Literary Biography from Main Street Fine Books & Manuscripts, ABAA

Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1851. Hardcover. Edited by Henry Reed. Complete 2-volume set. 16mo. Rebound in blue patterned cloth with gilt spine lettering. 4pp ads (dated May 1851), (1), xvi, 472pp; viii, 518pp, (1p). Near fine. Modern (ca. 1930s) rebind shows just faintest of edgewear, while text blocks are tight and bright; discreet and mild ex-institutional, the only… Read more about this item

New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1961. Hardcover. Small 4to. Grey and black cloth with gilt lettering, pictorial dust jacket. xxiii, 867pp. Frontispiece, illustrations. Near fine/very good. Bit of mild jacket edgewear and rubbing, with a few tiny edge chips along top; rear endpaper slightly age toned from long-ago newsprint contact. Tight, attractive first edition of this mammoth standard biography… Read more about this item

London: The Grey Walls PRess, 1952. Hardcover. 8vo. Cream paper over boards with black spine lettering, price-clipped dust jacket. 256pp. Very good/very good. Lower right of front board a bit mottled, else tight and nice; mild jacket edgewear. First British edition of these essays.

New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1953. Hardcover. 8vo. Green cloth with silver lettering, pictorial dust jacket. 445pp. Pictorial endpapers. Very good/very good. Mild jacket edgewear, with tiny chips at head of spine, which is faintly sunned. A tight, handsome later printing of this evocative memoir of the Illinois poet and Lincoln biographer's early years in and around small… Read more about this item

Garden City: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1916. Hardcover. Small 4to. Quarter vellum spine and tan paper over boards with gilt lettering. 111pp. Top edge gilt. Very good. Internally tight and fine, with faint edgewear, rubbing and age toning to binding (only). Attractive first edition, with colophon limiting to 125 numbered copies (this #22). North Carolinian Coleman (1868-1959) met up… Read more about this item

New York: Picador USA, 2000. Hardcover. Small 4to. Black paper over boards with gilt spine lettering, pictorial dust jacket. xix, 811pp. Illustrations. Fine/fine. Bright and tight first edition of this hefty cradle-to-grave biography of the American novelist best known for "Deliverance" and the 1972 film version, but also a prolific poet who in 1966 served as U.S. Poet Laureate.… Read more about this item

New York: Hill and Wang, 1964. Hardcover. 8vo. Teal green cloth with gilt spine lettering, pictorial dust jacket. xii, 333pp. Good plus/good plus. Inoffensive irregular dampstain to bottom couple inches of binding and jacket, though text block largely untouched; jacket faintly edgeworn and rubbed, with spine a bit darkened. Decent first edition of this collection of interviews with the… Read more about this item

New York: Hill and Wang, 1964. Hardcover. 8vo. Teal green cloth with gilt spine lettering, pictorial dust jacket. xii, 333pp. Near fine/good plus. One front board corner bumped; large chip to jacket rear panel and couple other smaller ones. Attractive, quite tight first edition of this collection of interviews with the popular Chicago novelist. Interestingly, this was Donohue's personal… Read more about this item

New York: Hill and Wang, 1964. Hardcover. 8vo. Teal green cloth with gilt spine lettering, pictorial dust jacket. xii, 333pp. Near fine/very good. Jacket faintly edgeworn. Superb, tight first edition of this collection of interviews with the popular Chicago novelist. On the front flyleaf, the subject inscribes and signs large and bold in black marker: "For / Gene and… Read more about this item

New York: Hill and Wang, 1964. Hardcover. 8vo. Teal green cloth with gilt spine lettering, pictorial dust jacket. xii, 333pp. Near fine/very good. Jacket mildly edgeworn, with several neat archival mends on verso. Attractive and tight first edition of this collection of interviews with the popular Chicago novelist -- and an intriguing association copy, for the author boldly inscribes… Read more about this item

Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1940. Hardcover. Small 4to. Burgundy cloth with gilt spine lettering, pictorial dust jacket. xvi, 480pp. Frontispiece. Near fine/very good. Small spot at lower left of front board; jacket a bit edgeworn and age toned, especially spine. A tight and nice first edition of this surprisingly scarce title -- a biography largely in the form of… Read more about this item

Ottawa, IL: Jameson Books, Inc, 1994. Hardcover. 8vo. Quarter burgundy cloth with silver spine lettering and blue paper over boards, pictorial dust jacket. xxv, 292pp. Near fine/fine. Front flyleaf ever-so-faintly toned from long ago newsprint contact. Handsome and tight first edition of this "best of Callaway" essay collection by the award-winning Chicago journalist, radio and television personality, interviewer and… Read more about this item

[New York]: Delacorte Press, 1983. Hardcover. Small 4to. Quarter lavender cloth with gilt spine lettering and black paper over boards, pictorial dust jacket. xiv, 337pp. Near fine/very good. Slightest of jacket edgewear. Handsome and tight third printing of the memoir of this syndicated columnist and "Chicago Daily News" journalist (1935-2019), boldly inscribed and signed by her in blue fineline… Read more about this item

New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 1909. Hardcover. Small 8vo. Green cloth with gilt lettering. xviii, 422pp. Very good. Faint binding wear only -- internally tight and near fine; charming nonauthorial 1924 gift inscription on front flyleaf. A tight and nice first edition, with gilt bright and gleaming.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1919. Hardcover. 12mo. Quarter green cloth and tan paper over boards with green lettering and decoration. 30pp. Very good. Boards age toned and rubbed, else tight and internally fine. Tight, attractive first edition of this autobiographical essay.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1919. Hardcover. 12mo. Quarter green cloth and tan paper over boards with green lettering and decoration. 30pp. Near fine. Boards a bit age toned and rubbed, else tight and internally fine. Tight, attractive first edition of this autobiographical essay.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1920. Hardcover. 12mo. Quarter green cloth and beige paper over boards with green lettering. 33pp. Very good. Binding lightlyworn and rubbed, though internally tight and near fine. First edition of this amusing essay about reaching the half-century mark.

London: John Murray, 1960. Hardcover. Small 4to. Blind-embossed green cloth with gilt spine lettering. 111pp. Headpieces; decorative endpapers. Near fine. Lacks dust jacket. Tight, bright first edition of the British poet laureate's biography of his early years in free verse.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1943. Paperback. 12mo. Stiff lavender wrappers. 27pp. Very good. Tight and internally quite nice, with just light wear and age toning to outer wrappers. First edition of the English humorist and essayist's tribute to fellow writer and critic Strachey (1880-1932), one of the founders of the Bloomsbury Group and best known for his 1918 book… Read more about this item

New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1986. Hardcover. Edited by Ripley S. Hugo, Lois M. Welch and James Welch. Introduction by William Matthews. 8vo. Red cloth spine with gilt spine lettering and grey paper over boards, pictorial dust jacket. xxv, 261pp. Illustrations. Fine/fine. Tight and bright first edition of this posthumously-compiled "memoir" of essays by the noted poet (1923-82).… Read more about this item