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Lord of the FliesGolding, William
Published by Faber and Faber, London.


Publication Date: 1954


    First edition, first printing of William Golding's Lord of the Flies, an exceptional advance presentation copy inscribed by the author to his next-door neighbours and dated 7 September 1954, just ten days before publication. Golding's landmark debut novel, written while he was still a schoolmaster, transformed a traditional boys' adventure story into one of the twentieth century's most powerful explorations of human nature and civilization.

A particularly desirable association copy, inscribed before Golding had achieved literary fame and preserved in the original first-issue dust jacket. Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1983, Golding's Lord of the Flies remains one of the defining novels of the modern era.




Madame BovaryGustave, Flaubert
Published by Published by Michel Lévy frères.

Publication Date: 1857

Details     

Language: French.

    First edition of Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary, one of only 75 copies printed on heavy wove paper ("vélin fort"), the rare deluxe issue described by Clouzot. Unlike the ordinary edition issued in two volumes, the deluxe copies were printed as a single volume with continuously signed gatherings and retain all the first-issue points, including the famous "Sénart" misprint on the dedication leaf. Preserved in its contemporary half navy blue shagreen binding, this is an exceptionally rare large-paper copy of one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century.









Malleus MaleficarumKramer, Heinrich
Published by [Colophon:] "Francoforti, ad Moenum apud Wolfgangum Ritchterum, impensis Nicholai Bassaei. Anno. M.DC.", [Frankfurt]
Language: Latin

Publication Date: 1600


Language: Latin

    First volume only of the rare 1600 Frankfurt edition of the Malleus Maleficarum, containing the complete Latin text of this infamous and influential treatise on witchcraft. Malleus Maleficarum: de lamiis et strigibus... was one of the most widely consulted demonological works of the early modern period and became the principal authority cited during European witch trials.

Printed by Wolfgang Richter for Nicolaus Bassaeus, this edition presents the Malleus Maleficarum of Jacobus Sprenger and Henricus Institoris together with extracts from Johannes Nider's Formicarius. A scarce surviving volume in later half calf over marbled boards, with the printer's woodcut device to the title, woodcut initials, and printed side-notes. An important edition of one of the most notorious books in the history of superstition and persecution.



Mein Kampf - Stalag EditionHitler, Adolf
Published by Zentral Verlag der NSDAP. Franz Eher Nachf. Gmbh, Germany
Language: English

Publication Date: 1942

Details

    
    Rare 1942 English-language edition of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, published in Germany by Zentralverlag der NSDAP, Franz Eher Nachf. GmbH. This was the only English translation officially authorized by the Nazi regime and is an important example of wartime propaganda publishing. Octavo, pp. xxix, 737, with frontispiece portrait of Hitler; bound in navy cloth-backed boards with gilt lettering and green top edge. This copy bears a prisoner-of-war ink stamp to the front half-title and survives in near-fine condition, with exceptionally clean text and minimal signs of age. Supplied with a professionally reproduced facsimile dust jacket.



Purchase: US$150,000.00

Native Son
Wright, Richard
Published by Harpers, New York

Publication Date: 1940


    Signed first edition, first issue of Richard Wright's Native Son, in the scarce dark blue binding. A superb association copy, inscribed by Wright to Ralph D. Hartman, president of the Cleveland Photographic Society and noted book collector, with Hartman's bookplate to the front pastedown: "To - Ralph D. Hartman 'Freedom belongs to the strong.' Sincerely, Richard Wright. 2/19/41 Brooklyn. N.Y."

One of the defining masterpieces of twentieth-century American literature, Native Son remains a landmark exploration of race, poverty, and social injustice. Increasingly scarce in signed form, this copy is preserved in the first-issue dust jacket and housed in a custom quarter morocco clamshell case.


Naked Lunch

Burroughs, William S.
Published by Grove Press, Inc., New York


Publication Date: 1959

Details

    
    Black cloth with gilt to spine and black paper paste down to front and back. Original black and yellow dust jacket, unclipped. Signed by author. First edition, first printing, stated. A near fine copy.






Of Mice And MenSteinbeck, John
Published by Covici Friede, New York

Publication Date: 1937


    Family presentation copy of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper to his beloved older sister Beth and her husband Eugene Ainsworth, with Beth's bookplate to the front pastedown. First edition, first printing, first issue, with the required points including "pendula" on page 9 and the bullet between the two 8s on page 88.

One of only 2,500 first-issue copies printed, this is a deeply personal association copy of one of Steinbeck's most enduring works. The novella, which follows two itinerant farm workers during the Great Depression, became an immediate success and remains a cornerstone of American literature. A rare opportunity to acquire a signed copy with direct family provenance.




On the Origin of SpeciesDarwin, Charles
Published by John Murray, London

Publication Date: 1859

Details

    
    First edition, exceptional presentation copy of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, inscribed on the front free endpaper in a secretarial hand, "Dr Weddell, Bagnères de Bigorre, from the author." A premier association copy, presented to Hugh Algernon Weddell, the pioneering botanist and explorer of South America, who appears on Darwin's earliest list of recipients for presentation copies of the work.

Darwin and Weddell shared scientific interests and exchanged specimens, publications, and correspondence throughout their careers. Weddell's botanical research, particularly his studies of coca, cinchona, and South American flora, contributed significantly to nineteenth-century natural history and informed Darwin's own investigations. This copy represents a remarkable link between two leading figures in the development of evolutionary and botanical science.

A distinguished copy of one of the most important scientific books ever published, with notable provenance and exceptional historical significance.





One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s NestKesey, Ken
Published by The Viking Press, New York

Publication Date: 1962


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.






PersepolisSatrapi, Marjane
Published by Pantheon Books, New York



Publication Date: 2003

Details

    
    First edition of "the most original coming-of-age story from the Middle East yet" (People). Octavo, original illustrated boards. Boldly signed by Marjane Satropi on the front free endpaper. Fine in a fine jacket. Jacket and binding design by Jean-Christophe Menu. Rare and desirable signed. "Wildly charming . . . Like a letter from a friend, in this case a wonderful friend: honest, strong-willed, funny, tender, impulsive, and self-aware" (Luc Sante, The New York Times Book Review).






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