London: John Lehmann, 1950. First Edition. Hardcover. First Impression of an early British edition containing the entire trilogy of novels that comprise the author's kaleidoscopic portrait of the United States between the turn of the 20th century and the beginning of the Great Depression. About Fine (sunning to the toe..... more
![One Man's Initiation : 1917 [First State]. John DOS PASSOS](/pictures/thumb/BB1855.jpg?v=1535674964)
London: George Allen and Unwin, 1920. First Edition. Hardcover. First (and only) Impression, First State, of the author's first books, one of only 750 copies printed and bound. Small 8vo: 128pp. Publisher's pale blue mesh cloth, front cover and spine stamped in navy blue, text printed on heavy stock white..... more
![Sacco and Vanzetti] Facing the Chair: Story of the Americanization of Two Foreignborn Workmen....](/pictures/thumb/BB2297.jpeg?v=1599696662)
Boston: Sacco-Vanzetti Defense Committee, 1927. First Edition. Stiff Wrappers. First (and only) Printing of this official report of the Sacco-Vanzetti Defense Committee, written by Dos Passos after visiting the two accused in Massachusetts prisons. Demy 8vo (214 x 147mm): 128p. Original stiff olive drab wrappers printed In black. Trivial creasing..... more
New York: United States Book Company, 1891. Decorative Cloth. Very early unauthorized edition, apparently unrecorded, preceding the first trade edition of 1892 (and "probably the earliest appearance in book form anywhere of The Red-Headed League and The Boscombe Valley Mystery and one of the earliest appearances of A Study in..... more
![Spiritualism] The Parasite [Association Copy]. . Conan DOYLE, rthur](/pictures/thumb/BB1909.jpeg?v=1588973220)
London: A[rchibald]. Constable, 1894. First Edition. Pictorial Cloth. First Impression of Doyle's vampire novel (a spirit- rather than blood-sucking entity), preceding by three years Bram Stoker's Dracula. First volume in Constable's "Acme Library" series. Foolscap 8vo (158 x 95mm): [8],125,[1]pp. Publisher's dark blue ribbed cloth (also issued in light green..... more
![Bitter Lemons [with wraparound band]. Lawrence DURRELL](/pictures/thumb/BB2087.jpeg?v=1605372903)
London: Faber & Faber, mcmlvii [1957]. First Edition. Hardcover. True First Impression (not the more common Book Society issue printed from the same plates) of the third of Durrell's three island memoirs (with Prospero's Cell and Reflections on a Marine Venus). Demy 8vo (214 x 131mm): 256pp, with title-page vignette..... more
London: Turret Books, 1967. Limited Edition. Card Covers. First publication in the series Contemporary Poetry Set to Music, a six-line poem by Durrell, set to music for "high voice" by Southam. Limited to 100 numbered copies, signed by the poet and the composer, this being no. 25. Unpaginated: [8]pp, with..... more
New York: Covici-Friede, 1937. First Printing. Hardcover. First American Edition of Lawrence Durrell's uncommon second novel, set on an imaginary Greek island reminiscent of Corfu, to which Durrell and his young wife had relocated from England in 1935. Crown 8vo (203 x 129mm): 372pp. Publisher's beige cloth, spine and upper..... more
![Photobook] Practical Lawn-Tennis. James DWIGHT](/pictures/thumb/BB1534.jpg?v=1504750133)
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1893. First Printing. Decorative Cloth. Scarce First Edition of one of the first tennis books to show action photographs illustrating various racket strokes. Small 8vo: xvi,168,[6 adverisements]pp, with 25 full-page photographic plates, 6 tables and 4 text figures. Publisher's navy blue decorative cloth, upper cover..... more
![Juvenile] The Three Astronauts [I tre cosmonauti]. Umberto ECO, Eugenio Carmi](/images/noimage.png)
New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1989. First Edition. Hardcover. First Printing of the second installment in Eco's trilogy of children’s books, also including The Bomb and the General and The Gnomes of Gnu Bompiani, all illustrated by Eugenio Carmi. Translated by William Weaver. Tall, slim 8vo: unpaginated, with 17 stunning..... more
![A Bibliography of Henry James [Jacob Blanck's copy, presented by the authors]. Leon EDEL, Dan H....](/pictures/thumb/BB1361.jpg?v=1568301891)
London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1957. First Edition. Hardcover. First Printing, one of only 1,000 copies. Rare Presentation Copy, inscribed by Laurence on front fly leaf and signed by both Edel and Laurence to the great bibliographer Jacob Blanck, with typed postcard signed from Edel to Blanck laid in and fascinating marginal..... more
![Four Quartets, comprising] East Coker; [together with] Burnt Norton; [together with] The Dry...](/pictures/thumb/BB2292.jpeg?v=1598205661)
London: Faber & Faber [through 1942], 1940. Four beautifully preserved (and unfaded) first and early impressions of the separate appearances in pamphlet form of Eliot's wartime masterpiece. Demy 8vo (229 x 160mm): each 16pp. East Coker (sixth impression of first Faber edition; East Coker first appeared in two separate printings..... more
New York: Boni & Liveright, 1922. First Edition. Hardcover. Second Impression (and not, as the colophon states, "Second Edition," for which see Gallup), Number 369 (stamped in type 2-mm high) limited to just 1000 copies. With the incorrect 'mount in,' line 339, p. 41. Slim crown 8vo (192 x 124mm)..... more
London: Faber and Faber, 1954. First Edition. Stiff Wrappers. Complete Set of Eight of these illustrated poems, four with original, unused printed envelopes for posting. Slim 8vo (214 x 138mm): 4pp (including full-page colored illustration and in-text drawings). Pastel-colored stiff wrappers lettered in black, sewn bindings. All eight volumes in..... more
![Four Quartets [comprising East Coker, Burnt Norton, The Dry Salvages, Little Gidding]. ELIOT,...](/pictures/thumb/BB1764.jpg?v=1533913216)
New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1943. First Edition. Hardcover. First Printing (“First American Edition” on copyright page) of the first single-volume edition of Eliot's wartime masterpiece (preceding the British edition by more than a year), in the first-issue dust jacket (with nine titles to back panel). Tall, slim 8vo: [8],39,[1]pp. Original..... more
London: Andre Deutsch, 1966. First Edition. Hardcover. First Impression of Rhys's prequel to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, reconstructing the life of Bertha Cosway, the madwoman of Thornfield Hall. Small 8vo: 190pp. Publisher's finely woven tangerine cloth, spine stamped in gilt; beautifully illustrated dust jacket by Eric Thomas, priced 21s. A...... more
![Sonnets, With Folk Songs from the Spanish. [Unopened]. Havelock ELLIS](/pictures/thumb/BB0393.jpg?v=1499796658)
Waltham Saint Lawrence, Berkshire, Great Britain: Gold Cockerel Press, 1925. Limited Edition. Quarter cloth. Octavo; 81pp. Oatmeal-colored quarter cloth over matching paper-covered boards, with a paper spine label and deckled edges. No. 17 of 500 numbered copies. Fine and opened. more
![Ariel [Penguin No. 1]. Emile Herzog, Andre MAUROIS, 1885 to 1967](/pictures/thumb/BB2401.jpeg?v=1598708822)
London: Penguin Books, 1935. First Printing. Wrappers. Rare First State (with "Andre" instead of "André" on front cover) of first Penguin paperback, a biography of English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Translated by Ella D'Arcy. Foolscap 8vo (179 x 107mm): 252pp. Publisher's card covers printed in blue and black. Tightly..... more
![Photobook] The Road To Wigan Pier [True First]. Eric Arthur Blair, George ORWELL](/pictures/thumb/BB2132.jpg?v=1562726517)
London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1950. First Impression. Wrappers. Paperback Original ("Left Book Club Edition / Not For Sale To The Public"), the true first edition preceding the trade casebound issue of 2,150 copies. As many as 44,000 copies were printed, but relatively few have survived in collectible condition. Tall, thick..... more
New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1950. First Edition. Hardcover. First Printing of First American Edition (so stated), presenting two of Orwell's best essays, the title piece and The Hanging; one of 4,000 copies printed. 8vo (201 x 130mm): [8],200pp. Publisher's grey linen grain cloth, spine stamped in silver gilt; white dust..... more
London: T. Werner Laurie, 1911. First Edition. Cloth. An exemplary example of "Pain's best general short story collection." (Wilson) 8vo: [8],320,[10, advertisements]pp. Publisher's sea green textured cloth, front and back covers stamped in black, spine lettered in gilt, title page (with vignette) printed in blue and black. Light spotting to..... more
Boston: Little, Brown [from 1896], 1921. Hardcover. "Revised [Third] Edition" of this best-selling cookbook ('With additional chapters on the cold pack method of canning, on the drying of fruits and vegetables, and on food values."), notable for its rigorous approach to recipe writing. Crown 8vo (187 x 119mm): xiv,[2],656,[32]pp, with..... more
New York: Harrison Smith & Robert Haas, MCMXXXIV [1934]. First Edition. Hardcover. First Printing (same date on title and copyright pages) of Faulkner’s second collection of short stories in uncommonly collectible condition. 8vo: [8],371,[1]pp. Publisher's navy blue cloth, spine and upper cover stamped in gilt, top edge stained yellow; typographic..... more
London: Chatto & Windus, MCMXXXIV [1934]. First British Edition. Hardcover. First Impression of Faulkner's second collection of stories (published the same year in New York, by Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, in both limited and trade issues, the latter of which we also have on offer). One of 1,500 copies..... more
New York: Random House, 1959. First Edition. Hardcover. First Printing (so stated). 8vo: [12],436pp. Publisher's blue coarsely woven cloth, upper cover and spine ruled in grey and lettered in gilt, top edge stained yellow, blue end papers; Fine first state pictorial dust jacket, price-clipped, but with publisher's code "10/59" on..... more