Collectibles Catalog summer 2025
Welcome to the second edition of our Lost City Books Summer Sale Collectible Catalog!
We have a selection of 25 really cool things for you that we thought were too good to merely just be featured in our store for our summer sale -- they had to live in one place, looking just as amazing as they deserve.
The single best thing -- “in my opinion” -- about working in used books is the sheer volume: you will see many things over and over, but will never run out of new things to see and work with. Similarly, even if one is repeating themself, it never gets old to extol the virtues of selling used books: keeping books in circulation, in the hands of people actively reading them, etc. That is what we are all about.
The crop of collectibles we have selected this year run through some genres near and dear to our hearts- so if you want to find out how evil Robert Moses was by reading a signed first edition of The Power Broker (try to figure out a way to read it on a bus traveling on one of the man’s parkways if you TRULY want to learn how evil he was); read a first reprinting of The Great Gatsby after F. Scott’s fall into obscurity and alcoholic stupor; OR simply score some amazing genre fiction and graphic novels at our amazing sale price, this catalogue is for you. And remember: when in the store, look up. We take advantage of all our overhead architecture when it comes to featuring our books.
-(Adam) Perry, Used Books Manager/Apple Department Founder
We Have Always Lived in the Castle Shirley Jackson
$150
The Viking Press, 1962, hardcover. First printing. Fair condition overall. Some wear/tearing/foxing to price-clipped dust jacket. Dust jacket is protected in a mylar sleeve. Boards have some fading/foxing along spine. Former owner's name present on top inside first page. Binding is tight, spine is strong. Pages and text block are clean.
Sundial Shirley Jackson $150
Farrar, Straus, and Cudahy, 1958, hardcover. First printing. Very good condition overall. Dust jacket is in very good condition and is protected in a mylar sleeve. Minor evidence of former taped mylar sleeve. Boards are clean with bright lettering. Binding is tight, spine is strong. Pages and text block are clean.
How to Get Rid of Pimples
Cookie Mueller
$350
Top Stories, 1984, Paperback. Good condition overall. Clean covers. Slight warping 1/4 inch away from spine that does not appear to be the result of water damage. Spine is strong, binding is tight. Pages and text block are clean.
One Earth, Four or Five Worlds: Reflections on Contemporary History
Octavio Paz
$300
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1985, hardcover. Signed by the author on the title page. First edition. Very good condition overall. Dust jacket is in very good condition and is protected in a mylar sleeve. Boards are clean with bright lettering. Binding is tight, spine is strong. Inscription from former owner on inside first page, otherwise pages and text block are clean.
Monica Daniel Clowes
$50
Fantagraphics, 2023, hardcover. Signed by the author on the inside front board. Very good condition overall. Boards are clean with bright lettering and illustration. Binding is tight, spine is strong. Pages and text block are clean.
Famouz: Photographs, 1976-88
Anton Corbijn
$75
Stewart Tabori & Chang, 1989, hardcover. Very good condition overall. Dust jacket is in good condition and is protected in a mylar sleeve. Boards are clean with bright lettering. Binding is tight, spine is strong. Pages and text block are clean.
The Hornet’s Nest
Jimmy Carter
$50
Simon & Schuster, 2003, hardcover. Signed by the author on the title page. Very good condition overall. Dust jacket is in good condition with minor fading along the spine, and is protected in a mylar sleeve. Boards are clean with bright lettering. Binding is tight, spine is strong. Pages and text block are clean.
Far From Home
Walter Tevis
$75
Doubleday, 1981, Hardcover. First edition. Very good in a very good dust jacket. Jacket is protected in a mylar sleeve. Boards are clean with bright lettering. Spine is strong, binding is tight. Pages and text block are clean.
Adulthood Rites Octavia Butler
$2,000 Warner Books, 1988, hardcover. First edition. Signed by the author on the title page. Very good condition overall.
Dust jacket is in very good condition and is protected in a mylar sleeve. Boards are clean with bright lettering. Binding is tight, spine is strong. Pages and text block are clean.
Dawn Octavia Butler
$2,000 Warner Books, 1987, hardcover. First edition. Signed by the author on the title page. Very good condition overall.
Dust jacket is in very good condition and is protected in a mylar sleeve.
Boards are clean with bright lettering.
Binding is tight, spine is strong. Pages and text block are clean.
Play It as It Lays
Joan Didion
$50
Pocket Books, 1978, mass market paperback. First Pocket Books printing. Good condition overall. Clean covers with minor crease along front bottom. Minimal creasing to spine. Pages and text block are clean.
Fruits & Vegetables
Erica Jong
$150
Holt, Rinehart, And Winston, 1971, hardcover. First edition. Signed by the author on the title page. Very good condition overall. Dust jacket is in very good condition and is protected in a mylar sleeve. Boards are clean with bright lettering. Binding is tight, spine is strong. Pages and text block are clean.
Disturbing the Peace
Richard Yates
$50
Delacorte, hardcover, first edition, 1975. Book is in very good condition with strong binding. Dust jacket is in good condition with some edgewear.
A Good School
Richard Yates
$50
Delacorte Press, 1978, hardcover. First printing. Very good condition overall. Dust jacket is in very good condition and is protected in a mylar sleeve. Boards have minimal wear, bright lettering. Binding is tight, spine is strong. Pages and text block are clean.
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
Robert A. Caro
$1,500
Knopf, 1974, hardcover. Very good condition overall. Signed by the author on the half-title page. Dust jacket is in good condition with minimal wear and is protected in a mylar sleeve. Boards are clean with bright lettering. Binding is tight, spine is strong. Pages and text block are clean.
Invisible Man
Ralph Ellison
$1,000
Random House, 1952, hardcover. Stated first printing. Very good condition overall. Dust jacket is in good condition with some wear/tearing and is intact in a mylar sleeve. Boards are clean with clear designs/writings, some wear to writing along spine. Spine is strong, binding is tight. Pages are clean with minimal age toning to text block.
Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son James Baldwin
$500
The Dial Press, 1961, hardcover. First edition. Very good condition overall. Dust jacket is in very good condition and is protected in a mylar sleeve. Boards are clean with bright lettering. Binding is tight, spine is strong. Pages and text block are clean.
Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Sky
C. G. Jung
$250
The Dial Press, 1961, hardcover. First edition. Very good condition overall. Dust jacket is in very good condition and is protected in a mylar sleeve. Boards are clean with bright lettering. Binding is tight, spine is strong. Pages and text block are clean.
The Illustrated Man
Ray Bradbury
$100
Doubleday, 1951, hardcover Book Club edition. Very good condition overall. Dust jacket is in very good condition and is protected in a mylar sleeve. Boards are clean with bright lettering. Binding is tight, spine is strong. Pages and text block are clean.
The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead
William S. Burroughs
$100
Grove Press, INC, 1971, hardcover. First printing. Very good condition overall. Dust jacket is in very good condition and is protected in a mylar sleeve. Boards are clean with bright lettering. Small purple "H" stamp on inside front page. Binding is tight, spine is strong. Pages and text block are clean.
Alone Against Tomorrow
Harlan Ellison
$100
Macmillan, 1971, hardcover. First printing. Very good condition overall. Unclipped dust jacket is in very good condition and is protected in a mylar sleeve. Boards are clean with bright lettering. Binding is tight, spine is strong. Pages and text block are clean.
Regarding Wave
Gary Snyder $75
New Directions, 1970, hardcover. Inscribed by the author on the title page. Very good condition. Dust jacket is in very good condition and is protected in a mylar sleeve. Boards are clean with bright lettering. Binding is tight, spine is strong. Pages and text block are clean.
The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald
$1,500
New Directions, 1945, hardcover. New Directions’ The New Classics Series #9, 1945 reprint. Good condition overall. Dust jacket is in fair condition- tearing along top and bottom, minimal age toning, intact in a mylar sleeve. Boards are clean with bright lettering. Some loosening to binding, otherwise strong spine. Pages and text block are clean. Rare New Classics 1945 reprint. Reissued at a time when Fitzgerald was first being rediscovered after his death (1940).
Wolverine: Weapon X
Barry Windsor-Smith
$150
Marvel Universe, 2022, hardcover gallery edition. Very good condition overall. Boards are clean with bright lettering and illustrations. Binding is tight, spine is strong. Pages and text block are clean.
Idols
Dennis Cooper
$100
Amethyst Press, 1989, paperback. Fine to like new. Pages bright and unmarked.
