Archive for the ‘Fantasy’ Category
Thursday, February 16th, 2023
The last book from 2022:
Treece, Henry. The Golden Strangers. The Bodley Head, 1956. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with neat previous owner’s name on inside front cover partially obscured by dj flap, one small bump to top front board edge, slight bend at head and heel and slight blunting of points, in a Near Fine dust jacket with slight dust staining to white rear cover, and slight wear at head, heel and points, with review slip laid in. A fantasy novel of the Celtic invasion of neolithic Britain. Cawthorn and Moorcock, Fantasy: The 100 Best Books 77. Bought from $42.12 plus shipping from a UK Biblio dealer.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Henry Treece
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Tuesday, February 14th, 2023
Two PS Publishing Books that came in late last year.
Ford, Jeffrey. The Best of Jeffrey Ford. PS Publishing, 2020. First edition hardback, a PC copy of 100 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a fine slipcase. Supplements a trade copy. Bought for £15 plus shipping.
Hughes, Matt. One More Kill. PS Publishing, 2018. First edition hardback, #22 of 100 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought for £8 plus shipping. I will have one copy of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Jeffrey Ford, Matthew Hughes, PS Publishing, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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Monday, February 6th, 2023
Finishing up recorded the Metroplex PBO buys. All of these came from Half-Price Books.
Pohl, Frederik, and C. M. Kornbluth. The Space Merchants. Ballantine Books, 1953. First edition paperback original (no statement of printing, and simultaneous with the hardback edition, as per Currey), a Fine- copy with a touch of edgewear at points, otherwise new and unread. Pringle, SF 100 12. Currey, pages 289 and 405. Barron, Anatomy of Wonder 4 *3-147. Magill, Survey of Science Fiction volume 5, pages 2127-2131. Supplements a hardback first inscribed to my by Pohl. Bought for $3.
Pohl, Frederik, and Jack Williamson. Starchild. Ballantine Books, 1965. First edition paperback original (“”First printing: November 1965″ and 50¢ price, as per Currey), a Fine- copy with just a trace of edgewear at head and heel and a tiny 3/16” non-breaking indention to front cover, otherwise tight, square and unread. Second book in the Starchild trilogy. Currey, pages 405 and 544. Supplements the SFBC Omnibus The Starchild Trilogy inscribed to me by Pohl and Williamson. Bought for $3.
Smith, Cordwainer. Space Lords. Pyramid, 1965. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy save a trace of foxing to inside covers. Currey, page 315. Bought for $4.00.
Smith, Cordwainer. The Underpeople. Pyramid, 1968. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine copy with one faint spine crease, bookstore stamp to blurb page, and edgewear. Part two of Nostrilia. Currey, page 315. Pringle, SF 100 46 (for Nostrilia). Bought for $1.99.
Smith, E. E. “Doc”. The Galaxy Primes. Ace Books, 1965. First edition paperback original (no statement of printing and 40¢ price, as per Currey), a Fine copy save for a trace of foxing to inside covers, otherwise tight, square and unread. Lucchetti, Doc: First Galactic Roamer, pages 50-51 (“Never issued in hardback.”) Currey, page 456. Bought for $3.
Vance, Jack. Showboat World. Pyramid, 1975. First edition paperback original (“March 1975” on copyright page and $1.25 cover price, as per Currey), a Near Fine+ copy with one slight spine wrinkle near heel, a few very small, very faint phantom crease on rear cover, and two very faint parallel printing lines across teaser page (looks like an artifact of the printing process). I read this last year and it’s still great fun. Hewett A47a. Cunningham 71a. Currey, page 500. Bought for $2.99.
Waldrop, Howard. Strange Monsters of the Recent Past. Ace, 1991. First edition paperback original thus, adding A Dozen Tough Jobs to the contents of All About Strange Monsters of the Recent Past, a Fine copy, now inscribed to me by Waldrop. I’ve had a lot of copies of this over the years, but since I already had All About Strange Monsters of the Recent Past and A Dozen Tough Jobs, I never added a copy to my own library until now. Bought for $3.
Tags:Books, C. M. Kornbluth, Cordwainer Smith, E. E. "Doc" Smith, Fantasy, Frederik Pohl, Howard Waldrop, Jack Vance, Jack Williamson, PBO, Science Fiction
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Tuesday, January 24th, 2023
Paperbacks are the final batch of books I picked up in the Metroplex. I generally don’t picked up unsigned paperbacks these days, but so many of these were perfect or near perfect examples at very attractive prices. All these are from Half Price Books.
Brackett, Leigh. The Ginger Star. Ballantine Books, 1974. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with slight wear at heel, edges and points, otherwise a tight, square copy. Currey, page 52. Bought for $2.
Brackett, Leigh. The Hounds of Skaith. Ballantine Books, 1974. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine+ copy with slight bumping to bottom corner and a trace of edgewear, otherwise a tight, square copy. Currey, page 52. Bought for $2.
Brunner, John. The Productions of Time. Signet, 1967. First paperback original, a Fine- copy with slight darkening to pages and a trace of edgewear to points. 1967 Nebula nominee for Best Novella. De Bolt, The Happening Worlds of John Brunner page 203. Currey, page 72 (he says the text was “badly edited” without Brunner’s approval). Bought for $2.99.
Davidson, Avram. Rogue Dragon. Ace, 1965. First edition paperback original (no statement of printing and 40¢ cover price, as per Currey), a Fine- copy with just a trace of edgewear at top outer point, but tight and square with bright white portions of cover. Currey, page 131. Replaces a slightly less attractive copy. Bought from Half Price Books for $5.
Davidson, Avram. Rogue Dragon. Ace, 1965. First edition paperback original (no statement of printing and 40¢ cover price, as per Currey), a Fine- copy with a tiny crease across the Ace logo at head, otherwise tight and square. Currey, page 131. Replaces a slightly less attractive copy. Bought for $3.
Harrison, Harry. The Man From P.I.G.. Avon/Camelot Original, 1968. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine copy with one spine crease and usual mild age-darkening of pages. Currey, page 225. Bought for $1.99.
Tags:Avram Davidson, Books, Fantasy, Half Price Books, Leigh Brackett, Science Fiction
Posted in Austin, crime, Fantasy, Science Fiction, technology | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, January 4th, 2023
This is the first wave of books I bought in the Metroplex. Most of the books I bought were at various Half Price Books stores, but a couple of these came from Recycled Books in Denton.
Adams, Richard. Watership Down. Macmillian, 1972. First American edition hardback, a Very Good copy with name marked out in black marker on front free endpaper, spine slightly worn, and slight staining at top edge, in a Very Good- dust jacket with one pinhead puncture to spine in “w,” small closed punctures along rear bottom spine join, a few pinhead dots of black staining to rear cover, shallow chipping at head, and age darkening to spine; slightly rough, but the page block is nice and square, and the UK first generally lists for well over a grand. Pringle, Modern Fantasy 51. Moorcock, Epic Pooh, pages [12-13-ish; the pages are unnumbered] (Mike is not a fan). Bought for $9.99.
Anderson, Poul and Gordon R. Dickson. Star Prince Charlie. Putnam’s, 1975. First edition hardback (no statement of printing on copyright page, as per Currey), a Fine copy in a Fine first state (slash between names on spine barely visible) dust jacket. Currey, page 13.
Anthony, Patricia. Gods Fires. Ace Books, 1997. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, inscribed by Anthony: “Hey-/Remember all those Wednesday nights over/on Walhat Hill, Jane?/Now we/only run/into each/other at cons. I miss/you sometimes! Email/me.” Then she’s altered her printed name to read “www.Patricia-Anthony.com”. Anthony died in 2013 and that domain is no longer active. Possibly an associational copy. Replaces an unsigned copy.
Chabon, Michael, editor. McSweeney’s Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories. Vintage Books, 2004. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Anthology with stories by Stephen King, Peter Straub, Margaret Atwood, etc. Companion to McSweeny’s/Chabon’s Thrilling Tales volume, which I also have. Bought for $7 from Recycled Books.
Dozois, Gardner, editor. The Very Best of the Best. St. Martins, 2019. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bends at head and heel in a Fine- dust jacket with slight curl at head and heel. A best of best of collection.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Gardner Dozois, Gordon Dickson, Half Price Books, Michael Chabon, Patricia Anthony, Poul Anderson, Richard Adams, Science Fiction
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Wednesday, December 21st, 2022
These three Bradbury (and one Matheson) firsts came in on three different orders. Three of these are from Gauntlet Press.
Bradbury, Ray. Dawn to Dusk: Cautionary Travels. Gauntlet, 2011. First edition hardback, #67 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Somehow missed this when it came out, maybe because I was dealing with one of my periodic bouts of unemployment. Bought for $76 off eBay.
Bradbury, Ray. Phoenix 451. Gauntlet Press, 2022. First edition hardback, one of 350 unsigned copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Huge 833-page collection. “We are proud to be publishing five versions of Fahrenheit-451 he wrote beginning in 1955.” Plus a whole lot more, including color plates, play texts, ancillary material, etc. Bought from the publisher. I will have copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, which I intend to mail out Friday.
Bradbury, Ray. The Parrot Who Met Papa b/w David Aronovitz’s The Parrot Who Met Papa (concluded). The Pretentious Press, 1991. First edition chapbook original, a Fine copy, signed by Bradbury, then subsequently inscribed “Tom! Nov. 6, 1994.” Just about all these Pretentious Press chapbooks are hard to find and pricey. Bought from an online dealer for $150.
Matheson, Richard. Purge Among Peanuts. Gauntlet Publications, 2001. First edition chapbook original, #20 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. Bought from the same dealer as The Parrot Who Met Papa for $22.50.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Gauntlet Press, Horror, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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Monday, December 19th, 2022
Two more deluxe slipcased editions of Robert E. Howard books, both bought from a private collector:
Howard, Robert E. The Ultimate Triumph: The Heroic Fantasy of Robert E Howard. Wandering Star, 1999. First edition hardback, #0507 of 1,500 slipcased copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase, still in shrinkwrap, with limitation bookmark. Bought for $125.
Howard, Robert E. Robert E. Howard’s Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932-1933). Wandering Star, 2002. First edition hardback, #89 of 100A [sic] numbered slipcased copies signed by artist Mark Schultz, with eight pages of black and white sketches after page 348, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase, bought still in shrinkwrap (taken out to verify the state). Bought for $300 (which is all of $30 more than original cover price 20 years ago, and the trade edition typically lists for more).
Oddly enough, I found a trade edition of The Ultimate Triumph while book shopping in the Metroplex right before I bought these, so I guess that copy is now superfluous to my needs and will go in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, which should be going out via email this Friday.
Tags:Books, Conan, Fantasy, Robert E. Howard, small press publishers, Wandering Star
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Monday, December 5th, 2022
I rarely make impulses purchases, but I saw this listed from a small press publisher’s regular email at $250, and when I went to the product page to get a better look at it, there was a small notice declaring that fulfillment would be done by Amazon. Well, then, why not just buy it from them?
Taking a look on the Amazon page for the book, they were selling it at $150, so I went ahead and bought it.
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings Illustrated Deluxe Edition. William Morrow, 2021 (stated; actually published October 2022). First edition hardback thus, a Fine copy in a Fine slipcase (with a cutout for the eye of Sauron on the book itself), sans dust jacket, as issued, with oversized folding maps of Middle Earth and Gondor/Mordor, cardstock reprint of The King’s Letter (from Aragon to Samwise) in silver tengwar on one side with a en English translation on the other, “Leaves from the Book of Mazarbul” in a waxpaper envelope, and the rear shrinkwraped book description laid in. A sturdy, gilt-edged omnibus edition containing all three volumes, with Tolkien’s own artwork and Middle Earth language calligraphy as full page color plates.
Even the box it ships to you is way too cool to throw away:
And the map pattern continues all the way around the box.
It’s a very attractive production, and if you’re interested in it, Amazon has now lowered the price to $140.01.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, J. R. R. Tolkien, Limited Editions, The Lord of the Rings
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Wednesday, November 9th, 2022
Three books, including two signed Tim Powers firsts.
Powers, Tim. Always Going On. Subterranean Press, 2020. First edition hardback, #183 of 250 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued, with Subterranean “packed by” slip laid in. Only available as a set with Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy 3 (see below).
Powers, Tim. The Skies Discrowned. Charnel House, 2022. First edition hardback, #54 of 200 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. “Handbound in Indigo Night Cave Paper (Belgium Flax dyed with Indigo & Walnut). This Cave Paper was made by hand for this edition. Each one of a kind sheet sheet guaranties that each book is unique. Exquisitely printed on 80lb Mohawk Superfine.” Part of a uniform prestige edition that Charnel House is doing of all Powers’ books. I will have one copy of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Schafer, William, editor. Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy 3. Subterranean Press, 2020. First edition hardback, #183 of 250 numbered copies signed by all the contributors, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, with Subterranean “packed by” slip laid in. Anthology with stories by Robert R. McCammon, Richard Kadrey, etc. Sold as a set with Always Going On, bought as a set from Subterranean for $75, 50% off the original cover price. Now sold out from the publisher.
Tags:Books, Charnel House, Fantasy, Horror, Limited Editions, small press publishers, Subterranean Press, Tim Powers
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Thursday, October 20th, 2022
Two signed farmer firsts, bought from different sources.
Farmer, Philip Jose. Flesh. Doubleday, 1968. First hardback edition and first revised edition, a Fine- copy with slight bumping at heel in a Near Fine dust jacket with slight age-toning to white dust jacket, a few tiny closed tears at top edge, and some small black marks at head that may have one been a price written there, signed by Farmer. Currey, page 184. Bought from the same notable UK bookseller as Dwellers in the Mirage for £52.
Farmer, Philip Jose. Dark is the Sun. Del Rey, 1979. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Farmer. Bought off eBay for $35.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Philip Jose Farmer, Science Fiction
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