In honor of the birthday of William Shawn, editor of The Yorker from 1952 to 1987, Henry Bemis Books is pleased to offer a selection of works from his legendary stable of writers (OK, and one he didn’t)- the legacy of any great editor:
Addams, Charles, Addams and Evil (Simon & Schuster, 1st ed., 16th printing, 1947). Collection of cartoons by the longtime New Yorker cartoonist (1912-1988) and creator of the TV series The Addams Family. Introduction by Wolcott Gibbs. Hardcover, clipped dust jacket with some wear and tear to edges. Bright coloring in the dust jacket illustration; book as a whole in very good condition. 8” x 11”. HBB price: $100.
The New Yorker Book of Literary Cartoons, Bob Mankoff, ed.; Pocket Books stated first edition, first printing, 2000). ISBN 0-671--3557-6. From Dickens' editor asking, "Was it the best of times or the worst of times? It could scarcely have been both," to Roz Chast's "Nancy Drew: The Later Years" (The Mystery of the Eight Pounds: "How could I have gained eight pounds? I never eat anything"), this 105-page collection of full-page cartoons is an endless joy for a bibliophile. Unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. HBB price: $25.
The Complete Book of Covers from The New Yorker 1925-1989 (Alfred A. Knopf, stated first edition, 1989). ISBN 0-394-57841-4. Foreword by John Updike. 391 pp. Hardcover, with unclipped dust jacket. 3277 cover illustrations indexed by artist and sorted year with other contextual information. Very good condition; 11.5” x 11.5”. HBB price: $75 obo.
White, E.B. and K.S. A Subtreasury of American Humor (Coward-McCann, 1st ed., 1941). A good bit of humor pieces by New Yorker writers rounded out by other bits going back to Ben Franklin. Hardcover, dust jacket with some wear about the edges. good condition. HBB price: $20.
Strunk, William Jr. and White, E. B., The Elements of Style (Macmillan, 1st ed., stated 1st printing, 1959). LOC 59-9950. Fine hardcover, very good unclipped dust jacket. Blue cloth boards, 71 pp. Some foxing of the endpapers. Scarce and highly collectible. HBB price: $395 obo.
McPhee, John, The Founding Fish (Farrar Straus Giroux, 1st ed., 1st printing, 2002). ISBN 0-374-10444-1. In the days before Tina Brown, The New Yorker ran series of articles on all manner of topics, drilled way down into by the always entertaining John McPhee. Tina moved on, as she always does, but Eustace Tilley has never been the same. This post-Tina work is a look at shad, the fish made famous in Cole Porter’s “Let’s Do It,” and other matters piscatorial. Fascinating reading. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket. Very good condition. HBB price: $35.
Alford, Henry, How to Live: A Search for Wisdom from Old People (While They Are Still On This Earth), (Twelve/Hachette Books, 1st ed., 1st printing, 2009). ISBN 978-0-446-19603-1. At 45, New Yorker writer Henry Alford got to wondering about what old age will be like, and set out to ask a variety of old people. This book is the result: “I in no way mean to suggest...that I myself am proposing a way for others to live... Rather, I am the listener here; it is my interviewees who I hope will be making all the recommendations. Mark Twain once said, ‘Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you would rather have talked.’ And, oh, how some oldsters can talk.” Witty, engaging, sometimes wistful, this book gets the skinny from the famous (Edward Albee, Phyllis Diller), and the not (his step-father and mother, whose interview answers inadvertently start the unraveling of their 36-year relationship). How to Live was published in a small hardcover run before going to paperback. This is a classic-in-the-making. Octavo, 262 pp. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket fine condition. HBB price: $29.95.
Alford, Henry, How to Live: A Search for Wisdom from Old People (While They Are Still On This Earth), (Twelve/Hachette Books, 1st ed., 1st printing, 2009). ISBN 978-0-446-19603-1. At 45, New Yorker writer Henry Alford got to wondering about what old age will be like, and set out to ask a variety of old people. This book is the result: “I in no way mean to suggest...that I myself am proposing a way for others to live... Rather, I am the listener here; it is my interviewees who I hope will be making all the recommendations. Mark Twain once said, ‘Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you would rather have talked.’ And, oh, how some oldsters can talk.” Witty, engaging, sometimes wistful, this book gets the skinny from the famous (Edward Albee, Phyllis Diller), and the not (his step-father and mother, whose interview answers inadvertently start the unraveling of their 36-year relationship). How to Live was published in a small hardcover run before going to paperback. This is a classic-in-the-making. Octavo, 262 pp. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket fine condition. HBB price: $29.95.
Salinger J.D., Catcher in the Rye, (Little Brown & Co, 1951, true first edition, first printing). It is the hardcover edition, with the original dust jacket. 277 pp.
Here is the story of the book, as told by Garrison Keillor at The Writer’s Almanac:
Here is the story of the book, as told by Garrison Keillor at The Writer’s Almanac:
J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye was published on this date in 1951. It is Salinger’s only novel. It’s one of the most banned books in American history. It’s also one of the most frequently taught in high schools, even though Salinger didn’t intend the book for teenage readers. Holden Caulfield, the book’s protagonist, is a prep school boy from New York City, and he addresses the reader directly. The novel begins, “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.”
Salinger had thought about Holden Caulfield for years. He carried six Caulfield stories with him when he went off to fight in World War II. The stories were with Salinger on the beach at Normandy and in Nazi concentration camps. They were with him in the hours he spent with Ernest Hemingway in Paris. By the time Salinger began to assemble the novel The Catcher in the Rye, he had nine stories about Holden and his family.
When he finished the manuscript, Salinger sent it to publisher Robert Giroux at Harcourt, Brace. Giroux was impressed with the book, and was pleased to be its editor, but he never thought it would be a best-seller. Giroux sent the book to his boss, Eugene Reynal. Reynal didn’t really get it, and sent it to a textbook editor for his opinion, since it was about a prep-school boy. The textbook editor didn’t like it, so Harcourt, Brace would not publish it. Rival house Little, Brown picked it up right away, and Robert Giroux quit his job and went to work for Farrar, Straus instead. Reviewers called the book “brilliant,” “funny,” and “meaningful.” Salinger couldn’t cope with the amount of publicity and celebrity the book gave him. He moved to a hilltop home in New Hampshire and lived the rest of his life in seclusion. Many directors approached Salinger over the years, hoping to obtain the movie rights, and Salinger turned them all down.
Henry Bemis Books’ copy of Catcher is a true first edition, denominated as such on the copyright page. The dust jacket is complete, though with a small tear at the front bottom of the spine, removing the “wn” from Brown. The back of the dust jacket is separated along the spine, leaving it in two pieces. It serves, hoever, to verify the first edition status of the book, still one of the most contested and banned books in US history.
The copy bears all the first edition points and has no signatures or markings. The end papers have some browning from the dust jacket. The text block, hard cover, and binding is in very good condition.
Advantageously priced, this is a truly rare collecting opportunity.
Henry Bemis Books is offering this first edition copy of The Catcher in the Rye for $500, or best offer.
*****
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