Literature

Twain, Mark [Samuel L. Clemens]

Extract From Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven.

New York : Harper & Brothers, n.d..

Early printing of the last work published by Twain during his lifetime. Octavo, original cloth with titles in white and vignette in black, frontispiece in blue and white, no publication date to the title page. From the library American journalist William Safire with his bookplate to the pastedown. William Safire was an important American author,Continue reading "Extract From Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven."

Coetzee, J.M

Boyhood: Scenes from Provincial Life.

London : Secker & Warburg, 1997.

First edition of this fictionalized autobiography by the Nobel Prize-winning author. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by J.M. Coetzee on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Cover photograph by Roderick Field. Author photograph by Morris Zwi.

Tolstoy, Leo

What Shall We Do?

London : The Free Age Press, n.d..

The Free Age Press edition of Tolstoy’s critique of social conditions in Russia. Octavo, original wrappers. In near fine condition. Rare.

Sandburg, Carl. [William Safire]

Good Morning America.

New York : Crosby Gaige, 1928.

Signed limited first edition of Sandburg’s classic poem, originally delivered at Harvard as a Phi Beta Kappa poem. Octavo, bound in full morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, double gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, topContinue reading "Good Morning America."

Flaubert, Gustave

Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners.

London : Vizetelly & Co., 1886.

First British edition of the author’s masterpiece. Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece and 5 plates, 2 pages of advertisements at front and 24-page publisher’s catalogue at rear dated 1886. Translated by Karl Marx’s daughter, Eleanor Marx-Aveling. In near fine condition with a touch of shelfwear. An exceptional example, rare in this condition.

Wecker, Johannes Jacob

Eighteen Books of the Secrets of Art & Nature, Being The Summe and Substance of Naturall Philosophy, Methodically Digested. First designed by John Wecker Dr in Physick, and now much Augmented and Inlarged by Dr. R. Read. A like work never before in the English tongue.

1660 : Printed for Simon Miller at the Starre in St. Pauls Church-yard, London.

First edition in English of Reade’s 17th century adaptation of Johann Jacob Wecker’s De secreti libri xvii [Book of Secrets] of 1582. Folio, bound in three quarter polished calf over marbled boards with gilt titles and ruling to the spine, woodcut printer’s device to the title, woodcut head and tailpieces and initials, numerous woodcut diagramsContinue reading "Eighteen Books of the Secrets of Art & Nature, Being The Summe and Substance of Naturall Philosophy, Methodically Digested. First designed by John Wecker Dr in Physick, and now much Augmented and Inlarged by Dr. R. Read. A like work never before in the English tongue."

Allende, Isabel. [Annie Dillard]

The House of the Spirits: A Novel.

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1985.

First edition of the author’s first book. Octavo, original cloth. Translated from the Spanish by Magda Bogin. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “For Annie, ‘Barrabas came to us by sea, the child Clara Wrote in her delicate calligraphy’ Isabel Allende.” Allende has also drawn a flower on the title page.Continue reading "The House of the Spirits: A Novel."

Dickens, Charles

The Christmas Books: The Chimes; The Battle of Life; Cricket on the Hearth; The Haunted Man and The Ghost’s Bargain.

London : Chapman and Hall/Bradbury & Evans, 1845-1848.

First editions of the four final novellas in Charles Dickens’ Christmas Book series. Octavo, 4 volumes bound in full crushed burgundy morocco by Bayntun Riviere with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbled endpapers,Continue reading "The Christmas Books: The Chimes; The Battle of Life; Cricket on the Hearth; The Haunted Man and The Ghost’s Bargain."

Joyce, James

Ulysses.

Paris : Shakespeare and Company, 1922.

First edition of Joyce’s masterpiece, one of 750 numbered copies printed on handmade paper from a total edition of 1000 copies, this is number number 276. Thick quarto, original blue and white wrappers. In near fine condition, square and tight with a touch of rubbing to the crown and foot of the spine. Housed inContinue reading "Ulysses."

Tresilian, Stuart. [Rudyard Kipling]

The Official Set of Copyright Cards of The Jungle Pictures by Stuart Tresilian from All the Mowgli Stories by Rudyard Kipling.

London : Issued by The Boy Scouts Association, n.d..

Rare official collection of copyright illustration cards from Rudyard Kipling’s All the Mowgli Stories. Octavo, the envelope includes 8 full color illustrations cards. The cards are in near fine condition.

Tolstoy, Leo. [Count Lyof N Tolstoi]

Anna Karenina.

Moscow : T. Ris, 1878.

First edition in Russian of Tolstoy’s masterpiece. Octavo, 3 volumes, bound in three quarters calf, gilt titles, raised bands. Housed in a custom box. In near fine condition. First editions in Russian are rare.

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."

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.

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."

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.

Conrad, Joseph

The Collected Works of Joseph Conrad. [Almayer’s Folly, An Outcast of the Islands, The Nigger of “Narcissus”, Tales of Unrest, Lord Jim, The Inheritors, Youth: and Two Other Stories, Romance, Typhoon and Other Stories, Nostromo, The Mirror of the Sea, The Secret Agent, A Set of Six, Under Western Eyes, Some Reminiscences, ‘Twist Land & Sea Tales, Chance, Victory, Within the Tides, The Shadow Line, The Arrow of Gold, On Day More, The Rescue].

Edinburgh & London : Various Publishers, 1925.

Collection of the writings of Joseph Conrad. Octavo, 20 volumes, original cloth. Near fine in the rare original dust jackets which are in near fine condition.