Special Editions and Rare Finds
The adventures of two children in London, photographed and written by Dare Wright, author of the Lonely Doll series.
1st printing; dust jacket in protective cover; front cover shows signs of tape repair; small closed tears; some shelf wear; price clipped; pictorial covers; black spine with red lettering; corners bumped; pastedown edges have glue marks; binding good; text clean. G+/G+
Elizabeth Bowen was an Irish-British novelist and short story writer, known for her depictions of life during wartime London. A Day in the Dark collects twenty stories, four of which appear here for the first time in a book and one ("Hand in Glove") for the first time in a collection of Bowen's fiction.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1965. 1st edition. Dust jacket in protective cover; spine edges worn; corners chipped; gray cloth with gilt lettering on spine; binding tight; text clean and bright. VG/G
A #1 New York Times bestseller about a man who wakes up from a five-year coma able to see people’s futures and the terrible fate awaiting mankind—a “compulsive page-turner” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution).
Johnny Smith awakens from a five-year coma after his car accident and discovers that he can see people’s futures and pasts when he touches them. Many consider his talent a gift; Johnny feels cursed. His fiancée married another man during his coma and people clamor for him to solve their problems.
When Johnny has a disturbing vision after he shakes the hand of an ambitious and amoral politician, he must decide if he should take drastic action to change the future. With “powerful tension that holds the reader to the story like a pin to a magnet” (The Houston Post), The Dead Zone is a “faultlessly paced…continuously engrossing” (Los Angeles Times) novel of second sight.
1st edition; dust jacket in protective cover; edges have some small closed tears and chipping; price clipped; black cloth spine over black boards; gilt lettering on spine; binding tight; text clean and bright. VG/G
A direct and fundamentally optimistic indictment of the short-sightedness and intellectual arrogance that has characterized much of urban planning in this century, The Death and Life of Great American Cities has, since its first publication in 1961, become the standard against which all endeavors in that field are measured. In prose of outstanding immediacy, Jane Jacobs writes about what makes streets safe or unsafe; about what constitutes a neighborhood, and what function it serves within the larger organism of the city; about why some neighborhoods remain impoverished while others regenerate themselves. She writes about the salutary role of funeral parlors and tenement windows, the dangers of too much development money and too little diversity. Compassionate, bracingly indignant, and always keenly detailed, Jane Jacobs's monumental work provides an essential framework for assessing the vitality of all cities.
1st edition, 3rd printing; dust jacket in protective glassine wrapper that has sun damage, but jacket itself is clean and undamaged; black cloth with dark red brick design on covers and gold and red lettering on spine; top edge slightly faded; binding good; text clean and bright. VG/VG
Willa Cather's best known novel is an epic--almost mythic--story of a single human life lived simply in the silence of the southwestern desert. In 1851 Father Jean Marie Latour comes to serve as the Apostolic Vicar to New Mexico. What he finds is a vast territory of red hills and tortuous arroyos, American by law but Mexican and Indian in custom and belief. In the almost forty years that follow, Latour spreads his faith in the only way he knows--gently, all the while contending with an unforgiving landscape, derelict and sometimes openly rebellious priests, and his own loneliness. Out of these events, Cather gives us an indelible vision of life unfolding in a place where time itself seems suspended.
Limited edition, signed by author; printed on Rives Cream Plate Paper, numbered 1 to 170, this is number 17. Illustrated with drawings and designs by Harold von Schmidt, published two years after the novel's first appearance. Bound in full vellum, yapped edges; silver decoration on the front cover and silver lettering on the spine; slipcase. Covers and spine lightly soiled; light foxing on inner cover edges and endpapers; residue of scotch tape on front and rear endpapers; two pages of typed poems by Cather laid in; deckled edges; binding good; text clean and bright. G+
Hamish Macbeth, the laid-back constable of Lochdubh, Scotland, has a new Land Rover to drive and a Highland summer to savor, but as fast as rain rolls in from the loch, his happy life goes to hell in a handbasket. The trouble begins when his beloved Priscilla Halburton-Smythe returns from London . . . with a fiance on her arm. His miseries multiply when clouds of midges (the diabolical Scottish mosquito) descend on the town.
Then a paragon of housewifery named Trixie Thomas moves into Lochdubh with her lapdog husband in tow. The newcomer quickly convinces the local ladies to embrace low-cholesterol meals, ban tobacco, and begin bird-watching. Soon the town's fish-and-chips-loving men are up in arms. Now faced with the trials of his own soul, Macbeth must solve Lochdubh's newest crime-the mysterious poisoning of the perfect wife.
1st edition. Dust jacket in protective mylar cover. VG/VG
The Demon Lover and Other Stories by Elizabeth Bowen was first published in Britain in 1945. In 1946, the collection was published in the United States under the title Ivy Gripped the Steps and Other Stories. Without exception, reviewers greeted it enthusiastically, praising it for what was described in the New Yorker as “a completely successful explanation of what war did to the mind and spirit of the English people.” Today, “The Demon Lover” is probably the most anthologized of Bowen’s short stories, and critics claim that it reflects some of Bowen’s greatest strengths as a writer.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1952. First published 1945, First published in the collected edition 1952. Dust jacket in protective cover; spine faded; top edges lightly worn; crease at bottom of front cover; rear cover lightly soiled; dark green cloth with gilt lettering and decorations on spine; decorative endpapers; frontispiece; binding tight; text clean and bright. G/G
Derriere le Miroir was an art magazine published between 1946 and 1982 by the French publisher and gallery owner Aime Maeght of Galerie Maeght. Paris: Maeght Editeur, 1953. Folio, 11" x 15", 24 pages consisting of 6 double-page folders laid in loose, in softcover portfolio; 22 illustrations (16 in color), of which 4 are double-page spreads, including cover. Published in conjunction with exhibition at Galerie Maeght, with catalog of 110 works exhibited. Text in French. Covers lightly creased with a few scattered ink and pencil marks; small water damage stain on front cover near top spine edge; inner pages clean. G+
London: Winsor & Newton, Limited, [1887]. No. 43 in the One Shilling & Threepenny Handbooks on Art. With an Introductory Essay on the Recent Water-Colour Controversy; contains six plates illustrated with seventy-two colour washes skilfully [sic] gradated by hand on Whatman's drawing paper. Twenty-third thousand. Copyright date derived from end of preface. Paper covered boards scuffed, stained, worn; spine beginning to split where plates have been stapled into binding; light foxing on plates. G
Countryman Press, Weston, VT, 1937, signed by artist and author, number 536/700. Slipcase with paper label; stamped 536, indicating numbered copy; case has areas of soiling; label tanned; red cloth with gilt decoration and lettering; cover lightly soiled at top; binding tight; text clean. G+/G
Berkeley: Peter Koch, Printer, 1994. Designed and printed letterpress from photo-polymer plates by Peter Koch, with the assistance of Richard Seibert, in an edition of 500 copies. The typefaces are Adobe Caslon, designed by Carol Twombly for the text with Monotype Gill Sans, designed by Eric Gill, and Deberny & Peignot Bifur, designed by A.M. Cassandre for display. Photograph of the box and plates by Richard Blair. Color lithography courtesy of George Lithograph. Binding by Arnold Martinez. Printed paper boards with inset cloth spine; no dust jacket; top spine-edge corner bumped; text clean. G+
New York: Knopf, 1992. 1st edition. Dust jacket in protective cover; price clipped; light gray cloth with dark gray lettering on cover and spine; bottom front corner bumped; binding good; text clean and bright. VG/VG
Dispatched by M to investigate the mysterious disappearance of MI6’s Jamaica station chief, Bond was expecting a holiday in the sun. But when he discovers a deadly centipede placed in his hotel room, the vacation is over.
On this island, all suspicious activity leads inexorably to Dr. Julius No, a reclusive megalomaniac with steel pincers for hands. To find out what the good doctor is hiding, 007 must enlist the aid of local fisherman Quarrel and alluring beachcomber Honeychile Rider. Together they will combat a local legend the natives call “the Dragon,” before Bond alone must face the most punishing test of all: an obstacle course—designed by the sadistic Dr. No himself—that measures the limits of the human body’s capacity for agony.
Signet, 1959 first pb printing. VG
Best known as author of the “Madeleine” stories, Ludwig Bemelmans combined his experiences from several trips to South America during the late ‘30s/early ‘40s in this charming, semi-fictional travelogue. As the first-person narrator, Bemelmans remains a bemused observer confronted by an improbable array of characters that include the scion of an old Quito family, whose plans for a happy marriage were dashed when his parents discovered one of his fiancee’s ancestors had been a servant--400 years earlier--and a half-Jewish Austrian doctor who can’t understand how “Adolf” could force an old comrade like himself into exile. This tongue-in-cheek narrative evokes the old images of the romantic lands “South of the Border.” (L.A. Times, November 4, 1990). Illustrated in Bemelmans' recognizable style.
New York: The Viking Press, 1941. 1st edition. Illustrated by the author. Dust jacket in protective mylar cover; spine edges have very light wear; rear cover lightly soiled; light yellow cloth stamped in red; all edges red; 4 double-page color plates; pictorial endpapers; binding tight; text clean and bright. VG/VG
Two hundred copies of this privately published collection of romantic verse by Ralph Pulitzer (1879-1939), writing under the pseudonym John Burke, were printed and bound by Pynson Printers in 1927. This gorgeous volume is no. 164/200 and is signed by Rockwell Kent; quarter brown morocco over marbled boards; morocco corners; some wear to spine; corners bumped and scuffed; decorated endpapers; former owner's bookplate on front pastedown; owner's sticker on rear pastedown; deckled edges; binding tight; text clean and bright. G+
When devoted Anglophile Helene Hanff is invited to London for the English publication of 84, Charing Cross Road—in which she shares two decades of correspondence with Frank Doel, a British bookseller who became a dear friend—she can hardly believe her luck. Frank is no longer alive, but his widow and daughter, along with enthusiastic British fans from all walks of life, embrace Helene as an honored guest. Eager hosts, including a famous actress and a retired colonel, sweep her up in a whirlwind of plays and dinners, trips to Harrod’s, and wild jaunts to their favorite corners of the countryside.
A New Yorker who isn’t afraid to speak her mind, Helene Hanff delivers an outsider’s funny yet fabulous portrait of idiosyncratic Britain at its best. And whether she is walking across the Oxford University courtyard where John Donne used to tread, visiting Windsor Castle, or telling a British barman how to make a real American martini, Helene always wears her heart on her sleeve. The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street is not only a witty account of two different worlds colliding but also a love letter to England and its literary heritage—and a celebration of the written word’s power to sustain us, transport us, and unite us.
1st edition. Dust jacket has evidence of water damage to bottom; spine edges chipped; front flap clipped; red cloth over red paper boards; top edge red; endpapers have British flag; binding tight; text clean and bright. G/G-
Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973) was an Irish-British novelist and short story writer, known for her fiction about life in wartime London. This book combines two collections of short stories: Encounters (first published in 1923) and Ann Lee's and Other Stories (published in 1926).
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1951. 1st edition. Dust jacket in protective cover; inside top edges tanned; edges lightly shelf worn; corners lightly chipped; light purple cloth with silver decorations and lettering on spine; front endpapers lightly tanned; deckled edges; binding tight; text clean and bright. VG/VG-
In this Lonely Doll story, published in 1972 by author and photographer Dare Wright, Edith and Little Bear decide to clean up New York City. They carry signs protesting the city's dirty condition as they march in front of City Hall, and they write a letter to the mayor, who writes back and urges them to do a little bit every day to clean up the city themselves.
Early edition signed by author. Minimal wear to edges of cover, minimal wear to DJ. VG/VG
In this 1978 Lonely Doll story, written by author and photographer Dare Wright, Edith and Little Bear decide to tame a wild pony named Midnight. The pony had other ideas, and he ended up leading the two on quite a chase before they finally became friends.
1st edition; dust jacket in protective cover; spine edges chipped; 2" closed vertical tear from top of spine; top edge of cover creased; corners chipped; inside of dj foxed; pictorial cover; corners bumped; edges lightly worn; endpapers lightly foxed; binding good; text clean. G+/G+
The last of the Lonely Doll books written by author and photographer Dare Wright tells the story of Edith and Little Bear on a farm in springtime. They find a nest with no mother duck, and decide they must try to hatch the eggs. Carefully, they move the nest to the house, keep the eggs warm and, sure enough, one little duckling is born. How Edith and the Bears care for the duckling until it grows big enough to care for itself is an enchanting experience for all.
This early edition (1st edition not stated) is inscribed by the author. Small closed tears repaired with tape on front of dust jacket; minimal wear to edges. VG/G+
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1950. 1st edition; winner of the 1951 Caldecott Medal; dust jacket in protective cover; 2" missing from top of rear cover near spine; small (1/2") tear at bottom of front cover; spine edges chipped and worn; corners chipped; green cloth with black decoration and lettering on cover and spine; endpapers tanned; binding good; text clean and bright. G+/G
"Filled with lively humor, compassion, and intimacy."
—Alice Hoffman, The New York Times Book Review
"When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy." With that opening sentence we enter the childhood world of one of the most appealing young heroines in contemporary fiction. Her courage, her humor, and her wisdom are unforgettable as she tells her own story with stunning honesty and insight. An Oprah Book Club selection, this powerful novel has become an American classic.
Winner of the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction and the Ernest Hemingway Foundation's Citation for Fiction.
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1987. 1st edition. Dust jacket in protective cover; top edge lightly creased; tan cloth with white lettering on spine; binding tight; text clean and bright. VG/VG
Random House, 3 hardbound books in slipcase, original price $5.95. Scarce in 2020. Spine heads and bottoms slightly bumped; text pages slightly warped, but no visible signs of water damage; small tear on rear pastedown of The Emily Book; slipcase lightly bumped and scuffed. G+/G+
Cut-Leaf Maple Press, 1999. Limited edition of one-thousand copies, this is copy 576. Fold-out hardcover; rice paper covers; in publisher's original paper outer wrapping, which has been scotch-taped. VG+
Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973) was an Irish-British novelist and short story writer, known for her fiction about life during wartime London. This book is the first American edition of her first collection of short stories, originally published in London by Sidgwick & Jackson in 1923.
New York: Boni and Liveright Publishers, [1924]. Dark blue cloth with geometric design and lettering in gilt on cover; edges worn; corners bumped; slight cant to binding; decorative endpapers in red and green foil; deckled edges; rear hinge weak; gutter exposed between pages 144-145; text clean. G
After a Florida vacation spent at the horse races—turning a measly profit of eighty-two cents before expenses—private detective Albert Samson is back in slushy, freezing Indy, where, thankfully, it’s a short walk from his living room to his office door. One night, he opens it to find a hesitant stranger in an overcoat. With some prodding from the PI, Bennett Willson admits he wants Samson to strong-arm the Broadway producer who stole his play.
When it turns out that the cleverly crafted story is as bogus as the client himself, Samson blows the lid off a simmering brew of hatred and revenge—leaving his own life hanging in the balance.
Written by a Shamus Award–winning author who “has brains and style,” this crime novel follows the beloved midwestern detective in his most bizarre case yet (Los Angeles Times).
The Enemies Within is the 3rd book in the Albert Samson Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
1st edition; signed by author; dust jacket in protective cover; white cloth spine over yellow-green textured boards; gilt lettering on spine; binding tight; text clean and bright. VG/VG
Epithalamion is an ode written by Edmund Spenser to his bride, Elizabeth Boyle, on their wedding day in 1594. The ode begins with an invocation to the Muses to help the groom, and moves through the couple's wedding day, from Spenser's impatient hours before dawn while waiting for his bride to wake up, to the late hours of night after Spenser and Boyle have consummated their marriage (wherein Spenser's thoughts drift towards the wish for his bride to have a fertile womb so that they may have many children). Spenser meticulously records the hours of the day from before dawn to late into the wedding night: its 24 stanzas represent the hours of Midsummer Day.
This special edition is one of 450 copies printed and is profusely illustrated with gorgeous drawings by George Wharton Edwards. Bound in vellum with gilt decoration on cover; marbled endpapers; covers slightly warped; binding good; text clean and bright on thick paper. G+
Limited Editions Club, no. 1316/1500, signed by Rockwell Kent; printed by the Pynson Printers of New York for members of the Limited Editions Club, with a special introduction by Aldous Huxley and the illustrations and a special design for each chapter made by Rockwell Kent. In slipcase with author and title on paper label on spine; bottom of spine chipped and shows signs of glue repair; illustrated cloth binding; binding tight; text clean and bright. VG/G
Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973) was an Irish-British novelist and short story writer, known for her depiction of life in wartime London. Eva Trout, Elizabeth Bowen’s last novel, epitomizes her bold exploration of the territory between the comedy of manners and cutting social commentary.
Orphaned at a young age, Eva has found a home of sorts in Worcestershire with her former schoolteacher, Iseult Arbles, and Iseult's husband, Eric. From a safe distance in London, her legal guardian, Constantine, assumes that all's well. But Eva's flighty, romantic nature hasn't entirely clicked with the Arbles household, and Eva is plotting to escape. When she sets out to hock her Jaguar and disappear without a trace, she unwittingly leaves a paper trail for her various custodians–and all kinds of trouble–to follow.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1968. 1st edition of Bowen's final novel. Dust jacket in protective cover; price clipped at bottom of front flap; dark green cloth with gilt decorations and lettering on cover and spine; top edge light green; deckled edges; binding tight; text clean and bright. VG/VG
Inspired by a true story of a child's demonic possession in the 1940s, William Peter Blatty created an iconic novel that focuses on Regan, the eleven-year-old daughter of a movie actress residing in Washington, D.C. A small group of overwhelmed yet determined individuals must rescue Regan from her unspeakable fate, and the drama that ensues is gripping and unfailingly terrifying.
1st edition; dust jacket in protective cover; head of spine slightly creased; small closed tear at front top near spine; front top corner chipped with 1" closed tear running vertically; maroon cloth spine over marron boards; silver lettering on spine; slight cant to binding; text clean and bright. G+/G
Once upon a time, Erich Segal wrote a book called Love Story, which brought him much success and no little fame. This was his first Fairy Tale.
Once upon a time, a young and innocent hero set forth on a quest. It lead him to the lair of a wicked villian, the sort of man from whom you wouldn't buy a used car. And yet, our hero did buy a used car and lived happily ever after. Which is why this is a fairy tale. (©1973 Karen Segal (P)2018 Karen Segal)
Signed 1st edition; dust jacket in protective cover; some creases; rear top edge chipped; red cloth with orange cloth spine; inscribed on ffep; binding tight; text clean and bright. VG/G+
Marty Holland, born Mary Hauenstein, was an American screenwriter and author of pulp novels. Holland began her career as a typist in Hollywood and wrote several short stories for pulps. Her first novel, Fallen Angel, was published in 1945 and immediately adapted into the 1945 film of the same name.
1st edition; dust jacket in protective mylar cover; dj corners clipped; head and tail of spine chipped; edges worn; small area of front cover rubbed; back cover soiled; orange cloth with dark blue lettering on cover and spine; small areas on pastedowns and endpapers show evidence of scotch tape; small bookseller's stamp in upper corner of front facing endpaper; rough cut paper; text clean and bright. G/G
Story of motion picture producer and director Mack Sennett. After acting for a time under the direction of D.W. Griffith, Sennett became associated in 1912 with the Keystone Company, where he produced his famous slapstick films known as "Mack Sennett comedies." Fatty Arbuckle and Charlie Chaplin were two of the stars who worked for him.
New York: Covici Friede Publishers, 1934. 1st edition. No dust jacket; green cloth with gilt lettering on cover and spine; very minor shelf wear; bookplate on ffep; frontispiece portrait; deckled edges. G+
From the legendary journalist and creator of “Gonzo” journalism Hunter S. Thompson comes the bestselling critical look at Nixon and McGovern’s 1972 presidential election.
Popular Library, 1st paperback printing. VG
From the legendary journalist and creator of “Gonzo” journalism Hunter S. Thompson comes the bestselling critical look at Nixon and McGovern’s 1972 presidential election.
Straight Arrow Books, 1973, stated first edition. Illustrations by Ralph Steadman. Dust jacket in protective cover; some creases and small closed tears; black boards with embossed image of skull on cover; white lettering on spine; corners bumped; head of spine pulled; top edge foxed; binding good; text clean and bright. G/G
Chronicles the story of three generations of the Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys, beginning in 1863 with the baptism of John Francis Fitzgerald and closing with the inauguration of John Fitzgerald Kennedy in January 1961. This copy is a scarce first edition (2nd printing) inscribed by the author.
This copy is a scarce first edition (2nd printing) inscribed by the author. Tight binding, minimal wear to edges of cover and DJ, water stain at bottom of DJ spine, minimal yellowing to DJ; slight tanning to front endpapers due to newspaper articles being laid in; front hinge weak. G/G
1st edition; pristine dust jacket in protective cover. Fine/Fine
New York: Random House, 1944. 1st printing.
One Volume contains two of Auden's long poems: "For the Time Being - A Christmas Oratorio" and "The Sea and the Mirror - A Commentary of Shakespeare's The Tempest." Previous owner has laid in "Christmas 1958" poem by Auden.
Dust jacket in protective cover; small tears at head and heel of spine; corners chipped; navy blue paper over white cloth; gilt lettering on spine; endpapers tanned; signature of former owner in ink on pastedown; bleed-through of glue from repair between pages 3-6; G/G-
Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1930; designed and decorated by Elizabeth MacKinstry; no dj; decorated boards with black cloth spine; paper label on spine rubbed; head of spine pulled; some tanning to covers; illustrated endpapers; binding good; text and illustrations clean and bright. G
Mary Shelley was only 18 when she started writing her suspenseful narrative about a scientist who experimented with restoring life to the dead. Published when she was just 20, Shelley's Frankenstein became the epitome of the Gothic novel. Acclaimed as both the first modern horror novel and the first science-fiction novel, Frankenstein has inspired numerous interpretations. This beautifully illustrated edition features the complete wood engravings by graphic artist Lynd Ward. A master of woodcut technique, Ward combined elements of Art Deco and German Expressionism in his images, which offer the perfect complement to Shelley's moody masterpiece.
New York: Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, 1934. White cloth with color illustration on front and black lettering on spine; spine tanned and scuffed; very light fraying at top of spine; covers lightly soiled; endpapers tanned; binding tight; text and illustrations clean and bright. G+
Boyer's "documentary novel" tells the story of Freydis and Gudrid, two women joining the Norse migration to Vinland, North America.
Novelty, Ohio: Veritie Press, 1976. 1st edition; signed by author on ffep. Dust jacket in protective cover; top edge lightly creased; blue cloth with gilt decoration and lettering on cover and spine; binding tight; text clean and bright. VG/VG
Vividly reminiscent of the goings-on at Sterling Cooper—the late nights, the three-martini lunches, the sex on couches, and, of course, the actual work of plugging products—this is the story of what Madison Avenue was really like in the ’60s. A worldwide bestseller when first published in 1970, this frank, irreverent, and hilarious memoir is a one-of-a-kind cult classic.
1st printing. Edited by Charles Sopkin. Dust jacket in protective cover; gray cloth with yellow lettering on spine; former owner's name stamped on ffep; binding tight; text clean and bright. VG/VG
The frontiersmen were a remarkable breed of men. They were often rough and illiterate, sometimes brutal and vicious, often seeking an escape in the wilderness of mid-America from crimes committed back east. In the beautiful but deadly country which would one day come to be known as West Virginia, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, more often than not they left their bones to bleach beside forest paths or on the banks of the Ohio River, victims of Indians who claimed the vast virgin territory and strove to turn back the growing tide of whites. These frontiersmen are the subjects of Allan Eckert's dramatic history.
Against the background of such names as George Rogers Clark, Daniel Boone, Arthur St. Clair, Anthony Wayne, Simon Girty and William Henry Harrison, Eckert has recreated the life of one of America's most outstanding heroes, Simon Kenton. Kenton's role in opening the Northwest Territory to settlement more than rivaled that of his friend Daniel Boone. By his eighteenth birthday, Kenton had already won frontier renown as woodsman, fighter and scout. His incredible physical strength and endurance, his great dignity and innate kindness made him the ideal prototype of the frontier hero.
Yet there is another story to The Frontiersmen. It is equally the story of one of history's greatest leaders, whose misfortune was to be born to a doomed cause and a dying race. Tecumseh, the brilliant Shawnee chief, welded together by the sheer force of his intellect and charisma an incredible Indian confederacy that came desperately close to breaking the thrust of the white man's westward expansion. Like Kenton, Tecumseh was the paragon of his people's virtues, and the story of his life, in Allan Eckert's hands, reveals most profoundly the grandeur and the tragedy of the American Indian.
No less importantly, The Frontiersmen is the story of wilderness America itself, its penetration and settlement, and it is Eckert's particular grace to be able to evoke life and meaning from the raw facts of this story. In The Frontiersmen not only do we care about our long-forgotten fathers, we live again with them. Researched for seven years, The Frontiersmen is the first in Mr. Eckert's "The Winning of America" series.
Signed Second Printing in DJ protector, DJ in Very Good condition, some edge rubbing and small paper loss at top corners. VG/VG
New York: McClure, Phillips & Co., 1902. 1st edition. No dust jacket; red blind stamped cloth with gilt lettering on cover and spine; edges frayed; corners bumped; evidence of repair to front hinge; inscription to former owner in ink on ffep; t.e.g.; deckled edges; text clean. G-
Gentle Giants: A Book of Newfoundlands is Bruce Weber's loving 1994 tribute to his beloved "Rowdy," the breed itself, and the owners that love them. If you own a Newf, or more aptly are or were owned by one of these saliva slinging bears, this book is for you. Impeccably designed and printed in gravure, it includes text by the author-photographer, the original poem "A Newfound Prayer" by Patti Smith, and brief quotes from Eugene O'Neill, Carl Sandburg, Will James, Zane Grey, Nikki Giovanni, James Baldwin, and Joseph Conrad.
Bulfinch Press, 1994. 1st edition. Photo-illustrated boards with blue cloth spine; spine lightly faded; binding sound; text and photos clean and bright. VG
Internationally acclaimed as a surgeon and brilliant researcher, particularly in the therapy of shock, Dr. George Crile was one of the dynamic personalities of our time, both in private and professional life. Following his death in 1943, Grace Crile brought together her husband's voluminous autobiographical writings to form this illustrated, two-volume work, adding important sidelights on a distinguished career that included experiences in two wars, travels through Europe and Asia, expeditions to Africa and Alaska, and association with notables in both medical and non-medical fields.
1st edition, inscribed by Grace Crile; 2 volumes; volume 2 has dj in protective mylar cover; dj has many tears, but all text is legible; red cloth with black and gilt decoration on spines; binding tight; text clean and bright.
In this outrageously farcical adventure, hero George Giles sets out to conquer the terrible Wescac computer system that threatens to destroy his community in this brilliant "fantasy of theology, sociology, and sex" (Time).
1st edition. Dust jacket in protective mylar cover; rear cover stained at top; small sticker affixed to author photo on jacket rear; black cloth; text clean and bright. G/G
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The Girl with the Golden Eyes contains some of Balzac's most intense observations of 19th Century Parisian society. It tells the story of a beautiful young woman seduced by a servant of a secret society known as "The Thirteen."
This sumptuously-illustrated edition was privately printed at the "Sign of the Peacock" - The Peacock Press, Chicago, 1928. Translated by Ernest Dowson; illustrated by Donald Denton. No dust jacket/slip case; gilt decorated black cloth; edges lightly worn; endpapers tanned; deckled edges; thick paper; each full-page color illustration has a web-patterned gold tissue guard and is followed by same illustration in black and white; binding tight; text clean. G+
Give Us This Day is a poetic and imaginative ode to the American farmer and to the bounty of the land which sustains us all. Illustrated with ten full-page drawings in chalk by the author, it is a glorification of agriculture by a nationally respected woodcut artist.
New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1943. 1st ed. Dust jacket in protective cover; edges worn and chipped; light red ink stain running vertically on front cover; evidence of tape repair at head of spine; rust cloth with navy blue lettering on spine; head of spine frayed; corners bumped; illustrated endpapers; binding good; text clean and bright. G/G
Limited edition artist's book; designed, printed, cut and bound by Carol Schwartzott; handset and printed letterpress by John P. Lathourakis of Tabula Rasa Press. Signed by artist and printer; no. 6 of 20 copies; fold-out; in handmade paper slipcase. VG
"For God, for country, and for Yale... in that order," William F. Buckley Jr. wrote as the dedication of his monumental work—a compendium of knowledge that still resonates within the halls of the Ivy League university that tried to cover up its political and religious bias.
In 1951, a twenty-five-year-old Yale graduate published his first book, which exposed the "extraordinarily irresponsible educational attitude" that prevailed at his alma mater. The book, God and Man at Yale, rocked the academic world and catapulted its young author, William F. Buckley Jr. into the public spotlight. Now, half a century later, read the extraordinary work that began the modern conservative movement.
Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1951. 1st edition. Dust jacket in protective cover; 1/4" missing from head of spine; 1" missing from bottom of spine; edges worn; corners chipped; black cloth with gilt lettering on spine; spine head and tail faded from sun in two areas where jacket is torn; binding tight; text clean and bright. VG/G-
1st American edition; dust jacket in protective cover; no visible defects to dj; dark blue cloth over dark blue boards; covers scuffed; spine has areas of rubbing; binding tight; text clean and bright. G+/VG+
The Golden Age is a collection of Kenneth Grahame's reminiscences of childhood, notable for their conception of a world where children are locked in perpetual warfare with the adult "Olympians" who have wholly forgotten how it feels to be young - a theme later explored by J. M. Barrie and other authors.
1st U.S. edition, with the date of 1900 on the title page, but with a John Lane Copyright 1899, The University Press U.S.A. on the CR page. 18 black and white plates by Maxfield Parrish; no dj; maroon cloth with gilt design on cover; some shelf wear to top of spine and corners; former owner's bookplates on pastedown; t.e.g.; deckled edges; text clean. VG
The Star System of G.O.L.F. (Geometricaly Oriented Linear Force); no dj; spine faded; bottom of spine bumped; binding good; text clean and bright. G+
"Walter Lorraine Books" Signed by author; dust jacket in protective cover; very small closed tear at top of rear cover; gray cloth with embossed design on cover and silver lettering on spine; binding tight; text clean and bright. VG/VG
American author Stephen Crane began writing early in life, and was already a published author by the age of sixteen. Among Crane's best known works is The Red Badge of Courage, which was influenced by his own experiences in military school and personal contact with Civil-War veterans. Crane died in 1900 at the age twenty-eight of tuberculosis, but had a significant and lasting impact on twentieth-century literature, influencing early modernist writers such as Ernest Hemingway.
Great Battles of the World, published in 1900, is a book in which Crane discusses some of the most famous battles that he researched.
Illustrated by John Sloan. Red cloth, embossed decoration and lettering in gilt and silver on cover; gilt lettering on spine; t.e.g.; small spot on top of fore-edge; hinges weak. G
Don Robertson was a true Clevelander. He was born and raised in Cleveland, and after stints in the Army and one year at Harvard, he returned to Cleveland and attended Case Western Reserve University for one year. He then became a reporter and columnist for The Plain Dealer (1950-1955 and 1963-1966), The Cleveland News (1957–1959), and The Cleveland Press (1968–1982). He wrote 18 published novels, most of which took place in Cleveland and the fictional town of Paradise Falls, Ohio. Robertson is probably best known for his trio of novels featuring Morris Bird III: The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread (1965), The Sum and Total of Now (1966), and The Greatest Thing That Almost Happened (1970). Set in Cleveland between 1944 and 1953, each of the three novels revolves around a major event in the city’s history: the East Ohio Gas explosion, the Indians winning the pennant, and the Korean War. Reviewers compared the trilogy to the works of Mark Twain, Booth Tarkington and J. D. Salinger.
The first of the Morris Bird III trilogy, The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread, takes place on a quiet autumn afternoon in 1944, when nine-year-old Morris Bird III decides to visit a friend who lives on the other side of town. He grabs the handle of his red wagon and, with his little sister in tow, begins an incredible pilgrimage across Cleveland . . . and out of childhood forever. Set against the backdrop of one of the worst industrial disasters in American history, Don Robertson's enduring, beloved masterwork is a remarkable story of destiny, bravery, and responsibility.
1st edition; dust jacket in protective cover; edges chipped and creased; head of spine has 1" piece missing from top; red cloth with black image of wagon embossed on front bottom; endpapers lightly tanned; former owner's name in pencil on ffep. G/G-
Don Robertson was a true Clevelander. He was born and raised in Cleveland, and after stints in the Army and one year at Harvard, he returned to Cleveland and attended Case Western Reserve University for one year. He then became a reporter and columnist for The Plain Dealer (1950-1955 and 1963-1966), The Cleveland News (1957–1959), and The Cleveland Press (1968–1982). He wrote 18 published novels, most of which took place in Cleveland and the fictional town of Paradise Falls, Ohio. Robertson is probably best known for his trio of novels featuring Morris Bird III: The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread (1965), The Sum and Total of Now (1966), and The Greatest Thing That Almost Happened (1970). Set in Cleveland between 1944 and 1953, each of the three novels revolves around a major event in the city’s history: the East Ohio Gas explosion, the Indians winning the pennant, and the Korean War. Reviewers compared the trilogy to the works of Mark Twain, Booth Tarkington and J. D. Salinger.
The Greatest Thing That Almost Happened concludes the story of Morris Bird III. Now, at seventeen, he's on the verge of adulthood . . . and he's fallen in love. It's 1952 and the Korean War hangs over his head like a dangling sword, and his prickly, complicated relationship with his cold and silent father has never been satisfactorily resolved. When Morris's own mortality stares him in the face, he learns what it truly means to become a man.
Signed first edition; dust jacket in protective cover; light creasing along bottom of rear cover; flaps scotch-taped to endpapers; binding tight; text clean and bright. VG/G+
Don Robertson was a true Clevelander. He was born and raised in Cleveland, and after stints in the Army and one year at Harvard, he returned to Cleveland and attended Case Western Reserve University for one year. He then became a reporter and columnist for The Plain Dealer (1950-1955 and 1963-1966), The Cleveland News (1957–1959), and The Cleveland Press (1968–1982). He wrote 18 published novels, most of which took place in Cleveland and the fictional town of Paradise Falls, Ohio. Robertson is probably best known for his trio of novels featuring Morris Bird III: The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread (1965), The Sum and Total of Now (1966), and The Greatest Thing That Almost Happened (1970). Set in Cleveland between 1944 and 1953, each of the three novels revolves around a major event in the city’s history: the East Ohio Gas explosion, the Indians winning the pennant, and the Korean War. Reviewers compared the trilogy to the works of Mark Twain, Booth Tarkington and J. D. Salinger.
The Greatest Thing That Almost Happened concludes the story of Morris Bird III. Now, at seventeen, he's on the verge of adulthood . . . and he's fallen in love. It's 1952 and the Korean War hangs over his head like a dangling sword, and his prickly, complicated relationship with his cold and silent father has never been satisfactorily resolved. When Morris's own mortality stares him in the face, he learns what it truly means to become a man.
Signed first edition; dust jacket in protective cover; head of spine has small tear at top; edges chipped and tanned; some creases; red cloth over green boards; binding tight; text clean. VG/G
In real life, Greyfriar's Bobby was a Skye terrier who was made famous in 19th century Scotland for sitting on his master's grave for many years. He became so well known that the Edinburgh authorities built a statue of him. Atkinson's heartwarming 1912 novel is told from the point of view of the dog.
New York and London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1912. First American Edition. Gray-blue cloth with gilt-encircled image of dog on cover; lettering in white, outlined in black, on cover; gilt lettering on spine; no dj; spine worn; covers lightly soiled; front hinge weak; frontispiece with tissue guard; text clean and bright. G
The Gulag entered the world's historical consciousness in 1972, with the publication of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's epic oral history of the Soviet camps, "The Gulag Archipelago." Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, dozens of memoirs and new studies covering aspects of that system have been published in Russia and the West. Using these new resources as well as her own original historical research, Anne Applebaum has now undertaken, for the first time, a fully documented history of the Soviet camp system, from its origins in the Russian Revolution to its collapse in the era of glasnost. It is an epic feat of investigation and moral reckoning that places the Gulag where it belongs: at the center of our understanding of the troubled history of the twentieth century.
Anne Applebaum first lays out the chronological history of the camps and the logic behind their creation, enlargement, and maintenance. The Gulag was first put in place in 1918 after the Russian Revolution. In 1929, Stalin personally decided to expand the camp system, both to use forced labor to accelerate Soviet industrialization and to exploit the natural resources of the country's barely habitable far northern regions. By the end of the 1930s, labor camps could be found in all twelve of the Soviet Union's time zones. The system continued to expand throughout the war years, reaching its height only in the early 1950s. From 1929 until the death of Stalin in 1953, some 18 million people passed through this massive system. Of these 18 million, it is estimated that 4.5 million never returned.
But the Gulag was not just an economic institution. It also became, over time, a country within a country, almost a separate civilization, with its own laws, customs, literature, folklore, slang, and morality. Topic by topic, Anne Applebaum also examines how life was lived within this shadow country: how prisoners worked, how they ate, where they lived, how they died, how they survived. She examines their guards and their jailers, the horrors of transportation in empty cattle cars, the strange nature of Soviet arrests and trials, the impact of World War II, the relations between different national and religious groups, and the escapes, as well as the extraordinary rebellions that took place in the 1950s. She concludes by examining the disturbing question why the Gulag has remained relatively obscure, in the historical memory of both the former Soviet Union and the West.
"Gulag: A History" will immediately be recognized as a landmark work of historical scholarship and an indelible contribution to the complex, ongoing, necessary quest for truth.
From the cover: "This is not the first time that thieves, murders, smugglers, pimps and whores have invested the pages of a novel. What makes this book unusual is that in it the underworld moves into literature as a legitimate segment of our society. Characters such as Divine, Mimosa, Darling and Gabriel have, hitherto, always appeared in the wrong, under a shadow which completely cut off their humanity from ours. With the publication of THE GUTTER IN THE SKY - the fastest selling book in Europe today - they appear justified in their own light. Chiefly because their author - who stepped out of a lifetime of imprisonment into international literary fame - is one of them and loves them as they are. Genet loves his extravert and intravert, sex-normal and sex-perverted criminals as much as Victor Hugo loved his saints. In the works of Genet the gutter suddenly appears before us in the full bloom of its natural colors."
Philadelphia: Andre Levy, 1955. Dust jacket in protective cover; edges lightly creased; gray cloth with gilt decoration on cover and spine; binding tight; text clean and bright. VG/G+
It started as a routine case for Paul Pine, just a job for a friend, the job of finding Laura Fremont, a girl who went to Chicago from Lincoln, Nebraska, and stopped writing her parents. But even before he left the land of the cornhuskers, Pine had been knocked cold and was involved in a murder.
1st edition; dust jacket in protective mylar cover; bottom inside corner of front cover missing; edges shelf worn and chipped; red cloth with gold lettering on cover and spine; water damage to inside rear cover. G-/G-
Shirley Jackson's chilling second novel, based on her own experiences and an actual mysterious disappearance
Seventeen-year-old Natalie Waite longs to escape home for college. Her father is a domineering and egotistical writer who keeps a tight rein on Natalie and her long-suffering mother. When Natalie finally does get away, however, college life doesn’t bring the happiness she expected. Little by little, Natalie is no longer certain of anything—even where reality ends and her dark imaginings begin. Chilling and suspenseful, Hangsaman is loosely based on the real-life disappearance of a Bennington College sophomore in 1946.
Shirley Jackson's second novel; 1st English printing, published in London by Victor Gollancz Ltd. Blue cloth, spine faded; head torn; corners rubbed and bent; gutter loose between pages 186-187; text clean. G-
Nineteen-year-old Harold Chasen is obsessed with death. He fakes suicides to shock his self-obsessed mother, drives a hearse, and attends funerals of complete strangers. Seventy-nine-year-old Maude Chardin, on the other hand, adores life. She liberates trees from city sidewalks and transplants them to the forest, paints smiles on the faces of church statues, and "borrows" cars to remind their owners that life is fleeting-here today, gone tomorrow! A chance meeting between the two turns into a madcap, whirlwind romance, and Harold learns that life is worth living, and how to play the banjo. Harold and Maude started as Colin Higgins's master's thesis at UCLA Film School. He was working as a pool boy when Paramount purchased the script. The 1971 film, directed by Hal Ashby, bombed. But then this quirky, dark comedy began being shown on college campuses and at midnight-movie theaters, and it gained a loyal cult following. In 1997 it was selected for inclusion on the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress. This novelization was published shortly after the film's release. Even fans who have seen the movie dozens of times will find this companion valuable, as it gives fresh elements to watch for and answers many of the film's unresolved questions. Colin Higgins was a screenwriter, director, and producer of films that included Harold and Maude, Silver Streak, 9 to 5, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. He died in 1988.
First edition; dust jacket in protective cover; no tears; one very small crease at top corner of front flap; off-white cloth with red flower design on front cover and red lettering on spine; red endpapers; former owner name on ffep. VG/VG
"This is a riotous story which is reasonably mad and as accurate as a Marx brother can make it. Despite only a year and a half of schooling, Harpo, or perhaps his collaborator, is the best writer of the Marx Brother. Highly recommended." Library Journal
"A funny, affectionate and unpretentious autobiography done with a sharply professional assist from Rowland Barber." New York Times Book Review
Bernard Geis Associates, 1961, stated First Printing. Dust jacket in protective cover; dj has tears and creases; spine tanned; covers soiled and scuffed; edges tanned; blue cloth spine over light blue boards speckled with red and yellow; gilt lettering on spine; spine edges pulled; hinges weak; binding floppy in middle; text and photos clean. G/G-
The Associated Publishers, 1943; green cloth scuffed, light internal staining. Library markings otherwise. Good-
Don Robertson was a true Clevelander. He was born and raised in Cleveland, and after stints in the Army and one year at Harvard, he returned to Cleveland and attended Case Western Reserve University for one year. He then became a reporter and columnist for The Plain Dealer (1950-1955 and 1963-1966), The Cleveland News (1957–1959), and The Cleveland Press (1968–1982). He wrote 18 published novels, most of which took place in Cleveland and the fictional town of Paradise Falls, Ohio. Robertson is probably best known for his trio of novels featuring Morris Bird III: The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread (1965), The Sum and Total of Now (1966), and The Greatest Thing That Almost Happened (1970).
Although Robertson declares on his title page that Harv is a novel, its first chapter admits that the book is a loose collection of stories. In 40 anecdotes Harv describes the progress of his life from toilet training at age two to the blindness which forces him to return to diapers at age 65. In the meantime, he proposes to a prostitute who befriends him, falls into the grave at a funeral, saves kittens from freezing, and eventually marries the childhood girlfriend who knocked out two of his teeth. Harv frequently combines bawdy humor with nostalgia and tenderness. [Library Journal, 1985]
Cleveland: John T. Zubal, Inc. Publishers, 1985. Signed by author. F/F
Graham Greene's masterpiece, The Heart of the Matter, tells the story of a good man enmeshed in love, intrigue, and evil in a West African coastal town. Scobie is bound by strict integrity to his role as assistant police commissioner and by severe responsibility to his wife, Louise, for whom he cares with a fatal pity.
When Scobie falls in love with the young widow Helen, he finds vital passion again yielding to pity, integrity giving way to deceit and dishonor—a vortex leading directly to murder. As Scobie's world crumbles, his personal crisis develops the foundation of a story by turns suspenseful, fascinating, and, finally, tragic.
"This copy of The Heart of the Matter is one of 750 copies of the first edition specially bound for distribution to friends of the Viking Press" No dust jacket; gray cloth with red and gold decoration and lettering; spine faded; top edge red; endpapers tanned; binding tight; text clean and bright. G
Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973) was an Irish-British novelist and short story writer, known for her depictions of life during wartime. In The Heat of the Day, Elizabeth Bowen brilliantly recreates the tense and dangerous atmosphere of London during the bombing raids of World War II. Many people have fled the city, and those who stayed behind find themselves thrown together in an odd intimacy born of crisis. Stella Rodney is one of those who chose to stay. But for her, the sense of impending catastrophe becomes acutely personal when she discovers that her lover, Robert, is suspected of selling secrets to the enemy, and that the man who is following him wants Stella herself as the price of his silence. Caught between these two men, not sure whom to believe, Stella finds her world crumbling as she learns how little we can truly know of those around us.
1st edition, second impression; no dj; small scuffed area on front cover; slight cant to binding; former owner's name on ffep; text clean. G
Gonzo journalist and literary roustabout Hunter S. Thompson flies with the angels—Hell’s Angels, that is—in this short work of nonfiction.
“California, Labor Day weekend . . . early, with ocean fog still in the streets, outlaw motorcyclists wearing chains, shades and greasy Levis roll out from damp garages, all-night diners and cast-off one-night pads in Frisco, Hollywood, Berdoo and East Oakland, heading for the Monterey peninsula, north of Big Sur. . . The Menace is loose again.”
Thus begins Hunter S. Thompson’s vivid account of his experiences with California’s most notorious motorcycle gang, the Hell’s Angels. In the mid-1960s, Thompson spent almost two years living with the controversial Angels, cycling up and down the coast, reveling in the anarchic spirit of their clan, and, as befits their name, raising hell. His book successfully captures a singular moment in American history, when the biker lifestyle was first defined, and when such countercultural movements were electrifying and horrifying America. Thompson, the creator of Gonzo journalism, writes with his usual bravado, energy, and brutal honesty, and with a nuanced and incisive eye; as The New Yorker pointed out, “For all its uninhibited and sardonic humor, Thompson’s book is a thoughtful piece of work.” As illuminating now as when originally published in 1967, Hell’s Angels is a gripping portrait, and the best account we have of the truth behind an American legend.
Second printing; dust jacket in protective cover; some scuffing and small closed tears; black cloth with silver embossed motorcycle and rider design on front cover; red and silver lettering on spine; binding good; text clean. G+/G
Writer and feminist Alice Walker's novels, short stories, and poems are noted for their insightful treatment of American American culture. Her 1982 novel, The Color Purple, earned a Pulitzer Prize and was adapted into a movie. Walker began writing poetry in 1965; Her Blue Body Everything We Know collects all of her poetry from 1965 to 1990, and includes the author’s own notes that provide historical perspective on spiritual and political issues of the last three decades.
Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991. Signed first edition, limited edition of 111; tan linen slipcase; in original shrink wrap; never opened. Fine/New
An inventive reimagining of the story of Jason and the Argonauts, this novel by renowned poet and classicist Robert Graves brings heroic figures of Hellenistic myth to life. Graves’s Jason is belligerent, energetic, and full of life, and the society Graves builds for him is outlandish and deeply invested in ancient cults.
Against this primitive, religious backdrop, the charismatic Jason assembles a crew and sets out to retrieve the sacred gold-trimmed fleece that is sacred to Zeus, and that has been stolen by worshippers of the Triple Goddess. Accompanying him is Hercules, a brave warrior known more for his brawn, and his astonishingly good luck, than his brains. Robert Graves builds a compelling world that sets Hellenistic magic and mystery in a surprisingly gritty, realistic setting, a fascinating read for fans of Greek mythology.
“A witty historical novel with much insider’s lore on cult and ritual.” —The New York Review of Books
“Richly readable, thoroughly classical yet individually interpreted, this is a labor of love important to students, culture-seekers and readers.” —Library Journal
New York: Creative Age Press, 1945. 1st edition. Dust jacket in protective cover; head of spine missing 1/2"; closed 2" vertical tear repaired on the inside with tape; edges creased and worn; corners bumped and chipped; tan cloth with turquoise and gilt on cover and spine; cover soiled; maps on endpapers; library stamp on ffep and rear pastedown; binding good; text clean. G/G-
The celebrated author of such books as The Art of Eating, The Cooking of Provincial France, and With Bold Knife and Fork, Fisher knows how to prepare a feast of reading as no other. Excerpting descriptions of bountiful meals from classic works of British and American literature, Fisher weaves them into a profound discussion of feasting.
She also traces gluttony through the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, and claims that the story of a nation's life is charted by its gastronomy. M.F.K. Fisher has arranged everything perfectly, and the result is a succession of unforgettable courses that will entice the most reluctant epicure.
Viking Press, 1946. 1st edition. No dust jacket; blue cloth with gilt lettering on cover and spine; spine faded and scuffed; corners bumped; remnants of scotch tape on pastedown and ffep. G
Better known as the author and illustrator of the Madeline books for children, Austrian-born Ludwig Bemelmans also wrote for adults. Kirkus Reviews had this to say about The High World when it was published in 1954: Bemelmans' audience embraces the young and young at heart, and Holiday readers have been following this story of what happened in an Austrian Tyrol village when a hydroelectric plant changed the lives of its inhabitants. There are the Amreiners, a family of mountain herders headed by Tobias, a gentle poacher. There is the friendly gendarme who hesitates to call a halt on Tobias' activities. There are the Maybocks who keep the Inn, and the new plant official whose nasty temperament stands out against the inner goodness of the Tyroleans almost to the end. And the story comes to a climax when the newly constructed cable car plays its part in rescuing the mountain herders from an avalanche. Mountain worlds captured in text and pictures in Bemelman's characteristic style.
Dust jacket in protective cover; spine worn and missing 3" from bottom and 1" from top; edges worn; rear cover soiled; orang cloth with blue decoration on cover and white lettering on spine; pictorial endpapers; former owner's name in ink on ffep; binding good; text clean. G/G—
William Riley (W.R.) Burnett (1899-1982) was an American novelist and screenwriter, best known for his crime novel Little Caesar, the film adaptation of which was considered to be the first of the classic American gangster movies. Burnett's characters exist in a world of twilight morality — virtue can come from gangsters and criminals, malice from guardians and protectors. Above all his characters are human and this could be their undoing. High Sierra, published in 1940 and made into a movie in 1941 starring Ida Lupino and Humphrey Bogart, tells the story of notorious criminal "Mad Dog" Roy Earle.
1st edition; gorgeous dust jacket with drawing by Bob Smith; dj in protective mylar cover; 1" tear at head of spine; spine creased; edges and corners shelfworn; orange cloth with blue decoration and lettering on cover and spine; edges darkened; covers lightly soiled; endpapers foxed; text clean. G-/G-
Malcolm Bradbury’s classic skewering of 1970s academia, hailed by the New York Times as “an encyclopedia of radical chic as well as a genuinely comic novel”
Among the painfully hip students and teachers at the liberal University of Watermouth, Howard Kirk appears to be the most stylish of them all. With his carefully manicured mustache and easygoing radicalism, Kirk prides himself on being among the most highly evolved teachers on his redbrick campus. But beneath Kirk’s scholarly bohemianism and studied cool is a ruthless, self-serving Machiavellian streak. A sociology lecturer who outwardly espouses freethinking nonconformity, Kirk is himself vain and bigoted, dismissing female students and colleagues while releasing vitriol against those who contradict him, particularly his clever, wayward wife, Barbara, the long-suffering mother of his two children.
A funny and incisive satire of academia and ideological hypocrisy, The History Man is one of Malcolm Bradbury’s most acclaimed novels and remains just as sharp and witty today as when it was first published.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1976. 1st American edition. Dust jacket in protective cover; one small (1") tear at bottom of rear cover; top inside of flap foxed; blue cloth with red lettering on spine; top edge red; binding tight; text clean and bright. VG/G
A trip to the West Coast lands Jack LeVine in a tangled Hollywood murder web
After nearly a decade of churning out hits, Warner Bros. screenwriter Walter Adrian wants a raise on his weekly $2,500 salary. He thinks a thousand dollars more is fair—but the studio’s counteroffer is low, and dropping fast. Something is wrong, and he thinks it may have to do with communism. Though he insists he isn’t a Red, Adrian has no way of proving it. He flees to New York to ask the advice of high school buddy Jack LeVine, private eye. LeVine is broke, and has no sympathy for his wealthy friend, but he agrees to fly West to investigate his old classmate’s trouble. When he arrives, Adrian hangs dead from the gallows at the Western set on the Warners’ backlot. Behind his friend’s death LeVine finds a shadowy Cold War conspiracy, and a city far darker than anything Hollywood puts on screen.
1st edition; dust jacket in protective mylar cover; price clipped; minor shelf wear to spine and bottom front edge; red boards with white cloth spine, black lettering on spine; binding tight; text clean and bright. VG/VG
Fourteen short stories capture the quirky and peculiar behavior of horses, both good and ornery. You'll meet buckers, tricksters, and trusted partners: Bearcat is not just a plain crazy hardheaded bucker...but a wise, coolheaded cross between a whirlwind and a ton of brick, Joker is full of old nick and plenty of snorts, and Little Eagle is the seeing eye for a blind cowboy. First published in 1940, Horses I Have Known contains some of Will James' most acclaimed short stories.
World Publishing; Forum Books Edition, 1st printing, 1945; dj protected; top and bottom of spine chipped; top edge chipped; covers lightly soiled and tanned; red cloth with black lettering; water damage to bottom of spine and spine edges of covers; the red color from cloth binding has stained inside bottom of spine of dust jacket; binding good; text clean; illustrated by author. G/G
Best known as the author/illustrator of the Madeline books, Ludwig Bemelmans worked in top hotels such as the Ritz during his younger years. This collection of autobiographical stories depicts Bemelmans' life at the Hotel Splendide -- a thinly disguised version of the Ritz Hotel.
New York: The Viking Press, 1941. 1st edition. Dust jacket in protective mylar cover; two light creases on front cover near text edge; head of spine and top corner slightly chipped; gray cloth stamped in blue; all edges orange; pictorial endpapers; illustrated throughout by the author; binding tight; text clean and bright. VG/VG-
From the dust jacket: "The vibrant, spirited woman who was married to Ernest Hemingway for fifteen years now gives us the whole story of her life, and of their life, in a book whose concreteness and immediacy make us know--make us understand--how it was. She gives us the person she was: her Huck Finn childhood, growing up in a sunny clapboard house in a small Minnesota town, summering on lakes and rivers with her handsome, iconoclastic, adored father...her years as a reporter (in Chicago, working for the toughest woman's-page editor in the business; in London, for Lord Beaverbrook; in Paris, for Time)...her brief marriage to an Australian newspaperman... Her first glimpse of Hemingway (she's at lunch with Irwin Shaw. Ernest ambles over: "Introduce to me to your friend, Shaw"). And two short meetings later: "I don't know you, Mary. But I want to marry you." ...Their first days in Paris. Mary enthralled by him, yet nervous, "feeling the heat of his exuberance melting my identity away"...Their first fight (Marlene Dietrich pleads for him: "He is good. He is responsible. He's a fascinating man. You could have a good life, better than being a reporter.") ...Their marriage in Cuba...The Finca where they lived their "own special crazy good life" (guests in endless relays, feasts, the halcyon days fishing aboard their beloved Pilar, nonstop talk, nonstop daiquiris)...Their compromises and quarrels and lovings... Ernest at the race track, showering Mary's baffled, puritanical mother with his winnings...Mary, helping as best she could through the turmoils that marked the writings of ACROSS THE RIVER AND INTO THE TREES, THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA, and A MOVABLE FEAST...."
1st edition; inscribed by author; dust jacket in protective cover; edges tanned; black cloth; pictorial endpapers; binding tight; text clean and bright. G+/G+
Traditional Japanese packaging is an art form that applies sophisticated design and natural aesthetics to simple objects. In this elegant presentation of the baskets, boxes, wrappers, and containers that were used in ordinary, day-to-day life, we are offered a stunning example of a time before mass production. Largely constructed of bamboo, rice straw, hemp twine, paper, and leaves, all of the objects shown here are made from natural materials. Through 221 black-and-white photographs of authentic examples of traditional Japanese packaging—with commentary on the origins, materials, and use of each piece—the items here offer a look into a lost art, while also reminding us of the connection to nature and the human imprint of handwork that was once so alive and vibrant in our everyday lives.
First Edition for the United States published by Harper and Row in 1967, after the original Japanese edition of 1965. Written by Hide Yuki Oka, foreword by George Nelson, photography by Michikazu Sakai. Traditional elegant designs for packaging ordinary objects in Japan reflect their time and culture. 4to, 203 pages, full page illustrations in exquisite black and white, dust jacket with protective cover, glossy white with blind embossing on front hardcover, bump to right lower edge, interior fine. VG/VG.
John Vassos (1898-1985) was an industrial designer and artist whose designs helped define the shape of radio, television, broadcasting equipment, and computers. He is best known for creating the iconic turnstile for the Perey company, which is still in use in some subway stations. He also designed radios and televisions for RCA.
Vassos gained acclaim as an illustrator before he was an industrial designer, and his iconic subjective illustrations were influenced by cinema and reflected cubist and constructivist, geometrical styles. They were often in black and white gouache (opaque watercolor) and well suited for reproduction in mass media.
Humanities, published in 1934, features his masterful illustrations with text by his wife, Ruth Vassos. 1st edition; no dust jacket; blue cloth with black lettering; front has areas of tanning from sun damage; spine edges frayed; corners bumped; binding good; text clean and bright. G+
The book that inspired the animated movie classic!
When Dearly's Dalmatians have their first litter of pups—fifteen in all—everyone is delighted. But their joy is shortlived, for the pups are kidnapped! Scotland Yard is baffled, but the keenest canine minds are on the case—and on the trail of Cruella de Vil, the most fiendish person to ever covet a fur coat.
New York: The Viking Press, 1957 (2nd printing, May 1961). Dust jacket in protective cover; top edges creased; edges of spine chipped; small water stain on rear flap and edge of rear cover; green cloth with brown illustration of dogs on front; brown lettering on spine; illustrated endpapers; former owner's name in ink on ffep; small closed vertical tear at bottom of title page; binding good; text clean. G/G
Tom Clancy's rich imagination and his remarkable grasp of the capabilities of advanced technology give this novel an amazing ring of authenticity. It is a thriller with a new twist, a "military procedural" with an ingenious, tightly woven plot that revolves around the defection of a Soviet nuclear submarine--the USSR's newest and most valuable ship, with its most trusted and skilled officer at the helm.
A deadly serious game of hide-and-seek is on. The entire Soviet Atlantic Fleet is ordered to hunt down the submarine and destroy her at all costs. The Americans are determined to find her first and get her safely to port in the intelligence coups of all time. But the Red October has a million square miles of ocean to hide in and a new silent propulsion system that is impossible to detect. Or is it?
Her daring and cunning captain, Marko Ramius, thinks so. The commander of the Soviet's fastest attack submarine, however, is confident that he will find his prey. And Bart Mancuso, the aggressive commander of the U.S. Navy attack sub the Dallas, is counting on the sensitive ears of his resourceful young sonar operator to identify Red October's unique sound print and track her down.
The nerve-wracking hunt goes on for eighteen days as the Red October stealthily eludes her hunters across 4,000 miles of ocean. But just short of Ramius's objective, his submarine converges with the others in a rousing climax that is one of the most thrilling underwater scenes ever written. Can the start of all-out war be avoided? The outcome is clear only on the very last pages.
Naval Institute Press, 1st edition, 2nd printing, 1984. Dust jacket in protective cover; red cloth with white lettering on spine. VG/VG
Leonard Nimoy, the actor, recounts his experiences acting the role of Mr. Spock, Star Trek's unflappable Vulcan, his reactions to his fame, and his continuing identification with Spock
Del Rey, 1977, first Ballantine Books edition. Mass market paperback. VG++
While better known as the author and illustrator of the Madeline books for children, Ludwig Bemelmans also wrote for adults. This collection of quirky, semi-autobiographical stories about travel, life, and love, is illustrated by the author.
New York: The Viking Press, 1942. 1st edition. Illustrated throughout by the author. Dust jacket in protective mylar cover; price clipped; head of spine and top corners chipped; spine faded; yellow cloth stamped in pink; top edge pink; pictorial endpapers; endpapers tanned; binding tight; text clean and bright. VG-/VG-
Baskin's illustrated essays are his homage to the artists for whom he feels not only kinship but a deep and singular dedication. These are his companions, his exemplars in the lonely agony of creation, and each portrait seemingly imbues him with the attributes of his subject. Written in a style as complex and idiosyncratic as his art, the essays offer Baskin's insights into the spirit and passion of figures from Rembrandt to Eakins, Anne Allen to Paula Modersohn Becker. Though technical details, biographical facts, and quotes from authorities are included, the book is an intense and essentially personal celebration of creativity at times so strangely religious that it might best be described as a book of devotions. Paula Frosch, Metropolitan Museum Lib., New York (Library Journal, 1988)
1st U.S. edition; dust jacket lightly soiled; spine lightly faded; red cloth with gilt lettering on front cover and spine; edges slightly faded; binding tight; text clean and bright. VG/G+
New York & London: G.P. Putnam's Sons, The Knickerbocker Press, 1902; 31 illustrations in photogravure reproduced from the original designs of Gustave Dore; reprint of the original Moxon folio edition; Margaret Armstrong cover design in gilt on navy blue cloth; light shelf wear; corners lightly bumped; front hinge weak; text clean and bright. G
"This is a comedy set in a cemetery, a ribald satire on prejudice. In it Johnny Speight lampoons the dubious logic and unlovely self-interest that lie behind a whole spectrum of British social, religious and political attitudes, ranging from liberal to reactionary. It is both a funny and an uncomfortably accurate play from the author of the television series, Till Death Us Do Part."
Softcover; creased, soiled, spine worn; water damage to bottom inside corner of covers and text; ink and highlighting throughout text; ink notes on inside rear cover; former owner's name in ink on first page. Scarce. G-
Not only was Frank O'Hara (1926-1966) one of the most important American poets of his generation, he was also intimately involved with the art world of the 1950s and 1960s, a time when New York had become the cultural capital of the world. As an associate curator at the Museum of Modern Art, O'Hara organized a series of important exhibitions, notably of the work of Franz Kline and of Robert Motherwell. In Memory of My Feelings explores this key period in modern art by presenting artists who were associated with O'Hara and whose seminal works are reflected in his poetry.
Limited edition, number 981/2500; published by Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1967; 30 poems illustrated by 30 artists, on gathered sheets in portfolio and slipcase as issued; top of slipcase soiled; front and top of slipcase lightly foxed; light foxing on cloth edge of front cover; inside is clean and bright. G+/G
Amiri Baraka was a poet and co-founder of the Black Arts Movement in the 1960's. He collaborated with photographer Fundi (Billy Abernathy) to create In Our Terribleness, a poetic-photographic essay that "both re-creates and defines black life for the black reader" (New York Times, February 14, 1971). This unique book combines elements of poetry, photography, and art. As Ron Welborn wrote in the New York Times, "Couched in the language of the streets and intoned with the rhythms of jazz, it is both an expression and evocation of the rudiments of blackness."
Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1970. Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) and Fundi (Billy Abernathy). 1st printing. Dust jacket in protective mylar cover; creased with several tears, some repaired with scotch tape; 1/2" at head of spine missing; corners worn; black cloth with silver lettering on spine; bottom corners bumped; gift inscription facing page 5; all elements intact, including mirror on page 5; text clean and bright. Scarce. G+/G-