Researches with the Dropping Mercury Cathode. Part II. The Polarograph; Reprinted from Recueil des Travaux Chimiques des Pays-Bas, Vol. 46, No. 5, pp. 496–498
by Heyrovský, Jaroslav [with] M. Shikata
Harleem: Société chimique néerlandaise, 1925. First Edition. Offprint, 8vo (236 × 157mm), pp. 3, plus 4 inserted plates. From the Physico-chemical Institute of the Charles University, Prague. Original green printed wrappers, staple-bound, light toning and a couple of small spots to the rear wrapper, else near fine. Signed by Heyrovský on the front wrapper. Heyrovský received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1959 for his discovery and development of polarography, the electroanalytical method he had introduced at Charles University... Read More
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The Talented Mr. Ripley
by Highsmith, Patricia
New York: Coward–McCann, 1955. First Edition. Small binding flaw to each endpaper else fine in a fine dustjacket with no fading on the spine. Fresher than your first taste of ice-cream, bright enough to outshine glass, and sharp enough to cut it. Custom quarter morocco box. A psychological portrait of a charming, amoral protagonist who subverts the traditional crime narrative structure. A departure from conventional crime fiction protagonists, Highsmith's Tom Ripley makes readers sympathize with a murderer who faces... Read More
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The Devil’s Elixir
by Hoffmann, E.T.A.
Edinburgh & London: William Blackwood & T. Cadell, 1824. First Edition. 2 vols. in one. First in English. Original blue cloth backed boards, and printed paper spine label. Light wear, bookplate, small ink signature to the title page, a little foxed, but withal near fine, amazing condition for any book this vintage, especially this one. A rare book, even when it’s rebound, and this is the only copy I have ever seen of it in its original, fragile binding,... Read More
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The Philosophie, Commonlie Called, the Morals
by Plutarch [Translated by Philemon Holland]
London: Printed by Arnold Hatfield, 1603. First Edition. Very good. First complete edition in English, containing everything you’d ever want to know of what Romans thought about private (daily) life. An essential, balancing compendium for all the Roman history books (the historiographer’s question is always, what else was going on?). It’s a spectacular read, but you better wipe off your magnifying glasses because this book is 1,400 pages of well-spaced, but small type. Full mottled calf by Riviere... Read More
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The Hypophysis and Diabetes; A Small Archive of Eleven Inscribed Offprints and Three Letters
by Houssay, Bernardo A.
1959. First Edition. Houssay received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1947 for his discovery of the part played by the hormone of the anterior pituitary lobe in the metabolism of sugar, a finding that fundamentally revised the prevailing understanding of diabetes as a disease of the pancreas alone. Before Houssay’s work, diabetes was understood principally in terms of pancreatic failure and insulin deficiency. What Houssay demonstrated, through a sustained program of animal experimentation carried out in... Read More
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![Poet-Playwright Directs a Survey [of] National Minorities in Europe and the Soviet Union](https://d3525k1ryd2155.cloudfront.net/h/803/140/1694140803.0.l.jpg)
Poet-Playwright Directs a Survey [of] National Minorities in Europe and the Soviet Union
by [Hughes, Langston]
New York: Edutravel, 1937. A 4” x 9” brochure advertising Langston Hughes’ planned trip to the Soviet Union in the summer of 1937. The trip never occurred, as Hughes had directed his attention to reporting on the Spanish Civil War. The planned 2 month trip was set to be a sociological learning experience guided by Hughes in an attempt to spread leftist ideals in the face of fascistic powers rising in western Europe. Near fine. This brochure illustrates one... Read More
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A Collection of Eleven Works ; Including: A Broadside of Poetry International 1967; Royal Shakespeare Theatre Club Handbill; Moon-Whales; Selected Poems; River
by Hughes, Ted
various: various, 1992. 11 volumes and ephemeral items in various formats. Condition generally fine or near fine. Notable items include the scarce handbill for Royal Shakespeare Theatre Club's Sunday Night Poetry and Jazz (1964)—featuring Hughes, Stevie Smith, and Adrian Mitchell with Glenda Jackson among the readers, marking Jackson's first and last meeting with Smith before her award-winning portrayal in the play Stevie; the Poetry International 1967 broadside—psychedelic design incorporating names of featured poets including Ginsberg, Auden, Yevtushenko, Neruda, and... Read More
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Presentation Photograph, Inscribed to Sarah Bernhardt
by Hugo, Victor
Paris: J.M. Lopez, 1872. Bust portrait of Victor Hugo (3 7/8” X 5 3/8”), mounted on its original card (6 1/4” X 8 3/8”). Inscribed, in black ink (trailing from the photograph down to the card), “A mademoiselle Sarah Bernhardt admiration et reconnaissance. Victor Hugo” (To Miss Sarah Bernhardt admiration and gratitude. Victor Hugo). The card is backed with contemporary framing craft paper and mounted to it is an image of Bernhardt’s study, showing this very photograph (a fillet... Read More
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Brave New World
by Huxley, Aldous
London: Chatto and Windus, 1932. First Edition. Deluxe issue, number 154 of 324 signed copies. 8vo. Fine in the publisher's yellow cloth, morocco label to spine, lettered in gilt, top edge gilt. The UK edition was split into signed and trade issues, published simultaneously on 2 February, following publication of the signed issue of the US edition on 21 January, and preceding the US trade issue on 4 February. Half morocco box. Connolly 75; Eschelbach and Shober 10. "Brave... Read More
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Trouble with the Sweet Stuff; Handwritten Manuscript Lyrics
by Idol, Billy
n.p., 1990. 3 pages of manuscript lyrics written in Idol’s hand with pencil on lined and ruled yellow paper, 8.25” x11”. Some stains (blood?), smudges, vertical and horizontal fold lines, else very good. No corrections, but there are a number of differences between this manuscript and the final studio version, i.e. the first stanza, order and many other examples—certainly an early working draft. Beautiful custom morocco chemise slip case. Ex-Julien’s, donated by Idol for a charity auction. “Trouble with... Read More
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Quaint Stories of the Samurais; Translated From the Old Original
by Saikaku Ibara [Ihara]
Paris: Printed for Private Distribution; Maurice Darantiere, 1928. First Edition. 1st edition in English, from the 17th century Japanese root. Original printed self wrappers, modest age toning, crease to the front internal wrapper, 1/8” of wear to spine’s top else near fine. One of 500 copies. A very scarce title and a Japanese classic of 5 tales about gay samurai, originally written by Ihara in 17th century Japan in his book "The Great Mirror of Male Love" ( ).... Read More
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The Sketch Book Part VII
by Irving, Washington
New York: Van Winkle, 1820. First Edition. Wrappers. 1st American edition, 1st printing (all points per B.A.L.). It is the last in an 1819–1820 (7 vol.) series in which Irving invented the modern short story, but the 4 tales in our volume form a distinct and complete book with individual pagination (the first 5 vols. are continuously paginated), and even on its own it is laudable. Original wrappers, spine gone, covers loose but holding, a cover stain at 8... Read More
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The Aspern Papers
by James, Henry
London: Macmillan, 1888. First Edition. 2 vols. 1st edition (vol. II contains 2 short stories, Louisa Palant and The Modern Warning). Original dark green cloth (almost British racing green). A fine set, razor sharp, extraordinary in the context of a 650 copy 1st printing, and I seldom see common Victorian double deckers that look like this anymore. James was always confident with small lives and big themes, so in The Aspern Papers he tries his commanding hand at Everything... Read More
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L'Eve Future
by Villiers de l'Isle-Adam [Jean-Marie-Mathias-Philippe-Auguste]
Paris: M. de Brunhoff, 1886. First Edition. 8vo (186x 120mm), pp. [4], iii, 379, [1]. Some soiling, creases, and a couple of short tears, else a very good copy of a scarce book in the original publisher's wrappers. The first novel about an android, and the book that popularized the word itself. A fictionalized Thomas Edison, brooding in his laboratories at Menlo Park, undertakes to build an ideal mechanical woman (Hadaly) for his friend Lord Ewald, whose fiancée is... Read More
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The Declaration of Independence ; in The Annual Register
by [Jefferson, Thomas]
London: J. Dodsley, 1777. First Edition. Very good. The first appearance anywhere in England (the arrival) of The Declaration of Independence (printed on pages 261–270), an announcement perceived as delusional arrogance, and a state paper primarily viewed with amusement by the British public at the time, but one that would soon reverberate throughout Britain and around the world. Original paper backed boards, ink script '1776' to the spine with trace of label and ink above, extremities worn, hinges... Read More
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![Message from the President of the United States Communicating Discoveries Made in Exploring the Missouri, Red River and Washita [...] by Captains Lewis and Clark [...]](https://d3525k1ryd2155.cloudfront.net/h/479/359/1674359479.0.l.jpg)
Message from the President of the United States Communicating Discoveries Made in Exploring the Missouri, Red River and Washita [...] by Captains Lewis and Clark [...]
by Jefferson, Thomas
New York: printed by Hopkins and Seymour, 1806. First Edition. Jefferson’s earliest report on the Lewis and Clark (and Sibley–Dunbar) expeditions. The first official publication to provide any detailed account of Lewis and Clark, and the first work to give any satisfactory account of the Southwestern portion of the Louisiana Purchase. It is also the first account of Texas in book form. Original self–wrappers, a few curls to edges but a fine copy, rare for this fragile item. The... Read More
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Except the Dying
by Jennings, Maureen
New York: St. Martin’s, 1997. First Edition. 1st edition of the first William Murdoch novel, begetting the CBC television series that began in 2008 and continues today in its 17th season. Signed on the title page. Fine in fine dustjacket. It’s usually safe to assume that people are more subtle and less sensitive than they appear.
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Ein Hungerkünstler
by Kafka, Franz
Berlin: Verlag die Schmiede, 1924. First Edition. (in German) The last collection of short stories to be finished before Kafka’s death, though it was published posthumously. Original green cloth (it was also published in paper boards), spine and extremities faded, front hinge starting, but holding strong, near fine. The title story was published 2 years earlier in Die Neue Rundschau magazine, the other three appeared for the first time in this book. The four stories comprising Kafka's final collection,... Read More
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The Leiden Program; Nine Offprints on Low-Temperature Physics
by Kamerlingh Onnes, Heike
Leiden: Eduard IJdo, 1926. First Edition. 9 vols. Kamerlingh Onnes directed the Physical Laboratory at the University of Leiden for nearly four decades, building it into the foremost cryogenic research facility in the world. His was a program of extraordinary methodological ambition: gases compressed, cooled, and measured with a precision that no laboratory had previously achieved, all in pursuit of understanding matter at temperatures approaching absolute zero. Characteristically, Onnes published not only his experimental results but the instruments and... Read More
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The Constant Nymph
by Kennedy, Margaret
London: Heinemann, 1924. First edition, first printing, second issue with the half-title in the second state; in second issue dust jacket with variant ads on the rear panel (copies of the first printing of the first edition were altered very early in the distribution process with only a few being sent to reviewers). Kennedy's novel became a sensation in the 1920s for its sympathetic portrayal of bohemian life and its frank treatment of adolescent sexuality and artistic passion, challenging... Read More
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Pull My Daisy: Text by Jack Kerouac for the Film by Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie
by KEROUAC, Jack, Robert Frank, and Alfred Leslie
New York: Grove Press, 1961. First edition. Paperback original. With stills from the film by Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie. Wrappers a trifle soiled, near fine.
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Pull My Daisy
by KEROUAC, Jack, Robert Frank, and Alfred Leslie
New York: Grove Press, 1961. First edition. Paperback original. Text by Jack Kerouac for the Film by Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie. Advance Review Copy with slip laid in. A tiny crease on front wrap, else fine. Slight offsetting on the review slip.
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The Sheep Pig; with a Publisher's File Copy
by King–Smith, Dick [Illustrated by Mary Rayner]
London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1983. First Edition. Preceding the 1985 U.S. edition retitled “Babe, the Gallant Pig”). Signed by King–Smith (in ink) on the title page. Fine in fine dustjacket, perfect, and not common when it’s signed, an exemplar of a “book code” imperative saying that even if every book you buy doesn’t ultimately make you happy, always buy the best of them so as to deserve it. The 1995 film (Babe) won the Golden Globe for Best Picture... Read More
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Christine
by King, Stephen [Illustrated by Stephen Gervais]
West Kingston, RI: Donald M. Grant, 1983. First Edition. Limited edition, number 177 of 1000 copies, signed by King and Gervais and issued in a red cloth slip case. 8vo, pp. 544. Tiny point of rubbing to the top spine tip of the jacket, and a crease to the outer edge of the front flap.
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A General Atlas Describing the Whole Universe
by Kitchin, Thomas
London: Sayer & Bennett, 1787. First Edition. Hardcover. 1st edition. Folio (16” X 22”), 23 maps on 35 double sheets, all hand colored in outline, with some areas fully colored. A milestone on the trail of progressively expanded versions, a lineage that evolved from Kitchin’s single country atlases to the entire world starting in 1773 (the same year he was appointed royal hydrographer to King George III). It is meaningfully dated 1782 on the title page and decidedly distinguished... Read More
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