Rare books from Yamhill Book Company

Ulysses: A Critical and Synoptic Edition by James Joyce, edited by Hans Walter Gabler, Wolfhard Steppe and Claus Melchior. Garland, 1919 pp. 1984, First edition. Three volumes. Tan and blue cloth decorated in gilt. Scarce critical edition of Joyce's modern classic.
Condition Volume 1 boards lightly bowed, some rubbing to edges; foxing to top of text block edges; short gift inscription on front free endpapers; overall near fine.
About this book "German scholar Hans Walter Gabler took a controversial approach in his 1984 synoptic edition of Ulysses. He proposed to recover the "original" text from the surviving manuscripts, typescripts, corrected proofs and extant editions. Gabler believed textual variations to be a result of Joyce's glaucoma. The Joyce Estate endorsed Gabler's work, as did a group of influential Joycean scholars. The synoptic version was heralded as a major achievement, and a 1986 reading edition based on Gabler's textual criticism, Ulysses: The Corrected Text, was copyrighted by… Read More

The Letters of Pliny the Younger With Observations on each Letter; And an Essay on Pliny's Life, Addressed to Charles Lord Boyle By John Earl of Orrery. 1751, two volumes. 4to, 25x20 cm (9¾x8"). [iv], lxxxvii, 440, [16]; [iv], 509, [32] pp. Engraved allegorical title-page device by Michael Van der Gucht, twenty-three large head- & tailpieces engraved by Jacob Bonneau after designs by Samuel Wale, and numerous decorative initials. Period full calf, red leather spine labels. First Edition thus.
About this book
First Edition of this translation of the classic letters first issued between c.100 and c.109. John Boyle, fifth Earl of Cork, fifth Earl of Orrery, and second Baron Marston (1707-1762) had literary aspirations and became a friend of Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, and Samuel Johnson. But they had no illusions about his intellectual gifts; and Boyle took some revenge on Swift's condescension in Remarks on the Life and Writings of Jonathan Swift (London, 1751). His translation and commentary on… Read More

Abridged from Mallory's Morte D'Arthur by Alfred W. Pollard, 1917, Arthur Rackham illustrator. First American Trade edition. Small thick 4to, 215 x 173 mm, 8 1/2 x 6 3/4 inches, navy cloth, gilt illustrated and lettered on upper cover and spine, top edges golden brown, pages xxiv, 517pp including Glossary. 16 splendid color plates with captioned guards, 7 full page black and white and 63 text illustrations.
About this Book
Alfred W. Pollard, FBA (14 August 1859 – 8 March 1944) was an English bibliographer, widely credited for bringing a higher level of scholarly rigor to the study of Shakespearean texts. (Wikipedia)
Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939 ) was an English book illustrator. He is recognized as one of the leading figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, which were combined with the use of watercolor, a technique he developed due to his background as a journalistic illustrator. (Wikipedia)

First edition, first printing of Bleak House by Charles Dickens. London: Bradbury & Evans, 1853. The full suite of 40 plates are present, including the frontispiece, title-page and 10 ''dark plates''. All first printing points are present: ''elgble'' on p. 19, line 6; ''chair'' instead of ''hair'' on p. 209, line 23; and ''counsinship'' instead of ''cousinship'' on p. 275, line 22. Bound in full tan calf by Tout. Five raised bands on spine. All gilt edges. Original blue wrapper from the August serial publication bound at the front.
Bleak House is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a 20 episode serial between March 1852 and September 1853. The novel has many characters and several sub-plots, and is told partly by the novel's heroine, Esther Summerson, and partly by an omniscient narrator. At the centre of Bleak House is a long-running legal case in the Court of Chancery, Jarndyce and Jarndyce, which came about because a testator wrote several conflicting wills. In a preface to the 1853… Read More

Hardcover. 1971, Limited edition of 125. SIGNED by the Author. This copy is not numbered (un-numbered copies often given to those involved in the publication). Original red quarter calf, gilt titles and Dhamma wheel decoration on front board, red cloth sides, red endpapers.
Gerard Joseph Malanga (born March 20, 1943) is an American poet, photographer, filmmaker, curator and archivist. Gerard Malanga worked closely for Andy Warhol during Warhol's most creative period, from 1963 to 1970; he was considered to be one of Andy Warhol's most important associates. Malanga was involved in all phases of Warhol's creative output in silkscreen painting and filmmaking. He acted in many of the early Warhol films, including Kiss (1963), Harlot (1964), Soap Opera (1964), Couch (1964), Vinyl (1965), Camp (1965), Chelsea Girls (1966); and co-produced Bufferin (1967) in which he reads his poetry, deemed to be the longest spoken-word movie on record at 33-minutes nonstop. (Wikipedia)

108pp. Harper & Brothers, 1906, 1931. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Black-and-white illustrations by F. Strothmann and Lester Ralph. The colophon page sates " This book was originally published as two volumes under the following titles: Extracts from Adam's Diary and Eves Diary. Because of Mark Twain's request the books are being published together in this volume". 1906 NY: Harper & Brothers; copyright 1906, but first printed in 1931. 1st edition stated, with proper E-F code. Interesting Illustrations by F. Strothmann and Lester Ralph. Those by Strothmann were meant to imitate pictographs on stone tablets but have a decidedly cartoonish and comical look. Dark blue paper boards with navy cloth spine and paper title label.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was lauded as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," and William Faulkner called him "the… Read More

Life in Paris; Comprising the Rambles, Sprees, and Amours of Dick Wildfire, of Corinthian Celebrity, and his Bang-up Companions, Squire Jenkins and Captain O'Shuffleton; with the Whimsical Adventures of the Halibut Family; Including Sketches of a Variety of Other Eccentric Characters in the French Metropolis. David Carey. First edition, early issue, bound without the half-title and the "To the Binder" leaf at rear. (8vo) 23x14.5 cm (9x5¾") (iii)-xxiv, 489 pp. Additional illustrated title page and 20 hand-colored aquatint plates by George Cruikshank; twenty-two black and white woodcut text illustrations. . Later full polished brown calf, spine gilt, all edges marbled. Among the best of the imitations of Pierce Egan's Life in London, which had plates by Robert and George Cruikshank, the plates in this work are by George only (Tooley 129).
About this book
In 1821, journalist Pierce Egan published Life in London or, the Day and Night Scenes of Jerry Hawthorn, esq., and his elegant friend, Corinthian Tom,… Read More

3 volumes in 1. 80; 112; iv, 96 pp. With frontispiece woodcut map. 22.5x13 cm (9x5¼"), later morocco-backed cloth boards, morocco spine label lettered in gilt; fresh endpapers. History of Oregon and Travels in Californias are First Editions, Travels in the Great Western Prairies is Second Edition. About this book Collection of Farnham's excellent works on the American West. The frontispiece map in this copy is bound upside-down, as is typical of the first edition. Howes F48; Howes F50 and Howes F49.
Thomas Jefferson Farnham (1804–1848) was an explorer and author of the American West in the first half of the 19th century. His travels included interaction with missionary Jason Lee, and he later led a wagon train on the Oregon Trail. While in Oregon Country he wrote a petition to federal authorities that requested federal protection of the region from the United States government, which was signed by many of the local settlers who had come from the United States. Thomas Jefferson Farnham traveled… Read More

1933, First English Trade edition. 287pp. 5 3/4 x 8 3/4 inches, 8 color illustrations on plates, with titled paper guards, and 60 b&w illustrations. Bound in full rust-colored cloth over boards, black lettering and decorations on the front and spine, light brown debossed decorations on front and spine, illustrated endpapers in sepia, colored frontis.
About this book This book includes the following stories and associated illustrations: "Hop-O'-My Thumb" (Perrault), "Dick Whittington" (Traditional English), "Jack and the Beanstalk" (ibid), "Beauty and the Beast" (Madame de Villeneuve), "Henny-Penny" (Traditional English), "The Story of Sindbad the Sailor" (The Arabian Nights), "Jack the Giant-Killer" (Traditional English), "The Ugly Duckling" (Hans Andersen), "The Princess and the Pea" (ibid), "Blue Beard" (Perrault), "The Story of Aladdin..." (The Arabian Nights), "The Sleeping Beauty" (Perrault), "The Barmecide's Feast" (The Arabian Nights), "Toads and Diamonds" (Perrault), "The Three Bears"… Read More

[12], 257 pp. Illustrated from photographs, sketches, etc.; engraved frontispiece portrait; illustrated map endpapers. 23x15 cm (9x6") period buckram lettered in gilt. Number 195 of 200 copies. First Edition. VERY SCARCE (no other copy currently available).
About this book
Signed by the author on the title page. Born in 1823, Dorsey Baker studied medicine and practiced briefly in Des Moines before crossed the plains to Oregon in 1848, invested in Portland real estate, founded a store in Walla Walla, was involved in banking and transportation, and in general, was instrumental in the progress of southeastern Washington and the surrounding areas. Smith 450.

The Inside Passage to Alaska 1792-1920 with an Account of the North Pacific Coast from Cape Mendocino to Cook Inlet. Two volumes. Vol 1 342pp. with frontis plus six plates; Vol 2 318pp. with map and ten plates. (8vo) original green cloth, spines lettered in gilt, top edges gilt, deckled fore-edge (some pages still uncut). First Edition. Edited from Woollen's original manuscript by Paul L. Hawarth.
About this book
William Woollen was an Indiana lawyer, outdoorsman, and birder; this work chronicles Vancouver's voyages as well as his own travels on the North Pacific coast. Arctic Bib. 19679; Tourville 4960; Wickersham 2265.
A chronicle, including the explorations of Captain Vancouver, with much on the natural history, based on the author's five trips through the area. 1000 copies printed but reportedly the author's family had 500 destroyed. Quite scarce.

Translated from the Egyptian with an introduction and appendix by Battiscombe G. Gunn. 75, [1] + [4] ad pp. 16.5x11.8 cm (6½x4¾"), cloth. First edition, 1906. Very scarce.
About this book
Very rare printing of ancient Egyptian wisdom text, which many scholars deem to be the "oldest books in the world." The Maxims of Ptahhotep. Ptahhotep was the city administrator and vizier (first minister) during the reign of Djedkare Isesi in the 5th Dynasty (late 25th century BC and early 24th century BC). He is credited with authoring The Instruction of Ptahhotep, an early piece of Egyptian "wisdom literature" meant to instruct young men in appropriate behavior. Ptahhotep's grandson, Ptahhotep Tshefi, is traditionally credited with being the author of the collection of wise sayings known as The Maxims of Ptahhotep, whose opening lines attribute authorship to the vizier Ptahhotep: Instruction of the Mayor of the city, the Vizier Ptahhotep, under the Majesty of King lsesi. They take the form of advice and… Read More

Tales of Irish Life. Illustrative of the Manners, Customs,and Condition of the People. With Designs by George Cruikshank. Two volumes. [8], iv, 242 + [2] ad; [4], 249, [1] + [2] ad pp. With six woodcuts by George Cruikshank, three in each volume. (12mo) 17.5x10.5 cm. (6¾x4"), original boards, paper spine labels. First Edition.
About this book
Michael James Whitty (1795 - 1873), newspaper editor and proprietor, native of Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, commenced his literary career in London, and among his earliest friends were Sir James Bacon and George Cruikshank. He published anonymously in 1824 two volumes of Tales of Irish Life stories which depict the customs and condition of the people of his homeland, and were a great success, being reprinted in America and also translated into French and German.
George Cruikshank (27 September 1792 – 1 February 1878) was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles… Read More

1893. Folio , (4to) 12½x9½. Limited edition, extra Illustrated, with 61 plates (some sepia-tone), 3 are hand-colored (including frontispiece), with tissue-guards; also 14 small illustrations within the text and decorative initials; mostly photogravures and etchings from drawings and paintings, period full dark blue levant morocco, gilt-stamped armorial vignette surrounded by four crowned capital M's on the front cover, raised bands, inner gilt dentelles, top edge gilt; bound by Zaehnsdorf in 1896. No. 116 of 200 copies printed on Japanese paper, for distribution in Europe.
About this book
In this beautifully illustrated folio volume, Sir John Skelton chronicles the life of the doomed Mary Queen of Scots, from her royal birth at Linlithgow Palace in 1542 to her execution in the reign of Elizabeth I in 1587.
Sir John Skelton KCB (18 July 1831 – 19 July 1897) was a Scottish lawyer, author and administrator. He is best known for his contributions to The Guardian and Blackwood's Magazine. In 1876 he… Read More

Two volumes. xvi, 422; viii, 414. Illustrated with several plates from photographs; frontispiece portraits with tissue-guards. Photograph of Jack and Charmian London mounted on front free endpaper of volume II. 22.5x15 cm (9x6"), green cloth, spines lettered in gilt. First American Edition. Both inscribed on front free endpaper, by bookseller Russ Kingman (owner of The World of Jack London Museum and Bookstore). Also mounted is his personal card. A separate sheet of detailed notes on the book has been inserted by a previous owner. Woodbridge notes that "these two volumes contain over 250 letters, telegrams and inscriptions by Jack London to various correspondents, some complete and some excerpted. The majority are first printings...." Woodbridge 1180. About this book Charmian Kittredge London (November 27, 1871 in Wilmington, California – January 14, 1955 in Glen Ellen, California[1]) was an American writer and second wife of Jack London. Charmian Kittredge was born to poet Dayelle "Daisy" Wiley and… Read More