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"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, exhibit number one is what the seraphs, the misinformed, simple, noble-winged seraphs, envied. Look at this tangle of thorns": Vladimir Nabokov's masterpiece Lolita; signed by him with an original drawing of a butterfly
NABOKOV, Vladimir.
Lolita.
New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1955.
First edition, early impression of Nabokov's lyrical masterwork. Octavo, original half cloth. Signed by Vladimir Nabokov on the half-title page with an additional drawing of a butterfly. An accomplished lepidopterist, Nabokov only included butterfly drawings in books presented to those especially important to him. Near fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket. Author photograph by Maclean Damcron. Housed in a custom clamshell box. Rare and desirable signed.
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 137049
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"Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December; And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor": First appearance in print of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven; In the Rare Original Wrappers
POE, Edgar Allan.
The Raven. [In The American Review: A Whig Journal of Politics, Literature, Art and Science. No. II February, 1845.
New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1845.
First appearance in print of The Raven, one of the most famous and recognizable poems ever written, which Poe considered his finest poem, calling it “the greatest poem that was ever written.” Octavo, original wrappers. In keeping with the policy of The American Review which required that poems be published anonymously or with a pseudonym, the poem, which appears on page 143 is credited to 'Quarles.' In very good condition. Rare in the original wrappers.
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 136274
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First Edition of Thomas Pynchon's Second Novel The Crying of Lot 49; Inscribed by Him
PYNCHON, Thomas.
The Crying of Lot 49.
Philadelphia and New York: J.B. Lippincott, 1966.
First edition of Pynchon's classic post-modern satire, which tells the wonderfully unusual story of Oedipa Maas. Octavo, original half cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Herb Yellin Good Luck Thomas Pynchon." Fine in a near fine dust jacket with light wear to the extremities. Jacket design by Milton Charles. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 7204
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“Sometimes, I feel the past and the future pressing so hard on either side that there's no room for the present at all": First Edition of Brideshead Revisited; Signed by Evelyn Waugh
WAUGH, Evelyn.
Brideshead Revisited.
London: Chapman and Hall, 1945.
First edition of Waugh's masterpiece. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Evelyn Waugh on the title page. Waugh issued a pre-publication edition of the novel in a run of 50 copies. These were printed and specially bound to distribute among friends for Christmas and to solicit any revisions. Several changes were made as a result of his friends' comments, including suggested alterations by Fr. Martin D'Arcy, Cyril Connolly, and Nancy Mitford. A letter from Graham Greene, Waugh's friend and recipient of one of the 50 copies had indicated that Waugh may have only inscribed 19 of the 50 copies (Jeffrey…
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 145489
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Scarce Original Photograph of a Lion on Safari; taken and signed by Ernest Hemingway
HEMINGWAY, Ernest.
Ernest Hemingway Original African Safari Photograph Signed.
Original glossy black and white photograph of a lion in the distance of the African savanna, taken by Ernest Hemingway and signed by him on the verso, "Copyright by Ernest Hemingway No. 5." In fine condition. Double matted and framed. The entire piece measures 15.5 inches by 18.1 inches. Exceptionally rare and desirable.
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 145731
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"Members of the general public, such as myself, have a right to form and express their own opinions on the relationship between science and society": Rare typed letter signed by George Orwell regarding his views on science, scientists, and society
ORWELL, George.
George Orwell Typed Letter Signed.
January 9, 1946.
Rare typed letter signed by the acclaimed author of Nineteen-Eighty Four, George Orwell; part of a long correspondence with scientist Edward R. Ward regarding his views on science. One page, typescript, the letter reads: '9th January 1946 Dear Mr. Ward, Your letter has been passed on to be by "Tribune". I am sorry that in their correspondence columns I should have answered what was really an abridgement of your original letter; but I had not seen the latter, and I did not know that what was printed was a shortened version. I cannot enter into what might become a prolonged…
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 133445
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"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?": Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures In Wonderland; inscribed by him
CARROLL, Lewis. [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson].
Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland.
London: MacMillan and Co, 1879.
Early edition with sixty-second thousand stated on the title page of this classic work, boldly inscribed by the author on the half-title page, "Edith Mary Alice Berkeley from the Author, May 15/80." Octavo, original cloth, gilt titles to the spine, all edges gilt, publisher's cloth s, all edges gilt, housed in a modern scarlet morocco slipcase and chemise. 7 1/8 x 4 1/2 inches (18 x 12 cm); 192 pp., [2] pp. ads, half-title; electrotyped frontispiece, and 42 illustrations from the woodcuts by Dalziel after John Tenniel. In near fine condition. From the library of actor William E. Self, with his book…
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 142979
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“I've got the key to my castle in the air, but whether I can unlock the door remains to be seen": Rare FIRST EDITIONS OF BOTH PARTS OF LITTLE WOMEN, IN ORIGINAL CLOTH
ALCOTT, Louisa May.
Little Women and Little Women, Part the Second.
Boston: Robert Brothers, 1868-69.
First editions of both volumes of Alcott's most coveted work. Octavo, two volumes in the original green cloth with gilt titles and decorations to the spine and front panel, each volume illustrated with four plates including frontispiece; those in the first part created by the author’s sister, May. Little Women is first issue with all points including Little Women priced at $1.25 in terminal advertisements. Little Women, Part Second is mixed state. Both volumes are in near fine condition with light rubbing to the extremities, contemporary inscription to volume one. Housed in a custom half morocco and chemise clamshell box.…
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 147420
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“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance": Signed Limited Edition of Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband
WILDE, Oscar.
An Ideal Husband.
London: Leonard Smithers and Co, 1899.
First signed limited edition of Wilde's classic comedic stage play. Octavo, original lavender publisher's cloth with gilt titles to the spine and gilt flourishes to the spine and front panel. One of 100 large paper copies signed by Oscar Wilde, this is number 85. In near fine condition with a touch of toning. Housed in a custom half morocco slipcase. A superior example.
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 96121
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Scarce complete First edition, first issue of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities; in the original monthly parts; with three variant issues of part 1
DICKENS, Charles.
A Tale of Two Cities.
London: Chapman and Hall, June-December 1859.
First edition, first issue of one of Dickens’ most enduring works, with p.213 in part 7/8 mispaginated "113", and signature mark 'b' present on List of Plates at end, etched frontispiece, additional title and 14 plates by "Phiz" (Hablot K. Browne). Octavo, original blue-green wrappers. Complete with all the advertisements called for by Hatton & Cleaver, and the two rare slips in parts 1 and 5. Includes three variant issues of part 1, one with Morison's 'premises' advert, the second with Morison's 'lion' advert, and the third with the rare French version of the Morison's 'lion' advert. In near fine…
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 131460
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Rare First Edition of Leonard Cohen's First Book, One of 400 copies Let Us Compare Mythologies; Inscribed by Him in the year of publication
COHEN, Leonard.
Let Us Compare Mythologies.
Montreal: McGill Poetry Series by Contact Press, 1956.
First edition of Cohen's first book, which explores philosophy, sexuality, death, a world of violent contrasts that would define his future literary and musical careers. Octavo, original cloth. With five full-page line illustrations by Freda Guttman. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author in the month of publication on the front free endpaper, "To Gery Levy, With best wishes Leonard Cohen May 1956." Near fine in a very good dust jacket with some expert restoration to the spine. An excellent example of this rare first book, which reportedly, fewer than 400 copies of the first edition were printed (Nadel, 45). Housed…
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 128744
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Rare First Edition of The Education of Henry Adams; One of only 40 Examples
ADAMS, Henry.
The Education of Henry Adams.
Washington: Privately Printed, 1907.
Rare first edition, one of only 40 copies printed of this classic work. The text of Education was not made commercially available until 1918, following the author's death, when it was published by Houghton Mifflin. In 1919 it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the Modern Library named it as the best non-fiction book published in English since 1900. BAL 32; Reese Narratives of Personal Experience 2 ("certainly one of the great American biographies"). In near fine condition. Housed in a custom clamshell box.
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 140067
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Rare Original Goldfinger Dust Jacket Design Printing Proof; signed by Dust Jacket Designer Richard Chopping and from his personal collection
CHOPPING, Richard. [Ian Fleming].
Goldfinger. [Original Richard Chopping Signed Printing Proof].
Rare original progressive color printing proof for the iconic dust jacket design of Ian Fleming's Goldfinger, designed by Richard Chopping. Chopping's copy, retained for his personal collection and signed by him in the lower right corner. One page on archival printer's paper, this is a yellow and magenta ink progressive plate proof (printed using two of four plates combined to create the final full color image). The seventh novel in Fleming's bond series, Goldfinger was the second book with a dust jacket designed by Richard Chopping, the first being From Russia, With Love. Chopping would design all subsequent James Bond…
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 124288
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First edition of Oscar Wilde: His Life and Confessions; From the collection of young Ernest Hemingway with his ownership inscriptions to each volume
HARRIS, Frank. [Ernest Hemingway].
Oscar Wilde: His Life and Confessions.
New York: Printed and Published by the Author, 1918.
First edition of Shaw's appreciation of Wilde. Octavo, original publisher's cloth. From the library of young Ernest Hemingway with his ownership name and address to the pastedown of each volume, "Ernest Hemingway Windemere Walloon Lake Michigan" and additional ownership name to volume one, "Hemingway." Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899, in Oak Park, Illinois, an affluent suburb just west of Chicago about which resident Frank Lloyd Wright said, "So many churches for so many good people to go to." He was the second child of Clarence Edmonds Hemingway, a physician, and Grace Hall Hemingway, a musician. Each summer the…
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 141864
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"one of the most important Scottish novels of the 20th century" The Quairs Trilogy; Each Inscribed by Him to George Malcolm Thomson
GIBBON, Lewis Grassic [James Leslie Mitchell].
A Scots Quair Trilogy. Including: Sunset Song, Cloud Howe, and Grey Granite.
London: Jarrolds Publishers, 1932-1934.
First editions of each volume of Gibbon's classic trilogy describing the life of Chris Guthrie, a woman from the north-east of Scotland during the early 20th century, each volume inscribed by him to George Malcolm Thomson. Octavo, original cloth, 3 volumes. Sunset Song is inscribed on the title page, "For G. Malcolm Thomson, L. Grassic Gibbon." Cloud Howe is the dedication copy, inscribed on the title page, "For the 'dedicatee' with kind regards. L. Grassic Gibbon." Grey Granite is inscribed on the title page, "For George Malcolm Thomson with good wishes L. Grassic Gibbon." Each are in very good condition.…
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 124744
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“Solitude produces originality, bold & astonishing beauty, poetry": First Edition of Der Tod in Venedig; Inscribed by Thomas Mann to close friend and confidant Ernst Bertram
MANN, Thomas.
Der Tod in Venidig [Death in Venice].
Berlin: S. Fischer, Verlag, 1913.
First trade edition of one of the greatest novellas of the twentieth century. Octavo, original publisher's quarter vellum over marbled boards. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "An Ernst Bertram in herzlicher Wertschatzung Thomas Mann" (To Ernst Bertram in heartfelt appreciation Thomas Mann). One of the best possible association copies, as Bertram was Mann's closest friend from the late 1900s through the 1930s, when their politics separated them. Bertram was deeply influential on Mann's thinking and literary direction during the time when he was somewhat artistically lost and suffered his own writer's block. It was…
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 98970
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Rare Original Goldfinger Dust Jacket Design Printing Proof; signed by Dust Jacket Designer Richard Chopping and from his personal collection
CHOPPING, Richard. [Ian Fleming].
Goldfinger. [Original Richard Chopping Signed Printing Proof].
Rare original progressive color printing proof for the iconic dust jacket design of Ian Fleming's Goldfinger, designed by Richard Chopping. Chopping's copy, retained for his personal collection and signed by him in the lower right corner. One page on archival printer's paper, this is the magenta ink progressive plate proof (printed using one of four plates combined to create the final full color image). The seventh novel in Fleming's bond series, Goldfinger was the second book with a dust jacket designed by Richard Chopping, the first being From Russia, With Love. Chopping would design all subsequent James Bond dust jackets…
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 124559
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"I am convinced that invisible & intelligent beings exist who say that they are the spirits of dead persons": rare collection of eight unsigned handwritten manuscripts by Arthur Conan Doyle; containing notes on seances and Spiritualism
CONAN DOYLE, Arthur.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Handwritten Manuscript Collection on Seances and Spiritualism.
c. 1920s.
Rare archive of eight unsigned handwritten manuscripts by Arthur Conan Doyle containing notes on seances and Spiritualism, totaling eleven pages on nine sheets, most undated but circa 1920s. Eleven pages on nine sheets, autograph manuscript ranging in size from 3.5 inches by 5 inches to 8.25 inches x 10.5 inches. For many of his later years, Doyle intensely pursued his interest in paranormal phenomena, and by the end of World War I he identified himself as a Spiritualist, believing in a spirit world and the ability to communicate with those beyond the grave. He established the specialized Psychic Bookshop in 1925, devoted entirely to the sale of spiritualistic and…
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 146985
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“An artist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's”: Franny and Zooey; Inscribed by J.D. Salinger
SALINGER, J.D.
Franny and Zooey.
New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 1961.
First edition, second printing of Salinger's third book. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by Salinger in his cursive hand on the front free endpaper to a personal friend, "Oke, Stop over sometime, JDS 8/26/61." While Salinger was known for his reclusive behavior with regard to the spotlight of the international press, he did have close relations with the local townspeople around his New Hampshire home, who respected his privacy. This inscription shows the authentic nature of those relationships. Affixed to the verso of the front panel and front free endpaper are three newspaper clippings regarding Salinger's reputation as a…
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 88131
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"AND FOR ALL I KNOW HE IS SITTING THERE STILL, UNDER HIS FAVORITE CORK TREE, SMELLING THE FLOWERS JUST QUIETLY" exceptionally rare FIRST EDITION, advance review copy OF THE STORY OF FERDINAND; signed by both Robert Lawson and Munro Leaf
LEAF, Munro; Illustrated by Robert Lawson.
The Story of Ferdinand.
New York: The Viking Press, 1936.
First edition, first printing, advance review copy of Munro Leaf’s beloved children’s classic, one of the most popular and enduring children's books ever published. Octavo, original half tan cloth, pictorial endpapers, illustrated by Robert Lawson. Signed by both the author and illustrator opposite the title page, "Robert Lawson" "and Munro Leaf." From the library of American publisher Charles C. Fleming with a memorandum on his Whittet Printing Co. letterhead to the front free endpaper, stamped "Received Sep 23 1936 C.C.F." indicating that the book was received in the month of publication which is stated on the copyright page. The first…
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 147285
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"They were so close to each other that they preferred death to separation": First Edition of One Hundred Years of Solitude; Signed by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and lengthily signed by Translator Gregory Rabassa
GARCIA MARQUEZ, Gabriel.
One Hundred Years of Solitude.
New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1970.
First American edition of the author's magnum opus. Octavo, original green cloth. Boldly signed by Gabriel Garcia Marquez on the dedication page and additionally lengthily signed by the translator on the title page as follows, "They were so close to each other that they preferred death to separation Gregory Rabassa. Near fine in a near fine first issue dust jacket. Jacket design by Guy Fleming. Translated by Gregory Rabassa. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. A unique example.
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 136198
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“All for one and one for all, united we stand divided we fall”: Rare First Edition In English of Dumas' The Three Musketeers
DUMAS, Alexandre.
The Three Musketeers; or, the Feats and Fortunes of a Gascon Adventurer.
London: Bruce and Wyld, 1846.
First edition in English of Dumas’ masterpiece. Octavo, bound in full contemporary calf, gilt titles to the spine, raised gilt bands, marbled endpapers. Translated from the French by William Barrow. Barrow’s translation was the first of three English translations published in 1846 and is considered the most faithful to the original text. To conform to nineteenth century English standards other translations removed many of the explicit and implicit references to sexuality which adversely affected the readability of many scenes. Period bookplate to the front pastedown, in very good condition with some loss to a few pages. Housed in a custom half…
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 88658
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First Edition of Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me; inscribed by Richard Farina with a Drawing of a Flower
FARINA, Richard.
Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me.
New York: Random House, 1966.
First edition of the author and songwriter’s first novel, warmly praised by his friend Thomas Pynchon; the only novel published in Fariña’s lifetime, as he tragically died in a motorcycle accident two days after its publication. Octavo, original half green cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author in the month of publication with a drawing of a flower on the front free endpaper, "for Virginia -Richard Farina, April 1966." The recipient, Virginia Freeman was a folk art dealer, who lived in California in the 1960s and later opened the Virginia Freeman Art Gallery in Destin, Florida. Very good in a very…
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 146072
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"For Mother & Dad with my Love": First edition of Arthur Miller's The Crucible; inscribed by him to his parents
MILLER, Arthur.
The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts.
New York: The Viking Press, 1953.
First edition of Miller's Tony Award-winning play, a bitter satire inspired by the heightened political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals during the McCarthy era. Octavo, original half cloth over patterned boards, top edge red. Association copy, inscribed by Arthur Miller on the front free endpaper to his mother and father, "To Mother & Dad With my love Arthur." Arthur Miller was the second of three children of Augusta (Barnett) and Isidore Miller. His father was born in Radomyśl Wielki, Galicia (then part of Austria-Hungary, now Poland), and his mother was a native of New York whose parents had immigrated…
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 140347