Rare books from Parigi Books, Vintage and Rare

New York: The Gnome Press, Inc, 1953. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good+ in Near Fine dust jacket. Mild slant to spine. A near fine copy in near fine dustjacket with light wear to the edges. Cover illustration by Ric Binkley. A nice copy. ; Octavo; 216 pages.

New York: E. P. Dutton, 1981. First Edition. Hardcover. Pages are very slightly age-toned. A fine copy in fine dustjacket with a tiny nick to lower edge of spine panel. Basis for the movie directed by Tony Richardson and featuring Rob Lowe, Jody Foster and Beau Bridges. ; Octavo.

Hardcover. A unique look at human sexuality and literary Romantic love in the early part of the twentieth century during the colonial and modernist eras. As noted by the famous French philosopher Michel Foucault in his "repressive hypothesis," the age of Victorian repression clearly produced non-traditional expressions of lust. The epistolary consists of an original diary and correspondence between two lovers from 1912 to approximately 1916. It is written primarily in English with some excerpts in Italian. The primary diarist is presumed to be an Italian officer during the colonial era of the early 20th century involving Italy, Britain and the "Mad Mullah" in the Benadir region of East Africa. The other correspondent is probably a British lady living in Tuscany at the time. The epistolary includes more than one hundred original drawings of various sexual acts, most of which are in color and include detailed descriptions of the scenes depicted. Some images are watercolors, some pastels, and others are… Read More

Paris: Jacques Beltrand, 1922. Limited/Numbered Edition. Hardcover. Edition published to celebrate the six hundredth anniversary of Dante's death and limited to 225 numbered copies, this being #190. In three volumes. xii, 319pp; 320pp; 313pp. Full vellum with gilt decorations and rules on the boards, gilt lettering on the spines, gilt inside dentelles, top edges gilt, others uncut, marbled endpapers. Printed on Arches paper with a "1321 Dante 1921" watermark. Text printed in red and black, initials. Illustrated with numerous wood engravings by Jacques Beltrand and his brothers Camille and Georges based on the drawings by Sandro Botticelli. Text in Italian and French. Translation from the Italian by André Pératé. Covers are a bit soiled and spines slightly darkened. Internally clean. A wonderful and well preserved set in a simple and stylish binding. ; Folio.

Firenze: R. Bemporad & Figlio, Editori, 1922. First Edition. Hardcover. Maschere nude volume V. 151 pp. Full light brown calf, spine with four raised bands and red and black morocco labels lettered in gold. Signed and inscribed by Luigi Pirandello "Ad Alessandro Varaldo, fraternamente, Luigi Pirandello." Varaldo was a fellow playwright, novelist and mystery writer: his book Il settebello is considered the first example of Italian detective novel. The tragic satire and savage humor that emerged through the story of a troubled couple disturbed early audiences accustomed to sentimental bourgeois comedy, but the play reveals Pirandello's ability to exaggerate the realms of both apology and farce. Mild foxing to edges, small laceration and short tear to the spine panel. A pleasing presentation copy from the 1934 winner of the Nobel Prize for literature. In the Italian language. ; Octavo; Signed by Author.

Milano: Max Bunker Press, 1989. Softcover. Illustrated by Magnus (Roberto Raviola). The set reprints the first thirty-six issues of the series which were originally published in the 1960s. Kriminal is considered one of the first noir comics to appear in Italy together with Diabolik; the light eroticism which transpired from some of the stories created censorship problems for the authors. The average condition for the set is very good to near fine with light foxing to edges and very moderate shelf wear; one issue has a pen marking on front cover. In the Italian language. A nice set.; 12 x 17 cm.

Original Art. Page 34 from the story Naga: per il pelo di zita. Ink on paper. 18 x 25.5 cm. Condition is fine.

Original Art. Original art for the syndicated strip Can You Beat It! from May 9, 1930. Ink on illustration board measuring 34 x 42 cm. Upper right corner is torn but without affecting the art, three pin sized holes on the edges. Italian born Ketten was a comic artist and illustrator who was particularly successful in the first half of the 20th century with features such as Can You Beat It?, The "Hurry Up" New Yorker and Poor Little Income! Signed and inscribed by Ketten on the lower right corner.

Original Art. Story code I-PP88-1. Pencil on 24 x 33 cm Fabriano paper. Signed by the artist on the lower left corner. ; Signed by Artist.

Original Art. Story code I-PP88-1. Pencil on 24 x 33 cm Fabriano paper. Signed by the artist on the lower left corner. ; Signed by Artist.

London: Jonathan Cape, 1952. First British Edition. Hardcover. 127pp. Blue cloth stamped in red on the cover and the spine. Three pages with tiny corner crease else a fine copy in near fine dustjacket with a slightly faded spine panel, two minuscule closed tears and a crease to rear flap. Wraparound dustjacket illustration by Hans Tisdall. 1953 Pulitzer Prize winner. Basis for the 1958 John Sturges movie featuring Spencer Tracy. Hanneman A45A. A lovely copy. ; Octavo.

Milano: Corriere Della Sera, 1928. First Edition. Newspaper. The set includes fifty-three issues. The Corriere dei Piccoli, founded in 1908 by Silvio Spaventa Filippi, is considered the first comic published in Italy. Among the characters appearing in these issues are Salomone e Dorotea by Attilio Mussino, il Signor Bonaventura by Sergio Tofano, Bice e Bauci by Mario Pompei and some of the most important American strips of the era including Jiggs and Maggie (Arcibaldo e Petronilla) by George McManus, The Captain and the Kids (Bibì e Bibò) by Rudolph Dirks, Felix the Cat (Mio Mao) by Pat Sullivan. Illustrations by Antonio Rubino, Carlo Bisi, Bruno Angoletta, and many others. Condition varies from good to very good/near fine with toning to pages, light chipping to edges, tears and creases. More details as follows: #1 was folded incorrectly and has a long tear to first page; #26 has a tear to first page affecting first panel; #31 has a small stain on two pages; #48 has a pen marking on one page;… Read More

Boston: and Co, 1873. First Edition. Hardcover. First fully illustrated US edition. xvi, 315pp. Salmon cloth stamped in gold and black, bevelled edges, dark brown endpapers, all edges gilt. With fifty-four plates and an engraved illustration in the text by A. de Neuville and L. Benett and a small drawing by Verne. Introduction by Adrien Marx. Translated by George M. Towle. In his article in the July/August 1996 issue of Firsts Arthur B. Edwards notes that "... there is a fully illustrated Osgood octavo edition, published at the end of November, 1873, taken from the British sheets. This is titled Around the World in Eighty Days, and is very scarce. It seems to have had production problems that caused the spine to crack and chip when the book was read; consequently no 1873 copies have been seen in better than good condition (p. 42)." Cloth is worn at spine ends, spine panel faded, hinges a bit tender, neatly penned inscription on flyleaf dated Christmas 1873. A very good copy. Barron, Anatomy of… Read More

Indianapolis: Popular Fiction Publishing Company, 1934. First Edition. Pictorial wrappers. Pages are toned, tiny chip to spine heel, a couple of minor closed tears and creases to front cover. A nice, very good+ copy. Collects stories by Hugh B. Cave, Edmond Hamilton, Clark Ashton Smith, Paul Ernst, and others. Cover art by Margaret Brundage. ; Octavo.

New York: Blue Ribbon Press, 1934. First Edition. Hardcover. 60pp. Pictorial boards with color image of Mickey Mouse. With nineteen b&w illustrations and a double-spread color pop-up image. A couple of tiny nicks to the spine ends, birthday inscription in pencil on the first page. About near fine. A nice copy of an uncommon early Mickey Mouse title with the pop-up in immaculate condition. ; 32mo.