Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. Facsimile Edition (Plays, Works) by Shakespeare, William - 1904

New York: George Braziller, 1991. Signed by the Nobel laureate author. First U.S. edition / First printing. Uncorrected proof. White printed wrappers. Very fine. A beautiful copy and rare signed. Note: This is the uncorrected proof and should not be confused with the hardcover edition. Very few proofs were produced which makes this a highly desirable collector's item. Pamuk was the 2006 Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

London: Bickers & Sons. Very Good. 1883. Second Edition. Hardcover. Half supple leather over clean marbled boards. Spine with 5 raised bands, gilt decorated panels and 2 morocco labels. Only 750 copies of this edition have been printed for sale, 250 of which are reserved for America. Each copy numbered, this copy #445. Texts tight, clean & intact. Top edge gilt. Complete in 19 volumes . Marbled endpapers. A biography of the author (b.1667-d.1745) by Laing Purves. Volume #1 with engraved portrait frontispiece and one additional plate. Chapters decorated with ornamentat headpieces & tailpieces. Armorial book plate, helmet over shield bearing name "Cragwood. " Volume 10, lower spine label missing. Volume 13 has a small leather chip on spine. Over all, except as noted, this set Is very good +. Rare Section; 8vo 8" - 9" tall .

Thornton Butterworth. Hardback. Acceptable. Thornton Butterworth 1935 1st edition 1st impression. Hardback, no dj. Acceptable. Scarce copy not reprinted until recently. Blue cloth with black lettering. Raynes Raleigh Library stamp on end papers and blind embossed on front board. Cloth dust stai

This is a complete 19 Volume set of "HOUSEHOLD WORDS" - A Weekly Journal by Charles Dickens. The volumes span the years 1850 (Volume I) to 1859 (Volume XIX). The significance of this set is that Volume IX contains the 1st appearance of the Dickens classic "HARD TIMES" (please see photos). "Hard Times was first published serially in "Household Words" in the April 1, 1854 issue (volume IX), followed shortly thereafter by the 1st edition in book form in the same year. Seldom found complete in 19 Volumes."Household Words" was an English weekly magazine edited by Charles Dickens and was published every Saturday from March 1850 to May 1859. This set contains 19 hardcover volumes which contain the complete run of individual issues. To boost slumping sales, Dickens serialized his classic novel "Hard Times" in weekly parts between April 1st and August 12th 1854. It had the desired effect, more than doubling the journal's circulation and encouraging Dickens, who remarked that he was "three parts mad, and the… Read More

Macmillan and Co. London. 1891. FIRST THOMSON EDITION, Large paper issue. One of only 300 copies issued. Large 8vo. (10.5 x 7.4 inches). Illustrated throughout with 101 fine line drawings by Thomson. Finely bound by Cedric Chivers of bath in early twentieth century binding of full plum morocco. Spine with raised bands, the compartments ruled, decorated and lettered in gilt. Decorative line and floral design to both boards. Board edges double ruled in gilt. Mottled coloured endpapers. Turn ins with double ruled lines and floral design. Top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Two previous owner bookplates on the front paste down endpaper. A little fading to the spine but overall a very near fine copy.

London: James R. Osgood McIlvaine, 1891.. Small quarto. Gilt green cloth backed cream cloth over boards, elaborately decorated in gilt and red. Plates, illustrations and decorated endsheets. Binding a bit darkened, with some pale discolorations at edge, 1895 ownership signature on preliminary blank, corners a trifle worn, the plates by Shannon somewhat faded (as usual) but still legible, a few small nicks and a short tear to the edges of the front free endsheet but a good, sound copy, a few leaves unopened. First edition. Design, illustrations and decorations by C. Ricketts and C. Shannon, with plates by the latter. One of one thousand copies printed. Mason/Millard gives an account of the circumstances which led to the faint state of the Shannon plates. Contains four short stories: "The Young King" (which first appeared in THE LADY'S PICTORIAL, Christmas Number, 1888), "The Birthday of the Infanta" (which first appeared in PARIS ILLUSTRÉ, March 30, 1889), "The Fisherman and His Soul," and "The… Read More

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1922. Signed and Numbered First. Hardcover. Very Good with no dust jacket/No Dustjacket. From the signed, limited, numbered first printing, this is number 266, signed by the author at the limitation page opposite the full title. The pages are bright saving some toning around the deckled edges and quite clean except for a very few scattered spots of foxing; no owners' marks; the quarter cloth binding leans gently to the right but remains tight; the paper boards and paper title plate at the spine show some chipping around the edges, with a pressure mark at the bottom right front corner, a small inward turn and surface scuff at the top left rear corner, and some surface creasing at the corners and right edge of the title plate; some fading is also evident along the head edges of the paper and along the right rear, and the title plate is age-toned; nonetheless, a remarkably clean and attractive book, well-preserved. 459pp.; an extra copy of the title plate is tipped in at the… Read More

Henry and Co. London. 1893. FIRST EDITION. Octavo. Original blue buckram, lettered in gilt. Housed in a custom green cloth slipcase and chemise. Small bookplate to front pastedown, related bibiliographic material pasted to endpapers. Shaw's very scarce first play, published in an edition, according to Laurence, of "not more than 500" copies. It was not an overwhelming bestseller. Shaw wrote to John Lane (quoted in Laurence) that the publisher "never advertised it even once; and the sale, which was only effected by great perseverance & determination on the part of the purchasers, was 150 copies." When the publisher retired in December 1897, they ceded to Shaw 194 sets of unbound sheets, which Shaw claimed to have commissioned Sotheran & Co. to bind for him. "So few of these [in purple cloth] in the Sotheran binding have turned up, however, that it is unlikely Shaw had all of the copies bound; a considerable number must eventually have been pulped â¦" Copies in green cloth have been noted as well,… Read More

Longmans, Green, and Co. London and Bombay. 1902. FIRST EDITION. Colonial Issue. 8vo. (7.4 x 5.3 inches). Illustrated with sixteen mono plates by Sidney Paget. Tisue guard to the frontispiece. A few of the plates are bound in different places than listed on the contents page but all are present. 4 pages of publishers adverts for the colonial library at the rear of the book. The text and illustrations are fine, clean and bright throughout and look unread. Publishers decorative green cloth which has dark blue illustration to the front board and spine. Gilt lettering to the spine. Decorative light blue and white floral endpapers with ship and swan designs. There are a couple of small closed tears to the spine and the cloth is a bit rubbed and bumped and has a few small marks but is generally in very good condition with the gilt on the spine still quite bright. Previous owner's small typed name label on the plain verso of the front free endpaper, reading H. B. Rattray. This is almost certainly Captain… Read More

Richard Bentley. London. 1847. Bentley's Standard Novels and Romances, volume 25. Reprint of the 1833 edition. 8vo. (7 x 4.5 inches). Illustrated frontis engraving by Pickering. Publishers dark brown morocco grained cloth with elaborate blind stamped decorative border to the boards. Spine lettered and decorated in gilt. Yellow endpapers with lists of other titles published by Bentley. Neat previous owner bookplate to the top of the front paste down endpaper. Some staining to the bottom of the frontispiece, not affecting the image or type, otherwise a very clean and fresh copy. The cloth is clean and tidy, with sharp corners, and the gilt on the spine still bright and fresh. A little rubbing to the extremities but this is a superior copy. Scarce in such nice condition.