Search Results: Titles starting with M from Captain Ahab's Rare Books

Berlin: Nero-Film AG, 1931. First Edition. Original Austrian premiere program for Fritz Lang's 1931 German film, customized for the film's premiere at the Apollo Theater in Vienna - Lang's birthplace and home for the earlier part of his life. A highly influential pre-war film noir and masterpiece of world cinema, ranking among the best of Lang's body of work. In addition to being Lang's first sound film, 'M' also served as the vehicle for Peter Lorre's breakout role as child murderer Hans Beckert. The program is chiefly illustrated throughout with a series of photo-montages, and gives the date of the premiere as 3 September, 1931. A rare premiere program for one of Lang's most enduring films. Small folio (22.5cm); green and white photo-illustrated wrappers, folded, with the premiere information printed in red on front wrapper; [8pp]; illus. Faint horizontal fold at center, faint diagonal crease to upper right corner of front wrapper, with a chip to lower left corner of rear wrapper and a few tiny… Read More

Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 2000. First Trade Edition. First Printing, cloth issue, one of 200 copies. Octavo (23.5cm); illustrated paper-covered boards and pale blue cloth backstrip, with title label applied to spine; publisher's original acetate dustjacket; 272,[4]pp. Fine in a lightly rubbed, Near Fine dustjacket. Late collection of verse by the New Jersey poet and intimate of Beat generation luminaries.

New York: William Morrow & Co, 1938. First Edition. The author's first novel, following the struggle between a police Captain, a criminal escaped from a mental asylum, and those who may have released him to hide their own heinous crime. Hubin, p.181. First Printing. Octavo (19.5cm); black cloth, with titles stamped in teal on spine and front cover; light blue topstain; dustjacket; vi,281,[1]pp. Subtle fading to topstain, else Fine in a Very Good+ or better dustjacket, unclipped (priced $2.00), with light wear to extremities, a short tear with attendant crease to upper edge of front panel, and some mild scuffing along upper and lower edge of rear panel.

San Francisco: The Arion Press, 1997. Limited Edition. One of 200 numbered copies specially bound and signed by Jim Dine, the first 75 of which were included with Dine's album of photogravures, Ape & Cat (this is copy no.133). Quarto (32cm); full taupe cloth, with titles stamped in dark brown on spine and front cover; [ii],[2],3-67,[3]pp, with a photogravure by Dine and one mounted plate. A Fine copy of this private press publication of James's short story, included in his 1879 collection The Madonna of the Future and Other Tales. Arion 52.

New York: Interim Books, 1966. First Edition. Quarto (28.25cm); side-stapled mimeographed sheets, glued into photo-illustrated card wrappers; 100,[2]pp. Trivial wear and a hint of toning to wrapper extremities, with subtle tanning to text edges; Near Fine. Third issue (of six) of Kirby Congdon's mimeographed literary journal. Contains the first appearance of Bukowski's "A Letter From L.A.," with contributions by Steve Richmond, Clarence Major, Walter Lowenfels, Diane Wakoski, Jonathan Kaplan, and others. Clay & Phillips, p.284; Dorbin D43.

Boston: The St. Botolph Society, 1922. First Edition Thus. Attractive edition of Maugham's second novel, first published in Boston by L.C. Page & Company in 1898. cf.Stott A2. Octavo (19.5cm); hunter green cloth, with titling and decorations stamped in gilt and light green on spine and front cover; dustjacket; [10],11-351,[3]pp; with frontispiece and three plates of illustrations by Gilbert James. Upper right corner of front endpaper neatly clipped, else a fresh, Near Fine copy. Dustjacket is lightly edgeworn, with a few tiny nicks and small closed tears; Very Good+ or better.

[New York: The New Yorker, 1926. First Edition. Sharp copy of this humorous volume commissioned by The New Yorker magazine and published the year after its founding, a tongue-in-cheek look at all phases of the magazine's production told in twenty installments, which were originally serialized in the magazine beginning August 8, 1925. The text is attributed to author and humorist Corey Ford (1902-1969, signed in type on the terminal leaf), who takes the reader on a tour through production, from securing ink and paper, typesetting, binding, and printing. Ford was responsible for naming Eustace Tilley, the monocled, top-hatted dandy who became a mascot of sorts for the magazine, and who appears with frequency throughout the "Making of a Magazine" series. Richly illustrated throughout, with chapter headings like "Life Among the Paperjacks" (II), "The Deep-Sea Squid Farm" (VI), "The Magazine's Punctuation Farm" (X), and "Operating the Pneumatic Tubes" (XIV). An exceedingly well-preserved copy of an… Read More

Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1999. First Trade Edition. First Printing, cloth issue, one of 300 copies. Octavo (23.5cm); decorative paper-covered boards and brown cloth backstrip, with title label mounted to spine; publisher's original acetate dustjacket; 404,[4]pp. Fine in a Fine dustjacket. First novel by the African American poet from Watts, California - known as "the unofficial poet laureate of Los Angeles." Centered around the friendship between two women -- one from the black ghetto in L.A., and one from its white middle-class suburbs, both of whom are working odd jobs to make ends meet.

New York: Robert M. McBride & Company, 1930. First Edition. Grim underworld novel centered around 20 year-old Harry Pyler, a bank robber and embezzeler convicted and sentenced to hard labor. Upon escaping from prison, he refuses to reform his old ways, joins up with a gang of bank robbers, and hopes to pull off one last big score before going straight. Things end poorly, and Pyler ends up sentenced to 20 years, his girlfriend heartbroken and singing sad songs in nightclubs. OCLC notes 7 holdings. Hubin, p.200. First Printing. Octavo (19.5cm); tan cloth, with titles stamped in dark brown on spine and front cover; dustjacket; [xii],302,[2]pp. Light wear to spine ends, with faint offsetting from jacket flaps onto endpapers; Near Fine. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced $2.00), lighlty edgeworn, with shallow loss at crown, several tiny nicks and tears, a tiny rubber-stamped number at upper front flap, and eight old tape-mends on verso; Very Good.

New York: Loring & Mussey, 1934. First Edition. Derleth's second book, released by Loring & Mussey shortly after publication of Murder Stalks the Wakely Family, in a single modest print run. "In Derleth's second mystery novel a Sac Prairie family, living in a huge mansion ruled by a matriarchal Gravisa Senessen, challenge Judge Peck and his intrepid niece Dorothy with murder and a mysterious prowling figure" (Wilson 326). Scarce in dustjacket. Hubin, p.115. First Printing. Octavo (19.5cm); hunter green cloth, with titles stamped in black on spine; dustjacket; xiv,244,[12]pp. Generically inscribed by the author in a contemporary hand on the front endpaper: "With the compliments of August W. Derleth." Slight forward lean, gentle sunning to spine and upper board edges, with a few faint scuffs to covers, and some tanning to endpapers; contemporary owner's ink name to upper rear endpaper; Very Good+. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced $2.00), spine-sunned, lightly shelfworn, with several tiny nicks, tears,… Read More

London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1929. First Edition. The author's first novel, the story of a reluctant smuggler who betrays his colleagues and the aftermath of his betrayal. Basis for the 1947 adventure film directed by Bernard Knowles, starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Attenborough. Wobbe A2.a; Hubin, p.175. First Impression, one of 2,500 copies. Octavo (19cm); black cloth, with titles stamped in gilt on spine; dustjacket; 354pp. Hint of a forward lean, scattered foxing to upper edge of textblock, with lower right corner of front board gently tapped, though still sharp; contents clean; Near Fine. In the first state dustjacket, priced 7/6 net on spine; light edgewear and sunning to spine, with a faint diagonal crease to rear flap; an presentable copy without tears or loss - Very Good+.

New York: Flying Eagle Publications, Inc, 1953. First Edition. Well-preserved example of this once-popular monthly detective story digest. Notable for containing the first appearance of David Goodis's much-anthologized novelette Black Pudding, with contributions by Frank Kane, Evan Hunter, Craig Rice, Richard Marsten, and others. Superb cover art by Frank Uppwall. Digest-sized octavo (19.25cm); illustrated wrappers; 144pp; illus. Pinpoint wear to spine ends and extremities, else a fresh, Fine copy.

[Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press], 1972. First Separate Edition. An offprint of Coetzee's essay, reprinted from the November, 1972 issue of Journal of Modern Literature. Beckett has been a key influence on Coetzee's writing throughout his career; his Ph.D. thesis was a stylistic analysis of the author's early novels, and he has written numerous critical essays on Beckett. Several of them, including this one, were finally gathered in book format in 1992 (Doubling the Point: Essays and Interviews). This offprint is apparently rare, with none in commerce and none separately listed in OCLC, though we note a copy held with Coetzee's papers at the Ransom Center. Slim quarto (25.5cm); offset printed sheets, side-stapled into pale blue printed card covers; pp.471-480. A few tiny editorial marks and one holograph notation in pencil, with a block of text pertaining to an article on Eliot's Waste Land X'd out neatly in ink. Beginning oxidation to staples, faint vertical crease to left edge of front… Read More

N.p.: S.i., 2006. Manuscript notes for Atwood's conversation with Orhan Pamuk at the PEN World Voices Festival, hosted by Cooper Union on April 25, 2006. The Turkish author had just dodged a jail sentence in his home country for publicly denigrating Turkish identity (by mentioning in a 2005 interview that a million Armenians had been killed and that he was the only Turk who wanted to talk about it), and had been invited by PEN to deliver the first Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture. He was introduced by Salman Rushdie, who acted as master of ceremonies, and after delivering his lecture, he adjourned to a table at center stage for a conversation with Margaret Atwood. She began by thanking Pamuk "for a very clear and necessary speech. It's a sad world when people can get into so much trouble merely for stating the obvious negative. Power has an aversion to truth about itself." Her notes reveal the insightful questions that would guide the conversation that evening. She pressed him about the themes… Read More

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1951. First Edition. Attractive copy of this collaborative novel, written by the Northern California chapter of the MWA, under the direction of Anthony Boucher. "Each author was to write a chapter for the book. As the book was handed off to the next author, the challenge was to use the material that had already been written and add to it in a meaningful way to continue the mystery...The book opens with a mysterious phone call announcing that Dr. Barratt's daughter Midge has been kidnapped and placed in a coffin. She has no more than five or six hours worth of air before she dies. Each chapter in the book is titled with the exact time, so the reader is constantly aware of how much time remains for Midge to live" (Marks, Jeffrey. Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography, p.99). Basis for William Castle's 1958 film Macabre, starring William Prince. Hubin, p.127. First Printing. Octavo (19.75cm); patterned paper-covered boards; blue topstain; dustjacket; x,235,[5]pp. Signed on the… Read More

Indianapolis: Signet Books, 1968. First Paperback Edition. First Printing. Octavo (18cm); photo-illustrated card wrappers; 507,[3]pp. Light wear to wrapper extremities, tanning to text edges, with a few small scuffs to spine ends, and a small pencil notation to upper rear wrapper; Very Good+. A comprehensive collection of writings that sought to disrupt contemporary societal norms surrounding marijuana usage.

Paris: Librairie Stock, 1932. First French Edition. Octavo, 130 pages. A Very Good+ copy in publisher's printed self-wraps - one of 1,650 numbered copies, this copy being No. 835. Light wear to the extremities, notably the spine panel and to the edges of the rear wrapper. Signatures are uncut, small Montevideo bookseller's label to front endpage, with some foxing to the endpages and text edges. The scarce French edition of Mann's anti-fascist novel, and the only copy we've seen with the promotional band.

New York: Bantam Books, 1992. First Edition. Second volume in Bova's Grand Tour series, centered around the exploration and colonization of the solar system, inscribed to his long-time friend and fellow science fiction author Dean Ing. The accompanying letter discusses the possibilities of the Ing's visiting Bova in Connecticut ("Got the pool warmed up and new furniture in the guest bedroom"), Bova visiting the Ing's in Oregon, and seeing each other at WorldCon in Orlando. At its core, Bova reveals how badly he covets winning the Nebula Award, and solicits his friends' help: "Enclosed is a copy of Mars. Dean, if you like it well enough, I'd appreciate your recommending it for a Nebula Award. I would dearly like to be recognized by SFWA as a writer, rather than as a former editor or ex-president or whatever. We both know that awards are not bestowed on books by the impartial and all-compassionate gods; you have to get into the arena and plug away. I would deeply appreciate your help." A superb… Read More

London: Michael Joseph Ltd, 1952. First British Edition. First Impression. Octavo; green textured boards with titles stamped in gilt on the spine; 320pp. Signed by the author on the title page. Hint of a lean, cloth a touch loose at the crown, with some minor fading to the board edges; Very Good+ and clean throughout. The unclipped dustjacket has light overall wear, with some toning to the spine panel and flap folds, shallow chipping at the spine ends and front corner tips, and a 2 inch vertical tear running along the lower left joint and moving in horizontally about a half inch or so; a Very Good example of this fragile, cheaply-made jacket. The South African Nobel Prize-winner's scarce second novel, and the first volume in her 'Children of Violence' series.

Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1966. First Editions. The fifth and seventh publications of John Martin's Black Sparrow Press, printing two poems by southern California poet Michael Forrest, who was the second author (after Charles Bukowski) published by the press. Martin relayed the following to us, when we queried him regarding his history with Forrest: "I knew Michael Forrest at the time I was publishing the 5 Bukowski broadsides. He was in college, he was wanting to become a poet, and he was supportive of Hank. The blind-embossed letter in the front of At Terror Street and Agony Way is a letter from Hank to Michael. Since I was publishing Hank's first broadsides at the time, and since Michael asked me to do the same for him, I published the two that you have." Both broadsides were printed in runs of 30 copies - 27 numbered and signed, with an additional three lettered copies not offered for sale. With regards to the proof copies, Martin noted "I think there could not have been more than 2… Read More