There is a deceptively simple goal for the collector of first editions: to obtain the earliest printed form of a work of literature, in as close to the condition it was in when it first appeared in bookstores as a new book. Dig deeper, though, and you find that the first edition collector also has an interest in ...
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Seattle: Aubergine Atelier, 2019. Oblong 24mo. 36(ff)., + 14 Japanese kozo-paper leaves painted on both sides in gouache, tempera, watercolor, and polyacrylic varnish. From an edition of thirty copies, this is one of ten bound in half leather with decorative paper over boards. Each copy in the edition contains unique..... More
(Northampton, MA): Apiary Press, 1961. 16mo. (10)ff. One of fifty copies, signed by the artist. Eight etched portraits of Hemingway, all in different sizes and some in color. Heimburg's hand reflects, as do many such acolytes, the instruction and style of her mentor, Leonard Baskin. As preface to the portraits..... More
San Francisco: Arion Press, 2014. Small folio. (156)pp. One of 275 copies. With an Introduction by Helen Vendler. For the one hundredth publication of the Arion Press, Andrew Hoyem pays homage to his mentors, Edwin and Robert Grabhorn - whose 1930 edition of Whitman's seminal text is echoed in the..... More
1934, 1950. (1)ff. autograph letter, dated July 25th, 1934. A letter from J. M. Barrie to William Maldon "Bill" Woodfull, the Australian cricketer who captained both the Victoria and Australia cricket teams. Barrie comments on the fourth game of the 1934 Ashes series, in which Australia played against England, saying..... More
London: Faber and Faber, 1978. Oblong quarto. (63)pp. First trade edition. Inscribed by Leonard Baskin, whose stylized drawings provide a dramatic illustration of Hughes's poem sequence. The effect, as the jacket copy rightly describes it, is a "haunting combination of word and image." Baskin, the renowned sculptor, artist, and founder..... More
Northampton, MA: Gehenna Press, 1973. Folio. (68)ff. Illustrated with twelve full-page etchings and sixteen wood engravings by Leonard Baskin. According to the Gehenna Press bibliography, from a planned edition of 400, including 150 deluxe copies with extra suites and 250 regular copies, only the latter regular edition copies were ever..... More
NY: Dial Press, 1963. Uncorrected long galley proof copy. Baldwin's seminal non-fiction text on race in America, here in a rare pre-publication format. The book contains two essays, "My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation" and "Down at the Cross: Letter from..... More
Easthampton, MA: Warwick Press, 1989; 1991; 1994; 1998. Four small 8vo volumes. 26; 35; 59; (14)pp. The War Zone is one of 50 copies, signed by Barr and the printer, Carol Blinn, and with an additional inscription from Blinn at the colophon. Bound in Japanese Chiri paper over boards. Natural..... More
NY: Null-Q Press, 1968. First American edition. One of 250 copies printed on a mimeograph machine on pulp paper, and stapled. This copy is inscribed and signed by Blish. This novel was first published in the U.K. in 1964, and because no American imprint would agree to publish it in..... More
San Francisco: Amber House Press, 1964. Small quarto. (42)pp. First edition of Corrington's third published book of poetry. Illustrated with drawings by Ann Parisi, printed in silver, including a stylized skeleton across the covers. With an Introduction and cover blurb by Charles Bukowski. Printed by Frank Westlake at the Bindweed..... More
NY: Knopf, 1929. Quarto. First illustrated edition. One of 170 copies signed by Cather. Illustrated with full-page chapter headings, head- and tailpieces from drawings by Harold von Schmidt. This is the first illustrated edition of Cather's most significant novel. Spine faintly sunned, else a fine copy in full limp vellum..... More
London: William Heinemann, (1927). Octavo. Second English edition and first illustrated edition. Illustrated with full-page chapter headings, head- and tailpieces from drawings by Harold von Schmidt. This is the first illustrated edition of Cather's most significant novel. Rebound in half burgundy morocco, with red cloth over boards, five raised bands..... More
NY: Knopf, 1933. Octavo. (12)pp. First edition thus. Signed by von Schmidt at the colophon. von Schmidt executed twelve ink drawings for the publication, each bridging his own iconic visions of the American West with the pre-Raphaelite style the book's mise-en-page presents. Printed in black and orange. Bound in tan..... More
(Portland, OR): Chamberlain Press, 1987. Small quarto. (28)pp. One of 200 copies, signed by Sarah Chamberlain. Beautifully illustrated with color linoleum cuts by Chamberlain, many of which cover three-quarters of a page. All are printed with the rhymes within a color decorated border. Very fine in blue cloth-backed boards. More
NY: Ballantine Books, 1957. First edition. A sort of interstellar Robinson Crusoe, Cycle of Fire follows the survival of human castaway Nils Kruger and his shipwrecked extraterrestrial companion Dar. As they travel across an unfamiliar planet, they learn to communicate and trust one another, eventually sharing critical knowledge that ensures..... More
Garden City: Doubleday & Co., 1954. First edition. Signed by Clement on the title page, under which he has also signed his real name, Harry Stubbs, in parentheses. Clement is one of the premier practioners of hard science fiction. His best novels concern the lives of aliens in their own..... More
London: Gogmagog Press, (1977). Octavo. (30)pp., frenchfold. One of 90 copies printed on handmade mingei paper, and signed by the author/artist. Illustrated with four dramatic two-page colored intaglio prints by Cox, showing Victorian death scenes, two of them somewhat surrealist in influence. Cox's poems offer a modern twist on sentimental..... More
Boston: Impressions Workshop Inc./Cricket Press, 1965. Square quarto. (16)ff. One of 150 copies, signed on the colophon page by the poet, Bernard Bockes, and the illustrator, George Lockwood. Illustrated with fifteen fanciful woodcuts by Lockwood depicting insects, bats, dragons, and mythical beasts. Some are monochromatic prints, but others incorporate many..... More
Churchtown, Dundrum: Cuala Press, 1909. First edition. One of 250 copies. With a long introduction by W. B. Yeats. Synge died shortly before the publication of the book, and Yeats attests to a fruitful relationship between the two men. Bound in blue paper backed with buckram. Some toning to spine..... More
Garden City: Doubleday, 1969. First edition. A novel published toward the end of Dick’s extraordinary period of productivity, Ubik presents a world of parallel time periods composed of a reality so tenuous and subjective that it remains highly dubious even at the story’s close. In a striking jacket designed by..... More
(London): Doves Press, (1908). Two large octavo volumes. 192; 200pp. One of 250 copies. Printed in red and black by T. J. Cobden-Sanderson and Emery Walker. This collection of Browning's poems explores the many aspects of love between men and women. The colophon is beautifully inscribed in red: "Flourished by..... More
London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1939. First edition. Eliot's living-room drama, written partly in blank verse and partly in prose, and emulating both Greek drama and pulp detective plays. Bound in gray cloth with red lettering to spine. Covers and endpapers noticeably toned, dust wrapper minorly chipped and with discoloration..... More
NY: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1939. First American edition. One of 2000 copies. Eliot's clever, jovial collection of poems on feline activity, ritual, and politics enjoyed enduring popularity thanks in large part to its adaptation for the stage by Andrew Lloyd Webber. As with the London first edition, the American..... More
Stockholm: July 12, 1950. Single 8 1/2 by 11-inch sheet, folded in six. In this letter, addressed to "Blijestra," the American novelist states his plans to visit Amsterdam, bringing with him an American trade union official whom he plans to introduce to one De Kadt. Fine. More
Cleveland, MS: Delta State Teachers College Campus, 1952. First edition. The text of a speech by Faulkner, printed with his permission. According to Petersen, Faulkner agreed to speak to the Delta Council, which was composed of 3000 farmers and businessmen from an eighteen-county area, because he needed the $400 speaker's..... More
