Catalog 154, H-L
72. (Haiti). THOBY-MARCELIN, Philippe and MARCELIN, Pierre. Canapé-Vert. NY: Farrar & Rinehart (1944). A novel of Haiti by these two Haitian brothers, which won a prize in the second Latin American literature contest sponsored by Farrar & Rinehart. Inscribed by Thoby-Marcelin to poet Barbara Howes in 1971. A nice association copy: in addition to being a poet, Howes edited an important anthology of Caribbean writing, From the Green Antilles, and a comparably important anthology of Latin American writing, The Eye of the Heart, both of which brought much more attention to the writers of those regions than they had received previously from U.S. readers. With the Howes/Smith bookplate on the front pastedown. Fine in a good, price-clipped dust jacket with small corner chips but splitting at the flap folds. Scarce signed.
73. (Haiti). THOBY-MARCELIN, Philippe and MARCELIN, Pierre. The Beast of the Haitian Hills. NY: Rinehart & Co. (1946). Probably their best-known book. Inscribed by Thoby-Marcelin to Barbara Howes in 1971, with the Howes/Smith bookplate front pastedown. Fine in a near fine, mildly spine-dulled dust jacket with slight edge wear. A very nice copy of this book, and scarce signed. Again, a good association copy.
74. HANNAH, Barry. Nightwatchmen. NY: Viking (1973). His second and, according to many, scarcest book. Inscribed by the author to Seymour Lawrence in 1988: "For Sam Lawrence, all best in life and love. Thanks so much for your trust." An excellent association: Lawrence became Hannah's publisher in the mid-1980s, and Hannah stayed with him until Lawrence died. One of his later books, Never Die, was dedicated to Lawrence. Edge-sunned cloth; near fine in a very good, spine- and edge-faded dust jacket.
75. HAVIARAS, Stratis. When the Tree Sings. (London): Pan/Picador (1980). The first printing of this British paperback edition. Inscribed by the author to another writer in 1981 with the comment that he truly admires one of the recipient's novels. Foredge tear to prelims; darkening to acidic pages; about near fine in wrappers.
76. HIAASEN, Carl. Lucky You. (New Orleans): B.E. Trice (1997). The limited edition of this comic mystery set in south Florida. Created from the sheets of the publisher's trade edition with an added colophon and a different binding. Of a total edition of 176 copies, this is one of 26 lettered copies signed by the author. Fine in a fine slipcase.
77. HOAGLAND, Edward. The Courage of Turtles. NY: Random House (1970). His first collection of essays. Hoagland was called by John Updike "the best essayist of my generation." Remainder stripes lower page edges; near fine in a very good, spine-sunned dust jacket with some surface soiling to the rear panel and foxing on verso.
78. HOBAN, Russell. The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz. NY: Summit (1983). The uncorrected proof copy of the first Summit edition of the first adult novel by the author of Riddley Walker, among others. One of the classics of modern fantasy. Spine and edge-sunning; near fine in wrappers.
79. HOMES, A.M. The Safety of Objects. (London): Viking (1991). Her second book, a highly praised collection of stories. Inscribed by the author with a (self?) caricature: "For ___ & ___ - with greatest thanks for a great dinner, reading & general good time had by all." The shaky, frazzled-looking caricature is captioned "Before reading." Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with the tiniest of creases to the crown. A nice inscription, capturing a specific moment in time.
80. HORNBY, Nick. Contemporary American Fiction. London/NY:Vision/St. Martin's (1992). His first book, nonfiction, critical essays on a number of American writers who were prominent in the 1980s, including Raymond Carver, Richard Ford, Anne Tyler, Bobbie Ann Mason, Jane Anne Phillips, Joy Williams, Tobias Wolff and Andre Dubus, and an essay on "The New Yorker Short Story." Precedes Hornby's well-received soccer memoir, Fever Pitch, and his highly praised fiction such as High Fidelity and About a Boy. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Quite uncommon; this is the first copy we've handled.
81. HORNBY, Nick. High Fidelity. London: Gollancz (1995). His first novel, published to excellent reviews and made into a well-received movie. Inscribed by the author a little over a week prior to the publication of the book. Fine in a fine dust jacket. A beautiful copy and an excellent early inscription.
82. INDIANA, Gary. Horse Crazy. NY: Grove (1989). The third book, first novel, by this writer, visual artist and cultural critic, this being a novel set on the Lower East Side of New York in the years of the AIDS epidemic. Signed by the author. Tiny upper corner taps; else fine in a very near fine, very mildly rubbed, black dust jacket.
83. JIN, Ha. War Trash. NY: Pantheon (2004). A later printing of his novel of Chinese POWs held by Americans during the Korean War. Inscribed by the author in 2005 to another National Book Award-winning author, "with deep respect." Near fine, lacking the dust jacket. A nice association copy.
84. JOHNSON, Denis. Angels. NY: Knopf, 1983. The uncorrected proof copy of his first novel, a tale of drifters that is reminiscent of the noir fiction of Robert Stone, from whom this copy came. Spine and edge-darkened covers; very good in wrappers.
85. JONES, James. From Here to Eternity. NY: Scribner, 1951. His first book, one of the great novels of World War II. Winner of the National Book Award and the basis for a film that won eight Academy Awards and was named one of the American Film Institute's top 100 Films of the Century. Signed by the author, with "sincere best wishes." Faint offsetting to front pastedown, lower corners bumped; near fine in a near fine dust jacket with slight edge wear and the orange title lettering on the spine now yellow. A very nice copy of a book that, because of its bulky size, is usually found in inferior condition. There was a signed limited issue of this title comprising 1500 copies, but signed copies of the trade edition are much scarcer than that.
86. (KENNEDY, William and BRUCHAC, Joseph). Gates to the City. (Albany): (Albany Tricentennial Commission)(1986). A collection of Albany literature, celebrating the tricentennial. Kennedy's piece "The Gut: Our Boulevard of Bluest Dreams" is reprinted from O Albany! Also includes "Mayor Schuyler and the Mohican" by Joseph Bruchac. Fine in wrappers.
87. KEROUAC, Jack. Signed Check. 1963. A check made out to the Internal Revenue Service, in the amount of $300. Drawn on the account of John L. Kerouac and Gabrielle Kerouac (his mother) at Security National Bank of Long Island, dated September 9, and hand-numbered as check no. 141. Signed, John L. Kerouac. An IRS payment from the month Visions of Gerard was published. A noteworthy check in that after the publication of On The Road, Kerouac nearly always signed his name "Jack." Presumably, in this case he had to sign the check the way his tax return was made out, i.e., using his given name. The background of the check has a lighthouse theme; there are the usual cancellation markings, not affecting signature. Previously folded in half; else fine.
88. KESEY, Ken and SMITH, Irby. Last Go Round. (Pendleton): Sundown & Fletcher, Inc., [c. 1984]. Promotional flyer for Kesey's unpublished and unproduced screenplay, predating publication of Kesey's novel of the same title by a decade. The story is based on a historical character, a black cowboy named George Fletcher who performed at the Pendleton, Oregon, round up in 1911. Eight 7" x 12" pages, which unfold to 28" x 12". Two pages describe the characters of Fletcher and the Indian Jackson Sundown; two inner pages contain excerpts from Kesey's screenplay-in-progress, alternating with his thoughts on theme, movement and ending. The project never found the backers needed for production, and it ended up in a lawsuit. Kesey eventually withdrew the screenplay from circulation, citing at different times that other people wanted to change it too much and/or that he had decided it needed work: in any event it eventually emerged as a novel, nearly a decade later, and this is a rare glimpse of the earlier, screenplay form -- the original vision Kesey had for this story, in his own words. We have never seen this circulate in the market; this copy came from one of the principals involved in trying to get the project off the ground. Fine. Rare.
89. KIDDER, Tracy. The Road to Yuba City. Garden City: Doubleday, 1974. The uncorrected proof copy of Kidder's first book, an investigative report on the Juan Corona murders of a number of migrant fruit workers in northern California in the early 1970s. Kidder, unhappy with the book in retrospect, has declined to allow it to be republished, despite the fame and acclaim that followed on the heels of the Pulitzer Prize he won for his second book, The Soul of a New Machine. A spot of dampstaining to the rear cover, otherwise near fine in tall, ringbound wrappers.
90. KING, Stephen. Salem's Lot. Garden City: Doubleday, 1975. His second novel. Inscribed by King in the year of publication: "For ____, from your mother -- / I hope you enjoy it and have a Merry Christmas!/ Stephen King/ November 20, 1975." A small skinned spot on the front free endpaper makes this a near fine copy in a near fine, corner-clipped second issue dust jacket (with the printed price $7.95 and the reference to "Father Cody" in the flap text), with modest corner rubbing and a strip of offsetting to the rear panel. An attractive copy of this book, much better than usually found, and with the earliest King inscription we have seen in it. Early King books with contemporary inscriptions are extremely uncommon: the first printings were small and the books didn't sell particularly well. It wasn't until about 1980 that his books were bestsellers immediately upon publication. Also, King didn't do the extensive author tours that later became the norm for promoting books.
91. KNOWLES, John. A Separate Peace. NY: Macmillan, 1960. The first American edition of the author's classic and influential coming-of-age novel. Filmed once theatrically (in 1972 with Parker Stevenson) and twice more for television. Signed by the author. Owner name stamp and gift inscription, noting this as an "...Autographed Copy from a Fairmont Man." Knowles grew up in Fairmont, West Virginia, and attended high school there before leaving for private boarding school, Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, on which the school in this story is based. Minor spine tanning and offsetting to the joints from the binder's glue; near fine in a very good, price-clipped, second issue dust jacket. Apparently the publisher and author felt that the first issue jacket made the title look too much like a children's book and it was quickly changed; this later jacket is all text. An important novel, and quite uncommon signed. The gift inscription associates the author with his early hometown, prior to his boarding school years.
92. LARDNER, Ring. Bib Ballads. Chicago: P.F. Volland (1915). The first regularly published book by the humorist who came to be considered the best writer of baseball fiction of the first half of the 20th century. These are humorous poems of early childhood, with the satirical edge that came to characterize his later fiction. One small smudge on the page with the book's foreword, otherwise a very fine copy in a close to fine publisher's box. Scarce thus: the box is notoriously fragile, prone to splitting and fading, and this one, despite three small splits to top edge, is the nicest copy we have seen.
93. LARSSON, Stieg. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. London: Maclehouse/Quercus (2008). The first British edition, and first English language edition, of the first book in Larsson's posthumously-published bestselling Millennium Trilogy. The Swedish film of the book is currently in U.S. release and has received high praise, as have the two succeeding films in the trilogy; the Hollywood version is in production. Foredge nick to two pages; else fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a slight scratch to the rear panel.
94. -. Same title. The advance reading copy. Fine in wrappers. The U.K. edition preceded the U.S. edition and had a much smaller printing, as is usual. The advance reading copy was presumably issued in numbers that comprise a small fraction of the U.K. printing and is undoubtedly the scarcest and earliest English-language issue of this astonishingly well-received novel.
95. LEE, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. London: Heinemann (1960). The uncorrected proof copy of the first British edition of her first and only book, which won the Pulitzer Prize and was the basis for an Academy Award-winning movie. One thumbnail-sized spot to the upper front edge; otherwise a very near fine copy in plain brown printed wrappers. A very nice copy of an uncommon issue of this book, a classic for more than half a century.
96. (LEE, Harper). FOOTE, Horton. The Screenplay of To Kill a Mockingbird. NY: Harvest/Harcourt, Brace & World (1964). A paperback original, printing the text of Foote's 1962 Academy Award-winning screenplay of Lee's 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. With a full-page "Word from Harper Lee" commending Foote's adaptation of her novel, in part: "If the integrity of a film adaptation can be measured by the degree to which the novelist's intent is preserved, Mr. Foote's screenplay should be studied as a classic. Perhaps To Kill a Mockingbird marks the beginning of a new era of responsibility in Hollywood..." Price inked out on front cover; shallow creasing to pages and rear cover; some minor rubbing; very good in wrappers. Uncommon. Lee's appearances in print have been few and far between, and this is a substantial comment about the film made from her only book, and notable as such.
97. LENT, Jeffrey. Lost Nation. NY: Grove Press (2002). The first Grove Press edition of his second novel. Inscribed by the author to another writer, "with great admiration." Cup ring to front cover; near fine in wrappers. Laid in is a program for a festival featuring both authors.
98. LOPEZ, Barry. "Whatever evaluation we make of a particular stretch of land..." [West Burke]: Janus Press, 1992. An attractive broadside from the Janus Press, printing an excerpt from Arctic Dreams on a paper landscape montage created by Clare Van Vliet. A beautiful production: essentially a paper sculpture of cloud-enshrouded mountains, in keeping with the Lopez quote which encourages us to relate to the land and "to preserve some of the mystery within it as a kind of wisdom to be experienced, not questioned. And to be alert...for that moment when something sacred reveals itself within the mundane..." One of 90 copies signed by Lopez. 16" x 24", matted and framed to 20" x 28". Fine.
99. (LOPEZ, Barry). Home Ground. Language for an American Landscape. San Antonio: Trinity University Press (2006). An advance copy of this compendium that gives definition to the ways we talk about the American landscape. A massive effort, several years in production, the final published text is a combination dictionary/encyclopedia of the vocabulary by which we describe and define the natural world, with contributions from dozens of accomplished and important writers in the field: Jan DeBlieu, Gretel Ehrlich, Charles Frazier, Linda Hogan, Barbara Kingsolver, William Kittredge, Jon Krakauer, Bill McKibben, Susan Brind Morrow, Pattiann Rogers, Terry Tempest Williams and many, many others. This advance copy prints entries for only the letters A-C. It is inscribed by Barry Lopez, the editor. An anomaly: Lopez routinely refuses to sign advance copies. Fine in wrappers.