Posts Tagged ‘L. Ron Hubbard’

Library Additions: Six Science Fiction First Editions, Two Signed

Wednesday, January 11th, 2023

More first editions bought in the Metroplex from Half Price Books and Recycled Books.

  • Gingrich, Newt and William R. Forstchen. Never Call Retreat: Lee and Grant: The Final Victory. St. Martins, 2005. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Gingrich. Bought from Half Price Books for $7.99.

  • Hubbard, L. Ron. Ole Doc Methuselah. Theta Press, 1970. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with age-darkening to white portions. Fixup novel of linked stories originally published 1946-1950. Strangely, there is no printing at all on the spine or cover of the book itself. Currey, page 256. Bought for $12 from Recycled Books.

  • Kelly, James Patrick. Think Like A Dinosaur. Golden Gryphon Press, 1997. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with about 3/8″ slight abrasion or fade to the very top of the front cover, in a Fine- dust jacket with slight wrinkling at head and heel and slight edgewear at points and top of dust jacket, inscribed by Kelly: “To Katelein/Keep writing/+/:/Yr pal/Jim/ 4/19/98.” Short story collection. Supplements a perfect but unsigned copy. Bought for $11.49.
  • Miller, John J. (George R. R. Martin). Wild Cards: Death Draws Five. iBooks, 2006. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bumping at head and two small indents to bottom boards and slight bumping at top points in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bumping at head and top points. Solo Wild Card novel by Miller. At some con years back, Miller told me this was actually the rarest Wild Cards book. Precedes the Tor edition by 15 years. Bought from Half Price Books for $11.48.

  • Smith, Michael Marshall. The Servants. Earthling Publications, 2007. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a small wrinkle to the bottom of the front flap. Precedes the UK and Eos editions. Bought from Half Price Books for $7.99.

  • Stross, Charles. Empire Games. Tor, 2016. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with bumping at head and heel in a Fine- dust jacket with bumping at head and heel. Merchant Princes novel. Bought from Half Price Books for $4.99.
  • Library Additions: August 8—December 31, 2011

    Sunday, January 8th, 2012

    Despite this big-ass list, I think my book buying is actually slowing down a little. It’s getting harder to find things that I want (and don’t already have) at Half Price Books or eBay. Despite that, I always seem to have a surprisingly large number of books every time I do one of these roundups, mainly due to new small press offerings. (And speaking of small presses, many of the books listed below from Subterranean, Golden Gryphon, Haffner, etc. will be on sale through Lame Excuse Books, so drop me a line if you want to be on the mailing list.)

  • Allston, Aaron. Doc Sidhe. Baen, 1995. First edition paperback original.
  • Anderson, Poul. Fire Time. Doubleday, 1974. Fine in a Near Fine dust jacket, inscribed to Locus editor Charles N. Brown.
  • Anonymous. Man Abroad. Gregg Press, 1978. First hardback edition, a reprint of the 1887 paperback, one of only 257 copies printed, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. From the Jerry Weist collection.
  • Bailey, Dale and Jack Slay. Sleeping Policemen. Golden Gryphon, 2006.
  • Beagle, Peter S. Strange Roads. Dreamhaven, 2008. First edition chapbook original, signed by Beagle and artist Lisa Snellings.
  • Bennett, Robert Jackson. The Company Man. Orbit, 2011. Trade paperback original.
  • Bester, Alfred. Virtual Unrealities. Vintage, 1997. Trade paperback original, NF- with 1/4 sticker pull at bottom of front cover.
  • Bester, Alfred, and Roger Zelazny. Psychoshop. Vintage, 1998. Trade paperback original (TPO) first edition, a Fine- copy with slight edgewear.
  • Bloch, Robert. Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper. Subterranean Press, 2011. Expanded from the Belmont paperback edition.
  • Bowes, Richard. From the Files of the Time Rangers. Golden Gryphon, 2005.
  • Brackett, Leigh. Shannach: The Last Farewell to Mars. Haffner Press, 2011.
  • Brown, Eric. Threshold Shift. Golden Gryphon, 2006.
  • Campbell, Ramsey. The Inhabitant of the Lake and Less Welcome Tenants. Arkham House, 1964. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine dust jacket with slight darkening to spine, and slight edgewear at heel and fold points.
  • Carroll, Jonathan. The Ghost in Love. Farrar Straus Giroux, 2008.
  • Chayefsky, Paddy. Altered States. Harper & Row, 1978. A Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a few touches of wear.
  • Datlow, Ellen, and Terri Windling. The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror: Sixteenth Annual Collection. St. Martins Griffin, 2002. Inscribed to me by Datlow.
  • Diaz, Junot. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Riverhead Books, 2007.
  • Dick, Philip K. The Early Work of Philip K. Dick Volume One: The Variable Man and Other Stories. Prime Books, 2009.
  • Dick, Philip K. (edited by Pamela Jackson and Jonathan Lethem) The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011. Non-fiction.
  • Dozois, Gardner. When the Great Days Come. Prime Books, 2011.
  • Donaldson, Stephen R. The Best of Stephen R. Donaldson. Subterranean Press, 2011. One of 250 numbered, leatherbound copies signed by the author.
  • Donaldson, Stephen R. The Best of Stephen R. Donaldson. Subterranean Press, 2011. Trade edition.
  • Farmer, Philip Jose. The Keeper of the Secrets. Severn House, 1985. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a tiny bit of haze rubbing to the rear cover. First hardback edition of The Mad Goblin.
  • Farmer, Philip Jose. Love Song. Brandon House, 1970. Paperback original. Full details here.

  • Gaiman, Neil. Melinda. Hill House, 2004. Full details here.


  • Graham, H. E. The Battle of Dora William Clowes & Sons, Ltd. 1931. First edition hardback, a Very Good copy in a Good+ dust jacket with three 1/4″ chips at edges. Future war book set in an imaginary European country concerned with primarily with the evolving tactics of mechanized warfare. With fold-out maps!

  • Haldeman, Joe. A Tool of the Trade. Morrow, 1987.
  • Haldeman, Joe. World’s Apart. Viking, 1983. With review slips laid in.
  • Heinlein, Robert A. Podkayne of Mars. Putnam, 1963. Full details here.

  • Howard, Robert E. The Coming of Conan. Gnome Press, 1953. First edition hardback, a Near Fine+ copy with slight bends at head and heel and slight foxing to strip along front and back gutters, in a Near Fine dust jacket with slight dust staining to white rear cover and a few touches of rubbing to spine panel (but no spine fading). This completes my Robert E. Howard Gnome Press Conan collection. (At some point I suppose I’ll pick up the De Camp volumes but, eh. what’s the rush?)

  • Howard, Robert E. Marchers of Valhalla. Donald M. Grant, 1971. Bought from a notable SF book dealer for $8.
  • Hubbard, L. Ron. Final Blackout. Hadley Publishing, 1948. Full details here.

  • Leyner, Mark. My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist. Harmony Books, 1990. First edition trade paperback original, Near Fine+ with a crease to bottom front corner.
  • (Lovecraft, H. P.) Lockhart, Ross E. The Book of Cthulhu. Night Shade Boooks, 2011. First edition trade paperback original.
  • Lynch, Scott. The Lies of Locke Lamora. Gollancz, 2006. A Fine copy in a Near Fine dust jacket, signed by the author.
  • Martin, George R. R. GRRM: A RRetrospective. Subterranean Press, 2003. First edition hardback, Letter B of 52 signed, lettered, leatherbound copies, housed in a handcrafted traycase, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket; however, the traycase housing the book has a cracked bottom outer hinge, as well as a tiny bit of bend at the top front traycase tip.

  • Martin, George R. R., editor. Wild Cards: Marked Cards. Baen, 1994. First edition paperback original. Second book in the Baen Wild Cards series, and the Fourteenth overall.
  • Matheson, Richard. Born of Man and Woman. Chamberlain Press, 1954. Details here.

  • Matheson, Richard. The Shrinking Man. David Bruce & Watson, 1973. First hardback edition. Details here.

  • McCammon, Robert. The Hunter from The Woods. Subterranean Press, 2011. One of 1,000 signed, numbered copies.
  • Miller, Warren. Looking for the General. McGraw-Hill, 1964. Bought for $8 from a notable SF book dealer. Howard Waldrop recommended this.
  • Miyabe, Miyuki. Brave Story. Viz, 2007. First English-language edition.
  • Moon, Elizabeth. Lunar Activity. First edition paperback original (PBO), a near Fine+ copy with invisible spine creasing and slight edgewear. Signed by Moon.
  • Moorcock, Michael. Dr. Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles. BBC Books, 2010. Signed by Moorcock.
  • Moorcock, Michael. The Runestaff. White Lion, 1974. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with just a tiny bit of wear in a Fine dust jacket. First hardback edition.
  • Moorcock, Michael. The Sleeping Sorceress. New English Library, 1971. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with color loss along inner flaps edges (possibly a printing flaw). First hardback edition of The Vanishing Tower.
  • Niffenegger, Audrey. The Time Traveler’s Wife. McAdam Cage, 2003. First edition hardback, a near Fine copy with slight lean in a Near Fine- first state (no logo) dust jacket with several long creases.
  • Niven, Larry. Strange Light. Dreamhaven, 2010. First edition chapbook original.
  • Niven, Larry. A World Out of Time. Holt Reinhart Winston, 1976. Bought from a notable Sf book dealer for 48. Review slip laid in.
  • Niven, Larry, and Steve Barnes. Dream Park. Phantasia Press, 1981. One of 600 signed, numbered copies in slipcase. From the Jerry Weist collection.
  • Novik, Naomi. Victory of Eagles. Del Rey, 2008. Fifth Temeraire book.
  • Oliver, Chad. Another Kind. Ballantine Books, no date (1955). First edition hardback (an unrecorded variant binding of green boards with red lettering), a Near Fine copy with slight age-darkening to page (most noticeable in one signature) and slight bending at head and heel in a Near Fine dust jacket with slight age darkening and touches of wear at extremities. Actually quite nice. All of the Ballantine SF hardbacks if this era are hard to find.

  • Paltock, Robert. The Life & Adventures of Peter Wilkins. Hyperion Press, 1974. Reprint of the 1928 edition, which in turn reprints a novel first published in 1750 or 1751 (sources differ; Bleiler’s Checklist (1978 edition) says 1753, which I believe is the publication year for the second volume). Fine- copy, with trace of wear along bottom board, sans dust jacket, as issued.
  • Pohl, Frederik, and C. M. Kornbluth. The Space Merchants. Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martins, 2011. “Revised 21st Century Edition,” trade paperback original thus.
  • Powers, Tim. The Bible Repairman and Other Stories. Subterranean Press, 2011. One of 500 signed, numbered copies.
  • Resnick, Mike. Blasphemy. Golden Gryphon, 2010.
  • Rickert, M. Holiday. Golden Gryphon, 2010.
  • Rochelle, Warren. The Called. Golden Gryphon, 2010.
  • Rochelle, Warren. A Harvest of Changelings. Golden Gryphon, 2007.
  • Rusch, Kristine Kathryn. Recovering Apollo 8. Golden Gryphon, 2010.
  • Sargent, Pamela. Thumbprints. Golden Gryphon, 2004. Signed by Sargent.
  • Scalzi, John. Fuzzy Nation. Tor, 2011.
  • Serviss, Garrett P. Edison’s Conquest of Mars. Carcosa House, 1947. Full details here.

  • Shute, Nevil. On the Beach. Heinemann, 1957. First edition hardback, a near Fine plus copy with dust staining to top page blocks and touches of wear to boards at heel, in a Near Fine dust jacket, with slight edgewear at head and heel and a few very short, closed tears.
  • Silverberg, Robert. The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg Volume Six: Multiples 1983-87. Fine, sans dj, as issued.
  • Skillingstead, jack. Are You There. Golden Gryphon, 2009.
  • Skipp, John and Cody Goodfellow. Spore. Morning Star Press, 2011. Signed PC copy; the regular edition was 150 signed, numbered copies.
  • Smith, Clark Ashton. The Collected Fantasies Volume 5: The Last Hieroglyph. Night Shade Press, 2010.
  • Stross, Charles. Palimpsest. Subterranean Press, 2011.
  • Twain, Mark (edited by Harriet Elinor Smith). The Autobiography of Mark Twain: Volume 1. University of California Press, 2010. Non-fiction, and large enough to stun an ox.
  • (Vance, Jack) Andre-Driussi, Michael. Vance Space. Sirius Fiction, 1997. First edition chapbook, a Fine copy in self-wraps. Signed by Vance. Non-fiction.

  • Willis, Connie. All Clear. Ballantine Books, 2010. Signed.
  • Williamson, Jack. At the Human Limit: The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Eight. Haffner Press, 2011.
  • Wilson, Robert. Julian Comstock. Tor, 2009.
  • Wolfe, Gene. The Sorcerer’s House. Tor, 2010. Read this in ARC, and sort-of reviewed it here.
  • Zelazny, Roger. Unicorn Variations Timescape, 1983. Supplements an inscribed book club edition.
  • Related Topics

    Other science fiction book collecting topics you might find of interest:

  • A description of my own library of science fiction first editions (a couple of years out of date; I need to update this)
  • My Books Wanted List
  • Lame Excuse Books, my own side SF/F/H book business, where a discerning collector may find several first editions of potential interest.
  • Other book related posts
  • Books I Picked Up at the Reno Worldcon

    Friday, September 2nd, 2011

    Various issues have kept me remarkably busy the last few days, so it may take a little while to get my blogging back up to speed. In particular, I wanted to do a brief roundup of some of the books I bought at the Reno Worldcon.

    This year’s Worldcon had a better dealer’s room than Denver in 2008 (the last Worldcon I went to), and there were many rare and tempting items there (including not one, but two copies of the first edition of William Timlin’s The Ship That Sailed to Mars, as well as a fine signed first edition of Alfred Bester’s Tiger Tiger listed for $2,500, and which sold for a bit less) which, alas, they wanted more for than I was willing to spend.

    But here are a few items I was able to add to my collection:

  • Serviss, Garrett P. Edison’s Conquest of Mars. Carcosa House, 1947. First edition hardback, one of 1,500 copies, a Fine copy in one of only 500 (or fewer) dust jackets distributed with the book, a Near Fine example of dj with just a few traces of edgewear and slight age-darkening to the spine. The dust jacket is rarely found, and even more seldom found in such excellent condition.

    The dust jacket art itself is perhaps the finest ever drawn by an eight-year old…

  • Hubbard, L. Ron. Final Blackout. Hadley Publishing, 1948. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with slight age darkening to white portions of cover. I’m not a big fan of Hubbard (or his church), but this and Fear are reportedly among his best works, and I am less familiar with his output than almost any other Golden Age author. Plus it puts me closer to having a complete collection of Hadley Publishing, an important early SF specialty press.

  • Gaiman, Neil. Melinda. Hill House, 2004. First edition graphic novel, one of 1,500 signed copies, Fine, sans dust jacket, as issued. Wanted this when it came out, but not enough to pay the $250 or so Hill House was asking for it, especially considering how slender it is. But the $50 I picked it up for was just right…


  • Anderson, Poul. Fire Time. Doubleday, 1974. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine dust jacket with edgewear. Not a difficult or valuable title, except this copy was inscribed by Anderson to Charles N. Brown, which I thought made it worth a good bit more than the $15 the Locus folks were asking for it.
  • Diaz, Junot. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Riverhead Books, 2007. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Been looking for a copy at various Half Price Books and not finding one, so I was happy to pick this up from Scott and Willie.
  • Farmer, Philip Jose. The Keeper of the Secrets. Severn House, 1985. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a tiny bit of haze rubbing to the rear cover. First hardback edition of The Mad Goblin.
  • Farmer, Philip Jose. Love Song. Brandon House, 1970. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine- copy, with slight cover wear and ownership stamps and stickers for Diana Ann Barbour. My best find at the convention wasn’t even a purchase; Barbour had specified that her library was to be given away, and when I spotted this green spine among the stacks of Philip Jose Farmer paperbacks being set out, I snagged it. (I left behind two of the Essex House paperbacks they were putting out, because it doesn’t pay to be piggish.) The only copy of the PBO online lists for $850. That’s too high, but $200-400 is probably realistic.

  • Moorcock, Michael. The Sleeping Sorceress. New English Library, 1971. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with color loss along inner flaps edges (possibly a printing flaw). First hardback edition of The Vanishing Tower.
  • Moorcock, Michael. The Runestaff. White Lion, 1974. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with just a tiny bit of wear in a Fine dust jacket. First hardback edition.
  • Shute, Nevil. On the Beach. Heinemann, 1957. First edition hardback, a near Fine plus copy with dust staining to top page blocks and touches of wear to boards at heel, in a Near Fine dust jacket, with slight edgewear at head and heel and a few very short, closed tears.