Catalog 93, A
2. AIKEN, Conrad. Collection. A Conrad Aiken collection spanning the years 1917 to 1971 and including approximately three dozen first editions, a dozen periodical appearances and one typed letter signed. Not all the books were issued with jackets; about two-thirds have jackets, although the dust jackets, when present, tend toward the lower end of condition. Highlights include:
three signed limited editions; one signed trade edition; one inscribed trade edition, and a 1905 book with an introduction by Aiken's uncle that is inscribed by Conrad Aiken in 1925.
his 1917 book Nocturne of Remembered Spring in (heavily repaired) jacket.
a 1919 appearance in the journal Youth: Poetry of Today.
his 1919 book of criticism, Scepticisms.
the scarce first issue of The Coming Forth By Day of Osiris Jones.
the Hogarth Press title Senlin: A Biography.
Aiken's autobiographical Ushant: An Essay.
John Ciardi's copy of Sheepfold Hill, heavily annotated.
the above-mentioned typed letter signed, two pages, from 1960, mostly concerning Malcolm Lowry and their interactions relating to poetry.
A detailed description is available on request. Lot price:
3. (African American Musical History). HANDY, W.C., ed. Unsung Americans Sung. (n.p.): American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (1944). Music memorializing leading black figures in American history, with brief biographies of the subjects and sketches of them by Beauford De Laney. Includes "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," which has lyrics by Langston Hughes. Inscribed by Handy in the year of publication. A couple light pencil notations in the text. Rebacked, with leather spine, gilt stamping. The boards are rubbed, particularly at the corners, and creased. The rear board has a shallow dampstain. Almost very good, without dust jacket, as issued. A scarce, fragile wartime publication, and a significant volume of African-American heritage.
4. ALEXIE, Sherman. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight In Heaven. NY: Atlantic Monthly Press (1993). The advance reading copy of his first collection of stories to be published by a mainstream trade publisher. One of the most highly praised debut collections in recent years. Alexie was chosen by Granta magazine as one of its 20 Best Young American Authors. Fine in wrappers.
5. ALGREN, Nelson. A Walk on the Wild Side. NY: Farrar Straus Cudahy (1956). Fourth novel by the author of The Man With the Golden Arm, which was the first winner of the National Book Award. A trifle edge-sunned, one spot to top edge; near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Quite a nice copy.
6. ALGREN, Nelson. The Last Carousel. NY: Putnam (1973). A collection of stories. Inscribed by the author on the front flyleaf, with his trademark cat drawing on the half title. Recipients' names also on flyleaf; near fine in a very good dust jacket.
7. AMICHAI, Yehuda. Time. NY: Harper & Row (1979). A collection of poems by the foremost Israeli poet, who is often mentioned as a candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Inscribed by the author "with great instant friendship." Fine in a fine dust jacket.
8. AMIS, Martin. The Moronic Inferno and Other Visits to America. London: Cape (1986). Uncorrected proof copy of this collection of Amis' witty, acerbic essays about America-his first book of nonfiction, and a book that earned him a reputation as a humorous and insightful commentator on the U.S. Near fine in wrappers and signed by the author.
9. AMIS, Martin. Visiting Mrs. Nabokov and Other Excursions. London: Cape (1993). A collection of essays, his second. This is the advance reading copy (marked by the publisher "uncorrected proof" on the front cover). Fine in wrappers and signed by the author.
10. AMIS, Martin. Night Train. London: Cape (1997). The uncorrected proof copy of his new book, a novel just recently published in the U.K. Fine in wrappers and signed by the author.
11. AMMONS, A.R. Glare. NY: Norton (1997). Advance reading copy (marked "uncorrected proof" by the publisher) of this one long poem. Fine in wrappers, with publicity material laid in.
12. ANDERSON, Kent. Sympathy for the Devil. Garden City: Doubleday, 1987. The well-received first novel by the author of the highly acclaimed Night Dogs. A powerful and well-written novel about the Special Forces in Vietnam, with whom the author served, which confronts the violence of the war head-on and explores an individual's capacity for tolerating and committing brutality that in any other context would be unthinkable and inhuman. One of the best novels of the war in its lucid portrayal of the devastating effects of the war on even so elite a group as this and, as such, a powerful antiwar statement without the usual postures and attitudes that are normally associated with an antiwar message. Fine in fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
13. ANDERSON, Kent. Night Dogs. (Tucson): Dennis McMillan, 1996. The long-awaited second novel by the author of Sympathy for the Devil. This book follows his character, Hanson, the protagonist of the first book, after his return from Vietnam to his job as a beat cop in Portland, Oregon-a path the author himself also took. This novel became one of the year's most sought-after books: the small first printing (1900 copies) was quickly exhausted and the book has not been reprinted. This copy is fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author as well as three others: James Crumley, who wrote the Introduction; Michael Kellner, who designed the dust jacket; and Dennis McMillan, the publisher. Only a small number of copies were signed by all of the contributors.
14. -. Same title, the limited edition. One of only 100 special copies bound in quarter morocco and marbled paper boards and signed by Kent Anderson and James Crumley. The limited edition sold out instantly upon publication, and few copies have resurfaced on the market since. Fine in fine dust jacket and fine publisher's slipcase.
(ANDERSON, Kent). See also James Crumley.
15. ANGELOU, Maya. Even the Stars Look Lonesome. NY: Random House, 1997. The uncorrected proof copy of the latest collection of personal essays by the author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, among others. Fine in wrappers.
16. (Anthology). The Best American Short Stories 1992. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1992. Edited by Robert Stone and signed by Stone and the following contributors: Amy Bloom, Robert Olen Butler, Thom Jones, Christopher Tilghman, David Foster Wallace, Kate Wheeler and Tobias Wolff. There are also stories by Rick Bass, Mavis Gallant, Denis Johnson, Lorrie Moore, Alice Munro, Joyce Carol Oates, Reynolds Price and others. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
17. (Anthology). The Best American Poetry 1997. NY: Scribner (1997). The uncorrected proof copy of this collection edited by Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner James Tate. With work by Sherman Alexie, Allen Ginsberg, Jorie Graham, Donald Hall, Charles Simic, Robert Hass, A. R. Ammons and many, many others. Fine in wrappers.
18. (Anthology). The Best American Essays 1997. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1997. The advance reading copy. Edited and introduced by Ian Frazier. With essays by Richard Ford, Thomas McGuane, Charles Simic, Joy Williams, Dagoberto Gilb, Cynthia Ozick and others. Fine in wrappers.
19. (Anthology). The Norton Book of Personal Essays. NY: Norton (1997). Uncorrected proof copy of this collection of approximately fifty essays by writers such as Barry Lopez, Bruce Chatwin, Eudora Welty, Joan Didion, Annie Dillard, V.S. Naipaul, Virginia Woolf, Zora Neale Hurston, E. B. White, etc. Most, but not all, of these essays had appeared in book form previously. One light bump; else fine in wrappers.
20. (Anthology). The Best American Mystery Stories 1997. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1997. The advance reading copy of this collection edited and introduced by Robert Parker. Includes stories by James Crumley, Joyce Carol Oates, Michael Malone, Elmore Leonard and others. Fine in wrappers.
21. (Anthology). Booknotes. NY: Times Books/Random House (1997). Uncorrected proof copy of this compilation of over 100 excerpts from the 8-year run of the television series of the same name, hosted by Brian Lamb. The book, edited by Lamb, features "reporters, leaders, and storytellers." Among the storytellers are Nicholas Basbanes, Norman Mailer, Shelby Foote, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Albert Murray and others. Small abrasion to rear cover; else fine in wrappers.
22. (Anthology). Outside the Law. Narratives on Justice in America. Boston: Beacon Press (1997). The advance reading copy. Seventeen previously unpublished essays by writers such as Michael Dorris, Julia Alvarez, Madison Smartt Bell, Richard Bausch, Ntozake Shange, John Edgar Wideman, John Casey, Garrett Hongo, Charles Johnson, Beverly Lowry and Susan Richards Shreve, who edits the collection. Robert Stone is listed as a contributor on the publicity letter, laid in, but not in the contents. Fine in wrappers.
23. (Anthology). The Writer's Home Companion. NY: Henry Holt (1997). Uncorrected proof copy of this book that was issued as a softcover original, and includes comments on writing by Ursula LeGuin, Gloria Naylor, Ernest Hemingway, Anne Tyler, Rita Dove and many others. Many, but not all, of these pieces had appeared previously in book form.
24. (Anthology). The Art of Fact. (NY): Scribner (1997). The uncorrected proof copy of this "historical anthology of literary journalism." Includes Hemingway, Dickens, London, Whitman, Crane, Truman Capote, Tracy Kidder, Tom Wolfe, Hunter Thompson, Michael Herr, Joan Didion, John McPhee and many others. Tim O'Brien is included in the contents, with "The Vietnam in Me," but not in the text. Fine in wrappers.
25. (Anthology). The Best of the Best. (NY): Signet/Penguin (1998). The advance reading copy. Eighteen new stories by authors who have published under the Signet name in its 50 year history, including: Stephen King, E.L. Doctorow, Joyce Carol Oates, Erica Jong, Lisa Alther, Lawrence Block and others. Fine in wrappers.
26. (Anthology). The Phoenix Bookshop. A Nest of Memories. Candia: John LeBow, 1997. A chapbook of essays on and tributes to the Phoenix Bookshop, in Greenwich Village, and Bob Wilson, who owned the shop beginning in 1962. John LeBow provides the introduction, and Wilson provides a history. Essays by Amiri Baraka, Marshall Clements, Diane di Prima, Ed Sanders and Michael McClure. Additional tributes (from the 1980s and 1990s) by James Broughton, James Purdy, John Ashbery, Joseph Brodsky, Diane Wakoski, Allen Ginsberg, Denise Levertov and John Wieners. Issued in an edition of 265 copies, this is one of 200 numbered copies in saddle-stitched wrappers, signed by Bob Wilson, Diane DiPrima, Michael McClure and Amiri Baraka. Fine.
27. -. Same title. One of 65 roman-numeraled copies, 50 of which were for sale, signed by Bob Wilson, Diane DiPrima, Michael McClure, Amiri Baraka, John Ashbery, Denise Levertov, James Broughton, Diane Wakoski, John Wieners, Marshall Clements and Ed Sanders. Also included in this edition is a clothbound album of ten photographs from the Phoenix, featuring Allen Ginsberg, Marianne Moore, Diane DiPrima, Robert Duncan, Gregory Corso, Diane Wakoski, Michael McClure, Joseph Brodsky, and others; a copy of the Phoenix catalog #150 from October 1978; one of 300 copies of the Phoenix Christmas chapbook from 1980, written by Wilson and entitled Michael and the Lions; and several pieces of (usually autographed) Phoenix ephemera, which vary according to the copy. This copy contains the prospectus for John Wieners' Ace of Pentacles and four checks from 1967-1969 made out to and signed on verso by Diane DiPrima. All laid into a clamshell box. Fine.
28. -. Another copy of the deluxe edition. As above except with varying ephemera. This copy contains three checks, respectively signed on verso by LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka) in 1962; John Wieners in 1964; and John Ashbery in 1977. Also included is the mailing label portion of an overnight envelope bearing Diane DiPrima's address label and presumably hand-addressed by her to Robert Wilson. Fine.
29. -. Another copy of the deluxe edition. As above but with the following ephemera: two checks signed by John Wieners on verso in 1963 and 1964; one check signed by Diane DiPrima on verso in 1966; and a partial mailing envelope hand-addressed by Robert Duncan. Fine.
30. -. Another copy of the deluxe edition. As above but with the following ephemera: the prospectus for the quarterly Kulcher; one check signed by John Wieners on verso in 1966; two checks signed by Diane DiPrima on verso in 1966 and 1968. Fine.
31. -. Another copy of the deluxe edition. As above but with the following ephemera: the prospectus for John Wieners' Ace of Pentacles; a check signed by John Wieners on verso in 1963; a check signed by Ted Berrigan on verso in 1964; and a check signed by Anne Waldman on verso in 1971. Fine.
32. ATKINSON, Kate. Human Croquet. NY: Picador (1997). The advance reading copy of first American edition of the latest book by the author of Behind the Scenes at the Museum, which won the Whitbread Award. Fine in wrappers.
33. ATWOOD, Margaret. Surfacing. Toronto: McLelland & Stewart (1972). The correct first edition-i.e., Canadian-of her second novel. Trace foxing to top edge; else fine in a near fine dust jacket. Widely considered a contemporary feminist classic.
34. AUCHINCLOSS, Louis. The Atonement. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1997. The advance reading copy of his latest collection of short fiction. Fine in wrappers.
35. AUDEN, W.H. Spain. (London): Faber and Faber (1937). A pamphlet printing a single poem, published in an edition of 2913 copies. Royalties from the sale of this volume were donated for medical aid for victims of the Spanish Civil War. Stamp of the Chekhov Theater Studio Library on half title; near fine in edge-faded self-wrappers.