Catalog 92, T-V
418. THEROUX, Alexander. Three Wogs. Boston: Gambit, 1972. The author's uncommon first novel. Inscribed by the author in 1975. Fine in a spine-dulled and dust-soiled dust jacket, the issue with the sepia photograph on the rear flap; about near fine. A scarce book and an important debut.
419. THEROUX, Alexander. Theroux Metaphrastes. (Boston): (Godine) (1975). "An essay on literature," by which he means his own. Fine in stapled wrappers and inscribed by the author in 1982.
420. THEROUX, Alexander. The Great Wheadle Tragedy. (Boston): Godine (1975). A tale illustrated by Stan Washburn. Inscribed by Theroux in 1982. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a publisher's complimentary slip laid in.
421. THEROUX, Alexander. Master Snickup's Cloak. NY: Harper & Row (1979). A fable illustrated by Brian Froud. Quarto; fine in a fine dust jacket. Inscribed by the author in 1982.
422. THEROUX, Alexander. Darconville's Cat. Garden City: Doubleday, 1981. A novel. Inscribed by the author in 1982. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with modest overall wear.
423. THEROUX, Paul. Fong and the Indians. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1968. His second book, a novel set in a mythical east African country resembling Kenya or Uganda. Spine gilt dulled; else fine in a very near fine dust jacket.
424. THEROUX, Paul. The Pillars of Hercules. NY: Putnam (1995). Uncorrected proof copy of this addition to the considerable body of Theroux's highly regarded travel accounts, this one focusing on the Mediterranean. Fine in wrappers, and signed by the author.
425. THOMPSON, Hunter S. Hell's Angels. NY: Random House (1967). The Book Club edition of his first book. Thompson spent a year following or hanging out with the Hell's Angels, ending up getting beaten up by several of them. Signed by Ralph Steadman and with an ink drawing by him of Thompson on the half title. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket rubbed at the corners and folds.
426. THOMPSON, Hunter S. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. NY: Random House (1971). Thompson's second book, epitomizing the "Gonzo journalism" that the author invented and which he has elevated to an art. A classic of the freewheeling, drug-ingesting Sixties era, illustrated with hilarious and scary pen-and-ink drawings by Ralph Steadman. Boards edge-sunned as usual, rear flyleaf chipped at corner; near fine in a near fine dust jacket with a slight edge creasing. Signed by both Thompson (initialed) and Steadman. Thompson's signature is extremely scarce and on this, his most famous and by consensus his best book, it is especially uncommon.
427. -. Another copy, this one bearing a silkscreen of Thompson on the front flyleaf and signed by Steadman on the page preceding the half-title, where the same image is printed in the book. Near fine in a very good dust jacket.
428. THOMPSON, Hunter S. Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72. (SF): Straight Arrow (1973). Thompson's third book and the second of his "Fear & Loathing" accounts. In this, Thompson covers the Nixon/McGovern race for the Presidency, bringing to the campaign a sense of humor and horror that is simultaneously both off-the-wall and entirely appropriate to its subject. Illustrated throughout with photographs and with pen-and-ink drawings by Ralph Steadman, who also illustrated Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. This copy has a Steadman silkscreen on the front endpages and is signed by Steadman on the logo page that precedes the half title. Near fine in a near fine, second issue dust jacket with modest edge rubbing.
429. THOMPSON, Hunter S. The Great Shark Hunt. NY: Summit/Rolling Stone (1979). The first collection of Thompson's short pieces for magazines, his fourth book overall. Signed by Ralph Steadman, who contributed the illustration on the rear panel of the dust jacket. Minor foxing to top edge; near fine in a near fine dust jacket with light overall wear.
430. THOMPSON, Hunter S. Screwjack. Santa Barbara: Neville, 1991. A collection of three short pieces by Thompson, along with a half-mad letter to the publisher that serves as introduction to the volume. Thompson's first limited edition; one of 300 numbered copies signed by the author. Additionally, this copy is signed by Steadman and bears a hand-colored caricature by him. Fine without dust jacket, as issued. Thompson's signature is quite scarce, and this copy, with its Steadman signature and art represents an excellent association copy.
431. THOMPSON, Hunter S. Road Dog Ale. Denver/Aspen: Broadway Brewing/Flying Dog Brew Pub (n.d.). One bottle (one pint, 6 fluid oz.) of Scottish ale, bearing a label collaboration between Thompson and Ralph Steadman (the first collaboration of a projected series). Steadman provides the front label art; Thompson provides a blurb for the rear label, a motto for the front and a short history of ale, concluding with a poem, on a card hung from the bottle's neck. This bottle is very near fine, lacking the ale (presumably not as issued), but with cap intact.
432. (THOMPSON, Hunter S.) STEADMAN, Ralph. Jones of Colorado. London: Ebury Press (1995). Steadman sketches and discusses the life and death of Jones, Hunter Thompson's cat, whom he met during a two-week stay at Thompson's house while working on The Curse of Lono and became enraptured. It seems Jones and Thompson share some characteristics. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by Steadman.
433. T IB N, Colm. The Story of the Night. NY: Henry Holt (1997). The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of this Irish writer's third novel, a highly praised tale of Argentina during the years of the "dirty war." Very good in wrappers with a Roddy Doyle blurb stapled diagonally across the front cover and two pages of promotional material stapled inside the front cover.
434. TYLER, Anne. If Morning Ever Comes. NY: Knopf, 1964. The first novel by the author of The Accidental Tourist and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Breathing Lessons. Written when she was just 22 years old. This copy is inscribed by the author in 1985. Slight spotting to page edges; very near fine in a near fine dust jacket with modest edgewear including a tiny chip at the upper front panel.
435. TYLER, Anne. A Slipping-Down Life. NY: Knopf, 1970. Her third book. Fine (no remainder mark) in a near fine dust jacket. Not as scarce as her other early titles, this has nevertheless gotten much more difficult to find in recent years than it used to be, especially without the ubiquitous remainder marking.
436. TYLER, Anne. The Clock Winder. London: Chatto & Windus, 1973. The first British edition of her fourth book. Mild foxing to page edges and endpages. Near fine in a dust jacket with some uneven discoloration to the rear panel and 2" horizontal edge crumple on the lower rear panel; about very good.
437. TYLER, Anne. Celestial Navigation. NY: Knopf, 1974. Her fifth book. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
438. TYLER, Anne. Earthly Possessions. NY: Knopf, 1977. Review copy. A bit of black smudging to the spine cloth; else fine in a fine dust jacket with review slip and publicity information laid in. Also laid in is an unused bookplate signed by the author.
439. UPDIKE, John. The Carpentered Hen. NY: Harper & Brothers (1958). His first book, a collection of poems, published in an edition of 2000 copies. Small erasure abrasion on front flyleaf; else fine in a very near fine, first issue dust jacket with a short gray streak by the author's name and a barely perceptible crease at the upper corner. Still, a very handsome copy, much nicer than usual, and one of the finest we have seen.
440. UPDIKE, John. The Same Door. NY: Knopf, 1959. His third book and first collection of stories. This copy is inscribed by the author on the title page. The front flyleaf bears an owner inscription; otherwise the book is fine in a very good, price-clipped, first issue dust jacket with modest edgewear and two very short splits on the rear flap fold. One of his scarcest books in collectible condition.
441. UPDIKE, John. Verse. (NY): Fawcett/Crest (1965). A paperback compilation of The Carpentered Hen and Telephone Poles. With a one-poem foreword by Updike for this edition. Inscribed by the author. Fine in wrappers.
442. UPDIKE, John. Rabbit Redux. NY: Knopf, 1971. The limited edition of the second book in his Rabbit Angstrom sequence, one of the most acclaimed fictional series of our time. This book was nominated for the National Book Award and other titles in the four-book sequence garnered two Pulitzer Prizes and a National Book Award. One of 350 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in fine slipcase.
443. UPDIKE, John. Scenic. San Francisco: Hoyem, 1976. A broadside of a poem excerpted from The Carpentered Hen. One of 150 copies, one of the scarcer of Updike's many limited editions. 9" x 12", matted and framed to 11 3/4" x 14 3/4". Fine.
444. UPDIKE, John. Styles of Bloom. (n.p.): Palaemon, 1982. A broadside poem. One of 55 numbered copies of a total edition of 81 copies. Approximately 8 3/8" x 12", matted and framed to 11" x 14 3/4". Signed by the author. Fine.
445. UPDIKE, John. A&P: Lust in the Aisles. (Minneapolis): Redpath Press (1986). The first separate appearance of this story from Pigeon Feathers, printed in an edition of 5000 copies. (Updike's novels routinely have six-figure print runs these days.) Signed by the author on the front cover. Fine in self-wrappers.
446. UPDIKE, John. Introduction to Appointment in Samarra. (n.p.): (n.p.) (1988). An eight page stapled pamphlet in which Updike writes a new introduction to John O'Hara's first book, for a facsimile reissue of it done by Book-of-the-Month Club. Fine, and signed by Updike. Uncommon: most copies would have gone to book club subscribers and have not made it into the book trade. But by virtue of its being separately bound from the O'Hara edition, it becomes an "A" item, albeit somewhat inadvertently--i.e., presumably not intended to stand on its own.
447. UPDIKE, John. Memories of the Ford Administration. NY: Knopf, 1992. Fine in a fine dust jacket, and signed by the author.
448. UPDIKE, John. Brazil. NY: Knopf, 1994. The uncorrected proof copy of this novel. Fine in wrappers. Much scarcer than the advance reading copy of this title, which was issued in pictorial wrappers.
449. UPDIKE, John. Love Factories. Helsinki: Eurographica (1993). A limited edition, one of 350 copies signed by the author. Three previously published stories, with a new five page foreword. Fine in wrappers and dust jacket.
450. (UPDIKE, John). "Cunts" in New York Quarterly, No. 15. (NY): (NYQ) (1973). An issue of the magazine, printing Updike's poem for the first time and made into a limited edition by means of a rubber-stamp. One of 26 lettered copies signed by Updike at his contribution. Fine in wrappers.
451. -. Same title. One of 457 numbered copies, again signed by Updike at his contribution. Fine in wrappers.
452. -. Another copy of the numbered issue. Cover and several pages corner-creased; near fine in wrappers.
453. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. Player Piano. NY: Scribner, 1952. His first book, a satire on automation and the Electronics Age, on the order of Orwell's 1984. A very good copy in a good, darkened and spotted dust jacket chipped at the spine extremities. An affordable copy of one of the most important first books of the postwar period.
454. -. Same title, first British edition (London: Macmillan, 1953). A very good copy, foxed at the foredge and with residue at the edges of the boards and endpages from a previous dust jacket protector. The jacket is price-clipped, spine-faded, and internally tape-strengthened along both edges but splitting at the rear flap fold; in all only good. Still, a reasonably attractive copy and an extremely scarce edition: 3000 copies were printed and something like 1000 of them were pulped. However, when the publisher decided to reprint the book in the late 1960s, after Vonnegut's popularity had achieved a new plateau, they reported that they were unable to locate a single copy, even in the British Museum (the equivalent of our Library of Congress). Vonnegut's bibliographers, Asa Pieratt and Jerome Klinkowitz, were unable to locate a copy to inspect when they compiled his bibliography.
455. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. The Sirens of Titan. (NY): Dell (1959). Vonnegut's second book, a paperback original, published seven years after his first, during which time Player Piano had been issued by the Doubleday Book Club and then reissued as the sci-fi paperback Utopia 14. The publication and marketing of this admittedly space-placed satire as science fiction kept Vonnegut from being recognized as the earth-centered writer he is for years. Three black stripes along the lower edge of the pages and a bit of rubbing to the edges and folds; near fine in wrappers. An attractive copy.
456. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. Slaughterhouse-Five or The Children's Crusade. (n.p.): Seymour Lawrence/Delacorte (1969). Vonnegut's masterwork, a powerful fictional memoir of his experiences during the Allied fire-bombing of Dresden, Germany. Vonnegut's philosophical reflections on the tragic absurdity of humankind are embedded in an impressionistic, pessimistic, comic science fiction tale that is a high spot of the literature of the 1960s and since. Signed by the author. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a bit of darkening to the spine and some wrinkling at the spine extremities.
457. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. Breakfast of Champions. (NY): (Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence) (1973). Vonnegut's fiftieth birthday present to himself and his characters: the author uses this novel to grant many of his previous characters their freedom (most notably Kilgore Trout who, unable to make it on the outside, returns in Jailbird). Vonnegut turns 75 this year. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with very slight rubbing at the extremities and corners.
458. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons. (n.p.): Delacorte/Lawrence (1974). Essays, speeches and opinions. Mild fading to top stain; fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a couple of small edge nicks and a tiny chip at the base of the spine.
459. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Slapstick. Franklin Center: Franklin Library (1976). The closest he claims to have come, at that time, to writing an autobiography, and the first of his books to be issued in a limited edition. (There was also a limited edition done by the trade publisher). This is also the first of his books to be authored under the name of Kurt Vonnegut rather than Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., which he explains in the introduction written specially for this edition, along with a few ideas on dignity, language and leather bindings. Leatherbound, all edges gilt, silk ribbon marker bound in. Fine.
460. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy of the trade edition (NY: Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence, 1976). Very good in green wrappers. The cover, the title page and the copyright page still bear the name Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. There was a later issue in yellow wrappers that dropped the "Jr."
461. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Jailbird. (NY): Delacorte/Lawrence (1979). The limited edition of this novel. One of 500 copies, signed by the author. Clothbound, all edges gilt; spine-sunned; else fine in a near fine, edge-sunned slipcase. From the library of Vonnegut's publisher, Seymour Lawrence.
462. -. Same title, the trade edition. Rear pages rumpled at the extreme lower edges, a couple minor spots to cloth; near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
463. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Palm Sunday. NY: Delacorte (1981). Autobiographical writings, speeches, articles, essays and fiction. This is the limited edition, one of 500 numbered copies signed by the author. Clothbound, all edges gilt. The text includes Vonnegut's own report card on his published work to this book: Slaughterhouse-Five and Cat's Cradle get the only A-pluses, and Jailbird the best grade since. This book gets a C. Fine in a fine slipcase.
464. -. Another copy. Spine faded and lettering flaking slightly; near fine in a fine slipcase with edge sunning.
465. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Deadeye Dick. London: Jonathan Cape (1983). The first British edition of this novel, which according to the author, "fails to explain anything." Near fine in good dust jacket with only moderate edgewear but for a 1 1/2" open edge tear on the upper front panel, internally tape-mended.
466. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Nothing is Lost Save Honor. Jackson: Nouveau Press, 1984. Of a total edition of 340 copies, this is one of 300 numbered copies signed by the author. Prints two essays, "Fates Worse than Death" and "The Worst Addiction of Them All," as a benefit for the Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi. In a postscript, Vonnegut equates the book to angelfood cake at a bake sale. Fine, without dust jacket, as issued.
467. VONNEGUT, Kurt. GalÁpagos. NY: Delacorte/Lawrence (1985). The limited edition of this novel. One of 500 copies, signed by the author. Clothbound, all edges gilt; fine in a fine slipcase.
468. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Bluebeard. NY: Delacorte Press (1987). Fine in a fine dust jacket.
469. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Who Am I This Time? (Minneapolis): Redpath Press (1987). The first separate appearance of this story that first appeared in The Saturday Evening Post and was collected in Welcome to the Monkey-House; it is here resurrected as a "Perfect Present" gift book, with (untouched) gift inscription page and envelope. Fine in self-wrappers.
470. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Hocus Pocus. NY: Putnam (1990). The limited edition. One of 250 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in fine slipcase. An attractive edition, in a full cloth slipcase.
471. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Fates Worse Than Death. NY: Putnam (1991). The limited edition to this sequel to Palm Sunday, an "autobiographical collage of the Eighties." One of 200 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in a fine slipcase. Again, an attractive edition in a full cloth slipcase.
472. (VONNEGUT, Kurt). "TROUT, Kilgore." FARMER, Philip José. Venus on the Half-Shell. (NY): Dell (1975). A paperback original, authored by Farmer, who took as his pseudonym the name of this recurring Vonnegut character, a writer of science fiction whose career is hindered by pornographic marketing and a brilliance that goes unrecognized because of a lack of writing ability. The lower corner of the rear cover is seriously abraded, the only flaw.