James Cummins Bookseller

v.p: v.d.

Price: $7,500.00

About the item

31 vols. Various sizes, mostly 8vo. Collection of 31 Books Inscribed by Paul Bowles to Composer Phillip Ramey. Generally in very good or better condition, unless noted otherwise below.

Item #251333

Phillip Ramey is an American composer and writer and was one of Paul Bowles’ closest friends towards the end of the author‘s life. Ramey was for many years the annotator and program editor at the New York Philharmonic and has written the liner notes to hundreds of recordings, as well as a biography of the composer Irving Fine. His Horn Concerto was commissioned by the NY Philharmonic to celebrate their 150th anniversary. Ramey continues to compose and write and is in the process of overseeing the recording of his piano works.
Ramey was first introduced to Paul Bowles in 1969 by Aaron Copland and later became a close friend and neighbor of the author, renting Jane Bowles’ former apartment in Tangier. (A full account of their meeting and friendship can be found here: http://www.paulbowles.org/memoir.html.) Ramey was an important friend and ally of Bowles in his later years, helping to care for his friend as his health deteriorated and protecting the often besieged author from the various journalists and fanatics that would show up at his Tangier home. Ramey was also important in the rediscovery and appreciation of Bowles’ work as a composer and had a hand in the recording of some of his friend’s piano works. They remained friends until Bowles’ death in 1999.

The collection comprises books, mostly by Bowles, inscribed to Ramey during his many stays in Tangier:
BOWLES, Paul. Let it Come Down [two copies]. New York, 1952. First edition. Inscribed by PB. Poor.

____. The Delicate Prey and Other Stories. New York, 1952. First thus. Very good, with tape repair to spine. “(first paperback edition) Paul Bowles, Tangier, 4/VII/88.”

____. Let It Come Down. New York, 1953. FIrst thus. Very good, with some toning and edgewear. Signed by PB on the title page.

____. The Delicate Prey and Other Stories. New York, 1956. Second printing of the Signet edition. Very good. Signed by PB on the title page.

____. Yallah … Photographs by Peter W. Haeberlin. New york, 1957. First English language ed. Title page excised. In very good dustjacket with fading to spine and edgewear. “Paul Bowles. Tangier — xii/1998.”

____. Their Heads Are Green and Their Hands Are Blue. New York, [1963]. First edition. Near fine in good dustjacket, with chips and closed tears, old tape repair to verso, and darkening to spine. Signed by PB on the title page.

____. Up Above the World. New York, 1966. First edition. Inscribed by PB, “Paul Bowles, 4/vii/88, Tangier.” Near fine in very good unclipped dust jacket with light edgwear and repaired tear to spine.

____. The Time of Friendship. New York, 1967. First edition. Inscribed by PB. In torn dustjacket.

____. Up Above the World. New York, 1968. First thus. Very good. “Paul Bowles, Tangier, 4/VII/88.”

____. Without Stopping. New York, 1972. First edition. Near fine, lacking dustjacket. “For Phillip Ramey with thanks for his good tidings. All my best. Paul Bowles. Tangier 28/VII/84.”

____. Let it Come Down. Black Sparrow Press: Santa Barbara, 1980. Inscribed by PB to PR.

____. Up Above the World. London, 1982. Peter Owen reprint. Near fine in price clipped dust jacket with toning to spine. “For Phillip, my fourth novel and his fourth visit to Morocco. Best, Paul. 30/VII/87 Tangier.”

____. The Spider’s House. London, 1985. Inscribed, “For Phillip Ramey, on the eve a visit to Fez. Bon voyage. Paul. Tangier 9/vi/85.” Very good in dustjacket.

____. Their Heads Are Green. London, 1985. Second edition. Faint waterstaining at top end of gutter and dustjacket, else very good. “For Phillip Ramey on his third visit to the Magreb. All my greetings. Paul B. Tangier. 8/VI/85.”

____. A hundred Camels in the Courtyard. San Francisco, [1972]. Fifth printing. Very good with some toning to spine. “on the occasion of his sixth visit to Morocco, for Phillip Ramey, from Paul, Tangier, 9/VIII/89.”

____. Without Stopping: An Autobiography. New York, 1972. First edition. Near fine in chipped dustjacket. Inscribed in PB’s hand with a quotation from Mrabet. “America is an invention of the English — Mrabet. 4th July 1988, Paul Bowles.”

____. Collected Stories, 1939-1976. Santa Barbara, 1980. Third printing. Dampstain to rear cover, affecting some of the text block. “For Phillip Ramey, make many more trips to T. My best, Paul B. Tangier, 9/VI/85.”

____. Unwelcome Words. Bolinas, 1988. Signed by PB.

____. Call at Corazón. London, 1988. First English edition. Near fine in dust jacket with some toning. “For Phillip — as he ends his fifth sojourn in Morocco. My best always. Paul. 12/VIII/88 Tangier.”

____. Misa de Gallo. Madrid, 1989. Near fine in publisher’s stiff wrappers. “For Phillip, recalling the period when he had to dominate. (Recall implies pleasure.) If only he returns! Tangier — 1/XII/97, Paul” and signed and dated again by PB on the title page.

____. Paul Bowles by His Friends. London, 1992. Inscribed by PB, “Tangier, 1993.”

____. To Far From Home. Illustrated by Miquel Barceló. Switzerland, 1992. Fine. SIgned by PB in 1998.

____. In Touch: The Letters … London, 1994. First English edition. Near fine in dustjacket, rubbed, with some pealing to laminate on rear panel. Inscribed in a shaky, barely legible hand, “For Phillip from Paul — Tangier 7/X/1999. It’s the effort that counts.”

____. Paul Bowles: Photographs. Zurich, Berlin, New York, 1994. First edition. Near fine in dustjacket. “For Phillip, regretting his imminent departure. Paul. 13/x/96 — Tangier.”

____. Cuentos Escogidos. Madrid, 1995. Near fine in publisher’s thick wrappers. “Phillip — a shame your music was used but not credited to you. Paul. 15/IX/95 Tangier.” Bowles is referring to the fact that a snippet of one of Ramey’s scores was used without credit as part of the design of the front cover.

____. The Time of Friendship … with Ten Photographs by Vittorio Santoro. Zurich, 1995. First edition, one of 1500 copies. Near fine. PB has written out the title page, which was printed from his handwriting (“Paul Bowles / The Time of Friendship / 1997”). Additionally inscribed by the photographer to PR.

____. Dear Paul. Dear Ned: The Correspondence of Paul Bowles and Ned Rorem. Introduction by Gavin Lambert. N.p., 1997. Spine faded. Limited signed edition, one of 26 numbered copies SIGNED by PB, Rorem, and Lambert. This copy lettered “P.R.” for PR.

MRABET, Mohammed, trans. Paul BOWLES. Look & Move On. Black Sparrow Press: Santa Barbara, 1976. Dampstain at top gutter throughout. Inscribed in Arabic by Marabet to PR and signed by PB and dated 1999.
____. The Beach Café & The Voice. Santa Barbara, 1980. Signed by MM and PB.
____. Look and Move On. London, 1989. Signed by PB. Very good in dustjacket.

EL YACOUBI, Ahmed Ben Driss. Historias. Madrid, 1952. One of 400 numbered copies. Darkening to covers. Signed by PB in 1999. PR claims this was the last book that PB signed in his lifetime.