biography

Hardcover. NY, Bloomsbury, 1st, 2001, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. A brilliant and feared critic, Kenneth Tynan was a nabob of the National Theatre alongside Laurence Olivier, and he was also the daring impresario who created "Oh Calcutta". He was a notorious eccentric, a louche sophisticate: connoisseur of cuisine, wine, literature and women. Where else could you find such a judicious blend of aesthetics, theatre lore, love, marriage, sex and politics? These sizzling diaries will remind older readers of a man whose reputation as the greatest critic of the twentieth century is still unchallenged and introduce younger readers to an electrifying writer who simply could not be boring. B&w photos, 439 pages. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Evanston IL, Northwestern University Press, 1959-1963, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Four hardcover volumes: Vol. 1, East Africa November 1889 to December 1890, 432 pages. Vol. 2, East Africa December 1890 to December 1891, 481 pages. Vol. 3, East Africa January 1892 to August 1892, 454 pages. Vol. 4, Nigeria 1894-5 and 1898, 444 pages. Black-and-white illustrations and maps; Bindings vary: Vols. 1, 3 and 4 are matching green cloth with gilt lettering on spine. Vol. 2 is terra-cotta cloth with a black clorh spine. Previous owner'e signature in 1 and #. Otherwise clean and tight set.

Hardcover. Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1st, 1983, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in an dust jacket with mild fading to spine. A valuable record of the first Presidency of the TV age. Hagerty was President Eisenhower's only press secretary. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Oxford UK, Clarendon Press, reprint, 2003, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover in glossy boards, 639 pages. Volume 3 ONLY of a six volume set. Clean, bright copy.

Hardcover. Cambridge MA, Harvard University Press, 1st, 2016, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 592 pages. Alexander Herzen-philosopher, novelist, essayist, political agitator, and one of the leading Russian intellectuals of the nineteenth century-was as famous in his day as Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. While he is remembered for his masterpiece My Past and Thoughts and as the father of Russian socialism, his contributions to the history of ideas defy easy categorization because they are so numerous. Aileen Kelly presents the first fully rounded study of the farsighted genius whom Isaiah Berlin called "the forerunner of much twentieth-century thought." In an era dominated by ideologies of human progress, Herzen resisted them because they conflicted with his sense of reality, a sense honed by his unusually comprehensive understanding of history, philosophy, and the natural sciences. Following his unconventional decision to study science at university, he came to recognize the implications of early evolutionary theory, not just for the natural world but for human history. In this respect, he was a Darwinian even before Darwin. Clean, bright copy.

Softcover. London, Castle Communications/Penguin, 1st, 1993, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, pictorial wraps, Fantastic collection of color & black & white photos with lots of info about the band. Contains color reproductions of psychedelic posters for The Doors concerts. Discography. Light chipping to paper spine, otherwise clean, very good.

Hardcover. New Haven CT, Yale University Press, 1st, 1975, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a nice dust jacket with a faded spine. 388 pages, b&w frontis. Name on front fly leaf, otherwise clean.

Hardcover. NY, Exposition Press, 1st, 1964, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a lightly worn dust jacket, 164 pages, portrait frontis. and section of b&w photos. A nice clean, tight and unmarked text of this scarce biography of the noted Adirondack woodsman and builder.

Hardcover. UK, White Owl/Pen & Sword, 20231st, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 191 pages, b&w photos. Charlie Chaplin's career has been described, critiqued, and scrutinized. There are book-length studies on Chaplin's music hall career, his career at Keystone Studios and the Mutual Studios. Somehow, his tenure with First National studios, however, has been largely neglected, even though it was during this several-year contractual time period that Chaplin built and occupied his own studio for the first time, that he attempted and succeeded in filming a comedy feature (The Kid) and that he helped to set up United Artists, an organization that protected the salaries and creative freedom of actors in Hollywood. This period in Chaplin's story is especially interesting because such landmark moments are accompanied by Chaplin's first marriage and divorce, the death of his first child, his friendship with French silent film comedian Max Linder, World War I and the role he would play in it, and the production and release of several unsuccessful films that marked Chaplin's first creative blockage - one that threatened his future career. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Lunenburg VT, Stinehour Press, 1st, 1979, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, green cloth with gilt lettering and color label on front cover. 165 pages, b&w photos. Hildegarde Lasell was a concert singer. "Miss Lasell sang with refinement and cultivation," commented a reviewer in 1936, "she is obviously a serious student of the meaning and values of the music she interprets." She appeared in her husband's two short avant-garde films. She played Madeline Usher in the silent horror film The Fall of the House of Usher (1928),and Lot's wife in the Biblical adaptation Lot in Sodom (1933).In the 1950s, she persuaded composer Alec Wilder to write an original soundtrack for the 1928 film. Watson was vice-president of the Rochester (NY)Historical Society, and wrote the history of the society's Woodside mansion in 1962. She received a medal from the Rochester Museum and Science Center in 1972, alongside fellow recipients including Robert Jastrow, Roger Tory Peterson, and Yousuf Karsh. Her memoir, The Edge of the Woods: A Memoir (1979) was published posthumously. Some of her correspondence with poet Marianne Moore was also published posthumously. Limited to 1,000 copies. Clean.

Hardcover. NY, Columbia University Press, 1st, 2003, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 562 pages. During John Dewey's lifetime (1859-1952), one public opinion poll after another revealed that he was esteemed to be one of the ten most important thinkers in American history. His body of thought, conventionally identified by the shorthand word "Pragmatism," has been the distinctive American philosophy of the last fifty years. His work on education is famous worldwide and is still influential today, anticipating as it did the ascendance in contemporary American pedagogy of multiculturalism and independent thinking. His University of Chicago Laboratory School (founded in 1896) thrives still and is a model for schools worldwide, especially in emerging democracies. But how was this lifetime of thought enmeshed in Dewey's emotional experience, in his joys and sorrows as son and brother, husband and father, and in his political activism and spirituality? Acclaimed biographer Jay Martin recaptures the unity of Dewey's life and work, tracing important themes through the philosopher's childhood years, family history, religious experience, and influential friendships. Clean copy.

Hardcover. London, Oxford University Press, 1st, 1933, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, 140 pages. Hardcover with price-clipped dust jacket. Clean, tight copy.

Hardcover. NY, Alfred A. Knopf, 1st, 2022, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 297 pages, b&w illustrations. Based on interviews and oral histories conducted by Stewart Stern. Compiled and edited by David Rosenthal. Foreword by Melissa Newman; afterword by Clea Newman Soderlund. The raw, candid, unvarnished memoir of an American icon. The greatest movie star of the past 75 years covers everything: his traumatic childhood, his career, his drinking, his thoughts on Marlon Brando, James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, John Huston, his greatest roles, acting, his intimate life with Joanne Woodward, his innermost fears and passions and joys. With thoughts/comments throughout from Joanne Woodward, George Roy Hill, Tom Cruise, Elia Kazan and many others. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Simon & Schuster, 1st, 1977, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in lightly worn dust jacket, 446 pages. A full review of the history of this initially small band of middle class intellectual socialists, the Mackenie's are undaunted in tackling what becomes a full and multi-character biography of the group that became and remains influential in British politics. This study includes a full and sensitive account of the lives and thought of the Webbs (usefully exploring their differences as well as their points of agreement), Shaw, Pease and Podmore, and even H.G. Wells, amongst others, as well as the history of the relationship of this band with the diverse groups and individuals in the broader British socialist movement - and their ambivalent relationships with the liberal and then the labour governments. Remainder stamp to bottom edge. Otherwise a clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Stein & Day, 1st, 1963, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a lightly worn dust jacket, unclipped. Quarter bound in publisher's gray cloth over brick boards, gilt lettering on brown panel on spine, author's facsimile signature, gilt, on cover, green endpapers, 457 pages with 164 black & white plates and 39 black & white line drawings. Red top edge. Corners a bit rubbed. Dust jacket with edgewear, closed tear.

Hardcover. NY, Knopf, 1st, 1955, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a lightly worn dust jacket that's price-clipped, 316 pages. This book is a fascinating combination of literary detection and biography, capturing lives of extraordinary people who inspired memorable characters in ficiton.

Softcover. Los Angeles, Augustan Reprint Society, reprint, 1989, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, The Augustan Reprint Society Publication Number 257. Facsimile of the 1750 version of the 'conventionalized' story of Hannah Snell, who was a real person (1723-1792). Introduction by Dianne Dugaw. xiii, iv, 42 pages. Heroines such as Hannah Snell actually surface as commonplace, particularly in works catering to the lower classes. In 1750 the London printer Robert Walker, an important early newspaper publisher, presented his readers with two anonymous versions of The Female Soldier, the 46-page unillustrated octavo reproduced here and a more developed 187-page book which included engraved illustrations. Clean, bright copy.

Hardcover. NY, Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1st, 1986, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 663 pages. Clean copy. Edited and with an introduction by Leon Edel. This is the highly acclaimed fourth volume in the series that began with The Twenties and it is complimented with photographs and journal excerpts of some of the most interesting characters of the decade.

Hardcover. NY, Citadel Press, 1st, 1970, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, lightly chipped dust jacket. Profusely illustrated review of Ingrid Bergman's films in the classic Citadel Press style. 242 pages. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Lanham MD, Vestal Press, 1st, 1998, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 226 pages with b&w illustrations. This volume presents "the most complete filmography of Chaney's work ever compiled. For each of the actor's 158 known film appearances, [the author] includes cast and crew lists, plot synopsis, critical comments, and behind-the-scenes information. Complementing the text are 120 photographs, most of which are published here for the first time."

Hardcover. London, Hodder & Stoughton , 1st, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, maroon cloth with gilt titles on spine, 328 pages, index. Spender (1864-1926) was a leading journalist in England and later ran for office (and lost) as a Liberal candidate in 1922. He covered major events in British history for major newspapers like the Manchester Guardian and Daily News from 1899 until 1914. He was the father of poet Stephen Spender. A clean copy with minor shelf wear.

Softcover. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1st pbk, 2006, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 417 pages, b&w illustrations. Hollywood celebrities feared her. William Randolph Hearst adored her. Between 1915 and 1960, Louella Parsons was America's premier movie gossip columnist and in her heyday commanded a following of more than forty million readers. This first full-length biography of Parsons tells the story of her reign over Hollywood during the studio era, her lifelong alliance with her employer, William Randolph Hearst, and her complex and turbulent relationships with such noted stars, directors, and studio executives as Orson Welles, Joan Crawford, Louis B. Mayer, Ronald Reagan, and Frank Sinatra-as well as her rival columnists Hedda Hopper and Walter Winchell. Loved by fans for her "just folks," small-town image, Parsons became notorious within the film industry for her involvement in the suppression of the 1941 film Citizen Kane and her use of blackmail in the service of Hearst's political and personal agendas. As she traces Parsons's life and career, Samantha Barbas situates Parsons's experiences in the broader trajectory of Hollywood history, charting the rise of the star system and the complex interactions of publicity, journalism, and movie-making.

Hardcover. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1st, 1925, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, purple cloth gilt lettering and decoration on spine, gilt medallion on front cover. 355 pages, color frontispiece. Illustrated with several B&W maps and reproductions. Mild fade to spine. Clean, tight copy.

Hardcover. NY, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1st, 2012, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 270 pages. When Samuel Zemurray arrived in America in 1891, he was tall, gangly, and penniless. When he died in the grandest house in New Orleans sixty-nine years later, he was among the richest, most powerful men in the world. In between, he worked as a fruit peddler, a banana hauler, a dockside hustler, and a plantation owner. He battled and conquered the United Fruit Company, becoming a symbol of the best and worst of the United States: proof that America is the land of opportunity, but also a classic example of the corporate pirate who treats foreign nations as the backdrop for his adventures. Rich Cohen's brilliant historical profile unveils Zemurray as a hidden kingmaker and capitalist revolutionary, driven by an indomitable will to succeed. Clean copy.