Search Results: Modernist Firsts from Quair Books

London:: Grant Richards Ltd, 1913. Good. First UK edition. 8vo, pp. + b/w frontis of Strindberg from an etching by Zorn, plus facsimile letter from Strindberg authorising Velma Swanston Howard to undertake the translations. Olive green cloth, gilt lettering to spine, single blind rule to boards. Top edge green. Wear to extremities, pen mark to front board. Foxing to edges, front and rear, occasionally to margins. A little shaken. Else, clean. Good+.

London: Picador/ Pan Books, 1988. FIRST UK EDITION. 8vo, pp. 227, [5], incl. Acker's own b/w line drawings. Original black cloth, spine lettered in silver. Bruising to spine ends. Uneven tanning to edges, toned. Else, clean and tidy. In the original illustrated dust jacket: gentle creasing and wear to edges, gently toned on reverse. Very good/ very good Acker dedicated Empire of the Senseless to "my tattooist". Empire of the Senseless was the experimental writer and performance artist's fifth book from a major publisher and her first foray into science fiction. Despite its setting in the speculative near future, "it remains insolently rooted in the world in which we belong, anchored by Acker's stubborn commitment to rendering visible the sexist, racist, capitalistic, father-fucking societal ego of her time�and of our own. Kathy Acker is a muckraker in the original sense, one who dredges up the dirt and puts it on display to the delight and horror of the reading public." (Kleeman, 2018). Acker… Read More

London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1958. FIRST EDITION. 8vo. Black cloth, silver lettering to spine. Slight lean to spine. Dusty top edge, else, clean and tight. In the original dust jacket: price-clipped, light edgewear, rear panel a little shelf-soiled. Near fine/ near fine. A pleasing copy of the double Oscar and Booker Prize-winning author's third novel.

London: Jonathan Cape Ltd, 1925. FIRST EDITION. Oblong 4to (20 x 26 cm), pp. 47, [1], incl. map of the world and nineteen striking line drawings by M. D. Cole, coloured in yellow and red. Quarter blue cloth, grey paper boards, lettered in black. Dappled fading to cloth, scuffed, edgewear, corners bumped and worn. Later gift inscription in blue biro to front endpaper, bands of toning to feps, closed tear to inner joint at map, some creasing and foxing, short closed tear to p. 45. A solid copy of Bryher's charming picture book, which invites young readers to imagine that "Perhaps one day you will take a steamer and visit some of the countries of Asia." Unusual. Jisc LHD finds three copies (BL, Bodleian and NLS). Good The second of Bryher's books to be published by Cape in 1925, alongside West (featuring another steam ship; see our copy ref. 1916). The title speaks to two of Bryher's enduring interests, education and travel. With a printed dedication "For Perdita", H.D.'s daughter, who Bryher and… Read More

Faber and Faber, 1940. Good. First edition, first printing. 8vo, pp. 80. Brown paper boards with black lettering. Wear to head of spine, bruising to heel and top corners. Browning, as expected, to endpapers, else clean and tight. Dressed in contemporary peach DJ with blue lettering and design - soiled, small losses to head and tail of spine, sunning. With a list of Sesame Books, Faber's sub-series, to the back cover.

Paris: Henry Babou and Jack Kahane, 1929. First Paris Edition (in English). Large 8vo, pp. [218], [2]. Quarter cream linen lettered in black over patterned paper boards. Corners bruised and worn, edgewear, esp. to bottom edges. Boards toned. Occasional foxing, faint bookseller's stamp to rear pastedown, a bit shaken. Else, clean. A good+ copy. With a scathing Preface by Edward Garnett, directed at British censorship laws. Like Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness, Sleeveless Errand fell foul of the Obscene Publications Act 1857. Following the seizure and destruction of the London edition, primarily for its 'Bloody Hells,' Jack Kahane acted quickly to reissue the book in Paris; Kahane would set up the Obelisk Press. Fortunately, Norah James was not deterred by the 'moral righteousness and official Pecksniffery' of the British Home Office (in Garnett's words) and went on to author over 60 books. Known as Jimmy to her friends, in later life Jones lived with her partner Barbara Beauchamp.

London: Faber and Faber, 1952. Hardback. Very Good. 8vo.. First edition. Burgandy cloth, black lettering to spine. Lean to spine, slight bow to front board. Dusty top edge, tanned edges, light offsetting to endpapers, very occasional spotting. Else, clean and tidy. In the bright original DJ - staining to spine, small losses to top edge and head of spine, which has been taped by PO, a few short closed tears. A VG copy of Boyle's sobering stories of post-war Germany, where she lived from 1948. Framed by a lengthy Introduction.

London: Elkin Mathews & Marrot, 1929. LIMITED EDITION, SIGNED BY STW, no. 3 of 530. Small 4to, pp. [32]. Illustrated buff and lavender paper boards, with matching endpapers. Edges rough trimmed. Lightly soiled, hair line crack to head of front joint, wear and bruising to extremities, loss and short closed tear to heel of spine. Offsetting to endpapers. Flat signed in black pen to limitation page. Very good. No. eighteen of The Woburn Books: the final title in the short-running series. Boards illustrated by 'J. G. P. '28'.

London: B. T. Batsford Ltd, 1945. Good. FIRST UK EDITION. 8vo. With frontis and photographic plates by Cecil Beaton. Blue cloth, lettered in dark blue to spine, top edge blue: all faded, spine cloth bleached of colour, uneven sunning to boards. Feps and final page lightly spotted, else, pleasingly clean and tidy. Good+ Stein's immersive account of her war in occupied France with Toklas and Basket.