New York: Putnam, (2002.) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - The second novel by this Pulitzer prize winning journalist and member of the Rock Bottom Remainders, a satire on just about everything in Florida. A hint of the plot as described on the dj flap: 'The 'Extravaganza of the Seas' is a five-thousand-ton cash cow, a top-heavy tub whose sole function is to carry gamblers three miles from the Florida coast, take their money, then bring them back so they can find more money. In the middle of a tropical storm one night, these characters are among the passengers it carries: Fay Benton, a single mom and cocktail waitress desperate for something to go right for once; Johnny and the Contusions, a ship's band with so little talent they are . . . well, the ship's band; Arnold and Phil, two refugees from the Beaux Arts Senior Center; Lou Tarant, a wide, bald man who has killed nine people, though none recently; and an assortment of uglies whose job it is to facilitate the ship's true business, which is money-laundering or drug-smuggling or . . . something.' INSCRIBED on the title page ("for Chris, my idol")and dated 10/5/02, in the year of publication. 320 pp. ISBN: 0-399-149244.

Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, (1977) dj. Hardcover first edition - Huff's award winning third book, winner of the Associated WriterÕs Poetry Series Prize, and the second book to be published in the Virginia Commonwealth University Series for Contemporary Poetry. The dust jacket notes that "This yearÕs winning selection. . was selected from hundreds of manuscripts submitted to distinguished writers throughout the country who acted as primary judges. The final judge was Richard Eberhart, who has written an introduction to the volume. . . Many of the poems speak with compassion for the individual and praise the outsider; others continue in the best poetic tradition of honoring the dead. There are songs, jokes, simple direct lyrics, satires on fashionable attitudes, and poems that pay homage to writers whose work influenced the poetry of our time and the authorÕs own style." Annie Dillard commented that "Robert Huff writes with a kind of special, pained exultation that makes his poems distinctively fine. His caring for people so dominates his poems that his world is a series of heartÕs landscapes, moving and mental and real. HuffÕs is an excellent, controlled voice. He wears well. And, on top of all this, he swears well." 57 pp. ISBN: 0-81390725X.

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 13927. dj, 1972. Hardcover first edition - First American publication of this novel by this avant-garde writer, who later found more success as a playwright - "a love story behind which can be glimpsed the rivalry between two statesmen, a nationalist and an internationalist. Thus, what was to become the central theme of GiraudouxÕs plays was made clear: a pair of opposites, whatever they might be" (Brittanica) Author Mavis Gallant commented that he "was praised, as the author of a kind of dragonfly prose that is absolutely unlike any other, by everyone he might have cared about, from Gide to Proust, Colette to Sartre. He was also damned, by critics whose names mean nothing today. Americans who do not remember much about Giraudoux certainly know some of his plays: 'Tiger at the Gates,' and the 'The Madwoman of Chaillot'." Gallant (writing in the NY Times in 1972) went on to ask " ' Who reads Giraudoux now?' would have been a good question for the fifties and sixties. Now, there are faint signs of a revival. ÒTiger at the GatesÓ played to full houses, largely of young people, last season, and when ÒLa Menteuse,Ó his posthumous novel, was published in 1969 the reviews were ecstatic. Also, the revolutionary left, if you please, is now patting his head and saying he was with them all along." Maybe it is time for another revival - or rediscovery. Translated from the French by J. F. Scanlon. Borzoi endpapers, art deco dust jacket art. 256 pp.

New York & Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1935. Hardcover first edition - A rather hard to find early novel written for older girls by this prolific author of mostly mysteries, historical romances (as Theodora McCormick), and fantasy and science fiction - the first of two books in the Clumber Hall series. The NY Times review commented that "this story has a verve seldom found in the usual run of boarding-school stories." Diana has returned to her beloved school determined to be a 'force for good' and inspired by her summer reading of mysteries, she founded a secret society called the Seven Fiends (pictured on the frontispiece) who would "surreptitiously perform noble deeds" but things did not work out quite as she expected. Illustrated with drawings by Hildegarde Woodward. 244 pp.

New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, (c 1921, 1916). Hardcover - A survey of US history written for children, which reflects all the prejudices of its time - that is, the bravery of the conquerors is extolled, most of the New England settlers treated the Indians and friends until King Philip was overcome by hatred, and more. The Indians of the plains are described as "not as kind or wise" as those of the Northeast, and those who lived in California were dismissed as "Digger Indians" because they were too lazy to hunt or plant. Interestingly enough, these book does describe the coming of the first slaves in 1619 (because they could work in the heat and not be made ill by it), with the the most important early British slave trader Sir John Hawkins described as a "kindly and honorable man." When the reason for the Civil War is discussed, the claim is made that most of the people of the South were kindly people who treated their Negroes well. Only occasionally does a glimmer of awareness show - in discussing the end of the Indian wars there is the comment "we have little to be proud of in our treatment of that once proud race." A revealing book in many ways, illustrated with both line drawings and many full color, full page plates by Edith Duggan. Originally published in 1916, this edition was been This edition covers American history up to the end of WWI. 208 pp.

Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon University Press, (1975) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - Autobiography of this prominent attorney, author and who was also an innovator in urban development. "In Kansas City, base for his early career, he participated in initial attempts to bring down the Pendergast machine. At age 44 he moved to Pittsburgh and for the next 20 years served as general counsel, vice president and director of Pittsburgh Plate Class Company. He was active in the planning and implementing of the famed 'Renaissance,' helped initiated the city's (and nation's) first educational TV station, and in his retirement years, taught humanities to businessmen. These corporate and civic accomplishments are retold straight-forwardly with quiet (and justifiable) pride." (Library Journal) INSCRIBED on the front endpaper. Illustrated with photographs, index. xix, 314 pp. ISBN: 0-231038984.

Los Angeles: 1938. Hardcover - A copy of the screenplay for this 1938 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Capra, and starring Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart, and Edward Arnold. Adapted by Robert Riskin from the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1936 play of the same name and winner of both the 1938 year's Best Picture Academy Award, as well as earning Capra the Best Director award, his third Oscar in just 5 years. This is labeled "Third Draft, March 17, 1938" and printed in typescript on the recto only on punched paper and bound in pale green cardstock covers with 2 brass brads and a white typed label. The first page bears the stamp of Harold Hecht Corp, Los Angeles. (Hecht, 1907-1985 was a film producer, choreographer, talent agent and more) 166 pp. A piece of film history and quite uncommon.

New York: Simon & Schuster, 1949. Hardcover first edition - Rather uncommon first printing of the classic fourth cook book (and the first general one) by this chef, cookbook author, teacher and television personality who emphasized American cooking, using fresh and wholesome local ingredients. Julia Child commented that "Beard was the quintessential American cook. Well-educated and well-traveled during his eighty-two years, he was familiar with many cuisines but he remained fundamentally American... An endearing and always lively teacher, he loved people, loved his work, loved gossip, loved to eat, loved a good time." With over 400 illustrations, including many full page and full color drawings and even some double page spreads, by Alice And Martin Provensen this was described as "the most lavishly produced American cookbook to date." Full of information, mostly simple down-to-earth recipes, tips and variations. Index. Slightly oversized. 322 pp plus colophon.

Chicago: Path Press, Inc (1969) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - African American author's first novel, set in a fictitious town in southern Illinois, an account of the early civil rights movement and the fight against segregation and racism in the years just after World War II. Gilbert, born in Arkansas in 1923, commented that his experiences "represent, in capsule, the 20th century transformation of Afro-American life from rural to urban." He moved to Illinois in 1937, served in the Army Air Corps in World War II, worked as a farm hand, mill worker, dining car waiter, and newspaper reporter and editor and political organizer and labor union educator. This book was one of the first two published by Path Press, a Black owned publisher which he and Bennett J. Johnson co-founded in 1969. While this novel achieved some critical success, it did not sell well. Gilbert received many honors and recognition of his activities - including the Alice Browning Award for excellence in the literary arts. Warmly INSCRIBED on the half title page. Laid in is a single folded sheet with a typed poem by Gilbert and dated in 1976. 349 pp.

London: Hodder & Stoughton, (2006) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - A late novel by one of the greatest post War novelists. This is centered on Bruno "Salvo" Salvador, a half-British, half-Congolese interpreter who unwittingly finds himself in the middle of a political struggle between two countries. "A government client wants Salvo to serve as a field intelligence agent. Whisked from a black-tie party at Canary Wharf, Salvo hops a plane to a remote island. His surprise assignment: interpret for a group of African nationals who may or may not be plotting to overthrow the Congolese government with the help of a secretive alliance. The failure of colonialism, the corrupt influence of foreign interests in Africa and the evils inherent in man are all on display here." (Kirkus) A book which returns to "le Carrs habitual preoccupation: how individuals, as they are forced to define their moral commitment, must attempt to defy the overwhelming political pressures around them. Salvo will make his own interpretation of the syndicates plan for his homeland, and having done so will accept the risks of acting upon that interpretation." (NY Times) Ribbon marker bound in. SIGNED on title page. 339 pp. plus map of Eastern Congo. ISBN: 0-34092196X.

New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, Publishers, (1867). Hardcover first edition - The only book-length work by Harris, who has been called "the most original and gifted of the antebellum humorists" and whose work influenced authors such as Mark Twain, William Faulkner,and Flannery O'Connor. This is a collection of twenty-four Sut Lovingood tales, sixteen of which had been published in various newspapers prior to the war. Sut Lovingood, is a caricature of a stereotypical farmer of rural Southern Appalachia. Knoxville historian Jack Neely describes Sut as "Huck Finn on amphetamines, a manic, perverse child of some backwoods holler where Idiocy and Genius fuse into one." Sut considers himself (somewhat proudly) to be a "durnder fool" than anyone, save his own father. (wikipedia) xv , 299 pages, 7 unnumbered leaves of plates plus 12 pp of publisher's ads. Bookplate on front pastedown of Myra Cohn Livingston (1926- 1996) award-winning American poet and author of children's books.

Scottsdale, AZ: Poisoned Pen Press, (2014) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - The seventh novel in the award-winning series featuring police detective Tom Hickey - an unusual series in that the books were not written in chronological order. Set in 1936 "as destitute farmers from the Dust Bowl swarm into California, an old friend brings police detective Tom Hickey a manuscript, a clue to the mystery of his father Charlie's long ago disappearance. Tom lures the novelist B. Traven to a meeting on Catalina and accuses him of manuscript theft and homicide. Traven replies that the Sundance Kid, having escaped from his reputed death in Bolivia, killed Charlie. Tom crosses the desert to Tucson, tracking the person or ghost of the legendary outlaw. He meets a young Dust Bowl refugee intent on avenging the enslavement of his sister by an L.A. cop on temporary border duty in Yuma. Tom frees the sister, delivers the boys revenge, and becomes a fugitive, wanted for felony assault by the L.A.P.D., his now-former employer." SIGNED on the title page. 277 pp. ISBN: 978-1464202865.

Philadelphia: Christian Education Press, (1954). A book by this pioneering African-American clergyman and humanitarian, born in poverty in Tennessee but who became an influential leader in the United States and also in advocating independence for African nations. This book focuses on his meetings with leaders in Africa, East Germany and Asia, and the twin revolutions of nationalism and communism (while never a Communist, he was called up before the House Committee on Un-American Activities to refute suspicions that he harbored communist sympathies, suspicions based in part on comments he made in this book) After his tour of Africa, he suggested the church focus on practical aid for the continent, by sending doctors, engineers and other professionals, rather than missionaries. He is best known as the founder of Operation Crossroads Africa (OCA), a cross-cultural exchange program considered a forerunner of the Peace Corps.He also organized Harlem's Morningside Community Center, cofounded the African Academy of Arts and Research, and much more. INSCRIBED on the front endpaper. 127 pp.

New York: Avon, (1979) dj. Hardcover first edition - Dust jacket bears the statement "Exclusive Hardcover Edition for Members Only" on front flap. The story of a young construction worker from the Bronx who survives a twenty-four-story fall and then finds that he has acquired the power to heal and that his body cannot be harmed, but powers that rule the world from business leaders to the US President to the Pope find that his very existence is a threat to their authority. The author's first novel, originally issued only in paperback, where it sold over a million copies, but despite the claim that a major motion picture would appear soon, it was never made into a movie. Code J52 at back of book, indicating a publication date of 1979. 344 pp.

Sacramento CA: Blue Bear Books, (1997). SIGNED first edition - A lovely book about the Sacramento River Delta, a "hybrid of fascinating natural science and outrageous fish tales." (Jack Hicks) Award-winning California poet Gary Snyder commented "These stories are the kind of creative and scientific myth-making that gives a whole place life. A set of river-system fish-as-people tales for grown-ups, it's a rich mix. Geologic and oceanic lore becomes sturgeon oral histories; Sacramento Valley history blends with catalogs of river-rat bars and sexy fish spawning scenes. Finally the Sacramento River tells its own story. It can get along, it says, with everything but dams. And, it says, expect it to push over the levees every once in a while, sometimes it needs more room." Illustrated with black and white photographs and many full page watercolors, oils, and drawings by Marty Stanley. INSCRIBED by the author on the title page and dated in 1998, and SIGNED by the artist, Marty Stanley, underneath the frontispiece painting, and dated in 1998 . Oblong format. 149 pp. ISBN: 0-966134702.

New York: Delacorte, (1998) dj. SIGNED hardcover - Memoir of a boy growing up in Appalachia who became an engineer at NASA. "In a town where the only things that mattered were coal-mining and high-school football, a young man watched the Soviet satellite Sputnik race across the West Virginia sky - and found his future in the stars. In 1957, Homer H. 'Sonny' Hickam, Jr., and a handful of his friends were inspired to start designing and launching the home-made rockets that would change their lives and their town forever. Looking back after a distinguished NASA career, Hickam shares the story of his youth, taking readers into the life of the little mining town of Coalwood and the boys who would come to embody its dreams." Basis for the award-winning film 'October Sky' featuring Jake Gyllenhaal. INSCRIBED on the title page. xii, 368 pp. ISBN: 0-38533320X.

Chicago: Liberator Press, (1976). SIGNED - The "second edition" of a work originally published in 1948 with a new preface by the author commenting on the civil rights movement and the rise of the Black Power movement in the 1960s. The son of slaves, Haywood became a leading member of the Communist Party USA and a pioneering theoretician on the Afro-American struggle, who wrote first-hand accounts of the Chicago race riot of 1919, the Scottsboro Boys' defense, the Spanish Civil War and more. This book has been described as the first comprehensive volume on the Negro question in the US by a leading Negro Marxist, one in which he argued the root of the oppression of Blacks was the unsolved agrarian question in the South - that the betrayal of Reconstruction by Hayes-Tilden Compromise of 1877 and the rise of white supremacy and Jim Crow laws left Blacks frozen as "landless, semi-slaves in the South." SIGNED by Haywood on the half title page with the words "Best wishes." Map frontispiece Reference notes, appendix, index. ii, 245 pp.

New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, (1974) dj. Hardcover first edition - The story behind the story of a 12 week long experimental documentary on PBS, considered TV's first reality show. By time it was over, the Louds were divorced and TV had changed forever. "Before 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,' before the Kardashians, before the idea of living large and unscripted on camera became a TV staple, there was a startling program on public television called 'An American Family' with a startling female character named Pat Loud. Ms. Loud was a California mother of five. She drank, she plotted her divorce, she adored, and accepted, her openly gay son. She did it all in Santa Barbara and all on camera in 1973. Loving, boisterous, witty, resilient and sometimes angry and hurt, she did not act like most women on television at the time. But she was ostensibly not acting at all. She was the first reality television star on the first reality show and she paid a price for breaking new ground. Critics called her materialistic and self-absorbed. Newsweek put Ms. Loud, her husband, Bill, and their children on its cover with the headline 'The Broken Family'." (NY Times) In this book, she gets to tell her own story. 223 pp. ISBN: 0-698105788.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1899. Posthumous book publication of these three character sketches of African Americans on a Maryland plantation. These were originally published in the Atlantic Monthly under the pen name of Olive A. Wadsworth (the initials O.A.W. stood for 'only a woman.') Includes a preface by the author's husband, William B. Dana. Illustrated with many full page plates, including a frontispiece with a tissue guard, and smaller vignettes by E. W. Kemble (who is perhaps best known for his illustrations in some of Mark Twain's works) An appealing small volume and while the characterization is stereotypical, at least the emphasis is on their goodness and just their simplicity. Laid in is a small promotional brochure for the works of Whittier. Top edge gilt. 147 pp.

Saint Paul, MN: Graywolf Press, (1996) dj. Hardcover first edition - Fascinating novel about a confrontation with the FBI on a reservation somewhere north of Denver. A mystery featuring an African American hydrologist who becomes involved because he gave a ride to Louise Yellow Calf, who was hitching on a deserted, snowy road. Interspersed with the story are quotes from old treaties and documents which vividly portray this country's racial history. A very different novel by this African American writer, who is not as widely read as he should be. (although with the release of the film 'American Fiction' based on his novel, 'Erasure' and his highly praised new novel, 'James' that is finally beginning to change). All of his early books are hard to find in the original edition. 200 pp. ISBN: 1-55597-2373.

Ontario, Canada: Mira, (2006). dj. SIGNED 1-shirt plus hardcover first edition - Described as the first anthology of "pure thriller" stories, this is a collection of mostly original stories by thirty-two of the most critically acclaimed contemporary authors in this genre, all members of International Thriller Writers Inc. Contributors include James Grippando, J. A. Konrath, Lincoln Child, Heather Graham, James Siegel, Gayle Lynds, Michael Palmer, Daniel Palmer, David Morrell, Chris Mooney, Dennis Lynds, M. J. Rose, David Liss, Gregg Hurwitz, David Dun, Denise Hamilton, Eric Van Lustbader, Alex Kava, Grant Blackwood, F. Paul Wilson, Ted Bell, M. Diane Vogt, , Brad Thor, Raelynn Hillhouse, Robert Liparulo, Steve Berry, Katherine Neville, Lee Childs, John Lescroart, James Rollins, Douglas Preston, Christopher Rice and Christopher Reich. Introduction by James Patterson, plus a 1-2 page introduction to each story, biographical notes on the authors. Dust jacket praise from Clive Cussler and others. The T-shirt is extra large 100% cotton and SIGNED by John Lescroart and James Rollins. The combination makes a unique gift. 568 pp. ISBN: 0-778322998.

Chicago: T. Dennison and Company (c. 1910). A one act play that manages to be offensive to both women and African Americans - the author is perhaps best known for ÒMirandyÕs MinstrelsÓ, a popular ÒNegro dialectÓ play for white school girls performing in black-face. White women suffragettes faced ridicule themselves, but this skit portrays Black women who wanted the right to voters as even more laughable ("I am gwine foÕ to make it what white folks call ÔA City BeautifulÕ. DereÕs gwine to be a soft pillows on every fire plugÉ hand-painted garbage cansÉfoot mats at very street crossinÕÉ) In reality, while Black women were often excluded from the dominant white suffrage movement, the National Association of Colored Women (NACW), whose co-founders included Mary Church Terrell, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, had a 'Suffrage Department' in which they distributed information about woman suffrage in order to educate club members about the benefits of supporting the movement. African American women wanted suffrage to give women the right to vote as well as African American men who were still disenfranchised and the NACW adopted the motto ÒLifting as We ClimbÓ as they advocated for womenÕs rights along with those of all African American people. Back cover list of 'Popular Entertainment Books' which includes other 'minstrels, jokes' booklets. Small and very fragile booklet, 16 pp plus thin paper covers, measuring approx 7 1/2 in by 4 1/2.

New York: The Macaulay Company, (1930) dj. Hardcover first edition - An account of the outlaws "who preyed on traffic along the Natchez Trace from Natchez to New Orleans from about 1880 until 1885, among other violent and lawless acts, planned to build an empire using the labor of stolen slaves." According to Eudora Welty's biographer, this book inspired her 'The Wide Net' and 'The Robber Bridegroom.' "Even today, Coates brings the history of the Natchez Trace land prates to life. While 'Outlaw Years' may not be the most accurate history of the Trace, Coates reveals the mood and atmosphere of the 1800s. Many versions of the blood-thirsty Harpe brothers existed and Coates simply chose descriptions which made sense to him. In his defense, Coates rescued many old histories and travelogues from complete obscurity by retelling the stories of the Natchez Trace land pirates." (lemuriablog) This copy is one of the very uncommon true first editions published by Macaulay (not the Literary Guild book club edition) with a dust jacket with rather sensational claims on the back cover. Illustrated with a frontispiece and 15 internal full page plates. Bibliography. 308 pp, map endpapers.

New York: HarperPerennial, (2009). SIGNED first edition - The fourth novel set in Los Angeles by this highly praised and influential writer who has been called an "authentic literary outlaw" (NY Times) In it, "Fante continues to follow in the literary footsteps of his famous father, John Fante, with another bruising autobiographical novel about his alter ego, Bruno Dante." (Publisher's Weekly). "Told in a free-flowing narrative style that features a number of memorable characters, Fantes novel is dark, bleak, gritty, and inventively vulgar. Its also honest, painful, and occasionally tender." (Booklist) Boldly INSCRIBED on the half title page and dated in 2012. 245 plus a section with additional material - a letter to his mother, about the book, an excerpt from his forthcoming autobiography, three poems, and a list of his favorite writers. ISBN: 0-061779229.

New York: W. W. Norton & Company, (1961). Hardcover first edition - Perhaps the most important book by this gifted mathematician, "an inquiry into the limits and limitless possibilities of the human mind, beginning with the history of the greatest revolution in geometry and ending with the fundamental ideas and ideals of a functioning, fertile democracy. Einstein was an ardent fan of LieberÕs unusual, conceptual books - books discussing serious mathematics in a playful way that bridges science and philosophy, composed in a thoroughly singular style. . . She emphasized that her deliberate line breaks and emphatic styling were not free verse but a practicality aimed at facilitating rapid reading and easier comprehension of complex ideas. But Lieber's stubborn insistence that her unexampled work is not poetry should be taken with a grain of salt." (The Marginalian) From explaining how non-Euclidian geometry sprang from a "mere" change in attitude in the early 19th century to ending with a chapter on the pursuit of happiness, which includes this statement - "LYING / CANNOT SERVE as an instrument of thought!/ .. without it we cannot have/ ANY satisfactory mathematical system,/ nor ANY satisfactory system of thought/ indeed we cannot even PLAY a GAME properly/ with CONTRADICTORY rules!" Illustrated throughout with ink drawings by her husband, the artist Hugh Lieber. A book which is becoming quite scarce. 149 pp.

New York: Horace Liveright, 1928. Hardcover first edition - Her first novel (second book) was, and still is, an incredible achievement. "vulgar, beautiful, defiant, witty, poetic, and a little mad. Told as through a kaleidoscope, the chronicle of the Ryder family is a bawdy tale of eccentricity and anarchy; through sparkling detours and pastiche, an audacious, intricate story of sexuality, power, and praxis. Ryder, like its namesake, Wendell Ryder, is many things - lyric, prose, fable, illustration; protagonist, bastard, bohemian, polygamist. Born in the 1800s to infamous nonconformist Sophia Grieve Ryder, Wendell's search for identity takes him from Connecticut to England to multifarious digressions on morality, tradition, and gender." (Dalkey Press) Censored before publication, and with a first edition limited to only 3000 copies, Ryder's portrayal of sexuality remains revolutionary despite the passing of time and the expurgations in the text, preserved by Barnes with asterisks (as she noted in her forward) in protest of the war 'blindly raged against the written word.' With illustrations by the Author. xi, 323 pp.

Saint Paul, MN: Graywolf Press, (1996) dj. Hardcover first edition - Fascinating novel about a confrontation with the FBI on a reservation somewhere north of Denver. A mystery featuring an African American hydrologist who becomes involved because he gave a ride to Louise Yellow Calf, who was hitching on a deserted, snowy road. Interspersed with the story are quotes from old treaties and documents which vividly portray this country's racial history. A very different novel by this African American writer, who is not as widely read as he should be. (although with the release of the film 'American Fiction' based on his novel, 'Erasure' and his highly praised new novel, 'James' that is finally beginning to change). All of his early books are hard to find in the original edition. 200 pp. ISBN: 1-55597-2373.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1938. dj. Hardcover first edition - During the Depression of the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country's shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states; the project employed over 6,000 writers, editors, historians, and researchers (many well known, others amateurs) to document the history and features of each state. This volume includes the general history of New Hampshire, its landscape, detailed descriptions of the towns, driving tours by "high roads and low roads", information on the White Mountains, Lake Winnipesaukee, and the coast near Portsmouth. Illustrated with photogravures and maps. Chronology, index. 539 pp. Large folding map in the rear pocket, dated 1937, with the full state on the front in color and ski trails and transportation map on the verso in black and white. Laid in is a postcard and advertising for Captain John's Lake Sunapee tours, circa 1950s.

Chicago: University of Chicago Press, (1948). Hardcover first edition - Autobiography of this American activist and author. "For two years Chaplin worked in the strike committee with Mother Jones for the bloody Kanawha County, West Virginia strike of coal miners in 1912-13. These influences led him to write a number of labor oriented poems, one of which became the words for the union anthem, 'Solidarity Forever'. In 1917 Chaplin and some 100 other Wobblies were rounded up, convicted, and jailed under the Espionage Act of 1917 for conspiring to hinder the draft and encourage desertion. He wrote 'Bars And Shadows: The Prison Poems' while serving four years of a 20-year sentence. Chaplin was very disillusioned by the aftermath of the Russian Revolution and the evolution of the Soviet state and international communism but he maintained his involvement with the IWW, serving in Chicago as editor of its newspaper, the Industrial Worker, from 1932 to 1936." (Wikipedia) vi, 435 pp plus 10 pp of photographs.

New York & London: Routledge, (1999) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - A controversial which "challenges the orthodoxies that shape black and white opinion and liberal and conservative policies while sensitively exploring the way the world looks to both sides and why it looks that way. In illustrating how blacks and whites get caught in vicious circles that sustain the very behaviors and attitudes they wish would change, Wachtel also points toward the concrete solutions to our seemingly enduring dilemmas and shows how to move beyond the adversarial rhetoric that divides us." Kirkus Review comments that "his recommendations are sure to anger those on either side of the racial equation. Thoughtful and sophisticated reading for anyone with more than a casual interest in race." INSCRIBED on the front endpaper. Notes, index. xi, 329 pp. ISBN: 0-415920000.

Charleston, WV: Parchment Gallery Graphics, 1996. SIGNED first edition - A set of two broadside poems; each is a single sheet, printed on recto only, measuring 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches, containing an illustration and text by Amiri Baraka. Issued in conjunction with an exhibition of Baraka's "painted poems," t:Play On" depicts an African-American man, in a brimmed, printed in magenta, blacks, greens and browns, with the text "Suppose you wanted to know the truth about everythigng" Limited to 199 numbered copies and 26 hors de commerce copies. SIGNED by Amiri Baraka. "Beautiful" depicts an African-American man, wearing a beret, printed in soft blues, blacks, greens and browns, with the text "Don't ever be sad enough not to believe in whatever makes you beautiful." Limited to 199 numbered copies (out of a total edition of 225) each individually numbered and SIGNED by Amiri Baraka.

New York: Henry Holt, (1991) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - A "story of murder, revenge, frontier culture and history set in Arkansas and the Indian Nations territory of the early 1890s. Celebrated madam Temperance Moon has been brutally slain. Her daughter, bordello superstar Jewel Moon, is dissatisfied with the purported resolution of the crime and, although the case has been proclaimed closed by 'hanging judge' Isaac Parker, she hires former U.S. deputy marshall Oscar Schiller to investigate further. . . Witty, literate, resounding with ear-perfect dialect, and thoroughly absorbing, the novel excels as a depiction of the rapidly vanishing frontier, accurately reflecting the interaction of whites and Native Americans, the rising dominance of railroads and the devotion of rough-and-tough lawmen to their duties." (Publishers Weekly) INSCRIBED on the front endpaper and dated in 1991 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. 324 pp. ISBN: 0-805013873.