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Catalog 119, T-V

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285. TAYLOR, Peter. The Widows of Thornton. NY: Harcourt Brace (1954). The third book and second story collection by a writer considered a contemporary master of the form and one of the key figures in Southern literature in the 20th century. Taylor was born in Tennessee, where much of his fiction is set, and he is one of the writers who was strongly influenced by the Fugitive movement in Southern writing and counted several of the leading writers of that movement as his mentors. Taylor's biographer credited him with establishing the dysfunctional family as a major subject in American literature. This copy is inscribed by the author, and dated 1968. Trace wear to cloth at spine extremities; else fine in a very good, rubbed dust jacket.

286. TAYLOR, Peter. Tennessee Day in St. Louis. NY: Random House (1957). His fourth book and first play. Inscribed by the author to Jean [Stafford], "with love and kisses." Erroneously dated 1955. Boards edge-sunned; near fine in a very good, foxed dust jacket with several edge tears. An excellent association copy between two major writers, each of them winner of the Pulitzer Prize among many other awards. Stafford won for her Collected Stories in 1970 and Taylor won for his novel A Summons to Memphis in 1987.

287. TAYLOR, Peter. Happy Families Are All Alike. NY: McDowell, Obolensky (1959). A collection of short stories which takes its title from the opening lines of Anna Karenina -- "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way" -- which aptly describes one of the major themes of Taylor's writing. Inscribed by the author in 1961. Trace foxing to top stain; else fine in a near fine, lightly foxed dust jacket. A very nice copy of this book which, because of its predominantly black dust jacket, shows wear and rubbing readily.

288. TAYLOR, Peter. Miss Leonora When Last Seen. NY: Obolensky (1963). His fourth collection of short fiction, which reprints stories from his first two collections as well as six previously uncollected stories. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a sticker removal abrasion on the front flap and an adhesion shadow on the verso from a previous jacket protector. Still, a beautiful copy, without any of the fading or soiling that are typically encountered.

289. TAYLOR, Peter. The Collected Stories of Peter Taylor. NY: FSG (1969). An important collection by an author whose reputation has been built largely on the strength of his stories and who won, in the last years of his life, both the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN Faulkner Award. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author. A very nice copy.

290. TAYLOR, Peter. The Oracle at Stoneleigh Court. NY: Knopf, 1993. One of 650 numbered advance reading copies of his last book, a collection of stories. Fine in wrappers, in publisher's cardstock slipcase.

291. (TAYLOR, Peter). Conversations with Peter Taylor. Jackson: U. of Mississippi Press (1987). A collection of interviews from 1960 to 1987. This is the hardcover issue; there was a simultaneous issue in wrappers. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

292. THURBER, James. Further Fables for Our Time. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1956. "Special printing," so stated, which consisted of 3000 copies printed on better paper than the trade edition and issued in a slipcase without dust jacket. Owner name; spine cloth darkened; near fine in a very good slipcase.

293. TOLKIEN, J.R.R. The Silmarillion. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1977. Posthumously published collection of legends and tales from Middle Earth, in effect the historical and cultural underpinnings of the world portrayed in The Lord of the Rings. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with several short, closed edge tears. Fold-out map tipped to the recto of the rear flyleaf.

294. TOLKIEN, J.R.R. Finn and Hengest: the Fragment and the Episode. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1983. Posthumously published scholarly work on two figures from medieval English literature, assembled from Tolkien's lecture notes on the subject. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

295. TOOLE, John Kennedy. A Confederacy of Dunces. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State U. Press, 1980. One of the most elusive of recent Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction titles, this book had a small first printing, reported to be 2500 copies. Initially, it was turned down for publication by dozens of publishers, and the author committed suicide in 1969. Years later, his mother brought the manuscript to Walker Percy, insisting that he read it. Percy, who was inclined to dismiss it for lack of time, succumbed to her persistence, loved the book, and arranged to get it published, contributing an introduction. Excellent reviews and word-of-mouth led to its being reprinted numerous times and becoming a bestseller. It then won one of the most prestigious literary prizes given in this country. This is a fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with some foxing to the verso and a tear threatening to chip at the lower front spine fold. Signed by Walker Percy.

296. -. Another copy, unsigned. Fine in a very close to fine dust jacket, with virtually none of the rubbing to which this title is prone. A lovely copy.

297. TYLER, Anne. Earthly Possessions. NY: Knopf, 1977. The uncorrected proof copy of this novel which was published when Tyler was still considered a critically, but not commercially, successful writer and the first printings of her novels were still relatively small. Price and publication date written across the top of the front cover; very near fine in tall wrappers. An uncommon proof.

298. TYLER, Anne. The Accidental Tourist. NY: Knopf, 1985. A novel that was made into an award-winning movie and which solidified Tyler's place as one of the foremost writers of her generation. One of an unspecified number of copies signed by the author on a tipped-in leaf. A couple spots top edge; else fine in jacket.

299. UPDIKE, John. Rabbit Redux. NY: Knopf, 1971. The second book in the author's highly praised Rabbit Angstrom series. Nominated for the National Book Award. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with three internally tape-mended edge tears.

300. UPDIKE, John. Marry Me. NY: Knopf, 1976. A collection of related stories. Inscribed by the author. Foredge foxing; else fine in a fine dust jacket.

301. (UPDIKE, John). "Scenes from the Fifties" in A Collection of Stories. (London): Penguin (1995). The first appearance of this Updike story: one of a set of 12 softcover booklets in slipcase, issued on the occasion of Penguin's 60th anniversary. The other eleven authors are Jim Crace, Robertson Davies, Vladimir Nabokov, Will Self, William Boyd, Jonathan Coe, Donna Tartt, Muriel Spark, William Trevor, Shena Mackay and Barbara Vine. A fine set.

302. VIDAL, Gore. The Judgment of Paris. NY: Dutton, 1952. Mild offsetting to hinges from binding glue; near fine in a very good dust jacket worn at the spine extremities and folds and with several shallow scratches.

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