Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr.
Welcome to the Monkey House
Seymour Lawrence/Delacorte, New York: 1968
- $848
First edition, first printing ("First Delacorte printing"). A light scratch through the author's name and a small closed tear to the rear of the dust-wrapper; else fine (unusually bright). Vonnegut's off-kilter Orwellian surrealism is in full late-60's flower (printed in August of 1968) in his second collection of short works. The dust-wrapper was designed by the legendary Paul Bacon (who also designed the wrapper of Slaughterhouse-Five).
More from Pryor-Johnson Rare Books
A scene of Temperate Indifference (an excerpt from a novel in progress, WOMEN)
Bukowski, Charles Four pages of typescript (recto only), corrected throughout and signed on the fourth page by Bukowski and dated 1977. Paperclip residue to p. 1 along with a few spots of foxing. Faint transverse crease to the pages. Near fine. The novel was brought out by Black Sparrow Press in 1978. This section takes place before Harry Chinaski (Bukowski's alter ego; on p. 4, the editor identifies them, combining two separate lines of dialogue into one with the marginalium "Both Buk!") is to give a reading. It mentions William Burroughs living in the next apartment, and has Chinaski signing "an early book of poems, poems I had written while I was in the post office" with a drawing. Purchased at Sotheby's Allen Ginsberg and Friends auction in 1999. Presented in a ribbon-closure hard portfolio. [NB: these images have been digitally watermarked.]- $4,950
- $4,950
High-Rise
Ballard, J.G. First edition. Some bumps to the upper edge and to the head and tail of the dust-wrapper (price-clipped, as so many copies were, by the publisher, with Cape's new price stickers (£6.95 net), one atop the other); else fine. Signed by Ballard on the title-page. An essential Ballard title, and difficult to find un-sunned. Looking into the belly of the great urban beast: the high-rise apartment building. Beneath the smug middle-class smiles beat savage hearts. Turned into a 2015 film directed by Ben Wheatley and starring Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons and Sienna Miller.- $950
- $950
The Fringes of the Fleet
Kipling, Rudyard Copyright edition, preceding the first appearance in book form. Stapled card-bound in six octavo parts (I-II: The Auxiliary Fleet, III-IV: Submarines; V-VI: Patrols). Near fine. Then as now, no comprehensive copyright agreement obtained between the two largest anglophone book-markets: the U.K. and the U.S. As a British citizen -- Henry James enjoyed the best of both worlds -- Kipling could not publish works in America that were protected by copyright unless they were published in America first (no relation to the current administration's modus regendi). Thus Kipling and his agent Watt contrived to publish limited runs, sometimes as few as eight copies, with Doubleday in order to secure the American copyright while having the trade edition come out first in Britain. Thus these are the true first editions (see our other items in this category) of many of Kipling's stories in the 1910's and beyond. Based on articles Kipling wrote for the Daily Telegraph, these survey the activities of the navy in World War I. Edward Elgar wrote a song cycle in the following year using these as the basis of the lyrics. Eventually published as the first of a trilogy of Sea Warfare, followed by Tales of "The Trade" and The Destroyers at Jutland.- $495
- $495
Cruising Paradise (Signed Copy)
Shepard, Sam First Edition. A Fine copy in Fine Dustwrapper (as new) Black cloth backed grey boards, spine lettered in silver. 40 short stories by the winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Buried Child, 1979, and Nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Chuck Yeager in the 1983 Film, The Right Stuff.- $195
- $195
The War in the Mountains
Kipling, Rudyard Copyright edition, preceding the first appearance in book form. Stapled card-bound in five octavo parts (I: The Roads of an Army; II: Podgora; III: A Pass, a King and a Mountain; IV: Only a Few Steps Higher Up; V: The Trentino Front). Near fine. Then as now, no comprehensive copyright agreement obtained between the two largest anglophone book-markets: the U.K. and the U.S. As a British citizen -- Henry James enjoyed the best of both worlds -- Kipling could not publish works in America that were protected by copyright unless they were published in America first (no relation to the current administration's modus regendi). Thus Kipling and his agent Watt contrived to publish limited runs, sometimes as few as eight copies, with Doubleday in order to secure the American copyright while having the trade edition come out first in Britain. Thus these are the true first editions (see our other items in this category) of many of Kipling's stories in the 1910's and beyond. A reflection of the British infantry effort in Italy, produced at the suggestion of the Ambassador Sir Rennell Rodd.- $650
- $650
Tales of “The Trade”
Kipling, Rudyard Copyright edition, preceding the first appearance in book form. Stapled card-bound in three octavo parts (I: Some Work in the Baltic, II: Business on the Sea of Marmora, III: Ravages and Repairs). Near fine. Then as now, no comprehensive copyright agreement obtained between the two largest anglophone book-markets: the U.K. and the U.S. As a British citizen -- Henry James enjoyed the best of both worlds -- Kipling could not publish works in America that were protected by copyright unless they were published in America first (no relation to the current administration's modus regendi). Thus Kipling and his agent Watt contrived to publish limited runs, sometimes as few as eight copies, with Doubleday in order to secure the American copyright while having the trade edition come out first in Britain. Thus these are the true first editions (see our other items in this category) of many of Kipling's stories in the 1910's and beyond. Verses relating to the travels and travails of British submarines and submariners. Eventually published as the second of a trilogy of Sea Warfare, preceded by The Fringes of the Fleet and followed by The Destroyers at Jutland.- $550
- $550
Agency, A Novel
Gibson, William First edition, first printing. Fine in a fine dust-wrapper. Signed by Gibson in silver marker-pen on the title-page. The sequel to the best-selling "The Peripheral" from the man who coined the term "cyberspace." An AI-inflected split-timeline science fiction tale.- $65
- $65
The New Army
Kipling, Rudyard Copyright edition, preceding the first appearance in book form. Stapled card-bound in six octavo parts ([I]: The Men at Work; II: The Quality of the Machine; III: Guns and Supply; IV: Canadians in Camp; V: Indian Troops; VI: A Territorial Battalion, and a Conclusion. Near fine. Then as now, no comprehensive copyright agreement obtained between the two largest anglophone book-markets: the U.K. and the U.S. As a British citizen -- Henry James enjoyed the best of both worlds -- Kipling could not publish works in America that were protected by copyright unless they were published in America first (no relation to the current administration's modus regendi). Thus Kipling and his agent Watt contrived to publish limited runs, sometimes as few as eight copies, with Doubleday in order to secure the American copyright while having the trade edition come out first in Britain. Thus these are the true first editions (see our other items in this category) of many of Kipling's stories in the 1910's and beyond. Based on articles Kipling wrote for the Daily Telegraph, these describe of training troops after Germany's invasion of Belgium in 1914.- $475
- $475
District and Circle
Heaney, Seamus First American edition. Fine in a fine dust-wrapper. PRESENTATION COPY from Heaney to Jonathan Galassi, president and publisher of FSG, and Heaney's editor, inscribed: "for Jonathan -/ in the circle/ and holding the line -/ with great affection/ Seamus/ 9 June 2006/ Union Square Café" on the title-page.- $1,450
- $1,450
Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There
Carroll, Lewis; illust. John Tenniel Limited edition (numbered 28 of 1500 copies signed by "the original Alice," Alice Hargreaves (née Liddell)). Some chips and scuffs to the extremities, else fine. Presented in the publisher's original box, toned at the edges, without dust-wrapper (as issued). Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) was a student (i.e., a fellow) of Christ Church, Oxford. The Dean (head) of Christ Church, Henry Liddell, had a daughter, Alice, for whom Carroll told and wrote amusing and diverting tales. Many features of the books (low doors and Cheshire Cat trees) are to be found on the grounds of the college.- $1,750
- $1,750
The Destroyers at Jutland
Kipling, Rudyard Copyright edition, preceding the first appearance in book form. Stapled card-bound in four octavo parts. Near fine. Then as now, no comprehensive copyright agreement obtained between the two largest anglophone book-markets: the U.K. and the U.S. As a British citizen -- Henry James enjoyed the best of both worlds -- Kipling could not publish works in America that were protected by copyright unless they were published in America first (no relation to the current administration's modus regendi). Thus Kipling and his agent Watt contrived to publish limited runs, sometimes as few as eight copies, with Doubleday in order to secure the American copyright while having the trade edition come out first in Britain. Thus these are the true first editions (see our other items in this category) of many of Kipling's stories in the 1910's and beyond. Accounts of the destroyers at the Battle of Jutland, based on very immediate (and somewhat confused) accounts. Eventually published as the second of a trilogy of Sea Warfare, preceded by The Fringes of the Fleet and Tales of "The Trade."- $550
- $550
10:04. A novel
Lerner, Ben First edition, first printing. Faintest bumps to the dust-wrapper, else fine. Signed on the title-page by Lerner. Written in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, 10:04 sees a Lerner-like protagonist navigating life in death in a time of new uncertainty. Hari Kunzru in his Times review called it "frequently brilliant." Shortlisted for the Paris Review's Folio Prize. (There are several variants of the dust-wrapper (the present item featuring a reversed photograph looking northward from south of Manhattan), as well as another 2014 New York edition published by McClelland & Stewart; outs would seem to be the true first.)- $144
- $144
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Carroll, Lewis (Charles Lutwidge Dodson), illust. John Tenniel Facsimile edition of the first edition. Lacking dust-wrapper. Slightly cocked, and with some bumps to the extremities. Very good. Pp. [xvi], 192. With an introduction by Kathleen Norris. Inasmuch as the first edition itself can fetch nearly $100,000, this seems rather a steal.- $78
- $78
True Grit
Portis, Charles First edition, first printing (stated) in book form, after serialization in The Saturday Evening Post. Very good in a good dust-wrapper. With price-sticker residue to the front paste-down. Spine lovely and bright, unusually. The recollection of Mattie Ross of Dardanelle, Arkansas, who seeks vengeance for the killing of her Daddy, accompanied by the U.S. Marshal "Rooster" Cogburn. The basis of two acclaimed films: 1969's Kim Darby/John Wayne picture and 2010's Coen brothers picture, starring Hailee Steinfeld and Jeff Bridges.- $424
- $424
Full Throttle. Stories
Hill, Joe First edition, first printing, limited signed. Fine in a fine dust-wrapper over navy-blue boards printed grey to the spine. "This signed edition has been specially bound by the publisher." With a "signed first edition" sticker to the dust-wrapper. A collection of short stories, including the novella "In the Tall Grass," co-written with Stephen King, which is the basis for the film of the same name. This is the first publication of the story in book form; the novella first appeared in two parts in Esquire in the summer of 2012.- $48
- $48
