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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 4200-4224 of 4655

Dos Passos, John

Manhattan Transfer.

New York and London : Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1925.

First edition of Dos Passos’ “novel of the very first importance…the dawn of a whole new school of writing” (Sinclair Lewis). Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a very good dust jacket with chips to the extremities. Scarce in the original dust jacket.

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$2,800.00
Item Number: RRB-95815
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Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de

Vida Y Hechos Del Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote De La Mancha: Con Muy Bellas Estampas Gravadas Sobre Los Dibujos de Coypel, Primer Pinto de el Rey de Francia.

En Haia [The Hague] : Por P. Gosse y A. Moetjens, 1744.

Rare early printing and one of the most highly coveted editions of Cervantes’ masterpiece. Octavo, 4 volumes, bound in full calf, gilt titles and elaborate gilt tooling to the spine, burgundy spine labels, triple gilt ruled, marbled endpapers, all edges red, ribbons bound in, with numerous engravings after the drawings of Antoine Coypel, renowned forContinue reading "Vida Y Hechos Del Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote De La Mancha: Con Muy Bellas Estampas Gravadas Sobre Los Dibujos de Coypel, Primer Pinto de el Rey de Francia."

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$8,800.00
Item Number: RRB-92807
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Holinshed, Raphael

The First and Second Volumes of Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland With: The Third volume of Chronicles, beginning at Duke William the Norman [Holinshed Chronicles].

London : John Harrison, George Bishop, Rafe Newberie, Henrie Denham, and Thomas Woodcocke, 1587.

Preferred second edition of the greatest Elizabethan repository of English history which served as an important source for Shakespeare’s plays. Folios, 3 volumes bound into 2, bound in full calf, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised bands, red morocco spine labels, gilt ruled, woodcut initials and title pages. Separate title pages and pagination forContinue reading "The First and Second Volumes of Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland With: The Third volume of Chronicles, beginning at Duke William the Norman [Holinshed Chronicles]."

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$18,000.00
Item Number: RRB-95438
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Cooley, Arnold J

A Dictionary of the English Language Exhibiting the Orthography, Pronunciation, and Definition of Words According to the Prevailing Usage of Correct Writers and Speakers.

London and Edinburgh : W. and R. Chambers, 1861.

First edition of Cooley’s Dictionary of the English language. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, black spine label, raised gilt bands, marbled endpapers. Author’s preface. In very good condition.

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$1,250.00
Item Number: RRB-92803
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Hilton, James

So Well Remembered.

Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 1945.

First edition of James Hilton’s later novel. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by the author on the front free endpaper, “Sincerely, James Hilton.” Near fine in a very good dust jacket with a few small chips to the spine. Jacket illustration by George Picken.

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$250.00
Item Number: RRB-90801
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Dickens, Charles

Charles Dickens Gilt Bronze Relief Portrait.

.

Original gilt bronze relief portrait of Charles Dickens. Framed. The entire piece measures 14.5 inches by 12 inches. In near fine condition. A unique example.

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$850.00
Item Number: RRB-92795
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Briggs, Raymond

Gentleman Jim.

London : Hamish Hamilton, 1980.

First edition of Briggs’ somber look into the daily struggles of the working class. Folio, original illustrated boards. Signed and dated by the author on the front free endpaper, “Raymond Briggs 21 April 1981.” In near fine condition.

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$375.00
Item Number: RRB-92540
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Eliot, T.S

The Cocktail Party.

London : Faber & Faber, 1950.

First edition of Eliot’s most popular play published in his lifetime. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper to his niece, “Theodora Eliot Smith from T.S. Eliot.” Near fine in near fine dust jacket. A nice association.

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$4,800.00
Item Number: RRB-95677
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Thackeray, William

The Virginians.

London : Bradbury and Evans, 1858-59.

First edition of Thackeray’s memorable historical novel. Octavos, 2 volumes, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards,  raised bands, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled, illustrated. In near fine condition with light rubbing to the extremities.

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$650.00
Item Number: RRB-92535
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Bellow, Saul

Dangling Man.

New York : The Vanguard Press, 1944.

First edition of the Nobel Prize-winning author’s first book. Octavo, original beige cloth. Near fine in a fine dust jacket. An exceptional example.

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$2,000.00
Item Number: RRB-81980
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Le Carre, John

Call For The Dead.

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. Signed by the author on the title page in a contemporary hand, “John le Carre David Cornwell.” Fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket. Housed in a custom clamshell box. An exceptional example,Continue reading "Call For The Dead."

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$32,500.00
Item Number: RRB-94755
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Buechner, Frederick

The Seasons’ Difference.

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1952.

First edition of Frederick Buechner’s second novel. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, with a full page inscription by the author on the front free endpaper, “This was the most insincere of all of my books. Following hard on the heels of my most successful. I wrote a good deal of it in the small villageContinue reading "The Seasons’ Difference."

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$550.00
Item Number: RRB-92504
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Goddard, Robert

Past Caring.

London : Robert Hale Limited, 1986.

First edition of Robert Goddard’s first novel. Octavo, original cloth. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with light shelfwear. Jacket design by Wendy Taylor.

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$250.00
Item Number: RRB-92501
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Butterfield, Frederic William Louis [Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]

The Battle of Maldon, and Other Renderings from the Anglo-Saxon; Together with Original Verse.

Oxford : James Parker and Co, 1900.

First edition of this collection of English verse published to raise contributions for the Widows’ and Orphans’ Branch of the Transvaal War Fund. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by Arthur Conan Doyle on the half-title page. Near fine in the scarce original glassine.

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$1,800.00
Item Number: RRB-92491
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Rushdie, Salman

Midnight’s Children.

London : Jonathan Cape, 1981.

First British edition of the author’s Booker Prize-winning novel. Octavo, original half cloth. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Bill Botten.

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$1,350.00
Item Number: RRB-91456
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Wharton, Edith

The Age of Innocence.

New York : D. Appleton and Company, 1920.

First edition of the author’s Pulitzer-Prize winning novel. Octavo, original red cloth. In very good with some light toning to the spine. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.

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$3,250.00
Item Number: RRB-92355
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Cohen, Leonard

Beautiful Losers.

New York : The Viking Press, 1966.

First edition of Cohen’s second and final novel. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “For Matthew all the best Leonard Cohen 2008.” Fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket. Jacket design by Gilda Kuhlman.

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$2,500.00
Item Number: RRB-94686
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Edited by Will Blythe (David Foster Wallace)

Why I Write: Thoughts on the Craft of Fiction.

Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 1998.

First edition of this collection of essays. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by contributor David Foster Wallace on the front free endpaper. The essay contributed to this volume is one of his finest, titled, “The Nature of the Fun”, which is a meditation on why writers write, encrusted in Wallace’s signature blend of self-conscious despondency. Near fine in aContinue reading "Why I Write: Thoughts on the Craft of Fiction."

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$3,000.00
Item Number: RRB-85674
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Dickens, Charles

The Personal History of David Copperfield.

London : Bradbury and Evans, May 1849-November 1850.

First edition in parts of “the most perfect of all the Dickens novels” (Virginia Woolf). Original serial issue. Twenty parts in nineteen, octavo four to thirty-two pages of preliminary advertisements; text continuously paginated 1-624; eight leaves of preliminaries follow text in final part. Frontispiece, vignette title-page and thirty-eight additional inserted plates, the majority with tissueContinue reading "The Personal History of David Copperfield."

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$9,800.00
Item Number: RRB-91369
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Fowles, John [Harold Pinter]

The French Lieutenant’s Woman.

London : Jonathan Cape, 1969.

First edition of Fowles’ classic third novel. Octavo, original brown cloth, pictorial endpapers. Signed by both John Fowles and Harold Pinter on the title page. Pinter wrote the screenplay for the 1981 film bearing the same name. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. An excellent near fine example in aContinue reading "The French Lieutenant’s Woman."

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$2,500.00
Item Number: RRB-91873
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Verne, Jules

Michael Strogoff, the Courier of the Czar.

New York : Scribner, Armstrong & Company, 1877.

First American edition of this historical tale of adventure taking place during a Siberian revolt by the Tartars and what many consider one of Verne’s finest novels. Octavo, original cloth, with Ninety Full-Page Illustrations. Translated by W. H. G. Kingston. Revised by Julius Chambers. In near fine condition. A nice example.

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$1,500.00
Item Number: RRB-89346
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Naipaul, V.S

A House For Mr. Biswas.

London : Andre Deutsch, 1961.

First edition of the author’s magnum opus. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by V.S. Naipaul on the title page. Near fine in an excellent dust jacket with a small chip to the foot of the spine and some light wear. Jacket design by Stephen Russ.

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$4,800.00
Item Number: RRB-92563
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Naipaul, V.S

The Middle Passage: The Caribbean Revisited.

London : Andre Deutsch, 1962.

First edition of this travel work, “which belongs in the same category as Lawrence’s books on Italy, Greene’s on West Africa and Pritchett’s on Spain” (New Statesman). Octavo, original cloth, cartographic endpapers. Boldly signed by V.S. Naipaul on the title page. Name on the front free endpaper and stamp on the half-title page, near fineContinue reading "The Middle Passage: The Caribbean Revisited."

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$2,000.00
Item Number: RRB-75489
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Naipaul, V.S

An Area of Darkness: An Experience of India; India: A Wounded Civilization and India: A Million Mutinies Now.

London : Andre Deutsch, 1964-1990.

First editions of each of the author’s works in his acclaimed Indian Trilogy. Octavo, original cloth. Each volume is signed by V.S. Naipaul on the title page. Each are fine in near fine to fine dust jackets.

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$2,000.00
Item Number: RRB-90453
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