Archive for the ‘Books’ Category
Tuesday, July 29th, 2025
Another purchase from Kathryn Cramer:
Asimov, Isaac, editor. Where Do We Go From Here? Doubleday, 1971. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with one light thumbprint-sized blotch with a long sperm-like tail (binding flaw) to inside front cover, the ghost of that indention to the front free endpaper, slight bend at head, and front gutter just a little off from straight up and down (probably a binding flaw), in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Asimov. Reprint story anthology. Miller, Asimov: A Checklist, page 68. Currey, page 21. Bought for $100.
Tags:anthology, Books, David Hartwell, Isaac Asimov, Kathryn Cramer, Science Fiction, signatures
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Monday, July 28th, 2025
Kathryn Cramer, after having numerous problems selling David Hartwell’s book collection in other venues, is now selling some directly. I contacted her, haggled over prices, and eventually we agreed on a purchase of several books, this being the first listed here.
Wolfe, Gene. The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories. Pocket Books, 1980. Proof (trade paperback format) of the paperback original first edition, a Fine copy, inscribed by Wolfe to his longtime editor Hartwell: “To Dave Hartwell, who/had sense enough to/separate the Doctor stories./Gene Wolfe”. Supplements another signed copy of this proof inscribed to me by Wolfe. In his Nova Express interview, Gene said Hartwell was the best editor he ever worked with. I suppose it’s a bit greedy to have two signed proof firsts of this, but I had long wanted an associational copy of a Wolfe title inscribed to Hartwell, and this is a pretty good one. Bought for $100.
Tags:Associational Copy, Books, David Hartwell, Fantasy, Gene Wolfe, Kathryn Cramer, proof, Science Fiction, signatures
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Wednesday, July 23rd, 2025
This was simply a case of browsing eBay and going “Well, that’s pretty damn cheap.”
Simmons, Dan. The Crook Factory. Easton Press, 1999. First edition hardback thus, #264 of 1,050 copies, a Fine leatherbound copy, sans dust jacket, as issued, with “a note about THE CROOK FACTORY and the author DAN SIMMONS” and Certification of Authenticity laid in. Supplements an inscribed first edition. Bought off eBay for $20.
Tags:Books, Dan Simmons, Easton Press, eBay, Limited Editions, Science Fiction
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Monday, July 14th, 2025
Another bargain signed first off eBay:
Williamson, Jack. Mazeway. Del Rey, 1990. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Williamson. Bought off eBay for $10.
Jack was someone I knew from conventions, and he was a longtime subscriber to Nova Express. I pick up cheap signed firsts of his work whenever I can.
Tags:Books, eBay, Jack Williamson, Science Fiction, signatures
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Thursday, July 10th, 2025
The field has long needed a better, up-to-date Robert Bloch bibliography. I’m not sure this new Print-on-Demand volume quite ticks all the boxes.
Nemeth, Jim (with Randall D. Larson). Robert Bloch: An Unconventional Bibliography. No publisher listed (but probably Amazon KDP), 2025. Print-On-Demand “first edition” (printing date of “03 July 2025”), a Fine copy. “This bibliography, as unconventional and idiosyncratic as Bloch himself, documents the entire oeuvre of his varied and diverse career, sprinkled throughout with Bloch’s own remembrances regarding many of his works.” Alas, one “unconventional” touch is the omitting of standard bibliographic information like first edition points (there is no mention of how to tell apart the two printings of Sea Kissed, for example), or things like page counts, prices, etc. Still, there’s a good bit of useful information in here, and the Larson essays look interesting. Bought from Amazon for $18.99.
Tags:Amazon, bibliography, Books, Horror, Print-on-Demand, Robert Bloch
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Tuesday, July 8th, 2025
Closing in on a complete set of these:
Bradbury, Ray (with Kent Williams, Craig P. Russell, Segrelles, John Van Fleet, Chuck Roblin, Ray Zone, Ralph Reese and Al Williamson). The Ray Bradbury Chronicles Volume 1. Byron Preiss/Mantier, Beall, Minoustchini Publishing, 1992. First edition hardback graphic novel, a Fine- copy with a tiny bit of bumping at heel in a Fine- dust jacket with a trace of wear at points. Bought off eBay for a $25 offer.
I now only lack Volume 5…
Tags:Books, eBay, Fantasy, graphic novel, Horror, Ray Bradbury, Science Fiction
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Monday, July 7th, 2025
Here was a case on not just what you know, but who.
Koontz, Dean R. Oddkins: A Fable for All Ages. Warner Books, 1988. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, an association copy inscribed by Koontz to longtime friend and fellow writer Lisa Tuttle: “To Lisa —/A tale for kids of all ages./Button up your jammies, put/your slippers by the bed, and/be ready to run in case the/[underlined]bad toys[/underlined] show up some night./Warmest regards/Dean R. Koontz.” Lisa told me that she knew Koontz since she met him and his wife Gerda at a convention in the early 1970s when she was a student at Syracuse University, and in fact spent Thanksgiving break with the Koontzs one year. Koontz also dedicated his novel Beastchild to Tuttle. I saw on Facebook that Lisa had been selling off some books, and this is one of the ones she wanted to sell. The prices for signed Koontz firsts have come down a bit lately, to the point that recent titles can be had for cover price or even a bit less, but I have to think actual associational copies signed by him are a good deal harder to find. Bought from Lisa for £50, including shipping (which is a goodly chunk).
A little bit of the dust jacket top is cut off in the scan.
Tags:Associational Copy, Books, Dean R. Koontz, Horror, Lisa Tuttle
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Thursday, July 3rd, 2025
Bought off eBay at a bargain price:
(Gaiman, Neil) Hank Wagner, Christopher Golden and Stephen R. Bissette. The Prince of Stories: The Many Worlds of Neil Gaiman. Cemetery Dance, 2015. First edition thus (the trade edition precedes by seven years), one of 1000 copies signed by the three authors (not by Gaiman), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Critical companion to Gaiman’s work. Bought off eBay for an offer of $10, a considerable discount from the publication price of $75.
Tags:Books, Cemetery Dance, Christopher Golden, eBay, Fantasy, Limited Editions, Neil Gaiman, science fiction criticism, small press publishers, Stephen R. Bissette
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Wednesday, July 2nd, 2025
The last item of the three bought with those Robert E. Howard Foundation books.
Howard, Robert E. Writer of the Dark. Dark Carneval Press, 1986. First edition oversized 11 1/2″ x 8 3/8″ trade paperback original, #111 of 500 copies, a Near Fine copy with light streak of dampstaining to pageblock edges, slight dampstaining dye transfer from covers to first and last pages, just the start of a spine crease, and a touch of edgewear to covers. Collection of poetry and fiction.
(The size of the cover is so large I had to crank down the quality of the image to get Word Press to accept it.)
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Horror, Robert E. Howard, small press publishers
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Monday, June 30th, 2025
Two more books from that Facebook estate seller I’ve bought previous REH Foundation Press books from.
Howard, Robert E. Sentiment: An Olio Rarer Works. Robert E. Howard Foundation Press, 2009. First edition hardback, #63 of 150 hardback copies, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a trace of edgewear at head. Hefty 583 page collection of Howard’s rarer works, including some never meant for publication. Edited by Bob Roehm. Introduction by Mark Finn.
Howard, Robert E. Swords of the North. Robert E. Howard Foundation Press, 2009. First edition hardback, #118 of 200 numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight wrinkling at head and slight edgewear at heel. “Featuring Viking Stories, Celtic Adventures, Drafts and Fragments.” Edited by Bob Roehm. Introduction by Rusty Burke.
Both of these, and one other item I need to catalog and post here, were $150, including shipping.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Limited Editions, Mark Finn, Robert E. Howard, Robert E. Howard Foundation Press, small press publishers
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