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Letters to a Dancer from Friends Concerning Life as Artistic Young People in Post-War California by [Youth Culture – 1950s – Dance] Lawrence, David

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Seller: Auger Down Books

Title: Letters to a Dancer from Friends Concerning Life as Artistic Young People in Post-War California
Author: [Youth Culture – 1950s – Dance] Lawrence, David
Seller: Auger Down Books (United States)
Condition: Generally fine
Description: California, 1940. Approximately 248 total pages: 149 8.5 x 11 inches and smaller (three typed) and ninety-nine 5 x 8 inches and smaller. Most undated; those with dates ranging from 1944 to 1958. Ninety-two pages from Nancy Gotthart and eighty-six pages from Helen Gotthart; the remaining from various friends either unsigned or with first name only. Many letters missing pages. Generally fine. David Lawrence was part of a cohort of young dancers in Southern California; he modeled and may have danced in the SoCal Ballet. His correspondents here include Nancy Gotthart, an aspiring artist and writer whom Lawrence met in a dance class; Helen Gotthart, Nancy’s mother; Leisa, a fellow aspiring dancer; Wendy, a dancer with the Players Guild; and others. Offered here is a large lot of letters, mainly to Lawrence from friends, with those dated spanning from the mid-1940s to the late 1950s. His friends, who are mostly women, seem to be in their late teens to early twenties and are struggling to adjust to young adult life in the postwar era. Fellow dancer Leisa writes perceptively that: “I know it is rough all over, but in a couple of years the whole world is going to see a change, and there will be a chance for the creative person to do something, that he feels he is supposed to do. I know how much I want to dance and also how much you want to dance, but to be realistic and not emotional under the conditions of the world today, we would never be able to [get] what we want.” (No Date) In the meantime, the friends are open about the emotional effects of this transitional time. Nancy Gotthart tells Lawrence that: “I am in my little cave. It is a mess – broken glass, a couple of oil paintings torn and strewn about, my radio smashed in a sick heap by the bookcase, while various parts are scattered from one end of the apartment to the other. An empty scotch bottle reigns over the general chaos. [...] It was after I tore up the paintings, I had scratched my wrist and it was bleeding slightly – you know how it is with an animal when it scents blood: it wants more: and so did I.” (October 28, 1958) Leisa and their mutual friends are troubled as well. She writes: “Dick, was put in an institution, because he told someone he saw God, and for 8 months, he was given nothing but shock treatments. (Please don’t say anything to anyone) And I was put [in] a home for girls because I hated People, and told everyone God was going to destr[o]y them. So you see what happens to people [when] you arn’t given understanding.” (No Date) Lawrence expresses a similar sentiment in an unsent response to a letter from his friend Wendy. Wendy is “working with the Players Guild, a group of dancers headed by Raoul Pausé and Marce Wild” and is starting “rehearsals for a jazy [sic] ballet in which Ron Pointdexter has done the choreography” (April 30, 1958). At that time, Lawrence was taking classes and modeling in Hollywood. In his letter to Wendy, after several missing pages, he concludes: “[...] or anything just alone – an empty feeling of some urge of destruction – A smash-up – any one anything – the sudden desire to destroy with no attemp[t] of physical violence – this conflicting urge swells with in me like a massive wave – bound for destruction – building higher and higher – nothing can prevent it – like a tital [sic] wave it reaches its climax – then down it smashes – nothing gained – nothing lost – just a desire of self pity with no conclusion –” (November 13, 1958) In a draft of a letter also in the archive from a Lorraine to Tom—perhaps Lorraine was a friend that Lawrence was helping to write this letter—these feelings are located squarely in the context of malaise surrounding World War II: “As for my job, that is of no consequence. I have given notice, and this Saturday will be my last day at Gilfillan. [...] When I took the job, I went with innocent + believing eyes, thinking I was doing what I should for the war effort. I only find myself now a human parasite, wasting ½ my time doing nothing – and the most important thing expected of me is to look busy when the “big shots” go through the plant. Such waste of precious time – how I feel with you the impossible hand of army routine life crushing out all possibility of creativeness! And if one doesn’t rebel inwardly (for actively it is impossible to do in your position), he falls into the rut which too many people eventually accept as part of them.” (August 25, 1944) Fortunately, Lawrence has a supportive adult in his life: Nancy’s mother, Helen Gotthart, with whom Lawrence has a lengthy correspondence and an ambiguously tender relationship. Helen—who is a real estate agent and aspiring writer—encourages Lawrence to stick with dancing: “I want to insist again that you must take at least one or two classes a week, or get into your dance clothes and give yourself a barre at the kitchen sink [...] but don’t allow yourself to get stiff, whatever you do. And look like crazy for another job where you can get classes and maybe attend rehearsals again, [...] If you let things drift as they are without trying to do better in any and every way possible, then you will be as bad as R. only in a different way.” (September 13, 1957) She assures him that “if we both do our best and work as hard as we can, perhaps we will both come out on top”, and promises to “do all I can to help you, or possibly I should say ‘to help you help yourself,’ because dance is a thing you must do for yourself” (November 10, NY). Also of interest in the archive is Nancy’s appraisal of the contemporary treatment of gay men, which they discuss several times. Nancy writes: “Oh, yes, you made reference to some ‘raids’. Were you referring to the round-up of homosexuals? There has been a great-to-do about it in the papers. Several private citizens, and, you remember Ermine Duccini? Well he was picked up. And on account of public opinions (mothers primarily) he is going to be dropped from [page missing…] turn their efforts to rounding-up dope-pushers and the like. The strange ideas & hates of the great unwashed are incomprehensible to me. I guess they feel the murders committed by the sale of heroin are less terrible. (?) Not so with me; I believe in live and let live.” (May 8, 1958) At another point, she remarks: “As far as I am concerned what should be done with such people [i.e., gay men] is let them alone. They are as much human beings (perhaps more) as anyone else. After all, one isn’t condemned because he prefers green to blue, why would one be condemned for preferring someone of one’s own sex? And the thing that really gets me about all this business is that a married man can philander and make every woman he feels inclined to, while two men or two women who really love each other and don’t go on the make have no rights according to our brave government. This makes me want to vomit.” (No Date) The friends’ unconventional attitudes towards sexuality seem to apply to their own lives as well. Included in the archive is a very graphic break-up letter from an unknown woman to Lawrence; the fourteen-page letter is surprisingly sexually explicit, contravening stereotypes of the time: “I have more tenderness warmth, passion, and understanding in my little finger, than most women in their whole person. Where do you think – from what well do I draw what you feel, when you think I’m being submissive? The well is bottomless, never been drained, though drank from copiously. Right now, David, I can come up with nine guys, count them, nine (of which only two have slept with me) that would come right out and say they love me! And that’s only on this coast! [...] You hurt my feelings tremendously by saying that, as opposed to other women, you ‘don't’ like me when I’m not submissive’ (!) A) When am I not submissive? Any touch from you renders me so, any indication of your desire [...]” (No Date) Overall, an uncommon survival providing an intimate look at the inner lives of American youths coming of age after the Second World War and before the next decade’s counterculture would allow them the creative freedom they desired.

A SYSTEM OF ANATOMY FOR THE USE OF STUDENTS [Five Parts in Three Volumes] by Wistar, Caspar

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$1,000.00

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Seller: Second Story Books, ABAA

Title: A SYSTEM OF ANATOMY FOR THE USE OF STUDENTS [Five Parts in Three Volumes]
Author: Wistar, Caspar
Seller: Second Story Books, ABAA (United States)
Description: Philadelphia: Thomas Dobson, 1811. Hardcover. Octavos, Three Volumes. In Good condition. Rebound in modern cream paper, quarter backed in modern black cloth with blue spine labels and gilt titling. Boards show slight fading and wear to spines, and minor shelf wear to edges. Text blocks age toned, with foxing and age toning to pages throughout. All volumes paginated continuously as issued, with the addition of numbered pages alternate with blank leaves for note-taking. Several note-taking pages used or partially used, with some scattered marginal notes on printed text pages. Originally issued in two volumes, this copy was bound in three volumes to make space for interleaving. MF Consignment. CONTENTS: Vol. I. (Iii-xii, 268 pages, [134 blanks interleaved]) -- Vol. II. (pp. 269-422, 172 pages, [162 blanks interleaved]) -- Vol. III. (pp. 173-453, [140 blanks interleaved, with one folding plate]). 1359904. Special Collections.

AUTHOR! AUTHOR! by Wodehouse, P.G.

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$37.50

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Seller: Second Story Books, ABAA

Title: AUTHOR! AUTHOR!
Author: Wodehouse, P.G.
Seller: Second Story Books, ABAA (United States)
Description: New York: Simon and Schuster, 1962. First American Edition. Hardcover. Octavo, 191 pages. Very Good minus in a Very Good minus dust jacket. Spine has yellow and black lettering on an orange background. Dust jacket is in a mylar sleeve, spine is slightly sunned, spine ends have minor chipping, general soiling front and rear covers. Bound in quarter yellow cloth with yellow and red blotched paper. Spine and front cover have red lettering. Spine slightly cocked, with the spine ends slightly dented. Text block is dusty and age toned on the top, pages have age toning. NOTE: Shelved in Netdesk Column W (ND-W). 1402469. FP New Rockville Stock.

Nordisk Skaktidende Volume IX (9) by Oskar Theobald Malmqvist and Søren Anton Sørensen (editors)

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$1,000.00

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Seller: The Book Collector ABAA, ILAB, TBA

Title: Nordisk Skaktidende Volume IX (9)
Author: Oskar Theobald Malmqvist and Søren Anton Sørensen (editors)
Seller: The Book Collector ABAA, ILAB, TBA (United States)
Condition: Good
Description: xi+[3]-294 pages with diagrams, tables and index. Octavo (8 3/4" x 6") bound in half leather with gilt lettering to spine. Volume 9. (Bibliotheca van der Linde-Niemeijeriana: 5999) First edition.The Nordisk Skaktidende was the first Danish periodical founded (in 1873) and edited by two strong Danish players, Oskar Theobald Malmqvist and Søren Anton Sørensen. It lasted until 1881 with volume 9. In the May, 1881 edition there appeared two games that had been conducted by Prince Dadian during the St. Petersburg amateur tournament in which he took first prize.Condition:Cover scraped, corners bumped and rubbed, page 19/20 damp stained with edge reinforced. Some occasional marginalia else a good copy.

U.S. Military History Coons Family WWII and Vietnam Air Force Archive 1942 to 1969 Documenting Generational Service and Cultural Change by Air Force Father and Son's Military Archive: WWII and Vietnam

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$850.00

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Seller: Max Rambod Inc.

Title: U.S. Military History Coons Family WWII and Vietnam Air Force Archive 1942 to 1969 Documenting Generational Service and Cultural Change
Author: Air Force Father and Son's Military Archive: WWII and Vietnam
Seller: Max Rambod Inc. (United States)
Description: 1942. Coon, Clarence; Coon, Michael. Coons family Air Force service archive, 1942-1944 and 1968-1969, documents two generations of American military experience across World War II and the Vietnam War, offering direct evidence of shifting military culture, wartime attitudes, and generational identity within a single family. Clarence Coon's New York, World War II service as an engineer gunner in the Fifteenth Air Force in Italy situates the archive within the Allied air campaign over Europe, while his son Michael Coon's deployment to South Vietnam places the later material within the context of a deeply contested and culturally transformative conflict. Clarence's letters and scrapbook entries foreground a disciplined and duty-oriented perspective shaped by mid-century wartime expectations, while Michael's photographic record presents a markedly different tone, capturing leisure, irreverence, and camaraderie among soldiers during the Vietnam era. The archive preserves Clarence's written voice, including lines such as "Another card to let you know that I don't do all my writing to women," and his commentary on the 1942 New York gubernatorial election, "The radio just announced Bennet's Defeat. To bad. Well we will see what Dewey can do. I wish him luck," as well as his observations during stateside training, "Well, as far as I'm concerned they can give Tenn. back to the Indians. We are walking around in a sea of mud. Its all day + rains every 5 min. I wouldn't live in the South for anything." Together, these materials establish a continuous family narrative linking wartime service, political awareness, and personal expression across two major twentieth-century conflicts. Coons family Air Force archive. United States and Vietnam, 1942-1944 and 1968-1969. Group consists of two photograph albums from Vietnam War service and one World War II scrapbook, accompanied by a quantity of associated ephemera including patches, medals, registration cards, business cards, a ring, and a dog tag. Archive contains approximately 123 photographs across the albums and scrapbook, along with numerous postcards, including 26 with manuscript correspondence on the verso, and three pages of a letter incorporated into the scrapbook. Scrapbook also includes newspaper clippings documenting Clarence Coon's training and service progression, including flight training in Westover, Massachusetts; Nashville and Smyrna, Tennessee; technical training in Gulfport, Mississippi; and gunnery and pistol range distinction at Tyndall Field, Florida. Vietnam-era albums depict Michael Coon and fellow servicemen in informal and candid settings, including scenes of drinking, recreational outings, helicopter transport, weapons handling, and interactions with entertainment venues. The juxtaposition of World War II and Vietnam War materials within this archive provides a concentrated record of evolving American military life, particularly the transition from the structured, collective ethos associated with the Second World War to the more individualized and culturally expressive environment of Vietnam-era service. Clarence Coon's combat role aboard B-24 Liberator bombers during missions over Italy aligns the archive with the strategic bombing campaigns of the European theater, while his writings document both military routine and domestic political awareness. In contrast, Michael Coon's photographs capture the lived experience of American soldiers in Vietnam beyond formal operations, including leisure, dissenting humor, and the visual language of 1960s youth culture within the military. Light wear from handling throughout, with typical album and scrapbook aging, and ephemera showing minor creasing; overall very good condition.

Sylva Sylvarum: Or, A Natural History in Ten Centuries, and New Atlantis. by Bacon, Francis

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$600.00

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Seller: Nicholas D. Riccio Rare Books & Prints

Title: Sylva Sylvarum: Or, A Natural History in Ten Centuries, and New Atlantis.
Author: Bacon, Francis
Seller: Nicholas D. Riccio Rare Books & Prints (United States)
Description: Small folio (11 ¼ x7 ½ ), modern calf spine and corners and marbled boards, morocco lettering piece, engraved title page from 1676 edition inserted, [2], 12, 2, 14, 215, [23], 221-228, [11], 64, 31 pp. Lacking original engraved frontispiece title but one from later edition inserted (some tears and chips along edges), additional original title present, light wear to edges, faint dampstain, and light foxing; otherwise very good. This is an interesting collection of the miscellaneous scientific writings and experiments of Francis Bacon (1561-1626), appended with his utopian work "A New Atlantis." The book first appeared the year after his death, edited and published by William Rawley, but went through a number of editions reflecting the popularity of his writings. While Bacon would be well educated in his early years, as the youngest son in his family, he would be left without land, money or position upon his father's death in 1579. However, thanks to his tremendous intellect and political skills, he would have a very successful political and intellectual career, and would prosper under James I. Among his many accomplishments would be obtaining the post of attorney general, but bribery charges would bar him from ever holding public office again. He would publish a good deal in his later years, and legend suggests that his intellectual curiosity would eventually cost him his life, when he caught chill after experimenting with the impact of cold temperatures on decaying meat. More recently, it has been suggested that his death was caused by "inhaling remedial substances" in an effort to improve his health. ODNB. STC 1173.

AUTOGRAPHED LETTER TO E.G. ELDRIGE by COOLIDGE, Calvin

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$250.00

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Seller: Boston Book Company

Title: AUTOGRAPHED LETTER TO E.G. ELDRIGE
Author: COOLIDGE, Calvin
Seller: Boston Book Company (United States)
Description: 1916. COOLIDGE, Calvin. AUTOGRAPHED LETTER TO E.G. ELDRIGE. Written on letterhead of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. Dated August 29, 1916. "Your kind invitation for August 31st is received, for which I thank you. I had a very pleasant visit to Oak Bluffs last year and should very much like to come again. I understand, however, from the Governor's office that I am probably to be sent to Oxford on August 31st and so cannot be with you this year. Thank you for the invitation, I am, yours very truly, Calvin Coolidge." Faded type but signature is clear. Very good.

Autograph Letter Signed, to "My dear Mr [John] Lane. by Page, Thomas Nelson

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$195.00

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Seller: Sumner & Stillman

Title: Autograph Letter Signed, to "My dear Mr [John] Lane.
Author: Page, Thomas Nelson
Seller: Sumner & Stillman (United States)
Description: 1899. Two pages of stationery printed with the address "17 R Street, Corner | New Hampshire Avenue" [Washington DC]. Dated by hand "June 4, 1899". The text of this letter reads as follows: I have waited to answer your letter of a week or two ago. I refer to its receipt [?] because I did not know what to say. I am, however, now engaged in writing a story which I believe would meet your requirements and which I might arrange to let you have. It is a racing-story, of a kind which I think will be sufficiently original to attract notice. It will be between 5000 & 10000 words. Such a story I should charge an American Magazine for from $500.00 to $1000.00 according to length. I do not know what you would expect to pay for the English Magazine rights; but I should have to arrange with the American Magazine for its publication by you in Eng'd, and I should want enough to make up for any deduction the Edition on this side might claim for such contemporaneous publication on your side. I sh'd also want to know when the story w'd appear in the _Anglo-Saxon_ that it might come out over here about the same time. If these matters can be arranged, I think I could get the story finished in abundant time. Yours very truly [signed vertically] Thos Nelson Page. The periodical alluded to is The Anglo-Saxon Review -- a short-lived "quarterly miscellany," created and edited by Lady Randolph Churchill (her son Winston served as an advisor), published by John Lane in handsome leather-bound volumes with elaborate gilt tooling. The new periodical sent out an appeal for original material to many prominent British and American authors; contributors included Henry James, Winston Churchill, George Gissing, and Stephen Crane. The subscription list included many from the wealthy, the nobility, even heads of state. But maybe it was all a bit too much -- for there were only ten quarterly issues, from June 1899 to September 1901. We find no record of a Thomas Nelson Page contribution, so apparently "matters" could not be "arranged." The letter is in fine condition (though Page's signature, squeezed in vertically at the end, overwrites some of his text). Provenance: from the renowned three-generation Dodge Family Autograph Collection.

Kenya: An Economic Survey by Barclays Bank D.C.O.

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$35.00

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Seller: Capitol Hill Books, ABAA

Title: Kenya: An Economic Survey
Author: Barclays Bank D.C.O.
Seller: Capitol Hill Books, ABAA (United States)
Condition: Very Good
Description: Nairobi: Barclays Bank D.C.O., 1966. Very Good. Nairobi: Barclays Bank D.C.O., 1966. Octavo. 34 pp. Black and white photographs. Illustrated wraps. Light edgewear to wraps with some creasing and curling at corners. Marker smudge to front near top fore-edge corner. Binding is sound. Pages curl uniformly at bottom front corner.

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Henry Purcell, 1659-1695; His Life and Times by Zimmerman, Franklin B.

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$20.00

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Seller: Hackenberg Booksellers ABAA

Title: Henry Purcell, 1659-1695; His Life and Times
Author: Zimmerman, Franklin B.
Seller: Hackenberg Booksellers ABAA (United States)
ISBN: 9780812211368
Description: Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983. 2d Revised Edition. xxxvi, 473p., b/w illus., original stiff printed wrappers,slight foxing on the edges.

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