December 18th, 2014
John Picacio notes that today is Michael Moorcock’s 75th birthday. Happy birthday, Mike!
By way of celebration, I thought I would scan one of the more unusual items in my collection:
(Moorcock, Michael) Moorcock@60.com. Nomads of the Time Streams, 1999. First edition oversized trade paperback original (A4 sized), a Fine- copy (one corner bumped from bringing it with me to London to get several contributors to sign it). A festshrift miscellany celebrating Michael Moorcock on his 60th birthday put together by several of his friends, and not generally available for sale (I bought my copy from one of the contributors). This copy is signed or inscribed by Moorcock, Brian Aldiss, Nick Austin, David Langford, Kim Newman, and Howard Waldrop.
Tags: Books, Fantasy, First Edition, John Picacio, Michael Moorcock, Science Fiction
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December 17th, 2014
There’s a reasonably big auction of animation cels drawings, production stills, etc. starting December 18 at 11 AM PST. Interesting stuff, from a number of Disney films, a few Warner Brothers (including One Froggy Evening, the animated Star Trek, and even Ralph Bakashi’s Wizards.
And those of you with $40,000 burning a hole in your pocket can bid on an original Chuck Jones oil painting of Daffy Duck:
Tags: Animation, auction, Fantasy, Science Fiction
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December 15th, 2014
A few of these are from a mostly-disappointing book shopping jaunt around Houston the day after Thanksgiving, plus two from eBay.
Banks, Iain. The Steep Approach to Garbadale. Little/Brown, 2007. First edition hardback, a limited edition of 1000 numbered copies signed by Banks distributed through the Waterstone’s bookstore chain, a Fine copy in a Fine slipcase, sans dust jacket as issued. Supplements a trade copy.
Bradbury, Ray. A Graveyard for Lunatics. Knopf, 1990. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by Bradbury. Bought for $19.99 off eBay.
Brooks, Max. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. Crown, 2006. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket. Bought for $12 at Quarter-Price Books in Houston, which is conveniently close to Joel’s Classical Shop.
Ford, John M. Growing Up Weightless. Easton Press, 1993. First hardback edition, one of an undetermined number of signed subscriber copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued, in decorated leather boards. Bought from Half Price Books for $35.
Niffenegger, Audrey. The Time Traveler’s Wife. MacAdam/Cage, 2003. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Bought for $20 at Half Price Books. Replaces a less perfect copy.
Tags: Books, Iain M. Banks, Max Brooks, Ray Bradbury, Science Fiction
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December 14th, 2014
I said the fastest way for a band to get featured her is to do a credible cover of Slowdive’s “Primal,” and Scarlet Youth has picked up the gauntlet. It’s not a great cover of “Primal,” but it’s a credible one, so here it is.
It’s off of this compilation album that’s entirely Slowdive covers. Echodrone? SPC ECO? 42 songs for $9.99?
Saint Marie Records is obviously very much on my wavelength…
Tags: Music, Shoegazer, Slowdive
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December 8th, 2014
I’ve never been a big Piers Anthony fan, so it might surprise some that I’m picking these up. But: A.) I have a long-term goal of picking up all the Gregg Press hardbacks, B.) I am given to understand that these (along with Macroscope and On A Pale Horse) are among his best work, and C.) They were incredibly cheap, $6 (plus bidder fee and shipping) for all three (plus a random Xanth novel) from a Heritage Auction.
Anthony, Piers. Bio of A Space Tyrant 1: Refuge. Gregg Press, 1985. First hardcover edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust.
Anthony, Piers. Bio of A Space Tyrant 2: Mercenary. Gregg Press, 1985. First hardcover edition, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket.
Anthony, Piers. Bio of A Space Tyrant 3: Politician. Gregg Press, 1985. First hardcover edition, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with edgewear at head.
See Hartwell, David G. “The GREGG PRESS Science Fiction Series 1975-1985 Complete, a Preliminary Annotated Checklist.”
These were the only volumes of the series done by Gregg Press. Volumes 4-6 were evidently done in hardcover by something called “Xlibris Corporation,” which I would guess is a Print-On-Demand publisher and lord, did they put some stupidly hideous covers on them…
Tags: Books, First Edition, Gregg Press, Piers Anthony
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December 8th, 2014
In the same L. W. Currey order as the Bradbury chapbooks, I picked up two H. G. Wells first editions in dust jacket.
Wells, H. G. Men Like Gods. Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1923. First edition hardback (a probable third binding state, as per Currey’s listing, with decorated brown boards with black lettering, which is not recorded in Currey (2002)), a Near Fine copy with slight wear at heel, small, faint stamp to FFE, foxing to gutters and slight bend at head in a Very Good- dust jacket with small sticker remnant on front and shallow chipping at head and heel, and chips at points. Wells’ second socialist utopia. H.G. Wells: A Comprehensive Bibliography, 85. Bought for $22.50
Wells, H. G. The Secret Places of the Heart. Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1922. First edition hardback, first state binding (title blindstamped on cover, as per Currey (2002)), a Fine- copy with slight bending at head and heel and foxing to gutters in a Fine- dust jacket with a tiny bit of edgewear. H.G. Wells: A Comprehensive Bibliography, 81. Bought for $37.50
Wells is a bit before the time period I usually collect (post-World War II), but I like his work and he’s tremendously important in developing science fiction.
Tags: Books, H. G. Wells, Science Fiction
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December 7th, 2014
Pretty Sad is a UK/Denmark band that collaborates via Garageband and Dropbox. They have a pleasingly peppy retro sound not unlike that of Black Tambourine. For your Sunday dose of Shoegaze, here’s “Swim” off their first EP.
Tags: Music, Pretty Sad, Shoegazer
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December 4th, 2014
Three more Ray Bradbury chapbooks from small press publisher Roy A. Squires, all bought from Lloyd Currey for $28 each.
Bradbury, Ray. Old Ahab’s Friend, and Friend to Noah, Speaks His Piece. Roy A. Squires, 1971. First edition thread-bound chapbook original, #152 of 485 copies, a Fine copy.
Bradbury, Ray. That Ghost, That Bride of Time. Roy A. Squires, 1976. First edition thread-bound chapbook original, #289 of 400 copies, a Fine copy, in mailing envelope. (You can’t see from the scan, but the title is just barely visible through the slightly translucent paper wrapper.)
Bradbury, Ray. That Son of Richard III. Roy A. Squires, 1974. First edition thread-bound chapbook original, #164 of 400 “ordinary” copies, a Fine copy, in mailing envelope. With small typed note from the publisher laid in: “Send No Money, Rik. We’ll get squared away at Westercon.” and “RAS” signature.
Tags: Books, chapbooks, First Edition, Ray Bradbury, Roy A. Squires, Science Fiction
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December 3rd, 2014
Update: I was curious about the publisher’ stamp, so I asked Moorcock why “Wehman Bros./Publishers/138 Main Street/Hackensack, N.J.” was stamped on the title page. Mike thinks these copies were illegally imported into the U.S. and sold by Wehman Bros., which would explain the $3.00 stamp on The Stealer of Souls (and there appears to a sticker pull just above the price clip on the other where the same $3.00 stamp used to be); I guess that would make them second state dust jackets. I’ve also noted that the binding on The Stealer of Souls is actually the First State binding, as per Tanalorn Archives.
I bought a lot of imperfect Michael Moorcock first editions in a Heritage auction. There were a total of seven titles I got for $26 plus buyer’s premium and shipping. Four will be going cheap in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, but these are going into my own library:
Moorcock, Michael. The Stealer of Souls. Neville Spearman, 1963. First edition hardback, a Fine- first state (orange binding with black lettering) copy with publisher stamp for “Wehman Bros./Publishers/138 Main Street/Hackensack, N.J.” on title page, and some slight bend at head and heel, in a Very Good-, price-clipped dust jacket with $3.00 stamp above price clip, rubbing and shallow chipping and wear at extremities. Though I usually look for books in better condition than this (at least for this era), this and Stormbringer were too cheap to pass up. Tanalorn Archive, page 32. Currey (1979), page 373.
Moorcock, Michael. Stormbringer. Herbert Jenkins, 1965. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with “Wehman Bros./Publishers/138 Main Street/Hackensack, N.J.” stamp on title page, and slight bend at head and heel, in a Very Good, price-clipped dust jacket with sticker pull just over the price clip, rubbing and shallow chipping at extremities. Tanalorn Archive, page 32. Currey (1979), page 373.
Moorcock, Michael. The Sword of the Dawn. White Lion, 1973. First hardback edition, a Fine- copy with a tiny bit of bend at head and heel in a Near Fine dust jacket with slight rubbing. Tanalorn Archive, page 34. Currey (1979), page 373.
Tags: Books, Fantasy, First Edition, Michael Moorcock
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December 1st, 2014
I assume you’ve already seen the teaser trailer for next year’s Star Wars movie.
Well, here’s the LEGO remake. I’m super-impressed with how quickly they put it together, and how amazingly close to the original it is.
Tags: LEGO, Science Fiction, Star Wars, trailer, video
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