E-list # 122

NY, Viking, (1973). His landmark third novel, winner of the National Book Award as well as the William Dean Howells Medal for the best work of fiction by an American over a five-year span. Gravity's Rainbow became the benchmark for postmodern American fiction upon publication and secured its mysterious and reclusive author's place in the postwar American literary pantheon. A fine copy in a very near fine dust jacket with two tiny spots of rubbing to the rear spine fold. The hardcover first printing of this title was only 4000 copies. [#023299] SOLD

NY, Henry Holt, (1997). The uncorrected proof copy in plain blue wrappers (not to be confused with the more common advance reading copy in beige wrappers). This is the second issue uncorrected proof, distinguished from the first issue by virtue of a tipped-in title page that adds the ampersand between "Mason" and "Dixon" that was missing in the first issue. Small bookplate of Ray Roberts, Pynchon's editor, inside front cover. The critic Harold Bloom named Mason & Dixon as his choice for the "single work of sublime fiction from the last century." Fine in wrappers. [#028528] SOLD

Boston, Little Brown, (1984). One of two leatherbound copies prepared by the publisher, one of which went to Pynchon; this one belonged to Pynchon's editor, Ray Roberts. Small bookplate of Ray Roberts on the pastedown, and a letterhead note card identifying the issue laid in. Fine. This collection of stories featured a new introduction by Pynchon. [#028516] SOLD

London, Cape, (1967). The first British edition of his second novel, winner of the Rosenthal Award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, and the most overtly political, and paranoid, of Pynchon's novels. Chosen by David Pringle as one of the hundred best novels of Modern Fantasy. For some reason, this seems to be the scarcest of the British editions of Pynchon's books. Foxing to page edges and a couple tiny spots to spine cloth; near fine in a near fine dust jacket with trace foxing on verso and dust soiling on the rear flap at the top and bottom edges and along the fold. [#914675] SOLD

Philadelphia, Lippincott, (1963). His first book, winner of the Faulkner Foundation Award for best first novel of the year and the debut of one of the towering American writers of the postwar era. Slight edge-sunning and a small spot to top stain; a near fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with minor edge wear and some fading to the gold on the lower spine, as is usual with this jacket. [#016390] SOLD

Philadelphia, Lippincott, (1963). The advance reading copy of his first book, winner of the Faulkner Foundation Award for best first novel of the year. With elaborate inventiveness, labyrinthine plots and a sometimes paranoid comic sense, Pynchon became the postmodern standard against whom all writers since have been measured. Each of his first three novels won one or more of the major literary awards given out in this country. Some cover creasing; spine creased from binder's glue and somewhat sunned; a very good copy in wrappers. [#024611] SOLD

Edinburgh, Polygon, (1986). His first book, a dark novel that is set in Fife, the region of Scotland where the author was born and grew up. Signed by the author on the title page, with a sketch of a gallows and hanged man. This is the hardcover issue, of which there were reportedly only 300 copies printed; after being turned down for publication by several publishers the novel was published by Polygon, a student-run press at Edinburgh University. Fine in a fine dust jacket. A beautiful copy of a scarce first book. [#028015] SOLD

A Tiffany & Co. silver pen with Raphaelson's engraved initials. With the original Tiffany pouch and box, on which is written "Samson Raphaelson's pen" in the hand of Raphaelson's widow, Dorshka. Provenance: the estate of Pauline Kael. Together with a letter from Dorshka Raphaelson to Kael, in 1984, transmitting to her an afghan (not now present) in which "Rafe often dozed, pen in hand, sitting up on his bed, wrapped in his afghan, writing." Bit of tarnish to the pen and foxing to the box; near fine. Raphaelson wrote the 1925 play The Jazz Singer, based on his 1920 story, "The Day of Atonement." Although he did not write the screenplay for The Jazz Singer, he did have a long and successful film career, most notably writing the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's 1941 film Suspicion. [#031747] SOLD

NY, Grove Press, (1955). Poetry, issued in a lettered edition of 26 copies and a numbered edition of 250 copies: this is a presentation copy (designated as "s.c. 3 for Nancy"), signed by the author and, as with the lettered issue, with an original drawing by Irene Rice Pereira, the author's wife, signed by the artist as frontispiece. It can be assumed that the presentation copies ("s.c" -- "special copy"?) were even more limited than the lettered copies, as is almost always the case in the issuance of limited editions such as this. A fine copy in a professionally restored dust jacket. Laid in is an autograph holiday card addressed to Nancy and her partner and signed by Reavey for himself and Irene, with an image by Pereira from the collection of the Whitney Museum. A significant volume, with an original work of art by a distinguished American abstract artist: Pereira's work is in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Art, the National Museum of American Art, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts, among many others. [#014615] $1,250
On Sale: $938

1988. Rice's own "bible-script" for a film "based on material in the novels Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat and The Queen of the Damned." Apparently named for the protagonist of all three novels rather than the title of the series' second book. Precedes the release of the film Interview with the Vampire (for which Rice wrote the screenplay) by six years. Development of a new version of The Vampire Lestat followed the success of that first film, but went nowhere and the film rights reverted to the author. A film of The Queen of the Damned followed in 2002, for which Rice did not write the screenplay and which contained many elements of The Vampire Lestat: neither Rice nor the critics approved of the sequel. This "bible-script" of Rice's seems destined to remain the series' missing link. Included here, in addition to Rice's 185 page script, are her list of "main characters, with notes on appearance" (2 pages); her 12-page treatment of a Queen of the Damned film; and one page on the "virtually endless" possibilities for more films (probably correct, as the 13th book in the series was published in 2018). Three hole-punched; mechanically reproduced sheets bound with two brads; title and date written on spine. Printed on rectos only with the header changing from "Rice/Vampires" to "Vampire/Rice" to "Vampire Chronicles." Small tears to the last page at the upper brad; near fine. A rare original work by Rice related to her most famous series of books, which rekindled the use of vampires in literature and the arts as stand-ins for human desire -- a trend that has persisted to the point that it is now a pervasive part of contemporary popular culture. We have been unable to find any record of another copy of this work appearing in the market, nor any evidence of it in institutional collections. [#032671] SOLD

Garden City, Doubleday Doran, 1936. A novel by the prolific British author of the classic Fu Manchu series of fantasy novels, which were immortalized in a series of films, first in the 1930s and then again in the 1960s. Inscribed by Rohmer, "with love," and signed with his trademark "$ax." Bookplate front pastedown; spine-sunned; handling to boards; very good in a very good, modestly edgeworn dust jacket with a dusty rear panel. Books signed by Rohmer are uncommon these days, especially in collectible condition and in dust jacket. [#021689] $1,250

Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1959. A review copy of his first book, a collection of short fiction including the title novella -- which was the basis for a well-received movie in the Sixties -- and five short stories. Winner of the National Book Award. Mild indentation to front board, otherwise a fine copy in a very near fine, very slightly rubbed dust jacket. Author photo (no review slip) laid in. One of the nicest copies we've seen of this book, and extremely scarce as an advance copy. [#911246] SOLD

NY, Simon & Schuster, (1993). Harold Bloom's copy of the uncorrected proof copy of Roth's novel, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and Time magazine's Book of the Year; also voted one of the best works of American fiction in a quarter century in a New York Times Book Review survey. Bloom is perhaps most famous for his controversial book The Western Canon, which argued against "the Balkanization of literary studies" and presented an exhaustive list of what he considered to comprise the canon. Six Philip Roth books made it onto Bloom's list, including this title. With a typed note signed by Roth, from two years prior, laid in, in which Roth raves to Bloom about Douglas Hobbie's first novel, Boomfell. The note is folded, else fine. The proof has Bloom's notations on the front cover and summary page; handling apparent to covers; very good in wrappers. A good association copy between one of the leading novelists of his time and one of the leading critics of the day. [#032317] SOLD

Boston/NY, Houghton Mifflin, 2004. Literary critic Harold Bloom's copy of the advance reading copy of Roth's "alternate history" novel, which imagines a pro-Nazi Charles Lindbergh defeating Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1940 presidential election. With Harold Bloom's signature. Age-toning to pages; near fine in wrappers. [#032316] SOLD

1979. An apparently unpublished compilation of the voices of the Farmworkers Movement, edited by Rudge, peace activist and poet (who, in her later years, was the poet laureate of Alameda, CA). Signed by Rudge at the end of her foreword to the volume. Perhaps a hundred voices, providing narratives, poems, songs, "documentary," and photographs (in photocopy). Hundreds of pages, assembled photocopies of varying quality, but with many holograph corrections and emendations, in what appears to be the authors' and the editor's hand. Velobound in brown vinyl covers. Several pages are adhered, possibly due to the use of Whiteout. Several pages missed the binding and are thus laid in. Also laid in is the obituary of one of the contributors, as well as several ephemeral pieces from the Movement: a printed Thanksgiving letter from Cesar Chavez, 1969, commemorating the fifth Thanksgiving of the farm workers' struggle; El Malcriado, "The Voice of the Farm Worker" newsletter for both November and December, 1969; The Picket Line, July 18, 1975; "The Children of Delano invite you to meet with Cesar E. Chavez" [1969] -- a one-page legal-size handbill promoting an event sponsored by the UFWOC [United Farm Workers Organizing Committee] Defense Fund Committee. These last two pieces are sunned and folded, otherwise the ephemeral items are near fine, as is the typescript itself. A unique document of one of the major social justice movements of the 1960s and 70s, which touched on contemporary racial issues and anticipated present day issues of immigration, citizenship, and undocumented workers. Here the voices of the people themselves prevail, rather than those of analysts or policy makers. [#032673] SOLD

NY, Little, Brown, (1963). The first issue of Salinger's fourth and last book, which lacks a dedication page. An exceptionally scarce issue -- some knowledgeable sources have speculated that as few as 20 to 30 copies of this issue were released before they were reissued with a tipped-in dedication page, and later a bound-in dedication. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a tiny closed catch to the spine. Provenance: the Bruce Kahn collection. [#911135] SOLD

Boston, Little, Brown, 1951. Salinger's classic first book, a coming-of-age novel that has influenced successive generations of young people with its adolescent hero's rejection of the "phoniness" of the adult world around him combined with the authenticity of his voice. Salinger's book retains the freshness it had when first published, and it stands as one of the great fictional accomplishments of 20th century American literature, included on every list of the 100 best novels of the century, and listed as number 2 on the Radcliffe list and number 6 on the Waterstone's list. Minor foxing to top and bottom edges of text block; offsetting to hinges from binder's glue; a very near fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with offsetting to the front flap, tanning to the spine, slight rubbing to the spine folds and light wear to the crown. A very nice copy with distinguished provenance: it was a gift from publisher Alfred A. Knopf to a young writer who was interviewing him for a biography, and who later went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction in the 1980s. Letter of provenance available. [#028107] SOLD

NY/(Chicago), Feature/ICI, (1988). An early issue of this small periodical of gay fiction, printing Sedaris' story "My Manuscript," which was collected in his first book, Barrel Fever in 1994. There are enough textual differences between this version and the collected version to consider this text an earlier draft. An uncommon early appearance by Sedaris. Also includes a story by Dennis Cooper and art by Richard Prince. One copy in OCLC. Near fine in stapled wrappers. [#030137] $750

(NY), Ecco/HarperCollins, (2010). The uncorrected proof copy of Smith's National Book Award-winning memoir of her pre-fame life with Robert Mapplethorpe, with textual differences from the published version. One of the most highly regarded memoirs to come out of the counterculture of the 1960s and 70s. This copy is signed by the author. Trace rubbing to the spine lettering; still fine in wrappers. An uncommon proof, especially signed. [#030138] SOLD

No date. A brochure from The Suffolk County Whaling Museum of Sag Harbor, Long Island, NY, printing the article "The Sag Harbor Whalers" by Clother Hathaway Vaughn. Signed by Steinbeck, who lived in Sag Harbor from 1955 until his death in 1968. A larger than usual Steinbeck signature, perhaps of the variety occasioned by someone asking for "an autograph" on a randomly available surface, as opposed to a more formal signing of one's work. 4" x 9" trifold brochure, now tipped to black cardstock. Fine. A nice memento connecting Steinbeck to his longtime, and last, home. [#030140] SOLD

Springfield, Stevenson Campaign Headquarters, 1952. The transcriptions of 56 speeches given by Stevenson during the Presidential election season of 1952, beginning with his welcoming address to the Democratic National Convention on July 21, when he was speaking as Governor of the host state of Illinois and before he was drafted as the Democratic Party's Presidential candidate. The second speech here begins: "I accept your nomination and your program. I should have preferred to hear those words uttered by a stronger, wiser, better man than myself." 54 more speeches follow, all issued as news releases and most on Stevenson Campaign Headquarters letterhead. The final speech was given on November 1 (Election Day was November 4). Stevenson lost to Eisenhower, winning 44% of the popular vote but carrying only 9 states. A chronological record of Stevenson's entire first run for President: each release runs 3-10 pages, so hundreds of pages of Presidential politics from a half century ago, with equal opportunity to note how much things have changed and how much they have not. Photo-reproduced legal-sized sheets; minor edge wear; a few pages detached from corner staples; large coffee ring on the first page of the second news release. In all, a near fine lot, representing these speeches' first appearance in printed form. A number of them were published in book form by Random House prior to the 1952 election, with a Foreword by John Steinbeck. [#032678] SOLD

Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1967. A review copy of his first book, a novel of drifters in New Orleans in the early Sixties caught up in the web of a quasi-religious political machine. Winner of the William Faulkner Award for best first novel of the year as well as a Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship Award. Signed by the author. Tiny lower corner bump and shelf wear to lower boards; else a fine copy in a very near fine dust jacket with a touch of rubbing on the rear panel. Promotional author photo laid in, with incorrect publication date. Basis for a film, WUSA (the call letters of the right-wing radio station that figures prominently in the book), starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and Anthony Perkins. [#914685] SOLD

(n.p.), (n.p.), [ca. 1971]. 11-page carbon typescript with some holograph emendations, of an article which was published in The Guardian in the U.K. in 1971 and never published elsewhere. The Guardian gave Stone his press credentials and paid for his trip to Vietnam, and this is the only nonfiction he wrote about what he encountered there. After he returned from Vietnam, his next novel, his second overall, was Dog Soldiers, about a reporter and a Vietnam vet smuggling heroin back to the U.S. from Southeast Asia. Dog Soldiers won the National Book Award and was made into the acclaimed Nicholas Roeg film, "Who'll Stop the Rain?" Several of the anecdotes in this article were lifted and inserted directly into the novel, and the overall tone -- mordant humor in the face of grim misery -- is also shared by the book. No manuscript copy of this piece was in the Robert Stone archive when it was sold to the New York Public Library, nor in any of the updates that have been sold since. A key item in Stone's overall body of work. Stone won the National Book Award once and was a finalist five times, putting him in a very small category of writers that includes such figures as John Updike, Saul Bellow, and Vladimir Nabokov. Slight edge wear to the pages; overall very good. Signed by Stone. Unique. [#032828] SOLD

(n.p), (n.p.), [ca. 1983]. In 1983, Robert Stone, National Book Award-winning novelist, was commissioned to write a piece on George Orwell and his dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, as that calendar year approached. In the piece, Stone made an effort to reclaim Orwell from the conservative right wing, which had taken his most famous, anti-totalitarian novels -- Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm -- to be explicit condemnations of the Soviet Union and Communism, and by implication all leftist thought itself. Instead, Stone argues that Orwell's writing in Homage to Catalonia -- not to mention his fighting on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War -- identifies Orwell as someone with both a socialist sympathy and "a certain affinity with what I believe is best about the United States," a kind of Puritanism that is characterized by "rectitude...conscience and common sense." He goes on to point out that Orwell "was the sort of radical who makes enemies on both sides of epic struggles," owing to his "originality and intelligence, [and] above all his thoroughgoing honesty, [which] always got him in trouble. A writer and man more predictable and dull, less infernally scrupulous would have had a better time of it." Stone adds that Orwell was idealistic but non-ideological -- as Stone was himself -- and deeply committed to the kind of "pragmatism that has characterized American moral thinkers from Jefferson to James to Neibuhr." He concludes that "We may never produce a greater political novel than Nineteen Eighty-Four" and that "it has done its work for us" in shaping our fears and cautions sufficiently for us to have avoided the totalitarian dystopia that was latent in the post-War years of the Cold War. The confluence of writer and subject here was, in many ways, a near-perfect one but the piece seems never to have been published; we can find no record of it; a cover letter from Stone's wife, Janice, indicates this was done for Thames Television, but whether it was produced or used remains unknown to us. One of Stone's novels includes an allusion to a critical moment in Nineteen Eighty-Four: Stone's character explains that one has "to look the gray rat in the eye" -- an allusion to the torture by rats that Winston Smith, in Nineteen Eighty-Four, is faced with, which causes him to "break" and betray himself and his loved ones. 18 pages, ribbon copy typescript, with Janice Stone's cover letter, laid into an agent's folder. Fine. An unknown Robert Stone piece, on a subject that touches close to many of the central and pervasive themes of his own writings. Unique. [#032829] $8,500

Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill, (1951). Styron's first book, inscribed to the writer Jonathan Carroll: "with best wishes/ William Styron/ 27 September 1971/ (Twenty years, to the month, after publication)." The date is also nine years before Carroll's first published book, The Land of Laughs. Laid in is a typed note signed by Styron in which he agrees to the signing; based on the address, Carroll would have been an English teacher at the time, in North Carolina. The book is unevenly sunned on the cloth and bears a few small stains; very good in a jacket with modest edge wear including one edge tear, and a vertical crease to the spine; still very good. The note is folded, else fine, with a chipped mailing envelope included. A nice association copy of an important first novel. Forty years after this inscription, on the occasion of Styron's death in 2011, Carroll wrote a blog post on his website, referring to Styron as a "great American novelist." [#026147] SOLD

NY, Random House, (1971). A review copy of Thompson's second and most famous book, a classic of the freewheeling, drug-ingesting Sixties, illustrated with hilarious and scary pen-and-ink drawings by Ralph Steadman. With the publisher's review slip laid in giving the date of publication (June 26, 1972) and with a bookplate laid in signed by Ralph Steadman. Boards lightly edge-sunned, as usual; else fine in a very near fine dust jacket, with mild fading to the red spine lettering. Basis for the Terry Gilliam film with Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro; one of the key books of the gonzo genre; and scarce as an advance copy. [#027496] SOLD

NY, Bantam, (1983). Text by Thompson and illustrations by Steadman, recounting the duo's trip to cover the Honolulu marathon for Running magazine. Thompson's fifth book, and his fourth collaboration with Steadman. This copy is signed by the author "H.S. Thompson." Only issued in wrappers (until a Taschen edition in 2005). Near fine with a shallow stain at the upper outer corner and a bit of wear at the base of the spine. One of the scarcest books to find signed by Thompson, perhaps because the perfectbound sheets tend to pop loose if the book is opened too widely or too roughly. [#030833] SOLD

NY, Random House, (1970). A review copy of Toffler's massively successful book naming the disorientation caused by the accelerated pace of cultural and technological change. Laid in are three different 2-legal-page press releases: "Future Shock May Be Key Disease of Tomorrow," "Movement for 'Responsible Technology' Needed to Combat Future Shock," and "To Prevent Future Shock, Schools Must Teach About Tomorrow." From the first: "When people complain they can't cope, what is it they can't cope with?" From the second: "... technological questions can no longer be answered in technological terms alone. 'They are political questions...we need a machinery for screening machines.'" From the third: "Today events are moving so swiftly that only another [post-John Dewey] radical shift in our 'time-bias' can save our children. The schools must develop future-consciousness." The press releases are folded in fourths; the book has mild edge-foxing and is near fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a shallow crease to the rear panel. Uncommon in the first edition, with jacket, and with promotional material. A book so correct in its premises that it now seems almost quaintly outdated. [#032329] SOLD

Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 1980. Signed by Walker Percy. A posthumously published novel that was the first work of fiction published by the LSU Press: and which had a very small first printing (reportedly 2500 copies), Initially the book was rejected by dozens of publishers and the author committed suicide in 1969. Years later the author's mother brought the manuscript to Walker Percy, insisting that he read it. Percy overcame his initial hesitations and championed the book, arranging for its publication and contributing an introduction. Excellent reviews and word of mouth led to its becoming a best-seller, and it won the Pulitzer Prize. One tiny foredge spot, else a fine and tight copy (the boards tend to splay on most copies) in a very near fine, first issue dust jacket with only trace wear to the corners and a hint of rubbing near the spine crown. A high spot of American fiction over the last half century. [#032691] SOLD

NY, Knopf, 1972. Her fourth book, which many consider her scarcest. Signed by the author. Label removal shadow on front board, else very near fine in a very near fine dust jacket with the slightest smudging on the rear panel. [#911151] SOLD

NY, Knopf, 1965. Her second novel, a powerful and moving story of a young boy coming to terms with his little sister's death. A little foxing to top stain; else fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with a couple faint spots and rubbing to the spine. A very nice copy. [#024212] $1,500

Kittery Point, William Dean Howells Memorial Committee, 1987. One of 150 copies printed of a lecture Updike gave at Harvard as part of the 150th anniversary of Howells' birth. Published in a slightly altered form in The New Yorker, this is the first separate appearance, with an Author's Note by Updike. Approximately 40 pages of text; fine in self-wrappers with complimentary slip from the publisher laid in. Updike won the Howells Medal years later, in 1995, for Rabbit at Rest; the medal is given out for the best work of fiction in America during a five-year period. One of Updike's scarcest "A" items. [#028555] $1,000

Newburyport, Wickford Press, 1968. A limited edition of a humorous essay on encounters with (other) famous authors, which first appeared in the New York Times. Number 56 of 250 numbered copies. Issued unsigned, this copy is inscribed by the author in 1997: For ___ ___ and her fabulous collection/ Cheers, John Updike." One of Updike's earliest limited editions, done the same year as Bath After Sailing and The Angels. Although the limitation of this title is larger than either of those, we have encountered it just as infrequently. Faint sunning at the edge of the spine, else fine. [#030849] $1,000

NY, Harper & Brothers, (1958). His first book, a collection of poems, published in an edition of 2000 copies. Inscribed by the author in 1990: "For ___ ___/ warm regards to a great collector/ John Updike." The recipient was a neighbor of Updike, in addition to being a collector of his books. Trace foxing to edge of text block, else fine in a fine, price-clipped, first issue dust jacket, which ends with "two children" on the rear flap. A beautiful copy of a book that is known for its binding coming loose. With a custom three quarter leather clamshell case from the Praxis Bindery. [#030844] SOLD

[NY], (Scientific American), (1969). The first separate edition of this physics-themed poem. One of 6200 copies printed as Christmas cards to be issued with W.H. Auden's A New Year Greeting (not present). 24 pages, illustrated. Fine in stapled wrappers. Lacking the cardboard sleeve that combined the two booklets, but in a custom three quarter leather clamshell case from the Praxis Bindery. This copy is inscribed by the author: "For ___/ Merry Christmas 1995/ John Updike [with a drawing of holly leaves and berries]." While the print run of this item was not particularly small, especially when compared with the many limited editions Updike has done, the nature of its distribution -- as a freebie to Scientific American subscribers -- suggests that most copies would have been lost or discarded. [#030850] $1,500

NY, Knopf, 1959. Updike's second book and first novel, nominated for the National Book Award and winner of the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, for a novel which, despite not being a commercial success, was nonetheless "a considerable literary achievement." Signed by the author. With the bookplate of diplomat and ambassador John Moors Cabot on the front flyleaf: Cabot lived on Cape Ann, one town over from Updike. Fine in a near fine dust jacket, with a bit of rubbing to the front panel and a closed but crooked tear to the lower rear panel. In a custom three quarter leather clamshell case from the Praxis Bindery. [#030845] SOLD

(NY/West Stockbridge/Prague), Thornwillow Press, 2002. One of the more attractive and lavishly produced limited editions in the Updike oeuvre. Three stories that appeared in the New Yorker ("Personal Archaeology," "Free," and "The Guardian") plus an Author's Note. Bound in full black leather with raised bands and gilt stamped spine; marbled endpapers; illustrated with tipped-in photographs; and laid into a velvet-lined black linen clamshell case. This is copy number 149 of 250 numbered copies, signed by Updike, by the photographer Mariana Cook, and by the designer Luke Ives Pontifell. This copy is additionally inscribed by Updike: "for some generous patron of the 2003 St. John's Fair/ with thanks, John Updike." Fine. [#030861] SOLD

NY, Holt Rinehart Winston, (1965). A review copy of Vonnegut's sixth book, one of the novels that began earning him a small but passionate following in the mid-1960s, before his breakthrough to the status of "major author," which came when Slaughterhouse-Five was published. Signed by the author with a self-caricature. Owner signature of cartoonist Claude Smith under front flap; very slight loss to spine lettering; otherwise a fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with some unnecessary tape strengthening on verso and slight dampstaining, also on verso. With press release laid in. In a custom clamshell case. [#029019] SOLD

(n.p.), [Self-Published], 2003. One of 12 copies of this compilation, made by the author, of his six contributions to In These Times, from February 17 to June 9, 2003, including his four "Dear Mr. Vonnegut" columns. Fourteen photocopied pages (including covers), assembled by Kurt Vonnegut, signed by him on the first page prior to photocopying and signed in full with self-caricature on the rear cover after assembly. According to Vonnegut, one of only 12 copies he made. Spiralbound with acetate cover; fine. With hand-addressed mailing envelope. One of the scarcest "editions" in Vonnegut's canon. [#029370] SOLD

(n.p.), [Spiffing Books], 1994. A bootleg production printing a lecture Vonnegut gave at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on March 15, 1994 and also including the text of the question and answer session that followed. Two dozen pages of single-spaced text, plus as many pages of illustrations, mostly drawings by Vonnegut taken from Breakfast of Champions. Roughly 15000 words by Vonnegut that don't appear elsewhere. Fine in stapled wrappers. Rare: this is the only copy we have ever seen. [#027144] SOLD

(London), Science Fiction Book Club, (1954). First thus, the Science Fiction Book Club edition of his first book, a satire on automation and the Electronics age that was first published in the U.S. in 1952 and in the U.K. in 1953. This copy is signed by Vonnegut with a self-caricature. Mild acidification to page edges, else a fine copy in a near fine, spine-sunned dust jacket. In a custom clamshell case. [#027304] SOLD

(n.p.), (Self-published), 2005. Seventeen poems by Vonnegut, computer printed, ringbound, and signed by Vonnegut on the front cover in blue pen, dated 5/26/05. Vonnegut made velobound photocopies of this collection for friends, but this is apparently the original copy he made: the only other one we have seen reproduced the signature and date on the front cover, whereas this signature and date are original. The poems herein were published, individually and in pairs, in issues of the Cornell Daily Sun beginning in October, 2005. They have not been published or collected elsewhere, other than this production that Vonnegut himself did. As it is, unique, and more of a typescript than an edition: the copies made from this one would constitute the edition. Fine. [#032681] SOLD

Barnstable, Crane Duplicating Service, (1966). The first separate appearance of this essay, which first appeared in Venture Magazine in 1964 and was later collected under a different title in Welcome to the Monkey House in 1968. Here printed as a Christmas greeting for friends of Crane Duplicating Service, located in Barnstable, a town where Vonnegut lived while raising a family and managing a Saab dealership. Two sheets folded to make eight pages; slight upper corner crease; else fine. Rare. [#025012] SOLD

New York, Lorenz Gude & Ted Berrigan, 1963. The fourth issue of this mimeographed poetry journal, this issue being devoted to the work of poet Edwin Denby, with contributions by him as well as pieces about his work by Berrigan, Frank O'Hara and John Wieners. It is most famous at this point for the cover, which "was designed by Andy Warhol from photographs of poets Edwin Denby and Gerard Malanga." Warhol took a number of Polaroid photographs of Denby and Malanga and then created a silk screen from them for the covers. The clarity and resolution of the images vary from copy to copy of the production, either as a result of the screen getting clogged by re-use or as a result of deliberate manipulation by Warhol; in this copy, the images on the front are clearly two individuals but the resolution is limited and the image presents almost as an abstraction; the rear cover, which is a shot of the two poets kissing, is in this copy virtually entirely abstract. An early and important Warhol production: this is the first known instance of Warhol using Polaroid photographs for making silkscreen images, a practice he came back to later and became his standard approach for portraits. Corrections to the text in Berrigan's or Denby's hand. Some edge wear to the covers and the spine, and a tear at the base of the spine; overall very good in stapled wrappers. [#032338] SOLD

London, Secker & Warburg, (1993). The uncorrected proof copy of his first novel, acclaimed upon publication and later the basis for the phenomenally successful movie that became a cultural milestone of the 1990s. The first edition of this book is scarce -- preceding the movie and its associated cultural uproar by a couple of years, it was issued in a hardcover edition reported at only 600 copies; the proof is many times scarcer; we have seen it only a handful of times. This copy is signed by Welsh. Shallow corner creases; very near fine in wrappers. [#911191] SOLD

NY, Covici Friede, (1934). The third book by the author of Miss Lonelyhearts and the classic Hollywood novel The Day of the Locust. This is West's sister's copy, with her ownership signature, "Laura Weinstein," on the front flyleaf. West dedicated this copy to his college friend, the comic writer S.J. Perelman, who married Laura in 1929; she was Perelman's co-writer on several screenplays, including Around the World in Eighty Days and two Marx Brothers films, among others; she would later be the dedicatee of West's The Day of the Locust. Nathanael West was born "Nathan Weinstein." Although his sister, Lorraine Weinstein, would later change her name to Laura West and then to Laura Perelman, this book and other of her brother's books that came out of S.J. Perelman's library (and are now in the Special Collections of Brown University) were signed as "Laura Weinstein." Modest foxing to boards, endpages and page edges; a very good copy in a very good dust jacket with a bit of sunning on and near the spine and a few very small edge chips. A much nicer than usual copy of this novel and a unique family association copy as well as being owned by the wife of the dedicatee; one of the best copies imaginable. In a custom clamshell case. [#032700] SOLD

London, Chatto & Windus, 1931. Nathanael West's copy of Huxley's collection of poetry, with West's holograph notes on five of the front and rear endpages. Approximately 250 words, mostly quotes of other writers -- Huxley, Gray, Shakespeare; some light, but most quite serious: "In matters of love it is absurd to stand on your dignity and claim your rights. Such experiences cannot be judged and calculated like a matter of business. One gives as much and as long as one can & one does not bargain. Take what is given to you." West concludes with: "The paths of glory lead but to the grave." The year this book was published, West published his first novel. Later in the 1930s, both West and Huxley were employed as Hollywood screenwriters. West died in 1940 at the age of 37. The provenance of this book leads from West to his brother-in-law, S.J. Perelman, to the writer and bookseller, George Sims, who recounts the circumstances of his purchasing books from Perelman in the early 1970s, presumably including this one. A photocopy of a note from Sims is laid in. Fading to spine, spotting to cloth, short tear to lower front joint; still very good, without dust jacket. Publisher's extra spine label tipped to rear free endpaper. A wonderful glimpse of West's musings and inner life. [#017974] SOLD

NY, Century, 1904. The first and only edition of this nonfiction volume, heavily illustrated with photographs, drawings, and 26 full-color plates by Maxfield Parrish. This copy has a three-page autograph letter signed from Edith Wharton tipped in, written to Mrs. Sage, who, along with her husband, were friends of Maxfield Parrish and collectors of his paintings. Wharton's letter is a gracious response: apparently Mrs. Sage had indicated that Wharton's book had been a great help to her and that she was sending Wharton a Piranesi etching of Villa d'Este as a thank you. Also tipped-in is a two-page autograph letter signed from Parrish, written in his elegant, calligraphic hand, and referring to four of his paintings from the Eugene Field children's book, Poems of Childhood, that the Sages own and that Scribner's wanted permission to reproduce. The Field book was the first publication in which Parrish's paintings were reproduced in full color. One of the paintings mentioned, Wynken, Blynken and Nod, sold recently at Sotheby's for $845,000. This copy of Italian Villas and Their Gardens has been extra-illustrated, presumably by Mrs. Sage, with images of various Italian villas, including a large image of Villa d'Este on the front free endpaper and another on the verso of the Parrish illustration of it in the body of the text. The owner's small, tasteful bookplate adorns the front pastedown. A unique copy of this beautiful book, with a history of personal connections to the author and illustrator and subject matter. [#026911] SOLD

NY, St. Martin's, (1993). A dedication copy of the third of White's popular Florida mysteries featuring marine biologist, Doc Ford. Inscribed by White to Peter Matthiessen: "For Peter Matthiessen, to whom this book is dedicated. Thanks for your friendship over many years. Randy Wayne White/ Pineland, Florida/ January, 1994." Matthiessen is the sixth of 15 people White names on the dedication page as "allies who have, during many travels and trails, proven steadfast in their friendship and unfailing in their support." White has been called "the rightful heir to John D. MacDonald" for his Doc Ford series; Ford is a marine biologist and the mysteries have been highly praised for their sensitivity to the Florida environment and ecology. Matthiessen of course won the National Book Award for his Florida trilogy that became Shadow Country. Light foxing to the endpages and page edges; near fine in a near fine dust jacket with a bit of wear to the crown. [#031545] SOLD

NY, Harper, (1967). The three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning (Our Town, The Skin of Our Teeth, The Bridge of San Luis Rey) author's National Book Award winning novel. Inscribed by the author: "For JEAN and WALTER with deep regard and affection ever/ Thornton/ March 21, 1967." As with at least three other copies of this title that Wilder inscribed, the recipients' names are in large block letters, while the bulk of the inscription is in Wilder's small cursive. We do know that Wilder was in New York on the date of this signing, and that he had reason to behold the Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Walter Kerr and his wife, the writer Jean Kerr (of Please Don't Eat the Daisies fame) with deep regard and affection: Walter Kerr lauded Wilder's work repeatedly in the 1960s, from his off-Broadway work ("the very special voice of Thornton Wilder...the homely, jaunty, gently poetic sound of it..."), to the cultural phenomenon that was Hello, Dolly!, which was based on Wilder's The Matchmaker. Fine in a fine dust jacket. A gorgeous, inscribed copy of a National Book Award winner. [#030149] SOLD

NY, Ecco, (1981). The scarce first issue of the author's first collection of short fiction, with the dust jacket with a "$14.95" price. The price was lowered to $10.95 prior to publication and the later jacket was printed with the lower price. Signed by the author. Faint foxing to cloth; near fine in a near fine, lightly spine-tanned dust jacket with a closed edge tear at the upper front spine fold. [#915757] SOLD

NY, Harcourt Brace, 1921. The first American edition of this early collection of short fiction, in which Woolf explores the stream of consciousness technique that she used to great effect in later novels. One of only 1500 copies, this copy in the black cloth binding. Slight foxing to cloth; near fine in a very near fine, price-clipped dust jacket, professionally, preemptively strengthened on the verso along the folds. A beautiful copy; easily the most attractive one we've seen. [#023688] SOLD

(NY), Delacorte, (1976). One of Yates's most acclaimed novels. This copy is inscribed by the author: "For Wendy, Who is suited in every way to be one of the best mothers in the world, in the hope that her baby is a girl who'll turn out to be exactly like her. With love always, Dick. 9/15/76." The recipient, Wendy Sears, had been Yates's girlfriend in the early 1960s. He obviously still held her in high regard. Cocked, with some of the page signatures darkening; very good in a very good, spine-faded dust jacket with modest edge wear and one tear at the upper rear panel. [#030878] SOLD