Catalog 157, B
12. BARNES, Djuna. The Selected Works of Djuna Barnes and Autograph Note Signed. NY: Farrar Straus Cudahy (1962). A volume collecting Spillway, a collection of stories; The Antiphon, a play; and Nightwood, a novel, and considered by many her most important work. The author revised The Antiphon for this edition; Nightwood includes the introductions written by T.S. Eliot for the first and second editions. This copy is signed by the author on a tipped-in leaf. Laid in is an autograph note signed by Barnes to Joseph D. Garrett who, like Barnes, resided at 5 Patchin Place in New York City. The note, which is blindstamped with Barnes's address, is dated December 22, 1965 and reads "And a happy New Year to you, Mr. Garrett. Djuna Barnes." The impression is that the rather reclusive author was likely offering a response to her neighbor's holiday overture. The typed envelope, included, is postmarked December 23. Both the letter and envelope are near fine. The top edge of the book is a bit dusty, with a hint of sunning to the spine ends; else the book is fine in a near fine, slightly rubbed dust jacket. Barnes was one of the important expatriate writers of the Twenties and Thirties, whose experimental fiction and poetry helped redefine the literature of the modern era. She was rediscovered by the women's movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, with all her books coming back into print at that point.
13. BARTHELME, Frederick. Second Marriage. London: Dent (1985). The first British edition of his first novel. Signed by the author in 1990. Bookstore stamp to lower edge of text block and front flyleaf; thus near fine in a fine dust jacket.
14. BELLOW, Saul. The Adventures of Augie March. NY: Viking, 1953. The first issue of the Nobel Prize winner's third novel, and the first of his three National Book Award winners. Signed by Bellow. This copy was used as a presentation copy by the Popular Library prior to their reprinting it in paperback, and bears their label on the front flyleaf. Upper corners tapped, else a fine copy in a very good dust jacket with light wear to the corners and professionally strengthened there and along the flap folds. A nice copy of an important book, preserving a bit of the publication history of the novel -- that is, a presentation edition created by the book's paperback publisher prior to issuing their edition.
15. BIERCE, Ambrose. The Complete Short Stories of Ambrose Bierce. Garden City: Doubleday, 1970. A review copy of this collection of 93 stories; according to the publisher the first complete collection of Bierce's short fiction. Clip marks to prelims where review slip (now laid in) was attached. Near fine in a very good dust jacket, slightly spine-faded and with minor edge wear.
16. BISHOP, Elizabeth. Questions of Travel. NY: FSG (1965). Her third collection of poems, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. One of only 4000 copies printed. Inscribed by Bishop to poet Duane Niatum (as Duane McGinnis): "To Duane [McGinnis whited out]: I hope his enthusiasm/ never dies -- Elizabeth Bishop/ Seattle, Washington, April 1966." Niatum's handmade poetic bookplate on the front flyleaf and his marks in text; a near fine copy with the front and rear dust jacket panels clipped by Niatum and attached to boards. Books signed by Bishop are uncommon, and literary association copies, especially those with contemporary signatures, are extremely scarce. Niatum is a poet and playwright of Native American descent and was a key figure in the renaissance of Native American literature in the 1970s.
17. (Book Collecting). AHEARN, Allen and Patricia. Collected Books: The Guide to Values, Fourth Edition. Comus: Quill & Brush Press, 2011. The first printing of the latest edition of the standard guide to book values by the authors of Book Collecting. This volume updates their 1991, 1998, and 2002 Collected Books, with values for more than 20,000 books and a section for identifying first editions. The Ahearns have put together the most useful single-volume reference books in the book trade. The listings in this guide include not only estimated prices but details regarding issue points where applicable. This is probably the only book that virtually every serious dealer in the U.S. owns a copy of and is indispensable, both for dealers who must assess a wide range of material and for collectors who focus in one or a few areas. Just the changes in values since the last edition was published in 2002 are an invaluable reference and can easily repay the cost of the book. Also, (taking an understatement from the introduction): "The points necessary to identify first printings and first states or issues are not always available online and, in many cases, there is incorrect or misleading information. So, in addition to its value as a price guide, there is strong justification for the use of this work by those interested in buying or selling scarce and rare first editions who want to be sure their offerings or purchases are bibliographically correct." Signed by the authors. Fine in a fine dust jacket. At the list price:
18. BORGES, Jorge Luis. El Jardin de Senderos Que Se Bifurcan. Buenos Aires: Sur (1942). Borges' first major work of fiction, "The Garden of the Forking Paths." This is the first publication of these stories later published in his acclaimed volume Ficciones, in 1944. Inscribed by Borges to his sister, Norah, and her son: "Para Norah y Miguel, con el cari o y la simpatía de/ Jorge Luis Borges." Norah Borges illustrated her brother's first book of poems, Luna de Enfrente, in 1923. Miguel added his ownership signature to this book in 1995; wrappers slightly darkened, particularly along the spine; front joint professionally reinforced; a very good copy of this extremely fragile, and extremely important volume, in the pale blue wrappers typical of Sur publications of the time. Borges's fictions -- of which these are the first manifestation to be published in a book -- were arguably the most influential literary writings of the 20th century, bringing the sensibilities and experimentation of the avant garde to mainstream literature, and expanding the possibilities of fiction for all the succeeding generations of his literary descendants. An attractive copy and scarce thus, and virtually unheard of as an association copy, particularly such a close familial one. In an attractive quarter leather custom clamshell box.
19. BOWLES, Jane. Two Serious Ladies. NY: Knopf, 1943. Her first book, a wartime production and a very scarce book in nice shape. This copy belonged to the poet and publisher James Laughlin, who founded New Directions, which published the American edition of Paul Bowles's The Sheltering Sky in 1949. Laughlin's ownership label on the front flyleaf, with the holograph notation "Please return to." Cloth fraying at the spine extremities; near fine in a good dust jacket with only light edge wear but professionally strengthened on the verso along the edges and folds. Over the years, Jane Bowles's output was remarkably small, but her influence on later generations of women writers has been out of all proportion to the quantity of her production.
20. BOWLES, Paul. The Spider's House. NY: Random House (1955). His third novel, about a group of Westerners adrift in the alien culture of Morocco. Bowles himself lived in Tangier for many years, and was acutely sensitive to the extent to which the foreignness of the North African culture could create culture shock for Europeans and Americans. His novels and stories focused on that alienation and its ability to undermine one's world view and Bowles became, by virtue of both his writing and his willingness to host visiting writers and artists at his home in Tangier, a mentor to the Beat generation -- and a guide for many of them to a culture and life that were unknown to them, and also to the drugs that were such an integral part of the Moroccan world. Inscribed by Bowles to Bob Sharrard, editor of City Lights Books, who published Bowles' A Hundred Camels in the Courtyard -- tales inspired by kif smoking in Tangier -- as well as a number of his translations of North African and Central American writers. "For Bob Sharrard./ Next time stay longer./ Paul Bowles/ Tangier/ I/VI/86." Fine in a very good dust jacket with mostly light wear but for a closed, internally tape-repaired snagged tear at the lower front corner. An excellent association copy.
21. BOWLES, Paul. Without Stopping: An Autobiography. NY: Putnam (1972). His first book of memoirs. Inscribed by Bowles to Jordan Massee in Atlanta in 1994: "For Jordan Massee/ with thanks for the/ Norman Douglas." Massee was a mutual friend of Bowles and Tennessee Williams, themselves longtime friends and collaborators on a number of Williams' plays, for which Bowles composed the music. White cloth a bit dusty; near fine in a near fine, slightly edgeworn dust jacket. Again, a nice association copy.
22. BOWLES, Paul. Next to Nothing. Kathmandu: Starstreams, 1976. One of 500 numbered copies of this beautiful production on homemade Nepalese paper, with tipped-in photographic frontispiece. This is an association copy: inscribed by Bowles to his biographer, Virginia Spencer Carr, "with love," in 1994. Fine.
23. (BOWLES, Paul). The Oracle. (Jamaica): (Jamaica High School)(1926-1927). Eight issues of Bowles's high school magazine, of the 15 issues in which he appeared and including 25 of his 43 contributions, as follows (parenthetical references correspond to the Jeffrey Miller bibliography): November 1926 (Miller C9-11); December 1926 (C12-14); January 1927 (C15-16); April 1927 (C19-20); May 1927 (C21); June 1927 (C21-23); October 1927 (C24-28); November (C29-35) -- in other words, 25 of the first 35 entries in the "C" section of Miller's bibliography. Over the eight issues, Bowles contributes one story, twelve poems, four book reviews, and one translation; he also edits two "Poet's Corners" and supplies five "By the Way" columns. These issues date from Bowles's junior and senior years in high school and predate his first book, Two Poems, by six years or more. Except for some faint sunning of the edges, the issues are all fine in stapled wrappers. An exceptional set of a very uncommon journal -- the finest such run we've encountered -- and a large number of the earliest published writings by Bowles, all in excellent condition. The likelihood of there being another such set, or a better one, in private hands is quite small these days.
24. BRADBURY, Ray. Old Ahab's Friend, and Friend to Noah, Speaks His Piece. (n.p.): Apollo Year Two (1971). One of 485 numbered copies signed by the author. Additionally inscribed by Bradbury in 1974 to Steve Riley, a highly regarded fantasy artist who illustrated a number of fanzines in the 1970s. A nice historical association. Light bump to spine; near fine in string-tied wrappers. With original envelope (sliced open and edge sunned, but present).
25. BRADBURY, Ray. The October Country. (Springfield): Gauntlet, 1997. The limited 40th anniversary edition of his dark fiction classic, a collection of stories that helped establish Bradbury as a writer of great power, transcending genre boundaries. This edition is illustrated by Joe Mugnaini. One of 500 numbered copies. Signed by Bradbury and by Dennis Etchison and Robert R. McCammon, two of the leading figures of the next generation of horror writers, who provide the introduction and afterword, respectively. With the bookplate of Stanley Wiater, horror fiction writer, editor, anthologist, and three-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award from the Horror Writers of America. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
26. BRADBURY, Ray. Dark Carnival. (Springfield): Gauntlet, 2001. A limited edition reissue of Bradbury's first book, a collection of stories, which was first published in 1947. Here offered with a new introduction by Bradbury, plus four "lost" stories from the same period and other additional "archival" pieces reproducing Bradbury's typescripts. The limitation was 700 copies; this is a publisher's copy ("PC") and is signed by Bradbury and by Clive Barker, who provides an afterword. With bookplate of horror writer Stanley Wiater. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
27. BRAUTIGAN, Richard. Lay the Marble Tea. San Francisco: Carp Press, 1959. His third book, and first collection of poems (following two books that were each a single poem), by a writer who later came to epitomize the sensibility of the new West -- whimsy, generosity, a sensitivity to the natural world, and a predilection for mind-altering substances. A small pamphlet, printing twenty-four poems and with a cover illustration by Kenn Davis. Rear top edge sunned, and water staining to the spine and a portion of the covers (with a bit of red mixed in on the lower rear cover); dampstaining also apparent to the hinge of the rear cover; no inside text affected. About very good in stapled wrappers. A scarce early book, this copy with provenance that takes it back to Brautigan's first wife, who gave it to a friend at the time of publication.
28. BRAUTIGAN, Richard. The Octopus Frontier. San Francisco: Carp Press, 1960. Brautigan's fourth book, and his second collection of poems. Although there is no indication of the size of the edition either in the book itself, in Lepper, or in the bibliography published in 1990, all of Brautigan's books that precede Confederate General from Big Sur seem to have either been done in very small quantities or to have disappeared over the years as such slight, fragile volumes are wont to do. Cover photograph by Gui de Angulo, daughter of folklorist Jaime de Angulo. Owner name on first blank, being that of a close friend of Brautigan's first wife, and the person with whom she stayed for a time when she separated from Brautigan in 1962. Some handling apparent to covers; near fine in stapled wrappers.
29. BRAUTIGAN, Richard. The Galilee Hitch-Hiker. (San Francisco): [O'ar] (1966). The second edition of his second book, one of 700 copies printed. Inscribed by Brautigan in 1966: "This copy is for Don [Allen]." Don Allen, of the Four Seasons Foundation, published Brautigan's Trout Fishing in America in 1967, and other titles thereafter. Allen picked up Trout Fishing after Grove Press dumped Brautigan when A Confederate General from Big Sur failed to meet expectations. With virtually no advertising or promotion, Trout Fishing went through multiple printings, sold 25,000 copies, and made Brautigan one of the key writers of his generation. Fine in saddle-stitched wrappers.
30. BRAUTIGAN, Richard. Loading Mercury with a Pitchfork. NY: Simon & Schuster (1976). The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of poems. Inscribed by Brautigan to Don Carpenter: "This copy is for Don Carpenter with Love from Richard Brautigan/ San Francisco/ March 10, 1976." Carpenter was an important figure in the 1960s San Francisco Bay Area literary scene. His first novel, Hard Rain Falling, took its title from a Bob Dylan song. In 1964 he organized the Free Way Reading at San Francisco's Longshoremen's Hall, at which Gary Snyder, Lew Welch and Philip Levine all read their poetry. Don Allen's Four Seasons Foundation published a set of commemorative broadsides for the event. Surface abrasions to spine and top margin of front cover, no other flaws; very good in wrappers. A nice association copy between Brautigan and one of his best friends, who was also a fine writer.
31. BROWN, Dan. Digital Fortress. NY: St. Martin's (1998). The first book, a well-crafted techno-thriller about the NSA, by the author of the mega-bestselling The Da Vinci Code. While this book has a very different subject matter than his more famous bestseller, it does anticipate the later book in dealing at length with secrets and codes. Still, one can presume a relatively small first printing: Digital Fortress did not achieve great commercial success until after the phenomenal sales of The Da Vinci Code in 2003 and beyond. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine dust jacket with a few surface scratches on the rear panel. A very nice copy of a notable debut.
32. BUKOWSKI, Charles. Fire Station. Santa Barbara: Capricorn Press, 1970. The issue in wrappers. Signed by the author. With an owner signature of a California artist, dated in Berkeley in 1979, and Bukowski's 1994 obituary tipped inside the front cover. Water spots and a partial cup ring to covers; near fine.
33. BURKE, James Lee. Heartwood. (New Orleans): (B.E. Trice) (1999). The limited edition of his second Texas novel featuring Billy Bob Holland, the protagonist of the Edgar Award-winning Cimarron Rose. One of 150 numbered copies signed by the author. Fine in a fine slipcase.
34. -. Another copy. Still shrink-wrapped; fine but for an apparent slight bow to the slipcase.
35. BURROUGHS, William as "William Lee." Junkie. Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict. NY: Ace (1953). Burroughs' pseudonymous first book, a paperback original bound back-to-back with Maurice Helbrant's Narcotic Agent. Signed by Burroughs. Junkie was a straightforward narrative of Burroughs' experiences with drugs; the publisher chose to release it couched in an anti-drug context, as a first person example of the horrors of drug use, and bound with a narcotic agent's memoir. Small ink date (2/6) inside front cover; mild spine and cover creasing; still about near fine in wrappers. The beginning of one of the most influential literary careers of the second half of the 20th century.
36. BURROUGHS, William. The Naked Lunch. Paris: Olympia (1959). The first issue of the first edition of his second book, a high spot of Beat and postwar American literature -- one of the "big three" volumes of the Beat movement, along with Jack Kerouac's On the Road and Allen Ginsberg's Howl. Published in paperback in Paris by Maurice Girodias' small press, in an edition of 5000 copies, three years before it could be published in the U.S. Signed by Burroughs in 1996. Uneven sunning and a bit of creasing to the covers; rubbing to the folds. A very good copy in a supplied, near fine dust jacket with a small chip at the crown. Burroughs signed this for a bookseller in Lawrence, Kansas, where he lived during the last years of his life.
37. BURROUGHS, William. Typed Letter Signed to John Berendt. 1965. Burroughs responds to Berendt, who had written to Burroughs in his capacity as Associate Editor at Esquire Magazine, inquiring as to whom Burroughs would like to have portray him in a hypothetical film biography. Burroughs sends a short typed letter signed by air post from England saying he has been traveling and hopes he has not missed the deadline. Attached is an additional paragraph answering the question, in part: "A writer has no life story apart from his writing so any biography of a writer is fictional. Proceeding from this proposition I cast myself as myself in a biographical film since I write my own biography as I go along..." More than 150 words total; two pages, folded for mailing, stapled in the upper corner; fine. With hand-addressed air mail envelope.
38. BURROUGHS, William. The Golden Triangle - The Gold Heart. 1988. An original Burroughs painting, in acrylic and spray paint on poster board: a gold triangle and heart spray-painted against a background acrylic image of black, blue and gray. 20" x 32". Mounted and framed to 24" x 36". This painting formed part of the Seven Deadly Sins exhibition at The Writer's Place, Kansas City, Missouri, in January and February, 1993. Signed by Burroughs. Fine.
39. BUTLER, Robert Olen. On Distant Ground. NY: Knopf, 1985. His fourth book, a moving novel of the Vietnam war that bears the characteristics of a Grail quest. Signed by the author on the first blank and additionally inscribed by Butler to Anatole [Broyard] three weeks prior to publication: "Feb 6, 1985/ For Anatole -/ No writer has ever had a better literary friend than I've had in you. Thanks for knowing how subtly to steer me. Bob." An excellent association copy: Broyard was Butler's teacher at the New School and was also a prominent reviewer for The New York Times, and he reviewed Butler's early novels Alleys of Eden and Countrymen of Bones for the Times, giving them very favorable reviews and a degree of exposure and credibility that a young novelist would have been hard-pressed to get under most circumstances. Butler's inscription alludes to their special relationship, and the all-important support Broyard had given his early books. As nice an association copy as we have seen of this book, which was on our list of the best 25 books of the Vietnam war. Faint foxing to the top edge; still fine in a fine dust jacket.