My efforts to collect all of Robert A. Heinlein in first edition continue apace. Here are two Heinlein first editions, as well as an important related critical work.
Three Robert A. Heinlein First Editions
December 18th, 2013Rosemary Wolfe, RIP
December 16th, 2013From Michael Swanwick comes the sad news that Rosemary Wolfe, Gene Wolfe’s wife of more than 50 years, has died.
I don’t have a lot to add to Michael’s write-up. I knew that she had been suffering for ill health for some time, and had been confined to 24-hour care for over a year.
My condolences to Gene and the rest of the Wolfe family on her passing.
Here’s a scanned picture of Gene and Rosemary on their wedding day from A Wolfe Family Album:
And here’s a picture of Gene and Rosemary (with Elizabeth Hand in-between) at the 2009 Readercon:
Library Additions: Jack Vance’s Gold and Iron
December 16th, 2013Another acquisition from my recent book-buying spree:
Vance, Jack. Gold and Iron. Underwood/Miller, 1982. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a slight wrinkle at rear heel. Previously published in paperback as Slaves of the Klau. Hewett, A9e.
Peter O’Toole, RIP: 1932-2013
December 15th, 2013Acting legend Peter O’Toole has died at age 81. One of the greats, and one of my personal favorite actors, not only from Lawrence of Arabia, but as The Stunt Man, Lord Jim, The Lion in Winter, Beckett, My Favorite Year, and even his great, weird, twitchy turn in The Ruling Class.
Since everyone else in the world will have clips from Lawrence of Arabia, here’s an entire play O’Toole was in, Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell, in which he plays a very talkative drunk writer (or perhaps a writing drunkard).
Shoegazer Sunday: Bailter Space’s “Robot World”
December 15th, 2013Here’s New Zealand’s Baltier Space with the title track from their Robot World shoegaze album, which checks in on the crunchier side of classic shoegaze:
Insanely Awesome Japanese Lego Ball Machine
December 13th, 2013Happy Friday the 13th!
I’m not a LEGO fanatic, but I know two people who are, so I thought I’d put this up for them:
This is for Kurt Baty and Steve Jackson, who now need to step up their LEGO game…
Library Additions: C. L. Moore’s Judgment Night
December 12th, 2013Another notable book from the golden age of the genre small press:
Moore, C.L. Judgment Night. Gnome Press, 1952. First edition hardback, a Near Fine+ copy with slight crimping at head and heel, mild foxing to inner gutters, and a few tiny spots of wear to bottom boards, in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with 1/4″ closed tear at heel, slight wrinkling at rear head, and a touch of edgewear. A truly superb, bright example of the dust jacket. Collection of five longer stories. Currey (1978), Page 377. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 199. Anatomy of Wonder 4, 3-130. Bought for $65 off eBay.
Library Additions: Earnest Bramah’s The Moon of Much Gladness (in dust jacket)
December 11th, 2013If you like Barry Hughart, you should really try reading Earnest Bramah’s Kai Lung series, which is exceptionally entertaining. Though most of the Kai Lung first editions were published slightly before my main collecting period, I do snatch up nice copies in dust jacket when I see them at an affordable price (though I doubt I’ll ever have a Bramah collection to rival Mike Berro’s).
Bramah, Earnest. The Moon of Much Gladness. Cassell & Company, 1932. First edition hardback (Berro A17), a Fine- copy with slight bends at head and heel in a VG+ dust jacket with a 1/8″ chip at rear head join, slight cracking at top edge of front cover, and dust soiling to rear, otherwise a fairly bright and attractive copy of a book seldom offered in dust jacket. Bought for $300 off the Internet from a major SF book dealer.
(Click to embiggen, but note that the what appear to be tiny spots of white rubbing to the black dj are in fact scanner artifacts.)
New Godzilla Trailer
December 10th, 2013There’s a new Godzilla trailer out:
Points:
Mood: Cautious Optimism.
Library Addition: A [Gene] Wolfe Family Album
December 10th, 2013I’ve been busy and have gotten slightly behind in cataloging books that have come in. In the interests “some content is better than no content,” I’m going to catalog the more interesting ones one at a time until I catch up with the backlog.
Up first: One of the few Gene Wolfe chapbooks I didn’t already own:
Wolfe, Gene. A Wolfe Family Album. United Mythologies Press, 1991. First edition chapbook original, a Fine copy. Signed by Gene Wolfe. Chapbook of mostly Wolfe family photos, evidently issued with the hardback edition of Letters Home (which I’ve owned for some time, but which didn’t come with the chapbooks when I bought it).
