Rare books from Singularity Rare & Fine

Private, 1924. 1st Edition . Soft cover. Very Good. Original typed manuscript of a poem by George Sterling, signed by him at the bottom, entitled "To Charles Warren Stoddard". Date: 1909 or later, since the poem laments Stoddard's death, and Stoddard died on April 23rd, 1909, at Monterey, California. Stoddard, born in Rochester, NY, became a San Franciscan in his teens. He became a widely admired writer and poet, himself, in the late nineteenth century. George Sterling was a protege of both Jack London and Ambrose Bierce; Bierce became so enamored of Sterling's poem [this one] that he included it in his own collected works. 5 four-line stanzas. Laid in is a typed "Note to 'The Lake of Innisfree' "; that note, also by Sterling, is essentially an essay in which Sterling tells of a private publication by John Henry Nash of that William Butler Yeats' poem, and manifests Sterling's admiration of both Yeats and Nash. Also included is the typed verse… Read More

Lausanne: Andre & Pierre Gonin, 1959. First Edition . Custom Binding. Near Fine. Elephant Folio - over 15" - 23" tall. Lurcat, Jean. Lausanne: Andre & Pierre Gonin, 1959. First edition, exemplaire # 97 of 155. Elephant Folio size, at 15 1/4" tall. Illustrated with 34 color lithographs, of which five are double- page, by Jean Lurcat, who has signed at the colophon along with publisher Pierre Gonin. Additionally signed and inscribed on the flyleaf by Lurcat with an abstract sketch dated 1960. Lurcat has also heightened the five double-page lithographs by hand. Rives pur chiffon paper. The edition was initially loose-bound; this example has been stunningly custom hand-bound by Atelier Ch. Muller in white morocco with red morocco onlays of Lurcat-style leaves, lettering stamped in red, wide morocco turn-ins, pictorial endpapers. See scans. Corners just faintly bumped, else Near Fine, a large and rather dazzling piece. Beautiful and fitting artwork by Lurcat to match the… Read More

Philadelphia: John Sartain & Co., 1852. First Edition . Half Morocco and Marbled Paper. Good Plus. 10" x 6.75. [from engravings]. Philadelphia: John Sartain & Co., 1852. Verne translation by Anne T. Wilbur. All eight numbers from volumes X and XI of Sartain's Union Magazine [January through June 1857 comprising Vol X., with July and August of 1852 - after which Sartain's ceased publication - comprising Vol. XI]. Vol. X 516 pp., Vol XI 208 pp., bound as one volume. 10" x 6.75" , half black morocco with marbled paper boards. Personalized plate at center cover, apparently as produced, in the name of Jane A. Warner. Later of the Forbes Library, Northampton, MA., with that organization's bookplate at front pastedown and perforated stamp at title page, other Forbes indication at rear endpapers. Binding is quite scuffed, with corners and spine ends thoroughly affected; hinges starting. Sporadic light foxing throughout, lightly showing a bit at the Verne… Read More

Lutetiae [i.e. Paris]: Rob. Stephani [i.e. Estienne], 1549. Period Limp Vellum. Very Good. 8.75" x 6.25. Woodcut Portraits. Lutetiae [i.e. Paris]: Rob. Stephani [i.e. Estienne], 1549. 8.75" x 6.25", 199 pp. illustrated with 10 woodcut portraits. In Latin. See all scans. Period limp vellum. Some wear and discoloration to covers; marginal paper repairs to latter leaves and a few other places, mostly upper margins with a few affected characters supplied in facsimile, marginal worming to latter leaves, front pastedown with adhesion damage and glue stain, very early inked name at ffep (scan), Zamorano Club bookplate at ffep, else very good. Estienne printing of Jovius' 16th-century commentaries on the Roman Empire and the spread of Christianity. One of the rarest of Paulus Jovius' notable historical accounts. Surviving copies of Jovius (born Paolo Jovio in Como, Milan, on April 19, 1483) are often found in 18th century or later bindings. The ten woodcut portraits include,… Read More

Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1905. First Edition . Printed Wrappers. Very Good Plus. 10"x6.5. Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1905-1910. First Edition. 3 volumes in 4, vi, 365, [3]; [4], 165, [3]; [4], 136, [2], + 2 ad.; [4], 472. Illustrated with text figures and two folding world maps in Vol. III. 10x6½, original grey printed wrappers. First edition of a work fundamental to celestial mechanics. Poincaré was one of the greatest mathematical minds of the 19th century; his work on the "three-body problem" (the gravitational interplay of three masses) leads some to credit him as a co-discoverer of the special theory of relativity, along with Einstein and Lorentz. The present is one of two of Poincaré's major works on the subject. With the inkstamp of Paul Berg. Scarce, no copies appear in ABPC for the past 20 years. Some light wear and staining/darkening to spines, back wrapper of Vol. III chipped at edges, minor splitting at joints, but overall very good or better… Read More

New York, 1953. Soft cover. Very Good. 8 1/2 x 11. Etting, Emlen. The Song of Love and Death of Standard-Bearer Christoph Rilke [Cornet Christoph Rilke]. Translation of Emlen Etting, with his original illustrations. Typed manuscript, title page + 28 pp., dated 1953, with pencil ms. emendations and six original erotic ink and water-color illustrations by noted painter Emlen Etting, signed. The ms. is typed on standard 8 1/2 x 11 paper, while the water-color illustrations are on the verso of blank letterhead of the Philadelphia chapter of the Artists Equity Association [of which Etting was at the time Chairman], that paper being watermarked parchment stationery. An unpublished translation of Rainer Maria Rilke's prose poem (1899) of war, love, and sex, and the surreal but heroic death of Christoph Rilke in the seventeenth century, accompanied by what would have been its erotic illustrations. Slumbering nudes, mortally wounded heroes in the buff, and love-making couples appear to be… Read More

London: Printed for the author and sold [by J.Robson], 1786. First Edition . Three-Quarter Morocco & Cloth. Very Good. 11.25" x 9. Engravings. London: Printed for the author and sold [by J.Robson], 1786. First Edition. Brockett 6577; Gamble 4878. Lacking the frontispiece. 11.25" x 9". 4 + 60 pp + 1. 3/4 morocco and marbled boards, spine lettered in gilt. Some darkening and marginal staining to the contents, minor soiling, title page worn and chipped with repairs, plate of The Column marginally chipped, backed with tissue. Old ink inscription at title page top: "Walter Cumming {?} from his friend George Jeffrey". 1906 rubberstamp of Boston Medical Library at center of title page. Overall, very good. One of the rarest of English-language pieces on lighter-than-air aviation. Two Aerial Voyages is Dr. Jeffries' account of his two historic ballooning voyages: "The first voyage, on the Thirtieth of November, 1784, from London to Kent; The Second, on the… Read More

Valencia: Salvador Fauli, 1794. Full-Leather. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Valencia, Spain: Salvador Fauli, 1794. Full title: La Conversion de la Madalena, en Que se Ponen Los Tres Estados que Tuvo de Pecadora, de Penitente, I de Gracia. The Conversion of the Madalena, with the Three States of Pecadora, Penitent, and Grace. xxxii, 464 pp. In Spanish. Period tree calf, leather spine label lettered in gilt, colorfully marbled endpapers. From the library of Dr. Platon Vallejo, son of General Vallejo and the first native-born Californian to receive a medical degree. Signed by him [presumed] on front pastedown. Gift inscription to him by historian Enrique Cerruti, dated Feb 22, 1875 in Monterey, on ffep. Old newspaper clipping concerning the unveiling of a portrait of General Vallejo accompanies this copy. Covers rubbed, small losses at corners and spine ends, label lacks about 40%; both free endpapers partly attached to flyleaves [as made?], about 1/2 pages… Read More

London: By William Stansby for Iohn [John]Helme, 1614. First Edition . Full-Leather. Very Good. 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall. London: By William Stansby for Iohn [John]Helme, 1614. First Edition. [38], 391, [43]pp. a-d4,A-Iii4,Kkk1 (lacks A3, apparently a blank). Period calf, hand printed paper spine label (perhaps later). STC 22177. Wear to covers; front cover somewhat bowed (splaying), wear to bottom edges, some staining within, some damage, mostly marginal, to later pages, interesting hand-inked old partial dating on flyleaf. Good to Very Good. The rare 1614 first edition in original binding of the first of a number of scholarly works by John Selden, the son of a Sussex yeoman, who achieved renown as a lawyer and legal scholar. Titles of Honor is his treatise on the titles and trappings of nobility -peerage law, heraldry and genealogy being primarily treated - well beyond Europe, to Islamic lands and China. Very likely not replaceable. L26

Hastings-on-Hudson, NY: Morgan & Morgan, 1966. First Edition . Cloth. Near Fine/Very Good Plus. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. [photographs]. Hastings-on-Hudson, New York: Morgan & Morgan, various dates. All five titles in Ansel Adams' Basic Photo Series, four of them signed by Adams. Basic Photo One: Camera and Lens. First Revised Edition, 1970. Signed on the title page. Small quarto. Near fine in better than very good jacket. Basic Photo Two: The Negative. New Revised Edition, 1966. Signed on the title page. Octavo. Previous owner's writing on endpapers, else near fine book in very good jacket. Basic Photo Three: The Print. New Edition, 1968. Signed on the title page. Octavo. Near fine book in better than very good jacket. Basic Photo Four: Natural-Light Photography. Sixth printing of the first edition, 1969. [not signed]. Octavo. Near fine book in better than very good jacket. Basic Photo Five: Artificial-Light Photography. Fourth printing… Read More

1980. First Edition . Soft cover. Fine. 15" x 11.25. Kresek, Larry. Original science fiction cover-art painting by Larry Kresek. Fine condition. Professional museum-grade matting and framing. Overall framed size, 19.5" x 15.5"; image size as exposed by matting is 15" x 11.25". A painting by noted sci-fi cover artist Lawrence "Larry" Kresek, depicting neural evolution, with a future young man's visage as the central form. Striking blue-green color theme, with accents of other colors. Title of the work for which this was the original is unknown to me. Kresek has executed dozens of noted sci-fi cover paintings. Signed.

1949. Original Art . Soft cover. Very Good. 7 3/4" x 10 1/2. Original illustration, 7 3/4" x 10 1/2", ink on stiff art board. Age toned, four tack holed, early sticker on back of dealer, "Fantasy Focus, Return Post Guaranteed, Bx 6151 Met Stn, Los Angeles, Cal 55". Penciled words "Microcosmic God" in script, also on back. In his early years, John Grossman - later the noted mainstream artist and graphic designer - did a number of pulp illustrations. This one, signed and dated in 1949, was done in the richly textured Golden Age style of Virgil Finlay, with a variety of detailed stipplings and crosshatchings (see scans). Apparently an homage to Theodore Sturgeon's timeless novelette Microcosmic God (that story was written in 1941, 8 years prior to this illustration), or possible an illustration for a later reprint of it - assuming the penciled title on the back is correct, and it certainly seems that if you've read the story. Scarce vintage golden age… Read More

Hornsby, Westfield, New South Wales, Australia: The Writer's Coffee Shop, 2011. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Soft cover. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Very Good. See scans and description. Hornsby, Westfield, New South Wales, Australia: The Writer's Coffee Shop, 2011. First State of the First Edition, with no numeral on the spine and the lulu bar code number 90000 on the back cover. Octavo, wraps, cover illustrated from an art photo by "Papuga2006"; 372 numbered pages. About Very Good; this copy has been read. The cover corners are curling (see scan), and there is some spotting to the page fore-edge. The Bookmark is Near Fine, with a light crease near the bottom (scan). This is the extremely scarce first state of the first edition, with the equally scarce original WCS Fifty Shades of Grey bookmark that accompanied it. WCS copies dated in 2011 and with the lulu bar code number which do have a spine numeral "I" are also first editions, but a later… Read More

Paris: M.Henri Hus. Paris, 1930. Soft cover. Fine. Paris, circa 1930: 31 Matted Japanese & Indonesian costume prints from 'Costumes Japonais et Indonesiens' by Emile Gallois. Brilliantly colored plates manually printed in pochoir by M.Henri Hus. Paris Circa 1930. Fine Condition. Overall outside matting dimensions ar 16" x 12"; exposed prints areas very. Seen scans of five samples - all 31 deserve to be displayed. Note: areas appearing gold and gray in prints are in fact generally gilt and silver. Gallois' costume pochoir prints are among the most vivid vintage prints available for display. L306

Clarksburg, WV: Saucerian Press, 1981. 1st Edition . Soft cover. Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Good. See scans (some intentionally very reduced). Clarksburg, WV: Saucerian Press, 1981. First Edition. The Jessup Dimension / Anna Genzlinger, 1981. Carlos Allende Annotated Copy. Anna Lykins Genzlinger's memorable account of her investigation into the still-controversial death of UFO researcher/writer Morris K. Jessup - a title so scarce and so seminal that it has just recently (2014) been re-published by Andy Colvin (Mothman Photographer, et al). This copy of the original 1981 first edition is thoroughly annotated by none other than Carlos Miguel Allende (Carl Meredith Allen / reputed), an eccentric and enigmatic figure from the second decade of the widening and evolving American cultural UFO interest (latter fifties to latter sixties, approximately); also accompanied by a wonderfully expressed letter of provenance from Genzlinger's daughter. Octavo, design perfect-bound… Read More