Weekly Highlights

Collected Poems: 1947-1980 [inscribed & signed]
by Ginsberg, Allen

New York: Harper & Row, 1984. xxi, 837p., personal inscription to Tim Drescher dated 3/14/85 at City Lights signed and initialed by Ginsberg with red stamp, very good first edition, first printing stated in black cloth and unclipped dustjacket; minor sun-fading to the spine panel.

Offered by Bolerium Books.

Original photograph of Elvis Costello performing in Stockholm, 1983
Stockholm: Svenska Dagbladet, 1983
By Elvis Costello (subject); Lasse Hedberg (photographer)

Stockholm: Svenska Dagbladet, 1983. Vintage borderless photograph of Elvis Costello performing with The Attractions in Stockholm, Sweden on November 22, 1983. Printed label of Svenska Dagbladet affixed to the verso, along with a date stamp reading 83-11-23.

The show was part of Costello's "Clocking In Across Europe" tour, promoting the release of his 1983 album "Punch the Clock."

9.5 x 7 inches. About Fine.

Offered by Royal Books.

MICKEY MOUSE AND MOTHER GOOSE
by Walt Disney

Racine, Wisconsin: Whitman Publishing Company, 1937. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good binding/Good dust jacket. In the publisher’s pictorial paper-covered boards backed in tan cloth. The boards are bright and show little wear. The dustjacket is present and has quite a bit of shelfwear, especially to the extremities of the spine. The textblock was loose and has been consolidated, and the front hinge has been quite discreetly reglued. The textblock has darkened a bit, with some very scattered foxing. Illustrated in black and white and in color. There are no marks in the book. Overall a presentable copy with the dustjacket. Mylar has been cut to protect the binding. Very Good binding / Good dust jacket.

Offered by Black Swan Books.

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION: A HISTORY. IN THREE VOLUMES.
by Carlyle, Thomas

London: James Fraser,, 1837.. First Edition, in Original Condition The first edition of Carlyle's classic study of the French Revolution, complete with all half titles and the integral advertisement leaf in the second volume, in its original, contemporary binding, and with all edges untrimmed. Carlyle arranged his work in three parts, the first subtitled "The Bastille," the second part "The Constitution," and the final part "The Guillotine." "Of the three great political upheavals which have altered the face of the earth - the American, French and Russian Revolutions - only the French has stimulated literary masterpieces which, in turn, have made their impact, direct and indirect, upon millions of readers who would have, and have, left unread the productions of dispassionate scholarship. They are Carlyle's book and the 'History of the French Revolution' by Michelet. Carlyle wrote his French Revolution as a secular 'tract for the times' and as a warning for his compatriots of the frightful consequences of materialism, utilitarianism and democracy. Scottish puritanism and German romanticism were his lodestars; 'History is the essence of innumerable biographies' was his historical creed. The result is not a work of scholarship but a prose epic, teeming with colorful scenes of dramatic events and imaginative portraits of the leading revolutionaries. The book at once captured the English-speaking world, and has, outside France, moulded popular conceptions of the French Revolution down to the present day" - PRINTING AND THE MIND OF MAN. Copies of Carlyle's work rarely appear in original condition, as here. Three volumes. vii,404; vii,422,[2]; vii,448pp. Uniform half brown patterned cloth and drab paper-covered boards, printed paper labels. Edges and corners rubbed, front joint of second and third volumes partially split, labels worn and darkened. Bindings somewhat shaken, with all hinges cracked but cords holding strong; occasional gatherings standing proud. Bookplate on each front pastedown, minor scattered foxing to first few and last few leaves of each volume. Withal, a very good set in contemporary bindings. Untrimmed. In a red half morocco clamshell case, spine gilt.

Offered by William Reese Company.

The Dead Have No Friends
by Donavan, John (pseud. for Nigel Morland)

London: Home and Van Thal. Near Fine in Very Good- dj. 1952. First Edition. Hardcover. [slight bumping to upper tips, faint soiling to top edge of text block, spine just a bit turned; the jacket has tiny bits of paper loss at most corners and a bit more at the top of the spine, and is internally reinforced with clear tape along the top and bottom edges; in addition there is a long diagonal tear at the top of the front panel that has also been internally tape-repaired, and the printed price on the front flap has been crossed out and a lower price marked in ink]. The sixth and final mystery novel by this author under his "John Donavan" pseudonym (in this case misspelled as "Donovan" on the jacket), and an anomaly in that group: the other five had been written more than a decade earlier, and all had featured the character of Sgt. Johnny Lamb. (This was also the only one of the six that was never published in the U.S.) Here he introduced a new character, "Sir Benjamin Searle, ex-Commissioner of Metropolian Police, a ranting, roaring, lovable old party with a shrewd mind and a warm-hearted understanding of his fellow men." The book itself is described as "a 'locked room' mystery of epic proportions -- a murdered man in a glass case into which neither murderer nor weapon could possibly enter." The prolific author, who wrote under a number of other pseudonyms, was a one-time secretary to Edgar Wallace and a co-founder of the Crime Writers Association. All his "Donavan" books are quite scarce. 

Offered by ReadInk.

The Mating Season
by WODEHOUSE, P.G.

London: jenkins, 1949. hardcover. fine/very good. Small 8vo, orange cloth, d.w. London: Jenkins, n.d. [1949]. First Edition.

Fine copy in a very good price-clipped jacket with a closed tear at the spine.

Offered by Argosy Book Store.

NOTES ON A POEM THAT CAN NEVER BE WRITTEN
by Atwood, Margaret

(Toronto): Salamander Press, 1981. First edition, limited to 200 numbered copies signed by Atwood on the limitation page. Copy #126. Designed, composed and printed by Glenn Goluska. Sewn printed wraps. No hardcover issue. Beginning edge toning on wraps. Near Fine condition.. Signed by Author. First Edition. Soft Cover. Near Fine/Not Issued. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. Limited Edition.

Offered by Revere Books Modern First Editions.

Shoeless Joe
by W.P. Kinsella, 

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1982. First edition. [xii], 265 pp. 1 vols. 8vo. Cloth and boards with gilt depiction of a baseball player and spine lettered in gilt. Green endpapers. Fine in unclipped pictorial dust jacket designed by Wendell Minor. First edition. [xii], 265 pp. 1 vols. 8vo. A fine copy of the Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship winning magical realist baseball novel, later adapted to the screen as Field of Dreams (1989), which was nominated for three Academy Awards.

Offered by James Cummins Bookseller.

LOVE MEDICINE: NEW AND EXPANDED VERSION [Signed]
By Erdrich, Louise

New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company, 1993. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. Octavo, 272 pages. In Good plus condition with a Very Good minus condition dust jacket. White spine with black and red lettering. Dust jacket is wrapped in a mylar covering, price is uncut "FPT $22.50 - $31.00/Canada", has mild wear along the extremities, and mild age-toning throughout. Boards have mild wear along the spine edges. Textblock has mild wear along the edges, stains on the head edges, and mild age-toning. Signed flat by Louise Erdrich on title page.

Offered by Second Story Books.

TEXT FROM COMPLINE
By A MEDIEVAL VELLUM MANUSCRIPT LEAF FROM A BOOK OF HOURS IN LATIN, WITH A LARGE MINIATURE OF THE CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN

Paris, ca. 1500. 163 x 115 mm. (6 1/2 x 4 1/2"). Single column, 18 lines in a gothic book hand. Rubrics in red, line fillers in blue and pink with gold bezant, six one-line initials in burnished gold on pink and blue ground, two two-line initials in blue on gold ground with a flower in the center, one three-line initial in blue filled with ivy on gold ground, verso with panel border of colorful flowers and acanthus, recto with A LARGE ARCH-TOPPED MINIATURE OF THE CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN with an "L" shaped frame of burnished gold and painted flowers, and A FULL BORDER of acanthus, flowers, a man playing a bagpipe, and a hybrid creature wearing a hat, all on a painted gold ground. Very minor wrinkling to vellum, but the leaf IN LOVELY CONDITION, with the gold everywhere gleaming brightly.

From a luxuriously appointed Book of Hours, this leaf features a handsome miniature of the Coronation of the Virgin attributed to the workshop of Jean Pichore (fl. ca. 1502-20), a major figure among illuminators of the period and one of the most sought-after artists in France at the turn of the 16th century. Executed with imagination and delicacy, the miniature features the traditional subject associated with the hour of Compline, showing the Virgin being crowned Queen of Heaven, following her Death and Assumption. The composition here is quite intimate, with the Virgin kneeling before her son as she accepts, with humility, the crown he lays upon her head. Christ is depicted barefoot and slightly bowed toward his mother in a gentle display of respect. The artist creates a wonderful backdrop for this scene, composed entirely of seraphim painted gold, blue, light pink, and green, closely packed together. Two of the seraphim hold up light pink draperies behind the central figures, as if to shield this tender moment from prying eyes. The borders here are a source of delight, featuring a figure wearing a jester-like cap and playing the bagpipe as well as a creature with the body of a bird and the face of a human, donning a rather fashionable bycocket cap. The illumination here is of high quality, features a liberal use of gold, and contains unique marginal details, suggesting that the original manuscript must have been a costly commission for a wealthy patron.

Offered by Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books & Manuscripts.

SOUNDS IN THE DISTANCE
by Wojnarowicz, David

London: Aloes Books, 1982. First edition. Near fine.. Rare signed copy of Wojnarowicz's first book, with a brief but revealing autograph note from him laid in. A selection of monologues from "junkies, prostitutes, male hustlers, truck drivers, hobos, young outlaws, runaway kids, criminal types, and perpetual drifters" (DIARIES) the artist began gathering as early as 1974 during his travels hitchhiking and train-hopping across America, SOUNDS IN THE DISTANCE marks this influential multimedia artist and AIDS activist's first book. Issued in an edition of 500 copies, according to our colleagues at Granary Books, "Jim Pennington, printer and editor at [publisher] Aloes, reports that Bookslinger, their sole American distributor, may well have pulped their considerable stock when they went out of business circa 1984." A scarce book (OCLC notes just 7 scattered copies in the US), it is quite rare signed. The brief autograph note from Wojnarowicz loosely laid into this copy explains: "The guy in the cover photo was sleeping near Beaubourg Museum in Paris. One of the local drunks." An excellent example of this important debut. 8.25'' x 5.75''. Original saddle-stapled black-and-white pictorial wrappers, featuring a photograph by Wojnarowicz. With a rear cover blurb by William S. Burroughs. [2], 52, [2] pages. Signed by Wojnarowicz on the title page: "David Wojnarowicz NYC '83." Small autograph note in Wojnarowicz's hand conveying the book loosely laid in; approximately 50 words, on a 4'' x 6'' piece of scrap paper (bottom edge torn, as sent). Touches of shelfwear. Clean, sound, and sharp overall.

Offered by Type Punch Matrix.

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