Posts Tagged ‘chapbooks’
Sunday, June 5th, 2022
Another signed Dragonstairs chapbook:
Swanwick, Michael. The Proceedings of the American Martini Institute: A Report of the American Martini Laboratory: The Once And Future Rye: The Whisky that Was America. Dragonstairs Press, 2022. First edition chapbook original, #20 of 80 signed copies, a Fine copy. A history of rye whisky in America, in the same vein as Swanwick’s The Evolution of the Martini. Ten more of these and he’ll have enough for a book! Bought from the publisher at the usual discount.
Copies of this will be available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, currently in progress.
Tags:Books, chapbooks, Dragonstairs Press, Michael Swanwick, reference works, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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Friday, May 13th, 2022
Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc. (FPCI) is not a press that I actively collect, unlike contemporaries Gnome Press, Arkham House or Shasta: Publishers. For every notable writer FPCI published (say, Hubbard or de Camp), they published two by writers that nobody reads or collects any more, but I pick up titles when I find them cheap. This I had wanted to pick up for a while, since I had never actually seen a copy.
Lengyel, Cornel. The Atom Clock. Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc. (FPCI), 1951. First edition chapbook original, one of 750 copies (simultaneous with a 250 copy hardback run), a Near Fine copy with sticker pull at top right of title page, over which is a small inked price of $125, in a Very Good+ dust jacket with a shallow chip and associated small crease at top right of the front cover, a closed 1/16th triangular tear at top rear, slight rubbing to front cover, and slight dust soiling to white rear cover. Anti-atomic play. Won awards, but I’m sure the sentiment of the thing would strike me as naive and dated. Chalker & Owings (1991), page 179, where they note that the hardback is “almost never seen.” Kemp, The Anthem Series, pages 89-90. Bought off eBay for a $30 offer.
Tags:Books, chapbooks, Cornel Lengyel, FPCI, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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Wednesday, April 20th, 2022
Another Dragonstairs chapbook:
Swanwick, Michael. Fantasia Romantica. Dragonstairs Press, 2022. First edition chapbook original, #9 of 48 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. “Fantasia Romantica is Michael Swanwick’s witty take on the romantic lives of six fictional heroines. Was Rosie waiting when Sam Gamgee came home? And what was going on with Susan Pevensie?” Out of print almost instantly upon publication.
I will have copies available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Tags:Books, chapbooks, Dragonstairs Press, Fantasy, Michael Swanwick, small press publishers
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Wednesday, December 29th, 2021
Three more chapbook additions, including the latest Swanwick:
“Conrad, Joseph” (Adam Newell). At the Door of Darkness. Sangrail Press, 2020. First edition chapbook original, #66 of 100 numbered copies, a Fine copy in white envelope and numbered brown cardboard mailer, as issued. Somewhat elaborate production, with tipped-in linocut frontispiece and tissue guard and duplicated pages from the “original” manuscript for Heart of Darkness featuring a deleted scene. A very sly literary endeavor. I will have one copy of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
“Fitzgerald, F. Scott” (Adam Newell). Gods of Darkness. Sangrail Press, 2021. First edition chapbook original, #150 of 250 numbered copies, a Fine copy in numbered brown cardboard mailer, as issued. Another elaborate production, with tipped-in frontispiece illustration. “F. Scott Fitzgerald’s forgotten tale of a Lovecraftian witch cult, not in any edition of his collected works.” I will have copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Swanwick, Michael. Rainbow Clause. Dragonstairs Press, 2020. First edition chapbook original, #72 of 120 copies, a Fine copy with multicolored snowflakes appliqued to the front cover. Collection of extremely short stories about various Santas (“Red Santa,” “Orange Santa,” “White Santa,” “Blue Santa,” “Black Santa,” “Yellow Santa,” “Purple Santa” and “Green Santa”). I will have copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Tags:Adam Newell, Books, chapbooks, Cthulhu, Fantasy, Horror, Joseph Conrad, Science Fiction
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Monday, 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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Wednesday, November 3rd, 2021
Two chapbooks:
Howard, Robert E. Two Against Tyre. Dennis McHaney, 1975. First edition chapbook original, one of 1,500 copies (Currey state B), a Fine- copy with slight wear to black border at top front and slight dust staining along spine. Currey, page 252. Bought off a fellow Biblio dealer for $8.10.
Swanwick, Michael and Greer Gilman. The Lonely and the Rum: A Conversation. Dragonstairs Press, 2021. First edition chapbook original, #50 of 125 copies, a Fine copy with hand-made, uneven (I think intentionally) covers. Transcription of a conversation between Gilman and Swanwick on fantasy. Obtained directly from the publisher at the usual discount.
Tags:Books, chapbooks, Dragonstairs Press, Fantasy, Michael Swanwick, Robert E. Howard, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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Wednesday, October 13th, 2021
Another book for my complete Lansdale collection from that same private collector:
Lansdale, Joe. R. Tight Little Stitches In A Dead Man’s Back. Pulphouse, 1992. First edition hardback chapbook, #70 of 100 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Short story hardback issue #28. Story originally appeared in John Maclay’s Nukes anthology in 1986. This is the first separate edition. Bought from a private collector for $75 (which is considerably more than I paid for The Steel Valentine).
I may have mentioned that I avoided the Pulphouse short story hardback line when it first came out, as I had a hard time thinking of them as real books rather than gimmicks, and didn’t expect them to hold their value. Now, after I’ve collected everything else by the author, I’ve been picking them up. Most can still be had cheap, but not this one.
Tags:Books, chapbooks, Horror, Pulphouse, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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Friday, October 8th, 2021
Three Joe R. Lansdale chapbooks purchased from that same private collector:
Lansdale, Joe R. On The Far Side of the Cadillac Desert With Dead Folks. Roadkill Press, 1991. First separate edition chapbook, #488 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. Originally appeared in the 1989 Skipp & Spector anthology The Book of the Dead. Bought from a private collector for $25.
Lansdale, Joe R. The Orbit #1. Subterranean Press, no date (but 1999). First edition chapbook original, a Fine copy. “The Official Joe R. Lansdale Newsletter.” First of two put out. With:
Lansdale, Joe R. The Orbit #2. Subterranean Press, no date (but 1999). First edition chapbook original, a Fine copy. Second and last issue. Bought for $15 for the pair off a private collector.
Tags:Books, chapbooks, Horror, Joe R. Lansdale, Roadkill Press, small press publishers, Subterranean Press
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Tuesday, September 7th, 2021
Both of these were bought from a customer who wanted to sell off his collection. Some of that was listed in the Lame Excuse Books catalog, and I’ll be listing the books I bought for my own collection here.
Ellison, Harlan. The Deadly Streets with Gentlemen Junkie. Edgeworks Abbey/Subterranean Press, 2013. First hardback editions of each, #216 of 250 signed, numbered sets, Fine copies in Fine dust jackets and a Fine slipcase. Two early Ellison collections, originally PBOs, appearing here for the first time in hardback. Richmond, Fingerprints in the Sky, pages 46 and 51. Supplements trade copies of each.
Ellison, Harlan. Li’l Harlan and his sidekick Carl the Comet in Danger Land. Edgeworks Abbey/Subterranean Press, 2013. First edition hardback chapbook, #WW of 52 signed, lettered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Stories of Harlan paling around with Carl Sagan. I avoided buying this when it came out because it sorta looked super-cringy, but since I’m collecting everything else, and the hardback is rare, I added it to the stack. Richmond, Fingerprints in the Sky, page 121.
Other Ellison firsts I’m still looking for can be found here.
Tags:Books, Carl Sagan, chapbooks, Edgeworks Abbey, Fantasy, Harlan Ellison, Limited Editions, Science Fiction, Subterranean Press
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Tuesday, August 24th, 2021
Another day, another chapbook:
Leiber, Fritz. The Demons of the Upper Air. Roy A. Squires, 1969. First edition chapbook original, 143 of 275 copies number in Arabic numerals, a Fine copy in Fine wrappers, additional inscribed “To/Chris/from/Fritz,” in a Fine original printed envelope, and even the original stiff cardboard mailer from Squires! Poetry. Squires always did beautiful work. Chalker/Owings, page 588. Bought off eBay for $50.
Tags:Books, chapbooks, Fritz Leiber, Horror, poetry, Roy A. Squires, small press publishers
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