Rare books from JP MOUNTAIN BOOKS

Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1941. Reprint . Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. 1941 SEVENTH printing of FIRST EDITION --- SIGNED by James Hilton on the blank FFEP. From the collection of Eric Johnston who was appointed by Truman as the head of the Economic Stabilization Agency. He was also head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, served on several commissions under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was a special presidential representative under Eisenhower, met with Stalin and Khrushchev, and was founding president of the Motion Picture Association of America for many years, a position he held for many years (some of them being controversial). The book is in nice condition with no rubbing, no soiling, very slight fading to spine, no foxing, solid binding, no previous owner marks or writing on any pages. PHOTOS ARE OF THE ACTUAL BOOK BEING OFFERED.

Englewood Cliffs: Printice-Hall, 1964. First Edition . Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. FIRST PRINTING of First USA Edition. Anonymously inscribed and SIGNED by Sayre on the title page "With best regards, Woodrow W. Sayre." Signed first printings of this book are very uncommon. Original greyish light blue cloth with black lettering spine, white mountain decoration front cover. Original dust jacket has some surface flecking at spine ends, some light crinkle marks upper front, 1cm deep chip loss at tip of upper front flap corner, complete with original price present on flap corner. The book is in generally nice condition with clean covers, a bit of browning at spine ends, tiny tight 5mm split in cloth at front joint near top of spine (barely detectable) . Contents are clean and bright, no foxing, no previous owner marks or writing (other than Sayre's signature) on any pages, tight binding, EPs not cracked, NOT ex-library, no crease marks on any pages. The book measures 235mm tall x 150m,… Read More

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1908. First Edition . Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. FIRST PRINTING of First Edition. Original green cloth, blue-brown-grey-white-black decoration of mountain scene front cover, TEG, gilt lettering cover & spine. minor faint soiling front covers, solid binding, old gift inscription penned to the front free endpaper dated Xmas 1907 (which means the book was sold before the publication date on the title page), no other previous owner marks or writing on any pages, bright clean pages, COMPLETE with all plates and maps. A nice example of the book in collectible condition. The book measures 243mm tall x 161mm, and has 444 pages, 166 b/w photos & 4 watercolor plates in color, 2 folding maps, index. THE PHOTOS ARE OF THE ACTUAL ITEM BEING OFFERED.

Geneve - Paris: Editions Slatkine, 1980. Reprint . Hardcover. Fine/No Jacket Issued. Elephant Folio - over 15" - 23" tall. Quality 1980 reprint of the classic 1853 edition which has reached sale prices over $20,000 at auction. This reprint is limited to 300 numbered copies. This book measures 485mm tall x 325mm, and has pages [4] + 16 + [6] + 13 + 10 leaves of color plates with blank versos. The complete English text is present along with a complete translation of the text in French. The original 1853 edition was entirely in English (no French). The book was originally published with the illustrations in sepia over greyish background and not colored. Buyers had several examples hand-colored. This is a reproduction of one of the hand-colored examples. The 1853 original was issued in wrappers. This reproduction is bound in brown cloth with gilt lettering and gilt border front cover with a smaller reproduction of the front cover of the 1853 wrappers inset on the front. This is a complete reproduction… Read More

London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, And Rivington, Limited, 1888. Second Edition . Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. Original red cloth with gilt lettering front and spine, gilt decoration lower front cover. EX-Library with library stamp on title page, library bookplate on front free end-page, library card pocket on rear free end-page, library sticker pulled from spine leaving white patch (see photo), no other library marks. The plates are clean, not damaged, and do not have any library markings or stamps. Generally a clean, sound example of the book. The end-pages are the original coated green paper. The original tissue guards are present and browned as usual. The binding is sound and not loose or cracked. There is some foxing on some of the early pages and near the end, otherwise the book is mostly free of foxing. The book is complete with all pages and plates (nothing missing). The book measures 289mm tall x 209mm and has 180 pages, 22 photogravure plates of guide portraits on heavy stock paper… Read More

West Hartford: Countryman Press, 1945. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Very Good/Good. Carl Rungius. One of 1275 copies of which 1250 were numbered. This is one of the numbered copies. INSCRIBED, SIGNED and dated 1946 by Carl Rungius on the blank FFEP and SIGNED by Schaldach, the author, on the same page. Copies signed by Rungius are very uncommon. Very good condition with slight fraying spine ends, usual light browning of pages, very tips lower corners rubbed, no previous owner marks or writing on any pages other than the signed inscription and author signature. Original slipcase has 1cm deep loss of cover paper at spine ends, complete cover labels (front and back) that are not chipped, some splitting along one spine edge but connections holding well. The book measures 318mm tall x 245mm, and has 117 numbered pages of text (illustration leaves are not numbered), b/w sketch of bull moose frontispiece, b/w portrait painting of Rungius, 10 full-page color paintings, 18 b/w in-text illustrations… Read More

London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1894. First Edition . Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. A. D. M'Cormick. FIRST PRINTING of First UK Editioin. Rebound in dark brown leather spine and cover corners, raised bands spine with gilt lettering and gilt rules, patterned EPs. Binding covers in very good condition with a few marks that are enhanced by the photo being set at a high contrast (they don't show much -- or at all -- upon in-person inspection). The interior is in near fine condition: Old owner name penned to short-title and title page dated 1928, old bookseller mark on corner of first blank page, no other marks or writing on any pages, very clean and bright pages (no foxing, no fading or tanning, no odors, tight binding). The covers have a touch of rubbing very tips corners and top of spine. The book measures 238mm tall x 165mm, and has 709 pages, 300 illustrations, folding map, index. PHOTOS ARE OF ACTUAL BOOK BEING OFFERED.

London: Rowland Ward, Limited, 1904. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. Original reddish brown cloth, gilt lettering front & spine, zebra patterned EPs. WITH publisher's rare original printed dust jacket. INSCRIBED & SIGNED by the author on the verso of the FFEP and with author's inscription on the short-title page. The copy in the Brooke-Hitchings collection of books in exceptional condition did not have the dust jacket and was not signed. The book offered here is in very good condition with faint thin streak on front cover (= loss of some sheen but no staining), very slight rubbing bottom edges covers & tips corners, village/county blindstamp on FFEP, other than author's inscriptions and signature there are no owner marks or writing on any pages, solid binding, no foxing, complete with all plates and fold-outs. The rare dust jacket has tiny loss lower rear flap corner, tiny loss lower spine corner, no tears, some minor curling at spine ends, no… Read More

New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1914. First Edition . Hardcover. Very Good. FIRST PRINTING of FIRST EDITION in first state decorated binding. Original navy cloth, gilt-white-grey decoration on front cover, gilt lettering cover & spine, TEG. Overall nice condition: spine gilt dull but present, shallow 2mm deep x 2cm chip (hardly noticeable) in cloth at top of spine, otherwise nice condition with bright, clean, tight binding, no foxing, no previous owner marks or writing on any pages, folding maps in fine condition. Book measures 24cm tall x 16cm, and has 439 pages, 3 folding maps, 1 folding diagram, 219 b/w photos, 12 appendices, index

New York: Macmillan Company, 1934. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Very Good/Good. FIRST PRINTING of First USA Edition (from the sheets of the first UK edition). ORIGINAL DUST JACKET present. The book measures 234mm tall x 152mm, and has 317 pages, 11 maps and diagrams, 22 b/w photos, index. Original blue cloth, gilt lettering spine. Very uncommon DJ (2cm deep loss top spine, 1cm deep loss base spine, spine darkened), heavy darkening top and bottom of book spine, clean covers, no rubbing, solid binding, age tanning to pages, other than the spine ends darkening the book is in nice condition. Previous owner gift inscription FFEP otherwise no marks or writing on any pages. PHOTOS ARE OF THE ACTUAL BOOK BEING OFFERED.

USA: Privately Published By Author, 1949. First Edition . Hardcover. Fine/Very Good. FIRST PRINTING of First Edition. Original red cloth with gilt lettering over a black title patch on spine. The book is in fine condition with no previous owner marks or writing on any pages, solid binding, no foxing, clean covers, no rubbing. The original scarce dust jacket has old cellophane tape stains on the covers and flaps (tape is long gone), minor loss to bottom of spine. The book measures 225mm tall x 158mm and has 180 pages, 29 b/w photos. This book was privately printed by the author to present to friends and associates. It was never for sale. Stimson was Secretary Of War under Taft from 1911 to 1913, a colonel of the 31st Field Artillery in WWI, Governor General of the Philippines, Secretary of State 1929-1933, and Secretary Of War from 1940 to 1949 under Roosevelt. In this book he tells of his ascent of the east face of Chief Mountain in Glacier National Park in 1891 (the 2nd ascent of the peak, the… Read More

Milano: Garzotti, 1954. First Edition . Hardcover. Near Fine/Good. FIRST PRINTING of the First Edition. With SIGNED postcard showing the 1954 team at the K2 Base Camp. The card is hand-signed (not printed or reproduced, ie, the signatures are original) by Walter Bonatti, Achille Compagnoni, Lino Lacedelli, Pino Gallotti, Gino Solda, Guido Pagani, Cirillo Floreanini, Ubaldo Rey, Erich Abram, Ugo Angelino, and Sergio Viotto. It is dated 20 October 1954, with the stamps being cancelled on the same date. Signed by 11 of the 14 Italian members of the climbing team. Lacking the signatures of Ardito Desio (he did not sign much), Mario Fantin, and Mario Puchoz (who died on the mountain). This is the first printing of the first Italian edition of Ascent Of K2 (or Victory Over K2). Same size as the english language editions but much better illustrated having more than twice the number of photo plates, color photos not in english editions, a folding map & 3 folding photos not in the english editions..… Read More

London: Akfred W. Bennett, 1866. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Good/No Jacket. Ernest Edwards. FIRST EDITION 1866. Original blue pebbled cloth, AEG, gilt lettering front cover & spine, gilt decoration of box camera and ice-axe on front cover, gilt title frame front, gilt rules spine ends, debossed triple borders front & rear covers. Diffuse grubbiness covers, rubbed spine ends and corners, no owner writing or marks on any pages, solid binding, paper cracked inside hinges but hinges strong and not broken (mess is solid and tight), some foxing in places but considerably less than what is frequently found for this book. The book measures 275mm tall x 215mm, and has 243 pages, 28 b/w photos, map. This is probably the earliest mountaineering book to use photographs as illustrations. Account of the author's excursion to Bernese Oberland with the purpose of photographing the mountains and the climbing. The group was comprised of 5 men and 4 women, plus the famous guide Christian Almer,… Read More

Westminster London: Archibald Constable and Co, 1900. First Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. vittorio sella. FIRST PRINTING of First UK Edition. Rebound in green cloth to resemble the original binding with original front cover title patch cleanly mounted in original position on front cover and original spine patches similarly mounted. Overall nice condition. Tight binding with no loose pages (the text block has been sewn into page gatherings = the stitching shows at the start/end of each gathering --> see photo). Gift inscription on front pastedown. No other former owner writing or marks in book. Based on the inscription, this book was given to Smoke Blanchard prior to his 1964 expedition to Mt St Elias, possibly by Vin Hoeman, beloved climber & mountaineering historian who perished in an avalanche on the 1969 Dhaulagiri expedition along with 6 others, though the "Love Always" seems a bit melodramatic. Smoke Blanchard's St Elias expedition was a 4-man… Read More

London: John Murray, 1871. First Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. Edward Whymper. 1871 FIRST PRINTING of First UK Edition. Original green cloth, gilt lettering spine, gilt pattern decorated spine. Possibly renewed black coated EPs since they seem thicker than usual, but definitely done at an early time (if not by the publisher) since there is a bookplate on the front pastedown with a note on it indicating that the owner died in 1911. Also, the white side of the fly leaves show usual signs of aging with some edge browning. Regardless, the EPs have done the job of keeping the book soundly together (no cracking or tears). First editions of this book are notorious for having the EPs break and the outside hinge cracking/tearing apart, necessitating relaying of the spine cloth. This example has no external restorations which is very uncommon for first printings of this book. The covers are bright and clean, rubbed corner tips, tiny rub spots spine ends, solid binding, no significant… Read More