Lebeaupin, R. V.
Rv Lebeaupin: Photographies Joue-le Moi Plaisir

Imprint: Berlin, Germany, Bruno Gmunder Verlag, 1994
Edition: First Edition

First Edition / First Printing. As New in No Dust Jacket, As Issued. 184 pages. Collection of erotic male portraits and one male nude. One of the finest titles ever published by Bruno Gmunder Verlag, which specializes in male nude photography. The true First Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly the 1995, 1998, and 2002 Editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a softcover original only. The First Edition is now rare. A brilliant production by RV Lebeaupin and Michael Taubenheim: Oversize-volume format. Pictorial softcovers with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Photographs and brief Afterword by RV Lebeaupin. List Of Models appended at the end. Printed on pristine-white, thick uncoated stock paper in Berlin to the highest standards. The reproduction quality is exemplary in every respect. Without DJ, as issued. Presents RV Lebeaupin's "Photographies Joue-Le Moi Plaisir". A gallery of male beauty in all its glory. Except for one full-frontal nude (who also appears fully clothed in another shot), all of the subjects are partially undressed rather than completely naked, suggestively and seductively so, and making them all the more erotic. Lebeaupin's vision of male beauty (the face and the body, it has to be both, not either/or) is an extension of a larger notion about masculinity: What does it take to be a man? What makes such a man erotically and aesthetically irresistible? Lebeaupin's subjects are the living answer, specimens of masculine beauty who can compare with the best of Herb Ritts, Greg Gorman, and even Bruce Weber, all taken for his (and our) own pleasure. He shows that a man need not be photographed nude to be sexy. On the contrary, the less he shows of his private parts, the more he calls attention to his beauty. An absolute "must-have" title for RV Lebeaupin collectors. This title is an erotic art photography classic. This is one of few copies of the 1994 true First Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. We have not seen a more beautiful copy of this beautiful book. Please note: Precedes and should NOT be confused with the 1995, 1998, and 2002 Reissued Editions. Copies available online have very serious flaws (notably, creasing on fragile spine), are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare copy thus. 60 duotone plates. One of the most brilliant photographers of the male form of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER COPY OF THIS TITLE IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 386187024X.

Stock number: 13746. ISBN: 386187024X

$US 70.00

Leddick, David (Editor/Author); Massengill, Reed; Richardson, Terry & Other Photographers
Male Nude Now: New Visions For The 21st Century

Imprint: New York City, NY, Universe Publishing, 2001
Edition: First Edition
Inscription: Signed, inscribed or annotated

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in No Dust Jacket, As Issued. 224 pages. Retrospective collection of male nudes. Now considered a contemporary erotic art and photography classic. The true First Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a softcover original only that sold out shortly after publication. A brilliant production by Jason Losser: Oversize-volume format. Pictorial softcovers with translucent titles imprinted on the cover and spine, as issued. Photographs by various contributors. Introduction and Captions by David Leddick. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper to the highest standards. Without DJ, as issued. Presents "Male Nude Now: New Visions For The 21st Century". A sumptuous overview of contemporary male erotic art photography. David Leddick groups the artists' works (who otherwise speak for themselves) into Seven Types of Tendency: Experimentalists, Neo-Classicists, Eroticists, Fantasists, Sensualists, Realists, and Romantics. Surely, these are multifaceted artists, who are all of these at the same time and therefore transcend any one of these "tendencies". Leddick is well aware of the fact, and emphasizes that his intention is to identify the various strands of his rich subject rather than rigidly label his contributors. The unifying theme is the mainstream acceptance (always excepting Puritanical backwaters) of the male nude as a serious subject, pursued by some of the most brilliant photographers, painters, and sculptors of our time. The inclusion of heterosexual as well as women artist/photographers is significant as it is evidence of the broad interest in a subject that was once the exclusive domain of openly gay (or "gay-friendly") artists. Well-known and established figures such as Don Bachardy, Clive Barker, Andreas H. Bitesnich, Chuck Close, John Dugdale, Nan Goldin, David Hockney, Eric Fischl, Michael Leonard, Christopher Makos, Duane Michals, Patrick McMullan, Pierre et Gilles, Jack Pierson, Terry Richardson, Wolfgang Tillmans, Arthur Tress, Ellen von Unwerth, Tony Ward, and Dimitris Yeros are all here. Still, it is his inclusion of such fresh and exciting talents as John Casado, Wes Hempel, Lalli, Reed Massengill, Wallace Merritt, Graydon Parrish, Alexis Rodriguez-Duarte, Jack Slomovits, and John Sonsini that makes this collection a serendipitous ride. The third and final volume in the trilogy inaugurated by "Naked Men" followed by "Naked Men Too". An absolute "must-have" title for erotic art and photography collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed in black pen-marker on his Contribution (Page 152) by Reed Massengill. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. Laid-in is a lovely Souvenir Postcard of the same model, Jonny Herweg, featured in the book, also very prominently and beautifully signed by the photographer. This title is a contemporary classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy of the First Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. 240 plates. Some of the finest artists and photographers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO "NAKED MEN: PIONEERING MALE NUDES 1935-1955" AND "NAKED MEN TOO" TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0789306352.

Stock number: 15544. ISBN: 0789306352

$US 100.00

Leddick, David (Editor/Author); Mapplethorpe, Robert; Weber, Bruce & Various Other Contributors
Naked Men Too: Liberating The Male Nude 1950-2000

Imprint: New York City, NY, Universe Publishing, 2000
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardback , With Dust Jacket

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 144 pages. Landmark collection of contemporary male nudes. One of the most beautiful erotic art photography books of our time. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only that sold out shortly after publication. The First Edition is now scarce. A brilliant production by Universe: Oversize-volume format. Glossy pictorial hard boards, which utilize a male nude portrait, and white titles on spine, as issued. Photographs by various contributors, a Who's Who of contemporary photography. Foreword by Quentin Crisp. Text and Captions by David Leddick. Commentary by Ethan Winslow. Index of Models appended at the end. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper in the United Kingdom to the highest standards. In pictorial DJ with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Presents David Leddick's "Naked Men Too: Liberating The Male Nude 1950-2000". Takes up where the first volume, "Naked Men", leaves off. Vintage as well as more recent nude portraits of celebrated models, actors, and in the case of the young Yves Saint Laurent, a daring fashion designer. "Exposes the breakthrough nude male photography and art that changed the perception of male beauty. Focussing on the work of influential photographers such as George Platt Lynes, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Bruce Weber, Leddick chronicles the visual revolution that paralleled social and sexual liberation since the late 1950's. With brief biographies of the models, including early renegades like Joe Dallesandro, Rupert Everett, and more, this provocative book features reproductions of the original photographs alongside portraits of the models today. This dynamic history of male nudity in art and advertising is for all audiences, gay and straight" (Publisher's blurb). Leddick's discriminating taste and impeccable eye make the selections a cut above the rest among the now-innumerable books on the subject. The second volume in a trilogy that began with "Naked Men" and concludes with "Male Nude Now". An absolute "must-have" title for erotic art photography collectors. This title is now collectible. This is one of few copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. It is the single most beautiful copy we have ever seen. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce copy thus. 200 plates. Some of the most brilliant photographers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO "NAKED MEN: PIONEERING MALE NUDES 1935-1955" AND "MALE NUDE NOW" TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0789303965.

Stock number: 21891. ISBN: 0789303965

$US 100.00

Lee, Chang-Rae
Aloft

Imprint: New York City, NY, Riverhead Books, 2004
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardback , With Dust Jacket
Inscription: Signed, inscribed or annotated

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 343 pages. The author's third novel. Now considered a contemporary classic. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly copies that are signed on a tipped-in page. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Chang-rae Lee's "Aloft". His reflection on the American Dream, which of course, is about rising above the ground to the point, if one is fortunate and presumably deserving by dint of hard work, of being airborne. "Set on affluent Long Island, 'Aloft' follows the life of a suburban, upper-middle-class man during a time of family crisis. Jerry Battle's favorite diversion is to fly his small plane over the neighboring towns and villages. When his daughter and her fiance arrive from Oregon to announce their marriage plans, he looks back on his life and faces his disengagement with it, his urge to fly solo, and the people he loves" (Publisher's blurb). Like many writers of his generation as well as those (like Amy Tan) who came well before him, Chang-rae Lee's subject has been the Asian-American immigrant experience. What has always set his work apart is its quiet, serene, and meditative tone, a style of writing (as well as a world-view) that the demanding literary critic James Wood has praised for its often poetic beauty. Characteristic of all his previous work, Chang-rae Lee is looking back as thoughtfully and reasonably as he possibly can, on the ironies, paradoxes, and anguished dilemmas of the self-uprooted, self-transplanted individual. With "Aloft", he "broadens his range and proves himself a Master Storyteller, able to observe his character's flaws and celebrate his humanity. An unforgettable portrait, filled with vitality and urgency, of a man who has secured his life's dreams, but who must now figure out its meaning. The prose Chang-rae Lee writes is poetic" (The New Yorker Magazine). An absolute "must-have" title for Chang-rae Lee collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by Chang-rae Lee. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page, as copies available online are. Laid-in is a pristine copy of the Chicago Humanities Festival 2015 Souvenir Program during which event his signature was obtained. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce signed copy thus. Selected by The New Yorker Magazine as one of the "Twenty Writers for the 21st Century". One of the most brilliant American writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER CHANG-RAE LEE TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 1573222631.

Stock number: 20070. ISBN: 1573222631

$US 30.00

Lehane, Dennis
Darkness, Take My Hand

Imprint: New York City, NY, William Morrow And Company, Inc., 1996
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardback , With Dust Jacket
Inscription: Signed, inscribed or annotated

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 336 pages. The author's second novel. One of Dennis Lehane's finest achievements. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Dennis Lehane's "Darkness, Take My Hand". The second installment in the "Patrick Kenzie/Angela Gennaro" Series, about two childhood friends who work together as private investigators (and later on in the series, become romantically involved). "Explores horror close to home. Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro agree to help psychiatrist Diandra Warren. Her patient, using the name Moira Kenzie, has said she was abused by Kevin Hurlihy, a sociopathic Irish Mafia henchman who grew up in Angie and Patrick's neighborhood. Hurlihy may have threatened the doctor, who fears that her son, Jason, may be in danger. While Patrick and Angela shadow Jason, another former neighbor, Kara Rider, is found crucified. Sensing a connection, Patrick seeks out a retired cop-turned-saloonkeeper who recalls a hushed-up crucifixion murder in the neighborhood 20 years ago. By the time Patrick and Angie realize how the murders relate to their own youth, they are the next targets. The showdown is unpredictable, the story is densely peopled with multi-dimensional characters, there are no forgettable, walk-on roles on Lehane's stage. Lehane's voice, original, haunting, and straight from the heart, places him among the top ranks of stylists who enrich the modern mystery novel" (Publishers Weekly). His devoted readers, who take their crime fiction seriously, regard Dennis Lehane as our Dashiell Hammett, that is to say, the most remarkable thriller-genre writer of our time. An absolute "must-have" title for Dennis Lehane collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in black pen on the title page by Dennis Lehane. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce signed copy thus. One of the most brilliant American writers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER DENNIS LEHANE TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0688143806.

Stock number: 10020. ISBN: 0688143806

$US 50.00

Leiter, Saul (Photographer); Sire, Agnes (Curator) & Other Contributors
Saul Leiter: The Steidl Exhibition Monograph

Imprint: Gottingen, Germany, Gerhard Steidl Druckerei Und Verlag, 2008
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardback , With Dust Jacket
Inscription: Signed, inscribed or annotated

First Edition / First Printing. As New in As New Dust Jacket. 152 pages. Retrospective Exhibition Monograph. One of the most influential books on the photographic art and achievement of Saul Leiter. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only that sold out shortly after publication. The First Edition is now rare. A brilliant production by Gerhard Steidl: Regular-sized volume format. Pale gray hard boards with metallic-silver titles embossed on spine, as issued. Photographs by Saul Leiter. Text by Agnes Sire and other contributors. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper by Steidl in Gottingen, Germany to the highest standards. In pictorial DJ with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Published on the occasion of the landmark retrospective exhibition held at the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson Paris in 2008. Presents, in its First Edition format, "Saul Leiter". The breakthrough-sequel to "Saul Leiter: Early Color" (2006). The two pioneering, and still most valuable, Steidl titles revived global interest in Leiter's work, and form the basis of his iconic status (and its attendant new book-per-year cottage industry) as the most important photographic re-discovery of our time. As such, the book is both revelation and confirmation of the photographer's achievement as a visual artist. Leiter saw - and rendered - everything he saw as layered, a multi-dimensional approach and vision that happily defied the inherent flatness of photography. The influence of Western painting is self-evident, and enabled Leiter to see The Street in a radically new and different way than all of the other great street photographers of his (and our) time: Instead of the hard-edged, flattened, and in-your-face imagery of say, Garry Winogrand (or Martin Parr today), Leiter's imagery is impressionistic, subtle, and lyrical, deploying a consistently understated palette that has resulted in some of the most beautiful photographic images we shall ever see. One of his signature subjects, winter in New York City, in reality, often bleak and messy, is transformed by Leiter into moments of sheer magic, with purity of vision and without nostalgia or sentimentality. "Being ignored is a great privilege. That is how I think I learned to see what others do not see and to react to situations differently" (Saul Leiter). An absolute "must-have" title for Saul Leiter collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by Saul Leiter. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a contemporary classic, the breakthrough-sequel to "Saul Leiter: Early Color" (2006). The two pioneering, and still most valuable, Steidl titles revived global interest in Leiter's work, and form the basis of his iconic status as the most important photographic re-discovery of our time. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online are in multiple subsequent printings or have serious flaws. A rare signed copy thus. 107 black-and-white and color plates. One of the greatest artist/photographers of our time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER SAUL LEITER TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 3865215874.

Stock number: 22084. ISBN: 3865215874

$US 1,000.00

Leonard, Elmore
Get Shorty

Imprint: New York City, NY, Delacorte Press, 1990
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardback , With Dust Jacket
Inscription: Signed, inscribed or annotated

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 292 pages. Rare Elmore Leonard collectible set. A fine copy of "Get Shorty" First Hardcover Edition/First Printing with a pristine Souvenir Bookplate, signed and inscribed by Elmore Leonard. The author's "Hollywood" novel. One of Elmore Leonard's finest achievements. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Elmore Leonard's "Get Shorty". "Classic Elmore Leonard: While other people write 'crime fiction', Leonard has come up with a masterly social comedy that happens to be about criminals (and other fast operators). The best parts move along so briskly you almost forget there's somebody with a firm control over the story" (Ron Hogan). "The prose, as expected from Leonard, is perfect. In 292 pages, there's not a word that doesn't belong exactly where he's placed it. Offers a Master Class in how to write a novel" (Publishers Weekly). Shortly after his death in 2013, Elmore Leonard was posthumously honored by the Library of America with four volumes collecting his oeuvre. Normally, LOA waits for a decent, sometimes long, interval before including any writer in its canon. But in Leonard's case, they could not wait to honor the "laconic Master of crime fiction". The basis of the now-classic film by Barry Sonnenfeld, with Gene Hackman, John Travolta, Danny de Vito, and Rene Russo. An absolute "must-have" title for Elmore Leonard collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by Elmore Leonard. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. It also comes with a pristine 5 X 4 inch loose Souvenir Bookplate that is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed and inscribed in black ink-pen by the author: "Try to leave out the parts that readers tend to skip. Elmore Leonard". Which, in one line and in his own hand, neatly sums up his artistic credo and practice. This title is a great book. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy (with signed and inscribed Souvenir Bookplate) of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, pristine beauties. Please note: Copies of the book available online have serious flaws. This is the only Souvenir Bookplate available anywhere. A rare signed set thus. One of the finest American mystery writers of our time. A fine collectible set. . ISBN 0385301413.

Stock number: 22202. ISBN: 0385301413

$US 150.00

Lethem, Jonathan
Amnesia Moon

Imprint: New York City, NY, Harcourt Brace, 1995
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardback , With Dust Jacket
Inscription: Signed, inscribed or annotated

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 247 pages. The author's second novel. Now considered a contemporary classic. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Jonathan Lethem's "Amnesia Moon". Often referred to as the "Wizard of Oz" remade as a road film. It shows the young novelist at his experimental best. Jonathan Lethem gained a cult following with his critically acclaimed (but commercially ignored) crime novel, "Gun, With Occasional Music" (1994). He has always been fascinated by literary genres and sub-genres, and uses them as his starting point to create his inventive and luminous novels. "Amnesia Moon" is his first (one of several) stab at science fiction, perhaps the most underappreciated and maligned literary sub-genre. People now consider it perfectly respectable for an established author to write cute children's books but "sci-fi" is still considered an esoteric, "specialized" taste (because it is much harder to read and write). The protagonist named Chaos discovers that each new American town he comes to is afflicted with its own form of insanity, ranging from an imaginary, blinding green mist to an obsession with luck. Returning to his native San Francisco, he remembers his previous identity as a man named Moon and discovers the power his own dreams can have to cure the madness around him. Lethem's fascination with the condition called amnesia is something he shares with a very wide constellation of writers, and he has edited a brilliant anthology on the subject, "The Vintage Book of Amnesia", one of the finest collections of its kind. Beautifully written, as always, with touches of surrealism, symbolism, and apocalypse, this is a compelling novel. An absolute "must-have" title for Jonathan Lethem collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed in black pen on the title page by Jonathan Lethem. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce signed copy thus. Winner of the Crawford Award for Best Fantasy Novel and the Locus Award for Best First Novel in 1994 for "Gun, With Occasional Music". Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1999 for "Motherless Brooklyn". Selected as one of the "Best Books of The Year" by the New York Times in 2003 for "Fortress of Solitude". Winner of the MacArthur Genius Grant in 2005. One of the most brilliant new voices in American literature. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JONATHAN LETHEM TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0151000913.

Stock number: 6174. ISBN: 0151000913

$US 30.00

Lethem, Jonathan
As She Climbed Across The Table

Imprint: New York City, NY, Doubleday, 1997
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardback , With Dust Jacket
Inscription: Signed, inscribed or annotated

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 212 pages. The author's third novel. Now considered a contemporary classic. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Jonathan Lethem's "As She Climbed Across The Table". The author's "hommage" novel to his three great, lifelong passions as a reader and writer: The romance novel, science fiction, and Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland". The main character is a genius-physicist named Alice Coombs, who has discovered the ultimate black hole in the universe, which she and her colleagues have called "Lack". A professor makes a brilliant discovery of his own: That he is deeply and madly in Love with Alice. "A daring and delightful tale of Alice's modern journey through the looking glass. A deeply strange, moving, and hilarious love story about a woman, a man, and the great space between them" (Publisher's blurb). A triumphant achievement. An absolute "must-have" title for Jonathan Lethem collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed in black pen on the title page by Jonathan Lethem. The signature fills up the page. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce signed copy thus. Winner of the Crawford Award for Best Fantasy Novel and the Locus Award for Best First Novel in 1994 for "Gun, With Occasional Music". Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1999 for "Motherless Brooklyn". Selected as one of the "Best Books of The Year" by the New York Times in 2003 for "Fortress of Solitude". Winner of the MacArthur Genius Grant in 2005. One of the most brilliant new voices in American literature. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JONATHAN LETHEM TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0385485174.

Stock number: 9230. ISBN: 0385485174

$US 30.00

Lethem, Jonathan
Chronic City

Imprint: New York City, NY, Doubleday, 2009
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardback , With Dust Jacket
Inscription: Signed, inscribed or annotated

First Edition / First Printing. As New in As New Dust Jacket. 467 pages. The author's eighth novel. One of Jonathan Lethem's finest achievements. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. PubIished in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Jonathan Lethem's "Chronic City". His homage-of-sorts to his other city. "Jonathan Lethem, the home-grown frontrunner of a generation of Brooklyn writers, crosses the bridge to Manhattan. A smart, unsettling, and hilarious novel of friendship and real estate among the rich and the rent-controlled. Lethem's story centers around two unlikely friends, Chase Insteadman, a genial non-entity who was once a child sitcom star, and now is best-known as the loyal fiance of a space-stranded astronaut, and Perkus Tooth, a skinny, moody, under-employed cultural critic. Chase and Perkus are free-floating, dope-dependent bohemians in a borough built on ambition, living on its margins, but with surprising access to its centers of power, even to the city's billionaire Mayor. Every page is a pleasure of pitch-perfect banter and spot-on cultural satire, cut sharply with the melancholic sense that being able to explain your city doesn't make you any more capable of living in it" (Tom Nissley). As Susan Sontag has pointed out, illness-as-metaphor can be a harmful literary trope. By suggesting (starting with his title) that New York City has a chronic condition (as opposed, one surmises, to something more acute or even terminal), Lethem evocatively (and symptomatically) captures the reality of New York City's incurable malaise. An absolute "must-have" title for Jonathan Lethem collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed in black pen on the title page by Jonathan Lethem. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. Laid-in is a pristine copy of the Brooklyn Book Festival Souvenir Bookmark that shows Lethem. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce signed copy thus. Winner of the Crawford Award for Best Fantasy Novel and the Locus Award for Best First Novel in 1994 for "Gun, With Occasional Music". Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1999 for "Motherless Brooklyn". Selected as one of the "Best Books of The Year" by the New York Times in 2003 for "Fortress of Solitude". Winner of the MacArthur Genius Grant in 2005. One of the most brilliant new voices in American literature. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JONATHAN LETHEM TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0385518633.

Stock number: 19043. ISBN: 0385518633

$US 40.00

Lethem, Jonathan
Gun, With Occasional Music: Gumshoe In A Brave New World

Imprint: New York City, NY, Harcourt Brace, 1994
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardback , With Dust Jacket
Inscription: Signed, inscribed or annotated

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 262 pages. The author's breakthrough debut novel. Now considered a contemporary classic. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only that was largely ignored and eventually destroyed/pulped. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Jonathan Lethem's "Gun, With Occasional Music". His dazzling debut. The novel was belatedly described by Newsweek Magazine as possibly the most spectacular debut of the last decade. Features a brilliantly conceived and flawlessly executed DJ, which has been made to look like a creased, worn, and torn pulp-fiction book. It was so convincingly done that bookstores returned the book, believing that they received very badly damaged and "hurt" copies. The book designer, Michael Koelsch, is one of the best in the business and worked closely with the author (himself an amateur artist). Their work has been called the most brilliant Modern First DJ design of all time. "A tour de force, a blending of speculative and noir fiction that is by turns satirical, witty, tough, and profound" (Lucius Shepard). Lethem has pursued his ransacking of other literary genres and sub-genres in order to re-invent them, give them his own unique twist, and ultimately, create his own singular and oddly moving universe. His inspiration has not flagged with his successive works: Together with "Motherless Brooklyn", his debut novel remains one of his finest achievements. An absolute "must-have" title for Jonathan Lethem collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by Jonathan Lethem. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. Lethem's signature on this copy is pure vintage, is very different from, and is sharper than his contemporary "all-over-the-page" scrawl. As such, it is one of his best signatures we have ever seen. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Winner of the Crawford Award for Best Fantasy Novel and the Locus Award for Best First Novel in 1994 for "Gun, With Occasional Music". Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1999 for "Motherless Brooklyn". Selected as one of the "Best Books of The Year" by the New York Times in 2003 for "Fortress of Solitude". Winner of the MacArthur Genius Grant in 2005. One of the most brilliant new voices in American literature. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JONATHAN LETHEM TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0151364583.

Stock number: 21911. ISBN: 0151364583

$US 100.00

Lethem, Jonathan
Men And Cartoons: Stories

Imprint: New York City, NY, Doubleday, 2004
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardback , With Dust Jacket
Inscription: Signed, inscribed or annotated

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 176 pages. The author's third collection of short stories. Now considered a contemporary classic. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with the paperback edition. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Jonathan Lethem's "Men And Cartoons". His tribute to a beloved sub-genre, the comic book. "Blends the literary with the fantastical, probing themes of loneliness, failed relationships, and the consequences of strange powers. These nine stories starring comic-book heroes and regular folks are steeped in melancholic nostalgia, absurdist humor, and a sly air of cultural critique. The strongest combine character studies with extraordinary elements" (Publishers Weekly). "His bold imagination and sheer love of words defy all forms and expectations and place him among his country's foremost writers" (Salon). An absolute "must-have" title for Jonathan Lethem collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed in black pen on the title page by Jonathan Lethem. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. His signature fills up the page. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce signed copy thus. Winner of the Crawford Award for Best Fantasy Novel and the Locus Award for Best First Novel in 1994 for "Gun, With Occasional Music". Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1999 for "Motherless Brooklyn". Selected as one of the "Best Books of The Year" by the New York Times in 2003 for "Fortress of Solitude". Winner of the MacArthur Genius Grant in 2005. One of the most brilliant new voices in American literature. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JONATHAN LETHEM TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0385512163.

Stock number: 10074. ISBN: 0385512163

$US 30.00

Lethem, Jonathan
Motherless Brooklyn

Imprint: New York City, NY, Doubleday, 1999
Edition: First Edition
Inscription: Signed, inscribed or annotated

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in No Dust Jacket, As Issued. 311 pages. The author's breakthrough fifth novel. One of Jonathan Lethem's finest achievements. Advance Reader's Edition/ARC. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited print run as a softcover original only, given to friends and colleagues of the author and publishers, and not commercially sold. There is no ISBN. The ARC is now rare. An austerely elegant production by Doubleday: Regular-sized volume format. Pictorial softcovers with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Text by Jonathan Lethem. Printed on archival stock paper in the United States to the highest standards. Without DJ, as issued. Presents, in its earliest-state edition, Jonathan Lethem's "Motherless Brooklyn". His single most beloved creation. In Lionel Essrog, Lethem has created one of the most unforgettable characters of contemporary American fiction, the "Human Freakshow", afflicted with Tourette's Syndrome. "The best novel of the year. Utterly original and deeply moving" (Esquire Magazine). "A wunderkind who in a scant five years has produced five aggressively original works of fiction. One waits eagerly to learn where Lethem will take us next" (Kirkus Reviews). The basis of the major Hollywood film adaptation directed by Edward Norton, with himself as Lionel Essrog and an all-star cast that includes Alec Baldwin, Willem Dafoe, Bruce Willis, Bobby Canavale, Dallas Roberts, and others. An absolute "must-have" title for Jonathan Lethem collectors. This copy is very boldly, beautifully, and uniquely signed in metallic-silver pen-marker on the title page by Jonathan Lethem. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. The signature fills up the page and glows radiantly against the light. This title is a contemporary classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy of the Advance Reader's Edition/ARC available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Winner of the Crawford Award for Best Fantasy Novel and the Locus Award for Best First Novel in 1994 for "Gun, With Occasional Music". Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1999 for "Motherless Brooklyn". Selected as one of the "Best Books of The Year" by the New York Times in 2003 for "Fortress of Solitude". Winner of the MacArthur Genius Grant in 2005. One of the most brilliant new voices in American literature. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JONATHAN LETHEM TITLES IN OUR CATALOG).

Stock number: 9235.

$US 100.00

Lethem, Jonathan (Contributor); Donner, Rebecca (Editor) & Denis, Woychuk (Foreword)
On The Rocks: The Kgb Bar Fiction Anthology

Imprint: New York City, NY, St. Martin's Griffin, 2002
Edition: First Edition
Inscription: Signed, inscribed or annotated

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in No Dust Jacket, As Issued. 282 pages. Landmark collection of short stories. The first and only edition. Published in a small and limited print run as a softcover original only. The third and finest volume on literary work performed at the now-legendary East Village bar which has hosted author readings since 1994. It follows and can be read independently of "The KGB Bar Reader" and "The KGB Bar Book of Poems". The First Edition is now scarce. A brilliant production by Jonathan Bennett: Regular-sized volume format. Glossy pictorial softcovers with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Contributions by various writers. Edited by Rebecca Donner. Foreword by Denis Woychuk. Printed on archival stock paper in the United States to the highest standards. Without DJ, as issued. Presents "On The Rocks: The KGB Bar Fiction Anthology". A literary haven, ironically named after the dread KGB of the former Soviet Union. "A tiny East Village tenement room that used to be a meeting place for Ukrainian Socialists, the KGB Bar launched a reading series that has become a beloved fixture of the New York literary scene. Features such writers as Jonathan Lethem, Mary Gaitskill, Ben Marcus, Joyce Carol Oates, Francine Prose, Peter Ho Davies, and Dani Shapiro, among many others. United only by their uniformly high level of originality and artistry, these innovative stories make for a top-flight anthology, a treat for anyone who wants to sample the best in contemporary fiction" (Publishers Weekly). An absolute "must-have" title for Jonathan Lethem and contemporary literature collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed in metallic-silver pen-marker on the title page by Jonathan Lethem. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. His signature glows radiantly against the light. This title is now collectible. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Winner of the Crawford Award for Best Fantasy Novel and the Locus Award for Best First Novel in 1994 for "Gun, With Occasional Music". Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1999 for "Motherless Brooklyn". Selected as one of the "Best Books of The Year" by the New York Times in 2003 for "Fortress of Solitude". Winner of the MacArthur Genius Grant in 2005. One of the most brilliant new voices in American literature. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JONATHAN LETHEM TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0312301529.

Stock number: 9239. ISBN: 0312301529

$US 30.00

Lethem, Jonathan
The Wall Of The Sky, The Wall Of The Eye: Stories

Imprint: New York City, NY, Harcourt Brace, 1996
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardback , With Dust Jacket
Inscription: Signed, inscribed or annotated

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 294 pages. The author's debut collection of short stories. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Jonathan Lethem's "The Wall of The Sky, The Wall of The Eye". Seven stories that affirm the author's stature as one of the most inventive and innovative contemporary American writers. The title is an "hommage" allusion to the work of the great German silent film director, Fritz Lang, one of the giants of cinema. Lethem is, by now, probably our most brilliant deconstructionist of every literary genre and sub-genre (and also cinema). Still, although his starting point is always an established form, Jonathan Lethem's ultimate goal is to reinvent these literary genres and more important, to create his own singular and oddly moving universe. "Like Kafka, Lethem delights in understanding the astonishing and he is at his devious best in these perverse and incandescent tales. My favorite is one that won't be mentioned because of its title" (Terry Bisson). It's the brilliant story called "Five F----". An absolute "must-have" title for Jonathan Lethem collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed in black pen on the title page by Jonathan Lethem. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. The signature fills up the page. This title is now collectible. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce signed copy thus. Winner of the Crawford Award for Best Fantasy Novel and the Locus Award for Best First Novel in 1994 for "Gun, With Occasional Music". Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1999 for "Motherless Brooklyn". Selected as one of the "Best Books of The Year" by the New York Times in 2003 for "Fortress of Solitude". Winner of the MacArthur Genius Grant in 2005. One of the most brilliant new voices in American literature. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JONATHAN LETHEM TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0151001804.

Stock number: 9475. ISBN: 0151001804

$US 40.00

Lethem, Jonathan
You Don't Love Me Yet

Imprint: New York City, NY, Doubleday, 2007
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardback , With Dust Jacket
Inscription: Signed, inscribed or annotated

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 224 pages. The author's seventh novel. Now considered a contemporary classic. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The brilliant DJ design by Jennifer Ann Daddio (the author is always closely involved in the production of his books) shows the then completely unknown, 24-year-old Jonathan Lethem looking very much like his novel's protagonist. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Jonathan Lethem's "You Don't Love Me Yet". His tribute to rock music and its resonances with his youth. Lethem temporarily leaves his beloved Brooklyn behind and moves to Los Angeles in his beguiling comic novel about a girl, a boy, their band, and a sea of hipsters. The band doesn't have a name, hasn't played any shows (yet), and has a handful of lyric-less songs. "Lucinda takes a job on the side in an installation-art piece in which random callers register complaints. Lucinda takes an arousing, near-feral rumination about seducing women to Bedwin, the band's savant song-crafter, and the result sounds uncannily like a hit. Lethem understands the pathology of a great pop song (familiar emotional depth masked by clever wordplay and some saccharine hooks), and gamely re-creates it in novel form. The result is lithe and perceptive" (Ian Chipman). Comic novels are very hard to write well (like great comic films). They navigate the minefields of irony, satire, and parody, that is to say, of the bittersweet, "neither-here-nor-there" truth about our lives, and are therefore either easily dismissed or worse, completely misunderstood (like Woody Allen's great films). Lethem is one of very few adepts of both High and Low American cultures, and here, he plumbs the depths of the contemporary rock n' roll scene but, unlike most other writers' forays (notably the talented and very knowledgeable David Foster Wallace's) into the same territory, he does not wallow or drown in it. An absolute "must-have" title for Jonathan Lethem collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed in black pen-marker on the title page by Jonathan Lethem. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. We have never before seen the unusual pen Lethem used (it looks more like an artist's charcoal-pen, is definitely not a felt-tip pen, and it is uniquely beautiful). It stands out even more as his signature fills up the page. This title is a contemporary classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce signed copy thus. Winner of the Crawford Award for Best Fantasy Novel and the Locus Award for Best First Novel in 1994 for "Gun, With Occasional Music". Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1999 for "Motherless Brooklyn". Selected as one of the "Best Books of The Year" by the New York Times in 2003 for "Fortress of Solitude". Winner of the MacArthur Genius Grant in 2005. One of the most brilliant new voices in American literature. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JONATHAN LETHEM TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 038551218X.

Stock number: 11683. ISBN: 038551218X

$US 40.00

Levi-Strauss, Claude (Subject) & Wilcken, Patrick (Author)
Claude Levi-strauss: Poet In The Laboratory

Imprint: New York City, NY, The Penguin Press, 2010
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardback , With Dust Jacket

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 405 pages. The first full-length biography in English on subject. One of the most important cultural events of our time. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Patrick Wilcken's "Claude Levi-Strauss: Poet In The Laboratory". The definitive account of the life, work, and legacy of Claude Levi-Strauss, father of modern anthropology, and one of the postwar era's most influential thinkers. "Just as Freud had shaken up the antiquarian discipline of psychiatry so had Levi-Strauss revolutionized anthropology, transforming it from the Colonial-era study of 'exotic' tribes to one consumed with fundamental questions about the nature of humanity and civilization itself. Levi-Strauss was both a hero to contemporary intellectuals and an international celebrity. Gives the reader a fascinating intellectual tour of the anthropologist's landmark works: 'Tristes Tropiques', a literary meditation on his travels and fieldwork; 'The Savage Mind', which showed that 'primitive' people are driven by the same intellectual curiosities as their Western counterparts; and finally, his monumental four-volume 'Mythologiques', a study of the universal structures of native mythology. An evocative journey and an intellectual biography of one of the twentieth-century's most influential minds" (Publisher's blurb). Levi-Strauss' nemeses were "culture" and "history", which keep people apart and make them think they are either superior or inferior to others. His faith was in "myth" and his weapon was science, which, by definition, seeks and discovers universal truths that transcend specific cultures and histories. His greatest contribution, still intensely debated to this day, was to dissolve the distinction between the "primitive" and the "modern" mind. It remains a mind-boggling insight, but the truth is always radical. "The scientific mind does not provide the right answers as much as it asks the right questions" (Claude Levi-Strauss). An absolute "must-have" title for Claude Levi-Strauss collectors. This title is a contemporary classic. As far as we know, this is the only copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce copy thus. One of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER CLAUDE LEVI-STRAUSS TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 1594202737.

Stock number: 16397. ISBN: 1594202737

$US 50.00

Levi-Strauss, Claude (Translated by Brian C.J. Singer)
Look, Listen, Read

Imprint: New York City, NY, Basic Books, 1997
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardback , With Dust Jacket

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 202 pages. Retrospective collection of essays. Now considered a late-modern classic. The first appearance of the title in English and in the United States. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly the Softcover Edition. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only and as part of Basic Books' "MasterMind" Series. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Claude Levi-Strauss' "Regarder, Ecouter, Lire" in a felicitous English translation. Published on the occasion of his 90th birthday, his often-surprising reflections on aesthetics. Surprising because they reveal the ground-breaking and unorthodox anthropologist to be a dependable Classicist and universalist when it comes to art, in sharp contrast with the "identity politics" aesthetic tendency of the late-20th century as well as our own time, and in apparent contradiction with his anthopological work. "Over the course of a monumental career, Claude Levi-Strauss has interwoven artistic materials and themes into his seminal analyses of the savage mind. Now, the world's greatest anthropologist turns his attention to aesthetics. In a series of brilliant and meticulous studies, he ranges widely across painting, music, literature, and the plastic arts, his fertile mind opening up new philosophical perspectives" (Publisher's blurb). His correspondence on the nature of art with Andre Breton, the founder and principal exponent of Surrealist aesthetics, conducted more than sixty years ago, is also included. In the book's final chapters, Levi-Strauss-the-anthropologist reasserts itself fully with a fresh look on American-Indian basket-weaving. "Look, Listen, Read" is consistent with Levi-Strauss' scientific work: His nemeses were "culture" and "history", which keep people apart and make them think and believe that they are either superior or inferior to others. His faith was in "myth", and his weapon was, science which, by definition, seeks and discovers universal truths that transcend specific cultures and histories. Written late in life (he died at the age of 101), "Look, Listen, Read" shows the extent to which Levi-Strauss remained a structuralist, in a way that not one of his successors could be. "Only works of art bear evidence that, among human beings, something actually happened during the course of time" (Claude Levi-Strauss). An absolute "must-have" title for Claude Levi-Strauss collectors. This title is a great book. This is one of few copies of the First American Edition/First Printing still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws, are the Softcover Edition, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A scarce copy thus. One of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER CLAUDE LEVI-STRAUSS TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0465068804.

Stock number: 20498. ISBN: 0465068804

$US 50.00

Levinson, Joel D. (Photographer); Stoumen, Lou & Gernsheim, Helmut (Contributors)
Flea Markets: Photographs By Joel D. Levinson

Imprint: Berlin, Germany, Editions Braus, 1986
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardback , With Dust Jacket
Inscription: Signed, inscribed or annotated

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 150 pages. Retrospective collection of photographs on subject. One of the most beautiful photography books of the 20th century. The First Hardcover Edition. Should not be confused with the Softcover Edition. Published simultaneously with the Softcover in a tiny print run (of about 25 copies) as a hardcover original. The First Edition is now rare. A brilliant production by Joel D. Levinson and Editions Braus: Oversize-volume format. Black cloth boards with metallic-silver titles on cover and spine, as issued. Photographs by Joel D. Levinson. Essays by Lou Stoumen and Helmut Gernsheim in the English original and felicitous German and French translations. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper in Berlin, Germany to the highest standards. In pictorial DJ with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Presents, in its rare Hardcover Edition format, Joel D. Levinson's "Flea Markets". His ground-breaking sequence of photographs of California flea markets, taken in the 1970's and 1980's. "A microcosm of American society: Unique individuals from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, who all shared in an unusual atmosphere of mutual cooperation, appreciation, interest, and respect. A body of work where the relationships of people to each other and to objects 'for sale' uniquely symbolize the continual recycling of American consumer culture. Subtle yet possessing a jarring formal beauty and resolve" (Publisher's blurb). It is easy to underestimate the significance - and beauty - of Levinson's photographs. But in our age of eBay, the "live" flea market (that is, the physical, real one) has been completely taken over by "online sales", giving these wonderful images of a bygone era a sweetly nostalgic glow (even if this was never Levinson's intention). And yet, the relationships and interactions between Buyer and Seller - transactional, emotional, erotic - that happen every single day online are, in effect, the "virtual-reality" extension of the face-to-face encounters that the flea market made not just possible but indispensable: Just as the flea market enabled interactions between people who might never otherwise have met, so does eBay. Still, as this book poignantly reminds us, there is NO substitute for the face-to-face encounter. As Robert Frank and now Levinson, among many other photographer-elegists show, photography is all about what we have irretrievably lost or are about to lose. An absolute "must-have" title for Joel D. Levinson collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed and inscribed in black ink-pen on the title page by the photographer: "For David C. Ruttenberg, With deep gratitude, Joel D. Levinson". The recipient, who died in 2003 at the age of 93, is the legendary Chicago-based financier/businessman who amassed a real estate fortune. He was also a major philanthropist and collector, who supported many young and aspiring artists (like Levinson). This title is a great photography book. As far as we know, this is the only such signed and inscribed copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a beauty. Please note: Copies available online are the Softcover Edition. A tiny number of the Hardcover Edition was specially produced by Editions Braus, all of them now in private hands or public collections. A rare signed copy thus. 60 photographic plates. One of the most brilliant American photographers of our time. A fine collectible copy. . ISBN 3921524334.

Stock number: 20665. ISBN: 3921524334

$US 200.00

Levinthal, David (Artist/Photographer) & Grundberg, Andy (Contributor)
David Levinthal: Desire: The Friends Of Photography Exhibition Catalog

Imprint: San Francisco, CA, The Friends Of Photography, 1993
Edition: First Edition

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in No Dust Jacket, As Issued. 32 pages. Collection of color photographs on subject. One of David Levinthal's finest achievements. The first and only edition. Published in a small and limited print run as a softcover original only. There is no ISBN. The First Edition is now scarce. An austerely elegant production by David Levinthal: Oversize-volume format. Black softcovers with titles embossed on the cover, as issued. Photographs by David Levinthal. Essay by Andy Grundberg. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper in the United States to the highest standards. Without DJ, as issued. Published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name held by The Friends of Photography San Francisco in 1993. Presents David Levinthal's "Desire". His photographic exploration of heterosexual erotic desire, and the intimations of romantic love that inhere. Levinthal's use of toys to capture and replicate contemporary human experience is now recognizably and identifiably his own. An absolute "must-have" title for David Levinthal collectors. This title is now collectible. This is one of few copies of the Exhibition Catalog still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online have serious flaws. This copy is the best we have ever seen. A rare copy thus. 14 color plates. One of the greatest photographers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER DAVID LEVINTHAL TITLES IN OUR CATALOG).

Stock number: 19268.

$US 30.00

Levitt, Helen (Photographer) & Oles, James (Contributor)
Mexico City: Photographs By Helen Levitt

Imprint: New York City, NY, The Center For Documentary Studies/W. W. Norton & Company, 1997
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardback , With Dust Jacket
Inscription: Signed, inscribed or annotated

First Edition / First Printing. As New in As New Dust Jacket. 184 pages. Retrospective collection of photographs on subject. One of the finest photography books of the 20th century. Limited Slipcased Edition of 200 numbered and signed copies. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly the regular trade edition. The Limited Edition is now rare. An austerely elegant production by Helen Levitt and Marvin Hoshino: Oversize-volume format. Gray cloth boards with gilt titles embossed on spine, as issued. Photographs by Helen Levitt. Essay, "Helen's Other City", by James Oles, the American photography scholar/historian who has lived in Mexico City since 1991. Selected Exhibitions, Bibliography, and Acknowledgments appended at the end. Matching gray slipcase with gilt titles on one side. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore in Verona, Italy to the highest standards. In pictorial DJ with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Published on the occasion of the travelling exhibition of the same name held in 1997 and 1998. Presents Helen Levitt's "Mexico City". Indelible photographs of the eponymous, tragic city. In 1941, Helen Levitt spent several months in Mexico, photographing the city and its inhabitants. Her work joins the best by such photographers as Tina Modotti, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Walker Evans, and Henri Cartier-Bresson, who all felt an urgent need to come to grips with the city. Without sentimentality, Helen Levitt captured the conflicts and juxtapositions that announced Mexico City's entry into the 20th century. "These images stand as crucial documents of an urban world caught in the throes of modernity, of a people, and of a nation that was leaving the village behind" (James Oles). To show just that, Levitt personally selected the photographs in this collection, from among the hundreds she took, to represent her body of work on her other city, a searing contrast to her beloved New York, of which she has deservedly been called its visual Poet Laureate. An absolute "must-have" title for Helen Levitt collectors. This copy is one of the Limited Slipcased Edition, indicated/numbered as such on the Back Limitation Page. It is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully numbered and signed in black ink-pen by Helen Levitt. This title is a great photography book. This is one of few copies of the Limited Edition still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. A rare signed copy thus. 67 duotone plates. Helen Levitt's "A Way of Seeing" was selected as one of the greatest photography books in "The Photobook". One of the greatest photographers of the 20th century. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER HELEN LEVITT TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 0393045498.

Stock number: 21468. ISBN: 0393045498

$US 500.00

Levy, Stu
Grid-portraits

Imprint: Tucson, AZ, Nazraeli Press, 2010
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardback
Inscription: Signed, inscribed or annotated

First Edition / First Printing. As New in No Dust Jacket, As Issued. 108 pages. Retrospective collection of multi-perspective portrait-photographs. One of the most beautiful art photography books of our time. Limited Edition of 1000 copies. A brilliant production by Stu Levy and Chris Pichler: Oversize-volume format. Salmon Japanese cloth boards with photographic reproduction pasted on the cover and black titles embossed on the cover and spine, as issued. Photographs and text by Stu Levy. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper to the highest standards. Without DJ, as issued. Presents Stu Levy's "Grid-Portraits". Multiple photographs taken of a subject that the artist/photographer then re-integrated and re-composed into one portrait using a rigorous grid template/format. Each of them is presented in foldouts throughout the book. "In the mid-1980's, Stu Levy began making grid-portraits in order to overcome his frustration with traditional portraiture's limited point-of-view. These constructs of photographs, consisting of twelve to twenty-five individual images, scan the architecture and flow of time in a subject's living or working environment. The resulting portraits, usually of artists, craftspeople, and musicians, are made in the subjects' studios or living spaces and serve as a backstage tour of the artist's mind and creative process. Levy is fascinated by the artifacts that fill these spaces, the possessions by which the subjects are themselves possessed. Rather than confining himself to a single 'decisive moment', Levy explores its antithesis, a maze of scrambled time. These are made with a view camera using 4 X 5-inch negatives to allow for precision of detail. The sections are printed together to form the illusion of glancing through a window at a 'snapshot' of an event, which in reality might consist of fragmentary views made months apart and in totally separate rooms or environments. Among the subjects included in this important new monograph are Dr. Stanley Burns, Linda Connor, Barbara Crane, Jay Dusard, David Hockney, Graham Nash, and Jerry Uelsmann" (Publisher's blurb). Stu Levy's "Cranial, Czar, Eh?" is one of the best One Picture Books in the legendary Series, and is beautifully reproduced here. David Hockney is himself a ground-breaking, Cezannesque explorer of the multiplicity of points-of-view that the camera enables ("Hockney Cameraworks"), and his presence alone in this book is worth the price of entry. An absolute "must-have" title for Stu Levy collectors. This copy is one of the Limited Edition of 1000 copies. It is very prominently and beautifully signed in black pen on the title page by Stu Levy. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a contemporary photography classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Limited Edition still available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. A scarce signed copy thus. 168 duotone plates. One of the most brilliant American artist/photographer of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER STU LEVY TITLE IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 1590053079.

Stock number: 15985. ISBN: 1590053079

$US 50.00

LeWitt, Sol
Sol Lewitt: Autobiography 1980

Imprint: New York City, NY, Multiples, Inc./Lois And Michael Torf New York, 1980
Edition: First Edition
Binding: With Dust Jacket
Inscription: Signed, inscribed or annotated

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 116 pages. Artist Book. One of the most influential Conceptual Artist Books of the 20th century. The first and only edition. Published in a small and limited print run as a softcover original only. The First Edition is now rare. An austerely elegant production by Sol LeWitt: Oversize-volume format. White softcovers, as issued. Photographs by Sol LeWitt. There is very minimal text. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper in the United States to the highest standards. In pictorial DJ with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Presents Sol LeWitt's "Autobiography 1980". His pictorial autobiography, circa 1980, rigorously and originally restricted to his physical, material space, whose specific objects nevertheless refer to both his inner life (private thoughts, feelings, sensations) and mental life (as a Conceptual artist of the first rank). "Shows LeWitt's work space, tools, cabinets for storage, furniture, books, appliances, clocks, records and tapes, pieces of art and family photographs. Each of the nine photographs on every page is arranged in a grid format. Every reference is the same size with no object in his space more important than another" (Publisher's blurb). "The artist catalogues every corner, crevice, and item in his loft: The bare facts of his everyday existence. We investigate each image, but the significance of this Autobiography derives from the connection between images on a page, on a spread, and from page to page. Presents the life of the artist as the life of a particular person, in a particular culture, at a particular time and place. An unparalleled work. Singular in its demonstration that LeWitt's abstract geometric forms are inextricable from the experience of his life and culture" (Adam Weinberg). An absolute "must-have" title for Sol LeWitt collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed, placed, and dated in black ink-pen on the front free endpaper by the artist: "Sol LeWitt 3/2/90 Chicago". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a great Artist Book. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Edition/First Printing still available online and despite its imperfection (minimal toning and wear on DJ spine, but they're there) is still in especially fine condition: Every single internal page is clean, crisp, and bright. It is NOT price-clipped. It has NO bumps or markings. Please note: Copies available online have very serious flaws. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. 116 plates encompassing 1116 images. One of the most brilliant artists of the 20th century. A fine collectible copy. . ISBN 0960557806.

Stock number: 15171. ISBN: 0960557806

$US 1,500.00

Liebchen, Jens (Photographer) & Jeffrey, Ian (Contributor)
Dl07: Stereotypes Of War: A Photographic Investigation

Imprint: Berlin, Germany, Edition J. J. Heckenhauer, 2000
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardback

First Edition / First Printing. As New in No Dust Jacket, As Issued. 48 pages. Collection of black-and-white photographs, with accompanying text. Now considered a contemporary art photography classic. Limited Edition of 750 hand-numbered copies. The first and only edition. There is no ISBN. The Limited Edition is now rare. A brilliant production by Jens Liebchen and Martin Haussmann: Regular-sized volume format. Green cloth boards with white titles embossed on the cover and spine, as issued. Photographs by Jens Liebchen. Essay by Ian Jeffrey, the British photography scholar-historian, in the English original and felicitous German translation. Printed on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper in Cologne, Germany to the highest standards. The reproduction quality is exemplary in every respect. In publisher's original shrinkwrap. Without DJ, as issued. Presents Jens Liebchen's "DL07: Stereotypes of War: A Photographic Investigation". War photography in the absence of real war. "Liebchen went to Tirana, Albania, in 1999-2000, with no thought of significant reportage, for the city was, relatively speaking, at peace. But he found in passing on its streets available evidence which allowed him to reflect in depth on the post-Modern conspectus" (Ian Jeffrey). "The photographs give the impression of a city under siege. He achieves this through photographs that allude to the imagery familiar to us from twentieth-century conflict photography: Recently shelled buildings, boy soldiers, and the aftermath of a firing squad. In doing so, he suggests that we think of war photography as a genre, making use of a set of conventions. It is no more authentic, he proposes, than the War Film or the Western. Normally, of course, we choose to see it as authentic, as truthful reportage. In this respect, Liebchen's is subversive work, although in actuality, he is merely asking us to reflect on our expectations" (Gerry Badger). It seems necessary, given Badger's disingenuous obfuscation, to point out that this is precisely because of "photographic seeing", that photography itself is the culprit in all this, that we now see reality as a series of photographic images. An absolute "must-have" title for Jens Liebchen collectors. This is a copy of the Limited Edition of 750 hand-numbered copies, indicated/numbered as such on the Back Limitation Page. This title is a contemporary art photography classic. This is one of few copies of the Limited Edition still available online, is still in the publisher's original shrinkwrap, and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online command many hundreds of dollars because the book is scarce. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare copy thus. 19 plates. One of the most brilliant photographers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO "WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY" TITLE IN OUR CATALOG).

Stock number: 22357.

$US 100.00

Lopate, Phillip (Editor); Agee, James; Kael, Pauline, Sontag, Susan; Ebert, Roger & Others
American Movie Critics: An Anthology From The Silents Until Now

Imprint: New York City, NY, The Library Of America, 2006
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardback , With Dust Jacket
Inscription: Signed, inscribed or annotated

First Edition / First Printing. Fine in Fine Dust Jacket. 720 pages. Landmark collection of essays on subject. One of the most valuable film anthologies of our time. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only and as "A Special Publication" by The Library of America. The First Edition is now scarce. Presents Phillip Lopate's "American Movie Critics: An Anthology From The Silents Until Now". That is, right before what appears to be its irreversible decline as a memorable film-going experience (with the rise of "streaming" on tiny smartphones), and therefore, as an art. Meanwhile, here is a full history of cinema from the points-of-view of the thoughtful, insightful, and brilliant writers who fell in love with the medium and embraced it. "A provocative and dynamic force in American culture since the early twentieth century, movies have presented several generations of American writers with a new, fascinating, and challenging subject. How writers rose to the challenge, and in the process created an extraordinary body of work makes for a dazzling and constantly entertaining volume. This is an anthology that charts the rise of movies as art, industry, and mass entertainment. Beginning in the Silent Era, with poets Vachel Lindsay and Carl Sandburg hailing the new medium and Edmund Wilson paying tribute to Chaplin's 'The Gold Rush', the collection traces the rapid evolution of the medium in an age of tumultuous political and social changes. Here are the great movie critics who forged a forceful vernacular idiom for talking about the new art: Otis Ferguson in the 1930's; James Agee in the 1940's; Manny Farber, Pauline Kael, Andrew Sarris, Molly Haskell, Vincent Canby, and others from what Lopate calls the Golden Age of movie criticism, from the 1950's through the 1970's. Here too are the finest film reviewers on the contemporary scene, including Richard Schickel, Roger Ebert, and Manohla Dargis. Joining the full-time film writers are many distinguished American authors weighing in on a range of cinematic experiences, including Ralph Ellison, Susan Sontag, James Baldwin, Brendan Gill, and John Ashbery" (Publisher's blurb). "An on-the-spot history of the coming-into-being of a new narrative medium. The arc of this story, as traced by Phillip Lopate, is thrilling" (Jonathan Lethem). Indeed, much of the credit goes to its indefatigable and erudite editor, himself a distinguished writer and keen observer of film: "I have focussed on film criticism as an art in itself, the magnet for strong, elegant, eloquent, enjoyable writing" (Phillip Lopate). An absolute "must-have" title for Phillip Lopate, American literature, and film collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed in black ink-pen on the title page by Phillip Lopate. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a great collection. As far as we know, this is the only such signed copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Should NOT be confused with the much more common Softcover Edition. Copies available online have serious flaws because they have been pored over. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Some of the greatest writers of the 20th century and our time. A fine copy. . ISBN 1931082928.

Stock number: 21835. ISBN: 1931082928

$US 70.00