Acquiring a collection of beautifully-bound books doesn't have to burn a hole in your pocket. Two publishing imprints, Easton Press and Modern Library, offer unique, quality collections at an affordable price.

Easton Press
Easton Press creates elegant editions and includes such features as: premium leathers, distinctive cover designs, satin ribbon page markers, thread-sewn pages for strength and durability, acid neutral paper, 22kt gold-gilded page edges and endsheets of moire fabric for a luxurious look. You can start your own collection by selecting popular series, such as "Books that changed the world," signed first editions or coffee table displays.

Modern Library
Modern Library states:"Many of the country's celebrated writers are quick to attest that they 'grew up with the Modern Library.'" Founded in 1917, Random House refurbished the series in 1992, including the famous torchbearer emblem originally commissioned from Lucian Bernhard. The imprint now includes the Paperback Classics series, as well as the Chronicles series of "short histories." Striking cover art, amazingly thorough and captivating introductions by leading historians, authors and scholars, biographical essays, reading group guides, fine paper quality and critical editions of certain texts are notable in these books.

Whether giving a gift or making an improvement to your personal library, these copies of popular books are special indulgences for any reader:

Dear Santa,
Since I have been on my best behavior all year (I promise!), please send me the following books to add to my collection:

• Complete Set of the Pooh Books: When We Were Very Young, Winnie the Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner, Now We are Six by A.A. Milne. London, Methuen & Co., 1924-1928, 1924. First edition, first printings. Original pictorial cloth. Gilt titles to spines and top edge gilt. $5,250 USD


• Idylls of the King by Alfred Lord Tennyson. G. P. Putnam's Sons, the Knickerbocker Press, New York: [1902]. With 31 illustrations in photogravure, reproduced from the original designs of Gustave DorŽ, [2 leaves; frontispiece, ix; 170 pages; frontispiece, ix; 132 pages; 2 leaves], 8vo, 19.5cm. Two volumes bound into one book. $1,250 USD


• Thoughts and Adventures by Winston S. Churchill. London: Odhams, 1947. First printing of the first Odhams edition, previously issued in 1932. A signed association copy, from Winston S. Churchill to Herbert Morrison. Personally autographed by Winston Churchill on the half-title page. $12,500 USD


• The Bells and Other Poems with Illustrations By Edmund Dulac by Edgar Allen Poe and Edmund Dulac. London: Hodder and Stoughton Unpaginated, No Date (circa 1912). Number 498 of a Limited Edition of 750 copies. Vellum hardcover in slipcase. A large volume in gray linen slipcase. Signed by illustrator Dulac. $1,500 USD


• Atlas Universel by Robert de Vaugondy, Gilles & Didier. Paris: les Auteurs & Boudet, 1757 Engraved title, 108 engraved maps (3 folding 105 double-page), all hand-coloured in outline and mounted on guards, each map with original stencilled title on the verso, uncut. (Occasional browning and creasing, a few small stains). Expertly bound to style in 18th-century diced Russia, covers with gilt borders, spine elaborately gilt in eight compartments, black morocco lettering piece in the second. $30,500 CAD


• Archive of Correspondence from Vladimir Nabokov. Palo Alto, Wellesley, Cambridge, Berkeley : September 1941 - August 1945., 1945 A delectable little file of correspondence [with Professor George R. Noyes] dating from Nabokov's earliest residence in the United States, providing insight into his preoccupations and the conditions he faced establishing his credibility in America. $18,500 USD


• The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. London: Geoffrey Bles, 1954. First Edition, 2nd Impression. Hard Cover. NF/VG. Octavo. $1,100 USD


• Vasilisa Prekrasnaja. (The Beautiful Vasilisa) by Ivan Jakovlevic Bilibin. Staatsdruckerei, 1902. Large quarto, 12 pages. First edition, with eight chromolithographed illustrations in the text, four of which are full pages. $1,200 USD

Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve
Reviewed by: killswan

Arthur Reeve, along with the likes of T. S. Eliot, has just won the British librarians' annual Carnegie Medal. This is for an unforgettably good historical tale for young people called HERE LIES ARTHUR. At one of its many levels the reader holds in hand a novel about historical method. Read more >>