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

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990. First Edition. The concluding volume in Updike's best-selling Rabbit Angstrom quartet - winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1991, beating out Linda Hogan and Tim O'Brien for the honor. De Bellis & Broomfield A133.c. Limited Issue, one of 350 numbered copies specially bound and signed by the author, this being copy no.329. Octavo (21cm); marbled paper boards and black cloth backstrip, blocked and titled in dark red and gilt on spine; publisher's original acetate dustjacket and patterned slipcase; [xii],512,[6]pp. Fine in a very Near Fine dustjacket, with some trivial wear; slipcase showing some modest external wear; Near Fine.

Los Angeles: Gemini G.E.L., 1974. First Edition. Berman's last major work, a Verifax series of Kabbalistic collage-facsimiles dominated by multiple iterations of a hand holding a transistor radio, with each version containing a different erotic, occult, or mundane image. According to Shirley Berman, "Wallace got the idea of his Verifax series...from reading Radio-Mastery of the Aether, a small science book from the 1930's"...The images inside the face of the radio change with each image, and are flanked by Hebrew lettering. The Cabala is circumscribed as the running current, the most foundational transmission of the series...a clear indicator of Berman's serious yet "intuitive" study and exploration of the Cabala as a system for understanding and utlizing Hebrew letters" (Behle, Chelsea Ryanne. "Art is Love is God": Wallace Berman and the Transmission of Aleph, 1956-66." 2006. pp.25-26). A scarce and significant work by this important post-War California artist, seldom found complete. OCLC notes an… Read More

New York: Bantam Books / Spectra, 1989. First Edition. Uncorrected proof copy of the sequel to Clarke's 1973 Hugo Award-winning novel Rendezvous With Rama. Octavo (23.5cm); blue-gray wrappers, with titles printed in black on spine and front cover; xii, 420pp. Sunning to upper edge of front wrapper, tiny stain to rear wrapper, else tight and clean, giving every appearance of being unread; Near Fine.

New York: William Morrow & Company, 1979. First Edition. First Printing. Octavo (21cm); yellow cloth, with titles stamped in gilt on spine; tan endpapers; dustjacket; [10],11-208pp; illus. Spine ends gently nudged, with a handful of faint, tiny stains to covers; contents fresh and unmarked; Near Fine. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced $6.75), spine-sunned and lightly edgeworn, with a handful of tiny nicks to extremities; Very Good+. Fifth book in Cleary's popular Ramona Quimby series, winner of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 1981. A surprisingly elusive title in the first printing.

Boston: South End Press, 1984. First Edition. An early, important account on the evolution of hip-hop music and culture, exploring its roots and various manifestations. Contents include background information on a number of seminal groups, with coverage of DJ-ing, MC-ing, graffiti and breakdancing. Complemented with superb black and white photographs throughout by Patricia Bates. A pioneering book on the rise of hip-hop culture. Wrappered Issue. Square octavo (21cm); photo-illustrated wrappers; 168pp; illus. Some pinpoint wear to extremities, else a tight, Near Fine copy.

London: Pluto Press, 1984. First UK Edition. An early, important account on the evolution of hip-hop music and culture, exploring its roots and various manifestations. Contents include background information on a number of seminal groups, with coverage of DJ-ing, MC-ing, graffiti and breakdancing. Complemented with superb black and white photographs throughout by Patricia Bates. A pioneering book on the rise of hip-hop culture, and scarce in the British edition. First Impression, published simultaneously with the Ameircan edition by South End Press. Square octavo; photo-illustrated wrappers; 168pp; illus. Contemporary owners name (in ink) to verso of front wrapper; light rubbing to joints and extremities, otherwise well-preserved; Very Good+.

Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1974. First Edition. Limited Issue, one of 200 numbered copies specially bound signed by the author, this being copy no.23. Octavo (23cm); pictorial paper-covered boards and white cloth backstrip, with title label mounted to spine; [12],13-122,[4]pp. Scattered foxing to text edges and exterior, though contents are largely clean; Very Good+, lacking the original acetate dustjacket. McClure's final publication from the press, a collection of poems "about the interwoven topologies of reality. It reaches for luck - swinging out in every direction. It is about the explosion going on" (from the foreword). Morrow & Cooney 172b.

Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1974. First Edition. Limited Issue, one of three copies specially bound and designated for the printer, binder, and publisher's files, this one marked "Binder's Copy" and signed by author on colophon. Octavo (22.5cm); pictorial paper-covered boards and white cloth backstrip, with title label mounted to spine; publisher's original acetate dustjacket; [12],13-122,[4]pp. Fine in a lightly rubbed, Near Fine dustjacket. McClure's final publication from the press, a collection of poems "about the interwoven topologies of reality. It reaches for luck - swinging out in every direction. It is about the explosion going on" (from the foreword). Morrow and Cooney 172b.

Berlin: Contemporary Fine Arts, 2005. First Edition. Catalog for Pettibon's solo-exhibition at Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin in 2005. Contains 68 pieces from the exhibit, a list of solo-exhibitions between 2000-2005, and an essay by Roberto Ohrt, titled 'no title: [The Song Remains the Same...].' Scarce signed. Quarto; pictorial card wrappers, stapled; [40]pp; illus; text is in German and English. At the half-title page Pettibon has crossed out is name in black sharpie, and signed beneath as 'Rayymonder Pettibonder.' Original price sticker to lower right corner of rear wrapper, else Fine.

Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1999. First Edition. Final volume of Bukowski's selected correspondence, from 1978 leading up the month before his death in 1994. Lettered copies uncommon. Deluxe Issue, one of 26 lettered copies specially bound, this being copy 'Z'. Octavo (23.5cm); printed paper-covered boards and patterned cloth backstrip, with title label applied to spine; publisher's original acetate dustjacket; 309,[5]pp; illus. Original silkscreened print of a Bukowski painting tipped in. Fine in a Fine dustjacket.

New York: Ballantine Books, 1955. First Edition. After a nuclear war, "normal" people gradually ostracize the mutants among them. They're wise to do so, because the dominant mutation provides telepathic ability, creating a new species. A superman inevitably, if regretfully, will make mankind as presently known obsolete" (Barron 4-641, Anatomy of Wonder). Precedes the UK edition published the same year, with some textual differences, under the title The Chrysalids. First Printing. Octavo (19cm); variant green cloth-covered boards, with titles stamped in black on spine; dustjacket; [iv],185,[3]pp. Faint lean, else Fine, without the usual heavy tanning to the textblock. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced $2.00), with a few pinpoint rubbed spots, a short tear to upper front panel, and a small patch of sticker-pull to lower right corner of rear panel; a fresh, Near Fine example, with the red spine lettering completely unfaded.

New York: Lion Books, 1956. Attractive copy of Thompson's third paperback novel, this printing issued three years after the first, in a taller format and with different cover art by Maguire. Despite the flaws, a spectacular copy with a particularly revealing note from one of the great illustration artists from the period. Hubin, p.402. Second Printing. Octavo (18cm); illustrated wrappers; yellow edge-staining; 128pp. Generically inscribed by cover artist Robert A. Maguire on the title page. Light wear to extremities, a few faint stress creases, and two discreet closed punctures to center of rear wrapper, briefly affecting a few of the terminal pages; Very Good+. Together with a handwritten note by Maguire on card stock, which reads: "You will notice my signature is different on my newer covers. I copied the original signature from the old time sport cartoonist Willard Muller (proceeds with an example of Muller's signature). The model's name on the book cover is Madelin Mason, popular in the 1950's. I… Read More

Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1995. First Edition. Deluxe Issue, one of no more than a half-dozen copies specially bound and signed by the author for members within the inner circle of the press, each with an original signed poem tipped in (this one marked "Binder's Copy" on the colophon). Octavo (23.5cm); photo-pictorial paper-covered boards and patterned cloth backstrip, with title label mounted to spine; publisher's original acetate dustjacket; [14],15-398,[4]pp. Fine in a lightly rubbed, Near Fine dustjacket.

Los Angeles: United Artists, 1947. An American insert poster for the 1947 film noir directed by Delmer Daves, starring Edward G. Robinson, Julie London, Judith Anderson and Lon McCallister. Adapted from the 1945 novel by George Agnew Chamberlain. A bright, Near Fine example. Folded, with a few tiny pinholes along the upper margin, a bit of light edgewear, and a vertical crease running the length of the poster about one inch in on the left hand side.

New York: E.P. Dutton & Company, 1922. First American Edition. Milne's major contribution to the mystery genre, a novel both criticized (in print) by Raymond Chandler, and praised by Alexander Woollcott as "one of the three best mystery stories of all time." "This book is important because it was the first to inject such levity into investigation and to present the story as a humorous game. In the story, the master of the Red House is expecting his long-lost ne'er-do-well brother to return bringing a cloud of menace after fifteen years in Australia. The brother appears, is admitted to the house, and a shot rings out. Antony Gillingham arrives in time to hear the shot and decides to turn sleuth when it develops that the master of the house has disappeared. He teams up with his friend and fellow houseguest Bill Beverly, and they look into the lake, sift the library, survey timetables, and interview witnesses to the absolutely classic conclusion" (Pronzini & Muller, pp.577-578). One of the great "locked… Read More

London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1911. Second UK Edition. The first of Freeman's books to introduce his medico-legal forensic investigator Dr. Thorndyke. A Queen's Quorum and Haycraft-Queen cornerstone title. Hubin p.157. (And the First published by Hodder & Stoughton), preceded by the 1907 edition published by Collingwood. Octavo (19cm); dark red cloth, with titles stamped in gilt on spine and in black on front cover; viii, 248pp. Light wear to spine ends and extremities, lower right corners bumped, with a small tear to cloth at crown; clean throughout; Very Good, sound copy.

New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1924. Attractive copy of Freeman's first novel, introducing the public to Dr. John Thorndyke, whose scientific approach to detection was something of a departure in the genre during this period. Thorndyke attempts to clear the name of a young man who stands accused of stealing diamonds from a safe; a fingerprint near the scene of the crime is the only evidence against him, but proves decidedly damning. More than likely the only jacketed edition of this Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone title one is likely to encounter; we have never seen either the 1907 Collingwood or 1911 Newton editions in dustjacket. Hubin, p.153. First Printing of the Dodd, Mead edition, preceded in the U.S. by the 1911 edition published by Newton. Octavo (19.25cm); black cloth, with titling and decorations stamped in red on spine and front cover; dustjacket; x,305,[5]pp. Spine ends gently nudged, top edge slightly dusty, with a few old pencil notations to front pastedown, else clean throughout; Near… Read More

Franklin Center: The Franklin Library, 1987. First Edition. Limited Issue, signed by the author on a preliminary leaf. Octavo (24cm); full red leather, with titling and decorations stamped in gilt on spine and covers; marbled endpapers; all edges gilt; 467pp. A Fine copy, with the publisher's publicity sheet laid in.

New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1849. First American Edition. Second Printing. Octavo; bound in publisher's purple 'A' cloth stamped in gilt on the spine, with yellow clay-coated endpapers and double flyleaves; pp. i-xii, 13-390, with advertisements paginated i-iv, 1-11, 14, 1-2. Cloth faded several shades at the spine, with gilt titling dulled but still legible; contemporary inscription at the top of the title page, a few spots of soiling to the panels, with marginal soiling to the pastedowns and endpapers and light foxing to the preliminary and terminal leaves; certainly the better end of Very Good, completely unrestored, and without chipped or tears to the binding. A pleasing copy of the author's fifth book, housed in a lovely quarter Morocco-bound clamshell case. BAL 13660.

Santa Monica: Bongo Productions for KCRW, 1983. An early issue of what was arguably the most influential and longest-running reggae publication produced in the U.S. 'Reggae Beat' was born as a photo-copied broadsheet in 1982. At the time, a handful of radio jocks were pushing the sounds of Jamaican reggae on the airwaves, and 'Reggae Beat' was published as a freebie for the roughly 200 listeners of KCRW's reggae program. It developed into a short zine through 1983, after which the format switched to a larger quarto - the earliest of these published in colors on newsprint. The title changed to 'The Reggae & African Beat,' and from its humble roots it developed into a 100+ page glossy magazine, running for 28 years and eventually ceasing publication in 2010. The publication is fairly well represented institutionally, however, nearly all institutional holdings noted in OCLC begin AFTER Vol.3, and we note no issues from the publication's first year represented at all. Octavo; 8.5" x 11" sheets, offset… Read More