Catalog 122, A-B
2. ABBEY, Edward. The Monkey Wrench Gang. Philadelphia: Lippincott (1975). His most famous novel, which helped popularize the radical environmental movement. A book inspired by, and which in turn helped inspire, the direct-action environmentalists characterized by such radical groups as Earth First!, it summarizes Abbey's values -- his hatred of the developers/despoilers of the American Southwest, his sympathy for those who would thwart them in any way at any cost and, most important, his appreciation of the natural beauty of the desert -- from the subtleties of its ecosystems to the grandeur of its scale. Fine in a near fine, lightly dusty dust jacket with a short edge tear. A very attractive copy of this novel which, because of its thin paper dust jacket, is usually found much more badly worn.
3. -. Same title, the Tenth Anniversary Edition. Salt Lake City: Dream Garden Press, 1985. Illustrated by R. Crumb. Includes a chapter that was not in the original edition, and thus a textually significant edition of this title. Slight corner bump; near fine in a near fine dust jacket with some light staining to the upper rear panel.
4. AGEE, James. A Death in the Family. NY: McDowell, Obolensky (1957). The first issue (title page printed in blue; first word on page 80 is "walking") of this posthumous novel. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Small owner name stamped on flyleaf; boards a bit sunned; and top stain (if there was one) has faded; near fine in a very good, rubbed and foxed dust jacket with two small corner tears.
5. ALBEE, Edward. The American Dream. NY: Coward-McCann (1961). An early play by the author The Zoo Story and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, among others. Fine in a near fine dust jacket, with a few light wrinkles on the rear panel.
6. ATWOOD, Margaret. The Edible Woman. Boston: Atlantic/Little Brown (1969)[1970]. A review copy of the first American edition of her first novel. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a couple small spots to the spine. The copyright page states 1969, the review slip 1970. Uncommon in fine condition, and especially so as a prepublication copy.
7. BARKER, Clive. The Damnation Game. (London): Sphere Books (1986). The first British paperback edition, a reprint but still preceding the first American publication by a year. Signed by the author. Slight crown bump; else fine.
8. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy of the American edition. NY: Putnam (1987). Light scuff to front cover but still fine in wrappers.
9. BARNES, Djuna. Nightwood. London: Faber and Faber (1936). The true first edition of this important experimental novel. Faint foxing to endpages and a few spots to top stain; very near fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with a bit of spotting on the rear panel and an edge tear at the lower front spine fold. A very attractive copy of a book that seldom shows up in dust jacket, let alone in one as attractive as this.
10. BARTH, John. The Floating Opera. London: Secker & Warburg (1968). The first British edition of Barth's first book, published in the U.S. in 1956 and published in the U.K. after the success of The Sot-Weed Factor and Giles Goat Boy. The text of this edition was revised by Barth, restoring the ending he originally intended but which was changed for the book's original publication in the U.S. Small crown bump; else fine in a near fine dust jacket with some lamination separation and wear at the crown.
11. BARTHELME, Donald. Snow White. NY: Atheneum (1967). The second book, first novel, by an author whose short stories -- heavily influenced by Borges -- were highly influential in the 1960s and beyond. Small stain upper edge of rear cloth; else fine in a near fine dust jacket with a corresponding shadow on the rear panel.
12. BEATTIE, Ann. Distortions. NY: Doubleday, 1976. Her first book of stories. With this book and her simultaneously issued first novel, Chilly Scenes of Winter, Beattie instantly gained recognition as a voice of her generation -- survivors of the social and political turmoil of the 1960s who, by the time they turned 30, in the Seventies, were weary and jaded. Signed by the author. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a little trace rubbing at the corners and just the barest hint of spine-fading. An exceedingly nice copy of a not-particularly-well-made book -- Doubleday in the mid-Seventies having earned a reputation for cutting corners wherever possible in manufacturing, and turning out books that were as flimsy as the notorious "book club editions," which were, not coincidentally, issued by book clubs that Doubleday itself owned.
13. BECKETT, Samuel. Waiting for Godot. NY: Grove Press (1954). The first English-language edition of Beckett's masterpiece, which defined the Theater of the Absurd and created for its author an immediate spot in the literary pantheon, culminating in his being awarded the Nobel Prize. Considered by many the single most important play of the twentieth century. An early Grove Press title which has become, like several other titles from the early years of the press, exceedingly scarce -- many times scarcer than the Faber edition published two years later in Great Britain. One signature shaken, tiny spot to extreme lower page edges; near fine in a very good, spine-tanned dust jacket with a tear at the crown and rubbing to the folds. Our experience with this title in recent years suggests that it is of a degree of scarcity comparable to Harper Lee's classic To Kill a Mockingbird. As with Mockingbird, because of a largely black, unlaminated dust jacket that wears easily and shows wear readily, collectible copies are few and far between.
14. BELLOW, Saul. Dangling Man. NY: Vanguard (1944). The scarce first book by the Nobel Prize winner and three-time winner of the National Book Award for fiction -- an unprecedented accomplishment in American letters. Fine in a very good, spine-faded dust jacket with shallow chipping at the spine extremities. This is a wartime production printed on the cheap paper typical of the day and therefore seldom encountered in collectible condition. Given that, this is one of the nicer copies we've handled in recent years.
15. BELLOW, Saul. The Adventures of Augie March. NY: Viking, 1953. The first edition, first issue, of his third novel, and the first of his three National Book Award winners. Top stain somewhat faded; else fine in a very good dust jacket significantly chipped at the crown and with other minor chips at the heel and corners.
16. BELLOW, Saul. Seize the Day. NY: Viking Press, 1956. His fourth book, three short stories and a one-act play. A finalist for the National Book Award. A fine copy in a near fine, price-clipped and very slightly rubbed dust jacket with a small bit of internal tape-strengthening at the base of the spine. Much less rubbed, worn and spine-faded than is usual for this title, and overall a very attractive copy of a book that, because of its thin paper jacket, most often turns up well worn.
17. BELLOW, Saul. Henderson the Rain King. NY: Viking, 1959. His fourth novel, fifth book, which was nominated for the National Book Award and was #21 on the Modern Library's list of the top 100 Novels of the Century. Fine in a fine dust jacket with a tiny nick at the crown. A beautiful copy.
18. BOWLES, Paul. A Little Stone. London: Lehmann (1950). His second book of fiction and first collection of stories -- the form which many consider to be his greatest strength -- which has no comparable American edition: a similar but not identical collection was published later in the year in the U.S. as The Delicate Prey. Of 3500 copies printed, this is one in the presumed first issue binding, in light green cloth. The print run was smaller than that of The Sheltering Sky and is the second smallest print run for any volume of Bowles's fiction. Faint offsetting to endpages, even fainter sunning to spine cloth; very near fine in like dust jacket.
19. BOWLES, Paul. The Delicate Prey and Other Stories. (NY): Random House (1950). His second book published in the U.S. A similar collection to the above, A Little Stone, but with a slightly different selection of stories. Like his classic first novel, The Sheltering Sky, most of the stories in these collections are set among western expatriates in north Africa, where Bowles himself lived from the 1940s until the end of his life, and for which he had both a special affinity and an extraordinary sensitivity. Fine in a very good dust jacket with rubbing to the folds and a creased tear at the lower front spine fold. A nice copy, with the spine of the dust jacket still a rich brown as opposed to having faded to beige/green as is often the case with this title. The first printing was 5000 copies and, as such, was smaller than any subsequent book of his fiction that was published in the U.S.
20. BOWLES, Paul. Collected Stories 1939-1976. Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow, 1979. The limited edition of this collection, with an introduction and appreciation by Gore Vidal, who writes "His stories are among the best ever written by an American." One of 300 numbered copies signed by Bowles. Fine in the publisher's original unprinted acetate dust jacket.
21. (BOWLES, Paul). MRABET, Mohammed. Marriage with Papers. (Bolinas): Tombouctou (1986). The limited, hardcover issue of this "translation" by Bowles of two stories by Mrabet, his longtime friend and collaborator. Bowles would tape Mrabet telling his stories, and then transcribe and translate them, resulting in a body of Arabic literature that exists in written form only in English or in the other languages into which Bowles's translations were themselves translated, but not in their original language. One of 100 numbered copies signed by Bowles and Mrabet, the entire hardcover edition. Fine without dust jacket, as issued.
22. BRADBURY, Ray. The Martian Chronicles. Garden City: Doubleday, 1950. The author's second book, a collection of related stories that became a science fiction classic and simultaneously established the author as a serious literary writer; earlier stories of his had been collected in the O. Henry Prize volumes of 1947 and 1948. Owner name, date, and address front pastedown; else a fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with rubbing to the folds and small chips at the corners but very little of the spine fading that usually afflicts this title.
23. BRADBURY, Ray. The Illustrated Man. Garden City: Doubleday, 1951. One of the classics that established Bradbury as the preeminent literary science fiction writer of his generation. A collection of short stories, each related to a tattoo on the "illustrated man" of the title. Small bookstore stamp front pastedown; some handling apparent to boards; near fine in a very good price-clipped dust jacket, spine-faded (as usual) with light wear at the spine extremities. An attractive copy of this early Bradbury title.
24. BRAUTIGAN, Richard. The Hawkline Monster. NY: Simon & Schuster (1974). The uncorrected proof copy of the first of Brautigan's "genre" novels -- inventive takes on established conventions in fiction, this one being, as he called it, "A Gothic Western." Very faint spine creasing; else fine in wrappers. Proofs from this era are uncommon, having been done in smaller quantities than was usual in later years, and with fewer of them having been saved at the time and filtered into the rare book trade.
25. BUKOWSKI, Charles. Ham on Rye. Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow, 1982. One of 350 numbered copies signed by the author, with an added self-caricature, with the author standing next to a bottle of liquor. Fine in a very near fine acetate dust jacket.
26. BURKE, James Lee. Jolie Blon's Bounce. (New Orleans): (B.E. Trice) (2002). The limited edition of Burke's well-received new novel in his award-winning Dave Robicheaux series. This book, like the earlier ones in the series, has been highly praised for its evocative sense of the Louisiana bayou country. In addition, and unlike earlier volumes in the series, critics and reviewers have noted an almost mythical dimension to the storytelling which raises this title above the realm of the commonplace regional mystery novel. Of a total edition of 176 copies, this is one of 150 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in a fine slipcase. List price:
27. BURROUGHS, William S. "LEE, William." Junkie. Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict. NY: Ace (1953). Burroughs' pseudonymous first book, a paperback original bound back-to-back with Maurice Helbrant's Narcotic Agent. Burroughs, along with Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, came to be viewed as the leaders of the Beat Movement, widely considered to be the most influential literary movement of the postwar era. Light spine crease; else fine in wrappers, with almost none of the rubbing or creasing one normally finds afflicting this title.
28. -. Same title. London: David Bruce & Watson (1973). The scarce first hardcover edition. Small top edge bump; else fine in a near fine, rubbed dust jacket. With an introduction for this edition by Carl Solomon (the original dedicatee of Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl").
29. -. Another copy of the first hardcover edition. Inscribed by the author "with all best wishes" in 1990 and with a mysterious squiggle beneath the inscription. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a little trace rubbing at the spine extremities. A very uncommon edition, and extremely scarce signed.
30. BURROUGHS, William S. The Naked Lunch. Paris: Olympia (1959). The first edition of his second book, one of the all-time great drug novels and a high spot of Beat and postwar American literature -- one of the "big three" volumes of the Beat movement, along with Kerouac's On the Road and Ginsberg's Howl. This is the "second issue" with the New Franc stamp over the original old franc price on the rear cover, although the issue point does nothing more than indicate that this is a copy of the first printing that was not sold by the publisher until after January, 1960, when the Franc was revalued. Published only in paperback in Paris by Maurice Girodias' important small press, in an edition of 5000 copies (comprising both "issues"), three years before it could be published in the U.S. Nicked at crown; still fine in a fine dust jacket with a small nick near the upper edge of the front panel. A beautiful copy of a modern classic.
31. -. Same title. NY: Grove Press (1959)[c. 1962]. The first American edition and first hardcover edition of his second book, not published in this country until three years after its original publication in Paris, and then only after a number of high-profile literary figures argued its case as a novel of great literary merit and import. It was published by the maverick publisher Barney Rosset, of Grove Press, in a tiny edition of 3500 copies -- a smaller number than was done of the scarce French paperback edition in 1959. A fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with a spot of rubbing to the spine.
32. BURROUGHS, William S. Nova Express. NY: Grove (1964). His first novel published in the U.S. after his controversial and ground-breaking Naked Lunch. Faint spot to extreme lower page edges (not a remainder mark); still fine in a fine dust jacket.
33. BURROUGHS, William S. The Last Words of Dutch Schultz. London: Cape Goliard, 1970. A film script fantasy based on the dying words of a 1930s New York gangster. One of 100 numbered copies signed by the author, and one of Burroughs' earliest and scarcest limited editions. No corresponding U.S. edition: the much later American edition was substantially different in both format and content. Bowing to boards; else fine in a near fine glassine dustwrapper.
34. BURROUGHS, William S. Tornado Alley. (Ann Arbor): Cherry Valley, 1989. The hardcover issue of this collection of short fiction. One of 100 numbered copies signed by the author. Illustrated by S. Clay Wilson. Fine without dust jacket, as issued. A very small hardcover limitation, with the balance of the edition having been done in softcover.