Catalog 101, R-U
308. REYES, Alfonso. Entre Libros. 1912-1923 (n.p.): El Colegio de Mexico, 1948. A collection of book reviews and literary essays from the early part of his career, when he rejected the stuffy intellectual atmosphere of pre-Revolutionary Mexico and helped form the Ateneo de la Juventud, a circle of young writers and artists who studied the latest trends in philosophy and the arts. He later became the director of the Colegio de Mexico, which published this volume, and was widely recognized as one of the country's leading men of letters. Foxing to covers and one stain traversing several pages near foredge; very good in wrappers.
309. RICE, Anne. The Vampire Armand. (New Orleans): (B.E. Trice) (1998). The limited edition of the latest novel in her ongoing popular and critically acclaimed vampire chronicles. Of a total edition of 326 copies, this is one of 26 lettered copies, in full leather, signed by the author. Because of the publisher's policy of only selling lettered copies in a lot with multiple copies of other editions of the title, the true cost of obtaining a lettered copy is greater than the publisher's list price would suggest. Fine in a fine slipcase.
310. -. Same title. One of 50 deluxe copies, quarterbound in leather, and signed by the author. Fine in a fine slipcase.
311. -. Same title. One of 250 numbered copies signed by the author. Clothbound. Fine in a fine slipcase. At the list price:
312. ROBBINS, Tom. Skinny Legs and All. NY: Bantam (1990). The uncorrected proof copy of the fifth novel by the author of Another Roadside Attraction and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, among others. Fine in wrappers, with the publication date changed by hand on the front cover.
313. ROBINSON, Marilynne. Housekeeping. NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux (1980). Printer's proof of her first and, to date, only novel. A subtle story of keeping what matters and escaping from the weight of the rest, made into a moving film starring Christine Lahti. Winner of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation Award and a Richard and Hilda Rosenthal Award. 12" x 9". Several pages have errors excised; the half title that serves as a cover has mild spotting and edgewear; else fine. A scarce state of an important, highly praised first book.
314. ROTH, Philip. Goodbye, Columbus. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1959. The author's first book, a collection of short fiction including the title novella--which was the basis for a well-received movie in the Sixties--and five short stories. Winner of the Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship Award, an award also bestowed on first or early books by such writers as Robert Penn Warren, Robert Stone, Elizabeth Bishop, Edward Hoagland, Ann Petry and, more recently, Ethan Canin and David Payne. Roth has been perhaps the most decorated American writer of the 1990s, with his books having won the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the PEN/Faulkner Award. This is a very near fine copy in a very good, price-clipped and spine-tanned dust jacket with light chipping at the corners and crown.
315. ROTH, Philip. The Ghost Writer. NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux (1979). Two sets of proof sheets for the first novel in his Zuckerman sequence, a title that was nominated for the National Book Award. Both sets measure 12 1/2" x 9 1/2" and are printed on rectos only. The first is marked "Customers Rough 1" and is on regular paper stock; the second is on printer's stock. Included are several duplicate pages from each set. There are instances in which errors have been excised from the text; else fine. For both:
316. ROTH, Philip. Zuckerman Unbound. NY: FSG (1981). Long galley sheets for this novel featuring Nathan Zuckerman, one of Roth's fictional alter egos. 24" x 7 1/2". Printed on rectos only. Fine.
317. ROTH, Philip. I Married a Communist. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. The advance reading copy of his highly praised latest novel, set in the McCarthy era. Fine in wrappers.
318. (ROTH, Philip). Conversations with Philip Roth. Jackson: U. of Mississippi Press (1992). Interviews from 1960 to 1991. Interviewers include Joyce Carol Oates, George Plimpton, Ian Hamilton and Katharine Weber, among others. One of approximately 500 hardcover copies; there was a simultaneous issue in wrappers. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
319. ROY, Arundhati. The God of Small Things. (London): Flamingo (1997). The first novel by this young Indian author, winner of the Booker Prize, and reprinted numerous times. Interestingly, after being informed of her winning the Booker, the author stated publicly that she did not see herself as a writer, that writing this novel was about her past and was now behind her, and that she had no particular intention of writing another. One of the most highly praised novels of the year. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
320. SALINGER, J.D. Typed Note Signed. January 13, 1940. Written to Alexander Cappon, editor of a Kansas City-based literary magazine. 6 1/8" x 7 3/4". Salinger praises the recipient's "new Review... You certainly know how to throw a magazine together. You need only to browse around Brentano's here to discover how superior your magazine is to the other magazines of comparatively small circulation." He then writes: "Perhaps I'll send you some verse one of these days [this sentence is underlined in red pencil]. I don't have any on hand that I like, but I do write verse occasionally." The letter is signed "J. D. Salinger." In January, 1940, Salinger was still an unpublished writer, his only appearance in print having been in the Ursinus Weekly of Ursinus College in Pennsylvania. Salinger's teacher at Columbia, Whit Burnett, arranged to publish a story, "The Young Folks," in the March-April, 1940, issue of Story magazine, which he edited. Salinger's second published story, "Go See Eddie," appeared in December, 1940, in the University of Kansas City Review, the magazine he mentions in the letter. Apparently, Salinger did not submit any verse after all but rather sent a story, which Cappon published. Along with Thomas Pynchon, Salinger has been the most reclusive of American writers despite, or perhaps because of, the huge success of his novel, The Catcher in the Rye. He has not published since 1965, and has avoided all publicity. Autograph material by Salinger is of the utmost scarcity, and an early letter like this, linked with one of his first published writings, and from a time when he was seeking exposure rather than avoiding it, is a true rarity. Fine.
321. SALINGER, J.D. Nine Stories. Boston: Little Brown (1953). Salinger's second book and first collection of short fiction, which some consider even more accomplished than his landmark novel, The Catcher in the Rye, and which was issued in an edition only half as large. The story in this collection that provided the title for the British edition of it--"For Esmé--With Love and Squalor"--is considered by many Salinger's finest work. These stories helped establish Salinger permanently in the pantheon of American postwar writers. Half the page signatures edge-darkened, as is common with this title; small white scuff to the rear board; otherwise a fine copy in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket chipped at the spine crown and torn along the bottom of the rear flap fold.
322. SELBY, Hubert, Jr. The Room. NY: Grove (1971). The galley sheets of the well-received second novel by the author of the classic, Last Exit to Brooklyn. Approximately 7" x 24". Inscribed by the author in 1976: "Let me out!"/ please.../ Cubby" [the inscription is on the first page of the galleys, but is rolled up inside them because of the way the sheets are folded]. Extremely brittle, acidified pages; rolled in approximate fourths. A few edge chips; very good, but fragile.
323. SEXTON, Anne. The Book of Folly. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1972. The uncorrected proof copy of a collection of poems and prose pieces by this poet who was a student of Robert Lowell and who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1974. Sexton's poetry was confessional and often concerned with images of death. She committed suicide in 1974. Dusty and slightly bowed; very good in wrappers. An uncommon proof.
324. SILKO, Leslie Marmon. Ordinary Places. Walker Art Center: Minnesota Center for the Book Arts/Coffee House Press, 1985. A broadside rumination on the ordinary places "which again and again become sites of shallow graves"--a reference to the victims of the kinds of "dirty wars" that form a subtext to her 1991 novel, Almanac of the Dead, on which she was working at the time. One of 300 numbered copies signed by the author. Approximately 10" x 13", attractively printed in two colors on the occasion of a reading by the author at the Art Center. Fine.
325. SILKO, Leslie Marmon and MARMON, Lee. Rain. (NY): Whitney Museum, 1996. An attractive limited edition, with text by Silko and photographs tipped in by Silko and her father, Lee Marmon. Printed on handmade paper at Grenfell Press and bound by Claudia Cohen, the edition was limited to 130 numbered copies signed by the author and photographer and also includes a signed print by Lee Marmon. Quarto in wrappers, with photograph in a paper sleeve. Fine in slipcase. List price:
326. SINGER, Isaac Bashevis. Shosha. NY: FSG (1978). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel published the year Singer won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Near fine in tall wrappers.
327. SMILEY, Jane. The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton. NY: Knopf, 1998. The uncorrected proof copy of the latest book by the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, A Thousand Acres, among others. Fine in wrappers.
328. SNYDER, Gary. Songs for Gaia. (Port Townsend): Kah Tai Alliance (1979). A poetry collection, printed in an edition of 300 copies, signed by the author. Snyder, a Beat poet who figured prominently in the novels of Jack Kerouac, has become in the last three decades one of the foremost exponents of an ecologically conscious "literature of place." His collection, Turtle Island--which took its title from a Native American name for planet Earth--won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1975. This collection, similarly, takes its title from the name of a Greek goddess who in recent years has been associated with a scientific hypothesis that views the Earth as a single, self-regulating organic entity rather than as a collection of largely independent, randomly organized closed systems. Cloth covered boards; fine without dust jacket, as issued.
329. (STAFFORD, Jean). "The Home Front" in Partisan Review, Vol. 12, No. 2. (NY): Partisan Review, 1945. Stafford's "novelette" won second prize in the Partisan Review/Dial Press contest, one year after her first novel, The Boston Adventure, was published. Her Collected Stories won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1970. Inscribed by Stafford at her contribution, in 1975. Spine-tanned; very good in wrappers.
330. STARK, Sharon. Typed Letter Signed. August 12, 1985. One page, single-spaced. A passionate letter to another writer which begins with a simple confirmation of her agreement to give a reading and then launches into a heartfelt and angry commiseration regarding unfair negative reviews both she and her correspondent received in The New York Times Book Review: "...what bites my bones and curdles my heart, is the fact that the Times lets this shit stand. Let the editors edit...Let them demand that a man at least make his case...Let us know what we're dying for." Folded in thirds for mailing; else fine.
331. STEGNER, Wallace. The Big Rock Candy Mountain. New York: Duell, Sloane and Pearce (1943). Stegner's third and most famous novel, and his first commercial success, an epic novel by a writer who over the years created one of the most impressive bodies of work by any American author. Much of his writing was directly related to the experience of the American West, and he is a "regional" writer in the best sense--one who brings the stories of his region to a wider audience, rather than writing only for those who already share his interest in the region. As a writer, editor and teacher, Stegner was among the most influential writers to a whole generation, with numerous students who went on to considerable literary accomplishment and acclaim, including Robert Stone, Larry McMurtry, Ken Kesey, Wendell Berry, Tillie Olsen and many others. According to his bibliographer, "this is Wallace Stegner's big book." Wartime production values, however, dictated that it be printed on cheap paper, and few copies survive in collectible condition. This is a copy of the issue in wrappers which, although the bibliographer states it was "not an uncorrected proof," appears to be much scarcer than the hardcover issue. A common practice of the day was to bind up a number of sets of sheets of the first printing to send out as review copies, prior to the books' being bound in hardcover, in order for them to reach reviewers prior to publication. It is likely that this explains this edition, and it would also explain why the two "issues" were priced identically. A surfeit of these review copies, beyond what was needed for promotion, would explain the fact that copies were used to fill orders as late as 1947, despite the fact that a second (hardcover) printing had been done earlier. A scarce and attractive copy of a Stegner rarity.
332. STEGNER, Wallace. Second Growth. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1947. An early novel by the author of The Big Rock Candy Mountain, one of the foremost American writers of the century, and an important influence in establishing the literature of the American West as a regional genre worthy of national attention. This novel, however, unlike most of his books, takes place in New England. Mild offsetting between two sets of pages where reviews have been laid in; owner bookplate on the front pastedown under the jacket flap; a very near fine copy in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket with a couple closed edge tears, one corner chip, and a few water droplets on the spine.
333. STEPHENSON, Neal. Zodiac. NY: Atlantic Monthly Press (1988). The second novel by the author of Snow Crash and The Diamond Age, both of them powerful science fiction novels depicting a dark cyber-future, which have earned the author a large and passionate following, as well as substantial critical acclaim. This book, which was only issued in softcover, is a humorous ecological thriller, the author's first venture into technological issues. Fine in wrappers and signed by the author.
334. STEPHENSON, Neal. "BURY, Stephen." The Cobweb. NY: Bantam (1996). Pseudonymously published ecological mystery thriller, his second book under this name. Fine in wrappers, and signed by the author as "Neal Stephenson."
335. STONE, Robert. Dog Soldiers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin (1974). His second novel, winner of the National Book Award and one of the best novels to link the impact of the Vietnam war on American society in the Sixties to the dark side of that era--the official corruption and the underside of the drug experiences of a generation. Filmed as Who'll Stop the Rain, directed by Karel Reisz and starring Nick Nolte in one of the first film roles to give a sense of his potential as one of the best actors of his generation. Nolte's character, Ray Hicks, is based in part on Neal Cassady, friend and collaborator with Stone's longtime friend, Ken Kesey, as one of the Merry Pranksters of 1960s counterculture legend. Fine in a fine dust jacket, and signed by the author.
336. STONE, Robert. Damascus Gate. (London): Picador (1998). The first British edition of the latest novel by the author of the National Book Award-winning Dog Soldiers, among others. A densely plotted political, religious and metaphysical thriller set in contemporary Jerusalem, and laying bare the passions that fuel the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East in a way that few contemporary novelists, let alone reporters and historians, have attempted. A finalist for the 1998 National Book Award. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
337. SWADOS, Elizabeth. The Girl with the Incredible Feeling. (NY): Persea Books (1976). An illustrated fable by the noted composer/playwright. Inscribed by the author. Oblong quarto; fine in a near fine dust jacket. Laid in is a card advertising a film about Swados by the same name.
338. (TATE, James). Russell Edson, Bill Knott, Rochelle Ratner, Charles Simic, James Tate. (NY): (n.p.), (n.p.)[c. 1974]. One of 250 copies of this collection of previously published poems, given to the audience at a reading to raise funds for the visit of the head of the Kagyu Order of Tibetan Buddhism. Near fine in stapled wrappers. An announcement of the reading is laid in. Scarce ephemera.
339. THOMPSON, Hunter S. Screwjack. Santa Barbara: Neville, 1991. A collection of three short pieces by Thompson, along with a half-mad letter to the publisher that serves as introduction to the volume. Thompson's first limited edition. Of a total edition of 326 copies, this is an unnumbered copy designated "Presentation Copy" in a calligraphic hand on the colophon page. Signed by Thompson. Fine without dust jacket, as issued.
340. THOMPSON, Hunter S. The Proud Highway. NY: Villard (1997). The uncorrected proof copy of Volume One of "The Fear and Loathing Letters," printing Thompson letters from 1955-1967. Slight spine bump and a couple light scratches; near fine in plain white wrappers. Significantly scarcer than the more common advance reading copy in pictorial wrappers.
341. "TRAVEN, B." The Death Ship. London: Chatto & Windus, 1934. The first British edition of the first book published in English by the author of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Subtitled "The Story of an American Sailor," this edition came out before the American edition, which was lengthened and revised. The pseudonymous and mysterious Traven is most famous for Sierra Madre and for the series of books he wrote set in southern Mexico--the "Jungle" novels--which passionately depict the ruthless oppression of the poor and the Indians of Chiapas, antedating by decades, and therefore clarifying the sources of, the recent political upheavals in that part of the world. This novel, in keeping with the author's political convictions that his identity was of no consequence and that the work should speak for itself, was issued with a one-sentence publisher's summary on the dust jacket (and a few more sentences about the book's success in Europe prior to its English translation); and no biographical information about the author. This is a fine copy in a mildly spine-tanned, near fine dust jacket with a small, faint spot on the front cover.
342. UPDIKE, John. Brazil. Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1994. The limited edition of this novel that is something of a departure for Updike, being far removed from the familiar suburban milieu of most of his fiction. Leatherbound, all edges gilt, with a silk ribbon marker bound in. With a special introduction by Updike for this edition. Signed by the author. Fine.
343. UPDIKE, John. Golf Dreams. NY: Knopf, 1996. The large print edition of this collection of short pieces pertaining to golf and golfing, some of them taken from his novels, the rest from magazines. One of 500 copies signed by the author, according to the publisher, and thus the only "signed, limited" edition of this title. Fine in a near fine dust jacket, which bears the publisher's "Signed by the Author" label on the front panel.
344. UPDIKE, John. Toward the End of Time. Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1997. The limited edition of his most recent novel, published to quite mixed reviews: Margaret Atwood, in The New York Times Book Review, loved it; David Foster Wallace, a self-proclaimed Updike fan, wrote a scathing review of it in The New York Observer. Leatherbound, page edges gilt, with a silk ribbon marker bound in. Fine, and signed by the author, with a special introduction by him for this edition.
345. UPDIKE, John. Bech at Bay. NY: Knopf, 1998. The uncorrected proof copy of his 49th book, subtitled "A Quasi-Novel," and a sequel to Bech: A Book and Bech is Back. Publicity information stapled inside the front cover; slight fading to edges of covers, otherwise fine in wrappers.
346. (UPDIKE, John). LEVINE, David. Levines Lustiges Literarium. (Hamburg): Rowohlt (1970). A German edition of a book of caricatures by Levine, with a foreword by Updike. The U.S. edition of this title was published as a quarto, "coffee table book," whereas the German edition was done as a pocket-size hardcover. Inscribed by Levine in 1975. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
347. (UPDIKE, John). Poster. (n.p.): U. of South Carolina, 1998. A poster printed in honor of Updike's visit to the university and the display of the collection of Donald Greiner. 17" x 22". Featuring an Updike caricature of Santa with the word bubble "Yes, you may display me." Inscribed by Updike in facsimile. Of a total edition of 125 copies, this is one of 25 lettered copies. Faint horizontal fold; else fine.
348. -. Same title. One of 100 numbered copies. Faint horizontal fold; else fine.
A Collection of John Updike Typescripts
The following typescripts are from the files of Art & Antiques magazine, to which Updike was a regular contributor throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s.
349. UPDIKE, John. Typescript. October 22, [1984]. Ribbon copy typescript of an essay on the life of Erastus Salisbury Field. 3 1/2 pages, with numbers in the margin by which Updike references the plates he refers to. With a typed letter signed transmitting the essay and suggesting appropriate illustrations. Fine. Together with a typed note signed from October 9, in which Updike initially consents to contributing an essay for the recipient's magazine [Art & Antiques], as he had done for the magazine Réalités, on the condition that he receive $1500 for 750 words. Folded in thirds for mailing, with envelope; fine. Also together with a typed note signed from November 9, transmitting alterations on his essay with the suggested title "Field's Luminous Folk." He declines an additional assignment: "I have a novel to write, and I'm way behind on my book reviews." One vertical fold; else fine. For the set:
350. UPDIKE, John. Original Typescript, Typed Note Signed, and Typed Postcard Signed. October [1989]. In the typed postcard signed (October 4), Updike proposes two ideas for "artistic meditations": one on a Norman Rockwell painting that hangs above his toilet, and one on a photograph from a 1959 issue of Life magazine. Dating his note in the Reagan-Bush years, he closes, "If they don't turn you on, Just Say No." The ribbon-copy typescript which follows (October 23) is about Updike's most memorable photograph, a 1959 Life Magazine photograph captioned, in part, "Dancing Wahine." 2 1/2 pages, throughout which Updike interviews himself. Together with a typed note signed transmitting the pages and informing the editor that the death of Updike's mother "has put a crimp in all my schedules and good intentions"--a casual remark that belies the depth of feeling his mother's death invoked, about which he wrote elsewhere. All pages folded once for mailing; else fine. With hand-addressed mailing envelope. The postcard is also fine.
351. UPDIKE, John. Original Typescript for "Fun Furniture" with Correspondence. September 1989 - January 1990. Ribbon-copy typescript of Updike's review of the show "New American Furniture." 5 1/2 pages, with holograph numbers in the margins suggesting photographs. Together with a typed note signed (December 9) transmitting the piece and confessing to discomfort both from a cold and from a novel that is "swelling under me like a giant loaf of bread. I've typed such long hours lately that my shoulders hurt and my chest feels squeezed." Fine, with express mailing envelope. Also together with a typed letter signed (September 24) in which Updike had contemplated doing either an article on George Grosz or this piece. He declines doing a piece on Monet for Art & Antiques as he is writing one for The New Republic. He concludes that he will do only one of the suggested pieces, "Lest I do nothing but. I'm really such a fraud at it, really." The letter is folded vertically, else fine. Laid in is the original letter in which the editor solicits the contributions. With hand-addressed mailing envelope. Also together with a typed postcard signed (October 9) agreeing to this article: "Yes, I think the furniture. I'll call them up and arrange to see it. Let's let the Grosz go. In a rush, John Updike." Postal markings; else fine. Lastly, from January 24, a typed postcard signed following the appearance of the article, reading, in part: "And my first sentence is rather unintentionally comic; I don't usually sit upon children." The sentence in print read: "Furniture, like children, should not take over, but wait in its place to be called upon, sat upon, patted, admired." Postal markings; else fine. For the lot:
352. UPDIKE, John. Typescripts and Publisher's File for "The Act of Seeing." March-September, 1990. In a typed postcard signed, dated March 21, Updike passes on writing a piece on Van Gogh, but agrees to his own previously-suggested piece on Norman Rockwell, based on a painting that hangs in his bathroom. "It's quite a panorama, if you look at it, for minute-long intervals of urination, as long as I have." On July 24, in a second typed postcard signed, Updike grants final acceptance to undertaking the piece, and on August 15 he transmits the original typescript, four-plus pages, ribbon-copy. Together with a typed letter signed offering suggestions for the article's presentation in Art and Antiques. Updike concludes: "I am in the business of collecting all my odd literary jobs of the last eight years, and so executing one more has met some resistance." With hand-addressed envelope, on the back of which Updike has penned, "P.S. Maybe the title should be: "An Act of Seeing." There follows, on September 8, another typed postcard signed in which he checks up on the unacknowledged submission "mailed three weeks ago." In holograph, he has inserted the word "over," and concludes, in type, "I thought you wanted it..." On September 14, Updike provides the magazine with an amended typescript, in the form of an additional 2 1/2 pages, 300-500 words to suit the makeup of the magazine. In an accompanying one page typed letter signed, he comments, "I trust that all my extra labor...will be amply compensated from the swelling ad revenues I surmise for your ever bulkier journal." He makes some suggestions for presentation and, in a closing paragraph, adds a personal note of what appears to be advice for dealing with practicalities after the death of a family member of the recipient. With hand-addressed mailing envelope. On September 30, Updike returns the corrected proof sheets, five typeset pages titled "An Act of Seeing," with his holograph corrections and suggestions. Together with a typed letter signed in which he explains some of his changes: "Does the 'say' help? I think it does, even while evoking our national anthem." And he concludes on a more personal note: "I have written a lot about death lately, and would like to stop. Maybe Rockwell is a start." The proof pages have a corner crease around a staple and are otherwise fine, as are the letter and all previous items. Again, with hand-addressed mailing envelope. For the archive: