E-list # 149

Eugene, Lone Goose Press, (1992). A limited edition of a single piece by Lopez, from Crossing Open Ground, about igniting and retaining wonder in the natural world. Copy 58 of 75 numbered copies signed by the author and the artist, Margaret Prentice, who provides several relief print illustrations to the text. An elegant production: handset and printed on handmade papers made by Prentice, using dyes made from colored plant pulp to evoke the woods to which the essay refers. Handbound into attractive wrappers, also made by Prentice, with a fern image on the cover, the whole laid into a folding clamshell box. Printed and bound by Sandy Tilcock, who also made the box. Fine. [#033028] SOLD

London, Cassell, [1932]. The uncorrected proof copy of Mackenzie's suppressed memoir of his time working for MI6, the British intelligence service, during WWI; the book was withdrawn on the day of publication as a violation of the Official Secrets Act. and Mackenzie was prosecuted and fined. In the book he revealed the existence of the SIS (Secret Intelligence Service) and was critical of particular individuals. He was later placed on MI5's watch list, and his activities were monitored by the British domestic intelligence service. An edited version of Greek Memories was published in 1939. Mackenzie was knighted in 1952. Spine slant; initials to rear cover; staining and bookstore (?) label to front cover; good in wrappers. Few copies of the 1932 edition survived; proof copies are especially uncommon. [#027408] SOLD

Chicago, University of Chicago, 1976. One of the most sought-after titles in recent American fiction, two long interrelated stories of a family for whom "there was no clear line between religion and fly-fishing." Published by the university press as a favor to a retiring professor, the book became a surprise success, first gaining readership through word of mouth recommendations and eventually necessitating many later printings, illustrated and gift editions. Basis for the Robert Redford film featuring Craig Sheffer, Brad Pitt, Tom Skerritt and Emily Lloyd. First issue points: typo page 27 and mismatched ISBN numbers. Slight foxing on top edge, else fine in a price-clipped, else fine dust jacket with very subtle spine fade. [#911063] SOLD

(Omaha), (Images of Nature), (2007). The limited edition of Mangelsen's extraordinary book of 115 panoramic images, chosen from a library of 20,000 images spanning 20 years. With an introduction by Jane Goodall. Copy 63 of 500 clothbound copies, signed by Mangelsen, with a signed and numbered giclee print, also number 63 of 500, of two lions in Tanzania, laid in. Additionally, this copy is inscribed by Mangelsen to the author Peter [Matthiessen]: "To Peter -- With fond memories of an evening with you and talking over a glass of wine at my cabin in Moore in 2000/2001, a much too brief encounter. Hope our paths cross again soon -- With love, Tom Mangelsen/ 2013 Oct 21." Horizontally bound folio, 19" x 11". Fine in blindstamped cloth with a photo laid onto the front cover, without dust jacket as issued, in a fine clamshell case, with publisher's original shipping box. Mangelsen was named the 2011 Conservation Photographer of the Year by Nature's Best Photography; his photograph Polar Dance, of two "dancing" polar bears, was selected by the International League of Conservation Photographers as one of the 40 Most Important Nature Photographs of All Time. A beautiful book, a stunning production, and an outstanding association copy. While copies of the trade edition, and the 2010 reprint, can be found online, we could locate no copies of the limited edition for sale or having been sold at auction. [#031717] SOLD

NY, Harper & Row, (1982). A small archive of publishing materials for Mason's third book and first work of fiction, including:

• The "Author's Galleys." 247 typeset pages, reproducing copyeditor's corrections and with Mason's holograph corrections, mostly in the later stories. Many of her changes correct errors, but some show small rewrites. Loose sheets; near fine.
• "Author's notes to Copyeditors," a two-page computer printout of nearly two dozen justifications for changes Mason does not want made (defending "goosebumps," "St. Louis," "youngun," "golly-bill," etc., with such explanations as: "Tears don't really fall, they run down the face and neck onto the breasts. This is perfectly possible while lying down." Also present are a handful of small handwritten notes (by editors) that appear to be tracking such things as proper names, trademarks, contractions, and copyrights.
• A typed letter signed by Mason to Ted Solotaroff at Harper & Row, dated April 8, 1982, apologizing for sounding snippy and impersonal in her notes to the copyeditors and for being "a little fussy" about a few of her preferences. There is also a paragraph defending "Bombay chicken" as a recipe, as opposed to "Bombay duck." She also, apparently referring to proposed jacket copy, changes K-Mart managers to clerks; says she's not sure the collection has any college-educated divorcees; and says, "I don't recall any story about two bored housewives on a joyride to Nashville." Fine, on personal stationery.
• The uncorrected proof copy. In two of the stories, small textual differences exist between this proof and the published book. (In all but one instance that we found, Mason attempted to correct these "errors" in her page proofs.) Fine in wrappers.
• Folded and gathered sheets, i.e. unbound page signatures of the finished book. Mild foxing to half title; else fine.
• The first edition. Inscribed by the author in the month prior to publication: "To Dorian/ With appreciation, Bobbie Ann Mason/ Oct. 5-82." Near fine in a very good dust jacket with some ink added to cover the rubbing to the spine.

A nice archive, documenting some of the work that went into Mason's ground-breaking Kentucky K-Mart fiction, with an added bit of foreshadowing: the last line of Mason's letter to Solotaroff reads: "I'm reading too many books on Vietnam -- it's depressing!" Mason's Vietnam-themed novel In Country would be published in 1984. [#031718] SOLD

NY, Viking, (1983). An author's copy of his controversial and suppressed book about the confrontation between American Indian activists and the FBI in the early Seventies at Pine Ridge Reservation near Wounded Knee that left two federal agents and one Indian dead, and resulted in AIM activist Leonard Peltier being imprisoned for life, convicted of the agents' murder in a case that Matthiessen describes as rife with government malfeasance. Matthiessen, his publisher, and even some bookstores who had stocked the book were the targets of lawsuits brought by two government officials who claimed they were slandered by the hard-hitting book, which made no bones about its advocacy of the Indians' case. Until a landmark Supreme Court decision upholding Matthiessen's (and Viking's) First Amendment rights, the book was shelved with remaining copies of it being pulped; paperback publication, as well as foreign publication, were blocked for nearly a decade. A significant volume, both for the incendiary nature of its content, as well as the First Amendment battle surrounding its publication and suppression. This copy is from Matthiessen's own library. A little Long Island foxing in evidence; near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Letter of provenance available. [#031447] $125

(n.p.), (n.d.), (1983). Peter Matthiessen's own copy of this samizdat edition of his controversial and suppressed book about the confrontation between American Indian activists and the FBI in the early Seventies at Pine Ridge Reservation near Wounded Knee that left two federal agents and one Indian dead, and resulted in AIM activist Leonard Peltier being imprisoned for life, convicted of the agents' murder in a case that Matthiessen describes as rife with government malfeasance. Matthiessen, his publisher, and even some bookstores who had stocked the book were the targets of lawsuits brought by two government officials who claimed they were slandered by the hard-hitting book, which made no bones about its advocacy of the Indians' case. Until a landmark Supreme Court decision upholding Matthiessen's (and Viking's) First Amendment rights, the book was shelved with remaining copies of it being pulped; paperback publication, as well as foreign publication, were blocked for nearly a decade. A significant volume, both for the incendiary nature of its content, as well as the First Amendment battle surrounding its publication and suppression. Pirated during the nine years that the book was unavailable through normal channels. Plain white printed wrappers, with just the title and author indicated; comb-bound in an acetate cover. This copy is from the library of Peter Matthiessen. A significant edition of an important book in the history of First Amendment cases. Fine. [#031783] 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

(Houston), Inprint/Fiocat, (2005). A limited edition excerpt from Matthiessen's 1972 book, issued as a gift for patrons of Inprint's Poets and Writers Ball 2005. Copy #29 of 300 numbered copies (there were an additional 60 proofs). Signed by Matthiessen. From the author's own library. Fine in intricately designed string-tied wrappers. Very uncommon: we had never seen another one prior to encountering this. Presumably, as an ephemeral gift that never entered the book trade, copies were limited to the attendees at the ball, and it's likely that many did not retain them after the event. [#032378] SOLD

NY, Harper, (1961). McMurtry's first book, one of A.C. Greene's "50 best books on Texas," basis for the movie Hud, and winner of the Jesse H. Jones Award from the Texas Institute of Letters for the best novel of the year. Horseman, Pass By, which takes its title from the closing lines of William Butler Yeats's poem "Under Ben Bulben" (as did Mary McCarthy's first novel, Cast a Cold Eye), was a breakthrough in Texas literature and in regional literature in general: by telling a raw, unadulterated story entirely fitting to its contemporary West Texas setting, McMurtry not only brought the regional novel out of its quaint gentility but gave it a universality it could not have had otherwise; it has been called a West Texas Catcher in the Rye, with the caveat that the lives of Texans in general were a little more crude than those of the Easterners in Salinger's novel. Faint foxing to foredge and endpages; still a very near fine copy in a very near fine, lightly rubbed, price-clipped dust jacket. [#024130] SOLD

(San Francisco), (Gigantic Publishing), (1994-1997). Eleven of the first 16 issues of Dave Eggers' first foray into periodicals. Sold as a set, after the fact, in the Brooklyn Store, with an included serious/humorous fact sheet entitled "Rules for Buyers of These Old Magazines" and a set of latex gloves for handling. Among other things, the buyer of a set was instructed to write a check to The Fresh Air Fund, a New York charity that brings low-income urban children to outdoor experiences in the country. This seems to have been the first McSweeney's effort to have its literary publishing venture also serve an activist, socially conscious purpose; later the 826 Valencia and 826NYC literacy efforts extended and amplified this impulse. Issues of Might are quite uncommon now, and runs of the magazine are extremely scarce. The Might magazines, the rules and the gloves are fine, in a large and worn ziplock bag. [#032991] SOLD

Alhambra, Museum Reproductions, (n.d.). Eight unused postcards, each reproducing a Miller watercolor from the 40s or 50s, and each signed by Miller on the verso. The paintings included are: "Val's Birthday Gift," "Deux Jeunes Filles," "Marine Fantasy," "Banjo Self-Portrait," "A Bridge Somewhere," "Girl with Bird," "The Ancestor," and "The Hat and the Man." Previously framed, the frames darkened the back of the cards, but the signatures were protected. The lot is near fine. [#027431] SOLD

Norfolk, New Directions, (1939). Miller's first book to be published in the U.S., after the acclaim that his earlier books -- Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn and Black Spring -- had achieved in Paris. One of 2000 copies printed, this copy is a review copy (so stamped on the front flyleaf, with a publication date). Inscribed by Miller to Roger Richards, a legendary New York bookseller whose store, Greenwich Books, was a hangout for many of the Beat writers including Gregory Corso, Herbert Huncke, Ginsberg and Burroughs, and even Carl Solomon. Richards also published one of the last things Miller wrote, a 1978 chapbook called Love Between the Sexes, issued in an edition of 276 copies. This was one of the early books published by New Directions, which had been founded in 1936. Darkening to endpages and spine cloth, a very good copy of the first issue in a very good, first issue dust jacket with several small edge chips and two small contemporary reviews taped to the front flap. Very uncommon as an advance copy, and an excellent association copy. [#032894] SOLD

(Paris), (Lecram Servant), [1935]. A small, early volume by Miller, self-published with money he earned from Tropic of Cancer, according to the bibliography. Shifreen & Jackson A10a. "By Henry Miller" penned on the first blank by the author, also according to the bibliographers. Shifreen & Jackson's comment on the first and second editions: "Miller's name is signed in The First Edition but printed in [the] Second." There is no printed author name in this volume. Roughly 15 pages of text by Miller, intent on soliciting 25 francs a week to send Alfred Perles to Ibiza to finish a novel. Slight surface soiling; very near fine in stapled wrappers. Approximately 3-3/4" x 5". Because of its size and fragility, one of Miller's scarcest "A" items. [#017150] SOLD

Paris, France-Edition, (1924). Inscribed by Miller to Emil Schnelluck, one of his oldest friends and one of only a handful who stayed close to Miller through the enormous changes in his life after he met June Mansfield and left his previous existence behind in almost every respect. Schnelluck had been to Europe long before Miller had, and he used to recount to Miller his memories of his visits there, which Miller eagerly soaked up. Now Miller, in Paris for the second time in October, 1930, relays this book to his friend, with a recommendation that it is "fairly easy to read and quite entertaining. Try it!" He also recounts seeing "a peach of a Huysmans yesterday on Blvd Raspail called 'Croquis de Paris.' So much to buy -- so much -- if one only had the dough!" A wonderful inscription to one of his best friends, focused on Paris and books, not to mention poverty -- the important early themes of Miller's literary life. Wrappers are missing and the inscription is on the half-title which is the first page here. Page detached from the rest of the text; extremely brittle, acidifying pages. The condition is fair, and with a risk of deterioration. Miller's underlinings and comments in the text. An excellent personal association. [#012912] SOLD

NY, Viking, 1946. The first American edition of this novel by Giono, a writer whom Miller had come to admire while in France and whom he had long worked to get published in the U.S. Inscribed by Miller to his muse and former wife, June: "For June/ from/ Henry, Lepska & Val/ Xmas 1947." Lepska was Janina Martha Lepska Miller, Henry's third wife, and Val was their two year-old daughter. Henry and June had not been in regular touch for several years at this point, but she had recently contacted him and was destitute. He arranged for a friend to send her some money (he was still broke in the U.S.; his books had sold well in France and he had a substantial amount of money there but no way, under postwar regulations, to get it out of the country). His renewed contact with June, however, sparked his getting back to work on the Rosy Crucifixion, which he saw as his masterpiece-to-be, but which had been languishing. The part he was about to embark on -- dealing with his time with June and Jean Kronski -- was full of painful memories that Miller would have to relive in order to write it. The contact with June -- with whom he maintained contact thereafter -- allowed him to revisit that time and those experiences, and to finally bring to fruition the long-contemplated work. The cloth is heavily and unevenly faded; corners bumped; a very good copy, lacking the dust jacket. An excellent association copy, representing numerous strands of Miller's life over the prior two decades. [#012914] 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

(NY), (Viking), (2006). Two volumes: signed copies of both the advance reading copy and the first printing of the first edition. The first edition is signed by Mortenson; the advance reading copy is signed by both Mortenson and David Relin. Textual differences exist between the advance copy and the first edition. An inspirational, then infamous, account of Mortenson's quest to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan in response to kindnesses bestowed on him by locals while he was lost in Pakistan after an unsuccessful ascent of K2, a quest that led to his founding the Central Asia Institute and to an ongoing effort that has resulted in the building of hundreds of schools. The hardcover edition sold only 20,000 copies; the paperback sold over four million copies in more than 40 countries and stayed on The New York Times bestseller list for more than four years, until, in 2011, author Jon Krakauer revealed on 60 Minutes that Mortenson and Relin had taken liberties with the narrative and, in Mortenson's case, liberties with his financial relationship to the Central Asia Institute. The first edition is signed by Mortenson, who has added the word "Peace!" The advance reading copy is signed by Mortenson and by Relin, who at one point claimed sole authorship of the book, saying it was published with Mortenson as co-author over his objections. Relin committed suicide the year after the controversy broke. The advance reading copy has a mild corner tap and slight cover splaying and is very near fine. The first edition is fine in a fine dust jacket, with a ticket and a program for a Mortenson reading (of the sequel, Stones Into Schools) laid in. Each book has a custom clamshell case. A bestselling story of a Nobel Peace Prize-nominated attempt to achieve peace through education, flawed only by its being more inspirational than true. Note: proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to Room To Read, an unassociated organization of similar vision. [#032663] SOLD

Garden City, Doubleday, 1957. The second printing of this short comic novel, signed by Nabokov and dated "21 Jan. 1959 Cornell Univ." With a letter of provenance laid in. Nabokov was notoriously reluctant to sign books, and the letter of provenance tells an interesting story: the purchaser of this book originally bought two copies of Lolita to have Nabokov sign, and Nabokov told him that he had an agreement with his publisher not to sign copies of the book. As a result, he went back to the bookstore and bought two copies of Pnin (one for himself and one for his sister), and Nabokov signed and dated those instead. The commercial success of Lolita -- it had been a bestseller since its publication the previous summer -- allowed Nabokov to leave his job at Cornell. He gave his last two lectures there on January 19, two days before signing this book. Boards somewhat rubbed; near fine in a very good dust jacket with a couple of small stains at the folds, some fading to the spine lettering, and modest edge chipping. The dust jacket is Juliar's variant a, with the code above the price on the front flap. Uncommon signed, and this copy with a small footnote to literary history. [#033207] SOLD

NY, Vanguard, (1959). The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of the Nobel Prize winner's first novel, published two years after its appearance in the U.K. Naipaul is a Trinidadian author of Indian descent, one of the giants of contemporary English literature, and one of the most astute, if acerbic, Western commentators on Third World issues. Spine and a bit of the lower rear edge darkened, apparently from binder's glue rather than sun; some light dustiness to covers and a few gentle turns to page corners; very good in wrappers. An exceedingly scarce proof, by all appearances produced from the text block of the U.K. edition, bound in plain blue wrappers, with the U.S. publisher's label affixed to the front cover. This proof dates from the period when proofs were not routinely produced, which explains the use of the U.K. edition as an "American proof." Bound proofs in that era were little-known publishing artifacts, and were seldom saved, let alone filtered into the rare book market. We've only ever seen one other copy. [#028479] SOLD

1996. Typescripts of O'Nan's screenplay based on Tim O'Brien's National Book Award-winning Vietnam novel. Two clean copies, each signed by O'Nan on the title page. 126 pages each, and in a Kinko's box that is hand-labeled "Going After Cacciato/ 27 August 96/ Original - Top/ Copy - Bottom." The screenplays are fine; the box has two broken corners. This same year, O'Brien provided a jacket blurb for O'Nan's highly regarded Vietnam novel The Names of the Dead. Several years back it was rumored that Cacciato would be filmed, with Nick Cassevetes as director, and with a different screenwriter. For now, we have only O'Nan's vision. [#029952] SOLD

(Castle Rock), Bella Luna, (1992). An apparently never-produced limited edition of Offutt's first book, which was a collection of stories published in 1992 as a paperback original in the Vintage Contemporaries series. Offered here are copyedited, typeset sheets: one full set (140 pages) and five partial sets (approximately 270 pages). 8-1/2" x 11" sheets, printed on rectos only, with copyeditor's marks throughout. Offutt's book received high praise from critics; on the strength of it and his 1993 memoir, The Same River Twice, he was named one of the "20 best young American writers" by Granta magazine in 1996. A few marks where rubber bands once lay; near fine, in manuscript box. Presumably unique. [#915763] SOLD

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

(Toronto), (Coach House), (1967). His first book, a volume of poetry. One of 500 numbered copies. This copy is inscribed by Ondaatje, "with best wishes," in 1968. Ripple to rear pastedown, else fine in a very near fine dust jacket with just a bit of creasing to the upper edge. [#911106] SOLD

(Toronto), (Coach House), (1969). The hardcover issue. Nicely inscribed by the author "with best wishes & love" in 1970. Number 153 of 300 numbered copies of the true first edition of this very uncommon title. Fine in a fine dust jacket. [#911107] SOLD

(Toronto), (Coach House), (1969). An early collection of poetry, limited to 300 numbered copies, of which the first 50 copies were signed by the author. This is copy No. 8. One minute corner tap, else fine in a near fine, mildly spine and edge sunned dust jacket with a faint patch of foxing on the front panel. [#911239] SOLD

NY, D. Appleton, 1925. The Cherokee author's first book and, with D'Arcy McNickle's The Surrounded, one of the two most important debuts of modern Native American writers. This one, however, preceding McNickle's book as it does by over a decade, may rightfully be called the first Native American novel of the modern era. Signed by Oskison. A small amount of foxing to the book, and some general, modest signs of wear to the cloth; a very good copy, lacking the scarce dust jacket. A landmark volume, seldom encountered at all, let alone signed. [#028491] SOLD

1968-1975. Seven letters, totaling 18 pages, written to her friend, the novelist and screenwriter Rudy Wurlitzer. Owens was back in New York by this time, after a decade spent living in the expatriate community in Paris supporting herself writing soft porn for Maurice Girodias' Olympia Press, under the name Harriet Daimler. After Claude, her first novel under her own name, would be published in 1973. One autograph letter signed and six typed letters signed, densely packed, with thoughts on her own writing, the writing of others, sex, family, food, exercise, publishing, and writers' colonies. Also includes what seems to be retained copies of two partial letters from Wurlitzer as well: one to Owens, one to someone named Claus, typed on Owens' stationery while staying at the Chelsea hotel. Evidence of a close friendship, enacted over a decade, with Owens' no holds barred personality on display throughout. Mailing folds, an odd collage adhered to the verso of one letter, over what appears to be a handwritten postscript; else all elements are fine. [#033188] SOLD

ca. 1963-1964. Owens' 25-page typescript for the play Homo, with an accompanying autograph note signed by Julian Beck of the Living Theatre, explaining that Owens had given him the typescript, likely in early 1964, when their theater was closed by federal authorities. Beck's note is dated "1964," but we believe this to be a typo and that it was written in 1984. The typescript has two character names added in the List of Characters, multiple instances of handwriting over type to make the type more clear, two lines of stage direction added at the bottom of page 10, and one notation added at the bottom of page four that says "Others do not vex!," clarifying a phrase in the typed text that is unclear. Ostensibly, these changes are in Owens' hand. Claspbound in black binder, with a bit of creasing surrounding the clasp and a bit of foxing to the binder; near fine. An original typescript by one of the leading avant garde playwrights of the 20th century, with a note by one of the founders of the Living Theatre, one of era's most innovative and influential forces in American drama. [#033190] SOLD

ca. 1963-1964. Owens' 30-page typescript for the play The String-Game, with an accompanying autograph note signed by Julian Beck of the Living Theatre, dated in 1984, explaining that Owens had given him the typescript during the 1963-64 season when the Living Theatre was shut down by federal authorities, while the production of Owens' play Futz was in rehearsal. According to Beck's note, "We never -- or rather -- haven't yet produced any of Rochelle's work tho the possibility still exists." Futz, when it was finally produced in New York, won an Obie Award, one of three that Owens won. The script and the note are fine, in a three-hole binder. An original script by one of the leading American avant garde playwrights of the 20th century, with distinguished provenance. [#033189] 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

Prairie City, Decker Press, (1948). An unrecorded variant of this uncommon title. Gray cloth with the same design as that of the apparently first issue yellow cloth, in a blue dust jacket with gold and black lettering, a price of $1 and the words "THE ARCHIVE of Duke University" in place of "Louis Untermeyer" on the dust jacket copy. According to Morgan, Decker printed about 200 copies of this title, about 20 of which were the first issue, although Morgan doesn't account for all known variants. Fine in a mildly sunned, else fine dust jacket. [#001805] $1,250
On Sale: $938

(n.p.), Stringbook Production, (1963). The dialogue continuity script for Pinter's 1963 film adaptation of a 1948 novel by Robin Maugham. The title page lists no screenwriter, but Pinter is named on page 3 ("Screenplay by Harold Pinter") in the credits to appear on screen. A British film, this was Pinter's first collaboration with director Joseph Losey, and it earned Pinter a BAFTA nomination for best screenplay. The screenplay also won the New York Film Critics Award for the best screenplay of the year. 8" x 13", claspbound in pink covers; near fine. [#033039] SOLD

(NY), Atlantic Monthly Press, (1991). The uncorrected proof copy of the first book by the author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food, The Botany of Desire, and Cooked. Here titled The Idea of a Garden; published as Second Nature: A Gardener's Education. Selected by the American Horticultural Society as one of its 75 Great American Garden Books. This proof is shot from typescript and reproduces holograph page numbers. Mild wrinkling to a couple of pages, apparently in production; fading to spine; near fine in wrappers. The earliest appearance in print of any book-length work by this author whose writings have become instant bestsellers and touchstones for our times. Scarce. [#029955] SOLD

[c. 1990]. Fifteen original pieces of horror art (including one print and one set of contact sheets, in addition to photographs) by Potter, one of the most renowned contemporary fantasy artists. Potter uses traditional darkroom techniques to generate startling, often erotic, mind-bending, sensual images with both dramatic shock value and a dark sense of foreboding. His art has illustrated works by J.G. Ballard, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Poppy Z. Brite, Lucius Shepard, Ramsey Campbell, Clive Barker, William Gibson, William Burroughs and others. Poppy Z. Brite and Lydia Lunch are among his most frequent models. All of the photographs in this collection are from an unpublished book on his work. Most are 11" x 14", and most are signed by Potter. Together with an autograph letter signed by Potter to the would-be editor of the book, Stanley Wiater. Two pages, in which Potter weighs in on the idea of a dark fantasy children's book and works out the medium for an interview with Wiater. A fine collection from a work that was scuttled by the publisher and will never see light of day. Unique. [#030133] $3,500

NY, Beech Tree Books, (1985). The uncorrected proof copy of one of the most highly praised first novels of its time -- a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and winner of the Rosenthal Award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters for a book of "considerable literary achievement." Publication date written on front cover; near fine in wrappers. An uncommon proof, and an important debut. [#911113] SOLD

(n.p.), (n.p.), 1961/1962. Mimeographed typescripts of two one-act plays, which were collected in his 1962 volume entitled Children is All. Inscribed by Purdy on the title page of Cracks to the poet Quentin Stevenson "with the sincere admiration of James" and additionally signed, James Purdy. Purdy was a controversial author whose works explored gay themes at a time when this was taboo; his popularity and critical reception suffered as a result, but many of his more celebrated contemporaries considered him a genius and a great writer, among them being Tennessee Williams (who wrote a blurb for the book publication of Children is All); Edward Albee (who produced Purdy's play Malcolm); and Gore Vidal, who called him "an authentic American genius" and wrote in the New York Times article entitled "James Purdy: The Novelist as Outlaw" that "Some writers do not gain wide acceptance because their work is genuinely disturbing. Purdy is one of them." As best we can determine, OCLC lists only two copies of the former typescript and one of the latter in institutional collections. Another collection lists "photocopies" of these two plays, but these productions predate plain paper photocopying. Children is All (1961) runs 41 pages; Cracks (1962) runs 16 pages. Each is near fine; stapled in the upper left corner. Scarce works by a writer Jonathan Franzen called "one of the most undervalued and underread writers in America." [#031486] $1,500

London, Jonathan Cape, (2009). The advance reading copy of the first British edition of Pynchon's take on the hardboiled American detective novel. Basis for a Hollywood movie -- not surprisingly, the first of Pynchon's books to be adapted to the screen -- but it received mixed reviews: it's hard to imagine that a Pynchon book could ever be directly translated to film and be as coherent (if that's the right word) as the book. Fine in wrappers. [#033194] SOLD

NY, Henry Holt, (1997). The uncorrected proof copy in plain blue wrappers (not to be confused with the two more common variants of the beige advance reading copy, of which there were reportedly 500 copies each). This is the second issue blue proof, with a tipped-in title page that adds the ampersand missing from the "Mason & Dixon" in the first issue. These blue proofs had significant textual variations from both the advance reading copy and the printed book, and as such this is the most significant printed variant of any Pynchon work ever to appear -- the only one to contain a significantly earlier version of the text than that which was finally published in book form. While the textual variations in the beige advance reading copies were minor, and could easily have been the work of a copy editor, those evident in this proof would have to have involved Pynchon's assent and his rewriting. We have been told that virtually the entire edition of these proofs was destroyed. Fine in wrappers. [#033041] 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, (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

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

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. 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 and a Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship Award. Top stain a bit faded, and a little rubbing to the board edges; near fine in a very good spine-tanned dust jacket with a few short edge tears. An attractive copy of an auspicious debut, the promise of which was more than fulfilled by the author's subsequent writing career. Roth was one of the few novelists to have his entire body of work re-issued in the Library of America series -- a total of nine volumes, more than any other writer in the series. [#030786] 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

London, Bloomsbury, 1999-2007. The first printings of the deluxe editions of the (at the time) full Harry Potter series. Clothbound with pictorial onlays, all edges gilt; fine without dust jackets, as issued. The Azkaban, which was the first volume published in a British deluxe edition (Philosopher's Stone and Chamber being issued in a deluxe edition retroactively) had the smallest printing, (reportedly 7000 copies) and names "Joanne Rowling" rather than "J.K. Rowling" on the copyright page. Here together with the collector's edition of The Tales of Beedle the Bard [London: Children's High Level Group, 2008]. The leatherbound Beedle is in a drawstring bag, which, with ten illustrations by Rowling, are housed together in a large box made to look like a textbook, which is contained in the publisher's sleeve. Also included is the Sotheby's catalog for the auction of one of seven copies of the manuscript of Beedle the Bard, with an introduction by Rowling. Since the time of the last deluxe edition's release, the Harry Potter franchise has expanded with the completion of the 8-film series (with an additional three-movie prequel having debuted in 2016); original Rowling content on the Pottermore website; two Wizarding World theme parks; and a two-part stage play sequel (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), which premiered in London, the script of which was released as the eighth book in the series. [#027817] SOLD

NY, Random House, (1989). The uncorrected proof copy. Published in 1989, with, on the last blank, Matthiessen's notes on the subject of the fatwa against Salman Rushdie, beginning with, "Like the Ayatollah, I would like to make a very few brief [illegible] and ill-conceived remarks about a book I have just read - The Satanic Verses." The notes seem to suggest that his remarks are not to be concerned with Rushdie's "guilt," but that rather, like Leonard Peltier, "whether innocent or not, he was framed." Roughly 75 words, written on the blank facing the rear cover: the rear cover is beginning to detach; both covers are coffee-stained; a good copy in wrappers of the second issue proof, with the story "Horse Latitudes" in place of "A Replacement." Together with Matthiessen's copy of the first American edition of The Satanic Verses, unmarked but with a paragraph about Rushdie taped to the rear pastedown, with "Hitchens" written in the margin. The proof copy also has a number of annotations and markings in Matthiessen's hand in the story "Lumumba Lives," but these changes were not incorporated into the published book. [#032360] 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

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/(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

Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill, (1968). The galley sheets of this early play by Shepard, his first two-act play. Laid in are the galleys of Elizabeth Hardwick's introduction, dated 1967; Hardwick had reviewed the play for the New York Review of Books. At the time Shepard wrote La Turista, he was a member of the counterculture rock band The Holy Modal Rounders, which had a cameo appearance in the film Easy Rider. Shepard was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as test pilot Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff; he won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for Buried Child, and he won eleven Obie awards and was nominated for two Tonys, for Buried Child and True West. He received the Gold Medal for Drama from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1992. Claspbound, printed on rectos only, front cover tanned and separating; rear cover has date and price and "DUPL NYPL." Front cover has the name of Paul Myers, curator of the Theatre Collection at the New York Public Library. Very good. A fragile and rare early state of this play by one of the most important playwrights of the latter half of the 20th century. The only copy of the proof we have seen. [#027093] $2,500

(NY), (Ed Sanders), (1964). A deliberately provocative mimeographed journal, at first emphasizing poetry and later expanding to include other writing, Fuck You was dedicated to free expression, especially defying the taboos around sex and drugs, and advocating free sex and the use of psychedelics long before those were picked up by the more widespread countercultural movements of the late Sixties. Sanders and his collaborators served as a bridge between the Beat generation of the Fifties and the later counterculture -- the latter building on the breakthroughs initiated by the former. Contributors to this issue include Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Norman Mailer, Charles Olson, Gary Snyder, Robert Duncan, Robert Creeley, Paul Blackburn, Carl Solomon, Philip Whalen, Michael McClure, Gregory Corso and many others. Stapled sheets. Title page corner-clipped, mild foxing; near fine. [#033044] SOLD

(London), Macmillan, (2010). The advance reading copy of the British edition of Skloot's biography of Henrietta Lacks and her descendants, which in broad definition includes the HeLa cell line, the first human cells to survive in perpetuity outside of a human body, and which were taken from the dying Lacks in the 1950s without her or her family's knowledge or consent, and used to create both miracles (cures) and money (though not for the Lackses, an impoverished black family in Maryland). Originally to be published by W.H. Freeman, who was bought out by Henry Holt in 2003; Holt reportedly wanted less of the Lacks family in the narrative, so Skloot pulled out and the title was auctioned to Crown. The book was published in 2010; the first U.S. printing sold out in a day, and Crown reprinted the book three times in two days. A surprising bestseller; the U.S. paperback issue remains on the New York Times bestseller list four years later. Oprah is reportedly producing a film version for HBO; in 2013 the HeLa genome was sequenced and published (an agreement for which was reportedly reached with the family after-the-fact). Smudges to foredge, else fine in wrappers (which are designed so as to appear worn and aged, like the photograph of Henrietta on the front cover). Scarce in any advance format. [#030813] SOLD

1992-2011.

Fifty pieces of correspondence from Josef Skvorecky (Czech author of The Engineer of Human Souls, among many others) to his eventual friend, writer and musician Anthony Weller. Includes:

• 23 typed letters signed by Skvorecky; 1 typed note signed; 2 typed postcards signed; 3 autograph notes signed; 3 autograph postcards signed; 5 signed cards; 12 emails;
• one unsigned letter which is together with the unpublished 2007 translation (bound computer printout, double-spaced, rectos only, 280pp.) of the author's novel Encounter in Prague, with Murder.

Much of the correspondence falls in the years 2001-2007, a time frame that included:

• Weller providing an Afterword to a new edition of Skvorecky's The Bass Saxophone [Toronto: L&OD/Key Porter, 2001], a copy of which is included;
• Weller writing an essay, in 2007, on the adaptations of The Bass Saxophone (five-pages, computer printout), also included;
• and Skvorecky soliciting advice from Weller on the adequacy of the above translation of Encounter in Prague, on which Skvorecky's and his wife's (Zdena Salivarova) names are crossed out as authors and replaced by hand with the pen name "Josephine Salivar."

Weller's retained email response is included, as are 14 retained copies of letters from Weller to Skvorecky. Weller and Skvorecky shared a passion for jazz as well as both being writers, so their correspondence -- which at first is quite cordial, almost formal -- eventually developed into a friendship based on intellectual closeness and trust. Skvorecky is widely considered one of the most important Czech writers of the postwar and Soviet era. Choosing a self-imposed exile to Canada after the failure of the Prague Spring movement in 1968, he founded a press, 68 Publishers, to publish exiled Czech and Slovak writers whose works were banned in communist Czechoslovakia, including Vaclav Havel, the future President of the Czech Republic, and Milan Kundera, whose Unbearable Lightness of Being was first published in Czech by 68 Publishers. Skvorecky himself was a Nobel Prize nominee in the 1980s.

The correspondence spans more than 20 years, up to a point two months before Skvorecky's death. The two writers discuss music, writing, publishing, their health, their travels, and a range of other subjects, exchanging CDs and books (not present here), and discussing their own works as well.

Also included is the Czech edition of Nachod, 1254-2004 by Lubomir Imlauf and Stanislav Bohaldo, inscribed by Skvorecky "For Anthony my friend," in 2004, with an additional note saying it is also available in English. Nachod was Skvorecky's birthplace and featured prominently in much of his work.

In all a revealing look at one of the major writers of the 20th century, writing candidly to a friend, confidant and fellow writer, along with a typescript of an unpublished translation of one of his novels. All items fine.

[#029718] SOLD

Undated. A one-page prose poem, typed, and signed "Clark Ashton Smith/Auburn, California." This version of the prose poem differs in a number of particulars from the published version, which was included in The Abominations of Yondo (Arkham House, 1960) and Poems in Prose (Arkham House, 1965). Previously folded in thirds but now in a custom binder, bearing the bookplate of horror writer Stanley Wiater, from whose library this came. Fine, with a letter laid in to Wiater from Roy Squires, the noted science fiction collector and dealer, from whom Wiater purchased it. Squires' lengthy letter comments extensively on the appallingly high prices "being asked -- and paid -- for the more desirable Arkham House books," in 1972, and then goes on to justify the high price Wiater had just paid for the Clark Ashton Smith manuscript, and says that he knows of only four prose poem manuscripts by Clark Ashton Smith in existence -- this one; one that he himself still had; and two that Smith's widow had at that time. A rare typescript by one of the most important American horror writers of the 20th century, with a long, illuminating letter from one of the great collectors and dealers in the field, and from the library of a horror writer who has been a three-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award, given by the Horror Writers of America. [#029000] ON HOLD
$5,500

(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

San Francisco, City Lights Books, (1990). Solnit explores the cultural contributions of six California artists from the Beat era: Wallace Berman, Jess, Bruce Conner, Jay DeFeo, Wally Hedrick, and George Herms. Inscribed by Solnit. An early book by Solnit, who writes as a historian, cultural critic, wide-ranging intellectual, and political activist, and has as a result become one of the most highly respected voices of the current era, continually bringing fresh and surprising perspectives to difficult, longstanding questions and issues. Foreword by Bill Berkson. Strip of sunning on the rear cover near the spine, else fine in wrappers. [#033046] SOLD

NY, World Publishing, (1970). "The Natural History of Animals in Danger of Extinction." Fine in a near fine dust jacket and original cardboard slipcase, which is inscribed by Terry Southern to Peter Matthiessen: "Dear Pete - Spotted this tome en passant so to speak, and thought 'what the heck, that looks very much like the great Math's bag!', so I snapped one up (that's the kind of guy I am, Pete, just snapped it right up) and am sending it along in hopes you may groove on it. Some boss-pix. Best, yr. T." A fine Terry Southern letter on a cardboard slipcase of a gift, and an indication of the friendship between the two, which is not as widely known as some of Matthiessen's other literary friendships. [#032531] 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

NY, Knopf, 1986. The uncorrected proof copy of the first American edition of his fourth novel, a look at the underside of the Hollywood mystique. Inscribed by Stone to Denis [Johnson] and his wife: "For Denis & Lucinda/ with admiration and respect -- my deepest esteem/ Robert Stone." Some dustiness and rubbing to the covers; very good in wrappers, in custom folding chemise and slipcase. A nice association between two writers who each won the National Book Award for a Vietnam-themed novel (Stone, Dog Soldiers, 1974; Johnson, Tree of Smoke, 2007), each of whose work has been at times compared to the other's. [#028552] 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

Boston, Little Brown, (1959). Thurber's memoir of Harold Ross, founder and editor of The New Yorker, with illustrations by the author. Ross founded the magazine in 1925 and served as editor-in-chief until his death in 1951. Thurber began his career with The New Yorker in 1927; he died just two years after this publication. Inscribed by Thurber on the flyleaf, and with a drawing of a dog on the pastedown, signed underneath it "th." Thurber's sight was failing by this time, and his lettering is large and rough; he seldom illustrated his inscriptions by this time, because of his poor eyesight. A good inscription, from late in the artist and writer's life. Spine gilt faded; near fine in a very good dust jacket with modest edge wear and a couple of small stains. [#033198] 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

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] $1,000

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

(NY), HarperCollins, (1994). Updike provides a 5-page introduction, entitled "The Spirit of the Game," to this compendium of articles and photographs. After Updike died in 2009, Golf Digest declared, "If golfers were allowed to vote for the Nobel Prize in literature, John Updike would have won it..." This copy of Golf bears the bookplate of the Brae Burn Country Club's 50th annual Men's Member-Guest Tournament and is inscribed by Updike in the same month: "For ___ ___/ warm regards -- be happy and healthy! John Updike/ 7/29/97." Brae Burn was one of the courses that Updike played with some frequency. Oversized; fine in a fine dust jacket. Rare signed. [#030288] SOLD

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

(Boston), G.K. Hall and Marquis Who's Who, Inc., (1978). A poem by Updike, published as a holiday greeting card. Signed by the author. Fine, with original (unused) mailing envelope. Together with a presumed proof copy, with the copyright notice handwritten (in an unknown hand) rather than printed on the rear cover. Also fine. Both housed together in a G.K. Hall envelope. An ephemeral piece, uncommon signed, and rare in the variant with the handwritten copyright notice. [#031524] $1,250

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

1951, 1952, 1970. One typed letter signed, one autograph letter signed, and one autograph postcard signed by the controversial author of Worlds in Collision, Earth in Upheaval, and others. Velikovsky's books suggested that Earth's history was defined more by sudden catastrophes than by slow evolution. They became quite popular during the 1960s, when conventional wisdom of all sorts was being called into question. Each letter is written to a Mr. Tereshchenko: the first refutes two notions in a book by "Beaumont;" the second letter assures the recipient that the second volume of Ages [in Chaos] will be published and is being held up by Velikovsky himself; the third voices intent to send along a 1946 publication and explains that Ages in Chaos grew to a tetralogy. "Beaumont" is William Comyns Beaumont, a British author whom some claimed had advanced the notions put forward by Velikovsky a generation earlier. The first letter is secured across the midpoint fold with tape; very good. The second letter is on airmail paper; folded and opened as designed; else fine. The postcard is fine. Correspondence, or any autograph material, by Velikovsky is quite scarce, especially with significant content. [#023981] $1,750

(Minneapolis), Nodin Press, (1966). "A dialogue in haiku" by Vizenor and Downes, alternating haiku presented in two separate rounds, the first with Downes leading off, the second with Vizenor leading. Ten haiku per round, with illustrations by Hokusai. Signed by both Vizenor and Downes. Tiny foredge spot, else fine in stapled wrappers, in a near fine dust jacket. As best we can tell, this was Vizenor's third Nodin Press publication, and it appears to be his scarcest; this is the first time we have seen this title. [#033222] SOLD

San Francisco, McSweeney's, 2003. The full seven volume set of Vollmann's treatise on violence. Signed by Vollmann in all volumes but Volume VI, "The Muslim World," the final volume of the set: the volumes are numbered MC (for the "Moral Calculus") and then I - VI. Fine books, in one large slipcase: the paper lining inside the slipcase is torn, but the slipcase is fine. Not issued as a signed set: rare with multiple signatures, and fine. More than 3200 pages in all; extra postage may apply. [#032997] 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

Hollywood, The Wanda June Co., 1971. Vonnegut's first screenplay, for the 1971 film based on his stage play, which opened off-Broadway in 1970 and then moved to Broadway for a successful, although relatively short, run. This copy is identified on the front cover as a "Rehearsal Script" and dated March 25, 1971. Signed by Vonnegut on the front cover, with the added comment: "Genuine Relic." 8-1/2" x 11" sheets, printed on rectos only. Several penciled corrections in the text; claspbound in cardstock covers; faint coffee ring on rear cover; near fine. Rare. [#009540] SOLD

NY, Farrar Straus Giroux, (1981). The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of poetry by Walcott, a West Indian author of poetry and plays who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992. This copy is inscribed by Walcott to the poet Mark Strand: "To Mark - continuing strength/ Derek." With Strand's ownership signature beneath. One of the poems in this collection, "Piano Practice" is individually dedicated to Strand. It is printed here in the proof as it appeared in The Kenyon Review in 1980, but changes were made between this and the published version, and laid in here are two photocopies of the proof version showing two versions of Walcott's revisions (in the hand of a copy editor?). The photocopies are stapled and folded in thirds; the proof is near fine in wrappers. Strand was Poet Laureate of the U.S. the year Walcott won his Nobel Prize; Strand also won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1999, for his collection Blizzard of One, which contained the poem "The View," dedicated to Walcott. A superb literary association between two of the preeminent poets of the 20th century. [#033199] 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

NY, Random House, (1966). An extra-annotated copy: inscribed by Wasserman, "To --- ---, a fellow quixotick -- with appreciation, Dale Wasserman, in 1968. Wasserman, who had had success on Broadway with an adaptation of Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1963, wrote the book for Man of La Mancha which opened off Broadway in 1965 and moved to Broadway in 1966, where it won the Tony Award for best musical. Tipped into this copy is a plethora of Quixotic ephemera, as well as four typed letters signed from Wasserman. There is also a photo of a Cervantes-themed bracelet, which the recipient had sent to Wasserman, and which Wasserman mounted and photographed. The four letters span 1968-1969. In one, Wasserman notes: "It amuses me, the way The Impossible Dream has swept the world, gone into so many languages and been put to so many uses. For most often it's used wrongly, in a perversion of its meaning..." The owner has rather compulsively annotated not only the text of the book, and the added articles, reviews, and illustrations; he has also annotated Wasserman's letters. Binding broken from all the ephemera laid in. Thus a good copy, with the dust jacket absent but the jacket flaps preserved and pasted to the endpages. A unique copy. [#033200] SOLD

NY, Viking, (1963). The uncorrected proof copy in comb-bound printed cardstock covers of this landmark volume relating the worldview of the Hopis, as compiled by Waters from the tales of thirty Hopi elders. A matter of some controversy in later years -- some people questioned the authenticity of the material or the qualifications of those who provided it -- this book nonetheless was profoundly influential in the Sixties, as another of the seminal volumes bringing some version of a Native American perspective and ethos to the mainstream society: this was a counterculture classic and a staple on college campuses in the late Sixties and early Seventies, thus contributing to the general push toward a more multicultural society. Waters' father was reportedly part Cheyenne, and Waters was an ardent admirer of, and advocate for, the values of Native American culture. A bit of corner creasing and dust soiling to covers; near fine. [#002732] SOLD

1986-1987. A collection of letters from Waters, mostly to his literary agent, Joan Daves, as well as related ancillary materials showing Waters at work in the after-market for his writing, with opportunities for later editions and film versions. Waters wrote primarily about the American Southwest, in particular the Native American experience. His father was part Cheyenne. The first typed letter signed is from Waters to his agent, Joan Daves, dated August 24, 1986 and concerns Lesley Ann Warren's interest in optioning the film rights to The Woman at Otowi Crossing and the contract for publication of a hardcover, illustrated edition of The Man Who Killed the Deer. It is stapled to a copy of the contract, with numerous marginal corrections and a retained copy of Daves' reply, agreeing with Waters that the intended publisher (Gibbs Smith) had overreached in the contract. An included exchange between Daves and Gibbs Smith posits a simpler agreement, while a retained carbon shows Daves reaching out to Ohio University Press to confirm they had no claim to hardcover rights. The second typed letter signed is from Waters to Keith Sabin, in Daves' absence, and is dated September 29, 1986 and describes the purchasing history of Flight from Fiesta and the current unwelcome "blitz" he, Waters, is undergoing from Ritz Productions regarding theatrical rights. Waters encloses an initialed copy of the letter he wrote to Ritz Productions redirecting their overtures to Daves upon her return from Europe. Both of these letters are stapled together with retained copies of both Sabin's and Daves' replies, as well as a retained copy of an earlier letter from Sabin to Waters saying they had been approached by Ritz and the initial contact letter from Ritz with an unsigned agreement for Right of First Refusal. Also included is a letter from Fiesta publisher Clark Kimball to Daves recommending the production company. The fourth typed letter signed, from Waters to Daves, dated April 29, 1987, again describes the publishing history of Flight from Fiesta and informs Daves that the publisher, Clark Kimball, has been approached by CBS-Columbia regarding film rights, and he includes Kimball's letter. Attached are the retained copies of letters from Daves to both Waters and Kimball, admonishing all that Kimball has no role in film rights for the title, and a later letter from Kimball acquiesces. The fifth typed letter signed, from Waters to Daves (August 3, 1987), delineates an additional inquiry regarding a film option for Flight from Fiesta and several leads on optioning The Woman at Otowi Crossing should Lesley Ann Warren's option expire. Waters takes Daves to task for not responding to offers already presented, for not keeping him informed, and for being about to depart for Europe leaving him without representation: "I don't like to end our agent-client relationship after so many years, but if the overload of work at this crucial time is too much for you, I don't see any alternative." A copy of a letter to Waters at about this point from Alton Walpole shows one of the interested parties facing obstacles bringing Otowi Crossing to the screen. Also, a letter to Daves from The University of Nevada thanks Daves for sending financials on Ohio University Press's Frank Waters: A Retrospective Anthology (included), but bemoans how infrequent the agent's communiques have become. However, the Daves-Waters agent-client relationship was ongoing in October: in the sixth typed letter signed in this archive, Waters informs Daves of yet another inquiry for Flight from Fiesta and asks her advice about payment on an opportunity he has to write the text for a book of photographs to be published by Arizona Highways (likely Eternal Desert, published in 1990). As mentioned, many of the letters are stapled; most are folded for mailing; in some instances they bear the agency's routing marks or highlighting. The lot as a whole is near fine. [#031770] $1,250

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

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, Harper & Row, (1977). A collection of essays spanning his career, with a foreword written expressly for this volume. Inscribed by the author to a neighbor in Maine: "For ____/ with love from/ Andy." ("Andy" being White's nickname, from college.) Boards mildly splayed and light foxing to page edges; near fine in a very good dust jacket with an externally tape-repaired tear at the lower outer corner of the rear panel. [#033201] 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

1985-1987. The publisher's files (Art & Antiques magazine) for the breaking story of "The Helga Pictures," Wyeth's previously secret cache of 245 paintings and drawings, many nude, of his neighbor in Chadds Ford, PA. Included are:

• the transcript of the 1985 interview with Wyeth by editor Jeffrey Schaire in which Wyeth first divulged the existence of the unknown work. 24 pages. This interview was for a story on Wyeth that Arts & Antiques ran the year before the Helga story graced their cover.
• a second copy of the 1985 transcript, marked and annotated in preparation for extracting the story from the conversation.
• a partial handwritten transcription of the 1985 interview, with notes on images to be used, 7 pages.
• a photocopy of the press release for the 1985 article, with edits shown.
• a printout of the typescript of that first article, "The Unknown Andrew Wyeth."
• a printout of the typescript of the 1986 Helga article, entitled "Andrew Wyeth's Secret Paintings."
• storyboard-type layout of the text and images to be used in the 1986 article.
• two mockups for the layout of the 1986 article, the first draft using the title of the 1985 article and unrelated text, but with the Helga pictures; the second adding the actual title and text.
• 11 proof prints and 3 photo positives of Helga images, most stamped as property of Time magazine; with a black and white proof of their cover story, which reported (as did Newsweek) on the revelation of the Helga pictures a week after Arts & Antiques broke the story.
• the typesetting of what seems to be the publisher's (Wick Allison's) introduction to the Helga piece in the 1986 issue, lightly copyedited.
• five pieces of correspondence, 1985-1988, from the photographer on the story, Peter Ralston, to the author, Jeff Schaire.
• two snapshots of Andrew Wyeth with Jeffrey Schaire, taken by Susan Gray at the 1987 showing of "The Helga Pictures" at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., along with Schaire's invitation to the preview.
• three letters from Mary Adam Landa, curator of the Wyeth Collection in Chadds Ford.
• the radio transcript of Helen Hayes's piece on Wyeth (for her syndicated program "The Best Years") from 1985, in which she reported on the first Arts & Antiques article, without mentioning the foreshadowed cache of secret paintings.
• two file folders full of the fall-out from the Helga story: fan mail and kudos (and some snarky commentary) from other publications, galleries and individuals; press clippings; arrangements for publicity appearances and a proposal for a video; numerous clippings of cartoons and parodies.

Wyeth had always been controversial: dismissed by critics and beloved by the public. The Helga story revealed the depth of this chasm, as the 1985 report of an unknown body of work by a major American painter was shrugged off by the art establishment, only to sweep the headlines of popular culture a year later, as Helga became ensconced in the public imagination. Later, the art historian John Wilmerding wrote, "Such close attention by a painter to one model over so long a period of time is a remarkable, if not singular, circumstance in the history of American art." The story of the Helga pictures was one of the most compelling and widely reported tales of an American artist since Jackson Pollock made headlines in the 1940s and '50s. This is the unique, original file that broke the story that eventually made the covers of Time and Newsweek magazines. But for some isolated dampstaining, the archive is near fine or better. [#030152] SOLD

Boston, Little Brown, (1961). His influential first novel, made into a well-received film almost fifty years after the book's publication. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication, to Paul Cubeta, assistant director of Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, (which Yates attended in 1960 and again in 1962, where he had a legendary mental breakdown): "For Paul Cubeta - who makes everything go and keeps everything quiet. With more gratitude than he can possibly use and more respect than he will ever believe./ Dick Yates/ 8/30/61." A heartfelt association copy of one of the most acclaimed first novels of its era. Yates went on to teach at the Iowa Writers Workshop; later, in New Hampshire, he was effectively the "dean" of New England writers -- a model and mentor to John Irving, Andre Dubus, and others. Foxing and staining to page edges, otherwise a near fine copy in a very good dust jacket with one edge chip and some blended staining to the spine. [#032923] 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