Catalog 119, W-Z
304. WAGNER, Bruce. I'm Losing You. NY: Villard (1996). The advance reading copy of the second Hollywood novel by the author of Force Majeure, who is also a screenwriter and writes of Hollywood with scathing humor and an insider's perspective. Fine in wrappers.
305. WALKER, Alice. From The Color Purple. (n.p.): (Parchment Gallery Graphics), 1999. A duotone image with a passage from The Color Purple. Signed by the author. Originally intended as an edition of 99 copies, only 49 copies and one Printer's Proof were offered for sale, according to the colophon, although this is one of 26 numbered proof copies. 8" x 10". Fine. Laid into cardstock folder and including a photograph of Walker at the signing.
306. WALKER, Alice. First Letter from The Color Purple. (n.p.): (Parchment Gallery Graphics), 1999. A duotone image printing the first letter to God from The Color Purple. Of a total edition of 49 copies, this is a printer's proof signed by the author. The image is 10" x 8" and is matted together with a photograph of Walker at the signing. 15" x 19" total. Fine.
307. WAUGH, Evelyn. Scott-King's Modern Europe. (n.p.): Chapman & Hall, 1947. Endpages slightly browned with age, boards somewhat mottled; a very good copy of this small book, in a near fine, spine-tanned dust jacket with slight edge wear.
308. WELCH, James. The Indian Lawyer. NY: Norton (1990). The fourth novel by this writer of Blackfeet Indian heritage. Inscribed by the author in 1991. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Laid in is an autograph note signed transmitting the book(s).
309. WELCH, James with STEKLER, Paul. Killing Custer. NY: Norton (1994). Welch's first book of nonfiction, a retelling and reimagining of the Custer myth and the Battle of Little Bighorn, from the Indian perspective. Stekler is a documentary filmmaker and he and Welch collaborated on the script for "The Last Stand," which was nominated for an Emmy Award. Signed by the author. Tiny corner bump; fine in a fine dust jacket.
310. WELCH, Lew, SNYDER, Gary and WHALEN, Philip. Freeway. San Francisco, 1964. Publicity material for a reading by the three poets at Longshoreman's Hall, San Francisco, June 12, 1964, organized by Don Carpenter. Included are three broadsides: Gary Snyder's Nanao Knows signed by Snyder in Japanese; Lew Welch's Step Out Onto the Planet signed "Lewis of America" and additionally inscribed to Carpenter "Don -- / I just can't/ think of/anybody;" and Philip Whalen's Three Mornings, also inscribed by the author. Each broadside is 9-1/2" x 12-1/2" and is reproduced by photo-offset from the author's own calligraphy and printed in an edition of 300 copies. The lower right corners of each are dampstained and the Snyder has a small paperclip rust mark on the title; about near fine. Together with a three-page printout of Don Carpenter's rendition of the organization of the event; snapshots of the authors; and Carpenter's own printed handbill advertising the evening, about which he writes: "I never worked so hard or sweated so much or cursed so hopelessly." A unique set of works from this important reading, from the archive of the writer who organized the event.
311. WELCH, Lew and ROBERTS, Chris. Supermarket. (n.p.): (n.p.), 1965. Sheet music, 9-1/4" x 13", reproducing the authors' hand-lettered lyrics and music. One small edge tear; lower half has blended dampstaining, not affecting legibility; very good. Published in Ring of Bone. An exceedingly scarce and fragile "A" item -- in effect a Welch broadside poem that has been set to music.
312. WELCH, Lew. Graffitti. (n.p.): (n.p.), 1965. Sheet music, 9-1/4" x 13", again reproducing the author's holograph -- not to mention his misspelling. One small edge tear; lower half has blended dampstaining, not affecting legibility; very good. Published in Ring of Bone, where the title is spelled correctly. Very scarce.
313. WELCH, Lew. "At times we're almost able to see it was once all Light..." (n.p.): Hoyem, 1965. One of 125 copies of this poem printed for Donald Carpenter as a Christmas greeting. One page folded to make four; fine.
314. WELCH, Lew. Courses: No Credit, No Blame, No Balm. San Francisco: Dave Haselwood, 1968. The very scarce first edition of this group of poems, originally to have been printed by Dave Haselwood in an edition of 100 but only about 50 were actually produced. Letterpress printed, small oblong volume handbound and saddle-stitched in stamped soft leather. Fine. Rare.
315. WELSH, Irvine. Trainspotting. London: Secker & Warburg (1993). His first novel, highly acclaimed upon publication and later the basis for the phenomenally successful movie that became a cultural milestone of the 1990s. This is the hardcover issue, reportedly one of only 600 copies. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
316. WELTY, Eudora. Typed Note Signed. July 25, 1939. Written to Harry Hansen, who selected and edited the O'Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories for 1939, which included Welty's story "The Petrified Man." Welty provides one paragraph of biographical information on where she has lived and where her stories have appeared, presumably for use in the contributor's notes section of the anthology, and adds, "I sometimes make photographs, had some one-man shows in New York of prints of Mississippi subjects." Signed by Welty. Folded in sixths for mailing; faint edge-darkening and paperclip traces; near fine. A very early letter by Welty, preceding her first published book. "The Petrified Man" was only her third story to be published in a book.
317. WEST, Nathanael. The Day of the Locust. NY: Random House (1939). The author's classic novel of Hollywood, a scathing satire based on his own experiences as a screenwriter and for which he has received something approaching literary immortality. Offsetting at hinges as is common with this title, presumably from the binder's glue used; a bright, near fine copy in a very good, much rubbed dust jacket with shallow chipping to the spine ends and a small abrasion at the base. A presentable copy of an important book that is difficult to find in dust jacket at all these days.
318. WESTLAKE, Donald and Abby. High Jinx. (Miami Beach): (Dennis McMillan) (1987). The textual unfolding of one of the Mohonk Mysteries, an annual mystery weekend staged by the Westlakes at the Mohonk Mountain House. Introduction by Martin Cruz Smith; covers by Edward Gorey and Joe Servello. Signed by the Westlakes. Only published in wrappers; fine.
319. WHALEN, Philip. The Chain of Lakes. San Francisco, 1964. Holograph broadside poem written for Donald Carpenter, signed by Whalen and presented to Mr. Carpenter in July, 1964. 13" x 20", written in Whalen's attractive calligraphy. Whalen and Don Carpenter were good friends in the San Francisco Bay area poetry community and the emerging counterculture: Carpenter organized the Freeway poetry reading (see above: Welch) where Whalen and his longtime friends Gary Snyder and Lew Welch read from their work. Throughout his life Carpenter continued to be a resource, and at times a mentor, to the writers in the Bay Area, and this gift of a manuscript poem written especially for him is a testament to his importance to Whalen. Very slightly edge-sunned; else fine. Unique.
320. WHALEN, Philip. Goddess. [San Francisco]: [Auerhahn Press], 1964. The publisher's archive for this broadside poem, which was printed in an edition of 125 copies "for Don Carpenter by the Auerhahn Press." Includes: a holograph copy of the poem, handprinted and signed by Whalen for Don Carpenter and dated November 23, 1964; two proof sheets of the broadside, one with colophon and one without, with hand-penciled notes including instructions for 100 to be printed with the initial letter in print and 25 without it (these were author's copies and the initial letters were hand-drawn on these copies); four copies of the printed broadside without colophon and with varying hand-lettered initial letters, some in red, some in black, with different type styles; the original bill to Don Carpenter from Dan Haselwood; five copies of the finished broadside with the colophon and the printed initial letter; and a second printing of the collection Every Day (San Francisco: Coyote, 1965) in which the poem later appeared. Light edge wear to printer's mock-up; otherwise all items fine. A unique archive of this small production by an important author and a notable press.
321. -. Same title. The broadside poem: one of 125 copies. 8-1/2" x 12", fine.
322. WHALEN, Philip. Nobody Listening to You? San Francisco: Self-published, 1965. 8-1/2" x 11" handbill advocating the celebration of March 25, 1965 as Gentle Thursday, a commerce-free, work-free day of kindness and calmness. This handbill -- really, in effect a Whalen broadside -- is a scarce, ephemeral item, created by the author and reproducing his calligraphic writing. Fine.
323. WHITE, E.B. Stuart Little. NY: Harper & Brothers (1945). White's first children's classic, published six years before Charlotte's Web and a considerable break from his earlier writings as an essayist and humorist. Fine in a very good dust jacket with small chips at the spine extremities and lower front panel. A wartime book printed on thin, cheap paper which browns with age and wears readily. This is an attractive copy of one of the most lasting novels in the field of children's literature.
324. WHITE, E.B. Charlotte's Web. NY: Harper & Brothers (1952). The second of his children's books and his most famous book, a classic that has stayed in print continuously for nearly a half-century and was also the basis for a highly successful animated film. White was a poet and humorist before beginning a decades-long career as an essayist at The New Yorker, helping to give that magazine its reputation for clarity, urbanity and fine writing. His children's books are the only fiction that he wrote, and they have been much-loved over the years by children and adults alike, for their sensitive characterizations and their depictions of the bittersweet pain of life and loss. Fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with a bit of spotting to the rear panel and light edge wear. A very nice copy of a book that seldom turns up in fine condition.
325. WHITE, E.B. An Answer from White. (Champaign): (Printed at the Sign of the Rolling Stone) (1969). A single sheet, folded twice, reprinting White's hilarious and touching reply to a doctoral student who used White's writing as the subject of his thesis. A scarce "A" item. Hint of an upper corner bump; else fine.
326. WHITE, E.B. Natural History. (n.p.): (n.p.), 1985. A single sheet, folded once, printing a poem written for his wife, Katharine White, in 1929 opposite a photograph of the author by Jill Krementz. Published in an edition of approximately 500 copies on the occasion of White's death. A small tear at the top of the fold, carefully repaired with archival tape; else fine.
327. WHITE, Patrick. Happy Valley. London: George C. Harrap (1939). The first edition of the Australian Nobel Prize winner's extremely scarce first book, winner of the Gold Medal from the Australian Literature Society. Happy Valley is set in a remote, inhospitable region of Australia, in the Snowy Mountains, which is where White worked for a year as a jackaroo. The theme of disappointment and dashed hopes persisted throughout White's writing career and his novels have a reputation for being psychologically harrowing which, when combined with elements of place that figure in his writing, was what led to his Nobel Prize -- which was awarded "for an epic and psychological narrative art that has introduced a new continent into literature." Fine in a very good, spine-tanned dust with a vertical crease to the spine and a small blended stain on the front panel. A very nice copy of this book, which is scarce in any jacket at all, let alone one as attractive as this.
328. WHITTEMORE, Edward. Quin's Shanghai Circus. NY: HRW (1974). The first book by the author of the highly acclaimed Jerusalem Quartet. Fine in a near fine, spine-sunned dust jacket.
329. WILLIAMS, Philip Lee. Slow Dance in Autumn. Atlanta: Peachtree Publishers (1988). A mystery novel by a writer who had previously written only "literary" novels. Signed by the author. Remainder dot on top page edge, else fine in a fine dust jacket.
330. WOLFE, Thomas. Of Time and the River. NY: Scribner, 1935. The second novel by the author of Look Homeward, Angel, and the second volume in a proposed six-book sequence that was never completed due to the author's early death. Inscriptions erased from front endpages; boards a bit spotted; a very good copy in a good, creased, edgeworn and spine-faded dust jacket.
331. WOLFE, Tom. Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers. NY: FSG (1970). Bound galley sheets of Wolfe's hilarious send-up of wealthy New York liberals attempting to salve their social consciences by throwing parties for radical black militants and trying ever-so-hard to be hip enough to pull it off. 7" x 11"; printed on rectos only; stringbound in cardstock covers. Fine. A highly unusual format, which suggests only a handful of copies would have been done.
332. WOLFF, Tobias. The Other Miller. Derry & Ridgewood: Babcock & Koontz (1989). A short story printed in a handsome limited edition by the Coffee House Press. With a frontispiece illustration by Gaylord Schanilec. Of a total edition of 240 copies, this is one of 200 numbered copies signed by the author. Clothbound, fine without dust jacket, as issued. The first limited edition by the author of This Boy's Life, The Barracks Thief, and others.
333. WYNDHAM, John. Consider Her Ways & Others. London: Michael Joseph (1961). A collection of science fiction stories by the author of Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos and others. Fine in a very good dust jacket with several edge tears, one internally tape-mended.
334. WYNDHAM, John. Chocky. London: Michael Joseph (1968). The author's last novel, about a young boy who become a conduit for an extra-terrestrial intelligence. Wyndham used the science fiction genre to explore social and political issues, and even spiritual ones. In this book, the question of how we know what we know, how much attention we pay to what's around us, and how intelligent we actually are all come into focus. Basis for a movie and a television series and there are reports that the Wyndham Estate will publish two sequels to it, from the author's archive of unpublished manuscripts. Foxing to top edge; else fine in a near fine dust jacket.