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: Henry Holt, 1914. Octavo. (144) pp. First edition, second issue, binding "B" of Frost's second regularly published book. One of 150 copies bound from sets of sheets from David Nutt, Frost's English publisher with Holt title page on a cancel stub. This was published on 20 February, 1915, and..... 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
Edinburgh & London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1925; 1926. Two octavo volumes. First edition of the Scottish poet Hugh M'Diarmid's first collection of poetry, in the second binding, together with a first edition of his second book. Hugh M'Diarmid, or MacDiarmid, as it is more commonly written, was the pen..... More
NY: Harper & Brothers, 1849. Two octavo volumes. 365; 387pp., + 8pp. ads. First American edition. Mardi was Melville's third book, and his third on the theme of South Pacific exploration. In the novel, an American sailor deserts his whaling ship in order to pursue his own adventures. At the..... More
Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1960. First edition. Winner of the 1960 Hugo Award. Miller’s quirky, significant novel was among the first in the modern science fiction canon to develop futuristic themes around religion: here, a monastic order in whose charge were a number of books saved from “the first Atomic Deluge”..... More
London: Methuen, (1927). First edition. Number two of 200 copies, printed on handmade paper and signed by Milne and Shepard. This famous collection of children’s verses, featuring Milne’s son Christopher Robin and his bear, is illustrated throughout with Ernest H. Shepard’s whimsical drawings. Bound in quarter cloth with orange paper..... More
London: Methuen, 1926. First edition. One of 350 copies printed on handmade paper and signed by Milne and Shepard. With all of the well-known and well-loved illustrations and a fold-out map of Pooh and Christopher Robin’s territory, which appeared in the ordinary edition as endpapers. Bound in quarter dark-blue cloth..... More
London: Methuen, (1927). First edition. This famous collection of children’s verses, featuring Milne’s son, Christopher Robin, and his bear, is illustrated throughout with Ernest H. Shepard’s whimsical drawings. Signed at a later date on the title page by Shepard. Handsomely bound by Bayntun-Rivière in deep red morocco, with gilt ruled..... More
Concord, MA: 1961. (16)pp. One of 200 paperback copies. Signed by the illustrator, Morton H. "Terry" Baker. Fields' most famous poem, illustrated with engaging line drawings, is followed by a brief biographical sketch of the poet. Minor wear, else fine. (3 1/8 by 2 1/8; 80x54mm). More
(Minneapolis): Minnesota Center for Book Arts, 2005. Tall quarto. (48)pp. From an edition of 226, this is one of 26 lettered copies, specially bound and with tipped-in editioned prints by five Minnesota artists. An anthology of original poetry from twelve Minnesota writers, including Robert Bly, Adrian Louis, Susan Steger Welsh..... More
Omaha: Abattoir Editions, 1977. Large octavo. 100pp. One of 253 copies. Illustrated with thirteen wood-engravings by Moser. Moser's eerie engravings capture the anxiety and spiritual tension of Abraham and Sarah as they attempt to interpret God's wishes. A very fine copy in buckram with plain dust wrapper. More
Omaha: Abattoir Editions, 1977. Large octavo. 100pp. One of 253 copies. Illustrated with thirteen wood-engravings by Moser. Moser's eerie engravings capture the anxiety and spiritual tension of Abraham and Sarah as they attempt to interpret God's wishes. Accompanied by a suite of loose prints and a note by Smyth, these..... More
Portland, Maine: Mosher, Thomas B., 1904. Octavo. 41pp. From an edition of fifty numbered copies, this is one of forty offered for sale. Printed on Japan vellum in red and black from the plates of The Bibelot, Vol. 10, June 1904. Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of the author, with..... More
Soho: Nonesuch Press, 1923. Small quarto. xxiii, 91, (7)pp. From an edition of 1,200 copies, this is one of twenty ad personam copies, specially bound. This is the first book of Francis Meynall’s Nonesuch Press. Meynall, along with his wife, Vera, who selected and edited Donne’s text for this production..... More
Verona: Officina Bodoni, 1974. Octavo. 49pp. One of 300 copies. Printed in two colors on handmade Magnani paper. Contains twenty-three songs, plus "The Phoenix and the Turtle," which was published separately. Attractively bound in morocco-backed green patterned cloth. T.e.g. Fine, in gray silk slipcase. Prospectus and offset of prospectus laid..... More
Montagnola: Officina Bodoni, 1924. Quarto. 151pp. One of 224 copies. Shakespeare's late, iconic comedy, printed in Catania, an original Bodoni type, on Fabriano handmade paper. Book designed by G. Mardersteig. Bound in green-dyed vellum over boards, with the Press's device stamped in gilt on the front cover. Upper board slightly..... More
Stamford, CT: Overbrook Press, 1940. 12mo. (22)pp. One of 250 copies. Ten amusing poems, written by Margaret B. Evans, relating to printing are illustrated with pictures composed entirely of type ornaments. Trace foxing, else fine in yellow cloth with dust wrapper with somewhat toned spine. One of the most charming..... More
West Hatfield, MA: Pennyroyal Press, 1985. Square quarto. 268pp. One of 350 copies. Inscribed by Moser on the half-title page to “Dorothy [Hurt] and Bill [Reese]”. Replete with Moser's iconic wood engravings, depicting fantastical characters and settings, from Munchkin Country to the Emerald City, and the Wicked Witch to the..... More
Cleveland: (Jos. Leon Gobeille), 1902. Small quarto. (30)pp. One of 93 copies printed on Imperial Japan paper. With illustrations from pen-and-ink drawings by Robert H. Perdue. This is a reproduction in smaller format of a folio version issued by Perdue in 1900 in an edition of five copies. According to..... More
(Verona: Plain Wrapper Press, 1980). Quarto. 45pp. One of 110 copies signed by the author and illustrator. Illustrated with a fold-out title-page screenprinted in seven colors by Emilio Tadini. Mint in limp vellum with leather ties. Housed in a vellum-backed chemise and slipcase. One of the most stunning books issued..... More
Boston: Small, Maynard, (1910). Octavo. First edition, second binding. Head of spine bumped and paper starting to split along upper hinge, else a near fine copy of Pound's first book printed in America. In dust wrapper with a few small chips to extremities. (Gallup A6). More
Middletown, CT: Robin Price, 1998. Quarto. (36)pp. One of 150 copies. Signed by the illustrator, Keiji Shinohara, below the colophon. Decorated throughout with woodcuts in soft grays, greens, browns, and reds. The woodcuts interplay with the text itself, recreating in a visual way the experience of sitting in person for..... More
Oxford: University Press, 1909. Quarto. (230)pp. One of 225 copies, printed in red & black in the Greek types designed by Robert Proctor. According to the colophon, Proctor’s type is based on a font cut in 1514 at the behest of Cardinal Ximenes for use in the New Testament 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
Frankfurt: Raamin-Presse, 1978. Quarto. (28)pp. One of 100 copies. Signed by the artist at the colophon. Five full-page color initials by Quadflieg. The page opposite each initial features decorative rules and at two smaller decorated initials. The volume feature's Holderlin's poem in its 1803 and later versions. Bound in blue..... More
