Literature
Showing 201–220 of 4122 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- Framed Autographs and Historical Documents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
-
"I hardly think that any letter will further your object; still, if the accompanying one can be made of the least service, I shall be happy": Rare autograph letter signed by Great American Author Herman Melville
MELVILLE, Herman.
Herman Melville Autograph Letter Signed.
c. 1855.
Rare autograph letter signed and entirely in the hand of great American novelist Herman Melville. One page, the letter reads in full, "Pittsfield Aug 26 Osmond Tiffany Esq. My dear Sir, With pleasure I comply with your request, but hardly think that any letter will further your object; still, if the accompanying one can be made of the least service, I shall be happy. Wishing you all success in your affairs I am Very Truly Yours H Melville." The recipient, Osmond Tiffany was a Baltimore merchant and occasional author who contributed to the Atlantic Monthly and The Knickerbocker. In 1855, he…
Price: $18,500.00 Item Number: 138591
-
James Joyce's masterpiece Ulysses; Signed by Him
JOYCE, James.
Ulysses.
Paris: Shakespeare and Company, 1924.
Fourth printing of Joyce's masterpiece, signed by him. Quarto, original wrappers. Signed by the author in the month of publication on the front free endpaper, "James Joyce Paris 7 January 1924." In very good condition, the joints lightly repaired. Housed in a custom clamshell box. Uncommon signed.
Price: $18,500.00 Item Number: 139635
-
First Edition of William Faukner's Soldiers' Pay; In the Original Dust jacket
FAULKNER, William.
Soldiers’ Pay.
New York: Boni & Liveright, 1926.
First edition of Faulkner's first book in the rare first state dust jacket with An American Tragedy as the first of five titles listed on the rear jacket panel. Octavo, original cloth. Bookplate, near fine in a very good dust jacket with some toning to the spine and some chipping to the extremities. Housed in a custom clamshell box. Rare and desirable.
Price: $18,500.00 Item Number: 81010
-
First edition, first issue of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets; warmly inscribed by J.K. Rowling
ROWLING, J.K.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
London: Bloomsbury, 1998.
First edition, first issue of the second novel in Rowling's Harry Potter series. Octavo, original illustrated boards. Association copy, inscribed by J.K. Rowling on the dedication page, "Susie and Emily (a female Fred & George) with best wishes J.K. Rowling." The recipients, redhead twins Susie and Emily, were family friends of Bryony Evens, whom they accompanied to the Cheltenham Literary Festival where Rowling inscribed the present volume. The inscription refers to Harry Potter character Ron Weasley's elder twin brothers and fellow redheads, Fred and George. Bryony Evens was one of the first people to read the beginning chapters of the…
Price: $18,500.00 Item Number: 115867
-
"The place where you made your stand never mattered. Only that you were there...and still on your feet": First Edition of The Stand; Inscribed by Stephen King to friend and fellow Writer and Icon of the beat generation William Burroughs
KING, Stephen [William Burroughs].
The Stand.
Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1978.
First edition of the author's classic fourth novel. Thick octavo, original half cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "For Bill Burroughs- With love and good wishes Stephen King 9/20/94." The recipient, William Burroughs is credited as a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular culture and literature. His writings had a strong influence on King as an adolescent and young man. As a English major at the University of Maine, King was taught by instructors who consciously identified with the beat movement. Burroughs was also impressed by…
Price: $18,500.00 Item Number: 132641
-
“The deeper the Self-realization of a man, the more he influences the whole universe by his subtle spiritual vibrations, and the less he himself is affected by the phenomenal flux": First Edition of Autobiography of A Yogi; Inscribed by Yogananda Paramhansa
YOGANANDA, Paramhansa.
Autobiography of a Yogi.
New York: The Philosophical Library, 1946.
First edition of one of the most important spiritual books of the twentieth century, Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece. Signed by the author in the year of publication on the front free endpaper, "With blessings Paramhansa Yogananda Dec 10, 46. LA." Preface by Walter Evans-Wentz. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. Exceptionally rare signed and in the original dust jacket.
Price: $18,000.00 Item Number: 144018
-
Rare Association Copy of Arthur Rackham's Illustrated edition of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens; signed and inscribed by J.M. Barrie, George Frampton, Princess Beatrice, Princess Marie Louise, Nadejda Mountbatten, and Arthur Rackham with an original drawing
BARRIE, J.M. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham.
Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens.
London: Hodder & Stoughton Limited, n.d.
New edition of Rackham’s highly-sought-after masterpiece, which established his reputation as one of England’s premier illustrators. Quarto, original publisher's green cloth elaborately decorated in gilt, illustrated by Arthur Rackham with 50 mounted color plates complete with captioned tissue guards including frontispiece. Association copy, signed by author J.M. Barrie on the verso of the front free endpaper, signed by Arthur Rackham on the recto of the frontispiece with an original drawing as well as Nadejda "Nada" Mountbatten, Marchioness of Milford Haven, signed by the sculptor of the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens, George Frampton on front pastedown, and signed by Princess…
Price: $18,000.00 Item Number: 142267
-
“The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat": Signed First Edition of Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich; In the rare original dust jacket
HILL, Napoleon.
Think and Grow Rich.
Meriden, Conn.: The Ralston Society, 1937.
Rare first edition of this classic bestseller, which has sold over 100 million copies. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Napoleon Hill on an official bookplate on the front free endpaper. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare and desirable in the original dust jacket and signed.
Price: $18,000.00 Item Number: 133570
-
“They want us dead,' said Bond calmly. 'So we have to stay alive": Ian Fleming’s Moonraker; Signed by Him
FLEMING, Ian.
Moonraker.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1963.
Early printing of the third novel in the James Bond series and what many critics to be his finest. Octavo, original black cloth. Boldly signed by Ian Fleming on the front free endpaper. From the personal collection of a close female friend of Fleming's who visited him in Jamaica frequently. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with the spine panel bright and with light wear to the spine extremities. Jacket design by Kenneth Lewis.
Price: $18,000.00 Item Number: 122972
-
“Undoubtedly, philosophers are in the right when they tell us that nothing is great or little otherwise than by comparison": Rare First Edition of Jonathan Swifts's Classic Work Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World
SWIFT, Jonathan.
Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, first Surgeon, and then Captain of Several Ships. [Gulliver’s Travels].
London: Benjamin Motte, 1726.
First editions of Jonathan Swift’s masterpiece, Gulliver’s Travels. Octavo, two volumes, bound in three quarters contemporary calf over marbled boards, engraved frontispiece of Lemuel Gulliver, woodcut initials, five engraved maps, gilt titles to the spine. In near fine condition. Housed in a custom cloth slipcase. Bookplate to the pastedown and period ownership signature to each volume. Both volumes are the Teerink B edition. A very nice example of this classic in English literature.
Price: $18,000.00 Item Number: 95317
-
"A Major Source for Shakespeare": Second and preferred edition of Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland
HOLINSHED, Raphael.
The First and Second Volumes of Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland With: The Third volume of Chronicles, beginning at Duke William the Norman [Holinshed Chronicles].
London: John Harrison, George Bishop, Rafe Newberie, Henrie Denham, and Thomas Woodcocke, 1587.
Preferred second edition of the greatest Elizabethan repository of English history which served as an important source for Shakespeare's plays. Folios, 3 volumes bound into 2, bound in full calf, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised bands, red morocco spine labels, gilt ruled, woodcut initials and title pages. Separate title pages and pagination for The Description and Historie of England, The Description and Historie of Ireland, and The Description and Historie of Scotland comprising volume 1. When this expanded second edition of the Chronicles appeared in January 1587, the Privy Council, responding to Queen Elizabeth’s displeasure at certain passages, ordered the Archbishop…
Price: $18,000.00 Item Number: 95438
-
Rare Original Goldfinger Dust Jacket Design Printing Proof; signed by Dust Jacket Designer Richard Chopping and from his personal collection
CHOPPING, Richard. [Ian Fleming].
Goldfinger. [Original Richard Chopping Signed Printing Proof].
Rare original progressive color printing proof for the iconic dust jacket design of Ian Fleming's Goldfinger, designed by Richard Chopping. Chopping's copy, retained for his personal collection and signed by him in the lower right corner. One page on archival printer's paper, this is the black ink progressive plate proof (one of four plates combined to create the final full color image). The seventh novel in Fleming's bond series, Goldfinger was the second book with a dust jacket designed by Richard Chopping, the first being From Russia, With Love. Chopping would design all subsequent James Bond dust jackets (with the…
Price: $18,000.00 Item Number: 124391
-
"the first novel in the English language": Rare complete set of all three books in Defoe's classic Robinson Crusoe series
DEFOE, Daniel.
The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe; The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe; Serious Reflections During the Life And Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.
London: Printed for W. Taylor, 1719-1720.
Rare complete set of early editions of all three books in Defoe's classic Robinson Crusoe series. The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe is a stated second edition. Small octavo, three volumes bound in full period paneled calf with gilt titles and ruling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, ornamental blind stamping to the front and rear panels, illustrated with an engraved frontispiece portrait of Robinson Crusoe in Vol. I, folding engraved world map in Vol. II, folding engraved frontispiece of Crusoe's island in Vol. III, decorated headpieces, tailpieces, and initials throughout. In very good…
Price: $17,500.00 Item Number: 145589
-
“I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why": First Edition of Of Mice and Men; Inscribed by John Steinbeck
STEINBECK, John.
Of Mice and Men.
New York: Covici-Friede, 1937.
First edition, first issue with the word "pendula" present on page 9 and the dot between the 8's on p. 88 of Steinbeck's "marvelous picture of the tragedy of loneliness" (Eleanor Roosevelt). Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "For Sara Hull Krahn John Steinbeck." Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a touch of wear. An exceptional example, most rare and desirable signed and inscribed.
Price: $17,500.00 Item Number: 147302
-
"one of the most important works in all of English literature": First edition of Johnathan Swift's masterpiece Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World
SWIFT, Jonathan.
Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, first Surgeon, and then Captain of Several Ships. [Gulliver’s Travels].
London: Printed for Benj. Motte, at the Middle Temple-Gate in Fleet-Street, 1726.
First edition of one of the most important works in all of English literature, Teerink's "AA" edition of Jonathan Swift's masterpiece. Octavo, four parts in two volumes bound in full contemporary calf, rebacked with morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, botanical gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt scrolling to the front and rear panels, engraved frontispiece portrait of Captain Lemuel Gulliver (Teerink's 2nd state), illustrated with five engraved maps and one engraved table. In very good condition. A desirable example of this landmark work in English literature.
Price: $17,500.00 Item Number: 146104
-
Rare autograph letter signed by Herman Melville to his publishers Harper & Brothers
MELVILLE, Herman.
Herman Melville Autograph Letter Signed.
Rare autograph letter signed and entirely in the hand of Herman Melville to his publisher, Harper & Brothers. One page, the letter reads in full, "Harper & Brothers New York. Pittsfield Oct. 8th Gentlemen: Herewith is an article, which, if it suit, will you, according to what you have said to me, send me the money for, without further trouble to yourselves or me. Very truly yours H. Melville." The letter likely dates from 1885 when Melville's financial circumstances were becoming dire. The article he references, The Apple-Tree Table, first appeared in serial form in 1850 and was later published…
Price: $17,500.00 Item Number: 139021
-
First Edition of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged; Signed by Her
RAND, Ayn.
Atlas Shrugged.
New York: Random House, 1957.
First edition of one of the most influential novels of the twentieth century. Large octavo, original green cloth, frontispiece stamped in gilt, spine stamped in black and gilt. Boldly signed by Ayn Rand on the front free endpaper. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by George Salter. An exceptional example.
Price: $17,500.00 Item Number: 139659
-
The Artists' Edition of the Works of Alexander Dumas, one of only 100 numbered copies; Finely Bound
DUMAS, Alexandre. [Alexander].
The Works of Alexandre Dumas.
Boston: Dana Estes & Company Publishers, 1894-1904.
The Artists' Edition of the complete works of Alexander Dumas. Octavo, 46 volumes bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards with gilt titles and botanical decorations to the spine in four compartments within raised gilt bands, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, photogravure frontispieces in 2 states to each volume, one hand-colored and the other on Japan vellum, each with lettered tissue guard, title-pages printed in red and black on Japan vellum, illustrated with numerous photogravures. One of 100 numbered copies of the Artists' edition, this is number 9. In near fine condition. An exceptional set.
Price: $17,500.00 Item Number: 144834
-
"ONE OF THE GREAT CHARACTERS OF MODERN FICTION": FIRST EDITION OF KAZANTZAKIS’ ZORBA THE GREEK; SIGNED BY HIM
KAZANTZAKIS, Nikos [Kazantzaki].
Zorba The Greek.
London: John Lehman, 1952.
First edition in English, preceding the American edition by one year of the author's most popular novel. basis for the Oscar-winning film starring Anthony Quinn. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by Nikos Kazantzakis. From the library of Odysseas Elytis, the recipient of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1979. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Translated by Carl Wildman. Introduction by Ian Scott-Kilvert. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Trade editions signed by Kazantzakis are exceptionally rare.
Price: $17,500.00 Item Number: 138764
-
Martin-Manney copy of Herman Melville's Omoo; in the rare original wrappers
MELVILLE, Herman .
Omoo.
New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1847.
First edition of this classic Melville work Omoo, the Martin-Manney copy in the rare original wrappers. Octavo, two volumes, original wrappers. Volume 1 with half-title, title-page printed in black and red, and frontispiece map of the Marquesas and Tahiti. Volume 2 with advertisements at rear paginated [xv]-xxiii, [1]-16 (light staining to prelims, lower corner clipped from endpaper in volume 2). Original printed wrappers (wrappers darkened and rubbed; part 1 backstrip restored with part of title in facsimile; part 2 with abrasion to rear cover deleting some of the text). Provenance: "Appleton" (ownership inscription to inside front cover of part II)…
Price: $17,500.00 Item Number: 142411