Copy


Signed and inscribed books featured in this months list includes Brendan Behan's Borstal Boy, a dediction copy of Iceberg Slim's Naked Soul (inscribed to the Black Panther Party), the first illustrated edition of Richard Adams' Watership Down, inscribed to "Pebble Mill" presenter and journalist Terry Dobson, Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking and a run of Dennis Wheatley.
Also of note is a tall first edition in English of Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship (1824), William St.Clair's copy of Mary Shelley's first book, and Nimrod Expedition Polar explorer Sir Philip Lee Brocklehurst's copy of The Koran.
We hope you find something of interest. As always further details and images are available through our website or on request.
With best wishes,
James and the Lucius Books team.

t: 01904 640111
 
 

First illustrated edition, first printing. Inscribed presentation copy. Publisher's beige paper covered boards and brown cloth spine, in dustwrapper and slipcase. Illustrated by John Lawrence in colour and black and white throughout. An excellent very good or better copy, the binding clean and square with slight sunning to the spine. The contents, with a little light spotting to the text block edges and some faint foxing to the prelims, are otherwise clean throughout. Complete with the lightly rubbed and nicked dustwrapper that has a couple of very short closed tears (at the head of the spine and the rear flap fold) and mild toning to the spine. There are two small pieces of tape to the underside. Not price-clipped (£8.75 net to the front flap). Housed in the better than very good original pictorial slipcase which is very lightly rubbed and bumped to the corners.

Inscribed by Richard Adams on the page facing the title page "To Terry Dobson / with kindest regards from / Richard Adams / 26th September 1977". The recipient is the journalist and news editor Terry Dobson, who pioneered the magazine television format with the BBC's 'Pebble Mill at One', a live broadcast that ran from 1972 to 1986, and again from 1991 to 1996.

Price: £1000.00 Stock code: 21701
 


 
Author / Artist: AUDEN, W. H.
Publisher: London: Faber and Faber, 1940

First edition, first printing. Publisher's original peach-coloured paper covered boards lettered in blue to upper board and spine, in dustwrapper. A very near fine copy, the binding square and firm, the contents clean throughout, without inscriptions, stamps or spotting. Complete with the near fine original dustwrapper which remains without loss or tears, with just a couple of small marks and a little toning to spine and extremities. Not price-clipped and correctly priced 2/6 net to the front flap. A particularly attractive example.

One of a series of introductory volumes published by Faber and Faber under the banner of Sesame Books. Others volumes in the series featured T. S Eliot, Louis Macneice, and Stephen Spender. This selection includes poems previously published in Auden's 'Poems', 'The Orators', 'The Dog Beneath the Skin', 'The Ascent of F6', 'Look Stranger!', 'Letters from Iceland', and 'Journey to a War'. 3550 copies of the first impression were printed (Bloomfield & Mendelson A23).

Price: £70.00 Stock code: 21682


Author / Artist: AUSTEN, Jane
Publisher: London: Macmillan and Co, 1898

Five Volumes, Pride and Prejudice illustrated with 40 line drawings by Charles E. Brock, each of the other volumes illustrated with 40 line drawings by Hugh Thomson. Recent full green crushed morocco with titles in gilt to the spines. Hand Sewn endbands in green and white. All edges gilt. The set housed in a bespoke green cloth slipcase. A fine set, the bindings square and firm with only light rubbing at the extremities. The contents with very light spotting to the tissue guard and prelims are otherwise clean and bright throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps.

A beautifully bound edition of Jane Austen's works, illustrated with 200 line drawings by leading illustrators Hugh Thomson and Charles E. Brock.

Price: £2250.00 Stock code: 21679
 


 

First edition, first printing. Dedication copy. Paperback original. Publisher's original white card covers. paper. A very good copy, the binding firm with some rubing and light creasing at the folds, a short closed tear to the fore-edge of the upper cover and a small scuff to the upper left of the rear. The spine and closed text block edge lightly marked. The contents are clean throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps.

Inscribed by the author in black ink on the inside upper cover "My best / and strongest wishes / for the survival and the / successful liberation of / The Black Panther Party / and we the People, / Iceberg / 6.24.71". The printed dedication includes founding and leading members of the Black Panther Party [reading in part] "I dedicate this book to the heroic memory of Malcolm X, Jack Johnson, Melvin X, Jonathan Jackson; to Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, Ericka Huggins, George Jackson, Angela Davis...". A collection of essays by the ex-pimp turned influential author Iceberg Slim. At the time of his death in 1992 his books, which were first published exclusively in paperback, had sold more than six million copies making him one of the best-selling African-American writers.

Price: £2450.00 Stock code: 21702


Author / Artist: BEHAN, Brendan
Publisher: New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1959

First American edition, first printing of Brendan Behan's autobiographical novel. Inscribed by the author. Publisher's original blue cloth with titles in silver to the upper board and spine, in dustwrapper. An excellent near fine copy, the binding square and firm, the cloth fresh with light rubbing at the corners. The contents are clean throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the lightly rubbed and nicked price-clipped dustwrapper that is a touch faded to the red lettering on the spine. Scarce in inscribed state.

First published in the UK by Hutchinson in 1958 and banned in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand shortly after. Inscribed by Brendan Behan in blue ink on the front endpaper "For Bill / looking forward to many / more fruitful conversations / Brendan / 14 ix 60". The author arrived in New York for the first time on September 2, 1960 in preparation for the September 20, Broadway debut of his play 'The Hostage'. Behan was greeted by an adoring media and courted by the biggest names in American arts, from Arthur Miller to Norman Mailer. The present volume is presumably inscribed to one of the many journalists that interviewed him at the Algonquin Hotel during the first two weeks of his visit.

Price: £1750.00 Stock code: 21677
 


 
Author / Artist: BESTALL, Alfred
Publisher: London: Daily Express, 1971

Publisher's proof copy of the 1971 Rupert Annual. Grey paper covers printed in blue. Illustrated in colour throughout. An excellent near fine copy, the binding square and firm, the spine with some vertical creasing. The contents with faint spotting to the prelims are otherwise clean throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps. Very scarce in this pre-publication state.

Price: £175.00 Stock code: 21627


Author / Artist: BESTALL, Alfred
Publisher: London: Daily Express, 1941

First edition of the sixth Daily Express Rupert Annual. Publisher's original pictorial boards. Illustrated in colour throughout. A very good copy, the binding firm with some rubbing at the spine edges and bumping at the corners. The spine is slightly rolled. The contents are entirely complete and without loose or torn pages. The "This Belongs to" box has a neatly written name in it otherwise that are no previous owner's marks. A couple of pages have a single foxing spot to the lower blank margin but on the whole a clean and tidy example in entirely original condition.

The fragile nature of the paper covered binding combined with poor quality war-time paper used in production dictates that the 1941 annual is one of the scarcest Ruperts to acquire anything approaching collectable condition.

Price: £325.00 Stock code: 21680
 


 
Author / Artist: BESTALL, Alfred
Publisher: London: Daily Express, 1940

First edition of the fifth Daily Express Rupert Annual. Publisher's original pictorial boards. Illustrated in colour throughout. An excellent better than very good copy, the binding firm with some rubbing at the spine edges and bumping at the tips. A few light scratches to the lower board. The contents are entirely complete and without loose or torn pages. There are no previous owner's inscriptions and the pages remain clean throughout. An attractive example of one of the scarcest annuals to acquire in decent original condition.

This was the first of the Daily Express annuals to be released with a pictorial paper covered spine rather than the red cloth of previous editions. As such the binding is prone to heavy wear and loss.

Price: £475.00 Stock code: 21660


First UK edition, first printing. Original blue cloth lettered in gilt to the spine, in the dustwrapper designed by Roxanne Cumming. Printed on laid paper. A fine, sharp copy, the binding square and firm, the contents bright and clean throughout. In the near fine dustwrapper which, except for a little creasing to the upper (white) portion of the dustwrapper, some very light edge and surface wear, and a touch of soiling, is in very good shape indeed, the colours remaining bright without the customary fading. Not price-clipped (£2.25 / 45s net to the front flap). A particularly lovely example.

Containing three of the four perfectly formed collections published by Elizabeth Bishop during her lifetime, 'North and South' (1946), A Cold Spring (1955), and 'Questions of Travel' (1965) ('Geography III' followed in 1976, three years before she died), this collected volume was greeted with remarkable critical acclaim, and won the National Book Award for Poetry in 1970. In his New York Times review (June 1, 1969), John Ashbery notes that athough "the [...] volume runs to a little more than 200 pages, [...] the proportion of pure poetry in it outweighs many a chunky collected volume from our established poets, [...] it is still not enough for an addict of her work. For, like other addicting substances, this work creates a hunger for itself: the more one tastes it, the less of it there seems to be." He singles out Bishop's attention to "the life of dreams, always regarded with suspicion as too 'French' in American poetry; the little mysteries of falling asleep and the oddness of waking up in the morning; the sea, especially its edge, and the look of the creatures who live in it; then diversions and reflections on French clocks and mechanical toys that recall Marianne Moore [...]." The US edition appeared on April 29, 1969, in an edition of 5500 copies and quickly going through many reprints. The first UK edition (offset from the US edition, and with a near-identical jacket) appeared on October 29, 1970, in an edition of 1000 copies. (MacMahon A9. [b1]).

Price: £120.00 Stock code: 21812
 


 

First edition, first printing. Original burgundy cloth with white titles to the spine, in the Donald Green designed dustwrapper. A very good copy, the binding square and clean, the contents, with spotting to the text block edges, prelims, and occasionally the margins, are otherwise clean throughout and without stamps or inscriptions. Complete with the lightly rubbed and nicked dustwrapper which is a little faded to the spine and has some dustiness and marking to the rear panel. Not price clipped (18s net to the front flap).

The author's debut novel.

Price: £65.00 Stock code: 21821


First edition, first printing. Original orange cloth with titles in black to the spine and upper board, in dustwrapper. Top edge red. "Red Badge Detective" design to the endpapers. An excellent very good or better copy, the binding square and firm, the spine tips and board corners lightly rubbed. The contents, with a tiny bit of toning and offsetting to the endpapers, are otherwise clean and bright throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the rubbed, nicked and creased dustwrapper that is a little faded and chipped to the spine, with short closed tears at the bottom of the rear panel and the top of the front and rear flap folds. Not price clipped ($2.00 to the upper front flap). A scarce title in dustwrapper.

A collection of nine short stories published for the first time in book form here, and for which there was no equivalent British publication. The stories, featuring Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple and Parker Pyne include The Regatta Mystery; The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest; How Does Your Garden Grow?; Problem at Pollensa Bay; Yellow Iris; Miss Marple Tells a Story; The Dream; In a Glass Darkly; Problem at Sea. (Hubin).

Price: £3500.00 Stock code: 21776
 


 

First illustrated edition, first printing (contemporaneous with the Cassell first edition). Four volumes. Publisher's original blue cloth, with gilt titles and borders to the upper board and spine. Red leather title labels. Blue top-stain. Issued without dustwrappers. An excellent, very near fine, clean, square and tight set showing only the mildest rubbing to the cloth, and a couple of bumps to the outer corners of Vol. 1. The contents are entirely complete, clean and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps. An lovely example of the Chartwell edition.

[Cohen A267.2; Woods A138d].

Price: £250.00 Stock code: 21636


Author / Artist: COLE, Jackson
Publisher: London: Cassell and Company, 1939

First UK edition, first printing. Publisher's original orange cloth with black titles to the spine, in dustwrapper. An excellent near fine copy, the binding square and firm, the cloth bright and fresh. The contents with a previous owner's bookplate and shelf stamp to the front pastedown, and his ownership name and date at the head of the title page, are otherwise clean throughout. Complete with the rubbed and nicked dustwrapper that has a couple of short closed tears but remains without fading or loss. Publisher's "extra war costs" paper price label to the spine, as issued. An attractive example.

Price: £50.00 Stock code: 21826
 


 

First edition. Inscribed presentation copy. Publisher's original faux leather boards with titles in gilt to the upper board and spine, in dustwrapper. Illustrated in colour throughout. A fine copy, the binding square and firm, the contents clean throughout and without previous owner's marks. Complete with the very near fine lightly rubbed and creased dustwrapper that remains without fading, loss or tears.

Inscribed by Terence Cuneo with an original drawing in blue ink on the title page "To Gerald / with affection and in memory / of a very valued friendship / Terry" underneath which he has drawn his trademark mouse, this one carrying an ABF [soldier's charity] flag and dated "Easter 1990". The recipient is Brigadier Gerald Landy, author of The Military Paintings of Terence Cuneo, published by New Cavendish Books in 1993.

Price: £140.00 Stock code: 21803


Publisher's original green buckram with titles in gilt on black labels to the spine. All illustrations, folding maps and plates reproduced including 82 colour plates (from The Voyage of the Beagle). Darwin's own indexes complement a new consolidated index in volume 29, the first consolidated index to all Darwin's published books. An excellent, better than very good set, the bindings square and firm, the cloth uniformly bright with just the occasional light mark or minor bump. The contents are clean throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps.

The first complete collected edition of Charles Darwin's books. "Are they needed? To be sure. The Darwin industry has scandalously failed to provide texts of more than a handful of Darwin's books. If you want to know what Darwin said about his grandfather or what he wrote about barnacles (still an essential reference to cirripedists, apart from any historical importance) you are forced to search shelves, or wait until someone else does it for you. Many titles have not been in print for a century." – Eric Korn, The Times Literary Supplement.

Price: £1150.00 Stock code: 21805
 


 
Author / Artist: DIDION, Joan
Publisher: New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005

First edition, first printing. Signed by the author. Original green quarter cloth with gilt titles to the spine and cream paper-covered boards, in dustwrapper. A fine copy, the binding square and tight, the contents clean throughout and without previous owners' stamps or inscriptions. Complete with the lightly rubbed and creased dustwrapper that is a little dusty to the front and rear panels. Not price-clipped ($23.95 to the upper front flap).

Signed by Joan Didion in black ink to the title page. An exploration of Didion's experiences of the sudden death of her husband and the near-fatal illness of her daughter, which occurred within days of each other.

Price: £800.00 Stock code: 21759


First edition in English, first printing. Translated from the German by Thomas Carlyle. Three volumes. Uncut in near contemporary blue cloth with titles in gilt to the spine. Half titles discarded by the binder. Those preceding books I through to VIII complete and present, as issued. An excellent very good set, the bindings square and firm with bumping and minor fraying at the spine tips. The cloth is a little faded and spotted to the spine however the gilt remains bright. The contents, with spotting primarily to the margins throughout are otherwise clean and without loss or tears. An attractive example.

Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship [Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre], the second novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, was originally published in German in 1795–96 by Johann Friedrich Unger, Berlin. The novel is commonly acknowledged to have played a pivotal role in founding the genre known as the Bildungsroman. Schopenhauer ranked it as one of the four greatest novels ever written; Schlegel compared it in importance to the French Revolution and Fichte's philosophy. Notably, the first English translation, complete with the 14 page 'translator's preface' is the first major literary work of Thomas Carlyle. This was the text that Ralph Waldo Emerson, T. S. Eliot and Henry James debated, praised and criticised.

Price: £875.00 Stock code: 21823
 


 
Author / Artist: HEMINGWAY, Ernest
Publisher: London: Jonathan Cape, 1950

First edition, first printing. Recent full green crushed morocco, titles in silver on red morocco label inset to the spine. Hand sewn endbands in green and red. All edges gilt. A fine copy, the binding without wear, the contents clean throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps. Housed in a bespoke red cloth solander case.

A beautiful example of the true first edition, preceding the American (Scribners) printing by four days.

Price: £975.00 Stock code: 21678


Author / Artist: KEATS, John
Publisher: London: Edward Moxon, 1851

An early printing, with emendations, of the edition first published in 1846. Contemporary half brown morocco over marbled paper covered boards. The boards double-ruled in gilt to borders, the spine finely decorated and lettered. Portrait frontispiece by J. Severn and H. Robinson with facsimile of the poet's signature, complete with the tissue guard. Marbled endpapers. All edges gilt. A very good copy, the binding square and firm with a little rubbing to the extremities. The contents, with a previous owner's name to the blank front free endpaper and a number of light crosses and pencil underlinings (mainly confined to 'Endymion'), are otherwise bright and clean. Only the lightest spotting to the verso of the frontispiece and rear endpapers. Altogether, a lovely copy of one of the earliest collected editions of the poet's work.

By the time Keats died in 1821, he had published three volumes containing forty poems in all (eight further poems were published in periodicals). It wasn't until 1840 that a single volume, issued by William Smith, and containing all these poems with the addition of the substantial number of unpublished material that had been unearthed since the poet's death. In 1845, John Taylor, who had published 'Endymion' (1818) and 'Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems' (1820), sold his copyright to Keats' poems and letters to the publisher Edward Moxon. Moxon first published the 'Poetical Works', in 1846, reordering the poems. This 1851 edition (the first to follow the 1846 edition) adds the portrait frontispiece and again slightly reorders the poems. As John Barnard has written, it was Moxon's editions of Keats that "mark[ed] the point at which his poetry entered the Victorian poetic canon." (John Barnard, 'Manuscripts and Publishing History' in 'John Keats in Context', ed. Michael O'Neill [Cambridge, 2017]; 'Keats: Poetical Works, ed. H. W. Garrod [Oxford, 1956]; MacGillivray B27).

Price: £275.00 Stock code: 21742
 


 
Author / Artist: KIPLING, Rudyard
Publisher: London: Macmillan and Co, 1924

First combined edition, on thin paper. Handsomely bound in full red crushed morocco with titles in gilt to the upper board and spine. All edges gilt. Hand-sewn endbands. Housed in a red cloth slipcase. Illustrated with a colour frontispiece and line drawings throughout. Publisher's cloth bound in at the rear. A superb fine copy, the binding square and tight, the contents clean throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps.

A beautifully presented first edition of the adventures of Mowgli and friends. A classic of nineteenth century children's literature.

Price: £925.00 Stock code: 21644


Author / Artist: LE CARRÉ, John
Publisher: London: Victor Gollancz, 1962

First edition, first printing. Recent full red morocco with gilt titles to the spine. All edges gilt. A fine copy, the binding square and tight. The contents, toned as often due to the quality of the paper stock, and with the odd isolated foxing spot are otherwise clean throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps. Housed in a bespoke red cloth slipcase.

A very attractive, finely bound example of the second George Smiley novel.

Price: £1250.00 Stock code: 21646
 


 
Author / Artist: LEWIS, C. S.
Publisher: London: Geoffrey Bles, 1952

First edition, first printing. Publisher's original blue cloth with silver titles to the spine, in dustwrapper. Illustrated with a frontispiece and line drawings throughout by Pauline Baynes. A very good copy, the binding firm with some rubbing and light bumping at the extremities. The cloth is clean with some mild fading to the spine and board edges. The contents with a small previous owner's ink name to the top edge of the front endpaper and with a bookseller's label to the bottom right corner of the front pastedown, are otherwise clean throughout. The closed text block edge has just a few spots. Complete with the rubbed and nicked, price-clipped dustwrapper that has a small chip at the head of the spine and several short closed tears at the folds. The primarily red dustwrapper remains even in colour and without fading.

The third published novel in C. S. Lewis' Narnia Chronicles.

Price: £2250.00 Stock code: 21800


Author / Artist: MEREDITH, George
Publisher: London: Chapman & Hall, 1862

First edition, first printing. Original green wave-grained cloth (John Carter's 'A' binding), blind-stamped double-ruled borders to front and rear panels, lettered in gilt to the spine with three horizontal gilt bands to upper and lower edges. Untrimmed edges. A better than very good copy, the cloth and gilt vivid, the binding square and firm, the hinges strong. Spine tips are a little softened, with a small diagonal half-centimetre crease, and a little rubbing, to the lower tip. Small bump with an associated short cloth tear (c. 3 mm) to the lower edge of the front panel. Light rubbing to outer corners, the lower corner of the front panel a little softened. Light spotting to fore- and lower page block edges, spreading a little to the outer margins of a few pages. The contents, with the odd isolated spot and a few small marks to the margins, are otherwise clean and bright. A couple of pages roughly opened resulting in minor loss to the margins (upper edge of the final two numbered leaves and to the outer edge of pp. 57-8), not affecting the text. With the bookplate showing the coat of arms of the Wingfield family, Onslow, Co. Salop affixed to the front pastedown (probably Col. Charles George Wingfield (1833-91), Sherriff of Shropshire, who inherited the Onslow Estate from his uncle, John Wingfield), and the illustrated bookplate of Walter Hirst to the front free endpaper, with a date, Dec 20th, 1862, in black ink above it. There are traces of an erased name above the date (with a little abrasion), and another small erasure to the outer corner. Altogether, a very presentable example of Meredith's great sequence, in the first state binding.

In his 1932 volume, 'Binding Variants', John Carter refers to four varieties of cloth binding used for the first edition sheets of Meredith's 'Modern Love', all dark green but with differing grains and patterning, and noting that Maurice Buxton Forman, in his 1922 bibliography, mentions just one variant (the wavy grain of the present copy). Carter was initially unable to assign a chronological order to the variants, but by 1938 in 'More Binding Variants', had concluded that the wavy grained variant was the earliest, designating it binding 'A' (a conclusion that now seems to be generally accepted). 'Modern Love' (a relatively early work, predating the novels that made the author's name) was written during the winter of 1861-2. A sequence of fifty numbered sixteen-line poems, it is a thinly veiled account of the author's marriage to Mary Ellen Nicolls (daughter of the novelist and poet Thomas Love Peacock). J. B. Priestley, in his 1926 study of Meredith, describes the marriage as "doomed from the outset". In 1858, after nine turbulent years of married life and the birth of a son, Mary left the country with a lover, returning the following year however and eventually dying alone in her Weybridge lodgings in 1861. Although Meredith the man was reticent about the marriage, the poem, which Priestley describes as "subtly introspective [and] almost self-torturing", vividly "records the disillusionment of passionate married love slowly giving place to discord, jealousy, and intense unhappiness" (Margaret Drabble). The volume also includes 'Poems of the English Roadside and 'Poems and Ballads'. (Forman 8; Collie XXXVIIa; J. B. Priestley, 'George Meredith' [London, 1926]; Margaret Drabble, 'The Oxford Companion to English Literature' [Oxford, 1985]).

Price: £225.00 Stock code: 21754
 


 
Author / Artist: MITFORD, Nancy
Publisher: London: Hamish Hamilton, 1945

First edition, first printing. Publisher's original blue cloth with gilt titles to the spine, in the first state Roger Furse illustrated dustwrapper. A very good copy, the binding firm with minor rubbing and bimping at the extremities, the spine a touch rolled. The contents, with the unavoidable toning due to the wartime paper quality are otherwise clean throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the rubbed and nicked dustwrapper which has several short closed tears and small chips with associated creasing. Not price-clipped (8s. 6d. net to the front flap).

The author's breakthrough novel about an upper-class English family in the inter-war period, the first of a trilogy followed by Love in a Cold Climate (1949) and Don't Tell Alfred (1960).

Price: £575.00 Stock code: 21764


Author / Artist: MOORE, Marianne
Publisher: London: Faber and Faber, 1951

First UK edition, first printing (in its bibliographically complex second state). Original orange cloth, lettered in gilt to the spine, in dustwrapper. A very near fine copy, the binding square and firm, the cloth fresh and lacking the common fading, the contents clean throughout and without inscriptions or stamps. There are a couple of very small marks to the front panel and very minor softening to the upper spine tip. In the near fine, very lightly soiled dustwrapper, a little sunned to the spine. Light diagonal crease to the upper, and a pin-sized abrasion to the lower, edges of the front panel. Neatly clipped and repriced by the publisher (15s. net). An unusually bright and sharp copy.

The 1951 collected edition of Marianne Moore's poems has a complex pedigree. In a 1973 letter to Moore's bibliographer, Craig Abbott, P. F. du Sautoy of Faber and Faber explained (in Abbott's acount) that "Faber printed its first impression and also printed and bound for Macmillan, New York, an impression of 1,500 copies. When these arrived in New York, presumably in time for a projected publication date of November 1951, they were seized by U.S. customs officials—not, however, before part of the shipment had been released to Macmillan. Of those released, about forty copies were inscribed by Moore for presentation and a few others were sent out as review copies. [...] To avoid the loss of American copyright, Macmillan returned to Faber the rest of the copies, including those seized. Faber replaced the dust jacket, retained the Macmillan binding, supplied a cancel title page and copyright page [with no mention of any of this], and issued these copies after it sold out its first impression." Abbott, confusingly, describes the resulting UK edition (with the Macmillan instead of Faber imprint in gilt to the spine, a loosely laid in Errata slip, and clipped and repriced jacket; all of which the present copy exhibits) as the second impression, but as the sheets and binding are simultaneous with the first UK copies, it is more accurately described as the second state of the first printing. The precedence in appearance (and production) of the UK edition may be explained by the high regard in which Moore was held by T. S. Eliot, who was then in charge of the Faber poetry list. In a preface to the 1935 Faber Selected Moore, he stated his "conviction, for what it is worth [...], that Miss Moore's poems form part of the small body of durable poetry written in our time." (Abbott A 10.a2b)

Price: £95.00 Stock code: 21813
 


 
Author / Artist: MORRIS, William
Publisher: London: The Folio Society, 2015

First Folio edition, first printing. Original navy morocco with gilt titles and designs by Neil Gower to the spine and upper board. All edges gilt. Illustrated with a black and white frontispiece by Charles March Gere, and with decorative black and white illuminated letters throughout. A superb fine copy, the binding square and tight, the contents clean and bright throughout. Housed in the original navy blue card slipcase, which has very faint dents to one side.

A beautifully produced reproduction of the Kelmscott Press edition of William Morris's socialist utopian novel.

Price: £575.00 Stock code: 21722


Author / Artist: MURDOCH, Iris
Publisher: London: Colophon Press, 1994

First edition, first printing. Signed limited edition. One of twelve numbered copies in full black Nigerian goatskin, lettered in gilt to the spine. Top edge gilt. Printed on Mohawk Superfine 118 gsm paper. With the original glassine. Housed in a marbled paper-covered card slipcase. A fine copy, presenting as unread, the binding square and firm, the contents spotless throughout.

'Joanna Joanna' was published in an edition of 143 copies, 125 copies in cloth, signed and numbered 1-125; 12 copies, numbered I-XII, in Nigerian goatskin, signed with a holograph quotation from the text; and 6 copies in goatskin for private distribution. This copy is no. VIII of the 12 numbered I-XII. Beneath her signature in black ink on the rear colophon page, Murdoch has written the following quotation from the play, "I don't blame myself at all, / I am far beyond satisfactions / of that kind." 'Joanna Joanna' (set "at an Institute of Theoretical Studies somewhere in English Countryside") was written in 1969, a year the author dedicated to writing plays. It was never performed (though the plot was recycled for the 1975 novel 'A Word Child') and is published here for the first time. (Peter J. Conradi, 'Iris Murdoch: A Life' [London, 2001]).

Price: £425.00 Stock code: 21681
 


 

First edition, first printing. Publisher's original blue cloth with red titles to the spine, in the Edward Ardizzone illustrated dustwrapper. A very good copy, the binding square and firm, the cloth bright and fresh. The contents, with a gift inscription and previous owner's bookplate to the front endpaper, are spotted throughout. Complete with the rubbed and nicked dustwrapper that has a small chip to the top edge of the rear panel, a short closed tear and the remnants of a paper price label to the spine.

The East End author's second novel following on from Down Donkey Row. Transported from the clatter and neighbourliness of the East End to a suburban housing estate, Edwin Farnarm and his sister Veronica were like two sparrows driven out of St. James's Park to the suggested freedom of the Green Belt - but without sparrows' adaptability. "Respectability," in company with a sanctimonious stepfather, was too much for them. Edwin took to gambling for comfort, Veronica sought escape with a man she did not love; even their mother turned her thoughts to the lodger... (publisher's blurb).

Price: £125.00 Stock code: 21743


Author / Artist: ORWELL, George
Publisher: London: The Folio Society, 1984

First edition with Quentin Blake illustrations, first printing. Original pictorial cloth boards with wraparound Quentin Blake illustration and gilt titles to the spine. In the publisher's slipcase, as issued. A near fine copy, the binding square and firm, with fading and a little light marking to the spine, the contents clean throughout and without inscriptions or stamps, the original slipcase with only minor rubbing to the extremities.

The first printing of the Quentin Blake illustrated edition of George Orwell's allegorical masterpiece.

Price: £50.00 Stock code: 21820
 


 

First edition with Harry Clarke illustrations, first printing. Trade issue. Publisher's original olive cloth with dark green stamped designs and titles to the spine and upper board and gilt titles to the spine, in dustwrapper. Top edge gilt. 24 lavish full page black and white plates and further illustrations throughout the text by Harry Clarke. A better than very good copy the binding square and firm with bumping to the corners and spine tips. The cloth and gilt remains bright and fresh. The contents, with a small gift inscription to the half title and the odd isolated foxing spot to the margins are otherwise clean throughout. The top right corner of the early pages are bumped to the blank margin (not affecting text or illustration), one text page (p.35) and one illustration plate (p. 70) have a short closed tear to the fore-edge, again without loss and not affecting the text or illustration. Complete with the original rubbed and nicked pictorial dustwrapper that is a little creased at the extremities but otherwise without loss or large tears. Seldom encountered in any condition dustwrapper, rarely so in this attractive original condition.

Clarke's exquisite illustrations, made up of elegant, slender lines and large areas of black space and painstakingly detailed textures lend the sense of darkness and uncanny horror to the book that Poe's tales warrant.

Price: £2750.00 Stock code: 21676


First Folio Society edition (with reset text and new reproductions of Beatrix Potter's illustrations). Twelve volumes. Publisher's cloth with colour illustration on paper to the upper board. Titles in gilt to the spine and upper boards. Top edge gilt. Illustrated in colour throughout. A fine clean and bright set. The bindings are square and firm, without fading or wear. The contents are clean throughout and without previous owner's marks. Housed in the publisher's original blue cloth and board slipcase.

An attractively produced collection of the early Beatrix Potter stories.

Price: £125.00 Stock code: 21623
 


 
Author / Artist: RANSOME, Arthur
Publisher: London: Jonathan Cape, 1943

First edition, first printing. Original green cloth with gilt titles to the spine, in dustwrapper. Endpapers illustrated with colour maps. Illustrated throughout with black and white line drawings. A better than very good copy, the binding square and firm, the board top corners very gently bumped. The text block has some dustiness to the top edge, otherwise the contents are clean throughout and without inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the rubbed and nicked pictorial dustwrapper that is toned to the spine and has a small hole to the rear spine fold. Not price-clipped (8/6 net to the front flap).

The 11th and penultimate Swallows and Amazons novel.

Price: £80.00 Stock code: 21773


An expanded and emended edition of this landmark translation, originally published in 1734. From the library of Polar Explorer Sir Philip Lee Brocklehurst. Handsomely bound in nineteenth-century full dark burgundy morocco, blind ruled to front, rear and spine, the latter with gilt title and five raised bands. Gilt dentelles surrounding replaced burgundy silk-covered endpapers. All edges gilt. With the three genealogical tables (two folding out), fold-out map, and a fold-out view and plan of the Temple of Mecca. A very good copy, the binding square and firm, the spine relaid and hinges expertly refurbished.. The contents are clean throughout, showing a few spots to the fold-out maps and charts to the rear, but not to the text itself. There is a 6.5 cm tear with a small area of loss to the margin to a page (pp. 75/6) of the separately paginated Preliminary Discourse (not affecting the text). With the impressive bookplate of the Polar Explorer, Sir Philip Lee Brocklehurst, Bart. [Baronet] (1887-1975) removed from the original front pastedown and affixed to the replacement front free endpaper; an earlier inscription of [Henry] Alworth Merrewether (1780/1-1864); and a further inscription – LLC [?] Hutcheson – to the upper corner of the dedication page and final page of the index (the latter partially cut by the binder's trimming of the upper edge). A very attractive example, with an intriguing provenance.

A copy owned by Sir Philip Lee Brocklehurst, Second Baronet of Swythamley Park, Leek, Staffordshire, with his bookplate illustrated with his coat of arms. Brocklehurst is best known as a member of the 1907-9 Nimrod Expedition to Antarctica led by Ernest Shackleton, for which he was awarded the Silver Polar Medal. He was planning to join Shackleton again for the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, but the war intervened. He gained a commission in the 1st Regiment of Life Guards, serving in Flanders from 1914 (where he was shot in the shoulder) and, in 1918, transferred to the 9th Sudanese Battalion of the Egyptian Army, serving for two years. During the Second World War, he commanded the 2nd regiment of the Mechanised Brigade of the Arab Legion, and later joined the British Council for Palestine-Transjordan. Other adventures include travelling across the Sahara Desert in a car with his wife during the 1930s. The other notable owner of this copy, Henry Alworth Merreweather, was Town Clerk of the City of London and Serjeant-at-Law in Calne, Wiltshire. Beneath his name, Merreweather has added "Castlefield[s], Calne, Wall, July 1st 1855". Castlefields, Merreweather's country seat, was built for him (in an early example of Tudor Revival style) during the 1830s. Although there had been one earlier English translation of the Koran, the British Orientalist George Sale's (1697-1736) version was the first to seriously engage with the original Arabic text (the 1649 version attributed to Alexander Ross was based on a French translation). It was the edition read by Voltaire and, more recently, Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to the United States Congress, was sworn in using Thomas Jefferson's copy of the 1764 edition of Sale's translation (now held at the Library of Congress), the same copy also being used in 2019 for Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar.

Price: £275.00 Stock code: 21695
 


 

First edition, first printing. Original green cloth lettered in gilt to the spine, in dustwrapper. A near fine copy, the cloth clean, the gilt a little muted (as usual). The contents, with a previous owner's name, address and a date in ink to the front free endpaper and a few light spots to upper and fore-edges of the page block, are otherwise clean throughout. Complete with the original rubbed and nicked dustwrapper, showing some minor loss to spine tips and the upper outer corner, and some darkening and light soiling to spine, folds and extremities. Correctly priced with 8/6 net to the spine.

A collection of twenty-one essays by the great crime writer, scholar, and translator of Dante. The essays are divided into three sections, 'Theological', 'Political' and 'Critical', the latter including Sayers' four 'Studies in Sherlock Holmes'.

Price: £50.00 Stock code: 21814


First edition, first printing of Mary Shelley's first book. Contemporary half calf over marbled paper covered boards. Ruled, decorated and with titles in gilt to the spine. Marbled endpapers. Bookplate of Charles Dodd to the front pastedown. Bound without half title. Pencil ownership inscription and notes concerning the present copy by the author William St Clair to the blank reverse of the front endpaper. An attractive example, the binding square and firm, the upper hinge skillfully refurbished. The contents, with spotting mostly confined to the prelims but occasionally throughout are otherwise in excellent condition with good margins. Bound with "The Traveller's Guide to France and the Netherlands" by John Sugden, published by T. Boosey in 1817. Half title present, but without the map.

Scarce account of the Shelley's two trips into Europe, in 1814 and 1816. Lowndes 2374; R. Ingpen, Shelley in England p.444: "From the day that Mary joined the lot with Shelley they kept a joint dairy. From this journal (...) Mary compiled a little account of this journey and their later visit to the Continent, which was later published in 1817". Divided into three sections, the text consists of a journal, four letters and a poem. Primarily the work of Mary, it includes several contributions from Percy (including the preface and two letters) but most notably the first publication of his celebrated poem, Mont Blanc. Despite mostly favourable reviews the book sold poorly and when Charles Ollier, the co-publisher, went out of business in 1823, his inventory included 92 copies of the work. William St Clair in his penciled note to the present copy writes "The fact that these two books are bound together in Regency style suggests that this was one of the few copies of the "Six Weeks Tour" which was sold at the time of publication, as distinct from being remaindered later".

Price: £6500.00 Stock code: 21690
 


 

First edition, first printing. Publisher's original blue cloth with gilt titles to the spine, in the Pâtel illustrated dustwrapper. A very good copy, the binding square and firm with minor rubbing and bumping to the extremities. The cloth is faded at the head and tail of the spine. The contents, with light spotting to the endpapers are otherwise clean throughout and without inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the rubbed and nicked dustwrapper that has a short closed tear at the upper front spine fold and vertical creases down the middle of the spine and upper panel where the dustwrapper was previously folded and stored. As a result the dustwrapper remains bright and without fading or loss. Correctly priced 7/6 net to the spine.

A collection of 18 short stories.

Price: £65.00 Stock code: 21804


First edition, first printing [first issue]. Original green boards with gilt titles to spine, in dustwrapper. Top edge green. An excellent very near fine copy, the binding square and clean, the contents, with a faint hint of spotting to the text block fore-edge, are otherwise clean throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the very lightly rubbed and creased dustwrapper that remains without fading, loss or tears. Not price-clipped (£14.95 to the front flap).

Price: £145.00 Stock code: 21815
 


 

First edition, first printing. Original illustrated paper-covered boards, in dustwrapper. A very good copy, the binding square and bright, with very mild bumping to the board corners and a little light spotting to the board edges. The contents, with light spotting to the text block edges, a gift inscription to the front free endpaper, and a small bookseller's label to the front free endpaper, are otherwise clean throughout. Complete with the original price-clipped dustwrapper which is toned to the spine and hinges, a little rubbed and nicked to the edges, and has some slight scuffing to the rear panel. An attractive example

(Hammond & Anderson A6a).

Price: £225.00 Stock code: 21763


Author / Artist: WHEATLEY, Dennis
Publisher: London: Hutchinson, 1939

First edition, first printing. Inscribed presentation copy. Publisher's original black cloth with gilt titles to the spine, in the Abbey illustrated dustwrapper. Endpapers illustrated by Diana Younger. Undated catalogue at the rear. A very good or better copy, the binding square and firm, the cloth and gilt bright and fresh. The contents, with spotting to the closed text block edge are otherwise clean throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the near fine lightly rubbed and creased dustwrapper that remains without fading, loss or tears. Correctly priced 8/6 net to the spine. A very attractive example.

Inscribed by the author in black ink on the title page "For Mr. S. R. Fuller / With my best wishes from / his friend / Dennis Wheatley". The first of three novels featuring Julian Day.

Price: £975.00 Stock code: 21749
 


 
Author / Artist: WHEATLEY, Dennis
Publisher: London: Hutchinson, 1960

First edition, first printing. Inscribed association copy. Publisher's original pictorial boards with gilt and red titles to the spine, in the Sax illustrated dustwrapper. A very good copy, the binding square and firm, with some bumping at the spine tips and rubbing at the extremities. The contents are clean throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the rubbed and slightly nicked dustwrapper that has a closed tear across to the upper spine. Not price clipped (18s net to the front flap).

Inscribed by the author in blue ink on the title page "For Peter Underwood / With every kind thought / from / Dennis Wheatley". An interesting association copy. At the time of publication "Ghost Hunter" Peter Underwood was president of the paranormal investigation and research organisation The Ghost Club. As an author and broadcaster his published work changed the field of literature on the paranormal. The Satanist is the second of two occult novels featuring Molly Fountain, the first being To The Devil-A Daughter.

Price: £275.00 Stock code: 21797


Author / Artist: WHEATLEY, Dennis
Publisher: London: Hutchinson, 1940

First edition, first printing. Inscribed presentation copy. Publisher's original black cloth with gilt titles to the spine, in the Diana Younger illustrated dustwrapper. Illustrated map endpapers. Undated catalogue at the rear. A better than very good copy, the binding square and firm, the cloth and gilt bright and fresh. The contents, with spotting to the closed text block edge are otherwise clean throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the near fine lightly rubbed and creased dustwrapper that is otherwise without fading, loss or tears. Correctly priced 10/6 net to the front flap. A very attractive example.

Inscribed by the author in blue ink on the title page "For S. R. Fuller / with the very best wishes / of / Dennis Wheatley". The second title in the Gregory Sallust series.

Price: £575.00 Stock code: 21752
 


 
Author / Artist: WHEATLEY, Dennis
Publisher: London: Hutchinson, 1941

First edition, first printing. Inscribed presentation copy. Publisher's original black cloth with gilt titles to the spine, in the Abbey illustrated dustwrapper. Illustrated endpapers. Undated twelve page catalogue at the rear. A better than very good copy, the binding square and firm, the cloth and gilt bright and fresh. The contents, with spotting to the closed text block edge are otherwise clean throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the very near fine lightly rubbed and creased dustwrapper that a tiny hole at the upper spine fold and is otherwise without fading, loss or tears. Correctly priced 9/6 net to the front flap. A very attractive example.

Inscribed by the author in black ink on the title page "For S. R. Fuller / With very best wishes from / Dennis Wheatley". The second of three novels featuring Julian Day.

Price: £750.00 Stock code: 21750


Author / Artist: WHEATLEY, Dennis
Publisher: London: Hutchinson, 1953

First edition, first printing. Inscribed by the author. Publisher's original black cloth with gilt titles to the spine, in the magnificent Frank C. Pape illustrated dustwrapper. Illustrated endpapers. A fine copy, the binding square and tight, the cloth and gilt fresh. The contents are clean throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the very near fine bright dustwrapper that has a few dust marks to the rear panel but remains without fading, loss or tears. Not price clipped (12/6 net to front flap).

Inscribed by the author in blue ink on the title page "For / S. R. Fuller / With kindest remembrances / from his old friend / Dennis Wheatley". This satanic horror story, the first of two occult novels featuring Molly Fountain, was the basis for the 1976 Peter Sykes directed film starring Richard Widmark and Christopher Lee, with an early appearance by Nastassja Kinski as the eponymous daughter.

Price: £250.00 Stock code: 21799
 


 
Author / Artist: WHEATLEY, Dennis
Publisher: London: Hutchinson, 1942

First edition, first printing. Inscribed presentation copy. Publisher's original black cloth with gilt titles to the spine, in the Abbey illustrated dustwrapper. Illustrated endpapers. A better than very good copy, the binding square and firm, the cloth and gilt bright and fresh. The contents, with toning to the war-economy paper stock are otherwise clean throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the near fine lightly rubbed and creased dustwrapper that has a couple of short closed tears and is marked to the far edge lower panel but is otherwise without fading or loss. Correctly priced 10/6 net to the front flap. An attractive example.

Inscribed by the author in black ink on the title page "For S. R. Fuller / with very best wishes / from / Dennis Wheatley". The fifth of the Gregory Sallust novels.

Price: £375.00 Stock code: 21751

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