Literature
Rare & Classic, American or English Literature Books for Sale Online
Browse rare first edition classics in American, English, world literature, poetry, and plays. View our entire collection of rare literature below, search our inventory with advanced search, or use our sorting tools to find exactly what you’re looking for. Please call with any questions you may have on a specific item or order online today.
Showing 1–24 of 4014 results
-
Browse by Category
- Browse All
- Americana
- Art and Architecture
- Autograph Letters Signed
- Biography and Autobiography
- Children's Books
- Economics and Finance
- Featured Rare Books
- Fine Bindings and Sets
- First Edition
- First Edition>Signed
- Food and Wine
- Framed Autographs and Historical Documents
- Geography
- Gifts
- Gifts - For Her
- Gifts - For Him
- Gifts - Graduation and Celebrations
- Gifts - Holidays
- History, Law, and Politics
- Literature
- Music
- New Arrivals
- Philosophy
- Photography
- Poetry
- Presidents and World Leaders
- Religion
- Science and Natural History
- Science Fiction and Mystery
- Signed
- Signed & Autographed Books
- Sports and Leisure
- Travel and Exploration
- Uncategorized
-
From the Library of John Steinbeck
[STEINBECK, John].
Two Russian Books From the Library of John Steinbeck.
Moscow: Various, c. 1960.
Two volumes in Russian from the library of American literary master John Steinbeck. Quarto, two volumes including a book of early Russian Orthodox paintings with many in color and a folio of loose plates featuring artwork from the Hermitage Museum. From the library of John Steinbeck. In very good condition.
Price: $950.00 Item Number: 117588
-
The Weimar edition of The Works of Friedrich Schiller; elaborately bound in full morocco
SCHILLER, Friedrich.
The Works of Friedrich Schiller.
Weimar and New York: The Northern Press, Printed for Subscribers only, n.d.
The Weimar edition of the collected works of Friedrich Schiller. Octavo, 10 volumes bound in full morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in five compartments within raised bands, elaborate gilt tooling to the front and rear panels, gilt inner dentelles, watered silk endleaves and doublures with central gilt mongrams "EHR", top edge gilt, illustrated with numerous hand-colored photogravures. One of 100 numbered copies of the Weimar edition, this is number 2. Provenance: from the collection of Fred and Kay Krehbiel. In very good condition.
Price: $2,000.00 Item Number: 143624
-
Magnificent limited edition of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam; with 20 remarkably intricate full color plates illustrated by Edmund Dulac
FITZGERALD, Edward. With illustrations by Edmund Dulac.
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.
London: Hodder and Stoughton, c. 1909.
Limited edition of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, rendered into English Verse by Edward Fitzgerald and with illustrations by Edmund Dulac. Quarto, original publisher's gold-stamped vellum with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, top edge gilt, pictorial endpapers, title page on Japanese vellum, with 20 intricate full color plates tipped in to decorated Japanese vellum mounts with lettered tissue guards. This edition is limited to two hundred copies, for the United States of America, of which this is number 188. In near fine condition.
Price: $1,250.00 Item Number: 127331
-
"This faint resemblance of thy charms, though strong as mortal art could give": Finely bound collection of the Poems of Lord Byron, each accompanied by an elaborately engraved plate
LORD BYRON. DRAWINGS BY CHALON, Leslie.
Heath’s Illustrations to the Works of Lord Byron, From Drawings by The First Artists.
London: A. Fullarton, And Co, c.1830.
Finely bound example of the poems of Lord Byron, each accompanied by a period engraving. Quarto, bound in three quarters morocco over decorative boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised gilt bands, inner dentelles, all edges gilt, frontispiece engraved portrait of Lord Byron. Illustrated with 36 full page engraved plates. In very good condition with the plates bright and crisp.
Price: $750.00 Item Number: 95864
-
"I am convinced that invisible & intelligent beings exist who say that they are the spirits of dead persons": rare collection of eight unsigned handwritten manuscripts by Arthur Conan Doyle; containing notes on seances and Spiritualism
CONAN DOYLE, Arthur.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Handwritten Manuscript Collection on Seances and Spiritualism.
c. 1920s.
Rare archive of eight unsigned handwritten manuscripts by Arthur Conan Doyle containing notes on seances and Spiritualism, totaling eleven pages on nine sheets, most undated but circa 1920s. Eleven pages on nine sheets, autograph manuscript ranging in size from 3.5 inches by 5 inches to 8.25 inches x 10.5 inches. For many of his later years, Doyle intensely pursued his interest in paranormal phenomena, and by the end of World War I he identified himself as a Spiritualist, believing in a spirit world and the ability to communicate with those beyond the grave. He established the specialized Psychic Bookshop in 1925, devoted entirely to the sale of spiritualistic and…
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 146985
-
First editions of all three volumes of Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car
FLEMING, Ian. [Roald Dahl].
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car.
1964-65: Jonathan Cape Ltd, London.
First editions of all three volumes of Fleming's rare children's novel. Octavo, three volumes, original pictorial boards, pictorial endpapers, illustrated by John Burningham. Each are near fine in very good to near fine dust jackets with the final two volumes price-clipped. A sharp set.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 146724
-
“Love is a possible strength in an actual weakness": the complete set of the MacMillan's Pocket Hardy
HARDY, Thomas.
The Works of Thomas Hardy. [Including Far from the Madding Crowd; The Mayor of Casterbridge; The Trumpet-Major; Tess of the D’Urbervilles; A Pair of Blue Eyes; Two on a Tower; The Return of the Native; Desperate Remedies; Wessex Tales.]
London: MacMillan & Co. Limited, c. 1919-1930.
The MacMillan Pocket edition of Thomas Hardy's complete works. Duodecimo, twenty-eight volumes bound in the original publisher's cloth with gilt titles and tooling to the spines and front panels, floral details stamped in blind to the front panels, top edge gilt, illustrated with photographs and maps. In very good to near fine condition, bookplates to the front pastedown of 'Wessex,' 'Human Shows,' and 'Winter Words,' sunning to the pines of 'Wessex' and 'The Dynasts: Parts I, II, and III.' A charming collection.
Price: $500.00 Item Number: 147338
-
First edition of Arthur Rackham's Mother Goose: The Old Nursery Rhymes; bound in full polished calf by Zaehnsdorf
RACKHAM, Arthur.
Mother Goose: The Old Nursery Rhymes.
London: William Heinemann, n.d. [1913].
First edition of Arthur Rackham’s illustrated rendition of the classic nursery rhyme collection. Octavo, bound in full polished calf Zaehnsdorf with morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, gilt vignette to the front panel, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham with 13 full-page color plates with captioned tissue guards and numerous in-text illustrations. Original cloth and pictorial endpapers bound in at rear. In very good condition.
Price: $1,150.00 Item Number: 135055
-
First edition, first issue of Mark Twain's King Leopold's Soliloquy: A Defense of His Congo Rule
TWAIN, Mark [Samuel L. Clemens].
King Leopold’s Soliloquy: A Defense of His Congo Rule.
1905: The P. R. Warren Co, Boston, Massachusetts.
First edition, first issue of Twain's work of political satire harshly condemning King Leopold's rule over the Congo Free State. Small octavo, original wrappers as issued. In very good condition. Housed in a custom cloth and chemise case with a second edition third printing of the pamphlet which contains the publisher's later advisory, "The publishers desire to state that Mr. Clemens declines to accept any pecuniary return from this booklet, as it is his wish that all proceeds of sales above the cost of publication shall be used in furthering the effort for relief of the people of the Congo State.…
Price: $2,000.00 Item Number: 95339
-
Scarce complete First edition, first issue of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities; in the original monthly parts; with three variant issues of part 1
DICKENS, Charles.
A Tale of Two Cities.
London: Chapman and Hall, June-December 1859.
First edition, first issue of one of Dickens’ most enduring works, with p.213 in part 7/8 mispaginated "113", and signature mark 'b' present on List of Plates at end, etched frontispiece, additional title and 14 plates by "Phiz" (Hablot K. Browne). Octavo, original blue-green wrappers. Complete with all the advertisements called for by Hatton & Cleaver, and the two rare slips in parts 1 and 5. Includes three variant issues of part 1, one with Morison's 'premises' advert, the second with Morison's 'lion' advert, and the third with the rare French version of the Morison's 'lion' advert. In near fine…
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 131460
-
"nothing could be more delightful than to live in solitude, and enjoy the spectacle of nature, and sometimes read some book or other": Nikolai Gogol's Dead Souls
GOGOL, Nikolai V.
Dead Souls.
London: Vizetelly & Co., n.d..
Finely bound example of Gogol's masterwork, “the first novel from which the world began to form its ideas of 19th-century Russia” (Hornstein, 139). Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments, raised bands, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt. In near fine condition.
Price: $975.00 Item Number: 132581
-
Typed Letter Signed by Agatha Christie.
CHRISTIE, Agatha.
Agatha Christie Typed Letter Signed.
May 2, 1969.
Typed letter signed by Agatha Christie to 'Mr. and Mrs. Holden' in answer to the question of how many books she has written. One page on Christie's Winterbrook House letterhead, duodecimo, the typed letter reads, '2nd May, 1969 Dear Mr. and Mrs. Holden, In answer to your question, how many books have I written, the answer is between 60-100, but I cannot tell you exactly because books of short stories differ here and in American publications. I suggest that you get Agatha Christie Mistress of Mystery by G.C. Ramsey published in America by Dodd Mead & Co of New York,…
Price: $2,750.00 Item Number: 145287
-
Rare original Antoine de Saint-Exupery watercolor study of The Little Prince
SAINT-EXUPéRY, Antoine de .
The Little Prince Original Antoine de Saint-Exupery Watercolor Drawing.
[New York]: [1942].
Rare original watercolor study of the beloved protagonist of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince, a timeless masterpiece that has transcended generations and remains the most widely read work of fiction in history, having sold over 150 million copies over the course of the past 80 years. One page, pencil and watercolor on American ‘Fidelity Onion Skin’ paper, the sketch contains three pencil studies of the Little Prince: three portraits and two full figure drawings, the most complete of which is finished in water colors and depicts the Little Prince standing alone in a long grey cloak with his iconic…
Price: $150,000.00 Item Number: 146264
-
"I am afraid that 'Kaspar's Song In Varda' is one of my own compositions": Rare Autograph Letter Signed by Rudyard Kipling
KIPLING, Rudyard.
Rudyard Kipling Autograph Letter Signed.
September 2, 1907.
Rare autograph letter signed from Rudyard Kipling to R. G. Von Berg. One page on Bateman's Burwash Etchingham letterhead, the letter reads in full, "Sep. 2 1907 Dear Sir: In reply to your letter of the 28th Aug. I am afraid that 'Kaspar's Song In Varda' is one of my own compositions and that you will not find it in the works of your great poet. Sincerely yours Rudyard Kipling R. G. Von Berg." Also known as 'Butterflies,' 'Kaspar's Song in Varda' was a sister-poem that accompanied Kipling's short story 'Wireless,' first published in Scribner's Magazine in 1902 and later…
Price: $1,250.00 Item Number: 146537
-
"One thing is certain, and the rest is lies; the flower that once has blown for ever dies": Willy Pogany's illustrated RUBAIYAT OF OMAR KHAYYAM; finely bound by Bayntun Riviere
TRANSLATED BY EDWARD FITZGERALD. ILLUSTRATED BY WILL POGANY,.
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.
London: George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., n.d..
Elaborately bound example of Pogany's finely illustrated Rubaiyat. Octavo, bound in full crushed red morocco by Banytun Riviere with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, quadruple gilt ruling, fleuron cornerpieces, and central gilt arabesque to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, illustrated by Willy Pogany. Translated by Edward Fitzgerald. In very good condition.
Price: $1,200.00 Item Number: 129800
-
“It's in vain to recall the past, unless it works some influence upon the present": First Edition In Parts of Charles Dickens' David Copperfield
DICKENS, Charles.
The Personal History of David Copperfield.
London: Bradbury and Evans, May 1849-November 1850.
First edition in parts of "the most perfect of all the Dickens novels" (Virginia Woolf). Original serial issue. Twenty parts in nineteen, octavo four to thirty-two pages of preliminary advertisements; text continuously paginated 1-624; eight leaves of preliminaries follow text in final part. Frontispiece, vignette title-page and thirty-eight additional inserted plates, the majority with tissue inserts as issued. Original blue-green illustrated paper wrappers. Several backstrips chipped at head and foot; some light soiling, wear at hinges; some parts skewed. In excellent condition, an unrestored example of Dickens' classic work. Includes the scarce insert "Lett's diaries" advertisement at end of Part…
Price: $9,800.00 Item Number: 91369
-
First edition of George Alfred Henty's Those Other Animals
HENTY, George Alfred [G.A.].
Those Other Animals.
London: Henry and Co., [1891].
First edition of one of the more uncommon Henty titles. Octavo, original publisher's decorated cloth, with twenty two illustrations by Harrison Weir. In very good condition.
Price: $200.00 Item Number: 123098
-
Selection of Olympia Press Erotica from the Traveller's Companion series
VARIOUS AUTHORS,.
Olympia Press Collection.
Paris: Paris, Various Dates.
First editions of a selection of works from Olympia Press, which was based in Paris and specialized in English-language books which could not be published elsewhere without risking legal action. Octavo, 44 volumes, original wrappers. In near fine condition.
Price: $4,000.00 Item Number: 129671
-
Arthur Conan Doyle's The Sign of the Four
DOYLE, Arthur Conan.
The Sign of the Four.
New York: The F. M. Lupton Publishing Company, n.d.
Later printing of the second novel featuring Sherlock Holmes written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece portrait of Conan Doyle. In very good condition.
Price: $500.00 Item Number: 135247
-
Rare George Orwell Autographed Letter Signed
ORWELL, George.
George Orwell Autographed Letter Signed.
June 1944.
Rare autographed letter signed by George Orwell signed to Amy Charlesworth Byrne detailing his usual weekly routines between his home and the offices of Tribune, in order to make lunch arrangements to meet her and her husband, also promising her a book ("...I'll try & find a copy of 'Burmese Days for you. These Penguins are sold out as soon as published nowadays, but I believe I have a few copies somewhere... signed E. Blair"), one page, 10a Mortimer Crescent, London NW6, 23 June 1944. Amy Charlesworth, with whom Orwell had corresponded in 1937, had now married her second husband…
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 142004
-
Rare 18th Century Heart-Shaped Christian Broadside; containing liturgical prayers, hymns, and creeds in latin
Rare 18th Century Heart-Shaped Christian Broadside.
Germany: c. 1780.
Rare late 18th century liturgical broadside. Printed broadside mounted on a decorated heart-shaped hardwood frame with a hand-painted botanical border containing Protestant liturgical chants, daily prayers, and hymns. Text in Latin. In very good condition. Scarce and desirable.
Price: $1,800.00 Item Number: 96227
