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 2616-2640 of 4852
New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1966.
First American edition of this inventive and richly derisive story of Hermann, a man who undertakes the perfect crime–his own murder. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket with a touch of rubbing. A very sharp example.
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London : Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1964.
First edition of this early Nabokov novel, which tells the tragic story of a man destroyed by his own genius and of the hopeless efforts of the wife who loves him to save him from himself. Octavo, original cloth. Fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket. Jacket design by John Curtis. Uncommon in theContinue reading "The Defence [Defense]."
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New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1957.
First edition of this “wonderful tour de force” (Gilbert Highet). Octavo, original half cloth, red topstain. Signed by the translator Dmitri Nabokov on the title page. Dmitri Nabokov was the only child of Vladimir Nabokov and his wife Vera; they emigrated to the United States from France in 1940. In his later years, Nabokov translated many ofContinue reading "Invitation to a Beheading."
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Oxford, Mississippi : N/P, c. 1934.
Rare original carbon typescript of the novel Pylon, with title in ink in the author’s hand on the first page, a few leaves repaginated in the author’s hand, 344 pages, each of the six chapters held together with a paper clip, [Oxford, Mississippi, ca. December 1934]. Newly discovered by the family and one of only twoContinue reading "Pylon."
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London : F. V. White & Co, 1895.
First edition of Henty’s classic adventure tale. Octavo, original publisher’s decorated cloth with gilt titles to the spine and front panel. In near fine condition. Uncommon in this condition.
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New York : Delacorte Press/ Seymour Lawrence, 1984.
First edition, early printing of this classic work by “one of the most important and influential writers of the second half of the century” (Robert Stone). Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, lengthily inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “For Ellen Quinn Assuming she will agree this isn’t much of a book, and withContinue reading "Young Hearts Crying."
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Paris : Librairie Felix Alcan, 1936.
First edition of Sartre’s first book, published as volume 10 of the Nouvelle Encyclopedie Philosophique and commissioned by the editor, Henri Delacroix. Octavo, original wrappers. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “A Brice Parain en tout amitie! JP Sartre.” The recipient, Brice Parain was a fellow French philosopher and friend ofContinue reading "L’Imagination. [The Imaginary]."
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New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1950.
First edition of this classic work. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, lengthily inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the front free endpaper, “For Dr. Edgar Potts -with best wishes John Hersey From Barbara Johns, after her visit with Mitch en route to Williamsburg- Feb, 1950.” With an original Saturday Review articleContinue reading "The Wall."
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New York : The Viking Press, 1937.
First American edition of this classic ghost story by the “father of science fiction.” Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in the rare original dust jacket which is in very good condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.
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London : Penguin, 1996.
First edition of each of the six books published in self-contained monthly installments of this classic work, which tells the story of death row supervisor Paul Edgecombe’s encounter with John Coffey, an unusual inmate who displays inexplicable healing and empathetic abilities. Octavo, 6 volumes, original illustrated wrappers. Each volume is signed by Stephen King onContinue reading "The Green Mile."
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London : Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1972.
First British and first hardcover edition of this classic work, which went on to win the 1970 Nebula and 1971 Hugo award for best novel. Octavo, original cloth. Lengthily signed by the author on the title page, “Not until we can deliver our secret to our respective worlds and acquire an intact ship. Larry Niven.”Continue reading "Ringworld."
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London : Andre Deutsch, 1967.
First edition, early printing of the author’s deeply moving eulogy of her father, Sir Winston Churchill. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco by Sangorski and Sutcliffe, gilt titles and ruling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. In fine condition.
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New York : Charles Scribner's Sons, 1929.
First edition of this Hemingway classic, which established him among the American masters. Octavo, original black cloth. Near fine in a near fine first state dust jacket with the misspelling “Katharine Barclay” in the blurb on the front flap. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A very sharp example.
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New York : The Macmillan Company, 1936.
First edition of Margaret Mitchell’s masterpiece which remains one of the fastest selling novels in the history of American publishing, with 50,000 copies sold in a single day. Octavo, original cloth. First printing, with “Published May 1936” on the copyright page and no mention of other printings. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on theContinue reading "Gone With the Wind."
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London : Blackie & Son, Limited, 1896.
First edition of Henty’s classic adventure tale. Octavo, original publisher’s cloth with gilt titles and decorations to the spine and front panel, with twelve illustrations by Ralph Peackock and a plan. In near fine condition. Uncommon in this condition.
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London : Macmillan, 1978.
Finely bound edition of both volumes of The Jungle Book, with an exceptional fore-edge painting. Octavo, bound in full morocco by Bayntun Bindery, gilt titles to the spine, raised bands, all edges gilt, engraved frontispiece with tissue guard present. Illustrated by J. L. Kipling, W.H. Drake and P. Frenzeny. In near fine condition. Rare andContinue reading "The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book. [Fore-edge Painting]."
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New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.
First edition of the author’s classic sixth novel. 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. An exceptional example.
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Boston : Ticknor and Fields, 1866.
Sixth edition of James Russell Lowell’s first book, a bitter criticism of the Mexican-American War and opposition to the expansion of slavery; named by the Grolier Club as the most influential book of 1848. Octavo, original cloth stamped in blind with gilt titles to the spine. In very good condition.
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Westminster : Archibald Constable & Co, 1897.
Finely bound set of the works of George Meredith. Octavo, 18 volumes bound by Maclehose in three quarters crushed morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, marbled endpapers, gilt topstain, engraved frontispiece to each volume. In very good condition.
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Cambridge : Published by George Nichols: 1848/Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867.
First edition, first issue of James Russell Lowell’s first book, a bitter criticism of the Mexican-American War and opposition to the expansion of slavery; named by the Grolier Club as the most influential book of 1848. BAL 13068. First issue, published under the pseudonym, with the preliminary advertisements, and only the Cambridge imprint to theContinue reading "Meliboeus-Hipponax: The Biglow Papers. [With] The Biglow Papers Second Series."
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Boston : Fields, Osgood, & Co, 1870.
First edition, first issue of Harte’s seminal California work without the story “Brown of Calaveras.” BAL 7246. Octavo, original dark green cloth with gilt titles to the spine. In very good condition. Ownership name. Housed in a custom half morocco and folding chemise slipcase.
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New York : A Plume Book, 1997.
First edition of this work, which tells the story of death row supervisor Paul Edgecombe’s encounter with John Coffey, an unusual inmate who displays inexplicable healing and empathetic abilities. Octavo, original illustrated wrappers as issued, original slipcase. Boldly signed by Stephen King on the title page in Manchester, Vermont. In fine condition. Cover illustration byContinue reading "The Green Mile."
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Boston : Sanborn, Carter, and Bazin, 1855.
First edition, first state of the first installment in Bulfinch’s famed Mythology; with the names of both the printer and the stereotyper on copyright page. Octavo, original publisher’s cloth elaborately stamped in gilt, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, tissue-guarded frontispiece by Smith Pierson, in-text illustrations. In very good condition with loss to the crown of the spine. ContemporaryContinue reading "The Age of Fable; Or, Stories of Gods and Heroes."
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Boston : Ticknor and Fields, 1866.
First edition, first issue of this poetic description of the pleasant isolation of “the inmates of the family at the Whittier homestead” with the final page properly numbered 52. Octavo, original cloth with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, pale yellow endpapers, tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait and title page vignette, headpiece and initial letter byContinue reading "Snow-Bound. A Winter Idyl."
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Children's Books
![Meliboeus-Hipponax: The Biglow Papers. [With] The Biglow Papers Second Series.](https://raptis.bvbeta.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/RRB-139428.jpg)
First Edition
