Search Results: Authors starting with D from Peter Harrington

Edinburgh., 1850. Large and accurate map of Asia in two parts, north and south. Although aspects of the map are in a copperplate style, the degree of detail and the date suggest this is a steel engraving. Lizars illustrated natural history books, and also engraved bank notes Steel engraving. Original colour. Very good condition, good margins Size: 87 x 77 cm. MacKenzie, British Prints

Paris: Rigaud,, 1716. The first female translator of Homer First Dacier edition, in a beautiful contemporary French binding decorated with small gilt shell tools. Dacier's celebrated translation into French of the Odyssey is considered her "crowning achievement" (Folger, p. 34) alongside her equally successful translation of the Iliad (1711). The only daughter of the noted Hellenist Tanneguy Lefèvre, Anne Dacier (c.1654-1720) began translating classical works from an early age, beginning with Callimachus and progressing to versions of the poems of Anacreon and Sappho. She was a staunch champion of Homer in the Ancients and Moderns debate, in which she defended his works against what she saw as the contemporary decline in standards of taste. Despite literary feuds with Antoine Houdar de la Motte and Thémiseul de Saint-Hyacinthe, and her differences in particular with Alexander Pope, with whom she fundamentally disagreed on how best to approach translating Homer, Dacier was held in high regard by her… Read More

Paris: Denys Thierry,, 1681. When I look at you even for a short time, it is no longer possible for me to speak First edition of the first translation of Sappho by a woman, paired with her version of Anacreon, in a contemporary binding and complete with the often-lacking frontispiece. Prior to Dacier, Louise Labé in France and Gaspara Stampa in Italy published poetic imitations of Sappho, but Dacier was the first woman to translate the poems themselves into any modern language. The only daughter of the noted Hellenist Tanneguy Lefèvre, Anne Dacier (c.1654-1720) translated classical works from an early age, beginning with Callimachus and progressing to Anacreon and Sappho. "By choosing to translate Anacreon and Sappho into French, instead of presenting them with a Latin translation, as her father did, Anne Le Fèvre was seeking to introduce these two authors to a larger audience. That is indeed what she says in her preface to Anacreon, specifying that she is particularly thinking about women: 'By… Read More

Kansas City: Hudson-Kimberly Publishing Company,, 1903. The Boxer Rebellion, as recounted by America's last Union general First edition, first printing, familial association copy, with the ownership signature of the author's daughter Helen Daggett Patterson (1881-1970) on the front free endpaper. Patterson subsequently passed this copy to Trevor Washington Swett Jr, a US Army colonel; his ownership inscription is below her signature. Aaron Daggett (1837-1938) was appointed brivet brigadier general by Andrew Johnson in February 1866, having served with distinction during the Civil War. Following service in the Indian Wars and the Spanish-American War, he was appointed brigadier general in the regular army in 1900, leading the 14th Infantry Regiment during the Boxer Rebellion. By his death, he was the last surviving high-ranking officer to have fought on the Union side. His account describes American and allied troop movements in China, as well as day-to-day experiences of battle and the conduct of key… Read More

New York: Alfred A. Knopf,, 1974. First edition, first printing, preceding the UK edition which was published later that year. Comprising "The Visitor", "The Great Switcheroo", "The Last Act", and "Bitch", this adult story collection gathers four explicit tales which were first printed in Playboy between 1965 and 1974. Octavo. Original orange cloth, spine lettered in gilt, author's initials stamped on front cover within gilt frame, publisher's device on rear cover, top edge orange, fore edge untrimmed. With dust jacket. 1974 Christmas gift inscription on first blank in blue ink. Spine head bumped, faint mottling of cloth edges, foxing to book block edges, internally clean; unclipped jacket slightly creased, mild sunning of spine, panels bright: a very good copy in like jacket.

New York: Alfred A. Knopf,, 1983. First US edition, first printing. The book was first published the previous year in the UK by Jonathan Cape. The US edition changes the original printed order of the rhymes. Octavo. Original pictorial boards, spine and front cover lettered in yellow and white. With dust jacket. Illustrated throughout by Quentin Blake. Foot of spine a little bumped, leaves slightly creased; unclipped jacket a little worn at extremities, adhesive tape repairs to reverse: a very good copy in like jacket.

London: Collins,, 1949. The author's first novel which he later suppressed First UK edition, first impression, signed by the author on the front free endpaper. The book was first published the previous year in the US, and is notable as the first book about nuclear war to be published there after the bombing of Hiroshima. The final chapter is slightly rewritten and expanded in the UK edition. Jeremy Treglown notes that "Dahl may... have had Tolkien in mind in writing the story... there are echoes too of Lewis Carroll's mixture of the irrational and the commonsensical. But these elements are combined with the realism of his tougher war stories". Treglown also suggests that the Leader of the Gremlins in the novel "is a prototype of Mr Willy Wonka". Octavo. Original purple cloth, spine lettered in gilt, cream endpapers, lower edge untrimmed. With dust jacket. Contemporary ownership signature to front free endpaper. A crisp copy, spine slightly bumped, minor crease to spine, some foxing; extremities of… Read More

London: Jonathan Cape,, 1989. Later impression, inscribed by the author on front free endpaper, "To Adam, Love Roald Dahl". This was the first of Dahl's works to be illustrated by Blake and was originally published in 1978. This is the seventh reprint. A prophetic contemporary review in the Times Literary Supplement stated that "the combination of Roald Dahl as storyteller with Quentin Blake as illustrator must be the recipe for a bestseller". Quarto. Original pictorial boards, spine lettered in black, front cover lettered in red and black, green endpapers. No jacket issued. With numerous colour illustrations by Quentin Blake. Bookseller's ticket on front pastedown from Dahl's local bookshop (The Abbey Bookshop, Great Missenden). Slight foxing to endpapers; a near-fine copy. Times Literary Supplement, 29 September 1978.

London: Michael Joseph,, 1974. Signed by the author First UK edition, first impression, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "Gerald Milward-Oliver, With lots of good wishes Roald Dahl, 1 Oct. 1980". Octavo. Original dark blue boards, titles to spine in silver. With dust jacket. Negligible rubbing to spine ends and tips; else a fine copy in the jacket.

London: Jonathan Cape,, 1982. Uncorrected proof copy with provisional publication details on front wrapper. Dahl's fantastical tale was expanded from a short story found in his 1975 book Danny, the Champion of the World, and was described in the first edition dust jacket blurb as "Dahl's most startling and wonderful tale since Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". A film adaptation, directed by Steven Spielberg, was released in 2016. Jeremy Treglown assesses Dahl's legacy in his biography and notes that not all of the author's books will last, but concludes "the best - especially The BFG - surely will" (p. 9). Octavo. Original orange wrappers, lettering in black, publisher's device repeated in black. Black and white illustrations within the text, all by Quentin Blake. Jeremy Treglown, Roald Dahl, 1994.

London: Harper Collins and Jonathan Cape,, 1991. The limited commemorative edition The Commemorative Edition, limited to 500 sets of which this is a mixed set with numbers 459, 464 (Danny the Champion of the World and Esio Trot), and 465 (Matilda). This edition was published on the 75th anniversary of the author's birth on 13 September 1991. The publishers announced this special limited edition stating that "only 500 sets are being produced and no further similar commemorative editions will be permitted for a period of 50 years". The paper used on the boards and the slipcases was a "special paper design... reproduced by courtesy of the Board of Trustees of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the machine plates and film to be destroyed after printing". Furthermore, the text was "redesigned in a uniform typeface, and printed on heavy-weight Consort Royal Sword Tint, especially manufactured for this edition. The text plates and film will be destroyed after printing". The books were available only on… Read More

London: Jonathan Cape,, 1983. A beautifully bound copy First edition, first impression. Winner of the Whitbread Award for Children's Novel in 1983, the book was adapted into a stage play and a two-part radio dramatization for the BBC, a 1990 movie directed by Nicolas Roeg which starred Anjelica Huston and Rowan Atkinson, and an opera by Marcus Paus and Ole Paus. Octavo (222 x 149 mm). Finely bound by the Chelsea Bindery in bright blue morocco, titles to spine and front board onlaid in pale blue morocco and blocked in black, pictorial onlay wrapped around front and back board after the original dust jacket, twin rule to turn-ins in black, plain blue endpapers, gilt edges. Housed in a bright blue flat-back cloth box. With black and white illustrations. A fine copy.

Harmondsworth: Viking,, 1986. Presentation copy First edition, first impression. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Colin, Love Roald". The recipient was Colin Ross-Munro. Colin's wife, Jan, was an old friend of Dahl's second wife, Liccy. Two Fables was published in honour of Dahl's 70th birthday. Octavo. Original black boards, titles to spine gilt. With dust jacket. Colour frontispiece and black and white illustrations in the text. Small bump to spine, small mark to foot of rear endpapers, an excellent copy in the jacket with slight rubbing to extremities, small crease to front panel near spine, small mark to foot of rear panel.

New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux,, 1984. An autobiography is... usually full of all sorts of boring details First US edition, signed limited issue, number 197 of 200 copies, signed by the author. In his autobiographical collection of stories from childhood, Dahl includes his fondness for confectionery, his Norwegian ancestry, and his loathing for most schoolteachers. Octavo. Original brown cloth, spine lettered in gilt, front cover with pictorial design in blind, pictorial endpapers. No jacket as issued. Housed in the publisher's slipcase. With black and white photographic illustrations throughout the text. Minor wear to slipcase with minor cracking to one joint: a fine copy in a near-fine slipcase.

London: Hamish Hamilton,, 1946. The author's first adult book First UK edition, first impression, presentation copy, inscribed "E. K. / [diagonal line] / R. D. / March '47" on front free endpaper. This collection of stories, based on his experiences in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, was Dahl's second book, his first of short stories and his first for adults. The US edition was published earlier the same year. Octavo. Original blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt. With dust jacket. Bookplate to front pastedown. Extremities a little bumped, spine lightly sunned; some minor loss to extremities of slightly toned dust jacket, unclipped, a few adhesive tape repairs to reverse: a very good copy in a very good dust jacket.

Milwaukie, Oregon: Dark Horse Books,, 2006. First Dark Horse edition, first printing; a facsimile reviving the author's first book, which had previously only been published in the American (1943) and British (1944) editions. The work was originally intended as a promotional device for a feature-length Disney animation which was abandoned before completion. In his preface, Disney historian Leonard Maltin outlines the project's fascinating history. The production had cost Walt Disney $50,000 at the time of cancellation. Part of the difficulties laid in establishing copyright, as Dahl was at that time serving in the RAF where "gremlins" were traditionally blamed for mechanical failures. "It didn't take long for the name to become part of common language... If a book or pamphlet had typographical errors in it, one could always blame it on Gremlins who gummed up the works. [But] this in no way discredits Dahl's charming story or his invention of the details surrounding their origins" (p. vi). In a deal… Read More

London: Viking,, 1995-96. First Quentin Blake editions, first impressions, of these four children's classics, which had previously been published with illustrations by other artists. Four works, octavo. Original green, black, and blue boards, spines lettered in gilt and silver. With dust jackets. 1996 Christmas gift inscription on front pastedown of Giant Peach. Bumps to board edges, contents toned as usual, two leaves of Elevator creased at upper corner; jackets with light creases and sunning to spines, generally bright, faint splash mark to foot of Giant Peach, issued without printed prices: a very good set in like jackets.

London: Jonathan Cape,, 1982. First edition, first impression, of Dahl and Blake's reinterpretation of six classic fairy tales including "Cinderella", "Jack and the Beanstalk", "Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs", "Goldilocks and the Three Bears", "Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf", and "The Three Little Pigs". Octavo. Original pictorial boards, spine and front cover lettered in black and purple, buff endpapers. No jacket issued. Illustrated throughout by Quentin Blake. Bookseller's label to front free endpaper. Spine very slightly skewed and toned, minor surface scratches to covers, some minor foxing: a very good copy.

London: Jonathan Cape,, 1989. Later impression, inscribed by the author on front free endpaper, "To Adam, Love Roald Dahl". The title was first published in 1983 and first featured illustrations by Quentin Blake in 1984. This is the third reprint of the Blake edition. The book presents Dahl's nine poem on animals, including "The Tummy Beast". Large octavo. Original illustrated boards, spine and front cover lettered in black and brown, covers with colour illustrations, blue endpapers. Issued without jacket. With numerous full page and other colour illustrations within the text by Quentin Blake. Bookseller's ticket on front pastedown from Dahl's local bookshop (The Abbey Bookshop, Great Missenden). Head and foot of spine slightly bumped; a near-fine copy.

London: Jonathan Cape,, 1977. Inscribed by the author First edition, first impression, inscribed by the author on the title page, "To Jonna, with love, Roald Dahl, 30 Nov. 1984". Written for a slightly older readership than his other works, the collection includes two semi-autobiographical stories, in turn based on Dahl's experience as a fighter pilot in the Second World War and exploring his motivation to become a writer. A film adaptation of "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" was released in September 2023. Directed by Wes Anderson, members of the cast include Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Octavo. Original blue boards, spine lettered in gilt, beige endpapers. With dust jacket. Two pages of photographic illustrations. Bookseller's ticket on front pastedown from Dahl's local bookshop (The Abbey Bookshop, Great Missenden). Head and foot of spine slightly bumped, top edge irregularly stained yellow, light foxing to fore edge; jacket a little worn at top, spine… Read More