Holiday List, K-L
116. KENNEDY, William. The Ink Truck. NY: Dial, 1969. The first book by the author of the acclaimed Albany series. Fine in a fine dust jacket with just the barest hint of the rubbing that is typical of this title. An exceptional copy of a book that is particularly susceptible to wear.
117. KEROUAC, John. The Town and the City. NY: Harcourt Brace (1950). An advance review copy of Kerouac's first novel, written in the style of Kerouac's idol, Thomas Wolfe, and published while Kerouac was still using his given name, John, as opposed to the more casual "Jack" under which his Beat novels were published. Kerouac later dismissed this novel as "dead" but at least one critic called it "an excellent novel in the Wolfeian autobiographic style." While not as self-consciously experimental or as jazz-inspired as his later books, especially On the Road, it clearly shows Kerouac's literary antecedents and the fact that he was a writer before he came to be a cultural icon--a fact that only recently has been fully appreciated in the literary community. This copy has a Harcourt Brace advance slip tipped to the front flyleaf. The cloth is worn through at the spine crown; else a near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with minor edgewear and mild spine-fading. Although not an exceptionally scarce book (10,500 copies were bound up, a relatively large number for a first novel by an unknown writer), advance copies of the cloth edition are scarce.
118. KEROUAC, Jack. On the Road. NY: Viking, 1957. His second novel, the quintessential "road novel" and the book that defined the Beat generation. Kerouac's fictionalized account of his exploits with his friend Neal Cassady--here depicted as "Dean Moriarty"--became a cultural landmark. The beatniks' attempts to self-consciously live life to the fullest have inspired successive generations to emulate Kerouac's characters. On the Road helped promote the growth in popularity of Zen and other Eastern religious traditions in the West in the last forty years at the same time that it popularized the concept of "recreational" drug use. It continues to be read and admired today, retaining its relevance and freshness by virtue of the immediacy of its writing, the clarity of its youthful perceptions, and the authenticity of the characters' quests. All by itself, it ensures Kerouac's standing as an important American writer. This copy has some fading to the top stain, flaking to the spine lettering, a few creased page corners and an owner name on the front pastedown; very good in a typically spine-faded and rubbed dust jacket, chipped at the extremities and corners and with a couple of long, closed edge tears that bear some attempts at internal tape-repairing; also with a few penciled notes on the rear flap fold; the jacket is only good. Still, a presentable copy of one of the high spots of postwar American literature.
119. KEROUAC, Jack. CORRESPONDENCE with Steve Allen. April 1958 - February 1959. Two typed notes from Kerouac to Allen. The first, dated April 14, 1958, from Orlando, is typed upside down on 8 1/2" x 11" white lined paper and requests that Allen "arrange another evening like the one you planned" as Kerouac had been unable to keep their proposed date due to having to pick up his "mother & cats to take them back to the new house I bought in Long Island." The note is unsigned, but is folded in sixths for mailing and the original hand-addressed mailing envelope is stapled on verso. The second note, signed in full, is on a half sheet of paper, approximately 8 1/2" x 4 1/2", and is dated February 19, 1959, from his home in Northport, N.Y.--the Long Island house referred to in the previous letter. Kerouac apologizes for declining a gift from Allen, a subscription to The Independent which had offended his mother with an article on the Pope. He further inquires about his and Allen's record coming out, informs Allen of his first full-length book of poems, published by Grove [Mexico City Blues], and enthuses about Harpo Marx and the Three Stooges. Also included is a retained copy of Allen's dictated reply, in part: "I sent your subscription on to Groucho Marx so all is well." Allen says that he understands about The Independent and that his own mother would not allow a copy of it in the house either. On the record Kerouac mentions, Kerouac read poetry and Allen played the piano. Allen was a mainstream television and radio personality at the time and he provided Kerouac and the Beat movement with a certain legitimacy they might not otherwise have had while also showing that mainstream squares might not be as square as they appeared to be. These notes, with their references to a memorable artistic collaboration and their allusions to the junction between literary celebrity and the world of television and Hollywood suggest the matrix of cultural connections being created at the time--connections that are now so thoroughly enmeshed in our contemporary society as to seem innate. Together with two 8" x 10" black and white photographs of Kerouac and Allen together at Allen's piano, with a copy of On the Road on top, and one of the photos being a shot of them appearing on television. Other than folds and staple holes, all items near fine.
120. KEROUAC, Jack. Doctor Sax. NY: Grove (1959). Advance review copy of the scarce hardcover issue of this novel in Kerouac's multivolume saga of his alter-ego, Jack Duluoz. Near fine in an about near fine dust jacket with mild edgewear and one short edge tear, and rubbing at the front flap fold. Kerouac's Grove Press hardcover titles--The Subterraneans, Doctor Sax, and Mexico City Blues--are the scarcest of his trade editions and this book, in particular, is especially susceptible to wear. This is a very nice copy of one of his scarcest books, exceptionally uncommon with review slip and photo laid in.
121. KEROUAC, Jack. Mexico City Blues. NY: Grove (1959). Advance review copy of the hardcover issue of the only full-length collection of Kerouac's poetry. This copy has one stain to foredge, otherwise a near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with a few closed edge tears and small chips. Reviewed by John Ciardi, and bearing his marginal notes on several pages. A scarce book--probably Kerouac's scarcest hardcover book--and especially so as an advance copy, and in this case also a nice poetic association.
122. KEROUAC, Jack. ORIGINAL HAIKU, unsigned. [undated, circa late '50s.] Single sheet of small notepad paper, approx. 3-1/2" x 6", reading: "Ah, Hotspur/ these your dreadful/ jellies inform/ this forsaken/ plain/ [device]." A passing sentiment, inscribed for one of Kerouac's erstwhile girlfriends, whose papers came up at auction in the late Seventies. Kerouac manuscript material, even as slight as this, is rare, and items such as this convey a clear sense of the importance of the written word. Very good copy.
123. KING, Stephen. "On Becoming a Brand Name" in Fear Itself. The Horror Fiction of Stephen King. San Francisco: Underwood-Miller, 1982. Twenty-seven page foreword by King to this volume of essays about his writing by a number of well-known horror writers, including Peter Straub, Fritz Lieber and Charles Grant, among others. One of 225 copies with a leaf tipped in signed by King and ten other contributors, a very small limitation for a Stephen King edition. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
124. KITTREDGE, William. The Van Gogh Field and Other Stories. Columbia: U. of Missouri Press, 1978. His extremely scarce first book, a collection of short fiction. This copy is inscribed by the author with "admiration, affection, love" to another writer, a poet. Trace wear to cloth at extremities; still fine, without dust jacket, as issued. One of the most elusive first books of recent years.
125. KUNDERA, Milan. ert. Prague: ( atva), 1967. The true first edition of this Czech author's first book, published in English as The Joke. This story of a young man deformed by a pseudo-socialist society which denied his individuality caused Kundera to be banned from publishing or speaking publicly, and his books to be outlawed. Spine cocked; white cloth uniformly dust soiled, else very good in an about very good, internally tape-strengthened dust jacket. A modern rarity. Together with the first American edition (NY: Coward-McCann, 1969). Inscribed by the author in 1979. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Books signed by Kundera are remarkably scarce. For both:
126. LE CARRÉ, John. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. London: Gollancz, 1963. The first edition of Le CarrÉ's third book, the definitive Cold War novel, which brought a new level of realism to the genre of spy fiction. This copy is in a variant brown cloth binding. Page edges foxed; else a near fine copy in about near fine dust jacket with some spotting to the white rear panel and one spot to the front. Although we have handled this book many times, and seen many other copies, we have seen only one other copy in this binding; because later printings are all bound in the usual blue-gray boards, it's likely that this variant is an earlier binding than the more common blue one. Very scarce variant of this important novel.
127. LEVY, D.A. North American Book of the Dead. Cleveland: Free Lance Press, 1965. Probably his most well-known book, published as usual by his own press and, as noted by his bibliographer, "a typically bad Free Lance production with horrendous errors throughout." This copy is warmly inscribed by the author in the year of publication to another poet: "to will inman/ for being/ and for being/ a good friend/ + a perhaps a/ great human being/ d.a. levy/ 65." Folded once vertically, and edge-darkened; very good in stapled wrappers with an old ink price written on the front cover. An excellent association copy of an enormously scarce book by one of the pre-eminent American poets of the 1960's counterculture.
128. LITTLE, Malcolm. "Malcolm X." Holiday Card. (n.d.) [ca. 1940's]. 5 3/4" x 4 3/4". A Christmas card from the noted black activist, written decades before he converted to Islam and became the most outspoken and militant agitator for black civil rights in the early 1960's. Malcolm X's incendiary rhetoric in the early years of the Civil Rights Movement helped polarize the country around issues of race and also helped open the way for civil and legal reforms on an unprecedented scale. The social criticism that seemed so extreme and intransigent in 1963, when viewed with the historical perspective of the intervening decades, seems mild, almost mainstream, and much of his most extreme characterizations of race relations in the United States seem self-evidently true today, rather than provocative. This card has a sleigh scene on the front and a standard Christmas and New Year's greeting inside. Signed in full as "Malcolm Little," with the additional sentiment, in holograph: "I hope you haven't forgotten me." Folded once, seemingly to fit into a square envelope (not present). Very slight general wear; still near fine. Autograph material by Malcolm X is extremely scarce, particularly such an early example as this, preceding as it does his notoriety and period of historical significance.
129. LOPEZ, Barry Holstun. Giving Birth to Thunder Sleeping with his Daughter. Kansas City: Sheed McMeel (1978). The author's second book and his scarcest. This is a retelling of Native American tales of Coyote, the Trickster. Lopez attempts to revivify the myths and legends, restoring their humor and vitality--and thus their power and their ability to affect the listener or reader--rather than document them in the dry manner of an anthropologist dissecting a "subject." Like Jamie D'Angulo's Indian Tales or Howard Norman's translations of Cree Indian tales, this book helped to forge the link between the oral narrative traditions of native American tribes and the realm of written, and printed, literature--a fusion that is ongoing and is producing some of the most subtle and energized writings of recent years. Fine in a fine dust jacket. A very nice copy of a book that, because of its unlaminated dust jacket, is notoriously prone to wear.
130. LOPEZ, Barry. Children in the Woods. Eugene: Lone Goose Press (1992). An elaborate production, handset and printed on handmade papers, using dyes made from colored plant pulp to suggest the colors of the woods to which the essay refers. Handbound into attractive wrappers, with a fern image on the cover, the whole laid into a folding clamshell box. This is one of only 5 lettered copies signed by the author and the artist, Margaret Prentice. The colophon does not indicate that there was a lettered issue, only that there were 75 numbered copies. A printed note laid into this volume indicates that the publisher bought back several unbound copies from the author for a nominal fee, binding them up for sale as a special issue to benefit the press--a considerate gesture on the part of the author. This is the scarcest issue of a Barry Lopez title that we know of.
131. LOPEZ, Barry. Apologia. Eugene: Lone Goose Press, 1997. A limited edition of a story that first appeared in Witness magazine and then in Harper's. With twenty-three 11 3/4" x 11" woodblock images by Robin Eschner, hinged in a continuous presentation almost 22 feet long, encompassing the text. An elaborate production, involving a number of individuals prominent in the book arts, in addition to Lopez and Eschner: Charles Hobson, the designer, whose work is included in the collections of the Whitney Museum and the National Gallery of Art, among others; Sandy Tilcock, the publisher and boxmaker; Susan Acker, the letterpress printer; Nora Pauwells, the relief edition printer; and John DeMerritt, the binder, who is President of the Hand Bookbinders of California. Of a total edition of 66 copies, this is one of 50 numbered copies signed by the author and including a unique tire-tread print from Lopez's Toyota 4-Runner, the vehicle used in the journey from Oregon to Indiana that is described in the story. Fine, in a clamshell box.
132. LORCA, Frederico Garcia. Poeta in Nueva York. Mexico: Seneca, 1940. The most famous poem by the prominent Spanish poet, who was killed by fascists during the Spanish Civil War. This is a very fine copy, bound in three-quarter morocco, with the original wrappers bound in. An attractive edition of an important work. Fine.
133. LOWRY, Malcolm. Typed Letter Signed. November 5, 1947. Written to "Dear old Hoffman," Lowry's friend, fellow writer and literary critic Hoffman Hayes. Six short paragraphs entreating Hayes to use his influence to help the course of Margie's (Lowry's wife - Margerie Bonner's) novel, published the month prior to this letter. In part: "...it was about the last book Maxwell Perkins took: he spoke highly of it to me and was in correspondence with her on the subject when he died...Opinions may differ on the Horse [Horse in the Sky], I think it is a magnificent piece of work, to which a certain naivete of facade seems to add rather than detract: but certainly it deserves to be taken seriously, as an Aeschylean tragedy (even if panned.)...She is a serious American writer, and any serious and written work these days deserves criticism." Signed "Malcolm." One page, folded in sixths for mailing; else fine. Together with a copy of the novel discussed (NY: Scribner, 1947). A fine copy in a very good dust jacket. The novel is dedicated to Lowry, and the letter is a plea for justice in publishing, or at least in reviewing, from the year in which his own masterwork, Under the Volcano, was published. Autograph material by Lowry is very scarce.