Catalog 129, L
309. LANCHESTER, John. The Debt to Pleasure. NY: Henry Holt (1996). The advance reading copy. A somewhat unlikely bestseller, which was one of the most talked-about books of the publishing season. Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers.
310. LEAVITT, David. Family Dancing. NY: Knopf, 1984. The first book, a highly praised collection of stories, by the author of the controversial While England Sleeps, among others. This is the uncorrected proof copy. Light, faint staining to rear cover; near fine in wrappers.
311. LEAVITT, David. While England Sleeps. (n.p.): Viking (1993). The uncorrected proof copy of this controversial novel based loosely on Stephen Spender's life and memoirs, which Spender himself challenged and threatened legal action against. Leavitt read between the lines of Spender's autobiography to create a fictional adaptation of it, with the homosexuality much more explicit than in the original, and treated without euphemism. The suit was settled out of court with an agreement that stipulated textual revisions in future editions, as has been the case. Fine in wrappers.
312. LE CARRE, John. The Naive and Sentimental Lover. London: Hodder & Stoughton (1971). The uncorrected proof copy of his first novel to depart from the espionage genre, a book that he later said was his own personal favorite of his books, but which enjoyed considerably less popular success than his spy stories. Small ink name and date on front cover; minor sunning and creasing to spine; near fine in wrappers. An uncommon proof.
313. LE CARRE, John. The Secret Pilgrim. NY: Knopf, 1991. The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition. This is the second issue, in blue wrappers, with a 1991 date on the front cover and title page, a 1990 date on the copyright page, and the first printing announced as 350,000 copies. Fine in wrappers.
314. LEE, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. London: Heinemann (1960). An advance copy of the first British edition of her first and only book, which won the Pulitzer Prize and was the basis for an Academy Award-winning movie. Light foxing and cover creasing; still a near fine copy in plain brown printed wrappers. A nice copy of an uncommon issue of this book.
315. LE GUIN, Ursula K. The Beginning Place. NY: Harper & Row (1980). The uncorrected proof copy. Signed by the author. Spine and edge-sunned, with a corner crease on the rear cover; near fine in wrappers, with the book title written on the bottom page edges.
316. LE GUIN, Ursula K. Always Coming Home. NY: Harper & Row (1985). The uncorrected proof copy. Slight bumping to the extremities; else fine in wrappers. Taped to the front cover is a notice that the first edition will be boxed with a cassette of music and poetry by Todd Barton, not included here. An uncommon proof.
317. LEONARD, Elmore. Escape from Five Shadows. [Boston]: Houghton Mifflin, [1956]. The uncorrected proof copy of the third of his extremely scarce Westerns, which preceded his first mystery novel by over a decade and his first bestseller by over two decades. 7" x 11" ringbound galley sheets, printed on rectos only. The label affixed to the cardstock cover gives a publication date of 1955 (the book was actually published in 1956) and, in pencil "May 1." Also in pencil on the front cover label is written "The Westerners" -- an alternate title? An indication of the genre, for marketing purposes? The covers show some extremely slight creasing; but still a remarkably fine copy, with the covers crisp, the fragile plastic ring spine intact. An extremely scarce item: we have never seen another proof copy of any of Leonard's Westerns offered for sale, and Houghton Mifflin was not even doing bound proofs for all its titles routinely at that time. There were probably only a couple of dozen of theses produced and given the format and fragility of this item, it's unlikely that many others have survived, if any. In a custom quarter leather clamshell box.
318. LEONARD, Elmore. La Brava. NY: Arbor House (1983). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel by the bestselling author, this being one of the titles that accounted for his "breakthrough" from being a respected genre author to being a mainstream commercial, and literary, success. Signed by the author. Spine roll; small corner crease; near fine in wrappers.
319. LESSING, Doris. The Grass is Singing. NY: Crowell (1950). An advance copy of the first American edition of her first book. 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.
320. 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.
321. LESSING, Doris. The Summer Before Dark. London: Jonathan Cape (1973). The uncorrected proof copy. Fine in wrappers.
322. -. Same title. NY: Knopf, 1973. The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition. Pub date and price written in ink on front cover, and initials (presumably the reviewer's) in pencil. Light soiling; very good in wrappers, with author photo laid in.
323. LESSING, Doris. Canopus in Argos. London: Jonathan Cape (1979-1983). The uncorrected proof copies of the first four volumes of Lessing's science fiction sequence, a departure from most of her earlier work (although foreshadowed a bit in the Children of Violence series). The first three volumes are near fine (Shikasta in tall wrappers); the fourth volume, The Making of the Representative for Planet 8, has a faint cup ring and rubbing to the front spine fold; very good.
324. LESSING, Doris. "SOMERS, Jane." The Diary of a Good Neighbor. NY: Knopf, 1983. The uncorrected proof copy of the first of Lessing's pseudonymous books, written to test her theory that the publishing industry works on the basis of credentials and name recognition, not literary merit. While she publicly took the results to indicate that the experiment proved her thesis, the same facts could be seen otherwise: the "unknown" Jane Somers not only had her book published, but had it done by the most prestigious literary publisher in the U.S. The stated first printing of 6500 copies may be small by the standards of a successful and well-known writer (a Doris Lessing book would have had a first printing of about 25,000 copies) but most aspiring writers would be happy to have Alfred Knopf print 6500 copies of their book. This proof copy bears reviewer's (or rep's?) notes on the front cover (very positive) and an indication of a discount the publisher was offering, apparently to help push the book. An interesting and provocative experiment, as might be expected from the author of The Golden Notebook. Fine in wrappers.
325. LITTLE, Loyd. Parthian Shot. NY: Viking (1975). The uncorrected proof copy of the author's first novel, winner of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation Award. Set in Vietnam in 1964 among a group of Green Beret advisors in a small Vietnamese hamlet. "Senior Center Library" stamps to all page edges; else fine in wrappers. The published price was changed from the price indicated on the proof. Not a proof we have seen often. One of the important novels of the Vietnam war.
326. LOWELL, Robert. Day by Day. NY: FSG (1977). The uncorrected proof copy of the last book published in Lowell's lifetime. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who was a student of John Crowe Ransom and one of the most important and highly regarded poets of his era until his death in 1977. Faint dust soiling; else fine in wrappers.
327. LOWELL, Robert. The Oresteia of Aeschylus. NY: FSG (1978). The uncorrected proof copy of a posthumously published play, which Lowell "translated" from other translations, in an attempt to recapture what he imagined the initial impact of the play would have been to its original audience. Fine in wrappers.
328. LURIE, Alison. Foreign Affairs. NY: Random House (1984). The uncorrected proof copy of her ninth book, a novel that was a surprise winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Near fine in wrappers. Uncommon.