Catalog 162, N-O
126. NAIPAUL, V.S. Mr Stone and the Knights Companion. (London): Deutsch (1963). The uncorrected proof copy of this early novel by the Nobel Prize winner, his fifth book. Small ink number on summary page; modest creasing and edge-sunning to covers; very good in wrappers. Naipaul proofs from this era are scarce; this is the only proof of this title we've seen.
127. NAIPAUL, V.S. Finding the Center. NY: Knopf, 1984. The first American edition. Inscribed by the author. Two narratives: "Prologue to an Autobiography" and "The Crocodiles of Yamoussoukro," a nonfiction account of political change in the Ivory Coast. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with light creasing at the spine ends.
128. (National Book Award). The Book That Changed My Life. NY: Modern Library (2002). The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of original interviews with winners of and finalists for the National Book Award: each interview touches on the connection between the author's reading and his or her writing. Authors include Don DeLillo, E.L. Doctorow, Robert Stone, Barry Lopez, Grace Paley, Charles Johnson, James Carroll, Philip Levine, Alice McDermott, Cynthia Ozick and others. Interesting, otherwise unpublished, comments from a stellar array of authors. Fine in wrappers.
129. (Native American). Report from the Secretary of War. (n.p.): War Department, 1836. "Report from the Secretary of War in compliance with a resolution of the Senate, relative to the extinguishment of the Indian title to lands in the vicinity of Green Bay, and north of the Wisconsin and Ioway rivers." A single sheet, folded in fourths, with five pages of text across both sides. The first page and a half is a report from the Secretary of War to the President of the Senate, M. Van Buren; the second page and a half is an analysis of the probable reactions of various tribes to the proposals by a Mr. Brush. Following that is a page and a half of an "extract of a talk held by the principal chiefs and braves of the Sac and Fox nation of Indians, with Joseph M. Street, Indian agent, the 9th day of May, 1935, on board the steamboat Wisconsin, Rock Hollow, in a council where 75 Sacs and Foxes were present." The entire extract comprises comments by "Keokuck," identified as "principal Sac chief," making this an early example of published Indian oratory, and documentation of one of many critical moments in the removal of Indian tribes to pave the way for Manifest Destiny. At the end of the extract Keokuk [the contemporary spelling of his name] requests a visit from the President of the U.S. or, barring that, a request that the President invite 20 Indian chiefs to Washington to discuss these matters. Keokuk was an important leader of the Sac (or Sauk) tribe, and a county and town in Iowa are named after him. Near fine.
130. (Native American). ALEXIE, Sherman. Radioactive Love Song. (n.p.): (Little Brown), 2009. An advance excerpt from an as-yet-unpublished young adult novel that was at one time slated to follow his 2007 National Book Award winning The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. In fact, the 2009 paperback edition of Absolutely True Diary included these five chapters as a preview. This is the first, thus far only, and likely the only-ever separate appearance. Signed by Alexie. In a 2009 interview, Alexie said this book was tabled so he could work on the sequel to Absolutely True Diary and so that he could re-work the narrative voice in Radioactive Love Song to be less like that of Arnold Spirit Jr., and perhaps make the narrator an iPod. 30 pages. Scarce; this is the only copy we've ever seen. A notable rarity by perhaps the most high profile contemporary Native American writer. Fine in wrappers.
131. (Native American). CONLEY, Robert J. Adawosgi, Swimmer Wesley Snell: A Cherokee Memorial. (Marvin): (Blue Cloud Quarterly)(1980). A prolific author of Cherokee descent, Conley is a highly praised writer in several fields. This, his first book, is a collection of poems about his father-in-law, whom he never got a chance to meet. Inscribed by the author. Together with a postcard [NY: Strawberry Press] printing the 19th poem (or stanza, if Adawosgi is to be read as one long poem), which differs only in punctuation from the published text. The card is also inscribed by Conley, on behalf of himself and his wife: "To our friend ____, we hope that we've helped to make your summer a memorable one." The card is fine; the chapbook is fine in stapled wrappers. Scarce signed; and this is the first time we've seen the postcard.
132. (Native American). ENDREZZE-DANIELSON, Anita. Burning the Fields. Lewiston: Confluence Press (1983). An early and uncommon book by this half-Yaqui poet. One of 250 copies printed. The slightest sunning to covers; else fine in wrappers. Scarce.
133. (Native American). KENNY, Maurice. With Love to Lesbia. NY: Aardvark Press (1958). A very early "sheaf of poems" by this Mohawk poet, apparently his third collection. Published while he was still in New York City, in Greenwich Village. Kenny became an important figure in both Native American literature and also gay literature, by virtue of both his own writings and his small press, Strawberry Press, in the 1970s and 80s. Mild creasing to rear cover; near fine in stapled wrappers.
134. (Native American). MATHEWS, John Joseph. Sundown. NY: Longmans, Green, 1934. His second book, and only novel, a novel of the American Southwest. The first modern novel by an Indian writer to deal directly with questions of "Indianness," the alienation from culture and self provoked by white men's education, and the futile attempt to become assimilated into the dominant culture. Inscribed by the author: "Tulsa, November 15, 1934/ for Harriet Smith with appreciation. John Joseph Mathews." Additional gift inscription shows the book was then presented at Christmas. Mild spine sunning; a near fine copy, lacking the dust jacket.
135. (Native American) OSKISON, John M. A Texas Titan. Garden City: Doubleday Doran, 1929. A fictionalized biography of Sam Houston by this author of Cherokee descent. Oskison was born in 1874 in the Cherokee Nation. He attended school with and was a lifelong friend of Will Rogers, and he later graduated from Stanford University and did graduate work at Harvard. He is one of the earliest Native American novelists, arguably the earliest. His first novel, Wild Harvest, appeared in 1925; prior to that all the novels written by American Indians had been passed off by their publishers as "true" romances of the West, or historical fiction based in fact. Oskison wrote novels that made no reference to his Indian background or upbringing and were intended to stand on their own merits as literature and referred to Indian issues only in passing, although they were set in the West. His only book to deal explicitly with Indian issues was his biography of Tecumseh. A near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with chipping to the crown.
136. (Native American). OWENS, Louis. Nightland. (NY): Dutton (1996). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel that combines elements of suspense fiction with a strong dose of Native American culture and mythology. His first book to be published by a major trade publisher. Nightland received an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation in 1997. Shallow lower corner crease to front cover; else fine in wrappers.
137. (Native American). WELCH, James. Winter in the Blood. NY: Harper & Row (1974). The uncorrected proof copy of his landmark first novel, which Reynolds Price called "a nearly flawless novel about human life." One of the key Native American novels of the postwar period, and the third book in the Harper & Row Native American Publishing Program. Spine slanted and faded, with title written on spine by hand. Very good in wrappers. In our experience, a scarce proof.
138. (Native American). WELCH, James. The Death of Jim Loney. NY: Harper & Row (1979). The uncorrected proof copy of his second novel. Pages reproduce copy editor's corrections. Very good in wrappers.
139. NORMAN, Howard. The Wishing Bone Cycle. Santa Barbara: Ross-Erikson (1982). First thus, second edition, but first expanded edition of this collection of Swampy Cree Indian narrative poems, translated by Norman, with a preface by poet and translator Jerome Rothenberg, founder of Alcheringa. Signed by both Norman and Rothenberg. Winner of the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award from the Academy of American Poets. This expanded edition includes Norman's Who Met the Lynx and Why Owls Die with Wings Outspread. Near fine in rubbed wrappers.
140. O'BRIEN, Tim. If I Die in a Combat Zone. (n.p.): Delacorte Press (1973). His first book, inscribed by the author to a high school classmate, debate partner, and neighbor: "To Jim,/ Best wishes -- / memories of old Worthington Sr. High!!/ Regards/ Tim." Rebound in black leather with gold stamping on spine. Slightly cocked; foxing to page edges; near fine. A highly praised memoir of the Vietnam war in which O'Brien uses some of the techniques of fiction to convey the experience of Vietnam from the grunt's perspective with immediacy and power: O'Brien would have been out of "old Worthington Sr. High" for about a decade when this book was published. An important first book; a high spot of Vietnam War literature; and a nice personal inscription.
141. O'BRIEN, Tim. The Things They Carried. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. The uncorrected proof copy of his fifth book, a collection of related stories which share a number of characters as well as the narrator -- a "Tim O'Brien" whose experience bears certain similarities to the author's own, as well as a number of differences. Inscribed by the author. Selected as one of the 12 best books of the year, in all categories, by the editors of The New York Times Book Review. Not quite a novel in the standard sense but more tightly structured than the usual collection of stories, it is a meditation on war and death, and on the place that storytelling has in bringing these ultimately unfathomable experiences within our grasp. Nearly a quarter century after its first publication, this is by consensus one of the best, if not the best, work of fiction to come out of the war -- a staple in school curricula and one of the books against which all other works on the subject are measured. Upper corner crease to front cover; near fine in wrappers.
142. -. Same title, the advance reading excerpt, featuring trial cover art (one of three early designs rejected by O'Brien). Signed by the author. Fine in stapled wrappers.
143. (O'BRIEN, Tim and STONE, Robert). Modern Fiction Studies, Spring, 1984. (West Lafayette): Purdue University, 1984. An issue devoted to Modern War Fiction. Lengthy interviews with both O'Brien and Stone by Eric James Schroeder. Two of the most highly regarded novelists to write about the Vietnam War, both of them National Book Award winners. Upper outer corner bumped; light stain to rear panel; near fine in wrappers.
144. OLSON, Charles. Call Me Ishmael. NY: Grove Press (1947)[1958]. Copy #8 of 100 numbered copies of the limited edition of Olson's long essay on Moby Dick, which was first published in 1947 and then reissued by Grove Press in the late 1950s, after Olson's tenure at Black Mountain. Olson was one of the leading figures in the literary avant garde that arose out of Black Mountain College -- one of the most influential cultural centers of postwar America -- where he was an instructor and rector from 1951 until 1956. Inauthentic Olson signature (inked through) on the title page; ownership signature of another author in pencil on the front flyleaf. Erasure to colophon; edge-sunning to boards; near fine, without dust jacket.
145. O'NAN, Stewart. In the Walled City. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press (1993). His first book, a collection of short stories that won the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, which was selected that year by Tobias Wolff. Three years later Wolff was one of the judges for Granta magazine in selecting the "20 Best Young American Authors," and O'Nan was among those selected. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
146. O'NAN, Stewart. Snow Angels. NY: Doubleday (1994). The advance reading copy of his second book, first novel. Winner of the 1993 Pirates Alley William Faulkner Prize for the Novel. Inscribed by the author: "For ___, this cold, cold book. Stay warm!" Fine in wrappers.
147. O'NAN, Stewart. Screenplay of Tim O'Brien's Going After Cacciato. 1996. Typescript of O'Nan's screenplay based on O'Brien's National Book Award-winning Vietnam War novel. Two clean copies, each signed by O'Nan on the title page. 126 pages each, and in a Kinko's box that is hand-labeled "Going After Cacciato/ 27 August 96/ Original - Top/ Copy - Bottom." The screenplays are fine; the box has two broken corners. The film of Cacciato is reportedly in development, directed by Nick Cassevetes, but apparently not with an O'Nan screenplay. O'Brien provided a jacket blurb for O'Nan's highly regarded Vietnam novel The Names of the Dead.
148. O'NAN, Stewart. The Names of the Dead. NY: Doubleday (1996). His third book, second novel, a Vietnam and post-Vietnam story intertwined. On our list of the top 25 works of fiction about the war. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
149. O'NAN, Stewart. The Speed Queen. NY: Doubleday (1997). The limited edition of this novel, originally to have been called "Dear Stephen King." One of 100 numbered copies signed by the author on a tipped-in leaf. King and O'Nan, both New England residents and baseball fans, collaborated on a nonfiction book about the Boston Red Sox in 2004. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
150. O'NAN, Stewart. A World Away. NY: Henry Holt (1998). A novel that takes place during World War II and was highly praised for evoking with great authenticity the spirit and ambience of that time. Inscribed by the author: "For ___, this sad pastoral. With HOPE." Fine in a fine dust jacket. Nice inscription.
151. ONDAATJE, Michael. Four Poems (Rat Jelly). 1969. The photocopied typescript of four poems by Ondaatje that would be collected four years later in Rat Jelly. Given by Ondaatje to Greg Gatenby (later the director of Toronto's annual International Festival of Authors) in 1969 when Gatenby was Ondaatje's student. Includes "Rat Jelly," "Burning Hills" (2 pages), "Near Elginburg," and "Sullivan and the Iguana." All correspond to the versions published in 1973 except for one extra line in this earlier version of "Sullivan and the Iguana." One tiny hand-correction reproduced in "Burning Hills." Pages are folded once; some spotting to pages, mostly on versos, not affecting text. Near fine. Manuscript material from this early in Ondaatje's career is practically unknown in the market, and this group comes with impeccable provenance, only one step removed from the author.
152. O'NEILL, Eugene. Strange Interlude. NY: Boni & Liveright, 1928. The publisher's presentation edition of the third of O'Neill's four Pulitzer Prize-winning plays. One of 25 copies in vellum reserved for use by the publisher, of a total edition of 775 copies, signed by the author. A large paper edition, printed in two colors to distinguish spoken words from thoughts, an experimental technique O'Neill used in this play in which the actors spoke in soliloquies representing their inner thoughts. Pages uncut. Vellum foxed, as usual, thus a very good copy, without slipcase. Laid in is a small pamphlet printing reviews of the play, mostly from the New York media, and advertising tickets in advance of its run at the Hartman Theatre in Columbus. The play ran to over four hours in length and the pamphlet announcement indicates there will be a dinner intermission of an hour and twenty minutes. The play was scheduled to begin at 5:30, with the final curtain at 11 PM. A rare issue of a Pulitzer Prize-winning play, with interesting ephemera laid in.