Catalog 172

San Francisco, North Point, 1990. Her second book, a novel with a narrative arc that changes course when the AIDS crisis claims a close friend of the author's. Inscribed by Maso to renowned choreographer Mark Morris: "For Mark Morris - in esteem once again (page 115). xx/ Carole Maso/ 1994." On page 115, Morris is listed as one of the shared interests of the protagonist/Maso and her father. An excellent association between two gay artists with a reputation for innovation. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with the typical fading to the spine. [#034894] $200

(Normal), Dalkey Archive, 1993. Her third book, a novel constructed of the thoughts and memories in the mind of a dying woman. This copy is inscribed by Maso to choreographer Mark Morris: "For Mark Morris - with extravagant admiration. Yours in irresistible music, Carole Maso/ 1994." From page 78 of the text: Behemoth is danced in silence, and while it is a silence full of rhythms, the rhythms break off abruptly or disappear in long pauses." (Not unlike the text of Ava.) Behemoth was a 1990 dance piece created by Morris. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with one closed edge tear. [#034895] $175

(NY), (Totem Press), (1959). His second book, and third publication after a broadside. One of 750 copies. Age-toning to first and last leaf; near fine in stapled wrappers. [#034842] SOLD

San Francisco, Auerhahn Press, 1961. An early collection of poetry, printed by Dave Haselwood and Andrew Hoyen at the Auerhahn Press. One of 725 copies in wrappers, of 750 total. This copy has the ownership signature of Frank O'Hara. Dampstaining to the rear cover and the lower margins of the last several pages, thus very good in wrappers. [#034843] SOLD

Paris, Obelisk Press, (1936). Miller's second regularly published book, one of 1000 copies printed by the Obelisk Press, which had published Tropic of Cancer. This title consists of ten autobiographical stories and, again like Tropic of Cancer, its publication was suppressed in the U.S. for many years after its original publication in France. Bump to spine base, with a trifle of cover creasing: Obelisk Press publications were produced using a soft, pulpy paper that wears easily, but this is a near fine copy in self-wrappers, in a custom folding chemise and slipcase. A very nice copy. [#034844] SOLD

Paris, Olympia Press, 1958. Second printing of this novel first published in 1956. This book was a reworking of two stories Miller originally wrote on commission in 1940 for a collector of pornography (who reportedly found them "too poetic"). Illustrated with numerous photographs by Brassai. Softcover: fine in a very good dust jacket with moderate rubbing to the spine. [#034845] $300

Big Sur, Emil White, 1961. A compendium of opinions pertaining to the censorship of Miller's works, edited by Emil White, and including two pieces -- letters -- by Miller. This copy is inscribed by Miller, "for Sydney from Henry" in 1972. This is the trade edition; near fine in wrappers. Publisher's prospectus laid in. [#034846] SOLD

NY, Vintage Books, (1973). The uncorrected proof copy of this anthology of poetry by Native Americans, including Eskimos, Hawaiians, Chicanos and Puerto Ricans. Edited and introduced by poet Walter Lowenfels, with additional introductions by Simon Ortiz and Gloria Truvido. Other contributors include James Welch, Joseph Bruchac, Gerald Vizenor, Robert J. Conley, Duane Niatum, Gladys Cardiff, and Besmilr Brigham, among many others. Published as a paperback original, even the first edition is uncommon. An early proof in what became the "Native American Renaissance," presenting a multicultural view of American literature. This copy, though unmarked, is from Lowenfels' estate. Minor edge sunning; near fine in wrappers. [#034642] $200

NY, Viking, (1975). The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of "contemporary poetry by American Indians." Edited by Kenneth Rosen, this was the companion volume to the fiction anthology The Man to Send Rain Clouds published a year earlier. Contributors include Leslie Marmon Silko, Gerald Vizenor, Anna Walters, Lance Henson, Peter Blue Cloud, Ray Young Bear, Janet Campbell Hale, Roberta Hill, Ramona Wilson, Anita Endrezze-Probst, and others. Owner names on flyleaf -- poet, novelist and playwright Irving Benig and his wife, Barbara; fine in wrappers. A key book of Native American literature, and an uncommon proof. [#034644] SOLD

(n.p.), (Self-Published), 1960. Vizenor's scarce first book: a small book of poetry, privately printed. Signed by the author. Vizenor, an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa tribe, is a writer, scholar and activist whose work reenvisions and redefines the history of Native American culture and its role in the history of the United States, often using postmodern techniques, unconventional vocabulary, and humor, among other things. In addition to poetry -- including haiku -- he has written some 30 works of fiction and nonfiction, always seeking to redefine the Native American experience on its own terms, not those of a conquering and occupying society. In doing so he has become one of the most respected and most influential voices among Native American writers. Twelve unnumbered pages, in green stapled wrappers. Light cup ring on the front cover; spine and edge-toning; telephone number in pencil on rear cover. Still a very good copy. 4 copies listed in OCLC: this is the first copy of this title we've handled. [#034731] SOLD

(Minneapolis), (Obercraft Printing Co.), 1961. A single poem by Vizenor, in this 8-page pamphlet, which is, as far as we can tell, the first book by this poet, novelist, essayist and critic who is of Chippewa descent and a key figure in the so-called Native American renaissance that took place in the 1960s and 1970s. OCLC locates only 4 copies. Stapled wrappers, with some wear evident to the covers. Still a very good copy. [#034781] SOLD

(Minneapolis), Four Winds, 1968. A celebration of 100 years of the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota. Compiled, edited and introduced by Vizenor. Shot from typescript; only issued in wrappers. Creasing to spine, tiny tear to crown; a very good copy. An early, uncommon work by Vizenor, and one of his first books to deal with Native subject matter, after publishing several collections of haiku. [#034623] SOLD

NY, Armed Services Edition, [1945]. First thus: the Armed Services Edition of Beston's 1928 classic, which became a beacon for the environmental movement, advocating a reorientation of the relationship between man and nature; its argument for the value of the natural world, in its own right, helped provide the basis for the creation of the Cape Cod National Seashore. The text is printed in its entirety, without the illustrations by William Bradford, but with a 1943 introduction by Beston. Small owner name to title page; modest rubbing to covers; very good in wrappers. [#034897] SOLD

NY, Macmillan, 1948. Winner of the 1949 John Burroughs Medal. "Bird Experiences in Florida," with text by Helen G. Cruickshank and photographs by the author's husband, Allan D. Cruickshank, who was the official photographer of the National Audubon Society. This copy is signed by both Cruickshanks. Allan has added "Dum Vivimus Vivamus" ("While we live, let us live") below his signature. A fine copy in a very good, unevenly faded, price-clipped dust jacket with moderate edge wear. [#034647] $300
On Sale: $195

San Francisco, California Academy of Sciences, 1905. The scarce signed limited edition of this title by the Canadian-American botanist, who is credited with adding 340,000 specimens to the herbarium of the California Academy of Sciences between 1912 and 1949 (after having helped save nearly 1500 species from the fire of 1906 that destroyed the original building). This title too was also mostly lost in the fire that followed the earthquake of 1906: it was in the process of publication as an "Occasional Paper" of the California Academy of Sciences at the San Francisco printing firm of Edward Bosqui when the fire destroyed the plant. Eastwood, at her own expense, had had 500 copies specially bound for friends and a few had gone in the mail. This is Copy No. 68 of that mostly-destroyed edition. Signed by Eastwood. Owner name of "Jordan" on the front endpaper. [Possibly David S. Jordan, President of the CAS.] Original spine laid down on professionally restored spine, now in a lovely copy in a custom marbled paper and cloth slipcase. [#034898] SOLD

NY, Dutton, (1976). Possible first printing of the first book in LaBastille's Woodswoman series, which chronicled four decades of living in a Vermont cabin that she built herself, inspired by Thoreau's Walden. Inscribed by the author: "To Dick Pendleton/ Merry Christmas! Anne LaBastille." Scarce signed, and just as scarce as a "first printing": it's possible that Dutton was experimenting with their indications of printings at about this time, and temporarily adopted the system used by Random House, of stating "First Edition" and adding a number line that begins with 2 (and then later dropping the "First Edition" to indicate subsequent printings). As evidence for this theory we point out that the number line appears to be centered (as it would not be had a "1" been dropped), as well as to the total lack (as far as we can tell) of copies that have a number line starting with 1. Minor foxing; a very good copy in a very good dust jacket with closed, jagged tears on the rear panel. [#034899] SOLD

(NY), Oxford University Press, (2002). The volcanologist puts in perspective "everything you never wanted to know" about the ways nature can kill us all -- fire, ice, earthquakes, volcanoes, asteroids (most everything but viruses). A lesson in climatological and geological fragility. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#034738] SOLD

San Francisco, Sierra Club, (1989). Her first book: a memoir by the woman whose public journey began with her 1969 commencement speech on population control at Mills College in California, followed by more than a decade of environmental activism with colleagues such as Stewart Brand and David Brower, before she became an ardent supporter of bioregionalism from her adopted home in northern Michigan. This copy is warmly inscribed by Mills at Orion Magazine's national nature conference Fire & Grit, in 1999. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#034900] SOLD

NY, The New Press, (2010). A former editor of the Utne Reader explains "how to save the economy, the environment, the internet, democracy, our communities, and everything else that belongs to all of us" by way of acknowledging shared ownership and shared responsibility. Dozens of short articles written by more than two dozen authors, with illustrations and a resource guide, and featuring an introduction by Bill McKibben. Inscribed by Walljasper, with the exhortation "Viva la Commons!" Fine in wrappers. [#034650] $100

(NY), Lyons Press, (2001). Strident essays on the disconnect between humans (particularly American humans) and the rest of the natural world. Signed by the author and dated in April in the year of publication. This is the celebrated novelist's second book of nonfiction, following a book on the Florida Keys. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#034902] SOLD

Denver, Alan Swallow, 1953. His first book, inscribed by the author in the year of publication: "For David & Rose, with love, Harold." An uncommon book by this poet who was a friend to Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs, and lived in the Beat hotel with them and others in the early 1960s. Minor spotting to boards; near fine in a very good, tanned and spotted dust jacket. [#034847] SOLD

[Toronto], Doubleday, (2006). A practical guide for preventing and surviving pandemics, with a foreword by Atwood, whose 2003 book launch for her novel Oryx and Crake, in which many people are killed by a swiftly-spreading virus, was canceled due to the (first) SARS outbreak. Signed by Vincent Lam. Fine in wrappers. [#034916] SOLD

NY, Pantheon, (2004). Markel examines six major epidemics in the U.S. in the 20th century, including tuberculosis, the Bubonic Plague, and AIDS. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication. "with great appreciation." Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#034917] $125
On Sale: $81

(Toronto), Viking Canada, 2006. "Bird Flu, Mad Cow Disease, and Other Biological Plagues of the 21st Century." Inscribed by the author. Thin stain to front board; else fine in a fine dust jacket. [#034918] $75

NY, Norton, (2012). From Quammen's website, ca. 2012: "The next big and murderous human pandemic ... will be caused by a new disease -- new to humans, anyway. The bug that’s responsible will be strange, unfamiliar, but it won’t come from outer space. Odds are that the killer pathogen -- most likely a virus -- will spill over into humans from a nonhuman animal." Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#034919] $400

NY, Harris & Givens, (1942). The painted issue of his fourth book: Copy No. 14 of 75 numbered copies with an original cover painted by Patchen. Signed by the author. Offsetting to the half-title page from previous label; toning to covers; near fine in wrappers, in the publisher's near fine slipcase. A very early painted edition. [#034848] $2,500

Moscow, State Art Publishers, 1939. The architecture and culture of Moscow, as photographed by Rodchenko for the Soviet Pavilion at the 1939 New York's World's Fair. Two five-panel accordion photographic foldouts tipped in at rear. Spine ends rubbed; near fine in ribbed boards, without dust jacket, presumably as issued. [#034711] SOLD

(n.p.), J. Faraone, 1987. An Oliver North paper doll. Drawn, printed, hand-cut, (i.e. "shredded"), and signed by Jim Faraone, founder of the International Fashion Doll Convention. A political statement, taking aim at National Security Council staff member Oliver North, who, with his secretary Fawn Hall, shredded documents that presumably would have implicated him in the Iran-Contra scandal (the selling of arms to Iran to fund Nicaraguan rebels). A reminder of simpler times in political corruption, when it sufficed to simply hide the truth, as opposed to fabricating new truths and then fighting for them. 8-1/2" x 11". Bottom edge shredded by design; fine. No copies listed in OCLC. [#034903] $200

Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1976. Inscribed by Robbins: "To Paul, with 'eternal' gratitude for introducing me to the Clock People. Your friend, Tom Robbins." Paul Dorpat, who is the first person acknowledged in Robbins' Author's Note for the book, was a co-founder with Robbins and others of Seattle's first underground newspaper, Helix; and an issue of the paper featured a story about The Great Clock and the legend of the Eternity of Joy, the text of which parallels Chapter 59 of Cowgirls (in addition to "the clockworks" playing a larger role in the novel as a whole). A dozen or so ink and pencil notes in the text, presumably by Dorpat. Apart from the annotations and a bit of spotting to the boards, this is a near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with a chip at the upper rear spine fold. One of the best possible association copies of this beloved, irrepressible novel. [#034749] $1,500

[NY], [Knopf], [1981]. The author's copy, leatherbound and presented to Stone by the Book of the Month Club. Printed from second printing (before publication) Knopf sheets. Bound in full red leather (stamped with the BOMC logo in gold on the front cover), with marbled endpapers, gilt top edge, and silk ribbon marker. A Flag for Sunrise was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN Faulkner Award, and a main selection of the Book of the Month Club. From the author's library. Fine, in a leather-tipped cloth slipcase. This is the only such author's copy issued by BOMC that we have seen or heard of. A handsome production. [#034630] SOLD