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Rare first edition of David Davidson's Comprehensive finely illustrated Family Bible
DAVIDSON, David.
The Comprehensive Family Bible; Containing The Old and New Testaments, According to the Authorized Version. With Copious Critical, Explanatory, and Practical Notes, and Reflections; A General Introduction, Parallel Passages, Index of Subjects, and Chronological Tables.
Glasgow, Edinburgh, and London: Blackie and Son, 1858.
First edition of Davidson's finely illustrated family Bible. Large quarto, bound in contemporary full calf with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, elaborate decorative tooling to the front and rear panels stamped in blind, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled. Illustrated with numerous hand-colored maps and engraved plates by Holl, Robinson, Knight, and Whitfield including frontispiece and engraved title page. In very good condition. Interior hinges reinforced. A nice example of this popular 19th century illustrated Bible.
Price: $1,600.00 Item Number: 130348
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“Love of life is born of the awareness of death, of the dread of it": First Edition of Ian Fleming's The Spy Who Loved Me
FLEMING, Ian.
The Spy Who Loved Me.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1962.
First edition of the ninth novel in Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. Octavo, original black cloth. Near fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket, bookplate. Jacket design by Richard Chopping. An exceptional example.
Price: $1,600.00 Item Number: 140615
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“Sometimes human places, create inhuman monsters": First Edition of The Shining
KING, Stephen.
The Shining.
Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1977.
First edition of King's third novel. Octavo, original half black cloth. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket illustration by Dave Christensen. Jacket typography by Al Nagy. An exceptional example.
Price: $1,600.00 Item Number: 147002
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"I couldn't help wondering if that was what God put me on Earth for--to find out how much a man could take without breaking": First Edition of Breakfast of Champions; Signed by Kurt Vonnegut
VONNEGUT JR., Kurt.
Breakfast of Champions or Goodbye, Blue Monday.
New York: Delacorte Press, 1973.
First edition of Vonnegut's classic work. Octavo, original orange cloth, with drawings by the author. Boldly signed by the author in a contemporary hand, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr on the half-title page. Near fine in a very good dust jacket, inscription to the front free endpaper. Jacket design by Bob Giusti.
Price: $1,600.00 Item Number: 134681
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First Edition of C.S. Lewis' The last Battle
LEWIS, C.S.
The Last Battle.
London: Geoffrey Bles, 1956.
First edition of the last novel in Lewis' classic Narnia series. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket, contemporary inscription to the front free endpaper. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes. A nice example.
Price: $1,600.00 Item Number: 146232
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First Edition of Hymns of the Ages: Second Series; from the library of Ulysses S. Grant
[GRANT, Ulysses S.].
Hymns of the Ages: Second Series. Being Selections From Wither, Crashaw, Southwell, Harington, and Other Sources.
Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1865.
First edition of the second series of Hymns of the Ages, from the library of Ulysses S. Grant. Octavo, bound in full pebbled morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, tissue-guarded frontispiece. From the library of Ulysses S. Grant with a presentation bookplate to the pastedown which reads, “Lieut. Gen. U. S. Grant, from the Citizens of Boston, January 1, 1866.” In very good condition. Rare and desirable.
Price: $1,600.00 Item Number: 138284
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Rare autograph note signed by famed English writer Rudyard Kipling
KIPLING, Rudyard.
Rudyard Kipling Autograph Note Signed.
Sept. 2, 1917.
Rare autograph note signed by and in the hand of Rudyard Kipling. 12mo, one page on Kipling's Bateman's house letterhead, the note reads in full, "Sep. 2, 1917 Dear Dr. Curtiss, Would you please come down to Bateman's as soon as may be to see Mrs. Kipling who is suffering from a sudden attack of illness that I cannot make out the nature of. Very sincerely, Rudyard Kipling." A 17th-century house located in Burwash, East Sussex, Bateman's was the home of Rudyard Kipling from 1902 until his death in 1936. Kipling wrote some of his finest works at the house…
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 142237
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Signed Limited Edition of Christopher Isherwood's A Single Man; one of only 400 copies signed by him
ISHERWOOD, Christopher.
A Single Man.
London: The Land Press, 1980.
Signed limited edition of Isherwood's highly-regarded work, adapted into the film of the same name directed by fashion designer Tom Ford and starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore. Quarto, bound in full morocco with gilt titles and ruling to the spine, marbled endpapers. One of 400 copies signed by the author on the colophon. In fine condition.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 124605
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First Edition of Tennessee Williams Summer and Smoke; Signed by Him
WILLIAMS, Tennessee.
Summer and Smoke.
New York: New Directions, 1948.
First edition of this classic work. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Tennessee Williams on the half-title page. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Alvin Lustig. Housed in a custom half morocco slipcase.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 145444
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First Edition of A Further Range; Inscribed by Robert Frost to His Publisher
FROST, Robert.
A Further Range.
New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1936.
First edition of Frost’s Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of verse. Octavo, original maroon cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the front free endpaper to his publisher, "To Herbert Bristol with an authors acknowledgement to his publisher Robert Frost 1936." Bristol was the president and publisher at the Henry Holt and Company. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. An exceptional association.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 114778
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“That is all you can think of: what people will say! One goes from one end of the world to the other to hear the same story. Does it matter what people say?”: First Edition of Nectar In a Sieve; Inscribed by Kamala Markandaya
MARKANDAYA, Kamala.
Nectar In a Sieve.
London: Putnam, 1954.
First Edition of the author's first novel. Octavo, original cloth. Inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "Best Wishes and love, Kamala Markandaya January 1955." Some tape removal to the front endpaper, else near fine in a very good dust jacket with some of the usual wear and tear. Overall a nice copy of this classic; this is the first example of this title we have seen signed or inscribed.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 855
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"Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird - equal seekers of sweetness": First Edition of Thirst: Poems by Mary Oliver; Signed by her
OLIVER, Mary.
Thirst: Poems by Mary Oliver.
Boston: Beacon Press, 2006.
First edition of this collection of poems of grief, love, and faith. Octavo, original half cloth. Signed by Mary Oliver on the title page. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 96101
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"How much does one imagine, how much observe? One can no more separate those functions than divide light from air, or wetness from water": First Edition of Elspeth Huxley's The Flame Trees of Thika; Signed by Her
HUXLEY, Elspeth.
The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood.
London: Chatto & Windus, 1959.
First edition of Huxley's autobiographical work based on her early life among white settlers on her father's coffee plantation in Kenya. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by Elspeth Huxley on the title page. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Rosemary Seligman. Uncommon signed.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 110441
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First edition of Pat Franks second novel An Affair of the State; lengthily inscribed by him
FRANK, Pat.
An Affair of the State.
Philadelphia and New York: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1948.
First edition of Frank's classic Cold War political thriller, inspired in part by his experiences as an international journalist. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed on the front free paper, "For Betty Wells - In the hope that some part of this book comes true. Pat Frank." Very good in a very good dust jacket. Signed examples are uncommon.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 124045
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First Edition of Virginia Lee Burton's Classic Maybelle: The Cable Car; Signed by Her
BURTON, Virginia Lee.
Maybelle: The Cable Car.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1952.
First edition of this classic work. Oblong quarto, original cloth, illustrated endpapers, illustrated throughout. Boldly signed by Virginia Lee Burton on the title page. Near fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket. Uncommon signed.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 132568
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First American Edition of One Hundred Years of Solitude
GARCIA MARQUEZ, Gabriel. Translated by Gregory Rabassa.
One Hundred Years of Solitude.
New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1970.
First American edition of the author's magnum opus. Octavo, original green cloth. Near fine in a very good first issue dust jacket with the exclamation point at the end of the first paragraph on the front flap of the jacket. Jacket design by Guy Fleming.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 145926
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"Freedom Belongs to the strong": First Edition of Native Son; Finely Bound
WRIGHT, Richard .
Native Son.
New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1940.
First edition, first issue with "A - P" on the copyright page. Octavo, bound in full calf, marbled endpapers, housed in a full calf slipcase. A beautiful presentation.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 146347
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"What is worth doing at all is worth doing well": Rare first edition of Frederic Kitton's Illustrations to Charles Dickens by Pen and Pencil and
KITTON, Frederic G. [Charles Dickens].
Charles Dickens by Pen and Pencil and A Supplement to Charles Dickens by Pen and Pencil.
London: Frank T. Sabin, 1890-1891.
First edition in book form of the most sumptuous presentation of Kitton's collection of Dickens portraits and illustrations which first appeared in serialized parts between 1889-1890. Folio, two volumes bound in full buckram with morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, containing 31 engraved portraits, 30 engraved remarque plates, 78 illustrations in the text and 67 'Additional Illustrations'. In very good condition.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 122094
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“All is vanity, nothing is fair": The Biographical Edition of the Works of William Makepeace Thackeray
THACKERAY, William.
The Works of William Makepeace Thackeray. [Including The History of Henry Esmond, Vanity Fair, Pendennis, The Newcomes, and The Virginians].
London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1900-1902.
The Biographical edition of the Works of William Makepeace Thackeray. Octavo, thirteen volumes bound in three quarter morocco over marbled boards by Maclehose with gilt titles and ruling to the spines in six compartments within raised gilt bands, tissue-guarded frontispiece to each volume. In very good condition.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 126381
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First edition of Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad
TWAIN, Mark .
The Innocents Abroad, Or The New Pilgrims’ Progress.
Hartford: American Publishing Company, 1869.
First edition, third state of the author's second book with "The History of the Bible advertisement on page 654. BAL 3316. Octavo, bound in three quarter morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, with two hundred and thirty-four illustrations. From the library of Tiffany Thayer with his bookplate to the pastedown. American actor Tiffany Ellsworth Thayer wrote several novels, including the bestseller Thirteen Women. In a profile in Twentieth Century Authors, Thayer was described as "an atheist, an anarchist – in philosophy a Pyrrhonean – and…
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 127837
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First edition of Nora Ephron's I Remember Nothing; inscribed by her
EPHRON, Nora.
I Remember Nothing and Other Reflections.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010.
First edition of Ephron's edgy collection of short observational stories. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, "For Bill Zwecks With best wishes and thanks Nora. Nora Ephron 9-16-11." Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Abby Weintraub. Rare and desirable signed.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 132355
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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 of one of Dickens’ most popular novels. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco, gilt titles and tooling, raised bands, morocco spine labels, 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: $1,500.00 Item Number: 136224
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Collection of six first editions of the works of James Merrill; each volume inscribed by him to American playwright Michael Feingold
MERRILL, James.
James Merrill First Edition Collection: Scripts for the Pageant, From the First Nine: Poems 1946-1976, The Changing Light at Sandover, Late Settings: Poems, Recitative: Prose, and A Different Person: A Memoir
Various Publishers, 1980-1986.
Collection of six first editions of the works of James Merrill; from the library of American playwright Michael Feingold. Octavo, six volumes, original cloth and wrappers, the collection includes: Stated first edition of 'Scripts for the Pageant' [New York: Atheneum, 1980]; Stated first edition of 'From the First Nine: Poems 1946-1976' [New York: Atheneum, 1982]; Stated first edition of 'The Changing Light at Sandover: Including the Whole of The Book of Ephraim, Mirabell's Books of Number, Scripts for the Pageant, and a new coda, The Higher Keys' [New York: Atheneum. 1982]; Stated first edition of 'Late Settings: Poems' [New York:…
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 145436
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First Edition of Shirley Ann Grau's Masterwork The Keepers of the House; Signed by Her
GRAU, Shirley An.
The Keepers of the House.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1964.
First edition of the author's Pulitzer Prize-winning work. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by Shirley Ann Grau on the half-title page. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by George Salter.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 116739
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Scarce first English edition of Leo Tolstoy's Patriotism and Christianity
TOLSTOY, Leo.
Patriotism and Christianity.
London: Walter Scott, Ltd., 1896.
First English edition of Tolstoy's important work on non-resistance. Octavo, original cloth. With a note to English readers by John C. Kenworthy. Scarce.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 127590
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First Edition of Hawthorne's The Marble Faun
HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel .
The Marble Faun: or, the Romance of Monte Beni.
Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1860.
First edition, first issue, with 16-page catalog dated March, 1860 inserted at rear of Volume one of Hawthorne’s last major work of fiction. Octavo, original cloth, 2 volumes. In fine condition, from the library of noted book collector Henry Walker Bagley with his bookplate. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. BAL 7621. An exceptional example.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 119422
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“Those who dream by day are cognisant of many things which escape those who dream only by night": The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
POE, Edgar Allan. Introduction by Henry Stoddard.
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe.
New York: A. C. Armstrong & Son, 1884.
Finely bound set of the complete works of Edgar Allan Poe. Octavo, 6 volumes bound in three quarter calf over marbled boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, ribbon bound in, illustrated, tissue-guarded engraving to each volume. In good condition. Small bookplates.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 141067
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First Edition of C.S. Lewis' Classic Till We Have Faces; Finely Bound
LEWIS, C.S.
Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold.
London: Geoffrey Bles, 1956.
First edition of Lewis' final novel retelling of Cupid and Psyche, based on its telling in a chapter of The Golden Ass of Apuleius. Octavo, bound in full morocco by the Harcourt Bindery, gilt titles and ruling to the spine, raised bands, gilt ruled to the front and rear panels, gilt signature to the front panel, inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. In fine condition. An exceptional presentation.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 141307
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First edition of Gertrude Stein's Bee Time Vine; inscribed by her life partner Alice B. Toklas to long-standing nemesis Elizabeth Sprigge
STEIN, Gertrude. [Alice B. Toklas] Introduction by Virgil Thomson.
Bee Time Vine and other Pieces [1913-1927].
New Haven: Yale University Press, 1953.
First edition of volume three of the Yale edition of Stein's unpublished writings, collected under the general editorship of Carl Van Vechten. Octavo, original boards. Presentation copy, inscribed by Stein's partner Alice B. Toklas on the front free endpaper, "A peace offering to dear Elizabeth with love from Alice Paris 4 - VI - 54." The recipient, Elizabeth Miriam Squire Sprigge was an English biographer and longtime nemesis of both Stein and Toklas and one of Stein's harshest critics. In several letters to close personal friends following Stein's death, Toklas expressed her disdain towards Sprigge, on one occasion in particular…
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 135240
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“If the wind rises it can push us against the flood when it comes": First Edition of Ernest Hemingway's Islands in the Stream; FINELY BOUND BY THE HARCOURT BINDERY
HEMINGWAY, Ernest.
Islands In The Stream.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1970.
First edition of Hemingway's autobiographical novel in three parts, published posthumously. Octavo, bound in full morocco by the Harcourt Bindery, gilt titles and ruling to the spine, raised bands, gilt ruled to the front and rear panels, gilt signature to the front panel, inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. In fine condition. An exceptional presentation.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 140288
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William M. Thackeray Autograph Letter Signed to Lady John Russell
THACKERAY, William M.
William M. Thackeray Autograph Letter Signed.
Autograph letter signed by William M. Thackeray to Lady John Russell, wife of the Prime Minister. One page, the letter reads, "I have an engagement contracted 3 weeks ago unfortunately, or I should have had the greatest pleasure in coming to Richmond on Friday." Matted and framed with two engravings, one of Thackeray and the other of Colonel Newcome (a character from Thackeray's 'The Newcomers'). In very good condition with toning to the letter and very light folds. The entire piece measures 17.5 inches by 10.25 inches. A charming presentation.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 145284
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"The greater the scientific advance, the more primitive the fear": First Edition of White Noise; Warmly Inscribed by Don Delillo to Friend Craig Anderson
DELILLO, Don.
White Noise.
New York: The Viking Press, 1985.
First edition of the author’s National Book Award-winning novel. Octavo, original half cloth. Association copy, warmly inscribed by the author on the half-title page, "To Craig Anderson Best ever Don DeLillo." The recipient was a friend of the author as well as the director of the Rare Book Room at the Strand Bookstore. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a touch of wear. Jacket design by Neil Stuart.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 117829
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Signed Original Drawing By Playwright Tom Stoppard of his Play The Real Thing
STOPPARD, Tom.
Tom Stoppard Original Signed Drawing.
Original drawing by playwright Tom Stoppard. "I can't draw. Really. Look: My Hous, My Dogg (crossed out and replaced with 'Hors') Love, Tom." The drawing corresponds to one of Stoppard's later plays, The Real Thing, first performed in 1982. Known for his use of playful language in addressing philosophical concepts, Stoppard's later works sought greater emotional and interpersonal depths, as is also apparent in this lighthearted and intentionally naive portrayal of a scene typical of children's art. Rare and desirable with an original drawing. The drawing measures 8.5 inches by 8 inches. Matted and framed. The entire piece measures 14 inches…
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 79905
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“For the scene of suffering is a scene of joy when the suffering is past; and the silent reminiscence of hardships departed is sweeter than the presence of delight": Herman Melville's Redburn
MELVILLE, Herman.
Redburn.
New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1849.
First edition, second printing of this classic work with the extended publisher’s advertisements at end. Octavo, original plum cloth stamped in blind, spine gilt, yellow endpapers. In very good condition, bookplate.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 144187
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"We ain't giving up" I said "We done gone this far": First Edition of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman; Inscribed by Ernest J. Gaines
GAINES, Ernest J.
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.
New York: The Dial Press, 1971.
First edition of this classic novel, which depicts the struggles of African Americans as seen through the eyes of the narrator, a woman named Jane Pittman. Octavo, original boards. Presentation copy, lengthily inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the front free endpaper, "Dear Dale and Diane: I heard about you from my sister, Lois. Best to you always and I hope you like 'Miss Jane' Ernie. Gaines May 11, 1971 San Francisco." Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Jacket design by Mike McGiver.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 147102
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“It is because I think so much of warm and sensitive hearts, that I would spare them from being wounded": Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist; finely bound in full crushed levant morocco
DICKENS, Charles.
Oliver Twist.
London: Richard Bentley, 1839.
Early edition of Dickens' classic “novel of crime and terror” (Baugh et al). Octavo, three volumes bound in full red crushed levant morocco, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, triple gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, illustrated with 24 plates by George Cruikshank. In very good condition. Ownership inscription. An attractive binding.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 139872
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First Edition of Edwin Lefevre's Simonetta; In the Rare Original Dust Jacket
LEFEVRE, Edwin.
Simonetta.
New York: George H. Doran Company, 1919.
First edition of this work by the author of Reminisces of a Stock Operator. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in the rare original dust jacket with chipping to the spine. We have never seen another example in the dust jacket.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 140668
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First Edition of Band of Angels; Signed by Robert Penn Warren
WARREN, Robert Penn.
Band of Angels.
New York: Random House, 1955.
First edition of this classic work one of the most searing and vivid fictional accounts of the Civil War era ever written, basis for the 1957 film directed by Raoul Walsh starring Clark Gable, Yvonne De Carlo and Sidney Poitier. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Robert Penn Warren. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Ska. Housed in a custom half morocco and chemise clamshell box. An exceptional example, rare and desirable signed.
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 147022