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"What do you intend to do with those diamonds": First Edition of Ian Fleming's Diamonds Are Forever; Signed by Sean Connery
FLEMING, Ian [Sean Connery].
Diamonds Are Forever.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1956.
First edition of the fourth novel in Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. Octavo, original black cloth. Boldly signed by Sean Connery opposite the title page. Near fine in a very good price-clipped dust jacket. Rare and desirable signed by this iconic figure who first embodied James Bond in film.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 139463
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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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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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FIRST EDITION OF MARK TWAIN'S ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN
TWAIN, Mark. [Samuel L. Clemens].
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, 1885.
First edition, first issue of Mark Twain’s masterpiece. Octavo, original publisher’s decorated green cloth, with 174 illustrations by Edward W. Kemble. Contains all of the agreed upon first issue points for the clothbound book: page 9 with “Decided” remaining uncorrected (to “Decides”); page 13, illustration captioned “Him and another Man” listed as on page 88; page 57, 11th line from bottom reads “with the was,” instead of “with the saw”. Other points of bibliographical interest included in this copy are the frontispiece portrait with the cloth table cover under the bust, bearing the Heliotype Printing Co. imprint; copyright page dated…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 117039
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"It is said that men condemned to death are subject to sudden moments of elation; as if, like moths in the fire, their destruction were coincidental with attainment": First Edition of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold; Signed by John Le Carre
LE CARRE, John.
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.
London: Victor Gollancz, 1963.
First edition of le Carre's classic work, which went on to reinvigorate the spy genre. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by the author on the title page, "David Cornwell aka John le Carre." Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. An exceptional example.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 115768
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First edition of Peter Rabbit's Painting Book; lengthily inscribed by Beatrix Potter to the Headmistress of Queen's College
POTTER, Beatrix.
Peter Rabbit’s Painting Book.
London & New York: Frederick Warne & Co, 1911.
First edition of this charming paint-by-line children's book featuring Potter's most beloved animal characters. Quarto, original pictorial cloth, pictorial endpapers, illustrated with 12 color plates, each with facing outlined illustration intended for coloring-in, two of which have been hand-painted. Presentation copy, lengthily inscribed by the author on the second free endpaper in the year of publication, "Love to Mary Kynaston from Miss Potter and Peter Rabbit: and love to Joan and Phyllis and their little brother from all the little animals. (It is going to be gray squirrels next time, but that is a secret!) Thank you for a very…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 135107
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He knew with a sudden and heart-lifting certainty that they would meet again. And when that happened the right words would be found": First Edition of the Author’s First Book Cover Her Face; Lengthily Signed by P.D. James
JAMES, P.D.
Cover Her Face.
London: Faber and Faber, 1962.
First edition of the author's first book. Octavo, original green cloth. Lengthily signed by the author on the title page with the added words, "P.D. James He knew with a sudden and heart-lifting certainty that they would meet again. And when that happened the right words would be found." The inscription is the final lines of this novel. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a touch of shelfwear. Jacket design by Charles Mozley. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A superior example with a nice inscription from the author.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 4325
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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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"A Faulkner oddity with a most interesting genesis and publication history": Three original typed drafts of William Faulkner's short story Afternoon of a Cow. By Ernest V. Trueblood
FAULKNER, William.
Afternoon of a Cow Original Typed Manuscript Drafts.
Three original typed drafts of William Faulkner's parodical short story "Afternoon of a Cow. By Ernest V. Trueblood." Two complete copies, each 17 leaves; bound with brass clasps in green folders with the third copy lacking the first leaf; with 49 strikethroughs in Faulkner's hand throughout most excising a single word. When Faulkner returned to Oxford at the end of World War I, he was writing poetry, much of it under the influence of the French Symbolists. In the summer of 1919, he borrowed Mallarmé's title, "L'Après-midi d'un Faune," for a 40-line poem of frustrated love. The poem appeared in…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 139485
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“Suspicion often creates what it suspects"; First Edition of C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters; In the Rare Original Dust Jacket
LEWIS, C.S.
The Screwtape Letters.
London: Geoffrey Bles, 1942.
First edition of Lewis' classic novel of spiritual conflict, one of his most celebrated works. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in the rare original dust jacket which is in very good condition. An excellent example. Very rare in this condition.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 144515
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"For Maurice with many thanks for the Future!": Exceptional association copy of Dr. Seuss' The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins; inscribed by him to fellow children's book legend Maurice Sendak
SEUSS, Dr. [Theodor Seuss Geisel]; Maurice Sendak.
The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins.
New York: The Vanguard Press, 1938.
First edition, early printing of Seuss's unique book of prose. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the pastedown, "For Maurice with many thanks for the Future! Dr. Seuss." The recipient, Maurice Sendak, is best known for his immensely popular illustrated children’s book, Where the Wild Things Are, which was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1964 and gained him international fame. Sendak acquired the present volume, which had been previously signed by Seuss on the verso of the front free endpaper "For Alice, Best Wishes - Dr. Seuss", and brought it to the July 1, 1980 American Library Association Conference…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 135672
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First edition of Margaret Mitchell's Gone With The Wind; Inscribed by Her
MITCHELL, Margaret.
Gone With the Wind.
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1936.
First edition of Margaret Mitchell's masterpiece which remains one of the fastest selling novels in the history of American publishing, with 50,000 copies sold in a single day. Octavo, original cloth. First printing, with “Published May 1936” on the copyright page and no mention of other printings. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Elizabeth S. Harsh from Margaret Mitchell." Near fine in a very good completely unrestored price-clipped first issue dust jacket with Gone with the Wind listed in second column of booklist on back panel and the $3.00 cost on front flap. Eicher…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 139819
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First Edition of Zora Neale Hurston's Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica; Signed by Her
HURSTON, Zora Neale.
Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica.
Philadelphia : J.P. Lippincott Company, 1938.
First edition of Hurston's personal experiences in Haiti and Jamaica. Octavo, original cloth, pictorial endpapers, 26 illustrations. Boldly signed by Zora Neale Hurston. In very good condition. Rare and desirable signed.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 142477
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"I'm wearing a necklace and ear-rings so that the mountains can enjoy looking at them!": Exceptionally rare collection of autograph letters signed by reclusive author P.L. Travers
TRAVERS, P.L.
Collection of P. L. Travers Autograph Letters Signed Archive.
1974-1993.
Exceptionally rare collection of 28 typed and hand written letters and notes signed by the author of Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers. 36 pages, the letters are a collection of 20 years of correspondence between Travers and close personal friends John and Jacqueline Rutherfurd and offer an intimate glimpse into Travers' personal life and many travels. In one note dated August 10, 1981, Travers writes: "Dear Jaqueline, I write, with a newly overhauled portable (and see how it works and imagine what I will have to say to them when I get back to London!) from Chandolin, the highest lived-in-all-the-year-round village…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 92809
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First Edition of The Poet In New York; Signed by Legendary Poet and Songwriter Leonard Cohen
LORCA, Federico Garcia [Leonard Cohen].
The Poet In New York and Other Poems.
New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1940.
First edition of Lorca’s masterpiece. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by fellow poet Leonard Cohen on the front free endpaper. Cohen was deeply influenced by the work of Lorca for the duration of his poetic and musical career. "Now, you know of my deep association and confraternity with the poet Federico Garcia Lorca. I could say that when I was a young man, an adolescent, and I hungered for a voice, I studied the English poets and I knew their work well, and I copied their styles, but I could not find a voice. It was only when I read, even…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 110825
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"I say why not read the copy you bought to a friend in the forces instead of exchanging it. There are too many homes which still lack one": First Editions of Each Volume the Classic Sword of Honour Trilogy; Inscribed by Waugh to Close Friend Patrick Balfour
WAUGH, Evelyn.
The Sword of Honour Trilogy: Men At Arms; Officers and Gentlemen; Unconditional Surrender.
London: Chapman and Hall, 1951-1961..
First editions of each volume in the author's acclaimed Sword of Honour Trilogy. Octavo, 3 volumes, original cloth. Men At Arms is an association copy, lengthily inscribed by the author to Patrick Balfour on the front free endpaper, "For Patrick with love from Evelyn Sept 6th 1952 I say why not read the copy you bought to a friend in the forces instead of exchanging it. There are too many homes which still lack one E Sept 16th." Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966) and Patrick Balfour (1904-1976) first met at Oxford in the early 1920s, and later in that decade were members…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 146212
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“There is never enough light": First Editions of Each Volume in the Author’s Alexandria Quartet; Each signed by Lawrence Durrell
DURRELL, Lawrence.
Justine, Balthazar, Mountolive, Clea. [The Alexandria Quartet].
London: Faber and Faber, 1960-1961.
First editions of each of the novels comprising the author's acclaimed Alexandria Quartet, each volume signed by Lawrence Durrell. Octavo, original cloth, 4 volumes. Justine is signed twice by Lawrence Durrell on the front free endpaper. Balthazar, Mountolive, Clea are each signed by Lawrence Durrell on the front free endpaper. Each book is fine in near fine to fine dust jackets. Each volume are housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Easily the nicest signed set we have seen.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 138169
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Rare First Edition of the First Complete English Translation of The Dialogues of Plato; Signed by Translator Floyer Sydenham
PLATO; TRANSLATED BY FLOYER SYDENHAM,.
Plato’s Dialogues.
London: W. Sandby, 1767-1779.
First edition set contains all eleven parts, although without all the individual dated titles. Part one is signed on the dedication page by the translator Floyer Sydenham as usual, and includes a sheet laid in with manuscript instructions to the binder. Quarto, three volumes, bound in contemporary full calf, armorial bookplate. Dated title pages in volumes one and two, each of eleven parts with undated flytitle and dedication leaf, Lesser Hippias and Dissertation both with additional dated part title, ad leaves at beginning of volume one and after The Banquet, as well "proposal" leaf, errata slip in volume three (a…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 140464
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"Alas! the love of women! it is known To be a lovely and a fearful thing": Rare complete first edition set of Lord Byron's Don Juan; from the library of Erica Jong
BYRON, George Gordon Noel. [Lord Byron].
Don Juan.
London: Thomas Davison [i.e., John Murray], 1819-1821 (Cantos I-V, Volumes I-II)/John Hunt, 1823-24 (Cantos VI-XVI, Volumes III-VI).
Scarce complete first edition set of Byron's great work which was widely criticized as immoral upon publication and is now considered one of the greatest poems of the Romantics; from the library of American writer Erica Jong. Volume one was produced in quarto format and the subsequent 5 volumes in octavo (Davison abandoned the quarto format after disappointing sales of the first volume), six volumes uniformly bound in full morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, double gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. With an autograph letter signed…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 142573
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“There's things that happen in a person's life that are so scorched in the memory and burned into the heart that there's no forgetting them": First Limited Edition of Mutiny On The Bounty; Signed by Marlon Brando, Director Lewis Milestone, Producer Aaron Rosenberg and in the scarce original glassine
NORDHOFF, Charles and James Norman Hall. Illustrated by Fletcher Martin. (Marlon Brando.
Mutiny on the Bounty.
New York : Limited Editions Club, 1947.
First limited edition of this epic historical drama made into the 1962 film starring Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard and Richard Harris. The film was the first widescreen motion picture ever produced. One of only 1500 copies. This is number 426. Signed on the front free endpaper in the year of the film's production by Marlon Brando (cast as First Lieutenant Fletcher Christian), Lewis Milestone (the film's director), Tarita Teriipaia (Princess Maimiti), and inscribed by the film's producer Aaron Rosenberg, "To Phil Corrin, Hope the picture lives up to your expectations. Most sincerely, Aaron Rosenberg." Additionally signed on the verso by twelve…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 89144