Posts Tagged ‘Jack Vance’

Library Addition: Signed/Limited Edition of Jack Vance’s Ecce and Old Earth

Wednesday, December 27th, 2017

I’d picked up the other two signed/limited Cadwell books cheap, but I needed this middle book to complete the trilogy.

Vance, Jack. Cadwell II: Ecce and Old Earth. Underwood/Miller, 1991. First edition hardback, #107 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket in a Fine- slipcase with one 1/8″ square spot of soiling to spine rear. Hewett, A84. Bought from a fellow Jack Vance collector who was downsizing for $75.

Overview of Lawrence Person’s Library: 2017 Edition

Thursday, August 31st, 2017

I decided updated pictures of my library were long overdue, so I took pictures of all my personal library bookshelves (as opposed to Lame Excuse Books stock) with my iPhone, which seems to do a better job than my old digital camera anyway.

I tried to make the pics close and large enough that you could read the titles (which is, I think, one of the main points of photographing your library), though that’s not always the case. (Click to embiggen any of these.)

I’ve listed very brief high points, but at some point I want to do several more comprehensive posts, probably broken up by letter (A, B, etc.) which will go into more detail and show individual books. But if I did that here I’d probably break your browser!

As usual, all of these are Fine first edition hardbacks in Fine dust jackets unless otherwise stated.

Where you see a dust jacket sitting on top of other books, I was reading that book when I took these pictures.

This is just the fiction. I’ll get to the non-fiction, graphic novels, art books, science fiction reference books, etc. at a later date.

Not all the pictures are perfect, and I may swap them out for better ones as time permits.

Oversized Fiction

These are all the hardback fiction books that were simply too big to fit anywhere else.

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Highlights:

  • The traycase edition of Greg Bear’s Sleepside Story.
  • Several signed oversized Ray Bradbury books.
  • A copy of Lord John Ten inscribed to Neal Barrett, Jr. by Ray Bradbury.
  • Several signed Harlan Ellison limiteds.
  • Three signed Stephen King books (Desperation, Insomnia, The Black House).
  • The lettered traycase edition of George R. R. Martin’s GRRM.
  • Several signed Richard Matheson books.
  • Two Charnel House books (Ellison’s Coffin Nails and Tim Powers’ Deliver Me From Evil).
  • Three Centipede Press books (the Ambrose Bierce, Tim Powers’ The Anubis Gates Michael Shea’s The Autopsy and Other Tales.)
  • Lucius Shepard’s The Last Time.
  • A binder full of hand-written Roger Zelazny manuscripts.
  • A—Ba

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    Highlights:

  • A signed Douglas Adams Mostly Harmless.
  • Some signed Brian Aldiss (RIP).
  • The three Gnome Press Foundation books, plus the signed Whispers Press Foundation’s Edge, plus several other signed Asimovs.
  • A first edition of Attanasio’s Radix.
  • Signed firsts of Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl and the signed limited edition of Pump Six And Other Stories.
  • Bal—Bax

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  • Several Ballard firsts (including The Drought and Empire of the Sun), some signed (such as The Atrocity Exhibition).
  • A nearly complete Iain Banks collection (missing one or two of the last ones), including all the early ones, including The Wasp Factory and Use of Weapons, some signed.
  • Nearly complete Clive Barker up to about ten years ago, many signed, including the limited edition UK Weaveworld and all six of the Wiedenfield & Nicholson Books of Blood.
  • A complete collection of Neal Barrett, Jr. fiction hardbacks, all signed or inscribed.
  • Some Stephen Baxter (mostly early books), including Raft and The Time Ships, some signed.
  • Bax—Bi

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  • More Stephen Baxter
  • Some Peter S. Beagle books, including The Last Unicorn and A Fine and Private Place, most signed.
  • A complete Greg Bear collection (save a few recent ones), most signed or inscribed to me.
  • Some Gregory Benford, including the Cheap Street Of Space/Time and the River and Timescape.
  • An incomplete Alfred Bester collection, including a pristine The Demolished Man with Bester’s business card laid in, and an imperfect Who He? inscribed.
  • A nearly-complete Michael Bishop collection (a new one may be out), including No Enemy But Time, most inscribed to me.
  • Bi—Br

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  • Nearly complete James P. Blaylock in hardback, several early ones inscribed to me.
  • Decent Robert Bloch collection, including an imperfect Psycho and several signed books.
  • Very incomplete Leigh Bracket collection, but including the very difficult first hardback of The Sword of Rhiannon.
  • A not-even-remotely-complete Ray Bradbury collection, but including some 30 signed firsts, including The Silver Locusts.

    Br—Bu

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  • Small Ernest Bramah collection, including The Moon of Much Gladness in dust jacket.
  • Early David Brin collection, including Startide Rising, The Uplift War, and his Cheap Street book, Dr. Pak’s Preschoool.
  • Some John Brunner, including a signed The Sheep Look Up and a Fine/Fine Stand On Zanzibar.
  • Signed/limited edition (only hardback) of Steven Brust’s To Reign in Hell.
  • Some signed William F. Buckley, Jr..
  • Several signed Lois McMaster Bujold Hugo and Nebula winners, including the Easton signed/limited (and first hardback editions) of Barrayar and The Vor Game.
  • William S. Burroughs’ The Place of Dead Roads inscribed to his agent.

    Bu—Ch

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  • Complete Octavia Butler collection, including Survivor, some inscribed to me.
  • A rebound first of Samuel Butler’s Erewhon from 1872.
  • A complete Pat Cadigan collection (save some media tie-in work), several inscribed to me.
  • Some Ramsey Campbell.
  • A complete Jonathan Carroll collection, including The Land of Laughs, most signed.
  • A complete Orson Scott Card collection up to the point I stopped reading him (which was Xenocide), including an inscribed Ender’s Game.
  • Some Angela Carter, including The Infernal Desire Machines of Dr. Hoffman (from Carter’s own copies) and The Passion of New Eve.
  • Most of Michael Chabon, including The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, many inscribed to me.
  • The true first edition of Robert W. Chamber’s The King in Yellow; not really visible in this picture since the trim size is so small.
  • Ch—Cr

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  • Some Arthur C. Clarke, including firsts of Against the Fall of Night and Earthlight, an imperfect copy of Childhood’s End (with a Clarke signature plate and photo laid in) and his Hugo winners Rendezvous With Rama and The Fountains of Paradise.
  • Most of Hal Clement, including a nice Iceworld, a signed, imperfect Mission of Gravity, and the three volume NESFA set are all signed as well.
  • A signed copy of Suzy McKee Charnes’ The Vampire Tapestry.
  • Most of the early Storm Constantine.
  • All the early John Crowley, including signed copies of The Deep, Engine Summer and (in the next pic) the Gollancz Little, Big.

    Cr-De

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  • Signed hardback editions of the first 17 issues of Postscripts, plus #24/25. (I’m in three of these.)
  • Most of the Datlow/Windling Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror series (I think I lack a few latter ones).
  • Complete Avram Davidson in hardback (save one hardback chapbook), including the hardback edition of El Vilvoy de las Islas.
  • Some L. Sprague de Camp, some signed.
  • Most of the early Samuel R. Delany, including Babel-17 and The Einstein Intersection, all signed by Delany.
  • Di

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  • I’m about four difficult books away from a complete Philip K. Dick in hardback collection. Highlights of what I have include imperfect copies of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, The Man in the High Castle, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Counter Clock World, Time Out of Joint, Ubik, A Handful of Darkness and World of Chance, firsts HBs of The Penultimate Truth, The Simulacra, The Man Who Japed, The Game Players of Titan, and Confessions of a Crap Artist, a really nice copy of A Scanner Darkly, both the Underwood/Miller and Subterranean Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, and the signed edition of the Levack PKD bibliography, the only Dick signature in my collection.
  • A reasonably complete Thomas M. Disch science fiction collection (I’m missing some of his poetry volumes), including The Genocides, Camp Concentration, 334, and his Cheap Street volume Torturing Mr. Amberwell.
  • Nearly complete Paul Di Filippo collection, many inscribed, including a PC copy of the 1/100 hardback copy edition of Spondulix.
  • Di-El

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  • I have a complete collection of Gardner Dozois’ authored books, and hardback first of all the Year’s Best Science Fiction up through the 14th volume (and just a few missing after that), many inscribed to me by Gardner, and many signed by several story contributors.
  • A nearly complete George Alec Effinger collection, many inscribed to me.
  • Complete (save a couple of very recent books) Greg Egan collection, including An Unusual Angle, Quarantine, Permutation City, and an association copy of Axiomatic inscribed to his editor David Pringle. (Inscribed Egan books are genuinely rare, much less association copies.)
  • El-Fo

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  • Nearly complete collection of Harlan Ellison in hardback (at least up through when he started issuing his own books), many signed.
  • A good ways toward a complete Philip Jose Farmer collection in hardback, including Too Your Scattered Bodies Go, many signed, including Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life, Lord Tyger and Love Song.
  • The first English-language edition of Camille Flammarion’s Urania and the first U.S. edition of Lumen.
  • Fo-Gi

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  • Complete Neil Gaiman prose collection up to a few years ago, including the signed/limited BCC Books (true first) edition of Neverwhere, Murder Mysteries: A Play For Voices, Snow Glass Apples: A Play For Voices, and the Lettered editions of the Subterranean M is for Magic. (The hardbound Gaiman graphic novels are shelved elsewhere.)
  • Nearly complete John Gardner collection, including Grendel.
  • Several Ray Garton books, including Crucifax Autumn and Live Girls.
  • Almost complete Jane Gaskell collection.
  • Complete Mary Gentle collection up to a few years ago.
  • A complete William Gibson collection (excepting Agrippa, which wasn’t a book), including the Gollancz Neuromancer inscribed to me.

    Gi-Ho

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  • William Goldman’s The Princess Bride.
  • True first of Alasdair Gray’s Lanark.
  • A number of Joe Haldeman books, including an imperfect Forever War.
  • Several Peter F. Hamilton books, including The Reality Dysfunction.
  • Several Harry Harrison books, some signed.
  • Several Robert A. Heinlein firsts, including imperfect copies of Starship Troopers, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Stranger in a Strange Land and Double Star, as well as nice copies of Sixth Column, Assignment in Eternity, The Star Beast, The Puppet Masters and Podkayne of Mars, as well as a signed book club edition of Time for the Stars (my only Heinlein signature).
  • A very imperfect true first of Frank Herbert’s Dune.
  • Several Joe Hill books, including two states of 20th Century Ghosts and the traycase edition of Horns.
  • William Hope Hodgson’s House on the Borderland and Deep Waters.
  • All six of Robert E. Howard’s Gnome Press Conan books.
  • Ho-Kr

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  • Barry Hughart’s Bridge of Birds, The Story of the Stone, and Eight Skilled Gentlemen, plus the signed Subterranean press omnibus.
  • A nearly complete Shirley Jackson collection, including nice copies of The Road Through the Wall and The Haunting of Hill House.
  • Daniel Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon.
  • A good bit of Stephen King, including both the slipcase and traycase editions of the Colorado Kid, the signed/limited edition of Under the Dome, The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, and an imperfect first of The Shining. The Talisman is the Grant “trade” edition, which in this case has been signed by Peter Straub.
  • A complete Russel Kirk fiction collection, most signed.
  • Some Nancy Kress.
  • Kr-La

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  • Some Henry Kuttner, including Robots Have No Tails.
  • A complete R.A. Lafferty in hardback collection (save one chapbook), some signed, including 1/50 signed copies of Tales of Chicago and Tales of Midnight.
  • Some Jay lake, most inscribed to me.
  • A complete Joe R. Lansdale collection, including the rare Chivers Texas Night Riders, The Magic Wagon, the lettered traycase editions of A Fistfull of Stories and For a few Stories More, 1/26 hardback copies of My Dead Dog Bobby, 1/100 hardback copies of Lansdale and Shiner’s Private Eye Action As You Like It, and many others, all signed or inscribed to me.
  • La-Lo

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  • The rest of the hardback Lansdale.
  • Both the true HB first (a large print edition) and the Subterranean limited of Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice.
  • Some Tanith Lee, several signed.
  • A goodly amount of Ursula K. Le Guin, including imperfect firsts of The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed and A Wizard of Earthsea, two Cheap Street hardback chapbooks, and the signed/limited edition true first hardback of Always Coming Home (with the included cassette tape), which is supposedly quite dreadful.
  • Closing in on a complete Fritz Leiber collection, including a signed Our Lady of Darkness and Nights Black Agents, plus several Gregg Press firsts, including The Big Time, The Sinful Ones, and the six volume Farhard and Gray Mouser set.
  • The first English-language edition of Stanislaw Lem’s Solaris.
  • A pretty good Thomas Ligotti collection, including the hardback of The Agonizing Resurrection of Victor Frankenstein & Other Gothic Tales.
  • The start of the H.P. Lovecraft collection, including some of the latter Arkhams and the Variorum Edition of his complete work, as well as an envelop hand-addressed by Lovecraft.
  • Lo-Ma

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  • The rest of the Lovecraft, as well as Cthulhu Mythos anthologies by various editors. I’ll probably file these by editor the next time I add a bookshelf.
  • Some Brian Lumley.
  • All Ken MacLeod’s novels up to a few years ago.
  • Something approaching a complete collection of George R. R. Martin’s fiction, though I’m missing a couple of the recent Game of Thrones books and a lot of his anthologies. Includes U.S. first of A Game of Thrones inscribed to me, the signed/limited Armageddon Rag, the true first signed/limited edition of Songs the Dead Men Sing (the very first Dark Harvest book), and the leatherbound signed/limited “slipcrate” edition of Portraits of His Children.
  • Ma-Mc

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  • Closing in on a complete Richard Matheson collection, including Born of Man and Woman, imperfect firsts of Hell House, The Shrinking Man and I Am Legend, and several of the signed Gauntlet, etc. books.
  • A lot of Paul J. McAuley.
  • A lot of Robert R. McCammon.
  • Some Jack McDevitt.
  • Complete Ian McDonald collection, all but one or two inscribed to me, including the true UK first of River of Gods.
  • Mc-Ni

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  • Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove
  • Nearly complete China Mieville collection, including Perdido Street Station and The Tain.
  • An imperfect first of Walter M. Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz
  • Quite a bit of Michael Moorcock, including Behold the Man, Stormbringer and Gloriana, all signed or inscribed.
  • Some C.L. Moore, including Judgment Night, Shambleau, and signed firsts of Mutant and Black God’s Shadow.
  • A couple of books away from a complete Ward Moore collection, including Cloud By Day.
  • All Richard Morgan’s early books, including Altered Carbon.
  • Some David Morrell, including First Blood.
  • Some signed Haruki Murakami.
  • Some Pat Murphy, including The Falling Woman.
  • John Myers Myers’ Silverlock.
  • Most of Kim Newman’s early books (at least those under his own name), including Anno Dracula.
  • A complete set of the Night Visions series, some (Barker, Lansdale, Martin) signed or inscribed.
  • A good bit of Larry Niven, including an imperfect but very clean copy of the Gollancz Ringworld.
  • Ni-Po

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  • Complete Chad Oliver collection, including the Ballantine hardback of Shadows in the Sun, The Mists of Dawn and the Jenkins The Wolf is My Brother.
  • The true Secker & Warburg first edition of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (green state dust jacket, no priority).
  • Alexi Panshin’s Rite of Passage.
  • A good bit of Frederik Pohl, most signed, including Gateway, Man Plus and The Space Merchants, and most of the collaborations with Jack Williamson here are also signed by both Pohl and Williamson.
  • A complete Tim Powers collection, most signed or inscribed, including the Chatto & Windus Anubis Gates, several Charnel House limiteds, and the ultra-limited edition of the John Berlyne’s Powers bibliography, which includes a bound holographic copy of The Anubis Gates.
  • Po-Ri

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  • Some Christopher Priest, including Inverted World and The Prestige.
  • Complete run of Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine, plus the signed/limited edition of Issue Eight, which is signed by Greg Egan.
  • Thomas Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49.
  • Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.
  • A complete Alastair Reynolds collection (save a few recent books), most signed, including Revelation Space.
  • A good bit of early Anne Rice, including Interview With the Vampire and The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty.
  • Ri-Sc

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  • Most of the early Kim Stanley Robinson, including the Mars trilogy and his Cheap Street book, The Blind Geometer.
  • A good bit of Rudy Rucker, including one of 350 signed, numbered copies of Transreal!
  • Sarban’s The Sound of His Horn.
  • Sc-Si

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  • Garrett P. Serviss’ Edison’s Invasion of Mars.
  • Some Bob Shaw, including a signed copy of The Palace of Eternity.
  • A complete Michael Shea collection, including the hardback edition of Nifft the Lean.
  • Some Robert Sheckley, including the five volume Collected Stories.
  • A complete Lucius Shepard collection, most signed.
  • A complete Lew Shiner collection, many inscribed to me.
  • A complete John Shiirley hardback collection (up to a few years ago, anyway), most signed, including one of only 50 hardback copies of Black Glass and one of only 100 signed, numbered hardback copies of Really, Really, Really, Really Weird Stories.
  • Si-Sm

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  • A lot of Robert Silverberg.
  • Clifford Simak’s City.
  • A complete Dan Simmons collection, several signed, including Hyperion, Song of Kali, and Entropy’s Bed at Midnight.
  • A lot of John Sladek, some signed.
  • A pretty good Clark Ashton Smith collection, including Out of Space and Time, Lost Worlds and Other Dimensions.
  • Sm-St

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  • A complete Cordwainer Smith collection, including three novels he did under his other pseudonyms, Ria, Corelia and Atomsk.
  • A few E. E.”Doc” Smith novels, including the true first of The Skylark of Space, and the signed editions of Second Stage Lensman and Skylark Three.
  • A complete William Browning Spencer collection, all signed or inscribed to me.
  • Some Brian Stableford.
  • Some Olaf Stapledon, including jacketless firsts of Last and First Men and Odd Job.
  • A good bit of Neal Stephenson, including inscribed firsts of Snow Crash and The Diamond Age.
  • A Complete Bruce Sterling collection, most inscribed to me, including a Mirrorshades signed or inscribed by most of the contributors.
  • Complete Charles Stross up to a few years ago.
  • St-Va

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  • Some Theodore Sturgeon, including the completed Collected Stories.
  • A complete Michael Swanwick collection, including Stations of the Tide, one of only 30 signed hardbacks of Puck Aleshire’s Abecedary, and several short-run Dragon Stairs Press books.
  • Some Tolkien, including most of the U.S. History of Middle Earth firsts.
  • A nice copy of Steven Utley and Geo W. Proctor’s Lone Star Universe signed by most of the contributors.
  • The start of the Jack Vance section. I’m closing in on a complete Vance hardback collection, but I’m not quite there yet. This case includes the Underwood/Miller signed/limited editions of Ariminta Station, Throy, Bird Isle/Take My Face, The Dark Side of the Moon, the Subterranean Press lettered/traycase edition of Dangerous Ways, The Deadly Isles, and a signed Dragon Masters.
  • Va-Wa

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  • The rest of the Vance hardbacks, including one of 200 signed sets of the 44 volume Vance Integral Edition, a signed Ballantine Books hardback state of To Live Forever, the beautiful Underwood Books signed/limited edition of Night Lamp, the Underwood Books limited Ports of Call, #2 of 200 signed/numbered copies of Light From a Lone Star, one of 111 signed hardback copies of The Seventeen Virgins/The Bagful of Dreams, and the Gollancz Four Men Called John, among many, many others.
  • A complete Vernor Vinge collection, most signed, including A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky.
  • Richard Vollmann’s You Bright and Risen Angels and Rainbow Stories.
  • A pretty complete Karl Edward Wagner collection, some signed.
  • Wa-We

    Starting about here the pictures got more difficult to take, because this bookshelf is right behind a heavy futon I don’t feel like moving on my own.

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  • A complete Howard Waldrop collection, including his two Cheap Street books, all signed or inscribed.
  • Complete Peter Watts collection.
  • A few Stanley G. Weinbaum volumes, including one of 250 copies of the 1936 Dawn of Flame.
  • Closing in on a complete Manly Wade Wellman collection, including Who Fears the Devil?, Lonely Vigils, a first of Worse Things Waiting inscribed to horror writer Dennis Etchison, and a copy of Third String Center inscribed to his brother, western writer Paul I. Wellman.
  • Some H. G. Wells, including some later firsts in dust jacket and the signed, numbered three volume first edition of The World of William Clissold.
  • We-Wo

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  • Some Jack Williamson.
  • Nearly complete Connie Willis, almost all signed, including Doomsday Book.
  • A nearly complete Gene Wolfe collection, including all the The Book of the New Sun, The Book of the Long Sun, and Book of the Short Sun volumes (plus The Castle of the Otter, all inscribed or signed, his two Cheap Street hardbacks (Empires of Flowers and Foliage and Biblioman), and one of 100 hardback copies of The Young Wolfe. (The hardback edition of Letters Home is in the non-fiction reference library).
  • Wo-Z

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    I have a fairly ridiculous amount of signed Roger Zelazny first editions, manuscripts, etc., thanks in no small part to two very extensive purchases of Zelazny material. Though I would like to trade up my imperfect Nine Princes in Amber and my signed, imperfect Lord of Light, all my other Zelazny hardbacks are Fine/Fine copies, and most signed, including Creatures of Light and Darkness, The Dream Master, one of 200 signed, hardback copies of For a Breath I Tarry (which, since it has a number of blank pages in the back, I’ve had signed by some 60-70 other science fiction writers, etc.), one of 35 signed hardback copies of The Last Defender of Camelot, one of only 21 lettered, hardback copies of Kovacs’ The Ides of Octember: A Pictorial Bibliography of Roger Zelazny with a Zelazny signature sheet bound in, etc. Those binders you see contain original Zelazny manuscripts, some proof copies, some typescripts, and some hand-written, including The Changing Land, “The Last Defender of Camelot”, “Unicorn Variations”, Dilvish the Damned, Knight of Shadows, etc. (Upstairs, in the non-fiction section, I have Roger Zelazny’s professional correspondence archive in two large binders.)

    Trade Paperbacks

    This includes proofs, chapbooks, etc.

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    Notable items:

  • Isaac Asimov’s Little Brothers, one of 126 signed copies.
  • One of 100 signed copies of J. G. Ballard’s News from the Sun.
  • Signed copy of David Brin’s The Tides of Kithrup (the proof of Startide Rising)
  • An issue of Chacal signed by Tom Reamy.
  • A copy of Young Author’s Club: The Wartime Adolescent Writings of Philip K. Dick, one of 100 copies.
  • Some signed Thomas Disch poetry collections.
  • Both blue and green variant covers of Neil Gaiman and Gene Wolfe’s A Walking Tour of the Shambles, inscribed to me by both.
  • A proof of the never-published random house edition of Sherry Jones’ The Jewel of Medina.
  • A complete collection of R. A. Lafferty chapbooks, some signed.
  • Numerous Joe R. Lansdale trade paperbacks and proofs.
  • The proof of George R. R. Martin’s never published John W. Campbell Awards Volume 6
  • A signed copy of Michael Moorcocks’s tabloid-form Sex Pistols novel, The Great Rock-and-Roll Swindle.
  • James Morrow’s The Adventures of Smoke Baily, a novella only included as part of the packaging for a video game.
  • The proof (actually true first edition, since it was for sale) of Richard Matheson’s Collected Stories.
  • Proof of Chad Oliver’s The Cannibal Owl.
  • A signed, hand-corrected copy of Clark Ashton Smith’s The Double Shadow.
  • Jack Vance’s The Space Pirates and The Avatar’s Apprentice, one of only 30 copies.
  • Lew Shiner’s Modern Stories Number One signed by most of the contributors, including William Gibson and Howard Waldrop.
  • Dan Simmons’ Banished Dreams.
  • Inscribed copies of Neal Stephenson’s The Big U and Zodiac, as well as signed proofs of Interface and The Cobweb.
  • One of only 25 copies of Howard Waldrop’s self-published The Soul-Taker from 1966.
  • Manly Wade Wellman’s The Invading Asteroid and Devil’s Planet.
  • Lots of Gene Wolfe proofs, plus Talk of Mandrakes and four Cheap Street chapbooks.
  • Loads and load of signed Roger Zelazny proofs, plus Poems and A Rhapsody in Amber.
  • Mass Market Paperbacks

    Since I started concentrating on hardbacks very early it, I actually have fewer paperbacks than hardback.

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    Notable items (all paperback originals unless otherwise noted):

  • Several signed Aaron Allston books.
  • All six true first edition/first printing/first state of Clive Barker’s Books of Blood, all signed.
  • Some signed Neal Barrett, Jr.
  • A copy of John Brunner’s pseudonymously published porn novel The Incestuous Lovers.
  • Some signed Pat Cadigan, including a paperback proof of Synners.
  • A lot of Philip K. Dick.
  • A lot of Harlan Ellison.
  • Some Philip Jose Farmer, including Love Song and an association copy of Down in the Black Gang inscribed to Bruce Sterling.
  • Some Ray Garton.
  • An inscribed William Gibson Neuromancer.
  • Some signed Harry Harrison.
  • Some signed K.W. Jeter, including Seeklight and The Dreamfields.
  • All R.A. Lafferty’s PBOs, including Ringing Changes.
  • Several signed Joe Lansdale PBOs, including his three MIA Hunter books and the very rare Molly’s Sexual Follies, the last also co-signed by co-author Brad Foster.
  • Some Tanith Lee.
  • Some George R.R. Martin, including most of the Wild Cards books, the early ones signed by George and several other contributors.
  • Some signed Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle reprints.
  • All Tim Powers PBOs, signed.
  • Spider Robinson’s Antimony.
  • All Rudy Rucker’s PBOs, including White Light, The Sex Sphere, Spacetime Donuts, and The 57th Franz Kafka.
  • All Michael Shea’s PBOs, some signed.
  • Several John Shirley PBOs, most signed, including The Brigade, Cellars and City Come A’Walkin.
  • All John Skipp & Craig Spector’s PBOs, several signed.
  • A good bit of Brian Stableford.
  • Inscribed true (Canadian) first of Sean Stewart’s Passion Play.
  • Bruce Sterling’s Involution Ocean and A Good Old Fashioned Future, inscribed.
  • Some Theodore Sturgeon, several PBOs, one reprint signed.
  • A lot of Jack Vance, some signed.
  • Some Manly Wade Wellman PBOs, including the rare movie novelization A Double Life.
  • A whole lot of Zelazny, almost all of it signed.
  • Finally, note that while none of these books are for sale, I do have many science fiction, fantasy and horror first editions (many signed) available through the Lame Excuse Books web page.

    Library Addition: Stephen Fabian’s Crystal of a Hundred Dreams Portfolio

    Thursday, May 18th, 2017

    Another odd Jack-Vance related item:

    Fabian, Stephen. Crystal of a Hundred Dreams: A Portfolio by Stephen E. Fabian. Underwood/Miller, 1979. First edition oversized softbound art portfolio, one of 550 sets produced, a Fine copy, still in shrinkwrap. Illustrations from the U/M Jack Vance books The Eyes of the Overworld, The Seventeen Virgins and The Bagful of Dreams. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 431 (where they note it’s “Uncommon,” most sets having been broken up and framed). Bought for $55 from a fellow Jack Vance collector.

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    Hard to get a good pick, since it’s too big for the scanner and I kept getting light bounce from the shrinkwrap….

    Library Additon: Three Jack Vance Firsts, One Signed

    Tuesday, August 23rd, 2016

    More books from the Cold Tonnage 40% off sale, three Vance firsts (one signed) I either didn’t have or didn’t have in these particular forms:

  • Queen, Ellery (here a pseudonym for Jack Vance). The Madman Theory. Pocket Books, 1966. Signed by Vance. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine+ copy with traces of wear to extremities and slight foxing to inside cover edges. Hewett, A25. Currey, page 499. Supplements a signed copy of the later first hardback printing. Bought for £15 after discount.

    Madman Theory PBO

  • Vance, Jack. Monsters in Orbit. Dennis Dobson, 1977. First hardback edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Hewett, A20b. Currey, page 499. Bought for £30 after discount.

    Monsters in Orbit

  • Vance, Jack. The Seventeen Virgins. Underwood/Miller, 1979. First edition trade paperback chapbook original, one of 600 copies, a Fine copy. Hewett, A58. Supplements a copy of the combined hardback edition of The Seventeen Virgins & The Bagful of Dreams. Bought for £18 after discount.

    Seventeen Virgins

  • Library Additions: January 1 through June 30, 2016

    Monday, July 18th, 2016

    Here’s a omnibus “roll up” post for every book I bought during the first half of 2016. I’m a bit late getting this up, and I have a huge wave of books I bought July 10 I need to catalog…

  • Adams, Douglas and John Lloyd. The Deeper Meaning of Liff. Pan Books, 1990. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine, price-clipped dust jacket. Bought for £5 from Cold Tonnage Books.
  • Aldiss, Brian. The Creten Teat. House of Stratus, 2002. First hardback edition (according to Aldiss’ site, the trade paperback version preceded), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. I have heard, second-hand, that House of Stratus went into receivership about the time this came out, and that very few hardback copies actually made it out into the world. Bought off Amazon for $9.94.
  • Allston, Aaron. Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand. Del Rey, 2002. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy, signed and dated by Allston.
  • Aylett, Steve. The Inflatable Volunteer. Phoenix House, 1999. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, with a publicity postcard signed by Aylett laid in. Bought for £5 from Cold Tonnage Books.
  • Aylett, Steve. Toxicology. Gollancz, 2002. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, with a postcard laid in. Bought for £5 from Cold Tonnage Books.
  • Bear, Greg. Halo: Cryptum. Tor, 2010. Book One of the Forerunner Saga. Bought at Half Price Books for $3.
  • Bradbury, Ray. The Autumn People. Paperback original, VG with a small sticker pull on front cover, spine crease, rubbing, stamps on insider covers, and general wear. Comic adaptations of Bradbury stories. Bought for $1.99 from Half Price Books.
  • Bradbury, Ray. A Christmas Wish 1988 (If Only We Had Taller Been). Privately printed, 1988. First edition Christmas broadsheet, a Fine copy. Inscribed by Bradbury: “For Rev. Gerald Watt, C.R./With fond good wishes/for/1989/Ray Bradbury.” Bought for $28 off eBay.

    Bradbury Christmas 88

  • Bradbury, Ray. A Christmas Wish 1989 (The Bread of Beggars, The Wine of Christ). Privately printed, 1989. First edition Christmas broadsheet, a Fine copy. Inscribed by Bradbury: “For Rev. Watt. Thanks for Asking!/Love!/Ray/Bradbury/ 5/6/90.” Bought for $29 off eBay.

    Bradbury Christmas 89

  • Bradbury, Ray. Christmas Greetings 2008 (Imagine that you have been dead). Privately printed, 2008. First edition Christmas broadsheet, a Fine- copy with slight corner bumping. Signed by Bradbury. Bought for $25 off eBay.

    Bradbury Christmas 2008 1

    Bradbury, Ray. Let’s All Kill Constance. William Morrow, 2003. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed and dated by Bradbury. Bought off eBay for $19.95, which is $4 off cover price.

    Bradbury Kill Constance

    IMG_0644

  • Bradbury, Ray. Quicker Than The Eye. Avon, 1996. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a tiny bit of fading to spine. Short story collection. Bought off eBay for $17.57.

    P1010024

  • Bradbury, Ray. Yestermorrow. Joshua Odell Editions/Capra Press, 1991. First edition hardback (“First Edition” stated and numberline ending in 1), a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a tiny bit of dust jacket crimping at head and heel. Inscribed by Bradbury: “Matthew!/Ray Bradbury/ 4/30/94”. Bought off eBay for $20, which is 5¢ over list price.

    Yestermorrow

    IMG_0615

  • (Bradbury, Ray) Weist, Jerry. Bradbury: An Illustrated Life. William Morrow, 2002. First edition hardback (precedes the Donald M. Grant limited edition by two years), a Fine-/Fine- copy with very slight bumping at head and heel. Inscribed by Bradbury: “To all the/Grand Tubers/Ray Bradbury.” Oversized illustrated history of Bradbury’s work. Bought for $27.10 off eBay.
  • Blish, James. A Dusk of Idols and Other Stories. Severn House, 1996. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought for £5 from Cold Tonnage Books.
  • Brown, Dan. The Da Vinci Code. Doubleday, 2003. First edition hardback (price of $24.95 on flap, “First Edition” and “10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1” numberline on copyright page), a near Fine copy with owner blindstamp on front free endpaper, in a Fine- dust jacket with a small crease to bottom corner of front flap. Bought for $2 from the “Nostalgia Bargain” section of a Half Price Books.
  • Buckell, Tobias. Xenowealth. Self published via Kickstarter, 2016. Hardback first edition, signed by the author. Short story collection. See here for more details.
  • Buckell, Tobias. Xenowealth. Self published via Kickstarter, 2016. Trade paperback edition, signed by the author.
  • Butler, Samuel. Erewhon or Over the Range. Trübner & Co., 1872. First edition hardback, a rebound copy in modern full leather (at least according to the auction description, but “modern” is a relative term; the new binding is worn enough that it appears to be at least 50 years old), original covers bound in rear of textblock, with heavy rubbing on joints and corners, hinges starting, minor scattered foxing on preliminary and terminal leaves, pages characteristically brittle, overall a Very Good rebind copy. Published anonymously, Erehwon (“nowhere” spelled backwards) is satire in the mode of Gullivers Travels, and one of the most important 19th century Utopian/Dystopian novels. Bleiler Checklist (1978), page 36. Bleiler Checklist (1948), page 68. Bleiler, SF: The Early Years, page 113. Reginald (Volume I), page 84. Barron, Anatomy of Wonder 4, 1-19. Magill, Survey of Science Fiction Literature Volume Two, page 729. Bought for $75 (including buyer’s premium) from Heritage Auctions.

    P1010019

    P1010020

    And here’s a picture of the original boards bound into the back:

    P1010023

  • Carr, Terry. Fandom Harvest. Laissez Faire Productions AB, 1986. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. According to Chalker/Owings (1991), page 538, only 250 hardbacks were done. Bought for £5 from Cold Tonnage Books.
  • Constantine, Storm. The Monstrous Regiment. Orbit, 1989. Trade paperback original, a Fine- copy with a touch of edgewear at head and heel, signed by Constantine. Bought for £5 from Cold Tonnage Books.
  • Ellison, Harlan. Edgeworks 2: Spider Kiss/Stalking the Nightmare. White Wolf, 1996. First edition hardback omnibus thus, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought for £5 from Cold Tonnage Books. When the Edgeworks series first came out, I didn’t pick them up because I already had all the individual works they contained. But at £5 it’s worth picking up for title variant completeness…
  • Farmer, Philip Jose. The Other in the Mirror. Subterranean Press, 2009. First edition hardback, with a signed (but unnumbered) limitation page, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine slipcase. Omnibus edition of three novels (Fire in the Night, Jesus on Mars, and Night of Light), the first two of which were only published as paperback originals. Original price for the signed/numbered edition was $125. This supplements my trade edition, and all editions are now out of print from the publisher. Bought off eBay for $24.95 plus shipping.
  • Franklin, Jay (AKA John Franklin Carter). The Rat Race. Fantasy Publishing Co. Inc., 1950. First edition hardback, one of 1,200 hardback copies (per Chalker/Owings), a Fine- copy in the second state (gray boards, red titling, per Kemp) binding, with slight bend at head and heel in a Near Fine+ second state (per Kemp) dust jacket that’s slightly misaligned (about 1/4″ more on rear than front flap), slight wear at extremities, and some indentations along rear spine gutter. Chalker/Owings, The Science-Fantasy Publishers (1991), page 171. Kemp, The Anthem Series, page 79. Bought for $19 (including dealer discount), plus a $5 show credit coupon, at the Austin Book and Paper Show.

    Franklin Rat Race

  • Gaiman, Neil. Fragile Things. Headline Review, 2006. Short story collection. This UK edition precedes the US edition by a week.
  • Greenberg, Martin. Journey to Infinity. Gnome Press, 1951. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with a tiny bit of bend at head in a Fine- second state (30 titles) dust jacket with a few small traces of wear, and a few pinhead spots on the front cover, otherwise extremely bright and attractive. Chalker/Owings (1991), pages 198-199. Kemp, 204. Bought for $25 with buyer premium.

    Journey to Infinity

  • Greenberg, Martin. All About the Future. Gnome Press, 1954. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight dust soiling to page block edges and one small indention to very bottom of from board, in a near Fine- dust jacket with a 1″ closed triangular tear at bottom front along spine, a semi-closed 1/8″ tear at head, and shallow chipping at points. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 202. Kemp, 204. Note that Kemp calls for black boards with red lettering; my copy is gray boards with a reddish cloth spine with silver lettering, and Chalker/Owings doesn’t report on the binding state at all, which would theoretically make this a previously unrecorded binding variant. However, Gnome Press variant collector Steve Carper believe that this is in fact the primary binding state, and that Kemp got it wrong and the black boards/red lettering state is the variant. Bought for $20 with buyer premium.

    All About the Future

  • (Hitchcock, Alfred) Paul Condon and Jim Sangster. The Complete Hitchcock. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Bought for £5 from Cold Tonnage Books.
  • Knight, Damon, editor (Leon Stover, Gene Wolfe, R. A. Lafferty, etc.). Orbit 9. Putnam, 1971. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with a touch of edgewear at points in a Near Fine- dust jacket with slight edgewear and very slight darkening to white rear jacket. Inscribed by contributor Leon Stover: “For Robert & Virgina Heinlein/with thanks for/9 June 1984/Leon Stover.” Stover would not only later publish a critical book on Heinlein from Twayne, but was working on the official authorized biography of Heinlein before the latter’s death, a project cancelled after a falling out with Virginia Heinlein. Bought for $6.50 from Houston bookstore Kaboom Books.

    Orbit 9

    IMG_0583

  • Lansdale, Joe R. (Pete Von Sholly, illustrator). Christmas Monkeys. PS Publishing, 2015. First edition hardback, one of 300 copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and decorated boards, with bookmark signed by the author and artist laid in (as issued). Illustrated children’s book (for certain values of “children”).
  • Le Guin, Ursula K. The Unreal and the Real: Selected Stories of Ursula K. Leguin: Volume Two: Outer Space, Inner Lands. Small Beer Press, 2012.
  • (Lovecraft, H.P.) Eddy, Muriel, and C.M. Eddy, Jr. The Gentlemen from Angell Street: Memories of H. P. Lovecraft. First edition trade paperback original thus, containing additional material not in the 1961 edition, a Fine copy. Bought for £5 from Cold Tonnage Books.
  • Martin, George R. R., editor. Wild Cards VI: Ace in the Hole. Bantam, 1990. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy.
  • Martin, George R. R. and Melinda Snodgrass, editors. Lowball: A Wild Cards Novel. Tor, 2014.
  • McCarthy, Cormac. The Sunset Limited: A Novel in Dramatic Form. Dramatists Play Service, 2006. Play chapbook original, possibly a first printing (I’m not sure how you tell printings for Dramatists Play Service), a Near Fine+ copy with a bit of curl.
  • (Moore, Alan) Parkin, Lance. Magic Words: The Extraordinary Life of Alan Moore. Aurum, 2013. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in decorated boards with a purple band across the front cover, sans dust jacket, as issued. Non-fiction biography.
  • Newman, Kim. Moriarty: The Hound of the D’Urbervilles. Titan Books, 2011. Fine, signed by Newman. Bought for £5 from Cold Tonnage Books.
  • Niven, Larry. Protector. Ballantine Books, 1973. First edition (“First printing: September 1973,” as per Currey) paperback original, a Near Fine- copy with small number stamp at heel, one slight spine crease, and a tiny bit of spine lean.
  • Novik, Naomi. The Blood of Tyrants. Del Rey, 2013.
  • Pohl, Frederik. The Far Shore of Time. Tor, 1999. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by Pohl. Bought for $10 off Ebay.

    P1010030

  • Pohl, Frederik and C.M. Kornbluth. Wolfsbane. Ballantine Books, 1959. PBO first edition (as per Currey), Fine- with a touch of wear and 1/16″ tear at heel front cover join.
  • Pohl, Frederik and Jack Williamson. The Singers of Time. Doubleday Foundation, 1991. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with small wrinkle to top inner flap tip. Signed by Pohl. Bought off eBay for $4.00 plus shipping.

    IMG_0663

  • Rajaniemi, Hannu. Collected Fiction. Tachyon, 2015.
  • Simmons, Dan. The Fifth Heart. Subterranean Press, 2015 (actually 2016). First signed limited edition, #189 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase. Remember when Simmons’ Carrion Comfort was notably taller than just about every book published that year? This is slightly taller, which seems to increasingly be the form factor of choice for limited editions.
  • Swanwick, Michael, with Marianne Porter. Fallen Leaves. Dragonstairs Press, 2016. First edition hardback, number 17 of 20 signed, numbered copies (the only edition), a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued, with spine label affixed.

    Swanwick Leaves

    IMG_0622

  • Swanwick, Michael. 5 Seasons. Dragonstairs Press, 2016. First edition chapbook original, #69 of 100 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. Five one page stories about the seasons.

    5 Seasons

  • Tymn, Marshall B. American Fantasy and Science Fiction: Toward a Bibliography of Works Published in the United States, 1949—1973. Fax Collector’s Editions, 1979. Paperback original, a Very Good+ copy with spine creasing and wear along the spine. Though Tymn authored or co-authored a number of important reference works, this, an attempt to update Bleiler’s Checklist with modern works, limited only to those published in hardback, is generally not numbered among them, as it was largely superseded by Currey and Reginald the same year of publication. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 178, are not kind: “Alas, it’s useless, one of the most worthless pieces of bibliography in the past 20 years or so.” There was a hardback, but Chalker/Ownings says it was just attaching a premade casing to the paperback. Not in Keith L. Justice’s Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Reference. Bought for £5 from Cold Tonnage Books.
  • Vance, Jack. Cugal’s Saga. Timescape, 1983. First edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Third book in the Dying Earth series (or fourth, if you count Michael Shea’s A Quest for Simbilis). Hewett, A71. Preceded the Underwood/Miller limited edition by six months.
  • Vance, Jack. The Houses of Iszm Underwood/Miller, 1983. First hardback edition, one of 482 trade copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Hewett, A12h.
  • Wake, Paul, Steve Andrews and Ariel (yes, just “Ariel,” no last name; I can only assume it’s edited by the mermaid from that Disney movie). Waterstone’s Guide to Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror. Waterstone Guides, 1998. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. There are some good contributors in here (like John Clute), but the author entries are distributed somewhat randomly. Waterstone’s is a UK bookstore chain, and I imagine these are pretty common on the other side of the pond. Here? Not so much. Bought for £5 from Cold Tonnage Books.
  • Wandrei, Donald. Don’t Dream: The Collected Horror and Fantasy Fiction of Donald Wandrei. Fedogan & Breamer, 1997. Bought for $12.50 at Half Price Books with a 50% off coupon (cover price is $29).
  • Library Additions: Two Jack Vance Books

    Thursday, March 3rd, 2016

    I bought a lot of Jack Vance books from an Australian book auction. I’ll be selling the rest of the books from the lot in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, but here are the two books from the lot that are going in my own library:

  • Vance, Jack. Cugal’s Saga. Timescape, 1983. First edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Third book in the Dying Earth series (or fourth, if you count Michael Shea’s A Quest for Simbilis). Hewett, A71. Preceded the Underwood/Miller limited edition by six months.
  • Vance, Jack. The Houses of Iszm. Underwood/Miller, 1983. First hardback edition, one of 482 trade copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Hewett, A12h.
  • Library Addition: Signed First Edition of Jack Vance’s The Dragon Masters

    Wednesday, July 15th, 2015

    Picked up the hardback first edition of one of my favorite Jack Vance works.

    Vance, Jack. The Dragon Masters. Dennis Dobson, 1965. First hardback edition, a Fine- copy with usual page darkening, in a Fine, bright, unclipped dust jacket. Signed by Vance. Bought for $120 from L. W. Currey.

    Dragon Masters

    Library Additions: July 1—December 31, 2014

    Monday, January 5th, 2015

    Here’s the comprehensive roundup of all the books I’ve added to my professional library between July 1, 2014 and December 31, 2014. Some of these I’ve blogged about before, but not all of them. All books are Fine/Fine first edition hardbacks, unless otherwise marked.

  • Allston, Aaron. Doc Sidhe. Baen, 1995. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine+ copy with one non-breaking spine crease. Inscribed by Allston: “To Paul:/Aaron Alston/ 6/30/96”. This would likely have been signed at the New Orleans Science Fiction and Fantasy Festival, where Aaron was a guest that weekend. Replaces a less attractive signed copy.
  • Allston, Aaron. Galatea in 2-D. Baen, 1993. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with moderate foxing to inside covers.
  • (Alternate Classics of Filmdom) Mareth, Glenville. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. Alternate Histories, 2014. First edition small trim sized chapbook, a Fine copy, new and unread. Transcribed script for the movie Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.
  • (Alternate Classics of Filmdom) Warren, Harold P. “Manos” The Hands of Fate. Alternate Histories, 2014. First edition small trim sized chapbook, a Fine copy, new and unread. Transcribed script for the movie Manos: The Hands of Fate.
  • (Alternate Classics of Filmdom) Wood, Edward D. Plan 9 From Outer Space. Alternate Histories, 2014. First edition small trim sized chapbook, a Fine copy, new and unread. Transcribed script for the movie Plan 9 From Outer Space.

    Manos Plan 9 Santa

  • Anthony, Piers. Bio of A Space Tyrant 1: Refuge. Gregg Press, 1985. First hardcover edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust.
  • Anthony, Piers. Bio of A Space Tyrant 2: Mercenary. Gregg Press, 1985. First hardcover edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket.
  • Anthony, Piers. Bio of A Space Tyrant 3: Politician. Gregg Press, 1985. First hardcover edition, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with edgewear at head.
  • Asimov, Isaac. In Joy Still Felt. Doubleday, 1980. First edition hardback, a near Fine copy with light spotting to lower page block edge, in a Fine- dust jacket with a trace of edgewear at head and heel (the price is also marked out in ink, but I believe that will lift off with repeated treatment with Bestine). The second volume of Asimov’s two-part autobiography, covering 1954 to 1978.
  • Asprin, Robert and Jody Lynn Nye. Myth-Told Tales. Meisha Merlin, 2003. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy, signed to a Jennifer by both authors on August 31, 2003 (when I believe they attended Dragoncon). I haven’t read Asprin’s work in quite a while, but this was only $3 at Half Price Books.

    Myth Told Tales

  • Aylett, Steve (with Michael Moorcock). Rebel at the End of Time. PS publishing, 2011. First edition hardback, an unnumbered version of the 100 numbered copy state signed by Aylett, a Fine copy. Stories set in Michael Moorcock’s Dancers at the End of Time setting, with an additional story by Moorcock. Bought for $9.99 at Half Price Books. (List price is £24.99.)
  • Bacigalupi, Paolo. Zombie Baseball Beatdown. Subterranean Press, 2014. Number 331 of 500 signed, numbered copies.
  • Ballard, J. G. The Terminal Beach. Gollancz, 1964. First hardback edition, an ex-library copy with all the usual flaws, including dust jacketed taped to boards, pocket removal, tape stain bleed-through on first two and last two pages, front hinge starting. considerable wear at head and heel; call it a Good+ Ex_library copy in a Very Good- attached dust jacket. Important early Ballard collection. Bought for about $64 (depending on exchange right fluctuations) off eBay. Currey, 1979, page 23. Goddard & Pringle, Ballard: The First Twenty Years, page 85 (counting from the last numbered page, since the bibliography section is, irritatingly, unnumbered).
  • Banks, Iain. The Steep Approach to Garbadale. Little/Brown, 2007. First edition hardback, a limited edition of 1000 numbered copies signed by Banks distributed through the Waterstone’s bookstore chain, a Fine copy in a Fine slipcase, sans dust jacket as issued. Supplements a trade copy.

    P1000915

  • (Banks, Iain) Novacon 25 Special. Novacon 25, 1995. First edition center-stapled chapbook original, a Fine copy. Features work by Banks, Brain Aldiss, Harry Harrison and Bob Shaw.
  • Bass, Thomas A. The Eudaemonic Pie. Houghton Mifflin, 1985. First edition hardback, a near Fine copy with slight bending at head and heel and a faint 3″ blackish line on top front boards, in a near Fine dust jacket with several tears at the edges and edgewear, with errata slip laid in. Non-fiction about building a shoe computer to roulette tables in Las Vegas.
  • Bear, Greg. Halo: Primordium: The Forerunner Saga Book Two. Tor, 2012. Media tie-in.
  • Benford, Gregory and Gordon Eklund. Find the Changeling. Dell, 1980. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine+ copy with edgewear, faint creasing along front and rear joins, and trace of foxing to inside covers.
  • Blaylock, James P. The Adventure of the Ring of Stones. Subterranean Press, 2014. Number 196 of 1,000 signed, numbered copies.
  • Bova, Ben. Viewpoint. NESFA Press, 1977. First edition hardback, #126 of 800 signed, numbered hardbacks, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought from Currey for $10.
  • Bradbury, Ray. The Collected Stories of Ray Bradbury: A Critical Edition: Volume I: 1938-1943. Kent State University Press, 2010. Bought at Half Price Books for just under $15, a considerable discount off the list price of $65.
  • Bradbury, Ray. A Graveyard for Lunatics. Knopf, 1990. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by Bradbury. Bought for $19.99 off eBay.

    Bradbury Grave Signature

  • Bradbury, Ray. Old Ahab’s Friend, and Friend to Noah, Speaks His Piece. Roy A. Squires, 1971. First edition thread-bound chapbook original, #152 of 485 copies, a Fine copy.

    Bradbury Old Ahab

  • Bradbury, Ray. That Ghost, That Bride of Time. Roy A. Squires, 1976. First edition thread-bound chapbook original, #289 of 400 copies, a Fine copy, in mailing envelope. (You can’t see from the scan, but the title is just barely visible through the slightly translucent paper wrapper.)

    Bradbury That Ghost

  • Bradbury, Ray. That Son of Richard III. Roy A. Squires, 1974. First edition thread-bound chapbook original, #164 of 400 “ordinary” copies, a Fine copy, in mailing envelope. With small typed note from the publisher laid in: “Send No Money, Rik. We’ll get squared away at Westercon.” and “RAS” signature.

    Bradbury Son Richard III

  • (Bradbury, Ray) Sam Well and Mort Castle, editors. Shadow Show: Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury. Borderlands Press/Gauntlet Press, 2012. First edition hardback, #425 of 500 signed and numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and slipcase, new and unread. Anthology featuring work by Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill, Margaret Atwood, Harlan Ellison, David Morrell, etc. Paid cover price ($75), but the slipcase (usually an additional $25) was included for free.
  • Briggs, Joe Bob. Joe Bob Goes to the Drive-In. Delecorte, 1987. Presumed first edition paperback original (no additional printings listed), a Fine- copy with a few tiny touches of wear. Non-fiction collection of humorous film criticism. Introduction by Stephen King.
  • Brooks, Max. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. Crown, 2006. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket. Bought for $12 at Quarter-Price Books in Houston, which is conveniently close to Joel’s Classical Shop.
  • Buckley, William F. Marco Polo, If You Can. Doubleday, 1982. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bending at head and heel in a Very Good price-clipped and spine-faded dust jacket with shallow chipping at head. Inscribed by the author: “For Roger Birk/Warm regards/Wm. F. Buckley, Jr.” Blackford Oakes spy thriller. Bought for $5.99 at Half Price Books; I only checked it because it had a Mylar dust jacket protector on it. Actually the second signed Buckley I have, along with the copy of Right Reason he signed for me my senior year in college.
  • Bull, Emma. Finder. Tor, 1994.
  • (Card, Orson Scott). Collings, Michael. Storyteller: Official guide to the World of Orson Scott Card. Overlook Connection, 2001. Non-fiction. List price is $50; bought for $15 off eBay.
  • Carius, Otto. Tigers in the Mud: The Combat Career of German Panzer Commander Otto Carius. Stackpole Books, 2005. trade paperback reprint. Sent to me by my friend Nick Austin after learning of my interest in armored warfare. Thanks, Nick!
  • Clareson, Thomas D. (editor). Voices for the Future Volume Two. Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1979. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in Fine dust jacket. Reference work of essays on science fiction writers, including Robert Silverberg, Philip Jose Farmer, Walter M. Miller, Jr., J. G. Ballard, John Brunner, Mack Reynolds, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Roger Zelazny. Tymn, The Science Fiction Reference Book, page 75. Bought for $10.

    Voices Future 2

  • Clareson, Thomas D. and Thomas L. Wymer (editors). Voices for the Future Volume Three. Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1984. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in Fine dust jacket, with review slip laid in. Reference work of essays on science fiction writers, including Gene Wolfe, Damon Knight, Cordwainer Smith, Mervyn Peake, Frederik Pohl, C. S. Lewis, Samuel R. Delany and Thomas M. Disch. (No picture because the cover is identical to Volume 2 except for the editors names and saying Volume Three.) Bought for $10.
  • Clement, Hal. Half Life. Tor, 1999. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by Clement: “”Hal Clement” (Harry C. Stubbs)”. Bought for $19 from an eBay seller.
  • Cowper, Richard. The Unhappy Princess with The Missing Heart. Cheap Street, 1982. First edition chapbook originals, #54 of 75 slipcased copies, Fine copies in a Fine slipcase. Chalker & Owings, 1991, page 106. Note: I store my slipcased chapbooks with the hardbacks. Bought from L. W. Currey for $10.

    Cowper Unhappy Missing

  • Crowther, Pete and Nick Gevers, editors. Postscripts 24/25: The New and Perfect Man. PS Publishing, 2011. First edition hardback, trade state, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Since I have a story in here, I already have one traycased copy of the signed state, so this will go downstairs with the rest of the Postscripts run. Bought for $14.99 at Half Price Books (list price is £30).
  • (De Camp, L. Sprague) Laughlin, Charlotte and Daniel J. H. Levack. De Camp: An L. Sprague De Camp Bibliography. Underwood/Miller, 1983. First edition hardback, one of 200 copies signed by De Camp and others, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Supplements a copy of the trade edition. Bought from Currey for $10.
  • de la Ree, Gerry. Fantasy Collectors Annual—1974. Gerry de la Ree, 1974. First edition hardback, #78 of 80 signed, hardbound copies, a Fine- copy with a tiny bit of bumping at head and heel, sans dust jacket, as issued. Odd miscellanea of SF/F/H-related items, including facsimiles of various SF author’s inscriptions, an unpublished letter from H. P. Lovecraft to Virgil Finlay, the text of an unpublished letter from Edgar Allen Poe (that may be a forgery), black and white artwork from Finlay, Stephen Fabian and Malhon Blaine (if that third name isn’t as well known as the first two, well, there’s a reason for that…), etc. De la Ree was an important publisher, book dealer and collector. In his introduction, he said he wanted to do one of these every year. According to Chalker/Owings, there was one more in 1975.

    fantasy Annual

  • Dick, Philip K. The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick Volume 5: We Can Remember It For You Wholesale. Subterranean Press, 2014.
  • Dick, Philip K. Four Novels of the 1960s. The Library of America, 2007. First edition hardback, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, in slipcase, as issued. Library of America produces these jacketless, slipcased editions of their books for subscribers, and the jacketed version (which I also have) for retail. I am unclear as to whether there is any precedence between the two states. Bought for $8 from Half Price Books.

    P1000943

  • (Dick, Philip K.) Levack, Daniel J. H. PKD: A Philip K. Dick Bibliography. Underwood/Miller, 1981. First edition hardback, one of 200 copies signed by Dick, Levack and annotator Steven Owen Godersky. A Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Bought for $299 off eBay at the Buy-It-Now price, which is less than half what it usually lists for.

    PKD Bib signed

    Dick Bib Signatures

  • Di Filippo, Paul. Wikiworld. Chizine Publications, 2013. First edition trade paperback original, Fine. Short story collection.
  • Dozois, Gardner. The Peacemaker. Pulphouse, 1991. First edition hardback, #97 of 100 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Part of the short story hardback line, which was in turn a simultaneous extension of their short story paperback line. I thought at the time (and still think) that this was a stupid idea, that $1.95 for a single short story (the price point for the paperback) was a bad idea, and that this was symptomatic of the wild overproduction that help killed Pulphouse off. But I have been picking up the short story hardback for writers I collect when I stumble across them cheaply.

    Peacemaker

  • Dozois, Gardner. The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-First Annual Collection St. Martin’s, 2014.
  • Durbin, Frederic S. Dragonfly. Arkham House, 1999. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Just for a complete Arkham House collection. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House, 191.
  • Ebert, Roger. A Horrible Experience of Unbearable Length. Andrews McMeel, 2012. Trade paperback original, Fine. Non-fiction collection of scathing movie reviews.
  • Ellison, Harlan. The Fantasies of Harlan Ellison. Gregg Press, 1979. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with boards just a tiny bit bowed and a few traces of dust soiling to page blocked edges, sans dust jacket, as issued. Inscribed by Ellison: “To Dane! Harlan Ellison”.
  • Fabian, Stephen. Women & Wonders. Charles F. Miller, 1995. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, still in shrink wrap.
  • Farmer, Philip Jose. Down in the Black Gang. Signet, 1971. First paperback edition (Currey says the SFBC hardback, which I also have, precedes), a Very Good+ copy with faint spine creasing, very slight spine lean, edgewear, and darkening to pages. Inscribed by Farmer to Bruce Sterling. Picked up for $12 at Half Price Books.

    Black Gang

    Black Gang Sig

  • Finlay, Virgil. An Astrology Sketch Book. Donald M. Grant, 1975. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought for $10 which is, iddly enough, the actual cover price…

    Finlay Astrology

  • Finlay, Virgil. Finlay’s Illustrations for Weird Tales. Showcase Art Productions, 1976. First edition art portfolio of 9 illustrations (one in color) in a cardstock cover, a Fine copy.

    Finlay Weird Tales 1

  • Ford, John M. Growing Up Weightless. Easton Press, 1993. First hardback edition, one of an undetermined number of signed subscriber copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued, in decorated leather boards. Bought from Half Price Books for $35.

    Growing Up Weightless

  • Gaiman, Neil. The Sleeper and the Spindle. Morrow/Harper Collins, 2014. First separate edition hardback (it appeared in an anthology in 2013), a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Chapbook on the Sleeping beauty theme, only available through California bookstores on California Book Day (May 3, 2014).

    Gaiman Sleeper Spindle

  • Gibson, William. The Peripheral. Putnam, 2014. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed to me by Gibson at BookPeople on November 2, 2014: “TO LAWRENCE/WM GIBSON”. Near-future SF that sounds interesting. About a hundred people turned out for the Gibson signing, which is the second biggest crowd I’d seen there next to Neil Gaiman’s signing for Anansi Boys. I’ll have several signed William Gibson items available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
  • Haldeman, Joe, editor. Study War No More. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with crease to FFE and a BB-sized outward bump (probably a binding flaw) near top of spine, in a Near Fine+ slightly spine-faded dust jacket. Signed by Haldeman and contributors Harlan Ellison, Poul Anderson and George Alec Effinger. Anthology. Bought off eBay for $24.99.

    Study War

  • Hall, Hal W., editor. Science Fiction and Fantasy Reference Index, 1878-1985: Volume 1: Author Entries and Science Fiction and Fantasy Reference Index, 1878-1985: Volume 2: Subject Entries. Gale Research Company, 1987. First edition hardbacks, Very Good+ in decorated boards with bumping to extremities, slight wear at heel, and slight crease to second volume’s spine, sans dust jackets, as issued. Two large science fiction reference works. Massive two-volume reference index to non-fiction critical articles, reviews, books, etc. covering science fiction and fantasy. Hall was the long-time director of the Science Fiction collection at the Texas A&M Cushing Library, which has amassed a massive and impressive collection.

    P1000894

  • Heinlein, Robert A. (David Hartwell, editor). Destination Moon. Gregg Press, 1979. First edition hardback, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Includes the novella “Destination Moon,” “Shooting Destination Moon“, numerous reproduced newspaper clippings on the movie, photo stills from the movie, and a new introduction by David Hartwell, who edited the volume.

    Gregg Ellison Heinlein

  • Hodgson, William Hope. The House on the Borderland and Other Novels. First edition hardback, a Very Good+ copy with bumping at corners, small dust print at bottom page block outer edge, and faint foxing to gutters, in a Very Good+ dust jacket with 1/16″ chip at heel, wear at points (including a pinhead hole at lower front edge), and extremely mild sun-fading to the spine; it’s actually a wonderfully bright example of the Hannes Bok dust jacket, and the only better copies I’ve seen were at least three times the price. Includes the title novel, plus The Boats of the ‘Glen Carrig’, The Ghost Pirates, and The Night Land, all of which were previously published individually (and first editions of which all of which now go for well over a grand). One of the four large-format Arkhams, the other being H.P. Lovecraft’s The Outsider and Others and Beyond the Wall of Sleep, and Robert E. Howard’s Skull-Face and Others, all three of which I still lack. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House, 16. Derleth, 30 Years of Arkham House, 16. Jaffrey, Horrors and Unpleasantries, 19. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide, 16. Blieler, Checklist of Science-Fiction and Supernatural Fiction (1978), page 101. Blieler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction, 821. Bought for £220 plus shipping off eBay.

    House Borderland Arkham

    IMG_0287

  • Jeter, K.W. Fiendish Schemes. Tor, 2013. A sequel to Infernal Devices.
  • Joyce, Graham. Some Kind of Fairy Tale. Gollancz, 2012. One of 1,500 first edition copies signed by the author.
  • Kennedy, Leigh. Wind Angels. PS Publishing, 2011. First edition hardback, an unnumbered copy of 100 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Supplements the trade edition. Bought for $20 at Half Price Books.
  • King, Stephen. The Dark Half. Hodder & Stoughton, 1989. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Precedes the American edition.
  • (King, Stephen) Collings, Michael. Stephen King as Richard Bachman. Starmont House, 1985. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in decorated boards (the covers from the trade paperback attached to the front cover). Reference work.

    King as Bachman

  • (King, Stephen) Reino, Joseph. Stephen King: The First Decade, Carrie to Pet Sematary. G. K. Hall, 1988. No dust jacket, as issued. Non-fiction.
  • Knight, Damon. Why Do Birds Tor, 1992. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by Knight: “for Mark/Damon Knight”. With review slip laid in. Bought for $12.50 from an eBay seller.
  • Lafferty, R. A. Horns On Their Heads. Pendragon Press, 1976. First edition hardback, #Q of 50 signed hardback copies, a Near Fine copy with 1/2″ inch of darkening around the top and outer edge of the rear panel, and darkening to spine, sans dust jacket, as issued.

    Lafferty Horns

  • Langford, David. Irrational Numbers. Necronomicon Press, 1994. First edition chapbook original, a Fine copy. Got this inscribed to me by David at the London Worldcon.
  • Lake, Jay. Pinion. Tor, 2010. Third in the Clockwork Earth sequence.
  • Lansdale, Joe R. Black Hat Jack. Subterranean Press, 2014. Number 114 of 350 signed, numbered leatherbound copies in a different dust jacket.
  • Lansdale, Joe R. Black Hat Jack. Subterranean Press, 2014. Trade edition.
  • Leiber, Fritz. The Leiber Chronicles. Dark Harvest, 1990. First edition hardback, #7 of 500 signed, numbered hardbacks, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine slipcase. Bought for $38 off eBay, which is roughly half the original publication price of $65.
  • Lethem, Jonathan. Dissident Gardens. Doubleday, 2013. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with just a trace of crimping at heel. Signed by Lethem. Bought from Half Price Books for $13.99
  • (LonCon3) LonCon3 Program Book and LonCon3 Pocket Programme Guide. LonCon3, 2014. Given out as part of membership for the 2014 London Worldcon. I hadn’t previously been cataloging things like this, but I probably should…
  • (Lovecraft, H.P.) Brennan, Joseph Payne. A Select Bibliography of H. P. Lovecraft. Self-published, 1952. First edition chapbook, a Fine- copy with a tiny bit of wrinkling. Joshi, Lovecraft Bibliography, III-B-8. Bought for $10.

    Brennan Lovecraft Bib

  • (Lovecraft, H.P.) Derie, Bobby. Sex and the Cthulhu Mythos. Hippocampus Press, 2014. First edition trade paperback original, Fine. Gahan Wilson cover. Non-fiction work examining sexual themes in a wide variety of Cthulhu Mythos-related work.
  • (Lovecraft, H.P.) Faig, Kenneth W. The Parents of Howard Philip Lovecraft. Necronomicon Press, 1990. First edition chapbook original, a Fine copy, signed on the inside front cover by Faig. Non-fiction.
  • (Lovecraft, H.P.) Joshi, S. T. Lovecraft and a World in Transition. Hippocampus Press, 2014. First edition hardback, one of 500 copies signed by Joshi (the only edition), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Collection of Joshi’s most important essays on Lovecraft (of which there have been many).
  • (Lovecraft, H.P.) Squires, Richard D. Stern fathers ‘neath the mould: The Lovecraft Family in Rochester. Necronomicon Press, 1995. First edition chapbook original, a Fine copy. Non-fiction. This and The Parents of Howard Philip Lovecraft bought for $28.29 off eBay.
  • (Lovecraft, H.P.) Wetzel, George (editor). Commentaries: Volume VI The Lovecraft Collector’s Library. SSR Publications, 1955. First edition oversized side-stapled mimeographed paperback, #46 of 75 copies, a Near Fine, age-darkened copy. Joshi, Lovecraft Bibliography, III-C-27. Tymn Schlobin Currey, 295. Bought for $25.

    Lovecraft Commentaries

  • Martin, George R. R., editor. Fort Freak. Tor, 2011.
  • McDonald, Ian. Planesrunner. Pyr, 2011. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Inscribed to me by McDonald.
  • McDonald, Ian. Be My Enemy. Pyr, 2012. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Inscribed to me by McDonald. Second in the Everness series.
  • McDonald, Ian. Empress of the Sun. Pyr, 2014. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Inscribed to me by McDonald. Third in the Everness series.
  • Mieville, China. The Apology Chapbook. China Mieville/World fantasy Convention, 2013. First edition chapbook original, a Fine copy, new and unread. Issued in lieu of Mieville being able to make his scheduled Guest of Honor appearance at the 2013 World fantasy Convention in Brighton.
  • Moorcock, Michael (as Edward P. Bradbury). Barbarians of Mars. Compact, 1965. First edition paperback original, a Very Good copy with spine creasing and general wear. Really only bought it for the additional 15% discount coupon to kick in for a web bookseller; it was the cheapest book they had in science fiction, but it’s one I can actually use! Tanalorn Archives, page 7. Currey (1979), page 368.
  • Moorcock, Michael. The End of All Songs. Harper & Row, 1976. First edition hardback (with the author’s name misspelled “Moorock” on the spine, as per Currey), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Third book in the Dancers at the End of Time trilogy. Currey (1979), page 370.
  • Moorcock, Michael. The Golden Barge. New English Library, 1983. First hardback edition (preceded by a trade paperback original), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket.
  • Moorcock, Michael. The Stealer of Souls. Neville Spearman, 1963. First edition hardback, a Fine- first state (orange binding with black lettering) copy with publisher stamp for “Wehman Bros./Publishers/138 Main Street/Hackensack, N.J.” on title page, and some slight bend at head and heel, in a Very Good-, price-clipped dust jacket with $3.00 stamp above price clip, rubbing and shallow chipping and wear at extremities. Though I usually look for books in better condition than this (at least for this era), this, Stormbringer and Sword of the Dawn were too cheap to pass up. Tanalorn Archive, page 32. Currey (1979), page 373.

    Stealer of Souls

  • Moorcock, Michael. Stormbringer. Herbert Jenkins, 1965. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with “Wehman Bros./Publishers/138 Main Street/Hackensack, N.J.” stamp on title page, and slight bend at head and heel, in a Very Good, price-clipped dust jacket with sticker pull just over the price clip, rubbing and shallow chipping at extremities. Tanalorn Archive, page 32. Currey (1979), page 373.

    Stormbringer

  • Moorcock, Michael. The Sword of the Dawn. White Lion, 1973. First hardback edition, a Fine- copy with a tiny bit of bend at head and heel in a Near Fine dust jacket with slight rubbing. Tanalorn Archive, page 34. Currey (1979), page 373.

    Sword of the Dawn

  • Moorcock, Michael, and Philip James. The Distant Suns. Unicorn SF, 1975. First edition trade paperback original (perfect-bound comic book format), a Fine- copy with slightly yellowed pages. Currey (1979), page 369.

    Distant Suns

  • (Moore, Alan) Millidge, Gary Spencer. Alan Moore: Storyteller. Ilex, 2011. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a trace of surface wear. Lavishly illustrated book on Moore’s career. Includes a CD of Moore’s “songs, readings and performances.” Bought from Brad Foster at Armadillocon for (IIRC) $16.
  • Morgenstern, Erin. The Night Circus. Doubleday, 2011. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by the author. Fantasy, a first novel that got a lot of positive buzz. Bought for $27 (including buyer’s premium) off Heritage Auctions.
  • Newman, Kim and Ian Freer. The First Empire Movie Almanac. Empire magazine, no date (but 1988). First edition trade paperback original, a Fine- copy with slight waviness to pages due to glue bunching (probably a binding flaw common to the run). Signed by Newman. Freely distributed subscriber extra from Empire magazine (the British film magazine, not the American SF writing magazine), a non-fiction miscellanea of lists and movie trivia. It’s also an example of why the Internet isn’t an acceptable substitute for book scouting, since I had no idea this existed until I came across it in the Cold Tonnage stacks…

    Empire Movie Guide

  • Niffenegger, Audrey. The Time Traveler’s Wife. MacAdam/Cage, 2003. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought for $20 at Half Price Books. Replaces a less perfect copy.

    Time Traveler's Wife

  • Niven, Larry, and Jerry Pournelle. Oath of Fealty. Timescape, 1981. First trade edition, preceded by the Phantasia Press limited edition (which I also have), a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with just a trace of wear. Pringle SF 100 list.
  • Noon, Jeff. Vurt. Crown, 1993. First hardback and first American edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by Noon: “To Shirley/Good Feathers/Jeff Noon” (with a drawing of a feather). Supplements an unsigned edition.

    Jeff noon Sig

  • O’Sullivan, Kevin M. editor. The Great War: A World War I Exhibit Featuring the Aggie Experience. Texas A&M University Libraries, no date (but 2014). Trade paperback original first edition, a Fine copy. Exhibit catalog highlighting World War I material held by Texas A&M University libraries. Picked up for free from library representatives at Armadillocon.
  • Parnell, Frank H. (with Mike Ashley). Monthly Terrors: An Index to the Weird Fantasy Magazines Published in the United States and Great Britain. Greenwood Press, 1985. First edition hardback, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued, with review slip laid in. Bought off Lloyd Currey for $22.50.
  • Pohl, Frederik, and Jack Williamson. Land’s End. Tor, 1988. First edition hardback, a Very Good+ copy with slight crease to spine, slight bend at head and heel, and a trace of lean, in a Near Fine- dust jacket with 1″ x 1/8″ crease at top dj rear and wear at extremity points. Inscribed by both authors: [In Williamson’s hand] “For/Debbie/with the very best/Jack Williamson/[in Pohl’s hand] and/Fred Pohl.” Bought for $20 off eBay.

    Land's End Sig

  • Powers, Tim. Appointment on Sunset. Charnel House, 2014. First edition hardback, #115 of 250 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued, with signed and numbered toe-tag affixed to the front cover.

    Powers Sunset

  • Powers, Tim. Nobody’s Home. Subterranean Press, 2014. Trade edition. Anubis Gates story.
  • Purdom, Tom. Reentry and other thoughts on Science Fiction. Dragonstair Press, 2014. First edition chapbook, a Fine- copy with slight crease to left edge. Non-fiction essays on science fiction.
  • Rand, Ayn. Atlas Shrugged. Random House, 1957. First edition hardback (“First Printing” stated), a Fine- copy with just a tiny bit of bend at head and a tiny bit of pulling away of just the center of the top page block, and a tiny dust print at the outer bottom near page block edge, in a Very Good- first printing ($6.95 price and 10/57 code on front flap) dust jacket with shallow chipping at extremities (most notable at head and heel, perhaps 1/8″ at front and rear spine join points) and associated abrading, and blind-side age darkening, but otherwise an intact and fairly attractive example of the dust jacket. With clipping of a letter from Rand from the March 21, 1960 issue of Time magazine laid in. Bought for $270 from Half Price Books during a coupon sale, marked down from $450.

    Atlas Shrugged

  • Russ, Joanna. We Who Are About To…. Gregg Press, 1978. First hardback edition, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Bought for $20 off eBay.
  • Samuelson, Todd, editor. One Hundred Years Hence: Science Fiction & Fantasy at Texas A&M. Texas A&M University Libraries, 2010. Trade paperback original first edition, a Fine copy. Exhibit catalog highlighting the science fiction holdings at the Cushing Memorial Library at Texas A&M University. Picked up for free from library representatives at Armadillocon.
  • “Sarban” (pseudonym for John William Wall). The Sound of His Horn. Peter Davies Ltd., 1952. First edition hardback, a Very Good copy with some wear at head and heel, front free endpaper missing, and an inked name on half-title page, in a Very Good- dust jacket with shallow staining to head and heel, dust soiling to white rear panel, and two small blue ink spots to front flap. Actually a fairly attractive copy of this alternate history set after the Nazis win World War II. Pringle, Modern Fantasy, 12. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, page 189.

    Sound of His Horn

  • Schow, David J. Internecine. Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press, 2010.
  • Schow, David J. A Little Aqua Book of Creature Tails. Borderlands Press, 2014. First edition hardback, number 136 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued.
  • Sheckley, Robert. The Robot Who Looked Like Me. Sphere, 1978. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine+ copy with edgewear and a few slightly dog-eared pages. Short story collection. Not in Currey (though it should have just made it in based on the publication date), but the ISFDB says the Sphere edition precedes the Bantam edition by four years.

    Sheckley Robot Who

  • Shepard, Lucius. Beautiful Blood. Subterranean Press, 2014. Number 191 of 1,000, unsigned (due to Shepard’s death) copies.
  • Silverberg, Robert. Blood on the Mink. Hard Case Crime, 2012. First edition trade paperback original, Fine. reprints a Silverberg crime novel published in the pulps, plus two additional stories and a new afterword.
  • Simmons, Dan. Flashback. Reagan Arthur/Little Brown, 2011.
  • Smith, Clark Ashton. The Immortals of Mercury. Stellar Publishing Corporation, 1932. First edition chapbook original, Very Good only, more browned than usual. Probably the most expensive of all the Stellar series, as it frequently lists for over $100. Bought for $29.99 off eBay. For more on the Stellar series, see here.

    CAS Immortals Mercury

  • Stephenson, Neal. Some Remarks. Morrow, 2012. Non-fiction.
  • Sterling, Bruce, editor. Twelve Tomorrows: MIT Technology Review SF Annual • 2014. Technology Review, Inc., 2014. First edition trade paperback original, Fine. Bruce had extras at October’s Turkey City Writer’s Workshop.
  • Strahan, Jonathan. The Best Science Fiction of the Year Volume Two. Night Shade Press, 2008. First edition trade paperback original, a Near Fine copy with a slight bend top top rear corner (bumped it carrying it around). Got this copy signed by Ted Chiang at Armadillocon.
  • Strahan, Jonathan. The Best Science Fiction of the Year Volume Three. Night Shade Press, 2009. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Got this copy signed by Ted Chiang at Armadillocon.
  • Strahan, Jonathan. The Best Science Fiction of the Year Volume Four. Night Shade Press, 2010. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy.
  • Stross, Charles. Equiod. Subterranean Press, 2014. Number 188 of 350 signed, numbered copies. Laundry novella.
  • Stross, Charles. Equiod. Subterranean Press, 2014. Trade edition.
  • Stross, Charles. Neptune’s Brood. Ace, 2013. Bought from Half Price Books for $9.99.
  • Stross, Charles. The Rhesus Chart Ace, 2014. Laundry novel.
  • Swanwick, Michael. The Dragons of Babel. Tor, 2007.
  • Swanwick, Michael. American Cigarettes. Dragonstairs Press, 2011. First edition chapbook, a slender 8 pages (including self wrappers), #85 of 100 signed, numbered copies, Fine, with advert for Dancing With Bears laid in.
  • Swanwick, Michael. The Nature of Mirrors. Dragonstairs Press, 2011. First edition chapbook, a slender 12 pages (including self wrappers and two blanks), #67 of 100 signed, numbered copies, Fine.
  • Swanwick, Michael. Song of the Lorelei. Dragonstair Press, 2011. First edition chapbook, a slender 8 pages (including self wrappers), #88 of 100 signed, numbered copies, Fine.

    Swanwick Chapbooks 100814

  • Swanwick, Michael. Solstice Fire. Dragonstairs Press, 2013. First edition side-sewn chapbook original, #42 of 100 signed numbered copies, a Fine copy.

    Solstice Fire

  • Teitler, Stuart A. By the World Forgot. Privately printed (Ferret Fantasy), 2014. First edition trade paperback original, one of 50 numbered copies (this one inscribed to me by compiler George Locke, noting he hadn’t gotten around to numbering them yet), a Near Fine copy with slight creasing near the spine (a result of carrying it around in my carry-on luggage). A 130 page (plus a catalog at the back) annotated bibliographic compendium of lost race fiction compiled by Teitler, a noted American book scout and lost race collector. Probably destined to become the definitive book on the subject.

    By the World Forgot

  • Teitler, Stuart A., George Locke and Others. By the Book World Remembered. Privately printed (Ferret Fantasy), 2014. First edition trade paperback original, one of 50 numbered copies (this one also inscribed to me by compiler George Locke, but not yet numbered), a Fine copy. Another non-fiction reference book, 146 pages, something of a memorial to Teitler, told largely in epistolary format, of the friendship between the two, covering book hunting, finer points of lost race bibliographic information, catalog and collection listings, etc. If you’re a hardcore book geek, you’ll love this stuff; if you’re not, it will probably leave you cold.

    By Book World Remembered

  • Tuttle, Lisa. A Spaceship Built of Stone and Other Stories. The Women’s Press, 1987. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy, new and unread. Inscribed to me by the author: “For Lawrence/A spaceship built of stone/should not fall apart. I/hope this one lasts/All the best/Lisa Tuttle/20 Aug 2014”. (An additional personal postcard to me is laid in as well.) Sent to me by the author. The story is that I found a less perfect copy of this book at an Oxfam shop for £1.50, and bought it with the intention of having Lisa sign it at Worldcon. However, when I did so, the first leaf of the book fell out! At which point Lisa said she’d mail me a copy…
  • Vance, Jack. The Worlds of Jack Vance. Ace Books, 1973. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy. Currey, page 501. Hewett, A44.
  • (Wagner, Karl Edward) Szumskyj, Benjamin, editor. Black Prometheus: A Critical Study of Karl Edward Wagner. Gothic Press, 2006. First edition chapbook original, Fine in center-stapled wraps. Non-fiction. Missed this when it came out.
  • Walton, Evangeline. Witch House. Arkham House, 1945. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House, 11. Derleth, 30 Years of Arkham House, 11. Jaffrey, Horrors and Unpleasantries, 11. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide, 11. Blieler, Checklist of Science-Fiction and Supernatural Fiction (1978), page 202. Blieler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction, 1655. Crawford, Donahue and Grant, 333, page 67. Barron, Horror Literature: A Reader’s Guide, 3-203. Tymn, Horror Literature: A Core Collection and Reference Guide, 4-216. Bought for $47 off the Internet. It seems that every time I would see a copy at auction, I’d ask myself “Do I already have a copy of that?” Now I know the answer to that question…

    Witch House

  • Webb, Don. Through Dark Angles: Works Inspired by H. P. Lovecraft. Hippocampus Press, 2014. First edition trade paperback original, Fine.
  • Wells, H.G. Experiment in Autobiography (Volumes I and II). Gollancz, 1934. First edition, a Very Good copy with dust soiling to boards and crimping at head and heel, in Good only dust jackets with significant chipping at extremities. Text of J. B. Priestley’s eulogy delivered at Wells’s funeral clipped from newspaper tipped in on front free endpaper of volume 1. Bought from L.W. Currey for $10 for the set.

    Wells Experiment 2

    Wells Experiment 1

  • Wells, H. G. Men Like Gods. Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1923. First edition hardback (a probable third binding state, as per Currey’s listing, with decorated brown boards with black lettering, which is not recorded in Currey (2002)), a Near Fine copy with slight wear at heel, small, faint stamp to FFE, foxing to gutters and slight bend at head in a Very Good- dust jacket with small sticker remnant on front and shallow chipping at head and heel, and chips at points. Wells’ second socialist utopia. H.G. Wells: A Comprehensive Bibliography, 85. Bought for $22.50

    Wells Men Like Gods

    Wells Men Like Gods boards

  • Wells, H. G. The Secret Places of the Heart. Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1922. First edition hardback, first state binding (title blindstamped on cover, as per Currey (2002)), a Fine- copy with slight bending at head and heel and foxing to gutters in a Fine- dust jacket with a tiny bit of edgewear. H.G. Wells: A Comprehensive Bibliography, 81. Bought for $37.50

    Wells Secret Places

  • Yellin, Herb. Lord John Film Festival. Lord John Press, 2006. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Signed by Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Ramsey Campbell, Dennis Etchison and Janet Leigh. Miscellany of film and screen memories and pictures of signed publicity photos, lobby cards, etc. from Yellin’s collection. Yellin was publisher of Lord John Press.

    Lord John Film

    Lord John Film sig

  • Copies of most of the small press books from Subterranean, Hippocampus, etc. listed above will be available through the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.

    Science Fiction Necrology: 2013–2014

    Thursday, July 10th, 2014

    Joe Pumelia asked me to put together a quick necrology of notable science fiction figures who have died over the last 18 months for his forthcoming fanzine, a roll-call which is depressingly extensive and filled with world-class talent. Here’s a quick and dirty list that just hits the highlights of writers (and one artist) who have died in that time, along with select top works for those unfamiliar with their output to pursue.

  • Aaron Allston (December 8, 1960 – February 27, 2014): Texas writer best known for his gaming and media tie-in work. See: Doc Sidhe (a Doc Savage homage).
  • Iain Banks (16 February 1954 – 9 June 2013): Notable Scottish writer who penned both celebrated mainstream novels and (as Iain M. Banks) swell science fiction. Died entirely too young from cancer. See: The Wasp Factory, The Bridge, Player of Games.
  • Neal Barrett, Jr (November 3, 1929 – January 12, 2014): The dean of weird Texas science fiction writers. See: The Hereafter Gang and the stories in Perpetuity Blues.
  • Tom Clancy (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013): Bestselling technothriller writer, some of whose work qualified as near-future SF. See: The Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising.
  • Basil Copper (February 5, 1924 – April 3, 2013): English horror writer who had four books published by Arkham House.
  • H.R. Giger (February 5, 1940 – May 12, 2014): Brilliant and darkly disturbing Swiss artist. Responsible for the Xenomorph creature design in the movie Alien.
  • Rick Hautala (February 3, 1949 – March 21, 2013): Prolific horror writer who had many books published by Zebra, and was a recipient of the Horror Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award.
  • James Herbert (8 April 1943 – 20 March 2013): British horror writer. His novel The Fog was made into the John Carpenter movie.
  • Daniel Keyes (August 9, 1927 – June 15, 2014): Writer famous for only one work, but it was a doozy: “Flowers for Algernon”.
  • Jay Lake (June 6, 1964 – June 1, 2014): A young writer who exploded in a supernova of productivity, only to be struck down in his prime by the recurring cancer whose fight he documented in his blog. See: Mainspring and the stories in The Sky That Wraps.
  • Doris Lessing (October 22, 1919 – November 17, 2013): Nobel Prize-winning writer, some of whose books used genre settings or tropes.
  • Richard Matheson (February 20, 1926 – June 23, 2013): A writer with a long and illustrious career in science fiction and horror, most famous for works adapted for TV or movies, including numerous scripts for the original Twilight Zone. See: I Am Legend (filmed three times, and they still haven’t gotten it right), The Shrinking Man, The Night Stalker, “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” “Little Girl Lost,” “Duel,” and “He Who Kills” (the Zuni fetish doll segment of Trilogy of Terror).
  • Andrew J. Offutt (or andrew j. offutt, as he preferred to spell it) (August 16, 1934 – April 30, 2013): Prolific SF/F writer, including work in the Thieves World shared-universe.
  • Frederik Pohl (November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013): A giant from the golden age who had a career revival in the 1970s. Wrote collaborations with C.M. Kornbluth and Jack Williamson, and was a noted editor. See: Gateway, Man Plus, The Space Merchants (with Kornbluth), and “Tunnel Under the World.”
  • Nick Pollotta (August 26, 1954 – April 13, 2013): Writer who did humorous SF and fantasy under his own name, and series men’s adventure novels under house pseudonyms.
  • Frank M. Robinson (August 9, 1926 – June 30, 2014): Writer who compiled an illustrated history of science fiction, as well as collaborating on the novel that was made into the movie The Towering Inferno.
  • Alan Rodgers (August 11, 1959 – March 8, 2014): Horror writer and former editor of Night Cry magazine. See: “The Boy Who Came Back From the Dead.”
  • Michael Shea (July 3, 1946 – February 16, 2014): The finest dark fantasy prose stylist of his generation. See: Nifft the Lean, the stories in Polyphemus.
  • Lucius Shepard (August 21, 1943 – March 18, 2014): One of most important science fiction writers of the 1980s, winning Hugo and Nebula Awards for his short fiction. See: The stories in The Jaguar Hunter.
  • Steven Utley (November 10, 1948—January 12, 2013): Texas science fiction writer, known for his time travel tales and his stories in collaboration with Howard Waldrop. Died of an aggressive cancer less than a month after first diagnosis. See: “Custer’s Last Jump” and “Black as the Pit, From Pole to Pole” (both with Waldrop).
  • Jack Vance (August 28, 1916 – May 26, 2013): One of the all-time great science fiction writers, and arguably the finest prose stylist the field has ever produced. See “The Dragon Masters,” the stories in The Dying Earth, and the four Planet of Adventure books.
  • Colin Wilson (June 26, 1931 – December 5, 2013): British writer who wrote science fiction and horror. His novel The Space Vampires was turned into the movie Lifeforce.
  • Library Additions: January 1—June 30, 2014

    Monday, July 7th, 2014

    Here’s all the books I added to my professional science fiction library over the first half of the year. All these are Fine first edition hardbacks in Fine dust jackets unless otherwise noted.

  • Allston, Aaron. Doc Sidhe. Baen, 1995. First edition paperback original, Very Good with multiple spine creases and spine lean. Signed and dated 5/25/01 by Allston. His Doc Savage homage. Found at a Half Price Book for half cover price a couple of months after he died.
  • (Anderson, Poul) Gardner Dozois and Greg Bear, editors. Multiverse: Exploring Poul Anderson’s Worlds. Subterranean Press, 2014. First edition hardback, one of 250 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine slipcase, new and unread. Poul Anderson tribute anthology, including stories using his characters and settings.
  • (Anderson, Poul) Gardner Dozois and Greg Bear, editors. Multiverse: Exploring Poul Anderson’s Worlds. Subterranean Press, 2014. One of 1,500 copies trade copies.
  • (Ballard, J. G.) Baxter, John. The Inner Man: The Life of J. G. Ballard. Weidenfield & Nicolson, 2011. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Critical biography.
  • (Bester, Alfred) Wendell, Carolyn. Alfred Bester: Starmont Reader Guide 6. Starmont House, 1982. First edition hardback, a Fine copy- copy with slight rubbing, sans dust jacket, as issued. Signed by Wendell.
  • Bloch, Robert. American Gothic. Simon and Schuster, 1974. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with a couple of large, faint light brownish stains on front free endpaper and one much smaller one on the rear free endpaper, in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by Bloch, who actually mentions the stain: “Clean up this page/immediately! ——->/ Robert Bloch” (with the arrow pointing toward one of the stains). Replaces an unsigned ex-library copy in my collection. Price paid: $30.00.

    Bloch Inscription

  • Borst, Ronald V. Graven Images. Grove Press, 1992. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Oversized art book reprinting science fiction, fantasy and horror movie posters, production art, etc., from Borst’s own extensive collection. Signed by Ray Bradbury, who provided the introduction to the chapter on the 1930s. Amount paid: $26.24. This is actually not hard to find signed by Bradbury, but it usually goes for about twice that.
  • Bradbury, Ray. Bradbury Speaks: Too Soon from the Cave, Too Far From the Stars. William Morrow, 2005. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a tiny bit of spine-join haze rubbing. Signed by Bradbury: “MARK!/Ray/Bradbury”. Collection of essays.
  • (Bradbury, Ray). Nolan, William F. and Martin H. Greenberg, editors. The Bradbury Chronicles: Stores in Honor of Ray Bradbury. Roc, 1991. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a tiny bit of wrinkling at head. Signed by Bradbury. Anthology.
  • Burroughs, William S. Interzone. Viking, 1989. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy in a Fine- dust jacket with traces of wear and slight dust soiling along spine join. Shoaf, Collecting William S. Burroughs in Print, 60.
  • Card, Orson Scott. The Folk of the Fringe. Phantasia Press, 1988. First edition hardback, #140 of 400 signed numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine slipcase, new and unread. Supplements a trade copy. Bought for $10. (Original list price was $75.)
  • De Camp, L. Sprague and Fletcher Pratt. Wall of Serpents. Avalon, 1960. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with some bending at head and heel in a Very Good+ dust jacket, with crimping and rubbing at head and heel and slight dust staining to back cover. Signed by De Camp. Currey (1979), page 135. Supplements an unsigned copy. Bought for $17.50
  • (Clement, Hal) Hassler, Donald M. Hal Clement: Starmont Reader Guide 11. Starmont House, 1982. First edition hardback, a Fine copy- copy with slight rubbing, sans dust jacket, as issued. Signed by Hassler.
  • Coover, Robert. A Child Again. McSweeney’s, 2005. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket (as issued), still in shrinkwrap with cards attached. Bought at Half Price Books for $6.99.
  • (Delany, Samuel R.) Weedman, Jane Branham. Samuel R. Delany: Starmont Reader Guide 10. Starmont House, 1982. First edition hardback, a Fine copy- copy with slight rubbing, sans dust jacket, as issued. Signed by Delany: “Samuel R. Delany/Madison/2006”.
  • Del Rey, Lester. The World of Science Fiction, 1926-1976: The History of a Subculture. Garland, 1980. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight crimping at head and heel, sans dust jacket, as issued. A history of science fiction fandom by someone who witnessed it.

    Del Rey World of SF

  • Denton, Brad. Sergeant Chip and Other Novellas. Subterranean Press, 2014. First edition hardback, one of 750 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread.
  • Diaz, Junot. The Brief Wonderful Life of Oscar Wao. Inscribed by the author: “To Lance/Oscar Wao.”
  • Ellison, Harlan. Flintlock. Charnel House, 2013 (actually 2014). First edition hardback, #55 of 274 signed and numbered copies, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Unproduced screenplay for James Coburn’s Derek Flint character.

    Flintlock

  • Farmer, Philip Jose. The Dark Heart of Time: A Tarzan Novel. Del Rey, 1999. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy, new and unread. Evidently this is pretty hard to find…
  • Farmer, Philip Jose. River of Eternity. Phantasia Press, 1983. First edition hardback, #81 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and slipcase, new and unread.
  • (Farmer, Philip Jose) Brizzi, Mary T. Philip Jose Farmer: Starmont Reader Guide 3. Starmont House, 1980. First edition hardback, a Fine copy- copy with slight rubbing, sans dust jacket, as issued.
  • Gaiman, Neil (illustrated by Eddie Campbell). The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains. Morrow, 2014. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Illustrated story.
  • (Gilliam, Terry) McCabe, Bob. Terry Gilliam, The Brothers Grimm, and other cautionary tales of Hollywood. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with what appears to be “delamination” of otherwise shiny area at base of the spine, in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Book on the making of the Terry Gilliam film The Brothers Grimm.
  • (Haldeman, Joe) Gordon, Joan. Joe Haldeman: Starmont Reader Guide 4. Starmont House, 1980. First edition hardback, a Fine copy- copy with slight rubbing, sans dust jacket, as issued. Signed by Haldeman (and also an unreadable signature that I take to be either Gordon’s or the cover artist).
  • Howard, Robert E. and Richard A. Lupoff. The Return of Skull Face Fax Collector’s Editions, 1977. Lupoff’s expansion of an unfinished Howard manuscript.
  • Griffith, Nicola. Hild. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2013.
  • (Heinlein, Robert A.) Thorner, J. Lincoln. A Guide Through the Worlds of Robert A. Heinlein. Gryphon Books, 1989. First edition trade paperback chapbook original, a Fine- copy with touches of wear along the spine. 48 pages critical guide, including a small bibliography of reference works in the back.

    Worlds of Heinlein

  • Lafferty, R. A. The Man Who Made Models: The Collected Short Fiction Volume 1 Centipede Press, 2014. First edition hardback, one of 300 copies signed by Michael Swanwick, John Pelan, and cover artist Jacob McMurray, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket.
  • Lansdale, Joe R. The Ape Man’s Brother. Subterranean Press, 2014.
  • Lansdale, Joe R. The Drive-In: The Bus Tour. Subterranean Press, 2005. First edition hardback, #223 of 350 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and slipcase, new and unread. Supplements a signed trade edition.
  • Lansdale, Joe R. Hot in December. Dark Regions Press, 2013 (though I don’t believe it was released until 2014). First edition hardback, one of 300 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread.
  • Le Guin, Ursula K. Four Different Poems. Longhouse, 2007. First edition chapbook original, a 3″x5″ card with an accordion foldout attached and a title band signed by Le Guin wrapped around, one of only 24 signed copies, a Fine copy. An odd item with a very small limitation. Bought for $20 off the Internet.

    Le Guin 4

  • Leiber, Fritz. Gummitch and Friends. Donald M. Grant, 1992. First edition hardback, #237 of 1000 signed, numbered copies (though not signed by Leiber, who died before the book was finished), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and slipcase, new and unread. Contains both Leiber’s cat stories, as well as memorial appreciations of Leiber by Stephen King, Robert Bloch, etc. bound at the front of the volume. Also, for some reason, an unsigned limitation number plate for the Grant edition of Stephen King and Peter Straub’s The Black House is also laid in.
  • Leiber, Fritz. Our Lady of Darkness. Berkley Putnam, 1977. First edition hardback (no statement of printing on copyright page, as per Currey), a Near Fine copy with slight dust staining and wear to bottom boards and small white abrasion to bottom rear boards, in a Near Fine, price-clipped dust jacket. Inscribed by Leiber in purple ink: “For my Dear Friend/Doris Cornejo with/my very best/wishes. Enjoy!/Fritz Leiber/March 4, 1977”. At the bottom of the name Grace Cornejo has been written in red ink, possibly by a different hand. Supplements an unsigned copy (also, alas, with an imperfect dust jacket) in my library. Price paid: $33.74.

    Leiber Inscription

  • Ligotti, Thomas. The Spectral Link. Subterranean Press, 2014. First edition hardback, #333 of 400 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread.
  • Ligotti, Thomas. The Spectral Link. Subterranean Press, 2014. Trade edition.
  • Lovecraft, H.P. (S.T. Joshi and David E. Schultz, editors. O Fortunate Floridian: H.P. Lovecraft’s Letters to R. H. Barlow. University of Tampa Press, 2007. First edition hardback (stated), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread.
  • Lovecraft, H. P. Envelope Addressed to Robert Barlow, with Lovecraft’s return address on the back, in Lovecraft’s own handwriting. Postmarked December 4, 1931. Bought for $328 off eBay. More details here.

    Lovecraft Envelope Front

    Lovecraft Envelope Back

  • MacDonald, John D. The Girl, The Gold Watch, & Everything. Robert Hale, 1974. First hardback edition, a near Fine+ copy with a ex-ownership plate inside the front cover, in a Fine dust jacket. Pringle, Modern Fantasy 100 26. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, page 146.

    Girl Gold Watch

  • Matheson, Richard. Matheson on Matheson: A Conversation With Dennis Etchison. Bad Moon Books, 2013 (actually 2014). First edition hardback, #22 of 100 copies signed by Etchison and Richard Christian Matheson, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued.
  • Matheson, Richard. 7 Steps To Midnight. Tor Forge, 1993.
  • Moskowitz, Sam. The Immortal Storm. The Atlanta Science Fiction Organization Press, 1954. First hardback edition, a very good+ copy with slight rubbing to spine ends, slight bump at top rear board, and slight crimping at head and heel, in very good dust jacket with shallow chipping at head, heel and top front, and slight age-darkening to white areas. His acclaimed book on the early history of science fiction fandom. This is the first hardback edition, having been preceded by a mimeographed edition. Currey (1979), page 380. Chalker/Ownings (1991), page 51. Interestingly, Currey and Chalker/Ownings disagree on the print run, with Currey citing 1000 copies printed, but Chalker/Owings saying only 500. Bought for $36 off a major SF book dealer.

    Immortal Storm

  • (Moskowitz, Sam) The Sam Moskowitz Collection of Science Fiction b/w Comic Books and Comic Art. Southbys, 1999. First edition oversized trade paperback original, Fine. Auction catalog for the Sam Moskowitz’s science fiction collection held June 29, 1999 (plus a collection of rare comics sold the next day).
  • Pohl, Frederik. The Early Pohl. Doubleday, 1976. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with remainder speckling at heel in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by Pohl: “To Fred—/Cordially/Fred Pohl/(No relative!)/Fred Pohl/198-” Bought for $10.
  • (Pohl, Frederik) Clareson, Thomas D. Frederik Pohl: Starmont Reader Guide 39. Starmont House, 1987. First edition hardback, a Fine copy- copy with slight rubbing, sans dust jacket, as issued. Signed by Pohl.
  • Powers, Tim. The Anubis Gates. Centipede Press, 2014. First edition hardback thus, a Fine copy save two flaws (the slipcase keyhole cutout is about 1/4″ misaligned between the two halves, and it lacks the signature page) bound in decorated red and black velvet with a lenticular image embedded in the front cover, in a Fine slipcase. The thing is ginormous, resting in a 2-half red velvet slipcase which houses the book and an accordion portfolio of the color art plates in the book, and includes an appendix of deleted scenes from the original manuscript and a fold-out map of 1810 London.

    Anubis Case

    P1000144

    P1000146

  • Radner, Gilda and Alan Zweibel. Roseanne Roseannadanna’s Hey, Get Back to Work! Book. Long Shadow Books, 1983. First edition trade paperback original, a Near Fine copy with a few small sports to page block edges. Inscribed by Radner and Zweibel: “Thanks/a lot to/Tim/Gilda Radner” and “”To Tim-/You just brought back/a million great/memories when you/handed me this book./Al”

    Roseanne Roseannadanna's

    Radner Sig

  • Bought in a lot with:

  • (Radner, Gilda) Zweibel, Alan. Bunny Bunny: Gilda Radner: A Sort of Love Story. Villard Books, 1994. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with a clipped price. Early Saturday Night Live writer’s memoir of working with Radner. Bought for $40.49 for the pair.
  • Resnick, Mike. Adventures. Signet, 1985. First edition paperback original (PBO), Near Fine with interior stamps.
  • Reynolds, Mack. Looking Backward From the Year 2000. Elmsfield Press, 1973. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Pringle, SF 100 70. Currey (1979), page 417.
  • Roberts, Keith. The Passing of the Dragons. Signet, 1977. First edition paperback original (PBO), Near Fine with light yellow line at head and traces of wear. Short story collection. Currey (1979), page 419. Short story collection. Bought from Half Price Books for 49¢.
  • Shea, Michael. The Mines of Behemoth. Baen Books, 1997. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy, new and unread. Signed by Shea. Price paid: $4.49.
    DAW

  • Shepard, Lucius. The Jaguar Hunter. Kerosina, 1988. First edition hardback thus (contents differ from the Arkham House edition), #128 of 250 signed numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine slipcase, new and unread. Supplements a signed copy of the Arkham House first edition. Bought for $22.50. (Originally issued at £40.00.)
  • Shepard, Lucius. Life During Wartime. Bantam Books, 1987. Uncorrected proof, trade paperback format, of the trade paperback original, a Fine- copy with the title and author written on the spine in ballpoint pen, with a proof of the cover laid in. Signed by Shepard. I have the UK first hardback edition, but I never picked up the TPO when it came out because I had already read most of the stories that make it up in Asimov’s
  • Shepard, Lucius. The Scalehunter’s Beautiful Daughter. Mark V. Ziesing, 1988. First edition hardback, a #104 of 300 signed numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Supplements a signed trade copy. Bought for $10.
  • Shirley, John. Demons. Del Rey, 2002. Novel-length expansion of the earlier novella (which I also have). Bought for $7 at the Austin book show.
  • Silverberg, Robert. Thebes of the Hundred Gates. Axolotl Press/Pulphouse, 1991. First edition hardback, a #78 of 300 signed numbered hardbacks, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Supplements a signed trade copy. Bought for $10. Pulphouse wildly overpriced a number of titles, including this one, but $10 (down from the initial list price of $35) seems about right…
  • (Silverberg, Robert) Gardner Dozois and William Schafer, editors. The Book of Silverberg: Stories in Honor of Robert Silverberg. Subterranean Press, 2014. First edition hardback, #165 of 250 signed, numbered copies, signed by all contributors except the late Kage Baker, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Tribute anthology.
  • (Silverberg, Robert) Gardner Dozois and William Schafer, editors. The Book of Silverberg: Stories in Honor of Robert Silverberg. Subterranean Press, 2014. trade edition.
  • (Silverberg, Robert) Clareson, Thomas D. Robert Silverberg: Starmont Reader Guide 18. Starmont House, 1983. Second Printing hardback, a Fine copy- copy with slight rubbing, sans dust jacket, as issued. Signed by Silverberg.
  • Simmons, Dan. Prayers to Broken Stones. Dark Harvest, 1990. First edition hardback, #329 of 500 signed numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine slipcase, new and unread. Supplements a signed trade copy. Bought for $37.50. (Originally issued at $75.)
  • Smith, Edward E., PhD. The Skylark of Space. Buffalo Book Company, 1946. First edition hardback, a VG+ copy with slight bumping at head, heel and corners and faint dust staining at heel, in a VG- dust jacket missing a small 1/4″ triangular chip from center of dj spine, plus about 1/4″ of chipping loss at head and heel, and slight overall rubbing, otherwise intact with $3.00 price on flap. The very first of Doc Smith’s famous space operas. Currey (1979), page 457. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 78. One of two books done by the Buffalo Book Company (the other of which, John Taine’s The Time Stream, I picked up in December). Bought for $237 from Heritage Auctions.

    Smith Skylark

  • Stephenson, Neal. In the Beginning was the Command Line. Avon Books, 1999. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Long essay on the history of computing, the Internet, and cyber culture.
  • Straub, Peter. Mrs. God. Donald M. Grant, 1990. First edition hardback, #179 of 600 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket (as issued) in a Fine slipcase, new and unread.
  • (Tiptree, Jr., James) Siegel, Mark. James Tiptree, Jr.: Starmont Reader Guide 22. Starmont House, 1986. First edition hardback, a Fine copy- copy with slight rubbing, sans dust jacket, as issued.
  • Vance Jack. Araminta Station. Tor, 1988. First U.S. trade hardback, a Fine- copy with pinhole cracks to front gutter in a Fine- dust jacket with slight dust soiling to rear cover. First book in the Caldwell Chronicles. Signed by Vance. Hewett, A79c.
  • Vance Jack. Ecce and Old Earth Tor, 1991. First trade hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine dust jacket with crinkling and wrinkles along extremities. Second book in the Caldwell Chronicles. Signed by Vance. Hewett, A84b.
  • Vance Jack. Throy. Tor, 1992. First trade hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Third book in the Caldwell Chronicles. Signed by Vance. Hewett, A85b. Price for all three Caldwell volumes: $52.49.
  • Vance Jack. The Five Gold Bands. Underwood/Miller, 1993. First hardback edition and first edition thus, originally published in pulp paperback as The Space Pirate, a Near Fine copy with small orangeish spots to all three page block edges, in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by Vance. Hewett, A2k. Price: $37.49.
  • Vane, Jack. Galactic Effectuator. Underwood/Miller, 1980. First edition hardback, one of 800 trade copies, a Fine- copy with slight spotting at head in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by Vance. Hewett, A63. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 432. Price: $26.24.
  • Vance, Jack, and Tony Russell Wayman. The Last Castle b/w World of the Sleeper. Ace Books, 1967. First edition paperback original (H-21 and 60¢ on cover, as per Currey and Hewett), a Very Good+ copy with long faint crease on the Russell side and slight overall wear. Signed by Vance. Hewett, A30. Currey (1979), page 499. Price: $8.99.
  • Vance, Jack (edited by Miguel Lugo). The Wit and Wisdom of Jack Vance. AuthorHouse, 2011. First edition trade paperback (POD) original, a Fine copy. Selection of excerpts from Vance’s works. Signed by Vance (though the signature (see below) is very shaky, as Vance was pretty much completely blind by the time this book came out). I was unaware of this before I saw the listing for it, and I can’t imagine that Vance signed terribly many. Price: $29.99.

    Wit Wisdom Vance

    IMG_0146

  • Vance, Jack. Minding the Stars: The Early Jack Vance Volume Four. Subterranean Press, 2014. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread.
  • Vance, Jack. Son of the Tree. Underwood/Miller, 1983. First hardback edition, #183 of 200 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with just a tiny bit of wrinkling at head and heel. Hewett, A13g.

    Son of the Tree

  • Vance Jack. Vandals of the Void. John C. Winston, 1953. First edition hardback, Very Good- with a two inch split to outer back spine join and dust soiling to page edges, lacking the dust jacket. Signed by Vance. Hewett, A3. Currey (1979), page 501. Price: $29.99.
  • (Wolfe, Gene) Borski, Robert. Solar Labyrinth: Exploring Gene Wolfe’s BOOK OF THE NEW SUN. iUniverse, 2004. First edition hardback (no additional printings listed, though I believe iUniverse is a POD outfit), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Critical guide to Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun. Supplements a trade paperback edition in my library. Bought for $20 off an Internet bookseller.
  • Wolheim, Elizabeth (Betsy), and Sheila Gilbert, editors. DAW 30th Anniversary Box Set (including 30th Anniversary DAW Science Fiction and 30th Anniversary DAW Fantasy). DAW, 2002. First edition hardbacks, Fine leatherbound copies with gilt endpapers, #312 of 350 sets so produced, in a Fine slipcase, sans dust jackets, as issued. (I have not been able to determine if the leather binding state is simultaneous with the trade editions or not.) Signed by editor Sheila E. Gilbert and contributors Michael Shea, Tad Williams, C.S. Friedman, Melanie Rawn, Mercedes Lackey, Larry Dixon, Kate Elliott, and Irene Radford. This set was originally offered at $125 (though copies can now be found on Amazon for considerably less). The sets were not, as far as I can tell, offered in a signed state; these were signed independently by the contributors. Price paid: $59.99.
  • Zelazny, Roger. A Rose for Ecclesiastes. Rupert Hart-Davis, 1969. First edition thus and first hardback edition, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with very slight spine fading. First hardback edition of Four For Tomorrow. Levack, 17b. Kovacs, V11c/V20. Zelazny’s first short story collection.

    Rose for Ecclesiastes