Posts Tagged ‘signatures’

Library Additions: Four John Crowley Firsts

Monday, February 26th, 2024

These four books were offered as The John Crowley Conway Miscellany set on Kickstarter. Each has a different trim size.

  • Crowley, John. Seventy-Nine Dreams. Ninpin Press, 2024. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. A dream journal. 5″ tall by 5″ wide
  • Crowley, John. The Sixties: A Forged Diary. Ninpin Press, 2024. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. A reconstruction of Crowley’s life in New York City in the 60s. “After taking a job with a photography studio, he soon crosses paths with the likes of Andy Warhol and Richard Avedon, Claudia Cardinale and Raquel Welch.” 8″ tall by 6″ wide.
  • Crowley, John. Two Chapters in a Family Chronicle. Ninpin Press, 2024. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Two stories, “Percy and Lulu Go to Vermont” and “Poker Night at the Elks Club 1938” that “link three generations of John Crowley’s family.” 7″ tall by 5″ wide.
  • Crowley, John. Two Chapters in a Family Chronicle. Ninpin Press, 2024. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy, with signature plate by Crowley laid in (only one per set). Two speeches, “Practicing the Arts of Peace and “The Uses of Allegory.” 6″ tall by 4″ wide.

  • The four books together can be laid out to form a single image. Because the books are too large to fit on my scanner, I have copied the image from the Kickstarter page.

    I will have a small number of sets of these (with the signature plate) in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.

    Library Additions: Six Signed Books

    Tuesday, January 30th, 2024

    All these came from an online bookseller I don’t usually deal with. And I did get rooked a bit for shipping. But these were all 75% off signed firsts.

  • Bacigalupi, Paolo. The Water Knife. Knopf, 2015. First edition hardback, a Fine copy with a bound-in signature page, with a Fine dust jacket with a “SIGNED FIRST EDITION” sticker. Bought for $8. (Note: The Scanner does not like the “poly-chromatic on black” effect so I had to adjust it some to make it legible.)

  • Barry, Dave. Best. State. Ever. A Florida Man Defends His Homeland. Putnam, 2016. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Barry. Non-fiction humor book. Bought for $8.

  • Barry, Dave, and Alan Zweibel. Lunatics. Putnum, 2012. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Barry. This and the above are my second and third signed Barry firsts. I already had a book signed by Zweibel. Bought for $8.
  • Brin, David and Stephen W. Potts. Chasing Shadows: Visions of Our Coming Transparent World. Tor, 2017. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Brin on a signature page. Collection of essays by science fiction writers like Neal Stephenson, Bruce Sterling, William Gibson, Robert Silverberg, Vernor Vinge, etc. It says “Brin Presents” but Potts appears to be the actual editor. This and Lunatics are signed on this gray box in what assume is a tipped-in page, presumably something this particular bookseller does. It’s a bit odd. Bought for $8.

  • Hand, Elizabeth. Hard Light. Minotaur Books, 2016. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bend at heel, signed by Hand. “A Cass Neary Crime Novel.” Bought for $8.

  • Morrell, David. Creepers. CDS Books, 2005. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine, Mylar-protected dust jacket, signed by Morrell. Bought for $8.
  • I also bought seven signed bookplates by Morrell at $4 a pop that I’m going to lay into my unsigned Morrell firsts.

    This is the last of my 2023 book purchases.

    Library Additions: Six Signed Books

    Wednesday, January 10th, 2024

    All these were found at various Half Price Books stores in the Dallas Metroplex.

  • Aldrin, Buzz, and John Barnes. Encounter With Tiber. Warner Books, 1996. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, inscribed by Aldrin: “To Michael,/Buzz Aldrin.” Pretty sure Barnes did the overwhelming majority of the writing, but it’s pretty cool to own a book signed by a guy who walked on the moon. Bought for $7.99.

  • Block, Lawrence. The Scoreless Thai. Subterranean Press, 2000. First hardback edition (previously published in a 1970s PBO), a trade edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Block. Novella. Bought for $10, 1/3rd of publication price, and the trade edition wasn’t issued signed by Block.

  • Block, Lawrence. Tanner’s Tiger. Subterranean Press, 2001. First hardback edition (previously published as a 1968 paperback original), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Block. Tanner novel. Bought for $10, 1/3rd of publication price, and the trade edition wasn’t issued signed by Block.
  • Chabon, Michael. Summerland. Hyperion, 2002. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bumping at head and heel, signed by Chabon. Bought for $9.99, which, oddly enough, seems to be about market. After he won the Hugo and Nebula for the excellent The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, I though Chabon books were going to head steadily upward in value; the exact opposite seems to have happened. It looks like every single one of Chabon’s novels except The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay can be found in signed first edition hardbacks at or less than cover price. I can’t figure it out, as all three of the Chabon books I’ve read (The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and Gentlemen of the Road) were excellent.
  • Etchison, Dennis. Red Dreams. Scream/Press, 1984. First edition hardback, #192 of 250 numbered hardbacks signed by Etichson and artist J.K. Potter, a Fine copy in a Fine, Mylar-protected dust jacket and a Fine- slipcase with a trace of haze rubbing, and additionally signed by Etchison. The second short story collection by this acclaimed horror writer. The third publication of Scream/Press. Chalker/Owings, page 335. Supplements a trade copy. Bought for $30.

    (Surface wear is on the dust jacket protector.)

  • Fowler, Karen Joy. Booth. Putnam, 2022. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with just a trace of edgewear, the signed publisher’s variant with a “Signed Copy” sticker on the cover and a page signed by Fowler bound in. Novel of the theatrical Booth family (including presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth) in early 19th century America. Bought for $13.99.

  • Library Additions: Three Signed Stephen R. Donaldson Firsts

    Tuesday, October 24th, 2023

    Stephen R. Donaldson was someone I read back before I collected first editions, and the Thomas Covenant books were ones I read despite disliking the central character.

    But I had a chance to grab signed firsts of the second Thomas Covenant trilogy from the same collector culling his collection as the previous Vance, Blaylock, etc. entries. All of these replaced unsigned book club copies.

  • Donaldson, Stephen R. The Wounded Land. Del Rey, 1980. First edition hardback (“First Edition: June 1980/1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10”), a Fine copy in a Near Fine dust jacket with faint crease down spine, small closed tear at top frotn, and wear at heel and points, signed and dated (“4/15/82”) by Donaldson, with bookmark for the trilogy laid in.

  • Donaldson, Stephen R. The One Tree. Del Rey, 1982. First edition hardback (“First Edition: April 1982”), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed and dated (“4/15/82”) by Donaldson, with bookmark for the trilogy laid in. Note: While the other two first editions in the trilogy feature numberlines, this one does not. I know that this is not the book club edition (which I also have in hand), there are no pictures of a copyright page with a numberline for this title I can locate, and consensus is that they apparently just left it off.

  • Donaldson, Stephen R. White Gold Wielder. Del Rey, 1983. First edition hardback (“First Edition: April 1983/1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10”), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed and dated (“5/6/89”) by Donaldson, with bookmark for the trilogy laid in.

  • The story I’ve heard from a couple of places is that Lester Del Rey’s boss at Del Rey/Ballantine (I’m assuming Ian Ballantine) walked by Lester’s office and asked “Shouldn’t we be getting in the new Donald Covenant manuscript soon?”

    Del Rey: “Oh, I rejected it.”

    Long pause. “You what?” Keep in mind that at this point, Donaldson was the biggest selling author in all of Ballantine Books.

    Del Rey: “Yeah, it was told from a woman’s viewpoint. Books told from a woman’s viewpoint don’t sell to fantasy readers.”

    The publisher stood there for a few seconds, then walked out without another word and called Donaldson from his office.

    “Stephen, what are you doing right now?”

    “I’m looking at the rejection letter Lester sent me.”

    “OK, from now on, I’m your editor. Send me the manuscript.”

    Many years of profitable publishing then ensued…

    Library Addition: Signed First of Cormac McCarthy’s The Crossing

    Tuesday, September 19th, 2023

    I’ve been somewhat casually collecting Cormac McCarthy for a decade or so. The early stuff (Blood Meridian and before) is insanely expensive, and he was well known for avoiding book signings and other public events. When this signed copy popped up in my price range, I went ahead and grabbed it.

    McCarthy, Cormac. The Crossing. Knopf, 1994. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, with McCarthy signature plate attached to half-title page. Second book in the Border Trilogy, preceded by his breakthrough bestseller and National Book Award winner All the Pretty Horses. Supplements an unsigned first. Bought for $400 (with discount) from a fellow dealer.

    It’s always chancy to buy books signed by an author who’s recently died. There’s a “death curve” where prices for signed copies jump immediately after their death, and then start coming down again six months to a year later. And there are some writers whose popularity simply falls off entirely after their death. But I fairly strongly suspect that McCarthy’s appeal will prove more enduring, so I grabbed a signed first at a price I could afford.

    Library Additions: Two Kolchak: The Night Stalker Graphic Novels

    Monday, March 13th, 2023

    These two items came from a Kickstarter.

  • Aquilone, James, editor. Kolchak: The Night Stalker: 50th Anniversary. Moonstone, 2022. First edition hardback graphic novel, the hardcover variant version (ISBN 978-1-946346-16-2), a Fine- copy with slight bumping to upper points, in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued, with illustration card signed on the back by Aquilone laid in. Collection of stories (some graphic novel style some straight prose) based on the legendary Kolchak: The Night Stalker TV show. According to the Kickstarter page, there were 231 of this version backed.

  • Aquilone, James, editor. Kolchak: The Night Stalker: Satanic Panic ’88 + Two Other Uncanny Tales. Moonstone, 2022. First edition comic book, a Fine copy, signed by Aquilone. Bought from Kickstarter as an add-in to the above.

  • And here’s my review of the original The Night Stalker TV movie.

    Library Additions: Three Stephen King Firsts, One Signed

    Wednesday, August 3rd, 2022

    All three of these were from a private collector culling his own collection:

  • King, Stephen. The Dead Zone. Viking, 1979. First edition hardback (“First published in 1979 by the Viking Press” on the copyright page), a Fine copy in a Fine, first state (price of $11.95 and code 0879 on the bottom of the flap), Mylar-protected dust jacket, inscribed by King: “To Brian —/Be well, hope you/like this/Stephen King/10/13/79.”). King’s seventh novel, and the fifth under his own name. Collings, Horror Plumbed, A7. Spignesi, The Shape Under the Sheet, pages 241-247. Waiter/Golden/Wagner, Stephen King Universe (Cemetery Dance edition), pages 187-194. Bought for $240.

  • King, Stephen. Gerald’s Game. Viking, 1992. First edition “preview edition,” one of 2,000 hardback copies with a handwritten note by King printed on the front free endpaper distributed at the 1992 American Booksellers Association convention, a Fine copy in a Fine printed and stapled cardboard slipcase, sans dust jacket, as issued. Collings, Horror Plumbed, A45. Waiter/Golden/Wagner, Stephen King Universe (Cemetery Dance edition), pages 285-290. Bought for $48.

  • King, Stephen. Pet Sematary. Doubleday, 1983. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Replaces a slightly less attractive copy. Collings, Horror Plumbed, A22. Spignesi, The Shape Under the Sheet, pages 301-304. Waiter/Golden/Wagner, Stephen King Universe (Cemetery Dance edition), pages 269-278 Bought for $15.
  • Library Additions: Three Heinlein Firsts, One Signed

    Monday, August 1st, 2022

    Three Heinlein firsts bought from two different sources:

  • Heinlein, Robert A. Beyond This Horizon. Fantasy Press, 1948. First edition hardback, #413 of 500 signed, numbered subscriber copies (Currey State A), a Very Good copy with former owner George Price’s name and address on inside front cover and a quote from Hamlet (“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”) written on the front free endpaper in the same hand, with bumping at head and heel and a few faint spots of foxing to first few pages, in a Good+ dust jacket with 1/2″ chips to heel and bottom front cover, 1/4″ tackhead-sized chip to spine (affecting bottom of “O” in “HORIZON”), plus a few lesser chips, creases, rubs and general wear. Inscribed by Heinlein: “For George W. Price/All good wishes!/Robert A. Heinlein.” George W. Price ran Advent Publishers and participated in the 1959 Chicago Worldcon bid, and he seems to be still alive at age 93. Heinlein’s second novel. Currey, page 232. Chalker/Owings, page 158. Barron, Anatomy of Wonder 4, 3-84. Bought for £350 from a notable UK book dealer.

    This is the fourth signed Heinlein I’ve added to my collection. For others, see here and here.

  • Heinlein, Robert A. Glory Road. Putnam, 1963. First edition hardback (no statement of printing on copyright page, as per Currey), an Ex-Library copy with front free endpaper excised, discard stamps, abrasion wear along bottom boards, light paste-ghosts to inside covers, reinforcement to front and rear gutters, etc.; call it a Good+ Ex-Lib copy in a Very Good+ dust jacket with 1/32″ strip of loss at very bottom of heel, slight wear and creasing at head and heel, trace of crease along front spine join, thin, closed 2″ tear/crack along spine to middle of back cover, slight wear at points, and the barest trace of those paste ghosts to blind side; actually a very presentable copy of the dust jacket. Replaces another Ex-Library copy (non-first) in my collection. Currey, page 232. Bought for $16 from a collector culling his collection.

  • Heinlein, Robert A. The Menace From Earth. Gnome Press, 1959. First edition hardback, a Near Fine+ copy with slight bumping at head, heel and points (and far less than usual age darkening to the cheap later Gnome Press paper) in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with one 1/8″ closed tear and associated triangular crease to bottom rear dust jacket, very slight age darkening to spine, trace of edgewear to rear flap, and a few traces of dust soiling to white over, otherwise an extremely nice example of the dust jacket. Short story collection, including the classic “By His Bootstraps.” Currey, page 233. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, page 109. Chalker/Owings, page 205. Kemp, The Anthem Series, page 278. Barron, Anatomy of Wonder 4, 3-87. ISFDB notes no price on dust jacket (as is the case here). Bought for £250 from a notable UK book dealer.

  • Library Additions: Four Firsts, Three Signed (Campbell, de Camp, van Vogt)

    Friday, July 8th, 2022

    Four books picked up from a UK book dealer, three of which are signed copies from important Golden Age small presses.

  • Campbell, John W. Cloak of Aesir. Shasta Publisher, 1952. First edition hardback, a Near Fine- copy with 2″ x 3/4″ light black staining to back rear cover (appears to be moisture staining from the cover dye), with a tiny bit of transfer to the very bottom outer tips of last few pages as well, with a few slightly light spots to boards, slight bumping at head and heel, and slight foxing along gutters, in a Very Good- dust jacket with light staining down spine, spots of light staining across back cover, shallow edge chipping at head, heel and points, signed by Campbell. Stories written under his Don A. Stuart pen name. Currey, page 97. Locke, Spectrum of Fantasy, page 46. Chalker Ownings, page 398. Kemp, The Anthem Series, page 166. Supplements an unsigned copy. Bought for £36.

  • de Camp, L. Sprague and P. Schuyler Miller. Genus Homo. Fantasy Press, 1950. First edition hardback, first state (Currey A) binding of green cloth lettered in gold, #172 of 500 numbered copies signed by both authors, further inscribed by Miller “To Sylvester Brown, Jr./in the hope that we’ve guessed/all wrong about tomorrow,” a Near Fine- copy with non-authorial judgement of the book written in a neat hand on the inside front cover (hidden by dj flap), gold spine lettering slightly rubbed and bumping at heel, and trace of foxing to inside covers and end-papers, in a Very Good+ dust jacket with closed tear creases to the bottom 1/4″ to 1/8″ of the front bottom edge, smaller closed tear and creasing at heed, quarter-sized abrasion to front cover affecting G in “Genus,” edgewear at heel, slight dust soiling to white back cover, and a few other touches of rubbing (slightly exaggerated in scan). Sleeper awakes sort of novel about a busload of humans awakening in a far future world ruled by evolved primates (thirteen years before Pierre Boulle’s La Planète des singes). I had several de Camp signatures already, but not one for Miller. Currey, page 133. Chalker Owings, page 160. Kemp, The Anthem Series, page 32. Bought for £45.

  • (Dick, Philip K.) R.D. Mullin, Istvan Csicsery Rosney, Jr., Arthur B. Evans and veronica Hollinger, editors. On Philip K. Dick: 40 Articleas from Science-Fiction Studies. SF-TH, Inc., 1992. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Collection of critical essays on Dick from a wide variety of authors (Kim Stanley Robinson, Gregg Rickman, Stainislaw Lem, etc.). I was unaware that there was a hardback of this until it showed up in the catalog. Supplements a trade paperback copy. Bought for £112.50.

  • van Vogt, A. E. The Weapon Makers. Hadley Publishers, 1947. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with wear at head and heel, trace of rubbing to spine, and some dime-sized spots of foxing to inside covers, in a Very Good dust jacket with long wrinkles across back cover, shallow loss at points, spine quite faded, and a few additional touches of wear, inscribed by the author: “To/Fred C. Brown/best wishes,good luck/and cheerio. A. E. van Vogt.” Hadley was one of the earliest SF specialty publishers, and I now have three of their four books (including Campbell’s The Mightiest Machine and L. Ron Hubbard’s Final Blackout, but lacking E.E. “Doc” Smith’s The Skylark of Space, as it was a reprint of the Buffalo Book Company true first edition (which I have)). Currey, page 496. 333, page 65. Locke, Spectrum of Fantasy, page 217. Chalker Owings, page 231. Kemp, The Anthem Series, page 345-346. Bought for £112.50.

  • Library Additions: Four James P. Blaylock PBOs Inscribed To John Pelan

    Monday, May 30th, 2022

    Back when James P. Blaylock made it to Armadillocon more regularly than he does now, I got him to sign most of his early work, but neglected to pick up The Elfin Ship, The Disappearing Dwarf and The Stone Giant because I wasn’t yet the completest I am now and they looked a bit “Elfy Welfy” for my tastes. I’ve picked up a couple since, but haven’t had a chance for Blaylock to sign them. These are from the estate of editor and publisher John Pelan (Axolotl Press, Silver Salamander, etc.), sold through Centipede Press, each a price of about $5 each. Since Pelan published several Blaylock books through Axolotl, these are interesting associational copies.

  • Blaylock, James P. The Digging Leviathan. Ace, 1984. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with a tiny flake from the bottom front corner tip, inscribed by Blaylock: “To John Pelan,/the favorite of my/own books./Cheers/James P. Blaylock.” Replaces an unsigned copy and supplements an inscribed first of the Morrigan hardback.

  • Blaylock, James P. The Disappearing Dwarf. Del Rey, 1983. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with edgewear and flake chips to outer rear corners, inscribed by Blaylock: “To John,/on the first anniversary/of a hell of a good idea./Cheers,/Jim,/aka James P. Blaylock.” Sequel to The Elfin Ship. Replaces an unsigned copy.

  • Blaylock, James P. The Elfin Ship. Del Rey, 1983. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine- copy with slight spine creasing, inscribed by Blaylock: “To John Pelan,/My first book, but/not a bad one, I/hope./Best wishes/James P. Blaylock.
  • Blaylock, James P. The Stone Giant. Ace, 1989. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy with the barest trace of edgewear. Inscribed by Blaylock: “James P. Blaylock/For John,/I hope this is readable./I write it about 5 years/ago and don’t rightly/remember./Cheers/Jim.” Sequel to The Disappearing Dwarf. Replaces an unsigned copy.