Here’s a book I picked up more for the state and the publisher than the author. Dark Harvest was a very active small press from the early 1980s into the early 1990s. They published primarily horror and science fiction, and did very well with it, but managed to kill themselves off by branching out into mystery.
One of the things they did was do lettered states of some of their books in wooden slipcases, AKA “slipcrates.” I’ve always found them rather attractive, and keep an eye out for them when I see them at an affordable price.
Williamson, Chet. Dreamthrop. Dark Harvest, 1989. First edition hardback, Letter G of 26 signed, lettered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine wooden slipcase. Horror novel. Chalker/Owings (1991), page 121. Chalker/Owings (2002), page 1045. Bought off eBay for $49.
The only other Dark Harvest “slipcrate” edition I currently have is George R. R. Martin’s Portraits of His Children (acquired in one of my two big Zelazny purchases), though I do have a nearly complete trade edition run of the Dark Harvest books up to shortly before they started doing the mysteries.
Two more signed Ray Bradbury items, both bought off eBay from different sellers:
Bradbury, Ray. They Have Not Seen The Stars. Stealth Press, 2002. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Signed by Bradbury. Bradbury’s collected poetry. Bought off eBay for $40. Stealth Press was an interesting publishing experiment that probably lost it’s backers a ton of money…
(Bradbury, Ray) Kipen, David, Campbell Iriving and Erika Koss. Reader’s Guide: Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. National Endowment for the Arts, 2006. Presumed first edition chapbook (no additional printings stated), a Fine- copy with a couple of specks of edgewear. Inscribed by Bradbury on the cover: “Carol!/Love!/Ray/B.” With a photograph of Bradbury signing books laid in. Non-fiction critical companion. Bought off eBay for $29.99.
Another odd, interesting chapbook from Henry Wessells:
Davidson, Avram (Philip K. Dick). Chance Meeting. The Nutmeg Point District Mail, 2018. First edition chapbook original, one of 150 copies thus, a Fine copy. 16-page chapbook (plus burgundy wrappers) featuring Avram Davidson’s review of Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle, plus a letter from Davidson about Dick, as well as additional material from Wessells and Grania Davis. The fifth in the Davidson chapbook series, and one of three non-fiction books by Davidson in my library, in addition to Adventures in Unhistory and Crimes & Chaos.
I’ll have a copy for sale in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
Holy crap that’s a lot of money. I need they were collectable, but not that collectable. It’s not even “mint in box” (or probably “shipping baggie” for that period).
The estimate for the auction is $300,000 to $400,000. Frequently those are just high estimates for show, but it may actually make it this time…
Saw someone mention this book on Facebook and went out and found an ARC of it:
Silverberg, Robert. Time and Time Again. Three Rooms Press, 2018. Advanced Reading Copy of the trade paperback original first edition, a Fine copy, new and unread. All Silverberg’s time travel stories in one place. Bought for $9.99 off eBay.
There was evidently a signed “preview” edition sold at this year’s Worldcon (which I no longer attend), which I may have track down at some point, but this ARC precedes the preview edition.
All these were from the same seller, and all were books I wasn’t actively looking for, but both looked interesting and cheap.
Moore, C.L. The Best of C. L. Moore. Nelson Doubleday, 1975. First Edition hardback (as per Currey, with printing code 42 R in the gutter of page 307), a Near Fine- copy with a line and the letter A in blue ink at head, and slight wear at head and heel, in a Very Good dust jacket with a 3″ split along rear flap, with slight loss along it and front flap, as well as general wear. Signed by C.L. Moore. I collect C. L. Moore, but it didn’t occur to me to looked for signed copies of this title until this showed up. Bought off eBay for $16.
Shaw, Bob. The Best of the Bushel (complete BoSh-vol 1). Paranoid/Inca Press, 1978. First edition chapbook original,a Fine- copy with a slight bit of sunning along the spine. Inscribed by Shaw: “For Ted, /with best wishes/Bob Shaw.” Collection of fan work by this British SF author. Not in Currey.
Shaw, Bob. The Eastercon Speeches (Complete BoSh-vol 2). Paranoid/Inca Press, 1979. First edition chapbook original, a Fine copy. Inscribed by Shaw: “Best wishes/Bob Shaw.” Collection of fan work by this British SF author, and companion volume to the above. Not in Currey. The pair bought off eBay for $9.
Bradbury, Ray (with Dave Gibbons, James Sherman, Daniel Torres, Raph Reese, Mark Charello, and Bernard Krigstein). The Ray Bradbury Chronicles Volume 2. Byron Preiss/NBM, 1992. First edition hardback graphic novel,#250 of 1200 signed, numbered copies, a Near Fine copy with trace of dampstaining to bottom boards (but not pages) in a Near Fine dust jacket with slight waviness at bottom and slight blindside dye transfer from boards, along with a few other traces of wear. Signed by Bradbury, Gibbons, Reese and Charello. Tempted to send it back, but the terse listing only said VG, so, eh, caveat emptor. Bought for $37 off eBay.
I now have Volumes 2 and 7 of this series, but am still looking for the others…
I’m not a huge Dean R. Koontz fan, but I do like Charnel House books, and I saw these two from a dealer I knew almost cheap enough to pick up on a whim. I made an offer, we haggled, and I eventually got the following for $150 total, plus a couple of trade books.
Koontz, Dean R. The Darkest Evening of the Year. Charnel House, 2007. First limited edition hardback, #26 of 350 signed, numbered hardbacks, a Fine copy in a Fine slipcase, sans dust jacket, as issued.
Koontz, Dean R. Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein. Charnel House, 2005. First edition hardback, #209 of 750 numbered copies, a Fine- copy (the Japanese Silver Wave silk the book is bound in appears darker on the spine than the rest of the book; that may be sun fading, or just air exposure the rest of the slipcased book did not get) in a Fine slipcase. A original script for a TV pilot that the network evidently so butchered that Koontz had his name taken off the production.
Not a bad score, since I think both original sold for about $150 each…
