fiction history

Hardcover. NY, Juniot Literary Guild, Book Club, 1930, Book: Very Good, Hardcover, 324 pages. Color frontispiece, 9 b&w plates by Marguerite DeAngeli. Red cloth with blue lettering. Spine slightly cocked, previous owner's inscription on front paste-down. Still very good.

NY, G.P. Putnam's, 1st US, 1960, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover. Orange cloth covers in a edgeworn, chipped dust jacket.190 pages, b&w illustrations by Joseph Cellini.

Hardcover. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1st, 1993, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. INSCRIBED BY AUTHOR on the title page. What motivates us to reread literary works? How is our pleasure, interpretation, involvement, and evaluation different when we read a literary work and when we reread it? This fascinating book by Matei Calinescu is the first to focus on the implications of rereading for critical understanding. Drawing on literary theory, cultural anthropology, psychology, philosophy, and previous theories of reading, Calinescu describes the dynamics of rereading and explores the sometimes complementary, sometimes sharply conflicting relationships between reading and rereading. Calinescu analyzes fictional works by Borges, Nabokov, Proust, Robbe-Grillet, and Henry James, among others, explaining how reading texts is related both to symbolic play or make-believe and to games with rules. He reviews the history of reading in modern times, discussing, for example, how the Reformation led to rereadings of Scripture and how the proliferation of books during the Enlightenment led to a shift from "intensive reading" to "extensive reading." Calinescu looks at the distinctions between reading and rereading from the perspectives of the age, situation, and gender of the individual reader. He discusses the problems raised by secret or oblique languages and codes - devised to evade censors, communicate with a select audience of "secret sharers," or play games of hide-and-seek with the reader - and shows that they naturally lead to rereading a text. Calinescu argues persuasively that an understanding of rereading is useful in formulating both analytic strategies of practical criticism and a poetics of reading. Clean, bright copy.

Hardcover. Toronto, Anansi, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 280 pages. Slowly dying of Lou Gehrig's Disease, Donald, a middle-aged Chippewa-Finnish man, begins dictating family stories he has never shared with anyone, hoping to preserve history for his children. The dignity of Donald's death and his legacy encourages his loved ones to find a way to redeem and let go of the past, whether through his daughter's immersion in Chippewa religious ideas or his mourning wife's attempt to escape the malevolent influence of her own father. A deeply moving book about origins and endings, and how to live with honor for the dead, Returning to Earth is one of the finest novels of Harrison's long, storied career, and will confirm his standing as one of the most important American writers. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Philadelphia, R. W. Pomeroy, 1st, 1839, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover. Square 24mo. Publisher's cloth illustrated in gilt. 160 pages, b&w engravings, yellow endpapers. Hinges tender, wear to top of spine, clean copy.

Softcover. NY, Abrams, 1st, 2005, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Flexible covers, 540 pages, 1,500 illustrations in full color. A visual survey of the scientific developments and cultural significance of robots documents the history of automatons, androids, and other forms of artificial intelligence, both of the fictional and real-world arenas, in a volume that features interviews with scientists, doctors, toy creators, science-fiction writers, and more.

Hardcover. Paris, Baudry's European Library, 1st, 1838, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, calf binding with title label on spine. Illustrated with 8 b&w engravings. Well written, entertaining legends, history and folklore of the Rhine, including the Mouse Tower, Hildegard von Bingen, St. Ursula, etc. Cover is scuffed with surface scars, but binding is firm. 354 pages. Minor foxing. Aside from cover appearance, very good.

Softcover. Ithaca NY, Cornell University Press, reprint, 1990, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 309 pages. A major contribution to the cultural and literary history of the Victorian age, Rule of Darkness maps the complex relationship between Victorian literary forms, genres, and theories and imperialist, racist ideology. Critics and cultural historians have usually regarded the Empire as being of marginal importance to early and mid-Victorian writers. Patrick Brantlinger asserts that the Empire was central to British culture as a source of ideological and artistic energy, both supported by and lending support to widespread belief in racial superiority, the need to transform "savagery" into "civilization," and the urgency of promoting emigration.Rule of Darkness brings together material from public records, memoirs, popular culture, and canonical literature. Brantlinger explores the influence of the novels of Captain Frederick Marryat, pioneer of British adolescent adventure fiction, and shows the importance of William Makepeace Thackeray's experience of India to his novels. He treats a number of Victorian best sellers previously ignored by literary historians, including the Anglo-Indian writer Philip Meadows Taylor's Confessions of a Thug and Seeta. Brantlinger situates explorers' narratives and travelogues by such famous author-adventurers as David Livingstone and Sir Richard Burton in relation to other forms of Victorian and Edwardian prose. Through readings of works by Arthur Conan Doyle, Joseph Conrad, H. Rider Haggard, Rudyard Kipling, John Hobson, and many others, he considers representations of Africa, India, and other non-British parts of the world in both fiction and nonfiction. Clean, bright copy.

Hardcover. NY, Horace Liveright, 2nd pr., 1928, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, blue cloth stamped in red and gilt, 323 pages. Red topstain, with no dust jacket. B&w illustrations by the author. Copyright page states: Second printing, September 1928. The first printing was in August. Barnes played an important part in the development of 20th century English language modernist writing and was one of the key figures in 1920s and 30s bohemian Paris after filling a similar role in the Greenwich Village in the teens. Ryder draws heavily on her childhood experiences in Cornwall-on-Hudson. It covers 50 years of her family's history. Fragments of the Ryder family chronicle are interspersed with children's stories, songs, letters, poems, parables, and dreams. The book changes style from chapter to chapter, parodying writers from Chaucer to Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Spine darkened, light shelf-wear. Name on front fly leaf, otherwise clean.

Chicago, Wilcox and Follett, 1st, 1944, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, orange cloth covers stamped in black. B&W illustrations by Milo Winter. 189 pages. Small bookstore stamp to front end papers otherwise very good. An "action-packed adventure story based on authentic history of early Illinois" set during the Black Hawk War. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Robert Carter & Brothers, reprint, 1887, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, green cloth stamped in gilt and black, 436 pages plus publisher's ads. Miller's first prose work, a mixture of legend, folklore, history and contemporary observation, 'a delightfully affectionate picture of his birthplace'. First published in the UK in 1835. Includes the author's dedication and his Introduction to the Second Edition. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Dallas TX, Taylor Pub, 1st, 1992, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 150 pages, in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. Illustrated in color and b&w. Traces the history of science fiction comics from the 1930s to the present, discussing characters and themes, the influence of television and film, and other topics.

Hardcover. New York , Grosset & Dunlap, reprint, 1930, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover, 303 pages plus ads. Notable for the illustrations by Norman Rockwell, four b&w plates. No date in the book but appears to be around 1930. The book has a dust jacket with a color illustration but that does not appear to be Rockwell's work. Dust jacket is bright but has some light spotting.

Softcover. London, Hard Case Crime, 1st thus, 2013, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, colorful wraps with a retro-style illustration by Glen Orbik. COMIC BOOKS ARECORRUPTING AMERICA'S YOUTH! Or so the esteemed Dr. Werner Frederick would have people believe--people like the Congressmen holding hearings on banning violent crime and horror "funny books." And when the crusade provokes a most un-funny murder, Jack Starr--comics syndicate troubleshooter--has no shortage of suspects. Was it the knife-wielding juvenile delinquent or the naked seductress? Perhaps a frustrated publisher or an outraged cartoonist. Or was it a comic book reader...?Inspired by the real-life 1950s witch-hunt against Tales From the Crypt publisher EC Comics, SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT pulls back the curtain for an insider's view of the history of comics--and features more than a dozen brand new illustrations in the classic EC style by comic book legend Terry Beatty. Like new.

Softcover. London, Hard Case Crime, 1st thus, 2013, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, colorful wraps with a retro-style illustration by Glen Orbik. COMIC BOOKS ARECORRUPTING AMERICA'S YOUTH! Or so the esteemed Dr. Werner Frederick would have people believe--people like the Congressmen holding hearings on banning violent crime and horror "funny books." And when the crusade provokes a most un-funny murder, Jack Starr--comics syndicate troubleshooter--has no shortage of suspects. Was it the knife-wielding juvenile delinquent or the naked seductress? Perhaps a frustrated publisher or an outraged cartoonist. Or was it a comic book reader...?Inspired by the real-life 1950s witch-hunt against Tales From the Crypt publisher EC Comics, SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT pulls back the curtain for an insider's view of the history of comics--and features more than a dozen brand new illustrations in the classic EC style by comic book legend Terry Beatty. Like new.

Hardcover. NY, Thames & Hudson, 1st, 2013, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, still in publisher's shrink wrap. Celebrates the height of Weimar cinema through images and commentaries on more than seventy of its finest filmsBetween the First and Second World Wars, Germany under the Weimar Republic was the scene of one of the most creative periods in film history. Through the silent era to the early years of sound, the visual flair and technical innovation of its filmmakers set an international standard for the powerful possibilities of cinema as an art form, with movies such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu, Metropolis, and M building a legacy that shaped the world of film.Here is a showcase of more than seventy films, selected to give a wide-ranging overview of Weimar cinema at its finest. Every genre is represented, from escapist comedies and musicals to gritty depictions of contemporary city life, from period dramas to fantastical visions of the future, with themes such as sexuality and social issues tackled by iconic stars like Marlene Dietrich and Louise Brooks. A wealth of film stills captures the bold vision of great directors like Fritz Lang and Ernst Lubitsch, while the text sets the historical scene and gives intriguing insights into what the films meant to the society that created them.

Hardcover. NY, William Morrow , 1st, 1931, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, blue cloth stamped with black design and lettering. Illustrated with four 2-color plates and endpapers art by Richard Rogers. SIGNED BY STACKPOLE on title page. Light pencil marking to pages throughout otherwise a nice, tight copy. Uncommon title of an adventure set on Nantucket Island.

Softcover. Seattle, Fantagraphics, 2nd pr., 2026, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 264 pages in color. Basil Wolverton is one of the greatest, most idiosyncratic talents in comic book history. Though he is best known for his humorous grotesqueries in MAD magazine, it is his science-fiction character Spacehawk that Wolverton fans have most often demanded be collected. The wait is over: Spacehawk features every story from Spacehawk's intergalactic debut in 1940 to his final, Nazi-crushing adventure in 1942. Spacehawk is the closest thing to a colorfully-costumed, conventional action hero Wolverton ever created, yet the strip is infused with Wolverton's quintessential weirdness: controlled, organic artwork of strangely repulsive aliens and monsters and bizarre planets, and stories of gruesome retribution that bring to mind Wolverton's peer, Fletcher Hanks. Spacehawk had no secret identity, no fixed base of operations beyond his spaceship, and no sidekicks or love interests. He had but one mission in life: to protect the innocent throughout the Solar System, and to punish the guilty. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Mysterious Press, 1st, 2022, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 372 pages, b&w illustrations. There has never been a full-length biography of Mickey Spillane, the most popular and influential mystery writer of his era--until now. Beginning in 1947 with I, the Jury, and continuing with his next six novels, Spillane quickly amassed a readership in the tens of millions, becoming the best-selling novelist in the history of American publishing. Surrounded by controversy for the overt violence and suggestive sexual content of his iconic Mike Hammer private eye novels, Spillane was loathed by critics but beloved by his readers. There is, however, more to Spillane's life than the books. He also starred as Hammer in a movie, was a circus performer, worked with the FBI in capturing a notorious criminal, and starred in Miller Light beer commercials that were so popular they ran for a quarter of a century. Max Allan Collins became Spillane's friend and collaborator, continuing the Mike Hammer series for years after the author's death, building upon unfinished manuscripts the writer left behind. Now, with co-author James Traylor, Collins has produced the first comprehensive and authoritative profile of the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master. Clean copy.

Softcover. Columbus OH, Ohio State University Press, 1st, 2005, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 189 pages. Looks at the response of American writers to Prohibition with an analysis of fictional portrayals of bootleggers, moonshiners, cabarets, speakeasies, and Prohibition-era characters. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, St. Martin's/Minotaur Books, 1st, 2006, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. SIGNED BY TAYLOR on title page. Art history professor Sweeney St. George is in the middle of putting together an exhibit on her specialty, "the art of death," for the university museum when she makes an unusual discovery: A valuable piece of Egyptian funerary jewelry that should be in the museum's collection seems to be missing. Searching for answers, Sweeney learns that a student intern at the museum was the last person to check out the piece, a young woman who died of an apparent suicide soon after she handled the piece, more than twenty-five years ago. Going on with the exhibition without the intricately beaded Egyptian collar, Sweeney can't let it drop altogether. Nor can she forget the student, Karen Philips, who died just a few months after working with the piece. A little digging shows that Karen was working at the museum the night it was robbed, that same year, and Sweeney becomes even more curious. But her interest in mysteries past pales when a present-day murder brings Sweeney and her colleagues at the museum under the Cambridge Police Department spotlight in the person of Detective Tim Quinn, whom Sweeney has worked with before. In the fourth installment in this rich and fascinating series, Sweeney and Tim go after a killer, trying to resolve questions both immediate and decades-old before it's too late.

Hardcover. NY, Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1st, 1977, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, library edition (NOT ex-lib). B&w illustrations by William Sauts Bock. Tales of the Fox sisters and horses that wore charms. This collection of true tales of spiritualism in America is a rare read. The stories are as entertaining as Sleepy Hollo, the only difference is that many of these strange tales are thought to be true. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Doubleday, 1st, 1998, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. Detective Dave Robicheaux re-turns to center stage in an incendiary new novel by James Lee Burke. A gripping tale of racial violence, class warfare, and the sometimes cruel legacy of Southern history, Sunset Limited is a stunning achievement, confirming Burke's place as one of America's premier stylists as well as master storytellers. "Not since Raymond Chandler has anyone so thoroughly reinvented the crime and mystery genre," said novelist Jim Harrison, and in Sunset Limited Burke continues to carve out new territory.

Hardcover. NY, Coward McCann, 1st, 1944, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, 262 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. Dust jacket edgewear and chipping. Illustrated end papers. Black & white illustrations by Sgt. Glen Rounds. Light gutter crack by title page.