Catalog 110, E-G
144.ERDRICH, Louise. Love Medicine. NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston (1984). Her first novel, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the L.A. Times Award for Best Novel of the Year. Critical acclaim for this novel was instantaneous and unanimous, and it was reprinted several times quickly. Love Medicine was the first in a sequence of novels that is ongoing and has, to date, included four books. All have 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. She collaborated, explicitly, with her late husband Michael Dorris on two books, and has said in interviews that they worked closely together on all their writing. As with 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. Inscribed by the author and additionally signed by Michael Dorris. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
145.ERDRICH, Louise. The Beet Queen. NY: Henry Holt (1986). Her second novel, and the second in the sequence of novels that began with Love Medicine. This copy is inscribed by the author in the month prior to publication and also signed by Michael Dorris. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
146.-. Same title, the advance reading copy. Because of the success of Erdrich's first novel, this title was aggressively promoted, and an advance reading copy was rushed to press as a promotional giveaway for the American Booksellers Association's annual convention. The author was still in the process of making the last revisions to the novel, so the text of this advance copy varies from that of the final published book. Signed by both Erdrich and Michael Dorris. Slight spine fading, else fine in wrappers.
147.ERDRICH, Louise. Tracks. NY: Henry Holt (1988). The third book published in her sequence that began with Love Medicine and continued with The Beet Queen. This is the "prequel" to those books, set in the same locale, but at an earlier time. Signed by both Erdrich and Michael Dorris. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
148.-. Same title, the advance reading copy. Signed by both Erdrich and Michael Dorris. Fine in wrappers.
149.FORD, Richard. From The Sportswriter. (n.p.): Oxford/Salt-Works Press, 1986. A broadside excerpt from The Sportswriter. 8 1/2" x 11". One of 129 numbered copies signed by the author. One of the scarcer items in the Ford oeuvre, having been done both in a small edition and in a somewhat out of the way location, with most copies not making it into the book collecting mainstream. Trace edge-sunning; still fine.
150.FOWLES, John. The Collector. Boston: Little Brown (1963). The first American edition. Owner label (of a reviewer) on the front flyleaf; a very near fine copy in a dust jacket rubbed along the spine folds; about near fine. An important first book, which remains one of the small handful of successful fictional treatments of the passion for collecting taken to the extreme.
151.FRAZIER, Charles. Cold Mountain. NY: Atlantic Monthly (1997). The advance reading copy of this Civil War novel, the author's first book, and a publishing phenomenon: after a modest 25,000 copy first printing, the book went into dozens of additional printings, eventually selling more than a million copies in hardcover and winning the National Book Award -- a rare combination of literary and commercial success for any work of fiction, let alone a first novel. Fine in wrappers.
152.FROST, Robert. A Masque of Mercy. NY: Henry Holt (1947). A "dialogue in blank verse" by the four-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry -- an accomplishment that is unmatched in American letters. Fine in a spine-faded, else fine dust jacket.
153.FULLER, R. Buckminster. No More Secondhand God. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press (1969). Third printing. Inscribed by the author to Annie Dillard: "To: Annie/ with love */ Bucky Fuller/ *see Intuition." A nice association copy between Fuller, the eminence grise of American letters for a generation, and Dillard, the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and essayist. Fine, in a plain brown (homemade?) dust jacket.
154.GADDIS, William. The Recognitions. NY: Harcourt Brace (1955). His first novel, which received wildly mixed reviews upon publication and proceeded to sink into obscurity until the early Sixties, when a small literary journal in Greenwich Village single-handedly resurrected the novel, declaring it an under-appreciated masterpiece. The book was reissued at that time, with a number of revisions by the author, and the critical consensus is now that the book is indeed one of the great American novels of the postwar era. Two of Gaddis' other three books have won the National Book Award. This is a fine copy in a very good dust jacket with rubbing on the spine and several small edge chips and tears.
155.-. Same title. The advance reading copy. Spine-sunned but otherwise fine in wrappers. An exceptionally nice copy of this bulky, fragile volume.
156.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. Previous owner notation on front flyleaf; else fine in a near fine, price-clipped, first issue dust jacket.
157.GARRETT, George. To Recollect a Cloud of Ghosts. (n.p.): Palaemon Press (1979). One of 250 copies signed by the author. This copy is additionally inscribed by Garrett to Annie Dillard, who was a student of his at Hollins College. Near fine, with the title label from the front cover unglued and laid in. An excellent literary association copy between Garrett, an accomplished novelist in his own right, and Dillard, perhaps his most famous student.
158.GARRETT, George. An Evening Performance. Garden City: Doubleday, 1985. A collection of new and selected older stories. Inscribed by the author to his former student, Annie Dillard: "For Annie & Gary/ with all the best/ there is and can be -- ." Fine in a near fine dust jacket. A nice copy of a not particularly well-made book; and an excellent literary association copy.
159.GILCHRIST, Ellen. In the Land of Dreamy Dreams. (London): Faber and Faber (1982). The first British edition of her first book, published in England a year after its publication in the U.S. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
160.GILCHRIST, Ellen. The Annunciation. Boston: Little Brown (1983). Her second book, first novel. Signed by the author. Remainder dot bottom page edges and some associated smudging there; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
161.GILCHRIST, Ellen. Victory Over Japan. Boston: Little Brown (1984). Her National Book Award-winning collection of stories. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
162.GINSBERG, Allen. Howl and Other Poems. San Francisco: City Lights (1956). The third printing of the trade edition of Ginsberg's first regularly published book, first 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. This was the first edition to be printed in the U.S.: previous printings had been done in England, and 520 copies of the second printing were seized by U.S. Customs for obscenity when they were sent from the printer to the publisher. In order to avoid Customs having any jurisdiction over the book in the future, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, publisher of City Lights books, arranged to have this edition produced in the U.S. "Howl" has been called the most important American poem since Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass." This copy is inscribed by the author to his friend Kennett Love. Love was a former New York Times reporter, specializing in Middle Eastern affairs, and was also a close friend of all the Beat writers in the Fifties -- in particular, Ginsberg, Kerouac (whom he knew in Northport, on Long Island) and Lucien Carr, who was for a time his best friend. In addition to inscribing the book, Ginsberg has drawn a sun and a sunflower and has appended the dedication page to include Lucien Carr. With Love's ownership signature. Minor cover stain and spine-tanning; about near fine in stapled wrappers.
163.GINSBERG, Allen. Kaddish and Other Poems. (San Francisco): City Lights (1961). Another book in City Lights' Pocket Poets series. Includes Ginsberg's classic poems on psychedelics -- "Laughing Gas," (dedicated to Gary Snyder), "Mescaline" and "Lysergic Acid." This copy belonged to Kennett Love and bears his ownership signature and date (1961). Ginsberg has provided a drawing (unsigned) on the dedication page. Laid in is a 1961 bookstore receipt for the book, a newspaper clipping from 1965 announcing Ginsberg's expulsion from Czechoslovakia, and directions to St. Clare's Church on Long Island. Spine-tanned; near fine in wrappers.
164.GINSBERG, Allen. Empty Mirror. NY: Totem/Corinth (1961). Fourth printing. Inscribed by the author to Kennett Love in 1969: "Kennett - See Page 34 & 37/ both are Lucien's Compositions/ from E. 10 St. one evening/ in 1948 maybe./ (i.e. I gave/ him the situation/ & he phrased it/ in Thos. Hardyesque/ Newspaperese./ Allen Ginsberg." With Kennett Love's ownership signature. Carr was Love's best friend, which Ginsberg would have known and which explains the inscription. Mild cover foxing; near fine in stapled wrappers.
165.GINSBERG, Allen and BURROUGHS, William. The Yage Letters. (San Francisco): City Lights Books (1966). The third printing. Inscribed by Ginsberg to Kennett Love, "Letters & decades old," in 1969. Love's ownership signature; near fine in wrappers.
166.GINSBERG, Allen. Reality Sandwiches. (San Francisco): City Lights (1966). The fifth printing (identified as a "New Edition") of a title in the City Lights Pocket Poets series that was first published in 1963. Together with Kaddish and Planet News, the three small chapbooks form the central accomplishment of Ginsberg's work as a poet during this period and stand as the volumes by which his reputation was secured as an American poet of major stature and not just as a figure of the "Beat" movement. These poems date from the period 1953-1960. This copy is inscribed by Ginsberg to Kennett Love in 1969. Additionally, under the epigraph "Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild/ typewritten pages, for yr own joy," Ginsberg has written "Kerouac's advice." Love's ownership signature; tanning to spine; else fine in wrappers. Like the copy of Howl listed above, this was the first edition of this title to be printed in the U.S.; earlier printings had been done in England, by the same printer that had originally printed Howl.
167.GINSBERG, Allen. Wichita Vortex Sutra. San Francisco: Coyote, 1967. The third printing of the American edition of this powerful anti-Vietnam war statement. Inscribed by the author to Kennett Love in 1969. Edge-sunned; near fine in stapled wrappers.
168.GINSBERG, Allen. T.V. Baby Poems. NY: Grossman, 1968. The first Grossman edition, this being one of 1750 copies of the softcover issue. Inscribed by the author to Kennett Love in 1969, with a flower, sun, moon and stars drawing covering the front free endpaper. With Love's ownership signature. Minor surface soiling; near fine in wrappers.
169.GINSBERG, Allen. Ankor Wat. (London): Fulcrum (1968). The trade edition of this long, moving poem derived from Ginsberg's journals of a trip through Southeast Asia, which focuses on the ruins of Ankor Wat as a central image, and which combines two of the main strands of Ginsberg's ongoing concerns -- the hope implicit in the metaphysics of eastern mysticism and the destructive capacities of western technology and the cultural imperialism as manifested, at that time, in the war in Southeast Asia. Heavily illustrated with striking photographs of the ruins by Alexandra Lawrence. Inscribed by the author to Kennett Love in 1969 with an additional signed footnote in the text. With Love's ownership signature. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
170.GINSBERG, Allen. Planet News. (San Francisco): City Lights (1968). Another title in the City Lights Pocket Poets series. Inscribed by the author to Kennett Love in 1969 with a full page planet drawing. Love's ownership signature; spine-tanned; else fine in wrappers.
171.GINSBERG, Allen. First Blues. Rags, Ballads & Harmonium Songs 1971-74. (NY): Full Court Press (1975). The simultaneous hardcover edition of this collection of pieces, this being one of 100 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket with trace rubbing at the spine crown.
172.GIONO, Jean. Premières Proses et Premières Poèmes. Saint-Paul: Aux Cahiers du Contadour (1938). Copy No. 311. of an unstated number of copies. Inscribed by the author. Pages uncut; covers edge-darkened and edge-stained; very good in wrappers.
173.GIONO, Jean. Angelo. London: Peter Owen (1960). A novel by Giono, with a long blurb by Henry Miller. The other authors whose books are listed by the publisher on the rear flap are Jean Cocteau, Anaïs Nin and Anna Kavan. Fine in a spine-tanned dust jacket with some minor rubbing and a bit of chipping at the heel; about near fine.
174.GODWIN, Gail. The Perfectionists. NY: Harper & Row (1970). Her first book. Ownership label (of a reviewer) on the front flyleaf, and several notations there and in the text; otherwise a fine copy in a very good dust jacket with minor edge staining. An uncommon title.
175.GREENE, Graham. The Power and the Glory. London: Heinemann (1940). The uncorrected proof copy of the title that is generally considered Greene's most important novel, for the way it focuses the issues of politics and the church that run through all his other writings. The trade edition was a fragile wartime production with a first printing of only 3500 copies; this proof may have been done in an edition of 5-10 copies. The spine of this copy is creased and tanned, with the red lettering faded there; the covers, also printed in red, have one faint corner crease and are otherwise bright and sharp; near fine overall. A very attractive copy of a scarce state of this undisputed high spot of twentieth century English literature. Winner of the Hawthornden Prize, a Waterstone's book of the century and a Connolly 100 title. Housed in a custom folding chemise and slipcase.
176.GUTERSON, David. Snow Falling on Cedars. NY: Harcourt Brace (1994). His first novel, a well-written and touching story of a murder trial on an island in Puget Sound in the aftermath of World War II. The evocative prose captures an era, depicting the conflicting sensibilities of the island's Japanese-American community and its white, patriotic fishermen. On the basis of this book, Guterson was included on the list of Granta's 20 best young American writers. Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award. Inscribed by the author to another writer in the year of publication, "with gratitude for your/ support & with respect -- ." Fine in a fine dust jacket.
177.GYSIN, Brion. The Process. Garden City: Doubleday, 1969. A fantastic drug novel written by William Burroughs' longtime friend and collaborator (the two worked on Minutes to Go, Exterminator! and The Third Mind together, among others). This is a complimentary copy, with a Doubleday "compliments of Brion Gysin" card laid in. Two tiny spots to top edge and a small ding to board edges there; near fine in a very good, rubbed dust jacket with light wear at the spine extremities.