Search Results: Historical Fiction from Reading Rat

Toronto ON: Lester & Orpen Dennys, 1983. Pictorial Cover. Very Good/No Jacket. Trade paperback; novel based on the life of Nova Scotia giantess Anna Swan; some reading wear. Signed and dated by author, with personal inscription. Author notes in foreword that she does not know for certain if she is related to Anna Swan but thinks they might have a distant common ancestor. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Toronto ON: MacMilllan of Canada, 1971. Reprint. Hard Cover. Very Good -/Very Good -. Leo Rampen. 102 p.; VG-/VG-; ex-library; has library pocket, stamps, etc on ffep, otherwise clean and unmarked. small library sticker on spine of DJ. DJ is in plastic cover. Tape remains on inside of boards. Very attractive black-and-white boards with large stylized reversed R design; DJ in orange and mustard with black illustrations. A reprint of the 1965 original. The story of two young boys from the Red River colony who are caught up in the politics of 19th century Upper Canada. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Winnipeg MB: Queenston House, 1975. Probable First. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good -. 263 p.; VG/VG-; nice, clean book, light brown cloth-covered boards, unclipped DJ, some chipping of edges, lightly water stained (does not penetrate to boards). Signed by author on title page. "This is the story of two years in the life of Rebecca Devine, the daughter of Jewish immigrants who own a grocery store in Winnipeg's North End." Bess Kaplan's first novel. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1984. Apparent First. Hard Cover. Very Good +/Very Good +. 254 p.; VG+/VG+;dark blue cloth boards with gold lettering on spine, unclipped pictorial DJ, very slight wear to edges, clean interior. Fictionalized account of the ordeal of Captain George Pollard, of the whaling ship Essex. Part of Pollard's account inspired scenes in Moby Dick. Published in the US by Knopf under the title "The Jonah Man". 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

New York: St Martins Pr, 1986. Not Stated. Hard Cover. Very Good +/Very Good. 176 p.; VG+/VG; HC in black boards, clean, solid, unmarked. DJ is unclipped (no price); sl edge rubbing, 2 small closed tears have been mended with archival tape. This is probably the first US printing of Paul Doherty's first novel, based on the murder of Edward II. It may be a book club edition although this is not indicated on the DJ. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Toronto, ON, Canada: Doubleday Canada, Limited, 1986. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good +/Very Good. 214 p.; VG+/VG DJ; book is in beautiful clean condition, no marks, DJ unclipped, very slight bumping of upper edge, some yellowing along spine. SIGNED by author on title page, with inscription"for Emmet, with best wishes". This is a novel based on the true story of Tom Sukanen, who spent years building an ocean-going cargo steamer in a wheatfield near Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. A wonderful piece of Canadiana in excellent condition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Westminster, Maryland, U.S.A.: McClelland & Stewart Ltd, 1997. First Thus. Trade Paperback. Very Good/No Jacket. 333 p.; VG; slight reading wear, very nice unmarked copy. Guy Vanderhaeghe's prizewinning novel of the Canadian west, linking Hollywood in the 1920s with the Cypress Hills massacre. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Chicago: M. A. Donohue & Company. Cloth. Good+/No Jacket. Undated reprint edition, prob. c. 1900.395 p. + ads for Donohue's other books. Dark olive cloth binding. Spine bumped, rubbed top & bottom, edges rubbed and worn. Hinges cracking. Stamp on ffep Casey's Books, Green Bay, Wis., pencilled in price notation. Pages somewhat yellowed with age. Interior clean, text block firm. Endpapers and flyleaves have an Art Deco motif in light green. G+ or better, considering that this book is nearing a century in age. One of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's less-known works, a sympathetic story of Puritan life. Full title "Micah Clarke: His Statement, as made to his three grandchildren, Joseph, Gervas, and Reuben, during the hard winter of 1734".

UK: Futura, 1977. First Thus. Mass Market Paperback. Good+/No Jacket. 288 p.; G+, bookstore stamp on ffep, slight yellowing, reading wear, mild vertical crease down front cover. "Set in 18th century Lancashire, a sweeping saga of the men who hacked their way with pick and shovel through thousands of miles of countryside to build Britain's canals. ... It is an epic story of hardship, poverty and gin-soaked brutality and in particular of two people whose lives were torn apart by the violent tide of change sweeping over the countryside: Nick Tatlow the weaver's son a stranger to the navvies' world, and Hannah, torn between her love for him and her loyalty to the rough life she has been born and bred to." 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall.

Cary, North Carolina, U.S.A.: Oxford Univ Pr, 1989. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good +/Very Good +. 114 p.; VG+/VG+; very nice, clean HC in bright pictorial DJ, unclipped, no visible signs of wear. A retelling of the Minotaur myth from the point of view of Ariadne. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

New York, New York, U.S.A.: Holiday House, 1999. First Edition. Hard Cover. As New/As New. 137 p.; As New/As New; small hardcover in bright, unclipped, pictorial DJ. "In 1881 in New York City, 12-year-old Kevin O'Donnell, ever-conscious of the prejudice against the Irish poor, struggles to support his sick father and young sister by working as a messenger for a prominent newspaper but finds his job threatened when he is falsely accused of stealing from his employer." Isabelle Holland is the well-known author of several books for both children and adults, including The Man Without a Face" and several other historical novels for young adult readers. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

UK: Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd., 1982. Later Edition. Mass Market Paperback. Very Good+/No Jacket. 1982 paperback edition; first published 1954; VG+, clean, solid copy, minor edgewear, spine flat and uncreased. Translation and adaptation of "Papissa Joanna" by Emmanuel Royidis, originally published in Greek in 1886. Royidis recounts the story of "Pope Joan", the legendary "female Pope". Although of dubious historicity, the story of Pope Joan has persisted since the Middle Ages and continues to attract attention. 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall.

San Diego, CA, U.S.A.: Harcourt Trade Publishers, 1991. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. Ex-library, with usual stamps on FFEP and edges. VG/VG. Book is clean and tight, a few pages bent at lower corner, DJ taped on, otherwise unmarked. Map of Mexico on endpapers. DJ price clipped, library label on spine, in plastic cover. "While serving hard time in 1922 in a U.S. penitentiary for violating America's neutrality law, Ricardo Flores Magon spins a remarkable tale through the riveting journals of his life and his views of and participation in the Mexican Revolution of 1914. . . . Douglas Day's engrossing re-creation of the revolution adroitly combines fiction with fact: the journals extract much of their juice from Flores Magon's letters to the flirtatious Lily Sarnoff." 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.: William Morrow & Co, 1990. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good +/Very Good. 340 p.; VG+/VG; very nice, clean HC in unclipped, bright DJ, somewhat chipped & worn along edges. A fictionalized account of the Taiping Rebellion. By the author of Flower Drum Song and other novels of China. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Gordonsville, Virginia, U.S.A.: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2000. First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Very Good. 303 p.; HC, NF/VG; DJ is unclipped, slight edgewear, scuffing of surface, very small cut near spine on front. "In this advanturous debut novel, Emily Barton explores the two-edged sword of technology, asking waht is lost in our fervent pursuit of modernity." 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.: Hyperion Books, 1997. First Edition. Hard Cover. As New/Very Good +. 298 p.; As New/VG+; DJ has trace of bumping along top edge, otherwise lovely unread copy. "A haunting novel set in 19th century New England and narrated by a headstrong young woman whose independent spirit and unconventional choices isolate her from her community, her friends, and her family." 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall.

Westminster, Maryland, U.S.A.: Bantam Dell Pub Group, 1995. Not Stated. Hard Cover. Very Good +/Very Good. 134 p.; VG+/VG; small hardcover volume in black boards, very nice, minor wear, no interior marks. DJ unclipped, has very slight edgewear, small closed tear on back. Repaired with archival tape. A collection of several of Louis L'Amour's western short stories. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Canada: Burns & Maceachern, 1967. Probable First. Hard Cover. Very Good -/Very Good. Anemone Ruder. 147 p.; VG-/VG; ex-library book with usual stamps, pocket removed from rear endpaper, tape residue on light tan boards. Interior clean and attractive. DJ unclipped, in plastic, only marks library label on spine and small tape marks on flaps. Jacket design by Maria Jursic, illustrated by line drawings by Anemone Ruder. A fictionalized account, based on extensive research, of the Barr Colony, established by Rev. Mr. Barr north of North Battleford. The Nesbitt family of Manchester accepts the challenge of frontier life and encounters many hardships and adventures along the way. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Rossburn, Manitoba, Canada: Jamie Kucey, 1996. Limited Numbered. Trade Paperback. Very Good +/No Jacket. 120 p.; VG+, bottom corner bumped, lt. reading wear, flat spine. Signed by author on title page, numbered 168/500 copies. "Eszter's relatives gather to celebrate her one hundredth birthday. What should be a joyous occasion turns sour. Not everyone has fond memories of her. Has she done or said anything worthwhile? As her granddaughter, Lee, sets to find out, Eszter takes us into her life on the rural prairies of Alberta in the early 1900s." 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.