Rare books from BUCKINGHAM BOOKS

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1934., 1934. First edition. First edition. First state of text with "seep" for the word "sleep" on page 209. 8vo. Cloth is lightly mottled as is usually the case with this title, else near fine in dust jacket, with light professional restoration to spine ends and corners. Housed in a two tone quarter leather and cloth clamshell case with titles stamped in gold on the spine. A lawyer-friend asks Nick Charles to help find a killer and reintroduces him to the family of Richard Wynant, an eccentric inventor who disappeared from society 10 years prior. Wynant's former wife, Mimi, has remarried a European fortune hunter who turns out to be a spiteful former associate of her first husband and is bent on the ruin of Wynant's family fortune. Wynant's children, Dorothy and Gilbert, seem to have inherited the family aversion to straight talk. Nick tries to make sense of misinformation, false identities, far-fetched alibis, and, at the center of the… Read More

Chicago: Donohue & Henneberry, Publishers, Printers and Binders, [1893]., 1893. First edition. First edition. 8vo. This is the rare, true first edition, and not to be confused with "Cowboy Life In Texas or 27 Years A Mavrick" which is the 2nd edition. Original navy blue cloth with titles and bull head on front cover and spine stamped in gold gilt, title and bull head stamped in blind on the rear cover, decorated front and rear endpapers, 213 pp., frontispiece [picture of the author], introduction, illustrated. Agatha p. 60 says "In 1893 a popular book in a cheap condition was published in Chicago by W. S. James. This story... was good proof that good people were interested in the romance of the plains whether true or manufactured with an eye for quick sales to a gullible public." Basic Texas Books 104 says "Written by a cowboy turned preacher, this is a valuable account of the life of a Texas cowhand. James was born on his father's ranch in Tarrant County near Fort… Read More

New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1930., 1930. First edition. First edition. Publisher's "A-E" code on copyright page. Author's first novel. Former owner's neat inked name on the front pastedown sheet (completely covered by the dust jacket flap), with yellow Harper's seal at back of book removed (as is nearly always the case), leaving only a tiny remnant attached to page.211 and the rear fly leaf. Near Fine, bright copy in dust jacket with gentle sunning to spine, with light restoration to the spine ends and corners. Carr's first novel, a formidable locked-room mystery introducing his flamboyant Parisian character Henri Bencolin. Bencolin's case involves "an impossible murder in a gambling club - the victim, seen to enter an empty room with all entrances under observation, is subsequently found there, beheaded" (Twentieth-Century Crime and Mystery Writers (2nd ed.), p.146). Dust jacket promotional blurb says "When the police burst into the… Read More

Philadelphia: L. H. Everts & Co., 1887., 1887. First edition. First edition. Folio. 18" x 15" x 3" Original calf spine and corners and cloth, titles stamped in gold gilt on the front cover, 339 numbered pages (plus many more unnumbered pages of views), preface, illustrated by hundreds of colored maps and plates in black & white. Twenty-five colored folding maps. A large 30.9 cm. x 70,9 cm. [12 1/4" x 28"] folding map.This is the first large atlas for the state of Kansas. Six Score 83 says "These atlases were designed so that pages could be tipped in. I doubt that any two copies are exactly alike." "This massive compilation contains a vast wealth of information on Kansas at the time of publication. Many of the views depict stock ranches, which are also located on the extremely detailed maps. There are many bird's eye views of towns and sights. Much of the accompanying text is devoted to listing the leading citizens of the state, their property, what… Read More

San Francisco: Whitton, Towne & Co's Excelsior Steam Power Presses, 1857., 1857. First edition. The Rare Second edition. 12mo. Contains a map that was not present in the rare first edition. Quarter leather and marbled paper over boards, 231 pp., preface, illustrated, map. The Oatman family was attacked while part of a Mormon train en route to California via the Old Santa Fe Route in 1851. Six members of the family were murdered, one of the sons left for dead, and Mary Ann and Olive were hauled away by the Apaches. Mary died while in captivity, and Olive was ransomed in 1856. She was extensively tattooed, and went on tour to describe her experiences and display her decorations. The first two editions of this work were issued in San Francisco in the same year, the first edition under the title "Life Among the Indians .......," and the second under the title as per above. The first edition is extremely rare, and the second only slightly less so. Housed in a clamshell case with titles… Read More

Sunflower County, Mississippi: Privately printed, 1845-1869., 1845-1869. First edition. First edition. 12" x 8" quarter leather spine and blue paper over boards, n. p. [36 pp.], [4 pp. blank], [4 pp.]. All brands and description are in manuscript. This is a most unusual brand book. Some actual brands are shown as drawn and others are described. Some writing on the covers mentions Sun Flower County, Mississippi. Perhaps there were ranchers in the vicinity. This is the first and only manuscript brand book we have seen or heard about for Mississippi or a printed version. Not listed in Adams' Rampaging Herd. We feel this is a very rare brand book. Original blue cover paper is chipped, else a very good copy, housed in a cloth clamshell case with leather label on the spine and titles stamped in gilt.

New York: Farrar & Rinehart, Incorporated, [1937]., 1937. First edition. First edition. Fourth book in the Nero Wolfe series. Very good, bright copy with red top edges bright, in dust jacket with light professional restoration to the spine ends and front flap fold, else the front cover bright with light fading to the red titles and flower on the spine. An attractive copy of an elusive title. Housed in a clamshell case with the dust jacket design pictured on the case.

Melbourne: Kemp & Boyce, Printers, [1886]., 1886 & 1887. First edition. Fergus Hume. Two Copies of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab. Melbourne and London: [1886-1887]. First and first English (second) editions. Fergus Hume. The Mystery of a Hansom Cab.A Realistic Story of Melbourne Life. Melbourne: Kemp & Boyce, [1886]. First edition, fourth printing (stated fourth "edition.") Octavo. 230, [2, ads] pages. Publisher's perfect binding, original light gray-brown illustrated paper wrappers; all text block edges trimmed. Backstrip wrinkled with some slight cracking and three tiny holes, nicks at head and foot, head reinforced with clear tape; possible repairs along joints; wrappers rippled and speckled, with two small rust stains from staples at rear and a handful of soft creases near corners; trace of wear with some nicking along edges; corners replaced with later paper. Edges of text block slightly dulled and foxed, trace of darkening to top edge; first and last few leaves… Read More

Shamokin, Pennsylvania: Thomas Photographer, 1916 - 1924., 1916 - 1924. First edition. Thick oblong folio. 16" x 11 1/2" black calf post binder, titles stamped in gilt on the front cover, brass screw- posts, 92 linen-backed silver gelatin photographs, sized 10 1/2" x 13 3/4," all with photographer’s stamp on versos, many with text within negative at lower fore-edge of image, and nearly all dated, all images with linen hinge at gutter margin. This extraordinary photograph album provides an indispensable week-by-week visual historical record of the building of the famed J.H. & C.K. Eagle Mill silk mills located on the site of the old John Mullen Foundry in Shamokin, Pennsylvania. Taking advantage of cheap coal, fuel oil, and the convenience of transportation via the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad routed through the town, the two brothers decided they would finance and build the largest textile factory in America in Shamokin. They commissioned Wilson Jury,… Read More

Nashville: Cokesbury Press, 1925., 1925. First edition. Second edition revised. Deluxe edition limited to 100 copies of which this copy number 10, Signed by George W. Saunders, President of "The Old Trail Drivers Association." Two-tone quarter gray cloth and light blue cloth, titles stamped in gilt on the spine, top edges gilt, xvi, 1044p., frontispiece (portrait). illustrated from photographs, portraits, foreword, two volumes in one. "Published under the direction of George W. Saunders, President of the Old Trail Drivers Association." This edition is preferred by many collectors and scholars because it combines all the accounts found in the original Volumes 1 and 2, and the first revised issue of Volume 1. This edition also contains 9 additional accounts not found in any earlier editions. "...Perhaps the most important single contribution to the history of cattle driving on the Western trails."---Ramon Adams. "This compilation is the essential starting point for… Read More

Columbia, S.C.: Power Press of Daily Phoenix, 1865., 1865. First edition. First edition. 8" x 5 1/4" plain brown wrappers. 76pp. A narrative recounting of William Tecumseh Sherman's entry into and occupation of Columbia, South Carolina's capital city, and its subsequent destruction in the waning days of the Civil War. Simms originally published Sack and Destruction serially in The Columbia Phoenix, a small newspaper edited by Simms that commenced publication in the waning weeks of the Confederacy' from the newspaper's first edition until 10 April 1865. After the close of the War, Simms edited and revised these serialized pieces into pamphlet form, publishing it in October of that year. "William Gilmore Simms (1806-1870), a native South Carolinian and one of the nation's foremost men of letters, was in Columbia and witnessed firsthand the city's capture and destruction. A renowned novelist and poet, who was also an experienced journalist and historian, Simms… Read More

Boston: Little, Brown and Company, [1952]., 1952. First edition. First edition. The very rare "Pinto edition," limited to 100 numbered copies signed by Dobie and Charles Banks Wilson with an original ink and wash drawing of a bucking bronco by Wilson tipped-in opposite the limitation page. This is the rarest of Dobie's many books and perhaps this copy is the most desirable copy in the run, designated as number "J" on the limitation page, and thus a copy retained by either the author or the publisher. Six Score 33 says "Certainly the best book on range horses, with much on cattle work. Dobie drew on previously published material from Tales of the Mustang (1936) and Mustangs and Cow Horses (1940). Many feel this to be one of Dobie's best books. Dobie says, "The author has tried to blend vividness with learning." Original red and white colt hide with the hair out, morocco label with titles stamped in gold gilt affixed to the spine, top edges gilt. Fine, bright… Read More

London: Simkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & CO., Ltd., [1911]., 1911. First edition. First edition. 8vo. Pictorial cloth, 252, [1]p. Preface, with illustrations including two by Remington [without credit], and from photographs. The author tells of his time in northwest Texas, cattle drive, a stampede, bad weather, etc. In a conversation some years ago Jeff Dykes said he had only two copies in 43 years as a bookseller and this is our first copy in 43 years as a bookseller. Extremely rare! A Remington rarity. This copy has the name and address of a Pollock on the front free fly leaf. Possibly a relative of the author. Very light foxing to the fore-edges, light wear to the spine ends else a very good copy of a range rarity. Housed in a cloth slipcase case with leather spine label and titles stamped in gilt

Laramie City: Daily Sentinel Print, 1875., 1875. First edition. First edition. 8vo. Original blue wrappers printed in black, 91 pp., advertisements scattered throughout. Despite its violent and ugly beginnings, described in detail in the first few pages, Laramie by this time is represented as a well-ordered and prosperous city. Unlike Triggs’ other work concerning Cheyenne, this work contains its latter part, being a fascinating ‘general directory’ of the populace, which captures a valuable snapshot of the residents who comprised the town. Not surprisingly, a large number of them are employed in the building trades or other manual labor. Of equal interest is the fact that a good percentage of the residents are employed by the railroad in such occupations as engineers, brakemen, or firemen. The directory also identifies a few dozen ‘colored citizens’ who resided there.. Almost all were confined to menial jobs… Read More

N. P.: Original drawing by Will James, 1938., 1938. First edition. Black and white image size 7 1/2" x 5," matted and framed size 15" x 12." Drawing appears on page 69 of the book "Look-See With Uncle Bill" written by Will James and published in 1938. The pictured caption reads "He dipped his hat brim time and again for more of the coffee." The art work is signed as "Will James" and the caption reads "Out of the hat." The artwork is nicely matted and framed and in fine condition.