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Rare & Classic, American or English Literature Books for Sale Online
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"The first American bestseller": Exceedingly Rare first edition of Susanna Haswell Rowson's Charlotte: A Tale of Truth
ROWSON, Susanna Haswell.
Charlotte. A Tale of Truth.
Philadelphia: Printed by D. Humphreys for M. Carey, 1794.
Exceedingly rare first American edition (and the earliest obtainable example) of the first American bestseller. Octavo, two volumes bound into one in three quarter calf over marbled boards, morocco spine label lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers. Although the first American edition was preceded by the first English edition published in 1791, no examples of the first English edition have been traced at auction. In very good condition. Bookplate of D. Appleton to the pastedown, bibliographic description tipped in. Housed in a custom cloth chemise and half morocco clamshell slipcase. Exceedingly rare with only one other example of the first American…
Price: $50,000.00 Item Number: 125183
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"IT IS NOT DOWN ON ANY MAP; TRUE PLACES NEVER ARE": FIRST EDITION OF HERMAN MELVILLE'S MOBY DICK; in the rare red variant cloth
MELVILLE, Herman.
Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale.
New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1851.
First edition, first issue binding of Melville’s masterpiece. Octavo, original red variant cloth (BAL’s A grain), covers stamped in blind with Harper’s circular device at the center of the front panel within a heavy blind ruled frame, plain white endpapers. Issued in a single volume, in black, green, blue, red, purple, slate or brown cloth, gilt. The first state of the binding has a circular device at center of covers that is absent from the second state binding. Much has been made of whether the earliest copies bound should have orange-coated end papers, but in fact there is no priority…
Price: $20,000.00 Item Number: 142813
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Scarce second edition of The First Spelling Primer; or an Easy Introduction to the Art of Reading Adorned with Emblematic Pictures
The First Spelling Primer; or an Easy Introduction to the Art of Reading Adorned with Emblematic Pictures.
London-Derry: Published by G. Douglas, 1795.
Second edition of this scarce 18th century spelling primer. 16mo, original limp paper boards, illustrated with twenty-six small text woodcuts illustrating the Prince's Alphabet, followed by an ABC poem, The Alphabet in Rhime, syllables of two and three letters, easy words, easy reading lessons, the Lord's Prayer, and a publisher's advertisement leaf aimed at children mentioning four other titles: The Ladder to Learning; Manson's Spelling Primer; Manson's Spelling Book; and The Universal Spelling Book. In good condition. Ownership name to the front panel. Housed in a custom folding case. Exceptionally rare with no other copies traced in auction records, nor…
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 135238
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First Edition, First Issue of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin with a first edition of A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin; With a signed Card and Cart-de-visite
STOWE, Harriet Beecher.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin; Or, Life Among the Lowly and A Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Boston and Cleveland: John P. Jewett and Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, 1852.
First edition, first issue of the author's classic work. Octavo, original cloth, volume with title vignettes and six wood-engravings. In very good condition. With a rare carte-de-visite and note card signed "truly yours HB Stowe." Comes with a first edition of Stowe's A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, published in 1853. Housed in a custom case.
Price: $11,000.00 Item Number: 112652
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"The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind": The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan; Signed by Bob Dylan
DYLAN, Bob.
The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.
1963.
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on May 27, 1963 by Columbia Records, boldly signed by Dylan. Whereas his self-titled debut album Bob Dylan had contained only two original songs, Freewheelin' represented the beginning of Dylan's writing contemporary words to traditional melodies. Eleven of the thirteen songs on the album are Dylan's original compositions. The album opens with "Blowin' in the Wind", which became an anthem of the 1960s, and an international hit for folk trio Peter, Paul & Mary soon after the release of Freewheelin'. The album featured several other songs which came to…
Price: $10,500.00 Item Number: 109822
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rare First Worcester edition of The History of Little Goody Twoshoes
[GOLDSMITH, Oliver].
The History of Little Good Twoshoes; Otherwise Called Mrs. Margery Twoshoes.
Worcester, Massachusetts: Isaiah Thomas, 1787.
First Worcester edition of the famed fable. 16mo, original wrappers, illustrated with 8 engraved plates, terminal advertisements. In very good condition. From the library of noted collector and philanthropist Estelle Doheny with her bookplate to the folding chemise case. Housed in a custom full morocco and folding chemise case.
Price: $8,200.00 Item Number: 133024
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Extra-Illustrated Works of Daniel Webster; Signed by Him and Millard Fillmore
WEBSTER, Daniel [Millard Fillmore].
The Works of Daniel Webster.
Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1851.
The subscriber's edition of the works of Daniel Webster, signed by Webster in the first volume. Octavo, 6 volumes, bound in three quarters morocco, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised bands, gilt topstain, extra illustrated with 12 autograph letters, documents, and notes by Webster and others, including one printed ship's passport signed by Millard Fillmore, as President, and Webster, as Secretary of State, as well as 70 additional engraved portraits and views. In near fine condition. An exceptional presentation, rare and desirable signed.
Price: $8,200.00 Item Number: 133643
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First Edition, First Issue of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin
STOWE, Harriet Beecher.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin; Or, Life Among the Lowly.
Boston: John P. Jewett & Company. Cleveland: Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, 1852.
First edition, first issue of Stowe's classic American novel, widely considered the book that precipitated the American Civil War. Octavo, two volumes in the original publisher's cloth stamped in blind with gilt titles and vignettes to the front panels, illustrated with title vignettes and six wood-engravings. BAL's binding B (no priority). Portrait of Stowe tipped in opposite the title page of volume I. In very good condition.
Price: $7,500.00 Item Number: 142642
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Rare Salesman Dummy of Mark Twain's First Edition of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
MARK TWAIN) CLEMENS, Samuel L.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, 1885.
First edition of Twain's masterpiece, Salesman's Dummy Issue. Octavo, original publisher's decorated green cloth gilt to the spine and front panel. With frontispiece portrait of Twain inserted at front (with the imprint of the Heliotype Printing Co., but the cloth is not visible). This book was specially printed to have a selection of text pages, so it is common for the recto of one page to have a certain page number, and the page number on the verso to jump by several pages. Because of this, this book only has some of the issue points that a copy of Huckleberry Finn would…
Price: $7,500.00 Item Number: 62040
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"THE FIRST AMERICAN BESTSELLER": RARE EARLY AMERICAN PRINTING OF SUSANNA HASWELL ROWSON'S The History of Charlotte Temple
ROWSON, Susanna Haswell.
The History of Charlotte Temple. Founded on Fact.
Hartford: Printed by John Babcock, 1801.
Early American printing of the first American bestseller, first published in 1794. 16mo, bound in one quarter contemporary leather over paper-covered boards. In good condition. Period ownership inscription, "Mary More Her Book Bought in the year 1802 Price 2/0 If this Book you Chance to Borrow and it should get lost it would fill my heart with Sorrow And you must pay the Cost." Exceptionally rare and desirable.
Price: $7,500.00 Item Number: 138507
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“I do not wish any reward but to know I have done the right thing": First Edition of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
TWAIN, Mark [Samuel L. Clemens] .
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn [Tom Sawyer’s Comrade].
New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, 1885.
First edition of Twain's masterpiece, with the first state of the frontispiece portrait. Octavo, original publisher's decorated green cloth gilt to the spine and front panel. With frontispiece portrait of Twain inserted at front (with the imprint of the Heliotype Printing Co., but the cloth is not visible). This example exhibits the following issue points: title leaf is conjugate. Copyright notice dated 1884; the illustration captioned "Him and another Man" [p.13] listed as p.88 (first state); 11th line from bottom of p.57 reads "...with the was..." (first state); p. 283 is an integral leaf with the corrected engraving; the final…
Price: $7,200.00 Item Number: 85975
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Rare Signed Carte-de-Visite of Ralph Waldo Emerson
EMERSON, Ralph Waldo.
Ralph Waldo Emerson Signed Carte-de-Visite.
Carte-de-visite of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Boldly signed by Ralph Waldo Emerson below the photograph. In near fine condition. Matted and framed. Rare.
Price: $6,800.00 Item Number: 67039
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“I do not wish any reward but to know I have done the right thing": First Edition of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
TWAIN, Mark [Samuel L. Clemens].
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn [Tom Sawyer’s Comrade].
New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, 1885.
First edition of Twain's masterpiece, photogravure plate of a portrait bust of Clemens by Karl Gerhardt, title-leaf a cancel with copyright notice dated 1884; illustrated captioned "Him and another Man" listed on page 88 in contents; eleventh line from bottom of page 57 reads "with the was";"5" final five on page 155 is slightly larger; page 283/284 on a stub, without additional final blank leaf, In near fine condition with light rubbing to the extremities. Housed in custom chemise and full morocco clamshell box. A very nice example.
Price: $6,500.00 Item Number: 100058
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Photograph of "the father of American literature" Mark Twain; With an autographed note
TWAIN, Mark. [Samuel L. Clemens].
Mark Twain Autograph with Photograph.
Original photograph of Mark Twain by A. F. Bradley, signed with a note, "Yrs truly Samuel L. Clemens Mark Twain", framed beneath original photograph. The silver gelatin print is a seated portrait of Twain, stamped "Pach Bros. NY" lower right. Double matted and framed. The entire piece measures
Price: $6,500.00 Item Number: 132452
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"This is a book that needed to be written": First Edition of Tin Pan Alley; Signed by George Gershwin, Charles Previn and James Melton
GOLDBERG, Isaac; Introduction by George Gershwin.
Tin Pan Alley.
New York: The John Day Company, 1930.
First edition of this work on American popular music. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. Introduction by George Gershwin. Boldly signed "Sincerely George Gershwin" on the dedication page. Additionally signed by conductor Charles Previn and tenor James Melton. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Previn was an American film composer who was highly active at Universal in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. Before going to Hollywood, Previn had arranged music for over 100 Broadway productions. Melton was a popular singer in the 1920s and 1930s and later began a career as an operatic singer when tenor voices went out…
Price: $5,500.00 Item Number: 84308
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First edition of Dee Alexander Brown's The Bold Cavaliers; inscribed by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Harper Lee to close personal friend and colleague Charles Weldon Carruth
BROWN, Dee Alexander. [Harper Lee].
The Bold Cavaliers: Morgan’s 2nd Kentucky Cavalry Raiders.
Philadelphia and New York: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1959.
First edition of the author's Civil War classic. Octavo, original half cloth, cartographic endpapers. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee on the front free endpaper to close University of Alabama college friend, Charles Weldon Carruth, "To Charles with love, Nelle." In the fall term of 1945, Lee and Carruth both enrolled in a Shakespeare course taught by one of the University of Alabama’s most famous faculty members, Hudson Strode, who directed the school’s theatre troupe and taught several courses in theatre and creative-writing. At the University of Alabama, Lee contributed a regular column…
Price: $5,000.00 Item Number: 116234
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Rare First Edition of Booker T. Washington's Up From Slavery; with an autograph letter signed by him
WASHINGTON, Booker T.
Up From Slavery. An Autobiography.
New York: Doubleday, Page, 1901.
First edition of Booker T. Washington's landmark biography with an autograph letter signed by him on his Tuskegee Institute letterhead. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated, tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait of the author. Accompanied by an autograph letter signed by Washington on his The Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute letterhead which reads, "Oct. 19, 190 Mr. George A. Dary Exchange Bldg 53 State St. Boston Mass Dear Sir: - you will find enclosed a copy of my last annual report to the Board of Trustees which has just been printed. I thought you might like to read it or at least glance through…
Price: $4,800.00 Item Number: 135007
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Signed Limited Edition of The Lanthorn Book; Signed by Stephen Crane
CRANE, Stephen. Irving Bacheller.
The Lanthorn Book: Being a Small Collection of Tales and Verses Read at The Sign o’ the Lanthorn.
New York: 126 William Street, 1898.
Signed limited edition, this is number 47. Quarter, original half cloth. Signed by Stephen Crane at the conclusion of his contribution, The Wise Men. Also signed by the other contributors. While it was the intention of the club to have each contributor sign his piece, Crane did not sign all 125 examples, as he died at age 28 in the year 1900. In near fine condition, rebacked, charming illustration to the front free endpaper. Rare and desirable.
Price: $3,500.00 Item Number: 141808
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First edition of Joel Chandler Harris' Uncle Remus and His Friends; inscribed by illustrator A.B. Frost with an original drawing and with a clipped signature signed by Joel Chandler Harris tipped in
HARRIS, Joel Chandler.
Uncle Remus and His Friends: Old Plantation Stories, Songs, and Ballads with Sketches of Negro Character.
Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1892.
First edition of the fourth collection of “Uncle Remus” tales. Octavo, original pictorial cloth with gilt titles to the spine and front panel, illustrated with frontispiece and 11 plates by A.B. Frost. Presentation copy, inscribed by the illustrator on the flyleaf, "To Doctor Eugene S. Hoyt with the warmest regards of his friend A. B. Frost April 1906." Frost has added a large original drawing of a fox dressed in men's clothing. With a clipped signature inscribed by the author tipped in, "Yours faithfully Joel Chandler Harris." In near fine condition. Bookplate. An exceptional example, most rare and desirable signed…
Price: $3,500.00 Item Number: 133016