Catalog 122, U-Z
319. UPDIKE, John. A Good Place. (n.p.): Aloe, 1973. One of his scarcer, early limited editions, from the time before they proliferated. A five-page essay on his home town of Ipswich, Massachusetts. One of 100 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in saddle-stitched self wraps. A difficult book to encounter these days.
320. UPDIKE, John. The Lovelorn Astronomer. (Boston): G.K. Hall and Marquis Who's Who, Inc. (1978). A poem by Updike published as a holiday greeting. Fine, with original mailing envelope. A little-known, scarce, ephemeral piece.
321. (UPDIKE, John). GREEN, Henry. Loving/Living/Party Going. (NY): Penguin Books (1978). The first combined edition of Green's three novels, with an 8-page introduction by Updike. Signed twice by Updike, once on the title page and again at the conclusion of his introduction. Only issued in wrappers; pages acidifying; creasing to rear cover; very good.
322. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. Player Piano. NY: Scribner, 1952. Vonnegut's first book, a satire on automation and the Electronics Age, on the order of Orwell's 1984. This is a near fine copy in a good, spine-tanned and foxed dust jacket with wormholes along both flap folds.
323. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. The Sirens of Titan. (NY): Dell (1959). His second book, a paperback original, published seven years after his first, during which time Player Piano had been issued by the Doubleday Book Club and then reissued as the sci-fi paperback Utopia 14. The publication and marketing of this admittedly space-placed satire as science fiction kept Vonnegut from being recognized as the earth-centered writer he is for years. Slight spine slant and crease to rear panel; a very bright, near fine copy.
324. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Mother Night. Greenwich: Fawcett (1962). A paperback original, the true first edition, preceding by several years its publication in hardcover, and the first book he published that could not conceivably have been considered science fiction. This was Vonnegut's third consecutive book to be published as a paperback original, and his last. Corner crease front cover; near fine.
325. -. Same title, the first hardcover edition. NY: Harper & Row (1966). Owner signature; near fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with a vertical crease to the spine.
326. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. Cat's Cradle. NY: HRW (1963). One of his greatest novels, which by turns condemns and celebrates science, religion and humanness. "A quietly satirical consideration of mankind and its need for sympathy and compassion, proposing that we live by foma, lies that make for human happiness." One of Pringle's 100 best science fiction novels. A title that is especially susceptible to wear, because of the thin, unlaminated paper dust jacket; the cloth on this copy has a strip of fading at the joint, probably from the binder's glue; otherwise a fine copy in a near fine dust with several faint spots on the spine and a small stain at the heel. A very attractive copy, with rich top stain and without any fading to the spine; unusual thus.
327. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. NY: HRW (1965). Vonnegut's sixth book, one of the novels that began earning him a small but passionate following in the mid-1960s, before his breakthrough to the status of "major author," which came when Slaughterhouse-Five was published. Complimentary copy, with an editorial business card laid in that was formerly clipped to the front flyleaf. Foxing to covers and loss to the blue spine lettering; very good in a very good dust jacket with tiny corner chips and light edge wear.
328. WALKER, Alice. The Third Life of Grange Copeland. NY: HBJ (1970). The second book, first novel by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Color Purple. Small dent to upper front board; else fine in a dust jacket with two edge tears and one instance of underlining on the rear flap; about near fine. An attractive copy.
329. WALKER, Alice. In Love and Trouble. Stories of Black Women. NY: HBJ (1973). Her first collection of stories and her scarcest book of fiction. Walker's stories deal extensively with racism and sexism, and this book was highly praised on publication, winning a number of awards. Walker was on the faculty at Wellesley College at the time, where she started one of the few women's studies courses then in existence. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
330. -. Same title, the first British edition. (London): Women's Press (1984). Published in England in a small edition after the success of The Color Purple. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Uncommon.
331. WALKER, Alice. Revolutionary Petunias. NY: HBJ (1973). Her second collection of poems and one of her scarcest titles in hardcover as there was a simultaneous issue in wrappers. Warmly inscribed by the author in March, 1973: "For Ruth/ whose spirit/ lovely as it is/ shines through/ even on first/ short visit./ Alice Walker/ 3/24/73." Fine in a fine dust jacket. An uncommon book, especially signed, and even more so with a contemporary inscription.
332. -. Same title, the first British edition. (London): Women's Press (1988). Only published in softcover, by a small feminist press after Walker had gained a following in England with The Color Purple. Fine in wrappers. Uncommon.
333. WALKER, Alice. Meridian. NY: HBJ (1976). Her second novel, about a young black woman coming of age during the Civil Rights movement, as Walker herself did. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket.
334. -. Same title. The uncorrected proof copy, in which the final three sections follow a different order from the published version. A very scarce format: proof sheets bound in cardstock covers with a black tape spine. It is likely that very few copies were prepared thus. Fine.
335. -. Same title, the first British edition. (London): Deutsch (1976). Her first book published in the U.K., done in the same year as the U.S. edition. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket starting to fade at the upper spine and with a thin line through the price on the front flap.
336. WALKER, Alice. Good Night Willie Lee, I'll See You in the Morning. NY: Dial (1978). The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of poems, preceding her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple, and printed in small quantities. The proof is bound with a black tape spine, a format that suggests few were created and distributed since it is an inefficient and not very cost-effective method of binding large numbers of copies. Slightly dusty with a small corner crease; else fine.
337. -. Same title, the first British edition. (London): Women's Press (1987). Only published in softcover in the U.K., by a small feminist press. Fine in wrappers. An uncommon edition.
338. WALKER, Alice. You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down. NY: HBJ (1981). Her second collection of stories. Small circle of offsetting to flyleaf; still fine in a very good dust jacket with modest wear to the corners and crown and a crease to the front flap.
339. WALKER, Alice. The Color Purple. NY: HBJ (1982). The uncorrected proof copy of her Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning novel, a surprise bestseller that was made into a film by Steven Spielberg. Front cover detached and re-glued; restored to near fine in wrappers.
340. -. Same title, the first British hardcover edition. (London): Women's Press (1986). First published in softcover in Britain in 1983. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
341. WALKER, Alice. In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens. NY: HBJ (1983). A review copy of her first collection of nonfiction. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
342. WALKER, Alice. Horses Make a Landscape Look More Beautiful. NY: HBJ (1984). A collection of poems. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
343. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy. Fine in wrappers.
344. WALKER, Alice. Living By the Word. NY: HBJ (1988). A collected of short prose pieces. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
345. -. Another copy. Signed by the author (upside-down) on rear flyleaf. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
346. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy. Signed by the author on the title page, with "Dear Joanna!" inscribed on the front cover. This is the first state proof, with thicker, less crisp lettering on the spine. Fine in wrappers.
347. WALKER, Alice. To Hell with Dying. NY: HBJ (1988). A children's book, with illustrations by Catherine Deeter. Walker wrote this story in the mid-1960s, shortly after having had an abortion, and it was first published when she was just 21 years old. Quarto; fine in a fine dust jacket.
348. WALKER, Alice. The Temple of My Familiar. NY: HBJ (1989). A novel, her first since The Color Purple. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
349. -. Same title, the advance reading copy. Fine in wrappers.
350. WALKER, Alice. Her Blue Body Everything We Know. NY: HBJ (1991). Walker's collected poems, from 1965-1990. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
351. -. Same title. The uncorrected proof copy. Fine in wrappers.
352. WALKER, Alice. Finding the Green Stone. NY: HBJ (1991). A children's book, illustrated by Catherine Deeter. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
353. -. Same title, an advance copy. Unbound signatures, fine, laid into a near fine dust jacket. Scarce.
354. WALKER, Alice. Possessing the Secret of Joy. NY: HBJ (1992). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel. Fine in wrappers.
355. -. Another copy. Slightly spine-faded; else fine in wrappers.
356. (WALKER, Alice). "Anything We Love Can Be Saved" in Zora! Zora Neale Hurston: A Woman and Her Community. Orlando: Orlando Sentinel, 1991. An essay by Walker, in this collection compiled and edited by N.Y. Nathiri. Walker was instrumental in rekindling interest in Hurston, one of the leading literary lights of the Harlem Renaissance, with the anthology I Love Myself When I Am Laughing, which she edited in 1979 for the Feminist Press. Quarto; fine in a fine dust jacket.
357. WARREN, Robert Penn. All the King's Men. NY: Harcourt Brace (1946). Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, loosely based on the career of Louisiana politician and demagogue Huey Long and considered by some to be the greatest American political novel ever written. Owner name front flyleaf; small price sticker rear pastedown; a near fine copy in a very good, edge-chipped, first issue dust jacket with a small tear at the rear flap fold and some dampstaining to the verso. The thin paper jacket was made from what likely were leftover stocks of wartime paper, manufactured under the restrictions that existed during the war, and the book is seldom found in any dust jacket at all. A quite presentable copy of this high spot of American literature.
358. WARREN, Robert Penn. Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce. NY: Random House (1983). The uncorrected proof copy of this long poem. Warren was one of the first poet laureates to be named in this country, and his poem on an especially memorable and heroic Native American figure is a noteworthy piece of literary Americana. Fine in wrappers.
359. WELTY, Eudora. Delta Wedding. NY: Harcourt Brace (1946). Her fourth book, second novel, set at a wedding in Mississippi in the 1920s, portraying the interplay of the various family members and capturing the nuances of their particular Southern manners. Signed by the author. Fine in a near fine, mildly edgeworn dust jacket. A very nice copy of this book that was printed shortly after the end of the war and still used the thin paper for both text and dust jacket that was common during the war, and thus seldom turns up in fine condition these days.
360. WELTY, Eudora. Music from Spain. Greenville: Levee Press, 1948. A limited edition of this short story, one of 775 numbered copies signed by the author. Her first signed limited edition. Very faint spine-sunning; else fine, without dust jacket, as issued. A remarkably fresh, crisp copy of this title.
361. WELTY, Eudora. The Golden Apples. NY: Harcourt Brace (1949). A collection of stories set in the fictional town of Morgana, Mississippi. Signed by the author. Fine in a near fine, spine-tanned, price-clipped dust jacket. A pretty copy.
362. WELTY, Eudora. The Ponder Heart. NY: Harcourt Brace (1954). Winner of the 1955 William Dean Howells Medal for the best book in the preceding five year period. Foxing to endpages; near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
363. WELTY, Eudora. The Optimist's Daughter. NY: Random House (1972). The limited edition of her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. One of approximately 225 numbered copies signed by the author. The colophon states the limitation as 300, but about 75 copies were destroyed. Fine in a slipcase with a small abrasion at the lower edge. An uncommon edition of her Pulitzer winner.
364. WELTY, Eudora. The Eye of the Story. NY: Random House (1977). A collection of essays and reviews. Faint foxing to page edges; else fine in a fine dust jacket with fading to the spine lettering.
365. -. Same title, the limited edition. One of 300 copies signed by the author. Faint mottling to spine cloth; thus near fine in a fine slipcase.
366. WELTY, Eudora. Moon Lake and Other Stories. Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1980. Leatherbound limited edition of this story collection for which there is no comparable publisher's edition. Silk endpapers, gilt page edges, silk ribbon marker. A fine copy.
367. WELTY, Eudora. Losing Battles. (London): Virago (1982). The first British edition of this novel. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
368. WELTY, Eudora. One Writer's Beginnings. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1984. Her memoir, and the first book by Harvard University Press to make it to the bestseller list. Illustrated with photographs. Foxing to foredge; else fine in a near fine, spine-sunned dust jacket with one short edge tear.
369. WELTY, Eudora. "The Wide Net" in Horizon, Vol. 7, No. 38. (London): (Proprietors), 1943. Also includes Henry Miller's "Soirée in Hollywood." Tiny crown chip; light creasing and rubbing; still near fine in wrappers. "The Wide Net" became the title story for Welty's second collection of short stories.
370. WEST, Nathanael. Miss Lonelyhearts. NY: Liveright (1933). The first major novel by a writer whose short career and limited output are in dramatic contrast to his influence on American letters. This is the first issue: of a total edition of 2200 copies, only 800 had been issued when the publisher went bankrupt and the printer refused to deliver the balance of the order. They were later released under the Harcourt Brace imprint. Boards somewhat sunned, with some loss to the black of the spine block and wear to the cloth at both extremities; still about near fine, lacking the extremely rare dust jacket.
371. WEST, Nathanael. A Cool Million. NY: Covici Friede (1934). The third book by the author of the classic Hollywood novel The Day of the Locust. One of 3000 copies printed. First signature loose; spine darkened, with a chip threatening at the crown. Very good, lacking the dust jacket.
372. WOLFE, Thomas. Look Homeward, Angel. NY: Scribner, 1929. The author's first book, a semi-autobiographical novel of a young man coming of age in North Carolina. One of the high spots of American literature of the 20th century, and the book that Jack Kerouac modeled his own writing after when he wrote his first novel. Tape shadows to flyleafs; a near fine copy in a fair, first issue dust jacket that is well-worn and torn and has been repaired internally with tape, which has bled through to the outside of the jacket. An uncommon book in dust jacket at all, especially the first issue of the jacket.
373. WOLFE, Thomas. Of Time and the River. NY: Scribner, 1935. The second novel by the author of Look Homeward, Angel, and the second volume in a proposed six-book sequence that was never completed due to the author's early death. Glue shadows from bookplate removal on front pastedown, otherwise a fine copy in a near fine, edgeworn dust jacket.
374. WOLFE, Thomas. You Can't Go Home Again. NY: Harper & Brothers (1940). A posthumously published novel. Faint tape shadows to flyleafs where a well-intentioned collector attempted to preserve the jacket by taping an acetate protector around it; small bookstore stamp rear pastedown; else a fine copy in a very good dust jacket with very shallow edge-chipping. A better-than-usual copy of this bulky book that doesn't survive much handling without showing wear.
375. WOLFE, Thomas. The Hills Beyond. NY: Harper & Brothers (1941). Collected fiction. Trace foxing to endpages; still fine in a very good dust jacket with light chipping at the corners and crown and rubbing to the front flap fold.
376. (WOLFE, Thomas). TURNBULL, Andrew. Thomas Wolfe. NY: Scribner (1967). The first definitive biography of Wolfe, by a writer who also did a biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Owner name front flyleaf; else fine in a dust jacket with several creases and tears to the edges; still about near fine.
377. WOLFE, Tom. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. NY: FSG (1968). Wolfe's landmark account of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters and their bus trip across the country. The epitome of the "New Journalism" that Wolfe helped to bring about in the Sixties, it was called at the time "the most penetrating piece of writing yet done on the ethos and dynamics of the hippie," and it remains a classic of the time. Signed by the author. Very slight bump to spine base; else fine in a fine dust jacket with printer's direction ("back cover 100%") written on verso. With two pages of the author's notes laid in -- jottings that seem designed to itemize various points the author didn't want to miss, to give some structure to different segments, etc. Wolfe appears to have been brainstorming the book on these pages, getting things down that would need to be included. We don't know how these notes came to be united with this copy of the book, but the fact that the dust jacket verso contains a printer's notation suggests that it was a file copy of some sort, and Wolfe's notes gravitated to that as might be expected if they had somehow ended up with the publisher. A unique copy of one of the high spots of the 1960s, and a beautiful copy of a book that is seldom found thus.
378. -. Another copy, unsigned. Spots to extreme upper and lower pages edges; very near fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with one internally tape-repaired creased edge tear at the lower rear spine fold and a crease to the front flap.
379. -. Another copy. Top stain uniformly faded; near fine in a near fine dust jacket with one edge tear and a nick at the front flap fold.
380. WOOLF, Virginia. The Years. London: Hogarth Press, 1937. One of the most traditional and accessible novels the author wrote, and her longest book. Trace rubbing to the rear joint; still a fine copy in a very good, Vanessa Bell dust jacket that has been internally tape-strengthened along the edges and folds, although outwardly only shows a faint stain on the spine. A nice copy of an important book by the pre-eminent English woman of letters of the twentieth century, whose influence on contemporary literature continues to be felt to this day.