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Catalog 163, A

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1. ABBEY, Edward. Publisher's Archive of A Voice Crying in the Wilderness. NY: St. Martin's (1990). A Voice Crying in the Wilderness was ostensibly the first trade edition of the posthumously published 1989 Rydal Press limited edition Vox Clamantis in Deserto, but retitled and re-edited and with slightly different content, and with illustrations by Andrew Rush, A Voice Crying in the Wilderness is a separate Abbey "A" item.
The archive includes:

  • the first draft contract between St. Martin's Press and Rydal Press for this edition, with emendations.
  • 81 page photocopied typescript, heavily copyedited.
  • a clean set of galley sheets, approximately 66 pages.
  • "master" galleys, heavily copyedited.
  • "master" page proofs dated January 12, 1990, heavily copyedited.
  • a second pass of the page proofs, undated, correcting errors caught in the first set, but still imperfect.
  • a "master" set of revised proofs, dated January 26, 1990, also copyedited.
  • eight additional "master" proof sheets correcting the errors remaining in the third set of page proofs.
  • heavily copyedited copy of the page featuring "Other Works By Edward Abbey."
  • blue proof of the title page.
  • composition specification sheet.
  • the mock up of the endpapers, featuring Andrew Rush art work.
  • a letter from St. Martin's to Clark Kimball of The Rydal Press, enclosing "some production materials" from the book they are "quite pleased to be printing. The materials include a mockup of the title page and two separate mockups of a single text page, each featuring a "blind men and the elephant" illustration by Rush, one of which is inscribed by Rush: "AR for CK."
  • and Andrew Rush biographical flyer, and
  • an autograph letter signed by Rush to Clark Kimball, in part transmitting a drawing that Kimball liked (not included here, but perhaps an original of the "blind men" drawing mentioned above). The letter is in a self-made Rush notecard, and the drawing tipped to the front cover is present but detached. Some pages stapled or clipped; post-its throughout. Varying page sizes, from notecard to legal. Minor edge wear.
A near fine archive all neatly assembled in a custom clamshell case, and showing the evolution of the book: the first draft contract gives the title as The West According to Abbey: Vox Clamantis in Deserto, which was never used. A post-it on a St. Martin's spec sheet seems to suggest that "An Isolated Voice" was under consideration as a title. Abbey finished the book only two weeks before he died, just 62 years old. Rydal published a limited edition, originally intended to be a signed limited edition; this first trade edition varies from the Rydal edition by virtue of the illustrations and also, according to the bibliographer, "deletions and additions," thus meriting its being identified as a separate "A" item from the Rydal edition. A unique archive of this compendium of writings by one of the most outspoken, influential and powerful advocates for wilderness in the American West.

2. ACHEBE, Chinua. A Man of the People. London: Heinemann (1966). The uncorrected proof copy of the first British edition of his fourth book, a satirical novel about political corruption in Nigeria, by one of the foremost African men of letters of the 20th century, author of Things Fall Apart reportedly the most widely-read African novel of all time, and certainly one of the most highly regarded. Achebe was the winner of the 2007 Man Booker International Prize, among many other honors and awards over a 50+-year writing career. Signed by Achebe. Faint spine-tanning, a few spots to lower edge of text block, and tiny corner creases; very good in wrappers. A Burgess 99 title, and an uncommon proof, especially signed.

3. ALBEE, Edward. The Zoo Story, The Death of Bessie Smith, The Sandbox. NY: Coward-McCann (1960). Three plays by the three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, among others, with an introduction by the author. Inscribed by Albee on the title page. This was Albee's first hardcover publication, and this is the first issue dust jacket with the $2.75 price. Scarce in the first issue jacket: the publisher raised the price to $3.50 and price-clipped all the unsold copies, adding the new price at the bottom of the front flap. Albee apparently spelled the recipient's name wrong and it has been neatly corrected, apparently by the recipient as a different pen was used. Small bookseller label rear pastedown; upper corner tapped, else fine in a fine dust jacket with just one short, closed edge tear. A beautiful copy of an important first book, seldom found in the first issue, and almost never seen signed or inscribed.

4. ANDERSON, Kent. Sympathy for the Devil. Garden City: Doubleday, 1987. His powerful first novel by the author, about the Special Forces in Vietnam, with whom the author served. One of the best novels of the war in its lucid portrayal of the devastating effects of the war on even so elite a group as this and, as such, a powerful antiwar statement without the usual postures and attitudes that are normally associated with an antiwar message. Signed by the author. One slight corner tap, else fine in a fine dust jacket. Laid in is a photocopy of the announcement of Anderson's Award of the Bronze Star Medal for Heroism, 1970. The novel includes a description of a firefight based on the action for which he won the award.

5. -. Same title. The advance reading copy. Signed by the author. Shot from typescript, with the author's photocopied corrections in evidence throughout, including substantial sections that were excised before publication but are present, and readable, in this issue. Near fine.

6. ANDERSON, Kent. Night Dogs. (Tucson): Dennis McMillan, 1996. The long-awaited second novel by the author of Sympathy for the Devil. This was Kent Anderson's own copy, signed by him on the title page and on the front flyleaf (1/19/97), and inscribed to Anderson by James Crumley, who provides the introduction; the publisher Dennis McMillan; and the designer Michael Kellner. Also autographed by a dog on the copyright page (a paw print) presumably one of the "night dogs" that gave the book its title and possibly signed by Chas Hansen on the acknowledgments page. Crumley's inscription reads: "CKA - This is warm and personal - raspberry minimal piss." [We think that's what it says.] Kellner has written: "Kent - a great honor for me to read this book, let alone design it." And McMillan has written: "$$$ is our future $ you did it!" Laid in is a photocopy of a written commendation Anderson received in 1975 for the arrest of a robbery suspect, and a copy of a 1976 newspaper story about Anderson being saved from being shot by his own gun, by virtue of the gun's safety, a brave bystander, and Anderson's own professionalism; both stories appear in the book, in modified form. The book has a bit of play in the binding; near fine in a fine dust jacket. A unique copy.

7. -. Another copy of the trade edition, signed by the author and in a trial dust jacket, without flap copy and with a different photograph on the rear panel than the published edition. This photo shows a night time storefront with a sign advertising "Liquor, Guns & Ammo," which later became the title of another of Anderson's books. Rare, possibly unique.

8. -. Same title, the limited edition. Copy number 34 of 100 numbered copies signed by Anderson and James Crumley, who provides the introduction. Quarterbound in leather. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

9. (ANDERSON, Kent). "Sympathy for the Devil" in TriQuarterly 45: War Stories. Evanston: Northwestern University, 1979. Includes an excerpt from Anderson's then-forthcoming first novel. Signed by the author at his contribution. Very good in wrappers.

10. (Anthology). Anthology of New York Poets. [NY: Random House, 1970]. Bound galleys of this anthology edited by Ron Padgett and David Shapiro and with work by John Ashbery, Ted Berrigan, Kenward Elmslie, Kenneth Koch, Harry Mathews, Bernadette Mayer, Frank O'Hara, Ed Sanders, and others. Tall, comb-bound galleys, printed on rectos only. A massive collection, running to 317 galley sheets and nearly 600 pages in the published version. Foxing to foredge; paint and tear to hand-titled cardstock cover. Very good. A bulky, fragile production. Probably very few were done, and not many will have survived. This is the only copy of it we have seen. A definitive collection of the New York School of poetry.

11. (Anthology). Author's Choice. NY: David McKay, 1974. Twenty American writers introduce their own best story. Edited by Rust Hills, the legendary editor of Esquire magazine during the period when it was publishing much of the best new fiction being written in America. This is an advance copy in the form of comb-bound galley sheets, printed on rectos only. Selections by John Barth, Donald Barthelme, Truman Capote, Evan S. Connell, Jr., Stanley Elkin, James Jones, Norman Mailer, Arthur Miller, Reynolds Price, James Purdy, Philip Roth, Terry Southern, John Updike, Richard Yates, and others. Each of the contributions has a previously unpublished introduction by the author, making this one of the richest anthology collections with original writing by a virtual Who's Who of mid-century American writers. A large-format proof; it is doubtful more than a handful were done and even fewer have survived; we've never had nor seen another copy. A bit of sunning; near fine.

12. (Anthology). MARTIN, George R.R.; KING, Stephen. Night Visions 5. Arlington Heights: Dark Harvest, 1988. Original stories by George R.R. Martin, Stephen King, Dan Simmons, Douglas E. Winter, Ron and Val Lakey Lindahn. Of a stated edition of 850 numbered copies, this is a Publisher's Copy ("P/C"), signed by all contributors. Fine in a fine dust jacket and fine slipcase.

13. (Anthology). Signatures. Northridge: Lord John, 1991. A collection of author photographs with their autographs, with a 6-page introduction by Stephen King, signed by him. Other contributors whose photographs are accompanied by their autographs include John Updike, Anne Tyler, Eudora Welty, Norman Mailer, Elmore Leonard, Tony Hillerman, Thomas McGuane, Harry Crews, Jim Harrison, Richard Ford, James Crumley, Louise Erdrich, Michael Dorris, Ray Bradbury, T.C. Boyle, Richard Yates, James Lee Burke, James Purdy, Reynolds Price, John Barth and many others. An impressive array of some of the best writers of a generation; a collectible artifact and a useful reference. A second section of the book reproduces manuscripts or signatures of a host of other notables, both literary and from other fields of endeavor. Copy number 170 of 400 numbered copies, of a total edition of 576 copies. Clothbound; near fine.

14. (Anthology). The Brown Reader: 50 Writers Remember College Hill. NY: Simon & Schuster (2014). The advance reading copy of this collection of original writing by Marilynne Robinson, Rick Moody, Jeffrey Eugenides, Donald Antrim, Edwidge Danticat, Susan Cheever, Lois Lowry, Andrew Sean Greer, Meg Wolitzer, David Shields, Jincy Willett, and many others reminiscing about their time at Brown. A collection notable both for the extraordinary and amusing range of experiences included and also, frequently, for its behind the scenes glimpses of these authors as, not just emerging adults, but emerging writers. Fine in wrappers.

15. ASIMOV, Isaac. The Currents of Space. Garden City: Doubleday, 1952. An early novel by one of the most prolific and influential science fiction authors of all time. Asimov is famous for the Foundation trilogy and I, Robot, among many others. This book lists only seven prior publications; by the time his career ended he had written over 300 books. Inscribed by the author on the half-title. Recipient's bookplate and address label front endpaper; small stain to foredge; some sunning to spine and bowing to boards. A very good copy, lacking the dust jacket. An early novel, uncommon signed.

16. ASIMOV, Isaac. Nine Tomorrows: Tales of the Near Future. Garden City: Doubleday, 1959. Nine short science fiction stories, bracketed by two satirical poems. Several of the stories are among Asimov's most well-known and well regarded. Inscribed by the author. Recipient's bookplate and address label front endpaper; foxing to spine; covers splayed. A good copy, lacking the dust jacket. An uncommon title, especially signed.

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