Posts Tagged ‘small press publishers’

Library Additions: Two Cemetery Dance Books

Tuesday, January 2nd, 2024

These were both bought off eBay.

  • Bradbury, Ray. A Chapbook for Burnt-Out Priests, Rabbis and Ministers. Cemetery Dance, 2001. First edition trade hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Bradbury. Bought off eBay for $21.50. Replaces an unsigned copy and supplements a slipcased signed/limited edition copy.

  • King, Stephen, Richard Chizmar, and Stewart O’Nan. A Face in the Crowd b/w The Longest December. Cemetery Dance, 2023. First hardback edition and first edition thus (with King and O’Nan’s “A Face in the Crowd” previously only available in a eBook edition, and Chizmar’s “The Longest December” stating “Expanded Version,” but ISFDB doesn’t show a previous edition), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Two novellas. Bought off eBay for $20 plus shipping.
  • Library Additions: Five Half Price Books Finds

    Saturday, December 30th, 2023

    All of these were Half Price Books finds, all firsts, and all but the Sagan and Wong came from Austin stores. The Sagan and Wong came from Dallas Metroplex area stores, but I pulled them into this post because they go in bookcases I’m reorganizing.

  • Gaiman, Neil. Norse Mythology. W. W. Norton, 2017. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought for $12.99.

  • Robinson, Kim. New York 2040. Orbit, 2017. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bumping at head and a trace of edgewear. Bought for $9.99.

  • Sagan, Carl. Contact. Simon and Schuster, 1985. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bumping at head, slight dust soiling to outer page block, and slight bunting of points, in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bumping at head, slight wear at points, and a trace of staining to blind side. Sagan’s only novel, and the basis of the 1997 film. Bought for $8.49.

  • Smith, Clark Ashton (Scott Connors and Ron Hilger, editors). The Miscellaneous Writings of Clark Ashton Smith. Night Sahde Books, 2011. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. I already had the five volume collected fantasies, but somehow never picked this one up, perhaps because Night Shade was so horrible at fulfillment. Bought for $14.99.

  • Wong, David (pseudonym of Jason Pargin). Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits. St. Martin’s, 2015. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with one tiny wrinkle at heel and a trace of wear at top points. Bought for $13.49.

  • Unusually for Half Price Books, three of these titles had aftermarket labels over the UPC code that needed a fair amount of Bestine and elbow grease to remove…

    Library Addition: Two Subterranean Press Firsts

    Friday, December 22nd, 2023

    These came in a while back, but I haven’t had room to shelve them until I finished finishing my latest bookcase.

  • Tiptree, James Jr. (Alice Sheldon). The Voice That Murmurs in the Darkness. Subterranean Press, 2023. First edition hardback, #389 of 1,000 numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and publisher’s plastic bag. Includes out of print and previously uncollected work, including the essay “How to Have An Absolutely Hilarious Heart Attack” and the story “Beam Us Home.”

  • Waldrop, Howard (George R. R. Martin and Bradley Denton, editors). H’ard Starts. Subterranean Press, 2023. First edition hardback, #414 of 750 numbered copies signed by Waldrop, Martin and Denton. Collection of early, rare Waldrop stories from a wide variety sources, including a 25 copy self-published story from 1966! (I have a copy and provided George with the text.) Now out of print from the publisher.

  • Library Addition: Slipcased Edition of Dan Simmons’ Entropy’s Bed At Midnight

    Friday, October 27th, 2023

    Another purchase from that same private collector, and another case of “I already have this book, but not in this state.”

    Simmons, Dan. Entropy’s Bed at Midnight. Lord John Press, 1990. First edition hardback, #93 of 100 signed, limited copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued, in a Fine slipcase. Reginald, Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, 1975-1991 33966 (but not this state). Supplements a signed, non-slipcased 1/300 edition.

    Lord John Press is an interesting press. They started out as primarily a literary small press (John Updike was a particular favorite), but did several science fiction, horror and mystery firsts along the way, including Stephen King’s Dolan’s Cadillac, which (of course) sold out almost instantly.

    About the time Carrion Comfort and Hyperion came out so close together, Simmons (like Clive Barker before him) got tagged as “The Next Stephen King,” and there was briefly a small press frenzy for publishing his work. I think Lord John did fine on this one, but some of the other Simmons titles they did (Children of the Night and The Hollow Man in particular) helped burst the small press bubble in the early 90s. They did too many copies in too many different states at too high price points, with the result that they sat on dealer’s shelves for decades. That, the wild overproduction of Pulphouse, and the unwise shift of Dark Harvest to mysteries, along with the founders of Phantasia Press and Underwood-Miller stepping away, helped dampen the small press boom in the early 1990s.

    I will have one copy of the 1/300 signed limited edition of Entropy’s Bed at Midnight in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, currently in progress.

    Library Addition: Saki’s A Little Red Book of Wit & Shudders

    Monday, October 2nd, 2023

    Another Borderlands Little Book:

    Saki (H.H. Munro) (edited by Stuart David Schiff). A Little Red Book of Wit & Shudders. Bands Press, 2023. First edition hardback, #462 of 500 copies signed by Schiff, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued.

    I will have a small number of copies available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.

    Library Additions: Three Subterranean Press First Editions

    Thursday, September 21st, 2023

    Three Subterranean Press books that came in recently:

  • MacLeod, Ian R. Ragged Maps. Subterranean Press, 2023. First edition hardback, #171 of 1,000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and publisher’s plastic bag. Short story collection.

  • Swanwick, Michael. The Best of Michael Swanwick Volume Two. Subterranean Press, 2023. First edition hardback, #204 of 1,000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and publisher’s plastic bag, with a Subterranean bookmark laid in. Supplements the first volume Subterranean did back in 2008.

  • Wolfe, Gene. The Dead Man and Other Horror Stories. Subterranean Press, 2023. First edition hardback, #870 of 1,000 numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and publisher’s plastic bag. Now out of print from the publisher.

  • I will have copies of all of these in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.

    Library Additions: Two Swanwick Chapbooks

    Wednesday, September 20th, 2023

    Two signed Swanwick Dragonstairs chapbooks that came in separately:

  • Swanwick, Michael. The Vinter’s Guide to Remarkable Wines. Dragonstairs Press, 2023. First edition chapbook original, #36 of 55 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. Collection of vignettes around wine themes.

  • Swanwick, Michael. Red Fox, Blue Moon. Dragonstairs Press, 2023. First edition chapbook original, #64 of 69 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. Vignettes about a fox, inspired by a fox that visited Swanwick’s backyard. “This is the story of how she saved the world. Well, her world.”

  • Both of these sold out the same day they were offered for sale, and I will have copies of each available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.

    Library Additions: Three Joe R. Lansdale Trade Paperback Firsts

    Thursday, September 14th, 2023

    Three more Lansdale firsts, two signed.

  • Lansdale, Joe R. Shooting Star. Pandi Press, 2023. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy with signed plate (and two bookmarks) laid in. At 43 pages long, it’s somewhere in the novelette/novella range.

  • Lansdale, Joe R. (edited by Christopher Golden and Brain Keene). The Drive-In: Multiplex. Pandi Press, 2023. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy.

  • Lansdale, Joe R. (and Andreas Guinaldo). Joe R. Lansdale’s The Drive-In. Avatar, 2005. First edition graphic novel original thus (no additional printings listed, preceded by four individual comic book issues), a Fine copy, signed by Lansdale. Graphic novel adaptation of the novel.

  • Note: Both the Pandi Press books say “First paperback edition,” but each is actually a true first (current ETA for the Thunderstorm Books signed/limited hardback of The Drive-In: Multiplex is December).

    Library Addition: Limited Edition of Avram Davidson’s Naples

    Monday, September 4th, 2023

    Another Avram Davidson chapbook from Temporary Culture.

    Davidson, Avram. Naples. The Nutmeg Point District Mail/Temporary Culture, 2022. First edition self-wrappers chapbook original, one of 160 copies, a Fine copy, inside a black envelope with Mylar protective wrappers and with a mounted black and white photograph laid in. Bought for $150 (the subscriber price). Story reprinted from Charles L. Grant’s Shadows anthology.

    I’m sort of a Davidson completists, but these chapbooks are starting to get a bit pricey for my budget…

    Library Addition: Charnel House Limited of Tim Powers’ An Epitaph in Rust

    Thursday, August 31st, 2023

    Another volume in the Charnel House signed, limited edition reprint line of all Powers’ novels.

    Powers, Tim. An Epitaph in Rust. Charnel House 2023. First edition hardback, #54 of 200 numbered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount.

    I will have one copy available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.