E-list # 134

NY, Aardvark Press, (1958). A very early "sheaf of poems" by this Mohawk poet, apparently his third collection. Published while he was still in New York City, in Greenwich Village. Kenny became an important figure in both Native American literature and also gay literature, by virtue of both his own writings and his small press, Strawberry Press, in the 1970s and 80s. Mild creasing to rear cover; near fine in stapled wrappers. [#030010] SOLD

NY, Trident Press, (1971). His fourth novel, fifth book. Inscribed by the author in 1972. Spotting to top stain, else fine in a very near fine dust jacket, with a crimp at the crown. [#008175] SOLD

(NY), Doubleday, (2002). An advance excerpt of Krauss's first novel, along with a half dozen excerpts from other Doubleday titles of that season. Fine in wrappers. [#916382] $30

NY, Swing, 1960-1961. Three issues of this small underground magazine devoted to writings and drawings by children. Fine in stapled wrappers. [#019201] SOLD

NY, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, (1992). The author's well-received first novel. Inscribed by Kurzweil to Robert Stone, "with thanks and much respect." Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#027643] SOLD

NY, Harcourt Brace, (1929). Foxing to foredge, spine-dulled and front hinge cracked; a very good copy with a folded, thus very good, first issue (no reviews on the front flap) dust jacket laid in. The jacket is fragile where it has been folded, but it appears to have spent most of its life inside the book and the color is completely fresh and unfaded. [#031434] $250

[NY], Doubleday, Doran, [1935]. An advance excerpt of Lewis' potentially prescient political novel, printing the first three chapters. 32 pages. A very good copy in stapled, glossy wrappers with promotional text on both covers. Scarce, ephemeral advance publication. [#032888] SOLD

NY, Harper & Brothers, (1917). The first issue of his third book under his own name and his first attempt, he later said, to write a serious novel. The Job was controversial for its realistic depiction of a woman in the workplace and laid the groundwork for Lewis' great novels of social realism in the 1920s. Offsetting to endpages from jacket flaps and slight wear to board edges; near fine in a price-clipped dust jacket professionally restored to near fine. An extremely scarce book in jacket. [#019198] SOLD

NY, Harcourt Brace, (1928). Lewis' novel of Lowell Schmaltz, "friend of Babbitt and constructive citizen." One-third of the story was first published in "that volcanic magazine, The American Mercury." The Man Who Knew Coolidge is one of Lewis' lesser known titles but followed on the heels of some of his greatest successes. In the 1920s, he published Main Street, which his biographer called "the most sensational event in twentieth-century American publishing history" to that point, followed by Babbitt in 1922, Arrowsmith in 1925, and Elmer Gantry in 1927. Babbitt was awarded the Pulitzer Prize but Lewis declined the honor. In 1929, Lewis published Dodsworth, and in 1930 he became the first American writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Fine in a fine dust jacket; a beautiful copy of one of the books that laid the foundation for his Nobel award. [#030751] SOLD

Brooklyn, Melville House, (2010). The second novel by the author of the recent Taipei, published in softcover only, signed by Lin with a cross-shaped bug doodle, his bug doodle signature motif being not uncommon. Laid in is the publisher's "Rumpus" interview with Lin, asking about his writing process, his inspiration, his synopsis, and the book's autobiographical elements; the verso has tour dates and blurbs about earlier books. The interview is folded in half, and is inscribed by Lin and signed "tao." Also together with, for no concrete reason, a Snapfish postcard printout of Lin's 2008 image "Panda Crying for No Concrete Reason." A nice collection of materials by a writer who has been called "a Kafka for the iPhone generation." [#029935] $250

(Seattle), (The Stranger), (2010). A September issue of Seattle's alternative weekly newspaper, with a cover story on Lin parodying the Time magazine "Great American Novelist" cover story on Jonathan Franzen that appeared the previous month. Signed by Lin on the cover, with an added "666" to his forehead. Also included is a clipped version of the following week's Stranger, with comments from readers who didn't get the joke. The issue is folded in half, else fine. [#029936] SOLD

(NY), Open City Books, (2000). The uncorrected proof copy of this paperback original, a collection of stories and the author's first book and the second book by this publisher, which was founded by Robert Bingham and which was an outgrowth of Open City magazine. Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers. [#028945] SOLD

NY, Farrar Straus Giroux, (1979). Third printing. Inscribed by Malamud to George Garrett and his wife, "with affection." Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with slight fading and a couple tiny spots to the spine. [#027654] SOLD

NY, Farrar Straus Giroux, (1969). A novel in the form of six related short stories, three of which had appeared in earlier collections of his, two of which were uncollected, and one of which was previously unpublished. Inscribed by Malamud, "For Mike and Katharine/ With love/ Bern," presumably his long-time friends Michael Seide and his wife. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. [#032707] SOLD

NY, Farrar Straus Giroux, (1966). His fourth novel, which deals with anti-Semitism in Tsarist Russia, and which won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Inscribed by Malamud: "For Katharine and Mike/ old good friends/ Bern." The authors Michael Seide and Katharine Shattuck were long-time friends of Malamud's, with Malamud having gone so far as to call Seide an "influence" on him. It was Seide who indirectly found Malamud his agent: Seide was Henry Volkening's (of Russell and Volkening) first client, but when Seide recommended Volkening to Malamud and Malamud called the agency, Diarmuid Russell answered the phone, and Russell would remain Malamud's agent throughout his career. Seide wrote The Common Thread in 1944, and then didn't publish another book for nearly forty years. When his book The Common Wilderness was finally released, Malamud was there to blurb it, as "an original, energetic, language wrought, imaginative work by a daring writer." A fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with mild fading to the spine lettering and a bit of wear to the crown. An excellent association copy of a multiple award-winning novel. [#032706] SOLD

NY, Farrar Straus Giroux, (1971). One of an unspecified number of copies signed by the author on a tipped-in leaf. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#912646] SOLD

NY, Random House, (1990). Matthiessen's own copy of the first book in his highly acclaimed trilogy, later published in 2008 as the edited single-volume Shadow Country, which won the National Book Award and the William Dean Howells Medal. With a handful of passages marked by Matthiessen, most of which mention the character Henry Short. In a New York Times interview, after the publication of Shadow Country, Matthiessen said, "I brought some characters forward, and gave them a voice. Like Henry Short, a black man who probably fired the first shot." Indentation to spine; near fine in a good dust jacket, with some lamination separation on the rear panel and dampstaining, mostly visible on the verso. [#032350] SOLD

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 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 was written from the perspective of one who, at least for period of a time, shared the life described. Inscribed by Matthiessen to his father: "Dear Dad - It's not the Race, but it's the same part of the country/ Thanks for teaching us about boats! Much love/ Pete/ Sagaponack NY 11962." [Zip code added, rather than date.] Also signed in full, "Peter Matthiessen," on the same page. The reference to "the Race" is to Race Rock, a reef off the coast of eastern Long Island, famous for its lighthouse and for being a hazard to sailors; it also gave Matthiessen the title for his first novel, published in 1954. Creasing to the last 20 pages; minor dampstaining to the lower edges; a very good copy in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket. An excellent family association, and one that sheds light on family and personal history. [#032353] SOLD

NY, Vintage Books, (2000). Matthiessen's own copy of this trade paperback original collecting more than thirty years of his nonfiction. Nearly two dozen pages marked by Matthiessen, with brackets, arrows, or hatch lines, in six different chapters of the book, including a number of passages marked for deletion, although the context of such revision is unclear. A very good copy in wrappers. [#032385] SOLD

NY, Viking, (1978). Matthiessen's own copy of 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. This title's scarcest issue, which was never released commercially but distributed only to friends of the author and publisher, or in this case, to the author himself. Foredge foxed, lightly bowed, near fine in a near fine acetate dust jacket. Salon Magazine's top travel book of the century. [#032372] SOLD

Amsterdam, Uitgeverij De Harmonie, (1975). The text of McCarthy's 1973 Johan Hizenga Lecture. Small label removal shadow rear cover; very near fine in self-wrappers. McCarthy, the author of such bestselling novels as The Group, was the preeminent female novelist and critic in the U.S. -- the wife, for a time, of Edmund Wilson, and the first U.S. critic to extoll the virtues of William Burroughs' Naked Lunch, when that book was banned in the U.S. [#024572] SOLD

NY, Knopf, 1992. Inscribed by the author in the month of publication: "For ___, with my thanks and many good wishes. Jay McInerney." Fine in a very near fine, slightly spine-faded dust jacket. [#027422] SOLD

NY, Atlantic Monthly Press, (1988). The uncorrected proof copy of his third novel, whose main character, Alison Poole, was based on McInerney's ex-girlfriend, Lisa Druck, who later changed her name to Rielle Hunter before beginning an affair with former Presidential candidate John Edwards. A fine copy of the proof, in a very near fine proof dust jacket. [#027421] $20

NY, Knopf, 1996. The uncorrected proof copy of her first book. Dampstaining to rear cover; near fine in beige wrappers, an earlier and considerably scarcer state of the book than the more common issue in blue wrappers. [#012372] $20

(Oshkosh), Road Runner Press, (n.d)[c. 1963]. The first separate appearance of an essay that first appeared in Kulchur #11, in 1963, and was written in 1962 at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Acidic pages darkening; very good in spine-tanned stapled wrappers. Previous owner gift inscription. [#023554] $20

NY, Knopf, 1998. The uncorrected proof copy of this narrative in the form of a single long poem. Fine in wrappers. [#012373] $20

NY, Atheneum, 1977. Later printing of this collection of poems. Inscribed by the author to Peter [Matthiessen] and his wife, longtime friends of Merwin, and signed "Bill." An excellent association copy. Near fine in wrappers. [#032501] SOLD

San Francisco, North Point Press, 1984. Selected writings of Chamfort, translated and introduced by Merwin. Inscribed by Merwin to Peter Matthiessen and his wife. With a half dozen or so maxims by Chamfort marked with asterisks by Matthiessen. Near fine in self-wrappers. [#032503] SOLD

NY, Penguin Books, (2002). First thus, with a foreword by Richard Eyre, the longtime Director of the Royal National Theatre in England and the director of the production of this play that was then running on Broadway. Signed by Miller. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#032893] SOLD

Allston, Primal Publishing, (1997). A small booklet collecting stories by four writers: Moody, Eileen Myles, Michael McInnis and Laurie Weeks, plus one photographer, Suara Welitoff. Moody's contribution, "Wilkie Ridgeway Fahnstock, the Boxed Set," was later collected in Demonology. An uncommon item by a group of interesting artists. This copy is signed by Moody. 4" x 5-1/4." Fine in wrappers. [#911766] SOLD

(n.p.), (n.p.), [2002]. A 25-page script for Moody's radio play, about an art student obsessed with the rotating cubical sculpture in New York City's Astor Place entitled Alamo but commonly known as "the cube." The play first appeared in Paris Review 162, but it was performed as part of WNYC's public radio show, "The Next Big Thing." This script for the performance belonged to Tony Award-winning actor and "Wilson" of television's House, Robert Sean Leonard, who here played the main character, Irv Paley. Leonard's holograph markings and comments appear in the text, i.e., a working copy of the script. Together with a program for the performance listing the cast members and other principals, and a two-page interview with the sculptor of "Alamo," Tony Rosenthal who, among other things, explains where the sculpture got its name. Among the other cast members is Peter Dinklage, currently of Game of Thrones fame. George Plimpton is credited with "Stage Directions" an Moody as Playwright. The place of the performance is not identified, but it would appear that this performance was the one that was recorded for radio play on WNYC in 2002: apparently it was performed again on WNYC in 2004, with a different cast; the later cast included Miranda July and Ethan Hawke. The script is a computer printout on three hole-punched sheets, one sheet of which is recycled from another script, in a plastic binder. Near fine. A unique copy of a rare printed version of an uncommon work by Moody. [#032804] SOLD

Boston/NY, Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Signed by Moody at his contribution. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#911778] SOLD

(Brooklyn), (McSweeney's), (1999). Signed by Moody at his contribution. Fine in wrappers. [#911771] $80

Boston, Little Brown, (2000)[2001]. The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of this collection of stories. Agency stamps on half-title; contact label partially removed from front cover with resulting small abrasion; else fine in wrappers. [#022073] $20

(London), Faber and Faber, (2000). The British edition, which preceded the American edition. Signed by the author. Fine in wrappers and dust jacket. [#911775] $35

(n.p.), Little Brown, (n.d.). An advance excerpt of the American edition. Prints only the title story. Signed by the author. Fine in stapled wrappers. [#911761] $80

Santa Monica, Danger Books, (1999). Virtually a novella in the form of a book dealer's catalog. Moody has created a hilarious and touching self-contained world where the values accorded to the items for sale (dollars) and the values inherent in them (significance, artistry, passion) are in running comic contrast. Moody has his tongue in his cheek but also his heart on his sleeve; many of the entries embody a sensitivity and tenderness surprising in such a send-up. An effective, even haunting riff on rare book catalogs. The trade edition consisted of 1000 copies in wrappers: 300 numbered and signed and 700 unsigned. This is the uncorrected proof copy. Apparently identical to the trade edition but with "Uncorrected Proof" printed on the front cover. Given the sophistication of the production and producers, probably a cleverly marketed print overrun rather than a true proof. Fine in wrappers and signed by Moody. [#911773] $35

Boston, Little Brown, (2002). A memoir by the novelist, which won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for the Art of the Memoir. Inscribed by Moody in 2003 to the author Nicholas Delbanco: "For Nick D/ All admiration and gratitude for your work and for having me to Ann Arbor." Thomas Pynchon provides a dust jacket blurb on the front flap. Upper corners tapped, else fine in a fine dust jacket. [#029688] SOLD

Boston, Little Brown, (2002). The bound typescript of this memoir by the novelist, which won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for the Art of the Memoir. Velobound photocopy; nearly 500 pages; double-spaced, printed on rectos only, with several corrections evident. Velobinding beginning to pull away from the large text block; thus near fine. Scarce state of a well-received memoir. [#031465] $150

Los Angeles, 20th Century Fox, 1940. The revised shooting final screenplay, dated December 15, 1939, although with 24 pages of colored inserts dating from January and February, 1940. Machine stamped "copy #1," belonging to the producer Darryl F. Zanuck. This was one of the two screenplays that O'Hara worked on from September to December 1939 and shared screenplay credits for, in this case with Karl Tunberg and Don Ettlinger. The movie was produced by Zanuck, and starred Vera Zorina, Erich von Stroheim and Peter Lorre. Quarto; mimeographed pages with blue revision sheets inserted. Near fine in printed studio wrappers. Rare. [#025153] $2,000

NY, Duell, Sloan and Pearce, (1945). An uncommon book by the author of Butterfield 8 and Appointment in Samarra, among others. Inscribed by the author to WEAF radio personality Mary Margaret McBride in the year of publication: "To Mary Margaret/ and how are your/ taste-buds?/ Sincerely/ John O'Hara/ WEAF/ 20 March 1945." Books inscribed by O'Hara are uncommon, although later in his career he did a number of signed limited editions. A fragile book, cheaply produced under wartime conditions, this is a very attractive copy. Some spotting to rear board and fading to spine cloth; near fine in a very good dust jacket with a couple of small, internally tape-mended edge tears. [#016359] $1,000

NY, Boni & Liveright, 1928. The publisher's presentation edition of the third of O'Neill's four Pulitzer Prize-winning plays. One of 25 copies in vellum reserved for use by the publisher, of a total edition of 775 copies, signed by the author. A large paper edition, printed in two colors to distinguish spoken words from thoughts, an experimental technique O'Neill used in this play in which the actors spoke in soliloquies representing their inner thoughts. Pages uncut. Vellum foxed, as usual, thus a very good copy, without slipcase. Laid in is a small pamphlet printing reviews of the play, mostly from the New York media, and advertising tickets in advance of its run at the Hartman Theatre in Columbus. The play ran to over four hours in length and the pamphlet announcement indicates there will be a dinner intermission of an hour and twenty minutes. The play was scheduled to begin at 5:30 and final curtain to be at 11 PM. A rare issue of a Pulitzer Prize-winning play, with interesting ephemera laid in. [#029954] SOLD

NY, Knopf, 1971. A review copy (used for review - slip not present) of her second book, first collection of stories. Several notations in the text and the reviewer's address label and draft review on the front flyleaf, where he has also written the book's scheduled publication date. A fine copy in a very good dust jacket with sunning to the rear panel and one small edge tear. [#017243] SOLD

(NY), New American Library, (1966). The uncorrected proof copy of her first book, one of a handful of literary first novels published by NAL during the mid-60s, including John Gardner's The Resurrection and William Gass's Omensetter's Luck. Tall, comb-bound galley sheets. Laid in is a letter sent by editor David Segal to author John Barth, sending him "yet another first novel" and requesting "the pleasure of reading your opinion," as it appears Barth had made it clear that he would not be offering "a quotable quote." A noteworthy letter: Segal took over the newly founded hardcover publishing branch of New American Library, which previously had specialized in paperback publishing only -- notably the Signet and Mentor imprints, which reprinted classics and bestsellers. Segal immediately began publishing literary fiction by young, unknown writers, and in the course of a couple of years introduced William Gass, John Gardner, Michael Shaara, Alice Adams and Cynthia Ozick to the world, all of whom went on to become major American authors. It's a bit surprising that Barth would have been averse to providing a "quotable quote" for the likes of these, but apparently that was the case. This copy is signed by Barth on the first page and with his address stamp on the front cover. Ozick's name was left off the cover and has been added in ink. Mild sunning and curling to the covers; small tear at upper spine; about near fine. A very scarce proof of an important first book, and a copy with exceptionally interesting provenance. [#031477] SOLD

March 14 and June 4, 1991. The first letter recounts several "months of upheaval" following her husband's injury in an accident: "I have not been able to write a word since November 20th... and am fairly suffocated by unfulfilled commitments and the guilt pertaining thereto." The second, longer letter talks of Israel, where the recipient is headed and where her daughter already is. In part: "The phrase 'Arab-Israeli conflict' is a misnomer that's led to the world's current Big Lie. It's not a 'conflict' when one party is tirelessly aiming to destroy the other, and there can be no equation (the word 'conflict' certainly suggests an equation) between would-be destroyers and defenders..." Both letters are folded for mailing; else fine, with envelopes. [#013810] SOLD

Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1976. The uncorrected proof copy of the second book by the author of The Wanderers and Clockers. Like those books, this was the basis for a major Hollywood movie. Price has written a number of well-received screenplays himself, including The Color of Money and Sea of Love, and worked on the highly praised HBO series The Wire -- which are all characterized by a facility with dialogue that is also evident in his novels; the books also exhibit a sense of humor and compassion that is remarkable, particularly given their gritty, urban settings. Inscribed by the author. Fine in wrappers. [#028012] SOLD

NY, Broadway Books, (1998). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel by the author of Clockers and The Wanderers, among others. Fine in wrappers. [#012420] SOLD

Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1974. The uncorrected proof copy of his well-received first book, the basis for the Philip Kaufman film. Inscribed by the author: "To ___/ may all your Xmases be white. Richard Price." Dated January 24, 1976. Fine in wrappers with a promotional sheet stapled to the first blank. [#028010] SOLD

(Westminster), (Mouldwarp), (1983). The first printing of this piracy, which reprints an article Pynchon originally wrote for The New York Times Magazine, shortly after the riots in Watts. Fine in red stapled wrappers. [#912701] 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

London, Aloes, (1976). A piracy, the first separate appearance of an early story, originally published in 1959. One of the most complex bibliographically of the Pynchon piracies, Mead lists 4 variants, but more have been documented. This copy has no cross next to the man's hip and a double cross above the "P" in Pynchon, with the two crosses almost congruent. Mead C1a(2). Fine in stapled wrappers. [#915474] 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

Philadelphia, Lippincott, (1966). Pynchon's 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. Edge-sunning to boards; near fine in a very near fine, price-clipped dust jacket. [#915473] 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

London, Aloes Books, (1982). The fourth and last of the Aloes piracies and, according to Michaud, the only one which may not have been reprinted. No statement of the limitation. Near fine in stapled wrappers. [#917042] SOLD

Normal, Dalkey Archive Press, (1994). The hardcover issue of these "Critical Takes on Pynchon's Novel," edited by Donald Greiner, Geoffrey Green and Larry McCaffrey. Vineland was Pynchon's first novel in 17 years, and his first since Gravity's Rainbow, making it one of the most anticipated books in recent American writing, and the subject of considerable controversy as to whether it "lived up to" its predecessor. Here, a number of scholars and critics tackle that and other questions. There was a simultaneous issue in wrappers; the hardcover issue is much less common. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#029345] 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

NY, Twayne, (1992). A critical study of Pynchon's works. Fine in a slightly rubbed dust jacket. [#912711] SOLD

NY/Richmond, Australia, spinART Records/Shock Records, (1995). A CD, for which Pynchon provided liner notes. Pynchon has published little outside of his novels, and this piece, approximately 500 words, is a notable appearance in print by the reclusive author. Included is a photocopy of a magazine article that explains Pynchon's appearance. Fine. [#912712] SOLD

Boston, Little, Brown, (1961). His third book, two novellas of the Glass family that first appeared in The New Yorker. Slight spine slant, slight sunning, slight offsetting to front flyleaf; a near fine copy in a very good, mildly toned and rubbed dust jacket with a little wear at the spine extremities. [#028324] 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, (1963). Salinger's fourth and last book, two long stories of the Glass family. This is the third issue, with the dedication page tipped in after the title page. Spotting to top edge; boards mildly sunned and splayed; very good in a very good, spine-sunned dust jacket with a little wear to the spine. [#024185] $250

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

Chicago, Consolidated Book Publishers, (1942). Salinger's first book appearance, this being the first issue (1942), the state without the head and toe bands. Rubbing to covers; near fine in a near fine, lightly faded mailing box, (printed in red, black and orange rather than the later red, white and blue), which has a revised page count stamped over the original page count. The "2" in the copyright date, which in our experience is always battered, is more clearly visible in this copy than in most other copies of the first issue that we have seen. [#914680] $2,500

NY, Random House, (1946). An early collection by the author of The Young Lions, among others. Light offsetting to endpapers; else fine in a mildly spine-tanned dust jacket with unnecessary tape-strengthening on the verso of the spine crown. [#022170] SOLD

Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1967. 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. Inscribed by the author. Near fine in a very good, lightly foxed dust jacket with a creased tear to the lower rear panel. Basis for the 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. [#031505] SOLD

Franklin Center, Franklin Library, 1998. The Franklin Library edition of this densely plotted political and metaphysical thriller set in contemporary Jerusalem. Stone tackles the religious hatreds, political intrigues and spiritual aspirations and malaise that intersect in one of the most historically significant, and volatile, places on earth. Signed by the author. With a special introduction by Stone for this edition. Leatherbound, all edges gilt, with a silk ribbon marker bound in. Fine. [#912818] $45

Boston/NY, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. The advance reading copy of his last novel, which was published to generally excellent reviews. It uses the form of a police procedural -- the inquiry into a college student's accidental death -- to inquire about larger issues of faith, love and accountability, as well as madness and the ability to deceive oneself. The advance reading copy has turned up on the market very seldom; we've only seen a couple offered for sale, where in the past there would have been dozens of such copies showing up in the aftermarket -- once again an indication that publishers are cutting back on such productions, often replacing some part of their function with digital offerings. Upper corner crease to rear cover, else fine in wrappers. [#030828] SOLD

(n.p.), Dim Gray Bar Press, 1993. The first separate edition of this story, which appeared in The New Yorker and later was included in the Best American Short Stories 1988. One of 100 numbered copies signed by the author. Thin quarto printed on Rives. Fine in slipcase, with erratum slip laid in. [#912824] SOLD

(NY), Ecco/HarperCollins, (2007). The advance reading copy (marked "Uncorrected Proof"). His first book of nonfiction, a memoir focusing primarily on the late 1950s and the 1960s, when Stone was closely involved with Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters. Second issue, with pp. 221-222 excised and a photocopied sheet laid in, which prints the text as it appeared in the final book. Near fine in wrappers. [#026404] 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

NY, Simon & Schuster, 1956. "Special printing," so stated, which consisted of 3000 copies printed on better paper than the trade edition and issued in a slipcase without dust jacket. Owner name; spine cloth darkened; near fine in a very good slipcase. [#019358] $20

Boston, Little Brown, (1981). The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of previously unpublished letters. Fine in wrappers. [#017597] SOLD

NY, Simon & Schuster, 1953. Owner name front flyleaf with a 1953 date; otherwise a fine copy in a very good dust jacket with a couple chips to the rear panel, one of them measuring about 1" x 1". [#027500] SOLD

(Albany), State University of New York, (2001). New essays on Vonnegut, with a foreword by Vonnegut. Includes pieces by Jerome Klinkowitz, Loree Rackstraw, David Pringle and others. Signed by Vonnegut with a self-caricature. Fine in wrappers. [#029030] 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

Budapest, Magyar Konyvklub, (1998). The first Hungarian edition of Vonnegut's final novel. Signed by Vonnegut in the year of publication and further illustrated with a smoking self-caricature on the title page, facing Vonnegut's portrait of Kilgore Trout, which serves as a frontispiece illustration for this edition. The text contains (in the context of the death of John Dillinger) the quote often misattributed to Vonnegut, "If you have a Hungarian for a friend, you don't need an enemy." Fine in pictorial boards, without dust jacket, as issued. In custom slipcase. Probably the only signed Hungarian edition of this title to come on the market, ever, and although Vonnegut was liberal with his self-caricatures, ones that picture him smoking are scarce. [#021782] 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

Staten Island, Karass, 1994. A 'zine that takes its title, Karass, from Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle (a karass being a group of people doing God's will without ever discovering what they are doing). The back cover of this issue reproduces a letter from Vonnegut to editor Jeremy Jusak that says "I am tickled pink that there is now, thanks to you, a humane and lively publication named Karass." The original letter was signed with a smoking self-caricature and with an annotation, referring to the cigarette, "very bad." Fine in stapled wrappers, with an insert offering other issues for sale. [#029029] 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

(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

NY, Putnam, (1997). The advance reading copy of this novel in which Vonnegut and his fictional alter-ego, Kilgore Trout, each touch on stories they would have liked to have told and, in doing so, tell another, about the whole in life being the sum of the parts one attends to. Fine in wrappers. [#007237] SOLD

(East Hampton), (Glenn Horowitz), (1999). Vonnegut provides the introduction to this booklet showcasing the paintings of April Gornik and published to coincide with an exhibit of her work. This is the limited edition. One of 100 numbered copies. Signed by Vonnegut and Gornik. Clothbound; fine in a fine slipcase. An attractive production, with 12 color plates tipped in. [#014689] SOLD

(Ann Arbor), State Street Press, (2007). The advance reading copy of an unpublished book about Vonnegut, with illustrations by Vonnegut and an original frontispiece by Ralph Steadman. Together with a photocopy of Brinkley's original typescript, with textual differences from the printed version. In 2006, Brinkley published a profile of Vonnegut in Rolling Stone; in 2007, after Vonnegut's death, Borders (State Street Press) asked Brinkley if he had a longer, un-edited version of the article that could be used as a tribute book. The 53-page typescript included here, entitled Choking the Broomhandle, became the 93-page advance reading copy of the book Apocalypse Blues before the project was ended, for reasons unknown to us. The typescript has some editorial changes in an unknown hand and is near fine; the advance reading copy is fine in wrappers. [#029545] SOLD

Woodstock, Dramatic Publishing, (1993). A play based on a Vonnegut story that first appeared in Saturday Evening Post and later in Welcome to the Monkey House. Fine in stapled wrappers. We haven't found that this play has ever been produced. [#030147] SOLD

(NY), Delacorte Press, (1973). The uncorrected proof copy of this novel that was Vonnegut's fiftieth birthday present to himself and his characters: in the book Vonnegut grants many of his previous characters their freedom (most notably Kilgore Trout who, unable to make it on the outside, returns in later books). Tall sheets, bound in green wrappers. A few strips of sunning and a corner crease on the rear cover. Near fine. [#031536] SOLD

NY, Seven Stories Press, (1998). The advance reading copy of this memoir of life on the street, for which Vonnegut provides a foreword. Fine in wrappers. Uncommon. [#012489] SOLD

NY, Random House, 1967. The hardcover issue of this early Warhol production. Present: the castle, the accordion (silent), the geodesic dome on a string, the Lou Reed flexi-disk, the folding nose, the Hunt's Tomato Paste can, the Warhol blotter, the Chelsea Girls spring disk (laid in, minus spring), the balloon (fused to pages), the pop-up plane (on pages tipped in). Lacking only the postcard and sponge. Minor discoloration to several pages surrounding the two pages fused by the balloon, and mild rubbing to the rear cover. Apart from the missing pieces, near fine. Roth 101. [#027455] $1,500

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

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, Harper & Row, (1981). The uncorrected proof of this compilation of pieces, many of them never collected before. White was a longtime writer for The New Yorker, and his intelligent, humane and understated essays helped define that magazine's literary style over more than three decades, setting it apart from the other mass-circulation journals of its time. Fine in wrappers. [#016069] SOLD

NY, Knopf, 1955. White provides a foreword to this book about three Russian-born scientists: an arachnologist, an embryologist, and a microbiologist. Three pages, beginning: "The egg! The spider! The protozoan! Promise of life, web of life, life invisible to the naked eye..." Mild offsetting to rear endpages; else fine in a near fine dust jacket with trace fading to the red on the spine. Not an uncommon book, but difficult to find in nice condition. [#029620] SOLD

(Norfolk), New Directions, (1956). A collection of poems by the author of A Streetcar Named Desire, The Glass Menagerie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and other modern classics of the theater. Fine in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket with a bit of sunning and a couple of small edge chips. [#016431] SOLD

Norfolk, New Directions, 1944. Near fine in a very good, evenly soiled, moderately spine-darkened dust jacket. A very early appearance by Williams, and a nice copy of a cheaply made book, manufactured to wartime production standards. [#011659] SOLD

NY, Hargail Music Press, (1947). Sheet music by Bowles for this Tennessee Williams poem. The two collaborated a number of times during the period prior to Bowles's first novel, The Sheltering Sky (1949), when his primary creative work was as a composer. Miller E40, approximately 1000 copies printed. Broadsheet, folded to make four pages. 9-1/8" x 12-1/8". Tiny corner chips and minor marginal dampstaining; very good. Scarce in the original, although apparently collected in the 1984 Soundings Press edition of Bowles' Selected Songs. [#017988] SOLD

NY, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, (1981). The uncorrected proof copy of this critique of modern architecture, in the same vein as the author's assault on Modern Art in The Painted Word. Publicity information stapled inside the front cover; else fine in wrappers. [#013887] SOLD

NY, Farrar Straus Giroux, (1980). The uncorrected proof copy of Wolfe's collection of short pieces and cartoons about, and caricatures of, the 1970s. Inscribed by the author on the front cover. 8-1/2" x 11" padbound proof, and thus fragile and scarce. Near fine in wrappers. [#032921] SOLD

(n.p.), (Farrar Straus Giroux), (1973). The printer's sample pages. One sheet, folded in half, printing three pages of text, numbered pp. 3, 56-57, but with contiguous text; the fourth page lists type and setup specifications. Fine. Unusual publisher's ephemera of a sort that seldom reaches the market. [#013464] SOLD

NY, Farrar Straus Giroux, (1965). The first book by the most outspoken practitioner of the "New Journalism" in the Sixties. Small checkmarks in the table of contents; small spot to foredge; near fine in a near fine dust jacket. [#032585] SOLD

NY, Farrar Straus Giroux, (1975). A scathing essay, which skewered the self-referential world of modern art. Inscribed by Wolfe, "to Nick," (author Nicholas Delbanco) in Ann Arbor in 1981. Bookplate removal front pastedown; edge-sunning to boards; near fine in a very near fine dust jacket. [#029205] SOLD