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"I want to be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren": J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings Trilogy; Finely Bound
TOLKIEN, J.R.R.
The Lord of The Rings Trilogy: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King.
London: George Allen and Unwin, 1966.
Finely bound set of each title comprising the The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Octavo, 3 volumes, bound in full red morocco, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, front panels, folding maps. In fine condition. Housed in a custom slipcase. The first printing of the second, revised, edition (with "Second Edition 1966" on the copyright page with no further printings listed). An exceptional set.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 133131
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“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past": First Edition of George Orwell's Classic Nineteen Eighty-Four
ORWELL, George.
Nineteen Eighty-Four.
London: Secker & Warburg, 1949.
First edition of Orwell's classic dystopian novel. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with a few small chips and closed tears. Jacket design by Michael Kennard. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. A very nice example.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 143801
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First Edition of Suttree; Inscribed by Cormac McCarthy to Memphis poet Howell Pearce
MCCARTHY, Cormac.
Suttree.
New York: Random House, 1979.
First edition of the author's fourth novel and what many consider to be his finest. Octavo, original half cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "For Howell Pearce with best wishes Cormac McCarthy." The recipient, Howard Pearce was a close friend of McCarthy's and a Memphis poet. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Jack Ribik. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. An exceptional example.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 132415
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"Would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?": Rare First Edition of The Hitch Hiker's Guide To the Galaxy; Signed by Douglas Adams
ADAMS, Douglas.
The Hitch Hiker’s Guide To the Galaxy. [Hitchhiker’s]
London: PAN, 1979.
First British edition of this modern classic, preceding the hardcover edition. Octavo, original wrappers. Boldly signed by Douglas Adams in a contemporary hand on the front pastedown. In fine condition. Housed in a custom clamshell box. A very sharp example, rare and desirable signed; this is the first example we have seen.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 140788
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"Like wind we come, like waves we go": First American edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám; from the library of Samuel Clemens with his ownership and gift inscriptions
OMAR KHAYYáM. [SAMUEL L. CLEMENS I.E. MARK TWAIN],.
Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, the Astronomer-Poet of Persia.
Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1878.
First American edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám from the library of Samuel Clemens. Octavo, original decorated cloth with gilt titles to the spine and front panel. From the library of Samuel Clemens with his ownership signature and presentation inscription to the front free endpaper, "SL Clemens Hartford 1878" and "Transferred to Miss Henry G. Brooks with the kindest regards of S.L. Clemens May 1884." With scribbles and hash-marks in pencil to blank margins, presumably in Twain's hand, similar to the annotated ninth edition at the Mark Twain Archive, Elmira College. In very good condition with loss to the…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 123424
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“If you write a line of zeroes, it´s still nothing": Rare First Edition of Ayn Rand's We the Living; in the rare original dust jacket
RAND, Ayn.
We the Living.
New York: The MacMillan Company, 1936.
First edition of Rand's debut novel. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in the rare original price-clipped dust jacket with light rubbing and wear. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 125765
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"Thanks for driving me home in your Buick in '32, and for your friendship to my father": First Edition of Jack Kerouac's First Book The Town and the City; Lengthily inscribed by Him
KEROUAC, Jack.
The Town and the City.
New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1950.
First edition of the Jack Kerouac's first book. Octavo, original red cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "Jack Kerouac To Judge Eno- belated Thanks for driving me home in your Buick in '32, and for your friendship to my father-." The recipient, Judge Eno was the father of Kerouac's close friend Arthur Eno who were classmates at St. Joseph's School. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. An exceptional inscription, rare and desirable.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 139281
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"O come, then, quickly come! We are budding, we are blowing; And the wind that we perfume Sings a tune that's worth the knowing": First Edition of Ralph Waldo Emerson's poems; Inscribed by Him
EMERSON, Ralph Waldo.
Poems.
Boston: James Munroe & Co, 1847.
First edition with four pages of publisher's ads dated January 1, 1847 bound before the title of this collection of poems. Octavo, bound in publisher's boards covered in coated ivory-colored paper, with publisher's label on spine. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication, "Elizabeth Burgess with the best wishes of R.W.E. 1 Jan. 1847." In very good condition with some wear to the binding. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare and desirable signed and inscribed by Emerson in the year of publication.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 70005
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The Works of Jonathan Swifts's From the Library of Founding Father Robert R. Livingstone
SWIFT, Jonathan [Robert R. Livingstone].
The Works of Jonathan Swift: Including, Gulliver’s Travels.
Edinburgh: Printed by Mrs. Mundell, 1778.
First of 4 issues, Scotch editions, from the library of Robert R. Livingstone, with his bookplate to the pastedown of each volume. Small octavo, bound in contemporary calf, spine compartments ruled with Greek key tooling, morocco spine labels. From the library of founding father Robert R. Livingston. As one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, Livingston played an important role in the early development of the newly formed country. He was known as "The Chancellor", after the high New York state legal office he held for 25 years. He was a member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence, along with Thomas…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 119642
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Rare First Edition of Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie; Inscribed by Him
DREISER, Theodore.
Sister Carrie.
New York: Doubleday, Page & Co, 1900.
First edition of the author's scarce first book. Octavo, original red cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "For F.W. Skiff, with good wishes, from Theodore Dreiser, Portland, June 7, 1930." Bookplate of noted book collector Frederick W. Skiff on the front pastedown. Laid in is an envelope addressed to recipient in Dreiser's hand, and with Dreiser's return address on the back including his name; inside the envelope is a receipt/waybill signed by Dreiser for a shipment via the American Railway Express Company, being a package shipped from Dreiser to Skiff on May 24, 1926,…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 117238
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"A man needs a little madness, or else... he never dares cut the rope and be free": Signed Limited Edition of the Kazantzakis’ Masterpiece Odyssey: A Modern Sequel
KAZANTZAKIS, Nikos.
Odyssey: A Modern Sequel.
Athens: Pyrsos, 1938.
First edition of Kazantzakis' masterpiece. Folio, brown cloth. One of 277 copies signed by Nikos Kazantzakis, this is number 109. In near fine condition.
Price: $14,500.00 Item Number: 2209
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“There's no liquor in the land that can stop your brain from bleedin": First Edition of Bob Dylan's First Book Tarantula; Signed by Him
DYLAN, Bob.
Tarantula.
Madison, Wisconsin: Wimp Press, c. 1966.
First pirated edition of Dylan's first book. Octavo, original wrappers as issued. Signed by Bob Dylan in a contemporary hand on the title page. One of the earliest pirated editions of Dylan’s novel, taken from the Macmillan 1966 proofs after production was delayed, pre-dating the 1971 trade edition. In very good condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Scarce and desirable signed by Dylan.
Price: $14,500.00 Item Number: 60050
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"And he no longer cared to tell which were things done and which dreamt": First Edition of Cormac McCarthy’s First Book The Orchard Keeper; Signed by the author
MCCARTHY, Cormac.
The Orchard Keeper.
New York: Random House, 1965.
First edition of the author's rare first book. Octavo, original half cloth. Signed by Cormac McCarthy on the title page in a contemporary hand. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with some light wear to the extremities. Jacket design by Muriel Nasser. Books signed by McCarthy are uncommon, especially his earlier novels. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery.
Price: $14,500.00 Item Number: 79880
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Rare George Orwell Typed Letter Signed
ORWELL, George.
George Orwell Typed Letter Signed.
October 1944.
Rare typed letter signed by George Orwell signed to Amy Charlesworth Byrne Typed letter signed ("Geo. Orwell"), to Mrs Amy Byrne excusing his delayed reply ("...I have been away again, and also somewhat distraught with the move into here..."), writing with relief that he has brought his young son down from Newcastle ("..It is no joke travelling with a child now..."), with other personal news and hoping that they will be able to visit the Byrnes at their home in Liverpool, 1 page, 4to, 27b Canonbury Square, Islington, London, 23 October 1944. "...I'd like to show you the baby (his name…
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 142498
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“Better to stay alive, At least while there's a chance to get free": Rare first edition of Octavia Butler's Kindred; inscribed by her
BUTLER, Octavia E.
Kindred.
Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1979.
First edition of Butler's classic bestselling novel. Octavo, original half cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, "To Steve Best wishes Octavia E. Butler." Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket illustration by Larry Schwinger. Jacket typography by Elizabeth Levine. First editions of this classic Butler novel are scarce, signed examples exceedingly so.
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 142883
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"To the few who love me and whom I love – to those who seek rather than to those who think – to the dreamers and those who put faith in dreams as in the only realities – I offer this book of truths" : Rare first edition of Edgar Allan Poe's Magnum Opus, Eureka, One of only 500 copies
POE, Edgar Allan.
Eureka: A Prose Poem.
New York: George P. Putnam, 1848.
First edition, first issue of Poe's classic work. Duodecimo, original publishers blind stamped black cloth with gilt lettering to the spine. First issue, without the review for Eureka on page 2 of the 16 page catalogue at the end of the book, but reads simply: “Poe. — Eureka, A Prose Poem: Or the Physical and Metaphysical Universe. By Edgar A. Poe, Esq.” In very good condition, with some light rubbing to the extremities, rebacked. Housed in a custom clamshell box. Rare.
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 140614
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"Would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?": Rare First Edition of The Hitch Hiker's Guide To the Galaxy; Signed by Douglas Adams
ADAMS, Douglas.
The Hitch Hiker’s Guide To the Galaxy. [Hitchhiker’s]
London: PAN, 1979.
First British edition of this modern classic, preceding the hardcover edition. Octavo, original wrappers. Boldly signed by Douglas Adams in a contemporary hand on the front pastedown. In fine condition. Housed in a custom half morocco chemise and clamshell box. A very sharp example, rare and desirable signed.
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 147972
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“There's no liquor in the land that can stop your brain from bleedin": First Edition of Bob Dylan's First Book Tarantula; Signed By Him
DYLAN, Bob.
Tarantula.
New York: MacMillan & Company, 1966.
First edition of Dylan's first book. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by Bob Dylan on the half-title page. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with some light wear to the extremities. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare and desirable signed by Dylan.
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 75081
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“Do anything, but let it produce joy": RARE SECOND EDITION OF WALT WHITMAN’S LEAVES OF GRASS; ONE OF ONE THOUSAND COPIES
WHITMAN, Walt.
Leaves of Grass.
Brooklyn, New York: Fowler and Wells, 1856.
Rare second edition, one of a 1000 copies of the most important volume in American poetry, with an additional twenty poems not found in the first edition as well as a new section of correspondence and reviews entitled “Leaves-droppings” that begins with the famous letter from Emerson containing the salutation “I greet you at the beginning of a great career.” Small octavo, original green cloth. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Walt Whitman. Bookplate of Barrett Wendell to the inside panel. Barrett was an American academic and a trustee of the Boston Athenaeum, a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and a…
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 50052
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“PASSAGES OF UNEARTHLY BEAUTY”: Signed Limited Edition of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake
JOYCE, James.
Finnegans Wake.
London: Faber & Faber, 1939.
First signed limited edition, number 115 of only 425 large-paper copies signed by Joyce. Large octavo, original red cloth, titles to spine in gilt, top edge gilt, original publisher's yellow cloth slipcase. Signed by James Joyce on the limitation page. In near fine condition.
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 137512
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“AMONG THE BEST EVER WRITTEN FOR CHILDREN”: First Editions, First States of A.A. MILNE’S FOUR POOH BOOKS, each volume in the rare ORIGINAL DUST JACKET
MILNE, A.A.; Illustrated by Ernest Shepard.
The Four Pooh Books: When We Were Very Young; Winnie-The-Pooh; Now We Are Six; The House At Pooh Corner.
London: Methuen & Co. Ltd, 1924-1928.
First editions, first issues of each work in Milne's wonderful Pooh quartet, with only When We Were Very Young being a first issue. Octavo, four volumes, original publisher's gilt-decorated pictorial cloth, top edge gilt, pictorial endpapers, illustrated with decorations by Ernest Shepard. When We Were Very Young is a first issue with page ix unnumbered, jacket with light toning to spine and a few losses to the extremities. Winnie-The-Pooh, cartographic endpapers, all edges gilt sunning to the spine, ownership ticket to the half-title page, jacket evenly toned with chipping to extremities with a closed tear to the rear hinge. Now…
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 146840
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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
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"THE KING OF PHILOSOPHERS": Exceptionally Rare First Edition of the First Complete English Translation of The Works of Plato
TAYLOR, Thomas. [Plato].
The Works of Plato, Viz. His Fifty-Five Dialogues, and Twelve Epistles, Translated From the Greek; Nine of the Dialogues by the Late Floyer Sydenham, and the Remainder by Thomas Taylor: With Occasional Annotations on the Nine Dialogues Translated by Sydenham, and Copious Notes, by the Latter Translator.
London: Printed for Thomas Taylor, By R. Wilks, Chancery-Lane, 1804.
First edition of the first complete English translation of the works of Plato. Quarto, five volumes bound in full pebbled cloth retaining contemporary black morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, half-titles, engraved frontispiece to volume I. In the words of the Prometheus Trust, "Taylor's Works of Plato, has two outstanding features which make it an essential component to the genuine philosophers library. Firstly, Taylor himself translates Plato's Dialogues from within the ancient Greek Tradition. No English translator, before or since, has been so completely at one with the Greek philosophical and religious world view: Taylor fulfills, to the highest degree,…
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 131256
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First Edition of MacKay’s Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds; With an Autograph Letter Signed
MACKAY, Charles.
Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.
London: Richard Bentley, 1841.
First edition of this classic study of crowd psychology, a compilation of human folly throughout the ages. Octavo, three volumes, illustrated. Bound in three quarter calf over marbled boards, gilt titles to the spine, raised bands. With an autographed letter signed by Charles MacKay in 1867 laid in. In near fine condition with light rubbing to the extremities.
Price: $13,500.00 Item Number: 129387