Catalog 108: N

246. NAIPAUL, V.S. A House for Mr. Biswas. (London): Andre Deutsch (1961). Naipaul's fourth book, like his earlier ones set in the Caribbean of his youth, but altogether a more ambitious and serious novel, anticipating the concerns which were to dominate both his fiction and nonfiction in the coming years and lead to his recognition as one of the great social critics of our time in literature. One of the Modern Library top 100 books of the century. New Delhi bookstore stamp on the front flyleaf, a bit of handling and sunning to boards; very good in a good dust jacket with several chips, including a small one at mid-spine. A scarce and important book, which is particularly susceptible to wear.

247. NAIPAUL, V.S. An Area of Darkness. (London): Deutsch (1964). His second book of nonfiction, and the first of his three books on India. Very good in a very good dust jacket. With a proof copy of the American dust jacket laid in, which is folded and edge-chipped, only good.

248. NAYLOR, Gloria. "He's a Russian Jew. I'm an African Negro.." Berkeley: Black Oak Books, 1992. A broadside excerpt from Bailey's Cafe, printed on the occasion of a reading by the author. 6 1/4" x 11 1/4". Fine.

249. NIN, Anaïs. Cities of the Interior. Denver: Swallow (1961). The first edition of this massive volume, which collects five of her novels. Inscribed by the author. This is the issue in white wrappers; spine-darkened; near fine.

250. NORMAN, Howard. Archive for The Wishing Bone Cycle. (San Francisco): (Zephyrus Image) (1973-1974). Archive for an aborted 16-page edition of Wishing Bone Cycle poems to be published by Holbrook Teter of Zephyrus Image in 1973. Norman's book, The Wishing Bone Cycle, a collection of Swampy Cree Indian narrative poems, was eventually brought out, much expanded, by Stonehill Publishing in 1976, with a preface by Jerome Rothenberg, founder of Alcheringa, where several of the poems did appear in 1973. Two of the poems included here do not appear in the Stonehill edition; ten of the fourteen that appear in both places have textual variations. The archive consists of Norman's submitted photocopies, production material (galley sheets, sample pages and page proofs), and seven pieces of correspondence from Norman (2 ALS, 2 TLS, 2 TNS, 1 autograph postcard signed) tracking the production process, or lack thereof, as follows:
      From January 3, 1973, a typed note signed by Norman transmitting 16 pages of photocopied typescript poems. The pages have been folded; the letter corner creased with paper clip rust marks. Near fine, with envelope. A typed letter signed, from January 16, suggests the language for the cover and provides a five line poem by way of introduction and acknowledgement to the Cree and to Jacob Slowstream, who narrated the tales to Norman. In a holograph postscript, Norman has added, "How about 350-400 copies?" Folded for mailing; fine, with envelope. An undated autograph letter signed follows, in which Norman changes his mind on the language for the title page and cancels the little introduction. Norman also expresses hope that he can have something in his hands by April. Much folded for mailing; near fine.
      On February 8, after seeing the galleys, Norman sends a typed letter signed detailing a correction and providing a change of address, as he plans to visit Jerome Rothenberg and then head to north central Canada. He wonders if the WBC can be done by May and reports on his latest translation project, "folk-poems" from some West Indian Islands. Spotted, folded for mailing; near fine, with envelope. Together with a set of galley sheets: 3 long pages with all 16 poems. Folded and acidifying; about near fine, with printer's specs on the bottom of the third page. A typed note signed from April 9 again gives a change of address and asks for news on WBC. Folded for mailing; fine, with envelope.
      On April 26, Norman sends an autograph letter signed responding to and okaying the page proofs. Folded for mailing, sunned; near fine, with envelope. Together with the page proofs, an unbound mock-up of the finished book; printed on thin paper, fine. Also together with sample pages from an unspecified date, printing three of the WBC poems on two folded sheets; with an unrelated poem printed on the verso of each sheet. Dust-soiling; near fine.
      Finally, on February 28, 1974, Norman sends Teter an autograph postcard signed announcing that "it seems relatively certain that Antheneum [sic] will be doing a book of ten (some not in the bunch you have) of the Wishing Bone poems. . . .Perhaps -- if you haven't gone to press yet -- we should simply leave the poems as they are in Alcheringa and as they will be from Antheneum..." Fine. An interesting look at some of Norman's early efforts to bring these stories to a western readership. His later books, The Wishing Bone Cycle and Where the Chill Came From, not only helped bring these tales a wide readership but also helped promote ethnopoetics in general and the now-widespread recognition of the inherent value and importance of cultural traditions, whatever their origins. A seminal work. For all:

251. NORMAN, Howard. The Wishing Bone Cycle. (San Francisco): (Zephyrus Image)[1973]. The galley sheets and page proofs for the aborted Zephyrus Image edition of Norman's Wishing Bone Cycle poems. The galley sheets consist of three long pages printing all 16 poems. Folded and acidifying; about near fine, with printer's specs on verso. The page proofs, an unbound mock-up of the finished book printed on thin paper, have some spotting to the covers and one gouge through the pages, affecting a small amount of (still legible) text; very good. Fourteen of these 16 poems appeared in the Stonehill edition of 1976; ten of the fourteen with textual variations. For the page proofs and the galleys:

252. NORMAN, Howard. Archive for Five Poems of the Conch Crab. c. 1973. Five pages of ribbon-copy typescript, with holograph titles, of "Five Poems of the Conch Crab," translated by Norman from Créole. Paper clip rust mark, faint stains on verso of last page; else fine. Together with a handmade card, dated July 23, 1973, with three typed poems translated from the Créole. Inscribed by Norman to Holbrook Teter, who was to have published a version of Norman's Wishing Bone Cycle poems that year. One of the poems on the card, "The Barrel Woman," also appears in the typescript pages, with different text. Faint handling; else fine. Also together with a typed letter signed, August 20, 1973, announcing his return to Michigan and describing a storm over the lake. In this letter, Norman says he's working on "conch crab" poems and will send some along. On the verso he has typed a translation of a Créole poem. Folded for mailing; else fine. Finally together with a printed holiday card, December 12, 1973, again with the poem "The Barrel Woman," and again in a slightly different version. Inscribed by Norman. A self-mailer, folded by design and hand-addressed; fine. Between the two cards, the letter and the typescript pages, 8 different poems are represented here, with one poem appearing in three different versions. For the archive:

253. NORMAN, Howard. The Northern Lights. NY: Summit (1987). His first novel and his first National Book Award nominee. Fine in a price-clipped jacket.