Rare books from Ken Lopez Bookseller, ABAA

1947. Oil on composition board. 32" x 25". Dated December 25, 1947. Inscribed by Cummings on the rear of the painting: "For Marion/ love!/ Xmas/ 1947." This image was later used as a Christmas card that Cummings and Marion Morehouse had made. Corners abraded. Unframed. No Binding.

Undated. 16" x 13". Oil on wood. Framed. A portrait of Cummings' wife, Marion Morehouse, reclining on a bed in a position reminiscent, presumably deliberately, of Goya's "The Naked Maja." Goya's painting was considered scandalous in its day, in a way that some of Cummings' artwork -- especially his erotic paintings of strippers, lovers, and sensuous nudes -- were in his own time, or at least he seems to have intended them to be. A stylized image, foreshortening perspective and thus alluding to Cummings' origins as an abstract, rather than realist, painter. Fine. Letter of provenance provided. No Binding. Fine.

1988. An original Burroughs painting, which became part of the Seven Deadly Sins exhibition at The Writer's Place, Kansas City, Missouri, in 1993. Acrylic and spray paint on poster board: a gold triangle and heart spray-painted against a background acrylic image of black, blue and gray. Signed by Burroughs. 20" x 32". Mounted and framed to 24" x 36". Fine. Burroughs, whose Naked Lunch, Soft Machine, and numerous other works helped define the Beat generation and redefine the psychedelic novel, also worked in the visual media from the early 1950s on, experimenting first with collages and later with what he called "nagual art" -- art infected by chance, which had the possibility of giving the viewer access to what Burroughs called a "port of entry," an access to a different universe or a different way of seeing our own. In writing, Burroughs adopted the "cut-up" technique, with Brion Gysin, to achieve similar ends: a final product that was, in part, a product of chance or, at the very least, forces… Read More

(n.p.): (Grenfell Press). (1999). A fine press limited edition: one of 35 copies of the first book publication of this story, which first appeared in the New Yorker and was later published in Ford's collection A Multitude of Sins, with several small changes to this text. An elaborate and elegant production by one of the premier fine presses in the country, with seven etchings by artist Jane Kent. This is Copy No. 21 of 35 copies, and is signed by both Ford and Kent. Unbound folios, 10-1/4" x 15-1/2", with tissue guards protecting each of the etchings, and all laid into the publisher's clamshell case, which was made by Claudia Cohen. A fine copy, offered at the publisher's price. Unless otherwise noted, our first editions are first printings. First Edition. No Binding. Fine.

(n.p.): Garp Enterprises/Radio-Telegraphic Company. 1991. A very early draft of the screenplay that won Irving an Academy Award for best adapted screenplay, based on his sixth novel. Signed by Irving. This is the earliest copy of the script we have seen: the film was released in 1999; this version is dated "June 14, 1991, Revised." Hand-numbered "42." There are substantial textual differences between this early version and the final version. 130 pages, stringbound, with one remaining brad. Foxing to pages; near fine. A glimpse of an award-winning script as a work in progress. Unless otherwise noted, our first editions are first printings. First Edition. No Binding. Near Fine.

(n.p.): Burbank Studios. 1980. Tesich's second draft screenplay (September, 1980) for the film based on Irving's novel. 149 pages, bradbound in studio wrappers; "Garp" written on spine; near fine. Together with a "Confidential" 8-page synopsis of Tesich's January, 1981 final draft by story analyst Thomas Craig, dated 2/27/81: 7-pages of synopsis; 1 page of comment on how the final draft differs from the second draft that is included here. The final draft referred to by the synopsis and commentary was 10 pages shorter than this second draft. Unless otherwise noted, our first editions are first printings. First Edition. Softcover. Near Fine.

A landscape painting by Cummings of a colorful tree on the shore of Silver Lake in New Hampshire, where the Cummings family had a summer home. In the background is Mount Chocorua, one of the most frequent subjects of Cummings' artwork. The use of a bright and vivid palette is reminiscent of Matisse, Kandinsky, and the Fauvists, all of whom have been cited as influences on Cummings as an artist. Thematically and as a composition, this image also owes a debt to Cezanne, one of Cummings' great idols as a painter and an influence, as he said, on both his and other Modernist writers' poetry and fiction by virtue of his providing "a new way of seeing things." In Cummings' work one can almost see an echo of Cezanne, with Cummings' frequent and varied depictions of Mount Chocorua echoing Cezanne's repeated returns to Mont Saint-Victoire as a subject for his paintings. 8-3/4" x 11-1/2", oil on cardboard. Painted on the underside of the cover of a box of his typewriter paper. Undated. Edges slightly rough, and… Read More

Zurich: Rascher & Cie.. 1919. The first German edition of Joyce's play Exiles and the first of his works to be published in translation in any language. One of 600 copies printed: Joyce was living in Zurich at the time and he paid for the publication of this book out of his own pocket. This copy is inscribed by the author: "To J.R. [sic] Watson, Jun / with grateful regards / James Joyce / 8. ix. 1919." J.S. Watson, Jr. was at the time the co-owner of the modernist literary journal The Dial, which he bought from Martyn Johnson with his friend and fellow Harvard graduate, Scofield Thayer. Watson became president of the magazine and Thayer became its editor. The "grateful regards" refers to a gift of $300 that Watson had sent Joyce earlier in the year at the urging of Thayer, who had himself sent Joyce $700. These sums bailed Joyce out of dire financial straits, allowed him to settle a court case against him, and helped him support the theater group that he had associated with in Zurich, the English… Read More

1947. Oil on canvas by Cummings, who did not title his paintings; the title given here is purely descriptive. 18" x 24". "By E.E. Cummings" written on the wood frame, apparently in another's hand. Cummings signed only a small fraction of his work, deliberately and for philosophical reasons: he believed the work should stand on its own -- and be judged on its own merits or faults -- rather than be judged by who the creator of it was. When he backed away from the New York art scene in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Cummings was backing away from what he considered to be an artistic milieu driven by personality and ego rather than by art. After his early period as an abstract artist, he focused on representational art for the rest of his life, but often -- as in this painting -- he used a palette and a style that owed much to his early influences among modern artists: Cezanne, Matisse, and the Fauvists. One tack missing from the top of the stretched canvas; else fine. No Binding. Near Fine.

Watercolor of a sunset sky over Mount Chocorua. 18" x 12". This painting is signed by Cummings on the verso. Undated. No Binding.

1942. A portrait by Cummings of his mother, Rebecca Clarke Cummings, immortalized in Cummings' words: "if there are any heavens my mother will(all by herself)have one." Oil on canvas. 15" x 20". Dated on verso, September 1, 1942. No Binding.

Mt. Chocorua. 1961. The summer sun hitting the Sandwich Range. Oil on canvas. 12" x 16". On the verso: "june 30, 1961." No Binding.

NY: Various. (1958-1967). The first four books by Southern -- creator of Dr. Strangelove and screenwriter of Easy Rider -- each inscribed by him to his friend, the bandleader, composer, and musician Artie Shaw. Flash and Filigree (NY: Coward McCann, 1958; the scarce first issue) is inscribed "To Artie and Casey with love and all best wishes/ Terry S." Laid in is an autograph note signed to Artie from Terry. The Magic Christian (NY: Random House, 1960) is inscribed "To Artie and Casey with love and best wishes for much happiness. Terry." Candy (NY: Putnam, 1964 -- first thus, and first hardcover edition) is inscribed "To Artie and Case, with love and kisses (your so-called 'soul' or 'french' kiss, natch!) / Terry." Red Dirt Marijuana (NY: New American Library, 1967) is inscribed: "To Art/ with all best, Terry." The books are near fine or better in near fine or better dust jackets; each with its own, matching, custom clamshell case. Unless otherwise noted, our first editions are first printings. First… Read More

ca. 1928. A large portrait by Cummings of his stepdaughter, Diana Barton, with one of her dogs at Joy Farm in New Hampshire, sometime between 1927 and 1930. Diana was born in 1921; Cummings met Anne Barton in 1925 and they spent several summers at Joy Farm beginning in 1927. Diana is standing outside, with her dog at her side and Mount Chocorua in the background. One of the best-loved American poets of the 20th century, Cummings was also a prolific visual artist: he considered writing and painting to be his "twin obsessions." He exhibited his work in the annual Society of Independent Artists shows from 1916-1927, and he was the art editor of The Dial magazine, the preeminent Modernist literary journal in the U.S., in the 1920s. In 1933, Cummings published a book of his artwork in a limited edition. Called CIOPW, it took its title from the media he used in his art: charcoal, ink, oil, pencil and watercolors. In his early years he emphasized abstract painting; from the 1930s on he tended toward… Read More

Boston: Little, Brown. 1951. The second printing (July, 1951; same month as the first printing) of Salinger's classic first book, which stands as one of the great fictional accomplishments of 20th century American literature. Small strips of black tape attached to black boards, possibly from a previous jacket protector; still a near fine copy in a very good, supplied, early printing dust jacket with small chips at the corners and spine ends, a small blended stain at the spine base, and a light, illegible pencil note on an upper corner of the rear panel. A very presentable early printing, with a dust jacket from a similar early printing, being the correct height and with the Lotte Jacobi photograph of Salinger on the rear panel of the jacket. Hardcover. Near Fine.