Search Results: Titles starting with U from Ariadne Books

Bristol: Douglas Cleverdon, 1930. Limited edition, 71/350. Signed by the author. Hardcover. 21pp. Green and white decorated boards with cloth to spine and gilt to spine. No jacket. Two vignettes engraved by Eric Gill (engraved in 1926 and originally intended for an edition of Disraeli but never used, they are numbered 104 and 105 in the list in 'Engravings by Eric Gill', Bristol, 1929). Book in very good condition. A little soiling around the edges. Extremities of spine a little rubbed. Light tanning to endpapers. Internally very clean and unmarked.

London: Chapman & Hall, Undated. Octavo. 174pp plus 200pp. Brown cloth boards with gilt to spine. Marbled endpapers and marbled edges. The Christmas Books section includes: A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, The Cricket On The Hearth, A Battle Of Life, The Haunted Man. The Uncommercial Traveller has 26 illustrations by E. G. Dalziel, The Christmas Books has 28 illustrations by F. Barnard. Good. Boards a little rubbed and soiled with some colour fade around edges. Spine rubbed and worn with some fraying to extremities and edges and a small area of surface damage (approx 2cms). Gift inscription to ffep. Blind-stamped owner's name & address to edge of title page.

London: George Routledge & Sons, 1879. Kate Greenaway. First edition, 1879. Undated. (No ornamentation either side of 'Edmund Evans' on title page, printer's imprint to verso of title page and 'End of Contents' to foot of p14). Quarto. 64pp. Dark green cloth spine over decorated boards. All edges tinted yellow. Kate Greenaway's first book to combine her literary and artistic talents. Edmund Evans, the engraver and colour printer, was ridiculed for risking a first edition of 20,000 copies but his judgement proved to be very sound when the figure of 70,000 was reached on reprinting. Book in good condition. This is an ex reference library copy and has a printed bookplate of Newport Public Libraries to the front paste down. There is also a small sticker with a library number to rear free end paper and an occasional small blind stamp. Boards a little rubbed and lightly soiled. Some wear at corners and edges. Extremities of spine worn. Two small closed marginal tears.… Read More

London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1999. First edition, 1999. Hardback. 296pp. Dust jacket. A murder trial without a body, a seashore village destroyed by guilt and suspicion...Given a choice Alice would never have gone to live there. Alice finds herself the sole befriender of the man shunned by a village that claims he got away with murder. Book in very good condition. Just a little slight toning to the paper. Dust jacket very good. Unclipped and with only the slightest edge wear.

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, 2002. First edition. Hardback. Fine/Fine. Fourth Estate, London, 2002. First edition. Book condition: near fine - paper very slightly tanned. Book very clean and binding tight - 'feels' unread. Dust jacket condition: near fine and unclipped. Warmth, passion and wisdom come together in Shield's remarkably supple prose. At once the discomforting, ultimately consoling story of one family's anguish and a searing portrait of life at the dawn of the twenty-first century, Unless is a dazzling and daring novel from an undisputed master of extraordinary fictions about so-called 'ordinary' lives.

London: Guild Publishing, 1987. Book Club Associates edition, 1987. Hardback. 215pp. Dust jacket. The village of Lower Ditton had never known anything like it. Within the space of a few short months there had been three deaths - all attractive young wives and mothers with everything to live for. Book in very good condition. A little marking to boards around the bottom of the spine. Very clean and bright internally and with an unread feel. Dust jacket very good. Minor damp staining to inner surface around bottom of spine, otherwise just a little very light edge wear.

London: Century Publishing, 2011. First edition. Hardback. Fine/Fine. Century, London, 2011. First edition. Book condition: near fine & unread. Dust jacket condition: near fine & unclipped. The astonishing true story of the most notorious Victorian jewel thief, The Unreliable Life of Harry the Valet has all the hallmarks of the finest detective fiction, but has romance at its heart and a love story which endured to the very end of Harry's life.

London: William Heinemann, 1982. First edition. Hardback. Fine/Very Good. William Heinemann, London, 1982. First edition. Book condition: near fine - very clean and tight with just a little tanning to the paper. Dust jacket condition: very good. Unclipped with just a little shelf wear to the edges and around the head & tail of the spine. Some colour fade to spine. Unrepentant Women: strong-willed survivors - women with lively pasts and no regrets. An encouraging example to us all, thinks journalist Sarah Cornish when she plans her series of magazine articles 'Encounters with Fast Ladies'. But then she has to cope with a different kind of woman - her newly-widowed mother-in-law, Adela. In helping the older woman adjust to unwelcome independence and listening to her memories and regrets, Sarah recognises the secret fears within herself and the proud women she writes about, and is forced to confront the vulnerability that lies deep down in everyone. A book full of disconcerting observations… Read More

London: William Heinemann, 1999. First edition, 1999. Signed by the author to the title page. Hardback. 310pp. Dust jacket in a protective sleeve. When someone batters Trisha Stanton Smith into oblivion, drenches her house in petrol and drops a match, the obvious suspect is her ex husband who abused her mercilessly throughout their marriage. Depsite his alibi, Piers Stanton Smith goes to prison for life. DI Barry Dugdale, who investigated Trisha's murder, had his own reasons for wanting Stanton Smith in prison. Two years later, when the alibi evidence is confirmed and Stanton Smith's conviction quashed, Dugdale and two colleagues are accused of corruption an suspended from duty. Superintendent Michael McKenna is charged with investigating whether or not Dugdale deliberately suppressed evidence. Unravelling lies, mischief and the patterns of love and hatred, McKanna finally uncovers the truth behind a cloak of shameful secrets. Book in near fine condition with some light toning to the paper.… Read More

London: Faber & Faber, 1950. 1950 reprint. Hardback. Good/Good. Faber & Faber, London, reprinted 1950. Book condition: good with slight bumping to corners and a little creasing along top edge of rear board. Previous owner's name to ffep. TDust jacket condition good. Unclipped and with light shelf wear around the edges. Small closed tear to head of spine. Spine a little discoloured. These lectures were originally delivered at Harvard University during the winter of 1932-33.