Search Results: Titles starting with I from Captain Ahab's Rare Books

Greenwich, CT: Fawcett Publications, Inc. / Gold Medal Books, 1958. First Edition. First Printing, a paperback original novel (18cm); pictorial card wrappers; yellow edge-staining; [8],9-141,[3]pp ads. Subtle tanning to text edges, else Fine and unread. One of two novels written by Evan Hunter under the Curt Cannon pseudonym - a private eye novel about a disgraced detective bumming on Skid Row in New York, after attacking his cheating wife and best friend. Hubin, p.63.

New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1930. First American Edition. An early novel by Jepson (1863-1938), in which a serial killer stacks up a pretty healthy body-count as he works through the guest list of a dinner party thrown by a wealthy businessman and war profiteer. The cast of characters includes a prominent sociologist, an author of erotic poetry, a pornographer, and an somewhat amoral "bad girl." Uncommon. Hubin, p.219. First Printing. Octavo (19.25cm); red cloth, with titling and decorations stamped in blue on spine and front cover; dustjacket and publisher's original wraparound advertising band; [viii],319,[3]pp. Base of spine nudged, else Fine, with the publisher's seal to pp.275-319 completely intact. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced $2.00), lightly rubbed, with a touch of dustiness to rear panel; Near Fine. Wraparound band is gently faded and lightly dusty; Near Fine.

London: Arthur Baker Ltd, 1938. First UK Edition. The author's third book, a hard-boiled depression-era novel set in Hollywood. Centered around an aspiring young actor and actress, living on the skids and hoping for a break, the novel explores the cut-throat and exploitative nature of the movie business, giving glimpses of "the whole range of Hollywood life - its parties and night clubs, its mansions and cheap bungalows, its gallery of fantastic characters, merciless business men, frauds, geniuses, and vultures..." (from front flap). Hubin, p.260. First Impression. Octavo (19cm); beige cloth-covered boards, with titling and decorative elements stamped in navy blue on spine and covers; yellow topstain; dustjacket; [viii],222pp. Hint of sunning to spine, touch of offset from jacket flaps onto endpapers, else a fresh, Near Fine copy. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced 7/6 net), gently spine-sunned and lightly edgeworn, with a few small nicks to spine ends and a few closed tears; Very Good+.

New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1941. First Edition. First Printing. Near Fine in a Near Fine, unclipped Second Printing dustjacket. Two small rubbed spots on the cloth at spine and rear panels, with a bit of faint even toning to the pastedowns and endpapers, else a sharp copy with an even red topstain. The jacket is an impressive example, the best we've seen for this title, with minute rubbing to the front corner tips and flapfold, some pinpoint rubbing at the spine ends, and three very small, unobtrusive surface scrapes at the spine panel. The $2.00 price is unclipped, with 'Second Printing' printed in red at the upper edge of the front flap. 'I Wake Up Screaming' was a major hit for Fisher, who until its publication was writing for pulp magazines and minor publishing houses. In addition to being a quintessential Hollywood novel, the book is a hard-hitting and desperately dark piece of crime fiction; Fisher, in fact, based the novel's corrupt detective on fellow crime novelist Cornell Woolrich. The… Read More

London: Robert Hale, 1943. First British Edition. An intriguing intersection of hard-boiled literature, the Hollywood novel, and film noir. The book was purchased by Twentieth Century-Fox prior to publication in 1941 and the film was released the same year. Today it is not only viewed as a foundational film noir, but also one of the first in which the cinematography and deeply damaged characters were utterly soaked in the noir ethic. The film was released in the UK in 1942 - about a year after the US release - under the title "Hot Spot," and this edition, issued in typically miniscule quantities of 500 or fewer by Robert Hale, advertises itself as the basis for that film. A seriously rare book, perhaps even more so that the US edition; indeed, we were unaware of the existence of the Hale imprint until this copy was located. The Dark Page, Vol.1, p.98-99; Hubin, p.146. First Impression. Octavo (19cm); black textured cloth, with titles and revolver design stamped in red and silver on spine; dustjacket;… Read More

N.p.: S.i., 1962. First Edition. Screenplay for this adaptaion of Bradbury's short story, which first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1956, and collected a decade later in S is for Space. The story is centered around the first manned rocket flight to the moon, relayed with surprising accuracy seven years prior to the Apollo 11 mission. Joseph Anthony Mugnaini (1912-1992), Italian-American illustrator and Bradbury's long-time friend and collaborator, spent two years creating thousands of sketches and more than 300 oil paintings to help flesh out the 18-minute animated short film, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1962. According to a note in L.W. Currey Catalog #71, around 35-40 copies of the script were prepared for Bradbury to distribute. Uncommon, with no copies found in the auction record, and OCLC noting a single holding at the Ransom Center. Quarto (28cm); mimeographed sheets (rectos), brad-bound into jade green printed wrappers; [ii],21pp. Boldly signed by… Read More

Austin: The Encino Press, 1968. First Edition. Attractive copy of this early collection of nine essays on Texas, touching on themes of "the end of the cowboy era and the exodus from the ranch to the city and suburbs" (Kirkus Review). Preceded by a first printing that was so littered with typographical errors (the worst of them being "skycrapers" for "skyscrapers" on p.105) that it was recalled and destroyed, with surviving examples known in the low to mid-two figures. The second, corrected printing was issued simultaneously in a signed limited and trade format. Second (corrected) printing, limited issue, one of 250 numbered copies specially bound and signed by the author, this being copy no.121. Octavo (cm); printed paper-covered boards and tan calf backstrip, with titles stamped in black and gilt on spine; publisher's original linen slipcase; xviii,177,[1]pp. Light wear to heel, else Fine in a Fine slipcase.

New York: Remember I Did This For You / A Power Mad Book, 1978. First Edition. One of four mimeographed books of poetry produced between 1978-79 by Steve Levine and Barbara Barg's Remember I Did This For You press, all volumes with covers designed by Rae Berolzheimer. Master's relationship to Myles extends back to the 1970's, both of them part of the talented group of writers involved at St. Mark's Church-In-The-Bowery, frequent collaborators, and contributors to the Masters/Lenhart/Scholnick publication Mag City. An early inscription connecting two important New York School poets. OCLC notes 11 holdings. Clay & Phillips, p.230-231. One of 200 copies. Quarto (28cm); mimeographed sheets (rectos), side-stapled into typographic card wrappers; [13]pp. Inscribed by the author to Eileen Myles on the title page: "Eileen - I do it all for you...Love Greg." Around the authorial inscription is the following note in black grease pencil, in an undetermined hand: "SEX+POETRY THIS DECADE OR SO." Light wear to… Read More

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996. First Edition. New. First Printing. A Fine copy of the uncorrected proof, bound in light bue wrappers, announcing an initial print run of 75,000 copies.

New York: R.H. Russell, 1901. First Edition. Best-known mystery by the Philadelphia-born novelist and journalist, "which contains three connected short stories in the style of Robert Louis Stevenson's New Arabian Nights (1882). There's a double surprise ending" (Penzler & Steinbrunner, p.117). A Queen's Quorum title, with distinguished provenance. Hubin, p.109; BAL 4537; Smith D-155. First Printing. Octavo (21cm); navy blue cloth, with titling and decorations stamped in gilt on spine, and pictorial title label within a gilt-ruled border on front cover; Blanck's state B (priority is arbitrary), with last leaf excised, and true endpapers of white laid paper at front and back; dustjacket; [6],7-155,[1]pp; with frontispiece and 15 plates of illustrations by Thomas Mitchell Peirce and F.D. Steele. Armorial bookplate (Everett) on front pastedown; some wear to spine ends, light rubbing to corners and lower board edges, with contents clean, and the gilt and pictorial elements unrubbed; Very Good+ to Near… Read More

New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1965. First Edition. First novel featuring Ball's African American homicide detective Virgil Tibbs, who finds himself immersed in racial conflict after a murder takes place in a small Southern town. Winner of the Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1966, and basis for Norman Jewison's Oscar-winning film adaptation, starring Rod Steiger and Sidney Poitier. Hubin, p.21; Pronzini & Muller, p.38. First Printing. Octavo (21cm); light gray paper and black cloth-covered boards, with titles stamped in silver on spine; dustjacket; [viii],184pp. Hint of sunning and some trivial wear to upper board edges, else Near Fine, and clean throughout. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced $3.50), with some pinpoint wear to base of spine, four closed tears, and a tiny spot of laminate lift at upper left corner of front panel; Near Fine.

London: Grant Richards Ltd, 1916. First Edition. Inclinations, as its title announces, is about the propensities, and more specifically about the sexual propensities, of a number of women...One of these, really a girl, is Mabel Collins, who ends by marrying an Italian count. She is contrasted with another woman, Geraldine O'Brookmore - Gerald to her friends - whose inclinations are toward Mabel...Since he depicts Gerald as a Lesbian and a bluestocking, takes both Gerald and Mabel as tourists to Athens, and surrounds them with more tourists, Firbank comments on a number of things in addition to inclinations" (Benkovitz, p.154). Benkovitz A3. First Impression, one of 500 copies. Octavo (19.5cm); black cloth, with titles stamped in gilt on spine and front cover; hunter green topstain; dustjacket; [8],9-200pp, with pictorial frontispiece and one illustration by Albert Rutherston (Rothenstein). Crown gently nudged, else Fine in a Very Good+ dustjacket, with light wear to extremities, a few tiny nicks and… Read More

New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1904. First Edition. An account of native life in India written from the point of view of a practical man of affairs who knows India from long residence" (Cleveland Leader). First Printing. Octavo (18.75cm); red cloth, with titling and decorative elements stamped in gilt, green, and white, and photographic only mounted to front cover; x,281,[1],[4]pp ads; with frontispiece and 15 plates of illustrations. Contemporary owners name to front endpaper, a few tiny spots to upper edge of textblock, else a fresh, Fine copy.

New York: Hyperion, 1997. First Edition. First Printing. Octavo; 3/4 lime green paper over quarter blue cloth, wih titles stamped in green foil on spine; 288pp. Signed by Crais on the title page. Fine in a Fine, unclipped dustjacket. Crais' seventh Elvis Cole mystery.

London: Hamish Hamilton, 2006. First UK edition. The author's second novel, winner of the Man-Booker Prize in 2006. First Impression. Octavo; dark brown paper-covered boards, with titles stamped in silver on spine; dustjacket; 324pp, [2]. Signed by the author on the title page. Fine in a Fine, unclipped dustjacket.

Valley Stream, NY: Peter Salmansohn and Frank Roth, 1964. First Edition. Slim quarto (28cm); mimeographed leaves (rectos), side-stapled into pale blue wrappers, with typed title label mounted to upper front cover; [12]pp. Some oxidation to staples, faint foxing to front wrapper, tiny splash mark to preliminary leaf, with a diagonal crease and some toning to rear wrapper; Very Good+. Third issue (of five) of this short-lived mimeographed poetry magazine published between 1963-1965. Contents include contributions by George Bowering, Kirby Congdon, Judson Crews, Emilie Glen, Duane Locke, Frank Roth, Peter Salmansohn, Stephen Stepanchev, Kent Taylor, and William Wantling. Uncommon. Clay & Phillips, p.280.

Albuquerque: Loujon Press, 1970. First Edition. Easily the most elaborate production by Jon and Louise "Gypsy Lou" Webb of the Loujon Press, the last title they would produce together before Jon's death in 1971. 'Insomnia' was the second of Miller's books published by Loujon. In the mid-1960's, Miller became infatuated with a Japanese cabaret singer named Hoki Tokuda. He'd spend hours at the piano bar in the Imperial Gardens Restaurant in Hollywood, listening to Hoki sing. Miller eventually married her, and sometime in 1965-66 he got insomnia worrying about the relationship, prompting him to write this book. The Economy Edition was produced because many of the regular Loujon Press subscribers could not afford the deluxe edition; it was an expensive item ($1200.00, in 1970), produced in tiny numbers and issued in a special wooden box, complete with a suite of 12 watercolors. For the Economy Edition, subscribers could purchase 'Insomnia' with or without the watercolors, the present copy offered without… Read More

New York: Saturday Review Press / E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc, 1974. First Trade Edition. First Printing. Octavo (24cm); orange paper-covered boards and light brown cloth, with titles stamped in orange on spine; dustjacket; [x],84,[2]pp; illus. Lower corners gently tapped (though still sharp), with a hint of foxing to upper edge of textblock, else Near Fine. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced $5.95), gently sunned at spine and flap folds, with some trivial wear to extremities, small tear to upper front joint, and some dustiness to rear panel; Very Good+. Toledano B58b.

New York: The Society for Etheric Research, n.d.. First Edition. Intriguing work by the artist and filmmaker, based on Thomas Edison's search for a machine to communicate with the dead. Illustrated with a series of four "phantograms," printed in two colors, with corresponding directions for viewing with the enclosed 3-D glasses. OCLC finds a single location (Whitney Museum of American Art). Quarto (28.5cm); manila-colored sheets, spiral-bound into thick brown matboard covers with printed title label applied to front cover; [6]pp (rectos only); illus., with two different 3-D glasses laid in. Small patch of sticker-pull to rear cover, else Fine.

Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1996. First Edition. Limited Issue, one of 200 trade copies. Octavo (23.5cm); pictorial paper-covered boards and teal cloth backstrip, with title label mounted to spine; publishers's original acetate dustjacket; [14],15-240,[4]pp. Foxing to front and back boards and text edges, Very Good, in a lightly rubbed Near Fine dustjacket.