Clearwater Books

BRIAN W.ALDISS. Space, Time and Nathaniel. Stories. Faber, London 1957. First edition. 8vo. 208pp. Frontispiece drawing by Jeni Turnbull. A tiny trace of wear to the backstrip ends, else a fine copy in very good dust wrapper, with a touch of corresponding wear to the spine panel ends, a trace of very light occasional soiling, and a little surface abrasion to several natural folds. The author’s second book and first science fiction publication, comprising fourteen stories preceded by a four-page introductory essay. £65

KELLY ANDREW. The Whispering Dark. A novel. Gollancz, London 2022. First UK edition, issued the same year as the US edition. This one of an unspecified number of copies signed by the author on a separate Illumicrate title page tipped-in before the primary title leaf. 8vo. 386pp + [vi] acknowledgements and credits. Black cloth with a striking pink-stamped decoration to the upper board and a handsome decorative fore edge printing. Decorated endpapers. A fine unopened copy in double-sided dust wrapper, just fractionally rubbed at several edge and with a single tiny indentation. £25

ISAAC ASIMOV contributes his stories Trends and Bridle and Saddle (the first bookform appearance of any of his celebrated Foundation stories) to the pioneering science fiction anthology Men Against the Stars. Edited by Martin Greenberg and with a seven-page introduction by Willy Ley. Grayson & Grayson Ltd., London 1951. The scarce first UK edition. 8vo. xv, 253pp. A sliver of discolouration to the cloth at the head and base of the backstrip, else in fine state with edge worn pictorial dust wrapper, chipped at the head of the spine panel and with several small areas of loss to the extremities and some chafing to the natural folds. This copy from the library of science fiction novelist Lionel 'Lan' Wright, with his neat signature to the half-title. An anthology of eight science fiction stories with other contributions by A.E.van Vogt (Far Centaurus), Lewis Padgett (The Iron Standard), Robert Moore Williams (The Red Death of Mars), E.M.Hull (Competition), Manly Wade Wellman (Men Against the Stars) and L.Ron Hubbard (When Shadows Fall). Most uncommon. £250

Originally published in the US in 1950 by Gnome Press (Martin Greenberg was the co-founder), this was the very first "theme" anthology in science fiction, with all the stories about a common idea, setting, or concept. It was also of particular note for being the first bookform appearance of any of Asimov's Foundation stories (Bridle and Saddle subsequently appeared under the title The Mayors as the third part of his celebrated Foundation novel) This UK issue appeared a year later in a slightly reduced version with four of the original contributions absent and with differing dust wrapper artwork.

ISAAC ASIMOV. The Genetic Code. [The Story of DNA]. John Murray, London 1964. First UK edition. 8vo. 161pp. Small bump to the tip of one corner. A nice crisp copy in dust wrapper, rubbed and chafed at spine ends and tips of corners, and sunned and a little dust marked at unprinted rear panel. Bold former owner name to front endpaper alongside the ghost of another partially erased pencilled name. £15

ISAAC ASIMOV. Robots and Empire. Granada Publishing, London 1985. First UK edition, issued the same year as the considerably more common US edition. 8vo. 423pp. The boards fractionally marked and several places, and with some spotting to the top- and fore edge. A very good copy in very good price-clipped double-spread pictorial dust wrapper, lifting a fraction at the upper edge and with a short internally repaired tear. The fourth and final novel in his celebrated Robot series. £20

ISAAC ASIMOV. Foundation and Earth. Grafton Books, London 1986. First UK edition, issued the same year as the considerably more common US edition. 8vo. 464pp. Top- and fore edge quite lightly spotted. A very good copy in virtually fine price-clipped double-spread pictorial dust wrapper. The fifth and final novel in his celebrated Foundation series (bar two subsequent prequels). £30

ISAAC ASIMOV. Prelude to Foundation. Grafton Books, London 1988. First UK edition, issued the same year as the considerably more common US edition. 8vo. 461pp. Top- and fore edge lightly spotted, and with some toning to the paperstock. A very good copy in virtually fine price-clipped double-spread pictorial dust wrapper. The first of two prequels to his celebrated Foundation series. £30

J.G.BALLARD. War Fever. Collins, London 1990. First edition. 8vo. In fine state with fine dust wrapper. Ballard’s first collection of short fiction for nearly ten years, fourteen short stories, most previously published in periodicals with one appearing in print here for the first time. £15

RAY BRADBURY. The Silver Locusts. Rupert Hart-Davis, London 1951. First UK edition – originally issued in the US a year earlier under the title The Martian Chronicles, and with some textual alterations made to this British issue (one story added, and another shortened to make room for it). 8vo. 232pp. Edges lightly spotted and with some uneven browning to the free endpapers alongside several small instances of tape residue marking.  Former owner gift inscription to the front pastedown, partly obscured by the wrapper flap, and also a tiny dealer plate. A very good copy in pictorial price-clipped dust wrapper, a little rubbed, chafed, spotted and dust soiled. Twenty-six interlinking stories detailing the Human colonization of Mars. £155

RAY BRADBURY. The Machineries of Joy. Stories. Rupert Hart-Davis, London 1964. First UK edition, issued the same year as the considerably more common US edition. 8vo. 239pp. A fine copy in lightly rubbed, toned and soiled dust wrapper designed by Joe Mugnaini. This copy from the library of Richard Garnett, with his neat name-plate to the front pastedown (Garnett was the production manager, and an editor at the Hart-Davis firm, which makes this a lovely association copy). Twenty Earth-bound short stories (one less than the US edition, which also included the story Almost the End of the World, which is here omitted). £95

JOHN CHRISTOPHER. The Death of Grass. Michael Joseph, London 1956. First edition of the author’s second novel. 8vo. 230pp. Tip of one corner bumped, edges lightly spotted and with just a trace of additional spotting to several preliminary leaves. A very good copy in pictorial dust wrapper featuring a handsome design by Trevor Denning, lightly chafed at head of spine panel and tips of several corners, and just a little dust marked at predominantly white rear panel. A super copy of the author’s post-apocalyptic science fiction novel (re-titled No Blade of Grass for the US edition, in order for it to sound less “like something out of a gardening catalogue". £350

ARTHUR C.CLARKE. Prelude to Space. Sidgwick & Jackson, London 1953. The first UK and first casebound edition of Clarke’s first published science fiction novel (first issued in 1951 as a cheap science fiction paperback by Galaxy Science Fiction, and here quite heavily revised). 8vo. Cloth fractionally rubbed at tips of corners and head and base of spine. Former owner name and date inked to front endpaper and small dealer plate to front pastedown. Tiny stain to lower margin of ten leaves but no text impacted. A very crisp and bright copy of a scarce volume, in pictorial dust wrapper, creased and a little dust marked, with two short jagged tears and some loss to spine extremities and from the head of the rear panel. £50

MICHAEL CONEY. The Ultimate Jungle. Millington, London 1979. First edition. 8vo. Some tanning to paperstock else a nice crisp copy in dust wrapper, lightly rubbed at bottom and top edge and with a single short internally repaired tear. Former owner blind-stamp to front endpaper. £15

G.W.DAHLQUIST. The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters. A novel. Viking Books, London 2007. The first single-volume UK edition (originally serialised in Britain in ten chapter-length instalments between October and December 2006). This copy signed by the author on the title page. Large 8vo. 753pp + six pages of faux Victorian-era advertisements. Original publisher's unlettered boards with faux-distressed endpapers. Ribbon place marker. A fine copy in original lettered blue acetate wrapper, with a small snag to the front panel cut-out. Retailer’s promotional roundel to the front panel. The author's debut novel, a rollicking steam-punk adventure which has spawned, to date, two sequels. £25

THOMAS D.DISCH. The Genocides. A novel. Ronald Whiting & Wheaton, London 1967. The first UK edition of the author’s first book, and also the first casebound issue (originally published in the US in 1965, but only as a paperback). 8vo. 192pp. Red and black patterned boards lettered in silver at the spine. A touch of light staining to the top edge and some very light partial browning to the free endpapers, accompanied by a sliver of near-invisible spotting. Some further very light spotting to the upper margins of occasional text leaves and just the tiniest slant to the binding. A very good copy in very good pictorial dust wrapper, with just a hint of toning to the predominantly white rear panel and several tiny areas of internal discolouration. £350

“Majestic indeed…as credible a menace as I ever came on” – Brian W.Aldiss.

E.R.EDDISON. Keith Henderson. The Worm Ouroboros. A Romance. Jonathan Cape, London 1922. First edition. 8vo. xiv, 446pp. Black cloth lettered and ruled in gold at the spine, and with a gilt-stamped decoration to the upper board. With a frontispiece, a two-colour title page decoration, endpaper decorations, five plates, and various tailpiece decorations by Keith Henderson. The cloth rubbed and a little frayed at the backstrip ends. The tips of two corners knocked. Tiny miscellaneous blemish to the fore edge margin of the upper board. The front hinge just a fraction tender. Free endpapers lightly toned. Handsome former owner bookplate to the front pastedown. A good bright copy. No dust wrapper. Probably the author’s most famous book, a heroic high fantasy novel which was praised by Tolkien (who had known the author), C.S.Lewis, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Clive Barker; and deemed by science fiction scholar E.F.Bleiler “still the finest heroic fantasy”. £350

J.E.FLECKER. The Last Generation. A Story of the Future. The New Age Press, London 1908. First edition. Small 8vo. vii, 56pp + viii publisher’s advertisements. Pictorial wrappers, very lightly rubbed and nicked at the yapped edges, and with just a trace of toning to the margins of the rear wrapper. A touch of spotting to the half-title and title page, and to the fore edge, encroaching a little to the margins of very occasional leaves. A very good copy of this short science fiction tale: Flecker’s first book of prose. Mercer 3. £75

NEIL GAIMAN. American Gods. A novel. Headline Book Publishing, London 2001. First edition. 8vo. 504pp. The backstrip ends gently bruised, the corner tips rubbed, and with a little light spotting to the edges and free endpapers. Title hinge just a fraction tender. A good bright copy in rubbed and a little edgeworn, chafed and creased dust wrapper. A sound if not spectacular copy of the author’s third solo novel, winner of the 2002 Hugo and Nebula Awards. £30

NEIL GAIMAN. The View from the Cheap Seats. Selected Non-Fiction. Headline, London 2016. First edition. This copy signed by the author on a special leaf tipped before the title-page. 8vo. xi, 532pp. A fine copy in very good dust wrapper, very slightly rubbed at occasional extremities. A four-page introduction precedes eighty-six speeches, essays, introductions, and general musings, Gaiman’s subjects here including Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Harlan Ellison, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury and Fahrenheit 451, Alfred Bester and The Stars My Destination, Samuel R.Delany and The Einstein Intersection, Doctor Who, The Bride of Frankenstein, Jack Kirby, Edgar Allan Poe, H.G.Wells, G.K.Chesterton and Father Brown, H.P.Lovecraft, &c., &c., &c. £30

DAVID S.GARNETT. Mirror in the Sky. Robert Hale, London 1937. The first UK and first casebound edition of the author’s first book, a space opera novel originally issued in the US as a paperback in 1969. Small 8vo. 160pp. A near-invisible trace of spotting to top edge, else in fine state with lightly dust mark and chafed dust wrapper designed by Laurence Cutting. £20

ROBERT A.HEINLEIN. The Man Who Sold the Moon. Stories. With an introduction by John W.Campbell Jr. Sidgwick & Jackson, London 1953. The First UK edition, issued three years after the US edition. 8vo. 256pp. Time-line illustrated endpapers. A small crease to the base of the backstrip, and a tiny dent to the upper and lower edges of the front board. A very good copy in dust wrapper, chipped with a little loss at the spine ends and at several corner tips, with a little dust soiling to the rear panel, and a small area of surface abrasion to the spine panel. The wrapper is not price-clipped, but a small Australian dealer plate has been pasted over the original price. A two-page preface by the author and a four-page introduction by John W.Campbell Jr. precede six short stories (the same content as the US edition, but the order of the stories rearranged for this UK edition). £95

GEORGE H.LEONARD. Someone Else is on Our Moon. Sphere Books Ltd., London 1978. The first paperback edition, issued a year after the original casebound edition. 8vo. ixx, 232pp + [ii] advertisements. Card wrappers. With over thirty captioned black and white photographic plates, and further illustrations in the text. A little tanning to the paperstock. A very good copy. Tricky to determine whether this is a hoax, or just penned by a lunatic; I’d like to think the former but opening it at random seems to confirm the latter (“My thanks to the one-time NASA scientist whom I call Dr. Samuel Wittcomb. The book would still have been written without him, but not only did he make it a better book – he helped me feel cocksure while I wrote it”). “An excavating machine as big as a city – on the surface of the moon! And that’s just one of George H.Leonard’s sensational, shocking revelations” – blurb. £75

C.S.LEWIS. Perelandra. A novel. John Lane, The Bodley Head, London 1943. First edition. 8vo. 256pp. The binding cocked, and with several small areas of discolouration to the backstrip cloth where the dust wrapper is defective. Top- and fore edge lightly spotted, and with just a trace of further light spotting to half a dozen preliminary and concluding leaves. Quite a nice crisp copy in a considerably handled example of the uncommon dust wrapper, which is price clipped, rubbed and worn at the extremities with several quite small fractions of loss, some internal repair, and some slitting and tenderness to the natural folds, but the whole thing still holding together, and now protected. The second volume of the author’s Space or Cosmic Trilogy, bookended by Out of the Silent Planet (1938) and That Hideous Strength (1945). £650

DAVID LINDSAY. Sphinx. A novel. With an introduction by Colin Wilson. Xanadu Publications Ltd., ‘The Supernatural Library’ series, London 1988. Second edition, issued some 65 years after the original issue of 1923. 8vo. 287pp. A review copy, with the publisher’s partially toned review slip laid-in.  The top edge spotted, and with some quite light toning to the paperstock. A very good copy in fractionally rubbed and dust soiled dust wrapper. The author’s third book, which was originally published three years after his vastly influential but poorly received debut A Voyage to Arcturus (1920). £35

ANNE MCCAFFREY. To Ride Pegasus. Stories. J.M.Dent & Sons Ltd., London 1974. The first UK and first casebound edition, issued a year after the US edition which only appeared in paperback format. The publisher’s file copy, with their inkstamps to the front free endpaper, title page, and rear pastedown, and their three-digit library reference number inked to the head of the front free endpaper. 8vo. 243pp. Binding a little tender at the copyright page. A very good copy in dust wrapper, chafed at the head of the spine panel and at several other extremities, and with a small sliver of loss from the base of the front panel. Four science fiction stories, one of which, the title novella, was written especially for this collection, and serves as a prequel to the other three stories, which had been previously printed in assorted periodicals and anthologies. £95

BEN MAILE. The Land of Tomorrow. A novel. With illustrations by the author. The Book Guild Ltd., Lewes 1989. First edition. This copy fondly inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper. 8vo. 161pp. With twenty-one black and white illustrations as header pieces and in the text. Edges fractionally spotted, else a fine copy in fine double-spread pictorial dust wrapper designed by the author. The late artists’ first novel, an uncommon fantasy adventure. £125

CHARLES ERIC MAINE. The Tide Went Out. A novel. Hodder & Stoughton, London 1958. First edition. 8vo. 190pp + [i] publisher’s advertisement. Top edge spotted and a little very light creasing to the base of the rear board. Tiny dealer plate to the front pastedown (obscured by the wrapper flap). A very good copy in chipped and toned dust wrapper with four or five quite small areas of edge-loss. An uncommon science fiction novel: a series of mistakes made by atomic scientists results in the possible destruction of the world. £35 

GEORGE R.R.MARTIN. A Storm of Swords. The third volume of the author’s A Song of Fire and Ice sequence. Bantam Books, New York 2000. Eighteenth impression – this copy signed by the author on the title page. Large 8vo. 973pp. Paper-covered boards. Map-illustrated endpapers. Head and base of spine lightly bruised and spine lettering very slightly defective in several places. A minor production fault finds the base of front pastedown lifting just a fraction. Very good indeed in virtually fine dust wrapper, just fractionally rubbed at head and base of spine panel. £200

ARKADY MARTINE. The Teixcalaan Duology. Complete in two volumes comprising A Memory Called Empire [and] A Desolation Called Peace. Tor, London 2019 and 2021. Individual volumes as follows: A Memory Called Empire (2019). First UK edition, issued nine days after the US edition. 8vo. 462pp. A short crease to the corner of a single text leaf, else a fine copy in virtually fine dust wrapper, just fractionally rubbed at the upper edge. The author's first book, rightfully awarded the Hugo Award for Best Novel. A Desolation Called Peace (2021). First UK edition, issued two days after the US edition. 8vo. 496pp.. A trace of bruising to the base of the backstrip, and a tiny insignificant blemish to the fore edge. A virtually fine copy in virtually fine dust wrapper. The author's second book, winner of the Hugo Award and Lotus Award. £100

RICHARD MATHESON. I Am Legend. A novel. David Bruce & Watson Ltd., London 1974. The fugitive first UK edition, issued four years after the American edition and even more uncommon than that rarity. 8vo. 122pp. Top edge lightly spotted. The tip of one corner bumped and with just a trace of bruising to the backstrip ends. A very good copy in dust wrapper designed by Bill Botten, lightly chafed and edgeworn. A very nice copy of the author’s most celebrated novel; the basis for three cinema adaptations. £350

GEORGE MEREDITH. The Shaving of Shagpat. An Arabian Entertainment. Chapman & Hall, London 1856. First edition. 8vo. viii, 384pp. The spine re-backed but the bulk of the original cloth covering retained. The corner tips lightly worn. A pencilled note to the half-title verso notes this copy as being from the library at Ham Spray House, and ex-libris Ralph and Frances Partridge, and the former’s initials are pencilled to the head of the front pastedown alongside a personal library reference number (the library at Ham Spray House was extensive, and the room itself designed and decorated by Dora Carrington). A little marking and soiling to the front free endpaper. A nice crisp copy of the author’s first substantial work of prose fiction, a fantasy novel which attracted little notice upon publication and was eventually remaindered, but which in later years was re-evaluated as an important cornerstone in the history of fantasy literature. Nicely enhanced by the Bloomsbury association. £150

SAM J.MILLER. Blackfish City. A novel. Orbit, London 2018. First UK edition. 8vo. 328pp. A fine copy in virtually fine dust wrapper, marred only by a tiny area of creasing to the upper edge. The author’s second novel, winner of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. £15

JOHN MUNRO. A Trip to Venus. A novel. Jarrold & Sons, London 1897. First edition. 8vo. 254pp + [xviii] publisher’s catalogue at rear. Blue smooth weave cloth lettered in gilt and red, and decorated with gilt-stamped stars. Publisher’s monogram blind-stamped to rear board. David Gascoyne’s copy, with his name and the date 1943 inked to the front endpaper. Cloth discoloured at backstrip. Front hinge tender at half-title yet the binding perfectly sound thereafter. Some darkening to endpapers and pastedowns. A lovely crisp copy of an extremely uncommon science fiction novel: an account of a journey to an idyllic utopia of Venus, with a brief excursion to Mercury, written by a Bristol-based mechanical engineer. The first chapter, A Message from Mars, for originally published as a stand-alone short story in Cassell magazine (1895), and was subsequently revised into this current form. £250

CLAIRE NORTH. The Sudden Appearance of Hope. A novel. Orbit, London 2016. First edition. 8vo. 468pp. Boards very lightly marked and with a touch of wear to several extremities. A very good copy in dust wrapper, fractionally rubbed at the upper edge. The author’s fourth pseudonymous science fiction novel, winner of the World Fantasy Award. £20

TERRY PRATCHETT. Sourcery. A Discworld novel. Victor Gollancz Ltd., London 1988. First edition. This copy inscribed by the author on the title page (this being a contemporary inscription, signed using his full flowing signature rather than the shortened version he subsequently resorted to). 8vo. 243pp.The tips of two corners gently bumped and with a trace of bruising to the backstrip ends. Very good indeed in very good double-spread pictorial dust wrapper, with just a hint of corresponding creasing to the spine panel ends and to two corner tips. The fifth volume of the author’s celebrated Discworld series. £300

TERRY PRATCHETT. Pyramids. (The Book of Going Forth). A Discworld novel. Victor Gollancz Ltd., London 1989. First edition. This copy signed by the author on the title page using his original period signature (rather than the more stylised example he adopted in later years). 8vo. 272pp. Edges spotted, and with some bruising to the backstrip ends. A very minor slant to the binding, yet still a very good copy in double-spread pictorial dust wrapper, with a single tiny open tear, and a little corresponding creasing to the spine panel ends. The seventh Discworld novel; winner of the British Science Fiction Award. £250

TERRY PRATCHETT. Pyramids. The Book of Going Forth. A Discworld novel. Victor Gollancz Ltd., London 1989. First edition. 8vo. 272pp. A tiny trace of spotting and toning to the top- and fore edge, and a hint of wear to the backstrip ends. A virtually fine copy in very good double-spread pictorial dust wrapper, with a little light creasing to the head of the spine panel, a tiny nick to one corner tip, and two tiny creases to the base of the front flap. The seventh volume of the author’s celebrated Discworld series. £95

TERRY PRATCHETT. Moving Pictures. A Discworld novel. Victor Gollancz Ltd., London 1990. First edition. 8vo. 279pp. Top- and fore edge lightly spotted. Very good indeed in very good price-clipped pictorial dust wrapper, lightly rubbed at the spine panel ends. The tenth volume of the Discworld series. £75

TERRY PRATCHETT. Jingo. A Discworld novel. Victor Gollancz, London 1997. First edition. This copy amusingly inscribed by the author on the title page: “To Lisa, may your fruit be full of loins!” followed by his abbreviated stylised signature. 8vo. 285pp. A single tiny indentation to the upper board, else a fine copy in virtually fine dust wrapper, marred only by a trace of creasing to the spine panel ends. The 21st volume in the Discworld series. £125

CHRISTOPHER PRIEST. The Space Machine. A Scientific Romance. Faber, London 1976. First edition. A presentation copy, humorously inscribed by the author to his editor: “To Chris Holifield. Can I have your decision on this by tomorrow, please? Lots of Love, Chris Priest, January 1979”. 8vo. 363pp. A small bump to the head of the upper board, the tips of two corners gently rubbed and with a single tiny area of staining to the top edge. Short marginal crease to four adjacent text leaves. A very good copy in just fractionally rubbed dust wrapper. An H.G.Wells-influenced science fiction novel which binds together the plots of The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine. Winner of the 1977 Ditmar Award. £100

KEITH ROBERTS. The Furies. A novel. Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd., London 1966.  First edition. 8vo. 254pp. A trace of dust soiling to the top edge, else a fine copy in lightly rubbed, toned and soiled dust wrapper. The author’s scarce first book. £250

KEITH ROBERTS. The Inner Wheel. A novel. Hart-Davis, London 1970. First edition. 8vo. 203pp. A very nice, bright copy in triflingly marked dust wrapper. The author's fourth novel. £100

KEITH ROBERTS. Kiteworld. A novel. Gollancz, London 1985. First edition - this copy signed by the author on the title-page. 8vo. 288pp. A fine copy in fine dust wrapper. £25

F.HORACE ROSE. The Maniac's Dream. A Novel of the Atomic Bomb. Duckworth, London 1946. First edition. 8vo. Covers a little faded at some edges. A good copy in torn, chipped and repaired pictorial jacket. Inscription of former owner. Bleiler p.170 A very early example of A-bomb fiction. £35

JOANNA RUSS. The Female Man. A novel. A Star Book / W.H.Allen & Co. Ltd., London 1977. The first English edition, issued two years after the original US edition. 8vo. 214pp + [ii] publisher’s catalogue. Card wrappers featuring a splendid Peter Jones design (both the US and this UK editions were originally only issued in paperback format). A hint of toning to the wrappers. Very good indeed, and somewhat more uncommon than the first US edition. The author’s third novel – and her most celebrated, heralding the beginnings of feminist science fiction. The blurb on the upper wrapper proudly states that it won the Nebula Award, but in fact it was only nominated, although The Female Man did go on to win, almost inevitably, one of three Retrospective Tiptree Awards in 1996. £40

V.E.SCHWAB. The Fragile Threads of Power. A novel. Titan Books, London 2023. First edition – this being the Waterstones Special Edition, signed by the author on a special leaf tipped before the half-title. 8vo. 575pp. White cloth with a red-stamped decorated design to the upper and lower boards, decorated endpapers and a handsome two-colour fore edge decoration. A touch of bruising to the backstrip ends and with several lengthy readership creases to the spine, yet still a very good copy in fine dust wrapper (the variant white issue). The first volume of the author’s Threads of Power sequence, a spin-off to her Shades of Magic series. £25

CLIFFORD SIMAK. Aliens for Neighbours. Science Fiction Stories. Faber, London 1961. First UK edition, issued a year after the US edition which appeared under the title The Worlds of Clifford Simak and included three stories which are omitted from this English edition. 8vo. 255pp. Top edge lightly spotted, and with a trace of light partial toning to the free endpapers. A virtually fine copy in quite lightly dust soiled dust wrapper designed by John Griffiths. A quite early collection of Simak short fiction, just his third such collection. £30

JOHN SLADEK. The Reproductive System. A Science Fiction Novel. Victor Gollancz Ltd., London 1968. First edition – this UK edition preceding the US issue by a year (the US edition was published under the title Mechasm and only appeared in paperback format). 8vo. 192pp. A tiny hint of spotting to the fore edge, else a fine copy in lightly toned, rubbed and dust soiled dust wrapper, with the publisher’s new metric price-sticker placed over the original price printed to the front flap of the wrapper. The author’s first book, bar his pseudonymous Gothic thriller The Castle and the Key, which appeared as a paperback accredited to ‘Cassandra Knye’ a year earlier. £35

EMILY TESH. Some Desperate Glory. A novel. Orbit, London 2023. The deluxe Illumicrate issue of the first edition, with patterned and lettered boards, pictorial endpapers (with differing designs to the front and rear) and sprayed decorated edges. Signed by the author by way of a plate pasted to the half-title. 8vo. 438pp. Blue cloth with silvery-blue lettering and star pattern decorations to the spine and upper board. A trace of bruising to the base of the backstrip, else a fine copy in virtually fine dust wrapper, with a touch of corresponding creasing to the base of the spine panel. The author's first novel, preceded by two novellas. Winner of the 2024 Hugo Award. £50

J.R.R.TOLKIEN. The Silmarillion. Edited and with a foreword by Christopher Tolkien. George Allen & Unwin, London 1977. Seemingly a later state of the scarce export edition which preceded the domestic issue, with the Clowes and Sons imprint on the copyright page as required, but retaining only one of the two most notable typographical errors (no full-stop after ‘Fëanor’ on p.330; but the italicised ‘and’ on p.352 here un-italicised). 8vo. 365pp. No blue stain to the top edge. With a two-colour fold-out map tipped-in at the rear and a one more two-colour map included at a plate. Top edge lightly spotted, and with a tiny scuff to the fore edge of the lower board. Very good indeed in the correct first issue (i.e. non-priced) dust wrapper, decorated with Tolkien-designed emblems, fractionally rubbed at the head of the spine panel, and with a small corresponding nick to the rear flap fold. £100

J.R.R.TOLKIEN. Christopher Tolkien. The War of the Ring. The History of the Lord of the Rings. Part Three. Unwin Hymans Ltd., London 1990. First edition. 8vo. xi, 476pp. With two colour frontispiece drawings by J.R.R.Tolkien, and seventeen further drawings, maps, and facsimile manuscript reproductions in the text. A touch of bruising to the base of the backstrip, else a fine copy in very good dust wrapper, marred by a trace of light dust soiling, and a touch of wear to the spine panel ends. £100

IAN WATSON. The Jonah Kit. A novel. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York 1975. The first American edition of Watson’s second adult book, this copy signed by the author on the title page and dated 1981. 8vo. 221pp. A small area of soiling to the top edge and the occasional finger smudge to leaf margins. A very good copy in very good pictorial dust wrapper (a significant improvement on the garish UK example which Gollancz produced), with several tiny nicks and two creases to the rear flap. £35

TAD WILLIAMS. The Otherland Series. Complete in four volumes comprising City of Golden Shadow [and] River of Blue Fire [and] Mountain of Black Glass [and] Sea of Silver Light. Legend Books, London 1996 [and] Orbit, London 1998-2001. First UK editions. Individual volumes as follows: Otherland: City of Golden Shadow (Legend Books, 1996). The correct first edition, this UK version issued one month before the US equivalent. 8vo. xiii, 770pp. Some marking and soiling to the boards, and the backstrip ends a little bruised. A tiny bump to the tip of one corner. Leaf margins lightly tanned. A nice crisp copy in slightly rubbed and edge-creased dust wrapper. Otherland: River of Blue Fire (Orbit, 1998). First UK edition, issued the same year as the US edition. This copy signed by the author on the title page. 8vo. xix, 634pp. The backstrip ends very gently bruised, and with some toning to the paperstock. A very good copy in fractionally edge-worn dust wrapper, with a retailer’s ‘signed by the author’ roundel to the front panel. Otherland: Mountain of Black Glass (Orbit, 1999). First UK edition, issued the same year as the US edition 8vo. xxvii, 689pp. The backstrip ends gently bruised, and with a little toning to the paperstock. A tiny crease to corner tips of two adjacent text leaves. A very good copy in slightly edge-worn dust wrapper. Otherland: Sea of Silver Light (Orbit, 2001). First UK edition, issued the same year as the US edition. This copy signed by the author on the title page. 8vo. xxxviii, 922pp. Some bruising to the backstrip ends. A very good copy in slightly edge-worn dust wrapper. A very nice set of the author’s mammoth four-decker. £75

JACK WOMACK. Terraplane. Unwin & Hyman, London 1989. First UK edition of the author’s second novel. 8vo. 227pp. Spine ends fractionally rubbed, else a fine copy in virtually fine dust wrapper, with just a hint of corresponding chafing to the spine panel ends. £20