Literary criticism & biography
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CABELL, James Branch. Special Delivery.New York : 1933
First US trade edition, first printing of this collection of ten "witheringly luminous emotional responses of Mr. Cabell to his typical fan mail" (front flap blurb). This copy inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper: "For Leo T. Sides, Jr., this volume which I remember liking very much when I dedicated it to George Keating, but upon which... Learn More£225.00Stock Code: 94352
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(MEMOIR.) DRAWBELL, James Wedgwood. Experiment in Adoption.London : 1935
First edition, first impression. An account of the author's experience of adopting a child. The publisher's retained copy with their stamp to the front panel of the dust jacket and the front pastedown. Learn More£100.00Stock Code: 94292
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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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AARONSON, Leonard. Christ in the Synagogue.London : 1930
First edition, first impression. An account of Aaronson's conversion from Judaism. From the publisher's archive with their stamp to the half-title. Learn More£75.00Stock Code: 94173
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DAVIES, Jonathan Ceredig. Life, Travels and Reminiscences of Jonathan Ceredig Davies.Llanddewi Brefi : 1927
One of 70 copies only printed by the author at his own printing-press for private circulation. This copy is inscribed "yours sincerely, J. Ceredig Davies" on the frontispiece, and was sent to Davies's cousin the Hon. Dan W. Williams, who is mentioned (though misnamed, as Williams comments in the margin) on page 5 as part of the global diaspora of Davies's... Learn More£2,250.00Stock Code: 93335
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SAYERS, Frances Clarke. Anne Carroll Moore. A Biography.New York : 1972
First edition, first printing, of this biography of Anne Carroll Moore (1871-1961), American author, educator and advocate for children's libraries. Presentation copy inscribed to Julia Carter, the first full time children's librarian at the New York Public Library. Sayers's inscription, to the front free endpaper, is fulsome: "This book is for Julia... Learn More£600.00Stock Code: 92281
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DOUGLAS, Norman. Together.London : 1923
Signed limited edition, number 154 of 275 large paper copies signed by the author. Together is a nostalgic evocation of lost youth and the north as the author revisits his native Austria. Learn More£250.00Stock Code: 92115
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HENNELL, Thomas. The Witnesses.London : [1938]
First edition, first impression. A remarkable account of the struggle with, and recovery from, mental illness. Though Hennell may be little-known to the general public today, in his time he was seen as an inheritor of the tradition of Constable, Cox and Palmer. He was selected for Sir Kenneth Clark's 'Recording Britain' scheme in 1940, and later became... Learn More£475.00Stock Code: 91831
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STRACHEY, Lytton. Books & Characters.London : 1922
First edition, first impression of Strachey's fourth book. Contains papers on various literary figures, including Thomas Browne, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Jean-Mariet Arouet de Voltaire, of which all but 'A Dialogue' had previously appeared in different periodicals. Learn More£225.00Stock Code: 91844
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SHANKAR, Ravi. My Music, My Life.London : 1969
First UK edition, first impression. A scarce presentation copy inscribe by the author on front free endpaper: 'To Jack, affectionately Ravi Shankar, 11.11.69'. A biography of Shankar (1920-2012), the famous sitarist and composer who greatly increased the popularity of the sitar, as well as Indian classical music, in Europe and America during the 1950s... Learn More£350.00Stock Code: 91895
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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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MANNING, Frederic. Scenes and Portraits.London : 1930
Second edition, first impression. Number 177 of 250 copies signed by the author on the verso of the title page. First published in 1909, this is a series of imaginary debates on themes appropriate to the characters, with figures such as Socrates, Euripides, St. Francis of Assisi, Thomas Cromwell and Machiavelli taking part. Learn More£175.00Stock Code: 91514
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BARZUN, Jacques. On Writing, Editing, and Publishing.Chicago : 1971
First edition, first printing. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title: "For Wendell, fellow-author, editor & publisher. As ever, J. Nov 30/71". The recipient is the French-born American historian Barzun's life-long friend, with whom the author Wendell Hertig Taylor later wrote the critique of crime fiction, A Catalogue of Crime... Learn More£75.00Stock Code: 91240
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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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(GURNEY, Ivor.) BODEN, Anthony (ed.) Stars in a Dark Night.Gloucester : 1986
First edition, first impression. Learn More£30.00Stock Code: 90868
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FOWLER, Gene. Father Goose.New York : [1934]
First edition, first printing. Presentation copy inscribed by the author on front free endpaper: "To Jimmy ('Four') Starr, my friend and colleague, with regards, Gene Fowler. Sept - 1934." Starr was an American screenwriter, gossip columnist, and film reviewer. Fowler's book is a biography of Mack Sennett, a director and actor active in Hollywood during... Learn More£475.00Stock Code: 90705
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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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SMITH, Adam. Essays on Philosophical Subjects.London : 1795
First edition, published five years after Smith's death, edited by Dugald Stewart with his "Account of the life and writings of Adam Smith", originally presented to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in two sessions during 1793. The editor states that the essays were intended as parts of "a connected history of the liberal sciences and elegant arts", but... Learn More£8,750.00Stock Code: 90155
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(BLUNDEN, Edmund.) THORPE, Michael. The Poetry of Edmund Blunden.[Wateringbury] : 1971
First edition, first impression, of the author's essay on Blunden's poetry, focusing on the "Joy" poems which are reproduced in the text. Learn More£65.00Stock Code: 89484
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GRAVES, Robert. Poetic Unreason and Other Studies.London : 1925
First edition, first impression. Learn More£150.00Stock Code: 89638
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DOUGLAS, Norman. Experiments.London : 1925
First trade edition, first impression. Collected essays, including the author's study of Charles Doughty's Arabia Deserta. Learn More£375.00Stock Code: 89330
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DUBERMAN, Martin. Black Mountain. An Experiment in Community.New York : 1972
First edition. This copy signed and dated by the author on the front free endpaper. Learn More£85.00Stock Code: 89346
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(AMIS, Kingsley.) FUSSELL, Paul. The Anti-Egotist:Oxford : 1996
First UK edition, first impression, review copy from US sheets. Originally published in the US in 1994. With the publisher's review slip loosely inserted. Learn More£45.00Stock Code: 88947
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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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DOUGLAS, Norman. Together.London : 1923
First edition, first impression. Together is a nostalgic evocation of lost youth and the north as the author revisits his native Austria. Learn More£350.00Stock Code: 88273
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METCALFE, W. M., ed. Specimens of Scottish Literature 1325-1835.Glasgow and Bombay : 1913
First edition, first impression. A very attractive copy. This volume compiles a wide selection of Scottish writing from the Early, Middle, and Modern Scots periods between 1325 and 1835, along with substantial critical apparatus. Learn More£100.00Stock Code: 86913
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WAUGH, Evelyn. A Little Learning. The First Volume of an Autobiography.London : 1964
First edition, first impression. A fine presentation copy with Waugh's signed inscription to the front free endpaper, "For Bob & Angie with Christmas greetings & love from Evelyn. Tis is a mass of misprints & mistakes which I was ashamed to send before. Please treat it as a Christmas card & don't trouble to acknowledge. 1964". The recipients were the... Learn More£3,750.00Stock Code: 87033
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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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(ROBINSON, Bill.) HASKINS, Jim, & N. R. Mitgang. Mr. Bojangles. The Biography of Bill Robinson.New York : 1988
First edition, first printing. Learn More£25.00Stock Code: 85745
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AMIS, Kingsley. What Became of Jane Austen and Other Questions.London : 1970
First edition, first impression, of this collection of essays by Kingsley Amis including "literary criticism, of writers as diverse and Hans Christian Andersen and Dylan Thomas and novels from Sorrell and Son to Portnoy's Complaint; articles on such topics as horror films, the use of language, the National Eisteddfod of Wales and fictional detectives;... Learn More£100.00Stock Code: 85374
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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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PARTRIDGE, Eric. The 'Shaggy Dog' Story.London : 1953
Presentation copy of the first edition, first impression, of this humorous investigation into the phenomenon of the "Shaggy Dog" story, defined by its mischievous unexpectedness, and traced from its Ancient Greek origins ("A pert youth, meeting an old woman, driving a herd, called, 'Good morning, mother of asses!', she replied 'Good morning, my son!'"),... Learn More£250.00Stock Code: 84947
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ROTHENSTEIN, William. Twenty-Four Portraits.London : 1920
First edition, first impression of this collection of twenty-four portraits or authors, artists, and intellectuals by William Rothenstein, including Joseph Conrad, John Galsworthy, André Gide, Thomas Hardy, T. E. Lawrence, George Bernard Shaw, and H. G. Wells. Provenance: from the library of Conrad collector Stanley J. Seeger, with his bookplate. Learn More£375.00Stock Code: 84657
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(WOOLF, Virginia.) 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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GRAVES, Robert. Mrs Fisher.London : 1928
First edition, first impression; from the To-day and To-morrow series. Inscribed by Robert Graves on the front free endpaper, "Damn and blast, said Lars Porsenna! Robert Graves, 1957". This inscription references the opening lines of Macaulay's poem Horatius at the Bridge ("Lars Porsena of Clusium, / By the Nine Gods he swore..."), and to Graves's... Learn More£675.00Stock Code: 84023
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YEATS, W. B. The Cutting of An Agate.London : 1919
First UK edition, first impression. The 1912 New York publication of this title had substantially different contents. An attractive copy and uncommon in the dust jacket. Learn More£875.00Stock Code: 84212
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WHITE, T. H. England Have My Bones.London : 1936
First edition, first impression. Scarce presentation copy inscribed by T. H. White on the title page, "N.H.H-B. / One book as a small token of gratitude for very many fried eggs. T.H.W." Learn More£1,500.00Stock Code: 83943
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(SYNGE, John M.) MASEFIELD, John. John M. Synge: A Few Personal Recollections, With Biographical Notes.Churchtown, Dundrum : 1915
First edition, first impression, of Masefield's recollections of his friend J. M. Synge, who died in 1909; from a numbered limited edition of 350 copies. This copy is from the Garvan Collection on Ireland, with the bookplate and shelfmark annotation to title page verso in pencil. Learn More£225.00Stock Code: 83957
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BAILEY, Pearl. Between You and Me.New York : 1989
First edition, first impression. Inscribed by the author on the title page, "To Paul, God is ever present. Love, Pearl Bailey". With a photograph inscribed "Love Pearl Bailey" loosely inserted. Learn More£125.00Stock Code: 83591
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(ROBESON, Paul.) ROBESON, Eslanda Goode. Negro.London : 1930
First UK edition, first impression, originally published in the US in the same year. The biography of the great American actor, musician, and civil rights activist Paul Robeson, written by his wife Eslanda. Learn More£75.00Stock Code: 83627
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ELLIS, Havelock. My Life.Boston, : 1939
First edition, first printing of Ellis's autobiography, the central subject of which is Ellis's marriage and open relationship with the lesbian and women's rights activist Edith Lees. Learn More£175.00Stock Code: 82383
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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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(DOUGLAS, Norman.) CUNARD, Nancy. Grand Man. Memories of Norman Douglas.London : 1954
First edition, first impression. Learn More£80.00Stock Code: 81395
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(BURNEY, Fanny.) JOHNSON, R. Brimley. (Ed.) Fanny Burney and the Burneys.London : 1926
First edition, first impression. Additions to Madame d'Arblay's diary, letters by Susan Burney, a journal of the Worcestershire Burneys, and a selection of the works of Dr Burney, his children and grandchildren. Plates, the frontispiece being a photogravure reproduction of an allegorical sketch by Edward Burney. Ownership signature on front pastedown.140492... Learn More£85.00Stock Code: 81598
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(SENNETT, Mack.) SHIPP, Cameron. 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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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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BEERBOHM, Max. A Survey.London : 1921
First edition, first impression. One of a limited edition of 275 numbered copies signed by the author on the limitation leaf. Learn More£275.00Stock Code: 80459
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FRANCE, Anatole. Rabelais.London : 1929
First separate edition of Anatole France's "exact biography of Rabelais and critique of his masterpieces", first published two months previously in France's posthumous collected works. Learn More£50.00Stock Code: 79710
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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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(POUND, Ezra.) The Cantos. Some Testimonies by Ernest Hemingway,New York : 1933
First edition, first impression. Learn More£600.00Stock Code: 78052
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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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(BRADY, James Buchanan.) MORELL, Parker. Diamond Jim. The Life and Times of James Buchanan Brady.New York : 1934
First edition, first impression. The biography of the larger-then-life figure James "Diamond Jim" Brady, American tycoon, philanthropist, and toast of the New York social scene during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A collector of jewellery and precious stones, he owned 30 sets of diamond jewellery-one for each day of the month. He... Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 77480
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[BROWNJOHN, Alan] LUCIE-SMITH, Edward [ed]. British Poetry since 1945.Harmandsworth, Middlesex : 1973
Third printing, originally published in 1970. Inscribed by the poet Alan Brownjohn in the margin above his section of the anthology (p. 263), "Signed for Nicholas Gammage - with all good wishes to you and for your poetry - Alan Brownjohn, 24th January 1974". Brownjohn and Gammage were both friends with Ted Hughes, who also is included in this anthology.... Learn More£65.00Stock Code: 77017
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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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UNWIN, Sir Stanley. The Truth About A Publisher.London : 1960
First edition, first impression. With the author's signed presentation inscription to Storer Lunt, head of the New York publishing house W. W. Norton & Co., on the front free endpaper, "To Storer Lunt, Colleague of my best friend among american publishers, the late W. W. Norton, from Stanley Unwin, 31st March 1960". Includes, clipped from the New York... Learn More£425.00Stock Code: 77300
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(HEMINGWAY, Ernest.) BRUCCOLI, Matthew J. Ernest Hemingway's Apprenticeship. Oak Park, 1916-1917.Washington : 1971
First edition, first printing. An account of Hemingway's schooldays, drawing together much of his schoolboy juvenilia. Learn More£65.00Stock Code: 76529
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(BRADY, James Buchanan.) MORELL, Parker. Diamond Jim. The Life and Times of James Buchanan Brady.New York : 1934
First edition, first impression. The biography of the larger-then-life figure James "Diamond Jim" Brady, American tycoon, philanthropist, and toast of the New York social scene during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A collector of jewellery and precious stones, he owned 30 sets of diamond jewellery-one for each day of the month. He... Learn More£575.00Stock Code: 74752
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WYNDHAM, Horace. Society Sensations.London : 1938
First edition, first impression, of this collection of tales, including "the liaison of a poet and a "literary" lady; the suspect "mediumship" of a feminine spiritualist; the exploits of a "gold-digger" who overreached herself; and the story of a girl who began in the chorus, and who, by courage and personality, finished up in the peerage." Learn More£225.00Stock Code: 74609
