(n.p.), (Rock Foundation), (1986). A two-volume deluxe edition of Matthiessen's tribute to the fishermen of eastern Long Island and a way of life that, in the late stages of the 20th century, appeared to be irretrievably dying away. Matthiessen has spent much of his life on eastern Long Island, and once ran a charter fishing boat off the island, in addition to having worked for three years with commercial fishermen, so this sympathetic portrait is written from the perspective of one who has shared the life described. One of 500 numbered copies (although in all likelihood far fewer than 500 copies of this were ever produced). One volume, the text, is signed by Matthiessen. In addition to the second volume, of photographs, there is also an original print of one of the photographs from the book laid into a folding chemise and signed by the photographer, Lynn Johnson. Never formally offered for sale, copies of this edition were given out to attendees of a $500-a-plate benefit dinner for the historical society attempting to preserve the record and legacy of the fishermen's lives. Fine, in a clamshell case. A similar edition, unsigned and without the signed print, was issued in a slipcase, and probably comprised most of the overrun of this edition -- i.e., a later issue, which was offered for sale via the University of Washington Press. One of the scarcest items in the Matthiessen canon. [#028259] $1,500

All books are first printings of first editions or first American editions unless otherwise noted.

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