Rare books from Town's End Books

Boston and Cambridge: James Munroe And Company, 1849. First Edition. First and only Printing Very good- in its original, light brown, wavy cloth covered boards blind stamped with a five-rule border on both boards. This copy has been professionally rebacked preserving the majority of the original spine strip and retaining the original end sheets. A small octavo of 7 13/16 by 4 3/4 inches with the cloth worn through at the fore edges of the boards and in sections along the upper and lower edges of the boards. The front hinge is starting and there are occasional marginal pencil marks in the text. Heavy erasures of the front and rear most end sheets have also caused two small holes in those pages. There is a minor tanning to the interior of the facing pages 112 and 113 perhaps from two small leaves having been pressed within the book. Lastly, the page announcing the imminent publication of Walden is missing a 1 1/2 inch chip from its upper fore corner. That chip has no impact on the printed… Read More

London: Chapman & Hall, 1859. First Edition. First Issue Professionally re-backed preserving much of the original back strip and the blind embossed, red cloth covered boards with new end sheets. An octavo of 8 3/4 by 5 1/2 inches. Overall in very good plus condition with slight foxing to the engraved title pages. Page 243/244 has a 1 1/2" closed tear at the lower edge which has been repaired. The plate facing page 72 has been professionally reattached; however, its extreme lower edge is soiled. The top edge of the text block is soiled. 254 pages of text followed by the publisher's Catalogue of Books 32 pages dated November, 1859. With 14 plates and the frontispiece and the vignette titlepage by H. K. Browne ['Phiz']. The list of plates shows the signature letter "b", the page number error on 213 is present as is the misspelling of "affectionately" on page 134, line 12, all of which evidence this copy as a first issue. (Eckel p.86, Podeschi, A143; Smith 13)

Boston: Ticknor And Fields, 1863. First Edition. First Printing Very good in original, printed, thin paper wraps over an adhesive and stab sewn binding. A small quarto of 9 3/4 by 6 3/8 inches with the front cover secured with older adhesive tape to the spine and rear cover. The front cover is missing a diagonal chip from the upper fore corner, it is slightly worn at its lower edge with several short closed tears and there is a early gift inscription in ink at its upper edge. The rear cover is missing a 1 1/2 inch chip from its upper fore corner and has a number of small chips and a 3/4 closed tear to its fore edge. The contents are in very clean condition with no signs of damage, tanning or foxing. This is the first appearance of the title with no attribution given to the author, Edward Everett Hale. This first printing is contained in Ticknor and Fields' magazine: The Atlantic Monthly, Devoted to Literature, Art and Politics, dated December, 1863 being issue number 74 of Volume XII.… Read More

Philadelphia: George Barrie, (1894). Holland Paper Edition. Limited Edition All fourteen volumes of this complete set are in very good+ or better condition in 3/4 red leather and marbled paper covered boards with five raised bands on the spine and with gilt text in three of the compartments and with gilt rules separating the leather from the marbled paper. The top edges of the text blocks are gilt. Each volumes is quarto of 11 5/8 by 8 1/2 inches. The spines are all uniformly darkened some chipping and wear to the leather at the heels of the spines and the leather is worn through on several volumes over the tips of the boards. The hinges and joints for all the volumes are tight and strong. The contents are in near perfect condition with few marks of foxing or tanning. The images are nearly all protected with tissue guards. One of only 1,000 sets printed with this set identified as number 414 and subscribed for by Mrs. Mary E. Drummond as noted on the verso of the fly title page of volume III.… Read More

Norwalk, Conn.: The Easton Press, (1999). Collector's Edition. Fine in full, brown leather covered boards with three raised bands on the spine with gilt text and gilt tool work in the compartments. All edges of the text block are gilt, the end sheets are silk and there is a matching silk placement ribbon sewn-in at the head of the spine. An octavo of 8 1/4 by 5 3/8 inches. The book remains in the publisher's original shrink wrap as well in the publisher's shipping box. Signed by the author on the limitation page at the front of the book.

New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1900. Alleghany Edition. All four volumes of this complete set are in very good+ condition in their original, full brown cloth covered boards with gilt decorations and text on the spines and a gilt design of a teepee on the front boards and with the top edge of the text blocks gilt. Each is a small quarto of 9 3/8 by 6 3/8 inches with rubbing, wear and short closed tear to the cloth at the heads and heels of the spines. None of the volumes have dust jackets. Wright Howes in his bibliography: U.S.Iana states that the Alleghany Edition is the best edition of this title of the many that were published. Volume I (From the Alleghanies to the Mississippi 1769-1776) contains 352 pages and is followed by a fold-out color map of the West During the Revolution. It is illustrated with a frontispiece and 25 plates. Volume II (From the Alleghaniees to the Mississippi 1777-1783) contains 427 pages including an index to volumes I and II which is followed by two fold-out color… Read More

Boston: Ticknor And Fields, 1865. Fifth Printing. Very good+ in its original, light brown, blind stamped cloth covered boards with gilt text on the spine. A 12mo of 7 1/16 by 4 3/8 inches with a number of tears and wear to the cloth at the head and heel of the spine. The cloth over the tips of the boards has been worn through. The front and rear joints have been professionally reinforced. The front hinge has started, but remains strong. There is an early prior owner's name in pencil on the first free end page. There is a water mark at the top edge of the text block near the spine, but there is no sign of dampness on any margins below that stain. The last 37 pages of the book show a small water stain in the margin of the upper fore corner of those pages. A small closed tear to the fore edge of page 241 has been repaired with archival tape. Gray end sheets with 357 numbered pages of text followed by 21 numbered pages of publisher's ads dated September, 1865 and those are followed by 3… Read More

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1956. Reprint of July, 1957. Very good+ in 1/4 black cloth and blue cloth covered boards with gilt text stamping on the spine with rubbing to the cloth at the head and heel of the spine and with what looks to be a paint stain of 1/4 by 1 inch long at the upper edge of the front board and minor foxing to the rear end sheets due to a reaction with the glues used in binding. In a good, unclipped ($3.95) dust jacket with numerous chips of varying depths around the edges of the panels and with heavy rubbing to the fold to the front flap. Signed and inscribed by John F. Kennedy on the first free end page and dated "1959". Laid-in at the front of the book is a typewritten note from the family indicating the circumstances of how the prior owner met then Senator Kennedy at a book signing event in 1959. 266 pages containing an index, text and a section of images from earlier works of art and from black and white photographs. Senator Kennedy won the Pulitzer Prize… Read More

Garden City: Doubleday Doran, 1930. First Edition. First Printing Very good+ in dark blue cloth covered boards with orange text and decorations on the spine and on the front board. A small octavo measuring 7 1/2 by 5 1/8 inches with rubbing and wear to the cloth at the head and heel of the spine. With only the front panel of the first issue dust jacket done by Stafford Good under a clear acetate dust jacket protector. As noted above this copy has only a portion of the Stafford Good first state dust jacket which was originally used to cover the initial copies of the first edition. Roberts complained so bitterly about this jacket that the publisher (Doubleday) had to remove the book from the market to have a new jacket designed and painted by N.C. Wyeth. Any collector of Roberts' books aspires to have a first edition copy of this title in the first state dust jacket.

Philadelphia: Published by Order of the Congress and printed by Timothy Green of New London, Conn., 1774. First Edition. Second Issue Very good+ in contemporary plain paper wraps within a stab sewn binding. A small quarto of 9 3/8 by 6 1/2 inches with two small, circular stains on the fore edge of the front cover and a dampness stain of 4 inches on the spine edge of the front cover and a 1 1/2 stain at the upper fore corner of the rear cover none of which migrated to the interior pages. The subtitle reads: "Containing, The Bill of Rights, a List of Grievances, Occasional Resolves, the Association, an Address to the People of Great-Britain, A Memorial to the Inhabitants of the British American Colonies, and an Address to the Inhabitants of the Province of Quebec." 16 pages of text the majority of which is printed in an exceptionally small font. Howes in his bibliography, U.S.Iana states of this title: "The Forerunner of the Declaration of Independence." Evans in his… Read More

Boston: John P. Jewett & Company, 1852. First Edition . second printing Both small octavo volumes of this two volume set are in very good condition in original light brown cloth covered boards with off-white end sheets, blind embossing around the edges of each board with a gilt embossing in the center of each front board with gilt text and blind embossing on the spines. The fly title pages for both volumes are lacking and both volumes have an obvious lean to the spines. Both volumes are from the Tenth Thousandth (second printing) series. The first printing of this landmark book occurred on March 20, 1852. Per BAL by April 1, 1852 a second printing of ten thousand copies had been produced which was followed by a third printing of fifty thousand copies which sold out in only 8 weeks by mid-May of 1852. A worthy, matched set of one of the most important books of the 19th century. Both volumes are illustrated with a frontispiece and three plates by Hammatt Billings. (BAL 19343; Printing and… Read More

Chicago: The Reilly & Britton Co., (1909). First Edition. First Printing, Binding B Very good in light green cloth covered boards with black text on the spine and the outline of an animal character on the spine. The front board is decorated in dark green, light brown and red and has red text spelling out the title. An octavo of 9 by 6 5/8 inches with printed end sheets in black, white and red and conforming to Binding B with large and small capital letters in the spelling of the publisher on the spine (as noted in Paul Bienvenue's The Book Collector's Guide to L. Frank Baum p.42). There are two 1/8 inch holes in the cloth at the head and heel the spine and with light rubbing with the entire backstrip slightly tanned, both hinges have cracked, but has been professionally reinforced with clear, archival tape. The ownership page has a dated (1916) gift inscription. Coinciding with the first printing, binding B the pages of the text block tinted light blue, salmon, and tan. The words… Read More

New York: The Century Co., 1895. Second Edition by Century Co.. Both volumes of this two volume set are in very near fine condition in 1/2 brown morocco, pebbled leather and marbled paper covered boards. The spines are decorated with four raised bands, gilt text and gilt double borders in three compartments. The end sheets are marbled paper matching the marbled paper on the covers. The top edges of the text blocks are gilt. Each is an octavo measuring 8 7/8 by 6 inches. The leather is rubbed through over the tips of the boards for both volumes and there is a 1 inch section of marbled paper worn through at the upper edge of volume I. Volume II has an early prior owner's book plate attached to the front paste down. The first edition was published by Charles L. Webster & Company in 1885 and 1886. What distinguishes this edition it is completely annotated throughout with marginal bibliographic notations or notes to clarify minor points of record. Volume I contains 525 pages and volume II… Read More

New York: Charles L. Webster And Company, 1885. First Edition. First Printing Very good+ in the publisher's original decorated green cloth covered boards with a gilt on black title block and gilt text on the spine and gilt and black decorations and text on the front board. An octavo of 8 1/2 by 6 1/2 inches with the cloth at the head and heel of the spine worn down to the edged of the text block (with professional repairs made to these flaws with cloth inserted and colored to match the original backstrip). The front and rear hinges were beginning to crack, but have both been professionally reinforced. The text block is tight and complete with no foxing, tanning or soiling. This volume is a first printing mixed state of the first edition as the title-leaf, with an 1884 copyright date, is not a cancel indicating a third state. On page [9] under "Chapter VI" the reading is "Huck Decided to Leave." On page 13 the illustration "Him and Another Man" is listed as… Read More

Chicago: The Lakeside Press, 1906. First thus. Very good+ in dark green cloth covered boards with gilt decorations and borders on the front board and gilt text stamping on the spine with the cloth at the head and heel of the spine rubbed and with scuffing to the cloth over and above the gilt text reading "The Lakeside Press". The Lakeside Press logo and gilt borders on the front board are very bright and crisp while the gilt text on the spine is somewhat tarnished. Signed and inscribed on the fly title page by Thomas E. Donnelley. This is the smallest of the Lakeside Classics in terms of both weight and width being only 130 pages (129 numbered). The full title reads: "Fruits of Solitude Reflections and Maxims Relating to the Conduct of Human Life." The fourth Lakeside Classic issued at Christmas time in 1906. It is considered by many collectors as either the first or second most difficult copy to obtain in this series. The book was first published in England anonymously in… Read More