Literary criticism & biography
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FORSTER, E. M. Marianne Thornton 1797-1887. A Domestic Biography.London : 1956
First edition, first impression. Learn More£85.00Stock Code: 104287
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BOSWELL, James. The Life of Samuel Johnson.London : 1901
First Railton edition, one of the most attractive illustrated editions of Boswell's great book; this set extra illustrated and handsomely bound by Riviere and Son, with the additional volume of Johnsoniana, or Supplement to Boswell (1836). Learn More£1,950.00Stock Code: 12631
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WELTY, Eudora. Place in Fiction.1956
First Edition, Offprinted. One of about 50 copies. With the author's signed presentation inscription, "For Bobbie Gafford who sat through it in Birmingham Eudora Welty". The recipient was Charlotte Gafford the Professor of Writing Studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her nickname "Bobbie" seems universally to have been used. Place in... Learn More£1,000.00Stock Code: 32546
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MOORE, Marianne. Predilections.1956
First edition, first impression. Learn More£100.00Stock Code: 34667
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BURKE, Thomas (ed.) The Ecstasies of Thomas de Quincey.London : 1928
First edition, first impression. Learn More£100.00Stock Code: 46435
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HAPGOOD, Hutchins. A Victorian in the Modern World.New York : 1939
First edition, first printing. Learn More£175.00Stock Code: 47039
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GORDON, Max; with Lewis Funke. Presents.New York : 1963
First edition, first printing, of the autobiography of the successful theatre and film producer. Inscribed by the author on two stickers: one to the verso of the half-title, "To Maurice Chevalier who understands the business of acting and the show business. There are few like you. Best always, Max Gordon"; and to the contents page, "To Maurice Chevalier... Learn More£125.00Stock Code: 49985
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CONRAD, Joseph - MÉGROZ, R. L. Joseph Conrad's Mind and Method.1931
First edition, first impression. Learn More£50.00Stock Code: 50706
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GINSBERG, Allen. Best Minds. A Tribute to Allen Ginsberg.New York : 1986
First edition, first impression. One of 500 specially-bound contributor's copies out of a limited edition of 726 copies. From the library of Alan Ansen. Learn More£120.00Stock Code: 51415
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KOESTLER, Arthur. Janus.London : 1978
First edition, first impression. Presentation copy inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, " To Tony, hopefully, from Arthur". Koestler had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in early 1976, the effects of which are evident here. Learn More£120.00Stock Code: 61022
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ARNOLD, Matthew Essays in Criticism.London and Cambridge : 1865
First edition, first issue, presentation copy inscribed "From the Author" in the hand of the publisher on the half-title. This is the first of Arnold's two influential Essays in Criticism, published by Arnold as Oxford Professor of Poetry. The second was published in 1888. The subjects in this work include Heinrich Heine, Pagan and Mediaeval Religious... Learn More£425.00Stock Code: 115429
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JONES, Kelvin I. The Sherlock Holmes Murder File.New York : 1985
First edition, first printing. This uncommon work details the deaths found in the Holmes canon in a "scholarly compendium". It is listed on WorldCat in only seven institutions worldwide, all in the US. Learn More£50.00Stock Code: 117782
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BEATON, Cecil. Diaries.London : 1961
First edition, first impression, presentation copy from the author, inscribed to Arabella and Mark Boxer, dated June 1961. Mark Boxer was a profile artist, cartoonist and magazine editor, becoming founding editor of the Sunday Times colour supplement and later being appointed editor of Tatler in 1983. Lady Arabella Boxer is a successful cookery writer.... Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 121526
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AYER, A. J. Part of My Life.London : 1977
First edition, first impression, of Ayer's autobiography; presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Caroline Anne Tuell, with my best wishes from Freddie Ayer. Bournemouth, October 13 1977". Anthony Smith's review for The Observer of A. J. Ayer: A Life in Philosophy by Ben Rogers is laid in to the front (20 June 1999).... Learn More£325.00Stock Code: 117409
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GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ, Gabriel. Vivir para contarla.Mexico : October 2002
First Mexican edition, first printing, a lovely presentation copy of García Márquez's first (and the only completed) volume of autobiography, inscribed to his close friend the writer and actress María Luisa Elío Bernal (1926-2009), who was the dedicatee of Cien Años de Soledad. The inscription, on the dedication page, reads, "Por María Luisa otra... Learn More£1,500.00Stock Code: 128476
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![[Review of Frankenstein in] The Quartely Review. October 1817, & May 1818.](https://d3dzzbbvj9im7s.cloudfront.net/media/catalog/product/cache/ae0834d12b7cf129fc73bcc000ea526a/1/3/132158.jpg)
SHELLEY, Mary - CROKER, John Wilson, et al. [Review of Frankenstein in] The Quartely Review. October 1817, & May 1818.London : 1818
First edition of this notoriously scathing review of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, appearing in this volume of The Quarterly Review and penned by John Wilson Croker (1780-1857), a serial foe to all young Romantics and Jacobins, who only a few month later savaged, no less notoriously, Keats's Endymion, and would go on to do the same for a budding Tennyson.... Learn More£2,000.00Stock Code: 132158
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BECKETT, Samuel - HAYMAN, David. Ulysses: The Mechanics of Meaning.Englewood Cliffs, NJ : 1970
First edition, first impression. Inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "For Sam Beckett, from whose first letter to me I quote: 'in Joyce the form of judgement more and more devoured its gist and the saying of all the saying of anything, in a way more consistent with Bruno's identification of contraries than with the intellectualism of... Learn More£1,750.00Stock Code: 75895
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FORSTER, E. M. The Development of English Prose Between 1918 and 1939Glasgow : 1945
First edition, inscribed by Forster on the half title: "Monroe Wheeler, with E. M. Forster's best wishes. May 1946." Forster has made one correction to the text (page 10); laid in is part of the original stamped envelope hand-addressed by Forster to Wheeler at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Wheeler (1899-1988) became the inaugural Director... Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 128015
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FLEMING, Ian. Address Given at the Memorial Service for Ian Fleming. St Bartholomew the Great.Westerham : 1964
First edition, wrappered issue. The South African poet and novelist William Plomer had been publisher's reader for Jonathan Cape from 1937. He was instrumental in the publication of Fleming's work and the dedicatee of Goldfinger. A limited hardcover issue was also produced. Learn More£400.00Stock Code: 118708
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![(Nihon Kokon Meika Zukai.) Short Biographies of Emineni [sic] Japanese in Ancient and Modern Times.](https://d3dzzbbvj9im7s.cloudfront.net/media/catalog/product/cache/ae0834d12b7cf129fc73bcc000ea526a/1/3/136267.jpg)
MIKI, Teicki [Teiichi]; TAKAHASHI, Goro; KONISHI, Toyonosuke (ed.). (Nihon Kokon Meika Zukai.) Short Biographies of Emineni [sic] Japanese in Ancient and Modern Times.Tokyo : Meiji 20 [1887]
First edition, volume 1, of the biographical instalment of a trilingual publication project celebrating the beautiful land and remarkable people of Japan. The present edition is in English, with a colophon in Japanese.
The editor planned on publishing two works of ten volumes each, in a style similar to each other, each containing ten illustrations.... Learn More£1,750.00Stock Code: 136267
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CHURCHILL, Winston S. - CHURCHILL, Randolph S., & Martin Gilbert. Winston S. Churchill.London : 1966-88
First editions, first impressions, in handsome Bayntun-Riviere bindings. This set was collected by and bound for Alan Keith McMillan, with his armorial bookplate to each front pastedown. Over 22 years, McMillan purchased each volume new and had them uniformly bound by Bayntun-Riviere, neatly recording the purchase price, binding cost, and his acquisition... Learn More£15,000.00Stock Code: 137897
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BAILLET, Adrien. Auteurs deguisez sous des noms étrangers;Paris : 1690
First edition of the first work in French devoted to pseudonyms. "Unlike Latin works on pseudonyms of the period, Baillet does not simply unmask authors who have written under assumed names; instead he offers a history of the practices, civil and ecclesiastical, of naming and re-naming, as well as a reflection on and a limited justification for the... Learn More£400.00Stock Code: 128678
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MARSH, Edward. Edward Marsh's Little Book.Eton : 1990
First edition, limited issue, number 417 of 626 copies (26 were deluxe signed copies). This is the first printing, reproducing the original in facsimile, of the notebook presented in 1911 by Lady Diana Cooper to Sir Edward Marsh (1872-1953), who was Winston Churchill's secretary and a great literary impresario in his own right. Marsh determined "to... Learn More£250.00Stock Code: 139388
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BRADBURY, Ray (intro.); SKEETERS, Paul W. Sidney H. Sime, Master of Fantasy.Pasadena, CA : 1978
First edition, number 73 of 200 copies signed by Bradbury and Skeeters, additionally number 16 of 50 copies with a copy of Arthur Machen's drawing for Sime's "The Hill of Dreams" loosely inserted, and a dust jacket reproducing "A Beast" by Sime, both numbered in manuscript.
This is the definitive work on the artist noted for illustrating the... Learn More£300.00Stock Code: 139783
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RUNCIMAN, Steven. Medieval History and the Romantic Imagination.Oxford : [1963]
Scarce original offprint inscribed by the author "with best wishes SR" to the front free endpaper. This copy is from the library of John Julius Cooper, 2nd viscount Norwich (1929-2018) a hugely prolific popular historian and television presenter. Runciman and Norwich led very similar careers: both educated at Eton, both dabbling in the Foreign Service,... Learn More£300.00Stock Code: 139947
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BEATTIE, James - FORBES, Sir William. An Account of the Life and Writings of James Beattie, LL.D.Edinburgh : 1806
First edition of Forbes's principal work, an excellent association copy, inscribed on the front free endpaper to the author's son, "William Forbes Esqr. from the author"; together with a small group of related contemporary autograph material laid in which reflects the strong ties between the Forbes and Beattie families.
Sir William Forbes, 6th... Learn More£2,500.00Stock Code: 118450
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GRAVES, Robert. Lars Porsena.London : [1927]
First edition, first impression of this satirical treatise on the decline of swearing in the English language, including a defence of James Joyce's Ulysses from the charge of obscenity. Learn More£125.00Stock Code: 140732
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JAMES, W. P. Romantic Professions.London : 1894
First edition, first impression of this collection of essays, including the titular 'Romantic Professions', 'The Nemesis of Sentimentalism, 'Romance and Youth', and 'On the Naming of Novels'. Learn More£75.00Stock Code: 142754
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GRAVES, Robert. Oxford Addresses on Poetry.London : 1962
First edition, first impression. This book gathers the three annual lectures Graves gave in his first year as Professor of Poetry at Oxford University, as well as another three lectures given to University societies. Learn More£65.00Stock Code: 142778
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STRACHEY, Lytton. Landmarks in French Literature.London : 1923
First edition thus (second overall), first impression, presentation copy inscribed on the front free endpaper "To Dadie from Lytton", and with the recipient's pictorial book plate to the front pastedown, and with a couple of minor corrections in ink by either one of them.
George Humphrey Wolferstan "Dadie" Rylands (1902-1999), became one of Leonard... Learn More£975.00Stock Code: 143674
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WILDE, Oscar, & James Abbott McNeill Whistler. Wilde v Whistler,London : 1906
First edition, first impression, one of 400 trade issue copies; a further 100 demy octavo copies were also issued.
Despite beginning as friends, the relationship between Wilde and Whistler descended into a bitter dispute as each sought to assert himself as spokesman for the aesthetic movement. Following the accusations of plagiarism,... Learn More£375.00Stock Code: 144070
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ERASMUS, Desiderius - KNIGHT, Samuel. The Life of Erasmus.Cambridge : 1726
First edition of Knight's biography of the Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus, who first visited England in 1498, later spending a number of years Cambridge. This copy with the frontispiece and plates listed in the list of cuts, with the additional plates as called for in Lowndes. Samuel Knight was an English clergyman and antiquary, he served as chaplain... Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 117410
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LOWELL, Amy. Poetry and Poets.Boston : 1930
First edition, first printing. A collection of essays on contemporary and historical poets published posthumously, selected from an extensive portfolio of unpublished work found upon her death in 1925. Learn More£150.00Stock Code: 117242
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LEWIS, Wyndham. Blasting and Bombarding.London : 1937
First edition, first impression, first issue (in stiff boards). Blasting and Bombarding was the first of two autobiographical books written by Lewis (followed by Rude Assignment, 1950), and covers the period from 1914 to 1926, tracking Lewis's progress through the First World War and the literary and artistic upheavals of Modernism. Learn More£300.00Stock Code: 114803
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BRITTAIN, Vera. Testament of Youth.London : 1933
First edition, first impression, of this powerful feminist classic; notably rare in the dust jacket, especially so in such nice unrestored condition this is the first we have handled. Lengel notes that this was "one of the most important pieces of literature to emerge from the war".
Brittain's memoir was an instant best-seller. Published on... Learn More£5,000.00Stock Code: 121385
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CLINTON, Bill. My Life.New York : 2004
First edition, first printing, presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, "To my friend Judy Collins with thanks - Bill Clinton", additionally inscribed by Collins, with a heart, on the title page, together with a typed letter signed by Clinton. The letter reads: "Dear Judy: Happy birthday! I hope this year will be full of happiness,... Learn More£2,500.00Stock Code: 122796
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[BREEN, Walter, pseud.] EGLINTON, J. Z. Greek Love.New York : 1965
First edition, second printing, of this controversial historical study, "the only comprehensive work in any language, to my knowledge, that unequivocally espouses the right of an older male to have social-sexual relations with a young boy" (Dr Albert Ellis's postscript). This copy has the ownership inscription of gay publisher Winston Leyland (b.1940),... Learn More£200.00Stock Code: 122977
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WOOLF, Virginia. Memories of a Working Women's Guild. Offprint from.1930
First printing of this essay, reprinted (revised) as the introduction to Life as We Have Known It, Margaret Llewelyn Davies (ed), Hogarth Press 1931; collected in The Captain's Death Bed, 1950; Selections from Her Essays, 1966; Collected Essays, Vol. 4, 1967. Woolf had an active interest in the Labour Party and Co-operative Movement and regularly held... Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 46212
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HUME, David - RITCHIE, Thomas Edward. An Account of the Life and Writings of David Hume, Esq.London : 1807
First edition of the first book-length biography of Hume. Ritchie was critical of Hume's achievements as a metaphysician and as a moralist, with his works suggesting that Ritchie himself was a disciple of Thomas Reid, whose philosophy was antithetical to Hume's. Ritchie is also dismissive of Hume's essays, criticising their conciseness. However, Hume's... Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 124769
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![Preface [to Three Plays by Brieux].](https://d3dzzbbvj9im7s.cloudfront.net/media/catalog/product/cache/ae0834d12b7cf129fc73bcc000ea526a/7/3/73705.jpg)
SHAW, George Bernard. Preface [to Three Plays by Brieux].[London : 1910]
Page proofs, first state, hand-corrected by Shaw. The rare first state page proofs of Shaw's Preface to Three Plays by Brieux, which was published in 1911 by A. C. Fifield. Laurence located only 8 copies and notes "Shaw used copies of this proof state (and of the revised proof which followed) for purposes of translation and copyright deposit." It appears... Learn More£1,560.00Stock Code: 73705
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JORDEN-SMITH, Paul. On Strange Altars.New York : 1924
First edition, first impression. An idiosyncratic anthology of critical and personal responses to a range of writers, by the man (known pseudonymously as Pavel Jerdanowich) who founded the hoax art movement, Disumbrationism. Learn More£150.00Stock Code: 77098
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GORDIMER, Nadine. Themes and Attitudes in Modern African Writing.[Ann Arbor, MI] : 1970
An offprint from the Michigan Quarterly Review, Vol. IX, No. 4, Fall, 1970. Learn More£225.00Stock Code: 77452
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MURRY, John Middleton. The Wanderer.The Old Rectory, Larling, near Norwich : December 1933 - 1934
First editions, first impressions of all 12 published numbers (the final volume contains two numbers) of The Wanderer, a literary magazine published privately by John Middleton Murray. Learn More£475.00Stock Code: 79254
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THOREAU, Henry David. Letters to Various Persons.Boston : 1865
First edition in the binding variant A, described in BAL as presumably the earliest of a number of styles, and cloth type Z. This volume compiles a large number of letters written by Thoreau to correspondents such as his wife, his sister, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, along with nine poems. An exceptional copy, Thoreau's books are rarely found in such beautiful... Learn More£1,500.00Stock Code: 79534
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DUNCAN, Isadora. My Life.New York : 1927
First edition, limited issue, number 211 of 650 publisher's presentation copies, not for public sale. This copy bears the bookseller's ticket of the renowned Kamin Dance Bookshop and Gallery, New York, owned by the publisher Martin Kamin, to the front pastedown, giving the copy a lovely association to both the Parisian and American dance and literature... Learn More£625.00Stock Code: 81051
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SENNETT, Mack, & Cameron Shipp. King of Comedy.Garden City, NY : 1954
First edition, first printing. Presentation copy signed by Sennett and inscribed by Shipp on the front free endpaper, "For Wally and Joan Meier, keep laughing! Mack Sennett, Cameron Shipp". Mack Sennett (1880-1960) was a Canadian-American actor and director, an Academy Award winner and the innovator of slapstick comedy in Hollywood. Learn More£650.00Stock Code: 81753
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LEAVIS, F. R. - BEWLEY, Marius. The Complex Fate.London : 1952
First edition, first impression of Bewley's study of classic and modern American literature, taking its title from Henry James's words, "It's a complex fate, being an American, and one of the responsibilities it entails is fighting against a superstitious valuation of Europe". This copy is inscribed on the front free endpaper by the monolithic British... Learn More£275.00Stock Code: 81883
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WOOLF, Virginia (contrib.); MAITLAND, Frederic William. The Life and Letters of Leslie Stephen.London : 1906 [1910]
First edition. The book contains Virginia Woolf's first appearance in a book at pp. 474-6, chapter XI, "The Sunset". Learn More£425.00Stock Code: 84698
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ROLFE, Frederick, Baron Corvo. Without Prejudice.[London] : 1963
First edition, first impression. The first publication of this collection of letters from Rolfe to his publisher, John Lane. Published privately as a gift for friends and family by Allen Lane, John's nephew and the founder of Penguin Books. Learn More£75.00Stock Code: 84788
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YEATS, W. B. - MASEFIELD, John. Some Memories of W. B. Yeats.Dublin : 1940
First edition and limited edition, number 13 of 370 copies. "A crucial event of these early years was Masefield's meeting with W. B. Yeats in 1900, and through him with J. M. Synge in 1903. With Yeats he found literary companionship and an entry into the literary world. Soon after, in 1901, he became a full-time writer" (ODNB). Learn More£325.00Stock Code: 84853
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MELLON, Paul, & John Baskett. Reflections in a Silver Spoon.New York : 1992
First edition, first printing. Presentation copy inscribed by the author on the title page, "To Dr. Joel Guiterman - with all best wishes from Paul Mellon". Learn More£575.00Stock Code: 85945
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GRASS, Günter. Peeling the Onion.New York : 2007
First English language edition, first impression. Presentation copy inscribed by the author on the title page, "For Norman Mailer, with many thanks, Günter Grass". Grass and Mailer appeared together at "The 20th Century on Trial", an event in 2007 in which they were both interviewed on stage by Andrew O'Hagan. Peeling the Onion is a biography of Grass's... Learn More£2,250.00Stock Code: 88979
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[SAINTE-BEUVE, Charles Augustin.] La Bruyère et La Rochefoucauld,Paris : 1842
First collected edition, first impression, presentation binding. Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve published his biographical portraits anonymously and for private circulation among his circle of friends. For rather obscure reasons he had second thoughts and destroyed most copies. It is said that he did not keep a copy for himself and that his bibliographer,... Learn More£975.00Stock Code: 90713
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HODGSON, Herbert. Printer.Wakefield : 1989
First edition, first impression, one of 340 copies. Hodgson's account of his printing career. With loosely inserted gift letter dated 26 April 1998. Learn More£175.00Stock Code: 91375
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LEWIS, Wyndham. The Demon of Progress in the Arts.London : 1954
First edition, first impression of this book, in which Lewis analyses and attacks what he considers "the false innovations" in art. Learn More£45.00Stock Code: 91498
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FLECKER, J. E. Letters to Frank Savery.London : [1926]
Signed limited edition. Number 58 of 80 copies signed by James Elroy Flecker's wife Hellé, who edited this title and wrote its foreword, as well as the two illustrators, Claudia Guercio and Randolphe Schwabe, and the publisher, Cyril William Beaumont. Contained in this volume are the letters the British poet sent to his oldest friend, Frank Savery,... Learn More£250.00Stock Code: 94293
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AGATE, James. More First Nights.London : 1937
First edition, first impression of Agate's theatrical impressions. The publisher's retained copy with their stamp to the front panel of the dust jacket, the front pastedown and the title page. Learn More£65.00Stock Code: 94971
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TAYLOR, Marshall W. The Fastest Bicycle Rider in the World.Worcester : 1928
First edition, first impression, in the scarce jacket, of the autobiography of the pioneering athlete Marshall Walter "Major" Taylor, who became the world champion in 1899 in the one mile sprint. He was also the second African-American world champion in any sport, after boxer George Dixon. Though celebrated in Europe and Australia, his career was held... Learn More£1,500.00Stock Code: 95968
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FORSTER, E. M. The New Disorder.New York : 1949
First separate edition, signed limited issue, number V of 20 copies signed by both author and illustrator, from a total edition of 1,200. Forster's essay was first published in Horizon, December 1941, and largely incorporated in "Art for Art's Sake" in Harper's Magazine, August 1949. Learn More£2,250.00Stock Code: 100433
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ROLFE, Frederick, Baron Corvo; WEEKS, Baron. Frederick William Rolfe, Christchurch, and The Artist.Edinburgh : 1980
First edition, signed limited issue. Number 64 of 120 copies. Learn More£35.00Stock Code: 102679
