Catalog 106, M
179. MAILER, Norman. Barbary Shore. NY: Rinehart (1951). Mailer's second book. Bound, like his first book The Naked and the Dead, in black pseudo-cloth boards that rub remarkably easily, and a coarse paper dust jacket printed in black, which also tends to show wear. This is a very near fine copy with trace wear only at the corners in like dust jacket, with minimal wear and only a faint line of rubbing on the spine folds; very scarce thus. The jacket is printed in black and red; there was also a black and green jacket, with no priority known. An exceptional copy of a book that seldom turns up in nice shape.
180. -. Same title, the first British edition. London: Jonathan Cape (1952). Small bookstore stamp front flyleaf; near fine in a very good, spine-faded dust jacket with small chips at the spine extremities. The dust jacket is dramatically different from the U.S. edition.
181. MALONE, Michael. Uncivil Seasons. NY: Delacorte (1983). The uncorrected proof copy of the fourth novel by the author of Dingley Falls and The Delectable Mountains, among others. Fine in wrappers.
182. (MANDELA, Nelson). A Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles. (NY): Oxford University Press (1996). A landmark publication -- the first dictionary of South African English, charting the development of the language over the course of more than 300 years, and attempting -- as the Oxford English Dictionary does -- to identify the origins and changes in meaning and usage over the years of all the words particular to the English of South Africa. The project took over 25 years: it was begun in 1968, at the height of the apartheid era, and was completed in 1994, the year of the first free, multi-racial elections in South Africa. Of the first edition, 100 copies were set aside to benefit the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, and were signed by Nelson Mandela, the first freely elected black President of South Africa. Leatherbound, with marbled endpapers and silk ribbon markers; an attractive production. All copies of the limited edition were sold out soon after publication. Fine in publisher's slipcase. A remarkable project, both for its philological significance and for the social significance of its formally embracing the diverse elements of South African English as comprising a single language. This edition, signed by one of the most respected and important statesmen of the late 20th century, is a monument to one of the most profound and far-reaching social changes of the century -- the peaceful transition from a segregated, racist state to a free democracy.
183. MARQUAND, John P. Timothy Dexter Revisited. Boston: Little Brown (1960). The last book published in Marquand's lifetime, a combination memoir and sequel to his earlier biography of "Lord Timothy Dexter" (1925), an 18th-century New England eccentric. Marquand won the Pulitzer Prize in 1936 for his novel The Late George Apley, and his 1951 novel, Melville Goodwin USA, was a National Book Award nominee. Small bookplate front pastedown; a bit of red ink, possibly from the spine block, has rubbed into the joints; otherwise a fine copy in a near fine, spine-tanned dust jacket.
184. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Raditzer. NY: Viking, 1961. Matthiessen's fourth book, third novel, a tale of an outcast seaman on a World War Two troop ship. Fading to top stain; else fine in a very good, edgeworn and price-clipped dust jacket. Signed by the author.
185. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. At Play in the Fields of the Lord. NY: Random House (1965). His fourth novel, which was nominated for the National Book Award and filmed nearly thirty years later. A cautionary tale of various Americans with widely different aims having unintended effects on a tribe of stone age Amazonian Indians, this was the first in-depth fictional treatment of the themes that have dominated Matthiessen's writings, both fiction and nonfiction, over the last 30 years -- the impact of Europeans on the environment and the indigenous cultures that live in harmony with it, from a perspective that combines the political and the spiritual. Top stain a bit faded; very near fine in a very good, darkened and price-clipped dust jacket. Signed by the author.
186. -. Another copy. Small number stamp on front pastedown; a very near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with one small edge chip.
187. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Sal Si Puedes. NY: Random House (1969). A nonfiction account of Cesar Chavez and the struggles of the United Farm Workers to form a migrant workers' union to end the dramatic exploitation of temporary farm labor that was so prevalent in the 1960s and 70s. This book was the subject of a lawsuit, and later issues of the first edition came with a legal disclaimer pasted in. Matthiessen also revised it, and a new edition was issued a couple of years later. A significant piece of reporting and social criticism, chronicling one of the important labor movements of the Sixties, one which had racial and ethnic overtones that have continued to resonate in the years since. Signed by the author. Fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
188. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. In the Spirit of Crazy Horse. New York: Viking (1983). Matthiessen's controversial and suppressed book on the conflict between agents of the federal government and members of the radical American Indian Movement in the 1970s, which culminated in a gun battle that left two FBI agents and one Indian dead. Matthiessen argues that the conviction of Leonard Peltier for the agents' death was a miscarriage of justice. His book was the subject of two lawsuits -- by one of the FBI agents involved in the case and by the former governor of South Dakota -- which effectively suppressed it for nearly a decade. A Supreme Court ruling declining to hear the case after an appeals court had thrown out the suits on the basis of First Amendment considerations finally allowed the book to be reprinted after nine years of litigation and untold millions of dollars in legal expenses -- a harrowing experience for the author, his publishers and (one assumes) their insurers; and a sobering example, it hardly seems necessary to point out, of how a legal case can effectively suppress a publication even if the case is, as this one turned out to be, finally deemed to be without merit: Matthiessen's book was effectively removed from its target audience for the crucial window of time during which it was most relevant (and agitation on Peltier's behalf might have had the best chance for success). A landmark of recent literary history and First Amendment tests. Peltier's case remains a cause celebre for political activists today. This copy is signed by Matthiessen. Board edges nibbled from storage in the author's attic; about near fine in a very near fine dust jacket with rubbing to one corner.
189. -. Same title, the 1991 reissue, with an epilogue that does not appear in the original edition, documenting the legal battles surrounding the book, and an afterword by Martin Garbus. Fine in a fine dust jacket, and signed by the author.
190. McCARTHY, Cormac. The Stonemason. (Hopewell): Ecco (1994). The limited edition of this play by the author of the acclaimed "Border Trilogy," and his first signed limited edition. One of 350 copies, signed by the author on a tipped-in leaf. McCarthy is one of the more reclusive authors in America today, and books signed by him are relatively scarce. Fine in slipcase.
191. McCLANAHAN, Ed. The Natural Man. NY: FSG (1983). The uncorrected proof copy of the author's long-awaited first novel. McClanahan attended Wallace Stegner's Stanford Writing Workshop in the early 1960s, when such writers as Robert Stone, Ken Kesey and Larry McMurtry were there, and portions of his novel-in-progress were printed in the annual Stanford Short Story anthologies that came out of the workshop. However, unlike the other writers mentioned, whose books came out in the early or mid-Sixties, fully two decades passed before McClanahan's novel was finally completed and published. It received excellent reviews as a coming of age story reminiscent of Catcher in the Rye, with a distinctive earthiness and humor. This is the first issue proof, in tan wrappers. A near fine copy, with the author's name written on the bottom page edges and notes on the endpapers that look like they may be an attempt at providing a "blurb" for the published book. A significant first novel by a writer associated with both the Stanford Workshop and the California counterculture of the Sixties, and whose native Kentucky provides the background for much of this book.
192. McCULLERS, Carson. Seven. NY: Bantam Books (1954). A review copy of the first Bantam paperback edition, issued in Houghton Mifflin hardcover in 1951 as The Ballad of the Sad Cafe. Trace rubbing to folds, slight bowing; very near fine in wrappers. A nice copy, and scarce as a review copy.
193. McEWAN, Ian. The Child in Time. Boston: Houghton Mifflin (1987). The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of this book that won the Whitbread Award. McEwan's most recent novel, Amsterdam, won the Booker Prize. Fine in wrappers.
194. McFEE, William. Sailor's Wisdom. London: Jonathan Cape (1935). First English edition of one of this prolific author's many books on the sea and seamen. Spine lettering dulled; otherwise a fine copy in a near fine, spine-tanned dust jacket with two letters rubbed from the title there.
195. McFEE, William. The Law of the Sea. London: Faber and Faber (1951). Again, the first English edition. Nonfiction, another book on the sea. Fine in a mildly sunned, near fine dust jacket.
196. McMURTRY, Larry. Moving On. NY: Simon & Schuster (1970). His fourth novel, fifth book. Slight pull to the text block from the weight of the pages; else fine in a fine dust jacket. A very nice copy of this bulky book, seldom found in such condition, and without the remainder markings common on this title.
197. McMURTRY, Larry. The Desert Rose. NY: Simon & Schuster (1983). The novel just prior to McMurtry's great success with Lonesome Dove. Surprisingly scarce today, at least compared to his books of just a couple of years later. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Without the remainder mark that one often finds on copies of this title.
198. -. Same title, the first British edition. London: W.H. Allen, 1985. Fine in a fine dust jacket with dramatically different jacket art than the U.S. edition.
199. (McMURTRY, Larry). A Part of Space: Ten Texas Writers. Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press (1969). Includes "Take My Saddle From the Wall: A Valediction," an early essay by McMurtry that appeared in his collection In a Narrow Grave. Other writers contributing include John Howard Griffin, Joohn Graves, William Burford, and others. Trace foxing to top edge, else fine in a fine dust jacket.
200. (McMURTRY, Larry). SCHMIDT, Dorey, ed. Larry McMurtry: Unredeemed Dreams. Edinburg: Pan American University (1978). A collection of essays on McMurtry's work, a bibliography and an interview. Tiny tear at spine crown; price inked out on back cover. Very good in stapled wrappers. No. 1 in the Living Author Series published by the Pan American University School of Humanities, which McMurtry visited in March, 1978, leading to this publication and the launching of this series.
201. MENCKEN, H.L. Typed Note Signed. February 24, no year. Typed on half-sheet stationery with a Hollins St. address; 8 1/2" x 5 1/2". Folded in thirds for mailing; else fine. One emphatic paragraph, in part: "That you should suspect me of lying! Ach, Gott! Mon dieu!...I'll bring you a flask of absolutely genuine pre-war alcohol far better than anything on sale in Cuba." A short note, but exhibiting Mencken's characteristic sardonic humor. Initialed by Mencken.
202. MERTON, Thomas. St. Aelred of Rievaulx and the Cistercians. (n.p.): Cistercian Studies, 1985-1989. Five offprints of articles printing Merton's unpublished manuscript on St. Aelred of Rievaulx and the Cistercians, published in Cistercian Studies. Each offprint is fine in stapled wrappers. For all:
203. MICHENER, James. Ventures in Editing. Huntington Beach: Cahill, 1995. Four essays on writing and editing, two of which appear here for the first time, along with an introduction by Michener about the process of writing and of preparing this book. There were 300 copies: this is a proof copy bound in maroon cloth and with the colophon of the lettered edition, which was bound in lavender cloth. Fine in a fine slipcase. Signed by the author.
204. MILLER, Henry. Tropic of Cancer. NY: Medvsa, 1940. A piracy, and the first American edition, this being the variant in plain magenta wrappers. There were 1000 copies printed of the Medvsa edition of Tropic of Cancer (for which its publisher, Jacob Brussel, went to prison for publishing pornography); in addition, there were between 200 and 500 extra copies which went to New York erotica publisher Samuel Roth and were sold privately by him. The bibliography identified seven binding variants of these overrun copies (although there were probably more). Because they were not part of the contractual agreement between Brussel and Miller, and Miller almost surely received no royalties for them, they are legitimately considered piracies. Wrappers sunned, particularly on the spine, with title written on the cover and the spine. A near fine copy of a fragile, early variant of one of the literary high spots of the modern era, and its first appearance in the U.S.; it was not published here legally until more than twenty years later.
205. MILLER, Henry. Holograph Corrections for "An American's Point of View re The Strange Triangle of G.B.S" March 19, 1957. A three page editor's typescript for the proposed final version of Miller's article for The Shaw Bulletin, Vol. II, No. 2 (University Park, PA; May, 1957), in which Miller responds to a review of Tullah Innes Hanley's book on George Bernard Shaw, as reviewed by "Ozy" in the previous issue of The Shaw Bulletin (January, 1957). Apparently Miller's original typescript was forwarded to Mrs. Hanley who emended it; the new version (this one) was apparently retyped by Stanley Weintraub, the Bulletin's editor, who returned the copy to Miller for his final say. Miller has used this version to restore, in holograph, his original version and to make additional corrections. He leaves one change by Mrs. Hanley. Three pages; folded for mailing; near fine. Initialed and dated by Miller. Together with a typed letter signed by Miller, returning the document and thanking Weintraub for the opportunity to alter the text. With hand-addressed mailing envelope. Also together with both of the above-mentioned volumes of The Shaw Bulletin. The letter is folded for mailing and edgeworn; very good. The Bulletins are fine. An interesting view of the writer at work, both for what the content reveals about Miller's take on Shaw and also for the view it affords of a writer crafting his own work, and making efforts to retain its integrity throughout the process of preparing it for publication. The Bulletin article is Shifreen & Jackson C317.
206. MOORE, Lorrie. Like Life. NY: Knopf, 1990. The uncorrected proof copy of the third book and second collection of stories by the author of Birds of America and Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?, among others. A Granta 20 author. Fine in wrappers.
207. MORRIS, Willie. James Jones: A Friendship. Garden City: Doubleday, 1978. A review copy of Morris' biography and tribute to his close friend, the author of The Thin Red Line and From Here to Eternity. Fine in a near fine dust jacket, with review slip laid in.
208. MORRIS, Wright. Man and Boy. NY: Knopf, 1951. A review copy of his sixth book, fourth novel. Between the years 1955 and 1961, four of Morris's novels were National Book Award nominees, with one of them winning the award. He also won in 1981 for Plains Song. Signed by the author and additionally inscribed in 1970. Very near fine in an advance dust jacket. In an attractive custom folding chemise and cloth slipcase with leather spine labels.
209. MORRIS, Wright. Love Affair A Venetian Journal. NY: Harper & Row (1972). A review copy of Morris' paean to Venice. Quarto; illustrated with color photographs, the fourth such volume of combined text-and-photographs that Morris produced, beginning in the 1940s. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
210. MUNRO, Alice. Open Secrets. (Toronto): McClelland & Stewart (1994). The Canadian edition, and true first edition, of her eighth book, a collection of stories. Munro's most recent book,The Love of a Good Woman, won the National Book Critics Award and the Canadian Giller Prize. She has also won the Governor General's Award -- Canada's most prestigious literary prize -- three times. Fine in a fine dust jacket.