Catalog 148, A
1. ABBOTT, Edwin A. "A. Square." Flatland. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1885. The first American edition of this classic fable, published pseudonymously and in print continuously for more than a century. Illustrations by the author. One of the most significant books published in the late 19th century, Flatland posited a way for the inhabitants of its two-dimensional world to conceive of higher dimensions such as our own three-dimensional world, and by extension a way for inhabitants of a three-dimensional world to do the same. Prior to Einstein's general theory of relativity, it aimed at redefining the frame of reference of our perceptions of the world and opening up the possibility of the kind of self-awareness that came to characterize the modernist, and post-modernist, perspective. This copy was loaned to multi-media artist Inga McCaslin Frick for an installation in a show entitled Cosmosis. The show was postponed, but Frick did create a small print of an image of the book held aloft by a shadow hand, and that print, signed by Frick is included. Frick's own work often touches on subjective and objective reality and the nature of spatial perception. The book has an owner gift inscription on flyleaf, darkening to spine, handling apparent on boards, light fraying to the corners and ends: a very good copy, without dust jacket. The print is fine.
2. ADIGA, Aravind. The White Tiger. London: Atlantic Books (2008). The uncorrected proof copy of the first British edition (preceding the American) of his acclaimed debut novel, a dark comedy that has drawn favorable comparisons to the work of Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, Amitav Ghosh and Jhumpa Lahiri. Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers.
3. AMIS, Martin. The Second Plane. NY: Knopf, 2008. The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of Amis's new book, a collection of essays and two stories focused on the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and their aftermath. Fine in wrappers.
4. (Anthology). LE GUIN, Ursula. Interfaces. NY: Ace Books (1980). An anthology of "speculative fiction" co-edited by Le Guin and Virginia Kidd. Paperback original; no hardcover edition was issued. Signed by Le Guin. Also signed by contributors John Crowley and Vonda McIntyre. Other contributors include Gene Wolfe, Edward Bryant, James Tiptree, Jr., etc. A bit of spine creasing; near fine in wrappers.
5. (Anthology). DUBUS, Andre. Into the Silence. Cambridge: Green Street Press, 1988. A collection of stories edited by Dubus, one of the most acclaimed writers of short fiction of his time. Contributors include Gina Berriault, Mark Costello, Susan Dodd, Pam Durban, Tobias Wolff, Thomas Williams and others, most of whose writings in this volume are the first book appearances of their respective pieces. No indication of a hardcover edition. Fine in wrappers.
6. (Anthology). Paths of Resistance. The Art and Craft of the Political Novel. Boston: Houghton Mifflin (1989). The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of original essays by Isabel Allende, Robert Stone, Gore Vidal, Charles McCarry and Marge Piercy. Mild spine sunning; near fine in wrappers.
7. (Anthology). Edward Hopper and the American Imagination. NY: Whitney Museum of American Art/Norton (1995). Two separate advance states of this anthology of previously published writings in which some influence of Hopper is reflected, if only in "glimpses of private lives of quiet despair lived within the public arena." Contributors include Paul Auster, Ann Beattie, Thom Gunn, James Salter, Norman Mailer, William Kennedy, Walter Mosley, Grace Paley, Leonard Michaels, Galway Kinnell, Tess Gallagher, and others. Ringbound galley sheets, 8 1/2" x 11". Printed on rectos only, with a picture of the cover art laid in. Together with the unbound signatures. One edge tear on the title page of the signatures; otherwise both items fine. Scarce pre-publication states of this publication, which includes contributions by a number of notable contemporary American authors.
8. (Anthology). VIDAL, Gore and PARINI, Jay. The Norton Book of American Autobiography. NY: Norton (1998). The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of autobiographical excerpts edited and introduced by Parini and with a preface by Vidal. Ranges back to the seventeenth century and forward to the works of Tobias Wolff, Joyce Carol Oates, Annie Dillard, Terry Tempest Williams, Harry Crews, Maxine Hong Kingston, James Alan McPherson, Julia Alvarez, Vidal himself, and many others. Very near fine in wrappers.
9. ARIAS, Ron. The Road to Tamazunchale. Reno: West Coast Poetry Review, 1975. His first book, an early, key volume in the field of Chicano literature. Arias was an early volunteer to the Peace Corps, joining in 1963, two years after it was founded. As one of the early volunteers of Hispanic descent, he served time in Peru and this comic novel is set in Peru and his native Los Angeles. The book has been called "one of the founding texts in contemporary Chicano literature" and "one of the first achieved works of Chicano consciousness and spirit" (Library Journal). Fine in stapled wrappers. There was no hardcover edition until three years later. Although it is widely reported on the internet that this title was a nominee/finalist for the National Book Award, we can find no evidence that that information is correct; more likely it is a reflection of the retrospective acclaim the book has achieved, rather than the critical and popular reception of it at the time. An important book, and an uncommon first edition.
10. (AUSTER, Paul). DELILLO, Don. "On February 14, 1989..." (NY): (Rushdie Defense Committee USA)(1994). A flyer issued in support of Salman Rushdie on the fifth anniversary of the Iranian death edict issued against him in response to The Satanic Verses. Neither Auster nor DeLillo is named on the flyer, but an accompanying letter from designer Bill Drentell (photocopy provided) names DeLillo as author and Auster as organizer. This copy is signed by Auster. 450,000 copies of the flyer were printed but few are likely to have been preserved. Printed on one side and then folded to make four pages. Fine. Although we have seen a couple copies of this signed by DeLillo, this is the first one we have seen signed by Auster.
11. -. Same title, the British issue. (London): (International Rushdie Defense Committee)(1994). Larger flyer than the American, with a different list of supporters on the rear panel. Printed on two sides of one sheet, and folded to make four pages. Small typo in the main text (period missing) that does not appear in the American text. This copy is also signed by Auster. It is likely that far fewer copies of the British issue would have been produced: we have never seen it before. A photocopy of the U.S. letter from Bill Drentell is included, as that is the only place Auster and DeLillo are named. Fine.