Catalog 158, B
13. BANKS, Russell. Success Stories. NY: Harper & Row (1986). A collection of stories, whose venues range from New England to Latin America to Southeast Asia. Inscribed by Banks to author Nicholas Delbanco: "For Nick, news from the near past, with friendship, Russell." A bit of extra glue on the rear spine cloth; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
14. BANKS, Russell. Lost Memory of Skin. (NY): Ecco/(HarperCollins)(2011). The advance reading copy of his latest novel, published to substantial critical praise. Tiny crown bump, else fine in self-wrappers.
15. BARNES, Julian as KAVANAGH, Dan. Duffy. London: Jonathan Cape (1980). The first book under the "Kavanagh" pseudonym by Barnes, a mystery with a bisexual investigator as protagonist, published in the same year as his first novel under his own name. Signed by the author as "Dan Kavanagh." Barnes received international acclaim with the publication of Flaubert's Parrot in 1984, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Two of his other books have also been selected for the Booker shortlist and another, his most recent novel, A Sense of an Ending, won the Booker Prize in 2011. Fine in a fine dust jacket. A very nice copy of this early pseudonymous book.
16. BARNES, Julian. Cross Channel. NY: Knopf, 1996. The first American edition of this collection of stories. Inscribed by Barnes to the author Nicholas Delbanco and his wife in the year of publication. Minor crimp to the last few pages and slight corner tap; near fine in a fine dust jacket. A nice literary association copy.
17. BEAGLE, Peter S. The Last Unicorn. London: Bodley Head (1968). The first British edition of this modern fantasy classic. Inscribed by the author. Owner name in pencil on the front flyleaf. Cocked, with sunning to boards; only a very good copy, lacking the dust jacket, but a scarce edition of a modern classic, seldom found signed.
18. (Beatles). Ringo Starr's Photo-Album. (NY): (Jamie Publications)(1964). Magazine-format memento of the early years of Beatlemania, the first of an intended annual series of Ringo's photos and captions. "75 Never-Before-Seen Photos of the Beatles Taken by Ringo," with an introduction by him. Each of Ringo's fellow Beatles gets a chapter, with another chapter dedicated to their travels in their first 18 months of touring. Small ink number on cover; near fine in stapled wrappers.
19. BEATTIE, Ann. Secrets and Surprises. NY: Random House (1978). Her third book, a collection of stories. Inscribed by Beattie to the author Nicholas Delbanco: "For Nick/ from someone who likes ritual. With affection - Ann Beattie." With Delbanco's signature and address label on the front flyleaf. Slight spine lean and small corner tap; near fine in a very good dust jacket with modest edge wear and fading to the red of the spine.
20. BELLOW, Saul. Herzog. NY: Viking (1964). An advance copy, in the form of comb-bound galleys, of the Nobel Prize winner's second National Book Award winner (of three). Signed by Bellow in 1968, with the comment "long time, no see" -- presumably an indication that, even at that early date, the proof was already extremely scarce. The text of this book was changed while the book was still in galleys, and approximately two dozen pages have new text pasted over the originals. There are also several hand corrections to both new and old pages, and a couple of marginal comments (e.g. "Moses Herzog as demented artist"). Even with the added pages of text and the corrections, variations still exist between this version and the final published text. 10" x 5-1/4" galleys, comb-bound in printed yellow cardstock covers; a bit handled and creased; very good. Scarce: we know of only two other copies of this proof surfacing over the years. A bibliographically significant copy of a key work by an American Nobel Prize winner.
21. BELLOW, Saul. The Dean's December. NY: Harper & Row (1982). The Harper & Row limited edition, which follows the Franklin Library edition. One of 500 copies signed by the author. Fine in acetate dust jacket and near fine, slightly dusty slipcase with one corner push.
22. BELLOW, Saul. It All Adds Up. (n.p.): Viking (1994). The uncorrected proof copy of this selection of Bellow's nonfiction pieces, the contents of which were greatly re-organized between proof and publication, and there are perhaps nine pieces, totaling some 40 pages, that are included in the proof that do not appear in the published book. A scarce proof: presumably distribution was limited, and curtailed completely when the changes to the final book were being contemplated. Fine in plain ochre printed wrappers, and predating the more common advance reading copy (itself labeled an "uncorrected proof" by the publisher) which was issued in illustrated wrappers, mimicking the dust jacket design. The only copy of this proof we've seen.
23. BLOCH, Robert. The Dead Beat. NY: Simon and Schuster, 1960. Inscribed by the author to another writer: "From one cat victim to another! All the best, Robert Bloch." With the bookplate of horror writer Stanley Wiater on the front flyleaf. Toning to page edges; sunning to lower board edges. Very good in a very good dust jacket. A good association copy: Bloch is the author of the classic Psycho, among many other works and is a legend in the field; Wiater is a three-time winner of the Horror Writers Association's Bram Stoker Award.
24. BLOCH, Robert. Pleasant Dreams - Nightmares. Sauk City: Arkham House, 1960. A collection of fifteen short stories, printed in an edition of 2000 copies by the specialty publishing house started by writers Donald Wandrei and August Derleth, and named after H.P. Lovecraft's fictional New England town, where most of his horror fiction was located. Inscribed by Bloch to Stanley [Wiater] and his wife, Iris. With Wiater's bookplate on the front flyleaf. Fine in a near fine dust jacket, with a bit of bleedthrough from the cloth on the rear flap fold and some offset from Wiater's Gahan Wilson-designed bookplate on the front flap. A very nice copy, and a good association.
25. (Book Collecting). AHEARN, Allen and Patricia. Collected Books: The Guide to Values, Fourth Edition. Comus: Quill & Brush Press, 2011. The first printing of the latest edition of the standard guide to book values by the authors of Book Collecting. This volume updates their 1991, 1998, and 2002 Collected Books, with values for more than 20,000 books and a section for identifying first editions. The Ahearns have put together the most useful single-volume reference books in the book trade. The listings in this guide include not only estimated prices but details regarding issue points where applicable. This is probably the only book that virtually every serious dealer in the U.S. owns a copy of and is indispensable, both for dealers who must assess a wide range of material and for collectors who focus in one or a few areas. Just the changes in values since the last edition was published in 2002 are an invaluable reference and can easily repay the cost of the book. Also, (taking an understatement from the introduction): "The points necessary to identify first printings and first states or issues are not always available online and, in many cases, there is incorrect or misleading information. So, in addition to its value as a price guide, there is strong justification for the use of this work by those interested in buying or selling scarce and rare first editions who want to be sure their offerings or purchases are bibliographically correct." Signed by the authors. Fine in a fine dust jacket. At the list price:
26. BORGES, Jorge Luis. Photograph. 1982. An original photograph of Borges by Layle Silbert, taken in the Trustees Room of the New York Public Library, September 30, 1982. Together with two sets of contact sheets with 56 images of Borges (many in conversation with others, and most or all presumably unpublished) from the same evening. Borges' visit to New York was sponsored by NYU's New York Institute for the Humanities, directed that year by Edmund White. Silbert is a prominent photographer of literary figures, as well as a writer herself. Four of her literary portraits are in the National Portrait Gallery. Approximately 7" x 10"; tiny corner crease to one margin; photographer's marks on six of the smaller images; else fine, with Silbert's stamps on verso.
27. BRADBURY, Ray. The Haunted Computer and the Android Pope. NY: Knopf, 1981. A collection of poems by the celebrated science fiction and fantasy novelist. This copy inscribed by the author to Buckminster Fuller on the front free endpaper in the year after publication: "For Bucky Fuller/ with awe + / admiration! From Ray Bradbury/ July 9, 1982." Some offsetting from the inscription onto the facing page and the jacket flap, and bleed through to the next blank; near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Bradbury is famously generous with his signature but this is one of the best association copies we have seen of one of his books.
28. BRADBURY, Ray. The Illustrated Man. (Springfield): Gauntlet Publications, 1996. A publisher's copy (marked "PC" on the colophon) of the 45th Anniversary Edition, published with a limitation of 600 numbered copies. Signed by Bradbury and also by William Nolan and Ed Gorman, who provide the introduction and afterword, respectively. With the bookplate of horror writer Stanley Wiater on the front flyleaf. A bit of mottling to cloth, mild splaying to boards; near fine in a fine dust jacket and near fine slipcase.
29. BUKOWSKI, Charles. It Catches My Heart in Its Hands. (New Orleans): Loujon (1963). One of 777 copies, and an extravagant volume, beautifully printed letterpress on heavy, multicolored paper by Jon and Louise Webb, who founded The Outsider magazine, an alternative literary magazine, and the highly regarded but short-lived Loujon Press. The Outsider was conceived as a literary journal for outsider art and literature, and introduced Bukowski to the wider world: Bukowski appeared in all five issues of the magazine and was named "Outsider of the Year" in issue 3. He was accompanied by such notables as Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Jack Kerouac, Henry Miller and others, and gained a literary reputation and credibility that might otherwise have been difficult to achieve. It Catches my Heart in Its Hands was the first book published by the Press, a lovingly hand-done production in which every page was treated as a work of letterpress art. The Webbs only published three such books in their careers -- two by Bukowski and one Henry Miller title with a bewildering array of variants and issues. A fine copy of an early book by the quintessential American street poet. Signed by the author in February, 1964. This was Bukowski's first signed limited edition.
30. BUKOWSKI, Charles. Crucifix in a Deathhand. NY: Lyle Stuart/Loujon Press (1965). Designed and elaborately hand-printed and bound in an edition of approximately 3100 copies by Loujon Press: multi-colored, deckle-edge pages, in stiff pictorial wrappers, extensively illustrated by Noel Rockmore. All copies were signed by Bukowski, this one being dated 3-19-65, or about a month before the books began to be distributed. A fine copy.
31. BUKOWSKI, Charles, The Wedding. San Pedro: Brown Buddha Books, 1986. A limited edition printed to celebrate the August 18, 1985 wedding of Bukowski and Linda Lee Beighle. Printed in an edition of only 40 copies, illustrated with eleven tipped in original photographs of the wedding by Michael Montfort, known for his photographic collaborations with Bukowski, among his other work. This copy is a first issue, with the bride's surname misspelled on the colophon and the inclusion of the photograph of Linda kneeling to repair Bukowski's trousers. Signed by Bukowski and Montfort. According to the colophon, this copy belonged to Julie Curtiss Voss, mentioned by Bukowski in the text as assistant to John Martin, Bukowski's publisher and best man. Martin, the publisher of Black Sparrow Press, began publishing Bukowski in the mid-1960s, shortly after the Loujon Press books were published, and by the 1990s he had dozens of his titles in print in a variety of editions and formats. While this title was not issued by Black Sparrow it has the feel of a Black Sparrow edition, and it is doubtless that Martin arranged the details of its publication: it was designed by Barbara Martin and handbound by Earle Gray, as most of the Black Sparrow editions were. Fine, without dust jacket, as issued. A nice association copy of one of the scarcest items in the Bukowski canon.