Search Results: Appalachia from Lorne Bair Rare Books

Huntington, WV: Aegina Press, Inc, 1992. First Edition. Slim octavo (21.5cm); illustrated wrappers; 82, [4]pp; illus. From the library of Ben and Bernarda Shahn, with their bookplate to verso of front wrapper and inscribed to Bernarda on the front endpaper: "For Bernarda, With great respect and admiration / Dave." Additionally signed by Herrstrom on the title page. Hint of sunning to spine, else Fine. Collection of poems based on Biblical stories, illustrated throughout by Jacob Landau.

New York: E.P. Dutton & Company, 1945. First Edition. Slim octavo (22.5cm.); publisher's cloth in grey decorative dust jacket; 93pp. A few tiny chips and closed tears to jacket extremities, else a Very Good or better copy, nicer than usually seen. The Georgia mountain poet's first book.

New York: E.P. Dutton & Company, Inc, 1938. First Edition. First Printing. Octavo (22.5cm); coarse green cloth boards, with titling and decorations stamped in gilt on spine and front cover; light green topstain; dustjacket; [12],13-399,[1]pp. Spine ends gently nudged, subtle offsetting to endpapers along the gutters; Near Fine. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced $3.50), gently sunned and dust-soiled, modestly edgeworn, with several nicks, tears, and attendant creases (one of them neatly tape mended on verso; Very Good. An early, autobiographical work by Stuart, charting his young boyhood in Kentucky.

Philadelphia: Dorrance & Company, 1950. First Edition. First printing. 12mo (19.5cm). Red cloth, titled in gilt on spine and front cover; dustjacket; 232pp. Straight, unmarked, Near Fine copy in the original pictorial dustwrapper, unclipped ($2.50 price on front flap), lightly rubbed at spine ends, Very Good or better. A novel of the West Virginia coalfields, with a disastrous cave-in as the central plot device. The novel was written as an exposé of dangerous conditions in American mines, and concludes with a plea to readers to support a House bill requiring owners to close mines that did not meet federal safety standards. The author was the grandson of economic reformer Henry George. A very nice copy of a book not seen frequently in commerce; plentiful in institutional collections but most appear to be circulating copies. HANNA 1379.

N.p. [Weston?]: Upper West Fork River Watershet Association, N.d. [ca 1980]. Broadside, 11" x 8-1/2". Photocopied on standard copier bond. Old folds for mailing, else Fine. Broadside/flyer expressing opposition to a major Army Corps of Engineers dam project in Lewis County, in north-central West Virginia. Cites the project's expense, the destruction of farmland and wildlife habitat it will cause, and notes that less expensive, more environmentally sensitive alternatives are available. Despite vocal local opposition, the Stonewall Jackson Dam was completed in 1986, displacing about 1,800 local residents.

New York: The Viking Press, 1931. First edition, limited to 200 copies. Octavo (22.5cm); medium green boards, stamped in gilt, in glassine dustwrapper (no slipcase); TEG; 3-296pp. Spine lightly sunned; gentle handling wear to boards. Glassine toned, chipped edges with short tears and some material loss. Textblock leading edge deckled; original green satin ribbon marker laid-in. Very Good. Out-of-series copy, unnumbered; lacking slipcase. Humorous moral tale concerning the meaning of wealth, following the fate of a rural family who unearth a pot of gold while digging up a stump in their garden. Kentucky author.

New York: The Viking Press, 1931. First, Limited Edition. One of 200 signed, hand-numbered copies (this being no. 8). Octavo (22.5cm); medium green boards, stamped in gilt, in unprinted glassine dustwrapper and slipcase; TEG; 3-296pp. Fine copy in slightly chipped glassine and original publisher's slipcase, lightly worn at spine ends; Very Good. Humorous moral tale concerning the meaning of wealth, following the fate of a rural family who unearth a pot of gold while digging up a stump in their garden. Kentucky author.

New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1981. First Edition. First printing. Ocatvo. Cloth-backed boards; dustjacket; 256pp. Remainder stamp to upper edge of text block, else a fine copy. In the original dustwrapper, unclipped (priced $12.95 on front flap), crisp, unfaded and unworn. A new-appearing copy. Smith's fifth regularly-published book, a collection of short-stories.

New York: W.J. Watt, 1913. First Edition. Octavo (19cm). Pictorial cloth boards, lettered in black; 348pp; 4 inserted leaves of plates (incl. frontis.) by Douglas Duer. Trivial rubbing to board edges; still a tight, bright, Near Fine copy, lacking the scarce jacket. Buck's fourth published novel (of more than 20), adhering to what Boger calls "the general theme and tenor of all Buck's works": an "outlander" (in this case a sensitive artist from a northern city) arrives in an isolated mountain community in Kentucky, where he finds himself unwittingly ensnarled in a generations-old family feud; he falls in love with the heroine, daughter of one of the feuding families, and through their marriage brings peace to the community. Buck's novels, while undeniably treacly, are notable for their sympathetic portrayal of Kentucky mountain folk and for their progressive portrayal of mountain women as active, assertive characters. HANNA 500. BOGER 38. COAN, p.68.

New York: Henry Holt, 1924. First Edition. First printing. Small octavo (19cm). Tan cloth hardcover, titled in green on spine and front cover; xxxiv,174,[6]pp; illus; frontispiece and 7 inserted leaves of photographic plates (halftones). Gentle toning to spine cloth, else tight and Near Fine, lacking the dustwrapper. Includes "The Return of Buck Gavin, the Tragedy of a Mountain Outlaw," the first book appearance for novelist Thomas Wolfe.

New York: E.P. Dutton & Co, 1942. First Edition. First Prinitng. Octavo (19.5cm). Green cloth covered boards titled in black on cover and spine; 285pp. Spine ends lightly pushed; mildrubbing with faint evidence of bookplate removal on rear pastedown and endpaper; Very Good, lacking the dustjacket. HUBIN, p.152. [Kentucky Moonshine Mystery] "Too many suspects and too few clues combine to make it difficult for Sheriff Jess Roden to solve the mystery of the death of Vivian Beck. Of one thing Roden is certain: Mrs. Beck was not killed by the pack of dogs which roams the countryside at night. The evidence is meant to point in that direction, but Roden knows too much about dogs to be deceived." NYtimes.com.

Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1924. Fourth Printing. Octavo (19.5cm); red cloth boards, lettered in gilt on spine and front cover, in tan printed dust jacket; ix,[1],459pp. Minor shelf wear, outer jacket panels and flap folds a bit dust-soiled, slight spine lean, else Very Good or better. A novel of coal miners set in New Hampshire, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. A sympathetic portrait of mining life, with little or no labor content. HANNA 3667.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1885. First Edition. First printing per BAL, with text dimensions 7" x 4-5/8" and 4pp publisher's catalogue titled "Out-Door Books." Octavo (18.5cm). Pictorial brown cloth, stamped in black, titled in gilt on spine; [iv],196,[6]pp; 4pp of publisher's ads at rear. Bookplate of the Greenfield Library Association. Sound and bright but rubbed, with a slight forward lean: around Very Good. The prolific Murfree's third book, reprinted often (including 4 printings in the first year) but uncommon in the first edition. Murfree's first novel, "In the Tennessee Mountains," is a classic of Tennessee fiction and is considered by Boger to be the "granddaddy of all mountaineer tales ... [it] gave great impetus to the rise of the genre." The present title is missed by Wright and Boger. BAL 14802.

New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1901. First Edition. Octavo (19cm.); publisher's dark green pictorial cloth embossed in orange, red, black, and gilt; [2],vi,[2],278,[4](ads)pp. Textblock a bit shaken in binding, light edge wear, contemporary gift inscription on early leaf, else a Very Good, quite brilliant copy. HANNA 2917: "The mountaineers of West Virginia." SMITH P-542.

New York: Delacorte, 1976. First Edition. First Printing Octavo (21cm); white cloth covered boards titled in gilt on the spine; brown endpapers; dustjacket; 216pp.; spine ends are pushed; former owner's name on the front free endpaper; faint soil at rear; Very Good+ or better. The dustjacket is unclipped (priced $7.95) with minor rubbing to the top edge; Near Fine. "This autobiographical story of Forrest Carters boyhood illuminates tha almost mystical communion between Indian and his land- a feeling that goes far beyond what we call ecology." (from the dustjacket) "Whether or not Carter wrote The Education of Little Tree from his actual childhood memories of his Cherokee uncle and grandparents has been disputed. Carter had been an active participant in several white supremacist organizations, including the Ku Klux Klan and the White Citizens' Council. He was also a speechwriter for Alabama governor George Wallace, for whom he allegedly wrote Wallace's famous line "Segregation now, segregation… Read More

New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1985. First Edition. First printing. Octavo. Green paper-covered boards; dustjacket; 272pp. Fine, apparently unread copy. In the original dustwrapper, unclipped (priced $14.94 on front flap), crisp, unworn and unfaded. A new-appearing copy.

New York: Random House, 1973. First Edition. First printing. Octavo. Cloth-backed boards; dustjacket; 329pp. Tight, clean copy in the original dustwrapper, unclipped (priced $7.95 on front flap), slightly faded on spine panel. An attractive, Near Fine copy of the author's third novel.

Durham: Duke University Press, 1974. Second printing (first published 1957). Octavo; tan buckram (hardcover); xli+639pp; frontispiece illus. Fine copy, lacking dustwrapper. Volume Five only of a seven-volume set.

Durham: Duke University Press, 1974. Second printing (first published 1957). Octavo; tan buckram (hardcover); xliv+420pp; frontispiece illus. Fine copy, lacking dustwrapper. Volume Four only of a seven-volume set.

New York: Broadcast Music, Inc, 1953. First Edition. Quarto. Gray cloth boards; dustjacket; 67pp; illus. A clean, tight VG to Near Fine copy in the original pictorial dustwrapper which is darkened on spine with a small (ca 1/2") triangular chip at crown (not affecting text); Very Good. Collection of Appalachian mountain songs and ballads as sung by Jean Ritchie on her various iconic folk albums of the Fifties, here arranged for piano by Hally Wood Gordon. The illustrations are by Alberta Sordini, and the book was designed by Merle Armitage -- one of the great modernist designer's lesser-known works. A somewhat uncommon title, especially in such nice condition.