Murphy by Beckett: Signed (12 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition, Limited Edition. 8vo (202 x 130 mm). [iv], 282 pp. Signed on the limitation statement; stray spots. Gilt-lettered quarter brown cloth over flecked paper-covered boards, original clear acetate dustjacket, as issued; lightly toned at extremities as usual, foot of spine barely bumped, dustjacket with loss at head and tail. Near fine. FIRST AMERICAN EDITION, limited issue. One of only 100 hand-numbered copies signed by Beckett on the limitation statement, this being number 47. This specially bound edition was published simultaneously with the trade edition. Beckett's first major work, first published by Routledge in the United Kingdom in 1938, was originally met with a lukewarm critical response. In the early 1930s, Beckett struggled intensely to overcome the influence of his mentor, James Joyce; or, in his own words in a 1931 letter, "I vow I will get over J.J. ere I die. Yessir." Murphy, in fact, represents a dual achievement: it at once heralds the arrival of Beckett's distinctive authorial voice and aesthetic vision, while also being his final work indebted to the master. In a rare impulse to justify his work, Beckett wrote to his literary agent at the time of the novel's completion, "if the book is slightly obscure, it is so because it is a compression . The wild unreal dialogues . are the comic expression of what elsewhere is expressed in elegy, namely if you like the hermeticism of the spirit" (Beckett to George Reavey, November 13, 1936). By the time of the work's first publication in the Untied States, Beckett had risen his status as a titan of modernist literature. Scarce. PROVENANCE: From the personal collection of Ira Silverberg. Co-founder and publisher of High Risk, Publicity Director of Grove Press in the '80s and later Editor-in-Chief, esteemed literary agent, educator, editorial and publicity consultant, and more, Ira Silverberg has been a leading and beloved figure in New York's literary world since the 1980s. Throughout his career, Silverberg edited, published, or represented the likes of Kathy Acker, William S. Burroughs, Dennis Cooper, June Jordan, David Wojnarowicz, Cookie Mueller, John Giorno, Lynne Tillman, Herve Guibert, and Sapphire, among numerous others. Signed by Author(s). …

hardcover. Condition: very good. Dust Jacket Condition: good. Limited. 282 pages. 8vo, cloth-backed boards; spine lightly sunned; original acetate dust wrapper with 2 large chips. New York: Grove Press, (1957). Limited First Edition. Niumber 64 of a specially bound, limited edition of 100 numbered copies, signed by Beckett. This copy bears a 1961 presentation from Barney Rosset, the publisher.…

dj. First Edition. First U.S. edition of his first published novel. Number 52 of 100 specially bound copies SIGNED BY BECKETT. 8vo gilt-stamped quarter brown cloth; flecked paper boards with small circular design stamped in gray and pink on lower front corner; 282 pages. Near fine with spine and board edges slightly toned and touch of faint foxing to pastedowns. Original plain acetate dust jacket is present, though chipped and worn, and fresh mylar cover additionally supplied. [Federman & Fletcher 25.11]. Signed.…

Hardcover. Condition: Good. Limited Edition. "Murphy" by Samuel Beckett. New York: Grove Press, [1957]. First American edition, copy 83 of 100 examples, signed by Beckett. Publisher's cloth-backed paper-covered boards, gilt-lettered, in the remains of the publisher's acetate. 8 x 5 1/4 inches (20.25 x 15.5 cm); [vi], 282 pp. Spine a bit faded, gilt dulled, paper of boards browned at the head of the volume, the acetate with substantial tears and losses. Signed by Author(s).…

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. No Jacket. Special Edition. Signed By Samuel Beckett as a specially bound edition of 100 copies, this copy being number 10. Marginal browning, but with complete and excellent pages. Signed by Author(s).

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First American edition, limited hardcover issue. Octavo. 282pp. Quarter cloth and paper-covered boards. Binding has slight tanning on boards, a near fine copy in publisher's very good or better unprinted acetate dust jacket as issued with a shallow chip at the crown and a short tear. Copy number 20 of 100 numbered specially bound, copies Signed by Samuel Beckett on the limitation page. A publisher's copy, with publisher Barney Rosset's note: "Publisher's Copy, Barney Rosset, Grove Press" written in his ink holograph on the front flyleaf. An elusive title in any dust jacket.…

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: fine. First American Edition. 282p octavo, clothbound issue. Translated from the French by Patrick Bowles in collaboration with the author. Fine in very good or better dust jacket lightly toned on the spine and a small chip at the crown. Inscribed by Samuel Beckett on the title page to author Dan Pope, "for Dan Pope with all good wishes Samuel Beckett 16.2.88" Additionally signed by Grove Press publisher Barney Rosset beneath the publisher's imprint. Rarely encountered signed by Beckett.…

Softcover. Condition: Near Fine. First French edition, second issue binding, using the 1947 first edition sheets, printed for Bordas, but with wrappers printed by Editions de Minuit and issued 1951. According to *F&F* 145.01, this was "Published by Bordas. *MURPHY* in four years sold only 95 of the 3000 copies printed. M. Jerome Lindon took over the contract and unsold stock for the Editions de Minuit at the end of 1951." Octavo. White printed wrappers. Text in French. Acidic pages browned as usual, due to acidic paper, white wrappers lightly toned on spine and extremities edge of spine has narrow faint stain, partially unopened. Signed by Samuel Beckett on the title page. First book by Beckett to be translated into French, with Beckett's own translation. Elusive title in either issue, especially when signed by Beckett.…

Hardcover. First American Edition. Cloth-backed boards. Beckett's first published novel, first published in England in 1938. Copy #22 of only 100 numbered copies SIGNED by the author and specially bound in gilt-stamped brown cloth and tan boards. Grove Press publisher Barney Rosset's copy with the following in his hand on the front endpaper: "publisher's copy/Barney Rosset - GROVE PRESS." Rosset introduced American readers to numerous significant writers, including Beckett, Ionesco, Genet, Pinter, and Stoppard. He led a successful legal battle to publish the uncensored version of D. H. Lawrence's novel LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER, and later was the American publisher of Henry Miller's controversial novel TROPIC OF CANCER. The right to publish and distribute Miller's novel in the United States was affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1964, in a landmark ruling for free speech and the First Amendment. Near Fine without dustwrapper, as issued.…

Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. First American Edition. First American edition, clothbound issue. Signed by Samuel Beckett on the title page, though not called for. [iv], 282, [2; ads] pp. Bound in publisher's linen with spine lettered in dark brown. Near Fine with foxing to top edge of textblock and boards. In a Near Fine unclipped dust jacket designed by Francine Felsenthal with toning and light toning, soiling and light wear, still quite sharp. A lovely copy of Beckett's initially overlooked absurdist novel, first published in the United Kingdom in 1938. It was first published in America nearly twenty years later, following the success of Waiting for Godot; uncommon signed. Signed.…

Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. New York: Grove Press, 1957. First American Edition, Limited Issue of 100 copies signed by Samuel Beckett at limitation page, this being #15. Octavo; clear acetate dust jacket; brown cloth-backed boards lettered in gilt; 282pp. Unprinted dust jacket rubbed with chipping to edges and large patch of loss to bottom edge of rear panel. Mild shelfwear to boards; very light spotting to top edge of text block; Near Fine in a Very Good dust jacket. Beckett's first novel, originally published in the United Kingdom in 1938 to tepid reviews, of which Beckett wrote, "The critics have all betrayed the same annoyance. Like the dog's hindquarters when the spine is touched in the right place." Carlton Lake, "No Symbols Where None Intended." University of Texas at Austin, 1984; page 44.…

272 pp. 8vo. First edition in French, second issue. First edition in French, second issue. 272 pp. 8vo. First French edition, second issue. Inscribed on the title page, "For William & Roslyn Targ with all good wishes Sam Beckett." Beckett's first novel, written in English and originally published in 1938. This French translation appeared 9 years later under the Bordas imprint. At the end of 1953 Les Éditions de Minuit acquired some 2750 unsold copies from Bordas, and in early 1954 they reissued them under their own wrappers. Roslyn Targ (1925-2017), was Beckett's longtime literary agent. Her husband, William Targ (1907-1999) was editor in chief at World Publishing and then Putnam's before founding his own imprint, Targ Editions; he was also a noted bibliophile and Beckett collector. The Targs enjoyed a friendly relationship with Beckett and paid him visits during their trips to Paris, with Bill Targ introducing Beckett to Saul Bellow on one ocassion. A fine association. Original printed wrappers; glassine; unopened. Text evenly toned, otherwise fine. Signed.…