Catalog 142, A-B
1. (Anthology). Children of Wonder. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1953. An anthology of "remarkable and fantastic tales" that includes a number of writers known primarily as science fiction or fantasy authors, and a number of mainstream literary authors -- in effect, an effort to bridge the gap between the two genres. Includes contributions by Graham Greene, E.M. Foster, Truman Capote, Aldous Huxley, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, and others. Edited by and signed by William Tenn. Sunning to page edges; near fine in a very good, lightly rubbed dust jacket with light edge wear and some foxing on the verso.
2. (Anthology). The Best American Short Stories 1980. [Boston]: [Houghton Mifflin] [1980]. An advance issue consisting of unbound 8 1/2" x 11" sheets of this collection edited by Stanley Elkin and with stories by John Updike, John Sayles, Donald Barthelme, Frederick Busch, William Gass, Larry Heinemann, I.B. Singer, Grace Paley, Peter Taylor, Mavis Gallant, Elizabeth Hardwick and others. Elkin's introduction bears copyeditor's marks throughout. Minor edge wear to a few pages; else fine.
3. (ARNOW), Harriette Simpson. Mountain Path. NY: Covici Friede (1936). The extremely elusive first book by this Kentucky writer, and one of the scarcest first books by a 20th century American woman writer. Signed by the author using her maiden name, and thus probably a contemporary signature: she married Harold Arnow in 1939. A very uncommon book, especially in dust jacket, and an important first novel -- the first book in the trilogy that included Hunter's Horn in 1949 and concluded with The Dollmaker in 1954, which was a bestseller and a finalist for the National Book Award. Her work has been widely praised for documenting the people and culture of Appalachia, and she won an award for "furthering an understanding of Appalachia." Offsetting to endpapers and slight foxing to pages and page edges. Still a near fine copy in a fine dust jacket with a hint of a spine crease. A rare high spot of any collection of writing by American women.
4. AUDEN, W.H. The Collected Poetry of W.H. Auden. NY: Random House (1945). Fifth printing. Signed by Auden on the title page. Small previous owner's stamp on front free endpaper. Very good in a very worn dust jacket splitting along the folds.
5. AUDEN, W.H. Autograph Letter Signed. Undated. One page, November 1st (no year), to Professor Homer Watt, thanking him and his wife for their hospitality when Auden visited them in Easton, Pennsylvania, and asking if they had by chance found "a little red pocket diary" in their house after he left. A nice letter, signed "Wystan Auden." Folded in sixths for mailing and sunned from framing; very good.
6. AUSTER, Paul. Purgatory. (Rome): Leconte (2005). A bilingual (Italian/English) edition of four stories by Auster from Brooklyn Follies and an interview with Auster by Mary Morris. Fine in self-wrappers. Uncommon; no comparable U.S. edition.
7. (AUSTER, Paul). PETIT, Philippe. On the High Wire. NY: Random House (1985). The first American edition of this treatise on and testament to high wire walking, by the artist who walked between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center (eight times) in 1974. Translated from the French by Auster. Heavily illustrated with images of high wire feats through the years. Only issued in wrappers. Splaying to covers, with one lower corner crease; very good.
8. BAKER, Nicholson. Double Fold. NY: Random House (2001). Baker's controversial book, subtitled "Libraries and the Assault on Paper," which caused considerable stir when portions of it were published in The New Yorker and even more when the entire book was published. The book is a polemic arguing against the destruction of paper by libraries, which favor microfiching and digitization, and the author uses a number of astonishing examples to make his case. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. Inscribed by the author to the director of the MacArthur Foundation's General Program, which gave a grant to Baker's American Newspaper Repository: "To ____ ____/ with thanks for helping to save the papers --/ Gratefully, Nicholson Baker." Fine in a fine dust jacket, with a 2001 MacArthur Foundation stamp on the rear panel. A book that got a considerable amount of attention in the press but which is quite uncommon signed. $150
9. -. Another copy, an advance review copy. Inscribed by the author: "To ___/ Careful reader -/ Kind regards,/ Nicholson Baker/ April 10, 2001." Fine in a fine dust jacket, with review slip laid in.
10. BARKER, Pat. Regeneration. (London): Viking (1991). The first book in her acclaimed and award-winning trilogy of World War I novels, which stretched the boundaries of the antiwar novel. Fine in a fine dust jacket. A beautiful copy of the first book in this series, which was made into a film in 1997. The second and third books won major literary awards, which were widely taken to be awards for the series as much as for the individual books.
11. BASBANES, Nicholas. A Gentle Madness. NY: Holt (1995). His highly praised volume on book collecting and book collectors, which became something of a bestseller, being reprinted numerous times, and was also a National Book Award nominee. A little-known fact about this book is that each of the eight hardcover printings the book went through is textually distinct; in particular, there is material in this first printing that was taken out of later printings. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
12. BASS, Rick. Platte River. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1994. A collection of three novellas. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Laid in is a photocopy of one of Bass's rallying letters to those attempting to preserve Yaak Valley of northwestern Montana.
13. BASS, Rick. In the Loyal Mountains. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1995. A collection of stories. Signed by the author. Fine in a spine-sunned, near fine dust jacket.
14. BEAGLE, Peter S. The Last Unicorn. NY: Viking (1968). A modern classic of fantasy. Top stain faded and loss to spine lettering, which is common with this title; otherwise near fine in a near fine dust jacket with a couple small nicks and tears and some rubbing to the edge-sunned flap folds.
15. BEATTIE, Ann. Jacklighting. Worcester: Metacom Press, 1981. The first separate appearance of this short story, which first appeared in Antaeus. Of a total edition of 276 copies, of which 250 were in wrappers and 26 were hardcover; this copy is an out-of-series copy of the hardcover edition and is signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
16. (BECKETT, Samuel). APOLLINAIRE, Guillaume. Zone. Dublin/London: Dolman Press/Calder & Boyars (1972). The limited edition of this attractively printed bilingual work, translated by Beckett. One of 250 numbered copies signed by Beckett. Some rubbing to the morocco spine, as usual; near fine in a near fine slipcase.
17. BELLOW, Saul. Ravelstein. (n.p.): Viking (2000). The uncorrected proof copy, with textual variations between this and the published text. Fine in wrappers. Together with a copy of the first edition, which is fine in a fine dust jacket.
18. BLATTY, William Peter. The Exorcist. (Burbank): (Warner Brothers), 1974. Blatty's screenplay, from his novel, for the film widely considered one of the top horror films of all time, coming in after only Psycho and Jaws on the American Film Institute's list of the Top 100 Thrillers in 100 Years. The Exorcist was nominated for ten Academy Awards in 1974 and won two, including an Oscar for this screenplay. Labeled "Final. April 24, 1972," but with blue-paged changes with dates ranging from 6/22/72 to 12/1/72. Bound in printed covers; the script is near fine, the covers worn but still very good.
19. BOWLES, Paul. The Sheltering Sky. London: John Lehmann (1949). The first edition of Bowles's landmark first novel, a tale of Westerners abroad in North Africa, one of the seminal novels of the Beat generation and an influential book in the decades since. Inscribed by Bowles to his biographer, Virginia Spencer Carr: "for Virginia with love, Paul. Atlanta - 30/4/94." Bowles had come to Atlanta in 1994 for medical tests, at Carr's insistence. Because Bowles's visits to the U.S. from Tangiers were rare, trade editions signed by Bowles are uncommon; signed copies of his first novel are particularly scarce, and association copies are exceedingly rare. Owner name front flyleaf; modest dampening to boards; a very good copy in a very good, mildly spine-tanned dust jacket with minor wear to the folds and spine ends. Only 4000 copies of the British edition were printed.
20. BOWLES, Paul. Music. (NY): Eos Music (1995). A collection of pieces that evaluate and attempt to evoke the musical world of Paul Bowles, issued in conjunction with The Music of Paul Bowles Festival at Lincoln Center in New York. Includes two pieces by Bowles himself: "Bowles on Bowles" and "The Rif, To Music." Inscribed by Bowles to his biographer, Virginia [Spencer Carr], "with love." Pencil annotations to text in Carr's hand; else fine, without dust jacket, as issued. A nice association, and an uncommon book, especially signed.
21. BRAINE, John. Life at the Top. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1962. The uncorrected proof copy of the sequel to his highly acclaimed first novel, Room at the Top, both of which were turned into films. Spine faded and creased from glue; covers and pages mildly edge-sunned; near fine in wrappers.
22. BRAUTIGAN, Richard. The Galilee Hitch-Hiker. (San Francisco): (White Rabbit Press) (1958). His extremely scarce second book, published in an edition of 200 copies the same year as his nearly-impossible-to-find first book, The Return of the Rivers, and a decade before he achieved fame and celebrity as an icon of the youth counterculture of the 1960s. Fine in saddle-stitched parchment wrappers with a cover illustration by Kenn Davis. A very nice copy of this small, fragile volume.
23. (BRAUTIGAN, Richard). "The Silence of Flooded Houses" in Beatles Lyrics Illustrated. (NY): Dell (1975). Brautigan provides the introduction to an illustrated paperback compendium of Beatles lyrics; this is the only appearance of the Brautigan piece. Reprinted many times and usually much thumbed-through, this title is uncommon in the first printing and in collectible condition: this copy has a crease to the spine and the impression of an owner name at the top of the front cover; very good in wrappers.
24. BROOKS, Geraldine. Nine Parts of Desire. NY: Anchor Books (1995). The first book by the recent Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March; this is a study of the women of Islam. Brooks, a foreign correspondent for the Wall Street Journal before she became a novelist, took a reporter's first-hand engagement with her subject in an attempt to disregard stereotypes and explore the actualities of contemporary women's live under Islam. Signed by the author. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with heavy creasing on the front flap.
25. BROWN, Frederic. Rogue in Space. NY: Dutton, 1957. A science fiction novel by the author of The Fabulous Clipjoint and Night of the Jabberwock, among others. Brown began his career writing for the pulp magazines and, unlike most pulp writers, moved easily between the mystery and science fiction genres. Offsetting to endpages and foxing to page edges; else near fine in a crisp, attractive, very good dust jacket with some foxing and a small abrasion on the rear panel.
26. BROWN, Larry. Big Bad Love. Chapel Hill: Algonquin, 1991. Third book by the author of Facing the Music and Dirty Work, a collection of stories that became the basis for a 2001 movie with Arliss Howard and Debra Winger. Brown, a native of Mississippi, wrote highly praised fiction about the rural South and won the Southern Book Critics Circle Award twice. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
27. (BROWNING, Robert). BATES, Katharine Lee. Browning Studies. (Boston): (Press of S.G. Robinson), 1896. A short compilation of references to works by and about Robert Browning and class notes for a literature course. Bates, a poet and literature professor at Wellesley College for 40 years, is most famous for having written "America the Beautiful," which was first published the year before this volume. Inscribed by the author and dated in the year of publication. Near fine in stapled wrappers.
28. BUCK, Pearl S. Good People (Original Typescript of The Time is Noon). 1936. 447 numbered pages with a cover letter from Buck's agent offering the manuscript for serialization in Collier's Weekly. The typescript is a combination of ribbon and carbon sheets, with many minor corrections in Buck's hand. The last page has several edge chips, affecting several words; overall very good or better. Accompanied by a photocopy of the typescript. Also together with the first edition of The Time is Noon (NY: John Day, 1966). Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. The three decade discrepancy between the date of the manuscript and the book is explained by Buck on the jacket copy: she and her husband considered the autobiographical book too personal to publish as it dealt with her failed first marriage, her retarded child, and her despair in a world rapidly approaching a World War. Novel-length manuscripts by Buck rarely appear on the market.
29. BURROUGHS, Augusten. Dry. NY: St. Martin's (2003). The advance reading copy of the sequel to his highly praised and controversial memoir Running with Scissors. Inscribed by the author. Fine in wrappers.
30. BURROUGHS, William S. "Nagual Art." Undated. Burroughs, the author of Naked Lunch, Soft Machine, and numerous other works that helped define the Beat generation and redefine the psychedelic novel, also worked in the visual media from the early 1950s on, experimenting first with collages and later with what he called "nagual art" -- art infected by chance, which had the possibility of giving the viewer access to what Burroughs called a "port of entry," an access to a different universe or a different way of seeing our own. In writing, Burroughs adopted the "cut-up" technique, with Brion Gysin, to achieve similar ends: a final product that was, in part, a product of chance or, at the very least, forces beyond the artist's direct control and manipulation. Oil and perhaps spray paint. 17 1/2" x 23". Signed by Burroughs. Fine, framed. One of the most evocative Burroughs paintings we've seen.
31. BYRNE, David. What the Songs Look Like. (n.p.): (Perennial) (1986). Advance excerpt from this collection of paintings, photographs and drawings in which visual artists interpret Talking Heads lyrics. This excerpt prints several of the artistic interpretations and Byrne's introduction, in which he doesn't mention his own art background as a drop-out of the Rhode Island School of Design. Artists whose work is shown here include Roz Chast and Robert Rauschenberg; the finished book included pieces by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Glen Baxter, Victor Moscoso, Nam June Paik, and many others. 9" x 12". Stapled wrappers; fine.