Catalog 155, R
163. RANKIN, Ian. Hide & Seek. London: Barrie & Jenkins (1991). The limited advance reading copy of his fifth book, and the second featuring Detective Inspector John Rebus. This was his breakthrough book -- the first book to be self-consciously part of an ongoing series. Rankin's commercial success began with this book and he was able to move to larger publishers successively as the sales of his novels grew. Only a few years earlier, he had been unable to find a publisher, and even at the time that this book was being published his previous two novels did not find publishing houses in the U.S. that were willing to take them on. One of 400 numbered copies. Signed by the author, with an added game of knots & crosses (tic tac toe). Mild corner creasing on the rear cover; else fine in wrappers.
164. RANKIN, Ian. Black & Blue. (London): Orion (1997). The uncorrected proof copy of this Rebus novel that won the Crime Writers' Association Macallan Gold Dagger Award for Fiction, and was a finalist for the U.S. Mystery Writers' Association's Edgar Award for best novel. Signed by the author, with a game of "knots & crosses." Fine in wrappers. An uncommon proof, especially signed.
165. RICE, Anne. Servant of the Bones. New York: Knopf, 1996. The uncorrected proof copy of this novel, which had an announced first printing of one million copies. This is the presumed first issue, with the first page blank rather than printing the author photo and bio. Fine in medium tan wrappers.
166. ROBBINS, Tom. Another Roadside Attraction. Garden City: Doubleday, 1971. The uncorrected proof copy of his first novel and the start of his iconoclastic career. Another Roadside Attraction was one of a handful of contemporary novels that became bestsellers slowly, by word of mouth, primarily on college campuses, long after the paperback editions came out: it never sold well enough in hardcover to go into a second printing, but it has never been out of print in paperback. This proof copy is inscribed by the author: "To ___ ___/Dodging comets, Tom Robbins." Some modest sunning and staining to the cardstock covers; still near fine in tall, ringbound wrappers, preserved in a custom quarter leather clamshell box. Scarce.
167. -. Same title. Ein Platz fur Hot Dogs. (Hamburg): Rowohlt (1987). Galley sheets for the German edition of Another Roadside Attraction (A Place for Hot Dogs). Inscribed by Robbins, in German. 11-3/4" x 8-1/4" photocopied sheets, reproducing numerous copy editor's markings and printed on rectos only. Fine. Together with the first German edition, a paperback original, which has slight rubbing and is near fine in wrappers. Uncommon, possibly unique: publisher's seldom keep this "dead matter" after a book is finished, and even the authors usually don't get the dead matter from their foreign publications.
168. ROBBINS, Tom. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1976. The uncorrected proof copy of his irrepressible second novel. Exuberantly inscribed by the author to his jeweler. One small spot to flyleaf; fine in wrappers. One of the high spots of the literature that came out of the counterculture of the 1960s and early 1970s, and especially uncommon in proof form and signed.
169. -. Same title. (Kamioka): (English Agency)(n.d.). Galleys for the Japanese edition of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. Photocopied, copyedited sheets, reproducing numerous copy editor's markings; 14-1/4" x 10-1/4", printed on rectos only, and stapled together in chapter groupings; by all appearances, a working copy. Some curling to the corners; else fine. Laid in are two color photocopies of a publicity handout for the 1993 film made from the novel, with titles and credits in English and all other text in Japanese. Scarce; perhaps unique.
170. ROBBINS, Tom. Still Life With Woodpecker. (n.p.): (n.p.), 1979. Photocopied typescript of Robbins' third novel, which was published in 1980. 347 pages, with copy-editor's marks and reproducing Robbins' holograph corrections. 8-1/2" x 11", claspbound in an orange binder. Signed by the author. Fine.
171. ROBBINS, Tom. Jitterbug Perfume. NY: Bantam (1984). The uncorrected proof copy. Inscribed by the author to his jeweler. A bit dusty, slightest bump to base; very near fine in wrappers. An uncommon proof, especially signed.
172. ROBBINS, Tom. Salomes Siebter Schleier. [Skinny Legs and All]. (Hamburg): Rowohlt (1992). Galley sheets for the German edition of Skinny Legs and All, or, in this German edition, Salome's Seventh Veil. 11-3/4" x 8-1/4" laser-printed sheets, with a number of holograph copy editor's markings, printed on rectos only. Slight stains to front page; else fine. Together with the German hardcover edition, which is fine in a fine dust jacket. Probably unique.
173. ROBBINS, Tom. Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas. (n.p.): (n.p.), 1991. Photocopied typescript of his sixth novel, incomplete at 268 pages, but bearing both photocopied holograph corrections and several actual holograph corrections, in Robbins' hand. Across the top of each page, where Robbins usually puts the title, this copy has the author name, the page number, and "fool." A bit of edge creasing to some of the pages; on the whole very near fine.
174. ROBINSON, Marilynne. Housekeeping. NY: FSG (1980). The uncorrected proof copy of her first book and her only novel until Gilead, which won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize. Housekeeping won the Ernest Hemingway Foundation Award, a Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Award, and was the basis for a well-received movie; it was also named one of the best works of American fiction in a 25-year period in a survey by The New York Times Book Review. Top corner a trifle bumped, still fine in wrappers. Laid in is a letter from an editor to John Fowles asking for his comments. An important first novel, this copy having distinguished provenance.
175. ROBINSON, Peter. A Dedicated Man. NY: Scribner (1991). The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of his second book featuring Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks. Stephen King called the Inspector Banks novels the "best series now on the market," and said they may be the best British series since Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels. Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers. Uncommon.
176. ROTH, Philip. The Prague Orgy. London: Cape (1985). The uncorrected proof copy of the first edition of this volume not separately published in the U.S. until the 1996 paperback edition. Slight abrasion to rear cover; else fine in wrappers. A Roth rarity. Roth became one of the most highly acclaimed American novelists in recent memory with a string of award-winning books in the 1990s and 2000s and inclusion of six volumes of his writings in the Library of America series.
177. ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone; Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. (London): Bloomsbury (1997-1999). The uncorrected proof copies of the first three Harry Potter books -- the only proofs that were issued in the series: after the first three books, the novels were so popular that proofs were no longer produced for distribution. The first volume is white with a yellow stripe; 224 pp.; and lists "Joanne Rowling" on the copyright page and "J.A Rowling" on the title page. The second volume is blue with white; 252 pp. (although it claims on the rear cover to be 256 pp.); and leaves the Dedication page blank beyond the word "Dedication." The third volume is the first issue, purple with white, with textual variations between this issue and the published book (there was also a later, green and white issue); 315 pp. (although it also claims to be 256 pp. on the rear cover); the dedication page reads "? dedication." The first volume is slightly dusty and has a small, faint erasure in the yellow stripe; the first and second volumes each have a slight corner crease to the lower front cover; else the set is fine in wrappers. Housed together in a custom clamshell case. Reportedly, there were only 200 copies of the proof for Philosopher's Stone and only 50 copies of the purple proof for Prisoner of Azkaban, which means that no more than 50 sets such as this could ever be assembled, making this perhaps the rarest set of Harry Potter items possible, as well as the earliest versions of any of the novels to be brought into the world, after the manuscripts. A rare set of these modern classics. The seven book series has worldwide sales in excess of 400 million copies.
178. ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. (London): Bloomsbury (1999). The uncorrected proof copy of the third Harry Potter book. This is the second issue of the proof, in green and white wrappers, 316 pages (although the rear cover states the pagination at 256 pages.) Inscribed by the author on the dedication page, where the printed text reads "? dedication" and has been circled by Rowling with an arrow pointing to her words: "To Thomas, with very best wishes, J.K. Rowling." She has also added an "X" under her name. After the third book, Bloomsbury did not print or issue prepublication proofs. Reportedly there were only 50 copies of the purple proof for Azkaban, and some greater number of the green proof, but the green doesn't appear to be any more common on the market; we found similar numbers of them having been offered on the market over the years or appearing at auction. This copy has apparently been read: handling in evidence on rear cover; spine creases; and corner creases to front cover. Very good in wrappers. Uncommon, and especially so signed.
179. RUSH, Norman. Mating. [NY]: Knopf, 1991. An advance copy of his first novel, second book, consisting of the first 99 pages of photocopied typescript, tapebound together with a note to the sales reps which serves as the cover, and the publisher's fact sheet with selling points ("brilliantly funny" has been softened to "witty"). The typescript reproduces a number of holograph changes, making this an early version of the text. An unusual, early view of a National Book Award winner; voted one of the best works of American fiction in a 25-year period in a New York Times Book Review survey. 8-1/2" x 11". Fine.