Rare books from Shelley and Son Books

London: Chapman and Hall, 1881. Hardcover. Very Good +. In 1881 Chapman and Hall produced a set of the Works of Charles Dickens, limited to 1000 copies. Generally it was 30 volumes but a few were "30 volumes bound as 60." This set has 60 volumes and is number 34 of 1000.The set contains extra illustrations and four hand colored illustrations in the Christmas volume.Three quarter leather on marbleized boards. Spines are hubbed and contain gilt floral decoration as well as author/title in gilt. Uncut fore edge. The condition is marvelous. Minor shelf wear on some bottom edges and a bit of spine wear. The image shown only shows about half the set, please ask for more photos to see more. Due to the size and weight of this set, an additional shipping charge will apply. Please note that set will be delivered in multiple boxes, which will arrive with "signature required" upon delivery.

London: John Lane The Bodley Head, 1945. First Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/Very Good +. 0x0x0. Signed by Lewis. SIGNED FIRST EDITION. This is the third book in Lewis' cosmic trilogy and he acknowledges debt to Olaf Stapledon. Lewis considered it a book fiction that correlated to his nonfiction book Abolition of Man. This story takes place on earth and thus some people are reluctant to call this trilogy by Lewis a "space" trilogy. Brown 31. Hooper 16. Black cloth boards with gilt text on the spine. 476 pp. Artistic dust wrapper with yellow text. The book is near fine with a bit of dust foxing on the top and fore edges. The wrapper is VG+ with some wrinkling at the bottom of the back cover. Full refund if not satisfied. Shelley and Son Books specializes in C.S.Lewis, J.R.R.Tolkien & the Inklings.

London: John Gellibrand / R. Bentley, 1684 / 1685 / 1690 . First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket as Issued. A Very Rare Set of First Edition Volumes. Only one other listing of such a set is online, owned by Pryor-Johnson Rare Books (who write that they are not aware of another copy of this edition). Brown half leather covers with marbleized boards. Decorative blind and gilt stamping on the spines, with dual black slips on each. Five very slightly raised bands. Marbled page edges and end-papers. Woodcut engraved frontispiece (presumably of Plutarch), with tissue guard in each volume. Irregular pagination. Each volume is 500 to 600 pages long. Covers and spines are lightly rubbed in a few places. Back cover of volume 1 is nearly detached, and head of spine is pulling away from binding (good only). The heads of the other spines have some chipping. No marginalia (only writing on tissue guard in volume 1). Volume 3's front end-paper has paper loss to it (possibly from a removed bookplate).… Read More

London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press at the Clarendon Press, 1939. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good +/Very Good. Signed by the author. SIGNED FIRST EDITION The book is from the collection of famous book collector David Enderton Johnson whose card is laid in. The title page is signed, "C. S. Lewis Magdalen College, Oxford, 1939. "Black cloth boards with gilt text on the spine. 197 pp. Dust wrapper has black text on tan ground. Brown 14.The dust wrapper has several small moisture spots. It is not price clipped and looks quite good. VG. The book has no ownership marks. Inside the front cover, the top left corner looks like a large label has been removed. A pleasing copy of a rare book. Shelley and Son Books specializes in C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien & the Inklings. Full refund if not satisfied.

Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1936. First Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine. Signed on the title page, "with kind regards / C. S. Lewis / June 1938." Elegantly rebound in maroon leather by V. Wiering Bookbinder.  Front and back are blank ... spine has text in gilt.  378 pp. Brown 10.  Hooper 4. A very pleasing book.  Exterior is marvelous.  Interior has no ownership marks except one library stamp from Truro Public Library verso title page.  That is the only library mark.  One small stain on the dedication page, half the size of a dime. Shelley and Son Books specializes in C.S.Lewis, J.R.R.Tolkien & the Inklings.

Paris: F. Contet, 1908-1937. Various. Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket as Issued. Complete 22-Volume Set. Very rare to find the entire series. Volume 1-3 descriptions presumably by F. Contet. Volume 4-16 descriptions by J. Vacquier. Volume 17-22 descriptions by Paul Jarry. Volume 1-4,7,9,12-22 first editions (17 out 22 volumes). Titles and dates are as follows - Volume 1: Le Temple et le Marais, Tome I [1908]. Volume 2: Le Temple et le Marais, Tome II [1909]. Volume 3: Le Faubourges Saint-Germaine, Tome I [1910]. Volume 4: Le Faubourges Saint-Germaine, Tome II [1910]. Volume 5: Le Ministere de la Marine; Ancien Garde-Meuble de la Couronne [4th Edition, 1922]. Volume 6: Le Faubourg Saint-Honore, Tome I [3rd Edition, 1920]. Volume 7: Le Farbourges Saint-Germain, Tome III [1912]. Volume 8: L'Hotel Lambert [3rd Edition, 1921]. Volume 9: La Place Vendome [1913]. Volume 10: Le Quartier Saint Paul [2nd Edition, 1920]. Volume 11: Le Faubourg Saint-Honore, Tome II [1923]. Volume 12: Le Faubourg… Read More

London / New York / Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1939. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Signed by author. FIRST EDITION. SIGNED. PRESENTATION COPY. Inscribed in Lewis' hand: "A. C. Harwood / ex dono auctoris / June 1939."  which means a gift from the author.Green cloth boards with gilt lettering on the spine. 150pp. Dust wrapper is light green with dark green text. On the back of the wrapper Oxford University Press advertises five books.Book and wrapper are in very good condition. Full refund if not satisfied. Shelley and Son Books specializes in C.S.Lewis, J.R.R.Tolkien & the Inklings.

London / New York / Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1939. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Signed by author. FIRST EDITION. PRESENTATION COPY. Inscribed in Lewis' hand: "A. C. Harwood / ex dono auctouris / June 1937."  which means a gift from the author. Black cloth boards with gold lettering on the spine. Binding is solid. Full refund if not satisfied. Shelley and Son Books specializes in C.S.Lewis, J.R.R.Tolkien & the Inklings.

Very Good. [LEWIS, C. S.] Manuscript poetry in pencil.Here is what Don King, the preeminent scholar on Lewis' poetry, says about this hand written poem:The first passage has affinities with lines 5-8 of Canto V of The Queen of Drum: Happy the man who might have seenThe unripe breasts of that young QueenSo panting, and her face aboveSo flushed and eye-bright for his love, The second passage has affinities with lines 131-136 of Canto V of The Queen of Drum: Now as she ran she saw the meadowDarkened before her with her shadow,Because the moon grew strong. She turned;Brittle and bright the crescent burned,The thin and honey-coloured bowOf the pure Huntress riding low. 

New York: Time Magazine, 1947. Signed Magazine Cover. Magazine Cover. Very Good. Illustrated. Signed by Lewis. SIGNED BY C. S. LEWIS, 1947. Sept. xx 1947 Time Magazine cover signed by C. S. Lewis. We purchased this out of a collection of Time Magazine covers that a collector had sent off to celebrities for their signature. This is COVER ONLY. Not the whole magazine. With the magazine cover comes the envelope which the collector had pre-addressed for return. That envelope mailed from Cambridge. Cover has a drawn portrait of C. S. Lewis. Signed in lower left. VG with folds for fitting in envelope. A certificate of authenticity with analysis of the C. S. Lewis signature is included. Full refund if not satisfied. Shelley and Son Books specializes in C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien & the Inklings.

London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, Paternoster-Row; Printed by A. Strahan, Printers-Street, London, 1816. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 10.75" x 9" x 1.5" (respectively). Illustrated with maps and plates. FIRST EDITION, 1816. COMPLETE IN TWO VOLUMES. Matching, hardcover set. Bound in half dark brown / burgundy leather with brown, (very likely sheepskin), with cream and orange marbled papers. Hubbed spines bear title and volume number in gilt. Illustrated throughout with plates and multiple large foldout maps, engravings, diagrams, music scores, and facsimiles of Ali Bey's handwritten Arabic. All plates are present as per the "Explanation of Plates" at the beginning of Volume I. Half titles present. Frontispiece in Volume I is a portrait engraving of Ali Bey El Bassi in black and white. Frontispiece in Volume II is a large foldout map of the "Route of the Journeys of Ali Bey El Abbassi, In the Isle of Cyprus, and from Cairo to… Read More

London: Printed for Alexander Donaldson, 1799. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 8vo. (respectively). FIRST EDITION, 1779. TWO VOLUME COMPLETE SET. The First History of South Carolina. Howes H452. Printed for Alexander Donaldson, London, 1779. Matching hardcover set. Rebound in black cloth, covers are plain. Spines bear orange leather labels stamped in gilt, along with the volume numbers. Top edges gilt. Endpapers are gray. Leaves are printed on laid paper. Includes "The first set of the fundamental constitutions of South Carolina / as compiled by Mr. John Locke"/ pages 321-347. Vol. I: xiv, 347 pp; Vol II: ix, 309 pp. On a shelf, this set spans 2.5 inches. <br><br>ABOUT THIS SET: The "earliest history of the region", Howes H452. "Justin Winsor calls this work the 'earliest account of South Carolina cast in a sustained retrospective spirit'. Hewatt, an Englishman who at one time lived at Charleston, was a keen collector of historical documents".… Read More

Cambridge: Printed by John Field, Printer to the University, 1663. Very Early Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 8vo. VERY EARLY EDITION, 1663. From the the 1662 revision of The Book of Common Prayer. Griffiths 1663.4. 22 cm. ESTC R40760. Dual columns with red border, unpaginated, but 188 pp. Title page is red and black. Bound with the Whole Book of Psalms also published by Field in 1663 - it is 106 pp. paginated followed by 12 unpaginated pages. Complete title of second part is: The Whole Book of Psalms, Collected into English metre by Thomas Sternhold, John Hopkins, and others, conferred with the Hebrew. <br><br>CONDITION: At over 350 years old, this copy is in absolutely remarkable condition. Rebacked spine and binding are strong and solid. The most significant flaw is a scar present at the bottom right corner of the cover, and some erosion at the top right corners, yet not unreasonable at its age. Leaves turn effortlessly, are delightfully and evenly toned, and are in fine reading… Read More

Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1938. First American edition, first st. Hardcover. Good/No Jacket. 8vo. FIRST AMERICAN EDITION, FIRST STATE, 1938. The first state of the first American edition has a bowing hobbit (facing to the left) on the title page. In the second state this device is replaced with a worn publisher (facing to the right). Tan cloth boards with the title in blue and a bowing hobbit in red.  310 pp. Map end sheets. Hammond A3b1. The binding is tight but there is too much wear to call it VG so it is good only. End sheets are dirty. Final end sheet has a moisture stain and a bookplate from the United States Naval Institute.  Some pages soiled. Lacking dust jacket. Shelley and Son Books specializes in C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien & the Inklings. Full refund if not satisfied.

London: Geoffrey Bles / The Bodley Head, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956. British First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. Pauline Baynes. BRITISH FIRST EDITION. 7 VOLUME COMPLETE SET IN DUST WRAPPERS. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.  According to a list on Wikipedia, the first Narnia book, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, is the seventh best selling book in history. All books in this set are first editions and first printings. The books and dust wrappers are at least very good. Please see details below.<br><br>The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. London: Geoffrey Bles, 1950. Light discoloration on boards and spine. An owner's printed book plate inside the front cover. No other writing in the book. The dust wrapper is not price clipped and has just a modest amount of edge wear along the top. Very nice copy.<br><br>Prince Caspian. London:… Read More