Catalog 159, T-V
183. THOMPSON, Hunter and STEADMAN, Ralph. The Curse of Lono. NY: Bantam (1983). Text by Thompson and illustrations by Steadman, recounting the duo's trip to cover the Honolulu marathon for Running magazine. Signed by Steadman and with an original full-page caricature by him of Thompson. (Steadman has also signed Thompson's initials, a bad habit he had for a while.) Only issued in wrappers. Near fine.
184. (THOMPSON, Hunter). "The Nonstudent Left" in The Nation, September 27, 1965. NY: The Nation Company, 1965. A five-page article by Thompson. Signed by Thompson on the front cover. Mild age-toning, else fine in stapled wrappers. Precedes his first book, Hell's Angels, published the following year.
185. (THOMPSON, Hunter). Rolling Stone, November 11 and November 25, 1971. (London): Straight Arrow Publishers, 1971. Two editions of the British issue of Rolling Stone magazine, printing "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," by "Raoul Duke." With illustrations, including cover illustrations, by Ralph Steadman. The earlier issue includes the now-iconic Steadman drawing that appeared on the dust jacket of the book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (albeit with the steering wheel on the other side). Acidifying to pages; several small edge chips; about near fine. For both:
186. (THOMPSON, Hunter). Rolling Stone, August 17, 1972. (London): Straight Arrow Publishers, 1972. A British issue of Rolling Stone magazine, with "Fear and Loathing in Miami Beach," by Thompson and illustrations by Ralph Steadman. Pages acidifying; minor edge wear; near fine.
187. (THOMPSON, Hunter). "Hunter S. Thompson Speaks." Washington, D.C.: Expo, 1975. Broadsheet poster announcing that Hunter S. Thompson, "Famed Outlaw Journalist, Father of 'Gonzo Journalism'" will speak on Saturday July 5 at Washington, D.C.'s Rock N Roll Expo '75. Illustrated with a drawing of Thompson by R. Comiskey. 11" x 17". Folded once, else fine.
188. (THOMPSON, Hunter). Fear and Loathing Australia October 1976. (Coburg, Victoria): (Loose Licks Publishing)(1976). Souvenir program for Thompson's Australia Tour. Includes a two-page bio; two pages of Doonesbury comic strips featuring Thompson as "Raoul Duke"; four pages of Thompson's interview excerpted from Playboy and the Australian magazine Loose Licks; and an advertisement for the "Anything Could Happen!" tour T-shirt. Fine in stapled wrappers. Scarce HST ephemera; we've never seen another one.
189. (THOMPSON, Hunter). X-Ray Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 4. San Francisco: Pneumatic Press, 1995. The fourth issue of this artist book/magazine, produced by Johnny Brewton. This issue features a Thompson contribution on the inside rear cover, and a cover photo shot through by Thompson with a .45. The image is of porn star Marilyn Chambers posing in the nude, holding a box of Ivory Snow detergent, which is illustrated with a photograph of her holding a young baby. Chambers starred in the ground-breaking porn movie Behind the Green Door, produced by San Francisco porn kings Jim and Artie Mitchell, longtime friends of Thompson. Their theater, the O'Farrell, was considered the Carnegie Hall of pornography in those days, and Thompson made such regular visits there that at one time he had business cards made up reading "Hunter S. Thompson Night Manager the Mitchell Brothers Theater." Chambers' posing as the idealized young mother for Ivory Snow before it was known that she made her living in porn was a scandal for the detergent company, which recalled hundreds of thousands of boxes and replaced Chambers' photo with a painted image, although the woman still bore a striking resemblance to Chambers. This cover image is torn through with two jagged holes, and is stamped inside the cover: "Front Cover Shot With A .45 By Hunter S. Thompson." Unlike other copies of this image we have seen shot by Thompson, this one also bears lips prints, so both shot and kissed (owner of the lips not determined). Hand-assembled and velobound; fine. An extravagant production; the entire run of X-Ray Magazine consisted of ten issues.
190. TREVOR, William. Mrs Eckdorf in O'Neill's Hotel. NY: Viking (1970). The first American edition of the Irish writer's fourth novel. Signed by Trevor. Owner name front flyleaf; near fine in a very good dust jacket faded at the spine and flap folds.
191. UNSWORTH, Barry. Mooncranker's Gift. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974. The first American edition of his fourth novel, which won the Heinemann Award. Inscribed by the author in Toronto in 1993. Owner name front flyleaf; fine in a near fine, very slightly spine-tanned dust jacket with one small spot to the rear panel, and three small edge tears. Unsworth won the Booker Prize for his novel Sacred Hunger, and has been nominated for the Booker three other times.
192. UPDIKE, John. Bech: A Book. NY: Knopf, 1970. Inscribed by the author: "For Cyril & Sylvia Wismar/ with warm regards and high hopes for their work in the vineyard/ John Updike & H. Bech/ 10/15/71." Wismar and Updike met in 1970 when Wismar became pastor of the Clifton Lutheran Church of Marblehead, Massachusetts, which Updike had joined with his family in the late 1950s. Foxing to top edge of text block, else fine in a near fine dust jacket foxed on verso and with a couple small edge chips. A nice personal inscription to a new pair of friends, with the benefit of the added signature of Updike's alter-ego, Henry Bech.
193. UPDIKE, John. Buchanan Dying. NY: Knopf, 1974. His first play ("meant to be read"), about President James Buchanan. Inscribed by Updike: For Cyril Wismar/ who might enjoy the theological discussion on pp. 160 ff. keeping in mind Buchanan was never a Lutheran but a Scots Calvinist/ Warm regards/ John U." A half dozen instances of underlining in as many pages in the mentioned section, presumably by Wismar, and beginning with "explain to me what an experience of religion is." Foxing to foredge, thus a near fine copy in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket. A good inscription, and apparently an example of the book itself being part of an ongoing dialogue the two had been having over the first several years of their friendship.
194. UPDIKE, John. Problems and Other Stories. NY: Knopf, 1979. Inscribed by the author: "For Sylvia and Cyril Wismar/ this collection of stories part pastoral, part existential, and in large part problematical/ with an amplitude of admiration and affection/ John/ Dec 10 79." By this point in Updike's and Wismar's friendship, Updike was attending a different church (Episcopal), having divorced his first wife and having married Martha Berhard in 1977, a ceremony that Wismar performed. Despite Wismar's no longer being Updike's pastor, the friendship and intellectual engagement persisted. Trace foredge foxing, else fine in a very near fine dust jacket.
195. UPDIKE, John. Five Poems. (Cleveland): Bits Press (1980). Of a total edition of 185 copies, this is one of 135 numbered copies signed by the author (copy #184). Additionally inscribed by Updike: "For Sylvia & Cyril/ a not strictly appropriate but nevertheless heartfelt token of esteem and appreciation of hospitality received on July 6, 1981/ John." Some staining to foredge of cover, a bit of foxing to foredge of text block; near fine in saddle-stitched wrappers.
196. UPDIKE, John. Hawthorne's Creed. NY: Targ (1981). One of 250 numbered copies signed by the author. Additionally inscribed by Updike: "For Sylvia & Cyril/ two lovely names attached to two fine friends/ May their hands always hold J [diamond] J [diamond] Q [spade] Q [spade]/ John and Martha." Holding both jacks of diamonds and both queens of spades constitutes a 300 point "double pinochle" hand. Updike took the trouble to color in the diamonds (red) and spades (black). Together with a deck of Pinochle playing cards, inscribed on the case "From John & Martha Updike," in an unknown hand. The cards and case are near fine. The book is fine in a near fine, unprinted, mildly sunned dustwrapper. A wonderful and imaginative inscription, with gift.
197. UPDIKE, John. Hugging the Shore. NY: Knopf, 1983. A massive collection of essays and criticism from The New Yorker and elsewhere. Inscribed by Updike to the composer Robert Starer: "For Robert S. from John U./ see pp. 35-39 and ignore the rest/ in memory of our music-bathed limousine ride together." Pages 35-39 contain Updike's piece "The Chaste Planet," in which residents of the planet Minerva, who view music with the regard humans reserve for love, are brought to Earth, where they are overexposed to music to the point of boredom and impotence. It doesn't seem as though Starer followed Updike's advice to ignore the rest: the book appears read, with some sagging to the bulky text block and modest fading to the covers; a very good copy in a near fine dust jacket. The connection between Updike and Starer, beyond the limo, is unknown, but they shared a publisher and membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
198. UPDIKE, John. Bessere Verhaltnisse. Berlin: Verlag Volt und Welt (1986). A German-language edition of Rabbit is Rich. Inscribed by the author: "For Cyril (to brush up on his German (and notice that this book seems to be published in East Germany)/ John." [The copyright page states that the book was printed in the German Democratic Republic.] Mild age toning to acidic paper and foxing to top edge of text block; near fine in a fine dust jacket. A literary and historical curiosity, and in all likelihood not a title that Updike signed many times.
199. UPDIKE, John. Thanatopses. Cleveland: Bits Press (1991). One of 237 copies printed. This copy is inscribed by the author: "For Cyril Wismar/ on the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination - may he live and preach forever! With esteem and affection, John and Martha/ 17 July 1993." "and Martha" and the date are in a different ink and possibly in Martha's hand. Fine in saddle-stitched self-wrappers.
200. UPDIKE, John. Toward the End of Time. NY: Knopf 1997. Inscribed by Updike on a Post-it note attached to the front flyleaf: "May 11/ Cyril - Good to read about you and John Paul II. Birds of a feather, but you are fluffier. Cheers, John." Fine in a fine dust jacket. A warm sentiment between these two longtime friends -- now approaching 30 years since they met, and two decades since Wismar performed the marriage ceremony for the Updikes.
201. UPDIKE, John. Due Considerations. NY: Knopf, 2007. The uncorrected proof copy of this collection. Includes essays, reflections, criticism and reviews, introductions he wrote to others' books, art criticism, a six-page introduction, and more. A bulky text, nearly 700 pages, with shallow corner creasing to the covers; near fine in yellow wrappers, with the cover art bound in.
202. UPDIKE, John. My Father's Tears and Other Stories. NY: Knopf, 2009. The uncorrected proof copy of this posthumous collection. A few light spots to covers; near fine in wrappers.
203. (UPDIKE, John). The Harvard Lampoon Centennial Celebration 1876-1973. Boston/Toronto: Atlantic Monthly Press/Little Brown (1973). Updike provides the foreword to this volume edited by Martin Kaplan. This copy is inscribed by Updike: "For ___ ___/ from a minor contributor to this major volume/ John Updike." Recipient's dated signature (1974) to front flyleaf; evidence of previous dampening, primarily in some darkening to front cloth, thus only a very good copy, in a good, edgeworn dust jacket with significant lamination peeling. Large quarto; uncommon signed.
204. (UPDIKE, John). BARTH, Karl. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans (1986). First thus, with a 6-page foreword by Updike. Inscribed by the author: "For Cyril and Sylvia/ with admiration and affection/ John." Only issued in wrappers. Faint foredge spots to front cover, else fine.
205. (Vietnam Fiction). MARLANTES, Karl. Some Desperate Glory. (Berkeley/New York): El Leon/ Grove Atlantic (2010). Advance copy of the book published to substantial critical acclaim as Matterhorn. This is the early state advance reading copy (labeled "Unedited Bound Manuscript"), with the title Some Desperate Glory. Signed by the author. Textual variations exist between this version and the later state advance reading copy entitled Matterhorn. Reportedly, Grove printed 150 copies with this title and then opted to go back to the original title and destroyed almost all the copies. The author received two, and at least two others that we know of escaped destruction. Fine in wrappers. A scarce, early issue of one of the most acclaimed novels of the past few years, and by consensus one of the finest novels of the Vietnam war ever published.
206. VONNEGUT, Kurt. The Sirens of Titan. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1961. The first hardcover edition, and Vonnegut's scarcest trade hardcover: only 2500 copies printed, of which one can guess that half or more will have gone to libraries. Nominated for a Hugo Award. Signed by Vonnegut with a self-caricature in 2006. A near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with two small gutter nicks and sunning to the spine lettering and on the rear panel where (presumably) a smaller book stood next to it on a bookshelf. In a custom clamshell case.
207. VONNEGUT, Kurt. A Man Without a Country. NY/(London): Seven Stories Press/Bloomsbury (2005/2006). Both the first American edition and the first British edition of this collection of essays. The American edition is signed by the author with a self-caricature and dated 4/4/06; the British edition is signed by the author with a self-caricature and dated 7/12/06. Each is fine in a fine dust jacket and the two are housed together in a custom clamshell case. From the collection of Joe Petro III; the six page Author's Note at the end of the book is almost entirely devoted to the relationship between Vonnegut and Petro, including the comment that "it seems quite possible in retrospect that Joe Petro III saved my life."
208. (VONNEGUT, Kurt). BRINKLEY, Joe. Kurt Vonnegut's Apocalypse Blues. (Ann Arbor): State Street Press (2007). The typescript and advance reading copy of an unpublished book about Vonnegut, with illustrations by Vonnegut and an original frontispiece by Ralph Steadman. Together with a photocopy of Brinkley's original typescript, with textual differences from the printed version. In 2006, Brinkley published a profile of Vonnegut in Rolling Stone; in 2007, after Vonnegut's death, Borders (State Street Press) asked Brinkley if he had a longer, un-edited version of the article that could be used as a tribute book. The 53-page typescript included here, entitled Choking the Broomhandle, became the 93-page advance reading copy of the book Apocalypse Blues before the project was ended, for reasons unknown to us. The typescript has some editorial changes in an unknown hand and is near fine; the advance reading copy is fine in wrappers. For both: