lancer books mmpb first printing, first mmpb edition, not first p/b edition
which was the hillman periodicals, inc. digest-format p/b (1950) first edition, q.v.
cover art by ed emshwiller (signed with his usual signature "emsh", uncredited)
cover price 75¢
160pp. including titles, indicia etc.
collection of six original stories, three short stories, two novelettes and a novella:
this fantasy story cycle introduces the far future world of fable of the dying earth;
the chief protagonist of each story is a minor character in the preceding story.
near-identical second lancer books edition/printing 1969 drops the "limited edition" & circum-front cover art typography and adopts new
cat# 74-547, but retains cover art and cover price.
third lancer books edition/printing 9/1972 abstracts the figures from ed emshwiller's artwork, setting them upon a white ground and uses a totally redesigned typographical font and layout, as well as a new
cat# 75373
cover price of 95¢.
#1: "the dying earth" (hillman 1950) (lancer books 1962) (this story cycle)
#2: "the eyes of the overworld" (1966), q.v.
#3: "a quest for simbilis" by michael shea (1974), q.v.°
#4: "cugel's saga" (1983), q.v.
#5: "rhialto the marvellous" (1984), q.v.
#6: "songs of the dying earth: stories in honour of jack vance"°°
eds. george r. r. martin & gardner dozois (2009), q.v.
omnibus of #1, #2, #4 & #5:
#O1: "tales of the dying earth" (2000), q.v.
° - the michael shea novel was authorised by jack vance, who expressed mild surprise (and chuffédness) that anyone wanted to set a story in his old created world - or even remembered it, and also that it held no further interest for him, nor did he feel there were any further stories he might wish to set there. . .
- luckily for us, some time after reading shea's "a quest for simbilis", he changed his mind. . .
°° - "songs of the dying earth" is an original anthology of seven short stories, fourteen novelettes and a novella by twenty-two fantasy authors invited to contribute by the two editors, with introduction by the dean r. koontz, and a preface by jack vance.
it's a worthy addition to the dying earth canon - as well as having been a recognition jack vance could and did enjoy in his lifetime. (n.b. merkin editions lose the "u" from the sub-title.)
a further dying earth story by michael shea has appeared, authorised by vance's estate:
''hew the tintmaster'' (novelette) ''swords & dark magic'' eds. jonathan strahan, lou anders (eos 2010), q.v.
and jeff vandermeer extended his contribution to ''songs of the dying earth'' into:
''the three quests of the wizard sarnod'' (novelette) (wsfa press 2010), q.v.
1985 granada publishing edition uses mayflower books' i(by then)sbn, 058312911, but imposes a panther books imprint (by end 1968 they owned both) upon it, as well as conferring new cover art by geoff taylor.
1986 wm. collins & sons' edition ignores previous imprints and puts its grafton name on it, retaining the mayflower books-originated (i)sbn and geoff taylor's cover art from the 1985 p/b. (this comment is from another edition of this book)
granada publishing group mayflower books first printing, first uk edition
cover art by chris foss (unsigned°, uncredited, collected in ''hardware: the definitive sf works of chris foss'' (2011), q.v.)
cover price 25p, 60c south africa, $2.50 singapore, 80c australia, 80c new zealand, 95c canada
so should be re-flagged "international" according to respected moderator's rule
- or not so re-flagged, according to equally well-respected moderator's heartfelt plea
144pp. including titles, indicia etc, end pp. advertising
near-identical second mayflower books printing 1972:
cover price 30p, 75c south africa, $3.00 singapore, 95c australia, 95c new zealand, 95c canada
so also should be re-flagged "international" according to respected moderator's rule
- or not so re-flagged, according to equally well-respected moderator's heartfelt plea
refer aso to indicia publishing history for presence/absence of line stating
reprinted 1972
° - some copies in either printing may bear chris foss' ''f in a line-drawn box'' monogram at bottom edge of cover art - un-guillotined off in production - but i'm unsure that i've ever seen such. (this comment is from another edition of this book)
pocket books mmpb near-identical first printings sharing merkin-printed covers, not first mmpb edition
cover art by greg hildebrandt, tim hildebrandt (unsigned, credited as the brothers hildebrandt (though credited to just "hildebrandt" in canadadian copies))
cover price $1.25
160pp including titles, indicia etc.
refer to indicia to see if carcass of copy held was canadadian- or merkin- printed.
no priority established nor liable to be. (this comment is from another edition of this book)