I have a double set of The Tsolyani Language (Parts I and II) early blue Tekumel books by M.A.R. Barker which he signed and dedicated to Scott Bizar, and Lin Carter in 1978.

They’re going up on eBay (not in our online shop). [SOLD 31 Oct 2021. Lin Carter set was $305. Scott Bizar set was $366.]

The Tsolyáni Language is Barker’s fictitious, but scholarly, language of the large human empire of the same name on the world of Tekumel.

I bought these booklets from Scott Bizar (owner, Fantasy Games Unlimited) last year and put them on the To Do shelf. Finally getting to them now. Barker signed both sets, in Volume 1. One set is dedicated to Scott, the other to Carter.

I asked Scott by email what the history was with these booklets. He replied:

I really did not remember that the Petal Throne books were signed presentation copies. The best I can guess is that they may come from the evening at a GenCon I spent with Prof. Barker when we went out to dinner and then spent the evening together. We had been looking into buying Petal Throne from TSR and he was all for it. The deal fell through when we found out how many copies TSR still had in stock, which we would have been obligated to buy from them. We did not like their presentation or packaging and the sheer number (it was like 10,000 copies) killed the deal.

by the time we were meeting with Prof. Barker, Lin and I were no longer roommates and I was living some 1 1/2 hours away and remarried. Rather than us getting together several times a week, it was once or twice a year at that time and I simply did not remember that I had signed copies of the book(s) for Lin to pass along to him.

More about TSR’s “Petal Throne” RPG set: Empire of the Petal Throne: The First RPG with a Campaign World… TEKUMEL (1975)

The Tsolyani Language blue books (1978) preceded the more familiar 1981 edition published by Adventure Games.

Tsolyani Language, Parts 1 and 2

1978 … M. A. R. Barker … 129 pages (total)

These appear to be self-published by MARB and printed by Richfield Printing (which is still doing business in Minnesota!)

Book 1 CONTENTS: Introduction; Grammar; A Guide for Travellers.

Book 2 CONTENTS: English-Tsolyani Vocabulary; Measurements; Tsolyani-English Vocabulary; Script.

They’re going up on eBay (not in our online shop). The auctions can be found HERE and HERE.

Check Wayne’s Books Inventory for other Tekumel items

The Signatures

See Scott Bizar’s comments about this meeting at the top of the post. As Scott noted, Lin Carter never actually “owned” his set; some collectors might care about that distinction.

The covers of the Lin Carter set have some aging marks, or maybe it was a printing glitch. Interior is unaffected.

Volume 1

Volume 2

See Also:

Empire of the Petal Throne: The First RPG with a Campaign World… TEKUMEL (1975)

WARRIORS OF MARS (1974): A Rare Lost Cousin of D&D

Tekumel: Excellent Travelling Volume

Maustin Caji: A look inside a rare JORUNE RPG adventure (1984)