Search Results: Titles starting with I from Ash Rare Books

London : Museum Press, [1955]. First edition. Charles Fawcett has invented something very special, but his plans unravel - Richard Maidment, a.k.a. Mr Pilgrim, to the rescue. A mystery with "all the speed, wit and technical excellence of the Americans, Michael Cronin ... can infuse as much glamour into his (British) lovelies as even Mr. Goldwyn could wish for" (London Evening News). Crown 8vo (20cm). 192pp. Original black boards, blocked and lettered in silver; internally a poor copy - lacking front free endpaper; outer leaves stained; text marked and creased; tape repair to final leaf; but a serviceable reading copy in a distinctive dust-jacket by John Pollack (1918-1985) - the spine of the jacket rubbed and nicked, but substantially complete and otherwise in good order. Inked shelfmarks to half-title and front flap of jacket.

London : New Fiction Press, (1952). First British edition. Despite the cover claim "An Original American Novel - Not a Reprint" - the book had in fact originally been published in New York in 1951, but it was at least genuinely by an American writer - and a good one. With the Hank Janson seal of approval. "Hank Janson says - Read This Book!" Crown 8vo (19cm). 127,[i]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers - the design closely following that by Barye Phillips for the original US edition. Some wear; short splits at head and tail; some light creasing and mild bruising; edges lightly spotted; a good copy. Just two copies of this edition (Bodleian and Trinity College, Dublin) located in major libraries worldwide.

London : William Heinemann, (1949). First British edition. "I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. That is, my feet are in it; the rest of me is on the draining-board" - the travails of Cassandra Mortmain. Her first novel - an eccentric classic brought to an even wider audience by the 2003 film with Bill Nighy, Romola Garai, Rose Byrne, etc. Crown 8vo (185 x 122mm). [iv],338pp. Illustrations by Ruth Steed (from sketches by the author). Bound in a smart recent half blue morocco, banded and gilt; red label; marbled sides; top edge red; some spotting to edges, but otherwise a very good copy in an elegant binding.

New York : Avon Publishing Co., (1949). First paperback edition. "Oh, yes, the summer nights are pleasant in Caulfield. But not for us". Originally published in hardback the previous year, but without the gloriously literal artwork of the present edition. Foolscap 8vo (17cm). 187,[v]pp. Original pictorial wrappers; all edges red; small repair at foot; very faint damp-stain to lower wrapper, with just mild impact on last leaf, edges, and reverse of upper cover; one slight nick, but otherwise very good. Just a single copy (Kent State) of this edition traced in major libraries worldwide.

London : Hamish Hamilton, (1982). First edition. His third novel - "It is far too hot for sustained fighting ... we will all melt like ice-cream in the sun". Evelyn Waugh meets John Buchan as eccentric settlers take up arms in the East African Campaign of the First World War. Demy 8vo (23cm). [xii],370,[ii]pp. Map. Original blue boards, blocked and lettered in gilt; a very good, bright, clean and sound copy in the Paul Webb dust-jacket - also very good.

London : Jarrold & Sons, 1902. First edition. An uncommon fantasy of identity switching from the irrepressible "R. Andom" - different identities assumed by means of a "magic green packet of transmigration tablets" - "The hero ... is projected into the twenty-first century through the agency of an explosive clock, and this is how he comes in contact with the Identity Exchange ... To those who like fun fast and furious, the story may be cordially commended" (The Scotsman, 10th November 1902). Later republished as "The Marvellous Adventures of Me". Crown 8vo (20cm). 286,[vi],[16]pp. Numerous illustrations by Charles Harrison (1860-1943). Original pinkish-brown pictorial cloth, blocked and lettered in black and red; a few faint marks; some rusting to staples; just a touch shaken, but a good copy of an engaging fantasy.

London : Viking, (1996). First British edition. A strange predictive tale of the beautiful, mysterious and entirely virtual media star – from the man who coined the term cyberspace. "The founding father of cyberpunk returns to the techno-decadent 21st century mapped out in his other major works ... Gibson exhibits his greatest strength: intense speculation, expressed in dramatic form, about the near-term evolution of and merging of cultural, social and technological trends, and how they affect character" (Publishers' Weekly).
Medium 8vo (25cm). [x],292,[ii]pp. Original black boards, lettered in silver; just a hint of bruising, but a very good copy in the Gary Marsh dust-jacket – similarly with a hint of bruising, but also very good.

Ilford : Ilford Intelligence, 1940. The first wartime edition of a publication that commenced in 1934 - a complete civic guide to Ilford - administration, agriculture, air defence, art, business, education, emergency services, finance, health, highways, housing, etc. Crown 8vo (19cm). 82pp. Folding maps. Original stapled wrappers; some marks; last leaf slightly torn at inner margin, but a good copy of an ephemeral production.

[Ilford] : Caunt Publishing, (1980). Second edition. An enlarged and augmented version of the original 1963 edition - illustrated sketches of incidents, characters, houses, etc., in Ilford history. Foolscap 4to (22cm). 120pp. Illustrations. Portraits. Map. Original laminated boards; a touch sunned, but otherwise a very good copy.

London : Robert Hale, (1953). First edition. "Crammed into the space if six hair-raising, breathless days and nights. It is the story of organised blackmail, punctuated by sudden and gruesome murder. It is peopled by ruthless killers, shady cops and Mr. Chase's own particular brand of young ladies". Crown 8vo (20cm). 256pp. Original red boards, blocked and lettered in black; a few slight marks; edges lightly tanned, but a good and sound copy in the Taylor dust-jacket - the jacket lightly worn, with some creases, a few tiny chips and short tears, with one longer tear to front panel, slightly discoloured from an old tape repair.

London : Pedigree Books, (1958). First British edition. Ellson using his experiences as a social worker and recreational therapist to chart juvenile delinquency. First published in the USA in 1956. Crown 8vo (18cm). 128pp. Original pictorial wrappers; some minor wear; faint scratch to rear wrapper; text lightly tanned, but overall a very good copy. Just two copies of this edition (Bodleian and British Library) located in major libraries.

London : Scion, (1951). First edition. "You know what a small town is like, everybody knows everybody else's business, and the routine for the transportation of dough from the bank to the railroad was so ordinary that nobody bothered even to think about it" - until someone does. Although the author of some forty "Ross Angel" titles, Cresswell has so far evaded further identification, but he was presumably the Donald Cresswell living with Leila Cresswell at 5 New Row in Covent Garden in 1948 and later in Hampstead. Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers - a design by Gomez; some minor wear; slight chipping and light creasing; a few minor marks; a few edge-spots, but otherwise very good. Just a single copy (British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

Edinburgh : Paul Harris Publishing, (1980). First edition. Five murders tracing the changing character of Edinburgh. Demy 8vo (23cm). [viii],(182),[ii]pp. Original black boards, blocked and lettered in gilt; very good in the dust-jacket - lightly sunned, but also very good.

London : Collins, 1945. First edition. Lemmy Caution is now attached to U. S. Army Intelligence in Paris – "We watch him track an enemy agent, first across Paris, then through the glades of Surrey. The scene is rich with dames, james, babies, mommas and frails; and this guy or bozo Confucius does not fail to inspire" (Elizabeth Bowen in The Tatler, 12th December 1945).
Crown 8vo (20cm). 192pp. Original sand cloth, lettered in green; just a hint of bruising, but a very good and sound copy in the pictorial dust-jacket – the jacket with a few faint marks, but only minimal wear, and also very good.

Aldershot : Wildwood House, (1989). First paperback edition. A well-illustrated survey, with much on Aubrey Beardsley, Walter Crane, Edmund Dulac, Jessie M. King, Phil May, William Morris, Arthur Rackham, Heath Robinson, etc., with a checklist of all the major illustrators and their work. First published in 1988. Post 4to (27cm). x,(186),[iv]pp. Numerous illustrations. Seven colour plates. Original pictorial wrappers; very good.

Boston : Horn Book, (1970). A reprint of the original 1947 edition. An extensive overview of the subject, with chapters on the period before 1800; nineteenth-century England; early American illustration; Howard Pyle; foreign picture books; graphic processes; illustrators of children's classics; animated drawing; twentieth-century developments, etc., supplemented with biographies of living illustrators worldwide, bibliographies, etc. Demy 4to (28cm) . xvi,(528)pp. Numerous illustrations. Original cloth; a few faint spots to top edge, but a very good and bright copy.

New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1976. First edition : the wrappers issue. A superbly produced and illustrated survey - with sections on all the major artists and illustrative processes, a checklist of 100 outstanding illustrated books of the period, a bibliography, indices of artists, authors, titles, etc., with formal bibliographical descriptions by Thomas V. Lange. Preface by Charles Ryskamp. Royal 4to (30cm). (xxiv),(340)pp. Illustrations throughout, two in colour - and including a fine sequence of full-page images. Original wrappers; lightly sunned; a few slight marks; edges a touch dusty, but a good copy.

New York : Pierpont Morgan Library / London : Oxford University Press, (1976). First edition : the hardback issue. A superbly produced and illustrated survey - with sections on all the major artists and illustrative processes, a checklist of 100 outstanding illustrated books of the period, a bibliography, indices of artists, authors, titles, etc., with formal bibliographical descriptions by Thomas V. Lange. Preface by Charles Ryskamp. Royal 4to (31cm). (xxiv),(340)pp. Illustrations throughout, two in colour - and including a fine sequence of full-page images. Original blue cloth gilt; a few edge-spots, but a very good and bright copy in the original acetate dust-jacket.

London : André Deutsch, (1956). First edition. The solicitor poet with an unusual novel of love, politics and business in a provincial building society. Crown 8vo (20cm). (240)pp. Original maroon boards, blocked and lettered across spine in gilt; a few edge spots, but a very good copy in a very lightly rubbed and just slightly nicked dust-jacket - a pictorial design by Robert Flavell Micklewright. Initials and monogrammed book-label of R. H. T.

Sutton : Hippopotamus Press, (1981). First edition : one of twenty-five special copies numbered and signed by Roy Bennett. A collection of over fifty poems, including "Lady with a Dog", the "Little Bestiary" sequence, and some thirty poems on Irish themes - "Yeats at Drumcliff", "Driving in Connemara", "Car Ferry from Dun Laoghaire", etc. Demy 8vo (22cm). (88)pp. Original bright blue wrappers, printed in black; very faintly marked, a few spots, but otherwise very good.