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 3312-3336 of 4852
London : Duckworth, 1927.
Early printing of Woolf’s first novel. Octavo, original cloth. Very good in the rare original dust jacket which has been restored. Uncommon in the original jacket.
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New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1930.
First edition of Langston Hughes’ award-winning debut novel. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page in the year of publication to his editor, “For Bernard Smith ~ Sincerely, Langston Hughes July 3, 1930.” The recipient, American literary editor and critic Bernard Smith began working at Alfred A. Knopf inContinue reading "Not Without Laughter."
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London : Michael Joseph, 1963.
First edition of Baldwin’s classic work, nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by the author on the front free endpaper, “All the best. To you and yours. James Baldwin.” Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Ownership inscription. Jacket design by Paul Bacon.
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New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1963.
First edition in English of “the biggest and most profound thing Mishima has done so far in an already distinguished career” (The New Yorker). Octavo, original half cloth. Translated from the Japanese by Donald Keene. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “To Mr. & Mrs. Ronald Preston with the author’sContinue reading "After The Banquet."
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Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 1931.
First American edition of the sequel to Remarque’s masterpiece All Quiet on the Western Front. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Paul Wenck. We have never seen another signed example of this title.
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London : Jonathan Cape, 1970.
First edition of this work by “one of the great magicians of fiction . . . White’s scope is vast and his invention endless” (The Observer). Octavo, original cloth. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket art by Tom Adams.
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New York : The Viking Press, 1983.
First edition of Kennedy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Octavo, original half gray cloth. Signed by William Kennedy on the title page. Very good in a very good dust jacket. Jacket design by Neil Stuart.
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New York : The Dial Press, 1968.
First edition of this major work by Baldwin. Octavo, original half cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “For Leonard Lyons: with much affection, and respect. Jim Baldwin.” The recipient, Leonard Lyons was a noted American newspaper columnist, best known for his New York Post column “The Lyons Den”, which appearedContinue reading "Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone."
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Venezi : Francesco Pitteri, 1753-1755.
Rare complete set of Pitteri’s 1757 printing of Goldoni’s works of comic theater. Octavo, ten volumes bound in full vellum with gilt tooling to the spine, engraved frontispiece portrait of Goldoni by Pitteri after Piazetta. In good condition. Armorial bookplates. A rare complete set of this scarce printing published during the author’s lifetime.
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London : Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1951.
First edition of Daphne du Maurier’s classic mystery-romance. Octavo, bound in full morocco to mimic a lady’s riding jacket with three jeweled buttons. In fine condition. An exceptional presentation.
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London : Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1941.
First edition of du Maurier’s third novel. Octavo, bound in full blue morocco to mimic a gentleman’s coat with four titanium skull-shaped buttons. In fine condition. A unique example.
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New York : Simon and Schuster, 1959.
First edition of this classic work, a national best-seller on its publication, Bernstein’s first collection of essays and conversations on the world of music. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the the author on the front free endpaper, “For Ed Hiller Sincerely Leonard Bernstein.” Fine in a good dust jacket. Jacket design by RonaldContinue reading "The Joy of Music."
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New York : Huebsch, 1916.
First edition of Joyce’s classic stream-of-consciousness work, his first novel, in the exceptionally rare dust jacket. Octavo, original blue cloth with titles to the spine in gilt. Near fine in a very good dust jacket with small chips and wear to the extremities. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare especially in thisContinue reading "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man."
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New York : Huebsch, 1916.
First edition of Joyce’s classic stream-of-consciousness work, his first novel, in the exceptionally rare dust jacket. Octavo, original blue cloth with titles to the spine in gilt. Near fine in a very good dust jacket with small chips and wear to the extremities. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Rare especially in thisContinue reading "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man."
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New York : The Grove Press, 1988.
First edition of the author’s first novel. Octavo, original half cloth. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket illustration and design by Bascove.
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New York : Scribner, Armstrong, & Co., 1875.
First American edition of the second installment in Verne’s Mysterious Island trilogy. Octavo, original publisher’s green cloth decorated in gilt, illustrated. Translated from the French by W.H.G. Kingston. In near fine condition. A very sharp example.
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New York : Scribner, Armstrong & Co., 1875.
First American edition, first English language edition in book form, and first authorized edition of the first part of the crossover sequel to Verne’s famous Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas and In Search of the Castaways. Slim octavo, original green cloth decorated in gilt, with forty-eight illustrations. Scribner Armstrong published this slim, double-column volumeContinue reading "The Mysterious Island: Wrecked in the Air."
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Toronto : Contemporary Canada Press, 1965.
First edition of the author’s classic work. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “To Richard Needham, hoping he’ll enjoy it as much as I do his column Stephen Vizinczey.” Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Jacket design by Jack Jenson.
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Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, 1971.
First edition of this compilation of speeches delivered by the annual President of the Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club. Octavo, original boards. Fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket.
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New York : Grove Press, 1966.
First edition of Kerouac’s penultimate novel. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “Tony’s copy- signed by his brother man Jacky Kerouac.” The recipient, Tony Sampras was the youngest brother of Kerouac’s wife, Stella. Tony and Kerouac were close, Kerouac called Tony two days before his death and theContinue reading "Satori In Paris."
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Garden City, NY : Doubleday Doran & Company, 1944.
Rare W. Somerset Maugham’s original ink sketch showing his dust jacket design concept for his greatest novel, The Razor’s Edge, executed on a blank Western Union telegram form, which was followed by the publisher pretty much to the letter. A striking piece of literary history demonstrating that the author’s intentions for the book were honoredContinue reading "The Razor’s Edge Original Dust Jacket Design Signed."
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London : Cassell & Company, Limited, 1953.
Early printing of Cassell’s French-English English-French Dictionary from the library of American literary master John Steinbeck and his wife Elaine Steinbeck. Octavo, original cloth. Signed and dated by Steinbeck’s wife, Elaine Steinbeck, on the front free endpaper, “Elaine Steinbeck Paris 1954.” In very good condition.
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London : Chapman and Hall, nd.
Finely bound example of Trollope’s first published novel. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco over pebbled boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, marbled endpapers. In very good condition.
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London : Chapman and Hall, 1864.
First edition of Browning’s popular poetry collection. Octavo, original cloth. In very good condition. Ownership inscription. Small chip to the front free endpaper. With a note from H. Sotheran & Co. laid in.
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First Edition
