Posts Tagged ‘Books’

Library Additions: Two Signed Harlan Ellison Books

Thursday, May 4th, 2017

Two library additions of Harlan Ellison non-fiction books from two different purchases.

  • 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). 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

  • Library Addition: True PBO 1st of Star Wars

    Wednesday, May 3rd, 2017

    Picked this up at Half Price Books, and while not along my usual collecting vectors, I knew enough to pick it up.

    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

    Although McQuarrie helped design many of the characters, the versions on the cover of this paperback varies wildly from their on-screen counterparts, and every other subsequent piece of official Star Wars art.

    Library Additions: Four Chapbooks, One Postcard

    Wednesday, April 26th, 2017

    Between a new job, doing my taxes, and a relative coming into town, the task of cataloging library additions has been sidelined. The items here are from a Cold Tonnage Books sale in January, so the cataloging has been a long time in coming. All the below prices are after a 50% discount.

  • Aldiss, Brain W. Excommunication. Post Card Partnership, 1975. First edition postcard, a Fine copy. Bought for £2.50 after discount.
  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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: Hannu Rajaniemi’s The Quantum Thief

    Monday, March 20th, 2017

    Here’s a book I found out about too late to pick up before prices went through the stratosphere, so I went ahead and settled (for now) for an Ex-Library first I could afford:

    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

    William Peter Blatty: RIP

    Friday, January 13th, 2017

    William Peter Blatty, author of The Exorcist, has died at age 89.

    I remember about a quarter of a century ago, I finished one book before bedtime, and went “I know! I’ll read the first chapter of The Exorcist and then go to sleep.”

    At 3:30 AM I finished the book. It was that good. William Friedkin’s very faithful movie adaptation was also great (indeed, arguably the best horror movie of all time), but it helped that he had great source material to start with.

    Library Addition: The Illustrated Harlan Ellison

    Friday, January 13th, 2017

    I already had the Illustrated Zelazny volume, so I kept an eye out for this one:

    Ellison, Harlan. The Illustrated Harlan Ellison. Baronet Publishing, 1978. First edition hardback, #2014 of 3000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine- copy with wear at tips, otherwise intact with inset color cover illustration still affixed and 3D glasses still attached in the middle, sans dust jacket, as issued. Bought off eBay for $24.99 (the opening bid).

    Illustrated Ellison

    Library Addition: 1/100 Signed Numbered Hardback Copies of Lauren Beukes Zoo City

    Thursday, January 12th, 2017

    Here’s a book I’ve looked for at a price I could afford for a while. Copies would show up online, but typically in the $300+ range.

    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

    And here’s the limitation statement on the bottom of the front dust jacket flap.

    IMG_1122

    Library Addition: Signed 1989 Ray Bradbury Christmas Broadsheet

    Wednesday, January 11th, 2017

    Picked up another signed Ray Bradbury Christmas broadsheet off eBay:

    Bradbury, Ray. A Christmas Wish 1989: The Bread of Beggars, The Wine of Christ. Privately printed, 1989. First edition broadsheet, a Fine copy, inscribed by the author: “Tim!—Love!—Ray!” Bought off eBay for $34 plus shipping.

    bradbury-christmas-1989

    The slight shadowing on the left side is a scanner artifact, probably a result of leaving it in the protective plastic while scanning it…

    Library Additions: Two Bibliographies

    Friday, January 6th, 2017

    Still clearing out the backlog of books I bought in 2016. here are two bibliographies, each of which I bought quite cheap:

  • (Buckley, William F., Jr.) Meehan, William H. III. William F. Buckley Jr.: A Bibliography. ISI Books, 2002. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought this after picking up these Buckley boks. Alas, though it contains a great deal of information, it doesn’t include the one thing I bought it for: first edition pints on Buckley’s books.

    buckley-bib

  • (Lovecraft, H.P.) Joshi, S. T. 200 Books by S. t. Joshi. Hippocampus Press, 2014. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy, signed by Joshi. A self-bibliography of H.P. Lovecraft’s supreme scholar, biographer, and bibliographer. So a bibliography of a bibliographer. Bought off eBay for $4.50 plus shipping.

    joshi-200

  • Library Addition: Taylor Caldwell’s Dialogues With the Devil

    Thursday, December 29th, 2016

    Back when you could make decent money on eBay for various offbeat but desirable paperbacks, you used to be able to get decent money for paperback reprints of the following:

    Caldwell, Taylor. Dialogues With the Devil. Doubleday, 1967. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a slight bit of edgewear. Book in which Lucifer makes his case. Bought off eBay for $28 plus shipping.

    caldwell-devil

    Taylor Caldwell was a mid-20th century bestseller, but she isn’t read much anymore. She also wrote The Devil’s Advocate, set in a future communist dystopia, which also sounds like the sort of thing I should pick up.