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“When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams — this may be madness": Rare first complete English edition of Cervantes' masterpiece Don Quixote
CERVANTES SAAVEDRA, Miguel de.
The History of Don-Quixote. The First Parte. The Second Part of the History of the Valorous and Witty Knight-Errant, Don Quixote of the Mancha. Written in Spanish by Michael Cervantes: and now translated into English.
London: Edward Blount, 1620.
Exceedingly rare first complete edition in English of Cervantes' masterpiece comprising the second edition of the first part and the first edition of the second part. Small octavo, 2 volumes bound in full calf with red morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, gilt turn-ins, frontispiece portrait of the author to Vol. I, engraved headpieces, tailpieces and initials. Translated from the original Spanish by Thomas Shelton, his first English translation published in 1612 was the first translation in any language, and took him only forty days to complete. The true first edition of Don Quixote was published in Madrid by Francisco de Robles in two parts in 1605…
Price: $125,000.00 Item Number: 117895
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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, a painting, 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…
Price: $125,000.00 Item Number: 1115260
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"All human wisdom is contained in these two words--"Wait and Hope": The Manney Copy of the First Edition in English of Dumas’ The Count of Monte-Cristo; In the Rare Original Cloth
DUMAS, Alexandre [Alexander].
The Count of Monte-Cristo.
London: London: Chapman and Hall, 1846.
First edition in English of the author’s masterpiece, published just one year after the original French edition and before the American first, the Richard Manney copy. Octavo, 2 volumes, original publisher's terracotta cloth, decoratively blind-embossed, gilt titles to the spine. Twenty wood-engraved plates after Henry Valentin. In near fine condition with only light rubbing to the extremities and toning, with the bookplate of legendary collector Richard Manney. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell and chemise box. A superior example, scarce in the original cloth, with exceptional provenance.
Price: $110,000.00 Item Number: 129384
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“NOW, MY DEARS… DON’T GO INTO MR. MCGREGOR’S GARDEN”: FIRST EDITION; ONE OF ONLY 250 Examples OF THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT; Inscribed by Beatrix Potter in the year of publication
POTTER, Beatrix.
The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
London: Privately Printed, 1901.
First edition, privately printed by the author (preceding all other editions) one of only 250 copies of this children's classic. 12 mo, original cloth, illustrated, leaf patterned end-papers. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the front free endpaper, "for Mrs Oliver, from Beatrix Potter- with kind regards and best wishes for Christmas 1901." The book was an instant success: Linda Lear writes that "Even before the publication of the tale in early October 1902, the first 8,000 copies were sold out. By the year's end there were 28,000 copies of The Tale of Peter Rabbit in…
Price: $100,000.00 Item Number: 141725
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The Catcher In The Rye; Inscribed and dated by J.D. Salinger in the Year of Publication
SALINGER, J.D.
The Catcher In The Rye.
Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1951.
Early printing, printed in the year of publication of the author's classic novel. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the front free endpaper, "December 24, 1951 To Elizabeth Fueller- with best wishes J.D. Salinger." Salinger's signature is scarce and signed examples of The Catcher in the Rye are rare. Very good in a very good supplied dust jacket. Jacket design by Michael Mitchell. Photograph of Salinger by Lotte Jacobi. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. Exceptionally scarce, most rare and desirable inscribed and in the year of…
Price: $98,000.00 Item Number: 140488
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“The supreme question about a work of art is out of how deep a life does it spring”: First Edition of James Joyce's masterpiece Ulysses; number 276 of 750 Numbered Copies
JOYCE, James.
Ulysses.
Paris: Shakespeare and Company, 1922.
First edition of Joyce's masterpiece, one of 750 numbered copies printed on handmade paper from a total edition of 1000 copies, this is number number 276. Thick quarto, original blue and white wrappers. In near fine condition, square and tight with a touch of rubbing to the crown and foot of the spine. Housed in a custom slipcase. An exceptional example.
Price: $75,000.00 Item Number: 126933
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“Integrity is the ability to stand by an idea": First Edition of Ayn Rand's Magnum Opus The Fountainhead; Inscribed by Her
RAND, Ayn.
The Fountainhead.
Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1943.
First edition, first issue with first edition stated on the copyright page of the author's first major novel, as well as her first best-seller. Octavo, original red cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the front free endpaper, "To Gertrude Lynneberg- - with my best wishes for long years of happiness- Ayn Rand November 16, 1943." The recipient, Gertrude Lynneberg was the sister-in- law to Linda Lynneberg, also known as Aslaug Lynneberg, a lifelong friend of Rand. Near fine in a very good first issue dust jacket with some chips and wear. Housed in…
Price: $75,000.00 Item Number: 121447
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"To Barbara- for a very heroic achievement- with love- Ayn": Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead; Inscribed by Her to Barbara Branden
RAND, Ayn.
The Fountainhead.
Indianapolis and New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1943.
First edition, early printing of Rands’s breakthrough work and her first major literary success. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Barbara- for a very heroic achievement- with love- Ayn April 9,1956." Born in Winnipeg, Barbara Weidman met Nathaniel Branden because of their mutual interest in Ayn Rand's works. They became personal friends of Rand in 1950, and when they married in 1953, Rand and her husband, Frank O'Connor, served as the matron of honor and best man. She earned her M.A. in philosophy, and authored a thesis on free will, under the direction of Sidney Hook at…
Price: $75,000.00 Item Number: 138297
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SCARCE JACK KEROUAC AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT QUESTIONNAIRE. HIS CAREER GOAL: "BE A GREAT WRITER MAKING EVERYBODY BELIEVE IN HEAVEN"
KEROUAC, Jack.
Jack Kerouac Autograph Manuscript Signed.
February 28,1964.
Autograph manuscript signed, being Kerouac’s answers to twelve typed questions from Robert Dodd, two pages, quarto, 28 February 1964. Kerouac candidly replies to a young man’s questions. Given a ninth-grade classroom assignment to contact his favorite writer, Robert Dodd chose Jack Kerouac. The author provides lengthy answers to the young Dodd's questions. On the question of his changing writing style Kerouac explains: "The Town and the City was my first, young man novel when I was just starting our trying to write like Thomas Wolfe -- Lonesome Traveler is a product of my own style which I developed in later…
Price: $75,000.00 Item Number: 79098
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"I want to be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren": The Lord of the Rings Trilogy; Inscribed by Him in Volume One and signed by him in Volumes Two and Three
TOLKIEN, J.R.R.
The Lord of The Rings Trilogy: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King.
London: George Allen and Unwin, 1967.
Second editions of the author's classic trilogy, signed by Tolkien in each volume. Octavo, 3 volumes, original cloth, folding maps. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, "Signed for Ethel May with love J. R. R. Tolkien." Volumes two and three are signed by J.R.R. Tolkien on the half-title page. The recipient, Ethel Burchfield was the wife of Robert Burchfield, a lexicographer and scholar who was mentored by Tolkien. Burchfield studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was tutored by Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Burchfield would go on to develop a Tolkien-like fascination with linguistics and would become the editor of the Supplement…
Price: $75,000.00 Item Number: 134590
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First Edition of H.G. Wells' The First Men in the Moon; In the Exceptionally Rare Dust Jacket
WELLS, H.G.
The First Men in the Moon.
London: George Newnes, Limited, 1901.
First edition, first issue binding of Wells’ classic work. Octavo, original cloth, 12 plates by Claude Shepperson. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a touch of shelfwear. Exceptionally rare in the original dust jacket, especially in this condition.
Price: $72,000.00 Item Number: 124595
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“The object of the artist is the creation of the beautiful. What the beautiful is is another question": First Edition of James Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man; In the rare original dust jacket
JOYCE, James.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
New York: Huebsch, 1916.
First edition of Joyce’s classic stream-of-consciousness work, his first novel, in the exceptionally rare dust jacket. Octavo, original blue cloth with titles to the spine in gilt. Near fine in a very good dust jacket with small chips and wear to the extremities. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare especially in this condition, without any of the usual restoration usually encountered.
Price: $72,000.00 Item Number: 129144
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Review Copy of the First edition of To Kill A Mockingbird; Signed by Harper Lee
LEE, Harper.
To Kill A Mockingbird.
Philadelphia & New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1960.
First edition with the review slip of one of the most important American novels of the 20th century which had an initial first printing of 5,000 copies and went on to earn Harper Lee the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Octavo, original half cloth. Boldly signed by the author on the front free endpaper, "with my best wishes Harper Lee." Review copy, with the slip laid in, fine in a near fine dust jacket with some expert restoration. Jacket design by Shirley Smith. Author photograph by Truman Capote. Housed in a custom half morocco chemise and clamshell box. An exceptional…
Price: $65,000.00 Item Number: 148055
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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": First Edition of Dracula; Inscribed by Bram Stoker to T.C. McClure
STOKER, Bram.
Dracula.
New York : Doubleday & McClure Co, 1899.
First American edition, first printing of this centerpiece of Gothic fiction. Octavo, original publisher's pictorial cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front pastedown, "T.C. McClure, from Bram Stoker January 13, 1900." The recipient, T.C. McClure was the head of McClure's Newspaper Syndicate, having inherited the mantle from his brother Samuel S. McClure, who along with Frank Doubleday founded Stoker's American publisher, Doubleday & McClure in 1897. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Signed first editions are rare, association copies exceptionally so.
Price: $65,000.00 Item Number: 148198
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Exceptionally rare first English edition of Mark Twain's The Gilded Age
TWAIN, Mark and Charles Dudley Warner. [Samuel L. Clemens].
The Gilded Age: A Novel.
London: George Routledge and Sons, 1874.
First English edition of the rarest of Mark Twain's works: the only novel he wrote with a collaborator and the book that gave the era its name in history. Octavo, three volumes, original publishers green cloth, gilt titles to the spine, illustrated. The only multi-volume work Clemens produced, except for the two-volume Tramp Abroad (London, 1880), the first English edition of The Gilded Age is the rarest of Mark Twain's major works and the most difficult to obtain. Its rarity is due largely to its format, three volume sets were quite expensive and were produced almost solely for circulating libraries…
Price: $65,000.00 Item Number: 133018
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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. Of the 2,951 copies printed, 125 were review copies. About 1,500 sold in 11 days, but then sales slowed to less than 300 the next year. After two years copies of the first edition were still available, and almost 300 were destroyed in the 1853 fire of Harper's warehouse. In near fine condition with some of the usual light…
Price: $65,000.00 Item Number: 99735
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FIRST EDITION OF IAN FLEMING’S GOLDFINGER; INSCRIBED BY HIM TO HIS REAL LIFE MISS MONEYPENNY
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, "To Una, who again wrote the whole thing! from Ian Fleming." The recipient, Una Trueblood, whose surname was later appropriated by Fleming for the character of Mary Trueblood in Dr. No. Una started working in 1948 at Kemsley Newspapers and The Sunday Times where she was soon appointed secretary to Ian Fleming, where he worked throughout the 1950s. She recalled that Fleming "always said he only wrote Casino Royale, the first Bond book,…
Price: $60,000.00 Item Number: 133728
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“Nothing is so indecent that it cannot be said to another person if the proper words are used to convey it": Rare First Edition in English of Boccaccio's Decameron
BOCCACCIO, Giovanni.
The Decameron.
London: Isaac Jaggard, 1620.
First edition in English of Boccaccio's masterpiece, published by Jaggard published three years prior to his printing of the Shakespeare First Folio. Boccaccio's masterpiece. Folio, 2 volumes, bound in full morocco by Riviere, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, all edges gilt, errata leaf at end of volume one, B1 is a cancellans, woodcut titles each with 6 vignettes, 98 woodcut vignettes in text chiefly repeating the title vignettes, woodcut initials, head- and tail-pieces. In near fine condition. First editions are rare.
Price: $60,000.00 Item Number: 128726
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First Edition of Nathanael West's Miss Lonelyhearts; In the exceptionally rare Dust Jacket
WEST, Nathanael .
Miss Lonelyhearts.
New York: Liveright, 1933.
First edition, first issue of this humorous tale of alienation and advice in Depression era New York which was well-received, but the publisher went bankrupt almost immediately and bookshops were unable to source copies. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with light rubbing and wear. Easily one of the nicest examples extant, with most examples in the original dust jacket well worn. The publisher, Liveright went bankrupt as the novel was being published, however, and the printer refused to release most of the copies. Despite favorable reviews, copies were unavailable to bookshops. In early June, Harcourt Brace took…
Price: $55,000.00 Item Number: 140436
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Exceptional first Edition, association copy of Cormac McCarthy's Masterpiece Blood Meridian; inscribed by McCarthy to his second wife Anne DeLisle
MCCARTHY, Cormac.
Blood Meridian or The Evening Redness in the West.
New York: Random House, 1985.
First edition of Cormac McCarthy's fifth novel, widely considered his masterpiece and among the greatest novels of the 20th century. Octavo, original half cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "For Anne With Love Cormac." The recipient, Anne DeLisle was McCarthy's second wife. McCarthy published his debut novel, The Orchard Keeper, in 1965, earning the William Faulkner Award for Best First Novel and a Rockefeller Grant. With his grant money, he traveled aboard the Sylvania, where he met singer and dancer Annie DeLisle of The Healy Sisters duo. The two fell in love and married…
Price: $55,000.00 Item Number: 149734