Catalog 145, H-J
99. HAMILL, Peter and ARONOWITZ, Alfred G. Ernest Hemingway. The Life and Death of a Man. NY: Lancer (1961). Pete Hamill's first book, a paperback original, an "instant" biography of Hemingway published just after he committed suicide. Signed by Hamill, who has gone on to a career as a writer spanning nearly 50 years; his most recent book was published this year, in 2007. Owner name inside front cover; pages browning as usual; near fine in wrappers.
100. HARRIS, Thomas. The Silence of the Lambs. NY: St. Martin's (1988). His highly acclaimed third novel, the first to have Hannibal Lecter as the central character, a figure that has become a cultural touchstone. Basis for the Jonathan Demme film with Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster, winner of five Academy Awards and one of the American Film Institute's top 100 Films of the Century. This copy is inscribed by the author in the month of publication: "For Glen Timony/ with my thanks for/ your support./ Thomas Harris/ August/88." The book was published on August 29. Timony was reportedly a buyer for one of the major book chains. Signed copies of The Silence of the Lambs are not as elusive as they once were, but very few copies have turned up with contemporary inscriptions. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
101. -. Same title. The uncorrected proof copy. Upper outer corner crease to front cover; thus near fine in wrappers. An extremely scarce proof.
102. HARRIS, Thomas. Hannibal. (NY): Delacorte (1999). The sequel to The Silence of the Lambs. This copy is inscribed by Anthony Hopkins, who played Hannibal Lecter in the film versions of The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal, as well as in the remake of Red Dragon, the Harris book that introduced the character. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Uncommon signed by the actor.
103. HARRIS, Thomas. Hannibal Rising. (NY): Delacorte (2006). The limited edition of Harris's most recent novel, apparently never offered for sale. Copies of this edition were offered at Harris's website in a sweepstakes: twenty copies of this edition of the book were awarded as prizes; otherwise this issue of the book has not been available from any source. We don't know if only twenty were done (we've heard rumors of an unsigned version of this issue but have not seen one). Signed by the author on a tipped-in leaf. Fine in a fine slipcase. Doubtless one of the scarcest items in the Harris canon.
104. -. Same title, the first British edition. London: Heinemann (2006). Signed by the author on the publisher's bookplate tipped to the half title, apparently the only way that copies of the U.K. edition were signed. Harris himself reportedly designed the color bookplate, which depicts a flying crane. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
105. (HARRIS, Thomas). Red Dragon. NY: Newmarket Press (2002). The shooting script by Ted Tally, based on Harris' second book, and the first to introduce the character Hannibal Lecter. The novel was first filmed as "Manhunter" in 1986 and then again in 2002 under the book's original title. Signed and with an introduction by Brett Ratner, the film's director. Fine in wrappers.
106. HELLER, Joseph. We Bombed in New Haven. NY: Knopf, 1968. The second book, a play, by the author of Catch-22. Signed by the author in 1985. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
107. HELLER, Joseph. Something Happened. NY: Knopf, 1974. His second novel. Signed by the author. By general consensus, this is a better novel than its predecessor, Catch 22 -- in terms of the writing, the plot structure, the extent to which it holds together and "works" as a novel -- if not so ground-breaking a success as his first book was. Nominated for the National Book Award. Page edge foxing; near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
108. -. Same title, the limited edition. One of 350 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket and very near fine slipcase.
109. HELLER, Joseph. God Knows. NY: Knopf, 1984. His fifth book, fourth novel. Signed by the author. Faint top edge foxing; else fine in two dust jackets: one of them is fine; the other has a printing flaw.
110. HERR, Michael. Dispatches. NY: Knopf, 1977. Herr, reporting for Rolling Stone and Esquire from Vietnam, was -- along with such now-legendary figures as Tim Page, Sean Flynn and Dana Stone -- one of the young writers who brought the 1960s counterculture and the New Journalism to war reporting, describing Vietnam as the "first rock-and-roll war" and influencing the way future generations would see the conflict -- mostly by writing his reports largely from the perspective of the foot soldiers in the war rather than that of the strategists and commanders. Herr's dispatches were eagerly awaited at the time, and are now viewed as classics of war reporting. They helped shatter the official picture of an orderly progression to the war and define the "credibility gap" that made Vietnam war reporting so different from that of earlier conflicts. Fine in a fine dust jacket. One of the small handful of classics of Vietnam War literature -- considered by many the best nonfiction work to come out of the war. An important book, and uncommon in fine condition.
111. (HERSEY, John). OSBORN, Paul. A Bell for Adano. NY: Knopf, 1945. A dramatization of Hersey's 1944 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The play began running in New York on December 6, 1944 and starred Frederic March. Illustrated with photographs from the production. Osborn was well-known for his dramatic adaptations of other writers' work, including screenplays for Steinbeck's East of Eden and Michener's Sayonara, both of which were nominated for Academy Awards. He also wrote the script for a television adaptation of this title in 1955. Slight sunning to the spine cloth; else fine in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket with several tiny edge chips and a few small closed tears at the folds and mid-spine.
112. HILLERMAN, Tony. Listening Woman. NY: Harper & Row (1978). The uncorrected proof copy of his fourth mystery, featuring tribal detective Joe Leaphorn, and preceding the point at which Hillerman's novels became bestsellers. Signed by the author. Two closed tears: one at the lower front spine fold, one at the foredge; thus near fine in wrappers. All of Hillerman's pre-1980 proofs are very scarce; we haven't seen a copy of this since it was new.
113. HOFFMAN, Abbie. Fuck the System. (NY): (n.p.)(n.d.)[c. 1964]. An unattributed pamphlet written and produced by Hoffman in the early 1960s when, as a social worker, he got a government grant to help the poor on New York's Lower East Side. Thirty pages of advice on getting some things free and on not getting some things (sexual diseases) ever. Some of the material was later used in Steal This Book. Kurt Vonnegut, in his book Fates Worse than Death, said of Hoffman: "He is high on my list of saints, of exceptionally courageous, unarmed, unsponsored, unpaid souls who have tried to slow down even a little bit state crimes against those Jesus Christ said should inherit the Earth someday. He did this with truth, anger, and ridicule." This is an early example. Small stapled wrappers; near fine. Scarce, ephemeral piece.
114. HOSSEINI, Khaled. The Kite Runner. NY: Riverhead, 2003. The author's first book, published to tremendous critical acclaim and a runaway bestseller, eventually ending up with over four million copies in print. One of the most highly praised books of the year, and one of the most unlikely bestsellers, being a family story set in Afghanistan, writing by an Afghan expatriate. This copy is signed by the author in both English and Farsi. Fine in a fine dust jacket. A beautiful copy.
115. HOSSEINI, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns. NY: Riverhead, 2007. His acclaimed second novel, just published, a follow-up to The Kite Runner, also set in Afghanistan. Signed by the author in both English and Farsi. Laid in is a bookmark from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees picturing Hosseini and with an endorsement of the UNHCR by him, along with a solicitation of contributions for their humanitarian work. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
116. IRVING, John. Setting Free the Bears. NY: Random House (1968). The first book by the author of such bestsellers as The World According to Garp and A Prayer for Owen Meany, among others. Unlike his later books which, after Garp, sold literally hundreds of thousand of copies -- millions, if one includes the paperback sales -- this book sold slightly over 6000 copies in two printings. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a tiny closed tear at the upper front flap fold. A beautiful copy.
117. IRVING, John. The 158-Pound Marriage. NY: Random House (1974). His third novel. Small label removal shadow front flyleaf; near fine in a near fine dust jacket with upper edge wear. Together with the December 1973 issue of Viva (NY: Viva International, 1973), which prints a four page excerpt from the novel, ten months prior to the book's publication. Fine. For both:
118. IRVING, John. The World According to Garp. NY: Dutton (1978). A review copy of his fourth novel and breakthrough book, which went into numerous printings, became a multi-million copy bestseller and a National Book Award winner in its paperback release. Signed by the author. Fading to the cloth at the spine extremities; else fine in a fine dust jacket with a letter from the publisher to booksellers laid in. The letter is dated February 6, 1978; the book was published in April. A very nice copy of a book that is seldom found in such condition, and is especially uncommon as an advance copy.
119. -. Another copy. Signed by the author. A tiny bit of fading to the cloth at the spine extremities; still fine in a near fine dust jacket with small tears at the lower spine folds.
120. -. Same title. Burbank: Warner Bros. (1982). The press kit for the film version. Includes handouts on Irving, screenwriter Steve Tesich, director George Roy Hill, and cast members Robin Williams, Mary Beth Hurt, Glenn Close, and John Lithgow; production information; and full credits. The Irving handout contains interview excerpts that presumably have not been published elsewhere. Also includes 19 photographs, 18 stills from the movie (including one featuring Irving in the role of wrestling referee) and one photograph of Irving talking to Tesich. Also includes a publication flyer signed by Robin Williams. All items fine and laid into a lightly rubbed, mildly faded, very good cardstock folder. An elaborate press kit.
121. IRVING, John. The Hotel New Hampshire. NY: Dutton (1981). The limited edition of his fifth novel. One of 550 numbered copies signed by the author. An attractive leatherbound edition, with the top edge gilt and a silk ribbon marker. In the wake of the tremendous critical and popular success of The World According to Garp, Irving's publisher did this elaborate limited edition, unlike anything done previously for one of his books. Fine in a fine slipcase.
122. IRVING, John. The Cider House Rules. (n.p.): Miramax (n.d.). The UK pressbook for the film made from his sixth novel, for which Irving wrote the Academy Award-winning screenplay. 70+ pages, most of it an in-depth look at the making of the movie. Fine in stapled wrappers.
123. IRVING, John. A Prayer for Owen Meany. NY: Morrow (1989). The first trade edition of what may be Irving's best-loved book -- a substantial claim for a book by the author of the also much-loved The World According to Garp. A portion of this book was the basis for the film Simon Birch. Signed by the author. Trace spotting to upper and lower edges of text block; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
124. -. Same title, the first British edition. (London): Bloomsbury (1989). Inscribed by the author. Page edges darkening slightly; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
125. -. Same title, the advance reading copy of the British edition. A working copy, with copyeditor's notes to summary page indicating changes to be made from the typesetting in this volume; all of the changes were incorporated into the final trade edition. The title page and summary page are both detached, consistent with the copy having been used, passed around, etc. A bit of creasing to covers and spine; very good in wrappers. Unique.
126. -. Another copy of the British advance reading copy. Fine in wrappers. Laid in is a photographic postcard of Irving taken by Marion Ettlinger, whose (slightly different) photo of Irving was on the jacket of the U.S. trade edition and is also on this advance reading copy. The postcard (NY: Fotofolio, 1988) is signed by Irving.
127. IRVING, John. A Widow for One Year. (Amsterdam): Anthos (1998). The first Dutch edition and the first trade edition, preceded only by a limited advance issue of the British edition. Apparently, like the main character in the novel -- an American novelist with an affinity for Amsterdam, who arranges to have the first edition of her new book published in the Netherlands prior to its issuance in her home country -- Irving requested this publication sequence. The reason for an advance English edition preceding the Dutch edition reportedly had to do with the fact that the Dutch books were printed in England, and the advance English copies were released while the printed books were en route to the Netherlands. Scarce: it can be assumed that the publication of an English-language edition in a non-English speaking country with a population 1/20th that of the U.S. would be done in very small numbers. Signed by the author. It's been years since we've seen one of these offered for sale, and that copy wasn't signed. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
128. (JOYCE, James). CAMPBELL, Joseph and ROBINSON, Henry Morton. A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake. NY: Harcourt Brace (1944). An extremely scarce advance copy of the first book by Joseph Campbell: the first important book-length critical work on Finnegans Wake. Campbell went on to become the leading writer on mythology and comparative religion in the 20th century, and one of the important popularizers of the ideas of C.G. Jung. This advance copy, like the book itself, was produced under wartime conditions of restricted paper use. Bound in plain brown wrappers with publisher's typewritten label on the front cover. Front cover detached, but the whole is protected in a custom clamshell case. Together with a copy of the first edition: pencilled owner name to flyleaf and notes in text; a very good spine-tanned dust jacket is affixed to it with tape. A seminal work of Joyce criticism. For both: