Catalog 148, L
109. (LEE, Harper). KELLY, Riley Nicholas. In Search of Light. NY: Exposition Press (1969). A volume of vanity press poetry by Kelly, distinguished by a front cover blurb by Harper Lee, from a period of time when it was not uncommon for vanity publishers to simply warehouse their print runs for a predetermined length of time and then destroy them, with the majority of copies receiving distribution coming out of the author's allotment. For most vanity press works -- regardless of how many were originally printed -- the number of copies that ever made it into the marketplace probably averages in the low dozens. That fact, combined with the fact that Harper Lee has published so little other than To Kill a Mockingbird, makes this a rare occurrence in print by the author of one of the best-loved American novels of all time. This copy is inscribed by Kelly to Phoebe Lee "with fond best wishes." Kelly was a native of Excel, Alabama, less than 10 miles from Lee's hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. Small spot to front cover; near fine in a mildly rubbed dust jacket with a tear at the upper spine fold.
110. LEITHAUSER, Brad. Typed Letters Signed. December 16, 1987 and August 19, 1992. In each letter, Leithauser updates the recipient on his life -- address change, teaching assignments, child expected, novels expected (Hence and Seaward, respectively). In each letter, he suggests the recipient attend a gallery showing of his brother's artwork. With an announcement of Mark Leithauser's January 1988 opening. One letter folded for mailing; one envelope included; fine. For both:
111. LEITHAUSER, Brad. Typescript of "The Future Belongs to the Painters of the Tropics." Undated. [c. 1988]. Fourteen pages (eight pages photocopy; six pages of ribbon-copy revisions) on the subject of Paul Gauguin in Tahiti. Together with the typed note signed in which Leithauser first agreed to do the piece (dated January 1987 but postmarked 1988). Folded for mailing; else fine, with envelope. Also together with the typed note signed that accompanied the revisions. The manuscript is heavily edited; else fine, with envelope.
112. LEM, Stanislaw. Solaris. NY: Walker and Co. (1970). The first American edition of Lem's classic novel, which has been filmed twice, once in 1972 by the Russian experimental filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky and again in 2002 by Steven Soderbergh. Lem, a Pole and the most famous science fiction writer of his time in the Communist world, writes in the tradition of Eastern European philosophical fantasy, and during the Soviet era science fiction was one of the few genres in which political and philosophical ideas could be explored freely, with minimal risk of being examined for political orthodoxy. Couched within the basically straightforward story of humans' encounter with the life of an alien planet is an exploration of the nature of reality itself and the limitations of scientific inquiry, which has been compared to Kafka and includes allusions to André Breton and the Surrealists. Nonetheless, Solaris is considered Lem's most straightforward and accessible novel. This is an ex-library copy, with a library stamp on the front pastedown and "withdrawn" stamped to the top and bottom of the text block; tape or tape shadows to the endpages; and the circulation envelope removed from the rear flyleaf. Otherwise a very good copy in a near fine, spine-sunned dust jacket with the shadow of an accession label at the base of the spine. Uncommon in the original US hardcover edition, even as an ex-library copy.
113. (LOPEZ, Barry). "A Conversation Between Barry Lopez and Alan Magee" in Alan Magee. Paintings. Sculpture. Graphics. NY/LA: Forum Gallery (2003). Large quarto, extensively illustrated with Magee's artwork, primarily paintings. Published as a companion to a touring retrospective of Magee's work. With a foreword by Richard West, an appreciation by Jonathan Weiner, and a 12-page conversation between Magee and Barry Lopez. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with slight rubbing to the rear, black panel.
114. LOVECRAFT, H.P. Autograph Letter Signed. October 1, 1927. Written to horror writer and artist Clark Ashton Smith ("C.A.S."), one of the circle of friends and fellow writers known to posterity as the Lovecraft Circle, and one of the writers whose work extended the Cthulhu Mythos that Lovecraft had invented and which then became part of the fictional milieu of a whole group of writers for Weird Tales and the other pulps in the 1930s and after. Four pages, closely written on two sides of two 6" x 9" sheets; approximately 1300 words. Lovecraft begins by admiring the paintings by Smith that Donald Wandrei had sent him ("Truly, I have never before seen such profoundly soul-moving glimpses of alien worlds with haunted skies and jungles of prismatic madness. It is such a series of forbidden revelations as one might spy through some magic window of the sort described in Dunsany's 'Book of Wonder'..."). He discusses his travels, particularly to areas in New England that are predominantly unchanged for the past 150 years, and sympathizes with Smith's struggles to write and paint, bolstering his friend by calling him more successful than himself in his "ability to produce creative work... I haven't very much energy or perseverance -- the uselessness of everything, including even aesthetic effort, overshadows my consciousness & coöperates with my native indolence in defeating all progressive or constructive developments." He mentions the first issue of The Recluse magazine, which published his essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature" and recommends to Smith that he read E.R. Eddison's now-classic The Worm Ourobouros, which had just been published in the past year, "which combines some gloriously imaginative phantasy with an exquisitely lyrical prose style." He recommends the new Franz Werfel, recounts his disappointment in the new Robert Chambers book, and about his own writing he says "I haven't written any stories since 'The Colour Out of Space', but hope to get around to a hell-raiser or two in the later autumn." A highly personal, informative letter to one of his closest writer friends: Smith and Lovecraft first "met" in 1922 when Lovecraft wrote him a fan letter, and they began a long and intimate correspondence until Lovecraft's death in 1937. They are considered, in retrospect, the two most outstanding figures of the classic era of American horror fiction, with Lovecraft at the pinnacle and Smith a somewhat distant second. Signed "HPL." Folded for mailing; near fine, with envelope. The sheets are inserted in sleeves, which are bound into a custom folder, which is fine.
115. LOVECRAFT, H.P. Autograph Letter Signed. October, 1932. Written to Clark Ashton Smith ("Klarkash-Ton"). Two pages (on one sheet), approximately 800 words. Almost the entire letter is devoted to writers and writing, with Lovecraft recounting Frank Belknap Long's having had a story rejected by Astounding Stories for being "too horrible & depressing." He mentions A. Merritt, "a splendid fantastiste ruined by acquiescence to the popular magazine tradition!" and as evidence promises to send two installments of Merritt's classic "The Moon Pool," being published by Astounding Stories as well as "the ancient All-Story containing the original & vastly superior novelette..." He mentions that Belknap has seen a review of the new Hammett anthology (Creeps by Night: Chills and Thrills, John Day, 1931) "though no cheques have come either his way or my way. We are wondering if our tales were left out at the last moment!" (Both their stories were included.) He mentions W. Paul Cook, the founder of The Recluse and alludes to Cook's failed attempt to publish Lovecraft's The Shunned House in 1928. In all a highly literary letter, indicating just how thoroughly Lovecraft was plugged into the world of writers and writing, and also how marginal his income was at the time. Signed "Ech-Pi-El" [HPL], as he often did in his later years. Folded for mailing; fine, with envelope. The sheet is inserted into a sleeve, which is bound into a custom folder, which is fine.