Archive for the ‘Science Fiction’ Category
Thursday, June 16th, 2022
I should point out that this is the new, new, new, new, new incarnation of New Worlds, this time as a hardback anthology series.
Gevers, Nick, and Peter Crowther, editors. New Worlds Issue #1. PS Publishing, 2021 (i.e., 2022). First edition hardback, #49 of 200 copies, a Fine copy in decorated boards and a Fine dust jacket, and a Fine embossed slipcase. Latest resurrection of this venerable UK fiction title, most famous for Michael Moorcock’s New Wave editorship in the 1960s, and Moorcock contributes a story (and signature) here, as do Alan Moore, Michael Swanwick, Ken MacLeod, James Lovegrove, Ian Watson, Ian R. MacLeod, etc. The trade paperback version came out last year, but this hardback edition is already out of print. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount.
I will have two copies of this to sell in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog (currently in progress).
Tags:Alan Moore, Books, Ken MacLeod, Limited Editions, Michael Moorcock, New Worlds, Nick Gevers, Peter Crowther, Science Fiction
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Tuesday, June 14th, 2022
I don’t pick up a lot of Folio Society books because they tend to do post-first limiteds (which I’m generally not wild about), but I picked this one up because: A.) The selection differs from the previous book with this title, making this a true first, B.) It’s a really attractive volume, and C.) A lot of the science fiction The Folio Society has been doing as of late has gone through the roof. So I decided to pick this up.
Dick, Philip K. Selected Short Stories. The Folio Society, 2022. First edition hardback (“First Printing 2022”), a Fine copy in decorated boards and a decorated, die-cut slipcase that even sports a full-color illustration printed inside the slipcase, sans dust jacket, as issued. The pageblock edges even include a dye-pattern image of two eyes (appropriate to Dick’s frequent theme of paranoia). Plus a Jonathan Lethem introduction and a full-color illustration for each story from 24 different artists (include Dave McKean). It’s a very attractive package.
I will have one copy of this available for sale in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, currently in progress.
Tags:Books, Dave McKean, Fantasy, Folio Society, Jonathan Lethem, Limited Editions, Philip K. Dick, Science Fiction
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Wednesday, June 8th, 2022
Among my many collecting vectors is obtaining first editions of all the books on David Pringle’s Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels. This used to be fairly pricey, but I found a nice copy that was quite affordable.
Golding, William. The Inheritors. Faber and Faber, 1955. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with a bump at head in a Near Fine dust jacket with a few faint, tiny spots to top rear outer corner, slight spotting at very top and bottom of flaps, slight bump at head, and numerous small blind side spots. All in all a very nice copy. Novel of Homo Sapiens driving the last Neanderthals to extinction. Pringle, Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels 19. Magill, Survey of Science Fiction Literature, pages 1036-1039. Bought from a fellow Biblio dealer for £179.80 (including shipping).
Tags:Books, Pringle 100 List, Science Fiction, William Golding
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Sunday, June 5th, 2022
Another signed Dragonstairs chapbook:
Swanwick, Michael. The Proceedings of the American Martini Institute: A Report of the American Martini Laboratory: The Once And Future Rye: The Whisky that Was America. Dragonstairs Press, 2022. First edition chapbook original, #20 of 80 signed copies, a Fine copy. A history of rye whisky in America, in the same vein as Swanwick’s The Evolution of the Martini. Ten more of these and he’ll have enough for a book! Bought from the publisher at the usual discount.
Copies of this will be available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, currently in progress.
Tags:Books, chapbooks, Dragonstairs Press, Michael Swanwick, reference works, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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Wednesday, June 1st, 2022
Here’s two different Delany Gregg Press firsts bought from two different sources:
Delany, Samuel R. Dhalgren. Gregg Press, 1977. First hardback edition (and first edition thus, containing textual differences), a Near Fine- copy with spine just starting to crease, a few of spots of light rubbing to the spine, light dust spotting to top and side page block edges, six small, neat red page numbers from the introduction written inside the front cover, and a few small annotations in the same red in the introduction itself, sans dust jacket, as issued. It’s hard to overstate just how massively wide this book is, over 1,000 pages with the lengthy introduction, easily the widest book Gregg Press ever published, and one of the hardest Gregg Press titles to find period (reportedly only 350 copies were published), probably only behind Dick’s Dr. Bloodmoney and possibly the two Locus volumes. L. W. Currey was already asking $300 for a copy in 1989, and they don’t tend to come on the market much. Though far from my own favorite of Delany’s work, it is probably the very hardest of his books to find. K. Leslie Steiner, “Some remarks on Reading Dhalgren,” pages 57-92 in Delany’s The Straits of Messina. Weedman, Samuel R. Delany, pages 61-69. McEvoy, Samuel R. Delany, pages 97-120. Barron, Anatomy of Wonder 4, 4-127. Magill, Survey of Science Fiction Literature, pages 533-538. (“Dhalgren marks the nadir of pessimism in science fiction’s tradition of social criticism.”) Currey, page 139. Bought for $300 from someone selling off their book collection.
(Note: Ignore the blotches on the middle right part of the image, which is just the edge of another book I used to prop Dhalgren up on the scanner so I could scan the spine. And ignore the left side taper at the bottom.)
Delany, Samuel R. The Fall of the Towers. Gregg Press, 1977. First hardback edition, a Fine- copy with a tiny bit of bumping to top outer edge, sans dust jacket, as issued. Omnibus volume that includes Captives of the Flame (AKA Out of the Dead City), The Towers of Toron, and City of a Thousand Suns. McEvoy, Samuel R. Delany, pages 28-44. K. Leslie Steiner, “Ruins/Foundations, or The Fall of the Towers Twenty Years After,” pages 99-154 in Delany’s The Straits of Messina. Currey, page 140. Bought from a UK dealer for £67.50.
Tags:Books, Gregg Press, Samuel R. Delany, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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Wednesday, May 25th, 2022
Another signed Sturgeon first:
Sturgeon, Theodore. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Pyramid, 1961. First edition paperback original (“First printing, June 1961” on copyright page, as per Currey), a Near Fine copy with slight wear at points, slight edgewear, and usual slight foxing to inside covers and slight age darkening to pages, otherwise a nice, square copy, signed by Sturgeon. Novelization of the Irwin Allen film. Diskin, Theodore Sturgeon: a primary and secondary bibliography, A148. Currey, page 473. Replaces an unsigned copy. Bought off eBay for $25.
Tags:Books, Science Fiction, Theodore Sturgeon
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Friday, May 20th, 2022
Another addition to the signed Ray Bradbury reference works collection:
(Bradbury, Ray) Sam Weller. Listen to the Echoes: The Ray Bradbury Interviews. Stopsmling Books, 2010. First edition trade paperback original (simultaneous with a small hardback run), a Fine copy, signed by Bradbury. Collection of interviews Weller did with Bradbury, plus a previously unpublished Paris Review interview. Bought for $40 from an online bookseller.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Horror, Ray Bradbury, reference works, Science Fiction
Posted in Books, Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 18th, 2022
Another signed first edition from a Grandmaster. I knew Jack a little, and he was a long-time subscriber to Nova Express.
Williamson, Jack. The Silicon Dagger. Tor, 1999. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, inscribed by Williamson: “For/Vicky/Foreman/Jack Williamson/3-2-2000.” Jack’s second-to-last novel. Hauptmann, The Work of Jack Williamson, A78 (still forthcoming at the time). Won off eBay for $5.
Tags:Books, Jack Williamson, Science Fiction, signatures
Posted in Books, Science Fiction | No Comments »
Friday, May 13th, 2022
Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc. (FPCI) is not a press that I actively collect, unlike contemporaries Gnome Press, Arkham House or Shasta: Publishers. For every notable writer FPCI published (say, Hubbard or de Camp), they published two by writers that nobody reads or collects any more, but I pick up titles when I find them cheap. This I had wanted to pick up for a while, since I had never actually seen a copy.
Lengyel, Cornel. The Atom Clock. Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc. (FPCI), 1951. First edition chapbook original, one of 750 copies (simultaneous with a 250 copy hardback run), a Near Fine copy with sticker pull at top right of title page, over which is a small inked price of $125, in a Very Good+ dust jacket with a shallow chip and associated small crease at top right of the front cover, a closed 1/16th triangular tear at top rear, slight rubbing to front cover, and slight dust soiling to white rear cover. Anti-atomic play. Won awards, but I’m sure the sentiment of the thing would strike me as naive and dated. Chalker & Owings (1991), page 179, where they note that the hardback is “almost never seen.” Kemp, The Anthem Series, pages 89-90. Bought off eBay for a $30 offer.
Tags:Books, chapbooks, Cornel Lengyel, FPCI, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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Wednesday, May 11th, 2022
Various books I’ve bought in various places:
Bester, Alfred. Virtual Unrealities: The Short Fiction of Alfred Bester. Vintage/Random House, 1997. First edition proof, trade paperback format, a Fine- copy with a tiny chip to tip of bottom front corner, gold “A Vintage Original” sticker on front cover and accompanying review page. Supplements a copy of the trade paperback original. Bought off eBay for $10.97.
Davidson, Avram. Beer! Beer! Beer! Or All The Seas With Oysters Publishing (OATSWOP), 2021. First edition print-on-demand trade paperback (the only print edition offered), a Fine copy. An original prohibition tale unearthed by the Davidson estate and offered through Amazon, which is the only place it’s available.
Howard, Robert E. The Iron Man. Donald M. Grant, 1976. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with a 1/2″ high area of abrasion across bottom of front and back boards near spine (but not at the spine itself), in a Fine- dust jacket with slight touches of wear at points and elsewhere. Howard’s boxing stories. Obtained as a throw-in freebie on another order.
Tiptree, Jr. James. Up the Walls of the World. Berkley Putnam, 1978. First edition hardback (no statement of printing on copyright page, as per ISFDB), a Fine- copy with slight bending at head and a small ding to top front board, in a Near Fine- dust jacket with a long crease along bottom front cover and associated 1/4″ closed tear. Tiptree’s only novel. Bought as part of a four book lot for $15.
Wellman, Manly Wade. The Haunts of Drowning Creek. Holiday House, 1951. First edition hardback, a Good only copy with cracked front and rear inner hinges, a 1/4″ triangular board loss at heel, pocket removal, former owner’s name on inside front cover, bumped corners, and general spotting and wear. Reading copy only, but this is possibly the hardest Wellman Young Adult novel to find. Bought off eBay for $15 as part of a two book Wellman lot.
Tags:Avram Davidson, Books, Donald M. Grant, Fantasy, James Tiptree Jr., Manly Wade Wellman, Robert E. Howard, Science Fiction
Posted in Books, Fantasy, Science Fiction | No Comments »
