LOLITA 1ST EDITION FOURTH PRINTING

Nabokov, Vladimir. Lolita. Paris: The Olympia Press, 1959. first edition. 2 volumes, green wraps, Vol. 1 190 pp, Vol. 2 221pp, 4th printing Sep 1959, rear cover reads: “2 vols: Francs 2.400 Not to be sold in the U.S.A, U.K. or Philippines” ; light smudge on cover of Vol. 1, bumped lower right corner on Vol. 2  on pp 176–221 only. No. 66 in the Traveller’s Companion Series.  Very Good +. Paperback.This is a fourth printing of a first edition of Lolita and therefore priced accordingly, one of only two currently listed. These fragile volumes appear to be unread and lightly handled.  Lolita as it was originally issued.  (#317) $100.00

Wolfe, Tom. The Right Stuff. New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1979. First printing. ISBN: 9780374250324. 448 pp.gray cloth with silver gilt signature on cover, blue lettering on spine, blue endpapers. SIGNED by Tom Wolfe “To Ruth!” in black ink on white ffep. DJ in mylar cover, price-clipped, slight wear on bottom edge and a closed tear/crease at top of spine and a diagonal crease on front. Fine in very good + dust-jacket. Hardcover. A signed first printing of Wolfe’s rightfully famous book. (#264) $200.00

Irving, John. The Hotel New Hampshire. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1981. First printing. ISBN: 9780525128007. 401pp, gray boards with embossed signature of author, white cloth spine w/silver gilt raised letters. Dj in mylar protective cover. As New in as new dust-jacket. Hardcover. A pristine copy of Irving’s famous novel, made into a movie. (#489) $65.00

Saroyan, William. The Human Comedy. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1943. First edition. 291pp, bound in rust cloth with black line art (boy riding bicycle on front, young boy on spine), mylar cover dj has no price on it, color illustration of boy waving to man on train, Buy Bonds ad on back has 1/2″ missing area of print but no paper missing, frayed top and bottom of spine on dj, book has vintage 1943 inscription on ffep “to my wonderful wife,” . Fine in good dust-jacket. Hardcover. Saroyan’s most famous book, a sentimental but highly readable book about a family in wartime living in the San Joaquin valley. Warm story and beautifully illustrated by Don Freeman. (#173) $30.00

Barth, John. Floating Opera and the End of the Road. New York: Anchor Books, 1988. First edition thus. ISBN: 9780385240895. 440pp, rubbing along spine edge. SIGNED by John Barth on half-title page. Very Good +. Paperback. Barth’s first two novels are justly famous. Book was purchased from Explore Books in Aspen in the 1990s already signed, Barth ’s signature purposely trails onto text block. Signed Barth is rare. (#208) 38.00

Barth, John. Giles Goat Boy: The Revised New Syllabus. Garden City: Doubleday, 1966. Book Club. 710pp, dk blue cloth, slight edge wear on spine, owners sig on ffep,clean unmarked text block, tight binding. dj has tape repair on upper corner, lower corner, closed tear, some edge fraying but complete, in mylar dj. Fine in good dust-jacket. Barth’s first commercially successful book. (#214) $6.00

Bellow, Saul. The Adventures of Augie March. New York: The Viking Press, 1953. First edition. 607pp, no dj, cream cloth cover with green author name on cover, green lettering on spine, green pastedown, copyright line: First published by The Viking Press in September 1953. Very light wear to top and bottom of spine; corners not bumped. Fine. Hardcover. A very clean first edition of this classic book by Bellow (#515)   $31.00

Arnold, Elliott. Everybody Slept Here: Life and Love in Wartime Washington. New York: Signet, 1949. First edition thus. 191pp, pictorial wraps, light sunning on spine. Near Fine. Paperback. Lightly risque book about political, military and sexual hi jinks in WW2 Washington, including “Kitty, who entertained The Higher Brass and played a role as influential as it was horizontal.” Beautiful pulp fiction cover. (#509) $10.00

Tolstoy, Leo. War And Peace. New York: New Amer Library Classics, 1968. Reprint. ISBN: 9780451523266. 1456pp, pictorial wraps, light shelf wear to cover, book appears to be unread. Near Fine. Paperback. This is considered by some to be the greatest novel every written, taking place in the years leading up to Napoleon’s disastrous Russian invasion. Translated by Ann Dunnigan. Introduction by John Bailey. Great reading for long bus drives or waiting in the post office line. (#472)  $4.25

Poe, Edgar Allan. The Complete Poems and Stories of Edgar Allan Poe With Selections From His Critical Writings. Two Volumes. New York: Borzoi, 1982. Book of the Month Club. 1092pp total (2 volumes). Blue cloth with gilt lettring on cover and spine. Illustrations by E. McKnight Kauffer. Slipcase has illustration on front, faintest waterstain on one side, a few dark markings on back. Fine in very good + dust-jacket. These two volumes contain all of Poe’s sixty-eight tales and forty-seven poems, 13 of his most important critical essays, and the long Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. The ultimate Poe set. (#493) $30.00

Maupassant, Guy de. The Complete Short Stories of Guy de Maupassant: Ten Volumes in One. New York: Collier and Son, 1903. First edition thus. 1003pp, The boards are pebbled soft red cloth with bright gilt lettering on front and spine. Gilt top edge of text block. Contains over a hundred short stories. Text is clean and tight. An overall excellent copy. Includes satin book marker ribbon. Fine+. Hardcover. A very clean and almost-new copy, great short stories, in remarkably new condition for a book published 107 years ago. (#225) $36.00

Maupassant, Guy de. The Odd Number: Thirteen Tales by Guy de Maupassant. New York: Harper Brothers, 1905. First edition. 226ppp, decorative hard cover with silver and gold stamped letters and patterns on front and spine, 1″ of lower corner of ffep clipped. Slight edge wear and bumping. Uniform Edition, engraving of author with tissue cover, trans. by Jonathan Sturge,  introduction by Henry James. Very Good. Hardcover. (#226) $9.00

Maupassant, Guy de. Selected Short Stories. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1971. Later printing. 368pp, translated by Roger Colet, cover worn on corners, book is tight, clean, unmarked. Good. Paperback. Thirty stories by this master of the genre, includes “Ball of Fat,” his famous story of a French prostitute on a carriage ride. (#227) $3.50

Henry, O. Complete Works O. Henry Authorized Edition 12 Volume Set  [Options - Cabbages & Kings - Four Million - Gentle Grafter - Heart of the West - Sixes & Sevens - Rolling Stones -Whirligigs- Roads of Destiny - Voice of the City - Trimmed Lamp - Strictly Business]. New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1923. Authorized Uniform Edition. Blue pebbled cloth with gold lettering and anchor colophon on spine. Each volume has glossy illustration facing title page. Foxing on endpapers and wear on spine top and bottom to some volumes. Fine. Hardcover. O. Henry was a gifted short story writer whose stories always had a “snapper” at the end that often instantly turned the plot upside down. His vocabulary was of the era and extensive; his writing style is still immensely appealing today. This complete collection is a gorgeous way to experience his brilliant writing and a window into American culture in city and country. Great reading. (#423) $60.00

Wilde, Oscar. The Works of Oscar Wilde Including The Poems, Novels, Plays, Essays, Fairy Tales and Dialogues–Six Volumes in One. New York: Black’s Reader’s Service, 1927. Reprint. 620pp, red cloth with gilt lettering on cover and spine. No dj. Bookplate on inside cover. Light foxing to endpapers. Text is in double columns. Near Fine. Hardcover. Oscar Wilde complete. The king of the bon mot, includes the Picture of Dorian Gray, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, and all his other writings. (#388) $9.50

Orwell, George. Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1950. Seventh printing. 200pp, black boards with silver lettering on spine. Dj w/protective jacket, not price clipped, rubbed areas and shelf wear on back, otherwise fine, two dogeared pages. Near Fine in near fine dust-jacket. Hardcover. Politically-charged essays from Orwell, released posthumously. Includes two devastating eye-witness accounts, “A Hanging” and “How the Poor Die.” (#470) $18.50

Hardy, Thomas. Tess of the D’Urbervilles A Pure Woman faithfully presented by Thomas Hardy. New York: Harper And Brothers, 1920. Later printing. 508pp +map, gray cloth with gold lettering on spine. Corner bumped, slight fraying at spine ends. book is tight, text block clean and unmarked. Includes a photo of the Blackmoor Vale. Very Good. Hardcover. Beautiful Uniform Edition edition of this famous work, set in Hardy’s fictitious Wessex, includes a beautiful map. The type face is in larger than usual size and makes for pleasurable reading of this classic. (#236)$9.00

Hardy, Thomas. Tess of the D’Urbervilles. New York: Heritage Press, 1956. Limited ed. 447pp, illustrated cover with gilt lettering on spine, wood engravings by Agnes Miller Parker, dappled text blockslight edgewear on spine, no slipcase, very clean and tight. Near Fine. Hardcover. A beautiful copy of this classic tale, with intro by Robert Cantwell. Beautiful illustrations. (#237) $10.00

Susan, Jacqueline. Valley of the Dolls. New York: Random House, 1966. Book Club. 407pp, black cloth with pill design on front, white letters on spine, DJ has mylar cover, light foxing on upper edge, otherwise fine. As New in near fine dust-jacket. Hardcover. A vintage Book Club edition of this trashy novel. Read it in the original state for full effect. A very clean, near new copy. (#242) $11.50

Chandler, Raymond. Red Wind: A Collection of Short Stories World Publishing Co. New York: Tower Books, 1946. First printing. 253pp, black cloth with red graphic design on cover and spine, no Dj, right bottom corner bumped. First Printing march 1946. Wartime paper is uniformly yellowing. Near Fine. Hardcover. A true first edition Chandler as a short story collection. Includes Red Wind, Blackmailers Don’t Shoot, I’ll Be Waiting, Goldfish, and Guns at Cyrano’s. Classic early Chandler in a vintage edition (#469)  $20.00

Chandler, Raymond. Pick-Up on Noon Street. New York: Pocket Books, 1952. First edition thus. 196pp, 1st printing thus, January 1952. pictorial wraps, top and right edge of spine worn. Very Good. Paperback. Four classic Chandler short stories in a vintage paperback. Pick-Up on Noon Street, Smart-Aleck Kill, Guns at Cyrano’s, and Nevada Gas. (#474)   $12.00

Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Later Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Final Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. New York: The Heritage Press, 1950, 1952. Limited ed. 1770pp total . Three-volume set, slip cover not included. Black gilt stamped cloth spine and decorated paper over boards with a raised oval portrait of Sherlock Holmes on the front covers, all edges speckled, illustrated with a selective collation of the original illustrations by Frederick Dorr Steele, Sidney Paget, and others; with a new introduction by Christopher Morley and an epilogue by Edgar W. Smith. Includes two Heritage Club “Sandglass” pamphlets describing two of the books. Fine. Hardcover. Owners name and address stamp on each inside cover, bookplate of subsequent owner on one book inside cover. A definitive collection of Sherlock Holmes stories, with critical comment and beautiful illustrations. (#505) $40.00

Brown, Dan. The Da Vinci Code. Doubleday, 2003. First printing. ISBN: 9780385504201. 464 pp.black cloth/black paper cover with gilt lettering on spine, pictorial embossed dj w/mylar cover. first printing, full number line, April 2003 stated on copyright page, in as-new condition, unread. First state with skitoma misspelling on page 243. As New in as new dust-jacket. Hardcover. This is the first printing of The Da Vinci Code, a book that has sold 80 million copies and been translated into 44 languages. A flawless copy. (#243) $44.00

Rushdie, Salman. The Ground Beneath Her Feet. New York: Henry Holt & Co, 1999. Second printing. ISBN: 9780805053081. 575 pp. black quartercloth with black paper boards, gold lettering on spine. SIGNED by author in black marker on half-title page. DJ has mylar cover, price intact, tiny closed tear on top spine. Fine in near fine dust-jacket. Hardcover. Rushdie re-imagines Orpheus, the Muse of Music, as a rock star. The book is his homage to rock n’ roll, a major influence on his writing. “A gripping story that encapsulates the history, dreams, and passions of the last half century as no other novel has done. Rushdie tells the story of Vina Apsara, a pop star, and Ormus Cama, a songwriter and musician, who captivate and change the world through their music and their romance. Beginning in Bombay in the Fifties, moving to London in the Sixties, and New York for the last quarter century, the novel pulsates with a half-century of music and celebrates the power of rock ‘n roll” (Publisher’s blurb). The novel is now seen as a precursor of the “global novel”, for lack of a better term, the new paradigm of the 21st-century, replacing the now quaintly old-fashioned “Great American Novel.” (#267) $24.00

Rushdie, Salman. The Moor’s Last Sigh. Random House Inc, 1996. First printing. ISBN: 9780679420491. 435 pp. black quarter-cloth with black paper, stamped gilt initials of author on cover, gold letters on spine. As New in as new dust-jacket. Hardcover. Pristine first printing of another great novel from Salman Rushdie (#255) $14.25

Seth, Vikram. A Suitable Boy. Harper Collins, 1993. First printing. ISBN: 9780060170127. 1349 pp. Black boards with gilt lettering. DJ in mylar cover. Very clean as new book and dj. As New in as new dust-jacket. Hardcover. The author’s second novel, a massive volume [considered the longest contemporary novel written to date] critically acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic and a bestseller in England. Set in India in the early 1950’s, it takes us into the richly imagined world of four large families- the Mehras, the Kapoors, the Chatterjis, and the Khans. A love story set in in early 50’s India, about India and about a mother trying to find a suitable boy for her daughter. (#268)   $23.00

Snow, C.P. The Sleep of Reason. New York: Charles Scribner, 1968. First printing. 483pp, red cloth with gilt ornament and lettering on spine. Olive endpapers. Slightest wear on bottom left of spine. Dj has mylar cover, slight wear on top/bottom spine, price intact, light soiling in a few places on cover. Fine in near fine dust-jacket. The tenth novel in his “Strangers and Brothers” novel sequence. (#269) $11.00

Lessing, Doris. Stories. New York: Random House Inc, 1978. First edition. ISBN: 9780394500096. 626pp, Black cloth with author initials blindstamped on cover, gilt lettering on spine. Very slight wear on dj lower right spine, small closed tear on top edge of back. Fine in fine dust-jacket. Hardcover. 35 short stories by the author of “The Golden Notebook.” Lessing is the oldest author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, which she received in 2007. (#503) $6.00

Lennon, John. In His Own Write & A Spaniard In The Works. Signet, 1980. Later printing. 175pp, cover has creases, wear on spine, bumped corners but book is tight, clean and unmarked. Good. Paperback. Both books by Lennon in one edition. Classic humor. (#270)  $6.00

——–John Gardner————————————————————————————-

Gardner, John. Mickelsson’s Ghost. New York: Knopf, 1982. First edition. ISBN: 0394504682. 590pp, white cloth with silver-stamped lettering on cover and spine.pastedown has photo by Joel Gardner. Dj in mylar cover, slight wrinkling at top of spine. Fine in fine dust-jacket. Hardcover. “…John Gardner has created an entire world, that of Peter J. Mickelsson, professor of philosophy, a brilliant man, once fanatically orderly, devoted to precision (despite his love of Nietzsche), distrustful of passion, but now, since the breakup of his marriage, a man who has lost control of both his life and himself: drinking too much gin, eating Di-gels like candy, unable to meet even the simplest, most ordinary demands of life and work, frightened by the knowledge that he is slipping toward violence and madness. Indulging an urgent impulse to escape, Mickelsson buys a run-down famr at the edge of a small town in the Pennsylvania mountains, where – alone – he sets about reconstructing the huge old farmhouse and himself.” (#478) $15.00

Gardner, John. October Light. Knopf, 1976. First edition. ISBN: 9780394499123. 433 pp.434pp, brown cloth with embossed tree design on cover, silver lettering on spine. Pastedowns show line drawing of farm. Glue stain on back endpaper. Dj in mylar cover, sunned spine, small piece missing at bottom of cover, price intact. Fine in near fine dust-jacket. Hardcover. Hilarious novel of an old brother and sister living together in a farmhouse. When he shoots the television with a shotgun and chases her upstairs, she remains locked in the room, refusing to leave. Included in the story is a bad pulp-fiction novel she reads that Gardner created…extremely funny book. (#479) $14.00

Gardner, John. Nickel Mountain: A Pastoral Novel. Alfred A . Knopf, 1973. First edition. ISBN: 9780394488837. 313pp, white cloth with embossed graphic on cover, gold lettering on spine. Etchings by Thomas O’Donohue. DJ in mylar cover, price clipped, closed tear at bottom, sunned spine, fraying at top of front. Hardcover. The moving story of two people: a fat, gentle, middle-aged man who runs a rural diner, and the young, plain girl who drifts into his life and remains to become a part of it… (#480) $7.25

Gardner, John. The King’s Indian: Stories and Tales. New York: Random House Inc, 1974. First edition. ISBN: 9780394492216. 323pp, grey cloth with lavender illustration on cover, silver lettering on spine. right front edge of cover lightened. Pastedown is spar and ailing plan of whaling ship. Previous owners embossed stamp on ffep. Dj in mylar cover, not price-clipped, slight chipping on top and bottom, spine darkened. Very Good + in very good dust-jacket. Hardcover. Nine stories and tales including the title story. (#481) $6.50

Gardner, John. The Sunlight Dialogues. New York: Knopf, 1972. Book Club. 712pp, red sparkle cloth with black line art on cover, gold lettering on spine. Dj has very light fraying at top and bottom of spine. As New in near fine dust-jacket. Hardcover. The novel is set in the 1960s in Batavia, New York. It follows Batavia police chief Fred Clumly in his pursuit of a magician known as the Sunlight Man, a champion of existential freedom and pre-biblical Babylonian philosophy. As Clumly believes in absolute law, order justice and a Judeo-Christian world view, the two butt their ideological heads in a number of dialogues, all recorded on audiocassette by Clumly. Each of these two characters attempts to exert power over the other — Clumly with the law behind him and the Sunlight Man with his magic and violence — until they wear down not only each other, but many of the other characters with whom they come into contact. A myriad of side-stories provides background for the plot. (#482)  $7.50

Gardner, John. Freddy’s Book. New York: Random House Inc, 1980. First edition. ISBN: 9780394509204. 246pp, wheat cloth with gold JG monogram on front, gold lettering on spine. Dj in mylar cover, price-clipped, coffee stain on front, light fraying at top and bottom of spine. Fine in very good dust-jacket. Hardcover. (#483) $8.00

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Lawrence, D. H. Lady Chatterley’s Lover. New York: Modern Library, 2001. Later printing. ISBN: 0375758003. 362 pp. Pictorial wraps, fine condition. Fine. Paperback. Famous book, considered obscene but allowed into the country after a historic 1959 court ruling. Story of Constance Chatterley who has an affair with the gamekeeper of her husband’s estate. Hot stuff. (#272) $6.95

Paley, Grace. Enormous Changes at the Last Minute . Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1974. ISBN: 9780374148515. 198 pp. green cloth with gilt lettering on spine. Near new condition. DJ has mylar cover, also in near new condition. Fine+ in as new dust-jacket. Book. A pristine, unmarked copy of Paley’s brilliant book of short stories. “This new book, a selection of her work over the past fifteen years, has all the warmth and vigor, the humor and perceptiveness of her earlier book (THE LITTLE DISTURBANCES OF MAN, 1959). It deals in the inimitable Paley manner with people in and out of love, with fathers and daughters, sons and mothers, husbands and wives, and passing strangers. The settings are all over (New York) city: an old people’s home; a playground where mothers gather to look after their children and compare notes on domestic affairs; a run-down apartment in ‘the old neighborhood,’ now all-black; a subway train terrorized by four rambunctious kids. For Grace Paley, the city is an extended village, and the intermeshing of ethnic types – Irish, Italian, Jewish, black – is an essential feature of her cityscape.” (#286) $20.00

Paley, Grace. Later The Same Day. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1985. First printing. 211pp, half black cloth w/gray paper, silver/gold lettering on spine. DJ has mylar cover. Very Fine in as new dust-jacket. Hardcover. A flawless first edition of Paley’s final volume of original stories. Her precise, unsentimental style is highly original . Includes a printed copy of her obituary from the NY Times from 8-24-2007 (#287) $21.00

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. New York: Everyman’s Library Knopf, 2006. ISBN: 9780307264602. 350pp, red cloth with gilt lettering on spine, silk bookribbon, pictorial DJ. As New in as new dust-jacket. Chilling dystopian tale of society overthrown by a theocratic revolution. Atwood’s most famous novel. List price $24.00 (#291) $9.50

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Warner Books, 1982. ISBN: 9780446310789. 281 pp. 47th printing. Fine. Paperback.The famous book by Harper Lee. Reprinted 5000 times in various editions, it’s a beautifully written book that deserves its wide appeal and acclaim. (#316) $3.50

Rhys, Jean. Quartet. Vintage, 1974. First edition. ISBN: 9780394713199. 186pp, pictorial wraps Vintage V-319 Fine. Paperback. First printing of the Vintage paperback. Another great novel from the author of “Wide Sargasso Sea.” Nice edition. Now available for the first time in paperback, “Quartet” “belongs to the new tradition in prose, which shuns elaboration for sharpness and intensity of effect” (“New York Times”). A woman, caught in the stranglehold between her lover and his wife, faces a further dilemma when her own husband is released from prison (#514)  $6.00

Updike, John, editor. The Best American Short Stories of the Century. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. Later printing. ISBN: 9780395843673. 835 pp., 4th printing. A few dogeared pages, otherwise near fine. List price $19.95 Near Fine. Paperback. Great short stories, from each year, from Benjamin Rosenblatt’s “Zelig” (1915) to 1999’s “The Best Girlfriend You Never Had” by Pam Houston (#343) $7.75

Cheever, John. The Stories of John Cheever. New York: Ballantine Books, 1980. First edition thus. 819pp, light spine wear at bottom. Very Good. Paperback. Great stories by one of America’s finest short-story writers, a master story-teller with a great imagination. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize (#378) $4.50