Discover literary treasures in our wide selection of rare first edition books from highly collectible authors such as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, including beloved series such as Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings.

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A first edition in book form copy of Dickens' The Personal History of David Copperfield.<ul><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>Illustrated by HK Brown.</li><li>London: Bradbury &amp; Evans, 1850.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Includes 40 illustrations.</li><li>Bound in original olive-green cloth, elaborately bordered in blind, gilt lettering to spine, yellow coated endpapers, housed in custom quarter green morocco blue and green cloth box.</li></ul>

The Personal History of David Copperfield

A&nbsp;first edition of Zotti's annotated Divine Comedy, primarily designed for British women learning Italian and dedicated by the editor to three aristocratic women patrons.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 4.</li><li>Dante Alighieri (Italian).</li><li>Edited by Romualdo Zotti.</li><li>Essay by Johann Bernhard Merian.</li><li>London: R. Zotti, 1808, 1809.&nbsp;</li><li>Illustrated with frontispiece portrait of Dante in volume I.&nbsp;</li><li>Bound in contemporary full deep green goatskin, with green moiré silk endpapers, all edges gilt, gilt dentelles, green silk ribbon markers.&nbsp;</li></ul> In 1808, Dante's Divine Comedy was published for the first time in London in the original Italian; this work was one of two editions from that year, with no priority established (see Toynbee, 68). Zotti's was the first London-printed Divine Comedy with contextual commentary, and it was dedicated to three Englishwomen with an advanced knowledge of Italian: Augusta Fane, the Countess of Lonsdale; Frances Finch, third Countess of Dartmouth; and Mrs. Pilkington (Maria Elizabeth Gibbs). Their names also appear in the fourth volume's Nomi de' Signori Associati that is headed with the name of Queen Charlotte, and includes Signor Polidori, Margaret Mercer Elphinstone, John Kemble, the Misses Walpole and Charlotte Leveson Gower, Duchess of Beaufort. Zotti was the author of a popular Italian grammar and a former teacher of Italian to English girls; among the 119 women who made up the vast majority of the list, many are unmarried and likely include some number of Zotti's pupils. The preface suggests that the three dedicatees typified Zotti's intended readership: not scholars, but the well-educated, curious and cosmopolitan British reading public, primarily female, in need of linguistic help and desiring some historical and cultural context. The readers he anticipates are no experts, but neither will they be unfamiliar with Dante. It was essentially a schoolteacher's Dante: basic in some respects, inaccurate in others, but profoundly useful to that stratum of English society educated enough to read it, and it contributed significantly to the growing English familiarity with Dante in Romantic circles and among women in particular.

La Divina Commedia Di Dante Alighieri

A first American edition of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.<ul><li>Mark Twain (American).</li><li>New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, 1885.</li><li>Please note the image is a representative image of this item and not a photograph of the exact item available for purchase. For exact specifications, please Enquire.</li><li>Please note that availability of this item is subject to change. For details, please Enquire.</li></ul>

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

A first-edition copy of the account of the excavations of Mycenae by archeologist Dr. Henry Schliemann.<ul><li>Dr. Henry Schliemann (German).</li><li>Mycenae; a narrative of researches and discoveries at Mycenae and Tiryns.</li><li>London: Murray, 1878.</li><li>384 pages.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Includes 549 illustrations showing more than 700 objects, 21 plates, four colored plates and eight plans.</li><li>Bound in contemporary tree calf gilt by Worsfold, with green morocco labels.</li></ul> After Schliemann's spectacular discoveries at Troy in 1873 and the ensuing court case brought against him by Turkey, he was prevented from excavating in Troy for several years. In 1876, he turned his attention to Mycenae and carried out excavations on the site from August to November with the resulting discovery of "Agamemnon's Treasure."

Mycenae

A First Ogilby edition of The Holy Bible.<ul><li>Edited by John Ogilby (Scottish).</li><li>The Holy Bible. Containing the Bookes of the Old &amp; New Testament... illustrated w[ith] Chorographical Sculps. by J[ohn] Ogilby [bound with] The Book of Common Prayer.</li><li>Cambridge: Printed by John Field, Printer to the Universitie, 1660.</li><li>Illustrated with 110 double-page engraved plates of biblical scenes after paintings by Rubens, Tintoretto, de Vos, de Bruyn and other old masters, including Wenceslaus Hollar’s impressive double-folding-page view of Jerusalem, his Chorographica Terra Sanctae of the Holy Lands, and the engraved general title by Lombart after Diepenbeeck depicting Solomon enthroned.</li><li>Large folios.</li><li>Captions in Latin (some masked at time of printing).</li><li>Engraved general title, New Testament title dated 1659.</li><li>Ruled in red throughout, wide margined on thick paper, armorial bookplate to front pastedown of each volume, bound in near-contemporary straight-grained red morocco, armorial device supralibros to upper boards obscured by later blue morocco panel set within gilt meander border, gilt spine in 8 compartments, alternating lettering and cross-hatch design, all edges gilt over earlier fore-edge painting of meandering vines,</li></ul>&nbsp;An exceptional, well-margined copy of John Ogilby’s imaginative reissue of the Field large folio bible, published for the Restoration of King Charles II on 29th May 1660. The work was originally illustrated with just 8 plates by Lombart and Hollar, which had been intended for the London Polyglot bible published in 1657, but Ogilby soon offered the option of embellishing the work with a choice of engravings from the Amsterdam publisher Nicolaes Visscher. The number of plates is known to vary, but ESTC calls for a total of 102 only. The text was first published the previous year by John Field, printer to the University of Cambridge, who had been commissioned to supply a lectern bible for use in churches and libraries. The work was well-received, with the former university Vice-Chancellor John Worthington noting that ‘For a fair large letter, large paper, with fair margin, &amp;c., there was never such a Bible in being’. In the event, however, most of the edition was bought-up by Ogilby for his own project. Variously called ‘Ogilby’s Bible’ or ‘The Restoration Bible’, the result was a truly luxurious production, with well-margined copies such as this costing upwards of £25 in sheets alone. The finished work was presented to Charles II, to whom the work is dedicated, when the restored monarch first visited the Royal Chapel in Whitehall. An ‘unrivalled specimen of the press of the time’, the finest edition of the Holy Bible then extant (Lowndes).

The Holy Bible

A first edition copy of Smith's An Inquiry Into The Nature And Causes Of The Wealth Of Nations.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2 volumes.</li><li>Adam Smith (Scottish).</li><li>An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. By Adam Smith, LL.D. and F.R.S. Formerly Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Glasgow.</li><li>London: Printed for W. Strahan; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, 1776.</li><li>Quarto.</li><li>Bound in contemporary gilt-ruled sprinkled calf, re-backed but retaining original red and green morocco lettering pieces,&nbsp;bottom and fore-edges untrimmed, with wide margins.</li></ul>&nbsp;The first edition of the ‘first and greatest classic of modern economic thought’ (PMM). Smith (d.1790) spent ten years writing and perfecting The Wealth of Nations, the popularity of which surpassed its publisher’s expectations upon release; the estimated supply of between 500 and 750 first edition copies was exhausted within the first six months of printing, and four further editions were issued within Smith’s lifetime.&nbsp; As the title explains, the work is fundamentally an investigation into what makes certain nations prosperous. Smith’s originality lies in locating the roots of this comparative wealth in the specialization of labor which had occurred in developed economies, for the ‘annual labor of every nation is the fund which originally supplies it with all the necessaries and conveniences of life which it annually consumes, and which consist always, either in the immediate produce of that labor, or in what is purchased with that produce from other nations’ (Introduction).&nbsp;

An Inquiry Into The Nature And Causes Of The Wealth Of Nations

A first edition copy of Flights Over Ancient Cities of Iran.<ul><li>Erich F. Schmidt (American).</li><li>Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1940.</li><li>Folio</li><li>104 pages.</li><li>Includes 119 photographic illustrations, four maps and map endpapers.</li><li>Bound in original photographic cloth boards.</li></ul>&nbsp;Special publication of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. A fine record of some of the great archaeological sites of Iran as seen from the air, thus capturing ancient cities and towns in their complete geographic environment. Includes much on Persepolis.

Flights Over Ancient Cities of Iran

A first edition set of Das Kapital.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 4 volumes.</li><li>Karl Marx (German).</li><li>Das Kapital. Buch I: Der Produktionsprocess des Kapitals.; Buch II: Der Cirkulationsprocess des Kapitals; Buch III: Der Gesammtprocess der kapitalistischen Produktion Kapitel I bis XXVIII; Buch III: Der Gesammtprocess der kapitalistischen Produktion Kapitel XXIX bis LII.</li><li>Hamburg: Otto Meisner, 1867, 1885, 1894.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Text in German.</li><li>Bound in modern brown half morocco gilt over marbled boards.</li></ul>&nbsp;‘The history of the twentieth century is Marx’s legacy. Stalin, Mao, Che, Castro - the icons and monsters of the modern age have all presented themselves as his heirs. Whether he would recognise them as such is quite another matter [...] Nevertheless, writing one hundred years of his death half the world’s population was ruled by governments that professed Marxism to be their guiding faith. His ideas have transformed the study of economics, history, geography, sociology and literature. Not since Jesus Christ has an obscure pauper inspired such global devotion - or been so calamitously misinterpreted’ (Francis Wheen, in his Introduction to Karl Marx, 1999). Marx’s masterpiece was the summation of over twenty years research in the reading rooms of the British Museum, and followed on from his earlier work Zur Kritik der Politisches Oekonomie, printed in 1859. It is rarely found complete, as here, since the last part was published more than 25 years after the first volume - and 11 years after his death; only the first volume appeared in Marx’s lifetime. The first part was edited by Marx himself, while Friedrich Engels (1820-95) edited all others, until one year before his death. Interestingly the publisher Otto Meissner remained responsible for the entire publication.

Das Kapital

A first edition copy of Nero Caesar.<ul><li>Edmund Bolton (English, 1575-1633).</li><li>Nero Caesar, or Monarchie Depraved. An Historical Worke.... By the Translator of Lucius Florus.</li><li>London: by T. S. for Thomas Walkly, 1624.</li><li>Folio.</li><li>288 pages.</li><li>Bound in contemporary full paneled calf over cords.</li></ul>

Nero Caesar

A first edition, finely bound copy of The Raven and Other Poems.<ul><li>Edgar Allan Poe (American).</li><li>The Raven and Other Poems [and:] Tales.</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Wiley and Putnam,&nbsp;1845.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Raven with half title, "Wiley and Putnam's Library of American Books," name of stereotyper T. B. Smith on the title verso; Tales, third printing with three-line copyright.</li><li>Bound in three quarter blue morocco gilt, t.e.g., by Riviere &amp; Son.</li></ul> Students all over the world know of the title poem, and many know others as well: "The Conqueror Worm," "Eulalie," "Leonore," "To Helen," etc. "The most important volume of poetry that had been issued up to that time in America..." —Grolier American 56 A choice set of the major books published during Poe’s lifetime, BAL’s “reissue B,” issued by Wiley and Putnam in April 1846, comprising the first edition sheets of The Raven and The Tales in either second or third printing (here in BAL’s third printing, distinguishable by the three-line copyright notice). BAL notes that “impressions from the plates of several pages vary in an anomalous way. For instance, the first three letters of the last three lines of p. 160 appear both battered and intact within the three printings.” This copy has slight battering to “I” and “o” on p. 160, while the “v” is intact. The “E” in the running head on p. 187 is broken here (as in most copies of all printings. BAL cautions, “It is possible that the printings designated below as second and third are in fact two states of the same printing.” This copy is textually complete in both books, including the integral ads; the volume has been rebound without the separate gatherings of advertisements that followed the text.

The Raven and Other Poems

A first edition of the Imperial Edition of Description de l'Égypte.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 23 volumes, complete set, full contents outlined at end of listing.</li><li>Description de l'Égypte, ou Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l'expédition de l'armée françaisee, publié par les ordres de Sa Majesté Napoléon.</li><li>Paris:&nbsp;de l'Impr. Impériale ... [Royale],&nbsp;1809-[1829].</li><li>With plates, portraits and tables within the text (collated complete as per Monglond).</li><li>Includes 894 engraved plates.</li><li>Bound in mid-nineteenth century red morocco-backed marbled paper boards, bound by Bielicke, spines gilt (text) and contemporary blue paper boards with red morocco lettering pieces (atlases), bookseller label on front pastedown (Tessier).</li></ul> An extraordinary monument to both Egyptology and the history of printing, the first edition of the Description de l'Egypte took over twenty years to complete. The first scientific survey of Egypt and the largest printed work to its date, the Description is often credited with the very founding Egyptology. "The Egyptologists of the 19th century owed their knowledge of ancient Egypt to the efforts of the engineers who described the monuments of antiquity, and it was in the plates of the Description that these were revealed" (Blackmer). The 1798-1801 Napoleonic campaign against the Ottoman empire in Egypt and Syria was largely undertaken to protect and advance French commercial interests in the Levant and to thwart English efforts. In keeping with the principles of the Enlightenment, accompanying Napoleon's invading force were over 150 scientists and scholars sent to document all known aspects of ancient and modern Egypt, including its antiquities, natural history, geography, peoples, etc. The findings of these "savants" were compiled into what became the ambitious Description de l'Egypte, with hundreds of artists and engravers tasked with producing the work's nearly 900 engraved plates. Sections of the work appeared as they were completed between 1809 and 1829; a second edition would be produced by the publisher Pancoucke between 1821 and 1830. The present first edition is in a desirable format, with the large "double plates" here unfolded en plano in three elephant folio atlases. Full Contents of Set:Text: 9 volumes, folio (15-1/4x10-1/2 inches) [i.e. Antiquities Description, 2 vols; Antiquities Memoires, 2 vols; État Moderne, 3 vols; Histoire Naturelle, 2 vols] and 1 volume, large folio (28x21 inches) [Préface Historique]. Plates, portraits and tables within the text (collated complete as per Monglond). Atlases: 10 volumes, large folio (28x21 inches) [Antiquities, 5 vols; État Moderne, 2 vols; Histoire Naturelle, 3 vols] and 3 vols, elephant folio (grand aigle) (42x28 inches) [Antiquities 1-2; Antiquities 3-5/État Moderne; Carte Topographique]. 894 engraved plates (Antiquities: 426 plates [26 colored]; État Moderne: 171 plates; Histoire Naturelle: 244 plates [16 colored; the ornithological plates uncolored]; Carte Topographique: 54 plates [i.e. engraved title, key map and two charts on one sheet, 3 unnumbered sheets and 47 maps on 44 sheets].

Description de l'Égypte

A first edition literary portrait of Albert Einstein, signed by Einstein.<ul><li>Anton Reiser [pseudonym of Rudolph Kayser] (German).</li><li>Albert Einstein: A Biographical Portrait. </li><li>New York: Albert &amp; Charles Boni, 1930.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>225 pages.</li><li>Includes plates.</li><li>Signed by Einstein on the endpaper.</li><li>Bound in the publisher's red and grey cloth lettered in black.</li></ul> "Anton Reiser" is a pseudonym for Einstein's son-in-law, Rudolph Kayser. In Einstein's one-page preface, he writes that "The author of this book is someone who knows me rather intimately in my endeavor, thoughts, beliefs—in bedroom slippers..." The biography is noted as Louis Zukofsky's first book (i.e., translated anonymously by Zukofsky). An elusive title, the work is rarely encountered signed by Einstein.

Albert Einstein

A signed copy of Philip Van Doren Stern's story, The Greatest Gift: A Christmas Tale, which would later be adapted into the iconic film, It's A Wonderful Life.<ul><li>Philip Van Doren Stern (American).</li><li>New York: Privately published by the author, 1943.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>First edition and sole printing.</li><li>One of 200 copies, printed by the author to be distributed as Christmas cards.</li><li>Inscribed by the author.</li><li>Single gathering, wire stitched into the original tan wrappers, cream paper title label to front wrapper printed in black.</li></ul>

The Greatest Gift: A Christmas Tale

First UK Editions, and first printings of the Life Of Winston S. Churchill.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 8 volumes.</li><li>Randolph S. Churchill (English).</li><li>Martin Gilbert (English).</li><li>Life Of Winston S. Churchill [youth 1874-1900, Young Statesman 1901-1914, Volume III 1914-1916, Volume IV 1917-1922, Volume V 1922-1939, Finest Hour 1939-1941, Road To Victory 1941-1945, Never Despair 1945-1965.</li><li>London:&nbsp;Heinemann,&nbsp;1966-1988.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Volumes 1 and 2 signed by Randolph Churchill, Volumes 3-8 signed by Martin Gilbert.</li><li>Volume 1 is inscribed stating "Inscribed by" signed by Randolph S. Churchill on half-title page. </li><li>Volume 2 is inscribed stating "Bobby from" signed Randolph on half-title page, dated "6 Sep 67 -". </li><li>Volumes, 3, 7, and 8 are signed flat by Martin Gilbert on title pages. </li><li>Volumes 4 and 5 are signed flat by Martin Gilbert on front end-page. </li><li>Volume 6 is inscribed stating "Inscribed by the author, to R. G. McLeod with all good wishes -" signed Martin Gilbert on front end-page, dated "15th July 1983". Volume 1 contains a frontispiece black and white photo captioned "Second Lieutenant Winston S. Churchill 4th Hussars 1895" and a thin paper family tree between page 608 and rear end-page. </li><li>Volume 2 contains a frontispiece with a black and white photo captioned "Winston Spencer Churchill in 1904". </li><li>Volume 3 contains a frontispiece with a black and white photo captioned "Churchill in April 1916, when Lieutenant-Colonel, commanding the 6th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers. </li><li>Volume 4 contains a frontispiece black and white photo captioned "Churchill at Lille, 28 October 1918". </li><li>Volume 5 contains a frontispiece black and white photo captioned "Churchill in 1938".</li><li>Volume 1 has a dark blue spine with white, light blue, and red lettering.</li><li>Volume 2 has a dark green spine with white, light blue, and red lettering.</li><li>Volume 3 has a purple spine with white, grey, ad brown lettering.</li><li>Volume 4 has a brick red spine with white, blue-grey, and gold lettering.</li><li>Volume 5 has a dark green spine with white, light grey, and brown-orange lettering.</li><li>Volumes 6, 7, and 8 have a black spine with white lettering.</li><li>Dust jackets are all wrapped in mylar coverings.</li></ul>

Life Of Winston S. Churchill

A first edition and first impression copy of Truman Capote’s renowned novella, the basis for Blake Edward’s film, starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard.<ul><li>Truman Capote (American).</li><li>New York: Random House, 1958.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Bound in the publisher’s yellow cloth, gilt titles to spine on a black ground, pale blue topstain, with the unclipped dustjacket by Ismar David.</li></ul>

Breakfast At Tiffany’s

A first-edition copy of Dickens' The Personal History of David Copperfield.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 19 volumes.</li><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>Illustrated by H.K. Browne.</li><li>London: Bradbury and Evans, May 1849 - November 1850.</li><li>Original pictorial printed wrappers.</li><li>Housed in a full red morocco solinder slipcase, ribbed gilt decorated spine.</li></ul>

The Personal History Of David Copperfield

A first edition, first issue copy of the holiday classic A Christmas Carol.<ul><li>Charles Dickens (English, 1812-1870).</li><li>A Christmas Carol In Prose Being A Ghost Story of Christmas.</li><li>London: Chapman and Hall, 1843.</li><li>Illustrated with 4 hand-colored engraved plates by John Leech and 4 black and white illustrations by W.J. Linton.</li><li>Bound in full red morocco, ribbed gilt decorated spine, covers ruled and paneled in gilt, front cover with gilt portrait of Dickens, rear cover with Dickens signature in gilt, gilt dentelles, marbled pastedowns and endpapers, all edges gilt, original cloth covers and green endpaper bound in by Bayntun.</li></ul> Regarded as Dickens' most widely read novel and considered to be "the greatest Christmas book ever written in any language" (Eckel p. 116) selling more than 6,000 copies in the few days leading up to Christmas. The work was extravagantly costly as Dickens for the first time (and incidentally his last) used color in the title-page and etchings, as he wanted to make the book a beautiful gift and to be a celebration of the Christmas spirit. After the initial success, Dickens continued the series throughout the 1840s, maintaining "the Carol" philosophy to "strike a sledgehammer blow" for the poor, uneducated and repressed.

 A Christmas Carol

First edition, mixed state of Swift's Gulliver's Travels, or, Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2.</li><li>Jonathan Swift (Irish).</li><li>London: Benj. Motte, 1726.</li><li>Bound in 20th-century full paneled imitation period calf with gilt tooling, morocco labels and gilt titling to paneled spine.</li><li>Housed in a custom quarter red morocco slipcase.</li></ul> The first three editions were published within two months, with the first edition (Teerink's State A) published on October 28, 1726, the second (Teerink's State AA) in November 1726 and the third (Teerink's State B) in December 1726. While previously thought to be just separate issues, later bibliographical research has shown they are actually different editions. In respect to both Swift's own opinions and previous bibliographical work, they are all considered first editions. Volume 1 is Teerink's State AA, also known as the second issue or second printing, with misspellings, including Part I, p. 35, line 5 has "Subsidues"; Volume 2 is Teerink's State B, also known as the third issue or third printing, with continuous pagination; Portrait in state 2a, with vertical chainlines.

Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World

A first edition, first printing, inscribed copy of the Collected Poems of Robert Frost 1939.<ul><li>Robert Frost (American).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Henry Holt and Company,&nbsp;[1939].</li><li>436 pages.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Includes a frontispiece portrait.</li><li>Inscribed with an early draft of the poem "Come In."</li></ul>

Collected Poems of Robert Frost 1939

A first edition, first impression, trade-issue copy of Joyce’s last and most innovative prose work, Finnegans Wake.<ul><li>James Joyce (Irish).</li><li>London: Faber &amp; Faber, 1939.</li><li>Large octavo.</li><li>Bound in the publisher’s burgundy cloth, titles to spine gilt, with the unclipped dust jacket, housed in green morocco gilt solander box.&nbsp;</li></ul> One of 3,400 sets of sheets for the trade edition of Finnegans Wake which were printed for Faber. Of these, 2,255 were bound and sold at 25 shillings, 950 were destroyed by the publisher and the remaining were gratis copies. It is possible that the 950 discarded sets of sheets remained unsold because of the price, which Joyce believed was too high. "'A way alone aloved alost along the…' If Finnegans Wake is a key book, it is a key which needs a key" (Connolly). "His work is enriched by such large resources of invention and allusion that its total effect is infinite variety" (Harry Levin).

Finnegans Wake

A finely bound, illustrated, first edition set of Battles and Leaders of the Civil War.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 4 volumes.</li><li>Robert U. Johnson (American).</li><li>Clarence C. Buel (American).</li><li>New York: The Century Co., 1887.</li><li>Bound in three-quarters red morocco, linen boards, top edges gilt, raised bands, gilt panels, with marbled endpapers.</li></ul>

Battles and Leaders of the Civil War

A first edition, first issue copy of the holiday classic&nbsp;A Christmas Carol.<ul><li>Charles Dickens (English, 1812-1870).</li><li>A Christmas Carol In Prose Being A Ghost Story of Christmas.</li><li>London: Chapman and Hall, 1843.</li><li>Illustrated with 4 hand-colored engraved plates by John Leech and 4 black and white illustrations by W.J. Linton.</li><li>Bound in fine full red morocco, ribbed gilt decorated spine, covers ruled and paneled in gilt, gilt dentelles, marbled pastedowns and endpapers, all edges gilt, by Sangorski &amp; Sutcliffe.</li></ul> Regarded as Dickens' most widely read novel and considered to be "the greatest Christmas book ever written in any language" (Eckel p. 116) selling more than 6,000 copies in the few days leading up to Christmas. The work was extravagantly costly as Dickens for the first time (and incidentally his last) used color in the title-page and etchings, as he wanted to make the book a beautiful gift and to be a celebration of the Christmas spirit. After the initial success, Dickens continued the series throughout the 1840s, maintaining "the Carol" philosophy to "strike a sledgehammer blow" for the poor, uneducated and repressed.

A Christmas Carol

A first edition copy of Arabia Egypt India: A Narrative of Travel.<ul><li>Isabel Burton (English).</li><li>London: Mullan, 1879.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>488 pages.</li><li>Includes a colored frontispiece map and 12 plates.</li><li>Bound in original red decorated cloth with beveled edges, ruled and lettered in silver and gold, all edges gilt.</li></ul>&nbsp;Isabel Burton's second book detailing a journey made with her husband to India, via Arabia and Egypt between 1875 and 1876. Although the work is predominantly focused on India, there is a chapter devoted to Jeddah and some notes on Trieste, where this voyage began.

Arabia Egypt India: A Narrative of Travel

A finely bound, first-edition copy of The Fascinating Duc de Richelieu.<ul><li>H. Noel Williams (English).</li><li>London:&nbsp;Methuen &amp; Co., Ltd.,&nbsp;1910.</li><li>Includes 20 extra plates, six hand-colored.</li><li>Bound by Bayntun in three-quarter wine morocco and marbled boards bordered in gilt-tooling with a gilt-tooled raised band spine, all edges gilt with marbled endpapers.</li></ul>

The Fascinating Duc de Richelieu

First edition pre-publication presentation copy of The Hunting of the Snark inscribed by the author.<ul><li>Lewis Carroll [Charles L. Dodgson] (English).</li><li>Illustrated by Henry Holiday (English).</li><li>London: Macmillan &amp; Co., 1876.</li><li>Inscribed in black ink on the half-title "James Hessey from the Author. Mar. 19. 1876."&nbsp;</li><li>Bound in the publisher's special pre-publication binding of red cloth,&nbsp;all edges gilt,&nbsp;"Burn" binders ticket to rear pastedown.</li></ul>

The Hunting of the Snark

A finely bound, first edition copy of In the Nicobar Islands.<ul><li>George Whitehead (American).</li><li>Preface by Sir Richard C. Temple.</li><li>London: Seeley, Service &amp; Co., Ltd., 1924.</li><li>Includes many illustrations and a map.</li><li>Bound by Bayntun in three-quarter brown morocco and linen boards, the covers and raised band spine are gilt-tooled, the top edge is gilt with marbled endpapers.</li></ul>

In the Nicobar Islands

A signed, first edition, first printing copy of No Country For Old Men.<ul><li>Cormac McCarthy (American).</li><li>New Orleans, Louisiana:&nbsp;B.E. Trice,&nbsp;2005.&nbsp;</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>309 pages.</li><li>Deluxe Limited Edition, numbered 41 out of 75.&nbsp;</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>309 pages.</li><li>Signed flat by Cormac McCarthy on publisher's limitation page.</li><li>Slip case is bound in maroon cloth and embossed with Cormac McCarthy's signature on the front cover. spine is three-quarter maroon morocco with gilt lettering, marbled boards.</li></ul> Originally published in 2005, American author Cormac McCarthy's No Country For Old Men quickly achieved success as a harrowing crime drama that follows a triangle of men tied together by the events of a drug deal gone awry. This scarce deluxe edition features the author's signature, beautiful leather binding, and marbled boards. It is #41 of only 75 copies released. In 2007, two years after the novel's release, No Country For Old Men was adapted into a film of the same name starring Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, and Javier Bardem; the film was awarded four Oscars, including the award for Best Picture at the 80th Academy Awards. Between the success of No Country For Old Men and its film adaptation, McCarthy was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in fiction for his 2006 novel, The Road.

No Country For Old Men

A finely bound, first edition in English copy of The History of Jewels.<ul><li>Samuel Chappuzeau (French).</li><li>The History of Jewels, and of the Principal Riches of the East and West, taken from the relation of divers of the most famous travellers of our age. Attended with fair discoveries, conducing to the knowledge of the universe and trade.</li><li>London: Printed by T.N. for Hobart Kemp, at the Sign of the Ship in the Upper Walk of the New Exchange, 1671.</li><li>128 pages.</li><li>Bound in contemporary tree calf, spine gilt, contrasting red morocco lettering-piece, rebacked, edges stained red.</li></ul>&nbsp;"There is nothing more admirable in this lower World then Precious Stones, seeing they are the Starres of the Earth, and shine in competition with those of the Firmament" (preface). A rare and important early work that provides some of the first reliable information on the international jewelry trade, and on a number of large and famous diamonds which have survived to this day. With information on Peru, the West Indies and America. Referred to as an "adventurer in literature" Samuel Chappuzeau (1625-1701) is perhaps best known for his work on French theatre of the 17th century, Théâtre François (Lyon 1674). He was a prolific author, particularly after his move from his native Paris to Geneva in 1662, where he worked with the publisher Widerholt. In this gem of a book, he describes the wealth of the East: "The text is in two parts, the first, of six chapters, describes gemstones beginning with diamond, then those of color, pearls, coral, amber, yellow stones, the metals, ambergris, bezoar, indigo and other 'rich' productions of the East and West Indies, and including salts. The second part describes the places which are referred to in the first part, from Abyssinia to Visapur" (Sinkankas).

The History of Jewels

A first edition, first issue, finely bound copy of The Holy Land.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2 volumes.</li><li>David Roberts (Scottish).</li><li>London: Moon, 1842.</li><li>Folio.</li><li>Includes two lithographic title pages (as issued) and 120 lithograph plates by Louis Haghe after David Roberts (60 full-page), with lithographic portrait of Roberts by C. Baugniet on india paper, the half-page plates with descriptive text below image.</li><li>Bound in contemporary morocco-backed cloth gilt, top edge gilt.</li></ul>&nbsp;Roberts' Holy Land was one of the most elaborate ventures of nineteenth-century publishing, providing the most comprehensive series of views of the monuments, landscape and people of the region. It is one of the greatest illustrated books published in the nineteenth century. This copy is from the earliest issue, before the map and the title page for the third volume were produced in 1849. David Roberts arrived in Cairo in September 1838. He crossed the desert by way of Suez, Mount Sinai and Petra to Gaza and Jerusalem accompanied by tribes of Bedouins, friends and guides. He later visited the Dead Sea, the Lake of Tiberias, Lebanon and the ruins of Baalbek. Returning to England in late 1839, he sought a publisher willing to produce a lavish edition of his views. Rejected by the Finden Brothers and by John Murray, he signed a contract with Francis Moon in 1840. He and Moon shrewdly promoted their project by organizing a private viewing of Roberts' watercolors and drawings for Queen Victoria, the Archbishop of Canterbury and other influential people who immediately subscribed. They mounted public exhibitions of some travel sketches in many British cities, and the favorable press notices attracted additional subscriptions, amounting to nearly double what the project required.

The Holy Land 

First edition, first printing of the novel The Last of the Mohicans, set in the American West.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2.</li><li>James Fenimore Cooper (American).</li><li>Philadelphia: H.C. Carey &amp; L Lea, 1826.</li><li>Bound in brown leather with title volumes gilt on black to spine.</li><li>Housed in leather case with title and author name gilt and raised bands with decorative motif down spine.</li></ul>

The Last of the Mohicans 

A finely bound first edition, first impression copy of Golding's classic novel.<ul><li>William Golding (English).</li><li>London: Faber and Faber Ltd, 1954.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>248 pages.</li><li>Bound in brown morocco boards with gilt lettering on spine, gilt bands, teg, original cloth spine bound in at rear.</li></ul> A beautiful copy of this literary classic with a storied history. It was originally rejected by an in-house reader at Faber as "Rubbish &amp; dull," before being picked up by another editor there, Charles Monteith, who helped Golding reshape the novel. The first printing of 3,000 copies sold slowly until E.M. Forster chose it as his outstanding novel of the year. Considered a great parable of the modern human condition, it has since become a staple of best novel lists and educational reading lists, and has sold more than ten million copies.

Lord of the Flies

Inscribed first printing of the influential literary achievement by a towering feature of the counterculture. 	<ul><li>Ken Kesey (American).</li><li>New York: The Viking Press, 1962.</li><li>[8], 311, [1] pages.</li><li>Kesey’s inscription scrawled in black ink across front paste-down “For Darrel / Kesey 1993” and previous owner’s signature penned to front end paper.</li><li>Bound in original green cloth, spine lettered in yellow with original unclipped color dust jacket designed by Paul Bacon with photographic portrait of Kesey by Hank Kranzler on rear panel.&nbsp;</li></ul> The basis for one of the defining films of 1970s cinema, Kesey’s novel was first published more than a decade earlier, at the dawn of the ‘60s, and is all the more shocking for that original context. The novel is set in a men’s psychiatric hospital among inmates who, afflicted variously by mental illness, minority status, criminal convictions and aggressive nonconformity, are all subject to the indignities and cruelties of nurses and doctors alike. Kesey’s sadistic Nurse Ratched lives on as a quasi-folk myth, like the real Lizzie Borden and the fictional Annie Wilkes; her name is perhaps better known even than Kesey’s own.&nbsp;An enduring attack on the establishment’s power to punish and enforce.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

A first edition copy of this remarkable collection of silhouette portraits of prominent politicians and leaders, created by scissors artist William H. Brown.<ul><li>William H. Brown (American).</li><li>Hartford:&nbsp;E. B. and E. C. Kellogg,&nbsp;1846.</li><li>110 pages.</li><li>Illustrated with three-color lithograph frontispiece and 25 black and yellow lithograph plates with paper guards, with 26 lithograph letter facsimiles.&nbsp;</li><li>Bound in publisher's quarter goatskin cloth boards with gilt pictorial stamping and gilt top edge.</li></ul> As William H. Brown notes in his introduction, Revolutionary figures have always carried an outsized influence on America's history and portraiture. In Portrait Gallery of Distinguished American Citizens, Brown strove to add 19th century icons to the pantheon of US history, expanding it in the style of the then-mainstream the Great Man Theory of history. His selection of the silhouette as his art form of choice for this work is striking: as photography became more popular in the mid-19th century, silhouettes were quickly falling out of favor. But Brown was known for pushing the boundaries of the form, leading silhouettes to enjoy "a period of popularity, when [they] were considered the quintessential contemporary snapshots of public and private life" (K.S., 103). An example of Brown's artistry—and what gives these images an unexpectedly modern feel—is the setting of his portraits: his dark, flat silhouettes have been placed within realistic backgrounds depicted using traditional techniques of perspective. It is as though these men have been distilled to their essential form, with sparse details added in faint white pencil, yet still exist within the real world. A stunning antebellum project of mythologizing American history.

Portrait Gallery of Distinguished American Citizens and Fac-Similes of Original Letters

A signed, first edition of this neo-Western thriller, one of McCarthy's most famous works and the basis for an Oscar-winning film.<ul><li>Cormac McCarthy (American).</li><li>New Orleans: B. E. Trice, 2005.</li><li>310 pages.</li><li>Signed by McCarthy and numbered 42 to edition page.</li><li>Bound in original half burgundy leather with marbled boards, gilt lettering to spine, and brown endpapers, in original burgundy cloth slipcase.</li></ul> Known for his "brutal and spare" narratives, Cormac McCarthy has been called "one of the greatest living novelists" (Cowley, The Guardian). No Country for Old Men is a major work of the McCarthy canon, exploring fate and futility in the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong in rural west Texas. A MacArthur Fellow, a Pulitzer Prize-winner and National Book Award-winner, McCarthy's reputation has been extended further with the success of the Coen brothers' Hollywood adaptation of No Country for Old Men, which won four Academy Awards including Best Picture.

No Country for Old Men 

First printing, state A, of the continuing travels of Tom Sawyer, with authorial responsibility assigned to "Huck Finn, edited by Mark Twain."<ul><li>Mark Twain (American).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Charles L. Webster &amp; Company,&nbsp;1894.</li><li>Illustrated with half-tone plates by Dan Beard.</li><li>Bound in original tan pictorial cloth.</li></ul>

Tom Sawyer Abroad

A first edition, first printing copy of Huckleberry Finn, in the publisher's full sheep binding.<ul><li>Mark Twain (American).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Charles Webster,&nbsp;1885 [1884].&nbsp;</li><li>366 pages.</li><li>Illustrated by E.W. Kemble with 174 black and white drawings.&nbsp;</li><li>Bound in original full sheep, leather labels on spine in black and red, housed in custom half goatskin box.</li></ul> Twain often had ambitious plans for the publication of his books, as well as the ability to execute them through his own publishing firm, Charles L. Webster and Company, run by his nephew-in-law. Anticipating brisk Christmas season sales, they planned four bindings for this informal sequel to Tom Sawyer: one in green pictorial cloth (the most common); one in blue pictorial cloth (to match Tom Sawyer); and two deluxe bindings, half morocco (goatskin) and sheep. Of the four bindings, the fewest copies were bound in sheep, estimated at around 2500 copies—though "they rarely survive in numbers proportional to the number that were originally bound" (Mac Donnell). The sheep copies were also among the earliest bound: most of the presentation copies from Twain are found in sheep. Because sheepskin notoriously takes wear more easily than other binding leathers like goat and calf, it is exceptionally difficult to find nice copies.

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