New Arrivals
Showing 1–60 of 233 results
-
Browse by Category
- Browse All
- Americana
- Art and Architecture
- Autograph Letters Signed
- Biography and Autobiography
- Children's Books
- Economics and Finance
- Featured Rare Books
- Fine Bindings and Sets
- First Edition
- First Edition>Signed
- Food and Wine
- Framed Autographs and Historical Documents
- Gifts
- Gifts - For Her
- Gifts - For Him
- Gifts - Graduation and Celebrations
- Gifts - Holidays
- History, Law, and Politics
- Literature
- Music
- New Arrivals
- Philosophy
- Photography
- Poetry
- Presidents and World Leaders
- Religion
- Science and Natural History
- Science Fiction and Mystery
- Signed
- Signed & Autographed Books
- Sports and Leisure
- Travel and Exploration
- Uncategorized
-
“Man selects only for his own good: Nature only for that of the being which she tends": First Edition of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species
DARWIN, Charles.
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life.
London: John Murray, 1859.
First edition of “certainly the most important biological book ever written” (Freeman), one of 1250 copies. Octavo, bound in original cloth, half-title, one folding lithographed diagram, without advertisements. In fine condition with a touch of shelfwear. Housed in a custom clamshell box. An exceptional example of this landmark work, one of the nicest extant.
Price: $400,000.00 Item Number: 116380
-
Elaborately bound collection of Presidential autographs; containing the autograph of each of the first 34 Presidents of the United States from George Washington to Dwight D. Eisenhower
WASHINGTON, George; John Adams; Thomas Jefferson; James Madison; James Monroe; John Quincy Adams; Andrew Jackson; Martin Van Buren; William Henry Harrison; John Tyler; James Polk; Zachary Taylor; Millard Fillmore; Franklin Pierce; James Buchanan; Abraham Lincoln; Andrew Johnson; Ulysses S. Grant; Rutherford B. Hayes; James Garfield; Chester A. Arthur; Grover Cleveland; William McKinley; Theodore Roosevelt; William H. Taft; Woodrow Wilson; Warren G. Harding; Calvin Coolidge; Herbert Hoover; Franklin D. Roosevelt; Harry Truman; Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Autographs of the Presidents of the United States of America.
1783-1956.
Elaborately bound collection of Presidential autographs, containing the autograph of each of the first 34 Presidents of the United States from George Washington to Dwight D. Eisenhower. Quarto, bound in full red morocco by Riviere & Son with gilt titles and ruling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt presidential seal to the front panel with white and blue morocco onlays, gilt arms and motto of George Washington to the rear panel with white and blue morocco onlays and his gilt signature in facsimile, centerpieces within quintuple gilt ruling with star emblems at each corner, blue morocco doublures with multiple gilt presidential signatures, blue silk endpapers. This complete series of autographs of the first 34 Presidents of the United States contains the signature of each mounted on an album leaf opposite a loosely tissue-guarded engraved portrait of each. The collection includes: the signature of George Washington on an envelope addressed to Major General Knox as Secretary of the Society of the Cincinnati, November 3, 1783; a clipped signature of John Adams; clipped signature of Thomas Jefferson; the signature of James Madison on an envelope addressed to Reverend Frederick Freeman of Manayunk, Pennsylvania; and inscription signed by James Monroe; the signature of John Quincy Adams on an envelope addressed to William Plumer jun. Esq. in Epping, New Hampshire; a partially printed land grant signed by Andrew Jackson dated 1831 registering the purchase of 20 acres in Detroit by Peter Aldrich; clipped signature of Martin Van Buren; clipped signature of William Henry Harrison; signed inscription from John Tyler; signed inscription from James Polk; clipped signature of Zachary Taylor dated Baton Rouge, March 5, 1841; clipped signature of Millard Fillmore; clipped signature of Franklin Pierce; clipped signature of James Buchanan on a document dated July 18, 1858; clipped signature of Abraham Lincoln; endorsement signed by Andrew Johnson as President; clipped signature of Ulysses S. Grant; card signed by Rutherford B. Hayes; inscription signed by James Garfield; large card signed by Chester A. Arthur and dated May 22, 1884; autograph noted signed by Grover Cleveland declining an invitation, dated November 16, 1890; an Executive Mansion card signed by William McKinely; clipped signature of Theodore Roosevelt; clipped signature of William Howard Taft; clipped signature of Woodrow Wilson; typed letter signed by Warren G. Harding as President, dated June 4, 1923 on White House letterhead; card signed by Calvin Coolidge; White House card signed by Herbert Hoover; typed letter signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, February 15, 1917. Laid in is a typed letter signed by Harry S. Truman as President, June 30, 1950, on White House stationery and a typed letter signed by Dwight Eisenhower. TLS as President, November 13, 1956, on White House stationery. In fine condition. Housed in a custom folding chemise and half morocco slipcase. An exceptional collection and presentation.
Price: $80,000.00 Item Number: 125384
-
"This little book has more artistic dignity than any other book that has been written by an American about the period of the war": FIRST EDITION OF ERNEST HEMINGWAY'S IN OUR TIME, ONE OF ONLY 170 COPIES PRINTED at the Three Mountains Press and for sale at Shakespeare and Company
HEMINGWAY, Ernest.
In Our Time.
Printed at the Three Mountains Press and for sale at Shakespeare & Company: Paris, 1924.
First edition of Hemingway’s second published work, one of 170 numbered copies printed on Rives hand-made paper, this is number 90. Quarto, original tan printed boards with black lettering and publisher’s device printed over a collage of red-lettered facsimile newspaper items, woodcut frontispiece portrait of Hemingway from a portrait by Henry Strater, all edges uncut. In fine condition. Housed in a custom folding cloth chemise and half morocco slipcase with splitting to the chemise. One of Hemingway’s rarest books, second only to Three Stories and Ten Poems both because of the limited number of copies printed and its fragile nature. A superior example.
Price: $80,000.00 Item Number: 125303
-
First Octavo Edition of the The Birds of America from Drawings Made in the United States and Their Territories; In the Rare Original Publisher's Morocco
AUDUBON, John James.
The Birds of America from Drawings Made in the United States and Their Territories.
New York: Published by J.J. Audubon, 1840.
First octavo edition of this landmark work. Octavo, bound in original publisher’s morocco, 7 volumes, gilt titles and ruling to the spine, marbled endpapers, complete with 500 hand-colored lithographed plates by J.T. Bowen after J.J. Audubon; woodcuts in the text. From the library of Boston businessman and Ambassador T. Jefferson Coolidge, with his bookplate to the front pastedown. Coolidge was born to a prominent Boston Brahmin family and was a great-grandson of the 3rd United States President Thomas Jefferson, through his maternal grandparents, Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. and Martha Jefferson Randolph. His uncles were Thomas Jefferson Randolph, George Wythe Randolph, Andrew Jackson Donelson, and a relative of Calvin Coolidge. He was an uncle to Archibald Cary Coolidge through his older brother, Joseph Randolph Coolidge. He was appointed by President Benjamin Harrison as United States Ambassador to France on May 12, 1892, a role his great-grandfather had held from May 1785 to September 1789. Coolidge presented his credentials on June 10, 1892 and he presented his recall on May 4, 1893, terminating his mission. In 1898 and 1899, he was a member of the American delegation to the commission to resolve the Alaska boundary dispute. Historian Ernest May says Coolidge was, “a prototype member of what today we call the foreign policy establishment.” In 1898, Coolidge donated a collection of Thomas Jefferson’s personal papers to the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston. The collection contained more than 8,000 items: Correspondence, including 3,280 letters that Jefferson had written and 4,630 letters that he had received; Jefferson’s garden book (1766-1824) and farm book (1774-1824); annotated almanacs from 1771-1776; account books for 1783-1790; manuscript expense accounts from 1804-1825; notes on the weather spanning the years 1782-1826; plans of American forts in 1765; law treatises, 1778-1788; legal papers, 1770-1772; and Jefferson’s 1783 catalog of his personal library. In near fine condition. An exceptional set with noted provenance, rare in the original publisher’s morocco.
Price: $75,000.00 Item Number: 111832
-
“It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied": Rare First Edition of John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism; Signed by Him
MILL, John Stuart.
Utilitarianism.
London: Parker, Son and Bourn, 1863.
First edition of the author’s landmark work. Octavo, original cloth, publisher’s advertisements. Presentation copy, signed by John Stuart Mill on the title page, “From the author.” From the library of Helen and William Belknap with their bookplate to the pastedown and his ownership stamp. William Burke Belknap was an economist and a professor of economics at the University of Louisville. Leading up to and during World War II, he volunteered for service with the Red Cross in Ramsay and Plymouth, England. A trustee of Berea College and a graduate of Yale and Harvard, he served two terms as a representative in the Kentucky General Assembly. We cannot trace another signed first edition in the past 100 years. Rare and desirable.
Price: $72,000.00 Item Number: 124105
-
“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
-
“Give me liberty, or give me death": Scarce 1776 separate edition of the Large Additions to Common Sense
PAINE, Thomas.
Large Additions to Common Sense; Addressed to the Inhabitants of America.
Philadelphia: Printed and sold, by R. Bell in Third-Street, 1776.
Scarce 1776 separate edition of the Large Additions to Common Sense. The title reads in full: Large Additions To Common Sense: Addressed To The Inhabitants Of America On The Following Interesting Subjects. I. The American Patriot’s Prayer. II. American Independancy, defended by Candidus. III. The Propriety of Independancy, by Demophilus The dread of Tyrants, and the sole resource Of those that under grim Oppression groan. Thomson. IV. A Review of the American Contest with some Strictures on the King’s Speech. Addressed to All Parents in the Thirteen United Colonies by a Friend To Posterity And Mankind. V. Letter to Lord Dartmouth, by an English American. VI. Observations on Lord North’s Conciliatory Plan, by Sincerus. To Which Is Added And Given An Appendix to Common Sense; Together with an Address to the People Called Quakers on their Testimony concerning Kings and Government and the Present Commotions in America. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco over boards, gilt titles and five raised bands to the spine, marbled endpapers. In very good condition, internally very clean. Rare with only two examples appearing at auction in the last 80 years.
Price: $50,000.00 Item Number: 106523
-
"Taking the pledge will not make bad liquor good, but it will improve it": The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; inscribed by Mark Twain
TWAIN, Mark. [Samuel L. Clemens].
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade).
New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, 1886.
Early printing of Twain’s masterpiece, inscribed by Mark Twain. Octavo, bound in half buckram by Roycroft with paper labels to the spine, tissue-guarded frontispiece photogravure plate of Gerhardt’s bust of Clemens, one hundred and seventy-four illustrations by E. W. Kemble. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “To Mr. Garth W. Cate: Taking the pledge will not make bad liquor good, but it will improve it. Truly Yours, Mark Twain, Nov. 25/06.” With a lengthy letter of provenance dated October 14, 1964 and signed by the recipient which reads in part, “Dear Mr. Jacobs, If I had been younger and could have carried out a study of some of Mark Twain’s motives and acts, I never would have parted with my cherished old copy of the first printing of Huckleberry Finn. This was the first book given to me by my father… In 1906-1907 I was a lecture manager for Elbert Hubbard, the Sage of East Aurora, whose quasi-socialist group The Roycrofters was quite famous as an arts and crafts enter at East Aurora, New York. By that time the HUCK FINN was loose in its covers… Elbert Hubbard saw the book on my desk when I brought it in to have it rebound in the Roycroft Bindery. Said he, “No author could resist seeing such a well worn volume testifying to the delight it had given many readers. Why don’t you send it down to Mark Twain and ask him to inscribed it. I’ll sign and send Mark a few of my own books along with it, thus salting the mine for you.” So I sent HUCK back to its spiritual father, and when it returned I was somewhat shocked, having been sent to a temperance Sunday School by a whiskey fearing mother, to find that he had inscribed it “To Mr. Garth W. Cate – Taking the pledge will not make bad liquor good, but will improve it.” (Incidentally it was several years after that before I took my first drink. I am an abstainer today). Later on I was to marry a Christian Science practitioner, and when she saw this inscription she exclaimed: Why, that is the most immoral thing I ever saw! How could a great author send such a sentiment to a young man?” A careful search of Mark Twain’s writings revealed that he had a deep-seated lifetime aversion for pledges, especially when they had been obtained under pressure from those of an older generation. It seems when Mark was a boy in his early teens, his mother and aunt talked and pressured him into signing a pledge not to touch alcohol in any from. Later he was to refer to this as “A ball and chain clanking behind him down the years of time.” He hated such restrictions, especially when thrust upon him while immature.” In very good condition. With the original publisher’s decorated green cloth cover bound in and three rare portraits of Twain tipped in. With two further letters of provenance and several period Twain-related clippings adhered to several pages. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional presentation copy with noted provenance.
Price: $45,000.00 Item Number: 123083
-
"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
-
“A LADY'S IMAGINATION IS VERY RAPID; IT JUMPS FROM ADMIRATION TO LOVE, FROM LOVE TO MATRIMONY IN A MOMENT": RARE SECOND EDITION OF JANE AUSTEN'S PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
AUSTEN, Jane.
Pride and Prejudice: A Novel. In Three Volumes by the Author of “Sense and Sensibility.”
London: Printed for T. Egerton, 1813.
Rare second editions of all three volumes of Jane Austen’s masterpiece, published only months after the first edition. Octavo, three volumes bound in full mottled calf by Bartlett and Co. of Boston with morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, double gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, half-titles present. Titles supplied from a first edition copy. In near fine condition with light rubbing to the extremities. The text for this edition was re-set, with some variations within the page and to spelling and punctuation, but without corrections by Austen. Gilson A4. A highly desirable example of this landmark work in English literature.
Price: $42,500.00 Item Number: 127019
-
“If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more": Rare First Edition of Jane Austen's Emma
AUSTEN, Jane.
Emma: A Novel. By the Author of “Pride and Prejudice.”
London: John Murray, 1816.
First edition of the final novel published during Austen’s lifetime. Small octavo, 3 volumes, bound in contemporary three quarters leather, gilt titles to the spine. With the publisher’s advertisements on the verso of the last page of Vol. III. In near fine condition with light toning. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional example, most rare and desirable in this condition and in a contemporary binding.
Price: $40,000.00 Item Number: 120465
-
“And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy": First Modern Library of The Great Gatsby; Inscribed by F. Scott Fitzgerald
FITZGERALD, F. Scott.
The Great Gatsby.
New York: The Modern Library, 1934.
First Modern Library edition of the author’s masterpiece, with the first appearance of Fitzgerald’s new introduction. Octavo, original green cloth. Inscribed by the author on the half title page, “For Lillian Abercrombie at the beginning of a tour of work F. Scott Fitzgerald.” Near fine in a very good dust jacket with some rubbing to the extremities and some small chips. Housed in a full custom morocco box. The first Modern Library edition of The Great Gatsby was a resounding commercial failure, and many copies were remaindered with the caption “discontinued title” printed on the jacket’s front panel. The present copy represents one of the earlier, non-remaindered copies, and like all of the first Modern Library editions of The Great Gatsby, features Fitzgerald’s new introduction, with his own, now-famous take on his masterwork: “I think it is an honest book, that is to say, that one used none of one’s virtuosity to get an effect, and, to boast again, one soft-pedalled the emotional side to avoid the tears leaking from the socket of the left eye, or the large false face peering around the corner of a character’s head. If there is a clear conscience, a book can survive — at least in one’s feelings about it. On the contrary, if one has a guilty conscience, one reads what one wants to hear out of reviews. In addition, if one is young and willing to learn, almost all reviews have a value, even the ones that seem unfair.”
Price: $40,000.00 Item Number: 37020
-
"There are cases in which the greatest daring is the greatest wisdom": FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH OF ARGUABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT TREATISE ON POLITICAL-MILITARY ANALYSIS AND STRATEGY EVER WRITTEN; CARL VON CLAUSEWITZ'S ON WAR
VON CLAUSEWITZ, Carl Philipp Gottfried.
On War.
London: N. Trubner & Co., 1873.
First edition in English of arguably the most important treatise on political-military analysis and strategy ever written. Small quarto, three volumes complete in one, original cloth, frontispiece portrait of Clausewitz. Translated by Colonel J. J. Graham from the third German edition. In near fine condition. From the library of Lt. Colonel Walter Pipon Braithwaite with his bookplate and ownership signature. General Sir Walter Pipon Braithwaite was a British Army officer who held senior commands during the First World War. After being dismissed from his position as Chief of Staff for the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, he received some acclaim as a competent divisional commander on the Western Front. After the war, he was commissioned to produce a report analyzing the performance of British staff officers during the conflict. Additional bookplates and period photograph adhered to the front free endpaper. Exceedingly rare, particularly in the original cloth, with only 2 other copies located in auction records over the past 50 years.
Price: $40,000.00 Item Number: 127055
-
"First and greatest classic of modern economic thought": Second Edition of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations
SMITH, Adam.
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
London: Printed for W. Strahan; and T. Cadell, In the Strand, 1778.
Rare second edition of Adam Smith’s magnum opus and cornerstone of economic thought, one of only 500 copies. Quarto, 2 volumes. Bound in full brown contemporary tree calf, red morocco spine labels. In near fine condition, bookplate to the front pastedown. Remarkably clean throughout with some light toning. An exceptional example of this landmark work.
Price: $38,000.00 Item Number: 127637
-
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
-
Complete Set of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Deluxe Editions; Each Signed by Her
ROWLING, J.K.
Harry Potter Series Complete Deluxe Set. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, The Half-Blood Prince, and The Deathly Hallows.
London: Bloomsbury, 1997-2007.
First editions of the deluxe edition of each book in Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Octavo, 7 volumes, original decorative cloth as issued. Each volume is signed by J.K. Rowling and were collected in person by the previous owner. The Prisoner of Azkaban is inscribed. In fine condition. No dust jackets were issued for these volumes. Scarce and desirable.
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 81035
-
"The first atlas of the new world": First complete edition in Italian of Ptolemy's La Geographia, the earliest and most comprehensive small-format world atlas published
PTOLEMY, Claudius.
Le Geographia di Claudio Ptolemeo Alessandrino, Con alcuni comenti & aggiunte fattevi da Sebastiano munstero, Con le tavole non solamente antiche & moderne solite di staparsi.
Venice: G. B. Pedrezano, 1547.
First complete edition in Italian of Ptolemy’s “first atlas of the new world” (Nordenskiöld) and the most detailed and comprehensive world atlas published prior to Ortelius’s Theatrum in 1570. Small octavo, bound in full vellum with gilt morocco spine label, all edges speckled red, woodcut border to the title page, woodcut initials and illustrations throughout the text including a portrait of an astronomer and 60 double-page engraved maps designed by Giacomo Gastaldi. The majority of the 34 maps of the modern world are entirely new first appearances, including 7 maps of the Americas. Among the maps of the Americas is the Nueva Hispania tabula nova which shows the Mississippi and Florida area and is the first separate printed map of the region. Also included is the landmark Tierra Nueva map of the North American coast from Florida to Labrador. In fine condition. Housed in a custom cloth clamshell box. An exceptional example of this landmark work.
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 95367
-
Rare First Edition of Herodotus' Historiae, in Greek
HERODOTUS; EDITED BY ALDUS MANUTIUS,.
Historiae, In Greek.
Venice: Aldus Manutius, September, 1502.
Rare first edition of Herodotus‘ history of the Persian Wars, one of the most important texts edited by the great scholar-printer-publisher. Folio, bound in contemporary vellum, woodcut title in Greek and Roman letter, verso with dedication in Latin, text in Greek letter throughout with spaces for capital letters, woodcut device on title and last page. Aldus claims in the dedication that he corrected the text from multiple exemplars, one of the few instances where such a claim by him is justified and can be verified. He was the first to have access to the ‘Florentine’ codices, where Valla had used the so-called Roman family of manuscripts for his translation. The printer’s copy was discovered in Nuremberg by Brigitte Mondrain in 1993 (Scriptorium 49 [1995], pp. 263-273). The History was designed to match the Aldine Thucydides of four months earlier: they share a paper stock, all types and the number of lines per page. Ahmanson-Murphy 50; Isaac 12782; Laurenziana 64; Renouard, Alde 35:8; Sansoviniana 67. In excellent condition with light rubbing and wear, bookplates to the pastedown, some light toning to the text, occasional Greek and Latin annotations in a c.17th-century hand, small repairs to the final four leaves. An exceptional example of this landmark work, rare and desirable in contemporary vellum.
Price: $32,000.00 Item Number: 96588
-
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, 1943.
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 were not close friends, both were employed as radio journalists by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) during WWII, an era that transformed both religious broadcasting (in which Lewis became a primary figure) and war correspondence (Orwell’s experience as a correspondent working out of the basement of the BBC during wartime was a major inspiration for his masterpiece Nineteen Eighty-Four). Very good in a very good dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morrocco clamshell box. A remarkable association.
Price: $30,000.00 Item Number: 81218
-
Extremely rare first Latin edition of Galileo's revolutionary Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems
GALILEI, Galileo.
Systema Cosmicum in Quo Quatuor Dialogis, de Duobus Maximis Mundi Systematibus, Ptolemaico et Copernicano. [Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems].
Strasbourg: D. Hauttius for the Elzevir, 1635.
Rare first Latin edition of Galileo’s epoch-making Dialogo, the summation of the extraordinary mathematician’s astronomical thought and the work which directly precipitated his 1663 trial and judgement for heresy. Preceded only by the 1632 edition in Italian. Small octavo, bound in full contemporary vellum, engraved additional title page, full page engraved frontispiece portrait of Galileo by Jacob van der Heyden, woodcut diagrams, with the final leaf of errata. This Latin edition includes two tracts in the appendix not in the Italian edition of 1632, and it is the only major work of Galileo’s to be published outside Italy during his lifetime. The two added Latin tracts are the introduction to Kepler’s Astronomia nova (pp. 459-464), and a letter by Paolo Antonio Foscarini defending the truth of Copernicanism and rebutting the charge that it conflicted with scripture (pp. 465-495). With the appendix by P.A. Foscarini which contains an attempt to reconcile the Copernican views with the Holy Scripture. In near fine condition. Exceptionally rare, as the work was rigidly suppressed from the start.
Price: $28,000.00 Item Number: 93890
-
Rare 1617 Edition of Vesalius's Epitome containing 39 full-page anatomically illustrated plates
VESALIUS, Andreas. (Thomas Geminus).
Anatomia in Quat Tota Humani Corporis Fabrica. (Anatomy in Total of the Fabric of the Human Body).
Amsterdam: Joannes Janssonius, 1617.
Rare edition of the Epitome of Vesalius, first published in 1543 as an abbreviated dissection room manual to accompany his masterpiece De Humani Corporis Fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body). Folio, bound in full contemporary calf, gilt titles and elaborate gilt tooling to the spine, red spine label, raised tooled bands, marbled endpapers, engraved pictorial title page. Engraved portrait of Vesalius, engraved folding plate of Adam and Eve after that in the epitome before the main text. Containing 39 full-page anatomically illustrated plates, woodcut headpieces and initials. In near fine condition. Captions in both Latin and German, having been otherwise taken directly from Thomas Geminus’ first copy of 1545, Compendiosa Toitus Anatomie Delineato Aere Exarata. German text taken from Baumann’s German edition of 1551 (Keynes, 171; Krivatsy, 12321; Waller, 9919).
Price: $28,000.00 Item Number: 74638
-
“THE MOST AMBITIOUS PUBLICATION EVER UNDERTAKEN, UP TO THAT TIME, UPON AMERICAN SOIL… RICHLY DESERVING OF ITS GREAT REPUTATION AT HOME AND ABROAD”: FIRST EDITION OF WEBSTER’S LANDMARK AMERICAN DICTIONARY, 1828
WEBSTER, Noah.
American Dictionary of the English Language.
New York: Published by S. Converse. Printed by Hezekiah Howe, 1828.
Rare first edition of Webster’s monumental American Dictionary, one of only 2500 copies, with frontispiece portrait of the pioneering lexicographer, in full contemporary calf. Quarto, two volumes, bound in full contemporary calf, marbled endpapers, illustrated frontispiece, tissue guard present. In near fine condition, light toning to the text. Most rare and desirable bound in contemporary calf. An exceptional example, most rare without any restoration.
Price: $27,500.00 Item Number: 102755
-
“I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying": The Works of Oscar Wilde; One of 80 Sets Bound in Japanese Vellum
WILDE, Oscar.
The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde.
London: Methuen & Co, 1908.
First collected edition, one of 80 sets on Japanese vellum, the rarest and most desirable of Wilde’s works. Octavo, 14 volumes, bound in original vellum, gilt titles and tooling to the spine and front panel with the design by Charles Ricketts, top edge gilt. “The text is taken in most instances from the last editions issued under the superintendence of the author. In some cases the volumes contain additional matter which had not previously been reprinted, while some of the volumes contain matter here published for the first time” (Mason). In near fine condition. Rare and desirable, especially in this condition.
Price: $27,500.00 Item Number: 103150
-
Rare Gone With the Wind Final Shooting Script; signed and inscribed by David O. Selznick, Vivien Leigh, Olivia Havilland and many others
[MITCHELL, Margaret; David O. Selznick; Vivien Leigh; Butterfly McQueen; Olivia de Havilland et al].
Gone With the Wind Signed Final Shooting Script.
Hollywood: Selznick International, 1939.
Final Shooting Script from David O. Selznick’s epic historical romance film Gone with the Wind, signed and inscribed by him, Vivien Leigh, Butterfly McQueen, Olivia de Havilland and many others. Folio, original mustard wrappers bound in full pebbled leatherette with gilt titles and tooling to the spine. Association copy, inscribed by Selznick on the third free endpaper, “March 10, 1961 To Mayor William B. Hartsfield with the affection and gratitude of the “Gone with the Wind” company, including his admirer – David O. Selznick.” The recipient, Mayor William B. Hartsfield, attended the film’s special re-premiere gala in Atlanta for which Selznick had a number of script copies made (thought to be fifty) for his company beginning with number 00100, this is number 00112 and one of the few to come to market. Laid in is an original black and white photograph of Mayor Hartsfield with Vivien Leigh at the gala. Additionally signed by actresses Vivien Leigh, Butterfly McQueen, and Olivia de Havilland, Samuel Tupper (a friend of Margaret Mitchell’s whose review of her novel was the first to be published), writer and comedian Ogden Nash (Selznick was considering him to write the script for the planned Gone With the Wind musical), Leroy Anderson (one of America’s premier composers with whom Selznick was discussing the Gone With the Wind musical), and Eugene and Joseph Mitchell (Margaret Mitchell’s nephews). In fine condition. With a set of Margaret Mitchell First Issue stamps postdated June 30 1986 laid in. A superior example with noted provenance.
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 118033
-
"Youth is a dream, a form of chemical madness": FIRST EDITION OF Tales of the Jazz Age; Inscribed by F. Scott Fitzgerald
FITZGERALD, F. Scott.
Tales of the Jazz Age.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1922.
First edition of Fitzgerald’s iconic collection, with eleven stories including “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” basis for the award-winning 2008 film. Octavo, original green cloth, titles to the spine in gilt. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “For Signor Monsieur Herr Whitney from Fitzgerald/(le maistro).” In very good condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare and desirable signed and inscribed.
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 101765
-
“I've got the key to my castle in the air, but whether I can unlock the door remains to be seen": Rare FIRST EDITIONS OF BOTH PARTS OF LITTLE WOMEN, IN ORIGINAL CLOTH
ALCOTT, Louisa May.
Little Women and Little Women, Part the Second.
Boston: Robert Brothers, 1868-69.
First editions of both volumes of Alcott’s most coveted work. Octavo, two volumes in the original green cloth with gilt titles and decorations to the spine and front panel, each volume illustrated with four plates including frontispiece; those in the first part created by the author’s sister, May. Little Women is first issue with all points including Little Women priced at $1.25 in terminal advertisements. Little Women, Part Second is mixed state, with notice about Part First on page iv and lacking terminal advertisements. Both volumes in very good to near fine condition with rubbing to the extremities. Rare and desirable in the original cloth, as most examples have been rebound.
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 111053
-
First Edition of The Worst Journey in the World; Inscribed by the Author in Each Volume
CHERRY-GARRARD, Apsley.
The Worst Journey in the World.
London: Constable & Company, 1922.
First edition of this classic memoir of the 1910–1913 British Antarctic Expedition. Octavo, two volumes, original half white cloth, gray paper boards. Inscribed by Apsley Cherry-Garrard in each each volume. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. In near fine condition with light rubbing to the extremities. First editions signed and inscribed are of exceptional rarity.
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 33035
-
“A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever”: First American Edition of John Adams's A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America; from the library of American founding father Gunning Bedford, Jr.
ADAMS, John. [Gunning Bedford Jr.].
A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America.
Philadelphia: Printed for Hall and Sellers; J. Cruikshank; and Young and McCulloch, 1787.
First edition of John Adams’s greatest contribution to American political theory; from the library of one of the 39 signers of the United States Constitution, Founding Father Gunning Bedford, Jr. Octavo, bound in full contemporary tree calf with gilt ruling to the spine, red morocco spine label lettered in gilt, gilt turn-ins. Signed by Gunning Bedford, Jr. on the title page. Born in Philadelphia in 1747, Gunning Bedford attended the College of New Jersey, where he was a classmate of James Madison, and later served in the Continental Army as an aide to General George Washington. After the Revolutionary war, he became a prominent political figure sitting in the legislature, on the state council, and in the Continental Congress (1783–85). One of the more active members of the Constitutional Convention, on May 14, 1787 he was one of the 39 delegates that signed the Constitution of the United States. Gunning Bedford also served as Attorney General of Delaware from 1784 until he was designated by George Washington as a federal district judge for his state in 1789, a position he held for the rest of his life. In near fine condition. Housed in a custom half morocco and chemise case. An exceptional example with fine provenance.
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 125308
-
Rare first edition of one of the earliest chess manuals; Pietro Carrera's Game of Chess
CARRERA, Pietro.
Il Gioco De Gli Scacchi Di D. Pietro Carrera Diviso in Otto Libri. (The Game of Chess).
Militello: Giovanni de' Rossi, 1617.
Rare first edition of one of the early chess manuals, and the first book printed in Militello at Prince Francesco Branciforte’s private press. Octavo, bound in full contemporary vellum with ink titles to the spine, large engraving of the Branciforte coat of arms opposite the dedication page, woodcut illustrations throughout the text. In near fine condition. First editions are of exceptional rarity, with only three appearing at auction in the past 90 years.
Price: $25,000.00 Item Number: 96172
-
"The passion spreads in wide tongues, choked and slow, meeting the gulf, hosanna silently below": First edition of Hart Crane's landmark modernist epic the bridge; inscribed by him to close friend Bob Thompson
CRANE, Hart.
The Bridge: A Poem.
New York: Horace Liveright, 1930.
First American edition of Crane’s landmark modernist epic. Octavo, original blue cloth with gilt titles to the spine and front panel, illustrated with three photographs by Walter Evans. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper one month after publication, “For Bob Thompson, from his friend always- Hart Crane, Brooklyn, April 30.” The recipient, Robert Thompson, was a close friend of Crane’s. During the early part of 1930, Thompson and Crane spent what John Unterecker described as “wild evenings” in New York. Thompson was “a good drinking companion whom Hart in the summer would recommend to Caresse Crosby as ‘a former sailor who has got tired of office work and expects to hit the deck again for awhile.'” With Thompson’s inscription to the pastedown recording the details of Crane’s suicide, “April 28,1932, S/S Orizaba, Capt. Blackadder.” In very good condition. Housed in a custom clamshell box. Crane presentation copies are of the utmost rarity, and this personal and significant association is of exceptional desirability.
Price: $22,500.00 Item Number: 123618
-
“Never test another man by your own weakness": First Edition of Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim; Inscribed by Him
CONRAD, Joseph.
Lord Jim.
New York: Doubleday & McClure Co, 1901.
First American edition of one of Conrad’s finest novels. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “Signed for Richard Curle by Joseph Conrad this 24 January 1920.” Laid into this volume is also a letter from Curle, dated November 11th, 1922, which begins, “I saw in a catalogue a copy of a book signed to me by Conrad and thought to discover how it had got there…” Curle was a Scottish author, traveler and bibliophile and was a frequent correspondent of Conrad’s, for whom he acted as an assistant during the novelist’s later years. In excellent condition with some minor toning to the spine and light wear to the extremities. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional association copy, most rare and desirable signed and inscribed and with noted provenance.
Price: $22,000.00 Item Number: 78009
-
"The first surgical work by an American and printed in North America": John Jones' Plain Concise Practical Remarks, on the Treatment of Wounds and Fractures
JONES, John.
Plain Concise Practical Remarks, on the Treatment of Wounds and Fractures.
Philadelphia: Robert Bell, 1776.
Exceptionally rare edition of the first surgical work by an American and printed in North America. Octavo, bound in nineteenth century three quarters morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, frontispiece. Jones’ work was the accepted guide to surgical practice during the American Revolutionary War” G&M 2155; Austin 1843; Evans 15100 and 14814; Sabin 94063 and 36524. In near fine condition.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 91322
-
“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.
New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1934.
First American edition of this children’s classic. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated with 27 line cuts (13 full-page) and chapter tailpieces by Mary Shepard. Boldly signed by P.L. Travers on the front free endpaper. Very good in a very good dust jacket with some light rubbing and wear. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare and desirable signed.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 96590
-
“Man, when you lose your laugh you lose your footing": First Edition of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; Signed by Ken Kesey, Director Milos Forman and Jack Nicholson
KESEY, Ken.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
New York: The Viking Press, 1962.
First edition of the author’s classic first book. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by Ken Kesey, Milos Forman and Jack Nicholson. Fine in a near fine first-issue dust jacket. Jacket design by Paul Bacon. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Most rare and desirable signed by these three contributors.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 107650
-
"War is the continuation of politics by other means": Scarce First Edition of arguably the most important treatise on political-military analysis and strategy ever written; Carl von Clausewitz's On War
VON CLAUSEWITZ, Carl Philipp Gottfried.
Vom Kriege. Hinterlassenes Werk. [On War].
Berlin: Ferdinand Dümmler, 1832-34.
Scarce first edition of arguably the most important treatise on political-military analysis and strategy ever written. Octavo, three volumes bound in contemporary half cloth over marbled boards with gilt titles and ruling to the spine. In near fine condition with light rubbing to the extremities.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 123578
-
“Dilemma of civilized man; body mobilized, but danger obscure": First Edition of Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle; Signed by Him
DICK, Philip K.
The Man in the High Castle.
New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1962.
First edition of Philip K. Dick’s Hugo Award-winning novel. Octavo, original cloth. Bodly signed by Philip K. Dick on the front free endpaper. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a touch of shelfwear. Jacket design by Robert Galster. Photograph by Arthur Knight. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare and desirable signed.
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 99635
-
Rare Original Photograph of General Ulysses S. Grant Taken By Mathew Brady; Boldly Signed By Grant As President
GRANT, Ulysses S. (Mathew Brady).
Mathew Brady Ulysses S. Grant Photograph Signed.
Rare original Mathew Brady photograph of Ulysses S. Grant. Boldly signed by Grant as the 18th President of the United States, “U.S. Grant March 18th 1875.” One of the earliest photographers in American history, Mathew B. Brady brought home the reality of the Civil War to the American public with his innovative use of a mobile studio and darkroom to capture thousands of war scenes throughout the Civil War. Brady was also recognized as one of the premier photographic portraitists of the 19th century, taking photographs of numerous celebrities including Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, and Robert E. Lee among others. Double matted and framed. The entire piece measures 19 inches by 16.5 inches. In near fine condition. Rare and desirable with such a strong signature signed by Grant during his presidency.
Price: $18,500.00 Item Number: 94709
-
Rare First Edition, First Printing of Mark Twain's The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and Other Sketches
TWAIN, Mark [Samuel L. Clemens].
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and Other Sketches.
New York: C.H. Webb, 1867.
First edition, first printing of the author’s rare first book. Octavo, original cloth, first issue lacking the leaf of ads facing the title page but with unbroken type on pages 21, 66 and 198. In very good condition with light wear to the extremities. A sharp example.
Price: $18,500.00 Item Number: 125145
-
“In any society freedom of thought will probably be of direct significance only for a small minority": First Edition of F.A. Hayek's The Road To Serfdom; In the Rare Original Dust Jacket
HAYEK, Friedrich August von [F.A.].
The Road To Serfdom.
London: Routledge & Sons, 1944.
First British edition of one of the most influential and popular expositions of classical liberalism ever published. Octavo, original black cloth. Very good in the rare original dust jacket with some rubbing and wear to the extremities. The British edition was published in March of 1944, preceding its American counterpart, which was published later that same year in September. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $18,500.00 Item Number: 105942
-
"When you come to observe faithfully the changes of each humblest plant, you find that each has sooner or later its peculiar autumnal tint, or tints": The Manuscript Edition of The Writings of Henry David Thoreau; In the Original Binding
THOREAU, Henry David.
The Manuscript Edition of The Writings of Henry David Thoreau.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin and Company, 1906.
The manuscript edition of the writings of Henry David Thoreau. With the original manuscript sheet by Thoreau from his journal tipped-in to volume 1. The two page manuscript fragment comprises 58 lines from “Autumnal Tints,” in altered form, published in the Atlantic Monthly, October 1862, and collected in Excursions the following year. The fragment concludes with the line containing the title phrase: “When you come to observe faithfully the changes of each humblest plant, you find that each has sooner or later its peculiar autumnal tint, or tints […].” Octavo, 20 volumes. Bound in the publisher’s three-quarter green morocco over marbled boards, spine elaborately tooled and lettered in gilt in compartments, raised bands, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. Signed by the publisher. Illustrated in each volume with a photograph of flowers and a hand-colored scenes used as frontispieces and additional plates inserted throughout. In fine condition without wear.
Price: $18,500.00 Item Number: 97590
-
"A Major Source for Shakespeare": Second and preferred edition of Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland
HOLINSHED, Raphael.
The First and Second Volumes of Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland With: The Third volume of Chronicles, beginning at Duke William the Norman [Holinshed Chronicles].
London: John Harrison, George Bishop, Rafe Newberie, Henrie Denham, and Thomas Woodcocke, 1587.
Preferred second edition of the greatest Elizabethan repository of English history which served as an important source for Shakespeare’s plays. Folios, 3 volumes bound into 2, bound in full calf, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised bands, red morocco spine labels, gilt ruled, woodcut initials and title pages. Separate title pages and pagination for The Description and Historie of England, The Description and Historie of Ireland, and The Description and Historie of Scotland comprising volume 1. When this expanded second edition of the Chronicles appeared in January 1587, the Privy Council, responding to Queen Elizabeth’s displeasure at certain passages, ordered the Archbishop of Canterbury to recall and censure the work; as a result extensive cancellations (74 pages) were made of offending sections in Volumes II and III. The censors removed “all references to English intervention in Scottish politics, raised the profile of the Earl of Leicester, and distanced England from Elizabeth’s one time suitor, the Duc d’Alençon. Any accounts of trials and executions were altered to ensure proceedings were unequivocally portrayed as being fair and legal” (King’s College London). The work of altering the entire edition of the Chronicles was rather haphazardly carried out, so that the sections affected vary from copy to copy. In this copy all of the offending sections are cancelled or excised. A nice example, scarce and desirable.
Price: $18,000.00 Item Number: 95438
-
“It is a curious fate to be objectified alive. Think with humor while reading": First Edition of Anton Reiser's Albert Einstein: A Biographical Portrait; Inscribed by Albert Einstein with an original poem
REISER, Anton. [Albert Einstein].
Albert Einstein: A Biographical Portrait.
New York: Albert & Charles Boni, 1930.
First edition of this Einstein biography written by Rudolf Kayser, a German literary historian and husband to Albert Einstein’s stepdaughter Ilse under the pseudonym Anton Reiser. Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece of Einstein. Inscribed by Albert Einstein with an original poem on the front free endpaper in German, which translates as, “It is a curious fate to be objectified alive. Think with humor while reading. A. Einstein.” From the library of Alexandre and Catherine Barjansky with her ownership signature to the verso of the front panel and notation below Einstein’s inscription, “S.S. ‘Belgenland,’ New-York, 14/XII/30.” Russian sculptress Catherine Barjansky, her celebrated cellist husband, and Einstein were all close friends of King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth of Belgium. Barjansky described her experiences creating the now famed and very intimate sculptural portraits of Elizabeth and Albert in her 1947 joint memoir with her husband Portraits with Backgrounds. Catherine had an international career, living at times in Rome, Berlin, New York, Vienna, Paris, and Brussels. Einstein was in New York at the time he inscribed the present volume, having arrived aboard the Belgenland three days earlier. Einstein travelled aboard the Belgenland several times. He was on the ship in March 1933, intending to return home to Germany, when he learned the alarming news that the Nazis had ransacked his summer cottage in Caputh. He soon decided it was too dangerous to return to Germany and when the ship docked in Antwerp, Belgium, he immediately reported to the German consulate in Brussels, where he turned in his German passport and renounced his citizenship. Einstein returned to America in October, beginning a new life as a member of the faculty of Princeton University’s Institute for Advanced Study. In near fine condition. A complex and desirable association.
Price: $17,500.00 Item Number: 90431
-
Rare First edition in English of Sir Isaac Newton's Two Treatises of the Quadrature of Curves and Analysis by Equations of an Infinite Number of Terms
NEWTON, Sir Isaac. Translated by John Stewart.
Sir Isaac Newton’s Two Treatises of the Quadrature of Curves, and Analysis by Equations of an Infinite Number of Terms, Explained.
London: Printed by James Bettenham for the Society for the Encouragement of Learning, 1745.
First edition in English of the mathematical appendixes to Newton‘s fundamental 1704 Opticks, one of the greatest works of science ever published. Translated from the Latin by James Bettenham, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Aberdeen. Quarto, bound in contemporary calf, gilt titles to the spine, burgundy morocco spine label, rebacked, woodcut diagrams throughout the text, engraved tailpiece. In very good condition with some light wear and browning to the text, with wide margined text. Exceptionally rare and desirable, first editions are scarce with only four appearing at auction in the last 90 years.
Price: $17,500.00 Item Number: 95840
-
First Edition of Martin Luther's King Jr.'s Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?; inscribed by him
KING JR., Martin Luther.
Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?
New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1967.
First edition of King’s “last grand expression of his vision” (Cornel West). Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated with eight pages of black-and-white photogravures. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “To Mr. H.O. Wilson In appreciation for your great support Martin Luther King Jr.” Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Ronald Clyne. Jacket photograph of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Bob Fitch. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $17,500.00 Item Number: 120468
-
"A man does what he must — in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers, and pressures — and that is the basis of all human morality": First Edition of Kennedy's Profiles In Courage; Signed by Him to Fell U.S. Senator Frederick Payne
KENNEDY, John F.
Profiles In Courage.
New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1956.
First edition of Kennedy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning work. Octavo, original half cloth, with eight pages of black-and-white photogravures. Foreword by Allan Nevins. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “To Fred Payne with the highest regards John Kennedy.” The recipient Frederick G. Payne was a United States Senator from Maine from 1953 to 1959. He previously served as the 60th Governor of Maine from 1949 to 1952. Kennedy and Payne worked together in the Senate in the 1950s and were close friends. “From the Personal Library of Senator Frederick G. Payne” stamped opposite the front free endpaper, near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Phil Grushkin. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A nice association linking these two United States Senators.
Price: $17,500.00 Item Number: 74004
-
“I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing": Rare First Edition Of Herman Melville's Moby Dick
MELVILLE, Herman.
Moby Dick; Or, The Whale.
New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1851.
First edition of Melville’s masterpiece. Octavo, bound in full calf by Aquarius, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, morocco spine label, double gilt ruled to the front and rear panels, gilt topstain. In near fine condition. An exceptional example of this cornerstone of American literature.
Price: $17,500.00 Item Number: 122370
-
First Edition of Martin Luther's King Jr.'s Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?; inscribed by him
KING JR., Martin Luther.
Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?
New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1967.
First edition of King’s “last grand expression of his vision” (Cornel West). Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated with eight pages of black-and-white photogravures. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “To Dr. Stephen Goodyear In appreciation for your great support Martin Luther King Jr.” Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Ronald Clyne. Jacket photograph of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Bob Fitch.
Price: $17,500.00 Item Number: 124490
-
“THERE is a mystery in the soul of state Which hath an operation more divine Than breath or pen can give expression to”: First Edition of Ralph Waldo Emerson's Fortune of the Republic; Inscribed by Him to Elizabeth Peabody
EMERSON, Ralph Waldo.
Fortune of the Republic.
Boston: Osgood, 1879.
First edition of this lecture by Emerson delivered at the Old South Church, March 30, 1878. Octavo, original publishers cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “Miss E.P. Peabody from R.W.E.” The recipient Elizabeth Palmer Peabody was a close friend of Emerson’s, who tutored Peabody in Greek and were both integral contributors to the Transcendental Movement. She was an American educator who opened the first English-language kindergarten in the United States. She also served as the translator for the first English version of a Buddhist scripture which was published in 1844. In near fine condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 69055
-
"I'm wearing a necklace and ear-rings so that the mountains can enjoy looking at them!": Exceptionally rare collection of autograph letters signed by reclusive author P.L. Travers
TRAVERS, P.L.
Collection of P. L. Travers Autograph Letters Signed Archive.
1974-1993.
Exceptionally rare collection of 28 typed and hand written letters and notes signed by the author of Mary Poppins, P. L. Travers. 36 pages, the letters are a collection of 20 years of correspondence between Travers and close personal friends John and Jacqueline Rutherfurd and offer an intimate glimpse into Travers’ personal life and many travels. In one note dated August 10, 1981, Travers writes: “Dear Jaqueline, I write, with a newly overhauled portable (and see how it works and imagine what I will have to say to them when I get back to London!) from Chandolin, the highest lived-in-all-the-year-round village in Europe. Lovely high air and I try to come for a short time every year to get away from London sea level. And I’m wearing a necklace and ear-rings so that the mountains can enjoy looking at them!” Another letter, dated December 20, 1981, reads in part: “I am waiting for a photograph of me that was taken for my new book that is coming out here in the spring…I wish I could say when the book will be out in the U. S. but there are all sorts of goings on there; I’ve rewritten one of the stories, called Bad Tuesday in the first Mary Poppins book as the San Francisco library put it in the index as being ‘insulting to minorities.’” Another letter dated May 7th 1980 reads in part: “That was a lovely poem to have received at three o’clock in the morning, Jacqueline! Truly beautiful…I will certainly keep it. I put special things into books and then come upon them ages after and am refreshed all over again. That is why I don’t lend my books. I’m not going to let others see my letters, my comments in the margins; why let them into my communing with myself?” Additionally included are the original envelopes addressed to the Rutherfurds in Travers’ hand. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional collection offering a unique glimpse into the personality of the very private author.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 92809
-
"I hope that this book ain't so silly and that it will always remain in the cas[s]a": First Edition of Where the Sidewalk Ends, Signed by Shel Silverstein; Inscribed to the Children of His Editor
SILVERSTEIN, Shel.
Where the Sidewalk Ends: Poems and Drawings.
New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1974.
First edition of the author’s first collection of children’s poetry. Stated first edition on the copyright page. Small quarto, original brown cloth, illustrated. Association copy, inscribed by Shel Silverstein with an original poem on the front free endpapers to the children of his editor and publicist William Cole, “For Alex and Rossa and Billy, I hope that this book ain’t so silly and that it will always remain in the cas[s]a (The superfluous ‘s’ has been scribbled out with footnote “Bill Cole’s Incessant Editorial Meddling”) of Billy and Alex Rossa (Not a bad rhyme for three such difficult names and if you don’t read Spanish, Learn it!) Love, Shel Silverstein.” American editor and anthologist William Rossa Cole edited over 50 anthologies of verse for children and adults throughout his career which included tenures at Knopf, Simon & Schuster and Viking, where he had his own imprint. He is thanked by Silverstein at the end of Where the Sidewalk Ends “for his continued encouragement” and many of Silverstein’s poems made their first appearance at Cole’s solicitation. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional association copy.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 91344
-
Signed Limited Edition of the "Greatest Golf Book Of the 20th Century" Down the Fairway
JONES, Robert (Bobby) T..
Down the Fairway: The Golf Life and Play of Robert T. Jones, Jr.
New York: Minton, Balch & Company, 1927.
Signed Limited edition, preceding the first trade edition of what many consider the greatest golf book of the 20th century. One of 300 numbered copies, signed by both Robert T. Jones and O.B. Keeler, and again by Jones beneath his frontispiece. Octavo, original half vellum over green cloth, gilt titles to the spine, top edge gilt, frontispiece, illustrated. Foreword by Grantland Rice. In fine condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 83088
-
Rare French Military Artillery and Fortification Manual with text in manuscript and technical drawings throughout
French Military Artillery and Fortification Manual.
Metz: Ecole Royale de l'Artillerie et du Genie, 1818-19.
Rare early 19th century French military manual created in manuscript for the Ecole Royale de ‘Artillerie et du Genie (School of Application of Artillery and Engineering of Metz) containing lessons and technical drawings in the mechanics of artillery and construction of temporary and permanent military fortifications. Quarto, ten volumes bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards with gilt titles to the spine and front panels, text in manuscript with technical drawings throughout. In near fine condition, internally exceptionally clean. A rare and desirable piece of 19th century French military history.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 109852
-
"what first attracts our interest in the person of Moses is his name": First Edition of Freud's Moses And Monotheism; Inscribed by Him To His Niece
FREUD, Sigmund.
Moses And Monotheism.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1939.
First American edition of last book written and published in Sigmund Freud’s lifetime. Presentation copy, inscribed on the front free endpaper, “To dear Poppy from Uncle Sigm. London 1939.” The eldest daughter of Freud’s elder brother, Philipp, Pauline “Poppy” Freud was born in 1873 when Sigmund was seventeen years old. Freud visited Pauline and her parents in Manchester, England periodically throughout her childhood and maintained correspondence with Pauline well into her adulthood, visiting her and her husband, Frederick Oswald Hartwig, in London in 1939. Near fine in a very good dust jacket with some wear to the extremities. Housed in a custom clamshell box. Freud association copies of this magnitude seldom enter the marketplace.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 67018
-
"I would advise anyone who wants to get to the kernel of the life of a Polar explorer to read the book": Edition De Luxe of Antarctic Days; Signed by Shackleton, Murray and Marston
SHACKLETON, Ernest; James Murray and George Marston.
Antarctic Days. Sketches of the Homely Side of Polar Life by Two of Shackleton’s Men: Introduced by Sir Ernest Shackleton.
London: Andrew Melrose, 1913.
Limited edition de luxe, numbered 85 of 280 copies signed on the recto of the limitation leaf by E.H. Shackleton, James Murray and George Marston. Octavo, original blue cloth, gilt titles to the spine and front panel with a mounted color illustration, top edge gilt, 4 mounted color plates after watercolors by C. Day, 34 photo illustrations on 28 plates. In near fine condition with a light rubbing. A very nice example, as most copies have been rebound. Introduced by Sir Ernest Shackleton.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 103746
-
First edition of the second book on architecture published in America: Owen Biddle's The Young Carpenter's Assistant
BIDDLE, Owen.
The Young Carpenter’s Assistant; Or, A System Of Architecture, Adapted To The Style Of Building In The United States.
Philadelphia: Benjamin Johnson, 1805.
First edition of the second book on architecture published in America, second only to Asher Benjamin’s Country Builder’s Assistant’ published in 1797( Shaw & Shoemaker, 8018). Quarto, bound in full calf, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, gilt ruled to the front and rear panels, illustrated with 44 engraved plates, 2 folding. In very good condition. Scarce with only 2 copies having appeared at auction in the past 50 years.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 117672
-
“NIELSEN’S MOST SPECTACULAR AND CELEBRATED BOOK”: SIGNED LIMITED EDITION OF EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON
NIELSEN, Kay. Asbjornsen.
East of the Sun West of the Moon: Old Tales from the North.
London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1914.
Signed limited edition of one of the most important and impressive books of the Golden Age of book illustration. One of 500 numbered copies, this is number 41. Quarto, original vellum, gilt titles and decoration to spine and front cover gilt, top edge gilt, pictorial endpapers. Signed by the illustrator Kay Nielsen. With 25 tipped in color plates. In near fine condition. A very nice example. Laid is the original notice for the Leicester Galleries exhibition held in November and December of 1914, where the watercolors for this book were offered for sale.
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 69026
-
“Do anything, but let it produce joy": RARE SECOND EDITION OF WALT WHITMAN’S LEAVES OF GRASS; ONE OF ONE THOUSAND COPIES
WHITMAN, Walt.
Leaves of Grass.
Brooklyn, New York: Fowler and Wells, 1856.
Rare second edition, one of a 1000 copies of the most important volume in American poetry, with an additional twenty poems not found in the first edition as well as a new section of correspondence and reviews entitled “Leaves-droppings” that begins with the famous letter from Emerson containing the salutation “I greet you at the beginning of a great career.” Small octavo, original green cloth. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Walt Whitman. Bookplate of Barrett Wendell to the inside panel. Barrett was an American academic and a trustee of the Boston Athenaeum, a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and he was also elected to the Harvard Board of Overseers. Bookplate of William Whitwell Greenough. Greenough was a Boston merchant and politician, trustee of the Boston Public Library, 1856-1888, President of the Board of Trustees, 1866-1888. In very good condition with some toning to the spine and overall light wear. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A nice example of this rarity with noted provenance.
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 50052
-
First Edition of Walt Disney's Fantasia; Inscribed by Disney and with Twelve original drawings
DISNEY, Walt; Deems Taylor .
Walt Disney’s Fantasia. With a Foreword by Leopold Stokowski.
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1940.
First edition of the lavishly illustrated companion volume to Disney’s animated musical masterpiece. Quarto, original cloth, pictorial endpapers, illustrated with 16 mounted color plates. Presentation copy, signed and inscribed by thirteen people (including Walt Disney); all who worked at Walt Disney studios in the 1940s. All of the inscriptions are to Jodie Ferguson Brudge, who was a secretary at Disney Studios, and upon her leaving to get married, raise family, she asked those that she worked with to inscribe her copy of Fantasia. This work contains the following inscriptions and illustrations, inscribed by Walt Disney on the title page, “To Jodie Best Wishes Walt Disney.” Page 10 has an original full-color illustration by Milt Banta of a card game between Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Milt Banta, with the inscription “Best Wishes Always Milt Banta.” Page 14 has a full page original illustration by Russ Dyson of a “ye olde family tree” for the Ferguson [Jodie] and Dyson branches. On the Dyson branch is a self-portrait of Dyson as a bird, with the inscription, “I Hope the Ferguson Branch Doesn’t grow any Larger! Good Luck – Russ Dyson 1/18/46.” Page 57 has an original watercolor of a tree branch and paint container, and the inscription: “Jodie – If you ever run across any automatic paint brushes like these – let me know. – Claude Coats.” Page 82 has a twenty-six line inscription that is warm and thoughtful from Ben [Sharpsteen]. Page 95 has an original color illustration of a frog fishing and the inscription, “An ‘Good Fishin’ to you all the time – Jodie. Hugh Hennesy” Page 102 has an original color illustration of a self-portrait of Bill Berg, with the inscription “Good Bye Jodie – We’ll Miss You!!! Bill Berg.” Page 118 has an original illustration of a self-portrait of Jerry Hathcock waking from a nightmare, with the inscription, “Gad!! What a Nightmare! Maybe Jodie is smart to leave. Good Bye + Good Luck, Jerry Hathcock.” Page 119 has an original illustration of a bouquet of flowers, that has been drawn into the hand/wing of the printed ostrich, with the inscription: “Best Luck and Good Wishes Jodie. Phil Barber.” Page 121 has an original illustration of a self-portrait of J. Eric Gurney who is holding a banner that reads, “Best Wishes to Jodie.” The opposite end of the banner is being held by the printed hippopotamus. Page 126 has an original illustration of a self-portrait of Nick Nichols (being held aloft by the printed elephant), with the inscription: “Bye Bye Jodie Come Back And Work For Me Again. Best Nick Nichols.” Page 159 has an original full-page illustration of Jodie as a centaurette, with the inscription, “G’bye Now. Lots of Luck an’ Stuff to Jodie. George Rowley.” The verso of the rear free endsheet contains an original illustration of a guitar player in a pancho and sombrero with the inscription, ” Good Luck Jodie. William de la Torre.” An excellent example in a very good dust jacket. A unique piece of Disney history.
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 96808