Posts Tagged ‘reference works’
Tuesday, March 5th, 2019
The Jack Vance buying spree continues:
Vance, Jack. To Live Forever. Charles F. Miller, 1995. First limited edition, #116 of 500 signed, numbered hardbacks, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine slipcase. Cunningham, 79c. Chalker/Owings (2002), page 533. Supplements a signed copy of the Ballantine Books hardback first edition. Bought off eBay for $46.57 (original publication price was $60).
(Vance, Jack) Tim Underwood and Chuck Miller, editors. Jack Vance. Taplinger, 1980. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Vance. Book of critical essays. Hewett, M74. Replaces an unsigned copy. Bought from a friend for $35.
Tags:Books, Charles F. Miller, Jack Vance, reference works, Science Fiction, Tim Underwood, Underwood/Miller
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Saturday, December 29th, 2018
The last of the books from the Camelot 60% off sale. All but one of these are reference books, and the other is an oddity I just didn’t include with the previously listed books.
(Ellison, Harlan) Richmond, Tim, compiler and editor. Fingerprints on the Sky: The Authorized Harlan Ellison Bibliography. Edgeworks Abbey/Subterranean Press, 2017. First edition hardback, #238 of 500 numbered copies signed by Ellison and Richmond, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Massive oversized hardback, roughly 12 1/2″ high by 11″ wide. Lacks an index. Bought for $30, marked down from $75.
(Farmer, Philip Jose) Croteau, Michael. The Best of Farmerphile: The Magazine of Philip Jose Farmer. Meteor House, 2017. First edition hardback, one of 175 hardcovers signed by five of the contributors, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Contains a mixture of Farmer’s fiction, non-fiction, and essays about Farmer and his works by others, so I’ll probably end up shelving this under fiction anyway. Bought for $20, marked down from $50.
Golden, Christopher, editor (Clive Barker, Joe R. Lansdale, Charles L. Grant, John Ferris, etc). Cut! Horror Writers on Horror Film. Borderlands Press, 1992. First hardback edition and first edition thus, #318 of 500 signed, numbered copies signed by most of the contributors (doesn’t look like Anne Rice signed it), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and Fine slipcase. Bought for $20 marked down from $50 (list price was $65).
King, Stephen, with John Mellencamp and T. Bone Burnett. Ghost Brothers of Darkland County. Concord Music Group, 2013. Trade paperback original in slipcase, the size and shape of an old multi-record LP boxed set, with two CDs of music and a DVD in pockets at the back. Libretto for a “Southern Gothic supernatural musical thriller.” The cast they’ve assembled to sing this thing is amazing: Elvis Costello, Neko Case, Kris Kristofferson, Roseanne Cash, Sheryl Crowe, etc. Bought for $19.99 marked down from $49.99.
(Lovecraft, H.P.) S.T. Joshi. H.P. Lovecraft: A Comprehensive Bibliography. University of Tampa Press, 2009. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. An update of Joshi’s 1981 Lovecraft bibliography. Weighs in at a hefty 681 pages. 200 Books by S. T. Joshi, I33a.
Williams, Liz, and Trevor Jones. Diary of a Witchcraft Shop. NewCon Press, 2011. First edition hardback, #49 of 50 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. I already owned the second volume, of which there were 100 hardbacks. Bought for $12 marked down from $30.
Tags:bibliography, Books, Borderlands Press, Fantasy, H. P. Lovecraft, Harlan Ellison, Horror, Liz Williams, Music, Philip Jose Farmer, reference works, S. T. Joshi, Science Fiction, Stephen King, Subterranean Press
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Monday, December 17th, 2018
These were all books I picked up at various Houston Half Price Books stores the day after Thanksgiving. Those without prices were bought at half cover price.
Chabon, Michael. Moonglow. Harper, 2016. First edition hardback, one of an unstated number of signed limited copies sold by Powell’s Books, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket in a special slipcase, with a non-fiction Moonglow chapbook containing “The Box,” “The Facts,” and “The Interview” (Near Fine, with slight creasing) laid in. #63 in the Powells’ “Indiespensible” series, special signed editions sent out to book club members with various extras. Bought for $25.
Crais, Robert. The Wanted. Putnam, 2017. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Crais. I was looking through the discounted section of a Half Price Books, saw that this was a nice copy, thought to myself “I wonder if it’s signed,” picked it up, and it was. Hence George Locke’s dictum: “Don’t look for books, look at books.” Mystery novel. Bought for $3.00.
Duncan, Andy and Ellen Klages. Wakulla Springs. Tor, 2015. First edition hardback (evidently a reprint of an electronic version), a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, presumably as issued. Weird trim factor, being a small format hardback sightly smaller than a paperback. Bought for $4.99.
Howard, Robert E. Trails in Darkness. Baen, 1996. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with slight edgewear to top front cover and slight foxing to inside covers. Volume VII in the Robert E. Howard library.
Howard, Robert E. Beyond the Borders. Baen, 1996. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy. Volume VI in the Robert E. Howard library.
Kuttner, Henry (& C. L. Moore). Clash By Night. Hamlyn, 1980. First edition paperback original, a Very Good copy with a a long crease across the front cover. Short story collection. Kuttner’s name alone appears on the cover, but the title page also has C.L. Moore’s name, and all the stories are collaborations between the two.
Sammon, Paul M., editor. Splatterpunks: Extreme Horror. St. Martin’s Press, 1990. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight edgewear at head, heel and points. Signed by contributors Joe R. Lansdale, Ed Bryant, Nancy Collins and Chas. Balun. I had a copy of this (and I’m cited as an expert in here), but I didn’t get Ed Bryant to sign my copy, so this was a nice find. Bought for $12.49.
Tags:Andy Duncan, Books, C. L. Moore, Ed Bryant, Fantasy, Henry Kuttner, Horror, Joe R. Lansdale, Limited Editions, Michael Chabon, Nancy Collins, reference works, Robert Crais, Robert E. Howard, Science Fiction, signed, splatterpunk
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Friday, September 21st, 2018
Two more signed Ray Bradbury items, both bought off eBay from different sellers:
Bradbury, Ray. They Have Not Seen The Stars. Stealth Press, 2002. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by Bradbury. Bradbury’s collected poetry. Bought off eBay for $40. Stealth Press was an interesting publishing experiment that probably lost it’s backers a ton of money…
(Bradbury, Ray) Kipen, David, Campbell Iriving and Erika Koss. Reader’s Guide: Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. National Endowment for the Arts, 2006. Presumed first edition chapbook (no additional printings stated), a Fine- copy with a couple of specks of edgewear. Inscribed by Bradbury on the cover: “Carol!/Love!/Ray/B.” With a photograph of Bradbury signing books laid in. Non-fiction critical companion. Bought off eBay for $29.99.
Tags:Books, chapbooks, poetry, Ray Bradbury, reference works, Science Fiction
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Monday, September 3rd, 2018
Another odd item for the reference library:
(Francis, Bruce (uncredited), compiler/editor, with Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Elvira, Rowena, and William F. Nolan.) The Undead (AKA The Book Sail 16th Anniversary Catalogue). McLaughlin Press, 1984. First edition hardback, #326 of 550 copies of the Deluxe (and only hardback) edition, a Near Fine copy with fading to spine, in a Near Fine slipcase, from which the cloth is starting to peel away at the bottom (which I intended to repair), sans dust jacket, as issued. An extremely elaborate affair for a book catalog, including a lenticular image of horror hostess Elvira (who has signed a signature page in the book) embedded in the cover, a Rowena full-page, full-color illustration, “Sorceress,” opposite her signature, which looks like something of a self-portrait, a signed Forward from Ray Bradbury, a signed story (“The Undead”) from Robert Bloch, and a signed William F. Nolan chapbook (“The Dandelion Chronicles”) inserted into a special pocket at the back of the book.
In addition to all that, there’s also an extensive book and manuscript catalog which makes up the bulk of the book, including a ridiculous amount of Lovecraft material, including amateur press publications, original manuscripts, letters, postcards, etc. It also includes Sonia Haft Greene Lovecraft’s passport, which I’ve seen at listed for sale/auction least twice since (from L. W. Currey and later listed by Heritage Auctions). Also includes many non-book rarities, including the first appearance of Siegel and Shuster’s Superman character in a fanzine (where he was a bald villain), an original stop-motion armature of King Kong, and Judy Garland’s contract for The Wizard of Oz.
I’ve long lusted after a copy of this book, which came out just before I started collecting, but it usually listed in the $350 range. Bought for $75 off eBay.
Note: The limited, leather-bound presentation state (not seen) evidently included an original, unique Hannes Bok drawing in every copy…
Tags:Elvira, Fantasy, H. P. Lovecraft, Horror, Lovecraft Circle, Ray Bradbury, reference works, Robert Bloch, Rowena, Science Fiction, Sonia Haft Greene Lovecraft, William F. Nolan
Posted in Books, Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction | 2 Comments »
Saturday, August 18th, 2018
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).
Ruz, Bruce. Hollywood vs. The Aliens: The Motion Picture Industry’s Participation in UFO Disinformation. Frog Limited, 1997. First edition trade paperback original, a Near Fine- with a crease across back top cover. Conspiracy theory movie history. Don: “Well worth reading for the shock around page 120 when you realize that he’s serious.”
(Shaver, Richard) Toronto, Richard. War Over Lemuria: Richard Shaver, Ray Palmer and the Strangest Chapter of 1940s Science Fiction. McFarland, 2013. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine- copy that looks like it’s been read once. With review slip laid in. Book on the Shaver Mystery by someone who knew Shaver and published Shaverton fanzine.
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.
Tags:Books, Conspiracy Theories, Don Webb, Horror, reference works, Samuel R. Delany, Science Fiction, Shaver Mystery, signatures, UFO, Werewolves
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Thursday, August 2nd, 2018
Two more from the Cold Tonnage 40% off sale:
Cooper, James. In Conversation: A Writer’s Perspective: Volume One: Horror. British Fantasy Society, 2009. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Interviews with various horror writers, including Joe R. Lansdale, Graham Joyce, Ray Garton, etc. Bought for £9 after discount.
Hendrix, Grady. Paperbacks From Hell: The twisted History of ’70s and ’80s Horror Fiction. Quirk Books, 2017. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Oversized illustrated trade paperback popular history of horror paperbacks of the 1970s and 80s, broken up by theme. Lacks key bibliographic information about the books covered, alas. Bought for £10.80 after discount.
Tags:Books, Horror, reference works
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Tuesday, July 31st, 2018
Cold Tonnage Books had their annual 40% off sale, so here’s the first batch of books I picked up, all related either to H.P. Lovecraft or Arkham House.
Datlow, Ellen, editor. Lovecraft’s Monsters. Tachyon Press, 2014. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Signed by Datlow. Mostly reprints, with a couple of originals. Bought for £6 after discount.
Derleth, August. The Chronicles of Solar Pons. Mycroft & Moran, 1973. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a thin line of wear at the very bottom of the heel. Collection of Derleth’s Sherlockian Solar Pons stories from Arkham House’s sister imprint. Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House, M&M15, page 183. Jaffrey, Horrors and Unpleasantries, 128. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide, M15, page 154. Bought for £9 after discount.
Lovecraft, H.P. and Willis Conover. Lovecraft at Last. Carrollton-Clark, 1975. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Oversized volume that reprints the correspondence between Lovecraft and the then-teen-aged Conover, some in two-color facsimile. Joshi, H. P. Lovecraft: An Annotated Bibliography, I-A-62. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 91, who note that Conover lost tens of thousands of dollars on the project. Bought for £24 after discount.
(Lovecraft, H.P.) S.T. Joshi. An Index to the Selected Letters of H. P. Lovecraft. Necronomicon Press, 1980. First edition chapbook original, a Fine copy. Reference work. Joshi, H. P. Lovecraft: An Annotated Bibliography, Supplement C-III, page 412. Bought for £12 after discount.
Wakfield, H.R. Strayers From Sheol. Arkham House, 1961. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with just a trace of dust soiling to the white cover (exaggerated in the scan). Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House, 60. Jaffrey, Horrors and Unpleasantries, 60. Nielsen, Arkham House Books: A Collector’s Guide, 63. Bleiler, Supernatural Horror in Literature, 1647. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 30. Bought for £30 after discount.
Tags:Arkham House, August Derleth, Books, Cthulhu, Ellen Datlow, H. P. Lovecraft, H. R. Wakefield, Horror, reference works, S. T. Joshi, Willis Conover
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Friday, July 20th, 2018
If that headline seems like a repeat, it’s because there are an awful lot of books with Bradbury and Chronicles in their titles, and I have several…
(Bradbury, Ray) Weller, Sam. The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury. William Morrow, 2005. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by Bradbury. Biography and in-depth look at his work. Bpught off eBay for $25.
And that marks the last thing that came in during the first half of the year. Expect another big library additions roundup post sometime next week…
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Horror, Ray Bradbury, reference works, Science Fiction, signed
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Tuesday, May 29th, 2018
I heard about David Pringle’s ongoing Ballard/Moorcock chronology from him on Facebook, which lead me to tracking down these.
(Ballard, J.G.) McGrath, Rick, editor. The JG Ballard Book. The Terminal Press, 2013. First edition, first printing hardback (stated, though actually a POD book), a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Oversized hardback (about the size and thickness of a high school yearbook) chock full of various Ballard tidbits, including an interview with David Pringle, additions to the Goddard bibliography, pictures of Ballard’s house, maps to the Shanghai of his youth, with many pages in color, etc.
(Ballard, J.G.) McGrath, Rick, editor. Deep Ends The JG Ballard Anthology 2014. The Terminal Press, 2014. First edition, first printing hardback (stated, though actually a POD book), a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Oversized hardback chock full of various Ballard tidbits, including a previously unpublished Ballard work (“Crystal of the Sea”), a David Pringle interview with one of Ballard’s daughters, and a remembrance of another, plus sundry critical essays and (ahem) “Why I Want To Fuck Rupert Murdoch.”
(Ballard, J.G.) McGrath, Rick, editor. Deep Ends The JG Ballard Anthology 2015. The Terminal Press, 2015. First edition, first printing hardback (stated, though actually a POD book), a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Oversized hardback full of even more Ballard tidbits, including the first part of David Pringle’s extensive Moorcock/Ballard chronology (indeed, hearing about that is what first made me track these volumes down), plus lots of critical essays, including one on Ballard, Dick and Baudrillard.
(Ballard, J.G.) McGrath, Rick, editor. Deep Ends The JG Ballard Anthology 2016. The Terminal Press, 2016. First edition, first printing hardback (stated, though actually a POD book), a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Oversized hardback full of even more Ballard tidbits, including the second part of David Pringle’s extensive Moorcock/Ballard chronology, an English bookseller’s notes on selling Ballard, an interview conducted by Paul Di Filippo, etc.
Please note that copies of all four will be available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, which should go out this week.
Tags:Books, David Pringle, J. G. Ballard, Michael Moorcock, Paul Di Filippo, reference works, Science Fiction, science fiction criticism, small press publishers
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