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“Don't let love interfere with your appetite. It never does with mine": First Edition, First Issue of Trollope's Barchester Towers; In the rare original cloth
TROLLOPE, Anthony.
Barchester Towers.
London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts, 1857.
Rare first editions, first issue of one of Trollope's most important novels. Octavo, original cloth, blind stamped boards. Half-title present in Volume I, brick-red endpapers with advertisements. Sadleir 5. Bookplates of Oliver Brett on front free endpapers and of Duff Cooper on versos. In near fine condition. Each volume is housed in a three quarter calf clamshell box. Uncommon set in the original cloth of one of Trollope's most important novels.
Price: $9,800.00 Item Number: 98876
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"I felt once more how simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea. Nothing else": Rare First Edition In Greek of the Author’s Classic Work Zorba The Greek; Signed by Nikos Kazantzakis
KAZANTZAKIS, Nikos.
Zorba The Greek.
Athens: Plateia Syntagmatos, 1946.
Rare first Greek edition, preceding all other editions of the author's classic work, which was the basis for the beloved Oscar-winning film starring Anthony Quinn. Octavo, bound in half morocco, gilt titles to the spine, raised bands, marbled endpapers, original illustrated wrappers bound in. Signed by Nikos Kazantzakis on the copyright page. In near fine condition, name to the title page page. First editions of Zorba The Greek are of legendary scarcity.
Price: $9,800.00 Item Number: 146502
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"The adventure is over. Everything gets over, and nothing is ever enough. Except the part you carry with you:" Rare First Edition of From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler; Signed by E.L. Konigsburg
KONIGSBURG, E. L.
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.
New York: Atheneum, 1967.
First edition of the author's Newbery Award-winning novel. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by E.L. Konigsburg on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. An exceptional example, rare in this condition and signed.
Price: $9,800.00 Item Number: 23067
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“Those who don't believe in magic will never find it": First Edition of BFG; Signed by Roald Dahl and Illustrator Quentin Blake
DAHL, Roald; Illustrated by Quentin Blake.
The BFG: Illustrations by Quentin Blake.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1982.
First edition of this Dahl classic, which has sold over 20 million copies. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated by Quentin Blake. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front pastedown, "Nicola Love Roald Dahl." Additionally inscribed by the illustrator Quentin Blake opposite Dahl's inscription. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Uncommon signed by both Dahl and Blake.
Price: $9,800.00 Item Number: 109358
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"May you live all the days of your life": Finely bound set of the works of Jonathan Swift
SWIFT, Jonathan.
The Works of Jonathan Swift.
London: Bickers & Son, 1883.
Finely bound set of the works of Jonathan Swift, with notes and a life by Sir Walter Scott, one of 750 numbered sets, this is number 330. Octavo,19 volumes, bound in three quarters morocco, gilt titles to the spine, raised bands, top edge gilt. In near fine condition. From the library of Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji Jadeja, often known as Ranji, who was the ruler of the Indian princely state of Nawanagar from 1907 to 1933, as Maharaja Jam Saheb, and was a noted Test cricketer who played for the English cricket team. Sets of Swift are uncommon, especially in this…
Price: $9,800.00 Item Number: 119436
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"For Philip Jose Farmer, a gentleman, and a scholar - with best wishes to all three of you- and hopes that this example will be of help when you come to your write your autobiography": First Edition of Robert Bloch's Psycho; Inscribed by Him to science fiction pioneer Philip Jose Farmer
BLOCH, Robert.
Psycho: An Inner Sanctum Mystery.
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1959.
First edition of this classic thriller novel, the basis for Alfred Hitchcock's film. Octavo, original half cloth. Association copy, lengthily inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "For Philip José Farmer, a gentleman, and a scholar - with best wishes to all three of you- and hopes that this example will be of help when you come to your write your autobiography Fondly Robert Bloch 1967." The recipient, award-winning author Philip José Farmer, is widely considered one of the greatest and most distinctive science fiction writers of the 21st century. Revered for his eccentric style of crossover fiction…
Price: $9,800.00 Item Number: 124949
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“AS CLOSE TO THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL AS ANYONE”: FIRST EDITIONS OF DOS PASSOS’ MONUMENTAL U.S.A. TRILOGY; EACH INSCRIBED BY HIM
DOS PASSOS, John.
U.S.A. Trilogy: 42nd Parallel, 1919, Big Money.
Boston: Harper & Brothers and Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1930-36.
First editions of Dos Passos' epic U.S.A. Trilogy, each signed and inscribed by him. Octavo, 3 volumes, original cloth. Each are very good to near fine in the original dust jackets. We have never seen another complete set signed.
Price: $9,800.00 Item Number: 129644
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First edition of John Steinbeck's Classic Work East of Eden; From the library of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
STEINBECK, John [Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis].
East of Eden.
New York: The Viking Press, 1952.
First edition, first issue of Steinbeck's epic and moving story of a modern Cain and Abel. Octavo, original cloth. From the library of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis with the bookplate from the Sotheby’s 23 – 26 April 1996 sale of the estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis to the verso of the front wrapper. In March 1964, Jacqueline Kennedy wrote a three-page letter to Steinbeck asking him to write a book about her husband. She described the pain of reminiscing about her husband and encouraged Steinbeck to make a decision soon. She also said that she and the Kennedy family needed to move on with…
Price: $9,800.00 Item Number: 147079
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“Be daring, be different, be impractical; be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers": First Edition of Cecil Beaton's Fair Lady; Inscribed by Cecil Beaton to Actress Vivien Leigh
BEATON, Cecil [Vivien Leigh].
Cecil Beaton’s Fair Lady.
New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1964.
First edition of Beaton's Fair Lady, a witty compilation of his personal diary entries recorded while managing the costume and set design of the 1957 Warner Brothers film starring Audrey Hepburn. Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated throughout. Association copy, inscribed by the author to actress Vivien Leigh on the front free endpaper, "For Vivien With Blessings from Cecil." Beaton met Vivien Leigh on the set of The Doctor's Dilemma in Edinburgh, Scotland in November of 1941. He was working as a photographer for Vogue magazine at the time and after attending the play took the first of what would become…
Price: $9,800.00 Item Number: 65071
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THE LIMITED AUTOGRAPH CENTENARY EDITION OF THE WORKS OF RALPH WALDO EMERSON
EMERSON, Ralph Waldo .
The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Cambridge: Riverside Press, 1903.
Autograph Centenary edition with a double sided manuscript in Emerson’s hand bound into volume one. Octavo, 12 volumes, bound in three quarters morocco, elaborately gilt-decorated spines, raised bands, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. Numerous mounted photogravure illustrations. One of 600 copies. Emerson discovered Pascal in college and was a lifelong admirer of Pascal's wisdom. At 23, he wrote, “It is the leading idea of Pascal’s Religious Meditations to contrast what is grand & pitiful in human nature.” In 1859 he remarked, “Now & then, rarely comes a stout man like Luther, Montaigne, Pascal, Herbert, who utters a thought or feeling…
Price: $9,800.00 Item Number: 13890
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"The future cannot blame the present, just as the present cannot blame the past. The hope is always here, always alive, but only your fierce caring can fan it into a fire to warm the world": First Editions of The Dark Is Rising Series; Each Volume Signed by Susan Cooper
COOPER, Susan.
The Dark is Rising Series: Over Sea, Under Stone; The Dark is Rising; Greenwitch; The Grey King; Silver on the Tree.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1965-1977.
First British editions and true firsts of each book in the Dark is Rising Sequence. Octavo, 5 volumes. Each copy is signed or inscribed by the author. Each are in excellent condition in the original dust jackets. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $9,500.00 Item Number: 1254
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“Solitude produces originality, bold & astonishing beauty, poetry": Thomas Mann's Death In Venice; Inscribed by Him
MANN, Thomas.
Death in Venice.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1930.
First edition of this translation of Mann's classic novel. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "Dedicated to Mr. Carl Lammle by Thomas Mann 15.VII.36." Translated from the German by H.T. Lowe-Porter. Introduction by Ludwig Lewisohn. Near fine in the rare original dust jacket with some expert restoration to the extremities. Rare and desirable signed and inscribed, this is the first example of this edition we have encountered.
Price: $9,500.00 Item Number: 140382
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“For every man in the world functions to the best of his ability, and no one does less than his best, no matter what he may think about it": First Edition of John Steinbeck's The Pearl; Inscribed by Him
STEINBECK, John.
The Pearl.
New York: The Viking Press, 1947.
First edition of this classic story of simplicity, based on a Mexican folk tale. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, "For Maggie and Larry with love John Steinbeck." Near fine in a near fine first-issue dust jacket with Steinbeck looking to the left on the rear panel. Drawings by Jose Clemente Orozco. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $9,500.00 Item Number: 103774
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Rare Autograph letter Signed by The Author of the Prophet Kahlil Gibran to Skidmore College Founder Ludy Skidmore Scribner
GIBRAN, Kahlil.
Kahlil Gibran Autograph Letter Signed.
1928.
Rare autograph letter signed by the author of The Prophet Kahlil Gibran on his letterhead, which reads, "March 25 1928 My dear Mrs. Scribner, I regret very much that I shall not be able to dine with you on Thursday April the Twelfth. Had I not already made another engagement, for that same evening, nothing could have given me a greater pleasure. You are indeed most gracious to ask me an and I grateful to you. Cordially yours Kahlil Gibran." The recipient, Lucy Skidmore Scribner, was married John Blair Scribner. The couple resided at 21 East 48th Street in New…
Price: $9,500.00 Item Number: 144143
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"The history of mankind is the history of the attainment of external power. Man is the tool-using, fire-making animal...Always down a lengthening record, save for a set-back ever and again, he is doing more": First Edition of H.G. Wells' The World Set Free; inscribed by him to George Bernard Shaw
WELLS, H.G. [George Bernard Shaw].
The World Set Free: A Story of Mankind.
London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1914.
First edition, first issue of Wells' prophetic novel predicting the arrival of atomic weaponry with the publisher listed as Macmillan and Co. Limited (as opposed to Ltd.), 8 pages of advertisements at rear, and no statement of printing to the copyright page. Octavo, original cloth stamped in blind with gilt titles to the spine and front panel, top edge gilt. Association copy, inscribed by H.G. Wells to George Bernard Shaw, "G.B.S. from H.G." Like Wells, George Bernard Shaw used writing fiction as a vehicle to disseminate his political, social and religious ideas. Wells and Shaw connected when Wells joined the…
Price: $9,500.00 Item Number: 109903
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"If you miss A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, you will deny yourself a rich experience": First Edition of A Tree Grows In Brooklyn; Inscribed by Betty Smith in the month of publication
SMITH, Betty.
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.
New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1943.
First edition of Smith's classic first novel about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the twentieth century. Octavo, original green cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper in the year of publication, "For Foster and Marian Best Love Betty Smith Aug. 23, 1943." Near fine in a near fine first issue dust jacket with some professional restoration. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery.
Price: $9,500.00 Item Number: 103855
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Rare silver gelatin print of French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre; inscribed by him
SARTRE, Jean-Paul .
Jean-Paul Sartre Signed Photograph.
Rare silver gelatin print of French philosopher, novelist, and playwright Jean-Paul Sartre. Inscribed by him in the upper left corner of the image, "A M. Satoru Yamano, sympatheque hommage, Jean-Paul Sartre." In near fine condition. Matted and framed. The entire piece measures 14 inches by 11 inches.
Price: $9,500.00 Item Number: 123541
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The earliest known first edition, presentation copy of Potter's The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle; warmly inscribed by her in the month following the book's publication
POTTER, Beatrix.
The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle.
London: Frederick Warne and Co, 1905.
The earliest known first edition, presentation copy of Potter's popular children's story. Octavo, original boards with embossed titles and pictorial cover label, pictorial endpapers, illustrated with 26 color plates by the author. Presentation copy, warmly inscribed by the author on the front pictorial endpaper in the year of publication, "For Theresa Thorp with love from Beatrix Potter Oct 15th 05." The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle was published only one month prior to Potter's inscription in September 1905, this is the earliest traceable presentation copy inscribed by Potter. In very good condition. Front hinge reinforced, loss to the crown and foot…
Price: $9,500.00 Item Number: 135913
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First Edition of Graham Greene's Brighton Rock; Inscribed by Him
GREENE, Graham.
Brighton Rock.
New York: The Viking Press, 1938.
First American edition, preceding the British edition by one month of Greene's chilling expose of violence and gang warfare in the pre-war underworld is a classic of its kind. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "For Richard Graham Greene." Near fine in near fine dust jacket with light rubbing and wear. Jacket design by George Salter. Housed in a custom clamshell box. First editions signed and inscribed are scarce
Price: $9,500.00 Item Number: 98352
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“True sorrow is as rare as true love": First Edition of Stephen King’s First Book Carrie; Lengthily Inscribed by Stephen King to New York Yankees MVP Bobby Richardson
KING, Stephen.
Carrie.
Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1974.
First edition of the novel that launched King's career, with 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page and 'P6' in the gutter of page 199. Octavo, original maroon cloth, compliments stamp to the front pastedown, "With Compliments of Doubleday & Company, Inc." Presentation copy, lengthily inscribed by the author on the title page, "For Bobby Richardson - Thanks for the neat baseball cards. Say - you didn't ever play ball with the Yankees, didja? (Just joking) - Stephen King 3/7/90." The recipient, Bobby Richardson played for the New York Yankees from 1955 through 1966, winning five straight Gold Glove Awards at second base and…
Price: $9,500.00 Item Number: 147126
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"The largest single engraving enterprise ever undertaken in England": Rare Finely Bound Complete Set of Boydell's Monumental illustrated edition of the Dramatic Works of Shakespeare
SHAKESPEARE, William. Revised by George Steevens.
The Dramatic Works of Shakespeare.
London: Printed by W. Bulmer and Co. for John and Josiah Boydell, George and W. Nicol., 1802.
Rare finely bound complete set of "by far the largest single engraving enterprise ever undertaken in England", John Boydell's magnificent illustrated folio edition of the dramatic works of Shakespeare. Folio, 9 volumes. Bound in three quarters morocco with gilt titles to the spine, all edges marbled. Elaborately illustrated with 96 plates engraved by the most eminent British engravers and painters of the era including Richard Westall, Thomas Stothard, George Romney, Henry Fuseli, Benjamin West, Angelica Kauffman, Robert Smirke, James Durno, John Opie, Francesco Bartolozzi, Thomas Kirk, and Henry Thomson. Edited by George Steevens, one of the greatest Shakespearean scholars of…
Price: $9,500.00 Item Number: 109329
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"In a world darksome as this'n I believe a blind man ort to be better sighted than most": First Edition of Cormac McCarthy’s Rare Second Novel; Signed by the author
MCCARTHY, Cormac.
Outer Dark.
New York: Random House, 1968.
First edition of the author's second novel. Octavo, original half cloth. Boldly signed by Cormac McCarthy on the front free endpaper. Fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket. Jacket design by Muriel Nasser. A superior example.
Price: $9,500.00 Item Number: 142349
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“Love is never any better than the lover": First Edition of Toni Morrison's First Book The Bluest Eye; Signed by her
MORRISON, Toni.
The Bluest Eye.
New York: Holt Rinehart & Winston, 1970.
First edition of Morrison's classic first book. Octavo, original half cloth. Boldly signed by Toni Morrison on the title page. Near fine in a very good first issue dust jacket with the $5.95 price and 1070 on the bottom of front flap, with some expert restoration. Dust jacket design by Herb Lubalin and Jay Tribich. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell slipcase.
Price: $9,500.00 Item Number: 142255