Woolrich, Cornell
Woolrich, Cornell. CHILDREN OF THE RITZ. NY Boni & Liveright, (1927). First edition. Previous owner's bookplate, some tanning to end papers, abrasion to the top of the ffep, a few stains to cloth, a very good used copy. In a priced ($2.00) Very Good dust jacket, a few chips and small closed tears, some fading (as almost always) to the purple spine panel. No repairs or major faults, with good eye appeal. INSCRIBED by the author on November 1st, 1927, three weeks after publication. CHILDREN OF THE RITZ, Woolrich's second novel, is a Jazz Age social comedy about an heiress who has recently lost all of her money, and her marriage to a formerly impoverished man who has just come into a massive fortune. It shows only a few hints of the signature dark and edgy writing style that would later create novels like The Bride Wore Black and Black Alibi. His biographer, Francis Nevins Jr. famously and not inaccurately rated Woolrich the fourth best crime writer of his day, behind Dashiell Hammett, Erle Stanley Gardner and Raymond Chandler. CHILDREN OF THE RITZ was adapted into a forgettable film in 1929. An exceedingly uncommon opportunity to acquire an inscribed copy of one of Woolrich's early first editions.
Lerner, Alan Jay (Adaptation and Lyrics) Frederick Loewe (Music)
Lerner, Alan Jay (Adaptation & Lyrics), Loewe, Frederick (Music). MY FAIR LADY. A Musical Play Based on Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. New York: Coward, McCann, (1956). First Edition, first printing (no mention of later printings) with photo frontispiece featuring Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison in the original Tony-Winning Broadway production. A FINE copy in a NEAR FINE original priced ($3.50) dust jacket (a bit of fading to the panels as usual, some edge wear and one tiny closed tear). INSCRIBED BY both JULIE ANDREWS and REX HARRISON to Broadway actor (and television voice-over legend) Lionel Wilson (1924-2003). Both inscriptions are boldly written in ink on the front free endpaper. MY FAIR LADY was later adapted into one of the greatest movie musicals of all time in 1964, winning the Oscar for Best Picture, directed by George Cukor and starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn. It's hard to imagine a more desirable copy of this first edition.
Lawrence, George Alfred
[Lawrence, George Alfred]. SANS MERCI [without mercy] or, Kestrels and Falcons. In Three Volumes. London: Tinsley Brothers, 1866. First Edition. A Near Fine copy in original publisher's blue ripple-grain cloth, gilt, showing only the most minor abrasion to the boards; we doubt many first editions of this title still exist much less an example in this condition. OCLC notes only four copies worldwide in institutional collections. George Alfred Lawrence (1827-1876) was a sensation novelist of a different ilk than Wilkie Collins or M. E. Braddon. His protagonists were often, if not always, men who were equally skilled at fighting, riding, hunting, killing, truth-seeking, and wooing. Not one to shirk a challenge himself, Lawrence sailed to America to fight for the Confederate Army (he was captured and shipped back to England). Lawrence is little read today but he created the original inspiration for the "Beau Geste" character, that self-sacrificing, dashing, honorable crusader who often fought for lost causes usually on behalf of some wronged maiden. In short, Lawrence may be credited with creating today's iconic literary "action hero." This novel takes place in the hazardous English countryside; the title of this book (which suggests birds of prey flying mercilessly at each other talons at the ready) is a metaphor for the evil lawyers and other such villains who are trying to destroy our heroic protagonist's honor and livelihood and romantic prospects with fair maiden. Horse racing, gambling, and several violent fighting scenes also keep things lively. The publisher, Tinsley, is particularly known for the low survival rate of their three-decker first editions.
du Maurier, George
du Maurier, George. TRILBY. London: Osgood, McIlvaine, 1894. First Edition. Three volumes in the original publisher's buff-colored cloth, blocked and lettered in blue. A NEAR FINE copy, ownership inscription dated 1894 on the front paste-down of each of the three volumes, some scattered foxing and intermittent very light staining, an inevitable touch of soil here and there, spine a tiny bit darkened on Vols. 1 & 2, else an exceptionally fresh set. All three volumes show virtually no wear to the boards and all still have intact inner hinges, the latter case being particularly unusual given the weight of these books as they were printed on heavier, better quality art paper. This is the true first edition of du Maurier's masterpiece (published a year prior to the better known first illustrated edition), one of the most wildly popular novels of the 1890s. There were Trilby parties where extracts of the book were read aloud; there were Trilby fashions inspired by "la vie bohème." A town in Florida even changed its name to Trilby. Furthermore, Trilby forever altered the public perception of hypnotism with its strikingly original creation of Svengali, one of the most memorable Victorian characters of all time (who also served as the role model for Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera, written fifteen years later). Michael Sadleir, Professor Robert Lee Wolff and David Magee all universally proclaimed Trilby, in fine state, to be a substantial rarity. In Sadleir's case, he points out (Sadleir 1675) that this rarity is not just due to the light color and perishable nature of the publisher's cloth, but also to the fact that much of the first edition was overprinted with misleading later edition stamps in an attempt to imply greater sales, a not uncommon Victorian publisher's practice. Although the initial printing may have been as many as 1,000 copies, few survive today in original condition. We had an equally superior copy in 1994, in Lakin & Marley's Catalogue One, but this is the first really nice copy we've handled since then. Sadleir 1675, Wolff 1952
du Maurier, George
du Maurier, George. TRILBY. A Novel. London: Osgood, McIlvaine, 1895. 141 illustrations by the author including frontispiece. FIRST ENGLISH ONE-VOLUME EDITION AND FIRST ILLUSTRATED EDITION preceded only by the 1894 non-illustrated three-volume first edition which is rarely seen today. A FINE copy (gilt blazing bright) in a VERY GOOD example of the extremely uncommon ORIGINAL PUBLISHER'S PRINTED DUSTJACKET which is a little chipped along the bottom edge, and at two small points near the top. But there is no loss to any of the lettering or the design. Two very small pieces of archival tape can be found on the verso of the DJ. Du Maurier (1834-1896) was one of the most successful illustrators of the last half of the Victorian era, the much acclaimed illustrator for "Punch" and other popular publications. Toward the end of his life, at the urging of Henry James, he produced three novels, the most extraordinarily successful of which was TRILBY which begat hysterical Trilby-mania (the Trilby hat changed men's fashion, it became the name of a town in Florida) and introduced the character of SVENGALI, the evil mesmerist who hypnotizes the lovely Trilby into becoming a world renown diva through his dark hypnotic talents (thus serving as the inspiration for Gaston Leroux's PHANTOM OF THE OPERA). This is the novel for which du Maurier will forever be remembered, a book which made hypnotism just as much a part of our modern culture as Svengali has become part of the English Language as the descriptor of anyone who manipulates another person in a sinister fashion through the force of mesmerizing persuasion. The survival of this dustjacket seems to us to be of equal rarity to the survival of Thomas Hardy's JUDE THE OBSCURE which was also published in a six-shilling single volume by Osgood, McIlvaine in November of this very same year.
Pogány, Willy (Lewis Carroll) (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson)
Carroll, Lewis (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). Willy Pogány (Hungarian/American, 1882-1955). ORIGINAL PEN-AND-INK DRAWING FOR THE FRONTISPIECE for his illustrated 1929 Alice's Adventures In Wonderland (published by E. P. Dutton). This exceedingly important original pen-and-ink on paper drawing serves as the frontispiece which illustrates "The Mad Tea Party" featuring Alice at the head of the table, and the Mad Hatter, March Hare and Dormouse at the far end. Surely it is the most desirable piece of original art from the creation of this book. Pogány's interpretation of Alice as a thin adolescent flapper/schoolgirl was much criticized at the time as bizarre, but remains famous and revered for its aggressively modern interpretation of the Alice characters compared to all the other post-1907 non-Tenniel versions re-imagined by the other great Alice illustrators. The image is 11.25" by 7.25" situated in the center of a large sheet of 11" by 14" artist's board. Pogány has printed his name in full lower left. The detail of the drawing is spectacular in comparison to the actual printed book (as shown here). Provenance: The Book Sail 16th Anniversary Catalogue (Item J-6, 1984), Heritage Auctions (April, 2013). Included is a copy of the published work, one of 200 numbered copies, signed by Pogány. Currently in a Victorian-Style frame with museum glass however the frame will not be included unless the artwork is picked up in person.
Hardy, Thomas. THE HAND OF ETHELBERTA. A Comedy in Chapters. New Edition. London: Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1888. PRESENTATION COPY inscribed on the title page: "Yours Faithfully, Thomas Hardy." Very Good in original publisher's red cloth, decorated with a black art nouveau flowery pattern. Spine a trifle sunned, with both a shallow crease and a spot of wear to the spine. Endpapers decorated with adverts, with Arthur W. Hall bookplate on front paste-down, tight inner hinges, contents fine. Originally published in a two volume first edition by Smith, Elder & Company in 1876. Only a single recorded inscribed first edition of THE HAND OF ETHELBERTA is known, given by Hardy to his wife, making this 1888 THE HAND OF ETHELBERTA a rare opportunity to acquire a near contemporary signed copy of this title. THE HAND OF ETHELBERTA, Hardy's fifth novel has always been described as a minor achievement. Yet it is the bridge between his masterpieces FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD and THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE and remains one of his underrated minor masterpieces, weighed down by Hardy's choice to make it a comedy and, horror of horrors, give it a happy ending. Housed in a vintage full morocco solander box.
DODGSON, Charles Lutwidge ("Lewis Carroll") (1832-1898). Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. Boston: Lee and Shepard; New York: Lee, Shepard, and Dillingham, 1872. 8vo. 50 illustrations by John Tenniel. (139-144 pp. re-margined). VERY GOOD BRIGHT COPY WITH EYE APPEAL. Original gilt decorated green cloth, brown coated endpapers (spine a bit darkened with some wear at ends, rear top fore-corner and edge bumped, some small stains, rear joint cracked). Provenance: From the Lewis Carroll Collection of Philip Conklin Blackburn (book-label), a noted Carroll bibliophile and scholar. FIRST EDITION printed in America, FIRST STATE of p. 21, with the misprint "wade" for "wabe" in the second line of the poem "Jabberwocky". Lovett 19
Braddon, M[ary] [E]lizabeth. LONDON PRIDE; or when the world was younger. London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, (1896). First Edition. A NEAR FINE copy in original publisher's decorated cloth. A few abrasions to the boards but a remarkably unworn copy. Light foxing to prelims. This is one of M. E. Braddon's later historical mysteries, set both in England and France and involving a member of royalty accused of kidnapping a beautiful woman. The most famous collector of Victorian fiction ever, in terms of depth and numbers (he practically cornered the market with ten thousand titles or so), was Harvard Professor Robert Lee Woolf, and to him Braddon was every bit as skilled an author as her Victorian contemporaries. His book about her, entitled SENSATIONAL VICTORIAN, is well worth reading if one is interested in learning more. Braddon's "problem" was her astonishing success with the circulating libraries. Beginning with LADY AUDLEY'S SECRET in 1861, Braddon rose to become the best selling mystery author in England (bar none) until the end of the century. Unjustly forgotten, she wrote dozens of novels which Professor Wolff considered uniformly brilliant and innovative but, as with such 20th century writers such as Margaret Mitchell or Daphne du Maurier, too much popular success made critics wary of bestowing literary praise. Her books are highly sought after and rarely found.
Carroll, Lewis (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. 14 full page color illustrations and two-color title pages by John R. Neill. Chicago: The Reilly & Britton Company, (1908). 58pp plus 3pp of ads at rear. First Printing, first binding, first issue. Original publisher's red cloth, decorated in dark green and black, with an illustration of Alice and The White Rabbit in a pasted circular onlay. NEAR FINE copy with excellent eye appeal of this rather scarce and highly desirable edition, illustrated by the same artist who created the original illustrations for THE WIZARD OF OZ. Previous owner's neat 1909 signature, extremities with just a touch of rub. Complete in two stories, both abridged, featuring portions of ALICES?S ADVENTURES and THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS (which has an emphasis on ? "Humpty Dumpty." In the first tale, illustrator John R. Neill has made Alice a blonde, but switched her to a brunette Alice for Through The Looking Glass. An odd Alice and altogether charming. Lovett & Lovett, 476.
Hilton, James. GOODBYE MR. CHIPS. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1934. First Edition. A Near Fine copy in a Very Good edge-worn dust jacket still sporting the original publisher's wraparound band. PRESENTATION COPY FROM JAMES HILTON TO ETHEL "BIP" PARES (1904-1977), FAMED ILLUSTRATOR OF GOODBYE MR CHIPS and one of the leading British Art Deco dust jacket designers of the 1930s: "To Bip Pares, who saw her Chips as I did -- With all good wishes from James Hilton, October 1934." [With:] A framed and glazed ORIGINAL PEN & INK ILLUSTRATION ON ART BOARD for GOODBYE MR. CHIPS, a discarded variant of the first (of four) illustrations in the novel -- this one featuring Chips meeting his wife while climbing the Lake District's Great Gable (image size measures 4 ½" by 3 ½"). Along with the book and the illustration is an archive of other materials including an Autograph Letter, Signed, in which Bip Pares gives the history of her involvement with the novel; this includes the surprising revelation that after she illustrated the initial periodical appearance of GOODBYE MR. CHIPS -- it was she who suggested to Osgood & McIlvaine that GOODBYE MR. CHIPS deserved book publication and she agreed (for five guineas) to provide virtually every design element of the first edition's physical appearance. Further, the archive contains newspaper clippings retained by the illustrator pertaining to the novel's success as well as a later newspaper account of James Hilton's death in 1954. Finally, added to this collection, is a fine first edition copy in fine dust jacket (signed) of the sequel TO YOU, MR CHIPS (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1938) with another round of beautiful illustrations by Bip Pares. The 1939 film adaptation starring Robert Donat and Greer Garson was nominated for ten Oscars (winning three) and remains one of the best loved and most enduring British films of all time. Housed in a custom slipcase.
[Cornell Woolrich]. [By] William Irish (pseudonym). The Dancing Detective. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, [1946]. First edition. A Near Fine copy in original publisher's beige cloth, spine lettered and stamped in dark blue. Original priced ($2.00) dust jacket is very lightly worn with the usual light soil to the fragile back panel else Near Fine. A superior example of this title (WITH :) One page Typed Letter, signed, to Mr. Kenneth White of Popular Publications. New York: unpublished correspondence, October 11, 1945. Single leaf with Hotel Marseilles letterhead, a typewritten letter hand-signed "Cornell," requesting copyright assignments for two of his stories: "LEG MAN" and "What the Well Dressed Corpse Will Wear" so that both could appear in THE DANCING DETECTIVE, the latter under the title "FUR JACKET). Light folds, tiny holes from previous stapling at upper left corner, otherwise Near Fine with superior content related specifically to THE DANCING DETECTIVE. BOTH items formerly in the collection of Otto Penzler.
Hardy, Thomas. TWO ON A TOWER. A Romance. In 3 volumes. London: Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1882. Original publisher's green diagonal fine-ribbed cloth, lettered in gilt, blocked in blind on front and back with a three-rule border. FIRST EDITION, first impression, first binding. One of 1000 copies printed. A NEAR FINE copy with a touch of rubbing to the extremities and a bit of shelf wear to the corners but we've never seen a better copy, something of note as we've been seeking and selling Thomas Hardy first editions and manuscripts since 1980. The latter two volumes have a discreet provenance stamp on the title page. All six inner hinges are tight and intact, the pale-yellow end papers undisturbed. Although TWO ON A TOWER is one of Hardy's lesser-known novels, its plot set in the world of early astronomy, with a class-conscious doomed affair and typical Hardy social convention-busting with scandalous outcomes, is rather a good read and one of the best of Hardy's second tier novels. ALL of Hardy's early three-decker novels are exceedingly rare in this condition. In an attractive cloth clamshell box. Purdy p.41-47.
Dickens, Charles. A TALE OF TWO CITIES. With 16 illustrations by "Phiz." London: Chapman & Hall, [n. d. c. 1910]. [AND:] New York: Oxford University Press & Henry Frowde, (n. d., c. 1910). First Edition, thus. This copy of A TALE OF TWO CITIES is the first volume [#1] in the 20 volume eighteen-penny illustrated edition of Dickens's works. A Near Fine copy in original publisher's dark blue cloth, decorations and top edge gilt (entirely unrubbed, a touch of soil) in a particularly rare and exceedingly collectible NEAR FINE DUST JACKET (100% complete, no flap clips, just a moderately darkened spine and two short tears to the folds). If one hasn't noticed by now, English dust jackets pre-1911 are, generally speaking, a dozen times rarer than American dust jackets from the same time period. We don't think it's a matter of survival but suspect that American publishers at the time simply took to the notion of the protective dust jacket with more enthusiasm.
Dickens, Charles. DOMBEY AND SON. Frontispiece by H. K. Browne ['Phiz']. London: Bradbury & Evans, 1858. Original blind-stamped green publisher's cloth with spines elaborately decorated in gilt. First "Cheap" Edition, first issue from the first and most important collected works of Dickens, with (in this case) a 2pp new introduction and a specially commissioned new frontispiece). Begun in 1847 with works already published, Dickens added further titles as he went along. Most were published by Chapman & Hall, however this particular title belonged to Bradbury & Evans (yet both provided a book nearly identical in design). Despite being called "cheap," Dickens made sure that these volumes were just as high quality in texture and ornamentation as his first editions; there are 17 volumes in total, all are rarely seen in fine condition. A FINE copy, quite rare in this splendid condition, spine a trifle browned (as almost always with this olive-green cloth), trifling wear to the extremities, armorial bookplate of Henry Smith and blind-stamp of W. H. Smith. Bright gilt, excellent eye appeal.
