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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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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