Nineteen Eighty-FourOrwell, George
Published by Secker & Warburg, London.

Publication Date: 1949

An extraordinary copy of the first British edition, first printing of George Orwell's iconic masterpiece. Bound in the publisher's original pale green cloth with maroon lettering to the spine. Aside from the faint trace of an erased pencil inscription to the front free endpaper and rear pastedown, this example is easily Fine, with remarkably bright cloth and spine lettering, a vivid top stain, and a Fine, unclipped dust jacket.

Among the defining works of twentieth-century literature, Nineteen Eighty-Four is notoriously difficult to acquire in such exceptional condition. Copies retaining their original dust jackets almost invariably exhibit fading, rubbing, or other signs of wear. This example is a rare exception—preserved to a standard that is seldom encountered.

A true once-in-a-generation copy, and without question the finest example we have ever handled.

Purchase: US$100,000.00

120 Days of SodomSade, Marquis de Maurice Heine
Published by Stendhal & Compagnie, aux Depens des Bibliophiles Souscripteurs, Paris.

Publication Date: 1931

Details

~~Purchase~~: Sold

Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange Kubrick, Stanley & Anthony Burgess

Published by Abelard-Schuman, New York.

Publication Date: 1972

First edition of the book celebrating Stanley Kubrick's landmark film adaptation of Anthony Burgess's dystopian masterpiece. Octavo, original publisher's cloth.

Presentation copy, inscribed by Stanley Kubrick on the half-title, "To Mark, Best wishes, Stanley Kubrick." Signed by Anthony Burgess on the front free endpaper. Very good in a very good dust jacket with a few short closed tears. Books signed or inscribed by Kubrick are exceptionally scarce, and examples also bearing Burgess's signature are of the utmost rarity.

Kubrick came to A Clockwork Orange almost by chance. Screenwriter Terry Southern gave him a copy of Burgess's novel while Kubrick was immersed in preparations for his ambitious but ultimately abandoned film on Napoleon Bonaparte. When that project was cancelled, Kubrick returned to the novel and was immediately captivated. Reflecting on his first reading, he remarked: "I was excited by everything about it: the plot, the ideas, the characters, and, of course, the language. The story functions on several levels—political, sociological, philosophical—and, most importantly, on a dreamlike psychological-symbolic level."

Determined to preserve the power of Burgess's vision, Kubrick wrote a screenplay of remarkable fidelity to the novel, later observing, "I think whatever Burgess had to say about the story was said in the book, but I did invent a few useful narrative ideas and reshape some of the scenes." Released in 1971, A Clockwork Orange became one of the defining films of modern cinema, securing Kubrick's reputation as one of the twentieth century's greatest directors and introducing Burgess's novel to an even wider audience.

Purchase: US$2,700,000.00

A Farewell to Arms Hemingway, Ernest
Published by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.

Publication Date: 1929

Details

First edition, limited issue. Copy no. 398 of 510 copies, signed by Ernest Hemingway on the limitation page.

Quarto, publisher's pale green paper-covered boards over a vellum spine, black morocco spine label lettered in gilt, housed in the original publisher's leaf-patterned slipcase with red spine label to the front panel bearing the matching limitation number. Near Fine, with only slight toning to the boards, light soiling and wear to the vellum spine, and a few tiny nicks to the lower edge. The original slipcase is likewise Near Fine, with light rubbing and gentle toning.

An exceptionally attractive copy of the only signed limited edition published during Hemingway's lifetime, among the most sought-after issues in the Hemingway canon. Hanneman 8B.

Purchase: US$285,000.00

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through The Looking Glass and What Alice Found There

Carroll, Lewis; Illustrated by TENNIEL, John; binding by GLADSTONE, Charles Elsden
Published by Macmillan and Company, London.

Publication Date: 1872, 1866

First editions. Two volumes. Finely bound by Charles Elsden Gladstone in elaborately gilt-tooled full brown morocco, the spines with five raised bands and gilt titles. Gilt-decorated turn-ins, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Gladstone's gilt initials stamped to the lower front turn-in. The original publisher's cloth from Through the Looking-Glass has been retained and bound in as the front and rear pastedowns. Illustrated with frontispieces and a total of 90 illustrations by John Tenniel. The scarce four-page leaflet, To All Child Readers of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, issued loosely with the first edition of Through the Looking-Glass, is present and bound in. A few spots and a couple of tiny closed marginal tears to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; otherwise an exceptionally fine set.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is the first published edition (the second edition overall), following the suppression of the original 1865 Clarendon Press printing after John Tenniel expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of the illustrations. Of the handful of surviving copies from that withdrawn issue, only 23 are known, making it one of the great rarities of nineteenth-century book collecting. The present Macmillan edition, although dated 1866, was issued in November 1865 for the Christmas trade and represents the earliest obtainable edition. Through the Looking-Glass is likewise a true first edition, published in December 1871 for the Christmas market, despite its 1872 imprint.

The handsome bindings are the work of Charles Elsden Gladstone (1855–1919), the distinguished Royal Navy officer and gifted amateur binder whose remarkably accomplished work has earned him the sobriquet "the bookbinding James Bond." His bindings are celebrated for their exceptional precision, originality, and craftsmanship, and are among the most desirable examples of late nineteenth-century decorative binding.

Purchase: US$350,000.00

A People’s History of the United States

Zinn, Howard.
Published by Harper & Row, Publishers, New York.

Publication Date: 1980

Details

First printing. Octavo, original navy blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt, in the original dust jacket. [x], 614 pp.

A fine copy in a crisp, exceptionally well-preserved dust jacket, unclipped ($20.00), with only a few light rubs, slight sunning to the spine and extremities, and a handful of tiny nicks and short tears. An unusually attractive example.

Howard Zinn's landmark reinterpretation of American history, told from the perspectives of workers, women, Native Americans, and other groups largely absent from traditional historical narratives. First published in a modest printing of 5,000 copies, A People's History of the United States was a finalist for the 1981 National Book Award for Nonfiction and has since become one of the most influential and widely read works of modern American historiography, with more than two million copies sold across numerous editions.

An increasingly uncommon first printing, particularly in such well-preserved condition.

Purchase: US$35,000.00

A Separate PeaceKnowles, John
Published by Secker & Warburg, London.

Publication Date: 1959

First edition, first printing. Octavo, publisher's green cloth-effect boards, spine lettered in silver, in the original dust jacket.

Near Fine, with a slight lean to the binding, light wear to the corners and spine ends, and a touch of soiling to the top edge and rear endpaper. The price-clipped dust jacket is Near Fine, showing only light wear, gentle toning, and a few short edge tears.

William Golding's Lord of the Flies meets J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, John Knowles's enduring coming-of-age novel has become a modern American classic. Set at an elite New England boarding school during the Second World War, A Separate Peace explores friendship, rivalry, innocence, and guilt with uncommon psychological depth. Since its publication in 1959, it has remained Knowles's best-known work and a staple of twentieth-century American literature.

An attractive first printing of a novel that has become increasingly difficult to acquire in collectible condition.

Purchase: US$25,000.00

American PsychoEllis, Bret Easton; illustrated by BALDWIN, Ben; introduction by LANGAN, John.
Published by Centipede Press, Lakewood, CO.

Publication Date: 2012

Details

First American hardcover edition, limited issue. One of just 200 numbered copies signed by Bret Easton Ellis, illustrator Ben Baldwin, and contributor John Langan.

Octavo, publisher's original black cloth with a colour pictorial label to the upper board and silver lettering to the spine, in the original Ben Baldwin-designed dust jacket. Illustrated throughout in colour and black and white by Baldwin. A near fine copy, the binding square and firm, the cloth bright and fresh. Contents clean throughout, without previous ownership inscriptions or stamps. The dust jacket is bright and complete, with only a small scuff to the lower corner of the front panel affecting the surface paper. This copy is numbered 100 of 200 and signed by Ellis, Baldwin, and Langan on the colophon.

Originally intended for publication in hardcover by Simon & Schuster, the American edition was cancelled, and American Psycho first appeared in the United States as a Vintage paperback original. While the Picador edition is the true first hardcover, this handsome Centipede Press edition is both the first American hardcover and the first illustrated edition of Ellis's controversial modern classic.

A beautifully produced limited edition of one of the defining novels of contemporary American literature.

Purchase: US$150,000.00

Animal FarmOrwell, George
Published by Secker & Warburg, London.

Publication Date: 1945

First edition of George Orwell's enduring allegorical indictment of totalitarianism in all its forms, the work that brought him international recognition. In his 1946 essay Why I Write, Orwell described Animal Farm as "the first book in which I tried, with full consciousness of what I was doing, to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole."

The first impression bears the imprint date "May 1945," though publication was delayed until August of that year due to wartime paper shortages. Connolly 93; Fenwick A.10a.

Octavo, original green cloth, spine lettered in white, with the original dust jacket. Near Fine, with a touch of sunning to the spine ends and a production flaw to the front endpapers. The unclipped dust jacket remains bright, with light rubbing, faint marking, and a few small nicks to the extremities. An excellent example of this landmark twentieth-century classic, in a near-fine binding and very good original jacket.

Purchase: US$85,000.00

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.Blume, Judy
Published by Bradbury Press, Scarsdale.

Publication Date: 1970

Details

First edition, first printing. Signed by the author on the title page.

Octavo, original publisher's cloth, in the original dust jacket designed by Eros Keith. A near fine copy, the binding square and firm, the contents clean throughout. Housed in a near fine dust jacket retaining the original $4.75 price on the front flap.

The author's third book, adapted into a major feature film in 2023. Signed first editions are increasingly sought after, particularly in such well-preserved condition.

Purchase: US$55,000.00

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