These three Bradbury (and one Matheson) firsts came in on three different orders. Three of these are from Gauntlet Press.
Archive for the ‘Science Fiction’ Category
Library Additions: Three Signed Bradbury Firsts (Plus One Matheson), Three Signed
Wednesday, December 21st, 2022Library Addition: Signed First Of Greg Bear’s The Unfinished Land
Thursday, December 15th, 2022The most recent (last?) book by the late, great Greg Bear:
Bear, Greg. The Unfinished Land. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Bear, with a thank you note and several laminated bookmarks from the seller laid in. Bought for $49.95 from an eBay seller.
I was unaware that Houghton Mifflin and Harcourt had merged.
My obituary for Bear can be found here.
Library Addition: Signed First of Robert A. Heinlein’s The Man Who Sold The Moon
Monday, December 12th, 2022I bought this from a Facebook user who was selling off his collection.
Heinlein, Robert A. The Man Who Sold The Moon. Shasta Publishers, 1950. First edition hardback, one of 250 copies signed by Heinlein, a Very Good copy with spine slightly concave at top, slight bumping at head and heel, slight rub ear to lettering at head and heel, points slightly bumping, and traces of wear to boards, with the “FUTURE HISTORY/1951-2600 A.D.” sticker added to front free endpaper and inside back cover (as issued), in a Very Good- dust jacket with 1/8″ loss across heel, 1/8″ ship at head points and associated creasing, 3/4″ abrasion (possibly a sticker pull) near bottom of spine, not affecting any lettering, moderate creasing along spine and flap folds, slight age darkening to spine, very slight darkening to rear cover and tops of flaps, and usual blind side foxing. A fairly nice copy that I’ll probably ended up swapping the better dust jacket on my trade copy with. Bought from a private seller for $500. Chalker/Owings, page 398. Kemp, The Anthem Series, page 162. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, page 109. Currey, page 233.
Library Addition: Michael Swanwick’s Solstice Veritas
Friday, December 9th, 2022Another Dragonstairs chapbook:
Swanwick, Michael. Solstice Veritas or The Christmas Cat and Other Memories. Dragonstairs Press, 2021. First edition chapbook original, #101 of 120 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. Printed last year, but only offered for sale this year. “A collection of eight, well, true stories, memories and musings on holidays past.” Bought from the publisher at the usual discount. I will have a few copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, currently in progress.
Library Additions: Three Gene Wolfe Critical Companions
Wednesday, November 30th, 2022Three Michael Andre-Driussi critical companions to Gene Wolfe works, all bought from Amazon (the only place they’re available; click on the hyperlinks to buy them there).
Counting chapbooks, I now have 14 Andre-Driussi books on Gene Wolfe…
Greg Bear, RIP
Sunday, November 20th, 2022According to numerous sources on Facebook, science fiction writer Greg Bear, after a sudden onset of multiple medical maladies, suffered a series of strokes that left him unconscious with severe brain damage. Following his stated wishes, his wife Astrid had him taken off life support, and he died yesterday (November 19, 2022).
Bear was one of the giants in the field, probably the best hard science fiction writer of the 1980s, claimed by both the Analog crowd and the cyberpunks. Blood Music (in both novella and novel forms) and Eon are awe-inspiring, sense of wonder science fiction at their best, and would be considered among the greatest works of just about any SF writer. And there was another tier of exceptional works (The Forge of God, Moving Mars, etc.) after that.
Greg and I were on friendly terms, and I ran into him at various SF conventions over the years. He was a smart and genial presence. I have something approaching a complete Greg Bear collection (including a Cheap Street Sleepside Story), minus some recent titles and a few odds and ends like some of the media tie-in books. He was going to be a Nova Express interview subject Back In The Day, but that never happened for various uninteresting reasons.
He was one of the greats, and he will be missed.
Library Addition: Lettered Edition of F. Paul Wilson’s Sims Book 5
Wednesday, October 26th, 2022This one of those “what the hell” lowball bids that won. F. Paul Wilson is a writer I collected some early work of (The Keep, etc.), but hadn’t really kept up with. This is the final book from that UK dealer sale.
Wilson, F. Paul. Sims Book 5: Thy Brother’s Keeper. Cemetery Dance, 2010. First edition hardback, letter R of 26 lettered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine traycase. Bought from a notable UK dealer for £52.60.
I think this is the only non-Lansdale lettered edition I have from Cemetery Dance.
Library Addition: Eric Frank Russell’s Somewhere A Voice
Sunday, October 23rd, 2022Another purchase from that British book dealer:
Russell, Eric Frank. Somewhere A Voice. Dennis Dobson, 1965. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with a small Foyle’s stickler on inside front cover under flap in a Near Fine- dust jacket with a 3/4″ split to bottom of front fold (and faint associated crease to front), a nail-head sized semi-closed circular chip to rear spine join near head, slight age darkening to edges of white portion of jacket, a faint, intermittant line of rubbing near right front cover edge, and slight foxing to blind side of dust jacket spine, otherwise a fairly bright example of the dust jacket. Short story collection. Currey, page 424. Locke, Spectrum of Fantasy III, page 70. Bought from a notable UK book dealer for £32.
I enjoyed Wasp enough that I think I should pick up some more Russell.
Library Additions: Two Signed Philip Jose Farmer Firsts
Thursday, October 20th, 2022Two signed farmer firsts, bought from different sources.
Library Additions: Six Signed Ray Bradbury Firsts
Monday, October 10th, 2022Someone had a lot of eleven Ray Bradbury firsts listed on eBay for $420, and accepted a $300 offer. These are the ones going into my library (two replacing unsigned copies), the rest will be offered for sale in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
