Search Results: Authors starting with B from Peter Harrington

San Francisco: Sufism Reoriented, Inc.,, 1966. First edition, sole impression, of this pamphlet warning against the false promise of psychedelic drugs and extolling instead the benefits of faith in the Indian spiritual leader Meher Baba (1894-1969), who claimed to be the Avatar, or God in human form, of the age. Octavo, pp. 11. Original wire-stitched pink wrappers lettered in black, cancel to p. 6, emphasising Baba's opposition to drugs. A near-fine copy with a few trivial marks.

London: printed for B. Fellowes, & J. Booth,, 1830. First octavo edition. In 1830 Babbage was profoundly dissatisfied with the government's failure to sufficiently support the sciences and irritated by what he perceived as the myriad shortcomings of those existing societies, most particularly the Royal Society. In the Decline, by far the most polemical of his works, Babbage portrayed English science as moribund, English scientists as amateur and corrupt, and English scientific culture and reform as lamentably inferior to those of other countries. "To the observer with advantage of hindsight, the charge that science was in decline seems ridiculous: Lyell's Principles of Geology had begun to appear, Darwin was setting off on the Beagle, and Faraday was beginning his revolutionary researches in electricity and magnetism. But [the Decline], with its attacks on the Royal Society and the English universities, and its demand for more honours and sinecures for scientists, caused a sensation" (Knight, p.… Read More

New York: Alfred A. Knopf,, 1993. Life in Los Angeles First edition, first printing, signed by the author on the title page. Babitz has been likened to F. Scott Fitzgerald for her fictionalized portrayal of a dazzling cultural milieu, in her case 1970s Los Angeles and her adventures there as the "It" girl of Hollywood. "If anyone partook of '70s L.A., it was Eve. It was Quaaludes, coke, screwing around a ton, it was that post-pill, pre-AIDS moment that she fully, fully embraced" (Kilkenny). This story collection "deftly chronicles the shifting mores and slow-burn fadeouts of 1980s Hollywood; a potent melancholy hangs over the stories and a bittersweet acceptance that no party, no matter how high the high, can truly last forever" (Aylmer). Babitz (1943-2021) first gained notoriety in 1963 through Julian Wasser's iconic photograph of her playing chess nude against the artist Marcel Duchamp. As a writer, she was praised by Joan Didion and Joseph Heller but went widely under-appreciated until the release… Read More

New York: Alfred A. Knopf,, 1993. A decade of dreams, drink, and stoned youth First edition, first printing, signed by the author on the title page. Babitz has been likened to F. Scott Fitzgerald for her fictionalized portrayal of a dazzling cultural milieu, in her case 1970s Los Angeles and her adventures there as the "It" girl of Hollywood. This title is rare signed. "If anyone partook of '70s L.A., it was Eve. It was Quaaludes, coke, screwing around a ton, it was that post-pill, pre-AIDS moment that she fully, fully embraced" (Kilkenny). This story collection "deftly chronicles the shifting mores and slow-burn fadeouts of 1980s Hollywood; a potent melancholy hangs over the stories and a bittersweet acceptance that no party, no matter how high the high, can truly last forever" (Aylmer). As a writer, Babitz (1943-2021) was praised by Joan Didion and Joseph Heller but went widely under-appreciated until the release of a 2014 media profile of her life in Vanity Fair. Her works have since been reissued… Read More

New York: Alfred A. Knopf,, 1979. The darling chronicler of '70s LA First edition, first printing, a review copy signed by the author on the front free endpaper, with the publisher's publicity photograph loosely inserted. Babitz has been likened to F. Scott Fitzgerald for her fictionalized portrayal of a dazzling cultural milieu, in her case 1970s Los Angeles and her adventures there as the "It" girl of Hollywood. Babitz (1943-2021) first gained notoriety in 1963 through Julian Wasser's iconic photograph of her playing chess nude against the artist Marcel Duchamp. Sex and Rage, subtitled in the style of an etiquette manual, follows a carefree young woman whose literary and hedonistic pursuits are closely modelled on the author's own. "If anyone partook of '70s L.A., it was Eve. It was Quaaludes, coke, screwing around a ton, it was that post-pill, pre-AIDS moment that she fully, fully embraced" (Kilkenny). As a writer, Babitz was praised by Joan Didion and Joseph Heller but went widely… Read More

Brest: de l'imprimerie de Michel, imprimeur du Roi,, 1817. First and only edition. Uncommon, 4 copies only on WorldCat - BnF, NYPL, Fisher Library, Toronto, Danish Union Catalogue. Compiled by Babron (1772-1841), a frigate captain, who began work on it when 22, but was only able to finally publish after his retirement from the sea in 1813. In his introduction he explains that he became convinced that in France there "was no work which brought together in a single volume, at a moderate price, all of the practices of the naval art; that is a vade mecum to serve as a guide to young sailors". Octavo (202 x 123 mm). Contemporary sheep-backed bottle-green paper covered boards, flat spine, title gilt direct, compartments formed by a star and flower gilt roll, foliate centre-tool. Tables and diagrams to the text, bound with the half-title, advertisement/errata leaf at the rear. A little rubbed, light browning and foxing, heavy in places, throughout, but remains a very good copy. Polak 313

London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green; and Cadell and Co.,, 1826. In the month of Ramzan, in the year eight hundred and ninety-nine, and in the twelfth year of my age, I became King of Ferghana First edition in English of the Baburnama, probably the first autobiography in Islamic literature. "By chronicling events and noting down his assessment of the potentates and artists and poets he encountered, [Babur] authored a unique document in history … his book remained unrivalled until the publication of the diary of … Queen Victoria" (Beveridge, p. xvii). Babur was born in 1483 in Andjian into the Chaghatai Turkic tribe, hereditary rulers of Ferghana; a descendent of Timur and, so he believed, on his mother's side, of Chingis Khan; founder of the Mughal Empire, and today recognized as a national hero in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. His first exercise of military and political power came with his claiming the throne of Samarkand, in modern-day Uzbekistan, and taking control of the region around… Read More

London: Luzac & Co.,, 1922. A landmark edition First edition in book form of this landmark version of the B burn ma, the earliest example of autobiographical writing in world literature, the diary of Zah r-ud-D n Muhammad B bur (1483–1530), founder of the Mughal Empire and descendant of Timur, translated into English directly from the original Chagatai Turkish, the spoken language of the Andijan-Timurids; complete sets are extremely uncommon. Under the patronage of Akbar the Great (reigned 1556-1605) the B burn ma was translated into Persian, the literary language of the Mughal court, and English translations had been published that drew on that source. In her preface Beveridge describes the language of the Chagatai original as "terse, word-thrifty, restrained and lucid [which] comes over neatly into Saxon English, perhaps through primal affinities". Her version was originally published in four installments between 1912 and 1921 (the "four fasciculi" of the title). Some copies are dated 1921, have… Read More

New York: The Macmillan Company,, 1970. First edition, first printing, accompanied by a postcard inscribed by the author, "For Vic! Wishing you love always! From Richard Bach", loosely inserted. The postcard, stamped with the date 8 November 1985, was sent to Vic Von Marin of Idaho Falls from their friend Art Patience of Olympia, Washington, who writes: "Vic, He was delighted to hear about you. He had such a successful autograph session here that he said this was the best ever!... I have a feeling that Donnah and I will be knowing and working with he and his wife w/in the next few years". Jonathan Livingston Seagull was first serialized in 1967, where extracts of the unfinished manuscript were published in the aviation magazine Private Pilot. It was well received and subsequently sold to Macmillan, who agreed to publish the fable in book form on 31 August 1970. The print run sold out before Christmas, and subsequent printings were published in huge numbers. It reached the top of the New York Times… Read More

New York: The Macmillan Company,, 1970. First edition, first printing, a particularly attractive copy. Jonathan Livingston Seagull was first serialized in 1967, where extracts of the unfinished manuscript were published in the aviation magazine Private Pilot. It was well received and subsequently sold to Macmillan, who agreed to publish the fable in book form on 31st August 1970. The print run sold out before Christmas, and subsequent printings were published in huge numbers. It reached the top of the New York Times Best Seller list in 1971 where it remained for 38 weeks, and by the end of 1972 over a million copies were in print. Octavo. Original blue cloth, spine lettered in white, seagull outline blocked in blind to boards, photographic endpapers. With pictorial dust jacket. Photographic illustrations throughout, some double-page. Contemporary gift inscription to front free endpaper. Ends and corners lightly rubbed, very minor dust soiling to cloth, occasional spots and finger marks to contents… Read More

Paris: Ernest Flammarion, Editeur,, 1914. The mathematical expectation of the speculator is zero First edition of this popularization of Bachelier's work on speculation. Bachelier summarized his main idea in a single sentence - "The mathematical expectation of the speculator is zero." Louis Bachelier (1870-1946) was an eminent French mathematician and a pioneer in the study of financial mathematics. During his studies at the Sorbonne he wrote his famous thesis, Théorie de la speculation (1900), in which he defined Brownian motion, predating Einstein by five years, and discussed its application to the evaluation of stock options. It was the first paper to use advanced mathematics in the study of finance, and was popularized in this volume, Le Jeu, La Chance et le Hasard (Games, Chance, and Randomness). The economic aspect of Bachelier's work went largely unrecognised in his lifetime until its rediscovery by financial economists over fifty years later, with astounding results. Within 25 years the… Read More

Paris: Gauthier-Villars,, 1912. Bachelier on probability First edition of Bachelier's extensive notes from his lectures on probability, given during his professorship at the Sorbonne from 1909 to 1914. "Apparently Bachelier was aware of the importance of his contributions. He wrote in his curriculum vitae ("Notice" of 1924) that his book Calcul des Probabilités, published in 1912, was the first that surpassed the great treatise by Laplace... it was not just a coincidence that the format was in quarto" (Courtault et al.). Louis Bachelier (1870–1946) was an "unrecognized genius... He invented efficient markets in 1900, sixty years before the idea came into vogue. He described the random walk model of prices, ordinary diffusion of probability - also called Brownian motion - and martingales, which are the mathematical expression of efficient markets. He even attempted an empirical verification. But he remained a shadowy presence until 1960 or so, when his major work was revived in English translation"… Read More

1991. Edition unknown. Signed by Bacon below the image and Giacobetti on the verso. Giacobetti had long admired the work of Bacon, and when they eventually met in 1991, the artist was most co-operative with the photographer's requests and they met each other another 11 times over the next few months. This led to a substantial and revelatory filmed interview and the collaborative participation of an extended photographic portrait session taken in two London hotels, 11 Cadagon Gardens and Browns. Gelatin silver print laid on board as issued. Image size: 38 x 56.5 cm. Sheet size: 60 x 56.5 cm. Framed size: 70 x 66.7 cm. Excellent condition. Presented in a black wooden frame with conservation acrylic glazing.

Guildford: Genesis/Hedley,, 2020. Signed limited edition, number 1884 out of 5,000 copies. This copy signed by Francis Bacon, Peter Blake, Adam Cooper, Terry Doran, Allen Jones, Stash Klossowski, Sandy Leiberson, Bridget Riley, Colin Self, Derek Taylor and Bill Wyman. In total there were 93 contributors to the book; each copy was signed by the project originator Bill Wyman and a random selection of the other contributors, meaning that no two copies are the same. A lavish book, Blinds & Shutters gathers the photographs that Michael Cooper (1941–1973) took of the 1960s music scene. Originally published in 1990 in a slightly different format, 600 copies were published in 2020 in the special 30th anniversary binding, the edition of 5000 comprises both editions. Folio. Original black buckram with black leather spine, titles to front cover in yellow and white, titles to spine in yellow, all edges yellow, with a unique photograph to the front cover, pages printed on 200 gsm paper. Housed in the publisher's… Read More

London: Printed by John Beale,, 1639. To be chewed and digested Early edition of what has always been Bacon's best-known and most widely read work, perhaps the greatest essay collection in the English language. Bacon first published his Essayes in 1597, in a slim octavo containing ten essays. He continued to add and revise, with the final lifetime edition of 1625 including 58 essays, the text of which is here followed. "Some of the essays deal with policy for princes and men in high position... A number, however, are written from the viewpoint of those seeking advancement in life. Bacon proffers concise advice and judgements on civil business, situations, conduct, and the weighing of character and motives. The work's appeal is due to the pragmatic intelligence and knowledge informing its observations, which are expressed in a style employing striking images, apt examples, and quotations, and pithy aphorisms" (Zagorin, p. 141). The Essayes include the famous pronouncement that "Some Bookes are to be… Read More

London: Printed by J.H. for William Lee,, 1627. New Atlantis First edition, second issue, of Bacon's natural historical work, a re-issue of first edition sheets with a new title. A compilation of one thousand paragraphs, it comprises extracts from many books, together with Bacon's own experiments and observations on natural philosophy. Published following Bacon's death in 1626 by his chaplain William Rawley, it also contains Bacon's utopia, New Atlantis, "a description of an island society and its scientific community, in which Bacon developed ideas outlined thirty years earlier. The aim of the Salomon's house was nothing less than 'the knowledge of Causes, and secret motions of things; and the enlarging of the bounds of Human Empire, to the effecting of all things possible' (Works, 3.156)." (ODNB) Folio (292 x 190 mm). Contemporary calf, rebacked, new red morocco label, triple blind rule border to sides. Portrait frontispiece, additional engraved title. Woodcut initials and headpieces; text printed… Read More

1991. Edition unknown. Signed by Bacon below the image and Giacobetti on the verso. Giacobetti had long admired the work of Bacon, and when they eventually met in 1991, the artist was most co-operative with the photographer's requests and they met each other another 11 times over the next few months. This led to a substantial and revelatory filmed interview and the collaborative participation of an extended photographic portrait session taken in two London hotels, 11 Cadagon Gardens and Browns. Gelatin silver print laid on board as issued. Image size: 38 x 56.5 cm. Sheet size: 60 x 56.5 cm. Framed size: 70 x 66.7 cm. Excellent condition. Presented in a black wooden frame with conservation acrylic glazing.

London: printed for J. Rivington and Sons; L. Davis; T. Payne; B. White; T. Davies; [and 6 others in London],, 1778. Beautiful and accurate A handsome set of this "beautiful and accurate edition" Lowndes (Vol. I, p. 93), following the text edited by Thomas Birch which was first published in 1765. 5 volumes, quarto (296 x 231 mm). Contemporary calf, recently rebacked with twin red and green labels, Signet library supralibos to covers. With 4 frontispieces, and 2 folding tables. 19th-century inscription in inner margin of title page, shelflabel and inscription to front endpapers, a few pencilled annotations. Lightly toned and foxed, chip at foot of vol. I pp. xxxix/xl, offsetting from plates, 5 cm closed tear at foot of vol. II first contents leaf. A very good copy. ESTC T88307.

London: Thames and Hudson,, 1964. First edition, first impression, of the first Bacon catalogue raisonné, including many destroyed paintings, and remaining an essential reference work for the artist. Quarto. Original green cloth, spine lettered in gilt. With dust jacket. With 287 plates (27 colour). Toning to half-title; jacket with light wear and rubbing, unclipped: fine in good jacket.

London: Longmans & Co., Marshall, & Co., Hamilton & Co., [& 13 others in London,], 1870. "New edition", the second edition under Ellis, Spedding, and Heath's editorship, the first of which was published from 1857 onwards. The edition is still cited as the standard scholarly edition of Bacon's works (The Cambridge Companion to Bacon, 1996, p. 335), and is uncommon in the original cloth. 7 volumes, octavo. Original brown ribbed cloth, spines lettered in gilt, covers panelled in blind, brown endpapers. Frontispieces in vol. I-III. Signet Library inscription to front pastedowns. Generally a very good set, some peripheral wear, some splitting to hinges but holding, some leaves unopened.