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“I am an expression of the divine, just like a peach is, just like a fish is. I have a right to be this way...I can't apologize for that": Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple; with a rare promotional brochure from Steven Spielberg's 1985 film adaptation signed by Alice Walker
WALKER, Alice .
The Color Purple.
New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982.
First edition, early printing of Walker's third novel, which made her the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize. Octavo, original half cloth. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Judith Kazdym Leeds. With a promotional brochure for the 1985 film directed by Steven Spielberg, signed by Alice Walker. [A Steven Spielberg Film: The Color Purple: Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize Winning Story. Warner Bros. Inc.: 1985]. Oblong octavo, original purple wrappers, illustrated with color photographs from the film. In fine condition. A nice pairing.
Price: $1,800.00 Item Number: 146798
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“It's in vain to recall the past, unless it works some influence upon the present": First Edition of Charles Dickens' David Copperfield
DICKENS, Charles.
The Personal History of David Copperfield.
London: Bradbury and Evans, 1850.
First edition of "the most perfect of all the Dickens novels" (Virginia Woolf). Octavo, original cloth, illustrated with 38 etchings by Hablot Knight Browne. In very good condition, bookplate.
Price: $1,800.00 Item Number: 139470
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AMERICAS "BEST WAR NOVEL": FIRST EDITION OF THE NAKED AND THE DEAD, INSCRIBED BY NORMAN MAILER TO PAUL BARTEL
MAILER, Norman.
The Naked and the Dead.
New York: Rinehart and Company, 1948.
First edition of the author's classic first book. Thick octavo, original black boards. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, "To Paul after the pleasure of our first meeting Norman Mailer Oct. '87." The recipient, Paul Bartel was a director, actor and the creator of such films as Eating Raoul, Death Race 2000, Lust in the Dust, among others. Very good in a very good price-clipped dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco chemise and clamshell box. Jacket design by Karov.
Price: $1,800.00 Item Number: 118122
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"Oh, Sairey, Sairey, little do we know what lays before us!": First Edition of Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewhit
DICKENS, Charles.
The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit.
London: London: Chapman and Hall, 1839.
First edition of this classic work. Octavo, bound in full calf by Root and Son, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, all edges gilt, inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, illustrated with 40 plates. In near fine condition, remnant of a bookplate to the front free endpaper.
Price: $1,800.00 Item Number: 137984
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“Those who dream by day are cognisant of many things which escape those who dream only by night": The Scottish Edition of The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe
POE, Edgar Allan.
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe.
Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1875-1881.
Finely bound edition of the complete works of Edgar Allan Poe. Octavo, four volumes bound in three quarter calf over marbled boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, all edges marbled, tissue-guarded frontispiece to Vols. I and II, illustrated with etchings and headpieces in each volume, folding facsimile letter in Vol. I. Volumes I and II are second editions revised. In very good condition, ownership stamps to the front flyleaf.
Price: $1,800.00 Item Number: 147262
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“A word in earnest is as good as a speech": First Edition of Charles Dickens' Bleak House
DICKENS, Charles.
Bleak House.
London: Bradbury Evans, 1853.
First edition of this Dickens' classic. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, illustrated with engraved title page and 39 engraved plates by H.K. Browne. In very good condition.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 141572
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"You go your way I'll go your way too": Book of Longing; Inscribed by Leonard Cohen to fellow novelist Robert Stone and his Wife
COHEN, Leonard [Robert Stone].
Book of Longing.
New York: HarperCollins, 2006.
Early printing of Cohen's provocative book of poetry. Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated. Association copy, inscribed by Leonard Cohen on the title page, "For Janice and Bob, suffering together, Leonard Washington 2006." The recipient, American novelist Robert Stone's first two novels, A Hall of Mirrors(1967) and Dog Soldiers(1974) were published in the same era as Cohen's only published novels The Favorite Game (1963) and Beautiful Losers (1966). Both author's works have come to be seen as great reflections of the zeitgeist, and darker side, of the 1960s. Cohen inscribed the present volume to Stone at BookExpo America 2006, held in…
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 96167
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First Edition of the Authors National Book Award-Winning Novel; Inscribed by Bernard Malamud
MALAMUD, Bernard.
The Fixer.
New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1966.
First edition of the author's fourth novel, which went on to win the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, "For Ida and Marshall With all good wishes Bern." Fine in a near fine dust jacket that shows some light wear. Jacket design by Janet Halverson.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 111937
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"Who stands on that cliff like a figure of stone, unmoving and tall in the light and sky, where spray of the cataract sparkles on high, all lonely and sternly, save mogg megone": Scarce first edition of John Greenleaf Whittier's Mogg Megone
WHITTIER, John Greenleaf.
Mogg Megone, A Poem.
Boston: Light & Stearns, 1836.
First edition of Whittier's well-received narrative of the life of legendary 17th century Indian warrior Mogg Megone. BAL 21697. 16mo, original cloth with gilt title within an arabesque gilt frame to the front panel. In very good condition. Housed in a custom half morocco folding chemise case. From the library of noted American journalist and collector Barton Currie with his bookplate to folding chemise case. Exceptionally rare. A desirable piece of early American literature.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 133021
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W.E.B. Du Bois' seminal work The Souls of Black Folk; Signed by Him
DU BOIS, W.E.B. [DuBois].
The Souls of Black Folk.
New York: The Blue Heron Press, 1953.
Later edition of this landmark work. Octavo, original black cloth over patterned boards, illustrated with musical notations. Signed by the author on the half-title page, "W.E.B. Du Bois March 18, 1957." In fine condition.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 142344
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First Edition of William Faulkner's Unvanquished
FAULKNER, William.
Unvanquished.
New York: Random House, 1938.
First edition of this novel which tells the story of the Sartoris family, who first appeared in the novel Sartoris. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated by Edward Shenton. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom clamshell box. An exceptional example.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 138077
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First Edition of Memorial do Convento; Inscribed by Jose Saramago to a Fellow Portuguese Author
SARAMAGO, Jose.
Memorial do Convento.
Lisbon: Editorial Caminho, 1982.
First Portuguese edition of one of the Nobel Prize-winning author's most important novels, one in which launched his reputation internationally. Octavo, original illustrated wrappers. Presentation copy, lengthily inscribed and dated in 1987 by Saramago to noted Portuguese literary critic and essayist Ramiro Texeira. In near fine condition with light rubbing to the extremities.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 4559
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First Edition of Plays in Prose and Verse; Signed by William Butler Yeats
YEATS, William Butler [W.B.].
Plays in Prose and Verse: Written for an Irish Theatre, and Generally with the Help of a Friend.
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1924.
Signed limited edition of this collaborative collection of prose and verse plays. Octavo, original half cloth with paper labels to the spine and front panel. One of two hundred and fifty copies signed by William Butler Yeats limitation page, this is number 173. In very good condition.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 147264
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First Edition of Anzia Yezierska's Bread Givers; Inscribed by Her
YEZIERSKA, Anzia.
Bread Givers: A Novel.
Doubleday, Page & Company: Garden City, NY, 1925.
First edition of the author's classic work. Octavo, original cloth, pictorial endpapers. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Marjorie Kellbery from an enthusiast of your splendid work. Anzia Yezierska." Very good in the rare original dust jacket with rubbing and wear.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 88943
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James T. Farrell's Studs Lonigan Trilogy; inscribed by him to American journalist William Safire
FARRELL, James T. [William Safire].
Studs Lonigan. A Trilogy Containing Young Lonigan, The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan, and Judgment Day.
New York: The Modern Library, [1938].
First edition, early printing of Farrell's well-regarded trilogy. Octavo, bound in three quarter morocco with gilt titles and raised bands to the spine, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "Jan 9/ 1950 For Bill Safire with best wishes Jim Farrell." The recipient, William Safire was an important American author, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, journalist, and presidential speechwriter. He joined Nixon’s campaign in the 1960 Presidential race, and again in 1968. Following Nixon’s 1968 victory, Safire served as a presidential speechwriter for both Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew. He was a…
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 127643
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"THE PAIN OF PARTING IS NOTHING TO THE JOY OF MEETING AGAIN": FIRST EDITION OF DICKENS' NICHOLAS NICKLEBY
DICKENS, Charles.
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby.
London: Chapman and Hall, 1839.
First edition in book form of one of Dickens’ most popular novels. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards, elaborate gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, with the steel-engraved frontispiece portrait of Dickens in the first state, first four plates in later state without imprint, page 123 with "sister" (2d state) & page 160 with "letter" (2d state). Smith I:5; Eckel, p. 64. In very good condition.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 132012
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"Nothing that ever was changes. Yet nothing that is can ever be the same as what went before": First Edition of The City and the Pillar; Signed by Gore Vidal
VIDAL, Gore.
The City and the Pillar.
New York: E.P. Dutton, 1948.
First edition of this landmark novel. Octavo, original black cloth. Signed by the author on the title page. Fine in a bright near fine dust jacket with two small chips to the crown but does not show the fading endemic to the spine panel. A very sharp example.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 25087
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First Edition of Mordecai Noah's Fortress of Sorrento
NOAH, Mordecai Manuel.
The Fortress of Sorrento: A Petit Historical Drama, in Two Acts.
New York: D. Longworth, 1808.
First edition of "the most important Jewish lay leader of the early 19th century" Mordecai Noah's early play, published when he was only 23 years old. 12mo, bound in modern calf, gilt titles to the spine, lacking the 2 advertisement leaves called for by Singerman. In near fine condition. Rare.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 82504
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The Complete Works of Joseph Conrad; Signed by Joseph Conrad
CONRAD, Joseph.
The Collected Works of Joseph Conrad. [Almayer’s Folly, An Outcast of the Islands, The Nigger of “Narcissus”, Tales of Unrest, Lord Jim, The Inheritors, Youth: and Two Other Stories, Romance, Typhoon and Other Stories, Nostromo, The Mirror of the Sea, The Secret Agent, A Set of Six, Under Western Eyes, Some Reminiscences, ‘Twist Land & Sea Tales, Chance, Victory, Within the Tides, The Shadow Line, The Arrow of Gold, On Day More, The Rescue].
London: William Heinemann, 1921.
Signed limited edition of the complete works of the writings of Joseph Conrad, one of 780 copies. Octavo, 20 volumes, original cloth. Signed by Joseph Conrad on the limitation page of volume one. In near fine condition.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 129488
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FINELY BOUND SET OF THE WRITINGS OF JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
COOPER, James Fenimore.
The Writings of James Fenimore Cooper.
New York: Stringer and Townsend, 1856.
Octavo, 17 volumes. Bound in full tan leather, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, tooling to board edges. Raised bands, marbled endpapers, marbled edges. In near fine condition.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 3663
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First Edition of Henry James' Roderick Hudson
JAMES, Henry.
Roderick Hudson.
New York: James R. Osgood and Company, 1876.
First edition of one of James' earliest novels. Octavo, original cloth. In near fine condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell and chemise box. An exceptional presentation.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 142180
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"I realized that most people actually encourage you to turn bad. They seem to think that if you don't, you'll never get anywhere in the world": First edition in English of Natsume Sōseki's Botchan
SōSEKI, Natsume .
Botchan (Master Darling).
Tokyo: Ogawa Seibundo, 1918.
First edition in English of one of the most popular novels in Japan. Octavo, original cloth. Translated by Yasotaro Morri. In very good condition. Scarce.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 123022
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First Edition of Anne Tyler's The Accidental Tourist; Inscribed by Her to Fellow Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Kennedy
TYLER, Anne.
The Accidental Tourist.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985.
First edition of this work by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Octavo, original half cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author to fellow Pulitzer Prize-winning writer William Kennedy on the title page, "For William Kennedy- with best wishes- Anne Tyler 7-5-86." Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Fred Marcellino. An exceptional association copy.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 130894
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“Me and you, we got more yesterday than anybody. We need some kind of tomorrow": First Edition of The Nobel Prize-Winning Author Toni Morrison's Masterpiece Beloved; Signed by Her
MORRISON, Toni.
Beloved.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987.
First edition of the author's fourth novel and considered by many her finest. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Toni Morrison on the front free endpaper. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by R.D. Scudellari.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 139112
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First Edition of Questions About Angels; Inscribed by Billy Collins to Laurence and Mary Rockefeller
COLLINS, Billy.
Questions About Angels: Poems.
New York: William Morrow and Company, 1991.
First edition of Collins' fourth collection of published poems. Octavo, original half cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, "To Laurence and Mary Rockefeller with best wishes Billy Collins 1996." The recipients, Laurence Rockefeller were prominent an American philanthropist, financier, and major conservationist and member of the Rockefeller Family. Mary, too, was from a prominent Billings Family. The Rockefellers turned over their land in Woodstock to form Vermont's only National Park, The Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Antonina Krass.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 3889
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First Edition of Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man; Signed by Him
BRADBURY, Ray.
The Illustrated Man.
Garden City: Doubleday & Company, 1951.
First edition of Bradbury's third book. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by Ray Bradbury on the title page. Near fine in a near fine bright dust jacket that shows none of the spine fading endemic to this title, name to the front free endpaper. Jacket design by Syndney Butchkes. A very bright example.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 2520
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Signed Limited Edition of Hall's The Well of Loneliness
HALL, Radclyffe .
The Well of Loneliness.
New York: Covici-Friede Publishers, 1929.
Signed limited edition of this classic work, one of only 225 copies. Octavo, 2 volumes, original cloth, frontispiece to volume one. Signed by Radclyffe Hall. In fine condition. An exceptional example.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 141326
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"Standing on a street corner waiting for no one is power": First Edition of Gregory Corso's The Vestal Lady on Brattle and Other Poems; Signed by Him
CORSO, Gregory.
The Vestal Lady on Brattle and Other Poems.
Cambridge, MA: Richard Brukenfeld, 1955.
First edition of the poet's first book one of 500 copies printed though about half of which were lost in the mail. Octavo, original wrappers. Signed by Gregory Corso. In near fine condition. Rare and desirable signed.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 123719
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First American edition of Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island: Abandoned
VERNE, Jules.
The Mysterious Island: Abandoned.
New York: Scribner, Armstrong, & Co., 1875.
First American edition of the second installment in Verne's Mysterious Island trilogy. Octavo, original publisher's green cloth decorated in gilt, illustrated. Translated from the French by W.H.G. Kingston. In near fine condition. A very sharp example.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 129044
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Finely Bound Example of Ida Tarbell's The Life of Abraham Lincoln
TARBELL, Ida M.
The Life of Abraham Lincoln.
New York: Lincoln History Society, 1909.
Bound set of Tarbell's classic biography of President Lincoln. Octavo, 4 volumes, bound in full morocco, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, gilt facsimile signature of Lincoln to the front panel, frontispiece portraits, one in color, illustrated with reproductions of original paintings and photographs, marbled endpapers. In good condition.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 129092
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"With gratitude and every good wish for the future": First Edition of The French Lieutenant's Woman; Warmly Inscribed by John Fowles
FOWLES, John.
The French Lieutenant’s Woman.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1969.
First edition of Fowles' third novel. Octavo, original brown cloth, pictorial endpapers Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, "Phil Thayer - with gratitude and every good wish for the future - John Fowles, Regis, January 21st, 1970." With the bookplate of John Fowles to the half-title page. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with light rubbing. Endpaper drawing by Tom Adams.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 97577
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"It was one thing to know that you had been asleep all your life, but something else to wake up from it, to find out you were really alive and it wasn't anybody's fault but your own": First Edition of Hard Rain Falling; Inscribed by Don Carpenter
CARPENTER, Don.
Hard Rain Falling.
New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc, 1966.
First edition of the author's classic work. Octavo, original cloth. Inscribed by the author on the half title page. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a few small closed tears. Books signed by Carpenter are rare.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 5482
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"I coulda' had class. I coulda' been a contender!": First Edition of Waterfront; Finely Bound by the Harcourt Bindery and Inscribed by Budd Schulberg
SCHULBERG, Budd.
Waterfront.
New York: Random House, 1955.
First edition of Schulberg's novel adapted from his Academy Award–winning screenplay. Octavo, bound in full morocco by the Harcourt Bindery, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt inner dentelles stamp-signed by the Harcourt Bindery, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on a page bound in, "For Adrienne Rogers, Thank you for those kind words. With all good wishes, Budd Schulberg 8/25/06." In fine condition.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 143648
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"I Could Have Danced All Night": My Fair Lady; Signed by Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison
[JULIE ANDREWS AND REX HARRISON] LERNER, Allan Jay; Music by Frederick Loewe; George Bernard Shaw.
My Fair Lady: A Musical Play in Two Acts Based on Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw.
New York: Chappell & Co, 1956.
Original sheet music of I Could Have Danced All Night, from My Fair Lady, one of "one of the best musicals of the twentieth century" (The New York Times). Octavo, original boards, illustrated, frontispiece of Andrews and Harrison. Boldly signed by Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison on the front panel. Quarto, original, illustrated wrappers, featuring the iconic illustration by Albert Hirschfeld, 8 pages. In near fine condition.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 146154
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First edition of Sebastian Faulks' A Trick of the Light; inscribed by him to Sally Soames
FAULKS, Sebastian.
A Trick of the Light.
London: The Bodley Head, 1984.
First edition of Faulks' first novel. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper in the year of publication, "Sally - I hope this doesn't give you bad dreams. Love, Sebastian Jan. 89." The recipient, British photojournalist Sally Soames, worked for The Sunday Times from 1968 until 2000 and was highly regarded for her exclusively black and white portraits of many of the most prominent figures of the 20th century including Menachem Begin, Margaret Atwood, Margaret Thatcher, Sean Connery, Rudolf Nureyev, Alec Guinness and Andy Warhol. Soames, who was known to be a warm…
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 119600
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First Edition of Erich Fromm's The Art of Loving; Inscribed by Him
FROMM, Erich.
The Art of Loving.
New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1956.
First edition of this groundbreaking international bestseller that has shown millions of readers how to achieve rich, productive lives by developing their capacities for love. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Rev. Gotlerb Huse with best regards Eric Fromm." Very good in a very good price-clipped dust jacket. First editions are uncommon signed and inscribed.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 112439
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First American edition of Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island: The Secret of the Island
VERNE, Jules.
The Mysterious Island: The Secret of the Island.
New York: Scribner, Armstrong, & Co., 1876.
First American edition of the final installment in Verne's Mysterious Island Trilogy. Octavo, original publisher's green cloth decorated in gilt, illustrated. Translated from the French by W.H.G. Kingston. In very good condition with rubbing to the spine extremities. A very bright example.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 126775
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First Edition, first issue of Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses
STEVENSON, Robert Louis .
A Child’s Garden of Verses.
London: Longmans, Green, and Co, 1885.
First edition, first issue of Stevenson's classic work. Small octavo, original cloth, gilt titles to the spine, top edges gilt. With publisher's logo in gilt at top left of front cover, presumed publisher's blind stamp on title page, gilt apostrophe on spine with curved tail, gilt "of" on spine in smaller type, without advertisements. In near fine condition, owners name to the front free endpaper. Housed in a contemporary custom clamshell box. An exceptional example.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 123972