Catalog 112, M
147. "MALCOLM X." Holiday Card. (n.d.) [ca. 1940s]. 5 3/4" x 4 3/4". A Christmas card from the noted black activist, written decades before he converted to Islam and became the most outspoken and militant agitator for black civil rights in the early 1960s. Malcolm X's incendiary rhetoric in the early years of the Civil Rights Movement helped polarize the country around issues of race and also helped open the way for civil and legal reforms on an unprecedented scale. The social criticism that seemed so extreme and intransigent in 1963, when viewed with the historical perspective of the intervening decades, seems mild, almost mainstream, and much of his most extreme characterizations of race relations in the United States seem self-evidently true today, rather than provocative. This card has a sleigh scene on the front and a standard Christmas and New Year's greeting inside. Signed in full as "Malcolm Little," with the additional sentiment, in holograph: "I hope you haven't forgotten me." Folded once, seemingly to fit into a square envelope (not present). Very slight general wear; still near fine. Autograph material by Malcolm X is extremely scarce, particularly such an early example as this, preceding as it does his notoriety and period of historical significance.
148. MATHEWS, John Joseph. Sundown. NY: Longmans, Green, 1934. His second book and only novel, a novel of the American Southwest. The first modern novel by an Indian writer to deal directly with questions of "Indianness," the alienation from culture and self provoked by white men's education, and the futile attempt to become assimilated into the dominant culture. This copy (not signed by Mathews) bears a 1934 gift inscription from Carl Hayden, one of the most celebrated figures in Arizona political history, to Paul Getty. Hayden was elected to the U.S. Congress right after Arizona was admitted to the Union, and he later served as a Senator from Arizona for 42 years, the last twelve of which he served as president pro-tempore of the Senate. He retired in 1969. Hayden has been called the "single most important individual in shaping Arizona's growth from a sparsely settled, arid frontier territory near the beginning of the twentieth century to a modern urban state in the last half of the century." While resolutely pro-development, he was also a staunch defender of natural resources, and the Congressional bill to build Boulder Dam was only approved after a filibuster by Hayden and Arizona's other Senator, Henry Ashurst. A fine copy, lacking the dust jacket, and a nice association with an important figure in Southwestern history.
149. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Race Rock. NY: Harper & Brothers (1954). The author's first novel, published just after he returned from Paris, where he helped found the Paris Review. Inscribed by the author to his brother-in-law, Kennett Love. The book is dedicated to Deborah Love; she and Matthiessen were married from 1963 until her death in 1972. Kennett Love was a former New York Times reporter, specializing in Middle Eastern affairs. His book Suez: The Twice-Fought War is considered the standard work on the subject. He was also involved in a celebrated lawsuit in which a Wall Street Journal writer implied that Love had been involved in the 1953 Iranian coup that brought the Shah to power, and that his involvement was CIA-related. This is the issue in blue cloth and black boards; the priority has not been determined. Love's ownership signature on front flyleaf (and hunting license page 112); offsetting from laid in review on pp. 42-43; spine cloth faded. Still about near fine, lacking the dust jacket. Also laid in is a postcard from a bookstore, quoting the book to Love for $5.00, in 1967. An excellent association copy, being inscribed to the brother of the dedicatee.
150. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Partisans. NY: Viking, 1955. His second novel, inscribed to New Yorker writer Berton Roueche and his wife and signed "Affectionately, Peter." Near fine in a very good dust jacket, with the orange box on the spine faded as usual, and some chipping at the extremities of the spine and other modest edge wear. A significant association copy and an apparently contemporary inscription and scarce thus.
151. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Raditzer. NY: Viking, 1961. Matthiessen's fourth book, third novel, a tale of an outcast seaman on a World War II troop ship. Inscribed by the author to his brother-in-law, Kennett Love. Love's ownership signature on front flyleaf and a couple pencilled notes, apparently in his hand, on the rear pastedown. A near fine copy in a very good, spine-sunned dust jacket with a couple closed tears at mid-spine. Again, a nice association copy.
152. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. The Cloud Forest. NY: Viking, 1961. A chronicle of a trip through the Amazon wilderness, his second book of nonfiction and the first of his numerous personal accounts of travel and exploration, with which he has carved out a unique position in our literature. This copy is inscribed by the author to his brother-in-law, Kennett Love, and bears Love's ownership signature. Fine in a near fine, spine-sunned dust jacket rubbed along the folds.
153. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Under the Mountain Wall. NY: Viking (1962). His third book of nonfiction, recounting the Harvard-Peabody Expedition to New Guinea to study one of the last "stone age" tribes on the planet, which had been entirely free from contact with Westerners or the artifacts of industrial society. This is the second issue, but the first published edition: virtually all copies of the first issue were withdrawn by the publisher prior to publication as the photo pages were in the wrong place and contrary to the Table of Contents. This copy, the published, corrected issue, is fine in a near fine, lightly edgeworn dust jacket. Inscribed by the author to his brother-in-law, Kennett Love, and bearing Love's ownership signature, notes on a rear blank, and a few marginal markings. The book is dedicated to Love's sister Deborah, Matthiessen's wife.
154. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. At Play in the Fields of the Lord. NY: Random House (1965). His fourth novel, which was nominated for the National Book Award. A cautionary tale of Americans with widely different aims having unintended effects on a tribe of stone age Amazonian Indians, this was the first in-depth fictional treatment of the themes that have dominated Matthiessen's writings, both fiction and nonfiction, over the last 30 years -- the impact of Europeans on the environment and on indigenous cultures, from a perspective that combines the political with the spiritual. Inscribed by the author to his brother-in-law, Kennett Love, and bearing Love's ownership signature. Foredge foxed, cloth a bit dusty; near fine in a very good, spine-tanned dust jacket with light wear at the spine extremities.
155. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. The Shorebirds of North America. NY: Viking (1967). Large folio edited by Gardner Stout and illustrated by Robert Verity Clem, with text by Matthiessen. A landmark volume, considered the standard book in the field. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication to the artist Sheridan Lord, Matthiessen's college roommate. Lord was a noted landscape artist and a friend of Jackson Pollack; he rejected Pollack's advice to live in the city and work in abstraction and instead chose to move to eastern Long Island and live a relatively solitary life, painting the stark and beautiful landscapes of the Long Island coast, unfashionable as that may have been to the prevailing spirit of the time. Upper front corner of cloth lightly damp-stained, near fine in an internally tape-repaired but still very good, price-clipped dust jacket.
156. -. Another copy. Inscribed by the author to his brother-in-law, Kennett Love, and bearing Love's 1967 ownership signature. A fine copy of this massive volume, in an edgeworn dust jacket with several stains on the rear panel and thus about near fine.
157. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Oomingmak. NY: Hastings House (1967). An unusual, small volume, written for young people, perhaps for use in schools; an account of an expedition to an island in the Bering Sea inhabited by musk oxen. Illustrated with Matthiessen's photographs. Inscribed by the author to his brother-in-law, Kennett Love. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. A very nice copy of a somewhat uncommon book which, because of its unlaminated dust jacket, is seldom found in such nice condition.
158. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. In the Spirit of Crazy Horse. New York: Viking (1983). Matthiessen's controversial and suppressed book on the conflict between agents of the federal government and members of the radical American Indian Movement in the 1970s, which culminated in a gun battle that left two FBI agents and one Indian dead. Matthiessen argues that the conviction of Leonard Peltier for the agents' death was a miscarriage of justice. His book was the subject of two lawsuits -- by one of the FBI agents involved in the case and by the former governor of South Dakota -- which effectively suppressed it for nearly a decade. A Supreme Court ruling declining to hear the case after an appeals court had thrown out the suits on the basis of First Amendment considerations finally allowed the book to be reprinted after nine years of litigation and untold millions of dollars in legal expenses -- a harrowing experience for the author, his publishers and (one assumes) their insurers, and a sobering example of how a legal case can suppress a publication even if the case is, as this one turned out to be, deemed to be without merit: Matthiessen's book was effectively removed from its target audience for the crucial window of time during which it was most relevant (and agitation on Peltier's behalf might have had the best chance for success). A landmark of literary history and First Amendment tests. This copy is inscribed by Matthiessen to his former brother-in-law, Kennett Love, in the month of publication: "For Gloria & Kennett/ Read it and weep, all right?/ Love/ Peter." Additionally signed in full by Matthiessen. Small stains to foredge and trace sunning; very near fine in a price-clipped dust jacket. Laid in are two news articles about the legal suit and one about Peltier.
159. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Indian Country. NY: Viking (1984). A collection of essays on various issues related to American Indians, especially those issues having to do with the culture clash between corporations looking to exploit natural resources and tribes asserting their rights to control their land and its uses, while retaining a connection to the traditions by which they lived in harmony with their environment and held the land sacred. It was during the course of researching this book that Matthiessen came upon the story that evolved into In The Spirit of Crazy Horse, which effectively sidelined this work for several years. This copy is inscribed by Matthiessen to Kennett Love, his former brother-in-law, on Matthiessen's 57th birthday: "For Gloria & Kennett/ What a lovely birthday/ lunch under the lilacs!/ We love you/ Peter & Maria/ May 22/ 1984." Additionally signed in full by Matthiessen. Fine in a fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
160. MAXWELL, William. The Château. NY: Knopf, 1961. A novel set in France in the aftermath of World War II. Inscribed by Maxwell to fellow author Howard Moss in the month before publication: "February 1961/ Howard from/ Bill - Now if you will/ just make this into/ one of those movies/ of yours -." Moss was Poetry Editor at The New Yorker magazine until his death in 1987; Maxwell was Fiction Editor at The New Yorker for many years. Moss's Selected Poems won the 1972 National Book Award for poetry. Maxwell won the National Book Award in 1982 for his novel So Long, See You Tomorrow, and this novel was a National Book Award finalist. Dusty top stain; else fine in a very good, spine-darkened dust jacket with shallow chipping at the crown. An excellent association copy of one of Maxwell's major novels.
161. MAXWELL, William. Ancestors. NY: Knopf, 1971. His first book of nonfiction. Inscribed by the author to Glenway Wescott in the month before publication: "Glenway from Bill Maxwell,/ devotedly." A wonderful association copy: Wescott was a noted expatriate and writer in Paris in the 1920s; Hemingway based a minor character in The Sun Also Rises on him. These days he is most well-known for having been one of the first openly gay writers, making no effort to conceal his relationships with Monroe Wheeler and photographer George Platt Lynes. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. With Wescott's bookplate.
162. -. Another copy. Inscribed by the author to poet David Ignatow "with best wishes." Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a couple tiny, closed edge tears. Again, a fine literary association copy.
163. MAXWELL, William. So Long, See You Tomorrow. NY: Knopf, 1980. A short novel, his first in eighteen years, since The Château. Inscribed by the author to poet Howard Moss in the month prior to publication: "December 1979/ Howard from Bill/ with love." An excellent association copy: Maxwell and Moss had been working at The New Yorker together for a quarter century by the time of this inscription, and in that context the brief, warm inscription speaks volumes. Small erasure front flyleaf; else fine in a fine dust jacket mildly tanned on the spine.
164. -. Another copy. Inscribed by the author to poet David Ignatow "with best wishes." Winner of the 1982 National Book Award, when it was released in paperback. Fine in a fine dust jacket and a good literary association.
165. McKEOWN, Tom. The Cloud Keeper. Dublin: Seafront Press, 1972. One of 300 copies. This copy inscribed by the author to poet John Hollander in 1974. Hollander was twice nominated for the National Book Award, in 1973 and 1974. Fine in stapled wrappers.
166. McMURTRY, Larry. In a Narrow Grave. Austin: Encino, 1968. The signed limited edition of this collection of essays, McMurtry's first book of nonfiction and his first limited edition. One of 250 numbered copies bound in quarter leather and signed by the author. This copy is additionally inscribed to filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich: "For Peter/ of all my books/ this is the one I read/ with the most/ surprise. I was/ awfully happy when I/ wrote it -- I don't/ know what difference/ that made, though -- / Love, Larry." Bogdanovich directed and co-wrote, with McMurtry, the film version of McMurtry's The Last Picture Show in 1971. The Last Picture Show won two Oscars and was nominated for 6 more, including Best Screenplay for a film based on another medium. It also won three British Academy Awards, including one for the screenplay, with Bogdanovich and McMurtry sharing the credit. With Bogdanovich's ownership signature and stamp on front pastedown. A bit of tanning to the spine leather; else fine in slipcase. A scarce limited edition and an excellent inscription and association copy.
167. McPHEE, John. Encounters with the Archdruid. NY: FSG (1971). Three essays in which McPhee orchestrates a dialogue/confrontation between "archdruid" David Brower -- a former head of the Sierra Club and founder of the more radical environmental group Friends of the Earth -- and several advocates of development and the responsible exploitation of the earth's resources. Inscribed by McPhee for Congressman Robert E. Jones, "with the compliments of Hibben Ziesing" in the year of publication. Laid in is a letter of transmittal to Congressman Jones from Ziesing, author of History of Fighting Squadron Forty-Six; the letter is secretarially signed on his behalf. Jones was a US Navy gunnery officer in 1943-44 before serving as Democratic Congressman from Alabama for thirty years, during which time he served as Chairman of the Public Works and Transportation Committee. In McPhee's book, two sections on dams bear paper clip marks and a few pencilled marginal markings; otherwise this is a fine copy in a near fine, spine-faded dust jacket with a creased edge tear at the upper rear panel.
168. MEREDITH, William. The Wreck of the Thresher. NY: Knopf, 1964. The author's fourth book, a collection of poems that was a National Book Award nominee in 1965. Inscribed by the author to Edward Butscher, a poet as well as Sylvia Plath's biographer, at Bread Loaf in 1971. Fine in a very good, sunned dust jacket slightly chipped at the crown.
169. MEWSHAW, Michael. Man in Motion. NY: Random House (1970). The author's first novel, inscribed to novelist Jay Neugeboren and his wife in the month after publication "with warmest regards -- and acute envy for their current year in southern France." Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
170. MILLER, Henry. Maurizius Forever. Waco: Motive, 1946. The second edition, printed the same month as the Grabhorn Press limited edition, and in an edition equally small: both were issued with printings of 500 copies. Inscribed by Miller to his second wife, June Mansfield, on the half-title page: "June -/ Here's one/ you may/ not know./ HM." June was Henry's second wife and his muse: it was she who inspired him to give up his previous life, move to Paris, and pursue his art and writing. New prices stamped on flap folds. The self-wrappers are split in two along the spine, thus only a good copy. Laid in is a typewritten paragraph that begins to mimic text from page 21 and cuts off when a sentence is inadvertently repeated (typist unknown). An association copy of the first order.
171. (MILLER, Henry). BRINGER, Rudolphe. Trente ans D'Humour. Paris: France-Edition (1924). Inscribed by Miller to Emil Schnelluck, one of his oldest friends and one of only a handful who stayed close to Miller through the enormous changes in his life after he met June Mansfield and left his previous existence behind in almost every respect. Schnelluck had been to Europe long before Miller had, and he used to recount to Miller his memories of his visits there, which Miller eagerly soaked up. Now Miller, in Paris for the second time in October, 1930, relays this book to his friend, with a recommendation that it is "fairly easy to read and quite entertaining. Try it!" He also recounts seeing "a peach of a Huysmans yesterday on Blvd Raspail called 'Croquis de Paris.' So much to buy -- so much -- if one only had the dough!" A wonderful inscription to one of his best friends, focused on Paris and books, not to mention poverty -- the important early themes of Miller's literary life. Wrappers are missing and the inscription is on the half-title which is the first page here. Page detached from the rest of the text; extremely brittle, acidifying pages. The condition is fair, and with a risk of deterioration: a volume that certainly merits deacidification. With Miller's underlinings and comments in the text. An excellent personal association.
172. (MILLER, Henry). GIONO, Jean. Blue Boy. NY: Viking, 1946. The first American edition of this novel by Giono, a writer whom Miller had come to admire while in France and whom he had long worked to get published in the U.S. This copy is inscribed by Miller to his former wife, June: "For June/ from/ Henry, Lepska & Val/ Xmas 1947." Lepska was Janina Martha Lepska Miller, Henry's third wife, and Val was their daughter Valentin, who was born in October of 1945 and was named after Lepska's father and Henry's grandfather, who shared the same first name. June and Henry had not been in touch for several years at this point, but she had recently contacted him and was destitute. He arranged for a friend to send her some money (he was still broke in the U.S., although his books had sold well in France and he had a substantial amount of money there but no way, under postwar regulations, to get it out of the country). His renewed contact with June, however, sparked his getting back to work on the Rosy Crucifixion, which he saw as his masterpiece-to-be, but which had been languishing recently. The part he was about to embark on -- dealing with his time with June and Jean Kronski -- was full of painful memories that Miller would have to relive in order to write it. The contact with June -- with whom he maintained contact thereafter -- allowed him to revisit that time and those experiences, and to finally bring to fruition the long-contemplated work. The cloth is heavily and unevenly faded; corners bumped; a very good copy, lacking the dust jacket. An excellent association copy, representing numerous strands of Miller's life over the past two decades.
173. (MILLER, Henry). PERLES, Alfred. My Friend Henry Miller. London: Neville Spearman (1955). A biography/memoir of Miller, with an introduction by him, and inscribed by Miller "for Wallace Fowlie," the noted literary critic, also a friend of Miller's. This copy bears Fowlie's notes throughout, and is signed by Miller and Perles on a label tipped to the front endpaper. An exceptional association copy. Very good, lacking the dust jacket.
174. MORRIS, Willie. James Jones: A Friendship. Garden City: Doubleday, 1978. Morris' biography and tribute to his close friend Jones, the author of The Thin Red Line and From Here to Eternity. Inscribed by Morris to novelist Irwin Shaw in the year of publication: "To Irwin/ who is my hero,/ and also my friend./ Your work, and/ your example, have/ immeasurable meaning/ to my generation, and/ your affection for/ Jim permeates this/ memoir./ Your friend,/ Willie Morris." Shaw's early book, The Young Lions, was an influential novel of World War II. He later wrote a number of bestselling novels including Rich Man, Poor Man. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
175. MURDOCH, Iris. The Philosopher's Pupil. London: Chatto & Windus/Hogarth Press, 1983. Inscribed by the author to Lord Anthony Quinton: "Marcelle &/ Tony, with/ love from/ Iris." Bookplate with the Quinton family crest on front flyleaf. Quinton was a philosophy teacher in Oxford, where Murdoch studied philosophy, and later president of Trinity College. In 1991, he became president of the Royal Institution of Philosophy. A bit of foxing to top edge, one page signature acidifying; else fine in a dust jacket with a little loss of crispness at the crown but still overall near fine.