Catalog 146, A-B
1. (ABBEY, Edward). CRUMB, R. Promotional Sticker for The Monkey Wrench Gang. (n.p.: n.p., n.d.). A 4 1/4" x 6" peel-and-stick R. Crumb illustration for The Monkey Wrench Gang, done by R. Crumb for the Tenth Anniversary Edition (Salt Lake City: Dream Garden, 1985). A humorous, visually striking and scarce ephemeral piece. Fine.
2. AI. Vice. NY: Norton (1999). A collection of poetry from her five previous titles, plus new poems. Winner of the National Book Award. This copy is one of a self-made limited edition: signed and lettered by the author with a poem, "The Tenant Farmer," transcribed from the text, in holograph, on the flyleaf. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
3. ALBEE, Edward. Box and Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung. NY: Atheneum, 1969. Two short, interrelated plays by the author of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Zoo Story and The Sandbox, among others. Albee is a three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a two-time Tony Award winner. Signed by the author. Light foxing to top edge; else fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a touch of tanning to the top edge.
4. (Anthology). New Directions 10. (n.p.): New Directions (1948). An early volume of this influential anthology, which changed the face of American literary publishing in the late Thirties when it first began. This edition includes contributions by Paul Bowles, Robert Duncan, Mary McCarthy, Carson McCullers, Howard Nemerov, Evelyn Waugh, Richard Wilbur, Tennessee Williams, and James Agee, among others. Includes a suite of photographs of the ruins of Munich, Germany, after World War Two, by Herbert List. A near fine copy in a near fine, mildly spotted dust jacket with a couple edge nicks. The spine of the yellow dust jacket is much less faded than usual; this is one of the nicest copies we've seen of this important collection.
5. (Anthology). New Directions 11. (NY): New Directions (1949). This edition includes contributions by Paul Bowles, Henry Miller, John Hawkes, Jorge Luis Borges, and Tennessee Williams, among others. Near fine in a rubbed, price-clipped, very good dust jacket with a small hole on the rear panel. An attractive copy, and one of the more well preserved examples of the fragile jacket we've seen.
6. (Anthology). Transition Workshop. NY: Vanguard Press (1949). A postwar collection of writings from the important literary magazine Transition, which published from the 1920s until the eve of World War Two. Contributions by Paul Bowles, Samuel Beckett, Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Franz Kafka, Anaïs Nin, Gertrude Stein, Dylan Thomas, Henry Miller and many others. Small owner name to half title; near fine in a very good dust jacket with shallow edge chipping and a small stain on the rear panel.
7. (Anthology). The Artists' and Writers' Cookbook. Sausalito: Contact Editions (1961). Introduced by Alice B. Toklas and including recipes by Harper Lee ("Cracklin' Bread"), Paul Bowles ("Majoun Keddane"), Isak Dinesen, Lillian Hellman, Upton Sinclair, William Styron, Evan S. Connell, Jr., Pearl Buck, Kay Boyle, James Michener, Anthony Powell, Louis Auchincloss, Malcolm Bradbury, John Knowles, Kenneth Patchen, and many others. A fine copy, without dust jacket, apparently as issued, in a good slipcase. An interesting and extensive collection, and one of the few appearances in print by Harper Lee other than her landmark novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
8. (Anthology). Stanford Short Stories 1964. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1964. Edited by Wallace Stegner. Includes Robert Stone's first book appearance, two excerpts from his first novel, then in progress. Other contributors to this volume include Ed McClanahan, Hugh Nissenson, and Merrill Joan Gerber. Fine in a fine, price-clipped dust jacket. A very nice copy of this anthology: the bright red dust jacket is usually found quite rubbed, but this one is pristine.
9. -. Another copy. Fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
10. (Anthology). Writers at Work. The Paris Review Interviews. NY: Viking (1984). The sixth book in this series, which collects interviews with Kurt Vonnegut, Gabriel García Márquez, John Gardner, Nadine Gordimer, Elizabeth Bishop, Tennessee Williams, Bernard Malamud, Rebecca West, Stephen Spender, William Goyen, James Merrill and Carlos Fuentes. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. As usual, an outstanding lineup of writers, including two Nobel Prize winners, and the first book appearances of these interviews.
11. (Anthology). Late Harvest. NY: Paragon House (1991). A collection of previously published poetry, fiction and essays by 38 rural writers. Signed by contributors Barry Lopez, Gary Snyder, Garrison Keillor, Donald Hall, William Gass and Wendell Berry, and also including work by Edward Abbey, Annie Dillard, Carolyn Chute, Bobbie Ann Mason, Wallace Stegner, Maxine Kumin, Ann Zwinger, among many others. Fine in a fine dust jacket. A unique copy of an interesting anthology of "rural American writing."
12. (Anthology). The Books of the Bible. NY: Grove (1999). The first American edition of this twelve volume boxed set of books from the Old and New Testaments, with introductions by eleven contemporary authors and one rock star: E.L. Doctorow (Genesis); David Grossman (Exodus); Charles Frazier (Job); Bono (Psalms); Charles Johnson (Proverbs); Doris Lessing (Ecclesiastes); Francisco Goldman (Matthew); Barry Hannah (Mark); Thomas Cahill (Luke); Darcey Steinke (John); Fay Weldon (Corinthians); and Kathleen Norris (Revelation). First printings of each: remainder stripe bottom edges; trace edge wear; else a fine set in a near fine slipcase with a crack threatening at the top joint. There was a second series issued the following year; there was a British set of this series and an unboxed issue, some of which apparently used different authors for the introductions.
13. (Anthology). Men from Boys. London: Heinemann (2003). An anthology of short stories by contemporary male crime writers addressing the themes of manhood or fatherhood. Most of the stories appear here for the first time. Signed by contributors Michael Connelly, George Pelecanos, Don Winslow, Jeffrey Deaver and Peter Robinson. With stories also by Dennis Lehane, James Sallis, Lawrence Block, Daniel Woodrell and others. Edited and introduced by British crime fiction writer John Harvey, himself known for his short fiction as much as his novels. Upper corners tapped; else fine in a fine dust jacket. There was no hardcover U.S. edition of this title.
14. (AUDEN, W.H.). (COHEN, Marvin). "An interview with W.H. Auden" in Arts in Academe, Vol. 12, No. 3. (Madison): (University of Wisconsin), 1975. A fraud perpetrated by Cohen, and revealed here only in an inscription by the author at his contribution: "Dear ___: this is a Cohen-job I Auden' to have done. I confess that all of W.H.'s lines here are sheer Marvinisms. This is a literary hoax and farce but don't gossip, please. W.H.'s words attributed to him here may find their way in the official Auden archives and be quoted with all due future solemnity. Marvin." Fine in wrappers.
15. BAKER, Nicholson. Vox. NY: Random House (1992). His fourth book, an unlikely bestseller -- a literary novel that takes the form of a telephone conversation between two strangers, a man and a woman, about sex. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket. $50
16. -. Another copy. Signed by the author and dated in the year of publication. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with trace rubbing at the spine crown.
17. BAKER, Susan. Thoughts of a Human. (Provincetown): Self-published (1983). A humorous collection of pamphlets laid into an illustrated folder, done by the noted Provincetown artist. Pamphlets include "Shedding a Self," "The Birth of the Child of Choice," "Diary of a Prime-Time Crier," "Dogs I Have Known," and "How to Criticize Art." Baker has published a humorous book on Provincetown's dogs, is known for her Cape Cod landscapes, and had an exhibition in 2000 of a follow-up to this collection called "More Thoughts of a Human." This heavily illustrated collection of pamphlets was apparently self-published, and this copy is inscribed by the author to artist Raphael Soyer. An uncommon, interesting and funny work by a noted artist, and a significant association copy.
18. BAMBARA, Toni Cade. The Sea Birds Are Still Alive. NY: Random House (1977). The fourth book, second collection of short stories, by this important African American writer. Her 1970 anthology The Black Woman was extremely influential, and included early appearances in print by such writers as Alice Walker, Nikki Giovanni, Audre Lorde, Paule Marshall, and Bambara herself. Inscribed by the author in 1981. Book lightly sunned and slanted; a near fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with one edge tear.
19. BARRETT, Marvin. The End of the Party. NY: Putnam (1976). Inscribed by the author in 1978. Mottling to boards; spine crown sunned; very good in a good, edge-chipped dust jacket fragile at the front flap fold.
20. BARTHELME, Donald. Amateurs. NY: FSG (1976). A collection of stories by this writer who was, in the 1860s and 1970s, highly influential -- his quirky stories reminiscent of Borges. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket with a nick at the spine crown.
21. BENEDICT, Pinckney. Dogs of God. NY: Doubleday/Talese (1994). The advance reading copy of his third book, first novel. Touted as "a cross between Barry Hannah and Cormac McCarthy." Inscribed by Benedict in 1993, three months prior to publication. Near fine in wrappers, with an "autographed copy" sticker on the front panel.
22. BLOCK, Lawrence. Five Little Rich Girls. London: Alison & Busby (1984). A review copy of the first British edition, and the first hardcover edition, of Make Out with Murder, a hardboiled crime novel that had been published as a paperback original under the pseudonym Chip Harrison in 1974. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
23. BLOOM, Amy. Normal. NY: Random House (2002). The only book of nonfiction by the author of Come to Me and Away, among others, a profile of transsexuals, cross dressers and hermaphrodites. This copy is signed by the author. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a slight ripple on the front cover.
24. (BOWLES, Paul). HERBERT, David. Second Son. London: Peter Owen (1972). An autobiography by Herbert, which has a short section on and an introduction by Bowles. Inscribed by Bowles to his biographer: "For Virginia [Spencer Carr] with love, Paul." Additional owner inscription on a preceding page; board edges sunned and spotted. Very good in a very good, edgeworn dust jacket with staining at the upper rear edge. A nice association copy and an uncommon book to be found signed by Bowles.
25. (BOWLES, Paul). Frank, No. 4. (Paris): Frank, 1985. Inscribed by Bowles to his biographer, Virginia [Spencer Carr] at his contribution, "Wreckage," and dated in Tangier in 1996. Also includes work by William Burroughs, Charles Bukowski, John Berger, Italo Calvino, Milan Kundera, and Derek Walcott, among others. Fine in wrappers. A nice association copy.
26. (BOWLES, Paul). The Review of Contemporary Fiction, Vol. 6., No. 1. Elmwood Park: Review of Contemporary Fiction, 1986. Bowles's contribution is "Unwelcome Words," which he has inscribed to read: "Unwelcome Words for Virginia from Paul Bowles." "Virginia" is Virginia Spencer Carr, his biographer. Fine in wrappers, with additional work by Kathy Acker, Nicholas Mosley, Gilbert Sorrentino and Harry Mathews, among others.
27. (BOWLES, Paul). Folk Recordings Selected from the Archive of Folk Culture Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress (1989). A catalogue, signed by Bowles at his listing, "Music of Morocco." Near fine in stapled wrappers. Uncommon, especially signed.
28. (BOWLES, Paul). GREEN, Michelle. The Dream at the End of the World. Paul Bowles and the Literary Renegades in Tangier. (NY): HarperCollins (1991). Inscribed by the author, Michelle Green, "For Virginia Spencer Carr with admiration" and inscribed by Bowles: "What dream at the end of what?/ For Virginia/ love/ Paul." Fine in a fine dust jacket. A notable "triple" association copy: one of the major biographies of Bowles (not including his autobiography) inscribed to the author of another of the biographies, and also inscribed by the subject of the book.
29. -. Same title, the first British edition. (London): Bloomsbury (1992). Inscribed at some length by Bowles to Virginia Spencer Carr, one of his biographers: "Perhaps when people write the word 'expatriot' (which doesn't exist) they mean 'renegade.' Anyway, love to Virginia. Paul, the expatriate. For Virginia with love." Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a couple edge tears.
30. (BOWLES, Paul). Trafika. (NY): Trafika Press, 1994. An international literary review. Includes an interview with Bowles. Signed by Bowles at his contribution and additionally inscribed to his biographer, Virginia [Spencer Carr] and dated in Tangier in 1996. Also includes work by Denis Johnson and John Barth, among others. Fine in wrappers and near fine dust jacket. Uncommon signed.
31. BRAUTIGAN, Richard. A Confederate General from Big Sur. NY: Grove Press (1964). A review copy of his first novel. Brautigan's writings influenced an entire generation and, although he fell out of literary favor for a time -- culminating in his suicide in 1984 -- there has been a resurgence of interest in his writings as he has come to be seen as an American original whose whimsy, sensitivity and humor epitomized his time. Small spot to foredge and slight board edge fading; else fine in a near fine, spine-tanned dust jacket with shallow chipping to the crown. Uncommon as an advance copy.
32. (BROOKE, Rupert). SCHRODER, John. Catalogue of Books and Manuscripts by Rupert Brooke, Edward Marsh and Christopher Hassall. Cambridge: Rampant Lions Press (1970). Quarto, a catalog of the author's collections of the works of the three writers, including bibliographic details of the formal publications and details of the manuscripts and letters that are themselves notable and of historical and bibliographic interest. One of 400 numbered copies of a total edition of 450. Fine with sunned (original?) acetate dustwrapper. Prospectus laid in.
33. BROOKS, Gwendolyn. Family Pictures. Detroit: Broadside Press (1970). A review copy of this collection of poems by the first African American woman writer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, for Annie Allen in 1950. Near fine in stapled wrappers, with review slip laid in.
34. BROWN, Frederic. Before She Kills. (San Diego): (Dennis McMillan), 1984. A collection of stories that were originally published in pulp magazines from the 1940s to the 1960s. One of 350 numbered copies signed by William Nolan, who provides a biographical introduction. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
35. BROWN, Frederic. The Office. (Miami Beach): (Dennis McMillan), 1987. The first edition of this title, which was originally published in a different form in 1958. One of 425 numbered copies signed by Philip José Farmer, who provides the introduction. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
36. BROWN, Frederic. Nightmare in Darkness. (Miami Beach): (Dennis McMillan), 1987. A collection of stories, most of them having been originally published in pulp magazines in the 1940s. One of 425 numbered copies signed by Linn Brown, one of the author's sons, who provides the introduction. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
37. BROWN, Larry. Facing the Music. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 1988. The uncorrected proof copy of his first book, a collection of stories. Signed by the author. Laid into the proof is a photocopy of a note from Brown stating that he was told only about 30 proof copies were done and declining to sign one (not this one obviously) because "the sight of it, in plain language, chaps my ass. I asked for one of these in 1988 and was told by my publisher that they were too valuable to give one to the author." An interesting anecdote, and the only documentation we know of for the number of copies of the proof that were done. A little light surface soiling; near fine in wrappers. Obviously extremely uncommon, particularly signed.
38. BRUEN, Ken. The Killing of the Tinkers. (Dingle): Brandon (2002). The true first edition (Irish) of this novel by the author who has come to be known as the master of Irish noir. A Jack Taylor story, the second in the series after the Shamus Award-winning The Guards. 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, and has only recently begun to be widely known in the U.S. Signed by the author. Only issued in wrappers, and preceding the U.S. hardcover publication by two years. A fine copy.
39. BRUEN, Ken. Priest. London: Bantam (2006). Another Jack Taylor novel, this one shortlisted for a Barry Award. The hardcover first printing was reportedly less than 1000 copies. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
40. BRUEN, Ken. A Fifth of Bruen. Houston: Busted Flush Press, 2006. First thus, collecting six early, hard-to-find works of fiction by Bruen from the period 1991-1994. With an introduction by Scottish hardboiled writer Allan Guthrie, a 2006 Edgar Award nominee. Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers.
41. BRUEN, Ken. Cross. London: Bantam (2007). His latest book, another in the Jack Taylor series. Signed by Bruen. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
42. -. Same title, the limited edition. Gladestry: Scorpion Press (2007). One of 77 numbered copies, signed by the author. With an appreciation of Bruen by Denise Mina and Michael Johnson that does not appear in the trade edition. Quarterbound in leather and marbled paper over boards; fine, with acetate dustwrapper.
43. BUDBILL, David. Barking Dog. Cochranville: Barking Dog Press (1968). The uncommon first book by this poet, novelist and playwright who has over the years become a sort of unofficial Poet Laureate of Vermont in particular and New England in general. Inscribed by the author to writer, editor and translator Morris Edelson, a nice literary association. Several small pencil notes in text, presumably those of Edelson; spine-sunned with one vertical crease to the rear panel; about near fine in stapled wrappers.
44. BURKE, James Lee. The Tin Roof Blowdown. NY: Simon & Schuster (2007). The advance reading copy of the most recent novel in the author's acclaimed and award-winning Dave Robicheaux mystery series. The series is set in Louisiana, and has always been noted for its strong sense of place. This tale tales place in the aftermath of the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans. Lamination lifting at lower corner; still fine in wrappers.
45. BURMAN, Ben Lucien. It's a Big Country: America Off the Highways. NY: Reynal & Company (1956). A travelogue by the author of the popular Catfish Bend series of children's books. Inscribed by Burman and his wife, Alice Caddy, who provides the illustrations. A very near fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with just a touch of wear at the spine ends. A bit of midcentury Americana from the era before the Interstate highway system and, from this vantage point in time, virtually another country altogether.
46. 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. This copy is inscribed by Burroughs to Nelson Lyon in 1988. A nice association copy: Nelson Lyon was a longtime friend of Burroughs and co-producer of his 1990 spoken word album, Dead City Radio. Only issued in wrappers. "New Price" stamp on rear cover; 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.
47. BURROUGHS, William S. The Book of Breething. Essex: OU-Editions (1974). The first edition, a trilingual edition (English, French, Dutch). Of a total edition of 400 copies, this is identified on the colophon as one of 350 numbered copies, all of which were apparently issued unnumbered. Oblong quarto; a fine copy in self-wrappers. With illustrations by Robert Gale. Later issued in the U.S. as The Book of Breeething. An uncommon book, and an exceptionally nice copy of it.
48. BUTLER, Robert Olen. The Alleys of Eden. NY: Horizon (1981). The first book by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain. This copy belonged to poet and book reviewer Tom Clark. Included here is the manuscript of Clark's review of Alleys of Eden, along with a copy of the review as published in The Los Angeles Times. Together with a warm typed letter signed from Butler to Tom Clark, in part: "I have received twenty major reviews of the book but none of them was more sensitive or insightful than yours. The best literary criticism actually explains an author to himself. That's what your review did. I understand my own book better after reading your review and I want to thank you for that." Butler's letter is folded for mailing; else fine, in a near fine envelope. Clark's 3-page handwritten review is folded in half; near fine. The book is fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a short edge tear.