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 items 2448-2472 of 4655
New York : Charles Scribners' Sons, 1896.
First American edition of Morris’s fine translation of the great French Romances. Octavo, original cloth. In very good condition.
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London : Victor Gollancz, 1961.
First edition of the author’s first book, which introduced the world to the recurring protagonist, George Smiley. Octavo, original red cloth. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. An exceptional example, uncommon in this condition.
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London : Methuen & Co, Ltd./Paris: Charles Carrington, 1908-1922.
Complete set of the works of Oscar Wilde, including For Love of a King issued in 1922 and often missing from this set. Octavo, 15 volumes in the publisher’s original gilt-decorated full buckram, top edge gilt with others uncut. One of 1000 copies issued on handmade paper. The Picture of Dorian Gray bears the imprintContinue reading "The Works of Oscar Wilde."
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New York : Random House, 1979.
First edition of this book of tongue twisters by Dr. Seuss. Octavo, original laminated boards, pictorial endpapers, illustrated throughout. In very good condition, without dust jacket as issued.
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Rare autograph letter signed and entirely in the hand of Herman Melville to his publisher, Harper & Brothers. One page, the letter reads in full, “Harper & Brothers New York. Pittsfield Oct. 8th Gentlemen: Herewith is an article, which, if it suit, will you, according to what you have said to me, send me theContinue reading "Herman Melville Autograph Letter Signed."
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London : Jonathan Cape, 1979.
First edition of this classic work. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Patrick White on the title page. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket drawing by Luciana Arrighi. Jacket design by Mon Mohan.
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London : Chapman and Hall, 1876.
Finely bound set of Forster’s famed biography of the English poet. Octavo, 8 volumes bound in full crushed levant morocco by Riviere & Son with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, top edge gilt, tissue-guarded engraved frontispiece of Landor to volume one. InContinue reading "The Works and Life of Walter Savage Landor."
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New York : Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1944.
First edition of Huxley’s complex and powerful novel, preceding the first English edition. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Ownership inscription.
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Mount Vernon, N.Y : Peter Pauper Press, 1942.
First edition, signed limited issue of the second in a series of wartime poetry anthologies selected by Oscar Williams, this being the first to be issued as a signed limited edition. Octavo, original three quarter buckram over marbled boards, top edge gilt. One of 26 lettered copies available for sale and signed by 31 ofContinue reading "New Poems 1942: An Anthology of British and American Verse."
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New York : Thomas Y. Crowell & Co. Publishers, 1902.
The Virginia edition of the works of Edgar Allan Poe, edited by James A. Harrison. Octavo, 17 volumes, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, illustrated with tissue-guarded photogravures. In very good condition. A sharpContinue reading "The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe."
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New Haven : Yale University Press, 1988.
First edition of the Nobel Prize winning-author’s first book of criticism. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page to his first wife, “Philippe- Love from John.” Philippa Jubber and John Maxwell Coetzee were married in 1963. They had two children, Nicolas (1966–1989) and Gisela (b. 1968). In 1965 CoetzeeContinue reading "White Writing: On the Culture of Letters in South Africa."
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New York : Charles Scribner's Sons, 1929.
First edition of the author’s classic work. Octavo, original dark blue cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page in the year of publication, “To Mrs. Dorothy Mencher with kindest regards Thomas Wolfe Nov 8, 1929.” In very good condition. Uncommon signed and inscribed.
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New York : Simon and Schuster, 1955-1959.
First editions of the four classic books in Kay Thompson’s beloved Eloise series. Quarto, four volumes, original boards, pictorial endpapers, illustrated by Hilary Knight. Each volume is near fine in a very good to near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by Asprey. An exceptional set.
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New York : Harper and Row, Publishers, 1962.
First edition of this wonderfully illustrated work of Dali. Quarto, original cloth, illustrated. Presentation copy, boldly signed and inscribed by Dali on two pages, “Pour Seth Dennis hommage de Salvador Dali 1963” with a large drawing. Fine in a very good dust jacket. A unique example.
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Cambridge : Riverside Press, 1903.
The Autograph Centenary edition of the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of 600 numbered copies containing a double sided manuscript in Emerson’s hand bound into volume one. Octavo, 12 volumes, publisher’s original three quarter morocco over marbled boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, top edgeContinue reading "The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson."
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Boston : James R. Osgood and Company, 1881-82.
The “suppressed Boston edition” (seventh edition overall) of the most important volume in American poetry, one of 1,010 copies printed. Octavo, original publisher’s mustard cloth with gilt titles and tooling to the spine and front panel, tissue-guarded engraved portrait of the author by Hollyer after the daguerreotype by Gabriel Harrison opposite page 29. BAL 21418.Continue reading "Leaves of Grass."
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London : Faber & Faber, 1967.
First paperback edition (issued simultaneously in hardback) of the author’s masterpiece. Octavo, original wrappers. Boldly signed by Tom Stoppard on the title page. In near fine condition.
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New York : Thomas Selzer, 1922.
First American trade edition of the author’s classic work which many consider his masterpiece, in the exceedingly rare dust jacket. Octavo, original cloth. Very good in a very good dust jacket with light rubbing and wear. Rare.
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New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1987.
First edition of the author’s fourth novel and considered by many her finest. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Toni Morrison on the front free endpaper. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by R.D. Scudellari.
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London : Printed for A. Millar, 1749.
First edition, first issue of one of the most influential English novels, one only 2,000 copies printed. Octavo, bound in full contemporary polished calf with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, double gilt ruling to the front and rear panels. First issued with the errata leaf present inContinue reading "The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling."
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London : Printed for Edward Blount, 1620.
Exceedingly rare first complete edition in English of Cervantes’ masterpiece comprised of a second edition of the first part and first edition of the second part. Small quarto, bound in full crimson crushed levant morocco by Riviere & Son, gilt titles and elaborate gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands,Continue reading "The History of Don-Quichote. The First Parte and The Second Part of the History of the Valorous and Witty Knight-Errant, Don Quixote of the Mancha."
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London : Printed for John Murray, 1815.
Finely bound collection of the works of Lord Byron. Octavo, bound in full straight grain morocco with gilt title and tooling to the spine, elaborate gilt tooling to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, all edges gilt. Decorated with a fore-edge painting of the Old Palace, Croydon. In good condition. HousedContinue reading "The Works of the Right Hon. Lord Byron. [Fore-edge Painting]."
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London : Williams and Norgate, 1910.
Finely bound example of Sterne’s popular travelogue which helped establish the genre of travel writing and Sterne as the “most eminent novelist of the period” (Baugh, 1022). Quarto, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards by Bayntun-Riviere, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in four compartments within raised gilt bands, top edge gilt,Continue reading "The Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy."
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Paris : L. Conquet; G. Charpentier, 1883.
Finley bound example of Gautier’s retelling of the infamous legend of Mademoiselle de Maupin. Quarto, bound in full crushed levant morocco by Riviere & Son, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, elaborate gilt ruling and fleuron cornerpieces to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and innerContinue reading "Mademoiselle de Maupin."
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Children's Books
Children's Books
Fine Bindings and Sets
![The Works of the Right Hon. Lord Byron. [Fore-edge Painting].](https://raptis.bvbeta.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/RRB-134016.jpg)
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