"If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all. "
— Oscar Wilde
Literature
Only When I Larf.
London: Michael Joseph, 1968. [Modern Literature] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.233; [3], blank. Publisher's cloth in dust-wrapper designed by Raymond Hawkey, priced at 25s. Top edge dusty/spotted else a lovely fine copy in fine jacket. This is the scarcer hardback trade issue comprising just 9000 copies (released as..... More
![Only When I Laugh [Larf]. Len DEIGHTON, born 1929](/pictures/thumb/53659.jpg?v=1556028987)
Only When I Laugh [Larf].
New York, NY: Mysterious Press, 1987. [Modern Literature] SIGNED LIMITED EDITION, also the FIRST US EDITION. Octavo (23 x 16cm), pp.241; [5], blank. Publisher's green buckram blocked in gilt to spine, pale green endpapers, matching cloth slipcase. Copy No. 71 of 250, signed by Len Deighton. A fine copy in..... More
Spy Story.
New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1974. [Spy Thriller] FIRST US EDITION. Octavo (21 x 14cm), pp.224. Publisher's black quarter cloth, with red metallic titles to spine, red paper over boards, and black and white photographic endpapers. With the gold dust-jacket designed by Raymond Hawkey. Light spotting to edges, and..... More
SS-GB. Nazi Occupied Britain 1941.
New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979. [Alternative History] FIRST US EDITION. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.[6] 344 [2]. Publisher's cream quarter cloth with silver titles to spine and blind-stamped blue paper-covered boards. Tope edge light blue; fore-edge untrimmed. With the dust-jacket designed by S. Neil Fujita, priced at $9.95..... More
Twinkle Twinkle Little Spy.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1976. [Thriller] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (23 x 15cm), pp.240. Publisher's black cloth with gilt titles to spine. Top edge blue; photographic endpapers depicting the sky at night. With the photographic dust-jacket designed by Raymond Hawkey, priced at £3.25. Slight browning to edges. Light bruising to jacket edges..... More
Violent Ward.
London: Harper Collins, 1993. [Thriller] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (24 x 15cm), pp.[x]; 305; [5], blank. Publisher's red hardcover cloth blocked in gilt to the backstrip, illustrated dust-jacket priced at £14.99. A crisp, clean, fine copy. A picaresque legal thriller set in riot-torn South Central Los Angeles. More
Winter. A Berlin Family 1899-1945.
London: Hutchinson, 1987. [Espionage thriller] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (24 x 16cm), pp.[vi]; 536; [2], blank. Publisher's blue cloth hardcovers lettered in silver to spine, floral-patterned red endpapers, dust-wrapper designed by Raymond Hawkey priced at £11.95. Lightly used, discreet date '28/9' in ink, faint mark to fore-edge. A near fine copy..... More
XPD.
London: Hutchinson, 1981. [Post-war spy thriller] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (22 x 14cm), pp.[vi]; 397; [1], blank. Publisher's black cloth hardcover, red endpapers, in photographic dust-wrapper. Minor spotting to top edge else a fine copy in a fine unfaded wrapper. A popular read and certainly not a scarce book, but increasingly..... More
Yesterday's Spy.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1975. [Spy thriller] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (23 x 15cm), pp.224. Publisher's hardback cloth binding in pictorial dust-jacket. The jacket artwork is by Raymond Hawkey, who designed the classic 1960s James Bond paperbacks for Pan Books. Price clipped jacket slightly sunned; near fine. With comparisons to Graham Greene..... More
Yesterday's Spy.
New York, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975. [Spy thriller] FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.282. Publisher's brown and orange hardback binding, top edge orange, in pictorial dust-jacket. The jacket artwork is by Raymond Hawkey, who designed the classic 1960s James Bond British paperbacks for Pan Books. Edges dusty..... More
Arena 13.
London: The Bodley Head, 2015. [Young Adult Fantasy] SIGNED FIRST EDITION. Octavo (24 x 16cm), pp.[8] 280 [16]. SIGNED by the author in black ink to title page. Publisher's red cloth with gilt titles to spine and black endpapers. With the dust-jacket designed by James Fraser, priced at £12.99. Promotional..... More
Les Peuples De L'Orient Mediterraneen.
Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1948, 1952. Third Edition. Two vols. Octavo. Bound by Bayntun in recent green half morocco over green cloth boards, with raised bands and gilt titles to spine; top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. French language. With Avant-Propos by S. Charlety. Binding shows well, with only minor..... More
Give Us This Day.
London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1973. [Modern Literature] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (21 x 14cm), pp.767; [1]. Publisher's maroon cloth with gilt titles to spine, illustrated endpapers. Top edge blue. With the dust-jacket illustrated by George Chrichard. Some page corners tuned down, some marks to edges. Price-clipped jacket spine sunned, some light..... More
End Zone.
Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1972. [Satire] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (22 x 16cm), pp.[8] 242 [6]. Publisher's black cloth with silver titles to spine and upper. Top edge green. With the black dust-jacket illustrated by Paul Bacon, priced at $5.95. Spotting to top edge and some light handling. A fine..... More
![The Arabian Nights. Tales from the Thousand and One Nights. [Ali Baba, Sinbad, Aladdin, etc.]. E....](/pictures/thumb/51181.jpg?v=1526139672)
The Arabian Nights. Tales from the Thousand and One Nights. [Ali Baba, Sinbad, Aladdin, etc.]
London: Hodder and Stoughton Limited, no date [1924]. First Detmold illustrated edition. Quarto (29 x 23cm), pp.240. Twelve tipped-in colour plates, captioned tissue guards. Publisher's white cloth pictorially blocked and lettered in gilt, Internally clean, endpapers browned. Cloth quite bright, gently toned to spine, light wear to head and tail..... More
![The Arabian Nights. Tales from the Thousand and One Nights. [Ali Baba, Sinbad, Aladdin, etc.]. E....](/pictures/thumb/58352.jpg?v=1605808325)
The Arabian Nights. Tales from the Thousand and One Nights. [Ali Baba, Sinbad, Aladdin, etc.]
London: Hodder and Stoughton Limited, no date [1924]. [Illustrated] First Detmold illustrated edition. Quarto (29 x 23cm), pp.240. Twelve tipped-in colour plates, captioned tissue guards. Publisher's white cloth pictorially blocked and lettered in gilt. Contents clean, some spotting to edges and endpapers, contemporary ink note (1926) to flyleaf, cloth rather..... More
Morse's greatest mysteries: The inside story and Morse's greatest mystery.
London: Pan Books, 1999. EXCLUSIVE W. H. SMITHS EDITION. Softcover octavo, pp.60, bound in photgraphic wraps. Fine. Two Inspector Morse short stories printed specially for W. H. Smiths. More
Two Stories and a Memory. With an Introduction by E.M. Forster
London: Collins and Harvill Press, 1962. [Literature in translation]. FIRST UK EDITION. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.128. Bound in publisher's blue cloth, with titles in gilt to spine, khaki endpapers, pictorial dust-wrapper with artwork by Charles Gorham. A very good copy with a few small chips and rubs to the..... More
Oliver Twist; Or, The Parish Boy's Progress.
London: Chapman and Hall, no date [circa 1880]. [English literature] FINELY BOUND. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.viii; 311; [1], blank. With twenty-four engraved plates by George Cruikshank. Mid green half calf to style with gilt to spine, marbled sides, top edge gilt. Internally clean, plates with a few minor spots..... More
Martin Chuzzlewit.
London: Chapman and Hall, n.d. [circa 1870]. [Classic Literature] FINELY BOUND AND ILLUSTRATED. Octavo, pp.xvi; 624. With 40 illustrated plates by Phiz, including a frontispiece and vignette title page. Contemporary green half morocco over green pebble grained cloth boards, with raised bands, gilt titles and gilt motifs to spine. All..... More
The Chimes. A Goblin Story of some Bells that Rang an Old Yearout and a New Year In.
London: J.M. Dent and Co., 1905. [Short story] FIRST BROCK EDITION IN COLOUR. Octavo (18 x 12cm), pp.[viii]; 167; [3]. Contemporary quarter vellum over blue cloth boards, lettered, decorated in gilt to spine, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt. Colour frontispiece and numerous in-text illustrations. Textblock a little shaken with a...... More
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby.
London: Chapman and Hall, 1839. [Classic Fiction] FIRST EDITION, bound from mixed issue parts. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.xvi; 624. With 39 engraved plates by Phiz, and a frontispiece portrait of the author by Maclise. This copy does not have "visiter" for "sister" on p.123 line 17, but it does..... More
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby.
London: Chapman and Hall, no date [circa 1895]. [Classic Literature] FINELY BOUND AND ILLUSTRATED. Octavo (22 x 17cm), pp.[2] xvi; 624 [2]. With 39 engraved plates by Browne, and a frontispiece portrait of the author by Maclise. Contemporary green half morocco, with raised bands, gilt titles and decoration to spine..... More
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club.
London: Chapman and Hall, no date [circa 1895]. [Classic Literature] FINELY BOUND AND ILLUSTRATED. Octavo (22 x 17cm), pp.[2] xvi; 609 [3]. With 43 engraved plates by Browne and Seymour, including a frontispiece and vignette title page. Contemporary green half morocco, with raised bands, gilt titles and decoration to spine..... More
The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit.
London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, no date [circa 1900]. [Classic Literature] FINELY BOUND AND ILLUSTRATED. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[10] 897 [5]. With 40 engraved plates by 'Phiz,' including two frontispieces. Contemporary black half calf, with raised bands, gilt titles and decoration to spine, and light blue cloth over boards..... More