Rare books from The Wild Muse

Paris: Aux Editions Eliane Norberg, 1951. First edition thus. Signed, De Luxe limited edition. Sumptuous, full leather Artesian binding by Jacques Blanchet. From an edition of 202, number 72 of 180 printed on Velin d' Arches. Published Paris: Editions Eliane Norberg, 1951. Folio, 10 1/2" x 13 1/4" x 2 7/8" thick, 302pp., illustrated with full page engraved plates and fine textual engravings from copper - all with tissue guards, and two leather engravings (cover and verso) in 6 colors by Robert Fonta. Full dark blue satin morocco over 1/4" thick boards with chamfered corners and leather inner hinges attached to thick, duplex flyleaves and gray leather pastedowns. Gilt block paneled titles on spine, top edges tinted blue with gilt embossed edge design stamped into the page block. Front cover and verso decorated with unique, six-color leather inset engravings by Fonta, Signed on the half title by the Bazin: "Hommage amical / de l'auteur / Herve Bazin." Presentation… Read More

Venice: Sumptibus Caroboli, et Pompeati, 1768. Complete 17 volume set, bound in 16 leather folios. First editions. Published Venice: Sumptibus Caroboli, et Pompeati, 1768-1776. Folios, 8 3/4" x 12", full calf skin vellum with gilt embossed spine titles and marbled edges, 2-color title page in volume one with frontis portrait of pope Gregory, title page vignettes, tail pieces and historiated initials. Text in Latin, printed in 2 columns on heavy rag paper. Mild wear and soiling to the boards, name at bottom of title pages, paper label at foot of spines. An attractive, very good set. Text bright, unmarked, bindings tight. Scarce. . 1st. Full-Leather. Very Good. Folio.

London: James Carpenter et al, 1812. Complete text in 5 volumes. First editions. Published London: James Carpenter et al., 1812 - 1815. 4to's, 8 3/4" x 11", xx+574; 597; 512; 636; xl+462+1+105pp., illustrated with tables (one folding). Bound in embossed glazed half leather over marbled boards with gilt stamped morocco spine labels, all edges specked. Armorial bookplate of Sir Joseph Radcliffe in each volume. First edition in English. First published in Madrid as "Diccionario geográfico-histórico de las Indias Occidentales ó América: es á saber: de los reynos del Perú, Nueva España, Tierra Firme, Chile, y Nuevo reyno de Granada" in five volumes, 1786 - 1789. Sabin 368. Some wear at the tips and along edges, rubbing to the leather glazing, light occasional foxing, else very good plus, attractive set, pages bright, sturdily bound.. 1st. Half-Leather. Very Good. 4to.

Amsterdam: Anthos, 1998. Signed first edition of rare English language Dutch edition of Irving's novel. The true first edition of Irving's novel, preceding the release of the US and UK editions. SIGNED presentation from Irving to motorcycle legend Cook Neilson, who took the photo of Irving that was used for the dust jacket of the book: "For Stepp and Cook - with my appreciation and affection - John Irving, April 1, 1998." Together with AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED by Irving on his stationery to Neilson laid in, in which Irving says that Neilson's photos will also be used on the UK edition, and jokes that another photo, to be used for the American and Canadian editions is more flattering, because it doesn't show Irving's face. Closes with mention of a nearby school in Vermont. Neilson was a preeminent motorcycle journalist and editor of Cycle Magazine. As a motrocyclist, Neilson won the Daytona Superbike race in 1977 on a Ducati. He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of… Read More

Philadelphia: Abraham Small, 1816. First edition. 3 volumes in original state, with original boards, backstrips and paper labels, edges untrimmed. All facsimiles and folded tabs are present. Includes the Atlas volume, which is rarely found with the set. Atlas has been rebound, all maps are present. Wilkinson was a high ranking officer in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Governor of the Louisiana Territory. He drank, used opium and had a checkered career. He was involved in the Conway Cabal against George Washington and the Burrs Conspiracy against Jefferson. He was unsuccessfully court-martialed. In addition to these topics, his Memoirs contain much material on his activities in New York State. Published Philadelphia: Abraham Small, 1816, Large 8vo's. 6" x 9 1/2", Vol 1: 855pp., +3 facsimiles, +7 folding tables, +32pp. appendix, +2pp. errata; Vol 2: 578pp., plus 260pp. appendix ; Vol 3: 496pp., + appendix, + 2 folding tabs. Gray paper covered boards and backstrip with printed… Read More

London: Printed for the Author, 1778. First edition. Bound in 3/4 calf with raised bands and gilt titles, decorative endpapers. Published London: Printed for the author, 1778. 8vo., 5 1/2" x 8 1/4", xvi, [17]-543, [1] pp. errata page, two folding, engraved maps that are fully hand-colored, plus four plates - Falls of St. Anthony on the Mississippi, An (Indian) Pipe of Peace, and two plates of native peoples. Includes a Chippewa vocabulary. Large bookplate of Otto Oren Fisher on front pastedown. Jonathan Carver (1710-1780) was an explorer, mapmaker, author, and one of the first white men to explore and map areas of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Part of a small expedition to map uncharted territory west of the Mississippi, he visited many of the Native American groups residing in the area. He "penetrated farther into the West than any other English explorer before the Revolution" (Howes). While French explorers had been in the area earlier, they did not leave behind detailed maps or… Read More

London: George Virtue, 1840. First edition. 2 volumes bound in extra gilt-ornamental red full leather with panels, raised bands, all edge gilting, gilt edge decorations, colored endpapers, ribbon markers. Bookplate of former U.S. Senator and Congressman William L. Scott (Virginia Republican) on pastedown in each volume. Published London: George Virtue, 1840. Large 4to., 8 3/4" x 11", 140pp.,+map+66 engravings+engraved title; state A of volume 2, with contents page numbered, 106pp.,+53 engravings+engraved title. Magnificent views of the Eastern United States before industrialization altered the landscape. Bartlett was a skilled landscape artist with a keen eye. He traveled extensively in the U.S. and Canada. Internally fine with no toning or foxing, plates nearly immaculate under tissue guards. Joints and corners rubbed, front joint of one volume starting. Very good, near fine internally. 1st. Hard. Very Good/No Jacket, As Issued. Illus. by William H. Bartlett. 4to.

New Haven: Yale University Press, 1949. Hard cover in original cloth and dust jacket. Published New Haven: Yale University Press, 1949, third printing (October, 1949). Large 8vo., xv+889pp. "This book is the counterweight of Marx's Das Kapital and of Lord Keynes' General Theory and of countless other books...In this analysis of the fundamental drives to action of human beings, he shows why only the free market and free enterprise can produce that outpouring of goods and services that is democratically controlled..." Gray cloth with black titles. Previous owner name/offset toning on flyleaf, inscription on free endpaper, small edge spot, else very good, bright and attractive in very good, lightly edgeworn dust jacket (not price clipped) with a long closed tear at the hinge fold, and minor soiling. Scarce in dust jacket. . Hard. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo.

New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957. First edition. Hard cover in original cloth and dust jacket. Published New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957, first printing. 8vo., ix+384pp. "This is the economic philosophy of one of the original and untrammeled minds among economists of this century. It is the work of a staunch believer in the necessity for the individual to make his own choices..." Blue cloth with gilt titles. Near fine, unworn, crisp, in price clipped, very good plus dust jacket with a closed tear and 2 tiny chips along the top edge. . 1st. Hard. Near Fine/Very Good Plus. 8vo.

NY: Pageant Press, Inc., 1959. Second Edition. Hard cover in original cloth and dust jacket. Published NY: Pageant Press, Inc., 1959. Thick 8vo., ix+799pp., illustrated with drawings, tables, fold-out plate. Black cloth with gilt titles. Minor rub points to the tips, few small spots on edge of page block, otherwise near fine, clean, crisp, tight, unmarked in very good dust jacket with some chips and longish tears along the folds. From the Preface: "CAN "THE RIDDLE OF THE UNIVERSE" BE SOLVED? SINCE THE DAWN OF recorded history men have tried, but "the riddle" still remains. They failed, and all because they lacked the one essential--the key to Causation. This is the master key that unlocks all mysteries, but that key was lost in the spiritual night of the past 6,000 years. In that mythopoeic age that preceded this, men knew vastly more about Causation and Creation than he does today, but knowing also that an age of darkness was coming upon the world, the wise Initiates hid… Read More

NY: The Metaphysical Publishing Company, 1895. Broken run of bound volumes as originally published of the first five years publication of The Metaphysical Magazine. Includes 8 volumes from January, 1895 through December 1899: Includes Volumes 1,2,4,6,7,8,9,10, containing 49 issues of the magazine. (Volumes 3 and 5 lacking.) Volume 1: Jan-June 1895, vi+568pp. Six issues printed on laid paper; Volume 2: July-Dec, 1895, vi+512pp., +Announcement and 1pp. ad. Six issues printed on laid paper; Volume 4: July-Dec, 1896, 480pp. Six issues on laid paper; (page 235-236 lacking. Supplied in facsimile); Volume 6: Published as "Intelligence", June-Nov, 1897, 480pp. Six issues on laid paper, illustrated with plates and reproductions; Volume 7: Published as "Intelligence", Dec, 1897-Mar, 1898, 352pp. Four issues on wove, illustrated with plates and reproductions. Lacking the title page. (supplied in facsimile); Volume 8: Resumes publishing as "The Metaphysical Magazine". Apr-Dec, 1898,… Read More

New Orleans: Diboll & Gelpi, 1931. Published New Orleans, : Diboll & Gelpi, 1931. 15 1/4" x 19 3/4" inches, printed in brown ink in reverse type and images, halftones, with white border. Poster is flat mounted on old corrugated board backing, unframed. Signed in pencil at bottom left margin: "To Karen and Doug, for SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE, Collins Diboll." The poster features numerous vignettes of human activity - eating, drinking, travel, sports, music, dance, entertainment and merrymaking, framed by inner and outer borders of humorous verse: "I used to know a clever toast but now I cannot think it, so fill your glass to anything and damn your souls I'll drink it." "Some are fond of drinking and others of high position, but we're for toleration and down with prohibition." The large central image is a navigational clock, with compass points at center and "Bonum vinum laetificat cor hominis" (Good wine gladdens a person's heart), with… Read More

Toulouse, France: Privately Printed, 1999. Signed first edition, limited to 300 numbered copies. Copy #103. Softcover. Privately published, Toulouse, France: Imprimerie Fournie, 1999. 4to. wrappers, 9 5/8" x 10 1/4", 215pp., full color and b/w nude photography. Signed by Hamilton on title page in the year 2000. Mild, light foxing along top edge of page block. A fine copy of Hamilton's rarest book. . Signed By Artist. 1st. Soft Cover. Fine/No Jacket, As Issued. 4to. Limited Edition.

Boston: Houghton Osgood / Houghton, Mifflin, 1879. First edition. Hard cover. 2 volume matching set. Published Boston: Houghton Osgood / Houghton, Mifflin, 1879, 1880. 8vo., lxxxvii+386pp.+43pp. index; lviii+373pp.+43pp. index. Dark maroon cloth with gilt spine titles and cover design, beveled boards with black endpapers, all edges tinted red. Volume one has the 1879 imprint of Houghton Osgood on title page; volume two has 1880 imprint of Houghton, Mifflin. Some wear to the cloth at spine ends, bit or rub to cloth in a few spots, previous owner name on title page of volume one, else a fine, clean, crisp set. . 1st. Hard. Near Fine/No Jacket. 8vo.

Montevideo: Asociación de Arte Constructivo / Taller Torres-Garcia, 1947. First edition. Signed presentation with an original drawing by Torres-Garcia to María Cantú (1914 - 1959), a Mexican painter of the Taller Torres Garcia in Montevideo. 5 volumes finely bound in cloth sewn binding with custom leather slipcase. Published Montevideo: Asociación de Arte Constructivo / Taller Torres-Garcia, 1947-1948. 8vo., 7" x 8 1/2", 47; 47; 43; 43, 65pp., 'Leccion 1a' to 'Leccion 16a' - 16 lectures on Universal Constructivism, illustrated with reproductions on glossy plates. Text in Spanish. Each volume contains leaf of publication information with list of publications by A.A.C. and Taller Torres-Garcia on verso, leaf of title page recto printed, leaf of explanatory text verso printed, followed by text of lecture with final leaf of with 'terminó de imprimir'. Bound in cream buckram with heavy boards with rounded corners, burgundy and gilt… Read More