Catalog 136, W-Z
275. WALKER, Mary Willis. Under the Beetle's Cellar. NY: Doubleday (1995). Her third book, a thriller. Her first two books won major awards in the mystery field. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
276. WALLER, Robert James. The Bridges of Madison County. (NY): Warner (1992). A publishing phenomenon -- a first novel by an unknown writer that, despite a modest first printing, gained a word-of-mouth following until it became a phenomenal bestseller, after which it was filmed by Clint Eastwood, starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
277. WALLER, Robert James. Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend. (NY): Warner (1993). His second novel. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
278. WHITE, E.B. The Fox of Peapack. NY: Harper & Brothers, 1938. Poetry, including several book reviews in the poetic form. Inscribed by White, in verse: "For Mr. Stewart of Omaha, Nebraska/ More wonderful to me than Il Duce or Der Fuhrer/ Is the man who supplied me with a 7-passenger tourer./ yr grateful little friend/ E.B. White." Darkening to joints, light bowing to boards; a near fine copy in a good, price-clipped dust jacket with some spine fading, a few edge chips, and splitting to the folds. White did not sign many books; a recent profile of him in The New Yorker by his stepson, Roger Angell, portrays him as extremely shy, even reclusive. Most of the books that turn up signed have inscriptions of some significance to the author; we have never seen an inscription in verse by White before.
279. WHITE, E.B. Charlotte's Web. NY: Harper & Brothers (1952). The second of his children's books and his most famous book, a classic that has stayed in print continuously for a half-century and was also the basis for a highly successful animated film. White was a poet and humorist before beginning a decades-long career as an essayist at The New Yorker, helping to give that magazine its reputation for clarity, urbanity and fine writing. His children's books are the only fiction that he wrote, and they have been much-loved over the years by children and adults alike, for their sensitive characterizations and their depictions of the bittersweet pain of life and loss. Staining to front flyleaf and front board; small bump to crown; a very good copy in a very good, spine-tanned dust jacket with a small chip to the upper rear panel and very shallow chipping to the spine ends.
280. WHITE, Stanford. Letters to His Family. NY: Rizzoli (1997). A book of the noted architect's early letters and drawings, mostly from his trips abroad as a young man, and showing the early influences on his architectural style. One page with three pencilled x's in text; else fine without dust jacket, as issued.
281. WINSLOW, Don. A Cool Breeze on the Underground. NY: St. Martin's (1992). The first Neil Carey mystery, which was nominated for both an Edgar Award and a Shamus Award and inaugurated a series that achieved enormous popularity during the 1990s. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
282. WINTERSON, Jeanette. The Psychometry of Books. NY: Knopf, 1996. A prepublication excerpt from Art Objects, preceding the American trade edition. This particular essay concerns Winterson's own passion for book collecting: "That is the way with books. You regret only the ones you did not buy." One of 2000 copies, signed by the author on a label mounted to the title page. Fine in stapled wrappers and string-tied cardstock chemise.
283. WOLFE, Tom. The Right Stuff. NY: FSG (1979). His landmark account of the first years of the American space program and the culture of the astronauts whose characters helped define it. Spine slant; near fine in a near fine dust jacket with one short edge tear at the lower rear spine fold.
284. WOLFE, Tom. The Bonfire of the Vanities. NY: FSG (1987). Wolfe's huge, bestselling novel of New York, in which he tried to prove wrong his own dictum that fiction is dead because it can't live up to the weirdness of everyday life. Fine in a fine dust jacket.