Story & Significance
Three of Ray Bradbury's later hardcovers, each a first printing, and each confirmed on its own copyright page rather than by assumption. All three state "First Edition" over a full number line, 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1, and all three jackets are unclipped with their printed prices intact. A later printing drops the 1 from the number line, and a clipped jacket loses the price, which is the quickest confirmation that the jacket belongs to a publisher's copy. None of these three has either fault.
Two of the books belong together on the shelf. Quicker Than the Eye (1996) and Driving Blind (1997) are Avon's hardcover story collections, and they were dressed as a pair: both jackets were designed by Mark Stringer with illustrations by Bernie Fuchs, and both books are quarter bound in two colors of board with gilt on the spine. Between them they collect more than forty stories, most of them appearing in a book for the first time.
The copyright page of Quicker Than the Eye adds a line worth quoting: "This work has never before appeared in book form." The Franklin Library also issued a signed edition of the book in 1996, with a preface Bradbury wrote for it, and one dealer describes that edition as issued ahead of the Avon trade edition. We have found no bibliography that settles the order between the two, so we set both statements side by side and describe this copy by what its own copyright page says.
Let's All Kill Constance (2003) is the third of Bradbury's Los Angeles mysteries, following Death Is a Lonely Business (1985) and A Graveyard for Lunatics (1990), with the same unnamed writer narrator and the detective Elmo Crumley. It rounds out the set with the latest of the three books and the last novel in that series.
Physical Description
Quicker Than the Eye. Avon Books, New York, copyright 1996. The copyright page states "First Edition" and "First Avon Books Hardcover Printing: December 1996," with the full number line. Quarter bound, with brown boards at the spine and cream boards for the remainder; the spine is lettered in gilt. No bumping, no soiling and no writing, inside or out, and no remainder mark on the page edges. The dust jacket is unclipped, with the $22.00 US and $29.00 Canada prices, and is pristine apart from the slightest bumping at the head of the spine. Fine in a Fine dust jacket.
Driving Blind. Avon Books, New York, copyright 1997. The copyright page reads "First Avon Books Printing: October 1997" and "First Edition," with the full number line. Quarter bound, with purple boards at the spine and white boards for the remainder; the spine is stamped in gilt, and the gilt is bright. Tight and square, with no bumped corners and clean pages free of writing or marking. A publisher's copy, not a book club edition: there is no blindstamp on the rear board and no book club notice on the jacket. The dust jacket is unclipped with the $23.00 price, and shows creasing to the front flap and lighter creasing at the head of the spine and on the rear panel, with no tears or chips. Fine in a Very Good dust jacket.
Let's All Kill Constance. William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, copyright 2003. "First Edition" is stated on the copyright page with the full number line. Quarter bound, with blue boards at the spine and buff boards for the remainder. The binding is tight, the corners are unbumped, and the pages are clean with no internal markings; there is bumping to the head of the spine, and no remainder mark on the page edges. The dust jacket is unclipped with the $23.95 US and $36.95 Canada prices, and shows minor creasing with no rips, tears or chipping. Jacket design by Richard Aquan and Michelle Caplan, jacket illustration by José Luis Merino. Very Good in a Very Good dust jacket.
Sold together as a set of three. All three copies are unsigned.
Collector's Note
The condition runs from the best of the three to the most used, and it is worth knowing which is which. Quicker Than the Eye is fine throughout. Driving Blind is a fine book whose jacket carries creasing, mostly on the front flap, where a jacket takes its handling. Let's All Kill Constance has a bump at the head of the spine and minor jacket creasing, without loss. Every fault on all three is cosmetic, and none touches the text.
All three are unsigned. Bradbury signed a great many books in these years, and signed copies of the late books sell in a separate market at a separate price, so compare like with like. For a collector filling in the later Bradbury shelf, this is three first printings in their original priced jackets in one step, including the matched Avon pair.
Story & Significance
Three of Ray Bradbury's later hardcovers, each a first printing, and each confirmed on its own copyright page rather than by assumption. All three state "First Edition" over a full number line, 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1, and all three jackets are unclipped with their printed prices intact. A later printing drops the 1 from the number line, and a clipped jacket loses the price, which is the quickest confirmation that the jacket belongs to a publisher's copy. None of these three has either fault.
Two of the books belong together on the shelf. Quicker Than the Eye (1996) and Driving Blind (1997) are Avon's hardcover story collections, and they were dressed as a pair: both jackets were designed by Mark Stringer with illustrations by Bernie Fuchs, and both books are quarter bound in two colors of board with gilt on the spine. Between them they collect more than forty stories, most of them appearing in a book for the first time.
The copyright page of Quicker Than the Eye adds a line worth quoting: "This work has never before appeared in book form." The Franklin Library also issued a signed edition of the book in 1996, with a preface Bradbury wrote for it, and one dealer describes that edition as issued ahead of the Avon trade edition. We have found no bibliography that settles the order between the two, so we set both statements side by side and describe this copy by what its own copyright page says.
Let's All Kill Constance (2003) is the third of Bradbury's Los Angeles mysteries, following Death Is a Lonely Business (1985) and A Graveyard for Lunatics (1990), with the same unnamed writer narrator and the detective Elmo Crumley. It rounds out the set with the latest of the three books and the last novel in that series.
Physical Description
Quicker Than the Eye. Avon Books, New York, copyright 1996. The copyright page states "First Edition" and "First Avon Books Hardcover Printing: December 1996," with the full number line. Quarter bound, with brown boards at the spine and cream boards for the remainder; the spine is lettered in gilt. No bumping, no soiling and no writing, inside or out, and no remainder mark on the page edges. The dust jacket is unclipped, with the $22.00 US and $29.00 Canada prices, and is pristine apart from the slightest bumping at the head of the spine. Fine in a Fine dust jacket.
Driving Blind. Avon Books, New York, copyright 1997. The copyright page reads "First Avon Books Printing: October 1997" and "First Edition," with the full number line. Quarter bound, with purple boards at the spine and white boards for the remainder; the spine is stamped in gilt, and the gilt is bright. Tight and square, with no bumped corners and clean pages free of writing or marking. A publisher's copy, not a book club edition: there is no blindstamp on the rear board and no book club notice on the jacket. The dust jacket is unclipped with the $23.00 price, and shows creasing to the front flap and lighter creasing at the head of the spine and on the rear panel, with no tears or chips. Fine in a Very Good dust jacket.
Let's All Kill Constance. William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, copyright 2003. "First Edition" is stated on the copyright page with the full number line. Quarter bound, with blue boards at the spine and buff boards for the remainder. The binding is tight, the corners are unbumped, and the pages are clean with no internal markings; there is bumping to the head of the spine, and no remainder mark on the page edges. The dust jacket is unclipped with the $23.95 US and $36.95 Canada prices, and shows minor creasing with no rips, tears or chipping. Jacket design by Richard Aquan and Michelle Caplan, jacket illustration by José Luis Merino. Very Good in a Very Good dust jacket.
Sold together as a set of three. All three copies are unsigned.
Collector's Note
The condition runs from the best of the three to the most used, and it is worth knowing which is which. Quicker Than the Eye is fine throughout. Driving Blind is a fine book whose jacket carries creasing, mostly on the front flap, where a jacket takes its handling. Let's All Kill Constance has a bump at the head of the spine and minor jacket creasing, without loss. Every fault on all three is cosmetic, and none touches the text.
All three are unsigned. Bradbury signed a great many books in these years, and signed copies of the late books sell in a separate market at a separate price, so compare like with like. For a collector filling in the later Bradbury shelf, this is three first printings in their original priced jackets in one step, including the matched Avon pair.
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