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"but like the bard who freely sings in strictest bonds of rhyme and rule and finds in them not bonds but wings": The Problem of Pain; signed and inscribed by C.S. Lewis with a quotation from Coventry Patmore's poem The Angel in the House
LEWIS, C.S.
The Problem of Pain.
London: The Centenary Pres, 1941.
Early printing of Lewis's classic discussion of the nature of good and evil; inscribed by him with a quotation from Coventry Patmore's poem The Angel in the House which had a profound influence on the development of Lewis's Christian beliefs. Octavo, original publisher's cloth. Signed by C.S. Lewis with a quotation from Coventry Patmore's poem The Angel in the House, "They live by law, not like the fool, But like the bard who freely sings in strictest bonds of rhyme and rule and finds in them not bonds but wings - Patmore C.S. Lewis April 1944." First published in 1854,…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 143183
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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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“NIELSEN’S MOST SPECTACULAR AND CELEBRATED BOOK”: SIGNED LIMITED EDITION OF EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON
NIELSEN, Kay. Asbjornsen.
East of the Sun West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North.
London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1914.
Signed limited edition of one of the most important and impressive books of the Golden Age of book illustration. One of 500 numbered copies, this is number 41. Quarto, original vellum, gilt titles and decoration to spine and front cover gilt, top edge gilt, pictorial endpapers. Signed by the illustrator Kay Nielsen. With 25 tipped in color plates. In near fine condition. A very nice example. Laid is the original notice for the Leicester Galleries exhibition held in November and December of 1914, where the watercolors for this book were offered for sale.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 69026
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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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“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
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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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"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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"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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"Look at everything upside down.Take absolutely nothing for granted": Complete Set of Dick Francis’ Novels, Each Signed by Him
FRANCIS, Dick.
Dick Francis Complete Set. Dead Cert, Nerve, For Kicks, Odds Against, Flying Finish, Blood Sport, Forfeit, Enquiry, Rat Race, Bonecrack, Smokescreen, Slay-Ride, Knock Down, High Stakes, In The Frame, Risk, Trial Run, Whip Hand, Reflex, Twice Shy, Banker, The Danger, Proof, Break In, Bolt, Hot Money, The Edge, Straight, Longshot, Comeback, Driving Force, Decider, Wild Horses, Come To Grief, To The Hilt, 10-lb Penalty, Field Of Thirteen, Second Wind Shattered and Under Orders.
London: Michael Joseph, 1962-2006.
First editions of each of the first forty Dick Francis' mystery novels.Octavo, 40 Volumes. All forty volumes are signed by Francis and the first three novels: "Dead Cert", "Nerve", and "For Kicks" are signed with lines transcribed from them by Francis. The Set Consists of: Dead Cert, Nerve, For Kicks, Odds Against, Flying Finish, Blood Sport, Forfeit, Enquiry, Rat Race, Bonecrack, Smokescreen, Slay-Ride, Knock Down, High Stakes, In The Frame, Risk, Trial Run, Whip Hand, Reflex, Twice Shy, Banker, The Danger, Proof, Break In, Bolt, Hot Money, The Edge, Straight, Longshot, Comeback, Driving Force, Decider, Wild Horses, Come To Grief,…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 490
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"what first attracts our interest in the person of Moses is his name": First Edition of Freud's Moses And Monotheism; Inscribed by Him To His Niece
FREUD, Sigmund.
Moses And Monotheism.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1939.
First American edition of last book written and published in Sigmund Freud's lifetime. Presentation copy, inscribed on the front free endpaper, "To dear Poppy from Uncle Sigm. London 1939." The eldest daughter of Freud's elder brother, Philipp, Pauline "Poppy" Freud was born in 1873 when Sigmund was seventeen years old. Freud visited Pauline and her parents in Manchester, England periodically throughout her childhood and maintained correspondence with Pauline well into her adulthood, visiting her and her husband, Frederick Oswald Hartwig, in London in 1939. Near fine in a very good dust jacket with some wear to the extremities. Housed in a…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 67018
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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 John Steinbeck's First Book Cup of Gold
STEINBECK, John.
Cup of Gold: A Life of Sir Henry Morgan, Buccaneer, with Occasional Reference to History.
New York: Robert M. McBride & Company, 1929.
First edition of Steinbeck's first book one of about 1500 copies. The publisher printed 2476 copies, 939 of which were remaindered as unbound sheets. Octavo, original cloth. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with light rubbing to the extremities. Comes with the original publisher's glassine. Housed in a custom cloth case. Rare, especially in this condition.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 70009
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"the most celebrated biography in the English language": Rare First Edition, First Issue of Boswell's The Life of Johnson
BOSWELL, James.
The Life of Johnson.
London: Printed by Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, in The Poultry, 1791.
First edition, first issue of both volumes of the most celebrated biography in the English language, which was published on May 16, 1791 in a print run of only 1,750 copies. Quarto, bound in full calf, gilt titles to the spine, morocco spine labels. Frontispiece portrait of Samuel Johnson, engraved by J. Heath after the Sir Joshua Reynolds (1756) painting. In very good condition. An excellent example of this landmark work.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 124524
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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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"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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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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"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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"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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"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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"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