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James M. Dourgarian, Bookman
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2341 Hickory Drive
Concord, CA 94520
925-349-4400
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New Arrivals -Recent Books Aquired
James M.Dourgarian, Bookman, was established in 1980. We are members of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA). Like all ABAA members, we answer to a higher authority and follow a higher standard of ethics that guarantees a successful transaction for all our customers.
We buy and sell old books, vintage books, collectible books, rare books, first edition books, and related ephemera. We maintain several specialties. Among them are American fiction first editions from c.1900 to the present. Within that general field, we have heavy emphasis in John Steinbeck and Steinbeckiana. Thus, we buy and sell Steinbeck primary first editions in dust jackets, signed/limited editions, his appearances in anthologies, his periodical appearances, books and periodicals about Steinbeck, film and theatre memorabilia, bibliographies, and miscellaneous items.
We also specialize in these same categories for these authors -- Jack London, Wallace Stegner, and Stephen King. Other specialties include Western Americana, books on California and the West, Photography books, books on Japan, China, and the Orient, and Armed Services Editions. The latter are vintage paperbacks issued to American GIs from 1943 to 1947. They are comprised of mysteries, Westerns, science fiction and fantasy, mainstream fiction, historical novels, science, poetry, adventure stories, and more.
Within our field of modern first editions, we also sell related film memorabilia Thus, we sell film posters, lobby card sets, pressbooks, stills, scripts, etc. for films made from the works of authors we carry such as John Steinbeck, Jack London, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Raymond Chandler, Zane Grey, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Stephen King, Edward Abbey, Anne Rice, and many others.
Browse Books Listed by Author's Name Browse Armed Services Editions Books Listed by Issue Numbers | |
| [Steinbeckiana] Benson, Jackson J. The True Adventures of John Steinbeck, Writer. NY, Viking, 1984, first edition, first printing, dust jacket . Hardcover. This is The Bible of all John Steinbeck biographies, it was 12 years in the research and writing, followed by another three years in getting it published, there are several suites of photo illustrations, a great accomplishment, this is an Association Copy copy Inscribed by Benson in the year of publication to David Heyler ("1/20/84/For Dave Heyler,/a book man and friend/of Stanford Library/Jackson J. Benson"), Heyler is mentioned in the book on pages 656, 803, 806-807, he was married to Steinbeck's sister Mary's daughter, Joan. Slight foxing to text block, tear to top of rear jacket panel, else fine, a brilliant copy without the usual fading to spine. JD36951 |  $200.00 |
| [Steinbeckiana] (Steinbeck, John). Columbia Literary Series. NY, Columbia Records, 1953, first edition. This is the entire set of the de luxe edition, Series SL 190, that includes 12 12-inch records, 33 rpm, with authors reading their own works, it includes John Steinbeck reading his The Snake and Johnny Bear, individually numbered from ML4752 to ML4963, the series was edited by Goddard Lieberson, it also includes W. Somerset Maugham, Truman Capote, the three Sitwells, John Collier, Edna Ferber, William Saroyan, Christopher Isherwood, Aldous Huxley, and Katherine Anne Porter, it also includes a book about the making of this series and the authors featured, the book provides an overview of the series and also includes a page about each author with a photo of them, the names of all the authors featured are printed on the record (paper) slipcovers, all are housed in a way cool black leather attache case with black leather strap handle and black leather-cover snaps, not recorded by Goldstone & Payne or Morrow, very scarce in this de luxe edition, here is some of what is recorded: Maugham reads The Three Fat Women of Antibes, Huxley reads Brave New World, Collier reads Mary, Katherine Anne Porter reads Flowering Judas, Isherwood reads A Berlin Diary, Capote reads Children on Their Birthdays, Ferber reads The Gay Old Dog, Saroyan talks ands tries to read from several of his novels, plays,and stories. Wear to attache case, one snap doesn't work, but both are present, half-inch scratch to one side of the Capote record, else records are clean and bright with minimal wear. JD36952 | $850.00 |
| [John Steinbeck] Steinbeck, John. Typed Letter Signed. NY, John Steinbeck, n.d., first edition. Steinbeck writes to Alice Cohee, a long-time friend and key figure in his literary career, in 1933 she urged him to try one more time to place Tortilla Flat at which he had previously failed, at that time he had three books published, none of which were successful, he tried again after following her advice, Covici Freide took the book which then launched his Nobel Prize-winning career, he then gifted her a specially bound copy of Tortilla Flat, one of only two copies, in this three-page, 141-line letter written on his NY letterhead he writes about his health, he mentions Ed Ricketts and Pacal Cobvici, he talks about The Wayward Bus, and while he doesn't mention it by name, writes about East of Eden, Steinbeck reports that he had been in the hospital for a week for removal of leg varicosities, he writes that "the stitches are still in and I am sleeping at my office which is a hotel room at the above address because I can't walk up any stairs for another couple of weeks and here I have an elevator. It is a fine office with ivy and a jar of guppies and I mostly spend about nine hours a day in it. And it is a nice place of quiet where I can work pretty well and damn well have to," he reports that doctors are running tests to see if there is anything wrong with him, undoubtedly because he is about to begin work on East of Eden, "I have finally come to my work and it is going to be a long one that requires not only a great amount of time but of energy and I wanted to see whether U+I could do it or not. Everything else has been practice for this and I think that finally I am ready to start it and if started I want to finish it," he reports that he has lost weight and that it and ensuring his physical fitness are part of his preparedness for writing his book, he also writes "I'm going to do the Outer Shore book with Ed and then I will be entirely ready for this and the turning over of the rocks will harden me for the job," he also discusses her breaking up with her husband, John, and her reaction to his The Wayward Bus, "The characters in the bus were not fully realized because they were not intended to be characters at all in the usual sense of the word," he goes on to write about his children, "I didn't think I would have any children. I am fascinated with my children and I am probably a very bad father to them. I don't know what being a good father would be. I like them very much even love them very much but I have not learned enough to act wisely, to anticipate future neuroses of which I may be the cause," signed by him as "John," this letter was not recorded in Steinbeck: A Life in Letters. Folded for mailing with some strike outs and one hand correction. JD36965 | $6,500.00 |
| [John Steinbeck] Steinbeck, John. Typed Letter. Palisades, NY, John Steinbeck, April 28 (1942), first edition. One sheet, a total of 52, signed by Steinbeck with his typed name, to long-time friend and key figure in his literary career, Alice Cohee, in 1933 she urged him to try one more time to place Tortilla Flat at which he had failed previously, at that time he had three books published, none of which were successful, he did try again after following her advice, Covici Freide took the book which then launched his Nobel Prize-winning career, he then gifted her a specially bound copy of Tortilla Flat, one of only two copies, in this letter he writes about Ed Ricketts, famed marine biologist and Steinbeck's best friend who often appears as a character in Steinbeck's books, World War II, Monterey, and his health, he writes, "Ed did forward your letter. I haven't been in California since last September and I don't read the papers so I never know what I am doing. Actually I'm working very hard in the information office, doing part of two european broadcasts and since yesterday a third and seven days a week. I live in a small stone house on the Hudson and it is comfortable and pleasant and right now the dogwood is coming out," he adds, "I don't go out very often. There are woods all about here and I walk in them and get much the same fine feeling I used to on that road through the pines to the dunes. But the river isn't the ocean and I wish I were back by the ocean. That is impossible of course. Like every one else I'm kind of put my own confusions and problems off on the whipping horse that the war must be won and am trying to help with that in any way that is suggested," later he writes "When I can, I'll go back to California and settle around Monterey if I can. I like it better there than any place in the world," he goes on, "Ed and I had so much fun working together," probably referring to Sea of Cortez, adding "We planned to do a lot more of it and maybe we will when the war is over. That was a very good life. This isn't any life at all, it's just waiting," this letter was not included in Steinbeck: A Life in Letters. Folded for mailing in its mailing envelope. JD36966 | $3,500.00 |
| [John Steinbeck] Steinbeck, John. Autograph Postcard Signed. Pacific Grove, John Steinbeck, September 1948, first edition. Steinbeck writes 18 lines of his tiny scrawl to long-time friend Alice Cohee, in 1933 she urged him to try one more time to place Tortilla Flat, at that time he had three books published, none of which were successful, he did try again after following her advice, Covici Freide took the book which then launched his Nobel Prize-winning career, he then gifted her a specially bound copy of Tortilla Flat, one of only two copies, he writes from the 11th Street address apparently about that house while licking his wounds after the break up with his second wife, "Finally made it and it is a very pleasant house, but very much to do -- painting, trimming" plus work in the garden, "Nothing has been done to it in 15 years. But it is going to be a lot of fun doing it and it is a kind of smiling house," adding, "As for the break up - I didn't leave - I was pushed. The fog smells so good it makes it makes me a little crazy. It's going to be my seat for some time to come even though I have to go away quite a bit," he asks her to write him, signed as John, this postcard was not recorded in Steinbeck: A Life in Letters. Very good. JD36967 | $2,000.00 |
| [John Steinbeck] Steinbeck, John. Typed Letter Signed. NY, John Steinbeck, May 28, 1948, first edition. A two-page, 91-line letter to long-time friend Alice Cohee, in 1933 she urged him to try one more time to place Tortilla Flat, at that time he had three books published, none of which were successful, he did try again after following her advice, Covici Freide took the book which then launched his Nobel Prize-winning career, he then gifted her a specially bound copy of Tortilla Flat, one of only two copies, he writes about the break up with his second wife metaphorically, "I haven't answered (her two letters) because of a kind of resorting process or maybe better said, a rebuilding process. It is not quick. The floor went out from under the world. And of course the first impulse is to patch and prop it up so you can walk on it again in some safety and it takes a little time to find out that that is wrong. You have to build a new floor sometimes a whole new house. To let go and to accept and to rebuild is very difficult because first you must get completely used the (to?) the knowledge that something is gone completely and will never return. That it isn't a man at all but an idea and a fabric and a texture and a state of life. It is a slow process, at least it is for me," he adds "And now I feel good and in some curious way released and free and I think that is probably the first symptom of acceptance," as for his writing, "I shall go to work very hard on something to take the place of the 'outer shore' which of course now cannot be done," that was a project planned to be done with Ed Ricketts, the famed marine biologist who was his best friend who died earlier that month, he writes "The problem is finally settled in my mind. The first impulse is to keep it and to let it hang on like a dirty ghost but now I know that is wrong and as soon as I can without shock to any one I will close it and let it go into the past and take its place with all other things that happened. That it was a fine thing to have happened does not make it any better to dress it like a grave," he goes on to write about his friend, "Ed was the most selfish man I have ever known, but my being that he could be the kindest and most associative and open. We, and I mean you and me and nearly everyone I know of the little confused failures in the world think they are being selfless when they are simply afraid and loathe to the trouble and purity of being themselves," he ponders where he will live next, "Thought at first I might buy the old home ranch in the corral de tierra but that would be complicated when I want simplicity. Then I thought of that little house in Pacific Grove. You remember it, the one where a million two hundred thousand years ago I made futile puppy passes at you. That is a nice little house with happy windows and a kind of secret garden. And I still have it. My father built it just before I was born," he "signs" the letter with a squiggle, there are a few cross outs and a couple of hand corrections, this letter was not recorded by Steinbeck: A Life in Letters. Folded for mailing, housed in its original mailing envelope. JD36968 | $5,500.00 |
| [Wallace Stegner] Stegner, Wallace. The Spectator Bird. Franklin Center, Franklin Library, 1976, first edition. Issued without jacket, full leather, AEG, moire endpapers, ribbon marker, illustrated by John Collier, winner of the National Book Award, this unsigned limited edition precedes the Doubleday trade edition by one week, it includes Stegner's "special message" to subscribers as well as the separately-printed "Notes from the Editors" about Stegner and the book, Colberg A25.1.a, although not called for, this copy Signed by Stegner, Stegner has also signed the Notes from the editors laid loosely into the book. Fine. JD36969 | $300.00 |
| [John Steinbeck] Steinbeck, John. Autograph Letter Signed. Los Gatos, John Steinbeck, September 1939, first edition. Steinbeck writes 23 lines to John and Alice Cohee, long-time friends, in 1933 she urged him to try one more time to place Tortilla Flat, previous attempts fell flat, at that time he had three books published, none of which were successful, he did try again after following her advice, Covici Freide took the book which then launched his Nobel Prize-winning career, he then gifted her a specially bound copy of Tortilla Flat, one of only two copies, he writes about his heath, reporting that he had working "and then got thrown by this bad leg - spent two weeks in bed and flew home. Have had a bad year since last november. Bloody leg just collapsed with pain and Dr.'s cut off little pieces of me trying to find a focus of infection. The thing went away a couple of weeks ago so maybe they found it," his masterpiece, The Grapes of Wrath, had been published in April of that year, exploding adversity, he writes "Have to go lost this week and don't know when I'll get back. I wish to god we could see everybody (name) and you. But our friends have been the ones who have let us alone in this misery of crazy publicity and we've been nibbled to death by strangers. Sometime we'll be free - maybe. It doesn't look like it now," he reports they (he and Carol) have been to Seattle recently and were enthusiastic about the whole Northwest, he concludes "We do want to see you. When I don't know. We don't know how long we'll be east - only hope it won't be too long. It's too nice here," signed with "love/John," housed in its original mailing envelope addressed by Steinbeck, this letter was not recorded in Steinbeck: A Life in Letters. Folded for mailing, envelope torn open, else fine. JD36970 | $3,500.00 |
| [John Steinbeck] Steinbeck, John. Autograph Letter Signed. NY, John Steinbeck, August 10, 1948, first edition. Steinbeck writes 18 lines to long-time friend and key figure in his literary career, Alice Cohee, in 1933 she urged him to try one more time to place Tortilla Flat, previous attempts fell flat, at that time he had three books published, none of which were successful, he did try again after following her advice, Covici Freide took the book which then launched his Nobel Prize-winning career, he then gifted her a specially bound copy of Tortilla Flat, one of only two copies, he writes about a trip to Mexico and his best friend, famed marine biologist Ed Ricketts, "I just got back from Mexico and found your letter. I'm sorry! I don't know how it happens, I just know it does. I remember one time when we went wild and we didn't know why even then. I tried to think and couldn't," he adds, "It was a valuable trip - for material as well as other things. Discovered things even about myself and some of them were even good. Ed told me one time that he felt better when he found that people liked him because then he could like himself a little. I haven't gone so far as the latter but some of the first. Maybe I can get into the second - sometime. More and more his words come back to me," signed as John, housed in its original mailing envelope addressed by Steinbeck, this letter was not recorded in Steinbeck: A Life in Letters. Folded for mailing, envelope is torn open and has pencil notes. JD36971 | $3,500.00 |
| [John Steinbeck] Steinbeck, John. Autograph Letter Signed. n.p. (NY), John Steinbeck, August 25, 1948, first edition. Steinbeck writes 26 lines on long ruled yellow paper to long-time friend and key figure in his literary career, Alice Cohee, in 1933 she urged him to try one more time to place Tortilla Flat, previous attempts fell flat, at that time he had three books published, none of which were successful, he did try again after following her advice, Covici Freide took the book which then launched his Nobel Prize-winning career, he then gifted her a specially bound copy of Tortilla Flat, one of only two copies, he writes, "I had your letter this morning and I am answering it quickly so that it will get answered at all. Things are in a great state of flux. Too long and complicated to explain now. I will later, but this is a great rush and it is a difficult thing. Anyway, I am going west on the 6th day of Sept. As soon as I can I will get into the little village on 11th St. [Pacific Grove] where I used to live, the one with the rock garden, remember. I'll probably be there a couple of months before I have to go back to Mexico (probably to work on the film version of The Pearl) but I will come back to it after that. I am going tom do some gardening, a little building and a lot of walking and driving about too and it will be good in a sad time [Ed Ricketts had died earlier that year]. Besides I have a very great amount of work to do so that part will be all right too.," he reports that he will go back to writing post cards, "They after all are the ideal way of communicating. No envelopes, no nothing. And there isn't anything of importance you can't get on one of them," he concludes, "Until I know I am settled you can reach me through the lab and that is Box 448, Pacific Grove telephone Monterey 6547, signed as John, in its original mailing envelope addressed by Steinbeck, this letter was not in Steinbeck: A Life in Letters. Folded for mailing, very good. JD36972 | $2,500.00 |
| [John Steinbeck] Steinbeck, John. Autograph Letter Signed. Pacific Grove, John Steinbeck, n.d. (December 1948), first edition. Steinbeck writes 19 lines on his usual long, ruled yellow paper stamped at the top with his 11th Street Pacific Grove house address to long-time friend and key figure in his literary career, Alice Cohee, in 1933 she urged him to try one more time to place Tortilla Flat, previous attempts fell flat, at that time he had three books published, none of which were successful, he did try again after following her advice, Covici Freide took the book which then launched his Nobel Prize-winning career, he then gifted her a specially bound copy of Tortilla Flat, one of only two copies, he writes mostly bad news, "This end of a bad year hasn't been conducive to any one," his best friend, the famed marine biologist Ed Ricketts died earlier that year, he continues, "My affairs financial are in a mess as you know (probably because of his divorce from second wife Gywn), "Hope some how to get them in shape next year, but how I don't know. Besides Christmas is a bad one this year for me - I will be very glad when it is over," he reports hat he's staying at home working, but not with success, "Duke Sheffield was down a few weeks ago. He has not changed much. I think he lives a very good life. He has a (cummunal?) farm near Los Altos and he does what he likes," he reports that her iris's are growing rapidly in his garden, calling them "fine swords of leaves," he wishes her a Merry Christmas, signed as John, housed in its original mailing envelope addressed by Steinbeck, this letter was not recorded by Steinbeck: A Life in Letters. Folded for mailing, envelope is torn open, else very good. JD36973 | $3,000.00 |
| [John Steinbeck] Steinbeck, John. Autograph Letter Signed. Pacific Grove, John Steinbeck, n.d. (September 1948), first edition. Steinbeck writes 22 lines on his usual long, ruled, yellow paper to long-time friend and key figure in his literary career, Alice Cohee, in 1933 she urged him to try one more time to place Tortilla Flat, previous attempts fell flat, at that time he had three books published, none of which were successful, he did try again after following her advice, Covici Freide took the book which then launched his Nobel Prize-winning career, he then gifted her a specially bound copy of Tortilla Flat, one of only two copies, at this point he is cooling his heels in the Pacific Grove house trying to recover from his divorce from second wife, Gywn, and the death of hi best friend, famed marine biologist, Ed Ricketts who died earlier that year, he writes, "Your letter came this morning. You know I would be gad to see you any time you can come, he reports about the house, "My house is all torn up but it is fine and I am painting and gardening like mad. Nothing has been done for 12 years here. But it is going to be very nice when it is finished. I warn you though that you may get a paint brush pushed into your hand. Occupational hazard I guess. But the evenings will be open for walking and even wading and that's the best time anyway," he reports that he has no phone yet, but she could wire him if she planned to fly up, he looks forward to her visit, signed as John, in its original mailing envelope addressed by Steinbeck, this letter is not recorded in Steinbeck: A Life in Letters. Folded for mailing, envelope torn open, else very good. JD36974 | $3,500.00 |
| [John Steinbeck] Steinbeck, John. Autograph Letter Signed. n.p. (Pacific Grove), John Steinbeck, October 1948, first edition. Steinbeck writes 15 lines on his usual long, yellow, ruled paper to long-time friend and key figure in his literary career, Alice Cohee, in 1933 she urged him to try one more time to place Tortilla Flat, previous attempts fell flat, at that time he had three books published, none of which were successful, he did try again after following her advice, Covici Freide took the book which then launched his Nobel Prize-winning career, he then gifted her a specially bound copy of Tortilla Flat, one of only two copies, he reports that some of his gardening attempts failed, "The grape projects are a complete failure. The last came in dripping also. Thank you for the thought but the practice is impracticle (sic), he turns down her idea of her helping him with air travel, "The airport business also is not feasible. In the first place I will not be alone and in the second, I haven't the slightest idea when I will go. There's a third too - I hate to be seen off or met. Nice of you to think of it however," he reports that he is gearing up for writing work, "Spiral of activity beginning now. Play time, such as painting and gardening is about over. The ferocious time of discipline is about to start. And I'm ready for it. This is the longest rest I have had in years. Good as long as it was but I wouldn't like it indefinitely," signed as John, housed in its original mailing envelope addressed by Steinbeck, this letter was not recorded by Steinbeck: A Life in Letters. Folded for mailing, envelope is torn open, else very good. JD36975 | $2,500.00 |
| [John Steinbeck] Steinbeck, John. Autograph Letter Signed. Pacific Grove, John Steinbeck, n.d. (November 1948), first edition. Steinbeck writes 57 lines on both sides of his usual long, yellow, ruled paper to long-time friend and key figure in his literary career, Alice Cohee, in 1933 she urged him to try one more time to place Tortilla Flat, previous attempts fell flat, at that time he had three books published, none of which were successful, he did try again after following her advice, Covici Freide took the book which then launched his Nobel Prize-winning career, he then gifted her a specially bound copy of Tortilla Flat, one of only two copies, he responds rather frankly to her earlier analysis of him, "I had your letter this morning. Between dentist and work I have not had much time. Your analyses of me are just about 100% wrong - my guilt feelings etc. My fear of things in work. Your inner feelings about things apparently do not parallel mine. But you work at it. Don't do it any more. It is a rat race. You pick at scabs too much. If that seems like a rap on the knuckles, it is. I am tired of self indulgences and I am tired of sick people. This last does not necessarily apply to you. The 'well gee! I was sick' approach has worn very thin," he then refers to a mystery woman, "I know only one person I can work with. I mean when she is around. That is a little hustler in Mexico, When she isn't eating, drinking or getting laid, she goes to sleep. And she puts no nervousness in a room. If I could stand her for more than two weeks I would send for her," he then talks about plants Alice has given him for his garden in the Pacific Grove house, he continues, "Work goes slowly. I think all right. But I am mean and hard and intractible (sic). You as whether I am in love with someone - many people and without chains. And it is going to stay that way. When any relationship has the faintest clinch of the halter, it is done. There are too any people and too little time," he goes on to discuss issues within the Cohee family, "You and your guilt complexes. This has taken the place of colitis and the various other fashionable diseases. If you feel guilty about something, do something about it. Make reparation or sacrifice or confession or whatever is required but don't carry the god damned thing like a precious possession," he goes on, "If you feel that you have mistreated John (her husband) or your sons (and it sounds like you do) make it up or excise the thing. What a lilly souled generation we have had. And what an ungallant species we have turned out to be," he end by writing, "I'm sorry if this is a rough letter. I am tired of cowardice, It's all around me. I spend half my time holding up other people's heads. Fuck it. I'm through," signed as John, this letter wasn't recorded in Steinbeck: A Life in Letters, housed in its original mailing envelope addressed by Steinbeck. Folded for mailing, very good. JD36976 | $6,500.00 |
| [John Steinbeck] Steinbeck, John. Autograph Letter Signed. n.p. (NY), John Steinbeck, n.d. (April 1948), first edition. Steinbeck writes 16 lines on his usual long, yellow, ruled paper to long-time friend and key figure in his literary career, Alice Cohee, in 1933 she urged him to try one more time to place Tortilla Flat, previous attempts fell flat, at that time he had three books published, none of which were successful, he did try again after following her advice, Covici Freide took the book which then launched his Nobel Prize-winning career, he then gifted her a specially bound copy of Tortilla Flat, one of only two copies, "We are finished at last. The last part (?) went on the back room floor this evening. Very glad to get it done. Tomorrow I will build fence across the back of the garden. I will be going to Mexico a week from next Thursday - I guess that is about the 28th. I'll be gone about a month or six weeks. Then will come back and go back to work on my script," the script and Mexico trip probably have to do with the film version of The Pearl, signed as "JS," this letter was not recorded by Steinbeck: A Life in Letters, housed in its original mailing envelope. Folded for mailing, envelope ripped open, else very good. JD36977 | $2,000.00 |
| [John Steinbeck] Steinbeck, John. Autograph Letter Signed. n.p. (Pacific Grove), John Steinbeck, n.d. (September 16, 1948), first edition. Steinbeck writes 10 lines on his usual long yellow ruled paper to long-time friend and key figure in his literary career, Alice Cohee, in 1933 she urged him to try one more time to place Tortilla Flat, previous attempts fell flat, at that time he had three books published, none of which were successful, he did try again after following her advice, Covici Freide took the book which then launched his Nobel Prize-winning career, he then gifted her a specially bound copy of Tortilla Flat, one of only two copies, he writes "We had just got into the country when Kazan got a wire that his youngest child was very ill," Kazan is Elia Kazan, famed director of both East of Eden and Viva Zapata, "So he flew to New York and there was no reason for me to say in Mexico so I came home to go to work. It looks very fine to me too. I'm starting to work right away," he reports, "It was a wild two weeks with lots of ground covered - and several people. I just got back night before last and am still sleepy. I'll be in bed before 9. And very glad to be. This is just a note and that's all it is. So long now," signed as John, this letter was not recorded in Steinbeck: A Life in Letters, housed in its original mailing envelope addressed by Steinbeck. Folded for mailing, envelope torn open, letter is very good. JD36978 | $2,500.00 |
| [John Steinbeck] Steinbeck, John. Autograph Letter Signed. n.d. (Pacific Grove), John Steinbeck, n.d. (March 1949), first edition. Steinbeck writes 30 lines on his usual long yellow ruled paper to long-time friend and key figure in his literary career, Alice Cohee, in 1933 she urged him to try one more time to place Tortilla Flat, previous attempts fell flat, at that time he had three books published, none of which were successful, he did try again after following her advice, Covici Freide took the book which then launched his Nobel Prize-winning career, he then gifted her a specially bound copy of Tortilla Flat, one of only two copies, he refuses her possible visit to him in his Pacific Grove cottage because of his heavy writing schedule, "I had your letter and am answering immediately because you say you are driving up here [from Laguna Beach] on Thursday. I have not been out of the house in a month. In that time I have seen no one. I have three weeks more of work. And I will not in that time, I will not seen any one. That sounds very gruff but I have set myself a deadline and I am going to make it and if I have to be pure son of a bitch to get it done then that is what I have to be," he continues with his very frank communication with his long-time friend, he goes on, "You insist on saying I am angry with you. I am not. I get a little impatient when you carry on dialogues with yourself," adding "You have no more compulsion to honesty than anyone else. Everybody is that way. You just use more words for it and try to find authority in books," he adds, trying to back up his reclusive behavior, "This is the first letter I have answered in a month. I should be free of this work some time around the fifteenth of April but until then I will go on the way I am," signed as John, this letter was not recorded in Steinbeck: A Life in Letters, housed in its original mailing envelope addressed by Steinbeck. Letter is a bit wrinkled, folded for mailing, envelope is torn open, else very good. JD36979 | $3,500.00 |
| [John Steinbeck] Steinbeck, John. Autograph Letter Signed. Los Gatos, John Steinbeck, n.d. (May 1938), first edition. Steinbeck writes 49 lines (plus a P.S.) on two pages of yellow unruled paper to life-long friend and key figure in his literary career, Alice Cohee, in 1933 she urged him to try one more time to place Tortilla Flat, previous attempts fell flat, at that time he had three books published, none of which were successful, he did try again after following her advice, Covici Freide took the book which then launched his Nobel Prize-winning career, he then gifted her a specially bound copy of Tortilla Flat, one of only two copies, he writes of the "mystery" of whom painted a recently-received painting, it was her, 'For it is only within the last two weeks that the mystery of the picture has been cleared up. It arrived months ago. We didn't think we knew any one who could paint so well besides [unknown]. We'd never seen either a water color or a landscape of yours. And we didn't think anyone who would paint so well would not sign a picture. A letter to the art store was unanswered. Then two weeks ago Boynton suggested tearing off the backing and we did and there was your name," he goes on, "We grow fonder and fonder of the picture and we're so darned proud and glad that painted it. Look! when I was a little kid I used to ride the pony into those hills. It doesn't matter geographically, they were the same. Maybe it was sexual, but I wanted to stroke such hills. The one in the foreground had a cave on the back side of it. Once we found a case of dynamite in the cave and we took it away and buried it and I'll bet it is still buried there. It was no small thing for us little bastards to have a private case of dynamite. Never did know who owned it," he reports that he spent the spring working and that Carol did the gardening, he goes on "I've been out in the fields a good deal too - very terrible. Makes you ashamed to eat when it doesn't make you murderous. If it were just accidental one could be only sorry but it is planned cruelty, carefully projected and carried out. Have to avoid feelings of old fashioned I.W.W. direct action," he of course refers to the state of migrant workers in California as he researched and wrote and prepared to write his masterpiece, The Grapes of Wrath, he also mentions his best friend, the famed marine biologist Ed Ricketts, "Ed hasn't been up for some time. He is working very hard to keep his business going, and I guess the pressures are very great," housed in its original mailing envelope addressed by Steinbeck, this letter was not recorded in Steinbeck: A Life in Letters. Folded for mailing, else fine in its torn open envelope. JD36980 | $5,500.00 |
| [John Steinbeck] Steinbeck, John. Autograph Letter Signed. n.p. (NY), John Steinbeck, n.d. (c.1953), first edition. Steinbeck writes a lengthy (165 lines) letter on his usual long, yellow, ruled paper on rectos and versos to long-time friend and key figure in his literary career, Alice Cohee, in 1933 she urged him to try one more time to place Tortilla Flat, previous attempts fell flat, at that time he had three books published, none of which were successful, he did try again after following her advice, Covici Freide took the book which then launched his Nobel Prize-winning career, he then gifted her a specially bound copy of Tortilla Flat, one of only two copies, it is a chatty letter discussing a number of topics with a close friend from his birthday to nuclear war to writing projects, "Thank you for your birthday letter. It had the wrong address and the wrong zone and it still got to Annie Laurie Williams (one of his agents) who forwarded it to me," he writes to her that he has trouble believing her two sons have grown up, one became a doctor and one a French professor, he writes about the nuclear age, "We're doing very well with fission. Took us a quarter of a million years to get used to fire. We've only had 12 years to take care of a force more tricky and I think it has been handled very well. I don't think the big bombs will ever be used but if they should be - perhaps some little colony of the species might survive - or not. Plenty of species have disappeared without disturbing the explosive process of our exploding universe. I don't think the nuclear process is bad once you can admit that change is inevitable and that status quo is a myth," he writes, "...I find it fascinating because those people who would truly be afraid of the bears in Yellowstone Park would really and truly venture themselves on the moon. What a lonely species we are - so good and so brave and so cowardly and so mean all in the same bundle," he reports that he is "...cocooning. My childish and terribly important placing of words on paper have ceased to satisfy me and so I am lying fallow," he goes on, "And to take up the fallow time I am doing a work of semi-scholarship. I am doing a re-telling of Malory's Morte. But to do this I have to go back to the 13th century and learn all I could and can about it and the three succeeding centuries and in all directions - political,physical, legal, religious, social, sexual, kinetic, sociologic, etc. In other words, I am trying to be able to think like a fifteenth century man. Only then can I know how Malory - as a novelist - thought when he was gathering together the great stories of the Morte," he writes that he has been at this since he was nine years old, he writes that "The cult of the hero mythos is rising again just as it did in the 15th century and probably for the same reasons," he says the heroes, modern or ancient, are the same people, "They attack problems and dragons in the same way. Only their weapons have changed a little. Malory knew Good Guys and Bad Guys too and they had the same faces," he goes on, "I shall be ready to start writing this in the Fall. And it will go to three or more volumes. And in the process I hope I will have lost my literary trick which has ceased to satisfy me. I may, in a sense be reborn to struggle and difficulty and the perplexity and despair and shouting pleasure of creation," he goes on, "I have loved people and been loved by people - I have had work I loved and it has been loved by some. I have had and still have great sexual satisfaction and the sweetness of ending a day satisfied with the work of that day. It has been enough. I have been very fortunate when I see myself against the background of other people. The one thing I will not tolerate is repetition," about his Mallory project he writes, "I am excited about my present work. In a way it is creative work - in a way the most creative work I have ever done, but once it is done, I shall try to go to a new world and a new language and I shall not be too sad if the juices have dried up. I don't feel that they have. In fact, I feel that whole new resources remain to be tapped. I don't know what I'm trying to say - except that I am all right - more than all right - alive!" he goes on to write about his non-literary life, "The terrible year of madness in Pacific Grove had a good effect. Madness may in its way be curative. I have a good and sweet marriage. I have a little place on the end of Long Island where I can plant things and a little boat to fish from. My boys are pleasures to me - bad kids they are and good kids - real and startling human beings - just like everyone else and still new things in the world. And I'm pretty sure have finally learned to let them be what they are - unique things in the world and not to attempt to make them small misshapen models of my own failures ands desires and prejudices. I don't even have to be proud of them. I can enjoy them without even that prejudice," signed "Affectionately/John," housed in its original mailing envelope addressed by Steinbeck, this letter was not recorded in Steinbeck: A Life in Letters. Folded for mailing with some marks on the paper, envelope has been torn open. JD36981 | $8,500.00 |
| [Steinbeckiana] (Steinbeck, John). The Red Pony. n.p. (NY), Bantam Books, n.d. (1948), first edition. A color poster that measures about 22X28 inches, it advertises Bantam's publication of The Red Pony, a photoplay edition that featured front and rear cover photos of Robert Mitchum and Myrna Loy from the film version, that book is featured in the middle of the poster, Mitchum, Loy, and Louis Calhern are also featured in their film roles elsewhere in the poster, Steinbeck wrote the screenplay for this Republic film, not recorded by Goldstone & Payne, Morrow, or Holmes. Rolled, never folded, a few edge nicks, short tears, and small chips. JD36982 | $350.00 |
| [Tony Hillerman] Hieb, Louis A. Tony Hillerman: From The Blessing Way to Talking God A Bibliography. Tucson, Press of the Gigantic Hound, 1990, first edition. Issued without dust jacket, this is the second of Hieb's HillermanĘbibliographies, but it is the first hardcover, limited to 1,000 copies, but this is one of 20 copies, so noted on the limitation page Signed by Hieb, it covers his fiction, short fiction, nonfiction, contribution to books, contribution to periodicals, books about Hillerman, audio recordings, and notes. Fine. JD36986 | $65.00 |
| [Steinbeckiana] Miron, George Thomas. The Truth About John Steinbeck and the Migrants. Los Angeles, Haynes Corporation, 1939, first edition, wrappers. Softcover. Cited as Goldstone & Payne F5, although this item wasn't actually in the Goldstone collection, not recorded by Morrow, with an excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath as frontispiece, preface plus four chapters by Miron who decidedly didn't play nice with Steinbeck in his assessment of Steinbeck's masterpiece or his take on agricultural politics, Chapter I is "Introducing the Revolutionary Bortsch," Chapter II is "I Would Stymie Steinbeckism," Chapter III is "Carey McWilliams and Company," Chapter IV is "In the Field," a total of 26 pages, very scarce, not in the Homes collection. Nearly fine. JD36987 | $275.00 |
| [Armed Services Editions] Hungerford, Mark C. The Quiet Bower. Vashon, The Quiet Bower, 2003, first edition, wrappers. Softcover. Published in the manner of the Armed Services Editions (books issued to American GIs during World War II), a novel, this is a complimentary copy, with slip, inscribed by Hungerford to this bookseller in 2017, laid in loosely is a one-page fact sheet about the book with a note to this bookseller at the bottom from Hungerford, published at $15. Fine. JD36992 | $25.00 |
| [John Steinbeck] Steinbeck, John. The Moon Is Down Play. NY, Viking, 1942, first edition, dust jacket. Softcover. One of only 250 copies, this is the second of Steinbeck's experimental plays, the Dramatist Play Service originally printed 1,250 copies of which 250 went to Viking to become this hardcover (while the others became the wrappered edition), illustrated with photos from the Broadway production, one of the most difficult Steinbeck "A" items to find, Goldstone & Payne A17b, Morow 160, note: this is the true first edition, one of 250 copies only, and NOT the second printing, very scarce. Very good. JD36995 | $2,000.00 |
| [John Steinbeck] Steinbeck, John and Ricketts, Edward F. Sea of Cortez. NY, Viking, December 5, 1941, first edition, wrappers. Softcover. Advance copy, an uncorrected proof, plain brown wrappers with publisher's information label affixed to front cover, this is Part I only, meaning the log of the trip written (mostly) by Steinbeck, but not Part II which is the scientific appendix by Ricketts and its color plates, the book was offered at $5, the label states that these are unrevised proofs, confidential, and not to be quoted for publication until verified with the finished book, Goldstone & Payne A15a, although, curiously, G&P doesn't refer to the book as a proof, that's probably because there was a galley proof in Goldstone's collection that preceded even this advance copy, Morrow 139, Harmon 45a, Holmes A16a. Spine rolled, some cover spotting, marks to top edge, else very good. JD36996 | $3,500.00 |
| [Modern Literature] Werfel, Franz. The Forty Days of Musa Dagh. NY, Viking, 1934, first edition. One of 750 advance copies privately distributed and not for sale, this novel tells the story of a group of Armenians who resisted their slaughter by the Turks on a mountain called Musa Dagh (Moses's Mountain), this systematic slaughter, the first holocaust of the 20th Century, was perpetrated by the Turkish government which ordered the killings and mass, forced deportations, 1.5 million of the 3 million Armenians living in Turkey were killed on these orders of the Turkish government in 1915, Inscribed by Werfel to O. J. Kadlec in New York in 1935, very scarce thus. Rear hinge starting, bookplate, soiling to cloth, spine aged, rear pastedown with some pencil notes. JD36999 | $750.00 |
| [Armed Services Editions] Wylie, Philip. Fish and Tin Fish. NY, Armed Services Editions, n.d. (1944), first edition thus, wrappers. Softcover. No. L-19 in this important series, fishing stories featuring Crunch Adams and his mate, Desperate, issued by the Council on Books in Wartime, designed to fit the pocket of a World War II American GI. Very good plus. JD36957 | $45.00 |
| [Armed Services Editions] Mann, Thomas. Selected Short Stories of Thomas Mann. NY, Armed Services Editions, n.d. (1944), first edition, wrappers. Softcover. No. L-28 in this important series, a paperback original, translated from the German by H. T. Lowe-Porter, with a note about the author at the end, issued by the Council on Books in Wartime, designed to fit the pocket of a World War II American GI. Very good minus. JD36990 | $25.00 |
| [Armed Services Editions] Freuchen, Peter. Arctic Adventure. NY, Armed Services Editions, n.d. (1943), first edition thus, wrappers. Softcover. No. B-60 in this important series, first issue, reprinted later within this series as ASE No. T-38, "my life in the Frozen North," with a note about the author at the end, issued by the Council on Books in Wartime, designed to fit the pocket of a World War II American GI. Very good. JD36960 | $45.00 |
| [Armed Services Editions] Wason, Betty. Miracle In Hellas. NY, Armed Services Editions, n.d. (1944), first edition thus, wrappers. Softcover. No. C-78 in this important series, "the Greeks fight on" in World War II, issued by the Council on Books in Wartime, designed to fit the pocket of a World War II American GI, this is one of the very important and scarce D-Day ASEs. Very good. JD36954 | $40.00 |
| [Armed Services Editions] Hergesheimer, Joseph. Java Head. NY, Armed Services Editions, n.d. (1944), first edition thus, wrappers. Softcover. No. D-102 in this important series, a novel of Salem, MA, with a note about the author at the end, issued by the Council on Books in Wartime, designed to fit the pocket of a World War II American GI, this is one of the important and scarce D-Day ASE issues. Very good minus. JD36964 | $35.00 |
| [Armed Services Editions] Douglas, Lloyd C. The Robe. NY, Armed Services Editions, n.d. (1944), first edition thus, wrappers. Softcover. No. D-118 in this important series, first issue, reprinted later in the series as No. K-27, "the story of a soldier who tossed for Christ's robe and won," condensed for wartime reading, issued by the Council on Books in Wartime, designed to fit the pocket of a World War II American GI, this is one of the important and scarce D-Day ASE issues. Very good. JD36962 | $45.00 |
| [Armed Services Editions] Byrne, Donn. Messer Marco Polo. NY, Armed Services Editions, n.d. (1944), first edition thus, wrappers. Softcover. No. F-151 in this important series, a historical novel, with a note about the author at the end, issued by the Council on Books in Wartime, designed to fit the pocket of a World War II American GI. Very good. JD36956 | $15.00 |
| [Armed Services Editions] Lamb, Charles. The Essays of Charles Lamb. NY, Armed Services Editions, n.d. (1944), first edition, wrappers. Softcover. No. F-175 in this important series, a paperback original, essays selected and with an introduction by Saxe Commins, issued by the Council on Books in Wartime, designed to fit the pocket of a World War II American GI. Very good minus. JD36991 | $10.00 |
| [Armed Services Editions] Steinbeck, John. The Long Valley. NY, Armed Services Editions, n.d. (1945), first edition thus, wrappers. Softcover. No. 794 in this important series, it includes such classic Steinbeck short stories as The Chrysanthemums, The Snake, Johnny Bear, Flight, The Raid, The Harness, The Vigilante, The Murder, and all portions of The Red Pony, with a note about the author at the end, Goldstone & Payne A11c, Morrow 93, issued by the Council on Books in Wartime, designed to fit the pocket of a World War II American GI. Good. JD36988 | $20.00 |
| [Armed Services Editions] Bodmer, Frederick. The Loom of Language. NY, Armed Services Editions, n.d. (1945), first edition thus, wrappers. Softcover. No. 893 in this important series, edited by Lancelot Hogben who also provides the foreword, "condensed for wartime reading," illustrated, issued by the Council on Books in Wartime, designed to fit the pocket of a World War II American GI. Very good minus. JD36989 | $10.00 |
| [Armed Services Editions] Shelley, Mary W. Frankenstein (Or, the Modern Prometheus). NY, Armed Services Editions, n.d. (1946), first edition thus, wrappers. Softcover. No. 909 in this important series, a classic in horror literature and film source, issued by the Council on Books in Wartime, designed to fit the pocket of a World War II American GI. Very good. JD37000 | $225.00 |
| [Armed Services Editions] Marsh, Ngaio. Final Curtain. NY, Armed Services Editions, n.d. (1947), first edition thus, wrappers. Softcover. No. 1269 in this important series, a mystery novel with a theatrical setting by this woman writer from New Zealand, with a list of characters at the end, issued by the Council on Books in Wartime, designed to fit the pocket of a World War II American GI, this is in the very scarce upright/vertical format. Very good minus. JD36994 | $55.00 |
| [Armed Services Editions] Sandburg, Carl. Storm Over the Land. NY, Armed Services Editions, n.d. (1943), first edition thus, wrappers. Softcover. No. A-27, just the 27th title issued in this important series, "a profile of the Civil War, taken mainly from his Abraham Lincoln: The War Years, preface by Sandburg, illustrated with maps, issued by the Council on Books in Wartime, designed to fit the pocket of a World War II American GI, a very scarce book. Very good. JD36961 | $50.00 |
| [Armed Services Editions] Carse, Robert. There Go The Ships. NY, Armed Services Editions, n.d. (1943), first edition thus, wrappers. Softcover. No. A-5, just the fifth book in this important series, "the story of a convoy to Murmansk," issued by the Council on Books in Wartime, designed to fit the pocket of a World War II American GI. Very good plus. JD36963 | $50.00 |
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