New Moon
By Stephenie Meyer
New York: Megan Tingley Books / Little, Brown and Company, (2006). A near fine copy in wrappers (paperback). Advance Reading Copy, issued prior to the first edition. Signed by Meyer on the title page, and dated 9.06.
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another copy
A near fine copy in wrappers (paperback). Signed by the author, who has written 98331 below her signature. The number is the Zip Code for Forks, Washington, where the action takes place.
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New Moon
By Stephenie Meyer
New York: Megan Tingley Books / Little, Brown and Company, (2006). First edition (number line ending in 1). A very near fine copy in a like dust jacket. The top right corner is mildly bumped. But the small flaw is more than made up for with one of the nicest inscriptions you could hope for:
'I'm nearly 110, it's time I settled down. Stephenie Meyer. 9.8.06.'
The signature is her early style, before it became a monogram.
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Carver, Ray. Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?: The Stories of Raymond Carver. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, (1976). First edition.
Carver's first collection of stories from a major publisher—his previous books had all been printed by small presses. While he had achieved critical notice prior to this book, this collection moved Carver toward the front rank of American short story writers—a trajectory completed with the publication of "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love." This book also marks the beginning of Carver's association with his editor Gordon Lish.
In recent years, Lish's role in Carver's writing has become controversial as his extensive editing has become known. Carver became widely known and extremely influential for his stripped-down narratives, which turn out to be mostly Lish's work, cutting half or more of the text from many stories. (Stories in their original, unedited form are now beginning to be published, to mixed critical response.)
Carver inscribed this copy of the front free endpaper on October 1, 1977, "David and Cassandra—with affection. Ray." The recipients were David Boxer and Cassandra Phillips, who were on the faculty of Humboldt State University, where Carver attended briefly in the early 1960s and made lifelong friendships. He returned often to Arcata and in October 1977 met with Boxer and Phillips to discuss his work for their forthcoming critical study of his short stories. He provided them with biographical details and shared drafts of his manuscripts with them. Their article, one of the very first academic studies of Carver's writing, appeared in the Iowa Review in 1979. Carver stayed in touch with Boxer over the years, and he and his wife, Tess Gallagher, stayed with him on a subsequent visit. A nice association.
"Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?" is a notoriously prone to wear. It is perfectbound—basically a paperback between hard covers—and wrapped in a plain white dust jacket bearing only the title and author's name. This is a remarkably fresh copy; never opened except to be signed. Other than a small ding at the top of the spine and touch of soiling to the back panel of the jacket, it is a fine copy in a fine dust jacket. Given the inscription and the condition, a superlative copy of one of the key books of 20th century literature.
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Gallagher, Tess. Under Stars. (Port Townsend, Wash.): Graywolf Press, (1980). Second printing.
Poems. Nicely inscribed by Gallagher, refering to her husband, Raymond Carver: "For David—in appreciation for your hospitality which is a natural extension of your fine spirit. Lucky star, to meet you. Best wishes, Tess Gallagher (after Ray & I stayed with you. March 1982)."
Small coffee stain on front cover, else very good or better in wrappers (paperback).
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Carver, Raymond. What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. New York: Vintage Books, (1982). First paperback edition.
Carver's best-known book of stories, and now the epicenter of the debate over the role his editor Gordon Lish played in preparing these works for publication. From Carver's manuscripts, it is now known that Lish cut the stories extensively, in many cases removing more than he left in. Lish also changed the names of characters, rewrote dialogue, and retitled stories. This copy is inscribed by Carver in the month of publication, "For David [Boxer], with love and friendship. Ray. Arcata! 3-13-82." Boxer was on the faculty of Humboldt State University, Carver's alma mater.
Spine browning, else a fine, unread copy. Scarce signed.
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Carver, Raymond. Cathedral. New York: Knopf, 1983. First edition.
Carver's third and last major collection of stories, and the one truest to his natual style. His previous two books had been heavily edited by Gordon Lish. This copy includes a "compliments of the author" card and a promotional postcard.
A fine copy in a like dust jacket.
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Huxley, Aldous
After Many a Summer
London: Chatto and Windus, 1939. First edition. 314 pages.
"An extravaganza with a contemporary setting that is in part American, in part English. Central to this extravaganza is the story, at once grotesque and painful, farcical and reflective, of an attempt to prolong the span of human life"—dust jacket. Adapted into a made-for-TV movie in 1967.
Signed by the author on the half-title.
Brown cloth boards a touch mottled, thus very good in a browning dust jacket with minor edge wear; neatly reinforced on the verso (back) of the spine folds with Japanese tissue. (#S1221)
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Dos Passos, John
Manhattan Transfer
New York: Harper and Brothers, 1925. First edition. 404 pages; leaf of ads and a blank leaf. States "FIRST EDITION" and "K-Z" on copyright page. Jack Potter's Dos Passos bibliography identifies three points for identifying the earliest copies: a perfect "p" in Ferryship (p.3); a perfect "2" in the folio (page number) 298; and a weak "i" in "telling" on page 328, line 22. This copy has all three of this points.
Published in an edition of 4,000 copies with two different cover designs by the author (issued simultaneously): this is the variant with a yellow label on the front board and the montage of urban scenes on the dust jacket (in the jacket art, Dos Passos numbered this version "2 for 2." The Library of America describes Dos Passos' novel as offering "a fascinating glimpse into his stunning achievement as an avant-garde prose stylist ...Manhattan Transfer, a kaleidoscopic portrait of New York City, is universally acknowledged as a modernist masterpiece. This lyrical, exuberantly experimental novel orchestrates the rising and falling fortunes of more than a dozen characters: Wall Street speculators, theatrical celebrities, impoverished immigrants, bootleggers, and anarchist rebels move through a maze of tenements and skyscrapers."
Surprisingly scarce in a dust jacket--the most recent copy in the book auction records sold in 1997. This is a bright, attractive copy with minor bumping to the spine and a dusty top edge; there is a small moisture stain on the margin of the front and rear endpapers. The dust jacket presents very well with some loss at the top and bottom of the spine (not affecting any text) and two chips on the back panel, the largest smaller than a dime and again, not affecting any text or design elements. The spine of the jacket is spotted and somewhat darkened, with a vertical crack top to bottom, passing just to the left of the title block. The dust jacket was repaired using brown kraft tape at the spine and the two flap folds. (#S1348)
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Kesey, Ken
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
New York: The Viking Press, (1962). First edition in a first issue dust jacket. 311 pages. Kesey's first book and the basis for the terrific Milos Forman film starring Jack Nicholson.
This is the first printing in the correct, first issue dust jacket with the short blurb by Jack Kerouac—"A great new American novelist"—on the front flap. There's lots of mumbo jumbo on the Internet about the "first state" of this book with references to the "Red Cross woman." However, all copies of the first printing have this text, so it's not the "first state," it's the only state. Due to threatened legal action from a nurse who thought she saw herself in the novel, the name of the character was changed about the fourth printing and for all subsequent editions. The dust jacket "point" is probably not really a point either. For whatever reason, the Kerouac blurb was eliminated in later printings of the book. Copies of the first printing without the blurb are probably married—that is to say, a jacket from a later printing was added to a first printing that lacked a jacket. That is not the case with this copy. It is a first printing in the first printing dust jacket, acquired from a collector who paid $2.50 for this copy in the late 1960s, before it was a collectable title.
The green cloth boards are lightly bumped on the corners and spine ends and have a light hand-shaped stain on the back cover. The dust jacket has faded some at the spine, as is often the case, and there is a one-inch tear and creasing on the front panel and some chipping on the spine ends. [10w] (#S1353)
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[more photos after the jump]
Continue reading "Ken Kesey. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" »
Lowry, Malcolm
Under the Volcano
New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, (1947). First edition, in a first issue dust jacket (with "Advance Critical Acclaim" on the back panel). 375 pages.
Lowry's powerful novel, set in 1938, traces the decline and fall of a hard-drinking British consulate in Mexico. John Houston directed the film version in 1984, at the end of his career.
A very good copy in gray cloth-covered boards that are browning at the edges. An old price ("35"—as in cents!) is written in grease pencil on the first blank. The jacket is chipped at the extremities. A presentable copy of a scarce first edition. [10r] (#S1355)
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[more photos after the jump]
Roth, Philip
Goodbye, Columbus and Five Short Stories
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1959. First edition. 298 pages. The title novella was adapted into a 1969 film starring Richard Benjamin, Ali McGraw, and Jack Klugman. Stated "First printing" in a dust jacket with the original $3.75 price. Roth's first book, and the debut of one of the most remarkable novelists of his generation. This collection won the Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship Award and the 1960 National Book Award. Roth went from literary acclaim with his early works to huge commercial success in the 1970s, and then in his 70s, when many authors creative powers ebb, he began turning out one brilliant blockbuster novel after another. If there is an American writer working today who deserves the Nobel Prize, it's Philip Roth.
A nice copy, with light bumping to the spine ends in a dust jacket that has tanned at the spine, as is often the case. The top of the spine is chipped, just affecting the "G" of the title, and there are a few short closed tears along the top edge. An above average copy. [10S] (#S1350)
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Spillane, Mickey
I, the Jury
New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1947. First edition. 218 pages. The first Mike Hammer novel, filmed twice—once in 1953 with Biff Elliot and in the 1980s with Armand Assante.
A solid copy with a significant bump to the lower right corner and foxing to the edges and the preliminaries. The jacket is creased, chipped, and worn, with a hole on the back panel affecting about six letters of a review. A respectable copy, with the original price preserved. (#S1354)
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Stephenson, Neal
Snow Crash
New York: Bantam Spectra, (1992). First edition, hardcover issue. 440 pages. One of Time magazine's 100 best English language novels of the 20th century, Snow Crash, written several years before the Internet era took hold, imagines a distopian future dominated by cookie-cutter chain stores and software programmers. The plot is set in motion when a computer virus begins infecting people. This was Stephenson's third novel and his publisher apparently lacked faith in the book's potential, issuing simultaneously in both hardcover and paperback. The hardcovers were mostly destined for libraries.
A hardcover print run of 600 copies is oft repeated among booksellers. I have found no credible source for that figure, but it was likely to be relatively small. There was a hardcover book club edition of this book, but the true first edition can be identified by the binding of blue cloth and magenta paper-covered boards and the $22.00 price on the dust jacket.
Page edges lightly spotted and slight separation of the page block from the top of the spine (from reading), else near fine in a very nice jacket with only a touch of wear to the edges. (#S1248)
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Cooke, John Esten
Wearing of the Gray; Personal Portraits, Scenes and Adventures of the War
New York: E. B. Treat & Co., 1867. First edition. 601 pages. Ten engraved plates, including a frontispiece of J.E.B. Stuart.
Cooke was a novelist and a cousin to General J.E.B. Stuart's wife. Early in the war, he joined Stuart's command and served as his aide until the general's death. At the end of the war, he had attained the rank of major, working on the staff of various commanders, giving him first hand knowledge of many of the prominent generals he writes about. Howes C735.
The original publisher's cloth stamped in gilt is faded at the spine and has a touch of fraying to the spine ends. The pages are moderately foxed and the first two plates, in particular, have offset onto the opposite text page. With the ownership stamp of Henry H. Buhne, the son of Capt. H.H. Buhne, the first American to sail into Humboldt Bay in 1850. Generally a very good, sound copy.
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[Smirke, Robert]
Review of a Battalion of Infantry, Including the Eighteen Manoeuvres, illustrated by a series of engraved diagrams : to which are added, the words of command: with an accurate description of each manoeuvre, explaining the duty and ascertaining the situation of the officers through the various movements of the corps: forming an easy introduction to this part of the system of British military discipline.
London: Printed for Vernor, Wood and Sharpe, 1806. Fourth edition. [iv] 56 pages, plus 23 full-page engraved plates showing military formations.
In 1811, just before the War of 1812, an American edition of this book was published based on this fourth London edition. Due to the many engraved plates, the American publishers wrote, "This is the first attempt in America of reprinting so expensive a Military Work, and no where are such books of instruction so much wanted."
They went on to describe the contents of the book as follows: "The Eighteen Manoeuvres comprise almost the whole of the general principles of movements practised in the English and French armies, and Smirke's edition of them may be pronounced to have reached the acme of perfection: no treatise has appeared so plain and comprehensive, so simple and explanatory. The improved modern tactics of Europe must become ours, and it is high time the study of them was commenced among us. We have in our power the great advantage of instruction from the experience of others, of obtaining that information in the art of war, which the military of Europe have gained by dreadful experience, by traversing fields of blood, and encountering many a disastrous battle."
A very good copy in the original boards, rebacked with paper. Title written in ink on the spine. Previous owner's name dated 1809 on the front pastedown.
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2) The name of a rough-and-tumble saloon for loggers located in the building that is now Eureka Books.
3) A monthly list of highlights, oddities, and nefarious findings lifted from Eureka Books' ever-changing inventory.
