Catalog 151, O-R
191. OFFUTT, Chris. Out of the Woods. (NY): Simon & Schuster (1999). Inscribed by Offutt to another writer and his wife: "I walked [Out of the Woods] to write these [Stories]. Hey, here we are in Kentucky, next in France!" Fine in a fine dust jacket.
192. O'HARA, John. Pipe Night. NY: Duell, Sloan and Pearce (1945). An uncommon book by the author of Butterfield 8 and Appointment in Samarra, among others. Inscribed by the author to WEAF radio personality Mary Margaret McBride in the year of publication: "To Mary Margaret/ and how are your/ taste-buds?/ Sincerely/ John O'Hara/ WEAF/ 20 March 1945." Books inscribed by O'Hara are uncommon, although later in his career he did a number of signed limited editions. A fragile book, cheaply produced under wartime conditions, this is a very attractive copy. Some spotting to rear board and fading to spine cloth; near fine in a very good dust jacket with a couple of small, internally tape-mended edge tears.
193. OLSON, Charles. The Maximus Poems. NY: Jargon/Corinth Books, 1960. The limited edition of the first combined edition of these poems, originally published in 1953 and 1956 in a pair of oversize limited editions. One of the most important achievements of American poetry in the postwar era, on a par with Pound's Cantos and Williams' Paterson. Olson influenced an entire generation of poets by virtue of his presence at Black Mountain College in the Fifties, and The Maximus Poems stands as his major poetic work. One of 75 numbered copies; the total hardcover printing consisted of 101 copies. This copy is inscribed by the author in 1965. Fine, without dust jacket, as issued. Very uncommon in hardcover, and especially so signed or inscribed.
194. (ONDAATJE, Michael). Poets Between the Wars. (Toronto): McClelland and Stewart (1967). Ondaatje's copy of this paperback anthology. Signed: "Michael and Kim Ondaatje/ London, August '67." Laid in is a manuscript fragment in Ondaatje's hand (likely used as a bookmark), which reads: "cf. [compare] [Robert] Frost and [Archibald] Lampman as Nature Poets -- show (in [words torn here] etc, Woodcutter's Hut [a Lampman poem]." The anthology is spine-sunned; near fine in wrappers. The fragment is edge-sunned and unevenly torn, about four square inches. An early Ondaatje signature, from the same year his first book was published.
195. ORWELL, George. Animal Farm. [NY: Harcourt Brace, 1946]. The book club edition of Orwell's classic, an allegorical tale of tyranny. Signed by Orwell. Sunning to all board edges, otherwise a near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with some fading to the spine lettering and minor wear to the edges and folds. Books signed by Orwell are extremely scarce.
196. PATCHETT, Ann. Bel Canto. (NY): HarperCollins (2001). Her fourth novel, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize. Inscribed by Patchett to another writer, "with enormous respect. It's a thrill just to write your name in my book." Fine in a fine dust jacket, with a PEN/Faulkner Award label on the front panel.
197. PAZ, Octavio. Viento Entero. Delhi: (Caxton Press), 1965. A limited edition of this single poem by the Mexican Nobel Prize winner, published in India when the author was the Mexican Ambassador to that country. He resigned from diplomatic service in 1968 in protest of the government's bloody suppression of student demonstrations during the 1968 Olympics in Mexico. One of 197 copies signed by the author. This copy is additionally inscribed by Paz to Selden Rodman "con un abrazo cordial" in the month after publication. A mildly sunned, near fine copy in wrappers, in a discolored glassine dustwrapper. A nice association between two major cultural figures of the Americas.
198. PERL, Jed. Eyewitness. Reports from an Art World in Crisis. (NY): Basic Books (2000). Inscribed by Perl to Pauline Kael, "with thanks and love." Kael's praise for Perl appears on the jacket: in what could have been an autobiographical comment, she begins "Maybe all good critics are inspired cranks," and she concludes her blurb about Perl by stating, simply, "He's necessary." Fine in a fine dust jacket, with a letter from the editor to Kael laid in.
199. PIÑON, Nélida. The Republic of Dreams. NY: Knopf, 1989. The first American edition of this Brazilian author's first book to appear in English, her seventh novel overall. Inscribed by the author to another writer, whom Piñon calls "my future friend." Two small spots to foredge, else fine in a fine dust jacket.
200. PLIMPTON, George Ames. Letters in Training. (n.p.): Privately Printed, 1946. Plimpton's first book, published privately by his family and consisting of letters Plimpton wrote home from June 1945 - October 1946, spanning basic training to deployment in Italy. An unknown, but small, number of copies were printed, to be given as Christmas gifts to relatives and friends, and Plimpton was reportedly not happy with the publication. George Plimpton helped found The Paris Review in the early 1950s and became one of the most admired and respected men of letters in America. His participatory journalism -- Out of My League and Paper Lion, among others -- helped usher in the era of the New Journalism, and The Paris Review's support of young and relatively unknown writers, including Jack Kerouac and Philip Roth, made him beloved in the community of writers. This copy is signed by Plimpton and scarce thus: copies of Letters in Training seldom turn up, and Plimpton was generally not particularly inclined to sign them when they did. Near fine in spine-sunned red cloth, without dust jacket, as issued.
201. PRINCE, Richard. Adult Comedy Action Drama. (Zurich-Berlin-New York): (Scalo) (1995). A book of photographs by the internationally renowned artist. Selected by Andrew Roth as one of the 101 seminal photographic books of the 20th century. Prince's photographs have been described by one writer as being "like projections from inside the vaults of the cultural unconscious." Signed by Prince. Note: signed sideways, thus at the usual angle the signature presents as pure squiggle. Quarto; upper corners bumped; else fine in a fine dust jacket. A nice copy, and scarce signed.
202. PROULX, E. Annie. Postcards. NY: Scribner's (1992). The uncorrected proof copy of her second book of fiction and first novel. Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award. Signed by the author. Corner crease to rear cover; coffee staining to front cover and spine. Very good in wrappers. An uncommon proof, especially signed.
203. -. Same title, the Scribner "Classic" edition. (NY): Scribner (1996). Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
204. PROULX, Annie. The Shipping News. NY: Scribner (1993). The uncorrected proof copy of her third work of fiction and second novel, which won both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize -- a rare literary double. Made into a movie, directed by Lasse Hallström, who directed The Cider House Rules and What's Eating Gilbert Grape, among others. Signed by Proulx. Publication date (March 2, 1993) handwritten on the front cover; a couple of tiny spots on front cover, else fine in wrappers.
205. PROULX, E. Annie. Accordion Crimes. (NY): Scribner (1996). Her first book after the success of The Shipping News, another novel. Signed by the author. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a small, blended spot on the rear panel.
206. -. Same title. The uncorrected proof copy. Signed by the author. Small abrasion at the upper outer corner of the front cover, apparently from a sticker removal; thus near fine in wrappers.
207. PROULX, Annie. Close Range. (NY): Scribner (1999). A collection of "Wyoming Stories," one of which, "The Half-Skinned Steer," was selected for inclusion in The Best American Short Stories of the Century, and another, "Brokeback Mountain," was made into the film that won Oscars for director Ang Lee and screenwriter Larry McMurtry. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
208. -. Same title. The advance reading copy. Signed by the author and by William Matthews, who provides the cover art and also the illustrations that appear in the trade edition. Fine in wrappers.
209. PROULX, Annie. That Old Ace in the Hole. NY: Scribner (2002). A novel. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
210. (PROULX, E. Annie). MODICA, Andrea. Treadwell. San Francisco: Chronicle Books (1996). Modica's first major published collection of photographs, with a four-page introduction, a "reliquary," by Proulx. Oblong quarto; fine in a fine dust jacket. This copy is signed by Proulx. Scarce, especially signed.
211. PYNCHON, Thomas. V. Philadelphia: Lippincott (1963). His first book, winner of the Faulkner Foundation Award for best first novel of the year. With elaborate inventiveness, labyrinthine plots and a sometimes paranoid comic sense, Pynchon became the postmodern standard against whom all writers since have been measured. Each of his first three novels won one or more of the major literary awards given out in this country. This is a fine copy in a near fine dust jacket, with a bit of rubbing but none of the typical spine fading.
212. PYNCHON, Thomas. Gravity's Rainbow. London: Jonathan Cape (1973). The first British edition of Pynchon's landmark third novel, winner of the National Book Award as well as the William Dean Howells Medal for the best work of fiction by an American over a five-year span. Gravity's Rainbow secured its reclusive author's place in the postwar American literary pantheon. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
213. PYNCHON, Thomas. Pynchon's Short Stories. Tokyo: Nan'un-do's (1982). An English language textbook with Japanese annotations, edited by Masao Shimura. First and only edition thus, printing two Pynchon stories -- "Low-Lands" and "The Secret Integration." This is the first legitimate/legal book publication of these stories, which had only appeared in book form previously in pirated editions. They were not included in a legitimate book in the U.S. until 1984, when Slow Learner was published. Slight rubbing to rear panel; else fine in wrappers. An uncommon volume. Mead D8.
214. PYNCHON, Thomas. Mason and Dixon. NY: Henry Holt (1997). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel, which was published to extraordinary critical reviews, with more than one reviewer calling it his best book. There was an advance reading copy of this title, in two variants, with reportedly 500 copies of each variant printed. We have been told that virtually the entire edition of these proofs was destroyed, and the quantity extant was, at one point, rumored to total nine copies. With significant textual variations from both the advance reading copy and the printed book, and as such the most significant printed variant of any Pynchon work ever to appear -- the only one to contain a significantly earlier version of the text than that which was finally published in book form. While the textual variations in the advance reading copy were minor, and could easily have been the work of a copy editor, those evident in this proof would have to have involved Pynchon's assent and his rewriting. A bit of creasing to the spine from the binder's glue; else fine in wrappers.
215. RANKIN, Ian. Watchman. New York: Doubleday (1988). A review copy of the first American edition of his third book, and one of his scarcest, written before he had developed John Rebus into a recurring series character. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket with promotional sheet (no review slip) laid in. Scarce in fine condition, especially as an advance copy and signed.
216. (RAWLINGS, Marjorie Kinnan). Dust Jacket Art for The Yearling. (n.p.): Little Brown & Company)(n.d.). Original artwork for the front cover and spine of an unknown edition of Rawlings' Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, published in 1938 by Charles Scribner's Sons (not Little Brown). Incorporates many of the elements that were used in the jacket art for the first edition: the type; the coloring; a boxed illustration with a house in the pines; and, of course, a yearling. Rawlings' earlier books had been published by Scribner, with Max Perkins as editor; the historical record shows no indication that this title was at any time entertained by Little Brown prior to the Scribner edition, and although the title was eventually re-published under other imprints, we have found no evidence of any Little Brown edition. Another, smaller, oddity is that in this mock-up the publisher's name doesn't appear on the spine, but at the lower edge of the front cover, which was not Little Brown's usual practice. 7 3/8" x 8 1/8", on green Royal Crest illustration board, manufactured by Hurlock Bros. in Philadelphia. It's possible that the yellow illustration has faded slightly from its original color; otherwise, fine. Probably unique.
217. REVOYR, Nina. Southland. NY: Akashic Books (2005). Her well-received second book, a novel of ethnic tensions in Los Angeles dating back to the Watts riots of 1965. Inscribed by the author to another writer, in part: "It's an honor to be reading on the same night as you." Only issued in wrappers; front cover splayed, else fine.
218. RICE, Anne. The Vampire Chronicles and New Tales of the Vampires, in Translation. (Various Places): (Various Publishers)(1977-2008). 227 items (plus 16 duplicates), in 19 different languages, of the twelve volumes in Rice's Vampire Chronicles and New Tales series, and including:
- Interview with the Vampire, 45 items (plus 7 duplicates), as follows: eight German editions (2 hardcover); six Spanish editions (1 hardcover); three Italian editions (2 hardcover); two Dutch, two Swedish, one Norwegian and one Russian (all hardcover); two Hebrew (one hardcover, one softcover); and, all in softcover: two Turkish, two Danish, two French, and one each in Portuguese, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Slovene and Czech.
- The Vampire Lestat, 26 items (plus 1 duplicate), as follows: five German editions (1 hardcover); three Russian editions (all hardcover); one Norwegian edition (hardcover); two Dutch editions (one hardcover); two Italian editions (one hardcover); five Spanish editions; three French editions; two Danish editions; and one each in Turkish, Polish, and Japanese (the Japanese edition being in two volumes).
- The Queen of the Damned, 31 items (plus 2 duplicates), as follows: eight Spanish editions (1 hardcover); five Italian editions (1 hardcover); five French editions; four German editions; two Danish editions (1 hardcover); one Dutch edition (hardcover); one Russian edition (hardcover); and one edition each in Korean, Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, and Japanese (the Japanese edition being in two volumes).
- Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, The Queen of the Damned, 1 item, a slipcased set of three French paperbacks.
- The Tale of the Body Thief, 22 items (plus 2 duplicates), as follows: five Spanish editions (two hardcover); three Italian editions (1 hardcover); three Russian editions (all hardcover); two German editions (1 hardcover); one Dutch edition (hardcover); one Swedish edition (hardcover); three French editions; and one edition each in Danish, Chinese, Japanese and Korean, with both the Japanese and Korean editions being in two volumes.
- The Queen of the Damned & The Tale of the Body Thief, 1 item, a combined Russian hardcover edition.
- Memnoch the Devil, 19 items, as follows: four Spanish editions (1 hardcover); two German editions (1 hardcover); two Italian editions (1 hardcover); one Finnish edition (hardcover); two Russian editions (both hardcovers); three French editions; two Danish editions; and one edition each in Portuguese, Japanese and Korean, with both the Japanese and Korean editions being in two volumes.
- The Vampire Armand, 15 items, as follows: four German editions (1 hardcover); two Italian editions (1 hardcover); two Spanish editions (1 hardcover); two Japanese editions (1 hardcover, with the softcover edition in two volumes); one Russian edition (hardcover); one Swedish edition (hardcover); and one edition each in Hebrew, Polish, and Portuguese.
- Memnoch the Devil & The Vampire Armand, 1 item, a combined Russian hardcover edition.
- Merrick, 14 items, as follows: two Russian editions (both hardcover); two German editions (1 hardcover); two Italian editions (1 hardcover); two French editions; two Spanish editions; two Portuguese editions; one Dutch edition and one Hebrew edition.
- Blood and Gold, 11 items (plus 1 duplicate), as follows: three Spanish editions (1 hardcover); two German editions (1 hardcover); two Italian editions (1 hardcover); one Russian edition (hardcover); and one edition each in French, Turkish and Portuguese.
- Blackwood Farm, 11 items (plus 2 duplicates), as follows: two German editions (1 hardcover); two French editions (1 hardcover); one Italian edition (hardcover); one Russian edition (hardcover); two Spanish editions; and one edition each in Danish, Portuguese and Polish.
- Blood Canticle, 6 items, as follows: two Spanish editions (1 hardcover); two German editions (1 hardcover); one French edition; one Portuguese edition.
- Pandora, 17 items (plus 1 duplicate), as follows: four German editions (2 hardcover); three Spanish editions (1 hardcover); two Italian editions (1 hardcover); one Russian edition (hardcover); three French editions; and one edition each in Hebrew, Turkish, Polish and Portuguese.
- Vittorio, the Vampire, 14 items, as follows: two Russian editions (both hardcover), two German editions (one hardcover); three Spanish editions; two French editions; two Turkish editions; and one edition each in Portuguese, Japanese and French.
While some number of these books are true first editions in their respective languages, many more are "first thus" editions, with an equally large number being later printings of said editions, most often with some change such as cover art. One or two of the books are former library copies; a handful are book club editions; a handful have owner signatures; a few have the signature of Anne Rice, but those are of dubious origin. Seventy of the 227 are hardcover copies; all of these have jackets if issued as such. Copies in very good condition are in the minority: most are fine or near fine; on average, the lot is near fine or better. Shipping for this lot will be billed at cost.
219. ROBINSON, Marilynne. Housekeeping. London: Faber and Faber (1981). The first British edition of her first book and her only novel until Gilead, which won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize. Housekeeping won the Ernest Hemingway Foundation Award, a Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Award, and was the basis for a well-received movie; it was also named one of the best works of American fiction of the last quarter century in a survey by The New York Times Book Review. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a fairly innocuous creased edge tear at the upper front panel. An uncommon edition of an important first book.
220. ROHMER, Sax. White Velvet. Garden City: Doubleday Doran, 1936. A novel by the prolific British author of the classic Fu Manchu series of fantasy novels, which were immortalized in a series of films, first in the 1930s and then again in the 1960s. Inscribed by the author and signed with his trademark "$ax." Bookplate front pastedown; spine-sunned; handling to boards; very good in a very good, modestly edgeworn dust jacket with a dusty rear panel. Books signed by Rohmer are quite uncommon these days, especially in collectible condition and in dust jacket.
221. ROTH, Philip. When She Was Good. NY: Random House (1967). A review copy of his third book, second novel. Signed by the author. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket, with review slip laid in.
222. ROTH, Philip. Portnoy's Complaint. NY: Random House (1969). His landmark fourth book, a comic novel and one of the defining volumes of its time. Modest mottling to cloth; near fine in a very near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with a couple tiny edge nicks. Laid in is a computer punch card with the author and title typed at the top.
223. -. Same title, the limited edition. One of 600 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket and slipcase.
224. ROTH, Philip. The Counterlife. NY: FSG (1987). The first trade edition, signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Voted one of the best works of American fiction in a quarter century in a survey conducted by the New York Times Book Review. Of the 22 titles named in that survey, Roth was the author of six of them.
225. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy. Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers.
226. ROTH, Philip. The Facts. NY: FSG (1988). Roth's autobiography. Inscribed by the author: "For Jerry [Mayro] -- All my best -- Philip Roth/ 1993." Mayro owned the Burlington Bookshop on Madison Avenue in New York City. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Although there was a signed limited edition of this title, signed trade editions are very scarce, and are almost always significant presentation copies.
227. ROTH, Philip. American Pastoral. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and one of the series of award-winning novels Roth published in the 1990s that, by general critical consensus, surpassed anything he had done before and elevated him to the front rank of American novelists, and a legitimate candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
228. ROTH, Philip. Indignation. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 2008. The publisher's signed edition. Signed by Roth on a separate bound-in sheet bearing the Houghton Mifflin logo. Fine in a fine dust jacket.