Rare books from Crooked House Books & Paper

New York: Viking Press, 1933. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 4to - over 9. 4to, unpaginated; illustrated paper boards backed in black cloth, boards edge worn, price clipped dust jacket rubbed and edge worn with chipping at spine ends. An attractive copy. Marjorie Flack collaborated with Kurt Wiese to illustrate The Story About Ping because she had no experience with Chinese culture and Wiese had lived in Japan. The collaboration was a success, and Ping became a popular favorite, in part because it was featured on the television show, Captain Kangaroo.

London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, Ltd, 1926. Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. 4to - over 9. Signed by Author(s). Number 18 of two hundred copies, signed by the author, gray paper over cream cloth spine, brown leather title block to spine, 4to, 383 pages. Boards are tanned along extremities, bump to bottom front corner, title block on spine scuffed and chipped, brief gift inscription in front end paper dated 1955, internally clean and soung. John Buchan, or 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (1875 - 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian and politician who served as Governor General of Canada, and is perhaps best remembered as the author of The 39 Steps. Buchan wrote dozens of books, both fiction and nonfiction.

New York: Kunst Edition, 2015. 1st Edition. No Binding. Fine. Signed by Author(s). Unbound collection of fourteen poems, each accompanied by a hand written copy by a child. Poems are separated by a sheet of colored tissue paper. Also included is a hand written and signed copy of a poem by the author, not included in the edition. All in a purple silk box with black ribbon. These poems were transcribed by children between the ages of 9 and 10 from the Delhi Public School in New Delhi, India, under the supervision of their teacher Samira Meono. The poems were written especially for this edition in the winter of 2014.

New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1940. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Good. 32mo - over 4 - 5" tall. First edition, hardcover in dust jacket, 4

Paris: Gabriel Martin, 1685. Hardcover. Very Good. 12mo - over 6. The Practice of Sustained Births of a Large Number of Observations. Contemporary mottled calf with five raised bands and gilt titles to spine, 7 1/2 x 5 inches, [20],368 pages, 8 engraved plates, no author portrait at frontis and perhaps lacking a front free endpaper; occasional spots wearing through at extremities, three tiny worm holes at top of rear board, one at tail of spine and another slightly larger at head of front joint, some writing scribbled out at top edge of title page, brief inked notation in rear, pages show standard browning and waving as typical of books of this age, a couple of handwritten corrections to text: for example, the word "humeur" has been lined out and "tumeur" has been written next to it in the margin. Overall the book is remarkably clean and sound. Paul Portal was a renowned obstetrician in his day, and he made some ground-breaking observations. His most important contribution to… Read More

New York: William Morrow and Company, 1951. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Good Plus/Fair. Louis Darling. Signed by Author(s). First edition, signed by the author on half title page, bound in full yellow cloth with girl's portrait in red and black on front board, 8vo, 160 pages, black and white illustrations by Louis Darling; boards smudged and worn at extremities; tattered dust jacket with taped repairs inside spine and front panel, one inch chip out at head of spine, spine sunned, original price of $2.00 present on front flap. Beverly Cleary's second book deals with the friendships of grade-school girls and the boys who torment them. This is the book that introduced Otis Spofford, who gets his own story in Cleary's fourth novel. Scarce.

Brentano's, from The Alexander Kogan Publishing Company sheets, 1922. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Bakst, Leon. Signed by Illustrator(s). Limited numbered edition of 250 copies for America; tipped-in signature of Leon Bakst to half-title page; large photo of Bakst tipped in to front endpaper. Full vellum binding, decorative lettering to front board, five raised panels to spine with decorations and lettering in compartments; 14-1/2" tall; 240 pp. Modest warping to boards, moderate foxing to boards and some leaves, discoloration to front endpaper opposite photograph; hinges professionally repaired. -- A beautiful production for one of the most celebrated artists of his day, who was mostly known for his costume & set design for Sergei Diaghilev & the Ballets Russes. The pencil signature is dated the year of his death (he died December, 1924); the photograph is of Bakst late in life, casually dressed, perhaps in a robe. Additional postage required for international shipping, book… Read More

New York: The Vanguard Press, 1936. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Good. First printing, NAP. Full blue cloth binding with black lettering to spine and front panel7-7/8" x 5-3/4", 302 pp. Soiling to spine ends, moderate wear to head of spine, some discoloration to spine and edges of boards, owner's name to front endpaper, clean and bright pages, binding is solid. Dust jacket darkened at spine, chipped at spine ends, a 1.5" narrow strip of spine panel is missing; no text loss from chips or tear, but the author & publisher are difficult to read due to darkening, some tape to verso of jacket. Uncommon in any kind of jacket, this one is actually pretty darn good except for the spine panel. $2.50 price intact. The second novel in his trilogy about working-class Jews in Brooklyn in the 1920s-1930s.

Sauk City: Arkham House, 1957. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. Full black cloth with gilt lettering under pictorial dust jacket (Frank Uptatel); 7-5/8" x 5", 86 pp. Minor rubbing to rear panel of jacket, very minor shelfwear. A lovely copy.

Alfred A. Knopf, 1926. 3rd Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Good. Miguel Covarrubias. Third printing, October 1926, same year as first edition. Blue cloth spine over printed paper-covered boards under the famous DJ illustrated by Miguel Covarrubias. Light wear to spine ends; DJ has shallow chipping at head & tail of spine, toning, small chips to edges of jacket, including one which removes much of the "P" of "Printing." A good copy of this jacket which is difficult to find in old editions.

London: Printed for the Author, and sold by R. Baldwin, 1780. Hardcover. Very Good. Signed by Author(s). Seventh edition. Signed by Raffald on page 1. Calf leather binding with gilt decorative borders, spine more recently rebacked with gilt decorations and leather title label, marbled endpapers, 8-1/8" x 5-1/2", three folding plates, 412 pp. + [14 pp.] index. Some scuffing to boards, spine calf not quite the same color as boards, ink of author's signature quite faded. Very good condition.

Covici Friede Publishers, 1934. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. Wallace Smith is best known in Oregon as the illustrator of the Pendleton Round-Up poster (you know the one). However, he was also an author. This novel of a Chicago prostitute was published in England a year after the American edition, but was declared indecent & banned there. Later editions were printed in Paris by the Obelisk Press. This indecent ruling was despite the lifting of the ban on Ulysses in 1933 which generally indicated a loosening of such restrictions. Unlike the sexy cover of the 1950s pulp paperback reprint by Berkley, this cover art has just a subtle reference to the red-light content of the book. First edition. Fine in near fine jacket. Foxing to page edges, toning to endpapers; DJ has short closed tear & associated crease to bottom of rear panel. A stunning example of an exceedingly scarce book, important in the history of the suppression of modernist literature, and for being an early modern novel about a sex worker.

Cloth-backed color map. Some staining to cloth, which shows lightly through to the map.> 31" x 52.5"
This map "was specifically commissioned by the War Department to provide current information about southern railroads. The map's significance for military intelligence was recorded in a note written by the cartographer's widow...She recalled that the map was displayed in Secretary Stanton's War Office, where black and red pins were used to locate the varying positions of the two armies, and that the map proved very useful to General Sherman in his march through Georgia to the sea. Mrs. Kimber concluded by stating her husband was a Quaker 'and to ease his conscience for having prepared such a map at all he declined any payment for it.'" (Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center.)>

A true one-hit wonder, this was Timlin's masterpiece of illustration, lettering and fantastic literature.>
Vellum spine over grey paper-covered boards under grey dust jacket. All plates present. Very good condition in front and rear panels of original jacket. The spine of the jacket was replaced and hand re-lettered/re-drawn by previous owner, hole in rear panel filled. Original flaps present, wear & tear at folds. >

"In the first issue of the short-lived but gorgeously produced 1830s magazine...the editors wrote that 'a more intimate knowledge' of natural history "will greatly increase the comfort and enjoyment of the whole human race." This belief is perhaps not so different from the contemporary emphasis on environmental education and experiences in the outdoors." (Christopher Cokinos, Hope Is the Thing With Feathers.)>
An important combination of American printing and art, this is one of the first color-plate books to be produced in America, and helped establish lithography as "the" process of illustration. Issued separately, the first volume was the result of the brothers John and Thomas Doughty. Partway through the second volume, however, Thomas moved to Boston to pursue a career as a painter. He would become the first artist to paint in the Hudson River School style and was a major influence in nineteenth century American Art. John Doughty continued with the end of the second volume and half of the third… Read More