Posts Tagged ‘Underwood/Miller’

Library Addition: Signed First of Robert Bloch’s Screams

Wednesday, February 27th, 2019

This is an upgrade, replacing an unsigned copy of he trade edition with a signed copy of the trade edition:

Bloch, Robert. Screams. Underwood -Miller, 1989. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, with a $39.95 overprint pricing sticker on flap (as issued). Signed by Bloch. Omnibus edition of The Will To Kill, Firebug, and The Star Stalker, being the first hardback editions of each. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 440. Bought off eBay for $25.

Library Addition: PC Signed/Limited Edition of Jack Vance’s Showboat World

Saturday, September 1st, 2018

Another signed Jack Vance book from the same seller I previously bought two signed Jack Vance books from:

Vance, Jack. Showboat World (or, to use the title embossed into the front boards of the book itself, The Magnificent Showboats of the Lower Vissel River, Lune XXIII South, Big Planet). Underwood-Miller, 1983. First hardback edition, a Presentation Copy of 200 signed, numbered copies, a Fine- copy with slight bumping at points in a Fine- dust jacket with a few small spots of slight browning discoloration. Hewett, A47h, who notes there were 28 Presentation Copies. Cunningham, Jack Vance: Critical Appreciations and a Bibliography, 71c, who notes that there were 20 Presentation Copies. Supplements a copy of the trade edition. Bought off eBay for $76.

Library Additions: Two Signed Jack Vance Firsts

Monday, August 13th, 2018

Somebody was selling off what seemed to be a pretty complete Jack Vance collection on eBay, and I took the opportunity to bid on some signed copies, including these two I won:

  • Vance, Jack. Maske: Thaery. Berkley, 1976. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Very Good+ dust jacket with shallow chipping at head and a few other nicks. Signed by Jack Vance. Hewett, A52. Won off eBay for $40.96.
  • Vance, Jack. Gold and Iron. Underwood-Miller, 1982. First edition hardback, one of 200 copies signed by Vance, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Originally published in paperback original as Slaves of the Klau. Supplements the trade edition. Hewett, A9e. Won off eBay for $81.

  • Library Additions: Signed Jack Vance and E.E. “Doc” Smith Firsts

    Thursday, March 8th, 2018

    Both of these I got from the same book auction:

  • Smith, E. E. “Doc”. Skylark of Valeron. Fantasy Press, 1949. First hardback edition (and first limited edition), trade state (Currey B), a Fine- copy with small bookplate pastedown remnant on RFE, in a Fine- dust jacket with just the barest trace of dust soiling to white rear cover. Inscribed by Smith: “To Rocco Mays/In appreciation of your appreciation/of my stuff —/Edward E. Smith, PhD. Currey, page 457. Chalker/Owings, page 159. Locke, Spectrum of Fantasy (One), page 201. Kemp, The Anthem Series, page 26. Bought from National Book Auctions for $100. (Surface wear in the scan below is on the dust jacket protector.)

  • Vance, Jack. The Houses of Izam. Underwood-Miller, 1983. First edition hardback, #104 of 200 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Hewett, A12h. Chalker/Owings, page 435. Supplements a trade edition. Bought from National Book Auctions for $55.

  • Library Addition: Signed/Limited Edition of Jack Vance’s Ecce and Old Earth

    Wednesday, December 27th, 2017

    I’d picked up the other two signed/limited Cadwell books cheap, but I needed this middle book to complete the trilogy.

    Vance, Jack. Cadwell II: Ecce and Old Earth. Underwood/Miller, 1991. First edition hardback, #107 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket in a Fine- slipcase with one 1/8″ square spot of soiling to spine rear. Hewett, A84. Bought from a fellow Jack Vance collector who was downsizing for $75.

    Library Addition: Stephen Fabian’s Crystal of a Hundred Dreams Portfolio

    Thursday, May 18th, 2017

    Another odd Jack-Vance related item:

    Fabian, Stephen. Crystal of a Hundred Dreams: A Portfolio by Stephen E. Fabian. Underwood/Miller, 1979. First edition oversized softbound art portfolio, one of 550 sets produced, a Fine copy, still in shrinkwrap. Illustrations from the U/M Jack Vance books The Eyes of the Overworld, The Seventeen Virgins and The Bagful of Dreams. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 431 (where they note it’s “Uncommon,” most sets having been broken up and framed). Bought for $55 from a fellow Jack Vance collector.

    IMG_1215

    Hard to get a good pick, since it’s too big for the scanner and I kept getting light bounce from the shrinkwrap….

    Library Additions: Five Items in Wraps

    Wednesday, August 31st, 2016

    Still more items from the Cold Tonnage 40% off sale. The only characteristic they share is that all are paperbound of one sort or another, but none are standard trade paperbacks or mass market paperbacks.

  • Aldiss, Brian. Science Fiction Blues With Brian Aldiss. Avernus, 2000. First edition oversized chapbook original (A4 sized), a Fine- copy with a slight bit of bend on the left side. Program for some sort of Aldiss reading or performance, which also happens to contain three original Aldiss stories as well as other material. Odd little item. Bought for £3 after discount.

    Aldiss SF Blues

  • Ferret, Tim: We Murder. Morrigan Publications/The Dog Factory, 1994. First edition center-stapled chapbook original, #165 of 200 signed, numbered copies (though the limitation sheet, slightly smaller than the chapbook itself, has merely been laid in, not attached, presumably as issued), a Fine copy. According to Cold Tonnage: “This was the last book(let) to be published by Morrigan Press and got very little (if no) distribution.” Chalker/Owings (2002), page 557, where they note “The 1994 Ferret chapbook was a surprise, but the fact that checks were made out to [Morrigan owner Les] Escott personally and the chapbook was typeset from Ferret’s The Dog Factory in San Francisco and printed in New Zealand (!) doesn’t suggest a really major reinvolvement and seems an aberration.” Bought for £3 after discount.

    Ferret We Murder

    Lewis, Anthony R. An Annotated Bibliography Of Recursive Science Fiction. NESFA Press, 1986. First edition oversized 8 1/2″ x 11″ center-stapled chapbook original, a Fine copy. Non-fiction reference work. Bought for £3 after discount.

    Recursive SF

  • Lupoff, Richard. Nebogipfel At The End Of Time. Underwood/Miller, 1979. First edition, tiny oblong (5 1/2″ wide by 4 1/4″ long) side-stapled chapbook, one of 300 copies printed, a Fine copy. According to Chalker/Owings, there are 15 different color covers; this one is beige. Supposedly a Cthulhu Mythos story, but not in Ernest or Harms. Chalker/Owings (2002), page 900. Bought for £4.80 after discount.

    Nebogipfel

  • Sotheby’s Catalogue: Science Fiction Art, Books And Related Memorabilia b/w Sotheby’s Catalogue: Comic Books and Comic Art. Sotheby’s, 1995. First edition oversize illustrated pictorial covers, a Fine copy. Illustrated color catalogue for the June 16/17, 1995, Comic Books And Comic Art and Science Fiction books auctions. Unfortunately for my purposes, there’s a lot more comic book and art material than SF first editions. Bought for £6 after discount.

    Sotheby's SF catalog 1995

  • Library Additon: Three Jack Vance Firsts, One Signed

    Tuesday, August 23rd, 2016

    More books from the Cold Tonnage 40% off sale, three Vance firsts (one signed) I either didn’t have or didn’t have in these particular forms:

  • Queen, Ellery (here a pseudonym for Jack Vance). The Madman Theory. Pocket Books, 1966. Signed by Vance. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine+ copy with traces of wear to extremities and slight foxing to inside cover edges. Hewett, A25. Currey, page 499. Supplements a signed copy of the later first hardback printing. Bought for £15 after discount.

    Madman Theory PBO

  • Vance, Jack. Monsters in Orbit. Dennis Dobson, 1977. First hardback edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Hewett, A20b. Currey, page 499. Bought for £30 after discount.

    Monsters in Orbit

  • Vance, Jack. The Seventeen Virgins. Underwood/Miller, 1979. First edition trade paperback chapbook original, one of 600 copies, a Fine copy. Hewett, A58. Supplements a copy of the combined hardback edition of The Seventeen Virgins & The Bagful of Dreams. Bought for £18 after discount.

    Seventeen Virgins

  • Library Additions: Two Jack Vance Books

    Thursday, March 3rd, 2016

    I bought a lot of Jack Vance books from an Australian book auction. I’ll be selling the rest of the books from the lot in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, but here are the two books from the lot that are going in my own library:

  • Vance, Jack. Cugal’s Saga. Timescape, 1983. First edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Third book in the Dying Earth series (or fourth, if you count Michael Shea’s A Quest for Simbilis). Hewett, A71. Preceded the Underwood/Miller limited edition by six months.
  • Vance, Jack. The Houses of Iszm. Underwood/Miller, 1983. First hardback edition, one of 482 trade copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Hewett, A12h.