Catalog 110, H-L
179.HARUF, Kent. The Tie That Binds. NY: HRW (1984). The first novel by the award-winning author of Plainsong. Warmly inscribed by the author in the month of publication. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
180.HARUF, Kent. Plainsong. NY: Knopf, 1999. The author's highly praised third novel, a National Book Award nominee. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
181.(HEANEY, Seamus). "Last Look" in Broadsheet Four. Dublin: (n.p.) (n.d.). [c. 1967]. An anthology in five broadsides. Heaney contributes one poem. Issued in an edition of 1000 copies, this is No. 798. Five 15" x 20" sheets, folded in fourths; fine, in publisher's illustrated edgeworn envelope. A scarce early publication by the Nobel Prize-winning poet.
182.HEGLAND, Jean. Into the Forest. Corvallis: Calyx Books (1996). The true first edition of her second book, first novel, a coming-of-age story published by a small Pacific Northwest publisher, which gained word-of-mouth success and was republished by Bantam the following year. Fine in illustrated boards, without dust jacket, as issued.
183.HERLIHY, James Leo. The Sleep of Baby Filbertson and Other Stories. NY: Dutton, 1959. His first book, published after the success of his play, Blue Denim. Tiny edge tear to spine crown; ownership label (of a reviewer) on flyleaf; still a fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with a corresponding tear at the crown, obstructing the "H" in Herlihy.
184.HESTER, Colin. Diamond Sutra. Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint (1997). Well-received first novel published by the successor to North Point Press, perhaps the premier literary publishing house in the U.S. these days. Signed by the author. Fine in fine dust jacket, with blurbs by William Kittredge and Pam Houston.
185.HOLDEN, Craig. The Last Sanctuary. (NY): Delacorte Press (1996). The author's second book, a well-received literary thriller. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
186.HORNBY, Nick. High Fidelity. NY: Riverhead Books, 1995. The first American edition of his well-received second book, first novel, which was later made into a highly praised movie. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
187.HUXLEY, Aldous. Brave New World. London: Chatto & Windus, 1932. His most famous novel, a classic dystopia whose very title has entered the language as a synonym for technological horror -- in particular the unanticipated negative side effects of technological advancement. A near fine copy in a spine-tanned dust jacket with very modest edge wear. One of the most important novels of mainstream speculative fiction, and a title in the top 20 of every major list of the great books of the last century.
188.IRVING, John. The Cider House Rules. Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1985. The correct first edition of his sixth novel, bound in full leather stamped in gilt, with gilt page edges and silk ribbon marker. With a special introduction by the author in which he explains the value of having "bad things" happen in a novel. A fine copy. Signed by the author. Basis for the highly praised movie, for which Irving wrote an Academy Award-winning screenplay.
189.IRVING, John. A Prayer for Owen Meany. Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1989. The true first edition of what may be Irving's best-loved book (a substantial claim for a book by the author of The World According to Garp), and the basis for the movie Simon Birch. Leatherbound, gilt stamped, with gilt page edges and silk ribbon marker. With a special introduction for this edition that does not appear in the trade edition. Signed by the author. A fine copy.
190.JACKSON, Jon. Man with an Axe. NY: Atlantic Monthly Press (1998). A novel in this Montana author's popular and critically well-received crime series featuring "Fang" Mullheisen, a Detroit policeman. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
191.JACKSON, Jon. La Donna Detroit. NY: Atlantic Monthly Press (2000). Signed by the author, who has also corrected the name of the dedicatee, replacing "Henry" with "Howard." Fine in a fine dust jacket.
192.KAFKA, Franz. The Great Wall of China. London: Martin Secker, 1933. The first English language edition of this posthumously published work of previously unpublished pieces. Mild sunning to the spine; otherwise a fine copy in like dust jacket which has been professionally repaired along the front spine fold.
193.KANON, Joseph. Los Alamos. NY: Broadway Books (1997). His first novel, a thriller set during World War II in Los Alamos, New Mexico, the site of the program to develop the first atom bomb. Winner of an Edgar Award for best first novel. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
194.KAYSEN, Susanna. Girl, Interrupted. NY: Turtle Bay Books, 1993. The third book by the author of Asa, As I Knew Him, this being a well-received memoir of her encounter with madness and institutionalization as an adolescent. Light marginal pencil markings in text; near fine in a fine dust jacket.
195.KAZIN, Alfred. A Walker in the City. NY: Harcourt, Brace (1951). His second solely-authored book, after On Native Grounds. Inscribed by the author to Charles Shapiro, with whom Kazin would co-edit The Stature of Theodore Dreiser, published in 1955: "Charles Shapiro,/ from his collaborator and/ friend,/ Alfred Kazin/ NY: March 20, 1953." Board edges a bit worn, sunned, and frayed, front hinge starting, one page corner torn; still a very good copy, lacking the dust jacket. A nice association copy.
196.KAZIN, Alfred. Contemporaries. Boston: Little, Brown (1962). A review copy, the reviewer being Charles Shapiro, former co-editor with Kazin. Shapiro's ownership label on front flyleaf, notes there on pages to cite, and a few notes in the text; a fine copy in a very good dust jacket with wear along the edges and folds. With promotional sheet and author photo laid in.
197.KEROUAC, Jack. The Subterraneans. NY: Avon (1959). First thus. Avon paperback edition T-302. With an introduction by Henry Miller. Near fine in wrappers.
198.KEROUAC, Jack. Lonesome Traveler. NY: McGraw-Hill (1960). A review copy of this collection of short pieces whose common thread is the author's travels. Written in Kerouac's rambling, autobiographic style and illustrated with sketches by Larry Rivers, who provided the dust jacket art. Reviewer's name stamped on front flyleaf; a fine copy in a good, spine-tanned dust jacket splitting and chipped at the folds.
199.LAIRD, Brian Andrew. Bowman's Lines. NY: St. Martin's (1995). The author's first book, a mystery set in the Southwest. Signed by the author. Fine in a near fine dust jacket, with a Larry McMurtry blurb.
200.LARSEN, Carl. Notes from Machine Shop. Alondro: Henny Penny Press, 1956. Henny Penny Press Chapbook #1. #18 of an unspecified limitation. Larsen was a West Coast poet who was friends with Richard Brautigan, among others. Near fine in spine-tanned stapled wrappers with small organic abrasions to the rear cover.
201.LARSEN, Carl. The Naked and the Dead and The Pride and the Passion [etc.] and Other Poems. (Torrance): (Hors Commerce Press) (1963). Small press publication, limited to 125 copies. Near fine in wrappers with small organic abrasions to the rear cover. Scarce.
202.LEE, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Philadelphia: Lippincott (1960). Her only book, a huge bestseller that was reprinted dozens of times upon publication, won the Pulitzer Prize, was selected for two different book clubs, and was made into an Academy Award-winning movie. It has sold several million copies in the decades since, never going out of print. While hardcover copies abound because of the numerous printings and book club editions, the first edition (which has been estimated at having been 5000 copies) is not only very scarce, it is virtually impossible to find in collectable condition due to a number of factors: a large percentage of copies of the first printing went to libraries; the dust jacket is unlaminated and printed in dark ink, which tends to rub and show the white paper through the ink; and, because it is one of the best-loved books in American literature, copies tend to have been read, handled, passed around, and re-read -- and show the wear and tear of such use. This copy has a gift inscription on the front flyleaf, a tiny faint spot on the top page edges, and a small bit of residue from a previous jacket protector on the lower boards and front flyleaf. The jacket has been unprofessionally, but not unskillfully, restored: internally tape-strengthened with the addition of appropriate colors at the edges and folds. The result (apart from the gift inscription) is a fine copy in a very good dust jacket that presents itself, outwardly, as a very attractive example of one of the high spots of postwar American literature. With a custom clamshell box.
203.LEOPOLD, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac. NY: Oxford University Press, 1987. The commemorative edition, with an introduction by Robert Finch, of this enormously influential book of natural history, a volume of environmental sketches and philosophical reflections that is credited with articulating an ecological perspective toward people and the land and, in doing so, helping to define the modern environmental movement. This copy bears the ownership signature of Annie Dillard, who won the Pulitzer Prize for A Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, another volume that is considered a classic in the field. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
204.LIGHTMAN, Alan P. Time Travel and Papa Joe's Pipe. NY: Scribner (1984). The first book by the author of the novel Einstein's Dreams, this title being a collection of "essays on the human side of science." This copy is inscribed by Lightman to a fellow novelist and essayist in 1985. One page corner turned, foxing to top edges; else fine in a lightly rubbed dust jacket.
205.LOWRY, Malcolm. Under the Volcano. NY: Reynal & Hitchcock (1947). Lowry's classic, one of the great books of twentieth century literature. This tale of a British consul drinking himself to death in the shadow of Mexico's twin volcanoes, Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl -- legendary mountains which are themselves inextricably bound into Mexican history and myth -- is a fierce moral parable: the exotic, lawless and majestic land of Mexico finds a fatal correlate in the unexplored regions of a civilized man's heart. A few years after the book's publication, Lowry died in his sleep after drinking heavily. Under the Volcano was his last book published during his lifetime. This copy is inscribed by the author [to James Stern]: "as from heartless volcanoes/ to heartless lands/ -- &, again, to/ new times, from/ Malcolm,/ with love." A bit of spotting to cloth, including a stain at the spine base; near fine in a very good, supplied dust jacket with a vertical crease to the spine and front panel and several small chips to the edges and folds. Books inscribed by Lowry are very scarce, and an inscription such as this -- to another literary figure, and making poetic reference to the volcano of the title -- makes this one of the best association copies of this book one could hope for. In addition, the hopefulness of the inscription -- the reference to "new times" -- is exceedingly unusual for Lowry: a hard drinker and more inclined toward melancholy than optimism, Lowry seldom expressed himself in such terms. An attractive copy of a 20th century high spot, with a unique inscription by its reclusive author.