Catalog 149, A-B
2. ABBEY, Edward. Good News. NY: Dutton (1980). The uncorrected proof copy of this post-apocalyptic novel of the West. Inscribed by Abbey in November, 1988. Near fine in wrappers. An uncommon proof, rare signed.
3. ABBEY, Edward. Slumgullion Stew. An Edward Abbey Reader. NY: Dutton (1984). A "best of" collection, with one previously unpublished section from a then-forthcoming novel. Inscribed by Abbey to the poet R.P. Dickey: "Get out of the big apple, R.P./ Abbey/ Oracle '86." Dickey later moved from New York to Taos. A nice literary association copy, something one seldom sees with Abbey titles. This is the simultaneous wrappered issue. Minor spine crease; else fine.
4. (ABBEY, Edward). PETRILLO, R.J. Catching it Whole. (Windsor): (Self-Published) (1972). Poems by Petrillo, with an introduction by Abbey, in small part: "...despite the domination of our times by little men with big machines there remains, as strong as ever, the irrepressible human desire -- the human need to give a shape, a form, to the emotions which being alive generates within us." Near fine in rubbed wrappers and signed by Petrillo. An uncommon Abbey appearance.
5. (ABBEY, Edward). The 1983 Western Wilderness Calendar. (Salt Lake City): (Dream Garden) (1982). The second of the Wilderness calendars, with work by a number of prominent photographers, and text by Edward Abbey, Tom McGuane, Leslie Marmon Silko, Ann Zwinger, Lawrence Clark Powell, Wallace Stegner, Barry Lopez, Frank Waters, William Eastlake, John Nichols, and others. This copy has been signed by Abbey. Only a small number of these calendars were signed by Abbey, and they have become quite scarce. Fine.
6. ADAMS, Douglas. The Illustrated Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson (1994). A large format (11" x 14") illustrated version of the first volume in Adams' classic BBC radio show-turned 5-book "trilogy." Signed by the author. Illustrated with scenes taken from no actual production. An elaborate production of this funny and incredibly successful book: the series reportedly sold over 15 million copies during the author's lifetime. Adams died at the age of 49 and books signed by him are quite scarce. We've seldom seen this title signed, and never seen this edition of it signed. Small bump to spine base, else fine in a fine foil dust jacket. The requisite "Don't Panic" appears on the boards under the jacket.
7. ALDAN, Daisy. Poems from India. NY: Crowell (1969). A collection edited by Aldan, who was nominated for the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Between High Tides. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication, with a quote from the 11th century poem "Black Marigolds" and "in memory of race horses, with love." Near fine in a very good dust jacket with a pending chip at the spine base.
8. AMBROSE, Stephen E. Citizen Soldiers. (NY): Simon & Schuster (1997). Nonfiction, an account of the U.S. Army in the final year of the Second World War in Europe, from D-Day in Normandy in June, 1944 to V-E Day in May, 1945. The author was a prominent historian, well known for his World War II histories but also the author of one of the definitive accounts of the Lewis & Clark expedition. He was perhaps best-known for the successful and award-winning television miniseries adapted from his book Band of Brothers. Signed by the author on a bookplate. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
9. AMIS, Kingsley. New Maps of Hell. London: Gollancz, 1961. Amis' survey of the science fiction field, chronothematically arranged. From the library of H. Bradley Martin, with his bookplate on the front pastedown and his 1962 invoice from House of Books laid in. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with slight edge wear and mild spine darkening. An exceptionally nice copy of one of the fragile Gollancz hardcovers of that era.
10. ANDERSON, Kent. Night Dogs. (Tucson): Dennis McMillan, 1996. The limited edition of his second novel, which follows Hanson, the protagonist of his first novel, Sympathy for the Devil, after his return from Vietnam to his job as a beat cop in Portland, Oregon -- a path the author himself also took. This novel became one of the year's most sought-after books: the small first trade printing (1900 copies) was quickly exhausted; the book was later published by Bantam in 1998. This, the limited edition, is one of only 100 copies signed by Kent Anderson and James Crumley, who provides the introduction. Bound in quarter morocco and marbled paper boards. Fine in a fine dust jacket and publisher's slipcase.
11. (Anthology). Transition Stories. NY: Walter V. McKee, 1929. Twenty-three stories selected from transition magazine. With contributions by James Joyce, Gertrude Stein, Franz Kafka, Robert M. Coates, Kay Boyle, and others. A fine copy in quarter cloth and illustrated boards, in a very good, spine-tanned dust jacket with several small edge tears. An important anthology: transition was perhaps the most influential small magazine of its time, and this is a particularly nice copy of the first anthology of fiction collected from the journal.
12. (Anthology). The Best Short Stories 1939. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1939. Edited by Edward J. O'Brien. With contributions by John Cheever, Eudora Welty -- preceding both their first books -- Robert Penn Warren, Richard Wright, Robert M. Coates, and others. Mild fading to spine cloth, offsetting at hinges from binder's glue; still a near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with rubbing to the folds and minor edge wear. One of the more uncommon books in the series, especially in jacket.
13. (Anthology). A New Folder. Americans: Poems and Drawings. NY: Folder Editions (1959). An anthology of writing and art edited by Daisy Aldan and with a foreword by Wallace Fowlie. Contributors read like a Who's Who of the art and literary world of the late 1950s: the cover art is a drawing by Jackson Pollock and other contributors include Jack Kerouac, John Ashbery, Gregory Corso, Allen Ginsberg, LeRoi Jones, Philip Whalen, Frank O'Hara, Charles Olson, Denise Levertov, Larry Rivers, Robert Motherwell, Willem De Kooning, and many others. One of 1000 copies, this copy warmly inscribed by Aldan in 1961. Near fine in illustrated boards that have been repaired at the spine.
14. (Anthology). Prize Stories 1986. Garden City: Doubleday, 1986. The uncorrected proof copy of the year's O. Henry Award winners, with first prize awarded to Alice Walker. Other contributors include Bobbie Ann Mason, Alice Adams, Gordon Lish, Peter Cameron, Deborah Eisenberg, Stuart Dybek, Ward Just, and Joyce Carol Oates, who earned a "special award for continuing achievement," even then. Near fine in wrappers.
15. (Anthology). Northern Lights. NY: Vintage (1994). The uncorrected proof copy of this selection of writings from Northern Lights Magazine, with many of these pieces appearing here in book form for the first time. With an introduction by Louise Erdrich. This copy is signed by contributors Gretel Ehrlich, Terry Tempest Williams, William Kittredge and John Daniel. With additional contributions by Marilynne Robinson, Edward Abbey, Jim Harrison, Simon Ortiz, Linda Hogan, David Quammen and Doug Peacock, among others. Fine in wrappers.
16. BAKER, Nicholson. Checkpoint. NY: Knopf, 2004. A novel that is a dialogue between two friends, one of whom is determined to assassinate President George W. Bush. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket. With a flyer laid in for a 2008 Baker appearance. Remarkably uncommon signed.
17. BALDWIN, James. Going to Meet the Man. NY: Dial Press, 1965. A collection of short stories, including three previously unpublished in any form. Inscribed by Baldwin to David Leeming, his biographer: "For David:/ without whom -- !/ love,/ Jimmy." Baldwin has also written a name, address and phone number on the rear pastedown. Leeming served as Baldwin's assistant from 1963 to 1967, and this copy has a note from Leeming laid in stating that he was working for Baldwin when this was published and "I was with him on Fire Island when he finished the title story." The two remained friends for a quarter century, and Leeming wrote Baldwin's biography after Baldwin's death. Near fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with the letters faded on the spine. Still a very nice copy of a book that shows wear easily, and an excellent association.
18. BATES, H.E. When the Green Woods Laugh. London: Michael Joseph (1960). Small date stamp to flyleaf and offsetting to summary page; spine cloth mildly faded; near fine in a price-clipped dust jacket with rubbing to the spine folds.
19. (BELLOW, Saul). "Dreiser and the Triumph of Art" in The Stature of Theodore Dreiser. Bloomington: Indiana University Press (1955). Critical and biographical essays on Dreiser, edited by Alfred Kazin and Charles Shapiro. Bellow's piece first appeared in the magazine Commentary. Other contributors include Kazin himself, James T. Farrell, F.O. Matthiessen, John Berryman, Malcolm Cowley, and others. A fine copy in a very good, rubbed dust jacket with fading to the spine lettering.
20. BERRYMAN, John. Two Poems. (n.p.): Self-Published, 1970. Two Berryman poems, "In Memoriam (1914-1953)" and "Another New Year's Eve," issued as a holiday greeting from the Berrymans (Martha, Kate and John) and Bob Giroux. Inscribed at some length by John Berryman across the front cover: "'uberous,' eh? very good piece. Blessings on yr prose and lady marion & baby -- John. Kate's having our new kid in June just before I read my poems in Rotterdam." The recipient, unnamed on the greeting, is another writer. Staples rusted; else fine in wrappers. Also included is a photocopy of Berryman's 1970 poem "A Prayer After All" and another holiday card that is from Kate, Martha and Sarah Berryman only, Sarah being that "new kid." John Berryman committed suicide the year after Sarah was born. Autograph material by Berryman is uncommon.
21. (Bhagavad Gita). WILKINS, Charles. Bhagvat-Geeta. London: C. Nourse, 1785. The first English translation of the Bhagavad Gita, in a binding by Roger De Coverly & Sons. A book whose importance cannot be overstated: Wilkins was "the first Englishman to gain a thorough grasp of Sanskrit" (DNB) and as such he opened up the door to Western discovery of the philosophical poetry and spiritual traditions of the East. Ralph Waldo Emerson, notably, had at least four different copies of this book at different times, and he also introduced Thoreau to it, who was also profoundly influenced by it and praised it ardently in both Walden and in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. Oriental philosophy provided the metaphysical underpinning for the Transcendentalist movement, and for the strain of philosophical thought derived from the Transcendentalists that has run through American culture since. Several pencil notations in text. Leatherbound with heavy fabric overlay. All edges gilt. Several pages have small wormholes, not affecting the text; the last two leaves contain repairs to the margins of the pages, not affecting the text. Small patches of rubbing to the fabric, otherwise near fine in a custom clamshell case. An important and scarce book: only three copies have come up at auction since the Garden Collection in 1989.
22. BISHOP, Elizabeth. Production Material for The Complete Poems, 1929-1979. [NY]: FSG [1983]. Galley proof for the jacket copy of Bishop's second volume of collected poems. Her earlier volume, published in 1969, won the National Book Award. One long page, approximately 23" x 6 3/4", folded in fourths; near fine. Probably unique.
23. BLATTY, William Peter. Which Way to Mecca, Jack? (NY): Bernard Geis (1960). The first book by the author whose novel The Exorcist, and the movie based on that novel, made him famous. This is a humorous account of his time working for the United States Information Agency in Lebanon Inscribed by the author: "To Carmen and Ed with all the best, William Peter Blatty." Slight spine slant; near fine in a near fine dust jacket with a small chip at the crown.
24. BLATTY, William Peter. John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! Garden City: Doubleday, 1963. His second book, and first novel, which was made into film in 1965 with Peter Ustinov and Shirley MacLaine, for which Blatty wrote the screenplay. He later won an Oscar for his screenplay for The Exorcist and Golden Globes for both The Exorcist and The Ninth Configuration. Inscribed by the author: "Best to Andy from William Peter Blatty." And then inscribed by the author: "No no no I meant Carmen! William Peter Blatty." Owner signature front flyleaf, else fine in a price-clipped and heavily spine-faded dust jacket, otherwise near fine.
25. BOWLES, Paul. The Thicket of Spring, Poems 1926-1969. Los Angeles: Black Sparrow, 1972. An early Black Sparrow publication for Bowles, the first collection of his poems and only his second signed limited edition. There were 226 hardcover copies done, of which this is one of 200 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in an acetate dust jacket.
26. BOYLE, T. Coraghessan. The Road to Wellville. (NY): Viking (1993). An elaborate, satirical historical novel based on the life of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, a turn-of-the century health crusader and inventor of Kellogg's Corn Flakes (along with "peanut butter...[and] some seventy-five other gastrically correct foods"). Basis for the film. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket with an "autographed copy" sticker on the front panel.
27. BRAINE, John. Room at the Top. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1957. The highly acclaimed first novel by this writer who was one of Britain's "Angry Young Men." Made into a well-received movie in 1959, which was nominated for six Academy Awards and won two, including one for best screenplay adapted from another medium. A little spotting/foxing to the page edges; near fine in a very good, spine-tanned dust jacket with a bit of spotting to the rear panel, small corner chips and one long but closed tear near the upper rear spine fold.
28. BRAUTIGAN, Richard. Xerox Candy Bar. (n.p.): (n.p.)(c. 1967). Holograph broadside poem written in ink by Brautigan. 9" x 12". According to Keith Abbott, a woman commissioned Brautigan to do a broadside poem, which he planned to do by hand but he first needed to practice larger handwriting: his normal handwriting was quite small, barely legible at times. When Abbott found this sheet while helping Brautigan clear newspapers from his porch, Brautigan let him keep it. It is unknown whether Brautigan ever delivered a finished version to the woman; no other copies have surfaced. It was included in Brautigan's 1968 collection, The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster. Rough left edge where page was torn from sketch pad; else fine. Manuscript material by Brautigan is extremely scarce.
29. BURGESS, Anthony. The Right to an Answer. NY: Norton (1961). The first American edition of his fourth novel, and his first book to be published in the U.S., preceding his dystopian classic, A Clockwork Orange, by two years. Small bookplate front pastedown; else fine in a very near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with slight fading to the red spine. An exceptionally nice copy of an early book by one of the most important authors of his time.
30. BURKE, James Lee. Autograph Postcard Signed. c. 1999. A postcard in which Burke declines signing books sent to him in the mail on the grounds that he uses three addresses and the books are often lost. He also thanks the recipient for compliments on Burning Angel and says he hopes to see him during a book tour. Signed, James Lee Burke. The postcard depicts the Prairie Crab Apple. Fine.
31. BURKE, James Lee. The Tin Roof Blowdown. NY: Simon & Schuster (2007). The advance reading copy of the most recent novel in the author's acclaimed and award-winning Dave Robicheaux mystery series. The series is set in Louisiana, and has always been noted for its strong sense of place. This tale tales place in the aftermath of the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans. Fine in wrappers. Surprisingly uncommon in the advance issue.
32. BUTLER, Octavia. Patternmaster. Garden City: Doubleday, 1976. A review copy of the first novel by the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author, who was also the first science fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant," as well as being one of the few African-American writers in the field. This is the final book in her Patternist series although it was the first to be published. Foxing to page edges; near fine in a near fine, mildly spine-faded dust jacket, with review slip laid in. A very nice copy of an important debut novel, seldom found in this condition.