Search Results: Titles starting with B from Captain Ahab's Rare Books

New York: Mercury Music Corporation, 1946. First Edition. Slim quarto (31cm); original printed wrappers; 3,[1]pp. Signed by Bowles on the front wrapper, beneath his printed name. Trivial wear to extremities, a few faint scuffs to front wrapper; Near Fine. "On Whitman Avenue" was a Broadway musical based on a play by Maxine Wood, in which an idealistic young woman rents out a room in her parents' home, during their absence, to an African-American veteran who saved her fiance's life. Bowles's music was for a lullaby sung during the production; its lyrics, while uncredited, were written by William Saroyan. OCLC shows 15 holdings. Miller E25.

London: New English Library, 1983. First U.K. Editions. An attractive set of the first four books written under King's Richard Bachman pseudonym, originally issued as paperback originals by Signet between 1977-1982. With exception to Rage, nice copies of the UK editions appear with less frequency than their American counterparts. Brooks A5.2, A9.2, A11.2, A15.2. First Impressions. Four octavo volumes (18cm); original pictorial card wrappers; [x],211,[3]; [8],9-253,[3]; [viii],273,[7]; [iv],219,[1]pp. Rage and Roadwork are Fine, sharp-cornered, and with creamy, supple pages; The Long Walk shows light wear to extremities, with a hint of tanning to text edges, else Near Fine; The Running Man shows some mild surface wear, rubbing to joints and extremities, a few vertical stress creases to spine, with the verso of the front wrapper showing a slightly abraded rubber-stamp and ink price of a Birmingham book shop; Very Good.

New York: Lion Books, 1953. First Edition. Thompson's fifth paperback original, a compulsively readable piece of self-mythology which takes the reader on a ride through Thompson's life growing up in the seedy underbelly of the American West. "Burlesque hawker, drunk, bootlegger - drifter, bellhop, gambler, steeplejack, oil hand, and two-fisted brawler - all before he was old enough to vote. That's Jim Thompson's BAD BOY, swashbuckling rogue who made and lost fortunes, and barreled his way through the most lusty 20 years any man ever spent" (from rear wrapper). Hubin, p.393. First Printing, a paperback original novel. Octavo (16.25cm); illustrated wrappers; yellow edge-staining; [6],7-160pp. Light surface wear and dust-soil to wrappers, tanning to text edges and inner wrappers, with shallow loss to upper corner tips of pp.97-120; Very Good.

New York: E.P. Dutton & Co, 1928. First Trade Edition. Attractive edition of this poem, written by Wilde in exile after his release from prison. The poem narrates a hanging which took place during Wilde's imprisonment, complemented by Deco-inspired illustrations by John Vassos. Small quarto (24cm); bluish-gray vertical-patterned paper over black cloth, with titling and decorations stamped in gilt and black on spine and front cover; dark blue topstain; dustjacket; [8],124pp; illus. Inscribed by Vassos on the half-title page: "To Josephine Allen / in symbolism / John Vassos." Recipient's ink name to front pastedown, hint of sunning to upper board edges, with some very faint dustiness to backstrip; Near Fine, and clean throughout. Dustjacket shows trivial wear to extremities, a short tear to lower right corner of rear panel, with a tiny nick to upper right corner of same; an attractive, Near FIne example, absent the usual heavy wear associated with this title.

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007. First Edition. Third novel featuring Royal Thai Police detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep. Dustjacket designed by Chip Kidd. First Printing. Octavo (24cm); black and blue paper-covered boards, with titles stamped in silver on spine; dustjacket; 305, [5]pp. Signed by the author on the title page, dated 15 June, '07. Fine in a Fine, unclipped dustjacket.

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007. First Edition. New. First Printing. A Fine copy in plain orange wrappers. Burdett's third novel featuring Thai detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep; this copy has been signed by the author on the title page.

Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1999. First Edition. First Printing, cloth issue, one of 300 copies. Octavo (23.5cm); pictorial paper-covered boards and grayish-green cloth backstrip, with title label mounted to spine; publisher's original acetate dustjacket; 237,[5]pp. Fine in a lightly rubbed, Near Fine dustjacket. A collection of 11 short stories by the Romanian-American author, written during the 1970s.

Santa Barbara: Capricorn Press, 1971. First Edition. First Printing, hardcover issue, one of 100 copies. Octavo (23cm); pictorial paper-covered boards; [4],5-22,[6]pp. Gently spine-sunned, covers a little dust-soiled and faintly foxed, with some faint, scattered foxing to text edges and margins; Very Good+.

New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2000. First Edition. First Printing. Octavo (23.5cm); black and brown paper-covered boards, with titles stamped in silver on spine; dustjacket; [xii],274pp. Fine in a Fine, unclipped dustjacket (priced $24.00). "In The Beast God Forgot to Invent, this American master gives us three novellas that sparkle with the generous humanity and seasoned wisdom of his vision" (from front flap). Orr & Torrey A36.b.

New York: Avon Publications, Inc, 1959. First Edition. Second novel by Golightly (1919-1998), ex-Greenwich Village bookstore owner, pulp fiction author, and amateur folk singer, who moved from Tennessee to live in the East Side of Manhattan. She claimed Truman Capote modeled his Breakfast at Tiffany's protagonist Holly Golightly on her, famously suing him, Random House, and Esquire Magazine in 1959. Capote denied the connection, claiming he never met Golightly, and she wound up losing the suit. A compelling work of fiction, and one of the earliest Beat Generation novels written by a woman, pre-dating Diane Di Prima's Memoirs of a Beatnik by a decade. OCLC notes 8 holdings (SUNY Buffalo, LC, U.Delaware, Emory, U.Louisville, UNC Chapel Hill, Ransom Center, U.Virginia). First Printing, a paperback original novel (Avon T-310). Octavo (16.25cm); illustrated wrappers; yellow edge-staining; 158,[2]pp. A few pinpoint rubbed spots to wrapper extremities, light wear to upper corners of a few preliminary pages,… Read More

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1953. First American Edition. A well-preserved copy of the Australian author's second novel, and winner of the inaugural Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1954. Described by Pronzini & Muller as a "hair-raising combination of mystery, psychological suspense, and natural (as opposed to supernatural) horror; that novel is set in Marapai, New Guinea, and tells the unconventional tale of Emma Warwick's search for the murderer of her anthropologist husband" (p.410). Hubin, p.218; Barzun & Taylor 1924. First Printing, with publisher's "A-C" code on copyright page. Octavo (21cm); variant bound in taupe cloth-covered boards and black cloth backstrip, with titles stamped in gilt on spine; dustjacket; [vi],250pp. Trivial wear to spine ends and lower corners, shallow production crease to upper edge of rear pastedown, else a clean, Near Fine copy. Dustjacket is price-clipped, with some light rubbing, a few faint creases, a small surface scratch to rear panel, and an unnecessary piece of… Read More

San Francisco: Beatitude, 1975. First Edition. Well-preserved issue of "perhaps the quintessential "Beat" publication...originally published in mimeograph at the Bread and Wine Mission on Grant Avenue in San Francisco's very hip North Beach...Beatitude was originally planned as a weekly newsletter, "designed to extol beauty and promote the beatific life among the various mendicants, neo-existentialists, christs, poets, painters, musicians and other inhabitants and observers of North Beach" (Clay & Phillips, p.81). Contents include the Beatitude Editorial Manifesto I, along with contributions by Neeli Cherry, Jack Hirschman, Harold Norse, Bob Kaufman, Jack Micheline, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, A.D. Winans, and others. Quarto (28cm); mimeographed sheets (rectos), side-stapled, with illustrated cover by Ed Holden; [iv],32pp. Light wear and subtle toning to edges of cover leaf, touch of oxidation to staples, with a tiny tear on the terminal leaf; contents fresh; Very Good+.

San Francisco: Beatitude, 1977. First Edition. An odd format for this issue of "perhaps the quintessential "Beat" publication...originally published in mimeograph at the Bread and Wine Mission on Grant Avenue in San Francisco's very hip North Beach...Beatitude was originally planned as a weekly newsletter, "designed to extol beauty and promote the beatific life among the various mendicants, neo-existentialists, christs, poets, painters, musicians and other inhabitants and observers of North Beach" (Clay & Phillips, p.81). Contents include contributions by Neeli Cherkovsky, Bob Kaufman, Ed Dorn, Tony Dingman, Harold Norse, George Tsongas, Kirby Doyle, and others. Quarto (38cm); mimeographed leaves (printed recto and verso), side-stapled into pictorial covers; [54]pp; illus. Light wear and some toning to wrapper extremities, with a touch of oxidation to staples; contents clean; Very Good+.

[San Francisco: Beatitude], 1975. First Edition. Well-preserved issue of "perhaps the quintessential "Beat" publication...originally published in mimeograph at the Bread and Wine Mission on Grant Avenue in San Francisco's very hip North Beach...Beatitude was originally planned as a weekly newsletter, "designed to extol beauty and promote the beatific life among the various mendicants, neo-existentialists, christs, poets, painters, musicians and other inhabitants and observers of North Beach" (Clay & Phillips, p.81). Contents include contributions by Harold Norse, Neeli Cherkovski, Michael McClure, Jack Hirschman, Jack Micheline, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, A.D. Winans, Kristen Wetterhahn, and others. Quarto (28cm); mimeographed leaves (printed recto and verso), side-stapled into printed card covers; 40pp. Trivial wear to extremities, with a faint, tiny stain to lower rear cover; Near Fine.

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1958. First Printing of this revised and altered edition (the seventh printing overall), with "AA-2.58" code on copyright page. Octavo (20.75cm); teal cloth, with titles stamped in gilt on spine; dustjacket; [vi],449,[1]pp. A single, faint adhesive shadow on front and rear endpaper, else Fine. Dustjacket is price-clipped, with some trivial external wear, and corresponding faint adhesive shadow on flaps; Near Fine. Sharp copy of Fitzgerald's second novel, part of the publisher's uniformly reissued series of his work beginning in the late 1950's, here incorporating some textual alterations. Bruccoli A8.1.g.

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1922. First Edition. Fitzgerald's second novel, first serialized in Metropolitan Magazine (1921-22), set in the heyday of Jazz Age New York and centered around the hedonistic activities of a young artist and his flapper wife. Bruccoli A8.1.a. First Printing (without Scribner's logo on copyright page), one of 20,600 copies. Octavo (19.25cm); full hunter green cloth, with titles stamped in gilt on spine and in blind to front cover; [x],449,[1]pp. Previous owners ink name to front endpaper, spine ends gently nudged, light wear to extremities, with a few faint scuffs and rubbed spots to covers; gilt only slightly dulled, still bright and legible; Very Good+.

Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1999. First Edition. First Printing, cloth issue, one of 200 copies. Octavo (23.5cm); pictorial paper-covered boards and purple cloth backstrip, with title label mounted to spine; publisher's original acetate dustjacket; 239,[5]pp. Fine in a lightly rubbed, Near Fine dustjacket. A collection of autobiographical poems.

New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1974. First Edition. Lengthy anthology of short fiction from the golden age of science fiction (1920-1938), edited by Isaac Asimov. Contributors include Asimov, Edmond Hamilton, Neil R. Jones, S.P. Meek, P. Schuyler Miller, Clifford Simak, Charles Tanner, Jack Williamson, Laurence Manning, Donald Wandrei, Murray Leinster, Raymond Gallun, Stanley Weinbaum, Henry Hasse, John W. Campbell, Jr., John D. Clark, and others. Uncommon in this state. Publisher's unbound long galley sheets (15.25cm x 60.75cm), folded in half, with publisher's typed label mounted to cover leaf; 376 leaves. Light wear to extremities, a few terminal leaves with short tears and attendant creases; title leaf creased, torn nealy in half, with numerous edge tears and some rubber-cement residue surrounding the publisher's label; Very Good+.

London: Peter Owen, 1988. First U.K. Edition. First Impression. Octavo (21.5cm); pictorial card wrappers; [viii],95,[1]pp. A Fine, unread copy. UK edition of the Guatemalan author's first book, a collection of 26 short stories translated by Paul Bowles, originally published by City Lights in 1985.

San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1985. First Edition. First Printing, wrappered issue. Octavo (20cm); glossy pictorial card wrappers; [viii],95,[1]pp. Light crease to upper front cover, trivial wear to crown, else very Near Fine. The Guatemalan author's first book, a collection of 26 short stories translated by Paul Bowles.