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Catalog 121, D

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86. DAHLBERG, Edward. The Olive of Minerva or The Comedy of a Cuckold. NY: Crowell (1976). The last book published in his lifetime by one of the great American men of letters, whose career spanned generations and linked a wide variety of the strands of American literature: he was arrested as a Communist with Nathanael West in 1934; he formed a close friendship with Charles Olson; his writing was included in the suppressed issue of Big Table magazine, along with Kerouac, Burroughs and Corso, and he later became friends with Allen Ginsberg. This copy is inscribed by the author in the year of publication: "For my very dear Friend, ____/ with much love, and always/ gracious thanks 'forevermore/ the exchequer of the poor.'/ Devotedly,/ Edward." Several page corners turned; else fine in jacket.

87. -. Same title, the limited edition. One of 250 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in a near fine glassine dustwrapper.

88. DELANY, Samuel. The Jewels of Aptor. NY: Ace Books (1962). Ace Double #F-173. The first book by this award-winning science fiction author whose novels in the 1960s elevated the level of philosophical reflection and discourse in the genre. Inscribed by the author in 1979. Delany's early writing career was influenced by the counterculture of the 1960s, and his novels served as platforms for exploring, and expounding upon, the issues raised by the use of hallucinogenic drugs and the unfettering of sexuality that took place in the Sixties. Delany has since earned a reputation as one of the most informed and credible science fiction critics, and his autobiography won a Nebula Award. Offsetting inside covers; pages acidifying; several hairline creases to covers; very good in wrappers.

89. DELANY, Samuel. Empire Star. NY: Ace Books (1966). Ace Double #M-139. Another early novel by Delany, published the year he won the Nebula Award for Babel-17. Inscribed by the author in 1979. Trace edge wear, otherwise a fine copy in wrappers.

90. DELILLO, Don. The Day Room. (NY): Dramatists Play Service (1988). First thus, the first acting edition of DeLillo's first play. Originally published in American Theater in 1986. Orange spot bottom edge, blue spot foredge; else fine in stapled wrappers. Scarce.

91. DEW, Robb Forman. Publisher's Archive for Dale Loves Sophie to Death. NY: FSG (1981). A unique set of publisher's materials for her well-received first novel, which won the short-lived American Book Award for best first novel. Printer's blues; two sets of long galley sheets; three copies of the dust jacket (folded flat); mock-up of binding. All items fine. Presumably this would have been the only such set generated, for the publisher's own internal use.

92. DIDION, Joan. A Book of Common Prayer. NY: Simon & Schuster (1977). The third novel, fourth book, by the author of Slouching Toward Bethlehem and Play It As It Lays. A novel of the intrigue at the heart of a fictional Central American country, in some ways presaging her later essay, Salvador, one of the most devastating portraits of the collapse of moral order in the Americas. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

93. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy. Tall padbound wrappers. Covers edge-sunned; else near fine. A fragile format; scarce.

94. -. Same title, the limited edition. Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1981. Signed by the author. With an introduction by Didion written for this edition. Leatherbound, with gilt page edges and silk ribbon marker. Fine.

95. DIDION, Joan. The White Album. NY: Simon & Schuster (1979). The uncorrected proof copy of her second collection of essays, her first since Slouching Toward Bethlehem and following up on, and expanding, that volume's chronicling of the dissolution of American moral culture in the late 1960s and beyond. Like the Beatles album from which this volume took its title, this collection is now considered something of a classic, with essays that may not have had quite the impact of some of her earlier pieces but have had "legs" -- i.e., a certain kind of timelessness -- in a way that some of her previous writings may not have. Near fine in wrappers.

96. (DILLARD, Annie). The Sounder Few. Athens: U. of Georgia Press (1971). A collection of essays from the Hollins Critic with, in most cases, new afterwords written for this book by the contributors, who include George Garrett, Benedict Kiely, Robert Scholes, and R.H.W. Dillard, who writes on both Colin Wilson and Vladimir Nabokov. This copy bears the ownership signature of Annie Dillard, who was once married to R.H.W. One page corner is turned in the section in which Dillard discusses Nabokov's Ada. A fine copy in a heavily spine-faded dust jacket with a few very small edge chips; about very good.

97. DOCTOROW, E.L. Drinks Before Dinner. NY: Random House (1979). His fifth book, first play. Signed by the author. Trace foxing to page edges; else fine in a very good dust jacket with a tear at the front flap fold. Without the remainder mark commonly found on this title.

98. DOCTOROW, E.L. Lives of the Poets. NY: Random House (1984). An award-winning collection of six stories and a novella. Signed by the author. Remainder stripes bottom edge of pages otherwise fine in a fine dust jacket. Four of Doctorow's novels have been National Book Award finalists, with one of them winning the award.

99. DOCTOROW, E.L. The People's Text: A Citizen Reads the Constitution. Jackson: Nouveau Press/Mississippi Civil Liberties Union, 1992. A limited edition of an essay that first appeared in The Nation in 1987. One of 200 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine, without dust jacket.

100. DOWELL, Coleman. The Grass Dies. London: Cassell (1968). The first British edition of his first novel, published in the U.S. as One of the Children is Crying. Inscribed by the author in 1975. Fine in a very good dust jacket. A scarce edition, and books signed by this writer who committed suicide at a relatively young age are uncommon.

101. DOWELL, Coleman. Island People. (NY): New Directions (1976). Folded and gathered sheets: the stringbound signatures of the book, issued as an advance review copy. Inscribed by the author on the (blank) front cover more than three months prior to the date of publication. An extremely scarce state of the book. Near fine.

102. DRABBLE, Margaret. "Stepping Westward: A Topographical Tale." 1994. A fifteen page dot-matrix typescript of a story that Drabble read to the Wordsworth Society in London and which was later published in her collection The Long Story. Signed by the author with a copyright notice on the final page and warmly inscribed by the author on the first page to a university to which Drabble donated the typescript as a fundraiser for their Visiting Writers Program. A fine copy of this typescript, which precedes the story's publication by six years.

103. DUBUS, Andre. Adultery and Other Choices. Boston: Godine (1977). The uncorrected proof copy of the third book and second collection of short fiction by this writer who was considered a master of the form, and who was a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" in the 1980s. Spine-faded, else fine in wrappers. A very scarce proof: Godine, being a relatively small trade publisher, tended to issue proofs in smaller quantities than the major New York publishing houses.

104. DUBUS, Andre. Land Where My Fathers Died. (n.p.): Stuart Wright (1984). His first limited edition, a single story issued in an edition of 200 copies. Signed by the author. Clothbound, with paper spine label, issued without dust jacket. Covers splaying slightly, as is common with this title, otherwise fine.

105. DUBUS, Andre. Dancing After Hours. NY: Knopf, 1996. The uncorrected proof copy of his last collection of stories, nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers.

106. -. Same title, the advance reading copy. Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers and publisher's cardstock slipcase, which has a small corner tear.

107. DUBUS, Andre III. The Cage Keeper and Other Stories. NY: Dutton (1989). The uncorrected proof copy of his first book, a well-received collection of stories. His book House of Sand and Fog was a finalist for the National Book Award, as well as a selection of Oprah Winfrey's book club. A strip of bleeding from the cover at the lower edge of the half-title; otherwise fine in wrappers.

108. DUBUS, Andre, III. Bluesman. Boston: Faber and Faber (1993). His second book, first novel. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

109. DUFRESNE, John. Louisiana Power and Light. NY: Norton (1994). His highly praised second book, first novel. The author is from Louisiana, and this book is reportedly being made into a movie produced by Billy Bob Thornton and with a screenplay by the author. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

110. DUFRESNE, John. Well Enough Alone. Candia: John LeBow, 1996. Limited edition consisting of two stories and thirteen poems. Of a total edition of 476 copies, this is one of 150 numbered copies in wrappers, signed by the author. Fine.

111. DUNCAN, David James. The River Why. San Francisco: Sierra Club (1983). The author's first book, a flyfishing novel with an ecological focus that has come to be considered a contemporary classic. Inscribed by the author. This title has the distinction of being the first book of fiction to be published by the Sierra Club, a notable departure from tradition, and one that has seldom been repeated but was clearly, in this case, justified. Fine in a very near fine, slightly rubbed dust jacket.

112. DUNMORE, Helen. Talking to the Dead. (London): Viking (1996). Her prize-winning fourth novel for adults. Signed by the author. Dunmore was the first-ever winner of Britain's Orange Prize, which has been characterized as "the Booker Prize for women only." Fine in a fine dust jacket.

113. DU PLESSIX GRAY, Francine. Hawaii: The Sugar-Coated Fortress. NY: Random House (1972). Nonfiction, the second book by a writer perhaps best known for her fiction. Inscribed by the author in 1978. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

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