Nature Writing, F-H
196. FINCH, Robert. The Primal Place. NY: Norton (1983). The author's second book, a collection of essays focusing, as did his first book, on the people and land of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Inscribed by the author. Dusty top edge; else fine in a near fine dust jacket with a few spots on the rear panel. Glowing blurb by Annie Dillard.
197. FINCH, Robert. Outlands. Journeys to the Outer Edges of Cape Cod. Boston: Godine (1986). The uncorrected proof copy of this collection of essays, again focused on Cape Cod. "P.C." (Press Copy) markings on cover and half-title; fine in wrappers.
198. FOWLES, John. The French Lieutenant's Woman. London: Cape (1969). The uncorrected proof copy of the first edition of what many consider to be Fowles's best and most important book, a landmark novel that uses an unconventional love story to explore the decline of Victorian England and the advent of the modern age and modern notions of freedom and self including, according to one writer, the most compelling explication of Darwin's theory of evolution to be found in a work of fiction. Spine-creased and cocked; outer edges sunned; the cheap proofing paper has acidified at different rates, causing browning to some of the signatures. A very good copy in wrappers, and very scarce.
199. -. Same title, the first American edition (Boston: Little Brown, 1969). Owner inscription on first blank, slight sag to text block; very good in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket with some rubbing and edgewear.
200. FOWLES, John and GODWIN, Fay. Islands. London: Cape (1978). Small quarto. Text by Fowles and striking black and white photographs by Godwin. Small bookseller's sticker on front free endpaper, otherwise fine in a fine dust jacket and inscribed by Fowles in the year of publication on the front free endpaper and additionally signed by him on the title page.
201. FOWLES, John and HORVAT, Frank. The Tree. Boston: Little, Brown (1979). The first American edition of this elegy to trees and their psychological resonances for human beings, with text by Fowles and color photographs by Frank Horvat. Oblong quarto; fine in a near fine dust jacket.
202. FRAZIER, Charles. Cold Mountain. NY: Atlantic Monthly (1997). A Civil War novel, the author's first book, and a publishing phenomenon: after a modest 25,000 copy first printing, the book went into dozens of additional printings, eventually selling more than a million copies in hardcover and winning the National Book Award -- a rare combination of literary and commercial success for any work of fiction, let alone a first novel. Frazier's book was highly praised for its sense of place and the way in which his characters engaged their landscape, as well as its depiction of a world, and way of life, in the throes of great change. This is a fine copy in a fine dust jacket, with the John Berendt blurb attached on a label to the front panel of the dust jacket (not exactly an issue point, as some copies had this affixed on publication day, while others didn't). Signed by the author. A Rick Bass blurb on the dust jacket calls the book "magnificent" and "one of the great accomplishments in American literature."
203. FROST, Robert. A Boy's Will. NY: Henry Holt, 1915. The first American edition, later issue, of the first book by this four-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, among his many other awards. Frost's poetry was rooted in the New England where his family had lived and where he spent most of his adult life. Drawing on both the natural world and the farm life of New England for his images, and the vernacular of the common people of the region for his voice, Frost wrote poems that were both accessible and profound, and comprise some of the most significant poems of the 20th century. Owner name front pastedown, spine gilt faded, with slight fraying of cloth at extremities; overall a very good copy, without dust jacket.
204. FROST, Robert. West-Running Brook. NY: Henry Holt (1928). The first edition, first issue, lacking the statement of edition. Inscribed by the author. With the recipient's ownership signature and date (Nov. 27, 1928) written on the top of the front flap. Lower board edges a bit shelfworn; near fine in a good, spine-tanned dust jacket with several small edge chips and splitting along the rear spine fold. Interestingly, laid into this copy is a portion of a listing of new arrivals at the Bookshop of Benjamin Hauser, in New York City, dated October, 1935, in which a copy of this title is listed (unsigned) for sale for $3.75, while a copy of Frost's second book, North of Boston, is listed (already, in 1935) at $85. Hauser's shop was an important literary landmark in the New York of the 1930s, and was the designated vendor for the numbered limited edition of Kay Boyle's first book, among other things.
205. FROST, Robert. Steeple Bush. NY: Henry Holt (1947). Rubbing to the tips of the spine extremities; small bookshop label on rear pastedown; very near fine in a near fine, spine-tanned and price-clipped dust jacket with one short, closed edge tear. A very attractive copy.
206. FULLER, R. Buckminster. Nine Chains to the Moon. Philadelphia: Lippincott (1938). Fuller's visionary first book, in which he laid out a number of radical ideas, some of which were to become, over the coming decades, part of progressive, and later mainstream, thought -- including recycling, conserving the Earth's resources, and building recognition of a global community. Some, like the latter, remain elusive and radical, in the face of contemporary social and political realities. Signed by the author. This is apparently an ex-library copy, with a previous owner's bookplate on the front pastedown pasted over an earlier library bookplate and the glue residue from a circulation pocket on the rear pastedown; otherwise a near fine copy with the two fold out graphs tipped in at the rear, in a very good, spine-dulled and edgeworn dust jacket with a small accession number on the lower spine. An important book -- in effect, one of the founding documents of the environmental movement -- that seldom turns up in dust jacket these days, let alone signed.
207. FULLER, R. Buckminster. Untitled Epic Poem on the History of Industrialization. Highlands: Jonathan Williams, 1962. A review copy, with publisher's slip laid in. A 227-page poem, the first published poetic work by the inventor of the geodesic dome, among other accomplishments in design and architecture. Fine in wrappers, in a near fine dust jacket, with a printed acetate overlay which is chipped at the upper corners on either side of the spine crown. Uncommon.
208. FULLER, R. Buckminster. Critical Path. NY: St. Martin's (1981). Third printing of the author's last major work to be published in his lifetime, an analysis -- from both a historical and a systems-oriented perspective -- of the great challenges facing human society and the planetary ecosystem in the late years of the 20th century. Inscribed by both the author and his daughter in 1982. Fuller died in 1983. Fine in a near fine, spine-sunned and price-clipped dust jacket.
209. GARDNER, Erle Stanley. The Land of Shorter Shadows. NY: Morrow, 1948. Gardner, best-known as the creator of Perry Mason, is less well-known as a writer of travel books. This volume, recounting a trip he took in 1947 the length of Baja California -- 1200 miles on difficult dirt roads -- is one of his earliest, and the first to explore Baja, to which he returned numerous times in later years. Camping and investigating the flora and fauna along the way, Gardner recounts the journey with a sense of the preciousness and delicacy of the desert and its creatures. Heavily illustrated with the author's black-and-white photos. This copy is inscribed by the author in February, 1948, thanking the recipient for his "splendid hospitality." Spine darkened and spotted, lacking the dust jacket. A very good copy, and a nice inscription. Inscribed books by Gardner are somewhat uncommon.
210. GARDNER, Erle Stanley. Hunting the Desert Whale. NY: Morrow, 1960. Recounts a later trip to Baja California -- to Scammon's Lagoon, specifically -- to "hunt" whales. An interesting account of travel and discovery, including their encounters with whales and Gardner's posing the question, based on his observations, of whether whales "talk." Again, illustrated with the author's photos and, again, inscribed by the author. Slight wrinkle to spine, lacking the dust jacket. A near fine copy.
211. GARDNER, Erle Stanley. The Hidden Heart of Baja. NY: Morrow, 1962. The author returns to Baja California, central Baja this time, to explore a number of Indian caves, with rock art and artifacts. Again, illustrated with black and white photos, mostly by the author but some by other members of the expedition, and color photographs by a Life magazine photographer. Inscribed by the author. Spine darkened; lacking the dust jacket. Very good.
212. GARDNER, Erle Stanley. The Desert is Yours. NY: Morrow, 1963. An account of travels in the desert of the southwestern U.S. -- Arizona and California, primarily -- written, according to the author, so that the reader will "learn to know and love the desert." Illustrated with color and black and white photographs by the author and other members of the trip. Inscribed by the author. Spine somewhat spotted and lightly worn at edges, lacking the dust jacket. Very good.
213. GESSNER, David. A Wild, Rank Place. Hanover: University Press of New England (1997). Subtitled "One Year on Cape Cod," the title being taken from a line Thoreau wrote about the Cape. Signed by the author and illustrated with his drawings. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with several vertical creases.
214. GRAVES, John. Goodbye to a River. NY: Knopf, 1960. The author's classic account of a canoe trip taken on the Brazos River in Texas before it was to be dammed. A combination of river trip narrative, natural history and ethnohistory of the region, and one of A.C. Greene's "50 best books on Texas." Inscribed by the author to Norman Pearson. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
215. -. Same title, the reissue (Austin: Book Club of Texas, 1989). One of 550 copies, with a new preface by Graves and photographs by him that don't appear in the original edition. This copy is inscribed by the author. Quarto; fine. A very attractive production, which includes a fold-out map of the route of the trip.
216. GRAVES, John. Hard Scrabble. NY: Knopf, 1974. An account of the author's homestead in the Texas hill country. Inscribed by the author to Norman Pearson. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
217. GRIFFIN, Susan. Woman and Nature. The Roaring Inside Her. NY: Harper & Row (1978). An early ecofeminist tract, born from the observation that men considered themselves to be separate from and superior to nature and women to be close to or part of nature. Inscribed by the author. Fine in near fine dust jacket.
218. GROSSINGER, Richard. The Night Sky. San Francisco: Sierra Club (1981). The uncorrected proof copy of this book on astronomy and the sky in science and myth, written by a well-known poet and literary scholar, who established Io magazine and the North Atlantic Press, both of them well-respected, serious literary undertakings. Spine-sunned; else fine in wrappers.
219. GUTHRIE, A.B., Jr. Fair Land, Fair Land. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1982. The uncorrected proof copy of the sixth novel in his series about the settling of the West, which began with the classic The Big Sky and included the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Way West. Fine in wrappers.
220. HALL, Donald. Seasons at Eagle Pond. NY: Ticknor & Fields, 1987. A prose sketch of life through the seasons at the poet's New Hampshire home. An attractively printed and bound volume, with woodcut illustrations by Thomas Nason. Although not called for, this copy is signed by the author. Fine in slipcase.
221. HALL, Donald. Here at Eagle Pond. NY: Ticknor & Fields, 1990. Again, an attractive volume of prose with illustrations by Thomas Nason. Signed by the author. Fine in slipcase.
222. -. Another copy, unsigned. Fine in a slipcase with a bit of edge sunning.
223. HARRISON, Jim. The Theory and Practice of Rivers. Seattle: Winn Books, 1986. The hardcover edition of this collection of poems, illustrated by Russell Chatham. Harrison is most noted as a novelist, but his first two books were collections of poetry, and much of his writing derives its strength from his sense of the interaction of people and landscape. This edition was limited to 350 copies, of which half were sold with a portfolio of the Chatham prints; this copy is one of the 175 that were issued separately, without the portfolio. Signed by the author. Fine in a fine cloth slipcase. A handsome production.
224. HEINRICH, Bernd. Ravens in Winter. A Zoological Detective Story. NY: Summit (1989). The uncorrected proof copy of this study of ravens -- their social structures, communication, etc. Heinrich is also the author of Bumblebee Economics, which was nominated for a National Book Award and was the first study to popularize the notion of bees communicating the location of sources of nectar to other bees by means of an elaborate "dance." Blurbs by Peter Matthiessen and E.O. Wilson, who calls this book "one of the most interesting discoveries I've seen in animal sociobiology in years." Small spot on cover; else fine.
225. HOAGLAND, Edward. Notes from the Century Before. NY: Random House (1969). His first book of nonfiction, subtitled "A Journal from British Columbia." A personal recollection of the author's travels, which also touches on the history, both natural and cultural, of the region. Inscribed by the author to another writer in the month preceding publication. Light spotting and fading to the top edges of the pages, otherwise fine in jacket with mild surface soiling and slight wear at the spine crown, otherwise also fine. A nice association, and an early signature on this acclaimed and important volume. Hoagland, whose fiction has won literary awards, is nonetheless most highly acclaimed as an essayist, one of the finest of our time, and his first book of nonfiction is thus a landmark in his writing career.
226. -. Another copy. Fine in a very good dust jacket with light surface soiling and two tiny edge chips.
227. HOAGLAND, Edward. The Courage of Turtles. NY: Random House (1970). A review copy of his first collection of essays, many of which deal with the natural world. Inscribed by the author. The most elusive of his essay collections, in our experience. Fine in a fine dust jacket with mild spine-fading, with review slip laid in giving the publication date as January 1971. .
228. -. Another copy. Several marginal notes in the text in pencil, and the rear endpages also have several sentences of notes. Thus only very good in a very good, spine-faded dust jacket.
229. HOAGLAND, Edward. Walking the Dead Diamond River. NY: Random House (1973). A collection of essays, many of them dealing with the natural world, especially in New England, including walks in the Green and White Mountains and a canoe trip in Maine. Very near fine in a similar dust jacket.
230. -. Another copy. Near fine in a very good dust jacket.
231. HOAGLAND, Edward. The Moose on the Wall. London: Barrie & Jenkins (1974). The first edition of this collection of "field notes from the Vermont wilderness," published in England and for which there is no comparable U.S. edition. Fine in a fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
232. -. Another copy. Fine in a near fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
233. HOAGLAND, Edward. Red Wolves and Black Bears. NY: Random House (1976). His third collection of essays. Near fine in a very good dust jacket.
234. -. Same title, the uncorrected proof copy. Light crease on the front cover, otherwise near fine in tall wrappers. An uncommon proof, presumably done in small quantities and shot from galley sheets (the page numbers are reproduced in holograph).
235. -. Another copy of the proof. Two names (one crossed out) on front cover, presumably the names of the writers who were to be assigned to review the book; else fine in tall wrappers.
236. HOAGLAND, Edward. The Edward Hoagland Reader. NY: Random House (1979). Edited, with an introduction by Geoffrey Wolff. Collects pieces from his earlier nonfiction books, with a checklist of his published writings to date. The Washington Post called Hoagland "a Thoreau of our time." Blurbs by Edward Abbey and Alfred Kazin. Fine in a price-clipped jacket; signed by the author.
237. HOAGLAND, Edward. Typed Postcard Signed. Undated. c. 1970s. Written to an editor at Harper's Magazine, proposing an article excerpted from "a 75,000-word journal which I will be mining this fall about what has happened and why and what will happen---land use and planning and forestry and wildlife, my Allagash trip and many long hikes." The card has been stapled to some in-house stationery, which has been pinned to another sheet of paper, so that various editors could give opinions ("An excellent writer! Emphatically yes!"; "Yes! He's a delight"; etc) and updates. The whole construct has been folded once; else fine. A nice glimpse at the in-house views of a writer of Hoagland's stature and accomplishment.
238. HOAGLAND, Edward. Tigers & Ice. (NY): Lyons Press (1999). The advance reading copy of a collection of "Essays on Life and Nature." Fine in wrappers. An oft-quoted John Updike blurb calls Hoagland "the best essayist of my generation," a view also endorsed by an Edward Abbey blurb.
239. HOGAN, Linda. Dwellings. NY: Norton (1995). The first book of nonfiction by this award-winning Native American poet and novelist, a collection of essays that is subtitled "A Spiritual History of the Living World." Fine in a fine dust jacket and signed by the author.
240. HUBBELL, Sue. Waiting for Aphrodite. Journeys into the Time Before Bones. Boston/NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. The uncorrected proof copy of this literary examination of invertebrates, by a frequent contributor to The New Yorker and the author of A Country Year: Living the Questions. David Quammen blurb. Fine in wrappers.
241. HUDSON, W.H. Tales of the Pampas. NY: Knopf, 1916. Short stories of the exotic Argentine wilderness of a half century earlier, by the author of Green Mansions. The British critic Edward Garnett (husband of Constance, a progressive, a Fabian, and a friend of Kropotkin) called one story in this collection "the finest short story in English." Hudson was a British author and naturalist living in Argentina, who spent his childhood roaming the Pampas studying plant and animal life. He later incorporated this background into his exotic romance novels set in the relatively untamed South American wilderness of the 19th century, of which Green Mansions is the most famous. Owner name on flyleaf; fading to spine lettering and wear to the cloth at the corners; very good, lacking the dust jacket.