Literature from Christison Rare Books, IOBA SABDA

(Amsterdam: Jacobus van Hardenberg, 1697). Small 4to; recent half Oasis goatskin with marbled sides; spine tooled in compartments, with gilt lettering piece to second compartment; new endpapers; title page expertly silked; pp. (xx) + 391. A very attractive copy of this uncommon work. This is the earliest edition of the poet's collected original poetry and translations. David van Hoogstraten (1658-1724),… Read more

(Johannesburg: Penguin Viking, 2004) 0670048003. 230 x 150 mm; laminated pictorial wrappers; pp. (vi) + 729, incl. index; plates. Laminate somewhat wrinkled, and lifting in places; trace of foxing to edges and reverse of wrappers. Very good condition. "Born in London in 1879 and raised in the Cape of Good Hope, Beatrice Hastings was one of those talented marginal figures… Read more

(New York: The Hispanic Society of America, 1966). 8vo; original turquoise cloth, lettered in gilt on spine; dustwrapper, housed in removable protector; pp. xxxii + (iv) + 435. Dustwrapper somewhat tanned and slightly edgeworn, with chip from top edge of lower panel; earlier owner's name signed on front free endpaper. Very good condition. The great epic poem of Portugal's exploits… Read more

(London: John Murray, 2003) 0719561779. 198 x 128 mm; laminated pictorial wrappers; pp. (vi) + 181. Small penned number on final blank. Near-fine condition. "This is a book of cool, controlled brilliance. It is a jewel to be treasured." - The Times .

(London: Putnam, 1955). First edition. Crown 8vo; original black boards, lettered in gilt on spine; dustwrapper; pp. 115. Dustwrapper foxed and edgeworn, with some archival tape repairs to reverse; bump to tail of spine; scattered foxing. Good condition. "Several years before his death, Dylan Thomas began to write a novel that would not be strictly autobiographical,… Read more

(London: André Deutsch, 1989) 0233983767. 8vo; original blue boards, lettered in gilt on spine; laminated pictorial dustwrapper; pp. ix + (i) + 380. Dustwrapper ever so slightly rubbed; some foxing to flaps, reverse of dustwrapper, and endpapers, with occasional fox spot elsewhere; earlier owner's name signed on front free endpaper. Very good condition. "Wyndham Lewis is acknowledged… Read more

(London: Roger Schlesinger, 1969). Translated from the Russian by Eugene M. Kayden. With Drawings by Bill Greer. 12mo; pictorial boards; pictorial dustwrapper; decorative endpapers; pp. 61 + (i); illustrations. Dustwrapper a bit rubbed, and slightly edgeworn; gift inscription to half-title; occasional fox spot. Very good condition. "Within the framework of his magnificent novel DOCTOR ZHIVAGO,… Read more

(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995) 0192892320. 196 x 128 mm; laminated pictorial wrappers; pp. 304, incl. index; maps. Half-title removed; earlier owner's discreet book label to title page; occasional fox spot. Good condition. "Wole Soyinka, Peter Carey, Margaret Atwood, V.S. Naipaul, J.M. Coetzee - postcolonial writers from around the world now enjoy wide popularity. In this… Read more

(New York: Penguin, 2002) 978014200423. John Steinbeck Centennial Edition (1902-2002). 214 x 143 mm; pictorial wrappers; pp. (vi) + 601. Fine condition. "First published in 1952, East of Eden is the work in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the murderous… Read more

(Chicago: M. A. Donahue, no date). Crown 8vo; original pale blue pictorial cloth; pp. 263 + publisher's catalogue; full-page illustrations. Light wear to extremities; corners a little turned; backstrip a bit tanned, and frayed at head; light browning throughout; occasional fox spot. Good condition. .

(London: Octopus Books, 1986) 0706426525. 4to; original green cloth, blocked in blind to upper cover, and lettered in gilt on spine; laminated pictorial dustwrapper; pp. 318, with original Strand Magazine illustrations and twelve colour illustrations by Graham Ward. Dustwrapper and edges of boards partially sunned; edges slightly browned; occasional foxing. Very good condition. "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's… Read more

(Cape Town: The Firfield Pamphlet Press, 1996) 1875058060. 210 x 140 mm; saddle-stitched wrappers with pictorial dustwrapper; pp. 36; some illustrations. Very good condition. Humorous poems on scientific subjects. "Professor Brian Warner, Head of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Cape Town, trained as an astrophysicist at University College London, and has D.Sc. degrees both from the University… Read more

(London: Blackie & Son, no date). Crown 8vo; original red pictorial cloth; pp. 384 + (ii); colour frontis.; plates. Trace of fishmothing to cloth; a little frayed at head and tail of backstrip; endpapers and edges somewhat foxed, occasional fox spot elsewhere. Good condition. .

(London: Picador, 2000) 0330480774. 195 x 129 mm; laminated pictorial wrappers; pp. (viii) + 311. Trace of foxing to edges. Very good condition. "In his first novel since The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje displays again the richness of imagery and the keen emotional surety that are the hallmarks of his writing." .

(New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000) 0300079044. 8vo; original biscuit-coloured cloth, lettered in gilt on spine; laminated pictorial dustwrapper; pp. xlvi + (ii) + 497, incl. index; photographs. Dustwrapper ever so slightly rubbed; trace of fishmothing to edges of cloth; binding a little slack; occasional fox spot. Good to very good condition. "The letters include correpondence with… Read more

(London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1999) 0297824813. 4to; original dark green boards, lettered in silver gilt on spine; laminated pictorial dustwrapper; pictorial endpapers; pp. 160, incl. index; full-colour photographs of settings from the poet's life, and monochrome photographs from his lifetime. Some foxing to reverse of dustwrapper and to endpapers; earlier owner's name on front free endpaper. Very good… Read more

(Cape Town: Howard Timmins, 1980). 8vo; original pale grey boards; pictorial dustwrapper; pp. (viii) + 160. Dustwrapper rather edgeworn and somewhat rubbed; edges of boards a little bumped; gift inscription to front free endpaper. Good condition. "The personality of Omar Khayyam, partly revealed to the West by Fitzgerald, expands in these new Quatrains not rendered by him… Read more

(Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus, 1961). 8vo; cloth-backed papered boards; pp. 636 + (ii); woodcut illustrations. Boards a little rubbed; some moderate foxing to edges and endpapers; pages somewhat browned; lower hinge tender. Good condition. First edition of this most famous work by the pro-Soviet Estonian writer Rudolf Sirge (1904-1970). .

(Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus, 1958). 8vo; original grey cloth blocked in red and gilt; pictorial dustwrapper; pp. 174 + (ii); frontis. portrait; plates. Dustwrapper a little edgeworn and foxed; edges foxed, occasional fox spot elsewhere. Good. First published in 1922, 'The Master of The Kõrboja' is one of the works which earned for Anton Hansen Tammsaare (1878-1940)… Read more

(Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus, 1954). 8vo; original grey cloth blocked in red and gilt; pictorial dustwrapper; pp. 244 + (ii); frontis. portrait; plates. Dustwrapper rather edgeworn and foxed; edges and endpapers foxed, with occasional foxing and light soiling elsewhere. Good. First published in 1939, 'Devil with a False Passport' is the last novel and best-known work of… Read more