Rare Books by Virginia Woolf,
John Steinbeck and Arthur Miller
among the most valuable items
to be auctioned off

Among the more than 70 books and art pieces that will be available at the Rare Book Auction are quite a few which are expected to raise interest among ardent collectors. To serve potential bidders with a bit more information than the descriptions in the catalog, we assembled the informatione and images of the most valuable books in one page. Scroll down and see what will be some of the highlights of the event.

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A Room Of One's Own by Virgina Woolf. Fountain/Hogarth Press, New York/London, 1929. Near Fine, and uncommon in this condition. Original cinnamon cloth. Copy 216 of only 492 numbered copies. Signed by the author in trademark purple ink of this important and desirable title. Stain on cover and binding. Estimate $5,000-$7,000.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Viking Press, New York, 1952. Hard Cover in Dust Jacket. First Edition. Publisher’s green cloth, pictorial dust jacket with the publisher's price of $4.50 in the upper right of the front inside flap and picture of Steinbeck on back panel. "First Published by the Viking Press September 1952" statement on the copyright page. In fine condition;  dust jacket has a half inch tear with slight chipping, slight stain on rear panel  For John Steinbeck East of Eden was "the book", the one for which he had been practicing all of his life. Estimate $1000 - $1500.

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. Viking Press, New York, 1945. Hard Cover Cloth. Dust Jacket. First Edition: Second Printing before publication. The warm, funny story of inhabitants of Cannery Row in Monterey, California; Steinbeck dedicated the book to his close friend Ed Ricketts upon whom he modeled Doc, the central character of the novel. Estimate $400 – $500

After The Fall by Arthur Miller. Viking Press, New York, 1964. From the signed limited edition of 999 copies. Half were for sale, the other half was reserved for private distribution. Excellent, unread copy with protective wax paper in slipcase in great condition. During his later years Miller lived in Roxbury, Connecticut, where he died in 2005 at the age of 89. Estimate $600 - $700.

The Lady Is Cold by E. B. White. Harper & Bros.  New York. 1929,  First Edition. - First Issue Binding. Pages 95pp. Woodcuts on copyright page. The blue pictorial jacket of Plaza Fountain has moderate wear. White’s first book published by a major house. Copy lacking the scarce dust jacket. Estimate $200-$300.

Alarms and Diversions by James Thurber. "A book for people who like to laugh & know how to think." First edition. Book fine, dust jacket with loss of paper. Inscribed by author. Estimate $400-$600.

The Years With Ross by James Thurber. Atlantic Monthly Press, Boston, 1959. Hardcover. First Edition. Stated fourth printing in a very good dust jacket with loss of paper on top of spine. The title refers to Harold Ross, founder of The New Yorker. Inscription and drawing of a dog by author. Estimate $200-$250.

The Wonderful O by James Thurber, Illustrated by Marc Simont. Simon and Schuster, New York, 1957. First edition, first printing. Inscribed by both Thurber and Simont. Dust jacket panels tipped into rear. A fantasy story written by Cornwall’s famous writer and charmingly illustrated by 1957 Caldecott Medalist Marc Simont. Estimate $200-$300.

The Thurber Album: A New Collection of Pieces about People by James Thurber Simon and Schuster, New York, 1952. Hard Cover. No dust jacket. First edition. 346 pages with black & white reproductions of photographs and sketches at back of text; inscribed by the author on first two pages. Estimate $350-$400.

A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas. New Directions, New York, 1954. First Edition, flecked paper boards, red and black ink lettering, red ink chapter heads with decorative elements. First hardback edition (originally published in magazine form). A very handsome copy of this exceptional classic. Estimate $300-$400.

Enough Rope by Dorothy Parker. Boni & Liveright, New York, 1926. A beautiful copy in scarce original dust jacket – very good condition. Parker’s first solely-authored book containing such gems as the couplet that helped to bring about the contact lens industry: "Men seldom make passes/At girls who wear glasses." Estimate $500-$600.

The Decisive Moment by Henri Cartier Bresson. Simon & Schuster, New York, 1952. Paper-covered Boards. Published by Simon and Schuster in collaboration with Editions Verve of Paris in July 1952. Printed in France by Draeger Freres. Cover and wrapper with lithograph designed especially by Henri Matisse. Cover warped, splitting. 126 photographs by Cartier-Bresson, with caption list included. Boards warped. Contents excellent, with introductory texts by Cartier-Bresson (in English). Estimate $400-$500.

The Original Water-Color Paintings by John James Audubon for THE BIRDS OF AMERICA, American Heritage Publishing Co. New York, 1966. First Edition. First Printing. Folio. Both volumes and slipcase are remarkably preserved, nearly pristine, in the original shipping carton from the publisher. "Original Edition" stated on the copyright page. 431 plates--some fold-out to double width--all reproduced in color from the New York Historical Society. Audubon's Birds of America is unquestionably the greatest work on birds ever produced and here are the original watercolor paintings reproduced in a format large enough to truly appreciate their beauty. Estimate $300-$400.

Choreography by George Balanchine : A Catalogue of Works Lincoln Kirsten, preface. Leslie George Katz, Nancy Lassalle, & Harvey Simmonds (introduction). Eakins Press Foundation, New York, 1983. One of a limited first edition of 2000 copies. Bound in original tan cloth with blue spine label lettered in gold, clear plastic mylar dust jacket.  Inscribed by Harvey Simmonds to owners. Estimate $200-250.

The Apples of New York by S.A. Beach.  J.B. Lyon Company, Albany, 1905.  Two volume set. Over 200 color and half-tone plates of apples. New York State Department of Agriculture. Green cloth, gilt lettering w/gilt stamp of apple branch on front board. Minor rubbing to extremities, top edge of both volumes with some spotting. Interior clean. Exhaustive reference for pomology. Estimate $400-$600.

The Grapes of New York by U.P. Hedrick.  Report of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station for the Year 1907. Department of Agriculture Fifteenth Annual Report.  J.B. Lyon Company, State Printers, Albany, 1908.  564 pages, illustrated, indexed. First edition. Green cloth over boards, titling in gilt on the spine. This encyclopedic review of grape production is not limited to New York and encompasses the United States as well. Hedrick provides brief historical narratives of Old World and New World grapes; an account of the grape regions and of grape growing in New York, with statistics relating to the grape, wine and grape juice industries in the state; a discussion of the species of American grapes; and the synonymy, bibliography, economic status, and full descriptions of all the important varieties of American grapes. Estimate $425-$475.

Year’s at the Spring compiled by L. D’O Walters. Brentano's. New York 1920. Illustrated by Harry Clarke, with an Introduction by Harold Monro.). First US Edition (from British sheets). 10.5" x 8". 127+(1) pages; full-color frontispiece, 11 full-page full-color plates, 12 full-page monochrome plates on tinted backgrounds, b/w half- title and title-page illustrations and 18 b/w head- and tail-pieces, all by Clarke. Hardcover: Brown letter with tooled decorations and title overall. Owner’s name on front piece. Estimate $150-$250.

The Tres Riches Heures of Jean Duke of Berry  George Braziller, New York, 1969. Slipcase stained.  Red binding with gilt lettering. Photographed and Printed by Draeger Freres, Paris. 139 Plates exquisitely reproducing the illuminated manuscript belonging to Musee' Conde', Chantilly, France. Magnificently illustrated book of hours from 15th century France. Estimate $200 - $250.

The History of Massachusetts from the First Settlement Thereof in 1628 until the Year 1750 by Thomas Hutchinson.  Thomas C. Cushing, Salem and Boston, 1795 2 vols. spine lightly worn on vol. I and spine worn on vol. II, hinges weak on volume 2. Estimate $400-$500.

Incidents of Travel in Yucatan Illustrated by 120 Engravings. In Two Volumes. Vol. I. [II.] by John L. Stephens. John Murray, London, 1843. With Catherwood's Excellent Sketches of Mayan Ruins. Illustrated by 120 Engravings. In Two Volumes. Vol. I. [II.] Red brown cloth, title in gilt on spine. Foxing in both volumes. Two maps (one folding), two folding frontispieces, seventeen additional plates in Vol. I and forty-five in Vol. II, and numerous text engravings by Rolphe, J.N. Gunbrede, M. Osburne, and others. All after sketches and daguerreotype views by Frederick Catherwood. thus). Armorial bookplate of George Nugent. Some wear to spine extremities. "Stephens, an American traveler, was given an appointment to a mission in Central America. This book is the follow-up to his Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan (1841), and describes in greater detail his exploration of this region. Estimate $500 - $800.

About some of the authors

Virginia Woolf (1882 – 1941) was one of the foremost modernist and feminist literary figures of the twentieth century. Her works include the novels Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, Jacob's Room, and A Room of One's Own.
A Room of One's Own is an extended essay which examines whether women were capable of producing work of the quality of William Shakespeare, amongst other topics. In one section, Woolf invented a fictional Shakespeare's Sister.The title comes from Woolf's conception that to be a successful writer, a woman needed space of her own in which to work and enough money to support herself.

John Ernst Steinbeck )1902 - 1968) grew up in Salinas where, during summers, he worked as a hired hand on nearby ranches, nourishing his impression of the California countryside and its people.
The Grapes of Wrath (1939) won the Pulitzer Prize. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 “...for his realistic as well as imaginative writings, distinguished by a sympathetic humor and a keen social perception.”
In East of Eden his topic is human psychology, seen through a Salinas Valley saga loosely patterned on the Garden of Eden story. Cannery Row is about a small strip of industrial land in Monterey and revolves around the people living there at the time of the depression.

Arthur Miller (1915 – 2005) was an one of the great American playwrights, whose work exposed the flaws in the fabric of the American dream. He was a prominent figure in American literature and cinema for over 61 years. Miller's best-known works were The Crucible, All My Sons and Death of a Salesman, which are still widely studied and performed worldwide. He was known for his political stance which led to a verdict for his refusal to eveal the names of members of a literary circle suspected of Communist affiliation in the Fifties (later overturned on appeal). He was also famous for his marriage to movie star Marilyn Monroe.
After the Fall was published in 1964 and is consideered to be a strongly autobiographical work, which dealt with the questions of guilt and innocence. Some critics suggest that Maggie, the self-destructive central character, was modelled on Monroe, though Miller denied this.

Elwyn Brooks (E. B.) White (1899 –1985) was an essayist, author, and noted prose stylist. He is most famous today for a writers' style guide, The Elements of Style, and for three children's books generally considered to be classics of the field. He published his first article in the The New Yorker magazine in 1925, then joined the staff in 1927 (the photo shows him with Cornwall resident James Thurber, right)). During the next six decades as he produced a long series of essays and unsigned Notes and Comments that were widely read. The Lady Is Cold is a collection of verses treating the daily routine of city life. The poems present some of the dominating themes in White's work, namely, his love of New York City, simplicity, and liberty.

James Thurber (1894 - 1961) was a U.S. humorist and cartoonist, best known for his contributions (both cartoons and short stories) to The New Yorker magazine. His witty prose spanned a breadth of genres, including autobiography, fiction, children's fantasy, and modern commentary, and two of his short stories, The Catbird Seat and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty are among the best-known classics of American literature. Though hampered by failing eyesight, Thurber wrote nearly forty books. In 1945 he and his wife Helen moved into "The Great Good Place," a 14-room Colonial style home in West Cornwall, Connecticut.

Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) was born in Swansea, Wales, a son of a writer. He is widely considered one of the greatest 20th century poets. His vivid and often fantastic imagery was a rejection of the trend in 20th Century verse towards serious topical political and social concerns. Thomas dived into an ocean of passionately felt emotions. His writing is often both intensely personal and fiercely lyrical.

Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908 – 2004) was a French photographer who influenced the style of modern photojournalism: a candid approach to daily life and which captures so-called "street photography" in a spontaneous way.

The date:
May 27th, 2006
The Rare Book Auction to benefit the Library was held May 27th 2006 from 5 to 7 PM at the Cornwall Town Hall on Pine Street.