Campbell, John W. Frozen Hell. Wildside Press, 2019. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Longer version of Campbell’s “Who Goes There?” recently rediscovered. Introduction by Silverberg. Bought off Kickstarter for $25.
A fellow collector alerted me to a bargain pre-publication price for this through Amazon:
Delany, Samuel R. Letters From Amherst. Wesleyan University Press, 2019. First edition hardback, a Fine new copy, sans dust jacket with ISBN price sticker, as issued. Subtitled “Five Narrative Letters.” Bought for $16.96, considerably off the list price of $45.
I have several other Delany non-fiction works. I hope this is more accessible than some of his critical works, which tend to be too heavily influenced by various academic critical trends (post-modernism, close-reading, etc.).
The late Ardath Mayhar was a casual acquaintance I would see around various Texas SF conventions, but who I didn’t know well. Save Cross Plains Universe, an anthology we’re both in, I don’t think I have anything signed or inscribed by her. So when I found these two first editions by her cheap, I went ahead and picked them up.
Mayhar, Ardath. Carrots and Miggle. Atheneum, 1986. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Inscribed by Mayhar: “For Marj/with love/Ardath Mayhar/May, 1986.” Would you believe it’s a young adult novel about two girls on a farm in east Texas? Not a lot of those in my library. Bought for $6.49.
Mayhar, Ardath. Golden Dream: A Fuzzy Odyssey. Ace, 1982. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine- copy with rubbing to raised golden foil letters on front cover and just a trace of wear at heel, otherwise new and apparently unread. Inscribed by Mayhar: “For Marj/May all your dreams/be golden./Ardath —/Oct. 14, 1982.” Sequel to H. Beam Piper’s “Little Fuzzy” stories. Bought for $5.99.
Back when MP3.com was a going concern, I bought A Beautiful Machine’s Solar Winds, White Noise, Antigravity based on the strength of “Breathe in Space.” In fact, it’s the third most played track on my iTunes. It lasts from 37:06 to 42:50 here.
A Beautiful Machine is evidently a part-time project of Skye Klein, better known for Terminal Sound System and HALO.
Moorcock, Michael. Modem Times 2.0. PM Press, 2011. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Mixture of fiction (a Jerry Cornelius novella “Modem Times 2.0” previous published in different form as “Modem Times”), plus two essays and a bibliography. Bought for $4.99.
Moorcock, Michael, and Mervyn Peake. The Sunday Books. Duckworth/Overlook, 2011. First English language edition (originally published in France), a Fine copy in decorated cloth, sans dust jacket, as issued. Book of children’s story art by Peake, based on tales he told his children but never wrote down, with story text by Moorcock (a friend of Peake’s and a notable champion of his work). Bought for $7.99.
Another Swanwick Dragonstairs Press chapbook, and I picked up one copy in each state:
Swanwick, Michael. Dragonskin. Dragonstairs Press, 2019. First edition chapbook original, letter J of 10 copies bound in python skin, a Fine copy, new and unread. Essays on writers who have written works on dragons: “The Scale-Hunter’s Wayward Son,” “The Mother of Earthsea,” “A Daughter of Pern,” “The Iron Dragon’s Father,” and “Afterword.”
Swanwick, Michael. Dragonskin. Dragonstairs Press, 2019. First edition chapbook original, #39 of 50 numbered copies, a Fine copy. (Note: the numbered edition I have states that the lettered edition is in boa constrictor skin rather than python, and it has a more sand-colored look rather than dark green.)
I will have copies of each state for sale in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, probably around November.
Got all of these through their most recent 50% off sale:
Carroll, Jonathan. The Crow’s Dinner. Subterranean Press, 2017. First edition hardback, #220 of 1,000 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Collection of essays.
Powers, Tim. More Walls Broken. Subterranean Press, 2019. First edition hardback, #378 (or possibly 318) of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Novella.
Powers, Tim. More Walls Broken. Subterranean Press, 2019. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Trade edition.
Schow, David J. The Big Crush. Subterranean Press, 2019. First edition hardback, #733 (or possibly 133) of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Novel.
David Russell (Jack Vance). Tschai: An illustrated Portfolio. First edition portfolio, #18 of 100 numbered copies signed by both artist Russell and Jack Vance, a Fine copy. Four black and white art prints. Bought off eBay for $35 plus shipping.
The shadow effects on the image are a photo artifact, and the fact that it’s a pain to take it out of the plastic jacket the previous owner customer constructed for it.
No particular theme, just various books I picked up at Half Price Books over the last few months that I didn’t feel like breaking out into separate posts.
Lake, Jay. Death of a Starship. Monkeybrain Books, 2009. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy, new and unread. Bought for $4.99.
Lee, Tanith. Dancing Through the Fire. Fantastic Books, 2015. First edition (stated, though it looks like a POD book) hardback, an Ex-Library copy with most of the usual flaws (stickers, stamps, dust jacket taped to boards, etc., but otherwise apparently new and unread. Don’t usually pick up such current books as Ex-Lib copies, but I’d never seen a copy of this before, there are no other firsts listed online, and this was very cheap (I think $3).
Martin, George R. R., editor. Wild Cards: Black Trump. Baen, 1995. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with trace of edgewear and spine just slightly concave. All the Baen Wild Cards volumes are hard to find these days. Bought for $2.69.
Matheson, Richard. The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickok. Jove, 1996. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine copy with previous owner’s small (Mylar?) ownership label and “January 1996” on the second blurb page, plus slight edgewear. Western novel. Replaces a reprint copy. Bought for $2.48.
Niven, Larry. Neutron Star. Ballantine Books, 1968. First edition paperback original, a Very Good copy with spine creasing and slight lean, edgewear, and slight black marker staining over prices on front cover and spine (most, but not all, came off with Bestine, leaving a tiny bit of shadowing around the price). Currey, page 386. Bought for $1.99.
Reynolds, Alastair. On the Steel Breeze. Gollancz, 2013. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a tiny bit of wear at points. Actually, this is a Reynolds that I missed when it first came out and had difficulty locating an affordable copy of, so I was quite surprised to be able to pick this up in just shy of perfect shape for a mere $5.99.
Silverberg, Robert. In The Beginning: Tales From The Pulp Era. Subterranean Press, 2006. First edition hardback, probably an Ex-Library copy: the dust jacket flaps have been glued to the inside covers, something has been crossed out at the top of the front free endpaper, and just below that is what appear to be very faint traces of pocket removal, very easy to miss against the thick patterned endpapers used, maybe a Near Fine/Near Fine Ex-Lib copy, #173 of 1,000 signed numbered copies. Again, normally I wouldn’t bother with an Ex-Lib for so recent a book, but I missed this when it first came out and all the copies online list for more than $100. Bought for $17.99.
