FIRST EDITIONS AND FINE BINDINGS AT
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London : Thomas Nelson & Sons, [1913]. First edition. His first book and a classic of crime fiction - "Contrasted with the turgid narratives of its own period, its civilized effortlessness and engaging humor are as twin beacons in a fog ... Trent's Last Case stands truly first among modern examples of the genre. It is one of the great cornerstones of the detective story" (Haycraft).
Crown 8vo. [ii],(376),[ii]pp. Colour frontispiece by Percy Bell Hickling (b.1876) of the "Woman in Black". Bound in a smart later half blue calf, banded and gilt, by Bayntun-Riviere; top edge gilt; marbled endpapers; a fine copy.

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New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1940. First edition. His second and most widely celebrated novel - a Haycraft-Queen cornerstone of the genre. Set in the then-new W.A.Dwiggins Caledonia type.
Crown 8vo. [viii],276,[iv]pp. Bound in an elegant recent half blue morocco, banded, and lettered in gilt; original cloth upper panel and backstrip preserved at rear; a handful of minor marks, but a very good and attractive copy. Bruccoli II-1a.

£750

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 26784 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

London : Collins for The Crime Club, (1935). First edition. A Poirot mystery - murder on the Le Bourget-Croydon mid-day flight of the air-liner Prometheus. Published in the USA as "Death in the Air".
Crown 8vo. 252,[iv]pp. Plan. Bound in a smart recent full maroon morocco, banded, and lettered in gilt; marbled endpapers; original cloth backstrip and upper panel preserved at rear; some spotting, mainly of edges and prelims; short tear to gutter of final advertisement leaf, but overall a very good copy.

£250

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 31287 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

London : Methuen & Co., (1911). First edition : [one of 3,000 copies]. The advertisements dated September 1911.
Crown 8vo. [vi],(378) + (32)pp. Bound in a handsome recent full crimson morocco, banded and richly gilt; top edge gilt; marbled endpapers; original cloth spine preserved at rear; a few faint signs of age and use, but a very good, clean and sound copy in an elegant binding, preserved in a cloth slip-case. Wise 19.

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London : William Heinemann / Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott Co., (1915). First Rackham illustrated edition. Dickens' great fable here furnished with wholly sympathetic colour plates and text illustrations by Arthur Rackham (1867-1939).
Foolscap 4to. (xii),(148)pp. Twelve tissue-guarded colour plates. Illustrations in text. Bound in a smart recent half blue morocco, banded and gilt, retaining the original Rackham-designed cloth gilt (the lavender variant) upper cover; top edge purple; some light spotting of edges, but overall a very good copy.

£500

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 34151 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

New York : McClure, Phillips & Co., 1905. First edition : published in February 1905 and preceding the London edition, which was published in March of the same year. A collection of thirteen Holmes stories, with some striking illustrations by Charles Raymond MacAuley (1871-1934).
Crown 8vo. [viii],(382),[ii]pp. Frontispiece and twelve plates. Bound in an elegant recent full blue morocco, banded and gilt; top edge gilt; marbled endpapers; original cloth backstrip and the splendid pictorial upper cover preserved at rear; a few minor marks; occasional mild tanning, but a very good copy. Green & Gibson A29.

£500

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London : Jonathan Cape, (1957). First edition. "Will he take the lure - the beautiful lure called Tania, first proffered to Bond wearing nothing but a black velvet ribbon round her throat?"
Crown 8vo. (254),[ii]pp. Bound in a stylish recent black half morocco, banded and gilt; the backstrip and upper panel of the original boards, blocked and lettered in silver and metallic red, preserved at rear; a very good, clean and crisp copy.

£350

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London : Edward Arnold, 1910. First edition.
Crown 8vo. [iv],(344),[ii]pp. Bound in an elegant recent half burgundy morocco, preserving the original cloth spine and upper cover at rear; some occasional slight spotting; lacks final advertisement leaf; a handful of faint creases, but a very handsome copy. Kirkpatrick A4.

£500

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London : Longmans, Green & Co., 1932. First edition. "Something nasty in the woodshed" - her first and most famous novel - and a comic masterpiece.
Crown 8vo. xii,(308)pp. Bound in a stylish recent full blue morocco, banded and gilt; top edge gilt; marbled endpapers; original cloth upper cover and backstrip preserved at rear; some occasional spotting, but a very good copy of a twentieth-century rarity.

£750

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London : Methuen & Co., (1908). First edition.
Crown 8vo. [vi],302,[ii]pp. Frontispiece by Graham Robertson. Bound in a pleasant later half blue calf, banded and gilt; contrasting red and green labels; top edge gilt; just very slightly rubbed; some uneven and occasional spotting and browning to text, but still an attractive copy of this enduring classic.

£1,250

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 28624 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

London : William Heinemann, (1943). First edition.
Crown 8vo. [vi],236,[ii]pp. Bound in a smart recent half black morocco, banded and gilt, with the backstrip of the original cloth bound in at the rear; a very good and attractive copy of a difficult wartime Greene.

£250

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London : Tinsley Brothers, 1872. First edition. Hardy's scarce second novel, published by Tinsley "in an edition presumably of 500 copies" in June 1872, having been rejected by Macmillan as "very slight and rather unexciting" the previous year. Tinsley recollected it as one of the "best press-noticed" books he ever published, but it sold poorly and many of the first edition sheets were subsequently remaindered in one volume form.
Two volumes. Crown 8vo. [vi],(216); [vi],216pp. Bound, complete with half-titles, in a smart recent half crimson morocco, banded and gilt; marbled sides; text somewhat spotted in places, with a few marks, faint creases and small flaws, but overall a very good copy of an elusive title. Purdy pp. 6-8. Sadleir 1117. Wolff - not listed.

£4,000

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 30438 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

London : Macmillan & Co., 1906. First edition. Illustrations by Harold R. Millar.
Demy 8vo. (x),306,[iv]pp. Frontispiece and nineteen full-page illustrations. Bound in a smart recent half red morocco, banded and gilt, retaining the original cloth sides with Kipling's Ganesha device; top edge gilt; a very good, sound and clean copy. Stewart 306.

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New York : Boni & Liveright, 1925. First edition. Gentlemen prefer blondes - fate keeps on happening - London is really nothing - Paris is devine - the central of Europe - brains are really everything.
Crown 8vo. (218),[ii]pp. Illustrations by Ralph Barton. Bound in a smart recent half red morocco, retaining the original cloth sides; mild spotting, mainly of edges, but a very good copy in a handsome binding.

£400

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London : William Heinemann, (1930). First edition : the state with the dropped "t", giving the incorrect reading "won'" rather than "won't" at the end of line 14 on p.147. This is usually said to be the earlier variant, although on what evidence is unclear. The Maugham novel said to be based on the life of Thomas Hardy.
Crown 8vo. [iv],270pp. Bound in a handsome recent half blue banded morocco, retaining the original cloth sides; occasional mild spotting, but a very good and attractive copy. Stott 26.

£195

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London : Longmans, Green & Co., (1960). First edition. "Nowhere in Scotland is more evocative of a specific book than Sandaig, near Glenelg, Inverness-shire, which Maxwell disguised as Camusfeàrna ..." (ODNB). Otters, nature and the basis of the 1968 film, with Bill Travers, Virginia McKenna, etc.
Demy 8vo. x,(212)pp. Photographs by the author. Illustrations in text by Michael Ayrton, Peter Scott and others. Bound in a smart recent half blue morocco, banded and gilt; original linson backstrip preserved at rear; faint crease to one leaf, but otherwise a very good and clean copy. Neat contemporary ownership inscription of V. Leigh.

£250

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London : Victor Gollancz, 1929. First edition. Her scarce first book - and the first appearance of Beatrice Lestrange Bradley, introduced on p.13 as "dry without being shrivelled, and bird-like without being pretty".
Crown 8vo. (288)pp. Bound in an elegant recent half black morocco, preserving the original cloth backstrip at rear; edges of text-block just a little tanned, but a very good and most attractive copy. Hubin p.287.

£250

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London : Hutchinson & Co., 1908. First edition. The third of the Sir Percy Blakeney adventures.
Crown 8vo. (352) + (32)pp advertisements dated Autumn 1908. Bound in a smart recent full blue morocco, banded and gilt; marbled endpapers; original cloth upper cover and backstrip preserved at rear; half-title lightly tanned; some occasional spotting, but a very good copy. Faint ownership blind-stamp of St. Malo, Pierremont Gardens, Darlington on half-title.

£250

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London : Secker & Warburg, 1949. First edition.
Crown 8vo. 312pp. Bound in a handsome recent full grey morocco, banded and gilt: top edge pink; marbled endpapers; some slight discolouration to edges; one leaf slightly creased; a few slight marks, but still a most attractive copy.

£400

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 29833 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

London : Editions Poetry London, (1945). First edition. Smart's celebrated fictional account of her love affair with George Barker.
Demy 8vo. 54,[ii]pp. Bound in an elegant recent half red morocco, lettered down spine in gilt; top edge gilt; a most attractive copy of the first edition of this scarce modern classic.

£295

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Boston : Little, Brown & Co., 1948. First edition : precedes the 1949 London edition published by Heinemann.
Post 8vo. [vi],(344),[ii]pp. Illustrations by Ruth Steed, based on sketches by the author. Bound in a smart recent half blue morocco, banded and gilt, preserving the original pictorial cloth cover and spine at rear; top edge blue; a few slight edge spots, but a very good and handsome copy.

£400

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London : Chatto & Windus, 1887. First edition. A celebrated collection of fifty-four poems, thirty-eight in English and the remainder in Scots - the latter including the first appearance in book form of both "A Lowden Sabbath Morn" and "The Scotsman's Return from Abroad".
Foolscap 8vo. [ii],(xvi),[2],(138),[ii]pp. Bound, with the initial blank but without the inserted advertisements, in a delightful near contemporary half tan morocco, banded and gilt in a floral design; top edge gilt; marbled sides and endpapers; mild spotting of binder's blanks and edges, but a very good copy indeed. With the pictorial 1895 bookplate of Albert Harrison.

£250

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London : Cassell & Co., 1888. First British edition. Stevenson with a fine tale of the Wars of the Roses.
Crown 8vo. viii,324,4 + [xvi]pp inserted advertisements dated July 1888. Bound in a smart late twentieth-century full red morocco, banded and gilt, by Bayntun-Riviere, preserving the original pictorial upper cover at rear; all edges gilt; marbled endpapers; two tiny scuffs, a sprinkling of faint spots, but an excellent copy. Prideaux 26.

£350

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London : Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, 1847. First edition. Originally published in substantially different form in "Bell's Life in London" as "Sporting Sketches", between October 1846 and June 1847.
Demy 8vo. [viii],(330),[ii]pp + 32pp advertisements dated October 1847. Eight etched plates by "Phiz" (Hablot Knight Browne, 1815-1882). Bound, complete with half-title, in a later (mid twentieth-century) full crimson polished calf, banded and gilt with sporting motifs, by Birdsall; contrasting green and tan labels; top edge gilt; inner gilt dentelles; upper and lower panel of the original decorative cloth bound in at rear; a touch sunned; a few minor marks, slight scuffs and small flaws, but overall a very good copy in a handsome binding by the celebrated Northampton bookbinding firm, founded in the eighteenth century and which continued trading until 1961.

£250

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London : Effingham Wilson, 1830. First edition : with p.91 mis-numbered 19, and with the reading "carcanet" on p.72. His first solo collection of poems, including "Mariana", "The Burial of Love", "The Kraken", etc. Tipped in is Tennyson's autograph signature, and loosely inserted are two further fragments of his Farringford notepaper, apparently from the same note as the signature, the first with the embossed address and an autograph message in his hand - "Dear Lady Charlotte, Voilà" - and the second with the autograph date "March 12th 1883". The addressee was presumably Lady Charlotte Schreiber (formerly Guest), whose "Mabinogion" inspired parts of his "Idylls of the King", and who was a friend of many years standing.
Post 12mo. [iv],154,2pp. Bound, with the errata and advertisement leaves, in a lavish late nineteenth century full crimson morocco by Alfred Matthews of New York, richly gilt in an arabesque design; inner gilt dentelles; top edge gilt; marbled endpapers; a most attractive copy in a superb binding, protected by a marbled slip-case - this last a little rubbed. With the 1894 pictorial book-label of Charles B. Foote, whose collection was dispersed at auction in New York in 1894-1895, and the later 1923 book-plate of Beatrice Borland.

£1,500

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London : Bradbury & Evans, 1848. First edition, bound from the original monthly parts published between January 1847 and July 1848. The parts all in first state, with the "rustic" heading to the first chapter and the notorious "Marquis of Steyne" wood-engraving (p.336). This illustration is said to have been suppressed, under threat of court action, for its allegedly libellous resemblance to the Third Marquis of Hertford. This has been disputed, but the portrait certainly only appears in the earliest copies of the book - and disappeared very early in the book's life cycle.
Demy 8vo. xvi,624pp. Etched plates and highly entertaining text illustrations by Thackeray himself. Bound, without half-title, in a contemporary half green calf, banded and gilt in a floral design, by [Wareing Hargreave] Webb of Liverpool (1804-1856), with his blind-stamp; marbled sides; binding a little rubbed, lightly worn and slightly scuffed at corners; plates spotted in varying degrees, but the text clean; a good copy in a pleasant contemporary binding.

£400

To confirm availability and to purchase this print please note the stock number 35264 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

London : J. M. Dent & Sons, (1954). First edition. With the original preface and musical setting by Daniel Jones.
Crown 8vo. (x),(102)pp. Bound in a smart recent half black morocco, banded and gilt; top edge gilt; original cloth spine and upper cover preserved at rear; a few faint and minor internal marks, but an excellent copy. Rolph B21.

£250

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 28661 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

London : Jonathan Cape, (1944). The first edition of this enduringly popular anthology - the best of English poetry all of which, it is said, Wavell knew by heart.
Crown 8vo. 432pp. Bound in a smart recent half burgundy morocco, banded and gilt; original cloth backstrip preserved at rear; a very faint fringe of marking to outer edges of first and last leaves, but otherwise a very good copy in a handsome binding.

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London : Macmillan & Co., 1906. First edition : the uncommon variant state, with the cancel title-leaf but with the regular first issue advertisements dated August 1906. The British Library copy (with advertisements dated May) is a proof copy - the book was not in fact published until September (Locke, Science Fiction First Editions, pp.94-96).
Post 8vo. viii,(306),[vi],[8]pp. Bound in a smart recent half green morocco, preserving the original cloth upper panel and spine at rear; top edge gilt; a very good copy in an attractive binding.

£185

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 26785 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

London : Collins, 1938. First edition. Illustrated by the author.
Post 8vo. (340)pp. Illustrations. Bound in a handsome recent half black morocco, banded and gilt; original cloth backstrip preserved at rear; very faint and minor spotting of outer leaves, but a fine, bright and elegantly bound copy.

£295

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 26523 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

London : James R. Osgood, McIlvaine & Co., 1891. First edition : [one of 1,500 copies with the London imprint]. Four stories - "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime : A Study of Duty", "The Sphinx Without a Secret : An Etching", "The Canterville Ghost : A Hylo-Idealistic Romance", and "The Model Millionaire : A Note of Admiration".
Crown 8vo. [iv],168pp. Bound in a smart recent full brown morocco, banded, lettered in gilt, and ruled and blocked in black; top edge gilt; with the upper panel of the fragile original binding (with its design by Charles Ricketts) preserved at the rear; a few minor marks, spots and faint creases, but a very good copy. Mason 345.

£750

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 31288 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.

London : Faber & Faber, (1935). First edition.
Crown 8vo. (320)pp. Title-page and colophon decorations by C.F. Tunnicliffe. Bound in a very attractive later half russet morocco, banded and gilt with salmon, by Bayntun; top edge gilt; a few slight spots; very mild tanning of endpapers, but a very good copy.

£250

To confirm availability and to purchase this book please note the stock number 32090 and go to the database. Enter the number in the stock/order number box - press the search button - and a shopping basket should appear. Or simply call us or e-mail books@ashrare.com.