Modern Literature
London, Chapman and Hall Ltd., 1932.
First edition. 8vo. Original near black cloth lettered in orange to spine.
Uncommon first edition, especially in the jacket, of this British Empire tale.
Modern Literature
London, Faber & Faber, 1954.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 12s.6d
The tale of a small boy who wanders into the heart of a fantastical African forest, the dwelling place of innumerable wild, grotesque and terrifying beings. A key work of modern African literature, a companion-piece to Tutuola's first book The Palm-Wine Drinkard (1952).
Modern Literature
London, Faber & Faber, 1955.
First edition. 8vo. Original brown cloth, spine gilt. Dust-jacket, priced 12s6.
A departure from the Nigerian author's previously preferred first person narrative, Tutuola's Simbi and the Satyr of the Dark Jungle was his third book, an imaginative tale with a theme of slavery that runs through it. The main gift inscription here is interesting, written by one 'David', asking "Does this represent the beginning of a West African literature?".
Modern Literature
and his dead Palm-Wine Tapster in the Deads' Town
London, Faber & Faber, 1952.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 10s6d.
"This astonishing story…was written in English by a West African, and is in part the product of African folk-lore, stimulated by European inventions." (jacket).
A very good copy of this debut novel by Nigerian author Amos Tutuola, the first African novel published in English outside of Africa, praised by Dylan Thomas as "brief, thronged, grisly and bewitching". Tutuola's works, often drawing upon Yoruba traditions & folklore, were well received in the UK & US (far more than they were originally in his home country), drawing international acclaim and helping open up African writing to a wider audience.
Given the recent prices achieved by this and other similar works by African authors at auction it seems probable that we are experiencing something of a, possibly overdue, reappraisal & resurgence of interest in these writers.
The jacket is designed by the well-known artist & illustrator Barnett Freedman.
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, 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, Heinemann, 1935.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original black cloth, lettered in gilt. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6. With publisher's review slip loosely inserted.
A poetic novel from the pen of influential US poet, writer and educationalist Van Doren.
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
New York, Farrar and Rinehart, 1934.
First US edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced $2.50.
First US edition of Waugh's satirical classic.
Modern Literature
London, Chapman & Hall, 1932.
First edition, trade issue. 8vo. Original patterned cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Waugh's famous satirical novel set in the fictional African island nation of Azania. The young emperor, Seth, educated in England, endeavors to modernise his kingdom with the assistance of his English friend, Basil Seal.
Modern Literature
New York, Farrar and Rinehart Inc., 1934.
First US edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced $2.50 (scored through).
The first US edition of Waugh's famous satirical novel set in the fictional African island nation of Azania. The young emperor, Seth, educated in England, endeavors to modernise his kingdom with the assistance of his English friend, Basil Seal.
Modern Literature
the Mexican object-lesson
London, The Catholic Book Club, 1940.
First Edition thus, in dust jacket. 8vo.
Waugh's critique of the socialist and anti-clerical leanings of the Mexican government, reflecting his own conservative and Roman Catholic beliefs.
Modern Literature
Boston, Little, Brown & Company, 1938.
First US edition. 8vo. Original yellow cloth lettered in red. Dust-jacket, neatly price-clipped.
Attractive jacket artwork on this US edition of one of Waugh's most famous works, in which the protagonist, William Boot, is loosely based on the journalist Bill Deedes, with whom Waugh had worked alongside in Abyssinia.
Modern Literature
New York, Farrar & Rinehart, 1932.
Second US edition. 8vo. Original yellow cloth. Dust-jacket, priced $2.50.
Originally published in England under the title Remote People.
Modern Literature
London, Longmans, Green and Co., 1936.
Waugh's intriguing mix of travel writing, political commentary, and journalistic observation that offers a snapshot of the Abyssinia Crisis of the 1930s. The worked courted some controversy upon publication, with some, including author Rose Macaulay, considering it too supportive of the Italian Fascists.
Modern Literature
London, Hutchinson, [1926].
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
An attractively jacketed example of this twenties first edition.
Modern Literature
London & New York, Harper, 1900.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth blocked in gilt.
A decent H.G. Wells first edition. Young, impoverished and ambitious, science student Mr Lewisham is locked in a struggle to further himself through academic achievement.
Modern Literature
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1924.
First edition. 8vo. Original green boards. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 2/6 with contemporary bookseller's price sticker '1/-' to upper panel.
The novel's title references H.G. Wells' The Time Machine, where Morlocks live underground as the world's workers. In Welsh's book, the Morlocks symbolise covert groups in trade unions aiming to incite revolution, leading to tragic consequences during a major miners' strike. Notably, the author was a miner, trade unionist, and served twenty years as an MP for the Scottish Labour Party.
Modern Literature
First edition, Huchinson, [1943]. A rare collection of short stories, particularly scarce in the dust-jacket.
Modern Literature
Wheatley (Dennis) Mediterranean Nights – with signed photograph
First edition, [1942]. A collection of Wheatley's short stories, rare in the dust-jacket. Included with this is a signed photograph of the German singer & actress Renate Müller (1906-1937), who was the inspiration for the Wheatley short story 'Espionage'. A tragic life cut short on the back of a blossoming career, either being murdered by the Gestapo or intimidated by them sufficiently that she seemingly took her own life. The story and a short discussion of the incident involved are included in this collection.
Modern Literature
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1959.
First edition. 8vo. Original red boards. Dust-jacket, priced 12/6.
Some of Wodehouse's most famous characters congregate in this later Wodehouse first edition.
Modern Literature
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1931.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth blocked in black. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 3/6.
A difficult Wodehouse first edition to find in good condition, also highly sought after for the W. Heath Robinson jacket artwork, which in this case is very good, the whole copy presenting very well.
Modern Literature
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1936.
First edition. 8vo. Original red boards. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
Wodehouse leverages his transatlantic success and lifestyle with this tale of a bratty Hollywood child star and an English aristocrat exchange souls at the dentist... Uncommon in such attractive condition.
Modern Literature
London, Faber & Faber, 1932.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth lettered in gilt to spine. Second issue dust-jacket.
An unusually good example of the second issue jacket on this collection of essays by Wodehouse, a variant typographic version distinct from the Rex Whistler first issue.
Modern Literature
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1946.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket.
The misadventures of Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge, an irrepressible dreamer and eternal optimist. In a stroke of unlikely fortune, Ukridge inherits a sizeable sum of money, leaving him with more pounds than sense.
Modern Literature
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1933.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth blocked in black. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
A great example of the first edition of the third collection of stories featuring Mr. Mulliner, the genial Scheherazade of the Anglers' Rest, a bucolic English pub.
Modern Literature
London, A. & C. Black, 1915.
First edition thus. 8vo. Original blue pictorial cloth.
An excellent example of this early Psmith title. The text originally appeared as The Prince and Betty in 1912. This is the first appearance of the book with the title Psmith Journalist.
Modern Literature
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1934. First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, colonial issue. One of the key '30s Jeeves titles, in a great, bright example of the original Abbey jacket, with "Herbert Jenkins' Colonial Library" to spine - extremely uncommon!
Modern Literature
London, A. & C. Black, 1903.
First edition, first issue (with unclosed quotation marks on title-page). 8vo. Advertisements. Original pictorial red cloth.
P.G. Wodehouse's rare third book, a collection of stories and essays on the subject of British public school life, featuring the fictional public school St. Austin's.
Modern Literature
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1934. First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, colonial issue, with original wrap-around. One of the key '30s Jeeves titles, in a great, bright example of the original Abbey jacket, with "Herbert Jenkins' Colonial Library" to spine and the original belly-band, declaring "For the first time the incomparable Jeeves in a long complete novel" - extremely uncommon!
Modern Literature
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1922.
First edition. 8vo. Original green pictorial cloth. Dust-jacket, first issue.
A cracking example of this collection of golfing stories. Wodehouse's brilliant but human brand of humour is perfectly suited to these stories of love, rivalry, revenge, and fulfillment on the links.
Modern Literature
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1935.
First edition. 8vo. Original dark orange cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
A fabulous first edition. Monty Bodkin's wooing of Gertrude Butterwick on the R.M.S. Atlantic is not progressing as it should. And the cause of all the trouble is Miss Lotus Blossum, the brightest star in Hollywood's firmament...
Modern Literature
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1951.
First edition in book form. 8vo. Original orange cloth blocked in black. Dust-jacket,
Originally serialised in Collier's magazine from 24 June to 22 July 1950, under the title Phipps to the Rescue, this romantic comedy involving butlers, safecracking, movie moguls and film stars is largely set in Hollywood.
Modern Literature
Wolfe (Tom) The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine Flake Streamlined-Baby
London, Jonathan Cape, 1966.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original pink boards. Dust-jacket, priced 30s.
The first UK edition of US journalist & author Tom Wolfe's collected essays, including articles on the counter-culture in America. This copy has a printed note from the publishers to the front free endpaper, apologising to the artist Bridget Riley for not obtaining her permission to base the jacket design on one of her artworks.
Modern Literature
London, Hogarth Press, 1929.
First edition. 8vo. Original brown cloth. Dust-jacket.
A great example of the first edition of Woolf's literary essay, famous for its insightful look at gender inequality, particularly in the arts. It calls for better conditions and opportunities for women writers.
Modern Literature
Worthington (Frank) The Witch Doctor and other Rhodesian Stories
London, The Field Press, [1925].
First UK edition. Tall 8vo. Original red cloth lettered in black. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 7/6.
Worthington first arrived in Africa as the personal secretary of Thorne Coryndon, the representative of the British South Africa Company, who was sent there to prepare for the British takeover of the Lozi kingdom, and when Coryndon was named Administrator of Northwest Rhodesia, Worthington continued to assist him and went on to become the first Secretary for Native Affairs there. This is a mix of anecdotes, ethnographical contributions and memoirs about the Central African days of yore. Very rare in the dust-jacket, which like the boards is titled, 'Chiromo the Witch Doctor'.