Rare books from Nighttown Books

New York: J. W. Bouton, 1869 Hardcover 2-Volume set in publisher's original green cloth, t.e.g., gilt spine titling and blind embossed ruling to spine & panels, second issue of edition first published 1859 by Bailliere in New York with all of Say's published writings on entomology gathered by Le Conte; includes the justly-celebrated 'Description of North American Insects' (first published 1824-28) with all the 54 hand-colored plates (comprising Volume I of the set), as well as all his miscellaneous writings on entomology (Volume II); the set is exceptionally nice & tight with no hinge issues and only slight signs of wear to the green cloth boards and a small area of discoloration to front panel corner of Volume II, many of the text pages in both volumes still unopened, no markings other than penciled name to pastedown, no foxing, a truly exemplary set of the writings of "the father of entomology"; 8vo; xxiv + 412pp indexed + 54 plates (I) and vi + 814pp indexed (II).… Read More

Manila: Imprenta de D. Miguel Sanchez, 1845 Second Edition printed in Manila, corrected and augmented by the author, in contemporary, presumably original, gilt-stamped half-leather & marbled boards, nice shape overall, boards moderately rubbed with chipping to edges, leather rubbed & scuffed but titles clear, blindstamp of 'S. G. Ancheta Library & Museum' to title page as well as to pages 99, 299, & 499; signature stamp of a former owner (name undecipherable) at same spot to title page, old label of a Madrid antiquarian bookseller to top pastdown corner, no other markings, pages very clean & unfoxed though there are tiny worm holes from approx p. 310 to the end (mostly marginal areas - text not affected at all), binding tight, hinges very solid, a remarkably well-preserved copy of this very scarce very early botany and flora of the Philippines, the first full-scale study of such, conducted according to the Linnaean classification system; originally published in Manila in… Read More

New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1869 First American Edition and First in the English language in gilt-stamped and decorated blue pebbled cloth, blind-ruled panels, 1st issue with 2-page New Publications listing with 8 titles, boards a little worn & soiled with 1 1/2-inch tear to cloth along one spine extremity at fold, a few other spots of separation along same spine edge, light wear with slight fraying at ends & corners otherwise, hinges tight, yellow endpapers clean & bright, contents unfoxed, some smudges early page margins, former owner autograph and date of Dec 1869 writ large & vertically over text to page 44, small namestamp top page 51, all illustrations present including frontispiece (a little crimped at fold) with tissue guard, an overall Very Good copy of the first title of Verne's to appear in Englsih, quite scarce as such; 8vo; (vi) 345pp + 12pp ads; 5 internal illus plates; frontispiece. First Edition. Hard Cover. Good.

New York: J.S. Redfield, 1850 Very rare 1850 First Edition set of Poe's Works in 3 Volumes (a 4th volume was added in 1856), 8vo, bound in 3/4 blue levant morocco, with the original covers bound in, with portrait of Poe, and the two other frontispieces engraved, many other illustrations; this edition (with biographical notices by Lowell, Willis, and Griswold commissioned by Poe himself) consisted of the Tales in Volume I, the Poetry and Miscellanies in Volume II, and a third volume with full title, "The Literati: Some Honest Opinions about Authorial Merits and Demerits, with Occasional Works of Personality. Together with Marginalia, Suggestions, and Essays."; Vol 1 is first printing and was originally bound in brown cloth, vol 2 is second with correction to "choir" page 46, also originally in brown cloth, vol 3 first, brown cloth, pages are clean & unfoxed, leather is a little chipped at ends & cracking at hinges (esp. Vol 1), hinges tender but holding, bookplate to… Read More

London: B. T. Batsford Ltd, 1973 First Printing of the 2nd Edition in price-clipped dust jacket SIGNED BY BORIS SPASSKY direct to front endpaper without inscription, laid in is customer receipt from Labate's Chess International with notation "Autographed!! You mised him by about 1 hour. Hope it was worth the wait. Happy New Year."; no markings, only slight shelf wear & toning to jacket & page block, small bookstore label under dj flap, clean tight copy of this classic book on Spassky's games signed by the subject himself in 1988! (dj in mylar protector); 8vo; 256pp indexed. Signed Copy. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Near Fine.

Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1907-1909 The Complete New Edition, published 1907-1909 by the Oxford University Press in 26 Volumes, nearly doubled in size the previous (second) edition issued 1885-87, "the changes" according to its later editor, "justify its being considered a new work rather than a new edition"; this greatly expanded work comprised an enlarged overview of the Indian Empire in its first 4 volumes: Descriptive, Historical, Economic, and Administrative respectively, while Volumes 5-24 contained the Gazetteer proper, Abazai to Zira, with 2 concluding volumes containing a comprehensive Index and an Atlas volume with 64 double-page color plate maps; all volumes Very Good (or better) with varying degrees of fading & scuffing to the leather spine ends & edges, t.e.g, black endpapers, no markings, NOT ex-lib, boards show little wear, the hinges are tight and the bindings solid, each volume includes a folding fronispiece map and 1-4 additional folding maps (all are… Read More

New York: Doubleday And McClure, 1898 Complete set of the works of Henry George, the limited Memorial Edition, issued in 1000 numbered sets 1898-1901, this #260, no markings, full burgundy cloth with paper spine labels, deckled page edges, top edge gilt, minor shelf/corner wear & soil to boards with a few scratches to the gilt tops, spine labels a little toned & worn at edges, a clean tight excellent complete set of the Memorial Edition - quite scarce; 9 8vos, each with frontispiece and tissue guard (save vol VIII). Extra shipping charge REQUIRED for shipment of this heavy set (additional charge WILL BE SUBSTANTIAL for expedited or overseas shipment). First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good+.

Edinburgh: William Tait / Simpkin, Marshall, & Co., London, 1843 Eleven Volume Set rebound in blue buckram with original gilt-stamped leather spine labels preserved, marbled page block edges, no markings, NOT ex-lib, a Very Good set, contents excellent, all foldout charts & illustrations present but the portrait frontispiece to vol. I is lacking, some scuffed shelfwear & soil to heavy boards, no foxing to pages, bi-columnar text clear & unmarked, abrasion tear endpaper page corner v. IX, little additional wear internally, an overall excellent little-used complete set of the first collected edition of Bentham's works, quite scarce as such; volumes X & XI contain Bentham's correspondence, a lengthy memoir by Bowring and a cumulative analytical index; 11 octavo volumes, 600+ pages per volume. An additional freight charge will be required for shipment of this heavy set.. First Edition. Hard Cover.

London: George G. Harrap & Co, 1939 First Printing in gilt-stamped cloth boards, no dust jacket, no markings, NOT ex-lib, slight shelf wear to boards with softening to spine ends & very slight rounding to corners, book slightly cocked, small stain top page block edge, binding is tight and pages are clean & unfoxed though there is occasional soil/staining to edges of the first 75 or so pages with a former stuck-page situation to 36-37 with some loss of text at inner margins, else a clean tight nice first issue copy of White's first novel - quite scarce; sm 8vo; 327pp. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good.

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1904 Tolstoy's Works in 24 Volumes, in gilt-stamped navy blue cloth with elaborate gilt scrollwork & decoration to spines with stylized St Peter's cross to front panels, First Printing Thus, no markings, NOT ex-lib, t.e.g., deckle-edged to bottom and foredge page blocks, all volumes tightly bound with bright unfoxed pages, each volume 300-400+ pages per volume with frontispieces and captioned tissue guards, all volumes VG to Fine with varied slight wear/soil to boards & sunning to spines (all spine titles clear & legible), an exemplary unread complete set, quite scarce as such; 24 8vos; cumulative index in Vol 24. Extra shipping charge REQUIRED for shipment of this heavy set (additional charge WILL BE SUBSTANTIAL for overseas shipment). First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine.

Los Angeles: Mountain & Sea Books, 1979 Scarce reissue of this most rare early surfing book, a Limited Edition issued by Doc Ball in 1979 reprinting the original 1946 issue and including a new Preface and an original poem entitled 'Surf Fever'; gilt-stamped navy blue leatherette with panel photo paste-on in nice shape, binding tight pages bright, no markings, NOT ex-lib, lightly bumped bottom corners and small tear to cloth (with board just exposed) at spine tail, else clean tight excellent copy of Doc Ball's pioneering record of California surfing; sm 4to; [xiv] 103pp illus. Hard Cover. Very Good.

Easton Press, 1994 Easton Press Collector's Edition in gilt-stamped & decorated full black leather with 5 raised spine hubs, 1st Printing Thus, moire fabric endsheets, satin ribbon marker bound-in, all page edges gilt, Easton bookplate (filled in) attached to first white page, else bright tight as new copy of this scarcest of all Easton titles, not to be reprinted again and encountering some controversy when first issued by Easton in their "Books That Changed the World" series before being quickly pulled; 8vo; (xii) 484pp. First Edition. Full-Leather. As New.

Paris: Robert Delpire, 1958 First Printing. Saul Steinberg-designed laminated boards show a bit of wear & soil with laminate peel/lift at spine edges, front hinge partially cracked with webbing showing but hinges remain tight, mild foxing to prelims and page block edges, a bit musty; with texts (in French) chosen by Alain Bosquet by Simone de Beauvoir, John Brown, William Faulkner, Henry Miller, Richard Wright, Walt Whitman, and others; a Very Good copy; Text in French; sl ob 8vo; 172pp illus. First Edition. Hard Cover.

Los Angeles: Philosophical Research Society Press, 1945 Gilt and red-stamped full blue cloth, Seventh Edition in reduced Facsimile of the First Edition SIGNED by Manly P. Hall with non-personalized inscription ("Very Sincerely") to front endpaper, boards sharp binding tight pages clean & unmarked, minor shelf rubbing & slight dulling to the heavy blue buckram boards, mild foxing to page block edges & endpapers & occasionally internally, else a bright tight very early printing of Manly Hall's magnum opus; folio; 245pp (in roman numerals) indexed & fully illus, some in foldout. THERE WILL BE A SHIPPING CHARGE OF 25 USD REQUIRED TO SHIP AND INSURE THIS LARGE HEAVY RARE BOOK (additional charge MAY BE SUBSTANTIAL for expedited or overseas shipment) . Signed by Author. Hard Cover. Very Good+.

Iowa City: Stone Wall Press, 1963 Limited Edition in slipcase, beautifully printed on Rives Heavy with interleaved illustrations on Mulberry paper, one of 60 deluxe copies (of a total print run of 330) bound in quarter leather and illustrated boards signed by both Roethke and engraver Roy, this copy number X, one tiny nick to leather at spine tail, a beautiful copy of this justly-celebrated production printed by Kim Merker at the Stone Wall Press; from collection of Jenijoy La Belle, who studied with Roethke at the University of Washington (along with her close friend, Tess Gallagher) and the author of the influential book, The Echoing Wood of Theodore Roethke; tall 8vo; 31 unnumbered pages and 12 engravings, each on folded leaf; additional (unnumbered) engravings preceding title page & colophon. Signed by Author. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine.