Posts Tagged ‘chapbooks’

Library Addition: Mark V. Ziesing Bibliography 1982-1993

Wednesday, August 26th, 2026

Here’s a bibliography of a publisher I collect that I never picked up when it came out because I was already aware of every book in it because I was on the Ziesing mailing list for the last half of the period covered. But I do like having bibliographies, so I finally picked it up.

(Ziesing, Mark V.) Mark V. Ziesing Bibliography 1982-1993. Airtight Seels Allied Production (A.S.A.P.), 2003. First edition chapbook original, #43 of 200 numbered copies signed by “Introduction” author Lucius Shepard, “The Bus of Many Windows: A Digression on Mark V. Ziesing” author James P. Blaylock, illustrator Phil Parks, and Mark and Cynthia Ziesing, a Fine copy. Bought from the Mysterious Bookshop for $12.

I can tell you there are at least three notable errors/omissions.

First, it fails to note that there were far more than 1,600 trade editions of Joe R. Lansdale’s Cold in July and Savage Season. I’ve heard it rumored as many as 6,000 total (including the 500 copy limited edition) were printed, though I’m guessing 4,000 might be closer.

Second, it doesn’t mention that for some titles (including the Cold in July/Savage Season set, and Howard Waldrop’s Them Bones/A Dozen Tough Jobs sets) Ziesing ended up with extra slipcases and sold unsigned sets in them (as unsigned sets), I think upon request.

Third, it fails to mention the unpublished, first state dust jacket for Ray Garton’s Trade Secrets, the jacket copy for which was written by Andy Watson and which Mark Ziesing felt was too explicit. I lost an eBay bid for a copy with it, and my understanding is that about 10 copies escaped pulping.

Library Addition: Pat Cadigan’s Chalk

Monday, July 27th, 2026

Here’s a chapbook I was unaware of before it popped up in a Cold Tonnage Books catalog:

Cadigan, Pat. Chalk. This Is Horror, 2013. First edition chapbook original, #46 of 125 copies, a Fine copy, signed by Cadigan, with an 8 written on the title page and eight Xs on the inside front cover. (I sent Pat an email asking what was up with that.) Horror novella about two girls that can disappear in plain sight. Bought for £10.

Library Addition: Micheal Swanwick’s Basil, Pepper, Salt, and Garlic Greens

Tuesday, June 9th, 2026

Been a while since the last Dragonstairs Swanwick chapbook:

Swanwick, Michael. Basil, Pepper, Salt, and Garlic Greens: A Year in a Witch’s Kitchen. Dragonstairs Press, 2026. First edition chapbook original, #16 of 80 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. Short stories tied to seasonal dishes.

I will have copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog (probably Novemberish).

Library Edition: Signed Ray Bradbury Toynbee Convector chapbook

Friday, January 30th, 2026

This is the third book in my library under this title, but this is the illustrated hardback chapbook of just the story.

Bradbury, Ray. The Toynbee Convector. Turner Publishing, 1992. First edition hardback chapbook, a Fine- copy in decorated boards with one indention to lower rear spin gutter, sans dust jacket, as issued, signed and dated (“12/4/94”) by Bradbury. Supplements signed limited and signed trade editions of the short story collection of the same title. Illustrated by Anita Kunz. Bought off eBay for $17.50.

Library Additions: Two Howard Waldrop Items

Wednesday, January 21st, 2026

For some reason, I never managed to pick up the chapbook version of “The Ugly Chickens” while Howard was alive, so I jumped on this copy when I saw someone was selling one on eBay. Plus a bonus Waldrop-related item many of his fans will find obscure.

  • Waldrop, Howard. The Ugly Chickens. Old Earth Books, 2009. First edition chapbook original thus, one of 250 copies distributed to members of the 2009 World Fantasy Convention, a Fine copy, signed by Waldrop. Nebula and World Fantasy Award winner for Best Novelette of 1980. Bought off eBay for the opening bid of $25.

  • (Waldrop, Howard) David E. Myers. “Whenever and Wherever: The Fishing and Fiction of Howard Waldrop” in The Flyfish Journal, Volume Seventeen, Issue 2 (2025). Profile of Howard and his fishing in a glossy lifestyle fishing magazine. Received as a gift from Dwight.

    Includes one of the best pictures of Howard I’ve seen from his Oso sojourn:

  • Library Addition: Jonathan Lethem’s K is for Fake

    Monday, January 12th, 2026

    An odd chapbook find from my trip to Houston:

    Lethem, Jonathan. K is for Fake. McSweeney’s Quarterly, 2000. First edition chapbook original, a Fine copy. Story about Franz Kafka from the then-forthcoming Kafka Americana. Bought for $10 from The Little Book House in the Woods in Spring, Texas.

    Obviously I’m a sucker for weirdo SF/F chapbooks…

    Library Addition: Michael Swanwick’s Winter Constellations

    Monday, January 5th, 2026

    Another Dragonstairs chapbook:

    Swanwick, Michael. Winter Constellations. Dragonstairs Press, 2024 (not seen until 2025). First edition chapbook original, #76 of 118 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy. Bought directly from the publisher.

    Library Addition: Michael Swanwick’s Under A Harvest Moon

    Tuesday, October 14th, 2025

    Another Dragonstairs chapbook:

    Swanwick, Michael, with Marianne Porter. Under A Harvest Moon. Dragonstairs Press, 2025. First edition chapbook original, #5 of 80 copies signed by both Swanwick and Porter, a Fine copy. “A very short, dark and romantic story of love and death,” and an outgrowth of Swanwick’s online ‘fallen leaves” project. Bought from the publisher at the usual discount.

    I will have copies of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, probably out next month.

    Library Addition: Michael Swanwick’s Life: A User’s Manual

    Monday, September 22nd, 2025

    This was sent to me as a friend of the press:

    Swanwick, Michael. Life: A User’s Manual. Dragonstairs Press, 2025. First edition chapbook original, #6 of 40 signed, numbered copies produced for Confluence 2025, a Fine copy, with tiny additional chapbook inscribed “for a friend of the Press” laid in. Vignettes on the stages of life.

    Library Addition: Signed First of Kelly Link’s 4 Stories

    Monday, August 4th, 2025

    Another Kathryn Cramer purchase.

    Link, Kelly. 4 Stories. Jelly Ink, 2000. First edition chapbook original, a Fine copy, singed by Link. Jelly Ink was Link’s own publishing house before Small Beer Press. Bought for $35.