So what books do you have in your collection that you think will generate wails of anguish and envy from others?

I'll start the ball rolling - because it only arrived today, and it's what prompted me to start this thread... But I am now the proud owner of Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination: The Graphic Novel. And... it is signed by Bester, Howard Chaykin and Byron Preiss.

That's great! I do love that book. I didn't know there was a graphic novel. I thought Alfred Bester had been dead for some time.

As for books to envy, I have a copy of Neal Stephenson's The Big U. Although it is not science fiction either I also have an original copy of M. R. James's A Thin Ghost and Others.

Bah, the Big U has been reprinted and is no longer scarce.

I have the first printing of Ringworld, where the Earth rotates backwards.

#2 This is the first volume, but I believe the 2nd volume never materialised. Bester died in 1987, and the graphic novel was published in 1978.

I also have a signed numbered hardback of The Sacred and the Profane by Dean Motter & Ken Steacy, but that's not as envy-inducing as The Stars My Destination: The Graphic Novel...

I don't know.

Personally I like my copy of signed first (but sadly not the slipcased edition) of Grainne (it should be spelt Graínne but that doesn't touchstone) but I doubt enough people have heard of it (only 10 owners on LT) to generate many wails.

Maybe a signed first of Pasquale's Angel signed by Paul McAuley (who wrote it) and Jim Burns (who did the marvellous cover painting for the dj).

Pfft. My copy of Gráinne* is signed too (but also not the slipcased edition). I also have a signed copy of Kaeti and Company. I don't have many Roberts' first editions, although for some of his later works - published by Morrigan and Kerosina - they're the only editions available. Incidentally, he wrote one of my favourite sf short stories, 'The Lake of Tuonela'.

I have a copy of Planet Story by Harry Harrison and Jim Burns, signed by Jim Burns. It's unlikely I'll ever get Harrison to sign it. By all accounts, he denies all knowledge of having written it.

I have all five of Doris Lessing's Canopus in Argos Archives as signed first editions. I bought four of them relatively chiefly on eBay. Then she won the Nobel... and the one I needed to complete the set subsequently cost me nearly as much as the other four together...

(* ood: the touchstone worked fine for me)

Message edited by its author, Oct 19, 2008, 8:06am.

Gah. The touchstone for Gráinne works when you edit the post, but doesn't show once you submit. Stupid bloody system.

The Lake of Tuonela: Is that where The Swan of Tuonela lives?

Er, no. It's this story.

well..l have both the book club and publisher's first editions of the man in the high castle - sans dust jackets, but still. Only signed book iirc is a late edition of A wrinkle in time.

Message edited by its author, Oct 19, 2008, 7:50am.

I have hand signed and numbered first editions of Matter, The Dreaming Void, The Prefect, Halting State and The Philosophers Apprentice, but my most prized item is something that was passed down to me by my grandmother.

Its an incredibly large, incredible heavy and incredibly old book/album detailing the battles in the Balkans region during WWI of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (former Yugoslavia), written in three languages and filled with photos during those times. From my understanding, there were only 12 of these made and only one original. I've wanted to get this herloom appraised for a long time, but the last time i went to a shop that did such appraisals they said the cost of it would depend on how much the book is worth. As you can image, i just walked out.

Message edited by its author, Oct 19, 2008, 10:58am.

I've got a copy of Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman signed with a drawing of a mouse saying 'Hi Paul' in a word balloon.

One of my favorites is a signed first edition, third printing of Jimmy Corrigan The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware.

Another favorite is a signed copy of New York The Big City by Will Eisner.

I also have signed books by Clive Barker, China Mieville, Zadie Smith, Christopher Moore, Toby Barlow, Neil Gaiman, Michael Chabon and a few others. All were signed in person at various events.

#11

If those copies are the ones in your catalogue then some of them aren't true firsts. The Dreaming Void and The Prefect were both published in 2007 in the UK; your copies are catalogued as published in 2008 (with the US covers).

#13

When i started cataloguing my collection in LT, i did it relatively quickly. I didn't check the year the books I clicked on in this list nor their covers when I was picking them. I guess i'm not a very good catalogue yet (or i just didn't take the time to make sure the cover's and years were accurate)! I also have a number of Easton Press individual books and series which didn't come up in my searches either.

Message edited by its author, Oct 19, 2008, 11:09am.

I have signed, numbered, slipcased editions of God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, Chapterhouse Dune and The White Plague. I believe, however, that the UK editions are world firsts.

I went to an estate sale a couple of years ago and bought 55 Easton Press Signed First Editions of Science Fiction for $10 each.

I have a smallish collection of signed/inscribed first/first Octavia E. Butler association copies. All inscribed to other SF authors. This collection would have been near impossible to put together without the internet.

It took about ten years of hunting but I finally found a first/first US hardcover trade edition (non-book club) of Snow Crash at a FOL sale for cheap. I couldn't believe it. The estimated first hardcover printing is thought to be about 500 copies.

Most recent find- A first/first US edition of A Game of Thrones by GRRM at a thrift store. Happy book hunting to all.

#15

Wow, very nice. I suppose it is difficult to have world first editions of books if they were written and published in an entirely different part of the world. Personally, if you have a first edition first printing in your own country though not necessarily the country of origin it doesn't diminish the books value. Especially if its been signed and numbered by the author.

I should have added that the editions I have are US ones - the UK editions beat them into print by about a month each. But the UK publisher didn't do limited signed editions.

I used to live in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates. I was browsing in Al Mutanabbi Bookshop there one day - sometime around 1996, I think - when I found a hardback copy of Bruce Sterling's Heavy Weather. Given that the shop sold mostly text books, this was unusual enough. I bought it, took it home... and discovered it was a first edition, signed by Bruce Sterling. AFAIK, he's never visited Abu Dhabi.

You all are out of my league. While I had Jane Yolen sign Cards of Grief and Ray Bradbury sign vintage copies of Dandelion Wine and Something Wicked This Way Comes about 12 years ago, most of my signed first editions are modern (Terry Pratchett, Lois McMaster Bujold, Robin McKinley). My only real find is out of genre. I picked up a first edition of the first volume of A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus by John P. Meier in a used bookstore, only to find that it had been signed and dated by the author and personally dedicated to the editor of the Anchor Bible Series, David Noel Freedman, "whose learning, diplomacy, and wit conspired to make this book possible".

Message edited by its author, Oct 19, 2008, 1:08pm.

Oh I have a signed and dated (6th July 1989) true first of Scott Bradfield's The History Of Luminous Motion (which is non-SF). It was one I bought second-hand from somewhere however it is signed "To Andy with best wishes". It is these type of finds which really make your day.

I have a signed first of Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson (she said smugly).

I bought a first edition of Iain M Banks The State of the Art off eBay for about £10. When I received it, I discovered it was signed... "to Ian".

First editions of Tunnel in the Sky and The Man Who Sold The Moon by Robert Heinlein in fine condition, but no dust jackets. The reaon I love them so much - got them for $4 each, from a book store that didn't know what they had. Not surprised they're out of business now. I doubt if I have the correct covers in my library - I'm one of those that says "Oooh, pretty cover" and chooses it.

275+ of my books are signed by the author(s) ... from Kage Baker to Sarah Zettel. I go to a lot of conventions :-)

(Can't get the darn touchstones to work! I'm still learning.)

going out of SF...have the first 3 volumes of Paterson firsts, Hiroshima by way of my mother and some odd firsts by the early fantasist James Branch Cabell who was a favorite of my dad's. But my biggest screw up was selling a first edition of Twain's the innocents abroad when i was feeling particularly broke in grad school...Same as selling my lovely old late 40s Gibson hollow body electric guitar...Should never have done it. I'd found the Twain during my incessant browsing of used bookstores in DC in my high school days and i sold the volume for ...$50.00 ~ 1978. It's not the intrinsic value of the guitar or book..it's just that they were both so intrinsically neat (to me).

The best that I can come up with is that I have about fifteen hardcover and large trade paperbacks signed by Jeffrey Archer, and one signed by Matthew Reilly. Reading through all of this makes me jealous, but I have only had enough money to seriously consider collecting books for the last year or so.

I have signed paperback copies of Joan D. Vinge's The Snow Queen and Samuel R. Delaney's Dhalgren.

Also a hardcover version (unsigned) of Tiptree's Up the Walls of the World.

I've been out of town for several days so missed the first post - however the Chaykin adaptation of The Stars, My Destination was eventually published in it's entirety as a paperback in 1994 - I have a copy and here's the listing for it: The Stars My Destination: The Graphic Story Adaptation (actually that link goes to the signed - try this: http://www.librarything.com/work/2490918...).

From an illustration point of view probably the two rarest modern (as in the last 30 years or so) items in my collection are the Satan's Tears: The Art of Alex Nino Signed Limited Edition (it actually had a fairly large limitation but it's an impossible volume to find) and the original first signed/numbered edition of Berni Wrightson: A Look Back (with a limitation of 300 or so - note this is the original Land of Enchantment edition). Along those same lines, I own a signed, hardcover version of Studio, The that's signed by Wrightson, Jones, Kaluta and Smith (supposed to be less than 40 copies done by the publisher: http://www.librarything.com/work/883947/...); and a sketched version of the limited hardcover of The Dinosaurs: A Fantastic View of a Lost Era - Bill Stout did the sketch for me at San Diego ComicCon back in the 90's.

In total I've been fortunate enough to have about 100 illustrated volumes sketched by the author/illustrator but understand I've been collecting this form since i was a kid so I've had plenty of time to put the collection together.

Message edited by its author, Oct 21, 2008, 6:50am.

Ah. I didn't know they'd finished The Stars My Destination: The Graphic Story Adaptation. Took them long enough. Vol 1 was published in 1978.

When Gwyneth Jones signed my copy of Kairos, she also wrote "in memory of the strange sausages". I've no idea what it means. I've asked her several times, and she says she doesn't know either...

And when Hal Duncan signed my copy of Vellum, he wrote "Bollocks". Since he's a Scot, and I'm not, he made sure to spell "Ian" with a single "i"... but then went and put a dot over the second "i" he hadn't actually written. That's what prompted him to write "bollocks". And then he split wine over the book...

Signed-in-person omnibus of Asimov's Foundation Trilogy. Signed limited slipcase edition of Clarke's The Songs of Distant Earth, which I love in spite of its flaws. Don't know if people consider these envy-worthy or not.

#1 I hate you Ian, that should be my book - I deserve it more than you! This is a peculiar karmic knot that will untwist itself in my favor some day I am sure. Had the authors the background knowledge necessary, I am certain they would demand the book back and sent it to me.

The End.

PS I am also receiving telepathic messages from your Dune books that they would rather be on my book shelves.

Message edited by its author, Oct 21, 2008, 10:21pm.

Oh well, in that case, you'd better let me know your address.

Joke.

I have a letter from Robert Heinlein that wishes me "calm seas, following winds and a happy voyage through life". I believe his wife actually wrote and signed the letter, as he says he reads each letter and checks the answers.

In the letter he explains that he is no longer activley involved in politics given his advance age. He says that his ad from the 1950s (Who are the Heirs of Patrick Henry) is in the public domain and I am free to use it. He says he thinks the ad would go over better in 1982 than it would when first published.

I had written him in 1982 to say that I thought his ad was still relevant given the movement in the US and Europe against Ronald Reagan's efforts to strengthen the US military. He did not adopt my suggestion that he publish an updated version.

This topic is incredible. I never knew such collectibles existed {hence my nutty outburst}, probably because most are out of my reach. I was in the hunt to attend a book signing by Kurt Vonnegut, one of my favorite authors, when he passed away.

At a book signing {by another author, before Kurt's death} a local book store owner taunted me with a story about some of Vonnegut's collected works leather bound and signed, I told her I had $100 for something like that but she never got back to me. Maybe the book was a metaphor for something else.

I read when Vonnegut attended a yearly literary festival sponsored by a nearby county library system years ago that he signed books for a short bit then said "I'm finished" and left.

Anyone here have Vonnegut signed material? Is it common?

Some on Ebay;

http://shop.ebay.com/items/_W0QQ_nkwZvon...

#34 Thanks Sparks, I like the cover for Sirens of Titan by Easton Press, with the leather binding & gold trim - must of have been what the book store lady was talking about a few years ago. Of course now all of those are just out of reach for me. I guess the price has gone up since his passing.

Kind of ironic that his novels were all first published in paperback back in the day. I was going to risk his ire by bringing my ratty paperbacks from the 60's & 70's to a signing.

#33 DugsBooks, Be careful. Of collecting books there is no end. If you just remain a reader it will far easier on your wallet than becoming a collector.

My advice- Set a budget (say for 2009) and stick to it. You can spend it all on one book or spread it out over several books but stay in that budget. You will always find more books that appeal to you than your budget allows. That goes no matter the budget, be it $100, $500, $1,000 or $100,000. There really is no end to finding neat stuff out there.

Quite a few signed copies in my collection; the best of them are an autographed copy of Banks' Espedair Street and also a signed copy of Bill Gibson's All tomorrow's parties actually signed the day before official UK (and world?) publication date - Gibson was in the old Andromeda Bookshop in Birmingham, which in its last two incarnations was just around the corner from my office. I popped in one Friday on the offchance of something interesting, and found that Gibson had just arrived ready for a signing the following day and Rog Peyton was unpacking the new first editions of ATP. As I've known Rog for very many years and have helped him out from time to time, I pitched in and was allowed as a reward to buy an early copy, with a Gibson autograph.

The other prize literary possessions I have are a letter from Jim Ballard, and a form reply from Arthur C. Clarke with a personal note added to the bottom. I also have a number of letters from the late, sadly-missed Bob Shaw.

My other half has a personal letter from Carl Sagan; it resulted from a literary equivalent of the bit in 'Annie Hall' where Woody Allen piulls Marshall McLuhan out from behind a screen to deflate some pretentious prat in a cinema queue. Cathy did a similar service for Sagan in print once, and has the letter to prove his gratitude!

I have a hardcover of "Brave New World Revisited", no dust jacket. Is it worth mentioning on this thread, or should I keep this to myself.