Monday, November 2, 2009

word from Haffner Press

Email rec'd:
Hey everybody!

Below are the details for the limited edition of THE WORLDS OF JACK WILLIAMSON (which includes books signed by three Grand Masters, including Williamson!)

THE WORLDS OF JACK WILLIAMSON
By Jack Williamson
720 page 6.25" x 9.25" Smythe-sewn Archival-quality Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-893887-29-9
75-copy limited edition: $150.00 (U.S.)

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THE WORLDS OF JACK WILLIAMSON
A truly special state of an incredible book (which missed a Hugo nomination by *two* votes)! The 75-copy slipcased edition of The Worlds of Jack Williamson is signed on two limitation sheets (decorated with specially commissioned artwork by Vincent Di Fate) by all living contributors:

Frederik PohlJames GunnAlfred D. Stewart, PhDAlan C. Elms, PhDStephen HaffnerVincent Di Fate

Contributor Vicky L. Medley signed the heading to her contribution, "Queens of Space," prior to her passing in 2008.

Also housed in the matching teal-green Brillianta cloth-covered slipcase are:

Opposites--React! An exclusive 150+ page chapbook
collecting the never-reprinted two-part serial novel of "seetee" (aka antimatter) adventure, "Opposites--React!" (from Astounding Science-Fiction, Jan & Feb 1943) with an 18-page arc of Williamson's 1950s newspaper comic-strip BEYOND MARS; a 1988 esay by Williamson on antimatter, and an honest-to-god atom-smasher from Fermi Laboratories (and sf-enthusiast) -- William S. Higgins -- provides the introduction documenting the early use of antimatter in speculative fiction. This chapbook is also signed by Mr. Higgins.

• The Man From Somewhere. This 2006 chapbook from Richard Hauptmann's Cacahuete Press reprints Williamson's novella from 2003. 300 copies were produced for sale. Now out-of-print, this chapbook, signed by Jack Williamson, is also included.

THE WORLDS OF JACK WILLIAMSON celebrates the 100th birthday of one of the Grand Masters of science fiction. While Jack Williamson passed away in 2006 at the age of 98, his incredible body of work continues to be enjoyed by legions of fans and admirers. Assembled in this centennial tribute are:

Unpublished stories:
“The Moon Bird”
“The Forbidden Window“
"The Golden Glass"
and a film treatment from 1957, “The Planets are Calling.”


Classics in the Williamson canon:
the original novella-length version of
Darker Than You Think
“Minus Sign,” an unreprinted “seetee” story of anti-matter and terraforming
a tale with the first use of “psionics,” “The Man from Outside.”

Contemporary stories include:
“The Hole in the World”
“Afterlife”
“The Luck of the Legion,” the last Legion of Space adventure
"Ghost Town," his last story to appear in Weird Tales (from 2005!)
"A Christmas Carol"

Also included are four essays from academics and scholars who have studied Williamson’s works, as well as Dr. Williamson’s 1957 Master’s Thesis:


Alan C. Elms, PhD
"Darker Than He Thought: The Psychoanalysis of Jack Williamson"

Jack Williamson

"A Study of the Sense of Prophecy in Modern Science Fiction"
"Tricentennial Century"


Alfred D. Stewart, PhD

"Jack Williamson: The Comedy of Cosmic Evolution"


Vicky Medley
"Queens of Space: Women in the work of Jack Williamson"


Richard A. Hauptmann
"Collecting Jack Williamson: Master of Wonder"


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Best,

Stephen Haffner
Big Poobah
HAFFNER PRESS
---Anyone wanting this through me, discount would be 10%. Regular discount on Haffner books is 20%. At present I have in hand three Hamilton books needing to be cataloged and a Williamson on order (in the Collected Stories series I somehow neglected to order when it came out last year).