Catalog 128, M
183. MAILER, Norman. Typed Note Signed. June 30, 1959. Several sentences explaining that he is leaving for Provincetown in a few days, will be working there on late-arriving galleys [most likely for Advertisements for Myself] and will be unable to attend the Moore-Durelle fight: "Damn. Let's have a drink when I get back." Signed, "Norman." Rectangular strip of sunning mid-text; folded in thirds for mailing; very good. A short but interesting letter, showing Mailer's interest in boxing many years before his landmark book on the Ali-Frazier match, The Fight.
184. MALAMUD, Bernard. The Natural. NY: Harcourt Brace (1952). His first book, one of the great baseball novels of all time and the basis, decades later, for a well-received movie. Spine and edge-sunned boards; about a near fine copy of the issue in gray boards, in a near fine dust jacket with shallow edge chipping. No priority has been established but copies in both the red and the blue boards appear to be considerably scarcer than copies in gray boards.
185. MANKELL, Henning. The White Lioness. Gladestry: Scorpion Press (2003). The first British edition of this novel by the bestselling Swedish writer. First published in English in 1993, in a translation for an American edition. This is a new translation, with an appreciation of Mankell by Minette Walters that did not appear in the earlier edition. Mankell's mystery series, which uses the genre to explore the social changes in Sweden over the last generation, is one of the bestselling series in Europe and has recently developed a following in the English-speaking countries. This is his first signed limited edition. One of 90 numbered copies signed by the author, of a total edition of 105 copies. Fine in quarter leather and marbled paper boards, without dust jacket, as issued.
186. MARTIN, Valerie. Love. Amherst: Lynx House Press, 1977. The first book, a collection of stories, by the author of Mary Reilly and The Great Divorce, among others. Only issued in wrappers. Warmly inscribed by the author to another writer. Near fine. An uncommon small press volume by a writer who has since received substantial critical acclaim and commercial success with her novels.
187. MASON, Bobbie Ann. Shiloh and Other Stories. NY: Harper & Row (1982). Her first book of fiction, winner of the Hemingway Foundation Award and nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the PEN Faulkner Award and the American Book Award. An influential collection of stories, for which the term "K-Mart fiction" was invented -- referring to the author's chronicling the lives and dreams of ordinary middle and lower middle class Midwestern Americans. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
188. MASON, Bobbie Ann. In Country. NY: Harper & Row (1985). Her highly praised first novel, about a young girl's search for her father, who died in Vietnam before she was born. Fine in a fine dust jacket with a tiny gutter nick at the lower rear spine fold.
189. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Men's Lives. The Surfmen and Baymen of the South Fork. (n.p.): (Rock Foundation) (1986). A two-volume deluxe edition of Matthiessen's tribute to the fishermen of eastern Long Island and a way of life that, in the late stages of the 20th century, appeared to be irretrievably dying away. Matthiessen has spent much of his life on eastern Long Island, and once ran a charter fishing boat off the island, in addition to having worked for three years with commercial fishermen, so this sympathetic portrait is written from the perspective of one who, at least for period of a time, shared the life described. One of 500 numbered copies (although in all likelihood far fewer than 500 copies of this were ever produced). One volume, of text, is signed by Matthiessen. In addition to the second volume, of photographs, there is also an original print of one of the photographs from the book laid into a folding chemise and signed by the photographer. Never formally offered for sale, copies of this edition were given out free to attendees of a $500-a-plate benefit dinner for the historical society attempting to preserve the record of and legacy of the fishermen's lives. Both volumes and the print are fine; the whole is enclosed in a near fine, mildly sunned and dusty clamshell case. A similar edition, unsigned and without the signed print, was issued in a slipcase, and probably comprised most of the overrun of this edition -- i.e., a later issue, which was offered for sale via the University of Washington Press. This copy belonged to one of the attendees of the dinner.
190. (MATTHIESSEN, Peter). CARSON, Rachel. Silent Spring. London: Folio Society, 2000. Matthiessen provides an introduction to Carson's classic 1962 work, which single-handedly brought about the banning of the pesticide DDT, saving songbirds and giving wing to the environmental movement. Illustrations by Jonathan Hitchens. Fine in pictorial boards and slipcase. A little-known, uncommon edition of this classic work.
191. -. Another copy. Very near fine in pictorial boards and slipcase.
192. McCARTHY, Cormac. All the Pretty Horses. NY: Knopf, 1992. The advance reading copy of the first volume of the Border Trilogy, a landmark novel that won both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award and propelled its author to "instant" literary celebrity -- after nearly three decades of writing well-received literary novels in relative obscurity. This advance copy, issued in wrappers and publisher's folding box, is signed by the author and was sent out in advance of publication to promote the book. Rumor has it that approximately 400 were to be done but the author quit after about 200, and declined to do any more. McCarthy has a reputation as, if not exactly a recluse, one who prizes his independence and privacy, and books signed by him are uncommon. Fine in a near fine folding box.
193. McCRACKEN, Elizabeth. Here's Your Hat, What's Your Hurry. NY: Turtle Bay Books (1993). Her first book, a collection of stories. Fine in a fine jacket.
194. McCRACKEN, Elizabeth. The Giant's House. (NY): Dial (1996). Second printing of the well-received second book, first novel, by this Granta 20 author. Nominated for the National Book Award. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
195. McDERMOTT, Alice. At Weddings and Wakes. NY: FSG (1992). The third novel by this National Book Award-winning author. Inscribed by the author. Lower corners bumped; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
196. McKAY, Claude. Spring in New Hampshire and Other Poems. London: Grant Richards, 1920. First book by this African-American author, a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, and author of Banjo and Home to Harlem, among others. Restoration to spine; corner chip rear panel; check marks in table of contents. Very good in wrappers. A scarce and fragile volume by one of the most important black authors of the 20th century.
197. McMILLAN, Terry. Mama. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987. The well-received first book by this African-American author, whose novel, Waiting to Exhale, was made into a popular movie and secured McMillan's status as a popular and bestselling author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
198. McMILLAN, Terry. Disappearing Acts. (NY): Viking (1989). Her second novel, which was both a critical success and a bestseller. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
199. McPHEE, John. Levels of the Game. NY: FSG (1969). An account of a landmark tennis match between Arthur Ashe, the first world-class African-American tennis player, and Clark Graebner, "a middle-class white conservative dentist's son from Cleveland." A detailed, point-by-point account of the match, and an exploration of their different tennis styles that sheds light on their different backgrounds and lives and, by extension, the larger cultural differences to be found within American society. Inscribed by the author. Small spot lower foredge and on page 5; very near fine in a fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
200. McPHEE, John. Assembling California. NY: FSG, 1993. An extended essay on the geology of California, part of the sequence of works compiled in Annals of the Former World, which won McPhee the Pulitzer Prize. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Books signed by McPhee are fairly scarce.
201. MERRILL, James. Mirabell: Books of Number. NY: Atheneum, 1980. Third printing of this National Book Award-winning collection of poetry. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a bit of dampstaining on the verso.
202. MERWIN, W.S. The Moving Target. NY: Atheneum, 1963. The hardcover issue of this collection of poems by the award-winning poet. Merwin's awards include the Pulitzer Prize, the Bollingen Prize, and many others. Spine cloth a bit faded, still fine in a near fine dust jacket rubbed along the rear spine fold.
203. MERWIN, W.S. The Lice. NY: Atheneum, 1967. The hardcover issue. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Uncommon.
204. MERWIN, W.S. Unframed Originals. NY: Atheneum, 1982. The hardcover issue of this collection of poems. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
205. MERWIN, W.S. Opening the Hand. NY: Atheneum, 1983. The hardcover issue. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Uncommon.
206. MERWIN, W.S. Regions of Memory. Urbana/Chicago: University of Illinois Press (1987). Previously uncollected prose, spanning the years 1949-1982. Inscribed by the author on the half title and by the co-editor, Ed Folsom, on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
207. MERWIN, W.S. The Rain in the Trees. NY: Knopf, 1988. The hardcover issue of this poetry collection. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
208. MORRIS, Willie. My Two Oxfords. Council Bluffs: Yellow Barn Press (1989). One of 210 numbered copies signed by the author and by John De Pol, who provides the wood engravings. Fine without dust jacket, as issued.
209. MORRIS, Wright. Ceremony in Lone Tree. NY: Atheneum, 1960. A review copy, and the first issue of Morris' novel, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. Review slip laid in, along with a typed note from the publisher stating that the entire edition is being rebound owing to uneven stamping of the gold leaf on the spine. Apart from the issue point of the stamping, this is a fine copy in a very good dust jacket with one large chip and tear to the lower edge of the rear panel.
210. MORRISON, Toni. Beloved. NY: Knopf, 1987. Her fifth novel, which won the Pulitzer Prize and was the basis for the award-winning 1998 film by Jonathan Demme. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
211. -. Another copy. Fine in a very near fine, mildly and evenly sunned dust jacket.
212. MULDOON, Paul. Out of Siberia. (Old Deerfield/Dublin): Deerfield Press/Gallery Press (1982). A collection of poems by the 2003 Pulitzer Prize winner for poetry. One of 300 copies signed by the author and with a hand-colored illustration by Timothy Engelland. Offsetting to pastedowns; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
213. MULDOON, Paul. Six Honest Serving Men. (Oldcastle): Galley Press (1995). The hardcover issue of this play in verse by the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
214. MULDOON, Paul. The Noctuary of Narcissus Batt. London: Faber and Faber (1997). A children's alphabet book, in verse. Small quarto. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
215. MUNRO, Alice. The Beggar Maid. NY: Knopf, 1979. A review copy of the first American edition of the second of her books to win Canada's Governor General's Award (in 1978, under the title Who Do You Think You Are?). Fine in a fine dust jacket with faint edge-sunning.
216. MUNRO, Alice. Friend of My Youth. NY: Knopf, 1990. The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition. Signed by the author. Very near fine in wrappers.
217. (MUNRO, Alice). "How I Met My Husband" in The Play's the Thing. (Toronto): Macmillan (1976). A collection of four original television dramas by Munro, Hugh Hood, Eric Nicol, and Favor Moore and Frank R. Scott. Only issued in wrappers. The leaf comprising pp. 13-16 is bound in in reverse and uncut at foredge: this is also the start of Munro's piece. Otherwise a very good copy. An uncommon appearance in print by this award-winning Canadian author.