Search Results: Romance from Louise Aird

The Amateur Gentleman was a hugely popular novel written by the prolific English writer Jeffery Farnol who, with Georgette Heyer, initiated the Regency Romantic era. It is about a young man, the son of a boxer, who inherits a fortune and goes to London to become a gentleman. Adventure and romance ensue. Farnol wrote this novel (one of 50) in 1913; its reception was such that it was made into movies three times--in 1920, 1926 and 1936, the last starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. It was his most successful novel and became book 1 of the 12-novel Jasper Shrig series.
This copy was published in 1951 by Sampson Low, Marston & Co. It could be one of two Farnol books edited by Barbara Cartland, who created a series of romantic classics for a London publisher--I don't have any more details.
426 pages, 5 1/4" x 7 1/2".
The cover image is a water colour, uncredited. It is very clean and very bright.
There are two tiny tears on the dust jacket, at the top and bottom of the spine.
Otherwise, this book is in mint… Read More

This is a lovely copy of The Arabian Nights, Their Best-Known Tales. It is a collection of the famed Arabic folk tales edited by the American authors (and sisters) Nora Archibald Smith (1859-1934) and Kate Douglas Wiggin (1956-1923), author of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. It is beautifully illustrated by the American artist Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966).

The Beloved Returns, also known as Lotte in Weimar, is a 1939 novel written by the German writer and Nobel Laureate Thomas Mann (1975-1955). It is about a difficult and unconsummated romance.
This is the fourth printing of the first American edition, dated 1957.
453 pages. Dark blue boards with the title impressed on the cover and gold lettering on spine.
The gold has worn off the spine a little. But this book does not appear to have been read. It's in mint condition.
Note: I also have a leather-bound copy of Mann's The Magic Mountain listed here, as well as a first edition of The Holy Sinner, and a first edition of Joseph the Provider.

This is a near-perfect copy of this excellent book.
Published by Hamish Hamilton (London) 1951.
It is the actual first edition, rather than the US first edition.
The Original Dust Jacket is in Good/Fair Condition.
The dust jacket is an illustration by Cecil Beaton.
The book itself is in pristine condition. It has not been read.
The spine is intact. The only flaw is that someone has torn out the front endpaper—the first blank page. But that hasn't hurt the other pages or the binding.
About The Blessing
The Blessing is one of Nancy Mitford's most personal books, a wickedly funny story that asks whether love can survive the clash of cultures.
When Grace Allingham, a naïve young Englishwoman, goes to live in France with her dashingly aristocratic husband Charles-Edouard, she finds herself overwhelmed by the bewilderingly foreign cuisine and the shockingly decadent manners and mores of the French. But it is the discovery of her husband's French notion of marriage—which includes a permanent mistress… Read More

This is a first edition of The Bridesmaid, a best-selling 1989 novel by the British author Ruth Rendell. It is about a man whose feminine ideal is a Greek goddess; when he meets a woman who matches that image, he thinks he's found true love—until she demands that he commit murder. In 2004, it was adapted into the acclaimed French film La Demoiselle d'honneur.
This copy has not been read, or even opened. The spine is uncracked; the dust jacket is unclipped. There are no marks of any kind in it or on it.

Note: If you are outside of North America, the quoted shipping price is for surface mail without tracking. For other options, please contact me.

This is a lovely book. First edition of this series.
From the introduction by Christopher Ricks:
In this generously replete anthology, the International Collectors Library offers this selection of the poetry of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, together with fifty of the letters in which the pair carried on their courtship under the nose of Elizabeth's tyrannical father -- including the brief, frenzied notes in which they made arrangements for their secret marriage and their elopement to the Continent. Among the works of Elizabeth included here are, of course, the exquisite Sonnets from the Portuguese, celebrating the perfect union of herself and her lover; excerpts from Aurora Leigh; and complete versions of more than two dozen other poems. Robert Browning is represented by one hundred or so poems, with excerpted portions of The Ring and the Book and Pippa Passes, plus complete versions of Andrea del Sarto, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, Fra Lippo Lippi, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, and… Read More

La Dame aux Camélias (The Lady with the Camellias, commonly known as Camille) is a novel by Alexandre Dumas fils, first published in 1848 and adapted by Dumas for the stage. The play was an instant success, it became Verdi's La Traviata and has since been adapted for the stage dozens of time. It has also been made into movies dozens of times, most famously starring Greta Garbo in 1936, and in 2001, when Nicole Kidman starred in Moulin Rouge. It is about a young man who falls in love with a consumptive courtesan.

This copy is undated but was published around 1950 by the Modern Library (Random House). It is gray boards with a navy and gold design. 5" x 7". 270 pages.

All flaws are visible in the photos. The pages have darkened a little. The spine is starting to pull away, just at the front. There is a bump to the cover, at the lower right corner. There is no real shelfwear—just what you see on the spine.

Lovely book.

This is a beautiful copy of Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope, published by Everyman Knopf in 1994.Can You Forgive Her? is the first of Trollope's six Palliser novels, written in serial form in 1864 and 1865. It's a really good story--all about romance and the politics of relationships and what a woman should do with her life. Burgundy cloth boards with a black and gold design on the cover and spine.
There is a book plate on the inside front cover, which will come off.
The paper stock is a lovely soft cream. There are no flaws or marks of any kind inside.
Its only issue is that it was splashed with water from a flower vase. You can see in the photo, under my shadow, the faint mark on the lower quarter of the front cover.
Aside from that, it's perfect.
Note: If you are outside of North America, the quoted shipping price is for surface mail without tracking. For other options, please contact me.

Between 1864 and 1979, the great British author Anthony Trollope wrote 6 books called The Palliser Novels. They revolve around the wealthy aristocrat and politician Plantagenet Palliser and his wife, Lady Glencora, and they cover the sweep of Victorian society. They are considered satire and parody of English life, and criticism of the British government's predilection for attracting corrupt and corruptible people to power.
In 1977, Oxford University Press released The Palliser Novels in separate 5" x 7 1/2" volumes. I have the full set: Can You Forgive Her?, Phineas Finn, Phineas Redux, The Duke's Children, The Prime Minister and The Eustace Diamonds. You can buy as many as you like--please contact me first so I can combine the shipping. If you want the whole set, please contact me.
Can You Forgive Her? is #1 in the series. It is illustrated by the English artist Lynton Lamb. The novel follows three parallel stories of courtship and marriage and the decisions of three women. The question asked is… Read More

This is a stated first edition (1978) of A Captive of Time: My Years With Pasternak. It is the memoirs of the Russian poet Olga Ivinskaya (1912-1995), who was Boris Pasternak's mistress and the woman upon whom 'Lara' is based, in Pasternak's Dr. Zhivago.
462 pages, lots of photos
There are a few little marks here and there, just on the covers and I think it's dust.
The original owner signed the front endpaper.
Minor wear to the dust jacket.
Otherwise perfect condition.

This is a stated first edition of Charity Girl, the 38th of 39 romance novels by the English writer Georgette Heyer (1902-1974). Heyer is the writer who established both the historical romance genre, and the Regency romance genre. She is also well-known for the incredible depth of her research, which makes her books as true to the period as if they were written by Jane Austen.Charity Girl is about a lovely young woman who is running away from her aunt's home, to her grandfather's home in London. Instead, she is picked up by the young Viscount Desford. People assume he has run off with her, a scandal begins to brew and the Viscount must prevent her from ruining them both.This copy is plain orange boards with gold lettering on the spine. There is very faint dappling on the right side of the cover. The dust jacket is a little battered, but you can tape the little tears. Inside, the book is perfect.Note: If you are outside of North America, the quoted shipping price is for surface mail… Read More

This is an excellent copy of the Complete Works of Jane Austen, which is all six of her novels in one book -- it's 1000 pages and weighs 3 lbs.It is navy blue boards with light blue lettering on the spine. The page edges are dyed/dappled light red, on three sides.The pages are starting to darken at the edges.It has not been read and many of the pages are still stuck together, as they are when they're fresh from the printer.
Published by Allan Wingate London, as part of the Crown Classic Library, dated 1962. Printed in Italy.The dust jacket is blue with light blue type. It has quite a lot of scuffing. Its spine is faded and it has shelf-wear at the top. But it has done its job. The book's in great shape.
NOTE: My quoted price for shipping OUTSIDE of North America is for surface mail without tracking. For other shipping options, please contact me.

The Courtship of Prince Charming, by F Frankfort Moore
258 pages, on thick paper
Red Cloth Boards with Black Design & Printing on the spine
Frank Frankfort Moore (1855-1931) was an Irish dramatist, biographer, novelist and poet. Born in Limerick, Ireland, Moore worked as a journalist before gaining fame as an author of fiction.
I contacted the Local Studies Department at the Limerick City Library, and got this response:
"Congratulations on picking up a bit of a rarity there!Moore was a fairly prolific author over a period of more than 40 years.The book in question is titled The Courtship of Price Charming, in the British Museum Catalogue of Printed Books to 1955 and the first edition of it was in1920, published by W. Collins, Sons & Co., London."
I have the email if you want it.
Provenance
It bears the stamp of 'John Rigby, Dealer in Watches & Jewellery, Kirkham'. So, at some point, someone bought it in Lancashire.
It then became the property of Jean Coulthard, OC OBC; she was a prominent Canadian… Read More

This is a first edition of Dark Torrent at Glencoe, a 1960 novel by the British lawyer and crime novelist Edward Grierson (1914-1975). The dust cover, which is unclipped, is not in the best shape but is OK. The book is fine--yellow boards with green lettering on the spine. 281 pages.Here's a review:The bloody doings in Scotland in 1692 are the basis of a romance, of a historical retelling and of a deed that echoes in the names of the Campbells and MacDonalds. King William III (the Dutch King), and his demand for a sworn oath of allegiance from the clans, is not obeyed by the MacIan of Clan Donald until after its expiration date and Carnoch and other clan hamlets along the Coe River become the target for the Master of Stair who sends Captain Robert Campbell of Glenlyon with troops to wipe them out. The strategy calls for Glenlyon to quarter his men as guests of the glen while they presumably rest before they take Glengarry, who has never signed. Staying, they and the glen people become friends, work… Read More

This is the collected novels of the great British author E.M. Forster (1879-1970). All of them were made into films.
They are Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905), The Longest Journey (1907), A Room With a View (1908), Howard's End (1910) and A Passage to India (1924).
This book was a school award and has been inscribed on the front endpaper--you can remove that page if you wish.
The spine has been cracked in the middle--see photo. And it's loose, as you would expect with a book of this size.
Very minor wear to the dust jacket.
Other than that, this book does not appear to have been read.
It is pristine.

This is Emma, Jane Austen's 4th novel and the last published in her lifetime.
This copy is a first edition from the 1991 Everyman series published by Borzoi/Knopf, which re-printed the original series from the early half of the 20th century.
It is hunter green cloth with gold lettering on the cover and spine. Bound-in green silk bookmark. It includes a chronology. It looks like the original owner read it to page 10 and then stopped. The bookmark has not been disturbed.
Aside from some dust on the cover, there is not a mark in it or on it. It is in mint condition.

Between 1864 and 1979, the great British author Anthony Trollope wrote 6 books called The Palliser Novels. They revolve around the wealthy aristocrat and politician Plantagenet Palliser and his wife, Lady Glencora, and they cover the sweep of Victorian society. They are considered satire and parody of English life, and criticism of the British government's predilection for attracting corrupt and corruptible people to power.
In 1977, Oxford University Press released The Palliser Novels in separate 5" x 7 1/2" volumes. I have the full set: Can You Forgive Her?, Phineas Finn, Phineas Redux, The Duke's Children, The Prime Minister and The Eustace Diamonds. You can buy as many as you like--please contact me first so I can combine the shipping. If you want the whole set, please contact me.
The Eustace Diamonds is #5 in the series. It is illustrated by the English artist Blair Hughes-Stanton. The novel centres around Lizzie Greystock, a gold-digger and pathological liar who ensnares Sir Florian Eustace and… Read More

This is an unread copy of Far From the Madding Crowd, the Thomas Hardy classic written in 1874.
No illustrations.
This copy's pages have darkened but it has not been read and is otherwise in pristine condition.

In 2002, England's Daily Express published the limited Good Reads Series--several classic books that were small, light-weight and high-quality. They're all 5" x 8", pale colored boards with gilt lettering and one cover image. This is A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway's story of an American soldier during WWI, and his love affair with an English nurse.223 pages. Page 223 only has been wrinkled, and there is a small tear at the bottom of it. Otherwise perfect, although the paper has darkened quite a bit.

The is a first US edition of The French Lieutenant's Woman, a 1969 historical novel by the English author John Fowles (1926-2005). It is about the difficult relationship between an English amateur naturalist and the independent former governess he falls in love with. It was an extremely successful novel. It has been printed repeatedly and has been adapted for stage and screen, most famously by Harold Pinter for the film starring Jeremy Irons and Meryl Streep.
It is very plain; navy blue boards with white lettering on the spine. 480 pages.
There are the remnants of a price tag on the front endpaper. Some scuffing and shelfwear to the dust jacket, and a tiny bit of shelfwear to the top of the spine. Other than that, it's in pristine condition.

NOTE: If you are OUTSIDE of North America, my quoted shipping price is for surface mail without tracking. For other shipping options, please contact me.