Movie Catalog, M
266. MAILER, Norman. An American Dream. NY: Dial, 1965. The first novel in a decade by the author of The Naked and the Dead, and the beginning of a remarkable series of writings in the mid- and late-Sixties that established Mailer as one of the literary giants of his generation. This copy is inscribed by the author to Diana (Trilling) in February, 1965, the month prior to publication: "To Diana/ for the Oxford walks/ Norman." Full blue cloth binding, priority undetermined, but the pre-publication inscription argues for this binding preceding the alternate binding of blue cloth spine and gray boards. Near fine in a very good dust jacket with modest chipping and rubbing at the spine extremities and one closed gutter tear. An excellent association copy: Trilling was one of the leading literary critics of the generation before Mailer's, and their friendship, alluded to in the inscription, an important one for the younger writer. Filmed in 1966.
267. -. Another copy. Inscribed by the author. Fine in a near fine, slightly rubbed dust jacket.
268. MAILER, Norman. Marilyn. (n.p.): Grosset & Dunlap (1974). His massive biography of Marilyn Monroe, a larger-than-life film star who defined an era. Quarto, heavily illustrated with photographs. Made into the television movie Marilyn: the Untold Story with Catherine Hicks in the title role. This is the first printing of the issue in wrappers, one year after the hardcover issue, six years before the movie. Fine, and signed by the author.
269. MAILER, Norman. Tough Guys Don't Dance. NY: Random House (1980). Mailer directed Ryan O'Neal and Isabella Rossellini in his own film adaptation of this novel. This is the limited edition; one of 350 numbered copies, signed by the author. Fine in slipcase.
270. MALAMUD, Bernard. The Natural. NY: Harcourt Brace (1952). His first book, one of the great baseball novels of all time and the basis for the well-received Barry Levinson film with Robert Redford, Robert Duvall and Glenn Close. Owner name and date on flyleaf, number stamped on top edge, a few spots to the edges of the endpapers; a very good copy of the issue in gray boards, in a good dust jacket stained along both flap folds, torn along the middle of the rear spine fold, and with a couple of edge tears. For all its various flaws, a quite presentable copy of an extremely scarce first book.
A Run of David Mamet Scripts, Produced and Unproduced
271. MAMET, David. The Postman Always Rings Twice. NY: Rosenstone/Wender (Agency), 1979. Photocopied typescript of a screenplay based on the James Cain novel, first filmed in 1946. The cover page states "Second Draft/December, 1979;" the page headers state "Revised 1/16/80." This version, released in 1981, starred Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange and was more faithful to the novel than the earlier version. Claspbound in cardstock covers; fine. Mamet won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Glengarry Glen Ross (for which he also wrote the screenplay), and his film credits include House of Games and The Spanish Prisoner (as both writer and director), among others.
272. MAMET, David. The Verdict. NY: Fox-Zanuck/Brown, 1981. Photocopied screenplay. Final draft, dated "November 23, 1981." Mamet's screenplay is based on the novel by Barry Reed, and was filmed by Sidney Lumet. Paul Newman gave his most powerful performance in years as a down-and-out lawyer who finds a chance for redemption. Claspbound in cardstock covers; fine.
273. MAMET, David. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. NY: Rosenstone/Wender Agency, 1983. An unproduced screenplay based on the Malcolm X/Alex Haley book, but not the screenplay used by Spike Lee for his film, Malcolm X. Claspbound in cardstock covers; fine.
274. MAMET, David and SILVERSTEIN, Shel. Things Change. NY: Rosenstone/Wender Agency, 1984. An original screenplay for a film that was directed by Mamet and featured Don Ameche and Joe Mantegna. The movie was produced in 1988. Photocopied sheets. Claspbound in embossed vinyl covers. Fine.
275. MARTIN, Steve. Typed Note Signed and Electronic Letter Unsigned. June and July, 1989. Written to an editor at Art & Antiques magazine. In the earlier, electronically transmitted letter, Martin says he is "extremely flattered and impressed with myself that I appear on your 100 collectors list. However, being on the list has caused me nothing but grief and I would prefer to slink back into the lower profile I had 'pre-List'..." The second note: "You're right about HG. That was the first worst mistake I ever made in my life." Martin's film credits include The Jerk, All of Me, Three Amigos, Roxanne, Father of the Bride, and others; he is frequently either the screenwriter or the executive producer as well as the star. Both letters capture, albeit briefly, an articulate and courteous grace, even mid-complaint. Folded; else fine, with envelopes.
276. MARTIN, Valerie. Mary Reilly. NY: Doubleday (1990). The Jekyll-and-Hyde story told from the perspective of Dr. Jekyll's maid, Mary. Filmed with Julia Roberts, John Malkovich and Glenn Close. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author in 1994.
277. MASON, Bobbie Ann. In Country. NY: Harper & Row (1985). Highly praised first novel about a young girl's search for her father, who died in Vietnam before she was born. Filmed by Norman Jewison, with Bruce Willis. Fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with scratches to the rear panel.
278. MATHESON, Richard. Hell House. NY: Viking (1971). A novel of a haunted house in Maine, by the author of Bid Time Return, among others. Matheson wrote the screenplay; the film was titled The Legend of Hell House. Trace residue front flyleaf, possibly from bookplate removal, but still fine in a fine dust jacket.
279. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. At Play in the Fields of the Lord. NY: Random House (1965). Advance reading copy of his fourth novel, which was nominated for the National Book Award and, nearly thirty years later, made into a fine film by Hector Babenco. A cautionary tale of various Americans with widely different aims having unintended effects on a tribe of stone age Amazonian Indians. Minor creasing to spine; else fine in wrappers.
280. -. Same title, the trade edition. This is a fine copy in a fine dust jacket with two tiny, closed edge tears on the rear panel. Probably the nicest copy we've ever seen of this book, which is notoriously difficult to find in fine condition.
281. (MATTHIESSEN, Peter). "The Young One." (n.p.): Olmec Productions [1961]. Seven copies of the screenplay for the Luis Buñuel film adapted from Matthiessen's short story "Travelin' Man." Four copies are in English; three are in Spanish, and one of the latter is signed by Buñuel and H.B. Addis, who co-wrote the screenplay. The various copies show minor variations in the text or stage directions, giving a glimpse of the work in progress. Buñuel, a Spanish avant garde filmmaker, wrote and directed such classics as Nazarín, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and That Obscure Object of Desire. His production of The Young One received a "Special Hommage" citation at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival. Together with a copy of Harper's Magazine (February, 1957), in which Matthiessen's story appears. A large notation to that effect is written across the front cover; otherwise all items are near fine or better. An extremely uncommon, possibly unique, archive of scripts for this significant film, and a Matthiessen rarity as well. For all:
282. McDONALD, Gregory. Running Scared. NY: Obolensky (1964). The first book by the author of the popular "Fletch" detective series. A thriller, filmed on the streets of Chicago with Billy Crystal, Gregory Hines and Jimmy Smits. Very good in a very good, rubbed dust jacket.
283. McGUANE, Thomas. The Sporting Club. NY: Simon & Schuster [1969]. His first book, which was made into a not-very-highly-praised movie in 1971. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author in Montana in the year of publication. A virtually perfect copy, without the ubiquitous remainder mark, and scarce with a contemporary signature.
284. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy. Tall, padbound wrappers, with glue strip spine. A very fragile format and the earliest state of his first book to have surfaced. Very few of these would have been done and, given the format, very few can have survived. Signed by the author. Rear cover unglued and detached, a common occurrence with padbound proofs, and the only flaw.
285. McGUANE, Thomas. Rancho Deluxe. NY: F.P. Films/E.K. Corp. (1974). An original screenplay by McGuane for this movie directed by Frank Perry. The cast of the film included Jeff Bridges, Sam Waterston, Elizabeth Ashley and Jimmy Buffet, who provided the soundtrack. This is a revised draft, with blue revised sheets inserted. 8 1/2" x 11" photocopied sheets in vinyl binder; near fine.
286. McGUANE, Thomas. The Missouri Breaks. Hollywood: EK Corp., 1975. An original screenplay by McGuane. This draft is dated June 20, 1975, but there are insertions from approximately a dozen later dates, going through at least August 25. Multicolored pages; 8 1/2" x 11"; claspbound. Arthur Penn directed a cast that included Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando. Fine.
287. McGUANE, Thomas. Nobody's Angel. Burbank: Warner Bros., 1982. First draft screenplay, dated July 1982, for this apparently unproduced adaption of McGuane's novel, which was published earlier in the year. 8 1/2" x 11" photocopied sheets; claspbound. Fine. Scarce.
288. -. Same title, the novel. (NY: Random House, 1982). The surprisingly uncommon hardcover edition of this novel of the contemporary West. Unlike McGuane's earlier books, this title was published simultaneously in a hardcover edition and a trade paperback. The paperback seems to have had a considerably larger printing and gotten much wider distribution. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
289. McGUANE, Thomas. Flying Colors. (NY): (International Creative Management) (n.d.). First draft screenplay, an unproduced Civil War tale about family and honor. 8 1/2" x 11" photocopied sheets; claspbound in ICM covers. Low quality copy; edge-rumpled covers; near fine.
290. McINERNEY, Jay. Bright Lights, Big City. NY: Vintage Contemporaries (1984). The uncorrected proof copy of his first book, published as a paperback original in the then-new Vintage Contemporaries series of literary reprints and originals. This proof reproduces compositor's notes and a few final (mostly typographical) changes to the text. In our experience, proof copies from the Vintage Contemporaries series are quite scarce: few seem to have been done. This novel launched the "Brat Pack" writers of the 1980s; the film starred Michael J. Fox and Kiefer Sutherland. Very near fine in wrappers.
291. -. Same title, the first edition. Read, cocked, minor stains; very good in wrappers. Together with a later printing; fine in wrappers and signed by the author. Also together with an invitation to a screening of the film in Boston on March 31, 1988. The invitation features a photo of Fox in the starring role.
292. -. Same title, the first British edition (London: Cape, 1985); also the first hardcover edition. Ownership signature of British novelist Iain Sinclair and penciled notations in his hand on the front pastedown; fine in a near fine dust jacket.
293. McMURTRY, Larry. The Last Picture Show. NY: Dial, 1966. His third novel, basis for the Academy Award-winning movie in 1971, which launched the Hollywood careers of Peter Bogdanovich and Cybill Shepherd, among others. Bogdanovich directed and, with McMurtry, wrote the script. Inscribed by the author. Foxing to top edge; else fine in a near fine, internally tape-strengthened dust jacket with a small stamp over the price on the front flap. Overall, a quite attractive copy.
294. McMURTRY, Larry. Terms of Endearment. NY: Simon & Schuster, 1975. Basis for the film that won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture; Best Director and Screenplay (both James L. Brooks); Actress and Supporting Actor (Shirley Maclaine and Jack Nicholson). Pages browned with age, although much less than is usual for this title; fine in a dust jacket that was once internally tape-strengthened on the spine, else fine.
295. -. Another copy. A review copy. Some staining to pages, boards and the inside of the dust jacket (and the review slip); overall good.
296. -. Same title, the first British edition (London: W.H. Allen, 1975). Faint sticker shadow front pastedown; fine in a fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
297. -. Another copy of the British edition. Faint sticker shadow front pastedown; fine in a near fine, internally foxed, price-clipped dust jacket.
298. McMURTRY, Larry. Somebody's Darling. NY: Simon & Schuster (1978). A Hollywood novel by an author who knows whereof he writes: numerous McMurtry books have been filmed, and he has written many screenplays, both produced and unproduced. This is a review copy, with an author photo laid in. Additionally, it is signed by McMurtry. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
299. -. Another copy. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
Unpublished Treatment for Award-Winning Novel & Mini-Series
300. McMURTRY, Larry. Lonesome Dove. Los Angeles: Motown Productions (n.d.). 28-page treatment for a film version of McMurtry's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Identifies and describes each of the major characters and many of the minor ones, and synopsizes the action of the novel/film. Photocopied sheets. On the front cover sheet is written in ink "Offer Sean Connery," in an unknown hand. There is one ink notation in the text, adjacent to the description of one of the characters. Lonesome Dove was ultimately made into an award-winning mini-series for television, starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones in what some have called the best television mini-series ever made. The treatment was never formally published nor, presumably, offered for public consumption. Rare; we have never seen, nor heard of, another one being offered.
301. McMURTRY, Larry. Texasville. NY: Simon & Schuster (1987). The uncorrected proof copy of the sequel to his novel, The Last Picture Show returning to the same locale some twenty years later; filmed, again by Bogdanovich, with much of the same cast. Fine in wrappers.
302. McMURTRY, Larry. Film Flam. NY: Simon & Schuster (1987). Essays on Hollywood by the noted novelist/screenwriter, adapted in part from his columns in American Film magazine. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
303. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy. Spotting to foredge; else fine in wrappers.
304. MICHAELS, Leonard. The Men's Club. NY: FSG (1981). His third book, first novel, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction. Michaels wrote the screenplay. Fine in a near fine dust jacket bumped at the spine base.
305. MICHENER, James. Space. NY: Random House (1982). The uncorrected proof copy of this massive novel of the history of NASA and the space industry. Filmed as a television mini-series. Water spots to front cover; scratches to rear cover; very good in wrappers.
306. MILLER, Sue. The Good Mother. NY: Harper & Row (1986). The advance reading copy of her first novel, made into a movie with Leonard Nimoy directing Diane Keaton. Fine in wrappers and inscribed by the author.
307. MILLER, Sue. Inventing the Abbotts and Other Stories. NY: Harper & Row (1987). Uncorrected proof copy of this collection, the title story of which was made into a well-received movie. Near fine in wrappers.
308. MISHIMA, Yukio. The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. NY: Knopf, 1965. The most famous book, at least in this country, by the preeminent postwar Japanese novelist; the fame in large part a result of the film with Kris Kristofferson. This is a fine copy in a jacket that is price-clipped, and rubbed along the front spine fold; but otherwise very near fine and unfaded. An exceptionally nice copy of a book that, because of its unlaminated dust jacket, is generally found showing much more wear.
309. MITCHELL, Margaret. Gone with the Wind. NY: Macmillan, 1936. Her first and only book, a tale of the decline of the Old South during the Civil War, as mirrored by the fortunes of Scarlett O'Hara. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, a runaway bestseller, and the basis for one of the most successful films ever made. This is the first issue, published in May, 1936, in the first issue dust jacket, which has Gone With the Wind in the second column of Macmillan's list of "Spring Novels." One the great success stories of twentieth century American writing: after a modest first printing of 10,000 copies, it was chosen as a Main Selection by the Book of the Month Club, which printed 50,000 copies, and it stayed on the bestseller lists for almost two years. Shortly after publication, David O. Selznick bought the film rights for $50,000 -- which was the highest price ever paid for a novel to that date -- and went on to make what many have called the greatest Hollywood film of all time, winner of the 1939 Academy Award for Best Picture (and seven other Oscars) and number 4 on the American Film Institute's list of Films of the Century. When Gone With the Wind showed on television for the first time, in 1976, it was the highest rated television program of all time. The book has sold more than 20,000,000 copies since it was first published. This copy has an owner name but is otherwise a fine copy in a fair, edge-chipped dust jacket that is torn to nearly the point of separation along three folds.
310. MITCHELL, Margaret. Typed Letter Signed. December 17, 1946. Four cordial paragraphs addressed to an acquaintance in Texas. On weather: "It's so hot here I haven't yet put on a fall coat, and the roses have bloomed till their tongues are hanging out from exhaustion." On lines at the Post Office: "...so many people outside that it looked like a nylon sale was going on. Everyone in the Post Office was white with fatigue." On career choices: "I hope Son finds not only a good job but one that is satisfying and has a future in it." Folded in thirds for mailing, with typed mailing envelope included. Trace darkening at the folds; else fine. Signed, Margaret Mitchell Marsh. Mitchell, the author of the bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Gone With the Wind, died after being struck by an automobile in 1949. Autograph material by her is quite scarce.
311. MOODY, Rick. The Ice Storm. Boston: Little Brown (1994). The advance reading copy of his second book, made into a film by Ang Lee that won an award at Cannes, for best screenplay adaptation from a novel, and was the only American film to be honored at Cannes that year. Fine in wrappers.
312. -. Same title, the trade edition. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
313. MORRELL, David. First Blood. NY: Evans (1972). The author's first book, a well-written adventure novel of a Vietnam vet, which introduced the "Rambo" character into American culture a decade before Sylvester Stalone assumed the role. Small stain to foredge; pencil notations on rear blank and marginal markings in text; thus only very good in a near fine dust jacket.
314. MOSLEY, Walter. Devil in a Blue Dress. NY: Norton (1990). The first book in the highly praised Easy Rawlins mystery series -- one of the few detective series by an African-American writer and featuring an African-American detective, played in the film by Denzel Washington. Nominated for an Edgar Award for Best First Mystery of the year. Fine in a fine, first issue dust jacket ($18.95 price) and signed by the author.
315. MURDOCH, Iris and PRIESTLY, J.B. A Severed Head. London: Chatto & Windus (1964). The play version of Murdoch's 1961 novel, filmed in 1971 with Lee Remick and Richard Attenborough. Slight bowing to boards; else fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with two tiny nicks at the rear spine fold.