Catalog 140, W-Z
222. WAUGH, Evelyn. The Holy Places. London: Queen Anne Press, 1952. One of a total edition of 950 numbered copies. This copy has been inscribed by the author to Anne Ford, the publicity director of Little Brown who was Waugh's publisher in the U.S. Written in pencil on the front flyleaf is Ford's note to return the book to her, and her address in Boston. Laid in is a 3" x 4" black and white photograph of Waugh taken in his private residential garden, circa 1952. Very near fine in a darkened, very good jacket with several small chips and edge tears.
223. WELSH, Irvine. Marabou Stork Nightmares. London: Jonathan Cape (1995). The uncorrected proof copy of the third book by the author of Trainspotting, this being Welsh's own copy with his holograph corrections to the text. Laid in is an autograph note signed to Robin [Robertson, the publisher]: "These are my proof corrections. (Hope yours are similar!)" Also laid in is an HM Customs slip explaining that the packet has been opened "as part of our selective checks for drugs or other prohibited goods which are sometimes concealed in letter mail." Slant from use; near fine in wrappers. Unique.
224. WELTY, Eudora. Music from Spain. Greenville: Levee Press, 1948. A limited edition of this short story, one of 775 numbered copies signed by the author. Her first signed limited edition. Very faint spine-sunning; else fine, without dust jacket, as issued.
225. (WELTY, Eudora). Eudora Welty. Writers' Reflections Upon First Reading Welty. Athens: Hills Street Press (1999). Twenty-two writers reflect on Welty in this collection honoring her 90th birthday. Signed by the editor Pearl Amelia McHaney and by contributors Elizabeth Spencer, Reynolds Price, Barry Hannah, Doris Betts, Lee Smith, Clyde Edgerton, Richard Bausch, George Garrett, Fred Chappell, Louis D. Rubin, Jr., Anthony Grooms, Mary Hood, Greg Johnson, Tony Earley and also by Kaye Gibbons, who doesn't contribute. Other contributors include William Maxwell, William Morris, and Alice Munro. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Laid in is a fold-out timeline of Welty's life. Scarce: there was a signed limited edition of this title, but only a handful of trade editions were signed by this many contributors.
226. WEST, Nathanael. A Cool Million. NY: Covici Friede (1934). The third book by the author of Miss Lonelyhearts and the classic Hollywood novel The Day of the Locust. This copy is inscribed by the author to a Hollywood friend with the sardonic comment "Every picture a career" in 1939, and signed "Nat West." A scarce book and extremely uncommon signed. Moderate soiling to cloth and small bump to foredge; very good in very good dust jacket with several shallow chips and a few short edge tears. In custom folding chemise and slipcase.
227. WHITE, E.B. The Wild Flag. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1946. A series of essays on the need for a world government, taken from the Notes and Comment section of The New Yorker. Inscribed by the author: "For aunt Caroline/ with much love/ Andy." Cloth unevenly faded; about near fine in a very good, rubbed and spine-faded dust jacket with minor edge wear. Books signed by White are uncommon and most are, like this one, inscribed to close friends or relatives, using his college nickname.
228. WILLEFORD, Charles. A Guide for the Undehemorrhoided. (Boynton Beach): (Star Publishing) (1977). One of the scarcest books by the author of Cockfighter and the Hoke Moseley mysteries, among others, consisting of outtakes from his autobiography, which was then in progress. Privately published, and signed by the author. Endpages foxed; near fine in a fine dust jacket.
229. (WILLIAMS, Tennessee). Women. NY: Samuel M. Koontz (1948). Eleven writers wrote 11 pieces to accompany works by 11 painters shown at a 1947 exhibition. Tennessee Williams contributes "An Appreciation" of Hans Hofmann. Inscribed by Williams to Jordan Massee: "For Jordan and Paul/ with love at Xmas/ Tenn and Frank." A Christmas gift to Jordan Massee and Paul Bigelow from Williams and Frank Merlo, with whom Williams had just started living, in October 1948; Williams has signed both names. Massee was Carson McCullers' cousin, and Massee's father provided the model for the character of Big Daddy in Williams' play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Massee and Paul Bigelow had a stable, long-term relationship of the sort that eluded Williams through much of his life, although the fifteen years he spent with Merlo, until Merlo died in 1963, came closest to that, at least in longevity if not in stability. Large folio, with 12 folio sheets loosely laid in and illustrated with photographs of the artwork pasted onto the sheets. The whole is laid into near fine, edge-sunned boards in a very good printed dust jacket with tape repairs to verso. Among the other authors are Jean-Paul Sartre, William Carlos Williams, Weldon Kees, Harold Rosenberg, Clement Greenberg and Paul Goodman. Laid in is a photograph of Williams and Merlo in Venice.
230. WILLIAMS, Terry Tempest. Pieces of White Shell. NY: Scribner (1984). Subtitled "A Journey to Navajoland," with illustrations by Navajo artist Clifford Brycelea. Winner of the 1984 Southwestern Book Award. Inscribed by the author in 1989: "For ____/ We are told a story/ and then we tell our/ own./ Bless you & these/ sacred lands." Three pages bear a small puncture wound, not affecting text; near fine in a very good dust jacket with two long, but closed edge tears.
231. WINTERSON, Jeanette. The Dreaming House. (London): Ulysses, 1998. Winterson's scarcest "A" item. A limited edition, published to celebrate the centenary of the building of the house Le Bois Des Moutiers, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1898. Illustrated by Ian Beck. Of a total edition of 176 copies, this is one of 150 numbered copies signed by the author and the illustrator. Fine without dust jacket, as issued.
232. YATES, Richard. Cold Spring Harbor. NY: Delacorte (1986). The last novel by this "writer's writer." Inscribed by the author and dated in 1989. Books signed by Yates are uncommon -- he was seldom in the public eye -- and this title is especially scarce signed. Fine in a fine dust jacket.