"A book should serve as the axe for the frozen sea within us."
— Franz Kafka
Poetry & Drama
Six Modern One-Act Plays.
London: University of London Press, 1950. SIGNED FIRST EDITION, thus. Octavo, pp.160. Publisher's softcovers. SIGNED BY JOHN LENNON. An interesting school text-book borrowed by Lennon whilst a student at Quarry Bank School, Liverpool. Lennon has signed the lending stamp to the inside cover 'J[ohn] W[inston] Lennon, IVC', and dated this..... More
The Complete Works of Walt Whitman. The Collector's Camden Edition.
New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1902. [Complete Works] FINELY BOUND LIMITED EDITION. Ten volumes, octavo (24 x 17 x 40cm). With 40 lithographic illustrations. Number 10 of just 300 sets signed and numbered by the publisher. Recent blue half morocco with raised bands, gilt titles and decoration to spines..... More
Concert For George.
UK: Genesis Publications, 2004. [Rock photo-documentary]. DELUXE EDITION, signed by Olivia Harrison. Folio, pp.306 STRICTLY LIMITED; No 21 of 350 numbered copies, not to be confused with the 'Collector' edition which was numbered up to 2500. Deluxe copies were bound in half-terracotta goatskin over padded cloth sides with rose gold..... More
![Bell's Shakespeare]. [Romeo and Juliet; All's Well that Ends Well; The Winter's Tale; Love's...](/pictures/thumb/57101.jpg?v=1593449283)
[Bell's Shakespeare]. [Romeo and Juliet; All's Well that Ends Well; The Winter's Tale; Love's Labour's Lost; Tempest; Titus Andronicus; As You Like It; Measure for Measure; Antony and Cleopatra; Midsummer-Night's Dream; King Lear; Othello; Cymbeline; Much Ado about Nothing; Julius Caesar; Comedy of Errors; Timon of Athens; King John; Merry Wives of Windsor; Richard II; Richard III; King Henry VIII; Hamlet; Taming of the Shrew; Two Gentlemen of Verona; Twelfth-Night, or, What You Will; Troilus and Cressida; Macbeth; Coriolanus; Henry V; Henry IV, parts I and II; Henry VI, parts I, II and III; Names of the Original Actors in the Plays of Shakspeare, by Will. Shakspeare: Printed complete from the Text of Sam. Johnson and Geo. Steevens, and revised from the last Editions.
London: John Bell [and] John Cawthorn, 1784-1807. [Shakespeare] JOHN BELL EDITION, later printings, mixed issue. 36 of 38 volumes. Duodecimo in half-sheets (16 x 10cm). Most volumes dated 1788 or 1803, with just a few intersectional exceptions. All volumes with two engraved title pages of varying dates ranging from 1784..... More
After Strange Gods. A Primer of Modern Heresy.
London: Faber and Faber, Ltd., 1934. [Literary Criticism] FIRST EDITION, SIGNED by the author in blue ink to title page. Octavo (23 x 15cm), pp.68. Blue cloth hardcovers with gilt titles to spine, in typographic dust-jacket priced at 3/6. Faint erasure to pastedown, minor spotting, jacket with old tape to..... More
![En Attendant Godot [Waiting For Godot]. Samuel BECKETT](/pictures/thumb/54808.jpg?v=1569253767)
En Attendant Godot [Waiting For Godot].
Paris: Les Editions De Minuit, 1952. [Drama] FIRST TRADE EDITION. Octavo (18 x 11cm), pp.163; [1], blank; [1], note; [3], blank. White card covers printed in black and blue, advertisements for 'Malloy' and 'Malone Meurt' to rear cover, with photo of the author. Title and rear leaves unopened (uncut edges)..... More
Oscar Wilde: A Study.
Oxford: The Holywell Press, 1905. [Literary Biography] LIMITED EDITION, EX LIBRIS H.G. WELLS. Octavo (21 x 16cm), pp.[12] 110 [2]. From an edition of 500 copies, this being one of just 50 copies printed on hand-made paper. INSCRIBED by Science Fiction author H.G. Wells in black ink to fly-leaf: 'Ex..... More
![Et Dukkehjem [A Doll's House]. Henrik Johan IBSEN](/pictures/thumb/50573.jpg?v=1532785869)
Et Dukkehjem [A Doll's House].
Copenhagen: Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag (F. Hegel and Søn), 1879. [Drama] FIRST EDITION. Small octavo (18cm x 12cm), pp.[2]; 180; [2]. Publisher's green cloth decorated in black and gilt. Coated white endpapers, all edges gilt. Pencil name to half-title, light wear to hinges which are nearly always split, minor rubbing to..... More
Death of a Naturalist.
London: Faber and Faber Ltd., 1966. [Poetry] FIRST EDITION. Slim octavo (23 x 15cm), pp.57; [1] blank. Publisher's green cloth, gilt titles to spine, typographic dust-jacket. Contents and binding very lightly marked. Jacket with a little rubbing/soiling and a few marks to rear, slightly sunned to spine, price clipped. Better..... More
The Tower.
London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1928. [Poetry] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.vi; 110; [2] publisher's advertisements. Bound in mid-green cloth, handsomely blocked in gilt to spine and upper board, fore and tail edges untrimmed, illustrated dust-wrapper priced at 6/- net. A fine copy of the book in an..... More
Christina Rossetti Poems.
London: Blackie and Sons Ltd., 1910. [Illustrated Verse] FIRST HARRISON ILLUSTRATED EDITION, SIGNED LIMITED ISSUE. Quarto (30 x 22cm). Illustrated with tipped-in colour plates, each with captioned tissue guards. Publisher's full parchment over boards pictorially blocked in gilt, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. Contents very clean, expected marking/browning to..... More
A Midsummer Night's Dream. With Illustrations by Arthur Rackham.
London: William Heinemann, 1908. [Fantasy drama] First Rackham Illustrated Edition, SIGNED LIMITED ISSUE. Large Quarto (30 x 24cm), pp.134; [1], blank; [1], imprint. With forty tipped-in colour plates, each with captioned tissue guards. Handsomely bound in blue full oasis morocco, with twin red labels to spine, gilt decoration, marbled endpapers..... More
The Works of William Shakespeare.
London: Archibald Constable, n.d [c.1910]. FINELY BOUND EDITION. 12 volumes. Crown octavo (19 x 14 x 40cm). Half scarlet calf by The Times Bindery, with green morocco title labels, gilt to spine, matching buckram sides, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. Contents a little thumbed, bindings with the odd mark or..... More
![Per Amica Silentia Lunae [Through the Friendly Silences of Moon]. W. B. YEATS, William Butler](/pictures/thumb/48049.jpg?v=1510224381)
Per Amica Silentia Lunae [Through the Friendly Silences of Moon]
London: Macmillan and Co., 1918. FIRST EDITION. Octavo, pp.vi; 95. Publisher's gilt-embossed blue cloth designed by T Sturge Moore, edges untrimmed, in original printed dust-wrapper, priced at 4/6 net. Book is fine, jacket browned to extremities, chipped to crown and foot. Very good. A poetic exposition of Yeat's visionary worldview..... More
A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle.
Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, 1926. [Scottish Poetry] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.viii; 108. Including an extensive Glossary. Publisher's navy cloth with gilt titles to spine and upper, light blue typographic dust-jacket, priced at 7/6 to spine. Jacket toned to grey, and heavily rubbed to spine. A number..... More
Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes.
London: John Baskerville, for J. and R. Tonson, 1758. First Baskerville edition. 2 volumes. Octavo (23 x 15cm). Full red English calf with full gilt backs, twin labels, elaborate gilt border to sides, Dutch marbled endpapers, gilt turn-ins, all edges gilt. Contents clean, bindings nicely aged, spines a little chipped..... More
The Collected Works of Yeats, in Verse and Prose. Being the Writings, Plays and Poems.
Stratford-on-Avon: Shakespeare Head Press, 1908. FIRST COMPLETE WORKS. 8 volumes. octavo. Portrait frontispiece (including a Sargent charcoal drawing that makes Yeats look like Dr. Nikola without his cat) to four volumes (alternate: vol.I, III, V, and VII), title-page printed in red and black. Publisher's pale green linen spines with titles..... More
The Works of Lord Byron. With His Letters and Journals, and his Life, by Thomas Moore.
London: John Murray, 1835. [Verse] FINELY BOUND. 18 volumes, being the poetry complete in 17 volumes, with Galt's Life of Byron (First Edition) as the 18th volume. Octavo (17 x 11 x 45cm). Engraved frontispiece and engraved title page to every volume. Finely bound by Kaufmann for booksellers Estes and..... More
The Works of Robert Browning. With introductions by F.G. Kenyon.
London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1912. Centenary edition. 10 volumes. Octavo. Limited to 276 sets for the US, of which this is number 244. Printed on antique laid paper, with sepia-toned portrait frontispiece in each volume. Handsomely bound in the 'West End' style in dark blue half morocco, gilt on..... More
The Waste Land.
New York, NY: Boni and Liveright, 1922. LIMITED SECOND EDITION. Octavo (20 x 13cm), pp.64. Number 518 of 1000 copies printed. Publisher's dark grey cloth with gilt titles to spine and upper board. Edges untrimmed. Text block lightly browned, as expected. Some rubbing to fore-edges and spine; a few marks..... More
Works of Shakespeare. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by C. H. Herford.
London: Macmillan and Co., 1901-1912. FINELY BOUND. In ten volumes. Crown octavo (18 x 13cm), pp.[2] xxii, 389 [2]; pp.[2] vi, 572 [2]; pp.[2] vi, 500 [2]; pp.[2] vi, 494 [2]; pp.[2] viii, 542 [2]; pp.[2] iv, 515 [3]; pp.[2] vi, 521 [3]; pp.[2] vi, 417 [3]; pp.[2] vi, 398..... More
The Botanic Garden, A Poem. In Two Parts. Part I containing The Economy of Vegetation. Part II The Loves of Plants. With Philosophical Notes.
London: Printed for J. Johnson, 1799. [Botany]. FINE CONTEMPORARY BINDING, the fourth edition. In two volumes. Octavo (22 x 14cm), pp.[2] xiv; xvii-xx; 492 [2]; pp.[4] xii; xv-xvi; 282 [6]. With 21 etchings and copper engraved plates, including a frontispiece to each volume. Contemporary navy full diced calf with gilt..... More
Fine Clothes to the Jew.
New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1927. [Folk Music/Lyrics/Verse] Third Printing INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.90; [4]. Publisher's purple cloth, lettered in gilt to spine and upper, illustrated dust-wrapper. With presentation note to flyleaf; "For Mrs Holmes- | these songs | and poems - | Sincerely..... More
Some British Ballads. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham.
London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1909. LIMITED EDITION of 575 copies of which this is No 133, SIGNED by Rackham. Large octavo (29 x 23cm), pp.136. Illustrated with 16 mounted colour plates with captioned tissues plus numerous black and white line-drawings within the text. Bound in recent dark blue full..... More
Twenty-Five Poems.
London: J.M. Dent and Sons, 1936. [Modern Verse] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.48. Publisher's grey paper over boards, top edge tinted blue, printed dust-wrapper priced at 2/6. Some offset toning from jacket flaps, light wear and dustiness to jacket, some rubbing and wear to spine, chipped to ends..... More