Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Cather, Willa. The Song of the Lark (Autograph Edition). Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1937.
Price: US$125.95 + shipping
Description: Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1937. Very Good+ condition (VERY FINE internally). A square, tight copy of vol. 2 only from the 13-volume Autograph Edition. LIMITED to 970 copies, this is number 411. Despite the name, it is NOT signed. [Only the first volume in the set, O PIONEERS, was signed upon publication]. Sharp corners. The binding is original gray-blue linen cloth, with a cream linen cloth spine stamped in shiny gold over a black leather label. The cream-color spine is entirely unfaded but does have several tiny (dirt?) spots and just a bit of finger soil. NO owner's name or bookplate. Pages are fresh and crisp, apparently never read. NO foxing. Both front and rear covers have the author's initials in a bright and shiny gilt-stamped decorative cipher. Top edge trimmed and gilt. Other edges uncut. Handsomely designed by Bruce Rodgers and printed on fine cream laid stock at the Riverside Press. According to Cather's bibliographer, Joan Crane, this is the FIRST PRINTING of the SECOND EDITION of THE SONG OF THE LARK and was issued on 11 November 1937. It is illustrated with a tissue-guarded frontispiece photograph of Cather by Hollinger. Crane A8.b.i. See also Crane AA1 (WILLA CATHER, A BIBLIOGRAPHY, pp. 196-97). First Edition Thus (Autograph Edition). Hardcover. Very Good+ condition/No jacket. Illus. by Hollinger. 8vo. xii, 584pp. Great Packaging, Fast Shipping.
Seller: About Books, Henderson, NV, U.S.A.
Cather, Willa. O Pioneers!. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1937.
Price: US$230.00 + shipping
Description: First edition. Saleman's dummy, blank after page six, and with no signature on limitation page. Quarter tan cloth with blue cloth over boards, leather spine label. T.e.g. Some wear to edges and dampstain along base of spine, slightly soiled. Very good.
Seller: Bromer Booksellers, Inc., ABAA, Boston, MA, U.S.A.
CATHER, Willa. O Pioneers!. , 1937.
Price: US$275.00 + shipping
Description: CATHER, Willa. O Pioneers! Original cloth, black morocco spine label, T.e.g. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1937. Publisher's dummy. [10] preliminary pages, 6 text pages, remainder blank. The Autograph Edition Cather's works was designed by Bruce Rogers and printed by the Riverside Press in an edition of 970 copies. Crane AA1. Grolier 398. Small bookplate, else fine.
Seller: G.S. MacManus Co., ABAA, Bryn Mawr, PA, U.S.A.
CATHER, WILLA. The Song of the Lark. Boston Houghton Mifflin 1937, 1937.
Price: US$1500.00 + shipping
Description: Limited Edition - AuthorÕs Copy. Willa CatherÕs own copy as stated at the colophon. This volume is from CatherÕs 1937 13 volume set of her collected works. Frontispiece photographic portrait of Willa Cather by William M. Hollinger, dated 1915. 581 pages. In beautiful fine condition with gilt-stamping to the leather label at spine and to the cloth at the front and rear boards in the original light blue dust jacket with the printing to the spine and front and rear panels crisp, showing some minor dust soiling and edge wear. A lovely volume of this important American novel originally published in 1915 and comprises the second work in CatherÕs Prairie Trilogy which begins with O Pioneers! (1913) and ends with My Antonia (1918).
Seller: James Pepper Rare Books, Inc., ABAA, Santa Barbara, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$1850.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1937. 25 x 16 cm. Dark blue cloth covered boards with cream cloth spine, gilt monogram to front boards with black leather spine label with gilt titling; top edge gilt with other edges being untrimmed. Each volume in this set is numbered as copy 466 of 975 total copies, of which 950 were for sale. Some chipping to the spine labels of seven out of the thirteen volumes, with very light toning to spines. The first volume, 'O Pioneers!', has been signed and numbered in black ink on the limitation page by Willa Cather. Interiors of each volume are otherwise clean and unmarked. All bindings firm. Each volume will come with a clear, archival polyester cover. Due to the size and weight of this set, additional shipping may be required. . Signed by Author. Limited, Numbered. Hard Cover. Very Good.
Seller: Munster & Company LLC, ABAA/ILAB, Corvallis, OR, U.S.A.
Price: US$4500.00 + shipping
Description: 13 volumes (complete) 8vo, publisher's cloth, t.e.g., in publisher's full-wrap jackets with flaps folding over all edges. First edition; Autograph Edition; No. 503 of 970 sets, signed by Willa Cather. Crane AA1. The backstrips of the dust jackets are ever so slightly tanned, and there is a coin-sized spot on one of them (the volume unaffected); a spectacular set. Additional postage applicable.
Seller: Jeffrey H. Marks, Rare Books, ABAA, Rochester, NY, U.S.A.
CATHER, WILLA. THE NOVELS AND STORIES. Houghton Mifflin 1937-41, Boston, 1937.
Price: US$4680.00 + shipping
Description: 232 x 156 mm. (9 1/8 x 6 1/8"). 13 volumes. Publisher's original cream-colored linen over gray-blue linen boards, covers with author's cipher in gilt, black spine label, top edges gilt, other edges untrimmed and UNOPENED, and IN THE UNCOMMON ORIGINAL OVERSIZED DUST JACKETS. Containing 12 frontispieces with tissue guards (volume XIII without frontispiece, as issued). Crane AA1, first issue. âFaint browning to spines of a few of the dust jackets (this browning extending onto rear panel of one jacket), two jackets with some tears and wrinkling along the bottom fold-over flaps, minor rumpling and tears to jacket edges elsewhere, but still AN EXCEPTIONALLY FINE SET, the unread volumes perfectly preserved, and the jackets with basically minor defects. Designed by Bruce Rogers, this is a remarkably well-preserved set, complete with the rarely seen dust jackets, of the collected works of eminent American novelist Willa Cather. After a youth spent on the Great Plains of Nebraska, Cather (1873-1947) had her first short story published in 1892 at age 19 and never looked back-except in the sense that her works dealt with the Nebraska she grew up in, the destruction of provincial life, and the fall of pioneer culture. Limning those themes, "O Pioneers!" and "My Antonia," respectively published in 1913 and 1917, are among her most popular and enduring novels. She won the 1923 Pulitzer Prize for her novel "One of Ours," which tells the story of a Nebraska man at the turn of the 20th century. And "Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927) is the work that is perhaps most studied, generally being included among the 100 best 20th century novels in English. Her body of work, written over an extended period of time, is impressive. Bruce Rogers (1870-1957) is among the greatest book designers of the 20th century. Rejecting modernism, he was known for his "classical" style of design, avoiding unbalanced arrangements and rarely using sans serif type faces, preferring dependable roman faces such as Caslon and his own Centaur. The oversized dust jackets have accomplished their intended purpose to the full here, completely sheltering these volumes from light, dust, and soil, preserving them in an absolutely immaculate state. Not surprisingly, these wrappers are rarely seen: since 1975, ABPC records 20 sales of this edition of collected works, but just four (including this one) are in dust jackets. And the particular design of the jackets--where the paper folds over the top and bottom of the text block--makes them even more than usually susceptible to wear and tear. No. 322 OF 970 COPIES of the Autograph Edition, volume I SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR.
Seller: Phillip J. Pirages Rare Books (ABAA), McMinnville, OR, U.S.A.
Price: US$5000.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: A fine set of The Autographed Edition of the Works of Willa Cather. Thirteen Volumes Complete. Issued without jackets. Now in clear acetate, folding jackets. SIGNED BY HER Volume One, O PIONEERS!, Number 391 of 975 copies. Light bump to bottom corner of volume four. Top edge gold gilt on all volumes are clean and bright. Exceptional set in fine condition [See pict's]. Limited Edition, Numbered 391 of 975 copies.
Seller: Booklegger's Fine Books ABAA, Park Ridge, IL, U.S.A.