Cheap Street Press was an American small publishing company started up in 1980 and operated by the husband-wife duo, George and Jan O'Nale, in their rural home near

New Castle, Virginia New Castle (historically spelled as one word; "Newcastle") is the only town in Craig County, Virginia, United States. The population was 125 at the 2020 census.https://www.census.gov/search-results.html?searchType=web&cssp=SERP&q=New%20Castle%20to ...

. Cheap Street concentrated on publishing

limited edition books A limited-edition book is a book released in a limited-quantity print run, usually fewer than 1000 copies (much smaller than publishing-industry standards). The term connotes scarcity or exclusivity. The higher the quantity printed the less lik ...

, signed and numbered, of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

works. Their books were hand-printed letterpress by George on fine (often handmade) paper and hand-bound in fine cloth and leather with matching drop-back boxes. Their books were typically issued in editions of 50 to 200 copies, and sold for up to $250 each. They approached authors who they identified for excellence in writing quality. George and Jan O'Nale were hermitic in their habits, living in a fairly unpopulated area in the Virginian countryside. In 2002, the O'Nales donated their collection of books and press materials to

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

, and then committed suicide in the spring of 2003, citing increasing health problems.Silver, Steven H"> Silver, Steven H
('' A_sampling_of_books_published_by_Cheap_Street_Press: *_At_the_Double_Solstice.html" ;"title="SF Site People'', "In Memoriam", May 2003). Retrieved June 18, 2022. A sampling of books published by Cheap Street Press: * At the Double Solstice">SF Site People'', "In Memoriam", May 2003). Retrieved June 18, 2022. A sampling of books published by Cheap Street Press: * At the Double Solstice by Gregory Benford * Paperjack by Charles de Lint * Torturing Mr. Amberwell by Thomas M. Disch * The Adventures of Cobble's Rune by Ursula K. Le Guin * The Beautiful Biting Machine by Tanith Lee * Ervool by

Fritz Leiber Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ( ; December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright, and chess expert. With writers such as Robert ...

* The Girl Who Heard Dragons by

Anne McCaffrey Anne Inez McCaffrey (1 April 1926 – 21 November 2011) was an American-Irish writer known for the ''Dragonriders of Pern'' science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction (Best Novella, ''Weyr Search'', 19 ...

Red Noise ] In science, Brownian noise, also known as Brown noise or red noise, is the type of signal noise produced by Brownian motion, hence its alternative name of random walk noise. The term "Brown noise" does not come from brown, the color, but af ...

John Sladek John Thomas Sladek (December 15, 1937 – March 10, 2000) was an American science fiction author, known for his satirical and surreal novels. Life and work Born in Waverly, Iowa, in 1937, Sladek was in England in the 1960s for the New Wave ...

* Flying Saucer Rock and Roll by

Howard Waldrop Howard Waldrop (born September 15, 1946) is a science fiction author who works primarily in short fiction. He received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2021. Personal life Though born in Houston, Mississippi, Waldrop has spent ...

* The Arimaspian Legacy by

Gene Wolfe Gene Rodman Wolfe (May 7, 1931 – April 14, 2019) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He was noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith. He was a prolific short story writer and nove ...

* On Saint Hubert's Thing by

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (born September 15, 1942) is an American writer. She is known for her series of historical horror novels about the vampire Count Saint-Germain. Biography Yarbro was born in Berkeley, California. She attended Berkeley schoo ...

* A Rhapsody in Amber by

Roger Zelazny Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American poet and writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for ''The Chronicles of Amber''. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nomin ...

Other items published by Cheap Street Press: * Pamphlet: The Complete Twelve Hours of the Night by "

William Ashbless __notoc__ William Ashbless is a fictional poet, invented by fantasy writers James Blaylock and Tim Powers. Invention Ashbless was invented by Powers and Blaylock when they were students at Cal State Fullerton in the early 1970s, originally as a re ...

" (William Ashbless is actually a pen name for

James P. Blaylock James Paul Blaylock (born September 20, 1950) is an American fantasy author. He is noted for a distinctive, humorous style, as well as being one of the pioneers of the steampunk genre of science fiction. Blaylock has cited Jules Verne, H. G. W ...

Tim Powers Timothy Thomas Powers (born February 29, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy fiction, fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels ''Last Call (novel), Last Call'' and ''Declare''. ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Obituary article
on the

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. While ...

website American speculative fiction publishers Small press publishing companies Science fiction publishers Book publishing companies based in Virginia Defunct book publishing companies of the United States