Vance, Jack. Dangerous Ways. Subterranean Press, 2011. Ultralimited PC traycased edition, one of an indeterminate number of signed, leatherbound copies beyond the 26 lettered copies.
I don’t often buy traycased editions (I have some for Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Joe R. Lansdale, and some Cheap Street authors, since they regularly did traycase editions for their “Publisher’s States” of books), but a book dealer offered up this Vance traycase as part of a number of Subterrranean Press PC editions for less than the original (long-sold-out) published price, and I snapped it up. It’s a rather imposing traycase (I’m not sure if you can see it in the picture, but the title lettering has a somewhat metallic sheen, like burnished copper), though there are two small oddities about it: 1.) The rounded spine edge of the case looks nice, but it prevents the case from laying flat while it’s open, and 2.) The left-side folds into, rather than outside, the right hand part of the traycase holding the book.
Still a very attractive production. Click to embiggen.
Tags: Books, First Edition, Jack Vance, Mystery, Science Fiction, signed, Subterranean Press
I recently got a hold of two hardcover Stephen King books in their dust jackets that are in pretty good condition. One is Carrie and the other is Cujo, and the only dates on the copyright pages are 1974 and 1981, respectively. I think they are first editions but am not sure. How do I know? What are they worth? Thanks for the help!
For Carrie, the book should say First Edition on the copyright page and have a price of $5.95 on the cover. A Fine/Fine true first in dust jacket is worth quite a bit of money.
The copyright page of Cujo should have a numberline ending in 1. By the time Cujo came out, King was already a regular on the bestseller list, so his books had very large print runs, and thus first editions are not worth terribly much. Maybe $20.
Okay, you’ve convinced me. With these two peculiarities I’ll be willing to take it off your hands 🙂