Collecting Whims Revisited
jerry morris
Subject:Collecting Whims
snip>...I want to know how and when Mike Berro started collecting Jack
Vance, why Lawrence Person collects Nebula winners, and what direction,
you, the RCBer, are heading in satisfying your collecting whims....."
Today, I'm wondering what other books Mike Berro is buying, besides Jack
Vance books? Has John Pelan found anything else besides supernatural
fiction, when he isn't swatting flies, have-nots, and other bothersome
pests? Has Nixtie bought any Brautigan books that cost more than $500
yet? Has Tom Martin visited the 'whims" he gave to the local
agricultural museum last January?
Speaking of "whims", the word has no less than 78,500 Google hits on
discussion groups, so I'm still going with that word! Here's one from
alt.philosophy.objectivism: "Is it ever ethically acceptable for an
objectivist to follow his whims about a decision which appears relevant
to his lifetime long term goals"?
Last January, my current collecting whim was Philology (dictionaries and
other books about grammar and language). Since then, I've acquired a few
more Philology books and a few more whims as well, three of which are
collecting books about Ben Franklin, collecting certain books about
Indians, and collecting Hawaiiana.
While I haven't picked up any other philology books by William Strunk, I
have picked up a presentation copy of the 1814 Grammatical Alphabet by
Josiah Wilbur, and William Livingstone. For $5.00 on ebay I acquired an
incomplete copy of a pre-1800 one-volume abridged edition of Johnson's
Dictionary(1790?) . I also got the book that William Klimon recommended,
Garner's Dictionary of Modern Usage. Last week, in my favorite antique
shop in Kailue, Hawaii, I bought a 1938 edition of a Tagalog
Dictionary......Why? On a "whim" of course! Well, I WAS stationed in
the Philippines in 1969 and 1970? "Kahihayan"! Whim isn't in this
dictionary!
One of the books I bought at the book fair in St. Pete in March was a
1915 book about the Franklin Printing Company in Philadelphia,
titled,Ben Franklin, Founder. In this book, someone had inserted a 1932
reprint of a paper Franklin printed in 1744. I've acquired a book from
the Morgan Library on Franklin Sayings, and a book on "perfume" by
Franklin, published in 1929 by the Blue-Behinded Ape in New York; the
book is really on farting! For my Zamorano Club collection, I acquired
a 12X17 poster of Franklin's advice on drinking, which begins, "There
can't be good living where there is not good drinking!"
I got interested in Indians while reading a book by one of Rosenbach's
Fellows in bibliography, Lawrence C. Wroth's American Bookshelf. Wroth
suggested I read the beauty of the words in the early Indian Treaties
contained in Cadwallader Colden's History of the Five Indian Nations of
Canada. I bought an "el cheapo" 1909 edition of Vol I just to see if
Wroth was right; he was....a poor man I will be if this "whim" makes me
buy the two-volume first edition!.......but I'm not done with Indians!
I also got An Ancient Quarry in Indian Territory by William Henry
Holmes,1894. The 1870 Smithsonian Report contains more articles on
ancient mounds, but the article I like best, by Titian R. Peale, is
titled, "On the Uses of the Brain and Marrow of Animals Among the
Indians of North America"! Finally, I have an 1893 copy of James
Constantine Pilling's Bibliography of the Chinookian Languages.....why,
you ask? On a whim" of course! :-)
In another antique shop in Kailu, I found a 1965 book by John Dominis
Holt titled, Today Ees Sad-Dy Night and Other Stories. Holt was a noted
writer and editior of Hawaiian literature. I couldn't find this book
listed anywhere on the web, but a book of his stories published in the
1970s includes all the stories published in this book. Finally, for the
wife, I got prints of the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Cmmandments in
Hawaiian. Amen!
Pray tell! What are your collecting whims?
www.MoisLibrary.com or
http://community-2.webtv.net/MoiBibliomaniac/MOISBOOKSABOUTBOOKS/
John Pelan
(jerry morris) wrote:
>From the archives, January 2,2002:
> Subject:Collecting Whims
>
>snip>...I want to know how and when Mike Berro started collecting Jack
>Vance, why Lawrence Person collects Nebula winners, and what direction,
>you, the RCBer, are heading in satisfying your collecting whims....."
>
>http://groups.google.com/groups?q=+%22collecting+whims%22&hl=en&selm=28446-3C33D005-297%40storefull-106.iap.bryant.webtv.net&rnum=1
>
>Today, I'm wondering what other books Mike Berro is buying, besides Jack
>Vance books? Has John Pelan found anything else besides supernatural
>fiction, when he isn't swatting flies, have-nots, and other bothersome
>pests?
;-)
Indeed... While some of my other whims have taken more the shape of an
"accumulation" than a "collection", there seems to be sufficient bulk
to at least comment on some these... I'm an avid baseball fan and have
put together a pretty fair chunk of baseball-related books, which
actually includes three small but distinct "collections" among the
much larger accumulation:
1. Autobiographies and biographies of players, coaches, scouts, etc.
that are actually interesting and well-written. Sports bios are
notorious for being representation of Sturgeon's Law (90% of
everything is crap). After all, the subject matter is usually that of
an athlete relating a distinguished career of either throwing or
hitting a small object with a reasonable degree of acumen to a
disinterested ghost-writer. Some notable exceptions are Charles
Alexander's work on Cobb and McGraw, Rogers Hornsby's "My War with
Baseball" (Hornsby possessed all of the singlemindedness necessary
to have been a fine book collector or ferocious book scout), or Roger
Angell or Thomas Boswell's essays. Most sports bios should be avoided
like the plague, though John Kruk's displays a wonderful sense of
humor.
2. Fantasy fiction about baseball. A part of the larger
supernatural/SF/fantasy collection, but a very small distinct group of
exceptional books including Darryl Brock's IF I NEVER GET BACK,
Wwilliam Kinsella's SHOELESS JOE and THE IOWA BASEBALL CONFEDERACY,
and perhaps my favorite... Michael Bishop's BRITTLE INNINGS.
I also have put together a pretty sizable assortment of books relevant
to Alcoholics Anonymous including some fairly rare source material
read by Bill Wilson. I haven't made any effort to go beyond grabbing
whatever copy might be available due to the scarcity of some of the
titles, but the collection includes works by A.J. Russell, Glenn
Clark, William James, Sam Shoemaker, and in a weird sort of one or two
degrees of separation, Harold Begbie, who also wrote some fine
supernatural tales...
Cheers,
John
Lawrence Person
> 2. Fantasy fiction about baseball. A part of the larger
> supernatural/SF/fantasy collection, but a very small distinct group of
> exceptional books including Darryl Brock's IF I NEVER GET BACK,
> Wwilliam Kinsella's SHOELESS JOE and THE IOWA BASEBALL CONFEDERACY,
> and perhaps my favorite... Michael Bishop's BRITTLE INNINGS.
>
Do you have a copy of George Alec Effinger's Idle Pleasures, his book of SF
sports stories? I have it, but haven't read it yet.
I assume most of the SF readers/collectors/dealers here know that George died
April 27 at age 55, way too young. Here's on-topic excuse to post the URL to my
memorial to him:
http://www.sfwa.org/News/effinger.htm
Of course, George was also a big baseball fan...
--
Lawrence Person
lawre...@hiho.com (remove all "h"s from my e-mail address)
New web page coming Real Soon Now...
John Pelan
<lawre...@hiho.com> wrote:
>In article <3cd45618...@news.cnw.com>, jpe...@cnw.com (John Pelan) wrote:
>
>> 2. Fantasy fiction about baseball. A part of the larger
>> supernatural/SF/fantasy collection, but a very small distinct group of
>> exceptional books including Darryl Brock's IF I NEVER GET BACK,
>> Wwilliam Kinsella's SHOELESS JOE and THE IOWA BASEBALL CONFEDERACY,
>> and perhaps my favorite... Michael Bishop's BRITTLE INNINGS.
>>
>Do you have a copy of George Alec Effinger's Idle Pleasures, his book of SF
>sports stories? I have it, but haven't read it yet.
Ditto. The TBR pile is a large one...
>
>I assume most of the SF readers/collectors/dealers here know that George died
>April 27 at age 55, way too young. Here's on-topic excuse to post the URL to my
>memorial to him:
>
>http://www.sfwa.org/News/effinger.htm
>
>Of course, George was also a big baseball fan...
Yes, he was, and one hell of a nice guy. 55 is way too young, but I'm
grateful we had him here among us as long as we did...
I also just received word that Richard Cowper passed away, it's not
been a good week.
John
LostLvs
complete set of Gillian Linscott Nell Bray mysteries and the better known (but
not necessarily better written) Laurie King Mary Russell series.
The Linscotts are also FAE Hardcover (mostly because there were no American
paperback editions and they're absurdly cheap in the used market). King is all
paperback except for Justice Hall, which is a first, signed, and bought at half
the cover price.
Regards,
Rosemary Jones, los...@aol.com
co-author, Collector's Guide to Children's Books, v1-3
new in 2002: Boys & Girls Series Books
http://members.aol.com/lostlvs/links.htm
Steven H Silver
>
>2. Fantasy fiction about baseball. A part of the larger
>supernatural/SF/fantasy collection, but a very small distinct group of
>exceptional books including Darryl Brock's IF I NEVER GET BACK,
>Wwilliam Kinsella's SHOELESS JOE and THE IOWA BASEBALL CONFEDERACY,
>and perhaps my favorite... Michael Bishop's BRITTLE INNINGS.
>
John- Have you looked at my baseball in sf bilbiography at
http://www.sfsite.com/~silverag/baseball.html ? I'd be interested in
hearing if you had any suggestions for further additions.
Steven
Steven H Silver
http://www.sfsite.com/~silverag
Windycon XXIX Chairman
http://www.windycon.org
Midwest Construction 1 Chairman
http://www.sfsite.com/~silverag/Midwest_Construction.html
John Pelan
Hi Steven:
What a neat site... I think there are a couple of pieces from
"Spitball!" that would qualify, but I'll have to dig them out, and
IIRC wasn't there a baseball segment in the Eando Binder ADAM LINK
stories? I could easily be mistaken, it's been thirty years since I
read ADAM LINK and I've no particular desire to revist it. ;-)
Cheers,
John
Bill Nelson
> From the archives, January 2,2002:
> Subject:Collecting Whims
>
> snip>
My collection is about 75% whims of one kind or another.
I have a sizeable collection of books about nineteenth-century
theater, most of them being biographies and autobiographies of various
stage personalities.
I have an interest in collecting books by nineteenth-century humorists
and have quite a few by Artemus Ward, Josh Billings, Robert Burdette,
Orpheus C. Kerr, Doesticks, Petroleum Vesuvius Nasby, Fanny Fern, Gail
Hamilton and, of course, Mark Twain.
I have a collection of books about nineteenth-century utopian
communities, with a special emphasis on the Transcendalists.
I have a shelf of books about nineteenth-century spiritualists.
I have another shelf devoted to ancient American archaeology,
especially the various mound constructions and speculations about
their origin and meaning.
I have concentrated collections of books by specific authors: Hamlin
Garland, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Henry Blake Fuller, Lafcadio
Hearn, Van Wyck Brooks and Beverley Nichols.
Unfortunately, none of my peculiar interests seem to coincide with
anyone else's. You can't gracefully insert any of this stuff into a
casual conversation, and believe me, you can wait a long time before
any of this comes up. Any kindred souls out there?
Night Shade Books
supernatural fiction) I've got three other sub-collections that may indeed
be whims.
French Foreign Legion nonfiction. After getting out of the Marines, I had
kicked around the idea of a tour in the FFL. I decided against it, but I
still maintain a strong interest. I've got about 2-3 dozen volumes so far,
but I'm beginning to get some focus on it. I've read enough of the general
history stuff, and now I'm concentrating primarily on first-person accounts,
e.g. Christian Jennings' _Mouthful of Rocks_ and Benney Doty's _Legion of
the Damned_. Fun stuff, and just about everything people think they know
about the FFL is wrong.
Pirate nonfiction. Well, who didn't want to be a pirate when they were a
kid? I've only got a couple of dozen books, mostly focused on the "Golden
Age", 1692-1725. For a general overview, my favorite is _Raiders and
Rebels_, by Frank Sherry.
And my biggest whim is getting a bit out of control. Several years ago I
started aquiring the occasional volume of genre secondary material. _The
Supernatural Index_ was a big purchase, as I was beginning to have a hard
time finding stories when I wanted to read them. I would have to sit down
going through a couple hundred anthologies trying to figure out which one
had Karl Edward Wagner's _Sticks_ in it. Five years later, I'm hooked.
I've got an overflowing bookcase filled with nothing but genre reference
material. Unfortunately an expensive hobby, as any of you that purchase
books from University Presses or Greenwood Press probably know. Nothing
particular, a little bit of everything. Readers' guides, indexes,
checklists, criticism (blame HPL for this one, as I have a pretty complete
collection of secondary material), bibliographies, biographies, film guides,
etc. Current favorites include the 1983 _Survey of Modern Fantasy_ and the
1995 _Magill's Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature_, Bleiler's
_Guide to Supernatural Fiction_, The St. James Guides (Fantasy Writers, SF
Writers and Ghost/Gothic/Horror Writers, and the Locke's _Spectrum of
Fantasy_ vols 1&2 (haven't had a chance to pick up vol 3 yet). I started
out with the intention of having a solid core reference library, but now
it's getting a bit silly. Lately my kick has been essays and criticism, so
I'm keeping an eye out for the International Conference on the Fantastic in
the Arts volumes, as well as John Clute's first book of essays. A lot of
this stuff is kinda hard to come across, as people don't sell things like
_The Guide to Supernatural Fiction_. Bookstores have them, but they're
usually store copies.
Jason
Lawrence Person
"Night Shade Books" <wja...@nightshadebooks.com> wrote:
>(blame HPL for this one, as I have a pretty complete
> collection of secondary material),
Is it actually possible to compile a complete collection of HPL secondary
material if your name isn't S. T. Joshi? ;-)
(I've just started on this task, but I'm sure your collection is better than
mine. On the other hand, I do have some of the rarest PKD reference works...)
> Current favorites include the 1983 _Survey of Modern Fantasy_
Ah, the only one on your list I don't have...yet. ;-)
> and the 1995 _Magill's Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature_,
As I mentioned up-topic, I've got the 1979 Magill's Survey of Science Fiction
Literature (I think I also have a piece on Patrick O'Leary's Door Number Three
coming out in the next edition of the combined work). Now that the two are
combined, I suspect a lot of work from the seperate editions has been dropped,
so those are a good thing to have.
> Bleiler's _Guide to Supernatural Fiction_,
Check. Picked it up at an Ex-Library sale.
Bleiler's Science Fiction: The Early Years and Science Fiction: The Gernsback
Years are also well worth picking up.
> The St. James Guides (Fantasy Writers, SF Writers and Ghost/Gothic/Horror Writers,
I've got the third edition of the St. James SF volume, but I really don't use it
much; I tend to reach for the Clute & Nichols SF Encyclopedia instead. (I assume
you already have EoSF and EoF.)
> and the Locke's _Spectrum of Fantasy_ vols 1&2 (haven't had a chance to pick up vol 3 yet).
Well worth picking up, especially since it has an Index of the first two volumes.
Of the things you don't mention (I'm assuming you have a copy of Currey), well
worth pick up are Donald Tuck's Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy.
Though there's a lot of overlap with Clute & Nichols and Currey, there's still
some information not readily available elsewhere. I also recommend Neil Barron's
Anatomy of Wonder (3rd edition), and (with serious reservations, which are
explained here: http://www.io.com/~lawrence/lib.html) the third edition of
Chalker & Owings The Science Fantasy Publishers: A Critical and Bibliographic
History. Finally, a little volume I've found useful is Special Collections,
Volume 2, Nos. 1-2, Science Fiction Collections: Fantasy, Supernatural and Weird
Tales, which talks about some famous SF collections (include essays from
Ackerman and Moskowitz on their collections).
If you're on a reference work buying spree, I recommend Tymn, Schlobin and
Currey's A Research Guide to Science Fiction Studies, which does an excellent
job seperating the wheat from the chaff.
> I started out with the intention of having a solid core reference library, but now
> it's getting a bit silly. Lately my kick has been essays and criticism, so
> I'm keeping an eye out for the International Conference on the Fantastic in
> the Arts volumes, as well as John Clute's first book of essays.
Strokes? Yeah, I've got that. ;-) Along with Look at the Evidence.
Personally, I have absolutely no shame about collecting this stuff. I'm a
science fiction writer, and book dealer and collector, and I edit an SF critical
journal. If I can't stock up on reference works, who can? ;-)
At one point I had the ambition of compiling the best SF reference library in
private hands. Then I came across a listing for something like A Survey of
Finnish Science Fiction (in English and Finnish), realized I would never, ever
use it, and sent e-mail to Clute pointing it out to him so he could buy it. Now
my ambition is to compiled the second best SF reference library in private
hands. ;-)
William M. Klimon
news:11645-3CD...@storefull-2336.public.lawson.webtv.net...
> I also got the book that William Klimon recommended,
> Garner's Dictionary of Modern Usage.
Jerry, see my post earlier this week. I met Garner on Wednesday and got him
to sign a couple of books--he is phenomenal and a book collector to boot.
> Pray tell! What are your collecting whims?
(1) Recently I have had a whim that I am suppressing for the moment: I have
been thinking about doing a single-book collection of editions of St.
Augustine's *Confessiones*. There are an incredible number of editions of
this book. I would guess that in English translation alone, one could
probably count several hundred editions. It seems like every religious
publisher, Catholic and Protestant, has done one at some point. Then there
a multitude of editions in every modern European language and in the
original Latin. Altogether there must be thousands of editions. I already
have a shelfful of editions--English and Latin--and reference material from
grad school. I recently picked up an Easton Press edition off of eBay. (A
year or two ago I saw a 17/c printed edition offered on eBay--I don't think
it was too unreasonably priced either.) Another interesting thing is that
new editions are coming out all the time: e.g., Garry Wills is presently
doing a new, multi-volume edition. Lots of interesting people have
translated the Confessions: Henry Chadwick, Frank Sheed, E.B. Pusey, et al.
I have a feeling that this collection could become all-consuming, so I am
shelving it for the moment--so to speak.
(2) Another single-book subcollection that is just spontaneously generating
on my shelves is editions of A.J.A. Symons' *The Quest for Corvo*. I just
picked up two paperback editions this week, giving me a total of five--none
of which are particularly interesting or early. At some point, I will go
after the earlier stuff.
(3) Yet another subsidiary collection is items from Wilfred Parsons, S.J.,
*Early Catholic Americana: A List of Books and Other Works by Catholic
Authors in the United States, 1729-1830* (1939; repr. 1973). I now have 6
items out of Parsons (5 titles, with 2 copies of one title).
Enough whimsy for now.
William M. Klimon
http://www.gateofbliss.com
John Pelan
>jerrya...@webtv.net (jerry morris) wrote in message news:<11645-3CD...@storefull-2336.public.lawson.webtv.net>...
>> From the archives, January 2,2002:
>> Subject:Collecting Whims
>>
>> snip>
>> Pray tell! What are your collecting whims?
>
>My collection is about 75% whims of one kind or another.
>
>I have a sizeable collection of books about nineteenth-century
>theater, most of them being biographies and autobiographies of various
>stage personalities.
>
>I have an interest in collecting books by nineteenth-century humorists
>and have quite a few by Artemus Ward, Josh Billings, Robert Burdette,
>Orpheus C. Kerr, Doesticks, Petroleum Vesuvius Nasby, Fanny Fern, Gail
>Hamilton and, of course, Mark Twain.
>
>I have a collection of books about nineteenth-century utopian
>communities, with a special emphasis on the Transcendalists.
>
>I have a shelf of books about nineteenth-century spiritualists.
>
>I have another shelf devoted to ancient American archaeology,
>especially the various mound constructions and speculations about
>their origin and meaning.
Now that's something I could chat about, (though the speculations of
origin and meaning in my fiction bears little resemblence to
contemporary archealogical thougght) ;-).
>
>I have concentrated collections of books by specific authors: Hamlin
>Garland, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Henry Blake Fuller, Lafcadio
>Hearn, Van Wyck Brooks and Beverley Nichols.
Well of course I have a shelf of Hearn, found his supernatural work so
intriguing that I went on to read everything by and about Hearn that I
could lay hands on. Garland is of course represented in the
supernatural collection by his novel THE TYRANNY OF THE DARK, which
also boastts a remarkably cool binding.
>
>Unfortunately, none of my peculiar interests seem to coincide with
>anyone else's. You can't gracefully insert any of this stuff into a
>casual conversation, and believe me, you can wait a long time before
>any of this comes up. Any kindred souls out there?
The degrees of seperation aren't as great as one might think. ;-)
Cheers,
John
Night Shade Books
news:lawrencehh-E0985...@central.isp.giganews.com...
> In article <3cd54...@corp-news.newsgroups.com>,
> "Night Shade Books" <wja...@nightshadebooks.com> wrote:
>
> >(blame HPL for this one, as I have a pretty complete
> > collection of secondary material),
>
> Is it actually possible to compile a complete collection of HPL secondary
> material if your name isn't S. T. Joshi? ;-)
I'll admit, there's a lot of books on my shelf with his name on it. And
I'll be publishing more than a few with his name on them as well.
Unfortunately, when it comes to HPL, quality isn't job one. I've got the
goods ones as well as the bad ones (has anyone actually tried to read
Burleson's _Disturbing the Universe_? Egh.)
I used this (http://www.hplovecraft.com/study/litcrit/) as a core guide, and
worked my way up from there.
> (I've just started on this task, but I'm sure your collection is better
than
> mine. On the other hand, I do have some of the rarest PKD reference
works...)
>
> > Current favorites include the 1983 _Survey of Modern Fantasy_
>
> Ah, the only one on your list I don't have...yet. ;-)
It was a key acquisition for me, as I'm more of a weird/fantasy guy than an
SF guy.
> > and the 1995 _Magill's Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature_,
>
> As I mentioned up-topic, I've got the 1979 Magill's Survey of Science
Fiction
> Literature (I think I also have a piece on Patrick O'Leary's Door Number
Three
> coming out in the next edition of the combined work). Now that the two are
> combined, I suspect a lot of work from the seperate editions has been
dropped,
> so those are a good thing to have.
I've got a line on a copy of the '79 Survey of SF. My old high school
library has a set, and as I was a librarian there for about 3 years, I know
for a fact it doesn't get used at all. So I've hinted about that I might
have a nice home for it.
I definitely want to pick it up, as I imagine a LOT of material had to be
dropped from the 1995 edition. They combined a five-volume set of SF and a
five-volume set of Fantasy into one four-volume set.
> > Bleiler's _Guide to Supernatural Fiction_,
>
> Check. Picked it up at an Ex-Library sale.
>
> Bleiler's Science Fiction: The Early Years and Science Fiction: The
Gernsback
> Years are also well worth picking up.
I've got all of Bleiler's stuff (including both editions of the Checklist)
except the two-volume Supernatural Writers. Which I'm not as concerned
about, as it's pretty easy to find information.
> > The St. James Guides (Fantasy Writers, SF Writers and
Ghost/Gothic/Horror Writers,
>
> I've got the third edition of the St. James SF volume, but I really don't
use it
> much; I tend to reach for the Clute & Nichols SF Encyclopedia instead. (I
assume
> you already have EoSF and EoF.)
Yep, got 'em both. I've also got the UXL two-volume set on Science-Fiction,
Fantasy and Horror Writers, but it's not terribly good. I think it's aimed
at a much younger crowd.
> > and the Locke's _Spectrum of Fantasy_ vols 1&2 (haven't had a chance to
pick up vol 3 yet).
>
> Well worth picking up, especially since it has an Index of the first two
volumes.
> Of the things you don't mention (I'm assuming you have a copy of Currey),
well
> worth pick up are Donald Tuck's Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and
Fantasy.
> Though there's a lot of overlap with Clute & Nichols and Currey, there's
still
> some information not readily available elsewhere. I also recommend Neil
Barron's
> Anatomy of Wonder (3rd edition), and (with serious reservations, which are
> explained here: http://www.io.com/~lawrence/lib.html) the third edition of
> Chalker & Owings The Science Fantasy Publishers: A Critical and
Bibliographic
> History. Finally, a little volume I've found useful is Special
Collections,
> Volume 2, Nos. 1-2, Science Fiction Collections: Fantasy, Supernatural and
Weird
> Tales, which talks about some famous SF collections (include essays from
> Ackerman and Moskowitz on their collections).
I've got the Tuck (3 volumes) and the Currey. I've got Barron's Anatomy of
Wonder 4th edition, as well as Horror Literature and the Scarecrow Press
edition of Fantasy and Horror Literature. I've got the Chalker & Owings CD,
as I haven't had much luck getting anyone to part with the hardcover. Never
heard of the Special Collections book, I'll have to check that out as well.
> If you're on a reference work buying spree, I recommend Tymn, Schlobin and
> Currey's A Research Guide to Science Fiction Studies, which does an
excellent
> job seperating the wheat from the chaff.
I've got Tymn's Horror Literature, which is much weaker on modern fiction
than the Barron, but much better on the earlier stuff. I don't have his
Fantasy Literature, but I never picked up Barron's Fantasy Literature
either. Probably won't now that I've got the combined volume.
Also along these lines I picked up a book called _Hooked on Horror_. It's a
VERY weird selection of authors, and the organization drives me up the wall.
Schlobin...? Rings a bell, but all of my stuff is in storage so I can't
check.
I'd never heard of Currey's Research Guide. Sounds mighty interesting.
I've got a index to secondary sources, but I'm flaking on the name.
Reginald, maybe?
I've also got a fair amount of magazine index stuff. Monthly Terrors, Index
to the Black Mask, etc.
> > I started out with the intention of having a solid core reference
library, but now
> > it's getting a bit silly. Lately my kick has been essays and criticism,
so
> > I'm keeping an eye out for the International Conference on the Fantastic
in
> > the Arts volumes, as well as John Clute's first book of essays.
>
> Strokes? Yeah, I've got that. ;-) Along with Look at the Evidence.
I liked Look at the Evidence quite a bit, so I figured Strokes would be
worth reading.
> Personally, I have absolutely no shame about collecting this stuff. I'm a
> science fiction writer, and book dealer and collector, and I edit an SF
critical
> journal. If I can't stock up on reference works, who can? ;-)
I justify it to myself that if I want to be a successful publisher, I need
to have all of the facts. But mostly I think I'm just a fanboy at heart.
> At one point I had the ambition of compiling the best SF reference library
in
> private hands. Then I came across a listing for something like A Survey of
> Finnish Science Fiction (in English and Finnish), realized I would never,
ever
> use it, and sent e-mail to Clute pointing it out to him so he could buy
it. Now
> my ambition is to compiled the second best SF reference library in private
> hands. ;-)
I've got a few books like that. I can't imagine when _British & American
Utopian Literature 1516-1975_ is going to come in handy, but you never know.
The thing I've noticed about stuff like this is that you may only need it
once, but that one time only one book will do.
I found a number of interesting things at paghat's site :
http://www.violetbooks.com/bib-research.html. Not all of it works for me,
but she's got a different focus than I do.
It's good to know I'm not the only one with this disease :)
Jason
jerry morris
snip>
I have a sizeable collection of books about nineteenth-century theater,
most of them being biographies and autobiographies of various stage
personalities.
snip>
Unfortunately, none of my peculiar interests seem to coincide with
anyone else's. You can't gracefully insert any of this stuff into a
casual conversation, and believe me, you can wait a long time before any
of this comes up. Any kindred souls out there?
.........................................................
Any kindred souls out there?? I almost added my whim for stage books on
my initial post, but thought I'd go with just the three whims. You
never know what others might collect unless you ask!
I include my books about the stage in my Shakespeare and other Drama
Collection, so it's more than a whim.
A few years ago I bought The Art of Acting by Percy Fitzgerald,
London,1892,Swann Sonnenschein & Co. I already had his book on book
collecting, The Book Fancier, or the Romance of Book Collecting, so I
was familiar with him.
Last year, for something like $90, I acquired A General View of the
Stage by Samuel Derrick, writing as Thomas Wilkes,London,1759,Printed
for J. Cronin in Pater-Noster Row.
This year I bought The Art of the Actor by C. Coquelin, translated by
Elsie Fogerty. London,1935(1932),second impression of translation,
George Allen and Unwin,Ltd.
The first two books were bought on whims, but the third book was more
than a whim because I had to have a book on the stage for each century.
One of my recent Shakespeare purchases, Bell's Prologomena to the
Dramatik Writings of Will. Shakspere, London, 1787,1788, two vols, also
includes a list of Ancient Translations of Classical Authors; some of
these authors wrote dramas, so I consider it another reference.
Although I only have the third volume of the three-volume set, that is
the volume which contains anecdotes about Dryden, Otway, Alexander,
Congreve, Betterton, and Cibber, I'm referring to the book,
(Shakspeare's)Dramatik Miscellanies: Consisting of Critical Observations
on Several Plays of Shakspeare with a Review of his Principal
Characters, and Those of Various Eminent Writers, as Represented by Mr.
Garrick and other Celebrated Comedians......by Thomas Davies, London
1785, Printed for the author and sold at his shop....three vols.
On the ffep of The Art of the Actor is the signature of Katherine Bard,
dated February,1935 New York. There was a noted actress with that name
during that time. Could it be?
On the ffep of A General View of the Stage is the following inscription:
To Louise Hurlburt Mason, from her loving father, Edward T. Mason, March
2nd,1908.
Mason was a noted author and critic.
Jerry Morris
www.MoisLibrary.com or
http://community-2.webtv.net/MoiBibliomaniac/MOISBOOKSABOUTBOOKS/
William M. Klimon
news:3cd5695c....@news.cnw.com...
> >I have another shelf devoted to ancient American archaeology,
> >especially the various mound constructions and speculations about
> >their origin and meaning.
>
> Now that's something I could chat about, (though the speculations of
> origin and meaning in my fiction bears little resemblence to
> contemporary archealogical thougght) ;-).
I have a shelf of pre- and non-Columbian American exploration/speculation
books: books on St. Brendan and on the Vinland map, on pre-Columbian
exploration in Texas and the Japanese influence on some Western American
Indian tribes (I just noticed that John Davis' *Exploration in Texas* and
Nancy Davis' *The Zuni Enigma*, respectively, are right next to each other
in my database), on prehistoric journeys to America and African explorers in
the New World (and some related books on the African influence on Asia and
Europe).
It's an interesting mini-collection of a couple dozen books that has really
accumulated itself. Sad to say, though, that those books will be going in
the coming purge of my collection(s).
Cheers.
G Joe-Bob P
>
> Pray tell! What are your collecting whims?
>
Jerry already knows many of my collecting whims, but since he mentioned
stage books, i started working on the individual editions of the
Shakespeare plays by the Folio
Society starting in 1951. each play has an introduction written by a
famous English actor, such as Burton, Gielgud, etc, and the
illustrations are from actual productions where the designer was a
reasonably well-known artist. the 1953 book is As You Like It, with 8
prints of sets and costumes by Dali.
My regular whims are just that: i was looking through the "view seller's
other auctions" page after bidding on one of their books. I noticed
something labeled "hummingbird print" from Jardine's Naturalist's
Library, ca 1835-45. turned out they were hand-colored engravings of
birds and mammals and fish and insects, from a series of 40 books
published at that time. being an avid bird-watcher, I started
collecting entire books from the bird series, and now have 6 of the 14
bird books. also, being a dog lover, I picked up the two dog books.
for the rest, another whim of mine is collecting fancy facsimiles of
famous books, such as an elephant folio reproduction of the 1st edition
of Johnson's dictionary, printed by the same company, in 1990, that
published the original. then I got a facsimile of the 1st Folio of
Shakespeare, and have just ordered a full size facsimile of the
Kelmscott Chaucer, which was also an elephant folio.
finally, i also like to collect books with illustrations by Gustave
Dore'.
Gary Pfeifer
Rachel Wright
Have you read any of Charles Todd's Ian Rutledge mysteries? I especially liked
Wings of Fire. Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge is a shell-shocked veteran of
WWI haunted by the voice of a man he executed on the front lines for desertion.
Regards,
Rachel Wright
Steven Schend
"Night Shade Books" <wja...@nightshadebooks.com> wrote in message
news:3cd54...@corp-news.newsgroups.com...
> And my biggest whim is getting a bit out of control. Several years ago I
> started aquiring the occasional volume of genre secondary material. _The
> Supernatural Index_ was a big purchase, as I was beginning to have a hard
> time finding stories when I wanted to read them. I would have to sit down
> going through a couple hundred anthologies trying to figure out which one
> had Karl Edward Wagner's _Sticks_ in it. Five years later, I'm hooked.
> I've got an overflowing bookcase filled with nothing but genre reference
> material. Unfortunately an expensive hobby, as any of you that purchase
> books from University Presses or Greenwood Press probably know. Nothing
> particular, a little bit of everything. Readers' guides, indexes,
Yup, that's an evil subset. I found Greenwood Press last summer while
researching the pulps and ended up choking on the price but getting the
phenomenal Tymn & Ashley bibliography (for lack of a better name) of SCIENCE
FICTION, FANTASY, AND WEIRD FICTION MAGAZINES. Vastly more enjoyable and
useful than the trade paperback Weird Tales index by Jaffery and Cook,
though that has its uses too.
Now if only someone would write up and publish a reference that traces the
pulp characters into other media. I'd like to know how many graphic novels
star The Shadow, Doc Savage, or whomever.......but that might be too
specialized. ;)
Steven Schend
Mindelec
well i mostly collect sci-fi, fantasy, and horror, with a handful of mystery
thrown in.
but, i've got a bookcase of film books left over from my college days,
including a signed copy of roger cormans autobiography, which i got signed at
the chicago film fest years ago when he was honored.
and a bookcase of case studies of insantity which i read quite a bit of years
ago. helped me with my theory of comparative sanity. "look how crazy these
people are, i must be sane!" lol ;-)
sadly the are both going to have to be significantly weeded down for my
up-coming move. i don't mind losing the film books so much, but the psych
books.... *sigh*
robert
Bud Webster
>and a bookcase of case studies of insantity which i read quite a bit of years
>ago. helped me with my theory of comparative sanity. "look how crazy these
>people are, i must be sane!" lol ;-)
Do you have a copy of _Operators and Things_ by Barbara O'Brien? I
read that when I was a kind, in the 1958 Ace edition. Thought it was
science fiction, read it that way, and was fascinated. I only found
out much later it was autobiographical when my sister took psychology
in college and mentioned it.
If you're not familiar with it (or if anyone else is interested), it's
a riveting account of a woman's descent into schizophrenia, and the
incredibly complex and rich (from a story point of view) sub-culture
of "things" (normal humans) and the "operators" (the ones who control
them mentally). Yow! I've still got a *very* ratty copy somewhere,
and one of these days I'm going to break down and buy a copy of the
original Arlington edition.
LostLvs
Nope but like the suggestion. I'm off on a four day road trip of book buying
and visiting family and friends in Oregon (got to do something when the stores
close). Luckily, my cousin in Portland already suggested that we meet for
dinner in downtown and then spend the evening at Powells (it's book collecting
is genetic in my family!).
Will add Todd to my list. I did really well on Linscott last year, completing
my set for very little money.
Mindelec
>From: budwe...@mindspring.com (Bud Webster)
>Date: 5/6/2002 10:09 PM Central Daylight Time
>Message-id: <3cd74435...@news.mindspring.com>
no i haven't read that one, but i will keep an eye out and possibly revist my
whim again. kind of humorous that you thought it was sci-fi.
on a different form of madness, but very well written was "nobody, nowhere" by
donna williams, an autobiography of an autistic person. very complex in it's
explaination of the inner and outer world as she sees it.
robert
John R. Yamamoto-Wilson
Bill, I'm interested in 16th and 17th century editions of Augustine myself.
Did you notice this one on eBay (I'd have mentioned it earlier, only I've
been laid up with bronchitis):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=863857984
If not, then, looking at the price it went for, I guess you needn't kick
yourself too hard - it wouldn't have been a bargain (especially since it's
apparently a later printing, the first edition having come out the previous
year, in 1631).
Still, as a book it's quite interesting, giving a good insight into the
Protestant/Catholic controversies of the age. In the preface, the Protestant
translator, William Watts, attacks Sir Tobie Matthew, whose Catholic
translation ( which he commended for Catholics and Protestants alike) had
been published in 1620, saying he was "Arrantly, Partially Popish" and
"spitefull to the Holy Scriptures; which he neuer honors with quoting in his
margent [and] euery where debases, by aduancing the Romish Church aboue
them." He didn't know the name of the Catholic translator, and challenged
him, "If finding himselfe aggrieued, hee shall in Print discouer himselfe
against me." However, a later edition of Matthew's translation fails to take
up the gauntlet, unlike some other Catholics of the time, who were only too
happy to engage in polemical dispute.
--
John
http://rarebooksinjapan.com
John A. Stovall
(jerry morris) wrote:
Well, I had been a reader of James Lee Burke pb's as airplane books
for a while but one day walked in to a book store in Galveston, Texas
and there were five signed 1st's of the Robicheaux novels. They were
priced about 20 dollars each. I thought will those would be sort of
neat. Now I have 21 signed firsts by Burke on my shelf and it's not a
an area I ever thought about getting into.
*****************************************************
"Texas is state of mind. Texas is an obsession.
Above all Texas is a nation in every sense of the
word."
"Travels with Charley"
John Steinbeck
John Pelan
<sto...@our-town.com> wrote:
>On Sat, 4 May 2002 15:11:09 -0400 (EDT), jerrya...@webtv.net
>(jerry morris) wrote:
>
>Well, I had been a reader of James Lee Burke pb's as airplane books
>for a while but one day walked in to a book store in Galveston, Texas
>and there were five signed 1st's of the Robicheaux novels. They were
>priced about 20 dollars each. I thought will those would be sort of
>neat. Now I have 21 signed firsts by Burke on my shelf and it's not a
>an area I ever thought about getting into.
Well, as a tie-in to my previous mentioned interest in books relating
to Alcoholics Anonymous, I decided to pick up the two mystery series
relevant to the subject, (the canon of alcoholic private eyes is just
far too vast, but books dealing with those in recovery is more
manageable); Burke's Robicheaux and Block's Scudder. Of course this
branched out in due course to buying ALL of Burke's and Block's
books... ;-) I was fortunate enough to get into Burke when the second
Robicheaux hardcover was still on the stands, though I'm really
regretting thinking "$75 seems a bit much for THE NEON RAIN, I'll wait
and find it cheaper later..."
Cheers,
John