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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NY: Holt Rinehart and Winston, (1962). First edition of Frost's last published collection. One of 1,500 copies signed by Frost. Printed by the Spiral Press. This collection contains "The Gift Outright," the poem that Frost recited at John F. Kennedy's inauguration, and the poem that he composed especially for the... More
Philadelphia: Colonial Press, February, 1917. Square octavo. 52, (2)pp. Contains the first appearance of "Locked Out," which had only previously seen print in The Bouquet, a magazine compiled by Frost's children in 1914. This poem was not included in the first edition of Mountain Interval but was added to its... More
London: David Nutt, (1914). First edition. From an edition of 1,000 copies, this is one of 200 in the sixth binding state. This was one of two binding states that were done by the Dunster House Bookshop in 1923 in Cambridge, MA when the remaining first edition sheets were sold... More
South Freeport, ME: Ascensius Press, 2015. Small quarto. 44ff. From an edition of forty-one, this is one of twenty-six lettered copies, bound in full calf. Frost's second book of poetry is here published in a centenary edition by Scott Vile of the Ascensius Press. In homage to Joseph Blumenthal, Frost's... More
(NY: Spiral Press), 1953. First edition. One of 587 copies with Frost's imprint. Decorations by Philip Grushkin. This copy bears an inscription by Frost on the title page to William Sloane and his wife, Julie. Sloane was Frost's editor at Holt and headed up the trade department from 1938 to... More
(Vermont: c. 1950). Black and white photograph, unmounted. Image measures 3 1/4 by 4 1/2 inches. On the verso it is noted that this image was taken by a photographer working for Black Star, the noted photo agency. It is an outdoor portrait of the elder Frost, likely taken in... More
(NY: Henry Holt, 1924). Single sheet folded once to make a four-page pamphlet. First edition. One of 2000 copies printed for distribution at Frost lectures at East Coast colleges. With two woodcut vignettes by J.J. Lankes. Signed by Frost below "The Pasture," which appears on the first page. Paper evenly... More
NY: Henry Holt, 1947. First edition. One of 751 copies signed by Frost. Title page decoration by Loren MacIver. In a review in the June 1, 1947 issue of the New York Times, Randall Jarrell singles out “Directive,” an early poem in Frost’s penultimate collection, for possessing “so much longing... More
(1950). 13pp. Signed typescript with Frost's manuscript correction to the title, changing "Hard Not to be King" to "Hard to Keep from Being King," and noting "As read at the American Academy." Additionally inscribed by the author "For Reginald Cook" on the final page. Cook was a close friend of... More
NY: Henry Holt, (1928). Small quarto. viii, 58pp. Second (i.e., limited) edition. One of 1,000 copies signed by the author. Illustrated with four full-page woodcuts, each of which is signed in pencil by the artist, J. J. Lankes. These have been inserted and are not included in the pagination. This... More
Boston: Stratford Co. 1925. First edition, binding A. Signed by Gernsback on the front free endpaper, with “Sincerely yours” added in a different hand. Illustrated with eleven black & white plates by Frank R. Paul. A novel of the future in which Gernsback intertwines a love story with predictions for... More
London: Victor Gollancz Ltd. 1984. First edition. Signed by the author on the title page. A key work in the cyberpunk genre, Gibson’s debut was the first novel to win the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award. Building on the themes developed in his short... More
London: Sheed & Ward, (1931). Octavo. iv, 121 pp. First edition. One of 500 copies signed by Eric Gill and Rene Hague and printed by Hague & Gill. This is a presentation copy, inscribed on the colophon. Illustrated with twenty-five figures, including ten type specimens and four illustrations from wood... More
Boston: David R. Godine, 1966. Octavo. 75pp. From an edition of 500, this is one of 40 copies printed on heavy yellow Fabriano paper, and one of the few printed entirely on the same color sheet. Godine's first book, it was suppressed at the time of publication due to copyright... More
London: Golden Cockerel Press, 1948. Quarto. 35pp. Of an edition of 750 copies, this is one of 100 specially bound. Signed by the translator Ten engravings, plus engraved frontispiece and title page. A rich printing of the Homeric (or post-Homeric) hymn to Aphrodite, one of six, which appear later than... More
(London): Golden Cockerel Press, 1948. Tall octavo. 28pp. From an edition of 750, this is one of 100 copies specially bound and with an extra engraving. The twelve engravings by John Buckland Wright perfectly complement Swinburne's long erotic poem. In full brown morocco with a black onlay to the upper... More
NY: Gotham Book Mart, 1988. First edition. One of 300 numbered copies, signed by Beckett and Gorey. Adapted by Samuel Beckett and Jack MacGowran. Design and typography by Ronald Gordon and Dean Bornstein, and illustrated throughout with vignettes by Gorey, printed in blue. Fine in patterned paper over boards. (Toledano B76b). More
(San Francisco: Richard A. Gleeson Library, 1970). Large quarto. French-folded single sheet. Sketch of the poet Robert Graves to the front cover. On the interior, the printed text faces a facsimile of the original, handwritten poem. Printed by Lawton and Alfred Kennedy and presented to the joint meeting of hte... More
On a sheet of blue paper measuring 9 1/8 by 7 3/4 inches, matted and framed. This brief letter, written from the American Consulate in Liverpool, is dated 2 January, 1856, and is addressed to the Collector of Customs in New York. The content concerns a Certificate of Registry for... More
(Old Deerfield/Dublin: Deerfield Press/Gallery Press, 1978). Octavo. (8)ff. One of 250 copies printed by Harold McGrath at Hampshire Typothetae, and signed by Heaney on the colophon. Illustrated by Timothy Engelland, who co-founded the Deerfield Press along with Gallery Press owner Peter Fallon. Contains the revised version of "Elegy", the poem... More
London: Rainbow Press, 1975. First edition. One of 150 copies signed by the author. With full page two-color illustrations by Barrie Cooke. Handsomely printed early limited edition prints eight poems thematically related to Heaney's poetic pursuit of the archaeology of Ireland's violent past. These poems were published a month ahead... More
1963-2013. Contains 135 discrete volumes of the Irish Nobel Laureate's primary works of poetry and essays. These titles are represented in their first editions and subsequent issues (English and/or American), as well as some proofs and other variants. In addition to the signed, limited editions, quite a number of the... More
NY: Oxford University Press, 1966. Octavo. First American edition. One of 1,000 copies comprised of sheets from the first edition with a new title page. This is Heaney's first commercially produced verse collection, preceded by Eleven Poems, a pamphlet published by Queen's University in Belfast. The future Nobel Laureate's richly... More
London and Boston: Faber & Faber, 1980. Octavo. 136pp. First edition, in first issue dust wrapper. Contains selections from Death of a Naturalist, Door into the Dark, Wintering Out, and North. Very light wear to top and bottom of spine, else fine in blue cloth-covered boards, gilt-titled to spine. Dust... More
Dublin: Hieroglyph Editions Ltd, 1991. First edition. From an edition of 100 copies, this is one of 60 that were offered for sale. Illustrated with four lithographs by Felim Egan, who designed the book. Signed by Heaney and Egan. This is the first separate appearance of twelve poems from the... More
