Catalog 149, C-E
34. CARRUTH, Hayden. Correspondence Archive. 1978-1980. Twenty-seven pieces: sixteen typed notes or letters signed and eleven autograph notes signed, all written in his capacity as a reader for Harper's and transmitting poetry by others to Harper's for publication, specifying the rate ($2/word; $3/word) that each author should be paid. Although the poetry is not present, some of the poets Carruth has accepted include Robert Bly, Jim Wright, David Ignatow, Joseph Brodsky and Galway Kinnell. His notes frequently offer a brief opinion on the work or the poet in question. Some mention literary matters such as his editing of the work transmitted or other writerly burdens such as deadlines and luncheons. A handful touch on personal matters: the health of his mother; new living accommodations; the weather; immediate contingencies ("I'm trying to roast a chicken;" "My typewriter is busted"). One particularly moving note expresses his feelings on the declining health of Jim Wright. Nearly all the notes are written on Harper's letterhead or notepaper. Most are signed "Hayden;" others with the initial "H;" the last one is signed in full. Besides serving as a poetry editor at Harper's and at Poetry magazine, Carruth has won numerous awards for his own poetry, including the Ruth Lilly Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award and the National Book Award. He has also been a Guggenheim Fellow and a Bollingen Fellow. Apart from mailing folds and the publisher's annotations indicating routing and payment information, the lot is generally fine.
35. CHABON, Michael. Wonder Boys. NY: Villard Books, 1995. His third book, second novel, basis for the highly acclaimed film which was nominated for three Academy Awards, winning one. Chabon's 2000 novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize, and his recent novel The Yiddish Policeman's Union won the Hugo and Nebula awards. Both books are being made into films, as is Chabon's first novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, which is scheduled for release later this year. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
36. CHABON, Michael. Gentlemen of the Road. NY: Del Rey (2007). The uncorrected proof copy of this serial novel, which was originally published in 15 parts in The New York Times Magazine. With illustrations by Gary Gianni. Chabon has continued to explore the limits of genre fiction in recent years: The Yiddish Policeman's Union was an alternate-history novel that won major science fiction awards; this is a "swashbuckling adventure" set in the year 950 A.D. Fine in wrappers. An uncommon proof.
37. COHEN, Leonard. Beautiful Losers. NY: Viking (1966). The first American edition -- reportedly preceding the Canadian edition -- of the landmark second novel by the Canadian poet-folksinger, one of the key books of the Sixties -- a "visionary counter-culture religious epic" in the words of one critic. In its paperback reprint edition, it was ubiquitous on college campuses and passed hand-to-hand by a generation that was finding itself increasingly alienated from the mainstream, dominant culture. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket. A major novel, uncommon signed.
38. COHEN, Leonard. Death of a Lady's Man. (Toronto): McClelland and Stewart (1978). A collection of poetry, this being the reported first issue, with "Lie down" instead of "Lay down" on page 94. This book was published a year after Cohen's record album with the title Death of a Ladies' Man was issued. Inscribed by the author in 1984. Photograph of the author laid in. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Books signed by Cohen are scarce.
39. (Computers). GLASS, Robert L. Tales of Computing Folk: Hot Dogs & Mixed Nuts. Seattle: Computing Trends (1978). A collection of articles by Glass about "Computer People," which appeared in Computerworld in the 1970s under the pseudonym Miles Benson. An interesting look at a time when computers were still more exotic than routine. Signed by the author. Only issued in wrappers; fine.
40. CONNELL, Evan S. Typed Note Signed. April 8, [no year]. Two paragraphs, which begin, "I'm glad you are enjoying the Custer book (presumably Son of the Morning Star). Connell then declines an invitation to write an article as he is trying to "get back to work on another book, The Alchemist's Journal." The book was eventually published with the title The Alchymist's Journal. Signed by the author. Folded for mailing; else fine.
41. CRACE, Jim. Continent. NY: Harper & Row (1987). The uncorrected proof of the first American edition of his first book, a collection of related stories that won the Whitbread Prize, the David Higham Prize for Fiction, and the Guardian Fiction Prize. An auspicious debut. Fine in wrappers.
42. DELILLO, Don. White Noise. (n.p.): (Viking) (1985). The advance reading copy of his National Book Award-winning novel. Signed by the author. A very scarce book in the prepublication issue; we've only seen a handful of copies over the more than 20 years since it was published -- and very uncommon signed. Publisher's label to front cover stating publication date and first serial rights. Fine in wrappers.
43. DELILLO, Don. Underworld. (n.p.): Picador (1998). The advance reading copy of the first British edition of this novel that was nominated for the National Book Award. Very slight corner crease to rear cover; else fine in wrappers.
44. DÍAZ, Junot. Drown. NY: Riverhead Books, 1996. His highly praised first book, a collection of stories, several of which first appeared in The New Yorker. That magazine named him as one of the top 20 writers for the 21st century. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
45. DÍAZ, Junot. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. NY: Riverhead Books, 2007. His second book, first novel. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
46. -. Same title, the advance reading copy. Signed by the author. With textual variations between this and the published text. Fine in wrappers. A surprisingly scarce advance copy, perhaps because of the textual changes; we have never seen another signed copy of it.
47. (DÍAZ, Junot). Las Mamis. Favorite Latino Authors Remember Their Mothers. NY: Knopf, 2000. The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of original pieces, edited by Esmeralda Santiago and Joie Davidow. Díaz contributes "How (In a Time of Trouble) I Discovered My Mom and Learned to Live." With additional pieces by Francisco Goldman, Dagoberto Gilb, Piri Thomas and others. Fine in wrappers with cover art bound in.
48. (DICK, Philip K.). BISHOP, Michael. "In Pursuit of Ubik." (n.p.): (n.p.)[1979]. Original typescript of Bishop's introduction to the 1979 Gregg Press edition of Dick's novel Ubik. Fifteen pages, double-spaced, with holograph corrections, apparently in Bishop's hand. Printed again in the volume Philip K. Dick [NY: Taplinger Publishing Company, 1983], a copy of which is included with this typescript. Several textual differences exist between the typescript and the Taplinger version. Although it is unknown whether the changes were made pre- or post- the Gregg edition, the typescript in at least one instance carries far more colorful language: "I believe that Spinrad's indeterminacy argument, as well as my own approach to Ubik, knocks this criticism slam-bang cattywampus on its overupholstered arse." This last phrase, in the Taplinger edition, reads "totally invalidates this criticism." One tiny snag to the upper margin of page 15; otherwise the typescript is fine. The book has slight top edge foxing and is otherwise fine in a fine dust jacket.
49. (DICK, Philip K.). BISHOP, Michael. The Secret Ascension (Philip K. Dick is Dead, Alas.) (NY): TOR (1987). A novel written as an homage to Philip K. Dick, and dedicated to his "biological and literary" heirs. The novel takes place during Richard Nixon's fourth term in office, with the ghost of Philip Dick as a main character. Bishop has won many awards for his science fiction, and has books on each of David Pringle's lists of the 100 best science fiction and 100 best fantasy novels. Signed in full by Bishop and also inscribed: "For ___, In the hope that you liked at least a little of this strange book. All good wishes. MB." Fine in a fine dust jacket.
50. DOCTOROW, E.L. Welcome to Hard Times. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1960. The scarce first book by an author who has won every major literary award in this country and whose multi-volume fictionalized history of New York City is one of the most ambitious and successful ongoing literary achievements of our time. Pages darkening with age, as usual -- according to a note we saw from Doctorow dating from the mid-Sixties, copies of this book were already showing their age through the browning of the paper then; otherwise a fine copy in a very good, spine-tanned, slightly dusty jacket.
51. DOCTOROW, E.L. The Waterworks. NY: Random House (1994). Set in New York City in the 1870s, this novel is both a story in itself and also a portrait of New York City at a particular moment in time. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Together with a typed note signed, dated November 5, 1996, in which he agrees to sign a book. Signed by Doctorow. Folded for mailing; fine, with envelope.
52. DUBUS, Andre, III. The Garden of Last Days. NY: Norton (2008). His highly praised new novel, a fictionalized account of the final days of one of the 9/11 hijackers and thus an examination of cultural contrasts and the communication gap across cultural boundaries. Dubus's novel House of Sand and Fog was selected by Oprah Winfrey's book club and was a National Book Award finalist; it was also made into well-received Hollywood movie that was nominated for three Academy Awards, among a host of other honors. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
53. DUNCAN, Robert. Faust Foutu. (Stinson Beach): (Enkidu Surrogate) (1960). One of 750 copies printed of the third edition, but first full trade edition, of this play. (The first edition was privately printed; the second edition printed only Act I.) Near fine in stapled wrappers. Laid in is a mimeographed program for a reading of the play at the "6," listing the cast, which included Duncan, Jack Spicer, "Mike" McClure, Jess Collins, Helen Adam and others; folded in fourths, else fine. A nice copy of this play, with scarce ephemera laid in. The Six Gallery was, among other things, the location of the first reading of Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl." It had started as the King Ubu Gallery, co-founded by Duncan, Jess and Harry Jacobus. It became The Six Gallery in 1954 and ended its life in that incarnation in 1957. So the mimeograph sheet for the performance places it in the 1954-57 period, after the publication of the privately produced version of the play and several years prior to the publication of this edition. From the library of Pauline Kael, longtime New Yorker film critic but at this time the operator of an art film theater in San Francisco and a close friend of Duncan, Jess and the others in that crowd.
54. DURRELL, Lawrence. Clea. London: Faber and Faber (1959). The uncorrected proof copy of the concluding volume of the "Alexandria Quartet," the author's undisputed masterwork. Spine creased from binding glue; near fine in wrappers. Proofs of this vintage seldom turn up, especially in collectible condition.
55. DYLAN, Bob. The Times They Are A Changin. NY: M. Witmark (1963). An early Dylan songbook, with words and music to ten Dylan songs. A number of the songs appeared on Dylan's album of the same name, but several of them were recorded but never released; they are known as the "Witmark demos," produced for the music publisher that also published this songbook. Also included are two songs from "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan." Covers rubbed; near fine in stapled wrappers.
56. EASTLAKE, William. Go in Beauty. NY: Harper & Brothers (1956). Bound galleys of Eastlake's first book, the first novel in what became (with The Bronc People and Portrait of an Artist with Twenty-Six Horses) his Bowman Family Trilogy. This copy was sent to Paul Bowles: a letter laid in from an editor at Harper's announces the book and solicits comments from Bowles. 6 1/2" x 11 7/16", printed on rectos only and perfectbound in plain wrappers with a label partially removed from the front cover. In custom clamshell case. A very near fine copy of a scarce proof, dating from an era in which the production of bound proof copies was the exception, not the norm: this is the only copy we've ever seen. With notable provenance, having come from Paul Bowles's library, and with textual differences from the published book.
57. EDDISON, E.R. Egil's Saga. (London): Cambridge University Press, 1930. A retelling of the Icelandic saga by one of the preeminent fantasy novelists of his time, the author of The Worm Ouroboros and Styrbiorn the Strong in the 1920s, and Mistress of Mistresses in 1935. Inscribed by Eddison to Walter de la Mare: "Dear Mr. de la Mare, I hope that you will humour me by accepting, as from one frequentor of desert islands to another, this book. I speak of my share in it: for the Great Saga itself, whose portrait I have really tried to paint & to frame, can only confer honour upon anybody connected with it, living or dead. So at least it seems to me, after five years' living at close quarters with it. Yours very truly, E.R. Eddison. 26th Oct. 1930." De la Mare's bookplate front pastedown. A wonderful association copy: De la Mare was noted for his books for children, and in particular his interest in imagination and what he called the "visionary" view of life that children experienced. Eddison's inscription alludes to the shared explorations of reality that a fantasy author and a poet and novelist writing for children would hold in common. A little spotting to endpages and page edges; near fine in a near fine, lightly handled and mildly spine-tanned dust jacket. A very attractive copy of a little-known work by an important fantasy author -- the work itself having been influential over the years in the development of both children's literature and fantasy literature -- and one of the best possible association copies of it.
58. EDGERTON, Clyde. The Floatplane Notebooks. Chapel Hill: Algonquin, 1988. The third book by this North Carolina writer, author of Raney, among others. Signed by the author. Faint foxing to page edges; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
59. EGGERS, Dave. What is the What. The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng. (San Francisco): (McSweeney's) (2006). The advance reading copy of this highly praised "nonfiction novel" based on the life story of Deng, one of the Sudanese "Lost Boys," as told to Eggers, the author of the acclaimed memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and creator of McSweeney's, the highly regarded literary journal and publisher. With different cover art from the published book and with blurbs by Khaled Hosseini, Philip Gourevitch and John Prendergast on the rear panel. Slight splaying to covers; else fine in wrappers. Uncommon in the proof form: McSweeney's is a decidedly small press, with little in the way of marketing dollars: its best advertising tends to be the "buzz" created by its publications, and this book exemplified the process, reaching #25 on The New York Times bestseller list without the benefit of much in the way of advertising or promotional clout. A powerful novelization of a Sudanese survivor's story and a novel not likely to be forgotten by any who read it.
60. EISELEY, Loren. The Mind as Nature. NY: Harper & Row (1962). A review copy of this small volume in the John Dewey Lectureship series, which examines how Man's mind reflects the "creative forces and tensions of the universe" -- a subject matter well suited to the author's dual talents as scientist and poet. This is one of the less common Eiseley books from this period, perhaps because it was originally a lecture given at the annual meeting of the National Society of College Teachers of Education, and not intended, or written, as a book for general trade release. This copy is inscribed by Eiseley on September 12, 1962 (the month prior to publication): "To Mr. and Mrs. Joseph First with kind regards and best wishes from Loren Eiseley." Laid in is a carbon typescript of Mrs. (Dr. Helen G.) First's full-page review of the book, which she says "brings together [Eiseley's] vast academic knowledge and his deep humanity to support his plea for a more tolerant regard for the unblossomed potential in the human mind." The review is on carbon paper and folded in fourths. The book has offsetting to the endpages (partly from the review laid in) and Mrs. First's underlinings and marginal notes throughout; it is otherwise fine in a near fine dust jacket which also has some underlining to the front panel text. A notable copy of one of Eiseley's scarcest books.