Our members list new acquisitions and recently cataloged items almost every day of the year. Below, you'll find a few highlights from these recent additions...
by Erle Stanley Gardner
First Edition/First Printing with no additional printings mentioned; A Near Fine book in a Very Good dust jacket. An outstanding copy of this early Perry Mason novel; uncommon in the first printing and in collectible condition. This copy is in near fine condition with only light rubbing to the board edges and mild age-toning to the text block; housed in a crisp and clean very good or better jacket that shows light rubbing and creasing to the spine ends and edges, a short closed tear to the top of the back panel, and minor fading to the spine lettering. Overall, a lovely copy of a scarce title. Not remaindered, not price-clipped ($2.00 intact), not ex-library; in a protective Mylar cover.
Offered by Grayshelf Books.
by Woolf, Virginia
London: Published by Leonard & Virginia Woolf at The Hogarth Press, 1925. First edition, printed in an edition of 2,000 copies. 293, [1] pp. 1 vols. 8vo. Publisher's rust-colored cloth. Very slight edgewear, a few spots to spine, which is only slightly sunned, edges spotted, contemporary ownership signature, really bright inside. First edition, printed in an edition of 2,000 copies. 293, [1] pp. 1 vols. 8vo.
First edition of one of Woolf's finest novels and a high mark of modernist fiction. The novel describes the intersecting narratives of society woman Clarissa Dalloway as she prepares to host a party, and of shell-shocked World War I veteran Septimus Warren Smith. "Woolf maintained that her generation had to break the mold of the novel in order to speak of the radically changed world around them [and] Mrs. Dalloway did break the mold … It established her as a powerful force in the British Modernist literary scene" (Miller, Masterpieces of British Modernism, p. 153).
Offered by James Cummins Bookseller.
The Birds of America, from Drawings made in the United States and Their Territories
by AUDUBON, John James (1785-1851)
New York: George R. Lockwood, 1870. 8 volumes, 8vo. (10 3/16 x 6 5/8 inches). 500 hand-lithographed plates. In a magnificent uniform full brown morocco bindings, elaborately tooled in blind on the covers and spines, marbled endpapers, gilt dentelles, all edges gilt
The rare final octavo edition of Audubon's Birds of America in a spectacular full brown morocco binding. The finest example of this that we have encountered.
Ron Tyler, in Audubon's Great National Work, quotes a letter by the publisher's son, Richard B. Lockwood, noting that some time after 1870 the lithographed octavo plates were destroyed when they fell through the floors in a Philadelphia building. The date of the disaster at the Lockwood firm suggests that this final octavo edition was produced in 1871. The octavo edition of Audubon's The Birds of America is certainly the most famous and accessible of American colour plate books. It served many purposes for Audubon. First, it was a moneymaker, successfully marketed throughout the United States on a scale that the great cost of the original Birds. Made impossible. Second, it was another step toward proving himself as good a scientific naturalist as the "closet" naturalists who had scorned him, combining a detailed text with careful observations next to his plates. Third, it allowed a more reasonable arrangement, by genus and species, than the headlong production of the original project had allowed. All of these steps were improvements, amply repaid by the book's success. The octavo Birds was originally issued in 100 parts, each containing five plates executed by the Philadelphia lithographer, J.T. Bowen. Changes in subscribers and increased press runs created numerous states of plates as they were reprinted. The whole story of the production of the book, with detailed information about every aspect of the project, is told by Ron Tyler in Audubon's Great National Work. The story Tyler tells of the difficulties of production and marketing are revealing of the whole world of colour printing in mid-19th century America. Around 1820, Audubon undertook the task of painting all the birds of the United States and Canada. His Canadian works were painted during two separate journeys; a trip along the Newfoundland coast in 1831, and a sailing voyage with his son in 1833 along the North Shore of the Lower St. Lawrence, the Labrador coast south of the Strait of Belle-Isle, and Newfoundland. Many of the 33 watercolours Audubon painted during these trips are considered among his best.
Offered by Donald A. Heald Rare Books.
The Logic Theory Machine. A Complex Information Processing System
by Newell, Simon and Shaw
1956. Newell, Allen (1927-92); Herbert Simon (1916-2001). The logic theory machine: A complex information processing system. Reproduced typescript. Offprint from IRE Transactions on Information Theory IT-2 (September 1956). 61-79pp. 278 x 218 mm. Without wrappers as issued. Punched for a 3-ring binder. Boxed. Light toning, slight edgewear and creasing, but very good. First Edition, Offprint Issue. Extremely rare.
During 1955 and 1956 computer scientist and cognitive psychologist Allen Newell, political scientist, economist and sociologist Herbert A. Simon and systems programmer John Clifford Shaw, all working at the Rand Corporation in Santa Monica, California, developed the Logic Theorist, the first program deliberately engineered to mimic the problem-solving skills of a human being. They decided to write a program that could prove theorems in the propositional calculus like those in Principia Mathematica by Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell. As Simon later wrote, “LT was based on the system of Principia mathematica, largely because a copy of that work happened to sit in my bookshelf. There was no intention of making a contribution to symbolic logic, and the system of Principia was sufficiently outmoded by that time as to be inappropriate for that purpose. For us, the important consideration was not the precise task, but its suitability for demonstrating that a computer could discover problem solutions in a complex nonnumerical domain by heuristic search that used humanoid heuristics” (Simon, “Allen Newell: 1927-1992,” Annals of the History of Computing 20 [1998]: 68).
The collaborators wrote the first version of the program by hand on 3 x 5-inch cards. As Simon recalled: “In January 1956, we assembled my wife and three children together with some graduate students. To each member of the group, we gave one of the cards, so that each one became, in effect, a component of the computer program . . . Here was nature imitating art imitating nature” (quoted in the Wikipedia article on Logic Theorist). The team showed that the program could prove theorems as well as a talented mathematician. Eventually Shaw was able to run the program on the computer at RAND’s Santa Monica facility. It proved 38 of the first 52 theorems in Principia Mathematica. For Theorem 2.85 the Logic Theorist surpassed its inventors’ expectations by finding a new and better proof.
This was the “the first foray by artificial intelligence research into high-order intellectual processes” (Feigenbaum and Feldman, Computers and Thought [1963]). Newell and Simon first described the Logic Theorist in Rand Corporation report P-868 issued on June 15, 1956, entitled The Logic Theory Machine. A Complex Information Processing System. As far as we know, no copy of that report has ever appeared in commerce. The report was first officially published in September, 1956 under the same title in IRE Transactions on Information Theory IT-2, 61-79. Newell and Simon demonstrated the program at the Dartmouth Summer Session on Artificial Intelligence (August-September 1956) in which AI was formally named Artificial Intelligence. Origins of Cyberspace 815 (journal issue).
Offered by Jeremy Norman & Co.
by Bloch, Robert
New York: Dial Press, 1947. First Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. Near Fine in a Fine jacket, unclipped ($2.50), toned at the edges and back panel. Brown cloth, bumped at the corners, with red ink panels and black ink rules and lettering on the spine. Square and firmy bound, former owner's stamp inside the front board and on the front endpaper, clean otherwise. The debut novel from the author of Psycho. (
Offered by Carpetbagger Books.
Two (2) Palmer Method of Business Writing Textbooks with Celluloid Template
New York, New York: The A.N. Palmer Company, 1930. Good to very good. Light toning, dust soiling, wear to extremities.. A set of two (2) penmanship textbooks from the 1930s, teaching children and young adults business penmanship, together with a handy celluloid template. The template can be used by the child to practice their letter shapes neatly. The textbooks include instructions for proper posture and form, drills, and examples of letters, receipts, and statements. Each textbook measures approx. 5.75" by 9" and is approx. 96 pp. in original printed wrps. The celluloid template measures approx. 2.5" by 7.5". Ownership inscriptions of early owner ("Genevieve Galati").
Offered by Eclectibles.
Santa Fé Poet Laureate Arthur Sze (Signed)
by Sze, Arthur
Santa Fé: The Press at the Palace of the Governors, 2008. Limited edition. Hardcover. Fine. Elephant folio. Five finely printed broadsides in a portfolio. The portfolio has a blue cloth spine, brown paper over boards,title printed on marbled paper and inset onto the upper board, linen ties. The broadsides are printed by Tom Leech at the Palace Press on Arches Test which was first marbled by Leech in his studio. Each broadside has been signed by the poet. One poem was printed in an edition of 75 copies, the remainder in editions of 60 copies. Of these 15 sets were reserved for the portfolio. This is copy no. 12 of 15. A fine copy. Arthur Sze was the first Poet Laureate of Santa Fé.
Offered by Thorn Books.
WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR: The Story of Jackie Robinson
by Robinson, Jackie; Rowan, Carl T.
New York: Random House, 1960. First printing. Very good plus in very good jacket.. First edition of Robinson's autobiography, including the account of his courageous 1947 rookie season when he broke baseball's racial barrier. Written with Carl Rowan (who broke similar racial barriers in journalism) and covering Robinson's early life, college and Negro League careers, military service, as well as (most importantly) his pioneering time with the Brooklyn Dodgers, WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR was praised on its release as "absorbing and exciting [...] not only the biography of a great athlete but of a spirited, dedicated American" (NEW YORK TIMES). Uncommon. 9'' x 5.75''. Original quarter black cloth over pin-striped boards. In original price-clipped photographic jacket designed by Anita Walker. 344 pages. Jacket a bit edgeworn, spine mildly sunned, touches of rubbing. Book has slightest lean, a couple of spots of soil to page edges. Overall, sound.
Offered by Type Punch Matrix.
by Rand, Ayn
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1936 First edition, first printing. One of 3,000 copies. Publisher's beige cloth, with front board and spine stamped in blue-green; in its original red dust jacket, with a large blue star to front panel, lettered in white. About fine book, with a touch of soiling to bottom edge of text block, and top corner of front board very slightly bumped; very good dust jacket, with front flap corners clipped as usual, $2.50 price present on front flap, heavy wear to head of spine, shallow chipping to foot of spine, a vertical creasemark to spine, light rubbing to front panel, light soiling to rear panel, some wear to panel edges, and some chipping to corners (most notably to top corner of front panel). Overall, a solid copy, in a pleasing example of the scarce dust jacket. Perinn A1a. Housed in a custom red and blue quarter morocco clamshell box. We the Living is the debut novel of Russian-American author Ayn Rand. Set in post-revolutionary Soviet Russia, it tells the story of three young people of differing beliefs whose lives are destroyed in various ways by the Communist state. Throughout the novel, Rand argues that the Socialist state not only takes these individuals' physical lives, but also denies them the right to truly live by disallowing them to exist according to their own beliefs - a tenet which Rand considered the individual's moral right. Notably, We the Living was rejected by several publishers before being picked up by Macmillan, who did little thereafter to promote its sales. Indeed, the publisher had already destroyed the printing plates before the first print run sold out. Accordingly, We the Living remained out of print for over two decades and was only reprinted after the success of The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957).. First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Dust Jacket Included.
Offered by B&B Rare Books.
by Beaumont, Francis (1584-1616) & John Fletcher (1579-1625), authors. Purslowe, Elizabeth (d. 1656), printer
London: Printed by E[lizabeth] P[urslowe] for William Leake, 1641. FIFTH EDITION (1st 1619). Hardcover. Fine. Bound in 20th c. marbled boards (corners bumped, light wear to extremities.) A very good copy, carefully washed. Small rust spots on 4 leaves (1 per leaf), title lightly soiled and a bit worn, with minor repair affecting the word “thee” in the imprint and a small section of the woodcut ruled border; small section of blank lower corner restored on final leaf.
Printed by Elizabeth Purslowe (vide infra), the play explores and challenges the popular conception of the virgin and the whore in early Jacobean society. The title page features a woodcut depicting one of the female protagonists, Aspatia, disguised as a man, being stabbed during a sword fight with her former fiancé.
Offered by Liber Antiquus.
[EDWARDS OF HALIFAX, binder]
London: Printed for J. Johnson and Co, 1812. Two Superb Edwards of Halifax 'Etruscan' Bindings
With Two Fine Early Twentieth Century Fore-Edge Paintings
COWPER, William. Poems by William Cowper, Of the Inner Tempe, Esq. In Two Volumes. A New Edition. London: Printed for J. Johnson and Co., 1812.
Each volume with a fine early twentieth century fore-edge painting most likely by Joseph Clayton Clark, a.k.a. KYD.
Two small octavo volumes (6 1/4 x 3 3/4 inches; 158 x 95 mm.). [2], x, {1]-368; viii, [1]-368 pp. Each volume with a small typed label on the verso of the front free endpaper describing the fore-edge scene. Each volume with an ink inscription on the verso of the title-page, presenting the book "To St. Mary of -the-Woods College from Gladys M. Moloney.
Contemporary matching "Etruscan Calf" bindings by Edwards of Halifax, each with a fore-edge painting. Covers with gilt pentaglyph and metope border, stenciled frame of palmettes, central panel enclosed by a stenciled border, enclosed is a stenciled device of a fan–like shape with tulips on a pointillé background and other geometric shapes, spine with five raised bands, elaborately tooled in gilt in compartments, two red morocco gilt lettered labels, gilt board edges and turn ins, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Joints expertly and almost invisibly repaired. Housed in a specially made full red morocco vertical slipcase, two spines with five raised bands decoratively ruled and lettered in gilt in compartments. The case is stamped in gilt "Made by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, London, England / For Marshall Field and Company."
The superb fore-edge paintings were executed in the early twentieth century and are of the highest quality. They are possibly the work of Joseph Clayton Clark, a.k.a. KYD. The paintings depict "Berkhampsted. Cowper's Birthplace" & "East Dereham Churchyard. Cowper's Burial Place"
Two very Fine examples of Edwards of Halifax bindings with two exceptionally fine early twentieth century fore-edge paintings.
Edwards of Halifax was distinguished English (Yorkshire) family of bookbinders and booksellers, of whom William Halifax (1723-1808) and his son James (1756-1816) were the most famous. William Halifax was known for his revival of the fore-edge painting and Etruscan calf bindings, the latter, which, if not evolved by William, were successfully adopted by him. He also redeveloped the art of painting under transparent vellum. All three specialities seem to have been carried on both in the Edwards' home town of Halifax, where Thomas (1762-1834), another son, was in business until 1826 and in London, where James and John (1785-c 1791) opened a book store in 1784.
Gladys McKenney Molony (1907-1996). Born in Toledo, Ohio she received her B.A. at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in Terre Haute, Indiana. In 1930 she married William R. Molony, Jr., M.D., and moved to Los Angeles, CA. She was a patroness of the Los Angeles Museum of Art and the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera. She donated her fine collection of Fore-Edge Paintings to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in 1967. A catalog of The Gladys McKenney Molony collection of fore-edge paintings in the Rare Book Room, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College Library was apparently issued in 1973.
Provenance: William E. Henzel, Chicago Ill; Valentine Miller; Mrs. Philip D. Sang; Gladys McKenney Molony presented to the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College Library, Indiana (November 1986).
Offered by David Brass Rare Books.
by Martin, Fred
1976. San Francisco: The Arion Press, 1976.
Oblong 4to, (viii), 69, (2) pp. Illustrated with color linoleum block prints. Publisher's purple and orange silk-screen cloth and amber plexiglass slipcase. Prospectus and other promotional materials laid in. Slight fading to the backstrip and scuffing to the plexiglass; fine internally.
Limited to 200 copies signed by the author and the printer. The fourth book of the Arion Press. A beautiful and quite psychedelic meditation on spiritual and physical travel and a record of a real and and an imaginary journey from west to east through Italy, Lebanon, Iran, Pakistan and India. A contemporary reviewer described it as "a tantalizing narrative, a kind of Arabian Nights journey through the Jungian primal consciousness.
Offered by John Windle, Bookseller.
ARCHIVE OF 26 SIGNED LETTERS, SIGNED MANUSCRIPT, ETC
by DURRELL, Lawrence
1970 - 1986. Letter. Very Good to Near Fine. Includes 9 AUTOGRAPH LETTERS SIGNED (ALSs), 17 TYPED LETTERS SIGNED (TLSs), 1 TYPED MANUSCRIPT SIGNED (TMS), 3 telegrams, and various materials comprising thousands of words. The recipient is actress and friend Fiddle Viracola to whom Durrell closes one letter: "Dearest and fairest of women, pearl beyond price, direst of chanters, no one so nice, Peerless as pussy, marvellous as mice." Nearly all of the letters are SIGNED "Larry," a few with sketches by Durrell, and most, if not all, hand-addressed envelopes are present. Durrell writes about a variety of things including painting, writing, mutual friends, his brother Gerald ("At the moment the RTF is here to make a film about me and by luck my brother has arrived swollen with fame and money to try and steal it; we are having fun for two weeks), books, music, film, and much more. A few brief excerpts: "I've had a frightfully busy time with the film; also since I filled the pool I've had awful trouble with girls deciding to move in an [sic] marry me (it). Its [sic] really the pool and the house they like, but they deceive themselves so easily, women." "I often think of our happy time in New York, in spite of the politics and the mugging and what all." "I have become allergic to casual conversation and convinced that if we could spend a few silent hours a day we'd be less nervous. And I need all the yoga strength for this work -- I couldn't have done it at 40.... And then you wish me the Nobel! It would be a good way to shut me up for good I guess." The one-page TYPED MANUSCRIPT is a poem titled "Omega Grey," to which Durrell has written below the title "for Henry Miller," and at the bottom has SIGNED "Lawrence Durrell" and added "to be read by Fiddle Viracola upon the event commemorating Miller." Also included are two laminated examples of Durrell's bookplate, a few color photographs of Durrell's home, clippings and other correspondence, personal documents belonging to Viracola including her baptism and death certificates, and a touching letter in pencil from Viracola to Durrell, likely never sent, that reads in part: "Maurice's remark I feel nothing for you anymore, its [sic] gone. I love you as a friend. Youre [sic] the best friend I ever had. No one has been there for me like you have." Also included are 4 SIGNED postcards to Viracola from Sappho, Durrell's daughter from his second marriage who committed suicide at the age of 33, five years before Durrell's death.
Lawrence Durrell (1912-1990) is best known for is set of novels THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET.
Offered by Charles Agvent.
The Travels of Marco Polo. 2 Vols. in Slipcase [SIGNED BY ILLUSTRATOR NIKOLAI FYODOROVITCH LAPSHIN]
by Polo, Marco; Manuel Komroff (ed.); Nikolai Fyodorovitch Lapshin (illus.)
New York: Limited Editions Club, 1934. Limited first edition thus. Hardcover. vg- to near fine. 252/1500. Octavo. xl [i], 226; [4] 227-477 [1]pp. Original black buckram with gilt lettering on orange labels of cover and spines, in original glassine, housed in publisher's black buckram slipcases with red and black lettering on tan paper label of spine. Top edges gilt. Title pages printed in orange and black. Color-illustrated headpieces and numerous in-text illustrations throughout. Signed & numbered on the limitation page by the illustrator Nikolai Fyodorovitch Lapshin. Title in English and Chinese. The Travels of Marco Polo from 1271-1295. Slipcase with light rubbing and small chips to edges. Glassine jackets with light chipping along top edges. Minor stain at to top foredge of block of volume one. Slipcase in very good-, volumes in very good+ to near fine condition overall.
Offered by Eric Chaim Kline, Bookseller.
The First Spanish-Mexican Comic Hero "Zorro" Archive, 1958-60
[Mexico and Chicano][Comics] Zorro Comic Archive. New York: Dell Publishing Co., 1958–1960. Six issues. Original illustrated wrappers. Saddle-stapled. A vibrant archive of six issues of Zorro, published by Dell Comics at the height of the masked vigilante’s popularity in the late 50s and early 60s. These comics were adapted directly from the Walt Disney television series starring Guy Williams as Don Diego de la Vega, a Californio nobleman who defends the poor and marginalized under the guise of the masked swordsman Zorro. Blending swashbuckling action with frontier justice, these stories promote an anti-colonial ethos rooted in Mexican and Latinx resistance to Spanish and American imperial authority. The comics are especially notable for their racialized frontier dynamics, romanticized depictions of Spanish California, and Zorro’s role as a defender of peasants, women, and Indigenous communities. Photographic stills from the Disney series appear throughout, highlighting Zorro’s crossover appeal in both print and broadcast media.
Archive includes:
[1] The Sword of Zorro. Dell Comics, No. 497, August–October 1953. Zorro comes back from retirement to investigate a series of raids on local ranches, culminating in the discovery of a conspiracy to overthrow the government of Alta California.
[2] Walt Disney Presents Zorro. Dell Comics, No. 882. 1957. "Presenting Señor Zorro": This story introduces Don Diego de la Vega, who returns to California from Spain to find his homeland oppressed by the tyrannical Captain Monastario. Also: "Zorro's Secret Passage": This story follows Monastario's increasingly desperate attempts to capture Zorro. The villain suspects that Zorro might be one of Don Diego's servants and arrests an innocent man, forcing Don Diego to devise a plan to clear the man's name and maintain his secret identity.
[3] Walt Disney’s Zorro: Gypsy Warning. Dell Comics, No. 976, March 1959. Zorro's bumbling foil Sergeant Garcia discovers that gunpowder in the barracks has been replaced with charcoal, leaving Los Angeles vulnerable to attack
[4] Walt Disney’s Zorro: The Marauders of Monterey. Dell Comics, No. 1003, June-Aug. 1959. Zorro battles a corrupt land baron and protects his friend from exile in a mission community. Interior features full-color art and black-and-white production stills from the series. Includes narrative captions such as “Zorro tries to fight a duel…in the middle of a comedy.”
[5] Walt Disney’s Zorro: Pirate’s Plunder. Dell Comics, No. 8, Dec.-Feb. 1960. A sea adventure in which Zorro thwarts a band of pirates attempting to plunder the coast. Includes scenes of shipboard swordfights and betrayal. Production stills highlight action sequences and romantic subplots.
[6] Walt Disney’s Zorro: A Stroke of Luck. Dell Comics, No. 11, Sept.-Nov. 1960. Set in the Californian wilderness, this issue follows Zorro as he rescues Don Diego’s imprisoned allies. Interior text panels such as “The Hunted” and “A Stroke of Luck” dramatize Zorro’s dual identity and his cunning use of misdirection.
All issues with moderate toning to pages and covers; light edge wear; pen ownership markings to cover of No. 11. Some wear to spines and small closed tears to margins of wrappers Staples intact, interiors supple and clean. Overall very good condition. A window into mid-century American interpretations of Latinx identity and representations in fiction of New Spain and Alta California.
Offered by Max Rambod, Inc.
Have Space Suit—Will Travel (First Edition)
by Robert A. Heinlein (author); Ed Emshwiller (jacket art)
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1958. First Edition. First Edition, first printing, with A.9-58 [MJ] present on the copyright page. Originally serialized in "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction" in August, September, and October of 1958. Cover art by Ed Emshwiller.
A young adult novel about a high school senior in a future world who wins a used space suit in an advertising contest, later using the suit to travel to the moon. Nominated for a Hugo Award.
Very Good plus in a price-clipped, Very Good dust jacket. Boards lightly soiled, with an evenly faded spine. Jacket moderately rubbed, with shallow chips at the spine ends.
Offered by Royal Books.
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