Archive for the ‘Fantasy’ Category
Thursday, May 29th, 2014
Auction houses other than Heritage do occasionally offer up notable science fiction first editions. On June 18, Bonhams is offering up:
A first edition of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit in a tattered dust jacket. Copies in dust jacket are not unknown, but they do come on the market fairly infrequently, so even one (like this) with significant chips is likely to go for a pretty penny.
The first U.S. edition of Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth.
However, the most expensive item in the auction is probably not SF, but one of the 150 signed oversized arches paper first editions (out of a total of 1,000 copies for all states) of James Joyce’s Ulysses, once owned by a friend of Vladamir Nabakov. These were rare enough to begin with, but the oversized paperback nature pretty much guarantees it’s designed to fall apart over time, so even remotely intact copies are very expensive when you find them. A comparable copy of this edition in a more common binding state sold for $35,000 at Heritage in 2012, and James Cummins has a copy of the arches paper edition that once belonged to composer Virgil Thomson listed for $75,000. It wouldn’t surprise me to see some collector of modernist highpoints go bonkers over this…
Tags:book auction, Books, Fantasy, J. R. R. Tolkien, James Joyce, Science Fiction
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Monday, May 26th, 2014
After dinner Saturday night, we finally watched the typeface geek movie Helvetica.
Chances are pretty good that if Helvetica is the type of movie you enjoy seeing, you’ve already seen it. But if not, and you’re interested in fonts, it is indeed worth watching.
A few random topics that came up during conversation at dinner and during the movie:
A primer on bad logo design in comic form. “Nazi Jim’s Panzerotti” cracks me up every time… (NSFW language.)
Crazy LARP-er high on acid attacks car with a sword. Quick thoughts: 1. Sadly, the article doesn’t specify just what type of sword was used. 2. The linked interview is pretty much a checklist of everything a defense attorney would tell you not to say when you’ve been arrested for a potential felony. 3. Silly high elf! You can’t possibly joust with Morgoth, since he’s still safely imprisoned beyond the Door of Night…
Once Patrick McGoohan (of The Prisoner fame) directed a movie called Catch My Soul, described as a hippie rock opera version of Othello starring Richie Havens in the title roll. It already sounded like an epic train wreck, but between completion and release, the producer got religion and added 18 minutes worth of religious material before release. It was not well received, and a version called Santa Fe Satan was also re-released to zero acclaim. For a while it was thought to be a lost film, but recently a copy showed up (under the Santa Fe Satan title) and evidently screened at a North Carolina film festival in April.
Want an example of something even I find thermonuclear-grade cute? Pet rats hugging tiny teddy bears. I’m even willing to extract the word “adorable” from its lead-lined vault for these…
Not quite in the same league, but still weapons-grade cute:
(I saw it on Gail Carriger’s Facebook feed; not sure of the original source.)
Tags:crime, cute, Fantasy, Helvetica, Miscellaneous, Movies
Posted in crime, Fantasy, Movies | 1 Comment »
Saturday, March 22nd, 2014
Three more books from that big 70% off purchase:
(Bradbury, Ray) Borst, Ronald V. Graven Images. Grove Press, 1992. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Oversized art book reprinting science fiction, fantasy and horror movie posters, production art, etc., from Borst’s own extensive collection. Signed by Ray Bradbury, who provided the introduction to the chapter on the 1930s. Amount paid: $26.24. This is actually not hard to find signed by Bradbury, but it usually goes for about twice that.
Bloch, Robert. American Gothic. Simon and Schuster, 1974. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with a couple of large, faint light brownish stains on front free endpaper and one much smaller one on the rear free endpaper, in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by Bloch, who actually mentions the stain: “Clean up this page/immediately! ——->/ Robert Bloch” (with the arrow pointing toward one of the stains). Replaces an unsigned ex-library copy in my collection. Price paid: $30.00.
Leiber, Fritz. Our Lady of Darkness. Berkley Putnam, 1977. First edition hardback (no statement of printing on copyright page, as per Currey), a Near Fine copy with slight dust staining and wear to bottom boards and small white abrasion to bottom rear boards, in a Near Fine, price-clipped dust jacket. Inscribed by Leiber in purple ink: “For my Dear Friend/Doris Cornejo with/my very best/wishes. Enjoy!/Fritz Leiber/March 4, 1977”. At the bottom of the name Grace Cornejo has been written in red ink, possibly by a different hand. Supplements an unsigned copy (also, alas, with an imperfect dust jacket) in my library. Price paid: $33.74.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Fritz Leiber, Horror, pics, Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Science Fiction, signatures
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Friday, March 21st, 2014
More from the big 70% off sale purchase:
Shea, Michael. The Mines of Behemoth. Baen Books, 1997. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy, new and unread. Signed by Shea. Price paid: $4.49.
Wolheim, Elizabeth (Betsy), and Sheila Gilbert, editors. DAW 30th Anniversary Box Set (including 30th Anniversary DAW Science Fiction and 30th Anniversary DAW Fantasy). DAW, 2002. First edition hardbacks, Fine leatherbound copies with gilt endpapers, #312 of 350 sets so produced, in a Fine slipcase, sans dust jackets, as issued. (I have not been able to determine if the leather binding state is simultaneous with the trade editions or not.) Signed by editor Sheila E. Gilbert and contributors Michael Shea, Tad Williams, C.S. Friedman, Melanie Rawn, Mercedes Lackey, Larry Dixon, Kate Elliott, and Irene Radford. This set was originally offered at $125 (though copies can now be found on Amazon for considerably less). The sets were not, as far as I can tell, offered in a signed state; these were signed independently by the contributors. Price paid: $59.99.
Michael Shea was probably the finest dark fantasy stylist of his generation, and Nift the Lean is a classic work that I expect to be read for years to come. He died unexpectedly on February 16th at age 67. I never had a chance to meet Shea in person.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, First Edition, Horror, Michael Shea, pics, Science Fiction
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Thursday, March 20th, 2014
Though I have seen no official word, people on Lucius Shepard’s Facebook page are mourning his death this morning.
Shepard was one of the most important new writers of the 1980s, with most of the stories in The Jaguar Hunter nominated for or winning major awards. His output fell off in the 1990s, then came back in the 21st century. He was certainly one of the finest prose stylists of his generation.
Shepard suffered a stroke while in the hospital in August of 2013.
It looks like the terrible year for deaths in the field that was 2013 is extending into 2014…
Tags:Books, Lucius Shepard, Obituary, Science Fiction
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Tuesday, March 18th, 2014
I also pick up science fiction-related reference works, especially when I see them cheap.
(Ballard, J. G.) Baxter, John. The Inner Man: the life of J. G. Ballard. Weidenfield & Nicolson, 2011. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Critical biography.
(Gilliam, Terry) McCabe, Bob. Terry Gilliam, The Brothers Grimm, and other cautionary tales of Hollywood. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with what appears to be “delamination” of otherwise shiny area at base of the spine, in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Book on the making of the Terry Gilliam film The Brothers Grimm.
Lovecraft, H.P. (S.T. Joshi and David E. Schultz, editors. O Fortunate Floridian: H.P. Lovecraft’s Letters to R. H. Barlow. University of Tampa Press, 2007. First edition hardback (stated), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread.
Barlow was an interesting fellow in his own right. He was studying ancient Mexican writings at Mexico City College (at the same time William S. Burroughs was there) when he committed suicide in January of 1951.
Now I have the perfect thing to lay the envelope from Lovecraft to Barlow into.
(Moskowitz, Sam) The Sam Moskowitz Collection of Science Fiction b/w Comic Books and Comic Art. Southbys, 1999. First edition oversized trade paperback original, Fine. Auction catalog for the Sam Moskowitz’s science fiction collection held June 29, 1999 (plus a collection of rare comics sold the next day).
Stephenson, Neal. In the Beginning was the Command Line. Avon Books, 1999. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Long essay on the history of computing the Internet, and cyber culture.
Tags:Books, H. P. Lovecraft, J. G. Ballard, John Baxter, Movies, Neal Stephenson, R. H. Barlow, reference works, S. T. Joshi, Sam Moskowitz, Terry Gilliam
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Monday, March 17th, 2014
Someone was selling off a numbered of signed editions of books on eBay; three of those are here, and the fourth (Farmer’s River of Time) was from Lloyd Currey.
Farmer, Philip Jose. River of Eternity. Phantasia Press, 1983. First edition hardback, #81 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and slipcase, new and unread.
Lansdale, Joe R. The Drive-In: The Bus Tour. Subterranean Press, 2005. First edition hardback, #223 of 350 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and slipcase, new and unread. Supplements a signed trade edition.
Leiber, Fritz. Gummitch and Friends. Donald M. Grant, 1992. First edition hardback, #237 of 1000 signed, numbered copies (though not signed by Leiber, who died before the book was finished), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and slipcase, new and unread. Contains both Leiber’s cat stories, as well as memorial appreciations of Leiber by Stephen King, Robert Bloch, etc. bound at the front of the volume. Also, for some reason, an unsigned limitation number plate for the Grant edition of Stephen King and Peter Straub’s The Black House is also laid in.
Straub, Peter. Mrs. God. Donald M. Grant, 1990. First edition hardback, #179 of 600 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket (as issued) in a Fine slipcase, new and unread.
I didn’t pay more than $40 for any of these…
Tags:Books, Donald M. Grant, Fantasy, First Edition, Fritz Leiber, Horror, Joe R. Lansdale, Peter Straub, Phantasia Press, Philip Jose Farmer, Science Fiction, Subterranean Press
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Wednesday, March 12th, 2014
My habit of picking up signed Ray Bradbury first editions when I see them cheap continues apace:
Bradbury, Ray. Bradbury Speaks: Too Soon from the Cave, Too Far From the Stars. William Morrow, 2005. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a tiny bit of spine-join haze rubbing. Signed by Bradbury: “MARK!/Ray/Bradbury”. Collection of essays.
(Bradbury, Ray). Nolan, William F. and Martin H. Greenberg, editors. The Bradbury Chronicles: Stores in Honor of Ray Bradbury. Roc, 1991. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a tiny bit of wrinkling at head. Signed by Bradbury. Anthology.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Ray Bradbury, Science Fiction, signed
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Monday, March 10th, 2014
I recently got in some imperfect copies the Centipede Press limited edition of The Anubis Gates, and it’s completely off the hook:
Powers, Tim. The Anubis Gates. Centipede Press, 2014. First edition hardback thus, a Fine copy save two flaws (the slipcase keyhole cutout is about 1/4″ misaligned between the two halves, and it lacks the signature page) bound in decorated red and black velvet with a lenticular image embedded in the front cover, in a Fine slipcase. The thing is ginormous, resting in a two-part red velvet slipcase which houses the book and an accordion portfolio of the color art plates in the book, and includes an appendix of deleted scenes from the original manuscript and a fold-out map of 1810 London.
The entire assemblage is only a hair thinner than the traycased edition of George R. R. Martin’s GRRM.
I didn’t think I needed another Anubis Gates, since I have the PBO, the UK first, the Ziesing hardback, and the facsimile manuscript included with the ultralimited edition of the Berlyene bibliography. Plus I’m not a big fan of post-first limiteds in general. But this edition is so over-the-top I couldn’t pass up a chance to pick up copies at a bargain price. In fact, I still have a couple left at $75 a pop (first come first serve), which is a hefty discount over the $295 offering price on pristine copies…
Tags:Books, Centipede Press, pics, The Anubis Gates, Tim Powers
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Tuesday, February 4th, 2014
A double-dose of restaurant relocation news I don’t think has been reported anywhere else:
Prima Pizza Pasta has relocated from its location at Parmer and McNeil to a new location at Anderson Mill and 620 as of February 1st. (The news is so new they haven’t updated their website yet.)
Taking the old Prima space on Parmer (as well as their phone number) is a new restaurant called Mi Pizza, which seems to focus on custom-designed 11 inch pizzas cooked in 5 minutes for $6.99.
(News in route to The Logbook of the Saturday Dining Conspiracy.)
Tags:Austin, Food, pizza, Saturday Dining Conspiracy
Posted in Austin, Fantasy | 2 Comments »
