Ordered this back in 2021, and the trade state came in this year. (Still waiting on the limited.)
Sammons, Brian M. Tales From Arkham Sanitarium. Dark Regions Press, 2022. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy in decorated boards with one tiny bump near bottom front corner, sans dust jacket, as issued. Cthulhu Mythos anthology, featuring a few familiar names (Don Webb, W. H. Pugmire, etc.). I’m not thrilled that Dark Regions had fulfillment through Amazon, hence the bump. I will gave precisely one mint copy available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Trying to close out these purchases from last year:
(Lovecraft, H.P.) Joshi, S.T. (Don Webb, William F. Nolan, W. H. Pugmire, etc.) Black Wings VI. PS Publishing, 2017. First edition hardback, #138 of 300 numbered copies signed by all the contributors (including the recently deceased Pugmire), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine slipcase, new and unread. New tales of Lovecraftian horror. Bought from the publisher at a steep discount.
More books Austin science fiction writer Don Webb was culling from his library. All these were $3-5 each except the Haldeman (which was a throw-in):
Allston, Aaron. Sidhe Devil. Baen, 2001. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with foxing to inside covers. Inscribed: “Don: Hope you like it!/On the other hand, you’ve paid/for it anyway, so what the hell…)/Aaron Allston/ 4/27/01.” Replaces a signed but uninscribed copy.
Cadigan, Pat. Mindplayers. Bantam, 1987. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with foxing to inside covers. Inscribed: “For/Rosemary / & / Don /With stray/ideas &/peculiar behavior/Best,/Pat Cadigan /Armadillocon/1987.”
Cargill, C. Robert. Dreams and Shadows. Gollancz, 2013. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Inscribed: “It was a pleasure/sharing a table/with you./Robert Cargill.” Cragill is an Austin science fiction writer most famous for having written the screenplay for Doctor Strange.
Goodfellow, Cody. Radiant Dawn. Perilous Publishers, 2000. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Inscribed: “For Don Webb/who dares/mess with/Texas?/Cody Goodfellow.”
Haldeman, Joe. Forever Peace. To Stop War.. Temporary Culture, 2008. Second edition chapbook original, A very good copy with some creasing and wear. Two page poem with illustrations by Judith Clute. The first edition was a 25 copy hardback at a list price of $1,000 (not seen).
Spinrad, Norman. The Iron Dream. Avon, 1972. First edition paperback original, a Very Good+ copy with spine creasing, slight foxing, and general wear. Currey (1979), page 463.
Wellman, Manly Wade and Wade. Sherlock Holmes’s War of the Worlds. Warner Books, 1975. First edition paperack original, a Near Fine copy with age darkening to white spine and rear cover and Rosemary Webb’s ownership inscription on blurb page. Replaces a less attractive copy. Currey (1979), page 514.
Don Webb was culling some books, and he came over to my house so I could paw through and triage them into what I wanted to keep, what to auction, etc. I will most likely be putting a few auction items up in September. These are the reference works I kept for myself, and all were $5 each except for the Delany, which was $20.
Delany, Samuel R. The Motion of Light in Water: Sex and Science Fiction Writing in the East Village: 1957-1965. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with just a trace of foxing to inside front covers in a Fine- dust jacket with just a touch of wear. Inscribed by Delany: “To/Don + Rosemary/in remembrance/of a wonderful/evening at/the County Line/from/Samuel R. Delany/Austin/Feb. 1988” The County Line is a local BBQ chain, and Delany came down for Sercon 2 that month. Nonfiction autobiography. Hugo Award Winner for Best Nonfiction. Supplements an unsigned copy (which I forget to bring when I had Delany sign all my hardback fiction firsts at Readercon in 2009).
Steiger, Brad. The Werewolf Book. Visible Ink Press, 1999. First edition trade paperback original, a near Fine copy with wear along edges, a tiny crese to bottom front corner, and a few bits of writing inside. Non-fiction book on werewolves and other shapechangers in folklore and media.
Here’s another book with a ridiculously small print run:
Webb, Don. Deep Dendo and Other Poems. Dunham’s Manor Press, 2018. First edition hardback, one of only 25 hardback copies, a Fine copy, new and unread. Don’s latest poetry collection.
Got in three Lovecraft-related new books by Hippocampus Press, all of which I have available through Lame Excuse Books as well:
(Lovecraft, H.P.) Joshi, S. T. Lovecraft and a World in Transition. Hippocampus Press, 2014. First edition hardback, one of 500 copies signed by Joshi (the only edition), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Collection of Joshi’s most important essays on Lovecraft (of which there have been many). List price $65.
(Lovecraft, H.P.) Derie, Bobby. Sex and the Cthulhu Mythos. Hippocampus Press, 2014. First edition trade paperback original, Fine. Gahan Wilson cover. Non-fiction work examining sexual themes in a wide variety of Cthulhu Mythos-related work. List price $20.
Webb, Don. Through Dark Angles: Works Inspired by H. P. Lovecraft. Hippocampus Press, 2014. First edition trade paperback original, Fine. List price $20.
Also, not in yet but forthcoming: H. P. Lovecraft’s Collected Fiction: A Variorum Edition, a three volume set of the definitive texts of all Lovecraft’s fiction, showing all the different edits made in his stories either by Lovecraft or his various editors. This will be a three volume set limited to 500 copies with a list price of $180.
Since The Wailing of the Gaulish Dead just arrived in the mail, I thought I would do a post on all four of the Avram Davidson chapbooks put out by The Nutmeg Point District Mail/Avram Davidson Society:
Davidson, Avram. The Beasts of the Elysian Fields by Conrad Amber. The Nutmeg Point District Mail, 2001. First edition chapbook, Fine. Though there were 70 numbered copies, this one is labeled “review copy.” (There were also evidently 10 presentation hardbacks, which I’ve not seen.)
Davidson, Avram. El Vilvoy de las Islas. #7 of 25 numbered copies hand bound in quarter green linen with paper-covered boards, a Fine copy, with errata slip bound in and this copy signed by Don Webb at his introduction. Bought for $35 when they were offered to subscribers of The New York Review of Science Fiction (unless I’m confusing it with Michael Swanwick’s Puck Aleshire’s Abecedary, which was also bound by Henry Wessells and offered through NYRSF).
Davidson, Avram. The Last Wizard. The Avram Davidson Society, 1999. First edition chapbook original, #125 of 125 numbered copies, a Fine copy. (There was also a second printing.)
Davidson, Avram. The Wailing of the Gaulish Dead The Nutmeg Point District Mail, 2013. Perfect-bound chapbook first edition, one of 200 copies in heavy cardstock with self-wrapper flaps and errata sheet pasted inside, a Fine copy. More Adventures in Unhistory. I’ll have some to sell in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
“Texas Died for Somebody’s Sins But Not Mine” by Stina Leicht
“Jump the Black” by Marshall Ryan Maresca
“An Afternoon’s Nap, or; Five Hundred Years Ahead” by Aurelia Hadley Mohl
“The Nostalgia Differential” by Michael Moorcock
“Novel Properties of Certain Complex Alkaloids” by Lawrence Person
“The Chambered Eye” by Jessica Reisman
“Avoiding the Cold War” by Josh Rountree
“The Art of Absence” by Don Webb
Congrats to my fellow writers for making the cut, and for Aurelia Hadley Mohl for not letting the fact that she died over a hundred years ago slow her down!
Don Webb alerted me to the existence of Hotel Torgo, a documentary on Manos: The Hands of Fate. It features commentary by El Paso SF fan Richard Brandt (a regular Nova Express reader, back in the day), and memories by cast member Bernie Rosenblum.
Warning: You do have to put up with annoying, intrusive Microsoft ads.
It looked like my Kodak Digital camera had died, but it seems to be working again after fiddling with it, removing the battery a few times, and plugging it in. Still, I’ll probably need to get a new camera before Apollocon in June, since the automatic shutter isn’t retracting all the way any more…
William F. Nolan and Rocky Wood, both of whom were with me on the “Horror Without Stephen King,” along with someone who wasn’t.
Bill Crider
Bill & Judy Crider.
Bill Spencer. A lot of Bills today, mainly because none of them had yet been signed into law.
Now THAT’s a HAT.
SF Signal’s John DeNardo, AKA “Mr. Saturday Night.”
Don Webb, in the one photo I took on my iPhone that didn’t completely suck.
