Catalog 157, H-J
99. HEMINGWAY, Ernest. Men Without Women. NY: Scribner, 1927. The first issue, in the first issue jacket (no reviews on the front panel) of Hemingway's second collection of stories, published the year after the success of The Sun Also Rises. According to the bibliography, the entire first printing was 7650 copies; the first issue comprised 5450 of those. Includes several of Hemingway's best-known and much-anthologized stories, including "The Undefeated" and "The Killers." Top stain a bit dull, minor handling to boards; a near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with mild spine tanning, shallow chipping to the crown; professionally strengthened on verso along the folds and extremities.
100. HEMINGWAY, Ernest and Jean Harlow and Constance Bennett. Minoco. c. 1934. The passenger log for the private yacht Minoco, from December, 1932 to March, 1937. Signed by Ernest and Pauline Hemingway, with Ernest adding their street address and "Key West, Florida." The Minoco was apparently based near Chicago, but wintering in Key West during the mid-1930s. Hemingway grew up in Oak Park, north of Chicago, and it may be this connection that prompted him to hire the Minoco in 1934, despite the fact that he already had his own boat, the Pilar, and had spent much of the summer and fall fishing on it, from a base in Havana. The log has also been signed by Morris [McNeil] Musselman, who co-authored with Hemingway the play "Hokum" in 1921, two years before Hemingway had ever published a book. Hokum was not published until 1978, many years after Hemingway had died, and the manuscript turned up at the Jonathan Goodwin sale. It was Hemingway's only known collaboration. Musselman's signature, along with that of his wife, appear right after Ernest and Pauline's signatures -- a historically interesting fact in light of the date, 1935, fourteen years after the Hokum collaboration, suggesting that the friendship, which dated back to their high school days, had continued over the years. Among other Minoco signers are Jean Harlow and Constance Bennett, in 1933, with Harlow adding the remark, "What a man Dalling" and Bennett adding, "Come and see us sometime" and "Oh Bill your [sic] so sweet." There is a sketch of Harlow laid in, by Dorothy M. Rohn, the wife of the skipper of the boat. Hundreds of other signatures and also many character sketches, tipped in or laid in, most signed "Casey." Stafford Lightburn "Casey" Lambert -- heir to the Lambert Pharmaceutical Company fortune which made Listerine, was an aviator who barnstormed with Lindbergh, was friends with Dwight D. Eisenhower, and dated Elizabeth Taylor, the niece of his friend Howard Young, a St. Louis investor and art dealer. Lambert not only signed the logbook but contributed a number of well-executed caricatures as well. One suspects a further examination of the Minoco logbook would reveal other notable figures of the period. A glimpse of a moment, hitherto undocumented, in Hemingway's life at a time when he was perhaps the most famous writer in America, and also into the brief life of Harlow, the screen siren who died in 1936 at the age of 26, among the other notables included in the book. Leatherbound, professionally rebacked, with a cut jade circular emblem inlaid on the cover. 11" x 14". Near fine.
101. HILLERMAN, Tony. The Fly on the Wall. NY: Harper & Row (1971). Hillerman's second book, a mystery set among political reporters in a fictional state capitol; Hillerman himself had been, according to the publisher, "a longtime political reporter." This is one of his only mysteries that is not a Navajo tale. Inscribed by the author: "How do you show a gun without tipping off the reader? See Chapter Twenty-two" and signed "Tony Hillerman." Hillerman's first book, The Blessing Way, was published in 1970 and although he was a completely unknown author and the book had an unusual subject matter for the time -- a murder mystery set on an Indian reservation, and involving an Indian policeman as its protagonist -- it had sold well enough to go into at least five printings in the first year and be issued in a paperback edition. Clearly Hillerman was hoping for similar success here, although it would be more than a decade before he experienced much in the way of additional commercial success for his novels. Fine in a very near fine, price-clipped dust jacket, mildly faded on the spine. A nice copy of an early Hillerman book, with an intriguing inscription.
102. HOLMES, John Clellon. Get Home Free. NY: Dutton, 1964. The third book by Holmes, whose first book, Go, is considered the first novel of the Beat generation, preceding Jack Kerouac's On The Road by five years. Holmes is considered to have given the Beat generation its name, in a famous essay he wrote for the New York Times Magazine in 1952 entitled "This is the Beat Generation." A blurb by Kerouac on the rear panel of the dust jacket says that this is "Holmes' best book." Signed by the author. Near fine in a very good, spine-faded dust jacket with a short edge tear at the crown and two ink lines to the spine.
103. HORNBY, Nick. Fever Pitch. London: Gollancz, 1992. Both the first edition and the advance reading copy of his well-received first book, a collection of short autobiographical pieces recounting, and reflecting on, the author's life as a fan of the Arsenal football (soccer) team. Basis for a fictionalized U.K. film in 1997 in which Colin Firth played a character based on the author and a 2005 U.S. film in which the location is moved from London to Boston and the sport is shifted from football to baseball. The film inadvertently followed the Boston Red Sox when they won their first World Series in 86 years, and the ending had to be rewritten to accommodate the surprising development. Both the advance reading copy and the first edition are signed by the author, the book with the additional sentiment, written in gold, "If you want entertainment, go and watch clowns." The advance copy has some creasing, rolling and rubbing; very good in wrappers. The book has two tiny spots to the front cover and is otherwise fine in a dust jacket with one tiny spot on the rear cover. A nice set. For both:
104. IRVING, John. The Water-Method Man. NY: Random House (1972). His second book, which, like his first, sold about 6000 copies. Prior to The World According to Garp in 1978, Irving's combined sales were smaller than the first printing announced for Garp of 35,000 copies. Since then his books have been bestsellers upon publication, with first printings well into six figures. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with the spine ends just shy of crisp.
105. IRVING, John. The 158-Pound Marriage. NY: Random House (1974). His third novel, which again had a small first printing and the dismal sales typical for Irving prior to Garp. Tiny dent to front pastedown, slight foxing to top edge of text block; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
106. IRVING, John. A Son of the Circus. NY: Random House (1994). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel. The first page, which contained the Random House catalogue copy describing the book and the author, has been excised, reportedly at the author's request. Signed by the author. All signed copies that we have seen of this title have had the first page removed.
107. IRVING, John. A Widow for One Year. Media: Unicycle Press (1998). The American limited edition, theoretically issued to precede the American trade edition, both of which followed the British limited and trade editions as well as the Dutch edition. Leatherbound, gilt stamped, with an introduction by Irving on gender and structure that does not appear in other editions. One of 1200 copies signed by the author. The first publication by Unicycle Press, issued with a relatively small limitation, at least compared to the Franklin Library signed editions of Irving's novels that had been done in prior years. A fine copy.
108. JOHNSON, Denis. Train Dreams. NY: FSG (2011). A novella, first published in a different form in 2002 in The Paris Review. Signed by the author and dated 9/27/11. Johnson won the National Book Award for his massive novel of the Vietnam war, Tree of Smoke. Fine in a fine dust jacket.