New York: E.P. Dutton, 1950. First Edition. Late novel by the West Virginia mystery author featuring Kentucky sheriff Jess Roden, who goes undercover to search for a moonshiner who killed a U.S. Deputy Marshal. Teal cloth, with titles stamped in gilt on spine and Dutton logo embossed on front cover; dustjacket; 223, [1]pp. Mild wear to base of spine, with... (read more)
New York: E.P. Dutton, 1939. First Edition. A very nice copy of an important title, probably the premiere monograph of New York images, predicting the series ideas of Ruscha and many others. Near Fine in a Very Good plus dust jacket. Corners lightly bumped, a little soiling to the boards. Jacket has three small internal repairs (not restoration), and a.... (read more)
New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1937. First Edition. Basis for the 1949 film noir "They Live By Night," directed by Nicholas Ray and starring Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell. Remade in 1974 as "Thieves Like Us" by director Robert Altman, starring Keith Carradine and Shelley Duvall. Slight spine lean, and light bumping and rubbing to the extremities, else Near Fine... (read more)
N.p. N.p., N.p. Draft script for an unproduced film. An old, blind beggar ends up charged with taking care of a young girl whom he calls his niece because she is deaf and dumb, and he believes he can make money by having people pity her and giving her money. He is urged by a local clergyman to bring the... (read more)
New York: Music Vanguard, 1935. Complete two issue run of "Music Vanguard" magazine, listed as Vol. 1, issue 1 March-April 1935 and Vol. 1, issue 2 Summer 1935. Rare. "Music Vanguard" focused on the relationship between music and social justice, with a particular focus American socialist thought, noting in the introduction to the first issue the "wish to interrelate diverse elements... (read more)
N.p. N.p., 1990. First Draft script for an unproduced film. Later generation photocopy, not vintage, for reading or research purposes only. A biopic of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and her tumultuous relationship with Diego Rivera, a muralist. Their love spans deceit, passionate lovemaking and an openness due to their Communist nature and Diego's affinity for multiple partners. She becomes attracted... (read more)
Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM], 1932. Vintage reference photograph, with snipe printed on the verso identifying director Harry Beaumont on the set with actresses Anita Page and Joan Marsh in the 1932 film, based on the 1932 J.P. McEvoy novel of the same name. With an additional stamp on the verso reading "Country of origin USA." Left jobless and about... (read more)
Garden City: Doubleday, Doran, 1930. First Edition. Born in England, David Betts drifted around the American West before coming to New York and finding work driving cabs. He was dubbed "The Taxi Philosopher" after publishing several letters featuring his views on life and in the "New York Evening Post" during the 1920s. Proletarian through and through, "I'm Lucky At That"... (read more)
London: Jack Parsons, 1953. Draft script for the 1962 film. With a few notations in holograph pencil. A manager at a razor factory grows a beard after developing a rash due to shaving. His superiors are displeased. The manager then decides to organize a strike in order to get his point across. Green titled wrappers, dated May 1953, with credits... (read more)
Berkeley: Berkeley Graphics Arts, 1968. Collection of five vintage bumper stickers from the 1968 political campaigns run via a collaboration between the Black Panthers and the Peace and Freedom Party. Stickers commemorate the Peace and Freedom Party political campaigns of Mario Savio for California state senator, Black Panther founders Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, and Eldridge Cleaver for president, with... (read more)
London: Granada Television, 1980. Two borderless photographs from the 1981 film. One photo with a snipe attached to the verso. Directed by Bob Rafelson, and based on the 1939 novel by James M. Cain, "Postman" was one of the gems of late 1970s cinema (along with "The Verdict"), and brought David Mamet to the attention of the filmmaking world, leading... (read more)
![Ossessione [The Postman Always Rings Twice] (Complete set of original 3 Italian Fotobusta posters). James M. Cain, Luchino Visconti, novel, director.](/pictures/thumb/136501.jpg?v=1492979318)
Rome: A.P.E. Roma, 1943. Complete set of three vintage Italian posters for the legendary 1943 Italian film noir. Based on the 1929 novel by James M. Cain, "The Postman Always Rings Twice," and preceding the US film adaptation by three years. Visconti's trenchant first feature, an unauthorized adaptation of Cain's novel, often cited as the earliest neorealist film. Visconti himself... (read more)
New York: Random House, 1940. First Edition. Basis for the seminal 1943 film directed by William Wellman and starring Henry Fonda and Anthony Quinn. Topstain faded, and a bit of the usual offsetting to the endpapers, else Fine and unread lacking the dust jacket. Notably, this copy has none of the usual rubbing and toning to the backstrip that is typically found. (read more)
N.p. David Allen Coe, 1982. First Edition. Near Fine in trade wrappers as issued. SIGNED by David Allen Coe on the front wrapper. The maverick country singer's primitively printed autobiography, detailing his time in 11 different correctional institutions--from juvenile detention centers to prison--beginning at age 9, followed by a career as something of a renegade country singer. Coe's biggest single... (read more)
New York: Double Helix Films, circa 1987. Draft script for an unproduced film. Copy belonging to Kimberly Ryan, with her name and phone number on the title page in holograph pencil and ink. With a few notations in holograph pencil. An unproduced film adaptation of Joseph Conrad's 1911 novel "Under Western Eyes," which many consider to be Conrad's response to... (read more)
London: Michael Joseph, 1961. First UK Edition, preceding all others. Basis for the 1971 Australian film of the same name (released in some countries as "Outback") starring Donald Pleasance and Gary Bond, considered by many to be the greatest Australian film ever made. Very Good in a Very Good example of the scarce dust jacket. Book shows offsetting to the... (read more)
N.p. N.p., 1952. Vintage oversize double weight matte finish photograph from the set of the 1952 film. A sobering and striking image of the film's destitute loner and his dog Flike, standing in the streets of Rome late in the evening. Shot by the film's still photographer Angelo Pennoni, using a striking example of designer Virgilio Marchi's meticulously designed and... (read more)
![Kuhle Wampe oder Wem gehort die Welt [Who Owns the World] [Whither Germany] (Original poster for the 1932 film). Slatan Dudow, Ernst Ottwald Bertold Brecht, Gerhard Bienert Hertha Thiele, director, screenwriter, starring.](/pictures/thumb/138407.jpg?v=1492979945)
Germany: Kinematrade, Inc., circa 1933. Vintage US poster for the 1932 German communist propaganda film "Kuhle Wampe oder Wem gehort die Welt?" The subtitle is seen here under the English translation "Whither Germany." Circa 1933, as identified by the name of the Philadelphia theatre on the poster. The last and arguably most important communist film of the Weimar era, "Kuhle... (read more)
Pasadena, CA: Night Train Films, circa 1990s. Draft script for an unproduced film. Set in the 1930's United States. Jack faces the hardships of unemployment, jail, and a future without promise. He is driven mad, ultimately torching the last of what he has in a frenzy. Black untitled wrappers. Title page present, with credits for screenwriter James Elliot. 131 leaves... (read more)
![Prime Risk [Spooks] (Original screenplay for the 1985 film). Michael Farkas, Herman Grigsby, Toni Hudson Lee Montgomery, Clu Gulager, Sam Bottoms, screenwriter director, screenwriter, starring.](/pictures/thumb/141874.jpg?v=1499437039)
Culver City, CA: Mikas 1, 1983. Fourth Draft script for the 1985 film. Here under the working title, "Spooks." Laid in is a letter from Farkas's manager James Reed to Walter Kohner, dated October 31, 1983 While ripping off ATMs using manipulated bank cards, two engineers discover a plot of a shadow organization to crash the computers at the Federal... (read more)
Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM], 1941. Original one sheet poster for the 1941 film. Frank Morgan received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film. The fourth Steinbeck script to be adapted in as many years. Not as well known today as "The Grapes of Wrath" or "Of Mice and Men," but still a.... (read more)
Tucson AZ: Earth First! 1985. First Edition, a paperback original, second state with the correctly aligned photograph on page 47. SIGNED by the editor on the disclaimer page. A manifesto and field guide to ecological terrorism. Near Fine with light rubbing to the wrappers. (read more)
N.p. N.p., 1986. Treatment for an unproduced film. The true story of Benjamin Franklin traveling to France after the American Revolution, where he acts as a diplomat from the newly-established United States of America and he makes sure to throw around the new weight of this budding country. Set in Paris. Clear untitled wrappers. Title page present, dated 1986, with... (read more)
New York: Chelsea Theater Center, Circa 1971. Draft script for the 1971 play. Genet's last play (1961) was translated by director Volanakis, lasted for 5 hours, and had 17 scenes and 43 actors. It never opened on Broadway, and was first produced in the US at the Chelsea Theater Center of Brooklyn. Genet's passionate opposition to authoritarianism, oppression and colonialism... (read more)
Paris: Intermondia Films / Pretoria / Cinedis, 1959. Collection of 11 original black-and-white single weight still photographs from the 1959 French-Italian film. Featuring Jean Gabin dancing gaily in a pub with costar Doll, and a photo of costar Cowl smoking a cigarette, with a single photo credited to photographer Dole on the recto, mimeograph number on the verso, showing a.... (read more)