Rare books from Contact Editions

Paris: Contact Publishing Company, 1923. Book. Very Good. Original Wraps. Inscribed by Author(s). First Edition. 12mo. Black lettered blue jacket over beige wraps, enclosed in green cloth slipcase. Hemingway's first book. Although Bill Bird's Three Mountains Press' In Our Time was contracted earlier, Robert McAlmon's Contact Editions book was published and released first. Limited to 300 copies only. This copy inscribed by Hemingway on the front endpaper "This book is the property of James Cowan--he is not responsible for it--nor did he buy it. It was presented to him by the author--Ernest Hemingway" Cowan was a fellow reporter for the Toronto Star newspaper, for which Hemingway also worked. Included also is a sheaf of correspondence between former owners and James Cowan attesting to it's history and authenticity. Also included a dealer's catalogue in which this book was listed for sale back in late thirties or forties. This copy wrapped in glassine which is… Read More

London: William Pickering, Talboys and Wheeler, T. Combe and Son, 1826. Book. Very Good. Red Cloth. First Edition. Octavo. Three volumes in their original red cloth binding. Book covers have minor cracking, scuffing, and bumping. The title labels are scratched and unreadable. Previous dealer's sticker in the first volume. Scattered faint foxing to the interior. Pencil on the rear endpapers, but otherwise clean interiors. Housed in a 3/4 red leather slipcase with rounded back and raised bands, signed by Baynton. Case has minor scuffs, shows signs of sunning, and the fabric is torn on top. Christopher (Kit) Marlowe was an Elizabethan playwright, poet and translator whose life was filled with accusations of bar-room brawls, espionage, homosexual intrigue and betrayal. This is the first collected edition of his work..

London: H. Herringman, 1685. Book. Near Fine. Full Leather. 4th Folio. Folio. Modern quarter gilt lettered red morocco over red cloth. Marbled endpapers with bookplate. Housed in red cloth slipcase. Contains pages 277 through page 240 which make up the play of The History of the Life and Death of Thomas Lord Cromwell from the fourth folio. Pencil on the front endpaper. Text generally clean with minor spotting. Blank pages added to bulk up book for binding..

London: W. White, 1775. Book. Near Fine. Boards. Inscribed by the Author. First Edition. Octavo. Rebound in quarter tan paper with light blue boards. Pages rough cut. Owner's initials on front free endpaper of first volume. Occasional spotting and faint staining around text of both books. Second volume (1776) split but holding and author's dedication on the title page. Each volume in its own quarter blue leather slipcase by Atmore Beach, sunned outside, and stickered on the inside the box containing each book. Frances Maseres was appointed Quebec's attorney general from 1766 to 1769. Upon his return to England, he promoted the idea of representation of the North American colony in the British house of commons, an effort supported by these volumes..

London: Henry Colburn, 1819. Book. Near Fine. Full Leather. Second Edition. Quarto. Gorgeous 19th century full red leather binding, gilt with raised bands and blind-stamped patterns with only minor sunning and general wear. Spine of vol. 2 is lifting, but still attached. Gilt edges. Former owner's book label on the front pastedown. Text continues absent title pages for volumes 2, 3 and 5. The second edition had 11 plates (instead of the 8 plus 2 fold-out charts in the first edition. Edited by William Bray. Unique in that this copy is EXTRA ILLUSTRATED (originally 2 volumes, expanded to 5), with beautiful artwork from the 17th through 19th centuries with depictions of people and places mentioned in the text, as well as extra pictures of the author. The first volume has a partially torn plate, and minor dampstaining. Occaisional minimal offset, due to protective tissues, plus the rare bit of soiling and foxing. Added plates: (1) 69, (2) 100, (3) 79, (4) 74, (5) 33. John Evelyn published books on… Read More

Paris: Librairie Gallimard, 1927. Book. Illus. by Foujita. Near Fine. Leather. Limited Edition. Small Quarto. Full black calf with striking beige onlays. Gilt and silver decorations and dentelles with marbled endpapers. Housed in calf edged board slipcase. Original wraps bound in by Randeynes et Fils and signed so. Edition limited to 300 copies. This is #292. Twenty nine illustrations in colour by Foujita..

London: Victor Gollancz, 1940. Book. VG+. Cloth. 1st Edition. 8vo. Gilt lettered black cloth in Yellow white Gollancz dust jacket which has small chips at the head and heel of the spine which has darkened. No title text missing. Ink name to endpaper and text block slightly browning. This book collects three essays-Charles Dickens, Boys Weeklies and title essay Inside the Whale. Uncommon in dust jacket..

London: Town of Boston, 1770. Book. Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Beautifully rebound in red half cloth on marbled boards, all gilt. Missing frontis, first page soiled, but o/w clean. Contains transcripts from sworn testimonials given at the Town-Meeting held on the 12th recorded by the official transcriber. This massacre sparked the American war of Independence. A historically significant work..

London: Chatto & Windus, 1932. Book. Near Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Teal cloth, gilt, with slight bumps at the heel and foot of the spine. Wrapped in a pictorial dust jacket, soiled at top edge with a pinhole and soiling on the spine, tape on the back of the heel and foot and other tears similarly repaired. Overall a very good jacket with competent restoration. Clean interior. The American Library Association lists this dystopian title among its 100 most banned books, and it regularly makes lists of the best books of all time..

London: Macmillan & Co., Limited, 1926. Book. Illus. by Vivien Gribble. Very Good. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. Quarter vellum spine, gilt, lightly soiled and creased on top, and slightly bumped on the bottom. Covers are marbled boards, bumped corners. Limited edition (325 copies), signed by the author on the limited edition page. Residue inside front and rear cover and yellowing to the first blank page after. Frontis protected by tissue. Text block clean. 41 wood engravings by Vivien Gribble. Fold-out map of Wessex at the rear of the book, featuring a red border. Printed on rice paper in a small 4to format. Lacks rare dust jacket. This limited edition of his acclaimed novel was published two years after the story's stage debut and just two years before Hardy died..

London: Hodder and Stoughton Book. Illus. by Kay Nielsen. Near Fine. Hardcover. Signed by Illustrator(s). Limited Edition. Folio - over 12 - 15" tall. Beautiful pictorial vellum, gilt, minor soiling to the spine. Limited edition (#206 of 500), signed by the artist on the limitations page. Front free endpaper soiled, but otherwise a clean interior. (x), 197pp. n.d., c1924. Contains twelve tipped-in colour plates, protected with tissue guards with captions detailing where the illustration is taken from, plus many b&w drawings in Nielsen's art deco style. Held in a custom slipcase..

Twentieth Century Fox, 1958. Book. Very Good. Original Wraps. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. Blue duotang like wraps bound with brad nails. Titles in black. Script for the eventual film The Fly starring Vincent Price. Listed as FINAL with #175 on the front cover. 121 mimeographed pages with blue revision pages inserted.The screenplay by Clavell is 5 years before his first book King Rat in 1963. Wear to edges with creases and shallow tears. Uncommon.

Harcourt Brace & Company, 1959. Book. Very Good. Cloth. Inscribed by the Author. Reprint. Gilt lettered beige cloth in pictorial dust jacket. This copy inscribed "For Howard Engel from his friends SHAKESPEARE AND COMPANY and Sylvia Beach with friendliest wishes Paris April 7, 1960" Engel was a noted Canadian author of detective novels. Also included is a letter with envelope and stamp from Beach to Engel thanking him for the loan of a book and her future travel plans , dated Mid April of the same year. Signed or inscribed books by Beach are uncommon. Syvia Beach was the publisher of ULYSSES in 1922. 100 years ago..

Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1928. Book. Illus. by Ernest H . Shepard. Near Fine. Cloth. 1st Edition. Small Octavo. Gilt lettered light red cloth in dust jacket. Top edge gilt.Just about the nicest copy of this book we have seen A little offset on the endpapers and a short tear to jacket on rear panel o/w fine. The final installment of the Pooh books. "So they went off together. But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest a little boy and his Bear will always be playing. ".

London: Jacob Tonson, 1683. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 12mo - over 6¾ - 7¾" tall. First edition. Set of five thick volumes. Full leather, gilt, spotted covers, scuffed joints and spines, rubbed edges, and bumped corners, heads and heels. Scuffs to the front and rear of (ii), wormhole to rear of (iii), scratches to the front and dampstain rear of (v). All edges coloured red. Bookplates inside covers, declaring the set to be from the library of George Winant. Some writing on the endpapers, occasional faint foxing, and occasional spotting, especially towards the end of volume (v), but overall the text block is remarkably clean. The first volume has quotes from Seneca and Montaigne handwritten on the front free endpaper and first blank, respectively. (i) 656, (ii) 688, (iii) 686, (iv) 712, (v) 764pp. Winant was the U.S. ambassador to the U.K. and the lover of Churchill's daughter. John Dryden was appointed England's first Poet Laureate, as well as being a… Read More