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Rare & Classic, American or English Literature Books for Sale Online
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"This is precisely what I expected Hong-Kong would be like": First edition of Rudyard Kipling's 'They' and the Brushwood Boy
KIPLING, Rudyard.
‘They’ and the Brushwood Boy.
London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1925.
First edition of this collection of two Kipling stories. Octavo, original cloth elaborately decorated in gilt, with illustrations in color by F. H. Townsend. In very good condition.
Price: $75.00 Item Number: 121873
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"For secret doubt and open slight the mercy, lord, be for the right!": Scarce First separate edition of Rudyard Kipling's "After" A False Start
KIPLING, Rudyard.
“After” A False Start.
At the Sign of the George, 1924.
First Separate edition of Kipling's "After", the first draft of the poem that would later become The Recessional, being a facsimile of a hand-written note retrieved from Kipling's wastebasket which was later donated to the Harvard College Library. One page, folded. In fine condition. Scarce.
Price: $2,500.00 Item Number: 123514
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"My small feet could walk the sun up and down across the stony hill-crests where we worked": First edition of Rudyard Kipling's "Teem"- A Treasure-Hunter; in the scarce original dust jacket
KIPLING, Rudyard.
“Teem”- A Treasure-Hunter.
New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, 1938.
First edition of Kipling's beloved dog story. Octavo, original cloth. Frontispiece illustration by Marguerite Kirmse. Near fine in the scarce original dust jacket.
Price: $75.00 Item Number: 121883
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Rare original large format acrylic painting signed by Vietnam War Veteran and Golden Globe Award winning screenwriter Ron Kovic
KOVIC, Ron.
“The Joy of Color!” Ron Kovic Original Painting.
2013.
Rare original large format acrylic painting signed by Vietnam War Veteran and Golden Globe Award-winning screenwriter Ron Kovic. On thick Aquarell watercolor paper, the painting is signed three times by the artist on the verso, "Ron Kovic Oct 2013", "'The Joy of Color' by Ron Kovic" and with a signed self-caricature. American anti-war activist, writer, and United States Marine Corps sergeant Ronald Lawrence Kovic was wounded and paralyzed in the Vietnam War. His 1976 memoir Born on the Fourth of July was made into the Academy Award–winning 1989 film directed by Oliver Stone. Kovic received the Golden Globe Award for…
Price: $1,800.00 Item Number: 135265
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"Please may I come in? I am Boots. I am son of Kildonan Brougue - Champion Reserve - V.H.C. - very fine dog": First Edition of Rudyard Kipling's Thy Servant A Dog
KIPLING, Rudyard.
“Thy Servant A Dog” Told by Boots.
Garden City: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., 1930.
First edition of Kipling's beloved children's classic, as told by Boots the dog. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated by Marguerite Kirmse, frontispiece. Near fine in a very good price-clipped dust jacket.
Price: $100.00 Item Number: 121841
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"PLEASE MAY I COME IN? I AM BOOTS. I AM SON OF KILDONAN BROUGUE - CHAMPION RESERVE - V.H.C. - VERY FINE DOG": FIRST EDITION OF RUDYARD KIPLING'S THY SERVANT A DOG
KIPLING, Rudyard.
“Thy Servant A Dog” Told by Boots.
New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc, 1930.
First edition of Kipling’s beloved children’s classic, as told by Boots the dog. Octavo, rebound in new boards with gilt titles to the spine, top edge gilt, illustrated by Marguerite Kirmse, frontispiece. Near fine in a custom slipcase.
Price: $600.00 Item Number: 123470
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Limited Edition of Sir Thomas Malory's Morte D'Arthur; Illustrated with Original Designs by Aubrey Beardsley
BEARDSLEY, Aubrey; Sir Thomas Malory; William Caxton; John Rhys; Aymer Vallance.
[Morte D’Arthur]. The Birth Life and Acts of King Arthur of His Noble Knights of the Round Table Their Marvellous Enquests and Adventures the Achieving of the San Greal and in the End Le Morte Darthur with the Dolourous Death and Departing Out of This World of Them All.
Edinburgh: Turnbull & Spears, 1927.
Limited Beardsley illustrated edition of perhaps the best-known work of Arthurian literature in English, containing two additional illustrations not appearing in the second edition, in addition to the 10 further illustrations published in the second edition that did not appear in the first. Quarto, original publisher's cloth with gilt art-deco botanical design by Aubrey Beardsley, some pages uncut, top edge gilt, illustrated with twenty-two plates by Beardsley, numerous in-text designs, and head- and tail-pieces throughout. One of one thousand six hundred examples. In very good condition.
Price: $1,250.00 Item Number: 146914
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Rare Signed limited edition of E. E. Cummings' untitled work
CUMMINGS, E. E.
[No Title]. [An Imaginary Dialogue Between Almost Any Publisher and a Certain Author A.D. 1930].
New York: Covici Friede Publishers, 1930.
First edition and signed limited edition of Cumming's cleverly titled untitled work. Quarto, original cloth stamped in silver, illustrated with 8 full-page drawings by the author. One of 491 copies signed by the author on the colophon, this is number 144. In near fine condition. Housed in a custom clamshell box. Small bookplate designed by Rockwell Kent. One of the more elusive Cummings titles.
Price: $975.00 Item Number: 136284
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"There are moments which are made up of too much stuff for them to be lived at the time they occur": First Editions of Tinker, Tailor Soldier Spy; The Honourable Schoolboy and Smileys People; Each Signed by John Le Carre
LE CARRE, John.
[The Karla Trilogy]: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy; The Honourable Schoolboy; Smiley’s People.
London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1974-1979.
First editions of each title in the author's acclaimed Karla Trilogy. Octavo, original cloth, 3 volumes. Each volume is signed by John le Carre on a bookplate to the title page. Each is near fine in near fine dust jackets. An exceptional set, uncommon in this condition and signed.
Price: $5,500.00 Item Number: 133663
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First Edition of Richard Wright's 12 Million Black Voices; Signed by Him
WRIGHT, Richard.
12 Million Black Voices: A Folk History of the Negro in the United States.
New York: The Viking Press, 1941.
First edition of this powerful work by the author of The Native Son, featuring photographs by Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange and Ben Shahn. Quarto, original cloth, illustrated throughout. Boldly signed Richard Wright on the front free endpaper. Very good in the rare original dust jacket which is in very good condition. Photo-direction by Edwin Rosskam. Uncommon signed.
Price: $2,000.00 Item Number: 119447
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First Edition of Gore Vidal's 1876: A Novel; Inscribed by Him to His Sister
VIDAL, Gore.
1876: A Novel.
New York : Random House, 1976.
First edition of this classic novel. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the "Valerie love Gore." The recipient, Valerie Gore was the author’s sister. Vidal’s father remarried in 1939 and had two children with his second wife; Valerie was born in 1946. The two remained close throughout the years. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
Price: $600.00 Item Number: 126331
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First Edition of Gore Vidal's 1876: A Novel; Inscribed by Him to His Sister
VIDAL, Gore.
1876: A Novel.
New York : Random House, 1976.
First edition of this classic novel. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the "Kit love Gore." The recipient, Katherine “Kit” Vidal was Eugene Vidal’s second wife; he married her in 1939 when she was a 20 year old model with the Powers Agency, only six years older than Gore. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. A nice association.
Price: $600.00 Item Number: 131323
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Rare 1950s-1970s Paperback Collection including Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Rudyard Kipling's Kim, Carson McCullers' The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, John Steinbeck's Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, and many others
BRONTE, Emily; Agatha Christie; Ernest Hemingway; Jack Kerouac; Rudyard Kipling; John Steinbeck et al.
1950s-1970s Paperback Collection.
New York: Avon, Bantam, Dell, et al, c. 1940-1960.
Large collection of first edition and early printings including a variety of classic literature and pulp fiction. Small octavos, 60 volumes, the collection includes Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Rudyard Kipling's Kim, John Milton's Paradise Lost, Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon, Carson McCullers' The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, John Steinbeck's Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, Jack Kerouac's The Subterraneans and many others. In very good to fine condition.
Price: $1,250.00 Item Number: 121681
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Rare "Noh aspires to indescribability": 200 Utaibon Noh Chantbooks
200 Utaibon Noh Chantbooks.
Kyoto: Tsunenosuke Hinoki, 1943-1944.
A theatrical collection of exactly 200 Utaibon Noh chantbooks. Original wrappers with stitched binding, average of approximately 20 pp. each, title labels on rice paper, patterned paper covers, calligraphic text in red and black. All in very good to fine condition. Housed in a dedicated wooden case, which is in good condition with partitioning to one of the doors. From the collection of Mae Smethurst, a University of Pittsburgh professor who authored a groundbreaking book comparing Noh drama to Greek classical drama. An exceptional rarity.
Price: $3,800.00 Item Number: 145827
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First Edition of Arthur C. Clarke's 2010: Odyssey Two
CLARKE, Arthur C.
2010: Odyssey Two.
New York: Ballentine Books, 1982.
First edition of the second volume in Clarke's acclaimed Odyssey series. Octavo, original half cloth. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Gary Friedman. Cover painting by Michael Whelan.
Price: $30.00 Item Number: 145180
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First Edition of Roberto Bolano's 2666; Signed by Translator Natasha Wimmer
BOLANO, Roberto.
2666.
New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008.
First edition of the author's masterpiece published posthumously in English, which was named one of the New York Times’ 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated endpapers. Boldly signed by the translator Natasha Wimmer on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Charlotte Strick.
Price: $750.00 Item Number: 146350
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First Edition of 3 by Irving; Inscribed by John Irving To Editor David Kent
IRVING, John.
3 By Irving: Setting Free the Bears; The Water-Method Man; The 158-Pound Marriage.
New York: Random House, 1980.
First edition of this compilation of the author's first three novels. Octavo, original half cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page to his editor David Kent, "For David Kent John Irving with my admiration and affection." Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Jack Ribik. Introduction by Terrence Des Pres.
Price: $475.00 Item Number: 37055
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First Edition of Jose Saramago's A Bagagem Do Viajante: Cronicas; Inscribed by Him
SARAMAGO, Jose.
A Bagagem Do Viajante: Cronicas.
Lisboa: Ed. Futura, 1973.
First edition of this early collection of essays by the future Nobel Prize- winning author. Octavo, original wrappers, as issued. Inscribed and dated by Jose Saramago.
Price: $750.00 Item Number: 1334
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“We all remember what we need to remember”: First Edition of A Book of Common Prayer; Inscribed by Joan Didion
DIDION, Joan.
A Book of Common Prayer.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1977.
First edition of Didion's classic fourth book. Octavo, original half cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, "For Kenneth Stein Joan Didion 11 July '94." Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Janet Halverson. An exceptional example, uncommon signed.
Price: $1,250.00 Item Number: 144198
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First Edition of Matt Haig's A Boy Called Christmas; Signed by Him
HAIG, Matt.
A Boy Called Christmas.
London: Canongate, 2015.
First edition of this modern Christmas classic. Octavo, original boards, illustrated. Boldly signed by Matt Haig on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Rafaela Romaya. Illustrations by Chris Mould.
Price: $300.00 Item Number: 125921
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"I dwell in a lonely house I know, that vanished many summer ago": Robert Frost's A Boy's Will; signed and dated by him
FROST, Robert.
A Boy’s Will.
New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1934.
Second American edition of Frost's first published work. Octavo, original beige linen cloth, engraved title page. Signed and dated by the poet on the title page, "Robert Frost February 25 1936." In very good condition. Small ownership name.
Price: $1,100.00 Item Number: 130124
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First Edition of Graham Greene's A Burnt-Out Case; Inscribed by Him to Friend Anthony Hobson
GREENE, Graham.
A Burnt-Out Case.
London: Heinemann, 1961.
First edition of this Greene novel set in a leproserie on the upper reaches of a tributary of the Congo River in Africa. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, "For Anthony Hobson from Graham Greene." The recipient Anthony Hobson, auctioneer and book collector, was a director at Sotheby’s and friend of Greene's. He successfully organized the sale of the Greene's manuscripts at Sotheby’s in 1964. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Dust jacket design by Lacey Everett.
Price: $4,000.00 Item Number: 102563
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“The more bare a life is, the more we fear change"; First Edition of Graham Greene's A Burnt-Out Case
GREENE, Graham .
A Burnt-Out Case.
London: Heinemann, 1961.
First edition of this Greene novel set in a leproserie on the upper reaches of a tributary of the Congo River in Africa. Octavo, original cloth. Small name to the front free endpaper, near fine in a fine dust jacket. Dust jacket design by Lacey Everett. An exceptional example.
Price: $450.00 Item Number: 104522
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“The more bare a life is, the more we fear change"; First Edition of Graham Greene's A Burnt-Out Case
GREENE, Graham .
A Burnt-Out Case.
London: Heinemann, 1961.
First edition of this Greene novel set in a leproserie on the upper reaches of a tributary of the Congo River in Africa. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Dust jacket design by Lacey Everett.
Price: $75.00 Item Number: 115799
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Exceedingly rare first edition of Rudyard Kipling's A Call to the Nation
KIPLING, Rudyard.
A Call to the Nation.
London: The Daily Express, 1908.
First edition of Kipling's speech delivered at Lord Derby's Recruiting Campaign for the West Lancashire Territorial Battalions. Quarto, original wrappers. Housed in a custom half morocco and chemise case. Exceedingly rare. From the library of Raymond J. Schweizer with his bookplate to the pastedown. Rare with no recorded examples at auction in the last 60 years.
Price: $3,500.00 Item Number: 121049
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First Edition of A Century of Arts and Letters; Signed by All Eleven Contributors
AUCHINCLOSS, Louis; Beeson.
A Century of Arts and Letters.
New York: Columbia University Press, 1997.
First edition of this work celebrating the history of the American Academy of Arts & Letters on its centenary. Octavo, original cloth, pictorial endpapers. Boldly signed on the the title page by all eleven contributors. Preface and edited by John Updike. In near fine condition. Rare and desirable signed.
Price: $975.00 Item Number: 145842
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First Edition, first issue of Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses
STEVENSON, Robert Louis .
A Child’s Garden of Verses.
London: Longmans, Green, and Co, 1885.
First edition, first issue of Stevenson's classic work. Small octavo, original cloth, gilt titles to the spine, top edges gilt. With publisher's logo in gilt at top left of front cover, presumed publisher's blind stamp on title page, gilt apostrophe on spine with curved tail, gilt "of" on spine in smaller type, without advertisements. In near fine condition, owners name to the front free endpaper. Housed in a contemporary custom clamshell box. An exceptional example.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 123972
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"It's Christmas! Sweet Christmas! The Happy day of Home": First edition of Joan Walsh Anglund's A Christmas Book; warmly inscribed by her
ANGLUND, Joan Walsh.
A Christmas Book.
New York: Random House, 1983.
First edition of the revered children's book author's charming children's tale. Quarto, original illustrated boards, pictorial endpapers, illustrated by the author. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper in the year of publication, "Sarah, Merry Christmas 1983 - Joan Walsh Anglund." In fine condition.
Price: $475.00 Item Number: 123670
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First Edition of Madeleine L'Engle's A Circle of Quiet; Inscribed by Her
L'ENGLE, Madeleine.
A Circle of Quiet.
New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1972.
First edition of the author's classic work. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, "For Irene- joy in your own Circle- Madeleine L'Engle." Near fine in a very good dust jacket, owner inscription to the front free endpaper. Jacket design by Charles Skaggs. First editions are uncommon signed.
Price: $475.00 Item Number: 138849
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"One of the most groundbreaking and influential novels of all timeand one of the best": First Edition of Anthony Burgess A Clockwork Orange; In the Original First Issue Dust Jacket
BURGESS, Anthony.
A Clockwork Orange.
London: Heinemann, 1962.
First edition of Burgess' landmark novel. Octavo, original black boards, titles to spine in gilt. Near fine in a very good first issue dust jacket with the wide flaps, price-clipped. Jacket design by Barry Trengrove. A very sharp example.
Price: $2,500.00 Item Number: 146205
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"One of the most groundbreaking and influential novels of all timeand one of the best": Anthony Burgess A Clockwork Orange; Finely Bound by the Harcourt Bindery and Signed by Anthony Burgess
BURGESS, Anthony.
A Clockwork Orange.
New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 1963.
Finely bound edition of Burgess' landmark novel. Octavo, bound in full morocco by the Harcourt Bindery, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt inner dentelles stamp-signed by the Harcourt Bindery, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Boldly signed by Anthony Burgess on a page bound in. With an Afterword and glossary by Stanley Edgar Hyman. In fine condition.
Price: $2,500.00 Item Number: 146490
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"One of the most groundbreaking and influential novels of all timeand one of the best": First Edition of Anthony Burgess A Clockwork Orange; Finely Bound by the Harcourt Bindery and Signed by Anthony Burgess
BURGESS, Anthony.
A Clockwork Orange.
London: William Heinemann, 1962.
First edition of Burgess' landmark novel. Octavo, bound in full morocco by the Harcourt Bindery, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt inner dentelles stamp-signed by the Harcourt Bindery, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Boldly signed by Anthony Burgess on a page bound in. In fine condition.
Price: $3,500.00 Item Number: 146487
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First edition of A Collection of Poems, Mostly Original, by Several Hands; finely bound in full calf
GOLDSMITH, Oliver; Edmund Burke; Sir H. Walpole; et al.
A Collection of Poems, Mostly Original, by Several Hands.
Dublin: Printed for the Editor by M. Graisberry, 1789.
First edition of this rare collection of early English literature. Octavo, bound in full calf, elaborate gilt tooling to the spine, morocco spine label lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers, ribbon bound in, illustrated with engraved vignettes, lists of subscribers. In near fine condition. An attractive binding.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 137226
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First Edition of A Columbus of Space; Signed by Garrett P. Serviss in the Year of Publication
SERVISS, Garrett P.
A Columbus of Space.
New York and London: D. Appleton and Company, 1911.
First edition of this classic interplanetary adventure novel. Octavo, original lime green pictorial cloth, frontispiece of a scene from page 47 "Standing on the steps ... was a creature shaped like a man, but more savage than a gorilla." Signed and dated by the author on the front free endpaper in the year of publication. In near fine condition. A rare example in this condition without any other signed copies in commerce.
Price: $1,600.00 Item Number: 146170
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“The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between”: Rare First Editions of the Full Orchestral Scores of the Symphonies of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven; Including the first appearance of of the full scores of Mozart's Overture to the Marriage of Figaro and Symphony no. 40
BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van; Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart .
A Compleat Collection of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven’s Symphonies, in Score, Most Respectfully Dedicated, by Permission, to H.R.H The Prince of Wales.
London: Lavenu, Cianchettini & Sperati, 1808-1810.
First editions of the first printings of the full orchestral scores of the complete symphonies of Beethoven, Mozart, and Hadyn. Quarto, two volumes bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards wit gilt titles and tooling to the spine, including A Complete Collection of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven's Symphonies (Cianchettini and Sperati) and A Complete Collection of Mozart and Beethoven's Symphonies. A Compleat Collection of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven's Symphonies contains the first appearance of the full scores of Mozart's Overture to the Marriage of Figaro, Mozart's Symphony no. 40, and no. 41. (Fuld, The Book of World-Famous Music, 564-567). A Complete Collection…
Price: $40,000.00 Item Number: 95829
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Scarce First edition of John Marbecke's A Concordace; One of the finest and most complete copies obtainable
MARBECKE, John.
A Concordace, that is to saie, a work wherein by the ordre of the letters of the A.B.C. ye maie redely finde any worde conteigned in the whole Bible, so often as it is there expressed or mentioned.
London: Richardus Grafton, 1550.
Rare first edition of the first concordance in English to the Bible. Quarto, bound in full polished calf with raised bands and gilt titles to the spine, trimmed and mounted engraved title page. In near fine condition with some leaves supplied and mounted and restoration to the margins. One of the finest and most complete copies obtainable as this work is invariably found in defective condition. Housed in a custom slipcase. From the library of Anglo-Irish George Stokes with his bookplate to the pastedown and a presentation note signed by his daughter.
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 122671
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"When I first heard about Big Sur I didn't know that it was a member of the Confederate States of America": First Edition of A Confederate General from Big Sur; Signed by Richard Brautigan
BRAUTIGAN, Richard.
A Confederate General from Big Sur.
New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1964.
First edition of Brautigan's first published novel. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by Richard Brautigan on the title page. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket painting by Larry Rivers. Jacket photograph by Erik Weber. A very nice example.
Price: $2,000.00 Item Number: 110462
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First Edition of A Confederate General from Big Sur; Signed by Richard Brautigan
BRAUTIGAN, Richard.
A Confederate General from Big Sur.
New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1964.
First edition of Brautigan's first published novel. Octavo, original cloth. Signed and dated by the author on the title page, Richard Brautigan January 22, 1964." Review slips of examples we've seen note the publication date as January 22, 1965, so we believe Brautigan must have written the incorrect year as many of us do in the new year. Laid in are two photographs of Brautigan credited to Bancroft Library. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket painting by Larry Rivers. Jacket photograph by Erik Weber. A very nice example.
Price: $2,250.00 Item Number: 125842