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London : Curtis Warren, [ca.1950]. First edition. “There was something wrong with the old box of tricks that was stooging around way up in the blue there” – a title in the Curtis Warren “Aero Fiction” series.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 112pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by Ray Theobald; a little worn at extremities; some light marking and creasing; staples rusted; some spotting of edges and prelims, but a good and serviceable copy. No copy located in any major library worldwide.

£25

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London : William Heinemann, (1933). First edition. International Aircraft and Airways Inc. collapses in 1987 after fifty years of oligarchy in guarding and upholding peace (by war and tyranny if necessary) – a “Pax Aeronautica” tale, providing an interesting contrast and a rather less optimistic vision than that of H. G. Wells’s “The Shape of Things to Come”, which was published in the same year. “Truthfully, I am not certain of Mr. Arlen’s conclusions. At any rate, he has given us a story the tremendous drive of which shatters all criticism, leaving only an excited admiration ... a splendid story splendidly told” (Richard King in “The Tatler”, 1st February 1933).
Crown 8vo (21cm). [4],xx,(380)pp. Original black cloth, lettered in gilt; a few very minor marks and spots; top edge a touch dusty, but a very good, bright, clean and sound copy in the dust-jacket – the jacket with some mild edge-wear, but also very good.

£75

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London : Nova Publications, 1961. Two consecutive issues of the magazine containing both parts of Ballard’s “Storm-Wind”, which later appeared as his subsequently disavowed first novel, “The Wind from Nowhere”, first published as a paperback in the USA in 1962. No. 111 also contains a profile of Ballard, with a photograph – “anyone wondering why I’ve chosen to destroy London quite so thoroughly should try living there for ten years ...”. Other contributors include Lee Harding, Colin Kapp, John Kippax, George Langalaan, David Rome, James White, George Whitley, Lan Wright, etc.
Two issues. Post 8vo (20cm). 128; 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in designs by Gerard Quinn and Brian Lewis respectively; some very minor wear, mild creasing and light tanning, but overall in very good order.

£40

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London : Victor Gollancz, 1987. First edition. A river appears in parched central Africa – “classic Ballard. Mesmerising. No one else writes with such haunting impact” (William Boyd).
Foolscap 4to (24cm). 254,[ii]pp. Original black boards, lettered on spine in gilt; near fine in the Paul Wright dust-jacket, also near fine.

£25

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London : Curtis Warren, [1952]. First edition. Robert Varden almost dies when his plane hits an electrical storm. When he awakes in hospital he has an invisible double. “An extraordinary and chilling fantasy” (Harbottle & Holland A244).
Crown 8vo (19cm). 112pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by Ray Theobald; spine worn and chipped at head and tail; wrappers a little rubbed and creased; price sticker on upper wrapper; some internal spotting and tanning, but a serviceable copy. Just a single copy (Liverpool) located in the major UK libraries.

£25

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London : Panther Books – Hamilton & Co. (Stafford), (1953). First edition : the wrappers issue. Security officer becomes suspicious of a physicist at the Spaceship Development Centre – “something had walked through walls all right – but certainly not a man”. Panther Book 40.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 143,[i]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by Gordon C. Davies; short splits at head and tail; short tear to upper wrapper; some marking and creasing; staples rusting, but a reasonable copy. No copy located in any of the major UK libraries.

£10

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London : Michael Joseph, (1971). First British edition of this collection of short stories from the by now British-based American master of science fiction. Eight stories (one more than the American edition of the same title) — “creatures that look like men but aren't; rodent custodians of lone planets; tobacco mosaic totally out of control; a society in which cleanliness is a vice; beggars literally led by dogs; pomander-poaching on Mars; the coming of heterosexuality to Titan; a hippy space hijacker”.
Post 8vo (21cm). (186),[ii]pp. Original blue boards, lettered in gilt; slightly bruised at extremities, but otherwise a very good, clean and sound copy in the dust-jacket — the jacket similarly faintly bruised, with a few slight marks on the rear panel, but unworn and also very good.

£40

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London : Faber & Faber, (1971). First British edition. The much-admired third instalment in Bova’s loosely connected “Watchmen” series — peace throughout the universe maintained by the Star Watch with the aid of the duelling machine, a virtual reality device for sublimating individual conflict — until someone tinkers with the mechanism. Originally published (with the shorter American spelling “dueling”) in New York in 1969.
Post 8vo (21cm). [vi],(248),[ii]pp. Original blue cloth, ruled and lettered in gilt; a few tiny pale spots to cloth; top edge a little spotted, but otherwise a very good copy in the stylish (but unattributed) American-designed dust-jacket — the jacket just faintly sunned and with a couple of slight marks, but with only the lightest hint of use and wear and also very good.

£40

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London : Panther Books, Hamilton & Co. (Stafford), (1953). First edition : the wrappers issue. “The story moves rapidly, out from the solar system to the far planets of Martell and Loris” – Captain Lance struggles alongside beautiful flame-haired Rusty Purcell for the mastery of the galaxy. Panther Book 69.
Crown 8vo (19cm). (158),[ii]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by John Richards; a little rubbed and somewhat creased; upper wrapper slightly frayed; a reasonable copy. Just a single copy (Bodleian) located in the major UK libraries.

£10

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London : Panther Books – Hamilton & Co. (Stafford), (1955). First edition. “When the men of the planet Demeter died out in space, the destiny of the human race was left to a group of women. Clare Monkton worked to establish a feminist world ...”. Panther Book 182.
Crown 8vo (19cm). (144)pp. Original pictorial wrappers in a design by Ron Turner; some very minor rubbing and creasing, but a very good copy. Just two copies (Bodleian and National Library of Scotland) located in the major UK libraries.

£40

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London : Panther Books – Hamilton & Co. (Stafford), (1955). First edition. “Mankind overcomes his parasitical alien oppressors in this excellent and suspenseful sequel to ‘Twilight of Reason’” (Harbottle & Holland A43). Panther Book 192.
Crown 8vo (19cm). (141),[iii]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a rocket design by John Richards; short split a foot; a little rubbed, creased and soiled; staples rusting; a reasonable copy. Just a single copy (Bodleian) located in the major UK libraries.

£10

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London : Panther Books – Hamilton & Co. (Stafford), (1953). First edition. “First one man, and then another and another, disappeared, so that their brains should serve this secret purpose, pulsing bodiless on that lonely asteroid” – “By turns scientific and mystical, it is one of Campbell’s better efforts” (Harbottle & Holland A54). Panther Book 86.
Crown 8vo (19cm). (157),[i],[2]pp. Original stapled pictorial wrappers in a design by John Richards; a little worn and slightly chipped; slightly rubbed and creased; staples a little rusted; text lightly tanned, but a good copy. Just two copies (Bodleian and Liverpool) located in the major UK libraries.

£10

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London : Panther Books – Hamilton & Co. (Stafford), (1954). First edition. High official rebels against Earth’s repressive regime – and there was a girl, clever, shrewd and daring – “Typical Campbell dystopia, filled with disturbingly grim and realistic medical and scientific details” (Harbottle & Holland A59). Panther Book 160.
Crown 8vo (19cm). (142),[ii]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by John Richards; slight wear and splitting at tips; some creasing; a couple of tiny chips; staples rusted; text a little tanned, but a good copy of a fragile item. Just two copies (Bodleian and Liverpool) located in the major UK libraries.

£20

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London : The Atlas Publishing & Distributing Co., (1940). The British issue of the June 1940 ‘Unknown’, featuring Norvell W. Page, ‘But Without Horns’, Frederick Engelhardt, ‘The Kraken’, and Frank Belknap Long, ‘The Man from Nowhere’, with illustrations by Kolliker, F. Kramer, etc.
Crown 4to (24cm). 80pp. Original pictorial wrappers – a dramatic design by Edd Cartier (1914-2008); some wear; small nick and chip to upper wrapper; text a little tanned, but still a good copy of a fragile production.

SOLD

London : Curtis Warren, (1953). First edition. Carelessness sends the rocket-ship Ventura on its way to Tha a day too early – short-crewed and with three civilians on board, one a woman. Tha turns out to be inhabited by “a vastly superior race of corporate beings” – creatures planning to evacuate their world and invade another.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 159,[i]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design variously attributed to both Gerald Facey and Ray Theobald; some light wear and slight creasing; staples rusted; a few minor signs of age and use, but overall a very good copy. No copy located in any major UK library.

£25

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London : Michael Joseph, (1971). First British and first hardback edition. A world in chaos — plague, strikes and riots — and a group of scientists at a top-secret facility in Cornwall try to develop a method of time travel to escape it all. First published as “Chronocules” the previous year in paperback form in the United States, where this exiled British writer was declared Author Emeritus by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2007.
Crown 8vo (20cm). (206),[ii]pp. Original black boards, lettered in gilt; a few faint marks, but overall still a very good copy in the striking dust-jacket — also very good.

£50

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London : Panther Books – Hamilton & Co. (Stafford), [1954]. First edition : the paperback issue. The second in the Corridors of Time trilogy – Magda and Dysart in pursuit of the thief of the symbolic jewel – a tenuous trail of radioactivity through time to follow. Panther Book 96.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 159,[i]pp. Original pictorial wrappers -a design by John Richards; some light wear at tips; short split at head; corner crease to lower wrappers; mild spotting and browning, but a good sound and serviceable copy. Just two copies (Bodleian and Liverpool) traced in the major UK libraries.

£25

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London : Panther Books – Hamilton & Co. (Stafford), [1953]. First edition : the paperback issue. The first in the Corridors of Time trilogy – Dysart and Magda know they must plunge into Time itself in pursuit of the avenging Kazan – four times the time-warp hurtles them to unknown dimensions. Panther Book 85.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 159,[i]pp. Original pictorial wrappers -a design by John Richards; worn at foot; wrappers slightly creased and a little frayed; a sound and serviceable copy. Just two copies (Bodleian and Liverpool) traced in the major UK libraries.

£20

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London : Panther Books – Hamilton & Co. (Stafford), [1953]. First edition : the paperback issue. The first in the Corridors of Time trilogy – Dysart and Magda know they must plunge into Time itself in pursuit of the avenging Kazan – four times the time-warp hurtles them to unknown dimensions. Panther Book 85.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 159,[i]pp. Original pictorial wrappers -a design by John Richards; chipped at foot; a little worn and creased; price scribbled on upper wrapper; staples rusted; text a little tanned, but a sound and serviceable copy. Just two copies (Bodleian and Liverpool) traced in the major UK libraries. Harbottle & Holland A333.

£20

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London : Panther Books – Hamilton & Co. (Stafford), [1954]. First edition : the paperback issue. Illegal excavations below the portals of time. The final volume in the Corridors of Time series – Panther Book 117.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 159,[i]pp. Original pictorial wrappers – a design by John Richards. A poor copy – worn at extremities; spine splitting; some creasing; text shaken. Just two copies (Bodleian and Liverpool) traced in the major UK libraries.

£15

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London : Gaywood Press, (1951). First edition. Flying saucers come ever closer – and retaliate with radiation rays when attacked. “It’s a pity their rays hadn’t been aimed at Gaywood Press before this book was published” (Harbottle & Holland A91).
Crown 8vo (19cm). 98 [i.e.96]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by Leroi Osborne; a little rolled, slightly worn, creased, and a little frayed; staples rusting; text lightly tanned, but a good and serviceable copy. Just a single copy (Liverpool) located in the major UK libraries.

£30

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London : Gaywood Press, (1952). First edition. The third and last of the Space Express titles, one of which appeared under the “Franz Harkon” pseudonym. A journey to Nebulae Sixty-Six in search of Crystonium, led by the coldly beautiful Dr Mena Diamenter. “Abject rubbish” (Harbottle & Holland A92).
Crown 8vo (19cm). [iv],(9)-100pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by Leroi (Robert Osborne); some wear; short split at foot; staples rusting; text lightly tanned; a good copy. Just a single copy (Liverpool) located in the major UK libraries.

£25

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London : Gaywood Press, [1951] First edition. Spaceships on the scheduled services between Earth, Mars and Venus start being kidnapped. One of the three Space Express titles, one of which appeared under the “Franz Harkon” pseudonym.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 112pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by Leroi (Robert Osborne); some minor wear; tiny nick to upper wrapper and opening leaves; a few slight creases, but a very good copy. Just two copies (British Library and Liverpool) located in major UK libraries.

£25

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Llandudno : Kaner Publishing Co., [1947]. First edition. The dystopian twenty-eighth century and the peoples of earth hypnotised into servitude, the Ebon Sphere of Surrey, etc.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 80pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers; some very minor wear and a tiny chip on lower wrapper, but a very good copy. Just two copies (British Library and Liverpool) located in the major UK libraries.

£40

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London : Gaywood Press, [1950]. First edition. Finn was a prize-winning short story writer before being tempted by the pulp publishers Gaywood to produce some sex-and-space science fiction potboilers for their new series. The present tale sees the world decimated by the “Sickness”, a mutant new race of supermen, etc., and (perhaps against the odds) is a thoroughly competent example of the British sci-fi of the period. Finn is also remembered for his football books and his childhood autobiography “Grief Forgotten : The Tale of an East End Jewish Boyhood”.
Crown 8vo (18cm). 123,[v]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a lurid design by Leroi; a little worn and creased, with some slight nicking to spine, but a good copy of a scarce and fragile production. Stamp of Goodwins Librarie’s [sic] Exchange of Lincoln on half-title. Just two copies located in major UK libraries.

£50

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London : Panther Books – Hamilton & Co. (Stafford), (1954). First edition. The final portion of the Resurgent Dust trilogy – the first spaceship to be built on Venus since the Golden Age – Lord Kennet of Gryllaar leads the dangerous expedition back to the Mother Earth of his forebears. Panther Book 104.
Crown 8vo (19cm). (159),[i]pp. Original pictorial wrappers in a design by John Richards; chips at head, foot, and to upper and lower wrappers; a few marks and creases; a serviceable copy. Just two copies (Bodleian and Liverpool) located in the major UK libraries.

£15

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London : Scion Distributors, [1954]. First edition. The half-title has been excised by the publishers and the Scion Distributors imprint pasted over the earlier Scion Ltd. on both title-page and final leaf – presumably a reflection of Scion’s internal wrangles and legal difficulties at that time. Strangely dressed stranger comes calling on a cold and wet February night on the outskirts of London – and sits down with a dictionary. Although the first two Volsted Gridban novels had been written by E. C. Tubb, subsequent Scion titles under this name all seem to have been written by the indefatigable John Russell Fearn.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 126pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by Ron Turner; light wear; some creasing; lower wrapper a little marked; a few minor marks, but otherwise a very good copy. Just two copies (Bodleian and Liverpool) located in the major UK libraries.

£25

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London : Curtis Warren, (1953). First edition : the wrappers issue. The long-established Earth colony on the planet Reni has to be evacuated when its sun fails, abandoning the gentle and trusting Renians to their fate – but some Earth mortals decline to leave.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 159,[i]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – an unsigned but typical design by Gordon C. Davies; a little rubbed and creased; staples a little rusted; text a little tanned, but a good copy. Only a single copy (Liverpool) located in any major UK library.

£25

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London : Faber & Faber, (1971). First British edition. A baker’s dozen of commissioned and frequently challenging science fiction stories, all set in the year 2,000 but reflecting the preoccupations of 1970 — overpopulation, race relations, space exploration, starvation, and war. With contributions from Brian W. Aldiss (Orgy of the Living and the Dying); Bertram Chandler (Sea Change); Harrison himself (American Dead); Fritz Leiber (America the Beautiful); Naomi Mitchison (After the Accident); Chad Oliver (Far from this Earth); Mack Reynolds (Utopian); Thomas N. Scortia (Judas Fish); Robert Silverberg (Black is Beautiful), etc. With an introduction by Harrison, notes on the authors, etc.
Post 8vo (21cm). 288pp. Original orange-red boards, lettered in gilt; a few slight marks, spots, and some mild discolouration to edges and endpapers, but otherwise very good, bright and sound in the dust-jacket — the jacket lightly edge-worn and a touch dusty, but complete and still vibrant.

£25

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London : Curtis Warren, [1951]. First edition. A vast force of spaceships is spotted in the outer galaxy, aliens from Gamma 7 have taken a base on the moon – “a ghastly space opera mish-mash” (Harbottle & Holland A239).
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by Ray Theobald; minor wear at foot; staples rusted, but otherwise a very good copy. Exchange stamp of “Goodwins Librarie” of Lincoln on title-page.

£25

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London : Secker & Warburg, (1971). First British edition. “It is London, tomorrow. The government has announced that Cessation is only a few weeks off; in the meantime, most people are planning their own particular ends, and those with the most status and privilege are preparing to go City — that is, to embark for the fabulous End City on the south-west coast” — the young Starvies are passive, the Failergoners weak-willed and indecisive, and the Lifers fight back. “Ostensibly this book is a skilful and successful piece of science fiction, but it is more than that. It is a devastatingly uncomfortable view of the way we live now” (Victoria Brittain in the Illustrated London News, 1st October 1971, on this British author first published in the United States).
Post 8vo (21cm). [iv],(228)pp. Original jade boards, ruled and lettered in gilt; some spotting of edges and endpapers, but otherwise a very good copy in the Philip Mann dust-jacket — the jacket with some light edge-wear, but also very good.

£25

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London : Curtis Warren, [1951]. First edition. Newly opened space-route between Earth and Tanus, ships disappearing, convoy lands on alien planet – “Another of the atrociously-written space operas by Hughes, essentially a transplanted western” (Harbottle & Holland).
Crown 8vo (19cm). 112pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by Ray Theobald; small chip at head; slight split at foot; minor wear at foot; some slight creasing; a few spots, but a very good copy. Just five copies located in major libraries worldwide – just one (British Library) in the United Kingdom.

£25

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Llandudno : Kaner Publishing Co., 1946. First edition. Professor Hayton discovers a gateway drug to an amazing and idyllic parallel world – but shatters the peace and happiness of the lost race. Probably the best of the self-published science fiction of the Romanian-born civil servant, also the author of “Balance Sheets Explained”, etc. For more on Hyman Kaner, see my Bookhunter on Safari blog-post for 7th July 2016.
Crown 8vo (20cm). [ii],188,[ii]pp. Original tan cloth, lettered in black; some spotting to edges and endpapers, but a very good, sharp and bright copy in the original dust-jacket – a design by H. W. Perl – lightly worn at tips, slightly rubbed, with a few nicks and spots, but also very good.

£50

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Llandudno : Kaner Publishing Co., 1946. First edition. “In a flash the Instantaneous Flight Machine was gone ...” – Roger Marshall and his girlfriend Joan Lorimer teleport themselves into a sunspot and find the Sun Queen engaged in a terrible war against the Black Knights and the evil superstition of the Rock God. “Many novel theories and ideas”. For more on Hyman Kaner, see my Bookhunter on Safari blog-post for 7th July 2016.
Crown 8vo (19cm). [ii],204,[ii]pp. Original tan boards, lettered in gilt; top edge a little spotted, but a very good, clean and bright copy in the H. W. Perl dust-jacket – a little rubbed, with a couple of tiny chips and short tears, but also very good.

£25

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London : Curtis Warren, [1951]. First edition. The “Leinster Principles” are adopted after the conclusion of the Earth/Mars wars, but one of Leinster’s assistants steals the secret of the gyrator control and offers it to the Martian warlords. The Curtis Warren “King Lang” house-name here in the capable hands of one of their readers, David Arthur Griffiths.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 112pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by Ray Theobald; light nick at head; some light rubbing and creasing; staples a touch rusted, but overall a very good copy. Eight copies located in major libraries worldwide, but just two in the UK (British Library & Liverpool). Bookseller’s stamp of Goodwins Librarie’s [sic] Exchange of Lincoln on title-page. Harbottle & Holland A216.

£30

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London : Curtis Warren, (1952). First edition. “A story by the modern French master of Science Fiction” runs the strapline, although the eight or so “Rand le Page” titles produced by Curtis Warren all appear to have been written by British authors, in this instance by William Bird. The planet Argos has been under the Earth’s control for centuries, but now there is an uprising fuelled by telepathy.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 127,[i]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – an unsigned design attributed to Gordon C. Davies; wrappers slightly chipped at head; a little worn and creased; staples rusted, but a good and serviceable copy. Just a single copy (Liverpool) located in the major UK libraries.

£25

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Leicester : Thorpe & Porter, [1951]. The first issue of a new American Science Fiction magazine from Doc Lowndes and Columbia Publications – here in the British issue, with the wrappers and outer leaves modified for the UK market. Novellas and short stories by James MacCreigh, Wallace West, Richard S. Shaver, Edwin James, H. B. Fyfe and William Morrison, with some striking illustrations by Virgil Finlay, Fawcette, Milton Luros, Peter Poulton and others. With an introduction by James Blish.
Crown 4to (26cm). (3)-(98)pp. Illustrations, advertisements, etc. Original pictorial wrappers – a full-on design by Milton Luros (1911-1999) to illustrate ‘The Genius-Beasts’; slight split at head; small tape-repair at foot; some minor wear; a few slight nicks and tiny flaws, but overall in very good condition.

SOLD

Manchester : Sydney Pemberton, (1950). First British edition. Mind-borrowing criminality from an Australian (Sydney) writer, originally a railway signalman, who at his peak was turning out a short novel every fortnight under at least nineteen different pseudonyms. His diaries and records are held by the National Library of Australia. Also published in Australia in August 1950.
Crown 8vo (18cm). (128)pp. Original pictorial wrappers; light wear and short split at foot; bruising, creasing and short tear to lower wrapper and final few leaves, but a good and clean copy. Only a single copy (Liverpool) located in the major UK libraries.

SOLD

London : Curtis Warren, [1950]. First edition. “A scientific detective story. Ray Ellis is asked to find why a number of top scientists have dissapeared ... plot to take over the world ... superior to anything else that Hughes wrote during this period” (Harbottle & Holland A266).
Crown 8vo (19cm). (128p). Original pictorial wrappers in a design by Ray Theobald; some nicks and creases; rear wrapper chipped at corners, without loss of text; test tanned and a little brittle, with nicks and corner chips to final leaves, again without loss of text; a serviceable copy of an uncommon title. Just two copies (Liverpool and Paley) located in major libraries worldwide.

£20

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Manchester : World Distributors / Sydney Pemberton, (1950). First edition. The sequel to “When the Earth Died” – Plato and Helen, last survivors of Earth, travel across the Flamless Fire. In the World Fantasy Classic series. We take it that this is not the work of the eminent sociologist Karl Mannheim (1883-1947).
Crown 8vo (19cm). (128)pp. Original pictorial wrappers; some light wear and some splitting; a few minor marks, but a good copy. Just two copies (British Library and Liverpool) located in the major UK libraries.

SOLD

London : Gannet Press, [1953]. First edition. “Chev Markham landed on the tiny planet of Helle and felt bored as soon as he entered the spaceport hotel bar. It was always the same ...”.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 127,[i]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – an unsigned design by Gerald Facey; worn at tips; tiny chip to one corner; a few leaves lightly spotted; text slightly tanned, but overall a good copy. Just a single copy (Liverpool) located in the major UK libraries.

SOLD

London : New English Library, (1971). First edition. “For ten thousand years did the Bright Empire of Melniboné rule the world by virtue of her Sorcerer Kings, her Dragon Hordes and her golden battle barges ...” — the action taking place between the earlier short stories of “The Singing Citadel” and “The Stealer of Souls” — and Moorcock already hailed in the publisher’s blurb as “the greatest living writer of heroic fantasy”.
Post 8vo (21cm). 140,[iv]pp. Original black boards, lettered in gilt; text lightly tanned, as usual; a handful of pale spots to edges and endpapers, but otherwise a very good, bright, and sound copy in the dust-jacket — the jacket sunned at the spine (although remaining entirely legible), with some slight wear and a single very short tear to the rear panel.

£25

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New York : Random House, [1974]. First American edition. Signed by Michael Moorcock on the title-page. A disturbing fantasy – this edition with the deliberately false announcement of Moorcock’s death by way of introduction – the action commencing on the roof garden of Derry & Toms, but ranging through time from 1871 to 1990, through place from Havana to Shanghai, through multiple incarnations of the principal character, and through multiple “What would you do?” moral dilemmas. “A fearful, compelling book – told with a calm voice through clenched teeth”.
Demy 8vo (22cm). 174,[ii],[4]pp. Original blue and lilac cloth-backed boards, lettered in metallic turquoise; faint fringe of fading to extremities; some spotting of edges, but otherwise a very good and sound copy in an equally very good dust-jacket, unworn and unfaded.

£100

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London : Curtis Warren, (1952). First edition : the wrappers issue. “When creation which is contrary to all the accepted laws of Nature springs directly from Genius in the grip of Evil the results may well take a form so terrible as to be beyond human understanding ...”. Mad scientist, laboratory horror, allegorical fantasy – “charmingly bizarre” (Harbottle & Holland A268).
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a perplexed design attributed to Gordon C. Davies; chipped at head (2cm), with minor chip at foot; some rubbing and light creasing; staples badly rusted; a serviceable copy. No copy located in any major UK library.

£20

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London : Curtis Warren, (1953). First edition. Telepathy developed, but a time-space gap opens up and an evil half-brain, half-robot, life form is listening in. “A gorgeously screwy Hughes interdimensional space fantasy” (Harbottle & Holland A273).
Crown 8vo (19cm). 159,[i]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design attributed to Gordon C. Davies; short split at head; some rubbing and creasing; staples rusted, but a reasonable copy. Bookseller stamp of McGills, Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, on title-page. Just a single copy (Liverpool) located in the major UK libraries.

£25

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London : Victor Gollancz, 1971. First British and first hardback edition. Inscribed and signed by Belfast-born Bob Shaw on the title-page. “A tale of intrigue and double dealings ... a new drug that produces immortality. There is already a drug, but it has the side effect that it makes men impotent: the new one does not ... when it is offered to the manufacturer’s cost accountant for trial, someone starts trying to kill him. This fast, hard-hitting story is the best so far from this author” (James Clayton in the Birmingham Daily Post, 12th June 1971). First published in paperback in New York the previous year.
Post 8vo (21cm). (160)pp. Original maroon boards, lettered in gilt; small mark on lower edge, but otherwise a very good copy indeed — clean, bright and sound in the dust-jacket — the jacket with two faint and tiny creases, and with a very small mark on the rear flap, but also very good, fresh, bright and unworn.

£125

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London : John Spencer & Co., [1951]. The third of the eleven published issues of this rather good Science Fiction quarterly, edited by Michael Nahum and Sol Assael. Five short stories – “Expedition Eternity” by David Campbell (Leonard G. Fish); “Forgotten World” by John Ellis; “Hell Planet”, again by Fish; “The Encompassed Globe” by James Stanfield; and “Reaction” by Thomas Rochdale.
Crown 8vo (18cm). 125,[iii]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by Ron Turner; a little worn and slightly creased; lower cover a touch dusty; title-page slightly scuffed, with the loss of a few letters; text a littl tanned, but a good copy of an uncommon item. Just one copy (Liverpool) located in major UK libraries.

£20

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London : Scion, [1950]. First edition. Originally titled “Fool’s Paradise” and the second in the Vargo Statten series. The summer of 1980 has been the hottest in history and Ken is working on increasing the capacity of the Channel Tunnel.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – an unsigned rocket design by Ron Turner; some very minor wear a tips; a hint of bruising; text a little tanned, but a very good copy. Just two copies (Bodleian and Liverpool) located in major UK libraries.

£50

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London : Scion, (1951). First edition. Venus and its mighty scientific civilisation are dying, plans are made to take the air and the water from a neighbouring planet populated by strange creatures who “walk upright on two legs and possess round-shaped bodies crowned with queer furry mats.”
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by Ron Turner; a little worn; somewhat creased and bruised; marks, chips and short tears to lower wrapper; text a little browned and soiled; a reasonable copy. Three copies (Bodleian, Liverpool and National Library of Scotland) located in the major UK libraries.

£20

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London : Scion, (1953). First edition. A still-living specimen of giant Martian moth threatens destruction on earth.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a famous design by “Rix” (John Richards); some very mild wear and light repair; staples a little rusted; text slightly tanned, but a very good copy. Aside from a microform in the Bodleian, no copy of this original edition located in any major UK library.

£40

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London : Scion, (1951). First edition. Young provincial Martin Clegg has long suspected he has a twin in the constellation of Orion – girlfriend and psychiatrist are sceptical.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by “Zero” (Philip Montague Mendoza); described as being in “near fine bright condition” by the Long Island “specialist” from whom I bought it – but it’s not: spine tanned and worn; faint price over-stamped on upper wrapper; lower wrapper and title-page discoloured at edges by badly rusted staples; text a little tanned; a serviceable copy only. Three copies (Bodleian, Liverpool and National Library of Scotland) located in the major UK libraries.

£20

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London : Scion, (1951). First edition. Scott and Nancy Andrews, chief investigators of the interplanetary deeps, pioneers of both Mars and Venus, now in 1980 encounter an inhospitable Mercury – except that it is covered in diamonds.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 112pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by Ron Turner; spine lightly worn and a little browned; a few faint creases; staples a little rusted, but otherwise a very good copy. Only the Bodleian copy located in any major UK library.

£25

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London : Scion, (1951). First edition. Scott and Nancy Andrews, chief investigators of the interplanetary deeps, pioneers of both Mars and Venus, now in 1980 encounter an inhospitable Mercury – except that it is covered in diamonds.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 112pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by Ron Turner; spine lightly worn and a little browned; a few faint signs of age and use, but a very good copy. Only the Bodleian copy located in any major UK library.

£30

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London : Scion, (1951). First edition. It is the year 2060 and a massive meteorite hits Pluto head on – Captain Mark Rapier is send to investigate.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a typical design by Ron Turner; staples a little rusted; a couple of tiny nicks and faint creases, but overall a very good copy.

£40

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London : Scion, (1952). First edition. Brilliant scientist has a car accident on the way to London from Godalming – and meets a tramp who knows too much and issues a warning. “Esau Jones was just a wandering tramp who loved his beer and the country air. But Esau also had the ability to work miracles, which led to problems ... one of the best Statten novels” (Harbottle & Holland A136).
Crown 8vo (19cm). 96pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by Roger Davis; a few minor signs of age and use, but a very good copy. Just two copies (Liverpool and Trinity College, Dublin) located in major European libraries.

£40

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London : Scion, (1952). First edition. The elders of Mars covet the planet Earth. They have failed twice (1914-1918 and 1939-1946) to persuade humanity to destroy itself – time to unleash the Gravity Bomb.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 112pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a Ron Turner design; somewhat rubbed, worn, creased and slightly split; chipped at head; inked figures to upper wrapper; one leaf chipped, but a reasonable copy. Aside from the Liverpool copy and a microform at the Bodleian, no copies located in any major UK library.

£20

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London : Scion, (1952). First edition. Meteorites with rivets light up a Sussex night, a curious stranger rescues sparky young journalist Glenda Carlyle from unwanted attentions in an alley off Fleet Street.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 112pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by Ron Turner; spine a little tanned, worn and slightly torn; some rubbing and scuffing; lower wrapper a little discoloured; staples rusted; a poor copy. Aside from the Liverpool copy and a microform at the Bodleian, no copies located in any major UK library.

£20

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London : Scion, (1953). First edition. Playboy millionaire with a demanding girl-friend has an alien doppelganger.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by John Richards; shallow and tiny chip at foot; some very minor creasing; staples lightly rusted, but a very good and otherwise clean copy. No copy located in any major UK library.

£40

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London : Scion, [1953]. First edition. London department store salesman gets struck by freakish lightning in the Lake District – with curious effects.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by Ron Turner; a little worn, rubbed and slightly split; upper wrapper creased, nicked and a little chipped; lower wrapper a little discoloured, with two short tears; staples lightly rusted, but a reasonable copy of a scarce title. Aside from the Liverpool copy and a microform at the Bodleian, no copies located in any major UK library.

£25

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London : Scion Distributors, (1954). First edition. Research biologist develops cellular human duplicates – even Scotland Yard is powerless, save for one man.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by Ron Turner; some wear; wrappers nicked and creased; short tears to lower wrapper; mild spotting of edges; a reasonable copy of an uncommon title. No copy located in any major UK library.

£25

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London : Scion, (1951). First edition. The planet Mercury disintegrates, the solar system starts breaking up – and then the moon turns red.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 112pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – unsigned but a stylish spaceman design by Ron Turner; some very minor signs of age and use; mild tanning of text, but overall a very good copy. Just two copies (Bodleian and National Library of Scotland) located in the major UK libraries.

£25

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London : Scion, (1951). First edition. “At first it was only a smudge on the face of infinity ...” – a runaway star threatens the solar system.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 112pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – an unsigned design by Ron Turner; cheap paper-stock lightly spotted in places (as always), but a very good copy of an uncommon title. Just two copies (Bodleian and Liverpool) located in major UK libraries.

£50

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London : Scion, (1952). First edition. “Set in a future when time travelling is commonplace ... the story of a population in deadly peril from a Jovian super scientist who has vowed vengeance on Humanity for the destruction of his home world” (Harbottle & Holland A163).
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by Philip Mendoza; spine lightly tanned and puckered; some creasing; one short tear to wrappers; erasure from front wrapper; text lightly tanned, but otherwise a good copy. Receipt stamps on verso of front wrapper and first page of text. Just three copies (Bodleian, Liverpool and Trinity College, Dublin) located in the major European libraries.

£40

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London : Scion, (1952). First edition. In the near future of June 1963, a wedge of stars suddenly becomes too bright to observe with the naked eye.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 112 pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a striking design by Ron Turner; some minor wear and light creasing; tiny chip to lower wrapper; a few slight marks, but a very good copy of a fragile and ephemeral item. Aside from the British Library copy and a microform at the Bodleian, no copies located in any major UK library.

£30

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London : Scion, (1950). First edition. An attempt to make a model artificial sun for the London Planetarium (now at Greenwich in the year 2,000) has unexpected consequences. Partly based on Fearn’s pre-war story “Metamorphosis”.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a powerful design by Ron Turner (signed with initials); a very good copy, clean and bright. Just two copies (Bodleian and Liverpool) located in major UK libraries.

£25

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London : Scion Distributors, (1954). First edition. “Thirty million miles out on her maiden voyage to Venus, a space liner encounters the baleful power of a long-extinct race of scientists ... a dreadful legacy that will destroy the Solar System unless it can be stopped in time” (Harbottle & Holland A166).
Crown 8vo (19cm). 126,[ii]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by Ron Turner; chipped at head; some wear and discolouration to spine; some rubbing and creasing; a couple of nicks, but a good and serviceable copy. Exchange label of Cornock’s bookshop in Leeds on preliminary leaf. Just two copies (Bodleian and Trinity College, Dublin) located in the major European libraries.

£20

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London : Scion, [1950]. First edition. Anchored between Mars and Jupiter in the year 2150, the royal space cruiser Starwind awaits a royal event. Queen Maylion of Earth is about to give birth to a future king or queen.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design attributed to Ron Turner; some wear; some creasing; shallow chips to upper wrapper; staples rusted and discoloured; a few small internal flaws, but a reasonable copy. Aside from a microform at the Bodleian, no copy located in any major UK library.

£25

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London : Scion, (1954). First edition. “That a planetoid of solid gold might exist in the Solar System is not beyond scientific possibility ... Here is a story of human longings, of greed overmastering finer sentiments, and behind it all the implaccable [sic] edicts of space ...”.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design attributed to Ron Turner; some minor wear and slight creasing; text lightly tanned, but overall a very good copy. Just two copies (British Library and Liverpool) located in the major UK libraries.

£40

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London : Scion, (1953). First edition. Dr Royd needs a guinea-pig to try out his Brain Scanner – a device to strip away the past to achieve a vision of the future.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a striking design by Ron Turner; some wear; short nicks and splits; some marking and creasing, but a good copy. Just two copies (Bodleian and Liverpool) located in major UK libraries.

£25

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London : Scion, (1954). First edition. Klaglan – the ancient, mysterious and forbidden city of Mars – Halmar the Guide, Lorna the dancer from Venus, and the man called Smith try to penetrate its crystal walls.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 144pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design attributed to Ronald Turner; some light wear, rubbing and slight creasing; a few faint marks; text a little tanned, but overall still a very good copy. Just two copies (British Library and Liverpool) located in the major UK libraries.

£40

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London : Scion, [1954]. First edition. Verrill needs to get to Mars where a spaceship is making ready for the Big Jump to the stars, but he is stranded on Venus without money, papers or weapons.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 144pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by John Richards; worn, rubbed and creased; short nick to title-page; some internal repair and tightening; a reasonable copy of a notorious rarity. Just a single copy (Liverpool) located in the major UK libraries.

£75

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London : Panther Books – Hamilton & Co. (Stafford), [1954]. First paperback edition. The sequel to Fowler Wright’s “The Amphibians”, originally published in 1929 under the title “The World Below”.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 127,[i]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by John Richards; some wear and tear; some creasing; inked price on upper wrapper; a few internal marks and spots; a reasonable copy.

£20

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London : Nova Publications, (1953). [Second edition]. John Wyndham’s second foray into science fiction, first published as “Planet Plane” in 1936 and here in a revised text, published under his John Beynon pseudonym as the first in the Nova Science Fiction Novels series.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by Gordon Hutchings. Light wear and some mild creasing; pencilled price to upper wrapper, but a very good copy. No copy of this edition traced in any major UK library.

£25

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London : Nova Publications, (1953). [Second edition]. John Wyndham’s second foray into science fiction, first published as “Planet Plane” in 1936 and here in a revised text, published under his John Beynon pseudonym as the first in the Nova Science Fiction Novels series.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by Gordon Hutchings; light wear and some mild creasing; a few slight marks, but otherwise a very good copy. No copy of this edition traced in any major UK library.

£25

To purchase, call us or e-mail us at books@ashrare.com quoting stock number 41489 – or simply click on the button