Literature
Rare & Classic, American or English Literature Books for Sale Online
Browse rare first edition classics in American, English, world literature, poetry, and plays. View our entire collection of rare literature below, search our inventory with advanced search, or use our sorting tools to find exactly what you’re looking for. Please call with any questions you may have on a specific item or order online today.
Showing 1–20 of 53 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- Framed Autographs and Historical Documents
- Geography
- 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
-
From the Library of John Steinbeck
[STEINBECK, John].
Two Russian Books From the Library of John Steinbeck.
Moscow: Various, c. 1960.
Two volumes in Russian from the library of American literary master John Steinbeck. Quarto, two volumes including a book of early Russian Orthodox paintings with many in color and a folio of loose plates featuring artwork from the Hermitage Museum. From the library of John Steinbeck. In very good condition.
Price: $950.00 Item Number: 117588
-
First edition of Isaac Asimov's Satellites in Space; signed by him
ASIMOV, Isaac.
Satellites in Outer Space.
New York: Random House, 1960.
First edition of Asimov's book on satellites. Quarto, original cloth, pictorial endpapers, illustrated by John Polgreen. Signed by Isaac Asimov on the title page. Near fine in a very good price-clipped dust jacket.
Price: $850.00 Item Number: 142878
-
Signed Limited First Edition of William Beebe's Galapagos: World's End
BEEBE, William.
Galapagos: World’s End.
New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1924.
Signed limited first edition, one of 100 numbered copies, this is number 54, boldly signed by William Beebe, the father of modern ecology. Quarto, original cloth, illustrated endpapers. Illustrated with 24 tipped-in color plates by Isabel Cooper, and 83 photographs mostly by John Tee-Van. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.
Price: $3,000.00 Item Number: 84953
-
To Jerusalem and Back: A Personal Account; Inscribed by Saul Bellow in the year of Publication to Journalist Goran Bergstrom
BELLOW, Saul.
To Jerusalem and Back: A Personal Account.
New York: The Viking Press, 1976.
First edition of the Nobel Prize-winning author's account of his journey to Jerusalem. Octavo, original half cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper in the year of publication, "To Mr. Bergstrom, who asks excellent questions Chicago, Nov 1, 76 Saul Bellow." The recipient was journalist Goran Bergstrom. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Photographs by Albert Margolies.
Price: $550.00 Item Number: 86448
-
“Perhaps he knew, as I did not, that the Earth was made round so that we would not see too far down the road”: Out of Africa; inscribed by Karen Blixen
BLIXEN, Karen. [Isak Dinesen].
Out of Africa.
London: Putnam, 1948.
Later printing of the author’s classic memoir, recounting her seventeen years in Kenya. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by the author on the front free endpaper, "Karen Blixen Je Responderai March 1957." While in Africa, Blixen took as her motto “Je Responderai,” “I will answer,” from the family crest of her lover, Denys Finch-Hatton. She explained: “I liked this old motto so much that I asked Denys, an earlier pioneer in African than myself – although all we settlers who had come out before the war looked upon ourselves as one family, a kind of Mayflower people – if I might…
Price: $11,000.00 Item Number: 144520
-
"Everything sounds big in the woods": First Edition of Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods; Signed by Him
BRYSON, Bill.
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail.
New York : Broadway Books, 1998.
First edition of this classic chronicle of a “terribly misguided and terribly funny hike of the Appalachian Trail” (The Washington Post). Octavo, original boards. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, "For Scott, very best wishes- Bill Bryson." Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket photograph by Art Wolfe/ Tony Stone. Jacket design by Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich.
Price: $600.00 Item Number: 125611
-
First Edition of Chagall's World: Reflections from the Mediterranean; Signed three times by Marc Chagall
CHAGALL, Marc.
Chagall’s World: Reflections from the Mediterranean.
Garden City, NY: The Dial Press/ Doubleday & Company, 1984.
First edition of this work by the legendary artist. Quarto, original cloth, illustrated throughout with numerous photographs of Chagall and his works. Boldly signed by Marc Chagall three times, "Pats- Enjoy- Marc Chagall 1984" on the half-title page, on the dedication page, and on the frontispiece. This work features portrait photographs by Bill Wyman and interviews with Chagall by Andre Verdet. Near fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 138078
-
"Have gone to Patagonia": First Edition of the Authors Masterpiece In Patagonia; Signed by Bruce Chatwin
CHATWIN, Bruce.
In Patagonia.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1977.
First edition of author’s most well-known work and one of the great travel books of the last half of the twentieth century. Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece map and 4 black and white photographic plates. Signed by Bruce Chatwin on the title page. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a touch of rubbing. A very nice example, rare signed.
Price: $3,500.00 Item Number: 44025
-
Scarce Limited First Edition of Gontran de Poncins' Kabloona; signed by him
DE PONCINS, Gontran. In collaboration with Lewis Galantiere. Illustrated by the author.
Kabloona.
New York: Reynal, Hitchcock, Inc, 1941.
First limited edition of French adventurer Gontran de Poncins' classic account of his solo unsupported journey in the Canadian Arctic. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco over cloth covered boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine. One on only 550 copies, this is number 81. Boldly signed by the author on the front free endpaper, "Before I disappear for good!...I remain your friend, 'Eskimo Miki', de Poncins." With the original Publisher's Note laid in which explains, "The Vicomte Gontran de Poncins, author of KABLOONA, called out of the Arctic to join the colors of his country, disappeared in the debacle of the…
Price: $2,800.00 Item Number: 95094
-
“I turned to the animal world from the world of men; my heart was heavy with the tragedy of the night": First Modern Library Edition of Out of Africa; Signed by Isak Dinesen and Bernadine Kielty
DINESEN, Isak [Karen Blixen] .
Out of Africa.
New York: The Modern Library , 1952.
First Modern Library edition of the author's masterpiece. Octavo, original cloth, patterned endpapers. Boldly signed on the dedication page by Karen Blixen and Bernadine Kielty, who contributed the introduction. Introduction by Bernadine Kielty. From the library of Bruce and Beatrice Gould. Bruce Gould and Beatrice Blackmar Gould were co-editors of the Ladies' Home Journal for almost 27 years, from 1935 through 1962, including the golden years of the magazine. Time magazine wrote upon their 1962 retirement, the Goulds took an undistinguished journal in a field that "took the patronizing view that a woman's interests were largely confined to the home"…
Price: $4,800.00 Item Number: 144981
-
First British Edition of Isak Dinesen's Out of Africa; King Edward VIII's Copy with his ownership inscription
DINESEN, Isak [Karen Blixen] [King Edward VIII].
Out of Africa.
London: Putnam, 1937.
First British edition of the author's masterpiece, a lyrical meditation of the years she lived in Kenya, from the library of King Edward VIII. Octavo, original cloth. With numerous original photographs and newspaper clippings affixed to the front few pages. Originally from the collection of the author's brother Thomas Fasti Dinesen with two original black and white photographs of him hunting affixed to the verso of the front free endpaper and half-title page above which he has annotated, "My first lion April 6th 1922" and "Shot from boma April 11th 1922 The boma only five feet from the hill on…
Price: $14,000.00 Item Number: 110991
-
First Edition of Gerald Durrell's The Overloaded Ark; Signed by Him
DURRELL, Gerald.
The Overloaded Ark.
New York : Simon & Schuster, 1953.
First edition of Durrell's first book. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by Gerald Durrell on the title page. Fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket, name to the front free endpaper. Jacket design by Bill English. Uncommon signed.
Price: $650.00 Item Number: 131079
-
First Edition of A Time To Keep Silence; Warmly Inscribed by Patrick Leigh Fermor
FERMOR, Patrick Leigh.
A Time To Keep Silence.
London: John Murray, 1957.
First edition of the author's third book, regarding his experiences in various monasteries. Octavo, original blue cloth. Illustrated by John Craxton. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "Mary Anna with love from Paddy 2.6.88." The recipient, Mary Anna Marten (with her bookplate to the inside gutter), was the daughter of the 3rd and last Lord Alington of Crichel and later trustee of The British Museum. Near fine in the original dust jacket with light rubbing and wear. Jacket design by Peter Todd Mitchell.
Price: $1,150.00 Item Number: 2641
-
"The red sun seemed to tip one end of a pair of scales below the horizon, and simultaneously to lift an orange moon at the other": First Folio Edition of Between the Woods and the Water; Signed by Patrick Leigh Fermor
FERMOR, Patrick Leigh.
Between the Woods and the Water.
London: The Folio Society, 2006.
First Folio edition of the author's second book in the author's trilogy that began with A Time of Gifts. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by Leigh Fermor on the title page. Fine in a fine slipcase. Illustrated by Mary Kuper.
Price: $475.00 Item Number: 38087
-
First Edition of A Time To Keep Silence; Inscribed by Patrick Leigh Fermor
FERMOR, Patrick Leigh.
A Time To Keep Silence.
London: John Murray, 1957.
First edition of the author's third book, detailing his experiences in various monasteries. Octavo, original blue cloth. Illustrated by John Craxton. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the dedication page, "From [My Mother] AE. Leigh Fermor Fudge with thanks for safe transportation to Regency Sq. Brighton MCMLXIX." Fermor has crossed out the 'To' in the printed 'To my Mother' dedication and inscribed the book as a thank you from his mother Aeileen Leigh Fermor. Known to her family as Fudge, Fermor's mother moved in old age to a rest home near Brighton, Sussex, in the late 1960's where Fermor…
Price: $2,500.00 Item Number: 135041
-
First Edition of Patrick Leigh Fermor's The Broken Road: From the Iron Gates to Mount Athos; Signed by Artemis Cooper
FERMOR, Patrick Leigh.
The Broken Road: From the Iron Gates to Mount Athos.
New York: John Murray, 2013.
First edition. Octavo, original boards, illustrated endpapers. Signed by Artemis Cooper on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Ed Kluz.
Price: $100.00 Item Number: 140032
-
"To Petros Stathatos, from his old guest and horse-borrower at Modi forty three years ago Paddy LF, with gratitude and every kind wish the adventures – travels – in this book are just a year earlier on the same journey": First Edition of Patrick Leigh Fermor's A Time of Gifts; Warmly inscribed by Him
FERMOR, Patrick Leigh.
A Time of Gifts: On Foot to Constantinople: from the Hook of Holland to the Middle Danube.
London: John Murray, 1978.
First edition of the author’s masterpiece, which ranks among the greatest travel books of the twentieth century. Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece, map. Association copy, inscribed by the author with a full page inscription on the front free endpaper with a drawing of clouds and birds, "To Petros Stathatos, from his old guest and horse-borrower at Modi forty three years ago Paddy LF, with gratitude and every kind wish * The adventures – travels – in this book are just a year earlier on the same journey." The recipient, Peter Stathatos was a close friend of Leigh Fermor with whom he…
Price: $5,000.00 Item Number: 141429
-
"This country is, I once heard it put, absolutely lousy with greatness" with not only the greatest responsibilities but with the greatest oppurtunities ever known to man": First Edition of John Gunther's Inside U.S.A.; Signed by Him
GUNTHER, John.
Inside U.S.A.
New York: Harper & Brothers , 1947.
First edition of this classic work, "riveting from start to finish" (Robert Gottlieb, The New York Times). Octavo, original cloth, cartographic endpapers. Boldly signed by John Gunther on the half-title page. Near fine in a near fine dust price-clipped jacket. Signed first editions are exceptionally rare.
Price: $1,750.00 Item Number: 134601
-
"The cowboy is the most vivid and native character in the United States today": First Edition of Alice Rogers Hager's Big Loop and Little; Inscribed by her to Amelia Earhart
HAGER, Alice Rogers [Amelia Earhart].
Big Loop and Little: The Cowboy’s Story.
New York: Macmillan, 1937.
First edition of the author's classic illustrated story of the West. Large octavo, original cloth, illustrated. Association copy, inscribed by the author to legendary aviator and personal friend Amelia Earhart on the front free endpaper, "To Amelia Earhart - First Lady of the Air because she, too, loves the free West. With admiration and appreciation of pleasant days at Burbank and Oakland. Alice Rogers Hager Washington, D.C. June 1937." From the library of Amelia Earhart with here bookplate to the verso of the front panel. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. An exceptional example with noted provenance.
Price: $2,000.00 Item Number: 61792
-
H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines; inscribed by him to his sister Ella Green
HAGGARD, H. Rider.
King Solomon’s Mines.
London: Cassel & Company, 1885.
First edition, third issue of Haggard's immensely popular Victorian adventure novel the first great "Lost World" action-adventure, a precursor to Indiana Jones. Octavo, original cloth, folding facsimile of the map of the route to King Solomon's mines. Association copy, signed by the author opposite the half-title page with an additional note inscribed to his sister, Ella Green, pasted to the same page, "your loving brother H. Rider Haggard." In very good condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional association.
Price: $12,500.00 Item Number: 118637