Literature
Rare and first edition literature from Peter Harrington. On our shelves you'll discover rare poetry, English, American & modern literature, pre-1900 rare books, plays, world literature and much more.
From the blog: Nightingales and Roses: The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Video: [PUTTENHAM, George.] The Arte of English Poesie. 1589.
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HUBBARD, L. Ron. Final Blackout.Providence, RI : 1948
First edition, first printing. Learn More£250.00Stock Code: 122331
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BLOCH, Robert. The Opener of the Way.Sauk City, WI : 1945
First edition, first printing, of Bloch's first collection of short stories. Learn More£450.00Stock Code: 122328
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COWARD, Noël. Private Lives.London : 1930
First edition, first impression. Presentation copy from the author to Laurence Olivier, inscribed on the front free endpaper: "For Larry from Noël, 1930". An outstanding association copy marking Olivier's "breakthrough" stage appearance. The distinguished theatre critic Michael Billington writes: "Olivier's early years were marked by an impatient hunger... Learn More£3,000.00Stock Code: 121721
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CHRISTIE, Agatha. The Hollow.London : 1946
First UK edition, first impression. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author to Sir Leonard Woolley on the front free endpaper, "Len, with best wishes, from, Agatha, Xmas 1946". Sir Leonard and his wife Katharine were good friends of Christie and her second husband, the archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan. Mallowan's archaeological career began as an assistant... Learn More£2,750.00Stock Code: 117922
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DOYLE, Arthur Conan. A Study in Scarlet.London : 1888 [1889]
First edition in book form of Conan Doyle's first book, marking the first separate publication of any Sherlock Holmes story, preceded only by the story's appearance in Beeton's Christmas Annual 1887. This copy is the second impression of the first edition, with the first and final signatures reset (distinguished by the mis-spelling "youuger" on p. v),... Learn More£25,000.00Stock Code: 137971
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AUSTEN, Jane. The Novels.Edinburgh : 1911-12
The Winchester edition; considered the most attractive of the unillustrated editions of Jane Austen's works produced around this time. In this enlarged issue, the set has two additional volumes, comprising Lady Susan and The Watsons, taken from the 1871 Memoir, together with Jane Austen's letters. Rare in contemporary binding and in this condition. Learn More£4,500.00Stock Code: 121771
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MILNE, A. A. Birthday Party and other stories.New York : 1948
First edition, first printing. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author to his son, "For Moon, with love from Blue". Milne explained his son's nickname in his autobiography: "One of us thought of Robin, the other of Christopher; names wasted on him who called himself Billy Moon as soon as he could talk, and has been Moon to his family and friends... Learn More£2,500.00Stock Code: 120415
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FLEMING, Ian. Casino Royale.London : 1953
First edition, first impression, first state dust jacket (without the Sunday Times review on the inner front flap). "According to the Cape archives, 4,760 sets of sheets of the first printing were delivered, but only 4,728 copies were bound up. Many of these went to public libraries and we believe that less than half of the first printing was sold to... Learn More£50,000.00Stock Code: 111955
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DICKENS, Charles. The Old Curiosity Shop.Philadelphia : 1842
Presentation copy, inscribed by Dickens to William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878), editor of the New York Evening Post and a leading poet of his generation, inscribed by Dickens: "William Cullen Bryant From his friend and admirer Charles Dickens", signed with his characteristic lavish underscores, and with two accompanying autograph letters signed. In the... Learn More£50,000.00Stock Code: 90111
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(TOLKIEN, J. R. R.) BRAY, Olive (ed. and trans.) The Elder or Poetic Edda,London : 1908
First edition, first impression, of this uncommon English translation that influenced J. R. R. Tolkien, this copy with a nice literary association: from the library of Gladys Huntington (18871959), author of the anonymously-published novel Madame Solario (1956), with her bookplate and ownership inscription, dated 19 May 1917, to the front endpaper.... Learn More£1,800.00Stock Code: 142356
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DANTE ALIGHIERI. Inferno.Marseille : 1838
A handsomely bound copy of Dante's great work, in the original Italian. Inscribed to the polymath and literary patron Edward Marsh (1872-1953): "Edward Marsh from his affectionate aunt A M. Perceval Nov. 18th 1894". Marsh would go on to publish the Georgian Poetry anthologies, and was a sponsor of numerous poets including Rupert Brooke and Siegfried... Learn More£400.00Stock Code: 142116
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(DU FU.) TU FU. Wanderer and Minstrel Under Moons of Cathay.Portland, Maine : April 1929
First edition, number 30 of 50 copies printed on Japan vellum, signed by one of the translators Edna Worthley Underwood. "This is the first edition in the world of Tu Fu to be printed outside China, likewise it is the first edition of any one individual Chinese poet." (Foreword). Tu Fu, or Du Fu, who lived in the 8th century, during the Tang dynasty,... Learn More£600.00Stock Code: 142115
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GRAVES, Robert. Love Respelt Again.New York : 1969
First US edition, number 893 of 1,000 copies signed by Graves. Reproduces fifty of Graves' poems in manuscript form. Learn More£85.00Stock Code: 141047
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(LEWIS, Theresa, ed.) [EDEN, Emily.] The Semi-Detached House.London : 1872
New edition of Emily Eden's second novel. It "was published anonymously in 1859 with the help of her lifelong friend Lady Theresa Lewis, who negotiated Eden's termsno less than 300 and early publicationwith Richard Bentley, the publisher. In this lively satirical novel, the pregnant heroine Lady Blanche Chester, whose husband has been posted abroad,... Learn More£125.00Stock Code: 141044
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GRAVES, Robert. Adam's Rib and other anomalous elements in the Hebrew Creation Myth.[Boissia, Clairvaux, Jura, France] : 1955
First edition, first impression. One of 1,750 standard copies out of a total edition of 2,026. Learn More£75.00Stock Code: 141042
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HARRISON, Tony. Anno Forty Two.[London] : 1987
Signed limited edition, number 25 of 50 copies signed by Tony Harrison and the printer-designer Michael Caine. Learn More£60.00Stock Code: 141041
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(MILTON, John) GRAVES, Robert. The Story of Marie Powell, Wife to Mr. Milton.London : 1943
First edition, first impression, of the author's historical novel, written from the view of John Milton's wife. Learn More£75.00Stock Code: 141019
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GRAVES, Robert. Mrs Fisher.London : 1928
First edition, first impression; from the To-day and To-morrow series. Learn More£175.00Stock Code: 140874
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FENTON, James. Children In Exile.Edinburgh : 1983
First edition, first impression. Learn More£50.00Stock Code: 140846
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SHAKESPEARE, William. The Plays.London : 1826
Handsomely bound copy of Shakespeare's plays. Learn More£250.00Stock Code: 140250
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(ASHENDENE PRESS.) MALORY, Sir Thomas. The noble and joyous book entytled Le Morte Darthur:Chelsea : 1913
First Ashendene edition, one of 145 unnumbered copies printed on Batchelor handmade paper; a further two copies were printed on Japanese paper and eight on vellum. The Ashendene Press, described as "the zenith of superb bookmaking", was founded by St John Hornby in 1895 and continued to print steadily until 1935 (Ransome, p. 95). The present edition,... Learn More£8,750.00Stock Code: 139511
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OVIDIUS NASO, Publius. Les livres d'Ovide, De l'art d'aimer, et Des remedes d'amour,Paris : 1660
Second edition of the French translation of Michel de Marolles (1600-1681), published the same year as the first.
"Marolles is himself a complex figure in relation to seventeenth-century cultural modernity in all its forms: he was in tune with the changing literary climate; he frequented Madeleine de Scudéry's salon; and his translations proved... Learn More£700.00Stock Code: 139423
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WILDE, Oscar. The Happy Prince and Other Tales.London : 1888
First edition, presentation copy, inscribed on the front free endpaper: "Edith Cowes from her sincere friend the author. Oscar Wilde, June, 88". A woman of that name contributed an article on the artist James Tissot in the Century Magazine (Edith Cowes, "Tissot's Life of Christ", Century Magazine, 51, no. 37, 1895-96). The Happy Prince... Learn More£42,500.00Stock Code: 139228
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DANTE ALIGHIERI. The Divina Commedia,London : 1802
First complete edition in English of the Divine Comedy, and the first publication in English of the Purgatorio and the Paradiso; the Inferno here marking its fourth publication in English, following the first edition of 1782, and Dublin and London editions by Boyd in 1785. This complete edition was greatly significant for the reception of Dante in the... Learn More£15,000.00Stock Code: 138899
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DICKENS, Charles. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit.London : [c.1870]
A handsomely bound copy of Martin Chuzzlewit first published in 1844. Learn More£195.00Stock Code: 138757
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AINSWORTH, William Harrison. The Novels.London : [c.1897]
A handsomely bound set of the Author's Copyright Edition. Learn More£1,000.00Stock Code: 138444
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FLEMING, Ian. On Her Majesty's Secret Service.London : 1963
First edition, first impression, superb presentation copy, inscribed by the author to Noël Coward, "To Noël This slice of real Swiss life! With love Ian", with Coward's bookplate to the front pastedown. To Coward, who at the time of publication was living as a tax exile in his mountain home in Switzerland, Fleming humorously suggests that his latest... Learn More£32,500.00Stock Code: 137722
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BARRETT BROWNING, Elizabeth. Poems.London : 1850
First edition with the Sonnets from the Portuguese, handsomely bound with the original cloth preserved within, and both half-titles. EBB's Poems had first appeared in 1844, but this "New Edition" (the second overall) contains in the second volume the coveted and rare first appearance of Sonnets from the Portuguese, some of the most famous love poems... Learn More£6,500.00Stock Code: 132112
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![The White House Years: Mandate for Change 1953-1956 [and] Waging Peace 1956-1961 [together with] At Ease: Stories I Tell My Friends.](https://d3dzzbbvj9im7s.cloudfront.net/media/catalog/product/cache/ae0834d12b7cf129fc73bcc000ea526a/1/1/116984.jpg)
EISENHOWER, Dwight D. The White House Years: Mandate for Change 1953-1956 [and] Waging Peace 1956-1961 [together with] At Ease: Stories I Tell My Friends.New York : 1963, 1965, 1967
First editions of Eisenhower's two volumes of presidential autobiography and his later volume of discursive memoirs. Nelson Doubleday Jr. (1933-2015) was the last president of Doubleday and Company (1978-86) before its sale to Bertelsmann AG in 1986; he was grandson of the founder, Frank Nelson Doubleday ("Effendi"). Doubleday were Eisenhower's publishers... Learn More£3,000.00Stock Code: 116984
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COWARD, Noël. Present Indicative.London : 1937
First edition, first impression. Presentation copy from the author, inscribed on the front free endpaper, "For Dennis Wheatley, from Nöel Coward"; with Wheatley's bookplate to the front pastedown. Present Indicative is Coward's "entertaining and often revealing memoirs" (Philip Hoare in ODNB). Learn More£900.00Stock Code: 114439
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BYRON, George Gordon Noel, Lord. Don Juan.London : 1819
First edition of the first two cantos of Byron's last and greatest work. None of Byron's writings since the first two cantos of Childe Harold seven years earlier had appeared in such a large and expensive format: the volume sold for a guinea and a half (1 11s. 6d). Later cantos were published in octavo.
Hobhouse had preached caution and Murray had... Learn More£975.00Stock Code: 141802
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GREENE, Graham. Our Man in Havana.London : 1958
First edition, first impression, of the thriller later adapted into a film of the same name in 1959, directed by Carol Reed and starring Alec Guinness. Learn More£350.00Stock Code: 131041
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HAGGARD, H. Rider. King Solomon's Mines.London : 1885
First edition, first impression. With all the textual misprints: p. 10, "Bamamgwato"; p. 122 3rd line up "let twins to live"; p. 307 footnote, last line, "Wrod." Surprisingly scarce in the correct state. Learn More£3,500.00Stock Code: 124633
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HUNCKE, Herbert. Elsie John and Joey Martinez.New York : 1979
Signed limited edition, number 4 of 100 copies signed by both the author and the illustrator, and bound in unique handmade patterned paper-covered boards. Perhaps the first ten or so copies were specially bound in hardback, the rest of the issue being bound in wrappers.
Herbert Huncke (rhymes with junkie) was the charismatic street hustler, petty... Learn More£450.00Stock Code: 141945
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HARRISON, Tony. The Fire Gap.Newcastle upon Tyne : 1985
First trade edition. Inscribed by Harrison on the title page: "Tony Harrison, for Christopher 29.10.91". Appealingly designed by Caine. Learn More£50.00Stock Code: 141040
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(NONESUCH PRESS.) HERODOTUS. The History of Herodotus of Halicarnassus.London : 1935
First Nonesuch Press edition, limited to 675 copies of which this is number 546, a superb example of book design and presswork. Loosely inserted are the Nonesuch Press prospectus for this edition, and the Autumn 1935 issue of the Nonesuch News, publicising their latest titles. Learn More£1,500.00Stock Code: 141940
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RUSHDIE, Salman. The Satanic Verses.London : 1988
First edition, signed limited issue, number 4 of 100 copies signed by the author and bound in quarter morocco (a further 12 signed copies were published in full morocco). Rushdie's fourth novel and a major work in the magical realist canon, The Satanic Verses ignited furious controversy, leading to the book being banned and protested across the world,... Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 138781
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CICERO, Marcus Tullius. De natura deorum libri tres.Glasgow : 1741
First edition of the first substantial book published by Robert Foulis, rarely found in uncut state and in a contemporary binding. The work was issued on three sizes of paper without priority, this being in demy octavo. Cicero was a mainstay of the Foulis brothers, with their press publishing a total of 24 editions of the author, partly to feed the... Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 126791
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[BOISGUILBERT, Pierre le Pesant.] HERODIAN. Histoire Romaine.Paris : 1675
First edition of Boisguilbert's first work, a French translation of Herodian's colourful history, originally written in Greek in the third century and covering the Roman Empire from the death of Marcus Aurelius to the accession of Gordian III.
Though first published in 1675, the work received its privilège in 1673. Learn More£725.00Stock Code: 126587
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(CHIVERS BINDING.) SAINTSBURY, George. Marmontel's Moral Tales.London : 1895
An exquisitely bound copy, and a fine example of Cedric Chivers's vellucent style, where the backing sheet of the binding is hand-painted before being covered in vellum which has been shaved to transparency, which is then tooled in gilt. This is in contrast to the previous great binder of painted vellum, Edwards of Halifax, who painted in reverse on... Learn More£2,500.00Stock Code: 138908
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WOOLF, Virginia. The Years.London : 1937
First edition, first impression, of Woolf's penultimate novel, and the most popular of her novels during her lifetime. Woolf began The Years in the early 1930s as a novel-essay entitled The Pargiters. Woolf subsequently divided it into two parts, with the fiction portion reworked into The Years and the essay portion the basis for Three Guineas. Learn More£650.00Stock Code: 138877
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GOYTISOLO, Juan. Fiestas.New York : 1960
First edition in English, first printing, signed by the author on the front free endpaper. First published in Spanish in 1958, this is the second novel in the El manana efimero trilogy, comprising El circo (1957), Fiestas, and La resaca (1958). Learn More£200.00Stock Code: 140495
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DUNSANY, Edward Plunkett, Lord. The Chronicles of Rodriguez.London and New York : February 1922
First edition, first impression, number 222 of 500 copies each signed by the author (below the preface) and illustrator (on the frontispiece). Dunsany's fantasy romance of the Spanish "golden age" takes its titular hero on an adventure into the Shadow Valley. Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 139437
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(GONNE, Maud, illus.) YOUNG, Ella. Celtic Wonder-Tales.Dublin : 1910
First edition, first impression, signed by the illustrator on the title page, and with an original initialled drawing in black ink on the front free endpaper (and expanded version of the ornament printed on p. 20.) Edith Maud Gonne (1866-1953) was one of the boldest figures of the Irish Literary Revival; a suffragette and artist, she remains best known... Learn More£3,750.00Stock Code: 137680
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![The Jungle Book; [together with:] The Second Jungle Book.](https://d3dzzbbvj9im7s.cloudfront.net/media/catalog/product/cache/ae0834d12b7cf129fc73bcc000ea526a/1/2/126049.jpg)
KIPLING, Rudyard. The Jungle Book; [together with:] The Second Jungle Book.London : 1894 & 1895
First editions. The two Jungle Books were collections of stories which had previously appeared in periodicals; originally published in book form in a print run of 7,000 and 10,000 respectively, they went through numerous reprints and have remained two of Kipling's best known works. Learn More£3,500.00Stock Code: 126049
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WOOLF, Virginia. On Being Ill.London : 1930
First edition in book form, signed limited issue, number 51 of 250 copies signed and numbered by the author in her typical purple ink. Written by Woolf after experiencing a period of severe manic-depression, On Being Ill was first published in essay form in T. S. Eliot's New Criterion in January 1926.
In the essay, Woolf turns a fresh (and today... Learn More£6,750.00Stock Code: 142216
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MORTIMER, Penelope. The Bright Prison.London : 1956
First edition, first impression, of the author's third novel, uncommon, and here in remarkably fresh condition. Learn More£375.00Stock Code: 142037
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CARTLAND, Barbara. The Castle of Fear.London : 1974 & 1977
First editions, first impressions, presentation copies inscribed by the author on the front inside covers to her friend and fellow romantic novelist Denise Robins: The Castle of Fear, "To darling Denise with admiration and love from Barbara"; Love Locked In, "To dearest Denise, with love, Barbara". These historical novels are uncommonly... Learn More£175.00Stock Code: 142245
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WOLFF, Charlotte. An Older Love.London : 1976
First edition, first impression, of the author's first novel. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author to Audrey Lilian "Pat" Barker, who provided the preface to this work, on the half-title, "For my friend Pat, with love from Charlotte". This edition is now notably uncommon, especially signed, and in such attractive condition. The work, one of the... Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 141605
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INCHBOLD, Ada Alice Cunnick. Phantasma.Edinburgh & London : 1906
First edition, first impression, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To dear Edith and her husband from their old friend, A.C. Inchbold. October 16/10". This scarce historical romance imagines a series of Napoleon Bonaparte's adventures during the Egyptian campaign of 1798 to 1801. Ada Alice Cunnick Inchbold (18581939) was "an inveterate... Learn More£250.00Stock Code: 141411
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YEATS, W. B. The Winding Stair and other poems.London : 1933
First edition, first impression, of Yeats's follow-up collection to The Tower, containing some of his best, and most difficult, poems, such as "Blood and the Moon", "A Dialogue of Self and Soul", "Vacillation", and, of course, "Byzantium", and thus full of "those images that yet / fresh images beget; / that dolphin-torn, and gong tormented sea". A smaller... Learn More£1,375.00Stock Code: 119643
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DICKENS, Charles. Christmas Books.London : 1852
First authorized collected edition, presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the inserted blank facing frontispiece, "Agnes Sarah Lawrence, from her affectionate friend Charles Dickens, Twenty Second November 1852". The recipient Agnes Sarah Lawrence (born c.1835, and a young lady at the time of this inscription) was the daughter John Towers Lawrence... Learn More£60,000.00Stock Code: 135836
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CHATWIN, Bruce. In Patagonia; The Viceroy of Ouidah; On the Black Hill; The Songlines; Utz; What Am I Doing Here.London : 1977-89
First editions, first impressions, a complete collection of the author's works published in his lifetime.
Chatwin (1940-1989) was an English travel writer, novelist, and connoisseur of the arts who "redefined travel writing" (ODNB). He joined the antiquities department at Sotheby's at 18 years old, rising from a porter to director of the firm within... Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 141970
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RAND, Ayn. Atlas Shrugged.New York : 1957
Tenth anniversary edition (ninth printing), signed by Rand on the limitation page, number 87 of 2000 copies. The philosophical movement launched by Rand with Atlas Shrugged had a lasting impact on American culture with the novel named by a 1991 Library of Congress survey as the most influential book for a majority of Americans, second only to the Bible.... Learn More£2,750.00Stock Code: 141801
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(DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.) In Congress, July 4, 1776. The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America...Washington D. C., : 1848
Second impression of the most accurate and beautiful early printing of the founding document of the United States, made from Stone's copper plate which had been created via direct transmission from the original document. A striking commemoration of America's arrival as an independent nation, with the invocation of "those truths we hold self-evident."... Learn More£30,000.00Stock Code: 127460
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RAND, Ayn. Atlas Shrugged.New York : 1957
First edition, first printing. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author: "To Lenore McConnell, - wishing you a great future. Ayn Rand. February 4, 1959." Atlas Shrugged was named by a 1991 Library of Congress survey as the most influential book in the US, second only to the Bible. Learn More£12,500.00Stock Code: 99376
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RUBINSTEIN, Harold Frederick. Isabel's Eleven.London : 1927
First edition, first impression, the dedication copy, the printed dedication "To Victor Gollancz, Isabel's Friend" supplemented with the author's inscription "to the above with the author's love. Question: Tell, oh tell! Who the Hell is Isabel? Answer: fool, don't you see? Friend of V.G. Good enough for me! H.F.R. 29.1.27".
The recipient was the... Learn More£350.00Stock Code: 142038
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BORGES, Jorge Luis. Ficciones.New York : 1962
First edition, first impression, of this early collection of Borges's stories in English. Though the translators were predominately Scottish, this translation was published in New York by the Grove Press, preceding the London edition by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the same year. This classic collection, including the stories such as "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis... Learn More£300.00Stock Code: 139817
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JOYCE, James. Pomes Penyeach.Paris : 1932
First English edition (printed in France), number 13 of 25 copies signed by the author, which, together with 6 hors de commerce copies, not for sale and inscribed by Joyce with the name of the recipient, comprised the total edition; this is one of a handful of copies still in private hands. Joyce's daughter designed the illuminations as artistic therapy.
Pomes... Learn More£95,000.00Stock Code: 139014
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LOKER, Chris One Hundred Books Famous in Children's Literature.New York : 2014
First edition, first printing. Learn More£250.00Stock Code: 136359
