If you like some Hieronymus Bosch, maybe you’ll enjoy this freaky medieval book of prophecy.
With a nod to H. P. Lovecraft.
Halloween Horrors: The Book of Cosmic Horror
October 25th, 2022Library Additions: Four Clark Ashton Smith, Three Arkhams, One Signed
October 24th, 2022One of these came over from the same UK book dealer as the last few purchases, the other three came over in a Heritage Auctions lot I won from the Gary Munson Collection. Which was a surprise, since I hadn’t won a Heritage lot since 2016!
Note: The bright white spot at top is merely a reflection off the Mylar dust jacket protector.
I will have more Clark Ashton Smith and Arkham House books available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Library Addition: Eric Frank Russell’s Somewhere A Voice
October 23rd, 2022Another purchase from that British book dealer:
Russell, Eric Frank. Somewhere A Voice. Dennis Dobson, 1965. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with a small Foyle’s stickler on inside front cover under flap in a Near Fine- dust jacket with a 3/4″ split to bottom of front fold (and faint associated crease to front), a nail-head sized semi-closed circular chip to rear spine join near head, slight age darkening to edges of white portion of jacket, a faint, intermittant line of rubbing near right front cover edge, and slight foxing to blind side of dust jacket spine, otherwise a fairly bright example of the dust jacket. Short story collection. Currey, page 424. Locke, Spectrum of Fantasy III, page 70. Bought from a notable UK book dealer for £32.
I enjoyed Wasp enough that I think I should pick up some more Russell.
Library Additions: Two Signed Philip Jose Farmer Firsts
October 20th, 2022Two signed farmer firsts, bought from different sources.
Library Addition: First Edition of A. Merritt’s Dwellers in the Mirage
October 19th, 2022A notable UK bookdealer put several books up for sale or auction, and between my dealer discount and favorable pound-dollar exchange rates, I picked up several items. This will be the first post in a series on those purchases.
Merritt, A. Dwellers in the Mirage. Liverlight, 1932. First edition hardback (no statement of printing on copyright page, as per Currey), a Near Fine+ copy with slight foxing to inside covers from dust jacket flaps and just a tiny bit of bend at head and heel, with gilt embossing on spine entirely intact, in a Very Good+ dust jacket with shallow chipping at head, heel and points and modest dust staining to white dust jacket and a few touches of wear, otherwise intact and unclipped. A pretty nice copy of a classic inter-war fantasy novel in dust jacket. Cawthorn & Moorcock, Fantasy: The Hundred Best Books 44. Currey, page 365. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, page 155. Teitler, By the World Forgot, 855. Barron, Fantasy Literature, *3-242. Bought for £240.
Library Addition: Four Robert E. Howard Limited Editions
October 18th, 2022I’ve already picked up the most important of Howard’s early work, including the five Gnome Press Conan books he wrote solo (the “posthumous collaboration” volumes are way down the list to pick up) and the three Arkham House books. (I do not have the Herbert Jenkins A Gent From Bear Creek; if you have one you’re willing to part with, let me know…) But I’ve mostly held off on picking up the “deluxe” editions of things, apart from the occasional Subterranean Press sale. But these came up for auction at PBA Galleries at fairly affordable prices.
All four are quite attractive volumes, and all four already had Mylar dust jacket protectors. Now I just need to track down The Ultimate Triumph, The Savage Tales Of Solomon Kane, and Conan of Cimmeria Volume One. Alas, those three seem even pricier…
Library Addition: Leah Bodine Drake’s A Hornbook for Witches
October 17th, 2022I’ve been winning a fair number of Arkham House auctions recently, though this is one I bought off a fellow Biblio dealer. The last time I looked, nice copies of this were going for well over a grand and out of my price range, but prices seem to have drifted down a bit.
Drake, Leah Bodine. A Hornbook for Witches. Arkham House, 1950. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with foxing to gutters and under flaps, slight bumping at heel (and unlike most Arkham (and U.S.) books, the printing on the book is 180° off what you would expect, running up the spine rather than down, so from bottom to top it reads “Drake • A HORNBOOK FOR WITCHES • Arkham House”), and a very slight bit of wear to Arkham’s usual Black Novelex boards, in a Near Fine- dust jacket with shallow 1/16″ chipping at head, heel and points, and age darkening to spine; a fairly nice copy. One of the rarest Arkham House books, with only 553 copies printed, and Jaffrey states that Drake took “about 300 copies” for her own distribution. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House, 43. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House, 43. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries, 40 (“There are few copies around, and copies are really hard to come by”). Nielsen, Arkham House Books, 44 (and #5 on his list of “The Thirty-Five Most Valuable Arkham House Books”). Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy Three, page 29. Kemp, The Anthem Series, pages 334 (“Scarcest Arkham House title of all.”), which also notes an audiobook edition of the title narrated by Vincent Price (though evidently only including four of the poems here). Bought from a fellow Biblio dealer for $832.
Halloween Horrors: Wasparama
October 16th, 2022Keeping the creepy crawly theme from yesterday going, here’s a video of a wasp and hornet expert removing a yellow-jacket nest from a wall in a woman’s basement.
A really, really, really big nest.
If that doesn’t freak you out enough, this guy has dozens more nest removal videos on his channel…
Halloween Horrors: House of Scorpions
October 15th, 2022We haven’t done any creepy crawly horror yet this holiday season, so “enjoy” this abandoned house absolutely filled with scorpions.
Guy finds thousands of scorpions in an abandoned house pic.twitter.com/NglMZwA9y9
— OddIy Terrifying (@closecalls7) August 28, 2022
Sweet dreams…
Halloween Horrors: Welcome To AI Hell
October 14th, 2022Man tells an AI to generate visions of Hell. Here are the results:
Of course, AI Hell is different from Robot Hell. For one thing, there’s less singing: