A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - 1859

New York: Printed by C.S. Van Winkle, 1819 - 1820.. Seven parts bound in two volumes. Large octavo. 19th century calf, spines gilt extra. Bound without wrappers and adverts. Early manuscript index on front binder's blank in both volumes. Spines darkened and slightly crazed, joints a bit worn and slightly cracked in places (but sound), occasional spotting and foxing to Part I, brown spot in fore-edge of Part VII, clean 5 cm tear in top edge of leaf 63/4 of Part VII, with no loss, still a good set in contemporary dress. Old morocco faced slipcase. First editions, first printings, of each part of Irving's second major sequence publication, with BAL's state 'A' of the text on page 240. Neither the terminal blank for Part I, nor the slip against piracy that was inserted in some copies of Part II are present. THE SKETCH BOOK is among Irving's masterworks, printing for the first time in complete book form "Rip Van Winkle" (Pt. I), "Old Christmas" (Pt. V), and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (Pt. VI). "That… Read More

London: Smith, Elder & Co, 1858. First edition. First edition. 8vo. 323pp. Original blind-stamped olive green cloth. The first edition of George MacDonald's first story to be published in book form. A fine copy in its original state, finely blind-stamped olive cloth with diamond shaped central blossoms and petal motif, elaborate borders on both covers, spine with gilt stamped leaf emblem and lettering, original yellow endpapers. MacDonald's faerie romance was aimed at an adult audience. The similarities between MacDonald and Lewis Carroll, who published Alice in Wonderland eight years later abound, culminating with Carroll asking MacDonald and his wife to read the draft of Alice. About as fine a copy as ever seen by this enduring and important classic. The copy of Sir Charles Oman (inscribed) ,noted military historian, and later, John Sparrow, English academic and book collector, both bookplates appear at front. In superb custom made chemise and green morocco-backed slipcase.

New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING, with all points including the infamous "curved fly" on page 283. Published in 1884-1885. Publisher's half morocco, marbled edges, marbled endpapers, 173 text illustrations after E. W. Kemble. ********Copies in the original half morocco binding with the "curved fly" illustration are the rarest of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Less than two weeks before publication, the publisher Webster announced that he was binding 20,000 copies in cloth, another 2,500 in sheep, and 500 copies in half morocco. This copy was printed in 1884, before the "curved fly" page was replaced.
First Issue Points:*Page 9 with uncorrected "decided" (this was later corrected to "decides")*At p. 13 the erroneous page reference "88" before being changed to "87"*At p. 57 the misprint "with the was" before it was corrected to "with the saw.
*The "curved fly" Illustration.*Frontispiece Portrait of Twin with tablecloth underneath.Condition:This book… Read More

London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner; 1891. Leather. Sextodecimo. 6.5 x 4 inches. [2], xxvii, [ii], 308, [2] pp. Very Good. Full vellum on thin boards. Lettered direct in black and red to front board and spine. Publisher's device (arbor scientiae, arbor vitae) stamped in black at lower right corner of front board. Top edge gilt. Pages uncut and untrimmed. Engraved frontispiece with tissue guard intact. Vignette title page bearing motto (Sperate miseri, cavete felices) and publisher's device. Thirty-two chapters. Preface and notes by Austin Dobson. Minor shelf wear and soiling. Binding firm. Hinges tight. Spine square. Browning to leading rough page edges and endpapers. Previous owner's signature at top of front pastedown, else internally bright and unmarked.

London: Henry & Co, 1896. First edition, first issue. Octavo. Original first issue blue cloth with gilt lettering to front and spine and eight pages of advertisements. Light toning to spine, extremities slightly rubbed; prior owner blindstamp, ink signature, and bookplate of John Farquhar McLay, bookplate of H.G. Plimmer to front pastedown. A rare and excellent example of this true first English issue of Nietzsche's masterwork.. Scarce true first English edition, first issue of Friedrich Nietzsche's (1844-1900) masterwork Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None (translated by Alexander Tille), published by Henry & Co. in 1896. Originally published in German in four parts between 1883 and 1885, Nietzsche's towering work was born out of profound philosophical insights that Nietzsche experienced while walking extensively throughout the Swiss Alps in the early 1880s. What followed was a concentrated burst of creative activity that produced a truly revolutionary work of philosophical literature. It… Read More

London: A. K. Newman, Leadenhall Street, 1833. 14 x 9 cm. Very good. 1 vol., 160pp. Binding: contemporary marbled, spine with gold lettering: "HOFLAND'S ELIZABETH" Engraved frontispieceReal life, instructive tale for young people, carefully abridged by the author to attract a wider public , i.e. cheaper. 2s 6d. Very light foxing to endpapers.

Uncut and in original printer's soft covers with Didot 5-point star. Pagination and chapter numbers start anew for each volume. Vol.1 217 pp.; Vol.2 216 pp.; Vol.3 233 PP.By the author of "Waverly," "Guy Mannering," and "The Antiquary". Ref. Kohler(1) 106(with illustration. Contact bookseller for full detailed description.

New York: Printed by C.S. Van Winkle, 1819 - 1820.. Seven parts bound in two volumes. Large octavo. 19th century calf, spines gilt extra. Bound without wrappers and adverts. Early manuscript index on front binder's blank in both volumes. Spines darkened and slightly crazed, joints a bit worn and slightly cracked in places (but sound), occasional spotting and foxing to Part I, brown spot in fore-edge of Part VII, clean 5 cm tear in top edge of leaf 63/4 of Part VII, with no loss, still a good set in contemporary dress. Old morocco faced slipcase. First editions, first printings, of each part of Irving's second major sequence publication, with BAL's state 'A' of the text on page 240. Neither the terminal blank for Part I, nor the slip against piracy that was inserted in some copies of Part II are present. THE SKETCH BOOK is among Irving's masterworks, printing for the first time in complete book form "Rip Van Winkle" (Pt. I), "Old Christmas" (Pt. V), and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (Pt. VI). "That… Read More

This version of The Tales of Chekhov featuring the famous story "The Lady with the Dog" is extremely rare. The original story was published in 1899 and there was an English translation as early as 1903, but this version was among the first Chekhov translations by the famous Russian-to-English translator Constance Garnett. The book is ex-library, but from a retirement community library with few readers--although it is stamped on the endpapers and title page. Two previous owners inscribed the front endpaper in ink: "Gordon Steward Crawford, July 19, 1933" and "Raymond Cunningham, March 18, 1940"

New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING, with all points including the infamous "curved fly" on page 283. Published in 1884-1885. Publisher's half morocco, marbled edges, marbled endpapers, 173 text illustrations after E. W. Kemble. ********Copies in the original half morocco binding with the "curved fly" illustration are the rarest of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Less than two weeks before publication, the publisher Webster announced that he was binding 20,000 copies in cloth, another 2,500 in sheep, and 500 copies in half morocco. This copy was printed in 1884, before the "curved fly" page was replaced.
First Issue Points:*Page 9 with uncorrected "decided" (this was later corrected to "decides")*At p. 13 the erroneous page reference "88" before being changed to "87"*At p. 57 the misprint "with the was" before it was corrected to "with the saw.
*The "curved fly" Illustration.*Frontispiece Portrait of Twin with tablecloth underneath.Condition:This book… Read More