Catalog 143, K-L
159. KAFKA, Franz. Metamorphosis. (NY): Vanguard Press (1946). The first American edition of this short novel that is perhaps the most famous work by a writer who virtually single-handedly transformed modern literature: by positing a world wherein man's rational mind was incapable of grasping the actual nature of reality, Kafka undercut the arrogance of the Industrial Age and inadvertently created an art capable of staying abreast of the unthinkable, unspeakable horrors that plagued the Twentieth Century. "Kafkaesque" has become an adjective applicable to those elements of life that confound us or are inexplicable: that is, his work is most relevant when we are at, or past, the edge of our ability to understand, which is perhaps the highest praise that can be rendered to an artist. Trace shelf wear to boards; still fine in a near fine, spine-sunned dust jacket. A nice copy of an important book, published in the U.S. 35 years after its original German publication and nine years after its appearance in translation in England, here with an introduction by Paul Goodman and illustrations by Leslie Sherman that do not appear in any earlier edition.
160. (Kelmscott Press). MORRIS, William. The Water of the Wondrous Isles. [Hammersmith]: (Kelmscott Press) [1897]. A companion volume to Morris' The Well at the End of the World, which had been published by the Kelmscott Press the previous year. Morris died before this production could be finished, and this is one of 250 copies sold by the Trustees of the late author after his death. An elaborate, attractive production, as was usual for this press: bound in vellum with three silk ties, with decorative woodcut borders and initials designed by Morris. Spine a bit darkened and rubbed; still, near fine. A nice copy of an elegant volume, by one of the fathers of the Arts and Crafts movement, which influenced nearly every aspect of contemporary design in the late-19th, early 20th century.
161. (KENT, Rockwell). MELVILLE, Herman. Moby Dick. NY: Random House, 1930. One volume edition of Melville's classic, with illustrations by Kent who was perhaps the preeminent artist illustrating books in America at that time. There was a three volume signed limited edition of this done, in a larger format, by the Lakeside Press. This is the first trade edition, in black boards with silver stamping, and here the silver-stamped covers are particularly bright and crisp. Slight shelf wear to extreme lower board edges; still a fine copy in a very good, spine-tanned dust jacket with minor edge-chipping, particularly at the spine base. An attractive copy of a stunning edition.
162. -. Another copy. Inscribed by Rockwell Kent on the front free endpaper. Offsetting to endpages and rubbing and loss to the silver lettering and illustrations on the cover and spine; a very good copy with some restoration in a near fine dust jacket with light rubbing and edge wear. Uncommon in dust jacket, especially signed.
163. KEROUAC, Jack. On the Road. NY: Viking, 1957. His second novel, the quintessential "road novel" and the book that defined the Beat generation. With its theme of two outcasts crossing the American heartland, Kerouac's fictionalized account of his exploits with his friend Neal Cassady -- here depicted as "Dean Moriarty" -- updated Mark Twain's story of Huck Finn and Jim on the Mississippi and became a cultural landmark. It helped introduce Zen Buddhism and other Eastern traditions into the popular culture of the West, and pioneered the concept of recreational drug use, a novel idea in the Fifties but one that was taken for granted barely a decade later. Unlike many self-consciously "hip" novels, both before and since, it continues to be read and admired today, retaining its freshness due to the immediacy of its writing, the clarity of its youthful perceptions, and the authenticity of the characters' quests. Very near fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a bit of rubbing but no loss of color, and very uncommon thus. In a custom three quarter leather clamshell box by noted binder Peter Geraty.
164. (KEROUAC, Jack). "The Origins of the Beat Generation" in Playboy, Vol. 6, No. 6. (Chicago): (HMH Publishing) (1959). After the success of On the Road Kerouac was anointed a cultural spokesman for his generation -- a mantle he wore uncomfortably -- and appeared in numerous magazines to introduce and explain his friends and fellow Beat artists to the mainstream society. Corner crease front cover and "1959" written beneath price; near fine in stapled wrappers.
165. (KEROUAC, Jack). "Before the Road" in Playboy, Vol. 6, No. 12. (Chicago): (HMH Publishing) (1959). Rubbing to rear cover and "1959" written beneath price; near fine in stapled wrappers.
166. KESEY, Ken. Manchmal ein GroBes Verlangen. Munich: Piper (1966). The first German edition of Sometimes a Great Notion. Bookstore stamp front flyleaf; else fine in a near fine, mildly spine-sunned dust jacket. Uncommon.
167. (KESEY, Ken). Northwest Review, Vol 1., No. 2. (Eugene): (University of Oregon) (1957). Includes "The first Sunday in September" by Kesey. Near fine in wrappers. An early appearance in print for Kesey, published the year after he graduated from the University of Oregon and five years before his first novel was published.
168. (KESEY, Ken). "McMurphy and the Machine" in Stanford Short Stories 1962. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1962. A collection edited by Wallace Stegner and Richard Scowcroft. Kesey's excerpt is from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which was published the same year as this collection. Larry McMurtry contributes "Leaving Cheyenne," an excerpt from his second novel, then in progress. Foxing to page edges; near fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket. An early book appearance for both Kesey and McMurtry, who were students at Stegner's writing workshop at Stanford. McMurtry's novel All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers tells a fictionalized version of the story of their lives there during the early years of the 1960s, as experiments with psychedelic drugs were commonplace and Kesey's crowd was growing into the Merry Pranksters, who would become counterculture icons.
169. (KESEY, Ken). One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. [Berkeley: Fantasy Films, 1974.] Multiple photocopied drafts of the screenplay, as follows:
- Howard B. Kreitsek screenplay (n.p.: n.p., n.d.), rejected. Bottom margin stained on cover and first several pages; name of "Merritt Blake" on cover; bradbound with rear pages separating; very good.
- Uncredited screenplay, no title page. Several notes to text. Bradbound; last page deteriorating and salvaged, glued to clean sheet; very good. Possibly an early version as McMurphy's lines are written under "Mack"; a working copy, as a number of pages contain pencil, ink, and felt tip pen comments and instructions in the margins.
- Thirty pages of another uncredited screenplay with list of characters and photocopied change of "Pilbow" to "Miller" in text. Again, a working copy, with a number of pencil/ink changes to the text.
- Lawrence Hauben screenplay. Berkeley: Fantasy Films, 1974. "Second Draft," December 12, 1973, revised January 3, 1974. Bradbound; near fine.
- Screenplay by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman. "Final Draft." Revised July 26, 1974, and then Dec. 5, 1974 written in. More than 100 loose sheets, possibly incomplete. Numerous corrections reproduced and some original annotations and markings on this copy; near fine.
170. KING, Stephen. Firestarter. Huntington Woods: Phantasia, 1980. The limited edition of this novel, one of 725 numbered copies signed by the author. In addition, this copy is warmly inscribed by the author to noted horror writer Stanley Wiater, a three-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award. With Wiater's Gahan Wilson-designed bookplate on the front endpaper -- the only bookplate Wilson ever designed. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a little rubbing along the top edge, in a fine slipcase. An excellent association copy of this early Stephen King novel.
171. KING, Stephen. Christine. West Kingston: Donald Grant (1983). The limited edition of this novel, one of 1000 numbered copies signed by the author and illustrator. In addition, this copy has the bookplate of three-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author, Stanley Wiater. Fine in a fine dust jacket and slipcase.
172. KING, Stephen. The Plant, Parts 2 and 3. Bangor: Philtrum Press, 1983 and 1985. Advance issues of two of the three parts of Stephen King's unfinished serial novel, The Plant. In the 1980s, King printed up limited editions of The Plant in three installments, from 1982 to 1985. Each book was issued separately, in editions of 226 copies, and each is a very difficult item to find these days. These are advance issues of Parts Two and Three, as follows: galley proof of Part Two, annotated in ink by King in five places, three of them signed "Steve." Includes the title page and pages 1-17, minus p. 9. 7 1/2" x 25", folded; near fine. Together with a photocopy typescript of Part Three, with annotations by King throughout in pencil and green, blue, red, black, violet and orange ink. Includes pages 1-56, minus page 50, plus the colophon and three versions of the title page; fine. Both items appear to have been working copies of the respective parts, which probably accounts in some fashion for the missing page in each, and strongly suggests that they are unique -- i.e., that it would have hindered the publication process for more than one version of either of these to have circulated, except perhaps sequentially. In any case, Stephen King manuscript material is extremely rare and seldom appears on the market; to have two of the three parts of The Plant, each annotated by hand by the author, is remarkable. We have never had, nor seen, comparable manuscript material or annotated galleys by King before. For the two:
173. (KING, Stephen). "The Glass Floor" in Startling Mystery Stories, Vol. 1, No. 6. (NY): (Health Knowledge) (1967). King's first professional sale, a story sold when he was just out of high school and for which he was paid $35. This follows one previously published story, two self-published books and a self-published newspaper. Superfluous tape at spine extremities; otherwise fine in stapled wrappers. A very nice copy of an early, exceptionally uncommon, landmark appearance by King.
174. KITTREDGE, William. The Van Gogh Field and Other Stories. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1978. His scarce first book, a collection of short fiction. Kittredge became, with this book and his subsequent fiction and nonfiction, the leading exponent of the sensibilities of the New West. This copy is signed by the author. Trace wear to cloth at extremities; still fine, without dust jacket, as issued. With the publisher's information card laid in, as issued. In custom clamshell case.
175. KITTREDGE, William. Redneck Secrets. Tucson: Sylph Publications, 2006. Sylph Chapbook Number 9. An essay originally published in 1979 and here issued as a limited edition by a small fine press in Arizona. One of 50 numbered copies signed by the author, this being Copy #1. Quarterbound in Copper Asahi cloth and Ivory Sponge Maziarczyk paper. Fine.
176. -. Same title. Copy #1 of 10 numbered copies signed by the author. Quarterbound in red Sokoto native dyed goatskin and Woven Olive Copper Light Maziarczyk paper housed in full Copper Asahi cloth slipcase. A beautiful production. Fine.
177. KOSINSKI, Jerzy. The Painted Bird. Notes of the Author. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965. Written to serve as an appendix to the German edition of Kosinski's acclaimed first novel and here published separately. Inscribed by the author to noted German expatriate intellectual Franz Schoenberner "with friendship and esteem" in 1965. Schoenberner was the last pre-Nazi editor of the German satirical magazine Simplicissimus. He left Germany in 1933 when the Nazis came to power and came to the U.S. in 1941 when the Nazis overran France. Mild edge-sunning; else fine in stapled wrappers. A very nice association copy.
178. KUMIN, Maxine. In Deep. (NY): Viking (1987). Essays by the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication. Fine in a near fine, spine-sunned and price-clipped dust jacket.
179. (LE CARRÉ, John). Not One More Death. London: Verso (2006). The advance reading copy of this small collection of essays questioning U.S. and British involvement in Iraq. Contributors include Le Carré, Harold Pinter, Brian Eno, Michael Faber, Richard Dawkins and Haifa Zangana. Fine in wrappers.
180. LEHANE, Dennis. A Drink Before the War. NY: Harcourt Brace (1994). The highly praised first mystery by the author of Mystic River and featuring a Boston male-female PI team. Winner of the Shamus Award. Signed by Lehane. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
181. LEHANE, Dennis. Darkness, Take My Hand. NY: Morrow (1996). His second novel, a sequel to A Drink Before the War. Signed by the author. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a small, closed edge tear at the spine base.
182. LEHANE, Dennis. Mystic River. NY: Morrow (2001). His breakthrough book, and the basis for the acclaimed movie starring Sean Penn and directed by Clint Eastwood. Signed by the author. Slight splaying to boards; else fine in a fine dust jacket with a "signed first edition" sticker.
183. LESCROART, John T. Son of Holmes. NY: Donald I. Fine (1986). The second book, featuring Sherlock Holmes's son, by this writer who has since become a bestselling thriller writer. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket sunned on the flap edges and with one tiny nick at the lower rear spine fold.
184. LESCROART, John T. Rasputin's Revenge. NY: Donald I. Fine (1987). His third book, again featuring Auguste Lupa, the son of Sherlock Holmes. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a very good, spine-faded dust jacket with slight rubbing and a bit of wear to the crown.
185. LESSING, Doris. A Small Personal Voice. NY: Knopf, 1974. The first American edition of this collection of essays, reviews and interviews by the author of The Golden Notebook. Inscribed by the author in 1975. Fine in a near fine, spine-faded dust jacket. Lessing's inscriptions are scarce.
186. LETTERMAN, David. An Altogether New Book of Top Ten Lists. NY: Pocket Books (1991). The humorist's second book of his trademark Top Ten lists. This copy is inscribed by Letterman to Larry [King] and Julie [Alexander, wife #5 of 6]: "Hope you two have the energy to finish this!! All my love, Dave." Contains many lists pertaining to the first President Bush and the first Iraq War. Only published in wrappers; faint corner creasing, still fine. A great association copy.
187. LOPEZ, Barry; ADAM, Helen; HASS, Robert. The Blaze of Distance. (Newport): (Oregon Coast Council for the Arts) (1979). Interviews with the three writers, along with a previously published piece by each, Lopez's being an excerpt from Desert Notes. With illustrations by various Oregon artists. Corner creasing front cover and first couple of pages; very good in wrappers. Surprisingly scarce.
188. LOPEZ, Barry. "Our goal is simple: we want our country to flourish. Our dilemma is simple: we cannot tell our people a story that sticks..." (n.p.): Third Place Books, 2004. A broadside excerpt from Resistance, printed on the occasion of a reading by the author. One of 100 numbered copies signed by the author. 17 1/2" x 11 1/4" Fine.
189. LORCA, Federico Garcia. Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter. London: Heinemann (1952). The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of poems in translation by the great Spanish poet who was killed in the Spanish Civil War. Most of the poems are from an early book, published in 1928, and the last poem is the last major poem he wrote, in 1935. Near fine in wrappers. Uncommon.