Search Results: BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS from Downtown Brown Books, ABAA

London: Denis Dobson, 1949. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/Very good. Stories written while the author was a prisoner of war in Germany, 1943-1945...Intelligent stories, with curious antiquarian information, yet with formal problems. The author has difficulty in closing his stories and the reader is often left dissatisfied."-Bleiler, Guide to Supernatural Fiction, 1206. Some of the stories have bookish themes. In one, an antiquarian bookseller is also a murderer; another centers on a medieval book of hours, a third is about a customer whose attempt to order an occult manuscript from a dealer's catalog. First edition (states "First published..." on the copyright page). But for a previous owner's name on the front free endpaper, a near fine copy in a very good dust jacket tanned at the spine and with small chips at the edges. An attractive copy overall.

Canberra: Australian National University, 1981. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/Near fine. xiii, 521, 15 pages. Pacific Linguistics, Series C, no. 64. First edition (first printing). A near fine hardcover copy in a near fine, slightly spine-faded dust jacket.

1988. Ephemera. Fine. A 225-word letter from the underground cartoonist to an antiquarian bookseller who often sold his work. In this letter, Wilson offers to sell Peter Howard several original illustrations (not present) for the upcoming book Tornado Alley by William S. Burroughs. The letter measures roughly 7 by 9 inches, and it is accompanied by the original hand-addressed manila envelope. Wilson is best-known for his often obscene Checkered Demon character. Wilson contributed to Zap, Arcade, and Weirdo comix. A fine letter and near fine envelope.

Edinburgh and London: Oliver and Boyd, 1938. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. The sequel to the Private Papers of a Bankrupt Bookseller, a very plausible first-hand account of a bookseller in difficult financial straits. The book purports to be papers found after the unlucky booksellers' demise. The author was in fact a member of local government in Scotland at the time the Bankrupt Bookseller books were written. He later went on to be a Member of Parliament and a director of the Royal Bank of Scotland. First edition (issued without a date or a printing statement). A very good or better copy in a very good dust jacket with a bit of chipping to the top of the spine.

Meridian, CT: Bayberry Hill Press, 1971. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. A short memoir of a bookish trip to the UK by the proprietor's of the Bayberry Hill Press. They visited the widow of the founder of the Ashendene Press and met various booksellers. Published in an edition of just over 80 copies. Illustrated from drawings by Richard Brzozowksi and colored initials designed by W. Haynes Fitzgerald. The type is Centaur and Arrighi Italic; the paper is Tovil. [vi], 22, [1] pages. 10-1/2 by 15-1/8 inches. The binding in quarter cloth and mabled-paper-covered boards. Minor shelfwear at the base of the boards, else a fine copy. This is no. 83. With a compliments slip from the press laid in.

New York and Archer City, TX: Simon and Schuster and Three Dogs Books, 2008. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. The most substantial of McMurtry's topical memoirs, this about bookselling (the others were about writing and Hollywood). This is the Three Dog Books issue, limited to 100 numbered copies signed by the author below an ink-stamp limitation statement. Three Dog Books was a store in Archer City, Texas, where McMurtry lived. For a number of years, he signed a limited number of copies of each of his new releases for them (he tried to discourage collectors from bothering him about signatures at his own bookstore). 259 pages. First edition (first printing). Fine in a fine dust jacket. One of 100 numbered copies signed by McMurtry. [NB: I have more than one copy, so the number you receive might not match the photos].

Hampton Falls, NH: Donald M. Grant, 2004. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. The expanded signed, limited edition of this color survey of Bradbury's publications, beginning with the earliest fanzines. Includes photographs of first editions, paperback reprints, foreign editions, trial artwork, as well as of the plays and movies based on Bradbury's work. This version has 32 extra black-and-white pages at the front, mostly devoted to a storyboard presentation of Bradbury's The Ghosts of Forever: A Film Fantasy, illustrated by Joseph A. Mugnaini. The book is bound in full blue leatherette stamped with a snakeskin pattern. It was published two years after the trade issue. The edition size is usually given as 350 copies, although your cataloguer does not know the source for that number as it doesn't appear to be printed in the book. [2], [34], xxvi, 195, [3 blank] pages. 9-3/4 by 11-1/2 inches. 195 pages. First edition (first printing). A fine copy in a fine clamshell box. This is copy 107 signed by Weist… Read More

Hampton Falls, NH: Donald M. Grant, 2004. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. The expanded signed, deluxe edition of this color survey of Bradbury's publications, beginning with the earliest fanzines. Includes photographs of first editions, paperback reprints, foreign editions, trial artwork, as well as of the plays and movies based on Bradbury's work. This version has 32 extra black-and-white pages at the front, mostly devoted to a storyboard presentation of Bradbury's The Ghosts of Forever: A Film Fantasy, illustrated by Joseph A. Mugnaini. The book is bound in full red leatherette stamped with a snakeskin pattern. It was published two years after the trade issue. The edition size is usually given as 26 copies, although your cataloguer does not know the source of that number as it doesn't appear to be printed in the book. [2], [34], xxvi, 195, [3 blank] pages. 9-3/4 by 11-1/2 inches. 195 pages. First edition (first printing). A fine copy in a very near fine clamshell box (minor bump to outer upper… Read More

New York: M. Lilien, 1981. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Near fine. A brief biography of this influential comic book author and artist, with a detailed bibliography of his many uncredited works for Disney's Donald Duck and other comic books. A key book on comics history. 228 pages. Illustrated with black-and-white halftone photographs. This is the scarce hardcover issue (the book was published in paperback at the same time and that version is much more common). First edition (first printing). A fine copy in a near fine dust jacket with a bit of creasing along the top edge).

Delhi: Manager of Publications, 1939. First Edition. 152 plants are listed, with scientific name, family, common name, habitat, parts used, distribution, and remarks about use. Includes plants for papermaking, rope, and ceremonial use. v, 40 pages, including an index. Published as the Botanical Survey of India, no. 3. Based on the coding at the base of the last page, probably issued in an edition of 1000 copies. First edition (first printing). Cover edges slightly chipped; some old worming. About very good in printed paper boards over a cloth spine. With three leaves of addenda and errata laid in.

[Mexico], 1898. A manuscript catalog of a career Mexican military officer's library, totalling more than about 650 works in 600 volumes, numbered and organized by subject. The list includes the title, author, and in some cases observations on each book, along with their series and identification numbers. Not surprisingly, the largest section of the library was devoted to books on military subjects (more than 230) and engineering (66). Among the literary titles were many works by Victor Hugo and Emile Zola. The catalog is handwritten in a 6 by 3-1/2 inch (oblong) lined notebook. The pages are gridded horizontally, with ten volumes listed per page spread. The leather covers are partially detached from the page block, else very good.

New York: John Day, 1939. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. The lecture given by Buck on accepting the Nobel Prize for literature. She was the third American (after Sinclair Lewis and Eugene O'Neill) and fourth woman (after Selma Lagerof, Grazia Deledda, and Sigrid Undset) to win the prize. Buck, whose best-known novel, The Good Earth, is set in China, uses the Nobel pulpit to discuss Chinese fiction, a little considered subject at the time. It wasn't until 2012 that a Chinese writer-Mo Yan-was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature. 59 pages. First edition (first printing). A very good copy in a very good dust jacket with a snag on the back panel resulting in a narrow band of creasing and some tears. Bookplate on the front pastedown. In a very good slipcase with some wear to the corners. This copy is one of an unspecified number signed by Buck and issued in a slipcase. It is possible that none of the signed copies were for sale. This one comes with a letter from the publisher… Read More

Burton, MI: Subterranean Press, 2010. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. An adventure novel about an Alexandre Dumas (père) manuscript, set in the world of rare books and here illustrated by Victor Chong. This deluxe edition is one of 500 numbered copies, signed by Perez-Reverte. 327 pages. With five moody full-page illustrations. A fine copy in a fine dust jacket. This is copy 346 of 500 signed by the author.

Burton, MI: Subterranean Press, 2010. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. An adventure novel about an Alexandre Dumas (père) manuscript, set in the world of rare books and here illustrated by Victor Chong. This deluxe edition is one of 500 numbered copies, signed by Perez-Reverte. 327 pages. With five moody full-page illustrations. A fine copy in a fine dust jacket. This is copy 8 of 500 signed by the author.

Furtwangen: Deutsches Uhrenmuseum, 2010. Trade paperback. Near fine. 189 pages. 8 by 11-1/4 inches. Furtwanger Beiträge zur Uhrengeschichte, neue Folge, Band 3. Exhibition catalog of rare German clock books. Illustrated with black-and-white photographs of title pages and representative plates. With bibliographic information and one or two paragraphs of description. Text in German. Uncommon. First edition (first printing). Near fine in wrappers (paperback).

Durham, NC: Fine Books Press, 2007. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. xiv, 209 pages. Essays on books and writers by the leading author on book collecting. First edition (first printing). A fine copy in a fine dust jacket.

New York: The Foliophiles, Inc, 1920. Ephemera. Fine. Two ephemeral pieces from the Society of Foliophiles, a company that produced collections of printed and manuscript leaves for Jazz Age book collectors. The two pieces are: 1) A leaf from a French Missal, Paris, 1858, with a decorative border, mounted on blue paper with a letterpress caption. In an unmarked envelope; 2) A British Museum color reproduction of a miniature from a 14th century Florentine choir book in a printed folder. With the handwritten note, "With the Season's Greetings - The Foliophiles." Fine examples. Uncommon.

Baltimore, MD: Cemetery Dance, 2014. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. Full-page, full-color reproductions of the covers of Fangoria. This is one of 500 copies signed by Timpone and four others. 389 pages. 8-1/2 by 11-1/4 inches. First edition (first printing). A fine copy in a fine dust jacket. Signed on the limitation page.

Seattle, WA: Fantagraphics Books, 2003. First Edition. Trade paperback. Near fine. 12 by 12 inches. 131 pages. First edition (first printing, with numberline ending in 1). A near fine copy (minor corner wear).

Burton, MI: Subterranean Press, 2013. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. A short story about a rare book dealer, written in English, translated into French by Benoit Domis, and re-translated back into English by Nicholas Royle. All three versions are presented in this book designed in the style of the Roycrofter's. This is one of 300 numbered copies signed by Smith, Domis, and Royle. 77 pages. First edition (first printing). A fine copy in a fine dust jacket. This is copy 96 of 300.