The Saga of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser (Six Volume Set)

LEIBER, Fritz. The Saga of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser (Six Volume Set): Swords and Deviltry, Swords Against Death, Swords in the Mist, Swords Against Wizardry, The Swords of Lankhmar, and Swords and Ice Magic. With an Introduction by the Author. Boston: Gregg Press, 1977. 8vos, xxxii 255pp; [ii] 253pp; [iv] 191pp; [ii] 189pp; 224pp; [viii] 245pp. Orange cloth stamped in gold. Each volume has the same illustrations on title and half title as well as the same two pages of b&w maps, vol 4 having an extra one-page b&w map. Volume 3 with minute soiling at bottom edge, else fine copies in original color pictorial dust jackets (light edge wear – as always due to a problem with the printing). All signed by the author, Fritz Leiber.

First hardcover editions except volume 5 which had appeared in a UK hardcover edition from Rupert Hart-Davis in 1969, all first printings. Featuring the Nebula and Hugo Award-winning novella “Ill Met in Lankhmar”! A full set of the six books in Leiber’s The Saga of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series that had been published at the time. This fantastic tale of an unlikely pair of heroes first introduced in the 1939 story “Two Sought Adventure” has inspired generations of fantasy novels. The hulking barbarian Fafhrd is skilled at both swordsmanship and singing while his unlikely partner The Mouser is a mercurial thief, deadly and with the occasional magical skills.  Both are rogues, living in a decadent world where only the ruthless and cynical survive. They spend a lot of time drinking, feasting, wenching, brawling, stealing, and gambling, while they are seldom fussy about who hires their swords. Still, they are humane and — most of all — relish true adventure. This set was signed by Fritz Leiber when he visited Books of Wonder for a photo shoot back in the early 1980s.