Catalog 172
All books are first printings of first editions or first American editions unless otherwise noted.
1.
BERGER, John
London, BBC/Penguin, (1972). Berger's influential art text, based on the BBC's series of the same name, which popularized the deconstruction of art and advertising, particularly as applied to the ways that women are seen, and are subjected to what would later come to be called (by Laura Mulvey) "the male gaze," i.e., "...Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves." Ubiquitous in reprints; the true first is exceedingly scarce. Small owner name on title page; minor age toning; near fine in wrappers. No hardcover edition was done until the U.S. edition a year later.
[#034712]
SOLD
2.
BOURDAIN, Anthony
(n.p), (n.p), [2010]. A lavish production, featuring approximately 30 color photographs of Bourdain from his trip to the Azores, a trip that was also documented by the Travel Channel in 2009 as part of his show "No Reservations." Most all of the photographs are individually captioned by Bourdain, many with an added drawing or two, and the book is signed by Bourdain in March, 2010, with "Thanks for doing a good thing for a very worthy cause." The photos are approximately 8" x 12", on sheets that are about 17 3/4" x 11 1/2". Not a formal publication as far as we can tell -- i.e., no publisher indicated, nor any indication that there were other copies of this prepared, with or without captions. Bourdain's captions and illustrations are funny, expressive and often self-deprecating: on the title page he has drawn a self-portrait with carving knife, with an escaping fish, a turnip, a carrot, and the globe, as well as signing his name. Other captions and drawings are borderline hilarious, with the kind of candor that Bourdain showed in his television persona. A remarkable, unique book -- a testament to the much-loved chef and adventurer, whose suicide was widely mourned. Bound in full leather by James Currier of Rhode Island, with a fish hand-tooled into the front cover. Fine, in a fine cloth slipcase.
[#034851]
SOLD
3.
BUCKMASTER, Henrietta
NY, Harper/Crowell, (1941/1958). Two volumes: Buckmaster's original volume on the Underground Railroad and the abolitionist movement, and her later volume, written for young adults. The later volume is inscribed by Buckmaster. Let My People Go is a near fine copy in a very good, mildly spine-sunned and edgeworn dust jacket, with a blurb by Richard Wright. Flight to Freedom is fine in a very good, lightly rubbed and edgeworn jacket.
[#034691]
SOLD
4.
BUKOWSKI, Charles
(n.p.), (n.p.), (n.d.). Typescript of a poem ("no title"), with the first line, "the churning maggot escapes." Signed by Bukowski with added abstract doodle. Bukowski's mailing address at top; one tiny holograph correction; previously folded in thirds. Near fine.
[#034853]
SOLD
5.
BUKOWSKI, Charles
[Cleveland], (7 Flowers Press), (1966). A Bukowski rarity, published by D.A. Levy and Jim Lowell in an edition of 103 copies, and then mostly seized by the Cleveland police during the raid on Lowell's Asphodel Bookshop under the charge of possessing and selling obscene materials. Only about 40 copies were thought to have survived, and about half that number now exist in institutional libraries. A small chapbook with linoleum cut illustrations by Paula Marie Savarino. Stapled pages (some double leaves as some pages were made from trimmed envelopes), bound into green wrappers. This copy is signed by Bukowski. Creasing to the front cover and a small corner chip to the rear cover. A near fine copy. Five copies have appeared at auction over the past 50 years, and none has been signed; it is quite possibly the scarcest of Al Fogel's "Top 20 Bukowski Rarities."
[#034855]
SOLD
6.
BUKOWSKI, Charles
(n.p.), (n.p.), [ca. 1970]. Two-page typescript of this poem. Signed by Bukowski with a tri-colored self-caricature. Two tiny holograph corrections to the text. Bukowski's mailing address at top. Stapled at upper corner; previously folded in thirds; near fine.
[#034857]
SOLD
7.
BURROUGHS, William and GYSIN, Brion
(San Francisco), Auerhahn, 1960. Signed by Burroughs. Although indicated as his fourth book in the estimable Burroughs bibliography by Maynard and Miles, recent scholarship has concluded that this was in fact his third book. This is a collaboration with his longtime friend, Brion Gysin. Printed by Dave Haselwood, who later reissued this title under his own imprint in 1967. This edition is estimated by the bibliographer at 1000 copies. Covers and four illustrations by Gysin. Some light staining to covers; very good in wrappers.
[#034777]
SOLD
8.
BURROUGHS, William S.
Paris, Olympia, (1959). Burroughs' second book, and the first under his own name, a high spot of Beat and postwar American literature and one of the three key volumes of the Beat movement, along with Kerouac's On the Road and Ginsberg's Howl. Published only in paperback in Paris by Maurice Girodias' important small press, in an edition of 5000 copies, three years before it could be published in the U.S., Naked Lunch was controversial for its explicit sexual content but, more importantly in the long run, it was an experiment in writing and perception, with shifting authorial voices and nonrealistic transpositions in time and place and perspective. This is the second issue of the first printing, with the New Franc price rubber-stamped over the original price: France switched to New Francs on January 1, 1960, which means this book hadn't sold at that time so the price was changed to reflect the new currency. Trace wear to joints, else a fine copy in a very near fine dust jacket with tiny nicks to the crown. In a custom clamshell case. A beautiful copy, and seldom found in this condition today.
[#034821]
SOLD
9.
BURROUGHS, William S. as "William Lee"
NY, Ace, (1953). Burroughs' pseudonymous first book, a paperback original bound back-to-back with Maurice Helbrant's Narcotic Agent. Inscribed by Burroughs in 1995: "For Charles Chambers [in pencil, and then in ink:]/ All best, William S Burroughs/ June 9, 1995." Junkie was a straightforward narrative of Burroughs' experiences with drugs; the publisher chose to release it couched in an anti-drug context, as a first person example of the horrors of drug use, and bound with a narcotic agent's memoir. Age-toning to pages, mild rubbing to the joints; near fine in wrappers. In a custom clamshell case. Maynard & Miles A1. The beginning of one of the most influential literary careers of the second half of the 20th century.
[#034823]
SOLD
10.
CALDWELL, Erskine
NY, Duell, Sloan and Pearce, [1942]. The uncorrected proof copy of this novel, by the author of Tobacco Road and God's Little Acre, among others. Inscribed by Caldwell to Stuart Wright, a publisher, bibliographer, and Caldwell collector. This "novel of guerrilla warfare in Russia," was written after Caldwell's time as a foreign correspondent in Ukraine. 283 pages, printed on rectos only; string-tied in plain wrappers, with the title hand-written (faintly) on the cover. Mild foxing to page edges and slight dustiness to covers; still near fine. An unusual format for a proof, and probably issued in very small numbers -- a couple of dozen copies seems like the upper end estimate for this wartime printing.
[#034764]
SOLD
11.
CLARKE, Richard A. and EDDY, R.P.
(NY), Ecco, (2017). Clarke, head of counter-terrorism under three presidents and the special advisor for cybersecurity under G.W. Bush, has, with Eddy, taken a look back at the devastating consequences of unheeded warnings in the past (Fukushima, ISIS, the invasion of Kuwait, Hurricane Katrina, the 2008 recession, etc.) and examines what warnings were then (in 2017) going unheeded. (Most obvious in hindsight: a possible pandemic; also the consequences of climate change, AI, gene editing, the internet of everything, etc.). This copy is signed by both authors. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
[#034860]
SOLD
12.
(Climate Change)
RIFKIN, Jeremy
NY, Tarcher/Penguin, (2009). Third printing. Signed by the author. Rifkin provides a sweeping history of the world through the lens of the rise of global consciousness, or "empathy," tracing how new energies and technologies have created advances in communication and culture, only to then elaborate on the empathy/entropy trade-off, with the "entropy" here being environmental degradation. A fresh perspective from a social thinker who has been re-envisioning the human project for more than 50 years. Fine in a fine dust jacket, and uncommon signed.
[#034861]
SOLD
13.
(Climate Change)
ROBINSON, Mary
NY, Bloomsbury, (2018). The former President of Ireland and a UN Special Envoy on Climate Change focuses on those disproportionately affected by climate change and their grassroots responses. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket, with a blurb by Barack Obama.
[#034862]
SOLD
14.
(Climate Change)
WATT-CLOUTIER, Sheila
(Toronto), Allen Lane, (2015). An Inuk woman's account of not only the changes to the Arctic, but of how those environmental changes cause changes to Inuit culture and traditions, and why we need to view climate change as a human rights issue. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with just a bit of softening to the spine extremities.
[#034864]
SOLD
15.
(Climate Change)
WEINER, Jonathan
NY, Bantam Books, (1990). A relatively early entry in the literature of climate change, published just one year after Bill McKibben's The End of Nature, and tracing the existence and implications of greenhouse gases and global warming. Inscribed by the author in 1995. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
[#034865]
SOLD
16.
COHEN, Leonard
NY, Viking, (1966). The first American edition -- reportedly preceding the Canadian edition -- of the landmark second novel by the Canadian poet-folksinger, one of the key books of the Sixties -- a "visionary counter-culture religious epic" in the words of one critic. In its paperback reprint edition, it was ubiquitous on college campuses and passed hand-to-hand by a generation that was finding itself increasingly alienated from the mainstream, dominant culture. Trace foxing to foredge, still a fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with light wear to the spine ends and a crease to the front flap fold.
[#034866]
$450
17.
CORSO, Gregory
Cambridge, Richard Brukenfeld, 1955. A collection of three dozen poems written in Cambridge, 1954-1955, several of which had seen previous publication in small periodicals, such as The Cambridge Review. Mild edge sunning and age-toning to covers and light damp-staining to lower corner of pages; small owner name in pencil on front cover; very good in stapled wrappers. A scarce book, printed in an edition of 500 copies, of which half were reportedly lost.
[#034825]
SOLD
18.
CORSO, Gregory
Paris, The Olympia Press, 1961. A humorous autobiographical novel by the Beat poet, published in the Traveller's Companion series, which also published William Burroughs, J.P. Donleavy, Terry Southern, and others. With illustrations throughout by the author. This copy is signed by Corso, with the added words "grammar school book." First edition, second state with the "New Price" stamped on the rear cover. Olympia Press price list laid in. Fine in wrappers, in a near fine dust jacket.
[#034826]
SOLD
19.
CREELEY, Robert
Columbus, Golden Goose Press, 1952. His first book, poetry, written while he was living in Mallorca, Spain, before he attended and taught at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. One of 500 copies. Small owner name on the rear flap; near fine in wrappers.
[#034827]
SOLD
20.
CREELEY, Robert
(Palma de Mallorca), Divers Press, 1953. The poet's second book, published by his own press in an edition estimated to be about 250 copies. Forged signature of Robert Creeley, now inked through, done by a well-known novelist. Softcover; near fine in a good, sunned and brittle dustwrapper, chipped and torn the length of the thin spine.
[#034828]
SOLD
21.
CROWLEY, Aleister
London, The Equinox, [1911]. Israel Regardie's copy of the third issue of Crowley's book of devotional verse, submitted anonymously to the Catholic publishers Burnes and Oates in 1908, who somehow overlooked its sexual undertones, and published it as Amphora. Crowley then published his own version, with an obscene epilogue. The original edition was withdrawn, and Crowley used the leftover sheets to publish this edition. This copy has the original front and rear wrappers but has been rebacked, a not uncommon condition for this cheaply made volume. Regardie, a British author and occultist, was for several years Crowley's secretary and later wrote a number of books on esoteric subjects. In the 1950s he experimented with LSD and other mind-altering drugs. Regardie's bookplate appears inside the front cover; an excellent association copy. With the restoration, a very good copy in wrappers, in a custom clamshell case.
[#034867]
SOLD
22.
CROWLEY, Aleister
NY, Dutton, (1923). Crowley's first novel, reportedly based on his own experiences as a drug user. Contemporary owner name and date to front flyleaf. Small spot to spine, light corner tap, and rear hinge starting; still a near fine copy, without dust jacket.
[#034868]
SOLD
23.
CROWLEY, Aleister
London, Mandrake Press, 1929. A novel by the occultist, which is in part a roman a clef -- with various of Crowley's contemporaries and acquaintances appearing in thinly disguised characters: William Butler Yeats as "Gates," for example, and Arthur Edward Waite as "Edwin Arthwait." In addition, Crowley uses the novel form as a vehicle for the exposition of his esoteric philosophy -- he was the head of an occult society at the time, and the novel describes an ongoing magical war between a white lodge and a black lodge -- and as an account of a magical operation involving the creation of a Homunculus, or Magical Child, through the harnessing of spiritual powers derived from the Sun and Moon, incarnating a human being conceived without sex. One of Crowley's proteges later attempted to perform this magical ritual to create a homunculus, in an experiment done in 1947, the year Crowley died. Crowley reportedly feared that his protege might actually succeed in tapping into forces much larger and more powerful than he realized, and unleash great harm on the world. The protege, Jack Parsons -- a rocket scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratories during World War II -- worked on the experiment with L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, and was later killed in a mysterious explosion in his laboratory, which speculation over the years has suggested was related to his continuing attempt to perform the homunculus operation and invoke the powers that Crowley describes in this volume. Offsetting to the front flyleaf, faint edge foxing; a very near fine copy in a very good, strikingly illustrated dust jacket with a couple of small edge chips and modest spine sunning. A scarce book in the first edition, in jacket.
[#034869]
SOLD
24.
CROWLEY, Aleister
London, Mandrake Press, [1929]. A collection of three stories, issued in the series "Mandrake Booklets." Owner name, address, and 1930 date on the front flyleaf. Near fine in a very good, spine-darkened dust jacket. Rare: we find only one copy listed in OCLC WorldCat.
[#034870]
$750
25.
(Democracy)
NY, [The Democratic Party], 1888. The Democratic Party Platform, as adopted in St. Louis on June 7, 1888. Grover Cleveland was running for re-election, against the Republican Benjamin Harrison: Cleveland won the popular vote, but lost in the Electoral College. (Cleveland would win a rematch, in 1892.) This pamphlet puts forth the ideals of the Democratic Party at the time, including: childhood education; the rights of organized labor; the separation of church and state; the equality of all citizens without regard to race or color; the reform of unjust tax laws that unduly enrich the few; the end of the sale of public lands to benefit corporations rather than settlers; the reigning in of tariffs; the admission of Washington, Montana, Dakota and New Mexico into the Union; and supporting the blessings of self-government and civil and religious liberty for all nations. The platform reaffirms the rights of native and naturalized citizens, but takes a hard line against the importation of "unfit" foreign labor. One sheet, folded to create a 12 page pamphlet, 3 3/8" x 5 3/4". Foxed, and fragile; about very good. Only two copies located in OCLC, at NYPL and Pittsburgh State University.
[#034697]
$1,000
On Sale: $700
On Sale: $700
27.
DEWEY, John
Chicago, Open Court Publishing Company, 1925. The inaugural lecture in the Paul Carus Foundation Lecture Series, an ongoing series in which lectures are presented over three consecutive days in prominent sessions at a divisional meeting of the American Philosophical Association. John Dewey was a philosopher, psychologist and educator who was one of the founders of the pragmatism school of philosophy and was called by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy "arguably the most prominent American intellectual for the first half of the twentieth century." He founded the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools in 1896 to test his educational ideas; he became President of the American Philosophical Association in 1905; he was one of the founders of the New School for Social Research in 1919; and he was a member of the first Board of Directors of Hull House, among many other projects and accomplishments. His ideas helped shape the founding of Bennington College and Goddard College, and later Black Mountain College in North Carolina, which for a time became the nexus of the arts and education in the U.S. Experience and Nature is considered his most metaphysical book and, as such, his most important in tying together all of his ideas of philosophy and psychology and grounding them in nature and a model of how the human being grows and learns. Owner name of Robert Rothman, and several marginal marks in the text. A very good copy with some handling and spotting to the brown cloth, particularly on the spine. Uncommon in the first printing.
[#034725]
$375
28.
DEWEY, John
NY, Horace Liveright, (1929). The first volume in the Kappa Delta Pi Lecture Series, in which Dewey argues for education to be a disciplined and evolving science. Owner name of Theodore F. Lentz, Jr. on the front flyleaf, and together with Lentz's own book, An Experimental Method for the Discovery and Development of Tests of Character [NY: Columbia University, 1925]. Lentz's book has a date stamp on the rear cover and a few small edge tears; very good in wrappers. Dewey's book has a bookplate (not Lentz's) on the front pastedown and several small, penciled marginal marks; near fine in a very good dust jacket with tiny edge chips and one small, internally tape-mended edge tear.
[#034726]
$450
29.
DEWEY, John and Evelyn
NY, Dutton, (1915). "The schools of yesterday that were designed to meet yesterday's needs do not fit with the requirements of to-day." Dewey and his daughter Evelyn visit schools that are rising to the challenge, the "schools of to-morrow." These were the schools that approached education as being derived from experience and experiment, as opposed to being delivered to children by outside agencies. Small owner name on the front pastedown under flap; a near fine copy of this book, protected by a very good, edge-chipped dust jacket. Another name appears on the jacket (twice), in pencil. One of Dewey's key books pertaining to his theories of education, and scarce in the original dust jacket.
[#034727]
SOLD
30.
DI PRIMA, Diane
(NY), (Totem Press), 1958. Her first book, with an introduction by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Dampstaining, almost entirely contained to the covers; otherwise very good in stapled wrappers. Uncommon. No copies in the trade currently.
[#034829]
SOLD
31.
EHRENREICH, Barbara
NY, Pantheon, (1989). The uncorrected proof copy of Ehrenreich's examination of the American middle class and its rightward drift in the latter part of the 20th century. This copy was used for review, with markings throughout and with notes written on the back of a review slip, laid in. A Post-It on the review slip reads, "Amy, Review due 5/17. Thanks. Jeff Z." (The book was published in August and 8/17 is written in pencil on the lower edge of the text block). In addition to the review markings, there is a bit of dampstaining to the lower corner. Near fine in wrappers. This title was reissued in 2020 by Twelve Books, as still relevant.
[#034698]
SOLD
For notifications of our sale lists, new arrivals, new catalogs, or other e-lists, subscribe to our email list: