Catalog 138, M-O
90. MACMILLAN, Donald Baxter. Etah and Beyond, or Life Within Twelve Degrees of the Pole. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1927. A classic account of Arctic exploration. MacMillan was one of the early polar explorers to document his travels extensively; Etah was an abandoned village in Greenland at which he established a base for further explorations in the Arctic realms. This copy is inscribed by the author: "To Miss Helga Knudsen/ with pleasant memories of my visit to her home in Jacobshavn, Greenland, and of her life with us at our home in Provincetown./ Donald B. MacMillan." A nice inscription, linking the author to a resident of Greenland. Minor rubbing to boards; very good, lacking the dust jacket.
91. MAMET, David. Goldberg Street. NY: Grove (1985). The hardcover issue of this collection of "short plays and monologues" by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Glengarry Glen Ross, American Buffalo, Sexual Perversity in Chicago and many other acclaimed and award-winning plays. Inscribed by the author with the added sentiment, "See you in Chicago." Fine in a very good dust jacket with edge wear and a front panel crease. Books signed by Mamet are relatively scarce, and the hardcover issues of his Grove Press titles are themselves scarce.
92. MAMET, David and SILVERSTEIN, Shel. Things Change. NY: Grove (1988). Mamet's second screenplay from one of his own scripts, his first with Silverstein. Inscribed by Mamet: "To ___ - with thanks for your most kind words/ & I'd love a copy of the Shel piece," reportedly referring to Silverstein's early book Grab Your Socks. Only issued in wrappers; trace rubbing at the folds; else fine.
93. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Race Rock. NY: Harper & Brothers (1954). The author's first novel, published just after he returned from Paris, where he helped found the Paris Review. This is the issue in blue cloth and black boards; the priority has not been determined so far. Signed by the author. The front flyleaf bears a small ink price and a penciled editorial comment: "A book by Mary Wheelwright's brother - Not too good, but light and interesting if you know him!" A touch of fading to the cloth at the crown; else fine in a very good, spine-tanned dust jacket with light chipping to the extremities and corners and rubbing at the folds.
94. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. The Cloud Forest. NY: Viking, 1961. A chronicle of a trip through the Amazon wilderness, his second book of nonfiction and the first of his numerous personal accounts of travel and exploration, with which he has carved out a unique position in our literature. This copy is inscribed by the author to his brother-in-law, Kennett Love, and bears Love's ownership signature. Fine in a near fine, spine-sunned dust jacket rubbed along the folds.
95. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Men's Lives. NY: Random House (1986). A volume about the fishermen of eastern Long Island and a way of life that, in the late stages of the 20th century, appeared to be irretrievably dying away. Matthiessen has spent much of his life on eastern Long Island and once ran a charter fishing boat off the island, in addition to having worked for three years with commercial fishermen, so this sympathetic portrait is written from the perspective of one who, at least for a period of a time, shared the life described. Quarto, heavily illustrated with photographs, both historical and contemporary. Fine in a very slightly spine-faded, near fine dust jacket with a crimp at the crown. A nice copy of this beautiful book.
96. (MAXWELL, William). Illinois Authors on the Illinois State Library Building. (n.p.): (State of Illinois) (1990). A 20-page pamphlet commemorating the 35 authors whose names are etched into the fourth floor frieze of the Illinois State Library. This copy is inscribed to Richard Wentworth of the University of Illinois Press by Gwendolyn Brooks, Cyrus Colter and William Maxwell, whose inscription reads: "But to subsist in stone or be pyramidally extant were a fallacy in duration," (a play on the words of Sir Thomas Browne). Fine in stapled wrappers.
97. McBAIN, Ed. The 87th Precinct. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1959. Collects, for the first time in hardcover, the first three cases in the 87th Precinct series: Cop Hater, The Mugger and The Pusher, which were originally published as paperback originals. Inscribed by the author. Page edges darkening; a bit of wear to spine crown; near fine in a very good, price-clipped (price still evident) dust jacket with abrasions to the spine ends where tape has been removed from the verso. McBain, who also published under his own name as Evan Hunter, is the author of such novels as The Blackboard Jungle, but he made his name as Ed Mcbain, the preeminent author of police procedurals, helping lay the groundwork for such television hits as "Law and Order" and "CSI."
98. McCARTHY, Cormac. Child of God. NY: Random House (1973). The uncorrected proof copy of the third book by the author of All the Pretty Horses, The Orchard Keeper, and others. A very near fine copy of a scarce, early McCarthy proof.
99. McCARTHY, Cormac. Suttree. NY: Random House (1979). The uncorrected proof copy of his fourth book, which many considered his best, at least until the Border Trilogy (and some even still). Fine in wrappers. A very uncommon proof; this is the first copy we've handled.
100. McCARTHY, Cormac. Blood Meridian. NY: Random House (1985). The uncorrected proof copy of his fifth book, a novel of the Old West, based on an actual series of events in 1849-1850 in Texas and Mexico, and rendered with an eye to bringing to life the surreal violence of the time and place. McCarthy's first five books sold fewer than 15,000 copies total -- this title selling only 1883 copies before it was remaindered. Since the success of All the Pretty Horses in 1992, his novels have had first printings in excess of 100,000 copies. Fine in wrappers, with publisher's promotional material laid in. A scarce proof, in our experience.
101. McCARTHY, Cormac. All the Pretty Horses. NY: Knopf, 1992. The uncorrected proof copy of the first volume of the Border Trilogy, a landmark novel that won both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award and propelled its author to literary celebrity after nearly three decades of writing well-received literary novels in relative obscurity. All the Pretty Horses sold ten times as many copies in hardcover as all five of his previous novels combined. This is the first state of the proof, which reads "A Border Trilogy." Later this was changed to read "The Border Trilogy." Fine in wrappers.
102. McCARTHY, Mary. The Mask of State: Watergate Portraits. NY: HBJ (1974) Second printing. Inscribed by the author to the President of Vassar College, where her papers have been institutionalized: "To Virginia Smith/ again, my thanks,/ Mary McCarthy." A nice association copy of a book by the preeminent American woman of letters of the 20th century. Fine in a fine dust jacket with a crease on the front flap.
103. McCARTHY, Mary. Can There Be a Gothic Literature? Amsterdam: Uitgeverij De Harmonie (1975). The text of McCarthy's 1973 Johan Hizenga Lecture. Small label removal shadow rear cover; very near fine in self-wrappers. McCarthy, the author of such bestselling novels as The Group, was the preeminent female novelist and critic in the U.S. -- the wife, for a time, of Edmund Wilson, and the first U.S. critic to extoll the virtues of William Burroughs' Naked Lunch, when that book was banned in the U.S.
104. -. Another copy. Owner signature to title page; several instances of highlighting to text; very good in self-wrappers.
105. McCOURT, Frank. Angela's Ashes. (NY): Scribner (1996). The author's first book, a memoir that won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Award, and was made into a well-received film. A surprise bestseller, it had a relatively small first printing and went into dozens of printings, spending more than two years on The New York Times bestseller list and ending up with over two and a half million copies in print in the U.S. alone. It has been translated into 25 languages. This copy is signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
106. McEWAN, Ian. Amsterdam. London: Jonathan Cape (1998). His Booker Prize-winning novel. Signed by the author in the year of publication. Fine in a fine dust jacket. McEwan was on the longlist for this year's Booker Prize for his novel, Saturday, one of the first fictional treatments of the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S.
107. McMURTRY, Larry. Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen. (NY): Simon & Schuster (1999). Nonfiction, a reflection on storytelling, and "as close to an autobiography as his readers are likely to get." Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
108. McPHEE, John. Giving Good Weight. NY: FSG (1979). A collection of essays and articles from The New Yorker. Inscribed by McPhee to Gloria Emerson, "my professor-in-law/ with all best/ John McPhee/ Princeton 1981." A nice association copy: Emerson won the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for her reporting from Vietnam; McPhee, with his lengthy profiles for The New Yorker, virtually invented the genre of "literary nonfiction." Both have been the Ferris professor of journalism at Princeton University. Foxing to top edge; near fine in a near fine dust jacket with trace shelf wear.
109. McPHEE, John. The Pine Barrens. NY: FSG (1981). A reissue of his fourth book, with added photographs by Bill Curtsinger and a new postscript by McPhee. Inscribed by the author in 1985 to a third party on behalf of a mutual friend, Sarah Deffeyes, "gratefully, and with regards." Deffeyes is also the surname of the geologist who accompanied McPhee across the country for his research on Annals of the Former World. Quarto; top edge and foredge foxing; else fine in a fine, price-clipped dust jacket. A very attractive volume.
110. McPHEE, John. Riding the Boom Extension. Worcester: Metacom, 1983. The first book publication of this piece, which first appeared in The New Yorker and was eventually reprinted in Table of Contents. Of a total edition of 176 copies, this is one of 150 numbered copies in saddle-stitched marbled paper self-wrappers. Signed by the author. Slight wave to rear panel, possibly from the production of the marbled paper; still very near fine.
111. MILLHAUSER, Steven. Martin Dressler. NY: Crown (1996). His sixth book, winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
112. MINOT, Susan. Rapture. NY: Knopf, 2002. An advance copy of this short novel by the author of Evening and Monkeys. 8 1/2" x 11" bound photocopied typescript, reproducing several holograph corrections. Publisher's fact sheet bound in, stating selling points. Marginal smudge page 2, else fine. An uncommon format, showing an early state of the text.
113. MOODY, Rick. Surplus Value Books: Catalog Number 13. (Santa Monica): Danger Books/(Indulgence Press) (1999)[2002]. The second limited edition, first hardcover edition of this book that is virtually a novella in the form of a book dealer's catalog. Moody has created a hilarious and touching self-contained world where the values accorded to the items for sale (dollars) and the values inherent in them (significance, artistry, passion) are in running comic contrast. Moody has his tongue in his cheek but also his heart on his sleeve; many of the entries embody a sensitivity and tenderness surprising in such a send-up. An effective, even haunting riff on rare book catalogs. First published in 1999 in a wrappered edition of 1213 copies, this edition is limited to 200 hardbound copies, of which this is one of 174 numbered copies signed by the author and by the publisher, David Ford. Attractively bound in quarter leather and white paper boards. Fine in a fine slipcase. List price:
114. (MUNRO, Alice). "How I Met My Husband" in The Play's the Thing. (Toronto): Macmillan (1976). A collection of four original television dramas by Munro, Hugh Hood, Eric Nicol, and Favor Moore with Frank R. Scott. Only issued in wrappers. Near fine. An uncommon appearance in print by this award-winning Canadian author.
115. -. Another copy. Creasing and rubbing to covers; very good in wrappers.
116. MURAKAMI, Haruki. [The Sheep Man's Christmas.] Mockba: Eckmo, 2004. Russian language edition of a 1985 picture storybook by Murakami, author of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, among others. An unusual, visually striking book by this Japanese writer who has a worldwide following and is considered a postmodern master. English translation provided. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
117. NEWBY, P.H. Something to Answer For. London: Faber and Faber (1968). The first winner of the Booker Prize, a novel set in Egypt in 1956 during the Suez crisis. Spine base rubbed; still fine in a very near fine dust jacket. Autograph of P.H. Newby, dated 1993, laid in. One of the most elusive Booker Prize winners.
118. NIN, Anaïs. The Four-Chambered Heart. NY: Duell, Sloan and Pearce (1950). Inscribed by the author: "For Anne and Max -/ our only friends who/ fulfill all our wishes/ at once for warmth and/ wisdom and elation./ Anaïs." Nin has also written the number "3" in an upper corner and numbered 3 of the titles on her list of previously published titles, with this title numbered 3. Edge-sunning to cloth; near fine in a very good dust jacket with repeated chipping along the top edge. An attractive and interesting copy.
119. NORMAN, Howard. The Wishing Bone Cycle. NY: Stonehill Publishing (1976). Swampy Cree Indian narrative poems, translated by Norman, with a preface by poet and translator Jerome Rothenberg, founder of Alcheringa. Winner of the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award from the Academy of American Poets. This is the hardcover issue; there was a simultaneous issue in wrappers. This is also Norman's first book from a regular trade publisher, rather than a small press; two of his later books of fiction were nominated for the National Book Award. Faint spot to top edge and faint sticker removal on front panel of jacket; else fine in a fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
120. OATES, Joyce Carol. By the North Gate. NY: Vanguard (1963). Her first book, a collection of stories. Fine in a very near fine, slightly sunned dust jacket. One of the nicest copies of this book we've seen, which is often prone to dramatic sunning of the spine as well as general wear to the jacket. The first book in this prolific author's career.
121. O'BRIAN, Patrick. The Walker and Other Stories. NY: Harcourt Brace (1955). The first American edition of his third book, a collection of short fiction. Light bump to spine crown; else fine in a very good, sunned dust jacket with one nearly invisible short edge tear on the rear panel. A nice copy of an uncommon early book by the author of the Aubrey/Maturin series.
122. O'BRIEN, Tim. The Nuclear Age. Portland: Press-22 (1981). A limited edition of an excerpt from O'Brien's work-in-progress at the time, later published with the same title. Of a total edition of 151 copies, this is one of 26 lettered copies signed by the author, the entire hardcover edition and, as such, the smallest hardcover issue of any of O'Brien's publications. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
123. O'CONNOR, Flannery. Wise Blood. NY: Harcourt Brace (1952). Her first book, a novel of a southern evangelist whose quest for God ends with his burning his own eyes out in order to see better. The first printing was 3000 copies. O'Connor's concern with religion, alienation and human suffering, combined with her sense of humor and the absurd, marked her as a distinctive voice from her first publications; novelist Caroline Gordon compares her to Kafka in a dust jacket blurb on this book. John Huston directed the film adaptation of this novel, more than a quarter century after its publication. Boards slightly bowed, as is typical with this title, and with some foxing to board ends and endpages; still a near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with light chipping at the spine ends and a couple closed edge tears.
124. O'CONNOR, Flannery. A Good Man is Hard to Find. NY: Harcourt Brace (1955). An advance review copy of 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. Slight shelf wear to lower boards; modest foxing to page edges and endpages; near fine in a near fine, spine-faded dust jacket with one short edge tear. Review slip tipped to front flyleaf. An uncommon book: the first printing was only 2500 copies, and first editions in collectible condition are quite scarce.
125. OKRI, Ben. The Famished Road. London: Jonathan Cape (1991). The Nigerian author's first novel, after two collections of short stories. Winner of the Booker Prize. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.