But my guess is that getting a signed book by Salinger will remain a tough and very expensive proposition, while laying one’s hands on a signed letter or note will become somewhat easier and moderately less expensive.

And in honor of Salinger’s passing, thought I’d have a sale on some early, never-republished JDS appearances. Prices are net (i.e. reflect the sale price) and are postpaid (domestic media). A lot price follows.

1) Salinger, J.D. (Contributor). ‘Both Parties Concerned’ in THE SATURDAY EVENING POST, CCXV (Feb. 26th, 1944). New York: The Saturday Evening Post, 1944. First Edition. Folio. Light edgewear and mailing label. Internally bright and clean. Contains Salinger’s uncollected story, Both Parties Concerned, never re-published. Stapled Wraps. Very Good. (1704) $100.00

2) Salinger, J.D. (Contributor). SOFT BOILED SARGEANT in The Saturday Evening Post – April 15, 1944. New York: The Saturday Evening Post, 1944. First Edition. Folio. Mailing label, touches of rubbing/edgewear. Else fine. Uncommonly bright and sound. Originally entitled ‘Death of a Dogface,’ the story details a young soldier’s entry into the military. Some typical Salinger touches (condemnations of ‘phoniness,’ etc.), but predominantly an overly-sentimental apprentice work. Yet one that hints at the perfect modulations of tone Salinger would master in later stories. An uncollected appearance. pp. 18, 32, 82-85. Wraps. Near Fine. (1939) $100.00

3) Burnett, Whit (Editor); J.D. Salinger [Contributor]. ELAINE – in Story, March/April 1945 – Vol. XXVI, No. 112. New York: Story Magazine, 1945. First Edition. 8vo. Light rubbing to covers. Rubbing, fading to spine. Edgewear, faint soil to wraps. Internally sound and clean. Very good overall. Contains Elaine by Salinger, one of his earliest published stories and in the magazine of his former teacher who served as a kind of mentor to the famously reclusive author. Elaine has never re-collected, and is one of the more uncommon the early stories, most of the others having appeared in periodicals with far greater circulations: Saturday Evening Post, Esquire, etc. The story itself deals with familiar JDS themes – the young, the loss of innocence, the beauty and fragility of childhood – and so prefigures the later works for which he is best known. Also contains a brief biography of Salinger, noting his current Army stationing in Germany (where he would meet his first wife, Sylvia). 104pp. Wraps. Very Good. (2005) $200.00

4) [SALINGER, J.D.]. The Kit Book For Soldiers, Sailors, & Marines. Chicago: Consolidated BooK Publishers, Inc., (1942). First edition. 12mo. Pictorial boards. Good, lacking the mailing box (no DJ, as issued). Well-rubbed, esp. at the edges with a few scuffs and scratches. Some bumping. Spine lean, but sound. Still, presentable copy of a very fragile wartime production. Pictorial Boards. First edition (1942) of Salinger’s first book appearance. Starasciak A5, which fails to note this earlier edition, only the subsequent ‘43 printing. Includes Salinger’s story “The Hang Of It.” Also includes work from Ellery Queen, Rudyard Kipling, and others. 336pp. (9844) $225.00

Take an additional 20% off two or more titles. Lot price: $400.00. Offer good through 2/10/10. Email me to reserve (books at briancassidy dot net)

OTHER TERMS: Subject to prior sale; please email or call to reserve. Check, MO, credit cards, or Paypal. Institutions, dealers known to us, and prior customers in good standing may request invoice; else CWO. All items are guaranteed, returnable and fully refundable (minus postage costs, unless item not-as-described) within 30 days of receipt, provided prior notice given and item in same condition as sent. MD residents please add 6% sales tax or remit resale number.

R.I.P.

Been cataloguing a lot of modern firsts this week leftover from the shop. Here’s a more or less random selection of great writers offered at a special price. Any title is $10 including postage (domestic media). Take any three titles for $25.00. Any five titles for $40. Any ten for $75. Or the lot for $99. Again, prices include postage. Postage overseas or by other methods at cost. Credit cards, MO, Paypal, checks all acceptable.

See, you knew there was a reason you read this blog, didn’t you?

1) ADRIAN, Chris. THE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL. San Francisco: McSweeney’s, 2006. First edition. 8vo. Pictorial boards. Near fine. Minor rubbing, shelfwear. Else clean, sound and bright. Lacking wrap-around band. Well-received novel from the author of Gob’s Grief.

2) BAKER, Nicholson. EVERLASTING STORY OF NORY. New York: Random House, 1998. First Edition. 8vo. A convincing look into a nine-year-old mind. From the author of Vox and The Size of Thoughts. DJ has minor rubbing. Fine in a NF DJ.

3) BARNES, Julian. ARTHUR & GEORGE. New York: Knopf, 2006. First American edition. 8vo. Very good in like jacket. Jacket has touches of esde/shelfwear. Else bright and clean. Unclipped. Book has slight lean. Else sound. First US edition of the novel shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

4) COE, Jonathan. THE HOUSE OF SLEEP. New York: Alfred a Knopf, 1998. First Edition. 8vo. Jacket is bright and clean with faint rubbing. Unclipped. Book has light shelf-wear and red remainder dot to top page edges. Binding strong, clean throughout. First American edition of this supernatural-esque, semi-gothic mystery. If I equivocate, it’s because the book successfully straddles several genres at once. The story follows a group of students and the fallouts and reprecussions of their friendships. From the author of The Rotter’s Club and The Winshaw Legacy.

5) DELILLO, Don. UNDERWORLD. New York: Scribner, 1997. First Edition. 8vo. Fine in like jacket. First printing of this work, remarkable in scope and depth. A superb work that cemented Delillo’s reputation. Preface alone (a virtuoso account of Bobby Thompson’s Shot Heard ‘Round the World) makes the book worthwhile.

6) GOLD, Glen David. CARTER BEATS THE DEVIL. Boston: Hyperion Books, 2001. First Edition/Printing. 8vo. Reading wear, esp. to spine. But bright and clean overall. A beautiful book, with full-color insert of old magic posters. A moving novel loosely based on fact about the magician Charles Carter. An auspicious debut.

7) JOHNSON, Denis. THE NAME OF THE WORLD. New York: HarperCollins, 2000. First Edition/Printing. 8vo. Book is bright, clean, tight, and sharp. Novella from the author of Jesus’ Son.

8) JULAVITS, Heidi. THE USES OF ENCHANTMENT. New York: Doubleday, 2006. First edition. 8vo. Fine in like jacket. Bright, clean, sharp and tight. DJ unclipped. From the author of The Mineral Palace and the editor of The Believer.

9) KIDD, Chip. THE CHEESE MONKEYS. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. First Edition. 8vo. Book has bright, clean pages & tight brinding. Square & sharp. Jacket is actually a sleave that fits over front board. Bright and umarred. From the legendary book designer comes this – Surprise! – stupendously well-designed book (with further design by Chris Ware). A tale of art-school life, very funny and insightful.

10) KROUSE, Erika. COME UP AND SEE ME SOMETIME. New York: Scribner, 2001. First Edition. 8vo. Jacket is clean and unclipped with light rubbing/shelfwear. Book is bright, tight, and sharp. Lively debut from a promising and acclaimed new author.

11) POWERS, Richard. THE TIME OF OUR SINGING. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2003. First edition. 8vo. Near fine in like jacket. Bit of shelf soil to bottom edge. Faint rubbing to jacket. Else clean, sound and bright overall. DJ unclipped. First edition of this novel from the acclaimed and innovative writer.

12) PRICE, Richard. SAMARITAN. New York: Knopf, 2003. First edition. 8vo. Fine in like jacket. Bright, clean and sharp. DJ unclipped. From the author of Clockers and Freedomland.

13) SALZMAN, Mark. LYING AWAKE: A Novel. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000. First Edition. 12mo. Minor reading wear. Jacket unclipped. Bright, clean, sound overall. First printing of this story of a Carmelite nun faced with the possibilty that her divine visions have only been the result of a brain tumor. Salzman’s (Iron and Silk, The Soloist) strongest work to date.

14) SAUNDERS, George. PASTORALIA: Stories. New York: Riverhead Books, 2000. First Edition. 8vo. 1st printing with remainder mark to bottom edge. Else fine: tight, sharp, and clean throughout. One of our most daring and inventive short story writers. With uncommon jacket praise by Thomas Pynchon.

15) VOLLMANN, William T. The Rifles. New York: Viking Press, 1994. First Edition/Printing. 8vo. Touches of light shelfwear overall. Else clean and bright throughout with strong binding. Volume Six of the Seven Dreams series. A modern masterpiece and one of the most important literary projects of the 1990’s.

This offer good for one week.

We will now return to our regular programing.

Prices are postpaid (domestic media). My dear readers may take 20% off one title, 25% off two, or 30% off three or more. Lot price also follows below:

1) ROTH, Philip. PORTNOY’S COMPLAINT. New York: Random House, 1969. First edition. 8vo. Very good in like jacket. Flaps creased. Minor rubbing overall. Else bright and unclipped. Book has touches of shelf/handling wear. Spine a bit rolled at top. Else clean and sound thoughout. First edition of one of Roth’s best, most-loved, and most controversial novels. Burgess 99. $50.00

2) –. THE GHOST WRITER. Franklin Center, PA: Franklin Library, 1979. First edition. 8vo. Full leather with three raised spine bands and titles and decorations gilt. AEG. Moire endpapers, ribbon marker. A very fine copy. Unread. Bright, tight and sharp. A lovely production. 158pp. True first edition, preceding trade. Part of the First Edition Society series. Includes two-page message from Roth not in other editions. Illustrated by Robert Hendel. $35.00

3) –. ZUCKERMAN UNBOUND. Franklin Center, PA: Franklin Library, 1981. First edition. 8vo. Full leather with three raised spine bands and titles and decorations gilt. AEG. Moire endpapers, ribbon marker. A very fine copy. Unread. Bright, tight and sharp. A lovely production. 209pp. True first edition, preceding trade. Part of the First Edition Society series. Includes two-page message from Roth not in other editions. Illustrated by Hodges Soileau. $35.00

4) –. SABBATH’S THEATER. New York / Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1995. First edition. 8vo. Near fine in like jacket. Touches of rubbing, shelfwear. Else bright, clean, and sound throughout. $15.00

5) –. I MARRIED A COMMUNIST. New York / Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. First edition. 8vo. Near fine in like jacket. Trace shelfwear overall. Faint sticker residue to ffep. Else bright, clean, and sharp overall. $15.00

6) –. THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA. Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. First Edition. 8vo. Hard Cover. Fine in like jacket. Bright, tight, clean and unread. The story of the Roth family under a hypothetical anti-semitic Charles Lindbergh presidency. $20.00

For the lot: $100.00 ppd. Paypal, credit cards both fine. And of course as all purchases are, fully returnable. If you’d like any/some/all please drop me a line at books-at-briancassidy-dot-net.

The hope is between the ease of posting, relatively quick turnover, and side-stepping the commissions of listing sites, it will be a worthwhile venture. At the same time, however, I like the way the shorthand Twitter requires recalls earlier days of bookselling: of quotes to Bookman’s Weekly or the inscrutable abbreviations of mimeographed book catalogs. So while on the surface this may seem a slightly gimmicky bookselling tactic, I like to think of it as just another extension of venerable trade traditions.

Some basic info:

1) What you see is what you get: All prices INCLUDE postage (within the US via USPS media mail). Elsewhere and/or via other methods would require additional cost.
2) No scruffy books here: Unless noted, all books are in Very Good or better condition
3) Act fast: All books are subject to prior sale. Reply or direct message via Twitter to reserve.
4) Keeping it simple: Paypal payment preferred (to books@briancassidy.net), though checks, credit cards, moneys orders all acceptable as well. Please await confirmation before sending payment. And as much as possible, books and their respective tweets will be deleted as they sell. So if you see something you like that’s still listed, even if an older post, it’s probably still available.

SOME FREQUENTLY USED ABBREVIATIONS:

HC = Hardcover (no DJ)
HC/DJ = Hardcover with dust jacket
PB = Trade paperback
MMPB = Mass market paperback
BCE = Book club edition
1st = First edition
VG = Very good condition
NF = Near fine condition
F = Fine condition
NF/F = Near fine hardcover in a fine dust jacket (or VG/NF, F/F…you get the idea)

First up is this charming Little Tramp book:

Published in 1916, this is widely considered the first book published on Charlie Chaplin (there was a possibly earlier unauthorized biography, but it was suppressed and most copies destroyed – it is now quite rare) and is certainly the first one devoted to his Little Tramp persona, one of the most enduring icons of popular film culture. Chaplin debuted the character in 1914 and by 1916 Chaplin had become the highest paid artist in Hollywood with near-complete control over his films. The book captures the star at the height of his Littlest Tramp fame and power. The 12pp. text is comprised of 22 4-line stanzas in rhyming couplets, each accompanied by a B&W image of Chaplin as The Tramp:

It’s unclear who the intended audience for the book was. It strikes me as a children’s book, but could just as easily have been a promotional item of some kind. In either case, I love the chromo-litho covers and Chaplin’s poses are perfect, even is the verse is doggerel.

[CHAPLIN, Charlie]. THE CHARLIE CHAPLIN BOOK. New York, Sam’l Gabriel Sons and Co.: 1916. First edition. Tall, narrow 4to. Chromolithographic wraps. Creasing and rubbing overall, some splitting to top and bottom of spine. Hinges tender but intact. Good or better example of a fragile and increasingly uncommon production. (FYI: There was a modern 1983 reprint which is often mistaken for the original.)

BLOG PRICE: SOLD.

[Email to purchase or reserve: books-at-briancassidy-dot-net. Check, MO, credit cards, Paypal all fine].