Search Results: Titles starting with J from Fine Editions Ltd

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1975. First Printing. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. A superlative signed First Edition (so stated) of this "epic work," the "greatest satirical novel in American literature." (Literary Encyclopedia) Royal 8vo (236 x 152mm): [6],726,[4]pp. Publisher's black cloth, titled in gilt on spine and in blind on upper board, top edge stained pink, untrimmed fore-edge; illustrated dust jacket priced $15. Signed by Gaddis on half-title. Fine (and unread), very tightly bound and fresh throughout; Fine jacket. Twenty years after publishing his first book, The Recognitions, one of Time magazine's 100 best novels, Gaddis produced this highly acclaimed work, winner of the National Book Award. The first line of the novel presents its theme: "-Money...?". J R tells the story, through conversations, letters, and telephone calls (indeed, the novel's 726 pages contain very little but dialogue), of eleven-year-old J. R. Vansant, who accumulates an enormous fortune from his school's public telephone… Read More

[Charlottesville, Va.]: Bibliographic Society of the University of Virginia Book, 1955. Wrappers. Fine-. First Printing of this bibliography listing many James Joyce-related items absent from Slocum and Cahoon. Foolscap 8vo (171 x 122 mm): 16pp. Stapled self-wrappers printed in black, uncredited line drawing of Joyce's portrait to upper cover. Nick to bottom outside corner of lower wrapper, edges lightly toned, else Fine. Published as the UVA Bibliographic Society's Secretary's news sheet, No. 34, October, 1955 (our copy), and again as No. 42. August,1959. Reprinted 1974 and 1977 by Folcroft Library Editions. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).

London: Herbert Jenkins, 1960. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine-/Fine-. Second issue, with half-title corrected. Small 8vo: 205,[1]pp. Publisher's butterscotch cloth, spine lettered in black, illustrated dust jacket. Square, tight, unread copy with fresh, bright pages in about Fine price-clipped jacket, very lightly rubbed to head of spine panel. Jasen 82a. "The eighth Jeeves novel, harking back to 'Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit.' Bobbie Wickham and the 18th Century Cow-creamer of Uncle Tom's is also a dominant theme." (Jasen) N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, with dust jackets carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).

London: Archibald Constable, 1907. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. A superb unopened First Impression collecting these three plays, the first commissioned by W. B. Yeats. Crown 8vo (176 x 119mm): lix,[3],293,[3]pp. Publisher's olive-green vertically ribbed cloth, spine lettered in gilt; top edge gilt, others uncut; dun-colored dust jacket lettered in black and priced 6/-. An unopened, virtually flawless copy (jacket's spine panel lightly toned), tightly bound and clean throughout. Laurence A83b. Wells 34. Broad, pp. 7, 53-57, 92. "John Bull's Other Island" and "How He Lied to Her Husband" first appeared in German translation, in the Berliner Tageblatt, in November, 1904. A New York edition collecting only "John Bull's Other Island" and "Major Barbara" appeared shortly before this English edition, in 1907, which contains a brief postscript to "John Bull's Other Island" and a note on Euripidean verses in "Major Barbara" that do not appear in the American edition. "John Bull's Other Island" was… Read More

Franequeræ [Franeker, the Netherlands]: Typis & impensis Johannis Gyzelaar, illustr. Frisiæ Ordd. atque eorundem Academiæ typograph. ordinar, 1696. Second Edition. Vellum. Fine. Second Edition of this work on the ancient synagogue and development of the early Church. Complete in two continuously paginated volumes bound in one. Small 4to (194 x 156mm): [30],608,[6],609-1138, [38]pp, with identical additional engraved title pages showing Jews before a temple and signed "J. Goeree delin. / J. Mulder sculp" to both parts and woodcut headpieces, initials, and ornaments. Contemporary vellum, edges stained red, manuscript title to head of spine in early hand. Title pages printed in red and black, with woodcut printer's device bearing motto "Ego Iehoua vocauite iuste," the title page to the second part reading "Campegii Vitringa De synagoga vetere liber tertius: quo rectores & ministri synagogarum conferuntur cum praepositis & diaconis ecclesiae Christianae pars II." Bookseller's ticket to front… Read More

London: Faber & Faber, 1972. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Impression ("First published in 1972) of Stoppard's first full-length play following "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead." Slim 8vo: 91,[1]pp. Publisher's finely woven scarlet cloth, spine stamped in gilt; typographic dust jacket printed in orange and black and priced £1.50. A Fine, fresh copy, virtually as new (and likely unread), marred only by a small neatly penned owner's name on front fly-leaf; otherwise bright and clean inside and out. A stunning example. Baker & Wachs A8. Jumpers opens dramatically, with the mock-striptease of a female character swinging in and out of sight on a huge chandelier; another intoning various songs that become drowned out by airplanes droning overhead, and a group of eight acrobats who complete this truly theatrical tableau, jumping, tumbling, and somersaulting at a London Mayfair Residence. The Radical Liberals have taken over the state and are euphorically celebrating their landslide… Read More

New York: Fredrick A. Stokes, 1938. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine-/Near Fine+. Inscribed Fourth Printing (so stated) of this important collaboration of two beloved children's book artists, Ludwig Bemelmans and Munro Leaf. Oblong royal 8vo (198 x 253mm): [52], including numerous full- and partial page color illustrations. Publisher's mid-brown cloth lettered and decorated in yellow and black; illustrated dust jacket priced $1.50. Inscribed by Leaf (and with doodle) on fly-leaf: "To / Charles / with all the best wishes / Noodle and / Munro Leaf." Slight slant to spine, else tightly bound and clean and bright throughout, about Fine; Near Fine or better jacket (very light edge wear, closed tear skillfully repaired to back panel). Scarce in any edition, particularly signed, with First Search identifying only six copies of this fourth printing. Originally published in 1937. When Noodle, a dachshund, is granted a wish from the good dog fairy to be any size and shape, he decides to remain Noodle. N. B.… Read More

London: Cassell, 1964. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Printing of this juvenile, collecting seven poems, one of 5,000 copies printed. Slim demy 8vo (216 x 161mm): [8],38,[2]pp, with 35 pen drawings (including illustrated title page), each with single color wash, alternating green and peach. Publisher's powder blue cloth-effect boards, spine lettered in gold; illustrated dust jacket by Ardizzone, printed in black, blue, peach, and green and priced 13/6 net. An exemplary example (light dust-soiling to jacket's back panel only), tightly bound (apparently unread) and clean throughout. Higginson A110. Alderson 106. Verse that evokes the world of Victorian England, including the two lengthy poems, the story of Ann, "the third-but-youngest child of seventeen," who runs away to live at a duke's palace, and "‘George II and the Chinese Emperor," a battle of words lost in translation. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, with dust jackets… Read More

London: Printed for Richard Phillips, Bridge-Street, 1811. Quarter-Sheep. Near Fine+. Scarce early edition of this beautifully illustrated children's book, featuring the startlingly magnified images of a flea, louse, blue bottle, and mites in cheese. Long 12mo (174 x 100mm): xii,118,[2]pp, with engraved folding frontispiece and four further plates (three folding). Original red quarter-skiver, spine lettered longitudinally in gilt, marbled paper-covered boards. Contemporary ownership inscription on front fly leaf: "Miss Martin, Harley Place"; recent book label of Stanley Scott, Chard, Somerset, to rear paste-down. Professionally refurbished and now presenting attractively: browned in places (particularly plates) but a well-preserved, largely unsophisticated copy of a scarce item. Keynes (Hooke) 12. Paul, Children's Book Business: Lessons from the Long Eighteenth Century. First issued by Benjamin Tabart in 1806; this is apparently the second edition. Four of the plates "were either copied from those… Read More

London: William Darton & Son, Holborn Hill, 1830. Quarter Sheep. Near Fine+. Scarce early edition of this beautifully illustrated children's book. 12mo (144 x 89 mm): iv,5-156pp, with folding engraved frontispiece of the solar system and 13 further plates, most folding and all but two dated 1823. Of special note is the plate of Herschel's 40-foot telescope, constructed between 1785 and 1789 and shortly to be dismantled, in 1839. Original red quarter skiver, spine lettered longitudinally in gilt, marbled paper-covered boards. Neat gift inscription (dated 1898) to front fly leaf; recent book label of Stanley Scott, Chard, Somerset, to rear paste-down. Professionally refurbished and now presenting attractively: two closed tears to frontispiece skillfully mended with Japanese tissue, else tightly bound, with pages and plates remarkably fresh and bright. Darton H1605(2). Paul, Children's Book Business: Lessons from the Long Eighteenth Century. Osborne, p. 216 (for first edition). First published in 1805… Read More

London: The Bodley Head, 1968. Early Reprint. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. Sixth Printing. Small 8vo, 184pp, with illustrations by Pauline Baynes. Publisher's grey cloth, the spine titled gilt, in a bright pictorial dust jacket priced at 13s/6d. Fine (and probably unread) in a Fine jacket with some smudges to the white back panel. The seventh title (of seven) in the Narnia series, which chronicles the end of Narnia and the arrival of Eustace and Jill in a New Narnia (heaven), where they truly live happily ever after. A key issue regarding the Chronicles involves the order in which they should be read. Originally the books were numbered in order of publication, and so had to be read in that order. From the mid-1970s onwards some voices began urging that they be renumbered, and read in the order in which events occur in the stories . . . These voices have won out, at least to the extent that the new, worldwide edition of the Chronicles issued in 1994 is arranged in that order." But most scholars advocate… Read More

London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1948. First Impression. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition (so stated on p. [2]) of this castaway narrative, written and Illustrated by Mervyn Peake. Slim foolscap 8vo (174 x 110mm): [132]pp. Publisher's pale yellow linen, upper cover stamped in scarlet with vignette of the Uncle, spine lettered in scarlet; dust jacket printed in black and scarlet, front panel with lion stamp on grey ground, back panel a facsimile of mailing envelope with scarelet trompe l'oeil wax seal. Fine, with just slight wear to head of jacket's spine panel. Berkeley & Winnington (PiP) A6a. Currey, p. 400. Told in a series of letters written to a nephew and posted from the Arctic by a shipwrecked explorer, whose "Friday" is a tortoise named Jackson. Text photographically reproduced (in fine-screen halftone) from typewritten originals, and thus the poor reproduction quality, which troubled Peake to the extent that the book was withdrawn from sale, then reissued at a reduced price (this copy's dust… Read More

New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1989. First Edition. Hardcover. As New/As New. First Printing of the second installment in Eco's trilogy of children's books, also including The Bomb and the General and The Gnomes of Gnu Bompiani, all illustrated by Eugenio Carmi. Translated by William Weaver. Tall, slim 8vo: unpaginated, with 17 stunning full-page illustrations (watercolor and collage) by Carmi. Publisher's laminated full-color illustrated boards, spine stamped in black, French blue end papers, matching dust jacket priced $12,95. Virtually pristine (and apparently unread). Eco offers a lesson in tolerance, while introducing concepts of basic semiotics. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, with dust jackets carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe… Read More

New York: Dial Press, 1976. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Printing of this "child's story for adults," written in Black English from the perspective of Baldwin's seven-year-old nephew. Illustrated by Yoran Cazac. Royal 8vo (242 x 185mm): 96pp, with color illustrations throughout. Publisher's pictorial boards (repeating dust jacket design), illustrated dust jacket priced $6.95. An exceptional example (spine ends lightly bumped), tightly bound and clean throughout. Since the Sixties, Baldwin had faced rejection by Black militants, who opposed his integrationist views, while, at the same time, the mainstream media panned his later works. Feeling ostracized and depressed, he turned inward, drawing comfort from his large family, particularly his brother, David. One fruit of this isolation and introspection was this children's book. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, with dust jackets carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar… Read More

London: printed for Jacob Tonson, at Gray's-Inn Gate next Grays-Inn Lane, 1699. Early Reprint. Full Calf. Fine-. Third Edition (so stated) of this account of the author's travels to Paris, overflowing with observations of natural history collections, estates, and libraries, as well as commentary on science, art, food, wine, medicine, and more. Crown 8vo (185 x 115mm): [8,first leaf is blank],248pp, with 6 engraved plates (3 folding) of a wasp's nest, snails, a millipede, and a centipede. Early full speckled calf, spine richly gilt in five compartments divided by raised bands, red morocco lettering piece gilt, edges speckled red. Engraved armorial bookplate of John Rolle, Baron Rolle of Stevenstone (1750-1842). An excellent example, sporadically scattered marginal foxing only, else a clean, crisp copy in handsome period binding. Wing L2527. Bibliotheca bibliographici 3046. ESTC R2460. Preceded by two editions published the same year. Late in 1697, Lister accompanied William Bentinck, Lord Portland,… Read More