Rare books from Allington Antiquarian Books, LLC

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1890. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. Fine/fine. Fine copy of the first edition, first printing, in the Publisher's original decorated cloth with the title label applied to the front board and the title and author label applied to the spine panel (the spine shows some minor sunning, most notably to the spine label due to the dust jacket cut out -- see below, and the boards show some minor corner rubs; multiple pages are unopened, or are only partially opened, on their leading fold, showing the book to have been only partially read -- or possibly entirely unread); in a Very Good + example of the EXCEEDINGLY RARE UNSOPHISTICATED dust jacket -- original to this copy of the book -- with scattered small tears and chips and with the arc over the spine label split on one side and nearly so on the other. The viewer will notice, of course, that the dust jacket is plain as it is from the period when jackets were used not to sell the book but only to keep the book clean… Read More

Cherbourg, France: Mitchell Jamieson, August, 1944. ORIGINAL WORLD WAR II ART. Framed Art. Fine. An ORIGINAL WORK OF ART by Mitchell Jamieson showing Cherbourg, France (location of a critical Port) shortly after its capture by Allied Forces, being a part of the D Day invasion at Normandy, SIGNED AND DATED BY MITCHELL JAMIESON as part of a short presentation inscription by Jamieson, ALSO CAPTIONED, DATED AND INITIALED BY JAMIESON as the artist, all below the primary scene depicted in the painting. The image shows some Allied soldiers (presumably American), several military vehicles, several non-military individuals - one with a bicycle (presumably French citizens then residing in Cherbourg) and a dog. The inscription reads as follows: "Cherbourg - August 1944 // For Jack Long in appreciation and with every good wish Mitchell Jamieson". The work looks to have been titled: "Cathedral ______________ [not legible]". Thereunder is written "Watching explosion // Cherbourg August 44 // MJ". The background… Read More

No Publisher, No Date. No Edition. Wrappers. Very good. Confederate Manuscript Military Music -- Among the Rarest Type of Confederate Manuscript Material: A VERY GOOD ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT MUSIC BOOK BELONGING TO CONFEDERATE DRUMMER J.J. LAWRENCE OF COMPANY G [OF THE FIFTH TEXAS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY] DURING THE CIVIL WAR. The book measures approximately 6 and 5/16th inches by approximately 3 and 9/16ths inches. The outer sides of the wrappers are in marbled paper. Within are 40 pages with lines drawn to be used by the musician to add notes for songs to be played by him. Nine of the pages have been completed with song titles and notes. The remaining pages are blank, presumably because of Lawrence's untimely early death. The musician would add his own notes for songs to be played. The contemporary marbled wrappers show some wrinkling, rubbing, staining, and edge wear. Within, the contents are mildly foxed. A unique collection of songs, likely written down and carried by J.J. Lawrence, a Texas… Read More

Bournemouth, 1900. First Edition. Framed Plans. Very good +. THE RARE: ORIGINAL PLANS FOR IMPROVEMENTS TO MIDDLE ROAD WHICH LEADS TO SKERRYVORE, Robert Louis Stevenson's home in Bournemouth where John Singer Sargent painted Stevenson and his wife and where Stevenson had the famous dream which inspired his great work "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", which tale, among other great works, he wrote at Skerryvore, a property later owned by Heywood Sumner, Esq., a successor in ownership to the home, who was closely involved with the Arts and Crafts movement and the late-Victorian London art world. Sumner, who was qualified as a Barrister, also employed much of his time as an amateur archaeologist, geologist, naturalist, and folklorist.] Skerryvore, whose lawns ran down from the house to Alum Chine Road, is where Stevenson lived from 1885 until his departure for Samoa (where he died in 1894). Thus, the Plans for Middle Road improvements were prepared soon after his departure from that house and… Read More

London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1867. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. Very good. A Very Good copy of the First edition, First Issue, bound from the original Parts WITH THE WRAPPERS FOR EACH PART BOUND IN TO THE REAR OF EACH VOLUME WITH A MULTITUDE OF ADVERTISEMENT FOR EACH PART bound between their respective wrappers (excluding the advertisements for Part XXVI for which no seperate advertisements are included); with the Publisher's rights printed on the verso of both title pages (omitted from verso of title page in vol. 2 for the book form edition) with the plate facing p. 297 of Volume II with the semicolon present after "HoggleStockians" (missing in the bound edition), and the plate facing p. 371 spelling "Consent" with a capital "C". On Page 157 of Volume I the final "D" of the running headline is perfect (it appears broken in the second edition), and in Volume 2, p. 298 line 21, third word is "Crawley" (which was changed to "Toogood" in the second edition). The leaves and wrappers… Read More

London: Martin Secker, 1920. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/very good. A remarkably SCARCE copy of the hard-to-find first edition, first printing / first issue [or mixed first issue and second issue with pages 256 and 268 not tipped in as in the first issue but with the phrase "in the bed" dropped from the end of chapter III as in the second issue [see Roberts and Schwartz] -- also all of the pages appear to integral but the reading of the last line of Chapter III shows that "in the bed" has been dropped-- the presence of which phrase Schwartz states is required for the first state [but see NOTE below] of the English edition in a Very Good SCARCE TO RARE dust jacket dust jacket with evidence of tape still present on the jacket's verso and shadows of which can be seen on the jacket's recto, and two leaves, those hosting pp 141/142 and 143/144 having a tear with loss to their upper leading margins without affecting the text., and being an otherwise Near Fine copy of the first edition, first… Read More

Greensboro, NC: Continental Publishing, 1898, 1917, 1918 [1654]. First Editions [Both Trade and Limited]. Bound and unbound as published. Various Conditions. A Very Good set of books and ephemeral items including: The First Trade Edition, first printing dated 1917, in the Publisher's original orange cloth lettered and decorated in black to both the front board and the spine, with the front board illustration depicting the plate found within at unnumbered page 389, itself depicting Raphel pleading with Lucifer and captioned "Thou erring Morning-star, oh! spare thyself." SIGNED AND INSCRIBED by Charles L. Van Noppen to Sydney Greenbie as follows: "For // Mr. Sydney Greenbie // with the compliments // of // Chas. L. Van Noppen // Greensboro // N.C. // May 21-23" (with the date underscored); FURTHER TOGETHER WITH: A copy of Leonard Van Noppen's lengthy Poem "THE SPHINX" inscribed and signed by Charles Leonard van Noppen at the Poem's end to Sydney Greenbie as follows: "For // Mr. Sydney Greenbie //… Read More

London, 1739. Hardcover. IN NEED OF REPAIR BUT RATHER NICE WITHIN. John Pine. [NOTE: THIS COPY IS NOT PART OF, OR INCLUDED IN, ANY DISCOUNT SALE.] A SCARCE TO RARE APPARENT ASSOCIATION COPY of this famed work on the 1588 encounter of the English Navy with the Spanish Armada, a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588. The Armada was commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat appointed by Philip II of Spain in spite of his having no previous naval experience. His orders were to sail up the English Channel, link up with the Duke of Parma in Flanders, and escort an invasion force that would land in England and overthrow Elizabeth I. Its purpose was to reinstate Catholicism in England, end support for the Dutch Republic, and prevent attacks by English and Dutch privateers against Spanish interests in the Americas. On the other hand, the English Fleet was led by a member of the House of Howard, naval commander and statesman William Howard who served as Lord High Admiral… Read More

London: Chatto & Windus, 1901. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. Very good/good. A Very Good to Very Good + copy of the first UK Edition, first printing, in the Publisher's original brown cloth -- a variant binding without a catalogue (mildly askew, rubbing to the leading corners, spine ends, and to the front board's bottom edge), in a Good dust jacket with fading to the spine and to the panel extremities, moderate wear, and significant tape repairs to the verso; being a collection of nine (9) short stories. A (presumed) prior owner's pencil signature appears on front free endpaper, there are spots to the closed page block's outer edges, some toning to the free endpapers and to the title pages as well as to a number of the leaves. Per Wikipedia: "Zola was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism. He was a major figure in the political liberalization… Read More

London: [printed by George E. Eyre & William Spottiswoode], 1857 [plus undated ephemera]. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. [Varies by item included]. As noted above, this listing includes (i) a notable work of postal information on London and its Post Office Districts, (ii) an original commemorative Irish stamp featuring Anthony Trollope, and (iii) an ORIGINAL SURVEYOR'S CARD SIGNED BY ANTHONY TROLLOPE (who served as a Postal Surveyor in Ireland, the place where he first came to happiness after having a miserable youth during which he had thought about suicide). The book itself is quite uncommon to the market and the Surveyor card [to which someone later added "Novelist" in red ink] is QUITE SCARCE and is ABSOLUTELY RARE WHEN SIGNED BY TROLLOPE................London was first divided into postal districts in 1857-1858, to a plan devised by Sir Rowland Hill in 1856 – a circle of roughly twelve miles radius from the General Post Office in St. Martin’s-le-Grand being split into ten… Read More

Oxford [at the Clarendon Press]: Oxford University Press, 1932. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. Very good +/Good + and Very Good. A Very Good + copy of the first edition, first printing, in the Publisher's original boards covered with marbled paper which also provides the turn-ins, and showing blue spines with white labels lined, lettered, numbered, and decorated in black and with a pencil notation to each volume's front pastedown. (An extra spine label is tipped in near the rear of each volume. Each volume's leading board corners are rubbed and the spine ends to each volume are pushed. The leaves of each volume remain rather clean and host numerous illustrations and Volume I contains an informative Introduction, images of which can be found at our proprietary listing as can images of all four hinges. Volume I's front hinge is cracked and the remaining three are rather solid. The volumes are richly illustrated and include one reproduced image said to have been from a work by Cassandra.… Read More

[No Place Stated]: Various Authors and Artists, [No Date Known]. First Edition. Disbound. Volume Poor; Contents Very Good or better/[No Dust Jacket]. George Henry Williams (1823-1910), was an attorney-general and senator from Oregon who became a lawyer in 1844 with a practice in Fort Madison, Iowa Territory. After Iowa was admitted to statehood, President Pierce appointed him chief justice of the Oregon Territory. In 1883, Williams became more prominent when he rendered a decision in favor of a freed Negro, who sued his past owner for holding his three children. [He was a northern Democrat opposed to slavery.] Williams compiled this scrapbook comprised of several hundred political cartoons along with allegorical poetry and commentary. Some of his writings are signed and along with the cutout cartoons, reveal a great deal about the author and public opinion. The book is in Poor condition with separated boards, no spine and edges of text frayed with tears. Many of the cartoons presented cover… Read More

Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1865. First Edition, First Printing. Original Wrappers and Letters. Very Good +/[No Dust Jacket -- as issued]. A Very Good + to Near Fine copy of the first edition, first printing, in the Publisher's original pink wrappers in NEAR FINE CONDITION (showing wear to the spine -- including some splitting to the lower spine and a tear to the front cover near the spine as well as some general wear to the wrappers) signed by the presumed prior owner W. P. Burgess to the upper face of the front wrap and there dated by him "1865", the year of publication; TOGETHER WITH THREE MANUSCRIPT LETTERS, EACH SIGNED BY HALE, further together with ONE FIVE (5) PAGE MANUSCRIPT LETTER FROM GENERAL BRAYMAN TO HALE dated November 15, 1893 written IN THE HAND OF GENERAL BRAYMAN'S DAUGHTER [Mason Gowdy's mother], having been dictated by him to her, and SIGNED BY GENERAL BRAYMAN AND MENTIONING HIS PLEASURE TO HEAR THAT HALE HAD MET THE GENERAL BRAYMAN'S DAUGHTER WHO MENTIONED BRAYMAN TO HALE UPON… Read More

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1928. First Thus. Hardcover. Fine/Very Good or Better. An EXCEPTIONALLY RARE SET OF ALBERT BIGELOW PAINE'S FAMED BIOGRAPHY OF MARK TWAIN [SAMUEL CLEMENS] PUBLISHED IN 1928 IN THE RARE DUST JACKETS AND RARE SLIPCASE, being the second edition of such Biography in three volumes [AS WAS THE TRUE FIRST EDITION OF 1912, WHICH PRECEDED THE TWO-VOLUME SECOND EDITION OF 1924]. Each Volume of this set bears the Publisher's edition code K-C, showing that each volume was published in November, 1928 and that it is a proper set. This set was issued in a small printing and seldom turns up with all three volumes present and this is the only set with the jackets and slipcase that has been seen at . The volumes are essentially Fine and show only minor surface marking, the upper leading corner of Volume II is nudged and that of Volume III is bumped. The EXCEEDINGLY RARE DUST JACKETS have some modest spine chipping and spotting as well as some old tape repairs inside and outside of… Read More

London and New York: Macmillan and Co. Limited, 1907. Second Edition [being the First Edition in one volume]. Hardcover. Very good +/very good +. A Very Good + or better copy of the Second Edition, being the first edition in a single volume with the printed/typed dedication page reading: "TO // CHARLES RICHARD JOHN SPENCER-CHURCHILL // THIS BOOK // IN ALL FAITHFUL FRIENDSHIP // IS INSCRIBED". The Volume is bound in the Publisher's burgundy cloth and wears its RATHER SCARCE, PUBLISHER-ADDED 1925 DUST JACKET. A very good+ or better clean copy with the burgundy color slightly faded on spine, in very good to Very Good + jacket which is darkened on the spine, but the lettering remains readable, and shows shallow chipping to the spine ends and bottom of spine not affecting lettering, plus one very small chip in spine below the title not affecting lettering and slight closed tearing to the spine's leading portion a touch below the author's name. The front and rear jacket panels are complete. The spine… Read More