Catalog 153, M
148. MALAMUD, Bernard. Proof Dust Jacket for Dubin's Lives. [NY]: FSG [1979]. A proof copy of the dust jacket (jacket only, no book) for this Malamud novel, printing the front cover and spine only, with the title in a pale green that was later changed to yellow. Together with a copy of the finished jacket, with the yellow lettering, author photo and flap text. Each folded flat, else fine.
149. MASO, Carole. Defiance. NY: Dutton, 1998. The uncorrected proof copy of her sixth book, a novel, and a departure for her in its adherence to conventional narrative form. In part a journal written from death row by a female professor who has murdered two of her students during sex, it is an unrelenting portrayal of the darkness of the cycle of human harm, told in incongruously luminous prose. Textual differences between this proof and the published text. Maso has said in an interview that when she got the galleys back from the publisher she "rewrote the whole thing." Fine in wrappers.
150. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. The Snow Leopard. Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1978. The true first edition of his National Book Award-winning volume, recounting a trip to the Himalayas with naturalist George Schaller in the hopes both of encountering a rare snow leopard in the wild and of coming to terms with his wife's recent death from cancer. Named Salon Magazine's top travel book of the 20th century. Leatherbound, all edges gilt, with a silk ribbon marker bound in. With a special introduction by the author for this edition. Mild fading to spine leather; else fine.
151. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Men's Lives. The Surfmen and Baymen of the South Fork. (n.p.): (Rock Foundation) (1986). A two-volume deluxe edition of Matthiessen's tribute to the fishermen of eastern Long Island and a way of life that, in the late stages of the 20th century, appeared to be irretrievably dying away. Matthiessen has spent much of his life on eastern Long Island, and once ran a charter fishing boat off the island, in addition to having worked for three years with commercial fishermen, so this sympathetic portrait is written from the perspective of one who has shared the life described. One of 500 numbered copies (although in all likelihood far fewer than 500 copies of this were ever produced). One volume, the text, is signed by Matthiessen. In addition to the second volume, of photographs, there is also an original print of one of the photographs from the book laid into a folding chemise and signed by the photographer, Lynn Johnson. Never formally offered for sale, copies of this edition were given out to attendees of a $500-a-plate benefit dinner for the historical society attempting to preserve the record and legacy of the fishermen's lives. Fine, in a clamshell case. A similar edition, unsigned and without the signed print, was issued in a slipcase, and probably comprised most of the overrun of this edition -- i.e., a later issue, which was offered for sale via the University of Washington Press. One of the scarcest items in the Matthiessen canon.
152. (MAUGHAM, W. Somerset). The Maugham Enigma. NY: Citadel Press (1954). Essays about Maugham by such writers as Graham Greene, Theodore Dreiser, Eveyln Waugh, Malcolm Cowley, V.S. Pritchett, Maxwell Anderson, and many others. Edited by Klaus Jonas. Owner initials front flyleaf and foxing to foredge; near fine in a lightly spine-tanned dust jacket with a bit of nicking to the crown. A nice copy.
153. McCANN, Colum. Let the Great World Spin. (London): Bloomsbury (2009). The first British paperback edition, the "airport/export" edition, ostensibly published simultaneously with the hardcover, but apparently some copies (such as this one) were sent out as much as two months prior to publication in lieu of advance copies. This copy is signed by McCann. Fine in wrappers, and an uncommon edition to find signed. Winner of the National Book Award.
154. McCARTHY, Cormac. The Road. NY: Knopf, 2006. His Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, basis of the 2009 film. Fine in a fine dust jacket. A beautiful copy, without flaws.
155. McCARTHY, Cormac. Correspondence Archive. 1981-1983. Five letters written to another writer. One typed letter signed, 1 page; and four autograph letters signed, three 2 pages and one 3 pages (for a total of five letters, 10 pages). The first letter is a response to a request for McCarthy to contribute to Agni Review. McCarthy agrees to consider submitting a section of his novel-in-progress, in part because he was reading a book by the requesting author when asked. The second letter is wholly a tongue-in-cheek diatribe about the harsh Yankee response to a motel shooting; the third letter apologizes for what was intended as a joke. It also recommends Guy Davenport's The Geography of the Imagination, wishes his correspondent well with his writing, and spends a half page on mosquitoes ("I really despise being sucked on by insects"). The third letter responds to a question about McCarthy's film, The Gardener's Son, requests that he be able to proof a piece of writing he submitted if used, and asks for an introduction to Annie Dillard. The final letter, in addition to musing about Iceland, offers thanks for an invitation to read, "but I don't do it," and then commiserates with his correspondent's apparent lack of success with his recent book: "Sorry your book didn't do better but it's a damned tough business. I've been writing novels for 24 years and have never sold any." McCarthy was working on Blood Meridian when he wrote these letters, and he apparently submitted a skeletal portion of one of the chapters-in-progress to the Agni Review, but it went unpublished. The letters are fine with the exception of folds for mailing. Four of the five letters have envelopes; three are hand addressed. In the last letter, McCarthy gives an indication of how seldom he writes letters at all: "You can see that I've stepped up the pace of my correspondence and your letter is a mere 8 months old -- hardly even weaned let alone seasoned. I've just reread it with great pleasure and hasten to respond..." For all:
156. McEWAN, Ian. On Chesil Beach. (London): London Review Bookshop Limited Editions (2007). A limited edition of this novella by the Booker Prize-winning author. Of a total edition of 150 copies, this is one of 50 Roman-numeraled copies signed by the author. Quarterbound in leather; fine in a fine cloth slipcase, as issued.
157. McGUANE, Thomas. Proof Dust Jacket for An Outside Chance. [NY]: [FSG][1980]. A proof dust jacket (jacket only, no book) for this collection of essays on sports such as such as hunting and fishing. Front panel and spine printed only; flaps and back panel blank. Differs from the published version in that the spine here is beige rather than white and the title is outlined in green rather than blue. Folded at the rear spine fold; else fine.
158. McMURTRY, Larry. The Last Picture Show. NY: Dial, 1966. His third novel, which fully realized the promise shown by his first two books and firmly established his literary reputation. Basis for the Academy Award-winning movie, which launched the careers of several Hollywood notables, including Peter Bogdanovich and Cybill Shepherd, not to mention McMurtry himself, who was nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay and went on to win one almost 30 years later with Diana Ossana for the screenplay of Brokeback Mountain. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
159. McMURTRY, Larry. All My Friends Are Going to be Strangers. NY: Simon & Schuster (1972). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel loosely based on McMurtry's time at Stanford and involving, among others, a group of characters that resembles Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters. McMurtry, Kesey, Robert Stone, Ed McClanahan and Wendell Berry were all writing students in Wallace Stegner's writing workshop at Stanford, and Kesey's house on Perry Lane in Palo Alto became a center for their parties. McMurtry writes a fictional version of this story, of a Texas boy coming of age in the bohemian atmosphere of California of the early 1960s among the people who came to define the counterculture of the hippie era. Inscribed by the author with an early, legible signature. Padbound in tall wrappers; a fragile format. A bit dusty; still fine. Quite uncommon, especially signed.
160. McPHEE, John. A Sense of Where You Are. NY: FSG (1965). The first book by this Pulitzer Prize-winning author, a profile of former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley done at the time when Bradley was a Princeton basketball player and Rhodes scholar. A portion of this book first appeared as a "Profile" in The New Yorker, where McPhee's prose in the 1960s and 1970s helped elevate nonfiction writing to the realm of literary art. Inscribed by the author. A fine copy in a very good, mildly spine-faded dust jacket with wear to the spine extremities. A nice copy, with less fading to the spine than is usually encountered.
161. McPHEE, John. A Roomful of Hovings. NY: FSG (1968). McPhee's fifth book, and his first collection of shorter pieces on a variety of subjects, a form for which he became well-known and which helped define the new literary journalism that has become pervasive since the 1960s. Signed by the author. Fine in a near fine, spine-faded dust jacket. An uncommon book signed.
162. McPHEE, John. Levels of the Game. NY: FSG (1969). An account of a landmark tennis match between Arthur Ashe, the first world-class African-American tennis player, and Clark Graebner, "a middle-class white conservative dentist's son from Cleveland." A detailed, point-by-point account of the match, and an exploration of their different tennis styles that sheds light on their different backgrounds and lives and, by extension, the larger cultural differences to be found within American society. Signed by the author. Fine in a very near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with one tiny edge nick.
163. McPHEE, John. The Crofter and the Laird. NY: FSG (1970). McPhee's seventh book, in which he returns to the land of the Scottish clan from which he is descended. Inscribed by the author on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket with just a hint of fading to the spine. A very nice copy.
164. McPHEE, John. The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed. NY: FSG (1973). The uncorrected proof copy of McPhee's account of a serious, but flawed, attempt to create a new kind of aircraft -- a combination airplane and lighter-than-air airship. Inscribed by McPhee to the novelist Shepard Rifkin in January 1974, "with much appreciation for your interest in this book." Fine in tall wrappers. Laid in is an autograph note signed agreeing to inscribe the title.
165. McPHEE, John. Pieces of the Frame. NY: FSG (1975). A review copy of this collection of short pieces, which likely had a smaller print run than other McPhee titles from the same period. Made even more uncommon by virtue of its flimsy, "perfect-bound" construction, whereby the pages, rather than being sewn in signatures, are glued, one-by-one, to the spine. Inscribed by the author: "For ___ - Thanks so much for asking me to add to your book. A pleasure - John." Additionally signed in full on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket, with review slip laid in. The recipient solicited authors' self-portraits for a book he assembled, which was published by Random House in 1976 and included McPhee's self-caricature. The collection of authors' self-portraits went to auction last year. A nice inscription, with a good historical association, and a scarce book in fine condition and signed.
166. McPHEE, John. The John McPhee Reader. NY: FSG (1976). The hardcover issue of this collection that was issued simultaneously as a Vintage paperback. Collects sections from McPhee's first dozen books, along with an introduction by William Howarth and a checklist of McPhee's writings, which includes a number of unattributed "Talk of the Town" pieces from The New Yorker. Faint offsetting to the endpages; else fine in a fine dust jacket. A very nice copy of an uncommon McPhee title to find in hardcover, and an important title for McPhee collectors in the bibliographic information that it contains.
167. -. Same title. The uncorrected proof copy. Inscribed by the author. Some edge sunning, with a crease to the crown; near fine in wrappers. A very scarce proof, and especially so signed.
168. McPHEE, John. Coming Into the Country. NY: FSG (1977). His breakthrough book -- three pieces on Alaska from The New Yorker -- which was chosen as a Main Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club and became a modest bestseller, immediately going into a number of printings. Signed in full by McPhee on the title page and additionally inscribed by him on the half-title: "For ___ ___/ companion in the country/ Fondly, John." Small nick to upper rear board edge and a small spot of orange missing from the top stain and appearing on the foredge; still a near fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with three short, closed edge tears on the rear panel and the shadow of a small number on the front flap. A nice inscription.
169. -. Same title. The uncorrected proof copy. Signed by the author. A single shallow spine crease; else fine in wrappers.
170. McPHEE, John. The Pine Barrens. NY: FSG (1978). A later printing paperback of his 1968 book, a classic in which McPhee covers history, natural history, and biography, and in so doing reveals in depth a previously all-but-hidden corner of the world, a wilderness in the heart of the eastern Boston-Richmond megalopolis that occupies one-quarter of the state of New Jersey and is as large as Grand Canyon National Park. Inscribed by McPhee to Bob Bingham: "Remember the VW bus." Robert Bingham was McPhee's editor at the New Yorker, and later an author himself, and he is acknowledged here in print on the copyright page. He was also the dedicatee of McPhee's book, Encounters With the Archdruid. A nice association copy. Slight fading to the spine lettering and age toning to pages; near fine.
171. McPHEE, John. The Fair of San Gennaro. Portland: Press-22 (1981). McPhee's first signed limited edition and his only "book" of fiction, a story that was originally published in magazine form in 1961, four years before his first book. Published here with a new "Author's Note" by McPhee. Of a total edition of 250 copies, this is one of 200 numbered copies in cloth and marbled paper boards, issued without a slipcase. Signed by the author. Fine. Very uncommon these days, in either issue.
172. -. Another copy. Published in a total edition of 250 signed copies (50 Roman-numeraled copies with slipcase; 200 numbered copies without slipcase), this is an out-of-series copy, unnumbered and not signed. Fine, without slipcase. Very scarce; we've never seen another such copy.
173. McPHEE, John. Annals of the Former World. NY: FSG (1983). One of 450 numbered copies of this two-volume limited edition, printing two of McPhee's books on geology, Basin and Range and In Suspect Terrain, in uniform bindings and pictorial slipcase. Each volume is signed by the author. A later collection, which added three more of McPhee's works on geology but was published under this same title, won the Pulitzer Prize for 1998. Slight fading to spines; still fine in a fine slipcase.
174. McPHEE, John. Riding the Boom Extension. Worcester: Metacom, 1983. The first book publication of this piece, which first appeared in The New Yorker and was eventually reprinted in Table of Contents. Of a total edition of 176 copies, of which 26 lettered copies were issued hardbound, this is a hardbound copy marked "Trial" on the colophon, and is signed by McPhee. A 1986 letter from the publisher is laid in, explaining that four trial copies were made, and of the four, this particular trial copy is the farthest from the finished book, in that it has Swedish marbled endpapers and solid dark blue cloth boards (the final book had a three-piece binding with light blue Fabriano endpapers, a blue spine, and Swedish marbled sides). The marbled paper that is here used as endpapers was eventually used as the binding for the issue in wrappers. The dustwrapper of this copy is the same as the dustwrapper used on the final book. A fine copy. Unique.
175. McPHEE, John. La Place de la Concorde Suisse. NY: FSG (1984). A book that began as a study of the Swiss Army knife and ended up as a study of the Swiss Army. Inscribed by the author in the month of publication to his mother- and father-in-law, "with love and a crisp salute" on behalf of himself and his wife. Trace foredge foxing; else fine in a fine dust jacket. A wonderful family association.
176. -. Same title, the limited edition. One of 200 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in a fine slipcase.
177. McPHEE, John. Table of Contents. NY: FSG (1985). The second printing of this collection of essays. Inscribed by the author to his in-laws on behalf of himself and his wife at Christmas 1985. Mild foredge foxing; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
178. -. Same title, the limited edition. One of 150 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in a slightly edge-sunned slipcase.
179. McPHEE, John. Rising From the Plains. NY; FSG (1986). The third of McPhee's geology books, later incorporated into the compendium of his geological writings, published as Annals of the Former World, which won the Pulitzer Prize. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
180. McPHEE, John and ROWELL, Galen. Alaska. Images of the Country. SF: Sierra Club (1981). The deluxe edition of this book of photographs by acclaimed wilderness photographer Rowell, with text by McPhee from Coming Into the Country. Limited to 500 copies, this being an unnumbered copy. Signed by McPhee and Rowell. Clothbound; fine in cloth slipcase. A very attractive production. Rowell died in a plane crash coming back from a photography workshop in Alaska in 2002.
181. McPHEE, John. Silk Parachute. NY: FSG (2010). The advance reading copy of this collection of short pieces written over the last several years. Cover lightly splayed, small corner nick. Very near fine in wrappers with promotional sheet laid in.
182. (McPHEE, John). "Basketball and Beefeaters" in The New Yorker, Vol. 39, No. 4. NY: New Yorker Magazine, 1963. McPhee's first appearance in The New Yorker, a story about trying to get a basketball game going in the Tower of London against the Royal Fusiliers in the 1950s, when he was a student at Cambridge after graduating from Princeton. Mild edge foxing, small chip (quarter size) to lower corner near spine; very good in stapled wrappers.
183. (McPHEE, John). Frontiers, Vol. 42, No. 2. Philadelphia: Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1978. An issue devoted to The Pine Barrens, and printing as its lead article excerpts from McPhee's 1968 book The Pine Barrens, still relevant a decade later. Presented with the title "Shadows of Unremembered Things." A little spine sunning, with an inch of splitting at the crown; near fine in stapled wrappers.
184. (McPHEE, John). The Little Brown House: A Garland for Robert McGlynn. Dublin: The Gallery Press, 1984. A chapbook published on the occasion of the retirement of Robert McGlynn, who was an English professor at Deerfield Academy for more than forty years. One of 600 copies. With contributions by writers who had visited the school at McGlynn's invitation, including McPhee, Seamus Heaney, Richard Wilbur and Robert Creeley, among others. Fine in wrappers.
185. (McPHEE, John). GIBBONS, Euell. Stalking the Wild Asparagus. Putney: Alan C. Hood (1987). The twenty-fifth anniversary edition of Gibbons' first book, a classic on the use of wild food. Printed here with a remembrance by McPhee, who once took a week-long canoe trip with Gibbons, surviving only on foraged food. Not an uncommon title, but elusive in the first printing. Fine in wrappers.
186. (McPHEE, John). ADNEY, Edwin Tappin and CHAPPELLE, Howard I. Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America. (NY): Skyhorse Publishing (2007). Reissue of a book first published by the Smithsonian in 1964. McPhee provides the foreword, which was adapted from Survival of the Bark Canoe and gives the context in which the protagonist of that story first heard of this book within a couple of years of its original publication. Fine in wrappers.
187. McPHERSON, James Alan. Elbow Room. Boston: Atlantic-Little Brown (1977). A review copy of his Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of stories. His second book, and the last book of fiction he has published to date. McPherson was the first African-American writer to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and his stories challenged stereotypes about race and class and, for all their unblinking recognition of the inequities in American life, especially for a black man, hinted at an optimistic perspective where an inclusive "Americanness" -- in the mold of Whitman -- transcends the differences that divide, and often define, us. A classic of American fiction, especially coming at the time it did, when a decade of polarization in race and culture wars had left the country reeling and fragmented. Boards a bit skewed -- not uncommon for this fairly cheaply made book; near fine in a near fine dust jacket with a strip of sunning to the front edge of the front panel. With review slip laid in.
188. MEYER, Stephenie. Twilight. NY: Little Brown (2005). The advance reading copy of this pop culture phenomenon, the first in a series of vampire novels that has ushered in the vampire theme as a full-fledged genre unto itself, in literature, film and television. With precursors like Anne Rice's novels and the Buffy movie and television series, Meyer nonetheless brought vampire stories to a new level of public acceptance and relevance. Minuscule shelf wear; still fine in wrappers.
189. MOORE, Lorrie. Self-Help. NY: Knopf, 1985. Her first book, a collection of stories. Inscribed by the author. Small spots to top edge, else fine in a fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
190. MOORE, Lorrie. A Gate at the Stairs. NY: Knopf, 2009. The advance reading copy. Signed by the author on the title page, and dated four months prior to publication. One of the New York Times Book Review's top five fiction books of the year. Fine in wrappers.
191. MORRISON, Toni. Song of Solomon. NY: Knopf, 1977. Her third book and the first to go into multiple printings immediately after publication. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and chosen at the time of publication as a Main Selection of the Book of the Month Club, which probably gained the book exposure to more than 100,000 readers who would not have otherwise encountered it. Warmly inscribed by the author: "Love to you, ___. Remember all the great good times we've had at Random. Toni." Morrison was an editor at Random House for almost twenty years, encompassing the period when this book was published. Very slight lean to spine, but still fine in a fine dust jacket, with none of the fading to the spine that is typical of this title.
192. MORTENSON, Greg. Stones into Schools. (NY): (Viking)(2009). Mortenson's bestselling sequel to his still best-selling Three Cups of Tea. In Three Cups of Tea, Mortenson, weak and lost after a failed attempt to climb K2 in Pakistan, vowed to return to build a school in the village where he recuperated. His promise led to the founding of the Central Asia Institute and, to date, the building of more than 130 schools (mostly for girls) in impoverished regions of Pakistan and, as described in Stones into Schools, in Afghanistan. This copy is fine in a fine dust jacket and is signed by Mortenson, who has twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
193. MUNRO, Alice. Too Much Happiness. NY: Knopf (2009). The first American edition. Signed by the author on a tipped-in leaf. Fine in a fine dust jacket.