biography

Hardcover. NY, Rizzoli, 1st, 2022, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, still in publisher's shrinkwrap. A rare and poignant compilation of photography and written anecdotes by American photographer and artist Lee Jaffe that captures his close friendship, collaboration, and travels with the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat as they traversed Japan, Thailand, and Switzerland in 1983. Lee Jaffe, a cross-disciplinary visual artist, musician, and poet, took photos of his friend, Jean-Michel Basquiat, when they traveled abroad in 1983. As a photographer, Jaffe had a connection to Basquiat, and their time spent together resulted in an archive of imagery that captured one of the art world's true legends through an unfiltered and authentic lens. Basquiat and Jaffe connected over reggae music at a mutual friend's art show. It was the early 1980s in New York, when the art scene was raw, complicated, and thriving, and Jaffe cultivated strong connections with cultural figures such as Basquiat, Bob Marley, and Peter Tosh. "For me, watching him [ Jean] paint reminded me of the times I would sit and play harmonica while Bob Marley, with his acoustic guitar, would be writing songs that were eventually to become classics," Jaffe says. "With Jean and Bob, it seemed like they were channeling inspiration coming from an otherworldly place." This beautiful volume presents snapshots of Basquiat: from the artist smiling on a bullet train to Kyoto and behind-the-scenes documentation of Basquiat creating artwork in St. Moritz, to poignant portraits that mirror his undeniable magnetism. These rare depictions of Basquiat come to life with Jaffe's unforgettable experiences of their friendship, collaborations, and travels detailed in private written memories and anecdotes. This insightful and moving illustrated volume captures the soul of the unedited, ambitious, young artist during the height of his short yet unprecedented artistic career.

Hardcover. New York, Stringer & Townsend, 1st, 1851, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, red cloth with gilt lettering, 226 pages. Previous owners bookplate on inside front cover. Some pages show minor foxing. Light rubbing to corners and at top and base of spine. Clean, unmarked text.

Softcover. Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press, 1st, 1995, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover in illustrated wrappers, 304 pages. Illustrated with B&W engravings. Jens Jensen was one of America's greatest landscape designers and conservationists. Using native plants and "fitting" designs, he advocated that our gardens, parks, roads, playgrounds, and cities should be harmonious with nature and its ecological processes-a belief that was to become a major theme of modern American landscape design. In Jens Jensen: Maker of Natural Parks and Gardens, Robert E. Grese draws on Jensen's writings and plans, interviews with people who knew him, and analyses of his projects to present a clear picture of Jensen's efforts to enhance and preserve "native" landscapes.

Hardcover. NY, Alfred A. Knopf, 1st, 2019, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 430 pages. The titanic choreographer, creator of memorable ballets, master of Broadway musicals, legendary show doctor and director, now revealed in his own words--the closest we will get to a memoir/autobiography--from his voluminous letters, journals, notes, diaries, never before published. Robbins was famous for reinventing the Broadway musical, creating a vernacular American ballet, pushing the art form to new boundaries where it had never gone before, integrating dance seamlessly with character, story and music, and as Associate Artistic Director, Ballet Master, and Co-Artistic Director, with George Balanchine, shaping the New York City Ballet with daring and brio for more than five decades through his often startling choreography in ballet's classical idiom. He was known as the king of Broadway, the most sought-after director-choreographer and show doctor who gave shape to On the Town (1944), Call Me Madam (1950), The King and I (1951), Wonderful Town (1953), Peter Pan (1954), The Pajama Game (1954), Silk Stockings (1955), West Side Story (1957), Gypsy (1959), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Funny Girl (1964), Fiddler on the Roof (1964), and many other classic musicals, winning four Tony Awards, two Oscars, and an Emmy. He shocked and betrayed those he loved and worked with by naming names to the House Un-American Activities Committee. ("I betrayed my manhood, my Jewishness, my parents, my sister," he wrote in a diary. "I can't undo it.") Clean, bright copy.

Hardcover. NY, Thomas Crowell, 1st, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 224 pages, illustrated in color and b&w. Jessie Willcox Smith (1863-1935), was one of the most prominent female illustrators in the United States during the Golden Age of American illustration. She illustrated stories and articles for clients such as Century, Collier's Weekly, Leslie's Weekly, Harper's, McClure's, Scribners, and the Ladies' Home Journal. Four appendices give detailed listings of the appearance of Smith's illustrations in books, magazine covers, posters, etc. Bibliography. Notes. Index. With a lightly worn dust jacket that's been price-clipped. Previous owner's inscription on front fly lead, otherwise clean.

Hardcover. NY, Hudson Hills Press, 1st, 2000, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. The American son of great German Surrealist master Max Ernst, Jimmy Ernst (1920-1984) developed a distinct style, marrying abstract, crystalline form to sirituality, influenced by jazz and Native American culture. 166 pages, 44 b&w, 62 color plates. Considers the life and work of German-born American expressionist Jimmy Ernst (1920-1984). Brings together reproductions of his finest paintings, along with a tribute by Kurt Vonnegut, two revelatory interviews, poems by Louis Simpson, a selection of the artist's own writings, and a monographic essay by Donald Kuspit. Includes a chronology, exhibitions and collections histories, and a bibliography. Features an essay combining biography, art criticism, and psychological analysis, interviews, and more. Preface by Kurt Vonnegut. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Seattle, Fantagraphics, 1st, 2025, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, large format, pictorial boards, 160 pages. The definitive collection of comics and illustration from 1892 to 1942 by James Swinnerton, one of the founding fathers of the American comic strip. This sumptuous volume covers Swinnerton's six-decade career in comics, from his beginnings as a sports/editorial cartoonist for William Randolph Hearst in San Francisco to his years in the America's Southwest desert, where his love for the land and its people came through in his comics and illustration. Jimmy! includes an illustrated biography and essays by co-editor Michael Tisserand and Eddie Campbell. The comic strips in this volume are carefully restored to their original colors and printed at near-full size. Swinnerton lovers will be delighted by the richness and variety of the works seen here. Those new to this uniquely American artist will likely join the growing numbers who appreciate his important role in the history of the comics. Clean, bright copy. DOMESTIC SHIPPING ONLY.

Hardcover. NY, Simon & Schuster, 1st, 2000, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. In a stunning feat of meticulous reportage, Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Ben Cramer ultimately puts to rest the "Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?" question with iconoclastic bravura. In Cramer's evaluation, the hero America held onto so desperately for so long was really a creation of a nation's communal imagination. The Joe DiMaggio that America tried so hard to believe in was never really here at all. There was, of course, a Joe DiMaggio, and he had a splendid career in Yankee pinstripes--once hitting safely in an unimaginable 56 consecutive games--and a troubled marriage with Marilyn Monroe, each augmenting the other in our national mythology. But myths tend to be skin-deep, and Cramer's biography thrives in an internal geography well below the surface. The map he charts is of a cold, small, often nasty, uncaring, resentful, self-centered man, a man of public grace and private misery who broke friendships, shunned family, and chased money with the same focused energies he once harnessed to run down fly balls.

Hardcover. NY, McGraw Hill, 1st, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 270 pages, b&w illustrations. This work has been prepared as a loving remembrance by the Brown Bomber's son. Joe Louis is known in history as the legend who knocked out Max Schmelling in round one of their fight in 1938. Joe's son gives full character to the man of myth and history with many details and recollections from the champ's contemporaries. There is a complete boxing record, list of contributors, bibliography, plus photographs. Clean copy.

Hardcover. London, Titan Books , 1st, 2011, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 256 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. A very clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to dust jacket edges. In his own words, this is the life of Joe Simon, one of the most important figures in comics history, and half of the famous creative team Simon and Kirby. Joe Simon co-created Captain America, and was the first editor in chief of Marvel Comics (where he hired Stan Lee for his first job in comics). 

Hardcover. London, Titan Books, 1st, 2011, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 256 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. Clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to dust jacket. Color pictures in center, black and white pictures throughout.

Hardcover. Athens GA, University of Georgia Press, 2nd pr., 1967, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a lightly worn dust jacket. 182 pages, 5 pages with red underlining. Brookes examines how Harris drew on his extensive knowledge of African American folklore and culture to create the characters in his work. Brookes classifies the Uncle Remus books under seven major categories: trickster tales, other "creeturs," myths, supernatural tales, proverbs, dialect, and songs.

Hardcover. Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press., 1st, 1981, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a lightly worn dust jacket, 364 pages, b&w illustrations. As the most learned and eminent public lawyer in Germany, a busy administrator, and a prolific writer, Moser (1701-85) lived and breathed the political order. His correspondence, memoranda, and manuscript autobiography reflect the intricate day-to-day operations of the empire, and his fascinating life is a microcosm of the life and style of the empire itself. The biography provided a comprehensive picture of the empire between the Thirty Years War and the revolutionary era. Dust jacket spine faded otherwise very good, clean.

Hardcover. Chicago, Haase-Mumm Publishing, 1st, 1981, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 189 pages. #174 of 1, 000 copies signed by author. Biography and critical study of John Barber (1893-1965), American artist and contributor to the radical magazine The Masses. 16 color and 109 b&w plates. Bibliography and index.

Hardcover. NY, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1st, 1955, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, black cloth stamped in gilt, 338 pages including index. John Carroll (January 8, 1735 - December 3, 1815) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the first bishop and archbishop in the United States. He served as the ordinary of the first diocese and later Archdiocese of Baltimore, in Maryland, which at first encompassed all of the United States and later after division as the eastern half of the new nation. Previous owner's name inside front cover, otherwise clean. No dust jacket.

Softcover. NY, Pathfinder Press , Revised Ed., 1998, Softcover in pictorial wrappers, 500 pages, b&w photos. Coltrane's role in spearheading the last major innovative development in jazz, and how the 1960s jazz revolution reflected an intense cultural, political, and ideological ferment -- marked especially by the rise of resistance to racial discrimination. Also contains the best-known interview with John Coltrane -- recorded in 1966, a year before his death. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, F.A. Stokes Company, 1st, 1900, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, red cloth with bright gilt stamping, 137 pages. Top edge gilt. Ribbon marker, photographic frontispiece portrait of actor John Drew, as well as numerous photographs of John Drew (and other actresses) in various dramatic productions. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, W.W. Norton, 1st, 1955, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a bright, price-clipped dust jacket that has a few tape repairs. B&w drawings by Arthur Conrad. Sequel to "John Goffe's Mill". This volume speaks of the "human history" changes to the mill site over the 200 years and 8 generations of his family who owned the property. Since the mid-18th century, author George Woodbury's family had owned a Bedford NH mill. His childhood home, he returned there to restore his great, great, great, great grandfather's saw and grist mill. He had set aside his Harvard Peabody Museum archaeologist career to restore, rebuild and work the mill. "What he couldn't swap or buy he invented and built himself".

Hardcover. Hampton, NH, Portsmouth Marine Society/Peter E. Randall, 1st, 1982, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover. Biographical and artistic account of John Haley Bellamy and his renowned woodcarving skills. 103 pages with 65 black/white illustrations and 4 color plates. Cloth bound book is in near fine condition, no internal marks; dust jacket is in very good condition, some creasing near the spine.

Hardcover. London, Unicorn Publishing Group , 1st, 2021, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, pictorial boards, 208 pages. A biography of British commercial illustrator John Hassall, "The Poster King," with one hundred color illustrations. In the early twentieth century, John Hassall (1868-1948) was one of Britain's best-known, highest-profile artists. Though he worked across a variety of disciplines, it was his commercial art for travel companies, political causes, and well-known brands that made him a household name. With bold lines, flat colors, and an engaging, cheery style, Hassall created some of the most famous and influential designs of the era. A century after his heyday, Lucinda Gosling presents an exploration of John Hassall's life, his art, and his legacy. Including photographs of his family and studio, the story behind his iconic "Jolly Fisherman" poster, and previously unpublished material from Hassall's archive at the University of Essex--including artwork, sketches, letters, diaries, and photographs--this is an unprecedented account of the artist's life and work.

Hardcover. Edinburgh, E. & S. Livingstone Ltd, 1st, 1950, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 104 pages, b&w illustrations. Biography of an 18th century man of medicine and natural science. Small name stamp on front fly leaf, oterwise clean.

Hardcover. Los Angeles, Sherbourne Press, 1st, 1965, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. Biography of the controversial and award-winning director, covering the entire span of his career. Illustrated with photographs. Two appendixes: The Projects of John Huston: Films and Plays 1931-1965, and A Huston Bibliography. 247 pages.

Hardcover. Edinburgh, Paul Harris Publishing, 1st, 1980, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a lightly worn dust jacket. 53 pages of text, color frontis., 96 plates. A study of the self taught caricaturist John Kay of Edinburgh. Lavishly illustrated. PLEASE NOTE: This book while tight and clean, has a musty odor.

Hardcover. NY, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1st, 2005, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. INSCRIBED BY AUTHOR on front fly leaf. Born and raised on a small Canadian farm, Galbraith began teaching at Harvard during the Depression. He was FDR's "price czar" during the war and then a senior editor of Fortune before returning to Harvard and to fame as a bestselling writer. Parker shows how, from his early championing of Keynes to his acerbic analysis of America's "private wealth and public squalor," Galbraith regularly challenged prevailing theories and policies. And his account of Galbraith's remarkable friendship with John F. Kennedy, whom he served as a close advisor while ambassador to India, is especially relevant for its analysis of the intense, dynamic debates that economists and politicians can have over how America should manage its wealth and power. This masterful chronicle gives color, depth, and meaning to the record of an extraordinary life. Clean copy.