Catalog 103, T-Z
381. THOMAS, D.M. Autograph Note Signed. July 27, 1991. Two paragraphs, proposing an article on Rembrandt for the magazine Art & Antiques. Folded for mailing; else fine, with envelope.
382. THOMPSON, Hunter S. The Rum Diary. (NY): Simon & Schuster (1998). The advance reading copy (identified by the publisher as an "advance uncorrected proof") of his latest book, subtitled "A Long Lost Novel," and apparently written in Puerto Rico in 1959. Bumped at mid-spine; thus near fine in wrappers.
383. TRILLIN, Calvin. Typescript of "Newer Politics." 1975. Seven pages of ribbon-copy typescript pretending to be about politics, or the discussion of politics, but actually a forum for Trillin's wry (self-)deprecating humor. Folded and creased, with editorial marks; together with the galley sheets with a few corrections by the author, and a typed note signed transmitting the galleys and explaining his resistance to a couple of the suggested changes. Folded; near fine.
384. TYLER, Anne. Ladder of Years. NY: Knopf, 1995. The first trade edition; one of an unspecified number of copies signed by the author on a tipped-in leaf. Light corner bumping; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
385. UPDIKE, John. Problems and Other Stories. (Queensland): U. of Queensland Press/Andre Deutsch (1980). The first Australian edition, published a year after the American edition. Fine in a slightly spine-faded, near fine dust jacket. An uncommon edition.
386. UPDIKE, John. The Afterlife and Other Stories. NY: Knopf, 1994. A collection of short stories, many of them related in some way to the death of his mother. Signed by the author. Tiny ink stain to foredge; else fine in dust jacket.
387. UPDIKE, John. In the Beauty of the Lilies. NY: Knopf, 1996. The first trade edition. Signed by the author. Fine in a dust jacket with a gutter nick; else fine.
388. 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.
389. 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 sheet stapled inside the front cover; fine in wrappers.
390. (UPDIKE, John). The Best American Short Stories of the Century. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. The uncorrected proof copy. A "Best of" the "Best of" collections, edited and introduced by Updike. Fifty-five stories, spanning the years 1915-1998, and including, among others, Hemingway, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Welty, Nabokov, Cheever, O'Connor, Roth, Oates, Barthelme, Bellow, Carver, Beattie, Munro, Lorrie Moore, Tim O'Brien, James Alan McPherson and, of course, Updike. Small red spot to foredge; else fine in wrappers.
391. VIDAL, Gore. Aaron Burr. (n.p.):(FSG)(1978). Printer's sample pages. One sheet, folded in half, printing the text of pp. 99-101 and adding one page of specs. Fine. Scarce publishing ephemera.
392. VIDAL, Gore. The Essential Gore Vidal. NY: Random House (1999). The uncorrected proof copy of this massive collection of Vidal's work, reprinting his novel, Myra Breckenridge, in its entirety, other excerpts from his fiction, twenty-five essays, and a number of previously unpublished letters. Fine in wrappers.
393. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. Welcome to the Monkey House. London: Jonathan Cape (1969). The uncorrected proof copy of the first British edition of these short stories, a collection reprising most of the stories in Canary in a Cat House plus fourteen others. Signed by the author in 1997 with a self-caricature. Wrappers creased; light foxing to foredge and rubbing to folds; very good in wrappers.
394. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. Slaughterhouse Five. London: Jonathan Cape (1970). The uncorrected proof copy of the first British edition of Vonnegut's masterwork. Signed by the author with a self-caricature in 1997. Spine- and edge-darkened with a few creases and a small ink spot at the spine base. Very good in wrappers. A very scarce proof; we have only seen one copy of the American edition and two copies of this edition offered on the market.
395. -. Same title, the video (Universal City: MCA, 1984). The video version of the 1972 film based on Vonnegut's novel. Fine, even rewound, in a box signed by Vonnegut.
396. -. Same title, the large print edition (Thorndike: G.K. Hall, 1998). Signed by the author with a self-caricature in 1998. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
397. WALCOTT, Derek. Selected Poems. (n.p.):(FSG)(1963). Printer's sample pages. One sheet, folded in fourths, printing the text of pp. 43-45 and adding one page of specs. Together with the dust jacket, folded flat, and a copy of the author photo used on the jacket. Fine. Early and scarce publishing ephemera from the career of the West Indian Nobel Prize winner.
398. WALCOTT, Derek. Another Life. (n.p.):(FSG)(n.d.). Printer's sample pages. One sheet, folded in half, printing the text of pp. 3-5 and adding one page of specs. Fine. Uncommon.
399. WALCOTT, Derek. The Star-Apple Kingdom. (n.p.):(FSG)(1978). Printer's sample pages. One sheet, folded in half, printing the text of pp. 25-27 and adding one page of specs. Fine.
400. (WALCOTT, Derek). BRODSKY, Joseph. "Letter from the Ming Dynasty." Undated. Ribbon-copy typescript of Walcott's translation of Brodsky's poem, with holograph changes and copy editor's marks (in different hands). Folded for mailing; near fine. A remarkable document: a Nobel Prize-winning author's translation of another Nobel Prize winner's poem.
401. WALKER, Alice. Possessing the Secret of Joy. NY: HBJ (1992). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel that deals with the issue of ritual female genital mutilation, a concern that has occupied Walker in her nonfiction writings as well. Fine in wrappers.
403. WARREN, Robert Penn. Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce. NY: Random House (1983). The uncorrected proof copy of this long poem. Warren was one of the first poet laureates to be named in this country, and his poem on an especially memorable and heroic Native American figure is a noteworthy piece of literary Americana. Fine in wrappers.
404. WEBER, Katharine. Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear. NY: Crown (1995). Her well-received first book. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
405. WELSH, Irvine. Past Tense. (South Queensferry): Clocktower Press (n.d.)[1992]. His first book, a pamphlet printed in an edition of 300 copies, comprising four stories from a novel-in-progress, which turned out to be Trainspotting. Fine in stapled wrappers.
406. WEST, Nathanael. A Cool Million. NY: Covici Friede (1934). The third book by the author of the classic Hollywood novel, The Day of the Locust. This copy is inscribed by West to his friend and fellow novelist, Robert M. Coates, on the day before publication: "Dear Bob -/ I offer you a first-class,/ slow-trailing coon hound/ from Kentucky -- a/ real hound with a/ beautiful bell-like voice -- / and you don't even/ reply. You ingrate/ Nathanael West/ June 18, 1934/ How about coming/ down here for the bass/ fishing?" One of 3000 copies printed. Cloth mottled; very good in a very good dust jacket with repairs at the edges and fully along one seam. In a custom folding chemise and slipcase.
407. WHITE, E.B. Poems and Sketches of E.B. White. NY: Harper & Row (1981). The uncorrected proof of this compilation of pieces, many of them never collected before. Myriad water droplets on the rear cover, affecting margins of the last few pages. Very good in wrappers. White, the author of the children's classics, Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, was a longtime writer for The New Yorker, and his intelligent, humane and understated essays helped define that magazine's literary style over more than three decades, setting it apart from the other mass-circulation journals of its time.
408. WHITEHEAD, Colson. The Intuitionist. NY: Anchor Books (1999). The advance reading copy of this well-received first novel. Fine in wrappers.
409. WIESEL, Elie. All Rivers Run to the Sea. NY: Knopf, 1995. The advance reading copy of the first American edition of the Nobel Prize-winning author's memoirs. One of an unspecified number of copies signed by the author. Fine in wrappers and publisher's cardstock slipcase.
410. WILLIAMS, John A. The Most Native of Sons. A Biography of Richard Wright. Garden City: Doubleday, 1970. An uncommon biography written for young people by the author of The Man Who Cried I Am, among others -- one of the most prominent figures in the renaissance of African-American writing in the 1960s and 70s. Owner name; else fine in a fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
411. WILLIAMS, Joy. State of Grace. Garden City: Doubleday, 1973. The advance reading copy of her first book, a novel, which was nominated for the National Book Award. Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers.
412. WINTERSON, Jeanette. The World and Other Places. NY: Knopf, 1999. The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of her latest book, a collection of stories written over the course of 13 years. Fine in wrappers with the jacket art stapled inside the front cover.
413. WOLFE, Tom. From Bauhaus to Our House. NY: FSG (1981). The uncorrected proof copy of this critique of modern architecture, in the same vein as the author's assault on Modern Art in The Painted Word. Publicity information stapled inside the front cover; else fine in wrappers.
414. WOLFE, Tom. The Purple Decades. NY: FSG (1982). The uncorrected proof copy of this Tom Wolfe "reader" -- a collection of essays with selections from his previous books, including The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test and The Right Stuff. Fine in wrappers.
415. WOOLF, Virginia. On Being Ill. (n.p.): Hogarth Press, 1930. The first state, one of approximately 25 copies signed by the author with "Out of Series" in her hand on the colophon. Woolf set the type for this edition herself. The limitation of the first edition was to have been 125 copies. When the title was oversubscribed, the edition was altered to 250 copies and the colophon on copies of the advance state was altered to reflect that change, with the "125" scored through and "250" printed above it, but leaving the original limitation number still visible. Later, the published edition was issued with the colophon indicating 250 copies, with no indication of the earlier, smaller limitation. Mild edge-sunning to boards; else a fine copy. The advance copies were issued without the dust jacket, which was present on the later published edition. A very scarce prepublication state of this book, one of the smallest limitations of any issue of a Woolf title.
416. WRIGHT, James. Photocopied Typescripts. Undated. The photocopied typescripts of two poems, "Ecologue at Nash's Grove" and "So She Said," as submitted to Harper's magazine. Both texts copyedited; both texts apparently signed by the author with his address (signatures crossed out during the copyediting process). Folded, else fine. Also included is an author photo from To a Blossoming Pear Tree. Manuscript material of any sort by Wright is extremely uncommon, and his signature itself is quite scarce.