Posts Tagged ‘Gnome Press’
Wednesday, September 30th, 2026
Another Gnome Press first from that Mysterious Benefactor:
Blish, James. The Seedling Stars. Gnome Press, 1957. First edition hardback (“First Edition” on copyright page, as per Currey), in the Curry (D) binding (gray cloth, lettered in red), a Fine- copy with slight bend at head and heel and the usual age-darkening of pages for a Gnome of this period, in a Fine-, Mylar-protected dust jacket with a trace of wear at head and heel, a tiny bit of dust soiling on top of front panel near spine, and barely perceptible darkening to front flap fold, slightly exaggerated in scan. Story of the Adapted Man, preceding Pohl’s Man Plus by a quarter-century, and including Blish’s classic “Surface Tension.” Currey, page 42. Chalker/Owings, page 204. Kemp, The Anthem Series page 260. Pringle, Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, page 274 (“***”).
Tags:Books, Gnome Press, James Blish, Mysterious Benefactor, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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Tuesday, September 29th, 2026
Another Gnome Press first from that Mysterious Benefactor:
Cole, E. B. The Philosophical Corps. Gnome Press, 1962. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bumping at head and heel (though far less age darkening to pages that the average later Gnome), in a Fine- dust jacket with a tiny line of smudge on front panel and a trace of bumping to head and heel. The last Gnome Press book. Chalker/Owings, page 206 (“Really good series of connected stories from ASF. Deserved better, wider release”). Kemp, The Anthem Series, pages 282-283 (“A really good series of connected stories, science fiction in the good, old tradition).
Tags:Books, Gnome Press, Mysterious Benefactor, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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Friday, September 25th, 2026
Another Gnome Press first from that Mysterious Benefactor:
Barnes, Arthur K. Interplanetary Hunter. Gnome Press, 1956. First edition (stated) hardback, a Fine- copy with slight crimping at head and trace of foxing to gutters (plus the characteristic age darkening of the pages common to Gnomes of this vintage), in a Very Good-, Mylar-protected dust jacket with shallow chipping at head, plus small 1/4″ chips at top and bottom of rear panel, smaller chip at heel front join, small chipping at points, significant age-darkening to spine, and general dust soiling to white dust jacket. Chalker/Owings, page 203. Kemp, The Anthem Series, page 250 (“This is a book of thrilling adventure replete with visits to strange worlds and wonderful fascinating lifeforms.”)
Tags:Arthur K. Barnes, Books, Gnome Press, Mysterious Benefactor, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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Thursday, September 10th, 2026
Another book from that Mysterious Benefactor, and another small press book from the 1950s.
Smith, George O. Path or Unreason. Gnome Press, 1958. First edition hardback (“First Edition” stated, as per Currey), a Near Fine copy with the start of slight creasing at head and heel, slight bend at head and heel, trace of wear to a couple of points, with characteristic toning of pages for Gnomes of this era, in a Fine- dust jacket with the barest trace of darkening to top edges of flaps. Currey, page 459. Chalker/Owings, page 204. Kemp, The Anthem Series, page 263.
Tags:Books, George O. Smith, Gnome Press, Mysterious Benefactor, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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Monday, September 7th, 2026
A Mysterious Benefactor who enjoys my other blog contacted me to give me his entire library, knowing I could take care of and appreciate his books. He was getting on in years, and just didn’t want to deal with the hassle of selling his own collection, and didn’t feel that any of his relatives wanted it. So on September 1st, he drove down from the SFW Metroplex and unloaded 14 large plastic containers from his truck, so now I have hardback books (plus some magazines) coming out of my ears. Some will be incorporated into my own library, some will be sold via Lame Excuse Books and a few will end up getting donated.
For the first library addition, I picked the Gnome Press Silverberg/Garrett collaboration because I already owned the sequel, The Dawning Light.
Silverberg, Robert and Randall Garrett (as Robert Randall). The Shrouded Planet. Gnome Press, 1957. First edition hardback (stated, as per Currey), a Fine- copy with slight bumping at head and heel and usual toning to pages, in a Fine-, Mylar-protected dust jacket with slight bumping at head and heel and a small circular repricing sticker over the price. Currey, page 196 (and 439). Chalker/Owings, page 203. Kemp, The Anthem Series page 250. Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction page 281 (“*”).
Tags:Books, Gnome Press, Mysterious Benefactor, Randall Garrett, Robert Silverberg, Science Fiction
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Wednesday, February 14th, 2024
Here’s another Heritage Auctions lot I placed lowball bid on and won. There were three books, one of which will be in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog. Both of these were on my Books Wanted List.
Kuttner, Henry, with C. L. Moore (as Lewis Padgett). Tomorrow and Tomorrow and The Fairy Chessmen. Gnome Press, 1951. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with previous owner’s name on FFE and slight bend at head, in a Near Fine-, price-clipped dust jacket with slight wear and shallow loss at heel, slight wear at head, and slight rubbing along folds. Currey, page 293. Chalker/Owings, page 198 (“One of the scarcest Gnomes”). Kemp, The Anthem Series, pages 200-201 (though he calls for gray boards lettered in “dark blue,” and the lettering here is clearly black; this calls for dark gray lettered in black, but honestly it looks more like a dark beige to me, so I’ve added a scan below). Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy page 171 (under Padgett).
This scans lighter than it actually is, so I’ve adjusted the brightness down a smidge to closely match the color I’m seeing with my eye.
I paid less than $50 each for these with buyer’s premium.
Tags:Books, C. L. Moore, Fantasy, Fritz Leiber, Gnome Press, Henry Kuttner, Heritage Auctions, Science Fiction
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Friday, September 17th, 2021
Another book from that bulk purchase I’m cataloging:
Greenberg, Martin. The Robot and the Man. Gnome Press, 1953. First edition hardback, a Very Good+ copy with top of spine very slight concave, edges of head and heel slightly soft, and a 2″ crack starting to bottom front inner hinge, in a Very Good dust jacket with shallow chipping at head and heel, some edgewear along front bottom and at top near fold, slight, faint spotting along rear fold edge, and a crease running down the entire front cover right next to the flap fold, as though the book were folded not quite on center and corrected much later, plus a few other touches of wear. Still, the white portions of the jacket are reasonably bright and the pages lack the horrific browning that plagues later Gnome titles. Reprint anthology of robot stories, including some from Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore (not a Gallagher story), Lester del Rey (two stories), A. E. van Vogt, John D. MacDonald, and Bernard Wolfe. Chalker/Owings, page 200. Kemp, The Anthem Series, 225-26.
Tags:Books, Gnome Press, Martin Greenberg (Gnome Press), robots, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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Monday, September 13th, 2021
First Edition Library was a publishing line that produced prestige facsimile reprints of famous first editions. They printed the book and dust jackets to match the look of the original first edition (save an additional information box on the copyright page and an “FEL” notice on the bottom rear dust jacket flap) on quality paper and bindings with a slipcase. Most of these were literary works: Steinbeck, etc. By they did some dozen science fiction works, including this one.
Asimov, Isaac. I, Robot. Gnome Press (i.e., First Edition Library), 1950 (1978 copyright date, but actually printed sometime in the 1980s). Facsimile reprint of the Gnome Press first edition, first edition hardback thus, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase, which includes the front and back just jacket cover art pasted on, with FEL cardstock information brochure laid in. An attractive production, and undoubtedly done on better paper stock than the Gnome Press original. Aiming for the same prestige reprint market as Easton Press, and indeed they were either part of or acquired by Easton. Obtained as part of the same private library purchase as the two signed Ellison books.
I only picked this up because true jacketed firsts of I, Robot have zoomed up considerably beyond what I’m willing to pay right now. I don’t collect First Edition Library, but it’s somewhat annoying that no good, complete list of the science fiction volumes seems to exist online. So I compiled the following:
Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot
James Blish’s Earthman, Come Home
Ray Bradbury’s Golden Apples of the Sun
John W. Campbell’s Who Goes There?
Robert A. Heinlein’s Beyond This Horizon
C.L. Moore’s Shambleau and Others
Andre Norton’s Star Man’s Son
Lewis Padgett’s (Henry Kuttner & C.L. Moore)’s Tomorrow and Tomorrow and The Fairy Chessmen
Eric Frank Russell’s Dreadful Sanctuary
E.E. “Doc” Smith’s Gray Lensman
A. E. van Vogt’s The Weapon Makers
Kurt Vonnegut’s Player Piano (Note: This may have been issued as part of the literary line)
Jack Williamson’s The Legion of Space
I note that Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan of the Apes was done as part of their literary line.
Tags:Books, First Edition Library, Gnome Press, Isaac Asimov, Science Fiction
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Wednesday, March 18th, 2020
Still finishing cataloging books that came in last year after the big Moorcock buy:
Moore, C. L. Northwest of Earth. Gnome Press, 1954. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with a trace of wear to bottom boards and slight bumping at head, in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with slight edgewear along spine joins, at head and at front points, barest trace of dust soiling to white back cover, a few other traces of wear, and, if you look very closely, the spine is just barely sun-faded, much less than commonly found. All the Northwest Smith and Jirel of Jory stories not found in Shambleau and Others. Currey, page 378, Chalker/Owings (1991), page 201 (“These unique stories belong in every SF library”). Kemp, The Anthem Series, page 231. Bought off a fellow Biblio dealer for $75.
Tags:Books, C. L. Moore, Fantasy, Gnome Press, Science Fiction
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Monday, December 16th, 2019
One old, one new:
Silverberg, Robert. In Another Country and Other Short Novels. Five Star, 2002. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Signed by Silverberg. Contains “In Another Country,” “The Way to Spook City,” “They Hide, We Seek” and “This is the Road.” Five Star is a small press that seems to deal mostly with the library market, and I know that SF/F dealers who have tried to obtain their books have generally found their wholesale terms unreasonable. Bought for $24 off the Internet. I have an unsigned copy of this title for sale in my latest book catalog.
Silverberg, Robert, and Randall Garrett, as Robert Randall. The Dawning Light. Gnome Press, 1959. First edition hardback, a Fine copy with less than the usual age-darkening, in a Near Fine dust jacket with slight loss at front points and a trace of edgewear; a very attractive example of the dust jacket. Signed by Silverberg. Currey, page 436. Clareson, Robert Silverberg: a primary and secondary bibliography, A233. Chalker/Ownings, page 205. Kemp, page 272. Bought for $47.31 plus shipping (which was from overseas) from a fellow Biblio dealer.
If you wonder why I took a month-long break from blogging new library additions, it’s because I was busy working on a book catalog, since sent out via email. Drop me a line if you haven’t received a copy and want to.
Tags:Books, Five Star, Gnome Press, Randall Garrett, Robert Silverberg, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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