The Bruce Kahn Collection is the title of Catalog 150 from Ken Lopez Bookseller which appears to be a joint effort with Between the Covers Rare Books. Tom Congalton has written an explanation at the beginning of the catalogue to explain why Ken Lopez is the General Editor. In Tom’s words Bruce Kahn was “a pain in the ass to sell books to”. Apparently Bruce always wanted his books to be in perfect condition. The slightest flaw would mean that the book was of no interest to him. To me that is nothing unusual I am sure that every bookseller amongst you has a customer like that and every collector amongst you is, or has a friend, who is just like that. However Tom does concur that this very high standard of collecting has left a near flawless selection of books now the time has come to sell. Tom became bored with writing, “Very fine in very fine dustwrapper. Signed by the author”, so he handed the job to Ken.
An Autograph Letter signed by Thomas Pynchon, January 21, 1974 is available at $25,000. There are two printed pages on both sides of one sheet of graph paper, written to his friends, authors David (Shetzline) and his wife Mary (M. F. Beal). The letter deals with literary and political matters and the correspondents’ long-term friendship. Both Shetzline and Beal were students at Cornell School, and part of the group that came to be known as the “Cornell School” of writers, including Pynchon and Richard Farina.
There are several books by John Steinbeck including The Grapes of Wrath which won the Nobel Prize. The book is in a custom slipcase and chemise and is valued at $175,00. Steinbeck fused social consciousness with literary artistry, refusing to allow his writings to become dogmatic in the way many novelists of thirties did.
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller is for sale at $12,500. This is Heller’s first book and is a black comedy of World War II and military life. The title of the books has become a part of language, signifying a contradictory set of instructions or constraints. It is one of the novels that helped define the ethos of the 1960s. This copy is signed by the author.
Margaret Mitchell’s first and only book Gone With the Wind is available as a first issue in a dust jacket. The price in the catalogue is $55,000 and signed by the author. This is one of the most famous and popular novels of the century and the basis for the Academy Award-winning film. The book is housed in a full morocco clamshell case stamped in gilt.
As stated previously all the books in this catalogue are in superb condition so there has been no need in this column to state otherwise.
