Peter Matthiessen by SALTER, James (1925-2015) - 2015

New York: Glenn Horowitz, 2015. Stiff Wrappers. Fine. First edition, one of only 125 copies, of Salter's deeply personal remembrance of his friend Peter Matthiessen. Demy 8vo (221 x 143mm): 10,[2]pp, with photographic portrait frontispiece. Stiff sea-green, speckled, string-tied wrappers lettered in brown. Twenty-five copies were signed by Salter and bound in hard covers. Pristine. Previously published in the New Yorker, this is the first appearance in book form. Matthiessen, cofounder of The Paris Review, and Salter, he of the commas, were neighbors in Sagaponack. In the 1960s, long before the 11962 ZIP code carried the title of most expensive in the country, the small seaside hamlet on the east end of Long Island attracted some of the most talented writers, who were looking for an affordable and quiet place to work. Perhaps more than any other, Matthiessen became close to Salter. Every summer day for a while at about 6 p.m., the pair would meet at Gibson Beach to swim. You can sense what free and easy comrades they were in the frontispiece. They died barely more than a year apart, Matthiessen in Sagaponack and Salter in Sag Harbor. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).