Search Results: Authors starting with D from Whitmore Rare Books

London: A. Strahan for T. Cadell, 1802. First English language edition. The first complete translation into English of Dante's "Divine Comedy." Bound in full contemporary calf. Boards ruled in gilt with decorative blindstamped borders. Armorial insignia of the Dunalley baronage blindstamped on the front of each board. Marbled end papers and text block. Spines joints and corners repaired. Internally clean and fresh, with Catherine Dunalley's name written in pencil on the title page of each volume (wife of Henry Prittie, 1st Baron Dunalley). A handsome set overall. Three 8vo volumes (pages 215 x 128 mm), collating: vi, [2], 408; [ii], 56, [ii (divisional title)], 57-62, 65-384 (complete); [ii], 420pp., engraved frontispiece portrait plate of Dante by Thomas Stothard in vol.1; complete. One of the world's great masterpieces and a foundational text of Italian literature. The Comedy took over a decade for Dante to write, he worked on it in exile, having been sent out of his native Florence in 1302, when… Read More

London: A. Strahan for T. Cadell, 1802. First English language edition. The first complete translation into English of Dante's "Divine Comedy." Bound in recent, full maroon straight-grained morocco, smooth spines ruled and titled in gilt, marbled end papers, all edges sprinkled red. The odd spot or bit of foxing internally, heaviest in the third volume, but an excellent set overall. Three 8vo volumes (pages 211 x 132 mm), collating: vi, [2], 408; [ii], 56, [ii (divisional title)], 57-62, 65-384 (complete); [ii], 420pp., engraved frontispiece portrait plate of Dante by Thomas Stothard in vol.1; complete. One of the world's great masterpieces and a foundational text of Italian literature. The Comedy took over a decade for Dante to write, he worked on it in exile, having been sent out of his native Florence in 1302, when his political faction fell out of favor. The work's genius was quickly recognized -- Boccaccio himself was so obsessed with it that he was responsible for adding the prefix "Divine."… Read More

Derby: J. Drewry, 1797. First edition. Contemporary quarter calf over marbled boards; spine ruled in gilt with red morocco label; all edges dyed yellow. Boards and spine rubbed; some chipping along edges. Original stab holes visible in gutter margins. Previous owner's bookplate on front pastedown; ink signature of Mary Wolley to front free endpaper; light foxing. Quarto collates complete, with half title and engraved frontispiece: viii, [9]-128. Bound after Fosbrooke, T.D. The Economy of Monastic Life. Glocester: Printed by R. Raikes, [1792]. First edition, dedicated to Edward Jenner who is also listed as a subscriber. Internally a copy in excellent condition. The grandfather of the illustrious Charles Darwin, Erasmus Darwin wrote this treatise on the education of young women to support his own daughters' school at Ashbourne. Darwin's treatise takes a comprehensive view of women's education, suggesting that it should reach beyond social skills such as the "perpetual appearance of attention," polite… Read More

N.P., 1797. Bound in late eighteenth-century full red roan. Covers with gilt single fillet border, smooth spine ruled in gilt, board edges and turn-ins decoratively tooled in gilt, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers. Blank book, interleaved and with thirty-three leaves with sixty-six mounted engravings (front and back of each medal), including thirty-one medals by Jean Dassier of the Sovereigns of England from William I to George II, including Oliver Cromwell (without the medals of the medals for Richard III, Henry VII, and Henry VIII), as well as medals of George III (by Lewis Pingo) and Queen Charlotte (by John Kirk). A fascinating collection. "Having being presented to Queen Caroline, perhaps through the good offices of Wake, Dassier set out proposals for a set of thirty-three medals of English sovereigns from William I to George II, to whom the series was dedicated. Based on engravings by George Vertue for Paul Rapin de Thoyras's History of England, these were advertised in the prospectus… Read More

Paris: A & G Mornay, 1930. First thus. Very Good. Exemplaire N. LXXV printed on Papier de Rives. Original publisher's pictorial wrappers, measuring 200 x 150mm and illustrated throughout. A pleasing example, with a bit of wear to wraps; some browning externally and scattered foxing internally. Some cracking to the spine and along the front joint. Largely known for his poetry, Henri de Regnier shifted toward writing realistic novels and tales in his later career. The present, beautifully illustrated by Barbier, infuses rich color and movement into the narrative. A leader in the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Barbier brought his own flamboyant personal style to his artwork, resulting in a sense of vibrancy and movement. Very Good.

Paris: A.G. Mornay, 1928. First thus. Near Fine. Exemplaire No. 656. Original publisher's pictorial wraps, measuring 200 x 150mm and illustrated throughout. A lovely example, with minor creasing to spine and gentle wear to spine ends. Internally bright, pleasing and fresh. Henri de Renier's first novel is an examination of gender and class dynamics. A mother terrorizes and controls her son; one cousin tries to seduce another; and a forward courtesan and a libertine run rampant. The present example is a visual triumph, as colorful as its characters. A leader in the Ecole des Beaux Arts, the illustrator Barbier brought his own flamboyant personal style to his artwork, resulting in a sense of vibrancy and movement. Near Fine.

Paris: Pagnerre, 1850. Thirteenth Edition. Revised, corrected and augmented with a comparative examination of democracy in the United States and Switzerland, and an appendix. Text in French. Inscribed by the author: "à M. Courbis offert par l'auteur AT." Bound in a contemporary French binding of green quarter morocco over paper boards, marbled end-papers. Two volumes bound together in one, collating: viii, 512; viii, 476. Binding with slight chipping at the head of the spine, otherwise in excellent condition. Besides the present example, only one other inscribed copy of this 1850 revised edition can be found in the auction record, selling for 11,875 euro in 2013. De Tocqueville's seminal work on American government, first printed the same year in Paris. De Tocqueville, a French aristocrat, visited America between 1831 and 1832, ostensibly to study the penal system, although his interest was considerably broader. It seems logical that France would look to America as a beacon of hope for a successful… Read More

London: Saunders and Otley, 1840. First English language edition. Two octavo volumes collating: xvi, 333, [2 ads]; viii, 365, [2 ads]. Contemporary half calf over marbled boards, marbled end papers, black morocco spine labels, rebacked but retaining original spines. An excellent copy internally in a handsome contemporary binding. The first English language edition of de Tocqueville's seminal work on American government, first printed the same year in Paris. De Tocqueville, a French aristocrat, visited America between 1831 and 1832, ostensibly to study the penal system, although his interest was considerably broader. It seems logical that France would look to America as a beacon of hope for a successful democracy. After France embraced the goals of equality and democracy in 1789 at the start of the French Revolution, it found itself first in a dictatorship under Napoleon and then in one constitutional monarchy after another during the years following. De Tocqueville's astute observation of several… Read More

London: Saunders and Otley, 1840. First English language edition. Near Fine. Third Edition of Part One and First Edition of Part Two. Four octavo volumes (pages: 198 x 120 mm) bound uniformly in the publisher's cloth, likely sold together as a set in 1840 (using the remaining 1838 sheets for part one). Collating: xxxvi, 302, [2, ads]; viii, 325, [2, ads]; xv, 333, [2, ads]; viii, 365, [2, ads]; complete with the folding map in part one, half-titles to the first two volumes and 2 pages of ads at the rear of each volume. A touch of foxing to the final volume, but otherwise exceptionally clean internally. Extremely rare in cloth in any condition, let alone in such an exquisite state of preservation. Near Fine overall, unread and completely unrestored. De Tocqueville, a French aristocrat, visited America between 1831 and 1832, ostensibly to study the penal system, although his interest was considerably broader. It seems logical that France would look to America as a beacon of hope for a successful… Read More

London: Saunders & Otley, 1836. Second edition in English. Two octavo volumes, collating xliv, 333, [2 ads]; vi [of viii], 462, [2 ads]: with the folding map to the front of volume 1; half-title in volume 1, lacking half-title in volume 2 and lacking the second leaf of the table of contents. Bound in contemporary half-calf over marbled boards, marbled end papers, rebacked but retaining the original spines. Folding map, outlined in color, with a few cracks along the folds, some repaired on the verso, otherwise an excellent set internally. The second edition in English of Part I, which was originally released in French and English a year earlier in 1835. Part II of Democracy in America would not appear in first edition in the Paris or London imprints until 1840. De Tocqueville, a French aristocrat, visited America between 1831 and 1832, ostensibly to study the penal system, although his interest was considerably broader. It seems logical that France would look to America as a beacon of hope for a… Read More

New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1962. First edition. Fine/Near Fine. A Fine copy of the book in a solid Near Fine dust jacket with only slight wear at the spine ends and extremities, and a touch of rubbing at the front flap fold. An alternative history that remains chilling and relevant today, The Man in the High Castle imagines a world wherein the Axis Powers defeated the Allies in World War II. Unfolding fifteen years after the war's end, the novel reveals that no peace can exist when the victors of a conflict remain power-hungry and precarious. By 1962, governing their respective portions of the partitioned United States, Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany clash over the futures they imagine for the human race. While the Reich continues its pursuit of "racial purity" through the exterminations of ethnic minorities, disabled and queer peoples, Imperial Japan enacts policies of "judicial racism" focused mainly on the oppression of Black, Chinese, and Anglo Americans as a subservient working class.… Read More

London: Bradbury and Evans, 1848. First edition. Near Fine. A lovely, Near Fine copy of the book in the publisher's full green morocco. Spine titles stamped in gilt, all edges gilt, pale yellow end-papers. Complete with half-title, 2-line errata leaf (bound at the end) and all 40 original plates. Extra-illustrated with the additional 12 plates by H. K. Browne (Phiz) produced by Chapman and Hall in 1848 (produced in two parts, a first set of 8 additional plates and a second set of 4 additional plates, all depicting characters or scenes from the novel). Some foxing to the plates, as usual. With the first appearance of a "dark" plate in a Dickens' work, used more extensively in later novels like Bleak House and Little Dorrit. The last copy at auction in the publisher's full morocco binding made 5,625 pounds at Sothebys in 2019 (part of the Larry Drizen collection) and did not include the rare extra suite of twelve Phiz plates produced by Chapman and Hall. Dombey and Son tackles a number of key… Read More

London: Bradbury & Evans, 1853. First edition. Near Fine. Complete with all 40 plates which include the frontispiece, title-page and the 10 "dark plates." Has all three typographical errors associated with the first edition, first issue: P.19, line 6: "elgble"; P.209, line 23: "chair" instead of "hair"; and P.275, line 22: "counsinship" instead of "cousinship." Bound by Bayntun-Riviere in full green crushed morocco with a gilt portrait of Dickens on the front board and gilt signature on the rear. Marbled end papers all edges gilt. Front outer joint a little tender. Extremely clean internally, with much less foxing than is typically seen. A very handsome copy overall. One of Dickens' finest novels, the action in Bleak House revolves around a never-ending set of related Chancery Court cases to resolve the inheritance of a considerable estate. Dickens turns his pen to a biting condemnation of the system and the need for reform (which shouldn't surprise the Dickens scholar). A complex novel and filled… Read More

London: Chapman and Hall, 1839. First edition. Very Good. A rare copy of Nickleby in the original publisher's cloth. This copy without some of the earliest issue points: pg. 123 and pg. 160 with corrected spellings, first four plates without Chapman and Hall imprints. A Very Good copy with wear to the cloth along the lower spine hinge and at the board edges. Original yellow end-papers with some splitting at the inner hinges. Moderate foxing to the plates, pages generally clean. But on the whole, and authentic and attractive copy of the first edition in book form. "Dickens' third novel has always been a favourite with the general public. Indeed, it was the book's huge sales that enabled Dickens to give up parliamentary reporting and become a full-time writer...The theatricality of the novel attracted new and more appreciative critical attention [and it] demonstrates the inextricable link between public and private" (Bannerjee). A satire tackling the injustices faced by both women and men within the… Read More

London: Chapman and Hall, 1891. Reprint of the Illustrated Library Edition. Thirty octavo volumes ( 221 x 141 mm.). Late 19th century full polished calf by Tout (stamp-signed on the verso of the front free endpaper). Covers with gilt triple fillet border with gilt corner ornaments, spines elaborately tooled in gilt in compartments with five gilt- dotted raised bands and red and green morocco gilt lettering labels, board edges with gilt-dotted rule, turn-ins decoratively tooled in gilt, top edge gilt, others uncut, marbled endpapers. Minor rubbing to extremities, headcaps on Volumes IX, X, and XXI expertly repaired. Small bookseller's ticket on rear pastedown of each volume. Illustrated with plates after the originals by "Phiz" (Hablot Knight Browne), George Cruikshank, Frederick Walker, Edwin Landseer, Daniel Maclise, John Leech, Marcus Stone, George Cattermole, and Luke Fildes. Partially unopened. A near fine set. "The Library Edition came about largely because of the suggestion of Forster that… Read More

London: Bradbury & Evans, 1846. First edition. Fine. Vignette title in the fourth state (Smith II.8). Small 8vo: [viii], 175, [1], [2]; complete. Tipped onto the advertisement leaf is a smaller leaf advertising "Monsieur Vlieland's Works," not described in Smith. A lovely, Fine copy with some contemporary ownership markings at the front end papers, otherwise an excellent copy both inside and out. Dickens' fourth Christmas book and one of the lesser known books from the series. The Battle of Life centers on two sisters, Grace and Marion, who must contend with shared romantic attachments. After Marion disappears with a presumed libertine, Michael Warden, the family struggles to make sense of her sudden departure. But in standard Dickensian fashion, the plot twists get resolved and happiness prevails for everyone. Fine.

London: Chapman and Hall, 1839. First edition. Very Good. Bound in the original publisher's deluxe full green morocco binding, gilt titles, stamped in gilt and blind, yellow end papers, all edges gilt. A Very Good copy with creasing and wear to the spine (one short tear at the head), some foxing to the plates. Armorial bookplate of Henry Gillett on the front paste-down. Bound without the half-title, otherwise complete with the engraved frontis and 39 plates by Phiz. Nicholas Nickleby, Dickens' third novel, was originally serialized in monthly parts, then issued as a book in cloth. The publishers also had a small number of copies bound up in the present morocco both for presentation - a census of copies inscribed by Dickens on publication show them all to be in the green morocco binding - and for sale to the public at a higher price. This copy with most of the issue points outlined in Smith, but with a few typographical errors corrected. "Dickens' third novel has always been a favourite with the… Read More

London: Bradbury & Evans, 1850. First Edition. Near Fine. Early 20th century three quarters blue crushed morocco over marbled boards with gilt to spine. Top edge gilt. Marbled endpapers. Bookplates of Jeffrey Stern and Christopher Clark Geest to front pastedown. Original wrappers for parts IV and VII at front (laid in and bound in, respectively). Spine gently sunned and light rubbing to extremities. Generally clean internally with only a few spots of foxing to a handful of plates. A handsome copy of one of Dickens' best, and his most autobiographical novel. Early issue without the misprint: "screamed" for "screwed" on page 132 line 20 (often lacking from first edition copies); but with the other issue points, including: Chapter XXVII is on page 282 rather than page 283 as listed in the table of contents; 16: 1 and 225: 22 both read "recal" rather than "recall"; 19: 39 reads "cha pter ; ut"; 387: 45 reads "coroboration" rather than "corroboration"; 472: 37 has no closing of the quotation marks; and… Read More

London: Chapman and Hall, 1859. First edition. Original printed wraps with near-invisible restoration to some spines. A Near Fine, largely unopened copy, with occasional marginal foxing or offsetting from the plates. First printing with p. 213 numbered 113 (and the other points in Smith), but without signature "b" on the list of illustrations. Complete with all sixteen etched plates by "Phiz" and all advertisements called for in Hatton & Cleever (including the scarce Thackeray ad for Cornhill Magazine), plus an additional sixteen pages of ads in parts VII and VIII not mentioned in the bibliography. Housed in a custom slipcase with chemise bearing the bookplate of Michael Sharpe. Published in 1859, A Tale of Two Cities is considered one of the greatest of Dickens' works and contains one of the most recognizable openings in the English language: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Originally released in parts, after its completion A Tale of Two Cities became (and still remains) one… Read More

London: Bradbury & Evans, 1848. First edition. Near Fine. Small 8vo: [viii], 188; complete. A solid, Near Fine copy with all required points by Smith (II.9). A few small ink spashes on the cloth and a small circular embossed ownership stamp on the front end paper, otherwise in excellent condition. Dickens' fifth and final Christmas book. As in his other Christmas books, Dickens is rather heavy-handed with his moral: that it is better to forgive than forget. Near Fine.