Okay, I’m stretching things a bit by calling these New Treasures, as they were printed over a decade ago. But I just bought pristine copies, still in the shrinkwrap, and I’m pretending they’re actually new. Work with me a little.

I have no idea who Stealth Press is. But they’re clearly a small press that specializes in deluxe hardcover editions and they do great work. Truth to tell, I just stumbled across these books on eBay, offered in a lot for a great price, and I wanted them immediately.

You don’t need hardcover reprints of these, my brain said. See, right over there, you have the paperback editions. But look at the great Frank R. Paul covers, I said to my brain. And plus, if I order these, I could write New Treasures posts about them! Well, I suppose that makes sense, my brain agreed. My brain. What a sucker.

It is nice to have handsome permanent editions of these books. But the real benefit is that they remind me just how incredible these early Nebula Award anthologies really were. Until these deluxe versions arrived, Nebula Awards One and Two were just two more slim paperbacks crammed in a dusty bookshelf alongside over 30 of their cousins. Now, they’re very real treasures, stacked by my bedside to be read at the first opportunity.

Nebula Awards One collects the very first Nebula Award-winning stories (and several runners-up) from 1966, as selected and edited by SFWA founder Damon Knight.  It contains two complete novellas , the Nebula Award winner “The Saliva Tree” by Brian W. Aldiss and runner-up “He Who Shapes” by Roger Zelazny, and shorter work from Harlan Ellison, James H. Schmitz, Larry Niven, Gordon R. Dickson, and J. G. Ballard, and even a second Zelazny story.

It contains some of the most famous short science fiction and fantasy of the 20th Century, by many of its most gifted practitioners, plus a thoughtful intro from Knight. If you could only preserve one genre anthology for future generations, I think a strong case could be made for this one.

Here’s the complete Table of Contents.

Introduction by Damon Knight
“Repent, Harlequin!” Said the Ticktockman” by Harlan Ellison  (Galaxy, December 1965)
“Balanced Ecology” by James H. Schmitz  (Analog, March 1965)
“Becalmed in Hell” by Larry Niven  (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1965)
“Computers Don’t Argue” by Gordon R. Dickson (Analog, September 1965)
“He Who Shapes” by Roger Zelazny (Amazing Stories, January and February 1965)
“The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth” by Roger Zelazny  (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1965)
“The Drowned Giant” by J. G. Ballard  (The Terminal Beach, June 1964)
“The Saliva Tree” by Brian W. Aldiss  (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September 1965)

And here’s the contents of the second equally-impressive volume, reprinted from the 1967 edition, this time edited by Brian W. Aldiss and Harry Harrison and wrapped in another gorgeous Frank R. Paul cover. It contains an intro and afterword from the editors, with a nice summary of The Year in Science Fiction, along with a complete list of winners and nominees.

This time, the fiction includes the famous novella “The Last Castle” by Jack Vance, a Slow Glass story by Bob Shaw, and the Philip K. Dick short story that has been adapted to film (twice) as Total Recall — as well as other classic short fiction from R. A. Lafferty, Gordon R. Dickson, Frederik Pohl, Brian W. Aldiss, Richard McKenna, and many others.

Introduction by Brian W. Aldiss and Harry Harrison
“Among the Hairy Earthmen” by R. A. Lafferty (Galaxy, August 1966)
“Call Him Lord” by Gordon R. Dickson (Analog, May 1966)
“Day Million” by Frederik Pohl (Rogue, Feb/March 1966)
“In the Imagicon” by George H. Smith (Galaxy, February 1966)
“Light of Other Days” by Bob Shaw (Analog, August 1966)
“Man in His Time” by Brian W. Aldiss (Science Fantasy, April 1965)
“The Last Castle” by Jack Vance (Galaxy, April 1966)
“The Secret Place” by Richard McKenna (Orbit 1, October 1966)
“We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” by Philip K. Dick (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1966)
“When I Was Miss Dow” by Sonya Dorman (Galaxy, June 1966)
“Who Needs Insurance? “by Robin Scott Wilson (Analog, April 1966)
Nebula Awards 1966 and Roll of Honor
Afterword: The Year in Science Fiction by Brian W. Aldiss and Harry Harrison

Nebula Awards One was edited by Damon Knight and originally published (as Nebula Award Stories One) in 1966 by Doubleday. The Stealth Press edition was published in February 2001; it is 310 pages in hardcover, priced at $29.95, with a cover by Frank R. Paul.

Nebula Awards Two was edited by  Brian W. Aldiss and Harry Harrison and originally published (as Nebula Award Stories Two) in September 1967 by Doubleday. The Stealth Press edition was published in September 2001; it is 291 pages in hardcover, priced at $29.95, with a cover by Frank R. Paul.

Both volumes are now out of print, but readily available at Amazon, eBay, and other online outlets. I bought both volumes online for $17.95.

There’s also a third reprint volume from Stealth, Nebula Awards Three, edited by Roger Zelazny. I don’t have a copy, but I’m keeping my eye out.

Because we’re friends, here’s the TOC, including two novellas by Michael Moorcock and Anne McCaffrey, both later expanded into novels:

Introduction by Roger Zelazny
“Aye, and Gomorrah…” by Samuel R. Delany (Dangerous Visions, October 1967)
“Behold the Man” by Michael Moorcock (New Worlds SF #166, September 1966)
“Gonna Roll the Bones” by Fritz Leiber (Dangerous Visions, October 1967)
“Mirror of Ice” by Gary Wright (Galaxy, June 1967)
“Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes” by Harlan Ellison (I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, April 1967 )
“The Cloud-Sculptors of Coral D” by J. G. Ballard (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1967)
“Weyr Search” by Anne McCaffrey (Analog, October 1967)
Afterword by Roger Zelazny

Nebula Awards Three was edited by Roger Zelazny and originally published (as Nebula Award Stories Three) in December 1968 by Doubleday. The Stealth Press edition was published in June 2001; it is 232 pages in hardcover, priced at $29.95, with what looks like a Chesley Bonestell cover.