Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1996. First Edition. Substantial volume of poems and stories, the first released by Black Sparrow following Bukowski's death in 1994. A brilliant copy, and among the tiniest limitations of any book produced by the Black Sparrow Press. Unlike the deluxe (lettered) issue, these were never..... More
London: London Magazine Editions, 1974. First UK Edition. First hardcover edition of Bukowski's 1973 collection Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions and General Tales of Ordinary Madness, published by City Lights Books. Uncommon signed. First Impression. Octavo (22.25cm); glossy photo-illustrated boards; dustjacket; [xii],205,[7]pp. Signed by the author on the title page. Faint diagonal..... More
Glendale, CA: Poetry X/Change, [1968]. First Edition. A serviceable copy of this early collection of poems. Krumhansl 28a; Dorbin A12. Regular Issue, one of ca.400 copies. Slim octavo (21.25cm); photo-illustrated card wrappers, stapled; [32]pp; illus. A fresh, Fine copy. More
Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1971. First Edition. Sharp copy of Bukowski's first novel, an autobiographical work based on his years spent as a postal clerk and mail carrier in Los Angeles. He left his job there when publisher John Martin offered him $100 a week for life if he..... More
Stockton, CA: The Wormwood Review Press, 1974. First Edition. Contains a 16pp section printed on yellow paper at center, dedicated to Bukowski's work. With contributions by Phil Weidman, Lyn Lifshin, Al Masarik, and others. One of 700 numbered copies, this being copy no.309. Slim octavo (21.5cm); illustrated card wrappers, stapled;..... More
New York: Random House, 1965. First Edition. Attractive advance copy of Capote's best-known book, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction, an Edgar Award, and basis for the 1967 Richard Brooks film Starring Robert Blake ad Scott Wilson. First Printing. Octavo (cm); publisher's brick red unprinted wrappers, bound into the..... More
Paris: Gallimard, 1949. First French Edition. First Printing. Octavo; publisher's plain beige wrappers, printed in black and red; 255pp, [1]. Touch of sunning to spine, with faint, scattered soil to covers and tanning to text edges; Near Fine. An attractive copy of the author's first French language book, a series..... More
Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1984. First Edition. The author's highly-regarded first book, featuring CIA analyst Jack Ryan. Basis for John McTiernan's Oscar-winning film, starring Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, and Scott Glenn. First Printing, conforming to the following points: book measures 9.25" tall, with 18 lines of text on copyright page..... More
New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1927. First Edition. The author's first book, a gangster novel chronicling the rise of young Jimmie Williams from petty thief to "menace to society." Coe, an attorney by trade, would go on to write 11 more crime novels between 1928-1952. Basis for the 1928 American..... More
[San Francisco]: Apex Novelties, [1968]. Sharp copy of this groundbreaking underground publication, including iconic appearances by Mr. Natural, Meatball, Mr. Sketchum, Itzy and Bitzy, and others. Second Printing. Slim octavo (24cm); illustrated wrappers, stapled; [28]pp; illus. Trivial rubbing, else a bright, Fine copy. More
New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1934. First Edition. Wall Street mystery featuring Dr. Hiram Arthur, an engineer-turned-private investigator who serves the upper echelons of Manhattan's financial district. After a financier is murdered in his private office, "wily old Dr. Arthur and his team of voluptuous secretaries tangle with the..... More
[San Francisco: S.i., ca.1959]. Large, early photographic portrait of Lawrence Ferlinghetti, taken in the basement of his City Lights Bookstore a few years after it opened. Ferlinghetti is seated on a stool, a shelf of books in the background (including Kerouac's Mexico City Blues), pointing at a door painted with..... More
Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1988. First Edition Thus. The most limited state of this attractive re-issue of Fante's 1952 novel. Basis for the 1956 Richard Quine film starring Judy Holliday, Richard Conte, and Salvatore Baccaloni. Deluxe Issue, one of 26 specially-bound lettered copies, this being copy 'H'. Octavo (23.5cm);..... More
Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow Press, 1983. First Edition Thus. Preceded by the 1938 Stackpole edition. A Near Fine copy, with the top edges of the boards imperceptibly toned, in a Very Good acetate jacket with one small chip and a few splits. The edition consisted of 500 cloth trade copies..... More
Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1989. First Edition. Collection of decades-long correspondance between Fante and H.L. Mencken, his friend and early publisher. Uncommon in the deluxe issue. Deluxe Issue, one of 26 lettered copies specially bound, this being copy 'S'. Octavo (23.5cm); photo-illustrated paper-covered boards and patterned cloth backstrip, with..... More
Norfolk, CT: New Directions, [1951]. First American Edition. First Printing, one of 3,500 copies bound from British sheets. Octavo (22.25cm); teal cloth, with titling and rule stamped in gilt on spine; dustjacket; xx,425,[3]pp. Spine ends gently nudged, tiny tear at crown, with some faint dust-soil along upper board edges; contents..... More
London: W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., 1923. Early UK printing of Fitzgerald's first novel, centered around the lives of young socialites in post-World War I New York. Both the first and second UK printings of This Side of Paradise vary "unauthoritatively from the first Scribner's printing of the novel..... More
New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1924. Attractive copy of Freeman's first novel, introducing the public to Dr. John Thorndyke, whose scientific approach to detection was something of a departure in the genre during this period. Thorndyke attempts to clear the name of a young man who stands accused of..... More
Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 1914. First Edition. An early Freeman mystery featuring Humphrey Challoner, a specialist in criminal anthropology, who after the murder of his wife dedicates his life to the apprehension and punishment of criminals (and by "apprehension and punishment" I mean he murders them, shrinks their..... More
Chicago: Fictioneers, Inc., 1940. First Edition. Contains the stories 'Tong Trouble' by Erle Stanley Gardner, 'Clamp Down' by H.H. Stinson, and 'Too Many Angles' by Roger Torrey, et al. Terrific cover by De Soto for Gardner's story. Hagemann 982. Quarto; illustrated wrappers; 130pp, illus. Edge chipping, tears, and brief loss..... More
New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1952. First Edition. Prior to the publication of his first novel, Gault was already a prolific writer for the pulps, publishing more than 300 stories for magazines like Argosy, Black Mask, and Dime Mystery. By the time the 1950's came around, the pulp industry..... More
Greenwich: Gold Medal, 1961. First Edition. The last of Goodis's twelve paperback original novels, and the final book published before his death in 1967, centered around a corrupt and alcoholic policeman at the end of his career. An uncommon advance. Hubin, p.168. First Printing, a review copy, with the publisher's..... More
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1931. First American Edition. Attractive copy of Hammett's fourth novel. "Like Personville in Red Harvest, the city is controlled by crooked politicians in league with various mobster factions; but in The Glass Key Hammett gives us an insider's view of the corruption and in fact..... More
London: Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., 1896 [but 1895]. First Edition. Attractive copy of Hardy's last completed novel, centered around Jude Fawley, a stonemason who dreams of becoming a scholar. Purdy, pp.86-91. First Impression, mixed state, with gatherings A-B, D, and F showing partially-blank pages unnumbered, and gatherings C, E, G-H..... More
New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1966. Widely considered Heinlein's finest novel, 'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress' earned Heinlein his fourth and final Hugo Award in 1967. First issued as a five part serial in Worlds of If magazine, the novel tells the story of a sentient computer that helps..... More