Catalog 109, G
156. -. Another copy. Small gift inscription front flyleaf; else fine in a near fine, first issue dust jacket with two short repaired tears. A very attractive copy of a book that has become increasingly difficult to find with the correct first issue dust jacket (with an exclamation point at the end of the first paragraph of text on the front flap). For years, the priority of the two issues was unknown, and their relative scarcity a matter of some doubt but little import. Since the discovery of the galley proofs with the flap text included in proof form, the priority has been clearly established, and copies of the first issue have been snapped up in the market whenever they appear, leaving only second issue copies readily available.
157. -. Same title. The galley proofs of the American edition. 145 7 1/2" x 24" sheets, folded once. These are the corrected galleys, incorporating earlier copy-editing changes, and with pagination to page 422, corresponding to the published text. The outer sheet (a blank) is torn; otherwise the sheets are near fine. The dust jacket text is not included. Still, an exceedingly rare state of this landmark novel.
158. GARDNER, John. Vlemk the Box-Painter. Northridge: Lord John Press, 1979. The trade edition of this novella. Inscribed by the author to Harold Brodkey and his wife, the novelist Ellen Schwamm "with love." Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a couple of short edge tears. While John Gardner's signature is not especially uncommon, legitimate literary association copies are quite scarce.
159. GILCHRIST, Ellen. The Cabal. NY: Little, Brown (2000). The uncorrected proof copy of this new collection of stories by the author of The Annunciation and the National Book Award-winning story collection Victory Over Japan. Mild creasing to front spine fold; else fine in wrappers.
160. 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 the sculptor Manuel Neri and his wife Marilyn (Meim) Vangelatos Neri. Ginsberg first read from the poem "Howl" at the Six Gallery in San Francisco in October, 1955. The gallery was organized by six Bay area artists, one of them being Manuel Neri. Neri's first exhibition was at the Six Gallery; his work is now in museum collections in San Francisco, Oakland, Napa and Boulder, Colorado. This copy is signed by Meim on the copyright page and bears the ownership signature of Marilyn and Manuel Neri on the verso of the dedication page. Laid in is a two page holograph letter from Meim to a bookseller describing the early days of the gallery and Ginsberg's captivating first reading. Some faint foxing and a shallow scratch to the front cover; still, very near fine in stapled wrappers. A significant association copy of a work that defined the new poetic aesthetic that came to be associated with the Beat movement.
161. 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 hookah -- a poetic and artistic rendition of a series of iconic images from the counterculture of the 1960s, salvaged from clichédom by virtue of Ginsberg's intensity and authenticity. One of 100 numbered copies, the entire edition. Two light corner creases; else fine. A nice copy of a scarce, significant Ginsberg "A" item.
162. GINSBERG, Allen. Like Other Guys. [Great Barrington: The Figures, 1995]. A broadside poem, printed as part of an edition of 26 copies of a portfolio of writings in honor of poet Bernadette Mayer. There were four extra copies printed, otherwise none were available outside of the portfolio, copies of which went only to the contributors. This is one of the four. A touching poem, and easily one of the scarcest Ginsberg items of the last decade or more. Quarto sheet, 8 1/2" x 11", fine, and signed by the author.
163. (GINSBERG, Allen). Spiritual Quests. The Art and Craft of Religious Writing. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988. A collection of six talks given at The New York Public Library by Allen Ginsberg, Mary Gordon, Hugh Nissenson, Frederick Buechner, David Bradley and Jaroslav Pelikan. Edited by William Zinsser. An uncommon Ginsberg appearance. This copy belonged to Dan Wakefield, himself a novelist as well as a writer on spiritual matters, and bears his pencilled underlinings throughout. One small foredge stain; near fine in a near fine dust jacket. A surprisingly uncommon volume published by Houghton Mifflin from the lecture series produced by the Book of the Month Club; it seems to have had relatively limited distribution to the regular book trade.
164. GOGARTY, Oliver St. John. Elbow Room. NY: Duell, Sloan and Pearce (1942). A collection of poems by this Irish writer who was a friend of W. B. Yeats and James Joyce, and was the basis for Joyce's character "Buck Mulligan" in Ulysses. This copy is inscribed by the author to an Irish woman painter who was also a close friend of the poets Charles Olson and Vincent Ferrini, among others. Near fine in a very good dust jacket chipped at the spine extremities.
165. GOGARTY, Oliver St. John. Perennial. Baltimore: Contemporary Poetry, 1944. A collection of poems, one of 1000 copies. Like the above, a nice association copy, inscribed by the author to a painter, the wife (for a time) of a poet. A fine copy in a worn dust jacket severed at the spine. A fragile wartime book.
166. GORDIMER, Nadine. Jump. Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1991. A limited edition of the eighth collection of stories by the South African Nobel Prize winner. Leatherbound, all edges gilt, with a silk ribbon marker bound in. Signed by the author. With an introduction by Gordimer that does not appear in other editions. Fine.
167. GOREY, Edward. Poster. (n.p.: n.p., n.d.). c. 1973. A poster advertising the "Children's Book Showcase," "an exhibit of 1973 children's books of outstanding merit," as judged by Sallie Baldwin, Alan Benjamin, Anita Lobel, and Lynd Ward. Illustrated with seven floating, reading cats. The space for the date and place of the event is not filled in. 17" x 22". Folded in fourths; envelope included. A fine copy. Inscribed by Gorey.
168. GRAHAM, Jorie. The Dream of the Unified Field. Hopewell: Ecco Press (1995). Selected poems, 1974-1994. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Fine in a fine dust jacket, with the prize announcement label attached.
169. (Grateful Dead). KELLEY, Alton. Artwork. 1984. Original art for the 1984 Grateful Dead tour shirt, a variation on the "skull and roses" image that Kelley and his then-partner, Stanley Mouse, developed for a Grateful Dead concert at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco in 1966, which became known by the band as "Skullfuck" and is one of the most iconic images associated with the Grateful Dead, and with the San Francisco counterculture. The image was derived from an illustration for The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam done by Edmund Sullivan, which first appeared in 1913. On 14 1/4" x 16 1/8" matte board. Fine. Kelley's and Mouse's images helped define the psychedelic era of the 1960s and original artwork associated with their most famous subject, the Grateful Dead, is rare and highly desirable.
170. GREEN, George Dawes. The Caveman's Valentine. (NY): Warner (1994). The author's first book, and winner of an Edgar Award for Best First Mystery. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
171. GRUMBACH, Doris. The Spoil of the Flowers. Garden City: Doubleday, 1962. Her first book, a very scarce title by a writer who has gone on to become one of the most respected authors of her generation. Grumbach has said that her first two books only sold a few hundred copies each, with the remainder of the editions having been destroyed. A near fine copy in a very good dust jacket, considerably rubbed along the folds but with only light edge wear. An uncommon and important first book.