Catalog 152, N-O
151. (Native American). ALEXIE, Sherman. I Would Steal Horses. Niagara Falls: Slipstream, 1992. His second book, published in March of the same year that The Business of Fancydancing was issued. A collection of poetry, published as Slipstream's fifth annual Chapbook Contest Winner. Only issued in stapled wrappers. This copy is inscribed by Alexie in 1997. Fine. Scarce.
152. (Native American). ALEXIE, Sherman. Seven Mourning Songs for the Cedar Flute I Have Yet to Learn to Play. (n.p.): Whitman College Book Arts Lab, 1994. A poem by Alexie, illustrated by James Lavadour, and printed in an edition of 35 numbered copies. Signed by Alexie and Lavadour. Lavadour is part Walla Walla Indian and was a co-founder of the Crows Shadow Institute of Art on the Umatilla Reservation, where he grew up. Approximately 7 1/4" x 14", twine-bound vertically in woodgrain patterned wrappers, printed by Ben Trissel, son of painter, designer and printer Jim Trissel. By far the scarcest of Alexie's publications. We have never seen, nor heard of, another copy being offered for sale. Fine.
153. (Native American). BARNABY, Josephine. The Present Condition of My People. Bible House, NY: American Missionary Association (n.d.)[c. 1880]. An eight page pamphlet, apparently written when the author, an Omaha Indian, was attending the Presbyterian Missionary School and was about 17 years old. She later attended Hampton Institute and after graduation went to New Haven to train as a nurse. She returned to the Omaha reservation where she taught school in addition to serving as a nurse for the Omahas and for other reservations in the Dakotas. Reportedly there were times when she was the only person practicing Western medicine for her entire people. Near fine in stapled wrappers.
154. (Native American). BRUCHAC, Joseph. For the Child to Be Born. (Austin): (Cold Mountain Press), 1974. A single poem, printed in an edition of 150 numbered copies. Signed by Bruchac and by Gretchen Reed, the illustrator. One page folded to make four; fine.
155. (Native American). DORRIS, Michael. Typed Letter Signed. January 4, 1988. A full page letter written on behalf of his 20 year-old son, Abel, who was seeking employment. Dorris delineates Abel's prior work experience, his strengths ("strong and willing," "dependable, honest, gentle and deserving," "a pleasant personality and a good sense of humor, is polite and cooperative, and follows directions without complaint"), and his weaknesses ("money and time management," "requires a longer initial period of training," etc.). The letter closes, "Abel's mother and I thank you for your consideration." Signed "Michael Dorris" above the typed title, "Abel's Father." Dorris adopted Abel when Abel was three years old, becoming the first unmarried male in the U.S. to adopt a child. Abel was later diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome and became the subject of Dorris' landmark book The Broken Cord. He was struck by a car and killed in 1991. Folded in half; upper corner staple hole; else fine. A retained carbon of an April reply turning down the applicant is enclosed.
156. (Native American). HENSON, Lance. Strong Heart Song. (Albuquerque): West End Press (1997). Poetry by a Cheyenne writer, with a cover illustrations by Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, a Flathead artist. Henson is an acclaimed poet who has published nearly 30 books, about half of them abroad. A Vietnam vet, member of the Cheyenne Dog Soldier Society as well as the Native American Church and the American Indian Movement, Henson's poems are personal and political, and incorporate elements of Cheyenne philosophy and social commentary. Fine in wrappers.
157. (Native American). HOGAN, Linda. Calling Myself Home. (Greenfield Center): (Greenfield Review Press) (1978). The scarce first book, a collection of poems, by this writer of Chickasaw descent, published by the press started by Joseph Bruchac, an Abenaki, which has published a large number of notable books by Native American authors over the years. Hogan grew up in part in Oklahoma, on land the Chickasaws were relocated to in the 19th century. She has won numerous awards for her writings, including a Lannan Foundation Award, and her 1990 novel Mean Spirit, based on the brutal exploitation of Native Americans during the Oklahoma oil boom of the 1920s, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1990. A very scarce book; this is the first copy we have handled, despite having done a half dozen catalogs over the years devoted exclusively to Native American literature. Fine in wrappers.
158. -. Another copy. Mild foxing to covers; near fine in wrappers.
159. (Native American). HOGAN, Linda. Light. (n.p.): (n.p.), 2006. A privately published collection of poetry. One of 190 numbered copies. Fine in stapled wrappers and twine-bound tissue dustwrapper. An attractive and unusual production, and an uncommon title.
160. (Native American). JOHNSON, Elias. Legends, Traditions and Laws, of the Iroquois, or Six Nations, and History of the Tuscarora Indians. Lockport: Union Printing and Publishing, 1881. History of the Iroquois and Tuscarora by a Tuscarora chief. Johnson recounts the history and legends of the tribes, as told to him by his elders and as gleaned from his own readings. He attempts to shed more favorable light on the tribes, and provide more accurate information, than most of the contemporary accounts which are, he says, inaccurate and colored by the bad feelings engendered by the Indian wars of the 18th and 19th centuries. An early and important book by a Native American writer. Age-toning to pages; front hinge starting; near fine.
161. (Native American). LESLEY, Craig. The Sky Fisherman. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1995. A coming of age novel set in the Pacific Northwest with a young Indian as the protagonist. Inscribed by Lesley to Montana writer Steve Krauzer: "Steve - A good rendezvous in Missoula! I hope each page conjures the small town, hard working West. With my thanks and best wishes on your work. Craig. 9-8-95 Missoula." A nice association copy. Fine in a fine dust jacket. The Sky Fisherman was a Pulitzer Prize nominee, a finalist for the Oregon Book Award, and winner of an award from the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association.
162. (Native American). SILKO, Leslie Marmon. Ceremony. NY: Viking (1977). Her first novel, which combines traditional Native storytelling techniques with the Western form of the novel, to create a book that attempts to embody what it describes, and become a healing ceremony itself -- with remarkable success: Ceremony was a key book in the renaissance of Native American literature that took place beginning in the late 1960s and 1970s as Native Americans reclaimed their cultural heritage and legacies in the wake of the cultural upheavals of the Sixties. This copy is warmly inscribed by Silko in the month of publication: "For my beloved Aunt Lucy who told me stories long ago and who gave me my first book -- a leather-bound copy of Longfellow's Hiawatha. Now I can give you a book which I wrote. All my love, Leslie/ 25 March 1977/ Laguna, New Mexico." The best inscription and association copy we have ever seen of this important book. A near fine copy in a near fine, mildly spine-faded second issue dust jacket.
163. (Native American). WELCH, James. The Indian Lawyer. NY: Norton (1990). The fourth novel by the author of Winter in the Blood and Fools Crow, among others; Welch was considered, along with Leslie Silko, one of the key writers of the first generation of the renaissance in Native American literature. Signed by the author. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
164. -. Another copy. Inscribed by Welch: "To Steve [Krauzer]/ I'm waiting for the next novel from your pen (or computer). Best, Jim Welch." A nice association copy between these two writers from Missoula, Montana. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
165. NISBET, Jack. Sources of the River. Tracking David Thompson Across Western North America. Seattle: Sasquatch Books (1994). Nisbet tracks explorer David Thompson's travels through western North America in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. This copy is inscribed by the author to Montana author Steve Krauzer: "For Steve/ who knows/ Jack Nisbet/ 11/94." Uncommon in hardcover: reportedly only a small number were bound up in hard covers at publication, with most being issued in softcover. This was presumably an author's copy, given to a fellow writer. Light corner taps, else fine in a near fine, spine-faded dust jacket with light edge wear.
166. NORMAN, Howard. "Crow Ducks and Other Wandering Talk." 1984. Norman's original typescript for this piece that appeared in The Language of Birds [San Francisco: North Point Press, 1985]. Seven pages, signed by Norman; near fine. With textual differences from the published version. With a cover letter, a typed note signed with holograph postscripts, transmitting the writing. Also together with a copy of the book, signed by Norman; near fine.
167. O'BRIEN, Tim. The Things They Carried. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. An advance reading excerpt, featuring trial cover art (one of three early designs rejected by O'Brien), of this collection of related stories that share a number of characters as well as the narrator -- a "Tim O'Brien" whose experience bears certain similarities to the author's own, as well as a number of differences. This title was selected as one of the best books of the year in all categories by the editors of The New York Times Book Review and, in 2006, named one of the best works of American fiction of the past 25 years in those same pages. A meditation on war and death, and on the place that storytelling has in bringing these unfathomable experiences within our grasp. Fine in stapled wrappers.
168. O'BRIEN, Tim. In the Lake of the Woods. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994. An advance copy of this novel involving a Vietnam vet who rises to a position of public prominence but carries a secret that threatens to undo his accomplishment. 8 1/2" x 11" bound galleys shot from typescript and printed on rectos only. 306 pages, velobound with an acetate cover. Accompanied by a note from the Houghton Mifflin publicity department saying that these "final page proofs...include all the author's revisions to the earlier edition": there were two editions of bound galleys in pictorial covers, which the author continued revising after they had been produced; presumably this is the end result of that process although the publisher's note indicates the final book will be available later "for checking purposes" -- possibly a boilerplate statement but also possibly an indication that this author continued to revise well after the point at which most authors stopped. Fine.
169. O'HARA, John. I Was an Adventuress. Los Angeles: 20th Century Fox, 1940. The revised shooting final screenplay, dated December 15, 1939, although with 24 pages of colored inserts dating from January and February, 1940. Machine stamped "copy #1," belonging to the producer Darryl F. Zanuck. This was one of the two screenplays that O'Hara worked on from September to December 1939 and shared screenplay credits for, in this case with Karl Tunberg and Don Ettlinger. The movie was produced by Zanuck, and starred Vera Zorina, Erich von Stroheim and Peter Lorre. Quarto; mimeographed pages with blue revision sheets inserted. Near fine in printed studio wrappers. Rare.
170. ONDAATJE, Michael. The Man With Seven Toes. (Toronto: Coach House 1969). An early collection of poetry, limited to 300 numbered copies, of which this is one of the first 50 copies, which were signed by the author. Lower rear corner lightly tapped, otherwise fine in a fine dust jacket.
171. ONDAATJE, Michael. Tin Roof. (Lantzville, B.C.): Island Writing Series, 1982. Poetry, issued in an edition of 500 copies, 50 of which were clothbound, numbered and signed. This is a hardcover copy, unnumbered, but signed by the author. A scarce Ondaatje "A" item, which seems to have received little distribution. We have never seen the hardcover issue before and do not know if the 50 copies ever were numbered and this one is therefore an out-of-series copy, or if they were not numbered at all; most of the softcovers that have appeared on the market have been unnumbered, although in at least one case we are aware of, the copy did have a number. Fine.