Search Results: Authors starting with D from Uncommon Sense

Davies' first novel, in the first American edition. The jacket is close to complete, missing small patches that do noa affect either the picture or the text on the covers; the front cover is separated from the spine, however, and there's a closed tear across the middle of the spine. . It's all now protected in a BroDart-style protector See pictures for details. First printing, with publisher's circled R on verso of title page. This copy is signed by Davies on the title page, with his usual crossing-out of his name: I personally got him to sign this at an event in San Francisco much after the book was published. Scarce signed (I see no others online at the time I list this).

Early play by this reclusive mystery writer. Her play RICHARD OF BORDEAUX gave Sir John Gielgud his start; this one featured, among others, Sir Lawrence Olivier. The Ian Fleming in the cast was not the creator of James Bond, but appears to be the one who played Dr. Watson in a series of 1930s Sherlock Holmes films. This copy was from the collection of Adrian Homer Goldstone, major mystery collector, and has his bookplate on the front endpaper; there is also a 1934 gift inscription. Laid in is Goldstone's catalog card for the book. Book is tight and clean with no other writing. Jacket is slightly rubbed, with some edge-wear and spine browning.The jacket lists prices for both hardcover and paperback editions. Black cloth, red paper label on spine. Uncommon.

First American edition of the scarce first novel by Elizabeth Mackintosh, best known as Josephine Tey. The eight mystery novels she wrote under that name are considered classics. This novel doesn't really have the legs of those books. It's still interesting. This copy has the presentation bookplate from the American Booksellers Association to the members of the Western Division at a banquet April 18, 1929, on the front paste-down and a previous owner's signature on the front free endpaper. Book is clean and tight, with very slight bumping of the corners and spine ends: slight dustiness on the boards.A nice copy, unfortunately without the elusive dustjacket.

Copy inscribed by de Camp to Chicago area fan Ben Solon. Dust jacket is very close to complete, but badly torn (all tears closed) with minor chipping and tape on the back cover. Pix available on request. This copy has orange printing for the spine information: there are copies with gold printing.i presume the gold printing is an earlier state because it was more expensive. The book has bumped corners, but is tight and solid. The jacket has been placed in a new protector, and it presents far better than this description would indicate. One of the best humorous books of SF/fantasy.

Sauk City WI: Arkham House, 1941 (actually 1966). Second edition. Hardcover. Fine/fine. Second edition of this second book from Arkham House, containing Derleth's favorites of his weird fiction shorts up to this date. One of 300 copies of this version. Most of the copies of this version are in excellent condition -- many more are signed (like this one) than are copies of the first. This one is inscribed to a collector. A comparison of the jackets shows the second is much muddier than the first, in terms of reproduction -- it was probably shot from a printed copy of the first. Derleth did a remarkable job of matching the paper on the jacket, though, right down to its lamentable tendency to fade if one shines so much as a flashlight on it. A serious "Tell me again why I wanted to become an Arkham House completist?" item, with a nice Derleth inscription as some justification for going for this copy. TW

Sauk City WI: Arkham House, 1959. First edition. Staplebound Wraps. Near Fine/no dustjacket (as issued). A nice copy of this 815-copy ephemeron from Arkham House. This is the "wrappers" state, with three staples holding it together. A nice item for the Arkham lover. Cover somewhat stained, edges of cover bumped (as usual), inside clean and bright. Appears unread. Superseded, bibliographically, several times in later years. TW

The third collection of Solar Pons stories, and the shortest (unless you count those that only have one story). Also the scarcest Mycroft and Moran book Derleth published, with just over half the printrun of any other The cornerstone item for an M&M collection: the colophon states 2000 copies, but all records indicate that 996 is a much more accurate number. Derleth expected to stop writing Pons stories with this volume: sadly, the better Holmes pastiches he thought were coming proved to be less than wonderful. DW is slightly rubbed on spine edges, unclipped, in a new mylar jacket protector; gold printing on spine is dull rather than bright, as seems standard for this volume. Very slight gutter toning from endpaper glue in back. A copy for all but the most finicky collector. More photos upon request.

The first Solar Pons collection, starting Derleth's long association with Sherlock Holmes pastiches. He had already made a name for himself with Lovecraft homages, so why not branch out? Like his Lovecraftian fiction, his Sherlockian pieces show complete familiarity with both what is good and what is bad about what he's referencing: Pons' solutions are very rarely as surprising as Holmes, but Derleth is a lot better about playing fair with the reader. Derleth overestimated how many copies of this he'd ba able to sell. The colophon lists it as 3000 copies, but both 20 and 30 Years of Arkham House (and secondary sources like Jaffery) list it as 3069. I bought this copy from him well over 20 years after the book was published (circa 1969). The original jacket price of $2.50 was clipped before I got it: I would call this a "second state" jacket because the clipping appears to have been done by the publisher. Note how the clipping touches the K of "Sherlock" -- an individual would have not usually clipped… Read More

London: Macmillan, 1976. First edition. Hardcover. Very Good +/near fine. The second Inspector Morse novel. A VG+ copy in jacket (unclipped) of this elusive book. Small dents at the corners, previous owner's discreet name and date of purchase on front free endpaper -- a very presentable copy of a book that didn't sell many copies to individuals. Pages browning as is usual in books from this publisher at this time. Scans of cover, photos of owner inscription available on request. pa

A reasonable copy for a collector of this excellent collection of Phil Dick's best short stories. Signed by Dick on the inside front cover. Very uncommon signed. Reading crease on front L edge, reading mark on spine, small chip on back cover (see pictures), A note on provenance: This copy has the rubber stamp of Miriam Chown, a Bay Area librarian and collector of SF. Both she and Dick were at the small convention Octocon in Santa Rosa in 1977; I think I sold her this copy at that convention so she could get Phil's signature, but it being 45 years ago I'm not certain. She eventually sold this copy back to The Other Change of Hobbit, which is why I have it. In any case: I know when (within a couple of days) it was signed, and that the previous owner actually had the opportunity; and the signature looks just like the ones on 4 books I had Phil sign for me.

First American edition of a book publsihed the same year in England as "An Experiment with St. George", probably to play off the author's success with "An Experiment with Time." Which is odd, because the former is a scientific attempt to look at how time works around dreams, and this is a children's book. Ah, well, marketing. The British edition has illustrations by F. Rojankovsky which are quite different from the Lloyd Coe illustrations in this edition. This copy is bumped at the edges and corners; previous owner's name in pencil on front free endpaper. The jacket is somewhat frayed and has penciled arrows drawn around the front illustration; the price is clipped from the upper corner of the front flap, and hte lower corner is clipped as well (both corners are present on another copy I have examined). There is a small abrasion affecting the spine illustration (see pictures). As of the time of this listing, Binding is yellow cloth with red illustrations and text. I see no other copies of this… Read More

A well worn copy, NOT XLIB of this scarce historical novel, the fifth book in the Lymond Chronicles. Jacket shows many small tears and fraying, small amount missing from the bottom of the spine; price is still present (see picture). Jacket is now protected by a jacket protector, but it's rather like closing the barn door after the horse has gone. Book has a somewhat bowed-in spine and a lean, and a previous owner's name and address boldly written on the front free endpaper. Not a serious collector's copy, but one with a great many reads still in it: and it's a book that's worth re-reading. (For those who collect first printings of these, how do you deal with the fact that the American was the true first on the first book and the British the first on all the rest? I recommend collecting two full sets, one British and one American. It's not easy.)