Hartford, CT: American Publishing Company, 1897. Second Edition. Though frequently and erroneously cited as the first fictional use of fingerprints as a method of identification (that would be Twain's "A Thumb-Print and What Came Of It" in Life on the Mississippi), Pudd'nhead Wilson "is nevertheless important because the entire plot..... More
New York: Charles L. Webster & Company, 1889. First Edition. "Classic novel in which a timeslipped engineer tries to modernize the world of Arthurian legend by means of his knowledge of technology and political economy. He enjoys moderate success before the forces of reaction strike back, with ferocity which brings..... More
Boston: The P.R. Warren Co., 1905. Intermediate Edition. Twain's satirical political tract, in which King Leopold II of Belgium defends his atrocities in the Congo in cynical, pious language. The book was published in four languages, with thousands distributed for free; P.R. Warren donated all surplus from sold copies to..... More
New York: McDowell, Obolensky, 1957. First American Edition. Attractive copy of this collaborative work between Bowles and Swiss photographer Peter Haeberlin, who capture in text and images accounts of daily life among the desert and hill country tribes of Northwestern Africa. Miller A8b. First Printing, one of 3,500 copies. Quarto..... More
London: Chapman and Hall, 1928. First Trade Edition. Douglas's descriptive treatise on the fauna of the Greek Anthology. In his introduction, he mentions his intention to include domestic animals in his survey, which he abandoned; "The wild animals must suffice for the moment; there are some hundred and fifty-three of..... More
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1974. First Edition. The Nobel Prize-winning author's second novel, set in a fictional Ohio town and following the lives of two young Black girls and the bonds they shared from girlhood through adulthood. A brief, if significant, inscription to Jong, marking a decades-long friendship between..... More
New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1970. First Edition. The Nobel Prize-winning author's powerful first novel, set in her home town of Lorain, Ohio in the aftermath of the Great Depression. Told from various perspectives, the novel is centered around the difficult life and many troubles of a young Black..... More
New York: Scribner, 1999. First Editions. The second book in a three-book deal made with Scribner's, involving a series of "interconnected, sequential narratives, set in the years from 1960 to 1999. Each story is deeply rooted in the sixties, and each is haunted by the Vietnam War" (from front flap)..... More
London: Hutchinson & Co., [1932]. First U.K. Edition. A well-preserved copy of the seventh Race Williams novel. "Race Williams here tells the story of the game he played with the three Gorgon brothers. Two were gangsters, and the third, a mind that, controlling them, ruled a great city. It is..... More
Buenos Aires: Ediciones Tor, 1935. First Edition. The first volume of Borges's short stories and a cornerstone work of magical realism, the contents written between 1933-34 and published in the Argentine newspaper Crítica. "A chronicle of the lives of famous villains like Billy the Kid and the Tichborne Claimant and..... More
New York: The Black Sun Press, 1936. First Edition. A typically exquisite production by The Black Sun Press, printing Joyce's Chamber Music, Pomes Penyeach, and Ecce Puer - the latter never before included in any edition. Slocum & Cahoon A44; Minkoff A-45. Trade Issue, one of 750 numbered copies, this..... More
New York: New Directions Books, 1962. First American Edition. A monumental work, and the first appearance in the U.S. of the Argentine author's fantastical and metaphysical short stories. "The definitive collection of Borges material in English, using material from Ficciones (1956), El aleph (1957), Discussión (1957), Otras inquisiciones (1960), and..... More
New York: The Macaulay Company, 1926. First Edition. The native Jamaican author's first novel, and the first of three mystery novels he would go on to write between 1926-35. Walter Adolphe Roberts (1886-1962) was an author of mixed-racial heritage, whose Haunting Hand is generally credited as being the first mystery..... More
![THE LONG GOODBYE [RONGU GUDDOBAI] - SIGNED. Raymond Chandler, Haruki Murakami, novel, translation](/pictures/thumb/5457.jpg?v=1648815488)
Tokyo: Hayakawa Books, 2010. First Edition. A key translation by Haruki Murakami of Chandler's sixth novel - the apex of 20th century detective fiction, winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1955, and basis for Robert Altman's 1973 film starring Elliott Gould and Sterling Hayden. While Murakami is..... More
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945. First Black Widow Thriller Edition. Chandler's first and best-known novel, and the debut of Philip Marlowe - perhaps the most imitated character within the mystery genre. "On one level, this is a complex murder mystery with its fair share of clues and corpses. On..... More
Paris: The Olympia Press, 1958. First Olympia Press Edition. Odd format Olympia Press edition of Genet's 1947 novel Querelle de Brest, centered around bisexual thief, prostitute, and serial killer Georges Querelle. Basis for Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 1982 film of the same name, starring Brad Davis and Jean Moreau. Kearney 13..... More
[Glendale, CA: Roy A. Squires, 1971]. First Edition. Distinguished copy of this Melville-inspired poem, inscribed to Bradbury's long-time editor and literary agent Don Congdon. Bradbury was one of Congdon's first clients, after he left his job at Simon & Schuster in 1947 to set up his own agency. It was..... More
New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1948. First Edition. Sharp copy of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author's historically persuasive fifth novel, "a reconstruction, through "journals," "letters," and "miscellaneous documents," – nearly all devised by Wilder – of the last months in the life of Julius Caesar" (Goldstone & Anderson I.B.i.5). First..... More
New York: Viking Penguin Inc., 1986. First American Edition. A contender for the heavyweight champion of modern horror novels, and the source for an entire generation's deep-seated fear of clowns. "In the summer of 1958, seven oddly assorted children - losers all - band together as a defense against the..... More
Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Graphic Arts, 1995. First Edition. Advance issue of this collaborative work between Bukowski (1920-1994) and Kenneth Price (1935-2012), a poetic and artistic ode to the City of Los Angeles. Among the towering achievements of John Martin's Black Sparrow Press – the regular and deluxe issues were..... More
Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1993. First Edition. Deluxe Issue, one of six specially designated copies for the author, publisher, printer, binder, editor, and the publisher's files, this one marked "Binder's Copy" and signed by the author on the colophon. Small octavo (18.5cm); illustrated paper-covered boards; publisher's unprinted white paper..... More
New York: Random House, 1942. First Edition. First Printing. Octavo (21.5cm); dark blue-green cloth, with titling and decorative elements stamped in black and gilt on spine, and embossed onto front cover; blue topstain; dustjacket; [x],404,[2]pp. Signed by the author on the front endpaper. Subtle fading to topstain, else Fine in..... More
New York: Red Ozier Press, 1982. First, Limited Edition. One of 185 numbered copies signed by the author, translator, and illustrator, this being copy no.83. Octavo (24.5cm); letterpressed sheets, printed in three colors and sewn into flexible gray paper-covered boards and black cloth backstrip, with titles printed in black on..... More
Bolinas, CA: Tombouctou Books, 1988. First Edition. First Printing, cloth issue. Octavo (21cm); black cloth, with titles stamped in gilt on spine and front cover; [10],11-86,[6]pp. Upper corners gently tapped (though still sharp), tiny scuff to upper front board edge, else Near Fine. "In these seven new stories Paul Bowles..... More
London: Peter Owen Publishers, 1994. First Edition. First Impression, cloth issue. Octavo (22.25cm); black cloth, with titles stamped in gilt on spine; dustjacket; [8],9-93,[3]pp; illus. Fine in a Near Fine dustjacket, unclipped (priced £13.50), with some light surface wear and a hint of sunning to spine. A late novel by..... More