Rare books from Thorn Books

New York: Harcourt, Brace & World; Atheneum, 1977. First editions, first printings. Hardcover. Near fine. First U.S. edition, first printing, of the first title; true first editions, first printings of the remaining titles. "Over Sea, Under Stone" is fine and bright; the dustwrapper is price-clipped and has the tiniest bit of wear at the edges, else it is fine as well. "The Dark is Rising" has a tiny bit of spotting on the top edge, and a bookplate on the front pastedown, else is in fine condiiton; the dustwrapper is not price-clipped,but has a short closed marginal tear and crease along the top of the rear panel; it is first state without the Newbery Honor sticker. "Greenwitch" has a small bit of wear on one corrner else is fine in a fine, unclipped dustwrapper. "The Grey King" is fine in green printed cloth; the dustwrapper is price-clipped else is in fine condition, and is first state without the Newbery Medal sticker. "Silver on the Tree" has a light residue from an old price-sticker on the… Read More

NY: Blue Ribbon Books, 1933. First edition. Hardcover. Fine/Very good plus. Glazed pictorial boards printed in color. Pictorial endpapers in color. Four fabulous and detailed double-page pop-up scenes, plus full and partial page black & white illustrations throughout. Aside from two tiny stains at the edges of the upper board, and a bit of shelf wear along the bottom edge, this is a fine copy with fine pop-ups. The scarce dustwrapper is present; it has a couple of light stains, a short marginal tear, and some light rubbing at the edges else about fine. A sharp copy of an early Disney work.

London: Longman & Co, 1848. First edition. Hardcover. Very good. 8vo. iv,(1),31,(2)pp. Thirty-two pages are chromolithographed by Humphreys, in addition there is a leaf of the illuminator' s remarks and one comprising an index of the miracles. Bound in the original black papier-mache covers designed to look like carved ebony. The binding was based on one carved in ivory in the 12th Century and has medallions of the principal miracles intertwined with ornate decorations and the title. The front and rear covers are identical. The book is exuberantly illustrated using chromolithography on 32 pages alternating between hot bright colors and cool pages subtly tinted with various shades, the whole combining to make both a magnificent tribute to Medieval illustration and to the then new and novel technique of chromolithography. Marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Nicely rebacked in plain black leather;; a few small cracks in the binding, edges and corners neatly mended, but a very good copy. The Art of… Read More

1988. Fine. Two items relating to the groundbreaking of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Center for Public Affairs in Simi Valley, California, on November 21, 1988. The items are: 1. Official progam for the ceremony of blue card cover, 4pp., and 2.Gorham Sterling bookmark given to the invited guests, in its box with a seal embossed with Mr. Reagan's signature. The gro undbreaking was limited to 300 invitees.

NY: Blue Ribbon Books, 1933. First edition. Fine. Hardcover/Near fine. Glazed pictorial boards printed in color. Pictorial endpapers in color. Four fabulous and detailed double-page pop-up scenes, plus full and partial page black & white illustrations throughout. The boards are ever so lightly soiled else this is a fine copy with fine pop-ups. The scarce dustwrapper is present; it lightly browned with age else near fine. A nice copy of an early Disney work.

NY: Blue Ribbon, 1933. First edition. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Pictorial paper boards. Four large, colorful pop-ups. Full color endpapers. Text illustrations in black and cream. Original colorfully printed boards. The four large pop-ups are in fine condition. There is some age-browning to the boards, and both corners are bumped, but this is a very good copy. With the scarce pictorial dustwrapper, also lightly age-browned else in very good condition. Overall, a nice copy of this early Disney work.

London: Dean & Son, 11 Ludgate Hill, 1859. Poor. Stiff card wraps. 4to. Bound in thin card with covers printed in color. 16 pp., printed on one side only, with eight full page hand-colored illustrations showing Punch and Judy, et al., in the upper portion with text and drummer below. Each plate has moveable parts operated by a lever at the foot which operates the movement in the upper window; in addition 3 of the drummers move when the tabs are activated. The drummers on the remaining pages have their arms in the form of tabs which fit into a slit in the page. They are affixed on the other side. There is nothing to suggest that they were ever intended to move. To the best of our knowledge all copies of this title have all puppets movable but only three drummers. It is as though Dean had intended to make them all movable but gave up on the idea. Later printing of this work have the drummers all immovable, printed on the page with the text reset to go around the illustrations. This is a very good… Read More

London: Children's High Level Group, 2008. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. New. Collector's Edition. 8vo. 179,(1)pp. Simulated leather, spine with raised bands, silver-colored metal corners, center metal skull vignette and metal clasp, all with blue stones. Ribbon marker. Protected in a maroon velvet string-top bag, bearing the embroidered signature of J. K. Rowling in gilt thread, the whole housed in a book-shaped clamshell case blocked in blind on the upper and lower boards, and on the spine in gilt. The case is shaped within with a recessed compartment to fit the book in its velvet bag. Also within in their own printed envelope are ten 7 by 10 inch Collector's Edition Prints which slip into a special flap in the upper board. A new copy, still in the original white slipcase cover, encased in clear plastic and in the original shipping box.

London: T. Cotes for William Cooke, 1638. First edition in English. Hardcover. Fine. 12mo. (134),327pp. Engraved frontispiece of Gildas by William Marshall. First edition in English, translated from the Latin by Thomas Habington. Early handwritten notes on the front blanks. Bookplate. Nicely bound in full brown morocco, spine in six compartments, tooled in blind and with the title in gilt; boards intricately tooled in blind. Marbled endpapers. Title page, frontispiece and preliminary blank remargined (no loss). Some contemporary names and notes mostly on the beginning and ending blanks. A fine copy. Gildas provides some of the earliest commentary on the war effort associated with King Arthur. The first edition of the original Latin was pubished as Opus de Calimitate, Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae in 1525. STC 11895. Potthast, I, 525. Sarton I, 455. Lowndes, p. 790. ESTC S103163.

Tucson: DeGrazia Studios, 1962. First edition. Hardcover. Fine. Elephant folio. Twenty large 18 by 22 inch full color lithographs depicting the memorable events in the life of the popular, talented and heroic Eusebio Kino, SJ, sometimes called the most eminent and beloved Southwest pioneer. The images vary in size on the pages. Housed in a cream-colored cloth portfolio with the author and title printed on the upper board; the whole in the publisher's slipcase in matching cloth and with the author's name printed on the upper board. There is a four page description of the same size as the prints, with entries by Raymond Carlson of Arizona Highways; Carl Schaeffer Dentzel of the Southwest Museum; Thomas Hart Benton, Artists; and Ross Santee, Artist. The rear page contains an original full color illustration by DeGrazia captioned "Midnight Sketch Tucson Arizona USA 1962 3AM" and signed thereunder. In fine condition. Included in this collection are: "Raiding Indians Steal Horses from Kino's Village"… Read More

London: R. Wilks, 1816. Hardcover. Good. 12mo. 3 volumes. xxiv [25]-326; xvi [17]-381; xvi [17]377pp. Engraved title pages in each volume. Engraved frontispiece of the Death of Sir Launcelot present in Volume 1, of the Parting of Tristan and Isolde in Volume 2, and of Prince Arthur Obtaining the Sword in Volume 3. The folding plate of the Round Table is also present in Volume 1. Bound in full vellum, gilt titles, marbled endpapers, and the bindings signed by Roger De Coverly. Top edges gilt. Light aging of the textblocks and soil to the vellum, boards yawning a bit from the pull of the vellum, gilt rubbed in places, else this is a very good set. The Morte d'Arthur was first printed by Caxton in 1485 and was followed by editions in 1498, 1529, 1557 and 1634. Owing to the rise of the Commonwealth, stories of kings were generally suppressed; no further editions of the Morte d'Arthur were printed until 1816, which saw two editions of which this is one. Important edition, marking the start of modern… Read More

London: The Corvinus Press, 1936. Limited edition. Hardcover. Fine. Folio. Finely printed on Barcham Green "Medway" handmade paper. Bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe cloth spine, gilt title, handmade paper over boards with the Corvinus device block in gilt on the upper board. A fine copy. In the original strange glassine cover with paper flaps and in the publisher's nondescript slipcase. The book is in fine condition. The glassine has some splits and is a bit shorter than the book, its paper flaps with some foxing. The card slipcase is worn, especially at the top and bottom ends. One of 70 copies from a total edition of 128 copies. This is number 98 and is signed by both authors. Prints the authors' speeches made at a luncheon in memory of Lawrence about a month after his death. O'Brien E101. .

Chicago: Charles H. Kerr & Company, 1933. Early U. S. Editions. Hardcover. Very good. Three volumes, 8vo. Red cloth blocked in gilt on the spines. Volume I is the 1909 printing; Volume II is the 1933 printing; and Volume II is the 1909 first printing. Inner hinges of volume I neatly repaired; spine of Volume III is rubbed in places, else this is a very good set. The Kerr edition is the first US edition of Marx's complete three volume work usually known by its German title, Das Kapital. Only the first volume was published in Marx's lifetime; it appeared in the US in 1890. Engels completed the work using Marx's notes and published them in Germany in 1885 and 1894 respectively. This American issue was translated from the third German edition by Samuel Moore and Edward Aveling (Vol. I), from the second German edition by Ernest Untermann (Vol II), and from the first German edition by Untermann (Vol III). A PMM selection. .

London: Robt. Riviere & SOn, 1928. Hardcover. 8vo. Illustrated. Finely bound in red calf, sumptuously gilt on the spine and both boards, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, by Riviere.

New York: The Viking Press, 1952. First edition, first printing. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. 8vo. Apple green cloth blocked in black and deep red. "First published" statement on the copyright page, and date on the title page. Cloth sunned along the edges and spine but a very good copy. The first state dustwrapper has the price of $4.50 on the flap and Steinbeck's portrait on the rear panel. The top inch of the spine and the bottom edge have been professionally restored giving a near fine appearance with only light age toning, especially to the spine. The rear free endpaper and pastedown have penciled notes made by a former owner, apparently references to important passages in the book. . .