Search Results: Music from Downtown Brown Books, ABAA

New York: Abbeville Press, 1987. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. This classic book of Sixties rock posters has become a sort of checklist for collectors and dealers, who cite "AOR" items in their descriptions. This is the full-size original version and one of the "special limited presentation edition," which has a more psychedelic design stamped on the front board. 11-1/2 by 13-1/4 inches. 516 pages. First edition (first printing). A fine copy in a fine dust jacket. With the original publisher's mailing box.

[Avalanche Records], 1971. A rare example of original album cover art by one of the legends of the medium. John Van Hamersveld (b. Baltimore, 1941) designed the iconic poster for the surf film Endless Summer while still in art school. As a professional graphic designer he did the album covers for The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour, the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main St, plus LPs by Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jefferson Airplane, Bob Dylan, Blondie, and even Charles Bukowski (Reads His Poetry, 1980). This is an original painting on acetate for the cover of Beans self-titled debut (and only) album for Avalanche Records, a nascent label under United Artists Records. The Day-Glo design is based on Van Hamersveld's character Johnny Face, which appeared on popular headshop posters beginning in 1970. As far as your cataloger can tell, very little of Van Hamersveld's original album cover art is in private hands, making this a rare opportunity to acquire an original piece-one featuring his most… Read More

Matanzas, Cuba: Ediciones Vigía, 2002. 11 pages. 6-1/2 by 8-3/4 inches. One of 200 copies. Colección del San Juan. A poem, designed by Vicente Enríquez Landín, with a particularly effective portrait of the composer pasted onto the front cover. OCLC: BNCJM CRU CSL CUI CUZ DEIAI DLC DRB EEM FHM FQG FUG GZN IND IQU IUL NDD NYP UBY UMK WAU YUS ZCU. Fine.

[London / Maidstone], Lexington, KY and Tucson, AZ: Isolde Films / Steam Press with Petro III Graphics and Sylph Publications, 2004. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. A new edition of Palmer and Steadman's 1970 book about the rock music scene in the late 1960s. Steadman supplies a dozen portraits of musicians, each incorporating a photographic element. This is one of 26 lettered copies (out of 126) of the new edition signed by Palmer and Steadman with an original signed collage and screenprint artwork by Steadman called "Pop Pedestal." Introduction by John Lennon. 192 pages. 7-3/4 by 11-1/8 inches (clamshell box). A fine copy, bound in black leather and marbled-paper-covered boards. In a fine clamshell box. This is copy B of 26 signed by Steadman and Palmer. With a fine screenprint, signed by Steadman. Complete with three tissue guards and a single-sheet prospectus.

[London / Maidstone], Lexington, KY and Tucson, AZ: Isolde Films / Steam Press with Petro III Graphics and Sylph Publications, 2004. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. A new edition of Palmer and Steadman's 1970 book about the rock music scene in the late 1960s. Steadman supplies a dozen portraits of musicians, each incorporating a photographic element. This is one of 26 lettered copies (out of 126) of the new edition signed by Palmer and Steadman with an original signed collage and screenprint artwork by Steadman called "Pop Pedestal." Introduction by John Lennon. 192 pages. 7-3/4 by 11-1/8 inches (clamshell box). A fine copy, bound in black leather and marbled-paper-covered boards. In a fine clamshell box. This is copy P of 26 signed by Steadman and Palmer. With a fine screenprint, signed by Steadman. Complete with three tissue guards and a single-sheet prospectus.

New York: Michael Di Capua Books / Hyperion Books for Children, 2003. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. A picture book adapted by Kushner (Angels in America) from the opera libretto by Adolf Hoffmeister. Illustrated by Maurice Sendak. First edition (stated). A fine copy in a fine dust jacket, signed on the title page by both Sendak and Kushner.

Matanzas, Cuba: Ediciones Vigía, 2015. A single stiff sheet covered in textured paper and folded three times. 5 by 9-1/2 inches when closed. An edition of 200 numbered copies. Colección Andante series. The text is Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" in English and Spanish translation. The construction, designed by Marialva Ríos, is made of paper, cloth, string mesh, and thread, with handcoloring. When folded, the cover presents Marley's face in front of a stiff cloth star that extends beyond the edges and is festooned with thread in the colors of the Ethiopian flag (red, green, and yellow). This folds down to reveal another star, the limitation number, and the title in English. This panel opens to the text as well as a paper cut-out in the shape of a marijuana leaf. The colophon is on the verso. The imagery in this book may not be especially original, but the folding structure is one of the more complicated in the oeuvre of Ediciones Vigía. OCLC: CRU DEIAI FQG FXG IND IQU LAF LRU NDD NOC NYP STF… Read More

London: Peter Owen, 1970. First British edition. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. The British edition of Yoko Ono's conceptual art book, first published in 1964 in Japan, which mostly consists of instructions for performances or individual actions ("Carry a bag of peas. Leave a pea wherever you go"). Many of the pieces cannot (yet) be performed: "Prescribe pills for going through the wall and have only the hair come back." The first instruction, printed on the jacket flap, is "Burn this book after you've read it." This 1970 version expands somewhat on the Japanese original. It also includes an "introduction" by John Lennon, which consists of reproductions of a couple of sketches and the text, "Hi! My name is John Lennon / I'd like you to meet Yoko Ono." 288 pages (according to the jacket). About 5-1/2 inches square. This UK edition was published on June 11, 1970 (according to the Liverpool Daily Post of June 10) and it has a different jacket design than the US edition, which was published a few… Read More

College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2008. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. By the founding director of the Center for Texas Music History at Texas State University in San Marcos. This is the uncommon hardcover issue. The book was published in paperback at the same time. 304 pages. Illustrated with black-and-white photographs. First edition (first printing, hardcover issue). A fine copy in a fine dust jacket. Inscribed by the author, "Tom, Thanks for your interest in Texas music history. Hope you enjoy the book! Gary. 4-22-08.

London: Cassell Illustrated, 2021. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. Iconic photos of the early years of Joy Division. A shorter ("abridged") book was published in 2007 with the same title. 256 pages. Photographs reproduced in black and white. 8 by 10-3/4 inches. Foreword by Ian Rankin. First edition (with a numberline ending in 1 on the colophon page). Minor corner bumps, else fine. No dust jacket, as issued.

New York: Doubleday, 1956. First Edition. Hardcover. Good/Good. The autobiography of the great American singer. 250 pages. Written with William Dufty. First edition (stated). A good-only copy in a like dust jacket, but a book that belonged to Jo and Larry McMurtry's, with their ownership signature in Larry's hand and his later stirrup bookplate on the front pastedown. Jo Scott and Larry McMurtry were married for about eight years, from 1958 to 1966 (or thereabouts). This book seems to have been purchased used (there is a $1 price written in pencil on the front free endpaper). The price may be because the front cover got wet and adhered to the front board.

New York: Sterling, 2009. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. A picture book with the lyrics of classic folk songs, selected by Yarrow, the Peter in Peter, Paul, and Mary. With musical notation for guitar accompaniyment at the back and a CD of Yarrow performing the songs at the front. 48 pages. First edition (with a numberline ending in 1). A fine copy in illustrated boards (no jacket, as issued). CD fine. Signed by Yarrow on the title page.

Matanzas, Cuba: Ediciones Vigía, 2016. 73 pages plus an audio CD. 8-1/2 by 11 inches. An edition of 200 copies. Colección Andante. An artist's book celebrating music copyists, who are hired to produce neat copies from a composer's or arranger's manuscript, interpreting the composer's intentions. Among the Matanzas musicians highlighted are Sigfrido Anastasio Tortoló Carrillo; Sergio Pichardo López; Rafael Somavilla; Betsy C. de la Victoria Macón; y Marta Valdés. Examples of their work are also reproduced in the book. Text photocopied on white paper. Designed and illustrated by Adrián Milián. OCLC: BNCJM CLU CUY DEIAI EYM FQG FXG LRU VMW. Fine.

New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1984. First US edition. Hardcover. Near fine. The American trade edition of an account of Corsaro's and Sendak's preparation of Serge Prokofiev's opera L'Amour des Trois Oranges. The text is presented in an interview format, with alternating comments by Corsaro (the director) and Sendak, who designed the stage and costumes. Illustrated with reproductions of Sendak's sketches for the production. Hanrahan, Works of Maurice Sendak, A117, which indicates that the UK edition was published before this US edition. First US edition (first printing). A near fine copy (a bit of denting to the board edges). Lacking the clear acetate jacket. Signed by Sendak on the title page.

New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1984. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. The signed, limited edition of an account of Corsaro's and Sendak's preparation of Serge Prokofiev's opera L'Amour des Trois Oranges. The text is presented in an interview format, with alternating comments by Corsaro (the director) and Sendak, who designed the stage and costumes. Illustrated with reproductions of Sendak's sketches for the production. This is one of 200 numbered copies signed by Corsaro and Sendak issued in an illustrated-paper-covered slipcase. Hanrahan, Works of Maurice Sendak, A118. First edition (first printing). A fine copy in a fine slipcase. Not issued with a dust jacket. This is copy 152.

Aurora, MO: POSTER Project, 1992. First Edition. Ephemera. Fine. The first three issues of Wilson's "journal about events posters & the arts of happenings." The newspapers are printed on white heavy newsprint and folded like tabloid magazines. The issues have drawings by Robert Crumb. The second issue is dedicated to Rick Griffin, the poster artist who had recently died. Roughly 17 by 23 inches. Volume I, numbers 1, 2, and 3. Fine copies.

Matanzas, Cuba: Ediciones Vigía, 2015. 9 pages. 6-1/2 by 9-1/2 inches. Edition of 200 copies. Colección Andante. Three poems, or perhaps song lyrics, photocopied onto various types of paper, designed and illustrated by Elizabeth Valero Molina. The covers incorporate several types of cloth as well as paper and cardboard collage elements. Montalvo is a trova musician born in Matanzas. OCLC: BNCJM CUY DEIAI FQG FXG HLS HUL IQU IUL LRU MZA NOC NYP PAU. Fine.

New York: Doubleday, Page & Co, 1910. First US edition. Hardcover. Very good. The first American trade edition of the first volume of the Ring of the Niblung Trilogy. Translated by Margaret Armour. With 34 color plates by Arthur Rackham mounted on blank leaves with tissue guards with printed captions. 160 pages. First American edition (no indication of later printings). A very good copy with moderate shelfwear, a bit of staining to the cloth, and some darkening to the spine. The tissue guard facing p. 32 is loose, but present. All illustrations are present and intact.

Boston: Ariel Books / Houghton Mifflin, 1989. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. A story version of the classic ballet illustrated in color by Chris Van Allsburg. First edition (first printing with a numberline ending in 1). A fine copy blue cloth (no dust jacket, as issued). Signed by Helprin on the title page in the year of publication.

Matanzas, Cuba: Ediciones Vigía, 2016. [10] pages, plus an audio DVD. About 8-1/2 inches square. An edition of 100 copies. Colección Andante. Lyrics for a song photocopied on brown recycled paper. Designed by Elizabeth Valero and bound in crumpled paper and fabric over cardboard. The DVD has one short musical track. OCLC: DEIAI FQG FXG HLS IQU NDD NOC STF VWM. Fine. Inscribed by Montalvo with a small drawing of a guitar.