Library Addition: Signed/Limited Ray Bradbury Chronicles Volume 2

September 6th, 2018

Picked up another volume of this:

Bradbury, Ray (with Dave Gibbons, James Sherman, Daniel Torres, Raph Reese, Mark Charello, and Bernard Krigstein). The Ray Bradbury Chronicles Volume 2. Byron Preiss/NBM, 1992. First edition hardback graphic novel,#250 of 1200 signed, numbered copies, a Near Fine copy with trace of dampstaining to bottom boards (but not pages) in a Near Fine dust jacket with slight waviness at bottom and slight blindside dye transfer from boards, along with a few other traces of wear. Signed by Bradbury, Gibbons, Reese and Charello. Tempted to send it back, but the terse listing only said VG, so, eh, caveat emptor. Bought for $37 off eBay.

I now have Volumes 2 and 7 of this series, but am still looking for the others…

Library Additions: Two Dean R. Koontz Charnel House Books

September 5th, 2018

I’m not a huge Dean R. Koontz fan, but I do like Charnel House books, and I saw these two from a dealer I knew almost cheap enough to pick up on a whim. I made an offer, we haggled, and I eventually got the following for $150 total, plus a couple of trade books.

  • Koontz, Dean R. The Darkest Evening of the Year. Charnel House, 2007. First limited edition hardback, #26 of 350 signed, numbered hardbacks, a Fine copy in a Fine slipcase, sans dust jacket, as issued.

  • Koontz, Dean R. Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein. Charnel House, 2005. First edition hardback, #209 of 750 numbered copies, a Fine- copy (the Japanese Silver Wave silk the book is bound in appears darker on the spine than the rest of the book; that may be sun fading, or just air exposure the rest of the slipcased book did not get) in a Fine slipcase. A original script for a TV pilot that the network evidently so butchered that Koontz had his name taken off the production.

  • Not a bad score, since I think both original sold for about $150 each…

    Library Addition: Tim Powers’ Collected Stories

    September 4th, 2018

    Another elaborate Charnel House Tim Powers book:

    Powers, Tim. The Collected Stories of Tim Powers. Charnel House, 2018. First edition hardback (or first thus; see below), #58 of 124 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Even though this was sold out shortly after it was announced, I will have copies for sale in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog. [Sold out.]

    One thing the scan doesn’t do justice is just how sparkly this book is, it being “bound in Japanese ‘Snow Dust'” silk silver foiled boards.

    There was a 2017 Baen hardback collection, Down and Out in Purgatory: The Collected Stories of Tim Powers, but this collection evidently has an additional story, in addition to being signed and much better looking…

    Library Addition: Multi-Signed Deluxe Edition of The Undead

    September 3rd, 2018

    Another odd item for the reference library:

    (Francis, Bruce (uncredited), compiler/editor, with Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Elvira, Rowena, and William F. Nolan.) The Undead (AKA The Book Sail 16th Anniversary Catalogue). McLaughlin Press, 1984. First edition hardback, #326 of 550 copies of the Deluxe (and only hardback) edition, a Near Fine copy with fading to spine, in a Near Fine slipcase, from which the cloth is starting to peel away at the bottom (which I intended to repair), sans dust jacket, as issued. An extremely elaborate affair for a book catalog, including a lenticular image of horror hostess Elvira (who has signed a signature page in the book) embedded in the cover, a Rowena full-page, full-color illustration, “Sorceress,” opposite her signature, which looks like something of a self-portrait, a signed Forward from Ray Bradbury, a signed story (“The Undead”) from Robert Bloch, and a signed William F. Nolan chapbook (“The Dandelion Chronicles”) inserted into a special pocket at the back of the book.

    In addition to all that, there’s also an extensive book and manuscript catalog which makes up the bulk of the book, including a ridiculous amount of Lovecraft material, including amateur press publications, original manuscripts, letters, postcards, etc. It also includes Sonia Haft Greene Lovecraft’s passport, which I’ve seen at listed for sale/auction least twice since (from L. W. Currey and later listed by Heritage Auctions). Also includes many non-book rarities, including the first appearance of Siegel and Shuster’s Superman character in a fanzine (where he was a bald villain), an original stop-motion armature of King Kong, and Judy Garland’s contract for The Wizard of Oz.

    I’ve long lusted after a copy of this book, which came out just before I started collecting, but it usually listed in the $350 range. Bought for $75 off eBay.

    Note: The limited, leather-bound presentation state (not seen) evidently included an original, unique Hannes Bok drawing in every copy…

    Library Addition: PC Signed/Limited Edition of Jack Vance’s Showboat World

    September 1st, 2018

    Another signed Jack Vance book from the same seller I previously bought two signed Jack Vance books from:

    Vance, Jack. Showboat World (or, to use the title embossed into the front boards of the book itself, The Magnificent Showboats of the Lower Vissel River, Lune XXIII South, Big Planet). Underwood-Miller, 1983. First hardback edition, a Presentation Copy of 200 signed, numbered copies, a Fine- copy with slight bumping at points in a Fine- dust jacket with a few small spots of slight browning discoloration. Hewett, A47h, who notes there were 28 Presentation Copies. Cunningham, Jack Vance: Critical Appreciations and a Bibliography, 71c, who notes that there were 20 Presentation Copies. Supplements a copy of the trade edition. Bought off eBay for $76.

    Library Additions: Four Random Books

    August 31st, 2018

    No theme, just four random, interesting books that came in.

  • De Camp, L. Sprague and Catherine Crook. Spirits Stars And Spells: The Perils and Profits of Magic. Canaveral Press, 1966. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine, price-clipped (but otherwise mint) dust jacket; Chalker/Owings says Owlswick obtained extra stock and printed a dust jacket “overprinted in red,” which matches this one. Signed by both authors. Non-fiction. Laughlin/Levack, de Camp: An L. Sprague de Camp Bibliography, 82a. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 84. Bought for £12 plus shipping.

  • Hunter, Stephen. I, Sniper. Simon & Schuster, 2009. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine Mylar-protected dust jacket, with bookstore event slip laid in. Signed and dated (“Jan 17, 2010”) by Hunter. Bought at auction for $6.15 plus shipping.

  • McDevitt, Jack. A Voice in the Night. Subterranean, 2018. First edition hardback, one of 1,000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Purchased at the usual dealer discount from the publisher. Copies will be available through Lame Excuse Books.
  • Smith, Clark Ashton (David E. Schultz and Scott Conners, editors). Selected Letters of Clark Ashton Smith. Arkham House, 2003. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by Conners. Bought for $30 off eBay.
  • Library Additions: Two Gnome Press Firsts

    August 28th, 2018

    Two Gnome Press firsts I bought in separate eBay auctions.

  • Greenberg, Martin, editor. Coming Attractions. Gnome Press, 1957. First edition hardback, a Near Fine- copy with two 1/4″ tears at head, dusty top and bottom page blocks and the usual age-darkening to pages for Gnome Press books of this era, in a Very Good dust jacket with shallow 1/8″ deep by 1″ wide chip at top rear cover, tears and shallow chipping at head, slight loss at top points, and slight spine fading (on the plus side, the white portions of the dust jacket are much brighter and free of dust staining than usually found). Anthology of speculative non-fiction about the future. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 203. Kemp, Gnome Press #64, page 258. Bought for $9.98 off eBay.

  • Shiras, William. Children of the Atom. Gnome Press, 1953. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight dust soiling to top page block, in a Near Fine- dust jacket with, alas, small ink “x”s next to 13 titles on the back cover, as well as slight dust staining to white rear cover and wear along points and edges; save that one flaw, an extremely nice, bright example of the dust jacket. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 200. Kemp, Gnome Press #28, page 215. Locke, A Spectrum of fantasy [One], page 197. Bought off eBay for $44.99.

  • Library Additions: Three More Armadillocon Books

    August 25th, 2018

    Only theme here is that these are the last books I bought at Armadillocon:

  • Adams, Scott. Fugitive From the Cubicle Police: A Dilbert Book. Andrews & McMeel, 1996. First edition? (no additional printings listed) trade paperback original, a Fine- copy with touches of edgewear. Cartoon collection. Bought for $2.50.
  • Beatts, Anne and John Head. Saturday Night Live: Host, Francisco Franco. Avon, 1977. First edition trade paperback original, a Near Fine+ copy with wear at point. Collages sort of mock scrapbook with pictures, scripts, jokes, etc. from the first few seasons of Saturday Night Live (you know, back when it was funny). The price sticker on the cover is actually part of the design. Bought for $2.50.

  • Dozois, Gardner, editor. The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty Fifth Annual Collection. St. Martin’s, 2018. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. The last Dozois annual, alas. Obtained for trade credit.
  • Library Additions: 5 Tachyon TPO Firsts, 3 Signed

    August 24th, 2018

    More Armadillocon purchases, all picked up at the usual dealer discount:

  • Beagle, Peter S. The Overneath. Tachyon, 2017. First edition trade paperback original, Fine. Signed by Beagle. Short story collection.

  • Beagle, Peter S. Summerlong. Tachyon, 2016. First edition trade paperback original, Fine. Signed by Beagle. Novel.
  • Beagle, Peter S. and Jacob Weisman, editor. The New Voices of Fantasy. Tachyon, 2017. First edition trade paperback original, Fine. Anthology. Signed by Beagle and Weisman.
  • Walton, Jo. Starlings. Tachyon, 2018. First edition trade paperback original, Fine. Short story collection.
  • Watts, Peter. The Freeze-Frame Revolution. Tachyon, 2018. First edition trade paperback original, Fine. New novel. “How do you stage a mutiny when you’re only awake one day in a million? How do you engage an enemy that never sleeps, that sees through your eyes and hears through your ears and relentlessly, honestly, only wants what best for you?” Looks interesting.
  • Note that most of these will be available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.

    Library Additions: Three Signed Joe R. Lansdale Books

    August 23rd, 2018

    The first batch of the books I bought at Armadillocon a few weeks ago:

  • Lansdale, Joe R. Jackrabbit Smile. Mullholland Books/Little Brown, 2018. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed to me by Lansdale. Hap and Leonard novel.
  • Lansdale, Joe R. Jonah Hex: Shadows West. DC Comics, 2013. First edition trade paperback graphic novel thus, compiled from previous individual comic books, a Fine copy, inscribed to me by Lansdale.

  • Lansdale, Joe R. Rusty Puppy. Mullholland Books/Little Brown, 2017. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by Lansdale. Hap and Leonard novel.
  • All obtained for swaps/trade credit.