books literature

Hardcover. London, Chatto and Windus, 1st, 1960, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, 260 pages. INSCRIBED BY AUTHOR on front flyleaf. Hardcover. Gilt title on spine. Covers bound in purple cloth. Boards have a touch of age wear at edges. Gutter split at title page, otherwise, binding tight. Clean inside. Edges and preliminary pages have some age-yellow and foxing. Still in great shape for its age.

Hardcover. NY, Barnes & Noble Books, 1st, 1978, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover, 208 pages. Light edge wear, fading to dust jacket. Foxing to edges and end papers. Else a clean, tight copy.

Softcover. Jackson MS, University Press of Mississippi, 1st, 1995, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover. Still in shrink-wrap. Spine faded. Else very good. As the acclaimed author of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and A Lesson Before Dying, Ernest J. Gaines (b. 1933) has been publishing stories and novels for more than sixty years. His brilliant portrayals of race, community, and culture in rural south Louisiana have made him one of the most respected and beloved living American writers. Ernest J. Gaines: Conversations brings together the author's own thoughts and words in interviews that range from 1994 to 2017, discussing his life, his work, and his literary legacy. The interviews cover all of Gaines's works, including his two latest books, Mozart and Leadbelly: Stories and Essays (2005) and The Tragedy of Brady Sims (2017). The book provides a retrospective of his work from the viewpoint of a senior writer, now eighty-five years old, and gives an important international perspective on Gaines and his work.

Hardcover. Minneapolis MN, University of Minnesota Press, 1st, 1969, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a lightly worn dust jacket that has a closed tear to the front panel. 523 pages with index. A collection of significant critical pieces about Kenneth Burke's work. 67 selections by 56 contributors arranged chronologically. Among the selections are reviews, essay-reviews, essays, excerpts from books, and some previously unpublished material. Collectively, they chart Burke's development and assess his achievements as a contemporary American man of letters. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Horn Book, 1st, 1977, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a lightly worn dust jacket, 359 pages. Using as a framework his two essays "Out on a Limb with the Critics" and "Coming to Terms with Criticism," Paul Heins has selected contributions which expand and elucidate "the invariable questions that beset the criticism of children's books: the classification, defense, and evaluation of children's literature." Included is the controversial exchange between Eleanor Cameron and Roald Dahl on the validity of the child as critic; Jane Langton's perceptive and original discussion of the fine distinction between fantasy and reality in literature; Alvin Schwartz's remarks on folklore and humor; Mary Orvig's consideration of Swedish books in translation; and treatments of individual titles such as Watership Down, Tom Sawyer, and A Wizard of Earthsea. Name and stamp on front fly leaf, otherwise clean.

Softcover. Chicago, Gateway Books, 1st, 1988, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 517 pages. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Riverhead Books, 1st, 2021, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. A full-throated and provocative memoir in letters from the New York Times bestselling author, a dazzling literary talent whose works cut to the quick of the spiritual self (Esquire)In three critically acclaimed novels, Akwaeke Emezi has introduced readers to a landscape marked by familial tensions, Igbo belief systems, and a boundless search for what it means to be free. Now, in this extraordinary memoir, the bestselling author of The Death of Vivek Oji reveals the harrowing yet resolute truths of their own life. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Los Angeles, Rare Bird Books, 1st, 2022, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 312 pages. The highlight of Desolation Peak is the journal Kerouac kept, starkly revealing the depth of his poverty, the extremity of his mood swings, and the ongoing arguments with himself over the future direction of his life, his writing, and faith. Along with the journal, he worked on a series of projects, including "Ozone Park," another installment of the Duluoz Legend beginning in 1943, after his discharge from the Navy; "The Martin Family," an intended sequel to The Town and the City, and "Desolation Adventure," a series of sketches that became part 1 of Desolation Angels. In writing it, Kerouac was re-committing himself to his more experimental, then-unpublishable style, declaring in the journal that "the form of the future is no-form." Also included in Collected Writings is "The Diamondcutter of Perfect Knowing," Kerouac's "transliteration" of the Diamond Sutra, his "Desolation Blues" and "Desolation Pops" poems, and assorted prose sketches and dreams. Clean copy.

Softcover. Los Angeles, CA, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, Reprint, 1970, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, 77 pages. Softcover. Augustan Reprint Society. Pamphlet with staple binding. Light tanning to cover, cover is becoming detached from bound pages. No pages missing or ripped. Very good condition. Previous owner's name written on front cover. Some underlining and brief notes written inside (pencil)."The most satisfactory of Collins' many pamphlets and books..."

Hardcover. New Haven CT, Yale University Press, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 223 pages, 250 color illustrations. Betsy Beinecke Shirley, one of the great collectors of American children's literature, gathered a peerless collection of books, original illustrations, manuscripts, and ephemera. This gorgeously illustrated book presents over 200 selected original artworks from the enchanting collection she bequeathed to the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University. Artists whose works are represented include many beloved favorites, among them Ludwig Bemelmans, Maurice Sendak, A. B. Frost, Wanda Gag, Peter Newell, N. C. Wyeth, Tony Sarg, Robert Lawson, and Johnny Gruelle. From variant illustrations for Goodnight Moon and Where the Wild Things Are to little-known sketches for nineteenth-century periodicals that delighted generations of children.

Hardcover. Boston, David R Godine, 1st, 1990, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 218 pages. Dust jacket spine slightly sunned, else like new. 21 black & white plates (some folding), and facsimiles. Edited by Nicholas Barker, and published posthumously. Printed at the Stamperia Valdonega. A major work examining the history and development of early Italian writing books from one of the world"s most noted typographic historians.

Hardcover. Chicago, University of Chicago Library, 1st, 2014, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, 144 pages. Like new in publisher's shrink-wrap. With 2014 marking the one-hundredth anniversary of the commencement of World War I, En Guerre offers a fresh, thought-provoking exploration of the impact of the Great War as viewed through the lens of French graphic illustration of the period. Published in conjunction with an exhibition of these illustrations at the University of Chicago Library's Special Collections Research Center, this catalog draws from illustrated books, magazines, and prints to present a wide range of perspectives on themes essential to a deeper understanding of the war in France: patriotism, nationalism, propaganda, and the soldier's experience, as well as the mobilization of the French national home front as seen through fashion, music, humor, and children's literature. With a text by noted historians Neil Harris and Teri J. Edelstein and featuring more than one hundred reproductions of the vivid and colorful work of French illustrators, En Guerre reaffirms the persuasive role that art can play in the service of political and military power.

Hardcover. London, Batsford, 1st, 1954, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 256 pages, profusely illustrated in color and b/w. A detailed record of important children's books and stories from English literature between 1600 and 1900, with chapters on the "Prehistoric Age", Harris to "Alice", the triumph of nonsense, after Carroll, the importance of pictures, and more. Written by Percy Muir a distinguished English antiquarian bookseller, book collector, and bibliographer who served as president of both the Antiquarian Booksellers Association and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Christie's, 1987-1989, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Complete 7 volume set including index, bound handsomely in red cloth over boards with gilt lettering and insignia to front covers, gilt titles to spines. Part I, Eighteenth Century Books Including the Gutenberg Bible; Part II, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts; Part III, Printed Books and Manuscripts Including Western Americana; Part IV, Printed Books and Manuscripts Including Early Printing, Literature, and Fine Bindings; Part V, Printed Books and Manuscripts Including Americana, Literature, and Fine Bindings; Part VI, Printed Books and Manuscripts Concerning William Morris and His Circle; Index and Price Lists. (12" x 9"). 302pp, 125pp, 320pp, 344pp, 316pp, 102pp, 99pp. Color and b/w plates throughout.

Hardcover. New Haven , Yale University Press, 1st, 2011, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 256 pages. Examines concepts of female beauty in terms of the ideal and the real, investigating paradigms of beauty as represented in art and literature and how beauty has been enhanced by cosmetics and hairstyles. Images of some of the most beautiful women in history, both real and ideal, accompanied by illustrations from costume books, fashion plates, advertisements, caricatures, etc. Like new in publisher's shrink-wrap.

Hardcover. New Haven CT, Yale University Press, 1st, 2011, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 256 pages. Examines concepts of female beauty in terms of the ideal and the real, investigating paradigms of beauty as represented in art and literature and how beauty has been enhanced by cosmetics and hairstyles. Images of some of the most beautiful women in history, both real and ideal, accompanied by illustrations from costume books, fashion plates, advertisements, caricatures, etc. Like new in publisher's shrink-wrap.

Softcover. NY, Schocken Books, reprint, 1969, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 222 pages, b&w illustrations. The Falashas, who are the most isolated and most ancient Jewish community extant, have preserved their own religious writings through the centuries. No one knows for certain how Judaism reached this part of Africa. They observe the Sabbath as indicated in the Torah, eat only kosher food, pray in straw-roofed synagogues, and use only unleavened bread during the seven days of Passover. This book offers a cross section of their sacred literature, translated for the first time into English from Ethiopic sources. In addition, the translator provides a detailed description of the life and mores of the Falashas, based on his personal experience and observation during a prolonged stay in their community. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Basic Books, 1st, 2006, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 337 pages, in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. Essays by the New York City cultural critic; examines the work of artists, filmmakers and writers ranging from Anton Chekov to J. K. Rowling, including Stanley Kubrick, The Sopranos, Sex in the City, John Updike, Norman Mailer, and Barbara Kingsolver. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Norfolk UK, Black Dog Books, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 310 pages. Hardcover. Author signed. B/w illustrations throughout. Dust jacket front flap price clipped. Clean inside and out. From the dust jacket front flap: "These essays, written over a 30-year period and published to celebrate the Benson Medal for Literature awarded to Ronald Blythe in 2006, offer Blythe's lingering comment on his life as a writer."

Hardcover. New York, Pantheon Books, 1st, 1989, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 484 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. Clean, tight copy with only minor wear to dust jacket. Nice copy.

Hardcover. New York, Thomas Dunne Books, 1st, 2008, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 324 pages, SIGNED BY AUTHOR on title page. B&w photographs, spotless and tight copy.

Hardcover. NY, Da Capo Press, 1st, 2011, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. Fug You is Ed Sanders's unapologetic and often hilarious account of eight key years of "total assault on the culture," to quote his novelist friend William S. Burroughs. Fug You traces the flowering years of New York's downtown bohemia in the sixties, starting with the marketing problems presented by publishing Fuck You / A Magazine of the Arts, as it faced the aboveground's scrutiny, and leading to Sanders's arrest after a raid on his Peace Eye Bookstore. The memoir also traces the career of the Fugs -- formed in 1964 by Sanders and his neighbor, the legendary Tuli Kupferberg (called "the world's oldest living hippie" by Allen Ginsberg) -- as Sanders strives to find a home for this famous postmodern, innovative anarcho-folk-rock band in the world of record labels.

Hardcover. Cambridge MA, Zoland Books, 1st, 1997, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. INSCRIBED BY CORBETT on the dedication page. A memoir by poet William Corbett recounts the story of his relationship with his father whose sudden and peculiar abandonment of his family in 1965 left numerous unanswered questions. Clean copy.

Hardcover. New York, Beaufort Books, 1st, 2016, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 375 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. Clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to dust jacket. Black and white pictures throughout.