Catalog 96, H-J
177. HAMILTON, Jane. The Short History of a Prince. NY: Random House (1998). Her latest novel, just published. This is the uncorrected proof copy. Fine in wrappers.
178. -. Same title. The bound photocopied typescript, reproducing the author's holograph corrections, presumably for in-house use and thus earlier than the proof. This contains information for sales reps to use when selling the title. 8 1/2" x 11". Tapebound cardstock covers. Fine.
179. HANSEN, Ron. Nebraska. Omaha: Abattoir Editions/U. of Nebraska (1991). An attractive limited edition of a single story. One of 500 copies; although not appreantely called for, this copy signed by the author. Illustrated with two two-page spread color woodcuts by Karen Kunc, each of which was pulled from three wood blocks. Fine in oblong wrappers.
180. HARRISON, Kathryn. Thicker than Water. NY: Random House (1991). The uncorrected proof copy of her well-received first novel. Fine in wrappers.
181. HELLER, Joseph. Now and Then. From Coney Island to Here. NY: Knopf, 1998. The memoir of the author of Catch-22, Something Happened, and others. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
182. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy. This is the first state, in plain wrappers. Fine.
183. -. Same title, the third state proof with a black and white pictorial cover. One page has a small corner tear; else fine in wrappers, with promotional material stapled inside the front cover.
184. HEMINGWAY, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. NY: Scribner, 1926. Hemingway's classic first novel, one of the high spots of twentieth century American literature, and a Connolly 100 title -- one of the defining books of the Modern Movement. This is the first issue, in the first issue dust jacket, with the title of his earlier story collection incorrectly identified as In Our Times. In his volume The Modern Movement, Connolly writes about this book and In Our Time: "The combined effect of these two books...was overwhelming. No other writer here recorded stepped so suddenly into fame, or destroyed with such insouciance so many other writers or ways of writing or became such an immediate symbol of an age." The entire first printing -- first, second, third and later issues -- consisted of only 5090 copies, and the book went through ten printings in the first year. Only a very small number of copies have the first issue text and first issue dust jacket. Slight wear to the cloth at the corners of the spine extremities; a near fine copy in a dust jacket with minor professional restorations at the corners and folds. In a custom clamshell box.
185. HEMINGWAY, Ernest. Men Without Women. NY: Scribner, 1927. Hemingway's second collection of stories. This is a variant issue in an advance, trial dust jacket. The only known copy of this collection in the presumed first state advance dust jacket, with the printed price at variance with the actual published price. To the best of our knowledge, only three copies have surfaced in the trial jacket, printed on gray rather than tan paper and omitting the text from the jacket flaps and rear panel, but of these three, only this one has a $2.50 price on the jacket flap, rather than the $2.00 published price. Hanneman makes no note of this variant, in either of its forms. A very good copy in a spine-tanned dust jacket with one small corner chip at the crown; else near fine. An attractive copy of a Hemingway rarity, probably unique.
186. HEMINGWAY, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms. NY: Scribner, 1929. Hemingway's second great novel, after The Sun Also Rises. A Connolly 100 title and a book that has been called the greatest war novel of all time, although only a small part of it has to do directly with the war. After the critical acclaim and commercial success of The Sun Also Rises, which went through 10 printings by 1929, Hemingway, together with F. Scott Fitzgerald, was widely seen as the leading spokesman for the "Lost Generation" of American expatriate writers in the years following World War I. His novels and stories captured and defined that experience in a way that has helped shape all views of it since. A Farewell to Arms was, by far, his most commercially successful book to date, and its success overshadowed everything he was to write for the next decade or more. With this novel Hemingway, in effect, created a legacy that he himself was unable to live up to until much later, with the publication of The Old Man and the Sea, the book that is generally credited with triggering his winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. Heavy offsetting to the front endpages; else a very near fine copy in a near fine, first issue dust jacket with very light edgewear.
187. HERR, Michael. Dispatches. NY: Knopf, 1977. Herr, reporting for Rolling Stone and Esquire from Vietnam, was one of the first of the young writers to bring the sensibilities of the 1960s and the conventions of the New Journalism to the "first rock-and-roll war," and it was a perfect match: Herr sent back a riveting series of dispatches, legendary at the time. "Hell Sucks," "Illumination Rounds," "Khe Sanh," and his other pieces told the stories of the war in the uncensored words of the participants themselves and their impact was shattering. The official picture of orderly progression to the war -- Body Counts, Vietnamization, Winning Hearts and Minds -- bore no relation to the madness and hell that Herr chronicled from the grunts'-eye view. His writings helped define the "credibility gap" that made Vietnam different from earlier wars. Not an impossible book to find, but a nearly impossible book to find in perfect condition: the jacket is unlaminated and the lettering is gold foil that rubs readily. This copy is very near fine in a similar dust jacket. A very attractive copy of one of the key books of the Vietnam war.
John Hersey Collection, Inscribed Copies
The following collection of John Hersey books was assembled over more than three decades by an avid fan and collector. Hersey's writing career spanned five decades, from the early 1940s into the 1990s. After his first novel, A Bell for Adano, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1945 and his landmark volume on the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima was published in 1946, Hersey was firmly established as one of this country's leading men of letters, a position and reputation he maintained throughout his life. This collection consists of the vast majority of Hersey's books, including all of the early, scarce titles -- several of them in unusual variants in addition to the first edition -- and virtually all of them inscribed to the collector, usually with a sentiment taken from the text of the book. Most of Hersey's books, after the first few, are not exceptionally scarce but signed or inscribed copies turn up only occasionally. The condition of most of the books is very good to near fine or better, in the original dust jackets; the flaws they show are usually a result of the collector's efforts to protect them, in the days when dust jacket protectors left a black residue on the edges of the books they covered, and the cellophane tape used to tape the jacket in place would leave shadows on the facing page. Other than that, the jacket protectors did their jobs, and protected the books and jackets quite well. Assembling a collection like this today from scratch would be exceedingly difficult.
188. HERSEY, John. Men on Bataan. NY: Knopf, 1942. The first edition of Hersey's first book, a study of General MacArthur and the defense of Bataan. Inscribed by the author in 1965: "For ____ ____,/ -- this my first effort, of long ago./ John Hersey/ February, 1965." As of 1956, Hersey was no longer including this title in his lists of prior publications. A very good copy in a fair, tape-repaired and price-clipped dust jacket.
189. HERSEY, John. Into the Valley. NY: Knopf, 1943. His second book, like his first a wartime book and subject to the production restrictions in effect during those years. Inscribed by the author in 1965 with a quote from the book: "For ____ ____:/ 'Drink a toast to Company H,'/ (see p. 138)/ John Hersey." The sentiment is a line from the book's last paragraph. The book bears the thin black edge line of a previous dust jacket protector; near fine in a very good dust jacket with modest edgewear with three small tape repairs, two internal and one external.
190. -. Same title, a variant edition, marked "Presentation Copy." Knopf is listed as the publisher on the sheets and binding, but the cloth, top stain, and paper stock vary from those of the first edition, also there is no frontispiece illustration. The front flyleaf bears a label that reads "Presentation Copy for [not filled in] with the compliments of Time, the weekly newsmagazine." The simply typeset jacket bears the printed words "Presentation Copy" and the Time name on the spine. The jacket copy differs totally from that of the first edition. Fine in a very good dust jacket with shallow chipping at the spine extremities. An unusual variant.
191. HERSEY, John. A Bell for Adano. NY: Knopf, 1944. His third book and first novel, winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Inscribed by the author in 1965 with a six-line inscription from the text of the book. Owner signature front flyleaf and bookplate front pastedown; else a near fine copy in a very good, spine-faded dust jacket with a piece of tape on the verso of the crown and modest vertical creasing to the front panel.
192. -. Same title, the first Modern Library edition (NY: Modern Library, 1946). Also inscribed by the author in 1965. Very near fine in a very good, spine-faded and deeply price-clipped (affecting part of the text) dust jacket.
193. -. Same title, a dramatization by Paul Osborn. (NY: Knopf, 1945). The script for the play based on Hersey's novel, which began running in New York on December 6, 1944 and starred Frederic March. Illustrated with photographs from the production. Slight sunning to the spine cloth; else fine in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket with several tiny edge chips and a few small closed tears at the folds and mid-spine.
194. HERSEY, John. Hiroshima. NY: Knopf, 1946. Hersey's classic account of the effects of the first atomic bomb ever dropped on a civilian population, tracing the bomb's impact on the lives of six individuals, five Japanese and a German Jesuit priest, the text of which first appeared in The New Yorker. Inscribed by the author, with an added quote from the last page of the text: "The crux of the matter is whether war...is justifiable, even if it serves a just purpose." Label removal abrasion to the front flyleaf; a near fine copy with the thin black line of a previous jacket protector at the board edges; in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket with modest wear at the edges and folds. One of the key books of the postwar era, which defined the questions that were to be at the heart of the debate over nuclear weapons for more than a generation. Not an extremely uncommon book, but very scarce signed.
195. -. Same title, the Oxford School Edition (NY: Oxford Book Co., 1948), with a section of questions and study projects for the text. Inscribed by the author in 1977 with the same sentiment as above. Presumably only issued in wrappers. Also with the thin black edge line; near fine.
196. -. Same title, the first appearance of the text, in The New Yorker, August 31, 1946. (NY: F-R Publishing, 1946). The entire issue (editorial space) was devoted to Hersey's one article "...in the conviction that few of us have yet comprehended the all but incredible destructive power of this weapon, and that everyone might well take time to consider the terrible implications of its use." Tape-repaired spine; very good.
197. HERSEY, John. The Happy, Happy Beggar. (Cincinnati): (Foreword Movement Publications) (1946). An "Advent Paper" profiling Reverend Walter P. Morse. A small (4" x 6 1/4") thirty-page booklet with text reprinted from The New Yorker. Slightly dusty; else fine in stapled wrappers. An uncommon "A" item.
198. HERSEY, John. The Wall. NY: Knopf, 1950. His second work of fiction. Inscribed by the author in 1965: "For ____ ____/ It makes me very happy to think of the whole family of my books being together on your shelves. I hope they will keep you good company./ John Hersey." Uneven fading to top stain, mild offsetting to pastedowns; otherwise near fine in a near fine dust jacket with minimal edgewear. Laid in is a flyer written by John P. Marquand about Hersey and The Wall for the Book of the Month Club.
199. -. Same title, the Modern Library edition (NY: Modern Library, 1967). Inscribed by the author in 1977 with a line from the text. This is a "Modern Library Giant" edition and has a remainder mark; otherwise very near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
200. -. Same title, a dramatization by Millard Lampell. (NY: Knopf, 1961). Illustrated with photos from the play. Tape shadows on the rear free endpaper; else fine in a very near fine dust jacket with trace wear at the crown.
201. HERSEY, John. The Marmot Drive. NY: Knopf, 1953. His sixth book, third novel, inscribed by the author in 1965, again with a line from the text: "I live in the world of what I consider values; he lives in the world of what he considers realities." Small ink date on front flyleaf, tape shadows to front and rear free endpapers, and a few very small spots to the cloth; still near fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with slight wear at the spine extremities.
202. HERSEY, John. A Single Pebble. NY: Knopf, 1956. Inscribed by the author in 1965 with a line from the text. Tape shadows to the rear free endpapers; trace sunning to the board edges; near fine in a very near fine dust jacket with minuscule wear to the corners and extremities.
203. HERSEY, John. The War Lover. NY: Knopf, 1959. Inscribed by the author in 1965 with a line from the text. Tape shadows to the free endpapers; a small ink date on the front flyleaf; a few tiny spackles to cloth; very good in a very near fine dust jacket.
204. HERSEY, John. The Child Buyer. NY: Knopf, 1960. Like all his books since Hiroshima, this is a work of fiction, albeit a novel in the form of State Senate hearings on a man who buys children for his corporation. Inscribed by the author in 1965 with a line from the text. Small ink date front flyleaf, light corner bumping; near fine in a near fine, spine-sunned dust jacket.
205. HERSEY, John. Here to Stay. Studies in Human Tenacity. NY: Knopf, 1963. Hersey's return to nonfiction, accounts of various people's will to survive in drastic situations, from women on rooftops in floods, to John F. Kennedy on his PT boat, to Hiroshima, reprinted as the last chapter. Inscribed by the author in 1965 with a quote from the text, which is also in this case, a quote of John F. Kennedy's: "...thanks, I just had a coconut." Small ink date front flyleaf, very slight corner bump; otherwise a fine copy in a very near fine dust jacket. One of the less common books from this period of Hersey's career.
206. HERSEY, John. White Lotus. NY: Knopf, 1965. A novel. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication, with a line from the text. Tape shadows to the endpages; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
207. HERSEY, John. Too Far to Walk. NY: Knopf, 1966. Inscribed by the author in 1977 with a line from the text. Pencil date on the front free endpaper. Slight splaying to boards; near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
208. HERSEY, John. Under the Eye of the Storm. NY: Knopf, 1967. A review copy of this novel, with the review slip tipped to the front flyleaf. It may have originally been tipped to the pastedown, as there is a strip of glue and paper residue there. Otherwise the book is fine in a near fine dust jacket and is inscribed by the author in 1977, again with a line from the text.
209. HERSEY, John. The Algiers Motel Incident. NY: Knopf, 1968. Inscribed by the author in 1977 with a line from the text. Nonfiction, an investigation into an incident in the Detroit riot of 1967. A few spots to the top stain; else fine in a dust jacket with shallow chipping across the top edge; still about very good.
210. HERSEY, John. Letter to the Alumni. NY: Knopf, 1970. Nonfiction, an open letter written upon leaving Yale after five years as Master of Pierson College. Inscribed by the author in 1977 with a line from the text, although not the first line, which reads: "All is not bullshit that is now called by that name." Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with trace wear at the spine extremities.
211. HERSEY, John. The Conspiracy. NY: Knopf, 1972. A novel set in ancient Rome. Fine in a very near fine, lightly edge-sunned dust jacket and inscribed by the author in 1977 with a line from the text.
212. HERSEY, John. My Petition for More Space. NY: Knopf, 1974. A novel of extreme overcrowding and the overarching bureaucracy. Inscribed by the author in 1977 with a line from the text: "If only I had more space, I would have more time." Fine in a fine, price-clipped dust jacket with a small crease on the front flap.
213. HERSEY, John. The President. NY: Knopf, 1975. Subtitled "A minute-by-minute account of a week in the life of Gerald Ford." The week is five and a half days beginning Monday, March 10, 1975. This copy is inscribed by the author in 1977 with a quote from the text that in this case is a quote of President Ford's: "The President thinks he has the right answers. The facts of history are that he doesn't, always..." Offsetting to front endpages from an L.A. Times review that is laid in; otherwise fine in a fine dust jacket.
214. HERSEY, John. The Walnut Door. NY: Knopf, 1977. A novel. Inscribed by the author with a line from the text. Small ink date front flyleaf; a few small spots to the cloth; else fine in a fine dust jacket.
215. -. Same title, the Franklin Library edition (Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1977). A limited edition, not signed. Leatherbound, all edges gilt, with a silk ribbon marker bound in. With a special introduction for this edition by Hersey on the role of the reader. Fine.
216. HERSEY, John. Autograph Notes Signed. (1965-1977). Four autograph notes signed. The first, dated February 4, 1965, agrees to sign books. The second, dated December 2, 1976, again agrees: "Yes, I'd be glad to inscribe your books, my books." The third, dated February 23, 1977, assures the recipient that the books are still with him (Hersey) and will be sent: "This has been a hectic time for me (finishing a novel)..." The final note, on May 22, 1977, informs the recipient that the Franklin Library does intend to re-issue A Bell for Adano. All are on personal stationery, are signed in full and retain the hand-addressed mailing envelopes. The first three are on 3 1/2" x 5 1/2" notepaper; the last on 6 1/4" x 7" paper and is folded in half for mailing. The first has a slight bit of spotting over the closing, not affecting the signature; otherwise all elements are fine. For all:
217. HERSEY, John. Aspects of the Presidency. Truman and Ford in Office. New Haven/NY: Ticknor & Fields, 1980. In his only book not published (in trade edition) by Knopf, Hersey couples the text of his book The Presidency, about Ford, with chapters on Truman based on access Hersey had to Truman in 1950: most of this material appeared then in The New Yorker. Inscribed by the author, again with President Ford's quote from the text, although longer: "The President thinks he has the right answers. The facts of history are that he doesn't always -- but he thinks he does." Fine in a very good, rubbed dust jacket.
218. HERSEY, John. The Call. NY: Knopf, 1985. A massive novel of an American missionary in China during the first half of the century. Inscribed by the author with a line from the text. Slight splaying to front board; else fine in a very near fine, mildly edge-sunned dust jacket.
219. -. Same title, the Franklin Library edition (Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1985). A leatherbound limited edition, and the correct first edition, issued signed by the author. With a special introduction by Hersey. Fine.
220. HERSEY, John. Blues. NY: Knopf, 1987. A novel in the form of an angling journal, and a reflection on fish and fishing. Inscribed by the author with a line from the text. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with one small edge tear.
221. -. Same title, the Franklin Library edition and the correct first edition (Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1987). Signed by the author. Leatherbound, all edges gilt, and with a silk ribbon marker bound in. With a special introduction by Hersey for this edition on the influence of a childhood by the sea. Fine.
222. HERSEY, John. Life Sketches. NY: Knopf, 1989. A collection of profiles by Hersey from the previous fifty years, with subjects including John F. Kennedy, Henry Luce, Lillian Hellman, James Agee, Erskine Caldwell, Harry Truman, and Alfred Knopf, among others. Inscribed by the author with a line from the text. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
223. -. Same title, a limited edition and the correct first edition (Norwalk: Easton Press, 1989). Leatherbound, all edges gilt, with a silk ribbon marker bound in. Signed by the author. Fine.
224. HERSEY, John. Fling. NY: Knopf, 1990. His first collection of short stories. Inscribed by the author with a line from the text. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
225. (HERSEY, John). The Writer's Craft. NY: Knopf (1974). A review copy of this collection of writings about writing, compiled, edited and introduced by Hersey. Writers include Faulkner, O'Connor, Woolf, Fowles, Bellow, William Burroughs, and many others. Inscribed by Hersey in 1977 with a line (of Solzhenitsyn's) from the text. Fine in a fine dust jacket with the review slip taped to the front flyleaf.
226. (HERSEY, John). Ralph Ellison. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall (1974). Second printing of the hardcover issue of this collection of essays about Ellison by such writers as Robert Penn Warren, Saul Bellow, and James Alan McPherson. Edited by Heresy and with an with an interview by him with Ellison as preface. Inscribed by Hersey, with a line of Robert Penn Warren's from the text. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
227. HIAASEN, Carl. Tourist Season. NY: Putnam (1986). The first of his highly praised and extravagant comic thrillers. Hiaasen's books are reminiscent of Elmore Leonard's South Florida novels, only funnier, or Donald Westlake's caper novels, only more intense and violent. They combine murder and mayhem, wild humor, and legitimate environmental concerns in a blend that is unique in the mystery field. Light splaying to boards; else fine in a fine dust jacket, and signed by the author.
228. HIAASEN, Carl. Lucky You. NY: Knopf, 1997. His latest comic mystery set in South Florida. Signed by the author on a tipped-in leaf. Fine in a fine dust jacket with the publisher's "Signed by the Author" sticker on the front panel.
229. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy. Tiny abrasions at the crown and one corner; else fine in wrappers with promotional material stapled inside the front cover.
230. HOGAN, Linda. Power. NY: Norton (1998). The advance reading copy of the new novel by the Native American author of Mean Spirit and Dwellings. Fine in wrappers.
231. IRVING, John. The Cider House Rules. Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1985. The correct first edition of his sixth novel, bound in full leather stamped in gilt, with gilt page edges and silk ribbon marker. With a special introduction by the author in which he explains the value of having "bad things" happen in a novel. A fine copy. Signed by the author.
232. IRVING, John. A Son of the Circus. NY: Random House (1994). The uncorrected proof copy of the trade edition. The first page, which contained the Random House catalogue copy describing the book and the author, has been excised, reportedly at the author's request. Otherwise this is a fine, unread copy in wrappers and signed by the author for the Random House sales force, to whom these were given for promotional use. All signed copies that we have seen of this title have had the first page removed.
233. -. Same title, the signed limited edition (Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1994). Leatherbound, all edges gilt, with a silk ribbon marker bound in, and a special introduction for this edition by Irving about the ways the novel could have begun and the way it did begin. Signed by the author. Fine.
234. IRVING, John. A Widow for One Year. (London): Bloomsbury (1998). A limited pre-publication copy of his latest novel, which was published in the U.K. prior to its being released in the U.S. One of 1000 numbered copies, identified by the publisher as pre-publication copies and in a different binding than the trade edition. Clothbound, with pictorial label on front cover. Fine, without dust jacket, as issued.
235. (IRVING, John). "Interior Space" in Prize Stories 1981. The O. Henry Awards. Garden City: Doubleday, 1981. The uncorrected proof copy. Other authors include Tobias Wolff, Cynthia Ozick, Lee Smith, Joyce Carol Oates, Alice Walker and Paul Theroux, among others. Publication date (5/81) written on front cover; near fine in wrappers.
236. JOHNSON, Charles. Black Humor. Chicago: Johnson Publishing Company, 1970. First book, a collection of cartoons on the issue of race, by this author who has since become well-known and highly respected for his novels, one of which, Middle Passage, won the National Book Award. Small quarto, only issued in wrappers. A fine copy, and signed by the author.
237. JOHNSON, Charles. Dreamer. (NY): Scribner (1998). The uncorrected proof copy of his latest novel, just published in April, a meditation on the life and death of Martin Luther King. Fine in wrappers.
238. JOYCE, James. Chamber Music. NY: Huebsch, 1918. The first authorized edition issued in the U.S. An earlier, unauthorized edition had been done with a printing of 1000 copies. Pages uncut; near fine in a dust jacket splitting at the upper front spine fold but otherwise near fine. A small, fragile volume, which is exceedingly scarce in dust jacket (the jacket is not mentioned in Slocumb and Calhoun). In custom folding chemise and slipcase.