Catalog 163, T
194. TATE, James. Riven Doggeries. NY: Ecco Press (1979). Volume 18 in the prestigious American Poetry Series. This is the hardcover issue; there was a simultaneous wrappered issue. Inscribed by Tate to fantasy artist Stephen Riley: "For Stephen Riley, All that I've never heard of think of me! With admiration/friendship. James Tate/ 27 May 1980." A fairly early book by the Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning poet. A nice association: Riley and Tate collaborated in 1980 on the fine press collection of Tate's poems and Riley's illustrations, If It Would All Please Hurry, one of the scarcest volumes by Tate, not to mention an extravagantly beautiful visual rendering of his poetry. Fine in a near fine, mildly spine-sunned dust jacket with one closed edge tear on the rear panel.
195. (TATE, James). The Dickinson Review, Vol. IV, No. 1. Dickinson: Dickinson State College, 1974. Tate served as poetry editor for this annual publication, and here contributes an insightful and amusing three-page introduction. The collection includes, among other things, Stratis Haviaras's first poems in English. Spine-sunned, near fine in wrappers, with the stamp of a previous owner inside the front cover.
196. THOMPSON, Hunter S. Newsletter #1 and Newsletter #2. New Politics in Aspen. Aspen: The Committee to Elect Hunter Thompson Sheriff [1970]. Two issues of the "newsletter" devoted to Thompson's "New Politics" (new being public and transparent; old being private, backroom deal-making) and his campaign for Sheriff of Aspen, Colorado. Newsletter #1 promises accountability, open decision-making, tapes of talk sessions that can be heard by anyone; Newsletter #2 promotes the idea of a "disinterested watchdog to ride herd on public officials" and cites examples of such a position from around the country and the world. Two of the scarcest Thompson-related items we have ever encountered: we can find no record of the existence of the Committee to Elect Hunter Thompson Sheriff, let alone of any publications by them. We inquired of several people with close ties to Hunter, who believed they vaguely remembered such a thing, but had no physical evidence any more. Two individuals who had inspected the Thompson archive did not encounter these among his papers, to their recollection. Extremely scarce; possibly unique, at this point, and a glimpse at the serious engagement Thompson took with the potential of becoming Sheriff something he later said he was very happy to have failed to accomplish. Each is one page, printed on the front only: Newsletter #1 stops mid-sentence, and is folded in thirds. Otherwise, both issues fine.
197. THOMPSON, Hunter S. "Politics is the Art of Controlling Your Environment." (n.p.): (n.p.)(n.p.)[ca. 1970]. A famous statement by Thompson, found all over the internet these days, including reportedly on a t-shirt Hunter sent to the actor John Cusack. Here it appears as a broadside, making the case for voting, and with the provenance being associated with the two Newsletters above relating to Thompson's run for Sheriff in Aspen, Colorado, in 1970. It would appear that this statement was first published in relation to Thompson's own brief, and quickly aborted, political career his way of agitating to get out the vote. An extremely scarce Thompson item: we can find no record of it appearing anywhere, ever. The individual who sold this to us reported that this was signed by the author, but it's our opinion the signature is printed. 8 1/2" x 11". A handful of very tiny holes from its being repeatedly tacked up. Still fine.
198. THOMPSON, Hunter S. 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. Thompson's fifth book, and his fourth collaboration with Steadman. This copy is signed by the author "H.S. Thompson." Only issued in wrappers (until a Taschen edition in 2005); near fine with a bit of wear at the base of the spine. One of the scarcest books to find signed by Thompson, perhaps because the perfectbound sheets tend to pop loose if the book is opened too widely or too roughly.
199. THOMPSON, Hunter S. The Proud Highway. NY: Villard (1997). A review copy of Volume One of "The Fear and Loathing Letters," printing Thompson letters from 1955-1967. Signed by the author, who has initialed the book and then written out the full "Hunter" on the looping curve of his "H." Also signed by William J. Kennedy, who provides the foreword. Fine in a fine dust jacket, with four pages of promotional material laid in.
200. THOMPSON, Hunter S. The Rum Diary. (NY): Simon & Schuster (1998). A complimentary copy of his "Long Lost Novel." Written in Puerto Rico in 1959 and discovered by Johnny Depp decades later in a box in Thompson's house. Basis for the second film in which Depp played Thompson. Signed (initialed) by the author on a publisher's tipped-in leaf. Fine in a fine dust jacket, with a "Dear Bookseller" letter from the publisher laid in.
201. (THOMPSON, Hunter S.). "Collect Telegram from a Mad Dog" in Spider Magazine. Oakland: Spider, 1965. A long poem by Thompson in a small magazine that was heavily involved in the Free Speech Movement at the University of California, Berkeley, and was also involved with CORE the Congress for Racial Equality in trying to organize blacks in Oakland to effect social change. The banning of Spider on the Berkeley campus in early 1965 became a cause c�l�bre for the students and activists who comprised the Free Speech Movement one of the first in the long line of movements for political and social change that sprang up in the 1960s. One of the rationales for its banning was the use of the f-word in one of its articles. Needless to say, Thompson makes a point to use the word, more than once, in his poem. A scarce relic from a critical moment in the social unrest that became the counterculture, with Thompson present as a marginal but deliberate agitator. This is the only poetry we know him to have published. Small spot rear cover, mild edge-sunning; else fine in stapled wrappers.
202. (THOMPSON, Hunter S.). "It Ain't Hardly That Way No More" in Pageant. (Chicago): (Macfadden-Bartell), 1965. A fairly tame piece (for Thompson) on the gentrification of Big Sur, two years prior to his first book. September issue. Thompson had written to Pageant in 1964, seeking a new outlet for his writing; the digest-size magazine was a competitor to Readers Digest and it paid well, and Thompson had several pieces published there over the next few years, including his first piece about Richard Nixon. This piece was partly an update of his first magazine feature, written in 1961 for Rogue magazine, a competitor of Playboy. Small date stamp front cover, very slight rubbing to rear cover; else fine in wrappers.
203. (THOMPSON, Hunter S.). "Those Daring Young Men in Their Flying Machines" in Pageant. (Chicago): (Macfadden-Bartell), 1969. At the height of the Vietnam War, Thompson visits Edwards Air Force Base and writes a piece about test pilots, contrasting the strait-laced "professionals" of the contemporary Air Force with the daredevil style of the old-time test pilots. September issue. Fine in wrappers.
204. (THOMPSON, Hunter S.). "Hunter Thompson at U.M." in The Fifth Estate. (Detroit): Fifth Estate, 1974. A report about Thompson's appearance at the University of Michigan in this biweekly underground newspaper. Other articles include one about Patty Hearst and the Symbionese Liberation Army and an article on "Women's Lib." March 2-15 issue. Age-toning to newsprint; near fine.
205. (THOMPSON, Hunter S.). 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.
206. (THOMPSON, Hunter S.). "The Charge of the Weird Brigade" in Running. NY: Running, 1981. Thompson has the cover story: he was sent to Honolulu by Running to cover the marathon. Illustrations by Ralph Steadman. April issue. Later the basis for The Curse of Lono. Fine in stapled wrappers.
207. (THOMPSON, Hunter S.). "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro," a Curso of Lono Promotional Poster. [NY]: Bantam [1983]. Broadside of the final Ralph Steadman image used in The Curse of Lono, of Thompson typing and smoking, wearing Lono's Marlin Mask. 25 3/4" x 22 3/4". Coffee stains on the back only, a few short edge tears and tack holes at corners. Rolled; near fine. Extremely scarce, ephemeral promotional item, and a little-known Steadman poster. In the original mailing tube from Bantam Books, with a 1984 postmark.
208. TYLER, Anne. A Slipping-Down Life. NY: Knopf, 1970. A review copy of her third book, a rock and roll novel focused on an alienated teenage girl in an unlikely romantic relationship with a small-time rock singer. A 1999 film adaptation won two film festival prizes and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with trace foxing to verso, with review slip laid in. A very attractive copy of this early Anne Tyler novel.