Search Results: Titles starting with V from Fine Editions Ltd

Boston: Privately Printed, 1898. Pictorial Wrappers. Fine-. Scarce First Boston Edition of this unauthorized pamphlet featuring a poem written by Kipling to garner publicity for a mildly pornographic painting by his cousin Philip Burne-Jones, entitled "The Vampire," which was modeled by the actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell. Foolscap 8vo (146 x 108mm): [8]pp, printed in deep bluish green and scarlet with tipped-in frontispiece reproduction of Burne-Jones's painting and gothic-lettered title page with vignette by E. J. Clark of bats in flight beneath a crescent moon (repeated on each page, recto and verso). Original buff stiff paper wrappers hand sewn with red thread at centerfold, front cover lettered and decorated in types and design of title page. Manuscript ex libris of "George D. Goodrich, Boston," to front cover verso. Wanting the envelope. Short split to bottom of spine fold, else about Fine. Richards E1-23. Livingston 151 & 152. Grolier 232. Written to accompany the "The Vampire," portrait of a… Read More

London: John Murray, 1882. Original Cloth. Fine. Second Edition (Revised), Fifth Thousand, two volumes complete in fine original bindings, featuring first occurrence of the phrase "survival of the fittest." Crown 8vo (188 x 118): xiv,473,[1]; x,495,[1]pp, with 43 woodcut illustrations. Publisher's green cloth, covers paneled in blind (arches style), spine stamped in gilt, chocolate coated end papers, top edge rough-trimmed. A superb set, with bright bindings, uncracked hinges, and virtually spotless pages. Very mild rubbing to corner tips, dusty top edges, else very fine. Freeman 883. Intended originally as the first two chapters of a monumental work that Darwin envisioned but never published on the origin of species (not the Origin of 1859, which Darwin viewed as only an abstract of a more substantial project). This second edition, substantially revised and enlarged from the first edition of 1868, is the final text, in which Darwin proposed the concept of pangenesis, his provisional hypothetical… Read More

New York: D. Appleton, 1892. Early Reprint. Decorative Cloth. Fine. A virtually pristine example of one of Darwin's scarcer titles. 8vo: xvi,300,[8]pp, with 38 text woodcuts. Publisher's terra-cotta cloth, upper cover stamped in black and lower cover in blind with edge roll and trailing vine device, spine ruled and lettered in gilt, top edge gilt, cream colored end papers. Top edge dust-soiled, pages very lightly toned, but a spectacular, unread survival. Freeman 802. Second Edition, revised, from the stereotypes of the second London edition. (But effectively the first American edition, since no first edition was issued in the United States.) According to Asa Gray, the most important nineteen-century American botanist, "If the Orchid-book (with a few trifling omissions) had appeared before the 'Origin,' the author would have been canonised rather than anathematised by the natural theologians," and he notes that a review in the Literary Churchman found only one fault, "that Mr. Darwin's expression of… Read More

London: Philip Allan & Company, 1925. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine-. First (and only) Printing of this scarce book of verse, tales, and illustration, a collaboration between Tennant, "brightest" of the "Bright Young People," and Pamela Grey, Lady Glenconner (famously painted by John Singer Sargent) and Tennant's mother. Blue buckram-backed paper-covered boards, paper title labels printed in black to front board and spine, decorative end papers. Wanting the rare dust wrapper. Royal 8vo (244 x 185mm): [8],64pp, with 32 tipped-in black-and-white plates reproducing pen-and-ink drawings and watercolors by Tennant and decorative end piece. Trivial wear to binding, else about Fine. Pamela Grey contributed the short poems and morality tales for modern life, Tennant, the accompanying illustrations, peopled with a mix of Regency courtiers, nymphs, and fairy tale characters reminiscent of Beardsley. Despite positive reviews, sales were disappointing, and copies are now scarce. N. B. With few exceptions… Read More

A Rouen: chez Laurent Dumesnil, imprimeur-libraire, rue de l'Ecureuil, 1778. Paste Paper-Covered Boards. Fine. Second Edition, the definitive text (considerably enlarged and augmented), of this classic work on the hunting of hare, roe deer, wild boar, wolf, fox, and otter, with a section on canine health, studies of hooves and footprints, and dictionary of hunting terms. Crown 8vo (196 x 114mm): xv,[i],526 pp, with 19 plates (many folding, some double-sided and on blue paper), 27 woodcuts, and 14 pages of engraved music ("Tons de chasse et fanfares"). Collated and complete, including the blank ("rarely found," according to Schwerdt), unprinted but paginated (pp. 447-48). Splendidly rebound to style by Fitterer in hand block printed paper-covered boards, preserving the original patterned end papers; brown morocco lettering piece gilt, all edges stained rose pink. A superb presentation, tightly bound and clean throughout. Schwerdt I: 313. Souhart 299-300. Thiébaud 589-590 ("bien supérieure comme… Read More

New York: New Directions, 1979. First Printing. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition of one of the playwright's autobiographical memory plays, treating the central figure's homosexuality more openly than "The Glass Menagerie," in its day, was able. 8vo: [10],116,[6]pp. Publisher's olive-green coarsely woven V cloth, spine lettered in gold, pictorial dust jacket priced $9.50. An exceptional example (apparently unread), tightly bound and clean throughout. Crandell A46.I.a. Set in a once-respectable but now run-down boarding house in the French Quarter of New Orleans, at 722 Toulouse Street, the address that was home to Williams in the late 1930s. 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… Read More

Monachii [Munich]: Typis Mariæ Magdalenæ Riedlin, 1730. First Edition. Full Leather. First Edition of an important genealogical work dedicated to Prince-Elector Charles Albert (later Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII), tracing the descent of the Wittelsbach dynasty of Bavaria to Charlemagne. Two volumes in one. Folio; [20], 82; 192; [12], 326, [28]pp, with a double-page engraved map of the Danube basin (signed by Georg Baptista Steinberger), allegorical frontispiece (signed by Hieronymus Sperling); engraved genealogical table (signed Joh. Christoph Steinberger), full-page coat-of-arms, the Wittelsbach genealogical tree, and two engravings (the second double-page) after medieval panels depicting Duke Arnulf the Bad. Firmly bound in contemporary sheep (boards with light wear only), the spine divided by five raised bands into six compartment richly gilt (now faded), with a vellum lettering piece titled in gilt. Magnificently printed on bright, spotless paper of very high rag content, in a handsome Roman… Read More

n.p. / San Francisco: Fantasy / City Lights Bookshop, 1959. First Edition. Fine- / Fine-. First Pressing of this 33 1/3 rpm (12-inch) LP phonograph record (numbered 7006 on sleeve and vinyl), on which the poet recites (screams, begs, urges) "Howl" and other poems. Transparent red vinyl (not the later, more common black vinyl) with burgundy labels, plain paper slip, and original card sleeve printed in green, orange, and black. Stamped in red: "Promotional Copy / Not for Sale" on rear of sleeve, with ownership of poet John Ciardi faintly stamped on upper right corner of front and neat blue ball-point notes to rear, probably in Ciardi's hand, commenting on the readings (Ginsberg recites "Howl," "The Sunflower Sutra," "Footnote to Howl," "A Supermarket in California," "Transcription of Organ Music," "America," "In the Back of the Real," "Strange New Cottage in Berkeley," "Europe! Europe!," and "Kaddish."). Long printed introduction by Ginsberg on rear sleeve. Offered with Third Printing (so stated on… Read More

London: Longmans, 1960. First Impression. Hardcover. Fine-/Fine-. First British Edition (no further printings noted) of the author's third book and second novel, and her "best attempt at longer fiction." Small 8vo: [10],243,[1]pp. Publisher's tangerine cloth, spine lettered in gold; illustrated dust jacket, priced 16/-. About Fine (dust-soiled top edge) and apparently unread; about Fine jacket (spine panel ends lightly rubbed, pinhead nick to front panel), vivid and bright. A scarce collectible example, one of 3500 copies printed. Yet another example of the value to be found in the graphically superior designs of British editions of American authors's works. . Published eight years after Wise Blood and sharing that book's "interest in reluctant Southern prophets, violence and the grotesque. The title is taken from the Douay translation of Matthew 11:12, which provides the book's epigraph: 'From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it… Read More

London: Longmans, 1960. First Impression. Hardcover. Fine-/Fine-. First British Edition (no further printings noted) of the author's third book and second novel, and her "best attempt at longer fiction." Small 8vo: [10],243,[1]pp. Publisher's tangerine cloth, spine lettered in gold; illustrated dust jacket, priced 16/-. About Fine (dust-soiled top edge) and apparently unread; about Fine jacket (spine panel ends lightly rubbed, pinhead nick to front panel), vivid and bright. A scarce collectible example, one of 3500 copies printed. Yet another example of the value to be found in the graphically superior designs of British editions of American authors's works. . Published eight years after Wise Blood and sharing that book's "interest in reluctant Southern prophets, violence and the grotesque. The title is taken from the Douay translation of Matthew 11:12, which provides the book's epigraph: 'From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it… Read More

London: John Murray, 1953. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Impression of Leigh Fermor's scarce second book (and first novel), with drawings by Robin Ironside. Tall, slim 8vo (215 x 132mm): 139,[1]pp. Publisher's moss-green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, moss-green map end papers; superbly illustrated dust jacket, priced 9s/6d. A virtually pristine copy (apparently unread), the jacket minutely rubbed at the extremities. Preceded by The Traveller's Tree (1950), Leigh Fermor's best-selling travel book, considered a classics of the genre, and like that first book, set in the Caribbean. The romantic tale of an enigmatic Frenchwoman's youth amongst the descendants of slaves and a fading French aristocracy. Basis for Malcolm Williamson's three-act opera, with libretto by William Chappell. 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… Read More

London: Cassell, 1972. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Impression (First Published 1972 on copyright page). 8vo: 15,[2]pp. Publisher's bluish-green cloth, spine lettered in gilt, illustrated dust jacket priced £1.60 net. Inscribed by the author (and scarce such) in blue ink on front free end paper: "1972 / For My wife / From Alan [underlined]." A superlative example with a wonderful association, apparently unread, binding square and tight, contents clean throughout, jacket virtually pristine. Provenance: Estate of Alan Hunter. The 19th (of 46) Chief Superintendent George Gently novel, one published nearly every year from 1955 until 1998 and most of which are set in East Anglia. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, with dust jackets carefully preserved in archival, removable polypropylene sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Edinburgh and London: Printed for Archibald Constable and Co. and Cadell and Davies, 1815. Wrappers. Fine. Original article disbound from Volume VII of Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh (not a reprint, facsimile reproduction, or photocopy). Roman numerals preceding title refer to order of sequence as published in the Transactions. Demy 4to (273 x 210mm): 269-278pp, complete with three full-page plates. Recently bound by Fitterer in stiff marbled wrappers. An excellent wide-margined example, tightly bound and clean throughout. Playfair's paper is drawn from a series of letters written by Captain Basil Hall, a British naval officer and the second son of geologist James Hall, after a visit to the Cape of Good Hope and an excursion to Table Mountain in July, 1814. The letters describe the granitic intrusions within the sedimentary sandstone structures that Hall saw in the Platteklip Gorge near Table Mountain. Playfair provides a general description of Table Mountain, which (is now known)… Read More