Search Results: belles-lettres from Pen Ultimate Rare Books

Unpublished Manuscript by Alexandre Dumas pere, author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, often called the greatest French Romantic novelist.. "He had great gifts of narrative and dialogue, a powerful imagination… [and] a genius for seizing the situations and characters that would best render historical atmosphere. He wrote with unflagging gusto and an instinctive conviction… that 'l'action et l'amour' were the essential things in life, hence in fiction" (Reid, 196). Dumas' reputation as France's premier adventure writer and a forefather of popular fiction is evidenced in this manuscript which makes spectacle of Nero's "taste for debauchery" and briefly recounts the story of Sporus, the teenage boy whom Nero gelded, dressed up as a female, and later married. Fascinating full-page fragment of Dumas' take on the "infamous gossips and adulterers" of Ancient Rome. A few chips and repairs. Book #Cv1111. $4500. We specialize in Rare Ayn Rand, history, and science.

Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. A very Near Fine First Edition of Axel in a Near-Fine jacket. First Edition in English of Bo Carpelan's tribute to his father's friendship with the great Finnish musician, Jean Sibelius. "When Axel Carpelan died, Sibelius was deeply distraught, writing in his diary to whom should I now write music?" This novel was written in part to address that question. A highly collectible copy of the first English translation in jacket. No markings or writings of any kind. Book #v5a121. $30. We specialize in Rare Ayn Rand, history, and science.

"I ain't a lady either so buy me a drink." The first page of Spillane's novel, SIGNED by Spillane. Presumed to be a fair copy, i.e., a copy intended for the printer, with no marginalia or emendations, conforming to the published version of the text. Fine. Book #Pv2202. $298. We specialize in Rare Ayn Rand, history, and science.

SIGNED in publisher's Original Slipcase (often missing). Perfect Clegg Collectible. First Edition of Breeder, one of 26 Lettered copies, in original publisher's protective SLIPCASE, both in flawless, Library Quality condition. SIGNED by Douglas Clegg, Edward Lee and Canigli on a special page. Additionally, this copy is signed by publisher Larry Roberts, founder of Bloodletting Press. A perfect copy of Library-quality. Book #Pv2342. $225. We specialize in Rare Ayn Rand, history & science.

First edition. SIGNED by the author to the title page, his printed name smacked out. "The living is the telling, there's nothing going on with me that isn't either told or tellable, and if so, what's the difference, why live at all?" Octavo. 467, [1] blank] pages. Publisher's baby blue paper boards backed in black cloth, spine stamped in metallic blue; dazzling original illustrated dust jacket. Internally clean, fresh and tight. One of only 1300 copies issued on substandard paper stock, text block admits inevitable faint toning along some margins and edges. Dust jacket unclipped ($18.95); minor wear to head and foot of spine and corners. Housed in custom brown cloth clamshell case, spine stamped in gilt. Very near fine book in a fine jacket. Book #vC2222. $4900. We specialize in Rare Ayn Rand, history, and science. Seller Inventory # Vc2222

First Duddington Translation of Pushkin's The Captain's Daughter in its scarce 1928 ORIGINAL, Unclippled Frank Dobias (Little Black Sambo, Highroad to Adventure) jacket. Book is Very Near Fine with no writings, bookplates or markings of any kind. The scarce jacket has some edgewear but is highly presentable. Book #Cv2221. $225. *****We specialize in rare Ayn Rand, history, and science.

SIGNED by Joseph Heller (1923–1999). Catch–22. [New York: Dell Publishing Co., 1973]. 8vo. Illustrated from photographs of the first play directed by Larry Arrick at the John Drew Theatre. Original publisher's pictorial wrappers. FIRST DELTA EDITION, SIGNED BY HELLER on half–title. Joseph Heller's full-length comedy, adapted from his iconic first novel. The story is set in World War II and is peopled with a group of US Army Air Force men – one in particular called Captain John Yossarian. The men do what they can in order to survive so they can go home to their families, but their rank superiors keep throwing obstacles in their paths to try and keep them longer. Catch-22 represents the idea of a "no-win" situation – no decision or course of action a person makes or takes results in resolution, but rather in a continuation of the confusion one tried to clear up in the first place. The term itself has entered the language as a description of a ridiculously cyclical situation. A fine, tight… Read More

SEALED in publisher s original shrink wrap, a rare, pristine copy, one of only 250, of David Foster Wallace's oeuvre, a memoriam or epitaph of his greatest works published after he died a tragic suicidal death. THE DAVID FOSTER WALLACE READER introduces his ever-growing readers to his remarkable humor, kindness, sweeping intellect, and versatility as a writer. Featuring selections of his brilliant fiction and nonfiction, the Reader is comprised of outstanding chapters from the novels The Broom of the System, Infinite Jest, and The Pale King, along with legendary stories including "The Depressed Person," "Good Old Neon," and his previously unpublished first story. This collection also features Wallace's essays delving into luxury ("A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again"), morality ("Consider the Lobster"), sports ("Roger Federer Both Flesh and Not"), literature, and the deep paradoxes of American life, plus reading lists from his career as a professor. This deluxe edition of THE DAVID FOSTER… Read More

SIGNED UNread First Edition of Coelho's arresting novel, signed on front flyleaf. Easily removed "Signed First Edition" sticker on front jacket panel. "What does the world want of me? Does it want me to take no risks, to go back to where I came from because I didn't have the courage to say 'yes' to life? No markings of writings of any kind. Library Quality. Opened only for author's signature. Book #Pv5b108. $158. We specialize in Rare Ayn Rand, history, and science.

SIGNED by the author with "number thirty-nine" written by Lawrence entirely in longhand. "I am risen!" First edition, no. 39 of 50 copies on Japanese vellum signed by the author, with both the publisher s ORIGINAL glassine and ORIGINAL slipcase. Roberts A50b. Octavo. Color-printed frontispiece and 4 color-printed head- and tailpieces after Lawrence. Original printed wrappers, some toning to front edge and spine; glassine dust-wrapper, original marbled paper-covered slipcase, 8 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches (21 x 17 cm); a few tiny chips in glassine; slipcase a tad worn). The Black Sun Press first published The Escaped Cock as a limited edition in September 1929. Later published by Secker, 1931, under the title The Man Who Died in a limited edition of 2000 copies. This original French publication, signed and numbered by Lawrence, is far rarer and much more desirable. You'll not find a finer copy. Book #Cv2223. $6900. We specialize in Rare Ayn Rand, history, and science.

SIGNED and Boldly Inscribed by Maya Angelou, "Without a doubt, America's most visible black woman autobiographer," a magnificent First Edition/First Printing copy of her second book of essays, Even the Stars Look Lonesome. Octavo; original deep purple boards backed with black cloth, spine and front board lettered in bronze, gentle deckled edge. Dazzling dust jacket protected in mylar with small adhesives First Edition Signed attached to mylar, not jacket. "What it is like to be human, and American, what makes us weep, what makes us fall and stumble and somehow rise and go on?" (Angelou 130). You'll not locate a more desirable As New copy in like, mylar-wrapped dust jacket. Book #v5B169. $195. We specialize in Rare Ayn Rand, history, and science.

The voice of a 9 year old child whose father died in the terrorist attack on 9 11. A beautiful signed copy of this novel in highly collectible As New condition. One to watch! Book #v5b253. $78. We specialize in Rare Ayn Rand, history, and science.

SIGNED by Foer on the Limitation Page. #489 of 1000 copies. Fine in a lightly bumped slipcase. "Sometimes I can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I'm not living." Basis for the 2011 film starring Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Thomas Horn, Max von Sydow. Book#Cv2117. $228. We specialize in Rare Ayn Rand, history, and science.

Limited edition, #372 of 750 copies, numbered by the author. Leatherette, 8vo, top edge gilt, xvi, 272, [6] pp, frontispiece and 28 plates. Approximately 100 entries. Leatherette, 8vo, top edge gilt, xvi, 272, [6] pp, frontispiece and 28 plates. A revised and enlarged edition of Eckel's 1913 work "The First Editions of the Writings of Charles Dickens and their Values." A Bibliography".v Approximately 100 entries. A Eckel provides a great deal of bibliographic detail for identification of true first editions. According to Dickens scholar Duane DeVries: "Eckel's work still stands, despite criticism of its writing style and its errors, as the standard modern bibliography of Dickens's writings, though one directed more toward collectors than scholars.One can easily see why the volume is both praised and criticized. On the one hand, it provides far more information about the works it considers than any previous bibliography had, and it covers the entire range of Dickens's works, from the major novels to… Read More

Still Sealed in Shrink Wrap! EXTREMELY SCARCE in New Condition. An exact facsimile copy of the first edition of For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, first published in 1940 with an approximate print run of 75,000. Both book and jacket are precise copies of the original. The only indicator that this is a facsimile is a small block of explanation on the copyright page. First Edition Library published this title only for its members who bought it by subscription. The book comes in a handsome, sturdy slipcase which shows pastedowns of the front and back of the dustjacket on its sides. The book, jacket, and slipcase are in New, unopened, SEALED condition. Book #Pv4326. $395. We specialize in Rare Ayn Rand, history, and science.

SIGNED First Edition, one of only 5000 first printing copies of this high spot of twentieth century drama. With The Glass Menagerie, Williams set out to create a new kind of "Plastic Theatre," a highly expressionistic language of the stage to replace what he saw as the stale conventions of realism. In theatrical terms, Williams's approach has been called Brechtian: It uses devices meant to create what the German playwright and dramaturge, Bertolt Brecht, (Threepenny Opera, Mother Courage and Her Children), called the "alienation effect." Williams succeeded, thereby revolutionizing American theater. Within two weeks of opening on Broadway in 1945, the play won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best American Play, catapulting Williams to fame. In the words of the citation, the award was offered "To Tennessee Williams for his play 'The Glass Menagerie' and its sensitive understanding of four troubled human beings" (New York Times).8vo. Original publisher's russet cloth; spine stamped in black… Read More

"Best wishes from Mike and me -- Mickey Spillane" INSCRIBED Boldly by Spillane with NO personalization. An extremely good First Edition copy of The Girl Hunters. Tiny soiling on paper edges and a tad of crinkling at the bottom of a very firm spine. No cocking, no bookplate, no writing of any kind save for Spillane's. The Near-Fine Unclipped jacket has minimal edgewear and very light staining. "As a writer, Mickey Spillane has a brilliant literary talent. Few modern writers can approach his originality, his imagination, his sense of drama, the ingenuity of his plot structures" (Ayn Rand, Oct, 1962). A stunning Spillane inscription on a highly collectible copy. Book #C2203. $295. We specialize in Rare Ayn Rand, history, and science.

SIGNED Limited Edition copy of Clegg's debut novel, Library Quality in As New jacket. Copy #540/666 numbered copies signed by Douglas Clegg [author], Don D'Auria [introduction] and Glenn Chadbourne [interior artist] on a laid in limitation leaf. Book #Pv2345. $55. We specialize in Rare Ayn Rand, history, and science. *****All our books are sanitized for your protection before mailing.

Twice-SIGNED by author Phillip Roth, on the cover and on the page where the story appears. Also signed by National Book Award winner Peter Matthiessen, co-founder and editor of the Paris Review. First Appearance in print of Roth's Goodbye Columbus in The Paris Review, Autumn-Winter 1958-59. "How can I describe loving Brenda? It was so sweet, as though I d finally scored that twenty-first point." Basis for the 1969 film starring Richard Benjamin and Ali MacGraw, Arnold Schulman's screenplay won the Writers Guild of America Award. "Goodbye, Columbus is a first book, but it is not the book of a beginner" (Saul Bellow). A Near-Fine copy of Roth's first-ever appearance in print, twice-signed by him. Book #P5b226. $4000. We specialize in Rare Ayn Rand, history, and science.

SEALED in publisher's shrink wrap, Perfect Condition! THE GUTENBERG BIBLE, a stunning facsimile reproduction of the extremely rare, complete 1450's Gutenberg original, the book that changed the world, in Deluxe Limited Edition Limited to 2,500 hand-numbered folio volumes. Having developed what would prove the invention of the millennium, the mechanical movable type printing press, Johannes Gutenberg published a glorious edition of the Catholic Vulgate Bible to showcase his revolutionary technology. Fewer than 180 copies of Gutenberg's original were printed, most for wealthy purchasers who commissioned hand-scripted headings and hand-painted color illuminations. All copies were purchased even before printing was complete. Revered for its design and artistry, the Gutenberg Bible, a wonder in its own day, is now regarded one of the world's most iconic artifacts. Only 21 complete copies survive and none have been offered for sale since 1978. In the last decade, an eight page fragment sold for nearly… Read More