Catalog 96, U-Z
386. UPDIKE, John. Hugging the Shore. NY: Knopf, 1983. The uncorrected proof copy of this massive collection of essays. Seemingly scarcer than other Updike proofs of this time period, probably because of its bulk. Fine in wrappers.
387. UPDIKE, John. The Witches of Eastwick. Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1984. The true first edition, a limited edition of Updike's suburban fantasy that was made into a humorous and successful movie with Jack Nicholson, Cher, and others. Chosen by British critic David Pringle as one of the hundred best fantasy novels of the postwar era. Signed by the author. Leatherbound, all edges gilt, with a silk ribbon marker bound in. With an introduction by Updike for this edition, which does not appear elsewhere. Fine.
388. UPDIKE, John. Roger's Version. NY: Knopf, 1986. An "internal review copy" of this novel, with Random House slip laid in stating as such. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Together with two variant issues of the dust jacket: one is identical to the finished jacket except that the ISBN number is in a white typeface; the other jacket is printed on unlaminated gray flecked paper; the jacket copy on the front flap is printed in a narrower column; and the photographer is not credited on the rear panel. Both jackets are folded flat at the spine; fine. For all:
389. -. Same title, the Franklin Library edition (Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1986). A limited edition; leatherbound, all edges gilt, with a silk ribbon marker bound in. Signed by the author. With a special introduction by Updike for this edition in which he discusses the novel's original title (Majesty), research and academia, Hawthorne and heterosexuality. Fine.
390. UPDIKE, John. Rabbit at Rest. NY: Knopf, 1990. The advance reading copy of the concluding volume of the award-winning Rabbit Angstrom saga, one of the most highly praised fictional sequences of our time. Fine in wrappers and publisher's folding cardboard box. Signed by the author.
391. UPDIKE, John. Brazil. NY: Knopf, 1994. A novel that is something of a departure for Updike, being far removed from the familiar suburban milieu of most of his fiction. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
392. UPDIKE, John. The Afterlife and Other Stories. NY: Knopf, 1994. A collection of short stories, many of them related in some way to the death of his mother. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
393. UPDIKE, John. In the Beauty of the Lilies. NY: Knopf, 1996. The uncorrected proof copy of this novel. Fine in wrappers.
394. UPDIKE, John. Toward the End of Time. NY: Knopf, 1997. The uncorrected proof copy of his most recent novel, published to quite mixed reviews: Margaret Atwood, in The New York Times Book Review, loved it; David Foster Wallace, a self-proclaimed Updike fan, wrote a scathing review of it in The New York Observer. Fine in wrappers.
395. (UPDIKE, John). "Franny and Zooey" in Salinger: A Critical and Personal Portrait. NY: Harper (1962). A collection of essays about Salinger, which includes "Franny and Zooey" by Updike (originally entitled "In the Age of Nuance" in proof format), as well as pieces by Alfred Kazin, Joan Didion, Joseph Blotner, Granville Hicks and others. In the juxtaposition of Updike and Salinger, this volume represents possibly the two most widely collected American authors of the postwar era, and it is an early appearance for Updike. Offsetting to front flyleaf and slight sunning to top board edges; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
396. URQUHART, Jane. The Underpainter. (n.p.): Viking (1997). The advance reading copy of the first American edition of this highly praised novel. Fine in wrappers.
397. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. Happy Birthday, Wanda June. Hollywood: The Wanda June Co./The Filmakers Group, 1971. The script for Vonnegut's play, which ran in New York from October 7, 1970 to March 14, 1971. This copy is identified on the front cover as a "Rehearsal Script" and dated March 25, 1971 -- presumably for a different production of the play than its New York run. 8 1/2" x 11" sheets, printed on rectos only. Claspbound in cardstock covers; faint coffee ring on rear cover; near fine. Signed by the author on the front cover, with the added comment: "Genuine Relic." Rare.
398. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. Between Time and Timbuktu. NY: Delacorte/Lawrence (1972). A "space fantasy" for television, created by David O'Dell from works by Vonnegut, and then given to Vonnegut to "fart around with" (his words). Vonnegut does not count this as one of his own publications, but he did write a preface for the book, actually two. Included here with a copy of the first edition is Vonnegut's carbon typescript for the original preface, not used in the published edition. The published version is about the television production and the advantages of novels over films: this unpublished version is about Vonnegut and his "Molly Bloom Period," during which he agreed to do and write many things he did not do and write. "How could I [write] with a pillow over my head?" Three stapled pages; fine. The book is fine in a fine dust jacket, and one of Vonnegut's most elusive titles, both because of its "perfect-bound" construction and a first printing one would suspect was smaller than those of his novels. For both:
399. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five, The Sirens of Titan, Player Piano, Cat's Cradle, Breakfast of Champions, Mother Night. (NY): Octopus/Heinemann (1980). A combined volume of the unabridged texts of six of Vonnegut's first seven novels. Signed by the author in Transylvania in 1990, with a full page self-caricature. Laid in is a program for Vonnegut's speech in Transylvania the same night, entitled "How to Get a Job Like Mine." The program is near fine; the book near fine in a fine dust jacket. An uncommon book to find signed.
400. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Merlin. Denver: Wynkoop Brewing Co (n.d.). A very short story (four paragraphs) written to adorn bottles of Railyard Ale. Vonnegut's grandfather was a Gold Medal brewer at the Paris Exposition of 1889 with a beer that had coffee as one of its ingredients. This story features Kilgore Trout and the synopsis of Trout's first short story. Two (unused) labels for the front and back of the bottle. Signed by Vonnegut. Fine.
401. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Torture and Blubber. (n.p.: n.p., n.d.). A broadside of an anti (Vietnam) war text reprinted from the New York Times of June 30, 1971. 8 1/2" x 14". Signed by the author. Matted. A broadside of another author is printed on the verso, and the text of that is visible. Fine. Not listed in the Klinkowitz bibliography. A scarce, ephemeral piece.
402. (VONNEGUT, Kurt). Unpublished Interview. (n.p.: n.p., n.d.) [c.1973]. Galley sheets of an unpublished interview with Vonnegut by Loree Rackstraw and Jerome Klinkowitz, who later compiled the Vonnegut bibliography. Seven galleys, each 4" x 24", folded in half. Signed by Vonnegut in 1996. Fine. A lengthy interview with Vonnegut, which never saw print, this being presumably one of the very few copies of this printed text in existence, possibly the only copy.
403. WALLACE, David Foster. A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again. Boston: Little Brown (1997). The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of essays and other short pieces by the author of Infinite Jest, among others. Textual changes exist between this and the published version. Fine in wrappers, and signed by the author.
404. WALTERS, Minette. The Sculptress. London: Macmillan (1993). The eerie second book by the author of the award-winning The Ice House. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
405. -. Same title, the first American edition (NY: St. Martin's, 1993). Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
406. WALTERS, Minette. The Echo. (London): Macmillan (1997). Her most recent novel. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
407. WATKINS, Paul. The Promise of Light. NY: Random House (1993). The advance reading copy of his fourth book. Fine in wrappers.
408. WELTY, Eudora. Fairy Tale of the Natchez Trace. Jackson: Mississippi Historical Society, 1975. The text of a paper read at the Historical Society's Annual Dinner Meeting. One of 1000 copies. Fine, without dust jacket, as issued.
409. WHITE, Bailey. Quite a Year for Plums. NY: Knopf, 1998. The uncorrected proof copy of her forthcoming novel, due in July with an announced first printing of 150,000 copies. Fine in wrappers.
410. WHITE, E.B. Letters of E.B. White. NY: Harper & Row (1976). The first publication of the letters of one of the finest American essayists of the century, the author of such children's classics as Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little. One of an unspecified number of copies signed by the author on a tipped-in leaf. Near fine in a price-clipped dust jacket. White's signature is somewhat uncommon.
411. WHITE, Edmund. The Farewell Symphony. NY: Knopf, 1997. The first American edition of the third volume in White's autobiographical trilogy. One of an unspecified number of copies signed by the author on a tipped-in leaf. Fine in a fine dust jacket bearing the publisher's "Signed by the Author" sticker.
412. WILLEFORD, Charles. The Way We Die Now. (n.p.): Ultramarine, 1988. A Hoke Moseley novel, this being the limited edition, issued by Ultramarine Press using the sheets of the publisher's trade edition. One of 99 numbered copies bound in quarter leather and marbled paper boards (there was an additional issue of ten lettered copies). Signed by the author. Fine.
413. WILSON, Edmund. Centennial Reflections. Princeton: Princeton U. Press (1997). The advance reading copy of this book of essays and talks reflecting on Wilson on the occasion of the centennial of his birth. Contributors include Jason Epstein, Toni Morrison, David Bradley, Morris Dickstein, and others. Fine in wrappers.
To the Lighthouse, U.K. and U.S. editions, with variant text
414. WOOLF, Virginia. To the Lighthouse. London: Hogarth Press, 1927. The British edition of this high spot by one of the most important writers of the first half of the century, whose writing broke new ground and explored themes and styles that have had a dramatic impact on literature, and on women's writing in particular, ever since. A Connolly 100 title, which he calls "the sunniest of her books" and "one of her few novels where something happens, written at the height of her luminous Impressionist vision." A fine copy in a very slightly spine-sunned dust jacket with very light edge wear including several small corner chips; still about near fine. Published in an edition of 3000 copies. One of the key novels of the 20th century, and very scarce in the fragile Vanessa Bell dust jacket.
415. -. Same title, the American edition (NY: Harcourt Brace, 1927). Published the same day as the British edition, but apparently representing an earlier state of this text. Even a cursory examination reveals dozens of variations in the text between the British and U.S. editions: most are stylistic and evidence of Woolf crafting her unique sentence structures; at least one textual difference alters the pacing of the plot. Where differences exist, later editions seem to follow the British text, an argument for the British being a later state. One explanation is that for same day publication to occur, Woolf sent the sheets off to America, and out of her control, while she continued to rework what would become the British edition. One of only 4000 copies of what is in all likelihood the earliest published state of the text of one of her greatest novels. A previous owner inscription has been erased from the front flyleaf; there is very slight foxing to the foredge and a few slight penciled marginal markings; otherwise this is a fine copy in a very near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with minimal spine-tanning and a few very tiny edge tears. The blue text on the spine is still clear and easily readable, which is unusual for this title. A very attractive copy of a textually significant edition.
416. ZUKOFSKY, Louis. A Test of Poetry. NY: Jargon/Corinth, 1964. A reissue of this book of theory and criticism by a poet closely associated with the Objectivist school of modern poetry. First published in 1948. Very near fine in wrappers.
417. ZUKOFSKY, Louis. All. The Collected Short Poems 1923-1958. NY: Norton (1965). A collection of his poems from the early years of his career, and the height of the Objectivist movement in poetry. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
418. -. Same title, the first British edition (London: Cape, 1966). Sticker removal shadow front pastedown; else fine in a fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
419. ZUKOFSKY, Louis. All. The Collected Short Poems 1956-1964. NY: Norton (1966). A review copy of the later poems, with publisher's slip laid in. Fine in a very good dust jacket with a couple of tiny chips.
420. -. Same title, the first British edition. Sticker removal shadow front pastedown; else fine in a fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
421. ZUKOFSKY, Louis. "A." London: Cape (1966). The first British edition of one of his major poetic works. Near fine in a very good dust jacket.
422. ZUKOFSKY, Louis. Prepositions. NY: Horizon Press (1968). Collected critical essays. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
423. ZUKOFSKY, Louis. "A" 1-12. Garden City: Doubleday, 1967. With an introduction by Robert Creeley. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket.
424. ZUKOFSKY, Louis. Ferdinand. London/NY: Cape/Grossman (1968/1969). A review copy of the first American edition, which consists of a hardcover issue of the first British edition with an U.S. dust jacket and review slip. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket.
425. ZUKOFSKY, Louis. "A" 13-21. Garden City: Doubleday, 1969. A review copy. Fine in a spine- and edge-sunned, near fine dust jacket.
426. -. Same title, the first British edition (London: Cape, 1969). Sticker removal shadow front pastedown; else fine in a very near fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
427. ZUKOFSKY, Louis. Little. NY: Grossman, 1970. A review copy of his first novel. Fine in a near fine, spine-tanned dust jacket with one edge tear.
428. ZUKOFSKY, Louis. Autobiography. NY: Grossman, 1970. Poems by Zukofsky set to music written by his wife. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
429. ZUKOFSKY, Louis. "A"-24. NY: Grossman, 1972. A review copy. Fine in a mildly sunned, else fine dust jacket.
430. ZUKOFSKY, Louis. "A" 22 & 23. NY: Grosman, 1975. The completion of "A," which Zukofsky began writing in 1927. "A" 22 & 23 were written after "A"-24. Fine in wrappers and dust jacket.
431. -. Another copy. Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers and dust jacket.
432. (ZUKOFSKY, Louis and Celia). Catullus. London/NY: Cape Goliard/Grossman, 1969. Translations of the famous Roman poet by the Zukofskys. Quarto. Fine in a spine-sunned, else fine dust jacket. Errata sheet tipped in.