Catalog 122, D-F
75. DINESEN, Isak. Seven Gothic Tales. NY: Smith and Haas, 1934. Her first book published in English. A trifle edge-sunned and the top stain has bled slightly onto the rear flyleaf; still about fine in a very good, modestly tanned dust jacket with some rubbing to the spine folds, a couple small corner chips, and one edge tear. An attractive copy.
76. DINESEN, Isak. Last Tales. NY: Random House (1957). A collection of stories written when the author was in her seventies, her first book in fifteen years. A little offsetting at the hinges; fine in a near fine dust jacket with two tiny adhesions to spine. A beautiful copy.
77. DINESEN, Isak. Anecdotes of Destiny. NY: Random House (1958). Small abrasion to half title and facing blank; else fine in a very good dust jacket with minor surface soiling and edge wear.
78. DINESEN, Isak. Shadows on the Grass. NY: Random House (1960). The companion volume to her much-acclaimed Out of Africa, chronicling her time in East Africa. Fine in a very good, spine-tanned, price-clipped dust jacket with a small chip at the rear upper tip.
79. DUBUS, Andre. Separate Flights. Boston: Godine (1975). His second book, the first collection of the short fiction for which he won a considerable reputation. Winner of a Boston Globe award for fiction. Signed by the author. Fine in an apparently supplied dust jacket as the flaps were once affixed to the endpages, but not these endpages; flaw visible only on verso of flaps, else a fine jacket.
80. DUBUS, Andre. Leslie in California. (Otisville): Birch Brook (1989). A small, attractive letterpress limited edition and the first separate appearance of this story. One of 300 numbered copies signed by the author. Approximately 6" x 4 1/2". Fine in wrappers. An uncommon volume, which appears to have gotten little distribution and seldom shows up on the market.
81. DUNN, Katherine. Geek Love. NY: Knopf, 1989. Her third novel, a critically well-received story of a carnival family told in the voice of an albino hunchback dwarf. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
82. EXLEY, Frederick. A Fan's Notes. NY: Harper & Row (1968). His first book, a fictional memoir and one of the defining books of the Sixties, which helped blur the line between fiction and nonfiction much the way the New Journalism of that era did. Fine in a fine dust jacket, and surprisingly uncommon thus.
83. FARRELL, James T. Young Lonigan. NY: Vanguard Press, 1932. The first edition of his controversial first book, the first volume in the Studs Lonigan trilogy, which was selected as number 29 on the Modern Library's list of the best 100 novels of the 20th century. This is the first issue, in brown cloth, with title page, copyright page, and introduction all dated 1932. It is presented as a "special edition, the sale of which is limited to physicians, surgeons, psychologists, psychiatrists, sociologists, social workers, teachers and other persons having a professional interest in the psychology of adolescence." Farrell chronicled the maturing, degradation and, finally, death of a young Chicago man, destroyed by the pressures of modern urban street life, and was written in a gritty, realistic, stream-of-consciousness style that was shocking at the time. The books were controversial in their day for their unflinching, realistic portrayal of the brutalities of city life and their honest rendering of both the thoughts and the speech of a youth growing up on the streets. This is a bibliographically confusing title, with many references contradicting each other and suggesting that the Thrasher introduction was added in 1935 despite the dates on the title page and copyright page remaining 1932. However, there was reportedly also an edition with a copyright date of 1934 and yet another with a preface dated 1935 that is in addition to the Thrasher introduction, so it is hard to image the existence of a 1935 edition that contains only 1932 dates. We believe that this is the true first edition, first issue of this title and that the dates are correct as indicated, and that bibliographic complexity combined with the natural tendency to trust received wisdom when encountered in print has conjured up a fictional issue of this title that precedes this and lacks the 1932 introduction by Thrasher (especially given that Thrasher's introduction is dated in February 1932), and another fictional issue of this title that was published in 1935 but retains all the 1932 dates and only has the 1932 introduction but not the 1935 one. This edition has a disclaimer that reads: "It is the sincere conviction of the publisher that this book could not conceivably harm any individual, whether or not a member of a profession. The plan for restricting its circulation has been adopted merely for the purpose of meeting official prejudice." But this is ambiguous: it can be read to suggest that a new edition, this one, has been given restricted circulation because an earlier edition was harshly judged by official prejudice, or it can be read as a way of attempting to preempt imminent censorship. We believe the latter interpretation is correct, in light of the bibliographic points in the book itself, and we would welcome any information confirming or refuting this view. In fact, Farrell's novels -- including the Studs Lonigan trilogy -- were censored numerous times throughout his career both at the time of publication and, in some cases, many years later. Because of this he was an outspoken critic of censorship of the arts, both within and outside his own field, including taking a public stand against the Production Code in the motion picture industry in 1938. Fine in a very near fine dust jacket with a couple short nicks at the spine base. A beautiful copy of an important first book.
84. FAULKNER, William. Soldier's Pay. NY: Boni & Liveright (1926). Owner name stamped on rear flyleaf; dampstaining affecting the rear board, the outer edges of the endpages and the margins on about a dozen pages of text. Still about very good, with the lettering on the spine and front cover still bright, lacking the extremely rare dust jacket.
85. FAULKNER, William. Salmagundi. Milwaukee: Casanova Press, 1932. A collection of short pieces that, with one exception, first appeared in The Double Dealer magazine, and including a short poem on the rear cover by Ernest Hemingway. One of 525 numbered copies. Fine in stiff wrappers, in an edgeworn and faded slipcase.
86. FAULKNER, William. This Earth. NY: Equinox, 1932. A poem published by the Equinox Cooperative Press, with illustrations by Albert Heckman. One sheet folded to make four pages and stringbound in buff cardstock covers. Small owner name in pencil on upper rear cover; else a fine copy with scarce original mailing envelope, which is slightly edge-stained.
87. FAULKNER, William. The Unvanquished. NY: Random House (1938). A Civil War novel of the Sartoris family, assembled from a group of short stories published earlier. A hint of acidification at the hinges and joints, and a couple small spots to top stain; else a fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with a thin, faint, "s" shaped stain near the front spine fold. Overall a very attractive copy of this title, with the spine much less faded than is commonly encountered.
88. FAULKNER, William. The Wild Palms. NY: Random House, 1939. The first trade edition of this elaborately structured novel, which consists of two distinct stories presented in alternating chapters. This is the first state, with the front and spine stamped gold and green. Top stain faded; very near fine in a very good, spine-sunned and price-clipped dust jacket with a couple internally tape-mended edge tears and a few tiny edge chips.
89. -. Same title. Second state binding with spine stamped in brown and green. Top stain rich, but some handling to boards; near fine in a very good dust jacket with mostly light edge wear but a longer tear to the upper rear flap fold.
90. FAULKNER, William. Go Down, Moses and Other Stories. NY: Random House (1942). The first edition, first issue, in black cloth stamped in gold and red and with red top stain. Faulkner intended this as a novel, or sequence of related stories, and later editions removed the phrase "and other stories" from the title. One of the most important books in the Faulkner canon, which includes perhaps his most frequently anthologized story, "The Bear." Front hinge starting; tiny spots to top stain; faint handling to boards; still a near fine copy in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket with several small edge chips and a larger chip to the front flap fold.
91. FAULKNER, William. A Fable. (NY): Random House (1954). A parable of the Passion of Christ, set in World War I; winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Top stain almost entirely faded; else fine in a very good, spine-tanned dust jacket that is heavily rubbed at the folds and has several small edge chips.
92. FAULKNER, William. Big Woods. NY: Random House (1955). Faulkner's hunting stories, collected for the first time and with prologues and epilogues which appear here for the first time. Owner name front flyleaf, light corner bumping; very near fine in a near fine, spine and edge-sunned dust jacket with slight rubbing at the tips.
93. FAULKNER, William. The Town. NY: Random House (1957). The second book in Faulkner's Snopes Trilogy, this being the first issue, in red cloth with threaded gray endpapers and "5/57" on the dust jacket flap. Cloth mottled; very good in a very good, internally foxed dust jacket, which on the outside exhibits only a couple tiny chips and some faint tanning to the spine.
94. FAULKNER, William. The Reivers. London: Chatto & Windus, 1962. The first British edition of his second Pulitzer Prize winner and the last novel he wrote. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with one edge tear on the front panel and light rubbing to the rear panel. With publisher's Faulkner-themed bookmark laid in.
95. FAULKNER, William. Early Prose and Poetry. Boston: Atlantic/Little Brown (1962). Top edge foxed; else fine in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket.
96. FAULKNER, William. The Wishing Tree. NY: Random House (1964). A children's story, published posthumously. Fine in a near fine, very slightly spine-faded dust jacket.
97. FAULKNER, William. The Portable Faulkner. NY: Viking (1967). Edited by Malcolm Cowley and revised and expanded from his 1946 edition. The original edition of this collection is widely credited with reviving Faulkner's literary reputation at a point at which it was in decline after his Hollywood years, leading in short order to the National Book Award, Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize for Literature. Fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
98. FAULKNER, William. The Uncollected Stories of William Faulkner. NY: Random House (1979). Trace foredge and top edge foxing; still fine in a fine dust jacket.
99. FAULKNER, William. Father Abraham. NY: Random House (1984). The first trade edition, after a fine press limited edition done in 1983 by the Red Ozier Press as a benefit for the Rare Book Room of the New York Public Library. "Father Abraham" was the working title for the first novel Faulkner began writing about the Snopes family. He later abandoned it, the project evolved into The Hamlet, and this remained unpublished until this section was done based on his papers. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
100. FAULKNER, William. The Sound and the Fury. NY: Random House (1984). The uncorrected proof copy of the corrected edition of Faulkner's masterwork, published almost sixty years after the original. Fine in wrappers.
101. FITZGERALD, F. Scott. The Beautiful and Damned. NY: Scribner, 1922. Fitzgerald's second novel, third book, published two years after he wowed the literary world with This Side of Paradise and three years before he established his literary immortality with The Great Gatsby. All of his first three novels captured the dizzy exuberance of the 1920s, as well as satirizing its superficialities, and Fitzgerald's reputation derives from his seeming to have been both an exemplar and avatar of his times and a martyr to them, simultaneously and ultimately tragically. This is a near fine copy in a first issue dust jacket that has had expert professional restoration. An extremely scarce book in dust jacket these days, comparable to the legendary scarcity of Gatsby in jacket, a fact that should not be surprising, as the two had almost identical first printings -- 20,600 for Beautiful and 20,870 for Gatsby -- and used the same kind of soft unlaminated paper for the jacket. A very attractive copy of a modern high spot, one of the Radcliffe 100 Best Novels of the century.
102. FORSTER, E.M. Pharos and Pharillon. NY: Knopf, 1923. The first American edition of this series of short essays derived from Forster's stay in Alexandria and first published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf's Hogarth Press at Leonard's invitation. Owner name in pencil on verso of flyleaf; cloth spine-sunned and surface soiled with dampening apparent on the rear panel. Still a tight copy with clean text; about very good, lacking the dust jacket.
103. FORSTER, E.M. A Passage to India. NY: Harcourt Brace (1924). The last and most famous novel by one of the greatest British writers of the twentieth century. His novels Howard's End and A Room With a View, which were both made into well-received films well after his death, exhibit piercing critiques of English manners as they probe the hidden aspects of his characters' lives. Forster's homosexuality was a well-kept secret -- at least from the general public -- until after his death, and the dichotomy between that which is felt and that which is expressed is reflected throughout his writing. Sections of the jacket tipped to front and rear flyleafs; front hinge cracked; some handling evident on boards; a very good copy lacking the jacket in its entirety. Listed on all major lists of the top books of the last century.
104. FORSTER, E.M. Aspects of the Novel. London: Edward Arnold, 1927. Collected lectures, delivered under the auspices of Trinity College in 1927. Spine slant; some scratches to the rear board; near fine, lacking the dust jacket.
105. FOWLES, John. The Collector. London: Jonathan Cape (1963). His acclaimed first book, basis for the spooky 1965 film that was nominated for three Oscars. Fowles's novel of a psychopath who progresses from collecting butterflies to stalking and collecting human beings is a precursor to the many horror-thriller novels that populate our contemporary literary landscape (e.g., Thomas Harris' Silence of the Lambs, Brett Ellis' American Psycho, etc.) but with psychological violence and evil taking precedence over graphic violence. Bookplate front pastedown; owner signature and date front flyleaf; foxing to foredge; near fine in a near fine dust jacket slightly faded on the spine and with two small spots on the rear panel.
106. -. Same title, the first American edition. Boston: Little Brown (1963). Bookplate front pastedown; light foxing to top stain and rubbing to flyleaf; near fine in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket with light wear at the spine extremities and blended dampstaining at the base.