Catalog 127, N-O
287. NABOKOV, Vladimir. Invitation to a Beheading. NY: Putnam (1959). The first American edition. Offsetting to flyleaf; a few light spots to boards; near fine in a rubbed, near fine dust jacket.
288. NABOKOV, Vladimir. Pale Fire. NY: Putnam (1962). The true first American edition, stating "First Impression" both on the dust jacket flap and on the copyright page. Fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket, with virtually none of the spine fading that routinely afflicts this title.
289. NABOKOV, Vladimir. The Defense. NY: Putnam (1964). A novel, originally written in Russian in 1929 and published in Germany in 1930. This is the first American edition and first English-language translation. Fine in a near fine, spine-darkened dust jacket.
290. NABOKOV, Vladimir. The Eye. NY: Phaedra, 1965. The first English-language edition of this short novel originally published in Russian (in Paris) in 1930. This is Juliar's Variant "a," with publisher's address line. Fine in a fine, slightly dusty dust jacket.
291. NABOKOV, Vladimir. The Waltz Invention. (NY): Phaedra, 1966. The first American edition of this play by Nabokov, originally published in Russian in 1938. This is Juliar's variant "e" with a totally different dust jacket than variants a-d, being largely blue, with text in white and red, and no other design. Fine in a mildly rubbed, near fine dust jacket.
292. NABOKOV, Vladimir. Nabokov's Quartet. (NY): Phaedra, 1966. Four short stories, two of them published in the U.S. for the first time here, the others from The New Yorker and Esquire. Juliar's Variant "b," with white endpapers. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a repaired tear at the lower edge of the front panel.
293. NABOKOV, Vladimir. Ada. NY: McGraw-Hill (1969). A massive novel, more than ten years in the writing and running to almost 600 pages. Date (May 21, 1969) on flyleaf and thin abrasion there; slight fading to top stain; near fine in a near fine, horizontally price-clipped dust jacket.
294. NABOKOV, Vladimir. Mary. NY: McGraw-Hill (1970). The first American edition of Nabokov's first novel, originally published in Russia in 1925. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
295. NABOKOV, Vladimir. Poems and Problems. NY: McGraw-Hill (1971). Thirty-nine poems in Russian, with their translations; fourteen poems written in English; and eighteen chess problems, with their solutions. One of the scarcer Nabokov titles from this period when much of his early writing was being brought into print in English for the first time, and the author was also producing new material as well. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
296. NABOKOV, Vladimir. A Russian Beauty and Other Stories. NY: McGraw-Hill (1973). Early stories by Nabokov, written between 1924 and 1940 and here translated for the first time. Mottling to cloth; near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
297. NABOKOV, Vladimir. Lolita: A Screenplay. NY: McGraw-Hill (1974). Nabokov's original screenplay for the film version of his classic novel. The final version of the screenplay, as used in Kubrick's film, differed substantially from this. With a foreword by Nabokov, recounting the details of his work on the film and his reaction to it. Sticker removal shadow front pastedown; else fine in a near fine dust jacket.
298. NAIPAUL, V.S. Guerrillas. NY: Knopf, 1975. The first American edition of a novel that The New York Times Book Review called the best novel of the year. Inscribed by the author. Slight corner bumping; very near fine in a fine dust jacket with a small crimp at the crown. Books signed by Naipaul, the winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize for Literature, are quite scarce.
299. NAIPAUL, V.S. India. A Wounded Civilization. NY: Knopf, 1977. The second printing of the first American edition of his second book on India. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket with a tiny corner nick. Scarce signed.
300. NAIPAUL, V.S. A Bend in the River. NY: Knopf, 1979. Later printing of the first American edition of this novel of modern Africa that was something of a breakthrough book for Naipaul, at least in the U.S. A front-page review in The New York Times Book Review brought him long-overdue attention and commercial success in this country. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a very good dust jacket with a bit of staining to the rear panel, a tiny chip at the lower front panel, and a couple internally tape-repaired edge tears. One of the Modern Library's books of the 20th century, shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and a Burgess 99 title. Uncommon signed.
301. NAIPAUL, V.S. The Return of Eva Perón. NY: Knopf, 1979. The first American edition of this volume comprising two long nonfiction pieces, the title piece and "Michael X and the Black Power Killings in Trinidad." Some of Naipaul's most powerful writing. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket with a tiny gutter nick on the front panel. Laid in is a photo of Naipaul with the recipient.
302. NAIPAUL, V.S. Three Novels. NY: Knopf, 1982. Collects three early novels -- The Mystic Masseur, The Suffrage of Elvira and Miguel Street. This is the first U.S. publication of The Suffrage of Elvira. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a mildly spine-toned dust jacket.
303. NAIPAUL, V.S. A House for Mr. Biswas. NY: Knopf, 1983. First thus, a reissue with a new foreword by Naipaul. First published in 1961, A House for Mr. Biswas was considered by critics his first "serious" novel, after several comedies of manners; this book was his first to grapple with the themes that marked his later writing -- cultural dislocation and alienation and the struggle of an individual in the face of such large historical forces. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a near fine, slightly sunned dust jacket.
304. NAIPAUL, V.S. The Enigma of Arrival. NY: Knopf, 1987. The first American edition of this autobiographical novel. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
305. NAIPAUL, V.S. A Turn in the South. NY: Knopf, 1989. The first trade edition of Naipaul's account of his travels through the American South. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
306. NAIPAUL, V.S. India. A Million Mutinies Now. (NY): Viking (1991). The first American edition of his third book on India, spanning a period of 27 years. Inscribed by the author. Ding to lower board edge (a production flaw, it appears); else fine in a fine dust jacket.
307. NAIPAUL, V.S. A Way in the World. NY: Knopf, 1994. The first American edition of this collection of linked fictional narratives. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
308. NAIPAUL, V.S. The Middle Passage. (London): Picador (1995). First thus, the Picador Travel Classics edition of his first book on the Caribbean and first book of nonfiction, originally published in 1962. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
309. O'BRIAN, Patrick. The Thirteen Gun Salute. NY: Norton (1991). The first American edition of this novel in the author's highly acclaimed Aubrey-Maturin series of historical novels of the British Navy in the early 19th century. Faint dust soiling to top edge; else fine in a fine dust jacket with a slight crimp at the crown.
310. O'BRIAN, Patrick. The Nutmeg of Consolation. NY: Norton (1991). The first American edition. An Aubrey-Maturin novel. Faint dust soiling to top edge; very near fine in a fine dust jacket.
311. O'BRIAN, Patrick. The Truelove. NY: Norton (1992). The first American edition of this Aubrey-Maturin novel. Faint dust soiling to top edge and production crease to spine; very near fine in a fine dust jacket.
312. O'BRIEN, Tim. If I Die in a Combat Zone. (n.p.): Delacorte Press (1973). His first book, a highly praised memoir of the Vietnam war in which O'Brien uses some of the techniques of fiction to convey the experience of Vietnam from the grunt's perspective with immediacy and power. Warmly, almost hotly, inscribed by the author to another writer and signed "Tim." Slight edge-sunning to boards, but less than usual with this title; else fine in a fine dust jacket. A nice copy of one of the scarcest and most important first books of the Vietnam era.
313. O'BRIEN, Tim. Northern Lights. NY: Delacorte (1975). His second novel, a tale of two brothers in the wilderness of northern Minnesota, one of them a Vietnam war veteran, the other a veteran of the protests against that war. A cheaply-made, "perfectbound" book, it is difficult to find in nice condition. This copy has some sunning to the board edges and a slight spine slant; very near fine in a fine dust jacket. Inscribed by the author to another writer "with respect and affection."
314. O'BRIEN, Tim. Going After Cacciato. (NY): Delacorte Press (1978). His third book, a magical realist novel about a recruit who decides to walk away from the Vietnam war and go to Paris overland. Winner of the National Book Award and one of the literary classics of the war. Inscribed by the author to another writer "with admiration and love." Slight sunning to boards; else fine in a near fine dust jacket with one short edge tear.
315. O'BRIEN, Tim. Speaking of Courage. Santa Barbara: Neville, 1980. His first limited edition, a chapter that was excised from Going After Cacciato and later appeared, in altered form, in his award-winning book The Things They Carried. Of a total edition of 326 copies, this is a presentation copy, so printed on the colophon, and is inscribed by the author to another writer. Fine, without dust jacket, as issued. A nice literary association copy.
316. O'CONNOR, Flannery. Everything That Rises Must Converge. NY: FSG (1965). A collection of stories published shortly after O'Connor died. Like her first collection, A Good Man is Hard to Find, this was a National Book Award nominee. Fading to top stain, slight spine lean; near fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
317. O'CONNOR, Flannery. Mystery and Manners. NY: FSG (1969). A review copy of this posthumous collection of miscellaneous short prose pieces. Page numbers listed in pencil on rear blank, presumably by reviewer, and light pencil annotations on the pages listed; near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
318. O'CONNOR, Flannery. Home of the Brave. NY: Albondocani Press, 1981. A limited edition of an early O'Connor story. One of 200 numbered copies, of a total edition of 226. Fine, in saddle-stitched marbled self-wrappers.