Jul-22

Showing all 15 results

£395



New York, Mcdowell-Obolensky, 1959.

First US edition, second issue (with reviews to rear panel). 8vo. Original grey boards. Dust-jacket, priced $3.95.

One of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World'. Achebe's first book, and the first part of the author's 'African Trilogy', Things Fall Apart is the compelling story of one man's battle to protect his community against the forces of change. Scarce.

19th century literature

Benson (E.F.) The Rubicon

£395



London, Methuen, 1894.

First edition, first printing. 2 vols. 8vo. Original burgundy cloth lettered in gilt.

The true first edition of the second work by Mapp & Lucia creator E.F. Benson. We can trace no copies of the first edition at auction or in commerce, and only one copy clearly recorded in WorldCat (the British Library only has the Tauchnitz edition published the same year). This is the first printing, in two volumes and with the advertisements dated 'October 1893' and only listing Benson's first book, Dodo. Unfortunately, the work was not well received or commercially successful, despite publisher Methuen's best efforts, which included reprinting the work in one volume with spurious statements suggesting the books was so popular it had been through multiple impressions to meet demand... The story concerns Eva Grampton, who accepts a marriage proposal from the young aesthete Lord Hayes. When Eva meets the handsome Reggie, however, she begins to regret her decision...

£175


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.

£395


and Through the Looking-Glass and what Alice found there
London, Macmillan, 1911.

8vo. Original red cloth lettered and stamped in gilt.

A pleasing copy of Alice's adventures, including sixteen colour plates by Tenniel.

£295



London, Skeffington, [1930].

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

Crime fiction by an intriguing author: born in Russia with Yiddish as his first language, Cournos moved to London in 1912 where he engaged in anti-communist activism, notably via his pamphlet London under the Bolsheviks: A Londoner's Dream on Returning from Petrograd (1919); he also enjoyed some success as an Imagist poet, but garnered more renown for his novels and short stories under the Courtney pseudonym - today he is perhaps best known for his failed relationship with Dorothy L. Sayers, an unhappy experience recounted by both authors (Strong Poison by Sayers (1930) and The Devil Is an English Gentleman by Cournos himself in (1932)).

£150

London, Blackie, 1886. First edition. 8vo. Original pictorial cloth. Henty's tale of the Luddite Riots.

£150


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.

£75


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.

£150



London, Macdonald, 1959.

First UK edition. 8vo. Original grey cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 10/6.

A very nice first UK edition of this key work in the Zorro canon.

£195


House Agent
London, Mills & Boon, 1935.

First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth blocked in black. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.

From a publishing POV at the minimum, Evans is an interesting author, one of a select few that canny publishers Mills & Boon convinced to adopt at least one pen-name to increase their "representability" via libraries such as Boots and W.H. Smith, who would normally only represent no more than two books by any author a year. Evans wrote over 120 novels for Mills & Boon, at a fairly high standard, under her own name and her "nom de guerres".

£95



London, Collins Crime Club, 1945.

First UK edition. 8vo. Original dark orange cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.

A very good UK first edition of this Asey Mayo novel.

£75


Courier of the Czar
London, Sampson Low, Marston, n.d..

8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 5/-.

Early jacketed edition.

£75


The Final Adventure of the Swiss Family Robinson
London, Sampson Low, Marston, n.d..

8vo. Original red pictorial cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.

A decent early jacketed edition of this extension to the adventures of the Swiss Family Robinson.

£95



London, Columbine, [1939].

First edition. 8vo. Original red boards. Dust-jacket, overlaid price of 5/- on spine and lower panel.

Aviation thriller about a missing bomber; the jacket extolls the author's virtues enthusiastically, but nevertheless this is the only title we can locate by this author.

£120



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.