First Edition Literature & Children's Books

Stephen King

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing set of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=stephen+king&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Stephen King</a>'s The Dark Tower series.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 9 volumes.</li><li>Stephen King (American).</li><li>Includes: The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands, Wizard and Glass, Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah, and The Dark Tower, with The Wind Through the Keyhole, and related short story The Little Sisters of Eluria as issued in Legends.</li><li>Each is in its original dust jacket.</li></ul> All volumes are first editions, first printings, a notably scarce assembly when found complete in such uniform and well-preserved condition. King’s genre-defining fusion of fantasy, western, and speculative fiction unfolds across these volumes in an expansive narrative centered on Roland Deschain and his quest for the Dark Tower.

The Dark Tower Series | First Editions

John Le Carré

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> with the first line of the story and dated by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=john+le+Carr%C3%A9&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">le Carré</a>.<ul><li>John le Carré (English).</li><li>United Kingdom: Gollancz, 1963.</li><li>Inscribed by the author to the title page, ‘The American handed Leamas another cup of coffee and said, ‘Why don’t you go back and sleep? We can ring you if he shows up’ – John Le Carre/New Year/2009.’</li><li>Presented in the unclipped dust wrapper, accompanied by the wrap-around band with Graham Greene’s quote about the book.</li></ul> A first edition, first printing of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. A bleak Cold War thriller about Alec Leamas, a weary British agent drawn into one last operation against East German intelligence. What begins as a spy mission becomes a study in deception, sacrifice, and moral compromise. Le Carré strips glamour from espionage, showing it as brutal, shabby, and ethically corrosive, which helped redefine the modern spy novel. Le Carre, a reluctant inscriber, inscribed this unique copy using the opening line of the novel.

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold | First Edition Inscribed by the Author

Evelyn Waugh

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of Black Mischief by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Evelyn+Waugh&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Evelyn Waugh</a>.<ul><li>Evelyn Waugh (English).</li><li>London: Chapman and Hall, 1932.</li><li>With frontispiece, map on page 303.</li><li>Signed by the Author to the endpaper ‘With Best Wishes From/ Evelyn.’</li><li>In the original patterned faux-snakeskin cloth, with spine lettered in gilt, in the unclipped wrapper, accompanied by the rare Book Society ‘Book of the Month For October’ wrap-around band. </li></ul> A sharp, comic satire about politics, modernization, and imperial absurdity. Set in the fictional African state of Azania, it follows the well-meaning but chaotic Emperor Seth as he tries to westernize his country, helped by the dubious Englishman Basil Seal. Waugh uses farce, cruelty, and brilliant exaggeration to expose vanity, incompetence, and cultural arrogance, making the novel funny, unsettling, and deliberately outrageous all at once

Black Mischief | Signed First Edition

V.S. Naipaul

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a>, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of A House For Mr Biswas by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=V.S.+Naipaul&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">V.S. Naipaul</a>.<ul><li>V.S. Naipaul (British).</li><li>London: Andre Deutsch Limited, 1961.</li><li>Signed on the title page without dedication, and additionally dated: “New York / April 1 1961.”</li><li>In the vibrantly pink dust wrapper.</li></ul> Naipaul’s masterpiece: comic, poignant, and deeply humane in its account of Mohun Biswas’s struggle for independence, dignity, and a house of his own.

A House For Mr Biswas | Signed First Edition

A.A. Milne | Ernest H. Shepard

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first Deluxe edition</a> of The House At Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> and numbered by the author and illustrator.<ul><li>A.A. Milne (English).</li><li>Illustrated by E.H. Shepard (English).</li><li>London: Methuen &amp; Co. Ltd., 1928.</li><li>Limited to 350 numbered and signed copies by Milne &amp; Shepard, this being copy #224.</li><li>Bound in the publisher’s original blue cloth backed boards, entirely uncut and unopened, with the original dust jacket.</li></ul>

The House At Pooh Corner | Signed First Deluxe Edition

Percy Bysshe Shelley

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of The Cenci: A Tragedy, In Five Acts by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Percy+Bysshe+Shelley&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Percy Bysshe Shelley</a>.<ul><li>Percy Bysshe Shelley (English).</li><li>[Livorno], Italy: for C. And J. Ollier, Vere Street, Bond Street, London, 1819.</li><li>(xiv)104 pages.</li><li>Bound in full red morocco, ribbed gilt decorated spine, covers triple ruled in gilt, gilt dentelles, top edge gilt, others entirely uncut as issued, by Zaehnsdorf with their exhibition stamp to the lower edge of the rear pastedown.</li></ul> First edition of Shelley's dramatization of this dark tale of parricide, child abuse, and incest based on actual events and arguably the most enduring Romantic verse-play. Only 250 copies were printed, according to Shelley himself. According to Granniss, "With the exception of Queen Mab, The Cenci is the only one of Shelley's works which reached a second edition during his lifetime ." On the other hand, the play was never staged until the Shelley Society produced it on the occasion of Robert Browning's birthday, on May 7, 1886.

The Cenci: A Tragedy, In Five Acts | First Edition

Charles Dickens

<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">First edition</a>, second issue of A Christmas Carol by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Charles+Dickens&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charles Dickens</a>.<ul><li>Charles Dickens (English).</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>Chapter heading reading "Stave One."</li><li>Bound in the original straight grained rose colored cloth, gilt tile and wreath to spine and front cover, front cover has a perfect 'D' in 'Dickens', yellow pastedowns and endpapers, all edges gilt.</li></ul> Regarded as Dicken's most widely read novel and considered to be "the greatest Christmas book ever written in any language" selling more than 6000 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 1840's, maintaining "the Carol" philosophy to "strike a sledgehammer blow" for the poor, uneducated, and repressed.

A Christmas Carol In Prose Being A Ghost Story of Christmas | First Edition

William Faulkner

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first issue of Light in August by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=William+Faulkner&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">William Faulkner</a>.<ul><li>William Faulkner (American).</li><li>New York: Harrison Smith &amp; Robert Haas, 1932.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>First issue, with 'Jefferson' for 'Mottstown' on page 340, line 1.</li><li>Bound in the publisher's tan cloth, titles to upper board in orange and to spine in blue, orange top stain, with the art deco dust-jacket.</li></ul> An exceptional copy of a novel that contrasts stark tragedy with hopeful perseverance in the face of mortality; featuring some of Faulkner's most memorable characters: guileless, dauntless Lena Grove, in search of the father of her unborn child; Reverend Gail Hightower, a lonely outcast haunted by visions of Confederate glory; as well as Joe Christmas, a desperate, enigmatic drifter consumed by his mixed ancestry.

Light in August First Edition

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of Scoop by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Evelyn+Waugh&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Evelyn Waugh</a>.<ul><li>Evelyn Waugh (English).</li><li>London: Chapman and Hall, 1938.</li><li>Signed by the author on the front endpaper, ‘For Elizabeth Herbert/Evelyn Waugh’. </li><li>In the first state, unclipped dust wrapper with Daily Beast to the front panel, with the rare wrap-around band, stating ‘Stop Press’ – Chosen by the Book Society.</li></ul> The recipient, Elizabeth Herbert was sister to Laura, the author’s second wife (after Evelyn). Scarce with these attributes.&nbsp;

Scoop Signed First Edition

J.R.R. Tolkien

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of The Return of the King by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=J.R.R.+Tolkien&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">J.R.R. Tolkien</a>.<ul><li>J.R.R. Tolkien (English).</li><li>United Kingdom: George Allen and Unwin, 1955.</li><li>Original fold out map is still present to the rear.</li><li>Bound in the publisher’s rich red boards, in the dustwrapper.</li></ul> The third installment in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The Return of the King First Edition

B. Traven

The <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first American edition</a> of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=B.+Traven&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">B. Traven</a>.<ul><li>B. Traven (unkown).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Alfred A. Knopf,&nbsp;1935.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>[vi], 366 pages.</li><li>Bound in black cloth, with the dust jacket, in a custom morroco backed box.</li></ul> The American edition is an original English language version by Traven. This book is the basis of the John Huston directed film classic starring Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston. "The treasure which you think not worth taking trouble and pains to find, this one alone is the real treasure you are longing for all your life. The glittering treasure you are hunting for day and night lies buried on the other side of that hill yonder."

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre | First American Edition

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of The Dark Half by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=stephen+king&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Stephen King</a>.<ul><li>Stephen King (American).</li><li>United States: Viking Press, 1989.</li><li>Signed and dated 2/8/90 by Stephen King to the title page.</li><li>In the unclipped dust wrapper.</li></ul>

The Dark Half | Signed First Edition

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=stephen+king&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Stephen King</a>, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">inscribed</a> by the author, and accompanied by a letter from King's secretary.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 1 book and 1 postcard.</li><li>Stephen King (American).</li><li>United States: Grant, 1987.</li><li>Signed to the front endpaper, ‘For Cassey Clark-/With best wishes/from Roland...and me,/Stephen King/19/27/92.'</li><li>In the clipped wrapper.</li></ul> Accompanying the book is a signed postcard, stating, ‘Dear Cassy, Enclosed please find your books which Stephen has signed for you. Please be advised that he has had to set a two-book limit, total due to the large amount of requests he receives. Thank you and enjoy. Nancy.’ Nancy Gilbert worked as a secretary and administrative assistant to Stephen King during the earlier years of his career. She was involved in handling correspondence and office administration at a time when King’s popularity — and fan mail — was expanding rapidly. Her name appears in acknowledgements in some of King’s earlier books and is occasionally encountered in relation to typed letters or office responses sent on King’s behalf. The 'Roland' in the inscription refers to The Dark Tower’s protagonist, Roland Deschain.

The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three | Signed First Edition Book, with a Letter from the Author's Secretary

Ernest Hemingway

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of For Whom the Bell Tolls by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Ernest+Hemingway&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ernest Hemingway</a>.<ul><li>Ernest Hemingway (American).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Scribner's,&nbsp;1940.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>471 pages.</li><li>In the first state dust jacket, publisher's coarse calico grain cloth with facsimile of the author's signature in black on the uppers cover in custom half-morocco clamshell box.</li></ul> Hemingway's celebrated novel of the Spanish Civil War, difficult to find in such nice condition, as any rubbing stands out against the black background, and the red and blue of the spine are generally found faded.

For Whom the Bell Tolls First Edition

George Orwell

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of Nineteen Eighty-Four by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=George+Orwell&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">George Orwell</a>.<ul><li>George Orwell (English).</li><li>United Kingdom: Secker and Warburg, 1949.</li><li>In the original unclipped maroon wrapper, designed by Michael Kennard.</li></ul> Nineteen Eighty-Four was first published in 1949, almost simultaneously in Britain and the United States. The British first edition appeared on 8 June 1949 from Secker &amp; Warburg, Orwell’s long-time publisher, while Harcourt, Brace &amp; Company issued the American edition five days later. Both printings reflected wartime paper shortages, resulting in modest production quality.

Nineteen Eighty-Four [1984] First Edition

Michael Bond

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of A Bear Called Paddington by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Michael+Bond&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Michael Bond</a>.<ul><li>Michael Bond (English).</li><li>London: Collins, 1958.</li><li>In the unclipped wrapper.</li></ul>

A Bear Called Paddington First Edition

Dashiell Hammett

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of The Maltese Falcon by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Dashiell+Hammett&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dashiell Hammett</a>.<ul><li>Dashiell Hammett (American).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Alfred Knopf,&nbsp;1930.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Original light gray cloth decoratively stamped in dark grayish blue and black on front cover and spine, top edge stained dark blue with deckled fore-edges, in a custom morocco backed box. </li></ul>

The Maltese Falcon First Edition

J.K. Rowling

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which has been <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=J.K.+Rowling&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">J.K. Rowling</a> and actor <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Daniel+Radcliffe&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Daniel Radcliffe</a>, who portrayed the boy wizard in the Harry Potter films.<ul><li>J.K. Rowling (English).</li><li>London: Bloomsbury, 2000.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Signed by both J.K. Rowling (without dedication) and actor, Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter in the eight motion pictures.&nbsp;</li><li>Accompanied by a typed Letter with a facsimile signature from the author to a fan thanking them for enjoying the book (having been signed) loosely inserted.</li><li>In the original dust wrapper.</li></ul>

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | First Edition Signed by the Author and Daniel Radcliffe

Émile Zola

An <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">inscribed</a> <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=%C3%89mile+Zola&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Émile Zola</a>'s first book.<ul><li>Émile Zola (French).</li><li>Paris:&nbsp;J. Hetzel et A. Lacroix,&nbsp;[1864].</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>[4], 320 pages.</li><li>Inscribed on the half-title to the distinguished literary critic and author, Jules Levallois (1829 - 1903): “à M. Jules Levallois “temoignage du devouement et de la sympathie de l’auteur [a testimony of the author’s devotion and sympathy] Emile Zola.”</li><li>With loosely inserted calling card of the author.</li><li>Text is in French.</li><li>Full blue morocco gilt, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, by Taffin, with the original yellow printed wrappers bound in.</li></ul> First edition of the author’s first book. Zola was 24 years old when Contes à Ninon, was published. The calling card, circa 1890 is engraved "Emile Zola / rue de Bruxelles, 21 bis" and inscribed in pen by Zola, "Avec mes remerciements et l'expression de ma sympathie [with my thanks and the expression of my sympathy]."

Contes à Ninon | Inscribed First Edition

Truman Capote

A <a href="sothebys" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Breakfast+at+Tiffany%27s&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Breakfast at Tiffany's</a> by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Truman+Capote&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Truman Capote</a>.<ul><li>Truman Capote (American).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Random House,&nbsp;[1958].</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>179 pages.</li><li>Publisher's yellow cloth with black leather spine label lettered in gilt, with original typographic dust jacket, In a quarter red morocco clamshell box.</li></ul> With three stories in addition to the title novella: "House of Flowers," "A Diamond Guitar," and "A Christmas Memory."

Breakfast at Tiffany's | A Short Novel and Three Stories | First Edition

E. M. Forster

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a>, limited <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of Passage to India by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=E.M.+Forster&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">E.M. Forster</a>.<ul><li>E.M. Forster (English).</li><li>London:&nbsp;Edward Arnold,&nbsp;1924.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>[2, blank], [i, half title], [ii, limitation], [1]-[4], 5-325, [326, blank], [2, blank] pages.</li><li>Number 188 of 200 copies signed by the author.</li><li>Title page printed in red and black.</li><li>Grey boards, brown cloth spine with paper label, extra label at back, in the original grey board slipcase.</li></ul>

A Passage to India | Signed First Edition

A set of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printings of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=The+Lord+of+the+Rings&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Lord of the Rings</a> trilogy by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=J.R.R.+Tolkien&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">J.R.R. Tolkien</a>.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 3 volumes.</li><li>J.R.R. Tolkien (English).</li><li>Published by George Allen &amp; Unwin.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Half-titles, folding maps printed in red and black at rear of each volume.</li><li>Original publisher’s red cloth, spines lettered and decorated in gilt with Tolkien’s ring device, top edges stained red; original first issue dust-jackets, priced 21s net.</li><li> </li></ul>The Fellowship of the Ring (1954):<ul><li>[vi], 423, [1] pages.</li><li>“First published in 1954” to verso.</li></ul> The Two Towers (1954):<ul><li>[vi], 352 pages.</li><li>“First published in 1954” to verso.</li></ul> The Return of the King (1955):<ul><li>[vi], 416 pages.</li><li>“First published in 1955” to verso, text complete with Appendix and Index, the name “Legolas” in its characteristic staggered typographical setting, corrected in later impressions.</li></ul> All three volumes retaining correct early maps and red top stain. Rear panels with advertisements referencing The Hobbit (Second Edition, Fifth Impression) and Farmer Giles of Ham, consistent with early states. When The Lord of the Rings appeared between 1954 and 1955, it was issued quietly, in modest print runs, by the London publisher George Allen &amp; Unwin. Tolkien’s achievement was not merely narrative but architectural. Drawing upon philology, medieval literature, mythology, and his own linguistic inventions, he constructed a secondary world of unprecedented depth and internal coherence. Middle-earth was not a setting but a civilisation: languages, genealogies, cosmology, and moral philosophy interwoven with epic narrative. In doing so, Tolkien effectively established the template for modern high fantasy. The trilogy’s publication history underscores its rarity. The first impression of The Fellowship of the Ring numbered only 3,000 copies; The Two Towers followed at 3,250; The Return of the King at 7,000. Survival rates in original, unrestored dust-jackets were never high. More than seventy years after publication, The Lord of the Rings remains one of the most widely read and culturally resonant works of the modern era. The present set — preserved in its original cloth and correctly priced dust-jackets — represents not only a landmark of imaginative literature but a cornerstone of serious book collecting.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy | First Edition, First Printings

Walter Tevis

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of The Hustler by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Walter+Tevis&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Walter Tevis</a>.<ul><li>Walter Tevis (American).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Harper and Brothers,&nbsp;[1959].</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Signed by the author on the title page.</li><li>In the original dust jacket, now in a custom morocco backed box.</li></ul> A crisp signed copy of the author's signature title, chronicling the rise and fall of pool shark Fast Eddie Felson. Basis for the classic 1961 film of the same name, starring Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, and George C. Scott.

The Hustler Signed First Edition

Ernest Thayer

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of Casey at the Bat by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Ernest+Thayer&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ernest Thayer</a>.<ul><li>Ernest Thayer (American).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;New Amsterdam Book Co,&nbsp;[1901].</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Illustrations printed in sepia.</li><li>Bound in the original publisher's illustrated wrappers, enclosed in a quarter-leather slipcase.</li></ul> The famous baseball poem, one of the most celebrated of all American popular poems, was first published in The San Francisco Examiner in June 1888. This is its first appearance in book form, which is now extremely scarce, especially in its fragile original wrappers.

Casey at the Bat First Edition

Lewis Carroll

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> presentation copy of Notes by an Oxford Chiel by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Lewis+Carroll&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lewis Carroll</a>.<ul><li>Charles L. Dodgson [Lewis Carroll] (English).&nbsp;</li><li>Oxford: James Parker and Co., 1865-74.</li><li>6 parts in 1.</li><li>Inscribed on the front pastedown "General Rigaud / from the Author. / March. 1882", with Gibbes Rigaud ownership stamp below inscription and to front endleaf.</li><li>Bound in the original publisher's gilt stamped green cloth, all edges gilt.</li></ul> The work includes 1) Evaluation 2) Dynamics 3) Facts, &amp;c. 4) New Belfry 5) Three T's 6) Blank Check. Major-General Gibbs Rigaud, served in the Kaffir War and in China.&nbsp;Dodgson from time to time applied to John Rigaud, Gibbs' brother, who was a Fellow at Magdalen College for permission to take visitors to Magdalen Chapel.&nbsp;Gibbs on one occasion called on Dodgson with a niece to look at photographs.&nbsp;There is also one letter, dated 1875, to John inquiring about his brother who hearing he had some "beautiful Indian (or Japanese?) shawls or other articles of dress" that he would like to borrow.

Notes by an Oxford Chiel | Inscribed First Edition

Ernest Howard Shepard | A.A. Milne

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of The House At Pooh Corner by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=A.A.+Milne&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">A.A. Milne</a>, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> by the illustrator <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=E.H.+Shepard&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">E.H. Shepard</a>, with an additional signed letter tipped in.<ul><li>A.A. Milne (English).</li><li>E.H. Shepard (English).</li><li>London: Methuen &amp; Co. Ltd., 1928.</li><li>Signed by the illustrator E. H. Shepard on the title page.</li><li>Bound in the publisher's original gilt stamped pink cloth, pictorial pastedowns and endpapers, top edge gilt.</li></ul> Tipped to the verso of the front endleaf is a one page signed letter by Shepard which reads: "28 November: 57Dear Mrs. McCreedy,I have heard from Miss George of the Oxford University Press that you are staying in the neighborhood. It will give great pleasure to my wife and to myself if you will come and see us. I would like to suggest Dec. 17th Tuesday, at 4 oclock, If your husband and daughter are able to come as well we shall bt most pleased,Yours SincerelyErnest H. Shepard"

The House At Pooh Corner | First Edition Signed by the Illustrator

A.A. Milne

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first American edition</a> of When We Were Very Young by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=A.A.+Milne&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">A.A. Milne</a>.<ul><li>A.A. Milne (English).</li><li>New York: E. P. Dutton &amp; Co., 1924.</li><li>Inscribed by Milne to the recto of the frontis "For Mrs. Burnside from A. A. Milne Christmas 1924."</li><li>Bound in the publisher's original gilt stamped red cloth, pictorial pastedowns and endpapers, with the original dust jacket.</li></ul>

When We Were Very Young | Inscribed First Edition

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, second issue of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Charles+Dickens&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charles Dickens</a>' A Christmas Carol.<ul><li>Charles Dickens (English).</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>Chapter heading reading "Stave One."</li><li>Bound in the original straight grained rose colored cloth, gilt tile and wreath to spine and front cover, front cover has a perfect 'D' in 'Dickens', yellow pastedowns and endpapers, all edges gilt.</li></ul>

A Christmas Carol | First Edition

Anthony Trollope

The <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> in parts of The Way We Live Now by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Anthony+Trollope&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Anthony Trollope</a>.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 18 parts.</li><li>Anthony Trollope (English).</li><li>London:&nbsp;Chapman &amp; Hall,&nbsp;1874-1875.&nbsp;</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Includes parts 1-4, 6-10, 12-20.</li><li>Housed in custom quarter bound dark green leather and cloth clamshell box, spine with gilt lettering.</li></ul> Contains 18 of the 20 parts in publisher's wraps.

The Way We Live Now | First Edition in Parts

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of Farewell to Arms by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Ernest+Hemingway&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ernest Hemingway</a>.<ul><li>Ernest Hemingway (American).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Scribners,&nbsp;1929.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>[10], 355 pages.</li><li>Number 56 of 510 copies signed by the author on the limitation leaf.&nbsp;</li><li>Publisher's light bluish-green boards backed and cornered with vellum, black morocco spine label lettered in gold, in custom half-morocco clamshell box.</li></ul> The only signed limited issue of Hemingway's work, and one of the greatest war novels of all time.

A Farewell to Arms | Signed First Edition

Charles Portis

<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Signed</a>, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of Portis's True Grit, inscribed just months after publication.<ul><li>Charles Portis (American).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Simon and Schuster,&nbsp;(1968).</li><li>215 pages.</li><li>Inscribed on the front free endpaper by Portis: "For Gerald Cathey / who I hope has / given me a clean / title, with every / good wish / Jan 7, 1969 / Charles Portis."</li><li>Original blue-grey cloth, in original unclipped ($4.95) dust jacket designed by Paul Davis, ochre endpapers.</li></ul> "People do not give it credence that a fourteen-year-old girl could leave home and go off in the wintertime to avenge her father's blood but it did not seem so strange then, although I will say it did not happen every day."

True Grit | Signed First Edition

Ian Fleming

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a>, limited <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of the <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/james-bond" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Bond</a> novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Ian+Fleming&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ian Fleming</a>.<ul><li>Ian Fleming (English).</li><li>Oxford: Jonathan Cape, [1963].</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>288 pages.</li><li>Signed Limited Edition, one of 250 copies, this being number 38.</li><li>Frontispiece portrait in color of Ian Fleming from the painting by Amherst Villiers.</li><li>Publisher's quarter vellum and black boards, gilt titles and stamp to spine, white wavy line decoration to front boards, top edge gilt, complete with original clear mylar, in a custom quarter blue morocco slipcase with chemise.</li></ul> The only signed limited edition of any of Fleming's books.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service Signed First Edition

A signed <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of the <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/james-bond" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Bond</a> novel Thunderball by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Ian+Fleming&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ian Fleming</a>, with a fine proof pull of the jacket.<ul><li>Ian Fleming (English).</li><li>London:&nbsp;Jonathan Cape,&nbsp;1961.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Signed by Ian Fleming on the front flyleaf.</li><li>Jacket signed by artist Richard Chopping.</li><li>Original black boards, titles to spine in silver, skeletal hand motif to upper board in blind, with two states of the dust jacket; proof jacket with variant text on front flap and back flap blank, housed in a black morocco backed folding box.</li></ul> Of the preliminary dust jacket, Gilbert notes “a very few copies of the published book came in a trial dust-jacket … likely a tiny number were produced.”

Thunderball  Signed First Edition

The Mademoiselle magazine file copy of the typescript of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Truman+Capote&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Truman Capote</a>’s acclaimed story, “House of Flowers,” with a note from Capote’s agent.<ul><li>Truman Capote (American).</li><li>New York: Mademoiselle, April 1951.</li><li>Quarto.</li><li>17 pages.</li><li>Carbon typescript with manuscript and typed corrections, dated August 3, 1950, and marked 'Inventory.'</li></ul> The Mademoiselle magazine file copy of the typescript, with editorial corrections, of Truman Capote’s acclaimed story, “House of Flowers.” With a short typed note from Capote’s agent Marian Ives to Rita, the long-time editor Margarita G. Smith, dated 7/24/50, which reads, in part: “Although I don’t think this is for MLLE, nor did T think so, yet it is honestly the best story he’s done recently and I wanted you to take a look at it anyway …”, and with a pencil reader’s report, “whether this particular story isn’t a bit too strong for those in less sophisticated areas (and in Catholic schools‚ … believe it or not, there are still a lot of college girls who are utterly naive”, and three Mademoiselle reader’s report forms recording considerable editorial back and forth, responses from Catholic readers, and Smith’s decision, “I think we should buy it. M.G.S.”, with a note of a payment of $750. “House of Flowers” was published in the issue for April 1951, and was winner of the third prize in that year’s O. Henry Awards. The story was adapted into a musical in collaboration with composer and lyricist Harold Arlen, and ran for 165 performances on Broadway in 1954. “House of Flowers” was later collected in Breakfast at Tiffany's. The sale of this item includes only the physical object itself. No copyright, reproduction rights, or intellectual property rights are transferred with the purchase. All such rights remain with the original copyright holder, the Truman Capote Literary Trust.

The House of Flowers | Corrected Typescript

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=J.K.+Rowling&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">J.K. Rowling</a>.<ul><li>J.K. Rowling (English).</li><li>London: Bloomsbury, 1999.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>The&nbsp;first&nbsp;issue&nbsp;with 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1,&nbsp;and&nbsp;with Joanne Rowling&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;copyright page,&nbsp;the&nbsp;incorrectly dropped text block on page 7,&nbsp;and&nbsp;no advertisements at&nbsp;the&nbsp;end.</li><li>Publisher's pictorial boards with illustration by Cliff Wright; publisher's pictorial dust-jacket, correctly priced at £10.99, now housed in a solander box.</li></ul>

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | First Issue

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Harry+Potter&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Harry Potter</a> and the Chamber of Secrets, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=J.K.+Rowling&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">J.K. Rowling</a>.<ul><li>J.K. Rowling (English).</li><li>London: Bloomsbury, 1998.</li><li>Signed without dedication to&nbsp;the&nbsp;dedication page by Rowling.</li><li>In&nbsp;the&nbsp;correct&nbsp;first&nbsp;issue&nbsp;dust wrapper with&nbsp;all points: "front flap&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;dust jacket: Paragraph 5, lines 1&nbsp;and&nbsp;2: "Harry&nbsp;Potter&nbsp;and&nbsp;the&nbsp;Philosopher's Stone" is not italicized; Paragraph 5, line 7: "Tom El-Shawk Age 11" has no comma after&nbsp;the&nbsp;name&nbsp;and&nbsp;age has a capital "A"; Paragraph 6, line 1: "Harry&nbsp;Potter" is not italicized; Paragraph 6, line 5: "Harry&nbsp;is not italicized; Paragraph 6, line 7: "Katrina Farrant Age 10" has no comma after&nbsp;the&nbsp;name&nbsp;and&nbsp;age has a capital "A".</li></ul>

First Edition Literature & Children's Books

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Stephen King

John Le Carré

Evelyn Waugh

V.S. Naipaul

A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Charles Dickens

William Faulkner

Evelyn Waugh

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Stephen King

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Truman Capote

E. M. Forster

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Walter Tevis

Ernest Thayer

Lewis Carroll

Ernest Howard Shepard, A.A. Milne

A.A. Milne

Charles Dickens

Anthony Trollope

Ernest Hemingway

Charles Portis

Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming

Truman Capote

J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling