Collectibles Spotlight: Chicago

A polarizing book, quite scarce in early printings, this the second printing of the American first edition. No matter your beliefs in economics, whether you praise or condemn this treatise, it remains one of the most influential texts of the twentieth century. 

The original printing from legendary Chicago cooking school proprietors, Francois & Antoinette, in its original issue, signed by both. 

Sasek has always been one of my favorite illustrators. The San Francisco edition of his children's travel guides is as contemporary as the day it was published. 

Harlan Ellison was a dark genius of his craft, and this collection of stories provides insight into his psychic landscape and how it resonates with the human condition. A number of years ago I found the documentary "Dreams with Sharp Teeth" and was reintroduced to the work of Harlan Ellison. I had read a few of his stories before but revisited him with zeal after this. One of the first collections of his vast oeuvre I explored was Deathbird Stories, with the titular novelette in particular providing a Gnostic pessimism I find fascinating.

Before his Southern Reach trilogy found itself expressed cinematically in Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer’s collection of stories in The Third Bear provided fabulist exercises and prototypes for the weird yet to come. A rare title to find autographed, The Third Bear shows us an early form of the Mord, a bear of mythic proportions serving as an antagonist in Borne. Author Jeff VanderMeer's work strikes a major chord in the realm of "weird science fiction" for me, and several of the short stories presented in this collection show the methodical arrangement of that resonant instrumentation.

Out of all of Andrew Lang's fairy books, this volume possesses several of the most timeless and memorable folktales. Housed in this handsome Folio Society binding, Tim Steven's illustrations bring these stories to vivid life. I grew up reading fairy tales, and Andrew Lang's renditions were presented alongside the Brothers Grimm and the tales of Aesop, bringing a sense of sentimentality whenever I approach them.

Animal Farm remains one of the most important works of the twentieth century and represents Orwell's first attempt to, as he put it, "fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole," while still maintaining a satire that clever children or observant adults can appreciate. Once a year I search out my well-worn copy of this book to revisit the masterful allegory, usually relating its to moments of significance in the current political climate.

Frank Miller redefined the early career of Batman with this series, inspiring generations of comic book writers and artists, not to mention filmmakers, who have since drawn elements of it to inform their own creations. This first printing of the hardcover collection is surprisingly scarce but extremely satisfying. I find myself coming back to Batman: Year One again and again, not only because it represents the origin revamp contrasting beautifully with Miller's work on The Dark Knight Returns, but also as an example in masterful graphic storytelling.