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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 items 312-336 of 4655

Twain, Mark. [Samuel L. Clemens]

Life on the Mississippi.

London : Chatto & Windus, 1883.

First edition, first issue of Twain’s provocative portrait of the great Mississippi River which preceded the first American edition. First issue with the publisher’s advertisements at rear dated March 1883. Octavo, original publisher’s red pictorial boards stamped in black and gilt, patterned endpapers, frontispiece, plates and over 300 illustrations. In near fine condition with toningContinue reading "Life on the Mississippi."

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$750.00
Item Number: RRB-150454
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Herbert, Frank

The Heaven Makers.

New York : Ballantine Books, 1977.

First Ballantine Books edition of this standalone science fiction novel from the author of Dune. Small octavo, original pictorial wrappers. Boldly signed by Frank Herbert on the title page beneath his name. In very good condition with some wear to the spine. Cover art by Darrell Sweet. Uncommon signed.

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$975.00
Item Number: RRB-150244
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Durrell, Gerald [John Drinkall]

The Overloaded Ark.

London : Faber and Faber & The Book Society, 1953.

First edition of the Book Society edition of Durrell’s first book. Octavo, original green cloth, top stain blue. Boldly signed by Gerald Durrell on the front free endpaper. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Illustrated by Sabine Baur. Signed bookplate of John Drinkall, who was a distinguished British diplomat whose career in theContinue reading "The Overloaded Ark."

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$850.00
Item Number: RRB-150367
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[Fitzgerald, F. Scott]

The Great Gatsby Clamshell Box.

.

Custom full morocco clamshell box hand made by The Harcourt Bindery to house a first edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Pictorial clamshell box with gilt titles and an onlay of the woman from the original dust jacket to the front panel. In fine condition. An exquisite presentation.

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$2,500.00
Item Number: RRB-150365
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Twain, Mark. [Samuel L. Clemens]

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

New York : Charles L. Webster and Company, 1885.

First edition, first issue of Mark Twain’s masterpiece. Octavo, original publisher’s decorated green cloth, with 174 illustrations by Edward W. Kemble. Contains all of the agreed upon first issue points for the clothbound book: page 9 with “Decided” remaining uncorrected (to “Decides”); page 13, illustration captioned “Him and another Man” listed as on page 88;Continue reading "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."

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$15,000.00
Item Number: RRB-117039
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Saint-Exupery, Antoine de; Translated by Katherine Woods

The Little Prince.

New York : Reynal and Hitchcock, 1943.

First edition of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s masterpiece, which precedes the first edition in French. Translated from the French by Katherine Woods. Small quarto, bound in full modern full pictorial brown morocco with inlay tooling to the front panel by the Harcourt Bindery, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, illustrated by the author. In fine condition. A stunning example.

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$5,500.00
Item Number: RRB-151028
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Baldwin, James; Schapiro, Steve

The Fire Next Time.

Koln : Taschen, 2019.

First illustrated edition of one of the most influential works on race relations published in the twentieth century. Quarto, original boards, photographs by Steve Schapiro. In fine condition. Introduction by John Lewis. Boldly signed by Steve Schapiro on the title page.

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$500.00
Item Number: RRB-150898
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Nabokov, Vladimir

Laughter in the Dark.

Indianapolis/ New York : The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1938.

First edition of this classic early Nabokov novel. Octavo, original green cloth. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. An exceptional example.

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$2,250.00
Item Number: RRB-151015
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Twain, Mark. [Samuel L. Clemens]

A Tramp Abroad.

Hartford, Conn : American Publishing Company, 1880.

First edition of Twain’s classic fictionalized account of his walking tour of central and southern Europe, inscribed by him to his secretary. Octavo, original publisher’s pictorial gilt-stamped brown cloth, with 328 illustrations by Walter Francis Brown, True Williams, W.W. Denslow, and with four ‘pictures made by the author of this book, without outside help’, engravedContinue reading "A Tramp Abroad."

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$45,000.00
Item Number: RRB-151014
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Huxley, Aldous

Brave New World.

New York : Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1932.

First American edition of Huxley’s masterpiece. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. A nice example.

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$3,000.00
Item Number: RRB-151013
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Twain, Mark. [Samuel L. Clemens]

The Prince and the Pauper. A Tale For Young People of All Ages.

James R. Osgood and Company : Boston, 1882.

First edition, first issue of of the author’s first historical novel with the Franklin imprint on the copyright page. BAL 3402. Johnson pp. 39-41. Octavo, bound in three quarter burgundy morocco over marbled boards with gilt titles to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, marbled endpapers, with one hundred and ninety-two illustrations.Continue reading "The Prince and the Pauper. A Tale For Young People of All Ages."

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$1,100.00
Item Number: RRB-150845
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Twain, Mark. [Samuel L. Clemens]

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade).

London : Chatto & Windus, 1884.

First English edition, first issue, preceding the first American edition of “the most praised and most condemned 19th-century American work of fiction” (Legacies of Genius). Octavo, original decorative red cloth stamped in black and lettered in gilt, patterned endpapers, illustrated with 174 drawings by E.W. Kemble. The English edition of Huckleberry Finn preceded the AmericanContinue reading "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade)."

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$1,250.00
Item Number: RRB-150843
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Burns, Ken; Geoffrey C. Ward & Dayton Duncan

Mark Twain: An Illustrated Biography.

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2001.

First edition of this companion volume to the documentary by Ken Burns. Quarto, original original cloth, illustrated. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Carol Devine Carson.

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$50.00
Item Number: RRB-150841
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Custer, Elizabeth B

Tenting on the Plains or General Custer in Kansas and Texas.

New York : Charles L. Webster & Company, 1887.

First edition of Elizabeth Custer’s famous defense of Custer. Octavo, original publisher’s decorated green cloth, patterned endpapers, engraved tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait and 28 illustrations, including 22 full-page and two maps. The publishing firm Charles L. Webster & Co. was founded in 1884 by Mark Twain, together with his business partner (and niece’s husband) Charles Webster,Continue reading "Tenting on the Plains or General Custer in Kansas and Texas."

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$1,100.00
Item Number: RRB-150708
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Groom, Winston [Tom Hanks]

Forrest Gump.

New York : Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1986.

First edition of this modern classic, basis for one of the most iconic films of the twentieth century, starring Tom Hanks. Octavo, original half cloth. Association copy, lengthily inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the front free endpaper, “To Eugene Walter, Whose columns I enjoy reading weekly. Whose friendship I value,Continue reading "Forrest Gump."

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$5,500.00
Item Number: RRB-150204
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Dickens, Charles

Oliver Twist; or, the Parish Boy’s Progress.

London : Richard Bentley, 1838.

First edition of one of Dickens’ most recognizable works, with “By Boz” to each title page and the corrected “Church” plate. Octavo, three volumes bound in full levant red morocco by Bayntun Riviere with gilt titles and elaborate gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt ruling and central giltContinue reading "Oliver Twist; or, the Parish Boy’s Progress."

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$6,500.00
Item Number: RRB-150707
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Nabokov, Vladimir

Lolita.

Paris : The Olympia Press, 1955.

First edition of Nabokov’s masterpiece, published in Paris by the Olympia Press in 1955. First issue with the price of 900 francs on the rear panel of each volume. Octavo, 2 volumes, original green wrappers. In very good condition. Provenance: David Gerstein (ownership signature to each front free endpaper). Housed in a custom half moroccoContinue reading "Lolita."

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$6,500.00
Item Number: RRB-150702
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Twain, Mark. [Samuel L. Clemens]

A Dog’s Tale.

New York : Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1904.

First edition of Twain’s “powerful indictment of cruelty to animals.” Octavo, original pictorial cloth, illustrated with four color plates by W.T. Smedley including tissue-guarded frontispiece. BAL 3483. Near fine in near fine dust jacket. Exceptionally rare in the original jacket.

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$3,200.00
Item Number: RRB-150701
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Connell Jr., Evan S

Mrs. Bridge and Mr. Bridge.

New York : The Viking Press, 1959 & 1969.

First editions of the author’s classic work and its sequel. Octavo, 2 volumes, original cloth. Lengthily signed by the author, who has added the last line of this work, “Hello? Hello out there? But no one answered….Evan Connell.” Mr. Bridge is signed by the author who has added the last line of this novel, “Joy?Continue reading "Mrs. Bridge and Mr. Bridge."

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$4,200.00
Item Number: RRB-151012
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Twain, Mark [Samuel L. Clemens]

A Tramp Abroad.

Hartford : American Publishing Company, 1880.

First edition of Twain’s humorous and semi-autobiographical work of travel literature with the frontispiece captioned “Titian’s Moses” opposite the portrait of Twain. BAL 3386. Octavo, bound in full morocco by Stikeman and Co. with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, all edgesContinue reading "A Tramp Abroad."

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$975.00
Item Number: RRB-150844
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Warhol, Andy

Andy Warhol Prints.

New York : Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Inc, 1985.

First edition of this definitive catalogue of Warhol’s prints, spanning his entire career. Quarto, original cloth, with over 390 illustrations of Warhol’s prints, including 344 in color. Boldly signed twice by Andy Warhol on both the front panel of the dust jacket and front free endpaper. Edited by Frayda Feldman and Jorg Schellmann. Essays byContinue reading "Andy Warhol Prints."

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$2,000.00
Item Number: RRB-150354
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Asimov, Isaac

I, Robot.

New York : Gnome Press, Inc. Publishers, 1950.

First edition of this groundbreaking collection of stories. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Isaac Asimov on the front free endpaper. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom clamshell box. Easily one of the nicest examples we have seen, rare and desirable in this condition and signed.

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$25,000.00
Item Number: RRB-150848
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Oliver, Mary

Blue Iris: Poems and Essays.

Boston : Beacon Press, 2004.

First edition of this work by the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet. Octavo, original cloth. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Sara Eisenman.

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$100.00
Item Number: RRB-151002
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Ballard, J.G. [Christian Bale]

Empire of the Sun.

London : Victor Gollanz, 1984.

First edition of the author’s classic novel which was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. basis for the film directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Christian Bale. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by J.G. Ballard and Academy Award-winning actor Christian Bale on the title page. Fine inContinue reading "Empire of the Sun."

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$1,750.00
Item Number: RRB-150865
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