Posts Tagged ‘John Baxter’

Library Addition: Michael Moorcock’s Into The Media Web

Thursday, September 2nd, 2021

Here’s a fairly recent Moorcock rarity that had an insanely small print run.

Moorcock, Michael (edited by John Davey). Into The Media Web: Selected short non-fiction, 1956-2006. Savoy Books, 2010. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bumping at head and heel in a Near Fine dust jacket with slight grubbiness, slight creasing at top front cover and a 1/8″ closed tear at top front fold, and slight bumping at heel. Inscribed by Moorcock to fellow writer (and New World contributor) John Baxter: “To John,/Some embarrassments/some bullshit and maybe/a little bit/of truth./All very/best, as/ever yours/Mike,” plus a signature dated “18th July ’10.” 300,000+ word, 717 page collection of non-fiction, including essays, reviews, etc. covering books, film, music, etc. (Here’s a post on the book’s design.) Reportedly had a hardback print run of less than 100 copies, though I haven’t nailed down exactly how many. Bought for £140 plus shipping.

You may remember that I also ended up with John Baxter’s copy of George Locke’s Voyages Into Space.

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Library Addition: Inscribed First of George Locke’s Voyages in Space

Sunday, May 19th, 2019

Science fiction bibliographer, bookseller and publisher George Locke died earlier this year. I knew George a bit (as pretty much every bookseller in the field must have), and we had lunch together on my 2005 trip to the UK. George was universally acclaimed as one of the most knowledgeable booksellers and bibliographers the field has ever known, and I already owned a fair number of his books, almost all published by his own Ferret Fantasy imprint, most inscribed to me, including the three volume Spectrum of Fantasy series and the two volume By the World Forget/By The Book World Remembered pairing about Stuart Teitler and Lost Race novels.

Now I’ve picked up another:

Locke, George. Voyages in Space. Ferret Fantasy, 2015. First edition trade paperback original (simultaneous with a very small hardback run of only 28 copies), one of 500 copies, a Near Fine copy with slight wear along spine and what appears to be a spot of dampstaining at heel. Inscribed to Australian-born, Paris-resident science fiction, film and travel writer (and fellow book collector) John Baxter: “For John Baxter/With all good wishes and the/hope that you’ll run into one of the Olde/Aussie Interplanetaries when you next meet/the banana-benders!/George Locke”. (I also own Baxter’s The Inner Man: the life of J. G. Ballard.) Subtitled “A Bibliography of Interplanetary Fiction, 1801-1914.” Tymn Schlobin Currey, A Research Guide to Science Fiction Studies, 47. Barron, Anatomy of Wonder 4 7-7 (though only in passing, since the main entry is for Currey). Reginald, Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature 1975—1991, 28470. Bought from a UK bookdealer for £40 plus shipping.

RIP, George.

P1000840

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Library Additions: Five Reference Works

Tuesday, March 18th, 2014

I also pick up science fiction-related reference works, especially when I see them cheap.

  • (Ballard, J. G.) Baxter, John. The Inner Man: the life of J. G. Ballard. Weidenfield & Nicolson, 2011. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Critical biography.
  • (Gilliam, Terry) McCabe, Bob. Terry Gilliam, The Brothers Grimm, and other cautionary tales of Hollywood. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with what appears to be “delamination” of otherwise shiny area at base of the spine, in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Book on the making of the Terry Gilliam film The Brothers Grimm.
  • Lovecraft, H.P. (S.T. Joshi and David E. Schultz, editors. O Fortunate Floridian: H.P. Lovecraft’s Letters to R. H. Barlow. University of Tampa Press, 2007. First edition hardback (stated), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, new and unread.

    Barlow was an interesting fellow in his own right. He was studying ancient Mexican writings at Mexico City College (at the same time William S. Burroughs was there) when he committed suicide in January of 1951.

    Now I have the perfect thing to lay the envelope from Lovecraft to Barlow into.

  • (Moskowitz, Sam) The Sam Moskowitz Collection of Science Fiction b/w Comic Books and Comic Art. Southbys, 1999. First edition oversized trade paperback original, Fine. Auction catalog for the Sam Moskowitz’s science fiction collection held June 29, 1999 (plus a collection of rare comics sold the next day).
  • Stephenson, Neal. In the Beginning was the Command Line. Avon Books, 1999. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Long essay on the history of computing the Internet, and cyber culture.

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