Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Library Additions: Three NewCon Press Firsts

Friday, September 3rd, 2021

These three came in just before I sent out the book catalog.

  • Di Filippo, Paul. Worldshifter. NewCon Press, 2021. First edition hardback, #50 of just 60 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. “A high-octane tale of sweeping scope and and [sic] imagination packed into a breathless novella.”
  • Williams, Liz. Comet Weather. NewCon, 2020. First edition hardback, #69 of 100 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. “Practical Magic meets The Witches of Eastwick.” By the author of the Detective Inspector Chan novels, which I rather like.
  • Williams, Liz. A Glass of Shadow. NewCon Press, 2011. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Short story collection.
  • All three of these are still available through Lame Excuse Books.

    Library Addition: Fritz Leiber’s Demons Of The Upper Air

    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.

    Shoegazer Sunday: Hundredth’s “Down”

    Sunday, April 11th, 2021

    Hundredth was a hardcore band that turned to shoegaze with their album Rare. Here’s a track off it:

    Library Addition: Lettered Edition of Harlan Ellison’s Blood’s A Rover

    Tuesday, March 9th, 2021

    Another purchase from the Subterranean Press PC sale:

    Ellison, Harlan (edited by Jason Davis). Blood’s A Rover. Subterranean Press/Edgeworks Abbey, 2015. First edition hardback, a PC copy of 26 signed, numbered copies (the only signed edition), a Fine copy in patterned boards and a Fine traycase, sans dust jacket (though the art used for the trade edition dust jacket forms the fold-out frontispiece) as issued. (Most Subterranean books ship with a plastic bag around the book, while lettered editions have the bag around the traycase; this is the first case I’ve seen where they did both.) Collects all Ellison’s Vic and Blood stories. Dedicated to Michael Moorcock and A Boy and His Dog director L. Q. Jones. Long out of print. Bought for $500 (the original offering price).

    Library Addition: First Edition of Kuttner and Moore’s The Day He Died

    Monday, December 7th, 2020

    Another addition to my Kuttner/Moore collection:

    Kuttner, Henry and C.L. Moore (as Lewis Padgett). The Day He Died. Duell, Sloan and Pierce, 1947. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with a little bit of bend at head and heel in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with small chip at heel and associated 1/2″ closed tear, plus a trace of wear at points. Mystery. I saw a less attractive copy in an online auction go for considerably more than I was willing to spend, so I bought this (the nicest copy online) from a notable SF dealer for $220.

    See also: The Brass Ring.

    Library Additions: Zelazny Trade Paperbacks

    Tuesday, September 29th, 2020

    Part 2 of my third purchase of Zelazny books from Bob Pylant:

  • Saberhagen, Fred. Berserker Base. Tor, 1985. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine- copy with a touch of edgewear and slight age-darkening to pages. Theoretically a fix-up novel set in Saberhagen’s Beserker universe, but really more of a Beserker anthology with some filler material by Saberhagen. Includes the Zelazny story “Itself Surprised,” which originally appeared in Omni the year before.
  • Zelazny, Roger. Changeling. Ace, 1980. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Kvocs, I5v.
  • Zelazny, Roger and Neil Randall. Roger Zelazny’s Visual Guide to Castle Amber. Avon, 1988. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine- copy with slight edgewear. Kovacs, X14a. Supplements a signed copy of the SFBC (only hardback) edition.
  • Zelazny, Roger and Fred Saberhagen. Coils. Wallaby Books/Simon & Schuster, 1982. First edition trade paperback original, a Near Fine copy with one faint top front corner crease and slight age darkening to pages. Signed by Zelazny. Kovacs, I7a. Supplements a copy of the SFBC (and only hardback) edition inscribed to me. Kovacs, XIB1a.
  • Zelazny, Roger and Robert Sheckley. A Farce to be Reckoned With. Trade paperback, presumably a POD reprint, as it lacks the numberline of the first edition, and includes the usual POD barcode on the last page, a Fine- copy with slight edgewear and wear at points. Interestingly, despite having the same ISBN, this is a larger trim size (9″ x 6″) than the first edition (8 1/4″ x 5 1/2″), and could pass as a large print edition, except it is not so marked. This edition not in Kovacs.

    First edition on left, this copy on right.

  • (Zelazny, Roger) Greenberg, Martin H., editor. Lord of the Fantastic: Stories in Honor of Roger Zelazny. Avon Eos, 1998. First edition trade paperback original, a Near Fine copy with a previous ownership plate inside front cover and a few touches of wear. Zelazny tribute anthology.
  • (Zelazny, Roger) Yoke, Karl. Roger Zelazny. Stamont House, 1979. First edition trade paperback original, a Very Good+ copy with bumping at heel and head, abrasion at front right bottom point, touches of wear along spine and elsewhere, and a touch of staining to inside front cover and blurb page. Starmont Reader’s Guide 2. Levack, “Works About Roger Zelazny” 15, page 140. Kovacs, XXIII11a. There is a Borgo Press hardback binding done three years later I still need to track down.

  • Shoegazer Sunday: The Telewire’s “Slower”

    Sunday, September 6th, 2020

    Here’s another dose of The Telewire, with “Slower” off their Airport EP.

    Library Addition: Signed, Limited Edition of Black Wings VI

    Thursday, March 19th, 2020

    Trying to close out these purchases from last year:

    (Lovecraft, H.P.) Joshi, S.T. (Don Webb, William F. Nolan, W. H. Pugmire, etc.) Black Wings VI. PS Publishing, 2017. First edition hardback, #138 of 300 numbered copies signed by all the contributors (including the recently deceased Pugmire), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine slipcase, new and unread. New tales of Lovecraftian horror. Bought from the publisher at a steep discount.

    Shoegazer Sunday: Sara Rachele Covers “Fade Into You”

    Sunday, March 1st, 2020

    I’d never heard Sara Rachele before I went looking for covers of “Fade Into You.” She’s good enough to provide a close approximation of Hope Sandoval’s voice. The arrangement is more sparse and lonely than the Mazzy Star original, accentuating the sad, twangy, “coming home from a honky tonk alone at 3 AM” vibe of the song.

    Library Additions: Signed Moorcock Firsts Part 1

    Monday, February 17th, 2020

    Here’s the first part of the Moorcock titles I bought from Mike back in November.

  • Moorcock, Michael. The Brothel in Rosenstrasse. New English Library, 1982. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with slight spine fading and slight wear at top points. Inscribed to me by Moorcocok. Von Bek novel.
  • Moorcock, Michael. Byzantium Endures. Secker & Warburg, 1981. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with bumps to top points in a Very Good+ price-clipped dust jacket with several delamination wrinkles across the spine. Inscribed to me by Moorcock. Colonel Pyat novel.
  • Moorcock, Michael. The City in the Autumn Stars. Grafton, 1986. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with a tiny bump at head and top front corner blunted, in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with several invisible scratches to rear cover, trace of wear at points, and 1/4″ closed tear at bottom rear fold join. Inscribed to me by Moorcock.
  • Moorcock, Michael. The Dragon In the Sword. Ace, 1986. First edition hardback, a Near Fine+ copy with two pinhead spots to bottom page blocks, slight bend at head, and slight blunting to bottom points, in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with bumping to bottom front point and wrinkling at head and a trace of edgewear. Inscribed to me by Moorcock: “To Lawrence/All best —/Michael Moorcock.” Precedes the Grafton edition by a year.
  • Moorcock, Michael. Elric: La Saga. Editizione Oscar Draghiluglio, 2019. First edition hardback thus, an Italian omnibus edition of the first six Elric novels, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Inscribed to me by Moorcock: “To Lawrence/Prego!/Michael Moorcock.” A beautifully printed book, with decorated boards, full-color, full page plates by a variety of artists. A thrown-in by Mike, who had just received a big box of them. “See those behind you? Go ahead and take one if you want…”

  • Moorcock, Michael. Elric of Melniboné. Hutchison, 1972. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bumping at head and heel in a Near Fine- dust jacket with a 3/8″ chip at heel/front join, shallow chipping at head and heel, and touches of edgewear. Inscribed to me by Moorcock. Tanelorn Archives, page 17.

  • Moorcock, Michael. King of the City. Scribners (UK), 2000. First edition hardback, a Near Fine- copy with bumps to top points and a cluster of small gray stains on pageblock edges, and slight bumping at heel, in a Near Fine dust jacket with bumping to top points, slight bumping at heel, and slight edge wrinkling along bottom flaps. Inscribed to me by Moorcock: “To Lawrence,/All the best—/Michael Moorcock.” Sequel to Mother London.
  • Moorcock, Michael. The Laughter of Carthage. Secker & Warburg, 1984. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bend at head, in a Near Fine-, price-clipped dust jacket with two scratches to front cover and a long lamination wrinkle down the spine. Inscribed to me by Moorcock.
  • Moorcock, Michael. Legends From the End of Time. WH Allen, 1976. First UK edition hardback, a Fine- copy with top front point slightly blunted, in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bumping at head and top front point. Inscribed to me by Moorcock. The U.S. true first looks like ass, while this edition has a groovy Rodney Matthews cover that looks a lot like Roger Dean. Tanelorn Archives, page 24.

  • Moorcock, Michael. Letters from Hollywood. HAARP, 1986. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with bumping at head and heel and blunting of points, in a Very Good dust jacket with shallow chipping at heel and points, wrinkling along front join, trace of dampstaining to bottom rear flap, and touches of general wear. Inscribed twice by Moorcock: On front free endpaper: “To Howard —/The third of the/world’s finest cities —/Love/Mike/Aug 18th/NY.” On half-title page: “Michael Moorcock/To Lawrence.” Collection of letters to J.G. Ballard.

  • Moorcock, Michael. London Peculiar and Other nonfiction. PM Press, 2012. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy, new and unread, inscribed to me by Moorcock.
  • Moorcock, Michael. The Mystery of the Texas Twister with Argosy January/February 2004. First edition trade paperback original, both fine copies in a Fine paper slipcase with advertising insert intact and inserted. Inscribed to me by Moorcock. Attempt to revive the venerable Argosy magazine, which evidently only lasted three issues. Upon receiving it, Mike said “I thought it was a Mentos ad!”