Search Results: Titles starting with S from Biblioctopus

Richmond, CA: Sunbury Productions, 1966. First Edition. Wrappers. Very good. The only separate printing of the third book by one of the pioneers of Underground Comix. Stories, cover and art by Beck. Original color printed stiff paper wrappers, 16pp. Some toning and staining to the cover, else internally clean and overall very good. Along with Frank Stack and Jack Jackson (Jaxon), Beck helped develop the distinct artistic style and themes of Underground Comix. Marching Marvin is the best art of Beck's influential portfolio. An out of work Santa Clause has become the official story teller for a horny princess. He tells her the story of ‘Happy Land' where everyone is happy and they don't need to practice tolerance because they all get along so well. The social harmony quickly begins to deteriorate with the arrival of pornographic magazine publisher, Hugh F. Hare who presents the fantasy of transforming Happy Land into ‘Best Land' (for only $40/month plus necessities). Everyone is Happy Land is… Read More

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1962. Uncorrected proof. Tall octavo. Spiral bound. Very good or better with two small tape remnants on the front wrap. Rare format of the first important biography of Fitzgerald.

London: D. Wilson, 1754. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. 1st edition of the finest, most accurate, and largest obstetrical atlas published up to that time. Large folio (21 1/2" X 14 9/16"), 22 leaves of text, unsigned and unpaginated, errata on recto of last leaf, 39 engraved plates, numbered I-XXXIX. 19th century half morocco with gilt leather label to front board, endpapers renewed, but this is a very good and superior copy with no repair, and no stains. Rare (Norman says, "presumably issued in only 100 copies"). The plates in this pioneering book give everywhere, and for the first time, a masterly representation, true to nature, of the relations of the parts of mother and child, and have contributed more to spreading correct ideas of labor than all the books that had previously been written on the subject. Of the 39 plates, 26 were based on drawings by the Dutch comparative anatomist Jan van Rymsdyck. 11 other plates were by one of Smellie's students from Holland, Dr. Pieter Camper, and… Read More

Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1913. First Edition. Hardcover. FINE/good. 1st edition. His first novel, a bestselling, still hailed, mystery, and the source of 6 films. Rear inner paper hinge deftly strengthened else fine in a 1st printing dustjacket, the flaps blank, the lettering and $1.30 price in gold (a G&D reprint looks similar), 5 pieces of unnecessary tape on the recto, a chip to the front foredge, light wear to the spine's edges, a scratch to the front panel, but good condition and, despite its flaws, tolerable to most for a 109-year old jacket when it's such a scarce one on such an avidly sought title. RBH lists one auction sale in jacket since 1975, and that was 20 years ago. Baldpate is a summer resort closed for the winter (as to the other seasons, spring always comes too late, and the autumn wind is a Raider). A writer hoping to work alone is given, what he is told is, the only key. Then 6 more keys progressively appear in the hands of unanticipated visitors, none of whom are telling the… Read More

London: J. M. Dent and Sons, 1917. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/good. 1st editon, "First Issue of this Edition, March 1917" on copyright page. Near fine in an unrstorted dust jacket with chips and splitting along the spine and front flap fold, else good.

London: Burns & Oats, 1909. First Edition. Full morocco. Very good. 1st edition. Full red-orange morocco and gilt, with restoration to the hinges else very good.

The Moon, 1971. fine. Silk American flag (4" X 6") carried to the Moon and back aboard Apollo 14. Fine condition (gleaming). This comes with an incontrovertible signed letter of provenance on Apollo stationery, but additionally and more pointedly (and reassuringly) this flag is titled and signed, in black ink, directly on 2 of its white stripes in the handwriting of Apollo 14 Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell, "Flown to the Moon Aboard Kitty Hawk on Apollo 14, Edgar Mitchell, LMP" an undetachable authenticity, that is better than letters or certificates which can be shuffled (and shuffled they are), as the majority of these flags when seen (if seen) are glued at the corners to a printed certificate, from which they can be removed and replaced with any flag. Furthermore, left over (or faked up) certificates can have said "any flag" added, but not this one, since the signed stripes are indivisible from the flag, and they affirm exactly what it is, and do so on sight, a nice feature if you want to frame it.

Paris, 1869. Very good. 11 November. 4pp in one bi-folded leaf. The top edge chipped with some losses to words, strengthened with archival tissue tape, else very good. A wonderful and long scientific letter written at a time when Pasteur was making many of his most important discoveries relating to bacteria, pasteurization and the fermentation process of wine. The letter (in French), reads, in part: : "[...] The claims of these gentlemen are based only on errors and I think I have demonstrated it very well this year as in 1866[...] You asked me for an opinion on two points, the action of oxygen and the temperature of the must. As for oxygen, note, as is exhibited in my studies on wine [Paris, Imprimerie impériale, 1866] that it is necessary to distinguish carefully between a brush oxidation and a very slow oxidation, the difference is enormous between these two modes of action: the first is almost always harmful[...] As for the heating of very sweet wines, here is the complete theory that you must… Read More

Bolinas: Four Seasons Foundation, 1965. First Edition. Wrappers. Fine. 1st edition. Stapled printed wrappers, pencil mark erased from upper right corner, else fine. Issued as 'Writing 9.'.

New York: Van Winkle, 1820. First Edition. Wrappers. good. 1st American edition, 1st printing (all points per B.A.L.). It is the last in an 1819-1820 (7 vol.) series in which Irving invented the modern short story, but the 4 tales in our volume form a distinct and complete book with individual pagination (the first 5 vols. are continuously paginated), and even on its own it is laudable. Original wrappers, spine gone, covers loose but holding, a cover stain at 8 o'clock, a large chip to the blank corner of A2, the first half-title (no text lost), pencil notes to rear blanks, but good, and rare, and real, and the only right copy in wrappers we have had. Ex-E. S. Litchfield. The NY edition of The Sketch Book was published serially in 7 parts in paper wrappers, the London edition in 2 volumes in boards and labels. The NY edition's part IV (Nov. 19, 1819) preceded vol. I of the London edition with parts I-IV (Feb. 16, 1820), but vol. II of the London with parts V-VII (Jul. 20, 1820) preceded the NY's… Read More

Providence: Buffalo Book Company, 1946. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/very good. 1st edition (preceded only by the novel's appearance as a 3 part serial in Amazing Stories magazine). Smith's first book Just 500 copies were published (Hadley's 1947 edition is a reprint). Near fine in a very good dustjacket. Ref: Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 2-114, "The archetypal pulp space opera...". Although earlier snippets of science fiction, imaginary voyages, and futuristic military fiction, touched the concept of what is now called space opera, The Skylark of Space is the modern template, the first significant science fiction sub-genre development since H. G. Wells, and one of monumental effect, encompassing among its themes the vast interstellar stage, horrific alien civilizations (the despotic circumstance), and ongoing battles with arch-enemies possessing advanced technologies, laying the baseline for the likes of Asimov's Foundation, Herbert's Dune, Roddenberry's Star Trek, Lucas' Star Wars, and all… Read More

New York: Atheneum, 1967. Uncorrected proof. Spiral bound in tall wrappers. A light crease at one corner of the front wrap and the first couple of pages, a little offsetting at the top of the front wrap, one spiral partially broken, a very good copy. The author's first novel. Very scarce in this format, presumably issued in only a handful of copies.

Los Angeles, 1969. Very good. Original, 3 page, handwritten, working manuscript for The Beach Boys' Soulful Old Man Sunshine, composed by Brian Wilson and Rick Henn. 1 page of lyrics (8 1/2" X 11"), 2 pages of music (9 1/2" X 12 1/2"), both handwritten in black ink, and a contemporaneous printed lead sheet for the track (9 1/2" X 13"). All the writing is by Henn (thus the price). No other concurrent drafts, by Wilson or Henn, are recorded. A few creases and signs of age, a staple hole at an upper corner of the lyric sheet, else very good. Recorded in November 1969, but its release was delayed at the insistence of lead singer Carl Wilson who missed a word in his vocal. It was finally issued, 29 years later, on the band's 1998 Endless Harmony Soundtrack compilation.

Gainsville, 2001. fine. Digital color pigment print, 2005, 14 1/2" X 13" (the image 9" X 9"), this issue for the Halsey Institute, College of Charleston. Signed, titled, dated, and numbered 3 of 10, in pencil, in the margin. Light foxing (verso only), else fine. Framed and UV glazed. Ex-Gay Burke, acquired by her from Taylor. The tension between art and technology is almost over, though a few crusty traditionalists linger. Maggie Taylor was there at the beginning, a surrealist photographer of mysterious narrative riddles, and a major one, if not "the" major one (you can look her up). I think Southern Gothic is her best, and the association is a good one too, being that Gay Ann Burke (1946-2017) became the first female full professor at the University of Alabama Department of Art and Art History, where she developed a distinguished fine art photography program, and became the "Mother of Alabama Art Photography" before retiring in 2015. You're not a perfected artist until you have learned to cheat… Read More

Hampton: Hampton Institute Press, 1905. First Edition. Wrappers. Very good. 2 vols. Vol. XXVIII, No. 1, January 1899 and Vol. XXXIV, No. 11, November 1905. Both in their scarce original wrappers, with chipping to the extremities (the 1905 issue is more extensive) a light vertical fold crease to the 1899 issue, but both are complete and clean internally. Very good. Pre-1920 issues are scarce. OCLC list many institutions that have some scattered issues, but a complete run in holdings is improbable. In the 1899 issue is an uncollected (and otherwise unpublished) short story by Dunbar, "A Southern Silhouette" in which a formerly wealthy and powerful southern family fully supports the Confederate cause, looses everything then is saved by a northern businessman who returns them to their old financial status, but they're unable to gain back happiness and freedom. The 1905 issue includes a review of Dunbar's book of poetry "Howdy, Honey, Howdy". The 1899 issue In the 1899 issue are further contributions by… Read More

New York: The Viking Press, 1962. First edition. Fine in wrappers and fine dustwrapper. One of 3200 copies. A lovely copy.

London: Faber and Faber, 1964. Uncorrected proof. Printed wrappers. Fine.

New York: Lincoln MacVeagh, the Dial Press, 1924. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/very good. 1st edition. Near fine, in a dust jacket with edge chips and some spotting, else very good. A book of stories by Thomas Mann, Sherwood Anderson, D.H. Lawrence, James Stephens and others.

London: Macmillan, 1883. First Edition. Cloth. Fine. 2 vols. 1st edition. Original cloth. Fine.

Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1954. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/good. 1st edition in English. Original silk over boards, spine faded half a shade, else near fine, in a jacket with chips at the edges, and a short pen line to the front panel, else very good. I am no panegyrist of Ting Ling (1904?-1986), in fact I know nothing about her, beyond her oft-altered biography, but she was "the" Chinese feminist novelist, and the ultimate Asian uberfrau, bravery indeed in China under Mao. She was a prodigy at Shanghai and Peking Universities and at 28 was appointed editor of the official left wing writer's journal, but in 1933, her outspoken contempt for male chauvinism earned her 3 years in a Kuomintang prison. A book of stories (When I was in Sha Cuan, 1945) was greeted with the Chinese revolutionary equivalent of rock star popularity, followed by the expected Party discipline (status is measured by deference). Seeking a subject dear to the heart of the Party line, and harmonious with her own… Read More