December 20th, 2021
Various signed first editions from various sources have been piling up around here, so here is the first of two roundup posts.
Chabon, Michael. Moonglow. Harper Collins, 2016. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a trace of wear at head and heel and slight wrinkling at head, signed by Chabon, with a one page insert from Parnassus Books for “Dear First Edition Members” laid in. Supplements a slipcased signed limited edition done for Powell’s Books. Bought in a Houston-area Half Price Books for $9.99.
Matheson, Richard. Shadow on the Sun. M. Evans & Company, 1994. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight sun-fading to spine (really only noticeable next to another copy), signed by Matheson. Weird western. Bought from a fellow Biblio dealer for $28. I’m going to swap the dust jacket with my current unsigned copy.
Reynolds, Alastair. Belladonna Nights and Other Stories. Subterranean Press, 2021. First edition hardback, #171 of 1500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. I’ll have copies of this (along with a lot of other Alastair Reynolds firsts) in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, currently in progress.
Tags: Alastair Reynolds, Books, Horror, Michael Chabon, Richard Matheson, Western
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December 9th, 2021
Two signed Bloch firsts, picked up from different sources:
Bloch, Robert. Psycho House. Tor, 1990. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, inscribed by Bloch: “Best wishes to Dick Wilson.” Bought for $20 at a Houston-area Half Price Books.
Bloch, Robert and Andre Norton. The Jekyll Legacy. Tor, 1990. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Bloch on the title page and by Norton on a signature plate on the dedication page. Bought off eBay for $24.95.
Tags: Andre Norton, Books, Horror, Robert Bloch, signatures
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December 8th, 2021
Orson Scott Card is a writer I lost interest in collecting after reading Xenocide (sucks) and Prentice Alvin (not great). But I chanced across these quite cheap on eBay and picked them up.
Card, Orson Scott. Alvin Journeyman. Tor, 1995. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, inscribed by Card: “For Rocco,/A fellow voyager/Orson Scott Card.” Fourth Alvin Maker book.
Card, Orson Scott. Heartfire. Tor, 1998. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Card. Fifth Alvin Maker book.
Card, Orson Scott. Prentice Alvin. Tor, 1995. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, inscribed by Card: “to Rocco—,/Out of the fire, into the light/Orson Scott Card/ 5 Oct 96.” Third Alvin Maker book.
All bought for $5 a book, so effectively 1/5th cover price for the later volumes. Heartfire I didn’t have (the romance novel title and cover were additionally off-putting), while Alvin Journeyman and Prentice Alvin replace unsigned copies. I already had copies of Seventh Son and Red Prophet inscribed to me by Card at Sercon 2 in Austin in 1988, so I’ll have signed copies of those two (part of the same lot) available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Card fell out of favor not only with myself, but with other SF readers, some for reasons related to the quality of his writing (see above), some for the fact that he was just putting out too many books in too many series to keep track of (I never read the Homecoming series, but a friend that did was not enthused), and some for political reasons extrinsic to the quality of his work (people who demand fealty to “social justice” seem quite intolerant of Mormonism).
I picked up a good bit of Card’s early hardback firsts before I stopped reading him, and I’ve heard good things about Hart’s Hope, so I may try to read that next year.
Tags: Books, Fantasy, Orson Scott Card
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December 6th, 2021
These were all more books from that final Bob Pylant Zelazny purchase in 2019. I checked the Zelazny paperbacks against the ones I already had and determined that, yes, indeed, there were volumes I wanted to add to my own library. Most are PBOs and almost all are signed. All of these supplement signed hardback firsts, etc.
Zelazny, Roger. Bridge of Ashes. Signet, 1976. First edition paperback original (PBO), a Fine- copy with a slight bit of edgewear, and a trace of dust soiling to very bottom of back cover, signed by Zelazny. Levack, 2a. Kovacs, I3a. Currey, page 571.
Zelazny, Roger. Creatures of Light and Darkness. Avon, 1970. First paperback edition, a Near Fine+ copy with one spine crease and touched of edgewear, signed by Zelazny. Levack, 8c. Kovacs, I9d.
Zelazny, Roger. Dilvish, the Damned. Del Rey, 1981. First edition paperback original, a Fine- with a 1/16th closed tear at bottom front and slight edgewear at points, signed by Zelazny. Levack, 11a. Kovacs, I15b.
Zelazny, Roger. Four for Tomorrow. Ace, 1967. First edition paperback original (PBO), a Near Fine- copy with slight spine crease and wear, plus foxing to inside covers and slight age-darkening, inscribed by Zelazny: “For Willie/Best,/Roger Zelazny.” Levack, 17a. Kovacs, V11a. Currey, page 571.
Zelazny, Roger. Isle of the Dead. Ace, 1969. First edition paperback original (PBO), a Fine- copy with slight wear at head and heel, trace of foxing to inside covers, and slight age darkening to pages, signed by Zelazny. A really pristine copy. Levack, 21a. Kovacs, I25a. Currey, page 571.
Zelazny, Roger. Jack of Shadows. Signet, 1972. First paperback edition, a Near Fine copy with former owner’s name and “Parson’s Farewell” written and crossed out on blurb page, signed by Zelazny. Levack, 22c. Kovacs, I26c.
Zelazny, Roger. My Name is Legion Ballantine Books, 1976. First edition paperback original (PBO), a Fine- copy with a slight bit of edgewear, signed by Zelazny. Levack, 27a. Kovacs, I32a. Currey, page 572.
Zelazny, Roger and Fred Saberhagen. The Black Throne. Baen, 1990. First edition paperback original “uncorrected page proof,” a Fine- copy with a few tiny black dots on bottom pageblock edge, otherwise new and unread. Kovacs, 1a. The proof, unlike the PBO, has a printed white spine and blank white rear cover. Mass market form factor proofs are not unknown in science fiction, but they are unusual. Oddly enough, I found another copy of this proof recently, and it will be in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Tags: Bob Pylant, Books, Fantasy, Roger Zelazny, Science Fiction
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December 2nd, 2021
Three more additions to my mad quest to collect signed firsts of every Ray Bradbury book.
Bradbury, Ray. Ahmed and the Oblivion Machines Avon, 1998. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Bradbury. You know all the classic books Bradbury wrote over the years? This is reportedly not one of them. Bought for £18 from a notable UK book dealer.
Bradbury, Ray. The Ray Bradbury Chronicles Volume 3. Byron Preiss/NBM, 1992. First edition hardback a graphic novel, #417 of 1000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a tiny, faint scratch across top rear outer corner. Bought for £27 from a notable UK book dealer. I now lack only volumes 1 and 5.
Bradbury, Ray. The Wish. Hill House, 2006. First edition hardback, #102 of 250 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in matching numbered paper envelope, sans dust jacket, as issued. Won off eBay for $95.
(I think that’s a stray dog hair in the upper left…)
Tags: Books, Fantasy, graphic novel, Hill House Publishers, Ray Bradbury, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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December 1st, 2021
Another Lansdale limited edition:
Lansdale, Joe R. Apache Witch. Independent Legions/The Last Bookstore, 2021. First edition hardback, #33 of 180 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Poetry collection (Lansdale’s first). Bought directly from the publisher. I will have copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Tags: Books, Horror, Joe R. Lansdale, poetry, small press publishers
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November 30th, 2021
Another Lansdale lettered edition picked up cheap-ish:
Lansdale, Joe R., editor. The Horror Hall of Fame: The Stoker Winners. Cemetery Dance, 2021. First edition hardback, #WW of 52 signed (by Lansdale), lettered, traycased copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine traycase. Anthology of Stoker Award winning stories from Robert Bloch, George R. R. Martin, Harlan Ellison, etc. Isajenko, World Lasdalean, D13aiii. Supplements trade and limited edition copies. Bought off eBay for $125 plus shipping.
Tags: Books, Cemetery Dance, Horror, Joe R. Lansdale, signed, small press publishers
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November 29th, 2021
Picked up from Armadillocon last month.
Lansdale, Joe R. Cold in July with Savage Season. Mark V. Ziesing, 1989/1990. First hardback edition and first edition hardbacks, Fine- (Cold in July)/Near Fine+ (Savage Season) with faint spotting at head, heel and on pageblock, in Fine dust wrappers, and a Fine- slipcase with a touch of wear, each inscribed to late Texas writer Carrier Richerson. While these are the trade hardbacks, one thing Ziesing did for this and the Waldrop set was offer the trade editions in overrun slipcases (something to check for if you’re buying a set). Supplements a PC limited set I got for helping transcribe Cold in July for Ziesing. Isajenko, World Lansdelean A011b and A013a. Bought at Armadillocon for $32.
The blotching on Cold in July is just dust jacket protector reflections.
Tags: Books, Joe R. Lansdale, Mark V. Ziesing, Mystery, small press publishers
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November 22nd, 2021
Here’s a verging-on-obscure Ellison item: A chapbook given out as a promotional item at a bookseller’s convention in 1995.
Ellison, Harlan. Jokes Without Punchlines. White Wolf, 1995. First edition perfect-bound chapbook original, a Fine copy, signed by Ellison on the rear cover. A promotional item for the 1995 American Booksellers Association Show in Chicago, released on June 3, 1995, to promote White Wolf’s Edgeworks line of Ellison hardback reprints. They were supposed to reprint all of Ellison’s books in a uniform edition, but only put out four volumes before they pissed off Ellison so badly that he refused to work with them any more. (Sound familiar?) The introduction in which he talks about how much he hates Chicago has apparently never been reprinted. Fingerprints on the Sky, XIII, page 121. Bought off eBay for $40.
Tags: Books, chapbooks, Fantasy, Harlan Ellison, Science Fiction, White Wolf
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November 18th, 2021
Two more SST Lansdale limiteds came out a while back, and I’m just now getting around to listing them.
Lansdale, Joe R. Hap and Leonard: Of Mice and Minestrone. Short Scary Tales (SST) Publications, 2021. First hardback edition and first limited edition (the Tachyon trade paperback, which I also have, precedes), #101 of 400 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Linked Hap and Leonard short stories.
(Lansdale, Joe R.) Fred Isajanko. The World Lansdalean: The Authorized Joe R. Lansdale Bibliography. Short Scary Tales (SST) Publications, 2021. First edition hardback, #101 of 1000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase. Bibliography of Lansdale’s work, that also includes bonus Lansdale fiction in the back. I have not checked to verify that all of my edit suggestions on the ARC made it into the final edition.
I will have copies of both these available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Tags: bibliography, Books, Horror, Joe R. Lansdale, Limited Editions, Mystery, Short Scary Tales (SST) Publications, small press publishers
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