Library Addition: Signed, Limited Edition of The Essential Peter S. Beagle

July 10th, 2023

Another limited edition:

Beagle, Peter S. The Essential Peter S. Beagle. Tachyon, 2023. First edition hardback, #95 of 474 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in silver decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued, with Tachyon sticker and business card laid in. Just what it says, a best of collection of stories for this beloved fantasy writer. This combines what are two volumes for the trade edition (which I have on order but haven’t seen yet). I have a small number of these available through Lame Excuse Books.

Library Addition: Thomas Ligotti’s Pictures of Apocalypse

July 5th, 2023

Another small press book:

Ligotti, Thomas. Pictures of Apocalypse. Chiroptera Press, 2023. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, still in shrinkwrap. Also includes a special 24 page Pictures of Apocalypse: Interviews and Sketches chapbook, including new interviews with the author and artist, “Concept to finish” art documentation, outtakes, a thank you card, and a bookmark.” A verse cycle. A fairly elaborate small press production for this stylish horror writer. The book is no longer on the publisher’s website, so I assume it is now out of print. But I still have copies through Lame Excuse Books (including the extras bag).

Here’s a scan of some of the items in the extras bag:

Library Addition: Neil Gaiman’s Words of Fire

July 4th, 2023

Arte Editions are the people that did Gaiman’s The Case of Death and Honey. This actually had a smaller run.

Gaiman, Neil. Words of Fire. Arte Editions, 2022 (actually 2023). First edition trade paperback original (with self-flaps), #276 of 300 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. Poetry collection. There were two different hardback editions (the Portfolio Edition and the Roman edition), both of which were sold out by the time I heard about it. Now out of print from the publisher. I still have one copy left available through Lame Excuse Books.

Note: The streaks in the image are actually marbling in the cover-stock.

Library Addition: Michael Swanwick’s Brief Essays on Genre

July 3rd, 2023

Another Swanwick chapbook from Dragonstairs:

Swanwick, Michael. Brief Essays on Genre. Dragonstairs Press, 2023. First edition chapbook original, #10 of 75 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. 25 brief essays on genre fiction. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount. I will have copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog (probably Novemberish).

Library Addition: Edward Lucas White’s A Little Green Book of Grue

June 28th, 2023

Another Borderlands Little Book:

White, Edward Lucas. A Little Green Book of Grue. Borderlands Press, 2023. First edition hardback, #462 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. A shame they didn’t make it a little white book of some sort…

Library Addition: HB First of H. Beam Piper’s Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen

June 26th, 2023

I read this a few years ago, and liked it so much I decided to pick up the hardback first.

Piper, H. Beam. Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen. Garland Publishing, 1975. First hardback edition, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Novel of a modern day state trooper accidentally sucked into an alternate timeline where he uses his knowledge of military tactics and technology (such as the composition of gunpowder) to topple a corrupt theocracy. Part of the Garland Library of Science Fiction, reprinted from slightly blown-up pages from the Ace paperback original. Supplements a PBO first. Bought for £68 plus shipping from a UK seller.

Shoegazer Sunday: Slowdive’s “Kisses”

June 25th, 2023

Everything is Alive, Slowdive’s long-rumored next album, is finally coming out September 1, and “Kisses,” the first single from it, just dropped.

I still love the way Neil Halstead constructs songs.

Library Addition: Signed First of George Romero’s The Living Dead

June 23rd, 2023

A little out of line with what I usually buy, but I thought the limitation was low enough to be worth picking up.

Romero, George A. and Daniel Kraus. The Living Dead. Short Scary Tales (SST) Publications, 2023. First edition hardback, 322 of 400 copies signed by Suzanne Romero, Daniel Kraus, Vincenzo Natali and Francois Vaillancourt, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Hefty 736 page original novel set in Romero’s Living Dead universe. Now sold out from the publisher, though I do have one copy available through Lame Excuse Books.

Library Additions: Avram Davidson’s AD 100 1 and 2

June 22nd, 2023

I don’t generally pick up POD books, but here are two essential books only available as POD books.

Davidson, Avram. AD 100: Volume I and AD 100: Volume II. Or All the
Sea With Oysters Publishing, 2023. First edition trade paperback
originals (print on demand), as new. The Avram Davidson Society has set these up as Amazon print on demand originals. Together they include 100
unpublished or uncollected Avram Davidson stories. If you’re interested in picking them up, click the links above.

Library Addition: 1/100 Signed, Numbered Copies of Lucius Shepard’s The Ends of the Earth

June 21st, 2023

Saw this and won it at a bargain price.

Shepard, Lucius. The Ends of the Earth. Arkham House, 1991. First edition hardback, #5 of 100 copies signed and numbered by Shepard, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket (with SIGNED sticker on spine). This is a post-first limited that Lucius did himself, much like Greg Bear did his 250 copy limited edition of The Wind From A Burning Woman. Chalker/Owings (2002), page 73 (where he says this edition was sold at $100 a pop). Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House 178 (where he doesn’t mention this limited edition). Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide 184 (he doesn’t mention this edition either). Supplements an unsigned copy (which I must not have had the last time Lucius came through Austin). Bought for $17.50 plus shipping (which is less than even the original Arkham House cover price).