Catalog 149, F-G
62. (Film). Cinema Now. (Cincinnati): (University of Cincinnati) (1968). The text of a symposium on American Underground Film, featuring John Cage, Stan Brakhage, Jonas Mekas, and Stan Vanderbeek, four superstars of the medium at the time, and moderated by Jim McGinniss, a University of Cincinnati film professor. A historic symposium that brought together four of the leading avant garde artists of the time, whose work still resonates throughout film in particular and culture in general, in particular the avant garde movements in the arts. Small marginal notation and stain to one page; near fine in stapled wrappers.
63. (Film). ELMAN, Richard and SCHRADER, Paul. Taxi Driver Typescript. [NY: Bantam, 1976]. Partial typescript for Elman's novelization of the Paul Schrader screenplay for the classic Martin Scorcese film, ranked 52nd on the most recent list of the AFI's top films of all time. Approximately 75 typescript pages total, about evenly split between multiple reworkings of the first eight pages and the final 13 pages, with five drafts of the first page alone. Approximately nine pages from the middle of the book. Most pages are ribbon-copy; some are carbon typescript; only 13 pages are photocopy. The majority of the pages bear extensive holograph corrections in Elman's hand, showing a labored, almost pained attempt to do justice to the Schrader screenplay, a copy of which is also included, with an additional 19 revision pages of its own. Accompanied by a typed letter signed by Paul Schrader to Elman (although apparently after the fact as it is written on "American Gigolo" stationery and dated 1980), transmitting a copy of the 1974 script and saying that he "subsequently did more work on the script, but this is a fair representation of what was intended." Also included is a cassette tape labeled "Taxi 2," on which Elman dictates portions of his novelization. Elman's pages are in a variety of conditions: some are wrinkled and edgeworn; some are on acidifying paper; some are fine. The screenplay is near fine; the revisions are heavily coffee-stained but entirely legible. Elman wrote a number of novels, at least one book of nonfiction and at least one book of reportage, but is probably most well-known to the general public for his work novelizing Taxi Driver, one of the greatest films of the last century. Also included, for no apparent reason, is one page of lyrics of an Australian folk song. For all:
64. (Film). HASKELL, Molly. From Reverence to Rape. The Treatment of Women in the Movies. NY: HRW (1974). A classic in the literature of both film studies and women's studies by a longtime film reviewer for The Village Voice, as was her husband, Andrew Sarris, the book's dedicatee. Inscribed by the author in 1975.
65. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy. Inscribed by the author: "From the pre-Sarris Molly!" Tall wrappers; near fine. Scarce, especially signed.
66. (Film). HEPBURN, Katharine. The Making of the African Queen or How I Went to Africa with Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind. NY: Knopf, 1987. The uncorrected proof copy of these reminiscences by Hepburn about being on location in the Belgian Congo during the filming of The African Queen, which was scripted by James Agee from the C.S. Forester novel. Bogart won an Oscar for his performance in the film, and the movie was selected as one of the top 100 Films of the Century by the American Film Institute. Slight bump at spine base; near fine in wrappers.
67. (Film). KAUFFMANN, Stanley. Living Images. Film Comment and Criticism. NY: Harper & Row (1975). The simultaneous issue in wrappers of this collection of film reviews, criticism and essays, 1970-1974. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication. Fine.
68. (Film). KAZAN, Elia. Typed Letter Signed. June 9, 1989. Written to an editor at Art & Antiques magazine, declining to write an article on rugs and suggesting his brother George in his stead. In part: "At the moment I'm just too busy writing a novel, right smack in the middle of it, and can't think of anything else since I'm also preparing a long film which necessitates my going on location to Greece, Turkey and France." In addition to his two Oscars for directing (On the Waterfront and Gentleman's Agreement), Kazan received an honorary Oscar in 1999 for lifetime achievement in film directing, an honor met with protest over his having named eight friends as Communists in 1952 when testifying before the House Un-American Activities Committee. On personal stationery, 7 1/4" x 10 1/2". Folded in thirds for mailing; two small smudges where corrections have been made to the text; else fine. Envelope included.
69. (Film). KRABBÉ, Tim. The Vanishing. [NY: Random House (1993)]. An advance copy of the first American edition, in the form of a tapebound typescript with publisher's summary page. Basis of two films, one Dutch and one American, both of which were directed by George Sluizer, and neither of which was faithful to the book's true ending. 8 1/2" x 11" sheets, printed on rectos only; tapebound with printed cardstock covers; near fine. An uncommon format for a proof, suggesting that very few copies were done (as one might expect for a translation of a Dutch novel with, at that time, a connection only to an obscure foreign film).
70. (Film). KUROSAWA, Akira. Something Like an Autobiography. NY: Knopf, 1982. The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of the great Japanese filmmaker's memoir. Kurosawa directed such classics as The Seven Samurai, Dreams, and Ran, among others. Fine in wrappers.
71. (Film). SARRIS, Andrew. Confessions of a Cultist: On the Cinema, 1955/1969. NY: Simon & Schuster (1970). A review copy of the hardcover issue of this collection of reviews by the film critic known for developing the auteur theory. Inscribed by Sarris: "For ___: From one cultist to another in the garden of the arts. Sincerely, Andrew Sarris." Including reviews of To Kill a Mockingbird, Lolita, Hud, The Ugly American, Goodbye Columbus, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, In Cold Blood, The Stranger, Psycho, and many others. Fine in a fine dust jacket, with just a touch of shelf wear at the crown.
72. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy. Inscribed by Sarris. A fragile, padbound proof; the cover is detached, the title page is following. Good, in tall wrappers. Scarce.
73. (Film). SARRIS, Andrew. Politics and Cinema. NY: Columbia University Press, 1978. Sarris on The Godfather, The Candidate, The Man, The Conversation, The Front, Dog Day Afternoon, The Conversation, The Sorrow and the Pity, Slaughterhouse-Five and others. Inscribed by Sarris: "To ___. The best friend any book writer ever had. Fondly, Andrew Sarris." Fine in a fine dust jacket.
74. FLANNER, Janet. Paris Was Yesterday. NY: Viking Press (1972). The uncorrected proof copy of these selections from Flanner's "Letter from Paris," originally written for The New Yorker under the name Genêt. With a new introduction and interspersed commentary for this edition by Flanner. A couple marginal pencil marks to the first chapter; near fine in wrappers.
75. -. Same title, the first British edition. (London): Angus & Robertson (1973). Fine in a fine dust jacket.
76. FLANNER, Janet. London Was Yesterday: 1934-1939. NY: Viking Press (1975). An illustrated collection of Flanner's "Letter from London" articles for The New Yorker, with an introduction by Flanner. Signed by the author. Bookplate front pastedown and a bit of offsetting to the front flyleaf; else fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a touch of rubbing at the spine base.
77. (Foredge Painting). LOFTIE, W.J. Kensington. Picturesque & Historical. London: Field and Tuer, 1888. One of 50 numbered copies bound in full leather with raised bands, gilt stamping and marbled endpapers. Ex-library, with a bookplate on the front pastedown indicating it was from the Thomas H. Schollenberger Collection. Remains of a pocket on the rear pastedown, a number of blindstamps throughout, accession number on spine and dedication page. Still, an attractive and scarce binding, with a single foredge painting showing two separate scenes. Slight rubbing to the leather at the spine crown and on the raised bands; a very good copy.
78. (GADDIS, William). MOORE, Steven. Typescript of A Critical Introduction to William Gaddis' Recognitions. c. 1982. Typescript drafts of this book, the definitive critical study of Gaddis's first book. Gaddis published four novels total, two of which, J.R. and A Frolic of His Own, won the National Book Award. Included here are two drafts of Moore's full work (then titled Baedeker's Babel), plus two drafts of the annotations: nearly 1300 pages total. One draft (395 pages) includes the 55-page ribbon copy introduction, the rest is a mixture of ribbon copy, photocopy and holograph. The other full draft (563 pages) is predominantly ribbon copy and heavily copy-edited. The two drafts of the annotations (156 pages and 167 pages) are a mixture of ribbon copy and photocopy, and both are heavily hand-corrected by Moore. Together with a copy of the first edition, published by the University of Nebraska in 1982. With scant exception, the pages are fine. An archive of the most important critical work on Gaddis's important first novel.
79. GALCHEN, Rivka. Atmospheric Disturbances. London: Fourth Estate (2007/2008). The advance reading copy of the British edition of her first novel, published in June 2008 (the U.S. edition was published in May), but stating "first published in Great Britain in 2007" on the copyright page (despite a copyright date of 2008). Uncommon in any advance issue, and fine in wrappers. Galchen's novel has been one of the most highly praised of the year, with comparisons to Murakami and Borges, among others.
80. GASS, William. Typed Note Signed. December 19, 1971. Three paragraphs, in which Gass declines to write a book review or article of criticism as the novel he is working on "has dragged on too long while I blabbed about other books in newspapers and magazines...I'm sorry to say no, even if saying no makes me feel a little like the old whore who has at last managed to repulse one advance - both foolish and virtuous." Gass's next published book was On Being Blue: A Philosophical Inquiry; his next novel, The Tunnel, did indeed drag on: it wasn't published until 1995. Signed by the author. Folded for mailing; else fine.
81. GIBSON, William. All Tomorrow's Parties. (London): Viking (1999). The first British edition of this novel by the author of Neuromancer, who is credited with inventing the cyberpunk genre. This is the third novel of his "Bridge trilogy," which began with Virtual Light, continued with Idoru, and concluded with this title. Signed by the author in the year of publication. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
82. GINSBERG, Allen. Lysergic Acid. (San Francisco): (n.p.)( c. 1959). Four page mimeograph of Ginsberg's landmark poem, with textual differences between this and the published versions (in the UK literary magazine Strand in 1960 and in the book Kaddish in 1961). Written the month following his first two LSD trips as a volunteer at Stanford where the CIA was running a research program (in which Ken Kesey also participated). This copy came from the Timothy Leary archives, and it is a variant unknown to Ginsberg's bibliographer: Morgan's bibliography does not identify any instance of a separate printing of this poem, and the text apparently precedes other versions. In addition, there are marginal notations in mimeographed type that do not appear in any other version of the poem -- seemingly Ginsberg's commentary or that of someone who assembled this printing from Ginsberg's typescript, perhaps for the edification of others experimenting with LSD. An unusual, significant, possibly unique printing of what is widely considered the greatest poem about the psychedelic experience, and one of the high points of Ginsberg's body of work: the author took what, on the evidence of the descriptions in the poem, one would call a bad LSD trip and fashioned a powerful and allusive collection of images that comes as close to doing justice to the essentially indescribable nature of the psychedelic experience as anything that has ever been fashioned out of words on a page. Stapled in upper corner. Fine.
83. (Gravestones). MORSE, William Inglis. Gravestones of Acadie. London: A. Smith, 1929. With photographs by the author. Bound by Sangorski and Sutcliffe in full leather stamped in gilt and blind with raised bands and a front cover design incorporating the author's initials from a design on the title page. All edges gilt. The colophon states "Designed by W.B. Dalton and W.H. Amery with the assistance of the Artistic Typography Class of The Camberwell School of Arts & Crafts, London. Printed under the direction of H.G. Wicks by A. Smith & Co., 30 Sangley Road, London, S.E.6." One of 500 copies, although it appears that most were bound in quarter leather and only the first 30 (50?) were bound in full leather. Apparently each of the leatherbound copies had a different design, and some were bound by Sangorski and Sutcliffe and others by Douglas Cockerel. A trifle scratched on the rear cover, but still fine in a near fine slipcase. A very attractive copy.
84. (Gravestones). NEAL, Avon and PARKER, Ann. Early American Stone Sculpture Found in the Burying Grounds of New England. NY: Sweetwater Editions (1981). The limited edition of this handsome book of photographs by Ann Parker, and gravestone rubbings, with text by Avon Neal. One of 175 numbered copies bound in full mottled calf, blind stamped and with raised bands and green leather spine label, and signed by Neal and Parker. In addition, there are two selenium-toned silver prints by Ann Parker laid in, matted, numbered and signed by Parker and an original gravestone rubbing, also matted, numbered, and signed by both authors. The book is fine. Enclosed with the prints in a clamshell box, which is also fine. A handsome and important production, many copies of which were destroyed when the publisher was bought and the new owner discarded existing inventory. This copy from the library of the authors, with a letter of provenance available.
85. GRISHAM, John. The Firm and The Client. NY: Doubleday (1991 and 1993). Later printings of his second and fourth books, both of them bestsellers and both made into successful Hollywood films. Each is inscribed by Grisham to blues guitar legend B.B. King. Laid in is a letter from 1999, on Grisham's stationery, from his assistant, transmitting the first seven (again, only two present) of Grisham's books to King, in Las Vegas, indicating that Grisham "wanted to make sure you had a complete set." The jacket on The Firm has one small closed edge tear; the books are otherwise fine in fine dust jackets. An unusual, somewhat surprising association: both the author and the musician are from Mississippi, and Grisham received his law degree from Ole Miss, which has the largest collection of blues recordings and other blues materials in the world, including B.B. King's musical papers. For the two books:
86. GUTHRIE, Woody. Bound for Glory. NY: Dutton, 1943. The affecting memoir by the legendary folk singer -- his only book published in his lifetime. A frank and revealing book, illustrated with the author's own sketches. Guthrie penned such classics as "This Land is Your Land," "Pastures of Plenty" and "So Long, See You Tomorrow," among many others, laying the groundwork for folk music to be a powerful and effective vehicle for social protest and articulating the aspirations of the American underclass -- eventually leading to the protest songs of Bob Dylan, among others, which catalyzed the social and political movements of the 1960s. Guthrie was the inspiration for a generation of singers and songwriters who changed the way that music and song could influence the political dialogue. While his sensibilities were forged in the Dust Bowl era of the Great Depression and the migration from the Midwest to the promised land of California, Guthrie's songs were pointedly patriotic even if overtly anti-capitalist. During the Second World War, his political posture was strictly and emphatically anti-fascist, and he walked the seemingly fine line between social criticism and proud nationalism. Guthrie's impact is still felt, strongly, in the present generation of singer-songwriters and his work is viewed (as New York Times writer Clifton Fadiman said it would be when he wrote a review of this book in 1943) as "a national possession like Yellowstone and Yosemite, and part of the best stuff this country has to show the world." Gently read, thus a near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with a couple of small but open edge tears. An uncommon and important book, especially scarce in a presentable dust jacket.
87. (GUTHRIE, Woody). KLEIN, Joe. Woody Guthrie. A Life. NY: Knopf, 1980. The uncorrected proof copy of this biography, and the first book by the author of the then-anonymous, and for a time notorious, novel Primary Colors, about the 1992 Presidential campaign. This is a well-written and well-received biography of the great folk singer and American icon, which exhibits a flair for drama and characterization that anticipated the author's venture into fiction. Trace rubbing to cover; else fine in wrappers.