Three more items from that Heritage Auctions lot.
Archive for the ‘Fantasy’ Category
Library Addition: Three Oversized Hardbacks
Monday, July 31st, 2023Library Addition: Fiona MacLeod’s The Hills of Ruel
Tuesday, July 18th, 2023Another book from that Heritage lot. Random short story collections of Celtic fantasy are not exactly my usual line, but I’m keeping this one to solve the mystery of why it was published.
MacLeod, Fiona (pseudonym for William Sharp). The Hills of Ruel and Other Stories. Heinemann, 1921. First edition hardback, a Near Fine+ copy in decorated boards (the design matching the dust jacket) with sight bumping at head, heel and points and slight foxing to inside covers and endpapers in a Very Good- dust jacket with a 7/8″ chip at head, 1/2″ chip at heel, smaller losses at top and bottom edges and wear along outer edges. Beliler Checklist (1978) page 131.
The mystery is why Heinemann decided to do such an elaborate book for an author that is fairly obscure today. It’s oversized (10 1/4″ high, the extact same height as the Dark Harvest first edition of Dan Simmons’ Carrion Comfort) with multiple inserted plates (most in color) and decorated endpapers.
The art, by M. H. Lawrence, in a sort of arts-and-crafts-meets-Art-Deco tops out at “sort of OK.” M. H. Lawrence turns out to be Margery Lawrence, more famous as a writer, including the psychic detective stories collected in Number Seven Queer Street published by Arkham House sister imprint Mycroft & Moran. Judging from the art here, concentrating on writing was probably the right choice.
Still, fiction works with multiple inserted plates are fairly rare, and today limited to pricey small press editions by the likes of Stephen King and George R. R. Martin. Why did Heinemann go to that extent for MacLeod/Sharp? (This was published 15 years after his death, and he’s clearly listed as being MacLeod on a page advertising MacLeod and Sharp books right before the first plate page.) Presumably Heinemann did well with him, as there are nine books by him and one about him (by his wife) listed there. Also, this ISFDB page says that this was done as a Christmas gift book, which explains the elaborate production.
As I’ve stated before, “you’ve already paid for it” is a pretty compelling argument for adding anything interesting to your library…
Library Addition: Signed, Limited Edition of The Essential Peter S. Beagle
Monday, July 10th, 2023Another limited edition:
Beagle, Peter S. The Essential Peter S. Beagle. Tachyon, 2023. First edition hardback, #95 of 474 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in silver decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued, with Tachyon sticker and business card laid in. Just what it says, a best of collection of stories for this beloved fantasy writer. This combines what are two volumes for the trade edition (which I have on order but haven’t seen yet). I have a small number of these available through Lame Excuse Books.
Library Addition: Neil Gaiman’s Words of Fire
Tuesday, July 4th, 2023Arte Editions are the people that did Gaiman’s The Case of Death and Honey. This actually had a smaller run.
Gaiman, Neil. Words of Fire. Arte Editions, 2022 (actually 2023). First edition trade paperback original (with self-flaps), #276 of 300 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. Poetry collection. There were two different hardback editions (the Portfolio Edition and the Roman edition), both of which were sold out by the time I heard about it. Now out of print from the publisher. I still have one copy left available through Lame Excuse Books.
Note: The streaks in the image are actually marbling in the cover-stock.
Library Addition: Michael Swanwick’s Brief Essays on Genre
Monday, July 3rd, 2023Another Swanwick chapbook from Dragonstairs:
Swanwick, Michael. Brief Essays on Genre. Dragonstairs Press, 2023. First edition chapbook original, #10 of 75 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. 25 brief essays on genre fiction. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount. I will have copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog (probably Novemberish).
Library Additions: Avram Davidson’s AD 100 1 and 2
Thursday, June 22nd, 2023I don’t generally pick up POD books, but here are two essential books only available as POD books.
Davidson, Avram. AD 100: Volume I and AD 100: Volume II. Or All the
Sea With Oysters Publishing, 2023. First edition trade paperback
originals (print on demand), as new. The Avram Davidson Society has set these up as Amazon print on demand originals. Together they include 100
unpublished or uncollected Avram Davidson stories. If you’re interested in picking them up, click the links above.
Library Addition: 1/100 Signed, Numbered Copies of Lucius Shepard’s The Ends of the Earth
Wednesday, June 21st, 2023Saw this and won it at a bargain price.
Shepard, Lucius. The Ends of the Earth. Arkham House, 1991. First edition hardback, #5 of 100 copies signed and numbered by Shepard, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket (with SIGNED sticker on spine). This is a post-first limited that Lucius did himself, much like Greg Bear did his 250 copy limited edition of The Wind From A Burning Woman. Chalker/Owings (2002), page 73 (where he says this edition was sold at $100 a pop). Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House 178 (where he doesn’t mention this limited edition). Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide 184 (he doesn’t mention this edition either). Supplements an unsigned copy (which I must not have had the last time Lucius came through Austin). Bought for $17.50 plus shipping (which is less than even the original Arkham House cover price).
Library Additions: Two DAW Year’s Best PBOs
Monday, June 19th, 2023These are both parts of Year’s Best Series that I pick up as targets of opportunity. Both of these were bought as part of a small paperback lot from a friend who was culling his collection.
Library Additions: Firsts by Calvino, Gibson, Heinlein
Monday, June 12th, 2023Here are three first edition hardbacks, all bought at Half Price Books.
Library Addition: Clark Ashton Smith’s Seer of the Cycles
Thursday, May 25th, 2023Another Clark Ashton Smith first.
Smith, Clark Ashton. Seer of the Cycles. CASiana Literary Enterprises (i.e., Roy A. Squires), 1976. First edition chapbook, #223 of 325 copies, a Fine copy in a slightly worn printed envelope that’s starting to split at the top fold. Fifth volume in the Second Series of Fugitive Poems (Xiccarph Edition). Joshi/Schultz/Connors, Clark Ashton Smith: A Comprehensive Bibliography, I.A.38 (for the Fugitive Poems: Second Series as a whole). Not in Currey. I also have Titans in Tartarus from this series. Bought off eBay for $35.
