A singular example of Heller’s masterpiece, inscribed by Heller in 1967 with a mischievous command to the borrower of this library copy: “To Judy Proctor / Don’t give this back to the library.”
Publisher and Year: New York: Random House, 1961
Edition: Eleventh printing, in its original dust jacket priced $6.95, with review blurbs to the front panel and flaps, and Heller’s biography below his portrait on the rear panel.
Condition and Description: Octavo, publisher’s blue cloth stamped in white, 443 pp. Ex-library copy, with the usual institutional markings and alterations, including inventory sticker to the jacket spine, “New Haven Free Public Library” stamp to the front free endpaper, perforated stamp to the title page, number “8” stamped to the dedication page, and card pocket and additional stamps to the rear endpapers. Jacket in rubbed and soiled library mylar, with the flaps pasted to the endpapers. Small stain to the bottom corner of the front free endpaper, extending to p. 8. Top edge a little spotted. A very occasional minor stain to the pages within. Signed and inscribed by Heller on the front free endpaper: “To Judy Proctor / Don’t give this back to the library. / Joseph Heller / 12/1/67 / New Haven.”
Provenance: This copy once belonged to the New Haven Free Public Library. Given the lack of discard stamps and the nature of the inscription, we contacted that institution and provided the details about this copy. Representatives of the library stated that the institution does not have any records of its inventory from 1967, declined to assert an ownership claim when asked, and stated that they would not request that the book be given back. The last borrower appears to have been Judith Hefner (née Proctor; 1947–2016), a Connecticut resident. Whether the library formally permitted Proctor to retain the volume cannot now be established.
Heller was in New Haven in December 1967 for the debut of We Bombed in New Haven, which opened at the Yale Repertory Theatre on the fourth of that month. The circumstances of his encounter with Proctor are unknown. She does not appear to have been affiliated with Yale and we have found no record of a public Heller appearance in New Haven on the date that the book was signed. The most plausible explanation is a chance encounter in the city.
Inventory ID: 574 - 549 - 411
A singular example of Heller’s masterpiece, inscribed by Heller in 1967 with a mischievous command to the borrower of this library copy: “To Judy Proctor / Don’t give this back to the library.”
Publisher and Year: New York: Random House, 1961
Edition: Eleventh printing, in its original dust jacket priced $6.95, with review blurbs to the front panel and flaps, and Heller’s biography below his portrait on the rear panel.
Condition and Description: Octavo, publisher’s blue cloth stamped in white, 443 pp. Ex-library copy, with the usual institutional markings and alterations, including inventory sticker to the jacket spine, “New Haven Free Public Library” stamp to the front free endpaper, perforated stamp to the title page, number “8” stamped to the dedication page, and card pocket and additional stamps to the rear endpapers. Jacket in rubbed and soiled library mylar, with the flaps pasted to the endpapers. Small stain to the bottom corner of the front free endpaper, extending to p. 8. Top edge a little spotted. A very occasional minor stain to the pages within. Signed and inscribed by Heller on the front free endpaper: “To Judy Proctor / Don’t give this back to the library. / Joseph Heller / 12/1/67 / New Haven.”
Provenance: This copy once belonged to the New Haven Free Public Library. Given the lack of discard stamps and the nature of the inscription, we contacted that institution and provided the details about this copy. Representatives of the library stated that the institution does not have any records of its inventory from 1967, declined to assert an ownership claim when asked, and stated that they would not request that the book be given back. The last borrower appears to have been Judith Hefner (née Proctor; 1947–2016), a Connecticut resident. Whether the library formally permitted Proctor to retain the volume cannot now be established.
Heller was in New Haven in December 1967 for the debut of We Bombed in New Haven, which opened at the Yale Repertory Theatre on the fourth of that month. The circumstances of his encounter with Proctor are unknown. She does not appear to have been affiliated with Yale and we have found no record of a public Heller appearance in New Haven on the date that the book was signed. The most plausible explanation is a chance encounter in the city.
Inventory ID: 574 - 549 - 411
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