California Virtual Book Fair, March 2021
Our selection of books which were exhibited at the recent California Virtual Book Fair.
"Conflict of Wisdom." Typed Manuscript (TMs).
10 leaves, plus cover sheet. Corrected throughout in Stapledon's hand with amendments, additions, and strikeouts. At the top edge of the cover sheet Gawsworth has written: "Published by me / when editing ENQUIRY / (1949) / John Gawsworth." Accompanied by a handwritten note (ANS) from Stapledon to Gawsworth dated 17 July 1949 returning a corrected proof of the essay. The essay, published in ENQUIRY, August 1949, addresses the "need both for fidelity to the spirit and agnosticism about the ultimate ends of the universe." - Satty and Smith C190. William Olaf Stapledon (1886-1950) "is best remembered for the extraordinary works of speculative fiction published between 1930 and 1950. As a novelist, he was known as the spokesman for the Age of Einstein and has influenced writers as diverse as Virginia Woolf, Arthur C. Clarke, and Doris Lessing ... Stapledon's novels -- LAST AND FIRST MEN (1930), ODD JOHN (1935), STAR MAKER (1937), and SIRIUS (1944) -- have gathered a passionate following, and they have seldom been out of print in the last twenty-five years ... In his social activism as in his fiction, Stapledon embodied many of the of modern era's anxieties and hopes that allow his works to continue to speak to and for the future." - Robert Crossley.
THE JACQUES KREISLER MANUFACTURING COMPANY PRESENTS "TALES OF TOMORROW" PROGRAM #1 "VERDICT FROM SPACE" ORIGINAL STORY AND TELEPLAY BY: THEODORE STURGEON. NETWORK: ABC-TV. TELECAST DATE: AUGUST 3, 1951 ...
[New York]: A George Foley / Dick Gordon Production, 1951. Mimeographed TV script, heavily corrected throughout in pencil. The cover page is marked "Corrected Script" and "FINAL REVISED" in pencil at the top of the sheet. The script is complete and includes cast and crew lists, rehearsal schedule, and inserts on blue paper stock for the commercials that ran during the program. The series, produced by George Foley and Dick Gordon, was performed and broadcast live on ABC-TV from 1951 to 1953. It ran for 85 episodes. The series, originally called Tomorrow is Yours, was developed by Theodore Sturgeon, the series story editor, and Mort Abrahams, the program's executive producer. Tales of Tomorrow was one of the earliest and most successful SF anthology television series. It was ambitious but, like most television of the period, limited by the restrictions imposed by live studio shooting. At a time when most SF on TV was targeted to children, Tales of Tomorrow was intended for adults. It drew its material from a variety of sources, including the SF pulp magazines, as well as using original scripts. "Verdict from Space" is Sturgeon's adaptation of his short story "The Sky Was Full of Ships" which was first published in THRILLING WONDER STORIES, June 1947.
THE FOUR STRENGTHS OF SHADOW.
Money Creek [MN]: Sutton Hoo Press, 2013. Octavo, light blue cloth with three quarter marble board front cover, fore and bottom edge uncut, top edge rough cut. First edition. Signed by Weighell. This book was limited to one hundred copies, however only fifty copies of the sheets were actually bound by the publisher, of which only 22 were made available for public sale. An antiquarian ghost story written specifically for this publisher. Summers, a scholar, comes to Venice to research the life of Sigisomondo Mortensa, the 16th-century architect who designed the Church of Saint Bartholomew. As he studies the marginalia in various books in Mortensa’s library, Summers uncovers the horrific truth about Mortensa’s relationship with Antonio Borsini, a young apprentice who vanished mysteriously during the church's construction after being publicly denounced for his participation in blasphemous activities.
THE DARK SIDE OF LOVE: TALES OF LOVE AND DEATH.
New York: Walker and Company, [1965]. Octavo, boards. First edition. Signed inscription by Woolrich on the front end paper: "To Ethel & Karl Paley / Sincerely, / Cornell Woolrich." As with all Woolrich books, scarce signed, especially so as the author was quite reclusive and this title is one of the last two published during his lifetime (he died in 1968).
THE MURDERER INVISIBLE.
New York: Farrar & Rinehart Incorporated, Publishers, [1931]. Octavo, pp. [1-6] [1-2] 3-314, original orange cloth stamped in dark blue. First edition. Mystery and science fiction novel of a man who can turn himself invisible and seeks to rule the world. Wylie freely admits indebtedness to Wells' novel The Invisible Man (which Wylie, unaccredited, helped write the screenplay for the 1933 film). Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 835. In 333. Bleiler (1978), p. 213. Reginald 15693. Hubin (1994) p. 882.