BTC Catalog 182.Pdf
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BETWEEN THE COVERS RARE BOOKS, INC. 112 Nicholson Rd (856) 456-8008 Gloucester City, NJ 08030 [email protected] www.betweenthecovers.com CATALOG 182: Re-Arrivals Literature and Non-Fiction ................ Item 1 Mysteries & Detective Fiction ............... 341 African-Americana ................................ 283 Photography .......................................... 413 Baseball .................................................. 306 Science-Fiction, Fantasy & Horror........ 425 Children’s Books ................................... 319 Westerns ................................................. 451 Film & Photoplays ................................. 332 Western-Americana ............................... 472 As anyone who has been paying any attention to BTC probably knows, our catalogs usually consist almost entirely of “New Arrivals”: that is, books that we’ve acquired within the past month or so. We are and continue to be omnivorous consumers of private libraries and of the inventories of other booksellers and collectors. We currently have about 250,000 books cataloged and offered for sale, with tens of thousands more waiting to be sorted, cataloged, scanned, and trotted out before our adoring (and adorable!) book buying public. As you might imagine, with so much new material to deal with we are generally not very introspective about older stock. We spend very little time fretting over unsold inventory or agonizing that our prices are either too high or too low. We are generally content to let the market take care of that: if they are priced too low they go away, if not they just lie there despondently. While we have occasionally and perfunctorily addressed older inventory by doing sale catalogs or blanket discounts on certain classes of books, we have never before gone back and actually individually re-priced books to market. Until now. I’ve recently revisited the prices of the books that have been in residence longest and tried my level best to price them competitively (obviously and as always, taking condition into account). From the results of that exercise we have chosen nearly 500 books, each one of which has had its price lowered by anywhere from 20% to, in a few cases, as much as 90% off its former price. You’re welcome! We may do more of this in the future, but as these are our oldest inventory, it’s unlikely we’ll ever have such a nice crop of reasonably high-value books that we will reduce the prices on anytime soon. Just saying... --Tom C Literature and Non-Fiction 1 AIKEN, Conrad. Bring! Bring! and Other Stories. New York: Boni & Liveright 1925. First edition. Fine in an attractive, near fine dustwrapper that is a little spine faded, has a couple of small chips and an internal archival repair. A nice copy of Aiken’s first short story collection. [BTC#40268] 2 (Alcatraz). STROUD, Robert (“The Birdman of Alcatraz”). Two Page Autograph Letter Signed. Two page (four sides of two quarto leaves) Autograph Letter Signed (“Bob, Robert Stroud #594”) in pencil, dated September 16, 1954, to his younger brother Marcus. A fascinating, very tightly written letter of over 700 words, eloquently discussing the subjects of race and prejudice, intermarriage between races, and several anecdotes related to these matters. Stroud, the federal prisoner who in his day held the record for solitary confinement (over forty years), had ample opportunity for study. While at Leavenworth he began to keep birds and study them, eventually becoming a respected authority on the subject and authoring two books. He was not permitted to keep birds once he was transferred to Alcatraz in 1942, but he continued to write and produced two more books (an autobiography and a history of the U.S. penal system, both of which the authorities prevented from being published). Stroud’s intelligence and erudition are evident in this letter. Thomas Gaddis’s 1955 biography brought Stroud’s story to the attention of the general public and resulted in the 1962 film about his life starring Burt Lancaster. Stroud’s activities, as one might imagine, were very tightly restricted, and he was only allowed to correspond with a few people at any one time. His letters are very rare on the market. [BTC#13049] Terms of Sale Images are not to scale. Dimensions of all items, including artwork, are given width first. All books are returnable within ten days if returned in the same condition as sent. Books may be reserved by telephone, fax, or email. Institutions will be billed to meet their requirements. For private individuals, payment should accompany order if you are unknown to us. Customers known to us will be invoiced with payment due in 30 days. Payment schedule may be adjusted for larger purchases. We accept VISA, MASTERCARD, AMERICAN EXPRESS, DISCOVER, and PayPal. Gift certificates available. Domestic orders please include $7.00 postage for the first item, $2.00 for each item thereafter. Overseas orders will be sent airmail at cost (unless other arrangements are requested). N.J. residents please add 7% sales tax. All items are insured. All items subject to prior sale. Members ABAA, ILAB Cover by Tom Bloom. © 2013 Between the Covers Rare Books, Inc. Note: Color pictures of all available items in this catalog can be seen at www.betweenthecovers.com by searching under author, title, or BTC number. 3 AMIS, Martin. The Rachel Papers. New York: Alfred A. Knopf 1974. First American edition. “BTP” sticker on the front pastedown (as seems almost inevitable with this title) else fine in fine dustwrapper. An attractive and presentable copy of the author’s first book, and increasingly scarce thus. [BTC#17602] 4 ANDERSON, Maxwell. Valley Forge. Washington: Anderson House 1934. First trade edition. Fine in fine dustwrapper with very slight wear. One of the author’s historical dramas in verse. [BTC#40391] 5 —. The Wingless Victory. Washington DC: Anderson House 1936. First edition. Fine in fine dustwrapper, which features a likeness of leading lady Katherine Cornell. A superlative copy of this verse play. [BTC#40104] 6 — and Laurence STALLINGS. Three American Plays. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co. (1926). First edition. One corner very slightly bumped else a fine, fresh copy, lacking the dustwrapper. Contains three collaborations by these authors including the first book appearance ofWhat Price Glory?, basis for the classic 1926 Raoul Walsh-directed film featuring Edmund Lowe, Victor McLaglen, and Delores Del Rio, remade in 1952 by John Ford with James Cagney, Corinne Calvet, and Dan Dailey. [BTC#43140] 7 (Anthology). ADAMS, Franklin P. as F.P.A., edited by. The Second Conning Tower Book. New York: Macy-Masius (1927). First edition. Fine in an attractive, very good plus dustwrapper slightly soiled on the spine and with a couple of tiny nicks at the crown. Copy 68 of 100 numbered copies Signed by F.P.A. (Franklin Pierce Adams). A collection edited by the popular reviewer and radio host, with many important authors represented, most notably Dorothy Parker with ten contributions, but also selections from E.B. White, Witter Bynner, William Rose Benét, Vincent Starrett, John Reed, Genevieve Taggard, Christopher Morley, Elinor Wylie, and many others. [BTC#46656] 8 (Anthology). (BROOKS, Cleanth). Facets: An Anthology of Verse. Nashville TN: Calumet Club of Vanderbilt University (1928). First edition. Spine ends worn, about very good in fragments of the original dustwrapper. Copy 140 of 250 numbered copies. An anthology of poetry by Vanderbilt students and faculty, most notably Cleanth Brooks. This volume is Signed by Brooks, and Inscribed by contributor Margaret Moore. Scarce. [BTC#40543] 9 (Anthology). CLARK, Barrett H. and Kenyon NICHOLSON, edited by. The American Scene: An Anthology of American Plays. New York: Appleton 1930. First edition. Small, discreet owner’s name, one corner lightly bumped, else fine in attractive, very good or better dustwrapper with some modest chipping at the crown. An anthology featuring work by Eugene O’Neill, Michael Gold, Paul Green, Theodore Dreiser, Booth Tarkington, Edna Ferber, Susan Glaspell, Lynn Riggs, Colin Clements, and others. Scarce in jacket. [BTC#40349] 10 (Anthology). HARRIS, Alex, edited with an introduction by. A World Unsuspected: Portraits of a Southern Childhood. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press (1987). Uncorrected proof. Large spiral bound galleys for in- house use. Light wear at the extremities, just about fine. An important anthology of Southern experience with self-portraits of their youth by Sheila Bosworth, Robb Forman Dew, Barry Hannah, Josephine Humphreys, James Alan McPherson, Bobbie Ann Mason, T.R. Pearson, Padgett Powell, Ellease Southerland, and Al Young. Almost certainly the editor Harris’s copy with hundreds of pencil corrections in the text. The size and construction of this set of galleys leads us to believe that only a handful of them were printed for in-house use. Rare. [BTC#44846] 11 (Anthology). (SHELLEY, Mary, John CLARE, et al.) COATES, Reynell, edited by. Leaflets of Memory:An Annual for 1846. Philadelphia: E.H. Butler & Co. 1846. First edition. Publisher’s full gilt-stamped leather, all edges gilt. Illustrated with color lithographic plates and steel-engraved plates. Scattered foxing, particularly to the plates and tissue guards, a little light rubbing, a tight, very good plus copy. Includes a 20-page story, “The Dream,” by Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, and John Clare’s sonnet, “Fame.” [BTC#40530] 12 ARMSTRONG, Anthony as “A.A.” Britisher on Broadway. London: Methuen & Company (1932). First edition. Contemporary owner’s name, one small ink check mark on contents page, else fine in attractive, very good dustwrapper with a few small chips and tears. Autobiographical anecdotes by popular columnist “A.A” of the magazine Punch about the frustrations, delights, and confusions of an Englishman in New York City. Very scarce in jacket. [BTC#38728] 13 ARMSTRONG, Martin. The Romantic Adventures of Mr. Darby and of Sarah His Wife. London: Gollancz 1931. First edition. Japanese vellum and cloth. Small stain on the edge of the spine, slight scuffing to the front board else near fine, almost certainly issued without dustwrapper.