Modern First Editions:
Fixed Price Sale
From
Wed 28th November — Fri 28th December
All lots in the sale are to be offered at a fixed price (no buyer's premium) for a limited period. Please contact Rupert Powell +44 (0) 20 7495 9494 if you have any queries. Lots are available to view and collect from our Maddox Street premises, shipping quotes on request.
1. Anderson (Sherwood) Alice & the Lost Novel, number 13 of 530 copies signed by the author, browning to endpapers, original boards, dust-jacket, spine browned, otherwise fine, 8vo, 1929.
Price: £80
A short little volume consisting of two autobiographical meditations.
2. Baldwin (James) Go Tell it to the Mountain, uncorrected proof copy, signed presentation inscription from the author to half-title, original wrappers, spine faded, spine ends a little chipped, upper joint split at head and foot, rubbed at extremities, still a very good copy, preserved in custom drop-back box, 8vo, New York, 1953.
SOLD
Baldwin's first novel, almost immediately hailed as a major treatment of black life in America, Go Tell it to the Mountain also established Baldwin as the leading black voice of his generation. Baldwin found the cover art for the proof too stereotypical and asked for it to be changed, unusually therefore the dust-jacket for the first edition is entirely different from the proof.
3. Baldwin (James) Giovanni's Room, a little cocked, jacket spine slightly faded, corners and spine ends a little chipped, closed tear to head of upper panel, light surface soiling, 1957; Another Country, jacket spine slightly faded, a little rubbed and creased at head and foot, New York, 1962; Nobody Knows My Name, jacket spine slightly darkened, rubbed at head and foot, light surface soiling, 1964; Going to Meet the Man, jacket a little rubbed at extremities, New York, 1965; Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone, jacket price-clipped, spine very slightly darkened, 1968; No Name in the Street, 1972; The Devil Finds Work, photograph of the author replicating lower panel loosely inserted, jacket spine chipped at head, a little rubbed at extremities, New York, 1976, first editions, signed presentation inscriptions from the author to dedication p., original cloth or boards, dust-jackets, an excellent set, 8vo (7)
SOLD
An excellent, near-complete run of James Baldwin’s novels, beginning with his second Giovanni’s Room. It’s open depiction of homosexuality led to Baldwin’s publisher recommending he burn it.
4. [Blixen (Karen)] "Isak Dinesen". Seven Gothic Tales, first American edition, original half cloth, gilt, spine ends and corners a little bumped, dust-jacket, horizontal crease to spine and panels, a few short closed tears to head and foot, short split to head of lower fore-edge, very good overall, 8vo New York, 1934.
SOLD
A very good copy of Isak Dinesen's rare first book.
5. Bradbury (Ray) Fahrenheit 451, first edition, very light browning to endpapers, original red boards, lettered in yellow, spine ends and corners bumped, fore-edge a little mottled, otherwise very good, dust-jacket, spine very slightly darkened, corners and spine ends chipped, a little creased at head, light surface soiling, a very good copy, 8vo, New York, 1953.
Price: £800
Ray Bradbury’s dystopic classic, adapted numerous times for stage, radio and film, most successfully by François Truffaut in 1966.
6. Burgess (Anthony) [The Malayan Trilogy], 3 vol., comprising Time for a Tiger, uncorrected proof copy, original wrappers, spine slightly creased and faded, a little rubbed at extemities, light surface soiling, preserved in custom drop-back box, 1956; The Enemy in the Blanket, first edition, original boards, spine ends a little bumped, dust-jacket, spine ends and corners a little chipped, light surface soiling, 1958; Beds in the East, first edition, jacket spine slightly faded, spine ends and corners a little creased and chipped, 1959, all with signed presentation inscriptions from the author with further quote in arabic below to titles, a near-fine set overall, 8vo
Price: £800
A superb set of Burgess masterful trilogy, together one of the greatest works to chart the decline of British colonialism.
7. Caldwell (Erskine) Tobacco Road, first edition, original cloth, spine a little discoloured, very light water-stain spine and covers, dust-jacket, spine a little darkened, repairs and restorations to head and foot, very light water-staining, a little rubbed at extremities, still very good, preserved in custom drop-back box, 8vo, New York, 1932.
SOLD
Caldwell's powerful novel of the Great Depression. Later adapted for stage and then, in 1941, radically altered for a film directed by John Ford.
8. Capote (Truman) A Tree of Night, bookplate of George Cukor to pastedown, spine ends a little bumped, jacket spine a little browned, closed tear to foot of upper panel, rubbed at extremities, New York, 1949; Local Colour, spine ends a corners a little bumped, jacket spine slightly browned, a little rubbed and chipped at extremities, New York, 1950; The Grass Harp, ink ownership inscription to endpaper, first issue in original buckram, spine ends slightly bumped, jacket spine slightly darkened, a little rubbed and creased at extremities, New York, 1951; The Muses are Heard, spine ends slightly bumped, jacket spine ends and corners a little creased and chipped, light surface soiling, New York, 1956; Music for Chameleons, signed by the author on title, covers a little warped, jacket price-clippped, spine faded, 1980, first editions, original cloth or boards, dust-jackets, an excellent set, 8vo (5)
Price: £400
George Cuckor (1899-1983) American film director and bibliophile, his works included, Adam’s Rib, A Star is Born and My Fair Lady.
9. Capote (Truman) Breakfast at Tiffany's, first edition, very light water-staining to first 20pp., original cloth, spine a little rubbed, otherwise excellent, dust-jacket, spine faded, spine ends and corners a little rubbed, small patch of browning to front flap, otherwise an excellent copy, 8vo, New York, 1958.
'Half the women he knew …claimed to be the model for his wacky heroine.' Gerald Clarke, Capote: a Biography.
SOLD
An excellent copy of Capote's most famous work in which he created Holly Golightly, an American cultural icon.
10. Chandler (Raymond) The Big Sleep, first edition, minor browning to endpapers, original cloth, slight rubbing to spine-ends and corners, otherwise near-fine, dust-jacket, spine very sightly faded, a few small repairs and restorations to head, light rubbing to fore-edges and surface soiling to lower panel, but overall an excellent copy, preserved in custom drop-back box, 8vo, New York, 1939.
Famously filmed by Howard Hawks in 1946, staring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and scripted in part by William Faulkner. Like the book, the film has now become a classic of the genre and set the tone for much of the great film making in Hollywood for the next decade
SOLD
The author's first book, and the beginning of the Philip Marlowe series.
11. Chandler (Raymond) Farewell, my Lovely, first edition, light browning to endpapers, original cloth, spine very slightly faded, otherwise excellent, dust-jacket, spine a little browned, slightly chipped at spine ends and corners, short tear and crease to upper panel, light worming to fore-edges, still a very good copy, preserved in custom drop-back box, 8vo, New York, 1940.
'My whole career is based on the idea that the formula doesn't matter, the thing that counts is what you do with the formula; that is to say, it is a matter of style.' Raymond Chandler.
Price: £2400
Like many of Chandler's novels Farewell My Lovely was created by the merging of three short stories. As the plots became more convoluted Chandler began to abandon the various strands of the stories and focused instead upon creating an atmosphere through the style.
12. Chandler (Raymond) The Lady in the Lake, first edition, original cloth, very light spots to upper joint, slight bumping to spine-ends, dust-jacket, very minor repairs to foot of spine, light surface soiling to lower panel, slight rubbing to extremities, near-fine overall, preserved in custom drop-back box, 8vo, New York, 1943.
Price: £2400
The Lady in the Lake took Chandler 4 years to complete. Eventually released to critical acclaim, it became his best seller to date.
13. Chandler (Raymond) The Little Sister, first edition, half-title, original cloth, lightly faded at spine and head, ring-mark to upper cover, dust-jacket, spine slightly faded, spine ends and corners repaired and restored, ring-mark just visible to upper cover, rubbing to extremities, overall very good, preserved in custom drop-back box, 8vo, 1949.
Price: £650
Predates the first American edition.
14. Chandler (Raymond) The Simple Art of Murder, first English edition, original cloth, fine, dust-jacket, spine a little faded, minor repairs and restorations to spine ends and corners, in effect an excellent copy, 8vo, 1950.
SOLD
15. Chandler (Raymond) The Long Goodbye, first edition, original boards, near-fine, dust-jacket, repairs and resorations to head and foot, surface soiling to lower panel with small light brown stain to lower corner, rubbed and creased at extremities, still very good, preserved in custom drop-back box, 8vo, 1953.
SOLD
Along with The Big Sleep and Farewell my Lovely, The Long Goodbye ranks as one of Chandler’s greatest works. It was modernised by Robert Altman in 1973 and starred Eliot Gould
16. Chandler (Raymond) Speaking, jacket spine a little faded, minor repairs and restorations to spine ends and corners, a little rubbed at extremities, 1962; The Smell of Fear, spine ends a little bumped, jacket a little browned at spine and margins, 1965; The Notebooks… and English Summer, 1977, first editions, original boards, dust-jackets, a near-fine set overall, 8vo (3)
SOLD
Speaking brings together a collection of Chandler’s letters, essays, notes and an unfinished novel, it includes a broad range of Chandler’s thoughts on subjects ranging from fellow writers to cats
17. Chandler (Raymond) Killer in the Rain, first edition, original boards, spine ends a little bumped, otherwise fine, dust-jacket, very slightly rubbed at head and foot, but overall a mint copy, 8vo, 1964.
Price: £120
The Killer in the Rain brought together 8 short stories previously published in various pulp magazines. Chandler felt that the stories had been cannibalised for his novels and refused permission for them to be reprinted in his lifetime.
18. Chandler (Raymond) Killer in the Rain, first American edition, original cloth, dust-jacket, price-clipped, spine slightly faded, spine ends and corners a little chipped, a little rubbed at extremities, still very good, 8vo, Boston, 1964.
Price: £120
19. Christie (Agatha) The Hound of Death and Other Stories, first edition, original cloth, spine faded, spine ends and corners a little bumped, dust-jacket, tape repairs to head and foot, creased at foot, light surface soiling to lower panel, very good overall, 8vo, Odhams Press, 1933.
Price: £250
Unusually, The Hound of Death was not available for purchase in shops, hopeful readers instead had to collect coupons from The Passing Show, a weekly magazine published by Odhams Press.
20. Christie (Agatha) Murder in Mesopotamia, first edition, original cloth, spine very slightly faded, otherwise excellent, dust-jacket, repairs and restorations to spine ends and corners, 1" piece of restoration to foot of lower panel, foot of upper panel torn and repaired, light rubbing and surface soiling, still in effect an excellent copy, preserved in custom drop-back box, 8vo, 1936.
Price: £2400
The setting of Murder in Mesopotamia was largely influenced by Agatha Christie’s visits to archaeological sites with her second husband, Max Mallowan.