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Genesee Books
Membership(s): IOBA
A well curated selection of literature, modern first editions, poetry, Rochester and Western New York history, and books and ephemera from American counterculture. I have an affinity for writers with a connection to this region and have collections of books written by John Gardner, John A. Williams, William Heyen, Paul West and many other writers from this region.
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149 original photos of NASCAR's Jerry Cook
Cook, JerryEarly Modified NASCAR Photographs 1963-69 featuring Hall of Fame Jerry Cook
$475.00Genesee Books
Not a book. One hundred and forty-nine original photographs documenting modified NASCAR racing in Western New York from the years 1963-69, with a focus on Hall of Fame driver Jerry Cook. Most of the photographs are from the dirt tracks of Western New York in 1963-64. Some are from Southern circuits in 1969. Includes prints from portrait photographer Richard Mosher. This collection includes (27) 8″ x 10″ black and white photographs, (19) photos roughly 5″ x 7″ and the remaining mix of smaller photographs are in both black and white. Collection includes still, action, portrait, and group photographs. Jerry Cook was born June 20, 1943, in Lockport, New York where he still lives. He built his first Modified at age 13 and took the wheel in 1963 after hired drivers wrecked two of his cars. From then on, the red No.38 became a familiar sight on the Northeast short-tack circuit, cutting his teeth on dirt tracks in Utica-Rome and Canandaigua in NASCAR’s oldest division, racing open-wheel Modifieds – typically chopped 1937 Chevrolet coupes and later Falcon- and Pinto-bodied cars powered by fuel-injected Chevrolet engines. One of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers. In the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame, The International Motorsports Hall of Fame, the NYSSCA Hall of Fame, and the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Offered for Sale by: Genesee Books -
Heyen's Holocaust poems, inscribed to K. Shapiro
Heyen, WilliamThe Swastika Poems
$129.00Genesee Books
New York: Vanguard Press, 1977. Burgundy boards with silver gilt title on spine and cover. 1/4″ closed tear to very lightly soiled, unclipped dust jacket. Square, tight binding. Clean interior. Inscribed by Heyen to fellow poet Karl Shapiro on half title page. Includes announcement card for next book, The Ash, addressed to Shapiro. Jacket wrapped in protective Brodart cover.
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Signed & lettered copy, hand-bound by Earle Gray
Field, EdwardCounting Myself Lucky Selected Poems 1963-1992
$125.00Genesee Books
Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1992. First edition. This title was released in a run of 200 trade copies, 125 signed and numbered copies, and 26 copies hand bound by Earle Gray that are both signed and lettered . This is letter ‘E’. Original decorative cloth-wrapped pictorial paper-covered boards. With original acetate dust jacket. Title paste-down on spine. 307 pages.
Offered for Sale by: Genesee Books -
Hecht's poems, inscribed to poet Barbara Jordan
Hecht, AnthonyCollected Earlier Poems
$100.00Genesee Books
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990. Stated first edition. Association copy inscribed by Hecht to poet Barbara Jordan. With tipped in explanation of the book’s provenance by poet and collector William Heyen. The complete texts of The Hard Hours, Millions of Strange Shadows, and The Venetian Vespers. 272 pages.
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Ginsberg-inscribed first ed., Gotham Book Mart
Ginsberg, AllenBixby Canyon Ocean Path Word Breeze
$157.00Genesee Books
New York: Gotham Book Mart, 1972. Inscribed by Ginsberg on the title page. Stated first edition. Illustrated with photographs by William Webb. Golden rod wrappers with black title and tipped on illustration by painter Emil White. Unpaginated.
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Ginsberg-signed Reality Sandwiches, City Lights
Ginsberg, AllenReality Sandwiches
$75.00Genesee Books
San Francisco: City Lights, 1971. Eleventh printing (1971) of City Lights Pocket Poets series number eighteen originally published in 1963. Signed by Ginsberg to late Rochester, NY bookseller Christopher Rozzi on the title page. 98 pages with City Lights catalog on last page.
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Signed copy of Ginsberg's Beat landmark Howl
Ginsberg, AllenHowl and Other Poems
$400.00Genesee Books
San Francisco: City Lights, 1969. Twenty first printing (1969) of City Lights Pocket Poets series number four originally published in 1956. Signed by Ginsberg to late Rochester, NY bookseller Christopher Rozzi on the title page. 44 pages with City Lights catalog on last page.
Offered for Sale by: Genesee Books -
diary / ledgers of Western NY farmer
Spencer, John F.Wyoming County, NY farmer’s diary 1890 – 1930
$750.00Genesee Books
Sixteen bound volumes / notebooks of the diary of John F. Spencer, a farmer from Pike, NY (1845 -1935) Over 2400 pages, handwritten in pencil. September 8, 1878 – October 4, 1880October 5, 1880 – October 31, 1883August 30, 1886 – October 3, 1888August 23, 1890 – June 4, 1892July 1, 1884 – August 28, 1886 October 4, 1888 – August 22, 1890June 1, 1892 – March 23, 1894February 1, 1896 – July 31, 1897February 1, 1899 – February 24, 1900 August 1, 1900 – July 31, 1901January 1, 1904 – July 22, 1906October 1, 1924 – May 3, 1929 March 1, 1930 – September 3, 1930 September 4, 1930 – August 15, 1931 July 29, 1932 – August 12, 1933August 16, 1931 – July 28, 1932 Â
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Southern agrarian lit association copies
Warren, Robert PennWorld Enough and Time, The Cave, All the King’s Men, Flood, Wilderness, Meet Me in the Green Glen, and four collections of poetry
$850.00Genesee Books
Collection of eleven books written by Robert Penn Warren . Ten are inscribed to Peter Dzwonkoski. All on the FFEP From the collection of Brockport, NY poet William Heyen, with a signed note speaking to the provenance.  Peter Dzwonkoski worked under famed bibliographer and archivist Donald Gallup at Yale’s Beinecke Library, then became Director of Rate Book and Special Collections at the University of Rochester. Over decades, he befriended many writers, oversaw exhibitions, published essays on books and book-collecting, delighted in book-talk.  Before he passed, he sold much of his collection to friend and fellow collector, poet William Heyen, author of Depth of Field (1970), Noise in the Trees (1974), The Swastika Poems (1977), Long Island Light (1979), Erika: Poems of the Holocaust (1984), Crazy Horse In Stillness (1996), and Shoah Train (2003). Robert Penn Warren was a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist and poet and  served as the Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. He was also a professor at Yale University. Eleven Poems on the Same Theme (1942) This is Warren’s second published work. The only unsigned title in this collection. Previous owner’s name on bottom rear of dust jacket and on inner flap. Unpaginated. Unadorned stapled wrappers with lightly soiled printed dust jacket, now wrapped in protective cover. Selected Poems: New and Old 1923–1966 (1966)First edition. VG / VG World Enough and Time (1950) Kentucky is once again the background and integral part of this long novel, the story of Jeremiah Beaumont. The period — early 19th century, finds Kentucky still a frontier, with the inevitable conflicts between frontier viewpoints and those of an encroaching civilization. First edition. NF / VG The Cave (1959). The story of a young man trapped in a cave in fictional Johntown, Tennessee. His predicament becomes the center of national attention as television cameras, promoters, and newscasters converge on the small town to exploit the rescue attempts and the thousands of spectators gathered at the mouth of the cave. Early printing. Clipped dust jacket. VG / VG All the King’s Men (1963) Pulitzer Prize winning novel, later adapted to an Academy Award winning film. The dramatic and theatrical political rise and governorship of Willie Stark, based on Louisiana’s Huey Long. 1963 Time Inc. reprint. This edition is scarce with a signature, Inscribed on title page. Tight, square binding. Likely unread. NF. You, Emperors, and Others: Poems 1957–1960 (1960) After a decade away from writing poetry this book-length poem explores a shocking true crime: the murder committed by Lilburne Lewis, a relative of Thomas Jefferson. First edition, first printing. Owner’s name on FFEP; otherwise clean interior. Tight, square binding. VG / VG Wilderness: A Tale of the Civil War (1961). Wilderness remains a profoundly provocative meditation on the significance of the Civil War and the varieties of human experience.First edition. NF/NF Flood: A Romance of Our Time (1964) Learning of the imminent annihilation of Fiddlersburg, Tennessee, writer Brad Tolliver, accompanied by screen director Yasha Jones, returns to the home town to find in his roots the immutable, creative self he had lost. First edition. VG+/VG+ Closed 1″ inch tear, one small chip and three smaller closed tears barely detract from the vibrant green dust jacket. Green cloth with gold gilt title on spine that is showing some wear to gilt. Meet Me in the Green Glen (1971) The frustrated wife of an invalid finds herself both attracted to and tormented by a live-in handyman with a criminal past, a former flame, and a wealthy, mysterious visitor. First edition. VG/VG With some bumping, a closed 1″ tear at rear and chipping to jacket at bottom spine edge. Selected Poems: 1923–1975 (1981)Franklin Library edition bound in genuine leather and features gilded, sewn in pages and ribbon marker. Signed on fly leaf by Warren. With Heyen’s signature on previous page.
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signed Saul Bellow
Bellow, SaulMr. Sammler’s Planet
$260.00Genesee Books
New York: The Viking Press, 1970. Hardcover. 8vo. 316 pp. First edition. This book is from the collection of Peter Dzwonkoski, former Director of Rare Books & Special Collections at the University of Rochester, and previously of Yale’s Beinecke Library. Signed by author on full title page. Blue top stain. Blue cloth with embossed initials of author on front cover. Clean interior. Unclipped jacket in protective mylar. Square binding. Some rubbing to jacket and closed 1/8″ tear along spine edge.Â
Offered for Sale by: Genesee Books -
the story of Moses Herzog
Bellow, SaulHerzog
$585.00Genesee Books
New York: The Viking Press. 1964. Hardcover. 8vo., 341 pages. Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First edition. Signed by author on full title page. Light blue top stain. Clipped jacket with light wear at edges. Five small closed tears (less than 1/8″) Clean interior with no toning. Blue cloth with embossed title on front cover, silver gilt title on spine. This is the story of Moses Herzog, a great sufferer, joker, mourner, and charmer. Although his life steadily disintegrates around him – he has failed as a writer and teacher, as a father, and has lost the affection of his wife to his best friend – Herzog sees himself as a survivor, both of his private disasters and those of the age. He writes unsent letters to friends and enemies, colleagues and famous people, revealing his wry perception of the world around him, and the innermost secrets of his heart.
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10 inscribed John Hersey association copies
Hersey, JohnThe Wall, Marmot Drive, A Single Pebble, Child Buyer, Too Far to Walk, Under the Eye of the Storm, Letter to the Alumni, and The Conspiracy (inscribed)
$775.00Genesee Books
Collection of ten books written by John Hersey. Inscribed to Peter Dzwonkoski. All in Hersey’s inimitable style, on the title page. From the collection of Brockport, NY poet William Heyen. All include a note from Heyen regarding the provenance. Peter Dzwonkoski worked under famed bibliographer and archivist Donald Gallup at Yale’s Beinecke Library, then became Director of Rate Book and Special Collections at the University of Rochester. Over decades, he befriended many writers, oversaw exhibitions, published essays on books and book-collecting, delighted in book-talk.  Before he passed, he sold much of his collection to friend and fellow collector, poet William Heyen, author of Depth of Field (1970), Noise in the Trees (1974), The Swastika Poems (1977), Long Island Light (1979), Erika: Poems of the Holocaust (1984), Crazy Horse In Stillness (1996), and Shoah Train (2003). John Hersey is often cited as the father of ‘New Journalism’. The Wall (1950) A novel about events in the Warsaw ghetto from November 1939, with the German occupation, to May 1943, when the last houses in the ghetto were razed. The Wall won the Daroff Memorial Fiction Award of the Jewish Book Council of America and the Sidney Hillman Foundation Award. It was dramatized by Millard Lampell, produced at the Billy Rose Theater in New York in the early 1960’s and filmed for television by CBS in 1982. Stated first edition. NF / VG+ Marmot Drive (1953) This novel deals with events on two summer days in an out-of-the-way Connecticut village related to the decision of the villagers of Tunxis to launch their long-debated drive to rid a nearby valley of an infestation of marmots. But the drive is merely the catalyst. Its tensions and rigors release a storm of impulses and long-hidden traits in the people involved, so that in the end the natural drama is engulfed by the human drama.Stated first edition. NF / VG+ A Single Pebble (1956) A young American engineer sent to China to inspect the unruly Yangtze River travels up through the river’s gorges searching for dam sites. Pulled on a junk hauled by forty-odd trackers, he is carried, too, into the settled, ancient way of life of the people of the Yangtze — until the interplay of his life with theirs comes to a dramatic climax.Mass market paperback. Later printing. VG+ Child Buyer (1960) The novel is primarily a satire on the school system, although it also posits questions about intelligence, the validity of intelligence/personality tests, and the efficacy of attempts to quantify humanity. One of its major themes is corruption.Alfred A. Knopf, First US edition. NF / NFHamish Hamilton, First UK edition. NF / NF Too Far to Walk (1966) Is there anywhere a young man so dull he would not sell his soul for experience? In this striking new novel, quite different from anything he has written before, John Hersey probes deeply, but with rich humor, into the aimlessness, boredom, and rebellion of a group of undergraduates in a New England college.Clipped dust jacket, now in Brodart. Stated first edition. VG+ / VG+ Under the Eye of the Storm (1967) Two married couples aboard a small boat are besieged by a hurricane. The owner, Dr. Tom Medlar, a liver specialist disenchanted with his healing art, has weekend guests with him on the Harmony. Flicker Hamden, a crack computer-think-man, is inclined to see everything in terms of programming potential, even the mystique of sail, which is heresy to the fussy, meticulous Medlar.Stated first edition. NF / NF Letter to the Alumni (1970) He wrote this letter in response to the trial of the Black Panthers in New Haven, Connecticut and the sociopolitical turmoil gripping the United States at the time during the Civil Rights movement. Stated first edition NF / NF The Conspiracy (1972) Nero’s secret police believe they have come on the first hints of a plot against the emperor’s life. Once a promising and gifted friend of poets, pupil of the great Seneca, Nero has bloodied himself and grown fat on power. Crass, mediocre men–the military & the secret police–now have his ear. While he and his court give themselves to pleasures increasingly perverse & dissipated, the secret police close in on the conspiracy of the men of letters.Alfred A. Knopf, First US edition. NF / NFHamish Hamilton, First UK edition. NF / NF
Offered for Sale by: Genesee Books
