hardcover
Burning Bright
New York: The Viking Press, 1950. 159 pp. Approximately 5 x 7 1/2". First edition, first printing. Dust jacket is very good with minor chips and wear and does have the $2.50 price on flap, small closed tear on front top edge of cover. Original tan cloth over boards, red lettering on cover and spine, orange dye on top edges, bookseller's ticket on rear paste-down endpaper, very minor foxing to edges, otherwise in near fine condition. (Goldstone & Payne, A29a)
The form of this book is a "play-novelette", which is a play that is easy to read or a short novel that can be played. Steinbeck used this method experimentally in "Of Mice and Men" and "The Moon is Down" but this book is a more complete attempt at this form. While this book was not critically acclaimed, Steinbeck, as always, is a very vivid writer and bring his four characters to life in this play concerned with the timeless themes of love, jealousy, friendship, and the desire to have a child.
Cape Cod Yesterdays
Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1935. 48 pp. Approximately 6 3/4 x 9 3/4"; LIMITED EDITION of 1075, this being #471 as indicated on the colophon, although the slipcase indicates copy #826, signed by both author and illustrator. Slipcase slightly corner bumped but in near-fine condition with spine label showing title and limitation in excellent shape. Calico cloth covered boards with quarter-bound linen backing, beautiful pictorial endpapers, top edge of all-rag paper is trimmed but other edges are untrimmed, both b/w and full color illustrations by Harold Brett, extra label at rear of book, otherwise in fine condition.
Told from the point of view of remembrances of the departing way of life in Cape Cod. Informal diaglogue brings back the time of general stores, ships that sailed without gasoline engines, travelling by horseback instead of car, fishing, all told with the Cape Cod landscape as a beautiful and scenic background.
Cardography and Card Catalogue
Eugene, OR: Hypatia Press, 1987. 183 pages + Afterward and maps. 5 1/2 x 8 1/2"; LIMITED EDITION, 76 deluxe editions with 56 having hand-tinted tarot cards of the minor arcana tipped in, like this one, being the Lady of Wands. Beige leather slipcase in fine condition; Beige leather over boards with gilt design and lettering on cover and spine, illustrations throughout including beautiful copper tinted gilt endpapers, signed by Orson Scott Card (author), David Hartwell (editor) and Leslie Newcomer (artist) on limitation page, all in fine condition. Includes Catalogue of Card's works, signed by the compiler, Michael R. Collings and Card.
Orson Scott Card (1951 - ) is an American writer, public speaker, and columnist. He is known for many genres but best known for his science fiction and fantasy books, most especially Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead, both of which won Hugo and Nebula Awards.
Carletta; or "Going to Sing in Heaven"
Boston: American Tract Society, (ca 1850). 64 pp. 1 1/2 x 2". Brown cloth over blind stamped boards, gilt title and design on cover with gilt decorations on spine, owner's name on two front free endpapers, all edges gilt, text block attached upside down to cover, some foxing throughout, otherwise in near fine condition.
A juvenile Christian story, touching on the typical topics of salvation, Christian life and conversion. No date on this publication, likely because the tracts were often reprinted.
Cats
Spartanburg, SC: Kitemaug Press, 1968. [8] pp. Approx. 1 1/8 x 13/16". Tan paper wrapper with title on cover, 4 unnumbered leaves, letterpress, illustrations of cats, in fine condition. Very scarce - not found in WorldCat at this time (6/22). (Bradbury, Kitemaug Press 5)
Kitemaug Press is run by Frank J. Anderson and is a private press. The name Kitemaug comes from the Mohegan Indian language and it means "the place of good fishing." Anderson started printing in 1965 so this book is from very early on in his career.
Charles Warren Stoddard: California Classic Series
Los Angeles: Arroyo Guild Press, 1909. 63 pp. Approximately 6 1/4 x 5", oblong. First Edition. Grey paper over boards with dark lettering, some loss to spine, deckled edge paper, gift inscription on front free endpaper in beautiful script handwriting, loose boards, some rubbing to edges, otherwise in very good condition.
Charles Warren Stoddard (1843 - 1909), was an American author and poet who lived most of his life in California. He was in San Francisco during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and is buried in Monterey, CA. Included in this volume are his works: Apostrophe to the Skylark, The Bells of San Gabriel, Joe of Lahaina, and Father Damien Among His Lepers.
Children of the Dark
New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1956. 270 pp. 5 1/2 x 8"; First Edition. Original dust jacket with some creases and small repaired tears, slight waterstain on rear cover, otherwise in very good condition; Black cloth over boards with crisp gilt lettering to cover and spine, crisp and bright, in near fine condition.
Irving Shulman (1913 - 1995) was an American author and screenwriter. Many of his books were adapted into movies. This book was developed after the film "Rebel Without a Cause" came out, however; and, it was based on the story ideas that Shulman had and fleshed out with the screenplay writer, Stewart Stern, and director, Nicholas Ray. The movie was best known for its great performances by James Dean, Natalie Wood, and Sal Mineo.
Children of the night
New York: G.P. Punam's Sons, 1992. 382 pp. 6 1/4 x 9 1/4". First Edition, first printing. Illustrated dust jacket in near-fine condition; black cloth over boards, crisp gilt lettering on spine, map endpapers, faint spotting on top page edges, inscribed on the title page to Diane Peterson, a well-known ABAA dealer, "To Diane Peterson -- /Greetings from Transylvania/Dan Simmons, accompanied by a unique vampire drawing by the author, in fine condition. (Clute & Nicholls, p 1111.)
Simmons' tenth novel, this is an epic horror novel about an American hematologist who adopts a Romanian boy with a mysterious illness that may hold the key to a cure of cancer and AIDS, who unfortunately has a hidden tie to the vampire family of Vlad Dracula. Scariness and horror ensues. This novel was a Locus Award Winner in 1993. Dan Simmons (1948 - ) was the winner of the 1986 World Fantasy Award for his novel Song of Kali.
Christmas in the Olde Coaching Days
[Manteno, IL]: Bronte Press, 1989. Approximately 2 3/4 x 2 1/8", oblong. (22) pp. First Edition. LIMITED EDITION of 75 copies, this being #61. Decorated paper boards with printed labels, letterpress, hand-colored illustrations by the author, signed and numbered on the colophon by Pruchnicki, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Bronte Press 21)
Printing since 1981, Bronte Press miniatures are notable in that all of the illustrations are original works and are often hand-colored. This beautiful miniature tells a charming story of a coachman's adventures during the Christmas season.
Chronicles of Texas, A Sesquicentennial Momento, 1836 - 1986
(San Antonio, TX: Windcrest Press, 1986). (29) pp. 3 x 2 1/4". LIMITED EDITION of 25 copies, this being #19. Blue cloth over boards with metal flag on front cover, postage stamps tipped in, illustrations, signed by the author, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Windcrest Press, 2)
Valentine J. Poska is a librarian by profession who also publishes miniature books under his Windcrest Press Imprint. He also wrote other miniature books published by other publishers. He was an early member of the Miniature Book Society. This little book chronicles many important and trivia related events in the history of Texas, starting with Texas gaining its independence from Mexico and ending with Texas Sesquicentennial (with Dallas Cowboys superbowl wins and a political figures sprinkled in).