Search Results: Titles starting with T from Downtown Brown Books, ABAA

Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. Uncorrected Proof. Trade paperback. Fine. The proof copy, issued prior to the first edition, of Patchett's second novel. A fine copy in white printed wrappers. Signed by Patchett on the title page.

New York: Atheneum, 1966. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Clavell's first two books, each with a full-page inscription and housed in a custom leather and marbled-paper box. Tai-Pan is a first edition (first printing); King Rat is a third printing. Generally speaking, inscribed copies of Clavell's early books are not common on the market, and few inscriptions will be more extravagant than these. It appears that Clavell spent New Years with a Burt Morrow at Whytecliff (West Vancouver), B.C., and inscribed these books for two other guests, Hud and Joan Connolly. Apparently the Connolly's purchased a used copy of King Rat (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1962) and a then-new copy of Tai-Pan. The inscription in King Rat reads, "This is for Hud & Joan Connolly wot they buyed with their own $ mullah, lootie, loot. (The cheep -----'s only paided twenty-five cents for him wot rit it to authenticate it.) Sill-guess they done stole it from somewhere's, huh?) These two-well, wot can I say. They be… Read More

London: J. M. Dent & Co, 1900. First Edition. Hardcover. Good. Short stories for children. Illustrated in black and white by W. Heath Robinson. Rather scarce. First edition (first printing). An attractive copy with new endpapers and some faint pencil coloring to a couple of the illustrations.

Dallas, TX: Book Club of Texas, 1936. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Six essays on horses, published in an edition of 300 copies. Lowman, Printing Arts in Texas, p. 61: "One of the most sought after modern rarities... Chef d'oevre of the Book Club of Texas." Marcus, The Book Club of Texas, VI. First edition (first printing). A very good copy, with some shelf wear to the board edges. This copy is inscribed by Dobie, apparently at an early date: "There were not but 300 copies of this book printed; so it will always be rare, though I may put most of the tales into another book some day-J. Frank Dobie." This copy is not numbered on the colophon like many copies and the book was not issued signed. This copy lacks the glassine wrapper and it also lacks the slipcase called for in the Ahearns' reference, Collected Books. The Levitt library, sold by Swann in 1984, had a copy described as having a slipcase (possibly the same copy the Ahearn's used for their guidebook). However, other Book Club of… Read More

Jordan Valley, OR: Mike Hanley IV, 1988. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. Anecdotes connected to the Hanley family in the Idaho, Oregon, and Nevada high desert country. Illustrated with halftone photographs. 128 pages. 8-3/4 by 11-1/4 inches. First edition. A fine hardcover copy. No dust jacket, probably as issued. Signed by the author on the front free endpaper.

Tokyo: Nihon Rikkokai, 1940. First Edition. Trade paperback. Good. This book combines the author's philosophical views on Japanese immigration with excerpts from interviews of Japanese American immigrants. Nagata lived for many years in the United States, and returned to Japan when anti-Asian laws in California began to make life difficult for him and his compatriots. In Japan, he became the leader of the Nihon (or Nippon) Rikkokai, a Christian organization that promoted immigration to the poor in Japan. One of Nagata's main ideas ideas about the role of Japanese immigrants is as a counter to white Western society's belief in its racial superiority. Nagata argues that Japanese people by nature do not discriminate. (He notably ignores the atrocities being committed by the Japanese military in both China and Korea at the time he was writing this book.) According to Noriaki Hoshino, seemingly the only scholar to have explored Nagata's immigration views immediately before the outbreak of the Second… Read More

Philadelphia and New York: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1979. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. The first American hardcover edition of the 13th Travis McGee mystery. Originally published in paperback in 1972. The UK hardcover came out in 1973. First hardcover edition (first printing, with a numberline ending in 1). A very good copy with foxed page edges in a partially spinefaded dust jacket. No remainder spray.

New Preston, CT: Bernhardt Wall, 1926. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. In his introduction to this book, Wall explains that he had purchase an old two-volume set of The Spectator at a secondhand bookstore when he was a child. The tale printed here was a favorite of young Bernhardt. It is (supposedly) Addison's translation of a story about a man who, as a joke, was wrapped up like a mummy and then placed in bed between two beautiful naked women who teased him all night long. Wall's illustrations for the story are cartoonish, not unlike the work for many of his postcards. But there are two other etchings near the front of the book of an entirely different character, dark, and moody. In one, a ghostly figure kneels on a grave and in another, a man tortured after death, tries to catch a fish in his teeth while his arms are restrained. Wall also includes portraits of Addison and Plato in this volume. Published in an edition of 150 copies, this is number 10. 21 etched leaves, including eight text… Read More

San Francisco: Twin Peaks Press, 1979. First Edition. Trade Paperback. Near Fine. 87 pages. An uncommon collaboration of two Fresno poets to publish the first English-language collection of this important Mexican poet. In Spanish, with the translation on the facing page. First edition (first printing). A near fine copy in wrappers (paperback). Inscribed by Levine on the title page, "From Jaime, Tarumba, Ernesto, & Phil Levine." Scarce signed.

Akarana [Aukland, New Zealand]: Brett, "Evening Starr" Office, 1885. Hardcover. Second edition, revised and expanded, of this collections of hymns, first published in 1873 as "Temperance songs, etc., in the Maori language." The text of this book is devoted to Maori language songs written to the tunes of the hymnal "Sacred Songs and Solos" as well as popular melodies, including "God Save the Queen" (#13), and "The Star-Spangled Banner" (#3). Davis, the son of Irish immigrants to Australia and then New Zealand, learned Maori as a teenager in a Wesleyan missionary settlement. He became a translator for the Maori and published often in their language. These are his songs written with "a sincere desire to ameliorate the moral and social condition of the Maori nation" by encouraging them to temperance and Christianity. viii, 9-88 pages. 4-1/4 by 6-1/2 inches. Bibliography of Printed Maori, 699. OCLC records several copies, but only one in the US. Spine faded, else very good in printed red cloth.… Read More

(N.-pl.): Harlan Quist, 1970. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/Near fine. Nicole Claveloux. A wonderful example of psychedelic art by Nicole Claveloux to accompany a story by Monreal about Alala, a young woman who can travel into her television set and change the programs. Illustrated in full color. Roughly 10-3/4 inches square. Claveloux is an artist and cartoonist. First US edition (first printing). A near fine copy in a near fine dust jacket. The book was published simultaneously in the US and the UK. The UK price is clipped from the front flap, as issued, leaving the original $4.75 American price.

New York: Delacorte, 1978. First Thus. Hardcover. Near fine/Near fine. A very attractive re-issue of Olsen's first book, originally published by Lippincott in 1961, a collection of four stories. All four stories were included in Best American Short Stories the year they were first published in literary journals. Olsen is considered an important American writer, despite publishing just two books-these stories and a collection of non-fiction pieces titled Silences that considered writer's block and the difficulty of working class women and mothers (Olsen was both) finding time and energy to write. Olsen also published Yonnondio in 1974, an unfinished novel she wrote in the 1930s. First printing of this reissue (states First Delacorte Edition on the copyright page). A near fine copy in a near fine, tanned dust jacket. This copy is inscribed by Olsen to her inscribed to her literary agent (or perhaps her editor), with an accompanying letter signed transmitting contracts for books Olsen never wrote.… Read More

New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2003. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. The movie and TV comic writer's first picture book, which features an eyeball loose from someone's head. Illustrated by James Bennett. With a CD of Reiner reading the book in an envelope at the back. First edition (first printing with a numberline ending in 1). A fine copy in a fine dust jacket. Signed by Reiner on the front free endpaper. CD present and unopened.

New York: Harcourt, 2000. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. A novel in the Hainish cycle (Left Hand of Darkness etc.), winner of the Locus award for best novel. First edition (first printing with a line of letters ending in A). A fine copy in a fine dust jacket. Signed by Le Guin on the title page.

New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1989. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. A novel. One of 500 numbered copies signed by Alice Walker. 416 pages. First edition (first printing). A fine copy in the publisher's undyed cotton-covered slipcase. No dust jacket, as issued. This copy is still sealed in the original shrinkwrap.

Tokyo: Jitsugyo No Nihonsha, 1903. Trade paperback. Good. Profiles of ten successful American businessmen, published as part of a late Meiji-era interest in business practices and strategies. I would tell you who the ten American were, but I couldn't work out the phonetic spellings of their names in Japanese. [2], 4, 26, [3 leaves of plates], 371, [19] pages. The final section is mostly ad pages for business-releated books. OCLC: 672532283 (NDL, Waseda), 26974992 (LC). First edition (first printing). A good copy in wrappers, missing the lower two inches of the spine.

New York: Simon and Schuster, 1946. Second Printing. Hardcover. Very good/Good. Favorite stories from Arabian Nights, Dr. Dolittle, Gulliver's Travels, Heidi, Rip Van Winkle, Robin Hood, Robinson Crusoe, Rootabaga Stories, Tom Sawyer, Treasure Island, and Uncle Remus"-title page. Illustrated with reproductions of color paintings and black-only drawings by Tenggren, a Swedish-American artist who remains best-known for his work on the Walt Disney movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. A Giant Golden Book, 10-1/4 by 13 inches; 88 pages. Second printing (stated). A very good copy in decorated paper-covered boards in a good dust jacket. Jacket missing some chips from the edges, and it has a few tears repaired with tape, including one with clear tape on the front of the jacket. With a previous owner's name on the blank opposite the title page. Signed by Tenggren below the ownership name; scarce signed.

New York: Simon and Schuster, 1948. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. Fifty-two stories and rhymes inspired by the myth of the Old West, illustrated by the Swedish-American illustrator who remains best-known for his work on the Walt Disney movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. A Giant Golden Book, 9-3/4 by 13 inches. 96 pages. First edition (first printing, with code "A200200" on the inside front cover). A near fine hardcover copy with just a bit of lamination separation, a typical issue with books of this era. With a previous owner's name on the blank opposite the title page. Signed by Tenggren just below the ownership inscription. Uncommon signed. (Probably not issued in a dust jacket; the second printing had a cloth spine and unlaminated boards and may have had a jacket).

Verona: (Sandy Campbell), 1976. First Edition. Trade Paperback. Near fine. Windham was a novelist and close friends with Tennessee Williams, who wrote him frequently and voluminously. Illustrated with some facsimiles of letters. One of 500 numbered copies of an edition of 526. 333 pages. First edition (first printing). Fine in wrappers (paperback), with a near fine clear acetate jacket. The slipcase is slightly dented, else near fine.

Glasgow: David Russell, 1844. First Edition. Pamphlet. Very good. Reports on the business and activities of the Glasgow Emancipation Society and provides the text of remarks given by various speakers at the annual meeting. The Society aimed to abolish slavery worldwide. 47, [1] pages. Uncommon. Spine perished, else very good in the original string-bound printed wrappers. Pages unopened.