Welcome

Ed Smith Books specializes in buying and selling literary first editions, photographic monographs, screen and theater related material. We offer appraisals for books and photographs. Our location, on Bainbridge Island, is a short ferry ride from downtown Seattle, Washington. Open by appointment. Member, ABAA.

Join us on Facebook

CATALOG 76: MOSTLY NEW ARRIVALS, is now available. Click here to download.

Featured Items

Author's first book (preceded only by a few scholarly offprints). 8vo. Winner of the National Book Award. Laid into this copy is a postcard addressed to a woman in Indiana (cancel 1988) in the author's hand, on the message side Percy writes: "This morning I got a note from my aunt asking me to come for lunch. / The Moviegoer / Walker Percy." The opening sentence of this prize winner.

THE MOVIEGOER.
Percy, Walker
New York: Knopf, 1961. Author's first book (preceded only by a few scholarly offprints). 8vo. Winner of the National Book Award. Laid into this.. more
Price: $3,000.00

Author's first book. This copy is inscribed by Bowles: "George darling, please refer to Plain Pleasures. Love, Jane. 1966." Bowles misspelled "Pleasures" on the first try, crossing it out and began a second time but crossed that out also before penning the word correctly on the third try. "Plain Pleasures" is a collection of Bowles' short stories which Peter Owen published in 1966. The recipient, "George", may be movie director George Cukor since this book turned up at an auction with other books inscribed to him but it does not bear his bookplate as many of his books did. In any case, Jane Bowles inscriptions are seldom seen.

TWO SERIOUS LADIES.
Bowles, Jane
London: Peter Owen, 1965. Author's first book. This copy is inscribed by Bowles: "George darling, please refer to Plain Pleasures. Love, Jane. 1966." Bowles.. more
Price: $1,850.00

This copy is signed by Capote on the title page and also signed on the dedication page by the dedicatee of the book, Tennessee Williams. A marvelous association of two great writers whose signatures are rarely seen in the same book.

MUSIC FOR CHAMELEONS.
Capote, Truman.
New York: Random House, 1980. This copy is signed by Capote on the title page and also signed on the dedication page by the dedicatee.. more
Price: $2,500.00

Author's first book. Laid in (loose) is a bookplate that has been signed by the author (HST, early bookplate Hunter made up on his computer then signed). In 1965, Carey McWilliams, editor of The Nation, offered Thompson the opportunity to write a story based on his experience with the California-based Hells Angels motorcycle club. After The Nation published the article (May 17, 1965), Thompson received several book offers and spent the next year living and riding with the Hell's Angels. The relationship broke down when the bikers concluded that Thompson was exploiting them for his personal gain. The gang demanded a share of the profits from his writings and after an argument at a party Thompson ended up with a savage beating, or "stomping" as the Angels referred to it. When this book was published "....Mr. Thompson was twenty-nine years old and was known as an avid reader, a relentless drinker and a fine hand with a .44 Magnum."

HELL'S ANGELS. The Strange And Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs.
Thompson, Hunter S
New York: Random House, (1967). Author's first book. Laid in (loose) is a bookplate that has been signed by the author (HST, early bookplate Hunter.. more
Price: $2,250.00

View All Featured Items