Catalog 163, P-R
138. POTTER, J.K. Archive of Original Photographs and Autograph Letter Signed. c. 1990. Sixteen original pieces of horror art (including one print and one set of contact sheets, in addition to photographs) by Potter, one of the most renowned contemporary fantasy artists. Potter uses traditional darkroom techniques to generate startling, often erotic, mind-bending, sensual images with both dramatic shock value and a dark sense of foreboding. His art has illustrated works by J.G. Ballard, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Poppy Z. Brite, Lucius Shepard, Ramsey Campbell, Clive Barker, William Gibson, William Burroughs and others. Poppy Z. Brite and Lydia Lunch are among his most frequent models. All of the photographs in this collection are from an unpublished book on his work. Most are 11" x 14", and most are signed by Potter. Together with an autograph letter signed by Potter to the would-be editor of the book, Stanley Wiater. Two pages, in which Potter weighs in on the idea of a dark fantasy children's book and works out the medium for an interview with Wiater. A fine collection from a work that was scuttled by the publisher and will never see light of day. Unique.
139. POUND, Ezra. Pavannes and Divisions. NY: Knopf, 1918. A collection of poems, literary essays and commentary, and an early title for Pound, considered by many the most important American poet of the 20th century. Signed by Pound on the frontispiece, below his photograph. First issue binding. Front hinge weak; cloth rubbed at the edges and joints. Owner name and addresses on the front pastedown, and a photograph tipped to the rear pastedown, with a quote in an unknown hand attributed to Ira V. Morris. A good copy.
140. PROULX, E. Annie. Postcards. NY: Scribner's (1992). The uncorrected proof copy of her second book of fiction and first novel. Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award. Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers, with the "1/92" on the front cover changed by hand to "1992."
141. PURDY, James. Typed Letter Signed and The Nephew. TLS dated January 31, 1961. A brief letter responding to a reader who had written to him about The Nephew, Purdy's novel of small-town midwest America in the 1950s, reminiscent of his Ohio hometown, which he left for Chicago at the height of the jazz era and the "New Negro Renaissance." Roughly 70 words by Purdy, most of gratitude, and adding, "It is interesting to me, too, that my work reminds you of Gide." Signed in full. Folded to fit into envelope (included), else fine. Together with a copy of the first edition of The Nephew [NY: Farrar Straus Cudahy (1960)], which is near fine in a very good dust jacket with rubbing at the folds and a little shallow edge wear.
142. PURDY, James. I am Elijah Thrush. Garden City: Doubleday, 1972. A novella that was initially published in Esquire. Signed by the author on the title page. Additionally inscribed by Purdy to poet, writer and editor Edward Lueders: "Dear Edward Lueders, It was a refreshing moment to see you and hear you speak of Carlo in the midst of all that church social atmosphere in Richmond. I hope to see and talk with you soon. Ever, with kindest wishes/ James." "Carlo" was Carl Van Vechten: Lueders was his biographer and a subject for some of Van Vechten's photographs. Tiny crown bump, else fine in a very good dust jacket with a bit of spine sunning and some shallow wear and tears to the top edge. A great inscription and association, in one of the books that helped perpetuate Purdy's reputation as a controversial writer: in a later interview he said that this book "outraged the New York literary establishment" because of one of its character's sexual fantasies. Purdy's work was edgy, particularly with respect to homosexuality and sexual fantasy, at a time when the critical establishment was still uncomfortable with such writing; his first books were published while Henry Miller's and D.H. Lawrence's masterworks were still banned in the U.S. as pornography, and Purdy suffered from the residual stigma associated with those attitudes.
143. (PYNCHON, Thomas). ORWELL, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. (NY): Harcourt/Plume (2003). First thus, the Plume Centennial Edition, with a new 19-page foreword by Pynchon. Not an uncommon book, but elusive now in the first printing. Very near fine in self-wrappers, with trace rubbing to the edges.
144. RANDOLPH, Vance. Four Ozark Titles. (various places): (various publishers)(1947-1965). A group of books by the Ozarks folklorist, including: Ozark Superstitions [NY: Columbia University Press, 1947], which has an owner name stamped on the half title and is very good, lacking the dust jacket; Who Blowed Up the Church House? And Other Ozark Folk Tales [NY: Columbia University Press, 1952], which is near fine in a near fine dust jacket; Down in the Holler, A Gallery of Ozark Folk Speech [Norman: University of Oklahoma Press (1953)], written with Geo. P. Wilson, which is near fine in a good, internally tape-mended, price-clipped dust jacket with a couple of chips, including one on the lower front panel; and Hot Springs and Hell and Other Folk Jests and Anecdotes from the Ozarks [Hatboro: Folklore Associates, 1965], which has an owner name and tape shadows to the endpages; very good in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket with tape shadows on the flaps. Randolph was the preeminent folklorist recording Ozark folk tales, folk songs and local history. His papers are at the Library of Congress. For the four:
145. ROBINSON, Marilynne. Lila. NY: FSG (2014). The advance reading copy of this novel by the Pulitzer Prize winning author of Gilead; this novel is also set in the town of Gilead. Slight splay to cover; else fine in wrappers. Like a number of other ARCs of recent years, this appears to have been done in minuscule quantities; we have seen very few of them in the market.
146. ROTH, Philip. Goodbye, Columbus. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1959. His first book, a collection of short fiction including the title novella which was the basis for a well-received movie in the Sixties and five short stories. Winner of the National Book Award and a Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship Award. Top stain a bit faded, and a little rubbing to the board edges; near fine in a very good spine-tanned dust jacket with a few short edge tears. An attractive copy of an auspicious debut, the promise of which has been more than fulfilled by the author's subsequent writing career. Roth is one of the few novelists to have his entire body of work re-issued in the Library of America series a total of nine volumes, more than any other writer in the series.
147. -. Same title, the first Modern Library edition. NY: Modern Library (1966). Inscribed by the author in 1975 to a collector and bookseller who later published a volume of authors' self-caricatures, to which Roth contributed. Trace foxing to the top edge of the text block, else fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a bit of rubbing to the rear spine fold.
148. ROTH, Philip. Portnoy's Complaint. NY: Random House (1969). His landmark fourth book, a comic novel and one of the defining volumes of its time. Inscribed by the author in 1975 to a well-known New York collector and bookseller. Near fine in a very near fine, corner clipped but not price-clipped dust jacket, with barely a trace of fading to the yellow spine: a beautiful copy of a book seldom found in this condition.
149. -. Same title. Folded and gathered sheets, i.e. bound signatures. Inscribed by the author in 1975. Some dustiness and discoloration to the cover sheets; near fine. A very uncommon advance issue of his breakthrough novel, especially rare signed or inscribed.
150. -. Same title, the limited edition. No. 543 of 600 copies signed by the author. Small bookplate of former owner on the front pastedown; else fine in a fine dust jacket, in a very good slipcase.
151. -. Same title, a review copy of the first Bantam paperback edition. NY: Bantam (1970). Inscribed by the author in 1975. Acidification to pages, with a small corner chip to one prelim; creasing to upper rear corner; very good in wrappers, with review slip laid in. Uncommon; advance issues of paperback reprints seldom appear on the market.
152. ROTH, Philip. On the Air. (n.p.): New American Review [c. 1970]. A limited edition of a story printed for friends of New American Review. Copy number 1199 of 1500 numbered copies, this copy is signed by Roth on the front cover. Minor foxing; near fine in stapled wrappers. Uncommon these days, especially signed.
153. ROTH, Philip. The Ghost Writer. NY: FSG (1979). The uncorrected proof copy of the first novel in his Zuckerman sequence. Reproduces approximately 100 small changes in Roth's hand (although nearly 3/4 of those are deletions, without the original text visible). Nominated for the National Book Award. Near fine in tall wrappers.
154. ROTH, Philip and MALAMUD, Bernard. Two Short Stories. Tokyo: Shohakusha (1980). Prints Roth's "You Can't Tell a Man by the Song He Sings" from Goodbye, Columbus and Malamud's "Talking Horse" from Rembrandt's Hat, in English, with a Japanese foreword and 30+ pages of Japanese annotations, mostly clarifying idiomatic and vernacular phrasing and vocabulary. This is a Publisher's Complimentary Copy, so stamped at the rear of the book; very near fine in wrappers. Uncommon, at least in the U.S.
155. ROTH, Philip. The Facts. NY: FSG (1988). The limited edition of his autobiography. Copy number 142 of 250 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in a very near fine, slightly edge-sunned slipcase.
156. ROTH, Philip. His Mistress's Voice. (Lewisburg): Press of Appletree Alley, 1995. A fine press limited edition of a story that first appeared in The Partisan Review in 1986. Copy 140 of 195 numbered copies, signed by the author. An uncommon edition: although the stated limitation was 195, the press was selling unbound copies a couple of years after the initial publication date, suggesting that not all of the sets of sheets were bound. Fine in quarter leather, burgundy cloth boards, in a fine slipcase. The nicest edition done of one of Roth's works.
157. (ROTH, Philip). New American Review 1. NY: New American Library (1967). The hardcover edition of the first issue of this literary magazine that was mainly issued in mass market paperback format. Prints "The Jewish Blues" by Roth. Inscribed by Roth in 1977. Also includes work by Anne Sexton, Grace Paley, Louise Gluck, John Ashbery, William Gass, Richard Eberhart, and others. Light foxing to top edge, else fine in a near fine, mildly rubbed dust jacket with a crease on the front flap.
158. ROTH, Veronica. Divergent. (London): HarperCollins Children's Books (2011). The advance reading copy of the first British edition, and first paperback edition, of the first book in her bestselling young adult dystopian trilogy, written while Roth was a senior at Northwestern University and filmed in 2013. Gentle corner creasing; very near fine in wrappers. Uncommon in any advance issue.
159. ROUECH�, Berton. The Greener Grass and Some People Who Found It. NY: Harper & Brothers (1948). His second book, a collection of eleven profiles he wrote for The New Yorker. This is a review copy, as indicated by the presence of two dust jackets. Darkening to the joints, likely from the binder's glue, thus near fine in two near fine dust jackets, each of which has managed to sustain modest spine sunning.
160. ROUECH�, Berton. Eleven Blue Men and Other Narratives of Medical Detection. Boston: Little Brown (1953). A collection of twelve pieces of medical reporting, first published in The New Yorker. Inscribed by Rouech�, "affectionately," to fellow author and New Yorker writer Peter De Vries and his wife. Slight spine lean and rubbing to base of spine; near fine in a very good, mildly spine-tanned dust jacket with light wear to the edges and folds. A nice literary association.
161. ROUECH�, Berton. The Delectable Mountains and Other Narratives. Boston: Little Brown (1959). Inscribed by the author to Peter [De Vries] and his wife, Katinka. Further signed in full by Rouech� on the title page. A collection of profiles of people who found a life that suits them. First published in The New Yorker between 1946 and 1953. (Note that for this reason the copyright page at a glance makes it seem as though the book was published in 1953.) Spine slanted, rubbing to spine extremities; a near fine copy in a very good, spine-sunned and price-clipped dust jacket.
162. ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter collection, 12 Volumes. (NY): Scholastic/Levine (1998-2008). The first American editions of the seven volumes of the Harry Potter series. Signed by Rowling on the title page of the first volume, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Together with the first American paperback printings of the first two volumes (Sorcerer's Stone, 1999 and Chamber of Secrets, 2000), as well as the first printings of the U.S. editions of Quidditch Through the Ages, by "Kennilworthy Whisp" (2001); Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by "Newt Salamander" (2001); and The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Children's High Level Group, 2008). The Harry Potter books, starting from a very modest beginning in the U.K., with the first book having a tiny first printing, most of it in softcover, became one of the most successful series in publishing history. The books have sold nearly a half billion copies and each of the titles has sold more than 50 million. The first book was published in the U.S. a year after its initial publication in England, and by that time the American publisher knew that it had a phenomenon on its hands. Even so, the success of the series on this side of the Atlantic surprised everyone, and each successive volume set records for first-day sales the final book in the series selling more than 11 million copies in the first 24 hours it was on sale. The American publisher insisted on changing the title of the first book from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, apparently because they were afraid the U.S. audience would not recognize the alchemical i.e., magical connotation of "philosopher's stone." The first book was a relatively simple and straightforward fantasy, with a coming-of-age story wrapped up in it. The later books grew increasingly complex, and longer the last four all exceeded 600 pages and one of them reached 870 pages in its American edition and the themes became both darker and more nuanced. Eventually the coming of age story grew into one that involved a much larger question of identity, and explored the nature of good and evil as well as the meaning of personal responsibility, among a multitude of other themes. Rowling has been credited with restoring an entire generation's willingness to read, and perhaps saving the publishing industry at least for a time by doing so. Whatever turns out to be the final diagnosis of those issues, it is clear that she created a series of books that have had impact far beyond anyone's original expectations, or imagination, and that impact will be felt for generations, at least. Each of the seven Harry Potter books is fine in a fine dust jacket; the Quidditch and Beasts are fine in wrappers; Beedle is fine in pictorial boards, without jacket, as issued. For all:
163. (ROWLING, J.K.). International Festival of Authors, Signed Poster. Toronto: IFOA, 2000. A promotional poster for the annual Toronto literary festival, which each year since 1980 brought together the best writers of contemporary world literature: in 2000 that included J.K. Rowling, approximately three months after the release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth book in the series. Rowling did a reading from Chapter 4, for approximately 15 minutes (plus 15 minutes for questions) at the SkyDome (now Rogers Centre) in Toronto, to a crowd of 12,000 (or 16,000, or 20,000, depending on the report). Even at the "low" estimate, it was billed at that time as the largest author reading ever, and we can find no evidence of its having been surpassed, not even by Rowling herself, who, Beatle-like, became too big for such events by the time the next book, and the first movie, had been released. In these later years of the IFOA festival, the promoter limited production of these posters to a very small number (typically five or fewer) to be given to the sponsors after being signed by as many of the participants as possible. This poster, designed by Per Kirkeby, has approximately 64 author signatures. In addition to Rowling, it is signed by Ha Jin, Ursula K. LeGuin, John Banville, Jane Urquhart, Susan Sontag, Jayne Anne Phillips, Guy Vanderhaeghe, W.P. Kinsella, Mordecai Richler, Philip Levine, Joanna Trollope, Lawrence Norfolk, Marie-Claire Blais, Aleksander Hemon, Patrick Toner, Margaret Atwood, Anne Michaels, Francine Prose, Farley Mowat, Candace Bushnell, Spider Robinson, Jeffrey Meyers, Elisabeth Harvor, Elizabeth Hay, and others. This copy is from the private collection of the promoter of the festival, Greg Gatenby. 18" x 24", framed to 20 1/4" x 26 1/2". Fine. A rare artifact from a pivotal moment in both Rowling's career trajectory and in the history of the art form that is fiction: a visible, communal outpouring of appreciation for the woman who, it has been said without exaggeration, saved reading for a generation.