September 15th, 2026
Another book from that Mysterious Benefactor:
Smith, Edward E., Ph.D. Galactic Patrol. Fantasy Press, 1950. First edition hardback in a first state blue cloth dust jacket, a Near Fine copy with slight wear to gold lettering on spine, slight send at head and heel, and trace of foxing to inside covers and gutters, in a Near Fine, Mylar-protected dust jacket with thin lines of wear at head and heel and trace of dust soiling to white rear cover. Currey, page 456. Chalker/Owings, page 160. Kemp, The Anthem Series, page 34.
Tags: Books, E. E. "Doc" Smith, Fantasy Press, Mysterious Benefactor, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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September 14th, 2026
Another Mysterious Benefactor book.
Stableford, Brian. The Man in the Cage. John Day, 1975. First edition hardback (“10 9 8 7 6 6 5 4 3 2 1” on copyright page, as per Currey). First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Replaces an Ex-Library copy. Currey, page 465.
Indeed, one of the reason I cataloged this one is I’m running out of room and haven’t gotten my new bookcase yet, and this is just a 1-for-1 replacement…
Tags: Books, Brian Stableford, Mysterious Benefactor, Science Fiction
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September 11th, 2026
Another Dragonstairs chapbook:
Swanwick, Michael. Red Dog. Dragonstairs Press, 2026. First edition chapbook original, #66 of 80 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. “Red Dog is Michael Swanwick’s collection of essays, some fictional, about life in western Pennsylvania.” Bought from the publisher at the usual discount.
Copies of this will be available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, which, owing to the huge number of books I’m currently working through, should be out later this month.
Tags: chapbooks, Dragonstairs Press, Michael Swanwick, Pennsylvania, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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September 10th, 2026
Another book from that Mysterious Benefactor, and another small press book from the 1950s.
Smith, George O. Path or Unreason. Gnome Press, 1958. First edition hardback (“First Edition” stated, as per Currey), a Near Fine copy with the start of slight creasing at head and heel, slight bend at head and heel, trace of wear to a couple of points, with characteristic toning of pages for Gnomes of this era, in a Fine- dust jacket with the barest trace of darkening to top edges of flaps. Currey, page 459. Chalker/Owings, page 204. Kemp, The Anthem Series, page 263.
Tags: Books, George O. Smith, Gnome Press, Mysterious Benefactor, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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September 9th, 2026
Another book from that Mysterious Benefactor, and another small press book from the 1950s.
Leinster, Murray. Operation: Outer Space. Fantasy Press, 1954. First edition hardback in a first state blue binding (as per Chalker/Owings), a Fine- copy with slight bumping at heel and a trace of rubbing to band at heel, in a Near Fine dust jacket with slight creasing and abrasion wear at heel, slight fading to red lettering on spine, tiny trace rubs to front, and a few small spots of dust soiling to white rear cover; overall, a very nice copy. Currey, page 268. Chalker/Owings, page 162 (“The first interstellar journey, financed by making it a TV spectacular”). Kemp, The Anthem Series, page 47.
Tags: Books, Fantasy Press, Murray Leinster, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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September 8th, 2026
Another book from that Mysterious Benefactor (I’m going to be cataloging these for quite a while), and another small press book from the 1950s.
Russell, Eric Frank. Deep Space. Fantasy Press, 1954. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine, Mylar-protected dust jacket (there’s a tiny bit of wrinkling at top of spine, but this is such a perfect copy that it feels like nit-picking); just a spectacular copy. Short story collection. Chalker/Owings says there’s a Grant remainder binding, but so close to the original that there’s no way to tell them apart; this copy is so “as new” that it may be one of those. Currey, page 423 (where he says this blue binding is the first state binding). Chalker/Owings, page 161. Kemp, The Anthem Series, page 45.
Tags: Books, Eric Frank Russell, Fantasy Press, Mysterious Benefactor, Science Fiction
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September 7th, 2026
A Mysterious Benefactor who enjoys my other blog contacted me to give me his entire library, knowing I could take care of and appreciate them. He was getting on in years, and just didn’t want to deal with the hassle of selling his own collection, and didn’t feel that any of his relatives wanted it. So on September 1st, he drove down from the SFW Metroplex and unloaded 14 large plastic containers from his truck, so now I have hardback books (plus some magazines) coming out of my ears. Some will be incorporated into my own library, some will be sold via Lame Excuse Books and a few will end up getting donated.
For the first library addition, I picked the Gnome Press Silverberg/Garrett collaboration because I already owned the sequel, The Dawning Light.
Silverberg, Robert and Randall Garrett (as Robert Randall). The Shrouded Planet. Gnome Press, 1957. First edition hardback (stated, as per Currey), a Fine- copy with slight bumping at head and heel and usual toning to pages, in a Fine-, Mylar-protected dust jacket with slight bumping at head and heel and a small circular repricing sticker over the price. Currey, page 196 (and 439). Chalker/Owings, page 203. Kemp, The Anthem Series page 250. Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction page 281 (“*”).
Tags: Books, Gnome Press, Mysterious Benefactor, Randall Garrett, Robert Silverberg, Science Fiction
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September 2nd, 2026
I’ve slowly been picking up some general literary bookselling references when I’ve found them cheap, and this purchase fits in that category.
Dingman, Larry. Bibliography of limited and signed editions in literature, Twentieth Century American Authors. James Cummings Press, 1973. First edition hardback, a Very Good+ copy in red cloth with a few faint spots, and slight wear at head and heel, sans dust jacket, as issued. Just what it says, and of very limited use to SF/F/H collectors, with only a few figures onn the literary end of the genre (James Branch Cabell, William S. Burroughs, etc.) included. Bought off a fellow Biblio dealer for $5.40 plus shipping.
Tags: bibliography, Books, reference works
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September 1st, 2026
A friend is gradually culling the book collection of his mother, a literary academic, and I’ve been helping him seperate out books that might have some value from those that don’t. Here are three SF (or SF adjacent) critical works I saved for myself.
Clareson, Thomas D. Understanding Contemporary American Science Fiction: The Formative Period, 1926—1970. University of South Carolina Press, 1992. Second printing trade paperback, a Fine- copy with two small spots to page block edges. Clareson wrote a number of SF reference works, so I expect this to be pretty decent.
(Le Guin, Ursula K.) Cummins, Elizabeth. Understanding Ursula K. Le Guin. University of South Carolina Press, 1993. First edition trade paperback original of this revised edition, a Fine copy. Critical book on Le Guin.
(Pynchon, Thomas)Tanner, Tony. Thomas Pynchon. Methuen, 1982. First edition trade paperback original, a Poor copy since the center two leaves were falling out when I received this, but I’ve glued them back in. Critical companion to Pynchon’s work, covering early short work, V, The Crying of Lot 49 and Gravity’s Rainbow. Part of Methuen’s Contemporary Writers series.
Normally I wouldn’t add reprints (or a book falling apart) to my reference library, but at “free” the price was certainly right…
Tags: Books, reference works, Science Fiction, science fiction criticism, Slipstream, Thomas D. Clareson, Thomas Pynchon, Ursula K. Le Guin
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August 31st, 2026
Centipede Press’ latest book is pitched firmly at my Zelazny collection:
Zelazny, Roger. Roadmarks. Centipede Press, 2026. First limited edition, #358 of 400 numbered copies signed by introduction and glossary author (and Zelazny bibliographer) Christopher Kovacs and artist Pascal Blanche, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, still in publisher’s shrinkwrap. Zelazny’s novel of a man that can drive between different times, places and timelines. Supplements a signed first (via Bob Pylant), an unsigned first (probably a Half Price Books find), an unsigned UK hardback first (via Bob Pylant), and a signed Del Rey first paperback edition that I bought new and had Zelazny sign for me at the 1994 World Fantasy Convention in New Orleans, the only time I met him in person.
Note: The white streaks at bottom are just reflections off the shrinkwrap.
Though this is already sold out from the publisher, I will have a small number of copies available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog (November/December-ish).
Tags: Books, Centipede Press, Fantasy, Roger Zelazny, small press publishers
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