Thunderball

London: Jonathan Cape, 1961

FIRST EDITION of the ninth book in the James Bond series, in colorful "skeleton" dust jacket designed by Richard Chopping.

Octavo, original black cloth with blind-stamped skeletal hand, original dust jacket. Book fine, small bookseller sticker at lower front paste down, dust jacket light toning at spine, small closed tear at spine head, small residue on back cover. A very good copy.

$1,000

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A General Dictionary Historical and Critical

"Bayle's Dictionary is a very useful work for those to consult who love the biographical part of literature, which is what I love most" – Samuel Johnson "He sets forth things with such an odious accuraqcy, and puts the arguments for both sides before us with such shocking impartiality and is so intolerably intelligible that he puts even thoise of the most meagre understanding in a position to judge and even to doubt what is told them." –Voltaire The second Edition. 10 volumes. Folio. Later 1/4 morocco over cloth. Bookplates. Library blind stamps to titles.

$1,500

Watt

FIRST AMERICAN EDITION, number 19 of only 100 specially bound numbered copies. In 1942, "After spending several weeks on the run [from the Nazi's], [Beckett and his future wife Suzanne] lived out the rest of the war in the little village of Roussillon in the Vaucluse, where Beckett wrote his extraordinary novel Watt, partly as a stylistic exercise and partly in order to stay sane in a place where he was cut off from most intellectual pursuits. Written in English, it was a daring linguistic experiment and, because of its strange subject matter as well as its manner, was not published until 1953" (DNB). Octavo, half-cloth over boards. Spine a bit faded (as usual).

$375

You Can't Win

“The tone of the ‘beat’ world, as Burroughs first perceived it, chimed with the world of Jack Black.” –James Campbell, This is the Beat GenerationFIRST EDITION of Black's influential autobiography; with the extremely rare original dust jacket. This book is often hailed as the first "Beat " book.The memoir of a notorious thief, vagabond, and ‘honorable’ outlaw, You Can’t Win was a bestseller upon its publication in 1926. It would become a favorite book of William S. Burroughs (whose "Junkie" is modeled after it) and with its depiction of a free, loose, nomadic lifestyle, become one of the most influential works for the Beat movement. Burroughs claimed that, in his representation of the dying days of the Wild West, Jack Black “has recorded a chapter of specifically American life that is now gone forever,” a way of life that Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and others would try to adapt and re-create for their own generation. Octavo, original cloth, original dust jacket; custom box. Early owner signature on front endpaper. Book fine, dust jacket shows wear at spine, with large chip at tail. Scarce in dust jacket.

$7,500

Wessex Tales

FIRST EDITION, 1/634 COPIES, IN THE PUBLISHER'S CLOTH BINDING.Two volumes. Octavo, original green cloth with gilt spine titles. Edges uncut. Light wear to cloth at oints and extremities, corners slightly bumped, spine somewhat cocked. Elegant bookplate at front pastedowns. Cloth clean and bright, text clean. An excellent copy housed in custom slipcase and chemise.

$2,500

The Recognitions

FIRST EDITION, SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY GADDIS on front free endpaper: "Martin / Cove ab homine (ut?) / unius libri (The Recognitions) / (and with every best wish.) / (ergo / (I mean, a child among / you taking notes / W. Gaddis".“As the most important precursor of many postmodernist novels about travel or movement, The Recognitions signals a change in the function of travel in fiction that is echoed in later nonfiction about travel... Since its appearance in 1955, Gaddis’ first novel has been in and out of print, initially ignored or misunderstood but subsequently praised as a central work of contemporary American fiction" (Alison Russell, Crossing Boundaries: Postmodern Travel Literature).Original cloth, original dust jacket; custom half-morocco box. Book fine, dust jacket near-fine with very minor edgewear.

$2,500

Fotographie

FIRST EDITION. Small quarto. Original cloth, original dust jacket. A fine copy.

$750

The Fables of Aesop and Others Translated into Human Nature

"The Design which forms the Frontispiece to this book, and which is therefore presumed to be somewhat typical of the intention of Fable, represents Man tried at the Court of the Lion for the ill-treatment of a Horse. It will be seen that Man has the worst of it..." Quarto. Hand-colored wood-engraved frontispiece, title and 22 plates by Swain after Charles Bennett. Finely bound in near-contemporary maroon calf. Light wear to spine and extremities; internally clean and nearly fine. A handsome and very appealing copy.

$450

Outside Over There

FIRST EDITION OF SENDAK'S THIRD BOOK, SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY SENDAK. Gilt lettered red cloth, original dust jacket ($12.95 on front flap). Outside Over There is Sendak's story of Ida, a pre-adolescent girl who must contend with sibling jealousy, new responsibilities and goblins who kidnap her young sister. A splendid copy, with Sendak's enchanting illustrations.

$275

Atlas Shrugged

First edition. Original cloth, original dust jacket. An excellent copy.

$1,250

[The Cologne Chronicle] Die Cronica van der hilliger Stat van Coellen

FIRST EDITION. The Cologne Chronicle is famous for a lengthy passage, on leaf 311 (verso), that provides the first printed account of the development of printing. "There are few ancient books which have been so frequently quoted, yet so rarely seen, as the present Chronicle. The possession of it is, indeed, essential to a Library like the one under description; since there is an important passage in it, relating to the invention of the Art of Printing with Metal Types, which merits very particular attention; and which has been referred to, or quoted, by bibliographers for nearly the two last centuries... The rarity of this Chronicle is sufficiently attested by bibliographers, even without noticing that Hartz and Buder... who wrote expressly upon German affairs, had no knowledge whatever of it; and Naudaus doubted its existence. I am disposed to think there are not three copies of it in this country..."–Dibdin Folio. Contemporary tooled half-leather over oak boards. 354 (of 368) leaves. This copy lacking first 12 leaves, containing the first title and the register (index). Second title toned and laid down. Some toning and staining. Woodcut illustrations throughout. A sound copy. VERY RARE.

$25,000

The Anatomy of Melancholy

LIMITED EDITION, one of 750 copies. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Times; color: #424242; -webkit-text-stroke: #424242} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} All I can say is that most modern books weary me, but Burton never does...His writing is like talk, learned but earthy, and once he starts, he is hard to stop...That he was a humorist in our sense of the word we need no biographical facts to attest: The Anatomy of Melancholy is, by a magnificent and somehow very English irony, one of the great comic works of the world.— Anthony Burgess Two volumes. Quarto. Original vellum-backed decorative boards. Printed on Dutch paper. An excellent set, clean throughout.

$500

The Naked and the Dead

FIRST EDITION of Mailer's masterpiece, SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY MAILER TO PAUL BARTEL: "To Paul, with the best / recollections of / how he came forward / with the best / advice for Chapter Five / Salutations / Norman Mailer / Feb '92." Written when Mailer was just twenty-five, The Naked and the Dead is one of the classic novels of World War II. Both a critical and commercial success (it remained at the top of The New York Times best-seller list for eleven weeks), it launched Mailer's career and remains one of the most influential American novels of the century. Paul Bartel was a writer, actor, and director best known for his 1982 film, Eating Raoul. Octavo, original cloth, original dust jacket; custom box. An outstanding, fine copy, extremely rare in such good condition.

$7,000

FLEMING, IAN