Catalog 137, T-Z
One of 10 Author's Copies
242. TATE, James. If It Would All Please Hurry. Amherst: Shanachie Press, 1980. A limited edition of a poem by Tate which first appeared in The New American Poetry Review. Here issued with etchings and engravings by Stephen Riley, a promising artist in the 1970s known for his fantasy illustrations, here accompanying Tate's surrealist poetry. Of a total edition of 135 copies, this is one of ten lettered copies reserved for the author and the artist and is signed by Tate and Riley and additionally, movingly inscribed by each to a writer who was responsible for Tate and Riley meeting and thus, by extension, for this collaboration. According to the recipient, most of the edition was never printed, and it's possible that only the 10 author's and artist's copies were actually produced. Loose sheets, 11 1/4" x 15", fine, laid into a near fine slipcase. An attractive fine press production, and one of the rarest pieces by the Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning poet.
Complete Set of Aspen Wallposter
243. THOMPSON, Hunter S. and BENTON, Thomas. Aspen Wallposter, Vols. 1-5. Aspen: Aspen Wallposter Corporation, 1970. A broadside counterculture publication conceived by Thompson and Benton after the demise of the Aspen Illustrated News. Visuals by Benton on one side; commentary, mostly by Thompson, on the other. 15 3/4" x 22 1/4", except Volume 4, which includes advertising and is a larger sheet folded once, down to this size. Volume 4 is signed by Benton; Volume 5, which is a political poster advocating Thompson for sheriff, is signed (initialed) by Thompson and signed by Benton. Volume 1 is matted; Volume 3 was once tacked at the corners; Volume 5 was once hung and has a small hole and rubbed area near the word "Aspen;" all else is fine. A complete set of this ephemeral production, some of the scarcest of Thompson's published works, and especially so signed. For the five:
Signed by Thompson and Steadman
244. THOMPSON, Hunter S. Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. (San Francisco): Straight Arrow (1973). Thompson's third book and the second of his "Fear & Loathing" accounts. In this, Thompson covers the Nixon/McGovern race for the Presidency, bringing to the campaign a sense of humor and horror that is simultaneously both off-the-wall and entirely appropriate to its subject. Signed (initialed) by Thompson and by Ralph Steadman, who did a number of illustrations for the book. Laid in are photographic postcards of both Thompson and Steadman posing with the original owner of the book. A bit of shelf wear to the corners; otherwise a fine copy in a very near fine, first issue dust jacket, with some light corner rubbing and the red skull partly faded on the spine. In a custom clamshell case.
245. THOMPSON, Hunter S. Mistah Leary He Dead. (San Francisco): (X-Ray Book Co.) (1996). A two-page eulogy of Timothy Leary by Thompson. Of a total edition of 326 copies, this is one of 300 numbered copies. Fine in stringbound wrappers. Inside the back cover is a fake sheet of blotter acid repeating Leary's face. Very scarce now.
Signed by Thompson and Steadman
246. THOMPSON, Hunter S. and STEADMAN, Ralph. Fire in the Nuts. Woody Creek/Loose Valley/Blue Grass/High Desert: Gonzo International/Steam Press/Petro III Graphics/Sylph Publications (2004). A limited edition of an early, previously unpublished story by Thompson, with 13 illustrations by Steadman. Of a total edition of 176 copies, this is one of 150 numbered copies signed in full by Thompson and Steadman. Quarterbound in black Asahi cloth with illustrated panels and leather spine label stamped in gold. Fine.
247. -. Same title. One of 26 lettered copies signed in full by Thompson and Steadman, with additional Steadman print, "The Brain of Hunter S. Thompson," laid in. The book is quarterbound in burgundy Asahi cloth with illustrated front panel and black Asahi cloth rear panel and burgundy endpapers. All elements laid into a clamshell box bound in full black Asahi cloth with illustrated and black Asahi cloth linings. Fine.
248. TILGHMAN, Christopher. Roads of the Heart. NY: Random House (2004). The uncorrected proof copy. Fine in wrappers.
249. TRAVEN, B. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. NY: Knopf, 1935. The first American edition of the second book published here by the mysterious German writer who took up residence in Mexico and wrote a series of scathing political novels about the oppression of the indigenous peoples and the greed of the European interlopers. This book is by far his most famous, as a result of the award-winning 1948 John Huston movie, which starred Humphrey Bogart. Foxing to page edges and endpages; near fine in a very good dust jacket, which has had a small amount of professional restoration and is rubbed on the spine. An attractive copy of a scarce book. In a custom clamshell box.
250. TRAVEN, B. The Bridge in the Jungle. NY: Knopf, 1938. The first American edition of this novel featuring the same main character as in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Made into a well-received movie some thirty years after it was published. Both books were part of a sequence of novels Traven wrote in Mexico, depicting the lives and struggles of the common people and their oppression by the powers that be -- an international take on the "proletarian novel" of the 1930s, and a variant of it, in that most of the characters in Traven's novels, and in Mexico for that matter, were peasants rather than an urban proletariat. Interestingly Knopf, which published both this book and Sierra Madre, must have had high hopes for the series, as the rear flap announces that the publisher has acquired the rights to two other Traven novels and will announce their publication dates "as soon as possible." As it turned out, those two novels were not published in the U.S. until the 1970s, by a small publisher named Hill & Wang which specialized in plays and books for academia. Some offsetting to endpapers from the binder's glue; else fine in a near fine dust jacket rubbed at the folds. A very nice copy of a book that is almost as scarce as its more famous predecessor.
251. -. Same title. London: Jonathan Cape (1940). The first British edition. Fine in a very good, spine-tanned and price-clipped dust jacket with the title partially abraded on the spine.
252. TRAVEN, B. The Rebellion of the Hanged. NY: Knopf, 1952. A review copy of this novel of Mexico at the beginning of the Mexican Revolution. With the ownership name of a well-known African-American writer and scholar on the front pastedown. A near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with some rubbing on the spine and spine folds and some wear to the extremities. Review slip tipped in.
253. TRAVEN, B. March to the Monteria. (NY): Dell (1964). A paperback original, the true first American edition, preceding the hardcover publication by seven years. Light corner crease; else very near fine in wrappers.
254. UPDIKE, John. Museums and Women. Greenwich: Fawcett (1973). A review copy of the first paperback edition of his 1972 story collection. Pages darkened; else fine in wrappers. Advance copies of paperback editions are quite uncommon.
255. UPDIKE, John. A Good Place. (n.p.): Aloe, 1973. One of his scarcer, early limited editions, from the time before they proliferated. A five-page essay on his home town of Ipswich, Massachusetts. One of 100 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in saddle-stitched self wraps.
256. UPDIKE, John. Promotional Pin for S. [NY]: [Knopf] [1988]. Promotional pin issued for Updike's epistolary novel based on an ashram similar to that operated by the popular guru Rajneesh during the 70's and 80's. A simple orange "S." following the design of the book's cover art and with the author's name printed within the curve. 3" high; heavy cardstock; pin glued to back. A couple specks of rubbing; fine. An uncommon ephemeral item.
257. UPDIKE, John. Promotional Ball for Golf Dreams. [NY]/[Chicago]: [Knopf]/Wilson [1996]. A promotional golf ball issued for Updike's collection of short pieces pertaining to golf and golfing, some of which were taken from his novels, the rest from magazines. A Wilson TC2 Tour golf ball, stamped "Golf Dreams" and "Writings on Golf by John Updike." Fine. Uncommon.
258. VAN DINE, S.S. The Benson Murder Case. NY: Scribner, 1926. The first of the Philo Vance mysteries, which became enormously popular in the 1930s; there were eventually a dozen novels, at least ten of which were made into Hollywood films between 1929 and 1936, one of them twice. There was also a popular radio series that ran for a decade in the 1940s. This novel was one of a trilogy that had been accepted for publication by Maxwell Perkins before the novels were even written. It was filmed in 1930 with William Powell as Philo Vance. "S.S. Van Dine" was the pseudonym of Willard Huntington Wright who, under his own name, edited and introduced the anthology The World's Great Detective Stories in 1928 -- an important anthology, and Wright's introduction laid the groundwork for serious critical study of the genre. A bit of wear to the boards and darkening to the crown; near fine, lacking the dust jacket.
259. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five. (NY): Delacorte (1969). His masterwork, a powerful fictional memoir of his experiences during the Allied fire-bombing of Dresden, Germany. Vonnegut's philosophical reflections on the tragic absurdity of humankind are embedded in an impressionistic, pessimistic yet comic science fiction tale that is a high spot of the literature of the 1960s and since. The first printing was 10,000 copies and the book eventually sold more than 60,000 copies in hardcover and innumerable in paperback, becoming a classic of its era and a standard on college campuses -- at first by word-of-mouth and later as part of the canon. On all three major lists of the top books of the 20th century. Slight edge sunning to cloth; very near fine in a very near fine dust jacket with mild overall darkening and a small spot on the lower spine.
260. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. Breakfast of Champions. (NY): Delacorte Press (1973). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel that was Vonnegut's fiftieth birthday present to himself and his characters: in the book Vonnegut grants many of his previous characters their freedom (most notably Kilgore Trout who, unable to make it on the outside, returns in later books). Tall sheets, bound in green wrappers. Shadow of publisher's label on front cover; fine. Scarce; the last copy we saw was about seven years ago.
261. WALKER, Alice. In Love and Trouble. Stories of Black Women. NY: HBJ (1973). Her first collection of stories and her scarcest book of fiction, published eight years before The Color Purple won the Pulitzer Prize and made Walker a bestselling novelist. Walker's stories deal extensively with racism and sexism, and this book was highly praised on publication, winning a number of awards. Walker was on the faculty at Wellesley College at the time, where she started one of the few women's studies courses then in existence. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
262. WARHOL, Andy. America. NY: Harper & Row (1985). The very uncommon hardcover edition of this collection of photographs by Warhol, and his accompanying text. Quarto; fine in a dust jacket that has some creasing to the lamination (a binding flaw) but is otherwise fine. Signed twice by Warhol, once on the dust jacket and once inside the book. Most copies of this book were issued in softcover, and the copyright page only lists one ISBN -- for the softcover edition.
263. WINTON, Tim. Cloudstreet. (Victoria): McPhee Gribble (1991). An epic, picaresque novel of two rural families forced to share a dilapidated mansion in the city. Winner of the Miles Franklin Award, Australia's most prestigious literary award, as well as the NBC Award for Australian Literature. This is the true first edition, preceding all others, and only issued in wrappers. With a contemporary review by Catherine Ford, Australian novelist, laid in. Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers.
264. -. Same title, the second printing of the American edition. (St. Paul): Graywolf Press (1992). Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
265. WINTON, Tim. The Riders. (Sydney): Macmillan (1994). An eerie, atmospheric novel that was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the southeast Asian section of the Commonwealth Writers Prize. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
266. -. Another copy. Inscribed by the author. Mild edge-darkening to pages; still fine in a fine dust jacket.
267. -. Same title, an advance reading excerpt. Mild edge-darkening; else fine in stapled wrappers.
268. WINTON, Tim. Dirt Music. (Sydney): Picador (2001). His third novel to win the Miles Franklin Award; also shortlisted for the Booker Prize, winner of the WA Premier's Award, the Christina Stead Award, and the NSW Premier's Award -- in short, one of the most highly praised novels of recent years, anywhere. This is the version with untrimmed foredges, sold only in independent bookstores and scarcer than the issue with trimmed edges, which was sold in the mass market chains. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket with a promotional postcard laid in.
269. WOOLF, Virginia. The Years. London: Hogarth Press, 1937. One of the most traditional and accessible novels the author wrote, and her longest book. Trace rubbing to the rear joint; still a fine copy in a very good, Vanessa Bell dust jacket that has been internally tape-strengthened along the edges and folds, although outwardly only shows a faint stain on the spine. A nice copy of an important book by the pre-eminent English woman of letters of the twentieth century, whose influence on contemporary literature continues to be felt to this day.
270. YATES, Richard. Disturbing the Peace. (NY): Delacorte (1975). His fourth book, third novel. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with wear at the corners and crown. A moderately uncommon book these days, especially in nice condition.