Catalog 102, V-Z
366. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. The Sirens of Titan. (NY): Dell (1959). Vonnegut's second book, a paperback original, published seven years after his first, during which time Player Piano had been issued by the Doubleday Book Club and then reissued as the sci-fi paperback Utopia 14. The publication and marketing of this admittedly space-placed satire as science fiction kept Vonnegut from being recognized as the earth-centered writer he is for years. Slight spine slant and some spine creasing; a very bright, near fine copy.
367. -. Same title, the second British edition (London: Transworld/Corgi, 1964), the paperback reprint. Signed by the author. Spine and rear cover creased; very good in wrappers.
Proof Copy of God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
368. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Or Pearls Before Swine. NY: HRW (1965). The uncorrected proof copy of Vonnegut's sixth book, one of the novels that began earning him a small but passionate following in the mid-1960s, before his breakthrough to the status of "major author," which came when Slaughterhouse-Five was published. This is the earliest state of the proof: tall sheets ringbound in blue wrappers, printed on rectos only. Cardstock covers abraded and spotted; very good. The later issue proof, also ringbound, was in beige wrappers. This copy is signed by the author in 1996, with a self- caricature. One of the earliest Vonnegut proofs we have seen, possibly the earliest.
369. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. Player Piano. NY: HRW (1966). The hardcover reissue of his first book, a satire on automation and the Electronics Age, on the order of Orwell's 1984. First published in 1952, the title was first reissued as a Bantam paperback in 1954 under the title Utopia 14. This reissue was done in the Sixties as Vonnegut's popularity was soaring after the publication of a string of books that became contemporary classics--The Sirens of Titan, Cat's Cradle, and God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. Very near fine in like dust jacket. Signed by the author. A very nice copy of an uncommon edition of this important first book.
370. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Palm Sunday. NY: Delacorte (1981). The uncorrected proof copy. Autobiographical writings, speeches, articles, essays and fiction. The text includes Vonnegut's own report card on his published work to this book: Slaughterhouse-Five and Cat's Cradle get the only A-pluses; Palm Sunday gets a C. Signed by the author. Near fine in wrappers.
371. (VONNEGUT, Kurt). SEXTON, Anne. Transformations. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1971. Vonnegut provides a foreword about Sexton, himself, fairy tales, and Indianapolis. "[Anne Sexton] domesticates my terror, examines it and describes it, teaches it some tricks which will amuse me, then lets it gallop wild in my forest once more. She does this for herself, too, I assume. Good for her." Signed twice by Vonnegut, once on the half-title and, in a different pen, on the rear flyleaf in 1994. Fine in a near fine, edge-sunned dust jacket.
372. (VONNEGUT, Kurt). KLINKOWITZ, Jerome and SOMER, John. The Vonnegut Statement. (n.p.): Delacorte/Lawrence (1973). Second printing of this collection of essays about Vonnegut. Signed by Vonnegut on a bookplate. Spots to flyleaf; else fine in a near fine dust jacket.
373. (VONNEGUT, Kurt). DAVIS, Paul. Faces. (NY): (Friendly Press) (1985). A large quarto on the art of Paul Davis, with an introduction by Vonnegut. Fine in a fine dust jacket, and signed by Vonnegut.
374. WAKOSKI, Diane. Virtuoso Literature for Two and Four Hands. Garden City: Doubleday, 1975. A review copy of the hardcover issue of this collection of poems. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket, with review slip laid in.
375. -. Same title, a review copy of the issue in wrappers. Inscribed by the author, "with hopes the moon/ will roll off yr. tongue/ and illuminate yr/ words." Fine in wrappers.
376. (WAKOSKI, Diane). The Falcon 2/3. Mansfield: (Mansfield State College) (1971). Poetry by and an interview with Wakoski. Also an interview with Ronald Sukenick. Signed by Wakoski and Sukenick. Spine-faded; near fine in wrappers.
377. WALKER, Alice. Typed Note Signed. October 3, 1983. A brief note, declining to contribute to a magazine "because of a full schedule that is fixed thriugh [sic] Fall of 1984..." Folded in thirds for mailing; one small, faint corner spot; else fine.
378. WALKER, Alice. The Same River Twice. NY: Scribner (1996). The advance reading copy of this memoir by the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Color Purple, among others. This volume includes much material about the process of filming the screen adaptation of The Color Purple, including a lengthy alternate screenplay segment, and much about Walker's own thoughts, and doubts, about the project. Fine in wrappers.
379. WALKER, Mary Willis. Under the Beetle's Cellar. NY: Doubleday (1995). A thriller by the author of Zero at the Bone and the Edgar Award-winning The Red Scream. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket with a small nick at the base of the spine.
380. WALTERS, Minette. The Ice-House. NY: St. Martin's (1992). The first American edition of her highly acclaimed and award-winning first book. Fine in a near fine dust jacket unprofessionally touched up at the spine extremities.
381. WARREN, Robert Penn. Have You Ever Eaten Stars? NY: Random House (1980). The uncorrected proof copy. Poems 1979-1980. Fine in wrappers.
382. WATERS, Frank. People of the Valley. NY: Farrar & Rinehart (1941). The fourth novel by this writer whose fiction helped define western and southwestern literature and give those regional literatures their own unique identities within the modern American tradition. Inscribed by the author. Darkening to cloth and endpages; very good in a dust jacket with a few small edge chips and rubbed and fragile folds.
383. WELCH, Lew. Early Summer Hermit Song. [n.p.: n.p., n.d.]. A broadside poem by this important San Francisco poet, whose work, like that of his friend Gary Snyder, spanned the gap between the Beat movement and the later 1960s counterculture. 20" x 13". Illustrated and signed by W. Weber. Fine.
384. WELLS, H.G. The Invisible Man. London: Pearson, 1897. Perhaps the most famous of Wells's early, influential "scientific romances," which gave birth to the field of science fiction and which were credited by George Orwell with opening up the possibility for speculative literature to effectively explore the possible futures in store for humankind. Cloth moderately faded on spine, and slight wear to the extremities there; endpapers darkening and front hinge starting; still about a near fine copy, in the invisible dust jacket. A nice copy of a scarce and important novel, basis for the 1933 film classic.
1 of 50 Signed Copies, Unauthorized Edition
385. WELSH, Irvine. Filth. London: Jonathan Cape (1998). The "obscene" limited edition of this novel by the author of Trainspotting. One of 50 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in two varying dust jackets; the outer jacket (which has the statement of limitation on the front flap) bears two dozen pornographic images and the disclaimer, also on the front flap, that this edition is not authorized by the author or the publisher.
386. WHITE, E.B. Charlotte's Web. NY: Harper & Brothers (1952). The second of his children's books and White's most famous book, a classic that has stayed in print continuously for nearly a half-century and was also the basis for a highly successful animated film. White was a poet and humorist before beginning a decades-long career as an essayist at The New Yorker, helping to give that magazine its reputation for clarity, urbanity and fine writing. His children's books are the only fiction that he wrote, and they have been much-loved over the years by children and adults alike, for their sensitive characterizations and their depictions of the bittersweet pain of life and loss. Charlotte's Web tells the story of a child's pet pig and its close friend, the spider, Charlotte, and in so doing explores the nature of friendship and the value of a life well-lived, in service of others, however truncated. This copy has a short scuff to the front cloth and a small bit of foxing to the top edge; otherwise this is a fine copy in a price-clipped dust jacket with ever so slight tanning to the spine and a very tiny nick at the lower rear spine fold; else also fine. A very nice copy of a book that is not only uncommon in the first edition but which, because it tended to be read and handled by children, tends to show up in quite worn condition when firsts do appear.
387. WHITE, E.B. The Second Tree from the Corner. London: Hamish Hamilton (1954). The first British edition of this collection of essays, stories and poems by one of the finest American essayists of the century, the author of such children's classics as Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little. A fine copy in a very good dust jacket with modest edgewear and minor dust-soiling.
388. WHITE, Edmund. Skinned Alive. NY: Knopf, 1995. The first American edition of this collection of stories by the author of A Boy's Own Story, among others. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
389. WHITE, Edmund. The Farewell Symphony. NY: Knopf, 1997. The first American edition of the third volume in White's autobiographical trilogy. One of an unspecified number of copies signed by the author on a tipped-in leaf. Fine in a fine dust jacket bearing the publisher's "Signed by the Author" sticker.
390. WHITE, Michael C. A Brother's Blood. (NY): HarperCollins (1996). The author's first book, a well-received literary mystery. Signed by the author in the year of publication. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Wallace Stegner blurb.
391. WHITE, Randy Wayne. Sanibel Flats. NY: St. Martin's Press (1990). The first in the author's highly praised Doc Ford mystery series, and his first book to be published in hardcover and under his own name. Inscribed by the author in 1993. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Peter Matthiessen blurb.
392. WIDEMAN, John Edgar. Philadelphia Fire. NY: Holt (1990). A novel based on the Philadelphia Police Department's bombing of the radical African-American group MOVE's headquarters in a bloody standoff that leveled a city block. Winner of the PEN Faulkner Award, the second of Wideman's books to receive that award. Fine in a fine dust jacket, and signed by the author.
393. -. Another copy. Fine in a fine dust jacket and inscribed by the author.
394. WILLOCKS, Tim. Bloodstained Kings. NY: Random House (1997). The advance reading copy of the first American edition of the author's second book, a literary thriller, as was his earlier novel, the highly praised Green River Rising. Fine in wrappers.
395. WOIWODE, Larry. Typescript for "Wood in the Regional Grain." Undated. [1988]. An article on the landscapes of Grant Wood. Fourteen pages, dot-matrix computer printout, with six additional pages of revisions. With holograph corrections, but whether in the hand of the author or an editor is uncertain. Together with a typed note signed transmitting the piece and the contract signed at the commissioning of the piece. Shallow corner creasing; else fine, with hand-addressed envelope. Also together with an autograph note signed from a time after the piece was completed, thanking the editor for the gift of a book on Grant Wood and adding, "Let me know if I get any hate mail." Folded in half; else fine, with envelope.
396. WOLFE, Tom. The Right Stuff. (n.p.): (FSG) (1973). The printer's sample pages. One sheet, folded in half, printing three pages of text, numbered pp. 3, 56-57, but with contiguous text. Fine. Together with the proof of a trial dust jacket design which was later scrapped; the jacket is folded flat, else fine. Unusual publisher's ephemera of a sort that seldom reaches the market.
397. -. Same title, Wolfe's signature, from which the binding die was made. An 8 1/2" x 7" sheet, tipped into a partial paper mat, from which the glue has now separated; else fine.
398. WOLFE, Tom. Autograph Note Signed. (May) 1986. A brief but lavishly calligraphic note in which Wolfe declines to contribute to a magazine. Folded in thirds for mailing; else fine, with envelope included.
399. WOLFF, Tobias. The Other Miller. Derry & Ridgewood: Babcock & Koontz (1989). A short story printed in a handsome limited edition by the Coffee House Press. With a frontispiece illustration by Gaylord Schanilec. Of a total edition of 240 copies, this is one of 40 roman-numeraled copies signed by the author and the artist. Fine without dust jacket, as issued.
400. (WOLFF, Tobias). SALINGER, Adrienne. In My Room: Teenagers in their Bedrooms. San Francisco: Chronicle Books (1995). Photographs of teenagers captioned by their own words about their lives. With an introduction by Tobias Wolff. Oblong quarto; fine in self-wrappers.
401. WRIGHT, Austin Tappin. Islandia. NY: Farrar & Rinehart (1942). An advance copy in wrappers of one of the classic novels of fantasy of the 20th century. Islandia is a massive (over 1000 pages) novel of a fully imagined continent, with its own history, literature, culture and politics. Like other classics of fantasy--such as Tolkien's Lord of the Rings or Frank Herbert's Dune sequence--it uses the reflections of an imagined society's assumptions to shed light on our own world. Aldous Huxley's utopian novel, Island, doubtless derived its name from this novel, which posits a rich and wise cultural heritage against our own narrow and limited world views. This copy is stamped "Sample Copy Not for Resale" on top edge. Foxing to page edges; rubbing to edges and folds; one small chip at the spine crown; about very good in self-wrappers. An advance issue of an important, landmark book.
402. WRIGHT, Charles. The Venice Notebook. (Boston): (Barn Dream Press) (1971). The third book by this poet who won the National Book Award in 1995. This copy is inscribed by the author to another poet in 1972. Minor surface abrasions, but chipped and nibbled at the spine extremities, thus about very good in wrappers. A nice association copy.
403. WRIGHT, Charles. Hard Freight. Middletown: Wesleyan U. Press (1973). The issue in wrappers of this collection of poems, which was a National Book Award finalist in 1974. Inscribed by the author to another poet in 1975. Rubbed; near fine.
404. WRIGHT, Charles. Bloodlines. Middletown: Wesleyan U. Press (1975). The issue in wrappers. Inscribed by the author to another poet ("Queen of the desert and sweet avenger") in the year of publication. Near fine.
405. WRIGHT, Charles. The Southern Cross. NY: Random House (1981). The uncorrected proof copy. A small bit of white label residue at the spine base; else fine in wrappers.
406. (YATES, Richard). "A Really Good Jazz Piano" in Publisher's Choice. NY: Scribner (1967). A collection of ten short stories chosen from seven Scribner publications. Other authors represented include Gina Berriault, George Garrett, Frank Tuohy, and Donald Windham. Near fine in a very good, rubbed dust jacket with minor edgewear.