Search Results: Fiction & Literature from Back Creek Books LLC, ABAA/ILAB

Cincinnati: Stewart Kidd Company, Publishers, 1921. First Edition. Original cloth. Octavo. 409 pages. Fine. Drawings by Carll B. Williams. The first volume published in the Seckatary Hawkins series. These boys' stories revolve around a club of boys whose home base is a river bank on the Ohio, with the lead character being the "seckatary" who records their activities. This particular adventure is set in Cuba. Charmingly illustrated by Carll B. Williams. Bound in ribbed-textured cloth over boards with spine and upper board titled in gilt, upper board also has vignette of Seckatary Hawkins with an open book and inkwell in black. A few minor extremity rubs, a bit of darkening along spine and top edge of upper board, otherwise clean and bright with sound hinges. Excellent condition. . No dust jacket.

New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, 1885. 1st Edition. Original cloth. Octavo. 366 pages. Very Good+. Bound in original dark green cloth over boards with spine and upper board stamped in black and gilt. Some rubs and minor fading to cloth covers, a few shallow bumps to board fore corners and spine ends. Hinges not cracked. Housed custom cloth and board folder in half morocco slipcase.. A very nice first edition of one of the most important books in American literature. Hemingway believed that "American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since." This copy has the important issue points at pages (13), 57, and 143. A very handsome copy.

London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1934. First printing. Cloth hardcover. Octavo. 68 pages. Near fine in a good dust jacket. Bound in black cloth over boards with spine titled in gilt. Minor extremity wear. Jacket has edge chipping along top of both panels, a 1" x 1/2" chip along spine near head, closed tear along lower joint fold, chips to fore corner tips.. Three lectures delivered by Eliot at the University of Virginia in 1933--The Page-Barbour Lectures that year. He asserts that the weakness of modern literature is a religious weakness. <br /> <br /> This copy is signed and dated 22 May 1947 by Eliot on the title page.

Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1960. Hardcover. Duodecimo. 285 pages. Very good in a very good dust jacket. Bound pale yellow cloth over boards with dark gray spine title and upper board illustration, decorated endpapers. Shallow bumps fore corners. Jacket has light rubs and shallow wear to edges, slight foxing overall. Still a bright and graphically pleasing copy of an uncommon book.. Alexander Belyaev was Russia's first sci-fi writer, sometimes called the Russian Jules Verne. Here he spins the story of a reclusive doctor on the coast of South America who gives his son shark gills in a life-saving operation. The son is then mistaken for a sea devil by the coastal villagers. This novel was originally published in the Soviet Union in 1928, and was adapted for film in 1961.<br /> <br /> Nicely designed with striking dolphin endpapers. Prior owner inscription dated Odessa, U.S.S.R. on verso of front free endpaper.

London: Luke Hansard & Sons, 1812. Second edition. Original cloth over boards. Octavos. xxxii, 344 and [iv], 499 pages. Dark brown blind embossed ribbed cloth over boards, with gilt-stamped spine titles, yellow endpapers. Handsome bookplate on each front pastedown (see further description below). Some shallow chipping at spine ends and in a couple of places along joints. Splitting of cloth at top 1 1/2" of both joints on volume II, though boards and hinges remain firmly attached. Interiors bright and clean. A near fine set overall.. Thomas Twining had produced the first useable English translation of Aristotle's Poetics in 1789. This is the second edition of 1812, edited by his nephew. <br /> <br /> This 2-volume set has an attractive armorial bookplate bearing the name "Hoar" on the front pastedown of each volume. According to a pencilled notation on the rear pastedown of volume I, the set was owned by George Frisbie Hoar, Abolitionist, Radical Republican, and… Read More

Nashville: Southern Methodist Publishing House, 1886. First edition. Original cloth. Octavo. 283 pages. Near fine. Bound in original brown cloth over boards with gilt-stamped spine, boards have blind-stamped decorative borders. A few minor extremity rubs.. Reverend Bigham went to California as a missionary in the early years of the Gold Rush. The dramatized scenes and sketches here are loosely based upon his actual experiences as a preacher and miner. HOWES B444.

New York: Random House, 1928. Limited edition, #1223 of 1470. Cloth over boards. Quarto. 111 pages. Bound in coarse ivory cloth with gilt embossed titles, rules, and illustration on upper board, title and ornaments on spine, decorative endpapers. Binding shows some mild age toning, gilt dulled on spine, some rubbing to gilt illustration on upper board. Binding sound. An attractive copy, very good condition overall.. Illustrated by Rockwell Kent. A beautiful edition of Voltaire's satirical and witty critique of the human condition, religion, politics, and philosophy. Illustrated and signed by Rockwell Kent. <br /> <br /> This is the first book that was published by Random House. The firm was founded in 1927 by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer, with the name inspired by Cerf's remark that they would "publish a few books on the side at random." Rockwell Kent, the leading commercial artist in the U. S. at that time, happened to be in Cerf and Klopfer's office when they… Read More

Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1982. First edition. Cloth over boards. Octavo. x, 671 pages. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Slight fading to jacket spine and front panel.. Robert Creeley was an important poetic voice in post-World War II American literature. This collection gathers his poetry of thirty years, exhibiting his development and the singular inventiveness that made him a master of modern poetry. <br /> <br /> This copy is signed by Creeley under an inscription dated 2002.

Lincoln: The Woodruff Press, 1913. First edition. Original cloth over boards. Octavo. 311 pages. Bound in light blue cloth over boards with ornamental titling in white to upper board. White spine titles quite faded. Minor extremity rubs. Slightly cocked, hinges sound. Very good to near fine overall.. Black and white photographic frontispiece plus 15 other plates (16 in total). Scarce, heavily autobiographical first novel by Oscar Micheaux, relating his experiences as a homesteader in Gregory County, South Dakota and the failure of his first marriage. Though published anonymously as by "The Pioneer," with names of characters changed, the protagonist is Oscar Devereaux (Micheaux's middle name). <br /> <br /> Micheaux's theme is African Americans realizing their potential in pursuits outside of their accustomed roles. He contrasts the more common city lifestyles of African Americans with the life he chose as a lone Black pioneer in the far West.<br /> <br />… Read More

New York: Covici Friede Publishers, 1936. Second edition. Cloth over boards. Octavo. [x], 269 pages. Bound in dark blue cloth over boards with illustration stamped in blind on upper board, spine titled and ornamented in gilt, dark blue topstain. No significant wear to book. Jacket has a hint of browning to spine and a short closed tear at lower fore corner of front panel. Overall fine in fine dust jacket. A very nice copy.. Historical fiction based on the life of Sir Henry Morgan, and Steinbeck's first novel, originally published by McBride in 1929.<br /> <br /> This copy is the second edition according to the standard Steinbeck reference by Goldstone and Payne, including blind-stamped ship and scroll on upper board, gilt-stamped spine, blue topstain, and dust jacket with no mention of publisher Covici Friede but with the additional statement "Author of 'Of Mice and Men'."<br /> <br /> Ref. GOLDSTONE & PAYNE A1c.

New York: Random House, 1934. Limited edition. Cloth over boards with leather spine and fore corners. Octavo. 157 pages. Fine. Bound in blue cloth over boards with dark blue leather fore corners and spine with 5 raised bands, gilt-stamped titles, rules, and ornaments on spine. Light gray endpapers, top edge gilt, fore and bottom edges untrimmed.. Beautiful edition of this play by Eugene O'Neill. This is copy #220 of a stated limitation of 325 copies. Binding by Bayntun of Bath.

Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1962. First printing. Hardcover. Octavo. [vi], 230 pages. Binding shows just a hint of fading along top and bottom edges of boards, slight dustiness to textblock edges. Prior owner gift inscription dated Halloween 1962 on verso of front free endpaper. Jacket is price clipped and has minor rubs along joint folds and at top and bottom edges of spine. Very good in a very good dust jacket.. Yate's first collection of stories, published the year after his critically acclaimed debut novel, "Revolutionary Road." These stories also received positive critical attention, being compared favorably with James Joyce's "Dubliners.

Santa Barbara: Capricorn Press, 1970. First printing. Wrappers. Octavo. [34] pages. Bound in red paper soft covers with black endpapers. Front cover printed in black and gold. Covers intentionally protrude about 1/2" beyond fore edge of text, and top fore corners (of covers only) are slightly pushed. Clean and bright overall. Near fine.. Black and white drawing by Bukowski. Collection of poems by the King of the Underground. Boldly signed by Bukowski under a printed drawing. Title page is printed on a smaller red sheet that hides the drawing but reveals Bukowski's signature. This first edition consisted of approximately 1,000 copies, issued concurrently with a hardcover edition of 100 copies. <br /> <br /> Ref. KRUMHANSL 34a.

New-York: Printed for I. Riley and Co, 1806. Second edition, considerably enlarged. Contemporary calf over boards. Octavo. xii, [13]-284 pages. Very good. Rebacked in leather, retaining original boards and red spine title label. Minor rubs to fore corners, some offsetting to title page from frontispiece, and mild browning throughout but remarkably clean and sound overall.. Frontispiece engraving of Pocahontas rescuing John Smith. The first extensive treatment of the legend of Pocahontas and Captain John Smith, in its preferred edition, complete, and excellent condition. Scarce, thus.<br /> <br /> The frontispiece was engraved by Benjamin Tanner after F. James, and depicts Pocahontas saving John Smith from execution at the hands of her father. This is one of the earliest American romantic novels about Native Americans. <br /> <br /> Davis was an English immigrant with literary aspirations who lived in Philadelphia at the beginning of the 19th century. He was acquainted with… Read More

[Chicago]: [HMH Publishing Co., Inc.], 1957. First printing. Magazine. Quarto. 12 pages. Glossy pictorial covers over saddle-stapled binding. Some minor extremity rubs, mild wrinkles, and a stamp at top fore corner of front cover.. First appearance of Langelaan's brilliant sci-fi horror short story, "The Fly." The story has been adapted to film twice--first in 1958 and again in 1986. <br /> <br /> This is the complete issue of Playboy in which "The Fly" first saw print, and includes numerous other features, articles, and photos as well as great vintage advertising.

London: Elkin Mathews, 1905. First printing. Hardcover. Octavo. viii, 94 pages. Good. Bound in gray paper over boards with cloth spine. Upper board and spine titled in dark blue. Rubs, some soil, and extremity bumps to boards. Fore corners exposed. Spine is browned, a couple of short tears at top and bottom of upper joint.. Illustrations by S. H. Sime. Signed by Dunsany on the front free endpaper. <br /> <br /> Lord Dunsany's first book. A collection of pioneering fantasy stories linked by an invented pantheon of deities who inhabit Pegāna. Critics view Dunsany's early work as the beginning of the fantasy genre. <br /> <br /> Dunsany had to pay up front for the publication of this book, then earning a commission back as books sold. Such was its success, however, that he never had to publish on commission again. <br /> <br /> Illustrated with full page plates by Sydney Sime, each with tissue guard intact. In addition there is a reprint of one of… Read More

New York: Duell, Sloan & Pearce, 1940. First edition. Cloth over boards. Octavo. [viii], 294 pages. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Bound in dark blue cloth over boards with gilt-stamped spine and upper board. Jacket has minor extremity rubs.. Gogarty, who was James Joyce's model for Buck Mulligan in the opening chapter of Ulysses, here presents a satire on English social mores. It is the story of one Ouseley, an Irishman, advised by William Butler Yeats to leave Ireland and go native among the queer English. Signed by Gogarty on front free endpaper.

London: Longmans, Green and Co, 1932. Early printing. Original cloth over boards. Octavo. [i]-[viii], 1-289 pages. Very good in a very good, price-clipped dust jacket. Bound in green cloth over boards with spine titled in gilt. Two prior owner bookplates on front pastedown and front free endpaper, respectively. Minor edge wear to book and jacket. Ink spotch to fore edge of textblock.. A collection of alternative histories of famous events and people, proposed by the likes of G. K. Chesterton, Emil Ludwig, Hilaire Belloc, Harold Nicolson, and, of course, Winston Churchill. <br /> <br /> Contributions include such speculations as: "If Byron had Become King of Greece," "If Drouet's Cart had Stuck," "If Napoleon had Escaped to America," "If Booth had Missed Lincoln," and "If it had been Discovered in 1930 that Bacon Really Did Write Shakespeare." <br /> <br /> Churchill's contribution, titled "If Lee had not Won the… Read More

[New York]: The Limited Editions Club, 1987. Limited edition, #259 of 800 copies. Quarto. [iv], 53 pages. Bound in white card covers with yapp edges. Fine in fine original clamshell box.. Lithographs by Michael Hafftka. Kafka's famous short story of an island penal colony and its brutal execution device. <br /> <br /> Four lithographs by Hafftka printed on handmade Japanese paper. Signed by Hafftka at colophon.

New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003. First printing of the revised edition. Hardcover. Square duodecimo. [viii], 334 pages. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Bound in brown cloth over boards with gilt-stamped spine and upper board, dark brown endpapers, integral ribbon bookmark. No noticeable wear to book. Jacket has a hint of sun-fading to spine and along upper joint fold, else fine also.. Drawings by Maurice Sendak. A superb selection of 27 stories chosen from Grimm's tales. In addition to several familiar standards there are many that will be new to most readers, such as the title story--a masterpiece that is definitely one of the Grimms' darker tales.<br /> <br /> This copy is signed by Sendak on the title page.