Search Results: NEW arrivals for May 2023 from Reginald C. Williams Rare Books

Thick octavo, original blue cloth. First edition of Robinson's theory of a middle ground ("imperfect competition") somewhere between monopolies and perfect competition, which would explain unemployment. John Maynard Keynes' biographer relates that Joan Robinson (an ardent disciple of Keynes) "and several others formed a 'circus' which met weekly for the discussion of the Treatise, and R. F. Kahn retailed to Keynes the results of our deliberations… He had a high regard for Mrs. Robinson's intellectual powers" (Harrod, 433). She later focuses on an important point that arose during these weekly discussions: "Keynes visualized too simple and direct a mechanism whereby changes of investment were supposed to react on prices"— a concept she touches upon in her two chapters on "Price Discrimination," along with her famous "marginal revenue curve." Her main premise, however, departs from contemporary economic theory by treating monopolies in given industries as the general case and perfect competition… Read More

Two Octavo volumes. Publisher's original cloth, bright gilt-stamped spines dispalying some staining to the covers and spines. A FIRST EDITION of this cross-cultural history of women at war, with truly global coverage, the heroines hailing from regions as diverse as the Amazon, Arabia, Ethiopia, India, and Ireland, and the conflicts including the Crusades, the Thirty Years' War, and the revolutions of France, Greece, and America. In her introduction, the Irish writer and artist Clayton (1834-1900) lampoons how "Popular Prejudice, having decided that woman is a poor, weak creature, credulous, easily influenced, holds that she is of necessity timid... Popular Prejudice abhors hard facts, and rarely reads history... Walking down the serried ranks of history, we find strange records of feminine bravery; as we might discover singular instances of masculine cowardice, if we searched far enough" (pp. 3-4). Clayton studied art at the National Gallery and the British Museum and worked as an illustrator for the… Read More

RARE, last copy seen at auction 1983, no other copies in current commerce. xv, 202 pp. " With the Compliments of the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press" slip laid in. Very Good Plus, corners bumped and with small rubs. Weston's examination of the roots of the King Arthur and the Holy Grail legend. It was one of the books named in the notes at the back of T S Eliot s The Waste Land (1922): "Not only the title, but the plan and a good deal of the incidental symbolism of the poem were suggested by Miss Jessie. L Weston s book on the Grail legend . Indeed, so deeply am I indebted, Miss Weston s book will elucidate the difficulties of the poem much better than my notes can do; and I recommend it (apart from the great interest of the book itself) to any who think such elucidation of the poem worth the trouble." Jessie Laidlay Weston (1850-1928) was an established translator and interpreter of medieval texts and was swiftly recognized as the leading English Arthurian scholar of her time. She accrued… Read More

Thick octavo, original olive cloth gilt. Housed in a custom chemise and green cloth slipcase with leather label.
First edition, First issue of Hudson's "romance of the tropical forest," an excellent copy in the original cloth.
"Of all living authors—now that Tolstoy has gone—I could least dispense with W.H. Hudson. Why do I love his writing so? I think because he is, of living writers that I read, the rarest spirit, and has the clearest gift of conveying to me the nature of that spirit… Without apparent effort he takes you with him into a rare, free, natural world, and always you are refreshed, stimulated, enlarged, by going there" (John Galsworthy). "Hudson forms an important link between 19th-century Romanticism and the 20th-century ecological movement. Green Mansions is a poignant meditation on the loss of wilderness, the dream of a return to nature, and the bitter reality of the encounter between savage and civilized man" (Ian Duncan). In FIRST-ISSUE binding, without the publisher's device… Read More

London: Dennis Dobson, (1958). Octavo, original burgundy paper boards, original dust jacket. 8vo. chestnut brown cloth hardback, in unclipped dust jacket. 128pp. Presentation inscription. No other markings or inscriptions. Slight foxing to top and foredge. A few tiny chips to dust jacket edges and light soiling to rear cover. First edition of Robeson's powerful first book, inscribed on the half title by him in England with a warm and lengthy inscription, "All the best to you & many thanks. Paul Robeson Nov. 1958" in very scarce original dust jacket. "One of the major performing artists of the 20th century, Robeson's achievements as a stage actor, movie star and singer are individually outstanding but collectively astounding. He was easily the most influential Black entertainer of his day… He protested the segregation of organized baseball, appeared frequently at union and labor meetings, delivered anti-racist lectures during concerts, joined the pan-Africanist Council on African Affairs, and quit… Read More

London: MacMillan and Co. ,1869. 8vo. 1st Edition. Vi + [392] + [56, list of publications] pp. Publisher's Printed burgundy cloth. A very good copy with publishers book plate inside covers ( front bookplate indicates No. 2340 ) front endpage has penciled notation. ; London: MacMillan and Co. , 1869. 8vo. 1st ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall.. "In Hereditary Genius, his best-known and most influential book, Galton investigated the heritability of scholarly, artistic, and athletic talent, using the records of notable families as data. He concluded that such talents have a high degree of heritability, and that people vary in the kind and degree of hereditary abilities they possess. He applied the Gaussian or normal curve to the range of human abilities, expanding upon Quetelet's observation that certain measurable human characteristics are distributed like the error function, and thus gave a new importance to biological and psychological variation, which had previously been regarded as unimportant" (Haskell Norman… Read More

Large octavo, viii, 648 pp. Contemporary full vellum with elaborate gilt decoration to spine. All edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. Armorial bookplate to front pastedown of Reverend William Grice (1813-1885). Scattered foxing. Numerous full-page and in-text illustrations by Raffet. Text in French. Binding firm. Large 8vo. A very attractive copy in a splendid binding. First edition of this richly illustrated life of Napoleon, with engraved frontispiece and hundreds of full-page and in-text wood-engraved illustrations by Raffet, handsomely bound in full contemporary decorative vellum.

London, Richard Bentley 1839. xxxv,(1),iii-xii,456 + XII,558,(2) pages + 3 portraits and 2 maps. original decorated clot. One inner joint cracked. Portraits foxed. From the library of Naval Officers Society, Stockholm with their blue and yellow ribbon on the boards. The Military Club of Stockholm (Swedish: Militärsällskapet i Stockholm) is a Swedish military society founded on 2 January 1852 in Stockholm, Sweden, to "enable officers to meet and exchange views on all matters, thus not only military." It was founded as a military gentlemen's club (Wikipedia)
"The work of an unsurpassed writer; it is so full of interest and so abounds in the most vivid illustrations of American patriotism, enterprise, and courage, that it cannot be too widely circulated" (Allibone I:425). Cooper, who had joined the navy at age 16, was already famous for his Leatherstocking Tales when he wrote "his long-projected History of the Navy of the United States of America. During the winter of 1838-1839, the Coopers lived in… Read More

Two volumes. 8vo. xxxiii, [i], 415; xiii, [i], 474 pp., plus 6 pages publisher's advertisements. Publisher's cloth, author and title in gilt on front covers and spines. An excellent fine set. First edition. White was one of the founders of the conflict thesis, which states that science and religion have historically been in conflict, and tried to prove it here. He lectured on the subject for years, maintaining that religion's interference in science only results in the "direst evils" to both, but scientific investigation, regardless of the perceived danger, only results in the "highest good" to both. The topics in this work are both broad and focused, dealing with eve- rything from creation to evolution, more specifically geography and geology, prehistoric man, magic, chemistry and physics, language, the Dead Sea leg- ends, political economy, miracles and medicine. A fascinating work for any academic or student of history. White (1832-1918) was one of the founders of Cornell University and served as… Read More

First Edition. 8vo., Brown cloth, slightly rubbed at the edges, a few scratches at the surface, with gilt lettering on the spine and front board. Bound with a forward lean and former owner's stamp at the edges and on the front endpaper, old glue on the rear endpaper with the publisher's advertising slip laid-in. Overall, a bright very good to near-fine copy. Gilman's critique of domestic home life for the women of her time, a criticism that contends that "the home has not developed in proportion to our other institutions, and by its rudimentary condition it arrests development in other lines.

Octavo, original Publisher's maroon cloth. A good to very good copy with a bright spine and strong inner hinges. Internally clean and complete. Housed in a custom clamshell box. FIRST EDITION of this groundbreaking analysis of heredity by the founder of eugenics, with the first appearance of his coined word eugenics (page 24), with an original photographic frontispiece of composite portraits and four plates of analyses, one double-page in color. This is Galton s best-known work-on the inheritance of talent-scholarly, artistic, and athletic-the raw data being the records of notable families (DSB V:266). Employing the statistical techniques for which he became famous, Galton considers the influence of genetic inheritance in humans on everything from facial features to mental imagery, from fluency to enthusiasm. On the publication in 1859 of the Origin of Species by his cousin, Charles Robert Darwin, Galton at once became a convert to the views there enounced and began reflecting on the influence of… Read More

FIRST EDITION. 8vo. pp xxxvi, 494. Original publisher's decorative olive green cloth, lettered gilt at the spine. Signed presentation from the author on a printed slip on the front endpaper with added hotel address hand-written, '[With Bernard Shaw's compliments] I have sent a copy to the Dean, G.B.S. [4 Whitehall Court, London S.W.1] The Malvern Hotel.' Social reform. Attractive dust jacket designed by Eric Kennington. Faint wear at spine ends, otherwise near fine in near fine dust jacket with very slight edgewear. No inscriptions, not price-clipped. First published in 1928 and addressed to the The Intelligent Woman (specifically his sister-in-law, Lady Mary Stewart Cholomondely), George Bernard Shaw's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism should be read by every American in the twenty-first century who has benefited, or ever will benefit, from Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, disability, unemployment, food stamps, or any of the government's social insurance programs. The… Read More

8vo. 156 pp. 11 portraits of forensic experts (9 photographic, 2 lithographic). Publishers Original wrappers now Mylar protected. First edition, uncommon, of this history of criminology and compilation of forensic understanding. Citing 11 of the most re- nowned and prolific experts on the subject, the author outlines criminal theory, biological and social causes of crime, types of of- fenses, and penal applications in 17 chapters. Laurent profiles differ- ent criminal "types", such as women, children, and the mentally ill, and lists suicide as a form of murder. He pays particular attention to the nationality of opposing theories. A sympathetically re-backed copy which displays some soiling on the wrapper covers. A very good overall with clean plates. Very uncommon in the original wrappers.

First U.K. Edition. First Impression. Octavo (20.75cm); pale blue-gray cloth, with titles stamped in navy blue on spine; dustjacket; [6],7-519,[1]pp. Faintest suggestion of foxing to text edges, else a clean, Near Fine copy with a small ownership stamp of J.C. Sealy on the front pastedown. Dustjacket is unclipped with a hint of sunning to spine, and some faint, scattered foxing and minor chipping at the heel of the spine and light west to the hinges. The Greek author's fourth book, imagining an alternate fate for Jesus Christ. First British edition of this historical novel, basis for the 1988 Academy nominated film. Hailed as a masterpiece by critics worldwide, The Last Temptation of Christ is a monumental reinterpretation of the Gospels that brilliantly fleshes out Christ's Passion. This literary rendering of the life of Jesus Christ has courted controversy since its publication by depicting a Christ far more human than the one seen in the Bible. He is a figure who is gloriously divine but earthy and… Read More

Paris: Librairie Bloud et Barral, 1899. First printing. Paperback. Very Good. Small 8vo, printed wraps, very good, light tanning and wear. 64 pp. The author also wrote books on demonic possession, and psychological states associated with such phenomena. An intresting study on the topic. Housed in a brown slipcase with chemise.

Collation: Complete with all pages o [4], VIII, 280 (i.e., 284) o 31 plates, plus engraved title page Language: French Binding: Leather; tight and secure Size: ~10.5in X 7in (26.5cm x 17.5cm) .1843 1ed Divine Fairy Tales Illustrated PERSIA Arabia Turkish ART Rheal Poems Sebastien Rheal's Divine Enchantments of the East and North was a famous and highly popular 19th-century collection of mythological stories. Rheal, a French playwright and poet, was interested in the traditions of peoples from all over the world and Les Divines Feeries was his attempt at collecting legends, romances, and tales of their traditions. This stunning 1843 edition of Rheal s Feeries includes poems and short stories of Arabia, Persia, Turkey, Scandinavia, the Celts, the Moors, and others! An exquisite first edition with numerous illustrations and decorative page boarders. Details: Collation: Complete with all pages o [4], VIII, 280 (i.e., 284) o 31 plates, plus engraved title page Language: French Binding: Leather; tight and… Read More

FIRST EDITION. 12mo,. bound in full havanan speckled calf, smooth back decorated with golden fillets and florins, title piece, red slices (binding of the time), XXVI + 588 pp. An excellent copy. Original edition of this anonymous charge against the Society of Jesus, proposing to expose "the seditious doctrine of the Jesuits that authorizes attacks on the sacred person of kings. The author trumps up a global conspiracy theory in which Jesuits murdered kings and emperors, including an organized plot to kill King Henry IV and the execution of Emperor Kangxi of China by missionaries. The text systematically moves from one country to the next, reporting on the supposed crimes that Jesuit residents or visitors committed there: seduction, fraud, homicide, theft & libel. Bibliotheca Brasiliense, 1316; see Goldsmiths' -Kress, 9442.

Octavo, original gilt-stamped maroon cloth, pictorial endpapers, original dust jacket. 401p. Original burgundy cloth. Pictorial DJ. 22 cm. Jacket has some scuffing and soiling. Closed tear along top of front panel. Corners clipped on jacket flaps but not deeply enough to remove price. In the Acknowledgements, Micheaux credits Charles W. Chesnutt's "House Behind the Cedars" for the "scenario" of "The Masquerade" (which surely understates just how much Micheaux borrowed from Chesnutt's book).
First edition of Micheaux's last novel that draws on Charles Chesnutt's House Behind the Cedars (1900) and "calls into question the mechanisms of history itself" with inclusions of "extended passages from the Lincoln-Douglas debates, Lincoln's first inaugural address [and] the story of John Brown," very scarce in the elusive colorful dust jacket.
The son of former slaves, "Micheaux successfully fashioned almost single-handedly… a prototype for African American independent cinema" and upended conventions of the… Read More

FIRST EDITION. In-8 bound canvas, 404 p. (Half-title present) A very good copy with some foxing in an uncut largely unread text. Original Blue paperback front & rear covers preserved In a brown gilt-stamped cloth binding. A comprehensive study of demonology. His final anti-Satanism diatribe, Gougenot, explains here the evidence of the supernatural world and its necessary inclusion of evil spirits, which may interfere with the activities of the living in order to ex- pand their dominion. He denounces Spiritualism as a Satanic sect through which the devil and his minions present themselves to vulnerable humans. He goes on to recount the history of magic and the occult as it was understood in the 19th century, asserting that even though some legends of magical inter- vention met with positive results, the bill from the devil came due eventually. Roger Gougenot des Mousseaux (1805-1876) was a French author and journalist who wrote extensively on occult matters, including the Kabba- lah, Freemasonry, and… Read More

Octavo, original pictorial tan cloth.
First edition of one of the very few published records of African Americans in combat in WWI, authored by the white captain of the 371st, with photographic frontispiece, two large folding battle maps and many in-text illustrations, a handsome copy in original cloth.
Hardcover, tan cloth boards decorated in black. Exterior shows spotting and soiling, edges and spine is darkened and there is a small pencil line on the rear board. Edges and corners show bumps/light wear. The internal binding is good and text pages are tight. No hinge issues, no signatures or bookplates, no library markings. Pages are toned due to age and there is some light scattered foxing/spotting present. Page 17 is a crease in the upper outside corner where the page was folded over at some point. The rear the book has a pocket which contains two maps. Both are present and in excellent shape. Overall, the book is in near fine condition now Mylar protected.