CATALOGUE
PHILADELPHIA 1608 Walnut Street Suite 1000 Philadelphia, PA 19103 215-546-6466 By appointment NEW YORK 535 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10022 212-751-0011 Mon to Sat: 10am–6pm LAS VEGAS Grand Canal Shoppes The Venetian | The Palazzo 3327 Las Vegas Boulevard South Suite 2856 Las Vegas, NV 89109 702-948-1617 Daily: 10am–8pm Any items may be returned within ten days for any reason (please notify us before returning). All reimbursements are limited to original purchase price. We accept all major credit cards. Shipping and insurance charges are additional. Packages will be shipped by UPS or Federal Express unless another carrier is requested. Next-day or second-day air service is available upon request. All books are shipped on approval and are fully guaranteed. baumrarebooks.com | 1-800-97-BAUMAN (1-800-972-2862) | [email protected] @baumanrarebooks facebook.com/baumanrarebooks @baumanrarebooks
CONTENTS LITERATURE 4 AMERICANA 40 HISTORY, SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY 54 BIBLES & RELIGION 70 TRAVEL & EXPLORATION 78 CHILDREN & ILLUSTRATED 84 GREAT GIFTS 92 cover, no. 150 left, no. 14 above, no. 77
LITERATURE 4 “The One Great Christmas Myth Of Modern Literature”: Beautiful Unrestored First Issue Of A Christmas Carol, Together With Exceptional Copies Of The Other Four Christmas Books, All In Original Gilt-Decorated Cloth First editions of all five of Charles Dickens’ Christmas Books—chief among them a first issue of his immortal Christmas Carol, the veritable “Bible of Christmas”—illustrated with 63 engravings, four in color, by Leech, Maclise, Stanfield, Doyle and Landseer, all books in the original gilt-decorated cloth. A beautiful set. A Christmas Carol “may readily be called the Bible of Christmas… It was issued about ten days before Christmas, 1843, and 6000 copies were sold on the first day… the number of reprintings have been so many that all attempts at the figures have been futile. Altogether 24 editions were issued in the original format” (Eckel, 110). “It was a work written at the height of Dickens’ great powers, which would add to his considerable fame, bring a new work to the English language, increase the festivities at Christmastime, and LITERATURE 01 DICKENS, Charles. The Christmas Books. London, 1843-48. Together, five volumes. 12mo, original cloth, custom box. $70,000
5 contain his most eloquent protest at the condition of the poor” (John Mortimer). A Christmas Carol “was an extraordinary achievement—the one great Christmas myth of modern literature.” The publication history of A Christmas Carol is bibliographically complex. “Dickens decided to publish the book himself… He wanted the Carol to be a beautiful gift book and took pride in its development. He stipulated the following requirements: a fancy binding, blind-stamped, with gilding on the spine and front cover; all edges gilded; four full-page handcolored etchings; half title and title pages printed in colors of bright red and green; and hand-colored green endpapers to match the green title page… However, in examining printed copies prior to publication, Dickens was disappointed with the appearance of the green titles, which turned drab, and the hand-colored green endpapers, which dusted off and smudged, and had the title page changed to red and blue, the half title to blue, the date on the title page changed from 1844 to 1843, and the endpapers changed to yellow, which did not require hand work. Dickens’ changes were completed by December 17… Since Dickens’ instructions to discontinue the unsatisfactory titles and endpapers were received at the press before publication, at a time when there were on hand different quantities of endpapers, title pages, and sheets of printed text already produced, many copies are found with a mixture of features” (Smith, 21-22). A Christmas Carol is from the first issue, with all first issue points; the binding matches Todd’s first impression, first issue. (see Smith II:4). Dickens followed A Christmas Carol’s tremendous success with four more Christmas books. First edition of The Chimes, with the first state of the engraved title page; first edition of The Cricket on the Hearth, with first state of advertising leaf at rear; first edition of The Battle of Life, with vignette title page in the fourth state; first edition of The Haunted Man and TheGhost’s Bargain. All advertisements present, as issued. Bookplate in The Chimes; a few volumes with small bookseller labels. Christmas Carol beautiful and unrestored with only a few tiny marks to cloth, slightest fraying at spine end corners, gilt bright; other volumes about-fine to fine. A lovely set of Dickens’ Christmas books, including a particularly beautiful first issue of Christmas Carol. “And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!”
LITERATURE 6 Editio princeps (first edition) of nine of Aristophanes’ eleven extant comedies, edited and with scholarly notes by Marcus Musurus and finely printed by the renowned Venetian printing pioneer Aldus Manutius—one of the first productions of his recently established press—including The Acharnians, The Knights, The Clouds, The Wasps, Peace, The Birds, The Frogs, Wealth, and Thesmophoriazusae or The Women Celebrating the Thesmophoria. A lovely incunable folio volume, very handsomely bound. “Belle et rare” (Brunet). “No Literature Has Anything To Compare With These Comedies”: 1498 Editio Princeps Of Aristophanes’ Comedies, One Of The First Productions Of Aldus Manutius Renowned Venetian Press—A Splendid Incunable Folio, Beautifully Bound 02 ARISTOPHANES. Aristophanis Comoediae Novem. Venice, 15 July, 1498. Folio, 18th-century full polished calf gilt. $70,000
7 “In marked contrast with Nicolas Jenson, who was primarily a craftsman, stands the second great Venetian in printing history, Aldus Manutius, who was first and foremost a scholar. Aldus turned to printing as a means to an end, his main interest being focused on the buyer and user of his books. Himself a profound scholar, imbued with the spirit of the Renaissance, he never lost faith in his conviction that books should be made so as to be read. The ingenuity with which he developed methods for achieving these results and the success he won by them have set him apart as the first great publisher who created a demand for an entirely new form of book… He was a student at the universities in Rome and in Ferrara and became an enthusiast for the recently rediscovered masterpieces of ancient Greek literature, now brought in manuscripts to Italy by Greek refugees from Constantinople… In 1490, in his fortieth year, Aldus went to Venice prepared to establish a printing office primarily for the printing of the Greek classics… Up to July, 1499, 18 out of 30 titles from his press were Greek texts or Greek grammars and dictionaries” (McMurtrie, The Book, 205). “The greatest writer of Greek comedy… [Plato] says that the Graces, looking for an enduring shrine, found it in the soul of Aristophanes. He unites understanding, feeling and fancy in a degree possessed by few poets of antiquity… No literature has anything to compare with these comedies” (Peck, 127-28). «Première et belle édition… Les Scolies sont dans cette importante et belle édition imprimées bein plus correctement que dans le reimpression faite à Florence 1515» [First and beautiful edition… The Scoliae are in this important and beautiful edition printed much more correctly than in the reprint made in Florence 1515] (Renouard). Text in Greek. Aldus Manutius’ famed printer’s symbol—the entwined dolphin and anchor—did not appear in an Aldine volume until 1499. Hain-Copinger *1656. Proctor 5566. Goff A-958. Brunet, 451. Infrequent owner ink marginalia in Greek, penned in a neat hand. Text clean and fine. A bit of light wear to spine head. A beautifully bound copy of this rare and desirable incunable, the editio princeps of “the father of comedy.” “The Graces, looking for an enduring shrine, found it in the soul of Aristophanes.”
LITERATURE 8 “Unsurpassed In The West’s Imaginative Literature”: Extremely Rare 1683 Quarto Edition Of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, One Of The Earliest Obtainable Editions Exceptionally rare and desirable 1683 quarto edition of Hamlet, Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy. “Shakespeare’s standard play is Hamlet… the truest mirror of Shakespeare’s personality and the ripest production of English literary art” (Baugh, 5278). Few dispute Samuel Johnson’s declaration that “Shakespeare is above all writers,” or a view of Hamlet as “theatre of the world, like The Divine Comedy or Paradise Lost or Faust, or Ulysses, or In Search of Lost Time… The phenomenon of Hamlet, the prince without the play, is unsurpassed in the West’s imaginative literature” (Bloom, Shakespeare, 383-4). The quarto editions of Shakespeare’s plays (appearing between 1594 and 1709) were the first separate printings; the existence of eleven quarto editions of Hamlet between 1603 and 1703 is a clear indication of its immense popularity. This 1683 edition is the eighth quarto edition, published two years before the Fourth Folio. All of the quarto editions are scarce, and those published before the Fourth Folio are particularly desirable. Jaggard, 307. Bartlett 86. Bartlett & Pollard, 12 (locating only 21 copies). Ink gift inscription; bookplates, including that of Kenneth Rapoport, American bibliophile renowned for his library of rare scientific works. Mild spotting to slightly toned text, small and faint marginal dampstain to a few leaves. Light rubbing to extremities of binding. An attractive and desirable copy of this extremely rare quarto edition of Shakespeare’s immortal Hamlet. 03 SHAKESPEARE. The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark. London, 1683. Slim quarto, 20thcentury three-quarter brown morocco. $65,000
9 04 SHAKESPEARE. The Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet. London, 1664. Folio, period-style full red morocco gilt. $18,500 “For Never Was A Story Of More Woe Than This Of Juliet And Her Romeo” The complete text of Shakespeare’s first tragedy and one of his greatest plays, Romeo and Juliet, from the rare and important Third Folio, on 13 original leaves. The four folios of Shakespeare are the first four editions of Shakespeare’s collected plays. These were the only collected editions printed in the 17th century. The 1664 second issue of the Third Folio (from which this play was taken), is the first to include Pericles and is therefore the first complete edition of Shakespeare’s plays. The Third Folio is believed to be the scarcest of the four great 17th-century folio editions, a large part of the edition presumed destroyed in the Great London Fire of 1666. Leaves [Hhh5]-[Kkk5] contain the play Romeo and Juliet. “The Shakespearean exuberance or gusto is part of what breaks through linguistic and cultural barriers… Shakespeare is to the world’s literature what Hamlet is to the imaginary domain of literary character: a spirit that permeates everywhere, that simply cannot be confined” (Bloom, The Western Canon, 52). The facsimile title page and frontispiece reproduce these pages of the second issue of the Third Folio, bearing the date 1664 in the imprint rather than 1663. A clean, wide-margined copy, beautifully bound.
LITERATURE 10 “One Of The Greatest, Most Noble And Sublime Poems Which Either This Age Or Nation Has Produced”: First Edition Of Milton’s Paradise Lost First edition of Milton’s poetic masterpiece, his dramatic vision of Satan’s expulsion from Heaven and the temptation of Adam and Eve. This copy with title page identified by Amory as the final title page of the first edition. John Dryden referred to Paradise Lost as “one of the greatest, most noble and sublime poems which either this age or nation has produced.” The troubled printing history of the work is very complex. In April 1667 Milton signed a contract with publisher Samuel Simmons. “It provided for the immediate payment to Milton of five pounds and the future payment of another five pounds when a first edition of 1300 copies had been sold… [the edition] was not to exceed 1500 copies” (William Riley Parker). According to the contract, after the first 1300 copies were sold and Milton paid, the remaining 200 copies, if the printer printed that many, would belong to the printer as remainders. “During the sale of the first edition of no more than 1500 copies, he printed six different title pages, two dated 1667, 1668 and 1669” (Parker). Due to poor sales, Simmons kept experimenting with the book to encourage sales (even eliminating Milton’s name from the title page at one point and using his initials only, in case it was his relationship to Cromwell that made the work unpopular). It is believed that all 1,500 copies of Paradise Lost were printed in 1667, but adding to the bibliographic confusion, “the sheets of the various issues were evidently mixed and made up indiscriminately by the binder, and therefore copies of apparently the same issue will be found to differ from each other in that some will have more of the errors corrected than others” (Wither to Prior). This copy bears the last cancel title page as described in Wickenheiser. Without the four-line “The Printer to the Reader” as usual with copies with this title page. Owner ink signature. Text generally clean and fine, some light rubbing to binding extremities, one spine label chipped. Some leaves toward the rear uncut along lower margin. An exceptionally good, relatively wide-margined copy. 05 MILTON, John. Paradise Lost. A Poem in Ten Books. London, 1669. Small quarto, 20th-century full brown calf. $50,000 “Of Man’s first disobedience, and the fruit / Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste / Brought death into the World, and all our woe…”
11 06 CERVANTES SAAVEDRA, Miguel de. The History Of the most Renowned Don Quixote of Mancha: And his Trusty Squire Sancho Pancha. Now made English according to the Humour of our Modern Language. London, 1687. Folio (8-1/2 by 13 inches), contemporary full brown calf neatly rebacked with original spine laid down. $18,000 “Read By All Ages At All Times”: First Illustrated Edition In English Of Don Quixote, 1687 First illustrated edition in English of Cervantes’ “great, ironical, romantic story” (Powys 27), the first edition of Phillips’ translation, with a handsome full-page engraved frontispiece and 16 fine copper engravings (on eight plates), in nicely restored contemporary calf covers. First published 1605-15, Don Quixote stands as “one of those universal works which are read by all ages at all times, and there are very few who have not at one time or another felt themselves to be Don Quixote confronting the windmills or Sancho Panza at the inn” (PMM 111). With engraved frontispiece and 16 copper-plate engravings on eight plates. Phillips’ rendering is the second English translation of Don Quixote; Thomas Shelton’s, published in 1612 (part I) and 1620 (part II), was the first, but it was not illustrated. With three pages of poems and errata at rear, often not present. Wing C1774. Early owner ink initials to title page. Bookplates, including that of Kenneth Rapoport, American bibliophile renowned for his library of rare scientific works. Old dealer description tipped to front flyleaf. Interior generally clean, marginal tear to [A4], tears to upper corners of Gg2-3, not touching text. Corners restored. A nicely refurbished copy.
LITERATURE 12 “That Dialogue Of Mind, Heart And Voice”: First Edition Of Boswell’s Life Of Johnson, 1791 First edition, first state of “the most famous biography in any language, one of Western literature’s most germinal achievements.” Handsomely bound in full morocco-gilt by Zaehnsdorf in 1905. “The Shakespeare of biographers” (Macaulay), James Boswell “excelled in insight into human nature and in ability to dramatize a situation. For such purposes [Dr. Samuel] Johnson was God’s plenty… Boswell was not merely a conscientious preserver of detail; he was also an inspired shaping artist. He knew, and transmits, the sound of his subject’s voice to a degree unparalleled in other biographers… Completeness of portrayal was certainly Boswell’s aim—and his accomplishment” (Baugh et al., 1065-66). “If there had been no Boswell, Johnson would have been one of the most famous names in English literature; but that he has become a household name… is due to the chance that brought Boswell into his company… Boswell is the sniffing bloodhound who will follow the scent of individuality into whatever territory it leads him. The fascination of their dialogue, that dialogue of mind, heart and voice round which Boswell organized his great Life, is that it is not merely between two very different men but between two epochs. In its pages, Romantic Europe speaks to Renaissance Europe, and is answered” (Wain, 229). “Boswell’s Life of Johnson remains the most famous biography in any language, one of Western literature’s most germinal achievements…” (DNB). Volume I is first state, with “gve” uncorrected on page 135, line 10 (a change made before publication). Grolier 100. Small bookplate; minor evidence of tipped-in material on front flyleaves (blank). Faint foxing to frontispiece in Volume I and first few leaves of Volume II; interiors generally clean. Minor rubbing to joints and extremities. A very handsomely bound copy. 07 BOSWELL, James. The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Co London, 1791. Two volumes. Quarto, 20th-century full red straight-grain morocco gilt. $17,500
13 08 JOHNSON, Samuel. A Dictionary of the English Language: In Which The Words are deduced from their Originals, And Illustrated in their Different Significations By Examples from the best Writers. London, 1755. Two volumes. Tall thick folio, contemporary full calf expertly rebacked, custom slipcases. $27,500 First edition of the first great dictionary of the English language, Johnson’s “audacious attempt to tame his unruly native tongue… combining huge erudition with a steely wit and remarkable clarity of thought” (Hitchings) “Johnson’s Dictionary made him a superstar. To be sure, there had been dictionaries before his. The difference is that, while these were compiled, Johnson’s was written… The glory of the book is that it is also a compendium of English literature, reprinting fine examples of words from the masters, often Shakespeare or Sir Francis Bacon. Johnson sought to ‘intersperse with verdure and flowers the dusty desarts of barren philology” (Smithsonian Book of Books). “The preface ranks among Johnson’s finest writings… It is the dictionary itself which justifies Noah Webster’s statement that Johnson’s writings had, in philology, the effect which Newton’s discoveries had in mathematics” (PMM 201). The introductory material in this copy appears to have been assembled from a galley or working proof of some kind—both the “Preface” and the “History of the English Language” contain a total of about 65 contemporary ink annotations, mostly marginal, which appear to be proofreader’s or printer’s marks. In addition, the “History” has been cut between the double columns and subsequently reassembled. Volume I title page rehinged, two closed tears to Volume I title page with early repair. Light spotting; faint vertical crease marks to “History” along center margin, some folds repaired. Expert restoration to corners. A handsome copy in near-fine condition of this rare and important lexical landmark. “The Most Amazing, Enduring And Endearing One-Man Feat”
LITERATURE 14 First Editions Of The Works Of Sterne, With Full First Edition Tristram Shandy Thrice Signed, Uniformly And Beautifully Bound By Riviere First editions of the principal works and letters of Sterne, with three volumes of Tristram Shandy signed by Sterne as is called for in first edition copies. Beautifully bound in full mottled calf gilt by Riviere and Son. A splendid first edition collection. Tristram Shandy’s huge popular success made Sterne, a Yorkshire parson, the toast of the London literary world. When some volumes were pirated, Sterne began signing some genuine editions of his work. This set is signed by Sterne on the first page of Volumes V, VII and IX, as is usual in first editions. “Sterne is generally acknowledged as an innovator of the highest originality, and has been seen as the chief begetter of a long line of writers interested in the ‘stream-of-consciousness” (Drabble, 937). “[Sterne] remains, as the author of Tristram Shandy, a delineator of the comedy of human life before whom only three or four humorous writers, in any tongue or of any age, can justly claim precedence… he deserves many of the honours that have been paid to Pope and Swift” (DNB XVIII: 1106). Four volumes with expert repairs to joints. A beautiful set of first editions in fine condition. 09 STERNE, Laurence. Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Nine volumes. WITH: The Sermons of Mr. Yorick. Seven volumes. WITH: A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy. Two volumes. WITH: Letters of the Late Rev. Mr. Laurence Sterne to His Most Intimate Friends. Three volumes. London, 1760-1775. Twenty-one volumes in all. Small octavo, 20th-century full speckled calf gilt. $28,000
15 10 [WEBB, Jane] (Mrs. John Claudius LOUDON). The Mummy! A Tale of the Twenty-Second Century. London, 1828. Three volumes. Octavo, contemporary three-quarter red calf. $11,500 Rare second edition of this landmark early science fiction novel, published only one year after the similarly elusive first edition and with a substantially altered text, Loudon’s anonymously published classic, authored while still in her teens, widely praised and aligned with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in influence and originality. Jane Webb Loudon’s The Mummy! is heralded as “a pioneering work of science fiction that brought together political commentary, Egyptomania, and interest in technology” (ODNB), and stands as “one of the two most noteworthy English efforts between Frankenstein (1818) and the scientific romances of H.G. Wells” (Alkon, Science Fiction Before 1900, 38). The Mummy! also signals “a milestone in the development of futuristic fiction… surpassed only by Frankenstein in the annals of early science fiction by female authors” (Alkon in Science Fiction Studies, V23, No.1:123). The Mummy! is “the earliest literary work thus far identified as dealing with revived mummies” (MacDonald & Rice, eds., Consuming Ancient Egypt, 24). Inspired by the Creature in Frankenstein, Loudon’s mummy appears threatening, yet “what he actually offers people is help, and he also appears to possess a near-omniscience which allows him unfailingly to diagnose what kind of help is needed.” Loudon introduces devices such as “steam-powered automaton surgeons and lawyers… and at one point she even anticipates space travel” (Hopkins, 11). First published in 1827, an edition exceedingly hard to find. Barron, Anatomy of Wonder II-1218. Foxing to first few and last few leaves, text generally clean. Spines gently toned, a few light rubs, bindings sound and attractive. A very nice copy of this pioneering work. “A Pioneering Work Of Science Fiction”: Rare 1828 Second Edition Of Jane Webb Loudon’s The Mummy!
LITERATURE 16 “To Curdle The Blood And Quicken The Beatings Of The Heart”: Important First Illustrated Edition Of Frankenstein, 1831 Third edition of Mary Shelley’s masterpiece of horror, the first with her own revisions and introduction—prepared especially for this edition, relating the circumstances surrounding the novel’s creation—and the first edition with illustrations. First published in 1818, Frankenstein is not only the “most famous English horror novel” but also, by some critics’ reckoning, “the first genuine science fiction novel” (Clute & Nicholls, 1099). In her introduction to this edition, Shelley recounts how, on that famous night in Switzerland, Lord Byron proposed that he, Mary and Percy Shelley, and physician John Polidori all write a “ghost story.” Polidori penned The Vampyre and Byron began a never-finished narrative, but Mary Shelley, in creating Frankenstein, “bequeath[ed] to the present age its most compelling myth” (New York City Public Library, Visionary Daughters of Albion). Of course, Frankenstein’s scientific bent transcended the Gothic novels of the time and helped lay the foundations for the genre of science fiction as well as horror. This edition features the first illustrations of a story and character who would, in time, come to haunt the popular imagination as few others. The engraved frontispiece depicts the creature coming to life. The vignette title-page portrays Victor Frankenstein’s departure for the university. This edition of Frankenstein, complete in itself, is Number 9 in Bentley’s “Standard Novels” series. “The second portion of the volume is occupied by Volume I of Schiller’s The Ghost-Seer, of which the second portion is in [Number] 10 of the series, also including Charles Brockden Brown’s Edgar Huntly” (Wolff 6280a); both volumes are present here and complete. Faint offsetting from frontispieces to vignette title pages; texts clean and fine, two spine labels renewed, a few minor rubs to calf bindings. A handsome set in excellent condition. 11 SHELLEY, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus. London, 1831. Two volumes. Small octavo, contemporary three-quarter tan calf gilt, custom box. $19,500
17 “Please, Sir, I Want Some More”: First Issue Of Oliver Twist, 1838 12 DICKENS, Charles. Oliver Twist; Or, the Parish Boy’s Progress. By “Boz.” London, 1838. Three volumes. Octavo, 20th-century full red morocco gilt. $14,500 First edition, first issue, of Dickens’ classic, with “Boz” title pages and 24 illustrations by George Cruikshank, including the canceled “Fireside” plate, handsomely bound by BayntunRiviere in full morocco-gilt with a gilt portrait of Dickens on the front board. “When Bentley decided to publish Oliver in book form before its completion in his periodical, Cruikshank had to complete the last few plates in haste. Dickens did not review them until the eve of publication and objected to the Fireside plate which depicted Oliver at Rose Maylie’s knee [Volume III, page 313]… Dickens had Cruikshank design a new plate [with Rose and Oliver in a church interior]… This Church plate was not completed in time for incorporation into the early copies of the book, but it replaced the Fireside plate in later copies… Dickens not only objected to the Fireside plate, but also disliked having ‘Boz’ on the title page. He voiced these objections prior to publication and the plate and title page were changed between November 9 and 16” (Smith, 35). First issue, with both the Fireside plate and “Boz” on the title pages. Smith 4 (especially note 3). Fine condition. “Not Such A Hound As Mortal Eyes Have Ever Seen” 13 CONAN DOYLE, Arthur. The Hound of the Baskervilles. London, 1902. Octavo, original pictorial cloth, custom box. $9500 First edition, first issue, of the third Sherlock Holmes novel, widely regarded as the best of the series, with 16 illustrations by Sidney Paget. Although Conan Doyle had killed off his most famous character by sending him over the Reichenbach Falls while grappling with Professor Moriarty in “The Final Problem” (December 1893), his readership demanded the sleuth’s return. The author obliged with this, the third—and still considered by many the best— Sherlock Holmes novel, carefully positioned on the title page as “another adventure” of Holmes. “But,” as Howard Haycraft notes, “the seed of doubt was planted”; and while the novel proved an immediate success, readers continued to press for more. Conan Doyle finally relented and engineered Holmes’ “resurrection” in 1903. The Hound of the Baskervilles remains “one of the most gripping books in the language” (Crime & Mystery 100 Best 6). First issue, with all first issue points. Without extremely scarce dust jacket. Plate opposite page 311 tipped back in. Light foxing to endpapers and edges, text generally clean. Spine gently sunned, gilt still bright. An exceptionally good copy.
LITERATURE 18 “Completely Altered The Course Of English Painting” The monumental 1802 Boydell-Steevens edition of Shakespeare’s Works, complete with two engraved frontispieces and the full complement of 94 fine fullpage copper engravings after paintings by the leading English artists of the time. Sumptuously bound in full contemporary morocco-gilt. “Boydell’s gallery completely altered the course of English painting. Most painters earned their livings by painting portraits for the wealthy nobility, but when Boydell began to commission works from the best artists in England, they were free to explore other topics and themes, drawn first from Shakespeare’s plays, then from other writers, and finally from the classics and English history. Boydell had almost single-handedly created a market for what was called ‘history painting,’ and painters had a source of income that was not rooted primarily in portraiture” (Friedman, 2). According to Boydell’s prospectus of 1786, a type foundry, an ink factory, and a printing house were all specially erected for the production of this edition. He began issuing the work in 1791 in 18 eventual parts, then published a nine-volume folio edition in 1802 (this set), and finally a two-volume elephant folio of all the engravings in 1803. “There can be no doubt that Boydell’s Shakespeare… was the most splendid of bibliophile e d i t i o n s undertaken in the 18th century or at any other time… no Printing Press, which has hitherto existed, ever produced a work… so uniformly beautiful” (Franklin, 47-48). This set with a complete complement of 96 folio plates, including the second frontispiece bust of Shakespeare not listed in the Directions to the Binder (not bound in this copy), which calls for 95 plates. Two leaves in Volume II from Much Ado About Nothing supplied from a smaller copy. Scattered foxing, a few instances of faint dampstaining; magnificent contemporary binding with modest wear to boards. A beautiful copy of a historic edition of Shakespeare. 14 SHAKESPEARE, William. The Dramatic Works of Shakspeare. Revised by George Steevens. London, 1802. Nine volumes. Large thick folio, contemporary full burgundy morocco gilt. $21,000
19 “…But You Must Make It Interesting. That Is Essential—All The Rest Is Detail”: Handsomely Bound “Author’s Edition” Of Conan Doyle’s Works, Signed By Him 15 CONAN DOYLE, Sir Arthur. Works. London, 1903. Twelve volumes. Octavo, early three-quarter red morocco gilt. $16,500 “Author’s Edition”—first American edition, first English issue—of Conan Doyle’s tales and novels, including four of his famous Sherlock Holmes books, one of 1000 sets signed by the author, handsomely bound. Arthur Conan Doyle’s literary career took him far beyond the confines of Sherlock Holmes’ sitting room at 221-B Baker Street. Yet none of his creations could ultimately compete with literature’s most famous consulting detective for the reading public’s affection. “The author considered this edition of his works to be of great importance: he revised parts and added notes and a number of special introductions… Because of the author’s friendship with Reginald Smith, he agreed to sign the thousand copies of the English issue. He was not, however, prepared to do the same for the American publisher… The English issue also has the further attraction of having two illustrations in each volume rather than one” (Green & Gibson, A60). Illustrated with 25 engraved plates. Fine condition. H. G. Wells’ Works, Signed By Wells And Beautifully Bound 16 WELLS, H.G. The Works. New York, 1924-27. Twenty-eight volumes. Octavo, contemporary three-quarter red morocco gilt. $23,000 Signed limited Atlantic Edition of the works of H. G. Wells, one of 1050 copies printed for America, with frontispiece photogravure plates, beautifully bound by Stikeman. After years as a teacher and literary journalist, Wells “burst on the literary scene in 1895 with The Time Machine… There followed in quick succession The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), The War of the Worlds (1898), and The First Men in the Moon (1901). These scientific romances, arguably his finest works, have had an incalculable influence on modern literature and popular culture; their cosmic sweep and haunting pessimism have influenced most subsequent science fiction” (Stringer, 708). Signed “H.G. Wells” on limitation page of Volume I. A beautiful set in fine condition.
LITERATURE 20 Second edition of the last novel Austen published in her lifetime, her exquisitely comedic and unerringly insightful social satire—”artistry… as elaborate as any novelist has ever achieved,” the first edition to list Austen as the author by name and the first illustrated edition, with engraved frontispiece illustration and engraved vignette title page. “Emma was the fourth and last novel which Jane Austen published in her lifetime. When it was written the author was at the height of her powers, and she wrote the book rapidly and surely, encouraged by the success of her previous novels to express herself with confidence in the way peculiarly her own” (Rosenbach 29:24). “Jane Austen’s fourth novel has a profundity similar to that of Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility, only more elusive since Emma’s character is far more subtle than Elizabeth or Marianne’s… Austen’s self-knowledge, her love of detail… [helped her] to create a proud, selfwilled, self-guided, vexing and outrageous Emma and her greatest novel” (Honan, Jane Austen, 356-364). “No English reissue of Austen’s novels is known after 1818 until in 1832 Richard Bentley decided to include them in his series of Standard Novels… Bentley’s reprinting of the novels, each complete in one volume, was presumably intended for the private buyer; there is evidence that some circulating libraries were still well supplied with copies of the original editions” (Gilson, 211). First published in 1816. Scattered light foxing to text, binding quite handsome. A lovely copy. “Her Greatest Novel”: 1833 Second Edition Of Emma 17 AUSTEN, Jane. Emma. London, 1833. 12mo, period-style full tree calf gilt. $6200 “Upon my word, Emma, to hear you abusing the reason you have, is almost enough to make me think so too. Better be without sense, than misapply it as you do.”
21 “Foremost Among Writers In The English Language”: 1687 Edition Of Chaucer’s Works, The Last In Gothic Type 18 CHAUCER, Geoffrey. The Works of Our Ancient, Learned, & Excellent English Poet, Jeffrey Chaucer. London, 1687. Folio, 18th-century full paneled calf rebacked. $8500 Third Speght edition of Chaucer’s works—chief among them his incomparable Canterbury Tales—the last edition to be set in Gothic type, with engraved frontispiece “Progeny of Chaucer,” incorporating a full-length portrait of the author and an image of his tomb. “Chaucer’s characters live age after age. Every age is a Canterbury Pilgrimage; we all pass on, each sustaining one of these characters; nor can a child be born who is not one of these characters of Chaucer” (William Blake). This is the third printing of Thomas Speght’s edition, which “held sway for well over a hundred years, far longer than any other. It was the text read and owned by Milton, Junius, Pepys, Dryden and Pope” (Derek Pearsall). It is essentially a reprint of Speght’s 1602 edition, being the eighth collected edition, and includes for the first time the printing of the conclusions to the Cook’s and the Squire’s Tale, then recently discovered. After this edition, the quality of Chaucerian editorship declined, not to be revived until the 1775 Tyrwhitt edition of The Canterbury Tales. Light foxing, chiefly marginal; minor wormtraces to inner margin of last few signatures only, not touching letterpress. A few minor marginal tears, not touching letterpress: [2B4], 2Y2, 3C2, [4K3]; two leaves, 4M2-3, a little ragged along outer and lower edges, early boards expertly restored. A very good copy. “One Of The World’s Literary Masterpieces” 19 CONRAD, Joseph. Lord Jim, A Tale. Edinburgh and London, 1900. Octavo, original green cloth, custom slipcase. $7000 First edition, first issue, of Conrad’s brilliant exploration of morality and the torment of guilt, “second only to Heart of Darkness in renown”—the Doheny copy, with her morocco bookplate. To critic Cedric Watts, Conrad’s Lord Jim is “one of the world’s literary masterpieces… Conrad, like Britannia, rules the waves… a book of the rare literary quality of Lord Jim is something to receive with gratitude and joy” (New York Times Book Review). “Second only to Heart of Darkness in renown” (Joseph Conrad Companion), Lord Jim is “the first full-length work of Conrad’s artistic maturity… the novel is, moreover, deeply personal, with roots in Conrad’s past… [and] has retained its place as one of Conrad’s most widely enjoyed and studied books. It has remained so for the brilliance of its technical innovations as well” (Cambridge Companion). First edition, with all first issue points. Cagle A5.a. From the celebrated collection of Estelle Doheny, with her morocco-gilt bookplate. “One of the earliest female book collectors in the United States, Estelle Doheny, purchased her first rare book in 1931 and continued buying books and manuscripts until her death in 1958. She is the only woman collector who developed a library notable for both its scope and quality” (DePaul University). Mild foxing to fore-edge and first few and last few leaves; light rubbing to joints, binding sound, cloth clean, gilt bright. A near-fine copy, with excellent provenance.
LITERATURE 22 “A Masterpiece… An Epic Poem In Prose About God, Humanity, And Hugo” 20 HUGO, Victor. Les Miserables. New York, 1862. Five volumes. Octavo, early 20th-century half black morocco. $8200 First edition in English of Hugo’s greatest work, published the same year as the French edition, in original cloth, an especially lovely five-volume work handsomely bound by Bennett. Les Misaerables was an enormous critical and popular success; its immediate translations brought Hugo international fame. The great novel “has been hailed as a masterpiece of popular literature, an epic poem in prose about God, humanity and Hugo… Despite its length, complexity and occasionally unbelievable plot and characterization, it remains a masterpiece of popular literature” (Dolbow, 149, 214). Two English-language translations of Les Miserables were published in 1862, the same year as the first French-language edition. The British translation by Lascelles Wraxall (the English translation authorized by Hugo) was published complete in three volumes in October 1862 by London publishers Hurst and Blackett. The American translation by Charles Wilbour was published in five separate monthly parts from June through October 1862 by New York publisher Carleton Publishing Company—and thus is most probably the first edition in English. Interiors clean, bindings sound and attractive with just a touch of rubbing to corners. A handsome, about-fine copy. “Bovary C’est Moi”: Scarce First Issue Of Flaubert’s Masterpiece 21 FLAUBERT, Gustave. Madame Bovary. Moeurs de Province. Paris, 1857. Two volumes. 12mo, contemporary half brown morocco, custom cloth clamshell box. $9500. Rare first edition, first issue in book form, of Flaubert’s literary masterpiece, in contemporary binding. Upon publication of Madame Bovary, both Flaubert and his publisher were brought to trial on charges of immorality and narrowly escaped conviction (the same tribunal found Charles Baudelaire guilty on the same charge six months later). Although purportedly based in part on the circumstances of Flaubert’s friend Louise Pradier, the author’s claim that “Madame Bovary is myself,” with his unrelenting objectivity and deep compassion for his characters, earned him a reputation as the great master of the Realist school of French literature. Flaubert’s attention to minute particulars of description and his belief in “le mot juste” significantly influenced later writers and thinkers, making Madame Bovary integral to the evolution of modern literature. First issue, with misspelling of “Senard” as “Senart” on dedication page. Text in French. Interior generally fine with only a few faint finger smudges, light wear to binding, and mild toning to spines. A handsome copy in near-fine condition.
23 Tolstoy’s Epic War And Peace, Exceptional 1886 First Complete Edition In English, In Bright Gilt-Stamped Original Cloth First complete edition in English of one of the most important novels in world literature, six volumes, in beautiful original cloth-gilt binding. Seven years in the writing, War and Peace is undeniably the greatest literary work relating to the Napoleonic wars. The juxtaposition of historical, social, and personal themes and the monumental size and scope of the novel combine to present an accurate and vibrant portrait of the Russian nation. German novelist Thomas Mann noted of War and Peace, “The pure narrative power of his work is unequalled. Seldom did art work so much like nature.” Originally published in 1865-69, the novel was not translated into English until almost 20 years later. A London edition of War and Peace was also published in 1886, but omits several philosophical passages and the second epilogue; this Gottsberger edition is complete. A third edition, published by Harper and Brothers, also appeared in 1886. No priority is given among these editions. Line 104. Interiors fine, only very mild rubbing to spine extremities of a few volumes, gilt bright and fresh. A beautiful unrestored copy, most desirable in this condition. 22 TOLSTOY, Leo. War and Peace. A Historical Novel. New York, 1886. Six volumes. Small octavo, original decorative brown cloth gilt, custom chemises and clamshell boxes. $22,000
LITERATURE 24 “The Most Influential Work Of Modern Times” First edition of the novel that changed the path of modern literature, number 368 of only 750 numbered copies on handmade paper, handsomely bound with original blue paper front wrapper bound in. “The novel is universally hailed as the most influential work of modern times” (Grolier Joyce 69). After working seven years on Ulysses, Joyce, desperate to find a publisher, turned to Sylvia Beach of Shakespeare and Company in Paris. “Within a month of the publication, the first printing of Ulysses was practically sold out, and within a year Joyce had become a well-known literary figure. Ulysses was explosive in its impact on the literary world of 1922… Then began the great game of smuggling the edition into countries where it was forbidden, especially England and the United States. The contraband article was transported across the seas and national borders in all sorts of cunning ways” (de Grazia, 27). Of the 1000 copies of the first edition, 100 copies were printed on Holland paper and were signed by Joyce, 150 copies were printed on vergé d’Arches paper, and another 750 copies (as here) were printed on slightly less costly handmade paper. Slocum A17. A few pages with expert cleaning. A handsome copy of this scarce landmark. 23 JOYCE, James. Ulysses. Paris, 1922. Quarto, modern three-quarter navy morocco. $20,000
25 “His Soul Swooned Slowly As He Heard The Snow Falling Faintly Through The Universe And Faintly Falling, Like The Descent Of Their Last End, Upon All The Living And The Dead” 24 JOYCE, James. Dubliners. London, 1914. Octavo, original dark red cloth, custom slipcase, half morocco clamshell box. $28,000 Rare first edition, one of only 1250 copies printed. This collection includes some of the finest stories written in the English language, including the classic “The Dead.” One of no more than 764 copies printed (and perhaps as few as 246). Only 1250 sets of sheets were printed for the first edition and 504 of those sets were sold to the New York publisher B.W. Huebsch in 1916 for the first American edition. “It has also been reported that in 1915 Grant Richards sold without Joyce’s knowledge 500 sets of [the original 1250] Dubliners sheets to Albert and Charles Boni of New York… A new title page was prepared for the New York imprint, and 499 copies were shipped to New York on the S.S. Arabic which was torpedoed in August 1915. All copies were lost except one which Albert Boni kept in his personal possession” (Slocum & Cahoon A8). Thus, of the original 1250 sets of sheets, 504 are known to have been sold for the American edition and 499 are thought to be at the bottom of the sea. Without exceedingly rare original dust jacket. Only a few scattered spots of foxing, cloth exceptional. A beautiful copy. “To Forge In The Smithy Of My Soul The Uncreated Conscience Of My Race” 25 JOYCE, James. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. New York, 1916. Octavo, original blue cloth, custom clamshell box. $14,000 First edition of Joyce’s classic stream-of-consciousness work, published in New York against numerous attempts to remove “offending passages”—a defining moment in the history of free expression and the emergence of the modern novel. A lovely copy. New York publisher B.W. Huebsch was the only publisher “venturesome enough in 1916 to publish Joyce’s [novel] unexpurgated… In England, 12 publishers had refused to set [it] up the way Joyce wrote it, and Harriet Weaver, who had published parts of the work serially in her avant-garde magazine The Egoist, would not go along with Ezra Pound’s proposal that blank spaces be left and, after printing, the offending passages be filled in with a typewriter. The difficulty was exacerbated because, as everyone knew, only a year earlier, in England, the entire edition of D.H. Lawrence’s novel The Rainbow had been destroyed by the police. Publishers and printers on both sides of the Atlantic were intimidated” (de Grazia, 18). The novel was not published in England until 1917. Without extraordinarily rare dust jacket. Slocum & Cahoon A11. Interior fine. Only very minor rubbing to spine ends. An about-fine copy of this classic. Scarce.
LITERATURE 26 “One Of The Most Durable Works In American Literature” Rare first American edition, first printing, first state, of one of the universally recognized masterpieces of American literature, Twain’s irrepressible and unforgettable “true boy’s book.” “The first novel Mark Twain wrote without a co-author, Tom Sawyer is also his most clearly autobiographical… Enlivened by extraordinary and melodramatic events, it is otherwise a realistic depiction of the experiences, people and places that Mark Twain knew as a child” (Rasmussen, 459). Originally published in England (without illustrations), Tom Sawyer arrived at a momentous point in American history: Custer had recently lost the battle at Little Big Horn and America was celebrating its centennial. “Publication of Tom Sawyer was little noticed… The book has, however, proved to be one of the most durable works in American literature. By the time of Twain’s death, it was his topselling book. It has been in print continuously since 1876, and has outsold all other Mark Twain works” (Rasmussen, 459). “This was a true boy’s book, and surviving copies are proof of how rough little boys can be on books” (MacDonnell, 40). First printing, first state, with all first state points. Without one (of three) front flyleaves (blanks); with all three flyleaves at rear. BAL 3369. Interior very good, with scattered spotting and soiling, as often. Inner paper hinges expertly restored, closed tear to page 225-26 repaired, a touch of rubbing to spine ends. Original cloth unusually clean and fresh, gilt fine and bright. A desirable, lovely copy. 26 TWAIN, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Hartford, 1876. Square octavo, original black- and gilt-stamped blue cloth, custom slipcase. $42,000 “To promise not to do a thing is the surest way in the world to make a body want to go and do that very thing.”
27 27 WHITMAN, Walt. Leaves of Grass. Brooklyn, New York, 1856. 12mo, original dark green cloth, custom clamshell box. $17,500 “A Peak Of Visionary And Creative Intoxication”: Very Rare And Significantly Enlarged Second Edition Of Leaves Of Grass, With Publisher’s Presentation Laid In Rare and enlarged second edition, one of only 1000 copies, with frontispiece portrait of Whitman, advertisement leaf and 20 additional poems not appearing in the 1855 first edition. The book is quite a rarity and is seldom found in good condition” (Wells and Goldsmith). With manuscript presentation note from the publishers laid in. This second edition reveals Whitman’s concern to reach as large an audience as possible; he introduced changes in the book’s internal and external format intended to evoke the then-popular volumes of poetry by Whittier and Longfellow. The most controversial change would prove to be his inclusion of praise from Ralph Waldo Emerson on the book’s spine. Acknowledging receipt of his complimentary copy of the first edition of Leaves of Grass, Emerson had hailed Whitman’s achievement: “I greet you at the beginning of a great career.” When Whitman brought out this second edition the next year, Emerson’s unguarded testimonial appeared on the spine (as designed by Whitman himself) in gilt letters. Emerson was agitated about the use of his private words as advertising copy: “Friends who visited Emerson when the blazoned second edition arrived in the mail claimed that until that moment they had never seen him truly angry” (Kaplan, 211). Among the poems appearing for the first time in this edition are “Poem of Salutation” (“O take my hand, Walt Whitman!”), “Poem of Procreation” (“A woman waits for me—she contains all, nothing is lacking”) and “Lesson Poem.” The laid-in presentation inscription signed “Fowlers & Wells” indicates that this slip was penned at the time of publication, quite possibly by Orson, as of the three partners he had the most affinity with the poet; shortly thereafter he left the firm, and it became Fowler and Wells. Some foxing to text, as often; mild toning to spine, gilt still quite legible. An unrestored copy in near-fine condition.
LITERATURE 28 “I Used To Wonder At The Halo Of Light Around My Shadow, And Would Fain Fancy Myself One Of The Elect” Manuscript Edition, beautifully bound and illustrated, limited to 600 copies, with manuscript leaf from Walden (two sides) entirely in Thoreau’s hand. Each set in this important limited edition includes a Thoreau manuscript leaf mounted and bound into the first volume. The leaf in this set is from the chapter entitled “Baker Farm” from Walden, Thoreau’s masterwork. The leaf reads, in large part: “[If it had] lasted longer it might have tinged my employments and life. As I walked on the railroad causeway, I used to wonder at the halo of light around my shadow, and would fain fancy myself one of the elect. One who visited me declared that the shadows of some Irishmen before him had no halo about them, that it was only natives that were so distinguished…” (See Volume II, p. 224). The verso of the leaf is from an earlier section of this chapter. It reads, again in part: [I know but one small] grove of sizable trees left in Concord, supposed to have been planted by the pigeons that were once baited with beechnuts near by; it is worth the while to see the silver grain sparkle when you split this wood; the bass; the hornbeam; the Celtis occidentalis, or false elm, of which we have but one well-grown; some taller mast of a pine, a shingle tree, or a more perfect hemlock than usual…” (See Volume II, p. 224). This beautiful set also contains a foldout map of Concord, reproductions of Thoreau’s journal illustrations, and over 100 tissue-guarded illustrations, several beautifully hand-finished in color. Fine condition. A beautiful set, with exceptional and valuable manuscript leaf from Walden. 28 THOREAU, Henry David. The Writings. Boston and New York, 1906. Twenty volumes. Octavo, original three-quarter brown morocco gilt. $37,500
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDg3OTM=