Three editions of The Anubis Gates. I'm still missing the one from Easton Press. Top to bottom: SF BOMC edition, S/N from Ziesings, the marvel that is the Centipede Press definitive edition of this book: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...101973c3_z.jpg
I have only five Charnel House editions in my collection. I used to have Last Call but I wasn't satisfied with the condition of the slipcase so off to the chopping block it went. Top to bottom: Appointment on Sunset, Poems, Time to Cast Away Stones, Alternate Routes, Where They Are Hid, The Stress of Her Regard. I'm missing too many to count here. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a7b2d592_c.jpg
Difference between the trade and signed editions is mostly in the binding. Some of the S/Ns have full colour interior illustrations but I can't remember which ones. Too lazy/indifferent to check.
I didn't take pictures of a bunch of trades because they look like, err...trades. I straight up forgot to take pics of Nine Sonnets, Pilot Light and the Ashbless Cookbook or whatever it's called. I also forgot to take detailed pictures of the Centipede edition of The Anubis Gates. I'm going to take additional pictures of the Charnel House editions because they're real purdy.
03-13-2020 04:19 PM
ur2ndbiggestfan
Very impressive Tim Powers collection.
Who is Tim Powers? I've never read anything by him.
03-13-2020 04:28 PM
WeDealInLead
The Anubis Gates and Last Call are his best work. Blurbs on Amazon don't give away too much of the plot. I mention this because you might've said once or twice you like to jump in cold. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to suggest these two books to a Harlan Ellison fan that you are.
On Stranger Tides the movie was loosely based on On Stranger Tides the book by Tim Powers. The movie kept the title and there are pirates in it but I think that's it.
Edit: Down and Out in Purgatory - The Collected Stories of Tim Powers has all * the novellas I posted; all those slim Charnel House and Sub Press books are collected in that one book. He's not exactly the most prolific writer.
*Except More Walls Broken which has come out since.
03-13-2020 06:24 PM
Hunchback Jack
Very nice collection indeed.
I've only read The Anubis Gates (and have that Centipede Press edition) by Powers, although I am quite partial to his buddy, Jim Blaylock. That SubPress lettered trifecta you have there looks great - I've never seen it before, and it's exactly the kind of thing SubPress does so well.
HBJ
03-13-2020 06:26 PM
Garrell
Nice looking books
03-13-2020 07:54 PM
Alec
What a beautiful collection.
Thank you for the opportunity to view some of it.
The Lettered ‘Fault Lines’ trilogy is wonderful.
03-15-2020 08:35 AM
WeDealInLead
Thank you all for your kind words.
03-18-2020 10:44 AM
lotuz
What an absolutely fantastic post! I wanted to wait to comment until I had some time to really check it out and put some thought into a response.
First, Tim Powers as an author: he's amazing! Definitely one of my favorites. And very solid - almost always a good read. His best books are some of my most favorite books: Last Call and The Anubis Gates are just extraordinary efforts - clever, exciting, compelling, and interesting!
For the uninitiated, Powers writes almost exclusively what are best termed "Secret Histories" (the name of his bibliography from PS Publishing). They incorporate major and minor historic events into the plot - sometimes as small asides, sometimes as key plot elements - but the events have supernatural elements or explanations that are unknown to history (hence "Secret Histories"), and often they are more interconnected or important in ways that are not part of the known historical record. He does lots and lots of historical research and it's a good bet that when he mentions or describes an event that it was real and it actually happened (sans supernatural elements). That said, the books are not alternative histories and many are not even set in the past. The allusion to real events in his books are great elements that help draw you into the story.
The supernatural elements that he introduces are excellent on several levels. One, they borrow from lots and lots of different supernatural beliefs and traditions. Two, they coherently incorporate these multiple beliefs and traditions together. Three, the "supernatural rules" that he sets about how these different things work (for example, how ghosts "work" or how tarot "works") remain generally consistent across his body of work. This makes every book more interesting and re-readable, and gives some extra rewards to those fans who have read multiple books.
So yea - a great author! And one who I think is relatively unappreciated given his four decades of success as a published author. I know that there are a number of people on here who are fans of his, though I don't know which are collectors like WeDealInLead.
Which brings us to...
Second, Tim Powers collectible books: they're amazing! He is definitely near the top of the list of authors whose books have gotten some fantastic and unusual treatments. His regular small-press publishers are Charnel House (for new books) and Subterranean Press (for new and old books), with one detour into Centipede Press (which turned out amazingly) and one into PS Publishing (which also turned out very well).
WeDeal - you have a marvelous collection that showcases both nicely!!
The Charnel House editions are uniformly beautiful! I'm so glad to see that you have a copy of Appointment on Sunset. For the price point, I think it's one of the best-done numbered books. And the Drawing of the Dark Hypatia books are an interesting concept - four states (I think) of varying rarity. I have not seen the black leather copy in person, just read about it.
I really appreciated all the pictures - it turns out that we have highly complementary Powers collections! I have the numbered Charnel House books, and the newer Subterranean Press books, but not a lot of the older Sub Press limited editions or all of the first edition trades.
For example, I also have three copies of The Anubis Gates, but we share only the Centipede Press version! I am missing the Ziesing's Limited and the SFBC hardcover. I was able to snag the Easton Press version when it first came out, from a collector that only bought that time-travel set for a different book. And the other is one of my favorites that I definitely recommend to check out - the complete facsimile The Anubis Gates that came with the lettered Secret Histories set from PS Publishing, which used to always have copies on eBay in the $400 range, though I don't see any now. It's a full facsimile of his first draft, written longhand. It has corrections and notes and drawings and while I've definitely spent some good time with it, one of my goals is to read it side-by-side the published version of the book.
Overall, just a really great post WDIL! And a helpful look into all the Powers stuff I'm still missing :)
03-18-2020 10:56 AM
St. Troy
Quote:
Originally Posted by lotuz
...Powers writes almost exclusively what are best termed "Secret Histories" (the name of his bibliography from PS Publishing. They incorporate major and minor historic events into the plot - sometimes as small asides, sometimes as key plot elements - but the events have supernatural elements or explanations that are unknown to history (hence "Secret Histories"), and often they are more interconnected or important in ways that are not part of the known historical record. He does lots and lots of historical research and it's a good bet that when he mentions or describes an event that it was real and it actually happened (sans supernatural elements). That said, the books are not alternative histories and many are not even set in the past. The allusion to real events in his books are great elements that help draw you into the story.
The supernatural elements that he introduces are excellent on several levels. One, they borrow from lots and lots of different supernatural beliefs and traditions. Two, they coherently incorporate these multiple beliefs and traditions together. Three, the "supernatural rules" that he sets about how these different things work (for example, how ghosts "work" or how tarot "works") remain generally consistent across his body of work. This makes every book more interesting and re-readable, and gives some extra rewards to those fans who have read multiple books...
Thanks for writing this up; as someone who has read one Powers book and plans to eventually read more, I found this helpful and intriguing.
03-18-2020 01:51 PM
WeDealInLead
Thanks for the kind words and the write-up about his books. That's an interesting remark about the supernatural "rules" applying to all the Secret Histories (or later books in general). There is no actual crossover among the storylines (unless they're sequels) but they could all be set in the same world, no "time moves different here/different levels of the tower" to account for discrepancies. I read his Facebook entries on writing and he doesn't seem to be one to improvise; the outlines I've seen and read from his entries about them are all very detailed.
I do have the lettered of On Stranger Tides waiting for me at my US address but the border is closed. I'm hoping to get to it in this lifetime.
Edit: an interesting tidbit of the Powers collecting trivia: at least 3 lettered editions of Last Call belong to members of TDT. Chad aka cit74 has a great collection too. I wish he'd post a group shot in the "Collectible Tim Powers" thread.
I haven't seen the lettered PS Secret Histories in years and I check eBay at least ten times every day for new Powers, Ellison and Wolfe books.