Literature

Wilde, Oscar

An Ideal Husband.

London : Leonard Smithers and Co, 1899.

First edition of Wilde’s classic comedic stage play. Octavo, bound in full morocco by the Harcourt Bindery, gilt titles and ruling to the spine, raised bands, gilt ruled to the front and rear panels, inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. In fine condition. An exceptional presentation.

Hall, Radclyffe

The Well of Loneliness.

New York : Covici-Friede Publishers, 1929.

Signed limited edition of this classic work, one of only 225 copies. Octavo, 2 volumes, original cloth, frontispiece to volume one. Signed by Radclyffe  Hall. In fine condition. An exceptional example.

Beagle, Peter S

The Last Unicorn.

New York : The Viking Press, 1968.

First edition of Beagle’s classic second book, which follows the tale of a unicorn, who believes she is the last of her kind in the world and undertakes a quest to discover what has happened to the others.. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “For Larry Peter S.Continue reading "The Last Unicorn."

Five Plays: Chicago; Icarus’s Mother; Red Cross; Fourteen Hundred Thousand. Melodrama Play. Shepard, Sam.

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First edition of the author’s first book. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Robert Patrick Sullivan from photographs by Hope Wurmfeld.

Heaney, Seamus

Poets from the North of Ireland.

1979 : Blackstaff Press, Belfast.

First edition of this collection of poems. Octavo, original illustrated wrappers. Boldly signed by Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney on the half-title page. In near fine condition. Edited by Frank Ormsby.

Porter, Eleanor H. [Hayley Mills]

Pollyanna.

Boston : L.C. Page & Company, 1913.

First edition of Eleanor H. Porter’s classic of children’s literature. Octavo, original cloth, engraved frontispiece, illustrated by Stockton Mulford. Inscribed by actress Hayley Mills. Mills starred in the 1960 movie adaptation Pollyanna, alongside Jane Wyman, Karl Malden, and Richard Egan in a story about a cheerful orphan changing the outlook of a small town. TheContinue reading "Pollyanna."

McCarthy, Cormac

The Passenger and Stella Maris.

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2022.

First editions of McCarthy’s two-volume masterpiece: The Passenger is the story of a salvage diver, haunted by loss, afraid of the watery deep, pursued for a conspiracy beyond his understanding, and longing for a death he cannot reconcile with God. Octavo, 2 volumes, original boards, original slipcase. Signed by Cormac McCarthy on the half-title pageContinue reading "The Passenger and Stella Maris."

Macaulay, Thomas Babington

Critical and Historical Essays, Contributed to the Edinburgh Review.

London : Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts, 1858.

Finely bound example of the Critical and Historical Essays of Lord Macaulay. Octavo, three volumes bound in full polished calf with elaborate gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, double gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbledContinue reading "Critical and Historical Essays, Contributed to the Edinburgh Review."

Essays with a Purpose.

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First edition of this collection of essays. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket.

Wells, H.G

Love and Mr. Lewisham: The Story of a Very Young Couple.

New York : Charles Scribner's Sons, 1924.

Early Scribner’s reprint of one of Wells’ first fictional writings outside the science fiction genre. Octavo, original publisher’s cloth elaborately stamped in blind. In very good condition. Bookplate to the pastedown. Surplus deaccession stamp from the Library of Congress.

Dickens, Charles

Bleak House.

London : Bradbury Evans, 1853.

First edition of this Dickens’ classic. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, illustrated with engraved title page and 39 engraved plates by H.K. Browne. In very good condition.

Johnson, Samuel

The Works of Samuel Johnson.

London : Henry G. Bohn, 1850.

Finely bound edition of the works of Samuel Johnson, with an essay on his life and genius by Arthur Murphy. Octavo, two volumes bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled, engraved frontispiece portrait of Johnson toContinue reading "The Works of Samuel Johnson."

Dickens, Charles

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

London : Chapman and Hall/Bradbury & Evans, 1843-48.

Complete set of Charles Dickens’ Christmas Books. Octavo, 5 volumes, original cloth with gilt titles and tooling to the spine and front panels, all edges gilt. A Christmas Carol, in Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas is a second edition in brown cloth with red and blue title-page dated 1843, ‘Stave One’ and correctedContinue reading "The Christmas Books: A Christmas Carol; The Chimes; The Cricket on the Hearth; The Battle of Life; The Haunted Man and The Ghost’s Bargain."

O'Brien, Tim

If I Die In a Combat Zone, Box Me Up & Ship Me Home.

New York : Delacorte Press, 1973.

First edition of O’Brien’s first book. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by the author on the title page, “Peace Tim O’Brien.” Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Wendell Minor. Photograph by Susan Futterman. An exceptional example.

Tartt, Donna

The Secret History.

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.

First edition of this contemporary literary classic and “an accomplished psychological thriller…absolutely chilling” (Village Voice). Octavo, original illustrated boards. Signed three times by legendary jacket designer Chip Kidd; on the front panel of the book, on the half-title page and rear jacket panel. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Chip KiddContinue reading "The Secret History."

Simon, Neil

The Sunshine Boys.

New York : Random House, 1973.

First edition of this classic work. Octavo, original half cloth. Boldly signed by actor Richard Benjamin on the title page. Benjamin starred in the 1975 film directed by Herbert Ross and produced by Ray Stark, with George Burns as Lewis, Walter Matthau as Clark, and Richard Benjamin as Ben. Fine in a near fine price-clippedContinue reading "The Sunshine Boys."

McCarthy, Cormac

The Stonemason: A Play In Five Acts.

Hopewell, NJ : The Ecco Press, 1994.

Signed limited first edition of this expansively imagined drama about four generations of an American family. Octavo, original cloth. Additionally signed by jacket designer Chip Kidd on the signature page as follows, “It’s actually Mike Tyson on the cover! Chip Kidd.” Additionally signed by Kidd on the slipcase. The designer is referring to the frontContinue reading "The Stonemason: A Play In Five Acts."

Stoppard, Tom

Rock ‘n’ Roll.

New York : Faber & Faber, 2006.

First edition of “one of the great political plays in the English language (John Peter). Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Tom Stoppard on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by AKA.

Morrison, Toni

Sula.

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1973.

First edition of the Nobel Prize-winning author’s second novel. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Toni Morrison in a contemporary hand on the front free endpaper. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Wendell Minor.

Morris, Willie

My Dog Skip.

New York : Random House, 1995.

First edition of “this classic story of a boy, a dog, and small-town America… a rich experience all around” (The New York Times Book Review). Octavo, original half cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the half-title page, “To John, Warm wishes to a fellow dog-lover in Michigan 6/17/95.”Continue reading "My Dog Skip."

Jong, Erica

Fear of Flying.

New York : Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1973.

First edition of the author’s controversial, gound-breaking second-wave feminist classic which has sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Octavo, original cloth, red endpapers. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the half-title page, “For Katherine Kasten – from Erica Jong October 1973.” Near fine in a very good dust jacketContinue reading "Fear of Flying."

Shelley, Percy Bysshe

The Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley.

London : Edward Moxon, 1854.

Finely bound example of the works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. Royal octavo, bound in three quarters vellum over marbled boards, elaborate gilt tooling to the spine, morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, illustrated, tissue-guarded frontispiece. In near fine condition. Armorial bookplate.

Rowling, J.K [Kennelworthy Whisp]

Quidditch: Through the Ages.

New York : Arthur A. Levine/ Scholastic Books, 2001.

First American edition of this “amazingly imaginative work” (Associated Press). Octavo, original wrappers as issued. Boldly signed by J.K. Rowling on the title page. In fine condition. Rare signed.

Hall, Oakley

Warlock.

New York : The Viking Press, 1958.

First edition of this classic of American West literature. Octavo, original half cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “To Jim Dunham with best wishes Oakley Hall UCI 89.” The recipient, Jim Dunham was a historian and friend of the authors. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design byContinue reading "Warlock."