Cheap Street Press
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1ambyrglow
As a follow-up to my comment in the "on a budget" thread, I thought I'd post some pictures of the Cheap Street Press books I own (and encourage others to do likewise). Pictures of the exteriors are easy to find online, but the interiors deserve admiring as well. Apologies for my somewhat shoddy camerawork.
The jacket paper has an almost iridescent sheen in person; it's also incredibly fragile, and I keep it in mylar.
The jacket paper has an almost iridescent sheen in person; it's also incredibly fragile, and I keep it in mylar.
2SolerSystem
This is one of my favorite books in my collection. Thomas M. Disch is a seriously neglected master of science fiction and horror, and I love having one of his stories in such a nice edition.
3ChestnutPress
>2 SolerSystem: Some interesting work there. I love the two-colour running page headers of the Disch, and Carol Joyce's binding and box look great.
4Shadekeep
>1 ambyrglow: >2 SolerSystem: Gorgeous books, thank you both for sharing. It's wonderful that there are still presses like this to be "discovered" by the community at large.
5NathanOv
>1 ambyrglow: I believe the only Cheap Street Press books in my collection are the Le Guin set (Solomon Leviathan and Cobbler's Rune), but they are absolutely fantastic.
I may have to find a copy of the Torturing Mr. Amberwell next, >2 SolerSystem:!
I may have to find a copy of the Torturing Mr. Amberwell next, >2 SolerSystem:!
6ambyrglow
>2 SolerSystem: Lovely. I really appreciate the way the end papers share the motif of the running headers.
7Shadekeep
>2 SolerSystem: "Thomas M. Disch is a seriously neglected master of science fiction and horror"
Meant to say, I agree with this as well. Both The Genocides and Camp Concentration are overlooked classics.
Meant to say, I agree with this as well. Both The Genocides and Camp Concentration are overlooked classics.
8dlphcoracl
>2 SolerSystem:
The Publisher's Edition of 'Torturing Mr. Amberwell' may be the most beautiful book in the Cheap Street Press bibliography. If not, it is certainly a strong contender.
>2 SolerSystem:
>7 Shadekeep:
Collector's Tip: Thomas M. Disch IS an overlooked master of science fiction. However, there is another book in the Cheap Street bibliography that is often overlooked, also written by an equally overlooked and very underrated sci-fi author, and this edition is beautiful. It is:
Blood and Gingerbread by John Sladek, 1990.
This is a unique twist on the Grimm Brothers classic 'Hansel and Gretel' drawing upon The Golden Bough, Norse mythology and William Shirer's account of Buchenwald. The book was issued in only one state, a Publisher's Edition type publication of 111 copies bound in a fine light maroon cloth with matching cloth-covered clamshell box. The book has a unique wood veneer dust wrapper with an illustration on the front and the inside of the clamshell box is lined with the same unique wood veneer paper. Gorgeous!!
Aside from being very underrated and under-appreciated by the sci-fi contingent, both Disch and Sladek have much in common and they are sci-fi literary kindred spirits. Both were born in the midwest (Iowa) and their sci-fi interests occasionally involved robots. What distinguishes John Sladek's writing is that unlike most of the standard sci-fi fare he writes with a sarcastic, humorous edge. His work has an intelligence and innovative aspect few sci-fi authors possess. Sladek and Disch knew each other well, so much so that they co-authored a number of works using various pseudonyms:
1. The Castle and the Key (1966)
2. The House that Fear Built (1967) - under pseudonym Cassandra Knye
3. Black Alice (1968) - under pseudonym Thom Demijohn
John Sladek's best known works are 'The Reproductive System', the Müller-Fokker Effect and the Roderick trilogy with the first Roderick book 'Roderick, or the Education of a Young Machine' by far the best of the three.
Bon appétit
dlphcoracl
The Publisher's Edition of 'Torturing Mr. Amberwell' may be the most beautiful book in the Cheap Street Press bibliography. If not, it is certainly a strong contender.
>2 SolerSystem:
>7 Shadekeep:
Collector's Tip: Thomas M. Disch IS an overlooked master of science fiction. However, there is another book in the Cheap Street bibliography that is often overlooked, also written by an equally overlooked and very underrated sci-fi author, and this edition is beautiful. It is:
Blood and Gingerbread by John Sladek, 1990.
This is a unique twist on the Grimm Brothers classic 'Hansel and Gretel' drawing upon The Golden Bough, Norse mythology and William Shirer's account of Buchenwald. The book was issued in only one state, a Publisher's Edition type publication of 111 copies bound in a fine light maroon cloth with matching cloth-covered clamshell box. The book has a unique wood veneer dust wrapper with an illustration on the front and the inside of the clamshell box is lined with the same unique wood veneer paper. Gorgeous!!
Aside from being very underrated and under-appreciated by the sci-fi contingent, both Disch and Sladek have much in common and they are sci-fi literary kindred spirits. Both were born in the midwest (Iowa) and their sci-fi interests occasionally involved robots. What distinguishes John Sladek's writing is that unlike most of the standard sci-fi fare he writes with a sarcastic, humorous edge. His work has an intelligence and innovative aspect few sci-fi authors possess. Sladek and Disch knew each other well, so much so that they co-authored a number of works using various pseudonyms:
1. The Castle and the Key (1966)
2. The House that Fear Built (1967) - under pseudonym Cassandra Knye
3. Black Alice (1968) - under pseudonym Thom Demijohn
John Sladek's best known works are 'The Reproductive System', the Müller-Fokker Effect and the Roderick trilogy with the first Roderick book 'Roderick, or the Education of a Young Machine' by far the best of the three.
Bon appétit
dlphcoracl
9Shadekeep
>8 dlphcoracl: Agreement on Sladek as well, and thanks for the info about the overlap between him and Disch. There are some amazing collaborations from that era of science fiction to discover, with Lewis Padgett being one of the most famous constructions.
I'm happy to note that the Cheap Street chapbook collection I ordered contains a Sladek title in the mix, "Red Noise". And it includes an introductory essay by, you guessed it, Disch. ^_^
I'm happy to note that the Cheap Street chapbook collection I ordered contains a Sladek title in the mix, "Red Noise". And it includes an introductory essay by, you guessed it, Disch. ^_^
10Shadekeep
Photos from the Cheap Street chapbook collection. This is #14 out of 30, and contains chapbooks numbered 95.
A slight predilection for colophon kitties here. ^_^
A slight predilection for colophon kitties here. ^_^
11ambyrglow
>10 Shadekeep: Neat! I wonder why 7 out of 8.
12Shadekeep
>11 ambyrglow: I was wondering that too. I suspect the "missing" one is Ervool by Fritz Leiber, but no clue as to the reason for its omission. Though being the earliest printed it may have been out of stock by the time Judy Conant decided to create the collected sets.
13SolerSystem
>8 dlphcoracl: Yes! Sladek was fantastic and one of the best satirists the genre has produced (second only to Robert Sheckley imo). I also really enjoyed his locked room mysteries 'Invisible Green' and 'Black Aura'. Glad to know he's still got fans!
And yes Blood and Gingerbread is a lovely edition, actually the only other one I own so far:
And yes Blood and Gingerbread is a lovely edition, actually the only other one I own so far:
