Baxter, Stephen. Xeelee: Endurance. PS Publishing, 2017. First edition hardback, letter D of 26 lettered copies, a Fine copy in a decorated boards and a Fine dust jacket and a Fine decorated slipcase. I collected Baxter for a while until he become too prolific for me to keep up with, but I did like the Xeelee books. Bought from Camelot Books for $50.
(Lovecraft, H. P.) Joshi, S. T. Black Wings VII: New Tales of Lovecraftian Horror. PS Publishing, 2023. First edition hardback, one of 200 copies signed by all the contributors, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase. Original anthology, including stories from John Shirley, Ramsey Campbell and Steve Rasnick Tem. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount. I will have a small number of these available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Silverberg, Robert. Monsters and Things. PS Publishing, 2023. First edition hardback, #100 of 100 signed, numbered copies in decorated boards signed by Silverberg, editor Stephen Jones, and illustrator Randy Brocker, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase, with erratum sheet laid in noting that one of these stories (many of them written under pseudonyms) actually was from Donald Westlake writing as Richard Stark. Oops! Already sold out from the publisher. I will have a small number of these available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
I have finally tracked down the last Vance Integral Edition volume I didn’t already own. This is the “Science Fiction Volume” produced as a preview test-of-concept.
Vance, Jack. The Languages of Pao and The Dragon Masters. The Vance Integral Edition, 2002. First edition hardback, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. The first edition restoring Vance’s original texts. This was bought from a collector as part of a small Jack Vance lot. I think I could have bought this for $32 at the time, but having paid for the VIE itself (a considerable chunk of change), I didn’t want to spend more for work that would later be included in the complete VIE anyway. Chalker/Owings (2002), page 946, which states there were 500 copies of this volume produced, but it seems a bit rarer than that.
So I now have all three of the extra volumes, plus one of the 200 signed, numbered VIE sets, plus the proof dust jacket for this volume. I believe that makes my set about as complete as you can possibly make it. (I suppose you could have a 47 volume deluxe set, one of the reportedly 26 signed sets bound in full leather, plus the extra volumes, but assembling all three of the extra volumes in that state would probably be very challenging indeed…)
Forty years ago today, August 19, 1983, Genesis released their self-titled album (their twelfth), and “Mama” was the first single released off that.
As a fairly new convert to classic Prog Rock Genesis at the time, I wasn’t a fan of Genesis’ move toward more mainstream pop, but “Mama” caught my attention, as it’s a pretty interesting song. And far from being an average pop song, it was weird and sinister.
And it has perhaps the most memorable laugh in any song, ever.
Peter Gabriel-era Genesis had a lot more overtly sinister songs (“The Waiting Room” comes to mind), but “Mama” was distinctly different from Genesis’ 1980s output, or indeed, just about anything else on mainstream radio in 1983. Between the sparse drum loop, the eerie high synthesizer wash, and Collins’ urgent, hungry vocals about a young man’s unrequited love for a prostitute, it still has power four decades on.
Connell, Richard (Ted Connair, editor). A Little Gray Book of Grisly Tales. Borderlands Press, 2023. First edition hardback, #462 of 500 copies signed by Connair, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Connell is most famous for having penned “The Most Dangerous Game” (one of the stories here), which has been adapted so many times it has a Wikipedia entry just for the adaptations. Contains eight stories total. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount. Now out of print from the publisher.
These two books were received as gifts from friends:
Hample, Stuart. Non-Being and Something-ness: Selections from the Comic Strip Inside Woody Allen. Random House, 1974. First edition trade paperback original (numberline beginning with “2”, Random House’s deeply irritating method of identifying a first edition), a Near Fine copy with chip to top rear corner, crease to bottom front corner, nick to middle front edge, and a bit of wear. Dwight bought this for me based on my stumbling across this comic in a newspaper archive looking for something else and expressing surprise that it ever existed at all. It’s very hard to imagine today’s newspapers (the ones still managing to stay in business) publishing a comic about a celebrity based on their public persona and outlook on life, and harder still to imagine one that wouldn’t be horrifying.
Jordan, Will. Dark Harvest. Blackstone Publishing, 2022. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Science fiction novel/technothriller Mike bought for me. Jordan is generally better known as YouTube movie reviewer The Critical Drinker.
(Vance, Jack) George L. Mina, editor. Cosmopolis: a nexus for the admirers of of the works of Jack Vance. George L. Mina, 1988. First edition comb-bound with clear plastic covers fanzine original, a Fine copy, with letters from Mina and L.W. Currey laid in. Fanzine miscellanea related to Vance, including Vance’s essay “The Symbol,” which according to Hewett (D20) is its only appearance. Hewett, M140 (which notes a total of 75 copies: 12 copies with hand-colored illustrations for contributors and 63 copies with uncolored illustrations (this edition) for subscribers). Not to be confused with the later newsletter of the same name published by the Vance Integral Edition project.
(Vance, Jack) Offut, Robert Jr. The Many World of Jack Vance Vol. 1 No. 1 Spring 1977. First edition fanzine original, #185 of 300 numbered copies, a Near Fine+ copy with a touch of staining along staple fold edge, signed by Vance. Includes an appreciation by Poul Anderson, a lengthy interview by Tim Underwood, and some bibliographic material. Hewett, M31a.
(Vance, Jack) Robert Offutt Jr., editor. The Many Worlds of Jack Vance & The Horns of Elfland. Robert Offutt Jr., 1978. First edition illustrated fanzine, a Fine- copy with a couple of small spots of dust staining to rear, signed by Vance. Features Vance’s “The Secret,” the first chapter of an illustrated adaptation of The Eyes of the Overworld, etc. Second (and last) volume of an illustrated, semiprozine quality publication dedicated to Vance’s work (though the cover illustration, “Boromir’s Fall,” is obviously from The Lord of the Rings). Chock-full of illustrations from Rod Whigham, who later did a great deal of comic book work. Hewett, M31b, who notes there were 1,000 copies of this printed. Replaces an unsigned and less attractive copy.
Plus an old issue of Locus with an interview with Vance I’ll shove in the closet with the rest of the issues from back when I subscribed.
I hadn’t really been planning to track down Jack Vance fanzines, but now that I have these, I should probably look for issues of Honor to Finuka…
Still more items from that Jack Vance lot. I never aspired to own a V-Con 7 Program Book, but since it’s signed by Vance, I do now!
(Vance, Jack) V-Con [7] Program Book. V-Con 7, 1979. First edition program chapbook original (10 3/4″ tall by 8 1/4″ wide), a Fine- copy with just a tiny bit of fading to the stapled spine edge, signed by Vance. Program books for a 1979 convention in Vancouver, British Columbia, where Jack Vance was Guest of Honor (and Frank Herbert Toastmaster). I have also taken the liberty of scanning an advert for an ambitious young cyberpunk found within…
(Vance, Jack) (Tim Underwood and Chuck Miller, unlisted editorsThe Book of the Sixth World Fantasy Convention. Underwood/Miller, 1980. First edition hardback, one of 1000 copies, a Fine- copy, with slight bumping at head and heel, sans dust jacket, as issued, with pocket program and card for the convention laid in. World Fantasy Convention where Jack Vance was Guest of Honor. Hewett, M88.
I don’t usually go out of my way to pick up older bibliographies if I have a better, more recent one, but both of these were part of that Forum auction lot, and one of them is signed by Jack Vance. Both have been superseded by Hewett.
(Vance, Jack) Levack, Daniel J. H. and Tim Underwood. Fantasms: A Bibliography of the Literature of Jack Vance. Underwood-Miller, 1978. First edition trade paperback original (simultaneous with a much smaller hardback run), one of 900 copies, a Fine- copy with slight bumping to points, signed by Jack Vance. The first serious, professional bibliography of Vance’s work. Hewett, M47. Cunningham, E1. Stephensen-Payne/Benson, M3.
(Vance, Jack) Stephensen-Payne, Phil and Gordon Benson, Jr. Jack Vance: A Fantasmic Imagination (2nd Revised Edition) A Working Bibliography. Galactic Central, no date (but 1990). First edition of one-sided brad-bound sheets, either Fine- (for the condition of the sheets), with a two penciled notes at bottom of front page, or Very Good+ is you count the wrinkled condition of the Duotang thin cardstock brad binder, but it is unreasonable to expect such to last decades in pristine condition. Back before the rise of Internet bibliographies, a number of projects were started to make comprehensive science fiction bibliographies. (Willie Siros was involved in one, until he said he hit the undocumented limit of many-to-many links in the Macintosh 4D database software.) Galactic Central was one project working on an author-by-author basis, this being the 28th in a series that eventually reached 58 before petering out. Hewitt, M152. (He states that Borgo Press even did a hardback of this! I’ve never seen one.) Not in Cunningham.
(Vance, Jack) Hewitt, Jerry, and Daryl F. Mallett. The Work of Jack Vance: An Annotated Bibliography & Guide. Borgo Press/Underwood -Miller, 1994. First edition hardback, #121 of 200 numbered copies signed by Vance, introduction author Robert Silverberg, Hewett and Mallett, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued, in a Fine- slipcase with a bump to the top rear that I probably inflicted myself. The definitive Vance bibliography. Supplements a trade copy. Hewitt, M166 (yes, a reference to the book in the book itself). Cunningham E.2. Jerry tells me that Mallett was actually the editor rather than co-compiler, and on my trade copy he’s crossed out “Borgo” and written in “Bozo” on the title page. I sense some tension there…
(Vance, Jack) Temianka, Dan. The Jack Vance Lexicon: From Ahuloh to Zipahgote. Underwood-Miller, 1992. First edition hardback, #87 of 200 numbered copies signed by Vance and Temianka, a Fine- copy with a slight bit of bend at heel, sans dust jacket, as issued, in a Fine slipcase. Just what it says, a Lexicon of Vancian vocabulary. Supplements a trade copy. Hewitt, M163. Cunningham I.3.
These two books alone are probably worth more than I paid for the entire lot.
