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"Who is the most important person I've ever met in a signing queue & the first person ever to see merit in Harry Potter. With huge [underlined 4 times] thanks. J.K. Rowling": First Edition, First Printing of J.K. Rowling's Rare First Book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone; Signed by Her
ROWLING, J.K.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
London: Bloomsbury, 1997.
First edition, first printing with all the prerequisite first issue points called for (including “wand” listed twice on page 53). Octavo, original illustrated boards, without a dust jacket as issued. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the dedication page, “to Bryony – who is the most important person I’ve ever met in a signing queue & the first person ever to see merit in Harry Potter. With huge [underlined 4 times] thanks. J.K. Rowling.” The recipient, Bryony Evens worked as an office manager in a small publishing company in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1995 J.K. Rowling sent the first three chapters of Harry Potter to that publishing company and it would have gone unseen if it wasn’t for Bryony. Bryony read them and fell in love with the story, and encouraged her boss Christopher Little to ask Rowling for the full book. Rowling then sent a full copy to Bryony when it was published by Bloomsbury in 1997. A year later Bryony went to visit Rowling at a book signing event, and when Rowling recognized her she gave her a big hug and wrote a special inscription, or message, in the book she’d brought. In near fine condition with a touch of rubbing to the extremities. Only 500 copies of the first printing were published, with over half making their way to libraries. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional association and effusive inscription to the person who first recognized the value of Harry Potter.
Price: $300,000.00 Item Number: 115640
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First edition of the Ian Fleming’s first book Casino Royale which introduced the world to 007: Inscribed by Ian Fleming to Classmate and Novelist Ralph Arnold
FLEMING, Ian.
Casino Royale.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1953.
First edition of the first novel in Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. Octavo, original black cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “To Ralph, We have now both reduced our remainders by one copy! Ian.” With a note of explanation by the recipient underneath, “I having told Ian, from the depths of my publishing experience, that he would be lucky if he made £200 out of this, his first thriller!! R.A.” The recipient Ralph Arnold was a novelist, historical writer and publisher who joined Constable in 1936 and was chairman from 1958 to 1962. Arnold and Fleming studied together at the Tennerhof School in Kitzbühel, Austria, and it was there that both made their first forays into story-writing. Having left Sandhurst without obtaining a commission, Fleming “was sent to ‘sort himself out’ at a quasi-finishing school for men in Kitzbühel … There, while skiing and climbing mountains, he came under the benevolent tutelage of Ernan Forbes Dennis, a former British spy turned educationalist, and his wife, Phyllis Bottome, an established novelist. Forbes Dennis brought out Fleming’s aptitude for languages and introduced him to literature, while his wife encouraged him to write his first stories.” (Oxford DNB). Near fine in a near fine first state dust jacket (without the Sunday Times review on the inner front flap) with the lightest of rubbing to the extremities. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $150,000.00 Item Number: 98575
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“YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE: ONCE WHEN YOU ARE BORN AND ONCE WHEN YOU LOOK DEATH IN THE FACE”: COMPLETE SET OF IAN FLEMING'S JAMES BOND NOVELS; IN THE RARE ORIGINAL DUST JACKETS; WITH FIVE SIGNED BY SEAN CONNERY
FLEMING, Ian.
Complete Set of 14 First Edition James Bond Novels: Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, Diamonds are Forever, From Russia with Love, Dr. No, Goldfinger, For Your Eyes Only (short stories including A View to a Kill and Quantum of Solace), Thunderball, The Spy Who loved Me, On Her Majesties Secret Service, You Only Live Twice, The Man with the Golden Gun, Octopussy and The Living Daylights.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1953-66.
First editions of each volume in Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. Octavo, 14 volumes, original cloth. Each volume is fine in near fine to fine first-issue dust jackets, with five signed by Sean Connery, which include: From Russia With Love, Dr. No, Diamonds Are Forever, Goldfinger and Thunderball each signed by Sean Connery. Each volume is housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional collection of first editions, most rare in this condition and signed.
Price: $125,000.00 Item Number: 105482
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"ONCE THERE WAS A LITTLE TREE ... AND SHE LOVED A LITTLE BOY"; The Original Manuscript for shel Silverstein's masterpiece The Giving Tree
SILVERSTEIN, Shel.
The Giving Tree Original Autograph Manuscript.
c. 1964.
The original manuscript of one of the most commercially successful children’s books of all time and Shel Silverstein’s most famous work, The Giving Tree, entirely in his had with his publisher’s edits in pencil throughout. Quarto, 38 pasteboard pages with Silverstein’s original ink drawings on paper adhered to each page and Silverstein’s original handwritten text. With numerous revisions by Silverstein, most notably on the final page of the story where Silverstein has changed “and the boy and the tree were happy” to “And the tree was happy.” In very good condition. Lacking pages 2, 3, 4 and 36. A remarkable piece offering exclusive insight into the author/illustrator’s process and furthering the mysterious and ambiguous nature of the widely interpreted story of a selfless tree and her beloved companion.
Price: $125,000.00 Item Number: 116388
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“INCOMPARABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT WORK IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE”: THE FOURTH FOLIO OF SHAKESPEARE
SHAKESPEARE, William.
Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. Fourth Folio.
London: Printed for H. Herringman, and are to be sold by Joseph Knight and Francis Saunders, 1685.
First edition of the Fourth Folio of Shakespeare. Bound in full brown morocco, elaborately gilt-decorated spine. The fourth folio is the final and most magnificent of the four 17th-century folio editions of Shakespeare’s plays. The Fourth Folio “contains the additional seven plays that first appeared in the 1663 edition [including the authentic Pericles, Prince of Tyre], as well as a good deal of correction and modernization of the text designed to make it easier to read and understand” (Folger’s Choice). Old paper repair to verso of title-page, several other very minor paper repairs. Some browning and minimal staining, a very good example. As in some other copies, as Greg notes, number of errors in signatures have been corrected in manuscript, presumably at the time of publication. Although there is no accurate census of the number of folios still extant today, it is believed that copies of each printing number only in the hundreds. The rarest form of the fourth folio. This is the rare Knight and Saunders issue, with their names on the title-page. W. W. Greg observes, “Since the title is entirely reset it is presumably a cancel printed after the volume was complete and perhaps republished, and designed for those copies that Herringman chose to issue through his own booksellers” (Greg III, 1121). In 1684, Herringman turned over the retail side of his business to Francis Saunders and his partner Joseph Knight. Fourth Folios almost invariably bear the imprints “Herringman-Brewster-Bentley” or “Herringman-Brewster-Chiswell-Bentley.”
Price: $100,000.00 Item Number: 5605
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"You are one of the most special people to me, and you have meant so much to my life": Exceptionally Rare collection of original Harper Lee drawings, paintings and letters with a first edition of To Kill A Mockingbird in the scarce first issue dust jacket; inscribed by Lee to close colleague and friend Charles Weldon Carruth
LEE, Harper.
To Kill a Mockingbird. Original Harper Lee Drawing, Painting and Letter Collection.
Philadelphia & New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1960.
First edition of perhaps the most important American novel of the 20th century, inscribed by Harper Lee to a close college friend and with a scarce archive of drawings and letters exchanged between the two. Octavo, original green cloth backed brown boards, titles to spine in gilt. Association copy, inscribed by Harper Lee to close University of Alabama college friend, Charles Weldon Carruth, “To my dear friend Charles, with love always — Harper Lee.” In the fall term of 1945, Lee and Carruth both enrolled in a Shakespeare course taught by one of the University of Alabama’s most famous faculty members, Hudson Strode, who directed the school’s theatre troupe and taught several courses in theatre and creative-writing. At the University of Alabama, Lee contributed a regular column to the campus newspaper, ‘Caustic Comments for Crimson White’, as well as many articles to the university’s humor magazine, Rammer Jammer, of which she became editor in chief in 1946. Lee ultimately dropped out of college before graduation and moved to Manhattan in 1949 to pursue writing as a career; Carruth later moved to New York City as well, where he worked as a radio producer before becoming a writer and editor for the Catholic News. Near fine in the rare first-issue dust jacket which is in very good condition.
Accompanied by an exceptionally rare archive of pencil and ink drawings sketched by Lee of Carruth, caricatures drawn by her while attending Strode’s Shakespeare courses, an original acrylic portrait by Lee of Carruth inscribed by her on the verso “From Nelle Lee, Dec 25, 1952”, and three letters written by Lee to Carruth regarding her thoughts on her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama.
Measuring 8 inches by 10 inches on ruled sheets of paper, the 11 drawings, four of which are signed by Lee “NLee”, include 5 realist studies of Carruth in various poses and six captioned caricatures in ink depicting him as Shakespearean leads including: a portrayal of Shylock as a pawn shop owner and “Money Lender Extraordinaire: Easy Loans – Pound of Flesh Compounded Semi-Annually”, King Lear standing on the cliffs of Dover with a price tag (“$3.98”) hanging from his cloak, Hamlet standing on a diving board with Yorick’s skull and a bloody knife hidden behind his back (performed at the “Old Vic”), Julius Caesar smoking a pipe while “contemplating the infinite”; Othello towering over an angel and devil; Cassius dripping dry outside the Roman baths where “you must have a ticket before you bathe”, Malvolio, “the impatient one,” crossing his legs while “waiting to go to the jakes”, and Carruth dressed as an unidentified female character with Carruth’s note, “Fall Quarter/ Univ. Ala 1945”. Additionally included is a caricature of Professor Strode wearing the breeches and curly-toed shoes of a court jester with his book “Timeless Mexico” in one hand and Yorick’s skull in the other, signed “Nelle Lee” and dated “11/8/45.”
Showcasing not only the depth, but also the length of Lee and Carruth’s friendship, the three letters include a letter written by Lee to Carruth in 1991 regarding his retirement, “My beloved Charlie, I can’t think of anyone to whom these words apply more — in your work, in your life — ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant.’ …You are one of the most special people to me, and you have meant so much to my life.” Two years later, in January 1993, the second letter thanks him for a “…lovely Christmas remembrance and, farther back, your memoir of Winston County [Alabama, where Carruth was born].” Despairing the changes occurring in her hometown, she continues, “You remember the Faulknerian prophecy — the Snopeses shall inherit the earth? They’ve already taken over Monroeville … they are trying to turn Harper Lee into a tourist attraction like Graceland or Elvis.” She goes on to discuss the restoration of the Old Courthouse, and remarks that she “nearly had a fit” after seeing a billboard featuring a mockingbird, describing it as “in indescribable taste” and “a fraud on the public”. “[They] say they are doing this to honor me. What they are doing … [is] embarrassing me beyond endurance … So keep an eye out for a small place that will hold 10,000 books … is near grocery stores & hospitals, and you! … We can look at each other and celebrate our longevity.” Signed by Lee as the Queen Victoria, “Your unamused but loving, Victoria R & I.” Lee often gave herself nicknames when signing letters: “Francesca da Rimini,” one of Dante’s damned, when she felt hopeless; “E. Bouverie Pusey,” the Anglican theologian, when she got worked up about some finer points of theology; and “Victoria R/I”—the Queen Empress Victoria—when she felt royal and moody.
A remarkable collection offering unprecedented insight into the education, broad talents, unique sense of humor, and deep personal thoughts regarding the reception of the most important work of one of America’s most respected and enigmatic writers.
Price: $100,000.00 Item Number: 1115260
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"on her 21st birthday from her admirer": The Great Gatsby; Inscribed by F. Scott Fitzgerald
FITZGERALD, F. Scott.
The Great Gatsby.
New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1925.
First edition, second printing of the author’s masterpiece. Octavo, original green cloth, gilt titles to the spine. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “For Esther Sidman on her 21st birthday from her admirer. F Scott Fitzgerald, Hollywood, 1938.” In near fine condition with a touch of shelfwear. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Great Gatsby’s signed and inscribed by Fitzgerald are rare.
Price: $92,000.00 Item Number: 93465
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First Edition of Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, In The Rare Original First-Issue Dust Jacket
HEMINGWAY, Ernest.
The Sun Also Rises.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1926.
First edition, first issue of the first printing, with the misprint (“stoppped”) on page 181 line 26, in the first issue dust jacket with the misprint on the front panel (“In Our Times” vs. “In Our Time”). Octavo, original black cloth. Fine in a near fine first issue dust jacket without any restoration. The Annette Campbell-White copy brought $120,000 at Sotheby’s in 2007. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional example.
Price: $75,000.00 Item Number: 98960
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"ALL 'CLASSES' FOR EXPERIENCE AND LEARNING – BUT I DO PREFER 'NON-LITERARY' PEOPLE LIKE WAITERS, TRUCKDRIVERS, GIRLS, CARPENTERS, CLAM DIGGERS, RAILROAD MEN, SEA MEN, OLD MILLIONAIRES, ALL THE 'CHARACTERS'”; SCARCE JACK KEROUAC AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED LETTER
KEROUAC, Jack.
Jack Kerouac Autographed Manuscript.
1964.
Jack Kerouac’s candid handwritten reply to a young man’s questions about being a “Beatnik,” his life philosophy, his thoughts on Montana, and more. Students in Robert Dodd’s ninth-grade class were given an assignment to contact their favorite writer with their own unique series of questions relating specifically to that writer. The young Dodd chose Jack Kerouac, and the author replied at length to his questionnaire, which includes queries about his classification as a “Beatnik” (his answer: “I never was a Beatnik – it was the newspapers and critics who tagged that label on me….”), life philosophy (“My philosophy is ‘No Philosophy,’ just ‘Things-As-They-Are’”), career goals (“Be a great writer making everybody believe in Heaven”), the ideal way of life (“Hermit in the woods…”), his thoughts on fame (“My name is like Crackerjacks, famous, but very few people buy my books…”), and segregation (“[t]he Irish and Italians of Massachusetts never paraded in protest, just worked hard and made it”). Interestingly, Kerouac is most expansive in response to the final question: whether he has visited Montana. His answer fills three-quarters of the page, beginning: “Great day, my favorite state! – I wrote about Montana in ‘On the Road’ but the publishers took it out behind my back… I stayed one night, but up all night, in a saloon in Butte, to keep out of the 40-below February cold, among sheep ranchers playing poker.” Two pages with Dodd’s questions type-written and Kerouac’s responses handwritten in full. The letter reads in full, “To Robert Dodd from Jack Kerouac Feb. 28th 1964.” 1. In Town and the Country (Kerouac crosses out Country for City) your style of writing is much different from The Lonesome Traveler. Do you change your style with the type of story? Kerouac responds: “‘The Town and the City’ was my first, youngman novel when I was just starting out, trying to write like Thomas Wolfe – ‘Lonesome Traveler’ is a product of my own style which I developed in later years, ‘spontaneous writing’ with no looking back, in my own laws of story telling – OUTERSPACE PROSE! My own original invention.” 2. Many people have referred to you as a “beatnik” or a “way out” writer. Do you feel this way about yourself? “‘Way-out’ yes, but I never was a beatnik – it was the newspapers and critics who tagged that label on me – I never had a beard, never wore sandals, avoided the company of Bohemians and their politics and always had a job on the road like in ‘Lonesome T.’ on railroad, ships etc.” 3. Some people refer to your thinking as existentialism where man makes his own destiny. Just what is your philosophy of life? “My philosophy now is “no-philosophy,” just “Things – As – They – Are”. 4. What goal are you trying to reach in your career? “Be a great writer making everybody believe in Heaven.” 5. What do you think is the ideal way of life? “Hermit in the woods, one-room cabin, wood stove, oil lamp, books, food, outhouse, no electricity, just creek or brook water, sleep, hiking, nothing-to-do-(Chinese Wu Wei).” 6. Do you like fame or would you rather write and have only your works become famous? “My name is like Crackerjacks, famous, but very few people buy my books because they’ve been told by newspapers and critics that I’m crazy, so I’m almost broke now 1964 – I hate fame without fortune, which is really INFAMY AND RIDICULE, in my case.” 7. From your many books I see that you must travel a lot. Do you try to mix in with different classes or do you stick to one? “All ‘classes’ for experience and learning – but I do prefer ‘non-literary’ people like waiters, truckdrivers, girls, carpenters, clam diggers, railroad men, sea men, old millionaires, all the ‘characters’.” 8. Does the West coast influence an author’s style differently than the East coast? “No – I and the “Beats” came from the East Coast and just rode out there, no special difference in style except a little on subject matter, i.e. open-spaces country.” 9. What is your favorite subject matter? “That everybody goes to Heaven – read “Visions of Gerard” (about Lowell in 1926).” 10. Here in Boston there is much controversy over segregation of the negroes. What is your stand on the issue? “They need jobs, naturally, and education for better jobs – But the Irish and Italians of Massachusetts never paraded in protest, just worked harder, and made it.” 11. Do you plan to visit the East coast, especially the Boston area soon? “Yeh – “lecture” dinner at Harvard soon – I live in Long Island since 1958 so I can’t exactly “visit” the Ease Coast, hey,” – 12. Have you ever been to Montana and, if you have, what were your views on it? “Great day, my favorite state! – I wrote about Montana in “On the Road” but the publishers took it out behind my back – I stayed one night, up all night, in a saloon in Butte, to keep out of the 40- below February cold, among sheep ranchers playing poker (with sheep dogs at their feet), red-eyed drunken Indians drinking out of bottles in the john, Chinese gamblers, women, cowboys, miners – And outside of Butte, at Three Forks Montana, I saw the source of the Missouri River in the snowy valley – I also heard wolves howl in the Bitterroot Mountains – But I didn’t like Missoula much (skiers etc.) – I would like to have a summer cabin in Montana some day, the last truly “Western” state. Sincerely, Jack Kerouac.” In near fine condition. Matted and framed. The entire piece measures 31 inches by 18 inches. A rare and intimate glimpse into the thought an literary progression of one of the formative writers of the 20th century.
Price: $75,000.00 Item Number: 79098
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"Think you're escaping and run into yourself. Longest way round is the shortest way home": First Edition of Ulysses; One of 750 Numbered Copies
JOYCE, James.
Ulysses.
Paris: Shakespeare & Company, 1922.
First edition, one of 750 numbered copies on handmade paper from a total edition of 1000 copies, this is number 992. Thick quarto, original blue and white wrappers. A near fine example, internally fresh and largely unopened, completely unrestored. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. This example contains the original prospectus with the tipped-on reproduction of the 1918 photo of Joyce by C. Ruf. The front panel of the prospectus has been amended, as often, to indicate the book “is now ready,” and the original buyer must have jumped at the opportunity, as the order panel of the prospectus has been neatly cut away. Sisley Huddleston’s 5 March 1922 review from The Observer is also laid in (though both items are in prophylactic sleeves that have prevented any offsetting). Also laid into the slipcase is some correspondence relating to the sale of this copy in 1972 by Duschnes in New York City. An exceptional example with noted provenance.
Price: $75,000.00 Item Number: 3053
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"Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird"; First edition of To Kill A Mockingbird; Signed by Harper Lee and Truman Capote
LEE, Harper (Truman Capote).
To Kill a Mockingbird.
Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1960.
First edition of Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel which had an initial first printing of 5,000 copies. Octavo, original green cloth backed brown boards, titles to spine in gilt. Signed by both Harper Lee and Truman Capote on the front free endpaper. Truman Capote’s friendship with Harper Lee began in the summer of 1929 when the two became next door neighbors in Monroeville, Alabama; both were the age of five. They shared a love of reading and began collaborating when Lee was gifted a typewriter by her father as a child. Lee drew on their friendship as inspiration for the characters Lee and Scout in her masterpiece To Kill A Mockingbird; Capote based his tomboy character Idabel Thompkins in his first novel Other Voices, Other Rooms on Lee. They worked together on Capote’s true crime novel, In Cold Blood; Lee acted as his ‘assistant reasearchist’ and edited the final draft of the book. Upon its publication in 1965, Capote failed to acknowledge Lee’s contributions to the book, after which their relationship was never the same. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with light rubbing and wear to the extremities. Jacket design by Shirley Smith. Photograph by Truman Capote. Housed in a custom full morocco clamshell box. Exceptionally rare, this is the first example we have seen signed by both Lee and Capote.
Price: $72,000.00 Item Number: 73100
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"It is not down on any map; true places never are": Rare First Edition Of Herman Melville's Moby Dick
MELVILLE, Herman.
Moby Dick; Or, The Whale.
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851.
First edition, first issue binding, with the circular Harper’s device of Melville’s masterpiece. Octavo, original purple-brown cloth (BAL’s A grain), covers stamped in blind with the publisher’s circular device at the center within a heavy blind rule frame, original orange-coated endpapers. In near fine condition with some of the usual light foxing and light shelfwear to the spine tips. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A completely unrestored example of this cornerstone. A superior example.
Price: $65,000.00 Item Number: 99735
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"If you liked The Great Gatsby, for God's sake read this. Gatsby was a tour de force but this is a confession of faith": First Edition of Tender Is the Night; Inscribed by F. Scott Fitzgerald To Hollywood Producer Harry Joe Brown
FITZGERALD, F. Scott.
Tender Is The Night. A Romance. Decorations by Edward Shenton.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1934.
First edition of the work which Fitzgerald considered to be his finest. Octavo, original green cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper with a full page inscription, “For Harry Joe Brown – late of the 17th Infantry Brigade. Wounded in Hollywood 1920-1940. – from his fellow dough boy F Scott Fitzgerald Encino, 1939.” The recipient, Harry Joe Brown was a Hollywood producer, who Fitzgerald noted meeting in late 1939: “Somewhere around this time [September 1939] Harry Joe Brown called me over to Twentieth Century Fox on a Sonja Heine picture” (Letter to the Berg-Allenberg Agency, 23 February 1940). Fitzgerald had been contracted as a writer by Metro Goldwyn Meyer Studios in the July of 1937, initially for six months. His contract was then extended for another year, but when this lapsed in December 1938 MGM did not renew it. Over the next two years, Fitzgerald freelanced for numerous studios on a number of films, including Everything Happens at Night for which Brown was an associate producer. An excellent near fine example in a very good first issue dust jacket with some light wear. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $65,000.00 Item Number: 7340
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"If you liked The Great Gatsby, for God's sake read this. Gatsby was a tour de force but this is a confession of faith": First Edition of Tender Is the Night; Inscribed by F. Scott Fitzgerald
FITZGERALD, F. Scott.
Tender Is The Night. A Romance. Decorations by Edward Shenton.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1934.
First edition of the work which Fitzgerald considered to be his finest. Octavo, original green cloth. Inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “For the unknown, unmet parents of Clare (note: double underlined). Knowing her, I hope you will find something to like in this present. Best wishes, F. Scott Fitzgerald.” A very good example with some wear to the crown and foot of the spine, extremities of the cloth in a very good unrestored first issue dust jacket that has some rubbing and wear. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell and chemise case.
Price: $58,000.00 Item Number: 3071
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“What does the brain matter compared with the heart?”: First Edition of Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway; In the Rare Original Dust Jacket
WOOLF, Virginia.
Mrs Dalloway.
London: Hogarth Press, 1925.
First edition of one of Woolf’s best-known novels, one of only 2000 copies. Octavo, original orange cloth. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with some light wear to the extremities. From the library of Virginia bibliophile and historian Christopher Clark Geest with his bookplate to the pastedown. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional example, scarce and desirable in the original dust jacket and in this condition.
Price: $56,000.00 Item Number: 99750
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First Edition of George Orwell's Burmese Days; Inscribed by Him
ORWELL, George.
Burmese Days.
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1934.
First American edition and true first preceding the British edition by one year of Orwell’s first novel. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the verso of the front free endpaper to Mabel Fierz, “With very best wishes from Eric Blair.” It was Mabel Fierz who introduced Orwell to Leonard Moore (who would later become his literary agent) after salvaging the manuscript for Down and Out from the writer’s discarded papers. After first meeting Orwell in Southwold, Suffolk, Mabel and her husband Francis became close friends with the writer and often invited him to stay at their house in Golders Green. On one such occasion, Orwell gave Mabel the manuscript, which had just been rejected by Faber, and telling her to save only the paperclips, said she should throw it away. Instead she took it in person to Moore who in turn took it to Gollancz. In gratitude, thereafter Orwell presented Mabel with signed copies of all his published works. Mabel Fierz, authorial inscription, typed letter signed by Mabel’s son Adrian Fierz loosely inserted. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $55,000.00 Item Number: 67096
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Rare First Edition of Ernest Hemingway's First Book Three Stories and Ten Poems; One of an Edition of Only 300; In Fine Condition
HEMINGWAY, Ernest.
Three Stories & Ten Poems.
Paris: Contact Publishing Company, 1923.
First edition, one of only 300 published. Small octavo, original blue-gray wrappers as issued. In fine condition without wear. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $50,000.00 Item Number: 99650
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“People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for": First edition of To Kill A Mockingbird; Inscribed by Harper Lee
LEE, Harper.
To Kill a Mockingbird.
Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1960.
First edition of Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel which had an initial first printing of 5,000 copies. Octavo, original green cloth backed brown boards, titles to spine in gilt. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper in a contemporary hand, “To Jennie with my best wishes Nelle Lee.” The recipient must have been a person close to the author, as Lee reserved inscriptions using the name Nelle family members and close friends. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with light rubbing and wear to the extremities. Jacket design by Shirley Smith. Photograph of Lee on the back panel by Truman Capote. Housed in a custom full morocco clamshell box.
Price: $50,000.00 Item Number: 99740
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"The truth is rarely pure and never simple": Signed limited large-paper edition of The Importance of Being Earnest
WILDE, Oscar.
The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People.
London: Leonard Smithers and Co, 1899.
Signed limited large-paper edition of the author’s masterpiece, number 68 of 100 copies signed by Oscar Wilde on the limitation page. Octavo, original pale purple cloth, gilt titles to the spine, gilt floral motifs from designs by Charles Shannon on spine and covers, edges untrimmed. Presentation copy, with an autograph letter signed by the third and final wife of Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O’Neill, actress Carlotta Monterey O’Neill, to stage actor Harrison K. Ford laid in which reads, “To Harrison Ford Do hope you will enjoy this!- All good wishes Carlotta Monterey O’Neill Dec 6th 31 1095 Park Ave.-” From the library of Harrison K. Ford with his bookplate to the front pastedown. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. In near fine condition. An exceptional example with noted provenance.
Price: $50,000.00 Item Number: 110755
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“I try all things, I achieve what I can": Rare First Edition Of Herman Melville's Moby Dick
MELVILLE, Herman.
Moby Dick; Or, The Whale.
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851.
First edition, first issue binding, with the circular Harper’s device of Melville’s masterpiece. Octavo, original “A” red cloth with publisher’s circular device and a heavy rule frame on the front and rear panels, original orange-coated endpapers. In excellent condition with a neat and sympathetic repair to the joints. Housed in a custom full morocco clamshell box with whale motif inlayed in white to covers and in gilt on spine. A very nice example.
Price: $50,000.00 Item Number: 111365
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“AMERICA’S SECOND DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE”: RARE FIRST EDITION OF WALT WHITMAN’S LEAVES OF GRASS, THE MOST IMPORTANT AND INFLUENTIAL VOLUME OF AMERICAN POETRY
WHITMAN, Walt.
Leaves of Grass.
Brooklyn, New York: For the author by Andrew & James Rome, 1855.
First edition of the most important volume in American poetry, which Whitman personally financed, supervised and even in some sections hand-set the type for the small printing of 795 copies. Small folio, frontispiece engraved portrait of the author by Hollyer after the daguerreotype by Gabriel Harrison, mounted opposite the title, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards by MacDonald, New York, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, marbled endpapers. In near fine condition. Housed in a custom full morocco clamshell chemise.
Price: $50,000.00 Item Number: 108540
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"I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now...Come further up, come further in!": COMPLETE FIRST EDITION SET OF the CHRONICLES OF NARNIA; The Silver Chair Signed by Lewis
LEWIS, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia Set: The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician’s Nephew, The Last Battle.
London: Geoffrey Bles, 1950-1956.
First editions of each book in the Chronicles of Narnia series. Octavo, 7 Volumes, illustrated by Pauline Baynes. The set comprises of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician’s Nephew, and The Last Battle. The Silver Chair is signed by C.S. Lewis on the half-title page. Each are in near fine with only light wear in their original dust jackets. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional set, rare and desirable signed.
Price: $48,500.00 Item Number: 3747
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“Don't you know that everybody's got a Fairyland of their own?”: Rare First Edition of Mary Poppins; Signed by P.L. Travers
TRAVERS, P.L.
Mary Poppins.
London: Gerald Howe, 1934.
First edition of this children’s classic. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated with 27 line cuts (13 full-page) and chapter tailpieces by Mary Shepard. Signed by P.L. Travers on the front free endpaper. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with light rubbing and wear to the crown of the spine. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Signed first editions are of exceptional rarity, with none having appeared at auction since the time of publication.
Price: $48,000.00 Item Number: 54060
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“I am a poet in deeds-not often in words": FIRST EDITION OF IAN FLEMING’S GOLDFINGER; WARMLY INSCRIBED BY HIM
FLEMING, Ian.
Goldfinger.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1959.
First edition of the seventh novel in Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. Octavo, original black cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper in the year of publication, “From Ian with love for Jo. May 6, 1959.” The recipient is Josephine Hartford Bryce, husband Ivar Bryce, often cited as one of the primary models for James Bond. Fleming named the character Felix Leiter, Bond’s friend and CIA operative, in part after Ivar Bryce, whose middle name was Felix. The Bryce’s spent their summers at Black Hole Hollow Farm in Vermont, where Fleming was frequently a guest. He spent summers there hiking and plotting his Bond novels. Fleming first conceived the plot for Diamonds are Forever at the farm, and the primary setting of For Your Eyes Only, Echo Park in Vermont, is based on the farm. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Richard Chopping. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A significant association copy.
Price: $45,000.00 Item Number: 4430
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First edition of the Ian Fleming’s first book Casino Royale
FLEMING, Ian.
Casino Royale.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1953.
First edition of the first novel in Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. Octavo, original black cloth. Near fine in a near fine first state dust jacket (without the Sunday Times review on the inner front flap) with some rubbing and wear to the spine. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A very nice example.
Price: $45,000.00 Item Number: 99350
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"In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer": First American Edition of Albert Camus’ Classic Novel The Stranger; Inscribed by Him to fellow novelist Vincent Sheean
CAMUS, Albert.
The Stranger.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1946.
First American edition of Camus’ first novel and masterpiece. Octavo, original beige cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “A Vincent Sheean pour le remercier de savoir si bien parler de Stendhal Sympathiquement Albert Camus.” The recipient, Vincent Sheean was an American journalist and novelist. Sheean’s most famous work was Personal History, which won one of the inaugural National Book Awards: the Most Distinguished Biography of 1935. Film producer Walter Wanger acquired the political memoir and made it the basis for his 1940 film production Foreign Correspondent, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Sheean wrote the narration for the feature-length documentary Crisis (1939) directed by Alexander Hammid and Herbert Kline. He translated Ève Curie’s biography of her mother, Madame Curie (1939), into English. Sheean wrote Oscar Hammerstein I: Life and Exploits of an Impresario (1955) as well as a controversial biography of Dorothy Thompson and Sinclair Lewis, Dorothy and Red (1963). He studied at the University of Chicago, becoming part of a literary circle which included Glenway Wescott, Yvor Winters, Elizabeth Madox Roberts and Janet Lewis while he was there. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Warren Chappell. Translated by Stuart Gilbert. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Presentation copies of The Stranger are rare, with only one appearing at auction in the past 70 years. Exceedingly scarce and desirable.
Price: $45,000.00 Item Number: 97850
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“If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about answers”: First Edition of Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow; Inscribed by Him
PYNCHON, Thomas.
Gravity’s Rainbow.
New York : The Viking Press, 1973.
First edition of Pynchon’s National Book Award-winning novel. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “To Herb Yellin- Regards, Thomas Pynchon.” The recipient Herb Yellin, was the publisher and founder of Lord John Press, considered by many to be one of the most important small presses of the 20th century. He formed a friendship with the author, Thomas Pynchon. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with some light wear to the extremities and a closed tear to the rear panel. Jacket design by Marc Getter. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Books signed and inscribed by Pynchon are one of the great rarities of twentieth century literature.
Price: $42,000.00 Item Number: 7202
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Large Signed Portrait Photograph Signed by Charles Dickens
DICKENS, Charles.
Charles Dickens Signed Portrait Photograph.
1868.
Signed “Charles Dickens (with a large flourish) Washington, D.C. Seventh February 1868.” Large oval portrait photograph measures 13 inches by 13 inches. Matted in a walnut frame which measures 24 inches by 27 inches. On his Washington tour Dickens met President Andrew Johnson and signed this photograph on the date of that meeting, February 7, which also happened to be Dickens’ birthday. He discussed in a letter to his friend and agent John Foster regarding that day, “This scrambling scribblement is resumed this morning, because I have just seen the President: who had sent to me very courteously asking me to make my own appointment. He is a man with a remarkable face.” From the Library of The Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C. Portrait photographs of this size signed by Dickens are exceptionally rare, especially with such noted provenance.
Price: $42,000.00 Item Number: 5825
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“The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between”: Rare First Editions of the Full Orchestral Scores of the Symphonies of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven; Including the first appearance of of the full scores of Mozart's Overture to the Marriage of Figaro and Symphony no. 40
BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van; Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart .
A Compleat Collection of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven’s Symphonies, in Score, Most Respectfully Dedicated, by Permission, to H.R.H The Prince of Wales.
London: Lavenu, Cianchettini & Sperati, 1808-1810.
First editions of the first printings of the full orchestral scores of the complete symphonies of Beethoven, Mozart, and Hadyn. Quarto, two volumes bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards wit gilt titles and tooling to the spine, including A Complete Collection of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven’s Symphonies (Cianchettini and Sperati) and A Complete Collection of Mozart and Beethoven’s Symphonies. A Compleat Collection of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven’s Symphonies contains the first appearance of the full scores of Mozart‘s Overture to the Marriage of Figaro, Mozart‘s Symphony no. 40, and no. 41. (Fuld, The Book of World-Famous Music, 564-567). A Complete Collection of Mozart and Beethoven’s Symphonies (Lavenu) contains the first appearance of the full scores of Mozart‘s Symphony no. 39, no, 13, and no. 38. In very good condition with light toning to the text. An exceptional collection of the utmost rarity.
Price: $40,000.00 Item Number: 95829
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"You only live twice: Once when you're born And once when you look death in the face": First Edition of You Only Live Twice; Inscribed by Ian Fleming to close friend Noël Coward
FLEMING, Ian.
You Only Live Twice.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1965.
First edition of the final James Bond novel published during Fleming’s lifetime and the eleventh in the series. First state with “First published 1964” on the copyright page. Octavo, original black cloth lettered in gilt, patterned endpapers. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “To Celestial Coward-san from Miserable Fleming-san.” The recipient, English playwright, director and actor Noël Coward was a close friend of Fleming’s and his neighbor in Jamaica. 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. 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. 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. Fleming referenced Coward on page 227 of the present volume when Bond muttered to Blofeld after an explosion, “I’ll admit that your effects man down below knows his stuff. Now bring on the twelve she-devils, and if they’re all as beautiful as Fräulein Bunt, we’ll get Noël Coward to put it to music and have it on Broadway by Christmas. How about it?” With Coward’s bookplate to the pastedown. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Richard Chopping. An exceptional association copy of this particularly uncommon signed and inscribed title as Fleming passed away in the year of publication.
Price: $40,000.00 Item Number: 111065
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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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“If I am the phantom, it is because man's hatred has made me so. If I am to be saved it is because your love redeems me": First Edition in English of Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera; in the rare original dust jacket
LEROUX, Gaston.
The Phantom of the Opera.
New York, Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company , 1911.
First edition with the printer’s imprint “Press of Braunworth & Co. Bookbinders and Printers Brooklyn, N. Y.” at bottom of copyright page. Octavo, original cloth, publishers tissue guard. Illustrated by Andre Castaigne with one single-page and four double-page inserted plates with color illustrations. Near fine in the rare original dust jacket. The dust jacket design with the Phantom on the stairwell and not the bell tower on the front panel; one of only three total examples of the book known to have retained its dust jacket. An exceptional rarity of this cornerstone work.
Price: $40,000.00 Item Number: 99560
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"There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of the lights, the light of all lights": Rare First Edition, First Issue of Bram Stoker's Dracula
STOKER, Bram.
Dracula.
Westminster: Archibald Constable and Company, 1897.
First edition, first issue with the May 1897 and with no advertisements as issued and printed on thicker stock. Octavo, original yellow cloth. In near fine condition, without the usual restoration. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. First issues are scarce.
Price: $40,000.00 Item Number: 99340
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The Constable Edition of The Works of Shakespeare; one of only 1,000 copies bound by BaynTun in cosway-style binding and elaborately illustrated with original watercolors
SHAKESPEARE, William. Edited by W. E. Henley.
The Works of Shakespeare.
Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable; Grant Richards, 1903-1904.
The Constable edition of the works of Shakespeare. Folio, ten volumes. Elaborately bound in full blue morocco by Bayntun Riviere in Cosway-style binding with hand painted portrait medallions under glass to the front panel of each volume, gilt titles to the spine, gilt tooling to the spine and front panel, fleuron cornerpiece designs within gilt frames, raised gilt bands, inner dentelles, top edge gilt, silk endleaves, ribbon bound in. Illustrated with 479 tissue-guarded plates and 531 original illustrations, 525 of which are original watercolors. One of only 1,000 copies, this is number 149. Volume X is signed by Grant Richards, who produced that volume only, on the limitation page. Each volume contains four plays, with the exception of volume ten which contains two plays followed by Shakespeare’s narrative poems and sonnets. In near fine condition. Exceptionally rare and desirable. A stunning set.
Price: $38,000.00 Item Number: 95176
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First Edition of Pynchon's First Book V.; Inscribed by Him to his Close Friend in the Month of Publication
PYNCHON, Thomas.
V.
Philadelphia and New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1963.
First edition of Pynchon’s first book. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the verso of the front free endpaper in the month of publication, “Aug. 1963. To Bob & Ginny, with affection, Tom.” The recipient was his Boeing colleague and close friend Bob Hillock and his wife Ginny. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Ismar David. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare and desirable signed.
Price: $38,000.00 Item Number: 80035
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First Edition, first issue of The Great Gatsby; with a signed presentation inscription signed by him in 1929 in Paris bound in
FITZGERALD, F. Scott.
The Great Gatsby.
New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1925.
First edition, first issue of the author’s masterpiece with “chatter” p.60, “northern” p.119, “sick in tired” p.205, and “Union Street station” p.211. Octavo, original green cloth, gilt titles to the spine. With a presentation note inscribed by the author bound in before the half-title page, “For J.E. Cribb from yours sincerely F Scott Fitzgerald Paris, 1929.” Paris in the 1920s proved the most influential decade of Fitzgerald’s development. Fitzgerald made several excursions to Europe, mostly Paris and the French Riviera, and became friends with many members of the American expatriate community in Paris, notably Ernest Hemingway. Fitzgerald’s friendship with Hemingway was quite effusive, as many of Fitzgerald’s relationships would prove to be. Hemingway did not get on well with Zelda, however, and in addition to describing her as “insane” in his memoir A Moveable Feast, Hemingway claimed that Zelda “encouraged her husband to drink so as to distract Fitzgerald from his work on his novel”, so he could work on the short stories he sold to magazines to help support their lifestyle. In near fine condition with a touch of wear. Housed in a custom full morocco clamshell box.
Price: $38,000.00 Item Number: 104061
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"High School introduced at young age (15 & 16) to Emily Dickinson, who is probably greatest American poet I realize now": Rare Graduate Student Questionnaire Completed and Signed by Jack Kerouac with a lengthy inscription
KEROUAC, Jack.
Jack Kerouac Autograph Questionnaire Signed.
1960.
Rare mimeographed questionnaire sent by a graduate student of City College of New York to Jack Kerouac; completed and signed twice by him with a lengthy inscription in conclusion. Two pages, partially printed the questionnaire begins with a typed letter signed by James A. Sherlock politely requesting Kerouac’s response which reads in part: “Dear Mr. Kerouac, I am a graduate student of City College of New York, working upon an original research project aimed at uncovering certain educational factors in the lives of successful writers. As you undoubtedly know, there always has been considerable interest in analyzing the psychological make-up of the writer, but seldom has the more prosaic factor of the writer’s education been taken into consideration. Through this questionnaire, I would like to find out if the average successful writer considers his high school education in English a help or a hindrance in preparing him for his profession. Did frequent composition assignments aid the writer in improving his skill? Did reading – either outside reading or reading assigned in the classroom – play a small or large part in preparing the writer for his work?” Completed by Kerouac, in his hand, the questionnaire reads: Reading During High School: 1. In your high school days, did you prefer to read fiction or non-fiction? “Both” 2. If you preferred fiction, what type did you prefer? (Novels, short stories, plays, poetry, etc.) “Novels (from Bronte to ‘pulp’ novels)” 3. If you preferred non-fiction, what subjects did you prefer to read about? “Encyclopaedias [sic], Atlases, Harvard Classics (of Elliot)” 4. Was most of your reading matter of your own choosing or reading material assigned in the classroom? “My Own Choosing mostly (cut classes to spend schooldays in Library)” 5. Did you favor one or two authors at this time in particular in your high school reading? If so, whom? “Just general” 6. As nearly as you can remember, approximately how many books did you read each month during your high school days? “Depended on activities (of course)” High School Instruction: 7. As nearly as you can remember, how often were written compositions assigned in your high school English classes? “Can’t remember” 8. In your opinion, what facet of English instruction did most to develop your skill as a writer? (Literature, composition, spelling, grammar, vocabulary study, others) “Literature” The least? “Composition” 9. As you recall, were your grades in English composition on the whole very good, good, average, fair, or poor? (Kerouac has checked good) 10. Do you recall ever having received special encouragement in your writing from a high school English teacher? “Yes, Joseph Pyne of Lowell High School (Mass.)” Early Writing: 11. At approximately what age did you first seriously consider becoming a writer? “17 (That is, a ‘serious’ writer) (wrote since 11)” 12. Did you engage in outside writing – above the usual writing required in every day life – to any degree at this time? “Yes – from 11 yrs. old on.” 13. Did you at this time consciously imitate the style of any particular author or authors in your writing? “Yes” If so, who? “Saroyan & Hemingway (at 17)” 14. In your opinion, how much did your high school English courses contribute to your success as a writer? (Kerouac has checked all four options: Very much, Some, Little, and Very Little) 15. What factor or factors, if any, would you say contributed more that your schooling to your success as a writer? “SELF IMPOSED READING SCHEDULES OUTSIDE CLASSROOM” Note: If you have additional ideas on the value or inadequacies of your high school English instruction, please feel free to state them on the back of this questionnaire. Name: “Jack Kerouac”. In response to the final question, Kerouac has added a full page signed inscription to the verso of the third page of the questionnaire, “English & American Lit course in High School introduced at young age (15 & 16) to Emily Dickinson, who is probably greatest American poet I realize now (at least equal to Melville & Whitman for sheer mental beauty & brilliance of emotion – description) – High School crucial time to teach Jack K. But writers are born, not made (ask Balzac).” In near fine condition. An exceptional example offering a rare and intimate glimpse into the education and influences of one of the formative writers of the 20th century.
Price: $38,000.00 Item Number: 117950
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First Edition of Taps At Reveille; Inscribed by F. Scott Fitzgerald To His Secretary
FITZGERALD, F. Scott.
Taps at Reveille.
New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1935.
First edition, first state, with pages 349-52 uncancelled and with “catch it” reading on page 351. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “For Isabel Owens Hoping we’ll both be able to look back to this winter as a bleak exception, in a business way from F. Scott (“Old Scrooge”) Fitzgerald.” The recipient, Isabel Owens worked full-time as Fitzgerald’s Baltimore secretary from 1932-36. She continued part-time in this role until his death in 1940. In addition to her secretarial duties, Owens acted as a foster mother to the Fitzgeralds’ daughter Scottie and companion to Zelda. In near fine condition with the spine gilt bright in a very good dust jacket with some inner strengthening to the folds. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A wonderful association copy.
Price: $38,000.00 Item Number: 3024
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First Edition in English of Albert Camus’ Classic Novel The Stranger; Inscribed by Him
CAMUS, Albert.
The Stranger.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1946.
First American edition of Camus’ first novel and masterpiece. Octavo, original beige cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “A Muriel Sutman nous ne sommes pas des étrangers, Albert Camus.” Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Warren Chappell. Translated by Stuart Gilbert. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Presentation copies of The Stranger are rare, with only one appearing at auction in the past 70 years.
Price: $37,500.00 Item Number: 116373