Surfing Alien

Ok, going to get back rolling here with some great authors and GGA. If you're collecting vintage pb's you have to collect Gold Medals. They set the standard in the early 1950's for combining original hard boiled noir with great cover art. Gil Brewer is one of the best i've read, along with other Gold Medal regulars like Harry Whittington, Day Keene, David Goodis and John D. MacDonald, some of the most collected authors in vintage pb-land. 13 French Street by Gil Brewer, Gold Medal 211 1951 1st Edition PBO $25 Stunning headlights cover art by Dom Lupo. Petra Lawrence is one of the wickedest women ever created imho. Brewer was a master at creating twisted, tortured people in unfortunate situations. This was such a great read as well as great to look at. Fine/Fine Plus. Spine is square and tight, pages supple. Super glossy with great color. No creasing, just some edgewear/bindery chipping to the corners and spine tips. Lamination fully intact. A very collectible copy that can still be (carefully) read.

I'm enjoying some Father's Day activities (Happy Father's Day to all you Dads out there ) so will be listing more stuff later this afternoon/early evening

It's partly because the Vintage PB hobby is so fractured. There hasn't been a price guide published in decades and information about the cover artists is spread all over the place. The Bookscans website is a great resource but unfortunately a huge missed opportunity because they have never gone to the next step of identifying art credits. I will say, in the 6 or 7 years since I've gotten back in after not collecting them since the 1980's, there has been more and more competition for nice things and the prices have been increasing. I have had conversations with quite a few collectors about how it is like collecting comic books back in the 1970's must have been. Tons of great books for less than a common high grade modern comic and so much more satisfying

There's tons of bargains that I can't believe ain't gone if you look back through the listings so feel free to make an offer on anything, Gonna list a lot more tomorrow so see you then!

Beyond The Farthest Star by Edgar Rice Burroughs Ace 05652 1st Tall Ace Frazetta edition. January 1973 $20 SOLD to goldust40 Very Fine minus/Very Fine . Glossy and new looking. Great colors. Tiny color fleck on cover. Virtually no other other wear. Killer copy.

The People That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs Ace 65942 1st Frazetta Ace edition. January 1973 $20 SOLD to mstrange Very Fine minus/Very Fine. Glossy and new looking. Great colors. Hints of wear at the corners, Killer copy.

Bargain lot of Frazetta cover Tarzan 1st Editions. 4 for $20 SOLD to jimjum12 These have dates on the covers and wear but are great, perfect readers at $5 a pop. but I don't feel like taking the time to break them up and listing individually. WYSIWYG. Spines are pretty nice.

Ubik by Philip K. MR. Dell 9200 May 1970 First PB Edition, very scarce compared to other PKD publishers... $40 Fine minus/Fine. Appears lightly read but has a few color specks /chips to the front cover. Light edgewear. Pretty copy. Tougher than most PKD pbs.

The Tigress by Carter Brown. Signet D3212 3rd printing with a new awesome McGinnis cover. $15 Semi-nude side-lights cover by Robert McGinnis. Gorgeous! Fine Plus/ Very Fine Minus.Super glossy and new looking. Sharp and square. Light surface wear.Light edgewear. Toning to inside covers and pages. Killer copy!

Murder Is The Message by Carter Brown. Signet P4105 1st Printing December 1969 $15 SOLD at 20% off to crassus Psychadelic Leg Art cover by Robert McGinnis. A Danny Boyd mystery. Fine Plus/Very Fine Minus.Super glossy and new looking. Sharp and square. Light surface wear. Hairline reader crease else virtually no creasing. Light edgewear. Toning to inside covers and pages. A very pretty copy of a classic vintage PB.

Excellent book! This one and "Five Sinister Characters" by Chandler and "Borrowed Crime" and "If I should Die Before I Wake" by Irish for sure are the important ones. Don't remember if "Finger Man" is a first. That would be a top pick as well.

take Superlative taste as usual my friend!

That's it for the science fiction for now, I have errands to run but hope to be back this evening with more GGA and other fun stuff!

The Princess of the Atom by Ray Cummings Avon Fantasy Novels No. 1 1950 1st PB edition $30 Golden Age Avon science fiction with nice GGA cover art. A fantasy classic first published in Argosy pulp. First of a two issue special numbering scheme that Avon then folded back into their regular number line. Fine Plus. Square, solid spine, tight pages, great color and gloss. Very light wear to the spine edge and corners, no reader crease at all, just a finger bend to the right middle cover. A very nice, fresh copy.

The Fox Woman and other Stories. by Abraham Merritt Avon 214 (no number - rare Canadian edition) 1949 True 1st Edition of this collection $40 Another Golden Age Avon science fiction classic. A true 1st edition paperback collection of Merritt's novelettes and short stories. Very scarce Canadian printing. Fine Plus. Square, solid spine, tight pages, great color and gloss. Some light wear to the spine edge and corners, hairline reader crease (most of that line on left cover edge is a purposeful indent by the manufacturing process at that time to force the cover to bend there) and some rubbing to the back cover. A very pretty copy.

The Girl With The Hungry Eyes Edited by Donald Wollheim Avon 184 1948 $40 SOLD to mstrange A classic Golden Age Avon. The first mass market Fantasy collection, courtesy of Wollheim becoming editor at Avon. Cover story by Fritz Leiber and others including Weird Tales authors Frank Belknap Long and Manly Wade Wellman. Another cover credited in the copyright office to Ann Cantor but definitely a hired hand. You can see the initials "RG" in the white next to the gent's coat. One of the many reasons, I've poked a hole in the Ann Cantor artist credits in my Raymond Johnson article. Fine Plus/Very Fine minus. Beautiful square spine, tight pages, great color and gloss, looks like a Very Fine but has some light finger bends to the upper right front and bottom back that do not break color or photograph well. Just a super fresh, square copy.

Rogue In Space by Fredric Brown Bantam A1701 1st PB, 1st Printing December 1957 $15 SOLD to TupennyConan Cover art by Richard Powers. A very nice copy of a fragile Fredric Brown Bantam. Very Fine Minus. Covers bright and glossy, appears unread. Very light wear along spine edge, no creasing, just some small bends on the back and light wear to the corners.

I Robot by Isaac Asimov Signet s1282 1st PB, 1st Printing March 1956 $65 SOLD to TupennyConan The big daddy of all Asimov pb's. Tough to find at all let alone in any kind of decent shape due to the black cover and notoriously poor Signet construction. Much harder to find than "1984" or any other Signet Sci Fi for that matter. Fantastic Robot cover art by Robert Schulz. My copy just barely beats this one and I've been looking a long time. Fine. Spine is solid and square, pages tight. Light wear along spine edge and pressure crack at middle along the back (does not affect pages or binding at all, just a mark on the paper.) Great page quality. Covers retain lots of gloss, hairline reader crease, light creasing to lower corner. Despite the mentioned flaws, a dynamite copy in my experience.

The Man Who Upset The Universe (Foundation and Empire) by Isaac Asimov Ace D-125 1st PB, 1st Printing 1955 $15 Awesome cover art by Robert Schulz. The second book of the Foundation Trilogy. Not as scarce as the third book but a must have. Fine/Fine Plus. Spine is square and solid, hairline reader crease and thumb bends/wear to lower front and back corners but a bright and glossy copy that has not been abused at all.

I've got some time to list a few niceties, then I'll have to break and return this evening. 2nd Foundation: Galactic Empire by Isaac Asimov Avon T-232 1st PB, 1st Printing 1958 $30 SOLD to TupennyConan Cover art by Richard Powers. A really nice copy of the third book of the awesome Foundation Trilogy. Very Fine Minus. Covers bright and glossy, appears unread. Virtually no creasing, just some light wear to the corners.

I've been called away. I'm just going to post this last one for sale and come back tomorrow. One of the most outrageous 1960's/70's paperback cover/stories ever. W.H.O.R.E. by Carter Brown. Signet T4798 1st Printing October 1971 $25 SOLD to crassus Long leggy cover art by Robert McGinnis. An Al Wheeler mystery. Fine Plus/Very Fine Minus. Sharp and square. Light surface wear. Virtually no creasing. Light edgewear. Toning to inside covers and pages. A very pretty copy of a classic vintage PB.

Finally landed a copy of the Phantom Digest PBO of Day Keene's "Hunt the Killer", pictured with a minty copy of the Harlequin edition with the repainted cover art. A tough pair to say the least. I'm only one book away from completing the Phantom run and wouldn't you know I'm missing "Deadly Lover", the only one with a Raymond Johnson cover! (P.S. PM me if you have a spare!)

Nice. That book is almost 70 years old! Crazy!

You have excellent taste Sir!

Assignment In Eternity by Robert A. Heinlein Signet Books #1161 1st PB 1st Print November 1954 $25 SOLD to TupennyConan Very nice copy of the 1st PB of this classic Heinlein collection. Richard Powers cover art, showing he could paint realistic art before going fully abstract. Fine Plus/Very Fine Minus. Appears unread. No Reader crease. Unusual for a Signet. Light thumb bend at bottom front cover, back cover. Light color wear on tips and light edgewear. Light page toning. Over all an excellent copy.