Lord John Press was an odd press, ranging from small-run SF first editions by Ray Bradbury, Ursula K. Le Guin and Stephen King to books by John Updike and Gerald R. Ford.
The two Dan Simmons books listed here (of four they did total) were the right author with the wrong titles at the wrong time at the wrong price points and the wrong print runs. Simmons was a hot writer at the time, but these books came after his “miracle year” duo of Carrion Comfort and Hyperion, were not nearly as well-regarded, were post-first limiteds (they didn’t beat the Putnam edition out) at high price points (starting at $125 and going up to $800) in too large a print run for too many states (500 quarter-leather, 250 half-leather, and 26-lettered copies in full leather). And they both came out the same year. They’re nice, but not so awesome as to inspire bibliolust in casual collectors. When I saw those price points and print runs, I went “Gonna pass,” and a lot of other collectors evidently said the same, as these limiteds have littered bookdealer inventories ever since.
I do like and collect Simmons, and I always thought I would pick them up when they got cheap enough. That finally happened.
Simmons, Dan. The Children of the Night. Lord John Press, 1992. First limited edition hardback, #221 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine slipcase, sans dust jacket, as issued. Bought for $35 from a fellow collector who was downsizing.
Simmons, Dan. The Hollow Man. Lord John Press, 1992. First limited edition hardback, #324 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine slipcase, sans dust jacket, as issued, with errata slip laid in. Bought for $35 from a fellow collector who was downsizing.
I also have Entropy’s Bed at Midnight and Summer Sketches, his other two Lord John Press books.
Having problems with links not going to the Heading you linked to in Microsoft Word?
Here’s a random tip that may help.
Do not put slashes in your headers (“Sales/Marketing”). The header will appear just fine, but links may not work properly. Mine were jumping back to the title page for no apparent reason.
The solution is to:
Remove the slash from the header (“Sales and Marketing”)
Cut the text with the defective link
Paste Special as unformatted text, and
Add the link again to the corrected header.
It should work now.
I’m using Microsoft Word for Mac Version 15.37. Can’t say what other versions the bug may affect.
This is one of those books I thought I already had, but didn’t.
Aldiss, Brain W. Billion Year Spree. Wiedenfield & Nicolson, 1978. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a touch of edgewear at bottom front. Non-fiction history of science fiction. Signed by Aldiss. Bought from Cold Tonnage Books for £12 plus shipping.
In addition to having stories there, I used to have a subsciption to the signed hardback version of Postscripts magazine Back In The Day. Now I pick up individual issues to round out my collection when I find them cheap. Like these two, which I bought for $25 each from Camelot Books:
Crowther, Pete and Nick Gevers. Postscripts 18: This Is The Summer of Love. PS Publishing, 2009. First edition hardback, Letter D of 26 signed, lettered copies, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued.
Crowther, Pete and Nick Gevers. Postscripts 19: Enemy of the Good. PS Publishing, 2009. First edition hardback, Letter D of 26 signed, lettered copies, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued.
Unlike my contributor copy of Postscripts 24/25: The New And Perfect Man, these lettered copies did not come in a traycase, and indeed are not readily distinguishable from the regular signed/numbered editions
I now have signed, numbered copies of all of Postscripts 1-19, 24/25, and 30/31. Which means I’m missing 20/21, 22/23, 26/27, 28/29, 32/33, 34/35, and 36/37.
Well this plain sucks. Bill Crider’s cancer has stopped responding to treatment:
Things could change, but I suspect this will be my final post on the blog. I met with some doctors at M. D. Anderson today, and they suggested that I enter hospice care. A few weeks, a few months is about all I have left. The blog has been a tremendous source of pleasure to me over the years, and I’ve made a lot of friends here. My only regret is that I have several unreviewed books, including Lawrence Block’ fine new anthology, Alive in Shape and Color, and Max Allan Collins’ latest collaboration with Mickey Spillane, The Last Stand, which is a collection of two novellas, “A Bullet for Satisfaction,” an early Spillane manuscript with an interesting history, and “The Last Stand,” the last thing that Spillane completed. It saddens me to think of all the great books by many writers that I’ll never read. But I’ve had a great life, and my readers have been a big part of it. Much love to you all.
Bill is a prince among men, a fixture at Texas science fiction conventions, and beloved by all. He will be deeply missed…
These actually came in several months ago, I’ve just been too busy to catalog them. Most of these are still available through Lame Excuse Books.
Lovecraft, H.P. (edited by David E. Schultz and S. T. Joshi). Letters to C.L. Moore and Others. Hippocampus Press, 2017. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy, new and unread. Non-fiction.
Lovecraft, H.P. (edited by S. T. Joshi). H. P. Lovecraft’s Collected Fiction: A Variorum Edition: Volume 4: Revisions and Collaborations. Hippocampus Press, 2017. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy, new and unread. Companion to the three volume hardback Variorum edition volumes (but no hardback edition for this one, alas).
Lovecraft, H.P. and Clark Ashton Smith (edited by David E. Schultz and S. T. Joshi). Dawnward Spire, Lonely Hill: The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith. Hippocampus Press, 2017. First edition hardback, one of 500 copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Huge 800 page non-fiction volume of Lovecraft/Clark letters.
(Shea, Michael). Shea, Linda, and S. T. Joshi. And Death Shall have No Dominion: A Tribute to Michael Shea. Hippocampus Press, 2017. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy, new and unread. A miscellany related to Shea, including short stories, novel segments, verse, unpublished work, and several tributes to him by other writers.
