skip to main content
New York Writers Subscribe

E-list # 134

New York Writers

click for a larger image of item #23699, All Over NY, Atheneum, 1971. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with one short edge tear and a corner crease to the front flap. [#023699] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #29905, Archive for The Wounding: An Essay on Education In 1981, Albee, the three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, was awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Charleston in West Virginia. His speech, on his own education, or lack thereof, and on how one is forever "wounded" by the responsibilities of an education, was published in a signed wrappered limited edition of 200 copies by Mountain State Press, with an additional 50 signed hardcover copies distributed by university professor William Plumley's own Parchment Press. This archive includes:- Albee's hand-corrected typescript of his speech, 9 pages, with "The Wounding: an Essay on Education" listed as a "possible title." Approximately a dozen small corrections in Albee's hand.- an autograph note signed by Albee to Bill Plumley, dated July, 1981, transmitting the above, and asking Plumley to send Lolita back. - an uncorrected photocopy of Albee's typescript, with a copy of the colophon as it is printed in the book.- Copy No. 1 of the 50 hardcover copies of The Wounding, signed by Albee. Fine in a fine dust jacket (and with three extra copies of the jacket, folded).- a copy of the typescript of the (unattributed) remarks used to introduce Albee at the commencement ceremony, with an envelope addressed to Dr. Plumley from "J.P." In the preceding months, Albee's Broadway play adaptation of Nabokov's Lolita had opened and closed after 12 performances (and 31 previews), and the introductory remarks attempt to diplomatically manage Albee's fall from theatrical grace. - four periodicals from the time, each inscribed by Albee to Plumley on their covers: The New Republic (April 11, 1981); Newsweek and Time (March 30, 1981); The New Yorker (March 23, 1981). The latter announces the opening of Lolita; the first three contain reviews of the play, one of which (The New Republic) is briefly quoted in the introductory remarks to Albee's speech. An interesting archive, which documents a noteworthy commencement speech by one of the preeminent American playwrights of the 20th century, at the time that he has just experienced perhaps the most extreme critical savaging of his career. It is perhaps not surprising that the title of the talk, and the book, is "The Wounding" and that Albee takes great pains to express the wounding -- by civilization, by education, and by our own natures -- as something to be grateful for, that distinguishes us as humans, and makes us members of the same "club." The hardcover edition is rare; the archival material is unique. [#029905] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #23698, Box and Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung NY, Atheneum, 1969. Two short interrelated plays. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a slight bump at the crown and even slighter spine fading. [#023698] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #23691, The American Dream NY, Coward-McCann, (1961). The hardcover issue of this early one-act play by the three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, among others. Offsetting to endpages; else fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket. [#023691] SOLD
Boston/NY, Houghton Mifflin/Atheneum, 1963. Albee's adaptation of Carson McCullers' novella. Fine in a near fine, mildly rubbed dust jacket with some fading to the spine lettering. [#023694] SOLD
NY, Atheneum, 1980. Owner blindstamp front flyleaf; else fine in a near fine, spine-faded dust jacket. [#023701] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #29430, Jem, March, 1957 (Jersey City), (Body Beautiful), (1957). A men's magazine, one of the many that sprang up in the wake of the success of Playboy, which had been launched in 1953. This is the third issue of Jem and has a one-liner by Woody Allen, on page 47. An early appearance in print by Allen, from the time (age 21) when he was writing for television (The Ed Sullivan Show; The Tonight Show), and preceding even his stand-up career. His first film wasn't released until years later; his first book wasn't published until a decade later. This issue also includes a (clothed) Tina Louise layout, from the pre-Ginger era. Near fine. [#029430] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #29902, A Day in the Life of Roger Angell (n.p.), (Viking), (1970). The uncorrected proof copy of his second book, a collection of essays from The New Yorker. Angell, a former fiction editor at The New Yorker, is also considered one of the best writers ever on baseball -- his books The Summer Game and Five Seasons are universally viewed as classics. His baseball reporting for The New Yorker elevated the genre of sportswriting to the realm of true literature, in many critics' and readers' opinions. He received the first ever PEN/ESPN Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Sports Writing in 2011. Near fine in wrappers, with a small "45" on the front cover, presumably the copy number. [#029902] SOLD
London/(Melbourne), Heinemann/(Reed Books), (1993). A review copy of the Australian edition, consisting of the first British edition with an Australian review slip tipped to the front pastedown. Age toning to page edges; else fine in a fine dust jacket. [#914719] $35
(NY), Viking, (1993). The uncorrected proof copy of his first novel, which received considerable praise and helped get him selected as one of The New Yorker magazine's "20 best young American writers." Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers. [#914718] $80
NY, Knopf, 2000. The uncorrected proof copy of his third novel. Signed by the author in March 20, 2000, the month after publication. Two small dents to front cover; very near fine in wrappers. [#914727] $40
(London), Bloomsbury, (2000). The first British edition of his third novel, published in the U.K. as a paperback original. Fine in wrappers. [#914728] $30
click for a larger image of item #9189, 19th Century Minor British Poets NY, Delacorte Press, (1966). A review copy of this anthology edited and introduced by Auden. Fine in a very good dust jacket, with publisher's promotional sheet and photo laid in. [#009189] SOLD
NY, Random House, (1960). Several page corners turned; else fine in a lightly spine-faded dust jacket with trace wear at the spine extremities and a bit of creasing to the rear panel. [#019411] SOLD
(London), Faber & Faber, (1933). His third regularly published book, done in an edition of only 1200 copies. Owner name and offsetting to endpapers; the extremities of the spine of the book are worn, with the paper chipping away over the boards. A good copy in a dust jacket chipped at and near both spine extremities and with one open tear at the upper front spine fold. [#001238] SOLD
NY, Random House, (2003). Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#913749] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #31329, A Box of Matches, with Matches (London), Chatto & Windus, (2002). The advance reading copy of the first British edition of this novel whose span of time is the time is takes the narrator to use a box of matches. Fine in wrappers. Together with a Chatto & Windus promotional book of matches with the author and title (and the pet duck) printed on the front cover. All matches present; fine. A bit of promotional cost-saving involved perhaps, as the novel turns on a box of matches rather than a book, though to be fair the first one or two matches in the story are taken from a book, but that was near empty at the start of the tale, hence the box. In any event, an uncommon Nicholson Baker promotional item (that can not be mailed internationally nor by air domestically). [#031329] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #29909, U and I (London), (Granta Books), (1991). The uncorrected proof copy of the first British edition of Baker's third book, nonfiction, a personal essay and analysis of the effect that the writings of John Updike have had on the author. A unique portrait in ideas more than a criticism of Updike, nonetheless a serious meditation on Updike's work and a self-examination of Baker's own thoughts on writing. Sticker residue to spine; corner crease to front cover; near fine in wrappers. An innovative approach to literary analysis, and an important addition to the overall canon of writings on Updike. Scarce in proof form. [#029909] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #14358, Vox NY, Random House, (1992). The advance reading copy of his fourth book, an unlikely bestseller -- a literary novel that takes the form of a telephone conversation between two strangers, a man and a woman, about sex. Fine in wrappers and enclosed in publisher's plain brown paper wrapper. [#014358] SOLD
NY, Dial, (1979). The limited edition of Baldwin's last major novel published in his lifetime. Copy #127 of 500 copies. Signed by the author. Creasing to endpages, else fine in a fine slipcase. [#032552] SOLD
NY, Scribners, (1958). His first book. This novel is set in Berlin in the years immediately after World War II and features Carlo Reinhart, a German-American and an American Army medic, a character who also appears in some of Berger's later novels. Bump to crown, thus near fine in a near fine, spine-sunned dust jacket. [#912264] SOLD
NY, Scribner, (1962). His second book, again featuring Carlo Reinhart, after his discharge from the Army following World War II. Signed by the author. Faint sunning to the cloth at the spine extremities, else fine in a near fine dust jacket with light wear to the edges and folds. [#912266] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #4016, Reinhart's Women (NY), Delacorte/Lawrence, (1981). The fourth of his novels to feature Carl Reinhart, beginning with his first two books -- Crazy in Berlin and Reinhart in Love, written in the 1950s -- and continuing with Vital Parts, published in 1967. Inscribed by the author to his publisher Seymour Lawrence, one of the giants of American literary publishing in the second half of the twentieth century. Near fine in a very good, spine-faded and edgeworn dust jacket. [#004016] SOLD
NY, Simon & Schuster, (1975). A novel set in midwestern America in the 1930s. Signed by the author. Slight spine lean; else fine in a very good dust jacket with a shallow stain at the lower front edge. [#022852] SOLD
NY, Richard W. Baron, (1970). A review copy of Berger's third Reinhart book. Inscribed by Berger to film director Tony Bill "with all the best." Fine in a fine dust jacket with publisher's press release laid in. Also laid in is a print out of John Leonard's review from the New York Times News Service. [#912267] $150
On Sale: $98
click for a larger image of item #21030, Concerto for Two Pianos, Winds and Percussion Santa Fe, Soundings Press, 1989. First thus, a revised, restored edition of the full score and the first time it was formally published in book form: the previous version had been a mimeograph of the score as Bowles originally wrote it in 1949. Fine in wrappers and quite scarce. Bowles's only major, full-length composition, issued on a long-playing record in 1950. [#021030] SOLD
(Anthology)
click for a larger image of item #17706, Prose NY, Prose Publishers, 1972. No. 4. Contributors include Marius Bewley, Paul Bowles, Edward Dahlberg, Elizabeth Hardwick, William Heyen, Robert Payne, Henri Peyre, Donald Phelps, Reynolds Price, Jack Sullivan, and Virgil Thomson. Bookstore stamp inside front cover; near fine. [#017706] SOLD
London, Peter Owen, 1985. The second British edition of this title first published in 1963. Inscribed by Bowles: "For Mary Robbins/ with best/ Paul B./ 17/XII/92/ Tangier." Robbins was a friend and neighbor of Bowles's biographer, Virginia Spencer Carr; Robbins accompanied Carr on several trips to Tangier, and she housed Bowles when he traveled to the U.S. for surgery in 1994. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a small nick to the rear panel. [#017000] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #18839, The Spider's House NY, Random House, (1955). His third novel, about a group of Westerners adrift in the alien culture of Morocco, a subject he explored several times to great effect, and which helped inspire the expatriate travels of the generations that came of age in the 1950s, 60s and after. Owner signature on front flyleaf and top stain faded; otherwise a fine copy in a very good, rubbed dust jacket. [#018839] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #9843, Friendly Fire NY, Putnam, (1976). An advance review copy of this nonfiction work, which was made into a television miniseries. Friendly Fire chronicles the radicalization of a patriotic Midwestern family after their son is killed by "friendly" (i.e., U.S.) fire and they try to get the details from a balky government seemingly more interested in protecting those responsible, but still living, than in honoring the dead. An important book, which chronicles the process by which opposition to the war filtered from the "radical fringes" of society into the middle class mainstream. Spine heavily cocked; otherwise near fine in a near fine dust jacket with one open edge tear at the base of the spine. [#009843] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #32856, Mimeograph Typescript of Points of Destinction [sic] Between Sedative and Halucigen [sic] Drugs 1961. Unrecorded mimeograph typescript of a speech Burroughs gave at a meeting of the American Psychological Association, September, 1961, in New York City. Five pages, including personal and anecdotal experiences, arguing against the broad category of "narcotics" for both addictive sedatives and non-addicting consciousness expanding drugs. Together with a 1964 issue of Evergreen Review in which the speech is printed, with textual variations, including a change in the title, with "consciousness expanding" replacing "hallucigen." The talk/essay was included in two anthologies of writings about drugs, but the Maynard and Miles bibliography lists no separate printing of it, and this mimeograph would appear to be contemporary with the talk in 1961, making it several years earlier than any of the other appearances in print. Also, the term "halucigen" dates it as being prior to the point at which the term "hallucinogen" was settled on as the consensus descriptor. The magazine has a detached text block; the speech is stapled in an upper corner and fine. An unrecorded Burroughs typescript on one of the subjects that was most deeply embedded in his works. [#032856] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #911012, Naked Lunch (NY), Grove Press, (1959)[c. 1962]. The first American edition of this classic novel of the Beat generation, which was not published in the U.S. until three years after its Paris publication, and until a legal challenge to its banning was successful. Such authors as Norman Mailer testified as to the literary value and accomplishment of Burroughs' work. Basis for the 1991 David Cronenberg film featuring Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, Julian Sands, and Roy Scheider. Slightly bowed, lower rear corner bumped, near fine with the topstain bright, in a fine dust jacket with a couple of tiny nicks at heel and a tiny bit of rubbing at the rear spine fold. [#911012] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #32857, Naked Lunch NY, Grove Press, (1978). A later printing of Grove's Evergreen Black Cat edition, first issued in 1966 when the obscenity ban against it was overturned. Inscribed by Burroughs to Peter Whitmer in Lawrence, Kansas, May 22, 1984, "with all best wishes on a memorable visit." Whitmer's notes on the inner covers and a handful of pages: he used this copy when writing his own book, Aquarius Revisited: Seven Who Created the Sixties Counterculture That Changed America, which was published in 1987. Burroughs was one of the seven. Spine creased, corner chip to front cover; very good in wrappers. [#032857] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #24825, The Golden Triangle - The Gold Heart 1988. An original Burroughs painting, which became part of the Seven Deadly Sins exhibition at The Writer's Place, Kansas City, Missouri, in 1993. Acrylic and spray paint on poster board: a gold triangle and heart spray-painted against a background acrylic image of black, blue and gray. Signed by Burroughs. 20" x 32". Mounted and framed to 24" x 36". Fine. Burroughs, whose Naked Lunch, Soft Machine, and numerous other works helped define the Beat generation and redefine the psychedelic novel, also worked in the visual media from the early 1950s on, experimenting first with collages and later with what he called "nagual art" -- art infected by chance, which had the possibility of giving the viewer access to what Burroughs called a "port of entry," an access to a different universe or a different way of seeing our own. In writing, Burroughs adopted the "cut-up" technique, with Brion Gysin, to achieve similar ends: a final product that was, in part, a product of chance or, at the very least, forces beyond the artist's direct control and manipulation. [#024825] $7,500
click for a larger image of item #24504, The Naked Lunch Paris, Olympia, (1959). The first issue of the first edition of his second book, a high spot of Beat and postwar American literature -- one of the three key volumes of the Beat movement, along with Jack Kerouac's On the Road and Allen Ginsberg's Howl. Published only in paperback in Paris by Maurice Girodias' important and risk-taking small press, in an edition of 5000 copies, three years before it could be published in the U.S. Signed by Burroughs in 1996. Uneven sunning and a bit of creasing to the covers; rubbing to the folds. A very good copy in a supplied, near fine dust jacket with a small chip at the crown. Burroughs signed this for a bookseller in Lawrence, Kansas, where he lived during the last years of his life. [#024504] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #32858, The Place of Dead Roads NY, Holt, Rinehart, Winston, (1983). The second volume of the trilogy that includes Cities of the Red Night and The Western Lands. This copy is inscribed by Burroughs to Peter Whitmer, "wishing every success on his Leary biography." Dated May 22, 1984, in Lawrence, Kansas. Whitmer is the author of Aquarius Revisited: Seven Who Created the Sixties Counterculture That Changed America; Burroughs and Leary were two of the seven. In his book, Whitmer recounts Burroughs grabbing this copy of The Place of Dead Roads from him during the interview and reading from page 128. Whitmer's notes on the rear pastedown and perhaps a dozen pages. Spine slanted and slight foxing to pages edges; near fine, lacking the dust jacket. [#032858] SOLD
(NY), New Directions, (1976). His fourth volume of fiction, but only his second to be published in this country. Inscribed by the author to a well-known author and critic: "To Richard Gilman/ with devoted admiration -/ Frederick Busch." Pages faintly acidified, else fine in a near fine dust jacket. [#019670] SOLD
NY, Knopf, 1990. A well-received novel by a highly praised writer. Warmly inscribed by the author in the month after publication: "Dear Irene [Wanner], friend of my youth, good writer, good potter, good chum - Love, Fred/ 4/90." Laid in is a typed postcard signed to Wanner, from six years prior, in which Busch congratulates her on getting into Ploughshares and offers to "write about you to Dorland, if they ask." Busch also has fine things to say about his early publisher, Godine: "I love Godine for much. They did Invisible Mending marvelously, & ditto Too Late American Boyhood Blues, due out from them in August..." The book is near fine in a near fine dust jacket; the postcard is fine. [#031347] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #20630, Manual Labor (NY), New Directions, (1974). The hardcover issue of his third book, and first to be published in this country. Signed by the author. Fine in a very near fine, mildly edge-toned dust jacket. [#020630] SOLD
Boston, Little Brown, (1951). Her first book, a collection of stories. Fine in a very good dust jacket with creasing on front cover and minor edgewear. [#005666] $20
NY, Random House, (1980). The limited edition of this collection of short essays and journalistic pieces. Copy 270 of 350 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in a very near fine slipcase with a strip of bleedthrough from the binder's glue. [#914628] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #912373, The Stories of John Cheever NY, Knopf, 1978. A review copy of this massive volume, which includes all the stories from five of his six previous collections (The Way Some People Live -- his first book, which he declined to reprint during his lifetime -- being the exception) as well as four stories that had never previously appeared in book form. Its publication was the literary event of the season, and the collection won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. A strip of offsetting to the front flyleaf, else fine in a tanned, near fine dust jacket. Laid in is the publisher's promotional sheet, proclaiming "A Literary Event" and a clipped review of the book. [#912373] SOLD
NY, Harper & Brothers, (1957). His third book and first novel, winner of the National Book Award. Minor indent to spine, else fine in a very near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with slight spine rubbing. [#912374] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #24848, The Wapshot Scandal (NY), Perennial, (2003). First thus, a paperback reissue with an engaged and endearing introduction by Eggers noting that while Cheever's stories are well-remembered, his novels -- the two Wapshot novels in particular -- have suffered an undeserved neglect. Fine in wrappers. [#024848] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #14965, Back View From Patchin Place Oil on canvasboard. 19-3/4" x 15-3/4". No date. A cityscape looking out the back of Cummings' apartment in Greenwich Village. [#014965] $11,000
(NY), Soho, (1995). An advance reading excerpt from her second book, which was nominated for the National Book Award. Prints the first chapter. Signed by the author. Fine in stapled wrappers. [#912397] SOLD
(n.p.), Midnight Paper Sales/Hungry Mind, 1999. A broadside issued as Hungry Midnight Number Nineteen. One of 90 numbered copies signed by the author. 10-3/4" x 15". Fine. [#912398] SOLD
(n.p.), Midnight Paper Sales, (2002). Number 51 of 170 numbered copies signed by the author and by Gaylord Schanilec, the printer. Hardcover, issued without dust jacket. Fine. [#912399] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #32760, Falling Man Typescript NY, Wallace Literary Agency, (2006). A photocopied typescript of DeLillo's 2007 "9/11" novel. 398 hand-numbered, double-spaced pages, albeit with one page numbered as though ten pages ("189-199"). DeLillo is known to use an actual typewriter, so "photocopied typescript" does apply, rather than computer printout. At least three pages (45, 46, 54) are supplied twice, the duplicates having been faxed (with the name of the literary agency and the 2006 date in bottom margin): these pages show revisions. Multiple, small (photocopied) hand-corrections throughout. And at least one page (apart from the duplicate pages mentioned) showing text that differs from the published version. Loose sheets, with the title page on heavier paper stock and with the stamp of the Wallace Literary Agency. Near fine. A rare view of a DeLillo novel as a work-in-progress. DeLillo was given a Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in 2015 -- in effect a National Book Award for lifetime achievement. [#032760] SOLD
Berkeley, Black Oak Books/Okeanos Press, 1991. An attractive broadside printing an excerpt from Mao II and issued on the occasion of a reading by the author at Black Oak Books. 7-3/8" x 12-3/4". Fine. [#912409] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #912412, Mao II (NY), Viking, (1991). A novel about the interacting forces of crowds and terrorists, individuals and novelists. Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#912412] SOLD
NY, Knopf, 1976. His fourth novel, which uses the framework of a boy genius decoding a signal sent from a star to examine issues of information: DeLillo's personal favorite of his first six books. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#912416] SOLD
(London), Macmillan/Picador, (2001). The advance reading copy of the British edition. With the publisher's bookplate signed by the author laid in. Fine in wrappers. Uncommon with signature. [#018576] SOLD
NY, Scribner, (2001). A novella. One of an unspecified number of copies signed by the author on a tipped-in leaf. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#912420] $35
NY, Knopf, 1987. The uncorrected proof copy of his first play, in which the figure and ground of unreality and reality repeatedly reverse. Originally published in American Theater in 1986. Small edge tear to upper edge front cover; else fine in wrappers. [#004577] SOLD
NY, Knopf, 1982. Classic DeLillo, a novel that throws into sharp relief the individual, the family, and language, amid the vagaries of international events. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#912421] SOLD
(NY), Scribner, (1997). His masterwork. Winner of the William Dean Howells Award for the best work of fiction published in the U.S. over a five-year period. Nominated for the National Book Award. One of an unspecified number of copies signed by the author on a tipped-in leaf. The dust jacket differs from the jacket of the trade edition by having "Special Signed Copy: Not For Sale" printed on the rear panel in place of the bar code, and there is no price on the front flap. Small bump to lower rear board edge; else fine in a fine dust jacket. [#914900] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #914898, Amazons NY, Holt Rinehart Winston, (1980). A review copy of this pseudonymous fictional memoir of the first woman to play in the National Hockey League. DeLillo's name is printed nowhere on the book, but the text features Murray Jay Siskind, a character who recurs in White Noise. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with just slight creasing near the upper spine. Review slip laid in. [#914898] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #32761, Democracy (n.p.), (n.p.), [ca. 1983]. Photocopied typescript of Didion's 1984 novel, with significant textual differences from the published book. An early typescript, reproducing some editorial annotations and her agent's stamp (Ziegler Associates, Los Angeles), with no publication information provided. Democracy was Didion's first novel in seven years, with two books of nonfiction in between. A post-Vietnam story involving the CIA, it could be seen as a fictional counterpart to her 1983 nonfiction book, Salvador: both tracked the underside of American involvement in Third World conflicts. Democracy was praised for its reportorial accuracy -- something Didion had cultivated in her nonfiction pieces -- but Didion challenged fictional convention by introducing herself as the narrator, the storyteller, and giving the novel a self-consciousness and reflectiveness more often found in her nonfiction than her fiction. 8-1/2" x 11" three-hole punched sheets; light green cardstock covers with title and author handwritten on the front cover; title written on bottom page edges; bound with two brass brads; near fine. An unusual, early state of a major novel by one of the most acclaimed writers of her era, winner of a Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation in 2007. [#032761] SOLD
Franklin Center, Franklin Library, 1996. The Franklin Library edition. Signed by the author. Leatherbound, all edges gilt, with a silk ribbon marker bound in. Fine. [#916100] SOLD
NY, Random House, (2000). Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#911501] $35
NY, Random House, (1984). A collection of six stories and a novella, his first book of short fiction. Signed by the author. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a slight tap to the crown. [#911494] $35
NY, Random House, (1980). His fifth novel. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#911492] $30
NY, Random House, (1975). His fourth book, a historical novel of America at the beginning of the twentieth century, peopled with such characters as Henry Ford, Emma Goldman, J.P. Morgan, Theodore Dreiser and others. Winner of the first National Book Critics Circle Award to be given and the basis for a highly successful film. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#911487] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #32280, Billy Bathgate London, Peters Fraser and Dunlop, 1990. Stoppard's "Revised First Draft" screenplay for the film based on Doctorow's novel, released in theaters in 1991, directed by Robert Benton and starring Dustin Hoffman, Bruce Willis, Loren Dean, and Nicole Kidman. Included is a Paramount Pictures internal memo from the year before, summarizing the novel and weighing the challenges of bringing it to the screen, and concluding, "Despite the difficulties here, if a way can be found to bring Billy's journey to the screen with even some of its force and vision intact, this could make a compelling, classy, big film." Paramount, however, ultimately passed on the idea: the film was released, with a Stoppard screenplay, by Touchstone Pictures. The memo is stapled once and folded once; near fine, laid into the screenplay, which is bradbound in plain blue cardstock covers with a small abrasion on the front and a wrinkled corner on the back; near fine. The title is written on the spine and foredge. An interesting look at Hollywood's take on a classic literary novel, and a look at an early version of the film: difficulties in adapting the material to the screen -- as suggested in the Paramount memo -- led to changes in the storyline that caused Doctorow to distance himself from the film, and presumably contributed to the film's relatively poor critical reception and commercial success. Uncommon. [#032280] SOLD
(NY), Distributed Art Publishers, (2001). A collection of original writings inspired by the work of Joseph Cornell and edited by Foer. Contributors include Barry Lopez, Rick Moody, Howard Norman, Diane Ackerman, Siri Hustvedt, Lydia Davis, Robert Coover, Bradford Morrow, Joyce Carol Oates, Paul West, Joanna Scott and others, including Foer, who contributes both a chapter and the introduction. There was a limited edition and a trade edition; this is the trade edition. Fine, with tipped-in photographs of Cornell's work, in a fine dust jacket. Signed by Foer. [#912504] SOLD
(NY), Distributed Art Publishers, (2001). The uncorrected proof copy. A collection of original writings inspired by the work of Joseph Cornell and edited by Foer. Contributors include Barry Lopez, Rick Moody, Howard Norman, Diane Ackerman, Siri Hustvedt, Lydia Davis, Robert Coover, Bradford Morrow, Joyce Carol Oates, Paul West, Joanna Scott and others, including Foer, who contributes both a chapter and the introduction. Signed by Foer. Small heel bump; else fine in wrappers. The proof does not include the photographs of Cornell's work. [#912506] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #912505, A Convergence of Birds (NY), Distributed Art Publishers, (2001). The limited edition of this collection of original writings inspired by the work of Joseph Cornell and edited by Foer, who also contributes both a chapter and the introduction. Precedes the publication of his first novel by a year. Number 41 of 225 numbered copies, of a total edition of 300. Signed by Foer and all contributing authors, including Barry Lopez, Rick Moody, Howard Norman, Diane Ackerman, Siri Hustvedt, Lydia Davis, Robert Coover, Bradford Morrow, Joyce Carol Oates, Paul West, Joanna Scott and others. An elaborate and attractive production: each piece of writing in the book is preceded by a tipped-in color photograph of one of Cornell's works, and the sheets signed by the authors are bound in opposite them. Fine in a fine slipcase. [#912505] SOLD
Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 2002. The advance reading copy of his first novel, one of the most highly praised literary debuts of the year -- named Book of the Year by the Los Angeles Times and winner of the Guardian First Book Prize, among other literary awards. A film adaptation, done by Liev Schreiber, won the Laterna Magica Prize at the 2005 Venice Film Festival. Signed by the author. In the first issue, red and cream wrappers. Slight splaying to front cover; near fine. [#029309] SOLD
(London), Hamish Hamilton, (2005). The advance reading copy of the British edition, printed from sheets of the American advance edition, with British covers. Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers. [#912516] SOLD
(London), (Hamish Hamilton), (2005). A two-page profile of Foer and his book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, in the British publisher's annual magazine. Signed by Foer. Fine in wrappers. [#912518] $50
click for a larger image of item #29923, The Fixer NY, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, (2004). First edition thus: Malamud's Pulitzer and National Book Award winning novel, here with a new introduction by Jonathan Safran Foer. Foer's subject is the difference between a good book and a great one. Signed by Foer on the title page, where he has added "Introduced by" between the title and his signature. Only issued in wrappers, this copy has a tiny indent and slight splaying to the front cover; very near fine. From the collection of Greg Gatenby, the director of an annual Toronto literary festival, and with Gatenby's signature as well. Scarce in the first printing and signed. [#029923] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #30721, The Corrections NY, Farrar Straus Giroux, (2001). The first issue (pages 430 and 431 transposed) of his National Book Award-winner, in the first issue dust jacket, without the Oprah seal. Franzen courted controversy with his lukewarm response to the book being selected by Oprah for her book club; after the fallout from it, which included his not appearing on her television show, Winfrey went back to her earlier practice of selecting classics, rather than new publications, for her book club. Signed three times by Franzen: once on the title page, once on page 431 (with a frowny face); once on the erratum slip laid in explaining the error (with a smiley face). Fine in a fine dust jacket with the slightest crimp to the crown. [#030721] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #29924, "The Corrections" in The World of FSG NY, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, (2001). An advance audio excerpt from his then-forthcoming novel The Corrections, along with excerpts of ten other books in FSG's Fall 2001 line-up. Cassette tape, signed by Franzen on a small label affixed to the printed cardstock sleeve. Fine. The Corrections won the National Book Award and is consistently cited as one of the top books of the 21st century's "new canon." An unusual advance issue for a literary novel, and likely the only signed copy. [#029924] $125
click for a larger image of item #31688, Plutonische Ode/Plutonian Ode Heerlen, Uitgererij, (1980). A bilingual edition (English/Dutch), with translation by Simon Vinkenoog. One of 1000 copies, of which 100 numbered copies were signed by the author and the translator; this copy is unnumbered but is signed by Ginsberg in 1981. Plutonian Ode was privately printed in 1978; the City Lights edition was published in 1982. Mild edge rubbing and slight splaying to the front cover; near fine in stapled wrappers. [#031688] SOLD
(Anthology)
click for a larger image of item #10846, Spiritual Quests. The Art and Craft of Religious Writing Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1988. The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of six talks given at The New York Public Library by Allen Ginsberg, Mary Gordon, Hugh Nissenson, Frederick Buechner, David Bradley and Jaroslav Pelikan. Edited by William Zinsser. An uncommon Ginsberg appearance. Fine in wrappers. [#010846] SOLD
(Fort Edwards), (ZBS Foundation), (1972). A set of six LPs (long-playing records). With two booklets laid in, including an introduction and an interview (about chai) by Ram Dass and a poem by Allen Ginsberg. Contents fine; boxed rubbed, near fine. [#028746] SOLD
NY, Atheneum, 1964. His fourth book, a massive volume that was also his first bestseller. Fading to top stain, else fine in a very near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with just a bit of shelf wear. [#912602] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #912609, Marathon Man NY, Delacorte, (1974). The uncorrected proof copy. Signed by the author. Ink (printer's ink?) to foredge; else fine in wrappers. [#912609] SOLD
NY, Atheneum, 1960. His third book, set during the Korean War. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with just a touch of wear to the edges and folds. [#912610] SOLD
NY, Knopf, 1957. The first book by the author of The Princess Bride, Marathon Man, and many others, as well as many screenplays (All the President's Men, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, etc.). Near fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket. [#032559] SOLD
NY, Delacorte Press, (1979). A novel of Hollywood, with which the writer was intimately familiar by this time, having written screenplays for several high-profile movies. Mild offsetting to endpages; else fine in a fine dust jacket. [#912615] $30
click for a larger image of item #26741, Wigger NY, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, (1974). The only children's book by the author of such novels as The Princess Bride and Marathon Man. Inscribed by Goldman in 1988: "____ - There's no reason for you to be encumbered with this, my only children's book, except I kind of like it and hope you do too. God bless/ Bill." Fine in a very good dust jacket with several edge tears and a heavy vertical crease near the front spine fold. This is the publisher's reinforced library binding of burgundy cloth stamped in silver -- not, however, an ex-library copy: simply the issue created by the publisher for sale to libraries and as such uncommon without library markings. Illustrated by Errol Le Cain, a Kate Greenaway Award winner, and a fairly early book for him. [#026741] SOLD
Greenwich, Gold Medal Books, (1964). Paperback original. Age-toning to pages; else fine in wrappers. [#912620] SOLD
San Francisco, Momo's Press, 1981. An early book by the Filipino-American author of Dogeaters, among other well-received books. Stories, poems and prose poems. This is the simultaneous issue in wrappers. Inscribed by the author to another poet. Rubbing to the spine folds; minor wear. Near fine. A good association copy. [#028437] SOLD
NY, Knopf, 1998. The uncorrected proof copy of the well-received memoir of the author of Catch-22, Something Happened, and others. This is the first state, in plain wrappers. Fine. [#009325] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #32480, The Autumn Garden Boston, Little Brown, 1952. Later printing of this play by Hellman. Inscribed by the author to Peter [Matthiessen]: "For Peter, on his birthday, with affection, respect & other nice things/ Lillian/ 1963." Near fine in a good dust jacket. [#032480] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #23258, Miss Howard and the Emperor London, Collins, 1957. The first American edition. Inscribed by Maurois to Lillian Hellman in 1958: "This book (a friendly gift of Arthur Cowan) is also the homage of my deep and sincere admiration for the great lady playwright." The story of Napoleon and his mistress, given to Hellman from the author, as a gift of the man who would help Hellman gain control of Dashiell Hammett's literary properties after Hammett's death. Boards a bit splayed and cloth splitting at joints; moderate foxing to text block; a good copy in a very good dust jacket with a couple edge tears and a tiny chip at the spine. [#023258] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #25104, Pure Fiction (NY), Weisbach/(Morrow), 1999. An advance excerpt from Homes' Music for Torching, together with an interview with Homes, a review, and praise for her earlier books. Also includes excerpts of work by Amanda Davis, Scott Lasser and Dale Peck. Fine in stapled wrappers, with accompanying CD, all housed in publisher's tri-fold folder. A highly unusual, multimedia publisher's promotional item. [#025104] $60
(NY), HarperCollins, (2002). The advance reading copy of this collection of stories. Inscribed by the author. Hint of a ripple to the rear cover; still fine in wrappers. [#915143] $30
(NY), Viking, (2006). A review copy, sent to a prominent author for comment. Laid in is a form letter from the publisher soliciting a blurb, a follow-up handwritten letter with the same intent, and an invitation to a publication party, the last of which bears (the recipient's?) doodles. The book is fine in a fine dust jacket. [#027626] SOLD
(NY), Viking, (2006). Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#915144] $40
click for a larger image of item #1604, At the Edge of the Body NY, Holt Rinehart Winston, (1979). Uncorrected proof copy of her fourth collection of poetry. Name in marker half blotted out on front wrapper (presumably the reviewer to whom the book was assigned); overall very good and inscribed by the author "with love". [#001604] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #8584, Half-Lives NY, Holt Rinehart Winston, (1973). The uncorrected proof copy of her second collection of poetry. Jong's breakthrough novel, Fear of Flying, published the same year as this collection, redefined the parameters for acceptable commercial fiction in the wake of the newfound freedoms of the Sixties and the women's movement, so much so that its title became a byword, and a part of the vernacular of contemporary political discussion. Inscribed by the author. Fine in tall wrappers with review slip laid in. [#008584] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #8588, How to Save Your Own Life NY, Holt Rinehart Winston, (1977). Advance review copy of the trade edition. Boards very slightly bowed; near fine in near fine jacket and extravagantly inscribed by the author ( "For ___ - a life-saving book! with love [double-underlined] Erica Jong") and dated in the year of publication. [#008588] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #15617, Loveroot [NY], [Holt Rinehart Winston], 1975. A personalized advance copy of her third collection of poetry. Photocopied pages shot from an uncorrected proof copy, warmly inscribed by the author, and with one poem, "Advice to Myself After Losing My Wallet," crossed out, apparently by Jong. Together with an autograph note signed, on personal stationery, transmitting the sheets and thanking the recipient for some Nabokov books. All items fine in a torn, hand-addressed, postage due envelope. An interesting item from the author of the landmark novel Fear of Flying. [#015617] SOLD
NY, Doubleday, (2006). Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#914193] $35
click for a larger image of item #24745, I Lost It at the Movies London, Jonathan Cape, (1966). The uncorrected proof copy of the first British edition of her first book. Kael revolutionized film criticism with her opinionated, colloquial reviews, her wit, her enjoyment of popular culture, and her impatience with pretentiousness. A generation of admirers and imitators has never quite succeeded in matching the engaging informality and authority of Kael's reviewing voice. A bit of white out inside front cover and penciled name on flyleaf; light foxing; near fine in a very good, proof dust jacket with tape-mended chips at the spine ends. An uncommon book, and an even more uncommon proof. [#024745] SOLD
click for a larger image of item #32811, And Grieve, Lesbia NY, Aardvark Press, (1960). Signed by the author. Apparently the fourth collection of poems by this Mohawk poet, who has also over the years become an important figure as a publisher -- particularly as a publisher of relatively unknown Native American writers -- as well as casting a high profile as both a Native American writer himself and as a gay writer. Near fine in self-wrappers. Scarce: we've only seen this title a small handful of times, and never signed. Kenny died earlier this year. [#032811] SOLD
Marvin, Blue Cloud Quarterly, 1982. A collection of poems. With a cover illustration by Rokwaho. Inscribed by the author to Joe and Carol [Bruchac]. Fine in stapled wrappers. [#025576] SOLD
For notifications of our sale lists, new arrivals, new catalogs, or other e-lists, subscribe to our email list:
*:
:
:

Note: Your email will not be shared and will only be used for Lopezbooks.com announcements.

Catalog 174 Spring List