What's New
DAHL, Roald. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.New York : 1964
First edition, first printing, first issue, in the first state dust jacket. In the words of his biographer Donald Sturrock, this is Dahl's "most famous children's book". The US edition preceded the UK edition by three years.
The first issue can be distinguished by the six lines of printing information on the final page; this was cut to five...Learn More
CHURCHILL, Winston S. The People's Rights.London : [1910]
First edition, wrappers issue, the rare The Daily News variant. Due to the low quality of the materials and the cheap and clumsy method of production, the book is among the most difficult to acquire for Churchill collectors: Langworth declares it "the third rarest Churchill book after Mr. Brodrick's Army and For Free Trade" (p....Learn More
VOLTAIRE. La Henriade, avec des variantes et des notes. Et l'Essai sur le Poëme Epique.London : 1734
Later edition of Voltaire's national epic, from the library of Francis Hutcheson, the 19th-century rector of Donaghadee and grandson of the Enlightenment philosopher of the same name, with his engraved bookplate on the front pastedown.
The elder Francis Hutcheson was a direct contemporary of Voltaire: both were born in 1694 and came of age...Learn More
CHURCHILL, Winston S. - MOORE, George. The Pastoral Loves of Daphnis and Chloe.London : 1924
First edition, signed limited issue, presentation copy from Winston Churchill to Mary, Duchess of Marlborough, inscribed by him on the initial binder's blank, "To Mary from Winston Christmas 1934".
Mary (1900-1961) was wife of the 10th Duke of Marlborough. Churchill, grandson of the 7th Duke, was for several years next in line to the...Learn More
HUME, David. Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects.London : 1777
The definitive edition, incorporating Hume's final corrections - submitted a fortnight before his death - and including the first appearance of the essay, "Of the Origin of Government."
Hume revised the Essays and Treatises for over two decades following its first publication in 1753. A capacious work, it collects Hume's major writings on...Learn More
JACQUEMONT, Victor. Letters From India;London : 1834
First published in French the previous year, the year after Jacquemont's death. These letters to his family and friends were sent during a government sponsored scientific expedition to India. The books proved immensely successful, providing what Buckland describes as "a most vivid account … of the social condition of India in those days" (p....Learn More
GARDENING - DOWN, Chester B. Descriptive Catalogue of Choice Green House and Hot House Plants.Strafford, VT : 1881
The gardening supplier's catalogue of household seeds and bulbs.Learn More
NICOLAY, John G., & John HAY. Abraham Lincoln: A History; [together with:] Complete Works.New York : 1904 & 1902
Early edition of this major scholarly endeavour by two of Lincoln's secretaries, here handsomely bound together.
The ten-volume History was first published in 1890, and the two-volume Works in 1894. Nicolay (1832-1901) and Hay (1838-1905) "shared a room at the White House and had an exceptionally close relationship with Lincoln, though...Learn More
CHURCHILL, Winston S. The Vedette. The Regimental Magazine of the 21st (E. of I.) Lancers (Published Quarterly).Cairo : 1908
First edition. Churchill charged with the 21st Lancers at Omdurman, and a lengthy narrative in this number makes extensive use of Churchill's despatches in the Morning Post. We have traced only one other copy, held at the Queen's Royal Lancers Archive and Museum.
Omdurman is often cited as the last great cavalry charge in British military...Learn More
WELLS, H. G. Les premiers hommes dans la lune.Paris : [1901]
First van Maële edition, the preferred issue, perhaps the most extraordinary graphic realization of Wells's classic lunar novel. This copy retains the exceptionally rare dust jacket, which features an illustration that appears neither in the book nor on the binding.
Van Maële's vivid depictions of the moon and its Selenite inhabitants...Learn More
MANDELA, Nelson - ALBERTS, Paul. Some Evidence of Things Seen.Rivonia, South Africa : 1997
Signed limited edition, number 21 of 50 copies signed by Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Albie Sachs, and Paul Alberts.
A remarkable collaboration, this is the only limited edition signed by both Mandela and Tutu - Nobel Peace Prize winners in 1993 and 1984 respectively - alongside a third major figure in the anti-Apartheid movement, Albie...Learn More
CHINESE IMPERIAL EXAMINATIONS. Handkerchief used by a candidate to cheat.[China : c.1850]
An artefact of China's gruelling official examination system, in which millions of candidates sat philosophical papers, the very best securing lucrative official positions, fame, and social status. Here, a candidate has transcribed in miniscule characters an essay on the writings of Mencius, ready to smuggle it into his secluded examination...Learn More
ERAGNY PRESS: NERVAL, Gérard de. Histoire de le reine du matin & de Soliman prince des genies.Hammersmith, London : 1909
First Eragny Press edition, in immaculate condition. Number 41 of 130 nominated copies, this copy bears the printed name of the subscriber Charles Gadala. Particularly celebrated for their woodcuts, Lucien and Esther Pissarro of the Eragny Press made their first effort to print the cuts in gilt and multicolour in this edition.
The Pissarros...Learn More
CONNELL, Lena. Portraits of Ellen Terry.London : c.1909
Seventeen characterful photographic studies of the actress, presented as two folding albums. Six portraits show Terry as Nance Oldfield, one of her most popular roles, first performed in 1891 and revived for the 1909 women's suffrage play A Pageant of Great Women. The photographs were taken by WSPU activist Lena Connell.
Terry was a...Learn More
MAUGHAM, W. Somerset. Of Human Bondage.London : 1915
First British edition, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "For David G. Tomlinson, thanking him for wishing me to write my name in this book. W. Somerset Maugham. Beverley Hills, March 4, 1936."
The work is "a heavily revised and amplified version of an unpublished novel, a fictionalized work of autobiography... In the new...Learn More
SALINGER, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye.Boston : 1951
First edition. Salinger's work is widely recognized as the great American post-war coming-of-age novel and is perhaps the definitive story of teenage angst. Celebrated by both critics and generations of adolescents, it has also faced much censorship, becoming the most restricted title in American high schools and libraries from 1962 to...Learn More
MARSTON, William Moulton. The Lie Detector Test.New York : 1938
First edition, presentation copy, inscribed enigmatically on the front free endpaper: "To my good friend and favorite politician (?!?!) with regards William Moulton Marston". The author's research into the link between systolic blood pressure and deception contributed to the invention of the polygraph test. From the Crime Library of Patricia...Learn More
JENNINGS, Oscar. The Morphia Habit and Its Voluntary Renunciation:London : 1909
First edition, inscribed by the author in French on the first blank: "To General Chabot, a heartfelt tribute from the author. Dr Oscar Jennings" (translated). The author ran a morphine addiction clinic in Paris; he had himself been addicted to morphine for 25 years, which gave him insight into the condition and its treatments. From the Crime...Learn More
REISS, Rodolphe Archibald. Manuel du Portrait (Méthode Alphonse Bertillon) parlé a l'Usage de la Police,Paris : 1905
First edition, an abridgement of the "Speaking Portrait" anthropometric system, created by a pioneer of forensic science in policing. The manual is designed for easy consultation by police officers and provides instruction in Alfonse Bertillon's method of using physical measurements to record identities. It also gives guidance on taking portraits,...Learn More
FREUD, Sigmund. A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis: Authorized Translation with a Preface by G. Stanley Hall.New York : 1920
First English-language edition, inscribed on the front free endpaper by the author's nephew: "Pleasant Dreams - To a real friend from a real friend, Edward L. Bernays, Nov. 19, 1920". Bernays worked for Boni & Liveright at the time and was responsible for convincing the company director to publish the General Introduction to...Learn More
