Literature

Twain, Mark. [Samuel L. Clemens]

Punch, Brothers, Punch! And Other Sketches by Mark Twain.

New York : Slote, Woodman & Co., 1878.

First edition, second issue of Twain’s collection of short stories with the author’s name in facsimile autograph, undecorated cream end-papers, and second state scrap book illustration to the rear paste down. BAL 3378. Small octavo, original green cloth stamped in black with gilt titles to the spine. From the library of William Safire with hisContinue reading "Punch, Brothers, Punch! And Other Sketches by Mark Twain."

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von

Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship.

London : Oliver & Boyd, 1824.

First edition in English of Goethe’s masterpiece. Octavo, 3 volumes, bound in original boards, pages uncut. In near fine condition. Exceptionally rare in the original boards, we have not seen another example.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott [Harold Pinter]

The Last Tycoon. An Unfinished Novel. Together with The Great Gatsby and Selected Stories.

New York : Charles Scribner's Sons, 1941.

First edition with the “A” and the publisher’s seal on the copyright page. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Harold Pinter, who wrote the screenplay to the 1976 film The Last Tycoon, directed by Elia Kazan and starring Robert DeNiro, Tony Curtis and Jack Nicholson. Near fine in near fine dust jacket. Foreword by EdmundContinue reading "The Last Tycoon. An Unfinished Novel. Together with The Great Gatsby and Selected Stories."

At Home: Essays 1982-1988.

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First edition of this collection of essays by the award-winning author. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “Gore Vidal, for Kit, with love.” The recipient, Katherine “Kit” Vidal was Eugene Vidal’s second wife; he married her in 1939 when she was a 20 year old model with the PowersContinue reading "At Home: Essays 1982-1988."

Pamuk, Orhan

My Name Is Red.

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.

Advanced reader’s edition of this “fabulously rich novel, highly compelling” (The Independent). Octavo, original illustrated wrappers. Signed by Orhan Pamuk and twice by dust jacket designer Chip Kidd (once on the front panel and again on the rear panel. In near fine condition. Design by Chip Kidd. Translated from the Turkish by Erda M Göknar.Continue reading "My Name Is Red."

Vidal, Gore

Vidal in Venice.

New York : Summit Books, 1985.

First edition of this wonderful overview of Venice. Quarto, original cloth, illustrated. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “Valerie from 1/2 brother Gore Vidal.” The recipient, Valerie Gore was the author’s sister. Vidal’s father remarried in 1939 and had two children with his second wife; Valerie was born in 1946. TheContinue reading "Vidal in Venice."

Vidal, Gore

1876: A Novel.

New York : Random House, 1976.

First edition of this classic novel. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the “Valerie love Gore.” The recipient, Valerie Gore was the author’s sister. Vidal’s father remarried in 1939 and had two children with his second wife; Valerie was born in 1946. The two remained close throughout the years. Near fineContinue reading "1876: A Novel."

Kipling, Rudyard

Lettres du Japon.

Paris : Rene Kieffer, 1925.

Deluxe limited edition of Kipling’s collected letters written during his 1889 travels in Japan. Octavo, original wrappers, decorated by H. Tirman. One of 50 copies printed on Japan paper. Translated into French by Louis Fabulet and Arthur Austin-Jackson. Very good in the rare original richly decorated dust jacket. Rare.

Steichen, Edward

The Family of Man.

New York : Museum of Modern Art, 1955.

First edition of this classic work. Quarto, original illustrated wrappers, illustrated throughout. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “To Mrs. Sheppard with all good wishes Edward Steichen.” In near fine condition. Prologue written by Steichen’s brother-in-law, Carl Sandburg. Housed in a custom clamshell box.

Kipling, Rudyard

From Sea to Sea and Other Sketches: Letters of Travel.

London : Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1900.

Rare Macmillan’s Colonial Library edition of Kipling’s From Sea to Sea, issued the same year as the first trade edition. Octavo, two volumes, original blue cloth with gilt titles to the spine and front panel. Signed by Rudyard Kipling on the title page of both volumes. In near fine condition. Scarce signed by Kipling.

Vidal, Gore

Screening History.

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, 1992.

First edition of this work by the award-winning novelist. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “Valerie, love, Gore Vidal.” The recipient, Valerie Vidal was the author’s sister. Vidal’s father remarried in 1939 and had two children with his second wife; Valerie was born in 1946. Fine in aContinue reading "Screening History."

Vidal, Gore

The Second American Revolution and Other Essays (1976-1982).

New York : Random House, 1982.

First edition of this collection of essays. Octavo, original half cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “Kit all love Gore Vidal.” The recipient, Katherine “Kit” Vidal was Eugene Vidal’s second wife; he married her in 1939 when she was a 20 year old model with the Powers Agency, only sixContinue reading "The Second American Revolution and Other Essays (1976-1982)."

Twain, Mark [Samuel L. Clemens]

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and Other Sketches.

New York : C.H. Webb, 1867.

First edition, first printing of the author’s rare first book. Octavo, original cloth, first issue lacking the leaf of ads facing the title page but with unbroken type on pages 21, 66 and 198. In very good condition with light wear to the extremities. A sharp example.

Remington, Frederic

Pony Tracks.

New York : Harper & Brothers, 1895.

First edition of Remington’s first book. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated throughout after Frederic Remington, including frontispiece with tissue-guard. In very good condition, bookplate. Howes R201; BAL 16489; Adams Herd 1878; Graff 3458. A nice example.

Vidal, Gore

The Judgment of Paris.

New York : E.P. Dutton & Company, Inc, 1952.

First edition of this classic coming of age story. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “Valerie, from Gore Vidal, June 1954.” The recipient Valerie Gore was the author’s sister. Vidal’s father remarried in 1939 and had two children with his second wife; Valerie was born in 1946.Continue reading "The Judgment of Paris."

Vidal, Gore

Washington, D.C.

Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 1967.

First edition of the final volume in Vidal’s Narratives of Empire, his acclaimed six-volume series of historical novels about the American past. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the second title page, “Valerie from Gore, 1968.” The recipient, Valerie Gore was the author’s sister. Vidal’s father remarried in 1939 and hadContinue reading "Washington, D.C."

Vidal, Gore

Williwaw.

New York : E.P. Dutton & Company, 1946.

First edition of the author’s first book. Octavo, original black cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the front free endpaper, “For Owen Roberts, very best wishes — Gore Vidal, 1946.” The recipient, Owen Roberts was the father of Katherine “Kit” Vidal, second wife of Eugene Vidal, Gore’s father.Continue reading "Williwaw."

McCarthy, Cormac

Suttree.

New York : Random House, 1979.

First edition of the author’s fourth novel and what many consider to be his finest. Octavo, original half cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “For Orin All The Best Cormac.” The recipient, Orin Borsten was a screenwriter and publicist, who began his career as a child actor in Atlanta andContinue reading "Suttree."

Cheever, John

The Wapshot Chronicle.

New York : Harper & Brothers, 1957.

First edition of the author’s classic work. Octavo, original half cloth. Fine in a good dust jacket.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott

The Vegetable: Or, From President To Postman.

New York : Charles Scribner's Sons, 1923.

First edition of what Fitzgerald called, “undoubtedly the best thing I have ever written.” Octavo, original cloth. In fine condition.

Annals of The Club. 1764-1914.

London : Printed for The Club [by Horace Hart at the Oxford University Press, 1914.

First edition of this work on the Club in London. which was founded by Samuel Johnson and Sir Joshua Reynolds, and whose rolls would later include Oliver Goldsmith, Adam Smith, Edward Gibbon and James Boswell. Quarto, original three quarters leather, gilt titles to the spine, nine plates. In near fine condition. Rare.

Grass, Gunter

Die Blechtrommel [The Tin Drum].

Darmstadt : Hermann Luchterhand Verlag, 1959.

Rare uncorrected proof of the first edition of the author’s first novel. Octavo, original wrappers as issued. In near fine condition. An exceptional example.

The Clicking of Cuthbert.

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Early printing of this classic collection of short stories. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “To James Douglas With the author’s compliments P.G. Wodehouse June 4 1926.” Near fine in the rare original dust jacket which is in very good condition. Jacket illustration by C. Morse. UncommonContinue reading "The Clicking of Cuthbert."

Causley, Charles

Farewell, Aggie Weston.

Aldington : The Hand and Flower Press, 1951.

First edition of Causley’s first collection of poems. Octavo, original wrappers. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “for Philip Abrams from Charles Causley November 1953.” With the original autograph transmittal letter signed by and entirely in the hand of the author tipped in. In very good condition. Rare, particularly inscribed.