Signed titles
BEFORE THEY ARE HANGED.
[Burton, MI]: Subterranean Press, 2011. Octavo, cloth. Limited edition. One of 500 numbered copies signed by Abercrombie. The author's second novel and the second book of "The First Law" trilogy. From a Guardian interview with the author 17 September, 2019: "...following the adventures of torturer Inquisitor Glokta, barbarian warrior Logen Ninefingers, and the dashing but vain swordsman Jezal dan Luthar. Gritty, violent, cynical and redolent with dark humour, “it was my take on Lord of the Rings, but bringing in all my weird preoccupations about how people work, the nature of violence. It’s a reaction against the shiny and optimistic heroic fantasy I read as a teenager. In trying to do the opposite, it becomes quite pessimistic and grim.”.
THE BLADE ITSELF.
[Burton, MI]: Subterranean Press, 2010. Octavo, cloth. Limited edition. One of 500 numbered copies signed by Abercrombie. The author's first novel and the first book of "The First Law" trilogy. From a Guardian interview with the author 17 September, 2019: "...following the adventures of torturer Inquisitor Glokta, barbarian warrior Logen Ninefingers, and the dashing but vain swordsman Jezal dan Luthar. Gritty, violent, cynical and redolent with dark humour, “it was my take on Lord of the Rings, but bringing in all my weird preoccupations about how people work, the nature of violence. It’s a reaction against the shiny and optimistic heroic fantasy I read as a teenager. In trying to do the opposite, it becomes quite pessimistic and grim.”.
LAST ARGUMENT OF KINGS.
[Burton, MI]: Subterranean Press, 2011. Octavo, cloth. Limited edition. The author's third novel and the third book of "The First Law" trilogy. From a Guardian interview with the author 17 September, 2019: "...following the adventures of torturer Inquisitor Glokta, barbarian warrior Logen Ninefingers, and the dashing but vain swordsman Jezal dan Luthar. Gritty, violent, cynical and redolent with dark humour, “it was my take on Lord of the Rings, but bringing in all my weird preoccupations about how people work, the nature of violence. It’s a reaction against the shiny and optimistic heroic fantasy I read as a teenager. In trying to do the opposite, it becomes quite pessimistic and grim.”.
HAWKSMOOR.
London: Hamish Hamilton, [1985]. Octavo, boards. First edition. Signed and also inscribed by Ackroyd on the title page. Detective Nicholas Hawksmoor investigates strangled victims near cathedrals built in the 18th century which are associated with ritual murders. "Ackroyd's vivid recreation of historical London and its squalor contributes to the story's eerie atmosphere." - Barron (ed), Fantasy and Horror 6-1. Barron (ed), Fantasy and Horror (1999) 6-1. Barron (ed), Fantasy Literature 4A-1. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 4-1. Cawthorn and Moorcock, Fantasy: The 100 Best Books 99. Jones and Newman (eds), Horror: The 100 Best Books 96. Pringle, Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels 92.
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.
A TOUCH OF CHILL: TALES FOR SLEEPLESS NIGHTS.
New York: Delacorte Press, [1980]. Octavo, cloth. First U.S. edition. Signed inscription by Aiken to a mystery book publisher and book seller on the title page. Publisher's review slip laid in. Collection of fifteen stories. The contents of this book differ from the U.K. title of the same name, (nearly half the stories differ). Barron (ed), Fantasy and Horror 6-11.
THE WINDSCREEN WEEPERS AND OTHER TALES OF HORROR SUSPENSE AND FANTASY.
London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1969. Octavo, boards. First edition. Signed presentation copy by Aiken to her brother and sister-in-law. Collection of adult fiction by this noted writer.
BURNING MARCH.
New York: Dutton, 1994. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First edition. Signed by the Albert. Third novel in the series.
THE FEBRUARY TROUBLE.
New York: Walker, 1992. Octavo, boards. First edition. Signed by the Albert. The second P.I. Dave Garrett novel.
THE JANUARY CORPSE.
New York: Walker, [1991]. Octavo, Hardcover. First edition. Signed by the Albert. The first P.I. Dave Garrett novel.
HOTHOUSE.
London: Faber and Faber, [1962]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Signed by Aldiss on the title page. Issued earlier in the U.S. in a shorter version as The Long Afternoon of Earth (1962). Novelization of five Hothouse stories that won the 1962 Hugo award for best short fiction published in 1961. Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 3-3. Pringle, Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels 34.
A ROMANCE OF THE EQUATOR.
[Birmingham: The Birmingham Science Fiction Group, 1979]. Octavo, printed wrappers. First edition. Limited to 550 numbered copies. Signed by Aldiss on the limitation page. Booklet issued for Novacon 10 at which Aldiss was guest of honor. Prints the short story.
COLL AND HIS WHITE PIG.
New York, Chicago, San Francisco: Holt, Rinehard and Winston, [1965]. Octavo, boards. First edition. Signed inscription by Alexander on the half title page it is additionally signed by the illustrator Evaline Ness. A childrens story set in Alexander's fantasy kingdom of Prydain, it is based on an incident from the Book of Three (volume 1 in the Chronicles of Prydain).
DEEP PURPLE.
[Sevenoaks, Kent]: New English Library, [1989]. Octavo, boards. First edition. Signed by Allbeury on the front free endpaper. Spy thriller involving Soviet defectors. Smith and White, Cloak and Dagger Fiction (3rd ed.) 470.
DECEPTION.
New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, [2003]. Octavo, boards. First edition. Signed by Altman on the title page. Suspense/thriller novel.
A GAME OF SPIES.
New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, [2002]. Octavo, boards. First edition. Signed by Altman on the title page. Spy thriller set during WW II.
BACKGROUND TO DANGER. [SPECIAL ADVANCE COPY].
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1937. Octavo, pp. [1-12] [1-2] 3-280 [281-284], printed wrappers. Advance copy (uncorrected proof) of the first U. S. edition. Signed inscription by Ambler on the half title page to Otto Penzler: "To Otto, enviously, / I've never even seen / this book at this stage -- / Eric Ambler / 21 IX 81." Signed and dated a second time on the title page. This is an advance reading/review copy. Espionage thriller involving military secrets, Soviet agents, German agents and Rumanian oil. Filmed in 1943, directed by Raoul Walsh with George Raft, Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Turhan Bey from a script by W.R. Burnett.
WAITING FOR ORDERS: THE COMPLETE SHORT STORIES OF ERIC AMBLER.
New York: The Mysterious Press, 1991. Octavo, cloth. First edition. One of 26 lettered copies signed by the Amber. The 26 copy lettered edition is the only signed limited of this title. Ambler would not sign a numbered edition. Introduction by Ambler. Includes eight stories, six feature Dr. Czissar, a refugee Czech detective written during World War II.
NIGHT DOGS.
Tucson: Dennis McMillan, 1996. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Trade issue, signed by Anderson.
EARTHMAN'S BURDEN. [first and second paperback editions].
New York: Camelot Books/Published by Avon [and] Avon. [1970] & [1979]. Octavo, pictorial wrappers. First paperback edition and second paperback edition. Both books with signed inscription from Poul Anderson. Collects six Hoka stories including "The Adventure of the Misplaced Hound," a Sherlockian pastiche. Vaughn Bode cover art on the first volume.
ORION SHALL RISE.
Huntington Woods: Phantasia Press, 1983. First edition. One of 600 numbered copies signed by Anderson. "A long, complex novel set in the world of Anderson's Maurai stories, centuries after the devastating war known variously as 'The Doom War,' 'The Downfall,' and the 'Death Time.' Among other matters this work details a plot by the Northwest Union (the northwestern portion of the former United States) to develop spacecraft powered by nuclear explosives to challenge the domination of their benevolent rulers who have restricted the development of technology ... A superior political thriller ..." - Brians, Nuclear Holocausts: Atomic War in Fiction, 1895-1984, p. 117. Anatomy of Wonder (1987) 4-16. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, p. 416.
PRIMARY INVERSION.
New York: Tor, [1995]. Octavo, boards. First edition. Signed by Asaro on the title page. The author's first novel. Space opera romance, the first novel of the Skolian Empire series. Hartwell, 200 Significant SF Books by Women, 1984-2001.
ASIMOV'S SHERLOCKIAN LIMERICKS.
New York: The Mysterious Press, 1978. Small octavo, illustrated by Gahan Wilson, cloth. First edition. One of 250 numbered copies signed by Asimov and the artist, Gahan Wilson. Sixty limericks, one for each of the sixty tales of the Sherlockian canon.
BANQUETS OF THE BLACK WIDOWERS.
Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1984. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First edition. Signed inscription by Asimov to a mystery publisher and bookseller. Review slip and publishers promo flyer laid in. The fourth collection of Black Widower stories.
FOUNDATION AND EARTH.
Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1986. Octavo, full brown leather, all edges gilt. First edition. One of 300 numbered copies signed by Asimov. "The space travelers from FOUNDATION'S EDGE journey from the sentient world of Gaia to Earth via various ancient planets familiar to readers of Asimov's "Robot" stories. More bloated, talky stuff for readers who are well steeped in the author's earlier works." - Pringle, The Ultimate Guide to Science Fiction, second edition (1995), p. 143. Includes a continuation of the utopia in FOUNDATION'S EDGE and some dystopia.