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“I learned to recognise the thorough and primitive duality of man": Rare first edition of Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
STEVENSON, Robert Louis.
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1886.
First edition of Stevenson's classic gothic novella which preceded the first English edition by four days and was published on January 5, 1886 in an edition of 1,250 copies in cloth and 3,000 copies in paper wrappers. Beinecke 347. Octavo, original olive green cloth lettered in gilt, half-title and 2 pages of Scribner's advertisements at end. In near fine condition. An exceptional example.
Price: $6,500.00 Item Number: 139554
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First edition of Herman Melville's first and most popular book Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life During a Four Months' Residence in A Valley of the Marquesas
MELVILLE, Herman.
Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life. During a Four Months’ Residence in A Valley of the Marquesas.
New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1846.
First edition of Melville's first book and his most popular during his lifetime. Octavo, two volumes bound into one in the original cloth stamped in blind with gilt titles to the spine, frontispiece map, both half-titles and 6 pages of publisher's advertisements at rear. BAL 13653. In very good condition, bookplate to the front pastedown. Housed in a custom full clamshell slipcase.
Price: $6,500.00 Item Number: 144151
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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
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"Like a bird on a wire like a drunk on a midnight choir I have tried in my way to be free": First Edition of Leonard Cohen's Death of a Lady's Man; Lengthily inscribed by Him
COHEN, Leonard.
Death of a Lady’s Man.
Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1978.
First Canadian edition (and true first), first state with "Lie down." on page 94. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author, "For Michael, Like a bird on a wire like a drunk on a midnight choir I have tried in my way to be free Leonard 29 Sept 1980." Fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket. A unique example.
Price: $6,500.00 Item Number: 128929
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First Edition of Thomas Merton's The Waters of Siloe; signed by Thomas Merton
MERTON, Thomas.
The Waters of Siloe.
New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1949.
First edition of Merton's companion volume to his famed The Seven Storey Mountain. Octavo, original cloth, pictorial endpapers, illustrated, frontispiece. Signed by Thomas Merton on the title page. Near fine in a very good dust jacket.
Price: $6,200.00 Item Number: 110762
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"Keep close to Nature’s heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean": Finely Bound Set of The Manuscript Edition of The Writings of John Muir; With Eight Original Photographs
MUIR, John.
The Writings of John Muir: The Manuscript Edition.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1916-24.
The Manuscript edition of The Writings of John Muir. One of only 750 numbered copies, this is number 461. Octavo, 10 volumes, bound in the original green with morocco spine labels with gilt titles, containing the original gelatin silver photographic frontispiece to each volume with tissue guards present, illustrated with numerous photogravure and halftone plates; folding map in volume two. Edited by William Frederic Badè. The scenes depicted in the inserted photographs are: The House of John Muir, Martinez, California; The Cathedral Spires, Yosemite National Park; Eucalyptus on Muir's Ranch, Martinez, California; An Orange Tree in Front of Muir's House,…
Price: $6,200.00 Item Number: 96258
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Inscribed by Graham Greene to Fellow Writer Norman Douglas
GREENE, Graham.
The Lost Childhood and Other Essays.
London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1951.
First edition of this collection of essays by Graham Greene, two of its four parts, Personal Prologue and Personal Postscript, comprise seven invaluable pieces of autobiography. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author to fellow writer Norman Douglas on the front free endpaper, "Dear Norman This with my love. Thank you so much for the nostalgic picture postcard. Catherine and I both miss you a great deal and our drinks at the Victoria. We hope to come and find you sitting there in June and I will bring with me your Chinese snuff box! Love Graham." With Norman…
Price: $6,200.00 Item Number: 23055
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“I want to know what passion is. I want to feel something strongly": SIGNED LIMITED FIRST EDITION OF ALDOUS HUXLEY'S BRAVE NEW WORLD
HUXLEY, Aldous.
Brave New World.
London: Chatto & Windus, 1932.
Signed limited first edition of Huxley's masterpiece. Octavo, original yellow cloth, gilt topstain as issued. One of a limited edition of 324 numbered copies signed by Aldous Huxley on the limitation page, this is number 8. In very good condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $6,000.00 Item Number: 118355
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First Edition of The Martian Chronicles; Lengthily Inscribed by Ray Bradbury Two days before the day of publication
BRADBURY, Ray.
The Martian Chronicles.
Garden City: Doubleday & Company, 1950.
First edition of the book that established Bradbury's literary reputation. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author two days before the day of publication on the front free endpaper, "For Nancy with my best wishes and my hope that I can continue to entertain you! From Ray Bradbury May 2, 1950." Near fine in a very good price-clipped dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco slipcase. Rare and desirable signed two days before the day of publication; the earliest inscription we have seen.
Price: $6,000.00 Item Number: 142665
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“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all": The Works of Oscar Wilde; complete with the rare 15th volume issued in 1922
WILDE, Oscar.
The Works of Oscar Wilde.
London: Methuen & Co, Ltd./Paris: Charles Carrington, 1908-1922.
Complete set of the works of Oscar Wilde, including For Love of a King issued in 1922 and often missing from this set. Octavo, 15 volumes in the publisher's original gilt-decorated full buckram, top edge gilt with others uncut. One of 1000 copies issued on handmade paper. The Picture of Dorian Gray bears the imprint of Charles Carrington of Paris while the rest bear Methuen and Co. In near fine condition. Very rare with the inclusion of the 15th volume.
Price: $6,000.00 Item Number: 139028
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"Animals don't behave like men,' he said. 'If they have to fight, they fight; and if they have to kill they kill. But they don't sit down and set their wits to work to devise ways of spoiling other creatures' lives and hurting them. They have dignity and animality": First Edition of Watership Down; Signed by Richard Adams
ADAMS, Richard.
Watership Down.
London: Rex Collings, 1972.
First edition of the author's first and most beloved work. Octavo, original brown cloth, folding map. Boldly signed the author on the title page, "Yours sincerely Richard Adams." Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box by Asprey. An exceptional example, uncommon signed.
Price: $6,000.00 Item Number: 136602
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The Major Works of Winston Churchill; Finely Bound
CHURCHILL, Winston S.
The Major Works of Sir Winston Churchill: Centenary First Edition. Complete 25 Volume Set comprising: The Second World War: A History of the English Speaking Peoples: The War Speeches: The World Crisis: Marlborough His Life and Times: Lord Randolph Churchill: My Early Life.
London: Centenary First Edition: In arrangement with Hamlyn, Harrap, Cassell, 1974.
Finely bound set of the major works of Churchill. Octavo, 25 volumes, bound in full dark red pebble grained leather with black title panels on spines, raised bands with the initial WSC, elaborate border to the front panel, all edges are gilt, silk endpapers, illustrated with photographs and maps, frontispiece plates. In fine condition.
Price: $6,000.00 Item Number: 140428
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"They sure don't make bartenders like the used to make them": First signed limited edition of Charles Bukowski's Dangling in the Tournefortia; twice signed and inscribed by him and with an original acrylic painting bound in
BUKOWSKI, Charles.
Dangling in the Tournefortia.
Santa Barbara: The Black Sparrow Press, 1981.
First edition of Bukowski's classic book of poetry. Octavo, original pictorial boards. One of only 100 numbered copies signed by the author, this is number 89. Additionally inscribed by Bukowski on the title page, "For Arthur Applebaum - Who aids me so kindly in my man travails, Hank Charles Bukowski." Bukowski has also added a drawing of his signature little man with a bottle. With an original acrylic painted portrait by Bukowski bound in and signed, "Buk." In near fine condition. Rare and desirable.
Price: $6,000.00 Item Number: 95380
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Scarce First editions in English of Mikhail Sholokhov's And Quiet Flows the Don and The Don Flows Home to the Sea
SHOLOKHOV, Mikhail. Translated by Stephen Gary.
And Quiet Flows the Don and The Don Flows Home To The Sea.
London: Putnam, 1934-1940.
First edition in English of the major epic of Soviet literature and one of the first works of Soviet literature to be translated into English. Octavo, two volumes, original publisher's cloth. And Quiet Flows the Don is very good in a good dust jacket. The Don Flows Home To The Sea is very good in a very good dust jacket.
Price: $6,000.00 Item Number: 143722
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The Works of Oscar Wilde; Finely Bound
WILDE, Oscar.
The Works of Oscar Wilde.
London : Methuen , 1909-10.
The works of Oscar Wilde. Octavo, 13 volumes, bound in three quarters morocco, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised bands, top edge gilt. In near fine condition.
Price: $6,000.00 Item Number: 130510
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"There are moments which are made up of too much stuff for them to be lived at the time they occur": First Editions of Tinker, Tailor Soldier Spy; The Honourable Schoolboy and Smileys People; Each Signed by John Le Carre
LE CARRE, John.
The Karla Trilogy] Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy; The Honourable Schoolboy; Smiley’s People.
London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1974-1979.
First editions of each title in the author's acclaimed Karla Trilogy. Octavo, 3 volumes, bound in full morocco, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised bands, inner dentelles, all edges gilt. Each volume is signed by John le Carre on a bookplate, with two signed "John le Carre aka David Cornwell." Each are in fine condition. Each volume is housed in a custom slipcase. An exceptional set, uncommon signed.
Price: $6,000.00 Item Number: 135339
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THE FIRST ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF ULYSSES: SIGNED BY HENRI MATISSE
JOYCE, James and Henri Matisse.
Ulysses.
New York : Limited Editions Club, 1935.
First illustrated edition of Joyce’s landmark Ulysses, number 1134 of 1500 copies signed by Henri Matisse, with 26 illustrations by him, one of the 20th-century’s most desirable illustrated books, combining the work of two great modern artists. Large quarto, original gilt-stamped pictorial brown cloth, original slipcase. In near fine condition with the rare original slipcase. With an introduction by Stuart Gilbert. An exceptional example.
Price: $6,000.00 Item Number: 132117
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First Edition of Erskine Caldwell's God’s Little Acre; Inscribed by Him
CALDWELL, Erskine.
God’s Little Acre.
New York: The Viking Press, 1933.
First edition of what many consider Caldwell's finest novel. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “For Ingle Barr Here is a book you should read some day Erskine Caldwell." The recipient, Ingle Barr was a prominent book collector. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional example, uncommon in this condition and signed.
Price: $6,000.00 Item Number: 134506
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“Out of all this struggle a good thing is going to grow. That makes it worthwhile": Signed Limited First Edition of John Steinbeck's In Dubious Battle
STEINBECK, John.
In Dubious Battle.
New York: Covici-Friede Publishers, 1936.
Signed limited first edition of this "dramatically intense, beautifully written novel" (The New Republic); the first book in Steinbeck's Dustbowl trilogy, which was followed by Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath, number 39 of 99 examples. Octavo, original half morocco. Signed by John Steinbeck. In fine condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $6,000.00 Item Number: 131878