New York: Cherry Valley 1989, an edition of 100 copies signed by Burroughs. Hardbound and issued without a dust jacket. The copies were signed on the title page and were to have been numbered as well, but when book dealer Quill & Brush received their 10 copies for resale they found none were numbered. They commissioned a rubber stamp to read “This is number ___ of 100 signed copies” and stamped theirs on the last printed page. They numbered them 1-10, then they sent the stamp to the publisher who had agreed to stamp and number the other 90 signed copies. But apparently this was never done. An additional 10 copies of the work were signed by both Burroughs and illustrator S. Clay Wilson. These have penciled “1 of 10 signed by both” on the first inner page. It is unclear if this was offered through the publisher or if another book dealer purchased and sent 10 copies of the signed edition to Wilson who added his signature after the book was released. In any event, this makes for three variant issues of the limited edition.
_____ the trade edition, one of 400 hardbound copies.
_____ simultaneous wraps edition.
The ten that were signed by both Burroughs and Wilson were a part of the 100 total. Wilson added the date (1989)after his signature in an effort to mark the limitation, since there was nothing to preclude a later signed copy as being one of the limited signed books(which is why Allen A. at Quill & Brush created the number stamp). The ‘number stamp’ appears on the last page of ten copies, below THE MANUSCRIPT WAS PREPARED…information and above one of Don Williams’ tornadoes.
James Grauerholz removed from the TA manuscript a piece entitled “yes in the golden days there were still purple patches” because it was ‘…straight memoir material and belongs with the book of memoirs Bill is working on.’ In its place he substituted “The FUs” and “Book of Shadows” per letter dated March 3, 1988.
I have a copy signed by both Burroughs and Wilson, with the “(1989)” following Wilson’s signature, without any rubber stamp or pencil marking. I assume that the pencil marking noted in Shoaf’s listing was added after the book had left Burroughs’ and Wilson’s hands.