Literature

Wiesel, Elie

Night.

London : MacGibbon & Kee, 1960.

First English edition of Nobel laureate Wiesel’s masterpiece, which precedes the first American edition. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Elie Wiesel on the front free endpaper. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. Jacket design by Cowan. Foreword by Francois Mauriac. TranslatedContinue reading "Night."

McCarthy, Mary

Birds of America.

New York : Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich, 1971.

First edition of this classic work. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “To Harlan Umansky my thanks, Mary McCarthy November 5, 1984.” Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket drawing by Peter Vos. Jacket design by Paul Bacon. Jacket photograph of Mary McCarthy by Jack Nisberg.Continue reading "Birds of America."

Asimov, Isaac

Murder at the ABA: A Puzzle in Four Days and Sixty Scenes.

Garden City, New York : Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1976.

First edition of Asimov’s wonderfully woven, old-fashioned murder mystery. Octavo, original half cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “To Stephen Isaac Asimov.” Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Al Nagy.

Hurston, Zora Neale

Hurston: Novels & Stories: Jonah’s Gourd Vine, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Moses Man of the Mountain, Seraph on the Suwanee, and Selected Stories [with] Hurston: Folklore, Memoirs, & Other Writings: Mules and Men, Tell My Horse, Dust Tracks on a Road and Selected Articles.

New York : Library of America, 1995.

First editions of the Library of American compilations of the works of both fiction and non-fiction of Zora Neale Hurston. Octavo, 2 volumes, original cloth, ribbon bound in. Edited by Cheryl A. Wall. Fine in fine dust jackets.

Follett, Ken [Erica Jong]

Code to Zero.

New York : Dutton, 2000.

Advance reading copy of the first edition of Follett’s page-turning thriller. Octavo, original pictorial wrappers. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page,”To Ken + Erica – with love, Ken Follett.” The recipients, American writer Erica Jong and lawyer Kenneth David Burrows were married in August of 1989. Erica Jong remains best knownContinue reading "Code to Zero."

Follett, Ken [Erica Jong]

Jackdaws.

New York : Dutton, 2001.

Advance reading copy of the first edition of the New York Times bestselling author’s classic World War II spy thriller. Octavo, original pictorial wrappers. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page,”To Ken + Erica – with love, Ken Follett.” The recipients, American writer Erica Jong and lawyer Kenneth David Burrows were marriedContinue reading "Jackdaws."

Follett, Ken [Erica Jong]

World Without End.

New York : Dutton, 2007.

First printing, advance uncopyedited manuscript of Follett’s bestselling historical novel, the sequel to The Pillars of Earth. Octavo, original pictorial wrappers. From the library of Erica Jong and her husband Ken Burrows. American writer Erica Jong and lawyer Kenneth David Burrows were married in August of 1989 and became close personal friends of Follett’s. EricaContinue reading "World Without End."

Twain, Mark [Samuel L. Clemens]

Life On The Mississippi.

Boston : James R. Osgood and Company, 1883.

First American edition, first state of this provocative portrait of the great Mississippi River with tailpiece of Twain in flames on p. 441 and “The St. Louis Hotel” caption on p. 443. Octavo, original publisher’s deluxe full sheep with morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled, illustrated. In very good condition,Continue reading "Life On The Mississippi."

Plath, Sylvia

The Colossus and Other Poems.

London : Heinemann, 1960.

First edition of the first complete volume of poetry to be published by Plath and the only volume published in her lifetime. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco slipcase. An exceptional example.

Bryant, William Cullen

William Cullen Bryant Autograph “The Voice of Autumn” Poem Signed.

November 21, 1853 .

Rare autograph poem in the hand of William Cullen Bryant sent by him to magazine publisher George R. Graham for inclusion in his literary periodical Graham’s Magazine with the accompanying transmittal letter from Bryant to Graham. Quarto, two pages. Addressed to George R. Graham, the letter reads in part, “New York Monday Nov. 21, 1853Continue reading "William Cullen Bryant Autograph “The Voice of Autumn” Poem Signed."

Shakespeare, William

The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare. With A Glossary.

Chiswick : Printed by C. Whittingham, 1825.

Finely bound example of the collected dramatic works of William Shakespeare. 12mo, bound in full pebbled dark green morocco with gilt titles and elaborate gilt tooling to the spine, gilt tooling to the front and rear panels withing triple gilt ruling to the spine and front panels, gilt turn-ins and wide gilt inner dentelles, allContinue reading "The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare. With A Glossary."

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 John le Carre on the title page. Near fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket with light expert restoration. With a signed letter from le Carre’s secretary stating that he willContinue reading "Call For The Dead."

Collected Stories.

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Signed limited edition of this classic collection of stories. Octavo, original half cloth. Boldly signed by Paul Bowles. In fine condition. Introduction by Gore Vidal. Housed in a custom half morocco slipcase.

Mailer, Norman

The Naked and the Dead.

New York : Henry Holt, 2005.

First edition of the 50th anniversary edition of the author’s classic first novel. Thick octavo, original boards. Lengthily inscribed by the author on the half-title page, who has transcribed the first line of this title as follows, “All over the ship, all through the convoy there was a knowledge that in a few hours someContinue reading "The Naked and the Dead."

Genet, Jean. Translated by Bernard Frechtman. Jean-Paul Sartre [Peter Matthiessen]

Our Lady of the Flowers.

New York : Grove Press, Inc., 1963.

First American edition of Genet’s debut novel. Octavo, original cloth. From the library of Peter Matthiessen with his bookplate to the front free endpaper. Peter Matthiessen remains the only writer to have won the National Book Award in both nonfiction (The Snow Leopard, 1979) and fiction (Shadow Country, 2008). A leading figure in fiction andContinue reading "Our Lady of the Flowers."

Manning, Matthew K

Wolverine: Inside the World of The Living Weapon.

London : DK Publishing, 2009.

First edition of the most comprehensive guide to the world of the X-Men’s most popular hero. Quarto, original publisher’s pictorial boards, illustrated. From the collection of Bill Zwecker. A member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, Zwecker was a longtime entertainment and celebrity journalist. A Chicago native and second-generation newspaper star (his late mother, PegContinue reading "Wolverine: Inside the World of The Living Weapon."

Wharton, Edith

Ethan Frome.

New York : Charles Scribner's Sons, 1911.

First edition, first issue with “wearily” in perfect type on penultimate line of page 135 and with four pages of publisher’s advertisements at rear, of Wharton’s greatest tragic story, a “grim tale of a bud of romance ice-bound and turned into a frozen horror in the frigid setting of a New England winter landscape” (The NewContinue reading "Ethan Frome."

Berger, Thomas

Crazy In Berlin.

New York : Charles Scribner's, 1958.

First edition of Berger’s first book. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Thomas Berger on the title page. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Jacket design by Sydney Butchkes. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell slipcase. An exceptional presentation.

Heaney, Seamus

Beowulf: A New Verse Translation.

London : Faber and Faber, 1999.

First edition of this work by the Nobel Prize-winning author. Octavo, original boards. Boldly signed by Seamus Heaney on the title page. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket painting by Barrie Cooke. Author photograph by Caroline Forbes. A very sharp example.

Sedaris, David

Naked.

Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 1997.

First edition of the author’s classic work. Octavo, original illustrated boards. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “To Patrick I still care David Sedaris on the title page. Additionally signed four times by jacket illustrator Chip Kidd, once on the front panel, on the title page, on the book front panelContinue reading "Naked."

Follett, Ken [Erica Jong]

A Place Called Freedom.

New York : Crown Publishers, Inc., 1995.

First edition of Follett’s New York Times bestseller. Octavo, original half cloth, cartographic endpapers. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “To Erica & Ken, with love Ken Follett.” The recipients, American writer Erica Jong and lawyer Kenneth David Burrows were married in August of 1989. Erica Jong remains best known forContinue reading "A Place Called Freedom."

Shreve, Anita

Resistance: A Novel.

Boston : Little, Brown and Company, 1995.

First edition of this work by the author of The Pilot’s Wife. Octavo, original half cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper in the year of publication, “March 28, 1995 For Ken, with thanks for your help in a different battle front Anita Shreve.” The recipient, American litigator Kenneth DavidContinue reading "Resistance: A Novel."

Dahl, Roald; Illustrated by Quentin Blake

The BFG: Illustrations by Quentin Blake.

London : Jonathan Cape, 1982.

First edition, early printing of this Dahl classic, which has sold over 20 million copies. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated by Quentin Blake. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “Love Doug Roald Dahl 1984.” Additionally signed by Quentin Blake below. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.

Vargas Llosa, Mario

The Storyteller: A Novel.

New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1989.

First edition of this “brilliant novel” (The New York Times Book Review). Octavo, original boards. Boldly signed by Mario Vargas Llosa on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket art by Mark Sturgeon. Jacket design by Cynthia Krupat. Author photograph by Jerry Bauer. Translated by Helen Lane.