Search Results: Authors starting with V from Downtown Brown Books, ABAA

[Avalanche Records], 1971. A rare example of original album cover art by one of the legends of the medium. John Van Hamersveld (b. Baltimore, 1941) designed the iconic poster for the surf film Endless Summer while still in art school. As a professional graphic designer he did the album covers for The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour, the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St, plus LPs by Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jefferson Airplane, Bob Dylan, Blondie, and even Charles Bukowski (Reads His Poetry, 1980). This is an original painting on acetate for the cover of Beans self-titled debut (and only) album for Avalanche Records, a nascent label under United Artists Records. The Day-Glo design is based on Van Hamersveld's character Johnny Face, which appeared on popular headshop posters beginning in 1970. As far as your cataloger can tell, very little of Van Hamersveld's original album cover art is in private hands, making this a rare opportunity to acquire an original piece-one featuring his most… Read More

North Vancouver, BC, Canada: [Charles van Sandwyk Fine Arts], 2004. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. The limited edition, illustrated with an original, signed Van Sandwyk etching. The is a charming illustrated book about animals by an artist known for his work with the Folio Society. This is one of 200 deluxe copies, "printed on Canson Miteintes and Arches watercolour paper with [14] colour plates on Lystro cream...hand bound by Simone Mynen." The edition was 200 copies signed by the artist with a tipped-in engraving of a hedgehog writing in a book. The limited edition is scarce and much sought-after. First edition (preceding the trade edition by three years). A fine copy in red-orange cloth with a tipped-on illustration and spine label. This is copy 117 of 200.

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1932. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. A collection of short pieces, many reworked for this publication. The first edition was 2000 numbered copies. xx, 230 pages. First edition (first printing). A very good copy in a very good dust jacket that is tanned at the spine and is missing one-inch piece near the top of the spine. There is fading to the cloth visible through the chip and a shadow from the jacket on the front board. Two bookstore labels on the rear pastedown. With the publisher's survey postcard laid in.

Newark, VT: Janus Press, 1973. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. A wonderful interactive artist's book from one of the great book artists of the 20th century. 39 sheets of colored acetate and die-cut paper, in a folding cloth portfolio. 8 by 10 inches (roughly). In this wordless book (the only text is the title and publishing information, printed on the front pastedown), Van Vliet reinterprets the ideas in her landmark 1964 work, Sun, Sky, and Earth. In that book, flaps of various shapes and colors could be flipped open to create minimalist landscapes abstracted to simple shapes and colors. Some of the flaps included descriptive words. In this "book", Van Vliet has abstracted not only the elements of landscape but the book itself. The "flaps" are no longer attached to the binding, leaving the "reader" (there is no text, but what else would we call the user of a book?) free to rearrange the sheets at will. One can even conjure a science fiction landscape of many suns, rising or setting in a sky of… Read More

Bellamar (Matanzas), Cuba: Ediciones El Fortín, 2019. First Edition. Near fine. A handmade artists' book interpretation of Amelia Vento Pichardo de Tápanes' 1933 collection of poems by the late, great Cuban book artist Rolando Estévez, published in an edition of 36 copies. The text is color photocopies of individual pages from an original copy of De mi jardín interior on an abstract watercolor background. The title page is embroidered on a piece of cloth with ragged edges. The illustrations are color copies of collages with paper additions to a few pages. Estévez's afterword is reproduced from a handwritten manuscript. The cover is black paper adorned only with a mid-20th century matchbook in a pocket on the front cover. Estévez was the creative force behind Ediciones Vigía, the acclaimed Cuban book-arts cooperative for decades. He left Vigía in the 2010s and formed the El Fortín to make more personal books with smaller limitations. 18 leaves. Not in OCLC. A near fine copy; no. 24 of 36… Read More

London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, 1882. Hardcover. Fair. A nice profile photograph of Jules Verne reproduced by Woodburytype tipped in as the frontispiece of a bound volume of G. A. Henty's Union Jack magazine. This is identified as Volume III on the title page, but includes vol. II, no. 49 (December 2, 1880) to vol. II, no. 53 (Dec. 30, 1880), pp. 129-208; plus vol. III, no. 93 (October 6, 1881) to vol. III, no 144 (September 28, 1882), pp. 1-832. A Woodburytype is a 19th century printing method used to create high-quality reproductions of photographs. Union Jack was a weekly adventure magazine aimed at the young adult audience edited by G. A. Henty and with many contributions from him. Verne Woodburytype has a faint vertical crease and a tiny chip missing from the top edge; the outer joints of the pebbled cloth binding are cracked; two text leaves are missing, pp. 78-79 and pp. 417-418, and are supplied in photocopy. With several foldout illustrations.

Lombard, IL: Gargoyle Press, 1988. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. One of 1000 copies signed and numbered by the illustrator, who has made drawings for this edition. Vess is best-known for his work in comics, including Web of Spiderman and Rocketeer. [31] pages. 5-1/2 by 6-1/2 inches. First edition (first printing). A fine copy in a fine dust jacket. Signed by Vess on the limitation page.

London: Herbert Jenkins, 1948. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. A locked room mystery (I think). There is no date in this book, but it was serialized in the New York Daily News in 1948. First edition (first printing stated). A very good copy in a like dust jacket. Some wear to the edges. With a 2/- price stamped in ink on the front flap over the original 8'6. Scarce in jacket.

New York: Random House, 1973. First edition. Hardcover. Near fine/Near fine. An historical novel narrated in part by Aaron Burr, best-known today as the vice president who killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. One of Vidal's most consistently popular novels. First edition (stated, with a numberline ending in 2, as was the publisher's practice for identifying first printings). A near fine copy in a slightly spine faded, else near fine dust jacket. Signed by Vidal on the half-title page. This trade edition is somewhat uncommon signed (there was also a signed Franklin Library edition). Although it's probably of no significance, I will note that a publication date ("1/74") is inked over on the back flap of the dust jacket, with "11/73" printed next to it. Most likely all copies came this way. But perhaps not. This jacket is priced at $8.95 and has promo copy for the Random House dictionary on the back flap.

New York: E. P. Dutton & Co, 1949. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good/Good. Vidal's fourth novel. First edition (stated). A good to very good copy (previous owner's gift inscription; small bookplate on the front pastedown) in a good-only jacket, faded at the spine with dampstaining and old tape repairs visible on the verso (back). Inscribed by Vidal in 1998.

New York: E. P. Dutton, 1946. First edition. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. The author's first novel. First edition (stated). A very good copy in a very good dust jacket. The jacket has less wear than most, but its back panel and the endpapers are heavily foxed.

San Antonio: Wings Press, 2002. First edition. Trade paperback. Fine. The poetry of Alma Villanueva, like her prose, is drawn from the gut, her womb, and a vital point in an intelligent woman's mind."-Ana Castillo. Substantial. Small edition of 750 copies; this is one of 50 signed and numbered by the author. 203 pages. First edition (first printing). Fine in wrappers. Numbered, and signed by the author on the colophon.

Nueva York [New York]: Colección Mensaje, 1972. First Edition. Trade paperback. Fine. The Texas author's first book, a scarce key work in the Chicano literary canon. The first edition is not dated; a second printing was issued in 1974. Dating of this copy is based on the publication dates of the other books by the same publisher listed on the rear flap of the French-fold wrappers. 48 pages. 4-3/4 by 7 inches. First edition (first printing). A fine copy in wrappers.

Austin: Place of Herons Press, 1984. First Edition. Trade paperback. Near fine. 82 pages. Poems. First edition (first printing). Near fine in wrappers (paperback; there was a very scarce hardcover issue published simultaneously). Signed by the author on the title page.

Houston, TX: Arte Publico Press, 1991. First Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. 551 pages. One of the breakout Chicano novels of the 1990s, a heartfelt and mystical family saga of Mexican immigrants in the US. First edition (first printing). Fine in a fine jacket. The book has virtualy no fading or wear to the jacket. Quite uncommon in this condition--the jacket is printed on thin paper and wears easily. Inscribed to the previous owner by the author on the front free endpaper.

Houston, TX: Arte Publico Press, 1991. First Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. 551 pages. One of the breakout Chicano novels of the 1990s, a heartfelt and mystical family saga of Mexican immigrants in the US. First edition (first printing). Near fine in a near fine jacket. The jacket is printed on thin paper and wears easily, but this is a decent copy with a tape repair on the back of the jacket. Inscribed at length in the year of publication and signed by Villaseñor.

London: Viking, 1990. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/Near fine. Correct first edition (first printing), preceding the US edition. A near fine copy in a near fine dust jacket. Inscribed by the author with her true name, "Ruth Rendell as [Barbara Vine] To Stephen Gould with best wishes." The recipient was Stephen Jay Gould, the noted American paleontologist and writer. Rendell was one of his favorite writers and he mentions her in several of his books.

New York: Cambridge Encyclopedia Co, 1900. First US edition. Hardcover. Fine. This book, translating a 19th century work on gold and a sixteenth century work on payments and the power to issue coinage were published following the 1900 Gold Standard act, which connected the value of the dollar to gold. "In the Fluctuations of Gold [originally published in 1838 in German] Humboldt studied the dynamic forces behind the distribution of precious metals and their impact on prices with his accustomed sensitivity to the complexity of interactions."-Anne Marie Claire Godlewska, "From Enlightenment Vision to Modern Science" in Geography and Enlightenment. Translated into English, revised, and annotated by William Maude. Each section has a separate title page and is prefaced by a short biography of the authors. 45; vii, [5]-79, [2 ads] pages. First edition (first printing). A fine copy in the publisher's green cloth.

New York: Seymour Lawrence, 1993. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. A collection of short tributes to the novelist Richard Yates (Revolutionary Road), including Vonnegut's remarks. This copy is signed by Vonnegut with a self portrait. It is also inscribed to a previous owner by Andre Dubus, another contributor. 63 pages. First printing. A fine hardcover copy; not issued in a dust jacket. Very scarce signed by Vonnegut.

Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky Art Museum, 1999. First Edition. Pamphlet. Near fine. This is a brochure / exhibition catalog for a show of screenprints by Kurt Vonnegut and Ralph Steadman, with assistance on a few items by Hunter S. Thompson and William S. Burroughs. Vonnegut and Steadman both contribute essays. Three works illustrated in color plus various spot illustrations, including a repeated motif of Steadman's trademark ink splatters. [12] pages. 6 by 10-1/2 inches. First edition (first printing). A near fine copy with small ink stains from Ralph Steadman's exuberant pen. Signed by Vonnegut and Steadman at the back.