Catalog 164, V
222. (Vietnam War). ASHURST, Jay. I Am an American Fighting Man. [Washington, DC]: [U.S. Air Force Lithograph Series][1985]. Number 36 in the U.S. Airforce Lithograph Series. Two images of an American aviator with a stylized map of Vietnam between the two. In the image on the left, the flyer is in uniform; on the right he is dressed in the garb of a POW. "I am an American fighting man" are the first words to the Code of Conduct for the U.S. Fighting Man. Much of that code of conduct concerns what his behavior will be if he becomes a prisoner of war. Number 201 of 500 (or 800 -- denominator unclear) copies signed by the artist, Jay Ashurst. The artist's printed signature is on the lithograph; the numbered edition has the actual signature in addition. This copy is also signed by four high-profile Vietnam POWs: Brigadier General Robinson "Robbie" Risner, USAF; Colonel Carlyle "Smitty" Harris, USAF; Captain Eugene "Red" McDaniel, USN; and Colonel Warren "Bob" Lilly, USAF. All four were aviators who were shot down and captured and served long terms in North Vietnamese prisons -- three of them over seven years, the fourth just under six. Despite the relatively large limitation, we have found little evidence of copies being available; a copy such as this, signed by four prominent, high-ranking former POWs, is by all appearances exceedingly scarce. The provenance and the names of the POWs have been detailed on the verso. 16" x 20". Very small, shallow stain top margin, one nick along bottom edge, else fine, in original mailing envelope that now bears a bookseller's mailing label.
223. (Vietnam War). BRYAN, C.D.B. Typescript of Friendly Fire. NY: Putnam's [1976]. A photocopy of the typescript, issued prior to publication. More than 500 pages, reproducing authorial corrections. An important nonfiction work, which was made into a television miniseries, Friendly Fire chronicles the radicalization of a patriotic Midwestern family after their son is killed by "friendly" (i.e., U.S.) fire, and they try to get the details from a balky government, seemingly more interested in protecting those responsible, but still living, than honoring the dead. An early and unusual state of this book. Near fine, and housed in a very good cardboard file box, labeled with the author and title and "Corrected Typescript Copy Issued Before Publication." Friendly Fire documented a watershed event in the history of the Vietnam War -- the point at which the antiwar movement began to be populated by the patriotic middle class, and not just students, radicals and other social outliers. An uncommon issue of the book as a work-in-progress.
224. (Vietnam War). BUTTINGER, Joseph. The Smaller Dragon. A Political History of Vietnam. NY: Praeger (1958). An early, classic study of Vietnam, one of the first full-length works to be published after the division of Vietnam into two separate countries in the Geneva Accords, to end the French Indochina war. This study was built upon repeatedly by later analysts and historians, including the author himself in his Vietnam: A Dragon Embattled, published in 1967 and itself another classic of history and analysis. Signed by the author. Very good in a very good dust jacket with multiple small chips. An important book, uncommon signed.
225. (Vietnam War). GRIFFITHS, Philip Jones. Vietnam Inc. NY: Macmillan (1971). The rare hardcover issue (thought to number 200 copies) of this classic book of photojournalism of the Vietnam war, which focused on the effects of the war on both participants and victims rather than the fighting itself. Welsh Magnum photographer Griffiths was one of the first to capture the true horror of the Vietnam war, both in its catastrophic impact on the civilian population of the impoverished agricultural nation of Vietnam and in its perversion of American values in the dehumanizing power and scale of the modern industrial war machine, and to effectively convey those ideas and images to an American audience, helping to change the general consensus view of the war by Americans. This is an ex-library copy, as evidenced by a bookplate on the front flyleaf (stamped "Withdrawn") and a circulation list and card pocket on the rear flyleaf. The pastedowns show some evidence of the removal of a previous jacket protector, under flaps. Some play in the binding, only a very good copy but in a surprisingly fine dust jacket. The hardcover is very scarce: at this moment in publishing history, "trade paperbacks" were a novel idea, able to be marketed to a younger and more impecunious audience than hardcover books, and several publishers opted to limit hardcover publication numbers of new titles in order to print more softcovers, priced lower, and aimed at college students and other young people. The Collier edition of this title is the Macmillan softcover that was issued simultaneously, and turns up many times more often than the hardcover does. In all likelihood, the hardcovers were largely targeted to the library market, which would explain the provenance of this copy.
226 (Vietnam War). LARTEGUY, Jean. Presumed Dead. Boston: Little Brown (1976). The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of this novel based on the disappearance of two American journalists, Sean Flynn and Dana Stone, who disappeared in Cambodia during the Vietnam war. Larteguy is most famous for his two volumes on the Algerian war, The Centurions and The Praetorians. Near fine in wrappers with a short tear at the upper front joint.
227. (Vietnam War). LE QUANG BA. The Story of a Vietnamese Freedom Fighter. (Los Angeles): (Support Our Soldiers)(n.d.). A 14-page, photocopied production of the story of a Vietnamese peasant who became a founding member of the Viet Minh and one of the leaders of the nationalist movement against the French at the end of World War II. Le Quang Ba was a high-ranking friend of Ho Chi Minh. This short memoir was published as an antiwar pamphlet in the U.S., undated but probably mid-to-late 1960s. The attributed printer/publisher -- "Support Our Soldiers" -- is an unironic indication of the fact that the antiwar movement, at least early in the war, viewed itself as supporting the lower-level military personnel and protecting them from being victimized by their superiors and the country's politicians. Fine in stapled yellow wrappers, with several illustrations, including line drawings and photographs.
228. (Vietnam War). MANUS, Willard. The Fighting Men. Los Angeles: Panjandrum, 1981. Galley sheets of a novel about a group of Vietnam vets fighting in Central America. Vietnam forms the backdrop for the novel, and much of the action of the novel involves reminiscences about the characters' experiences there or actual descriptions of them. Includes a brief synopsis of the book and Manus' writing career and a cover letter from the publisher requesting review attention, and identifying this as the first novel to be published by the house. At least three iterations of holograph changes and edits shown in the pages -- one set of them photo-reproduced on the galley sheets, another set of original changes in ink, and a third set of original changes in pencil. 8 1/2" x 14"; near fine.
229. (Vietnam War). MAYER, Tom. The Weary Falcon. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1971. The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of short stories by a writer who went to Vietnam twice, in 1966-67 and again in 1969, both times as a reporter. Mayer had published a well-received collection of stories seven years earlier, and he had been a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford's writing program, which had also graduated such writers as Larry McMurtry, Robert Stone, Ken Kesey, Tillie Olsen, Wendell Berry, and others. Short, potent stories of the war, and one of the most accomplished, and least common, of the literary offerings on Vietnam. One of our "25 Best Books on the Vietnam War." Spiralbound proof, printed from galley sheets. Covers unevenly sunned, with a few small stains to the rear cover; very good. The book itself is somewhat uncommon, having been published at the height of public antipathy toward the war. The proof is rare.
230. (Vietnam War). MECKLIN, John. Mission in Torment: An Intimate Account of the U.S. Role in Vietnam. NY: Doubleday, 1965. Written by the man who was Public Affairs Officer for the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, May 1962 to January 1964, and whose counseling of President Kennedy influenced important policy decisions during that time. Inscribed by the author to Osgood Caruthers, a bureau chief for the Associated Press, New York Times, and Los Angeles Times, and (1961 through roughly the time of this inscription) a press spokesman for the United Nations. The inscription reads, in part: "Welcome home from the game preserve." Caruthers' bookplate front pastedown. A nice association copy. Cloth mottled; very good in a very good dust jacket.
231. (Vietnam War). MOORE, Robin. The Country Team. NY: Crown (1967). A novel of a fictional Southeast Asian peninsula nation embroiled in war. Inscribed by Moore to film director and producer Otto Preminger, with "respect" in the year of publication. Preminger had directed the John Wayne World War II epic In Harm's Way in 1965. Moore's The Green Berets was filmed in 1968, starring and co-directed by Wayne. Moore's book The French Connection was made into a film in 1971, winning five Academy Awards. Like several of Moore's other novels, this was based on fact. Very good in a very good, rubbed dust jacket with moderate edge wear. A nice association copy.
232. (Vietnam War). NGUYEN Thi, NGUYEN Trung Thanh, NGUYEN Loc. The Little Shoeblack of Saigon. South Vietnam: Giai Phong Publishing House, 1972. Three short stories about young people in the war published by the left-wing liberation press of South Vietnam; notably the colophon asks readers to send comments or opinions about the book to an address in North Vietnam. Rubbing to covers, otherwise near fine in wrappers.
233. (Vietnam War). Photographs of Bombing. 1972. Four panoramic panels (constructed from nine individual images) of post-bombing destruction. Only one of the images is labeled, on verso: "Nam Ngan hamlet, Don Soc district, Thanh Hoa province, destroyed by US bombs dropped from B.52's at 2:30 hrs, April 26, 1972." Black and white photographs, mounted on mat board. These were given to members of a U.S. peace contingent visiting Hanoi in late October 1972, just before the Presidential election that year, in hopes that their content would be publicized in the U.S. upon their return. The high-profile entourage of women consisted of Jane Hart, wife of Senator Philip Hart; the poet Denise Levertov; and the novelist Muriel Ruykeyser. They met with the Vietnam Committee for Solidarity with the American People and the Vietnam Women's Union. Richard Nixon, running on a "Peace With Honor" platform, won the election in a landslide over George McGovern, who ran as an explicitly antiwar candidate. The peace delegation had little but symbolic impact: it reiterated, as had been the case for years, that the bulk of the artistic community in the U.S. was soundly antiwar, and it showed -- as had also been the case for some time -- that the antiwar movement now included part of the mainstream of American life, in this case represented by a moderate Senator's wife. Three are 20" x 7"; one is roughly 26" x 6". Near fine. In our experience, unique.
234. (Vietnam War). YOUNG, Perry Deane. Two of the Missing. A Reminiscence of Some Friends in the War. NY: Coward McCann Geoghegan (1975). The uncorrected proof copy of this account of the disappearance of two journalists, Sean Flynn -- son of swashbuckling movie star Errol Flynn -- and Dana Stone, written by a friend who was also a journalist. "Received" date stamp first blank; near fine in wrappers. The nonfiction analogue to the Jean Larteguy novel above.
235. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. Breakfast of Champions. (NY): Delacorte Press (1973). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel that was Vonnegut's fiftieth birthday present to himself and his characters: in the book Vonnegut grants many of his previous characters their freedom (most notably Kilgore Trout who, unable to make it on the outside, returns in later books). Tall sheets, bound in green wrappers. A few strips of sunning and a corner crease on the rear cover. Near fine.
236. VONNEGUT, Kurt. If This Isn't Nice, What Is? NY: Seven Stories Press (2014). An advance copy, in the form of comb-bound 8 1/2" x 11" sheets, of this posthumously published collection of some of Vonnegut's graduation speeches, chosen and introduced by Vonnegut's longtime friend (and fellow Hoosier) Dan Wakefield, and with illustrations of Vonnegut's, from Breakfast of Champions. Fine. In an era when prepublication materials are most frequently distributed in digital format, physical proof copies are seemingly scarcer than they've ever been. This is the only copy of this we've seen, and it won't surprise me if we don't see another.