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 115 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- Framed Autographs and Historical Documents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 Elspeth Huxley's With Forks and Hope: An African Notebook; inscribed by her
HUXLEY, Elspeth.
With Forks and Hope: An African Notebook.
1964: William Morrow & Company, New York.
First edition of Huxley's authoritative report on the rapidly changing political climate of post-colonial East Africa. Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated with maps and drawings by Jonathan Kingdon. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, "For Joe Ferrier with my best wished Elspeth Huxley." Laid in is the original typed transmittal letter, an autograph card and photograph of Huxley; all three signed by her to Ferrier. The recipient, Joe Ferrier was a lifelong fan and pen pal of Huxley’s. They often exchanged letters, books, and article clippings between England and the United States. Near fine in a…
Price: $175.00 Item Number: 96083
-
“Undoubtedly, philosophers are in the right when they tell us that nothing is great or little otherwise than by comparison": Rare First Edition of Jonathan Swifts's Classic Work Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World
SWIFT, Jonathan.
Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, first Surgeon, and then Captain of Several Ships. [Gulliver’s Travels].
London: Benjamin Motte, 1726.
First editions of Jonathan Swift’s masterpiece, Gulliver’s Travels. Octavo, two volumes, bound in three quarters contemporary calf over marbled boards, engraved frontispiece of Lemuel Gulliver, woodcut initials, five engraved maps, gilt titles to the spine. In near fine condition. Housed in a custom cloth slipcase. Bookplate to the pastedown and period ownership signature to each volume. Both volumes are the Teerink B edition. A very nice example of this classic in English literature.
Price: $18,000.00 Item Number: 95317
-
"I WAS MUCH SURPRISED TO HEAR FOWLS SPEAK, AS THEY WERE TO SEE SUCH A MONSTER AS I APPEARED TO BE": RARE FIRST EDITION OF ONE OF THE EARLIEST PROTO-SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS: A VOYAGE TO CACKLOGALLINIA
BRUNT, Samuel.
A Voyage to Cacklogallinia: with a Description of the Religion, Policy, Customs and Manners of that Country.
London: J. Watson, 1727.
First edition of this early 18th century satire published in imitation of Jonathan Swift's masterpiece Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, or, Gulliver's Travels. Octavo, bound in full brown morocco by Charles Thurman, Binder. Raised bands, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, embossed front and rear panels, engraved frontispiece. From the library of NASA scientist and science fiction expert Frederick I. Ordway III, best known for his contribution to the development of close personal friend, Stanley Kubrick's, epic film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Rare.
Price: $7,800.00 Item Number: 36011
-
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
-
The Works of Jonathan Swifts's From the Library of Founding Father Robert R. Livingstone
SWIFT, Jonathan [Robert R. Livingstone].
The Works of Jonathan Swift: Including, Gulliver’s Travels.
Edinburgh: Printed by Mrs. Mundell, 1778.
First of 4 issues, Scotch editions, from the library of Robert R. Livingstone, with his bookplate to the pastedown of each volume. Small octavo, bound in contemporary calf, spine compartments ruled with Greek key tooling, morocco spine labels. From the library of founding father Robert R. Livingston. As one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, Livingston played an important role in the early development of the newly formed country. He was known as "The Chancellor", after the high New York state legal office he held for 25 years. He was a member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence, along with Thomas…
Price: $15,000.00 Item Number: 119642
-
First edition of Frances Trollope's Domestic Manners of the Americans
TROLLOPE, Frances Milton.
Domestic Manners of the Americans.
London: Printed for Whitaker, Treacher, & Co, 1832.
First edition of Frances Trollope's wildy popular and highly controversial work on America and Americans. Octavo, bound in three quarter morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, illustrated with 24 lithographed plates by Ducôtes after drawings by Hervieu. In very good condition. Bookplate.
Price: $750.00 Item Number: 131559
-
Rare First Edition of Mrs. Jameson's Visits and Sketches at Home and Abroad; volume III finely bound
JAMESON, Mrs. [Anna Brownell].
Visits and Sketches at Home and Abroad with Tales and Miscellanies Now First Collected and a New Edition of the Diary of an Ennuyée.
London: Saunders and Otley, 1834.
Rare first edition of Mrs. Jameson's Visits and Sketches at Home and Abroad. Octavo, volume III only of four volumes bound in three quarters vellum over marbled boards with gilt tooling to the spine, marbled endpapers, engraved frontispiece, headpieces, and tailpieces, all edges red. In very good condition.
Price: $95.00 Item Number: 114061
-
First edition of Herman Melville's first and most popular book Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life During a Four Months' Residence in A Valley of the Marquesas
MELVILLE, Herman.
Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life. During a Four Months’ Residence in A Valley of the Marquesas.
New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1846.
First edition of Melville's first book and his most popular during his lifetime. Octavo, two volumes bound into one in the original cloth stamped in blind with gilt titles to the spine, frontispiece map, both half-titles and 6 pages of publisher's advertisements at rear. BAL 13653. In very good condition, bookplate to the front pastedown. Housed in a custom full clamshell slipcase.
Price: $6,500.00 Item Number: 144151
-
Exceptionally rare First edition of Herman Melville's first and most popular book Typee A Peep at Polynesian Life During a Four Months' Residence in A Valley of the Marquesas; inscribed by him to Captain Charles Ball
MELVILLE, Herman.
Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life. During a Four Months’ Residence in A Valley of the Marquesas.
New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1846.
First edition of Melville's first book and his most popular during his lifetime. Octavo, two volumes bound into one in the original cloth stamped in blind with gilt titles to the spine, frontispiece map, both half-titles and 6 pages of publisher's advertisements at rear. BAL 13653. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper one month after publication, "Captain Ball, With the respects of the author, Westport April 18th 1846." The recipient, Captain Charles Ball was captain of the whaling ship Theophilus Chase, on which Thomas Melville, the author's youngest brother, set sail for the first time…
Price: $250,000.00 Item Number: 138349
-
"In its southern suburb, there stood two pleasant houses side by side, with their gardens sloping down to the Whit": First edition Rev. Charles Kingsley's Two Years Ago
KINGSLEY, Charles.
Two Years Ago.
Cambridge: Macmillan and Co, 1857.
First edition of the author's classic work, containing some of his most profound passages of descriptive imagery. Octavo, three volumes bound in three quarters morocco, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. In very good condition.
Price: $375.00 Item Number: 139736
-
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
-
First edition of Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad
TWAIN, Mark .
The Innocents Abroad, Or The New Pilgrims’ Progress.
Hartford: American Publishing Company, 1869.
First edition, third state of the author's second book with "The History of the Bible advertisement on page 654. BAL 3316. Octavo, bound in three quarter morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, with two hundred and thirty-four illustrations. From the library of Tiffany Thayer with his bookplate to the pastedown. American actor Tiffany Ellsworth Thayer wrote several novels, including the bestseller Thirteen Women. In a profile in Twentieth Century Authors, Thayer was described as "an atheist, an anarchist – in philosophy a Pyrrhonean – and…
Price: $1,500.00 Item Number: 127837
-
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
-
Finely Bound First Editions of Henry Yule's The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian, Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East
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 three quarters morocco with gilt tooling featuring naval vignettes and red morocco spine labels lettered in gilt to the spines, top edges gilt, marbled endpapers, with maps and engraved illustrations many folding and in color. In near fine condition. First editions are uncommon.
Price: $1,850.00 Item Number: 90447
-
First edition of The Innocents Abroad; inscribed by Mark Twain to Mrs. P. T. Barnum
TWAIN, Mark. [Samuel L. Clemens].
The Innocents Abroad, Or The New Pilgrims’ Progress.
Hartford: American Publishing Company, 1874.
First edition, second issue of the author’s second book, one of the best-selling travel books of all-time. Octavo, bound in three quarter morocco with gilt titles to the spine, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled, with two hundred and thirty-four illustrations. Association copy, inscribed by Mark Twain on the fly-leaf, "To Mrs. P. T. Barnum from Yours Truly Samuel L. Clemens Mark Twain Oct 1875." The recipient, Nancy Fish, was the second wife of American showman P. T. Barnum. Twain and Barnum were, by various accounts, friends, mutual admirers and rivals. After visiting Barnum's American Business Museum in New York City…
Price: $35,000.00 Item Number: 133104
-
“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
-
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
-
Lord Macaulay's Essays and Lays of Ancient Rome; finely bound with a concealed fore-edge painting
MACAULAY, Thomas Babington.
Lord Macaulay’s Essays and Lays of Ancient Rome.
London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1888.
Finely bound example of Macaulay's classic work. Octavo, bound in full morocco with gilt titles to the spine, gilt inner dentelles, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, decorated with a concealed fore-edge painting of a view of ancient Rome. In very good condition. Bookplate and ownership inscription.
Price: $850.00 Item Number: 138642