First editions, many signed, are featured throughout the sale. A scarce first edition of Saul Bellow’s Dangling Man in the scarce dust jacket will be up for bidding (Estimate: $3,000-$5,000). Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, signed by the author on the title page, also includes a publisher’s review slip laid in and dust jacket (Estimate: $2,000-$3,000). The first edition of Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, the classic story of the “cynical adolescent” Holden Caulfield, is available with the first issue jacket ($2,500-$3,500). The first edition of Beckett’s existential classic, Waiting for Godot, was preceded only by the near-impossible-to-obtain 35-copy large paper edition (Estimate: $4,000-$6,000).
Other highlights include Hot Water Music, with an original painting by Charles Bukowski. Bukowski’s classic collection of stories is one of 100 numbered copies with an original painting by the author (Estimate: $5,000-$8,000). A scarce, signed limited edition of Simone de Beauvoir’s classic work, The Mandarin, for which she won the Prix Goncourt in 1954, will be on the auction block (Estimate: $2,500-$3,500). H.P. Lovecraft’s The Outsider is in the first volume of his posthumous works, and the first book published by Arkham House (Estimate: $2,500-$3,500). One of the most important novels of the 20th century, Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, is a first edition with the dust jacket (Estimate: $2,000-$3,000). The complete 36-issue run of Dell Ten Cent Books, a short-lived experiment by the publishing company in publishing short fiction, is expected to draw competitive bidding.
PBA continues to safeguard the health of employees and clients by remaining closed to the public. PBA will limit live auction participation to online or phone bidding. For more information about upcoming sales or to schedule a Zoom preview or phone bidding for a future auction, please contact the galleries at 415.989.2665 or pba@pbagalleries.com.
