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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 1240-1260 of 2245

Wilde, Oscar

The Works of Oscar Wilde.

London : Methuen & Co, Ltd./Paris: Charles Carrington, 1908-1922.

Complete set of the works of Oscar Wilde, including For Love of a King issued in 1922 and often missing from this set. Octavo, 15 volumes in the publisher’s original gilt-decorated full buckram, top edge gilt with others uncut. One of 1000 copies issued on handmade paper. The Picture of Dorian Gray bears the imprintContinue reading "The Works of Oscar Wilde."

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$6,000.00
Item Number: RRB-139028

Melville, Herman

Herman Melville Autograph Letter Signed.

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Rare autograph letter signed and entirely in the hand of Herman Melville to his publisher, Harper & Brothers. One page, the letter reads in full, “Harper & Brothers New York. Pittsfield Oct. 8th Gentlemen: Herewith is an article, which, if it suit, will you, according to what you have said to me, send me theContinue reading "Herman Melville Autograph Letter Signed."

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$17,500.00
Item Number: RRB-139021

Forster, John

The Works and Life of Walter Savage Landor.

London : Chapman and Hall, 1876.

Finely bound set of Forster’s famed biography of the English poet. Octavo, 8 volumes bound in full crushed levant morocco by Riviere & Son with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, top edge gilt, tissue-guarded engraved frontispiece of Landor to volume one. InContinue reading "The Works and Life of Walter Savage Landor."

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$600.00
Item Number: RRB-139019

William, Oscar [Editor]; Dylan Thomas; Wallace Stevens; W.H. Auden; Marianne Moore; Robinson Jeffers; Randall Jarrell; Delmore Schwartz; Conrad Aiken; Muriel Rukeyser; Stephen Spender; Robert Penn Warren

New Poems 1942: An Anthology of British and American Verse.

Mount Vernon, N.Y : Peter Pauper Press, 1942.

First edition, signed limited issue of the second in a series of wartime poetry anthologies selected by Oscar Williams, this being the first to be issued as a signed limited edition. Octavo, original three quarter buckram over marbled boards, top edge gilt. One of 26 lettered copies available for sale and signed by 31 ofContinue reading "New Poems 1942: An Anthology of British and American Verse."

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$8,800.00
Item Number: RRB-138329

Poe, Edgar Allan

The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe.

New York : Thomas Y. Crowell & Co. Publishers, 1902.

The Virginia edition of the works of Edgar Allan Poe, edited by James A. Harrison. Octavo, 17 volumes, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, illustrated with tissue-guarded photogravures. In very good condition. A sharpContinue reading "The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe."

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$2,800.00
Item Number: RRB-138956

Coetzee, J.M

White Writing: On the Culture of Letters in South Africa.

New Haven : Yale University Press, 1988.

First edition of the Nobel Prize winning-author’s first book of criticism. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page to his first wife, “Philippe- Love from John.” Philippa Jubber and John Maxwell Coetzee were married in 1963. They had two children, Nicolas (1966–1989) and Gisela (b. 1968). In 1965 CoetzeeContinue reading "White Writing: On the Culture of Letters in South Africa."

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$4,000.00
Item Number: RRB-108011

Thompson, Kay. Illustrated by Hilary Knight

Eloise; Eloise in Paris; Eloise at Christmastime; Eloise in Moscow.

New York : Simon and Schuster, 1955-1959.

First editions of the four classic books in Kay Thompson’s beloved Eloise series. Quarto, four volumes, original boards, pictorial endpapers, illustrated by Hilary Knight. Each volume is near fine in a very good to near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by Asprey. An exceptional set.

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$5,500.00
Item Number: RRB-138622

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Cambridge : Riverside Press, 1903.

The Autograph Centenary edition of the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, one of 600 numbered copies containing a double sided manuscript in Emerson’s hand bound into volume one. Octavo, 12 volumes, publisher’s original three quarter morocco over marbled boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, top edgeContinue reading "The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson."

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$9,500.00
Item Number: RRB-138934

Whitman, Walt

Leaves of Grass.

Boston : James R. Osgood and Company, 1881-82.

The “suppressed Boston edition” (seventh edition overall) of the most important volume in American poetry, one of 1,010 copies printed. Octavo, original publisher’s mustard cloth with gilt titles and tooling to the spine and front panel, tissue-guarded engraved portrait of the author by Hollyer after the daguerreotype by Gabriel Harrison opposite page 29. BAL 21418.Continue reading "Leaves of Grass."

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$12,500.00
Item Number: RRB-139829

Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de. Translated by Thomas Shelton

The History of Don-Quichote. The First Parte and The Second Part of the History of the Valorous and Witty Knight-Errant, Don Quixote of the Mancha.

London : Printed for Edward Blount, 1620.

Exceedingly rare first complete edition in English of Cervantes’ masterpiece comprised of a second edition of the first part and first edition of the second part. Small quarto, bound in full crimson crushed levant morocco by Riviere & Son, gilt titles and elaborate gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands,Continue reading "The History of Don-Quichote. The First Parte and The Second Part of the History of the Valorous and Witty Knight-Errant, Don Quixote of the Mancha."

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$25,000.00
Item Number: RRB-139832

Byron, Lord

The Works of the Right Hon. Lord Byron. [Fore-edge Painting].

London : Printed for John Murray, 1815.

Finely bound collection of the works of Lord Byron. Octavo, bound in full straight grain morocco with gilt title and tooling to the spine, elaborate gilt tooling to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, all edges gilt. Decorated with a fore-edge painting of the Old Palace, Croydon. In good condition. HousedContinue reading "The Works of the Right Hon. Lord Byron. [Fore-edge Painting]."

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$1,250.00
Item Number: RRB-134016

Sterne, Laurence

The Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy.

London : Williams and Norgate, 1910.

Finely bound example of Sterne’s popular travelogue which helped establish the genre of travel writing and Sterne as the “most eminent novelist of the period” (Baugh, 1022). Quarto, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards by Bayntun-Riviere, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in four compartments within raised gilt bands, top edge gilt,Continue reading "The Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy."

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$450.00
Item Number: RRB-138940

Gautier, Théophile

Mademoiselle de Maupin.

Paris : L. Conquet; G. Charpentier, 1883.

Finley bound example of Gautier’s retelling of the infamous legend of Mademoiselle de Maupin. Quarto, bound in full crushed levant morocco by Riviere & Son, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, elaborate gilt ruling and fleuron cornerpieces to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and innerContinue reading "Mademoiselle de Maupin."

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$650.00
Item Number: RRB-138581

Maugham, W. Somerset

Of Human Bondage.

London : William Heinemann, 1915.

First edition, first printing which includes list of other “Works” by Maugham facing half-title, plus publisher’s ad page for works by other authors on half-title verso, with the misprint on page 257, line 4 (“help”) of Maugham’s masterpiece. Octavo, original cloth. In near fine condition. Housed in a custom half morocco chemise and clamshell box.Continue reading "Of Human Bondage."

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$4,000.00
Item Number: RRB-136601

Lowry, Lois

Gathering Blue.

Boston : Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.

First edition of this work by the Newbury Award-winning novelist. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by the author on the title page, “With best wishes Lois Lowry.” Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Kathy Black.

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$275.00
Item Number: RRB-139213

Guerber, Hélène Adeline

Myths of the Norsemen From the Eddas and Sagas.

London : George G. Harrap & Company, 1909.

First edition of one of the author’s most enduring works. Octavo, bound in full crushed levant emerald green morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, gilt ruling to the front and rear panel, gilt inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt with others untrimmed, frontispiece, illustrated. In good condition.

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$975.00
Item Number: RRB-138991

Dickens, Charles

The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

London : Chapman & Hall, 1870.

First edition, bound from the original parts of Dickens’ final novel. Octavo, original bound in full calf,  gilt titles to the spine, raised bands, double gilt ruled to the front and rear panels, inner dentelles, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait of dickens and additional engraved title, 12 wood-engraved plates. In near fineContinue reading "The Mystery of Edwin Drood."

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$925.00
Item Number: RRB-131055
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