An autobiography
New York, Modern Age Books, 1940.

First US edition, first printing. Signed & dated by the author on half-title. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.

Uncommon in the jacket, let alone signed. The author has signed 'Haru Matsui' in English and Japanese, written in hiragana (for the given name Haru) and kanji (for the surname Matsui, 松井).

Ayako Ishigaki (1903–1996) was an Issei journalist, activist, and feminist, born Tanaka Ayako in Tokyo, the daughter of a college professor; she first came to the United States in 1926, moved to New York, and married the painter Eitaro Ishigaki in 1931; she adopted the pseudonym Haru Matsui to protect her family in Japan from possible retaliation for her left-wing activism. Restless Wave is a semi-autobiographical memoir detailing Ishigaki's coming of age in a privileged Japanese family, her rebellion against strict codes of women's behaviour, her political awakening, and her immigration to the United States; her critiques of Japanese society and militarism brought negative attention from the Japanese government, while the book was widely praised in the US.

London, Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, n.d..

Later edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth with inset colour illustration. Dust-jacket.

Originally published in 1909, this work draws directly on the author's years at Peradeniya and was very popular in the Edwardian period, running to sequels.

London, Michael Joseph, 1951.

First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket.

The first edition of Wyndham's Sci-Fi classic: '"Triffid" has become part of the literary vocabulary, much as "robot" entered every-day English - through science fiction ("Robot" first appeared in Karel Capek's science fiction drama R.U.R., 1920.)... In terms of popularity, Triffids stands as one of the most successful science fiction novels of the twentieth century.' (Bleiler, Science Fiction Writers).

London, New English Library, 1975.

First edition, first impression. Signed by the author on front free endpaper. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket.

Herbert's second horror novel, which he described as making horror accessible by writing about working-class characters in recognisably ordinary England rather than remote castles or Gothic mansions.

London, Harrap, 1934.

Harrap's Shilling Library issue. 8vo. Original decorative cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 1/-.

The Harrap's Shilling Library ran from 1931 to 1935, focusing on mystery, crime and adventure novels, and represented in the words of one bibliographer "the last, cheapest cloth-bound printings of back catalog titles".

London, Sampson Low, Marston, [1930].

First edition, early issue. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.

One of the earliest works by Knight, as often with distinctive and attractively designed dust-jacket.

London, Sampson Low, Marston, [1931].

First edition, early issue. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.

The second of five novels featuring Knight's series detective Jerry Scant, a gypsy and amateur sleuth in Wales. As often with Knight's works, in distinctive and attractively designed jacket.

Tokyo, Shobido Printing Office, 1934.

8vo. Original near black, bevelled pictorial cloth. Original brown pictorial slip-case.

The first edition in English of an "attempt to visualise the unique customs of the bewitched metropolis" (Parr & WassinkLundgren), presenting Shanghai as a haven away from the raging Chinese civil war: Chinese statesmen and wealthy persons wishing not to suffer from internal turmoils took their refuge in this great town. The photographs are wide-ranging in their content, showing pedlars selling food, books, sandals and curios, the municipal fire brigade in action, policemen, customs officials, parks, shopping streets, and the racecourse.

London, Robert Holden, 1927.

First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.

Australian writer Knowles' best work appears in the three books of stories and sketches, The Street of Queer Houses and Other Tales (1925), Here and Otherwhere (1926) and Silver Nutmegs (1927), notable for their humour and satire. Knowles's work is in the tradition of Richard Garnett and has affinities with the work of Lord Dunsany and Donald Corley, but he affects a more naive and relaxed style than any of these. Uncommon in the jacket.

or The Feminine Principle in Evolution. Essays of Illumination
London, Ernest Bell, 1906.

First edition, first impression. Inscribed with the author's compliments to front free endpaper. 8vo. Original cloth.

Swiney (1847-1922) was a significant figure in both British feminism and theosophy, founding the Cheltenham Women's Suffrage Society in 1896 and lecturing widely on women's education and esoteric subjects. Her writing blended theosophy with feminist advocacy and eugenicist ideas typical of spiritual feminists of the period. In 1909 she established The League of Isis, which promoted sex education for women and veneration of the Divine Mother - a subject addressed in this volume. A scarce work from an important figure in British esoteric and suffrage movements.

London, Hurst & Blackett, 1956.

First edition, first impression. Signed by the author on title-page. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket.

MacArthur settled in Rhodesia in 1947, engaging in tree-farming as well as writing, and in all wrote over 40 books between 1945 and 1981 - travel books, adventure stories for boys and murder stories, some under the pseudonym David Wilson. Simba Bwana draws on his intimate knowledge of East and Central Africa, gained through numerous safaris following his settlement in Rhodesia, and on his earlier wartime travel writing.

n.p., , Sunday 13th November 1921.

8vo. Original pictorial wrappers sewn at top edge with tricolour ribbon.

A Remembrance Day/Armistice Day souvenir - the date of Sunday 13th November 1921 falls precisely on the third anniversary of the Armistice, and the tricolour ribbon binding identifies the publication as a memorial in the Allied commemorative tradition; the "Honor Rolls" format records union members who served and/or fell in the Great War.