Meets all first printing points, per ISFDB with code I03 in the gutter. Tight, clean, flat, square and crisp book in DJ with wear, nicks, tears and wrinkles. Pencil marks on the FFEP, Nelson Doubleday is the imprint used for Science Fiction Book Club originals at this point in history.
This contains: Hyperpilosity; Language for Time Travelers; The Command; The Merman; Employment; The Gnarly Man; Reward of Virtue; Nothing in the Rules; The Hardwood Pile; The Reluctant Shaman; The Inspector's Teeth; The Ameba; The Guided Man; Judgment Day; A Gun for Dinosaur; The Emperor's Fan; Two Yards of Dragon; and The Little Green Men. This is a very good collection of de Camp's short fiction with a nice introduction by Poul Anderson and a striking Darrell Sweet cover. The majority of the stories appeared in John W. Campbell's Astounding (science fiction) or Unknown (fantasy) magazines in the Golden Age years. There are none of his collaborative stories with Fletcher Pratt, nor any of his Conan stories that were co-authored by Lin Carter and/or based on Robert E. Howard's notes or fragments, but it's still a good, representative look at his career.
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