Search Results: Titles starting with R from Biblioctopus

Boston: Joseph H Allen, 1867. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. 12 vols. in 1. 1st appearance anywhere, complete in 12 issues of The Student and Schoolmate Illustrated Monthly, vol. XIX no. 1 through vol. XX no. 6 (January - December 1867). The original, dozen, monthly parts bound by the publisher in cloth, preceding the common, 1868, 1st book edition, published by Loring, the uncountable reprints of it, and the hundreds of attempts to replicate it by Alger and others. Original cloth, a small chip at the spine's base, the odd few pages toned, but get over it. This is a very good, unrepaired copy of a rare book in original cloth (no copies listed on RBH) and as American as apple pie, but these days, that'd be frozen apple pie, with a slice of processed cheese on top. Ref: Grolier 100 American, no. 75. Ralph Gardner, 445, saying, Ragged Dick was not the author's first book, as is widely believed, but it is the story that launched him as an all-time best-selling author. You say you like your books… Read More

London: Kelmscott Press, 1939. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. 3 vols. in 2 (as issued). Limited edition, 1 of 300 on hand made paper. A fine press reprinting of William Caxton's 1st edition, printed by William Morris at his Kelmscott Press in red and black Troy type (Chaucer type was used for the table of contents and the glossary). Gorgeous decorative wood cut borders and initials throughout the text. Original full limp vellum, brown silk ties, a natural crease to the base of the spine on vol. II, and some spots of rubbing to the polish of the vellum, else near fine and mostly unread. Ex-W. and P. J. Kupfer (bookplates). Coll: xv, [1], 295, blank]. [297]-507, [3, blank]. [509]-718 [5 blanks]. Raoul Lefevre was chaplain to Philip III, Duke of Burgundy. William Caxton was the first Englishman who learned how to print from moveable type. He bought a press in Bruges and in 1474 he translated into English, and then printed, Lefevre's book (written in 1464). Later Caxton disassembled the press and… Read More

New York: The North American Review Corporation, 1934. First Edition. Wrappers. Very good. 3 volumes, individual issues (November 1933, December 1933 and April 1934) of the magazine, each containing the first appearance of Steinbeck stories. Original printed wrappers bound in plain brown paper covered boards, the front cover of the November '33 issue and the rear cover of the April '34 issue are used as a paste downs. Signed 'J.E. Steinbeck' in pencil on the top of the front cover of each issue (the impression can be read on the back of the November cover that has been pasted down), signed 'John Steinbeck' in pen on the title page of the November '33 issue, along with a stamp reading "This book belongs to Carol and John Steinbeck" on the same title page. Front board has a watercolor of a woman reading (likely by Carol Steinbeck). Rubbing, chips to the spine, soiling, hinges split but holding, else internally very good. Ex- Steinbeck nephew in-law David Heyler.

Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1883. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. 1st edition, 3 vols including the scarce map portfolio volume with 6 large folding geological maps. llustrated with eight full-color lithographs, 159 tinted lithographs, 123 black-and-white plates (34 folding), nine large folding maps (one in color), numerous in-text illustrations and anatomical diagrams, and one large folding panoramic view. Original black cloth, spine gilt. Vol 1 and map portfolio rebacked with the original spines laid down, restoration to the extremities of the bindings, original ties missing fromt he portfolio. Map 1 is restored along the folds, other maps are all intact, but many splits along the folds, some damage to a few tissue guards. Overall very good. The first modern maps of Yellowstone National Park, are included as part of this massive under-taking by Hayden who had become one of the experts of the region. Hayden began his work in the area as the official geologist on early… Read More

New York: McClure, 1905. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. 1st edition, preceding the London edition.  Original cloth.  Near fine with some rubbing to the extremities.  This copy is in what McClure calls the "special edition" binding, that is different than the 1st issue binding but more common and in no other way special,  Bookplate of Adrian Goldstone.

New York: McClure, 1905. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. 1st edition of the sixth Sherlock Holmes, preceding the London edition. Original cloth in the 1st issue, pictorial binding, The color is flaked in a few places but less so than usually seen, some rubbing and soiling, inner paper hinges strengthened, but otherwise very good.

London: Newnes, 1904. First Edition. Wrappers. Good. 13 vols.  1st appearance anywhere (later collected as The Return of Sherlock Holmes in 1905).  Front ads removed from no. 164 (vol. 28, August 1904) The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter, else a very good, complete set, so cool, with all 26 covers and all 95 illustrations by Sidney Paget.  10 times scarcer than sets of The Adventures and Memoirs, rarely seen at all, and never seen like this, whereas bound sets are more common than internet lies and more boring than provincial celebrities. The hardest thing about being a detective is trusting your instincts when they are contrary to the evidence.   There have been countless film and television takes on one or another of these stories, the most prominent being the series from 1984 to 1994, starring Jeremy Brett, that did 11 of The Return's 13 adventures before Brett's death in 1995.

New York: CAPE, 1930. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/near fine. 1st edition of a paradigmatic American novel about reaching for all that life can bring. Fine in a dustjacket with a crease and 2 short tears else it's fine, and as fresh as a fountain soda. More than an author, Greene was a playwright, journalist, editor, and the managing general director of King Features Syndicate, but he is best remembered for his 1945 Cosmopolitan Magazine story, Happy Dan, the Cynical Dog, that Disney later developed into the film Lady and the Tramp.

London: William Stansby, 1619. First Edition. Very good. 1st edition in English of Edmund Bolton's translation. Contemporary polished calf, covers bordered with a triple blind rule large blind arabesque at centers, spine with three blind ruled raised bands, joints and spine tips worn, 17th century autograph ‘York' on pastedown, imaginably, James, Duke of York, later James II, but no proof of that here, a very good copy. Roman letter, some Italic, text within box rule, engraved architectural title border signed "Sim Pass scu." (Simon van de Pass), small floriated woodcut initials, woodcut head pieces. On p. 503 Bolton signed the work (in type) with his initials "translated into English by E.M.B.", i.e. Edmund Maria Bolton, and he also signs the dedication with his pseudonym "Philanactophil." Collation: [xxiv], 503, [2]. last blank. RBH list no copies at auction since 1965. Florus' history, known as the ‘Epitome of all the Wars during Seven Hundred Years', is an abridgment of Roman history up to… Read More

Garden City: Doubleday, 1976. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/very good. Contemporary signed presentation copy, and it's a good association, inscribed in ink, "September 1976. Dinah Shore, lovely, gracious lady - from our family to your family! Sincerely, Alex Haley." Some storage unit mustiness, else near fine in a very good dustjacket. This is Haley's quest for his genealogical history, starting in 1750 (contrast today when "roots" means the Church of the Magic Moonbeam tracing its origins all the way back to 2004). And Roots was a ‘just what it needed' contribution to America's bicentennial, historically enlightening and emotionally rewarding. It won a well-deserved Pulitzer Prize and, in 1977, it became the prototype television documentary miniseries, winning 9 Emmys.

London: Ollier, 1819. First Edition. Near fine. 1st edition. Gilt and inlaid crushed green morocco, signed by Riviere & Son in gilt on the turn-in. Inlaid morocco doublures, green silk moire endpapers, original wrappers preserved and bound in. Slightest bit of rubbing at the extremities, clean and fresh internally, near fine. Written after Shelley had left England for good and with a preface dated in Naples, December 20, 1818, Rosalind and Helen tells the story of two lovers (based on Percy and Mary Shelley) whose love is sacred and justified, though unconsecrated by marriage. One of the "Other Poems" included here is the well-known Ozymandias, a sonnet exploring the impermanence of grandeur (a piece apparently inspired by the British Museum's acquisition of a massive Egyptian statue of Ramesses II).