Posts Tagged ‘signatures’
Wednesday, September 9th, 2020
Three signed hardback firsts editions, of various types:
De Palma, Brian and Susan Lehman. Are Snakes Necessary? Hard-Case Crime, 2020. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by both authors. Bought from The Mysterious Bookstore at a dealer discount.
Holkins, Jerry and Mike Krahulik. Penny Arcade 6: The Halls Below. Del Rey, 2010. First edition hardback, #885 of 1000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy with inset color cover illustration, sans dust jacket, as issued. Collection of Penny Arcade cartoons. Bought from the Penny Arcade store for $30.
Russell, Mary Doria. Doc. Random House, 2011. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Russell. Western novel about Doc Holliday Bought from The Mysterious Bookstore for $10.
Tags:Books, Brian De Palma, Horror, Mary Doria Russell, Mystery, Penny Arcade, Science Fiction, signatures, Susan Lehman, Western
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Thursday, September 3rd, 2020
Stumbled across this on eBay and went “Hmm, that’s pretty close to a great deal!”, then made an offer that was accepted.
Wagner, Karl Edward. HorrorStory Volume Four. Underwood-Miller, 1990. First edition hardback, #82 of 300 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine- traycase, with just a touch of blunting at points, a touch of edgewear around spine label, and a trace or two of wear. Omnibus and first hardback editions of Year’s Best Horror Stories X, XI and XII. Signed by Wagner, Harlan Ellison, Dennis Etchison, Michael Kube-McDowell, Richard Laymon, Michael Swanwick, David Drake, and many others. Chalker-Owings (1991), page 441. Supplements the trade edition. Bought off eBay for $65, or less than half the original offering price of $150.
Now I guess I need the limited editions of the other two…
Tags:Books, Dennis Etchison, Harlan Ellison, Horror, Karl Edward Wagner, Limited Editions, Michael Kube-McDowell, Michael Swanwick, Richard Laymon, signatures, small press publishers, Underwood/Miller
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Monday, May 11th, 2020
A UK book club edition, not the true first, and one I only picked up for the signatures:
Silverberg, Robert, editor (Vonda N. McIntyre, Marta Randall, Joan D. Vinge). The Crystal Ship. The Science Fiction Book Club (UK)/Reader’s Union, 1981. Book club reprint, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by editor Robert Silverberg, and contributors Marta Randall and Joan D. Vinge (each twice, once on the title page and once at their novella). Bought for $9, marked down from $15 at Half Price Books during a coupon sale just before the lockdown came down.
Tags:Books, Joan D. Vinge, Marta Randall, Robert Silverberg, Science Fiction, signatures, Vonda N. McIntyre
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Monday, March 16th, 2020
Finally, here’s the list of Moorcock omnibus editions I bought off Mike. I didn’t pick them when these originally came out due to both budgetary constraints and already possessing a great deal of the contents. But many of these volumes include material not in any other edition, and both the Millennium and White Wolf omnibus editions have gotten harder to find as of late.
Moorcock, Michael. Corum: The Prince With the Silver Hand. White Wolf, 1999. First U.S. hardback edition thus, being an omnibus edition of The Bull and The Spear, The Oak and the Ram, and The Sword and the Stallion, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed to me by Moorcock. “Michael Moorcock/To Lawrence/All best!” Previously published in an omnibus edition as The Swords Trilogy by Gregg Press (which I also have a signed first of). Contains Mike Mignola art not in the Millennium edition.
Moorcock, Michael. Count Brass. White Wolf, 2000. First U.S. hardback edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed to me by Moorcock: “To Lawrence/Very best.” Omnibus edition of Count Brass, The Champion of Garathorm and The Quest for Tanelorn. There were earlier UK hardback editions from Granada (as The Chronicles of Count Brass) and Millennium; the White Wolf edition contains new artwork by Walter Simonsen and a map by Jim Cawthorn not in any previous editions. Eternal Champion Volume 15. I think this was the last Moorcock book White Wolf did, and after 2000 they went back to concentrating strictly on gaming-related books.
Moorcock, Michael. The Dancers at the End of Time. White Wolfe, 1995. First White Wolf hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine dust jacket with three closed tears at heel, the largest 1/4″, and a trace of haze rubbing. Omnibus edition of An Alien Heat, The Hollow Lands, and The End of All Songs.
Moorcock, Michael. Earl Aubec and other stories. White Wolf, 1999. First edition hardback thus, a Fine- copy with page 25/26 creased at the very edge in a Fine- dust jacket with a touch of blind-side dye transfer at the outer edge crease. Inscribed to me by Moorcock: “To Lawrence/All very best/from/Michael Moorcock.” Short story collection. Reprint of the Millennium volume, but I can’t find a content listing for the Millennium volume anywhere online to see if the contents differ, though at least the introduction is new to this volume.
Moorcock, Michael. Elric: Song of the Black Sword. White Wolf, 1995. First edition hardback thus, reprinting the Millennium Elric of Melniboné omnibus, with a new introduction and new (and hideous) cover art, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribe to me by Moorcock: “Michael Moorcock/To Lawrence/Very best!”
Moorcock, Michael. Elric: The Stealer of Souls. White Wolf, 1998. First edition hardback thus, a reprint of the Millennium Stormbringer omnibus volume, but with a new introduction, new art, and the new John Davey essay “Elric: A Reader’s Guide,” a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed to me by Moorcock: “To Lawrence/All best/Michael Moorcock.”
Moorcock, Michael. The Eternal Champion. Millennium, 1992. First edition hardback thus, an omnibus edition containing The Eternal Champion, Phoenix in Obsidian, and The Dragon in the Sword, a Fine- copy in a Fine dust jacket, inscribed to my by Moorcock: “To Lawrence,/All best.” Yoshitaka Amano cover. Millennium Eternal Champion series Volume 2. Precedes the White Wolf edition by a couple of years.
Moorcock, Michael. Hawkmoon. White Wolfe, 1995. First White Wolf hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with just a trace of bend at head and some blind-side black dye transfer to just the inner creases of the flap folds. Inscribed to me by Moorcock: “To Lawrence,/All very best,/Michael Moorcock.” There were two early editions, as The History of the Runestaff in the 1970s and a Millennium edition of the same name, but this edition contains material not in either of those, including a new Moorcock introduction and new art and maps by James Cawthorn.
Moorcock, Michael. Von Bek. Millennium, 1992. First edition hardback thus, an omnibus edition of The Warhound and the World’s Pain, The City in the Autumn Stars, and “The Pleasure Garden of Filipe Sagittarius,” a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a slight edge wrinkling at top front, and slight crimping at head and heel. Inscribed to me by Moorcock: “To Lawrence,/An v. last!” Tale of the Eternal Champion Vol. 1. No additional printings mentioned, but also no numberline as mentioned by a few online dealers. Looks like a first printing to me, and neither ISFDB nor the Locus database lists a second Millennium hardback printing.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Michael Moorcock, Millennium (publisher), signatures, White Wolf
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Monday, February 17th, 2020
Here’s the first part of the Moorcock titles I bought from Mike back in November.
Moorcock, Michael. The Brothel in Rosenstrasse. New English Library, 1982. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with slight spine fading and slight wear at top points. Inscribed to me by Moorcocok. Von Bek novel.
Moorcock, Michael. Byzantium Endures. Secker & Warburg, 1981. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with bumps to top points in a Very Good+ price-clipped dust jacket with several delamination wrinkles across the spine. Inscribed to me by Moorcock. Colonel Pyat novel.
Moorcock, Michael. The City in the Autumn Stars. Grafton, 1986. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with a tiny bump at head and top front corner blunted, in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with several invisible scratches to rear cover, trace of wear at points, and 1/4″ closed tear at bottom rear fold join. Inscribed to me by Moorcock.
Moorcock, Michael. The Dragon In the Sword. Ace, 1986. First edition hardback, a Near Fine+ copy with two pinhead spots to bottom page blocks, slight bend at head, and slight blunting to bottom points, in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with bumping to bottom front point and wrinkling at head and a trace of edgewear. Inscribed to me by Moorcock: “To Lawrence/All best —/Michael Moorcock.” Precedes the Grafton edition by a year.
Moorcock, Michael. Elric: La Saga. Editizione Oscar Draghiluglio, 2019. First edition hardback thus, an Italian omnibus edition of the first six Elric novels, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Inscribed to me by Moorcock: “To Lawrence/Prego!/Michael Moorcock.” A beautifully printed book, with decorated boards, full-color, full page plates by a variety of artists. A thrown-in by Mike, who had just received a big box of them. “See those behind you? Go ahead and take one if you want…”
Moorcock, Michael. Elric of Melniboné. Hutchison, 1972. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bumping at head and heel in a Near Fine- dust jacket with a 3/8″ chip at heel/front join, shallow chipping at head and heel, and touches of edgewear. Inscribed to me by Moorcock. Tanelorn Archives, page 17.
Moorcock, Michael. King of the City. Scribners (UK), 2000. First edition hardback, a Near Fine- copy with bumps to top points and a cluster of small gray stains on pageblock edges, and slight bumping at heel, in a Near Fine dust jacket with bumping to top points, slight bumping at heel, and slight edge wrinkling along bottom flaps. Inscribed to me by Moorcock: “To Lawrence,/All the best—/Michael Moorcock.” Sequel to Mother London.
Moorcock, Michael. The Laughter of Carthage. Secker & Warburg, 1984. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bend at head, in a Near Fine-, price-clipped dust jacket with two scratches to front cover and a long lamination wrinkle down the spine. Inscribed to me by Moorcock.
Moorcock, Michael. Legends From the End of Time. WH Allen, 1976. First UK edition hardback, a Fine- copy with top front point slightly blunted, in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bumping at head and top front point. Inscribed to me by Moorcock. The U.S. true first looks like ass, while this edition has a groovy Rodney Matthews cover that looks a lot like Roger Dean. Tanelorn Archives, page 24.
Moorcock, Michael. Letters from Hollywood. HAARP, 1986. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with bumping at head and heel and blunting of points, in a Very Good dust jacket with shallow chipping at heel and points, wrinkling along front join, trace of dampstaining to bottom rear flap, and touches of general wear. Inscribed twice by Moorcock: On front free endpaper: “To Howard —/The third of the/world’s finest cities —/Love/Mike/Aug 18th/NY.” On half-title page: “Michael Moorcock/To Lawrence.” Collection of letters to J.G. Ballard.
Moorcock, Michael. London Peculiar and Other nonfiction. PM Press, 2012. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy, new and unread, inscribed to me by Moorcock.
Moorcock, Michael. The Mystery of the Texas Twister with Argosy January/February 2004. First edition trade paperback original, both fine copies in a Fine paper slipcase with advertising insert intact and inserted. Inscribed to me by Moorcock. Attempt to revive the venerable Argosy magazine, which evidently only lasted three issues. Upon receiving it, Mike said “I thought it was a Mentos ad!”
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Michael Moorcock, Science Fiction, signatures
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Monday, December 30th, 2019
This was the most expensive book I bought this year:
Burgess, Anthony. A Clockwork Orange. Heinemann, 1962. First edition hardback, an Ex-Library copy with interior pocket removed, rear inner flap previously taped to rear inside cover, with tape stains there and to rear free endpaper, in a Near Fine, first state (16s, flaps untrimmed) dust jacket, with tape stains to rear flap, with a crease across bottom of front flap and a few specks of dirt to front flap, otherwise a very well-protected example of the first state dust jacket; call it a Very Good/Near Fine Ex-Lib copy. Signed by Burgess. A keystone work, and basis of the Stanley Kubrick film. Signed firsts of famous books made into famous films are among the most desirable first editions across a wide range of collectors. This edition also includes the final chapter, where Alex “groweth up” and contemplates leaving behind his antisocial ways for marriage and a family, omitted from most subsequent editions. Pringle, SF 100 36. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, page 48. Locke, Science Fiction First Editions, page 22. Anatomy of Wonder 4, 3-4 1. Magill, Survey of Science Fiction, pages 396-401. Bought off a noted UK SF dealer for £600, making it among the most expensive single volumes I’ve ever purchased, but I’ve never seen a signed copy in a first state dust jacket list for under a grand before.
Tags:Anthony Burgess, Books, Movies, Science Fiction, signatures, Stanley Kubrick
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Saturday, December 28th, 2019
An upgrade from my unsigned copy.
Smith, Clark Ashton. The Star-Treader And Other Poems. A.M. Robinson, 1912. First edition hardback, a Near Fine- copy with crack to front hinge just starting at bottom, slight bumping at head and heel and page blocks dusty, in a Very Good dust jacket with faint soiling to front and rear, a 1/2″ x 1/8″ chip at rear heel join, shallow chipping at head. Inscribed twice by Smith (the first apparently with a fountain pen, the second with a ballpoint): “Clark Ashton Smith/Auburn, Cal/Nov. 27th, 1912” then “For Harry Rosenberry/with sincere compliments/of Clark Ashton Smith/Apr. 14th, 1961,” which was exactly four months before his death. Replaces an unsigned copy (now available through Lame Excuse Books). Not in Currey. Not in Bleiler’s Guide to Supernatural Horror. Bleiler Checklist (1978), page 181. Sidney-Fryer, Emperor of Dreams, page 128. Won off eBay for $333.
Tags:Books, Clark Ashton Smith, Horror, poetry, signatures
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Saturday, December 21st, 2019
Three signed Joe Hill firsts, all bought from different sources:
Hill, Joe. Full Throttle. HarperCollins, 2019. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, limited edition issue with page signed by Hill bound in. Short story collection. Bought at Half Price Books (who sell new books now as well), with two store stickers (including publisher’s gold “Signed First Edition” sticker) for 20% off cover price. Irritatingly, both this limited edition and the trade edition below have the same ISBN.
Hill, Joe. Full Throttle. HarperCollins, 2019. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, trade edition, signed by Hill. Note that the dust wrapper on both this and the limited above have a new type of material with a distinct texture (almost like a paper version of suede). Bought from a noted mystery bookseller for 20% off.
Hill, Joe and Gabriel Rodriguez. Locke & Key 4: Keys to the Kingdom. Subterranean/IDW, 2019. First limited edition hardback, #159 of 250 signed/numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine slipcase, new and unread. The latest collected signed/limited volume of the acclaimed dark fantasy/horror graphic novel series. The IDW edition came out many years back, but as with the other Subterranean volumes, this includes additional material, including the full comic scripts. Bought from the publisher with a dealer discount.
Note that I have copies of all three of these available through Lame Excuse Books.
Tags:Books, graphic novel, Horror, Joe Hill, Limited Editions, signatures, Subterranean Press
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Friday, October 25th, 2019
Three more signed Ray Bradbury firsts:
Bradbury, Ray. Fever Dream. St. Martin’s, 1987. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed and dated by Bradbury (6/12/88). Children’s book version of the Bradbury story. Part of the “Night Light” series of books, which have glow-in-the-dark elements. Like the glow-in-the-dark signed/limited edition of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline (which I also have), the glow is super-duper faint. Bought for $20.
Bradbury, Ray. Marionettes, Inc. Subterranean Press, 2009. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, inscribed to “Sunny” and signed by Bradbury. As his eyesight worsened near the end of his life, Ray’s signature became larger and more sprawling, as you can see below. Bought for $34.99 off eBay. Replaces an unsigned copy.
Bradbury, Ray. Ray Bradbury on Stage: A Chrestomathy of His Plays. Primus/Donald I Fine, no date listed (but 1981). First edition trade paperback original, a Near Fine+ copy with slight bumping at head, a slight, small crease near front bottom corner, a bit of dust soiling at heel, and a touch of edgewear at points. Signed by Bradbury. Combines the contents of three other play collections, The Anthem Sprinters and Other Antics, The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit And Other Plays (which I also have in signed first edition), and Pillar of Fire and Other Plays. Bought for $20 off eBay.
Tags:Books, Horror, Ray Bradbury, Science Fiction, signatures, Subterranean Press
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Wednesday, July 31st, 2019
I don’t collect Andre Norton, but I do sort of half-assedly collect NESFA Press, and this was a good chance to pick up a signed, limited Norton cheap:
Norton, Andre, editor. Grand Master’s Choice. NESFA Press, 1989. First edition hardback, #44 of 275 signed, numbered copies, a Fine- copy with deep groove across top of half title page, title page and table of contents (I’m guessing a manufacturing process flaw), in a Fine- dust jacket with slight non-breaking crease along bottom inside flap. Anthology where Nebula Grandmaster winners Robert A. Heinlein, Jack Williamson, Clifford Simak, L. Sprague de Camp, Fritz Leiber, Andre Norton and Isaac Asimov pick their personal favorites of their stories. Bought for $15 from Half Price Books, marked down from $30 during their most recent coupon sale.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Half Price Books, Limited Editions, NESFA Press, Science Fiction, signatures
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