‘Elric Of Melniboné’

Elric Of Melniboné (novel)

(Click here for the Elric Of Melniboné omnibus)

London: Hutchinson, 1972 (September 4th) hardcover;
original price: £2·00;
191 pages;
I.S.B.N.: 0-09-112100-0;
cover artist: Laurence Cutting;
illustrated by James Cawthorn (uncredited: map).

Elric of Melniboné — proud prince of ruins, kinslayer — call him what you will. He remains, together with maybe Jerry Cornelius, Moorcock’s most enduring, if not always most endearing, character…

Elric Of Melniboné is — in terms of the overall saga’s internal narrative chronology — a prequel to all other Elric books. Its first American appearance was titled The Dreaming City — not to be confused with an earlier Elric novella of the same name — and was published (purportedly) with unauthorised cuts and/or changes (see bottom). As Elric Of Melniboné it was collected in The Elric Saga Part One (1984), the Elric Of Melniboné omnibus (1993, itself retitled and revised as Elric: Song Of The Black Sword in 1995), Elric: The Sleeping Sorceress (2008), Elric Of Melniboné And Other Stories (2013) and The Elric Saga Volume One: Elric Of Melniboné (2022).

First paperback edition (as Elric Of Melniboné [see bottom]): London: Arrow, 1973 (September) mass-sized paperback;
original price: 35p;
191 pages;
I.S.B.N.: 0-09-907790-6;
cover artist: unknown;
illustrated by James Cawthorn (uncredited: map).

**Arrow p/b ed. (1983, £1·50), reprinted 1985 (£1·95); **cover artist: Julek Heller**.**

First American edition (as Elric Of Melniboné [see bottom]): New York: DAW Books, 1976 (October) mass-sized paperback;
original price: $1·25;
160 pages;
I.S.B.N.: none (code: UY1259);
cover artist: Michael Whelan;
illustrated by Whelan? (frontispiece) & James Cawthorn (title page), both uncredited;
no map.

**DAW p/b ed., 4th & 5th printings, 0-87997-356-0 ($1·50).**

**DAW p/b ed., 6th printing, 0-87997-644-6 ($1·95).**

DAW p/b ed., 7th printing, 0-87997-734-5 **($2·25)** + later reprints?

Hartford: Blue Star, 1977 (October) hardcover;
“a limited collector’s edition, consisting of 2,200 copies”, in a plain red slip-case;
original price: $15·00;
191 pages;
I.S.B.N.: none;
cover artist: unknown;
illustrated by Bob Gould;
no map.

“**This book is published in one edition only, of which one hundred and fifty individual** [numbered] **copies are primarily intended for friends and associates of Blue Star”, in a plain brown slip-case;**
original price: none;
**signed by Moorcock, Gould and (publisher) Benjamin Biber.**

**New York: Berkley, 1983 (July) paperback;**
original price: $2·50;
181 pages;
I.S.B.N.: 0-425-06044-6;
cover artist: Robert Gould;
**no map.**
**(+ later reprints)**

**New York: Ace, 1987 (July) paperback;**
original price: $2·95;
181 pages;
I.S.B.N.: 0-441-20398-1;
cover artist: Robert Gould;
**no map;**
**+ later reprints**…

... for example:-

London: Grafton paperback, 1989 (March 16th);
original price: £2·99;
191 pages;
I.S.B.N.: 0-586-20326-5;
cover artist: Michael Whelan;
no map.

**Reprinted 1990 (twice + later reprints @ £2·99, **£3·50,** £3·99, etc.).**

Chapel Hill, N.C.: AudioRealms (C.D.) audiobook, 2003;
original price: $29·95;
I.S.B.N.: 0-9731596-0-X;
6 C.D.s (5 black + 1 red [interactive] bonus disc);
narrated by Jeffrey West;
cover artist: Dalmazio Frau.

Includes exclusive introduction specially written & read by Moorcock (**first appearance**, **later ‘**And So The Great Emperor Received His Education…**’)**.

Lakewood, CO: Centipede Press, 2019 (January 17th) hardcover;
dated “2018” on copyright page;
a limited edition of “300 [numbered] signed copies for sale, plus extras for contributors, and a special deluxe edition”;
edited by John Davey;
original price: $150·00;
215 pages;
I.S.B.N.: 978-1-61347-216-3;
cover artist: Piotr Jabłoński (also interior);
no map;
introduction by Holly Black (pp. 7 & 8);
signed by Moorcock, Jabłoński & Black.

Includes additional short fiction: **‘Master Of Chaos’ **(pp. 11–**27** [11–24 in deluxe ed.]) **& ‘And So The Great Emperor Received His** **Education…’** **(pp. 29–33** [25–29]).

**AudioRealms (5-C.D.) audiobook, 2006;**
original price: $29·95;
I.S.B.N.: 978-0-9731596-0-8.

**Centipede Press, 2019** (dated 2018) **“special oversize deluxe edition, limited to 22** [numbered] **copies for sale”** (not to scale), in decorated black-and-red slip-case;
original price: $750·00;
190 pages;
I.S.B.N.: none;
signed by Moorcock, Jabłoński & Black.

N.B. The first American edition (as Elric Of Melniboné [see above]) contains the following note: “A version of this novel, re-edited without the author’s permission, was published under the title of The Dreaming City by Lancer Books in 1972. The choice of title was also not the author’s. This text follows that of the British edition, published in 1972 by Hutchinson & Co., Ltd.”

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