These three Bradbury (and one Matheson) firsts came in on three different orders. Three of these are from Gauntlet Press.
Library Additions: Three Signed Bradbury Firsts (Plus One Matheson), Three Signed
December 21st, 2022Library Additions: Two Robert E. Howard Slipcase Editions
December 19th, 2022Two more deluxe slipcased editions of Robert E. Howard books, both bought from a private collector:
Oddly enough, I found a trade edition of The Ultimate Triumph while book shopping in the Metroplex right before I bought these, so I guess that copy is now superfluous to my needs and will go in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, which should be going out via email this Friday.
Library Addition: Signed First Of Greg Bear’s The Unfinished Land
December 15th, 2022The most recent (last?) book by the late, great Greg Bear:
Bear, Greg. The Unfinished Land. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Bear, with a thank you note and several laminated bookmarks from the seller laid in. Bought for $49.95 from an eBay seller.
I was unaware that Houghton Mifflin and Harcourt had merged.
My obituary for Bear can be found here.
Library Addition: The Shining: A Visual and Cultural Haunting
December 13th, 2022This is less a book than a weird art assemblage. Seeing this on Kickstarter, I figured that the overlapping Venn diagrams of crazy Stephen King fans and crazy Stanly Kubrick fans justified a purchase.
The loose sheets:
16 x typed replica sheets with All Work And No Play Makes Jack A Dull Boy as discovered by Wendy in the film. 120 x one-page pieces analysing, exploring, and extrapolating the films ideas, themes, influences, contexts and critiques. 10 x original typewriter art portraits made using the same model of Adler typewriter used by Jack Torrance.
Some examples:
Plus “Contributor Booklets” (which are more like brochures):
9 x 8-page cultural contributor essays from a range of celebrated artists, musicians, authors, architects and curators designed to evoke the film’s intertitle cards.
Original and exclusive piece from actor Dan Lloyd (Danny Torrance), an extraordinarily rare opportunity to share memories, stories and insights from this usually private person, as well as the coup of a rare interview with Shelley Duvall (conducted by Ryan Obermeyer) shedding light on her performance and experience of the film.
Artist Gavin Turk examines myths, mirrors and mazes and looks at the film through art, whilst fashion designer Margaret Howell takes us through her iconic maroon jacket worn by Jack in the closing act of the film.
Artist and musician Cosey Fanni Tutti on sound and the unfolding domestic violence within the film. Architecture expert and writer John Grindrod on the role of The Overlook Hotel itself and the impact of such spaces on our behaviour.
Producer and Record Label head James Lavelle (UNKLE) tells of his enduring inspiration and love for Kubrick and his art whilst author Jen Calleja looks into Shelley Duvall, folklore and fairytales.
And BFI Curator and Author Michael Blyth cross-examines the character of Wendy as she appears in both the film and the original Stephen King novel.
3 x 16 page reproduced texts including essays from H.P. Lovecraft, Sigmund Freud, and a short story which was a key influence for Kubrick when developing the film.
H.P. Lovecraft — Supernatural Horror in Literature An extract from the seminal yet largely overlooked essay that significantly influenced decisions not to explain the horrors which unfold at The Overlook.
Stephen Crane — The Blue Hotel First serialised in 1898, the American author’s story was highlighted by Kubrick in interviews as similar to events unfolding in The Shining and offers an insight into the director’s read of the film.
Sigmund Freud — The Uncanny Diane Johnson (co-writer of The Shining) cited Freud’s influential 1919 essay “The Uncanny” as a key text in Kubrick’s research. Freud explores many ideas that are woven through the film: retracing steps, recurring numbers and motifs, and the significance of the double. We will re-publish an extract from the essay.
with:
Bought for £65 plus shipping through Kickstarter. You can buy them through their respective Amazon links above.
Library Addition: Signed First of Robert A. Heinlein’s The Man Who Sold The Moon
December 12th, 2022I bought this from a Facebook user who was selling off his collection.
Heinlein, Robert A. The Man Who Sold The Moon. Shasta Publishers, 1950. First edition hardback, one of 250 copies signed by Heinlein, a Very Good copy with spine slightly concave at top, slight bumping at head and heel, slight rub ear to lettering at head and heel, points slightly bumping, and traces of wear to boards, with the “FUTURE HISTORY/1951-2600 A.D.” sticker added to front free endpaper and inside back cover (as issued), in a Very Good- dust jacket with 1/8″ loss across heel, 1/8″ ship at head points and associated creasing, 3/4″ abrasion (possibly a sticker pull) near bottom of spine, not affecting any lettering, moderate creasing along spine and flap folds, slight age darkening to spine, very slight darkening to rear cover and tops of flaps, and usual blind side foxing. A fairly nice copy that I’ll probably ended up swapping the better dust jacket on my trade copy with. Bought from a private seller for $500. Chalker/Owings, page 398. Kemp, The Anthem Series, page 162. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, page 109. Currey, page 233.
Library Addition: Michael Swanwick’s Solstice Veritas
December 9th, 2022Another Dragonstairs chapbook:
Swanwick, Michael. Solstice Veritas or The Christmas Cat and Other Memories. Dragonstairs Press, 2021. First edition chapbook original, #101 of 120 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. Printed last year, but only offered for sale this year. “A collection of eight, well, true stories, memories and musings on holidays past.” Bought from the publisher at the usual discount. I will have a few copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, currently in progress.
Library Addition: Three Half Price Books Purchases
December 7th, 2022Here are three books I bought in Austin-area Half Price Books stores. (The books I bought over Thanksgiving week in the Metroplex will be coming later.)
Library Addition: First Edition of Quentin Tarantino’s Cinema Speculation
December 6th, 2022Another Amazon purchase, one that came in as a first edition and blessedly free of of damage!
Tarantino, Quentin. Cinema Speculation. HarperCollins, 2022. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Non-fiction book about the films Tarantino saw as a child in the 1970s, from Dirty Harry to Taxi Driver. Seems pretty interesting.
One interesting thing about the book physically is that the cover has that rough texture that’s been all the rage recently…except the black and white photo of Steve McQueen and Sam Peckinpah on the cover, which is smooth. I’d never seen a book with two different textures combined like that before.
Library Addition: Deluxe Edition of The Lord of the Rings
December 5th, 2022I rarely make impulses purchases, but I saw this listed from a small press publisher’s regular email at $250, and when I went to the product page to get a better look at it, there was a small notice declaring that fulfillment would be done by Amazon. Well, then, why not just buy it from them?
Taking a look on the Amazon page for the book, they were selling it at $150, so I went ahead and bought it.
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings Illustrated Deluxe Edition. William Morrow, 2021 (stated; actually published October 2022). First edition hardback thus, a Fine copy in a Fine slipcase (with a cutout for the eye of Sauron on the book itself), sans dust jacket, as issued, with oversized folding maps of Middle Earth and Gondor/Mordor, cardstock reprint of The King’s Letter (from Aragon to Samwise) in silver tengwar on one side with a en English translation on the other, “Leaves from the Book of Mazarbul” in a waxpaper envelope, and the rear shrinkwraped book description laid in. A sturdy, gilt-edged omnibus edition containing all three volumes, with Tolkien’s own artwork and Middle Earth language calligraphy as full page color plates.
Even the box it ships to you is way too cool to throw away:
And the map pattern continues all the way around the box.
It’s a very attractive production, and if you’re interested in it, Amazon has now lowered the price to $140.01.
Library Additions: Three Gene Wolfe Critical Companions
November 30th, 2022Three Michael Andre-Driussi critical companions to Gene Wolfe works, all bought from Amazon (the only place they’re available; click on the hyperlinks to buy them there).
Counting chapbooks, I now have 14 Andre-Driussi books on Gene Wolfe…