Books

First edition of each of her first three books together with two interesting circa 1992 photographs of Tartt. THE SECRET HISTORY (Knopf, 1992): SIGNED on laid-in bookplate. Near fine with spine ends gently pushed; in near fine dust jacket with light crimping to spine ends and corners and the usual slight cloudiness from aging. THE LITTLE FRIEND (Knopf, 2002): INSCRIBED on title page, "to Biff/ Donna Tartt." Fine in near fine, price-clipped dust jacket with barest wear. THE GOLDFINCH (Little, Brown, 2013): Her Pulitzer Prize winner, INSCRIBED on title page, "especially for Elaine/ with all warm regards/ from/ Donna Tartt." Fine with barest shelf wear; in near fine dust jacket with just a touch of minor rubbing. TWO PHOTOGRAPHS: AP LEAFDESK wire / press-release BLACK-AND-WHITE photo by Caitlin McCaffrey as used, without credit, on the dust jacket rear flap of SECRET HISTORY. 8.5 x 11" coated paper with 4 lines of text running along fore edge ("ADV. FOR SUN, NOV. 22," etc.) and image of Tartt measuring approximately 7 x 10"; near fine with just one tiny rubbed spot. GLOSSY COLOR apparent proof photo of Tartt sitting in grass at foot of a marble statue with her dog. Sheet measures approximately 8.5 x 11.5" with image, which is slightly askew, approximately 7.25 x 10.75"; handwritten copyright on back "REX Donna Tartt" as well as "A42630" (photo would appear to be from a photo shoot by Dewey Nicks for the September 1992 Vanity Fair article, "Smart Tartt"); near fine with only a touch of creasing to margins. Altogether a near fine assemblage.

Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality, their lives are changed profoundly and, most horribly, they discover how hard it can be to truly live with what they have learned.