published as Under Compulsion in the UK three years before, a near Fine copy with purple remainder speckling at heel, owners name of “Scott Imes” written in ink on inside top back cover under flap, and slight bend at head and heel, in a Fine- dust jacket with slight age darkening to spine and a few traces of dust soiling. Inscribed by Disch: “For Margee & Scott,/Best,/Thomas M. Disch.” Imes was the long-time manager of Uncle Hugo’s SF bookstore store. Currey, page 164. Bought for $28.
Lovecraft, H.P. A Winter Wish and Other Poems. Whispers Press, 1977. First edition hardback, #160 of 200 signed, numbered hardback signed by editor Tom Collins, publisher Stuart Schiff, and artist Steve Fabian, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine (and very tight) slipcase. Bought for $60.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Fritz Leiber, H. P. Lovecraft, Horror, Ray Bradbury, Science Fiction, small press publishers, Thomas M. Disch, Whispers Press
Posted in Books, Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction | No Comments »
Monday, May 4th, 2020
I was in Minneapolis in early March (right before everything went into lockdown), and I had a chance to drop by Dreamhaven Books and pick up a few things. Here are the unsigned books I bought.
Blish, James. Black Easter. Doubleday, 1968. An Ex-library copy I bought for $4 for the quite bright Near Fine+ dust jacket to marry to another copy.
Dick, Philip K. Mary and the Giant. Arbor House, 1987. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. For some reason I ended up with a copy of the UK first edition and the Ultramarine Press leather-bound-with-the-cancelled check edition, but never picked up the American trade edition (the true first) until now. Precious Artifacts, MS5.2. Bought for $20.
Dozois, Gardner. The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirtieth Annual Collection. St. Martin’s, 2013. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought for cover price minus 20%. The remaining volumes I lack are 15, 23, 24, 27 and 28.
Martin, George R. R. Nightflyers. Bluejay Books, no date (but 1985). First edition uncorrected proof of the trade paperback original, a Near Fine+ copy with blue bunching along front spine (not uncommon among proofs), and a 1″ square dragon stamp in red at top right corner of half title page. Bought for I think $16.
Tags:Bluejay Books, Books, Dreamhaven, Gardner Dozois, George R. R. Martin, James Blish, Philip K. Dick, proof
Posted in Books, Science Fiction | 2 Comments »
Monday, April 20th, 2020
Picked up another key book at a nice price:
Howard, Robert E. Skull-Face And Others. Arkham House, 1946. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with slight bumping at points, slight bend at head and heel, trace of rubbing to center of gold designs along spine, in a Near Fine dust jacket with slight sun-fading to spine, slight wear at points, a 1/16″ closed tear at head, slight wrinkling at top right cover, a touch of dust soiling around just the edge of white rear cover, and blindside foxing to dust jacket; all in all, an extremely nice copy of this key Howard and Arkham House work. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House, 17. Jaffrey, Horrors and Unpleasantries, 19. Nielsen, Arkham House Books, 17. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House, 17. Currey, page 251. Bleiler, Guide to Supernatural Fiction, 852. Locke, Spectrum of Fantasy, page 117. Bleiler, Checklist (1978), page 104. Bleiler, Checklist (1948), page 153. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 23 (“What The Outsider and Others is to Lovecraft, this book is to Howard”). Kemp, Anthem Series, pages 305-6. Barron, Horror Literature, 3-95 (but not in the companion Fantasy Literature volume). One of four “tall” Arkham house volumes, of which I now have two. Bought for $382.46 plus shipping from a fellow Biblio dealer.
Tags:Arkham House, Books, Fantasy, Horror, Robert E. Howard, small press publishers
Posted in Books, Fantasy, Horror | No Comments »
Monday, April 13th, 2020
Sometimes things just show up in my mailbox:
Swanwick, Michael and Sean Swanwick. In Memoriam: Gardner Dozois 1947-2018. Dragonstairs Press, 2020. First edition chapbook, #60 of 70 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. Came in the mail with a “with the Compliments of the Press” notice laid in. Originally appeared in the Philcon 2018 program book.
I’ll have copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Tags:Books, chapbooks, Dragonstairs Press, Gardner Dozois, Michael Swanwick, Science Fiction
Posted in Books, Science Fiction | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 8th, 2020
Here’s something else I missed when it came out:
Silverberg, Robert. Reflections & Refractions: Thoughts on Science Fiction, Science and Other Matters. Underwood Books, 1997. First edition hardback, #180 of 300 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in decorated boards and Fine slipcase, sans dust jacket, as issued. Collection of essays, most (but not all) from his “Reflections” series of columns in Amazing and Asimov’s. Bought off eBay for $25, exactly half off the original list price of $50.
Tags:Books, Limited Editions, Robert Silverberg, Science Fiction, small press publishers, Tim Underwood
Posted in Books, Science Fiction | No Comments »
Monday, April 6th, 2020
It looks like we have another massive book piracy site, https://full-english-books.net.
Here’s the WhoIs information:
Domain Name: FULL-ENGLISH-BOOKS.NET
Registry Domain ID: 2298584626_DOMAIN_NET-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.namesilo.com
Registrar URL: http://www.namesilo.com
Updated Date: 2019-06-10T04:26:19Z
Creation Date: 2018-08-17T17:40:19Z
Registry Expiry Date: 2021-08-17T17:40:19Z
Registrar: NameSilo, LLC
Registrar IANA ID: 1479
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: abuse@namesilo.com
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.4805240066
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Name Server: ARNOLD.NS.CLOUDFLARE.COM
Name Server: ZITA.NS.CLOUDFLARE.COM
DNSSEC: unsigned
Among the writers they appear to have ripped off are:
Neil Gaiman
William Gibson
Joe Haldeman
Elizabeth Hand
Stephen Jones
Stephen King
Joe R. Lansdale
George R. R. Martin
J. K. Rowling
Charles Stross
Bruce Sterling
Lisa Tuttle
Among many, many others.
I’m no longer a member of SFWA, but those who are may want to pass this on to the legal committee…
Tags:Books, Bruce Sterling, Charles Stross, crime, Elizabeth Hand, Fantasy, George R. R. Martin, Horror, Joe Haldeman, Joe R. Lansdale, Lisa Tuttle, Neil Gaiman, piracy, Science Fiction, Stephen King, William Gibson
Posted in Books, crime, Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction | 1 Comment »
