Catalog 131, A-B
2. ABBOTT, Edwin A. "A. Square." Flatland. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1885. The first American edition of this classic fable, published pseudonymously and in print continuously for more than a century. Illustrations by the author. Owner gift inscription on flyleaf; darkening to spine; handling apparent on boards; light fraying to the corners and ends. A very good copy, without dust jacket. One of the most significant books published in the late 19th century, in terms of redefining the frame of reference of our perceptions of the world, and opening up the possibility of the kind of self-awareness that came to define the modernist, and post-modernist, perspective.
3. ABISH, Walter. In the Future Perfect. (NY): New Directions (1977). His third book, a collection of stories. Signed by the author. This is the simultaneous hardcover issue. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
4. ABLEMAN, Paul. Bits. (London): (Latimer Press) (1969). Experimental prose poems by this novelist and playwright. Of a total edition of 1000 copies, of which 250 were in cloth, this is an out of series copy of the issue of 50 printed on Glastonbury antique laid paper and bound in buckram. Signed by the author. Fine without dust wrapper, as issued.
5. ACOCELLA, Joan. Mark Morris. NY: FSG (1993). A monograph on the contemporary choreographer. Inscribed by the author to Pauline [Kael] "with admiration." Fine in a fine dust jacket. A nice association copy: Kael was the preeminent film critic in the U.S. and Morris was one of the foremost U.S. modern dance choreographers.
6. (AGEE, James). LEVITT, Helen. A Way of Seeing. NY: Horizon Press (1981). The revised, enlarged edition of this collection of photographs by Levitt with an essay by Agee. Originally published in 1965, this edition corrects errors in the text and adds two dozen photographs. Quarto; fine in a fine dust jacket.
7. ALBEE, Edward. Three Tall Women. NY: Dutton (1995). A play by the author of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, among many others. This play was his third Pulitzer Prize winner, an accomplishment in American drama equaled only by Eugene O'Neill and Robert Sherwood. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
8. ALLEN, Steve. Murder on the Glitter Box. (NY): Zebra/Kensington (1989). A murder mystery by the longtime television personality: Allen hosted the original "Tonight" show as well as "The Steve Allen Show" for many years. He was a key figure in popularizing the Beat generation, Jack Kerouac, and Kerouac's novel On the Road. Allen had Kerouac on his talk show and later recorded an album with him, with Kerouac reading his work and Allen accompanying him on piano. This novel features Steve Allen himself as the main character, in a murder mystery set in Hollywood among television personalities. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
9. ALLEN, Steve. Murder on the Atlantic. (NY): Kensington Books (1995). Another mystery featuring amateur detective Steve Allen and his wife, Jayne Meadows. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
10. AMBLER, Eric. Cause for Alarm. London: Houghton & Stoddard (1938). An early novel of intrigue by the writer who brought a new level of realism to the spy novel. Poets House bookplate front pastedown; spine-faded; small chip and fraying to crown; dampstain and markings to heel and rear board. A good copy only, lacking the dust jacket.
11. AMIS, Martin. Money. London: Jonathan Cape (1984). His fifth novel and, some think, his best. Two faint tape shadows front flyleaf, else fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a lamination wrinkle on both the spine and the rear panel. A very nice copy.
12. AMIS, Martin. The Moronic Inferno and Other Visits to America. London: Cape (1986). The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of Amis' witty, acerbic essays about America -- his first such collection, and a book that earned him a reputation as a humorous and insightful commentator on the U.S. Signed by the author. Near fine in wrappers.
13. AMIS, Martin. Yellow Dog. (NY): Miramax (2003). The first American edition of his most recent novel, which was the subject of considerable controversy when it was given a prominent, scathing and, many thought, over-the-top review in the British press upon publication, which was followed by a similar review in The New York Times when the book was published here. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
14. (ANDERSON, Sherwood). BLAKE, William. The World is Mine. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1938. An advance reading copy in pictorial wrappers, overbound in a printed wrapper that indicates that this is Number 132; hand-addressed to Sherwood Anderson from M. Lincoln Schuster, the publisher. An unusual pre-publication format, and interesting in that it reprints a number of the publisher's internal memos about the novel, something one seldom sees in such advance copies. Several pencil scribbles in text; a very good copy in wrappers, in a scribbled and chipped overwrap.
15. (Anthology). New World Writing 18. Philadelphia: Lippincott (1961). A review copy of the hardcover issue of this literary magazine, which was primarily published in trade paperback format. Includes an early work by Borges ("Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius") and "The Forest Path to Spring," the first appearance of a posthumous novella by Malcolm Lowry. Boards mottled; near fine in a very good, modestly sunned dust jacket with light rubbing to the folds and small corner chips. Review slip laid in.
16. (Anthology). Quarry, No. 2. (Santa Cruz): (University of California) (1972). Contributions by Richard Hugo, Jon Jackson, William Everson, Al Young and others, including Norma Klein, who went on to revolutionize the "young adult novel" in the 1970s and 80s. A short autobiographical piece by Klein expresses her intent to move into that field, and explains it. Quarto. Slight spine tears; very near fine in wrappers.
17. (Anthology). The Best American Mystery Stories 1997. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1997. Signed by editors Otto Penzler and Robert Parker and by contributors Elmore Leonard, George Pelecanos and Michael Malone. With additional contributions by James Crumley, Joyce Carol Oates, Jeremiah Healy, Jonathan Kellerman, Andrew Klavan, and others. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
18. ASIMOV, Isaac. Foundation's Edge. (Binghamton): Whispers Press, 1982. The limited edition of the fourth volume in the Foundation series. Asimov wrote the "Foundation Trilogy" early in his career, and then picked up the sequence nearly thirty years later with this volume, with the series ultimately reaching seven volumes. One of 1000 numbered copies signed by the author and the designer. Fine, without dust jacket.
19. ASIMOV, Isaac. Nemesis. NY: Doubleday (1989). The limited edition of this science fiction novel by the author of the Foundation series and such classics as I, Robot. One of 500 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in a fine slipcase.
20. AUCHINCLOSS, Louis. Edith Wharton. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press (1961). No. 12 in the Pamphlets of American Writers series. With a full-page inscription by Auchincloss to Blake Nevius, whose work on Wharton is included in Auchincloss' bibliography. Near fine in stapled wrappers. Auchincloss' full-length biography of Wharton was published in 1971.
21. BALDWIN, James. Another Country. NY: Dial Press, 1962. Small foredge spot; else fine in a near fine dust jacket with a couple of tiny, touched-up tears. A crisp and attractive copy of a book that, because of its largely white dust jacket, shows wear readily.
22. BANKS, Iain. Consider Phlebas. London: Macmillan (1987). His fourth novel, and first science fiction novel. Fine in a very near fine, unpriced dust jacket with shallow scratching on the rear panel.
23. BAXTER, Charles. Shadow Play. NY: Norton (1993). His highly praised second novel, which was reportedly inadvertently printed in an edition of only 1500 copies, rather than the 15,000 the publisher had intended. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
24. BEATTIE, Ann. Love Always. NY: Random House (n.d.) [1985]. The uncorrected proof copy of this novel by a writer whose first two books, published in the late 1970s, established her immediately as a "voice of her generation" -- the baby boomers who survived the social and cultural upheavals of the 1960s. The sheets of this proof are shot from typescript and reproduce holograph corrections throughout the text, including deletions, changes, and additions. There is one whole page that is crossed out but still visible and readable: an earlier version of the author's text than usually makes it into a publicly circulated volume. Quarto. Trace edge-sunning; else fine in wrappers.
25. BERGER, Thomas. Crazy in Berlin. NY: Scribner (1958). The first book by the author of Little Big Man, among others. This novel is set in Berlin in the years immediately after World War II and features Carlo Reinhart, a German-American and an American Army medic, a character who also appears in some of Berger's later novels. This copy is from the author's library and is signed by Berger. Near fine in a very good, mildly rubbed dust jacket with edge wear at and near the spine extremities.
26. BERGER, Thomas. Reinhart in Love. NY: Scribner (1962). His second book, again featuring Carlo Reinhart, after his discharge from the Army following World War II. Again, this copy is from the author's library and is signed by Berger. Fine in a near fine, lightly rubbed dust jacket.
27. BERGER, Thomas. Little Big Man. NY: Dial, 1964. The author's third and most famous novel, a tragicomic history of the American West, which was immortalized on film. Winner of the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters -- given for a work that, while not being a commercial success, is nonetheless a substantial literary achievement. Signed by the author. Fine in a near fine, lightly rubbed dust jacket with a gutter nick at the front spine fold and a 1" tear at the upper rear spine fold. A bright copy from the author's library, with none of the spine fading typically associated with this title.
28. BERGER, Thomas. Killing Time. NY: Dial, 1967. His fourth novel, a takeoff on the murder mystery format in which the author defies the conventions of the genre in order to offer a comic, existential take on the questions of guilt and innocence and madness and sanity. From the author's library. Signed by Berger. Slight spine slant; near fine in a near fine, rubbed dust jacket.
29. -. Same title. The uncorrected proof copy. Inscribed by the author in 1982. Spine cocked and tanned; faint cup ring front cover; very good in wrappers.
30. BERGER, Thomas. Regiment of Women. NY: Simon & Schuster (1973). His fifth book, a social satire set in the 21st century where women have assumed all the roles of power and men are subservient. The book provoked a feminist backlash although, like any social satire, it is a critique of the world that is not contained in the pages of the book -- i.e., our world -- rather than an endorsement of the fictional world the author created; as such, it has elements that contemporary critics can, and have, called both anti-feminist and pro-feminist. Signed by the author. Near fine in a near fine, spine- and edge-sunned dust jacket with a couple short edge tears.
31. BERGER, Thomas. Sneaky People. NY: Simon & Schuster (1975). A novel set in midwestern America in the 1930s. Signed by the author. Slight spine lean; else fine in a very good dust jacket with a shallow stain at the lower front edge.
32. BERGER, Thomas. Who is Teddy Villanova? (n.p.): Delacorte (1977). A foray into the realm of detective fiction, one of Berger's "loving genre demolitions," as novelist Jonathan Lethem called them, in a review in which he called Berger "one of America's greatest living novelists." This copy is from the author's library. Signed by Berger. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
33. BERGER, Thomas. Neighbors. (NY): Delacorte (1980). A dark comedy, made into a successful movie with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. From the author's library. Signed by Berger. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
34. BERGER, Thomas. The Feud. (NY): Delacorte (1983). Another of his novels set in small-town America of the 1930s. From the author's library. Signed by Berger. One corner bumped; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
35. BERRY, Wendell. Nathan Coulter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1960. The first book, a novel, by this poet, novelist, essayist and activist; one of the defining voices of our era as a critic of the excesses of our technology-infused lifestyle and our most well-known contemporary advocate of agrarian values. Inscribed by the author to poet David Ignatow in 1965, a nice literary association. Fine in a very good, spine-tanned dust jacket with one stain to the spine and several on the rear panel.
36. BINSTOCK, R.C. The Soldier. (NY): Soho Press (1996). The advance reading copy of his third book, second novel. Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers.
37. BORGES, Jorge Luis. Ficciones. NY: Grove Press (1962). The first American edition of Borges' most famous work, the book which, when translated into French, won the Prix Formentor and when translated into English won Borges an immediate following and placed him at the head of a whole generation of writers experimenting with the forms and structures of fiction: Barth, Barthelme and the other (North) American writers of the Sixties drew inspiration form Borges' "fictions." He has been called the greatest writer not to win the Nobel Prize -- an honor that was reportedly denied to him for political reasons in the early 1970s. Beloved in his native country as a poet, admired worldwide for his "fictions," he was also a formidable scholar and translator. He translated Kafka from the German and Faulkner from English -- both of them writers of extreme subtlety and depth in their respective languages. He wrote introductions to American and English literature that are unparalleled in their succinctness and erudition. Nearly two decades after his death, he ranks as one of the half-dozen greatest figures of world literature of the Twentieth Century. Fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with minor rubbing and one short edge tear, a much nicer copy of this title than usually shows up, with little of the rubbing or edge wear endemic to the dark, unlaminated jacket.
38. BORGES, Jorge Luis. A Personal Anthology. NY: Grove (1967). One of his most sought-after books in this country, his third to be published here. A collection of Borges' own favorite stories, essays, poems and sketches from his earlier writings. Originally published in Argentina in 1961. Light foxing to top edge; else fine in a fine dust jacket. A very nice copy.
39. BOWEN, Elizabeth. The Shelbourne Hotel. NY: Knopf, 1951. The first American edition. Nonfiction, a history of Dublin's most famous hotel and, by extension, the city itself, by an Irish-born writer. Signed by the author and dated November 14, 1951. Bookplate front pastedown; else fine in a very good, mildly sunned dust jacket with one edge tear and modest shelf wear.
40. BOWEN, Peter. Imperial Kelly. NY: Crown (1992). Historical novel of the American West, featuring Bowen's staple character for this series, Luther "Yellowstone" Kelly. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
41. BOWLES, Paul. In the Red Room. Los Angeles: Sylvester & Orphanos, 1981. Of a total edition of 330, this is one of 300 numbered copies signed by the author. Patches of discoloration to front gilt; near fine without dust jacket, as issued.
42. BOWLES, Paul. Desultory Correspondence. (Zurich): Memory/Cage Editions (1997). The text of an interview by Florian Vetsch with Bowles about Gertrude Stein. Also includes "My Last About Money" by Stein. Stein was a longtime friend of Bowles and something of a mentor; he met her when he was a young aspiring writer and she was already a well-established literary figure. She helped him publish his early poems but discouraged him from writing poetry; later, when he began writing seriously, he heeded her advice and stuck mainly to writing prose. Fine without dust jacket, as issued.
43. (BOWLES, Paul). MRABET, Mohammed. The Chest. (Bolinas): Tombouctou, 1983. A collection of tales by Mrabet, taped and translated by Bowles. One of 100 hardcover copies, the entire hardcover edition, signed by the author and translator. Fine.
44. (BOWLES, Paul). REY ROSA, Rodrigo. Dust on Her Tongue. San Francisco: City Lights (1992). An uncorrected proof copy, in the form of bound galley sheets, of the first American edition of this collection of stories by Guatemalan author Rey Rosa, translated from the Spanish by Bowles. 8 1/2" x 11"; ringbound. An uncommon proof, probably only produced in a handful of copies. Fine.
45. BOYLE, T. Coraghessan. World's End. (NY): Viking (1987). His third novel, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award. Inscribed by Boyle to another author, himself a National Book Award winner, "with admiration./ You are, and have been,/ one of my heroes." Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. An excellent literary association copy.
46. BROOKS, Gwendolyn. "Old Woman Rap." 1990. Ribbon-copy typescript of a single poem, dated 7/15/90. Unsigned, but with three small holograph corrections. Cut to approximately half-page size, with rounded corners; folded once; near fine.
47. BROOKS, Gwendolyn. Primer for Blacks. (Chicago): Third World Press (1991). Three short "preachments," two of them poetry, one prose. Includes: "Primer for Blacks," "To Those of My Sisters Who Kept Their Naturals," and "Requiem Before Revival." Inscribed by Brooks to poet and collagist Theodore A. Harris in 1994. With Harris' ownership signature. Near fine in rubbed, stapled wrappers. A nice association copy.
48. (BROOKS, Gwendolyn). Business Correspondence. Various dates. Solicitations for Brooks' attention or comments, mostly in the form of reviews or blurbs. Approximately a dozen such requests, spanning four decades.
49. BUTLER, Robert Olen. Countrymen of Bones. NY: Horizon (1983). His third novel, set in New Mexico during the development of the atomic bomb. Butler won the Pulitzer Prize for his story collection A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain. Inscribed by Butler in 1983 to another author, himself a National Book Award winner: "72000 words from/ one of your biggest fans./ Robert Olen Butler." Trace foxing to top edge; else fine in a near fine, spine-sunned dust jacket.