Our members list new acquisitions and recently cataloged items almost every day of the year. Below, you'll find a few highlights from these recent additions...
[A Dance to the Music of Time] Collection of first editions of Powell's classic novel sequence
by Powell, Anthony
London: Heinemann, 1975. First edition. 12 vols. 8vo. Red cloth, pictorial dust jackets. Question of Upbringing very good (text block toned, jacket rubbed with split at front flap), Buyer's Market very good (small loss to foot of front panel); some faint toning to spine panels, other volumes very good plus/near fine or better in dust jacket; Casanova's Chinese & Temporary Kings price clipped; 5 titles with pencil owner signature of Claude Smith, cartoonist). First edition. 12 vols. 8vo. "I'm reading Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time, an hilarious and very good work. The only book I know that takes Proust's habitual narrative gestures, Anglicizes them, and succeeds in the effort. In fact, Powell is the best critical study of Proust." - Guy Davenport
The author's stand-in, Nick Jenkins, moves at all levels of British society and his recurring ecounters with schoolmates, rivals, opportunites, relics, and schemers offers Powell the greatest range for the tricky acrobatics of his prose.
An attractive set of first editions of this landmark of twentieth-century British literature. Comprising:
1. A Question of Upbringing, 1951
2. A Buyer's Market, 1952
3. The Acceptance World, 1955
4. At Lady Molly's, 1957
5. Casanova's Chinese Restaurant, 1960
6. The Kindly Ones, 1962
7. The Valley of Bones, 1964
8. The Soldier's Art, 1966
9. The Military Philosophers, 1968
10. Books Do Furnish a Room, 1971
11. Temporary Kings, 1973
12. Hearing Secret Harmonies, 1975.
Offered by James Cummins Bookseller.
ABC ateji shohyo Ex-Libris (Illustrated Alphabet Book of Ex-Libris)
by [ABC]; Kamisaki, Sunao
Tokyo: Nihon Tosho Tsushinsha, 1988. First edition, number 110 of 200 copies, of this compelling feat of cross-cultural imagination by Japanese book artist Kamisaki Sunao (born 1932). The work comprises an ABC of celebrated Western scientists, artists, and leaders, from Aesop to Zola. Each luminary is introduced by way of an original bookplate design, vividly printed in the traditional folk style of stencil dying called katazome. Thomas Edison is represented by a light bulb, Isaac Newton by an apple, Leo Tolstoy by an inkwell, Walt Whitman by a leaf. ABC ateji shohyo Ex-Libris is one of several miniature orihon books produced by Kamisaki Sunao in the late 1980s. Text in Japanese and English. A strange and beautiful artist's book, bridging hemispheres and centuries. Three orihon (concertina) volumes, each measuring 3.25 x 2.25 inches: 24 panels each. Original green and black stencil-printed paper boards, text blocks stencil-printed in colors, recto only. Each volume housed in a green stencil-printed folding case with bone clasp. Lightest toning to cases.
Offered by Honey & Wax Booksellers.
by Rithcie, G. W. H. and Riordan, Roger.
New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1886. Folio. Green beveled cloth, stamped in black and gilt. Boards with some wear, rubbing, and staining, plates near fine. Library labels on front and rear pastedowns, shelf mark at foot of backstrip, closed tear in front free endpaper. A good ex-library copy, properly released. § Ten finely-printed etchings by masters of the art form, each with a tissue guard and a page of descriptive text by G. W. H. Ritchie and Roger Riordan.
Offered by John Windle Bookseller.
by Massinger, Philip (1583-1640)
London: Printed by A[ugustine] M[athewes] for Iohn Waterson, 1630. FIRST EDITION. Hardcover. Fine. A fine copy in 20th c. red crushed morocco, gilt, by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. Contents in overall fine condition, the first four and final leaves dusty and a bit toned, small ink spot on final leaf, head of title slightly chipped. The first edition of Philip Massinger's "The Renegado", the play that "introduced the eroticized captivity narrative to the English stage." (Neill) With its themes of piracy, slavery, and forced religious conversion, the play appealed to Massinger's audience's fascination with the threat posed to Christian Europe by the Ottoman Muslim Empire.
This edition features a cast list for the play, making "The Renegado" one of the few plays in English Renaissance drama for which cast information exists. The play was first acted in 1624 by Lady Elizabeth's Men at the Cockpit Theater. It was staged again in 1625 by Queen Henrietta's Men in the same theater. The cast list names the players who performed in the 1625 production (For the particulars, see "The Printed Cast List" below.)
"The word 'renegade' was adopted into English from the Italian renegado as early as 1583, and defined by Richard Hakluyt as 'one that was first a Christian, and afterwards becommeth a Turke." (Sayre 330)
"The play opens at a bazaar in Tunis. Vitelli, a Venetian aristocrat in disguise, has come to Tunis to redeem his virtuous sister, Paulina, who has been kidnapped by Grimaldi, a renegade pirate, and sold into captivity to a lustful Ottoman viceroy. It is Paulina's captivity narrative that sets the whole play in action:
Can I know my sister
Mewed up in his seraglio and in danger
Not alone to lose her honor, but her soul be patient? (I.i)." (Wei 33)
Paulina's captivity is spiritual as well as physical, as the Ottomans attempt to convert her to Islam. "Nearly every Barbary captivity narrative includes the narrator's account of how he or she was urged to convert to Islam." (Sayre 330)
Massinger includes a parallel plot, with the sexes reversed, with Vitelli falling in love with Donusa, a Turkish princess. "When Donusa's liaison with Vitelli is discovered, they are both thrown in prison. She attempts to save them by entreating him to convert and marry her, but he refuses, strengthened by the ministrations of Francisco, a Jesuit priest. Instead, Vitelli manages to convince Donusa to convert and face a Christian death with him. Meanwhile, the renegade pirate Grimaldi falls into disgrace with the Turks and returns to Christianity. Finally, with Paulina and the repentant Grimaldi's help, all the Christians escape." (Fuchs 62)
"'The Renegado' endorses surprisingly Catholic practices as necessary measure for resisting and reversing Islamic conversion. Vitelli redeems himself and staves off damnation through Francisco's intercession. That Massinger not only portrays this Jesuit priest in a positive light but credits him with the salvation of the Christian characters, their escape from Tunis, and the happy outcome of the play is remarkable given the usual vilification of Jesuits in Protestant England." (Degenhardt 70)
Offered by Liber Antiquus.
Early Female Impersonator Julian Eltinge Gender-Bending Archive, 1910-1919
by Eltinge, Julian
Archive of seven articles of memorabilia relating to 19th-20th century female impersonator Julian Eltinge. Archive includes four original real photo postcards, two sheet music booklets and one novelty cigar box label, showing images of Eltinge in and out of his drag persona. Julian Eltinge began performing in drag at age 10 and grew up to have one of the most successful Vaudevillian careers of the early twentieth century. Eltinge's reputation as a "female impersonator" was one of refinement, and his act flourished despite Vaudeville's strict moral guidelines. During the peak of his stardom, he was one of the highest paid stage actors in America, touring under the genderless alias "Eltinge." At the end of these performances, he would remove his wig, much to the surprise of the unknowing audience. Archive includes two black and white real photo postcards of Eltinge in costume as the title character in the 1914 musical comedy "The Crinoline Girl", fully made up and wearing a corset and petticoat, and two black and white real photo postcards of Eltinge in men's clothing promoting the 1910 comedy "The Fascinating Widow" (one bears an image of Eltinge in outerwear with the caption "On my way to the Theatre to use the Julian Eltinge Cold Cream which makes me the handsome widow in 'The Fascinating Widow'"). Also included is a large sheet music booklet for the 1915 song "I'm at Your Service Girls" from Eltinge's Broadway play "Cousin Lucy", with a hand-colored photograph on Eltinge in men's clothing on cover, and a sheet music booklet for the 1919 song "Friends" with a picture of Eltinge in drag on cover and inset of Eltinge in men's clothing. Finally, a decorative novelty cigar box label dating to the 1910s or 20s featuring a color illustration of the performer and reading in decorative textured font "Julian Eltinge". Overall good to very good condition. A collection of scarce memorabilia relating to an early cross-dressing performer.
Offered by Max Rambod Inc.
Typed Letter Signed [TLS] introducing The Lord of the Rings
by TOLKIEN, J.R.R.
Oxford: np, 1953. First edition. custom folder. Very Good. EIGHT MONTHS BEFORE PUBLICATION, TOLKIEN ANXIOUSLY INTRODUCES HIS MASTERPIECE, THE LORD OF THE RINGS, TO A FAN OF THE HOBBIT. Tolkien had begun work on The Lord of the Rings in December of 1937 and by early 1950, after over twelve years of labor, the writing was essentially complete. The road to publication, however, was not an easy one, for Tolkien feared his book would have difficulty finding an audience. In February, 1950, he wrote about his concerns to his publisher (Allen & Unwin): "My work has escaped from my control and I have produced a monster: an immensely long, complex, rather bitter, and rather terrifying romance, quite unfit for children (if fit for anybody)." (Carpenter, 213).
Tolkien's admission that he had produced a "monster" turned out to be prescient, for seeing the book through publication proved to be a challenge for both him and his publisher and three years after completion, the first volume (The Fellowship of the Rings) was still not in print.
At the time of the present letter - December 2, 1953 - publication finally seemed imminent, and Tolkien was understandably nervous. Writing to Mrs. F.L. Perry, a fan of The Hobbit, he explains the delays in publication (it was supposed to be published by Christmas, 1953), worries that the book will be too long and expensive to reach a wide audience, introduces the world of The Lord of the Rings and expresses his hopes that she will like the book despite humbly worrying that it is filled with too much history, geography, and genealogy.
His was right to be concerned about further delays in publication - the first edition of The Fellowship of the Ring wouldn't actually appear until July 29, 1954 - but of course his other major concern - that the book would not find an audience - was wildly misguided.
Offered by Manhattan Rare Books.
OUR BODIES OURSELVES. A Book by and for Women
by Boston Women's Health Book Collective
New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1973. Book. Very Good+ condition. Paperback. First thus edition. Quarto (4to). xii, 276 pages of text. Paperback binding has minor creasing and handling wear to the front cover, and a few pages have creases to the corners. Illustrated. First Thus Edition. Stated on copyright page: First printing. This work is revised and expanded from the 1971 First Edition. The text is clean and unmarked..
Offered by Kurt Gippert, Bookseller.
ARMED SERVICES EDITION PAPERBACK BOOKS (LOT OF 80 BOOKS)
Council on Books in Wartime, 1943. Armed Services Edition paperback books ( lot of 80 books with 42 small & 29 large). Measurements: ~5.2 in x 6.5 in and 3.8 in x 4.5 in. Condition: Good. Age toning. Mild to moderate wear to spines, edges and corners.
We added nine more books to the lot (not pictured in primary group photograph but shown in last two photos). These books measure ~6.5 in. x 4.5 in. (4 books) and ~5.5 in. x 3.8 in. (5 books).
Offered by Second Story Books.
Original photograph of Tom Waits, circa 1980
by Tom Waits (subject); Fershid Bharucha (photographer)
N.p.: N.p., 1980. Vintage borderless photograph of Tom Waits onstage in Paris, circa 1980. Stamp of photographer Fershid Bharucha on the verso.
5 x 7 inches. Near Fine.
Offered by Royal Books.
by Nin, Anaïs
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1968. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. Inscribed by Anaïs Nin on the front flyleaf. In this provocative work, Nin explores the act of creation - in film, art, and dance as well as literature - to chart a new direction for the young artist struggling against what she perceived as the sterility, formlessness, and spiritual bankruptcy afflicting much of mid-twentieth-century fiction. Nin offers, instead, an argument for and synthesis of the poetic novel and discusses her own efforts in this genre as well as its influence on the development of such writers as D.H. Lawrence, Henry Miller, Lawrence Durrell, Marguerite Young, and Djuna Barnes. Octavo: 214 p. Original burgundy cloth binding, with gilt titles. A fine copy in a fine dust jacket.
Offered by johnson rare books & archives.
by Gerald Durrell; Ralph Thompson [illus.]
New York: The Viking Press, 1956. Very Good +/Very Good +. New York: The Viking Press, 1956. First Edition. Octavo (22 cm); [6], 238pp. Publisher's illustrated dust jacket with price intact ($3.75). Boards full bound in mint green cloth with dark green stamping. Dust jacket generally scuffed and rubbed at margins with sunning to spine. Board margins lightly soiled with corners and spine ends bumped. Page edges toned and lightly soiled. Small sticker to back paste down. A Very Good or better copy in like dust jacket.
A recounting of British naturalist Gerald Durrell's trip to Argentina and Uruguay with his new wife to gather zoological data on the animals of the area and potentially the animals themselves.
Offered by Capitol Hill Books.
by Bulgakov, Mikhail
New York: Harper & Row, 1967. First printing. Near fine in a near fine jacket.. First US edition of Michael Glenny's superior translation, published the same year as the Grove Press first that lacked over 20,000 words. Written in the time of Stalin, this satirical black fantasy was not published until after the author's death - and then in censored form. Clearly influenced by Goethe and Dostoevsky, it's a daring philosophical novel of chaos and comedy, striking a tone that would feel cutting-edge and contemporary decades later, during its discovery in the 1960s. First translated into English by Mirra Ginsburg for Grove Press the same year, that version used the censored MOSKVA text, lacking approximately 23,000 words of the novel; this is the first translation into English that didn't use the abbreviated text. A great copy. 8.25'' x 5.75''. Original black cloth, spine lettered in red and gilt. In original unclipped ($5.95) color pictorial dust jacket designed by Mercer Mayer. Gold endpapers, yellow topstain, fore-edge machine deckle. vi, 394 pages. Small penned price to front flap. Some minor soil, toning overall. Else sharp and sound.
Offered by Type Punch Matrix.
by ROOSEVELT, Eleanor
1954. unbound. very good. T.L.S. to her UNESCO and Institute of International Education colleague, by the First Lady, author, and diplomat. 1 page on personal stationery, 6" x 7" (staple holes in upper left; pencil check mark through recipient's name; receipt stamp in upper right). Val-Kill Cottage, Hyde Park, New York. Dec. 27, 1954. "...I was indeed interested to see the material you sent him and appreciate your sending me copies. I do hope my numerous requests of you are not too troublesome!..."
Offered by Argosy Book Store.
by Thoreau, Henry David
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Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1854. First edition. Near Fine. Original publisher's cloth binding embossed in blind. Yellow endpapers. Includes adverts at the rear dated May 1854 (The earliest date of adverts is April 1854, but the book was not published until July of that year. BAL states that advert dates are of "no known bibliographical significance"). A Near Fine copy, with slight discoloration to the front board and minor rubbing to the base of the spine. Darkening to the upper corner of the first fifty pages. But a copy that appears unused and unread, extremely clean and fresh. Housed in a custom slipcase with chemise. One of just 2,000 copies of the first edition, the importance of which cannot be overstated.
"Henry David Thoreau lived for two years, two months, and two days by Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. His time in Walden Woods became a model of deliberate and ethical living" as he grappled with the environmental and social challenges of his own time (Walden Project). A reformer seeking truth and balance in nature, Thoreau wrote of his experience in the present text; and his words continue inspiring world leaders, climate change activists, and those who simply aim to find their own best version of life.
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion" (Thoreau).
Offered by Whitmore Rare Books.
by William P. McGivern
New York: Dodd, Mead, 1954. First Edition. First Edition. Basis for the 1954 film noir directed by Roy Rowland and starring Robert Taylor and Janet Leigh. Price of $2.75 on the front flap, with a red topstain and an advertisement for Agatha Christie's "A Pocket Full of Rye" on the rear flap as called for. Extremely scarce in dust jacket.
Very Good plus in a About Very Good dust jacket. Board edges lightly rubbed. Jacket moderately faded on the spine, with chipped corners and spine ends, and several cello tape mends on the verso.
Offered by Royal Books.
AMBER. The Story of a Good Little Dog
by Willis, Fritz
Hollywood, CA: Mistletoe Press, 1944. Book. Very good+ condition. Hardcover. First Edition. Quarto (4to). 32 pages of text. Original hardcover binding with a small bump at the bottom of the spine, and minimal shelfwear. Unclipped dustjacket with a tiny chip, several small tears, minor browning to the spine, and minor soiling and shelfwear; remaining bright and attractive; protected in archival mylar. Previous owner's bookplate on the front endpaper. The text is clean and unmarked. First edition.
Offered by ABAA-member Kurt Gippert Bookseller.
by Descartes, Rene
Leiden: Jan Maire, 1637. First Edition.. Full contemporary calf; modern drop down box.. Good; binding worn; outer margins of first few and last few leaves with a diminishing brown (the result of offset from the cover "turn-ins" or crude dentelle) stain "framing" the page; free endpapers excised.. 4to, [2], 3 - 78, [2 - divisional title], 1 - 413, [35 - index, privilege] pp. There are illustrations throughout the text.
A fundamental book in the history of science and philosophy. This copy from the Pulleyn [Pullein] family in England with the signature and statement of Octavian Pulleyn jeune on the inside surface of the rear board. The statement is dated in Feb. of 1662 by Pulleyn Jr., it is difficult to decipher but appears to be a pledge for the value of this book. Both Pulleyn Sr. and Jr. were printers for the Royal Society. Pulleyn Sr. was the printer for the first edition of Harvey's Exercitationes de Generatione Animalium. By 1670 John Collins (a mathematician and editor for Newton) remarked in correspondence that Pulleyn Jr. was "insolvent" in trade. The binding is a simple English blind stamped calf of the period; unfortunately the worse for wear.
Offered by Palinurus Antiquarian Books.
by Fisher, Harrison
NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1913. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Fine. A fine copy, apparently as a new, in original gift box as issued, inscribed by Fisher "Sincerely Yours" (as was his custom) with his typical flourish. With 32 portrait plates of American female beauty in signature Fisher style. The only defects in the original presentation are: the original glassine, besides incidental wear, is missing its rear flap; and, half of the right side of the top lid of the box, which has incidental surface wear, is missing. The collectible copy.
Offered by Johnnycake Books.
Two (2) Die-Cuts Depicting British Politicians -- Liberals and Tories c.1880
[London, England], 1880. Very good to near-fine. Some toning, minor surface wear.. Two (2) die-cut scraps depicting British politicians c.1880: one bench of Tories and one bench of Liberals, each rather cleverly caricatured and easily recognizable. The Liberals include Rosebery, Spencer, Granville, Derry, Kimberley, and Northbrook, while the Tories include Smith, Churchill, Hicks Beach, Gross, Hamilton, and Manners. Scarce, especially as a set. Each measures approx. 4" by 8.5". Die cut and embossed. Winston Churchill's grandfather and Princess Diana's great grand-uncle are present.
Offered by Eclectibles.
Signed Photograph (Nikola Tesla)
New York: n.p., 1896. First edition. Fine. STUNNING LARGE HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPH OF TESLA, SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY TESLA TO EDWARD EVERETT BARLETT. Albumen print, signed and inscribed by Tesla on the original gray mount: "To my friend E. E. Bartlett, New York, June 9, 1896, Nikola Tesla." The photograph shows Tesla in profile seated before the spiral coil of his high-voltage transformer at his East Houston St., New York, laboratory.
The photograph, in addition to being arguably the most famous and dramatic portrait of Tesla, is scientifically significant, for it served as a demonstration of the power of his new technique of providing illumination with vacuum tubes.
A reproduction of the photograph appeared in the May 20, 1896 issue of Electrical Review, alongside an article where a reporter interviewed Tesla about the novel circumstances of the creation of this photo:
"As to his continuous efforts to improve his system of lighting by vacuum tubes, with which he has been identified during a number of years, Tesla said that he has been more successful than he had ever dared to hope. His methods of conversion from ordinary to high-frequency currents are rendered simple in the extreme, the devices are thoroughly reliable and require no attention. Last, but most important of all, he has succeeded in increasing the candle-power of the tubes to practically any intensity desired.
"A remarkable and most telling result of the advances he has made in the last direction is a portrait, which he has reluctantly allowed us to use, and which was obtained by two seconds' exposure to the light of a single vacuum tube of small dimensions. Tesla stated further that photographs obtained by the light of such powerful tubes show an amount of detail which no picture taken by the sun or flash light is capable of disclosing. This feature is only faintly shown in the reproduction on this page. The photograph was made by Tonnelé & Company, artists' photographers, who aided Mr. Tesla in his attempts to photograph by the light of phosphorescent tubes about two years ago.
"When asked, Mr. Tesla said, in explanation of the picture, speaking with deep feeling, that the volume he was reading was one of the 'Scientific Papers,' of Maxwell, given to him as a token of friendship by Professor Dewar; the chair a gift of his warmest friend, Mr. E. D. Adams; and as to the queer coil to his left, Mr. Tesla hesitatingly remarked that it was the object 'dearest of all in his laboratory,' having been a most valuable instrument in his many-sided investigations.
"Mr. Tesla added, good humoredly, that, had it not been for the extraordinary manner in which the photograph was taken, he would not have given this explanation even to such an important personage as the representative of the ELECTRICAL REVIEW."
Tesla was correct in insisting that the lighting from the vacuum tubes produced a high-level of detail in the photograph; the intricacies of the coil, in particular, appear remarkably sharp. Overall, the photograph has an orange tint, almost certainly the result of his novel lighting technique.
Although this is the only signed example of this photograph we are aware of, it has been reproduced in recent years many times, including serving as the cover image for Marc J. Seifer's groundbreaking biography of Tesla, Wizard.
Provenance: The recipient, Edward Everett Bartlett (1863-1942) was a celebrated New Yorker (both he and Tesla were featured in Moses King's Notable New Yorkers, 1896-1899), who founded Bartlett & Co., (later Bartlett Orr Press) on lower Broadway, in 1888. Variously described as an artist, illustrator, printer, and engraver, Bartlett was internationally known as "an expert on newspaper type, and he was credited with the development of much of the linotype type used in newspaper offices throughout the country"; additionally he published several works on the art of the book. (New York Times, Obituary, 1942).
Size: Image, 7 3/4 x 9 1/2 inches; with mount, 8.5 x 11 inches. Archival matting and framed with UV-protecting museum glass to an overall size of 16.5 x 19 inches. Small closed tear in extreme blank bottom margin (matted out). Fine condition.
SIGNED TESLA PHOTOGRAPHS ARE EXCEEDINGLY RARE ON THE MARKET AND THIS IS, WITHOUT QUESTION, THE FINEST WE'VE SEEN.
Offered by Manhattan Rare Book Company.
by HOUGHTON, William
London:: William Mackenzie, (1879)., 1879. Large 4to. (374 x 275 mm) xxvi, 204 pp. 41 colored full-page chromolithographs (including frontispiece), 64 engraved vignettes, red and black title-page, top edge gilt. Modern dark brown quarter morocco over original cloth boards, raised bands, gilt-stamped spine title. Bookplate of James Jones. RARE. Fine. MAGNIFICENT CHROMOLITHOGRAPHS OF BRITISH FISH: FIRST EDITION, with all plates present and in fine condition. Sometimes bound as two volumes, but this copy is bound as one, and it is complete. This Victorian book is a gentleman's encyclopedia of the fresh water fish native to Britain. In addition to 41 stunning color full-page plates of each fish described, the book also has a steelcut vignette at the beginning of each description, as well as numerous diagrams and drawings. Reverend William Houghton, a Shropshire clergyman, produced this work with the angler in mind - opposed to the naturalist. Many of the fish are portrayed as game-landed freshwater fish set on the pastoral riverbanks and shorelines of the British Isles. The writing, which accompanies each plate, offers detailed information on the habitat, breeding and capture of the fish. The text page includes a lovely steel-engraved vignette of the natural habitat of the fish, an elegant scene of the river from which the fish was caught.
Offered by Jeff Weber Rare Books.
Cambridge, New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1966-1973. Limited Editions. Hardcover. Quartos, Eight Volumes. In Very Good condition. Housed in publisher's lightly worn black paper slip cases bearing gold labels with black lettering. Bound in quarter leather and cloth boards, both in a variety of colors. Embossed stamp of poet on front board of each volume. Most spines bearing black labels with gold lettering. Minor general shelf wear. Textblocks clean. Enumerated on limitation pages in rear of each volume.
Mild scuffing to spines on "The Poems of William Blake" and "The Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley." Label on spine of "The Poems of William Blake" red. All signed by respective illustrators on limitation in rear except for "The Poems of William Blake."
All Volumes #174/1500 except "The Poems of William Wordsworth," which is #174/2000.
Offered by Second Story Books.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
by Campbell, Joseph
New York: Pantheon Books, 1949. First Edition. First edition. xxiii, 416 pp. Bound in publisher's black and green cloth with gilt spine lettering. Good with rubbing to cloth along edges, slight lean to spine, strained edges, wrinkling along bottom edge of pages with tidemark visible to plates. Lacking dust jacket.The first appearance of the influential mythology book, which inspired Star Wars and 2001, among other popular works.
Offered by Burnside Rare Books.
by DAPHNE DU MAURIER
First UK Edition; A Near Fine book in a Near Fine dust jacket. SIGNED by the author on the front free end paper. A pristine copy of this collection of short stories, including "The Birds", the basis for the classic Hitchcock film; by the author of "Rebecca", "My Cousin Rachel", etc.; this book very scarce in collectible condition, particularly signed. This copy is in near fine condition with a square tight binding, bright gold lettering over red boards, and clean white pages; a mild crimp to the spine head and some very light soiling to the exterior text block are present, else fine. Housed in a near fine dust jacket that is clean and bright but does show some light age toning to the spine lettering and some mild rubbing to the spine ends and corners, else fine. An outstanding copy of this book; a bucket list item for the Du Maurier collector or a "books into movies" collector! Not price clipped (10/6 intact), not ex-library; in a protective Mylar cover and will ship in a sturdy box.
Offered by Grayshelf Books.
by LEWIS, SINCLAIR
Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc, 1935. First Edition. Hard Cover. Good/Fair. 0x0x0. First edition. Large chip from jacket spine base with associated fading to spine, loss from other jacket corners, jacket edges rubbed with several closed tears, boards lightly soiled, owner bookplate on front endpaper. 1935 Hard Cover. 458 pp. 8vo. Original black cloth, gilt titles. A satirical work of dystopian fiction envisioning an American dictatorship. The causes for the descent into fascism are authentic, making the novel an insightful glimpse of what it looks like to trade one set of evils for another. Lewis wrote the book during the Great Depression, basing the dictatorship on Hitler's, but replacing hateful indoctrination with misleading appeals to American values. Many believe the novel to be a direct reaction to the possible candidacy of Huey Long for president in 1936. It was published five years after Lewis became the first American writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Lewis also won (and declined) the Pulitzer Prize for his 1925 novel Arrowsmith.
Offered by Yesterday's Muse.
by O'CONNOR, FLANNERY
New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1955. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First edition. Fine in fine dust jacket with none of the usual spine-fading on the dust jacket, and a little soiling not really worthy of the mention. The author's masterpiece, her second book and first book of short stories. A breathtaking collection of horror tales that probe the darkest heart of the South through the use of traditional "Southern Gothic" writing mixed with a nightmare vision seemingly derivative of German expressionism. The equal of, or superior to, any copy we've seen.
Offered by Between the Covers Rare Books.
Col. W. F. Cody. "Buffalo Bill"
by [CABINET CARD] STACY, CHARLES
Corner 9th St. & 5th Ave, Brooklyn: Stacy. Very Good. Cabinet card [16.5 cm tall x 11 cm wide]. Small loss to foot of mount. "Yours truly, W. F. Cody" stamped in facsimile on the recto.
A cabinet card produced by Charles Stacy.
Offered by Ken Sanders Rare Books.
The Works of Joseph Conrad (20 Volumes) -- Signed!
by CONRAD, JOSEPH
London: William Heinemann, 1921. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Good. Produced in an edition of 780 sets, 750 of which were for sale. This is set #429 and is signed by Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) on the colophon. Brown cloth covers with beige buckram spines and printed black titling, Conrad's signature reproduced in black on the cover of each volume. Wear and scuffing to volumes, creasing to head and foot of spine on each volume, slight darkening to endpapers but very clean within.
Offered by Craig Olson Books.
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