Literature
Rare & Classic, American or English Literature Books for Sale Online
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First edition of Ray Bradbury's The October Country; signed by him
BRADBURY, Ray.
The October Country.
New York: Ballantine Books, [1955].
First edition of Bradbury's classic collection of nineteen macabre short stories. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated by Joe Mugnaini. In Currey's "B" binding in its first state, with the Ballantine Books monogram at spine foot printed upside down. One of three bindings, no priority determined. Currey p.57. Signed by the author on the title page, "Ray Bradbury 1/22/81." Near fine in a very good price-clipped dust jacket. Jacket design by Joe Mugnaini. Author photograph by Morris Dollens.
Price: $975.00 Item Number: 142805
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The Arbury edition of the works of George Eliot
ELIOT, George.
The Works of George Eliot.
Boston: Dana Estes & Company, n.d..
The Arbury edition of the works of George Eliot. Octavo, 24 volumes bound in three quarter half russet crushed morocco over marbled boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, hand-colored tissue-guarded frontispiece and photogravure plate printed on cream velin to each volume. One of one thousand numbered copies, this is number 277. In very good condition.
Price: $2,500.00 Item Number: 144866
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Calligraphic manuscript on vellum with a color miniature of the painting of Jesus by Leonardo Da Vinci
Calligraphic Manuscript on Vellum with a Color Miniature of the Painting by Leonardo Da Vinci.
c.1900.
Rare illuminated manuscript regarding Da Vinci’s master drawing The Head of Christ (c. 1495), the basis for Da Vinci’s depiction of Jesus in The Last Supper. Da Vinci himself considered the drawing so important, he reworked it several times over the course of his life. The text is headed "Art" at the center in liquid gold, flanked by "Revealing the Emotions and the Soul - The Head of Christ by Leonardo Da Vinci". The body of the text flanking the painting describes the image and its meaning. Framed. The entire piece measures 8.75 inches by 10.75 inches.
Price: $2,500.00 Item Number: 119865
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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 Salon edition of Gustave Flaubert's A Simple Heart
FLAUBERT, Gustave.
A Simple Heart.
Paris: Societe des Beaux Arts, n.d. [ca. 1895].
The limited Salon edition of Flaubert's classic novella. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles and elaborate gilt tooling with red morocco onlays to the spine in five compartments within raised gilt bands, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt with others untrimmed, with tissue-guarded illustrations by Emile Adan. Limited to five hundred and fifty numbered copies, this is number 152. Preface by A. de Claye. In near fine condition with rubbing to the extremities.
Price: $750.00 Item Number: 139337
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Rare George Orwell Typed Letter Signed
ORWELL, George.
George Orwell Typed Letter Signed.
October 1944.
Rare typed letter signed by George Orwell signed to Amy Charlesworth Byrne Typed letter signed ("Geo. Orwell"), to Mrs Amy Byrne excusing his delayed reply ("...I have been away again, and also somewhat distraught with the move into here..."), writing with relief that he has brought his young son down from Newcastle ("..It is no joke travelling with a child now..."), with other personal news and hoping that they will be able to visit the Byrnes at their home in Liverpool, 1 page, 4to, 27b Canonbury Square, Islington, London, 23 October 1944. "...I'd like to show you the baby (his name…
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 142498
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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": The Amontillado edition of the works of Edgar Allan Poe
POE, Edgar Allan.
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe. [Including: The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Gold Bug, Raven, Eureka].
New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, [1884].
The Amontillado edition of the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Octavo, 8 volumes bound in full morocco by P.B. Sanford with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in 6 compartments within raised gilt bands, double gilt ruling to the panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, tissue-guarded engraved frontispiece to each volume by R. Swain Gifford, Frederick Church and others, etched engraved vignettes to the title pages. One of 315 numbered copies signed and dated by the publisher on the limitation leaf of each volume, this is number 290. In fine condition. Rare and desirable.
Price: $9,200.00 Item Number: 118042
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The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam; with 12 remarkably intricate full color plates illustrated by Edmund Dulac
FITZGERALD, Edward. With illustrations by Edmund Dulac.
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.
London: Hodder and Stoughton, c. 1920.
Magnificent edition of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, rendered into English Verse by Edward Fitzgerald and with illustrations by Edmund Dulac. Quarto, bound in three quarters morocco, gilt titles to the spine, top edge gilt, pictorial endpapers, title page on Japanese vellum, with 12 full color plates tipped with tissue guards. In fine condition. A nice presentation.
Price: $1,100.00 Item Number: 126161
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"I begin to see that a man's got to be in his own Heaven to be happy": Mark Twain's Extract From Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven; from the library of American journalist William Safire
TWAIN, Mark [Samuel L. Clemens].
Extract From Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven.
New York: Harper & Brothers, n.d..
Early printing of the last work published by Twain during his lifetime. Octavo, original cloth with titles in white and vignette in black, frontispiece in blue and white, no publication date to the title page. From the library American journalist William Safire with his bookplate to the pastedown. William Safire was an important American author, columnist, journalist, and presidential speechwriter. He joined Nixon’s campaign for the 1960 Presidential race, and again in 1968. After Nixon’s 1968 victory, Safire served as a speechwriter for him and Spiro Agnew. He authored several political columns in addition to his weekly column “On Language”…
Price: $475.00 Item Number: 127530
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“It's in vain to recall the past, unless it works some influence upon the present": First Edition In Parts of Charles Dickens' David Copperfield
DICKENS, Charles.
The Personal History of David Copperfield.
London: Bradbury and Evans, May 1849-November 1850.
First edition in parts of "the most perfect of all the Dickens novels" (Virginia Woolf). Octavo, original blue-green illustrated serial issue wrappers being twenty parts in nineteen with the majority of preliminary advertisements present, frontispiece, vignette title-page and forty engraved plates. In excellent condition, an unrestored example of Dickens' classic work, with some of the backstrips with small chips. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A very nice example.
Price: $8,800.00 Item Number: 96702
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"People go off to marvel at the height of mountains and the great waves of the sea and the broad courses of rivers, and the flow of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars: but they neglect themselves": C.S. Lewis' copy of Sir Thomas Browne's highly influential 17th century Christian confessional Religio Medici; with Lewis' ownership signature and notes throughout
BROWNE, Thomas. [C.S. Lewis].
Religio Medici and Other Essays by Sir Thomas Browne.
London: Chapman & Hall, Ltd, [1911].
C.S. Lewis' copy of Browne's celebrated 17th century "confession of Christian faith qualified by an eclectic and generally skeptical attitude" (The Oxford Companion). Octavo, original boards, paper spine label, gilt vignette to the front panel, tissue-guarded engraved frontispiece portrait of Browne. British author and theologian C.S. Lewis' copy with his ownership signature to the front free endpaper, "C.S. Lewis April 1919", underlines, marks, and footnotes to several pages, most notably a lengthy quote from The Confessions of St. Augustine to page 29: "(1) Et eunt homines mirari alta montium et ingentes fluctus maris et latissimos lapsus fluminum et oceani ambitum…
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 122430