Catalog 116, Awards, C
34. CAMUS, Albert. Caligula and Cross Purpose. London: Hamish Hamilton (1947). The first British edition of these two plays by the author of The Stranger, published the year after that novel was issued (as The Outsider) in England. Page edges foxed; near fine in a good, spine-darkened and mildly stained dust jacket splitting along two folds.
35. CAMUS, Albert. Exile and the Kingdom. London: Hamish Hamilton (1958). The first British edition of this collection of stories, published the year after Camus won the Nobel Prize for Literature. A fine copy in a very near fine dust jacket with a touch of rubbing at the spine extremities and folds.
36. CANIN, Ethan. Emperor of the Air. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988. His highly acclaimed first book, a collection of stories that won a Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship. Canin is one of the handful of writers who were selected by both Granta magazine and The New Yorker as among the 20 best young American writers. Fine in a near fine, spine-faded dust jacket. Signed by the author.
37. CAREY, Peter. Oscar and Lucinda. NY: Harper & Row, 1988. The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of his Booker Prize-winning novel. Pages shot from typescript and reproducing holograph corrections. A bibliographically important and very scarce proof: in this country most prepublication copies issued were a later advance reading copy, in glossy pictorial wrappers. The vocabulary was changed for the American edition to accommodate an American audience and what the publisher considered standard American usage and American slang. The author objected strenuously and the edition was pulled, the changes undone, and the book reissued. This early copy reproduces word-processed typescript and holograph editorial changes, mostly to vocabulary. Spine cocked, otherwise very good in wrappers. Extremely scarce: we've only seen this proof once before, shortly after the book's original publication.
38. CARSON, Rachel. The Sea Around Us. NY: Oxford University Press, 1951. Her second book, winner of the National Book Award and the John Burroughs Medal and the book that would have served as Carson's legacy had she not relegated the title to a footnote by writing Silent Spring. Light corner bumping and rubbing to boards; very good in a very good, spine-tanned dust jacket with several edge tears. The jacket is apparently a later issue, with review excerpts and mention of the 1952 National Book Award. An attractive copy of an important book which, because it was a bestseller and freed the author from financial worry, enabled her to do the research into pesticides and their effects throughout the 1950s that resulted in the publication of Silent Spring in 1962.
39. -. Same title, a review copy of the revised reissue (NY: Oxford, 1961). With a new preface by Carson that is for the most part a protest against ocean dumping of nuclear waste, and an appendix that updates the book, chapter by chapter, based on advances in oceanography in the decade since the book's original publication. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket, with review slip and photo laid in.
40. CHEEVER, John. The Wapshot Chronicle. NY: Harper & Brothers (1957). A review copy of his third book and first novel, winner of the National Book Award. Very minor foxing to top edge and a touch of offsetting to the front endpapers; near fine in a near fine dust jacket, with review slip laid in.
41. -. Another copy. Fine in a near fine jacket with light edge wear and some handling visible on the rear panel.
42. CHEEVER, John. The Stories of John Cheever. NY: Knopf, 1978. The uncorrected proof copy of this massive collection, which won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Award. One diagonal crease to the upper corner of the front cover and first few pages, otherwise near fine in wrappers.
43. CHILD, Lee. Killing Floor. NY: Putnam (1997). His first novel, a thriller, winner of both the Anthony Award and the Barry Award, a notable debut. Signed by the author in the year of publication. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Laid in is a typed letter signed by the author.
44. COETZEE, J.M. Life & Times of Michael K. NY: Viking (1984). The first American edition of the first Booker Prize-winning novel by the South African author. Signed by the author in 1992. We have seen very few books signed by Coetzee turn up over the years. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
45. -. Another copy, unsigned. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
46. -. Same title. The uncorrected proof copy. Near fine in wrappers.
47. COETZEE, J.M. Disgrace. London: Secker & Warburg (1999). The South African author's second Booker Prize-winning novel. This is the first issue, printed by Biddles, in a first issue dust jacket (without the Booker Prize notation). Fine in a fine dust jacket.
48. CONLEY, Robert J. Nickajack. NY: Doubleday (1992). A novel about a Cherokee man caught up in the conflict between different factions of the Cherokee Nation in the aftermath of the tribe's removal to Oklahoma Indian Territory. Fine in fine dust jacket. Winner of the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America for the Best Western Novel of 1992.
49. CONNELLY, Michael. The Black Echo. Boston: Little Brown (1992). The advance reading copy of his well-received first novel, which introduced LAPD detective Hieronymous Bosch and won the Edgar Award for best first mystery. Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers.
50. COOK, Thomas H. The Chatham School Affair. NY: Bantam Books (1996). Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Mystery Novel of the year. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
51. CRACE, Jim. Continent. NY: Harper & Row (1987). The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of his first book, a collection of related stories that won the Whitbread Prize, the David Higham Prize for Fiction, and the Guardian Fiction Prize. Crace creates, in this volume, an imaginary continent -- the location in which all the stories take place, and the only link they have with one another. Fine in wrappers.
52. CRACE, Jim. Quarantine. NY: FSG (1998). The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of his fifth novel, a rendering of Jesus' 40 days in the desert, along with a group of eccentric Bedouins. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize and winner of the Whitbread Award. Fine in wrappers.
53. CROWLEY, John. Little, Big. London: Gollancz, 1982. The first British edition and also the first hardcover edition of his fourth book, winner of the World Fantasy Award and a landmark of contemporary fantasy. Ursula Le Guin commented that this book, all by itself, calls for a redefinition of the fantasy genre. Mixing magic, myth and fairy tale with a plausible contemporary story, Crowley goes a step beyond "magical realism" into a realm that could be characterized as the obverse: a realistic take on magic. Because there was a simultaneous softcover issue, the hardcover printing was small, reported at various times as 300, 600, or 900 copies. Trace foxing to top edge; still a fine copy in a very near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with a bit of creasing at mid spine. Quite scarce.
54. CROWLEY, John. Novelty. NY: Doubleday (1989). A collection of short fiction, including the novella "Great Work of Time," which won a World Fantasy Award. This is the uncommon hardcover issue; there was also a much more widely distributed simultaneous softcover. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
55. CUNNINGHAM, Michael. The Hours. NY: FSG (1998). The advance reading copy of his highly praised fourth book, which won the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award, a rare literary double. Fine in wrappers.