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"For Jenny, who does believe in magic (I do too, really) (but tell anybody)": J.K. Rowling's Rare First Book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone; uniquely inscribed by her and with an original drawing by Illustrator Thomas Taylor
ROWLING, J.K.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
London: Bloomsbury, 1997.
First edition, fourth printing of the rarest book in the Harry Potter series, a cornerstone of young adult literature, and one of the best-selling books of all time. Octavo, original illustrated wrappers. Presentation copy, "For Jenny, who does believe in magic (I do too, really) (but don’t tell anyone) J.K. Rowling." Also, with an original drawing of Harry Potter by jacket illustrator Thomas Taylor. The recipient, was the vendor's daughter Jenny, who was seven years old at the time, at the Edinburgh Literary Festival in August 1997. Jenny's mother wrote in her journal for that month "We all went to…
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 133799
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First edition of Guillaume Apollinaire's Poems (1898-1913); inscribed by him and Pablo Picasso
APOLLINAIRE, Guillaume. [Pablo Picasso].
Alcools: Poems (1898-1913). Avec un Portrait de L’Auteur par Pablo Picasso.
Paris: Mercure de France, 1913.
First edition of Apollinaire's first collection of poems, signed by him and Pablo Picasso. Octavo, bound in three quarter morocco with gilt titles and raised bands to the spine, patterned endpapers, frontispiece portrait of the poet by Pablo Picasso. Association copy, inscribed by both Apollinaire and Pablo Picasso on front free endpaper, "A A P.N. Roinard son admirateur Guillaume Apollinaire" and "et pour Robert Valançay Picasso Paris Janvier 1940 et I." Apollinaire has also made five corrections to the text in ink on pages 71, 77, 92, 110 and 189. The recipient of Apollinaire's inscription, Paul-Napoléon Roinard, was a French…
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 128083
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"unscrew the locks from the doors! Unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs!": Rare Mimeographed Sheets of The Howl Produced for its First Reading. Preceding the First Edition and signed by Ginsberg and five others present at the Six Gallery in October of 1955
GINSBERG, Allen.
Howl, for Carl Solomon. Mimeographed for the Six Gallery Reading.
Two sheets from an exceptionally rare privately produced mimeographed printing of Howl, preceding the first edition. One of 25 copies printed on rectos only in purple ink typed by the poet Robert Creeley and printed by Marthe Rexroth at S.F State, where she was a secretary, for the famous Six Gallery reading (also known as Six Angels in the Same Performance). This event, which took place at 3110 Fillmore Street in San Francisco on October 7, 1955 was the first important public poetry exhibition heralding the West Coast literary revolution of the Beat Generation. At the reading, five talented young poets—Allen…
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 40140
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"it is a corrupting thing to live one's real life in secret. One should live with the stream of life, not against it": First edition of Burmese Days; signed by George Orwell
ORWELL, George.
Burmese Days: A Novel by George Orwell.
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1934.
First American edition, preceding the English edition by one year of Orwell’s first novel. Octavo, original publisher's cloth. Signed by the author opposite the title page, "George Orwell." In near fine condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box by the Harcourt Bindery. Rare and desirable signed.
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 143599
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Rare Second Edition in English of the First Part of Cervantes' Don Quixote
CERVANTES, Miguel De.
The First Part of the Life and Achievements of the Renowned Don Quixote de la Mancha.
London: By William Stansby For Ed: Blounte, 1620.
Rare second edition of the first part of Don Quixote in English. Octavo, bound in contemporary calf, engraved title page, woodcut headpieces and decorative initials. In very good condition with some wear to the binding, portion of upper spine. Translated by Thomas Shelton. Exceptionally rare and desirable.
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 74055
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First edition, association copy of Das Neue Ghetto; inscribed by Theodor Herzl to fellow Zionist Heinrich Elchanan York-Steiner
HERZL, Theodor.
Das Neue Ghetto: Schauspiel in 4 Acten. [The New Ghetto: A Play in 4 Acts].
Wein: Verlag Der "Welt", 1897.
First edition of Herzl's popular politically-charged drama, written several years before Der Judenstaat and praised by Max Nordau and Sigmund Freud. Octavo, original printed wrappers. Association copy, inscribed by the author in the year of publication opposite the title page, "Herrn Heinrich Steiner zur freundlichen Erinnerung Th. Herzl." The recipient, Hungarian author and publisher Heinrich Elchanan York-Steiner was a prominent Zionist. He participated in all phases of early Zionist activity and was instrumental in convening the First Zionist Congress as well as conceptualizing and organizing the publication of Die Welt, the newspaper that became the official organ of the World…
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 143510
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“All for one and one for all, united we stand divided we fall”: Rare First Edition In English of Dumas' The Three Musketeers
DUMAS, Alexandre.
The Three Musketeers; or, the Feats and Fortunes of a Gascon Adventurer.
London: Bruce and Wyld, 1846.
First edition in English of Dumas’ masterpiece. Octavo, bound in full contemporary calf, gilt titles to the spine, marbled endpapers. Translated from the French by William Barrow. Barrow’s translation was the first of three English translations published in 1846 and is considered the most faithful to the original text. To conform to nineteenth century English standards other translations removed many of the explicit and implicit references to sexuality which adversely affected the readability of many scenes. In near fine condition.
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 129365
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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…
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 3024
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“Life's single lesson: that there is more accident to it than a man can ever admit to in a lifetime and stay sane": First Edition of Thomas Pynchon's First Book V.; Inscribed by Him
PYNCHON, Thomas.
V.
Philadelphia and New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1963.
First edition of Pynchon's first book. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Herb Yellin- I've been reading this over. It's not such a terrific book, is it? Thomas Pynchon." Fine in a near fine dust jacket with some of the usual rubbing to the extremities. Jacket design by Ismar David. Books signed and inscribed by Pynchon are notoriously rare. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 7203
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FIRST EDITION OF IAN FLEMINGS GOLDFINGER; INSCRIBED BY HIM To Newspaper Editor Lionel Berry, 2nd Viscount Kemsley
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 Lionel, Something more to read! From Ian." The recipient, Lionel Berry, 2nd Viscount Kemsley was a politician and newspaper editor. His father, the 1st Viscount Kemsley, had given Ian Fleming his first job as a journalist when he employed him as the Foreign Manager for the Kemsley newspaper group. It was this role, with its contracted three month break every winter to allow Fleming to holiday in Jamaica, that gave Fleming the…
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 140248
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"It Is Very Queer That The Unhappiness Of The World Is So Often Brought On By Small Men": First Edition of All Quiet On The Western Front; Inscribed by Erich Maria Remarque
REMARQUE, Erich Maria.
All Quiet On The Western Front.
London: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1929.
First edition in English of this landmark novel of the 20th century. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "With the compliments and thanks to Geor Henry Gribb! Erich Maria Remarque." With a type letter from the author dated in 28th February, 1929 from Remarque attached to the front pastedown. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with light rubbing. With the original publisher's list and catalogues card laid in. Translated by A.W. Wheen. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. Exceptionally rare and desirable signed…
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 119450
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First Edition of Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest; In the Rare Original Dust Jacket
HAMMETT, Dashiell.
Red Harvest.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1929.
First edition of the author's first book and "acknowledged literary landmark" (New York Times Book Review). Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a very good dust jacket with a few small chips. An exceptional example in a completely unrestored early issue dust jacket, which is usually encountered with restoration. Rare and desirable.
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 122905
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First edition of The Innocents Abroad; inscribed by Mark Twain to Mrs. P. T. Barnum
TWAIN, Mark. [Samuel L. Clemens].
The Innocents Abroad, Or The New Pilgrims’ Progress.
Hartford: American Publishing Company, 1874.
First edition, second issue of the author’s second book, one of the best-selling travel books of all-time. Octavo, bound in three quarter morocco with gilt titles to the spine, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled, with two hundred and thirty-four illustrations. Association copy, inscribed by Mark Twain on the fly-leaf, "To Mrs. P. T. Barnum from Yours Truly Samuel L. Clemens Mark Twain Oct 1875." The recipient, Nancy Fish, was the second wife of American showman P. T. Barnum. Twain and Barnum were, by various accounts, friends, mutual admirers and rivals. After visiting Barnum's American Business Museum in New York City…
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 133104
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Rare large format photograph of American cultural icon James Dean; inscribed by him to his photographer Sanford H. Roth
DEAN, James. [Sanford H. Roth].
James Dean Signed Photograph.
Rare large format Sanford H. Roth photograph of cultural icon James dean playing table tennis. Inscribed beneath his image, "To Mr. Roth best wishes James Dean." The recipient, renowned American photographer Sanford H. Roth, was a close friend of Dean's and photographed him frequently. Dean visited Roth's home in California frequently and treated him and his wife Beulah almost as adoptive parents. Poignantly, Roth was in Dean's Ford station wagon driving behind Dean's new Porsche Spyder on the way to the Salinas Road Races on September 30, 1955, when Dean was killed in a late afternoon traffic accident. Roth took…
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 124398
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"However closely we live together, at whatever time of day or night we sound the deepest thoughts in one another, we know nothing": Rare First Edition of the John Le Carres First Book; Signed by Him
LE CARRE, John.
Call For The Dead.
London: Victor Gollancz, 1961.
First edition of the author's first book, which introduced the world to the recurring protagonist, George Smiley. Octavo, original red cloth. Signed by the author on the title page in a contemporary hand, "John le Carre David Cornwell." Fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket. Housed in a custom clamshell box. An exceptional example, most rare and desirable using his real name and his pen name.
Price: $32,500.00 Item Number: 94755
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"Faulkner was breathtaking in the accuracy of his observations": Rare advance reading copy of Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird; signed by three actors from the 1962 film and with a two page autograph letter signed and entirely in the hand of harper lee declining the invitation to participate in a documentary film about her novel
LEE, Harper.
To Kill a Mockingbird.
Barnstable, MA: Crane’s Duplicating Service, for J.B. Lippincott Company,, 1960.
Rare advance reading copy of the first edition of Harper Lee's classic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel signed by three actors from the 1962 film and with a two page autograph letter signed and entirely in the hand of Harper Lee declining the invitation to participate in a documentary film about her novel. Octavo, original wrappers. Presentation copy, inscribed by three actors from the film on the pastedown and front free endpaper, "Bonnie Great Weekend My Best Wishes Phillip Alford 'Jem'", "To Bonnie Sincere regards Brock Peters 'Tom Robinson'", and "Bonnie, Thank you so much for all your help this week. Please…
Price: $32,500.00 Item Number: 133817
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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": First Editions of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven and Tales; in the rare original publisher's cloth
POE, Edgar Allan.
The Raven and Other Poems. [Bound With] Tales.
New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1845.
Rare first editions of Poe's two great collections of stories and poems, bound together in the original publisher's cloth. Octavo, original publisher's dark green cloth elaborately stamped in blind with gilt titles to the spine, publisher's advertisements at rear of each volume which are most often lacking with both volumes bound together. Wiley and Putnam issued both titles separately in paper wrappers, but bound the two together for additional appeal to readers. The Raven is bound first in this copy (the order varies); that work is arguably the widest read and best-known in the American canon. Tales includes "The "The…
Price: $32,000.00 Item Number: 139816
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First Edition of That Hideous Strength; Inscribed by C.S. Lewis to George Orwell
LEWIS, C.S.
That Hideous Strength.
London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1945.
First edition of the final novel in Lewis' acclaimed Space Trilogy. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by C.S. Lewis to fellow writer and journalist George Orwell and his wife (Eric and Eileen Blair) on the front free endpaper, "To the Blairs, with kind regards, C.S. Lewis Aug. 1945." This is the review copy used in George Orwell's literary review of the book which was published in the Manchester Evening News on August 16th 1945. Also with three hand-corrections to the text in Lewis' hand which he made in all review copies before personally sending to critics. Although Lewis and Orwell…
Price: $30,000.00 Item Number: 81218
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“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves": First Edition of Viktor Frankl's Classic Work Man's Search For Meaning; Signed by Him
FRANKL, Viktor E.
From Death-Camp To Existentialism [Man’s Search For Meaning].
Boston: Beacon Press, 1959.
First edition in English of Frankl's classic work, which was later titled Man's Search For Meaning in 1962. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Viktor Frankl on the title page. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Translated by Ilse Lasch. Preface by Gordon Allport. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Signed first editions are exceptionally rare and desirable.
Price: $30,000.00 Item Number: 130637