Posts Tagged ‘eBay’

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Library Additions: Signed, Limited Centipede Press Editions of Speaker For The Dead and Ender’s Way

Thursday, July 28th, 2022

I was not particularly interested originally when Centipede Press did their signed, limited prestige reprints of Ender’s Game and Speaker for the Dead. They’re solid novels (something that can’t be said of Xenocide), but not among my particular favorites of SF novels in the 1980s. However, I was interested in Ender’s Way, since that contains previously uncollected Ender stories, but it sold out before I could pick up dealer copies.

Given that, I was happy to pick up this set:

  • Card, Orson Scott. Ender’s Way. Centipede Press, 2021. First edition, #156 of 300 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine two-piece capped cloth slipcase, still in shrinkwrap. With:
  • Card, Orson Scott. Speaker for the Dead. Centipede Press, 2020. First edition thus, #156 of 300 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine two-piece capped cloth slipcase. Hugo and Nebula winner for best novel.

    • Both books bought for $400 off eBay, a significant discount off the original cover price for both ($250 for Ender’s Way and $295 for Speaker for the Dead.

    And if any of you out there have #156 of Ender’s Game you’re willing to part with at a reasonable price, let me know…

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    Library Addition: Signed PBO First of Philip Jose Farmer’s The Lovers

    Wednesday, July 20th, 2022

    Another signed PBO:

    Farmer, Philip Jose. The Lovers. Ballantine Books, 1961. First edition paperback original (PBO), a Very Good+ copy with crease across bottom rear corner and slight spine lean, signed by Farmer. One of the first science fiction novels to deal frankly with sexual themes. Brizzi, The Work of Philip Jose Farmer, pages 18-24. Currey, page 185. Barron, Anatomy of Wonder 4, *3-69. Supplements a signed copy of the later hardback first edition. Won off eBay for $9.99.

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    Library Additions: Three Jack Vance Firsts, Two Signed

    Wednesday, July 13th, 2022

    Three different Jack Vance firsts, bought from various sources.

  • Vance, Jack (Terry Dowling and Jonathan Strahan, editors). The Jack Vance Treasury. Subterranean Press, 2006. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine, Mylar-protected dust jacket, new and unread. When this was published, I managed to pick up the signed, limited edition (probably on sale), but not the regular trade edition. Out of print for over a decade, but bought from Camelot Books at the original cover price of $38.
  • Vance, Jack. The Star King. Berkley Medallion, 1964. First edition paperback original, a near Fine copy with wrinkle along spine join, slight bumping at head, heel and bottom front corner, slight small creases to outer top corners, trace of age darkening and soiling to white cover, and slight foxing to inside covers, signed by Vance, with color laser-printed picture of Vance signing laid in. The first Demon Princes novel, shortened to Star King for many subsequent editions. Hewett, A15a. Cunningham, 76a. Bought off eBay for $15.50.

  • Vance, Jack. When The Five Moons Rise. Underwood Miller, 1992. First edition hardback, #245 of 300 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase. Short story collection. Hewett A86. Cunningham, 83a. Showed up on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $50, easily $100 below what they usually go for, so naturally I jumped on it.

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    eBay Bad Seller Alert: jazzsharkman

    Wednesday, December 24th, 2014

    Back in October, I thought I had snagged a great deal: A first edition of Philip K. Dick’s Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said for $48.

    However, upon getting it, I immediately saw that it was not a first edition. There was no First Edition statement on the copyright page, and code P7 rather than code 050 on page 231, indicating a later printing, as per Levack’s PKD bibliography. So I contacted the seller for a refund.

    Despite selling it on false premises, he refused to take it back, and offered an insulting $5 refund through eBay’s arbitration system.

    So this is a blog post to warn anyone away from dealing with eBay seller jazzsharkman, AKA

    Kurt Skaggs
    PO Box 1800
    Union City, CA 94587
    jazzsharkman@yahoo.com

    due to his fundamental dishonesty in selling a non-first as a first edition, then refusing to take it back.

    I’ll update this page if he ever comes to his senses and sends me a full refund.

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    Library Additions: Six Signed First Editions

    Monday, November 10th, 2014

    The only unifying theme is that all of these are signed first editions:

  • Buckley, William F. Marco Polo, If You Can. Doubleday, 1982. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bending at head and heel in a Very Good price-clipped and spine-faded dust jacket with shallow chipping at head. Inscribed by the author: “For Roger Birk/Warm regards/Wm. F. Buckley, Jr.” Blackford Oakes spy thriller. Bought for $5.99 at Half Price Books; I only checked it because it had a Mylar dust jacket protector on it. Actually the second signed Buckley I have, along with the copy of Right Reason he signed for me my senior year in college.
  • Clement, Hal. Half Life. Tor, 1999. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by Clement: “”Hal Clement” (Harry C. Stubbs)”. Bought for $19 from an eBay seller.
  • Gibson, William. The Peripheral. Putnam, 2014. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed to me by Gibson at BookPeople on November 2, 2014: “TO LAWRENCE/WM GIBSON”. Near-future SF that sounds interesting. About a hundred people turned out for the Gibson signing, which is the second biggest crowd I’d seen there next to Neil Gaiman’s signing for Anansi Boys. I’ll have several signed William Gibson items available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
  • Knight, Damon. Why Do Birds Tor, 1992. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by Knight: “for Mark/Damon Knight”. With review slip laid in. Bought for $12.50 from an eBay seller.
  • Morgenstern, Erin. The Night Circus. Doubleday, 2011. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by the author. Fantasy, a first novel that got a lot of positive buzz. Bought for $27 (including buyer’s premium) off Heritage Auctions.
  • Noon, Jeff. Vurt. Crown, 1993. First hardback and first American edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by Noon: “To Shirley/Good Feathers/Jeff Noon” (with a drawing of a feather). Supplements an unsigned edition.

    Jeff noon Sig

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    New Book Acquisitions: Two Richard Matheson First Editions

    Sunday, September 25th, 2011

    I managed to pick up two notable Richard Matheson first editions in the last month or so:

  • Matheson, Richard. Born of Man and Woman. Chamberlain Press, 1954. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine- dust jacket with rubbing to front and rear, but less than the usual fading. Matheson’s first hardback book and first SF book (preceded by two mystery paperback originals). Some science fiction small presses have had trouble with floods, and others with fires, but Chamberlain Press may be the only one that suffered from both; a flood destroyed most of the remaining bound copies of this book (the only one they published), and a fire destroyed the remaining unbound sheets. About 650 copies are believed to have distributed, thus escaping both catastrophes. (See Jack Chalker & Mark Ownings, The Science Fantasy Publishers: A Critical and Bibliographic History (Third Revised and Enlarged Edition), Mirage Press, 1991, pages 97-98 for more details.) L.W. Currey, Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors: A Bibliography of First Printings of Their Fiction, G.W. Hall, 1978, page 358. Bought off eBay for $257.81 plus shipping.

  • Matheson, Richard. The Shrinking Man. David Bruce & Watson, 1973. First hardback edition, an Ex-Library copy with the usual marking, and a clipped price, otherwise a VG copy in a Near Fine- dust jacket (would be fine if not for the corner-clip). Currey, Page 358. Obtained from the auction of the Jerry Weist collection for $80. See here for details.

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