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Rare and Antiquarian Books

Modern First Editions

Modern firsts is a category that attracts many collectors and to which a great number of dealers state a specialty, but there isn't a consensus on what is meant by modern firsts. Where does the modern era begin? Some in the rare book trade will set the starting point for modern firsts at the beginning of the 20th century, others push that date back a bit to the later part of the 19th century. Biblio marks the start of modern firsts as 1919, corresponding with the end of WWI.

Results 1 - 15 of 1948
[Books into Film] The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
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[Books into Film] The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz

by RICHLER, Mordecai (1931-2001)

  • Used
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Fine-
Edition
First Edition
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$365.00
$5.00 shipping to USA

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Description:
London: André Deutsch, 1959. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine-/Near Fine+. First Impression (no later printings noted) of the author's breakthrough novel, chronicling Jewish life in the 1930s and '40s in the Montreal neighborhood east of Mount Royal Park; filmed in 1974 with Richard Dreyfuss in the title role. Thick crown 8vo (192 x 125mm): 319,[1]pp. Publisher's scarlet cloth, spine stamped in gold; price-clipped dust jacket illustrated by Bernard Blatch. An excellent example, tightly bound (apparently unread) and clean throughout (slightly dusty top-edge); Near Fine or better jacket (crown of spine panel lightly rubbed). Richler's fourth novel, "regarded by critics as technically superior to his earlier novels because of the cinematic rendering of some incidents (indicating the influence of Richler's screenwriting) and the maturation of narrative voice." (Literary Encyclopedia) Following publication of Duddy Kravitz, according to The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature, Richler became "one of… Read More
Item Price
$365.00
$5.00 shipping to USA
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

by Thompson, Hunter S.

  • Used
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used
Edition
First Printing of the First Edition
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Langley, Washington
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$1,350.00
$6.50 shipping to USA

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Description:
A Near Fine copy with the usual touch of sunning to board edges in a Near Fine bright unclipped dust jacket with a short closed edge tear to the top edge of the front panel and a crease to the front flap. No names, writing, tears or chips to the jacket. The book is a roman à clef, rooted in autobiographical incidents. The story follows its protagonist, Raoul Duke, and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo, as they descend on Las Vegas to chase the American Dream through a drug-induced haze, all the while ruminating on the failure of the 1960s countercultural movement. The work is Thompson's most famous, and is noted for its lurid descriptions of illegal drug use, its early retrospective on the culture of the 1960s, and its popularization of Thompson's highly subjective blend of fact and fiction that has become known as gonzo journalism.
Item Price
$1,350.00
$6.50 shipping to USA
My Life As A Fake.
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My Life As A Fake.

by CAREY, Peter

  • Used
  • Fine
  • Hardcover
  • Signed
  • first
Condition
Used - Fine
Edition
First edition / First printing.
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Edmonds, Washington
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$125.00
$6.00 shipping to USA

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Description:
Sydney, Australia: Alfred A. Knopf Australia, 2003. Signed and dated by the author at publication, with publisher's promotional postcard laid in. First edition / First printing. White paper-covered boards with ribbon marker bound in. Very fine in very fine dust jacket.
Item Price
$125.00
$6.00 shipping to USA
The Bird Catcher.
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The Bird Catcher.

by PONSOT, Marie

  • Used
  • as new
  • Hardcover
  • Signed
  • first
Condition
As New
Edition
First edition / First printing.
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Edmonds, Washington
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$125.00
$6.00 shipping to USA

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Description:
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998. Signed on the title page by the author. First edition / First printing. Maroon cloth spine, gray paper-covered boards. Very fine in very fine dust jacket. Winner of the National Books Critics Circle Award. 2013 Winner of the $100,000.00 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, given for lifetime achievement.
Item Price
$125.00
$6.00 shipping to USA
The Old Gringo.
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The Old Gringo.

by FUENTES, Carlos. Translated by Margaret Sayers Penden

  • Used
  • Fine
  • Hardcover
  • Signed
  • first
Condition
Used - Fine
Edition
First U.S. edition / First printing.
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Edmonds, Washington
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$150.00
$6.00 shipping to USA

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Description:
New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1985. Signed on the half-title page by the author. First U.S. edition / First printing. White cloth spine, burnt orange paper-covered boards. Fine in fine dust jacket. In a Paris Review interview (1981) Fuentes talked about a new novella which he was writing in English. That book was Old Gringo. I asked him about it in 1995. He said it was written in English, then translated and rewritten in Spanish (because he felt more comfortable in his native tongue). The English translation was then done in collaboration with Margaret Sayers Penden.
Item Price
$150.00
$6.00 shipping to USA
Water Music.
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Water Music.

by BOYLE, T. Coraghessan. [T. C. Boyle]

  • Used
  • as new
  • Hardcover
  • Signed
  • first
Condition
As New
Edition
First British edition / First printing.
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Edmonds, Washington
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$175.00
$6.00 shipping to USA

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Description:
London: Victor Gollancz, 1982. Signed on the title page by the author. First British edition / First printing. Red paper-covered boards. Very fine in very fine dust jacket. Author's first novel.
Item Price
$175.00
$6.00 shipping to USA
Warlight.
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Warlight.

by ONDAATJE, Michael

  • Used
  • as new
  • Hardcover
  • Signed
  • first
Condition
As New
Edition
First U.S. edition / First printing.
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Edmonds, Washington
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$100.00
$6.00 shipping to USA

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Description:
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2018. Signed on the title page by Michael Ondaatje. First U.S. edition / First printing. Black paper spine, black paper-covered boards. Very fine in very fine dust jacket. Warlight was Nominated for the 2018 Booker Prize. The English Patient recently Won the Golden Booker Prize.
Item Price
$100.00
$6.00 shipping to USA
Rem Koolhaas: S, M, L, XL
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Rem Koolhaas: S, M, L, XL

by KOOLHAAS, Rem and Bruce Mau

  • Used
  • near fine
  • Hardcover
  • Signed
  • first
Condition
Used - Near Fine
Edition
First edition / First printing.
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Edmonds, Washington
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$950.00
$6.00 shipping to USA

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Description:
New York: Monacelli Press, 1995. Signed on the title page by Rem Koolhaas. First edition / First printing. Black and yellow ink over metallic cloth. Light wear, near fine. Rem Koolhaas is the Pritzker Prize Winner for 2000.
Item Price
$950.00
$6.00 shipping to USA
East of Eden
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East of Eden

by Steinbeck, John

  • Used
  • Fine
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Fine
Edition
1st Edition
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Las Vegas , Nevada
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$4,450.00
$8.50 shipping to USA

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Description:
New York: Viking Press, 1952 First printing of the first edition, first state. Original green cloth boards, front cover printed in dark green, spine printed in black on brown background, pictorial jacket., 602pp., with the word "bite" present on page 281, line 38. First issue jacket with photo of Steinbeck on rear panel with no photo credit mentioned. Steinbeck's epic novel about two families who settle in the rich farmlands of California [Goldstone-Payne A32.b.]. Book with light toning to edge of boards and two small, faint blemishes to top page edge, else in fine condition; dust jacket with a couple tiny rubbed spots, edges lightly toned, and light wear to extremities, else fine. A lovely copy, seldom seen in this condition. Basis for the 1955 film starring James Dean.
Item Price
$4,450.00
$8.50 shipping to USA
The Fabulous Beasts.
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The Fabulous Beasts.

by OATES, Joyce Carol. Illustrated by A. G. Smith.

  • Used
  • as new
  • Hardcover
  • Signed
  • first
Condition
As New
Edition
First edition / First printing.
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Edmonds, Washington
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$120.00
$6.00 shipping to USA

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Description:
Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1975. Signed by the author on the title page. First edition / First printing. Orange boards. Very fine in near fine dust jacket.
Item Price
$120.00
$6.00 shipping to USA
Other Colors. Essays and a Story.

Other Colors. Essays and a Story.

by PAMUK, Orhan. Translated by Maureen Freely.

  • Used
  • Fine
  • Hardcover
  • Signed
  • first
Condition
Used - Fine
Edition
First U.S. edition / First printing.
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Edmonds, Washington
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$150.00
$6.00 shipping to USA

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Description:
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007. Signed on the title page by Orhan Pamuk. First U.S. edition / First printing. Navy paper-covered boards. Fine in fine dust jacket. Pamuk was the 2006 Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Item Price
$150.00
$6.00 shipping to USA
The Shining
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The Shining

by King, Stephen

  • Used
  • Fine
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Fine
Edition
1st Edition
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Las Vegas , Nevada
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$4,550.00
$8.50 shipping to USA

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Description:
Garden City: Doubleday & Company, 1977. First printing of the stated first edition, first issue with the publisher's code "R49" printed in the gutter of p. 447; in original first issue dust jacket. Basis for the 1980 Stanley Kubrick adaptation starring Jack Nicholson. Book with light rubbing to spine ends and a tiny crimp to the bottom front corner, else in fine condition; dust jacket with faint toning to spine and flap margins, faint crimping to upper spine end, very faint crease to upper front corner, and light wear to extremities, primarily at the edge of bottom spine, else fine. an exceptional copy indeed.
Item Price
$4,550.00
$8.50 shipping to USA
Nineteen Eighty-Four [1984]
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Nineteen Eighty-Four [1984]

by Orwell, George

  • Used
  • first
Condition
Used - Octavo. First edition rebound in modern red morocco with skull buttons and "Winston Smith" lettered in white to left breast with
Edition
First edition, first printing with "First published 1949" on cop
Seller
Chicago, Illinois
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$6,000.00
$12.00 shipping to USA

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Description:
London: Secker & Warburg, 1949. First edition, first printing with "First published 1949" on copyright page. Octavo. First edition rebound in modern red morocco with skull buttons and "Winston Smith" lettered in white to left breast with on-laid fake eye to chest with blind-stamped lines; title and name lettered in white on spine; front and rear free endpapers and pastedowns replaced with collage of Orwell's eyes, including a secret "trapdoor" on front pastedown disclosing a picture of the Queen of England; minor toning to certain leaves, including title page (as pictured). Brilliant first edition in remarkable custom binding.. First edition of George Orwell's (1903-1950) classic dystopian novel that has captured the imagination and fears of readers, critics, and social observers ever since its publication in 1949. Orwell's ninth and final book, written and published in the closing years of his life, Nineteen Eighty-Four provides a gripping and prophetic meditation on the twentieth century's… Read More
Item Price
$6,000.00
$12.00 shipping to USA
For Whom The Bell Tolls
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For Whom The Bell Tolls

by Ernest Hemingway

  • Used
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Sehr gut
Edition
1. Auflage
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Oestrich-Winkel, Germany
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$2,297.55
$17.50 shipping to USA

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Description:
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940 First Edition, first issue (with letter 'A' on copyright page and with no photographers name below author's photo on the rear panel, according C. E. Grissom A.17.1.a) Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1940.
Book is near fine, no inscriptions, no foxing, no spots or similar and has almost unvisible traces of glue shadows on front and rear gutters of spine.
Dust jacket is very good with some wear, miniscule tears and losses along edges (see photos).Otherwise in very good+ condition. DJ is protected by a Brodart Jacket Cover. Will be delivered together with a black custom-made slipcase.
Item Price
$2,297.55
$17.50 shipping to USA
HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE
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HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE

by Rowling, J. K.

  • Used
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Very good +
Edition
First American edition
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Lawrence, Kansas
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$2,250.00
$4.75 shipping to USA

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Description:
New York: Arthur A. Levine / Scholastic, 1998. First American edition. Hardcover. Very good +/very good +. First printing of the first American edition. 8vo. Quarter red cloth and diamond pattern purple boards, with gilt spine lettering. Teal end papers. 309 pages. Illustrations by Mary GrandPre. The spine ends are slightly crimped, else Fine. No names or marks. The illustrated dust-jacket (with price clipped) has a 1.125" closed tear at top corner of front panel by fold flap, else Fine. With first printing points for both book and dust-jacket: Spine lacking "Year 1", and copyright page stating "J. K. Rowling"; and full number line "1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 8 9/9 0/0 01 02", "Printed in the U.S.A. 23", and "First American edition, October 1998". Dust-jacket has Guardian blurb at top of rear panel, with two bar codes, and number 51696 above smaller bar code, at bottom of rear panel. A crisp, unmarked, collectable copy of the first printing of the First American edition, in first issue dust-jacket.… Read More
Item Price
$2,250.00
$4.75 shipping to USA