Classic Science Fiction and Fantasy: 19th-20th Century.
A short list of mostly classic science fiction and fantasy featuring a number of award winning titles. From a recent collection purchase with my colleague L. W. Currey.
THE OCTOBER COUNTRY.
New York: Ballantine Books, [1955]. Octavo, Illustrated by Joe Mugnaini, original red cloth, lettered in black. First edition. Currey binding B1, probable first state of the trade binding with publisher's logo inverted at base of spine. This title reprints the contents of DARK CARNIVAL (1947), most with revisions and it also includes four stories collected here for the first time; "The Dwarf," "The Watchful Poker Chip of H. Matisse," "Touched With Fire," and "The Wonderful Death of Dudley Stone." [Reference: See Barron: Horror Literature 3-34. Bleiler: The Guide to Supernatural Fiction #259].
THE SHEEP LOOK UP.
New York, Evanston, San Francisco, London: Harper & Row, Publishers, [1972]. Octavo, quarter cloth with boards. First edition. Signed by Brunner on the title page. 1972 Nebula nominee. "The most elaborate alarmist novel about industrial pollution." Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 4-72. [Reference: Jones and Newman (eds), Horror: 100 Best Books 69. Survey of Science Fiction Literature IV, pp. 1913-16].
THUVIA MAID OF MARS.
Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1920. Octavo, pp. [1-8] 1-256 [257: ad] [258: blank] [259-263: ads] [264: blank] [265-267: ads] [268: blank], ten inserted plates with illustrations by J. Allen St. John, ten inserted plates with illustrations by J. Allen St. John, original olive-green cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black. First edition. Total of 17,000 copies printed. There were multiple printings, at least two, last dated 1921. Fourth book of the Mars series, this novel involves the son of John Carter and Dejah Thoris, Cathoris, prince of Helium. [Reference: Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 307. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 128. Bleiler (1978), p. 36. Reginald 02340. Heins TMM-1. Zeuschner 802].
NOVA EXPRESS.
New York: Grove Press, Inc., [1964]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. "The Nova Mob attempts to take over the Earth, in a 'hallucinatory interplanetary cops and robbers game.' Horrific, fragmentary and very funny in its ghastly way, this book about drug addiction and other forms of manipulation is in much the same vein as the author's THE NAKED LUNCH." - Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, second edition (1995), p. 260.1966 Nebula nominee. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-195. Pringle, Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels 42. Survey of Science Fiction Literature IV, pp. 1566-70. Maynard and Miles A10a].
R.U.R. (ROSSUM'S UNIVERSAL ROBOTS): A PLAY IN THREE ACTS AND AN EPILOGUE ... Translated from the Czech by P. Selver and Adapted for the English Stage by Nigel Playfair.
London …: Humphrey Milford / Oxford University Press, 1923. Small octavo, pp. [1-5] 6-102 [103: ads] [104: blank], original printed black wrappers. First edition. This adaptation differs from that of the 1923 Doubleday, Page edition. "This play was first performed in 1921 in Prague and has since that time been translated and performed through the world. The word robot which Josef Capek coined for the play, based on the Czech word robota, 'forced labor,' has become a part of most modern languages." – Lewis, Utopian Literature, pp. 38-9. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 2-37; (1981) 2-13; (1987) 2-15; (1995) 2-16; and (2004) II-214. Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 358. Negley, Utopian Literature 182. Survey of Science Fiction Literature IV, pp. 1837-43. Bleiler (1978), p. 39].
THE FOUNTAINS OF PARADISE.
London: Victor Gollancz Ltd., 1979. Octavo, boards. First edition. Winner of the 1979 Nebula and 1980 Hugo awards for best novel. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-250].
LITTLE, BIG.
London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1982. Octavo, boards. First British and first hardcover edition. 1982 World Fantasy award winner. "A now recognized landmark of modern fantasy, Crowley's novel encompasses many worlds in its ambitious scope and triumphs on all counts ..." "A literate, touching and unassuming masterpiece." - Barron (ed.), Fantasy Literature, 4A-79. [Reference: Barron (ed), Fantasy and Horror (1999) 7-85. Pringle, Modern Fantasy: The 100 Best Novels #76].
THE LAND OF MIST.
New York: George H. Doran Company, [1926]. Octavo, pp. [1-10] 11-285 [286-288: blank] [note: final leaf is a blank], original decorated yellow-green cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black. First U. S. edition. The third Professor Challenger novel, in which the scientist investigates and is converted to spiritualism. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 2-32. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 558. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 263. Bleiler (1978), p. 63. Reginald 04495. Green and Gibson A45b].
THE RED NAPOLEON.
New York: Jonathan Cape & Harrison Smith, [1929]. Octavo. pp. [1-8] 1-475 [476: blank] [note: first leaf is a blank], several battle diagrams in the text as well as a fold-out plate opposite page [464] with diagram of decisive battle in Caribbean, original orange cloth, front and spine panels stamped in red, top edge stained orange. First edition. A yellow/red peril future war novel whose main action is set in the U.S.S.R., London and Mexico during the period of 1932-1936 as a communist Tartar-Mongol nearly succeeds in subjugating the world, only to be defeated at the Battle of Jamaica. "Because of the writer's intimate knowledge of war reportage, one of the best imaginary war novels, despite wooden characters and an unconvincing American victory." - Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 879. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 3-21; (1981) 2-31; (1987) 2-34; and (1995) 2-42. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 337. Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 58. Clarke, Voices Prophesying War: Future Wars 1763-3749, p. 238. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, pp. 90-91. Bleiler (1978), p. 81. Reginald 05938. Hanna, A Mirror for the Nation 1385].
STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND.
New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, [1961]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. First printing with code "C22" on page 408. Winner of the 1962 Hugo award for best novel. "Of all Heinlein's works this is the best known. It reached large audiences farther away from his science fiction roots than anything else he wrote..." "Stranger's cultural impact on an entire generation is, nonetheless, undeniable." - Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 3-91. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-518. Survey of Science Fiction Literature V, pp. 2195-2200].
THIS ISLAND EARTH.
Chicago: Shasta Publishers, [1952]. Octavo, quarter cloth with boards. First edition. Basis for the 1955 film starring Jeff Morrow. While not a great film, it is a science fiction classic, the sequences on the planet Metaluna are highly imaginative. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (1987) 3-222].
DRAGONQUEST: BEING THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF THE DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN.
London: Rapp + Whiting / Andre Deutsch, [1973]. Octavo, boards. First British (and first hardcover) edition. Second book of the "Dragonriders of Pern" series. 1972 Hugo nominee. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 4-289. Barron (ed), Fantasy Literature 4A-179].
HALF THE DAY IS NIGHT.
New York: Tor, [1994]. Octavo, boards. First edition. The author's second novel. Science fiction thriller set in an underwater country.
A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ ...
Philadelphia & New York: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1960. Octavo, cloth-backed boards. First edition. 1961 Hugo award winner. "600 years after an atomic deluge the Age of Simplification reigns supreme, but a development to new civilization follows." - Gerber, Utopian Fantasy (1973), p. 160. "Named by many as best SF novel of the modern period." - Anatomy of Wonder (1987) 3-287. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 3-125 and (2004) II-766. Pringle, Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels 30. Survey of Science Fiction Literature I, pp. 288-93].
NEUTRON STAR.
[London]: Macdonald Science Fiction, [1969]. Octavo, boards. First British (and first hardcover) edition. The first collection of Niven's hard science fiction stories, eight early works developing the "Known Space" future history. The title story was a 1967 Hugo Award winner. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-805].
THE HUMANOIDS.
NY: Simon and Schuster, 1949. Octavo, boards. First edition. Inscribed and signed by Williamson on the title page. Sequel to "With Folded Hands" (ASF, 1947), this was first published in ASF in 1948 as "...And Searching Mind." "Intelligent robots, instructed to let no come to harm, serve their masters so well that they institute a new tyranny of kindness which provokes rebellion." - Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, second edition (1995), p. 178. "...early in the genre's timetable of speculative insights, the [Humanoids] series confronted the near impossibility of assessing the pluses and minuses of a humanoid (i.e., AI-driven) hegemony over the world, however benevolent." - SFE online. [Reference: Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-1257. Berger, Science Fiction and the New Dark Age, pp. 34-6. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, p. 237. Survey of Science Fiction Literature II, pp. 981-85. In 333].