James M.
Dourgarian, Bookman
1595-B Third Avenue
Walnut Creek, CA 94597
(925)
935-5033
Established
1980
Member ABAA
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James M.
Dourgarian, Bookman, was established in 1980. We are members
of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America
(ABAA). Like all ABAA members, we answer to a higher
authority and follow a higher standard of ethics that
guarantees a successful transaction for all our customers.
We buy and
sell old books, vintage books, collectible books, rare
books, first edition books, and related ephemera. We
maintain several specialties. Among them are American
fiction first editions from c.1900 to the present. Within
that general field, we have heavy emphasis in John Steinbeck
and Steinbeckiana. Thus, we buy and sell Steinbeck primary
first editions in dust jackets, signed/limited editions, his
appearances in anthologies, his periodical appearances,
books and periodicals about Steinbeck, film and theatre
memorabilia, bibliographies, and miscellaneous
items.
We also
specialize in these same categories for these authors --
Jack London, Wallace Stegner, and Stephen
King. Other specialties include Western Americana, books
on California and the West, books on Japan, China, and the
Orient, and Armed Services Editions. The latter are
vintage paperbacks issued to American GIs from 1943 to 1947.
They are comprised of mysteries, Westerns, science fiction
and fantasy, mainstream fiction, historical novels, science,
poetry, adventure stories, and more.
Within our
field of modern first editions, we also sell related
film
memorabilia.
Thus, we sell film posters, lobby card sets, pressbooks,
stills, scripts, etc. for films made from the works of
authors we carry such as John Steinbeck, Jack London, Ernest
Hemingway, William Faulkner, Raymond Chandler, Zane Grey,
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Stephen King, Edward Abbey, Anne Rice,
and many others.

[John Steinbeck] Steinbeck, John. The
Forgotten Village. NY, Viking, 1941, first edition, dust
jacket. Hardcover. This story of life in a Mexican village
includes 136 b&w photos from the film of the same name
by Rosa Harvan Kline and Alexander Hackensmid, both the film
story and script were written by Steinbeck whose text
accompanies each photo, the film was directed by Herbert
Kline, Hackensmid was co-director and director of
photography, the film was narrated by Burgess Meredith, this
is an Author Presentation Copy, Inscribed by Steinbeck ("For
Ben/with best wishes/John Steinbeck"), Goldstone & Payne
A14a, Morrow 135. Near fine in a very good jacket chipped at
the extremities.JD6426

[John Steinbeck] Steinbeck, John. A Letter By
John Steinbeck to the Friends of Democracy. Stamford,
Overbrook Press, 1940, first edition, dust jacket.
Hardcover. One of 350 hardcover copies (issued after a
one-sheet, four-page "throw-away"), it includes an exchange
of letters between Steinbeck and L. M. Birkhead about
Steinbeck's ancestry and whether Steinbeck was Jewish, and
whether The Grapes of Wrath was Jewish propaganda, Goldstone
& Payne A13b, Morrow 134, a very scarce book, seldom
seen and seldom offered for sale, especially scarce with its
original glassine dust jacket fully intact.
Fine.JD6569
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Steinbeck, John. A Medal for Benny.
Paramount, 1945, first edition. An original-release
color film poster for the film that starred Dorothy
Lamour, Arturo de Cordova, and J. Carrol Naish, the
poster measures 14X36 inches and is dominated by
Lamour's beautiful visage, the poster also credits
John Steinbeck and his boyhood friend Jack Wagner
upon whose story this film was based, this item
wasn't in the Goldstone collection, but see
Goldstone & Payne E13, not recorded by Morrow.
Folded, as usual. JD5095
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Stegner, Wallace. The Big Rock Candy
Mountain. NY, Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1943,
first edition, dust jacket. Hardcover. His "big"
book which was also the source for some of his best
short stories, red brick cloth binding, one of
several binding types, with a Review Slip from the
publisher, Colberg A7.1.a, this copy Signed by
Stegner. Produced with wartime materials, but still
a very good copy with some tape reinforcements to
the verso of the jacket. JD1296
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London, Jack. A Typed Letter Signed by Jack
London, dated June 21, 1913, stamped with his
Glen Ellen, Sonoma County, California return
address, 18 lines, to Margaret Smith Cobb, London
notes that he is enclosing a check for $40 from
"The Century Magazine" apparently in payment for
her poem, "Unkissed," the magazine, he notes,
wanted to publish London's letter along with her
poem, he extolls the virtues of the magazine, he
asks her to make appropriate changes and to return
it to him, he ends with "I so loved that poem that
I wanted to see it get first-class publication; and
now we have got it," London has made two edits to
his letter and someone has tried to mark out the
$40 notation, see The Letters of Jack London, Vol.
Three, page 1198, with its 1989 auction invoice.
Folded. JD4939
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Stegner, Wallace. On A Darkling Plain.
NY, Harcourt, Brace, 1940, first edition, dust
jacket. Hardcover. This was his first full-length
novel, a very elusive book of which Stegner was not
particularly proud and which very quickly went out
of print, it was published serially as Clash By
Night, Colberg A4.1.a, this copy Inscribed by
Stegner with his warm regards to a noted
bibliophile. Damp stain to top of rear board and
inside of rear jacket panel, else very good. JD3437
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Bellow, Saul. Oct. 25, 1961, first edition.
An autographed letter signed by the Nobel Prize
winner, written to fellow writer and long-time
friend, Herbert Gold, dated Oct. 25, 1961, the
letter is on one c.8X12.5-inch ruled sheet of
yellow paper in which Bellow discusses a story
written by Gold's brother, Sid, that Herb had sent
him for a critique, Bellow's views are mostly
positive with some constructive criticism ("A
slightly tougher point of view brought to bear on
the musical crook might make the story heave up and
grow hair and claws"), written on both side of the
sheet, the letter consists of 49 lines and is
signed "Saul," he ends by telling Herb to ask his
brother to rewrite the story ("He's got something,
but you must encourage him to be somewhat harder --
the Nietschean hardness"), for further insight, see
Herb Gold's poignant memoir of his brother, Sid,
King of the Cleveland Beatniks, 28-34 in the Saul
Bellow-edited "The Republic of Letters," No. 8,
2000. Folded for mailing and with general wear.
JD6016
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[Wallace Stegner] Stegner, Wallace.
Fire and Ice. NY, Duell, Sloan and Pearce,
1941, first edition, dust jacket. Hardcover. This
is perhaps his most difficult trade title to find,
especially with jacket, Stegner estimated that
2,500 copies were printed and that 1,900 of them
sold, the remainder were probably pulped, Colberg
A5, this copy carries a vintage inscription by
Stegner ("For Elizabeth Patterson--/just an old
Indian/love McCall/Wallace Stegner"). Very
good.JD3438
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[Wallace Stegner] Stegner, Wallace.
The Geography of Hope: A Wilderness Letter.
n.p., The Wilderness Society, 1993, first edition,
wrappers. Softcover. With a printed dust jacket
wrapped around, string-tied binding, includes a
frontispiece photo of Stegner by Leo Holub and an
appreciation by T. H. Watkins, Stegner's essay is
the second chapbook in the Wilderness Society's
Founders Circle collection of great writing on
wilderness, Stegner offers his own introduction
written especially for this book as well as his
famous Dec. 3, 1960 letter to David E. Pesonen that
came to be known as The Wilderness Letter, this is
one of only 115 copies, letterpress printed only
for members of the Wilderness Society Founders
Circle (donors of $10,000+), together with the
first chapbook in the series, Wilderness by Aldo
Leopold, also done letterpress, string-tied
binding, in wrappers with printed dust jacket, it
also includes an appreciation by T. H. Watkins,
photo portrait of Leopold from the University of
Wisconsin archives, text is from his A Sand County
Almanac and Sketches Here and There, this is one of
only 100 copies, although not called for, both
books are signed by Luke Ives Pontifell,
printer/designer of the Thornwillow Press which
printed both books. Both books are as
new.
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Stegner, Wallace. Wilderness Letter. Salt
Lake City, Red Butte Press, 1995, first edition.
Issued without dust jacket, but with publisher's
cloth clamshell case, the book measures 7.5X15
inches, handbound with matched cottonwood boards
with a Coptic-stryle sewing structure exposed on
the spine, housed in a box covered with rust red
fabric from Japan, printed on buff-gray cotton rag
handmade paper, titles throughout printed in
various colors, this was Wallace Stegner's rallying
cry for the preservation of wilderness made in the
form of a letter written Dec. 3, 1960 to David E.
Pesonen, the book is illustrated with fine line
etchings by V. Douglas Snow, foreword by Stegner's
son, collaborator, fellow writer, and
conservationist, Page Stegner, there were only 75
numbered copies and 25 copies with Roman numerals
hors commerce, the book was out of print before
distribution, this is one of the contributor
copies, being No. VI, given to Page Stegner, this
is confirmed in a letter from Page Stegner and by a
slip of paper tipped into the clamshell case that
carries his name and the book number, this was one
of two contributor copies given to Page, the book
is Signed by both the younger Stegner and V.
Douglas Snow, laid in loosely is an announcement
for the book, also laid in loosely is a cancelled
check Signed by Wallace Stegner, very scarce, a
wonderful copy of a wonderful book. As new. JD5341
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Adams, Ansel. An archive of letters from
Ansel Adams to Wallace Stegner. This is an
archive of letters and manuscript material
involving two great artists, two great
conservationists, two great Americans -- Ansel
Adams and Wallace Stegner. There are three
sections, as follows:
Section 1. This is comprised of 18 warm,
cordial letters from Ansel Adams to Wallace Stegner
from the years 1962 to 1982. All are typed letters,
the vast majority signed by Adams. He often makes
additions and flourishes in his own hand. Most are
on Ansel Adams letterhead. Content is consistently
fully-packed.
Section 2. This is a lot of materials
related to the New York Graphic Society book, Ansel
Adams Images 1923-1974 which included a foreword by
Stegner.
Section 3. This lot concerns a
question-and-answer evening at Stanford University
involving both Stegner and Adams that took place
Oct. 24, 1982. Essentially fine. JD6560
Below is listed a detailed description of
each of the 3 sections of the letters.
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Section 1. This is comprised of 18 warm,
cordial letters from Ansel Adams to Wallace Stegner
from the years 1962 to 1982. All are typed letters,
the vast majority signed by Adams. He often makes
additions and flourishes in his own hand. Most are
on Ansel Adams letterhead. Content is consistently
fully-packed. The first letter is dated Jan. 6,
1862, but it is more likely to have been Jan. 6,
1963. It congratulates Stegner on his most recent
book, Wolf Willow, noting in his P. S. that there
is a discrepancy in the end-paper maps. The second
letter, dated Feb. 1, 1963, also speaks to Wolf
Willow. The third letter, Jan. 12, 1964, discusses
the problems of the Sierra Club, noting that "Dave
Brower is our most valuable assettt" (sic)," adding
that "It is unfortunate that his zeal has sometimes
irritated people and turned them against him." The
next letter also speaks about the Sierra Club and
also talks about a recent meeting in which he talks
about "Life" magazine "and other magazines of
'mass' direction. They want 'creative' work, but it
must relate to pre-conceived notions. In other
words - 'please be creative but in a certain way'.
This is common in the photographic world. It seems
to reflect a kind of 'group journalism' which can
be, I think, disastrous to truly individualistic
art." Another letter talks about problems in what
was probably a Sierra Club book with Robinson
Jeffers content. "To say it is a 'Jeffers' book
would be wrong and an injustice to the poet,
because the excerpts are largely out of context."
He goes on to discuss what that book should
contain. Another letter, dated Feb. 22, 1965,
apparently responds to a Stegner inquiry regarding
Stieglitz. Another talks about a print by Adams
that he had sent to Stegner and adds "I do have
some conservation ideas which might 'work' for THE
AMERICAN WEST." Another speaks again about a print
by Adams about which there was a problem the two
were trying to resolve. Adams also writes, "I do a
lot of work, almost four men's sometimes, but I
seem to survive." Another attaches a clipping from
a newspaper that lambasts Stegner and his The
Spectator Bird. Adams recounts a classic rejoinder
about critics. Another letter, to which Adams
attaches a typed limerick, praises Stegner's The
Spectator Bird. Adams's wife, Virginia, adds a
written note of praise for the book. The next
letter, dated Aug. 9, 1976, talks about his recent
trip to Europe. "I did 62 rolls of film and feel I
have about 6.2 really good images." He also talks
presidential politics, thinking that Jimmy Carter
"seems the only possible answer. I would not feel
too crushed if Ford got in because I think he is,
at least, of honest intention. Reagan would be a
catastrophe." He also make a suggestion: "STEGNER
FOR PRESIDENT!!" Another letter, dated March 20,
1977, talks at length about Little, Brown and the
New York Graphic "people" and the work done on
recent books. Another, dated Sept. 11, 1978,
introduces Robert Cahn to Stegner. The Sierra Club
Bulletin commissioned Cahn to write an article on
the role Adams played in conservation and asks
Stegner to see him. "I will appreciate your taking
the time to see him and give him your thoughts on
the Beard!" A Feb. 7, 1979 letter from an
assistant, Andrea Turnage, announces that Adams
will have open heart surgery on Feb. 14. Adams
writes on Aug. 12, 1980 about his support for Sen.
Alan Cranston, asking Stegner for his support. A
card dated April 11, 1982 praises Stegner as a
writer and goes on to say this is a crucial year
for environmentalism and environmentalists. He
writes, "We MUST achieve a strong majority in both
Houses of Congress if there is to be any hope of
controlling our President and his Gang of Four
(plus)," adding that "We MUST go Democratic."
Section 2. This is a lot of materials
related to the New York Graphic Society book, Ansel
Adams Images 1923-1974 which included a foreword by
Stegner. Included are two lengthy typed letters to
Stegner from Nancy Newhall. She talks a great deal
about Adams and the Sierra Club. "Ansel would have
been the greatest president the Club ever had, and
I am not overlooking Bill Colby or even John Muir.
As it was, he, with Dave Brower and me, made the
Club the most important conservation force in the
nation. What a shame Dave lost his financial
faculties." She goes on to ask for a first draft
"as soon as you can. Stick just to what you know of
the Ansel if that fits charmingly into this, to me,
large vague book." In the second letter she writes,
"By all means, let Ansel percolate through your
system - he's better even than fine coffee and old
brandy - like what John Muir called the "champagne
water" of the high Sierra. She suggests that she do
the biography part of the book. Another letter,
this a typed letter signed by Adams on his
letterhead, thanks Stegner for doing the foreword
"for my 'big book' with the New York Graphic
Society." He goes on to introduce another
photographer, Pat Cauldfield, who was then engaged
on a project on the northern plains. Adams encloses
some tear sheets of her work that she had sent
Adams from Audubon. His next letter thanks Stegner
for his work on the book. "If the book is
successful," he writes, "it will be LARGELY due to
your handsome text. I am much impressed; so is
Virginia. It echoes so much mutually agreeable
philosophy. It has style (rare in these days)." He
then makes comments on some specific parts
Stegner's text, sometimes praising sections and
also makes some suggestions for change. Attached to
this letter is Stegner's original manuscript
(typescript) of the foreword. For reasons unknown
to me, it is missing pages 10, 11, 15, 17-18. Page
8 is also either a mimeo or an early photo-copy
showing reproduced hand corrections and one hand
correction in ink. The lot also includes Stegner's
complete carbon copy of the foreword.
Section 3. This lot concerns a
question-and-answer evening at Stanford University
involving both Stegner and Adams that took place
Oct. 24, 1982. Included in this lot is an original
announcement of this "conversation." It is also
comprised of correspondence from Adams to Stegner
about the event. The first letter, dated Aug. 19,
1982, touches base with Stegner about the event,
asking general questions on how the event should
go. As an aside, Adams writes, "It would be
interesting if we could make it a Watt (here
referring to James Watt) Wake but I guess we have
to be more constructive." His P. S. is of interest.
"I am feeling pretty good; not much energy on the
trail, but considerable in the darkroom or at the
Word Processor. It would (be) rejuvinating to see
you people! Did you hear about the religious bunny
that was born in the hutch back of Notre Dame?" A
follow-up letter, dated Oct. 12, 1982, discusses
the event in greater detail. He writes, "This
started out as a group of sedate questions but I
quickly got into a plethora of scattered ideas.
Some may have merit as points-of-departure. Is (If)
some ideas are vague, spelling may be worse!" This
three-page typed letter goes on to list questions.
Stegner has made brief notes in the margins in his
hand. A photo-copy of Stegner's letter of Oct. 15,
1982 in response is also included. Adams apparently
wanted to talk mostly about conservation, but
Stegner thought the audience would at least equally
be interested in Adams talking about photography.
Another Adams letter, dated Oct. 16, 1982, now
responds to Stegner and his suggestions. "Your
questions are very sharp and intelligent. I shall
carefully review mine and submit to you in time for
discussion." He adds, "Please be frank in all
detail with my ideas. You are one of those people
who have a great store of essential facts, as well
as a sense of structure. I have a lot of most
sincere opinions but am not gifted in deft
organization thereof." Included is a photo-copy of
Stegner's proposed opening remarks -- five typed
pages showing some hand-corrections. With this is
the manuscript (typescript) of Stegner's questions
to be posed to Adams at the event. Some of the
sentences have been altered with white-out and
typed over by Stegner. These 13 lengthy questions
cover six pages. Each page shows at least some
hand-corrections by Stegner. Coupled with these
questions is a photo-copy of 10 pages of questions
that Adams wanted to pose to Stegner. Lastly, there
is a typed letter signed by Adams to Stegner dated
Oct. 25, 1982. "It was a fine event," he writes,
"and, as I said, at least 50% was perfect! I
commend your style and 'presence.'" He then
comments at length about how much food he ate, but
notes, "This AM I weighed one Pound LESS than I did
yesterday! Let's have another event!!"
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