Catalog 99, V-Z
333. VIDAL, Gore. The Smithsonian Institution. NY: Random House (1998). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel, part of his ongoing series of historical novels that attempt to recapture, and illuminate, the American democratic experience through the use of fiction to personalize the various eras and institutions. Fine in wrappers.
334. -. Another copy. Near fine, with reviewer's marks throughout.
335. VLIET, R.G. Events & Celebrations. NY: Viking, 1966. His first book, a collection of poems. Warmly inscribed by the author "with deep admiration and affection." Near fine in a very good, edgeworn dust jacket with an abrasion on the lower spine.
Kurt Vonnegut Inscribed to his Publisher
336. VONNEGUT, Kurt, Jr. Between Time and Timbuktu. NY: Delacorte/Lawrence (1972). A "space fantasy" for television, created by David O'Dell from works by Vonnegut, and then given to Vonnegut to "fart around with" (his words). Vonnegut does not count this as one of his own publications, but he did provide the preface. This copy is inscribed by Vonnegut to his publisher, Seymour Lawrence. The relationship between Vonnegut and Lawrence began with Slaughterhouse Five, as Vonnegut writes in the text of that book: "And somewhere in there a nice man named Seymour Lawrence gave me a three-book contract, and I said, 'Okay, the first of the three will be my famous book about Dresden.'" This book is inscribed: "Sam If they/ will buy this/ they will buy/ anything, right?/ Cheers for Joel/ Schick [the book's designer] and/ creative publishing." Signed in full. Sunning to the cloth at the spine crown; else fine in a near fine dust jacket. One of Vonnegut's most elusive titles, both because of its "perfect-bound" construction and a first printing one would suspect was smaller than those of his novels in the post-Slaughterhouse Five era. An excellent association copy.
337. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Fates Worse Than Death. NY: Putnam (1991). The uncorrected proof copy of this sequel to Palm Sunday, an "autobiographical collage of the Eighties." Near fine in wrappers.
338. (VONNEGUT, Kurt). STRINGER, Caverly. Grand Central Winter. NY: Seven Stories Press (1998). The advance reading copy of this memoir of life on the street, for which Vonnegut provides a foreword. Fine in wrappers.
339. WALCOTT, Derek. Omeros. NY: FSG (1990). The uncorrected proof copy of this epic poem by the West Indian Nobel Prize winner, by consensus one of his greatest works. Fine in wrappers.
340. WALLACE, David Foster. The Broom of the System. (NY): Viking (1987). The hardcover issue of the highly praised first book by a writer who received enormous critical praise as the legitimate inheritor of the postmodern tradition of Thomas Pynchon and William Gaddis, and the only writer of the younger generation to have their range. This was the first novel to be published simultaneously in the Penguin Contemporary American Fiction series and as a Viking hardcover, making the hardcover issue scarce; one bookseller who re-ordered copies of the hardcover on publication day was told they were "out of stock" and the edition was never, in fact, reprinted. Mild edge-darkening to the cheap paper (the sheets for the paperback and the hardcover were printed together, and the stock is quite acidic); else fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
341. WALLACE, David Foster. Girl With Curious Hair. NY: Norton (1989). The advance reading copy of his second book, a collection of stories. Fine in wrappers.
342. WALLACE, David Foster. Holiday Card Signed. No date [c. 1996]. A Christmas card (which Wallace has amended to read "or ethnic equivalent," sent to fellow writer David Markson (addressed by initials). Wallace writes: "Here's wishing you all joy this season. May you ignore the ads and see the faces [face sketched in]. Signed "Dave Wallace." In a postscript, Wallace adds: "We both made the Salon list! We both become occasions for Salon advertising itself Yippee!" Presumably referring to Salon Magazine's Books of the Year 1996, which featured Wallace's Infinite Jest and Markson's Reader's Block. 4 1/8" x 5 3/4". Fine, lacking mailing envelope.
343. WARHOL, Andy. Andy Warhol's Exposures. NY: Grosset & Dunlap (1979). Large quarto, with photographs by Warhol and text by Warhol and Bob Colacello. A view of the celebrities of the late 1960s and 1970s, with whom Warhol was closely associated. This copy signed in full by Warhol, who often simply initialed books when asked for his signature. Remainder mark; near fine in a very good dust jacket with several short edge tears and one small chip at the crown.
344. WATKINS, Paul. Stand Before Your God. NY: Random House (1993). The advance reading copy of this memoir of the author's experience in boarding school. Watkins' first book, Night Over Day Over Night, was a Booker Prize nominee when the author was twenty-three years old; his second, Calm at Sunset, Calm at Dawn, won Britain's Encore Prize for best second novel. Fine in wrappers.
345. WATKINS, Paul. Archangel. NY: Random House (1996). The advance reading copy of his sixth book, a novel. Fine in wrappers.
346. WELCH, James. The Death of Jim Loney. NY: Harper & Row (1979). A review copy of the second and perhaps scarcest novel by the author of Winter in the Blood and Killing Custer, among others. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with light wear to the crown.
347. WELTY, Eudora. Morgana. Jackson: U. Press of Mississippi (1988). The trade edition of this first separate appearance of two stories from The Golden Apples. Quarto. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by Welty and the illustrator, Mildred Nungester Wolfe.
348. WELTY, Eudora. Complete Novels. (NY): The Library of America (1998), The uncorrected proof copy, in two volumes, of this compilation of Welty's five novels, issued in the Library of America series. Edited by, and notes for the volumes provided by, Richard Ford and Michael Kreyling. Both volumes fine in wrappers.
349. WELTY, Eudora. Stories, Essays and Memoir. (NY): The Library of America (1998), The uncorrected proof copy, in two volumes, compiling Welty's collected short stories, selected essays, and her memoir, One Writer's Beginnings. Edited and with notes provided by Richard Ford and Michael Kreyling. Volume One has a corner crease; Volume Two is fine in wrappers. For both:
350. WIDEMAN, John Edgar. Two Cities. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. The uncorrected proof copy of the most recent novel by this African-American writer, who was the first person to win the PEN/Faulkner Award twice, and whose books have also been nominated for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Fine in wrappers.
351. (WILLEFORD, Charles.) SANDERS, W. Franklin. Whip Hand. Greenwich: Fawcett (1961). Gold Medal paperback original. Co-authored by Willeford and apparently published without his consent nor compensation to him. Included with this copy are several photocopied pages of the original manuscript, entitled Deliver Me from Dallas!, by Sanders and Willeford, and a photocopy of a letter from Sanders to Willeford that mentions the collaboration. Also included are two original letters from Willeford's bibliographer, Don Herron, to a collector, which further support that Whip Hand is indeed Deliver Me from Dallas! and which conclude that Willeford never knew about the book. Near fine in wrappers.
352. WILLIAMS, C.K. With Ignorance. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1977. A complimentary copy of the hardcover issue of these poems. Light corner bump; else fine in a near fine dust jacket. An influential poet, who in recent years has brought praise to the work of Carole Maso and Barbara Ras, and received praise from Richard Ford.
353. WILLIAMS, Joy. Breaking and Entering. NY: Vintage Contemporaries (1988). A novel that was published as a paperback original in the Vintage Contemporaries series of literary fiction. Williams' first novel, State of Grace, was nominated for the National Book Award. Fine in wrappers. Jim Harrison, Thomas McGuane, Ann Beattie blurbs, among others.
354. WILSON, A.N. Daughters of Albion. (n.p.): Viking (1992). The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of this volume in Wilson's "Lampitt trilogy." Near fine in wrappers.
355. WINTERSON, Jeanette. Written on the Body. NY: Knopf, 1993. The advance reading copy of the first American edition. A love story with a narrator of undeclared gender, and a departure from the magical realism of Sexing the Cherry and The Passion. Fine in wrappers and publisher's pictorial cardstock slipcase. Signed by the author.
356. WINTERSON, Jeanette. The Psychometry of Books. NY: Knopf, 1996. A prepublication excerpt from Art Objects, preceding the American trade edition. This particular essay concerns her own passion for book collecting: "That is the way with books. You regret only the ones you did not buy." One of 2000 copies, signed by the author on a label mounted to the title page. Fine in stapled wrappers and string-tied cardstock chemise.
357. WOLFF, Tobias. Ugly Rumours. London: Allen & Unwin (1975). The author's first novel, set in Vietnam, about a Special Forces lieutenant and a sergeant serving as advisor to a Vietnamese Infantry Division. Not published in this country, and the author has pointedly refused to list it among his "previous publications" on his later books or allowed it to be reprinted. His recent memoir, In Pharaoh's Army, alludes somewhat disparagingly to the novel he was writing while he was serving in Vietnam, presumably Ugly Rumours. Wolff is one of the most highly regarded short story writers in America, winner of the PEN Faulkner Award, and his memoir This Boy's Life was made into a memorable movie. A novel by him on the pivotal event of his generation the Vietnam war is a notable contribution to contemporary literature, regardless of the author's opinion of its quality. Exceedingly scarce: the first printing was reported to be only 1000 copies, most of which will have gone to libraries, as this copy did. Library stamp on pastedown and title page; several small ink numbers rear free endpaper; abraded front endpapers; a very good copy in a near fine, spine-faded dust jacket.
358. WOLFF, Tobias. The Night in Question. NY: Knopf, 1996. The author's most recent collection of short fiction. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
359. WOODRELL, Daniel. Tomato Red. NY: Henry Holt (1998). The uncorrected proof copy of the new novel by the author of Under the Bright Lights, among others. One reviewer said that Woodrell "does for the Ozarks what Raymond Chandler did for Los Angeles or Elmore Leonard for Florida." Tiny abrasion to the lower edge of the front cover; else fine in wrappers.
360. WOUK, Herman. Typed Note Signed. November 29, 1978. A nice note from Wouk to another writer, with suggestions to help him place a currently unpublished novel (the novel was later published and went on to win a literary award). Fine.
361. WOUK, Herman. Typed Note Signed. March 11, 1981. Written from Israel to another writer, and calling a story he has sent "vivid and moving. Thanks for letting me read it." Paper clip imprints; else fine.
362. WRIGHT, Richard and GREEN, Paul. Native Son. A Play. NY: Harper & Brothers (1941). A dramatic adaptation of Wright's novel, done by the novelist and the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. Front flyleaf corner clipped; otherwise fine in a fine, second issue dust jacket. A beautiful copy of a scarce title.
363. WRIGHT, Richard. Haiku. This Other World. NY: Arcade (1998). The advance reading copy of this collection of over 800 haiku written by the author of Black Boy and Native Son, among others. With a preface by the author's daughter and afterword, notes and critical commentary by two scholars of haiku. Fine in wrappers.