Rare books from Grimalkin Books

Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1901. Little, Brown, and Company, 1901. This beautiful, ornate set of Charles Lever's novels includes 31 volumes (out of 32). The titles are as follows: the MILITARY NOVELS: The Confessions of Harry Lorrequer; Charles O'Malley (2 vols.); Arthur O'Leary; Jack Hinton, the Guardsman; the NOVELS OF ADVENTURE: Maurice Tiernay; Sir Jasper Carew; The Confessions of Con Cregan; Roland Cashel (2 vols.); the NOVELS OF IRISH LIFE: The Knight of Gwynne (2 vols.); Luttrell of Arran; The Martins of Cro' Martin, and Paul Gosslett's Confessions (2 vols.); Barrington, and Tales of the Trains; Sir Brook Fossbrooke; Lord Kilgobbins; and the NOVELS OF FOREIGN LIFE: The Dodd Family Abroad, and Horace Templeton (2 vols.); The Daltons, or, Three Roads in Life (2 vols.); Davenport Dunn (2 vols.); Bramleighs of Bishop's Folly; One of Them; Tony Butler; The Fortunes of Glencore, and a Rent in a Cloud; A Day's Ride, and That Boy of Norcott's. (The only… Read More

New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1899. Luise (often anglicized from the German as "Louisa") Muhlbach was the penname of Klara Muller Mundt (1814-1873), who achieved worldwide recognition in the 19th Century with her historical novels. Klara's husband, Theodor Mundt (1808-1861), was an equally famous novelist and critic in the couple's homeland, Germany. This following is a complete 20-volume set from Appleton, Muhlbach's original publisher, and was published between 1899 and 1900. The set is in overall Very Good condition, bound in a black cloth with die-stamped gilt spine lettering and a gilt imperial eagle. The eagle is also blind stamped on the front panel. All volumes have top-edge gilt. Click on photo. The books show light shelf rubbing (except for one volume, with moderate crown rubbing) and the Appleton name on the spine bottom is rubbed or faded. I would rate two of the volumes as Good, due to moderate cover staining and more wear than the others, many of which were… Read More

Berlin: Bruno Gmunder, 1994. This rare, breakthrough work by noted Dutch photographer, Benno Thoma, is in As New condition. It extols the beauty of nude teenaged boys in black and white photographs in a variety of settings. This First Printing limited release in oversized paperback with flaps (measuring roughly 9 3/4 by 12 inches) from 1994 is not be be confused with the cheaper 2002 post-card-sized edition. The book is unpaginated. Click on photo. . First Edition. Original Wraps. New. Illus. by Benno Thoma. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall.

Baltimore: Kelly, Piet and Company, 1871. This extremely rare 136-year-old Irish novel from 1871 (I could find no other listings at any of the online bookselling sites) concerns the last of a great Irish family, swindled by a corrupt relative and an occupying English government out of their huge estate and lands. The book reveals the hardship of Catholic Irish life under English Protestant occupation as shown by the injustices heaped upon the O'Malley clan. The book may possibly be a First Edition. The only date is the "1871" on the Title Page. The book is in good condition, with green covers, beveled edges, and blind-stamped borders. The gilt titles and designs on the front panel and spine are slightly faded, but readable. (Click on photo.) The book has shelf rubbing and light fraying at the spine tips, edges, and corners. It has chocolate brown endpapers. There is a penciled signature of the former owner on the first blank page. The pages are mainly clean, but with occasional small… Read More

New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1989. This mammoth 1989 edition is in Very Fine condition, and comes with a Fine dust jacket, which has a tiny tear. (Click on photo.) The book is bound in blue cloth with bright die-stamped gilt titles and border. Originally published in 1984 on the occasion of Dali's eightieth birthday, this is the most sumptuous book on the painter ever produced. It includes more than 1,110 illustrations, including 672 plates in full color. Written by Dali's close friend, the art historian Robert Descharnes, the book was translated from the French by Eleanor R. Morse. In addition to the vast number of Dali's artwork shown, Decharnes' text captures Dali's life and world, and all those who inhabited it, with accompaning period black-and-white photographs. The book measures 10 3/4 by 14 1/2 inches and includes 455 pages. Due to the book's hefty 12-pound shipping weight, the domestic Media Mail shipping cost will be adjusted to total $11.50, which will… Read More

New York: Selmar Hess This heavy volume was one of a series of books on geography, history, and travel published by Selmar Hess of New York. Although undated, my research of similar volumes in this series indicates that it was published between 1866 and 1875. It's notable for hundreds of beautiful mid-19th Century illustrations, many of which are engravings with original tissue guards. However, the illustrations with tissue guards often have foxing, particularly in the margin areas, possibly as a result of acidity in the tissue guards themselves. The other illustrations and pages are mainly free of foxing. Countries and cities featured in this particular volume (Volume 4), include Norway; Tripoli; St. Petersburgh, Russia; Lebanon including Beyrut (Beirut) and the Cedars of Lebanon; Mexico; New Caledonia (French); Portugal; Athens, Greece; The Bermudas; West Indies; British Guiana; Isthmus of Panama; and Denmark. This unusual book is in Very Good - condition. The decorative brown cloth covers… Read More

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1899. This handsome 12-volume set of the works of Eugene Field ranges in condition from Very Good to Fine. (Click on photo.) The books are bound in a handsome, deep green satiny cloth, with a gilt border and gilt vignette on the front panel, as well as gilt spine lettering and top-edge gilt. The books are clean and tightly bound, with rough-cut pages. There are no marks of insciptions from former owners. Seven of the 12 volumes are in Fine, sparkling condition, inside and out. Three of the remaining, Volumes I, VII, and XI, show some wear, including some fading of the spine lettering. A fourth, Volume VI, would be Fine except for a rubbed area at the top of the spine cloth. A fifth, Volume XII, has water staining to the pages, which does not affect readability and the exterior covers are fine. Each volume includes a lovely frontis engraving with tissue guard. (Three tissue guards have become unattached but are still present.) Titles are as follows: Volume I:… Read More

Akron, Ohio: The Werner Company, 1908. This handsome set of Poe (click on photo) is in Very Good Plus condition. Known as The Library Edition, it is bound in brick red cloth covers with die-stamped gilt spine lettering and top-edge gilt. Shelf rubbing is minimal. It has rough-cut pages, most of which are uncut and unread. Only two volumes of tales and one of poems show page-cutting by the original owner. Several pages in Volume II only have small margin stains. (I should point out that Werner also published a less expensive alternate cloth binding in pale gray that used paper labels and did not have re-enforced bindings or colored endpapers. Although the contents are identical in both editions, the gray binding is far less attractive and the paper labels are inferior to the die-stamped gilt found in this more collectible version.) Each volume contains a frontis and other illustrations, all with tissue guards. There are 36 illustrations in all. This century-old set was manufactured with re-enforced… Read More

New York: County Work Department of the International Committee of the Young Men's Christian Associations, 1910. Rural Manhood, Volume 1, consists of 12 monthly magazine issues bound together for January through December, 1910. The magazine was a periodical published from 1910 through 1923 by the YMCA's International Committee, which later became the Armed Services YMCA. However, the publishing information comes from an opening Editiorial from the January issue and is not stated on a masthead. The book includes a number of black-and-white photographic illustrations, maps, and charts throughout. There are numerous articles, many dealing with different aspects of life in rural America, by different authors. The book is bound in green boards with a leather spine, and die-stamped gilt spine lettering. There are small chips on the top and bottom of the spine (click on photo) as well as a tiny hole midway down the spine. The spine tips are rubbed. The boards have some discoloring. The binding… Read More

New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1968. This handsome volume was published in 1968, although undated, and is superior in quality to reprints by a later publisher. Both the book and dust jacket are in Near-Fine condition (click on photo). The book is bound in a light gray suede with a die-stamped front panel drawing in white and die-stamped white and gilt spine lettering. The book would be Fine were it not for slight darkening around the edges. The dust jacket, too, would qualify as Fine except for some light toning. I've placed the dust jacket into a Brodart protective sleeve. There are no marks or inscriptions from former owners. This comprehensive study of both Dada and Surrealist Art includes 851 illustrations, 60 of which are tipped-in, full color plates. Featured artists include Duchamp, Picabia, Man Ray, Ernst, Schwitters, Miro, Masson, Tanguy, Magritte, Dali, Giacometti, and many more. Rubin has included an extensive chronology of events, publications, and other activities important to… Read More

Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1921. This First Edition, First State printing of "Alice Adams" from 1921 is in Very Good condition, and a bonus facsimile movie tie-in dust jacket from a 1935 printing is in New condition. (Click on photo.) The book contains all the necessary points for the extremely rare First State, including the date, 1921, on both title page and copyright page, and more importantly, the uncorrected error on Page 419, Line 14, that states, "I can't see you why don't wear more colour," in which the "why" and "you" are wrongly transposed. In the second state and later printings, this error was corrected. (Potential buyers should email any bookseller who claims to be offering a First Edition, without stating this necessary point.) The book is bound in a reddish brown cloth with black title lettering on front panel and spine. The book has light spine-tip rubbing, one frayed corner, and a slight forward slant. The binding… Read More

New York: R. Worthington, 1881. I have only been able to locate three other copies of this book in this country, one in the University of Louisville Library, one in the Florida State Library, and one in my own library that I am offering in a separate listing. However, there might be some copies in private hands. "Sunday Chatterbox" is an oversized children's book, measuring 7 5/8 by 10 inches. The book is unpaginated. It is in Good+ condition. The stories, poems, and songs for children are both secular and religious (bible stories). So why is this collectable? Not only due to its rarity, but because of the 90 gorgeous pen-and-ink drawings found throughout. (I suspect that other copies no longer exist because they've been cut up and their illustrations sold as individual prints.) These are also both secular (centering on children) or religious (illustrating bible stories). All are suitable for framing. (Interested buyers should email me and I will send them sample illustrations… Read More

New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1998. The exquisite illustrations by author-painter Jonathan Hunt have made this book on mythological beasts a rare, hightly collectible children's book since it was first published 12 years ago. Rarer still is this Stated First Edition (and, unless it's stated, it's not) that also includes the complete "number line" ending in a "1" to indicate First Printing. (The copyright information is located at the rear of the book on the Bibliography Page.) The book features full-page as well as double spread color paintings of various mythical medieval beasts, with descriptive paragraphs, including the Amphisbaena, the Basilisk, the Catoblepas, the Dreaded Black Dog of Ireland and Scotland, the Echeneis, the Firedrake, the Griffin, the Hippocampus, the Ichneumon, the Javelin Snake, the Kraken, the Leucrocuta, the Manticore, the Nycticorax, the Ozaena, the Phoenix, the Questing Beast, the Roc, the Unicorn, the Vegetable… Read More

Chicago: The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1976. This handsome, complete 20-volume set is in Fine condition. Most volumes appear to be unread. It also includes an oversized Near-Fine paperback, Introduction. This Introduction volume also contains the Contents of all 20 volumes and an Index of Authors and Sources. The Encyclopedia Britannica published this edition in 1976, just in time for America's Bicentennial celebration. Each book is bound in blue leatherette with "The Annals of America" blindstamped on the front panel, with gilt titles and borders on the spine (click on photo). The Introduction makes clear that this set is composed of a documentary rather than a narrative history. (If you're aware of the current textbook controversy, you will know that today's history books are often written by those with a strong political bias. However, these annals supply independent readers with the actual first-hand narratives themselves, thus allowing readers to come to their own… Read More

Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1903. William H. Prescott's major historical writings were from the mid-1820s until the author's death from a stroke in 1859. This collection includes the final "New and Revised Edition," first published in this form in 1872, as edited by John Foster Kirk. This complete 16-volume set comes in a handsome green cloth, with decorative die-stamped gilt. The design includes the author's elaborate initials on the front panel , as well an Empire design on the spine to set off the titles. All volumes have top-edge gilt. They show signs of shelf rubbing at the spine tips and edges. All volumes have illustrations in black and white throughout, as well as a frontis. Except for one volume that has a neat stamp of a former owner's name, the other endpapers have no marks or signatures. That same volume show some light fading.The books have solid hinges. The bindings are all tight and secure, and the text pages are clean and bright. Titles include History of… Read More