Catalog 122, L
179. LEIBER, Fritz. The Wanderer. London: Dennis Dobson (1967). The first British edition and first hardcover edition. This book was a Hugo Award winner in 1965 after being published as a paperback original in the U.S. in 1964. Fine in a fine, first issue dust jacket.
180. LEIBER, Fritz. The Green Millennium. (London): Severn House (1977). The first British hardcover edition of this sf classic originally published in 1953. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a little rubbing to the rear panel.
181. L'ENGLE, Madeleine. Dare to Be Creative! Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1984. The text of a lecture given by L'Engle at the Library of Congress in November, 1983, primarily on the issue of censorship: "..every new question is going to disturb someone's universe..." Stapled wrappers. Fine. An uncommon piece by the author of the children's classic A Wrinkle in Time, among others.
182. LEONARD, Elmore. Swag. NY: Delacorte (1976). The second of Leonard's mysteries published by Delacorte in the mid-'70's, just before he gained wide recognition and popularity. A cheaply-made, perfectbound book, this copy is fine in a near fine dust jacket with one edge tear and a corner crease on the front flap.
183. LEONARD, Elmore. Unknown Man No. 89. NY: Delacorte (1977). Mottled boards and page edges; very good in a very good dust jacket with a small stain at the upper front spine fold and glue residue to the verso of both flaps. Probably the scarcest of Leonard's Delacorte mysteries.
184. LEONARD, Elmore. Hombre. (NY): Armchair Detective Library (1989). A limited edition of this Western that was first published in 1961 as a paperback original and was then made into one of the memorable films of the 1960s with Paul Newman in the lead role. Of a total edition of 126 copies, this is one of 100 numbered copies signed by the author. With a new introduction by Leonard for this edition. Fine in slipcase.
185. LESSING, Doris. The Grass is Singing. London: Michael Joseph (1950). The first edition of her first book. Cloth spine-sunned; near fine in a very good dust jacket with tanning and creasing to the spine. With the "Daily Graphic Book of the Month" wraparound band.
186. -. Same title, the first American edition. NY: Crowell (1950). A couple tiny spots of foxing; else fine in a very near fine, price-clipped dust jacket. An exceptional copy.
187. -. Same title, an advance copy of the first American edition, consisting of sheets of the first edition bound into a pictorial wrapper that replicates the dust jacket art. Foredge foxing, spine creasing (mostly from binder's glue) and a bit of rubbing at the spine folds; still about near fine.
188. LESSING, Doris. This Was the Old Chief's Country. NY: Thomas W. Crowell [1951]. The first American edition of her second book, a collection of stories set in southern Africa. A fine copy in a near fine, if dusty dust jacket with a couple tiny edge nicks. An uncommon title.
189. LESSING, Doris. Martha Quest. London: Michael Joseph (1952). Her third book, and the first in her "Children of Violence" series, which became a landmark of the feminist movement in the 1960s. Martha Quest is the central character of the series, who has grown up in a sheltered environment in Africa, as Lessing did, and who discovers her own ideals and aspirations through literature. As she comes to realize that the world around her falls short, she becomes, in effect, a rebel and a particularly astute and astringent social critic. Martha Quest became a model for women coming into their own and relying on their own perception and judgement in defining themselves in the world. The American edition of this novel was not published until 1964, after the success of The Golden Notebook in 1962. Erasure front flyleaf, light crease to spine; near fine in a near fine dust jacket with wear at the spine extremities.
190. LESSING, Doris. A Proper Marriage. London: Michael Joseph (1954). The second book in the "Children of Violence" series. Spine slant, slight handling to boards; near fine in a very good dust jacket with several edge tears and one small chip. Overall, quite an attractive copy.
191. LESSING, Doris. Retreat to Innocence. London: Michael Joseph (1956). A novel of a young woman having an affair with an older man. Mild strips of offsetting to endpages and very small abrasion to front pastedown; else a fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with two edge tears and shallow wear to the spine crown.
192. LESSING, Doris. Going Home. London: Michael Joseph (1957). Nonfiction; an account of the author's return to Rhodesia, where she had grown up, after living in London for a number of years. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a faint spot to the front panel, a couple tiny edge tears and an equally small open nick at the front flap fold. An uncommon book, particularly in nice shape. No comparable U.S. edition of this title exists.
193. LESSING, Doris. The Habit of Loving. London: MacGibbon & Kee, 1957. A collection of stories. Lessing was the only woman to be grouped together with Britain's "angry young men" of literature in the Fifties. This copy is inscribed by the author in the year of publication: "To the nicest of men/ Doris/ Nov. 57." Foxing to endpages, prelims and page edges; near fine in an equally foxed dust jacket.
194. -. Same title, a reissue of the American edition. NY: Crowell (1957)[ca. 1970]. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
195. LESSING, Doris. A Ripple from the Storm. London: Michael Joseph (1958). The third book in the "Children of Violence" series, again not published in the U.S. until the mid-1960s. Foxing to top edge; else fine in a near fine dust jacket.
196. LESSING, Doris. Fourteen Poems. (Middlesex): Scorpion Press (1959). Of a total edition of 500 copies, this is one of 50 numbered copies signed by the author, and thus probably the scarcest issue of any of her books. Stapled wrappers; fine in dustwrapper.
197. LESSING, Doris. The Golden Notebook. NY: Simon & Schuster (1962). The first American edition of one of the most important novels by a woman in the latter half of the last century. The Golden Notebook helped define the issues confronting the Women's Movement before there was such a movement, and its then-controversial nature somewhat obscured the book's other themes, notably the role, relationship and responsibility of the artist to society as well as to himself and his art. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. An extremely nice copy of this important, bulky book, seldom found in this condition.
198. -. Same title. London: Michael Joseph (1972). The first printing of the British reissue, with an interesting new introduction by Lessing, which reflects on the book and its times. She says, in part: "This book was written as if the attitudes that have been created by the Women's Liberation movement already existed... If it were coming out now for the first time it might be read, and not merely reacted to..." Fine in a near fine dust jacket. An uncommon and noteworthy edition.
199. LESSING, Doris. A Man and Two Women. London: MacGibbon & Kee, 1963. A collection of stories, her first book published after the controversy, and success, of The Golden Notebook. Signed by the author. Fine in a near fine, spine and edge-sunned dust jacket with a little rubbing on the front panel.
200. LESSING, Doris. African Stories. London: Michael Joseph (1964). Reprints the contents of her second book along with five stories from another collection and four new ones. Heavy foxing to page edges; near fine in a very good, mildly spine-tanned dust jacket with several edge tears.
201. -. Same title, the first American edition. NY: Simon & Schuster (1965). Fine in a near fine, spine-tanned dust jacket. A crisp, sharp copy.
202. LESSING, Doris. Landlocked. (London): MacGibbon & Kee (1965). The fourth book in the "Children of Violence" series. Signed by the author in June, 1969. Fine in a near fine, spine-tanned dust jacket.
203. LESSING, Doris. Briefing for a Descent into Hell. London: Jonathan Cape (1971). Fine in a very near fine dust jacket nicked at the spine crown.
204. -. Same title, the first American edition. NY: Knopf, 1971. Foxing to edges of cloth; else fine in a very near fine dust jacket nicked at the spine base.
205. LESSING, Doris. This Was the Old Chief's Country and The Sun Between Their Feet. London: Michael Joseph (1972/1973). The uncorrected proof copies of the two volume set collectively issued as Collected African Stories. Volume One consists of all the stories from the original collection entitled This Was the Old Chief's Country plus three stories from Five. Volume Two picks up a few additional stories from the collection African Stories and adds perhaps a dozen more. Each volume has a new preface by Lessing. A little spine darkening on each volume, apparently from binder's glue; else each is fine in wrappers. For both:
206. LESSING, Doris. The Sentimental Agents in the Volyen Empire. NY: Knopf, 1983. The uncorrected proof copy of the fifth volume in the Canopus in Argos series. Fine in wrappers, with publicity sheet formerly stapled to front cover laid in.
207. LESSING, Doris. The Real Thing. (NY): HarperCollins (1992). Stories and sketches. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
208. LEWIS, C.S. That Hideous Strength. London: John Lane/Bodley Head (1945). The concluding volume of Lewis' allegorical science fiction trilogy, which began with Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra. A wartime book, printed on cheap paper in compliance with wartime conservation standards, this is a fine copy in a good dust jacket with a couple very small chips but with several internally tape-mended tears, the shadows of which are visible on the rear panel. Uncommon in jacket.
209. LOPEZ, Barry. Coyote Love. Portland: Coyote Love Press (1989). A beautiful hand-printed limited edition of three Coyote tales from North American Indian traditions. One of only 99 copies, bound in Mexican Bark covers, illustrated by Gary Buch and hand-illuminated by Allen Q. Wong. Signed by the author and illustrator. An extraordinarily handsome volume, each copy an individual work of great artistry, with beaded string ties hung from the binding evoking the Indian culture of the book's subject. A fine copy of one of the nicest limited editions we have seen.
210. LOWRY, Malcolm. Under the Volcano. NY: Reynal & Hitchcock (1947). Lowry's classic tale of a British consul drinking himself to death in the shadow of Mexico's twin volcanoes, Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl -- legendary mountains which are themselves inextricably bound into Mexican history and myth -- is a powerful moral parable: the exotic, lawless and majestic land of Mexico finds a fatal correlate in the unexplored regions of a civilized man's heart. One of the great books of twentieth century literature. The faintest of sunning to the spine cloth; else fine in a very good, very slightly spine-tanned dust jacket with shallow edge chipping and one closed tear at the lower rear spine fold.
211. -. Same title. The uncorrected proof copy. This copy is hardcover, bound in brown cloth, with an author, title and "proof copy" label on the front. The bibliographer notes having seen a copy in this binding, but it is not known whether this is an actual state of the proof that exists in multiple copies, or if this single copy was individually bound and is the same copy reported in the bibliography. Slight wear at the spine extremities, near fine.
212. LUDLUM, Robert. The Scarlatti Inheritance. NY: World (1971). The first edition of the best-selling thriller writer's first book. This is the true first, with a printed price on the jacket flap, as opposed to the similar-looking book club edition, which also states "First Printing" but has no price. Fine in a near fine printed acetate dust jacket with a couple edge tears. The acetate jacket, an unusual approach for a mainstream publisher to take, is quite prone to wear; this copy is fairly well preserved.