Gifts
Looking for a unique and personal gift? A rare book is a gift they will treasure for a lifetime. There are few gifts that are as lasting and appreciated as a rare book. They hold within its pages not only historical and cultural significance, but often also a personal significance to the recipient. Whether it is a beloved childhood book that turned them on to the joys of reading or a favorite title they read in high school or college, people treasure these books like a close friend.
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“The object of the artist is the creation of the beautiful. What the beautiful is is another question": First English Edition of James Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man; Inscribed by Him
JOYCE, James.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
London: The Egoist Ltd, 1916.
First English edition, one of approximately 750 copies of Joyce’s classic stream-of-consciousness work, his first novel. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “To Beatrice Randegger. James Joyce. 25 Novembre 1919. Trieste.” The recipient was a private student’s of Joyce in Italy. In excellent condition with light rubbing and wear. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $40,000.00 Item Number: 109550
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"I have numerous readers among farmers and workers. They make India. Their poverty is India's curse and crime. Their prosperity alone can make India a country fit to live in:" Second Series of Mohandas K. Gandhi's Young India; signed and dated by him
GANDHI, Mohandas K. [Mahatma].
Young India Second Series 1924-1926.
New York: The Viking Press, 1927.
First edition of the second series of the writings of Gandhi. Octavo, original cloth with gilt titles to the spine and front panel. Signed and dated by Gandhi on the front free endpaper, “MK Gandhi 3:4:29.” Gandhi founded and published the weekly periodical in English, Young India, from 1919 to 1931 to spread the philosophy and principles of the Satyagraha Movement and urge readers to participate in it. In near fine condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Exceptionally rare and desirable signed and in this condition.
Price: $40,000.00 Item Number: 95311
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“I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying": The Works of Oscar Wilde; One of 80 Sets Bound in Japanese Vellum
WILDE, Oscar.
The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde.
London: Methuen & Co, 1908.
First collected edition, one of 80 sets on Japanese vellum, the rarest and most desirable of Wilde’s works. Octavo, 14 volumes, bound in original vellum, gilt titles and tooling to the spine and front panel with the design by Charles Ricketts, top edge gilt. “The text is taken in most instances from the last editions issued under the superintendence of the author. In some cases the volumes contain additional matter which had not previously been reprinted, while some of the volumes contain matter here published for the first time” (Mason). In near fine condition. Rare and desirable, especially in this condition.
Price: $27,500.00 Item Number: 103150
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First Edition of The Call of the Wild; Inscribed by Jack London to fellow writer and screenplay pioneer Elinor Glyn
LONDON, Jack.
The Call of the Wild.
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1903.
First edition of one of the most desirable classics in American literature. Octavo, original pictorial green cloth, pictorial endpapers, top edge gilt. With 18 full-page color illustrations by Philip R. Goodwin and Charles Livingston Bull. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “To Elinor Glyn:- My most popular, but my own heart goes out to some of my sociological screeds. Jack London Mar. 1, 1911.” The recipient Elinor Glyn was a British novelist and scriptwriter who specialized in romantic fiction, which was considered scandalous for its time. Her first book, The Visits of Elizabeth was published the same year as London’s first book. She later moved to California and became one of the first female writers of movie screenplays. She popularized the concept of the It-girl, and had tremendous influence on early 20th-century popular culture and, possibly, on the careers of notable Hollywood stars such as Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson and, especially, Clara Bow. In near fine condition with light shelfwear. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Signed first editions of this classic title are scarce.
Price: $27,500.00 Item Number: 110942
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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, with notice about Part First on page iv and lacking terminal advertisements. Both volumes in very good to near fine condition with rubbing to the extremities. Rare and desirable in the original cloth, as most examples have been rebound.
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 111053
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"This as far as I know is what happens to them": First Edition of John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novel The Grapes of Wrath; Inscribed by Him To Columbia University Professor John Henry Hobart Lyon
STEINBECK, John.
The Grapes of Wrath.
New York: The Viking Press, 1939.
First edition, with “First Published in April 1939” on copyright page and first edition notice on the front flap of the dust jacket. Octavo, original beige cloth. Association copy, playfully inscribed by the author on the title page, “Continuing the tradition. To John H. Lyon, go to hell! John Steinbeck.” The recipient was John Henry Hobart Lyon, an English professor at Columbia University and a friend of Steinbeck’s. “Great names usually come in clusters, for one creative scholar attracts others to work with him. The unforgettable Professor John Henry Hobart Lyon stirs his students by his lectures on Shakespeare, romantic literature, and the world’s masterpieces” (Coon, p. 33). Lyon also taught a popular course called “Literature of Today”, for which he invited well-known contemporary authors to lecture. Among those who appeared were Thomas Mann, Kenneth Roberts, Orson Welles, Stephen Benet, Erskine Caldwell, Somerset Maugham, Moss Hart, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with a touch of shelfwear. Jacket design by Elmer Hader. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional example with noted provenance.
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 119562
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First Edition of Damon Runyon's Guys and Dolls; In the Rare Original Dust Jacket
RUNYON, Damon.
Guys and Dolls.
New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1931.
First edition of this classic work, basis for the film starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra. Octavo, original cloth. A pre-publication example, with the date of August 20, 1931 stamped to the front free endpaper, very good in a very good dust jacket with some chips and wear. Introduction by Heywood Broun. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. First editions in the original dust jacket are scarce.
Price: $22,000.00 Item Number: 98358
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"Life is worth living as long as there's a laugh in it": First Edition of Anne of Green Gables in the Rare Brown Cloth
MONTGOMERY, L.M.
Anne of Green Gables.
Boston: L.C. Page, 1908.
First edition dated “April 1908” on the verso of title page. Octavo, original brown cloth, titles to the spine in gilt and front panel. Mounted pictorial label on front panel. Illustrations by M.A. and W.A.J. Claus. First edition copies are generally found in the more common green cloth bindings. (Peter Parley to Penrod, p. 124) In excellent near fine condition, showing some light wear to the extremities and front panel. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $22,000.00 Item Number: 2639
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Complete Set of First Editions of Isaac Leeser's Discourses on the Jewish Religion
LEESER, Isaac.
Discourses on the Jewish Religion.
Philadelphia: Sherman & Co, 1866-68.
First editions of one of the ‘major builders of American Judaism’, Isaac Leeser’s Discourses on the Jewish Religion. Octavo, 10 volumes, bound in full leather, gilt titles to the spine, raised bands. In near fine condition. Complete sets are of the utmost rarity.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 107732
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“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye": Signed Limited Edition of Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince; One of 525 Numbered Copies
SAINT-EXUPERY, Antoine De.
The Little Prince.
New York: Reynal and Hitchcock, 1943.
Signed limited first edition, one of 525 signed numbered copies, this is number 66. Signed by Antoine De Saint-Exupery. Small quarto, original salmon cloth, illustrated. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A very sharp example.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 99850
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Rare first American edition, first printing, first state, of one of the Masterpieces of American literature, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
TWAIN, Mark [Samuel L. Clemens].
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Hartford: American Publishing Company, 1876.
First edition, first printing, first state (with “THE” on half title in 10-point rather than 14-point type) of one of the great masterpieces of American literature. Octavo, original blue cloth, peach endpapers, top edge gilt, illustrations in text by True Williams and others, printed on wove paper, with preliminary matter paginated [I]-XVI and front and rear triple flyleaves of laid paper. BAL 3369. Johnson, 27-30. MacDonnell, 39-40. MacBride, 40. In very good condition with some very light rubbing to the cloth. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A nice example of an important book.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 23042
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“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye": Signed Limited Edition of Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince; One of 525 Numbered Copies
SAINT-EXUPERY, Antoine De.
The Little Prince.
New York: Reynal and Hitchcock, 1943.
Signed limited first edition, one of 525 signed numbered copies, this is number 236. Signed by Antoine De Saint-Exupery. Small quarto, original salmon cloth, illustrated. Near fine in a very good price-clipped dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $19,500.00 Item Number: 102850
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“The timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness. And knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream": Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet; lengthily inscribed by him
GIBRAN, Kahlil.
The Prophet.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1923.
First edition, early printing of the author’s masterpiece. Octavo, original cloth, with illustrations by the author. Association copy, lengthily inscribed by Kahlil Gibran on the title page, “This is for Elenor Fisch, who lives in the world of beautiful understanding. Kahlil Gibran, 1926.” From the library of D. Rajagopal with his library stamp to the front pastedown. Rajagopal was the lifelong friend and editor of Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, the leader of the Theosophy movement in the early 20th century, and one of its most famous figures. In his teachings, Krishnamurti stressed the necessity for a revolution of human consciousness, which could only occur with radical religious, political, and social change. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare and desirable signed and with noted provenance.
Price: $19,500.00 Item Number: 96203
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“I never found beauty in longing for the impossible and never found the possible to be beyond my reach": FIRST EDITION OF AYN RAND'S ATLAS SHRUGGED; INSCRIBED BY HER TWO MONTHS PRIOR TO PUBLICATION
RAND, Ayn.
Atlas Shrugged.
New York: Random House, 1957.
First edition of one of the most influential novels of the twentieth century. Large octavo, original green cloth, frontispiece stamped in gilt, spine stamped in black and gilt. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper two months prior to the publication date, “To Ray and Betty Nelson (and to Ev Suffens) – – affectionately – Ayn Rand 8/22/57.” The recipient, Ray Nelson (who went by the on-air name ‘Ev Suffens’) was the host of the late night jazz radio program Midnight Jamboree on radio station WEVD. Rand’s assistant and close personal friend, Barbara Branden wrote of Rand, “…jazz had a kind of symbolic significance to Rand…Rand once said that what she would love more than anything is to never have to think about politics, because it wouldn’t be necessary. She loved what she saw as the frivolous in America, that this was a country where you didn’t have to be concerned whether you were going to to starve to death before tomorrow, or freeze to death, or to be put in prison, or sent to Siberia. You could be concerned with things like lipstick and silk stockings. And jazz.” An excellent example in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by George Salter. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional association copy.
Price: $18,500.00 Item Number: 96042
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The Manuscript Edition of Theodore Roosevelt's Monumental Work The Winning of the West; One of 200 Numbered Copies
ROOSEVELT, Theodore.
The Winning of the West: The Daniel Boone Edition.
New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1900.
Limited edition, number 72 of 200 copies of the manuscript edition of The Winning of the West. Quarto, 4 volumes, bound in full publisher’s morocco, gilt titles to the spine, gilt tooling to the front and rear panels, top edge gilt, pastedowns full morocco with inlay. The manuscript page in this example opposite the limitation page and reads, “at the expense of the government; and on the lower Ohio in 1793 and ’93 there were plenty of men who, in the event of a campaign, hoped to make profit out of the goods, horses and cattle they supplied the soldiers.” Portrait frontispiece in volume one, illustrated throughout, with frontispieces in each volume, folding maps, and other plates. In near fine condition. Housed in two custom slipcases. A very nice set.
Price: $16,500.00 Item Number: 111740
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“Capitalism Survive?—I have tried to show that a socialist form of society will inevitably emerge from an equally inevitable decomposition of capitalist society": First Edition of Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy; In the Rare original dust jacket
SCHUMPETER, Joseph A.
Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy.
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1942.
First edition of Schumpeter’s ground-breaking work. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with light shelfwear. First editions in the original dust jacket are rare.
Price: $16,000.00 Item Number: 115568
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“SERVE ON HOT BUTTERED TOAST… WITH PINK CHAMPAGNE”: FIRST EDITION OF IAN FLEMING’S THRILLING CITIES; inscribed by him to close personal friend and neighbor Noel Coward
FLEMING, Ian.
Thrilling Cities.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1963.
First edition of Fleming’s compelling travelogue. Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “Noël for your bluest pencil Love Ian.” The recipient, English playwright, director and actor Noël Coward was a close friend of Fleming’s and his neighbor in Jamaica. Coward, inspired to build his own Jamaican retreat by a visit to Goldeneye in 1948, was Fleming’s closest friend on the island and it was with his great encouragement that Fleming began writing the Bond novels that made him famous. When Fleming married Ann in 1952, Coward was one of two wedding guests and in the same year he was made godfather to their newborn son Caspar. Named for the luminous insects seen in the warm evenings, his Firefly Estate east of Oracabessa, Jamaica entertained a wide range of guests, including both the Queen Mother and Queen Elizabeth II, Sir Winston Churchill, Lord Olivier, Sophia Loren, Dame Elizabeth Taylor, Sir Alec Guinness, Peter O’Toole, and Richard Burton. Known for his likable sophistication and sharp sense of humor, Coward’s songs, plays, and films were immensely popular from the early 1920s through the 60s and 70s when they achieved renewed fame and critical acclaim with a variety of new revues celebrating his music, including Oh, Coward! on Broadway and Cowardy Custard in London. Coward won an Academy Honorary Award in 1943 for his naval film drama ‘In Which We Serve’, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1969, and received a Tony Award for lifetime achievement in 1970. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. With Coward’s bookplate to the pastedown. An exceptional association copy.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 111081
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First Edition of Walt Disney's Fantasia; Inscribed by Disney and with Twelve original drawings
DISNEY, Walt; Deems Taylor .
Walt Disney’s Fantasia. With a Foreword by Leopold Stokowski.
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1940.
First edition of the lavishly illustrated companion volume to Disney’s animated musical masterpiece. Quarto, original cloth, pictorial endpapers, illustrated with 16 mounted color plates. Presentation copy, signed and inscribed by thirteen people (including Walt Disney); all who worked at Walt Disney studios in the 1940s. All of the inscriptions are to Jodie Ferguson Brudge, who was a secretary at Disney Studios, and upon her leaving to get married, raise family, she asked those that she worked with to inscribe her copy of Fantasia. This work contains the following inscriptions and illustrations, inscribed by Walt Disney on the title page, “To Jodie Best Wishes Walt Disney.” Page 10 has an original full-color illustration by Milt Banta of a card game between Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Milt Banta, with the inscription “Best Wishes Always Milt Banta.” Page 14 has a full page original illustration by Russ Dyson of a “ye olde family tree” for the Ferguson [Jodie] and Dyson branches. On the Dyson branch is a self-portrait of Dyson as a bird, with the inscription, “I Hope the Ferguson Branch Doesn’t grow any Larger! Good Luck – Russ Dyson 1/18/46.” Page 57 has an original watercolor of a tree branch and paint container, and the inscription: “Jodie – If you ever run across any automatic paint brushes like these – let me know. – Claude Coats.” Page 82 has a twenty-six line inscription that is warm and thoughtful from Ben [Sharpsteen]. Page 95 has an original color illustration of a frog fishing and the inscription, “An ‘Good Fishin’ to you all the time – Jodie. Hugh Hennesy” Page 102 has an original color illustration of a self-portrait of Bill Berg, with the inscription “Good Bye Jodie – We’ll Miss You!!! Bill Berg.” Page 118 has an original illustration of a self-portrait of Jerry Hathcock waking from a nightmare, with the inscription, “Gad!! What a Nightmare! Maybe Jodie is smart to leave. Good Bye + Good Luck, Jerry Hathcock.” Page 119 has an original illustration of a bouquet of flowers, that has been drawn into the hand/wing of the printed ostrich, with the inscription: “Best Luck and Good Wishes Jodie. Phil Barber.” Page 121 has an original illustration of a self-portrait of J. Eric Gurney who is holding a banner that reads, “Best Wishes to Jodie.” The opposite end of the banner is being held by the printed hippopotamus. Page 126 has an original illustration of a self-portrait of Nick Nichols (being held aloft by the printed elephant), with the inscription: “Bye Bye Jodie Come Back And Work For Me Again. Best Nick Nichols.” Page 159 has an original full-page illustration of Jodie as a centaurette, with the inscription, “G’bye Now. Lots of Luck an’ Stuff to Jodie. George Rowley.” The verso of the rear free endsheet contains an original illustration of a guitar player in a pancho and sombrero with the inscription, ” Good Luck Jodie. William de la Torre.” An excellent example in a very good dust jacket. A unique piece of Disney history.
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 96808
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First Edition of One Hundred Years of Solitude in the First Issue Dust Jacket; Inscribed and dated by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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 with gilt lettering to the spine. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the dedication page, “Para Rita, de su amigo, Gabriel Garcia Marquez 1976.” Fine in a fine first issue dust jacket with the exclamation point at the end of the first paragraph on the front flap. Jacket design by Guy Fleming. Translated by Gregory Rabassa. Housed in a custom clamshell box. An exceptional example.
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 96576
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"All modern literature comes from one book by Mark Twain. It’s the best book we’ve had. All American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing since" First Edition Of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in The Rare Blue Cloth
MARK TWAIN [SAMUEL L. CLEMENS],.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, 1885.
First edition, first issue of Mark Twain’s masterpiece. In near fine condition with light wear to the extremities. Octavo, blue pictorial cloth. Subscribers who had already purchased Tom Sawyer, and wanted a binding to match, were invited to request a blue cloth binding on Huckleberry Finn instead of the publisher’s green. This is one of those blue bindings—twenty times more rare than the green. This copy has all of the commonly identified first issue points (copies were assembled haphazardly by the printer and there is yet to be agreement among bibliographers as to the priority of many points). First issue points include page [9] with “Decided” remaining uncorrected (to “Decides”); page [13], illustration captioned “Him and another Man” listed as on page 88; page 57, 11th line from bottom reads “with the was,”. Debate continues over the priority of other points of issue and state. This copy contains the following points of bibliographical interest: frontispiece portrait without cloth table cover under the bust, bearing the Heliotype Printing Co. imprint; copyright page dated 1884; page 143 with “l” missing from “Col.” at top of illustration and with broken “b” in “body” on line seven; page 155 with the final 5 being slightly larger than the first two numbers”; page 161, no signature mark “11”. In very good condition with light wear to the extremities. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A nice example.
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 114362