Search Results: Authors starting with O from Henry Sotheran Ltd.

2006. New York: Crown Publishers, 2006. 8vo., dual-layered black publisher's boards, gilt to spine; camel-coloured endpapers; original unclipped dust jacket ($25.00) with a photograph of the author by Deborah Feingold; pp. [ix], 2-375, [i]; inscribed by Obama to title; aside from very minimal compression to boards, and creases to jacket, a fine copy. First edition as stated, later impression. Boldly inscribed by the former president in black felt tip to the title page (slightly bleeding through to the acknowledgements). The author's second book (his memoir Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance was published in 1995) became number one on both the New York Times and bestsellers lists in the autumn of 2006, after being endorsed by Oprah Winfrey. Obama announced his presidential campaign on February 10, 2007, a little more than three months after the book's release.

1825. Winchester: James Robbins, [1825]. Small-folio (c. 300 x 200 mm), pp. 9, printed on vellum; a little spotted in places, marginal traces of humidity; loose and disbound. Extremely rare, with only one further copy recorded, at Hampshire Archives. This prison record, actually not a calendar at all, lists 41 named convicts with their age, crime and sentence on pages two to four, followed by death sentences (40 in all), offences under the revenue law, and convictions for various crimes, such as ‘unlawfully cutting Timber without the consent of its Owner’. The final four pages are taken up by name, age, crime and sentence of 136 prisoners in the County Bridewell. Sarah Russen, aged 36, e.g. had been imprisoned for a year for ‘being a lewd woman’; ‘being a rogue and vagabond’ could result in three months. Other severely punishable crimes were killing rabbits (6 months), ‘having part of a deer in his possession’ (12 months) or ‘leaving his family’ (three months and hard labour).… Read More

1891. Yokahama, Japan: Lane, Crawford & Co. [1891]. Oblong 4to. Original green cloth, lettered in gilt to upper cover, bookbinder's ticket of N. Yubi, Minami Nabecho, Tokyo, pasted to front fixed endpaper; pp. [viii], 70; 38 photogravures on 30 leaves reproduced by Ogawa after photographs by the authors, captioned tissue guard to each, single map at rear (engraved by Ogawa); re-backed, light bubbling and spotting to cloth, but internally very clean, final plate and map with trace of a little insect damage to gutter; provenance: slightly later I.C.S.T. Geology Department Library (Imperial College of Science and Technology, London; founded in 1907) stamp to front paste-down and title-page, later Judd Library stamp added. An extraordinary series of photographs detailing the destruction wrought in the Japanese prefectures of Aichi and Gifu on the 28th October 1891. The quality of Ogawa's reproductions allows one to appreciate the harrowing nature of the disaster; each plate is in addition… Read More

Onitsha, Nigeria, Tabansi Bookshops, [1961]. 8vo. Original green flexible cloth, lettered in black; pp. xviii, 19-378, sketch maps; a very good copy of a great rarity. First edition, presentation copy, inscribed and signed by the author on initial blank. 'Chief Onuzulike Daniel Okonkwo (Ozuome-Nnewi); diplomat, educator, and writer. Chief Okonkwo was the first indigenous Principal of Okongwu Memorial Grammar School, Nnewi, Nigeria, and the former chairman of Onitsha Southern County Council (Wikipedia entry on Nnewi). Nigeria had gained independence on October 1, 1960 and needed a non and post-coloial history book. Okonkwo provided that very well: The enthnic groups and their cultures are described, a history of Nigeria before colonialist and of slavery is included, as well as a description of the economy and development of infrastructure under British rule. The final chapter is titled Twelve Months of Independence.

1938. London: Secker and Warburg, 1938. 8vo., original cloth with supplied dust wrapper; pp. [vi], 313, [i]; boards of book somewhat soiled and rubbed with a light scrape along spine, some nicks to cloth at extremities of spine, wrapper with some loss and wear with front flap detatched, otherwise a very good copy. First edition signed by Orwell in full on the front free endpaper (for his friend and correspondent E. G[eorge]. Barber) and rare thus. Laid-in is a letter from Barber's daughter, explaining that her father was a member of The Left Book Club and expressing her regret that Orwell's side of their correspondence was assumed to be lost, probably during a house move, although one letter is known to have survived and is included in the Collected Letters. Sold by Judy Barber to Edinburgh dealer,William Lytle, thence by private collector to Peter Grogan, bookseller. [Together with]: "Almanaque de la Revolución Española 1937" - an illustrated wall-calendar, presumed published by… Read More

1926. The Bodley Head. 1926. 4to. Original fawn cloth, lettering blocked in brown to front and spine, brown and blue blocked vignette of knight to spine; pp. lv + [v] + 260 + [4, ads.], 16 colour plates, 75 b&w plates by artists including Alken and Ferneley; occasional foxing throughout especially to edges, very good. First edition. 'Squire' George Osbaldeston (1786 - 1866) was a Yorkshire sportsman and politician, though his duties as Whig MP for East Retford came a distant second to his sporting interests. He was an excellent jockey and cricketer, but his abiding passion was fox hunting, and this is the main focus of the book. He was hot-headed, intemperate, trusting, womanising, impecunious, addicted to gambling and probably none too bright; this handsomely produced book, which had not been published before this edition, captures the spirit of a man who was only really happy on a horse.

London, Victor Gollancz, 1954. Original boards with dust-wrappers (not price-clipped); pp. 222; wrapper with one hole at upper joint and a little darkened in places, otherwise very good. First edition. Here the ex-SOE operative, friend and biographer of the legendary Madeleine tells the story of John Renshaw Starr, an officer of the British Special Operations Executive who was sent to establish the Acrobat Network in north-eastern France during the Second World War. He was captured, tortured and imprisoned in Fresnes prison, at 84 Avenue Foch and in Sachsenhausen and Mauthausen concentration camps. Jean Overton Fuller's book is based on the Starr's own account of his activities, captivity and survival and the subsequent investigations concerning his suspected collaboration with the enemy. At Avenue Foch prison, together with SOE wireless operator, Noor Inyat Khan, 'Madeleine,' he tried to escape, and was probably forced to collaborate with the Nazis. Starr's older brother George worked as a well as… Read More

London, W. H. Allen, 1965. 8vo. Original cloth with illustrated dust-wrappers (not price-clipped); pp. xv, 295, plates after photographs; very short marginal tear to wrapper at head of spine, two leaves re-inserted (never properly bound in) and with slightly toned margins; otherwise very good. Uncommon first edition of a strange book by the former SOE operative, friend, colleague and biographer of the legendary Madeleine. 'Magician, poet and seer, Victor Neuburg was the pupil of Alister Crowley and the literary godfather of Dylan Thomas … [He] was the active partner in all the most interesting and dramatic magic of that period in Crowley's life. This book was written with access to unpublished magical records of Neuburg and Crowley and to Crowley's unpublished autobiography. Because these records deal largely with homosexual sex-magic, access to them is not easily obtained - yet their jealous guardians entrusted them to Jean Overton Fuller to study and copy … The full story of the Neuburg-Goulden… Read More

1899. Jarrold & Sons, 1899. Large 8vo. Original maroon cloth, gilt stamped to upper cover with title and a bell motif, and to the spine; pp. [x], 154l; a very good copy with some mild foxing to endpapers and a little fading to the rear cover. One of two hundred copies, this being no. 42. An incredibly thorough and intimately researched labour of love about the crafting and traditional use of church bells in the county of Huntingdonshire. The book was delayed six years in the making whilst the author sourced accurate woodblocks from bellfounders, museums and churches. Perhaps the most interesting chapter from a layman's perspective is Local Uses which details the various practices, of such arcane devices as the Pancake Bell, or the Gleaning Bell. This book was produced in small numbers, and thus appears for sale infrequently.