Latest Updates - A. Bertram Chandler

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Comment by ppint.:

rim worlds: john grimes #12:

rim worlds a#1: "bring back yesterday" (1961), q.v. for rim worlds, john grimes series listings, and links.

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Comment by ppint.:

robert hale first printing, first uk edition, first h/cvr edition

cover (d-j) art by jim cambridge (unsigned, credited on d-j front flap
cover (d-j) price £6.25
176pp. (check) including titles, indicia etc, bound with endpapers between covered boards

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Comment by ppint.:

rim worlds; john grimes #11:

rim worlds a#1: "bring back yesterday" (1961), q.v. for rim worlds, john grimes etc. series listings & links.

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Comment by JimEss SUBS:

Cleaning up these publishers is undoubtedly a long term project. Maybe a very long term project. However, someone did a very nice job of combining Ballantine Books USA a while back. Thanks for doing that. So far, it still looks good.

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Comment by ppint.:

rim worlds: john grimes #10:

rim worlds a#1: "bring back yesterday" (1961), q.v. for john grimes & rim worlds series listings and links.

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Comment by ppint.:

daw books near-identical undated simultaneous 5/1983° third & fourth printings sharing merkin-printed covers

cover art by h. r. van dongen (credited) (retained from daw books first edition)
b+w frontispiece by jack gaughan (signed with his digraph, uncredited) (also retained)
near-meaningless daw books collectors number is dropped from the front cover
cover price $2.50 wholly merkin-printed third printing,
indicia printing history number-string, first printing, june 1978/3456789
cover price $2.95 canadian-carcased fourth printing intended for distribution north of the parallel,
indicia printing history number-string, first printing, june 1978/456789
(second letter of cat# is not changed to reflect different cover price)
176pp. (check) including titles, indicia etc, end p. advertising

° - date of publication not given in the indicia, taken from sheldon jaffery, gordon benson & philip stephensen-payne

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Comment by ppint.:

concerning bookcat's cataloguing of ace books - yes, it's a mess:

or possibly several superimposed messes:

ace - 1302 "bookcat items"
ace books - 191 items
ace charter - 11 items
ace fantasy books - 7 items
ace science fiction - 16 items
ace star - 4 items


charter - 22 items
charter communications, inc. - 3 items

sunridge press - 3 items, a charter communications imprint appears quite closely associated with ace

mason/charter - 2 items, may or may not be connected

charter uk - 1 item, rather murky background; may be an entirely illegal publication. it bears an 0-425- berkley block isbn, a uk price on the front cover, one copy only known, apparently, bought in texas.

(excluding ace books ltd. which was an unconnected uk publisher, and the ace/stoneshire imprint whose origins, existence and disappearance are, to put it mildly, shadowy - but appear to be british.)
(also excluding new infinities books, gary gygax's publishing co. whose mmpbs were distributed by ace / the berkley publishing group and bore 0-441- ace, ace charter, charter block isbns,
also excluding the iron crown tolkienquest/merpquest gamebooks distributed by ace/berkley,
and definitely excluding prestige & ace/prestige titles, which are a whole other complication, being part of the extremely messy collapse and bankruptcy of lancer books and its aftermath.)

ace books, later the ace imprint, timeline:

1953 - 1969/70 ace books set up & owned by a. a. wynn, ace books inc.
1969/70 - ?1971? ace books, charter communications, inc. who also publish charter books, ace/charter books, and own other imprints and possibly also own other publishers.
charter communications, inc. run out of cash, and ran out of any credibility with authors and agents.
?1971? - 1983 publishers grosset & dunlap, inc. buy charter communications, inc. and ace books, possibly simultaneously (likeliest), eventually straighten out certain accounting problems that have come to light, turn it around, continue ace books as a profitable and properly-run publishers
1983 the berkley publishing group (or putnam-berkley publishing group) buy ace books or grosset & dunlap publishing including the ace imprint
1996 penguin or random penguin buy the putnam / berkley publishing group, including the ace imprint
2013 random house and penguin merge to become random penguin or similar, which since some time in 2020 has been wholly owned by the bertelsmann multinationalmegaconglomerate.

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Comment by ppint.:

jimess: well spotted; as to the month of publication - that "may" should be "march" (source: jad smith's john brunner bibliography); correction submitted.

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Comment by ppint.:

daw books mmpb simultaneous near-identical undated° third and fourth printings sharing merkin-printed covers

cover art & b+w frontispiece by don maitz (both signed, cover credited, retained from first printings)
near-meaningless daw books collectors no.327 (retained from first printing)
cover price (canada $2.75) • u.s. $2.25
176pp. including titles, indicia etc.

refer to indicia to see if carcass of copy held was canadadian- or merkin- printed.
no priority in date of publication established nor liable to be, both undated: both state first printing, february 1979 followed immediately by their respective printing number-string:
wholly merkin-printed copies bear /3456789 identifying them as the third printing,
canadian-carcassed copies bear /456789 identifying them as the fourth printing

° - publication dates not given in the indicia, taken from sheldon jaffery's "future and fantastic worlds" comprehensive daw books retrospective covering 1972-1987

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Comment by ppint.:

rim worlds: john grimes #8:

rim worlds a#1: "bring back yesterday" (1961), q.v. for john grimes, rim worlds listings, and links.

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Comment by ppint.:

robert hale h/cvr first printing, first edition

cover (d-j) art by graham tucker (unsigned, credited on d-j flap)
cover d-j price £3.75
192pp. (check) including titles, indicia etc, bound with endpapers between covered boards

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Comment by JimEss SUBS:

This has a different date than its "double" on F-133. Also a variant publisher name, which means they show up in different gallery views.

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Comment by ppint.:

rim worlds: john grimes #9:

rim worlds a#1: "bring back yesterday" (1961), q.v. for john grimes, rim world series listings, and links.

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Comment by ppint.:

daw books undated (6/1983°) simultaneous third & fourth printings sharing merkin-printed covers drop the first printings' near-meaningless daw books collectors number, retain the

cover art by ray feibush (unsigned, credited)
b+w frontispiece by jack gaughan (signed with his digraph)
cover prices differ:
cover price $1.95 wholly merkin-printed copies, number-string 3456789, for general distribution
cover price $2.25 canadadian-printed carcass, number-string 456789, intended for distribution north of the parallel (price change not reflected in second letter of cat#)

° - date taken from "future and fantastic worlds: a bibliographical retrospective of daw books (1972-1987)" sheldon jaffery (1987), q.v.

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Comment by ppint.:

rim worlds; john grimes #23:

rim worlds a#1: "bring back yesterday" (1961), q.v. for rim worlds, john grimes etc. series & links.

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Comment by ppint.:

robert hale first printing, first h/cvr & first uk edition, possibly first edition

cover d-j art (not noted)
cover d-j price £2.10
160pp. including titles, indicia etc, bound with endpapers between covered boards

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Comment by ppint.:

rim worlds: john grimes #4:

rim worlds a#1: "bring back yesterday" (1961), q.v. for john grimes, rim world series listings, and links.

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Comment by ppint.:

rim worlds: john grimes #7:

rim worlds a#1: "bring back yesterday" (1961), q.v. for john grimes, rim worlds series listings, and links.

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Comment by ppint.:

rim worlds: john grimes #16:

rim worlds a#1: "bring back yesterday" (1961), q.v. for john grimes, rim worlds series listings, and links.

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Comment by ppint.:

rim worlds: john grimes #22:

rim worlds a#1: "bring back yesterday" (1961), q.v. for john grimes, rim worlds series, and links.

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Comment by ppint.:

contents:

hall of fame (novelette) galaxy vol.28 #5, 7/1969 as "the kinsolving's planet irregulars"
the sister ships (ntte) galaxy vol.32 #2, 9-10/1971 sans the "the"
the man who sailed the sky (ntte) apparently original to this collection
the rub (ntte) galaxy vol.31 #1, 4/1970, universal-tandem bre 5/1970, both with a b+w illustration by jack gaughan

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Comment by ppint.:

grosset & dunlap charter communications, inc. ace mmpb undated° second printing thus by number line
half a double, but sharing a single front cover;
i.e. not a classic "ace double" format mmpb with two front covers, contents tête-beché to each other

reprint collection of four novelettes

cover art by paul alexander retained
isbn 0-441-11556-X (on spine) (incorrectly given as 0-441-11556-3 on back cover)
cat# 11556
cover price $2.75
indicia printing history number line 2 4 6 8 0 9 7 5 3
376pp. (check) including titles, indicia etc, end pp. advertising (adverts may differ)

° - 9/1981 from locus #249 10/1981


doubled with "spartan planet" (1968 as "false fatherland", q.v.) 1979 q.v.

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Comment by ppint.:

grosset & dunlap charter communications, inc. ace mmpb first printing thus°
half a double, but with single front cover;
i.e. not a classic "ace double" with two front covers, contents tête-beché to each other

reprint collection of four novelettes

cover art by paul alexander (signed "alexander", credited)
isbn 0-441-11555-1
cat# 11555
cover price $2.25
indicia printing history number line 2 4 6 8 0 9 7 5 3 1
376pp. (check) including titles, indicia etc, end pp.

° - first edition of this pairing:
"the commodore at sea" (1971 as "alternate orbits", q.v.) with
"spartan planet" (1968 as "false fatherland", q.v.)
the first is this reprint collection containing four novelettes; the second, a novel.

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Comment by ppint.:

grosset & dunlap charter communications, inc. ace mmpb first printing thus°
half a double, but with single front cover;
i.e. not a classic "ace double" with two front covers, contents tête-beché to each other

cover art by paul alexander (signed "alexander", also credited)
isbn 0-441-11555-1
cat# 11555
cover price $2.25
indicia printing history number line 2 4 6 8 0 9 7 5 3 1
376pp. (check) including titles, indicia etc, end pp.

° - first edition of this pairing, "the commodore at sea" (aka "alternate orbits", q.v.) with
"spartan planet" (aka "false fatherland", q.v.)
the first is a reprint collection containing four novelettes; the second, a novel.

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Comment by ppint.:

serialised in fantastic vol.17 #4 & #5, 3/1968 & 5/1968 as "spartan planet", each installment with one piece of b+w illustration by jeff jones.

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Comment by ppint.:

contents:

with good intentions (short story) ©1972 apparently original to this collection
the subtracter (novelette) galaxy vol.28 (as vol.128) #6, 8/1969; universal-tandem bre 9/1969, as "the minus effect", both with a b+w illustration by jack gaughan
the tin messiah (ss) galaxy vol.29 (as vol.129) #2, 10/1969; universal-tandem bre 11/1969, as "the soul machine", both with a b+w illustration by jack gaughan
sleeping beauty (ntte) galaxy vol.29 #5, 2/1970; universal-tandem bre 3/1970, both with a b+w illustration by jack gaughan
the wandering buoy (ss) analog vol. lxxxvi #1, 9/ 1970
the mountain movers (ntte) galaxy vol.34 #4, 3/1971
what you know (ntte) galaxy vol.31 #2, 1/1971, with a b+w illustration by jack gaughan

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Comment by ppint.:

rim worlds: john grimes #12:

rim worlds a#1: "bring back yesterday" (1961), q.v. for rim worlds, john grimes series listings, and links.