Archive for the ‘Fantasy’ Category

Library Addition: Signed First of Alexander M. Phillips’ The Mislaid Charm

Thursday, October 15th, 2026

Another book from that Mysterious Benefactor:

Phillips, Alexander M. The Mislaid Charm. The Prime Press, 1947. First edition hardback (and in a first state yellow dust jacket, as per Chalker/Owings), a Very Good copy with bumped corners, head and heel, and a 1/4″ portion of front hinge open and completely cracked one page further in front of half title page, in a Good+ dust jacket with a 1/4″ chip at bottom point, about 1/8″ chips on other three points, a 1/8″ chip at head, a thin, a shallow chip across heel, a 1″ mostly closed tear at top front, plus other points of wear and general grubbiness, signed by the author. The first Prime Press book. Neither pretty nor valuable, but signed copy list online so cheaply that I’d prefer to keep this than sell it for a pittance. Chalker/Owings, page 352 (“About the traveling salesman whose magic charm gives him not only everything he wants but some things he doesn’t; typical fun from Unknown by a one-time President of PSFS”). Kemp, The Anthem Series, page 124 (“L. Sprague de Camp described the novel as ‘that comparative rarity, a first rate humorous fantasy'”).

Weirdly, Alexander seems to have hand-written the title page. His signature is right below his printed signature.

Library Addition: Gordon Dickson’s The Dragon and the George

Wednesday, October 14th, 2026

Another book from that Mysterious Benefactor:

Dickson, Gordon R. The Dragon and the George. Nelson Doubleday/SFBC, 1976. First edition hardback (as per Currey, with code G24 on page 243), a Fine- copy with slight bump at heel in a Fine-, Mylar-protected dust jacket with a trace of wear at points. Currey, page 160. Pringle, Modern Fantasy 100 60. One of those cases where the SFBC hardback is the true first.

Library Addition: Hardback First of John Brunner’s The Traveller in Black

Thursday, September 24th, 2026

Another item from that Mysterious Benefactor.

Brunner, John. The Traveller in Black. Severn House, 1979. First hardback edition, a Fine- copy with slight crimping at heel, in a Fine- dust jacket with a trace of wear at heel. Linked stories about a mysterious traveler who can drive back chaos.

Supplements a copy of the PBO first (spelled with only one “l” in Traveler).

Library Addition: Signed First of Jack Williamson’s The Reign of Wizardry

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2026

Another small press book from that Mysterious Benefactor:

Williamson, Jack. The Reign of Wizardry. Phantasia Press, 1979. First hardback edition, a Fine copy in a Fine, Mylar-protected dust jacket, signed by Williamson on the title page. Fantasy set in Minoan Crete. The second Phantasia Press publication. Stephen Fabian dust jacket. Williamson, Wonder’s Child, page 121 (where he notes monthly rent when he wrote it was $12, and John W. Campbell’s penny-a-word check for publication in Unknown came to $510). Hauptmann, The Work of Jack Williamson A14.g. Chalker/Owings, page 339.

Library Addition: Centipede Press Limited Edition of Roger Zelazny’s Roadmarks

Monday, 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).

Library Addition: Mark V. Ziesing Bibliography 1982-1993

Wednesday, August 26th, 2026

Here’s a bibliography of a publisher I collect that I never picked up when it came out because I was already aware of every book in it because I was on the Ziesing mailing list for the last half of the period covered. But I do like having bibliographies, so I finally picked it up.

(Ziesing, Mark V.) Mark V. Ziesing Bibliography 1982-1993. Airtight Seels Allied Production (A.S.A.P.), 2003. First edition chapbook original, #43 of 200 numbered copies signed by “Introduction” author Lucius Shepard, “The Bus of Many Windows: A Digression on Mark V. Ziesing” author James P. Blaylock, illustrator Phil Parks, and Mark and Cynthia Ziesing, a Fine copy. Bought from the Mysterious Bookshop for $12.

I can tell you there are at least three notable errors/omissions.

First, it fails to note that there were far more than 1,600 trade editions of Joe R. Lansdale’s Cold in July and Savage Season. I’ve heard it rumored as many as 6,000 total (including the 500 copy limited edition) were printed, though I’m guessing 4,000 might be closer.

Second, it doesn’t mention that for some titles (including the Cold in July/Savage Season set, and Howard Waldrop’s Them Bones/A Dozen Tough Jobs sets) Ziesing ended up with extra slipcases and sold unsigned sets in them (as unsigned sets), I think upon request.

Third, it fails to mention the unpublished, first state dust jacket for Ray Garton’s Trade Secrets, the jacket copy for which was written by Andy Watson and which Mark Ziesing felt was too explicit. I lost an eBay bid for a copy with it, and my understanding is that about 10 copies escaped pulping.

John Crowley, RIP

Monday, August 10th, 2026

Writer John Crowley has died. He’s slightly difficult to talk about, in that I knew him (first from bumping into him at conventions and getting him to sign stuff, after which he friended me on Facebook), but not particularly well. I liked and collected his work, but he was a bit more hit and miss with me than the nigh-on-universal critical praise he received. I tried reading Little, Big around 18 or 19 and it didn’t click for me. (Despite which, I have the Gollancz first hardback edition of Little, Big, done in a ridiculously small print run of 300 copies, bought from Willie Siros’ personal collection and inscribed to him.) It was a slog getting through the first 120 pages of Engine Summer…but the last 40 pages are brilliant, and heartbreaking. Great Work of Time is a swell novella in which time a secret organization of time travelers trying to preserve the British Empire results in some rather radical changes up the line. I have all four volumes, but haven’t even tried reading his acclaimed Aegypt series yet.

I had just started reading Two Chapters in a Family Chronicle, one of four smallish books in The John Crowley Conway Miscellany set off Kickstarter (for which I still have signed copies available), when I heard news of his death.

He seemed like a nice guy, and a fine writer, and I enjoyed talking to him on the few occasions I got a chance to.

He will be missed.

Library Addition: Micheal Swanwick’s Basil, Pepper, Salt, and Garlic Greens

Tuesday, June 9th, 2026

Been a while since the last Dragonstairs Swanwick chapbook:

Swanwick, Michael. Basil, Pepper, Salt, and Garlic Greens: A Year in a Witch’s Kitchen. Dragonstairs Press, 2026. First edition chapbook original, #16 of 80 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. Short stories tied to seasonal dishes.

I will have copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog (probably Novemberish).

Highlights from the David Aronovitz Auction

Monday, May 18th, 2026

That Heritage auction of the David Aronovitz collection happened last week, and there were some truly breathtaking prices achieved. Here’s a look at some of them.

  • An unsigned, first edition of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit went for a jaw-dropping $450,000. Pretty sure that smashes the record for that title.
  • Speaking of Tolkien, an unsigned but exceptionally nice first edition, first state set of The Lord of the Rings went for a similarly astounding $325,000.
  • An inscribed, first edition of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot in a first state dust jacket (Father Cody and unclipped, original $8.95 price on the dust jacket), pretty much a holy grail for King collectors, went for a breathtaking $68,750.
  • Speaking of King, an asbestos-bound Firestarter went for $75,000.
  • Somehow Aronovitz had gathered all three dedicate copies of Robert A. Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land (to Robert Cornog, Frederic Brown, and Philip Jose Farmer), and the lot went for a whopping $118,750. I only have an Ex-Library first of this.
  • An associational copy of Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot inscribed to John W. Campbell (which is a great associational copy) went for an eye-popping $87,500.00.
  • A first English-language edition in dust jacket of Eugene Zamiatin/Yevgeny Zamyatin classic dystopia We went for $52,500. I’m not sure I’ve seen a copy offered in the dust jacket. I have a reprint of a later translation Bruce Sterling gave me. (I should probably read it some time…)
  • A green-jacketed first of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four went for $32,500. Interestingly, a copy of the more desirable red-jacked version, with the paper Evening Standard recommendation band, went in a Freeman’s auction for $48,000. I have a less attractive copy in a green jacket.
  • A nice but unsigned first of Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? went for $37,500.00. I only have an Ex-Library first of this.
  • In a really inexplicable result, a signed Currey D binding (pretty much the ordinary hardback state) of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 went for $42,500, which is much more than the much rarer “asbestos-bound” copy went for in the same auction ($25,000), and than an association copy of the presentation state B inscribed to longtime friend and fan Forrest J. Ackerman went for $23,750.00. Similar signed Currey D copies can be had for much less online. My own, less desirable D-state copy is covered here.
  • A very nice inscribed first of Frank Herbert’s Dune went for $75,000. I only have an Ex-Library first of this.
  • A copy of the Gollancz hardback first of Larry Niven’s Ringworld in the very rare proof state dust jacket (I know of only one other copy) went for $8,125.
  • A very nice (but unsigned) trade first of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World in dust jacket went for $32,500, which is more than the one of 324 signed, limited copies went for ($8,125). I have an unsigned, jacketless copy of the trade first.
  • A nice, but not pristine, first of H. G. Wells First Men in the Moon signed by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin went for $10,625. I have a less-attractive first of First Men in the Moon. I also have a first of another book signed by Buzz Aldrin.
  • A partial manuscript first draft of Gene Wolfe’s The Shadow of the Torturer went for $16,875.
  • Not everything went for crazy money. An E. E. “Doc” Smith History of Civilization set with box and lid went for $7,500, less than $2,000 more than a similar set with lid sold for all the way back in 2008. A copy of Stanley G. Weinbaum’s Dawn of Flame went for $1,250, or all of $50 more than I paid for my copy back in 2013. A nice copy of H. P. Lovecraft’s The Outsider and Others went for $5,625, which seems around market to me. A signed Gollancz Neuromancer went for $6,875, down considerably off recent over $10,000 highs (though $3,500 for a signed first of the PBO is probably a new record).

    But generally, the very highest highpoint firsts of SF/F/H seem to be appreciating in value more rapidly than similar literary highpoints,

    Library Addition: Signed Hardback First Of Gail Carriger’s Dear Lord Akeldama

    Tuesday, May 5th, 2026

    Subterranean Press had one of their 50% off sales, so I grabbed this.

    Carriger, Gail. Dear Lord Akeldama & Parasolverse Ephemera. Subterranean Press, 2025. First edition hardback, #705 of 750 copies, a Fine copy in embossed boards, sans dust jacket, as issued, in publisher’s bag with bookmark and packed by card laid in. Material from the Soulless universe. Bought for $25 plus shipping.