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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N.p. c. 1920s. Octavo. (1)ff. Leaf excised from an unknown book, inscribed to Richard Vernon Johnson from his sister Marian. The leaf is also signed by the editors Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith, her sister. Kate Douglas Wiggin is best known for writing Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, but..... More
(Norfolk, CT: New Directions Books, 1956). First edition. One of 100 copies, signed by Tennessee Williams. Printed by Peter Beilinson at the Peter Pauper Press. Overlooked in light of Williams’s titanic reputation as a playwright is the fact that his first appearance in print was in the anthology Five Young..... More
(NY): New Directions, (1947). First edition. This is Williams's most famous play, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama the year it was published. Legend has it that the audience applauded for half an hour after the debut performance ended. Williams also wrote the screenplay for the 1951 film, which..... More
E. Wilson: (N.p, c. 1951). First edition. Inscribed by Wilson, "Happy New Year to Giorgio and Dorothy from E.W." A thirteen-page pamphlet issued as a New Year's greeting by the Wilsons. Curwen patterned wrappers lightly browned at top and spine, barely discernible stain on lower front wrapper, and small bump..... More
NY: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1933; 1934. First Edition. Laid in is a typed letter, signed, from Wylie to a Mr. Langdon, dated April 13, 1943, which reads: “My dear Mr. Langdon…….Jesus Christ! What a letter! My reply is belated. The paraphrase may refresh your memory. But I am sorry..... More
Covelo, CA: Yolla Bolly Press, 1990. Oblong small quarto. 34ff. From an edition of 135 copies, this is one of 60 signed by the illustrator, Karin Wikström, with an additional unbound, signed print and a companion essay by Tim Hunt, also signed. Jeffers' long narrative about an Indian woman and..... More
Covelo, CA: Yolla Bolly Press, (1994). Quarto. xiv, (ii), 124pp. From an edition of 141 copies, 121 of which were for sale, this is one of 85 copies signed by Octavio Paz, who selected and edited the poems, Eliot Weinberger, who provided a commentary, and the illustrator, Enrique Chagoya. The..... More
