Nature Writing, M
282. -. Same title, a later printing of the reissue of the title story. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (1989). This edition has wood engravings by Barry Moser, and is photo-offset from the Pennyroyal Press edition where the illustrations first appeared. Signed by Moser. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
283. MALOUF, David. Remembering Babylon. NY: Pantheon (1993). Advance reading copy of a major novel by this Australian author about the conflicting myths that underlie Australian history -- the Western and Aboriginal views of the land. Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers and publisher's cardstock slipcase. Short-listed for the Booker Prize; winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the NSW Premier's Literary Award.
284. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy. Near fine in wrappers.
285. MASTERS, Edgar Lee. Invisible Landscapes. NY: Macmillan, 1935. Poetry, a collection that is thematically centered on the natural world, by the author of Spoon River Anthology, which was one of the great poetic evocations of a particular place in 20th century American writing. These poems, focused on nature, attempt to use a similar free verse style to convey a sense of location in the world of nature. Near fine in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket that is spine-tanned and dusty, but intact.
286. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Wildlife in America. NY: Viking, 1959. Matthiessen's first book of nonfiction, a survey of the effect of the Europeans on the fauna of North America and a classic in the field of conservation literature. Shortly after publication, the publisher reported that President John F. Kennedy had added the book to the White House's permanent library. Matthiessen was one of the first primarily "literary" authors -- he had published two "promising" novels prior to this, as well as being a co-founder of the Paris Review -- to devote his energy to writing about ecological issues, eventually incorporating them and the political questions that they raise into his fiction in a way that set the stage for the generation of socially conscious writers to come. His interest in non-Western ways of perception and knowing -- drawn from tribal traditions as well as from the mystical heritage of the East -- combined with his social concerns to raise the standard for serious, environmentally conscious writers of fiction and other literature. Fading to top edge stain, otherwise near fine in a very good, modestly edgeworn and spine-faded dust jacket. A nice copy of a landmark book.
287. -. Same title, the revised reissue. NY: Viking (1987). Updated and expanded, with much new information, including a chronology of conservation efforts made over the past quarter century, and a bibliography. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
288. -. Another copy. Fine in a fine dust jacket, and signed by the author.
289. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. The Cloud Forest. NY: Viking, 1961. A chronicle of a trip through the Amazon wilderness, Matthiessen's second book of nonfiction and the first of his numerous personal accounts of travel and exploration, with which he has carved out a unique position in our literature. This copy is inscribed by the author to the designer of the dust jacket: "For Jean Zallinger/ with best wishes/ and many thanks/ for a fine jacket." A fine copy in a very good, sunned dust jacket with rubbing to the spine and folds.
290. -. Another copy. Signed by the author. Tape shadows front endpages and a light, narrow stain running from the top edge down the foredge; very good in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket rubbed at the edges and the folds.
291. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Under the Mountain Wall. NY: Viking (1962). His third book of nonfiction, recounting the Harvard-Peabody Expedition to New Guinea to study one of the last "stone age" tribes on the planet, which had been entirely free from contact with Westerners or the artifacts of industrial society. This is the second issue, but the first published edition: virtually all copies of the first issue were withdrawn by the publisher prior to publication as the photo pages were in the wrong place and contrary to the Table of Contents. We have only ever seen three copies of that first issue: nearly all copies were sold to a book club, which tipped in a replacement contents page. This copy, the published, corrected issue, has some light foxing but is otherwise fine, in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket rubbed along the black folds and with some scratches to the rear panel but without chips or edge tears. Signed by the author.
292. -. Same title, the Book Club edition, which, as explained above, consists of the publisher's first state sheets with a corrected Contents page tipped in. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with some rubbing to the spine. Signed by the author.
293. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. The Shorebirds of North America. NY: Viking (1967). Large folio edited by Gardner Stout and illustrated by Robert Verity Clem, with text by Matthiessen. A landmark volume, considered the standard book in the field. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication to the artist Sheridan Lord, Matthiessen's college roommate. Upper front corner of cloth lightly damp-stained, still near fine in an internally tape-repaired but still very good, price-clipped dust jacket. A wonderful association: signed copies of this massive volume are uncommon, and significant association copies are virtually never seen.
294. -. Another copy. Very slight edge-sunning to cloth; else fine in a near fine dust jacket with trace rubbing at the spine and upper edges. One of the nicest copies of this title we've ever seen.
295. -. Another copy. Owner's anniversary gift inscription on half-title and a small amount of foxing to the upper page edges, otherwise a fine copy in a very good, sunned dust jacket with a couple edge tears. An attractive copy of a title that, because of its size, most often shows up in worn condition.
296. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Oomingmak. NY: Hastings House (1967). An unusual, small volume, written for young people, perhaps for use in schools; an account of an expedition to an island in the Bering Sea inhabited by musk oxen. Illustrated with Matthiessen's photographs. Fine in a near fine dust jacket and signed by the author. A very nice copy of a somewhat uncommon book which, because of its unlaminated dust jacket, is seldom found in such nice condition.
297. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Blue Meridian. The Search for the Great White Shark. NY: Random House (1971). A nonfiction account of an expedition in search of the Great White Shark, for a television documentary, illustrated with color photographs from the film production. Owner name on flyleaf; a near fine copy in a very good dust jacket worn at the top edge and with the lamination peeling there, a fairly common flaw with this book. Surprisingly uncommon: it was reprinted several times, but most copies that turn up tend to be fourth printings, suggesting that its publisher may have doubted that there would be a wide market for it, and only later, after repeated trips to press, became convinced.
298. -. Another copy. Signed by the author. Trace fading to the cloth at the spine crown; else fine in a near fine dust jacket, with one tear at spine crown and minimal wear at the extremities.
299. -. Same title, first U.K. edition. London: Harvill (1995). The illustrations in this edition are in black and white. Fine in dust jacket and signed by the author.
300. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. The Tree Where Man Was Born. NY: Dutton, 1972. Large quarto, nonfiction about Africa, with text by Matthiessen and photographs by Eliot Porter (whose contribution to the book is given its own, separate title The African Experience). The correct first edition, in brown cloth; a fine copy in a fine, second issue dust jacket with a price only at the lower corner of the front flap. The earliest dust jackets had both the $17.50 price at the lower corner and a $14.95 price, only good until Christmas, 1972, in the upper right corner of the front flap (the book was published in October). Signed by Matthiessen. A very nice copy of a book that, because of its size, is most often found moderately worn.
301. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. The Wind Birds. NY: Viking (1973). Small quarto, reprinting the text of Matthiessen's classic Shorebirds of North America, with a new set of illustrations and a smaller format than that book. Inscribed by the author in 1976 on the front flyleaf, beneath the owner's signed bookplate. Trace edge-sunning to boards; else fine in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket.
302. -. Another copy, also signed by the author. A bit of foxing to the endpapers; near fine in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket which is internally and externally tape-strengthened at the spine extremities.
303. -. Another copy, unsigned. Trace edge sunning to spine cloth; fine in jacket with a few edge nicks.
304. -. Another copy. Long remainder stripe lower page edges; else fine in a very good dust jacket with a long but closed edge tear.
305. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Far Tortuga. NY: Random House (1975). An unusual novel, almost an extended prose poem, that is, in part, an elegy to the turtle fishermen of the Grand Cayman islands, written in their dialect. Matthiessen at one time ran a fishing boat off the coast of Long Island, and his affinity for the sea shows through repeatedly in his books -- in this book, Raditzer, the books on shore birds, and later, Men's Lives. Signed by the author. Small gift inscription on front flyleaf and bookseller label on verso of flyleaf; trace sunning to spine cloth; else fine in a fine, price-clipped dust jacket. A very nice copy.
306. -. Another copy. Signed by the author. Owner name on the verso of the front flyleaf, dampstaining to spine cloth and verso of dust jacket; overall very good in a near fine jacket.
307. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. The Snow Leopard. NY: Viking (1978). His National Book Award-winning volume, recounting a trip to the Himalayas with naturalist George Schaller in the hopes both of encountering a snow leopard in the wild and of coming to terms with his wife's recent death from cancer. Fine in a fine dust jacket, and very scarce thus: most copies of this title that turn up are well-worn, which is something of a mystery, as it is a well-made book in a laminated dust jacket -- the kind that are usually not especially susceptible to wear. In the case of this title, however, it may simply be that most people who bought first editions actually read them, and the books almost always show it. In any case, an extremely nice copy of this award-winning book. Named Salon Magazine's top travel book of the century; one of Matthiessen's key titles.
308. -. Another copy. Signed by the author. Fine in a very good dust jacket with a small chip at the lower outer front corner.
309. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy. An important state, bibliographically, as the first third of this book changed markedly between the proof and the published text, and there were smaller changes throughout. Some notes on the rear cover and some rippling to the covers. Very good, and signed by the author.
310. -. Same title. The limited edition issued by the trade publisher. One of 199 copies, bound in coarse blue cloth stamped in silver, different from the trade binding, in publisher's printed acetate jacket. A fine copy of this title's scarcest issue, which was never released commercially but distributed only to friends of the author and publisher. Although not called for, this copy is signed by Matthiessen.
311. -. Same title, the true first edition. Franklin Center: Franklin Library, 1978. Leatherbound, all edges gilt, with a silk ribbon marker bound in. With a special introduction by the author for this edition. Although not called for, this copy is signed by Matthiessen. Edge gilt flaking; else fine.
312. -. Same title, the first British edition. London: Chatto & Windus, 1979. Signed by the author. One very slight corner bump; else fine in a near fine, spine-faded and price-clipped dust jacket.
313. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Sand Rivers. NY: Viking (1981). Quarto, with text by Matthiessen and photographs by Hugo van Lawick. A recounting of a safari into the Selous Game Reserve in southern Tanzania, with a portrait of the land and the people who have shaped it. Winner of the John Burroughs Medal. Fine in a fine dust jacket. With photographs by Hugo van Lawick. Signed by the author.
314. -. Another copy. Fine in a near fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
315. -. Another copy, unsigned. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
316. -. Another copy. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
317. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy, which reproduces only Matthiessen's text, without Van Lawick's photographs. Publication information taped to and detaching from front cover; short edge tear at upper spine fold; still quite near fine in wrappers. Signed by the author.
318. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Indian Country. NY: Viking (1984). A collection of essays on various issues related to American Indians, especially those issues having to do with the culture clash between corporations looking to exploit natural resources and tribes asserting their rights to control their land and its uses, while retaining a connection to the traditions by which they lived in harmony with their environment and held the land sacred. According to published reports at the time, it was during the course of researching this book that Matthiessen came upon the story that evolved into In The Spirit of Crazy Horse, which effectively sidelined this work for several years. While the scarcity of Crazy Horse has been well known for some time because of its effective suppression, it has recently become clear that this book is also quite scarce: it doubtless had a smaller first printing than did Crazy Horse, and copies have become hard to find in the past few years. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
319. -. Another copy, unsigned. Very slightly bumped at crown; else fine in a near fine jacket.
320. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Men's Lives. The Surfmen and Paymen of the South Fork. NY: Random House (1986). A volume about the fishermen of eastern Long Island and a way of life that, in the late stages of the 20th century, appeared to be irretrievably dying away. Matthiessen has spent much of his life on eastern Long Island, and once ran a charter fishing boat off the island in addition to having worked for three years with commercial fishermen, so this sympathetic portrait is written from the perspective of one who, at least for period of a time, shared the life described. Quarto, heavily illustrated with photographs, both historical and contemporary. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
321. -. Same title, the first British edition. London: Collins Harvill, 1988. Prints the text but not the photographs of the original. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
322. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Nine-Headed Dragon River. London: Collins Harvill, 1986. The first British edition of a book of Zen journals spanning the years 1969-1982. Matthiessen began studying Zen in the Sixties and has since become an ordained Zen priest. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
323. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Killing Mr. Watson. NY: Random House (1990). A highly acclaimed novel, the first of a trilogy, set in south Florida at the turn of the last century, and based on a historical incident in which a group of individuals conspired to kill a prominent local resident and then cover up the responsibility for the deed. With its elements of class and race conflict, and the implications of development and exploitation of a fragile ecosystem, this novel touches on many of the themes that have run through Matthiessen's writings over the years. Signed by the author. Glue marks on pastedowns; near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
324. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. African Silences. NY: Random House (1991). A collection of nonfiction, recounting aspects of his numerous trips to Africa over the years. Fine in a fine dust jacket, and signed by the author.
325. MATTHIESSEN, Peter and FRANK, Mary. Shadows of Africa. New York: Harry N. Abrams (1992). Oblong quarto of paintings of African wildlife by Frank with text by Matthiessen, some of which is taken from previous books. Attractively illustrated in both black and white and color. Signed by Matthiessen. Fine in a fine dust jacket. A beautiful book.
326. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Baikal. Sacred Sea of Siberia. San Francisco: Sierra Club (1992). Stunning photographs by Boyd Norton of huge Lake Baikal in Siberia, which contains one-fifth of all the fresh water on earth and which has been threatened in recent years by acid rain and industrial pollution. Introduction by poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko, with text by Matthiessen, who visited Baikal at the invitation of musician Paul Winter in hopes of stirring a response that would help save the lake, a precious and irreplaceable natural resource. Small oblong quarto. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by Matthiessen.
327. -. Same title, the first British edition. (London): Thames & Hudson (1992). Fine in a fine dust jacket, and signed by Matthiessen.
328. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. "The poorest of the poor -- by far -- are the Indian people..." Berkeley: Black Oak/Okeanos Press, 1992. A broadside excerpt from In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, measuring 8" x 17", and printed in an edition of 150 copies, to benefit the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee. Fine.
329. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. East of Lo Monthang. Boston: Shambala, 1995. A beautiful book of photographs of the Himalayan Kingdom of Lo, a part of Nepal on the border of Tibet. Text by Matthiessen and photographs by Thomas Laird. Signed by Matthiessen and Laird. Quarto; fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a surface scratch to the rear panel.
330. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Lost Man's River. NY: Random House (1997). The uncorrected proof copy of the second novel in the trilogy that began with Killing Mr. Watson, based on a series of events in Florida at the turn of the last century and using the novel form to explore the settling and development of that frontier, with an awareness of the ecological implications of that development. This proof contains textual differences from the published version. The rear cover has a long, nearly imperceptible vertical crease; else fine in wrappers and signed by the author on the front cover.
331. -. Another copy, unsigned. Fine in wrappers.
332. -. Same title, the trade edition. Fine in dust jacket, and signed by the author.
333. MATTHIESSEN, Peter. Bone by Bone. NY: Random House (1999). The concluding volume in the trilogy -- which comprises one of the great achievements of what could be characterized as ecological fiction in American literature, i.e., fiction that propels its storyline in part by virtue of the character of its locale, and at the same time explains the changes in the locale by virtue of the story being told -- in this case the development of the Florida wilderness and its transformation from tropical forest to agricultural monoculture. No mere political tract, the trilogy is also a compelling human drama of ambition, culture clash, hubris and ultimately the ambiguous nature of human accomplishment. Fine in a fine dust jacket, and signed by the author.
334. (MATTHIESSEN, Peter). "The Atlantic Coast" in The American Heritage Book of Natural Wonders. NY: Simon & Schuster (1963). Matthiessen's contribution is one of eight geographically-defined chapters. Other authors include Bruce Catton, Wallace Stegner, Paul Engle, Jan de Hartog and William O. Douglas. There were two issues: one regular edition, issued in dust jacket, and this "deluxe" edition, specially bound in a heavy buckram and issued in a slipcase, which was only available to subscribers of American Heritage magazine. A fine copy in a near fine pictorial slipcase. With publisher's prospectus and original (prepublication) order card laid in.
335. -. Same title, the regular edition, which was also issued to the retail book trade. Owner name, bowing to boards; very good in a very good dust jacket rubbed at the edges and folds.
336. (MATTHIESSEN, Peter). NICHOLAS, D. Peter Matthiessen: A Bibliography: 1951-1979. Canoga Park: Orirana Press (1979). The first and, to date, only bibliography of Matthiessen's writings, covering the first 28 years of his writing career. One of 2000 copies. Although not called for, this copy is signed by Matthiessen and Nicholas. Fine, without dust jacket, as issued.
337. (MATTHIESSEN, Peter). MOORE, Tui De Roy. Galapagos. NY: Viking (1980). Photographs and text by Moore, introduced by and signed by Matthiessen. Matthiessen's introduction explains that he first met Moore on a trip to the Galapagos in 1973 for Audubon magazine and, when the Audubon photographer was unable to get pictures of the islands' famous giant tortoises, and Matthiessen's own attempts also failed, he was introduced to Moore, then a young woman 19 years of age living with her family in the islands. Both Matthiessen and the Audubon editor/photographer were stunned by the quality of her work, and a few months later one of her photographs was on the cover of the magazine. This volume consists of photographs done by Moore in the years since 1973, and her text, which is informed by her long familiarity with the islands and her close observation of both the wildlife and the natural forces at work on the island -- ocean, wind, volcanic eruptions. Quarto. Creasing to flyleaf; else fine in near fine, spine-faded jacket with one edge tear.
338. (MATTHIESSEN, Peter). DOWIE, William. Peter Matthiessen. Boston: Twayne Publishers (1991). A critical study of Matthiessen's work in the Twayne United States Authors Series, the first full-length critical study of his writing. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by Peter Matthiessen.
339. McCARTHY, Cormac. Blood Meridian. NY: Random House (1985). His fifth book, a powerful novel of the Old West, based on an actual series of events in 1849-1850 in Texas and Mexico, and rendered with an eye to bringing to life the surreal violence of the time and place. In this, and in McCarthy's other fiction -- especially those novels set in the West -- the land is a presence that helps shape his characters' lives and the range of their actions. A bit of spotting to the page edges; else fine in a near fine dust jacket with several edge nicks and one short tear. An uncommon book: before the success of All the Pretty Horses -- which made McCarthy a literary celebrity and something of a household name -- the combined sales of his previous five novels had totalled less than 15,000 copies in hardcover; this book sold 1883 copies, the rest of the first printing being sold as remainders. Since winning the National Book Award, first printings of McCarthy's books have numbered 100,000 copies or more.
340. McCARTHY, Cormac. All the Pretty Horses. NY: Knopf, 1992. The uncorrected proof copy of the first volume of the Border Trilogy, a landmark novel that won both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award and propelled its author to "instant" literary celebrity -- after nearly three decades of writing well-received literary novels in relative obscurity. All the Pretty Horses sold ten times as many copies in hardcover as all five of his previous novels combined. This is the final state of the proof, with "A Border Trilogy" changed to "The Border Trilogy" in type. Fine in wrappers.
341. -. Same title, the advance reading copy. Issued in wrappers and publisher's folding box, sent out in advance of publication to promote the book and signed by the author. Rumor has it that approximately 400 were to be done but the author quit after about 200 and declined to do more. McCarthy has a reputation as, if not exactly a recluse, one who prizes his independence and privacy, and books signed by him are uncommon. Fine in the folding box.
342. -. Same title, the U.K. edition (London: Pan, 1992). Near fine in jacket.
343. McCARTHY, Cormac. The Crossing. NY: Knopf, 1994. The uncorrected proof copy of his seventh novel, the sequel to his award-winning All the Pretty Horses and the second novel in the "The Border Trilogy." Fine in wrappers.
344. McCARTHY, Cormac. Cities of the Plain. New Orleans: B.E. Trice (1998). The limited edition of the third book in the Border Trilogy. One of 300 numbered copies, quarterbound in leather and signed by the author. This is the smallest limitation of any of McCarthy's books (aside from the sold-out deluxe issue of this title). Fine in a fine slipcase.
345. -. Same title, an advance reading copy of the British edition (London: Picador, 1998), with a photograph of the author on the front cover that differs from the dust jacket art used for the published book. Fine in wrappers.
346. McGUANE, Thomas. Live Water. (Stone Harbor): Meadow Run Press (1996). Essays and tales of angling, by one of the most respected American novelists. This is one of 1500 copies, clothbound in slipcase, issued without dust jacket. Although not called for, this copy is signed by the author. Fine in a fine slipcase.
347. -. Same title, the deluxe edition, in a larger format. One of only 67 numbered copies, signed by the author and the artist, John Swan. Quarterbound in blue leather and linen boards; fine in a fine clamshell box. An attractive, elegantly printed and bound volume.
348. McNAMEE, Gregory. Gila. The Life and Death of an American River. NY: Orion Books (1994). A cautionary tale about the death of the Gila River, once one of the great rivers of the American Southwest, and now essentially dead for over half of its 600-mile course, as a result of damming, poor agricultural practices and other human factors. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
349. McPHEE, John. Oranges. NY: FSG (1967). McPhee's third book, an infinitely fascinating and entertaining study of oranges in history, biology and culture. McPhee has been credited with being one of the foremost "literary journalists" practicing today -- indeed, with helping to create the genre -- and his subjects are often rooted firmly in the natural world. With a reporting style in which the narrator is seldom visible, and almost never a "participant" in the story, McPhee differs markedly from many of the literary naturalists writing today -- opting to let his choice of topics, and the individuals whom he chooses to interview for their perspectives, define the political, social and moral implications of the subject. In plain but nonetheless elegant prose, McPhee consistently reveals wonders of the world that would otherwise remain completely unknown to the general reader. Near fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
350. McPHEE, John. The Pine Barrens. NY: FSG (1968). His fourth book, one of his scarcest, and a classic of this kind of reporting: McPhee covers history, natural history, and biography, and in so doing reveals in depth a previously all-but-hidden corner of the world, a wilderness in the heart of the eastern Boston-Richmond megalopolis that occupies one-quarter of the state of New Jersey and is as large as Grand Canyon National Park. Light offsetting to endpapers, one very slight corner bump; very near fine in a near fine dust jacket creased on the front flap.
351. McPHEE, John. Encounters with the Archdruid. NY: FSG (1971). Three essays in which McPhee orchestrates a dialogue/confrontation between "archdruid" David Brower -- a former head of the Sierra Club and founder of the more radical environmental group, Friends of the Earth -- and several advocates of development and the responsible exploitation of the earth's resources. An engaging look at a complex subject, rendered accessible through McPhee's luminous prose and his choice of articulate subjects. Signed by the author. Foxing to top edge; else fine in a very good dust jacket with several edge tears, modest spine- and edge-sunning, and a faint coffee ring on the brown front panel.
352. -. Another copy, unsigned. Fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with a bit of wear at the spine base and rubbing to the spine lettering.
353. McPHEE, John. The Curve of Binding Energy. NY: FSG (1974). A lengthy profile of Theodore Taylor, a nuclear physicist who spent years working on an eventually-aborted project to develop a spaceship powered by exploding atomic bombs. In later years he became an expert in preventing the "diversion" of nuclear materials to help limit nuclear proliferation. McPhee's explication of the concepts of nuclear physics necessary to tell this story is remarkable. Splaying to boards, light foredge foxing; very good in a very good dust jacket.
354. McPHEE, John. The Survival of the Bark Canoe. NY: FSG (1976). A portrait of a New Hampshire man who makes birch bark canoes in the same manner that the American Indians did prior to the arrival of Europeans on this continent -- using the same materials and tools -- and also an account of a 150-mile canoe trip in Maine in one of the vessels, reminiscent of Thoreau's accounts in The Maine Woods. This is a near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with several very small resin-like adherents on the back panel and spine. One of his more uncommon titles.
355. -. Another copy. Splaying to boards; near fine in a dust jacket that is spine-tanned, and has one edge tear and two dark cup rings on the cover, thus only good.
356. McPHEE, John. Coming Into the Country. NY: FSG (1977). Three pieces on Alaska that were first published in The New Yorker. A modest bestseller and a Book of the Month Club Main Selection, this is the book by which McPhee went from being a relatively unknown staff writer for The New Yorker -- in general someone less famous than the subjects he profiled -- to being virtually a household name, at least among literary cognoscenti. McPhee's lucid, transparent style has come to define a particular era for The New Yorker much as Thurber's and E. B. White's did for an earlier time. After the response to this book, Farrar Straus brought all his earlier books back into print, even reprinting hardcover editions in some cases. Very near fine in a very near fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
357. McPHEE, John. Table of Contents. NY: FSG (1985). A collection of pieces from The New Yorker, including articles on the arrival of telephones in a remote Alaskan village and on the appearance of wild bears in sizable numbers in suburban New Jersey. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
358. -. Another copy. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
359. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy. Dampening to lower edges, with the color bleeding onto one preliminary page; thus only very good.
360. -. Same title, the limited edition. One of 150 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in slipcase.
361. McPHEE, John. Rising From the Plains. NY; FSG (1986). The uncorrected proof copy of the third of McPhee's geology books. This was later incorporated into the compendium of his geological writings, published as Annals of the Former World, which won the Pulitzer Prize. Pencil date on first page (three months prior to publication). A few spots to covers, front panel half-sunned; thus very good in wrappers. Signed by the author. Books signed by McPhee are relatively uncommon, and proofs especially so.
362. McPHEE, John. The Control of Nature. NY: FSG (1989). Three long essays linked by their each reflecting some aspect of man's struggle to control nature. Winner of the John Burroughs Medal. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
363. MERTON, Thomas. No Man is an Island. NY: Harcourt Brace (1955). Reflections on the spiritual life by this Trappist monk, whose writings helped map the intersection of Western and Eastern thought and a vision of man's place in the world that can embrace both. Top stain and board edges faded; near fine in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket with modest wear at the spine extremities.
364. MERTON, Thomas and LAUGHLIN, James. Selected Letters. NY: Norton (1997). The uncorrected proof copy of this selection of correspondence between Merton and his longtime publisher, the founder of New Directions Press, spanning nearly thirty years. Near fine in wrappers.
365. MERTON, Thomas and MILOSZ, Czeslaw. Striving Toward Being. The Letters of Thomas Merton and Czeslaw Milosz. NY: FSG (1996). Letters between the Trappist monk and the Nobel Prize-winning poet and novelist over the last ten years of Merton's life. This is an uncorrected proof copy. Fine in wrappers with publisher's promotional sheet laid in.
366. MOMADAY, N. Scott. The Way to Rainy Mountain. (Albuquerque): University of New Mexico (1969). The second regularly published book by the author of House Made of Dawn, which was the first book written by a Native American author to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. This is an account of the Kiowa tribe's history and migration to the land it presently occupies; in part a celebration of the beauty of the land and an elegy to a lost way of life. Illustrated by his father, Al Momaday. Signed by the author. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket.
367. -. Another copy, unsigned. Fine in a fine dust jacket. A beautiful copy.
368. MOSHER, Howard Frank. North Country. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1997. The first book of nonfiction by the author of Where the Rivers Flow North and A Stranger in the Kingdom; this is an account of a cross-country trip along the U.S.-Canadian border. Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
369. MOWAT, Farley. Never Cry Wolf. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart (1963). The true first edition of what is perhaps the author's most well-known book, an autobiographical account that was made into a highly praised film. Near fine in two radically different dust jackets, one near fine and one very good. A scarce book by an important writer, whose concerns with ecology and the natural world predated much of the current environmental movement and, by virtue of the books' popularity, helped to foster it.
370. -. Another copy. Near fine in one very good, orange dust jacket.
371. MOWAT, Farley. A Whale for the Killing. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart (1972). A review copy of the true first edition of this moving book about a whale slaughtered for sport by the residents of a Canadian fishing village. An important book that helped fuel the movement, in the early 1970s, to protect whales, to raise the general level of consciousness of whales' intelligence and capacities for communication, and to limit the practice of commercial whaling. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with minor edgewear.
372. MUIR, John. Our National Parks. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin (1901). Later printing of a collection of pieces that first appeared in The Atlantic. Muir, who founded the Sierra Club and was instrumental in getting Yosemite Valley made into a National Park, was one of the earliest and most influential environmentalists in America. Where others, such as Emerson and Thoreau, had advocated living in harmony with, and learning from, nature, Muir went further, becoming an outspoken advocate for the natural world, working with five Presidents to expand the fledgling National Park System. It was after reading this book that Teddy Roosevelt met with Muir and went camping in Yosemite, after which he embarked on a preservation campaign resulting in the establishment of 148 million acres of National Forest, 5 National Parks and 23 National Monuments during his term. Muir himself was directly involved in the establishment of Sequoia, Mount Rainier, Petrified Forest and Grand Canyon National Parks. Foxing on the pages surrounding the plates; spine cloth sunned; very good, without dust jacket.
373. MUIR, John. My First Summer in the Sierra. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1911. Illustrated with drawings made by Muir in 1869 and with photographs by Herbert Gleason. Dedicated to the Sierra Club of California. This is an ex-library copy, but marked only by a bookplate on the front pastedown and the strip of something once tipped to the front flyleaf. Light wear to the cloth edges; near fine in dust jacket. An attractive copy of this account of the beginnings of Muir's love affair with the West.
374. MUIR, John. A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1916. Posthumously published account of Muir's first journey into the world of nature. Muir had been working in a factory after the end of the Civil War when he suffered an eye injury that caused him to go completely blind. Regaining his sight some months later, he resolved to take advantage of this new opportunity to see the sights of the natural world and embarked on a thousand-mile walk from Indianapolis to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, from which point he departed for California, arriving in San Francisco in 1868. The rest, as they say, is history. Owner name, a couple shadows to the rear free endpaper; otherwise a very fine, bright copy, lacking the dust jacket.