Featured Items
A. MERRITT'S FANTASY MAGAZINE.
Kokomo, IN: Recreational Reading, Inc., an affiliate of Popular Publications, Inc., 1950. Octavo, single issue, cover by Norman Saunders, pictorial wrappers. Pulp magazine. Includes "The Face in the Abyss" by Jack Mann. Tymm and Ashley, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines, pp. 3-6.
THE PRIVATE EYE.
New York: Reynal and Hitchcock, [1942]. Octavo, pp. [1-8] 9-284, jacket illustration by Arthur Hawkins, Jr., original light gray cloth, spine stamped in black, fore edge uncut. First edition. Private eye novel set in Arizona involving corrupt cops, gangsters and shady mine operators. "...in his own style Adams captured the gray and gritty feel of the time as powerfully as Chandler, and created as enduring an image of the private detective." - Pederson (ed.), St. James Guide to Crime and Mystery Writers, (4th ed.), p. 3. Some readers consider this one of Adams best books. Hubin, p. 3.
NOT WHAT YOU EXPECTED: A COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES...
Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc., [1974]. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First edition. Signed inscription by Aiken to a mystery book publisher and book seller on the title page. Two brief notes signed by the author laid in. A collection of stories which appeared in previous collections of the author's work. No equivalent U.K.edition of this book.
AMAZING STORIES.
New York: Experimenter Publishing Company, 1926. Octavo, single issue, cover by Frank R. Paul, pictorial wrappers. Pulp magazine, bedsheet format. The first issue of the first English language magazine devoted solely to science fiction. This issue was all previous published material, the authors included Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, Edgar Allen Poe, Austin Hall, George Allan England and G. Peyton Wertenbaker. Dated April 1926 it appeared on the newstands March 5, 1926. The enticing cover by Frank R. Paul illustrates Jules Verne's "Off on a Comet." Gernsback's first editorial title says it all "A New Sort of Magazine." The initial print run was in the neighborhood of 100,000 copies, and it sold out. "The response to Gernsback's new venture was overwhelming." and in response to reader's views on the frequency [of publication] of the new magazine "...33,000 responded with all except 498 asking that the frequency be doubled. Amazing Stories was an overnight success, and the history of science fiction entered a new phase." - Tymm and Ashley, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines, p. 16. Tymm and Ashley, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines, pp. 14-49.
AMAZING STORIES.
New York: Experimenter Publishing Company, 1926. Large octavo, single issue, cover by Frank R. Paul, pictorial wrappers. Pulp magazine, bedsheet format. Fiction by H. G. Wells, Garrett P. Serviss, Fitz-James O'brien, Edwin Balmer and William H. MacHarg, and others. Tymm and Ashley, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines, pp. 14-49.
AMAZING STORIES.
New York: Experimenter Publishing Company, 1926. Octavo, single issue, cover by Frank R. Paul. pictorial wrappers. Pulp magazine, bedsheet format. Includes Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, Edgar Allen Poe with reprints. This issue also includes the first "new" story published in Amazing, "The Man From the Atom" by G. Peyton Wertenbaker. Tymm and Ashley, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines, pp. 14-49.
FULL SPECTRUM 2.
New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, Auckland: Doubleday, [1989]. Octavo, cloth-backed boards. First edition. Original anthology collecting twenty-seven stories by Edward Bryant, Vonda N. McIntyre, David Brin, Mike McQuay, Patricia A. McKillip, Greg Bear, Michael Swanwick, Kim Stanley Robinson, and others.
THE GRIM CARETAKER.
London: Strothers Bookshop's Ltd, n.d., [1944]. Octavo, pp. [1-2: front covers] [3] 4-49 [50] [51-52: rear cover] pictorial wrappers. First edition. The second of three paperbacks published in 1944 featuring Lucian Carolus, Professor of Archaeology and scholar of the supernatural, an occult investigator in the vein of Hodgson’s Thomas Carnacki. In this book Carolus investigates a case of demonic possession at an isolated English estate. Highlights include a mysterious manservant with mesmeric powers and a battle with possessed mouse. Good pulp fun of the period. THERE WERE NO ASPER LADIES, the first Carolus adventure involves a case of vampirism and the final Carolus title, UNCANNY ADVENTURES, is a collection of 5 short stories which include werewolves and devil worshippers. Day, The Checklist of Fantastic Literature in Paperbound Books, p. 3. Reginald 00531. Hubin (1994), p. 32. Not in Bleiler.
ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION.
New York: Street & Smith Publications, Inc., 1939. Octavo, single issue, cover painting by John Frew, pictorial wrappers. Pulp magazine. L. Sprague De Camp, Manly Wade Wellman, Vic Phillips and others. Tymm and Ashley, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines, pp. 60-103.
ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION.
New York: Street & Smith Publications, Inc., 1939. Octavo, single issue, cover painting by Hubert Rogers, pictorial wrappers. Pulp magazine. Includes the first published SF story by Theodore Sturgeon, "Ether Breather." Tymm and Ashley, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Weird Fiction Magazines, pp. 60-103.
ORPHAN ANN.
Garden City: Published for The Crime Club by Doubleday, Doran & Co., Inc., 1941. Octavo, pp. [i-vi] vii-viii [ix-x] [1] 2-307 [308-310: blank] [note: last leaf is a blank], original blue cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black, top edge stained blue, fore-edge untrimmed, bottom edge rough trimmed, cream endpapers. First U.S. edition. A novel featuring shyster lawyer Joshua Clunk. Published in the UK as THE LITTLE CAPTAIN (1941). Hubin (1994), p. 41.
WALKING ON GLASS.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986. Octavo, Hardcover. First U.S. edition.
AGAINST INFINITY.
New York: Timescape Books Distributed by Simon and Schuster, [1983]. Octavo, cloth-backed boards. First edition. "On Ganymede a boy and his older companion hunt a mysterious alien entity. It's a conscious SF transcription of William Faulkner's non-SF novella,'The Bear,' and, as such, it's a bit labored in style. Nevertheless, it contains much good scientific detail and some striking touches of imagination." - Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, second edition (1995), p. 4. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-103.
AND THE STARS REMAIN.
London: Printed in Great Britain and Published by Hamilton & Co. (Stafford) Limited, [1952]. Octavo, cover by George Ratcliffe, pictorial wrappers. First edition. A Panther Book. Mankind's attempt to reach the stars is thwarted by the Planners, an ancient race of aliens who control the universe and prevent immature and/or evil races from contaminating others. Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 86. Harbottle and Holland A4.
THE DUPLICATED MAN.
New York: Avalon Books, [1959]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Anatomy of Wonder (1987) 3-44.
PLEASANT DREAMS - NIGHTMARES.
Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House: Publishers, 1960. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Collects fifteen stories featuring many of his best stories from 1947-1958. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 4-45. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 210. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 4-31.
THE BURGLAR WHO PAINTED LIKE MONDRIAN.
New York: Arbor House, 1983. Octavo, Hardcover. First edition. The fifth Bernie Rhodenbarr novel.
THE MOVEMENT OF MOUNTAINS.
New York: St. Martin's Press, [1987]. Octavo, boards. First edition. The author's first book. "Dystopia as a background. Rich-poor division. Genetically manufactured humans designed for a specific job and a short life." - Sargent, British and Utopian Literature, 1986-2009.
THE SCIENCE FICTION HALL OF FAME: VOLUME TWO A and B. The Greatest Science Fiction Novellas of All Time Chosen by the Members of The Science Fiction Writers of America (in two volumes).
Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., [1973]. Octavo, two volumes, cloth. First edition. Collects twenty-two novellas chosen by the Science Fiction Writers of America. The works encompass the period prior to 1965, the year SFWA was established. Author's include John W. Campbell, Jr., Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, James Blish, Algis Budrys, Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore, H. G. Wells, and others. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-1391.
THE SMOKING LAND.
Santa Barbara, Capra Press, [1980]. Octavo, pictorial wrappers. First edition. Trade paperback format. First published in Argosy magazine in six parts starting May 29, 1937 using the pseudonym George Challis. A science fiction-romantic adventure novel involving a lost race.
SISTER EARTH.
London: Scion Limited, [1951]. Octavo, cover by George Ratcliffe, pictorial wrappers. First edition. Space explorers discover Earth's twin in an identical orbit hidden by the Sun. "Pedantic, puerile narrative." - Harbottle and Holland. Harbottle and Holland A22.
GLORY SEASON.
New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland: Bantam Books, [1993]. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First edition. Novel set on another planet in which the feminist colonists establish a matriarchal society. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-159.
THE UPLIFT WAR.
[New York: Bantam Books, 1987.]. Octavo, printed wrappers. Advance copy (uncorrected proof) of the first paperback edition. Sequel to STARTIDE RISING (1983). Winner of the 1988 Hugo award for best novel. This proof precedes the Phantasia Press editions. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-163.
FOREIGN CONSTELLATIONS: THE FANTASTIC WORLDS OF JOHN BRUNNER.
New York: Everest House Publishers, [1980]. Octavo, cloth-backed boards. First edition. Collects eight stories.
STAND ON ZANZIBAR.
Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1968. Octavo, cloth. First edition. "Mammoth attempt to picture the world as it may well be in the early twenty-first century -- overpopulated, over automated, and torn by riots and muggings. The pop sociologist Chad C. Mulligan comments wryly on it all, and he is the nearest thing to a hero in this densely peopled book. Primarily didactic in intent, it borrows surface bravura from John Dos Passos's social realist USA trilogy (1930-1936)." - Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, second edition (1995), p. 343. Winner of the 1969 Hugo award for best novel. 1968 Nebula nominee. Winner of the 1970 British Science Fiction Association Award for best novel and the French Prix Apollo. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-175. Survey of Science Fiction Literature V, pp. 2140-45.