Old Star Trek books

Discussion in 'General Trek Discussion' started by magarity, Jan 24, 2013.

  1. magarity

    magarity Lieutenant Junior Grade Red Shirt

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    Reading this forum lately reminded me I had an old Star Trek book; finally found it. "The World of Star Trek" - it's quite from before the Internet made all the episodes easily available and has a bunch of stills from various original series. What quaint old books do the rest of you have? I assume a lot of you do.
     
  2. Redfern

    Redfern Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    "The Making of Star Trek" by Stephen Whitfield, published 1968 roughly between seasons 2 and 3 of the original series. This volume has two sections of monochrome photos, most being publicity shots or behind the scenes type images. It also contains a few pages of conceptual illustrations, earlier designs that eveolved into thew Enterprise, layouts of Desilu's Stage 9 that conatined the standing sets. It also has early drafts of "The Cage" when the alien telepaths were described as crab-like. This paperback is considered one of the oldest "reference" books for Trek, and the only one for several years.

    "The Making of 'The Trouble with Tribbles'", written by the episode's author David Gerrold, who also wrote "The world of Star Trek". This early 70s publication is the author's personal account, describing the development of a single episode from his initial idea to its debute broadcast. He details drafting several premises before choosing "...Tribbles" as the most practical. (At least one of these, "The Protracted Man" has finally been realized for the "fan made" series "Star Trek Phase Two".) He recounts visiting the studio to get a better feel of the characters as he revises his drafts. He also mentions having a "scare" when he wonders if he may have imitated Heinlein a bit too closely. It's a personal tome that let's one peek into the mind of the author as he grows as a professional television writer.

    These two books and the one you mentioned were "treasures" during the relatively "dry years" of the 70s until the first motion picture debuted.

    Sincerely,

    Bill
     
  3. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The Official Star Trek Cooking Manual: From the Logs of Christine Chapel.

    Yes they did.
     
  4. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    I doubt there's anything older, since it was published while the show was on the air. It was also one of the first "making of" books about the TV/film production process, so it was a seminal book for people interested in the industry in general.


    Also, Gerrold adapted his rejected premise "Bandi" as a story in TokyoPop's Star Trek: The Manga Volume 3. And his rejected 2-parter proposal "Tomorrow Was Yesterday" was the basis for Gerrold's Trek novel The Galactic Whirlpool from Bantam Books -- and indirectly inspired several of Gerrold's original novels, namely Yesterday's Children, its expanded version Starhunt, and its rebooted version Voyage of the Star Wolf and its two sequels (actually based on an unmade TV series proposal that was a reworking of the Starhunt premise and characters).

    So essentially every one of the rejected story ideas Gerrold wrote about in the book The Trouble With Tribbles has now ended up being made -- one as a novel, one as a comic, and one as a fan film.
     
  5. Redfern

    Redfern Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Well, I try not to use absolutes like "oldest" as I usually have the bad luck to be proven wrong. So I tend to use relative qualifiers to give myself some hedge room.

    Sincerely,

    Bill
     
  6. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    I had Whitfield's book, Gerrold's Tribbles and World of, all the Foto-novels, the Concordance, Franz Joseph's Tech Manual, at least one of Geoffrey Mandel's books. I was audio taping the episodes during the 70s, and would take them and the Foto-Novels to work (underground, alone, no windows or radio), and follow along.

    Is that where he mentions Shatner coming over to see what he's doing? And Gerrold tells him, "I'm writing a script where you lose your voice in the teaser and don't get it back until the tag." Which didn't go over well. And pretty much does happen in The Tholian Web.
     
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2013
  7. Redfern

    Redfern Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Yeah, that's the book. He also recounts sitting with Nichelle on lunch break during the filming of "Mirror, Mirror" and her spilling some cottage cheese in her cleavage. He was the one to blush.

    Sincerely,

    Bill
     
  8. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    I read Gerrold's books repeatedly when I was young. Picked up some used copies at Shore Leave last year--for nostalgia's sake.
     
  9. Captain April

    Captain April Commander Red Shirt

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    I used to have several of the Foto-novels and Star Trek Logs. A flood did those in for me.

    I'd pick them up again if I ever come across them.
     
  10. plynch

    plynch Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I didn't dig "World" when I was a kid (like 9) when I got it, but now, that Gerrold has some really good insights as to drama, and how series go stale.
     
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2013
  11. jayrath

    jayrath Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I have the original Trimble Concordance -- in two volumes (to accomodate Season 3), bound with brads.
     
  12. Dale Sams

    Dale Sams Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I went a 'con' around 1976..., Con meaning curtained off rooms where bloopers and illegal screenings of "Dark Star", "Forbidden Planet, and "The Day the Earth Stood Still" took place.

    There I picked up an item that I've never seen since. It was a xeroxed copy of a crudely drawn, comic-book style parody of a couple of eps. The only thing I remember about it is this from "Where No Man has Gone Before":

    Mitchell: "You fools! Soon I'll squash you like elephants!"
    Kirk: "Thinks big, doesn't he?"

    edit: If anyone is interested, apparently this is the con I went to, or it may have been the year before. What I find most interesting is they apparently did secure legal rights to show all these (as they comment in the front that they lost the right to show Rocky Horror Picture Show)...and also that they screened stuff 24/7

    http://fanac.org/fanzines/OKon/index.html
     
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2013
  13. CaptPapa

    CaptPapa Commander Red Shirt

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    I really do not know . . .
    I have a pretty good assortment of the early books, including The World of Star Trek autographed by David Gerrold's at WorldCon in '06.
    Among others:
    The Making of Star Trek
    The Trouble With Tribbles: The Complete Story . . .
    Starfleet Technical Manual
    Star Trek Lives!
    Star Trek Concordance
    Star Trek Action Toy Book
    Star Trek Puzzle Manual
    Letters to Star Trek
    Meaning in Star Trek
    Trek or Treat
    Star Trek Quiz Book
    The Star Trek Puzzle Manual
    Starfleet Medical Reference Manual
    The Making of the Trek Conventions
    Star Trek Speaks
    Spaceflight Chronology
    On The Good Ship Enterprise, My 15 Years With Star Trek
    and the first novel, Mission to Horatius (not the reprint)

    One other item I'm pleased to have, though it's not too old (from 1991), I think it's fairly rare. It has a rather long winded title; "Star Trek An Annotated Guide to Resources on the Development, the Phenomenon, the People, the Television Series, the Films, the Novels and the Recordings", by Susan R. Gibberman.
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2013
  14. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    I recently picked up a copy of The Monsters of Star Trek, published way back in 1980.
     
  15. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    ^I used to have a copy of that autographed by the author. I sold/donated it ages ago, though.
     
  16. 22 Stars

    22 Stars Commodore Commodore

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    This is a fun thread, i have all of these, some in my new apartment some in storage waiting for the creation of my Trek Library. DG used to sit outside the main auditorium at the the Roosevelt Hotel, with no sign, just a stack of WoST and TwT and sign them and sell them to whoever would stop by, introducing himself and earning some lunch money. What a nice guy, really. A thrill to meet him as a teen in the 80's.
     
  17. Dale Sams

    Dale Sams Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    But did you have the colorforms, record/comicbook combo/and Gold Key comics? hmmmmmm???
     
  18. 22 Stars

    22 Stars Commodore Commodore

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    Yes, Yes and yes.
     
  19. Kirby

    Kirby Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    There are very few books that I keep forever and eventually as the book shelves get too full I loan them out or take them to a used book store. The only Trek book that I have kept is an autographed copy of Chekov's Enterprise by Walter Koenig which documents his experience in making TMP. It's probably time for a re-read on it.
     
  20. CaptPapa

    CaptPapa Commander Red Shirt

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    I really do not know . . .
    But did you have the colorforms, record/comicbook combo/and Gold Key comics? hmmmmmm???[/QUOTE]



    Not the record/comic combos, but I have all but about half a dozen of the Gold Key Comics. Surprisingly, I have all the low numbers; it's mostly the end of that series that I lack.

    I have a number of other mid-era non-fiction books; Monsters of Star Trek, The Klingon Dictionary, the official Quiz Book and Interview Book, and all the Compendium editions.

    I've been giving those old record combos some serious thought though, lately. I just don't have a record player anymore, and I'm not one who collects and seals everything away. To me, the enjoyment is not just having it, but reading/looking/listening to it too!