Modern Fiction from Lorne Bair Rare Books

New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985. First Edition. Hardcover. First Printing. Octavo (22cm); black paper and cloth-covered boards, with titles stamped in gilt on spine; dustjacket; [8],9-208pp. Scattered staining to lower margins of several internal pages; Very Good+. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced $15.95), lightly shelfworn, with a few closed tears, and a faint splash mark to base of spine… Read more

New York: McGraw-Hill, 1980. First Edition. Hardcover. First Printing. Octavo (23.5cm); white paper boards over black cloth spine; dustjacket; 252pp. Signed bookplate laid in. Barely nudged at spine ends, else Fine. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced $10.95), with trivial wear to the extremities, else Fine. "The second coming" is at hand in this Patterson novel, his fifth.

New York: Taplinger Publishing Company, 1979. First American Edition. Hardcover. First appearance in the US of Endo's best-known work, "the story of a seventeenth-century Portuguese priest in Japan at the height of a fearful persecution of the small Christian community" (from front flap). Johnston's translation was first published in Tokyo, by Sophia University Press. First Printing. Octavo (21.5cm); gray… Read more

New York: Viking Press, 1983. First American Edition. Hardcover. First Printing. Octavo (22cm); gray paper boards over black cloth spine, with titles stamped in silver on spine; dustjacket; 249pp. Slight lean, else Fine copy. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced $14.75), with faint toning to the top edge, else a Fine. Winner of the Whitbread Prize and the James Tait… Read more

London: Chatto and Windus, 1961. First U.K. Edition. Hardcover. First Impression. Octavo (20.5cm); terracotta paper-covered boards, with titles stamped in gilt on spine; reddish-brown topstain; dustjacket; [12],13-399,[1]pp. Contemporary owners ink name on front endpaper, scattered foxing to text edges, with a tiny stain to rear cover; Near Fine. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced 21s net), gently spine-sunned and lightly shelfworn,… Read more

London: Chatto and Windus, 1964. First U.K. Edition. Hardcover. First Impression. Octavo (20.25cm); gray paper-covered boards, with titles stamped in gilt on spine; dustjacket; [8],9-288pp. Dust-soil to upper edge of textblock, else Near Fine. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced 21s. net), with light wear to extremities, and a faint semi-circulat embossed stamp on front flap; Near Fine, with the spine… Read more

New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1934. First American Edition. Hardcover. Collection of twelve short stories featuring Parker Pyne, retired civil servant. "Parker Pyne, whose secretary Felicity Lemon is later to assist Hercule Poirot, is possessed of an unshakeable belief that there are only five kinds of unhappiness in the world, and that when the cause has been correctly… Read more

New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1932. First American Edition. Hardcover. The story is set at the fictional Hotel Majestic, "at which Poirot and Hastings are staying for a few days, standing in for Torquay's grandest establishment, the Imperial. While at the Majestic, Poirot and Hastings meet a delightful young woman called Nick Buckley who lives at End House,… Read more

New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994. First Edition. Hardcover. Limited Issue, one of 150 numbered copies specially bound and signed by the author, this being copy no.113. Octavo (24cm); full dark brown leather, with titling and author's initials stamped in gilt on spine and front cover; photographic endpapers; publisher's matching leather slipcase; [xvi],290pp. Fine in a Fine slipcase. Roth's… Read more

London: John Lane / The Bodley Head Limited, 1923. Cheap Edition. Hardcover. Decorative, early edition (February, 1923) of Christie's first published novel, introducing readers to Hercule Poirot. "The murder of the elderly woman of wealth and the neighboring love affairs that provide red herrings are beautifully tangled, to be sorted out by Poirot with the aid of plentiful physical… Read more

Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966. Hardcover. Second edition. Octavo; cloth boards; dustjacket; xxiv,219pp. Fine in crisp, Near Fine dustwrapper. Reissue of Burke's long out-of-print experimental novel, originally published in 1931. With a new Foreword by Burke for this edition.

London: Michael Joseph, 1954. First Edition. Hardcover. The second volume in the Nobel Prize-winning author's Children of Violence series, written between 1952-1969. First Impression. Octavo (19cm); black cloth-covered boards, with titles stamped in gilt on spine; dustjacket; [8],9-438,[2]pp. Spine ends gently nudged, with a faint, tiny splash mark to upper and lower edge of textblock; contents clean; Near Fine.… Read more

San Francisco: McSweeney's Publishing, 2002. First Trade Edition (edition not stated). Hardcover. Preceded by a 10,000 copy edition sold directly through the McSweeney's website. Octavo (21.5cm); printed board and black cloth backstrip, with titles stamped in gray on spine; 371,[1]pp. Signed by the author on the inner rear cover, dated 9/29/02. Light wear to lower board edges, else very… Read more

New York: Atheneum, 1990. First Edition. Hardcover. First Printing. Octavo (21.5cm); maroon paper and black cloth-covered boards, with titles stamped in gilt on spine; dustjacket; [xii],209,[3]pp. With a bookplate signed by the author loosely laid in. Fine in a Fine, unclipped dustjacket (priced $17.95). A well-received historical novel on the American slave trade, winner of the National Book Award… Read more

London: Chatto & Windus, 1936. First Edition. Hardcover. One of Huxley's most ambitious novels, chronicling the journey of a young British intellectual from high society into mystical spiritualism. BROMER A41.2.1; BLEILER (Checklist, 1972) p.156. First Impression, trade issue. Octavo (21.25cm); oatmeal-colored cloth, with titles stamped in maroon on spine and front cover; maroon topstain; dustjacket; [viii],620pp. Spine ends a… Read more

Duluth, MN: Holy Cow! Press, 1990. First Edition. Hardcover. First Printing, a review copy, with the publisher's publicity sheet folded and laid in. Octavo (22.25cm); beige paper and red cloth-covered boards, with titles stamped in gilt on spine; dustjacket; [vi],130,[8]pp. Fine in a very Near Fine dustjacket, unclipped (priced $15.95), with just a hint of sunning to spine panel.… Read more

London: Michael Joseph, 1953. First Edition. Hardcover. Collection of five short novels set in her native continent: A Home for the Highland Cattle, The Other Woman, Eldorado, The Antheap, and Hunger. First Impression. Octavo (20.75cm); black cloth, with titling and decorations stamped in silver and green on spine and front cover; dustjacket; [8],9-352pp. Crown a bit pushed, lower right… Read more

New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1982. First Edition. Hardcover. Limited Issue, one of 300 numbered copies specially bound and signed by the author, this being copy no.61. Octavo (21.75cm); sage green cloth, blocked and titled in dark green and gilt on spine; publisher's matching paper-covered slipcase; [xiv],223,[5]pp. Fine in a very Near Fine slipcase, with some trivial wear and… Read more

London: MacGibbon & Kee, 1957. First Edition. Hardcover. First Impression. Octavo (19cm); black paper-covered boards, with titles stamped in gilt on spine; dustjacket; [6],7-278pp. Hint of a forward lean, tiny tear at crown, else clean throughout; Near Fine. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced 15s net), spine-sunned, lightly shelfworn and a bit dusty, with a few tiny nicks to extremities; Very… Read more

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. 25th Anniversary Edition. Hardcover. Octavo (22cm); black cloth, with titles stamped in white on spine and decorative elements embossed on front cover; publisher's printed paper-covered slipcase; xvi,295,[6]pp. Signed by the author on a preliminary leaf. Fine in a Near Fine slipcase, with light wear to extremities, and some rubbing to lower corners. Handsome… Read more