I recently got in three interesting trim-sized chapbooks, two hardback and two signed:
One other thing these have in common: I’ll have copies for all three available through Lame Excuse Books (inquire if you want one).
I recently got in three interesting trim-sized chapbooks, two hardback and two signed:
One other thing these have in common: I’ll have copies for all three available through Lame Excuse Books (inquire if you want one).
Here’s all the books I added to my professional science fiction library over the first half of the year. All these are Fine first edition hardbacks in Fine dust jackets unless otherwise noted.
Bought in a lot with:
It’s been another landmark year for adding books to my library of science fiction first editions. This post documents everything I bought after my big Zelazny acquisition on June 13, including some books that have been covered in posts since, and many that haven’t. (What I bought earlier in the year before the big Zelazny purchase can be found here.) All are first edition hardbacks, Fine copies in Fine dust jackets, unless otherwise noted.
Vance, Jack. Gold and Iron. Underwood/Miller, 1982. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a slight wrinkle at rear heel. Previously published in paperback as Slaves of the Klau. Hewett, A9e.
Some more library additions, with no particular theme except books signed by the author.
If you collect everything an author wrote (or, in my case, everything they wrote which has been published as a separate items), you can end up with things that stray fairly far from what most people think of as “books.” Here are two recent acquisitions that may cause more than one collector to go “What the hell?”
My own bibliomania is well documented. But every now and then I stumble across instances of bibliomania in others. Some are completely orthogonal to my own, while others have some overlap.
One with a bit of overlap is Awful Books, the page of a collector who has a fair amount of science fiction, fantasy, and horror works. However, Mr. Awful (the owner’s name is not readily apparent on the website) seems to be interested far less in the writing content than the physical quality and presentation of limited and ultralimited editions, which he details and reviews with copious pictures.
And here’s his own collection of limited editions. Including not only comics and artbooks I would never contemplate buying, but even Danielle Steel limited editions (“I bought for a song on eBay [about $15.00 each]”).
And while I’m not a big fan of post-first edition limiteds, I must admit that Hill House lettered edition of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods is off the charts. (“Yo dawg, we heard you like traycases, so we created a traycase to hold your traycase.”)
Another example of bibliomania a little more closely aligned to my own madness preferences is Mike Berro’s Vance Tracker. “This page is dedicated to tracking the location of every special edition of books by Jack Vance. Primarily limited editions, but also rare trade editions, uncorrected proofs, and manuscripts.”
I’ve corresponded with Mike for well over a decade on our shared bibliomania (for Vance and others), and he was one of the driving forces behind the Vance Integral Edition. The tracker is well worth looking at if your Vance bibliomania pegs at “fanatic.”
Yes, more Worldcon photos. I’ve broken them up across multiple posts so the page didn’t load so slowly readers would think they were back in the Geocities era.
Dantzel Cherry and her friends charge up their eye lasers.
Legendary fan David Kyle, who attended the first Worldcon in New York City in 1939!
How many legends can you spot in this photo? David Hartwell, Robert Silverberg, and Joe and Gay Haldeman all talk to David Kyle.
Connie Willis, enjoying the first Worldcon where she wasn’t required to present an award since she was six years old.
With Mary Robinette Kowal, who survived the ordeal of being a SFWA officer.
Michael Cassutt, just minutes before he was tragically bored to death at the Robert A. Heinlein Society annual meeting.
Adam-Troy Castro. “I said sell Greek bonds! SELL!”
Steve Jackson, who was there with his Chaos Machine setup. “What’s that? I can’t hear you over the sound of all that money my Ogre Kickstarter made.”
Not-so-secret master of Fandom Ben Yalow.
John Picacio, in the last known photo of him before he won the freaking Hugo Award.
James Patrick Kelly and Robert Silverberg.
Saturday night I dined with Scott Bobo, Kurt Baty, Sarah Felix, Ed Scarborough, and Spike and Tom at Everest, a 7 course meal that took three and a half hours and cost $200. Sunday, before the Hugos? I ate at Chipolte with Dantzel and some of her friends.
Remember, pictures of attractive women are your best blog-visit drivers!
David Brin is the Belle of the Ball:
Molly Nixon, ready for the Hugos.
As is Mary Robinette Kowal.
Jim Minz and Mike Resnick at the door of the Baen party.
Scott Edelman and Robert Reed, in a diagonally framed shot to get both of them in.
Jay Lake, embossed by rocketship.
You go, I go, for podcasting Hugos:
Neil Gaiman, after the Hugos.
John Scalzi in Murder by Hugo (Neil’s, as it happens).
Scott Edelman’s fashion approaches David Hartwell levels of taste.
And now, for the full effect: With the shoes.
A better picture of Sue Burke, with 85% less “about to be eaten by zombies” grimness.
Texas Worldcon Chairman Bill Parker looking sharp.
Jim Mann, proving that some moose ties kan be pretty nasti.
Another crappy picture of Charlie Stross, this one wearing his “Christopher Priest yells at a cloud” inspired t-shirt.
It’s not my fault! She kept changing her outfit!
I recently got in the Folio edition of Neil Gaiman’s Rhyme Maidens broadsheet just published by Biting Dog Press. It’s unbelievably huge; in fact, it’s slightly taller than the Centipede Press A Lovecraft Retrospective: Artists Inspired by H. P. L. book. There were only fifty of them made. This is about the point where it stops being a book and starts being a fetish object.
Here’s a shot of the folio slipcase sitting next to the Subterranean Press edition of M is for Magic (which I still have copies of available for sale) for the sake of size comparison.
And here it is spread open:
It looks slightly blurry because it was shipped with tissue paper across both panels to protect it. It’s the same poem, in different colors and with a different illustration, on each page.
This edition sold out from the publisher.
I’m going to have one copy of Folio edition for my next Lame Excuse Books catalog, along with one copy of the regular broadsheet.
Neil Gaiman will be appearing on The Simpsons this Sunday. Neil has been mentioning it for a while, but this week is when it actually airs.
And here he is on Craig Ferguson talking about the episode: