Catalog 145, B
13. BARNES, Julian as KAVANAGH, Dan. Fiddle City. London: Jonathan Cape (1981). His second pseudonymous Duffy novel, and apparently the scarcest. Minor foredge and top edge spotting; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
14. BARNES, Julian as KAVANAGH, Dan. Going to the Dogs. NY: Pantheon (1987). The first American edition of the fourth novel in his pseudonymously published series featuring Duffy. Slight top edge foxing; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
15. BARNES, Julian. The Porcupine. London: Cape (1992). A short novel that deals with the collapse of Communism in eastern Europe. Signed by the author. Slight top edge foxing; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
16. -. Same title, the first American edition. NY: Knopf, 1992. Signed by the author. Page edge foxing; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
17. BARTH, John. The Floating Opera. NY: Appleton, Century, Crofts (1956). His first book, signed by the author. Barth's elaborate and funny postmodern novels have been called brilliant by critics and writers alike, and they established the standard for a generation of postwar writers impatient with the limitations of the realistic novel. Trace top edge foxing; very near fine in a near fine dust jacket with some foxing to the spine. An attractive copy of an important first novel, uncommon signed.
18. BARTH, John. The End of the Road. Garden City: Doubleday, 1958. His scarce second novel. Signed by the author on the title page. Owner name on front flyleaf; very near fine in a near fine, mildly edge-tanned dust jacket with trace corner rubbing. In a beautiful three-quarter leather custom clamshell case done by master bookbinder Peter Geraty.
19. BARTH, John. Giles Goat Boy. Garden City: Doubleday, 1966. His fourth book, and his first after the critical success of his magnum opus, The Sot Weed Factor. Slight bowing and mottling to boards; near fine in a near fine dust jacket with a paperclip imprint to the upper edge. H18 code on last page of text.
20. BARTH, John. Chimera. NY: Random House (1972). The limited edition of his National Book Award winning novel, a series of three interconnected stories that are ultimately about storytelling itself. One of 300 numbered copies signed by the author. A fine copy in slipcase; the original acetate dust jacket is present, but it is missing a large piece and is foxed.
21. BARTH, John. Letters. NY: Putnam (1979). The limited edition of this elaborately constructed epistolary novel. One of 500 numbered copies signed by the author. Near fine in a fine slipcase.
22. BECKETT, Samuel. Molloy. Paris: Olympia (1955). Spine lean, with some spotting and foxing to endpages and wrappers and some staining along the foredges of three leaves; still at least very good in wrappers, in a very good dust jacket rubbed along the folds and with tiny chips at the crown. With a card signed by Beckett laid in.
23. BECKETT, Samuel. Imagination Dead Imagine. London: Calder & Boyars (1965). The limited edition of this work of short fiction by the Nobel Prize-winning author of Waiting for Godot. One of 100 numbered copies signed by Beckett. Distributed in advance of the British trade issue. Translated from the French by the author. Fine in a fine slipcase. The original acetate is present by mildly foxed.
24. BELLOW, Saul. The Adventures of Augie March. NY: Viking, 1953. The first issue of the Nobel Prize winner's third novel, and the first of his three National Book Award winners -- an unprecedented accomplishment in American literature. Inscribed by Bellow to the poet John Ciardi and his wife, "with every good wish," at Bread Loaf, 1954, and signed "Saul" -- a nice association copy and a good contemporary inscription. Boards a bit edge-darkened; a near fine copy in a near fine, lightly edgeworn dust jacket with a small closed tear at mid spine. An important book, uncommon in nice condition and scarce signed, especially with a contemporary inscription to another writer. This is the first significant association copy of Augie March that we have handled, and possibly the first we've seen.
25. BELLOW, Saul. Recent American Fiction. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1963. The text of a lecture presented under the auspices of the Gertrude Clarke Whittall Poetry and Literature Fund. Twelve pages. Very good in stapled wrappers which show some handling; text clean.
26. BELLOW, Saul. Mr. Sammler's Planet. [NY: Viking (1970)]. A piracy of the third of Bellow's novels to win the National Book Award. A bit of foxing to foredge; else a fine copy of a cheaply made book, in a near fine dust jacket with several closed edge tears.
27. BELLOW, Saul. To Jerusalem and Back. NY: Viking (1976). The uncorrected proof copy of his first book of nonfiction, a personal account of his visit to Israel in 1975, published the year he won the Nobel Prize for Literature. This proof shows the change in subtitle from "A Personal Syllabus" to "A Personal Account." Spine- and edge-sunned; very good in wrappers. Together with a copy of the first edition, which is fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with one edge tear and a gutter nick. An uncommon proof.
28. BELLOW, Saul. A Silver Dish. NY: Albondocani, 1979. His first signed limited edition, a story that first appeared in The New Yorker. Of a total edition of 326, this is one of 300 numbered copies signed by the author. A fine copy in the original acetate dust jacket, which is near fine.
29. BORGES, Jorge Luis. Aspectos de la Literatura Gauchesca. Montevideo: Numero (1950). One of 1000 numbered copies, this copy inscribed by Borges in the year of publication to Emilio Oribe, the poet, and his closest friend in Uruguay: "Para el amigo Oribe, con el afecto de/ Jorge Luis Borges/ Montevideo - 1950." A notable literary association: Oribe was a modernist poet associated both with Borges' "school" of "ultraísmo" as well as the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, one of the foremost Iberian poets of the 20th century. A small but significant volume by Borges -- an essay on Argentine folk literature that attempts to establish its place in the overall context of world literature. Small bookplate of the noted Argentine collector Federico Vogelius -- perhaps the most important collector of 20th century Latin American literature and art; margins and covers age-darkened; very good in stapled wrappers. Borges was generous about signing books, but significant association copies of his works are uncommon.
30. (BORGES, Jorge Luis). BARRENECHEA, Ana María. Borges, the Labyrinth Maker. (n.p.): New York University Press (1965). The scarce hardcover edition of this critical work by Barrenechea, with a preface to this edition by Borges. Edited and translated by Robert Lima. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with some rubbing to the front panel and an internally-repaired edge tear. An early critical edition to appear in English, with a previously unpublished piece by Borges.
31. BROWN, Dan. The Da Vinci Code. NY: Doubleday (2003). The publishing sensation of the past decade -- a surprise bestseller that stayed on the hardcover bestseller lists for so long that its paperback publication was delayed by more than two years while the hardcover continued to sell, literally, millions of copies. A historical conspiracy involving the Catholic church, secret societies, the bloodlines of Jesus Christ and a cryptic code laid out by Leonardo da Vinci, the novel had unprecedented success -- not just for its author but for any work of fiction in recent years -- selling over 12 million copies in hardcover before the paperback edition was released in early 2006. Also the basis for a 2006 movie, which itself was a considerable commercial success. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
32. BROWN, Rosellen. The Autobiography of My Mother. Garden City: Doubleday (1976). The uncorrected proof copy of her third book and first novel. Warmly and extensively inscribed by the author two months prior to publication: "____/ How Gerda would love you/ (for your enthusiasm, your vigorous/ devotion)! Whether or not you'd/ want to be loved by Gerda is/ another story)./ But for now I, who made/ Gerda, love you. I hope that's/ sufficient.../ Rosellen." Partial title written on the lower page edges; glue residue showing on front label; very near fine in tall wrappers. An uncommon proof, and a nice inscription.
33. BRUEN, Ken. Cross. London: Bantam (2007). The latest book, a Jack Taylor novel, by this Irish author who has only recently begun to be widely known in the U.S. Bruen is a prolific writer of dark, hardboiled mysteries who has earned high praise from such stalwarts of the field as George Pelecanos and Ian Rankin. Signed by Bruen. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
34. BURGESS, Anthony. A Clockwork Orange. NY: Ballantine Books (1965). The first printing of the Ballantine paperback edition of Burgess' 1962 novel, an alarming and controversial view of a future beset by violence, technological excess and authoritarianism, made into a classic film by Stanley Kubrick in 1971. Inscribed by Burgess on the title page. Additionally signed by William Burroughs on the rear cover, where he has provided a blurb for the book: "One of the few novels I have been able to read in years. I do not know of any other writer who has done as much with language as Mr. Burgess has done here...The fact that this is also a very funny book may pass unnoticed." Blindstamp to half-title of Gordon R. Robotham, sometime photographer and acquaintance of Allen Ginsberg, making this an interesting association copy; corner crease rear cover; still about near fine in wrappers.
35. BURROUGHS, William. "LEE, William." Junkie. Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict. NY: Ace (1953). Burroughs' pseudonymous first book, a paperback original bound back-to-back with Maurice Helbrant's Narcotic Agent. Junkie was a straightforward narrative of Burroughs' experiences with drugs; the publisher chose to release it couched in an anti-drug context, as a first person example of the horrors of drug use, and bound with a narcotic agent's memoir. Pages darkening; crease to spine; near fine in wrappers. In three quarter leather custom clamshell case by Peter Geraty.
36. BURROUGHS, William. The Soft Machine. Paris: Olympia (1961). The true first edition, published in Paris by Maurice Girodias' press five years before it came out in the U.S. Only issued in wrappers. Price inked out on rear cover; small ownership name of another writer on front flyleaf, dated May 14, 1962; a near fine copy in a near fine, spine-tanned dust jacket rubbed at the folds. An influential book, part of the sequence that includes The Naked Lunch and The Ticket That Exploded.
37. BUSCH, Frederick. I Wanted a Year Without Fall. London: Calder & Boyars (1971). His first book -- a novel that was never published in the U.S. Busch was a highly regarded writer, especially by other writers, who never achieved the commercial success that many thought was his due; he was compared to Andre Dubus, Richard Ford, and others for his understated and sympathetic style and for the subtlety of his prose. Inscribed by the author to his parents: "January 1971/ To Mom and Dad, with all my love -- / Fred." As nice a family association copy as one could ask for. Mild page edge foxing; else fine in a fine dust jacket.