The Bookseller’s Gazette Issue #3

Here’s the third installment of the Bookseller’s Gazette, an on-going feature collecting references to specific rare or out-of-print books that pop-up in national publications.

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Blog post: Charles Gatewood photo exhibition in San Francisco, BoingBoing 2/6/08

Counter-culture photographer, Charles Gatewood is showing photos from his recent Wall Street series (together with earlier work) at San Francisco’s Robert Tat Gallery, February 7-March 29. Gatewood’s books (including several on tattooing and modern primitives and one with William Burroughs) sell in the $20-100 range.

Blog post: ‘It’s So Incredibly Tulsa’: Bill Hader’s Book Picks, Papercuts – New York Times 1/31/08

One of the funny cops from Superbad gives his science fiction reading list. Including: Nine-Hundred Grandmothers by R.A. Lafferty and Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. Both books are in (or barely out of) print but firsts or early attractive editions from these authors are always good stock.

Blog post: Philip K. Dick’s YA Novel, Papercuts – New York Times 2/7/08

David Itzkoff wrote a column on contemporary genre writers trying their hand at young adult fiction and followed-up with a blog post on Philip K. Dick’s Nick and the Glimmung. Published in the UK in 1988 the book lists for $30-60 and has yet to be pubbed in the US.

Newspaper article: Death photo of famed war reporter surfaces after 63 years [Ernie Pyle], Associated Press (link USA Today), 2/4/08

A rare battlefield photo of the remains of Pulitzer-prize winning WWII reporter Ernie Pyle (re)surfaced recently. As first reported, the photo had not been seen in 63 years but subsequent updates indicate that it was published twice before: in a 1979 North Carolina paper and in Buddy Ernie Pyle: World War II’s Most Beloved Typewriter Soldier by Rudy Faircloth. Faircloth’s book was an “83-page personal memoir contain[ing] examples of Pyle’s writings and Faircloth’s recollections of meeting Pyle and being nearby when he was killed.” Presumably self-published, I can find no copies of this book listed online.

Pyle firsts in hi-grade Djs are listing for $40 and up. Pyle’s columns ran in Scripps Howard Chain newspapers (notably the San Francisco Daily News) from 1935-44. Well-preserved copies containing key columns might do well in eBay’s WWII memorabilia categories.

Magazine article: Father of the Amazons by Pete Lewis, 1961, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March 2008

Bud Webster reviews this curious-sounding 1961 science-fiction, sleaze hybrid published by Kozy Books. Collectible copies are listed for $10-25.

The Bookseller’s Gazette is edited by William Smith of Hang Fire Books. Read his blog and visit his store here.

Issue #1 of The Bookseller’s Gazette |  Issue #2 of The Bookseller’s Gazette