Catalog 109, E-F
118. ECO, Umberto and Cardinal Martini. Belief or Nonbelief? NY: Arcade Publishing (2000). The advance reading copy of the first American edition of this debate on issues of religious belief between the author of The Name of the Rose, a self-proclaimed secularist, and one of the most prominent figures in the Catholic hierarchy. Fine in wrappers.
119. EGOLF, Tristan. Lord of the Barnyard. (London): Picador (1998). The uncorrected proof copy of this highly praised first novel which, after being rejected by some 50 U.S. publishers, was published in France in a French translation. From there, world English rights were sold to Picador, who published the novel to substantial praise in England in 1998, with reviewers comparing the writing to Thomas Pynchon's and the book's publishing history to that of John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces. After its success in England, Grove published it in the U.S., to much critical acclaim. Some marks and creasing to covers and creases to front page edges; very good in wrappers. Scarce.
120. ERDRICH, Louise. Jacklight. NY: Holt Rinehart Winston (1984). A review copy of the author's first regularly published book, only issued in wrappers. According to a letter she wrote shortly after publication, the book was declined by 19 publishers before Holt Rinehart Winston decided to give it a chance, together with her first novel, Love Medicine. However, even Holt apparently wanted to keep costs as low as possible, when publishing a first collection of poetry by a largely unknown writer, and didn't issue a clothbound edition. Fine in wrappers with virtually none of the rubbing that is common for this title.
121. ERDRICH, Louise. Love Medicine. NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston (1984). The uncorrected proof copy of her first novel, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the L.A. Times Award for Best Novel of the Year. A scarce proof; we have only seen a handful in the years since it was published -- one suspects very few were done. Title written on bottom page edges; fine in wrappers.
122. -. Same title, the first trade edition. Critical acclaim for this novel was instantaneous and unanimous, and it was reprinted several times quickly. Love Medicine was the first in an ongoing sequence of novels, each of which has been well-received, and each has had a larger first printing than the last: Erdrich has come to be one of the most commercially successful literary authors writing in America today. Like the best Native American writing, Erdrich's writing is infused with a rich sense of myth derived from American Indian traditions, even as it uses the Western forms of poetry and the novel to contain and shape the images. This copy is inscribed by the author in the month of publication. Trace wear to the cloth at the spine base; fine in a fine dust jacket.
123. FABILLI, Mary. Shingles and Other Poems. Berkeley: Ferron Press, 1990. With a four page autograph letter to her old friend, Pauline Kael, written on the inside covers and pre-lims, in part about Robert Duncan, with whom Fabilli was associated in Berkeley in the 1930's and '40's. Near fine in stapled wrappers with Fabilli's return address label stapled to the rear cover.
124. FAULKNER, William. These 13. NY: Cape & Smith (1931). The first edition of this collection of stories, this being the limited edition of 299 copies, of which this is one of ten presentation copies reserved for Faulkner's use, signed by him and additionally inscribed to Ben Wasson "with love" and signed "Bill."
Wasson was Faulkner's longtime friend who had originally encouraged him to go to New Orleans, where he met Sherwood Anderson and where his experiences formed the basis for the novel Mosquitoes. In the years leading up to the publication of this book, Wasson was Faulkner's agent and it was he who placed most of these stories after Faulkner's third novel, Flags in the Dust, was turned down for publication by Horace Liveright.
Wasson solicited, and got, Liveright's permission to offer the book elsewhere, since Faulkner was devastated by its rejection -- he had thought it would be his "great novel." Wasson showed it to Harrison Smith at Harcourt Brace, who wrote a favorable report on it to Alfred Harcourt. Harcourt liked the book but thought it needed substantial cutting, and he didn't think Faulkner would be able to cut it himself. Harcourt asked Wasson if he would cut the book for Faulkner and shape it into publishable form. Wasson agreed, for fifty dollars, and went to work cutting a quarter of Faulkner's typescript to create the novel Sartoris out of Faulkner's 600-page manuscript of Flags in the Dust.
At this time, Faulkner was practically living at Wasson's Greenwich Village apartment, and he eventually contributed to the revision of Flags, even though he had firmly declined to do so originally.
Sartoris was the first of Faulkner's novels to be set in Mississippi, in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County that he made famous, and its publication represents a turning point in Faulkner's career, when he went from being a respected but minor novelist to being an "important author." Harrison Smith, his editor at Harcourt Brace, was Wasson's friend and Faulkner would follow Smith as he moved from Harcourt to, first, his own publishing companies (Cape & Smith and then Smith & Haas) and later to Random House, where Smith became a senior editor.
Wasson's efforts not only resulted in the publication of the stories in this volume, These 13, but also got Faulkner past the more serious obstacle of his early career, the rejection of Flags in the Dust, when his future as a writer was in real jeopardy and before any of his Mississippi novels had been published and his reputation secured. An exceptionally important association copy; indeed, it is hard to imagine any association copy of a Faulkner title that would carry with it the kind of historical significance that this one does. Wasson's importance to Faulkner at this particularly vulnerable point of his career and their closeness as Wasson reworked Faulkner's own "great book" cannot be overstated.
Faulkner seldom inscribed books, and significant association copies are virtually impossible to come by. The Petersen collection -- one of the finest Faulkner collections ever assembled, perhaps the finest -- offers a couple of points worth noting: a copy of Soldier's Pay inscribed to Sherwood Anderson -- a notable literary association but a lesser figure in Faulkner's biography than Wasson -- was offered for $55,000. Also, the Petersen collection did not have any copy of the one-of-ten presentation issue of These 13, the smallest limitation of a Faulkner limited edition. Slight sunning to the edges of the covers and a bit of tanning to the spine, but still a near fine copy without dust jacket, as issued. In a custom quarter leather clamshell box.
125. FAULKNER, William. Absalom, Absalom! NY: Random House, 1936. The limited edition of one of Faulkner's most important books, which encapsulates the failure of the old South in the doomed ambitions of one dynastic family. Contemporary critics found Faulkner's style convoluted and difficult, but this novel has come to be considered one of the classics of American literature. One of 300 numbered copies signed by the author. Owner name front pastedown; a bit of edge sunning to boards; near fine, in a custom clamshell box.
126. -. Same title, the trade edition. Two tiny nicks to boards; near fine in a good, faintly dampstained dust jacket with light edge chipping, threatening to split at the rear flap fold.
127. FAULKNER, William. The Town. NY: Random House (1957). The first trade edition of the second book in Faulkner's Snopes Trilogy. This is the first issue, in red cloth with threaded gray endpapers. Bookplate front pastedown; else a fine copy in a very near fine, second issue dust jacket without the "5/57" on the front flap.
128. FAULKNER, William. The Mansion. NY: Random House (1959). The limited edition of the third volume in the Snopes trilogy. One of 500 numbered copies signed by the author. This title was a National Book Award finalist in 1960. Bookplate front pastedown; else fine, without the publisher's original acetate dust jacket.
129. FERRINI, Vincent. I Have the World. London: Fortune Press (1967). A volume of poetry by this Gloucester, MA, poet who was a longtime friend and sometime rival of poet Charles Olson, who directed a critical part of The Maximus Poems at Ferrini. Ferrini's response was a 30-page love poem, which was published as In the Arriving and which Olson later said was Ferrini's best book. Despite a rivalry that has been characterized as "brotherly," they remained close friends throughout Olson's life. Inscribed by the author: "____/ the heart of the book/ Vincent." The recipient's name was deliberately abraded by the recipient. Fine in a near fine, modestly edgeworn dust jacket.
130. FIELDING, Helen. Bridget Jones. The Edge of Reason. (n.p.): Viking (2000). The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of the sequel to Bridget Jones's Diary, which was a huge bestseller when published in the U.S. in 1998. Tapebound in cardstock covers; fine.
131. FINDLEY, Timothy. The Butterfly Plague. NY: Viking Press (1969). The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of this Canadian author's second book. Spine-cocked and sunned; first blank loose; about near fine in wrappers. Laid in is a letter from an editor asking Pauline Kael, longtime New Yorker film critic and recent recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Book Critics Circle, to review the book.
132. FINDLEY, Timothy. Typed Note Signed. July 31, 1996. Several short paragraphs agreeing to sign a book and working through postal logistics and the timing, prior to his tour for You Went Away. Signed by the author. Folded for mailing; fine, with envelope.
133. FLANNER, Janet. An American in Paris. London: Hamish Hamilton (1940). Perhaps her most famous book -- a collection of pieces, many of which were published in The New Yorker under the nom de plume "Genêt." Contains an essay on Adolf Hitler originally written in 1935, when it was fashionable to view Hitler as a humorous, almost ludicrous, figure in world politics; Flanner provides an introduction to this piece, placing it in its historical context. Neat owner name front flyleaf; offsetting to endpages; foxing to last two signatures. Very good in a very good, sunned dust jacket, with a narrow chip at the upper rear spine fold. Still, a nice copy of a British book published during wartime.
134. FLANNER, Janet. Pétain. The Old Man of France. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1944. A profile of the leader of the French collaborationist Vichy government, which first appeared in The New Yorker in four installments. This volume is slightly expanded from its original appearance. Quarto; near fine in stapled wrappers; because of wartime restrictions, there was no hardcover edition of this title.
135. FLANNER, Janet. Men and Monuments. NY: Harper & Brothers (1957). Later printing. Bookplate front pastedown; near fine in a very good dust jacket with rubbing and a tear on the spine.
136. FLANNER, Janet. Paris Journal 1944-1965. NY: Atheneum, 1965. Flanner's letters from Paris for The New Yorker, after she returned there when the Vichy regime collapsed near the end of the war. Winner of the National Book Award. Edited by William Shawn. Two tiny spots on page edges, else fine in a near fine, spine-tanned dust jacket with one closed edge tear.
137. FLANNER, Janet. Paris Journal 1965-1971. NY: Atheneum, 1971. The second volume of these letters for The New Yorker, also edited by William Shawn. Fine in a very good, spine-tanned dust jacket with a few spots and one closed edge tear.
138. FLANNER, Janet. Paris Was Yesterday. NY: Viking Press (1972). Inscribed by the author in the month before publication: "For dearest ____/ from/ Janet, with love/ & recollections/ June 1972." Selections from "Letter from Paris," with an introduction and occasional commentary by Flanner. Fine in a near fine dust jacket worn at the corners and crown.
139. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy. Near fine in wrappers.
140. -. Same title, the first British edition. (London): Angus & Robertson (1973). Fine in a fine dust jacket.
141. FLANNER, Janet. The Cubical City. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press (1974). Flanner's 1926 novel, her first book, reissued in the "Lost American Fiction" series. With an afterword by the author. Fine in a very good dust jacket with two small chips and one edge tear.
142. FLANNER, Janet. London Was Yesterday: 1934-1939. NY: Viking Press (1975). An illustrated collection of Flanner's "Letter from London" articles for The New Yorker, plus an introduction and a profile of Queen Mary. Signed by the author. Quarto. Bookplate front pastedown, a bit of offsetting to front flyleaf; else fine in a fine dust jacket with a bit of rubbing at the base of the spine.
143. FLANNER, Janet. Janet Flanner's World. NY: HBJ (1979). A posthumous collection of previously uncollected writings, 1932-1975. Edited by Irving Drutman and introduced by William Shawn. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket.
144. (FLANNER, Janet). ALAJALOV, Constantin. Conversation Pieces. NY: Studio Publications (1942). Drawings by Alajalov, a frequent contributor to The New Yorker, with an introduction and commentary by Flanner. Large quarto; cloth a bit worn and sunned; very good, without dust jacket.
145. (FLANNER, Janet). DORVAL, Marcelle and CARLU, Jean. The Heart on the Sleeve. (NY): Brentano's (1943). A bilingual (French and English) compilation of idiomatic expressions selected by Dorval, illustrated by Carlu, and introduced by Flanner. Quarto; offsetting to endpages; near fine in a good dust jacket with several small chips and splitting along the front flap fold.
146. -. Same title. (NY): Brentano's (1944). A wrappered reissue in smaller format and with several corrections from the earlier text. Inscribed by Dorval and signed by Carlu. Some corner creasing, and rubbed along the folds; very good.
147. (FLANNER, Janet). COLETTE. Seven by Colette. NY: Farrar, Straus, Cudahy (1955). An omnibus edition of the French writer's work -- author of Gigi -- with an introduction by Flanner. Bookplate front pastedown; near fine in a very good, spine-tanned dust jacket with light edge wear.
148. (FLANNER, Janet). COLETTE. The Pure & the Impure. NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux (1967). The first American edition of this posthumous volume. With an introduction by Flanner. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
149. (FLANNER, Janet). HORST. Salute to the Thirties. NY: Viking Press (1971). Portraits of the famous, including Flanner; introduced by Flanner. Quarto; fine in a near fine dust jacket lightly worn at the spine crown.
150. FLAUBERT, Gustave. Madame Bovary. Paris: Michel Lévy Fréres, 1857. The first edition, first issue of what has been called "the first modern novel." Two volumes, bound in contemporary half-morocco and French marbled paper boards. Flaubert's novel -- of a woman whose dreams of romantic love lead her to a number of affairs, ending in her suicide -- was controversial, to say the least, upon publication. Both Flaubert and the editor of the book were tried for offenses against public morality, although both were narrowly acquitted. The book was not translated into English until 1886, six years after Flaubert's death, although it has since been recognized as a classic, not just of French literature but of world literature, and a harbinger of the modern era in its frank examination of a bourgeois woman's adultery. A beautiful copy of one of the most important novels in the Western canon, in a fine, matching half-morocco slipcase and chemise.
151. FORD, Richard. Independence Day. London: Harvill Press, 1995. Bound sheets for the first British edition, 8 1/4" x 11 3/4", shot from typescript. Tapebound in printed cardstock covers. Signed by the author. An extremely unusual format; the author, when presented with the copy for a signature, stated that he had never seen one before -- nor had we. A sequel to Ford's breakthrough book, The Sportswriter, this novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and firmly established Ford as one of the leading American writers of his time. Small abrasion front cover; otherwise fine.
152. FORD, Richard. Good Raymond. London: Harvill (1988). The first separate publication of this piece on Raymond Carver, which first appeared in The New Yorker. No comparable U.S. edition, and thus a scarce Ford "A" item. Fine in stapled wrappers.
153. (FOWLES, John). DE DURFORT, Claire. Ourika. Austin: W. Thomas Taylor, 1977. Translated and with an introduction and epilogue by John Fowles. One of 500 copies, printed letterpress on dampened handmade paper at the Bird and Bull Press and bound by Grey Parrot. Signed by Fowles. This copy bears the elaborate, dated ownership signature of artist Alfonso Ossorio; fine, without dust jacket, as issued.
154. FRANCIS, Dick. Second Wind. NY: Putnam (1999). The uncorrected proof copy of the author's 40th novel in his series of mysteries located in the world of horse racing. Francis, before he became a writer, was for a time a jockey. Fine in wrappers.