Catalog 127, J-L
207. JHABVALA, R. Prawer. Like Birds, Like Fishes and Other Stories. NY: Norton (1964). The first American edition of this collection. Gift inscription; minor spine crease; very near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
208. JONES, James. The Ice-Cream Headache and Other Stories. (NY): Delacorte (1968). The first collection of stories by the author of From Here to Eternity, The Thin Red Line, and others. Trace rubbing to cloth edges; else fine in a very good, lightly rubbed, spine-faded dust jacket.
209. JONES, James. Viet Journal. NY: Delacorte (1974). His first book of nonfiction, an account of five months he spent in Vietnam in 1973, after the Paris peace talks, and when the cease-fire was supposedly in effect. Signed by the author, "at Kroch's." Owner name on front pastedown under flap; near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Books signed by Jones are relatively uncommon.
210. JUST, Ward. A Dangerous Friend. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. A novel of Saigon in 1965, by a writer whose work has chronicled that era -- both in Washington and abroad -- as much and as well as any writer of his generation. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Robert Stone blurb.
211. KAFKA, Franz. Description of a Struggle. NY: Schocken Books (1958). The first American edition of this collection of short pieces by Kafka, which turned up in his papers after his death. The title piece is a novella, and the longest "finished" piece found among Kafka's papers. Fine in a near fine dust jacket splitting at the lower front spine fold and previously tape-mended on the verso.
212. KAHN, Roger. The Boys of Summer. NY: Harper & Row (1972). A classic account of the 1950s Brooklyn Dodgers, who made history not only by signing Jackie Robinson but also by fielding one of the most colorful teams of all time. Widely considered one of the all-time great baseball books. This first edition is not to be confused with the Book Club edition, which also states "First Edition" on the copyright page. Small stray pen mark on front cloth; still fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a couple of edge creases.
213. KOMUNYAKAA, Yusef. Neon Vernacular. Hanover: Wesleyan/University Press of New England (1993). The extremely uncommon hardcover issue of this volume of new and selected poems that won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for poetry. Inscribed by the author in 1994. Fine, without dust jacket, as issued.
214. LAWRENCE, D.H. Love Poems and Others. London: Duckworth, 1913. The third book by the author of Lady Chatterley's Lover, Women in Love, et al. The text of this corresponds to Roberts A3 variant 2, with the "i" missing on line 16 of page xlv. This is the Bradley Martin copy, with his bookplate, and is the only copy known in dust jacket, as best we can tell. Offsetting to endpages; bookplates to front pastedown, including that of Martin and a small label of J.O. Edwards. A near fine copy in a good, darkened dust jacket chipped at the crown (affecting the first letter of the title) and threatening to split along the folds. In custom quarter leather clamshell case. An extreme rarity in jacket.
215. LAWRENCE, D.H. Amores: Poems. London: Duckworth [1916]. A collection of poems published in an edition of only 900 copies. This is the first issue, with the ads in the rear. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication to the poet Dollie Radford: "To Dollie Radford/ from D.H. Lawrence/ with love/ at the beloved Zennor/ 1st August 1916." Lawrence and Radford had an extensive correspondence during the years 1915-1917 (she died in 1920), much of which time Lawrence lived at Zennor, the cottage in St. Ives, Cornwall, that he and Frieda rented. Offsetting to endpages, mild rubbing to boards; a near fine copy in a crisp, near fine dust jacket with two edge tears internally tape-mended and the "five" abraded from the price in shillings on both the spine and the front cover. Extremely rare in dust jacket, let alone signed and as a significant association copy: an exceptional copy. In custom folding chemise and slipcase.
216. LAWRENCE, D.H. Look! We Have Come Through! London: Chatto & Windus, 1917. A collection of poetry, published in an edition of 500 copies. This copy is inscribed by the author: "Sonia Isaayevitch from D.H. Lawrence." Spine slightly faded but with the spine label still easily readable; some previous dampening to boards; very good, lacking the dust jacket (as usual), and with the extra spine label still tipped in at the rear. Overall a very attractive copy of this uncommon book, and rare signed. In custom clamshell case.
217. -. Same title, the first American edition. NY: B.W. Huebsch (1918). One of only 500 copies. Attractive bookplate front pastedown, cloth unevenly sunned, pages foxed; a very good copy in a fair dust jacket chipped at the crown (title missing) and along the edges; front flap detached and laid in. While not a beautiful jacket, the dust jacket on this edition is virtually unknown.
218. LAWRENCE, D.H. Bay. (Westminster): (Beaumont Press) (1919). A collection of poems with illustrations by Anne Estelle Rice, one of the great American modernist artists. This was the first deluxe edition of Lawrence's work, printed and bound by a fine press. The total edition was 200 copies, with the first eighty being signed by the author and by the illustrator and with the 10 plates hand-colored by Rice. Of those eighty copies, this is one of 30 printed on Japanese vellum with a vellum backstrip, the smallest limitation of the edition, this being Copy Number 1. The best possible copy, short of the dedication copy, of Lawrence's first signed limited edition. A fine copy. In custom quarter leather clamshell case.
219. LAWRENCE, D.H. Reflections on the Death of a Porcupine. Philadelphia: Centaur Press, 1925. One of 475 numbered copies for sale in England by Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Company, whose agency label is tipped over the publisher's information on the title page. For reasons unknown (and unfathomable) to us, the front and rear free endpapers appear to have been excised from this copy. Front hinge starting, one light corner bump; very good in a near fine, married slipcase (the book is number 99; the slipcase is number 97). All housed in custom quarter leather clamshell case.
220. LAWRENCE, D.H. Glad Ghosts. London: Ernest Benn, 1926. One of 500 copies, of this short story, which was only published in wrappers. This copy is inscribed by the author: "Vere [?] Collins from D.H. Lawrence." Rebacked and restored; salvaged to the point of looking very good in wrappers with some staining on the rear cover. Housed in a custom clamshell box. A fragile book, uncommon signed.
221. LAWRENCE, D.H. Rawdon's Roof. London: Elkin Mathews & Marrot, 1928. A story by Lawrence; Number 7 in the Woburn Books series. Of a total edition of 530 copies, this is one of 500 numbered copies signed by the author. Bookplate removed from front pastedown; offsetting to endpages; front joint cracked; a good copy in a good, darkened dust jacket chipped along the spine and splitting along the front flap fold. In custom quarter leather clamshell case.
222. LAWRENCE, D.H. The Collected Poems of D.H. Lawrence. London: Martin Secker, 1928. A two-volume collection of Lawrence's poetry, issued in a limited edition of 100 numbered copies signed by the author in Volume 1. Bound in gray boards and white vellum spines, both volumes have slight foxing but are still near fine, and both are in the exceptionally scarce cream colored dust jackets, which are notoriously prone to wear. The jacket of Volume 1 has minor edge wear, some edge tears, a few small holes on the spine and the flap folds, and is mildly soiled and slightly spine-darkened with a vertical strip of rubbing on the spine; still about very good. Volume 2 has a bit of edge wear, mild spine darkening and a strip of vertical rubbing on the spine, but a solid very good nonetheless. A small limitation, of which few sets will have survived with the jackets reasonably intact. Both volumes housed in one custom clamshell case.
223. LAWRENCE, D.H. Pansies. London: Privately Printed (1929). The first "definitive" edition of this collection of poems by one of the most controversial literary figures of his time: Lawrence challenged the contemporary taboos for the description of romantic love and sexual activity, and as a result much of his writing was banned and had to be printed privately. It was not until three decades after Lawrence's death, in fact, that Lady Chatterly's Lover could be published unexpurgated in England and America. Pansies was published the year after a volume of Lawrence's collected poems had been issued, and it was first published in England by Martin Secker in July, 1929, but Lawrence himself had to arrange to print this unexpurgated edition in August. This is Copy "Two" of 50 numbered copies bound in full leather and signed by the author. Foxing to the leather and tanning to the spine; a very good copy, lacking the glassine dust jacket, in a slipcase split along one joint. In custom quarter leather clamshell case.
224. (LAWRENCE, D.H.). VERGA, Giovanni. Little Novels of Sicily. NY: Thomas Seltzer, 1925. Translations by Lawrence and with an introduction by him. This is the first state, bound in red cloth with a yellow paper spine label. Inscribed by Lawrence: "Margaret Hale from D.H. Lawrence." Cloth rubbed, mottled, faded at spine and abraded at upper rear foredge; still, about very good in a very good, slightly spine-faded dust jacket with shallow edge chipping at the corners. In custom quarter leather clamshell case. Uncommon signed.
225. (LAWRENCE, D.H.). The Story of Doctor Manente. Florence: Orioli (1929). A novella by an Italian Renaissance writer, Lasca, translated and introduced by Lawrence. The colophon states the limitation as 1200 copies but Lawrence reportedly had 2400 copies printed because of "over-optimism," according to Roberts. This copy is out-of-series, i.e. unnumbered, but is inscribed on the front free endpaper by Lawrence to Lady Ottoline Morrell: "Ottoline from D.H.L." Ottoline Morrell was a patroness of the arts and a longtime friend of Lawrence -- he had dedicated his 1916 poetry collection, Amores, to her -- and she served as the model for Hermione in Women in Love [1920], which caused a falling-out between her and Lawrence. They resumed contact in 1928, when Lawrence heard of her illness and wrote to her in an attempt to "start afresh," as he put it. Paper vellum boards bowed and dampstained; small edge tear to front flyleaf; a good copy in a very good, spine-tanned, printed brittle dust jacket with a tiny tear at mid-spine. In custom clamshell case. Not an uncommon book, but a spectacular association copy.
226. LEARY, Timothy. My Growing, Admiring Friendship with My Very Own Cancer. June 12, 1995. Six page computer printout typescript in which Leary muses about the causes of the prostate cancer he was diagnosed with in January, 1995, discussing taboos about death and conspiracies against ejaculation. Inscribed by Leary on June 16, 1995: "To my dearest Pal/ Nelson [Lyon]/ Timothy." Lyon was a friend of Leary's as well as a longtime friend of Terry Southern and William Burroughs, among others. An original, unpublished manuscript, touching on both Leary's own personal situation and the larger questions of life and death, with a warm personal inscription to a close personal friend. Leary died in May of the following year. One vertical fold; several small water spots on page one; a small stain in the upper margins. Near fine. Unique.
227. LE CARRÉ, John. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. London: Gollancz, 1963. Le Carré's third book, the definitive Cold War novel, which brought a new level of realism to the genre of spy fiction. Le Carré's first two books had enjoyed only modest success and the first printing of this title was therefore modest; it was reprinted immediately, numerous times, becoming a bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic. Spine slant and light corner bump; near fine in a near fine dust jacket with slight wear at the crown and faint soiling to the rear white panel, and almost none of the fading to the spine that is common with this title.
228. (LOWRY, Malcolm). "On Board the West Hardaway" in Story, Vol. III, No. 15. NY: Story Magazine, 1933. An early appearance in print by Lowry, preceding his first novel, Ultramarine, also published in 1933. Very good in wrappers.
229. LURIE, Alison. The War Between the Tates. NY: Random House (1974). A novel by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Inscribed by Lurie. Recipient's signature front flyleaf, dusty bottom edge; else fine in a near fine dust jacket.
230. LURIE, Alison. Foreign Affairs. NY: Random House (1984). The first trade edition of her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Signed copies of the trade edition of this novel are considerably scarcer than the signed Franklin Library edition that was published.