This was my only notable book find in Houston over the Thanksgiving weekend:
Straub, Peter. Sides. Cemetery Dance, 2007. First edition hardback, #89 of 300 numbered copies signed by Straub, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and slipcase. Non-fiction pieces. This was published at $50, but Half Price Books had it at half the price of the trade edition at $12.49, then took an additional 20% off, so I got it for 1/5th cover price. Supplements a copy of the trade edition, also signed by Straub.
Picked this up from a recent Heritage Auction:
(Burroughs, Edgar Rice) McWhorter, George T. Edgar Rice Burroughs Memorial Collection: A Catalog. House of Greystoke, 1991. First edition oversized trade paperback original, a Fine copy in vinyl overlay wraps. Inscribed by McWhorter: “To my good friends Roy and Dela White — who have stood by me/in this publishing ordeal. Best wishes! George T. Mcwhorter — 11/11/91”. With the Roy and Dela White library collection slip laid in. Comprehensive bibliography of the Burroughs collection at the University of Louisville by the curator. Won off the Heritage auction of the White Burroughs collection for $16, plus buyer’s premium, plus shipping.
Burroughs is typically before the period I collect, his important firsts generally go for far more than I’m willing to pay, and Burroughs bibliophiles are a world unto themselves. But I am big on SF/F/H reference works and bibliographies, and was happy to snag this for a lowball bid. Though it has some overlap with the Heins bibliography (which I also have), McWhorter is a lot more heavily illustrated.
More information on the Louisville Burroughs collections here and here.
Two Michael Swanwick books:
Copies of both of these will be available in the new Lame Excuse Books catalog I’m sending out on Monday.
Here’s a signed Lansdale set from the UK that has a much smaller limitation than most Lansdale items:
With:
Note that I will be offering up a few additional sets in the Lame Excuse Books catalog that I should be emailing out on Monday.
Here are two signed books I picked up during the most recent Half Price Books coupon sale:
The Lame Excuse Books Web Page has been updated.
I’ve just started work on the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, so drop me a line if you’d like to receive it via email.
Here’s an incredibly odd (and likely fragile) item:
Swanwick, Michael. Signed Poem on Leaf. Dragonstairs Press, 2016. First edition. Note: Signed poem on leaf is a description more than a title, since it’s literally a leaf with a poem written on one side, and signed, numbered (4/20) and dated “2016” by Swanwick on the other. This just showed up unexpectedly in the mail. In cardboard sleeve stating “For a friend of/Dragonstairs Press” and the shipping envelope.
Another signed first edition I was able to pick up cheap:
Bloch, Robert. The King of Terrors. Mysterious Press, 1977. First edition hardback, #129 of 250 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Near Fine slipcase with a few white marks to black slipcase at heel. Currey A, page 46. Flanagan, Robert Bloch: A Bio-Bibliography, page 49. Won off eBay for $21.50. I also have Bloch’s Out of the Mouths of Graves by the same publisher in the limited edition.
Here’s another book I picked up at a bargain price:
Powers, Tim (as Francis Thomas Marrity). Nine Sonnets. Subterranean Press, 2006. First edition hardback chapbook, letter Q of 52 signed, lettered hardbacks, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Berlyne, B14a2. (In addition to this and the wraps chapbook state made to accompany the Subterranean Press edition of Three Days to Never, there were 9 (!) hardback copies in a different patterned binding and matching traycase, not seen.) Bought for $50 from a Camelot Books 50% off sale.
Here’s another chapbook I had been looking for a long time that, like Moorcock’s Caribbean Crisis, popped up on an ABE Books want search at a bargain price:
Asimov, Isaac. Little Brothers. The Pretentious Press, 1988. First edition chapbook original, one of 126 copies signed by Asimov (the only edition), a Fine copy, with two photos (of Isaac and Stanley Asimov) tipped into front, as issued. Reprints Asimov’s first published work, an essay about how much he hated his little brother, from the Boys High Recorder in 1934. Bought for $35 plus shipping from a well-known literary dealer.
Pretentious Press chapbooks were done by bookseller David Aronovitz in very small runs, most of which were given away as freebies to his best customers. I now have the Zelazny and Asimov chapbooks (both very hard to find), but still need to track down the rest…