Search Results: Titles starting with C from Biblioctopus

Genève (Geneva): Cramer, 1759. First Edition. Hardcover. very Good. 3 vols. in 1. 1st edition, 1st printing (in French) of the great 18th century philosophical narrative. The 2 sequels are nice to have but do not really increase value. All the Candide points are correct, the 3 usual cancels, the right title page ornament repeated (pages 193 and 266), the misprints of "que ce ce fut" (page 103 line 4) and "précisément" (page 125 line 4), the correction removing a paragraph break (page 31), the rewritten lines about the Lisbon earthquake (page 41), etc. Contemporary full calf, red calf label, rebacked with the original spine saved and laid down, recornered, marbled endpapers, gilt rubbed, inner paper hinges strengthened, old ink signatures on the endpaper and front blank, tiny signature on the title page, one tissue strengthened tear at the bottom of A2 touching the last 3 lines of text without any loss, otherwise internally quite nice, clean, and very good. Bound without N7 (a blank) and N8 (a… Read More

London: Methuen & Co, 1960. First Edition. wrappers. Very good. 1st trade edition (a Samuel French acting edition precedes). The Nobel laureate's own copy (Pinter's salient beloved) of his first major success with his extensive, handwritten corrections, deletions, additions, and notations on 52 of the 77 pages. 22 of the additions on 17 of the pages are dialog, from a word to a line, and 18 pages indicate the book was also used by him as a prompt copy. Research rich with unique changes and thoughtful adjustments here, that his own corrected copy never appeared in any subsequent edition, and it is a careful editing, in different color inks and pencil, certainly done in many steps, by revisiting it regularly over a long time. Original wrappers (Methuen also issued it hardbound simultaneously), one small corner crease and some edge rubs else very good, game used but never abused. The Caretaker was Pinter's first appreciable commercial success, a theatrical dynamo, that is, to postmodern plays, what… Read More

New York: Doran, 40BCE. First. very good. 1st edition of the ninth and final Sherlock Holmes, published simultaneously with the London edition. Original cloth. Some rubbing to the extremities, and minor soiling, very good.

New Haven: Yale University Press, 1951. First edition. Foreword by W.H. Auden. A tiny, nearly invisible tape repair on a blank page, else fine in fine dustwrapper with a small smudge on the front panel (and with the price intact). One of only 551 copies of the author's first commercially published book. A fresh and lovely copy.

London: Hogarth Press, 1959. First edition, the suppressed or withdrawn first issue which includes the account of the fire at the piano factory. Neat owner's name on the front fly, and some modest foxing else fine in fine dustwrapper. The first volume in the author's acclaimed novelistic autobiographical trilogy, this volume concentrating on sketches of the author's childhood in the Gloucestershire village of Slad. A lovely copy.

Minnesota or North Dakota, 1995. fine. Original outdoor photograph from the set of the film Fargo. 9 1/2" X 7" matted to 9" X 6" then framed and UV glazed. Fine condition. The image shows Joel and Ethan Coen looking into a monitor, puffily dressed for the cold weather, but it's not really cold weather (really cold is when the wolves start killing the sheep for the wool). Vintage, on set photographs of the brothers actually working on the Fargo shoot, are bafflingly sparse, and though you can Google a few others, there's nothing out there for sale as good as this one. The Coen's wrote, directed, and edited Fargo, a black comedy of violent crime that soars on its unforgettable quirkiness in answering the question, what could possibly go wrong? It won the brothers Academy Awards for Best Screenplay, and Frances McDormand an Academy Award for Best Actress. Joel Coen won the Prix de la Mise en Scène (Best Director Award) off Fargo's premier at The Cannes Film Festival, and the film won the New York Film… Read More

London: Printed for H. Herringman, E. Brewster, and R. Bentley, at the Anchor in the New Exchange, The Crane in St. Paul's Church-Yard, and in Russel-Street Covent-Garden, London, 1685. Full morocco. Near fine. 4th folio, 1st issue of Shakespeare's plays, the heart of English literature. 19th century full black morocco, fine condition and unrestored, beautiful beyond good fortune and with all of the visual satisfaction so prized by the parts of us that are superficial, a particularly appropriate and resonant antique. That said, these folios should be valued from the inside out and that is where this one's merits excel. Flaws first: The portrait has some light foxing (mostly at the margins), the title page and 5% of the text pages have intermittent stains, there are a few small chips and tears at the edges (all of them confined to the blank margins), some of them closed, and some of them left alone, tiny rust holes of no impact, and half a dozen margins are very slightly miscut, but don't be deceived… Read More

New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/fine. 4 vols. All fine in fine dustjackets, all signed, plus an advanced proof of the first novel, Blanche on the Lam, fine in the original printed wrappers. The first novel with a Black woman detective as the main protagonist. The novels are: Blanche on the Lam (1992), Blanche Among the Talented Tenth (1994), Blanche Cleans Up (1998) and Blanche Passes Go (2000). Blanche on the Lam precedes Eleanor Bland's Dead Time by a few months, but Bland's Marti MacAlister is a professional cop, while Neely's Blanche White is an amateur.

McClure: St. Martin's Press, 2005. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/fine. Dead Time was the first novel in which the main protagonist is a Black woman police officer. Right away the reader is introduced to a hero that is—typical of detective fiction— strong and intelligent, but also actively engaged in her personal responsibilities and trauma, cognizant and empathetic toward the most vulnerable in society. The exposition and character development provides context as to why the lived experiences of an African American women can act as an emotional shield in a profession that might, otherwise, bring out the worst in someone. Bland's MacAlister series was at the forefront of promoting diversity and inclusion in crime fiction; a genre that not only boxed women characters into a traditional space, but, often, entirely excluded Black women. 1st edition of her first book (Dead Time), introducing streetwise detective Marti MacAlister. Fine in fine dustjacket. Signed and inscribed, " My favorite chapter… Read More

Boston: Garrison and Knapp, 1832. First Edition. Wrappers. Very good. 1st edition of the founding document in the Anti-Slavery movement. Original, sewn, tan, printed wrappers, untrimmed and unrepaired. A few smudges to front cover, both covers a little creased, spots to title page, and some stains, else very good, complete, untouched, and unrepaired. Scarce, and not only scarce (more so in original wrappers) but of the utmost importance. Only 2 copies have sold at auction in the last 100 years (one of them without the wrappers). Rare Book Hub shows 7 more in bookseller's catalogs (some without wrappers) also looking back 100 years, and we found one more, but do not get too excited, it's not that rare or it wouldn't be $4,000. Nonetheless, if you are a librarian or collector who is interested in Black Americana and do not have this book, buying ours should be irresistible. Collation: octavo. 16pp. References: Sabin 52655n. LCP 6496. AI 13659. Not in Work. Not in Blockson. In announcing the aims and… Read More

London, 1823. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. 21 titles. All are 1st editions, 1st issues, except as noted. The quality high, the opportunity apparent. Byron was the first rock star and more romantic and, at the same time, more modern, than any of his contemporaries. 1. Hours of Idleness (Newark: S. and J. Ridge, 1807) [bound with] Fare Thee Well (London: Privately printed for John Murray, 1816). Contemporary 3/4 calf and marbled boards rubbed along the extremities, foxing tot the first and last few blanks, armorial bookplate to the front pastedown and offsetting from it to the first blank, Fare Thee Well margins trimmed down to size, a 12mmx30mm rectangle clipped from the inner margin of the first leaf, two horizontal creases, else, overall, very good. First leaf with "J. Green 1815" watermark. One of only 50 copies printed. 1a. Hours of Idleness (Newark: S. and J. Ridge, 1807). The large paper issue (an unauthorized 2nd printing, with minor type variations). Original boards and paper label,… Read More