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Most Recent TBCL Highlights
  
An unusual collection of Dylan Thomas items from the library of his best friend, composer, Daniel Jones - A selection of fabulous Henry Miller items from his archive including a terrific 13 page letter from Marcel Marceau - Hesse's Siddhartha Inscribed by Miller to his ex-wife June "To read in moments of despair" - The rare signed limited set of The Decline Of The West by Spengler -  J.P. Sartre's LA NAUSEE, an inscribed Presentation Copy - An amazing copy of Kipling's Just So Stories with Kipling's extraordinary additions - An Inscribed Presentation set of Simone de Beauvoir's feminist cornerstone, The Second Sex - Kerouac's On The Road, First, Signed in DJ -  A wonderful Kieffer Deco Art Binding - An elegant matched set of first edition Boswell & Samuel Johnson's account of their visit to Scotland  -   A superb tall copy of Dixon's Voyage Round The World - Allen Ginsburg's "Ah" Hand - Adrienne Monnier's Inscribed "pour les temps moderns" - A wonderful Association Copy Inscribed by acclaimed book illustrator Berthold Mann to acclaimed book illustrator Gus Bofa - A flawless copy of Atlas Shrugged - An Alexander Dumas A.L.S. mentioning The Three Musketeers - A True First of Kafka's Die Verwandlung [The Metamorphosis], the most perfect set of Durrell's The Alexandria Quartet to come along in the last 25 years & much more.... Nice Stuff for the bibliophile & bibliomaniac.


Presentation Copy of Sartre's LA NAUSEE

 " L a  n a u s é e  . . .   c ' e s t   m o i  .  

" Sartre, Jean-Paul. LA NAUSÉE [Nausea]. Paris: Gallimard, [1938]. 8vo., original publishers wrappers, 223pp. First Edition Advance Review Copy with "S.P." on the lower front cover. A near fine exceptional example especially for a "Service de Presse" copy of Sartre's much sought after First Book. His Presentation Copy, inscribed in dark blue fountain pen on the second blank page; "A Monsieurs Rivière / en homage de l'auteur / JP Sartre". An exceptional example of this cornerstone work of existentialism. Connolly, The Modern Movement, #84. With, Sartre, Jean-Paul. NAUSEA. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1962. hardbound. 8vo., 238pp. A near fine copy in dustwrapper designed by Patricia Davey. First Edition Thus translated by Lloyd Alexander, originally published in 1949 under the title "The Diary of Antoine Roquentin". Custom TBCL collector's clamshell case with compartments for both books in fine condition. $35000

   "Nobody is better qualified than the commercial traveller over there to sell Swan toothpaste. Nobody is better qualified than that interesting young man to fumble about under his neighbour's skirts. And I am among them and if they look at me they must think that nobody is better qualified than I to do what I do. But I know. I don't look very important but I know that I exist and that they exist. And if I knew the art of convincing people, I should go and sit down next to that handsome white-haired gentleman and I should explain to him what existence is. The thought of the look which would come on to his face if I did makes me burst out laughing." The rationality & solidity of this world, Roquentin thinks, is a veneer.    


 

"Nausea (orig. French La Nausée) is an epistolary novel by the existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, published in 1938 and written while he was teaching at the lycée of Le Havre. This is Sartre's first novel and one of his best-known. The novel concerns a dejected historian in a town similar to Le Havre, who becomes convinced that inanimate objects and situations encroach on his ability to define himself, on his intellectual and spiritual freedom, evoking in the protagonist a sense of nausea. It is widely considered one of the canonical works of existentialism. Sartre was awarded (but declined) the Nobel Prize for literature in 1964. They recognized him "for his work which, rich in ideas and filled with the spirit of freedom and the quest for truth, has exerted a far-reaching influence on our age." He was one of the few people ever to have declined the award, referring to it as merely a function of a bourgeois institution. In her La Force de l'âge (The Prime of Life - 1960), French writer Simone de Beauvoir claims that La Nausée grants consciousness a remarkable independence and gives reality the full weight of its sense. It has been translated into English at least twice; by Lloyd Alexander as "The Diary of Antoine Roquentin" (John Lehmann, 1949) and by Robert Baldick as "Nausea" (Penguin Books, 1965)". - Wikipedia


 

  The Jungle Book & The Second Jungle Book 

    Kipling, Rudyard THE JUNGLE BOOK AND THE SECOND JUNGLE BOOK. London: Macmillan, 1894, 1895. 8vo. 212, 238p. Classic First Editions, First Issue. Wonderfully illustrated in black & white throughout by Kipling's father, J. Lockwood Kipling with W. H. Drake & P. Frenzeny. The Jungle Book bound in full blue calf, four raised bands, gilt titles to spine, blue endpapers, the front cover bound in. A lovely near fine or better copy, all edges gilt WITH The Second Jungle Book bound in gilt ruled & titled half red calf & linen, five raised bands, covers bound in at the rear. A fine excellent example. "This most desirable pair will always fill an honorable place in any library of children's books" (Quayle 87). Richards A76 & A85; Stewart 123 & 132. Livingston 104, 116. A lovely mixed set of one of the cornerstone titles in children's literature & Kipling highlight & along with Just So Stories, his most beloved work.  First published in magazine format in 1893-4. British Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling was born in India lived there & in England & wrote these stories when he lived in Vermont. The tales are fables, using animals in an anthropomorphic manner to give moral lessons. The verses of The Law of the Jungle, for example, lay down rules for the safety of individuals, families & communities. Kipling put in them nearly everything he knew or "heard or dreamed about the Indian jungle." Other readers have interpreted the work as allegories of the politics & society of the time. The best-known of them are the three stories revolving around the adventures of an abandoned "man cub" Mowgli who is raised by wolves in the Indian Jungle with the help of Baloo the bear & Bagheera the black panther, & then has to fight the tiger Shere Khan. The most famous of the other stories are probably "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi", the story of a heroic mongoose, & "Toomai of the Elephants", the tale of a young elephant-handler. "The White Seal", in which the main character seeks a haven for his people where they would be safe from hunters, has been considered a metaphor for Zionism, then in its beginning. As with much of Kipling's work, each of the stories is preceded by a piece of verse, & succeeded by another. $2475

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 Extraordinary Kipling JUST SO STORIES

 

Kipling, Rudyard. JUST SO STORIES FOR LITTLE CHILDREN. Signed. Illustrated by the Author. Toronto: George S. Morang & Co., Limited. 1902. Unique Copy. First Canadian Edition. Sm. 4to. 249p. With 22 plates & many in-text illustrations. Cream cloth covered boards with titles & illustrations on the spine & upper cover stamped in black. An extraordinary example with three key manuscript highlights tipped-in: $32750

An An extremely good example showing light use. [Stewart 261. Notes binding is usually brown/orange cloth]. First published in London, by Macmillan in 1902 this is the uncommon Canadian edition of Kipling's most famous collection of twelve animal stories & twelve poems, including "How the Camel Got His Hump" and "How the Leopard Got His Spots," "How the Whale Got his Throat," "The Elephant's Child," & "The Butterfly That Stamped." "Just So Stories has achieved nursery immortality because a genius has married two of the most tried and trusted media - the fable and the fairy-story" (Muir, 107). Stewart [260]. BMC No.1 [1984]; 'Edwardian Children's Books'

1 - Opposite page 141, Kipling on a piece of club size stationery has written out, in fact decoded the runes of Taffimai in 2 columns of 18 lines with the added "This is the identical tusk-on-uitch the tale of Taffimai ouas ritten. Etched by the author. / See Page 141 / Just So Stories / Double Day Page Edn 1902." 2 - Tipped opposite page 197, on a piece of club size stationery, Kipling has deciphered the runes on the Mutton Bone illustrated in the story: The Cat That Walked By Himself. Inscribed: "On the mutton bone / page 197. Just So Stories". Two columns of decoding followed by: " I Rudyard Kipling drew this but because there was no mutton bone in the house I faked the anatomy from memory. R. K." 3 - One page ALS [true copy neatly written & signed in blue fountain pen] on the letterhead of the Canadian Copper Company, Sussex, dated Nov. 30th 1912, addressed to: David H. Brown Esq. " Dear Sir / Many thanks for your amusing letter of the 12th. I am sorry that any of my handicraft should have disturbed your dinner. I should imagine it would be quite hopeless to find one in the small drawing what the runes meant but I have looked up the original pictures and found that on the cross bar of the H, I put myself on record as having also written all the play ascribed to Mrs. Gallop. I hope now that you and your friends will be able to return to their respective vocations. / Yours very sincerely / Rudyard Kipling"

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Presentation Copies of this Founding Text of Feminism. The Second Sex

De Beauvoir, Simone. LE DEUXIEME SEXE. Les Faits et Les Mythes I - L'experience Vecue. II. Signed. Paris: Gallimard, 1949. First Edition, two volumes in wrappers, Limited to 2,000 Numbered Copies (of a total edition of 2,150) of this founding text of feminism inspiring later works by Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique & Kate Millett, Sexual Politics. 8vo. 395 pp. + 577 pp. + Tables of contents at the end of each volume. Both Volumes Signed & Inscribed by Simone de Beauvoir in French to Bernie Wolfe, personal assistant & bodyguard to Leon Trotsky during his exile in Mexico. Wolfe became quite famous in his own right, associating with many of the political extremists of his day & was close friends with Diego Rivera & Frida Kahlo. Volume 1 inscribed: "For Bernie Wolfe / who has done something or other & made me his great friend / With all my love / S. de Beauvoir". Volume 2 inscribed: "For Bernie Wolfe / with my constant friendship we are friends "en poche" / S. de Beauvoir". Housed in a fine custom clamshell case. A very good or better set showing modest use. The genesis of Modern Feminism. NYPL Books Of The Century, pp. 129. New York Times Books Of The Century. pp. 189-190. An extraordinary Presentation set. Rarely encountered. $35000

In 1947 the French writer Philippe Soupault organized for the 39 year old Simone de Beauvoir a series of conferences at various American Universities. In France the Cold War divided French intellectuals. The relations between Sartre & Camus have become strained. Jan 24th 1947, Beauvoir travels to New York from where she writes to Sartre: " If I want to reflect about New York, I must talk to New Yorkers. There are names in my notebook but they don't bring any faces to mind. It will be necessary to speak on the telephone in English with people who are unaware of me and whom I don’t know
". The writer Richard Wright introduced her to his circle of friends including Bernard Wolfe, author of several mostly for television plays & novels including his best known 1952 science-fiction novel Limbo [Pringle 100 Best] & with whom she becomes good friends. In February [1947] Beauvoir heads for her Chicago lecture tour where she contacts Nelson Algren through her new New Yorker friends. Algren lived in the lower class Polish district of Chicago; the Bowery with its share of striptease clubs & mob bars. Communicating isn't easy as Beauvoir spoke English with a strong French accent & Algren spoke Midwest. But they managed - their affair rather historical.   It was to Algren that de Beauvoir broached the idea of writing on women, and he encouraged her to expand her essays into a book.  Chapters of Le Deuxième Sexe (The Second Sex) were originally published in Les Temps Modernes, in June 1949. Blanche Knopf, wife of de Beauvoir’s American publisher, heard about the book on a scouting trip to France and believed it to be a highbrow sex manual. Knopf asked for a reader’s report from retired zoologist, Howard M. Parshley, who was then commissioned to do the translation despite his undergraduate French. Thus the trade edition that followed was mistranslated and inappropriately cut, distorting her intended message. For years Knopf prevented the introduction of a more accurate translation of de Beauvoir's work, declining all proposals despite the efforts of existentialist scholars. When in 2009 there was a second translation, to mark the 60th anniversary of the original publication, Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier produced the first integral translation, reinstating a third of the original work in which de Beauvoir anticipated the sexually charged feminism of Erica Jong & Germaine Greer. Algren was outraged by the frank way de Beauvoir later described their affair in, The Mandarins, (dedicated to Algren, and  winner of the Prix Goncourt) on whom the character Lewis Brogan is based & in her autobiographies. He vented his outrage when reviewing American translations of her work including, The Second Sex. Material on these episodes in de Beauvoir's life, including her love letters to Algren, entered the public domain only after her death. In the chapter 'Woman: Myth and Reality' of The Second Sex, de Beauvoir argues that men have made women the "Other" in society by putting a false aura of "mystery" around them and that men used this as an excuse not to understand women or their problems & not to help them, & that this stereotyping was always done in societies by the group higher in the hierarchy to the group lower in the hierarchy. 


Chapters of Le deuxième sexe (The Second Sex) were originally published in Les Temps Modernes, in June 1949. The trade edition that followed was very quickly translation by Howard Parshley [as prompted by Blanche Knopf] & published in America as The Second Sex. Because Parshley had only a basic familiarity with the French language, & a minimal understanding of philosophy [he was a professor of biology at Smith College], much of Beauvoir's book was mistranslated or inappropriately cut, distorting her intended message. For years Knopf prevented the introduction of a more accurate retranslation of Beauvoir's work, declining all proposals despite the efforts of existentialist scholars. Only in 2009 was there a second translation, to mark the 60th anniversary of the original publication. Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier produced the first integral translation, reinstating a third of the original work. In the long-awaited second translation of The Second Sex, Beauvoir anticipated the sexually charged feminism of Erica Jong & Germaine Greer. Algren was outraged by the frank way Beauvoir later described her American sexual experiences in The Mandarins (dedicated to Algren, on whom the character Lewis Brogan was based) & in her autobiographies. He vented his outrage when reviewing American translations of her work including The Second Sex. Much material bearing on this episode in Beauvoir's life, including her love letters to Algren, entered the public domain only after her death.
.

In the chapter "Woman: Myth and Reality" of The Second Sex, Beauvoir argued that men had made women the "Other" in society by putting a false aura of "mystery" around them. She argued that men used this as an excuse not to understand women or their problems & not to help them, & that this stereotyping was always done in societies by the group higher in the hierarchy to the group lower in the hierarchy. She wrote that this also happened on the basis of other categories of identity, such as race, class, & religion. But she said that it was nowhere more true than with sex in which men stereotyped women & used it as an excuse to organize society into a patriarchy.

The Second Sex, published in French, sets out a feminist existentialism which prescribes a moral revolution. As an existentialist, Beauvoir believed that existence precedes essence; hence one is not born a woman, but becomes one. Her analysis focuses on the Hegelian concept of the Other. It is the (social) construction of Woman as the quintessential Other that Beauvoir identifies as fundamental to women's oppression. The capitalized 'O' in "other" indicates the wholly other. Beauvoir argued that women have historically been considered deviant, abnormal. She said that even Mary Wollstonecraft considered men to be the ideal toward which women should aspire. Beauvoir said that this attitude limited women's success by maintaining the perception that they were a deviation from the normal, and were always outsiders attempting to emulate "normality". She believed that for feminism to move forward, this assumption must be set aside. Beauvoir asserted that women are as capable of choice as men, & thus can choose to elevate themselves, moving beyond the 'immanence' to which they were previously resigned and reaching 'transcendence', a position in which one takes responsibility for oneself and the world, where one chooses one's freedom". - Wikipedia [More than less]

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Rare Signed Spengler Limited Edition of 150 Copies

Spengler, Oswald. DER UNTERGANG DES ABENDLANDES. Umrisse Einer Morphologie der Weltgeschichte. München [Munich]: Oskar Beck, 1922, 1923. Two octavo Volumes: pp 559, 637. [Translated into English as THE DECLINE OF THE WEST]. The Rare limited edition of 150 numbered copies; this set numbered 33 on the limitation page of each volume and SIGNED by Spengler on the limitation page in volume I. Both volumes are uniformly bound in the publisher's gilt-ruled dark blue morocco, the spine with 5 raised bands, red morocco gilt-lettered label, elegant hand-made marbled endpapers, top-edge gilt. A near fine superb example of this rare issue, [small archival repair to the head of volume I & corners] the text block free of blemish. [1922 forward by Spengler]. Volume II is the 1st edition published in 1922. Volume I is an early printing but the first in this binding by Beck who acquiring the copyright from Braunmuller, the Viennese academic house that published the original 1st edition in 1918. Beck also published an unsigned trade edition uniformly bound in cream coloured paper covered boards printed with black titles & graphics. A rare set. Surviving original cardboard slipcase neatly restored. Custom collectors gilt bordered blue leather outer slipcase in very fine condition. $65000



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"During the period after the First World War, is a politico-sociological phenomenon that has nothing to do with the intrinsic merits or demerits of this 'new outlook on history and the philosophy of destiny', as the author himself described the aim of his book ...it was the major prophet, Toynbee, who took up the mantle that fell from the minor prophet, Spengler". - PMM, PRINTING AND THE MIND OF MAN # 410. 

 

 

 

 

 

On The Road Signed By Kerouac. First Edition. 

 Kerouac, Jack. ON THE ROAD. Signed. New York: Viking Press, 1957. 8vo., 310pp. A very good or better copy, the white spine lettering partially rubbed, evidence of a bookplate having been removed from the front free endpaper otherwise the book block is clean & free of blemish. Kerouac has signed in black ink at the top of the second blank page which has likely been added later to this copy. Notwithstanding it is indeed signed & as such not to be toyed with as there are only a handful of really top-of-mind modern titles & right beside Catcher & Mockingbird sits OTR or is it the other way round? The dustwrapper is very good or better having been professionally restored with work done primarily at the spine heel & crown. An extremely good copy. $28750

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Excellent Pairing of Boswell / Johnson

[Boswell, James] Dr. Johnson Samuel. JOURNEY TO THE WESTERN ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND with JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO THE HEBRIDES, WITH SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. London: Printed for W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1775 & London: Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, 1785. Two Volumes. First Editions both volumes. 8vo., 385pp. with First Issue 12 line errata slip at the rear + 524 pp. and final leaf of errata. "I had desired to visit the Hebrides and was induced to undertake the journey, by finding in Mr. Boswell a companion."  Both volumes uniformly bound with ornate gilt-decorated calf spines, gilt-bordered tree calf boards, red morocco labels, marbled endpapers. Baronial bookplate of Sir Wyndham Knatchbull, Mersham Hatch [6th Baronet, 1737-1763] on each front pastedown. Colophon of Jos. Banks on the verso of the title page of JOURNEY. Contemporary signature of D. Banks at the top of each title page. "By Dr. Johnson" elegantly added in ink below the title of JOURNEY. Superb matching examples in extremely good condition and fine provenance of both important accounts of their mutual 1773 visit to the Highlands and Islands. Custom embossed red entry cases. Rothschild 1256; Courtney-Nichol Smith 122 for JOURNEY - Pottle 57 - M4 and E3-4 are cancels, as usual, ODMV, Tinker 333, Adams p.45, Rothschild 456 for JOURNAL. "Containing Some Poetical Pieces by Dr. Johnson, relative to the Tour, and never before published; A Series of his Conversations, Literary Anecdotes, and Opinions of Men and Books".  $9300



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Boswell's account "has the chatty informality of a 'rough' guide: its focus is on Johnson, as it describes his charged encounters with the native population, whether humble cottagers or important personages like Lord Monboddo and Boswell's formidable father Lord Auchinleck The tour deepened the friendship between the pair, and increased Johnson's respect for and confidence in Boswell as a future biographer" (Pat Rogers in ODNB). Dr. Johnson's account of the voyage is considerably different in texture. The final ad leaf in JOURNAL is for Boswell's Life of Johnson noted as: "Preparing for the Press, in one Volume Quarto"

 

 

 

 

 


Beautiful Tall Dixon's Voyage

Dixon, Captain George. VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD: but more Particularly to the North-West Coast of America :Performed in 1785, 1786, 1787, and 1788, in The King George and Queen Charlotte, Captains Portlock and Dixon. Dedicated, by Permission, to Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. Excellent example. First Edition. Tall copy, 11" 1/8. Quarto pp. xxix, [1]blank,[1 leaf] errata & directions to binder, 360, 47. with half-title. 5 folding engraved maps & bound with 17 engraved plates, 3 of which are folding & 1 of which [Cape St. James p.214] was never originally bound in & now supplied in excellent facsimile. Large [24.5 x 35 inches] folding frontispiece chart. Half-title page present. Errata on recto and instructions to binder on verso of unpaged leaf following introduction. Account of the voyage of the "Queen Charlotte" in a 4-year expedition from England to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) and China via the Pacific Northwest. Contemporary calf sumptuously bound with an ornately decorated & tooled spine with 5 ship devices in compartments, black leather labels, tree calf boards with braided rope gilt border. Beautiful marbled endpapers. An excellent example showing minimal use & wear at the tips. "Portlock and Dixon, who had been with Captain Cook, made this expedition to the northwest coast of America to collect furs for a group of London merchants. Portlock, the Commander-in-Chief, was on the King George. The expedition left Gravesend August 29, 1785, and arrived at the Sandwich Islands via Cape Horn in May 1786. The mouth of Cook's River in Alaska was reached July 18 and the rest of the summer was spent in sailing down the Coast as far as Nootka Sound. The expedition wintered in the Sandwich Islands and in 1788 proceeded to Prince William Sound where they met Captain Meares. The vessels parted company in May, with Portlock exploring the Alaskan coast and Dixon sailing again for Nootka Sound, where he named 'Dixon's Entrance' and the 'Queen Charlotte Islands.' The furs were sold in Canton, China, and both ships, after a most successful voyage, arrived back in England by way of Cape Good Hope in the summer of 1788. $9300







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"The account, except for the introduction by Dixon and the two appendices, is in a series of forty-nine letters signed 'W. B.' The writer was William Beresford, a Quaker who, says Dixon in his introduction, 'has been totally unused to literary pursuits, and equally so to a sea-faring life.' Notwithstanding this, his letters, corrected by Dixon on nautical points, make good reading and the book is an excellent authority for the early days of fur trading on the northwest coast" (Streeter). Dixon also contributed the valuable maps. The work is sometimes confused with Portlock's account of the voyage, published the same year under the same title. Bell B204. Howes D-365. JCB II 3270. Sabin 64390 [vide PORTLOCK]. JCB II 3270. Smith 779. Strathern & Edwards 37. TPL 593. Hill p. 23. Lada-Mocarski 43. Lande 960. Streeter VI 3484. Story p. 217.

 

 

 


Berthold Mann To Gus Bofa

MAHN (Berthold). SOUVENIRS DU VIEUX-COLOMBIER, 55 dessins originaux précédés d'un texte de Jules Romains. Signed, Envoi de L'artiste. Paris: Claude Aveline, 1926. Stiff wrappers, 8vo., 53pp / grand in-8, XII-55 pl. d'illustration, broché. FIRST EDITION / EDITION ORIGINALE. Extraordinary copy inscribed by Berthold Mahn to his fellow artist & illustrator Gus Bofa. One of 35 H.C. copies of 55 on Velin de Rives. Exemplaire exceptionelle. Edition originale tirée à 950 exemplaires numérotés, celui-ci est un des 35 H.C. Vélin de Rives. In fine condition / trés bel état. Wonderful Association Copy linking these two great artists of the book. $2500

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Presentation Copy - Henry Miller To June

Hesse, Hermann. SIDDHARTHA. Signed. New York: New Directions Books, 1951. First American Edition. Exquisite Presentation Copy. Translated from the German by Hilda Rosner. First English language Trade Edition, preceded only by a New Direction's slipcased limited edition & here issued as No. 34 in the New Classics Series. The second Issue, with William Carlos Williams's collection 'Paterson' spelled correctly in the list of New Classics Series titles on the verso of the half-title. Small 8vo, [6], 153 [1]pp. A fine copy in a very good Alvin Lustig designed dustwrapper with a 1" 1/4 x 1/2" chip at the bottom of the back panel & a short closed tear at the top of the front panel. An exceptional copy none-the-less, inscribed by Henry Miller to his ex-wife: "For June / - to read in / moments / of despair / Henry / 10/16/56]". It was  Miller's custom to send books to June & Siddhartha was Miller's favorite & he probably sent her at least 2 copies of Siddhartha over the years. Rarely do these books surface but they on occasion do. Often thought of as a Sixties book, Siddhartha was actually a decade early; a precursor to the major societal & philosophical changes to follow & a cardinal influence during the Sixties & beyond. An important book. Custom TBCL 'Sculpted' Collector's Clamshell Case. $7700

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Marcel Marceau to Henry Miller / Wonderful

 

"Like the clown we go through the motions, forever simulating, forever postponing the grand event. We die struggling to get born. We never were, never are. We are always in the process of becoming" - Henry Miller," - Epilogue. "The Smile At The Foot Of The Ladder, "I have designed my style pantomimes as white ink drawings on black backgrounds, so that man's destiny appears as a thread lost in an endless labyrinth" - Marcel Marceau.    Marceau, Marcel. [Henry Miller]. AUTOGRAPHED AND ILLUSTRATED LETTER SIGNED. Washington, 1973 8vo., on blue tinted onion skin. A wonderful rambling letter & as much original art from Marceau in French scrawled across 13 pages [with small humorous illustrations on many pages], all about asking Miller for the rights at whatever price to make a film from Miller's "Smile At The Foot Of The Ladder". [Translation In part] " First of all, I send you my best wishes for the year 1973. . . with all the silences and heart of the Bip [flower]. I saw the drawing in your book. Thank you for including it. / It will always remind me of those unforgettable moments in Berchères. . . I understand you. Here's what it's about, I would absolutely want to produce the movie version of / "The smile at the foot of the ladder" / To put it simply, tell me if the book is still available for me to create an adaptation that will follow your Spirit and your heart. I am ready to buy the movie rights! You know I am just like you. . . Complex. . . but / without ambiguity and loyal!. . . It's better to answer to God than to his saints. Also, from you - to me- in all honesty. . . give me the movie rights to the "smile". I wait in silence like a peasant on a mountain. . . I would really like / my first movie to be the "smile at the foot of the ladder". If the rights are taken and no one does anything with them like the American who wouldn’t go anywhere, then please give them to me. . . tell me the cost and I will be in Los Angeles in May. / Right now, we are touring universities and big cities in the United States. You book is really beautiful! I admired your drawings!!! One word from you / would make me happy if you want, Unhappy if it pleases you. . .  Your pale Bip [flower]. . . who loves you like a brother / [Elaborate Bip Clown Illustration] Henry Miller With the faithful heart of the Bip [Flower] Always M.M. / If you agree, we will deal with the formalities in Los Angeles in June - (my heart is beating like a little girl's) / Faithfully with my heart and my friendly hand Your Bip Marcel Marceau"   Marceau's interest in Miller’s novella "The Smile At The Foot Of The Ladder" is obvious - the book is the story of a clown named Auguste, whose one-dimensional fame causes an existential crisis of identity and a Siddhartha-like quest for spiritual meaning. Time Magazine review from 1948 adds: "Auguste's search for his true identity is a dangerous quest and it ends fatally, but not before he has discovered that ‘perhaps he was all right just as he was . . . The mistake he had made was to go beyond his proper bounds.’ " Karl Orend’s book, Henry Miller’s Angelic Clown:  $7275

 

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"Reflection on The Smile At The Foot Of The Ladder" (2007, Alyscamps Press) is a thorough analysis of Miller’s 1948 short novel. In his view, "Ladder" may not contain a writer character named Henry, but the clown named Auguste is reflective of the spiritual and philosophical core of Henry Miller. "More than any other text Henry Miller wrote," writes Orend, "The Smile At The Foot Of The Ladder gives us a concise and allegorical vision of the point towards which all his writing was aimed Apocatastasis and the attainment of Samadhi. The intent of all Henry Miller’s work was the elimination of duality and schizophrenia he felt within himself and in society." Published in 1948, Smile provided a spiritual ladder or bridge between his Colossus Of Maroussi (1941) and Big Sur And The Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch (1957). Marcel Marceau (1923 - 2007) was an internationally acclaimed French actor & the most acclaimed mime in the world, most famous for his persona as Bip the Clown.

Marcel Marceau to Henry Miller / Wonderful, Again

   Marceau, Marcel. [Henry Miller]. AUTOGRAPHED PROGRAM to Henry Miller. SIGNED. Folio, 9" 1/4 x 12". Illustrated wrappers, 24pp. Black & white photos of Bip & original Marceau drawings throughout, many full page. In fine condition. Inscribed on the front cover illustration of Bip the Clown by Marceau to Henry Miller: "À Henry Avec mon coeur et ma main amie fidèlement Votre Bip Marcel Marceau" [To Henry, Faithfully with my heart & my friendly hand Your Bip Marcel Marceau]. At the time of this presentation, Marceau was pleading his case to Miller for the rights to produce a film of Miller's "The Smile At The Foot Of The Ladder", Miller's novella about a clown named Auguste, whose one-dimensional fame causes an existential crisis of identity & a Siddhartha-like quest for spiritual meaning. Marceau's interest in the project was obvious. A fine association.  "Like the clown we go through the motions, forever simulating, forever postponing the grand event. We die struggling to get born. We never were, never are. We are always in the process of becoming" - Henry Miller," - Epilogue. "The Smile At The Foot Of The Ladder, "I have designed my style pantomimes as white ink drawings on black backgrounds, so that man's destiny appears as a thread lost in an endless labyrinth." - Marcel Marceau. $3500

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Ginsberg's Ah / The Poets' Handbook

 Ginsberg, Allen, et al. THE POET'S HAND BOOK. Signed. NP. [New York]: ND, [1968 -1975]. First edition 1 of 1 copy. A collection of 24 mostly "Beat" poet hands drawn with poetic license by their owner's other hand [well] - mostly from the late 60's; the earliest dated '68 - the latest dated '75 including the paws of Ginsberg & Corso, Bill Berkson. Dick Gallup, Anne Waldman, John Giorno, Ron Padgett, Joe Brainard, Gerald Malanga, Jim Carroll, Ted Berrigan, & others - in a 30 page Artist's 9" x 12" unpaginated Sketch Book in basically fine condition. I don't remember who started it all - one of the crew. The first hand is Berkson's & the last is signed Gregory Nunzio Corso in full. [Saroyan's is a loose insert on card stock] Ginsberg's hand "ah" is that of the master - in itself worth the price of admission, neatly adorned with AG Mantras. All in all a Hip New York moment in the continuum - a remarkable relic from the period, 23 original ink drawings. Unique. The Lefties win on paper 14 2 10 but only on paper. In excellent condition. $5750

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Original Jones Musical Score for Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas 

 [Jones, Daniel Jenkyn, OBE]. Dylan Thomas. [Under Milk Wood] / JOHNNIE CRACK AND FLOSSIE SNAIL. [Words by Dylan Thomas, Music by Daniel Jones]. Quarto, [4to.], n.p. n.d., [1954] 4 pages. On standard music paper. The original hand-written, working music manuscript from Dylan Thomas' 'Under Milk Wood', A Play for Voices. Preface and musical settings by Daniel Jones [1912-1993], the most celebrated Welsh composer. [published by Dent, 1954 in book form]. Daniel Jones, Dylan's oldest friend, wrote the preface and all of the original music for 'Under Milk Wood'. The piece [No 6] is in excellent near fine condition, and is written entirely in Daniel Jones' hand. Originally a radio play, later a stage play, Under Milk Wood was adapted into film with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Dan Jones edited Dylan Thomas's POEMS and published: " My Friend Dylan Thomas". $2975

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The Dedication Copy

 

  Thomas, Dylan, Edited and with an Introduction By Daniel Jones. The Poems of Dylan Thomas (includes: Elegy; in Country Sleep; Fern Hill; Letter to My Aunt Discussing the Correct Approach to Modern Poetry; etc) THE DEDICATION COPY. New York: New Directions, 1971. First Edition, First Printing. Errata card inserted + the publishers compliments slip with the typed note: "CONTRACT COPIES 1 sent to Dan Jones direct....Air Mail". Inscribed Presentation Copy to Jones's wife on the front pastedown: "To Irene / with love from Dan. / 23rd November 1971". Although there is no printed dedication, this one, for all intents & purposes is it. Fine in dustwrapper. 8vo., 291pp., 163 poems, 2 unfinished poems, 26 early poems, 36 pages of notes plus an index of titles & first lines. Provenance the estate of Daniel Jones. $2875

 

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Edith Sitwell / Dylan Thomas & Daniel Jones

   Sitwell, Edith [Dylan Thomas], [Daniel Jones]. Autograph Letter Signed to Composer Daniel Jones about Erich Fried translating Dylan Thomas. London: 22 March 1954. 8vo., 4pp. A very chatty letter. "I have of course been meaning to write to you to tell you how much I liked your songs....I believe that Erich Fried a friend of mine, has written to you about his translation of Under Milk Wood... Dearest Dan, do please see that Erich gets the rights as it is really a service to Dylan too... I spoke to Dylan about his translations of his poems which were quite uncannily good. In fact the only ones that were. He has a really great gift and above all an unusual talent for words, in fact he is the only person writing in German who comes near to Dylan's way of using words... Please ring when you are in town. You can always stay with us you know. / All my best love to you & / Irene. / Yours Edith". An excellent letter in fine condition. Thomas' closest & oldest friend was Dr. Daniel Jones. Dan Jones edited Dylan Thomas's POEMS in addition to writing the preface & all of the original music for 'Under Milk Wood' & publishing: "My Friend Dylan Thomas". $1775


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   Thomas, Dylan [Daniel Jones]. POEMS OF BLAKE. Edited by Laurence Binyon. Ex Libris Composer Daniel Jones [& Dylan Thomas]. London: Macmillan, 1931. 8vo., 372pp. Blue cloth covered boards, titled in gilt at the spine. Acquired from the late composer's daughter. Dylan & Dan have clearly had great fun with this; the two of them making several handwritten annotations throughout. On the inside back fly, Dylan writes clearly in pencil: "There must be in people a desire to share enthusiasm". Thomas' closest & oldest friend was Dr. Daniel Jones. Dan Jones edited Dylan Thomas’s POEMS in addition to writing the preface & all of the original music for 'Under Milk Wood' & publishing: "My Friend Dylan Thomas". Unique. $2500



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Inscribed "pour les temps moderne"

Monnier, Adriènne. Les Gazettes D'Adrienne Monnier 1925 - 1945. Paris: Rene Julliard, 1953. Printed Wrappers. 8vo., 318pp. Inscribed First Edition. French text. Perfectly Inscribed on the half title, finely, in black ink: "pour les Temps Moderne / hommage de l'auteur / Adriènne Monier". The Paris literary Scene, from Adriènne Monnier (1892-1955) - bookseller, poet & publisher. Her famous bookshop, La Maison des Amis des Livres, was located on rue de l'odéon in Paris where she encouraged Sylvia Beach to open her own shop, the equally famous, Shakespeare and Company. The best & the brightest were her friends many of whom she published: Joyce, Hemingway, Eliot, & others. This issue features Rilke, Valéry, Colette, Claudel, & Joyce. Articles titled: Arrivé de Paul Robeson, Whitman chez Sylia Beach, L'Ulysses de Joyce et le public français, les américains à Paris. A near fine example, with much less darkening typical of the cheap paper edition. $750

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Alexander Dumas / Chatty A.L.S. 

Dumas, Pere, Alexander (1802-1870). Author of The Three  Musketeers. 8vo., Autograph letter to Albéric. Signed. 1 page  on blue paper. An amazing letter. Dumas asks Albéric to insert in his newspaper "ce petit mot de moi qui annonce que le mousquetaire eat ressuscité et qui invite vos abonnés, dont le plus grand nombre m'a marqué rant de sympathy pour m'a salade et m'a soupe au choux, à lire le núméro du 3 November quoique'il n'y ait ni menu ni recette". Il fait ensuit allusion au Baron Brisse qui, après Emile de Girardin, remplace dans un journal si advantageusement le feuilleton'. An amusing letter with good reference to The  Musketeers, wrote a book of recipes & worked for the newspaper. Dumas was a French writer best known for his historical adventure novels including, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, & The Vicomte de Bragelonne. These, his non-fiction works, & his many plays made Dumas one of the most widely read French authors in the world. $1750

  

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Superb Kieffer Binding

Kieffer, René, (1876-1963)]. Le Pere Goriot by Honoré de Balzac [1799-1851]. Paris: Rene Kieffer, 1922. 4to., 317pp. 1 of only 50 numbered copies in a total edition of 450. this being No 17 on Vélin de Cuve bound with an original aquarelle by Quint & an extra suite [en bistre] at the rear. 140 colour illustrations by Quint. In an exquisite Kieffer Binding. Full burgundy morocco with tan, sand & mossy green onlay, stamped in gilt at the spine & with ornate silver diamond burst "art déco" mosaic on both covers. Marbled endpapers, gilt dentelles, signed by Kieffer. Kieffer ticket on the verso of the ffe. Original full page watercolour bound in before the title page. Top edge gilt, others uncut. Spine with an almost imperceptible fade otherwise a very fine lovely example of one of Kieffer's elegant show bindings. Carteret, Le trésor du bibliophile. Livres illustrés modernes 1875 à 1945: "A much sought after edition". $3500



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Thackery in Parts

Thackeray, William Makepeace. THE VIRGINIANS. London: Bradbury & Evans, 1857. Original Wrappers. First Edition. 8vo. Publisher's original yellow wrappers, in an elegant gilt decorated & lettered morocco case with folding chemise. Complete set of 24 pamphlets issued monthly, [November, 1857, to October, 1859] in their original First Published state; each in yellow wrappers with engraved pictorials. An excellent set with the forty-eight etched plates & woodcut vignettes in the text, all after drawings by the author in extremely good condition. All ads present including the "Cork" advertisement. Contents are very clean & unmarked. A bit of use showing on the first number. Very nice indeed.   Among the later novels is "The History of Henry Esmond", in which Thackeray tried to write a novel in the style of the eighteenth century. In fact, the eighteenth century held a great appeal for Thackeray. Not only Esmond but also "Barry Lyndon" and "Catherine" are set then, as is the sequel to Esmond, "The Virginians", which is a continuation of "Henry Esmond", exploring the fortunes of Esmond's family, particularly his twin grandsons, George and Henry Warrington, who spent time in America & includes George Washington as a character who nearly kills one of the protagonists in a duel. $1400

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Murder / Meutre - Two Signed Eliot 

   Eliot, T. S. Murder In The Cathedral. Signed. Folded card stock 2pp., 5" x 7"1/2 folded in very good or better condition, mildly foxed Special performance of this, his cornerstone play at Westminster Cathedral Hall, January 18th (1939). Neatly signed by Eliot in blue fountain pen at the top of the front cover. A rare item as such. $1775. 





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   Thomas, Dylan [Daniel Jones]. POEMS OF BLAKE. Edited by Laurence Binyon. Ex Libris Composer Daniel Jones [& Dylan Thomas]. London: Macmillan, 1931. 8vo., 372pp. Blue cloth covered boards, titled in gilt at the spine. Acquired from the late composer's daughter. Dylan & Dan have clearly had great fun with this; the two of them making several handwritten annotations throughout. On the inside back fly, Dylan writes clearly in pencil: "There must be in people a desire to share enthusiasm". Thomas' closest & oldest friend was Dr. Daniel Jones. Dan Jones edited Dylan Thomas’s POEMS in addition to writing the preface & all of the original music for 'Under Milk Wood' & publishing: "My Friend Dylan Thomas". Unique. $1450


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Kafka's Masterpiece 

   Kafka, Franz. DIE VERWANDLUNG [The Metamorphosis]. Leipzig; Kurt Wolff Verlag, 1915. First edition. 8vo., 73 pp + 5 pp of advertisements at rear. Original buff pictorial outer wrapper printed in red and black on the upper cover with Ottomar Starke’s famous illustration of a man recoiling in horror; the outer wrapper over plain red paper covers. An essentially near fine, excellent copy showing minimal use of this Kafka masterpiece often cited as one of the seminal works of short fiction of the 20th century and one of the most frequently analyzed. One fingerprint sized spot of soiling at the lower front edge of the first few pages otherwise contents clean & unblemished. The work was completed by Kafka in 1912 and published by Wolff, November 1915, band 22-23 [double issue] - the cover shows 1916 as a "Cover Date" as called for with band 22-23 clearly identified. Die Verwandlung first appeared in German in the Berlin journal, Die Weissen Blatter, 10-12 [1915]. A second edition was published by Wolff in 1918. "Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheueren Ungeziefer verwandelt." "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic vermin." Kafka's vision of humanity's absurd relationship with the universe, the psychological, social, political, and metaphysical instability and confusion that defy logical explanation have inspired the term "Kafkaesque". In Kafka: A Writer’s Life, Joachim Unseld estimated that no more than 1000 copies were originally published by Wolff which sold out quickly. The wrappers format was well read and subject to wear easily making fine collectible copies very uncommon. The English language edition didn't appear until 1937. A superior example of this important work normally found quite worn if found at all. Custom Clamshell case. $30000

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Superb, Sublime Atlas Shrugged

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 [TBCL custom modern cases are available separately, inquire]

   Rand, Ayn. ATLAS SHRUGGED. New York: Random House, 1957. A fabulous copy of this Rand High Spot. First Edition, First issue, correctly priced dustwrapper with 10/57 on the lower front flap & the publisher's name in full on the bottom rear flap. Thick octavo, pp1171. As near to perfect as one could hope to achieve, the faultless binding is very fine, & fresh, showing not a blemish - something one seldom gets to see. The superb Salter designed dustwrapper is excellent  - one of the finest examples we have seen in many a moon with just a hint of surface rubbing at the top edge & with excellent cover color depth in the famous rich purple, green, blue, yellow & red hues. The white of the spine & back cover is unblemished. The Classic Rand - amongst all modern firsts, this dustwrapper is probably our favorite for its richness of design. A stunning copy - a hundred times more difficult to find than 99.9 percent of the copies offered today. Perhaps one of the best examples available anywhere at any price. In a beautiful gilt lettered sumptuous TBCL custom leather collector's clamshell case. $4650

 

A Perfect Quartet, Virtually Unheard Of

    Durrell, Lawrence. THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET. JUSTINE, BALTHAZAR, MOUNTOLIVE & CLEA. London: Faber and Faber, 1957-1969. Four exquisite First Edition volumes. 8vo., first Issue of Justine. All volumes in extraordinary fine condition in 'fine' or better dustwrappers. Durrel's Highspot & one of the Cornerstone titles of the 20th century & highly sought after. The four volumes of the Quartet are rarely found in fine condition especially as a set. Fine copies of Justine & of Balthazar are basically unheard of as are very fine [mint] copies of Mountolive & Clea. In a 1959 Paris Review interview, Durrell described the ideas behind the Quartet in terms of a convergence of Eastern & Western metaphysics, based on Einstein's overturning of the old view of the material universe, & Freud's doing the same for the concept of stable personalities, yielding a new concept of reality. In in his preface to Balthazar, Durrell stated that the four novels are an exploration of relativity & the notions of continuum & subject-object relation, with modern love as the subject. The Quartet offers the same sequence of events through several points of view, allowing individual perspectives to change over time. A premium set of the first magnitude. $11000

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"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"

   Thomas, Dylan. IN COUNTRY SLEEP And Other Poems. Signed. [30636]. New York: New Directions, 1952. "Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light." First Edition and the first book appearance of Dylan Thomas' most often quoted poem, Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, Signed by Dylan Thomas on the front free endpaper, additionally with the ownership signature of American poet, William Everson (Brother Antoninus) to the front free endpaper, 'William Everson's copy'. 8vo. 34 pp. Tipped-in black and white photograph by Marion Morehouse of the Welsh poet to the title page, as issued. Fine in green paper covered boards, rust titles in a fine dustwrapper. An excellent example of an important Thomas title. $6500

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L o v e l y  S T R E E T C A R

   Williams, Tennessee. A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. New York: New Directions, 1947. "Whoever you are - I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." First Edition [First Printing]. An excellent bright example of the Alvin Lustig designed mauve boards, unfaded at the spine & like matching dustwrapper in near fine condition [corners a bit bumped, previous owner's neat name on the front fly, some offsetting from several 1948 clippings for the play which are still present showing various reviews & play photos of Jessica Tandy & Karl Malden, etc., paper clip impression on the first couple of pages]. An extremely nice copy kept safe over the years by an avid Williams collector. Basis for the classic motion picture directed by Elia Kazan & starring Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, Karl Malden & Kim Hunter. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize & considered along with Miller's Death Of A Salesman as one of the two most important plays of the 20th century. [Critics usually add Thornton Wilder's, Our Town, & Eugene O'Neill's, A Long Days Journey Into Night to a very short 'best' list]. Custom TBCL 'sculpted' custom clamshell collector's case in fine condition. $4850

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AUDEN'S COPY - Superb Spender Presentation

   Spender, Stephen. RUINS AND VISIONS. POEMS. Signed. [30640]. London: Faber & Faber, (1942). First Edition Inscribed by Stephen Spender to close friend and the man who had the greatest influence on him W. H. Auden on the half-title page. 'To Wystan with love from Stephen, March 1942'. A bright, fresh copy (some light foxing) in green cloth, gilt titles to the spine in a near fine dustwrapper. In a custom clamshell case in fine condition. Connolly, The Modern Movement, # 91. 8vo. 84 pp. A cornerstone title rarely found Inscribed and an important Association Copy. $9500

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Signed De Kooning

   [Willem De Kooning]. Gaugh, Harry F. WILLEM DE KOONING. Signed. [30630] New York: Abbeville Press, (1983). First Edition Signed by Willem De Kooning with his characteristic 'De Kooning' on the half-title page. A bright, fresh copy concentrating on his early work, black and white abstractions, the women, the landscapes, sculpture and late paintings, in black cloth, white titles to the spine in a near fine pictorial dustwrapper (light use at the spine), with the artist's influential Woman V (1952-53) on the front cover. Small 4to. 136 pp. Stunning colour and black and white plates and illustrations throughout. With Chronology, Exhibitions, Public Collections, a Selected Bibliography and, 'The Artist's Statements', with excerpts from, What Abstract Art Means To Me, The Renaissance And Order, Content Is A Glimpse and an Interview with Harold Rosenberg. A befitting homage to the work of the Dutch American master of Abstract Expressionism. A volume in the Modern Masters Series. $2375

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Doris Lessing - Golden Rarity

   Lessing, Doris. THE GOLDEN NOTEBOOK. Signed. [30646] London: Michael Joseph, 1962. Original Wraps. First Edition, Uncorrected Proof Copy of Doris Lessing's masterpiece and feminist classic, termed a 'trumpet for women's liberation', Signed by her in on the front free endpaper. 8vo. 568 pp. A very good or better copy showing modest use in beige stiff card wrappers, printed in black. The Lessing High Spot, regarded as her finest work and an important Burgess 99 Novel. Very Uncommon. $7850

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First Trade Edition In Dustwrapper

    Woolf, Virginia. ORLANDO. The Hogarth Press, London, 1928. True First Trade Edition in the publisher's very uncommon gilt-lettered, brownish-orange cloth covered boards [variant or possibly advance copies were bound thus - the more common copies were bound in vibrant orange cloth]. 8vo., 299pp. Eight Illustrations. A very near fine or better copy in a beautiful example the very scarce original dustwrapper; a couple of tiny closed tears neatly sealed & a small amount of careful, professionally rendered archival restoration primarily at the extremities of the spine & folds. A superior lovely example seldom seen as such these days. Woolf's amazing fictitious history of four centuries of transgender "biography" about a mythical being named Orlando who starts life as an Elizabethan nobleman who transforms into a woman poet of vast social insight. Written for & inspired by, Vita Sackville-West, to whom the book is dedicated & who appears as Orlando at various life-stages in several of the book's photographs. Considering Woolf's time, an extraordinarily courageous achievement in English letters & fantastic literature. Described as the longest love-letter ever written by Sackville's son, Sir Nigel Nicolson. Kirkpatrick A1 1a. Woolmer 185. Basis for the splendid Sally Potter 1993 film starring Tilda Swinton, Billy Zane et al. While copies of the Orlando limited edition seem plentiful, nice trade edition copies in dustwrapper are hard to find in condition. Almost on a par with To The Lighthouse & Mrs. Dalloway for difficulty. There are simply few in collectible condition about. In a custom TBCL black clamshell case with the "Wolf" Hogarth Press wolf colophon raised on the upper cover in very fine condition. $3475

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Inscribed Look Homeward Angel

   Wolfe, Thomas. LOOK HOMEWARD ANGEL. New York: Charles Scribner's Son's, 1929. A rare Inscribed Presentation Copy of the Author's uncommon First Book. First edition. First Issue. Publisher's dark blue cloth over boards. "For . / Sincerely / Thomas Wolfe / Denver / Aug. 14 / 1935" in black fountain pen on the front free endpaper. 8vo., 626pp. Gilt lettering on front panel & spine. A very good example showing moderate wear at the head & tail of the spine but with tight text bock, clean endpapers & without further blemish. [p. 308 line 26: lower case "g" in Greek , P.506 line 23: missing "t" in stationed.] Wolfe's masterpiece & most sought after title. He died just 5 years after publication & copies of his first book are hard to find now & inscribed copies are seldom offered. Custom TBCL clamshell case in fine condition. Merle Johnson p. 549. / [Johnston A2.1.a]. A wonderful find. A fine facsimile dustwrapper supplied for display. Signed by Author. $6750 

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Signed Beautiful And Damned In Original Dustwrapper

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. THE BEAUTIFUL AND DAMNED. New York: A. L. Burt, 1922. Early Reprint.. With "Reprinted March, April 1922" stated. Nicely signed by the author in black fountain pen on the dedication page: "Sincerely / F. Scott Fitzgerald". Not the 1st edition to be sure but an early edition using the Scribner's sheets, with an undated A. L. Burt title page [possibly a cancel]. Bruccoli A.8.1.e., the 5th printing, describes a dated 1924 title page, making no mention of an undated TP but for all intents & purposes, this copy appears to be the same. 8vo., 449pp., dark green cloth, lettered in gilt; A near fine or better sharp copy, stamped in gilt on the spine & upper cover. In a flawed but lovely bright original dustwrapper lacking about 3" of the bottom spine panel. Quite nice. Rare signed. The Beautiful and Damned brought Fitzgerald accolades from those whose opinions he valued. Mencken congratulated him for staking out new ground. Fitzgerald was aiming high; he only wanted to be the best novelist of his generation* (Turnbull, 130-3 1). Fitzgerald wrote to Zelda in 1930, $7750

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*I wish The Beautiful and Damned had been a maturely written book because it was all true. We ruined ourselves. I have never honestly thought that we ruined each other* (Bruccoli, 180).

 

 

Buber's ICH UND DU In Original Dustwrapper

   Buber, Martin. ICH UND DU. Leipzig. Insel-Verlag, 1923. 8vo. 137, (3) pp. True First Edition. Publisher's brownish cardboard binding lettered black & red the upper cover & lettered black on the spine. [Extra date neatly penned on title page "18.XII 1932" & "Kh"]. A near fine example in the exceedingly rare original plain dustwrapper printed black on the spine in very good condition with several modest chips. Slight darkening at the top edge of the upper cover, head & heel mildly bumped otherwise a very collectible copy of this Buber masterwork one of the most important books of the last century. Martin Buber, [1878-1965], Austrian-born Jewish Philosopher, Story Teller, Theologian - best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of religious existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It relationship. Ich und Du, is today considered a landmark of twentieth-century intellectual history. Buber was strongly moved by the writings of Frederich Nietzsche and Ich und Du united the seminal existentialists themes of modern German thought with the traditional Judeo-Christian thinking. In Ich und Du, Buber presents the view of a world in which human beings can enter into relationships using their innermost complete self to form true partnerships beyond the notion and incorrect view that the universe is merely the object of our senses and experiences. "Buber argues for an ethic that does not use other people (or books, or trees, or God), and does not consider them objects of one's own personal experience. Instead, Buber writes, we must learn to consider everything around us as "You" speaking to "me," and requiring a response. Buber goes on to demonstrate how these interhuman meetings are a reflection of the human meeting with God. For Buber, the essence of biblical religion consists in the fact that -- regardless of the infinite abyss between them -- a dialogue between man and God is possible. Ecumenical in its appeal, Ich und Du nevertheless reflects the profound Talmudic tradition from which it has emerged". Excellent copy indeed. $3550

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Lovely Signed Catcher 

   Salinger, J.D. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE. Signed. Boston: Little Brown, 1952. A fine SIGNED copy of the March, 1952 reprint of the first edition. [The first issue was July, 1951]. 8vo., 277pp., black cloth, gilt. Salinger's remarkable first book, neatly signed in black fountain pen at the top of the title page. An excellent example of Salinger's elusive signature - The binding is fine; the dustwrapper very good or better with the $3.00 price present & nine reviews on the back panel replacing Salinger's photo after the first few early printings at his insistence. Custom clamshell case in very fine condition. The probable High Spot in Modern American Lit collecting, "The Catcher In The Rye is undoubtedly a 20th-century classic. It struck a popular note, particularly with young readers, who strongly identified with Holden Caulfield and his yearning for lost innocence... Salinger's novel was, and continues to be, a phenomenal success" (Parker, 300). "This novel is a key-work of the nineteen-fifties in that the theme of youthful rebellion is first adumbrated in it, though the hero, Holden Caulfield, is more a gentle voice of protest, unprevailing in the noise, than a militant world-changer. The Catcher in the Rye was a symptom of a need, after a ghastly war and during a ghastly pseudo-peace, for the young to raise a voice of protest against the failures of the adult world. The young used many voices-anger, contempt, self-pity-but the quietest, that of a decent perplexed American adolescent, proved the most telling" (Anthony Burgess, 99 Novels , 53-4). $55000

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Conrad's YOUTH / HEART OF DARKNESS Excellent 1st

"But his soul was mad. Being alone in the wilderness, it had looked within itself and, by heavens I tell you, it had gone mad."

"He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision - he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath -"The horror! The horror!" - [Kurtz's dying words] - Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness. 
Conrad, Joseph. YOUTH. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1902. Youth: A Narrative and Two Other Stories. First Edition, First Issue. 8vo., pp. [1-8] [1-3] 4-375 [376: blank] + the earliest 32-page publisher's catalogue dated October 1902 inserted at rear. Original publisher's turquoise cloth stamped in black on the upper cover & spine, with gilt titles to the spine. A lovely copy in near fine condition, a touch of spotting to the fore-edge, contents clean & free of blemish, gilt titles bright. Contains the first book form appearance of Conrad's masterpiece, HEART OF DARKNESS -  "one of the most powerful short novels in the English language" [Farrow, 14]. "A vast body of critical commentary has mined the dense richness and consciously paradoxical quality of this seminal modernist work, with its modern version of a Dantean journey into the Inferno, its Faustian figure of Kurtz provoking ambivalently fascinated horror The influence of Heart of Darkness can be traced in writers as diverse as T. S. Eliot, Andre Gide, H. G. Wells, [Chinua] Achebe, William Golding, Graham Greene, V. S. Naipaul, and George Steiner, while Francis Coppola's film Apocalypse Now taps some of its rich imaginative possibilities by transposing it to the Vietnam War" [Stringer, 292] - "Conrad's masterpiece. a novella that has inspired more critical commentary than any modern horror tale, with the possible exception of James's 'The Turn of the Screw.'" - Sullivan (ed.), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, pp. 91-2. Wise 10. Cagle A7. An excellent example. The most famous adaptation of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 movie Apocalypse Now, which transposes the context of the narrative from the Congo into Vietnam and Cambodia during the Vietnam War.[8] The production documentary of the film was titled, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse.  Custom dark blue embossed slipcase in fine condition. $5500
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LEAVES OF GRASS - Bucke / Greenshields Copy 

   Whitman, Walt. LEAVES OF GRASS with Sands at Seventy & a Backward Glance o'er Travel'd Roads. Camden, New Jersey, [May 31st,] 1889. Privately Printed. First edition thus. 8vo., 382pp + 20pp. Late 20th-century limp black morocco, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. A very good copy showing some use with some modest restoration to the spine crown & corners. Custom clamshell case. One of only 300 copies of Leaves of Grass printed in commemoration of Whitman's 70th birthday, boldly signed by Whitman on the title page. With six portraits of the author, including the famous original mounted frontispiece photograph with a butterfly resting on his finger. This copy is further enhanced by its association with Whitman's great friend & his literary executor, Richard Maurice Bucke, who has inscribed & signed the front fly-leaf: "J. N. Greenshields from his friend R. M. Bucke [three line quotation from "I Sing The Body Electric", these lines underscored in the text] Asylum, London, Ont. 6 Nov. '95." Greenshields was a prominent Montreal lawyer & important financier. Bucke was born in England & raised in Canada, studied medicine & served as superintendent of the London, Ontario Asylum for the insane from 1877 until his death in 1902. He wrote two enthusiastic studies of Whitman; Walt Whitman: A Contemporaneous Study, [1883] [was the first biography of Whitman ever written] & Walt Whitman: Man and Poet, [1897]. Bucke helped edit Whitman's Complete Writings, [1902] & In Re Walt Whitman, [1893]. Bucke's Cosmic Consciousness, [1901] reflects much of Whitman's mysticism. 'Whitman's influence over Bucke, a prematurely modern man smothered by the starched collars & repressed sexuality of the period, was profound. Whitman's fearless, infectious enthusiasm, prodigious lust for life & distain of convention consumes Bucke & frees him from his social bondage'. An important & notable Association Copy.  "When the superintendent of the Canadian insane asylum, Dr. Maurice Bucke, meets poet Walt Whitman, his life and that of his wife and patients is radically changed. Like Dr. Bucke, Whitman has avant-garde ideas on the subject of mental illness. "Dreamers" is based on true events." - From a review of the 1990 NFB film Beautiful Dreamers, staring Rip Torn as Whitman & Colm Feore as Bucke. $17750

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PATERSON - Inscribed Masterpiece 

   Williams, William Carlos. PATERSON. Signed. New York: New Directions, [1946, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1958]. First Editions All. This set unique of this landmark work as the first volume is nicely inscribed in an early hand on the front free endpaper: "Bob MacGuffie - Hopefully / William Carlos Williams". Five Octavo Volumes; mostly quite fine in like dustwrappers showing only the slightest use [Volume 4, very good, with a narrow line of damping to the wrapper spine]. All first editions in clear plastic outer wrappers which may not have been originally supplied by the publisher but are certainly contemporary. The first four books limited to only 1000 copies, the fifth to 3000. Williams' epic masterpiece. [Book III - Winner of the first ever National Book Award for Poetry - 1950]. Housed in a fine gilt-lettered custom ¼ morocco over marbled paper clamshell case. Connolly 100 - The Modern Movement. $5500

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Crevecoeur JOURNEY INTO NORTHERN PENNSYLVANIA
AND THE STATE OF NEW YORK

Crevecoeur, Michel Guillaume Jean de. .JOURNEY INTO NORTHERN PENNSYLVANIA AND THE STATE OF   NEW YORK. Ann Arbor, MI: University of  Michigan   Press, 1964. Translated by Clarissa Spencer Bostelmann. Her Copy. First Edition. Tall 8vo., 619pp. An excellent copy in dustwrapper. The first complete English translation of Crevecoeur's monumental oeuvre. CSB's presentation, inscribed to her mother on the ffe: "For my Mother, / peerless inspiration / Devotedly / Clarissa / April 1964". Mrs. C. S. Bostelmann small blue address sticker at the top of the ffe with 6 lines of relevant manuscript notes at the bottom. "More than a book of travel , Journey...expresses Crevecoeur's belief in the corruption of  Old World civilization and his prophecy that the American Revolution would bring harmony, abundance, and democracy. This is a book rich in early American lore." Custom TBCL Slipcase. With:

   Crevecoeur, Michel-Guillaume St. Jean de. VOYAGE DANS LA HAUTE PENSYLVANIE ET DANS L'ETAT DE NEW YORK PAR UN MEMBRE ADOPTIF DE LA NATION   ONEIDA   TRADUIT ET PUBLIE PAR L'AUTEUR DES LETTRES D'UN CULTIVATEUR AMERICAN. Paris: De L'Imprimerie de Crapelet, Chez Maradan, 1801. First Edition. Three Octavo Volumes: [xxxii], 1-427; [xiv], 434; [xii], 409, [1], pp., eleven finely engraved plates, both views and maps of which 7 are folding. A very good lightly rubbed set in solid antiquarian condition; with the text blocks clean & fresh & free of blemish. The translator, Clarissa Spencer Bostelmann's set with strong original provenance; the bookplate of Samuel W. Pennypacker [1843 - 1916 / Governor of Pennsylvania from 1903 to 1907, Americanist, President of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania] on the front pastedown of each volume.  These volumes are finely printed and illustrated. Of special note are: the portrait of Washington engraved from a cameo executed by Madame Brehan in NY (1789); the powerful pictures of an Onondaga sachem and Koohassen ,an Oneida warrior; and the fine maps & plans, including a large folding map of the Southern United States, engraved by Tardieu. "Original work of this author, presented under the guise of a translation." - Howes Only his initials appear at the end of the dedication to George Washington. "This work is distinguished by its valuable details on the aboriginal tribes, and their gradual disappearance. No other writer has so well described the Indian great councils, or assemblies, where they deliberate on their public interests.". Howes C884; Sabin 17501; Brunet II, 424  $9350

  Crevecoeur [1731-1813] traveled widely in America after the French & Indian War, and became a naturalized citizen in 1765. In the Revolution he chose the Loyalist side, and during the War he resided in France. During this separation from his adopted home he wrote: LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN FARMER. "This volume was more widely read in England & Europe and had a greater influence in attracting its readers to America than any other book of the period" - Vail 674. When he returned to America in 1783 he found that his home had been burnt by Indians, and that his wife and children were gone. This present work was written during the difficult years of the French Revolution. It was intended to be merely a fourth volume of the "Letters From an American Farmer", but Crevecoeur eventually created an entirely new work. In its pages one discovers the final evolution of his ideas, intimate observations, and dreams about America. It is filled with details on the gradual disappearance of the aboriginal tribes and the great Indian Councils. He also had intimate knowledge of the characters of the founding fathers. Crevecoeur was, for many years, the French Consul in New York and enjoyed the friendship of Washington, Franklin, and other leaders. The author spent nearly 25 years in America, saw Washington, in 1774, come to the first Congress fresh from his farm, witnessed his extraordinary career, and in 1797, saw him return to private life as an agriculturalist.   

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A COLLECTION Of RELATIVITY 'Sans Pareil'

Rare Signed Relativity - First US Edition In Original Dustwrapper  

   Einstein, Albert. RELATIVITY. SIGNED. The Special and General Theory. Translated by Robert W. Lawson. New York, Henry Holt and Company 1920. FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. 8vo., xiii + 168 pp. A very good or better copy; gilt stamped upper cover, the gilt spine lettering a bit faded. Signed By Einstein in full: "Albert Einstein", in black fountain pen on the half title In the rare original first edition dustwrapper - a very good or better example, neatly restored at the extremities. Custom gilt-lettered, deep blue cloth clamshell case. [Differs from the UK edition only in page arrangement - Weil] $78500

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Non Plus Ultra -

 The Most Wanted Mystery Of The Century - An Extraordinary Example

B.i.g  B.i.r.d  

  Hammett, Dashiel. THE MALTESE FALCON. New York: 1930. First Edition. First State. A Simply Spectacular Copy In Dustwrapper.  First Edition, First Printing. 8vo., 268pp. Publisher's original gray cloth with the famous Falcon Motif to upper board in blue with titles & geometric design to spine in black & blue, top edge stained blue. In the original pictorial first issue dustwrapper. A near fine or better copy; minor offsetting to the endpapers only from the simply stunning dustwrapper's flaps. An exceptional example, completely unrestored; the colours sharp & bright, the spine absolutely unfaded, three inconsequential short closed tears, price-clipped, the bottom of the front flap, neatly clipped - the original owner having [mistakenly] removed a thrift shop ink price early on. [Some find]. The most famous Cornerstone of all modern works of Mystery & Detection. Originally brought to the screen in 1931 as: "Dangerous Female", directed by Roy Del Ruth with Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade - In 1936, re-titled "Satan Met a Lady" with Bette Davis & re-shot in 1940, in the Big Bird Hardboiled Classic which was directed by John Huston & starred Peter Lorre, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet & Humphrey Bogart. A H-Q Haycraft Queen Cornerstone. Custom cut stiff clear Mylar outer protective jacket. Half yellow chevre custom ribbon tied clamshell case - lettering stamped in black at the spine & decorated with the distinctive illustration of the falcon hand rendered. One of the finest copies of this treasure to come along in years. $136000

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BORGES / Major Presentation of EL ALEPH

  Borges, Jorge Luis. [Vicente Barbieri]. EL ALEPH Buenos Aires : 1949. Inscribed by Borges to his close friend, one of the most important Argentine poets, Vicente Barbieri: " Para el colega Vicente Barbieri con la amistad de / Jorge Luis Borges" - [For the colleague Vicente Barbieri with the friendship of / Jorge Luis Borges]. In Borges' own words: "Ficciones y El Aleph (1949 y 1952) son, según creo, mis libros más importantes". (Autobiografía pp.111-112). The Borgesian quest for the Verb, the Word, which is all words, for the absolute Book, which is all books, takes flesh in El Aleph. $18800

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