Two more books from that private collection purchase, both of which are 1-to-1 swaps of Fine/Fine signed copies for Fine/Fine unsigned copies.
I was surprised that my existing Lord Kelvin’s Machine wasn’t signed, since Blaylock was a semi-regular Armadillocon attendee in the 1990s. i will have a number of Blaylock firsts (some signed) in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
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.
I think this ends this current run of Lansdale library additions. This one came from another publisher having a 50% off sale rather than a private collector.
Lansdale, Joe R. The Sky Done Ripped. Subterranean Press, 2019. First edition hardback, #324 of 350 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket and a Fine slipcase. Third book in the Ned the Seal trilogy. This edition features a collection of sketches at the back not in the trade edition. Supplements a signed copy of the trade edition. Bought for $47.50.
Another lettered copy purchased from that private collector:
Lansdale, Joe R. The Long Ones. Necro Publications, 1999. First edition hardback, letter R of 26 signed, leatherbound lettered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine traycase, sans dust jacket, as issued. In addition to the leather binding and traycase, this edition features an inserted (not attached) printed ribbon with title and author, a color frontispiece illustration, and several inserted black and white illustrations not in the ordinary numbered edition. Bought from a private collector for $300.
Three books bought from Subterranean Press at the usual discount:
I will have copies of all three of these available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, currently in progress.
Here are some Subterranean Press books I picked up at the usual dealer discount over the last few months.
I have all of these for sale through Lame Excuse Books.
Three books from the same Subterranean Press order that came in:
Please note that all three of these will be available in the Lame Excuse Books catalog I’m emailing out this week. Drop me a line if you want a copy.
Not many people read Frankenstein and think “Hey, what a swell idea! I should try that!”
But John Murray Spear was not an ordinary man. Nor did he think so small as to merely attempt to create a living creature with electricity. No, Spear thought much bigger than that.
He wanted to use electricity to build his own God.
Spear was a former Unitarian minister who had been driven out of more than one church for his strange ideas (oh those straight-laced Unitarians and their rigid dogmas!) who took a turn toward spiritualism right after the Fox sisters started their toe-tapping shenanigans. In 1853, supposedly following the instructions of a cadre of spirit guides (including Benjamin Franklin) he called the “Electricizers,” Spear and his followers began construction of his his electrical messiah, dubbed “New Motive Power,” on a hilltop in Lynn, Massachusetts.
“From the center of the table rose two metallic uprights connected at the top by a revolving steel shaft. The shaft supported a transverse steel arm from whose extremities were suspended two large steel spheres enclosing magnets. Beneath the spheres there appeared [..] a very curiously constructed fixture, a sort of oval platform, formed of a peculiar combination of magnets and metals. Directly above this were suspended a number of zinc and copper plates, alternately arranged, and said to correspond with the brain as an electric reservoir. These were supplied with lofty metallic conductors, or attractors, reaching upward to an elevated stratum of atmosphere said to draw power directly from the atmosphere. In combination with these principal parts were adjusted various metallic bars, plates, wires, magnets, insulating substances, peculiar chemical compounds, etc… At certain points around the circumference of these structures, and connected with the center, small steel balls enclosing magnets were suspended. A metallic connection with the earth, both positive and negative, corresponding with the two lower limbs, right and left, of the body, was also provided.
Once it was given life, New Motive Power was supposed to usher in a new era of heaven on earth.
After 9 months, they tried to give it life. Let me spoil the suspense for you: Didn’t work, though Spear claimed it did twitch feebly for a few minutes. Later it was supposedly torn apart by a mob of enraged townspeople.
Spear spent the rest of his life promoting spiritualism, free love, and socialism. (Speaking of gods that failed…)
I wonder if anyone has written the steampunk horror story where Spear succeeded, only to discover that building an electrical god based on instructions received from spirits turns out to be a really bad idea…
Every now and then you run across something curious enough that you go “Hmm, people should know about this!’
The band Steam Powered Giraffe is just such an entity. I mean, how many other retro pantomime Steampunk harmony bands are there out there?
An example:
Here’s “Fire Fire,” a little outer-space disaster ditty:
I like the harmonies, but overall they’re a little softer than the mainstream of music I care for.
You wonder what the popularity plateau for a band like this is. There are a surprising number of Steampunk conventions popping up around the country, but the answer may be something like the Asylum Street Spankers, who had almost a two decade career where they both made a living and never had a song or album chart.
Over at Locus Online. I liked it more than Howard did…