THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE: The Life and Death of a Man of Character (Signed) by Hardy, Thomas (SIGNED) - 1886

New York: William S. Gottsberger, 1886. First American Edition. Very Good. Six volumes. First American edition, all first printings with properly dated title pages and publisher's imprint on all copyright pages. Publisher's brown cloth with gilt lettering and black stamping, with volumes ranging from Very Good to Near Fine. Softening to spine ends, with Volume II of Before Tilsit showing shallow loss at spine ends. Volume I of The Invasion with owner name stamp on title page; neat owner name on first page of text of volume II of The Invasion and volume II of Borodino. Bookplate in volume 1 of Before Tilsit and volume I of The Invasion. A handsome set of the first American edition of this classic of Russian literature. Translated from the French edition by Clara Bell.

London, E. Mathews; Boston, Copeland & Day, 1895, 8vo, pp. xi, 116; orig. iron blue paper boards, lettered dark blue at the spine. - Second (first 'trade') edition, limited to 750 copies for England and America, which was preceded by an issue of 25 copies signed by the poet. - Printed on handmade paper at the Chiswick Press under the supervision of Herbert Horne, who also provided a striking red and black title-page. - Very slight wear (chipping) at the extreme ends of spine; top edge dusty; a pale brownish stain on endpaper and prelims., not touching printed areas. Otherwise, and in general effect, a very nice copy of a scarce Nineties title, with a bookplate (C.C. Paine) to the front pastedown. - Kraus, Copeland and Day, 18; Russell Taylor: The Art Nouveau book in Britain, p. 70, illustration.

Macmillan & Co. New York. 1889. New edition. 12mo. (7.5 x 5.2 inches). xii, 192, 12 pp publishers catalogue. Also an extra gathering bound in so that pages 117 to 124 appear twice. One gathering slightly sprung. Publishers dark green cloth with gilt and black decorative band across the top of the front board and the top and bottom of the spine. Black decorative roll to the bottom of the front board. Title on gilt to the middle of the front board. Spine lettered and decorated in gilt. Rear board with blind stamped floral roll to the top and bottom. Floral decorative endpapers. Neat two line inscription to the front free endpaper. The rear endpapers have an early previous owner's name and address written in red crayon to the free endpaper and a few short lines to the pastedown. Cloth a bit rubbed to the edges and a couple of small marks to the boards but overall a very good copy. An uncommon and attractive nineteenth century edition, printed in New York by J. J. Little and Co. This 1889 new edition was… Read More

Paris: Furne, |Dubochet, |Hetzel & Paulin|puisAlexandre Houssiaux, 1842. Fine. Furne, Dubochet, Hetzel & Paulin puisAlexandre Houssiaux, Paris 1842-1855, 14,5x22cm, 20 volumes reliés. - Première édition collective sous le titre d'oeuvres, présentant, en même temps que nombre de textes en édition originale, une nouvelle version de la Comédie humaine, revue, remaniée par Balzac. Cette édition est aussi la première édition illustrée. Reliures en demi chagrin bleu, dos très légèrement éclaircis à quatre fin nerfs sertis de pointillés dorés et ornés de triples caissons estampés à froid aux centres desquels figurent un fleuron doré, plats de papier marbré, gardes et contreplats de papier à la cuve, reliures de l'époque. Quelques rousseurs sur certains tomes, une petite tache à la page 119 du tome 4, une autre à la page 321 du tome 8, une déchirure sur la page de faux-titre du tome 9, une petite tache d'eau en angle de la page 449 et sur les suivantes du tome 10,… Read More

First edition hardcover. 1866, New York. Condition is Very Good: Library sticker on spine, pencil note on copyright page, no other library markings. Some pencil notes on front blank, none elsewhere. Occasional foxing in text. Binding is sound. Light general wear to boards. A nice copy of an uncommon book. Author aims to offend as many people as possible and succeeds. Paginates: blanks, frontis, 312, [2], blanks, plus 11 unpaginated plates. Extremely obscure item. Please see images of the book you will receive. Notes: Author is brother of Samuel Comstock - infamous mutineer of the whaleship Globe. Such a lovely family. More notes: Satire aimed at (?) Charles Farrar Browne who was a humorist working under the name Artemus Ward. Browne (Ward) was reportedly a favorite of Abraham Lincoln. More notes: Most, but not all, first editions of this time period have the date on the title page and this copy does not. I have looked at WorldCat, online libraries and sale copies; I cannot locate any copy with a date… Read More

London: A. K. Newman, Leadenhall Street, 1833. 14 x 9 cm. Very good. 1 vol., 160pp. Binding: contemporary marbled, spine with gold lettering: "HOFLAND'S ELIZABETH" Engraved frontispieceReal life, instructive tale for young people, carefully abridged by the author to attract a wider public , i.e. cheaper. 2s 6d. Very light foxing to endpapers.

231+[8 ad] pages with frontispiece, 6 other plates and diagrams. Small octavo ((7 3/4" x 7 1/4") bound in original brown cloth with gilt lettering to spine and gilt rabbit pictorial to cover with black back ground drawing. Illustrations by Frederick S Church and James H Moser. First edition, first state with "presumptive" on last line page 9 and "New Books. A Treatise on the Practice of Medicine" (BAL 7100:1).Joel Chandler Harris (December 9, 1845 – July 3, 1908) was an American journalist, fiction writer, and folklorist best known for his collection of Uncle Remus stories. Harris was born in Eatonton, Georgia, where he served as an apprentice on a plantation during his teenage years. He spent the majority of his adult life in Atlanta working as an associate editor at the Atlanta Constitution. Harris led two professional lives: as the editor and journalist known as Joe Harris, he supported a vision of the New South with the editor Henry W. Grady (1880–1889), stressing regional and racial… Read More

Uncut and in original printer's soft covers with Didot 5-point star. Pagination and chapter numbers start anew for each volume. Vol.1 217 pp.; Vol.2 216 pp.; Vol.3 233 PP.By the author of "Waverly," "Guy Mannering," and "The Antiquary". Ref. Kohler(1) 106(with illustration. Contact bookseller for full detailed description.

New York: William S. Gottsberger, 1886. First American Edition. Very Good. Six volumes. First American edition, all first printings with properly dated title pages and publisher's imprint on all copyright pages. Publisher's brown cloth with gilt lettering and black stamping, with volumes ranging from Very Good to Near Fine. Softening to spine ends, with Volume II of Before Tilsit showing shallow loss at spine ends. Volume I of The Invasion with owner name stamp on title page; neat owner name on first page of text of volume II of The Invasion and volume II of Borodino. Bookplate in volume 1 of Before Tilsit and volume I of The Invasion. A handsome set of the first American edition of this classic of Russian literature. Translated from the French edition by Clara Bell.

This version of The Tales of Chekhov featuring the famous story "The Lady with the Dog" is extremely rare. The original story was published in 1899 and there was an English translation as early as 1903, but this version was among the first Chekhov translations by the famous Russian-to-English translator Constance Garnett. The book is ex-library, but from a retirement community library with few readers--although it is stamped on the endpapers and title page. Two previous owners inscribed the front endpaper in ink: "Gordon Steward Crawford, July 19, 1933" and "Raymond Cunningham, March 18, 1940"