Catalog 130, A
2. ALVAREZ, Julia. Something to Declare. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 1998. The advance reading copy (marked "Advance Uncorrected Proof") of this book of personal essays, the first book of nonfiction by the author of such acclaimed novels as How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and In the Time of the Butterflies. Signed by the author. Near fine in wrappers.
3. (Anthology). Toward a New American Poetics. Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow, 1978. Essays on and interviews with Robert Duncan, Charles Olson, Gary Snyder, Robert Creeley, Robert Bly, and Allen Ginsberg. Edited by Ekbert Faas. Inscribed by Faas in 1979: "For Pauline Kael,/ Robert Duncan's critical mentor/ at a time in his life when/ criticism really mattered." A nice inscription: Kael was a close friend and confidante of Duncan, dating from the early 1940s when both were at the University of California in Berkeley, and Kael was an integral part of the literary movement that flourished in San Francisco in the early 1950s, of which Duncan was perhaps the most well-known and well-respected member. The two kept up a long correspondence over the years after Kael moved east to New York. Spine- and edge-sunned; near fine in wrappers.
4. ASHBERY, John. Three Madrigals. (NY): (Poet's Press) (1968). An early limited edition by this poet who has won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and a host of other prizes. Reproduces in facsimile the manuscript of a poem from 1958. This is one of 150 numbered copies, of a total edition of 162 copies, signed by the author. This copy is additionally inscribed by Ashbery in 1976. Fine in stapled wrappers.
5. ATWOOD, Margaret. Cat's Eye. NY: Doubleday (1989). A limited issue of the first American edition. One of 500 copies of the first edition signed by Atwood on a tipped-in leaf. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a splash of paint on the rear spine fold. Laid in is a note from the publisher transmitting this as a complimentary copy.
6. AUERBACH, Nina. Private Theatricals. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1990. Inscribed by the author to Pauline Kael. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Together with a second printing of Auerbach's Ellen Terry [NY: Norton (1989)], also inscribed to Kael "who is part of the best of this book." Near fine in wrappers. For both:
7. AUSTER, Paul. The Art of Hunger. (London): Menard Press, 1982. The first edition of a collection of eleven essays on literary subjects including Kafka, Laura Riding, Knut Hamsun, and others, written between 1970 and 1979. Not published in the U.S. until a decade later. Inscribed by the author. Faint corner crease and some light edge foxing; near fine in wrappers. Scarce.
8. AUSTER, Paul. Disappearances. Woodstock: Overlook Press (1988). A selection of Auster's poetry, from his small press publications of the 1970s. Inscribed by the author in the month of publication: "For ____/ Old words between new covers./ In friendship -/ Paul." A nice inscription. Bump to spine base, else fine in a fine dust jacket.
9. AVEDON, Richard. Alice in Wonderland. (NY): Merlin House (1973). The story of the forming of the theater company The Manhattan Project and their production of Lewis Carroll's play, as directed by Andre Gregory. Text by Doon Arbus, with photographs by Richard Avedon. This is the very uncommon hardcover issue. Inscribed by Avedon to film critic Pauline Kael in the year of publication, "with admiration." Avedon is the premier American portrait photographer, winner of innumerable awards and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1992 he became the first staff photographer for The New Yorker magazine. Kael, of course, was the longtime film critic for The New Yorker who is credited with revolutionizing the genre. An excellent association copy between two cultural heavyweights of 20th century American arts. Oblong quarto; fine in a fine dust jacket with a tear on the rear flap.