Posts Tagged ‘Books’

Library Additions: Books Bought at Armadillocon

Monday, September 4th, 2017

The giant library post crowded out my updating a few purchases, starting with these books, all of which I picked up at Armadillocon:

  • Dozois, Gardner. The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Fourth Annual Collection. St. Martin’s, 2017. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket.
  • Brown, Christoper (formerly Chris Nakashima-Brown). Tropic of Kansas. Harper Voyager, 2017. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy, with a long inscription to me by the author. (I’m also thanked in the acknowledgements.) His first novel, preceded by a co-edited anthology and a chapbook.
  • Lansdale, Joe R. Honky Tonk Samurai. Mullholland Books/Little Brown, 2016. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Lansdale. Hap & Leonard novel.
  • Lansdale, Joe R. Miracles Ain’t What They Used To Be. PM Press, 2015. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy, signed by Lansdale. Collection of non-fiction essays, many autobiographical.
  • Le Guin, Ursula K. The Real and the Unreal: Seclected Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin Volume 1: Where on Earth. Small Beer Press, 2012. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Already had Volume 2.
  • 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.

    Brian Aldiss, RIP

    Tuesday, August 22nd, 2017

    Science fiction writer Brian Aldiss has died just after turning 92.

    Aldiss was an acquaintance rather than a friend. I got him to sign things at the two UK Worldcons I attended (2005 in Glasgow and 2014 in London), and we may have talked briefly at other Worldcons; I don’t actually remember.

    He was an extremely important, but also extremely variable, writer. His good stuff was really good, but his bad stuff was really bad. When I brought him a copy of Cracken at Critical to sign, he said “Oh God, this piece of crap!” Highpoints include Nonstop and “The Saliva Tree.” He was much admired by a wide range of science fiction’s best talents, including Neil Gaiman, Michael Moorcock and Bruce Sterling (the latter of whom I bought an Aldiss chapbooks off of when he was culling his library).

    Lacking much in the way of additional personal contact to pad out this obituary, here are some of the Brian Aldiss items in my own collection.

  • Aldiss, Brian. Brothers of the Head Pierrot Publishing Ltd., 1977. First edition hardback (simultaneous with the much more common trade paperback edition), oversized and illustrated, a Fine copy in a VG+ dust jacket with light wrinkling, wear to extremities, and some age toning to white flaps of the dust jacket. Signed by both Aldiss and illustrator Ian Pollock. The hardback edition was already uncommon, but became more so after an art house movie based on it came out a few years ago. Bought this from a dealer in France, of all places.

  • Aldiss, Brian. Bury My Heart at W. H. Smith’s. Avernus, 1990. First edition hardback, #104 of 250 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, with newspaper clipping (also signed by Aldiss) from the Times Literary Supplement of August 8, 1986 of a piece by Eric Korn that briefly quotes Aldiss on H. G. Wells laid into the pocket formed by the dust jacket protector at the back as an “Association Item,” as issued. And is listed as such on page 274-275. In The Science Fantasy Publishers, Jack Chalker labeled the “association items” as “an attempt to clean out Aldiss’ attic.” Chalker/Owings (1991), page 58.
  • 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.
  • Aldiss, Brian. Cultural Breaks. Tachyon, 2005. Advanced reading copy, trade paperback format, with packet of review material.
  • Aldiss, Brain W. Excommunication. Post Card Partnership, 1975. First edition postcard, a Fine copy. Bought for £2.50 after discount.
  • Aldiss, Brian. Jocasta. The Rose Press, 2004. First edition hardback, #420 of 750 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued.

    Jocasta

    As far as I can tell, The Rose Press did this and Avram Davidson’s The Scarlet Fig, and then fell off the map…

  • Aldiss, Brian. Moreau’s Other Island. Jonathan Cape, 1980. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Aldiss on the front free endpaper.
  • Aldiss, Brian. Science Fiction Blues With Brian Aldiss. Avernus, 2000. First edition oversized chapbook original (A4 sized), a Fine- copy with a slight bit of bend on the left side. Program for some sort of Aldiss reading or performance, which also happens to contain three original Aldiss stories as well as other material. Odd little item. Bought for £3. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 58.

    Aldiss SF Blues

  • Aldiss, Brian. Sex and the Black Machine. Avernus, 1990. First edition chapbook, a Fine- copy with slight wrinkling and inevitable page darkening to newsprint pages and self-wrapper. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 59.

    Aldiss Sex Black Machine

  • Aldiss, Brian. This World and Nearer Ones. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1979. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by Aldiss. Bought for $8 from a notable SF book dealer. Non-fiction.
  • (Aldiss, Brian) Aldiss, Margaret. Item Eighty-Three: Brian W. Aldiss: A Bibliography: 1954—1972. SF Horizons, (1973). Chapbook, Fine. Non-fiction.
  • That’s not everything I own by Aldiss, but I’m far from having a complete Aldiss collection. The man was extremely prolific…

    Library Addition: First Hardback Edition of Matt Hughes’ Fools Errant

    Wednesday, August 16th, 2017

    Mike Berro recommended Matthew Hughes as a Jack Vance-inspired writer quite a while back, so I’ve been looking for the first hardback edition of his first novel ever since, and one finally popped up at a decent price.

    Hughes, Matt[hew]. Fools Errant. Maxwell Macmillan Canada, 1994. First hardback edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Hughes. Bought from an online seller for $35.

    Hughes Fools Errant

    Library Addition: Ray Bradbury’s Christmas Wishes 1986

    Tuesday, August 15th, 2017

    Slowly but surely collecting all of these:

    Bradbury, Ray. Christmas Wishes 1986. Self-published, 1986. First edition 8 1/2 x 11″ broadsheet, folded once (as mailed), otherwise Fine- with slight wrinkling. inscribed by Bradbury: “Hans N!/Ray Bradbury”. A one page poem, like all Bradbury’s Christmas broadsheets. This one says “From Maggie & Ray Bradbury,” but I’m not sure it was actually co-written by his wife. Bought off eBay for about $35.

    Bradbury Christmas 1986

    Library Additions: Three Half Price Books Purchases

    Tuesday, August 1st, 2017

    Here are three random library additions, the only common denominator of which was that I picked all of them up at Half Price Books.

  • Leckie, Ann. Ancillary Justice. Orbit, 2013. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine, new and unready copy. Hugo and Nebula Award winner. Bought for $7.99 at Half Price Books. Supplements the later Gale/Thorndike Press large print hardback edition and the Subterranean Press signed/limited edition.
  • Pohl, Frederik and Lester Del Rey (as Edson McCann). Preferred Risk. Simon and Schuster, 1955. First edition hardback, a Near Fine- copy with page block spotting at heel, in a Near Fine dust jacket with traces of wear at points and moderate soiling to white rear panel. Inscribed by Pohl: “To Rick—/With all good/wishes—/”Edson”/or/Fred Pohl.” Currey (1979), page 404. Bought for $8, down from $10 with a 20% off coupon. This is a case of knowing more than the bookseller, since I knew this was a Pohl/Del Rey pseudonym and what Pohl’s signature looks like. As for the book itself, evidently Galaxy magazine and Simon and Schuster ran a contest for an SF novel, didn’t like any of the submissions, and got Pohl and Del Rey to write this under a pseudonym for the contest.

    Preferred Risk

    IMG_1405

  • Vachess, Andrew, Geoff Darrow, Michael Black and Gary Gianni. The Shaolin Cowboy Adventure Magazine No. 1. Dark Horse, 2012. First edition trade paperback original, a Near Fine+ copy with a small scrape at heel and just a trace of wear. Signed by Vachess, Darrow and Black. Pulp fiction homage that looks like fun. Bought for $7.99.

    Shaolin Cowboy

    IMG_1408

  • Library Additions: Two Signed Philip Jose Farmer First Editions

    Thursday, July 27th, 2017

    Two signed Philip Jose Farmer firsts I got off eBay:

  • Farmer, Philip Jose. Red Orc’s Rage. Tor, 1991. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight spine fading. Signed by Farmer. Bought off eBay for $14.99.

    IMG_1393

  • Farmer, Philip Jose. The World of Tiers Volume Two. Nelson Doubleday, Inc. (SFBC), no date (but 1981). First edition hardback thus (first printing has gutter code “L44” on page 531, as per the ISFDB), an omnibus edition of A Private Cosmos, Behind the Walls of Terra and The Lavalit World, a Fine copy in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with edgewear at head and heel and a few small rubs. Signed by Farmer. Bought off eBay for $15.99.

    IMG_1394

  • Library Additions: January 1—June 30, 2017

    Thursday, July 6th, 2017

    Here it is, the big roll-up post of all the books I added to my library in the first half of this year. My purchases actually slowed down some over the last six months.

  • Aldiss, Brain W. Excommunication. Post Card Partnership, 1975. First edition postcard, a Fine copy. Bought for £2.50 after discount.
  • Atwood, Margaret. The Year of the Flood. Bloomsbury (UK), 2009. First edition hardback, # 653 of 1,000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in decorated boards with silver gilt edges, in a Fine slipcase, sans dust jacket, as issued. Bought for $7.50 at Half Price Books, marked down from $15 with a 50% off coupon. According to the ISFDB, this limited edition is a true first (simultaneous with the trade hardback and trade paperback states), and was originally issued at £75, so I got it for less than 1/10th cover price…

    Atwood Flood

  • Banks, Iain M. Cleaning Up. Birmingham Science Fiction Group, 1987. First edition chapbook, a Fine- copy with one small phantom indentation to top rear and a touch of soiling. Issued for Novacon 17. Bought online for £24.99 plus shipping.

    Cleaning Up

  • Beukes, Lauren. Zoo City. Angry Robot, 2010. First hardback edition and first UK edition, one of 100 signed copies (the only hardback edition), a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a very slight wrinkle at rear heel join, otherwise new and unread. Preceded by the Jacana Media (South Africa) paperback edition. Bought off eBay for $99 (the opening bid).

    Zoo City

    IMG_1117

    IMG_1122

  • Bix, Cynthia Overbeck, editor. Sunset Home Repair Handbook. Sunset Publishing, 1994. Trade paperback reprint, a Very Good+ copy with book slightly concave and touches of wear. Picked out of a box of free books out on a curb.
  • Crowther, Peter and Nick Gevers. Postscripts 30/31: Memoryville Blues. PS Publishing, 2013. First edition hardback, #173 of 200 copies signed by all the contributors, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase, new and unread. Bought off eBay for $15, which works out to less than a dollar a signature…
  • Cruz, Ted. A Time for Truth. Broadside Books, 2015. Signed by the author.
  • Drake, David. Codex. Sidecar Preservation Society, 2003. First edition chapbook original, #83 of 175 numbered copies, a Fine copy. According to Chalker & Owings Supplement 12, there were 25 copies bound in hardback (not seen). Bought for £2.50 after discount.

    Drake Codex

  • Ellison, Harlan. Alone Against Tomorrow. Macmillan, 1971. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by Ellison: “For Don—/Harlan Ellison”. Currey (1979), page 177. Slusser (see below) 19. Bought off eBay for $35.
  • Ellison, Harlan (edited by Andrew Porter). The Book of Ellison. Algol Press, 1975. First edition hardback, one of only 200 hardbacks, a Near Fine copy with bumping at head and heel, sans dust jacket, as issued. Inscribed by Ellison: “For Malcolm, Friend, from/Harlan Ellison.” Collection of essays. Bought from a UK dealer for £33.
  • Ellison, Harlan. Edgeworks 1: Over the Edge/An Edge in My Voice. White Wolf, 1996. First edition hardback thus (and first hardback edition of Over the Edge, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket.
  • Ellison, Harlan. Edgeworks 3: Harlan Ellison’s Hornbook/Harlan Ellison’s Movie. White Wolf, 1997. First edition hardback thus, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Supplements the two-volume Mirage Press set of these same titles.
  • Ellison, Harlan. Edgeworks 4: Love Ain’t Nothing But Sex Misspelled/The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World. White Wolf, 1998. First edition hardback thus, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket.
  • (Ellison, Harlan) Segaloff, Nat. A Lit Fuse: The Provacative Life of Harlan Ellison. NESFA Press, 2017. First edition hardback, #238 of 500 copies signed by Segaloff, a Fine copy in decorated boards, in a Fine slipcase, sans dust jacket, as issued. Authorized biography. The pic below is from the front of the slipcase.

    A Lit Fuse

  • (Ellison, Harlan). Slusser, George Edgar. Harlan Ellison: Unrepentant Harlequin. Borgo Press, 1977. First edition chapbook original (“First Edition———April 1977”), a Fine copy. Signed and dated (“4/18/95”) by Ellison. Critical work on Ellison. “The Milford Series Popular Writers of Today: Volume Six.” Bought of eBay for $13.05.

    Unrepntent Harlequin

  • (Ellison, Harlan) Slusser, George Edgar. Harlan Ellison: Unrepentant Harlequin. Borgo Press, 1977. First edition chapbook, a Near Fine- copy with rubbing and a sticker pull to front cover. Inscribed by Ellison, with a drawing, in two colors: (In blue ink) “For Daniel Traeger The “Mom” (in rust-colored ink) That’s supposed to/say “The Man” — But/I messed up. Sorry/Harlan Ellison/”The Inept.” Currey (1979), page 180. Another copy, bought for $1.98 at Half Price Books after I bought the one above.

    Slusser Ellison Sig

  • Eggers, Dave, editor. McSweeney’s 15. McSweeney’s, 2004. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued, still in shrinkwarp, with Icelandic tabloid included. Bought for $2 from Half Price Books.
  • 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.

    IMG_1215

  • Farmer, Philip Jose. The Classic Philip Jose Farmer: 1954—1962. Crown, 1984. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by Farmer. Volume 4 in the Crown SF Classics series. Bought for $21.50 off eBay.

    Classic Farmer Sig

  • Foster, Alan Dean (writing as George Lucas). Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker. Ballantine Books, 1976. First edition paperback original (as indicated both by the “First Printing 1976” statement on the copyright page, and by the original Ralph McQuarrie artwork on the cover, which was dropped from all subsequent reprints), a Very Good copy with cover creasing, bottom front corner crease, and general wear.

    Star Wars PB

  • Freas, Frank Kelly. The Art of Science Fiction. Donning, 1977. First edition hardback, #234 of 1,000 copies with a signature plate signed by Freas pasted inside the front cover, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Bought for $50 off eBay.

    Art Freas

  • Hill, Joe. A Little Silver Book of Sharp Shiny Slivers. Borderlands Press, 2017. First edition hardback, #439 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Part of the Borderlands Little Book series.

    Joe Hill Silver

  • Jacobi, Carl. The Smoke of the Snake. Fedogan & Breamer, 1994. Bought for $7.99 at Half Price Books.
  • Lafferty, R.A. The Man With the Speckled Eyes: The Collected Short Fiction Volume Four. Centipede Press, 2017. #40 of 300 signed, numbered copies, matching the number I have for the other volumes.
  • Lee, Tanith. Mortal Suns. Overlook Press, 2001. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bend at head and heel and a touch of wear. Signed and date by Lee “2004/London.” Bought for £7.50.
  • Lee, Tanith. Wolf Wing. Dutton, 2003. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a very slight bump at head and a few faint, non-breaking scratches to rear cover. Signed and dated 2008 by Lee. Bought for £7.50.
  • Le Guin, Ursula. To Siva the Unmaker. Science Fiction Poetry Association, 1980. First edition postcard, a near Fine copy with a faint dime-sized stain. Signed by Le Guin. Bought for $15 off eBay.

    Le Guin Postcard

  • Mieville, China. The Last Days of New Paris. Subterranean Press, 2017. First limited edition hardback (the Del Rey trade edition precedes), #322 of 500 signed, numbered copies.
  • Nevins, Jess. The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Pulp heroes. Lulu Press, 2017. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Non-fiction reference work covering fantastic pulp heroes from 1902—1945. Bought for $22.49 the first week of publication.

    Fantastic Pulp Heroes

  • Partridge, Norman. Spyder. Subterranean Press, 1995. First edition chapbook original, a PC copy of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. Bought for £2.50 after discount.

    Partridge Spyder

  • Powers, Tim. Poems. Charnel House, 2016 (actually 2017). First edition hardback, #54 of 200 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued.

    Powers Poems

  • Rajaniemi, Hannu. The Quantum Thief. Gollancz, 2010. First edition hardback, an Ex-Library copy with pocket and stamps, in a Fine-, protected dust jacket with a bit of curl at head. Presents well. Bought off eBay for £19.99 plus shipping.

    Quantum Thief

  • Tem, Steve Rasnic. Fairytales. Roadkill Press, 1990. First edition chapbook original, #352 of 400 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. Bought for £2.50 after discount.

    Tem Fairytales

  • Spencer, William Browning. The Unorthodox Dr. Draper. Subterranean Press, 2017. #169 of 750 signed, numbered copies. I’ll have copies for sale in the forthcoming Lame Excuse Books catalog.
  • Tessier, Thomas. Lulu and one other. Subterranean Press, 1999. First edition chapbook original, a PC copy of 250 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. Bought for £2.50 after discount.

    Tessier Lulu

  • Library Addition: Signed First of The Classic Philip Jose Farmer

    Friday, June 30th, 2017

    Another signed eBay purchase:

    Farmer, Philip Jose. The Classic Philip Jose Farmer: 1954—1962. Crown, 1984. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by Farmer. Volume 4 in the Crown SF Classics series. Bought for $21.50 off eBay.

    Classic Farmer Sig

    Library Addition: Joe Hill’s A Little Silver Book of Sharp Shiny Slivers

    Thursday, June 29th, 2017

    Just got the new small press Joe Hill book in:

    Hill, Joe. A Little Silver Book of Sharp Shiny Slivers. Borderlands Press, 2017. First edition hardback, #439 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Part of the Borderlands Little Book series.

    Joe Hill Silver

    Note that I’ll have copies of this for sale in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog [Now sold out – LP], but keep in mind how popular Joe Hill is, and that this sold out per-publication, it won’t be cheap…