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 ...
Read more about Literature
London: William Pickering, 1825. Nine 64mo vols. 306; 279; 294; 326; 321; 348; 320; 315; 270, liv pp. Frontispiece, title-page vignette, and thirty-eight engraved plates depicting memorables scenes across Shakespeare's oeuvre: the death of Julius Caesar, Macbeth with his knife on his way to murder Duncan, pastoral tableaux from Love's..... More
London: G. Pickering, 1822. 2 vols. 374pp, paginated continuously. Engraved double-page title in first volume, including frontis portrait of Dante, whose masterwork is here dutifully printed entirely in Italian. As he was wont to do, Pickering also prints the parerga in the text's original language. Both volumes bound in brown..... More
London: G. Pickering, 1824. 220pp. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Terence, facing an engraved title page. Ornamental head- and tail-pieces. A miniature printing of Terence's plays in Latin, faithful to the language even in headers, the title page, and dedicatory statements. Bound in brown calf over boards with gilt double rule..... More
London: G. Pickering, 1822. 2 vols. (vii), 405pp, paginated continuously. Engraved double-page title in first volume, including frontis portrait of Tasso. Head- and tail-pieces divide the cantos of Tasso's imaginative poetic retelling of the Seige of Jerusalem, here dutifully printed entirely in Italian. As he was wont to do, Pickering..... More
Colorado Springs: Press at Colorado College, (1988). Octavo. (10)pp, accordionfold. One of fifty copies. Layered illustrations, printed in inks of many colors from zinc and linoleum blocks, throughout represent in the abstract the wildness to which Manley Hopkins refers in his poetry. He lauds the grace and mystery of the..... More
Nappanee: Press of the Indiana Kid, 1976. (10)pp. One of forty-five copies. A miniature recollection of the printer's brief correspondence with George Bernard Shaw. Bound in leather-backed marbled boards lightly rubbed, else near fine. (2 3/4 by 1 7/8; 70x48mm). More
East Aurora: Roycroft Press, 1900. Octavo. 8ff., frenchfold. One of twenty-five (i.e., twenty-one) copies printed on vellum. Signed on the colophon by Elbert Hubbard, and with an inscription by the illuminator, Frances Carmody. Designed by Samuel Warner. Illustrated throughout with hand-illumined art nouveau borders. The Last Ride was one of..... More
Hamburg: Raamin-Presse, 1976. Quarto. (40)pp. From an edition of 170, this is one of twenty copies with an additional two plates signed and numbered by the printer and illustrator, Roswitha Quadflieg. Translated into German from the original French by Elmar Tophoven, the short story "L'Expulsé" ("The Expelled") first appeared in..... More
Charleston: Poetry Society of South Carolina, 1923. Octavo. First edition. Signed by Ransom on front wrapper. First appearance of this poem, which was awarded the Poetry Society of South Carolina's Southern Prize for 1923. This publication also prints the poems which received honorable mention: "A Fragment" by William Alexander Percy..... More
(Poiano, Italy: Franco Riva, 1979). Folio. (6)ff. One of 120 copies. Illustrated with a frontispiece etching by Italian artist Ernesto Treccani, with his signature in pencil below. A translation of Dylan Thomas' poem into Italian by Anna Maria Faccini. Part of the "Lectura Dominica" series issued by Franco Riva. Leaves..... More
Petersham, MA: Lone Oak Press, 2005. Oblong quarto. 89pp. From an edition of fourteen deluxe copies and 70 standard copies, this is one of five deluxe copies chosen to be specially bound for the international traveling exhibit "InsideOUT: Contemporary Bindings of Private Press Books," and as such, it does not..... More
NY: Harcourt, Brace & World, (1968). Small quarto. xiv, 577pp. Edited by Herbert Mitgang. Fine in black cloth, with near fine dust jacket showing wear to edges and hinges. More
London: 1916. Octavo. 10ff., + 2ff.. Signed by Alberto Sangorski at the colophon. Sangorski's unique vellum manuscript suitably echoes the romantic aesthetic championed by Shelley's poetry. Each of the four miniatures emphasizes the influence of nature, either by literally or figuratively minimizing the stature of the human figure (as in..... More
Evanston: Schori Press, 1963. 29pp. Signed by the author and the printer. Ward Schori’s fourth miniature bears no limitation, but there were probably no more than 600 copies printed. May’s enduring holiday poem was written for the Montgomery Ward department store and was first published in 1939 as a store..... More
Evanston: Press of Ward Schori, 1962. 23pp. One of 100 copies, signed by Ward Schori. Bound in full red leather with richly gilt-stamped front cover with decorative borders and shell motif in the four corners. Spine a bit faded; otherwise, a near fine copy of the first book of the..... More
![Item #31397 [Poems]. Sir Walter Scott](https://bromer.cdn.bibliopolis.com/pictures/31397.jpg?width=320&height=427&fit=bounds&auto=webp&v=1667508792)
NY: Frederick A. Stokes, (c. 1900). Six 64mo. vols. 192; 191; (163); 165; (176); 158pp. Each volume begins with a unique frontispiece of landmarks around Scotland: Scott's family home of Abbotsford, Ellen's Isle on Loch Katrine, Newark Castle, the House of Lorn, Norham Castle, and Smailholm Tower. The six volumes..... More
Iowa City, IA: Seamark Press, 1971. Quarto. (42)pp. One of an unspecified number of copies, though cataloging of other copies state an edition of fifty. Translated and printed by Howard Zimmon in red, ochre, and black. An exacting work of printing, especially so with Neruda's Spanish and Zimmon's English appearing..... More
NY: Random House, (1939). First edition. Inscribed by Seuss "For Lulu Godiva, II / with lots of thanks for / nice things done." Illustrated throughout in red and black, with one three-color page. In this version of an old tale, the seven Godiva sisters (Arabella, Dorcas, Mitzi et al.), "who..... More
(Mount Vernon, NY: Artists & Writers Protest Inc., 1967). Folio. (28)pp. One of 100 deluxe copies. A collection of eighteen poems by writers who contributed their work as a form of opposition to the Vietnam War. The collection was edited by the artist Jack Sonenberg and contains works by Denise..... More
London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1932. First edition, first issue. A work of considerable depth, Stapledon’s novel describes the history of humanity from the present onwards across two billion years. Through a conceit that a member of a future human species has channeled the text through him, the narrator relates..... More
London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., (1932). First edition, in second issue dust wrapper from 1933. Told by the same “last man” who related the history of humanity’s future in Last and First Men, this work describes the last man’s exploration of the consciousness of present-day Englishman Paul. The advanced being..... More
London: Metuen & Co. Ltd., 1932. First edition, first issue. Told by the same “last man” who related the history of humanity’s future in Last and First Men, this work describes the last man’s exploration of the consciousness of present-day Englishman Paul. The advanced being experiences the world through Paul..... More
London: Methuen, (1935). First edition, first issue, with ads at rear dated “535” (i.e., May, 1935); later issues bear an August date. One of 3096 copies printed. A novel that explores the idea of a Nietzschean “Super-man” with great mental prowess living among ordinary human beings. John Wainwright, the titular..... More
NY: Knopf, 1931. Second edition, third binding. This edition contains fourteen new poems, while dropping three from the original edition. The complete printing of the second edition consisted of 1,500 copies, which were bound over a period of thirteen years. This copy is inscribed by Stevens on a preliminary blank..... More
London: Privately printed, 1898. Octavo. (13)ff. First edition. One of thirty copies. First published unintentionally and without permission. The publication announcement was withdrawn, but the copies were not destroyed and eventually circulated. Includes facsimiles of the original manuscripts. In cream Japan paper over boards with gilt title on toned and..... More
