Posts Tagged ‘August Derleth’

Library Additions: Five Arkham House Firsts

Monday, November 14th, 2022

I won these as part of an Arkham House lot at an Invaluable auction for $217 plus shipping. Other books from that lot will be in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, already in progress (probably going out just before Christmas).

  • Carter, Lin. Dreams from R’lyeh. Arkham House, 1975. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with bumping at head and heel in a Near Fine- dust jacket with wear at head, heel and points, and dust soiling to rear cover, mostly along fold edge. Poetry collection. In terms of desirability, this one is way, way down the list of Arkhams that took forever to sell out, down there with Gary Myer’s In the House of the Worm and those very later novels from people nobody ever heard of. Honestly, I was sort of surprised to discover that I hadn’t already picked up a cheap copy somewhere along the line. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House 133. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries 137. Nielsen, Arkham House Books 139.
  • Derleth, August, and Mark Schorer. Colonel Markesan and Less Pleasant People. Arkham House, 1966. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a few touches of light dust staining to rear, the largest about dime-sized near the top where the back jacket copy begins. Story collection. Replaces a slightly less attractive copy. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House 87. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House 87. Nielsen, Arkham House Books 93. Bleiler, Guide to Supernatural Fiction 530.

  • Derleth, August, editor. Dark of the Moon: Poems of Fantasy and the Macabre. Arkham House, 1947. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with bumping to top corners, slight bumping at head and heel, and a trace of foxing to interior gutters, in a Very Good- first state (green) dust jacket with a 1″ x 1/2″ chip to top front cover, notable bump and creasing to top rear corner trace of dust soiling to perimeter of rear dust jacket slight loss at bottom rear corner, a light, thin 1″ abrasion scratch to spine just above “Arkham House,” a bit of general wear, and slight blind-side foxing; a nice copy in a flawed dust jacket. “A pioneering and well-nigh definitive anthology of weird poetry from the entire range of English and American literature…” – Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House 23. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House 23. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries 26. Nielsen, Arkham House Books 24 (and 34th on his list of most valuable Arkham House books). Derleth, 100 Books By August Derleth 46. Bleiler, Checklist of Fantastic Fiction (1948), page 98. Bleiler, Checklist of Fantastic Fiction (1978), page 60.

  • Lovecraft, H. P., etc. (collected by August Derleth). Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos. Arkham House, 1969. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with just a trace of dust soiling to the rear panel. Beautiful copy. “A volume that has come to be regarded as the definitive anthology of tales utilizing the framework of the ‘Cthulhu Mythos’…” – Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House 102. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House 97. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries 109. Nielsen, Arkham House Books 108.

  • (Lovecraft, H.P.) Derleth, August. Some Notes on H. P. Lovecraft. Arkham House, 1959. First edition chapbook original, a Very Good copy to which someone has attached a now-yellowing plastic protector, as well as attaching the bookplate of late antiquarian book dealer Franklin Victor Spellman to the inside front cover. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House 55. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House 55. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries 55. Nielsen, Arkham House Books 58. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House (unnumbered item between 86 and 87 on page 84). Joshi, H.P. Lovecraft: A Comprehensive Bibliography, III.C.32. Tymn/Schlobin/Currey, A Research Guide to Science Fiction Studies, 284.
  • Library Additions: Hippocampus Press Trade Paperbacks

    Friday, August 13th, 2021

    Ordered a bunch of books from Hippocampus Press, some of which came out under the radar last year. All of these state “First Edition” but are essentially POD books, and all were bought at the usual discount.

  • Chambers, Robert W. (S. T. Joshi, editor). The Harbor-Master: Best Weird Stories of Robert W. Chambers. Hippocampus Press, 2021. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Includes some supernatural stories not in The King in Yellow.
  • (Howard, Robert E.) Charles Hoffman and Marc Cerasini. Robert E. Howard: A Closer Look. Hippocampus Press, 2020. First edition trade paperback original thus, a Fine copy. Critical companion on Howard’s work greatly expanded and revised from a 1987 Starmont Reader’s Guide edition.
  • Lovecraft, H.P. (S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz, editors). Letters to Alfred Galpin and Others. Hippocampus Press, 2020. First edition trade paperback original thus, a Fine copy. “A new edition, augmented here with over 200 new pages of material.” Primarily letters Lovecraft wrote to his amateur press association correspondents.
  • Lovecraft, H.P. (S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz, editors). Letters to E. Hoffman Price and Richard F. Searight. Hippocampus Press, 2020. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Hoffman was an acclaimed Weird Tales writer in his own right, and also friends with Robert E. Howard (who is a frequent topic in these letters). Searlight also had pieces appear in Weird Tales.
  • Lovecraft, H.P. (S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz, editors). Letters to Family and Family Friends Volume 1 with Letters to Family and Family Friends Volume 2. Hippocampus Press, 2020. First edition trade paperback originals, both Fine copies. Over 1,000 pages of letters, with page numbers across both volumes, plus a Glossary, an Index, etc.
  • Lovecraft, H.P. (S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz, editors). Letters to Rheinhart Kleiner and Others. Hippocampus Press, 2020. First edition trade paperback original thus, a Fine copy. “A new edition, augmented here with nearly 250 new pages of material.” Letters Lovecraft wrote to one of his oldest friends, having known Kleiner since 1915. Other correspondence includes letters to other amateur journalists and members of the New York City-based Kalem Club.
  • Shirley, John. A Sorcerer of Atlantis with A Prince in the Kingdom of Ghosts. Hippocampus Press, 2021. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Shirley doing weird adventure pulp! The first story features two adventurers in Atlantis battling bizarre monsters accompanied by a Princess of Mu. The second features a murdered Korean American who finds himself a prince in the afterlife. Looks like great fun.
  • Smith, Clark Ashton, and August Derleth. Eccentric, Impractical Devils: The Letters of August Derleth and Clark Ashton Smith. (David E. Schultz and S.T. Joshi, editors). Hippocampus Press, 2020. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Derleth, of course, published many of Smith’s collections at Arkham House, and both men where appearing in the pages of Weird Tales in the 1920s, but they didn’t correspond until Lovecraft introduced them to each other in 1930.
  • (Smith, Clark Ashton) S.T. Joshi, David E. Schultz and Scott Conners. Clark Ashton Smith: A Comprehensive Bibliography. Hippocampus Press, 2020. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Much-needed comprehensive bibliography for Smith’s works, especially since Donald Sidney-Fryer’s Emperor of Dreams is not only out of date, but so poorly organized as to be nearly useless.
  • Copies of all of these will be available in the forthcoming Lame Excuse Books catalog (currently in progress).

    Library Additions: Two Small Press Firsts

    Wednesday, June 9th, 2021

    Two more items from that ongoing collection sale on eBay:

  • Derleth, August as Stephen Grendon. Mr. George and Other Odd Persons. Arkham House, 1963. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with possibly a tiny amount of spine fading, right at the edge of perceptability, an extremely bright and attractive copy. Stories written by August Derleth under his open pseudonym, most of which appeared in either Weird Tales or The Arkham Sampler. 100 Books by August Derleth, page 93 (“Awaiting Publication”). Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House, 70. Thirty Years of Arkham House, 70. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries, 72. Nielsen, Arkham House Books, 74. Currey, page 148. Chalker/Owings, Science Fantasy Publishers, page 32. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction, 524. Bought off eBay for $48.

  • Howard, Robert E. Almuric. Donald M. Grant, 1975. First hardback edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Currey, page 248. Locke, Spectrum of Fantasy, page 117. I put off picking up these Donald M. Grant Howard firsts for quite a while since they seemed readily available, but that no longer seems to be the case. Bought off a fellow Biblio dealer for $18.
  • Library Addition: Signed Hardback First of 100 Books by August Derleth

    Tuesday, May 25th, 2021

    My long-term goal of obtaining a complete Arkham House collection gains another important volume:

    Derleth, August. 100 Books by August Derleth. Arkham House, 1962. First edition hardback, one of only 200 hardback copies, a Near Fine- copy with wear at head, heel and points (and a few traces elsewhere) on the decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Inscribed by Derleth: “Best wishes,/August Derleth.” Bibliography. Simultaneous with a much larger paperback run. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House, 65. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries, 67. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide, 69. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House, 65. Currey, page 155. Tymn Schlobin Currey, A Research Guide to Science Fiction Studies, 247. Chalker Owings, The Science-Fantasy Publishers, page 32 (which notes this was actually published in 1963). Bought off Biblio for $360.

    Library Additions: Five Lovecraft/Arkham House-Related Items

    Tuesday, July 31st, 2018

    Cold Tonnage Books had their annual 40% off sale, so here’s the first batch of books I picked up, all related either to H.P. Lovecraft or Arkham House.

  • Datlow, Ellen, editor. Lovecraft’s Monsters. Tachyon Press, 2014. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Signed by Datlow. Mostly reprints, with a couple of originals. Bought for £6 after discount.
  • Derleth, August. The Chronicles of Solar Pons. Mycroft & Moran, 1973. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a thin line of wear at the very bottom of the heel. Collection of Derleth’s Sherlockian Solar Pons stories from Arkham House’s sister imprint. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House, M&M15, page 183. Jaffrey, Horrors and Unpleasantries, 128. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide, M15, page 154. Bought for £9 after discount.

  • Lovecraft, H.P. and Willis Conover. Lovecraft at Last. Carrollton-Clark, 1975. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Oversized volume that reprints the correspondence between Lovecraft and the then-teen-aged Conover, some in two-color facsimile. Joshi, H. P. Lovecraft: An Annotated Bibliography, I-A-62. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 91, who note that Conover lost tens of thousands of dollars on the project. Bought for £24 after discount.

  • (Lovecraft, H.P.) S.T. Joshi. An Index to the Selected Letters of H. P. Lovecraft. Necronomicon Press, 1980. First edition chapbook original, a Fine copy. Reference work. Joshi, H. P. Lovecraft: An Annotated Bibliography, Supplement C-III, page 412. Bought for £12 after discount.

  • Wakfield, H.R. Strayers From Sheol. Arkham House, 1961. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with just a trace of dust soiling to the white cover (exaggerated in the scan). Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House, 60. Jaffrey, Horrors and Unpleasantries, 60. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide, 63. Bleiler, Supernatural Horror in Literature, 1647. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 30. Bought for £30 after discount.

  • Library Additions: July 1—December 31, 2016

    Wednesday, January 18th, 2017

    Here’s the big rollup list of every book I added to my library in 2016. This includes three big multi-book purchases I made, from the Fred Duarte estate, a Cold Tonnage Books 40% off sale, and four lots from a Nation Book Auction.

  • 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 after discount.

    Aldiss SF Blues

  • Allston, Aaron. Sidhe Devil. Baen, 2001. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy with some foxing to inside covers. Signed and dated by Allston.

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  • Andersen, Hans Christian. Andersen’s Fairy Tales. Grosset and Dunlap, 1945. Reprint edition, a Near Fine copy with color frontispiece affixed and decorated endpapers, no dust jacket. Illustrated by Arthur Szyk. Given to me by my mother as she was downsizing before moving.
  • Anderson, Poul. The Boat of a Million Years. Tor, 1989. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Hugo and Nebula Award nominee. Inscribed to Fred.

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  • Asimov, Isaac. Little Brothers. The Pretentious Press, 1988. First edition chapbook original, one of 126 copies signed by Asimov (the only edition), a Fine copy, with two photos (of Isaac and Stanley Asimov) tipped into front, as issued. Reprints Asimov’s first published work, an essay about how much he hated his little brother, from the Boys High Recorder in 1934. Bought for $35 plus shipping from a well-known literary dealer.

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  • Barrett, Neal, Jr. The Day the Decorators Came. Subterranean Press, 2000. First edition hardback, a signed but unnumbered copy among 26 lettered copies, a Fine copy with pictorial pastedown on front boards, sans dust jacket, as issued.

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  • Barrett, Neal, Jr. Judge Dread. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with slight touches of edgewear. Signed by Barrett. Based on the Sylvester Stallone movie. Bought for $5 at Armadillocon

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  • Barrett, Neal, Jr. Spider-Man: Lizard’s Rage. Pocket Books, 1997. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with traces of edge wear, slight age darkening to pages and slight foxing to inside covers. Inscribed by Barrett: “For Fred/All the/best/Neal Barrett, Jr.”

    Spiderman Lizard's Rage

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  • Barrett, Neal, Jr. Way Out There. Subterranean Press, 2004. First edition hardback, a signed but unnumbered copy among 52 lettered copies, a Fine copy with pictorial pastedown on front boards, sans dust jacket, as issued.

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  • Barry, Dave. Dave Barry Slept Here. Random House, 1989. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed to Fred by the author. Humor.

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  • Baxter, Stephen. Universes. PS Publishing, 2013. First edition hardback, #131 of 200 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine decorated slipcase.

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  • 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

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  • Blaylock, James P. The Further Adventures of Langdon St. Ives. Subterranean Press, 2016. First edition hardback, #104 of 200 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Omnibus edition of Lagdon St. Ives novellas. “The Here-and-Thereians” plus a short coda (“Earthbound Things”) are original to this volume. Bought at 50% off cover price.
  • Blaylock, James P. The Further Adventures of Langdon St. Ives. Subterranean Press, 2016. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Trade edition. Bought at 50% off cover price.
  • Bloch, Robert. The King of Terrors. Mysterious Press, 1977. First edition hardback, #129 of 250 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Near Fine slipcase with a few white marks to black slipcase at heel. Currey A, page 46. Flanagan, Robert Bloch: A Bio-Bibliography, page 49. Won off eBay for $21.50. I also have Bloch’s Out of the Mouths of Graves by the same publisher in the limited edition.

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  • Boucher, Anthony. The Compleat Werewolf. Simon & Schuster, 1969. First edition hardback (“First Printing” stated), a Fine- copy with slight dust soiling at head and heel in a Fine- dust jacket with a thin line of dust staining along spine join on rear cover. Jones/Newman, Horror 100 66. Bleiler, Guide to Supernatural Fiction 232.

    Boucher Werewolf

  • 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.

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  • Bradbury, Ray. Green Shadows, White Whale. Random House Audio, 1992. Audio cassette (probably the “first edition,” as I suspect there was only one) in a Very Good- packaging with 1″ of the inner cardboard cassette sleeve missing at bottom. Signed by Bradbury across the rear of the package. Two cassettes adding up to three hours of audio (presumably abridged) of Bradbury reading from his own novel. (I also have a first edition of the novel signed by Bradbury.) Bought from the Duarte estate sale at Armadillocon for $5.

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  • Bradbury, Ray. The Silver Locusts. Rupert Hart Davis, 1951. First UK edition and first hardback edition thus (includes almost all of The Martian Chronicles, dropping “Usher II” and adding “The Fire Balloons”), a Near Fine copy with dust soiling to top edge and a quarter-sized sticker for Foyle’s Bookstore (Charing Cross, London) affixed to bottom inside front cover, in a Very Good dust jacket with a 1/4″ chip at head, a 1″ tear and associated 1/4″ chip to top front cover, shallow chipping at points, foxing to white back cover and along flap edges, and general wear. Inscribed: “Fred!/Ray Bradbury/5/29/1992.” Weist, Jerry. Bradbury: An Illustrated Life, page 51 (where he notes that the cover is by Roy Sanford). Currey, page 56. Reginald, 01765. Tuck (Volume I), pages 62-63. Bought for approximately $320.

    Silver Locusts

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  • Bradbury, Ray. The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit. Hart-Davis MacGibbon, 1973. First hardback edition, a Fine copy in a Near Fine, corner-clipped (but otherwise fine) dust jacket. (Sadly, corner-slipped copies seem the norm for this title.) Signed by Bradbury. Collection of plays. Bought for £45 after discount.

    Ice Cream Suit

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  • Brennan, Joseph Payne. The Borders Just Beyond. Donald M. Grant, 1986. First edition hardback, one of 750 copies, all signed by Brennan, a Fine copy in a Fine-dust jacket with a tiny bit of wear wear at points. Chalker/Owings, 223.

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  • Broderick, Damien, and Paul Di Filippo. Science Fiction: the 101 Best novels 1985-2010. Nonstop Press, 2012. Trade paperback original, new, Fine. Non-fiction. Bought for 50% off cover price.
  • Buckell, Tobias, The Apocalypse Ocean. Self-published, 2012. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by Buckell: “To Sarah,/Tobias Buckell.” Originally offered at $50 through Kickstarter. Bought for $6.39.

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  • Buckley, William F. Atlantic High. Doubleday, 1982. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with wear at points. Inscribed by Buckley on a bookplate: “For Claire Worth/With deep appreciation/Bill Buckley.” Non-fiction book about Buckley sailing across the Atlantic.

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  • Buckley, William F. Execution Eve and Other Contemporary Ballads. Putnam, 1975. Hardback (no edition stated), a Fine- copy with slight bumping at head and heel in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with some tiny closed tears at head and heel. Inscribed by Buckley on a bookplate: “To Lorenzo Avera/[Something]/Wm. F. Buckley.”

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  • Buckley, William F. A Hymnal: The Controversial Arts. Putnam, 1978. Hardback (no edition stated), a Fine- copy with slight crimping at head and a page number circled in red with the word “Rush” written beside it on the table of contents on page 9, in a Very Good- dust jacket with chipping at head and heel. Inscribed by Buckley on a bookplate: “For Claire Worth/With high regards/Bill Buckley.” Collection of essays.

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  • Buckley, William F. Inveighing We Will Go. Putnam, 1972. Hardback (no edition stated), a Near Fine copy with slightly soft heel and waviness to first few pages and a couple of dust spots to page block edges, in a Very Good- dust jacket with a long semi-closed tear across the bottom of the front cover and two 1/4″ chips at heel. Inscribed by Buckley on a bookplate: “To Mrs. Helen C. Avera/[Something] all/Wm. F. Buckley.” Collection of essays.

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  • Buckley, William F. In Search of Anti-Semitism. Continuum Publishing Company, 1992. Hardback, no printing stated, a Fine- copy with slight bump at head and light crease to first few pages, in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bump at head and small crease to corner of top rear flap. Long essay on charges of antisemitism against various figures on the right, followed by a round of essays and letters from various people in reaction.
  • Buckley, William F. Miles Gone By: A Literary Autobiography. Regnery Publishing, 2004. Fourth printing hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, with CD of Buckley reading in plastic insert at back. Signed by Buckley on a bookplate. Regnery used a very heavy, high-quality paper on this book. Non-fiction.

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  • Buckley, William F. Marco Polo, If You Can. Doubleday, 1982. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with small crease to top inner flap. Inscribed by the author on a bookplate: “For Claire Worth/Best regards/Bill Buckley.” (I believe “Worth” is the last name; I have numerous example of books in this lot inscribed to the same person, and “Worth” seems the most obvious choice. In my (admittedly limited) experience, Buckley didn’t sign terribly many books “Bill”, “Wm. F.” seems considerably more common. If I had to guess, I’d say the books were signed for a longtime correspondent of Buckley’s, someone who took decent care of them but wasn’t a book collector per se (some, but not all, of the books in this lot were in a dust jacket protector, and a few others in plastic book bags).) Actually, I already had a signed first of this book, but this is a better copy. Smith/White, Cloak and Dagger Fiction 913.

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  • Buckley, William F. Mongoose, R.I.P.. Random House, 1987. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with large foxing squares (probably from a newspaper clipping) to rear inside cover and rear free endpaper, in a Near Fine- dust jacket with significnat creasing to rear cover. Inscribed by Buckley: “For Claire Worth/With best & warm wishes/Buckley.” Unlike most of the signed books in this lot, this was signed by Buckley directly on the front free endpaper rather than on a bookplate. Smith/White, Cloak and Dagger Fiction 914.

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  • Buckley, William F. On the Firing Line: The Public Lives of Our Public Figures. Random House, 1989. First trade hardback preceded by a signed edition from the Franklin Library), a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with just the lightest traces of wear. Collection of transcripts from Buckley’s Firing Line program on PBS, including Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater, Margaret Thatcher, Richard Nixon, Kurt Vonnegut, etc.
  • Buckley, William F. Overdrive. Doubleday, 1983. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bend at head and heel in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with shallow chipping and creasing at heel and slight wear at head and points. Inscribed by Buckley on a bookplate: “For Claire Worth/With warm regards/Bill Buckley.” An autobiography of a week in Buckley’s hectic life.

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  • Buckley, William F. Racing Through Paradise. Random House, 1987. First edition hardback (stated, with a numberline starting with 2, as per standard Random House custom), a Fine- copy with line of wear across bottom of spine at heel, in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by Buckley on the front free endpaper: “For Claire Worth/With higher [something]/Bill Buckley.” Non-fiction book about Buckley sailing through the Pacific.

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  • Buckley, William F. Saving the Queen. Doubleday, 1976. Hardback (there’s no First Edition statement on the title page, so this is possibly a reprint, though the R10 gutter code on page 248 would put it in March of its publication year, and occasionally Doubleday did slip up and forget to include the First Edition statement on the true first), a Near Fine+ copy with slight bumping at head and heel and front inner hinge a little bumpy from the glue line under the paper, in a Fine- dust jacket with just a trace of dust soiling along extremities. Inscribed by Buckley: “For Claire Worth/With warmest regards/Bill Buckley.” Another book directly signed rather than on a bookplate. Smith/White, Cloak and Dagger Fiction 912.

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  • Buckley, William F. See You Later Alligator. Doubleday, 1985. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bumping at head and heel and a 1″ closed tear to bottom rear cover. Inscribed by Buckley on a bookplate: “For Claire Worth/With best regards/Bill Buckley.” Smith/White, Cloak and Dagger Fiction 920.

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  • Buckley, William F. The Story of Henri Tod. Doubleday, 1984. First trade edition hardback (preceded by a Franklin Library signed edition), a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight wear at head and heel. Inscribed by Buckley on a bookplate: “For Claire Worth/With high hopes/Bill Buckley.” Smith/White, Cloak and Dagger Fiction 921.

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  • Buckley, William F. Who’s on First. Doubleday, 1980. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bumping at head and heel in a Near Fine dust jacket with 1/16″ chip at rear heel join, slight dust soiling to rear cover and a 1″ surface scratch. Inscribed by Buckley on a bookplate: “For Claire Worth/With high hopes/Bill Buckley.” Smith/White, Cloak and Dagger Fiction 918.

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  • (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.

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  • Bullock, Michael. Green Beginning, Black Ending: Fables. Sono Nis Press, 1971. First edition hardback, a Very Good+ copy with slight wear to boards at head and heel, dusty page block at head, and small triangular abrasion to top front right board in a Very Good- dust jacket with spine fading, significant creasing and rubbing to top of front cover, 1/2″ semi-closed tear at top front fold, blindside tape at head and top front fold, and general wear. Inscribed by Bullock on the FFE: “With good wishes from/Michael Bullock 2.8.71.” There’s also what appears to be a stock number, a price, and “with odd vampire vignette” all in pencil, the last presumably from the vampire and werewolf collector whose collection this came from. Supposedly surreal stories by someone more famous as a translator and poet. Only two copies on Bookfinder, neither signed. Not in in Carter’s The Vampire in Literature, Bleiler’s Supernatural Fiction, Reginald, or, probably, anything else.

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  • 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.

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  • Campbell, Ramsey, editor. Superhorror. St. Martin’s Press, 1976 (stated; ISFDB says 1977). First U.S. edition (though stating it was printed in Great Britain, suggesting that St. Martin’s bound the W. H. Allen sheets, so it might be more technically accurate to call this “First Edition, U.S. (second) state”), hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine dust jacket that appears to have had some sort of very thin laminate applied to it; the edges of the flaps have uniform yellowed strip running the entire length of the flap and feeling ever-so-slight raised; the rest of the flaps are a pristine white; very odd. Horror anthology with original stories by (among others) R. A. Lafferty and Manly Wade Wellman. However, I mainly decided to keep this because it has a story by Joe Pumilia in it, and I knew I could get him to sign it at this year’s Armadillocon (which, in fact, I did).

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  • Carroll, Jonathan. Teaching the Dog to Read. Subterranean Press, 2015. #281 of 1000 signed, numbered copies. Novella. Bought at 50% off cover price.
  • Chapman, Graham, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin with Bob Mccabe. The Pythons By The Pythons. Orion Books, 2003. Non-fiction book by and about Monty Pythons Flying Circus.
  • Clute, John. Pardon This Intrusion: Fantastika in the World Storm. Beccon Publications, 2011. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Collection of reviews and essays. Bought for 40% off cover price.
  • Clute, John. Stay. Beccon Publications, 2014. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Collection of reviews and essays. Bought for 40% off cover price.
  • Collison-Morley, Lacy. Greek and Roman Ghost Stories. B. H. Blackwell, 1912. First edition hardback, a Very Good+ copy with a number stamped on page V, rubbing away of gilt spine lettering and points blunted, no dust jacket (possibly as issued). Non-fiction.

    greek-roman-ghosts

  • Chu, Wesley. The Days of TAO. Subterranean Press, 2016. First edition hardback, #268 of 1,000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought at 50% off cover price.
  • Delany, Samuel R. The Complete Nebula Award-Winning Fiction. Bantam Spectra, 1986. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with slight touches of wear. Inscribed and dated (“Austin 88,” when Delany came to town to attend Sercon 2) by the author to Fred Duarte.

    IMG_0822

  • Derleth, August and Mark Schorer. Colonel Markesan and Less Pleasant People. Arkham House, 1966. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with just a trace of wear at points and a trace of dust soiling on white portions of dust jacket at rear. Collaborative short story collection. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House 87. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries 93. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide, 93. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House 87. Currey, page 146.

    Colonel Markesan

  • Derleth, August, editor. Dark Mind, Dark Heart. Arkham House, 1962. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight dust soiling to white rear cover. Anthology. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House 64. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries 66. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide, 68. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House 64. Currey, page 151.

    Dark Mind

  • Derleth, August, editor. Over the Edge. Arkham House, 1964. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight rubbing along rear cover fold. Anthology. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House 75. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries 79. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide, 81. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House 79. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, page 6. Currey, page 153.

    Over the Edge

  • Disch, Thomas M. Triplicity (omnibus edition of Echo Round His Bones, The Genocides, and The Puppies of Terra). Nelson Doubleday (SFBC), 1980. First edition hardback thus (as per the ISFDB, i.e. 3816 printed at the bottom on the back flap of the dustjacket and gutter code K10 on page 408), and first hardback edition of The Puppies of Terra), a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with several 1/16″ creases at head and wear at points. Inscribed to Fred Duarte and signed thrice by Disch (as was his custom for this title).

    IMG_0734

  • Dozois, Gardner, editor. The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Third Annual Collection. St. Martin’s, 2016.
  • Effinger, George Alec. Death in Florence. Doubleday, 1978. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed: “To Stuart,/George Alec Effinger”. Bought for $35 off the Internet.

    Death in Florence

  • Effinger, George Alec. Planet of the Apes 1: Man the Fugitive. Award 1974. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine- copy with light reading creases, wear, and slight rubbing (and the usual age-darkening to pages). Inscribed to Fred Duarte by Effinger.
  • Effinger, George Alec. Planet of the Apes 2: Escape To Tomorrow. Award, 1975. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine copy with light wear (and the usual age-darkening to pages). Inscribed to Fred Duarte by Effinger.
  • Effinger, George Alec. Planet of the Apes 3: Journey Into Terror. Award, 1975. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with very slight subbing (with usual age-darkening to pages). Inscribed to Fred Duarte by Effinger.
  • Effinger, George Alec. Planet of the Apes 4: Lord of the Apes. Award 1976.First edition paperback original, a Near Fine copy with light reading creases and wear (and the usual age-darkening to pages). Inscribed to Fred Duarte by Effinger.

    Planet of the Apes 1 2

    Planet of the Apes 3 4

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  • Ellison, Harlan. Coffin Nails. Charnel House, 2016. First edition oversized hardback, a Fine copy, #73 of 200 signed, numbered copies, sans dust jacket, as issued. The usual lavish Charnel House production, an attractive brown patterned (“crackle paper”) binding, with embossed silver nails spelling out “HE” on the front cover, and a giant silver nail on the cover. Features 25 uncollected Ellison stories from across his career.

    coffin-nails

  • 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

  • Elwood, Roger, editor. The Berserkers. Trident Press, 1973. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with a slight wrinkle to top rear, a 1/32″ closed tear at head, and a tiny bit of crimping at head and heel. Original anthology by the prolific (but not particularly well-regarded) Elwood, who at one point in the 1970s was purportedly responsible for one quarter of all the original anthologies in science fiction. Keeping this because it includes an R. A. Lafferty story, “And Mad Undancing Bears.”

    elwood-beserkers

  • Ferret, Tim: We Murder. Morrigan Publications/The Dog Factory, 1994. First edition center-stapled chapbook original, #165 of 200 signed, numbered copies (though the limitation sheet, slightly smaller than the chapbook itself, has merely been laid in, not attached, presumably as issued), a Fine copy. According to Cold Tonnage: “This was the last book(let) to be published by Morrigan Press and got very little (if no) distribution.” Chalker/Owings (2002), page 557, where they note “The 1994 Ferret chapbook was a surprise, but the fact that checks were made out to [Morrigan owner Les] Escott personally and the chapbook was typeset from Ferret’s The Dog Factory in San Francisco and printed in New Zealand (!) doesn’t suggest a really major reinvolvement and seems an aberration.” Bought for £3 after discount.

    Ferret We Murder

  • Frank, Frederick S. Gothic Fiction: A Master List of Twentieth Century Criticism and Research. Meckler, 1988. First edition hardback, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Reference work.
  • Grimm, The Brothers. Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Grosset and Dunlap, 1945. Reprint edition, a Near Fine copy with color frontispiece affixed and decorated endpapers, no dust jacket. Illustrated by Fritz Kredel. Given to me by my mother as she was downsizing before moving.
  • Harrison, Harry. Winter in Eden. Bantam Spectra, 1986. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with wear to points. Inscribed to Fred Duarte.
  • Harrison, Harry. Return to Eden. Bantam Spectra, 1988. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed to Fred Duarte.

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  • Jablokov, Alexander. Brain Thief. Tor, 2009. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by the author: “2/13/10/To Fred—/It’s been a long time! I hope/you enjoy this./Alex Jablokov”

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  • Jablokov, Alexander. Deep Drive. Avon Eos, 1998. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by the author: “2/19/00/To Fred—/Thanks for everything./Alex Jablokov.” Note that this was part of an Eo launch with all the books being a much smaller trim size than normal (16mo, if I’m not mistaken), and I get the impression this format wasn’t popular with book buyers.
  • James, M. R. (Peter Haining, editor). The Book of Ghost Stories. Stein and Day, 1982. First American edition (this appears to be a reprint of the UK Book of the Supernatural (with the same contents) from 1979), a Fine- copy with slight wear at points in a Very Good dust jacket with significant rubbing to rear cover. A collection of some of James’ previously uncollected short stories, plus commentary on his work by various writers, Christopher Lee, etc., and even an anonymous piece, “The Vampire of Kring,” that James believed formed the basis of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Looks like an interesting miscellany in a book I probably couldn’t sell, so…
  • Jeter, K.W. Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Bloodletter. Pocket Books, 1993. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine+ copy with slight wear along spine edges and points. Inscribed by Jeter: “For Fred +/Meschke/Signed @/Confrancisco/Best/Wishes/K.W. Jeter.” Karen Meschke was then Fred’s wife (they later divorced) and con chair of the 1997 San Antonio Worldcon. The proceeds of the sale of Fred’s books went to their son, Matthew Duarte.

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  • Jeter, K.W. Star Wars: The Bounty Hunter Wars. SFBC, 1999. First edition hardback thus (omnibus edition containing The Mandalorian Armor, Slave Ship, and Hard Merchandise), first hardback editions of all titles, and first edition of Hard Merchandise (as per ISFDB), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, inscribed by Jeter.
  • Jeter, K.W. Star Wars: The Mandalorian Armor. Bantam Spectra, 1998. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine+ copy with crease at front bottom right corner and wear at points, inscribed by Jeter.

    IMG_0718

  • Jeter, K.W. and Gareth Jefferson Jones. Death’s Apprentice: A Grimm City Novel St. Martin’s, 2012. Bought off eBay for $1.99 plus shipping.
  • Kaufman, Lloyd and Adam Jahnke. The Toxic Avenger: The Novel. Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2006. First edition trade paperback original, a Near Fine copy with a crease to bottom front corner. Inscribed by Kaufman: “To Cynthia & Kazuyoshi/Toxie Loves You!/Lloyd Kaufman.” Novelization of the cult film by its writer/director. Bought for $6.98 (though at one point Half Price had it marked at $50).

    toxic-avenger

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  • Kress, Nancy. The Best of Nancy Kress. Subterranean Press, 2015. #212 of 1000 signed, numbered copies. Novella. Bought at 50% off cover price.
  • Langford, David. The Dragonhiker’s Guide To Battlefield Covenant At Dune’s Edge: Odyssey Two. Drunken Dragon Press, 1988. First edition hardback, one of 903 trade hardback copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by Langford: “For Alison, without whom this inscription could not have/been written—/Best wishes/David Langford/11-88”. Science fiction parodies and pastiches. Chalker/Owings, page 193. Bought for £9 after discount.

    Dragonhikers

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  • Lansdale, Joe R. Dead on the Bones. Subterranean Press, 2016. #308 of 1500 signed, numbered copies.
  • Lansdale, Joe R. The Drive-In 2 (Not Just One of Them Sequels). Bantam Spectra, 1989. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with a tiny bit of wear along the spine. Inscribed by Lansdale: “For/Karen/Meschke/(Her Ownself)/Joe R. Lansdale/(His Ownself).” I already had the Kinnell first hardback of this inscribed to me by Joe, but just never picked up this PBO.
  • Lansdale, Joe R. Hap and Leonard. Tachyon, 2016. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy, inscribed to me by Joe.
  • Lansdale, Joe R. and John L. Lansdale. Hell’s Bounty. Subterranean Press, 2016. First edition hardback, a PC copy of 1,000 signed numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Got this from Joe in trade.
  • Lansdale, Joe R. and John L. Lansdale. Hell’s Bounty. Short, Scary Tales (SST) Publications, 2016. First edition hardback thus (the Subterranean Press edition precedes), 55 of 200 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Weird western, heavy on the action and bloodshed.

    hells-bounty-sst

  • Lansdale, John L. Zombie Gold. Short, Scary Tales (SST) Publications, 2016. First edition hardback, 55 of 200 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. More weird western mayhem.
  • zombie-gold

  • Lansdale, Joe R. and Kasey Lansdale. The Case of the Bleeding Wall. First edition hardback, #363 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought as part of a $99 package deal.
  • Lee, Tanith. East of Midnight. Macmillan (UK), 1977. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed and dated 2008 by Lee. Bought for £18 after discount.

    Lee East of Midnight

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  • Leiber, Fritz. The Wanderer. Ballantine Books, 1964. First edition paperback original, a Very Good+ copy with stamp to blurb page, a bot of rubbing, and touches of general wear. Signed by Leiber. Hugo Award winner. Currey, page 309. Burgess, Anatomy of Wonder 4, 4-259. Reginald, 08843.

    Leiber Wanderer

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  • Lewis, Anthony R. An Annotated Bibliography Of Recursive Science Fiction. NESFA Press, 1986. First edition oversized 8 1/2″ x 11″ center-stapled chapbook original, a Fine copy. Non-fiction reference work. Bought for £3 after discount.

    Recursive SF

  • (Lovecraft, H. P.) Dobbyn, Nigel. The Cthulhu Coloring Book: Startling Images From the Imagination of H. P. Lovecraft. Acturus, 2016. Oversized trade paperback original, Fine. Having received this as a gift, I am unsure whether this is a first printing or not. States “Suppler 29, Date 0816, Print Run 5487” which sounds more like a job batch number than a printing.
  • (Lovecraft, H. P.) Guran, Paula, editor. The Mammoth Book of Cthulhu. Robinson, 2016. Trade paperback original, new, Fine. Received as a Christmas gift.
  • (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

  • Lupoff, Richard. Nebogipfel At The End Of Time. Underwood/Miller, 1979. First edition, tiny oblong (5 1/2″ wide by 4 1/4″ long) side-stapled chapbook, one of 300 copies printed, a Fine copy. According to Chalker/Owings, there are 15 different color covers; this one is beige. Supposedly a Cthulhu Mythos story, but not in Ernest or Harms. Chalker/Owings (2002), page 900. Bought for £4.80 after discount.

    Nebogipfel

  • McCammon, Robert. The Last Train to Perdition. Subterranean Press, 2016. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Trade edition. Bought at 50% off cover price.
  • McCammon, Robert. The Last Train from Perdition. Subterranean Press, 2016. #308 of 500 signed, numbered, slipcased copies. The trade edition precedes by several months. Bought at 50% off cover price.
  • McCammon, Robert. Stinger. Subterranean Press, 2015. Signed limited edition hardback, #467 of 1,000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Came in as part of a grab-bag lot. Supplements a copy of the Kinnell first hardback.
  • McAuley, Paul J. A Very British History with A Very British History: Additional Stories. PS Publishing, 2013. First edition hardback, #127 of 200 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine decorated slipcase. Image above under Baxter.
  • Mieville, China. This Census-Taker. Subterranean Press, 2016. First limited edition hardback (the Del Rey trade edition precedes), #442 of 750 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket.
  • Miller, John and Smith, Tim, editors. The Were-Wolf and Other Tales from the Dark Side of the Moon. Chronicle Books, 1995. First edition small trim sized hardback (4 3/4″ x 6 1/4″), a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Reprint anthology, from mostly classical and other public domain sources (Ovid, Petronius, Bram Stoker), plus Angela Carter. Looks like an item that was aimed as an impulse buy at the register, but as such there are relatively few copies listed online. Unusual book design, consisting of white and red printing on black pages.

    miller-were-wolf

  • Moorcock, Michael. The Birds of the Moon: A Travelers’ Tale. Jayde Design/Nomads of the Time Streams, 1995. First edition chapbook original, a Fine copy. Signed by Moorcock: “Dave/—/Written for the/hippy issue of New Statesman/that never happened./Mike”. £15 pounds after discount.

    Birds Moon

    Birds Moon sig

  • Moorcock, Michael. Breakfast in the Ruins: A Novel of Inhumanity. New English Library, 1972. First edition hardback (as per Currey, page 368), a Fine- copy with the age darkening of pages all too common for NEL books of this era, in a Fine- dust jacket with slight wear at points. Inscribed by Moorcock to fellow science fiction writer Keith Roberts: “For Keith/with very best/wishes./Mike.” Tanelorn Archives, page 11. Of the several first editions inscribed by Moorcock to Roberts Cold Tonnage had, this was both the most affordable and a title by Moorcock I didn’t already have. £24 after discount.

    Breakfast Ruins

    Breakfast Ruins Sig

  • Moorcock, Michael, with James Cawthorn, as Desmond Reid. Caribbean Crisis. Sexton Blake Library 501/Fleetway Publications, 1962. First edition (“First Printing” stated) trade paperback original (digest format), a Very Good- copy with small stains to front and rear cover (some from bleed-through from rusting staple), general wear and wrinkling along spine edge, small line of thin blue handwriting at top of rear cover, and slight page darkening. 62 double-column pages, plus a two page “mailbag” at rear. Not sure if this counts as a book serial or a magazine, but it features an English detective who first made his debut in 1893! Currey, page 368. Tanelorn Archives, page 12. An online Sexton Blake bibliography says that W. Howard Baker also did some revisions on this. Bought online for $6.65 plus $12.96 in shipping from a UK dealer.

    caribbean-crisis

  • Munn, H. Warner. Tales of the Werewolf Clan Volume One: The Tomb of the Bishop. Donald M. Grant, 1979. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a few small nicks at extremities. Illustrated by “Jeff K. Potter” before he started initializing his first name. Chalker/Owings, 219-220.

    munn-werewolf-1

  • Munn, H. Warner. Tales of the Werewolf Clan Volume Two: The Master Goes Home. Donald M. Grant, 1980. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Also illustrated by Potter. Chalker/Owings, 220.

    munn-werewolf-2

  • Ortved, Douglas. The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History. Faber & Faber, 2009. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Non-fiction guide to the animated TV show.
  • Otten, Charlotte F. A Lyncanthropy Reader: Werewolves in Western Culture. Syracuse University Press, 1986. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with one 1/4″ closed tear at top front, slight edgewear, and slight wear at points. Non-fiction.

    lycanthropy-reader

  • Parry, Michael. The Hounds of Hell. Gollancz, 1974. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Reprint anthology of weird stories about dogs, including stories by Manly Wade Wellman, Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, etc.

    parry-hounds-of-hell

  • Pei, Mario A. Tales of the Natural and the Supernatural. Devin-Adar, 1971. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Short story collection by this noted Italian-American linguist and writer. Includes “The Sparrows of Paris” (see Bleiler, Supernatural Fiction, 1298), a short werewolf novel. Reginald, 11279.
  • Pollard, John. Wolves and Werewolves. Robert Hale, 1964. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with a tint bit of crimping at head and heel in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with one 1/8″ tear near spine, very slight dust staining to white rear dust jacket, and a tiny bit of edgewear, otherwise a nice, bright copy with unfaded orange lettering on the spine. Wolf and werewolf lore and myth from across Europe.

    pollard-werewolves

  • Porter, J. R. and W.M.S Russell. Animals in Folklore. D. S. Brewer Ltd and Rowman & Littlefield for the Folklore Society, 1978. First edition hardback, a Fine copy (with inserted color frontispiece intact) in a Fine- dust jacket with just a trace of edgewear. Non-fiction. This is pretty far afield of the research books I typically pick up, but two things made me keep it: 1. The fact the only other copy online lists for over $300, and 2. The presence of a sticker stating “From the Library of Angela Carter” affixed to the inside front cover (which is, in fact, identical to the one on the first edition of Carter’s The Infernal Desire Machines of Dr. Hoffman I bought from her estate off eBay). Not bad for a throw-in on a $30 lot…

    animals-folklore

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  • Powers, Tim. Down and Out in Purgatory. Subterranean Press, 2016. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Trade edition.
  • Powers, Tim (as Francis Thomas Marrity). Nine Sonnets. Subterranean Press, 2006. First edition hardback chapbook, letter Q of 52 signed, lettered hardbacks, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Berlyne, B14a2. (In addition to this and the wraps chapbook state made to accompany the Subterranean Press edition of Three Days to Never, there were 9 (!) hardback copies in a different patterned binding and matching traycase, not seen.) Bought for $50 from a Camelot Books 50% off sale.

    nine-sonnets

  • Reynolds, Alastair. Beyond the Aquila Rift. Subterranean Press, 2016. First edition hardback, trade state, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Another huge career retrospective collection, and at 781 pages, I think it’s the largest yet.

    aquila-rift-trade

  • Reynolds, Alastair. Beyond the Aquila Rift. Subterranean Press, 2016. First edition hardback, #171 of 350 signed and numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine slipcase. I find it slightly odd that the trade edition includes a wraparound dust jacket illustration, whereas the spine and rear of the limited are just a background dark blue color, but the cover art here is by Reynolds himself.

    aquila-rift-ltd

  • (Rice, Anne) Beahm, George. The Anne Rice Companion. GB Ink, 1995. First edition hardback, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Reference work.

    anne-rice-companion

  • Sheckley, Robert. Notions Unlimited. Bantam Books, 1960. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine copy with slight wear at head and heel. Signed by Sheckley. Currey, page 433. Bought for £4.80 after discount.

    Sheckley Notions

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  • Shepard, Lucius. Five Autobiographies and a Fiction. Subterranean Press, 2013. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Trade edition.
  • Silverberg, Robert. Early Days: More Tales from the Pulp Era. Subterranean Press, 2016. First edition hardback, #169 of 1,000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket.
  • Silverberg, Robert. Musings and Meditations Nonstop Press, 2011. Trade paperback original, new, Fine. Non-fiction. Bought for 50% off cover price.
  • Sladek, John. Black Aura. Jonathan Cape, 1974. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Currey, page 450. Mystery novel. Bought for £9 after discount.

    Black Aura

  • Simmons, Dan. Hard as Nails. St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2003. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Third Joe Kurtz hardboiled mystery. I really enjoyed the first two, I just never chanced across a cheap copy of the third until I picked this up from the Fred Duarte estate.
  • Sladek, John (as Richard A. Tilms) The Judgement of Jupiter. New English Library, 1980. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Ostensibly non-fiction, this is, like Arachne Rising (which I also have) a spoof of pseudoscience. Bought for £9 after discount.

    Judgement of Jupiter

  • Smith, Clark Ashton. The Double Shadow. Auburn Journal Print, 1933. First edition oversized (8 1/2″ x 11 1/2″, about the size of sheet music) side-stapled chapbook, a Very Good copy with light crease to bottom corner, bottom staple starting to go, page 19 torn most of the way through in the center (but still intact) and general wear. Inscribed by the author: “With compliments of Clark Ashton Smith.” There are also several hand corrections by Smith in blue ink. Smith’s first collection of prose. Currey, page 453. Bleiler, Supernatural Fiction, 1483. Locke, Spectrum of Fantasy, page 200. Emperor of Dreams, page 183. Bought off eBay (after a bit of haggling) for $220. I did not previously have anything signed by Smith.

    Double Shadow

    Double Shadow sig

  • Smith, Clark Ashton. Out of Space and Time. Arkham House, 1942. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with slight bumping to bottom corner points and slight bend at head and heel, in a Very Good+ dust jacket with yellowing tape at head, heel and top points and the usual age darkening of the spine lettering (turning it from pale green to off-white), plus extremely slight wear at edges; despite the flaws, this is actually an intact and attractive specimen of the dust jacket. The third Arkham House book published and, with only 1,054 copies printed, the smallest print run among all Arkham House titles until Leah Bodine Drake’s partially subsidized poetry collection A Hornbook for Witches (with a print run of 553 copies) in 1950. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House, 3. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House, 3. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries, 3. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide, 3. Sidney-Fryer, Emperor of Dreams, page 183. The Tales of Clark Ashton Smith: A Bibliography, page 1. Currey, page 453. Chalker/Owings, page 21. Kemp, The Anthem Series, page 290. Bleiler, Checklist of Science-Fiction and Supernatural Fiction, page 252 (1948), page 181 (1978), Bleiler, Guide to Supernatural Fiction, 1484. Barron, Horror Literature 3-182. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, page 200-201 (he had Fryer’s inscribed copy!). Bought off eBay for $399.

    CAS Space and Time

  • Sotheby’s Catalogue: Science Fiction Art, Books And Related Memorabilia b/w Sotheby’s Catalogue: Comic Books and Comic Art. Sotheby’s, 1995. First edition oversize illustrated pictorial covers, a Fine copy. Illustrated color catalogue for the June 16/17, 1995, Comic Books And Comic Art and Science Fiction books auctions. Unfortunately for my purposes, there’s a lot more comic book and art material than SF first editions. Bought for £6 after discount.

    Sotheby's SF catalog 1995

  • Stapledon. Olaf (Sam Moskowitz, editor). Far Future Calling: Uncollected Science Fictions and fantasies of Olaf Stapledon Oswald Train, 1979. First edition hardback, one of 1,300 copies printed, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with just of trace of rubbing on front cover along gutter line. Signed by Moscowitz and artist Stephen Fabian. Previously uncollected stories, plus a long bio by Moskowitz. Chalker/Owings, pages 607-8. Locke, Spectrum of Fantasy 2, page 104. Bought for £18 after discount.

    Far Future Calling

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  • Sterling, Bruce. Pirate Utopia. Tacyhon, 2016. Advanced Reading Copy, trade paperback format, Fine.
  • Sterling, Bruce. Pirate Utopia. Tacyhon, 2016.
  • Straub, Peter. Sides. Cemetery Dance, 2007. First edition hardback, #89 of 300 numbered copies signed by Straub, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and slipcase. Non-fiction pieces. This was published at $50, but Half Price Books had it at half the price of the trade edition at $12.49, then took an additional 20% off, so I got it for 1/5th cover price. Supplements a copy of the trade edition, also signed by Straub.
  • Sturgeon, Theodore. The Worlds of Theodore Sturgeon. Ace, 1972 (stated; actually 1977). Paperback original, second printing (cover price of $1.50 rather than 95¢, as per ISFDB), a Fine- copy with traces of wear, slight foxing to inside covers, and a small wrinkle at heel.

    Worlds Sturgeon

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  • Swanwick, Michael. Not So Much Said the Cat. Tachyon, 2016. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy, new and unread. Signed and dated by Swanwick. His latest short story collection.
  • Swanwick, Michael. Signed Poem on Leaf. Dragonstairs Press, 2016. First edition. Note: Signed poem on leaf is a description more than a title, since it’s literally a leaf with a poem written on one side, and signed and numbered (4/20) by Swanwick on the other. This just showed up unexpectedly in the mail. In cardboard sleeve stating “For a friend of/Dragonstairs Press” and the shipping envelope.

    swanwick-leaf-poem

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  • Swanwick, Michael. Solstice Spirits. Dragonstairs Press, 2015. First edition chapbook original, #62 of 100 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy new and unread. Four brief seasonal tales. Though dated 2015, I was only able to obtain it recently, and it’s already sold out from the press.
  • solstice-spirits

  • Swanwick, Michael and Marianne Porter. Universe Box. Dragonstairs Press, 2016. First edition “hardback” (oblong stiff stab-bound/side-sewn boards, no spine binding, with bead), a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued, in a Fine decorated traycase (i.e., an old cigar box) with several art assemblage pieces included, one of only 13 copies (of which only 10 were available for sale), of which this particular copy (the first one sold) is labeled “Draco/Recent.” See here for more details.

    Universe Box Outside

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    Universe Box Book

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  • Queen, Ellery (here a pseudonym for Jack Vance). The Madman Theory. Pocket Books, 1966. Signed by Vance. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine+ copy with traces of wear to extremities and slight foxing to inside cover edges. Hewett, A25. Currey, page 499. Supplements a signed copy of the later first hardback printing. Bought for £15 after discount.

    Madman Theory PBO

  • Vance, Jack. Monsters in Orbit. Dennis Dobson, 1977. First hardback edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Hewett, A20b. Currey, page 499. Bought for £30 after discount.

    Monsters in Orbit

  • Vance, Jack. The Seventeen Virgins. Underwood/Miller, 1979. First edition trade paperback chapbook original, one of 600 copies, a Fine copy. Hewett, A58. Supplements a copy of the combined hardback edition of The Seventeen Virgins & The Bagful of Dreams. Bought for £18 after discount.

    Seventeen Virgins

  • Varley, John. Wizard. Berkley/Putnam, 1980. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a tiny bit of wrinkling at upper top right corner. Inscribed to Fred by Varley.
  • Varley, John. Demon. Berkley/Putnam, 1984. First edition hardback, a Fine copy (sadly with the usual age darkening to the pages for this title; every copy I’ve seen has been so afflicted) in a Fine- dust jacket with just a trace of darkening along very top edge. Inscribed to Fred by Varley.

    IMG_0693

  • Waite, Arthur Edward. The Quest for Bloods: A Study of the Victorian Penny Dreadful. Privately printed (Ferret Fantasy), 1997. First edition oversized (8 1/2″ x 12″) hardback, no limitation stated on this copy of the “regular” edition (though I get the impression that there were less than 500 printed total, and possibly considerably less than that), a Fine- copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a slight bump and associated wrinkle near the head (and possibly some slight fading of the spine and other portions of the yellowish orange dust jacket).

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  • Watson, Ian. The Best of Ian Watson with Squirrel, Reich and Lavender: Bonus Stories. PS Publishing, 2014. First edition hardback, #47 of 100 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine decorated slipcase. Note that in this set the signature page is found in the additional volume, not the main volume. Image above under Baxter.
  • Watson, Ian. Miracle Visitors. Gollancz, 1978. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Pringle, SF 100 85. Bought for £24 after discount.

    Watson Miracle Visitors

  • Whates, Ian and Ian Watson, editors. Shoes, Ships and Cadavers: Tales from North Londonshire. NewCon Press, 2010. First edition hardback, #48 of 50 signed, numbered copies signed by all the contributors (including introduction author Alan Moore), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. The combination of the low print run and being signed by Moore enticed me into buying it. Bought for £12 after discount.

    Shoes Ships Antho

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  • Wells, H. G. The Camford Visitation. Methuen, 1937. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine dust jacket with slight spine darkening and shallow chipping at head. It’s probably foolish to try to assemble a collection of H.G. Wells first editions at this late date, but I do try to pick up true firsts in nice dust jackets and/or signed when they’re cheap enough. H. G. Wells: A Comprehensive Bibliography, 130. Currey, page 517. Bought for £36 after discount.

    Camford Visitation

  • Wolfe, Gene. A Borrowed Man. Tor, 2015.
  • Wong, David. John Dies At the End. Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press, 2009. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Cult science fiction horror novel and basis of the Don Coscarelli movie of the same name. Bought for $32.50 from Half Price Books with a 50% off coupon.

    john-dies

  • Library Additions: Three August Derleth Arkham House Firsts

    Tuesday, September 6th, 2016

    So the very same day that I bought books from the Fred Duarte estate and from the Cold Tonnage sale also saw the close of a National Book Auctions featuring multiple lots from a serious werewolf and vampire collector. I missed out on two of the rarer items I bid on (Jane Gaskell’s The Shiny Narrow Grin, a mod vampire novel that’s the only Gaskell first edition I don’t own, and a better copy than mine of Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend), but I ended up getting four mixed lots at bargain prices, the first three containing books from that werewolf/vampire collection, and the fourth…

    Well, I’ll get to that eventually.

    I’ll be listing the books incorporated into my own library here, while the rest will be offered up (most at bargain prices) in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.

    The first set of books I’m listing are three August Derleth firsts from Arkham House, which he, of course, co-founded and ran until his death in 1971. I collect Arkham House much more than I collect Derleth per se, but all I’ve read of him are his dreadful posthumous Lovecraft “collaborations,” which I’m given to understand are not representative of his work as a whole.

  • Derleth, August and Mark Schorer. Colonel Markesan and Less Pleasant People. Arkham House, 1966. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with just a trace of wear at points and a trace of dust soiling on white portions of dust jacket at rear. Collaborative short story collection. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House 87. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries 93. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide, 93. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House 87. Currey, page 146.

    Colonel Markesan

  • Derleth, August, editor. Dark Mind, Dark Heart. Arkham House, 1962. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight dust soiling to white rear cover. Anthology. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House 64. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries 66. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide, 68. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House 64. Currey, page 151.

    Dark Mind

  • Derleth, August, editor. Over the Edge. Arkham House, 1964. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight rubbing along rear cover fold. Anthology. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House 75. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries 79. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide, 81. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House 79. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, page 6. Currey, page 153.

    Over the Edge

  • All three books bought for $55 as part of an eleven book lot.

    Library Additions: Several Arkham House Books

    Tuesday, February 24th, 2015

    Here are are several Arkham House books I’ve bought over the last couple of months. All except The Dark Man are widely available titles I picked up at bargain prices.

  • (Cave, Hugh B.) Thomas, Milt. Cave of a Thousand Tales: The Life and Times of Hugh B. Cave. Arkham House, 2004. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Non-fiction biography. Bought for $14 off eBay.
  • Derleth, August. Dwellers in Darkness. Arkham House, 1976. Octavo, cloth. irst edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought from L. W. Currey for $17.50
  • Eisenstein, Phyllis. Born to Exile. Arkham House, 1978. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought from L. W. Currey for $12.50.
  • Howard, Robert E. The Dark Man and Others. Arkham House, 1963. First edition hardback, a Near Fine- copy with crimping at head and heel, previous owner’s bookplate on FFE, and a drop of dampstaining that affects the FFE and the first few pages, in a Very Good+ dust jacket with slight creasing at head and heel, slight wear along spine, slight dust staining to white rear cover. The second Arkham collection of Howard’s short stories, all but one from Weird Tales. Won off eBay for $60.

    Howard Dark Man

  • Page, Gerald W. (editor). Nameless Places. Arkham House, 1975. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a touch of wear at extremities. Bought from L. W. Currey for $12.50.
  • Smith, James Robert and Stephen Mark Rainey, editors. Evermore. Arkham House, 2006. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Edgar Allen Poe tribute anthology. Bought for $14 off eBay.
  • Lawrence Person’ Library: Reference Books (Part 4: H. P. Lovecraft)

    Sunday, June 3rd, 2012

    Don Webb once said that “If you are obsessed with a writer, you own more in print about him than the total number of words in print by him.” In which case I guess I’m obsessed by H. P. Lovecraft (who is also who Don was talking about). However, while I do like Lovecraft, it’s really only because I’m obsessed about books in general, part of which is obtaining reference books about authors I like. Is it my fault there are just so many books on Lovecraft out there? I don’t have all of them, but I do have a goodly number.

    For In-print items, I’ve provided links to either the Lame Excuse Books page for things I have in stock, or Amazon links for those I don’t.

    Here’s a long view of everything that would fit laid out on a single tabletop:

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  • (Lovecraft, H.P.) Bell, Joseph. Les Bibliotheques Volumes 1-8. Soft Books, 1984-1987. Eight side-stapled A4-sized chapbooks, featuring a miscellaneous selection of Lovecraft material (including fiction, poems, letters, etc. from Lovecraft), the bulk of which is taken up by a chronology of his publications.
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  • (Lovecraft, H.P.) Migliore, Andrew, and John Strysik. The Lurker in the Lobby: A Guide to the Cinema of H.P. Lovecraft. Night Shade Press, 2010. First printing trade paperback original of this enlarged and updated edition. Normally sits among my film reference works.
  • Next comes a few Arkham House-related books I’m including here. (I already covered S. T. Joshi’s Sixty Years of Arkham House during my first reference book roundup.)

  • Jaffery, Sheldon. Horrors and Unpleasantries: A Bibliographical History and Collectors Price Guide to Arkham House. Popular Press, 1982. First edition hardback. Largely superseded by Joshi’s Sixty Years, it still has information not replicated there, including how the secret reprint edition of August Derleth’s own Someone in the Dark came to pass.
  • Nielsen, Leon. Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide. McFarland & Company, 2004. Trade paperback original. Goes a little farther than Joshi. Mostly superfluous if you have Joshi and Jaffrey, but useful if you don’t.
  • Derleth, August. Thirty Years of Arkham House: 1939-1969. Arkham House, 1970. First edition hardback. The official history up to that date. (I do not own a copy of Derleth’s Arkham House: The First 20 Years; it’s pretty pricey for a superseded paperback reference work, and insanely pricey for one of the 80 hardback copies…)
  • Finally, we get to the actual Lovecraft section, which starts off with several titles by HPL himself:

  • Lovecraft, H. P. Supernatural Horror in Literature. Ben Abramson, 1945. First separate edition, hardback (Currey A), sans dust jacket, as issued. His famous essay.
  • Lovecraft, H. P. (edited by S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz) Lord of a Visible World: An Autobiography in Letters. Ohio University Press, 2000. Hardback first edition. What the title says: chronological autobiographical information culled from Lovecraft’s voluminous correspondence.
  • Lovecraft, H. P. (edited by S. T. Joshi) Collected Essay Volume 1: Amateur Journalism. Hippocampus Press, 2004. Hardback first edition.
  • Lovecraft, H. P. (edited by S. T. Joshi) Collected Essay Volume 2: Literary Criticism. Hippocampus Press, 2004. Hardback first edition.
  • Lovecraft, H. P. (edited by S. T. Joshi) Collected Essay Volume 3: Science. Hippocampus Press, 2005. Hardback first edition.
  • Lovecraft, H. P. (edited by S. T. Joshi) Collected Essay Volume 4: Travel. Hippocampus Press, 2005. Hardback first edition.
  • Lovecraft, H. P. (edited by S. T. Joshi) Collected Essay Volume 5: Philosophy, Autobiography & Miscellany. Hippocampus Press, 2006. Hardback first edition.
  • Lovecraft, H. P. (edited by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei) Selected Letters I. Arkham House, 1965. Hardback first edition. Many later Lovecratt scholars have criticized the way the letters in these and subsequent volumes have been edited.
  • Lovecraft, H. P. (edited by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei) Selected Letters II. Arkham House, 1968. Hardback first edition.
  • Lovecraft, H. P. (edited by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei) Selected Letters IIII. Arkham House, 1971. Hardback first edition.
  • Lovecraft, H. P. (edited by August Derleth and James Turner) Selected Letters IV. Arkham House, 1976. Hardback first edition.
  • Lovecraft, H. P. (edited by August Derleth and James Turner) Selected Letters V. Arkham House, 1976. Hardback first edition.

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  • Lovecraft, H. P. and Donald Wandrei (edited by S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz) Mysteries of Time and Spirit: The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and Donald Wandrei. Night Shade Books, 2002. Hardback first edition.
  • Lovecraft, H. P. (edited by S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz) Letters from New York. Night Shade Books, 2005. Hardback first edition.
  • Howard, Robert E. and H. P. Lovecraft. A Means to Freedom: The Letters of H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. Hippocampus Press, 2009. First edition hardbacks, two volumes. Shelved in my Robert E. Howard section.
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  • Lovecraft, H. P. (edited by L. Sprague de Camp) To Quebec and the Stars. Donald M. Grant, 1976. Hardback first edition. (Out of order in the pictures because it’s oversized and shelved one shelf down from where it should be.)
  • Next comes books about Lovecraft by other authors.

  • (Lovecraft, H. P.) Joshi, S. T. H. P. Lovecraft and Lovecraft Criticism: An Annotated Bibliography. Kent State University Press, 1981. Hardback first edition, sans dust jacket, as issued. If you haven’t figured out already by the number of times his name has already appeared on this list, Joshi is the Lovecraft obsessive that puts all the other Lovecraft obsessives in the shade. I have several criticisms of his Sixty Years of Arkham House, and disagree with significant bits and pieces of his critical approach to Lovecraft’s. But when comes to excessive knowledge of Lovecraft’s life and work, he has no equal, and this bibliography is ridiculously comprehensive up through the period covered. There were 14 Lovecraft books (including some chapbooks, pamphlets, etc.) printed before The Outsider and Others, each of which is either insanely expensive or simply not available anywhere at any price.
  • (Lovecraft, H. P.) Joshi, S. T. I Am Providence: the Life and Times of H P Lovecraft. Hippocampus Press, 2010. First edition hardback, two volumes. Back in 1996, Necronomicon Press published Joshi’s H. P. Lovecraft: A Life, a definitive biography which was about 700 pages long, with very small margins, in a hardback edition of 250 copies which went out of print before just about anyone knew about it. (You can still get the trade paperback edition.) Well, guess what? Joshi had to leave out about 150,000 words of material for space constraints. That, plus everything he’s learned since 1996, is packed into these two volumse. (I see some people online are asking $550 for this set. I have sets available for $95, which is half-off cover price. [Sorry, sold out. – LP])
  • (Lovecraft, H. P.) Joshi, S. T. and David E. Schultz. An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia. Greenwood Press, 2001. Hardback first edition, in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Includes things both in Lovecraft’s fiction and his life.
  • (Lovecraft, H. P.) de Camp, L. Sprague Lovecraft: A Life. Doubleday, 1975. Hardback first edition, inscribed by de Camp, remainder speckling at heel, otherwise Fine in a Fine dust jacket. Considered the standard biography before Joshi went to work; not so much anymore.
  • (Lovecraft, H. P.) Long, Frank Belknap. Howard Philips Lovecraft: Dreamer on the Night Side Arkham House, 1975. Hardback first edition. Biography of Lovecraft by a close friend and fellow writer.
  • (Lovecraft, H. P.) Cannon, Peter, editor. Lovecraft Remembered. Arkham House, 1998. Hardback first edition with review slip laid in. Collection of remembrances of both Lovecraft and his writing by numerous contemporaries, much of it original published in very obscure journals or small-run pamphlets.
  • (Lovecraft, H.P.) Carter, Lin. Lovecraft: A Look Behind the Cthulhu Mythos. Starmont House/Borgo Press, [1992]. First hardback edition, Fine in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued.
  • (Lovecraft, H.P.) Cannon, Peter. H. P. Lovecraft. Twayne, 1989. Hardback first edition (a reasonably clean ex-library copy). Part of the Twayn’s United States Authors Series.
  • (Lovecraft, H. P.) Joshi, S. T. H. P. Lovecraft: Four Decades of Criticism. Ohio University Press, 1980. Hardback first edition. Variety of essays on Lovecraft’s work.
  • (Lovecraft, H. P.) Mark Owings and Irving Binkin, catalogers. A Catalog of Lovecraftiana: The Grill Binkin Collection. Mirage Press, 1975. Hardback first edition, Fine sans dust jacket, as issued. Catalog of perhaps the most extensive Lovecraft collection ever in existence.
  • (Lovecraft, H. P.) St. Armand, Barton Levi. The Roots of Horror in the Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft. Dragon Press, 1977. Hardback first edition, Fine sans dust jacket, as issued. Critical work.
  • And a few works on the Cthulhu Mythos more generally:

  • (Lovecraft, H. P.) Jarocha-Ernst, Chris. A Cthulhu Mythos Bibliography and Concordance. Armitage House, 1999. First edition trade paperback original.
  • (Lovecraft, H. P.) Harms, Daniel. Encyclopedia Cthulhuiana. Chaosium, 1994. Trade paperback original.
  • (Lovecraft, H. P.) Harms, Daniel. The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia. Elder Signs Press, 2008. First edition hardback, one of 200 signed, numbered copies. “Updated and Expanded Third Edition,” and the first hardback edition.
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    And here are some chapbook that you can’t tell what they are from the spine. I pick up those Necronomicon Press chapbooks when I find them cheap, but usually not otherwise.

  • (Lovecraft, H. P.) St. Armand, Barton Levi. H. P. Lovecraft: New England Decadent. Silver Scarab Press, 1979. Perfect-bound chapbook.
  • (Lovecraft, H. P.) Barlow, R. H. On Lovecraft and Life. Necronomicon Press, 1992. First edition chapbook.

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  • (Lovecraft, H. P.) Cook, W. Paul. In Memoriam: Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Necronomicon Press, 1991. Chapbook, second edition.
  • Lovecraft, H. P. A History of the Necronomicon. Necronomicon Press, 1992. Chapbook, sixth printing.
  • (Lovecraft, H. P.) Barrass, Glynn. A Cthulhu Mythos Bibliography & Checklist: Second Edition. Blackgoat Books, 1996. An extremely barebones checklist (title, publisher, and whether it was issued in hardback). Probably the last thing you would reach for, but it does have a few obscure listings.

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  • Lovecraft, H. P. and Anthony Raven. The Occult Lovecraft. Gerry de la Ree, 1975. First edition chapbook.
  • (Lovecraft, H. P.) H. P. Lovecraft: A Symposium. The Los Angeles Science Fiction Society/The Riverside Quarterly, [1964]. First edition chapbook, with Errata sheet laid in.
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    Related Posts

  • Lawrence Person’s Library of Science Fiction First Editions
  • Lawrence Person’s Reference Books Part 1
  • Lawrence Person’s Reference Books Part 2
  • Lawrence Person’s Reference Books Part 3