Literature
Showing 21–40 of 118 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- Framed Autographs and Historical Documents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
-
First Edition of Sea of Cortez; Inscribed by John Steinbeck
STEINBECK, John and E. F. Ricketts.
Sea of Cortez: A Leisurely Journal of Travel and Research.
New York : The Viking Press, 1941.
First edition of this classic work. Octavo, original cloth, cartographic endpapers. Presentation copy, inscribed by John Steinbeck on the title page. Some offsetting to the half-title page, near fine in a very good dust jacket. Jacket design by W.V. Eckhardt.
Price: $5,000.00 Item Number: 123887
-
A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights' Entertainments, now entitled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night... [with] Supplemental Nights
BURTON, Richard F.
A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now entitled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night… [with] Supplemental Nights.
Benares: Printed by the Kamashastra Society for Private Subscribers only, .
First Burton edition of The Arabian Nights. Octavo, 16 volumes, bound in three quarter red crushed morocco, gilt titles and tooling to the spin, raised bands, top edge gilt, illustrated. In near fine condition.
Price: $5,000.00 Item Number: 119367
-
"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
-
“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 Editions of Rudyard Kipling's The First and Second Jungle Books
KIPLING, Rudyard.
The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book.
London: Macmillan, 1894-95.
First editions of both volumes of The Jungle Book. Octavo, two volumes, original blue cloth decorated and lettered in gilt, all edges gilt, engraved frontispiece with tissue guard present. Illustrated by J. L. Kipling, W.H. Drake and P. Frenzeny. In near fine condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. One of Kipling's most desirable works, uncommon in this condition.
Price: $4,000.00 Item Number: 135901
-
The Works of Jonathan Swifts's Finely Bound
SWIFT, Jonathan .
The Works of Jonathan Swift: Including, Gulliver’s Travels.
London: Various Publishers, 1751-67.
Finely bound volumes of the works of Jonathan Swift. Octavo, 19 volumes, bound in contemporary calf, red morocco spine labels, gilt titles to the spine. In near fine condition, with the Cornwell House ink stamp to front free endpaper. A very sharp set.
Price: $4,000.00 Item Number: 140938
-
First Editions of Henry Yule's The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian, Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East; finely bound in full morocco by sangorski and sutcliffe
YULE, Colonel Henry.
The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian, Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East.
London: John Murray, 1871.
First edition of Yule's important work which correlated Polo's travels with their present-day locations. Octavo, two volumes. Bound in full morocco by Sangorski and Sutcliffe with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, gilt ruling and vignettes to the front panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, all edges gilt, patterned endpapers, with maps and engraved illustrations many folding and in color. From the Adventure and Exploration collection of James Stephen “Steve” Fossett with his bookplate to the pastedown of each volume. American businessman and record-setting aviator Steve Fossett became the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in…
Price: $3,800.00 Item Number: 111068
-
"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
-
“the feeling of being lost in time and geography with months and years hazily sparkling ahead in a prospect of inconjecturable magic": First Edition of Each Work in Patrick Leigh Fermor's Trilogy; Each Signed by Him
LEIGH FERMOR, Patrick.
A Time of Gifts; Between the Woods and the Water; The Broken Road.
London: John Murray, 1977-2013.
First editions of each volume in Leigh Fermor's trilogy. Octavo, original cloth. A Time of Gifts and Between the Woods and the Water are signed by Patrick Leigh Fermor on the title page. The Broken Road, which was published posthumously is signed by editors Colin Thubron and Artemis Cooper on the title page. Jacket artwork by John Craxton. Near fine in excellent dust jackets, name to the front free endpaper on the first volume. An exceptional set, uncommon signed.
Price: $3,500.00 Item Number: 137399
-
First edition of T. E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom; elaborately bound in full morocco
LAWRENCE, T. E.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1935.
First trade edition of Lawrence’s classic account of his role in the Arab rebellion against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. Quarto, bound in full morocco, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, front and rear panels, raised gilt bands, marbled endpapers. Illustrated with photographic plates, portraits from sketches and four folding maps. In fine condition. An exceptional example.
Price: $3,000.00 Item Number: 131695
-
Large Paper Copy of John Muir's The Cruise of the Corwin; One of Five Hundred and Fifty Copies; In the Exceptionally Rare Dust Jacket
MUIR, John.
The Cruise of the Corwin: Journal of the Arctic Expedition of 1881 In Search of De Long and the Jeannette.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1917.
First edition, large paper copy, one of five hundred and fifty copies, this is number 260. Octavo, original cloth. Edited by William Frederic Badè. Illustrated with plates from photographs and from sketches by Muir. Fine in the rare original dust jacket with light rubbing and wear. Kimes 348; BAL 14775
Price: $3,000.00 Item Number: 97365
-
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
-
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
-
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 Mary Howitt's Twelve Months with Fredrika Bremer in Sweden
HOWITT, Margaret. [Fredrika Bremer].
Twelve Months with Fredrika Bremer in Sweden.
London: Jackson, Walford, and Hodder, 1866.
First edition of Howitt's work on the twelve months she spent with close friend and writer Fredrika Bremer. Octavo, original cloth with gilt titles and elaborate gilt tooling to the spine and front panel, tipped in tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait of Bremer with an inscription from her to Howitt in facsimile. In very good condition. Scarce with only one other copy traced at auction. Bookplate.
Price: $2,500.00 Item Number: 124150
-
“You cannot surprise an individual more than twice with the same marvel": First Edition, first state of Mark Twains Life On The Mississippi in the publisher's original full sheep
TWAIN, Mark [Samuel L. Clemens].
Life On The Mississippi.
Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1883.
First American edition, first state of this provocative portrait of the great Mississippi River with tailpiece of Twain in flames on p. 441 and “The St. Louis Hotel” caption on p. 443. Octavo, original publisher's deluxe full sheep with morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled, illustrated. In very good condition, rebacked. Uncommon.
Price: $2,500.00 Item Number: 142314
-
First Edition of V.S. Naipaul's The Middle Passage: The Caribbean; Revisited; Signed by Him
NAIPAUL, V.S.
The Middle Passage: The Caribbean Revisited.
London: Andre Deutsch, 1962.
First edition of this travel work, “which belongs in the same category as Lawrence’s books on Italy, Greene’s on West Africa and Pritchett’s on Spain” (New Statesman). Octavo, original cloth, cartographic endpapers. Boldly signed by V.S. Naipaul on the title page. Name on the front free endpaper and stamp on the half-title page, near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by William Belcher.
Price: $2,000.00 Item Number: 75489
-
"Into the dark, into that silence that has no end": First Edition of H.G. Wells' The First Men in the Moon
WELLS, H.G.
The First Men in the Moon.
London: George Newnes, Limited, 1901.
First English edition of Wells's classic work of science fiction. Octavo, original publisher's gilt-decorated blue cloth, illustrated with 12 plates by Claude Shepperson. In very good condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional presentation.
Price: $2,000.00 Item Number: 144193
-
"All this life, must be life, since it is so much like a dream": First Edition of Joseph Conrad's Nostromo
CONRAD, Joseph.
Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard.
London: Harper & Brothers, 1904.
First edition of what many consider to be Conrad's masterpiece, one of 2000 examples. Octavo, original blue cloth stamped in gilt. An excellent near fine example with light shelfwear, with the spine gilt nice and bright. A very sharp example.
Price: $2,000.00 Item Number: 135318
-
"Here are deep maters, not easily to be dismissed by crying blasphemy": First edition of The Magic Island; inscribed by William Buehler Seabrook
SEABROOK, William Buehler.
The Magic Island.
New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1929.
First edition of occultist William Buehler Seabrook's account of his time spent among Voodoo practitioners in Haiti, credited with introducing the concept of a zombie to popular culture. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated with drawings by Alexander King and photographs by the author. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "For Yolanda Billia with best wishes W. B. Seabrook." With an original black and white glossy photograph tipped in annotated "W. B. Seabrook before a Voodoo Altar" and an additional original black and white glossy photograph of him laid in. Near fine in a near fine dust…
Price: $2,000.00 Item Number: 124734