Catalog 163, B
17. BALUN, Chas. Ninth & Hell Street. (Westminster): Chunkblow Press (1989). The first edition of the horror master's first novel: #204 of a self-made limited edition signed by the author. Additionally inscribed by Balun: "To ___ to a blood brother overthrow the starlog empire viva le revolucion/ Chas." Fine in wrappers. Rare. This title was reissued by FantaCo in 1990.
18. BERGER, Meyer. The Eight Million. Journal of a New York Correspondent. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1942. The first book by this legendary New York Times reporter, who wrote the "About New York" column for the Times for over two decades. He won the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting in 1950 and after he died in 1959 the Columbia School of Journalism established the Berger Award in his honor for excellence in local reporting. Near fine in a very good dust jacket with minor edge wear and rubbing to the folds. An uncommon first book from the early wartime years, and especially scarce in the dust jacket.
19. BLOCH, Robert. The Laughter of a Ghoul and What Every Young Ghoul Should Know. (n.p.): Necronomicon Press (c. 1970s). Copy #405 of 500 numbered copies of this first separate appearance of Bloch's two early stories, first published in the 1930s and published here as F & SF Fragments 2, one of the early publications of this specialty press, named after horror master H.P. Lovecraft's mythical book. Owner stamp inside front cover; near fine in stapled wrappers. Scarce now.
20. BLOCH, Robert. Is This the Future Author of Psycho? c. 1989. A self-made photocopied photo album: 16 photos spanning seven decades, each humorously captioned (typed, photocopied) by Bloch. One photo per page, staple in one corner, folded; near fine. Not formally published; from the library of a writer who got it directly from the author. Rare. Letter of provenance available.
21. BOLAN, Marc. The Warlock of Love. (n.p.): Lupus Music (1969). A collection of poetry by one of the charismatic rock stars of the 1960s and '70s, founder and guitarist for the British rock band "T. Rex." This copy is signed by the author, with "love," albeit without a recipient's name. Some smudging to pages and edge rubbing to pictorial boards; a near fine copy in a very good, modestly edgeworn dust jacket with a closed tear near the crown. Quite uncommon in the dust jacket, and extremely uncommon signed. Bolan died in 1977, before he turned 30, and very few signed copies of this book have turned up over the years.
22. BOWLES, Paul. Things Gone and Things Still Here. Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow, 1977. The limited edition of this collection of short stories by the author of the proto-Beat classic, The Sheltering Sky. Copy number 198 of 250 numbered copies signed by the author. Gore Vidal's copy, with the bookplate of Vidal's Italian villa, La Rondinaia Ravello, laid in. Vidal and Bowles were longtime friends, dating back to Tangier in the early postwar years, when it was a haven for the offbeat and adventurous, with easily available drugs and sexual liaisons unconstrained by the Puritanism of Europe and the States. When Bowles's Collected Stories was published in 1979, Vidal wrote the introduction to the collection. Some foxing and sunning to edges, very good in a foxed acetate dust jacket, which appears to have shrunk a bit over time. A noteworthy association copy.
23. BOWLES, Paul. Days. NY: Ecco (1991). The first American edition of Bowles's Tangier journal from the years 1987-1989. Bowles had never kept a regular journal until he was asked to do so by Daniel Halpern for an issue of Antaeus devoted to writers' journals and notebooks. The time period coincided in part with the filming of the movie adaptation of Bowles's novel, The Sheltering Sky, and the journals track not only the daily mundane events of life but a raft of celebrity visits, as well as the occasional bits of shocking Moroccan violence, of the sort that informed Bowles's own novel. Bowles had always been, in the words of Gore Vidal, "famous among those who were famous," and this journal provides evidence of that. This is a unique copy, signed by Bowles (six times) and by 18 other members of Bowles's cast of characters (some more than once), including: Mick Jagger, Patricia Highsmith (author), Claude-Nathalie Thomas (Bowles' French translator), Mohammed Mrabet (Moroccan writer and painter whose stories Bowles translated), Rodrigo Rey Rosa (Guatemalan writer whose works Bowles translated), Buffie Johnson (artist, longtime friend of Paul and Jane Bowles), Gavin Lambert (British author and biographer), Abdelwahab El Abdellaoui (Moroccan student and friend), Abdelouahaid Boulaich (Bowles' assistant), Steve Diamond, Kenneth Lisenbee, Cherie Nutting (photographer and friend), Bachir el-Attar (of the Master Musicians of Jajouka), Gloria Kirby (lifelong Tangier resident and benefactor of the American Legation there, including creating the Paul Bowles Room), David Herbert (British socialite, "The Queen of Tangier"), Mercedes Guitta (owner of Guitta's, a restaurant frequented by Bowles), Gavin Young (British author and journalist), and Phillip Ramey, a composer and close friend of Bowles who gathered the signatures over a ten-year period and who appears several times in the text himself. A unique volume, which locates Bowles in the matrix of artists, celebrities and friends who had surrounded him for nearly a half century at that point. It is unlikely there is any other single book or document that so clearly and extensively provides a view of the rich assortment of individuals who made up Bowles's social and artistic circle. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with a bit of fading to the spine lettering.
24. (BOWLES, Paul). MILLER, Jeffrey. Paul Bowles. A Descriptive Bibliography. Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow, 1986. The limited edition of this exhaustive bibliography of Bowles's writings, from 1926 (when Bowles was 15 years old, more than 20 years before his first novel, The Sheltering Sky) up to 1985. This is copy number 35 of 200 numbered copies, signed by Bowles and Miller. With the bookplate of Gore Vidal's Italian villa, La Rondinaia Ravello, laid in. Thin strip of residue (glue?) on front flyleaf and two tiny white (paint?) spots on rear cover; still very near fine in a near fine acetate dust jacket. A good association: Vidal and Bowles were longtime friends and Vidal wrote the introduction to Bowles's Collected Stories.
25. BRADBURY, Ray. The Anthem Sprinters. NY: Dial, 1963. Bradbury's first collection of plays, this being the softcover issue, which is presumed to have preceded the hardcover issue by a few weeks. Inscribed by the author: "For Steve! These [Anthem Sprinters and Other Stories] from Ray Bradbury in June 1974! And this unused ticket from the dear dead show! For the Hell of it!" Bradbury has attached an unused ticket for a performance of The Anthem Sprinters at the Coronet Theatre in Los Angeles, for April 20, 1968. A nice inscription and a scarce ephemeral piece from a production of the title play. Small stain and scar rear cover, small corner crease front cover; near fine in wrappers.
26. BRADBURY, Ray. The Last Circus & The Electrocution. Northridge: Lord John, 1980. The trade edition of this collection of two stories by Bradbury, with an introduction by William Nolan. Signed by Bradbury on October 18, 1980. With a typed postcard signed by Roy Squires, laid in saying that this copy of the signed trade edition (one of his own) will likely be hand carried to the recipient and that all ordered copies are being held until a new dust jacket can be printed as the publisher was dissatisfied with the first one: this copy has both dust jackets. The text on the jackets is virtually identical, but the color scheme and typeface have changed. Fine in fine dust jackets; uncommon thus, and bibliographically notable.
27. BRADBURY, Ray. Something Wicked This Way Comes. (Springfield): Gauntlet, 1999. The limited edition reissue of one of Bradbury's classic novels, originally published in 1962, with additional material added to this volume. This is a publisher's copy ("PC") that corresponds to the lettered issue, of which there were 52 lettered copies; there were presumably far fewer "PC" copies. Signed by Bradbury, Joe Lansdale, and Peter Crowther, the latter two of whom provide afterwords. Bradbury contributes a new introduction to this edition. There is also an appendix with pages of a screen treatment for The Dark Carnival the title story of Bradbury's first collection, which was published in the 1940s that later became Something Wicked, and facsimile pages from Bradbury's screenplay for Disney, with Disney's corrections. Bookplate front flyleaf. Fine in a fine dust jacket, in the publisher's clamshell case, which has one corner bump. A scarce issue of a deluxe edition of one of Bradbury's most famous works.
28. BRAUTIGAN, Richard. A Confederate General from Big Sur, with Invitation to the Publication Party. NY: Grove Press (1964). His first novel, after several small press poetry collections, with an invitation to the publication party (reading and reception) laid in. Brautigan's writings influenced an entire generation and, although he fell out of literary favor for a time culminating in his suicide in 1984 there was a resurgence of interest in his writings as he came to be seen as an American original whose whimsy, sensitivity and humor uniquely epitomized his time. The book is near fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with a piece of black tape on the inside of the jacket at the crown. The invitation is fine.
29. BRAUTIGAN, Richard. Trout Fishing in America. San Francisco: Four Seasons, 1967. The true first edition of Brautigan's "breakthrough" book, which established his unique writing style and sensibility and for the first time earned him a wide audience. Issued as "Writing 14" in the Four Seasons Foundation publishing series and preceding the Delta edition. Signed by Brautigan and dated September 29, 1967. This copy belonged to Brautigan's longtime friend and fellow poet Joanne Kyger (wife of first Gary Snyder and then Jack Boyce), and her bookplate is on the front flyleaf. Kyger was one of the dedicatees of In Watermelon Sugar, Brautigan's next novel after Trout Fishing. Offsetting to the front flyleaf (over the signature, which remains perfectly legible) and inside the front cover; thus a near fine copy in wrappers. Don Allen of Four Seasons picked up Trout Fishing after Grove Press dumped Brautigan when A Confederate General from Big Sur failed to meet sales expectations when it was published in 1964. With virtually no advertising or promotion, Trout Fishing went through multiple printings, sold 35,000 copies an unheard of number for any Four Seasons Foundation publication and made Brautigan one of the key writers of his generation. The book has sold two million copies in all its editions. The first edition of Trout Fishing is one of the most elusive of the key books of the 1960s. Reportedly its first printing was, like several other Four Seasons Foundation books, 1000 copies (2000 has also been stated); but copies of Trout Fishing turn up with markedly less frequency than his other Four Seasons Foundation titles, In Watermelon Sugar and The Pill versus The Springhill Mine Disaster: currently, one online site has listings for 13 copies of the Four Seasons edition of Watermelon and 23 copies of The Pill; the only two copies of Trout Fishing listed are third printings. Often when copies do turn up, their condition is poor from having been read and re-read and, often, passed around. We could find records of only four copies appearing at auction, and three of those copies had pages detached. Only one signed copy has ever shown up at auction, and we don't recall another signed copy in any dealer's offerings in at least the last quarter century. This is the nicest copy we have seen, and an association copy of the highest order: by 1967, Kyger's and Brautigan's friendship went back a decade already. She had lived in Japan with Gary Snyder, and Brautigan later made Japan his second home The Tokyo-Montana Express being the title of one of his last books. An extraordinary high spot of the literature of the 1960s, one of the rarest signed first editions from that era, and an association copy.
30. BRINNIN, John Malcolm. Publisher's Archive for an Article on Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. 1984. In 1984, Brinnin contracted with Art & Antiques magazine for an article on Wolfson and his collections. The article was written, and rejected, for being more about the collector than about collecting. It was later published, in 1988, in Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Art. This archive includes a 14-page photocopy of the original typescript, with holograph corrections in the author's hand; four autograph letters, in Brinnin's calligraphic hand, signed by Brinnin and one typed letter signed to an editor at the magazine; one unsigned contract (Brinnin objected that travel expenses were not included); and a retained letter from an editor explaining the rejection of the piece. Wolfson is the founder and benefactor of The Wolfsonian museum in Miami, which is focused on the power of art and design to illuminate and instigate social, historical and technological change during the period from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution until the end of the Second World War; its holdings were derived from Wolfson's collections. This archive precedes the opening of The Wolfsonian to the public by more than a decade. Some mild foxing to some of the pages edges; near fine.
31. BRUTUS, Dennis. Denver Verse. 1970. A privately distributed assemblage of the poet's verse from 1967-1970. Brutus, an exiled South African poet-activist, who had spent time in the cell next to Nelson Mandela on Robben Island and was partly responsible for South Africa being banned from the 1964 Olympics a sanction that helped create the strategy that eventually defeated apartheid was a visiting lecturer in the English Department at the University of Denver in 1970, and he circulated these 25 poems as "something personal to give to the people who have been so kind to me here...But also there is an immediacy about some of my verse...I feel strongly just now that to justify my continuing to write verse, it needs to be doing something." [As quoted in a cover letter to this collection provided by Karen C. Chapman, editor, the previous year, of Dennis Brutus: Letters to Martha and Other Poems from a South African Prison]. In other words, these poems represent Brutus' attempt, even while in exile, to keep his poetry relevant, and to continue in his role as an activist and agitator. Inscribed by Brutus: "Bob & Elizabeth Richardson. In appreciation, sincerely, Dennis Brutus, March, 1970." Also dated and initialed by Brutus, "5.14 DB." Loose sheets, with the endsheets being stationery with the watermark of the University of Denver. Chapman's cover sheet also provides a biographical sketch of Brutus. Faint sunning to the pages; else fine, and in the original clear acetate folder. We can find no evidence of any other copy of this collection surviving; a virtually unique collection of typescript poetry by a major figure in both world poetry and, in particular, the anti-apartheid movement among South African artists. A literary footnote: Robert Richardson later married Annie Dillard, a relationship engendered by her writing him a fan letter regarding his 1986 book on Henry Thoreau.
32. BUNKER, Edward. No Beast So Fierce. NY: Norton (1973). Second printing of the author's first book, a crime novel that was made into the highly regarded film Straight Time. Bunker was a career criminal, who wrote this book while in prison. After getting out, he had a hand in writing the screenplay for the movie, which Dustin Hoffman had purchased the rights to, and he even got a small part in the film. He went on to write a number of novels and scripts, and to maintain a career as an actor. After 1975, he never went back to prison. This copy is inscribed by the author to the novelist Kent Anderson "Congratulations and good luck." A nice association copy: Anderson was a decorated Vietnam vet who became a novelist and later a Portland, Oregon, cop, which became the basis for one of his books. Bunker's gritty, realistic crime novels set a standard for crime fiction that Anderson would have been cognizant of as a writer. Fine in a near fine, spine-sunned dust jacket with one short edge tear and a scuff near the crown. Signed copies of Bunker's first novel are extremely scarce.
33. BURKE, James Lee. The Tin Roof Blowdown. London: Orion, 2007. The advance reading copy of the first British edition of this post-Hurricane Katrina novel in Burke's acclaimed and award-winning Dave Robicheaux mystery series, which is set in the author's native Louisiana, the region hardest hit by Katrina. Signed by the author. Fairly uncommon even as a U.S. advance issue: we haven't seen a British advance copy before; in this digital era, advance copies are becoming even more uncommon than they were in the past, as publishers increasingly tend toward issuing advance and promotional copies in digital form. Minor dampstain to the upper rear edge; near fine in wrappers.
34. BURNS, Cliff. Sex and Other Acts of the Imagination. Regina: Self-Published, 1990. The "independent author" and Canadian horror writer's first book, a self-published collection of stories selected from the more than 60 stories he had published at that point of his career. This is a complimentary copy, signed by the author with "best wishes," and including a typed author bio and a typed letter signed, explaining his reasons for publishing the book himself. Burns has since published more than a half dozen of his other books with his own Black Dog Press. Trace rubbing to the spine folds, else fine in wrappers. Uncommon; OCLC locates only 6 copies.
35. BURROUGHS, Edgar Rice. Tarzan the Invincible. Tarzana: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. (1931). The first hardcover book published by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. an attempt by Burroughs to capitalize on the success of the Tarzan franchise as publisher as well as writer and featuring jacket art by Burroughs' nephew, Studley O. Burroughs, one of Burroughs' several attempts to turn his success with Tarzan into a family business. Slight spine lean and shelf wear, with a faint stain at the heel; still about near fine in a fine, supplied dust jacket. A very attractive copy. The dust jacket includes a short essay by Burroughs remarking on the (to him) surprising popularity of the Tarzan character worldwide, and citing the range of its appearances.