Modern First Editions

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1941. First Edition. Hardcover. Covers soiled and worn, lacking the dustwrapper. Good in a Fine custom morocco-backed clamshell box. INSCRIBED and SIGNED by the author for George [Davis] "Who is my Best and Campiest Friend-- /And who, also, is the first/person to really take to this book-/You have helped me and/encouraged me in all ways/that were in your power-/And you know that I love you./Carson." Davis, a magazine editor who later married Lotte Lenya, made his house in Brooklyn into something of an artists colony serving as a home at various times for McCullers, W. H. Auden, Benjamin Britten, Paul Bowles, Gypsy Rose Lee, and others. Davis discovered the manuscript for REFLECTIONS, which according to Virginia Spencer Carr in THE LONELY HUNTER: A BIOGRAPHY OF CARSON MCCULLERS, lay dormant in a dresser drawer for almost a year (page 99), and urged McCullers to let his magazine, Harper's Bazaar, publish it. The author's inscription clearly shows her gratitude to Davis for… Read More

London: John Long, Limited, [1935] & ;1937] Two Volumes, 1935. 1st Edition. Soft cover. 1st Edition. Soft cover. [NABOKOV, Vladimir] NABOKOFF-SIRIN, Vladimir. CAMERA OBSCURA. DESPAIR. Both of the John Long Nabokov Rarities. Translated from the Russian by Winifred Roy & the first translation of any of Nabokov's books into English. [Juliar D14.4] 8vo., 288pp + 16 pp ads. Original black cloth, titles to upper board & spine gilt. Small, neat mostly faded name on the front pastedown. A very good or better copy of the First English Language Edition. The very uncommon first of Long's Nabokov publications. With: DESPAIR. Translated from the Russian by the author. [Juliar A15.2]. 8vo., 288pp. + 24 pp ads. Original black cloth, titles to upper board & spine gilt. A very good or better copy of the First English Edition. The second of Long's publications of Nabokov & almost as uncommon as the first. The first substantial publication by the author in English. Both volumes together. Custom cut stiff Mylar clear… Read More

Boston: Little, Brown & Company, 1952. First Edition. Hardcover. Dust Jacket Included. First Edition. Hardcover. Signed by Author. Salinger, J.D. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE. Signed. Boston: Little Brown, 1952. A fine SIGNED copy of the March, 1952 reprint of the first edition. [The first issue was July, 1951]. 8vo., 277pp., black cloth, gilt. Salinger's remarkable first book, neatly signed in black fountain pen at the top of the title page. An excellent example of Salinger's elusive signature - The binding is fine; the dustwrapper very good or better with the $3.00 price present & nine reviews on the back panel replacing Salinger's photo after the first few early printings at his insistence. Custom clamshell case in very fine condition. The probable High Spot in Modern American Lit collecting, "The Catcher In The Rye is undoubtedly a 20th-century classic. It struck a popular note, particularly with young readers, who strongly identified with Holden Caulfield and his yearning for lost innocence.… Read More

New York: New Directions, 1947. First edition. Pink boards; very fine in dust jacket, unfaded and with no wear. One of the fabled Norman Unger copies, purchased new by Williams's bibliophilic friend, the book collector Unger, then wrapped and stored for 30 years. Cover and jacket design by Alvin Lustig. Crandell A 5.1.a.

New York: Knopf, 1927. First edition. One of fifty numbered and signed copies printed on Japan vellum. Original full cream vellum paper, gilt-stamped, top edge gilt. Slight mottling to the spine, but a bright and fine copy, in the publisher's green paper slipcase with label. Crane A16.a.i.

Zurich: Rascher & Cie.. 1919. The first German edition of Joyce's play Exiles and the first of his works to be published in translation in any language. One of 600 copies printed: Joyce was living in Zurich at the time and he paid for the publication of this book out of his own pocket. This copy is inscribed by the author: "To J.R. [sic] Watson, Jun / with grateful regards / James Joyce / 8. ix. 1919." J.S. Watson, Jr. was at the time the co-owner of the modernist literary journal The Dial, which he bought from Martyn Johnson with his friend and fellow Harvard graduate, Scofield Thayer. Watson became president of the magazine and Thayer became its editor. The "grateful regards" refers to a gift of $300 that Watson had sent Joyce earlier in the year at the urging of Thayer, who had himself sent Joyce $700. These sums bailed Joyce out of dire financial straits, allowed him to settle a court case against him, and helped him support the theater group that he had associated with in Zurich, the English… Read More

New York: The Viking Press, 1973.

NY: Various. (1958-1967). The first four books by Southern -- creator of Dr. Strangelove and screenwriter of Easy Rider -- each inscribed by him to his friend, the bandleader, composer, and musician Artie Shaw. Flash and Filigree (NY: Coward McCann, 1958; the scarce first issue) is inscribed "To Artie and Casey with love and all best wishes/ Terry S." Laid in is an autograph note signed to Artie from Terry. The Magic Christian (NY: Random House, 1960) is inscribed "To Artie and Casey with love and best wishes for much happiness. Terry." Candy (NY: Putnam, 1964 -- first thus, and first hardcover edition) is inscribed "To Artie and Case, with love and kisses (your so-called 'soul' or 'french' kiss, natch!) / Terry." Red Dirt Marijuana (NY: New American Library, 1967) is inscribed: "To Art/ with all best, Terry." The books are near fine or better in near fine or better dust jackets; each with its own, matching, custom clamshell case. Unless otherwise noted, our first editions are first printings. First… Read More

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1926. First Edition. Fine/Fine. First edition, first printing with no damage to type on pages 38, 90 and 248; in a first state dust jacket with lips unbattered. Bound in publisher's green cloth with titles in blind on the upper board, and stamped in gilt on the spine. Fine, almost appearing as new, with bright and sharp gilt lettering. Faint wear at corners and bumping to bottom corner of lower board, creating a tiny, corresponding chip to the dust jacket. A breathtaking copy, one would be hard-pressed to find one nicer.

New York: Jonathan Cape & Harrison Smith, 1929. First Edition. Near Fine/Very Good. First edition, first printing. Bound in publisher's black and white Art Deco style boards over white cloth spine lettered in black. Near Fine with toning to pages and top and bottom edges of covers. In a Very Good first issue dust jacket with Humanity Uprooted priced at $3.00 on the rear panel; toning to spine with fading to red print there, light edge wear, light soiling, and erased pencil notation to rear flap corner. A fantastic copy in the scarce first issue dust jacket.

London: Tupper and Sons, 1850. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine. THE GERM was a short-lived magazine of poetry, published in four issues January -April 1850, by William Michael Rossetti (who also edited the magazine) and other members of the Brotherhood, including his brother Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Thomas Woolner and James Collinson This copy was that of Charles Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll, (1832 - 1898) and bears two of his signatures and an ownership stamp as Dodgson. 8vo, tight diamond-patterned cloth, green half leather, raised bands, devices and titles in gilt at spine, aeg, marbelized endpapers. (10), 192, (2), 4 plates (one double-paged). Corners and edges obviously scuffed. Internals near fine. Covers absent: the first entry is the first plate (frontispiece) and "Beautiful Lady" opposite. Last entry (on page 192) "The Evil Under the Son" Signature in florid hand "C L Dodgson" on marbelized front pastedown (which suggests this was bound by Dodgson or acquired by him already bound). Ownership… Read More

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1929. First Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. First Edition. In the first issue dust jacket, with Wolfe's portrait on the rear panel and the original price of 2.50 on the front flap. Near Fine in a Very Good dust jacket. Jacket is evenly faded on the spine panel, with chipping on the front flap fold, spine ends, and tips, light edgewear, and a number of old tape reinforcements on the verso. ; All domestic orders shipped protected in a Box. .

This is a 7th printing of the 1st edition by Chilton Book Company from 1965. There were nine such printings of that 1st edition. The book is in Fine Condition. The dustjacket is in Good Condition with slight edge wear and the price clipped from the upper corner. Frank Herbert has autographed the title page. Please refer to the attached photos which show the red cloth binding, the dustjacket, the numerical printing history, the Library of Congress number, and the autograph.This very hard-to-find book will make a fine addition to the personal library of the serious collector.

London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1908. First Edition. Octavo. Inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper "Inscribed by/Winston S. Churchill/1946. Portrait frontispiece of Churchill. half-title, 226pp., [16]p. publisher's catalog at the rear, illustrated with three maps and photographic illustrations by the author and Lt. Col. Gordon Wilson. While on his journey through Africa, Churchill wrote each day. Many of his writings during this period had already been published in Strand Magazine, which did help him a bit with expenses. The present work is his continuous narrative of the lighter side of his journey which he considered an inspiration and delightful time he spent in the wild while hunting and getting to know the people of Africa. A handsome copy finely bound in full red morocco, raised bands, double black morocco spine labels gilt, all other compartments decorated in gilt, marbled endpapers, with the original covers bound in at the rear, scattered foxing to fore-edges with occasional… Read More

New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers / A Story Press Book, 1938 Presentation copy from Richard Wright to Ernest Hemingway: "To Ernest Hemingway / From / Richard Wright." Stated second edition in married original dust jacket, first published with four novellas; two more were added when the book was reprinted in 1940.
In Down by the Riverside, included in this collection, Wright transposes the Italian retreat at the Battle of Caporetto in Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms to the American South. Richard Wright was known to be a great admirer of Ernest Hemingway, whom he once named as a modernist writer whose work should be read by aspiring black authors (Scruggs, Hemingway and the Black Renaissance, 58–59).
Mild toning to margins of endpapers, light toning to page margins, spine ends gently crimped, and a light pale stain to bottom front cover, foot of spine, and just an inch to bottom back spine fold, else book in fine condition; dust jacket with professional… Read More