London: Oldburne, (1958). First printing. Black and white frontispiece and photographic plates. Cloth over boards. Octavo. 222 pages. George Burchett was kicked out of school at age 12 for tattooing his classmates. After a stint in the Royal Navy--from which he absconded--he became a full-time tattoo artist in 1900... More
New York: The John Day Company, (1964). First printing. Cloth over boards. Octavo. 312 pages. Burnham argues that western civilization has been shrinking since 1917, and that the cause is neither an external threat nor a lack of material resources, but rather an internal failure of the will to survive..... More
New York: The Century Co., 1900. First printing. Illustrated by Thomas Fogarty and George Varian. Cloth over boards. Octavo. xvi [xvii-xviii], 294 pages. Bright first edition of this landmark sailing narrative. Slocum was the first person to single-handedly circumnavigate the earth, doing so in his gaff-rigged sloop, "Spray," between April..... More
Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1864. First printing. Frontispiece map, lithographed plan of cemetery. Cloth over boards. Octavo. [v], 6-87, [88] pages. Contains the first officially authorized printing of President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, and its first appearance in book form. This "official report" of the Gettysburg dedication ceremonies was largely..... More
(Glendale): (Poetry X/Change, [1968]. First printing. Centerfold drawing. Wrappers. Octavo. [16] pages. This first edition of this collection of poetry by Bukowski is one of about 400 copies published in the summer of 1968. Cover illustration is a reproduction of P. David Horton's "Self-Portrait." The poem "Cows in..... More
Milwaukee: The Casanova Press, 1932. First printing, limited to 525 copies. Faulkner portrait tipped to frontispiece. Flexible board. Octavo. 53, [1] pages. A collection of early articles and poems by Faulkner, all but one of which originally appeared in The Double Dealer magazine. Selected and published by Hemingway's friend, Paul..... More
New York: The Vanguard Press, 1938. First U.S. printing. Cloth over boards. Octavo. [iv], 283 pages. The authentic autobiography of a London prostitute. Very well written account of London's sexual underworld in the 1930s by a firsthand observer. This work has sometimes been attributed to Graham Greene. It was suppressed..... More
Philadelphia: Published at the office of The Methodist Home Journal, 1870. Woodcut illustrations. Original cloth. Octavo. 412 pages. Joshua Thomas was a Tangier and Deal Island waterman-turned-minister who was largely responsible for the spread of Methodism on Maryland's Eastern Shore and Tangier Island. This account by Wallace is based on..... More
New York: The Viking Press, 1940. Limited edition, one of 350 copies. Hardcover. Octavo. 30 pages. This short story revolves around rural villagers' misunderstanding the nature of a checkbook when a visitor pays for a house by writing a check. Originally published in The New Yorker, this is..... More
New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., (1936). First American edition. Frontispiece portrait, black and white photographic illustrations, many line drawings. Cloth over boards. Octavo. xviii, 170 pages. Barbasetti's excellent instruction on fencing, well-illustrated with line cuts by Ciro Barbasetti. While the noble art of swordsmanship cannot be learned..... More
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1922. Limited edition. Hardcover. Duodecimo. 55 pages. Lincoln's eulogy to President Taylor was delivered July 25, 1850 in Chicago but the text was believed lost until its discovery in a single Chicago newspaper of the day. In his Introduction, Lincoln scholar William Barton notes that he..... More
Washington: Published by the author, 1897. First printing. Cloth over boards. Duodecimo. 166 pages. Traces the ancient influence of sexuality on the development of religion in human society. Chapters include "The Male Principle," "The Phallus," "Sexual Sacrifices," "The Female Principle," "Feminine Emblems," "The Serpent and the Cross," etc. An uncommon..... More
(New York): New Directions, (1926). First edition, second issue dust jacket. Frontispiece illustration. Cloth over boards. Octavo. [xii], 273 pages. First edition of what was the definitive collection of Pound's early poems when published in 1926. Ezra Pound was tremendously influential to such rising literary stars as Ernest Hemingway, James..... More
London: W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, 1832. First printing. Modern marbled paper over board, leather spine. Octavo. iv, 108 pages. Lewis was a highly regarded chess player and teacher in his time. He is believed to be the first person to be described as a Grandmaster of the game. He..... More
[Cooper Station]: [Students for DeBerry and Shaw], [1964]. Black and white illustrations. Single sheet folded twice into a brochure. 8 1/2" x 10 3/4" A rare bit of ephemera from the 1964 U.S. Presidential campaign of Clifton DeBerry. DeBerry was the first African American in the 20th century to be..... More
[Rochester?]: (S.n.), [1899]. Black and white illustrations. Single sheet. 4" x 9 1/4" This small broadside is a rare piece of ephemera from the unveiling of this monument to Frederick Douglass in 1899. The Rochester monument to Douglass was the first in the nation to honor a particular African American..... More
Orlando: Harcourt, Inc., (2004). First U.S. printing. Hardcover. Octavo. [vi], 1-538 pages. Amos Oz grew up in the war-torn Jerusalem of the 1940s and 1950s, and his extraordinary memoir is simultaneously tragic, comic, and utterly honest. It is the magical self-portrait of a gifted writer who witnessed the birth of..... More
Santa Barbara: Capricorn Press, 1970. First printing. Black and white drawing by Bukowski. Wrappers. Octavo. [34] pages. Collection of poems by the King of the Underground. Boldly signed by Bukowski under a printed drawing. Title page is printed on a smaller red sheet that hides the drawing but reveals Bukowski's..... More
New-York: Printed for I. Riley and Co., (1956). Second edition, considerably enlarged. Frontispiece engraving of Pocahontas rescuing John Smith. Contemporary calf over boards. Octavo. xii, [13]-284 pages. The first extensive treatment of the legend of Pocahontas and Captain John Smith, in its preferred edition, complete, and excellent condition. Scarce, thus..... More
Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, (1984). First printing. Cloth hardcover. Octavo. [viii], 387 pages. A signed first edition of Clancy's debut novel. This Cold War fiction high spot is CIA analyst Jack Ryan's debut as well, as he plays a hunch that a Soviet submarine captain is trying to defect with..... More
New York: M. Barrows and Company, 1941. First printing. Drawings by Rea Irvin. Full cloth. Octavo. 223 pages. Not just a fine compilation of cocktail recipes from the early 20th century, but also a wise and witty look at the philosophy of drinking, the arts of sociability, and a snapshot..... More
[New York]: Book Advertisers, Inc., Publishers, (1966). First printing. Black and white photographs. Cloth over boards. Quarto. 256 pages. Black and white photographs of boys engaged in play, sport, or other generally outdoor activities. The majority are nude or nearly so. Jacket text describes an innocent photo essay of the..... More
(New York): HarperPrism, (1994). First printing. Hardcover. Octavo. [viii], 228 pages. A collection of four interconnected novellas by the legendary science fiction writer. Signed by Le Guin on title page. More
New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, (1982). First printing. Black and white illustrations. Hardcover. Octavo. x, 326 pages. Welchman was a mathematician working at Bletchley Park, analyzing Nazi German Enigma intercepts. Some progress had been made, but the decoding process took so long that the information was of little use by..... More
(S.l.): [c.1933]. Ink and pencil. Single sheet. Framed to 17 1/2" x 20 3/4", sight 10" x 13" This is a finely drawn original ink and pencil map showing the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays and many associated rivers. A note on the back reads, "Drawn about 1933 by a friend..... More