Posts Tagged ‘Fred Duarte’

Library Additions: Four Books From Half Price Books, Two Signed

Tuesday, November 13th, 2018

No theme, except for the place I bought them and picking them up really cheap:

  • Koontz, Dean R. (as K. W. Dwyer). Dragonfly. Random House, 1975. First edition hardback (“First Edition” and numberline starting with “2”, as per Random house practice), an Ex-Library copy with most of the usual flaws, including stamps at head and page block side, tape ghosts inside covers, spine lean, ink writing and some edge-staining on FFE; call it a Very Good- Ex-Lib copy, in a Fine- dust jacket with a bit of wrinkling at head and heel. Kotker, Dean R. Koontz: A Critical Companion, page 175. Bought at Half Price Books for $2.
  • MacAvoy, R. A. Trio for Lute. Nelson Doubleday (SFBC), 1984. First hardback and first omnibus edition thus (with code P08 on page 631, as per ISFDB), a Very Good copy with some dampistaining transfer to blind side of dust jacket, in a Very Good- dust jacket with same, as well as multiple small tears at head, slight wear at head and heel, and abrasions along rear flap fold. Signed by MacAvoy: “For Fred/Bertie/MacAvoy.” Almost certainly another book from Fred Duarte’s library. Omnibus edition of Damiano, Damiano’s Lute and Raphael. Bought for $2.

  • Morrow, James. The Madonna and the Starship. Tachyon, 2014. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy, signed by Morrow. Bought for $4.99.
  • (Pournelle, Jerry) Acres, Mark. Combat Command in the World of Jerry E. Pournelle’s Janissaries: Lord of Lances. Ace, 1988. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with some edgewear. These Combat Command novels were strategic “pick your own path” adventures. Sort of an oddball concept. I also have the one done for Zelazny’s Amber. Bought for $1.
  • Library Additions: Eight Books, Five Signed

    Monday, July 30th, 2018

    All of these books were bought at Half Price Books, and the majority of them came from the Karen Meshcke/Fred Duarte collection(s).

  • Baker, Kage. Black Projects, White Knights. Golden Gryphon, 2002. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with just a trace of edgewear at head, heel and points. Inscribed by Baker: “For Fred/Kage Baker.” Short story collection. Baker died at age 57 of an aggressive form of cancer in 2010. Supplements an unsigned copy. Bought for $5.

  • Bear, Greg. W3: Women in Deep Time. iBooks, 2002. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy. Bought for $3.49.
  • Effinger, George Alec. Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson. SWAN Press, 1993. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Inscribed by Effinger: “To Fred & Karen,/Con Mucho Loved!/George Alec Effinger (Yer Pal)”. Signed by introduction author Mike Resnick. Inscribed by artist Peggy Ransom: “To Fred & Meschke,/Come see us often!/And we’ll Frankie & Johnny again,/best,/Peggy Ransom.” Effinger was co-Guest of Honor at Armadillocon 4 in 1982, and a frequent Armadillocon attendee. George died in 2002 at age 55. Replaces a signed copy in my library. Bought for $4.99.

  • Oliver, Chad. Unearthly Neighbors. Crown SF Classics, 1984. First hardback edition (reprinting a Ballantine paperback from 1960), a Near Fine copy with red remainder mark at head in a Fine- dust jacket with a few touches of wear. Inscribed by Oliver: “10/7/88/To Meschke/All best/Chad Oliver.” Chad was the dean of Austin science fiction writers and the former chairman of UT’s Department of anthropology. The date indicates he signed this during Armadillocon 10, where Duarte and Meschke were co-chairs. Chad died in 1993. Supplements a Fine/Fine unsigned copy. Bought for $4.99.

  • Sladek, John. Bugs. Macmillian (UK), 1989. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy in a Fine-dust jacket with some wear at heel. Signed by Sladek. Bought for $5.

  • Stableford, Brian. Swan Songs. Big Engine, 2003 (but see below). First hardback edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Omnibus edition containing six Hooded Swan novels (Halcyon Drift, Rhapsody in Black, Promised Land, The Paradise Game, The Fenris Device, and Swan Song), the last two of which were previously published only as paperback originals. ISFDB says that SFBC produced this edition, which I can believe, given the trim size and the fact Big Engine (a short-lived UK small press SF publisher) only did trade paperbacks. The mystery is that the book seems much higher quality than the usual SFBC fair, with tight bindings and bright page blocks. Maybe they subcontracted with a different printer for this one.

  • Young, Jim. Armed Memory. Tor, 1995. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by Young: “For Karen Meschke/ & Family/Jim Young/L.A./April 24, 2009.” Young died in 2012. Supplements an unsigned copy. Bought for $9.99.

  • Zahn, Timothy. Cascade Point. Bluejay Books, 1986. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought for $8.48.
  • Other signed books I bought there will be available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.

    Library Additions: Four Signed First Editions

    Monday, July 16th, 2018

    More of the Fred Duarte/Karen Meschke book collection showed up at the Austin Public Library’s Recycled Reads Bookstore. Two of the books here were 50% off their marked price, and the other two were pretty cheap. All these are in dust jacket protectors.

  • Godwin, Parke, and Marvin Kaye. The Masters of Solitude. Doubleday, 1978. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with purple remainder speckling at heel in a Near Fine dust jacket with moderate soiling to white back cover. Inscribed by both authors: “[In Kaye’s hand]Worldcon 1986″/[In Godwin’s hand] For Fred/Parke Godwin/[In Kaye’s hand] For Fred/with best wishes/Marvin/Kaye.” I did not previously have examples of either author’s signatiure. Bought for $12. (Note: Kaye’s name comes first on the cover, but I have more of Godwin’s books so I’ll be filing it there.)

  • Hunter, Stephen. Pale Horse Coming. Simon & Schuster, 2001. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by Hunter. Bought for $5. Dwight tells me that this is one of his best.

  • Jeter, K.W. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Warped. Pocket Books, 1995. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by Jeter: “For Karen + Fred—/See you in/San Antonio!/Best,/K. W. Jeter.” Meschke was con chair for the 1997 San Antonio Worldcon. Bought for $5 after discount.

  • Kay, Guy Gavriel. Tigana. Roc, 1990. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by Kay: “For Fred,/All best,/Guy Kay.” Bought for $15 after discount.

  • Other books I found there will show up in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.

    For more on Fred Duarte, see here, or click the Fred Duarte tag to see other books I acquired from his estate. (For more items from Meschke’s collection, watch this space…)

    Library Addition: Signed Ray Bradbury Cassette

    Tuesday, October 18th, 2016

    Picked up one more thing from the Fred Duarte estate that I didn’t see during my previous purchase:

    Bradbury, Ray. Green Shadows, White Whale. Random House Audio, 1992. Audio cassette (probably the “first edition,” as I suspect there was only one) in a Very Good- packaging with 1″ of the inner cardboard cassette sleeve missing at bottom. Signed by Bradbury across the rear of the package. Two cassettes adding up to three hours of audio (presumably abridged) of Bradbury reading from his own novel. (I also have a first edition of the novel signed by Bradbury.) Bought from the Duarte estate sale at Armadillocon for $5.

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    Library Additions: Two More Books

    Friday, August 12th, 2016

    The final two books I bought from Fred Duarte’s library, at around $10 each:

  • Ortved, Douglas. The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History. Faber & Faber, 2009. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Non-fiction guide to the animated TV show.
  • Simmons, Dan. Hard as Nails. St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2003. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Third Joe Kurtz hardboiled mystery. I really enjoyed the first two, I just never chanced across a cheap copy of the third until now.
  • Not included: The many DVDs I picked up at $1 a disc from Fred’s estate, nor the odd item I picked up at the recent Armadillocon I’ll be listing later.

    Meanwhile, I have two huge book buys (that just happened to happen the same day I picked up Fred’s books) I need to catalog. So the pig is maybe 1/3rd of the way down the python…

    Library Additions: Three Signed First Editions

    Thursday, August 11th, 2016

    Three more signed first editions from the Fred Duarte estate:

  • Barry, Dave. Dave Barry Slept Here. Random House, 1989. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed to Fred by the author. Humor.

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  • Delany, Samuel R. The Complete Nebula Award-Winning Fiction. Bantam Spectra, 1986. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with slight touches of wear. Inscribed and dated (“Austin 88,” when Delany came to town to attend Sercon 2) by the author to Fred.

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  • Lansdale, Joe R. The Drive-In 2 (Not Just One of Them Sequels). Bantam Spectra, 1989. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with a tiny bit of wear along the spine. Inscribed by Lansdale: “For/Karen/Meschke/(Her Ownself)/Joe R. Lansdale/(His Ownself).” I already had the Kinnell first hardback of this inscribed to me by Joe, but just never picked up this PBO.
  • Library Additions: Two Signed Alexander Jablokov Firsts

    Tuesday, August 9th, 2016

    Two more from the Fred Duarte estate:

  • Jablokov, Alexander. Brain Thief. Tor, 2009. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by the author: “2/13/10/To Fred—/It’s been a long time! I hope/you enjoy this./Alex Jablokov”

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  • Jablokov, Alexander. Deep Drive. Avon Eos, 1998. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by the author: “2/19/00/To Fred—/Thanks for everything./Alex Jablokov.” Note that this was part of an Eos launch with all the books being a much smaller trim size than normal (16mo, if I’m not mistaken), and I get the impression this format wasn’t popular with book buyers.
  • Library Addition: Signed PBO of Aaron Allston’s Sidhe Devil

    Monday, August 8th, 2016

    Since I already had a signed first of Doc Sidhe, I picked up this signed copy of the sequel from the Fred Duarte Estate.

    Allston, Aaron. Sidhe Devil. Baen, 2001. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy with some foxing to inside covers. Signed and dated by Allston.

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    Library Addition: Signed PBO of Fritz Leiber’s The Wanderer

    Saturday, August 6th, 2016

    Another purchase from Fred Duarte’s library. I already had the later hardback edition, but not a signed copy of this paperback original first.

    Leiber, Fritz. The Wanderer. Ballantine Books, 1964. First edition paperback original, a Very Good+ copy with stamp to blurb page, a bot of rubbing, and touches of general wear. Signed by Leiber. Hugo Award winner. Currey, page 309. Burgess, Anatomy of Wonder 4, 4-259. Reginald, 08843.

    Leiber Wanderer

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    Library Addition: Signed First of Poul Anderson’s Boat of a Million Years

    Friday, August 5th, 2016

    Yet another purchase from the estate of Fred Duarte:

    Anderson, Poul. The Boat of a Million Years. Tor, 1989. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Hugo and Nebula Award nominee. Inscribed to Fred.

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