CLOSE TO THE KNIVES: A Memoir of Disintegration
(1991)
Uncorrected proof of this stream-of-consciousness memoir of the influential multimedia artist and AIDS activist, published only a year before his death.
20th century
GIANTS, PIGMIES AND OTHER ADVERTISING PEOPLE
(1974)
Scarce first edition of the memoir of advertising legend Draper Daniels, real-life inspiration for MAD MEN's Donald Draper.
ARE THEY THE SAME AT HOME
(1927)
First edition of Nichols's collected profiles of notable figures of his day, including Arthur Conan Doyle, Ronald Knox, Rose Macaulay, P.G. Wodehouse, Somerset Maugham, and Nellie Melba, whose personal secretary he was and whose autobiography he ghostwrote.
OUT OF AFRICA
(1938)
Beautiful first US edition, review copy with publisher's slip, of this evocative memoir of the author's experiences in Kenya.
HOLIDAYS ON ICE
(1997)
First printing and first state of this collection of Sedaris's best Xmas stories, including "Santaland Diaries" — the piece that made him famous.
CONAN DOYLE: Portrait of an Artist
(1987)
Uncorrected proofs of the first US edition of Symons's 1979 biography, an introduction to Doyle published in celebration of the Sherlock Holmes Centennial.
JUST KIDS
(2010)
Signed first edition, review copy, of Smith's National Book Award-winning memoir of her intimate friendship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe — inscribed to the longtime Strand Bookstore rare book room manager Craig Anderson.
A SENSE OF WHERE YOU ARE
(1965)
Inscribed first printing of this profile of "the greatest [basketball] player in the history of the Ivy League" (jacket) – who would later become a US Senator – John McPhee's first book.
SONDHEIM & CO.
(1974)
Inscribed first printing of this oral history following the life of the late, great Stephen Sondheim, reflecting on his work from his first high school production to the state of Broadway and his career in the 1970s.
GORILLAS IN THE MIST
1983
Inscribed first printing of Fossey's landmark scientific memoir.
THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL
1952
Early printing, published the same year as the first, of the US edition of the diary of Anne Frank.
UP FROM SLAVERY: An Autobiography
1901
First edition of Washington's autobiography, detailing his rise from a life born into slavery to becoming the esteemed leader of the Tuskegee Institute.
LOOK WHO'S TALKING!
(1940)
First printing of Perelman's fourth book, a sparkling collection of twenty-four comic sketches including "The Future of Vertigo," a glimpse into the delirium that was Diana Vreeland's Harper's Bazaar, and "Yoo-Hoo, Mr. Ectoplasm," on the delights of the Psychic Stores catalogue.
MY LIFE
2004
Signed first printing, first state ("failure"), of this best-selling memoir from the former President.
JUST KIDS
(2010)
First edition of Smith's acclaimed, best-selling, and National Book Award-winning memoir of her intimate friendship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.
FRAGMENTE EINER SELBSTBIOGRAPHIE / CHARLES BAUDELAIRE UBER DELACROIX
1919
Uncommon edition of these collected autobiographical fragments from Delacroix's journals, with Baudelaire's 1863 essay on the painter's greatness, both in German translation.
BE MY GUEST
(1958)
Scarce inscribed second printing of the autobiography of one of the 20th century's greatest hoteliers.
SERPICO
(1997)
First HarperPaperbacks edition of this profile of the legendary NYPD whistleblower, adapted into the Oscar-nominated Al Pacino film — inscribed by subject Frank Serpico.
MY LIFE IN THE NEGRO LEAGUES
(1992)
Inscribed first printing of the autobiography of the Negro League great, an exciting story of baseball in the US, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Venezuela, and Canada.
OFF THE COURT
(1981)
Inscribed first printing of tennis icon Arthur Ashe's memoir, an association copy presented to NAL Books marketing exec Maryann Palumbo.
CLOSE TO THE KNIVES: A Memoir of Disintegration
(1991)
Scarce first printing of this stream-of-consciousness memoir of the influential multimedia artist and AIDS activist, published only a year before his death.
CONAN DOYLE
(1966)
First edition in English of Nordon's biography, originally published in France in 1964 and awarded the Prix Guizot by the Academie Française.
SATURDAY NIGHT IN BAODING: A China Memoir
1990
Inscribed first printing of this memoir about living in a provincial Chinese town, from the Minnesota-based author.
THE NAPOLEON OF CRIME
1997
First printing of this biography of the famed Victorian thief and criminal mastermind Adam Worth, generally believed to have been the model for Doyle's Moriarty.
ALWAYS THE YOUNG STRANGERS
(1953)
Signed later printing of Sandburg's autobiographical account of his childhood in Galesburg, IL, inscribed to two booksellers.
