Search Results: Authors starting with N from Ariadne Books

London: Little, Brown and Company, 1999. First edition, 1999. Hardback. xiii, 333pp. Brown cloth boards with gilt lettering to spine. Dust jacket. In 1950, just before his eighteenth birthday, V. S. Naipaul left his native Trinidad for the fist time to take up an Island scholarship at University College, Oxford. In 1953, aged forty-seven, his father, a journalist with the Trinidad Guardian, died of a heart attack. Those three years saw an intense correspondence between father and son, marked by great mutual reliance and affection, and by a shared literary ambition. It was a father's dream that his and his son's name might together appear on the title-page of a book. This is that book, as rich and fine and moving a book of letters between father and son as any in the history of literature. Book in near fine condition and unread. Very slight pressure mark to upper corner of front board and some faint spotting to edge of text block. Dust jacket also near fine. Unclipped and just very minor edge wear. Read More

New York: Salamander Books (Smithmark Publishers), 1996. First edition, 1996. Hardback. 384pp. Dust jacket. Foreword by General William C. Westmoreland. The Vietnam war was one of the bloodiest and one of the most fascinating conflicts in the history of warfare. It began with America pouring massive military aid upon the South Vietnamese in an attempt to thwart the Communist takeover, and culminated in the "peace with honor" withdrawl by the Nixon administration. This auhtoritative account accurately details every aspect of the Vietnam War and provides an overall view of the impact which it continues to have. Book in near fine condition and unread. A couple of very small stains to the fore edge. Clean and unmarked internally apart from two tiny marks to the front endpapers. Dust jacket near fine and unclipped.

Paris: Editions Baudiniere, c1925. Undated but circa 1825. Hardback. 219, (3)pp. Contemporary leather bining over marbled paper covered boards. Gilt to spine and gilt top edge. Marbled end papers. Original paper covers bound-in. Silk page marker. Text in French. Book in fair condition. Some rubbing/wear to extremities of spine. Edges and corners of boards also rubbed. Quite a lot of spotting but text still perfectly readabls.

London: John Lehmann, 1950. First published in this edition 1948, this reprint 1950. Hardback. 121pp. Dust jacket in a protective sleeve. "The Unfortunate Traveller" was first published in 1594 and represents Thomas Nashe's sole excursion into the novel form. The author of this strange and tormented book, which is at least autobiographical, chose as his model the popular Spanish tales such as 'Lazarillo de Tormerz'. Nashe enlarged the scope of that tradition to include not only a Rabelaisian humour, but also passages of lyrical beauty interspersed with episodes of violent savagery. "The Unfortunate Traveller", as the first picaresque novel in the English language, was the forerunner of the work of not only Defoe and Fielding but also of James Joyce, who acknowledged its profound influence his writing. Book in good condition. Boards a little rubbed and slightly soiled. Lower corners lightly bumped. Some spotting to text block edges. Ex libris plate of Pat Milne… Read More

London: Fourth Estate, 2001. First edition. Hardback. Fine/Fine. Fourth Estate, London. 2001. First edition. Book condition: near fine - just a little faint tanning to the pages. Dust Jacket: near fine - unclipped and just a little very light shelf wear to head of spine and top edges. The Rivals is the account of the complex and important relationship between Blair and Brown. It is told brilliantly by a commentator whose observation of the principals and understanding of the critical moments is matchless. In the game of high emotions and in the world of the black arts that realise political ambition, it is the relationship that dominated the modern era.

London: Little, Brown & Co, 1996. Paperback edition, 1988. 328pp. No jacket (as issued). William Morris is the most influential British designer of the last 100 years and this collection combines Morris's writings with his famous designs for wallpapers, fabrics, tapestries, embroideries, carpets, books and stained glass. through his own work and in his own words, the book traces the progress of William Morris, Pre-Raphaelite poet and architectural student, into designer, writer and pioneer socialist. The book is illustrated with over 200 colour photographs of Morris's work, many of which are shown here for the first time in colour. Morris fabrics and wallpapers in museum collections have been photographed specially for this book and are accompanied by many of his original pencil and water colour designs, including sketches and preparatory works. This is a tribute to an exceptional man, whose work and reputation have survived for more than a century, and conveys something of the man that… Read More

London: Collins, 1948. Collins London, 1948. First edition with dust jacket in a protective sleeve. Hardback. xv, 158pp. The first of the New Naturalist Monographs. Studies of the badger have been made by prominent amateur mammalogists and have been published in books and papers, but they have not probed all the mysteries of badger life and have, in many ways, simply shown what a tremendous amount of work there was to be done. Ernest Neal has removed a vast amount of the debris concealing the badger's life. He has overcome, in many interesting ways, the problems of observing a nocturnal and secretive creature. He has made himself a patient watchman, a cunning photographer, an ingenious detective and a careful judge. This Monograph is till a notable contribution to the biology of a noble animal. Illustrated with one colour photograph, 29 black & white photographs and 12 maps and drawings. Jacket design by Clifford and Rosemary Ellis. Book in very good condition. Some dust soiling and spotting… Read More

London: Collins, 1962. First published in 1948, this is a second edition from 1962. Hardback. xv, 158pp. Dust jacket in a protective sleeve. This monograph is still a notable contribution to the biology of a noble animal. Illustrated with one colour photograph, 29 black & white photographs and 12 maps and drawings. Book condition: very good. Just a little light shelf wear. Slight spotting and dust soiling to text block edges. Previous owner's name stamped to front free endpaper along with a small, neat signature. Half title page also stamped with same owner's name. Dust jacket condition: very good and unclipped. Some slight chipping at head & tail of spine and to corners. Small closed tear (approx 12mm) at bottom edge of back. A little light staining here and there.

London: Collins, 1948. First edition. Hardback. Very Good/Fair. Collins London, 1948. First edition with dust jacket. Hardback. xv, 158pp. The first of the New Naturalist Monographs. Studies of the badger have been made by prominent amateur mammalogists and have been published in books and papers, but they have not probed all the mysteries of badger life and have, in many ways, simply shown what a tremendous amount of work there was to be done. Ernest Neal has removed a vast amount of the debris concealing the badger's life. He has overcome, in many interesting ways, the problems of observing a nocturnal and secretive creature. He has made himself a patient watchman, a cunning photographer, an ingenious detective and a careful judge. This Monograph is till a notable contribution to the biology of a noble animal. Illustrated with one colour photograph, 29 black & white photographs and 12 maps and drawings. Jacket design by Clifford and Rosemary Ellis. Book condition: very good. A little… Read More

New York & London: The Pierpont Morgan Library and Oxford University Press, 1979. Hardback. Approx. 310mm x 230mm. xxvii, 338pp. Publisher's original red cloth binding with contrasting black panel to spine printed gilt. Dust jacket in a protective sleeve. This book traces the history of bookbinding, form its beginnings to the end of the sixteenth century, through detailed consideration of one hundred important examples in The Pierpont Morgan Library. An introductory essay discusses the origin of the craft in the early Christian centuries; another discusses the mediaeval ecclesiastical tradition of "treasure" bindings, bookcovers of gold, silver, ivory, gems, enamel and other precious materials; a third surveys the development of leather bindings in early mediaeval Europe. Included are a group of important Coptic bindings, one of which is among the earliest intact bindings to have survived; ten mediaeval treasure bindings; and an extensive series of late fifteenth and… Read More

Berkhamsted: T & A D Poyser, 1978. First edition, 1978. Hardback. 336pp. Dust jacket. The author has studied the North Atlantic gannet and the boobies for many years. His work on the gannetry on the Bass Rock formed the basis of much of the knowledge of the gannet's ecology, breeding cycle and behaviour. This work is a distillation of the studies and researches on Sula bassana in Europe and North America, with frequent reference to the African and Australasian gannets. There is also a chapter on the boobies, all of which have been studied first hand by the author. Chapter topics include: plumage, shape, structure and voice; numbers and distribution; behaviour; ecology; the bird at sea; the gannet family and the order; the gannet and man. There are many tables, maps and a full bibliography. The text is complemented by John Busby's evocative drawings plus 32 pages of photographs. Book in very good condition. Dust jacket very good. Price clipped. very slight edge wear. Some discolouration… Read More

New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007. First edition, 2007. Hardback. 174pp. Dust jacket. George Nelson (1908 - 1986) was a Fellow of the American Academy of Rome when he wrote a series of articles for the American journal "Pencil Points". These articles examined the state of European architecture during a period of fundamental change in building design. These verbal portraits by Nelson eloquently introduced astonishing buildings and fascinating personalities to a wider audience. This volume brought together this important collection of writings for the first time. The subjects include figures who would prove to be both major (Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Gio Ponti and Walter Gropius) and minor (Bent Helweg-Moeller, the Luckhardt Brothers and Ivar Tengbom). All of these architects would soon be affected by World War II in some way - they would emigrate, be put out of work or seek new careers. These essays spark fascinating questions about the canon of modern architecture: how would… Read More

High Wycombe: Rivendale Press, 2000. First UK edition, 2000. (First published by Penn State Press, 2000). Hardback. [i - vii], viii - ix, [x - xi], xii - xiv, [xv], xvi, 1 - 430 plus one page of publisher's ads at end. Dust jacket in a protective sleeve. This book chronicles the experiences of Leonard Smithers (1861 - 1907), a key figure in the literary culture of late Victorian England. In his day he was known primarily for publishing books of upscale erotica. He became the publisher of choice for the Decadents, including most notably Oscar Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley. While a young solicitor in his native Sheffield, Smithers established a correspondence with the famed explorer and translator of exotic texts Captain Sir Richard Burton. Smithers collaborated with Burton in the publication of two Latin texts, the "Priapeia" and the "Carmina of Catullus", both of an erotic cast. After Burton's death in 1890, Smithers continued a significant involvement with his work, serving… Read More

Stroud: Alan Sutton Publishing Lts, 1991. First edition, 1991. Hardback. xxi, 177pp. Dust jacket. The reminiscences selected and presented by G. K. Nelson within this volume provide a vivid picture of the lives of those who grew up and worked on farms from the beginning of the twentieth century up to the end of the Second World War - the last period when it was possible to experience a truly rural style of life in England. Complemented with contemporary illustrations and the author's informative comments, this is a lively and evocative record of a way of life still familiar to many but now gone forever. Book in very good condition. Dust jacket good and unclipped. Very slight edge wear and a little fading to spine.

London: Collins, 1951. First edition, 1951. Hardback.xii, 244pp. Dust jacket in a protective sleeve. The greenshank, whose thrilling spring song can be heard as it flies above the pines of the ancient "Caledonian" Forest of Speyside, is certainly one of the most romantic and beautiful waders of the Highlands. It is here, within sight of the great central mountains of the Cairngorms, that most greenshanks nest in Britain. The author had always been a field worker and lived in the heart of this primeval Scottish forest. Denis Nethersole-Thompson has investigated this bird with thoroughness and scientific accuracy. 4 colour photographs, 42 black & white photographs, 12 maps & diagrams. Dust jacket design by Clifford and Rosemary Ellis. Book in very good condition. Very slight spotting to text block edges. Light toning to endpapers. Dust jacket very good and unclipped. Some discolouration to spine, also to rear and edges of flaps.

Calton: T & A D Poyser, 1986. First edition, 1986. Hardback. 400pp. Dust jacket. For well over fifty years Dr Desmond Nethersole-Thompson has studied waders and their behaviour. The core of this book is the comprehensive accounts of the biology and behaviour of 18 species of waders in their breeding haunts. In addition there are chapters on waders generally, wader spacing and dispersion, wader watchers of past and recent times, and two final chapters on new or returning waders and those pipe-dream species that, not too fancifully, may yet breed one day in these islands. Voice is one of the headings within the species accounts but also there is an appendix of sonograms of wader songs and calls. the book also has tables of data and an extensive bibliography. Donald Watson has provided more than a hundred drawings to complement the text and there are 32 photographs. Book in near fine condition. Dust jacket very good. Price clipped. Very slight edge wear only.

Berkeley: University of California, 1976. First edition. Hardback. Very Good/Good. University of California Press, Berkeley, California, 1976. First edition. Book condition: very good. Very slight bumping to corners and '20p' in ink to upper corner of ffep otherwise unmarked and very clean internally. Dust jacket: good. Unclipped. Generally rubbed and soiled. Some edge wear. Closed tear approx 2cms to upper edge and a small tear with slight loss (approx 0.5cms) to lower edge of front. Slight chipping to extremities of spine and to some corners. This is a study of the arts of landscape painting and landscape gardening as they influenced James Fenimore Cooper's use of landscape in his forest romances. The power of Cooper's visual imagination was unique among prose writers of his time. This study aims to demonstrate that Cooper was firmly grounded in the theories of the picturesque, in the British and Italian traditions of landscape painting and in the literature of landscape gardening;… Read More

London: Jonathan Cape, 1945. First edition, 1945. Hardback. 240pp. Cloth covered boards with silver titles to spine and a tinted top edge. Dust jacket in a protective sleeve. A strange story in an unusual setting. The group of European supervisors of an oile well in the desert Sultanate of Rasuka forma little community living in conditions favourable to the development of minor eccentricities and personal antagonisms. Originally observed characters and with an atmosphere of strangeness and psychological interest. "A Journey to the Interior" is Howard Newby's first novel and his later novel "Something to Answer For" won the inaugural Booker Prize in 1969. Book in very good condition. Boards a little marked/sun faded at exposed points. Light spotting to text block edges. Internally clean and free of inscriptions. Dust jacket good. Generally a little rubbed and soiled with light wear to edges. Closed tear to hinge on front cover. Internal surfaces a little discoloured.

London: Printed for the Author, by J. Nichols: and sold by Messrs. White in Fleet-Street; T. Payne, at the Mews-Gate; Robson & Faulder, in Bond Street; and Hooper, and Flexney, in Holborn., 1795. First edition in this format, 1795. 4to. xiii, 547 [3]pp. Engraved frontispiece of The Abbey together with fold-out coloured map of the County (preceding p1) and two fold-out ground plans (following p234 being the ground plan at the time of Henry III and following p529 being the ground plan at the time of Henry VI). Original calf boards, rebacked with original spine laid-on, contrasting title panel and gilt decoration. Gilt border decoration to boards. Marbled end papers. Copy of May 1821 census form for St Albans pasted onto front fly leaf. Good. Boards rubbed and corners worn. Professional repairs to boards and spine preserving as much of the original as possible and making for a very soundly bound volume. Some damp staining to upper quadrant of rear pages. Light and sporadic spotting throughout. Ink… Read More

London: Collins, 2010. First edition, 2010. Hardback. x, 596pp. Dust jacket in a protective sleeve. Bird migration has fascinated people since time immemorial: the arrivals and departures of different species marked the seasons and provided a reliable calendar long before anything better came along. Barn Swallows were once thought to bury themselves in the mud at the bottomn of ponds, while winter visiting Barnacle Geese were thought to turn into gooseneck barnacles for the summer, living submerged in shallow seas. In this seminal work, Ian Newton provides an in-depth study of the different types of bird movements along with the main migration patterns. He focuses on the process of migration, including timing, energy needs, weather effects and navigation. He also explores evolution and change in migratory behaviour, as well as geographical and ecological patterns. Professor Newton's absorbing account of an extraordinary phenomenon which does not cease to amaze us offers a wealth of information… Read More