Catalog 153, V-Z
261. VONNEGUT, Kurt. The Sirens of Titan. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1961. The first hardcover edition, and Vonnegut's scarcest trade hardcover: only 2500 copies printed, of which one can guess that half or more will have gone to libraries. Signed by Vonnegut with a (smoking) self-caricature. Nominated for a Hugo Award. Faint small stamp to front flyleaf, light bump to crown, light wear to corners; near fine in a very good dust jacket with sunning to the edges and the spine lettering, one edge tear at the upper front flap fold, and modest rubbing to the extremities and folds. In a custom clamshell case.
262. VONNEGUT, Kurt. On Mark Twain, Lincoln, Imperialist Wars and the Weather. (Nottingham): (Spokeman Books) (2004). Vonnegut's 2003 remarks given at the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut, in which he speaks well of Twain and Lincoln and less well of American Conservatives. An entirely fitting speaker: Vonnegut was widely viewed as a latter day Twain, for his social conscience and his biting humor; he wrote the "opening remarks" for an unabridged collection of Twain's writings published in the 1970s. Slight edge rubbing; very near fine in illustrated stapled wrappers. Uncommon.
263. (VONNEGUT, Kurt). The Christmas Echo. (Indianapolis): (Shortridge) (1939). The Christmas issue of Vonnegut's high school paper. Vonnegut is mentioned in two "Christmas Couplets;" his family's hardware store has a full page ad; and he is one of three students whose likenesses, in formal wear, grace the inside rear cover. Vonnegut is pictured for "sponsoring the sartorial cause of the male" in a full-page photo with two female students. Pencil ownership names. Small upper joint stain throughout; modest general wear; very good in stapled wrappers. A fragile, ephemeral item and an outstanding picture of Vonnegut as a young man.
264. (VONNEGUT, Kurt). BIJOU, Bob. Consider It Among Friends. Vancouver: Poppin Publications, 1970. A small press production in which Bijou's photographs are accompanied by text from Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle (with permission of the author), for an uplifting late 60's/early 70's feel. A bit of sunning, small chip threatening at base of spine; near fine in wrappers. Rare.
265. WALBERT, Kate. A Short History of Women. NY: Scribner (2009). The advance reading copy. One of the New York Times Book Review's top five books of fiction for the year. Fine in wrappers. Surprisingly scarce in an advance issue.
266. WALKER, Alice. Meridian. NY: HBJ (1976). The uncorrected proof copy of her second novel, about a young black woman coming of age during the Civil Rights movement, as Walker herself did. In this version, the final three sections follow a different order from the published version. Proof sheets bound in cardstock covers with a black tape spine. It is likely that very few copies were prepared thus. Mild edge sunning, two stray pen marks; else fine. Scarce.
267. WALKER, Alice. Good Night Willie Lee, I'll See You in the Morning. NY: Dial (1978). The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of poems, preceding her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple, and printed in small quantities. Cardstock covers bound with a black tape spine, a format that suggests few were created. Slightly dusty with a small rear corner crease; else fine.
268. WALKER, Alice. From The Color Purple. (n.p.): (Parchment Gallery Graphics), 1999. A duotone image with a passage from The Color Purple: "I'm pore, I'm black, I may be ugly and can't cook, a voice say to everything listening. But I'm here." Signed by the author. Originally intended as an edition of 99 copies, only 49 copies and one Printer's Proof were offered for sale, according to the colophon, although this is one of 26 numbered proof copies. 8" x 10". Fine. Laid into cardstock folder and including a photograph of Walker at the signing.
269. WALLACE, David Foster. Infinite Jest. Boston: Little Brown (1996). A huge book (nearly 1100 pages), which impressed many critics and readers with its scope and its satirical critique of popular culture as well as with the author's erudition. Signed by the author. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a hint of a buckle to the spine. In the wake of the author's tragic suicide, this will likely stand as his magnum opus.
270. -. Same title. The advance reading copy. There were reportedly 1000 copies of this issue sent out for promotional purposes. This copy is signed by the author. Fine in wrappers.
271. -. Same title, promotional material, possibly issued to coincide with the Little Brown/Back Bay paperback edition. Prints excerpts from a March 1996 Salon.com interview with Wallace on one side and praise for the novel on the other. 15 3/4" x 15 3/4", folds on the diagonal down to 5 1/4" x 5 1/4". Fine.
272. WHALEN, Philip. Nobody Listening to You? San Francisco: Self-Published, 1965. A handbill advocating the celebration of "Gentle Thursday," March 25, 1965, as a work-free, commerce-free day of kindness and calmness in the pursuit of "peace & quiet & liberty for all." This handbill -- in effect, a Whalen broadside -- is a scarce, ephemeral item, created by the author and reproducing his calligraphic writing. 8 1/2" x 11"; fine.
273. WHITE, E.B. Stuart Little in the Schoolroom. NY: Harper & Row (1945)[1962]. The first separate printing of chapter twelve of Stuart Little, published as a Christmas gift for employees and associates of Harper & Row. Very near fine in red cloth, without dust jacket, as issued.
274. WHITE, E.B. An Answer from White. (Champaign): (Printed at the Sign of the Rolling Stone)(1969). A single sheet, folded twice, reprinting White's hilarious and touching reply to a doctoral student who used White's writing as the subject of his thesis. A scarce "A" item. Hint of an upper corner bump; else fine.
275. WILBUR, Richard and MERRILL, James. An Evening with Two Great Poets. Key West: Florida Endowment for the Humanities, 1991. Broadside announcement of a benefit reading by Wilbur and Merrill. Prints Wilbur's poem "Hamlen Brook" and Merrill's poem "Arabian Night" in manuscript facsimile. Inscribed by both Wilbur and Merrill. A nice piece, linking two of the most highly regarded American poets of the 20th century, both of them Pulitzer Prize winners and Wilbur a former Poet Laureate of the U.S. Both attended Amherst College, but they became friends in Key West, Florida, where this event took place. 17" x 11". Previously folded in fourths, now mounted to matte board. Near fine.
276. WILDER, Thornton. Unpublished Libretto for The Alcestiad. An Opera in Three Acts. [Frankfurt]: (n.p.), 1962. Mimeographed copy of Wilder's libretto for this opera based on his play. The play "The Alcestiad" was first performed in Edinburgh in 1955; this operatic version in Germany in 1962. Wilder allowed a German translation of the play to be published in his lifetime; an English version came out posthumously, in 1977; this operatic version is unpublished. Penciled notes to a few pages; sunning and erased number sequence to front page; stapled twice in left margin; near fine. A rare document by the three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Bridge of San Luis Rey, The Skin of Our Teeth and Our Town, among other classics.
277. WILSON, Margaret. The Able McLaughlins. NY: Harper & Brothers (1923). Winner of the Harper Prize Novel Contest, and then the winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Gift inscription on the half title page; minor foxing to the edge of the text block; a near fine copy in a good dust jacket with only shallow edge chipping but also with shallow chipping and splitting to the lower half of the rear spine fold. An early Pulitzer winner, and one of the most elusive of them.
278. WILSON, Robert. Instruments of Darkness. (London): HarperCollins (1995). The author's uncommon first book, one of his four noir novels set in West Africa and featuring the character Bruce Medway, among his ten books overall so far. Wilson won a Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger award in 1999. Signed by the author. The pages are tanning unevenly, as is common with this book due to the relatively cheap paper used, and apparently the different stocks that were intermingled in production. Otherwise this copy is fine in a fine dust jacket, with one nick to an upper corner and a hint of rubbing at the lower front flap fold. A beautiful copy of an uncommon first book, especially uncommon signed.
279. WOLFE, Tom. Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers. NY: FSG (1970). Bound galley sheets of Wolfe's hilarious send-up of wealthy New York liberals attempting to salve their social consciences by throwing parties for radical black militants and trying ever-so-hard to be hip enough to pull it off. 7" x 11"; printed on rectos only; stringbound in cardstock covers. A highly unusual format, which suggests only a handful of copies would have been done. We've never seen a proof copy of this title before. Fine.
280. WOLFF, Tobias. Ugly Rumours. London: Allen & Unwin (1975). His first book, a novel set in Vietnam, about a Special Forces lieutenant and a sergeant serving as advisor to a Vietnamese Infantry Division. Not published in this country, and the author has pointedly refused to list it among his "previous publications" on his later books or allowed it to be reprinted. His memoir, In Pharaoh's Army, alludes somewhat disparagingly to the novel he was writing while he was serving in Vietnam, presumably Ugly Rumours. Wolff is one of the most highly regarded short story writers in America, winner of the PEN Faulkner Award, and his memoir This Boy's Life was made into a memorable movie. A novel by him on the pivotal event of his generation -- the Vietnam war -- is a notable contribution to contemporary literature, regardless of the author's opinion of its quality. This copy is signed by Wolff, and scarce thus, presumably because of his feelings detailed above. A fine copy in a very near fine dust jacket with some shallow scratching to the lamination.
281. -. Same title. The uncorrected proof copy. The first printing of the trade edition was reported to be only 1000 copies, most of which will have gone to libraries; the proof is considerably scarcer. This copy is signed by Wolff. Very good in wrappers with a couple tiny chips and some mild staining and spine creasing. We've only seen this proof twice before, only once signed.
282. (Women's Correspondence). Starter Collection. Nine first editions, each title a collection of the correspondence between two women with a close personal friendship; in most cases, at least one of the two women is well-known, most frequently as a writer. As follows, in order of publication:
- Touchstones: Letters Between Two Woman, 1953-1964 [the letters of Patricia Frazer Lamb and Kathryn Joyce Hohlwein]. NY: Harper & Row (1983). Edited by Lamb. Fine in a fine, very slightly spine-faded dust jacket.
- Darlinghissima: Letters to a Friend [the letters of Janet Flanner and Natalia Danesi Murray]. NY: Random House (1985). Edited by Murray. Fine in a fine dust jacket with a corner crease on the front flap.
- Dorothy Thompson & Rose Wilder Lane: Forty Years of Friendship, Letters 1921-1960. Columbia: University of Missouri Press (1991). Edited by William Holtz. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
- Always, Rachel: The Letters of Rachel Carson and Dorothy Freeman, 1952-1964. Boston: Beacon Press (1994). Edited and signed by Martha Freeman: "June 24, 1995/ I'm so pleased to be able to share all of the stories these letters tell with you." Fine in a fine dust jacket.
- Between Friends: The Correspondence of Hannah Arendt and Mary McCarthy, 1949-1975. NY: Harcourt Brace (1995). Edited and with an introduction by Carol Brightman. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
- A History of Having a Great Many Times Not Continued To Be Friends: The Correspondence Between Mabel Dodge & Gertrude Stein, 1911-1934. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press (1996). Edited by Patricia R. Everett. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
- Empty Without You: The Intimate Letters of Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok. NY: The Free Press (1998). Edited by Roger Streitmatter. Fine in a fine dust jacket. - I'll Stand By You: The Letters of Sylvia Townsend Warner & Valentine Ackland. (London): Pimlico (1998). Edited by Susanna Pinney. Fine in wrappers.
- Dear Exile: The True Story of Two Friends Separated (For a Year) By an Ocean [the letters of Hilary Liftin and Kate Montgomery]. NY: Vintage (1999). Edited by Liftin and Montgomery. Fine in wrappers.
The letters in these nine books span the years 1911-1975. They are first and foremost a study in women's friendships, often from inception to one women's death. Along the way they are also a study in women's then off-the-record responses to the changes in their lives and, in aggregate, to their roles over the course of the century. And, without intending it, they are also a study of the vanishing art of letter writing. For the collection: