The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne, Nathaniel - 1850

London: Putnam, 1931. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. First British edition, first printing. (Apparently published simultaneously with the American edition.) 705, (2) p. Very Good+ in Good dust jacket. Foxing to fore edge, corners lightly bumped. Small tear in cloth at head. Dust jacket flap price intact, chips missing at extremities, especially at head. Closed tear through back panel that has been mended with archival, ph-neutral mending tissue on verso. Includes gray publisher's promotional card. British writer and playwright Lionel Britton's only novel, a long out-of-print classic of experimental Depression-era proletarian literature narrated in the second person. It was hailed by George Orwell and Bertrand Russell among other critics. Quite uncommon in its dust jacket.

New York: The Viking Press, 1938. First Edition. First edition. 303 pp. Original cloth. Small dampstain to top of back board, else Near Fine in Very Good unclipped dust jacket with tears along folds at top of front panel, edge-rubbing, small closed tear to bottom of back panel, spine slightly darkened, a few pieces of tape to verso, dampstain to verso of back panel. A collection of twelve stories by the chronicler of the rough-and-tumble American West.

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1935. First Edition. Fine/Near Fine. First edition, first printing. Bound in publisher's beige cloth stamped in dark blue. Fine, in a Near Fine unclipped dust jacket with light edge wear and toning to blank verso. A stunning copy. One would be hard-pressed to find a nicer example of this notoriously fragile dust jacket.

New York: The Lakeside Press, 1930. First Edition Thus. Near Fine/Very Good. First edition thus, limited to 1,000 copies. Three volumes in publisher's acetate jackets, in aluminum slipcase. Presentation copy signed by Rockwell Kent on the front free end paper of Volume I, "Inscribed with affectionate friendship to Putzie - Rockwell Kent, 1950." Volumes II and III bear Rockwell Kent-illustrated bookplates of Marie Luise Hinrichs. Near Fine. Narrow strips of sunning to spine cloth at ends, light rubbing to cloth at extremities and light abrasions to black topstains. Pages toned and with offsetting from illustrations. Acetate wrappers are wrinkled and shrunken with age, as is typical, and show a bit of chipping and edge wear, with some separation starting between the acetate and a paper flap on both volumes II and III; acetate on volume II with light staining. Aluminum slipcase is lightly worn, bumped at top and bottom edge. A stunning presentation copy, inscribed by Kent, and with bookplates designed… Read More

New York: The Macmillan Company, 1936. First Edition. Very Good. First edition. [iv], 570 pp. Original tan cloth with blue lettering. Very Good, lacking the dust jacket. Spine cloth foxed, edges slightly foxed as well; corners lightly bumped. A very straight, study copy. The author's first book, of which only 3,000 were printed.

London: Putnam, 1931. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. First British edition, first printing. (Apparently published simultaneously with the American edition.) 705, (2) p. Very Good+ in Good dust jacket. Foxing to fore edge, corners lightly bumped. Small tear in cloth at head. Dust jacket flap price intact, chips missing at extremities, especially at head. Closed tear through back panel that has been mended with archival, ph-neutral mending tissue on verso. Includes gray publisher's promotional card. British writer and playwright Lionel Britton's only novel, a long out-of-print classic of experimental Depression-era proletarian literature narrated in the second person. It was hailed by George Orwell and Bertrand Russell among other critics. Quite uncommon in its dust jacket.

New York: The Viking Press, 1938. First Edition. First edition. 303 pp. Original cloth. Small dampstain to top of back board, else Near Fine in Very Good unclipped dust jacket with tears along folds at top of front panel, edge-rubbing, small closed tear to bottom of back panel, spine slightly darkened, a few pieces of tape to verso, dampstain to verso of back panel. A collection of twelve stories by the chronicler of the rough-and-tumble American West.

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1935. First Edition. Fine/Near Fine. First edition, first printing. Bound in publisher's beige cloth stamped in dark blue. Fine, in a Near Fine unclipped dust jacket with light edge wear and toning to blank verso. A stunning copy. One would be hard-pressed to find a nicer example of this notoriously fragile dust jacket.

New York: The Lakeside Press, 1930. First Edition Thus. Near Fine/Very Good. First edition thus, limited to 1,000 copies. Three volumes in publisher's acetate jackets, in aluminum slipcase. Presentation copy signed by Rockwell Kent on the front free end paper of Volume I, "Inscribed with affectionate friendship to Putzie - Rockwell Kent, 1950." Volumes II and III bear Rockwell Kent-illustrated bookplates of Marie Luise Hinrichs. Near Fine. Narrow strips of sunning to spine cloth at ends, light rubbing to cloth at extremities and light abrasions to black topstains. Pages toned and with offsetting from illustrations. Acetate wrappers are wrinkled and shrunken with age, as is typical, and show a bit of chipping and edge wear, with some separation starting between the acetate and a paper flap on both volumes II and III; acetate on volume II with light staining. Aluminum slipcase is lightly worn, bumped at top and bottom edge. A stunning presentation copy, inscribed by Kent, and with bookplates designed… Read More

New York: The Macmillan Company, 1936. First Edition. Very Good. First edition. [iv], 570 pp. Original tan cloth with blue lettering. Very Good, lacking the dust jacket. Spine cloth foxed, edges slightly foxed as well; corners lightly bumped. A very straight, study copy. The author's first book, of which only 3,000 were printed.