"THIS ABSOLUTELY DARLING LITTLE SWEETNIK"

THOMPSON, Kay. Eloise in Moscow. New York, 2000.

Signed limited edition of Kay Thompson's fourth Eloise book, number 36 of 300 copies signed by illustrator Hilary Knight. $950.

“YOU CAN’T ALWAYS EXPLAIN MYSTIQUE”

TAPPLY, William G. The Dutch Blue Error. New York, 1984. First edition of the second Brady Coyne mystery, a tale of fatal intrigue among philatelists, boldly signed by the author on the title page. $200.

ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATED TRIAL SHEETS FOR COCTEAU’S PORTRAIT DE MOUNET-SULLY, 1945, ONCE BELONGING TO GLENWAY WESCOTT

COCTEAU, Jean. Portrait de Mounet-Sully. Paris, 1945.

Original pre-publication sheets of line cuts by Cocteau, most before letters, four hand-colored in gouache by Cocteau, stamped number “16” and inscribed by "Cyril" to a member of the Shakespeare and Company literary circle: “Glenway [Wescott], in memory of Villefranche 1929, our 1st meeting and 40 years of enjoyment since. London 1970.” $1500.

INSCRIBED PHOTOGRAPH OF NAT “KING” COLE

COLE, Nathaniel Adams. Photograph inscribed. New York, 1945.

Publicity photograph of a youthful and sharply dressed Cole holding a microphone, inscribed: “To Macie, Best Wishes, Nat King Cole.” $1200.

WITH EARLY MAPS OF THE CAROLINAS AND NORTHERN COLONIES

HUMPHREYS, David. Historical Account. London, 1730.

First edition of this report of missionary activity in North America, with two engraved folding maps by Herman Moll, one of the Carolinas and the other of New England, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. $3800.

INSCRIBED BY INFLUENTIAL ECONOMIST JOHN MAURICE CLARK TO HIS FRIENDS, WELL-KNOWN SCIENTISTS CARYL AND EDNA HASKINS

CLARK, John Maurice. Competition As A Dynamic Process. Washington, 1961.

First edition of this influential economics work framing labor as an overhead cost, inscribed to his friends, prominent scientists Caryl and Edna Haskins: “To Caryl and Edna Haskins with best wishes: J.M. Clark.” $850.

“THEIR ARCHITECTURE BEARS SILENT WITNESS”

BANKA, Pavel. Terezin-Mansfield / Mansfield-Terezin. Prague, 2003.

First edition of this souvenir booklet from Banka’s 2003 expedition at the National Gallery in Prague, with 25 full-page photographs, 13 in color. $125.

"A WEAPON FOR POLITICAL AND SOCIAL ACTIVISM": VERY RARE ASSOCIATION FIRST EDITION OF ALEXANDER CRUMMELL'S AFRICA AND AMERICA, 1891, INSCRIBED AND TWICE SIGNED BY BLACK HISTORIAN JOHN WESLEY CROMWELL

(CROMWELL, JOHN WESLEY) CRUMMELL, Alex[ander]. Africa and America. Springfield, Mass. 1891.

First edition of the last major work published in the lifetime of the preeminent 19th-century "Black nationalist and Pan-Africanist," a leader W.E.B. Du Bois considered "one of his greatest influences… his 'guru,'" with this especially important association copy containing the owner inscription and signatures of Black historian John Wesley Cromwell—signed on the title page by him, additionally signed and inscribed by him on the front free endpaper, "J.W. Cromwell, Washington D.C." $3000.

INSCRIBED BY AUTHOR JAMES PURDY TO FEMINIST ICON SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR

PURDY, James. Color of Darkness. New York, 1957.

First edition, first printing, presentation copy, of the first complete published work of James Purdy—acclaimed for "dialogue reminiscent of Hemingway… he can do more with a whisper than most fiction writers do with a shout"—inscribed to French feminist and intellectual Simone de Beauvoir: "For Simone de Beauvoir with great admiration and sincere good wishes from James Purdy. August 6, 1958." $2200.

"WHEN YOU COME TO SEE AND READ IT, I HAVE NO DOUBT YOU WILL THINK IT IS A VERY HEINOUS LIBEL INDEED"

(SHIPLEY, William Davies). The Whole of the Proceedings at the Assizes at Shrewsbury. Dublin, 1784.

First edition of this important work about the 18th-century seditious libel trial of the Rev. William Shipley, which raised important questions about freedom of the press and the right to a jury trial. $1000.

ACKERMANN, Rudolph. History of the University of Oxford. London, 1814. Two volumes.

First edition of this illustrated history of Oxford University, with 82 superb hand-colored aquatint plates, in a handsome and distinctive Edwards of Halifax binding. $7000.

“KNIGHTS, LADIES, AND BLAZONS OF THE DAYS OF CHIVALRY”

FERRARIO, Giulio. Storia ed Analisi degli Antichi Romanzi di Cavalleria. Milano, 1828. Four volumes.

First edition of this history of ancient arms and armor and chivalrous etiquette, by one of the great producers of books on period costumes and architecture, with 40 aquatints by Angelo Biasioli (some folded under at fore-edges) and three folding genealogical charts. $850.

“THE STATE OF OUR FINANCES CONTINUES TO FULFILL OUR EXPECTATIONS”

JEFFERSON, Thomas. Message from the President. New York, 1804.

Early separate printing of Jefferson’s fourth message to Congress, in which he assures the nation that “peace and intercourse with other powers continue on the footing on which they are established by treaty.” $5200.

"THEY EITHER THOUGHT HIM INNOCENT, OR WERE NOT OFFENDED BY HIS GUILT"

[JOHNSON, Samuel]. The False Alarm. London, 1770.

First edition, second printing—one of 500 copies issued one month after the first—of Johnson's controversial tract on the scandalous John Wilkes, found guilty of libel and initially blocked by the House of Commons from taking the seat to which he had been elected over his rival Col. Luttrell. $950.

ONE OF THE EARLIEST STUDIES OF CRIMINAL LAW, 1678 FIRST EDITION

MACKENZIE, George. The Laws and Customes of Scotland in Matters Criminal. Edinburgh, 1678.

First edition of "Bloody Mackenzie's" Laws and Customes of Scotland, one of the earliest systematic studies of criminal law, with an important chapter on witchcraft, in unrestored contemporary calf. $2500.

“THE SENSIBILITY OF AN EXILE AND A POET”

AHAD, Zalmaï. Eclipse. New York, 2002.

First edition, boldly signed by the photographer on the half title, with 75 arresting black-and-white photographs of “the slow, distressing drift of exile and disposession,” from the collection of award-winning photojournalist Peter Turnley. $100.

“THE CONTRAST AND APPARENT CONTRADICTION BETWEEN THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE AUTHOR”

THOMPSON, Slason. Eugene Field. New York, 1901. Two volumes.

First edition of this biography, with 56 illustrations, including half-tone plates, drawings and facsimile, handsomely bound by Sickles. $650.

"THE BASIC FREEDOM OF THE WORLD IS WOMAN'S FREEDOM"

SANGER, Margaret. Woman and the New Race. New York, 1920.

First edition of the controversial first book by Sanger, who coined the phrase "birth control" in her struggle for women's rights, a splendid copy in the original dust jacket. $2800.

“TO TRADE IN PERFUME IS TO BELONG TO ROMANCE”

(BARBIER, George) LE GALLIENNE, Richard. The Romance of Perfume. New York and Paris, 1928. First edition of this beautiful color-illustrated volume on perfume, with a laid-in pamphlet advertising Richard Hudnut’s Paris perfumery. $950.

"WHAT IS READING, BUT SILENT CONVERSATION"

LAMB, Charles. Works. London, 1901-08. Seven volumes. The works of Lamb, including his correspondence, essays, poems and plays. $850.