Catalog 148, N-R
143. (Native American). ALEXIE, Sherman. The Business Of Fancydancing: The Screenplay. Brooklyn: Hanging Loose (2003). The hardcover edition of the screenplay based on Alexie's first book of stories and prose poems, which was published in 1992. Alexie also directed the film, which won a number of film festival awards, including the Jury Award at the Durango Film Festival and two Grand Jury Awards at the L.A. Outfest. The book also includes a two-page introduction by Alexie, a section of scenes that did not appear in the film, short personal pieces by a number of the actors, photographs of the production, complete film credits and an essay about Alexie's filmmaking by Brian Miller. This copy is signed by Alexie. Fine, without dust jacket, as issued.
144. -. Same title. One of 100 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine, without dust jacket, as issued.
145. NERUDA, Pablo. La Barcarola. Buenos Aires: Losada (1967). A long poem by the Chilean Nobel Prize winner, printed on different-colored pages. Inscribed by the author to Selden Rodman, the noted writer and champion of folk arts, particularly of Latin America and the Caribbean: "a Selden/ un abrazo/ de Pablo/ 1969/ 2 I." A nice inscription: "a hug from Pablo," indicative of the closeness of the two friends. Rodman had long been an advocate of Haitian art: he had been co-director of the Haitian Centre d'Art in the 1940s and became President of the Haitian Art Center in New York City in the 1950s. In the 1960s he traveled to Mexico, Central America, throughout the Caribbean, and Latin America, where he met and befriended numerous artists and writers, among them Neruda in Chile. Text block re-attached to spine; light foxing, rubbing and creasing to covers, with one tear at the lower front joint. Still very good in self-wrappers. A nice association copy.
146. NEUGEBOREN, Jay. Listen Ruben Fontanez. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1968. A review copy of his second book which, like his first, is set in the urban ghettos of New York City. Inscribed by the author in 1976. Neugeboren's most recent book, 1940, a historical novel about Adolf Hitler's family doctor, who was Jewish, has just been published to excellent reviews. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with trace wear at the crown, with review slip laid in.
147. NEUGEBOREN, Jay. Corky's Brother. NY: FSG (1969). A review copy of his third book, a collection of stories and a novella, again set in the ghettos of New York City. The title novella won the Transatlantic Review Novella Award and is the story of a baseball player, continuing the author's propensity for using sports as a metaphor for, and a window onto, the problems of the larger society. Inscribed by the author in 1976. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a bit of fading to the spine title.
148. NEUGEBOREN, Jay. Parentheses. An Autobiographical Journey. NY: Dutton, 1970. Folded & gathered sheets of his fourth book and first of nonfiction, a memoir of his political awakening in the late 1950s and early 1960s, which led to an active involvement in the Civil Rights movement and the movement against the war in Vietnam. Inscribed by the author in 1976. Fine, partially stapled into a very good dust jacket. Neugeboren has more recently written more nonfiction, recounting his brother's battle with mental illness and his own experience of open heart surgery: both received extensive critical praise.
149. ONDAATJE, Michael. Coming Through Slaughter. (NY): Avon/Bard (1979). The first Bard printing, Bard being the literary arm of the mass market paperback publisher, Avon. Inscribed by Ondaatje to the poet Ai: "with best wishes and respect to a terrific poet." Tiny tear to foredge of rear cover; near fine in wrappers. Coming Through Slaughter was Ondaatje's first novel; prior to this he too was predominantly a poet. A nice association copy; we have seldom seen an Ondaatje inscription as effusive as this.
150. ORWELL, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. NY: Harcourt Brace (1949). The first American edition of his classic dystopia, a chilling extrapolation of the political tendencies in postwar Great Britain and one of the most influential works of the century -- whose title became a synonym for an oppressive police state, and which introduced to the language such words and concepts as "thought police," "doublethink," and "Big Brother." One of Pringle's hundred best science fiction novels, a Burgess 99 and Connolly 100 title, and also chosen as one of the novels of the century by the Modern Library, Radcliffe, Waterstone's and the New York Public Library. Foxing to cloth; a very good copy in two dust jackets: both the red variant and the blue variant. The blue jacket is near fine with a little spine sunning and light wear at the spine extremities; the red jacket is very good, with spine sunning and shallow chipping to the edges and corners. Uncommon with both jackets.
151. OZICK, Cynthia. Typed Letters Signed. March 14 and June 4, 1991. The first letter recounts several "months of upheaval" following her husband's injury in an accident: "I have not been able to write a word since November 20th... and am fairly suffocated by unfulfilled commitments and the guilt pertaining thereto." The second, longer letter talks of Israel, where the recipient is headed and where her daughter already is. In part: "The phrase 'Arab-Israeli conflict' is a misnomer that's led to the world's current Big Lie. It's not a 'conflict' when one party is tirelessly aiming to destroy the other, and there can be no equation (the word 'conflict' certainly suggests an equation) between would-be destroyers and defenders..." Both letters are folded for mailing; else fine, with envelopes.
152. PAZ, Octavio and Charles Tomlinson. Air Born/Hijos del Aire. Mexico City: Pescador, 1979. Poems co-written by the authors -- Paz the Mexican Nobel Prize winner and Tomlinson a British poet, translator and artist. Paz has translated Tomlinson's poetry into Spanish, and he provided the introduction for a 1976 book of his graphic art. This is the hardcover issue: of a total edition of 391 copies, this is a Roman-numeraled copy in cloth and boards, apparently one of 75 such copies (although the colophon is ambiguous on this matter) signed by both authors. Fine.
153. (Poetry). Archive of French Symbolist Poetry. Various places and dates, ca. 1890s -1930s. A collection of manuscripts, correspondence and books from the library of Marjorie Henry Ilsley, who was a scholar and writer and a friend of a number of the French poets of the Symbolist and post-Symbolist schools. The archive includes about 50 books, more than 30 of them inscribed to Marjorie Ilsley by such writers as Marc Chadbourne (3), Paul Claudel (1), Jean Cocteau (1), Edouard Estaunie (3), Wallace Fowlie (several), Andre Fontainas (2), Paul Fort (1), Camille Mauclair (2) and others. It includes two holograph poetry manuscripts by Stuart Merrill, 5 pp and 6 pp; a 3-page Paul Fort letter to Stuart Merrill as well as a 4-page holograph poem by him dedicated to Merrill and dated 1899. There are three letters by Albert Mockel and a 2-page holograph poem by him. And there are several offprints of pieces by Wallace Fowlie and Ilsley herself; plus her own copies of her book on Stuart Merrill; a book she co-edited on 20th century literature; and the manuscript of her book on Marie le Jars de Gournay. There are also the galley sheets from a 1922 privately printed book of letters from Stephane Mallarme to Algernon Charles Swinburne; a limited edition of a facsimile of a letter from Mallarme to Verlaine; and three of Stuart Merrill's books including his first book with Ilsley's notes throughout.
Correspondents represented in the archive include Jean Benoit-Levy, Andre Cazamian, Edouard Champion, Edouard Estaunie, Andre Fountainas, Paul Fort, Ian Forbes Fraser, Rene Ghil, Alfred Jeanroy, Camille Mauclair, Claire Stuart Merrill, Albert Mockel, Marie Noel, Henri de Regnier, Charles Silvestre, and Francis Viele-Griffin. There are also photographic portraits of Edouard Estaunie and Albert Mockel, as well as a number of snapshots of Ilsley and Estaunie and a handful of unidentified snapshots, apparently taken in France.
Marjorie Henry Ilsley earned a degree from the Sorbonne in 1927: she was given the title "Woman of the Day" by the Paris Times after she presented a remarkable defense of her thesis on the American-born French Symbolist poet Stuart Merrill before a Jury of the Faculty of Letters at the university, and she was one of the first American women to receive a doctorate there. She taught at Wellesley College after graduating and later was the Head of the French Department at Pine Manor Junior College, which was associated with Wellesley at the time, from 1951-1957. (During that time, one of her students was Jill Faulkner, daughter of William Faulkner, which explains why Faulkner gave the Commencement at Pine Manor in 1951.) When she died in 1961 she left her books and papers to the college, and they were later deaccessioned.
The Symbolist movement grew up in the late 19th century as a reaction to Realism and Naturalism in the arts; in restoring a place for spirituality, idealism, and symbolism in the arts, it laid the foundation for the surrealists who by the 1930s supplanted the post-Symbolists. This archive covers an important and under-recognized era in the development of international movements in modern poetry and includes most of the writers of the latter part of the Symbolist movement. An inventory list for the archive is available on request.
154. PRICE, Richard. Lush Life. NY: FSG (2008). The advance reading copy of the new novel by the author of Clockers, Freedomland, and others. Price has also been a successful screenwriter, nominated for both an Edgar and an Oscar for his film scripts, and a writer for the critically acclaimed television series The Wire. Dennis Lehane, the award-winning author of Mystic River and one of Price's co-writers on The Wire, called him "the greatest writer of dialogue, living or dead, this country has ever produced." Fine in wrappers.
155. PURDY, James. In a Shallow Grave. NY: Arbor House (1975). A dedication copy of this novel. Inscribed by Purdy on the dedication page: "For Ed, with love, James/ January 22, 1976." The book is dedicated to Edward G. Hefter, Robert Helps, and George Andrew McKay. Copies of reviews of the book are tipped to the front flyleaf and the rear blank; slight spine lean, else fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a touch of shelf wear at the spine ends. Basis for the 1988 film.
156. -. Same title. The uncorrected proof copy. Fine in tall padbound wrappers, wrapped in a proof dust jacket. A fragile format; uncommon.
157. (PYNCHON, Thomas). Proceedings, Second Series, No. 26. NY: (American Academy of Arts and Letters), 1976. Prints Pynchon's letter declining the William Dean Howells Medal for Gravity's Rainbow, in part, "The Howells Medal is a great honor, and, being gold, probably a good hedge against inflation too. But I don't want it." The letter appears in the text of William Styron's speech presenting Pynchon with the award, which is given for the most distinguished fiction published in the U.S. in a five year period. Also includes William Gaddis' acceptance of the National Book Award for J.R. and a Norman Mailer speech on writing and writers. Fine in wrappers. Mead B23.
158. RICE, Anne. Publisher's Dummy for Pandora. [NY]: [Knopf][1998]. Publisher's mock-up for this collection of vampire tales, consisting of a proof dust jacket taped to a Spanish edition of Pope John Paul's Crossing the Threshold of Hope. An interesting choice of text to serve as the dummy copy, given Rice's later abandonment of her vampire writings and her return to Catholicism. With a note laid in stating that despite a higher page count, Rice's book "will bulk up the same." Produced in small numbers as an aid for the sales force, it is likely that very few copies will have survived. Fine, with trace edge wear, at least some of which is photocopied edge wear. Together with a copy of the finished product, the first trade edition, signed by the author on a tipped-in leaf. Fine in a fine dust jacket. For both: $250
159. ROTH, Philip. Operation Shylock. NY: Simon & Schuster (1993). A hardcover advance reading copy, shot from proof sheets and bound in a quarter cloth binding with a paper label on the front cover and an unstamped spine. This copy is inscribed by the author. Corner crease to front flyleaf; very slight edge sunning; near fine. Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and Time magazine's Book of the Year. An unusual format for an advance reading copy, and this is the only one we have ever seen that was signed by Roth.
160. -. Another copy, in a trial dust jacket, reportedly rejected by Roth. The jacket features cover and spine printing only: the rear cover and flaps are blank. A very unusual format for an advance copy anyway, and rare with the trial jacket, which is markedly different from the jacket design that was eventually used.
161. ROTH, Philip. Everyman. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. The advance reading copy. Fine in wrappers. Surprisingly uncommon for a recent ARC; one suspects that with the degree of critical and commercial success that Roth has enjoyed in the past two decades -- winning virtually every major literary award given out in this country and enjoying strong sales -- the publisher may have decided that spending money on prepublication promotional copies was redundant: the book was going to get significant attention even without a strong promotional push by the publisher.
162. ROTH, Philip. Exit Ghost. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 2007. The ninth and last novel featuring Roth alter-ego Nathan Zuckerman. This is an advance copy, consisting of spiralbound photocopied sheets of the printed advance reading copy, in acetate covers. The last 70 pages are bound in upside down. Near fine. An unusual format, of unknown provenance: perhaps the publisher ran low on advance copies and made this up in lieu of printing more. In any event, uncommon.
163. (ROWLING, J.K.). Pegasus, Issues 41 and 44. Exeter: University of Exeter, 1998 and 2001. Contributions by "Joanne Rowling" to the magazine of Exeter's Classics and Ancient History Department. The first (1998) is a recounting of her time at Exeter and her escape from the German department into the Classics department and the bemused tolerance on the part of her professors there, one of whom was the model for the character of Professor Binns, Hogwarts' History of Magic teacher. Two-plus pages, plus a brief biographical statement boasting that her first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, published the previous year, had sold 30,004 copies (the series is currently estimated to have sold over 375 million copies). The second issue, three years later, has two pages of text presenting Rowling with an honorary degree and a two page response by Rowling in which she recounts lessons learned since her own graduation and urges that "being privileged people, it becomes us to set off into the world with the intention of improving it, wherever we can." The first issue is misbound, a production error: several pages repeated; several not relevant pages missing; the Rowling article perfectly intact; and the outward presentation fine, in stapled wrappers. The second issue is fine in stapled wrappers. One of her few appearances in print outside of the Harry Potter series; both pieces are interesting, revealing essays, shedding light on her and her writing long before her fame and success.
164. (RUSHDIE, Salman). BRAZILLER, George. For Rushdie. (n.p.): Braziller, 1994. An offprint of Braziller's introduction for For Rushdie: Essays by Arab and Muslim Writers in Defense of Free Speech. Two pages of text, printed on one folded leaf, with title page, in which Braziller discusses Rushdie and the death sentence issued against him five years earlier; other writers in Rushdie's situation; and writers who are speaking out in support, both of Rushdie and of free speech. Fine. Uncommon ephemeral piece.