Catalog 93, B
37. BALDWIN, James and MEAD, Margaret. A Rap on Race. London: Michael Joseph (1971). First British edition of this book, which is a transcript of a 7½ hour discussion Mead and Baldwin had on the day after they met for the first time. Copyright information blacked out, as is often found on British books found in the U.S., otherwise fine in a fine dust jacket.
38. BANKS, Russell. Family Life. (NY): Avon (1975). The true first edition of Banks's first novel, only issued in wrappers in the Avon "Equinox" series of trade paperbacks. Quite scarce now. Near fine in wrappers and signed by the author.
39. BANVILLE, John. Mefisto. London: Secker & Warburg (1986). The Secker & Warburg imprint on the spine is stamped over what was once a Heinemann imprint. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
40. BANVILLE, John. The Untouchable. NY: Knopf, 1997. The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition. Fine in wrappers.
41. BARAKA, Amiri. Heathens. Louisville: White Fields Press, 1994. Broadside poem by this African-American author who was one of the key figures of the renaissance in Black writing during the 1960s. 22" x 10". One of 26 lettered copies signed by the author. Fine.
42. BARNES, Djuna. Vagaries Malicieux. NY: Hallman, 1974. Attractive limited edition printing two stories: the title story and "Run, Girls, Run!" One of 500 copies; according to the colophon, the copies were numbered although this copy is not. Clothbound; fine, without dust jacket, as issued.
43. BARR, Nevada. Endangered Species. NY: Putnam (1997). The advance reading copy of the new Anna Pigeon mystery. Fine in wrappers.
44. BARTH, John. The Floating Opera. NY: Appleton, Century, Crofts (1956). The author's first book. Barth's elaborate and funny postmodern novels have been called brilliant by critics and writers alike, and they established the standard for a generation of postwar writers impatient with the limitations of the realistic novel. Near fine in a near fine, spine-tanned dust jacket.
45. BARTHELME, Donald. Come Back, Dr. Caligari. Boston: Little Brown (1964). His first book, a collection of short, experimental fictions. Barthelme was an influential writer whose stories, novels and other prose pieces helped re-define and expand the possibilities of literary art in the Sixties, at a time when the novel was proclaimed "dead." His writings not only belied that assertion by invigorating postwar American letters, they exerted an enormous influence on a younger generation of writers who looked to him and his postmodern contemporaries for a way to re-invent literature and make fiction a relevant art form in an era characterized by instantaneous electronic information transfer, and the appearance of mass psychosis that it seemed to convey. Barthelme died a few years ago, but his impact on American fiction lingers; at a certain crucial moment, he helped alter the trajectory of contemporary writing and in so doing opened up possibilities that had been hidden and inaccessible before. This copy has major abrasions to the pastedowns under the jacket flaps; only very good in a very good, surface soiled dust jacket with a couple edge tears and a bit of rubbing to the spine.
46. BARTHELME, Donald. Snow White. NY: Atheneum (1967). His second book, first novel. Tiny, light spot on first blank, otherwise fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a faint spot on the rear panel. A nice copy of this book.
47. -. Another copy, this being a second printing. Fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket. Signed by the author.
48. BARTHELME, Donald. The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine or The Hithering Thithering Djinn. NY: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1971. Barthelme's imaginative and nonlinear children's book, his only book for children and his only book to win the National Book Award. With collage illustrations made from nineteenth century wood engravings. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with three small edge tears. A relatively nice copy of this thin, fragile quarto.
49. BARTHELME, Donald. The Dead Father. NY: Farrar Straus Giroux (1975). A humorous, experimental novel-only his second novel despite its being his eighth book. Small label removal shadow front pastedown; else fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
50. BARTHELME, Donald. Amateurs. NY: Farrar Straus Giroux (1976). A collection of stories, his ninth book. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
51. BEAGLE, Peter S. The Last Unicorn. NY: Viking (1968). A fantasy classic. Owner name in pencil on the flyleaf and a couple tiny spots to top stain; else fine in a fine, price-clipped dust jacket with one short, closed edge tear. A nice copy of this enduring work, a sequel to which was just published last year.
52. BEATTIE, Ann. Picturing Will. London: Jonathan Cape (1990). The first British edition of this novel. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
53. BEATTIE, Ann. My Life, Starring Dara Falcon. NY: Knopf, 1997. The uncorrected proof copy of her latest novel. Fine in wrappers.
54. BELLOW, Saul. The Actual. (NY): Viking (1997). The Nobel Prize winner's most recent book, a novella. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
55. BERRYMAN, John. Homage to Mistress Bradstreet. NY: Farrar Straus Cudahy (1956). A long poem, with woodcut illustrations by Ben Shahn. This copy bears the ownership name and date of the biographer and bibliographer of author Conrad Aiken, who provides a dust jacket "blurb" on the front jacket flap. Near fine in a good dust jacket chipped at the crown.
56. BERRYMAN, John. Homage to Mistress Bradstreet and Other Poems. London: Faber (1959). First British edition and first edition thus, printing the title poem plus selections from his other publications. Published in an edition of 1000 copies. Near fine in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket.
57. BERRYMAN, John. Love and Fame. NY: FSG, 1970. His first collection after winning the 1969 National Book Award for His Toy, His Dream, His Rest. Berryman also won the Pulitzer Prize in 1965, for 77 Dream Songs. This is the limited edition of this collection, one of 250 numbered copies signed by the author. Marbled endpages, all edges gilt; fine in slipcase. Berryman's signature is quite uncommon.
58. BINGHAM, Robert. Pure Slaughter Value. NY: Doubleday (1997). The advance reading copy of this first collection of stories. Fine in wrappers.
59. BLOOM, Amy. Come to Me. (NY): HarperCollins (1993). Her first book, a collection of stories, two of which were included in The Best American Short Stories anthologies for 1991 and 1992. Jacket blurbs by Dorothy Allison, Annie Dillard, Ursula LeGuin and Alice Adams. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
60. BÖLL, Heinrich. The Mad Dog. NY: St. Martin's Press (1997). The advance reading copy of the first American edition of this collection of stories by the Nobel Prize winner, translated by Breon Mitchell. Fine in wrappers.
61. BROWN, Rosellen. Some Deaths in the Delta. (n.p.): U. of Massachusetts Press (1970). Her first book, a collection of poems, although the last entry is a four-page prose work. The author has since become most well-known for her fiction, including the highly praised novels Civil Wars and Before and After, which was made into a well-received movie. This is the hardcover issue. Near fine in a very good, dust-soiled jacket with very minor edgewear.
62. BURGESS, Anthony. Byrne. NY: Carroll & Graf (1997). The advance reading copy of the first American edition of this posthumously published novel in epic verse by the author of A Clockwork Orange, among many, many others. Fine in wrappers.
63. BURKE, James Lee. Cimarron Rose. NY: Hyperion (1997). The advance reading copy of the first trade edition of his latest novel, a departure from his popular and award-winning Dave Robicheaux series. Fine in wrappers.
64. BURROUGHS, William S. The Ticket That Exploded. NY: Grove (1967). The first American edition and the first hardcover edition, revised from the 1962 Olympia Press softcover edition. Trace fading to cloth at crown; still fine in a near fine white dust jacket with slight edge sunning.
65. BURROUGHS, William. Interzone. (n.p.): Viking (1989). Uncorrected proof copy of this collection of early writings, leading up to and including Interzone, the legendary early version of Naked Lunch recently discovered among Allen Ginsberg's papers at Columbia University. Near fine in wrappers.
66. BURROUGHS, William. "Tell Tale Heart I," an oil painting. A painting by the author of Naked Lunch, et al. 19¾" x 14¼", red and gold paint on rag paper. Signed by Burroughs in red pencil at the bottom front right corner. Titled on the back in pencil, in Burroughs' hand. This painting was donated by William Burroughs to Jan Kerouac, daughter of Jack, as part of a fund-raising benefit for Jan to help pay her medical expenses. The idea was to auction the painting and raise money for her bills. Jan Kerouac died shortly after the benefit was held but before she did, she gave the painting to one of her father's biographers, Gerald Nicosia. The nearly abstract image is of a bright red heart, surrounded by a yellow glow and further surrounded by a chaotic pattern of red brush strokes, nearly obliterating the outline of the heart shape. A powerful and expressive image by a writer who, in his later years, turned increasingly to visual images and projects. An excellent association between one of the founders of the Beat movement and the daughter of another. With letters of provenance. Fine.