Results for: Modern Firsts


Illustrated by Edward Gorey. Purple cloth boards blocked with the title in black on the spine and with an imp on the upper board. Near inscription else a fine copy. The dustwrapper is price-clipped and has a "Library Edition" sticker; it is lightly scuffed in a few places else near fine.
Miss Clafooty and the Demon
(Gorey, Edward) Townsend, J. David
NY: Lathrop, Lee & Shepard, (1971).
Price: $100.00
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8vo. Publisher's white cloth spine printed in green, and green paper boards,. Light soil especially at the edges, and review notes, else very good. Dustwrapper is not price-clipped; it has a short closed marginal tear on the reverse panel, is lightly soiled, else very good. Review copy, with the review slip laid-in, and with the ink stray marginal marks by the reviewer, mostly small dots and dashes.
Abbey's Road
Abbey, Edward
E. P. Dutton: New York, 1979.
Price: $250.00
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8vo. Publisher's pale blue paper boards printed in dark green. Blue endpapers. A very good copy with only a trace of wear. The dustwrapper is not price-clipped; it exhibits light soil and wear to the edges else is very good as well. The fourth installment of the Prydain Cycle, preceded by The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron and the Castle of Llyr, whose synopsis appears on the rear flap of the wrapper. Dustwrapper illustrated by Evaline Ness.
Taran Wanderer
Alexander, Lloyd
New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, (1967).
Price: $200.00
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First editions, first printings. Five volumes. The complete set of the Prydain Cycle. 'The Book of Three' is near fine in very good dustwrapper, clipped and which as a crease along the bottom and a small marginal closed tear at the top. 'The Black Cauldron' is Inscribed by Alexander on the half title, "For Blanche Campbell, with friendliest wishes---"; a near fine copy; the dustwrapper is not price-clipped at the top, and shows the original price of $3.95; there is light rubbing and soil else it is very good. 'The Castle of Llyr' is fine in a near fine, clipped dustwrapper, showing just a touch of roughness at the tip of the spine. 'Taran Wanderer' is fine in a fine, clipped dustwrapper. 'The High King' is very good in publisher's blue paper printed boards, showing a bit of sunning at the top and on the spine; the dustwrapper is first state, (without the Newbery sticker), but has a library edition sticker; it is clipped and has light wear and soil to the edges and a light spot at the base f the spine where a label was removed. All volumes are in publisher's printed paper boards.
The Prydain Cycle: The Book of Three; The Black Cauldron (Signed); The Castle of Llyr; Taran Wanderer; and The High King
Alexander, Lloyd
NY: Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1964-1968.
Price: $3,000.00
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First editions, first printings. Five volumes. The complete set of the Prydain Cycle. The books are all in near fine condition. 'The Black Cauldron' is in a pictorial library binding; the others are printed paper over boards. None of the dustwrappers are price-clipped; the prices range from $3.75 for 'The Book of Three' to $4.50 for 'The High King'. All dustwrappers are first state; the dustwrapper of 'The High King' does not yet have the Newbery sticker. The dustwrappers are lightly sunned on the spines, with some roughness at the edges and folds else they are very good to near fine.
The Prydain Cycle: The Book of Three; The Black Cauldron; The Castle of Llyr; Taran Wanderer; and The High King
Alexander, Lloyd
NY: Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1964-1968.
Price: $2,000.00
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8vo. Sumptuously bound in a designer binding of morocco and calf reminiscent of the desert of the Southwest under a deep blue sky. Mesas of tan morocco are sculpted to suggest rugged sides. Four bright topaz stones sparkle in the sky, and there are two groups of gems, amethyst on the left and citrine on the right, each with a single blood-red garnet, facing each other across the expanse of desert. Titles tooled in blind on the spine. The rear board emulates the upper board in a continuation of the desert theme. Marbled end papers ; original map end papers bound in. Inscribed in 1979 by the author to his lady: "For Jeanne -- Who is Something of a First Edition Herself. Love, Elliott." A fine copy in a fine binding. Author's first novel, made into the movie "Broken Arrow" in 1950 with James Stewart as Tom Jeffords and Jeff Chandler as Cochise. Jeffords is responsible for mail delivery in the Arizona Territory in 1862. When Apache raiding parties shoot up some of his mail couriers, he rides alone to the camp of Cochise to parley for their safe passage. This act of bravery so impresses the chief that he becomes friend and blood brother to Jeffords. Their friendship is instrumental in ending the decade-long Apache war. The Jeanne of the inscription is Jeanne Cooper who guest starred in many of the author's screenplays for TV, including 'Bonanza' and 'Rawhide'.
Blood Brother
Arnold, Elliott
NY: Duell, Sloan & Perch, (1947).
Price: $1,500.00
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First English printing. 8vo. Illustrated by Frederick T. Chapman. Blue embossed paper over boards, gilt spine title. Pictorial endpapers. A fine copy. Colorful dustwrapper by Cuthbertson. The dustwrapper is not price-clipped. It has two small chips at the spine folds and two very short, closed marginal tears at the bottom else near fine.
White Falcon
Arnold, Elliott
London: Frederick Muller, 1956.
Price: $350.00
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8-1/2 X 11'. 19pp., printed on one side only. Heavy paper printed covers secured on the left with staples. One of fewer than 100 copies issued by Mysteries to Die For for their Christmas party. Inscribed by the author on the cover: 'Merry Christmas, Dona. Richard Barre. 12/14/96'. A fine copy.
Bethany: A Christmas Story (Signed)
Barre, Richard
(Thousand Oaks, CA): (Mysteries to Die For), (1996).
Price: $250.00
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8-1/2 X 11'. 24pp., printed on one side only. Heavy paper printed covers secured on the left with staples. One of fewer than 100 copies issued by Mysteries to Die For for their Christmas party. Inscribed by the author on the cover: 'Merry Christmas '00 R Barre' and on the title page: 'For Dona - with every good holiday wish. RB. 12/17/00'. A fine copy.
Wind on the River: A Christmas Story (Signed)
Barre, Richard
(Thousand Oaks, CA): (Mysteries to Die For), (2000).
Price: $250.00
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First edition. Original red cloth printed in white. A fine copy. Dustwrapper is price-clipped, has a trace of rubbing along the sides else fine as well. Author's fifth book and scarce in collectible condition.
Calamity at Harwood
Bellairs, George
NY: Macmillan, 1945.
Price: $200.00
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8vo. Original publisher's green cloth, gilt titles on spine and upper board. Light wear to the spine, bookplate of former owner on the front free endpaper. rear pastedown has a label residue and some abrasion else a very good copy.
Chris Gascoyne: An Experiment in Solitude: From the Diaries of John Trevor
Benson, A. C.
New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1924.
Price: $150.00
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8-1/2 X 11'. 21pp., printed on one side only. Heavy paper printed covers secured on the left with red ribbon. One of fewer than 100 copies issued by Mysteries to Die For for their Christmas party. Inscribed by the author on the cover: 'Cheers! Paul Bishop'. A fine copy.
Derringer (Signed)
Bishop, Paul
(Thousand Oaks, CA): (Mysteries to Die For), (1996).
Price: $250.00
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NY, Knopf, 1982. Uncorrected proof in wraps, together with a review slip, and a xeroxed copy of the proposed dustwrapper laid-in. Taped to the cover is a notice that the book has been chosen as a Literary Guild Alternate Selection, a decision made after the proof was printed. Two sets of staple holes in the front cover which likely held the proposed dustwrapper. Light wear; a very good copy, fragile and scarce. New Arthurian Encyclopedia, p. 50. Barron, Fantasy Literature, 4A-48
The Mists of Avalon
Bradley, Marion Zimmer
NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982.
Price: $350.00
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First edition. 8vo. Illustrated by Ray Abel. Original printed cloth. Trace of wear at edges else a fine copy. Dustwrapper is not price-clipped, but is lightly rubbed else about fine. Warmly inscribed by the author, the Poet Laureate of Monterey Peninsula, to Beatrice Challis.
It's Morning Again (Signed)
Bratton, Helen
NY: David McKay Company, 1964.
Price: $125.00
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First edition of author's first book. Original printed cloth. Trace of sunning across the edges, a small light stain on the front free endpaper and a bump across the top edge else near fine. Dustwrapper is not price-clipped, has a tiny closed marginal tear and some wear at hinges and folds else about fine.
Other Voices, Other Rooms
Capote, Truman
NY: Random House, (1948).
Price: $300.00
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8vo. First edition, first issue, with map endpapers. Illustrated with photographs (not included in the American edition). The top edge of the text block is lightly toned else this is a fine copy. Dustwrapper is price-clipped, else fine, and the spine is not faded as sometimes happens. A wonderful copy of the author's first book.
In Patagonia
Chatwin, Bruce
London: Jonathan Cape, 1977.
Price: $1,000.00
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8vo. First edition, first issue, with map endpapers. Illustrated with photographs (not included in the American edition). A fine copy. Dustwrapper is lightly sunned on the spine and has a trace of foxing at the upper edge of the inside flap else fine, and not price clipped. Signed by Chatwin on the title page. Author's first book, and truly rare signed.
In Patagonia (Signed)
Chatwin, Bruce
London: Jonathan Cape, 1977.
Price: $5,000.00
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First edition. A fine copy. Dustwrapper is not price clipped, has some faint scratching on the rear panel, else fine. Map endpapers.
The Viceroy of Ouidah
Chatwin, Bruce
London: Jonathan Cape, 1980.
Price: $150.00
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First edition. 8vo. xxii, 187pp. Illustrated with full page photographs of Joyce's manuscript notebook, including one in color. A fine copy. Dustwrapper is unclipped, has some closed marginal tears, lacks small pieces at spine tips, and is sunned on the spine else very good. Inscribed on the front free endpaper by the author: 'For Margaret/with love/Tom/February 19, 1961'.
James Joyce's Scribbledehobble: The Ur-Workbook for Finnegans Wake (Signed)
Connolly, Thomas E., ed.
(Evanston): Northwestern Univeristy, (1961).
Price: $200.00
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First US edition, early printing, with EFG on the copyright page. Original printed cloth. Bookseller label on free front endpaper, else a fine copy. The dustwrapper is lightly worn at the head of the spine and at the upper fold, else near fine. It is not price-clipped. The first book in the 'Dark is Rising' series. Not as rare as the first printing, but scarce nevertheless in collectible condition.
Over Sea, Under Stone
Cooper, Susan
NY: Harcourt, Brace & World, (c. 1965).
Price: $250.00
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