Presentation Copy of Willeford's Last Book

The Way We Die Now [Signed, Numbered]

Willeford, Charles

Publication: New York: Ultramarine Publishing, 1988. First Edition.

Notes: A presentation copy of this Hoke Moseley novel, bound from sheets from the Random House edition, and limited to 99 copies. Willeford died within days of the novel's publication date, making signed copies very hard to come by. It's really hard to understand why copies of this book are so cheap.

Denis Gouey bound the books in half black leather over marbled paper. There are at least two variants to the binding, copies like this one with brown, yellow, and dark blue marbling and one with a more dominant orange color.

245 pages.

Edition + Condition: First edition (limited edition). A fine copy, signed by Willeford on the limitation page, as issued. This copy, number 3 of 99, is inscribed "For Brian Kirby / Charles Willeford." Copy 4 was inscribed to the New York collector Walter Shirley, which suggests that the publisher designated low-numbered copies for well-known collectors. Kirby edited a number of underground publications in Los Angeles, including the Free Press and the soft-core pulp fiction imprint Essex. He was also an early collector of original screenplays.

Item No: #364994

Price: $150