Posts Tagged ‘Limited Editions’

Library Additions: Two Signed Harlan Ellison Firsts

Tuesday, September 7th, 2021

Both of these were bought from a customer who wanted to sell off his collection. Some of that was listed in the Lame Excuse Books catalog, and I’ll be listing the books I bought for my own collection here.

  • Ellison, Harlan. The Deadly Streets with Gentlemen Junkie. Edgeworks Abbey/Subterranean Press, 2013. First hardback editions of each, #216 of 250 signed, numbered sets, Fine copies in Fine dust jackets and a Fine slipcase. Two early Ellison collections, originally PBOs, appearing here for the first time in hardback. Richmond, Fingerprints in the Sky, pages 46 and 51. Supplements trade copies of each.

  • Ellison, Harlan. Li’l Harlan and his sidekick Carl the Comet in Danger Land. Edgeworks Abbey/Subterranean Press, 2013. First edition hardback chapbook, #WW of 52 signed, lettered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Stories of Harlan paling around with Carl Sagan. I avoided buying this when it came out because it sorta looked super-cringy, but since I’m collecting everything else, and the hardback is rare, I added it to the stack. Richmond, Fingerprints in the Sky, page 121.

  • Other Ellison firsts I’m still looking for can be found here.

    Library Addition: Thomas Ligotti’s Death Poems

    Saturday, August 21st, 2021

    This came in a while back, but I waited until after I listed the books in the just released Lame Excuse Books catalog before listing it here.

    Ligotti, Thomas. Death Poems. Bad Moon Books, 2013. First edition hardback thus, #50 of 300 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. There was an earlier edition of this from Dutro Press, but this edition is expanded with additional material. Bought off eBay for $75.

    Maybe I should have added those crazy small run Ligotti books I lack to the books wanted list…

    Library Addition: Signed, Limited Edition of Dean Koontz’s Devoted

    Monday, August 16th, 2021

    Another SST shipment came in:

    Koontz, Dean. Devoted. Short Scary Tales (SST) Publications, 2021. First limited edition hardback, #217 of 500 copies signed by Koontz, introduction author Joe R. Lansdale, and artist Dirk Berger, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine decorated slipcase. A boy and his Golden Retriever vs. evil. What’s not to like? A hefty 574 page volume.

    I will have precisely one copy available in the forthcoming Lame Excuse Books catalog (which I hope to send out Wednesday).

    Library Additions: Two Centipede Press Books

    Friday, July 30th, 2021

    Two more books came in from Centipede Press:

  • Boyett, Stephen R. The Architect of Sleep. Centipede Press, 2021. First hardback edition, #355 of 400 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, still in shrinkwrap. Really interesting novel about a man transported to an alternate earth where raccoons evolved as the planet’s sentient life form. Originally published as an Ace paperback original back in 1986 and became something of a cult classic, and I’ve sold a lot of PBO copies of this and Ariel over the years (and indeed, if you just want to read it, I have copies available). Recommended. This signed edition is already sold out from the publisher. I’m hoping this new edition prods Boyett into revising and finishing the still-unpublished sequel, The Geography of Dreams.

  • Foster, Alan Dean. The Director Should’ve Shot You: Memoirs of the Film Trade. Centipede Press, 2021. First hardback edition, #430 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, still in shrinkwrap. I haven’t read any Foster novels since one of the early Pip and Flinx books way back in my misspent youth, but this one interests me. As the king of media tie-in novels, from Star Wars to Alien to Krull, Foster has worked on a lot of big hits (and misses), and in this book he dishes on all the behind-the-scenes drama he witnessed in in his career. This signed edition is already sold out from the publisher.

    The white square visible on the front is a numbered card inside the shrink wrap that will get laid in when it’s opened.

  • I will have copies of both of these in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog (currently in progress).

    Library Addition: Charnel House Edition of Harlan Ellison’s The Glass Teat & The Other Glass Teat

    Thursday, July 29th, 2021

    When this book originally came out at $600, I went “I want that…but not at that price point.” Now Charnel House has used the last 100 sheet sets of the original printing to come out with this 10th Anniversary Edition at a price I could afford:

    Ellison, Harlan. The Glass Teat & The Other Glass Teat. Charnel House, 2011. First hardback edition, #182 of 250 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issue, with a CD of Harlan reading “Welcome to the Gulag,” the introduction written for this edition laid in. All Ellison’s TV essays and reviews written for The Los Angeles Free Press. Not having a copy of the original binding, I can’t tell you how this 10th Anniversary edition binding differs from the original. Bought from the publisher at a discount.

    I will have a single copy of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog (currently in progress).

    Library Addition: Centipede Press First Edition of Philip K. Dick’s The Cosmic Puppets / Dr. Futurity / Vulcan’s Hammer

    Monday, July 5th, 2021

    When Centipede Press announced they were going to do a trio of Philip K. Dick novels as a hardcover set in an edition of 300, I knew there were going to disappear quickly, so I snapped a set up:

    Dick, Philip K. The Cosmic Puppets with Dr. Futurity with Vulcan’s Hammer. First editions thus for The Cosmic Puppets and Vulcan’s Hammer, first hardback edition for Dr. Futurity, each #92 of 300 signed, numbered copies, each signed by Michael Swanwick, Peter Strain, and Chris Moore, each Fine copies in Fine dust jackets and a Fine slipcase, still in shrinkwrap. (The lines you see over the top and bottom of Vulcan’s Hammer are the shrinkwrap join lines.) The Cosmic Puppets was done as a Severn House hardback, and Vulcan’s Hammer as a Gregg Press hardback, and I have both of those, but I thought it behooved me to pick up the first hardback of Dr. Futurity, even though I had to pay cover price for the set. And indeed, it was pretty much out-of-print immediately upon publication.

    And if they make this into a regular series of PKD books, I guess I’ll have to pick up those too…

    Library Addition: Signed First of Complete Short Fiction of Peter Straub

    Thursday, July 1st, 2021

    This is a book set that was originally due out a year ago and, like so many other things, got delayed.

    Straub, Peter. The Complete Short Fiction of Peter Straub Volume One and The Complete Short Fiction of Peter Straub Volume Two. Borderlands Press, 2021. First edition hardbacks, #321 of 350 signed, numbered copies, Fine copies in Fine dust jackets. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount. I believe that is already out of print, but I will have copies available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog (due Real Soon Now).

    Library Addition: The Stormbringer Sessions

    Thursday, April 29th, 2021

    Here’s an item I picked up a while back that I’ve only just gotten around to blogging about:

    (Moorcock, Michael) Cawthorn, James. The Stormbringer Sessions. Jayde Designs/Savoy Books, 2021. First edition hardback, an oversized graphic novel format. #30 of 100 numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase, with a sheet replicating the cover art laid in. A graphic novel reprinting Cawthorn’s rough sketch’s for Michael Moorcock’s Elric: The Book of Stormbringer, a much more complete and elaborate graphic novel adaptation of the concluding Elric book than the version published by Savoy Books in 1976. At £100 plus transatlantic shipping, it’s a pricey item, but with such a small limitation (with only an additional 100 trade copies) for a Moorcock item, I thought it was better to snap it up when I could (and indeed, all copies are now sold out).

    The scan chops off the very bottom of the cover, because that was all that would fit on my scanner.

    The slipcase is embossed with a red foil version of Moorcock’s eight-arrowed chaos symbol:

    Library Additions: Limited and Lettered Editions of Neal Stephenson’s Atmosphæra Incognita

    Thursday, March 18th, 2021

    Still more books from the Subterranean Press PC sale:

  • Stephenson, Neal. Atmosphæra Incognita. Subterranean Press, 2019. First edition hardback, a PC copy of 26 Lettered copies, a Fine copy in embossed boards and a Fine traycase, sans dust jacket, as issued. Novella about building a giant tower. Bought for $500 (the original offering price).

  • Stephenson, Neal. Atmosphæra Incognita. Subterranean Press, 2019. First edition hardback, a PC copy of 400 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought for $100.

    Lettered edition on left, numbered edition on right

  • All editions are long sold out.

    Library Addition: Lettered Edition of The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard

    Tuesday, March 16th, 2021

    Another book from the Subterranean Press PC sale:

    Howard, Robert E. The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard. Subterranean Press, 2010. First limited edition hardback (the Del Rey trade edition precedes), a PC copy of 50 signed, numbered (so says the limitation page, though this is the Lettered edition) leatherbound copies, signed by artist Greg Staples, a Fine copy in a Fine traycase, sans dust jacket, as issued. A lavish production. Supplements a copy of the ordinary numbered edition. Bought for $200, a hefty 50% off the original offering price of $400.