Library Additions: Three Greg Bear Easton Press Books

February 13th, 2022

As part of that same purchase that included some signed Harlan Ellison firsts, I picked up several Easton Press books. I didn’t catalog them until now because I knew wouldn’t be able to file them until I finished staining and gloss coating my new bookshelf. I’m about halfway through that process, but these are pretty much the only library additions left over from 2021 that I haven’t cataloged here yet, so I’m going to do that so I can close out the year.

  • Bear, Greg. Mariposa. Easton Press, 2009. First edition thus, #412 of 900 signed copies, a Fine copy in embossed leather boards, with certificate of authenticity (also signed by Bear), an unused personalization plate, and an insert card “a note about MARIPOSA and the author GREG BEAR” laid in, sans dust jacket, as issued. Sequel to Quantico (see below).
  • Bear, Greg. Quantico. Easton Press, 2005. First edition thus, #339 of 900 signed copies, a Fine copy in embossed leather boards, with certificate of authenticity (also signed by Bear), an unused personalization plate, and an insert card “a note about QUANTICO and the author GREG BEAR” laid in, sans dust jacket, as issued.
  • Bear, Greg. Vitals. Easton Press, 2002. First edition thus, #341 of 1,150 signed copies, a Fine copy in embossed leather boards, with certificate of authenticity (also signed by Bear), an unused personalization plate, an insert card “a note about VITALS and the author GREG BEAR” and a foldout brochure for the Signed First Editions of Science Fiction line laid in, sans dust jacket, as issued. Supplements a hardback first and a proof copy.

    Though none of these are true firsts, they are attractive and well-made books, and you don’t usually see them with all the ephemera inserted.

    More Easton Press additions from the same book buy to follow…

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    Library Additions: Fairwood Press Books

    February 12th, 2022

    Picked up four Fairwood Press books at the usual dealer discount.

  • Bishop, Michael. Joel-Brock the Brave and the Valorous Smalls. Kudzu Planet Productions/Fairwood Press, 2016. First edition hardback, #187 of 300 signed, numbered hardback copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Young Adult novel.
  • Bishop, Michael. The Sacerdotal Owl and Three Other Long Tales. Kudzu Planet Productions/Fairwood Press, 2016. First edition hardback, #69 of 250 signed, numbered hardback copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket.
  • Buckell, Tobias S. Shoggoths in Traffic and Other Stories. Fairwood Press, 2021. First edition trade paperback edition, a Fine copy, new and unread. Short story collection.
  • Palwick, Susan. All World Are Real. Fairwood Press, 2019. First edition trade paperback edition, a Fine copy, new and unread. Short story collection.

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    Moorcock, Moorcock, Moorcock, Eggs, Moorcock and Spam

    February 10th, 2022

    In a Facebook group I’m on, someone started listing the contents of Moorcock-edited issues of New Worlds SF, the science fiction magazine he edited in the 1960s (and various later incarnations). One of these was the November 1965 issue (Vol. 49, No.156), which not only includes a Moorcock essay, Part 1 of a serialized novel, The Wrecks of Time by James Colvin (which was a pen name for Moorcock), and no less than eleven book reviews by “Colvin,” which lead me to pen the following:

    Woman: What’s in this New Worlds?

    Waitress: Moorcock, Bailey, Moorcock, Platt, Jones, Moorcock and spam.

    Woman: Do you have any New Worlds with less Moorcock?

    Man: Oh, I love Moorcock! I’m having the New Worlds with Moorcock, Moorcock, Moorcock, Cawthorn, Moorcock, Moorcock, Bailey, Moorcock, Moorcock, Moorcock, Jones, Moorcock and spam!

    Having edited Nova Express, I know well the “Hey, looks like I’ve got to fill out the rest of this issue myself!” feeling. That’s a sign you need to find more suckers contributors…

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    Library Addition Signed Limited First of Robert A. Heinlein’s JOB

    January 27th, 2022

    I already had two books signed by Robert A. Heinlein, one a second printing with a crappy dust jacket, the other a book club edition I bought off David Hartwell at an Armadillocon for $40. This is both the first signed, limited edition Heinlein I’ve bought, and the first first edition signed by him (though I have plenty of unsigned Heinlein firsts).

    Heinlein, Robert A. JOB: A Comedy of Justice. Del Rey, 1984. First edition hardback, #109 of 750 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Near Fine slipcase with a quarter-sized water spot and a faint scratch, sans dust jacket, as issued. Not my favorite Heinlein, but quite readable by the standards of late-period Heinlein. Bought off eBay for $300.

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    Library Addition: Signed First of Harlan Ellison’s Rockabilly

    January 25th, 2022

    I’ve tracked down almost all of the Ellison hardback, so now I’m tracking down signed copies of the PBOs I don’t already own.

    Ellison, Harlan. Rockabilly. Gold Medal Books, 1961. First edition paperback original, a Very Good copy with considerable wrinkling and creasing along the spine, plus slight edgewear, signed by Ellison. Fingerprints on the Sky, page 108. Currey, page 178. Bought off eBay for $65.

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    Library Addition: Signed First Of Pat Murphy’s The Falling Woman (And The Solution To A Bibliographic Mystery)

    January 24th, 2022

    I picked this up a while back, but it took me some time to track down a thorny bibliographic point.

    Murphy, Pat. The Falling Woman. Tor, 1986. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine first state dust jacket, signed by Murphy. Winner for the Nebula Award for best novel. Supplements a copy of the first edition with a second state dust jacket inscribed to me by Murphy. You can tell the first state from the second state dust jacket by at least four different points:

    1. The lettering on the spine of the first state dust jacket has curvy features (the bottom of “Falling” is concave, and the top of “Woman” is convex), while the second state spine letters are straight.

    2. The lines in the center of the title on the front cover are black on the first state dust jacket, but red on the second state dust jacket.
    3. The back of the dust jacket is blank on the first state dust jacket, but has “Praise for The Falling Woman” followed by four blurbs on the second state dust jacket.
    4. The back of the second state dust jacket has an author photo of Murphy on the rear flap absent from the first state dust jacket.

      5. I confirmed with Murphy with the “curved letter” spine version is indeed the first state dust jacket, and she says both first and second state dust jackets went out on first printings. Bought off eBay for $15.50.

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    Shoegazer Sunday: Blankenberge’s “Everything”

    January 16th, 2022

    Anders Monson suggested that I feature Blankenberge on the Shoegazer Sunday post, and while I’ve posted a couple of tracks before, here’s “Everything,” another one of their “shimmering noisebed” tracks.

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    Library Addition: Signed First of Neal Stephenson’s Termination Shock

    January 14th, 2022

    Another signed first:

    Stephenson, Neal. Termination Shock. Morrow, 2021. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, with “SIGNED FIRST EDITION” sticker on front, signed by Stephenson on page stating “This signed edition has been specially bound by the publisher.” Bought from the Mysterious Bookstore for $28.

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    Library Additions: Three Reference Works

    January 7th, 2022

    Three more reference works:

  • (Ballard, J. G.) McGrath, Rick. Deep Ends: A Ballardian Anthology 2018. Terminal Press, 2018. First edition hardback, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Collection of essays on Ballard, including David Pringle’s continuing, invaluable “Ballard/Moorcock Chronology,” of which Moorcock himself says “I frequently trust his memory over my own.” Bought from Amazon.
  • Gaiman, Neil (with Leslie S. Klinger). The Annotated American Gods. Morrow, 2019. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Annotated version of Gaiman’s Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning novel, made into the acclaimed TV series of the same name. This edition follows the text of the 10th Anniversary edition, but the annotations note where it differs from the first edition (among other things). Bought for $24.99 from a Houston-area Half Price Books. I will have one copy of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.

  • (Gibson, William) Westfahl, Gary. William Gibson. University of Illinois Press, 2013. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Critical companion to Gibson’s work. Bought at Half Price Books for $12.49.

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    Library Additions: Various Unsigned Firsts

    January 5th, 2022

    The only theme here is various unsigned hardback firsts.

  • Egan, Greg. Dichronauts. Night Shade Books, 2017. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought at Half Price Books for $8.99.
  • Fraser, George MacDonald. Flashman and the Tiger. Harper Collins, 1999. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Collection of three Flashman novellas. I’d always heard the Flashman books were great, but haven’t actually read any. Bought for $7.99.
  • Lansdale, Joe R. Coco Butternut. Subterranean Press, 2017. First edition hardback, trade edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Hap and Leonard novella. Somehow I ended up picking up two limited editions of this, so I never picked up a trade edition until now. Bought from Camelot Books for $17.50.
  • Moore, Alan. Jerusalem. Knockabout Books, 2016. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight edgewear and slight haze-rubbing. Massive, 1174-page novel whose premise is that Northhampton is the actual center of the world. Looks interesting, but Lord know when I’ll ever find time to read it. Actually, I should probably read Voice of the Fire first…
  • Reynolds, Alastair. Revenger. Gollancz, 2016. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight crimping at head. Bought at a Houston-area Half Price Books for $12.49.
  • Shea, Michael. Mr. Cannyharme: A Novel of Lovecraftian Terror. Hippocampus Press, 2021. First edition hardback, one of only 500 hardback copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Previously unpublished Shea novel of Lovecraftian horror set in post-hippie San Francisco. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount. I will have copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.

  • Tarantino, Quentin. Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. Harper, 2021. First hardback edition and first edition thus, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Originally published as a PBO, this hardback edition includes not only Tarantino’s novelization of his own film, but also a script for an episode of Bounty Law, reproductions of fake movie posters and TV Guide covers featuring Rick Dalton, and even the Mad Magazine parody “Lousy Law.” Bought from The Mysterious Bookshop at a dealer discount. (Right now Amazon appears to be offering this at half cover price (though the usual Amazon caveats apply, and there’s no guarantee you’ll get a first printing).
  • Weir, Andy. The Martian. Crown Publishers. 2014. First edition hardback (preceded by a self-published ebook), a Near Fine copy with small, light spots of staining to heel and slight bend at head, in a Near Fine dust jacket with a 1/2″ closed tear at bottom front, slight crease along top front edge, slight edgewear and wear at points. Celebrated novel of an astronaut stranded on Mars made into the Matt Damon movie of the same name. Bought at Half Price Books for $9.99.

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