Search Results: Biography/Memoirs from H.W. Gumaer, Bookseller

New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1995. First Edition, First Printing. . Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. This memoir of artist-writer Millett's youth is a story of growing up gay in the 1950s and '60s in America's Midwest but it is also a tribute to "A.D.", Millett's Aunt Dorothy. A.D., Millett's father's sister, was wealthy, sophisticated, a leading socialite in St. Paul, Minnesota, an adored godmother bestowing gifts and attention to Kate and her sisters. She provided Kate with the money she needed to study at Oxford on the condition Kate leave her female lover behind. Kate accepted the money and took her lover with her anyway. Her aunt never forgave her. Discussing the virtual impossibility of growing up gay in a prominent Irish family in the 1950s and her later struggles as a writer and artist, the author of "Sexual Politics" and "The Politics of Cruelty," Millett to some extent lays to rest a tremendous personal conflict while tracing the quiet… Read More

New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1992. First Edition, First Printing. . Hardcover. Near Fine/Fine. In 1982, Vollman traveled to Afghanistan to see firsthand the war being fought between Soviet occupation troops and Afghan guerrillas. It resulted in Vollman's first non-fiction work, a memoir of a young man coming to terms with his political naivete and confronting his own inadequacy in the face of unlimited suffering. Text shows some slight soiling on top edge, o/w text and boards are clean and unmarked, tight and square, appears unread. Dustjacket appears near perfect, no tears, creasing or chipping, no remainder mark, not price-clipped. Scarce. Collectable.

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1910. First Edition. . Hardcover. Very Good to Near Fine/No Jacket. The first volume of Roosevelt's African big-game hunting memoir, subtitled: "An Account of the African Wanderings of An American Hunter-Naturalist." One of two first editions printed at the same time by Scribner's in 1910. This edition, referred to as the "Subscriber's Edition" with the W.B. Conkey Co. logo on the copyright page, contains many more photographs and illustrations than the trade edition issued at the same time. As the title page notes, "More than two hundred illustrations from photographs by Kermit Roosevelt and other members of the expedition, and from drawings by Philip R. Goodwin." 6 1/2 x 9 3/4 inches, 583 pages, including appendices and index, in olive-green cloth-covered boards with gilt lettering on front cover and spine, and gilt border framing front cover illustration of herd of elephants in a forest. Boards show only minimal… Read More

New York: Robinson , Pratt & Co., 1841. First Edition Thus. . Full-Leather. Good to Good Plus/Issued Without Jackets. This history of the ancient nations of the Near East and Mediterranean by 18th century French educator and historian, Charles Rollin, made history interesting and entertaining to thousands of readers for well over a century until superseded by more accurate and careful works. Originally published in 12 volumes in Paris between 1730 and 1738, this 8-volume Robinson, Pratt edition is a First Edition Thus, translated from the French with a 37-page "A Life of the Author" prefixed to Vol. I. This is a complete set, all 8 volumes, which can be generally described as 4 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches, fully bound in calf with "Rollin's History" and the volume number in gold lettering on the spines. Each book in the set is complete and legible, though all suffer from foxing, scattered in some, heavy in others. Text block edges are moderately soiled and the feps in each book… Read More

New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1909. First Edition. . Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. Alderson's book appears to be the first full-length biography of arguably the most interesting of the 19th century's "robber barons." Earlier than Carnegie's unfinished autobiography or several later more historically oriented works, Alderson's book tells the story of a young Scottish immigrant, who educated himself through reading and, through self-discipline and hard work, was one of the few true rags-to-riches millionaires of the 19th century. Selling his vast industrial holdings, the "Steel King" began a second career as a philanthropist, providing the money, for instance, to build more than 2,800 free public libraries and hold true to what he often said: "A man who dies rich, dies disgraced." Originally issued in 1902, this copy is First Edition, Later Printing (1909). 6 1/4 x 9 inches. 231 pages in green cloth-covered boards with gold lettering on front… Read More

New York: Brant Art Publications, 1986. Magazine. Very Good. Volume 74, No. 2: Contents include a memoir of the making of Diego Rivera's Rockefeller Center mural; an article clarifying French photographer Eugene Atget's documentary work; recent work by Joan Snyder, Dorothea Rockburne and English artist Stephen Buckley; and Issues & Commentary by Carter Ratcliff, Review of Books and Review of Exhibitions including de Kooning and Tony Smith. About 8 1/2 x 11 inches, 152 pages in pictorial paper wrappers showing a detail from Rivera's 1934-35 reconstruction of his destroyed Rockefeller Center mural on front cover. Lower front corner shows touch of bumping. Light reading creases, very minimal surface and edge wear. No tears, scratches, dogears or other significant flaws or damage. No address sticker. Clean, complete and unmarked. A collectable copy

New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1980. First Edition, First Printing. . Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. Blechman was a master draftsman and cartoonist whose work appeared in the leading magazines of the mid-20th century, such as Esquire and the New Yorker and who was in demand as an advertising and book illustrator, noted for his quirky line and sharp wit. 10 1/4 x 10 1/8 inches, 187 pages, numerous black & white reproductions, some in full color. With a foreword by Maurice Sendak. Back board's corners slightly bumped, top edge of text lightly foxed, small remainder mark on bottom edge, o/w boards and text are clean and unmarked, tight and square. Lower corner of back cover shows small tear, o/w primarily white dustjacket shows only very minor surface and edge wear. Collectable copy.

Santa Barbara, CA: Capra Press, 1975. First Printing, First Paperback Edition. . Trade Paperback. Near Fine to Fine. In 1975, Durrell gave a pair of impromptu lectures at Cal Tech and Claremont College in California, reminiscing about Greece as a young writer and later as a diplomat; the lectures became the bases for this book; text illustrated with photos; bookseller's sticker (small green dot) in lower corner of back cover. Wrappers and text clean and bright. An exceptionally nice copy.

Boston: Little Brown & Co., 1928. First Edition, Second Printing. . Hardcover. Good Plus/No Jacket. The fifth book of essays on book-collecting by Newton, one of the great collectors of the first half of the 20th century, whose collection of American and English literature numbered over 10,000 volumes at the time of his death in 1940. First trade edition, published in the same month and year as a limited, signed first. 410 pages, over 130 illustrations and an index. Dark blue cloth spine with grey cloth boards showing bumped and frayed corners, wear along edges and spine ends. Paper spine label worn but all lettering complete and legible. Previous owner's bookplate on inside front cover; owner's name, address and 1929 date on front pastedown. Text edges show some soiling; gilt on top edge a bit of light scratching. Flaws noted, book is clean and unmarked, binding tight and square. A quite decent reading/study copy.

New York: Pantheon Books, 2008. First Edition. . Hardcover. Very Good/Issued Without Jacket. Originally published in a different form in1977 by Belier Press, this collection of comics by Spiegelman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author/artist of "Maus," presents the seminal works that changed how comics are made and appreciated today. Revised and re-issued in 2008, with an introduction that's almost as long as the book it introduces, and certainly autobiographically intimate and daring. (Note: This is NSW, adults-only material.) . First Printing, First Edition Thus. 10 x 14 inches in pictorially illustrated boards, filled with both black & white and full-color graphics. Upper corner of both covers bumped, o/w only very minor surface and edge wear. Text is clean and unmarked, tight and square. A collectable copy.

London: Burns & Oates, Ltd., 1960. First Edition, Later Printing. . Hardcover. Near Fine/About Very Good. A biography of Nicolas LeClerq, known as Brother Solomon, Abbe' of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in Paris, who was among the clerics murdered in 1792 by the French Revolutionary mobs. The author, Dr. W. J. Battersby, a respected author, educator and historian, as well as a modern day member of the same teaching order as Brother Solomon, is best known for his several studies of St. John Baptist de La Salle, founder of the order. The book is signed and inscribed by Battersby on the front pastedown: "To Jim, with best wishes, from W.J. Battersby/ Brother Clair. Sept. 3rd, '68." The text and boards are clean, tight, square, one corner lighlty bumped; the dustjacket shows some edgewear, especially at the spine ends, and a small tear on the upper right corner of the back panel. Quite scarce, particularly signed and inscribed.

New York: The Dial Press, 1966. First Edition. . Hardcover. Very Good to Near Fine/Good To Good Plus. Norman Mailer was a bestselling novelist who, in the turbulent 1950s and 1960s, became a journalist, biographer, actor and political activist, among his many roles. Along with Truman Capote and Tom Wolfe, Mailer was one of the early innovators of creative non-fiction, also known as new journalism, and probably did his best work in this area, winning two Pulitzer Prizes and a National Book Award. "Cannibals and Christians" is a collection of short writings from 1960 to 1966 on topics such as politics, poetry, literary criticism, and sex and society. First Printing, First Edition. About 6 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches, 400 pages in dark-blue cloth-covered boards with gold and silver lettering on spine. Text includes a tipped-in frontispiece photo of a ten-foot model construction of about 20,000 pieces representing a city of the future with some 15,000 apartments for 50,000 people. The photo is also… Read More

Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., 1972. First Printing, First U.S. Edition. . Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. From a writer best known for his adventure fiction such as "H.M.S. Ulysses" and "The Guns of Navarone," comes a graphic history of English Captain James Cook's three voyages around the world between 1768 and 1779, ending with his violent death in Hawaii; illustrated with black and white and color photographs; top edge of text lightly soiled o/w clean, tight, square in dustjacket showing minimal surface and edgewear.

New York: Bantam Books, 1973. First Printing, First Edition Thus. . Mass Market Paperback. Good Plus to Very Good. The author's first book, nominated for a National Book Award, is a sort of emotional autobiography of one young woman's exploration of love, hate and sex in the 1970s; First Printing of First Bantam Edition; text is clean, tight, square in white pictorial wrappers that show some soiling, minimal surface and edgewear; front cover slightly rolled.

New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1991. First Edition, First Printing. . Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. Written in1927 before Miller's international success with "Tropic of Cancer," Tropic of Capricorn" and "Black Spring," then put aside on his return to the U.S. from Paris, "Crazy Cock" was re-discovered after Miller's death by his biographer, Mary V. Dearborn. Partly autobiographical, it is the story of Tony Bring, a writer living in New York's Greenwich Village in the 1920s, bewildered and lost when his wife, Hildred, begins a lesbian relationship with an woman named Vanya. With an introduction by Dearborn and a foreword by Erica Jong. A small remainder "dot" on the bottom edge of the text, o/w text and boards are clean and unmarked, tight and square. The dustjacket shows only a touch of surface and edgewear, no tears, no creasing or chipping, not price-clipped. A collectable copy of this early example of Miller's writing, several years… Read More

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1985. First Edition, First Printing. . Hardcover. Fine/Very Good. In 1959, Hemingway returned to Spain to watch a series of bullfights by two great rival matadors, Ordonez and Dominguin. He had been commissioned by Life magazine to write a short piece on his trip and instead wrote a book-length report on the dramatic competition between the pair of bullfighters. It was his last major literary work and remained unpublished for nearly fourteen years after his death in 1961; illustrated with black & white photos; text is clean, tight, square; dustjacket shows minor rubbing and edgewear, no chips or tears. Scarce. Collectable.

New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 1988. First Edition. . Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. Today, Edgar Degas is generally considered one of the founders of the 19th century French art movement known as Impressionism though he disliked the term and was often critical of the means and methods of other artists he exhibited with under the Impressionist banner. Whatever his artistic philosophy and despite his often grumpy and unpleasant personality, Degas was an immensely talented and innovative artist as is amply demonstrated in this book. First Printing, First U.S. Edition. Oversize, 10 1/2 x 13 inches. 285 pages, including list of illustrations, bibliography and index, in red cloth-covered boards with gold lettering on front cover and spine. 324 illustrations, including 121 plates in full color. Translations from the French by Richard Howard. The front panel of the dustjacket shows a detail from "Dancers in the Wings," (1878-80, pastel and tempera on paper) and the back panel a detail… Read More

New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1952. First Edition, First Printing. . Hardcover. Near Fine/Very Good. A collection of thirteen True Crime biographical sketches of four Civil War era women spies and nine female western outlaws from the 1870s to the end of the 19th century. The spies include Elizabeth Van Lew, the Union's principal spy in Richmond and Rose O'Neale Greenhow, a beautiful Confederate spy in Washington. Among the outlaws, there's Poker Alice, considered the toughest female gambler in the West; Calamity Jane, a tragic misfit who became a symbol for women who were able to hold their own on the frontier; Ella Watson, aka Cattle Kate, a rustler; Belle Starr, called the Bandit Queen of Texas, who became the first woman tried for a major crime in the courtroom of the legendary "Hanging Judge" Parker; and Pearl Hart, lady road agent, who planned and executed the West's last stage coach robbery. 336 pages, illustrated with black & white photos, including a… Read More

New York: HarperCollins, 2006. First Edition. . Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. A memoir from longtime CNN foreign correspondent Anderson Cooper with detailed accounts of his reporting from international war zones and disaster areas such as the tsunami in Sri Lanka, wars in Sarajevo and Iraq and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans interspersed with bittersweet biographical memories of his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, and the untimely deaths of his father and older brother. First edition, first printing. Signed and inscribed by Cooper on the half-title page. Boards and text are clean and unmarked, tight and square, no remainder marks. Dustjacket shows only a bit of light scratching and rubbing, no tears, no creasing, bumping or chipping. Not price-clipped. A collectable copy.

New York: Harper & Row, 1968. First Edition, First Printing. . Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. Exley's cult classic, a fictional memoir based on the author's real struggle, complicated by alcohol abuse and mental illness, to avoid being a lifelong "loser." Son of a fabled high school athlete in Watertown, NY, but with no interest in athletics in a sports-rabid town, Exley's only joy was in watching, through an alcoholic haze, the NY Giants on televison on Sunday afternoons at a local bar. A Giants' victory would seem to justify, for a few hours, his misshapen life. In between football games, drinking bouts, shock treatments and insulin therapy, Exley would venture out into the world to play at being a normal, successful, young man on-the-go only to find each attempt driving him toward insanity again bringing him to the conclusion he is not a hero but merely a fan. Text's fore edge is lighlty foxed, o/w text and boards are clean and unmarked, tight and square; the… Read More