Books
Browse our collection of rare books, first editions, signed editions and valuable printed books, written by the world's greatest authors, in a wide range of subjects.
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SHAKESPEARE, William. The Poems and Sonnets.London : 1903
An attractively bound copy of this limited edition printed on handmade paper, number 23 of 400 copies.
In his introduction to the present volume, scholar and poet Edward Dowden (1843-1913), writes that, when we read Shakespeare's poetry, we learn that he "was capable of measureless personal devotion; that he was tenderly sensitive, sensitive... Learn More£875.00Stock Code: 147775
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ARABIAN NIGHTS - LANE, Edward William. The Thousand and One Nights,London : 1839-41
First edition of Lane's translation, in the scarce original cloth. Lane's edition, one of the earliest in English, "reigned as the leading English translation of the Nights for decades, and its copious notes are stimulating micro-essays of enduring value" (ODNB).
The illustrations, of which there are over 600, were provided by a team of engravers... Learn More£1,500.00Stock Code: 147780
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CHURCHILL, Winston S. Liberalism and the Social Problem.London : 1909
First edition, first impression, of this uncommon title which collects speeches by the young Churchill during his Liberal phase, addressing such then-pressing issues as the conciliation of South Africa, imperial preference, labour exchanges, and unemployment insurance. Learn More£650.00Stock Code: 147790
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CHURCHILL, Winston S. Arms and the Covenant.London : 1938
First edition, only printing. Arms and the Covenant is an important collection of Churchill's speeches, 1928-38, warning of the dangers of a re-armed Germany. A total of 5,000 copies were printed; Woods notes that 3,381 were sold at 18 shillings before June 1940, when the book was re-issued as a cheap edition, priced at 7s. 6d.
A contemporary... Learn More£450.00Stock Code: 147793
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BERLIN, Isaiah. Personal Impressions.London : 1980
First edition, first impression, inscribed on the front free endpaper to the British jeweller, Fabergé expert, and basis for Fleming's Octopussy character, Jim Fanning, "Kenneth Snowman, with my warm regards. Isaiah Berlin, Oxford, July 1981". This is a great association copy of Berlin's biographical sketches of 20th-century scholars and statesmen.... Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 148015
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GRAVES, Robert. Good-bye To All That.London : 1929
First edition, first impression, of the author's memoir of the First World War. This copy is from the second issue, with the infamous Sassoon poem excised and replaced with cancels and asterisks.
The story of the suppression of this issue is well recorded: the book had originally printed a poem Sassoon had written to Graves in letter form. Sassoon... Learn More£375.00Stock Code: 147507
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![[The James Bond novels.]](https://d3dzzbbvj9im7s.cloudfront.net/media/catalog/product/cache/ae0834d12b7cf129fc73bcc000ea526a/1/4/147620.jpg)
FLEMING, Ian. [The James Bond novels.]Shelton : 1981-93
First facsimile edition, reproducing the original designs and dust jacket artwork of all the James Bond first editions. Learn More£2,500.00Stock Code: 147620
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McPHERSON, Joseph Williams. The Moulids of Egypt.Cairo : 1941
First and only edition of this study of the popular Muslim and Coptic festivals of Cairo. Well represented institutionally, but distinctly uncommon on the market. Bimbashi McPherson began life in Cairo as mathematics teacher at the prestigious Khedival College, during WWI he was commissioned in the Camel Transport Corps and subsequently became head... Learn More£825.00Stock Code: 147675
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MURDOCH, Iris. Jackson's Dilemma.London : 1995
First edition, first impression, of the author's final novel. Learn More£45.00Stock Code: 146715
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COATES, James. Human Magnetism,London : 1897
First edition of Coates detailed and highly popular work on hypnosis in which he remarks the practice of inducing a hypnotic and mesmeric state are one and the same. This richly illustrated edition is now notably uncommon.
James Coates was a Scottish psychical researcher and practitioner of medical magnetism, who, after the death of his wife,... Learn More£375.00Stock Code: 147254
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HOME, Henry, Lord Kames. Elements of Criticism.Edinburgh : 1762
First edition of Kames's large and systematic philosophical and aesthetic treatise, rare on the market. This work is the most important result of the Scottish aesthetic movement, and "the most comprehensive work on aesthetics of the 18th century since Du Bos' Réflexions critiques of 1719" (translated from Dobai, Die Kunstliteratur des Klassizismus... Learn More£2,250.00Stock Code: 147353
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GUTENBERG, Johann - BIBLE; Latin. Single leaf from the Old Testament, Ezekiel 43:27 to 45:16.[Mainz : 1455]
A single paper leaf from the Gutenberg bible, the first complete book printed with movable type.
The "Noble Fragment" originates from an imperfect copy of the Gutenberg Bible, lacking 50 leaves, which was divided by Gabriel Wells, a New York book dealer, and dispersed as single leaves or larger fragments, and inserted into a morocco portfolio... Learn More£100,000.00Stock Code: 147465
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MURDOCH, Iris. Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals.London : 1992
First edition, first impression, of this philosophical work. Learn More£35.00Stock Code: 146713
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ANGELOU, Maya. Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie.New York : 1971
First edition, first printing, of the author's first book of poetry, warmly inscribed on the front free endpaper: "For Richard Gildenmeister, Dick, Brother, you are a boon, a boon for me, for us, (for the species) Please write! and write on! Your sister (How-be-it-now) Maya". Richard Gildenmeister is a former bookseller based in Cleveland, Ohio, where... Learn More£575.00Stock Code: 147853
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MARY ROSE. Narrative of the Loss of the Mary Rose,Portsea : 1842
First edition. It was issued with boards sourced from the wood of the Mary Rose itself, being bought at auction in 1840; the spine is lettered "Relic of the Mary Rose", and has the publisher's notice on the front pastedown to that effect.
The Mary Rose was among the largest of ships in the British navy for over 30 years, fighting in many battles... Learn More£675.00Stock Code: 146039
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DICKENS, Charles; Robert Browning; and others. Collection of autograph material, including 4 autograph letters signed by Charles Dickens, 4 by Robert Browning, and a quantity of other autograph material.Various places : 1860s-1910s
The Dickens and Browning letters are addressed to Emma Pender (18171891), second wife of Sir John Pender, Scottish textile merchant in Manchester, submarine communications cable pioneer, and politician.
The Dickens letters are:
a) with envelope, stamp clipped, to Mrs Pender, 9 Park St, Westminster, SW; 5 May 1863, declining an invitation... Learn More£7,000.00Stock Code: 137842
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RULFO, Juan El llano en llamas.Mexico : 1953
First edition, first printing, of Rulfo's first book. This collection of short stories precedes his modern masterpiece of Spanish American literature, Pedro Páramo (1955), and both established Rulfo's literary reputation. This edition is rarely found in such good condition and in the jacket.
Set in the harsh countryside of the Jalisco region... Learn More£2,000.00Stock Code: 148115
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SEUSS, Dr. You're Only Old Once!New York : 1986
First trade edition, first printing, with the front flap of the jacket priced at 9.95, of Seuss's ode to growing old, released on his 82nd birthday. A signed limited edition was also issued. Learn More£200.00Stock Code: 148172
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SEUSS, Dr., & P. D. Eastman. The Cat In The Hat Beginner Book Dictionary.New York : 1964
First edition, first printing, with correct advertisements to jacket. Learn More£600.00Stock Code: 148174
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RIMBAUD, Arthur. A Season in Hell.London : [1932]
First edition in English, first impression, number 537 of 600 copies only. First published in 1873, this prose poem was finished in a frenzy after the break-up of Rimbaud's relationship with Verlaine who shot him with a revolver in the summer of that year. Copies in such good condition and in the jacket are rare. Learn More£350.00Stock Code: 148025
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BRAUTIGAN, Richard. Please Plant This Book.San Francisco / Santa Barbara : 1968
First edition, sole impression, a scarce complete set of these eight poems by Richard Brautigan printed on the back of coloured seed packets.
Copies were issued for free with the injunction that they be planted: "The time is right to mix sentences, sentences with dirt and the sun with punctuation and the rain with verbs, and for worms to pass... Learn More£1,100.00Stock Code: 148029
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ROSSETTI, Dante Gabriel. The Blessèd Damozel.Aiken : 1900
First edition thus, number 25 of 500 copies printed on Whatman paper, one of 100 only illuminated in water-colours. This copy has a lithographic illustration, after the author and printed on Japanese vellum, loosely inserted. A very attractive printing of Rossetti's Blessed Damozel, the most famous of his poems, first published in 1850. Learn More£375.00Stock Code: 148030
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BUKOWSKI, Charles. Shakespeare Never Did This.San Francisco : 1979
First edition, first impression, signed on the title page by Montfort and Bukowski. This is a fresh copy of "a wryly comic view of Europe as only Bukowski could see it and a moving journey back to his lost past and the small town of his birth (Andernach, Germany) via his triumphant tour as a literary celebrity" (front flap). Learn More£650.00Stock Code: 148045
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VANDERBILT, Harold S. Enterprise.New York : 1931
First and only edition, first printing, presentation copy inscribed on the first blank "To Amory Coolidge, With the compliments of Harold S. Vanderbilt".
The recipient, Amory Coolidge (1895-1952), from Coolidge Point, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Essex County, Massachusetts, was the son of Clara Gardner Amory (1872-1957) and Thomas Jefferson Coolidge... Learn More£575.00Stock Code: 148057
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MOORE, June & Doris Langley. The Pleasure of Your Company.[London] : 1933
First edition, first impression, of this charming guide to receiving and entertaining guests, both at home and outdoors, as well as what to do when spending time in your own company. Learn More£275.00Stock Code: 148085
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REDOUTÉ, Pierre-Joseph. Les Roses.Paris : 1835
Third edition, the most complete, of the most famous of all rose books, published under the direction of L. J. Pirolle, the collector of roses who had supplied Redoute with many of the specimens.
This edition was expanded with 23 new plates, the portraits of Redoute and Thory, and a biographical note on Thory which had not appeared in the first... Learn More£18,750.00Stock Code: 147433
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LAMPEDUSA, Giuseppe Tomasi di. Il Gattopardo.Milan : 1978
First edition thus, first printing, number 218 of 500 copies only, of Lampedusa's Leopard with the text from the original 1957 manuscript, with illustrations not included in the first edition, and specially bound.
Winner of the prestigious Strega Prize in 1959, Lampedusa's novel ranks as one of the finest of the 20th century. "It is a brilliant... Learn More£950.00Stock Code: 147951
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BAGNOLD, Enid. The Squire.London : 1938
First edition, first impression, presentation copy inscribed "For Irene from Enid, September 1938" on Bagnold's headed stationary, with her Rottingdean home address, pasted onto the front free endpaper.
The recipient was likely Irene Mayer Selznick, wife of David O. Selznick, an important influence on Bagnold, and who produced the world premiere... Learn More£375.00Stock Code: 147981
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DICKENS, Charles. The Mystery of Edwin Drood.London : 1870
First edition, bound from the original monthly parts as published between April and September 1870, with the stab-holes visible; handsomely bound. The author's final work, it remained unfinished at the time of his death, in June 1870, and has prompted much speculation as to the resolution of the mystery. Learn More£450.00Stock Code: 148073
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DICKENS, Charles. Little Dorrit.London : 1857
First edition, bound from the original monthly parts as issued from December 1855 to June 1857, with the stab-holes visible; handsomely bound.
Dickens's biographer declares the novel to be the author's "single most ferocious onslaught against England and English society; against its government, against its financiers, against its artists, and... Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 148086
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DICKENS, Charles. The Posthumous Papers of The Pickwick Club.London : 1837
First edition, bound from the original monthly parts as published from March 1836 to November 1837, with the stab-holes visible; a handsome copy. Pickwick was Dickens's first great success, the novel that transformed him from an obscure journalist into England's most famous writer in a matter of months.
Bound into this copy is both the Buss plates,... Learn More£1,500.00Stock Code: 148088
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GOREY, Edward. The World of Edward Gorey.New York : 1998
First editions, first printing. Learn More£20.00Stock Code: 147964
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GOREY, Edward. Phantasmagorey.[New Haven] : 1974
First and only edition, signed on the title page by Ross and Edward Gorey. Learn More£125.00Stock Code: 147962
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AINSLIE, Kathleen. Catharine Susan and Me's Coming Out.London & New York : (1906)
First edition, first impression. The two peg dolls go to London and meet high society. Learn More£150.00Stock Code: 143495
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AINSLIE, Kathleen. Lady Tabitha and Us.London & New York : (1905)
First edition, first impression. Lady Tabitha invites her peg doll friends over for a Christmas Eve party. Learn More£150.00Stock Code: 143502
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DICKENS, Charles. The Personal History of David Copperfield.London : 1849-50
First edition in the original monthly parts of Dickens's classic Bildungsroman, his most lightly disguised autobiographical fiction, his first first-person novel, and his own favourite among his novels. After The Pickwick Papers, this may be the most difficult of his novels to find in nice condition in parts.
This set has all the requisite first... Learn More£10,000.00Stock Code: 142570
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DULAC, Edmund (illus.); ANDERSEN, Hans Christian. Stories from Hans Andersen.London : 1911
First English trade edition. The first edition containing Dulac's illustrations for Hans Christian Andersen was originally published in 1911. Although the page-size of this later edition is smaller, the illustrations are reproduced at their original sizes. The collection comprises six stories: "The Snow Queen", "The Swineherd", "The Nightingale", "The... Learn More£2,250.00Stock Code: 126094
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RAND, Ann & Paul. I Know a Lot of Things.New York : 1956
First edition, first printing. Between 1956 and 1970, Ann and Paul Rand produced four children's books together, of which this is the first. Paul Rand (1914-1996) was an American commercial artist who, together with his wife Ann, produced four picture books combining rhythmic verse with illustrations exhibiting Paul's interest in Swiss Style graphic... Learn More£1,500.00Stock Code: 102017
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DANTE ALIGHIERI. The Vision; or Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise.London : 1819
Second and best edition of one of the most important translations of Dante of the Romantic era, following the very scarce first edition which appeared in 1814 in such a diminutive format that it was barely legible.
"In January 1797 Cary began his translation of Dante's Divina commedia into blank verse. He started with the Purgatorio in 1797-8,... Learn More£2,750.00Stock Code: 146519
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RADCLIFFE, Anne. The Mysteries of Udolpho, a Romance;London : 1794
First edition of one of the founding texts of Gothic literature, the fourth and most popular novel by Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823), pioneer of the Gothic novel. Through The Mysteries of Udolpho, Radcliffe is particularly responsible for popularizing the "haunted castle" Gothic trope, Udolpho being directly parodied in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, and... Learn More£10,000.00Stock Code: 146531
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MILL, John Stuart. A System of Logic:London : 1843
First edition of the author's philosophical work, outlining the five principles of inductive reasoning, now known as Mill's methods. Often considered as Mill's best work, A System of Logic was twelve years in the making.
"Mill began his book with the assertion that he was not concerned with the contested territory of epistemology, but only with... Learn More£3,000.00Stock Code: 146532
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McCULLERS, Carson. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.Boston : 1940
First edition, first printing, first state jacket (with Summer's Lease advertised on rear flap), and a particularly sharp copy of McCullers's sensational debut novel. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter was ranked by The Modern Library as number 17 in its 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.
The jacket has the called-for "Summer's Lease"... Learn More£3,000.00Stock Code: 145674
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WALLACE, Doreen. The Tithe War.London : 1934
First edition, first impression. During the agricultural depression of the 1930s, Doreen Wallace campaigned against the imposition of tithes, leading to the impounding of the stock on her two farms in 1934, followed by a siege at Wortham Manor, confrontation with local Blackshirts and bankruptcy in 1939. From the publisher's archive. Learn More£50.00Stock Code: 96334
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MACKAY, Charles. Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions.London : 1841
First edition. Mackay's important early work of social psychology discusses popular delusions of all types and considers the credulous enthusiasm of mankind for phenomena such as alchemy, witchcraft, relics, the Crusades, urban myths, as well as economic events such as the tulip bubble, the Mississippi Bubble, and the South Sea Bubble. Still in print,... Learn More£10,000.00Stock Code: 121427
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DICKENS, Charles. Master Humphrey's Clock.London : 1840-41
First edition in book form of what Gordon Ray describes as "the pinnacle of Dickensian Gothic". He goes on to note that Phiz (H. K. Browne) "is in excellent form" and that George Cattermole's "wonderful clutter of antiquarian or architectural detail is well suited to Dickens's chosen subjects".
Master Humphrey was a publishing experiment on Dickens's... Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 148090
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DICKENS, Charles. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit.London : 1844
First edition, bound from the original parts as published from December 1842 to July 1844, with the stab-holes visible; handsomely bound.
Dickens's biographer places Martin Chuzzlewit as marking "a great change in Dickens's conception of moral characteristics... For the first time Dickens begins to explore the contradictions and difficulties... Learn More£875.00Stock Code: 147988
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DICKENS, Charles. Our Mutual Friend.London : 1865
First edition of Dickens's last completed novel, bound from the original parts as issued from May 1864 to November 1865, with the stab-holes visible; handsomely bound.
"Our Mutual Friend had a mixed reception (the young Henry James's harshly dismissive review in The Nation is notorious) but its stock has risen dramatically in recent years and... Learn More£600.00Stock Code: 147990
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DICKENS, Charles. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby.London : 1839
First edition, bound from the original monthly parts as published from April 1838 to October 1839, with the stab-holes visible; handsomely bound.
Dickens had been catapulted to fame with the success of The Pickwick Papers, and to secure his next novel Chapman and Hall offered Dickens 150 a part, a sum ten times greater than that which he had... Learn More£975.00Stock Code: 147836
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GOREY, Edward. Lucky Little People.No place : 1973
First and only edition, signed by Gorey on the title, of this complete cut-out set of characters, issued in conjunction with the publication of Rumpelstiltskin (1973) retold by Edith H. Tarcov. Interestingly, no second set was produced, nor was Gorey given credit for designing the cut-out figures. Learn More£300.00Stock Code: 147958
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DICKENS, Charles. Bleak House.London : 1853
First edition, bound from the original parts as issued between March 1852 and September 1853; handsomely bound.
"The satire of Bleak House focuses on the obfuscations and delays of the court of chancery which result in widespread human misery and suffering, but the novel's complicated plot and centripetal organization bring into the picture a... Learn More£950.00Stock Code: 147834
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CARNEVALI, Emanuel. A Hurried Man.Paris : [1925]
First edition, first impression, of the only work by Italian writer Emanuel Carnevali (1897-1942) to be published in his lifetime. This book is uncommonly found, especially in such good condition.
After moving to the United States in 1914 at the age of 16, Carnevali became friends with poets such as William Carlos Williams and Ezra Pound and... Learn More£1,000.00Stock Code: 147823
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DICKENS, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities.London : 1859
First edition, bound from the original monthly parts as published from June to December 1859, with the stab-holes visible; this copy with the earlier state of p. 213 misnumbered "113" and the signature "b" present on the list of plates, as preferred by collectors.
Dickens's great historical romance, set during the French Revolution, remains one... Learn More£5,000.00Stock Code: 147826
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LE GUIN, Ursula K. Threshold.London : 1980
First edition, first impression, inscribed on the title page to the Australian science fiction writer "To John Baxter, Ursula K. Le Guin".
Loosely inserted is a press cutting from a winter 1980 issue, reviewing this book. Learn More£300.00Stock Code: 147784
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AUDEN, W. H., & Louis Macneice. Letters from Iceland.London : 1937
First edition, first impression, inscribed by Auden on the title page "For William Gray, with love from Wystan". This is a lovely association copy of this pre-war travelogue, collaboratively written by Isherwood and Auden in prose and verse respectively.
The recipient, Dr William ("Woods") Shelton Gray, Jr (1926-1993), fostered friendships with... Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 147786
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FRASER, George MacDonald. Flashman's First Omnibus.London : 1979
First omnibus edition, first impression, signed by the author on the title page. The Flashman novels comprise 12 books featuring the eponymous anti-hero, which Fraser adapted from Tom Brown's School Days. Learn More£450.00Stock Code: 147777
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SMITH, Adam. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.Dublin : 1793
Fifth Dublin edition, in an attractive contemporary Irish binding, of Smith's masterpiece, the most significant economics book ever published; the first Dublin edition was published in 1776, the same year as the first London edition.
Provenance: the copy of Richard Lovell Edgeworth junior (1764-1796), the son of the Anglo-Irish politician, writer... Learn More£3,500.00Stock Code: 146656
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DEIGHTON, Len. Billion Dollar Brain.London : 1966
First edition, first impression, of the fourth and last Harry Palmer novel, rarely fond in the jacket and in collector's condition. Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 147768
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DEIGHTON, Len. Funeral in Berlin.London : 1964
First edition, first impression, of the third Harry Palmer novel, with the scarce wraparound band advertising the 1966 film starring Michael Caine. Learn More£275.00Stock Code: 147774
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COOLIDGE, Calvin. Have Faith in Massachusetts.Boston & New York : 1919
First edition, first printing. Inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To William Faulkner, with regards, Calvin Coolidge". Although the inscription is undated it occurred prior to 1934, at which point the present copy was advertised for sale at Goodspeed's book shop in Boston. Coolidge is known to have also presented Faulkner with a copy... Learn More£1,500.00Stock Code: 130136
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STREATFEILD, Noel. Ballet Shoes.New York : 1937
First US edition, first print. This is the first book in the popular "Shoe Series". Learn More£575.00Stock Code: 146443
