Biography

Hardcover. London, Chapman & Hall, 1st, 1912, Book: Fair, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, 312 pages. 16 B&W illustrations. Brown cover with gilt title to spine. Sun-fading and spotting. Unfinished front edge. Heavy foxing to all edges. Ex-Lib sticker on front end page. Tissue-protected frontispiece. Soiling to end pages. Overall, a clean, tight copy. A biography of Agnes Sorel, known by the sobriquet Dame de beaute, was a favorite and chief mistress of King Charles VII of France, by whom she bore four daughters. She is considered the first officially recognized royal mistress of a French king.

Softcover. NY, John Wiley & Sons, 1st pbk, 2002, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover,452 pages, b&w illustrations. Harlow Unger's Lafayette is a remarkable and dramatic account of a life as fully lived as it is possible to imagine, that of Gilbert de Motier, marquis de Lafayette. To American readers Unger's biography will provide a stark reminder of just how near run a thing was our War of Independence and the degree to which our forefathers' victory hinged on the help of our French allies, marshaled for George Washington by his 'adopted' son, Lafayette. But even more absorbing and much less well known to the general reader will be Unger's account of Lafayette's idealistic but naive efforts to plant the fruits of the American democracy he so admired in the unreceptive soil of his homeland. Short inscription to half-title page, otherwise a clean, bright copy.

Hardcover. New York, Dodd, Mead and Company, 1st, 1924, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, 372 pages. Hardcover with no dust jacket. SIGNED AND NUMBERED #90/150 opposite title page. Moderate wear to page edges,. gutter cracked on page 161.

Hardcover. Chicago, Masters Press, 3rd pr., 1998, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 328 pages, b&w photos. Even without his masterful debut as coach of the 1997-1998 Indiana Pacers, Larry Bird's brilliant, gutsy career with the Boston Celtics--three NBA championship rings and a trio of Most Valuable Player trophies--cries out for celebration and reassessment. He was a dominant player, a thinking player who controlled the game as much with his leadership as his keen passing, tough "D," and the soft touch of his jumper. In Larry Legend, Shaw interweaves chapters of Bird's biography with chapters chronicling his Coach of the Year season to create a hybrid volume; rather than do both well, he does both adequately. Everything is here--Bird's French Lick, Indiana, childhood; why he left Bobby Knight and the Indiana University pressure cooker for lower profile Indiana State; the glory years with the Celtics; the rivalry with Magic Johnson; the back problems; and the ways he re-created the Pacers in his own court-burned image. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Grove Press, 1st, 2021, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 364 pages. Last Chance Texaco is the first ever no-holds-barred account of the life of one of rock's hardest working women in her own words. With candor and lyricism Rickie Lee Jones takes us on the journey of her exceptional life: from her nomadic childhood as the granddaughter of vaudevillian performers, to her father's abandonment of the family and her years as a teenage runaway, her beginnings at LA's Troubadour club, to her tumultuous relationship with Tom Waits, her battle with drugs, and longevity as a woman in rock and roll.These are never-before-told stories of the girl in "the raspberry beret," a songwriter who inspired American culture for decades.

Hardcover. Columbia, Missouri, Univ of Missouri Pr, 1st, 1991, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 270 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. Clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to dust jacket.

Hardcover. Columbia, MI, University of Missouri Press, 1st, 1991, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 270 pages. Hardcover with dust jacket. A very clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to dust jacket edges. Black and white illustrations throughout. A tight copy.

Softcover. NY, Overlook Books, 1st, 1988, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 281 pages. Slight wear to wraps, otherwise, clean and tight copy.

Hardcover. Boston, David R Godine, 1st US, 2012, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 389 pages. Clean, unmarked copy in excellent condition.

Hardcover. US, Good Morning Publishing Co., na, 1997, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 320 pages, numerous b&w photos. INSCRIBED by author on front end paper. Clean, tight copy. You may have seen "Hoosiers" ... But you've never hear the real story!. It was a shot that changed the game of basketball, captivated people from all walks of life, and inspired one of the most beloved films of the 20th century. It was the shot made by Bobby Plump in the 1954 Indiana High School Athletic Association boys' basketball championship. And it's the centerpiece of one of the greatest sports stories of all time.

Hardcover. Boston, Godine, 1st, 1982, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 210 pages. Hilary Masters' memoir Last Stands exhibits uniqueness in writing with a universal appeal. Whether it be upper class zeal, lower class pride, war stories, grandparents, grandchildren, health, humor, abuse, neglect, tolerance, strength, or even food, there is something in it for everyone. Overall, Last Stands is a patchwork piece--a memoir and indirect autobiography glittered with several familial biographies. Masters constantly switches scenes and elements of focus, but he overlaps his storyline, keeping the reader grounded, despite a sequence of simultaneous events. Thus, history is tied together in a busy but logical manner. Although Masters reveals disturbing events, he adds tidbits of humor to lighten the mood. In addition, he compares and contrasts fictitious characters, such as Odysseus, to events in his own life--a technique that grants him boundless points-of-view. Furthermore, his ingenuity unfolds with his use of secondary sources: letters, poems, epitaphs, and invitations. Finally, his use of dialogue carries the story where it might otherwise seem bland.

Hardcover. NY, Jonathan Cape & Harrison Smith, 1st, 1929, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, purple cloth, gilt lettering on spine, 288 pages with index, b&w illustrations. Previous owner's inscription on front fly leaf. Light fading to spine. Otherwise clean.

Softcover. Fort Worth TX, Amon Carter Museum, 1st, 1986, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover in sun faded wraps, 339 pages. Laura Gilpin (1891-1979) was a photographer of the American Southwest for over sixty years. She was intrigued by the Navajo Indians but also made excursions to other parts of the United States and to Yucatan as well as documenting life during the Great Depression. The book accompanied a retrospective exhibition and includes a chronological bibliography of her other exhibitions and published work. 167 superb full-page reproductions in tritone, color and duotone. Paper cover with wear, inside bright and clean. DOMESTIC SHIPPING ONLY.

London, Thames & Hudson, 1st, 1976, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket. INSCRIBED BY AUTHOR on the front fly leaf. 126 pages: 98 black and white illustrations and maps. Synopsis: A richly illustrated account of the historical background to, and life of T. E .Lawrence. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Cambridge MA, MIT Press, 1st, 2001, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 406 pages, Hardcover with dust jacket. B&w illustrations. Clean, tight copy. How Le Corbusier's first trip to the United States shaped his critique of the country and affected both his work and the diffusion of his ideas. Le Corbusier's first trip to the United States in 1935 is generally considered a failure because it produced no commissions. The experience nevertheless had a profound effect on him, both personally and professionally. Sponsored by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Le Corbusier promoted his ideas through a lecture tour, exhibition, and press conferences, as well as in meetings with industrialists, housing reformers, New Deal technocrats, and editors. His lectures were watershed events that advanced the cause of European modernism. Yet he returned to France empty-handed and published a bittersweet account, Quand les Cathedrales etaient blanches: Voyage au Pays des Timid Personnes (When the Cathedrals Were White: Journey to the Country of Timid People), which faulted America for lacking the courage to adopt his ideas.

Hardcover. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1st, 1987, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 200 pages. The City of Refuge complex--commissioned by the Salvation Army as part of its program to transform social outcasts into spiritually renewed workers--represents a significant confluence of design principles, technological experiments, and attitudes on reform. It also provides rare insights into the work of one of the twentieth century's greatest architects, Le Corbusier. Brian Brace Taylor draws on extensive archival research to reconstruct each step of the architect's attraction to the commission, his design process and technological innovations, the social and philosophical compatibility of the Salvation Army with Le Corbusier's own ideas for urban planning, and finally, the many modifications required, first to eliminate defects and later to accommodate changes in the services the building provided. Throughout, Taylor focuses on Le Corbusier's environmental, technological, and social intentions as opposed to his strictly formal intentions. He shows that the City of Refuge became primarily a laboratory for the architect's own research and not simply a conventional solution to residents' requirements or the Salvation Army's program.

Hardcover. Gottingen GR, Steidl, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover. Like new in publisher's shrink-wrap. Biography mostly comprised of color and B&W photos of the famed blues musician, and ephemera related to him. Introduction by Tom Waits, foreword by Glenn O'Brien, and poems by Tyehimba Gess. 256 pages.

Hardcover. NY, Harper & Brothers, 1st, 1868, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, 287 pages plus publisher's ads. ...to Which are Prefixed and Added Extracts From the Same Journal Giving an Account of Earlier Visits to Scotland, and Tours in England and Ireland, and Yachting Excursions. B/w illustrations throughout, including two facing frontispieces with tissue guard. Binding still quite good. Tanning and foxing throughout with other agewear appropriate for a book this old. Previous owner's bookplate on front endpapers and ID stamp on preliminary page. Dark red cloth cover boards, gilt title on spine and design on front cover, agewear (see image). From Editor's Preface: "During one of the Editor's official visits to Balmoral, her Majesty very kindly allowed him to see several extracts from her journal relating to excursions to the Highlands of Scotland...It...occurred to her Majesty that these extracts, referring as they did, to some of the happiest hours of her life, might be made into a book,..."

Hardcover. Philadelphia, David McKay, 1st thus, 1900, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, green cloth with gilt lettering and black stamped detail to front board, gilt decorative detail/ lettering to spine, top edge gilt, portrait frontispiece with facsimile signature and dedication to David McKay with tissue guard, 2 pull-out sections of facsimile handwritten autobiography notes by author. Bright, clean copy.

Hardcover. Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Algonquin Young Readers, 1st, 2014, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 113 pages. Hardcover. Extensive color illustrations by James McMullan throughout. Illustrated paste downs and end papers. Clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to dust jacket. McMullan explained, "In my late seventies I decided to organize my memories of my childhood before and during the Second World War into a coherent narrative. The tension of our lives when the Japanese army took over our town in China and the subsequent anxieties of traveling from country to country with my mother has imprinted the incidents of those years into my memory with an enduring lucidity that defies the otherwise fading recall of my aging mind."

Softcover. Prestel, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 96 pages. Roland Penrose met Lee Miller's lips a year before he met the rest of her - in a painting by Man Ray. It was a fitting introduction for two artists who were linked by an art movement that delighted in chance encounters. Together they forged a life joined by a common cause - surrealism. This illustrated joint biography tells the story of how a fashion model turned photographer and an English Quaker turned art collector and surrealist painter influenced modern art with their vision and passion, and created a life together that was in itself a work of art.

Hardcover. NY, Thames & Hudson, 1st, 2023, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, pale rose boards with photo label on front cover. Over one hundred of the most outstanding photographs taken by photographer, model, and surrealist muse Lee Miller, Introduced to photography at an early age, Lee Miller honed her craft in Paris, where she associated with the Surrealists and avant-garde artists including Jean Cocteau and Picasso. Together with Man Ray she accidentally discovered the distinctive technique of solarization to create mesmerizing halo effects. After establishing her own photographic studio in New York, where she became a prominent commercial photographer, she then moved to the Middle East and Europe before becoming the official war photographer for Vogue, a period during which she took many of her most iconic photographs. This evocative book collects Lee Miller's most famous documentary, fashion, and war works, as well as photographs of Miller, all carefully compiled by her son the photographer Antony Penrose, with a foreword by actress Kate Winslet, Cllean copy.

Hardcover. Koln GR, Taschen, 1st, 2001, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 336 pages. One remarkable woman, five remarkable careers: Leni Riefenstahl is the exception to the rule. From dancer to actress to film-maker to photographer to diver, she has excelled in each field and is one of the most important and controversial artists of the 20th century. Her contributions to the art and technique of film-making were vast, most notably in her epochal film "Olympia" (1938). Critically acclaimed during the 1930's for her work under the Hitler administration and harshly criticized after the war, Riefenstahl surged on, completing the famous "Tiefland" in 1954. In the 1960s and 70s she traveled to Africa and extensively photographed East Africa and the Nuba tribes in Sudan, publishing three books. Ready for yet another change, she took up deep-sea diving at the age of 71, beginning a new chapter as an underwater photographer.Though she has attracted much attention throughout her life and has been the subject of many books, articles, and films, Leni Riefenstahl Five Lives is the first book to showcase her entire career in pictures. Produced in collaboration with Riefenstahl herself, the book includes her most famous images as well as many previously unpublished pictures from her private archives.

Hardcover. NY, Knopf, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 400 pages. The definitive biography of Leni Riefenstahl, the woman best known as "Hitler's filmmaker," one of the most fascinating and controversial personalities of the twentieth century. It is the story of huge talent and huger ambition, one that probes the sometimes blurred borders dividing art and beauty from truth and humanity. Relying on new sources--including interviews with her colleagues and intimate friends, as well as on previously unknown recordings of Riefenstahl herself--Bach gives us an exceptional work of historical investigation that untangles the past and is also an objective but unsparing appraisal of a woman of spectacular gifts corrupted by ruthless personal ambition.