Catalog 130, N-O
204. NORMAN, Howard. Archive for Five Poems of the Conch Crab. c. 1973. Five pages of ribbon-copy typescript, with holograph titles, of "Five Poems of the Conch Crab," translated by Norman from Créole. Paper clip rust mark, faint stains on verso of last page; else fine. Together with a handmade card, dated July 23, 1973, with three typed poems translated from the Créole. Inscribed by Norman to Holbrook Teter, who was to have published a version of Norman's Wishing Bone Cycle poems that year. One of the poems on the card, "The Barrel Woman," also appears in the typescript pages, with different text. Faint handling; else fine. Also together with a typed letter signed, August 20, 1973, announcing his return to Michigan and describing a storm over the lake. In this letter, Norman says he's working on "conch crab" poems and will send some along. On the verso he has typed a translation of a Créole poem. Folded for mailing; else fine. Finally together with a printed holiday card, December 12, 1973, again with the poem "The Barrel Woman," and again in a slightly different version. Inscribed by Norman. A self-mailer, folded by design and hand-addressed; fine. All told -- between the two cards, the letter and the typescript pages -- eight different poems are represented here, with one poem appearing in three different versions. For the archive:
205. NORMAN, Howard. Autograph Postcard Signed. January 30, 1989. Norman thanks the recipient for his generous letter and inquires if he's seen "Phil's" most recent poems in The New Yorker - "genius." Signed by the author. Fine.
206. OATES, Joyce Carol. The Wheel of Love and Other Stories. London: Gollancz, 1971. The first British edition of her third collection of stories. Inscribed by the author to a novelist and editor of a prominent literary magazine, "with very best wishes," in London in 1971, and signed "Joyce." A nice literary association. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
207. O'BRIEN, Flann. The Dalkey Archive. London: MacGibonn & Kee, 1964. A Joycean novel by the author of At Swim Two Birds. Inscribed by the author: "To Andrew (Drewy) Devereux,/ in thanks for/ countless favours/ and good turns/ Brian O'Nolan/ 23 Sept 1964." Devereux was the proprietor of the Sign of Three Candles Press, formerly the Candle Press, in Dublin, one of the most important Irish presses of its time. Slight spine slant; else fine in a near fine dust jacket. O'Brien died in 1966, and presentation copies of any of his novels are extremely scarce.
208. O'BRIEN, Tim. The Things They Carried. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. An advance reading excerpt of his fifth book, featuring one of three trial dust jacket designs. Inscribed by O'Brien "To Nick [author Nicholas Delbanco], with affection, Tim." Fine in stapled wrappers. A nice literary association copy, and very scarce thus: O'Brien is generous about signing books, but very few of his peers and contemporaries in the writing community have been willing to part with books inscribed to them.
209. O'CONNOR, Flannery. A Good Man is Hard to Find. NY: Harcourt Brace (1955). O'Connor's most widely celebrated work, the collection of stories that created her reputation as a master of the form and which redefined the notion of Southern gothic. Nominated for the National Book Award. O'Connor has been called a master of the grotesque while at the same time being considered a deeply religious writer: for her, the suffering and pain of life were only potentially redeemable and black humor was more likely to be the form that relief and transcendence took than God-given grace. Owner name and contemporary date on flyleaf; very slight bowing and shelf wear; near fine in a near fine dust jacket with some fading to the pink publisher's block on the spine. An uncommon book: the first printing was only 2500 copies, and first editions in collectible condition are quite scarce.
210. O'CONNOR, Frank. Towards an Appreciation of Literature. Dublin: Metropolitan Publishing, 1945. Trace foxing to pastedowns; else fine in a very good, sunned dust jacket with a small tear to the front flap fold and a small chip at the heel. A nice copy of a cheaply made book, which shows the earmarks of wartime book production in the U.K.
211. O'FARRELL, William. Repeat Performance. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1942. The author's first novel, an important book in the hardboiled/noir genre, and the basis for a 1947 film. O'Farrell wrote a number of hardboiled novels over the next two decades, several of them published only as paperback originals, in the manner of Jim Thompson's and David Goodis's novels. He won an Edgar Award in 1959 for his story, "Over There, Darkness." Foxing to the upper edges of cloth; very good in a very good, moderately edgeworn dust jacket with a couple internal tape mends.
212. O'HARA, John. Pipe Night. NY: Duell, Sloan and Pearce (1945). An uncommon book by the author of Butterfield 8 and Appointment in Samarra, among others. Inscribed by the author to radio personality Mary Margaret McBride in the year of publication: "To Mary Margaret/ and how are your/ taste-buds?/ Sincerely/ John O'Hara/ WEAF/ 20 March 1945." WEAF was McBride's New York station. Some spotting to rear board and fading to spine cloth; near fine in a very good dust jacket with a couple small edge tears that are internally tape mended. A fragile book, cheaply produced under wartime conditions, this is a very attractive copy. Books inscribed by O'Hara are quite uncommon although later in his career he did a number of signed limited editions of his novels and story collections.
213. OLSON, Charles. Projective Verse. (NY): (Totem) (1959). The first separate edition of this important essay by Olson, originally published in 1950 and here published by the poet Leroi Jones's press. Olson's essay, which argued for a form of poetry that was dictated not by the external structures of line and meter but by the internal "structure" of the poet's breath, was a radical and influential statement, and it helped attract a number of poets to Black Mountain College where he was teaching at the time, and where he was rector from 1951 until 1956. Among the poets who came to Black Mountain, largely because of Olson's presence there, were Robert Creeley, Robert Duncan, and Denise Levertov. "Projective Verse" is widely considered Olson's most important critical statement on poetry in much the same way as The Maximus Poems -- although a much larger work -- is considered his most important poetic statement. This copy is warmly inscribed by the author in 1960. One spot to front cover; near fine in stapled wrappers.
214. OLSON, Charles. The Maximus Poems. NY: Jargon/Corinth Books, 1960. The limited edition of the first combined edition of these poems, originally published in 1953 and 1956 in a pair of oversize limited editions. One of the most important achievements of American poetry in the postwar era, on a par with Pound's Cantos and Williams' Paterson. Olson was influential on an entire generation of poets by virtue of his presence at Black Mountain College in the Fifties, and The Maximus Poems stand as his major poetic work. One of 75 numbered copies; the total hardcover printing consisted of 101 copies. This copy is inscribed by the author in 1965. Fine, without dust jacket, as issued.
215. OLSON, Charles. Causal Mythology. San Francisco: Four Seasons, 1969. A lecture given at the University of California Poetry Conference, July 20, 1965, which includes excerpts from The Maximus Poems. Inscribed by the author to a fellow poet and his wife: "For Vince [Ferrini] and Mary/ my dearest friends/ Charles." Ferrini was a Gloucester poet who was a close friend of Olson's but also a foil for him, and a character incorporated into one of the Maximus letters. Fine in wrappers. A wonderful association.
216. ONDAATJE, Michael. Leonard Cohen. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart (1970). An early and uncommon "A" item by Ondaatje, being a short critical study of Canadian poet and songwriter Leonard Cohen; number 5 in the Canadian Writers series. A paperback original. Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers.
217. ONDAATJE, Michael. The English Patient. NY: Knopf, 1992. An advance copy of the first American edition, in the form of a bound photocopied typescript. With publisher's rep's notes copied on front cover urging the recipient to read it and reporting that it is "the book this fall that Sonny [Mehta, editor-in-chief of Knopf] is most passionate about." An early and uncommon format, issued prior to the bound proofs and probably in smaller numbers as well. Co-winner of the Booker Prize. Small stains to covers; near fine.
218. (ONDAATJE, Michael). Poetry of Mid-Century, 1940/1960. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart (1964). New Canadian Library Paperback Original No. 4, which contains 14 poems by Leonard Cohen and pencilled marginal notes by Ondaatje. Ondaatje's first book, The Dainty Monsters, was published in 1967; in 1970, Ondaatje published a short critical study of Leonard Cohen. Inscribed by Ondaatje to his first wife, Kim, in 1964, three years before he published his first book. Near fine in wrappers.