Rare books from BUCKINGHAM BOOKS

New York: Coward-McCann, Inc., [1955]., 1955. First edition. First edition. Author's third book. Some light offsetting to front and rear endpapers, else near fine, tight copy in dust jacket, lightly sunned on the spine and with light professional restoration to the spine ends and corners. Introduces Tom Ripley, an American ne'er-do-well who travels to Italy on an unusual assignment of larceny and murder. Filmed as PURPLE NOON with Alain Delon as Tom Ripley.

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1939., 1939. First edition. First edition. Author's first book. Fine, bright square copy with top edge dark blue and un-faded in dust jacket with a tiny (1/8") closed tear to top edge of rear panel and a tiny (1/8") closed tear and one inch wrinkle to bottom edge of the rear panel. A Haycraft/Queen Cornerstone mystery novel and an exceptional copy. Made into two films of the same name, in 1946 starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and in 1978 starring Robert Mitchum and Sarah Miles. Housed in a two-tone quarter leather and cloth clam shell case with a leather label on the spine and the titles stamped in gold gilt.

London: Collins Crime Club, [1941]., 1941. First edition. First edition. The Dark Page says, "Anthony Gilbert was born Lucy Beatrice Malleson in 1899 and was an English author of novels and short stories. Although her mother wanted her to be a schoolteacher, Ms. Malleson succeeded in fulfilling her own ambition and became a novelist. After seeing John Willard's play, THE CAT AND THE CANARY in 1922 she became thriller-concious, and in 1927 published her first mystery as Anthony Gilbert. For many years Gilbert's true identity was kept secret and most readers assumed that the author was a man." Some color fading to top edges of the cloth, else near fine in price-clipped, lightly professionally restored dust jacket at head of spine, and lightly sunned on the spine. Julia Ross secures employment through an employment agency with a wealthy widow, Mrs. Hughes, and goes to live at her house. Two days later, she awakens in a different house in different clothes and with a new identity. She… Read More

Boston: Rand, Avery & Co., Railway Printers, 1880., 1880. First edition. First edition. Yellow broadside printed in black ink. The Union Pacific Railroad Company made available a special trip from St. Johnsbury, Vermont to the rich farming lands in central Nebraska leaving on Tuesday, June 15, 1880. Arrangements have been made to accommodate passengers from other parts of New England and Canada to connect with this special train. These excursions will be accompanied by the well-known Excursion Agent, A. C. Harvey, who will endeavor to make the trip pleasant, and see that they have comfortable first-class cars, check baggage and furnish full information regarding the routes, lands, etc. A tiny bit of wear to bottom edge, else near fine, bright broadside.

London: Ernest Benn Limited, 1927., 1927. First edition. First edition. 8vo. One of only 250 copies signed by the author. Fine copy in printed wrappers. Queen's Quorum says "... a decade before, Susan Glaspell had written a one-act play called 'Trifles,' suggested by a murder account she had read in an Iowa newspaper. After the play had become famous, Miss Glaspell recast the material into a short story and titled it A JURY OF HER PEERS. Like the play, the short story became a celebrated piece of literature. It was first printed in 'Every Week,' issue of May 5, 1917, and later reprinted by Edward J. O'Brien in his THE BEST SHORT STORIES OF 1917. The story, however, has never been included in any of Susan Glaspell's own books published in America; but what is not generally known ... and this is an important bibliographic revelation .... is that the story has had a separate book publication in England. The first edition of A JURY OF HER PEERS is one of the series of… Read More

London: Hodder & Stoughton Limited, [1939]., 1939. First edition. First edition. Signed and inscribed on the title page in ink by the author to fellow mystery writer and journalist Wayne Warga, "Wayne Warga from Eric Ambler. Los Angeles, 25 February 1982. Dear Wayne, This must be the rarest of my first editions. I'm glad to have seen it again. Eric." This copy also has the bookplate of the renown mystery collector, Adrian Homer Goldstone, which is affixed to the front pastedown sheet. Near fine, bright, square copy in dust jacket with light professional restoration by an expert paper conservationist. Housed in a cloth clamshell case with a leather label on the spine and titles stamped in gold gilt. A rare book in the first edition as most copies were lost when Nazi bombs destroyed the Hodder & Stoughton warehouse during World War II. A Haycraft/Queen cornerstone of detective and mystery fiction and the basis of the classic film starring Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre. As… Read More

New York: Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., Publishers, [1934]., 1934. First edition. First edition. Introduces Nero Wolfe. Fine in a fine, professionally restored dust jacket, lightly faded on the spine. Introduces Nero Wolfe, the brilliant, idiosyncratic, and obese armchair detective. PI Wolfe is asked to find Carlo Maffei, who has simply disappeared. Shortly thereafter, his body is found murdered on a golf course. Wolfe`s inquiries reveal a possible connection with the sudden death of university president Barstow. As Wolfe looks into the murders, he finds that he is getting very close to solving the murders when a fer-de-lance (one of the most deadly snakes known to man) is delivered and a ball boy from the golf course provides a crucial clue. A Haycraft/Queen Cornerstone mystery and a beautiful copy.

New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1930., 1930. First edition. First edition. Publisher's "A-E" code on copyright page. Author's first novel. Former owner's neat inked name on the front pastedown sheet (completely covered by the dust jacket flap), with yellow Harper's seal at back of book removed (as is nearly always the case), leaving only a tiny remnant attached to page.211 and the rear fly leaf. Near Fine, bright copy in dust jacket with gentle sunning to spine, with light restoration to the spine ends and corners. Carr's first novel, a formidable locked-room mystery introducing his flamboyant Parisian character Henri Bencolin. Bencolin's case involves "an impossible murder in a gambling club - the victim, seen to enter an empty room with all entrances under observation, is subsequently found there, beheaded" (Twentieth-Century Crime and Mystery Writers (2nd ed.), p.146). Dust jacket promotional blurb says "When the police burst into the… Read More

N. P.: Privately written by le Carre and drawn by Chas, 1995 & 1991., 1995 & 1991. First edition. An autograph letter signed from John Le Carré regarding the retirement of George Smiley. Written in black ink on the author's letterhead and dated 19th November 1995 he writes "I think George Smiley has earned his retirement now, and I must write about other people and other times. But thank you for wanting him back, which is the greatest compliment you can pay him - Best wishes John Le Carré". Together with an original ink caricature of John Le Carré in pencil and black ink on white paper, signed by the artist Chas. bottom right. The drawing is also inscribed by the subject in black in at the upper right corner "For Phil Smallwood with my good wishes and thanks for his support! - John Le Carré, London Feb 21 1991". Both items are presented side by side within a white card mount. Condition is excellent, the letter… Read More

Vietnam, Thailand, and elsewhere in Asia as well as the United States, Europe, and the Middle East ca. 1964-1974: Compiled by Jacob Harris, an American who served as a Senior Police Advisor in Vietnam and Thailand during the Vietnam War, 1964 - 1974., 1964 - 1974. First edition. A large and remarkable archive of images from Vietnam and Thailand, covering the decade from the Gulf of Tonkin incident and the beginning of the buildup of American forces in Vietnam to a year before the evacuation of the American embassy. Most notable are the many images showing the training of local security forces by American civil and military advisors. The collection was compiled by Jacob Harris, an employee of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Public Safety (OPS), whose task was to train Vietnamese and Thai police and counterinsurgency forces. Most of the images, in the form of photographs and photographic slides, were created by Harris, his wife, or his associates, and… Read More

Coffeyville: 1892., 1892. First edition. THE BOLDEST BANK ROBBERY ATTEMPT IN AMERICAN HISTORY ... EIGHT MEN DEAD & SEVERAL OTHERS WOUNDED! On the morning of October 5, 1892, Bob, Grat, and Emmett Dalton, along with fellow gang members Dick Broadwell and Bill Powers rode into Coffeyville, Kansas, with ambitious plans to rob the C.M. Condon Co. Bank and the First National Bank ... at the same time! Fortunately for him, gang member Bill Doolin was left behind due to his lame horse. Although the Dalton Brothers had all briefly served as Deputy U.S. Marshals in Oklahoma and Kansas, shortly thereafter they had become notorious for cattle rustling and a variety of robberies, including several train robberies in 1891 and 1892. In addition to the Dalton Brothers, most other gang member got together while working as cowboys on Oscar Halsell's HX Bar Ranch in Oklahoma. Known to many Coffeyville citizens, the Dalton's wore disguises, but as they approached the banks they were recognized by some… Read More

London: George Routledge and Sons, 1887., 1887. First edition. First edition. 8vo. Original color pictorial wrappers, vi, 7-192 pp., frontispiece, advertisements on front and rear inside covers and rear outer cover. Quite possibly the rarest Buffalo Bill item. Howes W454. Graff 4677. Adams Six Guns 2401: "Rare." Being a British biography of Buffalo Bill. A very early Buffalo Bill item from the first European tour of the Wild West Show. Ramon Adams says, "This is said to be the rarest book about Buffalo Bill..." A small portion of the spine title missing, faint evidence of an old corner creases to bottom edge of front and rear covers, top edges of front and rear covers have small corner chips, and minor occasional wear to a few page fore-edges, else a very good copy, housed in a cloth slipcase.

Philadelphia: The Curtis Publishing Company, 1939., 1939. First edition. First edition. Seven 4to magazine issues in color, pictorial, stapled wrappers, 116 - 112 - 92 - 128 - 108 - 104 - 88 pp., with color and black & white illustrations throughout by Henry Raleigh. Four issues with contemporary address labels, first five issues with modest wear and handling, scattered foxing, tiny tears and attendant creases, and the occasional stain or splash mark; May 20 issue with some more pronounced wear along the edge of the rear wrapper, with a shallow tide-mark to several terminal leaves; Very Good. June 24 and July 1 issues about Near Fine, without labels. First appearance in any format of one of the best of Christie's novels, counted among her favorites in her autobiography. "Ten men and women are lured to a solitary house built by an eccentric millionaire on a tiny island off the coast of Devon which is inaccessible except in calm weather. In each bedroom, over the fireplace, hangs a framed… Read More

London: Grayson & Grayson, Ltd., [1952]., 1952. First edition. First U. K. edition. First impression. Originally published in the U. S. in 1950 Light offsetting to front and rear endpapers, with a London bookseller's rubber stamped address at lower front free fly leaf; else contents fresh and in fine condition, in a fine, bright dust jacket with a small closed tear to top of rear cover panel professionally restored. Asimov's best-known work, a collection of "Nine "postironic" robot stories, originally published 1940-1950, with new material added for continuity. Contains Asimov's famous Three Laws of Robotics and involves the history of U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc., and the strong-willed "robopsychologist" Dr. Susan Calvin" (Barron, Anatomy of Wonder 3-20). An attractive and exceptional edition, considerably scarcer than it's American counterpart. -- (Reginald 00564).

New York:: Bantam Books, [1953]., 1953. First edition. First paperback edition of Highsmith's first and only lesbian novel. Bantam Books 1148. Somewhat cryptically inscribed by the author on the dedication page, beneath the printed dedication, which reads "To Edna, Jordy, and Jeff" beneath which she writes: "Who don't exist + never did / Claire Morgan / 27 June 1989." This book has been reissued in paperback format using her preferred title, Carol. A sizable part of the manuscript was first published as Carol In A Thousand Cities in the paperback anthology of that title edited by her friend Marijane Meaker (as Ann Aldrich), with whom Highsmith then shared a house in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Light wear to the extremities and lightly rubbed along the spine panel, else a near fine bright copy. A lovely copy of a difficult title. An intriguing copy of Highsmith's pseudonymous lesbian novel, written shortly after the success of Strangers On A Train. Her novel defied the… Read More