Allan Milkerit, 1945-2007

Arthur Machen, The Hill of Dreams

Martin Secker, 1922.

First thus, limited to 150 signed and number copies. This is No. 15, apparently bought by Allan at a PBA auction. First published 1907. This copy is enhanced by a supplied green slipcase but marred by a sticker and the remainder of a label on the endpaper. Four of the limitation could be purchased tonight: Godot has a copy for $475, and there are other copies for $400, $200, $200 (again) and $128. Allan was asking $250. I might as well have that sticker and limitation removed.

 

Update, 10/21: For $45, the book has been repaired, and looks as new.

Hunter S. Thompson, Generation of Swine

Summit, 1988.

I gave this uncorrected proof to Allan after visiting Hunter. It's inscribed to him, and signed "HST" with "Lono" added on the underline. Allan kept the books I gave him for his personal collection, no matter how desperate he was financially. For this proof, he even had a slipcase made. And yet -- it's priced $500! Maybe he did try to sell it, after all.

Brendan Behan, Confessions of an Irish Rebel

Hutchison, 1965.

I took this from the store to give to Jim O'Brien, who didn't seem interested. My interest in boozy Irishmen is limited--there's a picture of Behan in this volume in which both his face and his body seem separately about to explode. Allan priced at $15, which is at the bottom of the range. Between the Covers has a galley for $225, which seems, umm, eager. The only mar is a pencil or pen strike on the top page edges, so I'll see if we can sell this. 

Patrick White, Memoirs of Many in One

Cape, 1986.

I don't even have to look this book up to know Allan's price, $20, was fair. Lovely copy of a book no one wants or needs. Except me, for my White shelf.

Amy Clampitt, Multitudes, Multitudes

Washington Street Press, 1973.

Her first book, published a decade before "The Kingfisher" brought her immediate acclaim. (Was she the last poet to arrive on the scene with a bang that even non-poets noticed?) This booklet was issued by a small Greenwich Village house that published little else of note and didn't stick around long. Copies are nearly always signed, which is another indication of a very small press.

Six copies are currently online, ranging up to $1,000. Good luck selling them: Clampitt's star has fallen sharply since her death in 1994, and all her books of poetry are out of print. Her letters got good reviews a few years ago but did not bring her back. Weird, because her anti-war fervor could have been useful. "Multitudes, Multitudes" ends with an apocalyptic From "A.D. 1973":

The gong has struck. The celebration ends. There is

no language now, only the shudder, there

at the world's edge, beyond the wrecked frontier

where gulls gorged on our carrion fly up

to disorder, with half-human cries.

This copy is signed and in fine condition. It was reasonably priced at $150, and I remember it was displayed on Allan's glass case, but she was an East Coast figure who didn't sell on the West Coast. I should sell it -- I have my own copy somewhere, which I paid real money for. Still, I can't quite let this go. Maybe in a few years. Maybe I will read it first.

S.J. Perelman, The Dream Department

Random House, 1943.

This would be a fine copy except for the crease on the front panel, about half an inch from the spine. Otherwise the black, white and puce jacket is full and lush. Except: why are there reviews on the back panel? They are from the Times, Time and New York Post. Sadly, this must indicate a reprint, despite that "first printing' designation. Too bad; Compass Rose has a first for $550. Sadly, I never liked Perelman much.

Samuel Beckett, Worstward Ho

Grove, 1983.

Copies online range from $20 to $100. Allan bought this for $4.50, less a presumed discount, and was trying to sell it for $20, less a presumed discount. Not much of a margin to pay his rent. "Enough. Sudden enough. Sudden all far."

Ellen Gilchrist, The Land Surveyor's Daughter

Lost Roads, 1979.

Two copies, one fine and  signed, the other unsigned and with a coffee ring on the back cover. Issued at $4. Her first book. Copies are pricey online: the cheapest, which is soiled, goes for $100, while Derringer is offering a fine unsigned copy for $600. Dream on. Charles Agvent takes the prize for most expensive with a $1,500 copy, signed and with errata slip. Dream on for a very long time. Gilchrist's star has fallen considerably, and so has Southern fiction. 

Bobbie Ann Mason, Nabokov's Garden: A Guide to Ada

Ardis, 1974.

Her first book. This is the simultaneous paperback edition, in yellow wraps. With a snap on the rear panel, otherwise near fine. Only a handful of copies online in either paper or hardcover. This one is enhanced by a primitive review slip giving publication date of January 1975. Unpriced by Allan, although with his code on the last page. I guess I'll keep it, although I'm pretty sure I'll never read "Ada," let alone this. Such is the mania of the collector.

Nabokov, Lolita (in Russian)

Phaedra, 1967.

Allan's second copy of this -- the first, already listed, was priced by him at $45, and it sold. The jacket on this one is not quite so fine -- there's a tiny bit of rubbing -- and so is $35.