October 2024
* * * * O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S 1 INSCRIBED BY NEW YORKER CARTOONIST CHAS ADDAMS TO KITTY CARLISLE WITH AN ORIGINAL SKETCH BY HIM 1. ADDAMS, Chas. Drawn and Quartered. The Return of a Classic. New York, 1962. Quarto, original half purple cloth, dust jacket. $2500 Later edition of this collection of beloved cartoons, inscribed to actress Kitty Carlisle Hart under her real name: “For Cathy with all best Chas Addams 1965,” with an original sketch of a long-haired woman. Creator of the Addams family, Charles “Chas” Addams began his career as a magazine cartoonist for publications including Collier’s, TV Guide, and, most often, The New Yorker. It was in those cartoons, 115 of which are collected here, that recurring characters such as Morticia Addams were created. Just one year after this book was inscribed, The Addams Family premiered on ABC, running until 1966 and reappearing in various television and movie incarnations thereafter. The first edition was published in 1942. This copy was inscribed to Kitty Carlisle, whose real name was “Catherine Conn” or “Cathy.” Carlisle appeared in films with Bing Crosby and the Marx Brothers in the 1930s, later became best known for her appearances as a panelist on the TV game shows What’s My Line? and To Tell the Truth. Book near-fine, with light soiling to boards. Dust jacket very good, with a spot of sticker residue to one flap and a bit of wear to extremities. A wonderful inscribed copy, scarce with original sketch.
* O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S * * * 2 INSCRIBED BY CHARLES ADDAMS WITH AN ORIGINAL DRAWING SIGNED AND DATED BY HIM, FIRST EDITION OF FAVORITE HAUNTS 2. ADDAMS, Charles. Favorite Haunts. New York, 1976. Tall quarto, original brown paper boards, dust jacket; custom clamshell box. $3500 First edition of this wonderful collection of Addams’ cartoons, inscribed by him, “For Pat and Charles with all best” above his large original drawing, signed by him and dated 1978, showing Wednesday Addams, daughter in the Addams Family cartoons, lying on her side with a pensive look on her face and a thought bubble leading to the printed Simon and Schuster logo—as if the logo’s figure is the man of her dreams, with 94 full-page cartoons (including color endpapers). The macabre wit and genius of Charles Addams earned him such sobriquets such as “’the Van Gogh of the Ghouls,’ ‘the Bela Lugosi of the cartoonists,’ ‘the graveyard guru’ and a purveyor of ‘American Gothic.’ His work was compared to that of Shakespeare and Poe” (Davis, Charles Addams). Addams’ cartoons “brought a touch of ghoulishness to The New Yorker’s glossy pages for five decades… The Addams cartoon household went on to reach an even broader public when it became the basis for The Addams Family, the 1960s television comedy series,” as well as the popular films and Broadway musical (New York Times). Book fine; slight edge-wear to near-fine dust jacket.
* * * * O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S 3 "NOTICE HOW THE EYES SEEM TO KEEP FOLLOWING YOU?": CREATURE COMFORTS, INSCRIBED BY CHARLES ADDAMS TO DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS JR. WITH DRAWING OF UNCLE FESTER 3. ADDAMS, Charles. Creature Comforts. New York, 1981. Tall, slim quarto, original half orange cloth, dust jacket. $4700 First edition, first printing, of this collection of Addams’ cartoons, inscribed to actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and his wife, with a pen-and-ink drawing to the fly-leaf depicting Addams’ famed character Uncle Fester flashing himself under a rain coat; appearing as a tattoo on Uncle Fester’s chest is the inscription, “To Marydee [in red ink] and Douglas [in green ink] with Love [in blue ink] Chas Addams 82 [in black ink].” Uncle Fester wears boxer shorts striped in a bright red and green. “Addams specialized in a bizarre brand of comedy founded on the inexplicable in nature and the antisocial in humanity… Although he sold cartoons to many magazines during the 1930s and 1940s, Addams is most closely associated with The New Yorker, where his macabre sense of humor became a fixture. That magazine bought its first Addams cartoon in 1935” (ANB). Novelist Wilfrid Sheed remembers Addams as “a tall, laconic man, with a head he might have drawn himself and a voice straight out of Casket and Sunnyside, the mortician’s manual.” Addams’ prototypical American family, described by Sheed as “an American classic, a Halloween version of Norman Rockwell and Grant Wood,” inspired a hit television series and two movies. Price sticker to rear panel of dust jacket. With armorial bookplate of recipient Douglas Fairbanks Jr., famed “actor, producer, administrator, bon vivant and AngloAmerican ambassador,” whose many films include Morning Glory (1933) with Katharine Hepburn and Prisoner of Zenda (1937). After a brief marriage to Joan Crawford, during WWII Fairbanks enlisted in the Navy, becoming “the first American officer to command a British flotilla of raiding craft during a commando operation.” Using his “prestige and administrative skills as a volunteer for the United Nations… his contributions won him many honors, including Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire” (New York Times). Interior fine; light wear to binding extremities. Light wear to extremities of bright dust jacket with shallow chipping to spine head. A near-fine copy with exceptional provenance, scarce with a sketch by Addams.
* O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S * * * 4 "THE GREAT FISH MOVED SILENTLY THROUGH THE NIGHT WATER…" 4. BENCHLEY, Peter. Jaws. Garden City, 1974. Octavo, original black cloth, dust jacket. $950 First edition of Benchley’s bestselling thriller, in scarce first-issue dust jacket. Benchley’s first novel, a “confrontation between man and nature [that] consciously echoes Moby Dick,” spent 44 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list in 1974 (Fantasy and Horror 6-27). He also wrote the screenplay for the blockbuster 1975 film adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg. In a later interview, Benchley said, “I knew that Jaws couldn’t possibly be successful. It was a first novel, and nobody reads first novels. It was a first novel about a fish, so who cares? And I knew they couldn’t make a movie because nobody could catch and train a great white shark and the technology of the time wasn’t up to creating a credible animal. So much for what I knew” (Time). First-issue dust jacket, with $6.95 price on top front flap. Book fine, dust jacket with minor wear to spine, small closed tear to spine head. A near-fine copy.
* * * * O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S 5 LIMITED EDITION OF BLAKE’S MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN AND HELL, 1960, A SUPERB FACSIMILE VOLUME, ONE OF ONLY 526 COPIES, WITH 27 COLOR PLATES 5. BLAKE, William. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. London, 1960. Tall slim folio, original half green morocco, slipcase. $1400 Limited edition, number 348 of only 480 copies (from a total edition of 526), a beautiful facsimile edition of Blake’s illuminated masterpiece, from an original copy at the Library of Congress, with 27 color plates. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (circa 1790) has been praised as the greatest and “most complex work of Blake’s early years. It consists of 24 plates (as well as three further plates under the separate title ‘A Song of Liberty’) and has at its heart an opposition between Heaven, conceived as an image of restraint and passivity, and Hell, an image of energy and action” (Punter, “Marriage of Heaven and Hell”). Only nine complete copies of the Marriage of Heaven and Hell are known. This edition, printed on Arches pure rag paper to match that used by Blake, is based on the copy in the Rosenwald Collection at the Library of Congress. Bookplate. Bentley 106. Spine evenly toned. Fine condition.
* O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S * * * 6 "THE RARE IMAGINATIVE POWER OF WILLIAM BLAKE" 6. (BLAKE, William) BLAIR, Robert. The Grave. London, 1870. Folio (11 by 14 inches, modern three-quarter red morocco. $1650 Third edition of Blair’s singular poetic achievement, with splendid engraved frontispiece portrait of William Blake and 12 engraved plates rendered by Shiavonetti after Blake’s original designs, including the engraved title page. In October 1805 Blake was commissioned by the engraver and would-be publisher Robert H. Cromek to prepare 40 drawings for Robert Blair’s Grave, from which Cromek planned to select 20. While The Grave originally appeared in 1743, the illustrations in this very scarce second edition and the rarely found 1808 first edition are especially famous for vividly demonstrating “the rare imaginative power of William Blake” (Magnusson, 162). “In fact Blair had a perceptible influence on Blake the poet as well as on Blake the painter” (Kunitz & Haycraft, 46). A dispute over a preliminary etching “in white-line” called “Death’s Door,” which Cromek rejected, resulted in Blake’s being prevented from engraving his own designs, so the 12 drawings eventually selected were rendered by Louis Schiavonetti “with a mingled grace and grandeur which won for them a wider popularity… Never has the theme of death been handled in pictorial art with more elevation and beauty” (DNB). Also featured is Blake’s dedicatory poem “To the Queen,” a prefatory comment on the designs by Henry Fuseli, and a concluding section, “Of the Designs.” Preceded by the rare 1808 edition of less than 600 copies and the large folio second edition of 1813. This third edition was produced by John Camden Hotten sometime around 1870, after Gilchrist’s 1863 Life of William Blake reawakened an interest in the poet/artist. With minor alterations, Gilchrist was able to use the original plates from the 1813 edition, with the reset text being a very close imitation of the original; the letterpress title page is still for the 1813 Ackermann edition, for instance, with no mention of Hotten or 1870. Bentley, Blake Books 350A. Keynes 82. Ray, Illustrator and the Book in England 6a. See Lewine, 68. Fine condition.
* * * * O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S 7 "WITHOUT UNCEASING PRACTISE NOTHING CAN BE DONE PRACTISE IS ART IF YOU LEAVE OFF YOU ARE LOST" 7. (BLAKE, William) KEYNES, Geoffrey. William Blake’s Laocoön. A Last Testament. With Related Works: On Homer’s Poetry and On Virgil, The Ghost of Abel. London, 1976. Quarto, original half brown morocco. $700 Limited first edition, number 234 of 380 copies (from a total edition of 438), with 11 plates. “Around the year 1790 Blake had made in his book, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, a comparatively plain statement of his conception of the artist and the imaginative arts in relation to the materialistic world, limited by the five senses of rational unimaginative man… Toward the end of his life, probably in the year 1820, Blake decided to make another, even clearer, statement of his position, which he conveyed in the three works know as Laocoön, On Homer’s Poetry and On Virgil, and The The Ghost of Abel. These are closely related to one another, though Laocoön took the form of a conventionally engraved plate, while the two others were relief etchings made in the same way as those for the Illuminated Books, though they were not coloured. The community of these three works has not usually been fully apprehended and they are here gathered together to form a logical group, with a commentary and formal descriptions of the plates and of various related works.” Fine condition.
* O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S * * * 8 "AT THE HEAD OF A TRADITION": FINE FIRST EDITION OF DARK CARNIVAL, RAY BRADBURY'S FIRST BOOK, SIGNED BY HIM 8. BRADBURY, Ray. Dark Carnival. Sauk City, Wisconsin, 1947. Octavo, original black cloth, dust jacket. $6800 First edition of Bradbury’s important first book, signed by him on the title page. The legendary Bradbury was “as influenced by George Bernard Shaw and William Shakespeare as he was by Jules Verne… Bradbury’s poetically drawn and atmospheric fictions—horror, fantasy, shadowy American gothics—explored life’s secret corners” (Los Angeles Times). The 27 stories collected in Dark Carnival mark Bradbury’s departure from publishing in pulp magazines. Their “stylistic deftness… stands at the head of a tradition in modern horror fiction” (Barron 4-24). “Evocative, poetic and suffused with youthful wonder, Bradbury’s tales broke with pulp conventions in their style and approach to the fantastic… Collected in his first book Dark Carnival… they mesh to form a smalltown landscape in which the magic possibilities of ordinary life and the banality of the fantastic are indistinguishable from one another” (Clute & Grant, 132). Because only 3112 copies were printed, “Dark Carnival was never widely available,” and in 1955 Arkham House published The October Country, which is “substantially a reprint of Dark Carnival” (Horror 100 Best 55). With pictorial dust jacket designed by George Barrows. Currey, 55. Book fine, dust jacket extremely good with light rubbing, shallow chipping to spine ends. A near-fine copy.
* * * * O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S 9 "THIS WAS THE BOOK THAT ESTABLISHED HIS REPUTATION": FIRST EDITION OF THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES, SIGNED BY RAY BRADBURY 9. BRADBURY, Ray. The Martian Chronicles. Garden City, 1950. Octavo, original light green cloth, dust jacket. $6800 First edition of this scarce science fiction classic, Bradbury’s second book, inscribed, signed and dated by him on the front free endpaper: “Mark! Ray Bradbury, Jan. 20, 1980.” Bradbury’s first novel and second book, “which could be regarded as an episodic novel, made Bradbury’s reputation… Its closely interwoven stories, linked by recurrent images and themes, tell of the repeated attempts by humans to colonize Mars… All the Bradbury themes that were later to be repeated find their earliest shapes here” (Clute & Nicholls, 151). “This was the book that established Bradbury’s reputation… He put far more emphasis on style and mood than he did on technical detail or scientific plausibility… His reward was a stunning popular and critical success” (Pringle, Science Fiction 100 3). Text clean, cloth lightly toned along spine. Minor rubs dust jacket spine ends, slight soiling to rear panel, front panel bright and clean. A near-fine signed copy. Scarce.
* O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S * * * 10 "THE PLAGUE NEVER DIES OR DISAPPEARS FOR GOOD": FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH OF CAMUS' THE PLAGUE 10. CAMUS, Albert. The Plague. Translated from the French by Stuart Gilbert. London, 1948. Octavo, original blue-green cloth, dust jacket. $1800 First edition in English of Camus’ gripping allegory of the German occupation, published one year after the French first edition. “Camus is not only a giant among French moralists—an important and characteristic strain in French literature—but he stands as one of the most profound thinkers of the 20th century as well” (Pribic, Nobel Laureates in Literature, 75). “The Plague is parable and sermon, and should be considered as such. To criticize it by standards which apply to most fiction would be to risk condemning it for moralizing, which is exactly where it is strongest… There are certain things which need to be said now, without care for the future, and these are said in The Plague” (Stephen Spender in Books of the Century, 159). Camus won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. Originally published as La Peste in France in 1947. Connolly, The Modern Movement 95. Book with a bit of discoloration to endpapers, bright dust jacket with minor soiling to rear panel, tape repairs to verso. A very nice copy.
* * * * O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S 11 THE 1660 TRIAL OF THE REGICIDES OF CHARLES I, 1713 EDITION 11. (CHARLES I) [FINCH, Heneage, Earl of Nottingham]. The Indictment, Arraignment, Tryal, and Judgment, at Large, of Twenty-nine Regicides, the Murtherers Of His Late Sacred Majesty King Charles the First, of Glorious Memory… Together with a Summary of the Dark and Horrid Decrees of those Cabbalists, Preparatory to that Hellish Fact. London, 1713. Octavo, later full dark brown paneled calf nicely rebacked with original spine laid down. $1500 Later edition of this contemporary account of the trial of “the murtherers of his late sacred majesty,” Charles I, attributed to the prosecuting solicitor-general, with engraved frontispiece portrait of Charles. Those responsible for the beheading of Charles I in 1649 were not brought to trial until the Restoration of Charles II in 1660. Heneage Finch, later first Earl of Nottingham, “one of the prosecuting counsel in the trial of the regicides in October 1660… is described in one account as effectually answering Cooke, the framer of the impeachment of Charles I.” (Though published anonymously, this account has been attributed to him; he was later appointed Lord Chancellor by Charles II.) Despite the blatant royalist bias of this work’s title, Finch’s impartial character is a matter of record: “The fact that throughout an unceasing official career of more than twenty years, in a time of passion and intrigue, Finch was never once the subject of parliamentary attack, nor ever lost the royal confidence, is a remarkable testimony both to his probity and discretion” (DNB VII, 11). The defendants, found guilty, were hanged, and all but one were drawn and quartered, their heads stuck on poles for public view; “but the Body of Mr. Hacker was, by his Majesties great favor, given entire to his friends, and buried.” First published in 1660, with another edition in 1679. See Wing N1403 (1660 first edition, crediting Nottingham as the author). Some mild spotting and toning to text; nicely rebacked.
* O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S * * * 12 "PAINTING IS AN INFINITELY MINUTE PART OF MY PERSONALITY" 12. DALÍ, Salvador. Les Dîners de Gala. New York, 1973. Thick folio (9 by 12 inches), original color-printed pictorial cloth, dust jacket. $800 First edition of this extravagant, lavishly illustrated cookbook created by Dalí in honor of his wife Gala. “When six years old I wanted to be a cook.” At age 68, Dalí fulfilled that ambition in this book. His careful selection of menus and recipes, “with its precepts and its illustrations, is uniquely devoted to the pleasures of Taste. Don’t look for dietetic formulas here. We intend to ignore those charts and tables in which chemistry takes the place of gastronomy. If you are a disciple of one of those calorie-counters who turn the joys of eating into a form of punishment, close this book at once; it is too lively, too aggressive and far too impertinent for you.” Gala was Dalí’s wife and muse. With color plates and in-text photographs and illustrations on nearly every page. Preceded in 1971 by a portfolio of 12 colored lithographs under the same title, each reproduced in this enlarged edition. Copyright statement on verso of frontispiece page rather than page 9 (no priority established). Text in English. Owner signature. Minor rubbing to dust jacket. A near-fine copy.
* * * * O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S 13 "TRANSPARENT SIMPLICITY AND INTENSE VIVIDNESS": CARY'S TRANSLATION OF THE DIVINE COMEDY 13. DANTE (CARY, Henry Francis, translator). The Vision; or Hell, Purgatory, And Paradise, of Dante Alighieri. London, 1819. Three volumes. Octavo, 19th-century three-quarter green morocco gilt. $4700 Second edition of Cary’s renowned translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy—the first in this larger octavo format—very handsomely bound in contemporary morocco-gilt. Cary’s translation was first published in 1814 in a smaller 16mo format. However, “a new edition was published in 1819, and ever since… it has remained the translation which, on Dante’s name being mentioned, occurs first to the mind,” as Cary has “in great measure preserved his transparent simplicity and intense vividness” (DNB). “The Divine Comedy of Dante could have been written at no other time than at the beginning of the 14th century. It was essentially an age of freedom and daring in thought and speech, which it was natural to express in verse. To this Dante added a deep knowledge of the learning of his time… The audacity of his theme, the success of its treatment, the beauty and majesty of his verse, have ensured that his poem never lost its reputation” (PMM 8). Lowndes, 590. Contemporary owner ink signature dated 1823; later ink inscription. Only occasional foxing. Very handsome in fine contemporary morocco-gilt.
* O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S * * * 14 "A NEW AND EXHILERATING PHASE IN… MODERN WRITING": FIRST EDITION OF GRENDEL, INSCRIBED BY JOHN GARDNER 14. GARDNER, John. Grendel. New York, 1971. Octavo, original purple cloth, dust jacket. $4500 First edition of Gardner’s third novel, his “violent, inspiring, awesome, terrifying” reimagining of the legendary tale, inscribed on the title page by him, “To R—, Best wishes, John Gardner,” a beautiful copy. “Grendel, which daringly retells the Beowulf legend from the viewpoint of the monster whom Beowulf kills, is a complex and brilliantly styled parable of consciousness, the consciousness of death and the compensatory urge to create lasting monuments of the mind” (Vinson, 493). “The world, Gardner seems to be suggesting in his violent, inspiring, awesome, terrifying narrative, has to defeat its Grendels, yet somehow, he hints… that world is a poorer place when men and their monsters cannot coexist” (Christian Science Monitor). The novels of John Gardner, who died in 1982, represent, “in the eyes of many critics and reviewers, a new and exhilarating phase in the enterprise of modern writing, a consolidation of the resources of the contemporary novel and a leap forward—or backward—into a reestablished humanism” (Paris Review). “First Edition” on copyright page. With illustrations from line drawings by Emil Antonucci. A fine copy.
* * * * O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S 15 15. GRAFTON, Sue. The Alphabet Series [“A” to “Y”, all published]. COMPRISING: “A” Is for Alibi. WITH: “B” Is for Burglar. WITH: “C” Is for Corpse. WITH: “D” Is for Deadbeat. WITH: “E” Is for Evidence. WITH: “F” Is for Fugitive. WITH: “G” Is for Gumshoe. WITH: “H” Is for Homicide. WITH: “I” Is for Innocent [2 copies]. WITH: “J” Is for Judgment. WITH: “K” Is for Killer. WITH: “L” Is for Lawless. WITH: “M” Is for Malice. WITH: “N” Is for Noose. WITH: “O” Is for Outlaw. WITH: “P” Is for Peril. WITH: “Q” Is for Quarry. WITH: “R” Is for Ricochet. WITH: “S” Is for Silence. WITH: “T” Is for Trespass. WITH: “U” Is for Undertow. WITH: “V” Is for Vengeance. WITH: “W” Is for Wasted. WITH: “X”. WITH: “Y” Is for Yesterday. New York, 1982-2017. Together, 26 volumes. Octavo, original paper boards or half cloth, dust jackets. $21,500 Full first edition set of Grafton’s popular Kinsey Millhone mysteries, each volume signed or inscribed by the author, with the first volume inscribed on the title page, “For M— K—- — Sue Grafton. Yours until ‘Z’ is for Zero!” “By 1982, Grafton was a twice-divorced mother of three children who conceived “A” is for Alibi in preference to murdering her ex-husband… Her award-winning ‘alphabet’ series… has helped transform the predominantly male preserve of American crime writing… Her tightly paced mysteries are shaped by Kinsey Millhone, a feisty, selfsufficient private investigator who is appealingly candid, with a wry wit” (Stringer, 259-60). “In dealing with big themes on a small canvas, [Grafton’s] clever but unpretentious mysteries reassure us that no life is insignificant, no death inconsequential” (New York Times). Tragically, Grafton died of a very rare cancer (appendiceal) while still working on “Z” Is for Zero, rendering the 25-volume “A” through “Y” series a complete run. This set includes a second copy of “’I’ is for Innocent,” from the first English edition, also signed by Grafton. “C” is for Corpse has also been inscribed by Grafton (“Mysteriously Yours”). See Barzun & Taylor 1558. A bit of glue residue to endpapers and dust jacket verso of “F” is for Fugitive. Fine condition. "YOURS UNTIL 'Z' IS FOR ZERO!": THE KINSEY MILLHONE MYSTERIES, FROM ALIBI TO YESTERDAY: COMPLETE FIRST EDITION COLLECTION, EACH SIGNED OR INSCRIBED BY SUE GRAFTON
* O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S * * * 16 1753 FOLIO SECOND EDITION OF BENTLEY'S DESIGNS… FOR SIX POEMS BY MR. T. GRAY, WITH 25 ENGRAVED ILLUSTRATIONS 16. GRAY, Thomas (BENTLEY, Richard, illustrator). Designs by Mr. R. Bentley, for Six Poems by Mr. T. Gray. London, 1753. Folio, mid-19th-century full dark green straight-grain morocco gilt. $3500 Second edition, issued the same year as the first, of Richard Bentley’s illustrated edition of six of Thomas Gray’s poems, including his masterpiece “Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard” (first published in 1751), one of the most famous poems in the English language, with 25 lively engravings, consisting of a title page vignette, six historiated initials, six headpieces, six tailpieces, and six full-page folio plates, all by Bentley. Handsomely bound in contemporary morocco-gilt by Clarke & Bedford. Thomas Gray was “a gentleman of his age, who numbered among his private accomplishments the occasional composition of poetry, who wished to share with others only those poems which met his own standards of excellence, and who, except for the two Pindaric odes, was reluctant to see any of them appear in print. Among these was one, perhaps the richest in self-revelation… a poem which through many changes of taste has retained its popularity and defined the literary rank of its author. Gray’s Elegy is one of the great poems of the English language; to many readers, learned and otherwise, it has stood almost for the idea of poetry itself” (ODNB). Indeed, Gray only published 13 poems in his lifetime; six of those appear in this anthology. “A Long Story” is printed here for the first time. Gray’s poems are marvelously complemented here by Bentley’s charming and evocative illustrations. Precociously talented but wayward with money, Bentley found a modicum of stability when he became friends with Horace Walpole. He produced illustrations for several works published at Walpole’s Strawberry Hill press, and even provided architectural drawings for the renovation of Walpole’s great estate—but the present work remains his finest. “He produced innovative architectural drawings for Strawberry Hill, painted landscapes and allegorical designs, and made ingenious illustrations for the first anthology of Gray’s poems (1753)… His designs for Gray’s poems were deemed by Hanns Hammelmann to be ‘a turning-point in British decorative art.’ Their complement of visual puns and pictorial allusions to other works of art gives the interplay of the sister arts an unexpectedly provocative coherence. Walpole referred to them enthusiastically in his correspondence; Gray felt embarrassed over his small output of poetry and asserted that his verses were ‘only subordinate, & explanatory to the Drawings’… Bentley’s unique pictorial enrichment of the poems enlarges yet refines traditional articulations of ut pictura poesis and anticipates the book illustrations of William Blake. His finest work, whether in the graphic or literary arts, reveals a fertile genius, an energetic imagination, and an ebullient, incisive wit” (ODNB). “Another fine rococo book, this time with occasional neo-Gothic intrusions” (Ray). Second edition, with the half title reading “Designs, &c.” rather than “Drawings”; with an exclamation mark in the row of printer’s flowers dividing text on pp. 3 and 4 of the “Explanation of the Prints” at the rear of the volume; inverted “p” used in place of lower case “d” in last seven occurrences on p. 26. Ray, The Illustrator and the Book in England, 4. Hammelmann, 14. Rothschild 1061. ESTC T75219. Minor foxing, slight wear to corners, a few shallow scratches or discolorations to covers. A near-fine and beautifully bound copy of this desirable illustrated folio.
* * * * O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S 17 "THEY ARE MARVELOUSLY DETAILED… DESIGNED WITH SUCH FINESSE": HOLBEIN'S FAMOUS DANCE OF DEATH ILLUSTRATIONS, RE-ENGRAVED BY WENCESLAUS HOLLAR AND HAND-COLORED 17. HOLBEIN, Hans (HOLLAR, Wenceslaus, engraver). The Dance of Death; from the Original Designs of Hans Holbein. Illustrated with Thirty-three Plates, Engraved by W. Hollar. London, 1816. Octavo, period-style full straight-grain morocco gilt. $2700 Early edition of Hollar’s re-engravings of Hans Holbein’s famous 16th-century series, printed from refreshed copper plates first prepared for publication in 1794, with engraved portraits of Holbein and engraver Wenceslaus Hollar and 31 hand-colored plates, including a large hand-colored frontispiece. “At Basel lived the young Hans Holbein (1497-1543), employed by the printer Johannes Froben in designing title pages and illustrations and already painting his first portraits. Two series of his illustrations were printed in the same year, 1538, at Lyons… The first was the Icones Historiarum Veteris Testamenti… The second was the famous Dance of Death, Les Simulachres et Historiees Faces de la Mort, with 41 designs arranged on the page in a similar manner [small woodcuts, each on a separate page, with captions]… Holbein’s diminutive designs measure 2-1/2 by 2 inches. They are marvelously detailed, and while belonging firmly to the Reformation period preserve a marked Gothic quality… Holbein’s woodcuts are designed with such finesse that they look forward to copperplate engraving [which is the medium used here by Wenceslaus Hollar in his re-engravings], and his style reflects the humanist ambience of Basel. Yet his subjects—the Dance of Death in particular—remain Gothic” (Harthan, The History of the Illustrated Book, 91-92). A bit of very faint foxing to text, plates generally clean. A near-fine copy.
* O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S * * * 18 FIRST EDITION OF THE TOMMYKNOCKERS, INSCRIBED BY STEPHEN KING 18. KING, Stephen. The Tommyknockers. New York, 1987. Octavo, original half black paper boards, dust jacket. $2200 First trade edition of the novel considered “King at his best,” inscribed by him on the title page, “For Pat—With best wishes, Stephen King, 6/8/95.” The publication of Tommyknockers led The New York Times to single out King’s unique ability as a storyteller, noting that whether “King is… saying ‘EEEOOOOOOARRRGHMMMMMMM!’ or ‘Hurts! It hurrrr-… or quoting MobyDick, we believe him.” Widely considered “King at his best” (San Francisco Chronicle), this is “an incredibly scary story—you will not be able to put this down” (Los Angeles Times Book Review). Published November 1987: original dust jacket with front wrapper containing King’s name in gold (this copy) and in red; no priority established. Preceded by a signed limited prepublication facsimile edition of King’s manuscript. Book fine; King’s name on dust jacket front panel mildly oxidized, as often. A fine inscribed copy.
* * * * O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S 19 19. KING, Stephen. Four Past Midnight. New York, 1990. Octavo, original half cloth, dust jacket. $2000 First edition of this collection of four novellas, signed by King on the half title. Includes “The Langoliers,” “Secret Window, Secret Garden,” “The Library Policeman,” and “The Sun Dog,” each accompanied by an introduction by King discussing the story’s inception and composition. “The Langoliers” was made into a television miniseries that aired in 1995. “The Sun Dog” is set in King’s fictional town Castle Rock, and serves as a prologue to the novel Needful Things, which would follow in 1991. Mild discoloration to boards and faint dampstain to fore-edge, endpaper just lifting at front inner hinge; dust jacket with a hint of lamination wrinkling on front panel. A near-fine signed copy. SIGNED BY STEPHEN KING
* O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S * * * 20 "HER WHOLE LIFE HAD BEEN A LONG AND EASY DREAM TO LULL HER HELPLESSLY INTO THIS WAKING NIGHTMARE": FIRST EDITION OF THE SHINING, INSCRIBED BY STEPHEN KING 20. KING, Stephen. The Shining. Garden City, 1977. Octavo, original half black cloth, dust jacket. Housed in a custom clamshell box. $7800 First edition of King’s third novel, a “masterwork, a bold product of an original vision,” inscribed “For Marvin, Best, Stephen King.” Inspired by Poe’s short story “The Masque of the Red Death,” King’s first hardcover bestseller is “his consummate ghostly tale” about “the haunted house to end all haunted houses” (Underwood & Miller, 174, 184). “The fact is that The Shining is a masterwork, a bold product of an original vision, a novel of astonishing passion, urgency, tenderness, understanding, and invention… In its uniting of an almost bruising literary power, a deep sensitivity to individual experience, and its operatic convictions, it is a very significant work of art” (Peter Straub). Made into the 1980 movie directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Jack Nicolson and Shelley Duvall; it was later made into a 1997 TV miniseries starring Steven Weber and Rebecca De Mornay and with a cameo appearance by King himself. First Edition with data code “R49” at inner margin of page 447; “First Edition” stated on copyright page. Currey, 227. Brooks A4. Collings A19. Horror 100 Best Books 77. Book with pinpoint foxing to inscription page, price-clipped dust jacket with a few faint stains, tiny closed tears to foot of spine. A near-fine copy. Desirable inscribed.
* * * * O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S 21 INSCRIBED BY STEPHEN KING IN THE YEAR OF PUBLICATION 21. KING, Stephen and STRAUB, Peter. The Talisman. New York, 1984. Octavo, original half red cloth, dust jacket. $2800 First trade edition of this collaborative work, inscribed on the title page by one of the authors, “For Matt Bombeck— Best wishes from Erma’s mom—and Erma—and me— Stephen King 11/17/84.” “A much-anticipated collaboration” between two acclaimed masters of modern horror fiction “resulted in The Talisman, whose setting is split between the contemporary United States and the Territories, a dark parallel universe in which magic holds sway… The 12-year-old protagonist Jack Sawyer (his name a homage to Mark Twain) befriends a werewolf in the Territories and brings him back to the United States, where the two battle various adversaries in an epic quest” (Clute & Grant, 902). First printing, with no mention of later printings on the copyright page; firstprinting dust jacket with original price of $18.95. Preceded by a signed/limited edition signed by both King and Straub. “With Love Grandma” in another hand on the inscription leaf. The recipient of this copy, Matt Bombeck, is the son of humorist Erma Bombeck, who was, along with King, one of the most popular and successful writers of the 1970s and 80s. Book fine, dust jacket nearly so with just a bit of wear to spine head.
* O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S * * * 22 "MEN GO MAD IN HERDS": MACKAY'S EXTRAORDINARY POPULAR DELUSIONS, 1852, LATER USED IN CHARTING THE STOCK MARKET 22. MACKAY, Charles. Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. London, 1852. Two volumes. Octavo, original publisher’s brown gilt- and blind-stamped cloth. $2800 Second edition of this important, entertaining and influential early study of crowd behavior, subsequently used to explore popular psychology and to chart the stock market, with numerous wood-engraved illustrations, in original gilt-stamped cloth. Noted Scottish poet and journalist Charles Mackay attempted in this work to document and explain major “popular delusions,” or seemingly irrational instances of mass action and belief. “Men,” the author contends, “think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds.” In developing his theories of mass behavior, Mackay analyzes a breadth of historical examples ranging from witch hunts, alchemists and famous haunted houses to the South Sea Bubble of 1720 and the Crusades. Mackay’s work has had a remarkably far-reaching impact, influencing such diverse fields as popular psychology and the charting of the stock market—as noted by The New York Times, which urged, “Any investor who has not read Charles Mackay’s ‘Tulipomania,’ from his classic Extraordinary Popular Delusions, first published in 1841, should grab this book for that exercise alone.” Each volume with engraved frontispiece, engraved and letterpress title pages, and numerous wood-engraved illustrations. Volume II with two rear leaves of publisher’s advertisements. See Norman 1406. Owner pencil signature to front free endpaper of Volume I partially erased. Bookseller ticket to rear pastedown of Volume II. Interiors clean; light wear to spine ends, rubbing to corners, cloth clean, gilt bright. An extremely good copy in the original cloth.
* * * * O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S 23 "ALMOST ALL OF THE KNOWN FACTS IN THE LIFE OF SOCRATES ARE REFERRED TO IN THESE DIALOGUES": PLATO'S ACCOUNT OF THE TRIAL AND DEATH OF SOCRATES, FINELY BOUND BY RAMAGE 23. (PLATO) (SOCRATES) CHURCH, F.J. The Trial and Death of Socrates, Being the Euthyphron, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo of Plato, Translated into English. London, 1880. Octavo, contemporary full red morocco gilt. $1350 First edition of Church’s translation of the four dialogues in which Plato describes the life, trial and death of Socrates, finely and beautifully bound in full morocco-gilt by Ramage. “Almost all of the known facts in the life of Socrates are referred to in these dialogues. A good many stories, it is true, are told about him by late writers: but they are mostly either false on the face of them, or based on quite insufficient evidence. We are therefore thrown back almost entirely on to Xenophon’s Memorabilia and Plato” (Introduction). A beautifully bound volume in fine condition.
* O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S * * * 24 "A TURNING POINT IN HIS CAREER": THE FIRST OF RACKHAM'S DELUXE SIGNED LIMITED EDITIONS, RIP VAN WINKLE, A BEAUTIFUL COPY 24. (RACKHAM, Arthur) IRVING, Washington. Rip Van Winkle. London, 1905. Quarto, original full pictorial vellum gilt; custom slipcase. $12,000 Deluxe signed limited first edition, with 51 full-color mounted plates by Rackham, number 137 of only 250 copies signed by Rackham, one of the smallest limitations for a Rackham title and “the first book illustrated wholly by Rackham to be issued in a limited edition” (Riall). One of the most scarce and desirable Rackham titles. “Rip Van Winkle of 1905 was a turning point in Rackham’s career because of its 51 color plates. Known previously as a black-and-white artist, Rackham with this book achieved preeminence as an illustrator working in the three-color process… Rackham’s Rip Van Winkle is among the most thoroughly illustrated of English books… His 50 illustrations, which are grouped at the end, come at a rate of one to every two or three sentences… presenting Rip’s story in the most ingenious and engaging detail” (Ray, 203-04). Ray 328. Latimore & Haskell, 26. Riall, 69. Bookplate; letters from a Rackham collector to a book dealer laid in. Expert repairs to text block, a beautiful copy in near-fine condition.
* * * * O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S 25 “THE VERY MUSIC MADE VISIBLE” (C.S. LEWIS): THE RACKHAM EDITION OF WAGNER’S RING CYCLE, BOTH VOLUMES SIGNED BY THE ILLUSTRATOR 25. (RACKHAM, Arthur, illustrator) WAGNER, Richard. The Ring of the Niblung: The Rhinegold & The Valkyrie. WITH: Siegfried and the Twilight of the Gods… Translated by Margaret Armour. London, 1910. Together, two volumes. Quarto, original full vellum gilt. $5600 First deluxe limited edition, each volume one of only 1150 copies (402 and 295, respectively) and each signed by Rackham, boasting in all 64 mounted color plates and 23 black-and-white drawings. “Germany was Rackham’s favorite holiday destination, and the country which, apart from England, had the single most important influence on his art” (Hamilton, 42). Appropriately, then, Rackham provided the libretti of Wagner’s epic “Ring cycle”— arguably German opera’s greatest achievement— with a dramatic series of illustrations, his only work aimed exclusively at adults. At least one child, however, saw and responded to Rackham’s art: the young C.S. Lewis, who would later recall, “His pictures, which seemed to me then to be the very music made visible, plunged me a few fathoms deeper into my delight. I have seldom coveted anything as I coveted that book” (Hamilton, 101). The Rhinegold and The Valkyrie, first performed separately in 1869 and 1870, constitute the first half of Wagner’s epic cycle; Siegfried and The Twilight of the Gods, which complete it, were both first performed in 1876. Latimore & Haskell, 37-38. Riall, 103, 109. Bookplate, booksellers’ small ticket. Without yellow silk ties in one volume, with ties laid into the second volume. Plates fine, vellum unusually fresh and clean, gilt bright. A beautiful set.
* O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S * * * 26 “LET THE WILD RUMPUS START!”: SPECIAL 1980 LIMITED EDITION “WILD THINGS” MONSTER, ONE OF ONLY 50 SIGNED BY SENDAK 26. SENDAK, Maurice. “Bernard,” Blue “Wild Things” monster created as a backpack. Taiwan, 1980. Backpack, with fur and fabric body. $2500 One of only 50 stuffed animals signed on the foot by Maurice Sendak, recreating “Bernard,” a monster from “Where the Wild Things Are.” Measuring twenty-four inches from horn to toe, this stuffed doll was produced as a child’s backpack. Bernard, with his blue iridescent body and black and gray beard, is the monster featured on the cover of the book. Boldly autographed on the foot by Sendak. Fine condition, as new.
* * * * O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S 27 "FOR BETTY WITH PLEASURE!": RARE FIRST EDITION OF TEN LITTLE RABBITS, PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY MAURICE SENDAK WITH AN ORIGINAL DRAWING OF MINO THE MAGICIAN 27. SENDAK, Maurice. Ten Little Rabbits. A Counting Book with Mino the Magician. Philadelphia, 1970. 16mo (2-1/2 by 3-1/2 inches), staple-bound as issued, original marbled blue paper wrappers, mounted cover label. $2800 First edition, presentation copy, of this rabbit-themed counting book, one of approximately 200 copies printed, inscribed to Sendak’s close friend and neighbor: “For Betty, Maurice Sendak Nov. ‘75,” with an original drawing of Mino the Magician saying “with pleasure!” Sendak wrote and illustrated Ten Little Rabbits as a small project for the Rosenbach in Philadelphia. The book was then published to accompany an exhibition of Sendak’s art. The story is a simple one: a magician named Mino pulls ten rabbits out of a hat and then makes them vanish again after wrangling ten rabbits proves to be overwhelming. According to the research of leading Sendak bibliographer, Joyce Hanrahan, the first printing of Ten Little Rabbits comprised just 200 copies, all in marbled blue wrappers. When those copies ran out, the second printing was released in marbled red wrappers. A number of those copies were subsequently discovered in a box at the Rosenbach. Later, an official second printing—actually the third—was released in solid blue wrappers. As a result, any copy of this work is quite scarce, with the first printing being even more rare. First printing, with marbled blue wrappers instead of marbled red or plain blue wrappers. Hanrahan A76. The former owner of this inscribed book was Maurice Sendak’s neighbor, Andrew, from Ridgefield, Connecticut. Sendak bought a home and studio in Ridgefield in 1972 with his longtime partner, Eugene Glynn, and lived there until his death. Andrew first encountered Sendak in 1975 during one of his daily dog walks. (Sendak owned many dogs throughout his life, and they often starred in his books.) Andrew was immediately taken with Sendak, who reminded him of his recently deceased father. One day, Andrew called Sendak at home and asked if he could join him on his walks. Andrew and Sendak thus embarked on a 37-year friendship that also included the Andrew’s mother, Betty, as well as Andrew’s brother. Sendak went on long walks and hikes with Andrew and his family regularly, discussing general life events, opera, and books. He also invited them into his studio to show off works in progress. Andrew’s mother, Betty, was an avid reader and collector and she and Sendak would talk late into the night about books. Sendak offered Betty advice about how to find and authenticate rare children’s books, which she used to build her collection. Additionally, he frequently bartered for autographs (i.e. a cake for an inscribed drawing featuring the cake). Sendak often referred to Betty as “Elizabeth” in inscriptions as he felt that “Betty” was too common a name. The many inscribed drawings, along with first editions, signed books, and other valuable items grew into one of the country’s premier Sendak collections. Slightest toning to wrappers. Aboutfine condition.
* O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S * * * 28 "MAURICE SENDAK ALIAS MAURICE": MAURICE SENDAK'S FANTASY SKETCHES, INSCRIBED BY HIM TO A NEIGHBOR AND CLOSE FRIEND WITH AN ORIGINAL SKETCH OF A WOMAN HOLDING AN UMBRELLA 28. SENDAK, Maurice. Fantasy Sketches. Philadelphia, 1970. Quarto, staple-bound as issued, original pictorial paper wrappers. $1650 First edition, second printing, of this collection of fantasy drawings from the 1950s, inscribed to a neighbor and close friend: “For Elizabeth with good wishes! Maurice Sendak alias Maurice June ‘76,” with an original sketch of a woman with an umbrella walking away from the viewer. This collection of drawings contains numerous brief illustrative narratives, ranging in content from the sweetly innocent to the delightfully naughty. Hanrahan A74.1. The former owner of this inscribed book was Maurice Sendak’s neighbor, Andrew, from Ridgefield, Connecticut, the brother of the inscribee, Michael. Sendak bought a home and studio in Ridgefield in 1972 with his longtime partner, Eugene Glynn, and lived there until his death. Andrew first encountered Sendak in 1975 during one of his daily dog walks. (Sendak owned many dogs throughout his life, and they often starred in his books.) Andrew was immediately taken with Sendak, who reminded him of his recently deceased father. One day, Andrew called Sendak at home and asked if he could join him on his walks. Andrew and Sendak thus embarked on a 37-year friendship that also included the Andrew’s mother, Betty, as well as Andrew’s brother. Sendak went on long walks and hikes with Andrew and his family regularly, discussing general life events, opera, and books. He also invited them into his studio to show off works in progress. Andrew’s mother, Betty, was an avid reader and collector and she and Sendak would talk late into the night about books. Sendak offered Betty advice about how to find and authenticate rare children’s books, which she used to build her collection. Additionally, he frequently bartered for autographs (i.e. a cake for an inscribed drawing). In many of the inscriptions, Betty is referred to as “Elizabeth,” a name Sendak routinely used as he felt that “Betty” was too common. The many inscribed drawings, along with first editions, signed books, and other valuable items grew into one of the country’s premier Sendak collections. Interior fine, only mild toning to wrappers, a few tiny spots of faint soiling. A near-fine copy.
* * * * O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S 29 “A MILESTONE IN SENDAK’S CAREER”: FIRST EDITION OF DEAR MILI, SIGNED BY SENDAK 29. SENDAK, Maurice. GRIMM, Wilhelm. Dear Mili. New York, 1988. Oblong octavo, original gray cloth, dust jacket. $1200 First edition of this Grimm fairy tale adaptation, signed on the half title by Maurice Sendak. Of this recently discovered fairy-tale, The New York Times reported, “After more than 150 years, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin, and Cinderella will be joined by another Grimm fairy-tale character,” Mili, a little girl sent into the forest for thirty years to protect her from a terrible war. The magnificent illustrations by “the preeminent children’s book illustrator of his time [are] a milestone in Sendak’s career, the work of a master at the height of his powers.” Hanrahan A130. The former owner of this signed book was Maurice Sendak’s neighbor, Andrew, from Ridgefield, Connecticut. Sendak bought a home and studio in Ridgefield in 1972 with his longtime partner, Eugene Glynn, and lived there until his death. Andrew first encountered Sendak in 1975 during one of his daily dog walks. (Sendak owned many dogs throughout his life, and they often starred in his books.) Andrew was immediately taken with Sendak, who reminded him of his recently deceased father. One day, Andrew called Sendak at home and asked if he could join him on his walks. Andrew and Sendak thus embarked on a 37-year friendship that also included the Andrew’s mother, Betty, as well as Andrew’s brother. Sendak went on long walks and hikes with Andrew and his family regularly, discussing general life events, opera, and books. He also invited them into his studio to show off works in progress. Andrew’s mother, Betty, was an avid reader and collector and she and Sendak would talk late into the night about books. Sendak offered Betty advice about how to find and authenticate rare children’s books, which she used to build her collection. Additionally, he frequently bartered for autographs (i.e. a cake for an inscribed drawing). The many inscribed drawings, along with first editions, signed books, and other valuable items grew into one of the country’s premier Sendak collections. Book fine, dust jacket very nearly fine. A desirable signed copy.
* O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 * B A U M A N R A R E B O O K S * * * 30 SINGER'S THE GOLEM, ONE OF ONLY 450 COPIES SIGNED BY HIM 30. SINGER, Isaac Bashevis. The Golem. New York, 1982. Octavo, original brown cloth, slipcase. $500 Signed limited first edition, number 216 of only 450 copies signed by Singer and illustrator Uri Shulevitz, with 11 full-page illustrations, in original slipcase. In this illustrated children’s book, Nobel Prize-winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer relates the legend of the golem amid the persecution of Jews in the old city of Prague. Signed limited first edition; as issued without dust jacket. A fine signed copy.
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