skip to main content

Holiday List, D-F

NOTE: This page is from our catalog archives. The listings are from an older catalog and are on our website for reference purposes only. If you see something you're interested in, please check our inventory via the search box at upper right or our search page.
56. DAHLBERG, Edward. Bottom Dogs. London: Putnam, 1929. One of 520 numbered copies of the author's first book. With an introduction by D.H. Lawrence. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with very mild sunning to the spine and light chipping to crown. A unusually clean, crisp copy of this book.

57. DICK, Philip K. Letter and Manuscript Archive 1964-1981. The archive of correspondence from Dick to Cynthia Goldstone, artist, long-time friend, and the dedicatee of Galactic Pot Healer. Including: eleven letters, six original poems, several photographs, 28 typed pages of others' poems (primarily James Stephens), a signed presentation copy of Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, and two pages of carbon typescript from the same novel.

The eleven letters (two ALS and nine TLS, one with holograph marginal notations and doodles of religious imagery) comprise 18 pages of text and cover the years 1964 (4); 1965 (1); 1966 (1); 1967 (3); 1970 (1); and 1981 (1). Dick was as prolific a letter writer as he was a fiction writer, and the typed letters are single-spaced, densely written, running to upwards of 1000 words and touching on subjects ranging from the personal, to the literary, to business matters, to the philosophical. The main period covered by the correspondence, 1964-1970, coincides with the period in which he was writing many of his most ground-breaking science fiction novels, including Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Ubik, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch and others. In the body of work he produced during the 1960s, Dick showed a willingness to break the traditional rules of the science fiction genre and use his novels as means of exploring not only the possibilities of outer space but those of inner space. Dick's sensitivity, especially to his own inner states--which was his curse as an individual but his gift as a writer--reveals itself abundantly in these letters. He writes of his depression and the fact that his anti-depressant pills aren't working, and begins to show signs of the extreme mental duress that led to his nervous breakdown--and the accompanying philosophical insights he felt it provided him--in the early '70s. Throughout the letters there are insights into his novels. In one letter dated "January 3, 1960 something" [actually 1967], he writes "The war depresses me, too. I think we ought to get out of Viet Nam (I don't usually talk politics, but on this point I'm rabid). I wrote my feelings out in a recent Doubleday book of mine, called NOW WAIT FOR LAST YEAR, in which Earth is on the wrong side in an interstellar war, and is just beginning to realize it. Earth's political leader wants to get out, but how? ... I think you and Lou will both approve the underlying theme of the book: the horrid intimation of being involved on the wrong side in the wrong war..." Other letters are equally revealing, although more often in the personal realm than the political. In one, he writes "I think I would define reality -- my reality -- as everything and anything I feel strongly about... I mean toward lives and the needs and fears expressed in all the various lives, including those of animals. When I see some small bug making its way across the table I think to myself ..." Other letters touch on poetry, and reveal Dick as a sensitive and literate reader, as well as writer. In 1970 he writes that he has just written a new novel, Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, which he desperately wants Goldstone to read in manuscript and tell him what she thinks of it [Flow My Tears... was published by Doubleday in 1974].

Dick was one of the most important science fiction writers of the modern era, winner of innumerable awards, and one who helped elevate the genre to the realm of literature. A major award is named after him, and abroad he is viewed as an important American writer in the tradition of Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft. In David Pringle's book, Science Fiction - The 100 Best Novels, Dick is the only author with five entries and Pringle indicates that he could have added more but that "one has to draw the line somewhere." Dick's writings deal with fundamental questions of the human condition, and are only secondarily about alien civilizations or space travel. Terence McKenna, the psychedelic advocates, believes that Dick's writings anticipated the current explorations into the nature of reality taking place in the realm of fractal mathematics and chaos theory; others have compared his metaphysical excursions to those of Borges and William S. Burroughs.

This is a remarkable archive of unpublished writing by one of the most extraordinary writers of the second half of the twentieth century.

Also together with a copy of Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said (Garden City: Doubleday, 1974), winner of the John W. Campbell Award for 1975 and a nominee for both the Hugo and Nebula Awards. This copy is inscribed by Dick to Lou and Cynthia Goldstone: "...with love to my/ friends whom I miss/ so much./ Philip K. Dick/ 1/27/74." (Although Goldstone was the dedicatee of Galactic Pot Healer, Dick never inscribed a copy of that title to her.) Some light staining to boards and a slight tilt from reading; near fine in a very good dust jacket with several edge tears and a small chip at the spine base. The letters are folded for mailing, a few have a couple of light edge spots but are otherwise fine; all but one have the original mailing envelope. For the archive:

58. DICK, Philip K. VALIS. (n.p.: n.p., n.d.). The original manuscript of Dick's science fiction novel, VALIS, which is considered one of Dick's two greatest works. 311 pages of ribbon-copy typescript, inscribed by the author on the top page "with love" to a close friend, and additionally inscribed to "the best friend I ever had" on the verso of a proof of the novel's paperback cover. With a letter from the publisher laid in returning this to Dick for his files, and a photocopy of a letter from Dick to the publisher requesting that the book's dedication be changed [it was]. "VALIS" stands for "Vast Active Living Intelligence System" and is an acronym for the pervasive unseen force he saw as animating the universe; his entire body of work can be seen as an effort to penetrate and understand this force, and VALIS stands as the most complete expression of that understanding outside of the unpublished diary and journals that he titled Exegesis.

Dick's writings influenced a generation of science fiction authors and helped move science fiction out of the realm of "little green men" once and for all, firmly establishing it as a genre for addressing serious philosophical and metaphysical questions. Dick was immersed in the Sixties counterculture and his metaphysical explorations most often were conducted on his own psyche; he put himself at risk in the service of a spiritual, and literary, quest and paid the price: by continually entering into uncharted psychological territory, Dick made himself exceptionally vulnerable; he suffered ill health, devastating psychosomatic illnesses--leading to a suicide attempt in 1976--and he finally died of a series of strokes and heart failure at the relatively young age of 53.

The manuscripts from the first two-thirds of Dick's career are institutionalized; other writings by Dick in manuscript form show up on the market only very rarely --a recent listing by a leading specialist dealer had a four-page story typescript (with a letter of transmittal and tear-sheet of the story) for $2200, or roughly per page of Dick manuscript. This manuscript of his most important novel, warmly inscribed (twice) to a close friend, represents the pinnacle of Dick's achievement, and the best possible association. A unique item that is a landmark in the career of one of science fiction's greatest authors. Top sheet a bit wrinkled, otherwise fine in a literary agency box.

59. DICK, Philip K. Solar Lottery. NY: Ace (1955). First book, a paperback original, by one of the most innovative science fiction writers of his time, author of the novel on which Blade Runner was based. Inscribed by the author to award-winning science fiction writer, Tim Powers. A fine copy and an excellent association--Powers and Dick were very close during the last decade of Dick's life, and Powers has, fittingly, twice won the science fiction award named after Dick--the Philip K. Dick Award, given for the best science fiction novel published as a paperback original. An exceptional copy.

60. DICK, Philip K. Time Out of Joint. Philadelphia: Lippincott (1959). Dick's first hardcover book in this country, and one of Pringle's hundred best science fiction novels--the earliest of the five novels by Dick that made Pringle's list. Pringle called this story of a man whose mind is capable of transporting him to a world where appearance and reality change places "a nightmare which may have seemed far-fetched in 1959, but which now strikes us as strangely truthful." The theme is similar to Dick's later writings, which were influenced by his experiences with psychedelic and other drugs, and which led him to believe that his vision and insights were the result of a vast network of universal trans-human intelligence to which he, sometimes unwillingly, had access. A cheaply-made book, this copy has shelfwear at the extremities of the spine and the lower corners; a near fine copy in a near fine dust jacket. An important and uncommon book, particularly scarce in nice condition.

61. DICK, Philip K. The Man in the High Castle. NY: Putnam (1962). Winner of the Hugo Award. An "alternate history" in which Germany and Japan have won the Second World War. David Pringle, in Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels, says that "it is probably Dick's best work, and the most memorable alternative world tale...ever written." Foxing to top stain, else fine in a very good jacket with several edge tears and some minor spotting to the spine, but no rubbing. Overall, quite a nice copy of one of the high spots of modern science fiction.

62. DICK, Philip K. "The Android and the Human." (n.p.) (n.d.) Original manuscript for a speech given by Dick at the Vancouver SF Convention at the University of British Columbia, in March 1972. 42 ribbon-copy typewritten pages, with corrections and emendations throughout in Dick's hand. The speech was later published in SF Commentary in December, 1972 and then reprinted in Vector in March-April 1973. In a letter that accompanied its publication in SF Commentary, Dick wrote that "this speech [tried]... to sum up an entire lifetime of developing thought." He concluded that it contained, "I hope, the seed for my novels to come." An important piece of writing, which anticipated the themes and concerns of the novels of Dick's last decade. Manuscript material by Dick is very scarce, particularly of such significant content. Unfolded sheets, about fine.

63. DICK, Philip K. Confessions of a Crap Artist. (London): Magnum, (1979). The first British edition, a paperback, of this mainstream novel that Dick wrote in 1959 but which was turned down for publication by Harcourt Brace, who asked him to rewrite it; it was first published by in the U.S. by Entwhistle in 1975. The novel portrays the San Francisco of the Beat era, on the verge of entering the Sixties. Inscribed by the author to his best friend and fellow science fiction writer Tim Powers: "To Tim Powers -/ this is the only/ autographed UK/ edition copy/ Philip K. Dick." We do not know if it remains the only signed UK edition, but Dick died just three years later, and signed copies are likely to be uncommon. Pages slightly darkened with age, and bumped at the crown, but a near fine copy in wrappers. A remarkable rarity, perhaps unique, and an excellent association copy.

64. DICK, Philip K. The Divine Invasion. NY: Timescape Books (1981). The sequel to Valis, originally to have been called Valis Regained. Inscribed by Dick to Tim Powers in the year of publication: "This novel will teach you the True religion," an affirmation of Dick's belief that his attempts to understand and describe the "vast active living intelligence system" that lay behind the appearances of the world was of dramatic metaphysical import. Dick died just after publication of this title, and Powers has noted that "not more than a dozen copies of this title can ever have been inscribed by Dick, and those [are] in the hands of close friends outside the book world." Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. An important book; an excellent association; and an exceptional rarity signed.

65. DIDION, Joan. Run River. NY: Obolensky (1963). First book, a novel, by this writer whose astringent fiction and essays comprise one of the defining voices of our time. Inscribed by the author in 1983. Trace wear to the cloth at the extremities; else fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket.

66. DIDION, Joan. Slouching Towards Bethlehem. NY: FSG (1968). Her second book and her first collection of essays, which set the tone for much of her later writing. The title essay is an early report on the hippies of Haight-Ashbury that looked at the dark side of that particular expression of the American dream. This is an uncorrected proof copy, and comparison with the published book reveals that Didion made textual changes in her foreword before publication, including both the addition and deletion of text. Also, Didion changed the dedication, making her daughter, Quintana, the dedicatee rather than her husband, John Gregory Dunne. Fine in tall, spiralbound wrappers. Very scarce.

67. DILLARD, Annie. Tickets for a Prayer Wheel. (Columbia): U. of Missouri Press (1974). Her first book, a collection of poetry, published the year before she won the Pulitzer Prize for her first work of prose, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Light foxing to top edge; very near fine in like dust jacket with some surface soiling on the front panel. A scarce and fragile book, published by a university press-- suggesting that distribution to the mainstream book trade was quite limited--and bound in thin, flexible cloth boards that are easily susceptible to wear.

68. DONOSO, JosÉ. The Obscene Bird of Night. NY: Knopf, 1973. A review copy of the most famous book by this expatriate Chilean novelist. Donoso moved from Chile to Spain, where he wrote the novella that Spanish avant garde filmmaker Luis Buñuel made into the classic film The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. Warmly and effusively inscribed by the author, covering the entire front free endpaper: "For ____/ _______/ in awe/ and with/ perfect affection/ Un abrazo/ JosÉ Donoso." Fine in dust jacket, with review slip and photo laid in. Donoso's signature is uncommon. A near-perfect copy of his most famous novel.

69. DOS PASSOS, John. State of the Nation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1944. Nonfiction, an account of the state of the nation as the author perceived it in a lengthy trip he took around the country, in an election year, during wartime. Pages moderately browned, as is common for a wartime book, otherwise this is a very near fine copy in a bright, near fine dust jacket with minor spine-fading. Inscribed by the author and with the recipient's ownership signature and date (1944) under front flap. A nice copy of an uncommon book.

70. DUBUS, Andre. Original Manuscript of "Dressed Like Summer Leaves." 41 pages of holograph manuscript in a notebook that also contains an 18 page essay. The story, an eerie, chilling, and finally touching story about the dislocation many Vietnam vets felt on returning home, was first published in The Sewanee Review and was later collected in The Last Worthless Evening. One of the finest depictions of the combination of rage, alienation and vulnerability that characterized many vets' experiences after Vietnam and have come to be seen as symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, common in the aftermath of Vietnam. In this story about the meeting between a young boy and a recently returned vet, Dubus conveys the different worlds the two characters inhabit, even as they share the time and place of the plot action. The potential for danger looms as does, finally, the potential for redemption. Dubus, recipient of a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant," is generally considered the contemporary master of the novella in American literature, and has been widely compared to Chekhov. Unique.

71. EDGERTON, Clyde. Raney. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 1985. The author's elusive first book, one of the early literary debuts from this influential Southern press. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the front flyleaf. Small patch of white-out on the flyleaf, else fine in a fine dust jacket.

72. EISELEY, Loren. The Immense Journey. NY: Random House (1957). The first book by this distinguished naturalist and poet, a precursor to the literary natural history written in recent years by such authors as Peter Matthiessen, Wendell Berry and Barry Lopez. Fine in a fine dust jacket. A very attractive copy of a scarce first book.

73. ELIOT, T.S. Four Quartets. London: Faber & Faber (1944). The first British edition of this important collection, the individual poems of which were originally published separately in England in 1941-42 and then collected in the U.S. in 1943--in an edition that was, because of a printing error, mostly destroyed. These were the first of Eliot's poems to reach a wide audience, and are considered the culminating expression of his religious sensibility: they were written during the dark, early years of World War II and reflect, in four short, accessible poems that draw heavily on English history, on large philosophical questions of time and permanence. Owner name front flyleaf; minor foxing to endpages; still a near fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with a small chip at the upper edge of the rear panel and just a touch of the spine and edge-darkening that are typical for this title. A very attractive copy of a Connolly 100 title.

74. ELIOT, T.S. Ash Wednesday. London: Faber & Faber, 1930. The limited edition. One of 600 numbered copies, 400 of which were for sale in the U.S. Signed by the author. This copy is in the original cellophane dust jacket with paper tabs and with the original slipcase. The book has light offsetting to the endpages, and is otherwise fine; the jacket has several chips; the slipcase is defective, missing 1/3 of the spine panel. A Connolly 100 title. A nice copy of one of Eliot's key works, which is seldom found with the original jacket.

75. FAULKNER, William. Sherwood Anderson and Other Famous Creoles. New Orleans: Pelican Bookshop Press, 1926. With caricatures by William Spratling. Second issue, one of 150 copies, with label pasted over the original limitation notice so indicating. One of the scarcest Faulkner limited editions (he wrote the foreword, which comprises the entire text of the volume, and "arranged" the portraits by Spratling of the various figures active in the artistic life of the New Orleans' French Quarter). A remarkable copy, signed by over twenty of the subjects of Spratling's portraits, including Roark Bradford, Hamilton Basso, and Grace King. Although not called for, this copy is also signed by Spratling, twice, and by Faulkner himself. Very scarce thus; we cannot find any record of another copy of this title signed by Faulkner coming on the market in recent years. A scarce and fragile volume, this copy has wear to the edges of the green boards and the rear joint, but is still at least very good without dust jacket, as issued. An early Faulkner appearance, in which he parodies Anderson, whom he had come to know when he went to New Orleans, an experience he satirized in his novel Mosquitoes. A nice copy of a difficult book, exceptionally rare signed by Faulkner. In an attractive, custom quarter leather clamshell box.

76. FITZGERALD, F. Scott. Dearly Beloved. Iowa City: Windhover, 1969. A short story by Fitzgerald with illustrations by Byron Burford. A tall thin folio, quarterbound in leather and paper boards. One of 300 numbered copies. Corners slightly rubbed; a very near fine copy of this handsomely designed and printed volume.

77. FORD, Richard. The Sportswriter. NY: Vintage (n.d) [1986]. The uncorrected proof copy of his third novel and his "breakthrough" book, the sequel to which, Independence Day, won the Pulitzer Prize. Publication of The Sportswriter as a paperback original in the Vintage Contemporaries series brought Ford a readership ten times as large as the book would have had in hardcover; and his obvious talent lent credibility to what was at that time a fledgling paperback series and, in reality, a publishing experiment. A very scarce proof: proofs in the Vintage Contemporaries series seem to have been done in smaller quantities than their counterparts slated for hardcover publication, and to have received much more limited distribution. Covers evenly and lightly dust-soiled; possibly re-glued at front hinge; near fine in wrappers.

78. FOWLES, John Introduction: Remembering Cruikshank. (Princeton): (Princeton U. Library Chronicle) (1964). Offprint from the Chronicle, reportedly fewer than fifty copies printed for the author's use. This is a fine copy in wrappers and is signed by the author. An early, very scarce Fowles "A" item.

79. FUENTES, Carlos. Terra Nostra. NY: FSG (1976). A review copy of the first American edition of his magnum opus, a massive experimental novel that has been called "the most important novel published in Latin American in the 1970's." Warmly inscribed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket with a micro tear at the crown. With review slip, photo and promotional information laid in.

<< Back to Catalog Index