Getting Your Hands on the Michael Moorcock Library First Volume
I spent about three years tracking down a proper copy of the first volume in the Michael Moorcock Library line. The Elric of Melnibone collection is one of those things that looks simple on paper but has a few quirks if you want something that actually reads well and doesn't fall apart after a few months. The basics are straightforward. This is a collector's edition hardcover published by PS Publishing, and it collects the early Elric stories including Stormbringer and the core Melnibone chronicles. The ISBN is 978-1-907426-85-7 if you need it for ordering. It came out around 2014. The binding is sewn, not glued, which matters more than you'd think with thick fantasy paperbacks that tend to crack at the spine after reading them a couple times. The actual text is sourced from the original British editions, not the abridged US versions. If you pick up a copy and it feels thinner than expected, check if someone sold you a Gollancz reprint instead. The PS Publishing version has the longer introductions and the correct chapter breaks. I learned this the hard way when I bought a cheap used copy that turned out to be the 1978 Dell edition with half the content removed.
Reading order matters more here than with most boxed sets. The Elric stories aren't chronological within the book, so you'll want to read them in the order Moorcock originally published them, not the order they appear on the shelf. That means starting with "Stealer of Souls" and working through "The Dreaming City" before jumping into the Stormbringer material. If you just read straight through the book as printed, the narrative jumps around in a way that confuses the timeline and makes some character motivations feel unexplained. The paper quality is decent but not archival. I keep mine away from direct sunlight and it's held up fine after two years. The pages are slightly acidic, so don't expect it to last centuries unattended. For a one-time read or even a few re-reads, it's fine. If you're planning to lend it out, maybe don't. Price varies. I've seen copies go for anywhere between twenty and eighty pounds depending on condition and whether the dust jacket is included. The jacket itself is worth keeping if you get a copy with one. The cover art by John Thompson is one of the better pieces in the whole series and it gets worn down quickly if you handle the book wrong. Hold it by the spine, not the corners.
There's no ebook version officially from PS Publishing for this volume. Some sites claim to have one, but they're usually scans of older editions with formatting issues. If you need digital, your best bet is the Tor mass-market paperback, but you lose the additional material and the better paper. It's a tradeoff. One thing people miss: the introduction by Brian Lumley is actually useful for understanding the later Stormbringer novel. Most readers skip it and then wonder why Elric's relationship with the sword feels inconsistent in the extended stories. Read the intro. It explains the moral ambiguity Moorcock was going for, and it saves you from rereading half the book trying to figure out character motivations. If you want to track down a copy, check specialist fantasy dealers first. Amazon and eBay have a lot of reprints mixed in that look identical at a glance but aren't the PS Publishing edition. Look for the specific publisher name on the copyright page. Anything without it is a different book entirely.
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