Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. by Burton, Virginia Lee - 1939

London: Collins, 1956. Original dustjacket artwork for the First British Edition of Calvino's first novel. The novel, told from a child's perspective, paints the trauma of war torn Italy using a variety of impressive characters, namely a young boy and his teenage sister, who are depicted on the jacket. The only artwork we have seen associated with one of Calvino's books, and quite dazzling in comparison to its American counterpart. Gouache on artboard, with the image measuring 9.5 X 12 inches and the board measuring 10.5 X 15 inches; signed by artist Trevor Denning near lower right corner. Brief pencilled notation regarding measurments on the lower margin, with the publisher, author, and translator's names overlaid and mounted to the piece on thick cardstock. The printers' instruction sheet for Collins is handwritten on pink stock, affixed on verso.

Chicago, IL: A. C. McClurg & Company. Fine in Good+ dust jacket. 1923. 1st Edition; 1st Printing. Hardcover. Hardcover with dustjacket, the original edition with the scarce original dustjacket, the book is near pristine, a couple of minor flaws only: a bit of softening to the cloth at top edge of spine and a hint of tanning to the blank end-papers, the jacket is age-darkened on the spine and along the flap-folds, mild darkening on the rear panel, the spine-tips and corners show wear and there are two tears along the spine-folds, also a short edge-tear at the bottom of the rear panel, the front panel illustration is attractive but a few small, faint tanned imperfections (not foxing) are present, flaps are bright, quite presentable overall with a professional (removable) mylar cover provided, with eight illustrations by J. Allen St. John who also illustrated the jacket .

Viking, 1938. First Edition, First Printing. Cloth. Very Good/Very Good. A First Edition of this Steinbeck classic in the original dustjacket. With "first published in September 1938" on the copyright page. The book is square and solid with an attractive red topstain on the top edges, bound in cream buckram with burn orange cloth covers. With 303 pages, the book shows overall darkening on the covers, edges and endpapers but the interior is quite clean. The endpapers show the aging of the glue used during publication and a previous owner's name. The dustjacket is complete with the original price ($2.50) and a small sales sticker with the same price from the D.W. Robinson Co. in Los Angeles. Overall the dustjacket shows wear and darkening with a split between the spine and back panel held together with (what a previous owner claims is) acid-free tape. We have added an archival plastic dustjacket which protects the integrity of the fragile but original dustjacket. Overall an inmportant book in the… Read More

First Edition authentically SIGNED AND INSCRIBED by Ernest Hemingway on the front endpaper. The ORIGINAL dustjacket is vibrant in color with NO chips or pieces missing with minor wear to the edges. 1954 reissue with reference to Nobel Prize. The book is bound in the publisher's blue cloth. The pages are clean.

London: Collins, 1956. Original dustjacket artwork for the First British Edition of Calvino's first novel. The novel, told from a child's perspective, paints the trauma of war torn Italy using a variety of impressive characters, namely a young boy and his teenage sister, who are depicted on the jacket. The only artwork we have seen associated with one of Calvino's books, and quite dazzling in comparison to its American counterpart. Gouache on artboard, with the image measuring 9.5 X 12 inches and the board measuring 10.5 X 15 inches; signed by artist Trevor Denning near lower right corner. Brief pencilled notation regarding measurments on the lower margin, with the publisher, author, and translator's names overlaid and mounted to the piece on thick cardstock. The printers' instruction sheet for Collins is handwritten on pink stock, affixed on verso.

Chicago, IL: A. C. McClurg & Company. Fine in Good+ dust jacket. 1923. 1st Edition; 1st Printing. Hardcover. Hardcover with dustjacket, the original edition with the scarce original dustjacket, the book is near pristine, a couple of minor flaws only: a bit of softening to the cloth at top edge of spine and a hint of tanning to the blank end-papers, the jacket is age-darkened on the spine and along the flap-folds, mild darkening on the rear panel, the spine-tips and corners show wear and there are two tears along the spine-folds, also a short edge-tear at the bottom of the rear panel, the front panel illustration is attractive but a few small, faint tanned imperfections (not foxing) are present, flaps are bright, quite presentable overall with a professional (removable) mylar cover provided, with eight illustrations by J. Allen St. John who also illustrated the jacket .

Viking, 1938. First Edition, First Printing. Cloth. Very Good/Very Good. A First Edition of this Steinbeck classic in the original dustjacket. With "first published in September 1938" on the copyright page. The book is square and solid with an attractive red topstain on the top edges, bound in cream buckram with burn orange cloth covers. With 303 pages, the book shows overall darkening on the covers, edges and endpapers but the interior is quite clean. The endpapers show the aging of the glue used during publication and a previous owner's name. The dustjacket is complete with the original price ($2.50) and a small sales sticker with the same price from the D.W. Robinson Co. in Los Angeles. Overall the dustjacket shows wear and darkening with a split between the spine and back panel held together with (what a previous owner claims is) acid-free tape. We have added an archival plastic dustjacket which protects the integrity of the fragile but original dustjacket. Overall an inmportant book in the… Read More

First Edition authentically SIGNED AND INSCRIBED by Ernest Hemingway on the front endpaper. The ORIGINAL dustjacket is vibrant in color with NO chips or pieces missing with minor wear to the edges. 1954 reissue with reference to Nobel Prize. The book is bound in the publisher's blue cloth. The pages are clean.