Catalog 145, T-Y
209. TARTT, Donna. Tam-O'-Shanter. NY: Lenox Hill Bookstore, 2004. The first separate appearance of this story that first appeared in The New Yorker. One of 250 copies signed by the author, a little-known limited edition by the author of the bestselling and critically well-received novel, The Secret History. Fine in stapled wrappers.
210. THOMPSON, Hunter. Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. (San Francisco): Straight Arrow (1973). Thompson's third book and the second of his "Fear & Loathing" accounts. In this book, Thompson covers the Nixon/McGovern race for the Presidency, bringing to the campaign a sense of humor and horror that is simultaneously both off-the-wall and entirely appropriate to its subject. Signed by the illustrator Ralph Steadman at the memorial blast-off for Thompson at Owl Farm, Woody Creek, August 20, 2005 when Thompson's ashes were fired from a 150 foot tower topped with the symbol of "gonzo" journalism. This copy is also signed by Kurt Vonnegut with a self-caricature and dated the previous month. Above his self-caricature Vonnegut writes out his famous blurb that was used on several editions of Thompson's books: "Hunter Thompson is the most creatively crazy of the new journalists. His ideas are brilliant and honorable and valuable -- the literary equivalent of cubism. All rules are broken." Steadman's illustrated sentiments include "Part Devil - Part Jester" and "Aw! Fuck It!!" The book is near fine in a very good, first issue dust jacket with rubbing to the edges and folds, some fading to the red of the spine and some internal tape-strengthening. In a custom clamshell case. Very scarce in the first issue dust jacket and essentially a unique copy, with the Steadman and Vonnegut contributions.
211. THOMPSON, Hunter S. and STEADMAN, Ralph. The Curse of Lono Memorial Package. A collection of items mostly assembled at Thompson's 2005 Owl Farm/Woody Creek memorial blast-off. Includes The Curse of Lono [NY: Bantam (1983)], a book with text by Thompson and illustrations by Steadman, in which the pair are sent to cover the Honolulu marathon for Running magazine. This copy is signed by Steadman with a portrait of Thompson, dated 2006. Also includes an advance copy of The Curse of Lono, in the form of rivet-bound, photocopied 8 1/2" x 11" sheets, that is signed by Steadman and dated at the memorial, with the sentiment: "For the spirit that was in him and the beauty of his wisdom/ He fucked up my life!" Also signed by Kurt Vonnegut with a self-caricature and dated at the memorial. Together with a signed print by Steadman of Thompson; two printed napkins and a Gonzo fist & dagger sticker from the memorial; a March 5th memorial invitation (in Aspen); and an August 20th memorial invitation with a quote by Thompson about Woody Creek. All items fine and ingeniously housed in an intricate Curse of Lono-themed clamshell box. A touching tribute and perhaps the ultimate Thompson collectible.
212. (THOMPSON, Hunter). STEADMAN, Ralph. The Joke's Over. London: Heinemann (2006). The advance reading copy of this memoir of the nearly four-decade Thompson/Steadman collaboration. Fine in wrappers, with a bookplate signed by Steadman laid in.
213. -. Same title, the advance reading copy of the first American edition. Orlando: Harcourt (2006). Faint corner crease; else fine in wrappers, with a bookplate signed by Steadman laid in.
214. TOMKINS, Calvin. Intermission. NY: Viking, 1951. The first book, a novel, by this writer who became a longtime New Yorker editor and contributor. Signed by Tomkins. Slight rubbing to the spine ends; else fine in a near fine dust jacket with modest edge wear.
215. "TRACY, P.J." Dead Run. NY: Putnam (2005). The third mystery by the mother-daughter combination of P.J. Lambrecht and Traci Lambrecht. A well-received series featuring a team of software developers from Minneapolis as protagonists. This copy is fine in a fine dust jacket, with the publisher's "Signed Copy" sticker on the front panel, and is signed as "P.J. Tracy" on a tipped-in leaf.
216. -. Another copy. Also signed as "P.J. Tracy" on a tipped-in leaf. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with one edge nick.
217. UPDIKE, John. The Same Door. NY: Knopf, 1959. His third book and first collection of stories. Signed by the author. Fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with slight edge wear and one tear at the lower front panel. A very nice copy of one of his scarce, early books.
218. UPDIKE, John. Rabbit, Run. NY: Knopf, 1960. His second novel, which introduced Rabbit Angstrom and began the sequence of novels that will likely stand as Updike's major work, having won, collectively, virtual every major literary award given in the U.S., some of them twice. Signed by the author. Fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with some slight rubbing and a tear at the lower rear spine fold. A very attractive copy of the most difficult of his major trade editions to find in collectible condition and/or signed.
219. UPDIKE, John. The Music School. NY: Knopf, 1966. The first issue of this collection of stories, with the transposed lines on page 46. Fine in a near fine, spine and edge-darkened dust jacket with a small tear at the crown.
220. UPDIKE, John. A Month of Sundays. NY: Knopf, 1975. Signed by the author. Slight spine lean; else fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a couple of tiny edge nicks.
221. UPDIKE, John. The Witches of Eastwick. NY: Knopf, 1984. The first trade edition of Updike's suburban fantasy, made into a movie with Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer. Chosen by British critic David Pringle as one of the hundred best fantasy novels of the postwar era. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
222. (UPDIKE, John). George Nick. A Retrospective. (n.p.): Massachusetts College of Art, 1993. An exhibition catalog for a month-long showing of the artist's work, with an introduction by Updike, "In Praise of George Nick." Light rubbing; near fine in wrappers. Uncommon.
223. VIDAL, Gore. Williwaw. NY: Dutton, 1946. His first book. Foxing to endpages and page edges; otherwise near fine in a very good, mildly rubbed dust jacket with some dampstaining on verso.
224. VIDAL, Gore. The City and the Pillar. NY: Dutton (1948). His third novel. Very slight spotting to the page edges, otherwise a near fine copy in a near fine, very slightly spine-sunned dust jacket. A very nice copy of this title, seldom found in this condition.
225. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Cat's Cradle. London: Gollancz, 1965. The Contemporary Fiction edition of one of his greatest novels, which manages to both condemn and celebrate science, religion and the human race in general. "A quietly satirical consideration of mankind and its need for sympathy and compassion, proposing that we live by foma, lies that make for human happiness." One of Pringle's 100 best science fiction novels. Also nominated for the Hugo Award, and chosen by the Modern Library as one of the best 100 novels of the 20th century. Signed by Vonnegut with a self-caricature. Trace page edge foxing; else fine in a near fine, mildly spine-sunned dust jacket with light edge wear. An increasingly scarce edition of this key title and almost never seen signed. In a custom clamshell case.
226. VONNEGUT, Kurt. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. NY: HRW (1965). Vonnegut's sixth book, one of the novels that began earning him a small but passionate following in the mid-1960s, before his breakthrough to the status of "major author," which came when Slaughterhouse-Five was published. Signed by the author with a self-caricature. Slight loss to the colored stamping of one word of the title on the spine of the book; near fine in a very good dust jacket and housed in a custom clamshell case. A nice copy of one of his early books, seldom encountered signed any more.
227. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five. (NY): Delacorte (1969). His masterwork, a powerful fictional memoir of his experiences during the Allied fire-bombing of Dresden, Germany. Vonnegut's philosophical reflections on the tragic absurdity of humankind are embedded in an impressionistic, pessimistic yet comic science fiction tale that is a high spot of the literature of the 1960s and since. The first printing was 10,000 copies and the book eventually sold more than 60,000 copies in hardcover and innumerable in paperback, becoming a classic of its era and a standard on college campuses -- at first by word-of-mouth and later as part of the canon. On all three major lists of the top books of the 20th century. Ownership signature of another writer, dated May, 1969 (the book was published in March); spine very slightly slanted and a bit of edge sunning to cloth, as is typical with this title; still about near fine in a mildly spine-tanned dust jacket with a light stain covering half of Vonnegut's white shirt on the rear panel.
228. -. Another copy. Signed by the author. An early signature, including the "Jr." and pre-dating the asterisk. Fine in a near fine, evenly sunned dust jacket with a small, very faint splot on the front panel. Signed copies of Vonnegut's masterwork are scarce; copies signed around the time of publication are infinitely more so.
229. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. Happy Birthday, Wanda June. NY: Delacorte (1971). A play that opened off-Broadway in 1970 and later made it to Broadway for a successful, although relatively short, run. Illustrated with photographs from the Broadway production, and with an introduction by Vonnegut explaining the genesis and personal relevance of the play. Signed by the author with a self-caricature. Foxing to top edge; else fine in a near fine dust jacket with light edge wear. In a custom clamshell case. One of his scarcest trade editions.
230. VONNEGUT, Kurt. A Man without a Country. NY: Seven Stories Press (2005). A collection of essays and, as it turned out, the author's swan song. Signed by the author with a self-caricature in the year of publication. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Very few copies of this title were signed.
231. -. Same title. Both the first American edition and the first British edition (London): Bloomsbury (2006). The American edition is signed by the author with a self-caricature and dated 4/4/06; the British edition is signed by the author with a self-caricature and dated 7/19/06. Each is fine in a fine dust jacket and the two are housed together in a custom clamshell case.
232. WELSH, Irvine. Filth T-Shirt. (n.p.): (Russell Corp.), c. 1998. Promotional T-shirt. States title and author and is illustrated with the pig face in police hat that adorned the dust jacket. White cotton T-shirt, size Large. Wrinkled; else fine.
233. (WELTY, Eudora). A Tribute. (n.p.): Stuart Wright, 1984. One of 75 copies of this compendium of tributes to Welty by a stellar literary cast, with signed contributions by Bernard Malamud, William Maxwell, Reynolds Price, Anne Tyler, Peter Taylor, Robert Penn Warren, Cleanth Brooks, Richard Wilbur, Elizabeth Spencer and William Jay Smith. All of the pieces are original, written for this volume; Warren signs his "Red Warren." William Jay Smith writes a poem, mostly using Welty's own words. Anne Tyler's contribution is, surprisingly, a poem, one of the few (or only?) she has published. Several of the pieces are written in the form of letters to Welty. A lovingly produced volume, handsomely quarterbound in leather and marbled paper boards. Fine, without dust jacket, as issued.
234. WHITE, E.B. Typed Letter Signed. c. 1944. A couple paragraphs typed to a "Mr. Greason," thanking him for his comments about a book (likely One Man's Meat) and relating a quick story about a scow of White's that Greason had apparently mentioned. Included is a printout of an email from White's granddaughter, dating the letter and naming the scow ("Flounder"). A good, early letter with interesting and significant content: White built the boat with and for his son, Joel, from a design in The American Boy's Handy Book. It was Joel's first boat, and he later went on to become an accomplished and well-known boatbuilder and designer. 5 3/4" x 8 3/4" personal stationery printed with "North Brooklin, Maine." Folded in half for mailing; a few perforations to one margin; near fine. Signed "E.B. White." A humorous story, illuminating a small, otherwise forgotten and lost, event in White's rural life. Autograph material from this period in White's life is quite uncommon.
235. WOOLF, Virginia. A Room of One's Own. NY/London: Fountain Press/Hogarth Press, 1929. The limited edition of this important essay on women and fiction, in which Woolf argues for the importance of women having the kind of independence long taken for granted by men. One of 492 copies, of which 450 were for sale, this being one of 350 reserved for sale in America, and issued without dust jacket. Signed by the author in her customary purple ink. Fine, in custom folding chemise and slipcase. A classic of 20th century women's writing; this is the finest copy of it we have seen in years, perhaps ever: a beautiful copy of an important book.
236. YATES, Richard. Revolutionary Road. Boston: Little Brown (1961). His highly praised first book, which was nominated for the National Book Award. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a couple short edge tears. Laid in is an announcement of a reading and reception in Yates' honor, hosted by Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Price, among others. The card includes a quote by Robert Stone: "Richard Yates is one of the best writers in this country. His work is important to anyone concerned with writing; he's a writer's writer."
237. YEATS, William Butler. Michael Robartes and the Dancer. Dundrum: Cuala Press, 1920. A slim volume of poetry, one of 400 copies printed at the Cuala Press. Pages uncut; offsetting to first and last blanks, from the endpapers; partial tanning to spine label. Still a very near fine copy, with the majority of the dust jacket, in three pieces, laid in. The jacket is unprinted, although the title and author have been written on in pencil. Contains some of Yeats's most powerful and well-known poems, most notably "The Second Coming," one of the most quoted poems of the 20th century, and one that gave birth to seemingly innumerable book titles. In our experience, one of the scarcest of Yeats's titles from this period.