Rare books from Uncommon Works

London: Harper & Bros., 1904. First Separate Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. F. Strothman. Title page reads: London and New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers : : MCMIV. Red cloth boards with yellow title and full color printing of Adam at his journal with 2 monkeys. Seven gatherings with printer's signature marks. Covers soiled from handling. Sunning to spine. Heavy paper with mild foxing on a few pages. 89 pp. Duodecimo, 5 1/4 x 8 1/4 inches tall. A comic short story of what it might have been like for Adam when the world was new.

Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1928. First Edition, First Printing. 1/4 cloth. Very Good. First printing. Very Good. This edition is limited to 750 copies and the type has been distributed. Unnumbered copy. Quarter cloth leather spine with grey paper boards. Corners wearing, leather missing 1/8" at head of spine. Leather has a long thin indentation on front. Raised bands. Pp. 1-10 have small, uniform chip on lower right. Cream endpapers. Pages clean and sound. Thick paper. Embossed English department stamp, no other markings, not ex-library. 265 pp. including notes. Small quarto, 8 x 11 inches tall. Includes fascimiles of Whitman's original MS and letters.

Baltimore: The Maya Society, 1937. Second Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Friar Diego De Landa. A very good - second edition [HAND D83], with solid, sturdy binding and cover. Original blue cloth boards with gilt stamping and Maya Society crest in gilt. The blue cloth is showing heavy spotting on the spine and front cover, and the top front corner is bumped. Pages toned, top edge darkened. Former owner's bookplate. Laid in with a staplebound pamphlet for "Publications in the Field of Archaeology, Anthropology, etc. issued by the Carnegie Institute of Washington... May 1937." Heavily illustrated, includes maps and related documents. 142 pp. Octavo, 6 x 10 inches tall. An important primary source, scarce in this edition "Modern scholars regard Landa with a mixture of frustration and admiration. At the same time he wrote his comprehensive work on Mayan culture, his orders to destroy all icons and hieroglyphics obliterated the Mayan language ..., helping to undermine and destroy the… Read More

Austin: University of Texas Press, 1972. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. Fine/very good +. A fine first edition in a very good plus dust jacket. Brown pictorial cloth boards. Orange endpapers. From the private library of Larry Southwick, collector's marginalia pencilled near front hinge. Pages clean and bright. Sunning to dust jacket spine, no other flaws. Dust jacket now protected in a clear, removable, archival cover. Illustrated with black and white photos, drawings and tables. 194 pp. Sarah Blaffer analyzes the position of anomalies in societies in this stidy of a norm-offending, yet norm-reinforcing, specter who by his character and actions demonstrates the proper sex roles for Zinacantec men and women. A black, winged, super-sexed demon also figured in ancient Maya mythology. He was the bat deity known in Nahuatl as Tlacatzinacantli—the source of the name Zinacantan. This bat was associated with blood and death and with other sacrificing creatures, the buzzard and the hummingbird.

New York: Wm. H. Wise, 1927. First Edition. Stiff wraps. Near fine. A gorgeous letter press first edition by the Roycrofters. Green and tan stiff paper wraps, tied with green ribbon, and titling in red on cover. Ornate orange drop caps with black type, printed on hand-molded paper. Mottoes printed on grey inserts, centered and decorated. Moderate, even, wear to all edges of cover. A beautiful example of the Arts and Crafts Movement, and a return to traditional book making. Laid in is an original certificate to purchase mottoes "suitable for framing," and two examples of the same handmade paper showing ads for the Notebook of Elbert Hubbard and for Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great. 220 [4] pp. with index. Quarto, 8 1/2 x 10 3/4 inches tall Best known as the the initiator of the Arts and Crafts community, Roycroft, Hubbard was an anarchist, socialist, and followed a philosophy of mental and spiritual freedom. Some of his works, which include Jesus Was an Anarchist and a A Message… Read More

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1976. First American Edition. Hardcover. Fine/near fine. A fine first American edition in a very near fine, unclipped dust jacket. Brown embossed cloth with gilt stamping on spine. Half-title shows a binder's error where page was left partially uncut and folded in. Binding is strong and square on this large and heavy volume. Full page sepia plates of the artists' work throughout. Dust jacket shows a small stain to back cover and mildest of shelf wear. Dust jacket now protected in a clear, removable, archival cover. 363 pp. plus index, i-viii. Quarto, 10 x 11 inches tall. Shipping may be extra on this large and heavy volume. In 1843 painter David Octavius Hill joined engineer Robert Adamson to form Scotland's first photographic studio. During their brief partnership that ended with Adamson's untimely death, Hill & Adamson produced "the first substantial body of self-consciously artistic work using the newly invented medium of photography."… Read More

Brainerd, Minnesota: Gridley Girls, LLC, 2013. First Edition, First State. Hardcover. As new/as new. An as new (fine), unread, first edition, first state which includes the original fine dust jacket, plus the corrected fine second state jacket. SIGNED by the author in Gridley, California, where it all started. Pink boards with gold title stamping on cover and spine. 358 pp. Octavo, 6 x 9 1/4 inches tall. Reviewed in Parade Magazine as one of the Top 10 Beach reads of the year 2016, this hardcover edition has content and stories not included in the trade paperback expanded edition. They are the Gridley Girls, now and forever. Meg Monahan is hosting the wedding of her best friend, Anne Calzaretta, while still keeping a secret she's not prepared to face, let alone share.Meg, Anne, Jennifer, and Tonya were known as The Group in their rural town of Gridley, California, in the 1970s. Now living professional lives in Sacramento, they discover that in many ways they are still trapped by… Read More

New York: Review of Reviews Company, 1911. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. A very good first edition, complete ten volume set. Blue cloth with gilt title stamping on spine. Shelf wear on head and tail of all volumes. Top edges gilt. Bindings slightly shaken, otherwise a very good set with minimal wear. Portrait endpapers. Pages are clean and bright. Small tear to page 32 of volume one; long tear to photo on page 37 of volume two. Maps and thousands of period black and white photographs. 8 x 11, quarto. Thousands of Scenes Photographed 1861-65, with Text by many Special Authorities. Foreword by President William Howard Taft. Part I - The First of the Great Campaigns. Part II - Down The Mississippi Valley. Part III - The Struggle for Richmond. Part IV - Engagements of the Civil War Up to July, 1862. A vital primary resource for anyone interested in the "War between the States."This multi-volume set requires extra postage, billed at actual cost.

London: J. Tonson, 1697. Second Edition. Three quarter cloth. Very good. Scarce. A very good second edition of Mr. Congreve's famous work. [WING C5858] Blue three quarter cloth over maroon and blue marbled boards. Appears to be missing the first free endpaper, otherwise complete and collated. Loss to page 1, not affecting text. Pencilled marginalia and previous owner's bookplate on front pastedown. Soft cotton paper. Toning to pages and pastedowns. Contents: 11'"1: half-title (verso blank). 11'"2: title (verso blank). Al: dedicatoryepistle (om. initial4). A3V: prologue (cap2). A4V; dramatis personae (with cast). Bl: HT with text (cap4). K2: epilogue (cap2). 6 /2 x 8 3/4 inches tall, octavo. The Mourning Bride is a tragedy written by British playwright William Congreve. It premiered in 1697 at Betterton's Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. The play centres on Zara, a queen held captive by Manuel, King of Granada, and a web of love and deception which results in the… Read More

Chicago: The Werner Company, 1898. First Edition. Paper covered Boards. Very good. Frederick Remington. A very good first edition [Howes R206]. Beveled beige paper covered boards show smudges and uniform staining from much handling. Joint starting about 2 inches from bottom. Mild bowing. All edges gilt. Previous owners' names on first free endpaper and title page. previous owner has made two small, fine sketches on rear pastedown. Semi-neatly inked date of 1900 appears to the right of the word "Remington" on the title page, written on it after the book was printed ---- not a publication date. All onionskins and plates present, with some waving. Oblong quarto 12" x 9 1/4" talla The first edition (and only edition published by Werner) appeared only in 1898 due to copyright challenges. No later Werner editions listed in Worldcat or on the market. See Publisher's Weekly, Nov. 19 1898: "INJUNCTION AGAINST " REMINGTON'S FRONTIER SKETCHES." Judge Lacombe, of… Read More

New York: Scholastic / Arthur A. Levine, 2003. First American Edition, 1st Printing. 1/4 cloth. Fine/fine. Mary GrandPré. A fine first printing of the first American Edition in a fine dust jacket. Grey quarter-cloth over blue diamond patterned boards. Full number line 1-10. Full wrap around dust jacket with Mary GrandPré illustration. Stated first edition which meets all points of issue for the first American edition. 870 pp. Octavo, 6 & 1/4 x 9 1/2 inches tall.

New York: Joseph Sabin, 1892. First Edition, First Printing. Three quarter leather. Very good +. A very good plus first edition, small paper copy. One of 525 copies issued. These are the works published in Sabin's lifetime. Signed by Joseph Sabin with original signed receipt from Sabin. Mixed set: small paper copy and stiff wraps on vol 20, all bound into three quarter leather with marbled boards and gilt accents. Bound by The University of Chicago Press. Moderate wear to crown, foot, and corners on various volumes. Top edge gilt. One volume has bent pages from poor shipping practice (book edges pressed into one another). Marbled endpapers. On laid paper.Text is clean and bright. Vols. 1-19, "Edition, 525 copies, 8vo ... and 110 copies on large paper."Publication was suspended from 1892 to 1927, when it was resumed with the parts numbered continuously with the last issued in 1892 (Suspended with pt. CXV/CXVI (v. 20, pt. 1/2) 1892; )This set shipped at actual cost.

Paris: Chez Barrie Frères and George Barrie & Son, [1891]. First Thus; Astral Edition. Full leather. Very good. Louis Leloir; Maurice Leloir; Jacques Leman; Edward Heduouin. Scarce (one copy in Worldcat). A exquisitely bound, very good first thus, limited edition in full crushed Levant morocco leather with gold tooling. Number 35 of 100 copies on Japan Vellum paper that were offered by subscription only. Binding is sturdy and square. All edges in brilliant gilt. Marbled endpapers. Over 150 engravings, some colored, all with captioned tissue guards. Original title pages to each play are reproduced in French. Text in English. Heavy rubbing to all joints, with dye transferring to one's fingers from rubbed joints. Rubbed corners. Still a lovely and prestigious set, even with the flaws noted below. Quarto, 9 x 12 inches tall. Illustrations by Mm. Louis Leloir, Maurice Leloir, Jacques Leman [and] Edmond Hedouin Heavy set will require additional postage billed at actual… Read More

Baltimore: Cemetery Dance Publications, 1998. First Edition, First Printing. Cloth. Very good/very good +. Stacy Drum, Jill Bauman, Charles Lang. A very good, signed limited edition in a very good clamshell slipcase. Letter "O" of 52 lettered copies. Signed by Stephen King, Dean Koontz and dozens of other horror writers on the first pages. This large and heavy textblock has partilly pulled away from the spine covering, see photo. Black clamshell box with a bend on front spine edge. Fine dust jacket. Black cloth binding. Full color illustrations. 786 pp. Octavo. The Best of Cemetery Dance showcases five dozen of the very finest short stories from the first 25 issues of Cemetery Dance magazine. Published over a period of nine years — and still publishing today — Cemetery Dance is the winner of the World Fantasy Award and the International Horror Critics Guild Award, as well as a recent nominee for both the British Fantasy Award and the American Horror Award.Featuring… Read More

New York: Farrar , Straus and Giroux, 1988. First Edition. Cloth. Fine/near fine. Maurice Sendak. A fine first edition, as stated, in a near fine price-clipped dustjacket, double-signed by Sendak (once on the inner flap of dust jacket and once on the half-title). Gray cloth boards. Gilt title stamping on spine. Pages are clean and bright. Unpaginated. 10 x 9 inches tall, quarto. This story is a "unknown tale by Wilhelm Grimm" that was discovered 150 years after it was written.