LEFTOVER TREASURE Ray Bradbury's Signed Martian Chronicles (Item#2844; $150)

Easton Press has unearthed quite a treasure, THE ORIGINAL signed edition from Masterpieces of Science Fiction:

https://www.eastonpress.com/signed-editions/ray-bradburys-the-martian-chronicles...

Wow!

I don’t see any hint of an illustration, and a simple signature doesn’t add value for me.

>3 jroger1: There are illustrations, by Joe Muignani. I didn't care for the illustrations, myself.

>4 Betelgeuse:
Thanks. I see now that one of the eBay listings shows several of the illustrations. You’d think EP would want to brag about that.

Folio Society published an illustrated edition several years ago. I don’t remember what I paid, but probably under $100 — not signed though. I wasn’t fond of their illustrations either.

>2 Eastonorfolio: Is Easton Press feeling the economic pinch that all of a sudden it has started to do thorough inventory and discovered multiples of a signed book published over 20 years ago? As these are not numbered, are they overprint, publisher's copies, potential corporate gifts? How and where were they stored all these years? Does it mean we may anticipate similar findings the likes of signed Sirens of Titan or Deathbird Stories :D?

>5 jroger1: Mugnaini's illustrations are certainly more vivid in the Limited Editions Club original edition. This copy contains the same illustrations, but I am not sure whether it is a complete set.

>6 EPsonNY: I'm guessing EP makes extra copies of all their signed books in case something happens at the printer or are damaged in some way. I would personally like to do a search of their inventory and see what they have left over.

>7 Eastonorfolio: Me too!

Already sold out! I got a copy of this one when it was originally released by EP in the 80s. Or was it the early 90s?

Well, that was interesting. However many they found, they went fast. Priced to sell.

I did get that version when it came with the Masterpieces of Science Fiction subscription, and can vouch that is is a very nice, large, illustrated, and signed book.

Is it a reprint of the Limited Editions Club's edition?
I have the original LEC version and did not feel I need another copy.

>11 booksforreading: It does appear to be an LEC reprint.

I find that this now sold out leftover may more likely be from the 2005 signed reprint batch that included Bradbury's signature in red marker and was accompanied by Certificate of Authenticity.

Perhaps one the forum's members who was lucky enough to snatch one of the approximately 30+ copies could eventually share the details.

Yes, if you have the LEC version, then that is great. I don't have that, so the EP edition is a good alternative. I do have the LEC edition of 'The Martian Chronicles', and it is fabulous.

11: Strictly speaking, the EP edition is not a reprint of the LEC edition but rather a reprint of the HP edition. The illustrations of are similar but not exactly the same. They seem to have been redrawn for the HP edition, then cropped for the EP edition - which also suffers from the usual problem of not-so-great colour reproduction. Furthermore, one of the better stories in the LEC and HP editions ("Way in the Middle of the Air") has been removed. Additionally, the original chronology was moved forward for the 2005 reprint (e.g., 1999 -> 2020) but, sadly, no one appears to have bothered to read through the text and make the changes to any and all temporal references within. So, things can get a bit confusing at times.

So I ordered the day this was posted ... and i kept checking the website ... it wasn't till the next day that is said sold out. I was pretty confident I 'officially' grabbed a copy. The last few days I checked my online account at EP.com and it said 'may take 6-8 days to process' (or something like that). I also received a confirmation email saying my order was received.

But now when I check order status ... it says nothing is there. And when I call ... the automated system (they are currently closed) said no orders were found on my account for the last 6 months.

I'll call and talk to someone tomorrow ... but I'm assuming they got more orders then they actually had copies available.

Here's to being sad ... but still hopeful.

Anyone else ever experience this kind of activity?

>15 thisGuy33:
Yeah, they sent a letter saying the Maya Angelou book was unavailable after all.

>16 copperstatelawyer: yup ... i called today ... and they gave me the lame excuse that after all these years of them doing business and having a website ... apparently their website is not sophisticated enough to update when it has reached order limit.

The only way to insure (so they say) that you get in on the offer ... is to order over the phone.

Oh well ... I suppose I really didn't 'need' this book anyway.

Still a bit bummed.

>17 thisGuy33: I’m not surprised. When I try to order a book via the EP website I regularly get a popup message that the title is not available to me in Canada. I used to accept this answer until a few years ago someone on FB suggested I phone EP customer service. Sure enough, on the phone (& more recently via email) customer service is able to intervene and order the book for me. Funny thing is, is that customer service says they have known of the website glitch for sometime yet it remains unfixed. I wonder how many sales EP loses because customers simply walk away when they are unable to purchase via their website?

>18 Neil_Luvs_Books: It is so strange that they are so lazy about their website. I have noticed a general overall 'laziness' with EP over the last few years ... I've been buying EP stuff for about a decade (give or take) ... and early in my experience they were really top of game ... with their release choices ... consistency and abundance of releases ... descriptions of products.

And I envied the years earlier prior to my discovering EP ... they really seemed to be into the process.

Maybe it's just me with a skewed perspective ... but things do seem to have been on a downslide with EP

That said ... I love my EP collection that I've curated over time ... most had to be purchased used after they were no longer being printed ... but they are some of my favorite books.

Here's to wishing for a glorious return to the heyday of EP at some point.

Now off to the secondary market to find this title that I missed out on (got screwed out of). lol

I bought my first EP book in 92 when I graduated college. Subscribed to the 100 greatest, as I enjoyed literature. Those first 15 years or so were great, with all the special series and productions. EP is a shadow of itself today.

However, I am glad for what they did. Their books are available on the secondary market, modulo the expensive ones.

Times have changed, viva the used book stores!