Blake, Quentin
The First UK printing published by Tate Publishing, London in 2012. The special limited edition issued in a limitation of only 200 copies. This is number '10' and is in Fine unread condition. Issued in red cloth with a gilt titling and cover designs by Quentin Blake. The gilt decorations remains bright and not dulled. Signed by Quentin Blake to the limitation page and housed in the publisher's green slipcase with gilt titling, as issued. Quentin Blake is one of the best-known and best-loved illustrators in the world, creating brilliant and iconic characters for amongst others Russell Hoban, Joan Aiken, Michael Rosen and most famously Roald Dahl. He has won numerous awards over the years, including the 'Whitbread Award', the 'Kate Greenaway Medal' and the 'Hans Christian Andersen Award' for Illustration. In 1999 he was appointed the first ever 'Children's Laureate' and in 2005 was created CBE. In 'Beyond the Page' Blake writes about his projects since 2000, vividly describing his working processes, his collaborators, his travels and his various projects and commissions, including his illustrated walls projects for hospitals in the UK and France Generously illustrated with 240 full-colour reproductions of his inimitable work, this is an unsurpassed collection of Quentin Blake's achievements. Increasingly elusive as the special signed limited edition. A very handsome production. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.
The First UK printing published by Faber London in 1989. This is the hardback edition and was only issued in a small print run. There was also a wraps edition issued simultaneously. The BOOK is in near Fine condition with just a hint of toning to the text-block and extreme page edges. The WRAPPER is complete and is in near Fine condition with just a little edge-wear with light rubbing at the spine ends and corners. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. The book has been warmly inscribed by the author to the front end-paper, to this daughter Frieda and Clive (her husband at that time) : 'For Frieda and Clive, with love Daddy, 9th October 1989'. 'Wolfwatching occupies a curious place in Ted Hughes's poetry. Uniquely among his later books, Wolfwatching forms no single sequence or structure, and its mixture of closely observed nature poems ('Macaw', 'The Black Rhino') and harrowed fixations on the First World War ('Source', 'For the Duration'), glued together with reaching metaphysical enquiries ('Astrological Conundrums', 'Take What You Want But Pay For It') recalls the loose structures of his earliest books. What 'Wolfwatching' might lack in topical unity, however, it more than makes up for in its tonal unity, as poem after poem dramatises dissipation and waste, whether the post-war torpor of Calder Valley residents, or the titular wolf, watched in its cage in a London zooery' (David Troupes, The Ted Hughes Society 2021). Very scarce with such attributes. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.
The First printing published by The Dun Emer Press, Dundrum in 1903. One of only 325 copies and the first publication of the Dun Emer Press, run by Yeats sister Elizabeth. The BOOK is in remarkable near Fine condition with the original publisher's pale linen covered boards, with a printed paper label to the front board. The cloth remains very bright with only slight discolouration, and bubbling to the cloth edges as usually encountered. Internally clean and bright with light offsetting to the prelims and the occasional light spotting to a few pages. The rear cover and flap of the fragile plain paper wrapper is loosely inserted to the rear. The detached front flap also survives. The spare title label is present as issued, and is loosely inserted to the rear. The colophon states : 'Here ends In The Seven Woods, written by William Butler Yeats, printed upon paper made in Ireland, and published by Elizabeth Corbet Yeats at the Dun Emer Press, in the house of Evelyn Gleeson at Dundrum in the county of Dublin, Ireland, finished the sixteenth day of July, in the year of the big wind 1903'. The collection was reprinted in 1906 in 'Poems, 1899-1905' with two additions. 'Old Memory' and 'Never Give all the Heart' appear directly after 'The Folly of being Comforted'. The Dun Emer Press ran from 19021908 and was an Irish private press founded in 1902 by Evelyn Gleeson, Elizabeth Yeats and her brother William Butler Yeats, part of the Celtic Revival. It was named after the legendary Emer and evolved into the Cuala Press. The book is protected in a loose Mylar archival cover.More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.
The First UK printing published by The Harvester Press, UK in 1980. The BOOK is in near Fine condition. Apart from a hint of pushing at the spine tips, the book is in excellent condition. Internally clean. The WRAPPER is complete and is in Very Good++ or better condition. The usual fading of the orange colour. The rear panel is remarkably clean. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. The Book has been warmly inscribed by the author with reference to the book's title to the front blank end-paper : 'Remembering several pleasant hours spent as your guest 'in the country', Jim , April 1980'. The book has been inscribed shortly after publication. The recipient was a close friend of the author and the book has been in their possession until very recently. The book has not appeared in commerce before. 'A Month In The Country', J. L. Carr's masterpiece short novel, tells the tale of Tom Birkin, a damaged survivor of the First World War, who finds refuge in the quiet village church of Oxgodby where he is to spend the summer uncovering a huge medieval wall-painting. Immersed in the peace and beauty of the countryside and the unchanging rhythms of village life he experiences a sense of renewal and belief in the future. Now an old man, Birkin looks back on the idyllic summer of 1920, remembering a vanished place of blissful calm, untouched by change, a precious moment he has carried with him through the disappointments of the years. Joseph Lloyd Carr (20 May 1912 - 26 February 1994), who called himself 'Jim' or 'James' was a Yorkshire born English novelist, publisher, teacher and eccentric. He is best remembered for his acclaimed 1980 novel A Month In The Country. The novel won the 'Guardian Fiction Prize', was shortlisted for the 'Booker Prize' and was adapted into a celebrated 1987 film of the same name directed by Pat O'Connor and starring Colin Firth, Natasha Richardson and Kenneth Branagh. A very sharp copy of a title rarely found signed , more-so with such a warm inscription. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.
The First UK printing published by Tate Publishing, London in 2012. Both the BOOK and the WRAPPER are in near Fine condition. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival protector. The book has been Signed (without dedication) to the title page by Sir Quentin Blake and a copy of the ticket for the signing event accompanies this title as provenance. Quentin Blake is one of the best-known and best-loved illustrators in the world, creating brilliant and iconic characters for amongst others Russell Hoban, Joan Aiken, Michael Rosen and most famously Roald Dahl. He has won numerous awards over the years, including the 'Whitbread Award', the 'Kate Greenaway Medal' and the 'Hans Christian Andersen Award' for Illustration. In 1999 he was appointed the first ever 'Children's Laureate' and in 2005 was created CBE. In 'Beyond the Page' Blake writes about his projects since 2000, vividly describing his working processes, his collaborators, his travels and his various projects and commissions, including his illustrated walls projects for hospitals in the UK and France Generously illustrated with 240 full-colour reproductions of his inimitable work, this is an unsurpassed collection of Quentin Blake's achievements. Increasingly elusive with these attributes. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.
The First UK printing published by The Scolar Press, UK in 1974. Folio, 29 pages, tipped in portrait of Rupert Brooke, mounted facsimiles of drafts, fair copies etc. The BOOK and Slipcase are in near Fine condition in cloth covered boards and vellum spine, with gilt titling on the spine and the front board. One of 100 special copies (out of a total edition of 500 copies) with the 17 facsimiles specially mounted, in a special binding and signed in brown ink by Sir Geoffrey Keynes to the limitation page as issued. This copy is unnumbered and is noted as 'Out of Series'. A very sharp copy. It has also been inscribed by Keynes on the first blank end-paper, in the same brown ink : 'for Jon Stallworthy, from the editor (Kt)'. Loosely inserted is a H/W letter (dated near publication) from Keynes (in the same brown ink) to the same recipient : 'Dearest Jon, I hope you approve of this - except they they have made me a Knight of the Thistle on the TP. I never saw a proof of this.' Keynes is referring to the fact that the printers have placed the initials 'KT' after his name on the title page. 'KT' refers to the distinguished and elite 'Knight of the Thistle' order which he had not be made ! He had been simply knighted. Jon Stallworthy was a professor of English at Oxford University and is known for his work on WW1 poetry. Also accompanied by the standard trade edition which is in VG++ condition. An interesting association copy. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.
The First UK printing published by Jonathan Cape, London in 1935. The BOOK is in Very Good++ condition with the publisher's original cloth with blue titling. Light pushing at the spine ends with some light toning and spotting to the text-block. The latter has lightly encroached onto the extreme page edges in a few places. The occasional light spot to just a few pages. Free from inscriptions. The 8 page publisher's book catalogue is present. The WRAPPER is complete and is in Very Good condition. It bears the correct price of '7s 6d. net' to the lower front flap. Some edge-wear with losses to the spine ends and the corners. Some small closed tears, nicks and light creasing to the edges. The spine and edges are toned with some age related markings and spotting in places. The wrapper presents well in the removable Brodart archival cover. The blurb from the front flap of the wrapper states : 'The subject is the possibility of dictatorship in the United States, and the novel shows how in 1936 a President made himself dictator, and what were the effects of a Fascist regime in democratic America. the book champions the cause of liberal democracies.' The Publisher's note state that '.it was originally intended to be titled, 'It Can't Happen in America'. In 1930, Sinclair Lewis became the first author from the United States (and the first from the Americas) to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was awarded 'for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humour, new types of characters.' Lewis wrote six popular novels: 'Main Street' (1920), 'Babbitt' (1922), 'Arrowsmith' (1925), 'Elmer Gantry' (1927), 'Dodsworth' (1929), and 'It Can't Happen Here' (1935). This title has become increasingly seen as prophetic. Very scarce with the wrapper - Only the second copy we have handled. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.
The First UK printing published by Secker and Warburg, London in 1989. Number '67' of a limited edition of 150 slip-cased copies signed by all 32 contributors. With a limited edition print ('County Galway') signed by Donovan Wylie loosely laid into a front tipped-in envelope as issued. The BOOK is in near Fine condition with just a little pushing at the lower spine tip. The WRAPPER is complete and is in near Fine condition and is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. The book is housed in the publisher's original plain black slipcase. Each Irish county is represented by a piece of new writing commissioned specially by an appropriate Irish writer. The contributing writers include Seamus Heaney, William Trevor, John Banville, Francis Stuart, Edna O'Brien, Eilis Dillon, Frank McGuinness, John McGahern, Neil Jordan, Brendan Kennelly, Aidan Mathews, Anne Devlin, Thomas Kilroy, Michael Hartnett, Brian Moore, Eugene McCabe, Michael Longley, Benedict Kiely, Emma Cooke, Christopher Fitz-Simon, Medbh McGuckian, Peter Sirr, Maeve Kelly, Desmond Hogan, Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, Paul Muldoon, Sean J. White, James Plunkett, Aidan Higgins, Dermot Healy, Frank Ormsby and Tom MacIntyre. The book has been signed by all 32 contributing authors to a page to the rear of the book as issued. Photography of the people of Ireland is by Belfast born photographer Donovan Wylie. A very handsome production and now an increasingly elusive title as the signed limited edition. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.
2 Vols. set : Vol.1 'Authors Take Sides on the Spanish War'. The sole UK printing published by Left Review, London in 1937. The pamphlet BOOK is in Very Good++ condition. Original printed yellow and red card covers. Internally the 32 pages are staple bound and the binding remains tight. Just the merest hint of light rusting to the staples internally. Light spotting throughout due the quality of the paper stock used, a little heavier in places. Free from inscriptions and erasures. There is some professional transparent reinforcement tape to the front and rear inner hinges where the covers have become detached from the spine, but this is barely discernable. Some light edge wear to the spine ends of the thin card printed covers which are mildly toned in places but are remarkably clean for their age. A scarce survivor of what was a cheap production. The book is protected in a removable Mylar archival cover. A very scarce pamphlet containing contributions from 148 British and Irish authors on their personal stance on the Spanish Civil War. The question posed is: 'Are you for, or against, the legal Government and the People of Republican Spain? Are you for, or against, Franco and Fascism?' and is signed off by Aragon, W. H. Auden, Jean Richard Bloch, Nancy Cunard, Brian Howard, Heinrich Mann, Ivor Montagu, Pablo Neruda, Ramon Sender, Stephen Spender, and Tristan Tzara. The publisher states its limitations within a six penny pamphlet, i.e. that it has indeed selected the responses, likely based on its own motivation (though it does say the responses herein are representative) but more so from the weight of the authors themselves. Indeed, it contains most of the powerhouse names of British and Irish literature; W. H. Auden, Samuel Beckett (who perhaps satirically simply writes "UPTHEREPUBLIC!", Cyril Connolly, Alastair Crowley (with his name misspelt) , C. Day Lewis, Liam O'Flaherty, Ford Madox Ford, David Garnett, Victor Gollancz, Aldous Huxley, Storm Jameson, John Lehmann, Sylvia Pankhurst, Herbert Read, Stephen Spender, Olaf Stapledon, Leonard Woolf and many others. T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Vera Brittain, H. G. Wells, and Vita Sackville-West among others declare themselves neutral, the latter questioning the publication's terminology in the question regarding a 'legal' government. And against the government appears Arthur Machen, Edmund Blunden, Evelyn Waugh and others. An extremely scarce pamphlet, a rare survivor in all senses, which gave audiences direct insights into ideas and worlds some authors seldom expressed themselves in and a hugely important booklet. This extremely scarce pamphlet is one of an edition of three thousand copies which sold out immediately on publication. JSIC reports 13 holdings at institutions. Vol.2 :'Writers Take Sides On The Question : Are you for, or are you against Franco and Fascism? Letters about the War in Spain from 418 American Authors'. The sole USA printing published by the League of American Writers, New York in 1938. The BOOK is in near Fine condition. Stapled, blue wraps with writers' names in white and titles in black. Some very light edge-wear. A sharp copy which is housed in a custom solander box with silk ties and marbled inserts. The 418 authors responses include those from : Franklin P. Adams, Sherwood Anderson, Maxwell Anderson, Gertrude Atherton, Brooks Atkinson, Earl Browder, Kenneth Burke, Countee Cullen, William Faulkner, Edna Ferber, Felix Frankfurter, Dashiell Hammett, Ernest Hemingway, Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, Rockwell Kent, Stanley Kunitz, Katharine Ann Porter, George Seldes, Upton Sinclair, John Steinbeck, I. F. Stone, Genevieve Taggard, Clara Weatherwax ,Richard Wright, Felix Frankfurter, James Weldon Johnson, Rockwell Kent, Stanley Kunitz, I. F. Stone, Genevieve Taggard, Clara Weatherwax, et al. A Very collectible and important two volume set. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.
'The Remembrance of Earth's Past' trilogy :'The Three-Body Problem', 'The Dark Forest', 'Death's End'. All three books are the First UK printings published by Head of Zeus, London in Association with Goldsboro Books, London 2015 / 2016. This set is one of the numbered sets of the UK limited edition issued in a an edition of only 250 copies. This set is matching with each copy being number '216' of 250 issued. Each book is signed by Cixin Liu and the translators, Ken Liu ('Three Body Problem', 'Death's End') and Joel Martinson ('The Dark Forest') on the limitation page as called for. The BOOKS are all in near Fine unread condition with just a hint of toning to the upper text-block. The WRAPPERS are complete and are in Fine condition. Each wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. 'The Three-Body Problem' was the first novel to win the Hugo Award in translation. It was also nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel. 'Death's End' went on to win the Locus Award. "In December 2019, The'New York Times' cited 'The Three-Body Problem' as having helped to popularise Chinese science fiction internationally, crediting the quality of Ken Liu's English translation, as well as endorsements of the book by George R. R. Martin, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, and former U.S. president Barack Obama. George R. R. Martin wrote a blog about the novel, personally expressing its worthiness of the Hugo Award"(Wiki). Netflix announced in 2020 that 'Game of Thrones' writers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss would be adapting the series into a sci-fi TV drama, making it one of the few originally non-English books adapted by Netflix. This adaptation is about to be launched in March 2024. A world wide selling phenomena already, sales are likely to increase further with the launch of the Netflix adaptation. A very sharp set and highly collectible. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.
