Literature
Showing 681–700 of 4190 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- Framed Autographs and Historical Documents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
-
First Edition of D'entre les morts; Signed by both Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac
BOILEAU, Pierre and Thomas Narcejac (writing as Boileau-Narcejac).
D’entre les morts.
Paris: 1954.
First edition of the French crime fiction duo's third novel, preceding the British edition by two years and the American by three of the roman noir that was turned into the 1958 Hollywood classic Vertigo, starring James Stewart and Kim Novak, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Octavo, original wrappers. Presentation copy, inscribed by both authors on the half-title page, "A Madame Cordroc 'h, avec notre gratitude et l'homage de notre défèrente sympathie Th. Narcejac Pierre Boileau." Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. In very good condition.
Price: $7,200.00 Item Number: 74068
-
“I do not wish any reward but to know I have done the right thing": First Edition of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
TWAIN, Mark [Samuel L. Clemens] .
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn [Tom Sawyer’s Comrade].
New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, 1885.
First edition of Twain's masterpiece, with the first state of the frontispiece portrait. Octavo, original publisher's decorated green cloth gilt to the spine and front panel. With frontispiece portrait of Twain inserted at front (with the imprint of the Heliotype Printing Co., but the cloth is not visible). This example exhibits the following issue points: title leaf is conjugate. Copyright notice dated 1884; the illustration captioned "Him and another Man" [p.13] listed as p.88 (first state); 11th line from bottom of p.57 reads "...with the was..." (first state); p. 283 is an integral leaf with the corrected engraving; the final…
Price: $7,200.00 Item Number: 85975
-
“It was not well to drive men into final corners; at those moments they could all develop teeth and claws": Rare First Edition of Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage
CRANE, Stephen.
The Red Badge of Courage.
New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1895.
First edition, first printing with page [235] advertising the three works of Gilbert Parker's Best Books, and the last page of advertisements (page 238) ending with The Land of the Sun, by Christian Reid; last gathering, including ads on laid paper. Octavo, original publisher's tan cloth. In very good condition. From the library of Jean Hersholt, actor and president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1945-1949, with his bookplate. Hersholt's best-remembered film roles include Marcus Schouler in Erich von Stroheim's 1924 Greed and Shirley Temple's beloved grandfather in the 1937 film version of the 1880 children's book, Heidi, written by Swiss author Johanna Spyri. During his long career in…
Price: $7,200.00 Item Number: 127362
-
"All things return, both sphere and mote, and I shall hear my bluebird's note, and dream the dream of Auburn dell": First Edition, first issue of Ralph Waldo Emerson's May-Day and Other Pieces; Signed by him
EMERSON, Ralph Waldo.
May-Day and Other Pieces.
Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867.
First edition, first issue of this collection of Emerson's later poems. Octavo, original cloth with gilt titles and botanical emblem to the front panel, top edge gilt. Signed by Emerson on the title page, "R.W. Emerson." In very good condition with rubbing to the crown of the spine and minor chipping to the front free endpaper. Rare and desirable.
Price: $7,200.00 Item Number: 96771
-
"I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked": FIRST EDITION OF ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON'S THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE
STEVENSON, Robert Louis.
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
London: Longmans, Green & Co, 1886.
First English edition of Stevenson’s classic book. Octavo, original cloth, olive green floral endpapers. In near fine condition. Armorial bookplate to the pastedown.
Price: $7,200.00 Item Number: 117203
-
First Edition of Alfred Lord Tennyson's Queen Mary: A Drama; inscribed by him to his son Hallam Tennyson
TENNYSON, Alfred Lord.
Queen Mary: A Drama.
London: Henry S. King and Co, 1875.
First edition of the first book in Tennyson's historical trilogy. Small octavo, original green cloth with gilt titles to the spine. Association copy, inscribed by the author to his son on the title page, "Hallam from A." Tennyson's eldest son Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson served as his father's personal secretary and served as his official biographer. His Tennyson: a Memoir was published in 1897 and he bequeathed many of his father's notebooks to Trinity College in 1924. A significant association copy.
Price: $7,200.00 Item Number: 109503
-
"Streams may spring from one source and yet some may be clear and some be foul": First Edition of Arthur Conan Doyle's The White Company
DOYLE, Arthur Conan.
The White Company.
London: Smith, Elder, & Co, 1891.
Rare first edition of this incredible work of historical fiction. Octavo, three volumes, original publisher's cloth with gilt titles to the spine and decorative borders stamped in blind to the spine and front panel, botanical endpapers. In near fine condition with some toning to the endpapers and light bumping to the crown and foot of the spine of each volume, bookplate to the front pastedown and gift inscription to the title page of Vols. II and III. Housed in a custom slipcase. An attractive and rare set, printed in only 750 examples.
Price: $7,200.00 Item Number: 146566
-
Fine collection of custom half morocco clamshell boxes by The Harcourt Bindery for the complete collection of all 14 first edition James Bond Novels
[FLEMING, Ian].
Complete James Bond Clamshell Box Collection.
Fine collection of custom half morocco clamshell boxes hand made by The Harcourt Bindery to house each of the 14 first editions in Ian Fleming's James Bond series. Octavo, 14 volumes. In fine condition. An exceptional presentation.
Price: $7,000.00 Item Number: 138541
-
SIGNED LIMITED EDITION OF VIRGINIA WOOLF"S ON BEING ILL; IN THE RARE ORIGINAL DUST JACKET
WOOLF, Virginia.
On Being Ill.
London: Hogarth Press, 1930.
Signed limited first book edition of this meditation on the literary possibilities of illness, number 54 of 250 copies signed by Woolf in her characteristic purple ink. Octavo, original half vellum and green silk boards, marbled endpapers. Fine in the rare original dust jacket which is in very good condition.
Price: $7,000.00 Item Number: 143661
-
“A MASTERPIECE RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE”: RARE FIRST EDITION OF CHANDLER’S THE BIG SLEEP
CHANDLER, Raymond.
The Big Sleep.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1939.
First edition of Chandler’s first and most famous novel, with the rarely found original dust jacket. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket. Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone. Bruccoli A1.1.a. A very sharp example.
Price: $7,000.00 Item Number: 105836
-
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 contemporary morocco over cloth, elaborately gilt-decorated spines, raised bands, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. Numerous mounted photogravure illustrations. One of 600 copies. In near fine condition.
Price: $7,000.00 Item Number: 104898
-
First edition of Poems by Emily Dickinson: Second Series
DICKINSON, Emily. Edited by T.W. Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd.
Poems by Emily Dickinson: Second Series.
Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1891.
First edition of Emily Dickinson's second book of poetry. BAL 4656. Octavo, original publisher's gray and green cloth decoratively stamped in gilt, all edges gilt, facsimile manuscript leaves at front, tissue guarded title page. In very good condition. A nice example.
Price: $6,800.00 Item Number: 142680
-
“When I discover who I am, I’ll be free": First Edition of Invisible Man; Signed by Ralph Ellison in the year of publication
ELLISON, Ralph.
Invisible Man.
New York: Random House, 1952.
First edition of the author's landmark first novel, which went on to win the National Book Award. Octavo, original black and tan cloth. Boldly signed by the author in the year of publication on the front free endpaper, "Best Wishes Sincerely Ralph Ellison May, 1952." Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Jacket design by E. McKnight Kauffer. Rare and desirable signed.
Price: $6,800.00 Item Number: 146053
-
“Politics is war without blood, while war is politics with blood": First Edition of Quotations from Chairman Mao
MAO ZEDONG (MAO TSE-TUNG OR ZEDUNG),.
Mao Zhu Xi Yu Lu. [Quotations from Chairman Mao].
Beijing: Central Political Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, 1964.
First edition of Quotations from Chairman Mao. Duodecimo, in the original iconic red vinyl, title to front cover in blind, frontispiece portrait of Chairman Mao. With the textual error on pp. 82/83 corrected and Lin Biao's calligraphic endorsement leaf after the frontispiece tipped in from a later printing. In 1972, an edict was issued that Lin's name was to be obliterated from history, following disclosures that he had plotted a coup and planned to assassinate Mao; consequently, "many surviving copies in the Chinese language have that page legitimately torn away, mutilated or censored" (Schiller, p. 36). In near fine condition.…
Price: $6,800.00 Item Number: 100159
-
"The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me": First Edition of Elie Wiesels Night; Signed by Him
WIESEL, Elie.
Night.
London: MacGibbon & Kee, 1960.
First English edition of Nobel laureate Wiesel’s masterpiece, which precedes the first American edition. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by Elie Wiesel on the front free endpaper. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with light shelfwear. Jacket design by Cowan. Foreword by Francois Mauriac. Translated from the French by Stella Rodway. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare and desirable signed.
Price: $6,800.00 Item Number: 135118
-
Rare Signed Carte-de-Visite of Ralph Waldo Emerson
EMERSON, Ralph Waldo.
Ralph Waldo Emerson Signed Carte-de-Visite.
Carte-de-visite of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Boldly signed by Ralph Waldo Emerson below the photograph. In near fine condition. Matted and framed. Rare.
Price: $6,800.00 Item Number: 67039
-
The Works of Charles Dickens; Finely Bound by Bayntun and Complete in Thirty-one Volumes
DICKENS, Charles.
Complete Set of Dickens’s Works.
London: Chapman and Hall, 1863-1878.
The Library edition of the works of Charles Dickens. Small octavo, thirty-one volumes, bound in three-quarter navy blue crushed levant morocco over marbled boards by Bayntun Bindery with gilt titles and ruling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, tissue-guarded frontispiece to each volume, illustrated by Phiz (H. K. Browne), John Leech, George Cruikshank, and others. In near fine condition. Twenty-six of the thirty-one volumes were published during the author's lifetime, and the final volume, published in 1878, is The Life of Charles Dickens by John Foster. A bright collection.
Price: $6,500.00 Item Number: 145410
-
First edition of Le Pléiade; exquisitely bound in full morocco with intricately carved gilt edges and elaborately decorated morocco doublures
HOMERE, Veda-Vyasa.
Le Pléiade. Ballads, Fabliaux, Nouvelles et Legends.
Paris: L. Curmer, 1842.
First edition of this collection which Carteret considers to be one of the most important illustrated books of the 19th century. Octavo, elaborately bound in full red morocco with elaborate gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, elaborate gilt ruling and stamping to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, elaborately decorated green morocco doublures, hand-stitched patterned endpapers, all edges gilt with intricate botanical carvings, illustrated with eleven frontispiece titles by Trimolet, Charles Jacque, Penguilly, etc., and numerous vignettes throughout the text. In fine condition. Rare and desirable.
Price: $6,500.00 Item Number: 123046
-
First Editions of Joseph Campbell's Mythology Quartet; Warmly Inscribed by Him in each volume
CAMPBELL, Joseph.
Masks Of God Mythology Set: Primitive Mythology; Oriental Mythology; Occidental Mythology; Creative Mythology.
New York: The Viking Press, 1959-68.
First editions of each volume in the author's classic quartet which explores the roots of mythology. Octavo, 4 volumes, original cloth, pictorial endpapers, illustrated. Presentation copies, each volume is inscribed by the author on the half-title page, "To Elda and Irving with love and admiration Joseph Campbell." The recipients were close friends of Campbell's who made several documentaries in which Campbell was featured. Each volume is near fine in a near fine dust jacket with light rubbing. The author's portrait has been clipped from the rear flaps of Masks Of God and Occidental Mythology. Jacket design by Frank Wilimczyk. A…
Price: $6,500.00 Item Number: 136191