Search Results: Literature from Armadillo & Dicker Books & Ephemera

ALS with remnants of envelope, dated Mch 11th, 1920, addressed to J.D. Baker, Pasadena. Two pp. 8.5x11".
"Dear 'D'. I address you as 'D' since you were so kind as to ask me to do so, and also because I want to do so. I have that beautiful cigarette can ….. you know you wrote] Jack [Frost's son] that you had spent that fifty cents and you were going to save up to replace it. Knowing that 'saving up' in these times is close to the impossible I made up my mind that all that money was gone…..Now my dear boy, lay your hand on your heart, wear a beatific look and try hard to tell me the truth about that cigarette can. WHAT DID YOU PAY FOR IT? I know I look rather like a tamed hayseed at times but honest, I aint [sic] as green as I look…..Fifty cents! ….you left a gap that has not been filled, …..bright peiple [sic] are not in the majority here…..I wish you were coming back……..Jack is out on the desert painting a picture. I know he would send his love to you……We have a horned toad… Read More

NY: B. W. Dodge & Company. Fine. Hardcover. 1909. 1st American ed., third issue of the unauthorized edition. 8vo, 1st American ed., third issue of the unauthorized edition; i n pictorial blue cloth with red printed titling. 360 pp. This pir ated edition by Dodge predates the authorized Doubleday edition b y two months. Dodge published only one edition, but with three b inding variants. The third issue was the first to include a dustj acket, although Richards believes. A fine copy except for prior o wner's inked signature on fep. In VG d/w. Collects many pieces that were originally printed in the Civil and Military Gazette an d Turnovers. [Martindell 112; Livingston 328, Richards A227] .

The Century Company. Near Fine. 1913. 1st edition, second state. 1st ed, second state.12mo. "Published, May, 1913" and "1913" printed at foot of title page.1 page undated ads at back. Original light green cloth decorated in dark green and black, in dust jacket . First Edition of London's prizefighting tale. frontispiece by Gordon Grant. This copy is in the second binding state, which is identical in design to the first except for the colors. Sisson & Martens p. 70; Blanck 11945. Near fine; a clean tight copy with just some dust discoloration on top edge. In very good d/w with just a few small edge and corner nicks. Bookstore ink-stamp on back end-paper. .

New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company. 1950. 1st ed.8vo, burgundy cloth in d/w. A collection of 11 short stori es. . on on the front end paper from “Bill Saroyan” to Armen and Ro ss Bagdasarian. Bagdasarian, Saroyan’s cousin, is better known by his stage name David Seville -- singer-songwriter, record pro ducer, and actor, best known for his 1958 hit “Witch Doctor” and for creating “Alvin and the Chipmunks” later that year. Small bump to lower right corner of front board, otherwise fine. in very-good d/w: $3.50 price at lower right corner but upper rig ht front corner is clipped; lightly rubbed and creased at corners and edges; spine darkened. .

Dutton, New York. Fine. 1960. 1st American edition. First U.S. edition; first state. His first major novel, originall y published in Paris in 1936. Advance review copy with review sli p dated "Sep 14 1960" laid in. Conforms to the first issue point s identified by McBride's "Points Of Issue" (1996): Front flap st ates "Lawrence Durrell's Black Book is the first piece of work by a new English writer …" not "T.S. Eliot said…" - Also with t he year 1936 x’d out on the copyright page and replaced by 1959 . A fine copy in very good d/w; just a hint of rubbing to spine e nds and corners. Jacket is not price-clipped but has wear to edge s and corners with several small nicks and creases. .

Macmillan, New York. 1928. 1st ed.. Inscribed by Garland, with added signature of Rudy . CONDITION: Good. Covers: front hinge cracked, light surface wear, a little more so at top of spine. Newspaper review affixed to ba ck free end paper has browned and left image transfer on facing p age. Signed by Garland on front pastedown; two photographs of Ga rland and company on the half-title, along with a guest pass to t he Regent’s Park Zoological Gardens signed by Rudyard Kipling w ho, as a member, gave Garland admittance. Another photo of Garlan d on the verso and a fourth affixed to a blank page facing page 2 05. Unknown whether the extra items were added by Garland or anot her. .

Chillicothe, OH: Charles Lummis. Very good. 1884. 2d edition. 2d edition. 8 pp. 2.5”x3”, stitched, illustrated wrappers. (1 2) pp. A collection of small poems written in the transcendental style, Birch Bark Poems is printed entirely on thin and delicate birch bark, with engravings of birch trees on front and back. Lu mmis cut the bark from the trees, set the type, and did the print ing. This is a later printing [ninth thousand] of the second edi tion. First published while Lummis was working for a small publis hing firm in New Hampshire, the first printing (1878) was only a dozen or so copies. This allowed Lummis to work out the medium's eccentricities. The books proved popular and by the end of the f ollowing summer Lummis had printed more than 3,500 copies in vari ous editions. This lead to a second volume in 1883 and this first work was retitled Volume 1. . fine. Several thin tears in the right margin of the leaves. The se are from natural flaws… Read More

A Paris chez Pissot . Fair. 1782. 1st edition. 1st ed. 12mo, 4 volumes. Contemporary calf, but heavily worn. . ontains a “Preliminary speech on French novels.” , excerpts f rom a variety of works, and an essay on the origin of novels inve nted before the Christian era. The Count of Tressan was a French soldier, physicist and writer, known mainly for his adaptations o f medieval novels of chivalry. He was a childhood friend of Louis XV, then became lieutenant-general and aide-de-camp to the king at the Battle of Fontenoy. Appointed governor of Toul and called by King Stanislas to the court of Lunéville, he received the tit le of grand marshal. Second president of the Société Royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres de Nancy in 1751 and member of severa l other French and foreign academies, he was elected member of th e French Academy of Sciences in 1749 and of the French Academy in 1780. Friend of Voltaire and Buffon, he… Read More

Fair-Good. 1946. 1st ed. 8vo, softcover. 297 pp. , 288 pp. Include articles by Miguel Cova rrubias: Tlatilco-El Arte y la Cultura Preclasica del Valled de M exico; El arte “olmeca o de La Venta. Story by Miguel Angel As turius: Los brujos de la tormenta priveral. Condition: Fair; lig ht wear to covers, some soiling; light cracks on spine; text bloc ks lightly shaken but intact. .

Livingston [Montana]: Clark City Press. Fine.. 1993. 1st . Signed. . 5"x9" stapled wrappers, 34 pp.. Publishers announcement containi ng selections from forthcoming works, including an excerpt from M atthiessen's anticipated book Red and Blue Days/Writings on the A merican West. The book was never published, leaving this excerpt as the only published survivor. Fine. .

1972. Original unpublished and unproduced screenplay about revolt on an American Slave ship [the Fair Angelica] navigating the middle pa ssage, circa 1835. A very unusual subject for Matthiessen. Fair Angelica is a first draft, typed carbon, 123 loose leaves -- an agency copy used to solicit producers and investors -- one of whom was the progressive filmmaker Martin Ritt. Black Cargoes is a revised and retitled draft, 112 pp. in black studio 2 -post covers. Mostly mimeographed, but with a dozen typed and corrected pages interleaved; numerous holographic additions or changes throughout by Matthiessen. The change in title may have been to capture investor interest; there was popular work of non-fiction several years prior [Black Cargoes - A History of the Atlantic Slave Trade by Daniel Mannix and Malcom Cowley.] However this treatment by PM is a work of fiction and unrelated to the earlier book. This screenplay is not mentioned in any bibliographic works about PM. The only other known copy is in… Read More

NY: Harper & Row. 1968. 1st ed., in d/w. Fine copy of Llosa's second novel in d/w with 1/ 2" open tear on front top edge. .

Privately printed: NY. Poor. 1920. 1st edition. Inscribed by Hartmann to minister/writer Paul Jord . 1st ed. 8vo, brown boards, 109 pp, No. 53 of 3000 numbered copies . With an inscription by Hartmann to Paul Jordan Smith -- “from [as Bernard Shaw expressed it] ‘the man who writes about the l ast 30 days of Christ when the first day Him has not yet dawned u pon Earth.” Smith was an American Universalist minister who als o worked as a writer, lecturer and editor. However, he is most we ll known for originating the hoax art movement Disumbrationism. G iving himself the Russian-sounding pseudonym Pavel Jerdanowitch, Jordan-Smith painted a small group of crudely Postimpressionist c anvases that he then entered in art exhibitions around the countr y as exemplars of a new art movement known as Disumbrationism (i. e. painting without shadows). His canvases were well received on the whole until he got tired of sustaining the role and outed him self to a… Read More

Brussells: Louis Hauman et Comp. Good. Marbled boards. 1836. 1st Brussells. CUSTINE, Astolphe (Marquis de) . As It Is] . lgian edition. 16mo. Half-leather, marbled boards. 4 raised band s, gilt titles on burgundy labels, marbled edges. 278 pp. 322 pp. First published in Paris in a larger format,1835.##### . omedy, quite popular in its time. The protagonist, Edmond d'Offli ze, boasts that he can seduce a very rich heiress whose face is s o ugly that it would be acceptable "only in the land of the frogs ." A great muddle of ardor and manners ensues. The Marquis de Cus tine (1790-1857) was a French aristocrat. His father and grandfat her sympathized with the French Revolution but were both guillot ined. Custine's mother was imprisoned and barely escaped the same fate. Although happily married, Custine lived openly in Paris w ith his English lover Edward Saint-Barbe. Aloys, another of his n ovels deals explicitly with homosexuality long before such subjec ts were common to discuss… Read More

1st ed., 8vo. A Very Good- near fine copy but in a dulled and lightly soiled dustjacket with several small edge nicks, darkened spine; not price-clipped.

Culver City: Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios. 1934. Final shooting script. Culver City: Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios, 1934. 4to, pale blue st udio covers, 2-hole punched with brad fasteners. 225 pp. Based up on the 1932 best-selling novel, this is the complete shooting script, dated Dec 27,1934. Studio label on front cover with producti on no. 0554; â2072â stamped in upper right corner. All pages are white with black mimeographed text; no colored page insertio ns or written interlineations. The film was produced by Irving Th alberg and directed by Frank Lloyd. Starring Charles Laughton and Clark Gable, it was one of MGM's biggest hits of the 1930âs an d was a critical success. Despite some historical inaccuracies, later film critics consider this adaptation to be the best cinema tic work inspired by the mutiny and the film is #86 on the Americ an Film Instituteâs list of 100 best American films. It was no minated for eight Academy Awards, including best screenplay, and won the award for Best… Read More

NY: Harper & Brothers. 1954. 1st ed.. The author's first novel, published just after he returned from P aris, where he helped found the Paris Review. Very Good-near fin e in VG d/w. The book itself is clean, bright and tight; the onl y interior flaw is a prior owner’s inked signature at top of FF EP. No rubbing or chipping to covers, as often bound, but a thin fade line at top and bottom of spine. Dust jacket is not price-c lipped but spine is lightly rubbed at top and bottom with some ag e-toning. .

Boston and NY: Houghton, Mifflin and Company. Good. Cloth. 1903. 1st edition. TWO COPIES. 1st ed. 1st and second states. Decorated green cloth. The classic children’s novel about the trials of life, wisdom, and understanding. . he first edition. The imprint at the bottom of spine was first p rinted at 1/16” height. The second state binding increased it from 1/16” type to 1/8” type and both the second and third st ates made small text changes to pages 325 and 327. These two cop ies correspond to BAL varieties 4A and 4B. Copy 4A is fair: ligh t damp-staining to covers, light edgewear, spine rubbed and a ½⠀ partial split at bottom of front hinge; lightly cocked. 4B is Good+: several small spots on back cover, extremities very lightl y rubbed; front gutter cracked; internally very good. .

New York: Farrar Straus and Company. Near Fine. 1948. First edition (with stylized FS to the copyright page.) Pages bro wned as usual, else fine in good, price-clipped dustwrapper with very minor edgewear and large tear to rear panel. Where the origi nal price was clipped, there is a small rubber-stamped $3.00 pric e. Uncertain if this was a publisher repricing or a bookstore. A particularly bright copy of the author's first book. .

Kipling published more than sixteen different editions of "Ditties", adding new content as the years elapsed. The first edition, not present here, was published in 1886 with 11 Departmental Ditties and 15 Other Verses. Over the next several years, he added poems additional poems to most of the new editions – making this collection one a rather intriguing bibliographic oddity and a prize for the completist. This lot consists of ten titles, all first thus of the editions with added content.
-----. 2d edition. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink and Company, 1886. 8vo; issued in gray boards but this copy rebound in beige linen by Higginbotham and Co, Madras. This copy lacking the original 6pp. advertisements at end.This edition had five new poems as well as alterations to three poems not published in England until 1897. Very scarce - only 750 copies of this edition were printed and a notoriously fragile book, hence the rebinding. Very good; inked signature on ffep; paper seal inside back cover. [Livingston 12]… Read More