Two signed farmer firsts, bought from different sources.
Archive for October, 2022
Library Additions: Two Signed Philip Jose Farmer Firsts
Thursday, October 20th, 2022Library Addition: First Edition of A. Merritt’s Dwellers in the Mirage
Wednesday, October 19th, 2022A 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.
Library Addition: Four Robert E. Howard Limited Editions
Tuesday, October 18th, 2022I’ve already picked up the most important of Howard’s early work, including the five Gnome Press Conan books he wrote solo (the “posthumous collaboration” volumes are way down the list to pick up) and the three Arkham House books. (I do not have the Herbert Jenkins A Gent From Bear Creek; if you have one you’re willing to part with, let me know…) But I’ve mostly held off on picking up the “deluxe” editions of things, apart from the occasional Subterranean Press sale. But these came up for auction at PBA Galleries at fairly affordable prices.
All four are quite attractive volumes, and all four already had Mylar dust jacket protectors. Now I just need to track down The Ultimate Triumph, The Savage Tales Of Solomon Kane, and Conan of Cimmeria Volume One. Alas, those three seem even pricier…
Library Addition: Leah Bodine Drake’s A Hornbook for Witches
Monday, October 17th, 2022I’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.
Halloween Horrors: Wasparama
Sunday, October 16th, 2022Keeping the creepy crawly theme from yesterday going, here’s a video of a wasp and hornet expert removing a yellow-jacket nest from a wall in a woman’s basement.
A really, really, really big nest.
If that doesn’t freak you out enough, this guy has dozens more nest removal videos on his channel…
Halloween Horrors: House of Scorpions
Saturday, October 15th, 2022We haven’t done any creepy crawly horror yet this holiday season, so “enjoy” this abandoned house absolutely filled with scorpions.
Guy finds thousands of scorpions in an abandoned house pic.twitter.com/NglMZwA9y9
— OddIy Terrifying (@closecalls7) August 28, 2022
Sweet dreams…
Halloween Horrors: Welcome To AI Hell
Friday, October 14th, 2022Man tells an AI to generate visions of Hell. Here are the results:
Of course, AI Hell is different from Robot Hell. For one thing, there’s less singing:
Library Addition: Urish’s Hoard: The Guide to Elric Collectables
Thursday, October 13th, 2022I 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…
Halloween Horrors: National Museum of Funeral History in Houston
Wednesday, October 12th, 2022This should be a Halloween non-horror, as this actually looks like a pretty cool place to visit:
The museum is open seven days a week at 415 Barren Springs Dr, Houston, TX 77090.
Library Addition: Lyle H. Wright’s American Fiction 1774 – 1850
Tuesday, October 11th, 2022I 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.
