Dreams From My Father by Obama, Barack - 1995

New York: Alfred Knopf, 1927. First Edition. Hardcover. Contents clean and fresh; covers bright with sunning to the spine and darkening of the spine label. Very Good or better, lacking the scarce dustwrapper. Original green cloth with the first printing error on page 20. SIGNED by the author on the front free endpaper and quite scarce as such. There was a Limited Edition of 175 numbered and signed copies, but one rarely comes across a signed trade edition of this classic of American Literature. We found only two copies appearing at auction in the last 35 years, the Pforzheimer copy in 1987, inscribed to Carl Pforzheimer, and another inscribed copy in 2006. The present copy is signed only and on an integral sheet of the book, not on a piece of paper added later.

New York/London: The Fountain Press/The Hogarth Press, 1929. First Edition. Hardcover. Spine is mildly sunned; gilt strong. Near Fine. This edition preceded the English edition (both trade and signed) by three days. Original cinnamon cloth. One of only 492 copies SIGNED by the author (this copy marked "out of series" instead of numbered and belonged to the Yale University Press printer Carl Rollins) of this important and desirable title, a compelling essay on women and writing that has become a classic feminist text. "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction," said Woolf, "and that, as you will see, leaves the great problem of the true nature of woman and the true nature of fiction unsolved."

London: Edward Moxon, 1842. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Original brown cloth with a leaf of ads at the end followed by an additional collective title page and half-title page, allowing the book to form the seventh and final volume of the 1836-7 edition of Wordsworth's POETICAL WORKS. Wordsworth's last collection of new work, and somewhat scarce. This is a Presentation copy INSCRIBED by the poet on the front pastedown: "Herbert Hill/from/the Author/April 1842." Herbert Hill married Robert Southey's daughter, Bertha, in 1839 and was a neighbor of Wordsworth's living with his wife in John Fleming's cottage in Rydal. Hill served as tutor for Matthew Arnold. Both Hill and Wordsworth attended Southey's funeral in March 1843 after which Wordsworth was selected to replace Southey as England's Poet Laureate. Rebacked some time ago with nearly all of the original spine but for the tips retained. An engraved portrait of the author is laid down on the verso of the front free endpaper.

Washington DC, 21 May 1953. Framed Letter. Fine, attractively framed. On 8-1/2" x 11" United States Senate stationery to John Keegan thanking him for his views "concerning the security test for federal employees" and promising to consider them "should legislation be brought before the Senate." SIGNED at the conclusion with the following 21 words added in Kennedy's hand: "I am having a study made of the new program at the present time and shall bear in mind your comment." The last 3 words are on the other side of the paper. Attractively framed to an overall size of 18" x 18" with a small portrait of Kennedy and allowing both sides of the letter to be viewed. If you care, and you shouldn't, this piece comes with a PSA/DNA COA that the previous owner purchased for $200.

Paris: Aux Editions Eliane Norberg, 1951. First edition thus. Signed, De Luxe limited edition. Sumptuous, full leather Artesian binding by Jacques Blanchet. From an edition of 202, number 72 of 180 printed on Velin d' Arches. Published Paris: Editions Eliane Norberg, 1951. Folio, 10 1/2" x 13 1/4" x 2 7/8" thick, 302pp., illustrated with full page engraved plates and fine textual engravings from copper - all with tissue guards, and two leather engravings (cover and verso) in 6 colors by Robert Fonta. Full dark blue satin morocco over 1/4" thick boards with chamfered corners and leather inner hinges attached to thick, duplex flyleaves and gray leather pastedowns. Gilt block paneled titles on spine, top edges tinted blue with gilt embossed edge design stamped into the page block. Front cover and verso decorated with unique, six-color leather inset engravings by Fonta, Signed on the half title by the Bazin: "Hommage amical / de l'auteur / Herve Bazin." Presentation… Read More

Franckfort am Mayn (ie Frankfurt): Sigmund Feyrabend Buchhandler, 1580. Hardcover. Very Good-. Large scene of knight in armour on titlepage + full-page allegorical plate of three graces and flying Mercury signed I A [Jost Amman] & MF +156 full-page woodcuts of men in armour with their shield coats of arms.. Folio in morocco spined boards (tips bit worn). Title in red & black + 2pp (preface and intro) + captioned full page plate as half title (numbered p3) +4-162pp +[2]pp (colophon with large printer's emblem and blank verso), but seems to lack a final blank leaf. At page 55 is a full-page half title with over 30 figures while at page 103 and 145 are divisional titles with large decorative tailpieces. This divides the men in armour into 4 parts and the last plate in each section has a monogram CW for Christoph Weiditz. Generally a very clean crisp copy, except for light browning of titlepage, final blank and a few other leaves, small brown marks on last page not affecting colophon, and light marks of… Read More

Amsterdam: Anthos, 1998. Signed first edition of rare English language Dutch edition of Irving's novel. The true first edition of Irving's novel, preceding the release of the US and UK editions. SIGNED presentation from Irving to motorcycle legend Cook Neilson, who took the photo of Irving that was used for the dust jacket of the book: "For Stepp and Cook - with my appreciation and affection - John Irving, April 1, 1998." Together with AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED by Irving on his stationery to Neilson laid in, in which Irving says that Neilson's photos will also be used on the UK edition, and jokes that another photo, to be used for the American and Canadian editions is more flattering, because it doesn't show Irving's face. Closes with mention of a nearby school in Vermont. Neilson was a preeminent motorcycle journalist and editor of Cycle Magazine. As a motrocyclist, Neilson won the Daytona Superbike race in 1977 on a Ducati. He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of… Read More

New York: Broadway Books, 1997. Book. Good. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). First Printing. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Signed, without inscription, by both authors upon half-title page. [xiv], 382 pages. Footnotes. Index. "Offers an utterly persuasive prophecy about a new American era that will begin just after the millennium." - dust jacket. Yellow high-lighting to eight pages. Light overall wear. Binding tight. Dust jacket now preserved in archival-grade Brodart. Today, Neil Howe applies the Strauss-Howe generational theory with consulting companies he founded with Strauss, who passed away in 2007..

New York: E. P. Dutton, 1943. First Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. Book condition is Very Good; with a Very Good dust jacket. Edge wear to jacket, including a few chips. Two scuffs to paper at jacket rear panel. Minor foxing. Crease to bottom corner of a few pages. Text is clean and unmarked, frontispiece. First Edition is stated, first issue jacket present. An inscription as vibrant and humble as would be expected of Guthrie; written upside down, one can picture the book being handed to Guthrie and him signing before rotating the book. Guthrie tells the recipient, Marshall, "I hope you find some real 'fight' in this book..." Inscription is dated to April 1943, a few weeks after the book's publication. It would be difficult to underestimate Guthrie's influence on American folk music and as well as American popular music. As academic arguments persist about the great American novel, Guthrie's musical work and this book itself are distinctly American in attitude, imagery and… Read More

London: Longmans, Green & Co, 1958. Revised edition. Octavo. Original cloth boards and dust jacket (not price-clipped). Foxing and toning to endpapers and pastedowns; foxing, spotting, and rubbing to dust jacket with edgewear, particularly at jacket folds and along head and foot; sunning to spine; small ink inscription to front pastedown; general wear to dust jacket. Signed by Bernard Lonergan on the front free endpaper with message: "Bernard Lonergan S.J. / The fundamental principle is [...] conversion / eg. P. xxii, f. 'The hard fact is...'" Very good in good-plus dust jacket. Scarce with Lonergan's signature and personal annotation.. Bernard Lonergan's (1904-1984) masterpiece, Insight: A Study of Human Understanding, with Lonergan's rare personal signature and inscription to front free endpaper. Lonergan's Insight was born out of the success of a 1945 lecture that he gave at the Thomas More Institute in Montreal entitled "Thought and Reality." In the following years he wrote Insight in order to… Read More