Rare books from Thorn Books

New York: Harcourt, Brace & World; Atheneum, 1977. First editions, first printings. Hardcover. Near fine. First U.S. edition, first printing, of the first title; true first editions, first printings of the remaining titles. "Over Sea, Under Stone" is fine and bright; the dustwrapper is price-clipped and has the tiniest bit of wear at the edges, else it is fine as well. "The Dark is Rising" has a tiny bit of spotting on the top edge, and a bookplate on the front pastedown, else is in fine condiiton; the dustwrapper is not price-clipped,but has a short closed marginal tear and crease along the top of the rear panel; it is first state without the Newbery Honor sticker. "Greenwitch" has a small bit of wear on one corrner else is fine in a fine, unclipped dustwrapper. "The Grey King" is fine in green printed cloth; the dustwrapper is price-clipped else is in fine condition, and is first state without the Newbery Medal sticker. "Silver on the Tree" has a light residue from an old price-sticker on the… Read More

London: J. M. Dent, 1893. First edition. Wraps. Very good. Aubrey Beardelsy. Twelve original parts in green wrappers. Parts 1-8 and 10-12 are the "Superior Issue" of 300 copies on Dutch handmade paper (this set unnumbered). Part 9 is from the "regular issue" and is slightly smaller in size. Full page and double page illustrations, rubricated initials, borders and in-text decorations by Aubrey Beardsley in his first major commission. This set is uncut and largely unopened. There is some offsetting from the illustrations to the facing pages, as usual. Part 9 lacks a tiny piece form the spine and has had a nearly invisible repair to the upper wrapper; the wrappers show light soil, rubbing and aging else this is a very good set.

New York: Harcourt, Brace & World; Atheneum, 1977. First editions, first printings. Hardcover. Near fine. First U.S. edition, first printing, of the first title; true first editions, first printings of the remaining titles. Although the author moved to the United States in 1963, the 1965 London edition of 'Over Sea, Under Stone' is generally considered the true first; thereafter the U.S. Atheneum editions of the remaining four books in the series are considered the true firsts. "Over Sea, Under Stone" is fine and bright; the dustwrapper is not price-clipped and has a tiny closed marginal tear on the rear panel else it is fine as well. "The Dark is Rising" has a tiny bit of spotting on the edge of the textblock , else is in fine condition; the dustwrapper is not price-clipped,but has a short closed marginal tear on the front panel; it is first state without the Newbery Honor sticker. "Greenwitch" is fine in a fine, unclipped dustwrapper. "The Grey King" is fine in green printed cloth; the… Read More

London: Printed by Tho. Hodgkin, and are to be sold by John Newton, 1687. Hardcover. Very good. First Illustrated Edition in English. Folio. 18], 616 [i.e. 612], [3] pp. A7 (3rd and 6th l. signed: A2), c2, B-R4, S3, T-2O4, 2P3, 2Q-4I4, 4K2. Translated by John Phillips. With copper-engraved frontispiece & 8 copper-engraved plates, each bearing two images. 19th century full calf, spine tooled & lettered in gilt, gilt inner dentelles; bound by J. Larkin. Plain endpapers. A very good copy. Light rubbing to the calf, frontispiece and title page expertly and nearly invisibly inlaid in paper frames with no loss of text, two of the plates with fore-edges remargined; minor, mostly marginal, foxing and soiling within. Overall a very attractive copy in a lovely example of the binder's art. Laid in are two 19th century manuscript notes from the Rev. Samuel Martin Mayhew of St. Paul's Vicarage to a Mr. Hopkins discussing the volume and translation. .

Chicago: Charles H. Kerr & Company, 1909. First US editions. Hardcover. Very good. Three volumes, 8vo. Red cloth blocked in gilt on the spines. Volume I is the 1906 US firs tprinting; Volume II is the 1907 US first printing; and Volume II is the 1909 US first printing. Volume II spine gilt dulled (a comon issue with this volume), some rubbing to the spine, and inner hinges neatly repaired. Volumes I and II are in very good condition. Inner hinges of volume I neatly repaired; spine of Volume III is rubbed in places, else this is a very good set. The Kerr edition is the first US edition of Marx's complete three volume work usually known by its German title, Das Kapital. Only the first volume was published in Marx's lifetime; it appeared in the US in 1890. Engels completed the work using Marx's notes and published them in Germany in 1885 and 1894 respectively. This American issue was translated from the third German edition by Samuel Moore and Edward Aveling and revised and amplified from the fourth… Read More

New York: J. H. Colton, 1864. Hardcover. Very good. Lithographed map, hand-colored. Image size 29½ by 41½ inches, folded into a folder of brown textured cloth embossed in blind and gilt. The map has been reinforced on the reverse at the corners with what appears to be old archival glassine tape which does show as faint shadows on the obverse (see photo). It gives a very good appearance, with only light wear to the case at the edges and corners. Streeter notes that this map predates the setting apart of Montana Territory, and the route of the Pacific RR is south of the Great Salt Lake. "It was an excellent map of the West as it was at the time of the Civil War." Streeter, 3072 .

n.p.: n.p., n.d.. Hardcover. Fine. A magnificent binding incorporating panels by Margarete Seeler. The eight cloisonné panels and the cloisonné figure of Christ were commissioned by Chauncey Stillman in 1960. In 1983, Mr. Stillman caused the nine panels to be incorporated into hand-wrought metal covers and affixed to the leather binding of this Evangelium. The artist used copper panels with 18 carat gold for the nine enamels and all cloisonné wires. The metal support is fine pewter. Silver is used in the bezels of the semi-precious stones and in the three small panels which cover the silver nuts and bolts. The rear cross is outlined in seed pearls. The text is an extract of the four Gospels from a nineteenth century printing of an Allioli Bible in German. Manuscript notes designate the days on which excerpts are to be read in the Liturgy. A hand-calligraphed vellum page gives the history of the binding, and is signed by Chauncey Stillman, Margarete Seeler, and James Strait, the Abbot of… Read More

Madrid: Viuda de Manuel Fernandez, 1757. First edition. Fine. Hardcover. Three volumes. Small 4tos. (24),240; (8),564; (8),436. First issue with p. II, 479 misnumbered 476. Contemporary vellum, yap edges, manuscript titles on the spines. Four folding copperplate maps: Vol. 1 contains the Mapa de la California, y su Costa Oriental Nuevamente Descubierta, based on Padre Kino's revolutionary map. Vol. 3 contains three maps: Seno de California; Carta de la Mar del Sur; and Mapa de la America Septentl. etc. The first map has a professional, nearly invisible, repair of a closed separation across the upper third of the image, no loss. Map number 4 has a neat nearly invisible repair of a closed marginal tear, no loss. Scattered light foxing; small marginal paper flaw on II, 449/450, n ot affecting the text; stamps of the Museo of Teneriffe on the second leaf of II, the third leaf of III, and a paper repair on the second leaf of III suggesting there was once a stamp there. No text is affected, Remains of… Read More

London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1824. First edition. Hardcover. Very good. 8vo. (4), 390pp. Nineteenth century binding of half morocco; spine in six compartments, gilt title and bands, marbled paper boards and endpapers. Bookplate of Holcombe Ingleby. Publication date of MDCCCXXIV at foot of title page erased and replaced by '1824' in manuscript pencil, leaving a paper thin in the area of the erasure, else this is a very good copy with only light rubbing to the binding and sunning to the spine, and light soil. Engraved frontispiece of a page of the manuscript. Sometimes considered one of Scotland's greatest books, it was first printed in 1824 in an edition of 1000 copies. Sales were not good; reports indicate that fewer than 300 copies actually sold. In 1828 the leftover sheets were reissued with a new title "'The Suicide's Grave' or, Memoirs and Confessions of a Sinner. Edited by J. Hogg." In 1837 a severely bowdlerized version appeared in Volume 5 of "Tales & Sketches by… Read More

Dublin: Hodges and Smith, 1851. First edition. Seven volumes, large 4tos. Contemporary half green morocco, green sand grain green cloth boards, marbled endpapers in a non-pareil pattern, all edges gilt, ribbon markers. Light wear to the bindings at the edges and hinges, else this is a very good set. With the bookplates of John Eacott Manahan and the arnmorial plate of H. L. A. The Annals are printed in the original Irish with English translation on the facing pages by O'DOnovan. This is Part II of the Annals of the Four Masters, in Irish, with O'Donovan's English translation on facing pages, and copious footnotes. O'Donovan published the second half of the Annals in 1848, which covered the years 1172 to 1616. After the unexpected success of this publication, O'Donovan went back to the manuscript of the Annals and edited the remainder, covering the years AM 2242 to AD 1171, publishing this part in 1851. New title and final pages were supplied to buyers of the 1848 set, and binders were instructed… Read More

Concord; Boston: n.p./Ticknor and Fields, 1862. Hardcover. Good. Single page autograph letter. Although unaddressed, it is obviously to Thoreau's first publisher, arranging to dispose of the unsold copies of his first book. In his journal he describes how he had to take back and pay for nearly unsold copies, which he stored in his attic. Ticknor and Fields report that 595 bound and unbound copies were bought from Thoreau in 1862. New title pages were prepared, dated 1862, and were issued with the first edition sheets in July of that year. Together with a copy of the book with the cancel title page, but with the announcement of the impending publication of 'Walden' at the end, even though that title had been issued in 1854. The binding shows significant wear at edges and spine tips, and the front endpapers are worn with a small marginal piece lacking at the foredge of the free endpaper and cracked inner hinge. With the three lines lacking at the bottom of page 396, uncorrected. Charles Francis… Read More

London: J. Okes (Oakes), 1641. First edition. Hardcover. Fine. Small 4to. (70)376pp. Early or contemporary binding of full calf. Spine in five compartments with raised bands. Compartments with blind tooled flowers, possibly Tudor roses. Gilt title and gilt rules at head and tail of the spine. Boards tooled with simple gilt borders and blind decorative rolls. Frontispiece of Merlin writing under a tree, with background animals, including a unicorn and two dragons. Edges and hinges lightly rubbed with a small separation in the middle of the upper hinge, corner of frontispiece lacking without loss, else this is a fine copy. The "To the Reader" leaf, usually missing, is present. Reprinted in 1812 and 1813 but scarce in this first edition and rare in a contemporary binding. Wing H1786. Lowndes, p. 1064. ESTC R10961.

London: Philip Lee Warner; The Medici Society, 1913. First Flint edition. Hardcover. Fine. Unique copy. Number 5 of 12 copies printed on vellum, from a total edition of 512. 3 volumes, 4to. Full brown calf by Bumpus of Oxford, spines with raised bands, gilt titles, spines and boards tooled in blind in a mediaeval diaper designed with blind tooled symbols; inner dentelles tooled in blind; all edges gilt. Illustrated title pages and 30 color plates by Flint. A fine set. All dropped capitals have been embellished by hand in color or gold, 44 colored, 29 illuminated in gold. Nine full page decorations in mediaeval style by an unknown but utterly competent calligrapher, one to introduce each tale. All color plates have been laid down onto thick paper with captions added by hand, with their capitals added in gold. A scarce vellum edition now a unique copy in the Bumpus binding and illuminations. .

Hammersmith: Kelmscott Press, 1893. Limited edition. Limp Vellum. Fine. 8vo. 300pp. Printed in black and red using Chaucer and Troy types on flower paper. Limp vellum binding with silk ties. One of 300 copies from a total edition of 308. A fine copy with only a trace of wear. The original silk ties are present and intact. Kelmscott Bibliography, No. 16. .

Madrid: Real Academia Española, 1819. Hardcover. Fine. Small 8vo. 4 volumes, accompanied by the Vida de Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra by Miguel Navarrette for a total of 5 volumes. 175, xxiv, 359; [iv], 410; xxii, 406; vi, [blank], 403pp. and 643, [1] pp. The four volumes of Don Quijote are illustrated with copper plates and a folding copper-engraved map, handcolored; the Vida is illustrated with a copper portrait, one facsimile page of the manuscript, and two engraved family tree charts. Magnificently and uniformly bound by the Spanish master binder Antolin Palomino Alalla in full crimson morocco. The spines are in six compartments with raised bands, intricately tooled in gilt. The boards with gilt rolls on the borders and central designs of gilt arabesques. All edges gilt. Gilt inner dentelles and marbled endpapers. The binding is sumptuous and the tooling is razor sharp. Fine copies in a cloth slipcase. Palomino Olalla (1909-95) was one of the great Spanish binders of the 20th century. A… Read More