Catalog 92, C
90. CABELL, James Branch. The Jewel Merchants. NY: McBride, 1921. A play, introduced by the author. One of 1040 numbered copies. Small date on rear pastedown and tape shadows on endpages from where the jacket was once fastened; still near fine in a dust jacket with a small spot of something on the lower front spine-fold, else near fine. Overall, a very attractive copy.
91. CABELL, (James) Branch. The First Gentleman of America. NY: Farrar & Rinehart, 1942. A vaguely historical novel, written under the name of "Branch Cabell," a device which for a time was intended to separate his later works from his 21-volume Biography of the Life of Manuel. Offsetting to the endpages; near fine in a good, spine-faded dust jacket with several chips.
92. CABELL, James Branch. Let Me Lie. NY: Farrar Straus, 1947. A memoir of Virginia, including a chapter on Ellen Glasgow, to whom the book is posthumously dedicated. Agent stamp front flyleaf and slight shelfwear to extremities; else near fine in a very good dust jacket unevenly sunned on the rear panel.
93. CABELL, James Branch. Quiet, Please. Gainesville: U. of Florida Press, 1952. Reminiscences and reflections. Owner name front flyleaf; fine in a near fine dust jacket with a small chip at the lower front corner. A nice copy of an uncommon title.
94. CALVINO, Italo. Invisible Cities. NY: HBJ, 1974. The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition. 8 1/2" x 11" galley sheets bound in publisher's printed wrappers. Printed on rectos only. A couple of spots to foredge; else fine. An unwieldy format and quite uncommon: it is unlikely that more than a couple of dozen copies would have been produced, if that.
95. CAPOTE, Truman. Local Color. London: Heinemann (1950). The limited edition, published in the UK, of Capote's uncommon third book, a collection of short sketches of various people and places, illustrated with photographs by nine photographers, including Cecil Beaton, Henri Cartier-Bresson and others. One of 200 numbered copies, making it one of the scarcest items in Capote's ouevre. Although not called for, this copy signed by the author. Outer pages foxed, else near fine in an acetate jacket.
96. CAPUTO, Philip. Horn of Africa. NY: HRW (1980). Advance reading copy of the second book, first novel, by the author of A Rumor of War. Rear corner crease; near fine in wrappers.
97. CARROLL, Jim. The Basketball Diaries. Bolinas: Tombouctou (1978). His most famous book, a memoir of growing up in the Sixties in New York, immersed in the city's burgeoning drug culture. Trace rubbing at folds, mild spine-creasing; very near fine in wrappers, with blurbs by William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac--"At 13 years of age, Jim Carroll writes better prose than 89% of the novelists working today." A well-received memoir, one of the notable coming-of-age accounts of the Sixties, which was made into a successful movie. Laid into this copy is an invitation to the publication party. A much-nicer-than-usual copy of this Sixties classic.
97. CARROLL, Jim. From NYC Variations. (n.p.): Yanagi (n.d.). A broadside, printing a poem by Carroll about drugs and poverty. With an illustration by Marc Blane that has a New York City and basketball theme--both central to Carroll's writings. One of 300 numbered copies. Approximately 17" x 11". The broadside bears about a half dozen puncture wounds, only one permeating the paper. There is also some edge creasing. The text and photo are unaffected; the flaws would fade with framing.
98. CARROLL, Jim. 8 Fragments for Kurt Cobain. Louisville: White Fields Press. Broadside. 11" x 22". Carroll's powerful and moving poem for the dead rock star. This is one of 26 lettered copies signed by the author. Slight corner bump; else fine.
99. -. Same title, this being one of 100 numbered copies signed by the author. Slight corner bump, else fine.
100. CARVER, Raymond. Where I'm Calling From. NY: Atlantic Monthly, 1988. The definitive collection of his fiction, published just before he died and containing therefore the "final" versions of a number of his most important and frequently anthologized stories, as well as seven stories previously uncollected. This is the uncorrected proof copy of the trade edition, which was preceded by the Franklin Library edition. Lip print on the epigraph page; first leaf loosening; one short and unnecessarily glued edge tear to front cover. Overall, still near fine in wrappers.
101. (CARVER, Raymond). "The Brass Ring" in Targets 11. (Sandoval): (Coronado Press), 1962. Carver's first poem in print, in a small New Mexico literary magazine. There are also three poems by Charles Bukowski. Fine in stapled wrappers. Very scarce: we have never seen another copy of this item.
102. (CARVER, Raymond). "The Furious Seasons" in December, Vol. V., No. 1. (Western Springs): (C.L. Johnson) (1963). Another early Carver appearance, this being the first publication of his story, "The Furious Seasons," the title of which was later shortened to "Furious Seasons" when it was published in book form some 14 years later. Cover loose at front hinge, some staining to covers; good in wrappers.
103. (CARVER, Raymond). Address at the University of Hartford, in Commencement. (West Hartford): (U. of Hartford) (1988). Carver received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree at the University and gave a speech, which is transcribed in the program of the Commencement. Together with this is a photocopy of the original typescript of the speech, which differs in paragraphing from the published version, and in the deletion of one 17-word clause, which has been circled in ink on the photocopy--thus providing an earlier view of the text of the speech. A rare ephemeral piece. The program is fine; the typescript is near fine.
104. (CARVER, Raymond). SPECTOR, Buzz. Jo Ann Callis: Objects of Reverie. Des Moines: Des Moines Art Center/Black Sparrow, 1989. Catalogue of an exhibition of photographs by Callis, with Carver poems illuminating the photographs. This is one of 150 hardcover copies, numbered and signed by the photographer. Fine in a fine plain white dust jacket. Very scarce: most copies of the hardcover edition reportedly did not go into the marketplace, but rather were reserved for people associated with the production of the exhibition, thus making it one of the more elusive Carver items.
105. CHANDRA, Vikram. Red Earth and Pouring Rain. London: Faber & Faber (1995). The first British edition of his first book, published to excellent reviews and shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
106. COETZEE, J.M. Life & Times of Michael K. London: Secker & Warburg, (1983). The Booker Prize-winning novel by the South African author of Waiting for the Barbarians, which was selected as one of the best books of the year by The New York Times Book Review in 1982. Price erasure front flyleaf, light foxing to top edge; near fine in a fine dust jacket.
107. CONNELLY, Michael. The Concrete Blonde. Boston: Little Brown (1994). The advance reading copy of the third Harry Bosch novel. Warmly inscribed by the author. Fine in wrappers.
108. CONNELLY, Michael. The Last Coyote. Boston: Little Brown (1995). The advance reading copy; the fourth Harry Bosch novel. Inscribed by the author with one of Bosch's trademark sayings: "Everybody counts or nobody counts." Fine in wrappers.
109. CONNELLY, Michael. The Poet. Boston: Little Brown (1995). The advance reading copy. His fifth novel, which breaks away from the Harry Bosch series and features reporter Jack McEvoy and a psychopathic villain as eerily intelligent as Hannibal Lecter. Inscribed by the author. Fine in wrappers.
110. CONROY, Frank. Midair. NY: Dutton/Seymour Lawrence (1985). The second book, and first book of fiction, by the author of the classic memoir Stop-Time. This collection of short stories was eighteen years coming. Warmly inscribed by the author to publisher Seymour Lawrence: "For Sam --/ a wizard indeed, with/ gratitude and affection from/ Frank Conroy." Fine in a near fine, spine- and edge-tanned dust jacket.
111. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy. Inscribed by the author to the publisher in May 1985: "For Sam --/ A publisher who cares about art,/ and a man who cares about artists./ A rare wizard indeed./ With my admiration -/ Frank Conroy." Near fine in wrappers.
112. CONROY, Frank. Body & Soul. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin/Seymour Lawrence, 1993. Inscribed by the author to Seymour Lawrence: "For Sam,/ With a whole lot of/ gratitude that gamblers like/ you are still in the game./ I owe you more than I can put down here -- but you/ and I know ----/ Love/ Frank./ P.S./ cigarettes do not/ exist on the planet earth." Fine in a fine dust jacket.
113. -. Same title, the advance reading copy. Inscribed by the author in 1993, again to Seymour Lawrence: "For Sam/ without whom this book/ wouldn't be here./ many many thanks/ Frank Conroy." Fine in wrappers.
114. -. Another copy of the American trade edition, but bearing the jacket of the Canadian edition (Toronto: Viking Penguin). Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
115. CROWLEY, John. Love and Sleep. NY: Bantam (1994). The second book in the projected and ambitious tetralogy that began with Aegypt, which was nominated for the World Fantasy Award and was selected as one of David Pringle's 100 best fantasy novels of all time. Crowley is also the author of the Little, Big, which won the World Fantasy Award and was also chosen as one of Pringle's 100 best. One of his other novels, Engine Summer, was selected by Pringle for his list of the 100 best science fiction novels ever, and three of his six novels also were chosen by Yale literary critic Harold Bloom for his controversial list of the works comprising "the Western canon." An important author who is still relatively little-known outside the field of science fiction and fantasy, except among the cognoscenti of contemporary literature. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
116. (CUMMINGS, E.E.). The Harvard Wake, No. 5. (Cambridge): (Harvard) (1946). A special Cummings issue, guest-edited by José Garcia Villa and edited by Seymour Lawrence, who also contributes two poems. This copy is inscribed by E.E. Cummings to Seymour Lawrence on the front cover. Stapled signatures bound into sunned wrappers, which have come unglued along the spine. The contents page and the foreword page have small tears at the foredge; still about very good. An excellent literary association, and an exceptionally early item in the career of one of the most respected editors in the history of American publishing.