- Keyword = california
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WEST OF THE WEST: Dreamers, Believers, Builders, and Killers in the Golden State.
Edition: First printing.
New York: Public Affairs, (2009.) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - Very much to-the-point essays by journalist Mark Araxl; the title comes from a Teddy Roosevelt quote. Among the essays are "The Summer of the Death of Hilario Guzman", a portrait of a young immigrant family; "Home Front", an exploration of right-wing religious groups in the state, and "The Last Okie in Lamont", set in the small town that inspired "The Grapes of Wrath; " "Highlands of Humboldt" about the marijuana growing capital of the country, a moving epilogue on his search to find answers to his father's murder in Fresno 40 years ago, and much more. INSCRIBED on the title page and dated in the year of publication. 347 pp. ISBN: 1586483900.
Condition: Very good in very good dust jacket.
Book ID: 61060More details Price: $30.00 -
ORANGE COUNTY: A Personal Memoir.
Edition: First printing.
New York: Scribner, (2008.) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - Second book by the author of "Ask a Mexican." This weaves Gustavo's family story with the history of Orange County and the current immigrant experience. SIGNED on the title page with the word "Gracias" 269 pp. ISBN: 1416540040.
Condition: Fine in a fine dust jacket (as new.)
Book ID: 51380More details Price: $30.00 -
HONEYCOMB: Ballad of a North Beach Cabaret.
Edition: First printing.
San Francisco: San Francisco Examiner, (1979). Hardcover first edition - A California Living Book - a fond remembrance of a little North Beach theater club where entertainers like Woody Allen, Dick Gregory, Phyllis Diller and Barbara Streisand appeared during its heyday. Illustrated throughout with drawings by Tom Cervenak. Small format - just 7 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches. 90 pp. plus final illustration. ISBN: 0-893950211.
Condition: Fine in illustrated boards.
Book ID: 83586More details Price: $15.00 -
THE HOUSE OF LEE.
Edition: First printing ("1" on the last page as required.)
New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1940. dj. Hardcover first edition - The story of three generations of women in an old San Francisco family which has been declining in wealth over the years - and how they, untrained in financial affairs as they were, managed to come to grips with the new world they found themselves in. One of her Calilifornia novels, set "in the present." 302 pp. Dust jacket art by E. H. Suydam.
Condition: Near fine in a good only dust jacket (price clipped, some foxing and sunning to the spine of the dj, minor edgewear.) Uncommon in the first edition and in dust jacket.
Book ID: 53527More details Price: $35.00 -
MY SAN FRANCISCO. A Wayward Biography.
Edition: First edition.
Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, (1946.) dj. Hardcover first edition - Comments on San Francisco neighborhoods, bookstores, 'illustrious dead,' and more. Illustrated with photographs. Index. 334 pp.
Condition: Very good in blue cloth covers with gilt lettering, in a good only dust jacket (bookplate, dj is missing approx 1/2 inch at top of spine, other edgewear.)
Book ID: 52334More details Price: $21.50 -
MY SAN FRANCISCO. A Wayward Biography.
Edition: First edition.
Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, (1946.). Hardcover first edition - Comments on San Francisco neighborhoods, bookstores, 'illustrious dead,' and more. Illustrated with photographs. Index. 334 pp.
Condition: Good+ in blue cloth covers with gilt lettering, no dj. (bookplate.)
Book ID: 47833More details Price: $16.50 -
THE SPINNERS' BOOK OF FICTION.
Edition: Reissue - except for the introduction this is a complete photographic reprint of the original book.
Boston: Gregg Press, 1979. Includes a new Introduction by Priscilla Oaks. Collection of short stories by California writers published for the Spinners' Benefit fund, the first beneficiary was to be poet Ina Coolbrith, who had lost everything in the earthquake. ISBN: 0-839-82582X.
Condition: Fine in near fine dust jacket.
Book ID: 8911More details Price: $28.00 -
THE SPINNERS' BOOK OF FICTION.
Edition: First edition.
Condition: Good only in a rough woven burlap cloth clover, top edge tinted(rubbing to lettering on spine, front hinge broken .)
Book ID: 73602More details Price: $35.00 -
SOULCATCHER.
Edition: First printing.
New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, (1975) dj. Hardcover first edition - The author's first novel (second book) set in a California convent perched high above the Pacific Ocean, with "six nuns and one prurient priest, falling away day by day - a book as recessive as the life there which is in turn a reduction of the world outside to pain, loneliness and violence." The author herself spent 5 years in a convent before leaving the religious life. 190 pp. Dust jacket by Paul Bacon. ISBN: 0-030075661.
Condition: Near fine in a good dust jacket (remainder dot, chip to front cover of dj).
Book ID: 87339More details Price: $16.50 -
THE SAN ANSELMO STORY: A Personalized History of San Francisco Theological Seminary.
Edition: First printing, a trade paperback original.
Stockton: California Lantern Press, (1963). SIGNED first edition - The second book in a series on the Protestant Church in Western America; the author had been the President of the San Francisco Theological Seminary at San Anselmo. SIGNED on the title page. 124 pp.
Condition: Near fine in illustrated wrappers.
Book ID: 87221More details Price: $20.00 -
FROM OUT OF THE WEST: Messages from Western Pulpits.
Edition: First printing.
Stockton, California. Lantern Press, 1962. dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - A collection of sixteen sermons by preachers in California, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon and more, which set the ageless Christian message against the backdrop of mountains and desert. SIGNED by Jesse Hays Baird at "The Parable of the Giant Redwood" - the General Grant tree in the Sequoia National Forest. Includes an introduction to each contributor, with small photographs of their churches. Footnotes. 156 pp.
Condition: Very good in very good dust jacket (some underlining and checkmarks affecting just 2 of the sermons, edgewear to the dj)
Book ID: 81837More details Price: $25.00 -
WILD PENINSULA: The Story of Point Reyes National Seashore.
Edition: First printing.
New York: Atheneum, (1966) dj. Hardcover first edition - A history of this then-new national park, a 100 square mile piece of land which juts into the Pacific Ocean about 50 miles north of San Francisco, written for older children. Introduduction by Stewart Udall. Illustrated with drawings by Earl Thollander. Notes. 118 pp.
Condition: Near fine in a fine dust jacket (tape ghosts on the boards, an inconspicuous prev owner's stamp, but otherwise a very tight and clean copy).
Book ID: 70373More details Price: $20.00 -
CASH OUT.
Edition: First printing, a trade paperback original.
New York: Harper Perennial, (2012). SIGNED first edition - The author's first novel - "an outrageous tall tale that follows one desperate, disgruntled Silicon Valley exec through a his surreal three-day scramble to cash out his stock options and leave behind his hated high-tech job before outrageous villains (and even crazier friends) completely destroy him." SIGNED on the title page. 376 pp plus an interview with the author and a list of his recommendations of other books to read. ISBN: 978-0062127716.
Condition: Fine in illustrated wrappers.
Book ID: 66746More details Price: $20.00 -
CALIFORNIA: Five Centuries of Cultural Contrasts.
Edition: Somewhat oversized trade paperback.
New York: Macmillan, 1976. A book on the history of California that presents its information in a clear and concise form. 428 pages, photographs. index.
Condition: Very good. (little edge wear)
Book ID: 13869More details Price: $15.00 -
LAUGHING IN THE HILLS.
Edition: First printing.
New York: The Viking Press, (1980) dj. Hardcover first edition - The author's first novel, an account of a season when - at a bleak moment in his life - he dropped out and left home for a season at the racetrack - Golden Gate in Northern California. . Part meditation on life and nature, and part a classic on horse racing and on life at the track and on the people who are drawn to racing, this is a fascinating book. Afterword. 228 pp. ISBN: 0-670419974.
Condition: Very near fine in a like dustjacket (a hint of sunning to the edges of the boards, some discoloration in the gutters)
Book ID: 66540More details Price: $50.00 -
CARSON VALLEY.
Edition: Advance Reading Copy (trade paperback format. )
New York: Pantheon, 1997. First edition - Novel set in the wine country of Northern California.
Condition: Fine in illustrated wrappers.
Book ID: 5685More details Price: $15.00 -
LAUGHING IN THE HILLS.
Edition: First printing.
New York: The Viking Press, (1980) dj. Hardcover first edition - The author's first novel, an account of a season when - at a bleak moment in his life - he dropped out and left home for a season at the racetrack - Golden Gate in Northern California. . Part meditation on life and nature, and part a classic on horse racing and on life at the track and on the people who are drawn to racing, this is a fascinating book. Afterword. 228 pp. ISBN: 0-670419974.
Condition: Good only in a good dust jacket (spine slant, date on front endpaper, tape repair to upper edge of dj)
Book ID: 66541More details Price: $16.50 -
DREAMERS OF THE VALLEY: A Portrait of the Napa Valley.
Edition: First printing.
New York: Scribner's, 1995. dj. Hardcover first edition - The author's first book, a study of California's Napa Valley, and the pioneers who built up the wine industry there. ISBN: 0-684-81295-9.
Condition: Near fine in near fine dust jacket (remainder line, light edgewear to dj.)
Book ID: 17073More details Price: $15.00 -
BART. MEMOIRS OF FRANK H. BARTHOLOMEW. President of United Press, 1955-58; United Press International, 1958-62.
Edition: First printing.
Sonoma, CA: Vine Book Press, (1983) dj. Hardcover first edition - Bartholomew grew up in the San Francisco Bay area, and his careeer in journalism included covering the 1925 earthquake in Santa Barbara, but was most significant as a World War II correspondent in the Pacific. New Guinea, and Okinawa. Includes an account of the Battle of Okinawa, as well as personal reminiscences of his meetings with Winston S. Churchill and accounts of the 'fail safe' patrols of the post War era. Bartholomew was also the founder of the Buena Vista Vinyards winery. Illustrated with photographs. 231 pp.
Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket.
Book ID: 88187More details Price: $27.50 -
MESSENGER TWELVE.
Edition: First printing.
Lake Forest, CA: The Westbound Stage,
(2000.) dj. Hardcover first edition - "Gold Dust, Slaves, And A Sing-song Girl." Historical novel which follows the adventures of Reef Atherton from his days as a slave-trading ship owner to California during the Gold Rush, where he signs on as "Messenger Twelve" for Wells Fargo. 249 pp. ISBN: 0-967875909.Condition: Fine in fine dust jacket.
Book ID: 57219More details Price: $13.50 -
CALIFORNIA GOLD DAYS.
Edition: Reprint.
Sacramento: California State Department of Education, 1957. Hardcover - Illustrated story of the discovery of gold, and the history of gold mining in California, used as a school text. Bound in green cloth with black map of California on front cover, black lettering. Index. 128 pp.
Condition: Good condition - some wear to the covers and bumping to corners, but binding is sturdy, contents clean.
Book ID: 16887More details Price: $15.00 -
RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA REMEMBERED: An Oral History.
Edition: 1st trade paperback printing.
Condition: Fine in illustrated wrappers.
Book ID: 84749More details Price: $16.50 -
"The Reminiscences of Thomas S Bayley" in GOLDEN NOTES Vol 14 No. 1 , November 1967.
Edition: First printing, a slim pamphlet.
Sacramento, CA: Sacramento Historical Society, 1967. First edition - The entire issue is dedicated to publishing excerpts from a manuscript on deposit at the Bancroft Library. Thomas Bailey arrived in California with his family in 1848, at the age of 14. They settled in Dixon, where they raised cattle and wheat, and Thomas is credited with the invention of the Jackson Feeder for threshing machines. The excepts included here are all related to the Sacramento area, including notes of Sutter's Fort, the first ferry on the American River, etc. 12 pp.
Condition: Near fine in stapled illustrated yellow wrappers (slight toning).
Book ID: 82610More details Price: $16.50 -
THE CALIFORNIA FEELING: A Personal View
Edition: First printing.
Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1969. dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - Back in the late 60's, Beagle and photographer Michael Bry spent a year traveling around California in a 1957 Volkswagon van, and this book, a very personal picture of a special time in California's history, was the result. In addition to Bry's black and white photographs, it includes color photos by Ansel Adams, Philip Hyde and others. Some things - like the hippies at Ben Lomond - have gone forever, others - like some of the small towns - have barely changed. SIGNED by Beagle on the title page. Large format, 252 pages.
Condition: Ex-library but with relatively few markings ('discard' on rear endpaper, tape ghosts, signs of pocket removal) and overall tight and clean in a good only dust jacket with several closed tears to the top edge and other wear.
Book ID: 87454More details Price: $30.00 -
THE CALIFORNIA FEELING: A Personal View
Edition: First printing.
Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1969. SIGNED hardcover first edition - Back in the late 60's, Beagle and photographer Michael Bry spent a year traveling around California in a 1957 Volkswagon van, and this book, a very personal picture of a special time in California's history, was the result. In addition to Bry's black and white photographs, it includes color photos by Ansel Adams, Philip Hyde and others. SIGNED by Beagle on the title page. Large format. List of photographs. 252 pp.
Condition: Very good in a very good dust jacket (some sunning to the boards, bookplate), no dust jacket. Uncommon signed.
Book ID: 84335More details Price: $30.00 -
THE CALIFORNIA FEELING: A Personal View
Edition: First printing.
Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1969. dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - Back in the late 60's, Beagle and photographer Michael Bry spent a year traveling around California in a 1957 Volkswagon van, and this book, a very personal picture of a special time in California's history, was the result. In addition to Bry's black and white photographs, it includes color photos by Ansel Adams, Philip Hyde and others. SIGNED by Beagle on the title page. Large format. List of photographs. 252 pp.
Condition: Very good in a very good dust jacket (some sunning to the boards, light edgewear to the dj) Uncommon signed.
Book ID: 84334More details Price: $40.00 -
DELILAH LEONTIUM BEASLEY: OAKLAND'S CRUSADING JOURNALIST.
Edition: First printing, a trade paperback original.
El Cerrito, CA: Downey Place Publishing House, 1990. Uncommon study of this Black journalist and writer. Beasley was the first to produce a history of Black Californians and she was, for almost two decades, a featured columnist with Oakland Tribune. Illustrated with photographs. Footnotes, index. vii, 66 pp. ISBN: 0-910823030.
Condition: Near fine in glossy illustrated wrappers (prev owner's name inside front cover).
Book ID: 85877More details Price: $35.00 -
WE WERE 49ers!
Edition: First edition.
Pasadena, CA: Ward Ritchie Press, 1976. Hardcover first edition - Chilean accounts of the California Gold Rush - taken from diaries and personal accounts. It is estimated that the Chilean population in California during the gold rush reached 7,000 - in the early years, they represented the 2nd largest foreign contingent. Many of these Chileans were highly educated, including some of the most famous writers of their country - so their writings are sophisticated, perceptive and often laced with a wry humor. Photographs, bibliography and biographical information about the writers.
Condition: Very near fine in black cloth, lacking the dust jacket.
Book ID: 55497More details Price: $18.00 -
MINES OF DEATH VALLEY.
Edition: Revised edition.
Glendale CA: La Siesta Press, 1985 (c 1966). A slim paperback. The story of fabulous mining booms of the Death Valley area, from 1849 to World War II. Illustrated with maps,photographs and drawings. Suggested reading, index. 71 pp.
Condition: Fine in illustrated wrappers.
Book ID: 82934More details Price: $14.50 -
UNBORN DREAMS: Poems Written By Children in the Aftermath of the L.A. Riots May 1992.
Edition: First printing, a slim chapbook.
California Poets in the Schools, 1993. First edition - A collection of poems, many angry, others heartbreaking, written by children from kindergarten through high school, a year after the riots which touched many of them personally. Introduction by Cecilia Woloch. 19 pp. Cover by Jane DeCuir.
Condition: Fine in beige stapled wrappers.
Book ID: 69617More details Price: $10.00