Rare books from Whitmore Rare Books

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1943. The author's original hand-corrected typescript for his most important work, "Journey in the Dark," which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944. Donated by Flavin to the US Treasury Department "to help the war financing campaign," with a certificate from "The Books and Authors War Bond Committee" dated May, 1945. This typescript purchased by or for Seton Hill College in Greensburg, PA, as printed on the certificate. A note in the author's hand reads as follows: "This is the original MS of "Journey in The Dark," as I wrote it at the rate of about 500 words a day between April 1941 and July 1943. I compose on a typewriter, and though I may write a page a dozen times, when I finally leave it, it is finished. Indeed, long before this book was finished, it was going into galleys. I use loose leaf paper - keeping the work in binders as it progresses. Martin Flavin | May 15th 1944." Two cover sheets typed by the publisher with the title and list of other works by Flavin… Read More

New York: Cassell Publishing Co, 1892. First American edition. Near Fine. Published simultaneously with the British Unwin edition, using the same sheets, but with a canceled title page. Part of the Children's Library Series. Original blue floral-decorated white cloth, recased with a slight loss to the cloth at the base of the spine; internally in excellent condition. Presenting Near Fine overall. Only one other copy of this Cassell imprint is currently available (the VG+ Bradley Martin copy for $9500) and only one appears in the recent auction record, Christies 2005; the American issue is decidedly scarce. Originally appearing in an Italian children's magazine in 1881, La Storia di un Burattino was more than an amusing, yet dark, tale for Italian children. Written by the political activist, Carlo Collodi, the story of Pinocchio was meant to aide in the reunification of Italy after the Napoleonic Wars had splintered the Italian states and devastated any sense of national identity. With the struggle… Read More

London: Chapman and Hall, 1839. First edition. Very Good. Bound in the original publisher's deluxe full green morocco binding, gilt titles, stamped in gilt and blind, yellow end papers, all edges gilt. A Very Good copy with creasing and wear to the spine (one short tear at the head), some foxing to the plates. Armorial bookplate of Henry Gillett on the front paste-down. Bound without the half-title, otherwise complete with the engraved frontis and 39 plates by Phiz. Nicholas Nickleby, Dickens' third novel, was originally serialized in monthly parts, then issued as a book in cloth. The publishers also had a small number of copies bound up in the present morocco both for presentation - a census of copies inscribed by Dickens on publication show them all to be in the green morocco binding - and for sale to the public at a higher price. This copy with most of the issue points outlined in Smith, but with a few typographical errors corrected. "Dickens' third novel has always been a favourite with the… Read More

London & Edinburgh: T. N. Foulis, 1919. First Edition. Near Fine. One of 350 specially bound and numbered copies. Publisher's full vellum binding with some mottling and wear. Overall Near Fine with all fifteen of Brangwyn's tipped in illustrations. Housed in a custom quarter morocco slipcase with cloth slipcover. Inscription on the front end paper from Harry D. Sickles to David Zork in 1925. Zork was a well-known Chicago antiques dealer, Sickles is best known for entering into a partnership with Eugene Field II to forge countless documents during the 20s or 30s. Bookplate of Harry H. Schwartz, owner of National Departments Stores. A beautiful production with an interesting provenance. Fitzgerald attributed the original work to the famed astronomer and mathematician Omar Khayyum, and this collection of quatrains rapidly became a favored text of the Pre-Raphaelites. "Like the Odyssey or the Vita Nuova [it] was once the most widely known and quoted work of Victorian poetry in the world," and its place… Read More

New York: A Touchstone Book published by Simon & Schuster, 1971. First Thus. Near Fine. The first Touchstone paperback edition of Yoko Ono's illustrated book, after the exceedingly rare 1964 first edition, of which only 500 copies were printed in Tokyo. Inscribed on the front endpaper "To Paul, Love Yoko Ono." In just about Fine condition, with only the slightest bit of edgewear and some creasing near the front joint. Internally clean and unmarked. "The original Grapefruit is split into five sections - Music, Painting, Event, Poetry, Object -- with each page offering a conceptual direction for work yet to be created...After Ono married John Lennon, Simon & Schuster published a new edition of Grapefruit, though this version included some editorial revisions and additions -- the most prominent among the latter being a short foreword authored by Lennon" (The New Yorker). This artist's book earned and has maintained fame as an early example of conceptual art, making her a predecessor to men like Kosuth… Read More

Edinburgh: Adam & Charles Black, 1871. Centenary Edition. Twenty-five small octavo volumes (7 3/16 x 4 3/4 inches; 182 x 121 mm). Illustrated with twenty- five engraved frontispieces and vignette title-pages. Bound ca. 1871 in full contemporary tan calf, covers double-ruled in gilt. Spines with five raised bands, decoratively tooled in gilt in compartments, with red and green morocco gilt lettering labels, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled. Auction lot sticker on front board of Volume 7. Gilt on spines a little dull, still a VG+ set in a contemporary binding. "Scott's influence as a novelist was incalculable; he established the form of the historical novel, and, according to V.S. Pritchett, the form of the short story. He was avidly read and imitated throughout the 19th century, not only by historical novelists such as Ainsworth and Bulwer-Lytton, but also by writers like Mrs. Gaskell, G. Eliot, the Brontës, and many others, who treated rural themes, contemporary peasant life, regional speech,… Read More

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1926. Memorial Edition. Near Fine. Limited to 1,050 sets signed by Edith Kermit Roosevelt, with this being number 163. Original publisher's cloth with gilt to spines. Top edges brightly gilt. Patterned endpapers. Spines gently sunned; a few bumps to corners and one or two volumes with minor staining. Overall a Near Fine set that presents well. Inner hinge of volume three just starting, but holding well and entirely unrestored. Statesman, soldier, conservationist, and author, Theodore Roosevelt remains one of the most influential and popular presidents in United States history. Roosevelt entered political life as Assistant Secretary of the Navy before earning renown as the leader of the Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War at the end of the nineteenth century. He then served as Governor of New York, a position that helped burnish his reputation before serving as Vice President during the William McKinley administration. After McKinley's assassination just… Read More

Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co, 1914. First edition. Near Fine. A bright, Nearly Fine copy of this classic work, introducing the world to one of its great heros. First issue binding without the acorn stamped on the spine and with the correct W.F. Hall imprint on the copyright page. Gilt on the covers only very slightly dulled, with a contemporary gift inscription on the first blank and that owner's name stamped a few times in the preliminaries. Housed in a custom cloth clamshell case with leather spine label. "Set during the height of British imperialism and during the escalation of the United States' own empire-building" Tarzan of the Apes offers a fantasy that seeks to "re-establish the authority of imperial power" (Berglund). Set in colonial Africa, the novel "tells of an infant -- the son of an aristocratic English couple -- abandoned when his parents die in the jungle. Rescued and reared by apes, he learns to speak their language and imitate their ability to travel through the treetops" (Dover).… Read More

New York: Random House, 1957. First edition. Near Fine/Very Good +. First printing in matte boards with a single signature and original dust jacket, priced at 200/200. A Near Fine copy of the book with trivial bumping, soiling and wear to board edges. Small bump to the top of the spine. No previous ownership markings or soiling to any pages. Dust jacket is Very Good+ with some minor soiling and rubbing, a small closed one inch tear to rear panel. Dr. Seuss' renowned children's classic. The book, which follows the visit of a clever top hat ensconced cat to a suburban home, was written by Dr. Seuss in response to John Hersey's challenge that he come up with a more entertaining and engaging basic reader. The book sold over a million copies in its first three years in print and would make Dr. Seuss a household name. The Cat in the Hat appears on the School Library Journal's list of the Top 100 Picture Books of all time in addition to the National Education Association's list of Teachers' Top 100 Books… Read More

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1930. First edition. Near Fine. A solid Nearly Fine copy of Hammett's masterpiece, lacking the original dust jacket. Spine just minutely toned, otherwise very bright and fresh. Hammett's classic hard-boiled detective tale, which would go on to influence countless others in the genre. The story features the first appearance of Sam Spade - a character Hammett referred to as a man with "no original" - and was initially serialized in the classic pulp magazine Black Mask before it was published in book form. Hammett was inspired by his own work as a detective, which is thought to have contributed to Hammett's lauded realism. Famed mystery author, Raymond Chandler, said of the work: "If you can show me 20 books written approximately 20 years back that have as much guts and life now, I'll eat them between slices of Edmund Wilson's head." The Maltese Falcon also inspired numerous films, including the 1941 noir classic of the same name, (which Variety called "one of the best… Read More

New York: Random House, 1959. First edition. Fine. Number 27 of 500 copies of the signed limited edition. A Fine copy of the book, clean and fresh; lacking publisher's acetate jacket. "The Mansion completes Faulkner's great trilogy of the Snopes family in the mythical county of Yoknapatawpha, Mississippi -- which also includes The Hamlet and The Town. Beginning with the murder of Jack Houston and ending with the murder of Flem Snopes, the novel traces the downfall of this indomitable post-bellum family, who managed to seize control of the town of Jefferson within a generation" (Vintage). Fine.

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1977. First edition. Fine/Fine. Very nearly Fine book in like jacket, unclipped and showing original price of $8.95. Bright topstain. A bit of foxing to the closed textblock and minor wrinkling along bottom edge of front jacket panel. In all, a lovely, bright, and unread example of this Nobel Prize winning novel. Signed by the author on the title page. Following the life of Macon "Milkman" Dead III from birth to death, the novel presents in a raw and complex way the coming-of-age of an African American man. As Milkman comes to adulthood, he inevitably confronts the intersections of Black and white communities, the impact of forced migration and slavery on his family, and the question of how this history affects his own identity. As he reaches toward self-realization, it becomes clear that one can never be fully independent from their family. Met with widespread acclaim from its release, Song of Solomon won Morrison the Nobel Prize for literature, in addition to earning… Read More

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1926. First edition, second state. Near Fine. Second state, with "stopped" on page 181 corrected. Original black publisher's cloth, retaining the delicate gold paper labels to spine and front board. A Near Fine copy with spine label on the spine a bit dulled and a previous owner's gift inscription on the front end paper, otherwise a clean, attractive copy. Hemingway's classic novel -- a Roman a clef about a group of American and British expats in Spain, centered around the characters of Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. Based on Hemingway's own experiences in Spain in the 1920s, visiting there with his wife and friends and watching bullfighting, it is without question one of the great American novels. Perhaps the most important to depict The Lost Generation, the novel was an immense success - college students began to emulate the dress and manner of the characters and Hemingway was made a household name. Interestingly enough, the first printing of the novel was… Read More

London: Siegle Hill & Co, 1910. First thus. Near Fine. Bound in full vellum boards with lovely full gilt peacock design to the front board. Brown morocco spine label intact. A lovely, Near Fine example of this limited production, number 133 of 550 copies produced. This edition reprints the famous Sangorski and Sutcliffe, illuminated edition, with both Sangorski and Sutcliffe signing on the limitation page. Complete with all 12 color plates. Very slight bowing to the boards and a bit of foxing throughout. Fitzgerald attributed the original work to the famed astronomer and mathematician Omar Khayyum, and this collection of quatrains rapidly became a favored text of the Pre-Raphaelites. "Like the Odyssey or the Vita Nuova [it] was once the most widely known and quoted work of Victorian poetry in the world," and its place in Western culture at the time was secured by Fitzgerald's "epigrammatic, sophisticated, often mordant verses [that] display Fitzgerald's adroitness in handling this stanza form"… Read More

Boston: Little, Brown & Co, 1929. First American edition. Fine/Near Fine. A Fine copy in nearly Fine dust jacket. Original publisher's cloth binding with title to spine and front board, red top-stain. Jacket with a faint dampstain and blue smudge along the lower edge of the rear panel. Nonetheless, an excellent copy overall of this influential WWI novel. Originally published in Germany in 1928, the book became an international best-seller with over 2.5 million copies worldwide within the first year and a half of publication. It gives a German soldier's perspective on the first world war and then the alienation felt after returning to a civilian lifestyle. Adapted to the screen by Lewis Milestone in 1930 winning academy awards for Best Picture and Best Director. Fine in Near Fine dust jacket.