Rare books from Clearwater Books

Grayson & Grayson Ltd., London, 1951. Book. Near Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. The scarce first UK edition (first printing), considerably more uncommon than the US edition which appeared a year earlier. 8vo. xv, 253pp. A sliver of discolouration to the cloth at the head and base of the backstrip, else in fine state with edge worn pictorial dust wrapper designed by C.W.Bacon, non-price-clipped but chipped at the head of the spine panel and with several small areas of loss to the extremities and some chafing to the natural folds. This copy from the library of science fiction novelist Lionel 'Lan' Wright, with his neat signature to the half-title. An anthology of eight science fiction stories. The other contributions are by A.E.van Vogt ('Far Centaurus'), Lewis Padgett ('The Iron Standard'), Robert Moore Williams ('The Red Death of Mars'), E.M.Hull ('Competition'), Manly Wade Wellman ('Men Against the Stars') and L.Ron Hubbard ('When Shadows… Read More

Various publishers, various places 1973-2009. Book. Near Fine. Soft cover. 1st Edition. An archive of over 100 items, from the collection of the late Julian Andrews, a long-term supporter and enthusiast of the artist, Head of the Fine Arts Department of the British Council and the author of the primary reference source 'The Sculpture of David Nash'. The collection comprises over forty (primarily solo) exhibition catalogues from shows all round the UK, Europe, the US, Japan, Korea and Australia, and includes the catalogues for his first three solo shows, each written and designed by Nash; various studies and monographs; circa forty exhibition handbills and private viewing invitation cards; plus several books by Nash himself and various ephemeral bits and pieces. Seven of the items bear the artist's signature or inscription. A signed copy of Julian Andrews' exhaustive reference work is also included. A fascinating and wide-ranging archive which would now be virtually impossible to… Read More

Chatto & Windus, London, 1934. Book. Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. The first English-language edition. 8vo. 295pp. Brown cloth lettered in gold at the spine and with a small gilt decoration. Cloth a little spotted and with just a trace of wear to several extremities. A touch of spotting to the endpapers and browning to a blank preliminary and concluding leaf, and the publisher's top edge stain just a little patchy. Really quite a nice, crisp copy, lacking the uncommon dust wrapper. The basis for John Huston's magnificent Bogart movie, this Creighton translation precedes Traven's own translation which he produced for the American issue (Knopf, 1935 - the author is on record stating his preference for this version)..

Frederick Etchells & Hugh MacDonald, 'The Haslewood Books' series, London, 1926. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. First edition, of which 450 numbered copies were produced (this being #263). 4to. 79pp. Gilt lettered and decorated cloth. Printed at the Curwen Press on J.W.Zanders hand-made paper with the copper plates, subsequently destroyed. With a four-page introduction by Bernard Windeler, who also provides a short introduction to each plate and hand-coloured most of the engravings. Fore- and bottom edges untrimmed. Some fading to the publisher's orange cloth at the upper and lower boards and with a short crease to the head of the backstrip. A tiny touch of non-invasive spotting to the pastedowns and to occasional leaves. A very good copy of a superb production. No dust wrapper, as issued, but lacking the slipcase..

Methuen, London, 1917. Book. Good. Hardcover. Inscribed by Author(s). 1st Edition. First Edition (first printing) - a presentation copy inscribed: "From the author, with vivid memories of much hospitality. W.Beach Thomas Oct 16 1919". 8vo. 285pp + xxxi publisher's catalogue. Red cloth lettered and decorated in gold at the spine and in blind at the upper board. Cloth considerably marked and a little worn at corners, yet really quite a crisp and bright copy internally (although the paper used for the publisher's catalogue is of significantly inferior stock to the rest). Beach Thomas' oddly uncommon account of his wartime experiences: he reported for the 'Daily Mail' and at the outset of the war, when Kitchener was opposed to the presence of journalists at the front, was one of several who managed to reach the front lines in Belgium where he was discovered and imprisoned by the British Army, an episode he described as "the longest walking tour of my life, and the… Read More

The Egoist Press, London, 1921. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. First Edition (first printing) of the author's uncommon first book: a collection of forty poems and sixty prose pieces which was reputedly limited to 500 copies. 8vo. 79pp. Navy blue cloth lettered in lighter blue at the spine and upper board. Cloth chafed at the spine ends and corner tips. Front free endpaper very lightly browned, and the half-title and final text leaf tanned and with a hint of spotting. Very good. No dust wrapper called for..

Jonathan Cape, London, 1944. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. First Edition (first printing). 8vo. 164pp. Red cloth lettered in silver at the spine. Cloth a little mottled and rubbed at the head of the backstrip. Printed on very slightly substandard wartime paperstock, yet still a very crisp and bright copy in non-price-clipped Hans Tisdall-designed dust wrapper, a little dust soiled, chipped and edgeworn, with some fading to the publisher's red spine panel colouring. The author's first book..

Chapman & Hall, London, 1932. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. First Edition (first printing). 8vo. 303pp. Original publisher's 'snakeskin' cloth, lettered in gold at the spine. With a frontispiece map, unaccredited but drawn by the author. Top edge lightly dust soiled and with a hint of wear to the backstrip ends, a tiny nick to the fore edge of the rear free endpaper and a pinprick or two of light occasional margin spotting. A very good copy in a good example of the uncommon dust wrapper: a little dust soiled, with several slivers of loss to the spine ends, and an additional small enclosed area of loss and some accompanying surface abrasion. A small area of miscellaneous red staining to the base of the rear panel, and the rear panel-spine panel join tender. The author's third novel. Davis, Doyle &c viii..

Henry Colburn Publisher, London, 1843. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. First edition, the original three-volume set here bound into a single volume. The author's own copy, with his armorial bookplate to the front pastedown, and some correspondence. 8vo. Period binding of half red leather with cloth sides, with hand- and tail bands, five raised bands and decorative gilt rule and lettering. Top edge gilt. With the three George Cruikshank-illustrated frontispieces retained (these are the only illustrations which were included in this original edition; later issues included further drawings by Cruinshank and others). Laid in is an autograph letter from the author to the noted Irish painter Daniel Maclise, R.A.: "My dear Maclise, Not half what you deserve, but perhaps it may serve you better than stranger praise. At all events if you are satisfied my aim will be accomplished. At all times calculate upon the best devices of your sincere friend - W.Harrison Ainsworth. Kensal manor House,… Read More

Duckworth, London, 1930. Book. Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. First Edition (first printing) of the author's fourth book. 8vo. 206pp. Blue smooth-weave cloth lettered in gold at the spine. With a frontispiece (drawn by the author), three pages of plates, a double-spread map and another map in the text. Cloth a little faded at the backstrip and at the margins of the rear board, and with a little marking and chafing to the upper board. Edges spotted and the endpapers browned, with a little more quite light spotting to preliminary and concluding leaves. Quite a crisp and bright copy in the uncommon dust wrapper, non-price-clipped but somewhat tanned, worn, chafed and nicked with some loss to the spine ends and the upper edge. Book Society Recommendation label affixed to the front panel, fitting in quite splendidly with the wrapper design. Davis, Doyle &c vi..

Duckworth, London, 1925. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. The correct first edition, this English issue preceding the American issue by several weeks. 8vo. 319pp. Green textured cloth, lettered in gold at the spine and with a blind-stamped border to the upper board. A touch of wear to the spine ends and a slight ridge to the backstrip. The top edge lightly dust soiled and the free endpapers browned. Former owner name and date neatly inked to the front free endpaper. A very good copy of the second volume of the author's celebrated Parade's End tetralogy. No dust wrapper. See Harvey A59..

The Lion and Unicorn Press, London, 1975. Book. Very Good. Soft cover. Signed by Author(s). 1st Edition. First edition, limited to just 100 numbered copies, signed by both Casson and Betjeman on the first leaf (this being #9). Designed by Nigel Paige and produced and printed at the Royal College of Art, London. 4to. Unpaginated. Card wrappers with a wire spiral binding at the upper edge (and thereby resembling an artist's sketchbook). Twenty-five watercolour sketches, originally commissioned by 'The Illustrated London News', with drawing captions and both Betjeman's two-page introduction and Casson's brief preface reproduced in facsimile of the author's holograph. The lower edges lightly spotted, encroaching just a fraction to occasional leaf margins, and with just a hint of very faint soiling to the upper wrapper. Very good indeed. Gammond 75S12 / Peterson B137..

Alfred A.Knopf, New York, 1924. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. Inscribed by Author(s). 1st Edition. First Edition (first printing), in the first state binding of rainbow-patterned boards with a tanned and slightly chipped paper spine label and the publisher's yellow top edge stain. 8vo. 95pp. A presentation copy, fondly inscribed by the author to fellow poet and Newdigate Prize winner David Posner, dated May 1943 and with two inked lines of verse beneath and Posner's signature in pencil above. Some occasional light pencilled marginalia and some notes to the front free endpaper, probably in Julian Symons' hand but possibly also in Posner's. Laid-in is a folded two-sided handwritten letter from Ransom to Julian Symons concerning an article on Restoration comedy which was to appear in the Ransom-edited journal 'The Kenyon Review'. Biro mark to the rear board and just a fraction of tenderness to the front hinge. A very good copy in the uncommon dust wrapper, non-price-clipped but… Read More

Alfred A.Knopf, London and New York, 1930. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. The first UK edition (first printing), issued five months after the US edition. 8vo. 280pp. Blue smooth-weave cloth lettered in red at the spine with a small black-stamped falcon design to the backstrip and to the upper corner of the front board. Publisher's blue top edge stain, very slightly patchy. Just a trace of light bruising to the spine ends and a touch of very light spotting to the fore edge, with a little further spotting to the half-title, title page, and one or two further preliminary and concluding leaves. Free endpapers lightly browned and a tiny bump to the tips of the two lower corners. A touch of very light soiling to occasional leaf margins and, once or twice, to the text block. A very good copy. No dust wrapper. The first and only full-length novel featuring Hammett's celebrated gumshoe Sam Spade. The print runs of the first US and first UK editions are unknown, but considering the relative… Read More

Macmillan, London 1894 and 1895, 1894. Book. Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. First Editions (first printings). Individual volumes as follows: 'The Jungle Book' (1894). First edition. 8vo. vi, 212pp. With illustrations by J.Lockwood Kipling, W.H.Drake and P.Frenzen. Original publisher's navy blue cloth, gilt lettered and decorated, depicting three elephants with riders and a herder on the upper board, plus additional decorations to the backstrip, these last a little faded. All edges gilt. Frontispiece tissue a little browned. The cloth nicked and worn at the backstrip ends, the corner tips rubbed, and with a little wear to the gutters. Front and rear hinges tender, and the binding cocked, and with some cracking and tenderness at two gatherings. A little light marking and soiling to the half title and verso, and to occasional leaf margins. Former owner armorial bookplate to the front pastedown (that of noted electrical engineer Alexander Pelham Trotter). A fair to good copy of an uncommon… Read More