Catalog 103, F-G
122. FAULKNER, William. Intruder in the Dust. NY: Random House (1948). By most accounts, this novel -- which deals with the legacy of black-white relations in the South -- was the book that cinched the Nobel Prize for him, which he won in 1949. A fine copy in a very near fine price-clipped dust jacket with a touch of browning to the rear white panel. A beautiful copy of an important book. While not an especially uncommon book, copies in this condition are quite scarce. A Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone title.
123. FAULKS, Sebastian. Charlotte Gray. NY: Random House (1999). The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of the latest novel by the author of the well-received novel, Birdsong. Publicist's card stapled to front cover; fine in wrappers.
124. FIELDING, Helen. Cause Celeb. (London): Picador (1994). The first book by the author of Bridget Jones's Diary, a satire that was not published in the U.S. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
125. FIELDING, Helen. Bridget Jones's Diary. (London): Picador (1996). The advance reading copy of the true first edition of a most surprising publishing phenomenon -- a fictionalized diary of a contemporary British thirty-something that started as a newspaper column and, because of its hilarious combination of the protagonist's self-awareness and self-delusion, gained a passionate following resulting in this book. It was the number one bestseller in England for over six months and vaulted its author to a degree of literary celebrity that few authors achieve in an entire career. Creasing to front cover, spotting to rear; very good in wrappers. The first edition of this title has become quite scarce; the proof is considerably more so.
126. FORD, Richard. The Ultimate Good Luck. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981. The author's second novel, a hard-boiled thriller involving American expatriates in Mexico. This title has come to be harder to locate, particularly in fine condition, than his first book. This copy is without the cracking of the rear hinge that is endemic to this title and if treated very gently will remain that way. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a small scratch on the rear panel. Signed by the author.
127. FORD, Richard. Good Raymond. London: Harvill (1998). The first separate appearance of Ford's tribute to Raymond Carver, first published in The New Yorker. No corresponding U.S. edition to date. Fine in stapled wrappers.
128. (FORD, Richard). CHEKHOV, Anton. The Essential Tales of Chekhov. (Hopewell): Ecco Press (1998). The advance reading copy of this collection edited by Ford and with a nine-page introduction by him. Fine in wrappers.
129. FORREST, Leon. The Bloodworth Orphans. NY: Random House (1977). A review copy of the second book by this African-American author. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with review and errata slips laid in. Ralph Ellison, Saul Bellow blurbs.
130. FUENTES, Carlos. The Good Conscience. NY: Noonday Press (1977). Seventh printing, a paperback reprint, of this early novel by Mexico's premier novelist and man of letters. Inscribed by the author "in friendship." Fine in wrappers.
131. FUENTES, Carlos. The Hydra Head. NY: FSG (1978). First American edition of this spy thriller, a departure from his earlier, more elaborate literary works. Fine in a fine dust jacket and inscribed by the author.
132. GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ, Gabriel. El Coronel No Tiene Quien le Escriba. Medellin: Aguirre (1961). His rare second book, a novella about a retired colonel who waits in vain for his pension. Warmly inscribed by the author in 1992. Blind stamp to half title, ink stamp to front flyleaf; still very good in self-wraps, with an inch long, closed edge tear at the upper front joint. A scarce book under any circumstances; rare signed.
133. GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ, Gabriel. Los Funerales de la Mamá Grande. Xalapa: Universidad Veracruzana, 1962. The first edition of his first collection of short fiction, the title work of which first introduced the element of magical realism which serves to identify much of his later work. Inscribed by the author in 1993. Books signed by García Márquez are decidedly scarce; because of his friendship with Fidel Castro and his outspoken leftist political stance, he was barred from travel in the U.S. for a time, or has declined to visit. Consequently, few people have had the chance to have their books signed by him in this country. Rubbed at folds, else fine in wrappers. A very nice copy of an important title.
134. -. Same title (Mexico City: Diana, 1986). First thus. Fine in a near fine dust jacket, slightly faded on the spine. Inscribed by the author in 1993. A very nice copy of an important title.
135. GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ, Gabriel. One Hundred Years of Solitude. NY: Harper & Row, 1970. The first American edition of his masterwork, one of the most important novels of the century, which introduced "magical realism" to a wide audience and helped bring the "boom" in Latin American literature to this country. At the end of the 1970s this book was voted by the editors of The New York Times Book Review to be not only the best book published in the last ten years but the one most likely to still be read and still be important one hundred years hence. García Márquez has been awarded the Nobel Prize, among countless other literary awards. This copy has a vertical crease running the length of the spine and a small red mark at the bottom edge, about near fine in a near fine, first issue dust jacket, with a small abrasion on the front flap and the same vertical crease on the spine.
136. -. Another copy. This copy has a large owner name across the half title and a small erasure on the front flyleaf; otherwise a near fine copy in a very good, edgeworn and price-clipped second state dust jacket with internal tape repairs. An affordable copy of a twentieth century literary highspot.
137. GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ, Gabriel. El Amor en los Tiempos del Cólera. (Bogotá): Editorial La Oveja Negra (1985). Special limited edition of this title, done as a charitable effort to benefit the victims of Colombian mudslides. Apparently bound from the sheets of the deluxe trade edition. One of 1000 unnumbered copies with a tipped-in leaf signed by the author and notarized. Fine in dust jacket.
138. -. Another copy. Corner bumped; else fine in like dust jacket and signed by the author.
139. -. Same title. The "rustic" issue of the trade edition, in a smaller format than the deluxe issue. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket.
140. -. Same title: Love in the Time of Cholera. The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition (NY: Knopf, 1988). Inscribed by the author in 1992 on the dedication page, where he has amended the page so that the dedication appears to include the recipient. Fine in yellow wrappers. Very scarce.
141. GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ, Gabriel. La Hojarasca. Mexico City: Diana (1986). First thus, in the Diana series of reissues of García Márquez's early books: in response to an interviewer, García Márquez reported that prior to the publication of Cien Años de Soledad in 1967, none of his books had sold more than 700 copies. This title was his first book, originally published in 1955, and the true first edition can be assumed to be one of the books to which the author was referring when he made that statement. Glue residue from sticker on front free endpaper, otherwise fine in a fine dust jacket and inscribed by the author in 1993.
142. GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ, Gabriel. Entre Cachacos, Vol. I. Buenos Aires: Sudamericana (1988). A collected edition of his early journalism, for which there has been no comparable U.S. edition; most of these pieces remain untranslated and unpublished in English. Wrappers slightly rubbed; spine slightly faded. Overall, very good. Inscribed by the author in 1992.
143. GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ, Gabriel. Entre Cachacos, Vol. II. Buenos Aires: Sudamericana, (1989). Another volume of his early writings as a reporter, these pieces taken from the period March-July, 1955. Near fine in wrappers. Inscribed by the author in 1992. Again, no comparable U.S. edition and most (all?) of these pieces remain untranslated.
144. GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ, Gabriel. The General in his Labyrinth. NY: Knopf, 1993. The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of this novel. Fine in wrappers and inscribed by the author. Review excerpts from his previous novel stapled inside the front cover, including a piece from a Thomas Pynchon review in The New York Times Book Review.
145. GARDNER, John. The Poetry of Chaucer. Carbondale: Southern Illinois U. Press (1977). A scholarly study of Chaucer -- Gardner's specialty was as a medievalist -- published to complement his biography, The Life and Times of Chaucer. Done by a university press, this title had a very small first printing -- 1819 copies, vs. 10,000 for the biography and 25,000 for October Light, his most recent novel prior to this publication. Signed by the author. Near fine in a near fine, mildly rubbed dust jacket. Scarce.
146. GARDNER, John. On Becoming a Novelist. NY: Harper & Row (1983). The uncorrected proof copy of a posthumously published book, deriving from Gardner's classes in creative writing -- a distillation of the ideas by which he taught the craft of fiction. With an introduction by Raymond Carver, who at one point had looked to Gardner as a mentor. An important volume, both for its articulating the principles which guided his own fiction writing, and also for its linking these two important contemporary American writers in one volume. Fine in wrappers.
147. GARDNER, John. The Art of Fiction. NY: Knopf, 1984. The uncorrected proof copy of the companion volume to On Becoming a Novelist, subtitled "Notes on Craft for Young Writers." Also published posthumously, and also derived from Gardner's classes in creative writing. Near fine in wrappers.
148. GASS, William H. Willie Masters' Lonesome Wife. (n.p.): Northwestern U. Press, 1968. His third book, a novella. This is the correct first edition of this title, issued as TriQuarterly Supplement No. 2, and preceding its Knopf publication by two years. Of a total edition of 400 copies, this is one of 100 numbered copies signed by the author. A hint of sunning to the black cloth; else fine without dust jacket, as issued. Award-winning book design by Lawrence Levy. A scarce book; this copy is from the library of the editor of TriQuarterly at that time, Charles Newman.
149. GINSBERG, Allen. Howl and Other Poems. San Francisco: City Lights (1956). The first issue of the first trade edition of Ginsberg's first regularly published book, printed in an edition of 1000 copies and since reprinted dozens of times with the total number of copies printed in the hundreds of thousands. "Howl" has been called the most important American poem since Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass." This copy belonged to poet Denise Levertov and carries her ownership label on the inside front cover. A touch of browning to the spine, several tiny spots; a very near fine copy in wrappers of a work that defined the new poetic aesthetic that came to be associated with the Beat movement and, by virtue of the ownership label, an important association copy.
150. GINSBERG, Allen. Consulting I Ching Smoking Pot Listening to the Fugs Sing Blake. Pleasant Valley: Sri Ram Ashrama, 1967. A broadside measuring 13" x 18" with Ginsberg's poem and a woodcut illustration of flowers and a smoking hookah -- and a title that manages to capture a number of the essential, and diverse, elements that defined the counterculture of the mid- and late 1960s. One of 100 numbered copies, making it one of Ginsberg's scarcer productions from that period. Light corner creases; else fine.
151. GINSBERG, Allen. Sad Dust Glories. Berkeley: Workingman's Press, 1975. Small press collection of poems. Signed by the author. Light sunning to the spine; near fine in stapled wrappers.
152. GOLDEN, Arthur. Memoirs of a Geisha. NY: Knopf, 1997. A highly praised first novel written from the point of view of a young geisha, which became a surprise bestseller, staying on the bestseller lists for over a year. The book has been reprinted dozens of times, and the first printing has now become somewhat scarce. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
153. (GOREY, Edward). MOSS, Howard. Instant Lives. (NY): Avon (1976). First thus, a paperback reprint of this volume of short, humorous "biographies" of various writers and artists, written by Moss and illustrated by Gorey. Signed by Gorey. Fine in wrappers.
154. GOULD, Stephen Jay. Questioning the Millennium. NY: Harmony Books (1997). A series of essays on the significance of the millennium, by a popular writer on scientific issues. Fine in a fine dust jacket, and signed by the author.
155. GOULD, Stephen Jay. Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms. NY: Harmony Books (1998). The advance reading copy of this collection of essays on natural history from the author's long-running column in the magazine, Natural History. Fine in wrappers.
156. GRAFTON, Sue. "B" is for Burglar. NY: Holt Rinehart Winston (1985). The second book in the Kinsey Millhone series, which appears to be every bit as scarce as the first, perhaps even more so. Winner of both the Shamus Award and Anthony Award for Best Mystery of the Year. Near fine in a very good, mildly sunned and creased dust jacket.
157. GRAVER, Elizabeth. Unravelling. NY: Hyperion (1997). Her well-received second book, first novel. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author. Dust jacket blurbs by Richard Ford, Howard Norman, Stewart O'Nan, and others. Graver's first book, Have You Seen Me?, won the 1991 Drue Heinz Literature Prize.
158. GREENAN, Russell H. The Bric-A-Brac Man. NY: Random House (1976). The sixth book by this comic novelist. Inscribed by the author the month after publication. Pages browning with age; near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
159. GREENE, Graham. The Ministry of Fear. London: Heinemann (1942). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel of wartime espionage, which was published in May, 1943, despite the proof's indicating the publication year as 1942. Greene wrote this book in a few months in 1942 while serving as an intelligence officer in North Africa. He called it his favorite "among what I then called my 'entertainments'" and in a letter to his agent suggested that it might make a good movie. In fact, Fritz Lang directed the film version in 1944. This was the first of Greene's books to be produced under the wartime restrictions in effect in England, and the production shows it: the covers are printed on the verso of a previously used sheet; one signature is heavily browned as a result of the acidic paper used. The bibliographer points out numerous errors in the book's production (two Chapter 3's in Part One, etc.), all of which are in evidence here. Owner name (1943) on the half title; cocked and spine-tanned; very good in wrappers. Although it is not known how many copies of the proof were done, wartime economy would have dictated that it be very few; we have not seen another offered for sale in recent years. The remarkable Clinton Ives Smullyan, Jr., Graham Greene collection offered at Sotheby's two years ago -- which contained numerous proofs, including several much earlier than this one -- did not have a copy, suggestive of its extreme scarcity.
160. GUTHRIE, A.B., Jr. The Big Sky. NY: Sloane (1947). The first in a series of historical novels about the settling of the American west in the 19th century. The second of these novels, The Way West, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1949. Attractive previous owner bookplate front pastedown; boards mildly bowed; a near fine copy in slightly spine-faded dust jacket with tiny chips at the spine extremities; still about near fine. A very attractive copy.