BLACKWELL’S RARE BOOKS
A 1960’s Miscellany of recently acquired inexpensive editions RA 19.1
Item 23
BLACKWELL’S RARE BOOKS 48-51 Broad Street, Oxford, OX1 3BQ, UK Tel: +44 (0)1865 333555 : Fax: +44 (0)1865 794143 Email: rarebooks@blackwell.co.uk : Twitter: @blackwellrare www.blackwell.co.uk/rarebooks 1
BLACKWELL’S RARE BOOKS
1. Amis (Kingsley) and Robert Conquest. The Egyptologists. Jonathan Cape, 1965, FIRST EDITION, pp. 255, crown 8vo, original pale grey boards, backstrip gilt lettered, top edge faintly browned with a couple of small water-spots, dustjacket a bit nicked at head of rear panel with a strip of faint browning to same, very good £30 2. Ayer (Frederick) The Man in the Mirror. A Novel of Espionage. Victor Gollancz, 1965, FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, pp. 224, crown 8vo, original red boards, backstrip lettered in gilt, dustjacket with some light handling marks, the backstrip panel gently faded and minor rubbing at extremities, very good £60 Marketed by the publisher as a companion to Le Carré, and with the distinction of the author’s greater familiarity with the workings of state intelligence. 3. (Baynes.) UDEN (Grant) A Dictionary of Chivalry. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes. Longmans, 1968, FIRST EDITION, illustrated throughout with some colour-printing, pp. [viii], 352, 8vo, original red cloth, backstrip lettered in gilt, a few faint spots to fore-edge, Baynes illustrations to endpapers, flyleaf with bookplate and a few spots to verso, dustjacket by Pauline Baynes with the backstrip panel a touch faded, very good £45 Pauline Baynes won the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1968 for this book, which outside of her illustrations for Lewis and Tolkien (which it in parts resembles) constitutes perhaps her major work. 4. Benedictus (David) You're a Big Boy Now. A novel. Anthony Blond, 1963, FIRST EDITION, pp. 187, crown 8vo, original fuchsia boards, backstrip lettered in gilt, top edge a trifle dusty, faint partial browning to free endpapers, dustjacket with overall design by T.O. Elmes, minor rubbing, very good £90 Inscribed by the author on the title-page to bibliophile John Baxter: ‘A loyal fan [...] Thanks!’ and dated to April ‘79; a laid-in TLs from the author to the same thanks his correspondent for his kind letter and returns his books inscribed, expressing an interest in ‘doing a piece on collecting movie memorabilia’, etc. The author’s second novel, later filmed - transposed to New York - by Francis Ford Coppola. Benedictus had earlier attended Balliol College, Oxford. 5. Betjeman (John) Summoned by Bells. John Murray, 1960, FIRST EDITION, title decoration and a small design at the head of each verse chapter by Michael Tree, bookplate tipped in to half-title, pp. [viii], 111, 8vo, original green blind-stamped cloth, backstrip lettered in gilt, patterned endpapers with a few faint spots, few spots to edge also, dustjacket faintly spotted and a little nicked and chipped with a short closed tear to lower joint-fold causing some creasing, good (Peterson A29a) £55 6. Betjeman (John) Typed Letter signed. 6th March 1963, signed (twice) in blue ink, headed with Cloth Fair address printed in red, a few small spots, p. [1], oblong 8vo, vertical crease, good condition £60 A letter to a Mrs Tudge, returning her ‘charming photograph of Stokesey’ - ‘I know the castle and church, for I once made a film of them for commercial television’; he is ‘shocked to hear of a factory being put down alongside the castle’, and will refer the matter to Sir Philip Magnus. 2
1960’s MISCELLANY
7. Bowen (Elizabeth) The Little Girls. Jonathan Cape, 1964, FIRST EDITION, pp. [vi], 277, crown 8vo, original yellow boards, backstrip lettered in silver, top edge maroon, a few spots to edges and to blank at rear, dustjacket with price amended in pencil, very good £30 The author’s own copy 8. Burton (Hester) Otmoor For Ever! Illustrations by Gareth Floyd. Hamish Hamilton (An Antelope Book), 1968, FIRST EDITION, line drawings throughout, pp. 92, crown 8vo, original illustrated boards, dustjacket repeating board design with very short closed tear at head of front panel, very good £65 The author’s copy, with her handwritten Kidlington address to the flyleaf. 9. (Gorey.) DEHN (Paul) Quake, Quake, Quake. A Leaden Treasury of English Verse. Drawings by Edward Gorey. Hamish Hamilton, 1961, FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, Gorey drawings throughout, pp. 109, crown 8vo, original yellow boards with Gorey mushroomcloud vignette to upper board stamped in green, backstrip lettered in green, small waterstain to lower corner of upper board, top edge a little dusty, Gorey illustration to endpapers, and dustjacket, the latter a little rubbed and nicked with light foxing to white section on front, small closed tear at head of lower joint-fold, Gotham Book Mart bookmark (to a Gorey design) laid in, very good £40 A set of gleeful and gloomy parodies of traditional verses, updated to reflect the Cold War era. Dehn was a poet, playwright, lyricist, etc., who gained fame as a screenwriter - his credits include Goldfinger and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Gorey’s illustrations offer a suitable rendering of the disappointment and malevolence 10. (Gorey.) NEUMEYER (Peter F.) Donald and the... [Second printing.] Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, [1969,] full-page Gorey drawings throughout, pp. [39], oblong 8vo, original Gorey-illustrated boards and endpapers, dustjacket repeating board design with some minor toning, near fine £80 Signed by Edward Gorey on the title-page. 11. Graves (Robert) More Poems 1961. Cassell, 1961, FIRST EDITION, pp. [viii], 45, crown 8vo, original maroon cloth, backstrip gilt lettered,a little foxing to edges, dustjacket, very good (Higginson & Williams A93) £80 The copy of author and publisher Guy Chapman, Storm Jameson’s husband, with his bookplate. Signed 12. Heller (Joseph) Catch-22. The Reprint Society, 1963, pp. 415, 8vo, original quarter black boards with red sides, backstrip lettered in gilt against a yellow ground, flyer for Heller event laid in, dustjacket, very good £200 Signed by the author on the title-page, with the flyer for the event ‘Yossarian Lives!’ at the 1993 Cheltenham Festival also signed by him.
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BLACKWELL’S RARE BOOKS
13. (Jacques.) RAYNER (Claire) The Calendar of Childhood. A Guide for all Mothers. Illustrated by Robin Jacques. Ebury Press, 1964, FIRST EDITION, line drawings at the head of each month, pp. 207, crown 8vo, original illustrated boards, laminated as issued, spots to top edge, very good £30 Inscribed on the flyleaf by the illustrator, to film-maker and collector Jonathan Gili, ‘with good wishes’. At the foot of the rear pastedown, Gili has made his customry tiny purchase notes in pencil. 14. Kavanagh (P.J.) The Perfect Stranger. Chatto & Windus, 1966, FIRST EDITION, pp. 224, crown 8vo, original blue boards, backstrip lettered in silver, top edge blue, dustjacket with a touch of fraying around head, the price discreetly crossed through in blue ink, very good £45 The copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s daughter Priscilla, inscribed to her at Christmas 1967 from ‘May W.’[?] 15. La Spina (Greye) Invaders from the Dark. Sauk City: Arkahm House, 1960, FIRST EDITION, pp. 168, crown 8vo, original black cloth, backstrip lettered in gilt, Australian bookseller stamp at foot of flyleaf, dustjacket price-clipped with a couple of adhesive shadows showing through to pale areas, very good £50 The author’s first book, following numerous serialised stories - including this Brooklyn werewolf tale. 16. Levin (Ira) Rosemary's Baby. Michael Joseph, 1967, FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, a few leaves with crease to top corner, pp. 222, crown 8vo, original black boards, backstrip lettered in silver, top edge a bit dusty, dustjacket a little rubbed and nicked with toning to rear panel, good £60 With the author’s later signature on a slip pasted to the flyleaf (and covering an earlier ownership inscription): ‘“Hail, Rosemary!” - Ira Levin, 4/29/87’ 17. Lewis (C.S.) Studies in Words. Cambridge: At the University Press, 1960, FIRST EDITION, pp. vii, 240, crown 8vo, original blue cloth, backstrip lettered in gilt partially against a black ground, top edge a trifle dustsoiled, dustjacket with corner clipped at head of front flap (price intact at foot), very good £75 The copy of Sir Geoffrey Keynes, with his ownership inscription to the flyleaf dated ‘Rome Oct. 1960’ - in pencil to the same, below, he has noted a reference to Harvey on Wit on p. 91. 18. MacBeth (George) Lecture to the Trainees. Oxford: Fantasy Press, 1962 FIRST EDITION pp. 24, 8vo, original stapled wrappers, a little grubbiness, touch of corner creasing, good £65 The copy of another of the ‘Fantasy Poets’, bearing the signature of Elizabeth Jennings across the title-page. 19. Murdoch (Iris) The Unicorn. New York: Bard Books (Avon), 1963, pp.287, foolscap 8vo, original wrappers, lightly soiled with backstrip toned, reading creases to spine, good £30 Inscribed by the author on the title-page: ‘For Doris & Henry, with my best wishes, Iris Murdoch’.
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1960’s MISCELLANY
20. Niland (D'Arcy) Call Me When the Cross Turns Over. Michael Joseph, 1965, FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, pp. 223, crown 8vo, original blue boards, backstrip lettered in gilt, top edge a trifle dusty, dustjacket with overall design by Jack Larkin,a couple of small pencil marks to backstrip panel, near fine £35 A review copy, with the publisher’s slip laid in. 21. Okigbo (Christopher) Limits. Ibadan: Mbari Publications, [1964,] FIRST EDITION, title-page printed in brick-red, small abrasion (insect damage?) to bottom corner of same, pp. [23], 4to, original stapled wrappers, a couple of faint spots and the odd light crease, very good £100 Early work by a Nigerian poet who died young, fighting for the independence of Biafra. The publisher was an outgrowth of the Mbari Club - formed by Okigbo, alongside Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka, among others. 22. Osborne (John) Inadmissible Evidence. A Play. Faber and Faber, 1965, FIRST EDITION, pp. 115, crown 8vo, original dark green cloth, backstrip lettered in gilt, dustjacket price-clipped with rubbing to extremities, mark at foot of rear panel, very good £100 Signed and dated (22.9.72) by the author on the initial blank. 23. Partridge (Eric) Comic Alphabets. Their Origin, Development, Nature. With Drawings by Michael Foreman. Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1961, FIRST EDITION, a few small authorial corrections, pp. 134, [1], crown 8vo, original red cloth, backstrip lettered in silver, dustjacket with faded backstrip panel and a couple of nicks, good £70 Inscribed on the flyleaf, ‘To ‘Gip’ Wells, gratefully - from E.P.’; the recipient was H.G. Wells’s eldest son, George Philip - the basis of the gratitude is obscure, as G.P. Wells is not among the extensive list of acknowledgements. The author’s corrections are to the second initial of S.H. Monk in both the text and the Index, as well as to the editions in the list of his books at rear. The recipient has marked a couple of passages with the corresponding page numbers noted on the flyleaf. 24. Rothenberg (Jerome) [Broadside:] 'Poland/ 1931: The Wedding' n.p., n.d., but circa 1967, single sheet of pink paper, a touch of fading to borders, chipped and creased at head with the odd nick elsewhere, one manuscript correction where word repeated, pp. [1], 4to, folded into thirds to form an envelope and addressed by the poet on one panel of the verso (to Carol Borge at Hotel Chelsea, NY), tape residue where once sealed showing through a little to recto, fair condition £50 Inscribed by the poet at the foot: ‘For Carol - Year’s Joys! Jerry, Diane, Matthew’ 25. (Sendak.) MINARIK (Else Homelund) Der Kleine Bär end seine Freundin [Little Bear's Friend]. Bilder von Maurice Sendak [Third printing.] Sauerländer, 1966, colourprinted illustrations by Maurice Sendak to most pages, pp. 62, crown 8vo, original quarter beige cloth with Sendak-illustrated boards, backstrip lettered in brown, very good £75 Inscribed by the artist on the front pastedown, the inscription partly encapsulated in a speechbubble from ‘der kleine bär’ himself: ‘Für Walter in London, Maurice Sendak, June ‘71’.
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BLACKWELL’S RARE BOOKS
26. Snow (C. P.) The Affair. Macmillan, 1960, FIRST EDITION, pp. vi, 376, crown 8vo, original red cloth, backstrip lettered in gilt, a few faint spots to edges and endpapers, Sidney Nolan dustjacket with some minor rubbing and chipping, very good £90 Signed by the author on the flyleaf. 27. Snow (C. P.) Corridors of Power. Macmillan, 1964, FIRST EDITION, pp. viii, 408, crown 8vo, original red boards, backstrip lettered in gilt, top edge a trifle dusty, Sidney Nolan dusjacket with a little rubbing at extremities, very good £55 28. Tevis (Walter S.) The Hustler. Michael Joseph, 1960, FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, pp. 190, crown 8vo, original blue boards, backstrip lettered in gilt, dustjacket by Adrian Bailey, very bright except for some light dustsoiling to the rear panel and a small hole thereupon, very good £65 29. Trocchi (Alexander) Young Adam. Heinemann, 1961, FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, pp. 162, crown 8vo, original maroon boards, backstrip lettered in gilt with slight lean to spine, some very faint spots to top edge, dustjacket with tape reinforcement along top and tail edge, waterstain to bottom half of rear panel (transmitting slightly to lower board), good £75 30. Trypanis (C.A.) Pompeian Dog. Faber and Faber, 1964, FIRST EDITION, pp. 54, crown 8vo, original red cloth, backstrip lettered in gilt, dustjacket with tiny nick at head of front panel and merest hint of fading to backstrip panel, very good £50 Signed by the author on the initial blank: ‘With all good wishes, Constantine Trypanis’. The publisher’s review slip is laid in. Formerly the copy of collector Jonathan Gili, with his small pencilled notes to the rear pastedown recording purchase on the Turl in 1969. 31. Waugh (Evelyn) Unconditional Surrender. The Conclusion of Men at Arms and Officers and Gentlemen. Chapman & Hall, 1961, FIRST EDITION, pp. [vii], 311, crown 8vo, original mid blue cloth, backstrip gilt lettered, top edge blue, contemporary ownership inscription to flyleaf, dustjacket with some very light dustsoiling, near fine £50
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