Catalog 154, B
10. BARTHELME, Donald. Amateurs. NY: FSG (1976). A collection of stories. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication: "To T. and G. from Don enthrall beat." The last two words may be a failed anagram. Foxing to foredge; near fine in a near fine dust jacket with two tiny tears at the crown.
11. BAUSCH, Richard. Peace. NY: Knopf, 2008. A short novel of World War II in Italy, which won the 2009 Dayton Literary Peace Prize -- a literary award that grew out of the 1995 Dayton accords to end the war in Bosnia and is intended to recognize the power of the written word to promote peace. Inscribed by Bausch to another writer and his wife, "with love and admiration," and dated in the year of publication. The recipient had provided a blurb that is printed on the dust jacket of the book. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket. A nice association copy.
12. (Beats). CHARTERS, Ann, ed. The Portable Beat Reader. (NY): Viking (1992). A large (600+ pages) compendium of works by the key figures of the Beat Generation, edited by Ann Charters, who did the first bibliography of Kerouac and was also the first to write a full length biography of him. This copy belonged to Nelson Lyon, a longtime friend of William Burroughs, Terry Southern, Timothy Leary, and others associated with the counterculture that grew out of the Beat movement, and is inscribed to him or signed and dated by: William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Ed Sanders, Michael McClure and Anne Waldman. Fine in a fine dust jacket. An exceptional copy, with distinguished provenance, signed by several of the key figures of one of the most important American literary movements of the 20th century.
13. BERGER, Thomas. Siamese Twins. NY: Harold Matson Co. (n.d.). A two-act play by Berger, apparently unpublished (and unproduced?). The setting for this comic script is a suburban milieu similar to the one Berger used in his novel Neighbors, which was made into a well-received movie. This is the corrected typescript, signed by the author. Ninety-eight pages, ribbon-copy, heavily corrected by the author with numerous changes and deletions in felt tip pen. A unique item by the author of the award-winning Little Big Man. Loose sheets now housed in a three-ring binder. Fine.
14. BOYERS, Peg. Honey with Tobacco. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (2007). The issue in wrappers. Inscribed by the poet to another writer, on the dedication page, in the year of publication: "and for ___ with gratitude for your loyal friendship & for your reliably great art -- with great esteem & affection." A nice association copy. Fine.
15. BRAUTIGAN, Richard. A Confederate General from Big Sur. NY: Grove Press (1964). His first novel. Brautigan's writings influenced an entire generation and, although he fell out of literary favor for a time -- culminating in his suicide in 1984 -- he has come to be seen as an American original whose whimsy, sensitivity and humor epitomized his time. Inscribed by the author: "This copy is for Shig./ Richard Brautigan/ Feb. 16, 1965." Shig (Shigeyoshi Murao) was the long-time manager of City Lights Bookstore, who was credited with giving the store its "soul" and its welcoming nature to both writers and readers. He was a co-defendant with Lawrence Ferlinghetti in the 1957 Howl obscenity trial as well as the editor and publisher of the literary journal Shig's Review and friend to many of the Beat poets. Brautigan used to visit City Lights frequently to see if any of his poetry was selling. Three sections of his groundbreaking fiction, Trout Fishing in America, were published in the first issue of City Lights Journal, in 1963. Inscribed copies of Brautigan's early books are uncommon, and significant association copies are rare. This is the best association copy we've seen of Brautigan's first novel. Foxing to top edge of text block; else a fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with a strip of foxing to the upper rear flap and shallow creasing to the upper rear panel.
16. BRAUTIGAN, Richard. Knock On Wood [Part Two]. Lexington: Tideline Press, 1979. An attractive broadside excerpt from Trout Fishing in America, issued more than a decade after that book was first published One of 50 numbered copies signed by Brautigan; by Leonard Seastone, the printer; and by Judd Weisberg, who provides a serigraph print. 22" x 15". Two small tape marks on verso, likely from having once been matted; else fine. A scarce and little-known signed Brautigan edition.
17. BROWN, Larry. Billy Ray's Farm. Decatur: Wisteria Press, 1997. A limited edition of a 37-page essay. Of a total edition of 287 copies, this is one of 250 numbered copies signed by the author and by the artist, Barry Moser. This essay that was adapted from a talk Brown gave at the 1995 Chattanooga Conference on Southern Literature. The piece was later included in a collection with the same name that was published by Algonquin Books in 2001. Clothbound; fine.
18. BURROUGHS, William S. Trance Writing and Autograph Letter Signed. 1944-1948. The first sheet, dated 11/7/44 and handwritten in pencil by Burroughs, is an example from his "trance writing" sessions with Dr. Lewis Wolberg, a psychiatrist who practiced hypnotherapy and narcotherapy, and to whom Burroughs was referred by his earlier psychiatrist, Dr. Paul Federn. Wolberg had a reputation as the best hypnotherapist on the East Coast and he was especially interested in Burroughs' experiments with drugs. He would put his patients into what he called a "hypnagogic reverie" -- a light trance in which the patients were still aware of their surroundings but also had access to a mental state similar to dreaming. Burroughs would engage in a kid of automatic writing in this state. Here his trance writing reads, approximately (the handwriting wavers, as might be expected, and some words are ambiguous): "Moving of part price/ and parcel where is she/and all I want of/ murder victim ain't Murphy." Under each word, Burroughs has, post-trance, written the word again, or at least his now-conscious interpretation of it. 6 1/2" x 8" paper, edge-sunned; near fine. Together with a five page autograph letter signed by Burroughs to Wolberg, dated Dec. 24, 1948. In part: "After you bailed me out of jail, I certainly owed you a letter to thank you...Have embarked on a series of undertakings legitimate and otherwise...We have a beautiful 2 year old boy...I am raising [him] on the principle of no interference but all the attention he wants. No scheduled feeding or sleeping, no toilet training or interference with infantile masturbation...Results are excellent...I have had and broke about 7 drug habits since I last saw you..." Approximately 750 words total, on five 5 3/4" x 8 1/4" paper. Fine. Together with two retained copies of letters from Wolberg, one dated 1/4/49 to Burroughs, encouraging him in the above endeavors, including curing his addictions, and another, dated 3/29/49, to Dr. Paul Federn, summarizing Burroughs' update thusly: "...he says he is running a farm. He claims to be happily married and has an infant in whose rearing he seems to be participating with pleasure..." Burroughs was treated by Wolberg from 1944-1946, and continued a correspondence with him until at least 1952 (see below). A revealing glimpse at Burroughs as a young father, confiding in his former therapist and seemingly optimistic about the future. For the lot:
19. BURROUGHS, William S. Autograph Letters Signed. 1952. Written to Dr. Lewis Wolberg. The first autograph letter signed is dated Feb. 3, 1952 and is written from Mexico in response to Wolberg's letter (retained copy included) of Jan. 14. Burroughs' letter begins: "I was glad to hear from you. Evidently you did not read about my difficulty here. It was in a N.Y. paper. Briefly I shot and killed my wife -- an accident, of course -- and was charged with manslaughter...I am out on bail now..." Burroughs continues with his plans to take his 4 year old son to Ecuador after things are straightened out, and provides Wolberg with a rundown of the selling points of Ecuador, itemized according to Climate, Opportunities, Prices, Health, Population, Industries. He then describes his past and upcoming attempts to learn more about the drug Telepathical Ayuasco, or Yage. "I don't know your opinion but I consider telepathy an established fact." He then says, "I am off the junk," and explains how, and why. "I wrote a novel on the subject which no one will publish. Laughlin of New Directions has it now. He is my last hope...I know I am now in better health for having been an addict off and on for 6 years...." Three full pages; fine. Signed, "Bill Burroughs." There is a retained copy of a reply from Wolberg dated Feb. 11 saying he has no information to relay on the telepathy drug. On December 4, 1953, Burroughs, in a brief autograph letter signed tells Wolberg he is leaving for Europe and that he sent him a copy of his book, Junkie, but neglected to autograph it. 8 1/2" x 5 1/4", with "File" written in the upper corner. Fine. Junkie was published by Ace as a pseudonymous paperback. For both letters:
20. BURROUGHS, William S. Archive. A substantial archive of manuscript material, correspondence, and books and printed matter, mostly signed. The manuscript material comprises some hundreds of pages, mostly from the 1950s to the 1980s, much of it unpublished, including:
- 90 pages on the Carsons family: Audrey Carsons appears in Exterminator!, The Wild Boys and the Red Night trilogy; in Cities of the Red Night he is the first person to be exposed to the B-23 virus that is a central element of the novel. Most of this material never appeared in print, or appeared in markedly different form;
- a large cache of manuscript material identified as being from 1960-64 and including much material from the Nova trilogy intermingled with unpublished material from the same "Word Horde";
- manuscript and typescripts from the 1950s, including material that went into Naked Lunch and other material left out of that book; material similar to the Yage Letters -- epistolary fiction written to Allen Ginsberg in the early 1950s;
- a "Scribbling Diary" (Dream Diary) from 1968, with multicolored entries on his dreams for most of the days of the year;
- the manuscript and publishing archive for Doctor Benway, a section left out of Naked Lunch and later published as a limited edition; and much more.
The correspondence includes hundreds of letters, including letters from Burroughs to Brion Gysin, Richard Seaver, Alex Trocchi, Richard Aaron, Mary Beach and Claude Pelieu, Udo Berger, Jan Herman, and others; letters from Gysin to Burroughs; letters from Gysin to Ira Cohen; an original "mylar image" of Burroughs as King of the Cobras taken by Cohen; numerous letters to Burroughs by most of the above individuals, and others.
The books and printed material include a large number of limited editions, foreign editions, signed and inscribed copies, including notable association copies, as well as books by others referring to Burroughs. A complete and detailed list of the contents of the archive is available on request. Much of this material seems to date from before the time of the Vaduz archive that Burroughs sold in 1973, and is either material he kept at the time or material that he had parted with earlier. It is likely that this is one of the largest collections of original Burroughs material still in private hands; outside of that which James Grauerholz (Burroughs's longtime assistant) has, it may be that this is the single most extensive archive that is yet to be institutionalized. For the time being, it is being offered only as a single lot, but serious inquiries for significant portions of it are invited. The price for the complete lot:
21. BUTLER, Robert Olen. Autograph Note Signed. August 4, 1992. Written on McNeese State University stationery, thanking the recipient for his note and confiding "...it gets a little spooky doing what we do and so rarely knowing that connections are being made." Butler also informs his correspondent that his book [A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain] has won the Southern Review/LSU Prize for short fiction; the title went on to win the Pulitzer Prize. Signed by Butler. Folded in thirds for mailing, fine. With hand-addressed mailing envelope.