A Reader's Guide to William Gaddis's The Recognitions by Moore, Steven - 1982

NY: A. A. Wyn, 1948. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. A superior copy of this first collected edition of Capek's trilogy of thematically linked novels. Octavo (8 x 5.5 in.); 460pp.; orange cloth boards, orange topstain, in dust jacket. The barest hint of foxing to textblock fore-edge, else fine in a very near fine, unclipped jacket, printed (per British wartime paper restrictions) on the back of a War Office topographical map of Sumatra.

Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow Press, 1983. Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. First edition thus. One of 500 cloth trade copies. Octavo (9.25 x 6.5 in.); 265pp; printed paper boards backed with maroon cloth, in original acetate jacket (not pictured). Fine, with a few spots of nearly imperceptible foxing to textblock top. Near fine jacket lightly rubbed, with a short split at top front corner. A sharp copy of this reprint edition of Fante's first novel, originally published in 1938.

NY: Basic Books, 1961. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Near Fine/Very Good. Inscribed copy of this first collected edition of Fuchs' enduring novels about life in Depression-era Brooklyn, "Summer in Williamsburg," "Homage to Blenholt," and "Low Company," originally published in 1934, 1936, and 1937, respectively. Fuchs has lovingly inscribed this copy to Susan Foster, a long-time personal assistant to film and literary mega-agent Irving Paul Lazar, and later Frank Sinatra. The nature of Fuchs and Foster's acquaintance is unknown, though it seems safe to assume that they might have met during Fuchs' long tenure as a Hollywood scriptwriter. His inscription, "From one Brighton Beachcomber to another," also leaves open the possibility that the two had known each other growing up in Brooklyn. Inscribed by Fuchs and signed as "Dan" on the front free endpaper. Octavo (5.75 x 8.25 in.); vii, 380, 301, 314pp.; red cloth boards, gold lettering on spine,… Read More

NY: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1969. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Very Good/Fine. A rare signed example of this compelling work of cryptozoology by the Argentinian master: an alphabetical compendium of 120 imaginary beasts culled from various literary and world-historical sources. As in many of his best-known works, Borges here takes an existing literary form--the medieval bestiary--and imbues it with new dimension through a variety of quintessentially Borgesian tactics. These include satire, tonal experiments, and the inclusion of entries that push at the limits of what we might consider fantastical beasts ("An Animal Imagined by Kafka," "Animals in the Form of Spheres," etc.). The result is uniquely hybrid text, as much a work about cultural history and the boundaries of the human imagination as it is about imaginary beings themselves. First English-language edition, following Spanish-language editions of 1957 and 1967. Here newly revised and enlarged by Borges and the translator,… Read More

NY: Poseidon Press, 1994. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Near Fine/Fine. Signed first printing of Gaddis' fourth novel, winner of the 1994 National Book Award for Fiction. Signed by Gaddis on the title page. First edition. Octavo (9.5 x 6.75 in.); 586pp.; brown boards with blue-quarter cloth spine, in dust jacket. Near fine (light shelfwear, bumping to spine ends and top of front board) in a fine unclipped jacket mildly crumped at base of spine.

NY: A. A. Wyn, 1948. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. A superior copy of this first collected edition of Capek's trilogy of thematically linked novels. Octavo (8 x 5.5 in.); 460pp.; orange cloth boards, orange topstain, in dust jacket. The barest hint of foxing to textblock fore-edge, else fine in a very near fine, unclipped jacket, printed (per British wartime paper restrictions) on the back of a War Office topographical map of Sumatra.

Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow Press, 1983. Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. First edition thus. One of 500 cloth trade copies. Octavo (9.25 x 6.5 in.); 265pp; printed paper boards backed with maroon cloth, in original acetate jacket (not pictured). Fine, with a few spots of nearly imperceptible foxing to textblock top. Near fine jacket lightly rubbed, with a short split at top front corner. A sharp copy of this reprint edition of Fante's first novel, originally published in 1938.

NY: Basic Books, 1961. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Near Fine/Very Good. Inscribed copy of this first collected edition of Fuchs' enduring novels about life in Depression-era Brooklyn, "Summer in Williamsburg," "Homage to Blenholt," and "Low Company," originally published in 1934, 1936, and 1937, respectively. Fuchs has lovingly inscribed this copy to Susan Foster, a long-time personal assistant to film and literary mega-agent Irving Paul Lazar, and later Frank Sinatra. The nature of Fuchs and Foster's acquaintance is unknown, though it seems safe to assume that they might have met during Fuchs' long tenure as a Hollywood scriptwriter. His inscription, "From one Brighton Beachcomber to another," also leaves open the possibility that the two had known each other growing up in Brooklyn. Inscribed by Fuchs and signed as "Dan" on the front free endpaper. Octavo (5.75 x 8.25 in.); vii, 380, 301, 314pp.; red cloth boards, gold lettering on spine,… Read More

NY: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1969. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Very Good/Fine. A rare signed example of this compelling work of cryptozoology by the Argentinian master: an alphabetical compendium of 120 imaginary beasts culled from various literary and world-historical sources. As in many of his best-known works, Borges here takes an existing literary form--the medieval bestiary--and imbues it with new dimension through a variety of quintessentially Borgesian tactics. These include satire, tonal experiments, and the inclusion of entries that push at the limits of what we might consider fantastical beasts ("An Animal Imagined by Kafka," "Animals in the Form of Spheres," etc.). The result is uniquely hybrid text, as much a work about cultural history and the boundaries of the human imagination as it is about imaginary beings themselves. First English-language edition, following Spanish-language editions of 1957 and 1967. Here newly revised and enlarged by Borges and the translator,… Read More

NY: Poseidon Press, 1994. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Near Fine/Fine. Signed first printing of Gaddis' fourth novel, winner of the 1994 National Book Award for Fiction. Signed by Gaddis on the title page. First edition. Octavo (9.5 x 6.75 in.); 586pp.; brown boards with blue-quarter cloth spine, in dust jacket. Near fine (light shelfwear, bumping to spine ends and top of front board) in a fine unclipped jacket mildly crumped at base of spine.