Henry Bemis Books: New Inventory, March 13, 2015

Photos are available for all listed books. There are a lot of new items, especially in Carolinas/Regional and Fiction. Please contact us for more information about any that pique your interest!

Advance Reading Copies

Baldwin, James, Just Above My Head (Dial Press, 1st printing, 1979). Paperback advance reading copy of Baldwin’s novel about two Harlem brothers- one a gay gospel singer- and the woman they both love. Baldwin won a six-figure paperback deal, a Literary Guild advance selection, a $50,000 promotional campaign, and pieces on “Today” and “20/20.” Includes publisher’s letter to booksellers. Good condition. HBB price: $25.

African-American

Demijohn, Thom (Thomas Disch & John Sladek), Black Alice (Doubleday/Book Club ed., 1968). LOC 68-22503. The authors take the concept of Alice falling down the rabbit hole into a totally unfamiliar world and apply it to race relations in the United States in the fraught Sixties. Blonde-haired heiress Alice is kidnapped and held for a million-dollar ransom; to make sure no one will find her, the kidnappers brown her skin, treat her hair, and turn her into Black Alice, parked in Bessie McKay’s Norfolk whorehouse. A period piece of “moustache turning satire and melodrama,” one reviewer called it. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, good condition. A rare and unusual find, even as a book club reprint. 8.75” x 5.75”, 224 pp. HBB price: $40.

Taubert, Clifton L., Once Upon A Time When We Were Colored (Council Oak Books, 1st ed., 19890. ISBN 0-933031-19-X. A Tulsa businessman looks back on his childhood in segregation times, in the little town of Glen Allan, Mississippi. Elegantly laid out, with lots of photos. An engrossing read about a time and place long gone. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition, autographed. HBB price: $20.

Appalachia

Frazier, Charles, Nightwoods (Random House, 1st ed., 1st printing, 2011). ISBN 978-1-4000-6709-1. A gripping tale of an Appalachian woman Luce, who inherits her murdered sister’s troubled twins. By the author of Cold Mountain. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition, autographed. HBB price: $75.

House, Silas, Clay’s Quilt (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1st ed., 1st printing, 2001). ISBN 1-56512-307-7. Fine tale of an orphaned Kentucky coal miner’s efforts to find a life and a family of his own. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition, autographed. HBB price: $45.

Architecture

Hood, Davyd Foard, The Architecture of Rowan County: A Catalogue And History of the Surviving 18th, 19th and Early 20th Century Structures (Historic Salisbury Foundation, 1983; updated and reprinted 2000). An encyclopedic survey of the structures of this western North Carolina County. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. Folio size, 434 pp. HBB price: $75.

Art

Hockney, David & Spender, Sir Stephen, Hockney’s Alphabet (Random House, 1st ed., 2nd printing, 1992). ISBN 0-679-41766-4. An oversized, illustrated Alphabet drawn by Hockney, with comments inspired by each letter from over two dozen British and American writers. Originally produced to benefit AIDS Crisis Trust; all proceeds from this sale will be donated to Carolina CARE Partners, towards the same end. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. HBB price: $75.

Autobiography

Buckley, William F., Jr., Overdrive: A Personal Documentary (Doubleday & Co., 1st ed., 1983). ISBN 0-385-18269-4. The celebrated conservative activist/writer documented a week in his life in this book. Reviewing it in The New York Times, Nora Ephron concluded, “A boy born to a small oil fortune grows up to be a man with three homes, five in help, a wife on the best-dressed list and the secure belief that even his preference in peanut butter will be of interest to his fans. His attitude toward life is so cheerful and good-natured - and what's more, he's right about the peanut butter - that it seems almost churlish to point out that it is possible to spend too much time in a limousine. The English used to say, give an Irishman a horse and he'll vote Tory, but never mind.” Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, good condition, autographed on bookplate. HBB price: $35.

Ervin, Senator Sam, Humor of A Country Lawyer (University of North Carolina Press, 1st ed., 1983). ISBN 0-8078-1566-7. Reminiscences by the famed chair of the Watergate Committee. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, good condition, inscribed “To Bruce Wofford, with all good wishes” and dated October 23, 1983. HBB price: $40.

Gagarine, Marie, From Stolnoy to Spartanburg: The two worlds of a former Russian princess (Sandlapper Press, 1st ed., 1971). ISBN 0-87844-001-1. The memoirs of a granddaughter to the Czarina Alexandra’s “states-lady”: a sort of chief of staff- whose family lost all in the whirlwind of the Revolution and ended up on the faculty of Wofford College in South Carolina. Includes an account of life at court with the last of the Romanovs. Hardcover, no dust jacket, very good condition. Inscribed by the author on the front papers. Octavo, 138 pp. Rare. HBB price: $150.

Green, Julien, Terre Lointaine (Love in America) (Paris: Bernard Grasset, Editeur, 1966). Julien Green (1900-1998), almost unknown in the United States, was an American writer who spent most of his life in France. His voluminous output of novels, memoirs and diaries won such favor in the francophone world that he was the first non-native elected to the French Academy. This book is the third of his autobiographical works and tells the story of an unfulfilled love affair during his time at the University of Virginia, 1919-22: "I believed I was the only one of my kind. I only discovered many years later what was going on there every day and night. `What, didn't you realize?' Yet all the proprieties were observed to the T and, having eyes that were apparently not meant to see, I persevered in my unbelievable ignorance. There is a great deal to be said about the effects of my blindness for it prolonged the end of my childhood and encouraged a late development which it was difficult to catch up with, yet it also helped to preserve many qualities which I would otherwise have lost: a way of looking at the world in all its newness, as if I had just discovered it and above all, I firmly believe, a living faith. . . ."And would I not feel rather ashamed about regretting all this physical delight that I never knew and which would have been so easy to procure? I would be lying if I wrote that I did not regret it. . . . I cannot pretend that a shameful lament for the passionate delights of which my youth deprived me did not well up from the darkest regions of my soul. I know that all that is most Christian in me protests, but mankind is nevertheless a structure of several stories. We praise God from the roof-tops, but what is going on in the gloom of the cellar?"

A convert to Catholicism at 14, Green wrestled all his very long life to reconcile his homosexuality with his faith, and many of his works of fiction deal with private moral failures and public hypocrisies. A personal crisis in the mid-1950s magnified his focus on spiritual issues. The French title is derived from a line in a poem by Villon: “In my country was a distant land.” This paperback (4.75” x 7.5”) is inscribed on the title page from Green to the late UNC-Charlotte dean Glenn S. Burne. Good Condition; some sun fading on the yellow cover boards. HBB price: $20.

Howe, Gordie & Colleen, “...and Howe! An Authorized Biography (Power Play Publications, 1995, 3rd printing), ISBN 0-9647149-0-6. The famed hockey star and his wife look back. SIgned by both. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. HBB price: $75.

Marshall, Garry, Wake Me When It’s Funny: How to Break Into Show Business And Stay There (Adams Publishing, 1995, 1st ed., 1st printing). ISBN 1-55850-526-1. Actor, writer and director, Marshall created 14 hit TV shows and directed major movies over a 35-year career he revisits in this memoir written with his daughter, Lori. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, good condition, extensive underlining by previous owner (but at least the lines are straight). Autographed by both authors. HBB price: $20.

Ouimet, Francis, A Game of Golf: A Book of Reminiscence (1932, limited ed. by The Old Golf Shop, Cincinnati, 1978, No. 57 of 250). 20 year old former caddie and unknown amateur Francis Ouimet stunned the sports world by beating the godlike Harry Vardon in the 1913 U.S. Open, making the front page of the New York Times in the process. Ouimet (1893-1967) changed the perception of golf as the game for the super-rich and became a beloved figure in golf through the decades. This very limited edition is part of an annual series reprinting of books by the honoree of the annual Memorial Tournament, started in 1976 to honor those- living and dead- who did the most to advance the sport. A very rare edition of an excellent autobiography. Green boards with gilt edging and titles, no dust jacket, very good condition. 8.75” x 5.75”, 274 pp. HBB price: $175.

Yardley, Jonathan, Our Kind of People: The Story of An American Family (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1st ed., 1st printing, 1989. ISBN 1-55584-174-0. NC native, book critic and Pulitzer Prize winner’s story of his family, centering around his parents’ half-century marriage. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. Presentation copy inscribed to Charlotte NC-based jazz musician and songwriter Loonis McGlohon. HBB price: $75.

Autographed

Baker, Ira Lee and Scarborough, Franklin S., From Chinaberry Trees to China Grove (Salisbury Printing Co, 1st ed. 1989). Centennial history of the Rowan County, North Carolina town. Hardcover, no dust jacket, blue board with black illustrated cover. Very good condition. Octavo, 246 pp. Autographed by both authors. HBB price: $75.

Berendt, John, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (Random House, 1994). ISBN 0-679-42922-0. “The Book,” they call it in Savannah. This shaggy dog tale wraps around a murder trial, but the stars are locals like drag artist Lady Chablis, who- after playing herself in the film version, announced she expected to be the first performer in history to win Best Supporting Actor and Actress. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. Autographed at Clary’s Cafe’ in Savannah. HBB price: $35.

Brinkerhoff, Peter C., Faith-Based Management: Leading Organizations That Are Based On More Than Just Mission (John Wiley, 1st ed., 1st printing, 1999). ISBN 0-471-31544-3. First-of-of-its-kind guide to managing in the environments that make faith organizations different from the average nonprofit. Hardcover unclipped dust jacket, very good condition, autographed. HBB price: $50.

Brown, Alton, I'm Just Here For The Food (Stewart Tabori & Chang, 1st ed., 1st printing, 2002). ISBN 1-58479-083-0. The irrepressible Food Network host’s first cookbook, “one for people who would rather understand their food than follow a recipe.” Ohhhh….kay. Hardcover, oversized, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition, autographed. HBB price: $35.

Conroy, Pat, The Prince of Tides (Houghton Mifflin, 1st ed., 1st printing, 1986). ISBN 0-395-35300-9. Searing tale of a South Carolina Low Country family worthy of a Eugene O’Neill play. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, Brodart cover, fine condition. inscribed to Charlotte NC arts maven Gladys Lavitan. HBB price: $350.

Conroy, Pat, My Losing Season (Nan Talese/Doubleday, 1st ed., 1st printing, 2002). ISBN 0-385-48912-9. The author of Prince of Tides recalls his senior year on The Citadel’s basketball team. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition, autographed on title page. HBB price: $100.

Coy, John, Night Driving (Henry Holt, 1996, 1st ed. 3rd printing). ISBN 0-8050-2931-1. A small boy recalls an overnight drive with his dad for a camping trip in the mountains, circa 1950. Magical illustrations by Peter McCarty. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition, autographed. HBB price: $25.

Crothers, Tim, The Man Watching: A Biography of Anson Dorrance, the Unlikely Architect of the Greatest College Sports Dynasty Ever (Sports Media Group, 1st. ed, later printing, 2006). ISBN 978-1-58726-434-4. Eighteen national championships and a 94% win rate seem to back up the claim at the University of North Carolina’s women’s soccer team is about as good as they get. Hardcover, dust jacket price clipped, very good condition, autographed by Crothers and Dorrance.

Dole, Elizabeth, Hearts Touched With Fire: My 500 Favorite Inspirational Quotations (Carroll & Graf, 1st ed., 2004). Bon mots collected by the NC native, former senator, cabinet officer, presidential candidate and American Red Cross president over her long career in public service. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, almost fine condition, 8” x 6”. Autographed on the title page at a Salisbury NC bookstore, February 19, 2005. HBB price: $15.

Edgerton, Clyde, Where Trouble Sleeps, (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1997, 1st ed. 1st printing). ISBN 1-56512-06102. The saga of Listre, NC continues as a stoplight gets installed and outsiders start showing up. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition, autographed. HBB price: $25.

Gagarine, Marie, From Stolnoy to Spartanburg: The two worlds of a former Russian princess (Sandlapper Press, 1st ed., 1971). ISBN 0-87844-001-1. The memoirs of a granddaughter to the Czarina Alexandra’s “states-lady”: a sort of chief of staff- whose family lost all in the whirlwind of the Revolution and ended up on the faculty of Wofford College in South Carolina. Includes an account of life at court with the last of the Romanovs.Hardcover, no dust jacket, very good condition. Inscribed by the author on the front papers. Octavo, 138 pp. Rare. HBB price: $150.

Garreau, Joel, The Nine Nations of North America (Houghton Mifflin, 1st ed., 1st printing, 1981). ISBN 0-395-29124-0. This enormously-discussed book proposed breaking the US, Mexico and Canada into nine countries based on geographic and socioeconomic affinities. Given the “great sorting” that has gone on since and the increasing vogue for seccesh talk on the political right, its day may be returning. Hardcover, no dust jacket, good condition, underlined text by previous owner. Autographed. HBB price: $20.

Graham, Rev. Dr. Billy, Peace With God: How To Choose In The Hour of Decision, (Doubleday & Co, 1953, later reprinting). LOC 53-5967. An early work by the renowned evangelist, reissued after his famous 1957 New York Crusade that drew some 2m people. The book sold more than 2m copies and was re-issued in a revised version in 1984. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition, autographed. HBB price: $250.

Green, Ron, Shouting At The Amen Corner: The Masters- Dispatches from the World’s Greatest Greatest Golf Tournament (A SportsMasters Book, Sports Publishing Inc., 1999, 1st ed.). ISBN 1-58382-018-3. Charlotte Observer columnist collects 45 years of Masters articles. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition, autographed. HBB price: $25.

Housholder, Bob, editor, Grand Slam of North American Wild Sheep (Imperial Lithographers/Roswell Bookbinding, 2nd printing, May 1974). A collection of tales by ten members of the Grand Slam Club of the North American Sheep Hunters Association, describing what it was like to be among the fifty or so hunters to bag all four North American rams. Hardcover with gold lettering/ram’s head on cover and spine, no dust jacket, very good condition, affectionately inscribed by contributor Dr. Roy A. Schultz,DVM to Russ Reid, “one of the best sheep outfitters and sheep guides on the North American Continent!!!” in September, 1977. HBB price: $100.

Hughs, Rev. G. Carswell, First Church Sermons 1972-1982 (First Presbyterian Church, Charlotte, 1st ed., May 1982). Privately printed under a bequest by Beulah Wallace Grier, a member from 1899 to 1978. Thirty sermons from the first ten years ministry of a popular pastor. Hardcover, no dust jacket, privately printed, autographed. HBB price: $35.

Kane, Harnett T., Queen New Orleans: City By The River (William Morrow, 1st ed., 1949). “The Poet Laureate of Louisiana” pens a raucous, affectionate portrait of The Big Easy. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, Brodart cover, very good condition, inscribed to Charlotte NC arts maven Gladys Lavitan. HBB price: $60.

Kanin, Garson, Remembering Mr. Maugham (Athenaeum, 1st ed., 1966). LOC 66-23574. The celebrated American playwright/director’s memories of British writer W. Somerset Maugham. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, clear Brodart cover, good condition, inscribed to film producer Robert Evans. Evans produced “Harold and Maude” and “Rosemary’s Baby,” both star vehicles for Kanin’s wife, actress Ruth Gordon. HBB price: $200.

Kuralt, Charles, On the Road With Charles Kuralt (G.P. Putnam’s, 1985, 1st ed., 20th printing, 1985). ISBN 0-399-13087-X. 92 of Kuralt’s travel pieces from 1967 onward. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, good condition, autographed. HBB price: $25.

McKissick, John (with Billy G. Baker), Called To Coach II (United Graphics, 2004, 1st ed, #1688 of 3100 copies, 2004). ISBN 09759948-0-8. A book of “life lessons” from the winningest high school football coach in America. McKissick became head coach at Summerville, SC High School in 1952 and has remained there ever since. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition, autographed. HBB price: $75.

Moseley, J. Rufus, Manifest Victory: A Quest and A Testimony (Harper & Bros., 1947). Born in Elkin, NC, educated at Peabody, Mercer,Harvard and Heidelberg, Rufus Moseley (1870-1954) was a leading mid-20th century American Christian mystic. From 1910 he gave up his professorship at Mercer and spent the rest of his life living off the proceeds of his pecan grove near Macon, GA, and contributed an occasional column to The Macon Telegraph. He wrote two highly successful books; Manifest Victory is a sort of Augustinian confession. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, good condition, autographed. Rare. Inscribed to “Brother R.A. Taylor” in February 1950. HBB price: $150.

Pinsky, Robert, The Figured Wheel: New & Collected Poems 1966-1996 (Farrar Straus Giroux 1996, 1st ed.) ISBN 0-374-15493-7. Former US poet laureate’s collected works. Inscribed on the title page. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. HBB price: $60.

Proper, Datus C., Pheasants of the Mind: A Hunter’s Search for A Mythic Bird (Prentice Hall Press, 1st ed., 1st printing, 1990). ISBN 0-13-662750-1. A Montana naturalist philosopher (“It is impossible to read this without being reminded of Garrison Keillor at his best,” famed food writer M.F.K. Fisher wrote), contemplates nature and the challenges of hunting for pheasant. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition, autographed. HBB price: $75.

Rogers, John R. and Amy T., Charlotte: Its Historic Neighborhoods (Arcadia Publishing/Images of America series, 1st ed. 1996). ISBN 0-7524-0515-2. Lavishly illustrated, well-researched account of Charlotte’s inner, “streetcar” suburbs. Softcover, very good condition, autographed by both authors. HBB price: $50.

Sanders, Zoe D., Entertaining at The College of Charleston (The College of Charleston Foundation, 1st ed., 1998). ISBN 0-9638620-1-4. A former president’s wife records, “through pictures, text, menus and recipes her gracious and elegant style of entertaining,” in pursuit of her goal that the College “live up to Charleston’s fine and rich culinary heritage of entertaining.” Lavishly illustrated. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition, autographed. HBB price $35.

Sedaris, Amy, I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence (Warner Books, 1st ed., 1st printing, 2006). ISBN 13: 978-0-446-57884-4. Helpful tips and recipes. Want to train nosy guests not to be? Fill your medicine cabinet with marbles. Hardcover, oversized, unclipped dust jacket, autographed. HBB price: $25.

Speizman, Morris, This Week’s Miracle (Charlotte, NC: Heritage Printers, 1968). LOC 68-29086. Morris Speizman was born in Lodz, Poland in 1905. Six months later, his family immigrated to the United States. He attended the Philadelphia School of Textiles. In 1936, he and his wife, Sylvia Valenstein, came to Charlotte and founded Speizman Industries, Inc., a textile machinery company. In addition to his business, Speizman was very active in the Jewish and civic communities. As an author, he wrote This Week's Miracle, Our World To Come (Charlotte: Graham Publishing Co., 1975), The Jews of Charlotte (Charlotte: McNally and Loftin, 1978), and Some Things I Wish I Had Said--And Some I Did! (Charlotte: Graham Publishing Co., 1983). He died in Charlotte on July 25, 1987 and was buried in the Hebrew Cemetery. A well-written series of short essays on life and business. Valuable as a portrayal of the now-vanished textile industry economy in the Southeast. Speizman was a friend and correspondent with Charlotte author and editor Harry Golden; his papers are in the UNC-Charlotte library. Paperback, 8.5” x 5.5”, very good condition, autographed. HBB price: $25.

Talese, Gay, Unto the Sons (Knopf, 1992, 1st ed.). ISBN 0-679-4130401. Sweeping saga of the Italian-American experience in the 20th century. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition, autographed. HBB price: $75.

Tallant, Robert, Mrs. Candy Strikes It Rich (Doubleday & Co., 1954, 1st ed.). LOC 54-7663. Comic Mardi Gras romp featuring the social-climbing, nouveau-riche Mrs. Eustacia Candy Petit of Cairo Street, N’awlins. Third of a series of Mrs. Candy comedies. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, good condition, inscribed to Charlotte NC arts maven Gladys Lavitan. HBB price: $50.

Walsh, Christy, Baseball’s Greatest Lineup (A.S. Barnes & Co., 1st ed., 1952). LOC 52-8286. Christy Walsh, a cartoonist and sportswriter, saw the future of baseball one day, and its name was Babe Ruth. He dogged Ruth to see him for two years, and when he finally got in, he asked Ruth how much he’d been paid for a newspaper article. “Five dollars.” “I can get you a hundred,” Walsh replied, and for the next 27 years he made Ruth a wealthy man through better contract negotiations and product endorsements. Walsh was the first great sports superagent, representing the cream of American sports- Ty Cobb, Knute Rockne and Lou Gehrig, among others. Baseball’s Greatest Lineup is a collection of profiles of sportswriters’ picks for baseball’s greatest, 1900 to 1950. Thoughtful, funny, the book makes you thing Walsh invented fantasy baseball as well. Hardcover, no dust jacket, very good condition. Autographed with a Walsh caricature of himself, for Wilton Garrison, longtime sports editor of The Charlotte Observer. HBB price: $100.

Biography

Blythe, LeGette, William Henry Belk: Merchant of the South (University of North Carolina Press, 1950; enlarged edition 1958). LOC 58-14574. A life of the founder of the department store chain. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. Octavo, 271 pp. HBB price: $75.

Bulla, Ben F., Textiles & Politics: The Life of B. Everett Jordan- From Saxapahaw to the United States Senate (Carolina Academic Press, 1992). ISBN 0-89089-486-8. A much-needed biography of the publicity-shy North Carolina senator, whose primary defeat in 1972 paved the way for the election of Jesse Helms to the U.S. Senate. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, fine condition. Octavo, 395 pp. HBB price: $50.

Covington, Howard E. Jr., Belk Inc.: The Company and the Family That Built It (Belk Inc, 2002). LOC 2002104825. An new, half-century-later version of LeGette Blyth’s history of the family, their stores, and their philanthropies. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, fine condition. Octavo, 282 pp. HBB price: $50.

Morison, Samuel Eliot, Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus (Atlantic/Little Brown, 1st ed., 1942). Standard life of the Italian explorer, winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket with some chipping and wear about the edges. Good condition. Octavo, 680 pp. HBB price: $135.

Ragan, Robert Allison, The Ragans of Gastonia, 1790-1995: Builders of the New South and Pioneers in Southern Textiles (Heritage Printers, 1st ed., 1995). ISBN 95-92604. A scion of the prominent Gaston County family gives them and their role in the state’s history a thoroughly-researched airing. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. Octavo, 568 pp. Many illustrations. Inscribed by the author to friends. HBB price: $50.

Silverman, Kenneth, Houdini!!! The Career of Ehrich Weiss (HarperCollins, 1st ed., 1st printing, 1996). ISBN 0-06-016978-8. Well-regarded biography of the last century’s greatest illusionist, written with access to much previously, unavailable material. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, fine condition. Octavo, 465 pp. HBB price: $50.

Carolinas/Regional

Brownlee, Fambrough L., Winston-Salem: A Pictorial History (Donning Co., 1977). ISBN 0-915442-26-4. Extensive collection of captioned photos documenting the development of the central North Carolina metropolitan area. Hardcover, no dust jacket, some staining along the fore edge and first 40 pp. Good condition. Valuable pictorial record of an important city’s development. Folio, 208 pp. HBB price: $75.

Cashman, Diane Cobb, Cape Fear Adventure: An Illustrated History of Wilmington (Windsor Publications, 1st ed., 1982). ISBN 0-89781-057-0. Meticulously researched history of the coastal Carolina city, whose most recent reincarnation has been as a center of television and film production. Hardcover, price clipped dust jacket, very good condition. Quarto, 144 pp, many illustrations. HBB price: $75.

Charlotte Regional Realtor Association, Selling Charlotte: 85 Years of Realtor Excellence (CRRA, 1st ed., 2006). Corporate-style commemorative history, but valuable in the context of a development-drive area like Charlotte. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, some slight wear along edges and one 1 ¾” tear at top front. Good condition. Folio, 122 pp. HBB price: $50.

Conroy, Pat, Beach Music (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 1st ed., 1st printing, 1995). ISBN 0-385-41304-1. Conroy’s Holocaust-meets-Low-Country-angst novel. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, fine condition. HBB price: $50.

Gagarine, Marie, From Stolnoy to Spartanburg: The two worlds of a former Russian princess (Sandlapper Press, 1st ed., 1971). ISBN 0-87844-001-1. The memoirs of a granddaughter to the Czarina Alexandra’s “states-lady”: a sort of chief of staff- whose family lost all in the whirlwind of the Revolution and ended up on the faculty of Wofford College in South Carolina. Includes an account of life at court with the last of the Romanovs.Hardcover, no dust jacket, very good condition. Inscribed by the author on the front papers. Octavo, 138 pp. Rare. HBB price: $150.

Kratt, Mary Norton, and Hanchett, Thomas W., Legacy: The Myers Park Story (Myers Park Foundation, 1986). LOC 86-63043. Well-researched and illustrated history of the historic “streetcar subway” in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hardcover, green leather with gilt titling, no dust jacket. Fine condition. Octavo, 200 pp. Rare. HBB price: $150.

McGee, Dr. Jerry Edward, Roberdell: A Village of Grace (Deacon Press, 1st ed., 1995). ISBN 978-1-61623-402-7. A fascinating account of a Richmond County, North Carolina mill town that flourished between 1882 and the 1950s. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, fine condition. Octavo, 107 pp. HBB price: $25.

Moseley, J. Rufus, Manifest Victory: A Quest and A Testimony (Harper & Bros., 1947). Born in Elkin, NC, educated at Peabody, Mercer, Harvard and Heidelberg, Rufus Moseley (1870-1954) was a leading mid-20th century American Christian mystic. From 1910 he gave up his professorship at Mercer and spent the rest of his life living off the proceeds of his pecan grove near Macon, GA, and contributed an occasional column to The Macon Telegraph. He wrote two highly successful books; Manifest Victory is a sort of Augustinian confession. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, good condition, autographed. Rare. Inscribed to “Brother R.A. Taylor” in February 1950. HBB price: $150.

Ostwalt, Conrad, Love Valley: An American Utopia (Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1998). ISBN 0-87972-760-8. In 1954, a man called Andy Barker found the perfect spot, in Iredell County, North Carolina, to combine his two life callings: to create a Christian community, and to be a cowboy. The faux-western town of Love Valley was the result, setting off a forty-year roller coaster of social outreach, philanthropy, and the infamous Love Valley Rock Festival. Ostwalt applies an even hand to this attempt to build an American utopia in the Brushy Mountains; the result is a fascinating story of a town that still exists, population 117, in a mellow, matured state. Trade paperback, good condition, some marginal notes by a previous owner. 202 pp. HBB price: $20.

Paysour, Buck, Bass Fishing in North Carolina (Haw River Press, 1977). Longtime business page editor for The Greensboro Daily News, Paysour was also one dedicated bass fisherman. This book was the first devoted to the sport’s North Carolina waters in over 75 years. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. We have two copies. 8.5” x 5.25”, 242 pp. HBB price: $65.

Powell, William S., editor, Encyclopedia of North Carolina (University of North Carolina Press, 1st ed., 1st printing, 2006). Eminent state historian William Powell spent fifteen years corralling the contributions of over 550 writers in over 2,000 entries. A must for any North Carolina collector or researcher. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, fine condition. Folio, 1314 pp. HBB price: $40.

Rieke, Robert, An Azure Sunset (Charlotte, NC: Providence Press, limited ed., #109 0f 200- printed and signed in pencil by Rieke on the colophon- 1994. A four-part collection of Rieke’s poetry, collected for the first time. 24 poems plus a short biographical sketch. Printed in letterpress at Heritage Press and “published on the winter solstice of 1994.” Rieke (1923- 2013) taught European History at Emory and The Citadel before joining the faculty of UNC-Charlotte as history department chair; he also wrote a history of the college, A Retrospective Vision. Quarto, 7.25” x 10”. Brilliant blue boards; no dust jacket. As-new condition. 35 pp. inscribed to Charlotte NC arts maven Gladys Lavitan. HBB price: $25.

Robinson, Luther, We Made Peace With Polio (Broadman Press, no stated edition, 1960). LOC 60-5194. A Rowan County elementary school principal’s memoir of the polio waves of the early 1950s, and how it struck his family. Part of a substantial body of books and memoirs on the last days of the crippling disease and its long-term aftermath. Hardcover, blue boards, dust jacket taped together and a bit fragile. Otherwise, good condition. Octavo, 165 pp. Rare. HBB price: $35.

Stowe, Robert Lee, Jr., Early History of Belmont and Gaston County, North Carolina (1st ed., 1951; reprint, Laney-Smith, Inc., 1997). ISBN 0-9624488-7. Textile pioneer Robert Lee Stowe, Sr. penned this history of the town he largely built at the age of 85. Reprinted by his son. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, fine condition. Octavo, 72 pp. Rare. HBB price: $75.

Thomas, Maud, Away Down Home: A History of Robeson County, North Carolina (Historic Robeson, 1st ed., 1982). Excellent history of the Sandhills area county. Hardcover, blue boards with gilt titling. No dust jacket, as issued. Octavo, 277 pp. Rare. HBB price: $175.

Children’s Books

Conservatism

Cooking/Entertaining

Crime

Behrendt, John, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (Random House, 1994). ISBN 0-679-42922-0. “The Book,” they call it in Savannah. This shaggy dog tale wraps around a murder trial, but the stars are locals like drag artist Lady Chablis, who- after playing herself in the film version, announced she expected to be the first performer in history to win Best Supporting Actor and Actress. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. Autographed at Clary’s Cafe’ in Savannah. HBB price: $35.

Faith/Religion/Philosophy

Aland, Kurt, editor, Synopsis Quattuor Evangeliorum (Synopsis of the Four Gospels and the apocryphal gospels, from the parallel text 26th edition, Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament, Deutsche Biblestiftung Stuttgart 1976). ISBN 3-438-05130-3. Hardcover, as new, no dust jacket, gold title lettering on cover and spine. Kurt Aland (1915-1994) was an immensely influential New Testament scholar who founded the Institute for New Testament Textual Research to locate and compare as many variant ancient fragments of the New Testament to derive the closest possible composite of the original. An outspoken opponent of the East German postwar regime, he was harassed and hounded for a decade before he lost his teaching post and escaped to West Germany in 1958. Slight wear at the top right corner of the cover, where the plastic wrapper wore through. HBB price: $35.

Ehrmann, Max, The Desiderata of Happiness: A Collection of Philosophical Poems (Crown Publishers, 1st ed., 7th printing, 1995). ISBN 0-517-70184-7. 37 poems by the lawyer and family meat packing and overalls company business executive (1872-1945) whose name soared to fame after the coincidental rediscovery of his 1927 prose poem, “Desiderata.” Through the 1960s and 70s it became a pop culture icon: Joan Crawford recited it; Leonard Nimoy recorded it. The elegant selection from his collected works (1948) gives a broader appreciation of the Indiana poet’s skills. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. HBB price: $35.

Hamilton, Virginia, In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1st ed. 1st printing, 1988). ISBN 0-15-238740-4. A remarkable collection of 25 creation stories from cultures around the world, illustrated by the incomparable Barry Moser. 10.25” x 8.5”. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. HBB price: $50.

Howard, Theodosia, Letters and Papers of the Late Theodosia A. Viscountess Powerscourt (Rev. Robert Daly, D.D., Rector of Powerscourt, afterwards Bishop of Cashel, etc., New Edition, G. Morrish, 20, Paternoster Square, London E.C., no copyright/publication date given). Preface by Rev. Daly, Powerscourt Glebe, April 1838). Theodosia Anne Howard (1800-36). Born in County Wicklow, Ireland, she accepted Christianity (some sources cite Rev. Daly as her mentor) at 19. Her cousin, wife of Richard Wingfield, Viscount Powerscourt, died in 1820; Theodosia married him in 1822, and he died a year later. In 1826 she attended a series of “prophetic meetings” in England, and began holding similar events at Powerscourt. In 1831 she turned them into a formal annual conference than ran until 1833. The prophetic movement was millennialist, driven by the idea that the turmoil of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars marked the beginning of the End Times and presaged the return of Jesus Christ. This volume is a conspectus of her spiritual life, and includes papers presented at her Powerscourt Conferences. Her work has remained in print since her death. Hardcover, green cloth boards with gilt Gothic lettering. No dust jacket. Published in London by G. Morrish. Bookseller tag from Erie Bible Truth Depot, Erie, PA. Rare. HBB price: $300.

Hughs, Rev. G. Carswell, First Church Sermons 1972-1982 (First Presbyterian Church, Charlotte, NC, 1st ed., May 1982). Privately printed under a bequest by Beulah Wallace Grier, a member from 1899 to 1978. Thirty sermons from the first ten years ministry of a popular pastor. Hardcover, no dust jacket, privately printed, autographed. HBB price: $35.

International Bible Students Association, Scenario of the Photo-Drama of Creation, Part 1 (no author given, copyright 1914). An interesting account of the Old Testament story, presented with short, episodic chapters copiously illustrated in the manner of film stills. 8.75” x 4.75 inches; hardcover, no dust jacket, elaborate embossed cover illustration. Remarkable condition; rare. HBB price: $50.

Manser, Hugh, and McGrath, Alister, Packer, J.I., and Wiseman, Donald, Zondervan Dictionary of Bible Themes (Zondervan Publishing House, 1st ed., 1st printing, 1999). ISBN 0-310-20668-5. Over 2000 thematic articles cross-referencing themes, related topics, and Biblical texts. Comparable, the publisher says, to Nave’s Topical Bible. Hardcover, no dust jacket, printed front and back covers, very good condition. HBB price: $75.

March, Rev. Daniel, D.D., Walks and Homes of Jesus (Ziegler & McCurdy, 1866). A retracing of the Savior’s journey’s by the 19th century American minister (1819-1905). Hardcover, no dust jacket, dark green boards embossed with gold titles on spine and cover. Acceptable condition; some separation of spine from covers. HBB price: $25.

Moseley, J. Rufus, Manifest Victory: A Quest and A Testimony (Harper & Bros., 1947). Born in Elkin, NC, educated at Peabody, Mercer, Harvard and Heidelberg, Rufus Moseley (1870-1954) was a leading mid-20th century American Christian mystic. From 1910 he gave up his professorship at Mercer and spent the rest of his life living off the proceeds of his pecan grove near Macon, GA, and contributed an occasional column to The Macon Telegraph. He wrote two highly successful books; Manifest Victory is a sort of Augustinian confession. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, good condition, autographed. Rare. Inscribed to “Brother R.A. Taylor” in February 1950. HBB price: $150.

Dorothy L. Sayers, The Whimsical Christian: 18 Essays (Macmillan, 1st ed., 1978, first published as Christian Letters to a Post-Christian World, 1969). ISBN 0-02-606930-X. Remembered mostly for her Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, Dorothy Sayers (1893-1957) also published a strong body of work in Christian apologetics. These pieces show her considering how, and why, to be a Christian in a modern, endlessly secularizing world. By turns thoughtful, inspiring and witty (how would a modern newspaper review the Gospel of St. John? What if we apply some Biblical criticism methods to a Sherlock Holmes tale?), these are real gems, deserving of a greater audience. Hardcover, price clipped dust jacket, very good condition. Some marginal text bracketing by a previous owner. 8.5” x 5.75”, 275 pp. HBB price: $39.95.

Fiction

Brown, Dan, The Da Vinci Code (Doubleday, 1st ed., 1st printing, typo at p. 243 corrected, 2003). ISBN 0-385-50420-9. The first of symbologist Robert Langdon’s sprints through history and scenic locales. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, fine condition. HBB price; 150.

Brown, Dan, The Da Vinci Code: Special Illustrated Edition (Doubleday: 1st ed., 1st printing, 2004). ISBN 0-385-51375-5. With all the copies Da Vinci sold in 2003, the publishers figured there must be some milk left in the cow and brought out this lavishly-illustrated version of Robert Langdon’s first adventure in Action Symbology. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, fine condition. HBB price: $100.

Brown, Dan, The Lost Symbol (Doubleday, 1st ed., 1st printing, 2009). ISBN 978-0-385-50422-5. Robert Langdon’s sequel to The Da Vinci Code. This time he tackles Freemasonry, the Founders, and more tunnels. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, fine condition. HBB price: $125.

Brown, Dan, Inferno (Doubleday, 1st ed. 1st printing, 2013). ISBN 978-0-385-53785-8. The third of Brown’s Robert Langdon thrillers, this time set in Florence, the story driven by references to Dante’s Inferno. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, fine condition. HBB price: $100.

Du Maurier, George, Trilby (London: Osgood & McIlvaine & Co., 1st. ed., 1895). Said to be the inspiration for The Phantom of the Opera, this novel inspired the Trilby hat (worn by a character in the stage play), introduced the phrase “in the altogether” and inspired the notoriously litigious artist Whistler to threaten suit over a character (Du Maurier apologized and rewrote the offending sections). Du Maurier also introduced the character Svengali, whose name became a synonym for a man holding utter sway over a submissive woman. Hardcover, blue boards with gilt titling on cover and spine. 447 pp, octavo, with six pages of publisher’s ads. Slight separation of spine at back endpapers; small tear across bottom of spine. Bookseller label of Gilbert & Field, 67 Moorgate Street, London, E.C., which operated from the mid-1870s to circa World War I.

Hemingway, Ernest, For Whom the Bell Tolls (Scribners, 1st ed, early, unstated printing, 1940). Regarded by many as Hemingway’s masterwork, this love story set in the Spanish Civil War was published in October 1940 in a first printing of 75,000 copies. It was an immediate success and sold more than half a million copies in its first year. An endpaper note indicates this copy was purchased new in 1941. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket (some small tears and fraying at the edges, some browning on the end papers. Overall, good condition. 8.5” x 6”, 471 pp. HBB price: $100.

King, Stephen, Skeleton Crew (G.P. Putnam’s, 1st ed. 1st printing, 1985). ISBN 0-399-13039-X. Twenty-two terrifying tales. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. HBB price: $75.

King, Stephen, The Tommyknockers (G.P. Putnam’s, 1st ed. 1st printing, “Permissions to Come” notation, 1987). ISBN 0-399-13341-3. Be careful what you pull out of the ground: it could be the exposed bit of a buried space vehicle with plans for humanity. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. HBB price: $250.

King, Stephen, The Dark Half (Viking, 1st ed. 1st printing, 1987). 0-670-82982-X. An author’s pseudonym, resentful of being retired, gets even. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. HBB price: $150.

King, Stephen, Four Past Midnight (Viking, 1st ed. 1st printing, 1990). ISBN 0-399-13341-3. Four novellas: “The Langoliers,” “Secret Window,” “The LIbrary Policeman” and “The Sun Dog.” Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition; a slight stain on the fore-edge. HBB price: $150.

King, Stephen, Dolores Claiborne (Viking, 1st ed. 1st printing, 1993). ISBN 0-67084452-7. Accused of murdering an elderly woman for whom she cared, and suspected of offing her husband, Dolores tells all- and then some. What did she do? Was she right to do it? 9.5” x 6”. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, fine condition. HBB price: $150.

King, Stephen, Desperation (Viking, 1st ed. 1st printing, 1996). ISBN 0-670-86386-1. A chance gathering of passers-through run up against the batshit-crazy cop of Desperation, Nevada. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, fine condition. HBB price: $175.

King, Stephen, Hearts in Atlantis (Scribner, 1st ed. 1st printing, 1999). ISBN 0-684-85351-5. Five interconnected narratives, the ghosts of Vietnam lurking in them all. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, fine condition. HBB price: $150.

King, Stephen, The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah (Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc., 1st trade ed. 1st printing, 2004). ISBN 1-880148-59-2. The penultimate volume in King’s Dark Tower series. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. HBB price: $200.

Lawrence, D. H., Lady Chatterly’s Lover (Grove Press, 1st U.S. ed., “Original Unexpurgated Version”, 1959). “This edition is the third manuscript version, first published by Giuseppe Orioli, Florence, 1928.” With an introduction by Mark Schorer and a preface by Archibald MacLeish. This novel about a woman with the temerity to find a life without sex- her husband was disabled in The Great War caused decades of fuss and scandal in most of the English-speaking world. In an early instance of of congressional Republican literary criticism, Utah Senator Reed Smoot (later to play a memorable role in the film “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”) declared in 1930, "I've not taken ten minutes on Lady Chatterley's Lover, outside of looking at its opening pages. It is most damnable! It is written by a man with a diseased mind and a soul so black that he would obscure even the darkness of hell!" (The American poet Ogden Nash wrote, in response,

Senator Smoot (Republican, Ut.)

Is planning a ban on smut.

Oh rooti-ti-toot for Smoot of Ut.

And his reverend occiput.

Smite, Smoot, smite for Ut.,

Grit your molars and do your dut.,

Gird up your l__ns,

Smite h_p and th_gh,

We'll all be Kansas

By and by....

Nash, Ogden (January 11, 1930), "Invocation", The New Yorker: 30.

At its 1960 obscenity publication trial in the United Kingdom, the prosecutor summed up with the question that would, doubtless, have echoed through the drawing rooms of Downton Abbey: “Is this the sort of book you would wish your wife or servants to read?” Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket. Blue cloth spine over cream-colored paper boards; gilt lettering. Dust jacket very good with light wear along the edging. 8.5” x. 5.25”, 368 pp. HBB price: $175.

Nabokov, Vladimir, Nabokov’s Quartet (Phaedra Publications, 1st ed., August 15, 1966). LOC 66-28101. In a long, January 1966 review in The New Republic, John Appel, Jr. noted, Now in his sixty-seventh year, Vladimir Nabokov is suddenly upon us. Of course, he was here all along, but his oeuvre was like an iceberg, the massive body of his Russian novels, stories, plays, and poems remaining untranslated and out of sight, lurking beneath the visible peaks of Lolita (1955), Pnin (1957), and Pale Fire (1962). In the last eight years, however, six of his books in Russian have been translated and three out of print novels reissued. Nabokov's own translation of Lolita into Russian and a collation of stories known as Nabokov's Quartet appeared quietly this autumn…” These four stories, two published in the U.S. for the first time, show the master in top form. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, white end papers, boards covered in a rough printed cloth pattern with the author’s signature on the lower right front cover. 8.75” x 5.5”, 104 pp. Very good condition. HBB price: $100.

Steinbeck, John, Sweet Thursday (Viking Press, 1st ed., 1st printing, 1954). LOC 54-7983. Steinbeck’s sequel to Cannery Row (1945), Sweet Thursday finds Doc returning to the Row after World War II and trying to restore his neglected biological supply lab and Hazel coping with a vision that he is to become President of the United States, among other neighbors’ issues. A number of plot lines from Sweet Thursday were incorporated into the 1982 film, Cannery Row. A delightfully funny novel filled with vivid characters. Hardcover, price clipped dust jacket. Octavo, beige-green cloth; very good condition; dust jacket near fine, very clean and bright. 273 pp. HBB price: $75.

Film, Television & Theater

Axelrod, George, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (Random House, 1st ed., 1st printing, 1956). LOC 56-6818. George Axelrod (1922-2003) had the gift. He started in radio, then moved into TV, producing program scripts and gags for Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin. His 1952 play, “The Seven Year Itch”, ran for three years and was a blockbuster hit film with Marilyn Monroe. Axelrod followed that with “Rock Hunter” about a fan magazine writer who sells his soul to the Devil (in the person of a literary agent; Axelrod wrote the dedication, “Ten percent of this play is dedicated to Irving Lazar,” his own agent) in return for success as a playwright. The show ran for over a year and was adapted into a much-altered movie in which bombshell actress Jayne Mansfield was the only thing left from the original. Axelrod went on to do successful adaptations for The Manchurian Candidate, Breakfast At Tiffany’s, and other films). Hardcover, 145 pp, 8.25” x 5.75”, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. HBB price: $50.

Boleslavsky, Richard, Acting: The First Six Lessons (Theater Arts/Routledge, 1933, 1949, text reset 2003, 1st printing). A Polish actor, Boleslavsky was a Tsarist cavalry officer in World War I. Trained in Moscow under Stanislavsky, he made his way to America in the 1920s and made his name teaching Stanislavsky’s method; among his students were Less Strasberg and Stella Adler, who carried on with considerable success teaching “Method Acting.” Though he directed a few Hollywood films in the 1930s, his sudden death, at 48, in 1937, cut short his career’s potential. This book is considered his monument. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. 7.75” x 5.25”, 138 pp. HBB price: $40.

First Editions

Corbett, Jim, The Corbett Collection (Safari Press, 6 volumes slip cased, 1991). ISBN 0-940143-54-2. Legendary British/Indian hunter /conservationist James Edward Corbett (1875-1955) devoted much of his life to hunting down and killing man-eating tigers and leopards. Between 1935 and 1954 he wrote six books on his experiences: My India; Jungle Lore; Man-Eaters of Kumaon; Temple Tiger/Tree Tops; and Leopards of Rudraprayag. Attractive five volume set, hardcover, very good condition. A prize for the big game enthusiast and pre-independence India fans. HBB price: $150.

Du Maurier, George, Trilby (London: Osgood & McIlvaine & Co., 1895). Said to be the inspiration for The Phantom of the Opera, this novel inspired the Trilby hat (worn by a character in the stage play), introduced the phrase “in the altogether” and inspired the notoriously litigious artist Whistler to threaten suit over a character (Du Maurier apologized and rewrote the offending sections). Du Maurier also introduced the character Svengali, whose name became a synonym for a man holding utter sway over a submissive woman. Hardcover, blue boards with gilt titling on cover and spine. 447 pp, octavo, with six pages of publisher’s ads. Slight separation of spine at back endpapers; small tear across bottom of spine. Bookseller label of Gilbert & Field, 67 Moorgate Street, London E.C., which operated at that location from the mid-1870s to circa World War I.

Hockney, David & Spender, Sir Stephen, Hockney’s Alphabet (Random House, 1st US ed., 2nd printing, 1992). ISBN 0-679-41766-4. An oversized, illustrated Alphabet drawn by Hockney, with comments inspired by each letter from over two dozen British and American writers. Originally produced to benefit AIDS Crisis Trust; all proceeds from this sale will be donated to Carolina CARE Partners, towards the same end. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. HBB price: $75.

King, Stephen, Skeleton Crew (G.P. Putnam’s, 1st ed. 1st printing, 1985). ISBN 0-399-13039-X. Twenty-two terrifying tales. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. HBB price: $75.

Kirkland, K.D. America’s Premier Gunmakers: Remington, Colt, Browning, Winchester (JG Press, 1st. ed., 4 volumes, slip cased, 2012). ISBN 13: 978-1-57215-257-1. Arms historian K.D. Kirkland’s histories of the great American gun makers is a classic. Each volume is profusely illustrated in color, with the kind of detail that is the mark of true scholarship. Hardcover, unclipped dust jackets, as new. The set comes in a handsome slipcase. HBB price: $150.

Senator Smoot (Republican, Ut.)

Is planning a ban on smut.

Oh rooti-ti-toot for Smoot of Ut.

And his reverend occiput.

Smite, Smoot, smite for Ut.,

Grit your molars and do your dut.,

Gird up your l__ns,

Smite h_p and th_gh,

We'll all be Kansas

By and by....

Nash, Ogden (January 11, 1930), "Invocation", The New Yorker: 30.

Proper, Datus C., Pheasants of the Mind: A Hunter’s Search for A Mythic Bird (Prentice hall Press, 1st ed., 1st printing, 1990). ISBN 0-13-662750-1. A Montana naturalist philosopher (“It is impossible to read this without being reminded of Garrison Keillor at his best,” famed food writer M.F.K. Fisher wrote), contemplates nature and the challenges of hunting for pheasant. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition, autographed. HBB price: $75.

Sarazen, Gene, with Herbert Warren Wind, Thirty Years of Championship Golf (1950, limited ed. by The Old Golf Shop, Cinncinnati, 1979, No. 109 of 260). Sarazen (1902-99) was one of the world’s best golfers in the 1920s and ‘30s, and one of the five pro golfers to win the Grand Slam. The book recalls his remarkable career. This very limited edition is part of an annual series reprinting of books by the honoree of the annual Memorial Tournament, started in 1976 to honor those- living and dead- who did the most to advance the sport. A very rare edition of an excellent autobiography. Green boards with gilt edging and titles, no dust jacket, very good condition. 8.75” x 5.75”, 276 pp. HBB price: $75.

Schwing, Ned, The Browning Superposed: John M. Browning’s Last Legacy (Krause Pubs., 1st ed., 1996) ISBN 0-87341-350-4. The first full account of the Browning Company’s history from 1926 to 1995, and of the design, development and production of “the last of the high-quality, hand-built, and hand-engraved over and under shotguns.” 496 pp, over 600 illustrations, 100 in color. 11.25” x 8.75”. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, fine condition. Rare and highly collectible. HBB price: $350.

Humor/Satire

Sutherland, Douglas, The English Gentleman’s Child (Debrett’s Peerage/Viking Press, 1st. ed., 1980). ISBN 0-670-29683-X. Illustrations by Timothy Jacques; preface by James, 18th Lord Elphinstone. One of a series of satirical commentaries on the gentry of the UK (The English Gentleman, The English Gentleman’s Wife, etc. this is the third. Sutherland combined a career in journalism with acclaimed serious biographies; in 1963 he had figured out that the “4th man” of the Burgess-Philby-McLean spy scandal was Sir Anthony Blunt. Blunt bluffed, threatening litigation, and the government suppressed the information on national security grounds until Sutherland was, in fact, proven correct in 1979. 8” x 4.75”. Hardcover, dust jacket price clipped, very good condition. Rare. HBB price: $50.

Hunting

O’Connor, Jack, Hunting in the Southwest (Alfred A. Knopf, 2nd ed., 1945; originally published in limited ed., as Game in the Desert, 1939). Arizona native Jack O’Connor (1902-78) was the longtime firearms editor of Outdoor Life and created the journalism department at the University of Arizona. By 1945 he could support himself in conservation, hunting and firearms journalism, and moved to Idaho for the rest of his life. Hunting in the Southwest was the fourth of his 16 books. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket with a few small nicks along the top, good condition. 8.5” x 5.75 inches, 280 pp. Rare. HBB price: $100.

LGBT

Magazines/Periodicals

Rolling Stone Issue 1000, May 18-June 1, 2006. The famous Sgt. Pepper-style cover, in 3-D. 236 pages, pre-downsizing dimensions. HBB has two copies, $75 ea.

Management/Business & Nonprofits

Memoirs

Kellino, Pamela, and Mason, James, The Cats In Our Lives (Current Books, 1st ed, 2nd printing, 1949). The writer/actor couple’s tale of felines in their lives. Witty and entertaining, with illustrations of family cats by James Mason. Rare and unusual Hollywoodiana. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. HBB price: $50.

Ouimet, Francis, A Game of Golf: A Book of Reminiscence (1932, limited ed. by The Old Golf Shop, Cinncinnati, 1978, No. 57 of 250). 20 year old former caddie and unknown amateur Francis Ouimet stunned the sports world by beating the godlike Harry Vardon in the 1913 U.S. Open, making the front page of the New York Times in the process. Ouimet (1893-1967) changed the perception of golf as the game for the super-rich and became a beloved figure in golf through the decades. This very limited edition is part of an annual series reprinting of books by the honoree of the annual Memorial Tournament, started in 1976 to honor those- living and dead- who did the most to advance the sport. A very rare edition of an excellent autobiography. Green boards with gilt edging and titles, no dust jacket, very good condition. 8.75” x 5.75”, 274 pp. HBB price: $175.

Music

Rolling Stone Issue 1000, May 18-June 1, 2006. The famous Sgt. Pepper-style cover, in 3-D. 236 pages, pre-downsizing dimensions. HBB has two copies, $75 ea.

New Orleans

Pets

Poetry

Bishop, Elizabeth, Collected Poems, 1927-1979 (Farrar Straus Giroux, 1st ed. 3rd printing, paperback, 1984) LOC 82-2119. Poet Laureate of the United States, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner, Bishop’s stature has only grown since her death at in 1979. She spent enormous effort and time over her poems, and this volume shows her growth and maturity. Paperback, very good condition. 284 pp, 9.5” x 6”. Rare. HBB price: $50.

Eliot, T.S. , Collected Poems 1909-1935 (Harcourt Brace & Co., 1930, 1934, 1936). Poetry was a young man’s game for Eliot; this volume sums up his life’s work. Hardcover, no dust jacket, very good condition. HBB price: $100.

Kazantzakis, Nikos, The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel (Simon and Schuster, 1st ed. 2nd printing, 1958). LOC 59-9048. Given the then-virtually- nonexistent international market for Greek publishing, Nikos Kazantzakis (1883-1957), best known today as author of Zorba the Greek) was endlessly occupied with writing projects to keep a roof over his head and support his near-constant urge to travel. In 1926 he undertook a massive sequel to The Odyssey, picking up in the modern era where the original epic left off. Divided into 24 books (one for each letter of the Greek alphabet), Odyssey 2 is 33,333 lines long; this Random House edition, translated to English, in collaboration with Kazantzakis by Kimon Friar, runs to 825 pages. Illustrations by Ghika. 6.5” x 10.5”. Hardcover, black cloth with fine gilt letter. Dust jacket is complete but worn about the top edges and subject to a little fading on the back. Kazantzakis is said to have lost the Nobel Prize for Literature to Camus and died before his international reputation was established by Zorba. Fascinated by religion, he was banned by the Greek Orthodox Church; the 1988 film of his book, The Last Temptation of Christ, ignited new controversy. A towering literary achievement and a must for Hellenophiles. HBB price: $35.

Nesbit, E., and Mack, Robert Ellice, Morning Songs and Sketches (E.P. Dutton & Co. 1890). Elegant octavo volume; 32 pages of poetry and illustrations in both color and black-and-white. Printed in Heidelberg. Gilt edging. Very good condition. HBB price: $100.

Service, Robert, Bar-Room Ballads: A Book of Verse (Dodd, Mead & Co, 1st ed., 3rd printing 1946). “The Bard of the Yukon,” Robert Service (1874-1958) won fame and fortune for his poems and stories enshrining life in the mining camps and gold rush towns of the Klondike era in western Canada. “The Shooting of Dan McGrew” and “The Cremation of Sam McGee” are his most popular works. At 39 he retired and moved to Paris; he lived in France, except for a WW2 stay in California, for the rest of his life. A prolific poet and novelist, he produced dozens of works and was at work pretty much until he died. Hardcover, no dust jacket, good condition. HBB price: $25.

Tasso, Torquato, Le Gerusalemme Liberata (with the observations of Niccolo Cianculo and Scipio Gentili; Nimes: Michele Gaude, 1764). Interesting and rare volume containing marginalia by one C. Thiemann, including a diagram of the Ptolemaic system and a note that he read the book in the year 1805 in the endpapers. Tasso (1544-95) was one of the most-read poets in Europe until the last century. This book is one of a broken set of his best-known work, a highly imaginative account of the combat between Muslims and Christians at the culmination of the First Crusade. Leather bound, 6.25” x. 4.25”. Worn but solid condition. HBB price: $350.

Public Policy/International Relations

Sport (see also Hunting)

Kahn, Roger, The Boys of Summer (Harper & Row, 1st ed., 1972; later printing, 1976). ISBN 06-012239-0. Interwoven stories of Kahn’s rise through sports journalism at the New York Herald Tribune and the boys of the 1950s Brooklyn Dodgers. Though some critics faulted its nostalgic tone as a little over the top, the book is consistently rated one of the best sports book of the last century; it went through over ninety printings and sold more than three million copies. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. 8.5” x 6”, 442 pp. HBB price: $35.

Kinney, Francis S., Skene’s Elements of Yacht Design (Dodd, Mead, 8th ed. 5th printing, 1981). ISBN 0-396-07968-7. In print since 1927, Skene’s has been the bible for generations of power and sail boat designers. The 8th edition was significantly expanded to include new material, and remains highly collectible. 7.25” x 10.25”. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, good condition. HBB price: $50.

Super Bowl XXV, Silver Anniversary Special Collector’s Edition featuring the Buick All-Time Super Bowl Team, 1990 AFC and NFC Champions (1991). Complete set of NFL cards in commemorative binder. HBB Price: $20.

Technology

Georgano, G.N., Encyclopedia of American Automobiles (E.P. Dutton & Co., 1979; revised edition from The Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars, published by Dutton in 1968). ISBN 0-525-097929. Profiles of over 1640 brands of automobiles manufactured in the US and Canada, from Abbott (1909-18) to Zip (1913-14). Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. HBB price: $30.

Travel

Caxton, William, The Description of Britain: A modern rendering by Marie Collins (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1st Am. ed., 1st printing, 1988). ISBN 1-55584-300-X. An exceptionally attractive and informative work. Caxton excerpted portions of a larger work of the time, Higham’s Polychromicon, and produced it as a guide to the British kingdom. Collins updated the language of the 1480 text and added scores of remarkable illustrations of places mentioned. With a useful historical timeline and introduction. As much an art book as one of history. Hardcover, unclipped dust jacket, very good condition. Quarto, 176 pp. HBB price: $40.

Henry Bemis Books

Friday, March 13, 2015

New Inventory, March 13, 2015

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