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<b>Bonhams:</b> MANDELSHTAM, OSIP. 1891-1938. Autograph Manuscript, 2 pp, [Petersburg,] January 1913, entitled

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Cinema, First Editions, and the Eclectic from James Pepper Rare Books More firsts, cinema, and oddities from James Pepper Rare Books. By Michael Stillman James Pepper Rare Books recently issued their Catalogue 165 of Literary First Editions, Mystery and Detective Fiction, Rare Cinema Material, and Assorted Eclectic Offerings. The catalogue is similar in format to others offered by Pepper, but the material is new. For those who collect first editions, mystery and items related to films, here is a whole new group of items to consider. For example... Item 95 is a rarity, the first edition of the first Mr. Moto mystery by John P. Marquand, No Hero. Mr. Moto was a fictional Japanese secret agent who became popular in a series of films in the late 1930s, with Peter Lorre playing the title role. Moto fell out of favor in America after the bombing of Pearl Harbor (as might be expected), but staged a modest comeback in the 1950s. This copy is inscribed to Hart F. Pantzer, whom I have not been able to identify despite his distinctive name. He and Marquand shared some memories from 7 Landis Street in Cambridge. Pepper notes that while Marquand signed some limited editions, he rarely signed regular trade copies such as this. Priced at $16,500. You will find lots of items you like in Peppers' catalogue, but there is only one place you can get anything you want (excepting Alice). That, of course, is Alice's Restaurant. Item 4 is the Doubleday first edition screenplay for the film version of Alice's Restaurant, by Venable Herndon and Arthur Penn. The movie, of course, was based on the song of the same title by Arlo Guthrie. It starred Guthrie, Pat Quinn, James Broderick, Tina Chen, and even Arlo's Dad's (Woody Guthrie) old cohort Pete Seeger, appearing as himself (to this day Seeger is still singing his songs and trying to make the world a better place). This 1970 paperback is signed by director, co-writer Penn. $125. Here is a strange association copy -- Mao Tse-Tung and Marlon Brando. Brando was always interested in politics and causes, so perhaps it is not that surprising he would have owned this copy of the Quotations of Mao Tse-Tung, once one of the most well-read books in the world. This copy contains Brando's bookplate plus a signed letter from his former girlfriend Pat Quinn (who played Alice in the aforementioned film) stating she gave him the book. Brando got anything he wanted at Alice's. Item 15. $1,500.
Cinema, First Editions, and the Eclectic from James Pepper Rare Books none Here are some more words from the far left -- a pamphlet that originally appeared in the April 2, 1962 issue of The Militant, printing one of Fidel Castro's notoriously long-winded speeches, delivered at the University of Havana on March 13, 1962. It was distributed by the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, a group set up in America to support Castro. It disbanded in 1963, helped not at all by Lee Harvey Oswald's association with it. In his speech Castro rambles on, as he is wont to do, at one time criticizing the old socialist saying, "‘We are socialists, forward, forward, and whoever doesn't like it let him take a laxative!'" Observes Castro, "If you don't like it take a laxative. Who are you going to win over with that?" Wise words, indeed. No wonder he has remained in power for almost half a century. Venceremos! Item 21. $50. Here's one that falls under the "eclectic" heading: The Sacred Mushroom Seeker. Essays for R. Gordon Wasson. Wasson was a mushroomologist (I made up that word because I don't know the real one). Starting with an interest in the normal types of mushrooms you might put on your pizza, he expanded his interests to the more spiritual variety, another way of saying hallucinogenic drugs. Wasson ascended to the spiritual otherworld in 1986 at the age of 88, and in 1990 his friends published this collection of essays in his honor. I'll stick with anchovies on my pizza. Item 62. $85. As long as we're traveling high, item 63 is True Hallucinations. Being an Account of the Author's Extraordinary Adventures in the Devil's Paradise. Author Terence McKenna and others had embarked on a long strange trip to the Amazon in 1971 in search of a mushroom that supposedly was the missing link in the development of human consciousness. Perhaps he already had a few too many magic mushrooms before he left. A Village Voice review on the dust jacket proclaims, "If only a fraction of McKenna's thought is true, he will someday be regarded as the Copernicus of consciousness." I'm sure Copernicus would have appreciated the comparison. The book was published in 1993 in -- where else? -- San Francisco. $85. James Pepper Rare Books is found online at www.jamespepperbooks.com, telephone 805-963-1025.

Cinema, First Editions, and the Eclectic from James Pepper Rare Books

More firsts, cinema, and oddities from James Pepper Rare Books.

By Michael Stillman

James Pepper Rare Books recently issued their Catalogue 165 of Literary First Editions, Mystery and Detective Fiction, Rare Cinema Material, and Assorted Eclectic Offerings. The catalogue is similar in format to others offered by Pepper, but the material is new. For those who collect first editions, mystery and items related to films, here is a whole new group of items to consider. For example...

Item 95 is a rarity, the first edition of the first Mr. Moto mystery by John P. Marquand, No Hero. Mr. Moto was a fictional Japanese secret agent who became popular in a series of films in the late 1930s, with Peter Lorre playing the title role. Moto fell out of favor in America after the bombing of Pearl Harbor (as might be expected), but staged a modest comeback in the 1950s. This copy is inscribed to Hart F. Pantzer, whom I have not been able to identify despite his distinctive name. He and Marquand shared some memories from 7 Landis Street in Cambridge. Pepper notes that while Marquand signed some limited editions, he rarely signed regular trade copies such as this. Priced at $16,500.

You will find lots of items you like in Peppers' catalogue, but there is only one place you can get anything you want (excepting Alice). That, of course, is Alice's Restaurant. Item 4 is the Doubleday first edition screenplay for the film version of Alice's Restaurant, by Venable Herndon and Arthur Penn. The movie, of course, was based on the song of the same title by Arlo Guthrie. It starred Guthrie, Pat Quinn, James Broderick, Tina Chen, and even Arlo's Dad's (Woody Guthrie) old cohort Pete Seeger, appearing as himself (to this day Seeger is still singing his songs and trying to make the world a better place). This 1970 paperback is signed by director, co-writer Penn. $125.

Here is a strange association copy -- Mao Tse-Tung and Marlon Brando. Brando was always interested in politics and causes, so perhaps it is not that surprising he would have owned this copy of the Quotations of Mao Tse-Tung, once one of the most well-read books in the world. This copy contains Brando's bookplate plus a signed letter from his former girlfriend Pat Quinn (who played Alice in the aforementioned film) stating she gave him the book. Brando got anything he wanted at Alice's. Item 15. $1,500.

Cinema, First Editions, and the Eclectic from James Pepper Rare Books

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Here are some more words from the far left -- a pamphlet that originally appeared in the April 2, 1962 issue of The Militant, printing one of Fidel Castro's notoriously long-winded speeches, delivered at the University of Havana on March 13, 1962. It was distributed by the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, a group set up in America to support Castro. It disbanded in 1963, helped not at all by Lee Harvey Oswald's association with it. In his speech Castro rambles on, as he is wont to do, at one time criticizing the old socialist saying, "‘We are socialists, forward, forward, and whoever doesn't like it let him take a laxative!'" Observes Castro, "If you don't like it take a laxative. Who are you going to win over with that?" Wise words, indeed. No wonder he has remained in power for almost half a century. Venceremos! Item 21. $50.

Here's one that falls under the "eclectic" heading: The Sacred Mushroom Seeker. Essays for R. Gordon Wasson. Wasson was a mushroomologist (I made up that word because I don't know the real one). Starting with an interest in the normal types of mushrooms you might put on your pizza, he expanded his interests to the more spiritual variety, another way of saying hallucinogenic drugs. Wasson ascended to the spiritual otherworld in 1986 at the age of 88, and in 1990 his friends published this collection of essays in his honor. I'll stick with anchovies on my pizza. Item 62. $85.

As long as we're traveling high, item 63 is True Hallucinations. Being an Account of the Author's Extraordinary Adventures in the Devil's Paradise. Author Terence McKenna and others had embarked on a long strange trip to the Amazon in 1971 in search of a mushroom that supposedly was the missing link in the development of human consciousness. Perhaps he already had a few too many magic mushrooms before he left. A Village Voice review on the dust jacket proclaims, "If only a fraction of McKenna's thought is true, he will someday be regarded as the Copernicus of consciousness." I'm sure Copernicus would have appreciated the comparison. The book was published in 1993 in -- where else? -- San Francisco. $85.

James Pepper Rare Books is found online at www.jamespepperbooks.com, telephone 805-963-1025.