Posts Tagged ‘Books’
Tuesday, January 30th, 2018
I’m not an Isaac Asimov completist because I’m not completely insane. But I have been picking up firsts of the science fiction he did before Foundation’s Edge when I can find them at reasonable prices. This one is an odd little item, a scholastic chapbook of one of his robot stories done in “simplified language” for “upper intermediate” students, so not really Asimov when you get right down to it, but it’s not terribly common.
Asimov, Isaac. Little Lost Robot. The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, 1977. First edition chapbook original thus, a Fine- copy with the barest traces of wear at points. “This edition first published 1977” on copyright page at rear of book, as per Currey (1979), page 18. Bought off Biblio for $42 plus shipping.
Tags:Books, chapbooks, Isaac Asimov, robots, Science Fiction
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Saturday, January 27th, 2018
Here’s something I didn’t buy, it showed up on my doorstep as a contributor copy:
Haijun, Yao and Mike Resnick, editors. World’s Science Fiction Story Collection II (ISBN 978-7-5364-8711-6). Sichuan Science and Technology Publishing House, 2017. Trade paperback original, a Fine copy, still in shrinkwrap. Chinese language anthology that prints a translation of my story “Crucifixion Variations.”
I’m pretty sure this is the only time my name has appeared higher on a cover than Robert Silverberg’s…
Tags:anthology, Books, China, Mike Resnick, Science Fiction
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Wednesday, January 17th, 2018
This is one of those books that almost eluded me, but I snagged what was evidently the last hardback copy:
Lansdale, Joe R. Hoodoo Harry. Mysterious Bookshop, 2016. First edition hardback (small trim size), letter T of 26 lettered copies (along with an additional 100 hardback numbered copies, not seen), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. “Bibliomysteries 33.” 72 page Hap & Leonard novella. Bought directly from the publisher for $100, since they were already out of the numbered edition.
Included with the same purchase:
Lansdale, Joe R. Hoodoo Harry. Mysterious Bookshop, 2016. First edition trade paperback original, a Near Fine+ copy with bend to bottom outer tip (due to the way Mysterious Bookshop packaged things), otherwise new and unread. Presumably simultaneous with the hardback issue. Plus:
Lippman, Laura. Snowflake Time: A Christmas Story. Mysterious Bookshop, 2017. Center-stapled chapbook. Back cover reads “A holiday gift with the compliments of The Mysterious Bookshop.”
Not part of the bundle, but I might as well list it here:
Lansdale, Joe R. Bubba and the Cosmic Blood-Suckers. Subterranean Pres, 2017. First edition hardback, #580 of 1500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread. Prequel (of a sort) to Bubba Ho-Tep. Elvis, Nixon, Colonel Parker, and cosmic horrors. What’s not to like?
Tags:Books, Hap & Leonard, Horror, Joe R. Lansdale, Limited Editions, Mystery, Science Fiction, small press publishers, Subterranean Press
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Saturday, January 6th, 2018
Here’s an odd little item I picked up off eBay:
Bradbury, Ray. The R.B., G.K.C., and G.B.S. Forever Orient Express. Joshua Odell Editions, 1994. First edition chapbook original, consisting of a long, skinny (17 1/2″ x 5 1/2″) outer cardstock binding with the four pages of the poem laid in (not stapled or otherwise attached), a Fine- copy with a pinhole through the top of the chapbook and one tiny white scratch to rear, otherwise mint. Reportedly done in an edition of 300 copies. Signed by Bradbury. Poem, longish by Bradbury standards, about Bradbury riding a train with G. K. Chesterton and George Bernard Shaw in the afterlife. The rear cover says that this is an excerpt from the forthcoming Journey to Far Metaphor: Further Essays on Creative Writing, Literature and the Arts, a book that Joshua Odell Editions evidently cancelled. This work would later show up in Bradbury’s collection The Cat’s Pajamas. Bought off eBay for $37.79.
Tags:Books, chapbooks, Fantasy, poem, poetry, Ray Bradbury, signed
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Friday, December 29th, 2017
Put in my yearly order to Dragonstairs Press:
Swanwick, Michael. Midwinter Fables. Dragonstairs Press, 2016. First edition chapbook original, #22 of 110 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, new and unread. Four short recastings of classic fables (“The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” “The Fox and the Crow,” “The Ant and the Grasshopper,” “The North Wind and the Sun”) and a frame story (“Midwinter Fables”).
Swanwick, Michael. Touchstones. Dragonstairs Press, 2017. First edition chapbook original, #9 of 50 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, new and unread. Three one page stories: “Lovers and Lunatics,” “Bradbury Jar 2.0” and “A Jarful of Keys,” as well as an Afterword. Related to Swanwick’s trip to China in 2017.
I’ll have copies of both of these available through the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Tags:Books, Dragonstairs Press, Michael Swanwick, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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Thursday, December 28th, 2017
Two more books bought relatively cheap off ebay:
Ellison, Harlan. Brain Movies: The Original Teleplays of Harlan Ellison Volume One. Edgeworks Abbey, 2011. First edition trade paperback original (no hardback state), the “Babylonian Limited Edition,” a Fine copy signed by both Ellison and introduction author J. Michael Straczynski. In addition to many of Ellison’s most celebrated teleplays (“Soldier,” “Demon With a Glass Hand,” etc.), it also includes “Memos From Purgatory” featuring numerous holographic corrections in Ellison’s hand. Not in ISFDB. Edgeworks Abbey is Ellison’s own press and he’s issued a whole lot of trade paperback books through it of previously unpublished or uncollected material. (The Brain Movies series alone is now up to six volumes.) Bought for $29.99 (the opening bid) off eBay.
Ellison, Harlan. Dreams With Sharp Teeth. Quality Paperback book Club, 1991. First edition paperback original, a Very Good+ copy with spine slightly concave, light crease across entire front cover, wear at points, and wrinkling to first few pages. Signed by Ellison. Omnibus edition of the collections I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream, Deathbird Stories and Shatterday, minus duplicated stories between the volumes plus an original introduction by Ellison and slightly revised texts and story introductions. Bought off eBay for $12.50. Below the condition I usually collect, but there were no other signed copies online at all…
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Harlan Ellison, Horror, Science Fiction, signed
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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.
Tags:Books, Jack Vance, Limited Editions, Science Fiction, Underwood/Miller
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Friday, December 22nd, 2017
Lord John Press was an odd press, ranging from small-run SF first editions by Ray Bradbury, Ursula K. Le Guin and Stephen King to books by John Updike and Gerald R. Ford.
The two Dan Simmons books listed here (of four they did total) were the right author with the wrong titles at the wrong time at the wrong price points and the wrong print runs. Simmons was a hot writer at the time, but these books came after his “miracle year” duo of Carrion Comfort and Hyperion, were not nearly as well-regarded, were post-first limiteds (they didn’t beat the Putnam edition out) at high price points (starting at $125 and going up to $800) in too large a print run for too many states (500 quarter-leather, 250 half-leather, and 26-lettered copies in full leather). And they both came out the same year. They’re nice, but not so awesome as to inspire bibliolust in casual collectors. When I saw those price points and print runs, I went “Gonna pass,” and a lot of other collectors evidently said the same, as these limiteds have littered bookdealer inventories ever since.
I do like and collect Simmons, and I always thought I would pick them up when they got cheap enough. That finally happened.
Simmons, Dan. The Children of the Night. Lord John Press, 1992. First limited edition hardback, #221 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine slipcase, sans dust jacket, as issued. Bought for $35 from a fellow collector who was downsizing.
Simmons, Dan. The Hollow Man. Lord John Press, 1992. First limited edition hardback, #324 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine slipcase, sans dust jacket, as issued, with errata slip laid in. Bought for $35 from a fellow collector who was downsizing.
I also have Entropy’s Bed at Midnight and Summer Sketches, his other two Lord John Press books.
Tags:Books, Dan Simmons, Horror, Limited Editions, Lord John Press, Science Fiction, signed, small press publishers
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Monday, December 18th, 2017
This is one of those books I thought I already had, but didn’t.
Aldiss, Brain W. Billion Year Spree. Wiedenfield & Nicolson, 1978. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a touch of edgewear at bottom front. Non-fiction history of science fiction. Signed by Aldiss. Bought from Cold Tonnage Books for £12 plus shipping.
Tags:Books, Brian Aldiss, reference works, Science Fiction
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Wednesday, December 6th, 2017
In addition to having stories there, I used to have a subsciption to the signed hardback version of Postscripts magazine Back In The Day. Now I pick up individual issues to round out my collection when I find them cheap. Like these two, which I bought for $25 each from Camelot Books:
Crowther, Pete and Nick Gevers. Postscripts 18: This Is The Summer of Love. PS Publishing, 2009. First edition hardback, Letter D of 26 signed, lettered copies, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued.
Crowther, Pete and Nick Gevers. Postscripts 19: Enemy of the Good. PS Publishing, 2009. First edition hardback, Letter D of 26 signed, lettered copies, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued.
Unlike my contributor copy of Postscripts 24/25: The New And Perfect Man, these lettered copies did not come in a traycase, and indeed are not readily distinguishable from the regular signed/numbered editions
I now have signed, numbered copies of all of Postscripts 1-19, 24/25, and 30/31. Which means I’m missing 20/21, 22/23, 26/27, 28/29, 32/33, 34/35, and 36/37.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Horror, Limited Editions, Nick Gevers, Peter Crowther, Postscripts, PS Publishing, Science Fiction, signed, small press publishers
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