Catalog 146, M
165. MAILER, Norman. The Prisoner of Sex. Boston: Little Brown (1971). His bestselling polemic, which challenged the women's movement and anticipated some of the controversy that prevails today regarding political correctness. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine, corner-clipped dust jacket. This title was nominated for the National Book Award, Mailer's fourth nomination in as many years at that point -- all of them coming in different categories.
166. MAILER, Norman. Huckleberry Finn, Alive at 100. (Montclair): Caliban Press, 1985. The first separate appearance of this appreciation by Mailer, which originally appeared in The New York Times in 1984. Of a total edition of 250 copies, this is one of 200 copies in saddle-stitched self-wrappers. Small, faint spot to rear cover; still fine. An uncommon Mailer "A" item.
167. MAJOR, Clarence. The Cotton Club. Detroit: Broadside Press (1972). A review copy of this collection of poems by this African American writer. Major won a Pushcart Prize for his poetry in 1976. Fine in stapled wrappers, with review slip laid in. Uncommon as an advance copy: Broadside Press was a small Black-owned and operated press in Detroit and while many of their publications are not especially scarce, one seldom sees prepublication copies of them.
168. MAMET, David. American Buffalo. NY: Grove Press (1978). Winner of the Drama Critics Circle Award for the best American play of 1977. This is the scarce hardcover issue; there was a simultaneous softcover. Mamet's first three books were all issued in simultaneous hardcover and softcover editions, and all issued at approximately the same time. The hardcovers were apparently done in small quantities, and most probably went straight to libraries; few of them turn up on the market. Trace top edge and foredge foxing; covers slightly splayed; near fine in a fine dust jacket.
169. MAMET, David. A Life in the Theatre. NY: Grove Press (1978). The hardcover issue of this play. Mild top edge and foredge foxing; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
170. MAMET, David. Sexual Perversity in Chicago and The Duck Variations. NY: Grove Press (1978). The uncommon hardcover issue of these two plays. Slight top edge foxing and mild splaying to boards; near fine in a fine dust jacket.
171. MAMET, David. Edmond. NY: Grove (1983). The hardcover issue. Light foxing to top edge; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
172. MAMET, David. The Shawl and Prairie du Chien. NY: Grove Press (1985). The hardcover issue of these two plays. Boards a bit splayed; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
173. MAMET, David. Goldberg Street. NY: Grove Press (1985). Short plays and monologues. This is the hardcover issue. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with slight edge wear.
174. MAMET, David. House of Games. NY: Grove Press (1987). The screenplay of Mamet's debut as a film director, based on a story he wrote with Jonathan Katz and starring Joe Mantegna and Mamet's then-wife, Lindsay Crouse. Mamet was nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay; the film won the Best Film awards from the London Critics Circle Film Awards and the Venice Film Festival, and Mamet also won their awards for his script. This copy is signed by Mamet. Only issued in wrappers. Fine.
175. MAMET, David. Speed-the-Plow. NY: Grove Press (1988). The hardcover issue of this play about the Hollywood film business, which Mamet knows from much experience. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Together with the Playbill for the Royale Theatre production, starring Madonna, Joe Mantegna and Ron Silver [NY: Playbill, Volume 88, No. 6, 1988]. The play was nominated for a Tony Award for best play of the year, and Silver won a Tony for his performance. Small tear at crown; else fine in stapled wrappers.
176. (MAMET, David). JONES, Nesta and DYKES, Steven. File on Mamet. (London): Methuen (1991). A paperback original; a small critical study of his various works and a brief chronology, biography and bibliography. Fine.
177. MANKELL, Henning. Faceless Killers. NY: New Press (1997). The first American edition of the first Kurt Wallander mystery, and his first book to be published in English. This precedes the U.K. edition by three years. Mankell has become a bestselling author in his English translations, and has opened the publishing floodgates to a host of Scandinavian mystery and thriller writers so that it is not impossible to speak of "Scandinavian noir" as a genre in its own right. Mankell's hero is an aging Swedish detective, as uncomfortable with his own life as he is with the direction in which his society seems to be moving. A depressing angst pervades the Wallander books, and they end up resonating with modern issues that go well beyond Scandinavia and 50-something police detectives. This copy is signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket, with reading group guide laid in. An important English-language debut and an uncommon book signed.
178. MARTIN, Valerie. Love. Amherst: Lynx House Press, 1977. The first book, a collection of stories, by the author of Mary Reilly and The Great Divorce, among others. Only issued in wrappers. Warmly inscribed by the author to another writer: "For ___/ Don't forget me. Valerie." Near fine. An uncommon small press volume by a writer who has since received substantial critical acclaim and commercial success. This title was re-issued in 1999 by Lost Horse Press, and then brought out in the U.K. in a hardcover edition in 2005.
179. MASTERS, Edgar Lee. Skeeters Kirby. NY: Macmillan, 1923. A novel by the author of the classic Spoon River Anthology, this being a sequel to his 1920 novel Mitch Miller. Masters trained as a lawyer and became a partner of Clarence Darrow in 1903; in 1911 he started his own law firm. Although he had written earlier, his first success as a writer were the poems that he published beginning in 1914 under the pseudonym Webster Ford. They were collected the following year in Spoon River Anthology, published under his own name. Masters was almost 50 years old and his career as a writer was just getting underway. He eventually published more than 40 books before he died in 1950. This copy is inscribed by Masters in 1927. Board edges rubbed; very good in a very good dust jacket with a 1" x 2" chip at the lower outer corner of the front panel.
180. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. The Tree Where Man Was Born. NY: Dutton, 1972. A nonfiction book about Africa, with text by Matthiessen and photographs by Eliot Porter (whose contribution to the book is given its own, separate title -- The African Experience). Inscribed by Matthiessen to his parents, "with much love" and signed "Pete." An excellent family association copy. The correct first edition, in brown cloth, in the first issue dust jacket with both the $17.50 price and the introductory $14.95 price, good until October 25, 1972. After the date mentioned, the first issue jackets were clipped so that only the higher price showed; later jackets were unclipped and only had the higher price. Foxing to endpages and prelims; thus very good in a near fine dust jacket with small chips at the spine corners.
181. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. In the Spirit of Crazy Horse. NY: Viking (1983). Matthiessen's controversial and suppressed book about the confrontation between American Indian activists and the FBI in the early Seventies at Pine Ridge Reservation near Wounded Knee that left two federal agents and one Indian dead, and resulted in AIM activist Leonard Peltier imprisoned for life, convicted of the agents' murder in a case that as Matthiessen describes it was rife with government malfeasance. Matthiessen, his publisher, and even some bookstores who had stocked the book were the targets of lawsuits brought by two government officials who claimed they were slandered by the hard-hitting book, which made no bones about its advocacy of the Indians' case. Until a landmark Supreme Court decision upholding Matthiessen's (and Viking's) First Amendment rights, the book was shelved with remaining copies of it being pulped; paperback publication, as well as foreign publication, were blocked for nearly a decade. A significant volume, both for the incendiary nature of its content, as well as the First Amendment battle surrounding its publication and suppression. This copy is signed by the author: "In the spirit/ Peter Matthiessen." Near fine in a dust jacket with a corner crease to the front flap, else fine.
182. -. Same title. (n.p.): (n.p.) (1983). A samizdat edition, pirated during the years that the book was unavailable through normal channels. Signed by the author: "In the spirit/ Peter Matthiessen." Fine in ringbound acetate covers. An unusual and uncommon edition, lacking any indication of a publisher. Several variants of this have shown up over the years, in low-tech bindings and with no indication of the publisher or the source of the book. They are very scarce, and we have seen only a handful of copies. The University of Texas has a copy in their archive of the Peter Matthiessen papers, and this copy came from the author's own library.
183. -. Same title, the 1991 reissue, with a 24-page epilogue that does not appear in the original edition, documenting the new evidence that AIM activist Leonard Peltier was railroaded in his conviction for the deaths of two FBI agents at Wounded Knee, and an afterword by legendary trial lawyer Martin Garbus, one of the country's foremost First Amendment lawyers and the lawyer who defended Viking and Matthiessen in the lawsuits filed against them over this book. Inscribed by the author to his father: "For Dad -The first copy of the new edition (out next month) - don't read it, whatever you do! Much love/ Peter/ Sanibel/ April, 1991." Corners bumped, especially the upper front corner; minor foxing to top edge; a very good copy in a near fine dust jacket with corner tears. An excellent family association copy, with a fine, humorous inscription.
184. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Men's Lives. The Surfmen and Paymen of the South Fork. NY: Random House (1986). A volume about the fishermen of eastern Long Island and a way of life that, in the late stages of the 20th century, appeared to be irretrievably dying away. Matthiessen has spent much of his life on eastern Long Island, and once ran a charter fishing boat off the island in addition to having worked for three years with commercial fishermen, so this sympathetic portrait is written from the perspective of one who, at least for period of a time, shared the life described. Quarto, heavily illustrated with photographs, both historical and contemporary. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
185. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Killing Mister Watson. NY: Random House (1990). A highly acclaimed novel, the first of a trilogy, set in south Florida at the turn of the last century, and based on a historical incident in which a group of individuals conspired to kill a prominent local resident and then cover up the responsibility for the deed. With its elements of class and race conflict, and the implications of development and exploitation of a fragile ecosystem, this novel touches on many of the themes that have run through Matthiessen's writings over the years. Signed by the author and additionally inscribed to his father in the year of publication: "For Dad/ who first took me to Florida a half century ago, and who first told me about Mr. Watson. With many thanks and much love/ Peter." Spine slant, foxing to page edges and lower board edges; about near fine in a near fine dust jacket. About as good an association copy as one could ask for.
186. MATTHIESSEN, Peter and FRANK, Mary. Shadows of Africa. New York: Harry N. Abrams (1992). Paintings of African wildlife by Frank with text by Matthiessen, some of which is taken from previous books. Attractively illustrated in both black and white and color. Signed by Matthiessen. Oblong quarto; one corner tapped, still fine in a fine dust jacket. A beautiful book.
187. McCAMMON, Robert R. Swan Song. Arlington Heights: Dark Harvest, 1989. The first limited edition, and the first hardcover edition of this novel that won the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel when it was first published as a paperback original in 1987 -- one of three times McCammon has won the Stoker Award. Issued in an edition of 650 numbered copies, this copy is designated "P/C." Signed by McCammon and by the illustrator Charles Lang. Fine in a fine dust jacket and slipcase.
188. McCAMMON, Robert R. They Thirst. Arlington Heights: Dark Harvest, 1991. The first limited edition, and the first American hardcover edition of this vampire novel originally published in 1981. Reportedly this is a title that McCammon deliberately keeps out of print these days. Issued in an edition of 500 numbered copies, this copy is designated "P/C." Signed by McCammon and by the illustrators Charles and Wendy Lang. Fine in a fine dust jacket and slipcase.
189. McCARTHY, Cormac. Suttree. NY: Random House (1979). A review copy of his fourth book, which many considered his best, at least until the Border Trilogy and then The Road (and some even still). Suttree sold fewer than 3000 copies in the original edition. This copy has a review slip, an author photo, and a promotional letter from the publisher laid in, which quotes Ralph Ellison on The Orchard Keeper, Robert Coles on Outer Dark, and Anatole Broyard on Child of God, the three books of McCarthy's that preceded this. Boards a bit dusty; else fine in a fine dust jacket with a corner crease to the front flap. An uncommon book, and especially so as an advance copy.
190. McCARTHY, Cormac. The Road. (London): Picador (2006). The first British edition of McCarthy's most recent novel, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and one of the most highly praised novels of recent years. This copy is signed by McCarthy on a plain publisher's bookplate affixed to the title page. A small number of copies were issued by McCarthy's British publisher with signed bookplates, and they are the only "signed copies" of this book that seem to have turned up so far: McCarthy, who has always been reticent about signing books, reportedly made it known that he was not going to make himself available to sign copies of this book at all. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
191. (McCLANAHAN, Ed). The Art of the Sideshow. Lexington: University of Kentucky, 1997. McClanahan provides the introduction for this catalog of an art exhibition devoted to the theme of the circus sideshow. One of 100 numbered copies signed by McClanahan. Stapled wrappers; fine.
192. McCULLERS, Carson. The Member of the Wedding. (NY): New Directions (1951). The play version, adapted by McCullers from her own novel. Winner of the New York Drama Critics' Prize as the best play of the 1950 season. A bit of offsetting to endpages; near fine in a fine dust jacket. A very nice copy of this play.
193. McMURTRY, Larry. Horseman, Pass By. NY: Harper (1961). McMurtry's first book, one of A.C. Greene's "50 best books on Texas," basis for the movie Hud, and winner of the Jesse H. Jones Award from the Texas Institute of Letters for the best novel of the year. Horseman, Pass By, which takes its title from the closing lines of William Butler Yeats's poem "Under Ben Bulben" (as did Mary McCarthy's first novel, Cast a Cold Eye), was a breakthrough in Texas literature and in regional literature in general: by telling a raw, unadulterated story entirely fitting to its contemporary West Texas setting, McMurtry not only brought the regional novel out of its quaint gentility but gave it a universality it could not have had otherwise; it has been called a West Texas Catcher in the Rye, with the caveat that the lives of Texans in general were a little more crude than those of the Easterners in Salinger's novel. Faint foxing to foredge and endpages; still a very near fine copy in a very near fine, lightly rubbed, price-clipped dust jacket.
194. McMURTRY, Larry. It's Always We Rambled. An Essay on Rodeo. NY: Frank Hallman, 1974. Inscribed by McMurtry to a noted Texas bookman: "This is an unfortunate mistake of mine. I suspect the limitation is erroneous./ Larry McMurtry." McMurtry doesn't indicate in which direction he believes the limitation statement errs, and this is the only time we have heard such a suggestion about this title. The stated limitation is 300 copies, each signed by the author, and while it can be assumed that like most limited editions there may have been a small print overrun to protect against damaged copies, etc., we have not heard of this book having had a significantly different number of copies than the limitation, and the fact that they were numbered seems to argue against the actual number and the limitation being very different. This is copy number 247. Fine without dust jacket, as issued.
195. McMURTRY, Larry. Terms of Endearment. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1975. Inscribed by the author, again to a noted Texas bookman: "For ___/ My own favorite -- / Larry." The film version of this novel won five Academy Awards: Best Picture; Best Director and Screenplay (both James L. Brooks); Best Actress and Supporting Actor (Shirley Maclaine and Jack Nicholson). Pages browned with age, although much less than is usual for this title; a few pages have a tiny nick at the top edge; still fine in a fine dust jacket.
196. McMURTRY, Larry. Texasville. NY: Simon & Schuster (1987). The sequel to his acclaimed third novel, The Last Picture Show, returning to the same locale some twenty years later. The Last Picture Show was published in 1968, and the movie version of it was one of the defining films of a generation. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
197. McMURTRY, Larry. Anything for Billy. NY: Simon & Schuster (1988). A novel, and a volume in McMurtry's ongoing effort to re-mythologize the American West by turning some of the more popular and misleading myths on their heads, and replacing them with versions which lend themselves to a greater understanding and insight than the simplistic cowboys-and-Indians tales fed to earlier generations. This volume focuses on the legend of Billy the Kid. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
198. -. Same title. NY: Simon & Schuster (n.d.). An advance copy, in the form of bound photocopied typescript, 8 1/2" x 11", with the author's corrections in evidence. Tapebound in wrappers indicating distribution to only eight named recipients. Mild creasing and handling; near fine. An interesting glimpse at the novel while it was still a work-in-progress, this copy apparently intended for in-house use by the publisher.
199. McPHEE, John. Pieces of the Frame. NY: FSG (1975). A collection of short pieces, which likely had a smaller print run than other McPhee titles from the same period. Made even more uncommon by virtue of its flimsy, "perfect-bound" construction, whereby the pages, rather than being sewn in signatures, are glued, one-by-one, to the spine. This copy is signed by the author and additionally inscribed: "For ___ ____/ with regards from John, the uncle/brother/in-law of his friends the Potomac McPhees." Tiny spot lower edge of text block (not a remainder mark); else fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a crease to the rear flap.
200. McPHEE, John. The Fair of San Gennaro. Portland: Press-22 (1981). McPhee's first signed limited edition and his only "book" of fiction, a story that was originally published in magazine form in 1961, four years before his first book. Published here with a new "Author's Note" by McPhee. Of a total edition of 250 copies, this is one of 50 Roman-numeraled copies bound in cloth and marbled paper boards, in a cloth slipcase. Signed by the author. Fine.
201. -. Same title, one of 200 numbered copies in cloth and marbled paper boards, issued without a slipcase. Fine. Very uncommon these days, in either issue.
202. McPHEE, John. Riding the Boom Extension. Worcester: Metacom, 1983. The first book publication of this piece, which first appeared in The New Yorker and was eventually reprinted in Table of Contents. Of a total edition of 176 copies, this is one of 150 numbered copies in saddle-stitched marbled paper self-wrappers. Signed by the author. Fine.
203. MILLER, Henry. Autograph Letter Signed. August 28, 1944. A full page written to Jay Bradley, apparently a fan of Miller's art work and with text concerning Miller's career as an artist. "If you can mat them [Miller's paintings] and hang them somewhere I'd like that. I like to think someone is looking at them - so that they can look too - the pictures, I mean." Also: "Do you know Max Ernst well? I wish Max could like my water colors. I admire his work so much." He mentions having just sent 75 watercolors to London for a show there. Approximately 200 words total. Signed "Henry Miller" and on Henry Miller stationery. Folded for mailing; else fine. With mailing envelope which contains an additional sentence on verso.
204. MILLER, Henry. Painting. 1946. Watercolor of vaguely female serpentine figures around a doodled chaotic center, veering toward the abstract as Miller frequently did., but with plenty of recognizable visual components -- a house, a moon, a star, etc. An interesting image, and a fairly early painting by him: Miller had been painting since the 1930s at least and in 1943 earned $1400 from the sale of his paintings -- a not-insignificant sum. As the letter above shows, he had a large number of paintings in a show, and presumably for sale, in London the following year. Still, these days, most of the Miller artwork that appears on the market dates from the 1960s or 1970s. Paintings from the 1940s are uncommon. Signed "Henry Miller - 4/46." 10 1/2" x 11 1/4", matted and framed to 22" x 22 1/2". Fine.
205. MILLER, Henry. Painting. 1952. An abstracted tropical scene in crayon, pen and watercolor, with a female figure in the foreground waving and a smaller male figure in the background riding a horse, all of it surrounded by tropical vegetation. Apparently this was to some extent a collaboration by Miller with his children as it is signed by Miller: "By Tony, Val and Henry - 1952." His children, Valentine and Tony, would have been ages 7 and 4, respectively, in 1952. 11 1/2" x 12", matted and framed to 19" x 20". Fine.
206. MILLER, Henry. Painting. 1954. Possible self-portrait, a nighttime scene with a male and female outside of an abstract cubist-appearing structure in front of a church. Watercolor. Apparently a collaboration between Miller and his then 8- or 9-year old daughter Valentine, as it is signed by Miller: "Daddy and Val Miller 1954." Additionally inscribed in Miller's hand: "For Melanie Van Gelre[?]." It's not clear who Melanie was, although she may have been a childhood friend of Val's, given that the two collaborated on a picture for her. 9 1/2" x 6 3/4". Matted and framed to 16 1/2" x 14". Fine.
207. MILLER, Henry. To Paint is to Love Again. Alhambra: Cambria Books (1960). An important essay on painting, illustrated with color reproductions of fourteen of Miller's artworks. Issued in a trade hardcover, a wrappered issued, and a limited edition of 50 copies, this is an out of series copy of the limited edition and is signed by Miller. Extremely scarce: the limitation of 50 copies would be one of Miller's scarcest editions; presumably there were even fewer extra "out of series" copies. Minor foxing to page and board edges; near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
208. MILLER, Henry. Painting. 1963. A clarinet recital. Watercolor, titled "De la Musique Avant Tout [Music Above All]." Miller once wrote (in Cosmological Eye), "I prefer music above all the arts, because it is so absolutely sufficient unto itself and because it tends toward silence." Captioned: "1963. Tony a Las Lomas," possibly indicating it as a portrait of Tony Miller, Henry's son, playing. Inscribed: "For Melanie - Happy Birthday/ Henry Miller." 11" x 14 1/4". Matted and framed to 18" x 21 1/2". Previously folded in half; else fine.
209. MILLER, Henry. Lithograph with Watercolor. 1973. An image of a figure labeled "Hoki Doki" (Miller's fifth and final wife was Hiroko "Hoki" Tokudo), next to a green visage inside a birdcage and above a fish out of water and a Japanese text. Issued in a limitation of 150 numbered copies, each watercolored by hand and signed by Miller. 7 3/4" x 10 3/4". Matted and framed to 17 1/4" x 20 1/2". Fine.
210. MITCHELL, Joseph. My Ears Are Bent. NY: Sheridan House (1938). The first book by the legendary writer for The New Yorker, consisting of material he wrote before he worked there, most of which was published in two New York newspapers, the Herald Tribune and the World-Telegram. Mitchell made his reputation at The New Yorker writing profiles of quirky and interesting people and places in the city, often on the fringes of society as opposed to the rich-and-famous, and these early writings of his set the stage for his later, more famous works, such as the pieces from The New Yorker in McSorley's Wonderful Saloon and Old Mr. Flood. Owner name to front flyleaf; minor wear and concavity to spine; very good in a good dust jacket with chips at the corners and separating at the folds. A very scarce book in any form, as Mitchell did not allow it to be reprinted during his lifetime, and especially scarce in dust jacket.
211. MITCHELL, Joseph. Old Mr. Flood. NY: Duell Sloan Pearce (1948). Three stories of New York and New Yorkers that originally appeared in The New Yorker magazine during the war. Signed by the author. Offsetting to the endpages; cloth sunned at the tip of the spine crown; else fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a couple short, closed edge tears. A very nice copy of a not very well made book, which bears the markings of the postwar era in its use of thin, acidic paper for both the dust jacket and the text block.
212. (MORRISON, Toni). BERGMAN, Robert. A Kind of Rapture. NY: Pantheon, 1998. Color photographs by Bergman, portraits of people met on the street, introduced by Morrison with "The Fisherwoman," about one's relationship to strangers. This copy is signed by Morrison. Afterword by Meyer Schapiro. Quarto, an attractive volume, with stunning photographs reportedly taken with simple, amateur equipment. Fine in a fine dust jacket.