Catalog 107, B
26. BARRETT, William E. The Lilies of the Field. Garden City: Doubleday, 1962. A powerful short novel that raises issues of faith, social justice and racism and was made into a highly praised movie for which Sidney Poitier won an Academy Award in 1963 for Best Actor. Fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with modest edgewear and a small stain on the rear panel.
27. BARTHELME, Donald. City Life. NY: FSG (1970). Fourteen stories, most of which originally appeared in The New Yorker. Barthelme's fourth book, which won the National Book Award and is, over time, becoming increasingly scarce, especially in fine condition. Trace sunning to top board edges; else fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
28. BATESON, Mary Catherine. Peripheral Visions. (n.p.): HarperCollins (1994). The advance reading copy, shot from typescript, of this extended essay on ways of learning, by a well-respected anthropologist who is the daughter of Gregory Bateson and Margaret Mead, and seems to have inherited her illustrious parents' penchant for tackling large questions of epistemology and the understanding of whole systems. Signed by the author. Near fine in wrappers.
29. BELLOW, Saul. The Victim. NY: Vanguard (1947). Second book by the Nobel Prize winner, and three time winner of the National Book Award. Although not as uncommon or as fragile as his first book -- which was published during wartime and subject to the production restrictions in effect at that time -- this title has also become extremely scarce in recent years, especially in nice condition: the pale blue dust jacket is unlaminated and has a tendency to wear and fade, making the spine lettering unreadable. This copy has a neat owner signature on the front free endpaper and light bowing to boards; still, a very near fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with slight wear at the crown and very mild tanning to the letters on the spine. The spine is essentially unfaded, and the letters are easily readable, which is rare for this title. A very nice copy.
30. BERENDT, John. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. NY: Random House (1994). The advance reading copy of this highly praised literary nonfiction portrait of Savannah, Georgia, a surprise bestseller that went through over a hundred printings, staying on the bestseller lists for several years, and later became the basis for a movie. Fine in wrappers.
31. BERGÉ, Carol. Typed Letter Signed. [March 1988]. Bergé, a longtime poet and novelist who was associated with the New York poetry avant-garde of the 1960s, introduces herself to the recipient, the editor of Art & Antiques magazine, as both a writer and an antiques dealer. The letter is a sales pitch for a scarab ring in her possession and includes a drawing: "To me, it looks like either a Scarab beetle (stylized in form), or/and some sort of old inkwell with plumes extending from it. That suits the idea that I'm into Scarabs and I'm also a novelist and writer." Signed by the author. Folded in thirds for mailing, with a resumé and mailing envelope included. Fine.
32. BERGÉ, Carol. Typed Letter Signed. June 22, 1988. Two pages promising to send an article which will apparently deal with the parallels between American Indian and Japanese ways of living, the life of Maria Sanchez, and "life lived as an entity, all of a piece. The artist as not a soul divided . . ." Folded in thirds for mailing; holograph corrections. A nice letter, with good content. Signed by the author. Fine. With envelope.
33. BERGÉ, Carol. Typed Note Signed. [October 1988]. Bergé proposes an article on "a renowned Santera." Composed on a typewriter that makes periods look like commas; folded in thirds for mailing; else fine, with envelope. Signed by the author.
34. BERRIAULT, Gina. The Lights of Earth. San Francisco: North Point, 1984. The uncorrected proof copy of this novel by the author of The Stone Boy (made into a well-received film with Robert Duvall) and The Infinite Passion of Expectation, among others. Her story collection, Women in Their Beds, published in 1997, won the PEN Faulkner Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Near fine in wrappers. This title was reissued in 1997.
35. -. Another copy. Reviewer's notes (Alan Cheuse's?) on rear blank. Near fine in wrappers and proof dust jacket.
36. BERRY, Wendell. The Hidden Wound. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1970. The uncorrected proof copy of Berry's essay on race and racism in America, apparently not seen by the bibliographer, who cites other Berry proofs but not this one. Near fine in wrappers.
37. BERRYMAN, John. Homage to Mistress Bradstreet. (NY): (Farrar, Straus) (1955-1956). Production material, including: two retained copies of letters from the publisher to the printer, delivering the manuscript, requesting estimates, revising jacket copy, and inquiring as to the reprint policy "because this book just might become prestige backlist." Together with the publisher's retained copy of a letter returning drawings to the illustrator, Ben Shahn. Together with a postcard from the printer to the publisher, with estimates. And also together with copyedited typescript for the jacket flaps, two copies of the dust jacket (folded) and one proof dust jacket from before the title banner was added to Shahn's cover drawing. Homage to Mistress Bradstreet was the first collection to establish Berryman as a major poet of the first rank. Edmund Wilson called it "the most distinguished long poem by an American since The Waste Land," a judgement borne out by Berryman's later winning the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and the Bollingen Prize. The retained copies are acidifying and fragile, very good; the flap copy is smudged, near fine; the other elements are fine. A unique publisher's archive for one of the most important American poetry collections of its time. For all:
38. BERRYMAN, John. Homage to Mistress Bradstreet and Other Poems. (NY): (Noonday Press) (1968-1969). Production material, including galley sheets for the title page and the author's note; typescript of the author's note; the copyedited contents page; the tissue layout of the title page with setting instructions; setting instructions for the copyright page; and a dust jacket from the 1956 edition edited to reflect changes for this edition. All elements are near fine.
39. BERRYMAN, John. 77 Dream Songs. (NY): (FSG) (1963-1964). Production material, including the dust jacket (folded), the author photo, and a memo to the printer delineating the author's "certain individual usages." At this point in the process, there were only 76 dream songs. With this collection, Berryman began the process of inventing his own diction and syntax, and a fresh stanza form, which became the signature marks of his later work and his greatest achievements. 77 Dream Songs was a National Book Award finalist and won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. All items are fine.
40. BERRYMAN, John. Berryman's Sonnets. (NY): (FSG) (1966-1967). Production material, including a printer's sample page, with accompanying hand-sketched mock-up; the pencil sketch of the title page; typescript text for the jacket flaps and five typeset copies of the text for the flaps, representing four states of revision; and two printed dust jackets (folded) from two phases of the flap copy revision. Berryman wrote his sonnets in 1947 but they were not published until 1967, after the critical success of 77 Dream Songs. A couple stray smudges; else fine.
41. BERRYMAN, John. Love & Fame. (NY): (FSG) (1970). Production material, consisting of four states of copyedited jacket copy. Each is folded, else fine.
42. BERRYMAN, John. Recovery. (NY): (FSG) (1972). Production material. Printer's sample pages (183-187), specs, and the publisher's request for an estimate, as well as an order for 13 sets of galley proofs and two sets of page proofs. Fine.
43. BERRYMAN, John. Henry's Fate. (NY): (FSG) (1976). Production material for this posthumous collection, which includes a number of previously uncollected dream songs. Includes the printer's sample pages (3-5) and specs; typescript and typeset copy for both flaps and the back jacket. Copyediting marks and some folds; near fine.
44. BISHOP, Elizabeth. Questions of Travel. (NY): (FSG) (1965). Production material, including copyedited typescript of the original jacket copy, which featured an Edmund Wilson quote on the rear flap and three author's blurbs on the back panel; a typeset version of the same; a cut and paste job changing the Wilson quote to a Robert Lowell quote; a note transmitting the portrait of Bishop that replaced the quotations on the rear panel; a typeset blurb about Bishop; and the text for the jacket design credit including the source of the map used, an addition that was requested by Bishop in a letter to the publisher of May 8th, 1965, a photocopy of which is included. In the letter, Bishop gives her detailed impression of the jacket, three copies of which (folded) are also included in this lot. Questions of Travel was Bishop's first collection of poems since Poems North and South, published in 1955 and winner of the 1956 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. This title was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1966. Copyediting marks abound, otherwise the items are fine.
45. BISHOP, Elizabeth. Geography III. [NY]: (FSG) (1976). Printer's sample page, printing the text of pp. 100-101 and specs. Fine.
46. BISHOP, Elizabeth. The Complete Poems, 1929-1979. [NY]: FSG [1983]. Production material: galley proof for the jacket copy. One long page, folded in fourths; fine. Bishop's earlier volume of collected poems, published in 1969, won the 1970 National Book Award.
47. -. Another copy. Splitting at the folds; near fine.
48. BLOOM, Amy. Come to Me. (NY): HarperCollins (1993). Her first book, a collection of stories, two of which were included in The Best American Short Stories anthologies for 1991 and 1992. Jacket blurbs by Dorothy Allison, Annie Dillard, Ursula LeGuin and Alice Adams. Fine in a fine dust jacket and inscribed by the author.
49. BLOOM, Amy. Love Invents Us. NY: Random House (1997). The second book, first novel, by the author of Come to Me, a National Book award nominee. Fine in a fine dust jacket, and signed by the author.
50. BLY, Robert. Typescript of "Mourning Pablo Neruda." (1982). Ribbon copy typescript of this three-page poem, with copy-editor's corrections. Together with an autograph note signed transmitting the poem (and apparently one other, not present here) to Hayden Carruth, the longtime editor of Poetry magazine and the poetry editor of Harper's, who won the National Book Award in 1996. With a self-addressed stamped envelope for the return of the poem, which was never used. The typescript is folded in thirds for mailing and has a small puncture in one margin, not affecting the text; near fine. A nice association between two major poets.
51. BOGOSIAN, Eric. "The Revolutionary Aesthetic of Beauty." 1984. Ribbon copy typescript, two pages, of an essay calling for, or calling out, the death of Modernism and advocating art that "adds value to our experience rather [than] comment on how bereft our existence is of value." Signed (in the form of a handwritten copyright notice) and bearing the author's holograph corrections. Bogosian is well-known and highly respected as both a playwright and an actor. Folded in thirds for mailing; else fine.
52. (Book Collecting). AHEARN, Allen and Patricia. Book Collecting 2000. NY: Putnam's (2000). By the authors of Collected Books: The Guide to Values. This just-published volume updates their earlier Book Collecting; the bulk of the volume is an extensive price guide to authors' first books -- which expands and updates the list from their previous editions and tracks the price history of those titles that were included earlier. The first 115 pages contain, in our opinion, the most extensive and thoughtful commentary on modern book collecting that can be found in any single volume. The Ahearns have also included a section listing the winners of the major literary awards that are most avidly pursued by collectors -- the Pulitzers, National Book Awards, Edgars, Caldecotts, etc. There are sections on knowledgeable buying, pricing questions, auctions, catalogues, appraisals, collecting for investment, proofs and advance copies, caring for your books, and much more. An invaluable resource. Every collector should have one (virtually every dealer already does). Signed by the authors. At the list price:
53. BOWLES, Paul. Without Stopping: An Autobiography. NY: Putnam (1972). The first book of the author's memoirs. Bowles became an influential figure during the years of the Beat movement and his popularity and relevance persisted through the counterculture period of the 1960s, as many of his tales dealt with young Americans experimenting with drugs and encountering foreign cultures for the first time. This copy is inscribed by the author in Atlanta in 1994: "For Jordan Massee/ with thanks for the/ Norman Douglas." Massee was a mutual friend of Bowles and Tennessee Williams, themselves longtime friends and collaborators on a number of Williams' plays; a wonderful association copy. Books signed by Bowles -- other than the limited editions he did -- are quite uncommon; significant association copies are extremely scarce. White cloth a bit dusty; near fine in a near fine, lightly edgeworn dust jacket.
54. (BOWLES, Paul). "Bouayad and the Money" in Ins and Outs, Issue 4/5. Amsterdam: Stichting Foundation, 1980. Dutch literary magazine (printed in Arabia), with a contribution by Bowles as well as various other Beat/avant-garde contributors. Covers lightly rubbed with one edge tear; near fine. An uncommon Bowles appearance.
55. (BOWLES, Paul). REY ROSA, Rodrigo. Dust on Her Tongue. London: Peter Owen (1989). Stories by this Guatemalan author, translated from the Spanish by Bowles. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
56. BOYD, William. Correspondence. 1985. Two typed notes signed and one typed letter signed. In the first note, Boyd agrees in principle to write an unspecified article and discusses his trepidation about the reception of his book Stars and Bars in the U.S. In the second note, he proposes that the article be about a recent, disastrous Parisian publicity tour. In the letter, with the tour article ruled out, he proposes reviewing a gallery show and tells the recipient he is "breathing a tiny bit easier" about Stars and Bars. Stars and Bars was Boyd's third novel; his first, A Good Man in Africa, had won the Whitbread Prize and the Somerset Maugham Award; his second, An Ice Cream War, was winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and was short-listed for the Booker Prize. Each letter is folded for mailing; the second has a small spot, not affecting text; else fine, with envelopes.
57. BOYD, William. Typescript. 1985. Five typed pages, with holograph corrections, on the life of Dr. Robert John Thornton. The typescript is signed by the author. In addition, there is an autograph note signed transmitting the article and asking the recipient for a copy of a book (presumably his own), which "cannot be had for love nor money." With an author photo from 1982. Fine.
58. BOYD, William. Correspondence. 1985. One autograph letter signed dated June 11, proposing an article on James Boswell and his Grand Tour and then postponing the article until autumn as he is "trying to keep decks cleared to give me time to write my next novel." Together with an autograph note signed canceling the offer: "The reason is that time has moved on and I've now started my new novel and have declared a moratorium on journalism! This is just to allow me to clear the decks and get well into the new book with no distractions." Both letters are folded in fourths for mailing, else fine, with envelopes, although only one bears evidence of having been mailed.
59. BOYD, William. Correspondence. 1988. One autograph letter signed thanking the recipient for his comments on Stars and Bars and discussing the response to the film version. Boyd agrees to write an article but states that he's busy at the moment with the film version of Mario Vargas Llosa's Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter and with promoting The New Confessions. Folded in fourths for mailing; else fine, with envelope. Together with an autograph postcard signed thanking the recipient for his comments on The New Confessions and describing the U.S. response to the book as well as his appearance on breakfast television in Cleveland promoting it. Written on the full back, so mailed in an envelope, which is present. Fine.
60. BOYLE, T. Coraghessan. Descent of Man. Boston: Little Brown (1979). His first book, a highly praised collection of stories. Signed by the author. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a thin line of Braille-like bumps on the rear panel. One of the nicest copies of this book we've seen, lacking the rubbing at the extremities of the spine that is usually endemic to this title.
61. -. Another copy. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with a spot of rubbing to the front panel and some internal dampstaining. Still, an attractive copy.
62. BOYLE, T. Coraghessan. Greasy Lake. (n.p.): Viking (1985). The uncorrected proof copy of his second collection of stories, fourth book. The printed spine lettering reads "Greasy Lafe." Faint horizontal crease to front flap; else fine in wrappers. At this point, an uncommon proof.
63. BRAINE, John. Room at the Top. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1957. Highly acclaimed first novel by this writer who was one of the "Angry Young Men" in Britain in the 1950s. This was made into a well-received movie in 1959, which was nominated for six Academy Awards in 1960 and won two, including one for best screenplay based on material from another medium. A bit of foxing to the top edge; else fine in a very good dust jacket with mild sunning, spotting and edgewear, including a closed tear at the upper front spine fold. With the publisher's wraparound band. A nice copy of an important first novel, and very scarce with the ephemeral wraparound band.
64. BRODSKY, Joseph. A Part of Speech. [NY]: (FSG), 1980. Production material for this collection of poems by the Nobel Prize winner, consisting of long galley sheets with dates from January-March 1980. Approximately 42 pages overall, folded in half, with copyediting marks. Together with the printer's sample pages 11-13 -- two copies, one of which is signed by the author -- with specs, and an author photo. Fine.
65. BROOKNER, Anita. Typed Note Signed. September 11, 1985. Two paragraphs declining to write an article on the Boucher exhibition. Signed by the author. Folded for mailing; else fine.
66. BUCK, Pearl. A House Divided. NY: John Day/Reynal & Hitchcock (1935). An advance copy of the third book in her "House of Earth" trilogy, about peasant life in China, that began with The Good Earth. Buck grew up in China and spent much of her life there; her parents were missionaries. The Good Earth won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1932 and, in 1938, Buck became the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. This volume consists of sewn signatures bound into the dust jacket of the finished book, as was often the case with advance copies in the Thirties. Spine a bit sunned, with a small chip at the crown; very good in wrappers. Quite scarce.
67. BUECHNER, Frederick. Treasure Hunt. NY: Atheneum, 1977. The uncorrected proof copy of another in the sequence of novels by this writer/theologian about Leo Bebb and Antonio Parr, founders of the Church of Holy Love, Inc. Fine in wrappers.
68. BUECHNER, Frederick. Brendan. NY: Atheneum, 1987. The uncorrected proof copy of this story of a saintly man of the 5th century. His previous novel, about a 12th century saint, Godric, which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Fine in wrappers.
69. BUECHNER, Frederick. The Wizard's Tide. San Francisco: Harper & Row (1990). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel about a family and a young boy's coming of age during the Great Depression. Fine in wrappers.
70. BUKOWSKI, Charles. The Movie: "Barfly." Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1987. An original screenplay by Bukowski for the movie by Barbet Schroeder, here published as a limited edition. This is one of 140 hardbound numbered copies signed by Bukowski, as well as by Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway -- who starred in the movie -- and Schroeder. Fine in an acetate dust jacket. Very scarce: there was an issue of this title that was signed by Bukowski only which is considerably more common.
71. (BUKOWSKI, Charles). Coffin 1. Eureka: Hearse Press (n.d.) [1964]. One of 150 copies of this collection of 41 pamphlets and broadsides, four of which are Bukowski's: "His Wife, the Painter," "The Old Man on the Corner," "Waste Basket," and "The Paper on the Floor." "His Wife, the Painter" was Bukowski's first separately published work, preceding his first book by several months. This broadside was printed in 1960 in an edition of 201 copies, 50 of which, deckle edged, with a small blindstamp and slightly larger than this 5" x 11" size, were privately distributed to friends of Bukowski and the publisher in 1960, with the "remaining 150 kept for inclusion in Coffin 1." [Dorbin B1]. Slight creasing to a few of the corners of the 41 pieces and light top edge sunning; still fine in publisher's portfolio. Also includes Henry Miller's watercolor reproduction "Dream of Fredericksburg." A very scarce, early Bukowski item, seldom found complete.
72. BURGESS, Anthony. A Clockwork Orange. London: Heinemann (1962). A later issue of his most famous book, an alarming and controversial view of a future beset by violence, technological excess and authoritarianism, which was made into a classic film by Stanley Kubrick in 1971. Slight foxing to page edges; near fine in a mildly edgeworn, very good, second issue dust jacket with a price of 18 shillings. A very attractive copy.
Early James Lee Burke Proof
73. BURKE, James Lee. Lay Down My Sword and Shield. (n.p.): Crowell (1971). Claspbound galley sheets of the third of Burke's early novels and the last before a decade-long hiatus from publishing. The trade edition of this book is the scarcest of his three early novels, surpassed in scarcity only by the hardcover issue of his story collection, The Convict. Its scarcity is probably explained by the fact that it was issued by a publisher not known for publishing fiction: of the mainstream trade publishers that issued Burke's first three novels, Crowell was by far the smallest and the least inclined toward publishing fiction, specializing in academic and reference works primarily. 6 3/4" x 11" sheets, printed on rectos only and claspbound into near fine, yellow cardstock covers. This is the second time we've handled this proof, and both times it has been this copy. We've never seen another one offered for sale. Signed by the author.
74. BURKE, James Lee. Burning Angel. NY: Hyperion (1995). The advance reading copy of this novel in Burke's award-winning Dave Robicheaux series. Fine in wrappers. Signed by the author.
75. BURROUGHS, William S. Naked Lunch. NY: Grove Press (1959)[c. 1962]. The first American edition and first hardcover edition of his second book, one of the all-time great drug novels and one of the "big three" volumes of the Beat movement (with Kerouac's On the Road and Ginsberg's Howl). Naked Lunch was not published in this country until three years after its original publication in Paris, and then only after a number of high-profile literary figures argued its case as a novel of great literary merit and import. It was published by the maverick publisher Barney Rosset, of Grove Press, in a tiny edition of 3500 copies -- a smaller number than was done of the very scarce French paperback edition in 1959. Small owner label has fallen off front pastedown, leaving residue there; fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with a couple closed edge tears. Laid in is a 1968 typed note on American Journal of Pornography stationery transmitting the book and a 1964 London Telegraph review (the year Naked Lunch was published in the U.K.). A nice copy of a landmark novel, with interesting ephemeral pieces laid in.
76. BUTLER, Robert Olen. Wabash. NY: Knopf, 1987. The uncorrected proof copy of his fifth novel, set in a midwestern steel mill town during the Depression. Signed by the author. Promotional material stapled inside the front cover; fine in wrappers. Butler won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his story collection, A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain.