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Library Addition: Lettered Edition of F. Paul Wilson’s Sims Book 5

Wednesday, October 26th, 2022

This 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.

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Halloween Horrors: The Book of Cosmic Horror

Tuesday, October 25th, 2022

If you like some Hieronymus Bosch, maybe you’ll enjoy this freaky medieval book of prophecy.

With a nod to H. P. Lovecraft.

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Library Additions: Four Clark Ashton Smith, Three Arkhams, One Signed

Monday, October 24th, 2022

One of these came over from the same UK book dealer as the last few purchases, the other three came over in a Heritage Auctions lot I won from the Gary Munson Collection. Which was a surprise, since I hadn’t won a Heritage lot since 2016!

  • Smith, Clark Ashton. The Abominations of Yondo. Arkham House, 1960. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Really an excellent copy. Joshi, Schultz & Connors, Clark Ashton Smith: A Comprehensive Bibliography, I.15.a. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House 57. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House 57. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries 57. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide, 60. Currey, page 453. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, page 200. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 1487. Chalker/Owings, page 29. Bought as part of the Heritage lot.

  • Smith, Clark Ashton. Genius Loci and other tales. Arkham House, 1948. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with small owners name in ink on front free endpaper, moderate rubbing to letters on spine, an slight bumping at head and heel, in a Very Good+ dust jacket with 2″ of moderate dampstaining along rear join at heel, a much fainter example of same along head join, age darkening to spine, and general wear. The third Arkham House collection of Smith stories. Joshi, Schultz & Connors, Clark Ashton Smith: A Comprehensive Bibliography, I.a.11. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House 35. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House 35. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries 35. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide, 36. Currey, page 453. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, page 200. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 1486. Chalker/Owings, page 26. Kemp, The Anthem Series 35 (page 323). Bought as part of the Heritage lot.

  • Smith, Clark Ashton. Spells and Philtres. Arkham House, 1958. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bump to top front corner and the barest trace of foxing to inside covers, in a Fine- dust jacket with slight age darkening to white portions of jacket, a few traces of dust soiling, and a trace of rubbing along front spine join near heel and at points. A really attractive copy of Smith’s first poetry collection from Arkham House. Joshi, Schultz & Connors, Clark Ashton Smith: A Comprehensive Bibliography, Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House 51. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House 51. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries 51. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide, 54. Chalker/Owings, page 28. Bought from a notable UK dealer for £400.

  • Smith, Clark Ashton. The Star-Treader and other poems. A.M. Robinson/Philopolis Press, 1912. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with start of a crease to top of spine and slight bumping at heel, in a Fine- dust jacket with one short stray pencil mark on front cover near spine, one small, faint teardrop stain affecting “r” in Star and hyphen, signed “Clark Ashton Smith/Auburn, Cal./Nov. 25th, 1912, with printed portrait of Smith laid in. (There is also a small stray pen-mark matching Clark’s fountain pen signature color to bottom inside front cover, which I don’t regard as a flaw.) By far the best of the three copies of this book I’ve handled, and replaces a less attractive copy. Smith’s first published book. Joshi, Schultz & Connors, Clark Ashton Smith: A Comprehensive Bibliography I.1.a. Bought as part of the Heritage lot.

    Note: The bright white spot at top is merely a reflection off the Mylar dust jacket protector.

    • I will have more Clark Ashton Smith and Arkham House books available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.

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    Library Additions: Two Signed Philip Jose Farmer Firsts

    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.

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    Library Addition: First Edition of A. Merritt’s Dwellers in the Mirage

    Wednesday, October 19th, 2022

    A notable UK bookdealer put several books up for sale or auction, and between my dealer discount and favorable pound-dollar exchange rates, I picked up several items. This will be the first post in a series on those purchases.

    Merritt, A. Dwellers in the Mirage. Liverlight, 1932. First edition hardback (no statement of printing on copyright page, as per Currey), a Near Fine+ copy with slight foxing to inside covers from dust jacket flaps and just a tiny bit of bend at head and heel, with gilt embossing on spine entirely intact, in a Very Good+ dust jacket with shallow chipping at head, heel and points and modest dust staining to white dust jacket and a few touches of wear, otherwise intact and unclipped. A pretty nice copy of a classic inter-war fantasy novel in dust jacket. Cawthorn & Moorcock, Fantasy: The Hundred Best Books 44. Currey, page 365. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, page 155. Teitler, By the World Forgot, 855. Barron, Fantasy Literature, *3-242. Bought for £240.

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    Library Addition: Leah Bodine Drake’s A Hornbook for Witches

    Monday, October 17th, 2022

    I’ve been winning a fair number of Arkham House auctions recently, though this is one I bought off a fellow Biblio dealer. The last time I looked, nice copies of this were going for well over a grand and out of my price range, but prices seem to have drifted down a bit.

    Drake, Leah Bodine. A Hornbook for Witches. Arkham House, 1950. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with foxing to gutters and under flaps, slight bumping at heel (and unlike most Arkham (and U.S.) books, the printing on the book is 180° off what you would expect, running up the spine rather than down, so from bottom to top it reads “Drake • A HORNBOOK FOR WITCHES • Arkham House”), and a very slight bit of wear to Arkham’s usual Black Novelex boards, in a Near Fine- dust jacket with shallow 1/16″ chipping at head, heel and points, and age darkening to spine; a fairly nice copy. One of the rarest Arkham House books, with only 553 copies printed, and Jaffrey states that Drake took “about 300 copies” for her own distribution. Derleth, Thirty Years of Arkham House, 43. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House, 43. Jaffery, Horrors and Unpleasantries, 40 (“There are few copies around, and copies are really hard to come by”). Nielsen, Arkham House Books, 44 (and #5 on his list of “The Thirty-Five Most Valuable Arkham House Books”). Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy Three, page 29. Kemp, The Anthem Series, pages 334 (“Scarcest Arkham House title of all.”), which also notes an audiobook edition of the title narrated by Vincent Price (though evidently only including four of the poems here). Bought from a fellow Biblio dealer for $832.

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    Library Addition: Urish’s Hoard: The Guide to Elric Collectables

    Thursday, October 13th, 2022

    I read about this on a Michael Moorcock group on Facebook, and went “Why yes, this is relevant to my interests!”

    (Moorcock, Michael) Kirkland, James. Urish’s Hoard. Dreaming City Books, 2021. First edition? (no printing indicated, and it may well be a print-on-demand book) trade paperback original, a Fine copy. There was a Kickstarter for this back in early 2021, but after it was funded this was almost immediately available on Amazon, which is where I bought this.

    Though the first edition information can be had in more comprehensive forms elsewhere, there is a wealth of information on Elric comic book adaptations, art portfolios, music, games and RPG supplements, and even miniatures! There’s also a discussion of the foul-up behind the Melniboné Mythos section in the AD&D Deities and Demigods. I’d always thought TSR had done it without permission, but Mike had given his permission, not realizing that his agent had already sold RPG rights to Chaosium. Oops…

    There’s a ton of information gathered here (illustrated with color scans) you’re not going to find in other reference sources, so if it interests you, you might want to click the Amazon hyperlink on the title. Also, you’ve got to love the retro DAW Books inspired design of the cover.

    It does remind me that someone needs to do a comprehensive Moorcock bibliography, as Tanelorn Archive is over 40 years old, and Moorcock is very prolific…

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    Library Addition: Lyle H. Wright’s American Fiction 1774 – 1850

    Tuesday, October 11th, 2022

    I have a lot of science fiction reference works and bibliographies, but fewer general bibliographies. The following was something I’d seen Lloyd Currey reference for many older books, and I thought I should pick up a copy, especially since I got it at a bargain price.

    Wright, Lyle H. American Fiction 1774 – 1850: A Contribution Toward a Bibliography. The Huntington library, 1969. Second Revised Edition, a Fine- copy with slight bend at head and heel in a Near Fine dust jacket with two 1/4″ closed tears to front, a slight age darkening to spine, and a trace of dust soiling to rear. Wright compiled two more volumes that go up through 1900, which I intend to pick up as targets of opportunity. Bought online for $5; a good deal for the price, but I was miffed that the eBay seller mailed it without any padding whatsoever, just in wrapping paper. This is not acceptable.

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    Library Additions: Six Signed Ray Bradbury Firsts

    Monday, October 10th, 2022

    Someone 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.

  • Bradbury, Ray. Farewell Summer. Morrow, 2006. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket with “National Book Award Distinguished Contribution to American Letters” sticker (presumably as issued; he was awarded it in 2000), signed by Bradbury. Sequel to Dandelion Wine.
  • Bradbury, Ray. The Last Circus & The Electrocution. Lord John Press, 1980. First edition hardback, #105 of 300 copies signed by Bradbury and introduction author William F. Nolan, a Fine copy in a Fine slipcase, sans dust jacket, as issued. Two stories, an introduction by Nolan and an afterword by Bradbury. Supplements a signed trade copy.

  • Bradbury, Ray. The Machineries of Joy. Simon & Schuster, 1964. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with previous owner’s name, city, and date to FFE, corners slightly bumped, slight bend at head and heel, and slight wear along bottom board edges, in a Very Good+ dust jacket with 3/16″ triangular chip at head join, slight edgewear at head and heel, bit of wrinkling to top edge, a few small, closed tears, a tiny bit of loss at points, and a few slight spots of dust soiling, signed and dated (“12/12/86”) by Bradbury. Short story collection. Nolan, The Ray Bradbury Companion, pages 148-150. Weist, Bradbury: An Illustrated Life, page 72. Currey, page 56.

  • Bradbury, Ray. One For The Road. Morrow, 2002. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Bradbury. Short story collection, including a smattering of older stories.
  • Bradbury, Ray. The Tonybee Convector. Knopf, 1988. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, inscribed by Bradbury: “Joe Anne &/Lee/Ray Bradbury/Dec. 10/1988.” Replaces an unsigned copy.
  • Bradbury, Ray. When Elephants Last In The Dooryard Bloomed. Knopf, 1973. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bend at head and heel, in a Near Fine, price-clipped dust jacket, signed and dated (“12/12/86”). Supplements a later printing.

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    Library Addition: First Edition of Robert A. Heinlein’s Rocket Ship Galileo

    Thursday, October 6th, 2022

    I am slowly gathering a complete collection of Robert A. Heinlein first editions. Rocket Ship Galileo, his very first, was one that got too expensive for me to pick up for a long time, and all that were listed online where either well over a grand, or fairly crummy copies they still wanted close to a grand for. So I waited, and was finally able to snag a pretty nice copy in my price range.

    Heinlein, Robert A. Rocket Ship Galileo. Scribner’s, 1947. First edition hardback (Scribner’s seal and “A” printing code, as per Currey), a Near Fine copy with non-authorial inscription on FFE and mild blocks of foxing to inner covers and endpapers, in a Near Fine first state (unclipped $2.00 price) dust jacket with a pinhead-sized hole near heel and spine fading, and a tiny bit of wrinkling to bottom rear flap, otherwise a bright, vibrant example of the dust jacket. It’s a really attractive copy, and because the area of the hole and the board color are both dark, it doesn’t jump out at you. Currey, page 234. Locke, Spectrum of Fantasy, page 109 (he calls for “light yellow” endpapers, but these are really more of a light tan). Barron, Anatomy of Wonder 4, *5-62. Franklin, Robert A. Heinlein: America as Science Fiction, pages 75-76. Not in 333. Not in Magill’s Survey of Science Fiction Literature. Bought off a fellow Biblio dealer for $360.

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