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Catalog 113, A

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1. (ABBEY, Edward). Contract for Confessions of H. Lightcap, Barbarian. Santa Barbara: Capra Press, 1985. An agreement between Abbey and Capra Press for a small volume published in 1986 as Confessions of a Barbarian, which was itself an advance excerpt from the book later published as The Fool's Progress. Three legal-sized sheets signed by Abbey and initialed at three clauses. Additionally, Abbey has appended two holograph riders: one making the agreement contingent on the publisher's approval of the complete work; the other stipulating that Capra will identify the work as a "portion of a novel in progress." The Fool's Progress was finally published in October, 1988, and was the last of Abbey's novels published in his lifetime. He died in March, 1989. Asymmetrically folded in fourths; otherwise fine. Autograph material by Abbey is increasingly uncommon.

2. (ABBEY, Edward). "Hard Times in Santa Fe" in The Canyon County Zephyr, Vol. 1, No. 1. Moab: (n.p.), 1989. The first issue of this monthly newspaper of "news, opinion, information, and entertainment for Grand County and southern Utah," published by Abbey's friend Jim Stiles, who did the illustrations for The Journey Home. Includes a somewhat acerbic piece on Santa Fe, New Mexico by Abbey, which has apparently not been reprinted elsewhere. A little sunning to the fold; otherwise a fine copy of a scarce and fragile item.

3. AIKEN, Conrad. Nocturne of Remembered Spring. Boston: Four Seas, 1917. His fourth book, a collection of poems. Spine lettering dulled, cloth mildly worn at crown; near fine in an internally tape-repaired dust jacket that was previously split along the front flap fold and front spine fold from having been folded and stored separately from the book, thus only good.

4. AIKEN, Conrad. Blue Voyage. NY: Scribner, 1927. The limited edition of this novel about a playwright on a ship crossing from America to England, which was highly praised for its psychological insight at the time of its publication and has since been characterized as a "Joycean meditation" by virtue of its use of interior monologue as the primary vehicle of exposition. One of 125 numbered copies signed by the author. Boards rubbed; very good without dust jacket, as issued, and lacking the publisher's slipcase.

5. AIKEN, Conrad. Costumes by Eros. NY: Scribner, 1928. A collection of stories, printed in an edition of 3005 copies. Slight offsetting rear pastedown; else fine in a very good, spine-tanned dust jacket with several small chips, including one at the crown that affects the title. Overall, an attractive copy.

6. AIKEN, Conrad. Great Circle. NY: Scribner, 1933. A novel about the breakdown of a marriage. Very near fine in a very good, spine-tanned dust jacket with shallow chipping at the crown. An attractive copy in a striking, art deco dust jacket by Cleonike Damianakes, who is most well-known to present day book collectors for having done the dust jackets for The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms, as well as for several F. Scott Fitzgerald titles.

7. AIKEN, Conrad. Among the Lost People. NY: Scribner, 1934. A collection of stories, published in a very small edition of 1950 copies. Light bump to one corner; near fine in a very good, spine-tanned dust jacket with moderate edge wear, including a few small chips.

8. AIKEN, Conrad. King Coffin. NY: Scribner, 1935. A psychological novel about a man's careful plans for a murder that he never commits. Abrasions front flyleaf; light offsetting to endpages; very good in a good, internally tape-strengthened dust jacket with small external tape shadows.

9. AIKEN, Conrad. The Soldier. Norfolk: New Directions (1944). The 39th volume in the Poet of the Year series. This is the issue in stapled wrappers. Inscribed by the author at Christmas 1944: "For Harold & Laura/ from Conrad and Mary/ and with our love/ as always." Wrappers sunned, and splitting at spine; about very good.

10. AIKEN, Conrad. A Letter from Li Po & Other Poems. NY: Oxford U. Press, 1955. Signed by the author in 1962. Spine bumped; near fine in a fair dust jacket missing a large chip at the rear panel. Aiken won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1929 and the National Book Award for Poetry in 1954, the year before this volume was published.

11. AIKEN, Conrad. Sheepfold Hill. NY: Sagamore Press (1958). This copy belonged to and is signed by the poet John Ciardi, with his copious annotations throughout, along with a dense and scathing two-paragraph critique in which he damns Aiken's "habituated skill." Near fine in a very good, dust-soiled and price-clipped jacket. A wonderful association copy, linking two major poets: Ciardi was a three-time finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry.

12. AIKEN, Conrad. Typed Letter Signed. December 12, 1960. To W.G. Simpson. Two single-spaced pages, more than 800 words, regarding Aiken's relationship with Malcolm Lowry and their joint relationship to poetry. In part: "I did start him off on his poetry binge, but that was at Cuernavaca in 1937: at Karl's Cafe, usually at noon, as often as he was sober enough, and often enough when he wasn't: partly in an attempt to pin him down, interest him in anything: and almost wholly on a merely technical plane. I set him a damned fine series of exercises in blank verse, devised by myself....Of the hundred or more poems, there weren't more than a dozen that were successful statements: but naturally, for me, they were ALL interesting, as coming from Malc, whom I loved very much, and regarded as a kind of son." Signed by Aiken, with several holograph corrections. The pages have been folded in sixths and are splitting at the edges of the folds; near fine. An excellent, revealing letter: Aiken was friend to, and influence on, Malcolm Lowry, whose novel Under the Volcano is widely considered one of the masterpieces of 20th century literature.

13. AIKEN, Conrad. The Clerk's Journal. NY: Eakins Press, 1971. Of a total edition of 2300 copies, this is one of 300 numbered copies signed by the author. Contains an unpublished poem of 1911, together with a brief memoir of Harvard, Dean Briggs, and T.S. Eliot. Also bound in is a facsimile of the manuscript poem, reproducing the dean's comments. A fine copy in a lightly surface-soiled, near fine slipcase.

14. AIKEN, Conrad. Thee. London: Inca Books (1973). The first separate British edition. Of a total edition of 500 copies, this is one of 100 numbered copies signed by the author. Trace spine bump; still fine in a glassine dust jacket.

15. (AIKEN, Conrad). ROWLANDS, Samuel. The Bride. Boston: Goodspeed/Merrymount, 1905. Rowlands' 1617 poem, with an introduction by Aiken's uncle, Alfred Claghorn Potter. One of 210 copies, this copy being inscribed by Aiken to "M.F." and dated "Christmas 1925." A small but penetrating chip to the spine base; thus only good, without dust jacket.

16. ALLEN, Woody. Play It Again, Sam. NY: Random House (1969). The Book Club edition of his second play, in which Allen's character uses the ghost of Humphrey Bogart as mentor. First performed in 1969 with a cast that included Diane Keaton and Tony Roberts and later made into a film. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Books signed by Allen are somewhat uncommon.

17. ALLEN, Woody. Getting Even. NY: Random House (1971). His first collection, containing unpublished and published pieces, the latter primarily from The New Yorker. Signed by the author. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a bit of creasing at the lower edge.

18. ALLEN, Woody. Love and Death. (n.p.): (n.p.), 1974. Revised draft (11 Aug, 1974) screenplay for this Woody Allen film, for which he won an award at the Berlin Film Festival. 128 photocopied pages, bradbound in a printed cardstock cover and signed by the author. Fine.

19. ALLEN, Woody and BRICKMAN, Marshall. Annie Hall. (n.p.): (n.p.), 1976. The "final draft" (Aug. 2, 1976) for Allen's Academy Award-winning film, with dramatic differences from the filmed version. Annie Hall won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director (Allen) and Best Screenplay, as well as for Best Actress (Diane Keaton), and is one of the high points of Allen's career as a filmmaker. Because this screenplay was changed significantly between this "final" draft and the actual production, this copy represents a rare chance to see Allen's writing and film as a work-in-progress. 120 photocopied pages, bradbound in a printed cardstock cover and signed by the author. Fine.

20. ALLEN, Woody. Side Effects. NY: Random House (1980). A collection of short, comic stories, most of which originally appeared in The New Yorker. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

21. ALLEN, Woody. The Floating Light Bulb. NY: Random House (1982). The Book Club edition of Allen's third play. Signed by the author. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket, with the "Book Club" notation clipped from the front flap.

22. (Anthology). The Yale Literary Magazine. New Haven: Yale University, 1936. A centennial issue, collecting Sinclair Lewis, Thornton Wilder, Archibald Macleish, Stephen Vincent Benét, Brendan Gill, and others. Owner name, bump to foredge; stain to rear cover; very good, without dust jacket.

23. (Anthology). The Best Poems of 1942. London: Jonathan Cape (1943). The first British edition. With work by Stephen Spender, Loren Eiseley, Richard Eberhart, Conrad Aiken and Vita Sackville-West, among others. Boards splayed, modest cloth mottling; very good in a good, spine-darkened and modestly edgeworn dust jacket. Still a nicely-preserved copy of a fragile wartime book.

24. (Anthology). Saints for Now. NY: Sheed & Ward, 1952. Edited by Clare Booth Luce, who solicited from twenty writers essays on relevant saints. With contributions by Thomas Merton, Evelyn Waugh, Rebecca West, Wyndham Lewis, and others. Also includes illustrations of a number of the saints, including two done by Merton and one by Salvador Dali. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.

25. (Anthology). The Ladies Home Journal Treasury. NY: Simon & Schuster (1956). Covering 73 years of stories, articles and poetry from the magazine, and including pieces by Steinbeck, Fitzgerald, Wharton, Michener, Frost, Dahl, Dinesen, Kipling, Hardy, Milne, and many others. Many of the pieces are first book appearances. Near fine in a very good, price-clipped jacket with modest edge wear.

26. (Anthology). Art and the Craftsman. New Haven/Carbondale: Yale/Southern Illinois University Press (1961). An anthology of the best of The Yale Literary Magazine, 1836-1961. Featuring Sinclair Lewis, Thornton Wilder, Archibald Macleish, Stephen Vincent Benét, Brendan Gill, Mark Strand, Rudyard Kipling, John Knowles, Robert Penn Warren, John Hersey, and many others. With pieces written about the 125th anniversary by Richard Hooker and Louis Auchincloss. Fine in a very good dust jacket.

27. (Anthology). New Campus Writing, 1966. NY: McGraw-Hill (1966). Stories and poems by 29 university students. Joseph Bruchac contributes two poems; Joy Williams contributes the story "In Search of Boston." Each is the author's first book appearance. A fine copy of the issue in wrappers.

28. (Anthology). Modern Occasions. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson (1966). An anthology edited by Philip Rahv, a founding editor of the Partisan Review. Includes previously unpublished work by John Barth, Paul West, A.R. Ammons, Robert Lowell, and others. Fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket.

29. (Anthology). Conversations. (n.p.): Rand-McNally (1967). Interviews by Roy Newquist with writers Gwendolyn Brooks, Christopher Isherwood, James Leo Herlihy, Evan Hunter, Madeleine L'Engle, James Michener, S.J. Perelman, P.L. Travers, P.G. Wodehouse, Rachel Carson, Robert Penn Warren and others. Near fine in a rubbed, else near fine dust jacket.

30. (Anthology). Prose, No. 4. NY: Prose Publishers, 1972. Contributors include Paul Bowles, Reynolds Price, Elizabeth Hardwick, William Heyen, Edward Dahlberg, and others. Bookstore stamp inside front cover; near fine.

31. (Anthology). Prose, No. 5. NY: Prose Publishers, 1972. Contributors include M.F.K Fisher, Glenway Wescott, Edward Dahlberg, and others. Bookstore stamp inside front cover; near fine in wrappers.

32. (Anthology). Late Harvest. NY: Paragon House (1991). A collection of previously published poetry, fiction and essays by 38 rural writers. Signed by contributors Barry Lopez, Wendell Berry, Gary Snyder, Donald Hall, William Gass, Garrison Keillor and also including work by Edward Abbey, Annie Dillard, Carolyn Chute, Bobbie Ann Mason, Wallace Stegner, Maxine Kumin, Ann Zwinger and many others. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

33. (Anthology). Parallels: Artists/Poets. NY: Midmarch Arts Press (1993). Three artists, Oriole Farb Feshbach, Claire Heimarch and Lucy D. Rosenfeld, provide work in response to the poetry of several dozen women writers including Jorie Graham, Gwendolyn Brooks, Margaret Atwood, Rita Dove, Joy Harjo, May Sarton, Joyce Carol Oates, Colette Inez, Anne Sexton, Alice Walker, Adrienne Rich, Marge Piercy and many others. Quarto; fine in wrappers.

34. (Anthology). Still Wild. NY: Simon & Schuster (2000). The advance reading copy of a collection of short fiction of the American West from 1950-2000. Edited and with an introduction by Larry McMurtry. With work by Richard Ford, Rick Bass, Raymond Carver, Leslie Marmon Silko, Wallace Stegner, Annie Proulx, Tom McGuane, Jack Kerouac, and others. Fine in wrappers.

35. ANTRIM, Donald. The Verificationist. NY: Knopf, 2000. The author's highly praised third novel. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket with a Thomas Pynchon blurb as well as one by Annie Proulx.

36. AUCHINCLOSS, Louis. The Book Class. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984. The uncorrected proof copy of this novel of women in upper class New York society over a span of sixty years, by a writer who was at one time considered a leading American candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature. One light crease; else fine in wrappers.

37. (Autographs). (Various): (n.p.) [1995-1999]. A collection of more than 50 authors' autographs, in the form of autograph notes signed, autograph postcards signed, typed notes signed and one signed bookplate, all obtained by a collector in the course of requesting that books be signed. Authors represented include: Julia Alvarez, Kristen Bakis, Jen Banbury, Nevada Barr, Dave Barry, Nicholas Basbanes (2), Madison Smartt Bell, Pinckney Benedict, Elizabeth Berg, Michael Cunningham (initials), Ellen Currie, Charles D'Ambrosio, Edwidge Danticat (3), Junot Diaz, Stephen Dixon (2), John Dufresne (2), Tony Earley, Jennifer Egan, Jeffrey Eugenides (2), Janet Evanovich, Nicholas Evans, Jonathan Franzen, George Dawes Green, Jane Hamilton, Ron Hansen, David Haynes, Julie Hecht, Peter Hedges, Ursula Hegi, Katherine Hester, A.M. Homes, Thomas Keneally, Andrew Klavan, Dennis Lehane, Jonathan Lethem, Frank Manley (2), Sharon McCrumb, Bradford Morrow (initials), Stewart O'Nan, Janet Peery, Marge Piercy (2), Jane Rubino (2), Richard Russo, Mona Simpson, Robert Skinner, Elizabeth Strout, John Updike (initials), Andrew Vachss, Susan Vreeland, Mary Willis Walker, Larry Watson (2), and Eric Zencey. About a dozen are without envelopes, possibly because they were included in book mailings. One of the two Dufresne signatures is on a split fold; otherwise the lot is fine.

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