Search Results: Authors starting with M from Fine Editions Ltd

à Amsterdam: chez E. Maaskamp, près du Palais, 1816. First Edition thus. Half-Calf. Fine. First separate edition of this rare guide for tourists to the northern provinces of the Netherlands, Oblong foolscap 8vo (113 x 162mm): [80]pp, with title-page vignette by W. van Senus and 37 finely executed aquatints printed in sepia by L. Portman after G. J. Michaelis, F. A. Milats and others, each followed by numbered letterpress leaf with descriptive text in Dutch and French translation on verso. Contemporary brown half leather with vertically ribbed matching cloth sides, marbled end papers. The plates are of historic buildings, monuments, and statues, as well a scenes of Dutch cultural life, including ice skating, boating, and the like, in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Delft, Haarlem, and other locales. Old manuscript ex libris (in English) to first blank of Ada Sylverwood [?] Eames, 1880, who has inscribed on facing paste-down: "A sacred relic from old Ruddington." A fine example, tightly bound and… Read More

London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., Ltd, 1915. First Edition. Pictorial Boards. Near Fine+. First Impression of this supernatural fantasy, first published in The Evening News after the Battle of Mons, in 1914. Foolscap 8vo (169 x 104mm): 86pp. Heavy slate-blue pictorial boards printed in dark blue, blue end papers. Fanciful armorial book plate of James Madison Ross ("Spem Successus alit") to front paste-down. A handsome copy, spine and pages light toned, title page a bit spotted, but tightly bound and generally clean throughout. Goldstone & Sweetser 14a. Danielson, p. 43. Locke I, p. 147. Bleirer (Supernatural Fiction) 1074. A second edition, with portrait frontispiece, appeared the same year. According to Locke, "A celebrated short ghost story of the first world war which was at the time widely believed to be factual," telling how British troops were miraculously rescued from the Germans by a ghostly St. George and his bowmen of Agincourt. Also includes "The soldiers' rest," "The… Read More

London: Charles Corbett, 1750. Early Printing. Marbled Wrappers. Fine. Third Edition of this rare piece of British outlaw history (ESTC and OCLC identify only one copy, at Northwestern University, and neither ABPC nor RBH record copies at auction). Crown 8vo (183 x 115mm) [2],54pp. (Even though the extended title mentions a portrait frontispiece of Maclean in this edition, neither ESTC nor OCLC does.) Recent marbled paper wrappers, white printed paper label to upper cover, untrimmed fore- and bottom edges. Very occasional spotting but generally clean and bright throughout. A very rare copy, not in Halkett & Laing. Maclean (occasionally "MacLaine" or "Maclane," 1724-1750) was a notorious highwayman, whose accomplice was William Plunkett. He was known as the "Gentleman Highwayman," because of his courteous behavior during robberies. One moonlight night in November 1749, the pair stopped Horace Waipole in Hyde Park, as he was returning from Holland House, and Maclean's pistol went off accidentally and… Read More

London: John Murray, Albemarle-Street, 1827. First Edition. Cloth. Fine/Recounts the , successively in possession of the Georgian physicians John Radcliffe, Richard Mead, Anthony Askew, David Pitcairn, and Matthew Baillie, and then returned to a glass case in the library of London's Royal College of Physicians. "A gold-headed cane was once a conspicuous part of the physician's adornment, and the particular gold-headed cane of this work was owned by Dr. John Radcliffe (1650-1714), an irascible London physician, who passed it on to a younger contemporary. The custom of passing on the cane continued through a series of five physicians, ending with Matthew Baillie, whose widow presented it to the Royal College of Physicians in 1823. The originally anonymous book is written as an 'autobiography' of the cane and, in a series of charming essays, tells the story—actually biographies—of its several owners. Along the way there is much information concerning the state of medicine and its practice in England… Read More

London: Victor Gollancz, 1929. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine. First Impression of MacNeice's first book, collecting forty-four poems, written while he was still a student at Oxford. One of 1,000 copies printed. Crown 8vo (185 x 121mm): 80pp. Publisher's black cloth (second-issue binding; first was cream canvas), verdigris green paper spine label printed in black. Neat owner's signature in pencil, dated 1933, to front fly-leaf. Wanting the dust jacket. Fly leaves toned, label rubbed (partially affecting two letters), but an excellent, virtually pristine example. Hayward 342. Armitage & Clark A1 (citing only the black cloth binding). Dedicated to Giovanna Marie Therese Babette Ezra, stepdaughter of an Oxford scholar, who MacNeice married in 1930. "MacNeice's critical reputation has steadily risen in the last two decades. From being regarded as something of a flashy rhetorician, he has come to be seen as one of the major twentieth-century poets writing in English." (Literary Encyclopedia) In the… Read More

Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press [through 1992], 1989. First Impression. `. Fine/Fine. True First English-language Editions of Mahfouz's masterpiece, one of the greatest works in Arab literature, complete in three volumes, each inscribed by the lead translator (Hutchins). Translated by William Maynard Hutchins, Olive E. Kenny, and Lorne M. Kenny. Royal 8vo (233 x 151mm): [8],498,[4]; [6],422,[4]; [8],308,[4]pp. Attractively and uniformly bound in quarter cloth (maroon, pale green, and French blue, respectively) over paper-covered boards (mid-brown, deep beige, and pink), spines stamped in gold; saffron, speckled pale green, and pinkish-red end papers (each matching its dust-jacket border); photo-illustrated dust jackets. Briefly inscribed on each half-title page by Hutchins. Presumed first printings, dated 1989, 1991, and 1992 on copyright pages, with no additional printings listed,and with publisher's code BG. Truly a spectacular set, all volumes very tight, square, and giving every… Read More

London: Allan Wingate, 1957. First British Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Impression of Mailer's third book, a roman à clef whose protagonist is a recently discharged Air Force officer and would-be novelist. Crown 8vo (182 x 115mm): 388pp. Publisher's French blue cloth, spine stamped in gold, matching blue top edge. Typographic dust jacket, priced at 15s. Virtually pristine (apparently unread), square and tightly bound and clean throughout. Yet another example of the value to be found in the graphically superior designs of most UK editions of American authors's works. Mailer's title refers to the Parc-aux-Cerfs, a resort Louis XV of France kept stocked with young women for his personal pleasure. The novel "seems to have been a literary response to the tempestuousness of his second marriage [in a notorious incident, Mailer stabbed his wife in the shoulder during one of their public arguments], but it also makes use of the impressions of Hollywood gained from his experiences as a screenwriter.… Read More

London: Jonathan Cape, 1952. First Impression. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. A virtually flawless example of the first UK edition of the author's second book, in the stunning red, white, and black wraparound dust jacket, illustrated by Laterka and priced 12s/6d. Fine (and apparently unread) publisher's blue cloth stamped in silver on the spine and upper cover; Fine (hint of rubbing to one end of spine and front flap corners) pictorial jacket. Yet another example of the value to be found in the graphically superior designs of most UK editions of American authors' works (our specialty). N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, with dust jackets carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).

London: John Murray, Albermarle-Street, 1820. First Edition. Paper-covered Boards. First Edition, with the rare 4-page publisher's catalog, dated April 1820, of this classic of economic theory. 8vo: vi,601, 1]pp. "London: Printed by C. Roworth, Bell-yard, Temple-bar." on colophon and title-page verso, as called for. Uncut, in the original publisher's drab blue paper-covered boards, largely unopened, with brown paper spine and remnants of original printed label. Internally, fresh and bright with only occasionally spotting, original spine largely perished but restored sensitively by an expert conservationist, the boards somewhat stained and bumped but thoroughly original, hinges reinforced. Small owner's book label, probably contemporary, partly effaced, reading T ? Cobb. Clamshell case with leather spine label gilt. An unsophisticated copy of a truly scarce (in publisher's binding), important, and desirable book, a cornerstone of economic thought and a major influence on other scientific endeavors,… Read More

Detroit: Mode A [through 2010], 2006. First Edition. Card Covers. Fine. First Edition of this experiment in collective autobiography, complete in ten volumes. Crown 8vo (173 x 104mm): 79,[1]; 90,[6]; 127,[1]; 159,[1]; 143,[1]; 159,[1]; 207,[1]; 207,[1]; 223,[1]; 271,[1]pp. Publisher's white stiff card covers, original wrappers with French flaps, printed in various colors and priced $12.95. Part 1 signed to half-title page by Ron Silliman, one of ten poets who collaborated on the project: "For Richard / Back in the / Day," with printout of e-mail correspondence between Silliman and the recipient, California poet Richard Krech, and Bagazine postcard addressed to Krech in Albany, California. Part 2 signed to Krech by Lyn Hejinian on title page. Very Fine (pristine and unread), in custom cloth-covered slip case by Fitterer. The Grand Piano (the title derives from a legendary San Francisco coffeehouse where the project's authors programmed, coordinated, and participated in a reading and performance… Read More

Bath: Printed by Gye and Son, Market-Place, 1813. Paper-Covered Boards. Fine. First (and only) Edition of this satirical account, signed on title page by the author's second wife, Mary. Crown 8vo (189 x 104 mm): [2],125,[1]pp, with hand-colored folding frontispiece, one further folding plate (of bourgeois British couple), and woodcut of the dance of death. Recent period-style drab paper-covered boards, contrasting cream-colored spine with paper title label printed in black, all edges gilt, title page in red and black. A superb example, with brilliant association, tightly bound and clean throughout (virtually pristine), with gorgeous hand-coloring. Rare, with COPAC noting only three copies: BL, Cambridge, and Trinity College (Dublin). Scarce in commerce as well, with ABPC listing only one copy (1987), and RBH one other (1992) since 1950. Bibliotheca Somersetensis, p. 334. NSTC M979. Mangin's Huguenot ancestors settled in Dublin during the second half of the eighteenth century. Edward, the eldest son,… Read More

London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson [through 1980], 1977. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Printings of Manning's second major semi-autobiographical wartime novel sequence, sequel to The Balkan Trilogy, continuing the story of Harriet and Guy Pringle. Publisher's original cloth (French blue, orange, and slate), spines stamped in gold; dust jackets illustrated with works (respectively) by David Hockney, Edward Ardizzone, and Alun Hood and priced £4.25, £4.95, and £5.95 . A superb set, bindings square and tight, contents clean and crisp, jackets fine and bright. Virtually pristine. Olivia Manning is widely regarded as having written one of the three best fictional portrayals (with Waugh and Powell) of the experience of the Second World War in Europe and the Middle East. Anthony Burgess (99 Novels) called the Balkan Trilogy, Manning's first wartime narrative sequence, "probably the most important long work of fiction written by a woman since the war." In the Levant Trilogy, her portrait of a… Read More

London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1977. Advance Reading Copy. Wrappers. Fine. Uncorrected proof of the first title in Manning's Levant Trilogy, with publisher's press release and compliments slip laid in. Tall 8vo (214 x 138mm): 196pp. Publisher's stiff tangerine-colored wrappers printed in black. Fine, tightly bound copy (apparently unread) with light smudge to bottom edge. Burgess, p. 76. In the Balkan and Levant trilogies (we have both sets on offer), Manning's "portrait of a group of British expatriate teachers, writers and diplomats caught up in the disruptions of the conflict [Second World War] sets an intimate study of personal relationships in the context of international political and military intrigue across a five year period. Her fictionalized treatments of wartime Romania, Greece and Egypt convey as a backdrop the suffering caused by the collapse of old imperial Europe, the rampant spread of fascist ideology and the mass displacement of populations, while focusing in the foreground on… Read More

London: Verona Press, 1939. First Edition thus. Hardcover. Near Fine+/Near Fine+. First Limited (and First Illustrated) Edition, number 145 of 1200 copies printed at the Officina Bodoni on handmade paper. Oversized 8vo: [xii],316,[2, colophon]pp, Illustrated with 16 superb colored lithographs by the French Cubist artist Marie Laurencin (1883-1956). Publisher's olive-green and cream patterned cloth, red paper lettering piece gilt to spine, fore- and bottom edges untrimmed, title page in orange and black, manuscript inscription to front fly-leaf in elegant hand, stone-colored dust jacket printed in pale olive-green. Without the slipcase. According to Kirkpatrick, "Though printed in 1939, the Second World War delayed publication until 1947." Near Fine or better (spine ends lightly rubbed, page edges spotted) else a crisp, bright copy in Near Fine or better jacket (several light smudges and insignificant pale stains). NCBEL IV 653-654. Kirkpatrick D6. Connolly 40. First edition of this collection, its… Read More

San Francisco: [Britton & Rey, printers], 1907. First Edition. Wrappers. Fine-. First (and apparently only) Printing of this work of xenophobic fiction. Slim demy 8vo (230 x 154mm): 28pp on coated stock, with folding map titled "Map of the World Showing the three Great Oceans as Units and our Unfortified Military Stations." Original stapled light grey-green paper wrappers printed in black. Cover edges very lightly toned, staples rusted, but an excellent example. "Antiquated military hardware, bureaucratic bungling, labor problems, and foreign-born U.S. resident saboteurs spell defeat for America in a war with China and Japan in 1912. Manson was San Francisco's City Engineer in charge of the water supply. His brief excursion into the world of fiction tells of a crisis precipitated by Asian-American racial animosity, resulting in a declaration of war by China and Japan. Within a few months, Asian forces invade and seize Pearl Harbor and other American bases in the Pacific and blockade the West Coast.… Read More

London: Printed for G. Strahan, S. Ballard, J. Brotherton, W. Meadows, T. Cox, W. Hinchliffe, J. Stag, J. Clarke, in Duck-Lane, S. Birt, D. Browne, T. Astley, S. Austen, J. Shuckburgh, L. Gilliver, J. Hodges, E. Wicksteed, J. Oswald, J. Comyns, C. Bathurst, T. Fisher, J. Carter, and A. Wilde, 1741. Full Calf. Fine. Eleventh Edition, complete in eight volumes, of this espionage saga admired by Defoe, who published Continuation of Turkish Letters Writ by a Turkish Spy in 1718. 12mo(162 x 96mm): xxvi,[6],viii,[10],312; [24],276; [22],287,[1]; [22],288; [22],276; [22],264; [14],248; [18],280pp, with copper-engraved frontispiece of "Mahmut the Turkish spy" to volume one. Full speckled English calf, spines in six compartments divided by raised bands, covers framed with gilt rules and floral roll in blind, red morocco letter-pieces gilt, edges speckled red. A superb set, in a handsome contemporary binding, securely bound and clean throughout. ESTC citation no. T91588. Blackmer 210. Moore 406. Volume One,… Read More

New York: Harper & Row, 1968. First Edition, as stated. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition (so stated) of the author's first book published in English translation, a novella and eight short stories. 8vo: [4],170pp. Publisher's quarter-bound brick-red cloth stamped in burgundy, mustard paper-covered boards, fore-edge untrimmed, boldly patterned end papers, illustrated dust jacket priced $5.95. Virtually pristine, an exemplary example, apparently unread, showing all first-issue points ('H-S' code on copyright page, without number line on terminal leaf), in a bright, nearly flawless first-issue jacket (Jerry Bauer credited for photograph of the author on the back panel, date code 0968 on front flap), with just mild toning to top of back panel and minute, nearly unnoticeable rub at the front spine-panel fold. Truly a collector's copy. Written between 1956 and 1957 and first published in 1961, the title novella (the book also includes a second, longer novella, Big Mama's Funeral) tells the story of an… Read More

London: Jonathan Cape, 1970. First British Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Impression, plus an uncommon uncorrected proof, of García Márquez's first novel following the worldwide success of One Hundred Years of Solitude. 8vo (215 x 130; 209 x 135mm): [6],229,[1]; [6],269,[1]pp. Publisher's Prussian blue paper-covered boards with simulated cloth grain, spine stamped in gold, top edge stained lighter blue; illustrated dust jacket priced £4.50. Virtually pristine and unread, baring several spots to fore-edge and light offsetting to end papers. The uncorrected proof copy, in stiff yellow wrappers printed in black, is equally fine. An ambitious, experimental novel, "repetitious, circular, and perplexing," with "lengthy sentences, some of which run on for pages," reminiscent of Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! The novel recounts in six chapters, from various perspectives à la Rash mon, the demise of a malevolent dictator in an unnamed Caribbean country, each chapter a single paragraph of extended… Read More

London: Samuel Tinsley, 10, Southampton Street, Strand, 1875. First Edition. Full Calf. Fine. First (and only) Impression of this rare and obscure triple-decker, inscribed by Marshall to fly-leaf of volume one. Crown 8vo (181 x 120mm): [4],255,[1]; [2],259,[1]; [2],247,[1],16[publisher's catalog dated September, 1875]pp. Recent black polished calf, covers paneled in blind and gilt, spines in five compartments divided by gilt-ruled raised bands, red leather lettering pieces gilt, pale yellow coated end papers, all edges gilt. First and final few leaves of each volume lightly spotted, else tightly bound and clean and bright throughout, an exceptional set. Allibone (Supplement) II, p. 1078. Not in Kucich & Taylor, Sadleir, nor Wolff. The shadow alluded to in this novel's title is cast by a secret debt owed by a squire whose ancestor's name appears on the roll of Norman invaders who fought in the Battle of Hastings, in 1066, to a country doctor, the great grandson of a Jacobite earl beheaded in 1745.… Read More

Paris: Auguste Udron, rue du Battoir, no. 20, 1827. Quarter-Calf. Near Fine+. Rare First Edition of Martin's charming melon lover's manual. 12mo (129 x 75mm): [4],iv,156pp, with delicately four hand-colored lithographs depicting nine varieties of melon (in section and whole) and a Piquet à Thermomètre de Regnier. Contemporary black quarter-calf lettered, ruled, and decorated with Empire motifs in gilt over deep blue textured paper-covered boards, marbled end-papers, brown silk page marker. Tide line at foot of first three leaves (barely perceptible to following seventeen), occasional light scattered spotting (plates unaffected), but a well-preserved example of this rare horticultural title. Vicaire 568. Carteret, III, p. 401 ("charmant petit livre"). Cagle 310. Maggs no. 645 (Food and Drink) 414. Seventeen chapters cover a wide range of topics on melons, including their cultivation on trellises and in rows, care, varieties, and gastonomic appeal, ending with a ten-page bibliography. Martin… Read More