Shop
-
First British Edition of Isak Dinesen's Out of Africa; King Edward VIII's Copy with his ownership inscription
DINESEN, ISAK [KAREN BLIXEN] [KING EDWARD VIII].
Out of Africa.
London: Putnam 1937.
First British edition of the author’s masterpiece, a lyrical meditation of the years she lived in Kenya, from the library of King Edward VIII. Octavo, original cloth. With numerous original photographs and newspaper clippings affixed to the front few pages. Originally from the collection of the author’s brother Thomas Fasti Dinesen with two original black and white photographs of him hunting affixed to the verso of the front free endpaper and half-title page above which he has annotated, “My first lion April 6th 1922” and “Shot from boma April 11th 1922 The boma only five feet from the hill on account of my alias Thomas Dinesen.” In 1918, Thomas Dinesen moved to British East Africa to help his sister manage her coffee farm in the Ngong hills southwest of Nairobi where he designed a largely built the farm’s coffee roasting plant. Subsequently, from the library of Edward VIII with his ownership inscription to the front free endpaper, “‘The son of the sultan’ Edward Duke of Windsor.” Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from January 1936 until his abdication in December of the same year, after which he became the Duke of Windsor. And finally, inscribed on the title page, “To Hubert Gough with best wishes from Maj ‘one’ Sotheby March.” The recipient, Sir Hubert de la Poer Gough was a senior officer in the British Army in the First World War. Also affixed throughout are numerous clippings related to the Duke of Windsor and Blixen including a clipping with a photograph of her with Marilyn Monroe and original black and white photographs of her in 1921, later in life, and views of the plantation farmers and Ngong Hills. In very good condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A unique example.
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 110991
-
Rare House of Lords Doc. 20, Minutes of Proceedings, December 10, 1936, printing Edward VIII's "Instrument of Abdication" in which he officially renounces claim to the Throne
KING EDWARD VIII,.
House of Lords Doc. 20, Minutes of Proceedings, December 10, 1936, Printing Edward VIII’s “Instrument of Abdication” in which he officially renounces claim to the Throne.
: 1936.
Rare extract from the printed Minutes and a singular moment in British royal history. “Abdication of Edward R. I.” in blue pencil at top right. Framed such that both sides of the document can be read, visible portion of the unfolded sheet measures 16 x 12.5 inches; frame measures 22.5 inches by 20 inches. In near fine condition.
Price: $1,250.00 Item Number: 119889
-
A Short History of St Bartholomew's Hospital, Specially Bound on the Occasion of the 800th Anniversary of Its Foundation; From the Library of Edward, The Duke of Windsor
POWER, SIR D'ARCY AND H.J. WARING [KING EDWARD VIII].
A Short History of St Bartholomew’s Hospital 1123-1923, Specially Bound on the Occasion of the 800th Anniversary of Its Foundation.
London: Charles Whittingham and Griggs, Ltd 1923.
Elaborately bound presentation copy, belonging to King Edward VIII. Octavo, full tan morocco, elaborately gilt tooling to the spine, front and rear panels with black morocco inlays, cornerpieces of thistles and flowers, front panel with central crown and gilt medallion portraits of Rahere and Harvey, silk endpapers. Full-color frontispiece illustration of The Tomb of Rahere in the Church of Saint Bartholomew the Great, thirty-four black and white plates with tissue guards. Presentation plate to rear free endpaper, “Presented on the Occasion of the Eight Hundredth Anniversary of the Foundation of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. Stanmore, Treasurer. On Behalf of the Governor’s of the Hospital. June 1923.” From the Library of the Edward, The Duke of Windsor. Rare and desirable.
Price: $1,800.00 Item Number: 36018