Search Results: American Literature from Grimalkin Books

Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1958. This early trade printing (with a notice on the dust jacket front panel that this is a Pulitzer Prize-winning book) is in Fine condition, with a Very Good+ dust jacket with its original price intact. Over the years, this book has become a classic of Beltway double-dealing, intrigue, power-hunger, and blackmail, in which a conservative, married senator is threatened to be outed over his gay past, prophetically showing how political gay-baiting hasn't changed much over the last half-century. The book was made into a powerful 1962 movie. The book is bound in gray cloth covers with die-stamped blue and red spine titles. The book is tightly bound, with slight offsetting to the endpapers. The pages are clean and bright throughout, with no stains, marks, or tears. The dust jacket has some edge rubbing at the spine crown and a tiny chip. I've placed the dust jacket into an archival Brodart protective sleeve. The book measures 6 1/2 by 9 1/2 inches… Read More

New York: Quality Paperback Book Club, 1987. This oversized paperback, containing all three of the novels that take place in Albany, New York, was published specially by the Quality Paperback Book Club for its members. The book is in Fine, unread condition. (The third novel in this collection, Ironweed, was made into a movie starring Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson.) The book measures 5 1/4 by 8 1/4 inches. Each section is separately paginated, and the total is about 815 pages. (Being originally from Albany myself, I'm grateful to the movie company for restoring the Boulevard Restaurant on Central Avenue to the way it was in the 1930s. This historic Art Deco restaurant was dead as Marley's Ghost but was given a new lease on culinary life. However, I don't know if it's still surviving in the current economic climate.). Oversized Soft Cover. Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1921. This First Edition, First State printing of "Alice Adams" from 1921 is in Very Good condition, and a bonus facsimile movie tie-in dust jacket from a 1935 printing is in New condition. (Click on photo.) The book contains all the necessary points for the extremely rare First State, including the date, 1921, on both title page and copyright page, and more importantly, the uncorrected error on Page 419, Line 14, that states, "I can't see you why don't wear more colour," in which the "why" and "you" are wrongly transposed. In the second state and later printings, this error was corrected. (Potential buyers should email any bookseller who claims to be offering a First Edition, without stating this necessary point.) The book is bound in a reddish brown cloth with black title lettering on front panel and spine. The book has light spine-tip rubbing, one frayed corner, and a slight forward slant. The binding… Read More

New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1903. The complete 12-volume set is in Very Good condition. The books are bound in a powder-blue cloth with gilt spine titles. Each book has a single black-and-white frontis illustration. The bindings are tight and the pages are clean without foxing. Volume 11 (Whittier) has some scratch marks on the rear cover. They all show light soiling and light rubbing on spine tips. The first six volumes contain all the major works of Nathaniel Hawthorne. (They include Introductions, such as "The Scarlet Letter" has an Introduction by Julian Hawthorne.) Volumes 7-9 include Emerson's essays, poems, and lectures, plus a biography of him by Richard Garnett. Volume 10 includes the poems of Longfellow and Bryant. Volume 11includes the poems of Holes and Lowell. Volume 12 is devoted to Whittier's poems. . Hard Cover. Very Good/No Dust Jacket. Illus. by Frontispiece Illustrations. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Chicago: The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1976. This handsome, complete 20-volume set is in Fine condition. Most volumes appear to be unread. It also includes an oversized Near-Fine paperback, Introduction. This Introduction volume also contains the Contents of all 20 volumes and an Index of Authors and Sources. The Encyclopedia Britannica published this edition in 1976, just in time for America's Bicentennial celebration. Each book is bound in blue leatherette with "The Annals of America" blindstamped on the front panel, with gilt titles and borders on the spine (click on photo). The Introduction makes clear that this set is composed of a documentary rather than a narrative history. (If you're aware of the current textbook controversy, you will know that today's history books are often written by those with a strong political bias. However, these annals supply independent readers with the actual first-hand narratives themselves, thus allowing readers to come to their own… Read More

New York: Wings Books, 1991. This First Edition Thus of this collection of three complete novels (with the required "number line" ending in a "1" to indicate "First Printing") is in Fine condition with a Fine, price-clipped dust jacket. (Click on photo.) There's a gift inscription to the original owner on the front free endpaper, even though the book itself does not appear to have been read. The book is bound in light blue boards, with a woven blue cloth spine and gilt spine lettering. The pages have light toning. The book measures 6 3/8 by 9 1/4 inches and includes 696 pages.. First Edtion Thus. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1892. This is a true first trade edition, first state, of Whittier's last collection of 18 poems published during his lifetime. The book was originally published in a privately printed edition of only 277 copies, mainly for the author's friends, in 1890. The public demand was such that Whittier expanded the slender volume, adding additional poems, for this, the first trade edition of 1892. The "point" that distinguishes this volume as a "first state" copy is an error on the "List of Illustrations" page that lists the last of the nine illustrations, "Lapse tenderly away," as being on Page 64. Later printings corrected this error to the correct page, 68. (If you bother to email the sellers of most alleged first trade editions at this site regarding this error, you will find that they are actually later printings.) The book is in very good condition. It has white cloth covers, with die-stamped gilt lettering, borders, and an… Read More

London: Jonathan Cape , 1929. Although Babbitt was first published in England in 1922, this is a First Thus publication in 1929 by Jonathan Cape from The Collected Works of Sinclair Lewis in a uniform binding. The book is in Very Good condition, bound in red cloth with gilt spine lettering and designs, plus a gilt Sinclair Lewis signature on the front panel. See photo. The binding is secure. There is a discreet embossment of a former owner on the front free endpaper. The endpapers have very light foxing that doesn't affect the actual text, which is bright and clean throughout. Particularly of interest is a glossary in the rear of American words (including slang) and places. Since much of the slang is period, today's American readers might benefit from this glossary as well. The book measures 5 by 7 1/4 inches and includes 383 pages. . Hard Cover. Very Good/No Jacket. 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall.

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001. This Seventh Printing from August, 2001 is in New, unread condition, with a New dust jacket. In Anne Tyler's 15th published novel, a middle-aged woman, feeling dislocated from her current life as the matriarch of a large extended family, struggles to retrieve her identity. This new, unread book is bound in deep blue boards with a burgundy spine and die-stamped gilt titles. I've placed the dust jacket into an archival Brodart protective spine. The book measures 6 5/8 by 9 5/8 inches and includes 274 pages.. Hard Cover. New/New. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Athens, Georgia: Hill Street Press, 2000. This Stated First Printing (and unless it's stated, it's not) also includes a complete "number line" ending with a "1". The book is in New, unread condition, with a new, unclipped dust jacket. I've placed the dust jacket into an archival Brodart protective sleeve. The book is bound in paper-covered boards with a deep red-violet cloth spine and die-stamped gilt spine titles. Although Margaret Mitchell's will stipulated that all her personal papers were to have been destoryed after her death, this amazing cache of early writing girlhood writings managed to escape the furnace and were only recently discovered. These include short stories, fairy tales, journal entries, essays, and a one-act play. This volume of these lost works is a true collectible for any Margaret Mitchell admirer. The book measures 5 3/4 by 8 3/4 inches and includes 216 pages. . First Edition. Hard Cover. As New/As New. 8vo - over 7¾" -… Read More

New York: Ballantine Books, 1995. This Stated First Edition from March 1995 (and unless it's stated, it's not) has a "number line" ending in a "1" to indicate First Printing. The book is in close to Fine condition, with a close to Fine unclipped dust jacket. (Click on photo.) This monumental anthology traces the history and culture of African American males from slavery to the present through their own writings. There is an appendix in the rear with notes about the hundreds of contributing authors. The book is bound in black boards with a black spine cloth and gilt spine titles. There is a small, pale stain on the top edge, as if someone splattered a drop of wine. This does not affect the books interior at all. The dust jacket has some shelf rubbing along the bottom edge. (Click on photo.) I've placed the dust jacket into an archival, Brodart protective sleeve. The book measures 6 1/4 by 10 1/2 inches and includes 910 pages. Due to the four-pound shipping weight for… Read More

New York: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 2010. The Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Hours and A Home at the End of the World strikes another homerun with this novel about a SoHo art dealer, his editor wife, and her younger look-alike brother. The book is in Fine, Brand New condition, with a Fine, Brand New dust jacket. I've placed the dust jacket into an archival Brodart protective sleeve. The book is bound in brown covered boards with die-stamped silver spine titles. The book measures 5 3/4 by 8 1/2 inches and includes 238 pages.. Stated First Edition. Hard Cover. Brand New/Brand New. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

New York: Macmillan, 1902. This clean, tight First Edition is in Very Good+ condition (click on photo). It is bound in a green cloth with elaborate designs on front panel and spine, with die-stamped gilt lettering and top-edge gilt. The book has light shelf rubbing and light color speckling, as shown in photo. The binding is tight and secure, and the pages are white and bright throughout, with no stains, tears, or inscriptions. It's truly a collectible copy for F. Marion Crawford admirers. The book measures 5 1/4 by 7 3/4 inches with 421 pages, plus four pages of ads for previous Crawford titles in the rear. . First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good+/No Jacket. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

New York: Julian Messner, 1951. This may possibly be a first edition, but it is not stated. There is only the 1951 copyright date with no additional printing history. Ben Lucien Burman, a popular novelist of the late 1920s through 1950s, has repeatedly been compared to Mark Twain in his depiction of life on the Mississippi and the colorful characters who lived on the waters and onshore. Burman was born in the river town of Covington, Kentucky, in 1895, and learned of survival on the Mississippi by living with real people on steamboats and shantyboats or in mountain cabins, which is why his characters are so vivid and authentic. Burman served in World War I in the 2d division, A.E.F. and was wounded in Soissons. His first book, "Mississippi" (1929) was filmed as "Heaven on Earth" in 1931. His novel, "Steamboat Round the Bend" (1933) was filmed in 1935, starring Will Rogers. Other works include "Blow for a Landing," "Big River to Cross,"… Read More

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1972. This quality BOMC book is in Fine, unread condition, with a Fine dust jacket. I've placed the dust jacket into a Brodart protective sleeve. (Click on photo.) This is Anne Tyler's fourth novel, in which she creates the eccentric Emerson family of Baltimore and the unusual girl who drifts into their lives. The book is bound in light green speckled boards with a deep green spine cloth and die-stamped gilt spine lettering. The book measures 5 3/4 by 8 5/8 inches and includes 312 pages.. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

New York: Wing Books, 1994. These 31 stories include a Foreward by the author. This third-printing book is in Fine condition with a Fine dust jacket. The book is bound in beige boards with a light, reddish brown spine and die-stamped gilt titles. There is some age toning around the page edges due to acidity in the paper stock used. The book measures 6 1/2 by 9 1/2 inches and includes 525 pages. I've placed the dust jacket into an archival Brodart protective sleeve.. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

London: Fourth Estate, 2004. This First Edition (with the required number line, starting with a "1" to show First Printing) is in Fine condition with a Near Fine unclipped dust jacket. (Click on photo.) This is a posthumous collection of the prize-winning author, Carol Shields, published a year after her death and includes a lifetime of her work. The book is bound in light gray boards with black spine lettering. The dust jacket has some light shelf-rubbing and a closed inch-long tear on the front panel. The book measures 6 1/4 by 9 1/2 inches and includes 591 pages. . First British Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Near Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Akron, Ohio: The Werner Company, 1908. This handsome set of Poe (click on photo) is in Very Good Plus condition. Known as The Library Edition, it is bound in brick red cloth covers with die-stamped gilt spine lettering and top-edge gilt. Shelf rubbing is minimal. It has rough-cut pages, most of which are uncut and unread. Only two volumes of tales and one of poems show page-cutting by the original owner. Several pages in Volume II only have small margin stains. (I should point out that Werner also published a less expensive alternate cloth binding in pale gray that used paper labels and did not have re-enforced bindings or colored endpapers. Although the contents are identical in both editions, the gray binding is far less attractive and the paper labels are inferior to the die-stamped gilt found in this more collectible version.) Each volume contains a frontis and other illustrations, all with tissue guards. There are 36 illustrations in all. This century-old set was manufactured with re-enforced… Read More

New York: The Free Press, 1969. This Third Printing oversized soft cover from June, 1969, is in Near Fine condition and does not appear to have been read. This is very minimal edge wear and corner curl (as shown in photo). The book features writing from Frederick Douglass, Charles Waddell Chesnutt, Paul Laurence Dunbar, W.E.B.Dubois, James Weldon Johnson, Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, Arna Bontemps, LeRois Jones, and many more. The pages are clean, bright, and sparkling throughout. This exceptional anthology includes a Bibliography and Index. The book measures 5 1/8 by 8 1/4 inches and includes 604 pages.. Oversized Soft Cover. Near Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

New York: Grosset & Dunlap This is most likely a club edition, since there is no price on the dust jacket. Both the book and the jacket are in Very Good+ condition. Although the last copyright date is 1939, a wartime plea for paper conservation on the rear panel of the jacket places this edition sometime during the World War II years. The novel concerns a young medical student who must deal with the animosity of his teacher, a great surgeon. The book is bound in black paper-covered boards with blue borders and titles on the front panel and spine. The dust jacket has chipping at the corners and spine tips. I've placed the dust jacket into a Brodart protective sleeve. The book measures 5 11/16 by 8 5/16 inches and includes 422 pages.. Hard Cover. Very Good+/Very Good+. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.