Books

Three-issue lot: June, August, and September 1974. Mercury Press, Inc. Digest format; cover price 75¢ per issue (UK 30p–35p). Edited by Edward L. Ferman; Isaac Asimov, science editor. All three issues carry the magazine's "25th Year of Publication" banner. Covers and spines in listing photos confirm the three dates; contents below verified against standard bibliographic references (philsp.com / ISFDB). Collectors' notes: The August 1974 issue includes John Varley's first published story, "Picnic on Nearside" (his debut in the Eight Worlds setting). The June issue features three novelets by Jerry Pournelle, Robert Aickman, and Richard A. Lupoff; the September issue includes early Michael Bishop fiction alongside Manly Wade Wellman, Tom Reamy, and Ted Thomas. Each issue includes an Isaac Asimov science column. Included issues and highlights: June 1974 (Vol. 46, No. 6, Whole No. 277): Novelets "Enforcer" by Jerry Pournelle, "The Clock Watcher" by Robert Aickman, and "Whatever Happened to Nick Neptune?" by Richard A. Lupoff; short fiction by Edward Wellen, Miriam Allen deFord, Pamela Sargent, and Leonard Tushnet; Isaac Asimov science column "The Double-Ended Candle"; index to Volume 46. Cover art by Don Dixon (Saturn and space probe). August 1974 (Vol. 47, No. 2, Whole No. 279): Novelets "The Treasure in the Treasure House" by Gordon Eklund, "Drop City" by Dennis Etchison, and "Picnic on Nearside" by John Varley; short fiction by Dean McLaughlin, Andrew Ward, George Alec Effinger, and Reginald Bretnor; Isaac Asimov science column "Updating the Asteroids." Cover art by Chesley Bonestell. September 1974 (Vol. 47, No. 3, Whole No. 280): Novelets "The Rescuers" by Ted Thomas, "Twilla" by Tom Reamy, "Cathadonian Odyssey" by Michael Bishop, and "The Rest Is Silence" by C. L. Grant; short fiction by Manly Wade Wellman, Larry Eisenberg, and Robert F. Young; Isaac Asimov science column "Look Long Upon a Monkey." Cover art by Jeannine Guertin. Condition: Good vintage digest lot. Typical page-edge tanning throughout, visible in stack photos. Light cover edge wear and corner rubbing on all three; small nick or scuff on the August spine; slight chipping at the top-left corner of the June front cover. Back covers show age toning; no mailing labels visible in photos. Interior pages readable; bindings intact on all three. Three magazines total, ships as one lot.