Modern Literature
London, HarperCollins/Flamingo, 1997.Uncorrected proof copy. Signed by the author on title-page. 8vo. Original pictorial wrappers.A near fine signed proof edition of this Booker Prize winning novel, the author's first published book.
Modern Literature
London, Bodley Head, 1968.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original blue boards. Dust-jacket, priced 28s.
The first UK edition of US author Stone's first novel, winner of both the Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship, and a William Faulkner Foundation Award for best first novel. The film was transferred to the big screen in 1970, as WUSA, starring Paul Newman.
Modern Literature
London, Heinemann, 1926.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue boards. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A collection of short stories by the author of The Well of Loneliness.
Modern Literature
London, Hammond & Hammond, 1953.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original burgundy boards. Dust-jacket, priced 10s6d.
The first UK edition, drawing on the author's own experiences on the US Navy. Morris would subsequently work for the CIA in anti-espionage work, before garnering more fame as the author of the first truly modern history of the Anglo-Zulu war.
Modern Literature
London, Cassell, 1926.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth.
The first edition of one of Hall's better known works, after The Well of Loneliness, about a waiter who becomes disgusted with his job and goes to live in the forest as a hermit.
Modern Literature
London, Heath Cranton, 1935.
First edition. Signed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A rare work in the jacket, let alone inscribed, on the subject of drug-taking. The author has inscribed the half-title, 'With all affection to my friend Clarice Sadler from Nellie Tom-Gallon'.
Modern Literature
London, Cape, 1932.
First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.
An early work by Well of Loneliness author Radclyffe Hall. The work's deeply religious theme was to prove so affecting to the author that she actually claimed to have suffered from stigmata whilst writing it.
Modern Literature
London, Sampson Low, [1938].
First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Attractive jacket artwork on this story of literal kidnapping.
Modern Literature
London, Robert Hale, 1942.
First edition, blind-stamped 'file copy' on front free endpaper. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8/6.
An industrial tale of the big corporates versus the humble worker, set against a backdrop of the paper-mills of southern England.
Modern Literature
London, Quality Press, 1939.
First edition. 8vo. Original pale blue cloth. Dust-jacket,
Pleasing jacket artwork graces this tale of town life in the Basque country on the eve of the Spanish War.
![Alternative view of [various]. My Naughtiest Story.](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/84959_2-300x400.jpg)
Modern Literature
An anthology of stories chosen by their own authors
London, Faber & Faber, 1934.
First edition. 8vo. Original purple cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3/6.
Contributors include Martin Armstrong, A.E. Coppard, Louis Golding, James Laver, H. de V. Stacpoole and Alec Waugh.
Modern Literature
London, Neville Spearman, 1956.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original blue boards. Dust-jacket, priced 15s.
The first UK edition of Donleavy's controversial novel set in Dublin, banned both in Ireland and the United States of America for perceived obscenity. The work was first published in Paris by the Olympia Press, as part of their Traveller's Companion series, normally reserved for risque erotica, much to the chagrin of Donleavy. The author ended up in long-running legal wranglings with the publisher, finally actually taking ownership of the publishing house when it came up at auction.
Modern Literature
London, Methuen, 1936.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A very good copy of this first edition by the author more well-known for public school stories for boys.
Modern Literature
London, Cassell, 1935.
First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth lettered in gilt. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A very pleasing first edition of this classic Vachell title.
Modern Literature
London, Drane's, [1924].
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 6/-.
Compelling jacket artwork graces this compilation of short stories, mostly of an Oriental bent. An uncommon imprint.
Modern Literature
London, Heinemann, 1929.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original green cloth lettered in gilt. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
Written as a sequel to the original Freckles (1904), written by the author's mother Gene Stratton-Porter. The book was the basis for the 1942 film of the same name.
Modern Literature
London, Hutchinson, 1963.
First edition. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
A very good first edition of this novel by Nigerian author Ekwensi, with possibly the most extensive "synopsis" to ever grace a dust-jacket's inner flaps.
Modern Literature
Lagos, Nigerian Printing & Publising, [1959].
First edition. 8vo. Original blue boards. Dust-jacket, priced 12/6.
A nice example of the true first edition of this depiction of the contradiction of Yoruba culture and the Christian missionaries. It was republished as part of Heinemann's influential 'African Writers Series'.
Modern Literature
London, The Queensway Press, 1937.
First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
An important work in the context of Indian English fiction, recounting the life of three generations in a family of high-caste Brahmins.
Modern Literature
London, Collins, 1935.
First edition. 8vo. Original wine red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3/6.
A recounting of the early part of the twentieth century through the filter of childhood memories, by an author more well known for his botanical writings.
Modern Literature
A Modern Allegory
London, A.B. Campbell, 1939.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
'Every Irishman, whatever his political opinions, will enjoy the unique solution of the age-old Irish Problem which provides a gentle satire on present-day world conditions.' (jacket blurb).
Modern Literature
London, Cassell, 1933.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3/6.
A yearning for 'volcanic love' sees Veronica Manners travelling to South America, in this pleasingly jacketed first edition.
Modern Literature
London, Cassell, 1932.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original black cloth lettered in red. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
An attractively jacketed edition of this work by US writer Katharine Brush, one of the most popular authors of her time, as well as one of most well-paid. 'Red headed woman! She went to New York; men looked at her, and say "Boy!"' (jacket). The book was adapted for the silver screen the same year, starring Jean Harlow as a woman who uses sex to advance her social position.
Modern Literature
A Traveller's Tale
London, Collins, 1927.
First edition. 8vo. Original brown buckram. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A "little odyssey" by one of Ireland's most popular authors.
Modern Literature
A Romantic Novel in Honour of the Passing of a Great Race
London, Jonathan Cape, 1933.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original yellow cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 5s.
The first UK edition of Hemingway's first long work, a satirical treatment of pretentious writers; here with an introduction by David Garnett.
Modern Literature
London, Jonathan Cape, 1934.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original yellow cloth. Dust-jacket, price obscured by ink.
Hemingway's third collection of stories, six of which are first appearances.
Modern Literature
A Novel of Cornwall
London, Ward Lock, 1945.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 8/6.
The book that started it all... also one of the most attractive dust-jackets from the series. Sales of the novel increased by 205% after the premiere of the 2015 television adaptation.
Modern Literature
Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1970.
First US edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced $5.95.
A very good first edition of Ghanaian author Armah's second novel, recounting the experiences of a Ghanaian man's return to Ghana after an education in the US.
Modern Literature
An Amusement
London, Secker, 1927.
First edition. 8vo. Original green boards. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
The first edition of the second book by US journalist & writer John Gunther, seemingly preceding the first US edition.
Modern Literature
New York, Norton, 1975.
First US edition. 8vo. Original black cloth. Dust-jacket, priced $6.95.
The first US edition of this important play by the Nigerian playwright, novelist and Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka. Written whilst Soyinka was in exile in England, the work is notable for its extensive use of Yoruba proverbs, with which the author was very familiar. A Netflix adaptation is due out later this year.
Modern Literature
London, Thornton Butterworth, 1925.
First edition. 8vo. Original pale sage cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Attractive dust-jacket, a love story set against the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1923.
Modern Literature
London, Heinemann, 1935.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth.
A first edition from master storyteller Graham Greene, the tale of ne'er-do-well Anthony Farrant, who has boasted, lied and cheated his way through jobs all over the world.
Modern Literature
London, Faber & Faber, 1938.
First edition. 8vo. Original brown cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 25s.
The second collection of poetry by Irish poet MacNeice, with the correct blurb to the jacket's front inside panel: 'Mr. MacNeice's position as a poet was incontestably established in 1935 by his first volume of Poems. He is one of the few poets to-day none of whose poems could have been written by anyone else. His second volume has been awaited for some time: now that it has arrived, it needs no advertisement.'
Modern Literature
London, J. & R. Maxwell, [1887].
First edition. 8vo. Original olive cloth with orange lettering and ruled in blind.
An uncommon first edition; the author lost her sight at the age of seven, but went on to become a prolific writer for magazines and author of several novels.
Modern Literature
and other stories
London, Macmillan, 1948.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8s6d.
'Short stories reflecting a wide field of human emotion' (jacket), by Irish playwright, novelist and short story writer MacMahon.
Modern Literature
Translated... by Felix W. Crosse.
London, Alfred A. Knopf, 1928.
First edition in English. 8vo. Original green cloth with white title label to spine. Dust-jacket.
The first English language edition of Brod's first major novel. The translation of the title has been criticised by many, as the eponymous protagonist does not achieve redemption on his path to God. Uncommon.
Modern Literature
Ten lectures on social subjects
London, Swarthmore Press, 1919.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth with white spine label. Dust-jacket, priced 6/-.
An excellent first edition of this series of essays by the Victorian author, playwright and illustrator Laurence Housman, author of A Farm in Fairyland (1894) and illustrator of his sister's novella The Were-Wolf (1896). Scarce in jacket.
Modern Literature
London, Robert Hale, [c.1950s].
First UK edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.
"Margo Haynes is lovely and lovable but her love is dangerous" (jacket blurb).
Modern Literature
London, Quality Press, 1938.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 2/6.
Nautically themed tales of an oft humorous bent, and of some criminous interest too apparently, as listed in Hubin.
Modern Literature
Portrait of an Immigrant
London, Cape, 1937.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
A marvellously written fictionalised account of the author's wife's family's story of migration from Russia to East London, by the author of Jew Boy.
Modern Literature
Shaw-Cowley (E., pseud. Elsie Mary Boulton) Prisoners of State
London & New York, John Lane, 1921.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth blocked in red. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Attractive dust-jacket artwork on this intriguing novel...
Modern Literature
London, Grant Richards, 1925.
First edition. 8vo. Original yellow cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
An intriguingly Hardy-esque novel by John Cowper Powys, preceding his breakthrough work Wolf Solent.