Lawrence Person's Library

Given Roadrunner's paucity of online space, I've started a Picasa web album to show scans of my first edition covers, starting with my Hugo and Nebula winners.

Collection Highlights

• Asimov, Isaac. Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation. Gnome Press, 1951-1953. First edition, first state copies of all three volumes in the Foundation Trilogy, all Ex-Library copies, the first a relatively clean copy in a price-clipped dj, the other two not price-clipped but considerably more worn. Assembled from various source (Foundation from Cold Tonnage Books, the other two off eBay) for just under $300 for the set. Non-Ex-Lib sets go in the $4,500 range, with Second Foundation particularly difficult to obtain.

• Attanasio, A. A. Radix. William Morrow and Company, 1981. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dj. Bought as part of a 26 book lot off another science fiction dealer who allowed me to cherry-pick his personal collection before boxing things up for a move. Replaces an Ex-Lib copy I previously had.

• Baxter, Stephen. The Time Ships. HarperCollins, 1995. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. The authorized sequel to H. G. Wells' The Time Machine, and Baxter's best book. After reading a paperback copy prior to interviewing Baxter at the 1997 Worldcon in San Antonio, I decided I had to have a copy of the first edition and ponied up about $140 for this copy from Andy Richards. Of course, it's now going for $300...

• Bester, Alfred. The Demolished Man. Shasta Publishers, 1953. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, with Bester's business card laid in. Bought off a PBA Galleries auction for $316 in early 2006.

• Butler, Octavia. Survivor. Doubleday, 1978. First edition hardback, F/F. The rarest of all Butler's books, and one she vowed never to allow to be reprinted again. Bought at the 1998 Worldcon for $299, whereupon I sold a less pristine copy on ABE for $300...

• Clarke, Arthur C. Childhood's End. Ballantine Books, 1953. First edition hardback, an Ex-Library copy with the usual flaws and a faded spine. Bought for $350.01 off eBay in 2006. One of the most important science fiction novels of the 20th century, and the Ballantine hadback is exceedingly rare. Non-Ex-Libs tend to list in the $4000 range.

• Delany, Samuel R. Babel-17. Gollancz, 1967. F in a NF, price-clipped dj. First harback edition of one of his two Nebula-winning novels, along with...

• Delany, Samuel R. The Einstein Intersection. Gollancz, 1968. F in a NF, price-clipped dj. The first hardback of his other Nebula-winning novel, both of which are hellishly difficult to find these days. I bought the pair for $500 from Earthling Books when Brett Hodges began his going out of business sale. (He said five or six people tried to order these after I instantly mailed him back. I bet. These would probably go for in excess of $1000 each, if you could find them.)

• The Collected Stories of Phillip K. Dick (Volume I-V). Underwood/Miller, 1990. First edition hardbacks, Fine copies, san dj, as issued. Bought for somewhere in the mid-1990s for around $150, I think. I started trying to building a complete Dck collection around that time, when it was already a fairly difficult and formidable task. I have most of the key works (Time Out of Joint, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, The Three Stigmata of Plamer Eldritch, The Man in the High Castle, Ubik, etc.), though most are Ex-Library copies, but lack some of the early UK hardbacks of his minor works, which go for rather more than I'm wiling to pay for them just now...

• Di Filippo, Paul Di. Ciphers. Cambrian Press, 1997. First edition, one of only 100 signed hardback copies, this one being stamped "PRESENTATION COPY," a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Given to me by publisher Andy Watson. (Thanks Andy!) Part of my complete Di Filippo collection.

• Dozois, Gardner, editor. The Year's Best Science Fiction: First Annual Collection. Bluejay Books, 1984. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dj. Signed by Dozois. Bought as part of the same dealer lot as Radix above. These were going for about $500 not so long ago, and now you pretty much can't find them at all. I now have all the rest in this series except five.

• Egan, Greg. An Unusual Angle. Norstrilia Press (Australia), 1983. First edition hardback, Fine in a Fine dust jacket, one of only 100 hardback copies. His first novel. For a while this was impossible to find, though I was finally able to locate some copies through the kind auspices of publisher (and now Nova Express contributor) Bruce Gillespie. A few more copies surfaced after the 1999 Worldcon in Melbourne. Part of my complete Greg Egan collection, including...

• Egan, Greg. Quarantine. Legend (UK), 1992. A Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, His first SF novel (and second novel overall), nearly impossible to find in the hardback state these days (there was a simultaneous trade paperback issue). I think I paid £ 60 for it back in 1998.

• Egan, Greg. Axiomatic. Millennium (UK), 1995. First edition hardback. Inscribed by Egan to SF editor David Pringle. Since Egan is something of a recluse these days, and never attends conventions or any other public events, signed copies of his work are all but impossible to find. I bought this off eBay after verifying its provenance with Pringle. Easily the niftiest assocation copy I have (discounting those signed to me).

• Farmer, Philip Jose. To Your Scattered Bodies Go. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1971. First edition hardback. NF/F-. Formerly the copy of late SF fan and writer Buck Coulson and his wife Juanita, with their ownership stamp in the book, and a patch of glue residue on the RFE (however, if it's an ex-library copy, there are certainly no other signs). Bought from Henderson's Books at the 2002 San Jose Worldcon for $300 (on consignment from Juanita). Farmer's Hugo Award winner, and the first Riverworld novel.

• Gaiman, Neil. Gaiman, Neil. Murder Mysteries: A Play For Voices. Biting Dog Press, 2001. First Edition Hardback, 1 of 250 signed/limited copies in slipcase, Fine (new), sans dj, as issued A handsomely bound, full-cloth edition with 12 tipped-in wood engravings by George Walker. The radio play version of his acclaimed story, with an introduction by Seeing Ear Theatre director Brian Smith. Signed by both Gaiman and Walker.

• Gaiman, Neil. Gaiman, Neil. Neverwhere. BBC, 1996. First edition hardback, preceding the American edition by over a year. One of 500 copies of the special signed/numbered (on a bookplate) edition, which I believe was sold out upon publication. His magical London unerground novel, bought at cover price from Andromeda Books before it was published.

• Gaiman, Neil. Gaiman, Neil. Sandman. DC Comics, 1990-2000. A complete first edition run of the collected hardback compilations, consisting of Preludes and Nocturnes, The Doll's House, Dream Country, Season of Mists, A Game of You, Fables & Reflections, Brief Lives, World's End, The Kindly Ones and The Wake. I also have the hardback firsts of Sandman: The Dream Hunters, Death: The High Cost of Living, Death: The Time of Your Life, and Sandman: The Dustcovers, and the UK (true first) hardback of Gaiman and Kramer's Sandman: Book of Dreams. In other words, the whole enchilada. Most are signed by Neil.

• Gibson, William. Neuromancer. Gollancz, 1985. First hardback edition, NF/F. The landmark work of modern science fiction. Hard as it is to believe, I actually bought this off the Internet for $10 in the late 1990s...

• Hamilton, Peter F. The Reality Dysfunction. MacMillan (UK), 1996. First edition hardback, NF/NF with very slight wrinkling to dj and the book itself bound upside down. Signed by Hamilton. A whomping big book, or, as a friend of mine calls it, The Phonebook Dysfunction. (The sequels, The Neutronium Alchemist and The Naked God, are each larger still.) Justina Robson was able to find a copy for me in the UK and traded it to me in exchange for a a large box of American SF/F/H magazines. At one point these things were going for $600 each, but have since retreated from that high water mark.

  

• Heinlein, Robert A. Starship Troopers. Putnum, 1959. First edition hardback, an Ex-Library copy with interior stamps, pocket removal, etc. The dust jacket has been covered in laminate, but except for a small strip of peel near head, it is otherwise intact and (I think) quite attractive. I have all four of Heinlein's Hugo winners in Ex-Lib copies, but I think this is the nicest.

• Hughart, Barry. Eight Skilled Gentlemen. Doubleday, 1990. First edition hardback, Fine in a Fine dust jacket. The third (and, alas, last) book in the brilliant Master Li and Number 10 Ox series, and far and away the hardest to find due to the small hardback run compared to the trade paperback state. I think I got this from Andy Richards a few years after it was published right around cover price.

• Jackson, Shirley. The Haunting of Hill House. Viking, 1959. First edition hardback, NF/VG. Perhaps the most important horror novel of the 20th century, and part of my nearly complete Jackson collection. I paid $45 for it at the 1989 Boston Worldcon, which was the most I had ever spent on a book up to that time...

• Lansdale, Joe R. For a Few Stories More. Subterranean Press, 2002 (actually 2003). First edition hardback, ultra-limited state, letter R of only 52 signed/lettered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dj and slipcase. Though I usually steer away from ultra-limiteds, I had to pick this one up because this is the only edition which contains Joe's young adult vampire novel, Shadows Bite. Part of my complete Lansdale collection, along with...

• Lansdale, Joe R. The Magic Wagon. Doubleday, 1986. First edition hardback, Fine in a Fine- dust jacket (with two tiny closed tears at head), inscribed to me by Joe. Bought at cover price minus 20% by a friend who worked at Houston's late, lamented Future Visions.

• Pohl, Frederik. Gateway. St. Martins, 1977. First edtion hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dj. Signed by Pohl. Hugo and Nebula winner. Part of same lot as Radix (see above).

• Pohl, Frederik. Man Plus. Random House, 1976. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dj. Signed by Pohl. Hugo and Nebula winner. Bought for half cover price at a Half-Price Books, and then signed by Fred at the 2002 San Jose Worldcon.

• Stephenson, Neil. Snow Crash. Bantam,1992. First edition hardback, F-/F, inscribed to me. Oddly enough I originally got this free as a review copy and promptly offered it up for Nova Express staffers to review, but no one wanted to read it, so...

• Vance, Jack. The Vance Integral Edition. Vance Integral Edition, 2003-2005. 44 volumes comprising Jack Vance's complete work in a uniform edition, with text restored to that in his original manuscript, my set being #62 of the first 200 sets in which the last volume was signed by Vance, a Fine, complete set, all sans djs, as issued. I believe I ended up paying $1,500 or so, including shipping. Like Dick, I decided rather late to build a complete Jack Vance hardback collection, but am quite far along. Certainly anyone getting into Vance collecting now will find this set both very expensive and nearly impossible to find. Hats off to Mike Berro for getting the ball rolling on this mammoth undertaking.

• Zelazny, Roger. Lord of Light. Doubleday, 1967. First edition hardback, a relatively clean ex-library copy, otherwise NF/NF-. Signed by Zelazny. Perhaps his best stand-alone novel.

Important Science Fiction and Fantasy Reference Works

• Currey, L.W. Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors: A Bibliography of First Printings of Their Fiction. G. K. Hall, 1978. The bible of the field, and absolutely essential for any serious collector of science fiction. Only goes up to 1978. For dates after 1983, you can use The Locus Online Database. (Now if only someone would compile a book that covers 1979-1983...) There is evidently a new CD ROM version of it, which, alas, doesn't go past 1978 either, but I haven't personally looked at it yet.

• Locke, George. Spectrum of Fantasy I-III. Ferret Fantasy, 1980-2002. Perhaps the only SF dealer as knowledgeable as Currey. These are Locke's descriptions of his own personal library of fantastic fiction. Quite enjoyable works, and George is a nice guy.

• Clute, John, & Nichols, Peter. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. St. Martins, 1993 (first U.S. edition, offset from the same plates as the Orbit (UK) first). An absolutely essential general reference work.

• Clute, John, & Grant, John. The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. St. Martins, 1997 (first U.S. edition). Slightly more scattershot than the above, but still an essential reference.

• Bleiler, Everett. The Guide to Supernatural Fiction. Kent State University Press, 1993. Very good, and very solid, as a general reference work, but not really concerned with first edition points.

• Chalker, Jack & Owings, Mark. The Science Fantasy Publishers: A Critical and Bibliographic History. Mirage Press, 1991 ("Third Edition Revised and Enlarged"). Oh boy, what a schizophrenic work. If you're a serious SF collector, you probably need this. The problem is, you can't trust it. No other reference work offers the wealth and scope of knowledge of SF small press publishers that this one does. There's a lot of good information in here. However, there's also far too much erroneous information, too much missing information (such as omitting Startide Rising from the Phantasia Press listing), and a very odd organizational structure, not to mention several sneers and the constant sound of ax-grinding for SF figures the authors disagree with. In any book of this size, a few errors and omissions are going to creep in, but there are some major errors and major omissions here. What this book is best for is the chatty, informative histories of the various publishing houses listed here. (If nothing else, I can unstintingly recommend this book for anyone thinking of starting up their own small press, as it provides numerous examples of what not to do.) It's also quite useful for uncovering titles and publishers you might not have known existed before. In summary: Not the first book to reach for, or one for the novice collector, but a valuable tool for those who possess enough experience in the field to know which parts to take with a grain of salt. And whether you own it or not, it's well worth downloading the free supplements from the Mirage web site.

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