EXTENSIVE COLLECTION OF WORKS BY BRITISH PASTORAL AUTHOR H.E. BATES, COMPRISING 88 OF HIS BEST-LOVED NOVELS, SHORT STORIES, COMPILATIONS, POETRY, AND MORE, INCLUDING NUMEROUS SIGNED COPIES
BATES, H.E. Collection of novels, short stories, compilations, and more. London, 1926-76. Eighty-eight volumes. Octavo and quarto, all in original bindings. $8800.
Impressive collection of works by H.E. Bates, mainly first editions, all in original bindings, and including numerous signed and signed/limited copies.
"H.E. Bates was a remarkable English novelist and short story writer who died in 1974, leaving behind a substantial body of work… more keenly observant of English country life than any since Thomas Hardy's" (Publishers Weekly).
Novels:
The Two Sisters (1926): First edition. Octavo, original burgundy cloth, original dust jacket. Inscribed by H.E. Bates to Ben Foster. Bookplate of Ben Foster. Extremely good condition.
Catherine Foster (1929): Signed limited first edition, "author's edition," number 26 of only 50 copies signed by H.E. Bates. Octavo, original blue cloth, original dust jacket. With limited edition bellyband. Morocco bookplate of Bertha Van Riper Overbury, an avid collector of first edition literature from the 18th through 20th century. Extremely good condition.
Charlotte's Row (1931): Signed limited first edition, number 56 of only 107 copies signed by H.E. Bates. Octavo, original half brown calf, top edge gilt, uncut. Near-fine condition.
The Fallow Land (1932): First edition. Octavo, original green cloth. Near-fine condition.
The Poacher (1935): First edition. Octavo, original brown cloth, original dust jacket. Extremely good condition.
A House of Women (1936): First edition. Octavo, original green cloth, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
Spella Ho (1938): First edition. Octavo, original teal cloth, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
Fair Stood the Wind for France (1944): First edition. Octavo, original burgundy cloth, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
The Cruise of the Breadwinner (1946): First edition. Slim octavo, original black cloth, original dust jacket; pp. 63. Near-fine condition.
The Purple Plain (1947): First edition. Octavo, original purple cloth, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
Dear Life (1949): First edition. Slim octavo, original beige cloth, original dust jacket. Extremely good condition.
The Jacaranda Tree (1949): First edition. Octavo, original blue cloth, original dust jacket. Extremely good condition. The Scarlet Sword (1950): First edition. Octavo, original red cloth, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
Love for Lydia (1952): First edition. Octavo, original red cloth, original dust jacket. Extremely good condition.
The Feast of July (1954): First edition. Octavo, original green cloth, original dust jacket. Extremely good condition.
The Sleepless Moon (1956): First edition. Octavo, original gilt-stamped black cloth, original dust jacket. About-fine condition.
A Crown of Wild Myrtle (1962): First edition. Octavo, original green paper boards, original dust jacket. About-fine condition.
A Moment in Time (1964): First edition. Octavo, original blue paper boards, original dust jacket. About-fine condition.
The Distant Horns of Summer (1967): First edition. Octavo, original blue paper boards, original dust jacket. Fine condition.
The Triple Echo (1970): First edition. Octavo, original patterned white and blue paper boards, original dust jacket. About-fine condition.
Pop Larkin series:
The Darling Buds of May (1958): First edition. Octavo, original pink cloth, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
A Breath of French Air (1959): First edition. Octavo, original blue cloth, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
When the Green Woods Laugh (1960): First edition. Octavo, original green cloth, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
Oh! To be in England (1963): First edition. Octavo, original blue cloth, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
A Little of What You Fancy (1970): First edition. Octavo, original green paper boards, original dust jacket. About-fine condition.
Short stories:
The Spring Song and In View of the Fact That (1927): Signed limited first edition, number 64 of only 100 copies signed by H.E. Bates and privately printed. Small quarto, staple-bound as issued, original marbled purple paper wrappers; pp. 16. Near-fine condition.
The Tree (1930): First edition. Octavo, staple-bound as issued, original printed blue paper wrappers; pp. 11. Near-fine condition.
The Hessian Prisoner (1930): Signed limited first edition, number 418 of 500 copies signed by H.E. Bates and printed by the Chiswick Press. Tall octavo, original red cloth, uncut, top edge gilt. Near-fine condition.
A Threshing Day (1931): Signed limited first edition, number 229 of only 300 copies signed by H.E. Bates. Octavo, original blue cloth, uncut; pp. 32. Near-fine condition.
A Threshing Day (1931): Signed limited first edition, number A16 of only 25 copies printed on Japanese vellum, original parchment paper boards; pp. 32. Extremely good condition.
Mrs. Esmond's Life (1931): Signed limited edition, number 218 of 300 copies signed by H.E. Bates and privately printed. Octavo, original yellow cloth; pp. 25. Originally published as Charlotte Esmond (1930). Extremely good condition.
A German Idyll (1932): Signed limited first edition, number 104 of only 307 copies signed by H.E. Bates and printed at the Golden Cockerel Press. Small quarto, original half red morocco, top edge gilt, uncut; pp. 40. Bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. Fine condition.
Sally Go Round the Moon (1932): First edition. Octavo, original half beige cloth, original dust jacket; pp. 42. Extremely good condition.
Sally Go Round the Moon (1932): Signed limited first edition, an unnumbered copy of only 150 copies. Octavo, original beige and taupe cloth; pp. 42. About-fine condition.
The Black Boxer (1932): Signed limited first edition, number 60 of only 100 copies signed by H.E. Bates. Octavo, original yellow cloth. Near-fine condition.
The Story Without an End (1932): Signed limited first edition, number 112 of only 130 copies signed by H.E. Bates. Slim octavo, original tan cloth, top edge gilt, uncut; pp. 51. Near-fine condition.
The House with the Apricot (1933): Signed limited first edition, number 37 of only 300 copies signed by H.E. Bates and printed by Golden Cockerel. Slim quarto, original half green morocco, top edge gilt, uncut ; pp. 60. Bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. Fine condition.
The Woman who had Imagination (1934): First edition. Octavo, original beige cloth. Extremely good condition.
The Duet (1935): Signed limited first edition, number 134 of only 250 copies signed by H.E. Bates. Slim octavo, original gilt-stamped black cloth, pictorial endpapers, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
The Beauty of the Dead (1940): First edition. Octavo, original beige cloth, original dust jacket. Extremely good condition.
Bride Comes to Evensford (1943): First edition. Slim octavo, original blue cloth, original dust jacket; pp. 60. Near-fine condition.
The Nature of Love (1953): First edition. Octavo, original blue cloth, original dust jacket. Extremely good condition.
The Daffodil Sky (1955): First edition. Octavo, original black cloth, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
Death of a Huntsman (1957): First edition. Octavo, original blue cloth, original dust jacket. Extremely good condition.
Death of a Huntsman (1957): First edition. Octavo, original blue cloth, original dust jacket. Extremely good condition.
The Watercress Girl (1959): First edition. Octavo, original blue paper boards, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
The Day of the Tortoise (1961): First edition. Slim octavo, original gilt-stamped green paper boards, original dust jacket. Nearly fine condition.
The Fabulous Mrs V (1964): First edition. Octavo, original purple-gray paper boards, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
The Four Beauties (1968): First edition. Octavo, original purple paper boards, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
The Song of the Wren (1972): First edition. Octavo, original orange-red paper boards, original dust jacket. Fine condition.
The Yellow Meads of Asphodel (1976): First edition. Octavo, original green paper boards, original dust jacket. Fine condition.
Short story collections:
Day's End and Other Stories (1928): First edition. Octavo, original green cloth. Near-fine condition.
Seven Tales and Alexander (1929): First trade edition, one of 950 copies (from a total edition of 1000). Octavo, original half blue cloth, original dust jacket. Extremely good condition.
Cut and Come Again (1935): First edition. Octavo, original blue and beige cloth, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
Something Short and Sweet (1937): First edition. Octavo, original blue cloth, original dust jacket. Nearly fine condition.
The Flying Goat (1939): First edition. Octavo, original green cloth, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
Colonel Julian and Other Stories (1951): First edition. Octavo, original blue cloth, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
An Aspidistra in Babylon (1960): First edition. Octavo, original purple paper boards, original dust jacket. About-fine condition.
The Golden Oriole (1962): First edition. Octavo, original orange paper boards, original dust jacket. Extremely good condition.
The Wedding Party (1965): First edition. Octavo, original purple-brown cloth, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
The Wedding Party (1965): Uncorrected proof. Octavo, original printed beige paper wrappers. Near-fine condition.
The Wild Cherry Tree (1968): First edition. Octavo, original blue paper boards, original dust jacket. About-fine condition.
Uncle Silas series:
Sugar for the Horse (1957): First edition. Octavo, original blue cloth, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
Flying Officer X series:
The Greatest People in the World and Other Stories (1942): First edition. Slim octavo, staple-bound as issued, original printed red and white paper wrappers; pp. 79. Near-fine condition.
How Sleep the Brave and Other Stories (1943): First edition. Slim octavo, original blue cloth, original dust jacket; pp. 80. Extremely good condition.
Something in the Air (1944): First edition. Slim octavo, original blue cloth, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
Drama:
The Last Bread (1926) (one act play): First edition. Slim octavo, original printed beige paper wrappers; pp. 18. Near-fine condition.
The Day of Glory (1945): First edition. Slim octavo, original blue cloth, original dust jacket; pp. 79. Near-fine condition.
Essays and non-fiction:
Flowers and Faces (1935): Signed limited first edition, number 41 of only 325 copies signed by H.E. Bates and printed by Golden Cockerel. Slim quarto, original full green morocco gilt, top edge gilt, uncut ; pp. 54. Bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. With folder containing four printed engravings each signed in pencil by John Nash laid in. About-fine condition.
Flowers and Faces (1935): Signed limited first edition, number 91 of only 325 copies signed by H.E. Bates and printed by Golden Cockerel. Slim quarto, original half green morocco gilt, top edge gilt, uncut ; pp. 54, original slipcase. Bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. Fine condition.
Flying Bombs over England (1945): Also published as "The Battle of the Flying Bomb."
The Tinkers of Elstow (1946): Signed limited first edition, number 157 of only 300 copies signed by H.E. Bates and the illustrator, Randolph Schwabe. Octavo, original full black calf gilt; pp. 50. Near-fine condition.
The Tinkers of Elstow (1946): Second edition. Octavo, original red cloth. Near-fine condition.
The Country Heart (1949): First edition. Octavo, original pictorial beige cloth, original dust jacket. Originally published as O! More Than Happy Countrymen and The Heart of the Country, but revised and amended for this edition. Extremely good condition.
The Country of White Clover (1952): First edition. Octavo, original pictorial orange paper boards, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
Edward Garnett (1950): First edition. Slim octavo, original brown cloth, original dust jacket. Publisher's presentation copy with presentation slip laid in. Near-fine condition.
A Love of Flowers (1971): First edition. Octavo, original brown paper boards, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
A Fountain of Flowers (1974): First edition. Tall octavo, original brown paper boards, original dust jacket. About-fine condition.
Christmas Poetry:
Greetings (1928): First edition. Octavo, original printed beige self-wrappers; p. 1. Signed by H.E. Bates. Fine condition.
Christmas 1930 (1930): First edition. Octavo, original printed beige self-wrappers; p. 1. Signed by H.E. Bates. Fine condition.
Criticism:
The Modern Short Story (1942): First edition. Octavo, original brown and beige cloth, original dust jacket. Very nearly fine condition.
Reviews:
Review of "Down the Garden Path" in Now and Then (1932): First edition. Slim octavo, staple-bound as issued, original oversize printed blue-green paper wrappers. Extremely good condition.
Children's Books:
The Seekers (1926): First edition. Octavo, original gray paper boards, original glassine. Signed on the title page by H.E. Bates and additionally inscribed: "Charles Lehr with kindest regards from H.E. Bates. Dec. 1926." Publisher's presentation copy with typed presentation letter laid in. Some wear and repair to glassine. Book in near-fine condition.
Achilles the Donkey (1962): First edition. Quarto, original pictorial paper boards, pictorial endpapers, original dust jacket. Near-fine condition.
Achilles and Diana (1963): First edition. Quarto, original pictorial paper boards, pictorial endpapers, original dust jacket. Extremely good condition.
Achilles and the Twins (1964): First edition. Quarto, original pictorial paper boards, pictorial endpapers, original dust jacket. Extremely good condition.
Autobiography:
The Vanished World (1969): First edition. Octavo, original blue cloth, original dust jacket. About-fine condition.
The Blossoming World (1971): First edition. Octavo, original brown cloth, pictorial endpapers, original dust jacket. Fine condition.
The World in Ripeness (1972): First edition. Octavo, original green cloth, pictorial endpapers, original dust jacket. About-fine condition.
A wonderful collection in collectible condition.