Science Fiction
GREAT SKY RIVER.
New York: Bantam Books, [1987]. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First edition. Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 4-44. Hugo nominee 1988.
IN ALIEN FLESH.
[New York]: Tor, [1986]. Octavo, boards. First edition. Collects thirteen stories and a poem.
IN THE OCEAN OF NIGHT ...
New York: The Dial Press / James Wade, [1977]. Octavo, boards. First edition. 1977 Nebula nominee. The first novel in the Galactic Center series. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-107. Survey of Science Fiction Literature III, pp. 1026-30.
MATTER'S END.
Norwalk, CT: Easton Press, [1994]. Octavo, frontispiece by Frank Kelly Freas, full leather, a.e.g. First hardcover edition. One of an unspecified number of copies signed by Benford. Collects twenty-one stories. Introduction by James Gunn. Part of the Easton press signed first edition series.
THE STARS IN SHROUD.
New York: Published by Berkley Publishing Corporation Distributed by G. P. Putnam's Sons, [1978]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Anatomy of Wonder (1981) 3-73.
TIMESCAPE.
New York: Simon and Schuster, [1980]. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First edition. Nebula Award winner, 1980. John W. Campbell Memorial Award, 1981. Scientists in the future try to send a warning message to scientists of the past. "Unusual for the realism of its depiction of scientists at work; admirably serious in handling the implications of its theme." Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 4-46. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-109.
TIMESCAPE.
New York: Simon and Schuster, [1980]. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First edition. Nebula Award winner, 1980. John W. Campbell Memorial Award, 1981. Scientists in the future try to send a warning message to scientists of the past. "Unusual for the realism of its depiction of scientists at work; admirably serious in handling the implications of its theme." Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 4-46. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-109.
TIMESCAPE.
New York: Simon and Schuster, [1980]. Octavo, cloth-backed boards. First edition. Scientists in the future try to send a warning message to scientists of the past. "Unusual for the realism of its depiction of scientists at work; admirably serious in handling the implications of its theme." - Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-109. Winner of the 1980 Nebula Award for best novel. Winner of the 1981 British Science Fiction Association Award for best novel.
THE BOWL OF BAAL.
West Kingston, Rhode Island: Donald M. Grant, 1975. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Lost race adventure novel.
THE BOWL OF BAAL.
West Kingston, Rhode Island: Donald M. Grant, 1975. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Lost race adventure novel.
THYRA: A ROMANCE OF THE POLAR PIT ...
New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1901. Octavo, pp. [1-6] 1-258, fly leaves at front and rear, original decorated blue cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black. First edition. This issue without the seven inserted plates found in some copies is generally thought to be part of a remainder issue. However, it is more likely that these copies are part of a second or later printing of the book as pagination and make up of the signatures differ from those of the first printing. These later copies never had the inserted illustrations by Blumenschein or the leaf with "list of illustrations" (pages 7-8 of the preliminaries in the first printing). There are other variations, including no advertising leaves following page 258. A well-known lost race novel, regarded by many to be a minor classic of the genre. A quartet of explorers in a hot-air balloon drift and crash in an unexplored part of the Arctic, where they find, in a sort of hollow earth, a Norse colony, a pit with fantastic creatures, a ghoulish system of human sacrifice, and adventures aplenty. The story also involves what one could call a lost-race-within-a-lost-race. An excellent recreation of the Nordic zeitgeist. "Bennet's description of an expedition's thrust northward from Franz Joseph Land in 1896 provided one of the most realistic passages in the genre... THYRA pictured the full horror of Arctic exploration." - Clareson, The Emergence of American Science Fiction: 1880-1915, pp. 146-47. "One of the better early lost-race novels." - Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 171. Angenot and Khouri, "An International Bibliography of Prehistoric Fiction," SFS, VIII (March 1981), 41. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 062. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 31. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, p. 124. In 333. Bleiler (1978), p. 20. Reginald 01098.
THE UNKNOWN FIVE.
New York: Pyramid Books, [1964]. Small octavo, pictorial wrappers. First edition. Pyramid R-962. Paperback original. Collects five stories, four published in UNKNOWN /UNKNOWN WORLDS pulp magazine. The fifth story by Isaac Asimov, "Author! Author!" was accepted by John W. Campbell for UNKNOWN but the magazine folded before it was published. This is the first publication. Other authors are Alfred Bester, Theodore Sturgeon, Cleve Cartmill and Jane Rice.
THE RIDDLE OF THE TOWER.
London, New York, Melbourne: Hutchinson & Co. (Publishers), Ltd., n.d., [1944]. Octavo, pp. [1-6] 7-152, original tan cloth, front and spine panels stamped in dark green. First edition. A presentation copy signed by both authors with inscription in Wynne-Tyson's hand on the front free endpaper: "For Winifred -- / With the very best of / good wishes, / from / Esme W.-T. / and / J. D. Beresford / The Retreat / Holt Wilts. / 1944." "Mankind descends through successful regimentation and mechanization to the final status of insects." - Gerber, Utopian Fantasy (1973), p. 155. Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 78. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, p. 226. Stableford, Scientific Romance in Britain 1890-1950, p. 181. Bleiler (1978), p. 21. Reginald 01162.
THE HAMPDENSHIRE WONDER ...
London: Sidgwick & Jackson, Ltd., 1911. Octavo, pp. [i-vi] vii-viii [1-2] 3-295 [296: printer's imprint], original medium blue cloth, front panel ruled in blind and lettered in gold, spine panel lettered in gold. First edition, probable first binding. One of the major science fiction novels published in Britain prior to World War II. This story of a homo superior in contemporary society influenced Stapledon's ODD JOHN. "The first important novel about a superman, and in many respects still the best." - Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 182. Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 2-15; (1981) 1-21; (1987) 1-11; (1995) 1-11; and (2004) II-113. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 068. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 32 (binding variant B; no sequence established). Stableford, Scientific Romance in Britain 1890-1950, pp. 103-05. Survey of Science Fiction Literature II, pp. 945-49. In 333. Bleiler (1978), p. 21. Reginald 01157.
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 TWENTY-FIFTH HOUR.
New York: Random House, [1940]. Octavo, [1-10] [1-2] 3-321 [322-326]. cloth. First edition. An outstanding post-catastrophe novel. "Good character development -- complex. Thoughtful anthropological insight." - Anatomy of Wonder (1987) 3-29. Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 4-62 and (1981) 3-77.
THE COMPUTER CONNECTION.
New York: Berkley Publishing Corporation/G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1975. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Signed inscription by Bester.
THE DEMOLISHED MAN.
Chicago: Shasta Publishers, [1953]. Octavo, cloth-backed boards. First edition. One of the subscriber's copies signed by Bester on the front free endpaper. A classic science-fiction novel based on Fyodor Dostoyevsky's CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (1866), "in which the obsessed villain ultimately fails to avoid detection by a telepathic policeman, but finds the prospect of punitive 'demolition' less terrible than its name implies." - Clute and Nicholls (eds), The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (1993), p. 275. Winner of the 1953 Hugo award for best novel and runner-up for the 1954 International Fantasy Award. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-116. Pringle, Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels 7. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, Additions. Survey of Science Fiction Literature II, pp. 529-32.
THE DEMOLISHED MAN.
Chicago: Shasta Publishers, [1953]. Octavo, cloth-backed boards. First edition. One of the subscriber's copies signed by Bester on the front free endpaper. Winner of the 1953 Hugo award for best novel and runner-up for the 1954 International Fantasy Award. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-116. Pringle, Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels 7. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, Additions. Survey of Science Fiction Literature II, pp. 529-32.
THE DEMOLISHED MAN.
Chicago: Shasta Publishers, [1953]. Octavo, cloth-backed boards. First edition. Winner of the 1953 Hugo award for best novel and runner-up for the 1954 International Fantasy Award. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-116. Pringle, Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels 7. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, Additions. Survey of Science Fiction Literature II, pp. 529-32.
THE DEMOLISHED MAN.
[New York]: A Signet Book/The New American Libary, [1954]. Small octavo, cover art by Stanley Meltzoff, pictorial wrappers. First paperback edition. Winner of the 1953 Hugo award for best novel and runner-up for the 1954 International Fantasy Award. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-116. Pringle, Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels 7. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, Additions. Survey of Science Fiction Literature II, pp. 529-32.
THE DEMOLISHED MAN.
Norwalk, CT: The Easton Press, [1986]. Octavo, full leather, a.e.g. Later edition. New introduction by Kurt Vonnegut. Winner of the 1953 Hugo award for best novel and runner-up for the 1954 International Fantasy Award. Collector's notes laid in. Issued as part of the Easton Press "Masterpieces of Science Fiction" series. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-116. Pringle, Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels 7. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, Additions. Survey of Science Fiction Literature II, pp. 529-32.
THE STRANGE MS. BY ---, M.D.
Springfield, Illinois: H. W. Rokker, Printer and Binder, 1883. Octavo, pp. [1-2] [1-3] 4-336 [337-338: blank], flyleaves at front and rear, original decorated green cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black and gold, rear panel stamped in blind, decorated endpapers with floral pattern printed in brown. First edition. The first world catastrophe novel written by an American. The manuscript, written in 1881, is a pre-vision of what may come to pass in 1883-1884 when the Earth is struck by a comet. The polar ice caps have melted, the Earth has shifted, and most of the human race has perished. A few survivors in now arctic Kentucky flee into Canada to James Bay, where the climate is warm enough for a settlement. At this point, the narrative breaks off. "As a novel, amateurish, with period ethic humor about Blacks, but with some touches of imagination" (Bleiler). Bettersworth published one other novel, JOHN SMITH, DEMOCRAT: HIS TWO DAY'S CANVASS (SUNDAY INCLUDED) FOR THE OFFICE OF MAYOR OF THE CITY OF BUNKUMVILLE, also printed and bound by Rokker in 1877. Bleiler, Science Fiction: The Early Years 193. Bleiler (1978), p. 7. Not in Reginald (1978; 1992). Wright (III) 509.
MINIONS OF THE MOON: A NOVEL OF THE FUTURE.
New York: Gnome Press, [1950]. Octavo, boards. First edition. Space opera first published as a serial in ARGOSY, 22 April - 6 May 1939. The first of the four novels comprising the Mark Nevin–Omega series.
STOWAWAY TO MARS.
London: Nova Publications Ltd., [1953]. Octavo, pictorial wrappers. First printing of the revised text. Nova Science Fiction Novels No. 1. The author's second SF book, first published in 1936 as PLANET PLANE. Currey, p. 222. Harbottle and Holland B76.