Catalog 97, A-B
1. ABBEY, Edward. Good News. NY: Dutton (1980). The author's first novel after The Monkey Wrench Gang, a post-apocalyptic vision of the American West, seen through the eyes of two drifters. This is the hardcover edition; there was also a simultaneous paperback. Edges of boards slightly sunned, and the cheap paper is darkening, as is usual with this title. Very near fine in a fine dust jacket.
2. (ABBEY, Edward). MAXWELL, Spencer. Collecting Edward Abbey. Santa Fe: Vinegar Tom (1991). A checklist of his first editions, with comments and approximate values. Of a total edition of 151, of which 125 were in wrappers, this is one of 26 lettered hardbound copies signed by Maxwell. Fine without dust jacket, as issued.
3. (ABBEY, Edward). Kirk Douglas Writes to Gary Cooper. Santa Barbara: Santa Teresa Press, 1992. One of 500 copies of this pamphlet issued as a holiday greeting in 1992 and never formally offered for sale. A humorous but powerful letter written in May, 1961, in which Douglas, who starred in the film adaptation of Abbey's The Brave Cowboy, expresses mock dismay and chagrin at the fact that Cooper "should" have been the star of a movie originally to have been called "The Last Hero." He tells Cooper that the way he recognized Abbey when they first met was that, of all the people getting off the plane, Abbey was the one who looked like Gary Cooper -- and he even talked like Cooper. And he recounts that his director's first, and only, instructions regarding Douglas' character were to "just try and play this the way Gary Cooper would." Douglas contributes a short afterword to this little edition, remarking on both Cooper and Abbey. Fine in original envelope.
4. -. Another copy, one of 30 numbered copies signed by the author and publisher. Fine in envelope.
5. (ABBEY, Edward). Announcement for a Memorial Service. (Salt Lake City): (Dream Garden Press) (1989). A printed postcard announcing a sunrise memorial service for Abbey. With a photograph of Arches National Park, where Abbey lived at one time. One slight corner bump; else fine.
6. (ABBEY, Edward). CRUMB, R. Promotional Sticker for The Monkey Wrench Gang. (n.p.: n.p., n.d.). A 4 1/4" x 6" peel-and-stick R. Crumb illustration for The Monkey Wrench Gang, done by R. Crumb for the Tenth Anniversary Edition (Salt Lake City: Dream Garden, 1990). A visually striking and scarce ephemeral piece. Fine.
7. AMIS, Martin. London Fields. (Toronto): Lester & Orpen Dennys (1989). The first Canadian edition of his seventh novel, published simultaneously with the British edition. A fantasy of the near future that was short-listed for the Booker Prize. Warmly inscribed by the author in the year of publication. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
8. AMIS, Martin. The Information. (Toronto): Knopf (1995). The first Canadian edition of this novel, which was published to substantial critical acclaim after a controversy had erupted regarding the size of the advance Amis had requested, and obtained. The naked avarice of the author's request upset the genteel world of British publishing and caused some to conclude that Amis had, after all, become too Americanized for his own good; in a postscript to the affair, it is widely speculated that the omission of this title from the shortlist for the Booker Prize was due to resentment in the British literary establishment toward Amis for his unseemly behavior: the book had been considered a heavy favorite to win the Prize and instead was not even nominated. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
9. AMIS, Martin. Night Train. NY: Harmony Books (1997). The advance reading copy (marked "Uncorrected Proof") of the first American edition of Amis' most recent novel. A slight corner crease at the lower front cover; else fine in wrappers. Signed by the author.
10. 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 a near fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
11. 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, the true first edition, was issued in a small first printing (1900 copies) and became one of the year's most sought-after books. This is one of a very small number of copies 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. Fine in fine dust jacket.
12. (ANDERSON, Kent). War Stories. Tri-Quarterly 45. Evanston: Northwestern, 1979. A collection of war stories, including an early appearance by Anderson ("Sympathy for the Devil"), as well as pieces by Larry Heinemann, W. D. Ehrhart, and others. This copy is signed by both Anderson and Heinemann at their contributions. Very near fine in wrappers.
13. (Anthology). Fugitives. An Anthology of Verse. NY: Harcourt Brace (1928). A landmark collection of work by Allen Tate, Robert Penn Warren, Merrill Moore, John Crowe Ransom, Laura Riding, Donald Davidson, and five others. This volume defines the Fugitive movement, one of the important strands of twentieth century American literature, and one that helped define the regional literature of the South. A bit sunned and edge-rubbed; very good, without the extremely rare dust jacket.
14. (Anthology). Contemporary Latin American Fiction. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1980. Essays by seven Latin American writers: Gar ia Márquez, Sabato, Roa, Fuentes, Onetti, Donoso and Carpentier. Edited by Salvador Bacarisse. Reprinted from the Forum for Modern Language Studies, Vol. 15, No. 2. Splaying to boards; near fine in a fine dust jacket. An uncommon volume, printing works by a number of the most prominent Latin American writers of the past half century.
15. (Anthology). Sudden Fiction. Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith (1986). The uncorrected proof copy of this landmark anthology of short-short stories by writers such as Updike, Cheever, Paley, Carver, Peter Taylor, Russell Banks, Joyce Carol Oates, Tobias Wolff, T.C. Boyle, Jayne Anne Phillips, Barthelme, Tallent, Dybek, Malamud and many others. The standard introduction to the form and, these days, a staple on college reading lists. Slight surface dust; fine in wrappers.
16. (Anthology). Worlds of Childhood. The Art and Craft of Writing for Children. Boston: Houghton Mifflin (1989). The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of essays by Maurice Sendak, Jill Krementz, and others. Fine in wrappers.
17. (Anthology). The Best American Essays 1992. NY: Ticknor & Fields, 1992. The advance reading copy of this collection edited by Susan Sontag. With contributions by John Updike (two: "First Things First" and "The Mystery of Mickey Mouse"), E.L. Doctorow, Stanley Elkin, Joan Didion, William Gass, Jamaica Kincaid, George Trow, Elizabeth Hardwick and Gore Vidal, among others. Fine in wrappers, with a publicity photo of Sontag laid in.
18. (Anthology). At Random, No. 18. (NY): (Random House) (1997). A look at Random House's fall publishing season, including excerpts from James Salter's Burning the Days and Peter Matthiessen's Lost Man's River, and photographs from Tim Page's and Horst Faas's remarkable tribute to photographers killed in Vietnam, Requiem. Fine in wrappers.
19. ASHBERY, John. Can You Hear, Bird. NY: FSG (1995). A collection of poems by the winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and innumerable other awards, including a MacArthur "genius grant." Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
20. ASHBERY, John. The Mooring of Starting Out. (Hopewell): Ecco Press (1997). A compilation of Ashbery's first five books of poetry, spanning the years 1956-1972. Winner of the 1998 Bingham Poetry Prize. Fine in a fine dust jacket, and signed by the author.
21. ASHBERY, John. Wakefulness. NY: FSG (1998). The uncorrected proof copy of this new collection, just published in April. Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers.
22. AUCHINCLOSS, Louis. The Book Class. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984. The uncorrected proof copy of this novel of women in upper class New York society over the span of sixty years, by a writer who was at one time considered a leading American candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Fine in wrappers.
23. AUCHINCLOSS, Louis. Honorable Men. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1985. The uncorrected proof copy of this prolific author's thirty-sixth book. Fine in wrappers.
24. AUCHINCLOSS, Louis. Skinny Island. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987. The uncorrected proof copy. A collection of short stories, all set in Manhattan and spanning most of the twentieth century. Fine in wrappers.
25. AUCHINCLOSS, Louis. The Golden Calves. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988. The uncorrected proof copy. A novel of the politics involved in a "small but elegant" New York museum. The author was President of the Museum of the City of New York at the time he wrote this. Fine in wrappers.
26. AUCHINCLOSS, Louis. Fellow Passengers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1989. The uncorrected proof copy. Another novel of upper class New Yorkers, written as a series of portraits. Fine in wrappers.
27. -. Another copy. Very slightly dusty rear cover; else fine in wrappers.
28. AUCHINCLOSS, Louis. The Lady of Situations. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. The uncorrected proof copy of this novel. Fine in wrappers.
29. (AUSTEN, Jane). TOMALIN, Claire. Jane Austen. NY: Knopf, 1997. The uncorrected proof copy of this recent biography. Fine in wrappers.
30. BACH, Richard. Jonathan Livingston Seagull. [n.p.: n.p., n.d.]. A Taiwanese piracy of one of the most popular examples of the pop literature of its time -- a huge bestseller that went into dozens of printings. As a small, cult item, the book enjoyed considerable counterculture respect -- as a follow-your-own-muse fable. Its enormous commercial success provoked a scornful backlash that was aided by a rather insipid film version a couple of years later. Bound into this edition is the text of a Time magazine article about the book. Taiwanese bookstore label rear free endpaper; some soiling and cracking to boards; signatures starting. A good copy in a very good dust jacket with one very small edge chip.
31. BAKER, Nicholson. The Everlasting Story of Nory. (n.p.): (Random House) (1997) [sic]. An advance copy in the form of a bound photocopied typescript, dated on the text pages "1-23-97" and on the front cover "Fall 1997." This very early bound typescript was done for in-house use only, and reportedly the book was revised dramatically since, with the finished book having been substantially rewritten in some sections. 8 1/2" x 11", tapebound in cardstock covers; fine. A very scarce item.
32. BARNES, Julian. A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters. London: Jonathan Cape (1989). Well-received novel by the author of Flaubert's Parrot. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
33. BARR, Nevada. Ill Wind. NY: Putnam (1995). The third Anna Pigeon mystery, by the author of Track of the Cat, in which the author uses the mystery form to explore some of the issues -- from archaeological to ecological -- confronting a park ranger in the Southwest. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
34. BARR, Nevada. Endangered Species. NY: Putnam (1997). The advance reading copy of the fifth book in her series. Slight rubbing to front cover; near fine in wrappers.
35. BARR, Nevada. Blind Descent. NY: Putnam (1998). The advance reading copy. Her sixth Anna Pigeon mystery. Fine in wrappers.
36. BASBANES, Nicholas. A Gentle Madness. NY: Holt (1995). The uncorrected proof copy of his highly praised volume on book collecting and book collectors, which became something of a bestseller and was nominated for the National Book Award. An uncommon book these days in the first printing; the proof is considerably more uncommon. Fine in wrappers.
His Uncommon Second Book, Hardcover Issue
37. BAXTER, Charles. The South Dakota Guidebook. (NY): New Rivers Press, 1974. The second book, a collection of poetry, by the author of First Light, and others. This is the hardcover issue. The total edition was 600 copies, of which 400 were issued in wrappers and 200 in cloth. Well-known these days as a writer of fiction, Baxter's first novel wasn't published until 1987, seventeen years after his first book and thirteen years after this title. A scarce title in either the hardcover or softcover issue; this is the first copy of the hardcover we have had. Fine in a very slightly rubbed, else fine dust jacket. Inscribed by the author in 1982.
38. BEGLEY, Louis. Mistler's Exit. NY: Knopf, 1998. The uncorrected proof copy of this new novel by the author of Wartime Lies, which won the PEN/Hemingway Award. Fine in wrappers.
39. BELLOW, Saul. Herzog. NY: Viking (1964). The Nobel Prize winner's second novel to win the National Book Award for fiction, an award he has won more often than any other American writer. Bookplate under front flap; else fine in a near fine dust jacket.
BERRY, Wendell. See Broadside Section at end of Catalog.
Berryman's First Book, Signed
40. BERRYMAN, John. Poems. Norfolk: New Directions (1942). His first solo book, published in the Poet of the Month series by New Directions in an edition of 1500 copies in wrappers and 500 hardcover copies. This is the issue in stapled wrappers and dust wrapper. Bookplate under the front flap; else a fine copy in slightly spine-tanned wrappers. Signed by the author. Books signed by Berryman are quite uncommon, and signed copies of his first book seldom appear on the market.
41. BOYD, William. Armadillo. NY: Knopf, 1998. The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of the new novel by the author of A Good Man in Africa and The Blue Afternoon, which won the Los Angeles Times Award for Fiction. Fine in wrappers.
BUKOWSKI, Charles. See Broadside section, at end of Catalog.
BURROUGHS, William S. See Broadsides, at end of Catalog.
42. BUTLER, Jack. Dreamers. NY: Knopf, 1998. The uncorrected proof copy of this new novel, a thriller, by the author of a number of comic novels, including Jujitsu for Christ and others. Fine in wrappers.
43. BUTLER, Robert Olen. Alleys of Eden. NY: Horizon (1981). The Pulitzer Prize-winner's first book, a highly praised novel of the ending and aftermath of the Vietnam war -- themes that have continued to run through his writing since, including his award-winning story collection. Although Butler's early books were universally praised by reviewers, they enjoyed little commercial success, in part because the first three were published by a small publisher on the brink of bankruptcy. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
44. BUTLER, Robert Olen. Sun Dogs. NY: Horizon (1982). His second novel, a thriller set in the northern Alaskan wilderness that is both a highly readable page-turner and a powerful novel of ideas. Signed by the author. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with slight rubbing on the spine.
45. BUTLER, Robert Olen. Countrymen of Bones. NY: Horizon (1983). His third novel, set in New Mexico during the development of the atomic bomb. Like the above, a fast-paced story and an intellectual adventure of high order. Signed by the author. Fine in a dust jacket with trace rubbing at the crown; else fine.
46. BUTLER, Robert Olen. Wabash. NY: Knopf, 1987. His fifth novel, set in a midwestern steel mill town during the Depression. The cloth has bled onto the verso of the jacket at the spine crown, not externally visible. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
47. BUTLER, Robert Olen. A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain. NY: Holt (1992). Winner of the Pulitzer Prize. The author's first collection of stories after six highly-praised novels. A scarce book in the first printing, issued originally in small numbers and reprinted many times after the announcement of the prize. One minute corner bump; else fine in a fine dust jacket. Signed by the author.
48. BUTLER, Robert Olen. They Whisper. NY: Henry Holt (1994). The first trade edition of his first novel after winning the Pulitzer Prize. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.