Search Results: Authors starting with B from The Plantagenet King

Lutterworth Press. London: Lutterworth Press (1949). First edition. 8vo., original green cloth boards, decorated with a silver motif on the bottom right hand corner depicting a stalk within the reeds. Along with silver lettering to the spine., with the original dust jacket; pp. [viii] 9-200; A near fine copy. The jacket hasn't been price clipped displaying the correct price of 8s, 6d. net. A better than usually found copy, with the fragile jacket almost complete, barring tiny amounts of loss to the spine ends. A clean jacket with very little marks. There is a strip of browning to the front and back free end paper. An excellent example this one being signed by the author and illustrator B.B. to the title page without dedication.   Written under a pseudonym, Denys Watkins-Pitchford provides the prose about his experiences in fishing, along with providing lovely black and white illustrations throughout this book. Despite the publishers best efforts… Read More

Eyre & Spottiswoode. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode (1950). First edition. 12mo., green cloth boards, lettered in gilt to the spine, with the publisher's logo also in gilt to the tail. With the original dust jacket illustrated by the author, who also provides the frontispiece and a vignette for every chapter of the book. pp. x, [ii], 178, [ii]; A very good copy, the upper board with a gentle push to a corner. The gilt a little dulled. Light impression marks on the front free end paper. The wrapper price clipped with a short, closed tear to the top edge of the front panel and mended to the reverse. The head of the spine with edge wear. One of BB's most celebrated non-fiction titles, popular due to his detailed technical knowledge of carp fishing along with his superb vignette illustrations that accompany what he is describing.   . Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 1950.

Nicholas Kaye. First edition published by Nicholas Kaye in 1962. This is a near fine copy. The jacket is crisp and with very little wear at all. There are some handling marks to the back panel otherwise it is excellent and hasn't been price clipped. The book is also in similar condition with only faint foxing marks to the upper text block and handling wear to the first couple of pages. This copy has been signed by BB without dedication to the title page. Overall a collectible near fine copy and rare to find signed.  BB takes a long trip around the remote Scottish Highlands. He has provided 72 black and white illustrations to accompany his recollections of what he saw. A lovely book and particularly so signed and in this condition.  . Near Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 1962.

Dent. London: Dent (1960). First edition. 8vo., original green cloth boards, decorated with gilt lettering to the spine, with the original dust jacket; pp. [iv] 5-206; A very good copy. The jacket hasn't been price clipped. There is wear to the top of the spine and this has been repaired with tape to the reverse of the jacket. The lower edge has a small tear and the remnants of brown tape on the reverse also. Otherwise a clean copy.   The book comes with the original artwork illustrated by B.B. (Denys Watkins-Pitchford). B.B. has created the illustration for the front cover of the book in watercolour and has signed his name to the bottom right of the board. He has glued the title of the book to the top of the board. There are three scuff marks in the middle, which may have been caused by the illustrator gluing the author's name on the board as well, as this is the exact place on the jacket where Fred Kitchen's name sits. The board measures 23x15… Read More

Dennis Dobson. First edition published by Dennis Dobson in 1964. This is a very good or better copy. The jacket has no loss at all and hasn't been price clipped. There is minor wear to the top left hand corner of the front panel. The boards have discolouration to the edges. There is a previous owner's name on the half title page along with faint foxing marks to the side text block. Overall a very good or better copy. It has been signed by BB to the title page without dedication.  A true rarity from 'BB' and is hard to find in collectible condition with the wrapper in commerce. I've not seen a signed copy before. BB carries out several expeditions into the countryside and writes about it here along with providing some lovely illustrations. A very rare book to find signed.  . Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 1964.

Collins. First edition published by Collins in 1954. This is a very good or better copy. The jacket is not price clipped displaying 16s. net on the inside flap. The spine is a shade toned. There is minor wear to the spine ends and corners. The blue cloth boards of the book are in very good shape. The binding is square and tight. There is a previous owner's name and date to the half title page. On the front free end paper, R.A.F pilot Douglas Bader has signed his name without dedication.  The life story / biography of fighter pilot and Battle of Britain hero Douglas Bader, written by Paul Brickhill (author of Dam Busters and The Great Escape). A rare copy signed by Bader.  . Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 1954.

London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. A first edition and first print published by Eyre and Spottiswoode in London 1940. This copy is very good++. The wrapper has not been price clipped and has the original price of 9/- Net. The jacket has browning and wear. There are a few rips to the edges and corners of the wrapper. The text block has foxing and light browning. There are some small light marks on the text block. There is no previous owners ink. There are no tears to the pages. Overall, this copy is in a very good++ condition.  Baker's Miss Hargreaves (1940) was his most successful novel. It is a comic fantasy in which a fictional character comes to life. He later adapted it as a stage play, which was produced in London at the Royal Court Theatre Club with Dame Margaret Rutherford in the starring role. . Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 1940.

Orbit. London: Orbit, 200 8 vo., black publisher's boards lettered in bronze along spine, with publisher's device to foot; in the original unclipped dust jacket (£16.99) with an illustration by Mark Salwowski, and a photograph of the author to the lower flap; black endpapers; pp. [xi], 2-357, [i]; slightly pushed to spine tips; a couple of small white marks to outer edges of boards; light spotting to fore-edge; near-fine, still, the defects minor; jacket essentially fine, with a little rubbing to the upper edge, and a tiny amount of lifting to the laminate.  First edition, boldly signed by the author to the title page.    Banks' sixth novel to feature The Culture, an interstellar post-scarcity civilisation, first introduced by him in Consider Phlebas (1987), of which Look to Windward can be seen as a loose sequel. Both titles are derived directly from T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land:  O you who turn the wheel and look to windward, Consider… Read More

Chatto & Windus. First edition published by Chatto & Windus in 1960. A near fine copy. The Una Bishop designed dust wrapper has a small tear to the bottom of the spine otherwise it is quite a crisp example and hasn't been price clipped. There are a few light marks to the lower panel. The book is excellent with very little handling wear. The author has signed her name to the dedication page and has corrected the dedicatee from 'Janice' to 'Jamie' as she often did when signing this book. A near fine book and rare signed.  . Near Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 1960.

Weapons of mass disruption. Banging your Head against a Brick Wall; Existencilism; Cut it Out Weapons of mass disruption, 2001 12mo., 3 vols; black softcover wraps printed in white and red; [unpaginated], Vol I printed internally in black and white, Vols II and III in colour; minimal creasing, rubbing and scratching, spine of first volume a touch rolled; £4.99 price sticker to lower cover of Vol III; very good copies. First editions. Volume I is a second issue, with the quote to the rear cover, and the ISBN printed to the inside. Presented here in a handy pocket format, these three little volumes were Banksy's first published books, and contain various photographs, quotes, and words of advice, each ending with comments from the general public. The infamous street artist and activist's identity remains a mystery even today, and has been the subject of much speculation. "A wall is a very big weapon. It's one of the nastiest things you can hit someone with". . Very… Read More

Century. First edition published in 2005 by Century. This is a near fine copy. The elusive glossy white wrapper is complete without any loss. There is the occasional mark and tiny amounts of edge wear. There is very little toning though. The book is square and tight. There is a shade of toning to the spine. The copyright page shows the correct numberline going down to 1, indicating a first print copy. Overall near fine. Most first edition books in hardback were issued and sold without a jacket, with only a small quantity within the print run obtaining one. So jacketed copies are hard to find. . Near Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 2005.

Westhouse. JOICEY, Magda; Edward BAWDEN [Illus.]  Cook-Book Note-Book London: Westhouse, 1946  8vo., dark cream cloth decorated in red to upper board, and lettered as such along spine; in the Bawden illustrated dust jacket (8s. 6d. net); pp. [viii], 9-160; with title vignette and full-page line drawings at each chapter heading; a little browned along spine, spotted to edges and prelims; a very good copy in  the fragile dust jacket which is evenly browned and shelf-worn, darkened along spine with some rubbing and creasing, particularly to head; reinforced with tape to verso.  First edition of this post-war cookbook, with notes provided by the nutritionist (not author!) Angela Carter.  An interesting collaboration between three accomplished artists in the fields of cooking and illustration. Bawden provides 11 charming illustrations in a rather surrealist manner. The artist had previously collaborated with Ambrose Heath on a series of Good Food cookbooks in the 1930s.… Read More

Gollancz. First edition published by Gollancz in 1973. This is a very good or better copy. The Faith Jacques designed jacket is very complete and overall clean. It has been price clipped. The book has a couple of bumped corners and the first couple of pages has some patches of browning. Overall a very good or better copy.  Nina Bawden's stand out children's novel about two young London evacuees during the second world war. It has been adapted by the BBC twice, most recently in 2004.  . Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 1973.

Elkin Mathews. 8vo., blue cloth lettered in gilt to spine and upper board; with cobweb design to upper; pp. [ix], x, [iii], 4-99, [iii], [3-20, ads]; with a frontispiece by Aubrey Beardsley; outer and lower edge untrimmed; spine a little faded; light spotting to outer edges and final paste-down; else a very good example, with newspaper clipping tipped-in to the ffep. First edition, second issue, as usual, one of 1000 copies. A handful of review copies were published with an alternative 'Black Coffee' frontispiece by Beardsley, but these were quickly recalled after a complaint from John Lane, who objected to his former partner (Mathews) using the same image as one which had been produced for him, and intended for use in the fifth installment of The Yellow Book. A third, remainder issue was later published with both illustrations featured. An unusual tale about a man declared insane by his mother, written in a style which was to pave the way for the stream-of-consciousness writing which was… Read More

Hutchinson & Co. London: Hutchinson & Co. First edition. 8vo., original publishers maroon cloth boards, with pale blue lettering on the spine and upper panel. Motif in same pale blue of a hanged man. without the scarce jacket; pp. 286; A near fine copy. There are three variant bindings, with no priority these being a blue binding blocked in black, an orange binding blocked in black and this maroon binding blocked in pale blue. The first 3 or 4 leaves are foxed. Otherwise it is an excellent copy. The boards and contents are in superb condition.  A collection of twelve supernatural tales, including highly regarded short stories "and no bird sings", "the face" and "the temple".    . Near Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 1928.

London: Sidgwick & Jackson. FIRST UK EDITION. A excellent bright and clean copy. The wrapper in particular is a sharp example with no toning or browning to the spine. It has very little loss at all and isn't price clipped. It is a remarkable survivor and a jacket in any condition is rare. The book has some damp staining to the spine although there is no evidence of this anywhere else. The pages are very clean and without foxing except for very light marks on the side text block. There is one patch of browning to the first free end paper. There is no previous owner's ink. Overall a very good or better copy. An early science / speculative fiction novel about a super-genius child and the pre-cursor to superhuman fiction.  The author's second and his most sought after. Listed in Bleiler. It is particularly rare to find this novel with the jacket and in this sort of condition.    . Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 1911.

G.A. Blunden. First edition pulished by G.A. Blunden in 1930 and one of only 250 copies. This is a near fine copy. The paper covered boards are in clean condition with just the odd mark. The paper label on the spine has browned. The pages are clean in general and the binding is square and firm. Overall a well preserved copy. This one has been signed by the author Edmund Blunden on the front free end paper to prolific true crime author W.N. Roughead. The inscription reads 'W.N. Roughead with E Blunden's regards June 27, 1931'. William Roughead was an early practitioner in the 'true crime' genre and wrote many on the subject including about grave robbers Burke and Hare. He was a Lawyer and would attend trials as research for his works. Blundens factual account of life in the trenches in the great war as a follow on to his classic biography Undertones of War. A scarce title to find with this inscription between the two authors.    . Near Fine. Hardcover. 1st… Read More

Filmfair. Pack of 37 playing cards Hong Kong: Paddington and Company Ltd./ Filmfair Ltd., 1974 37 playing cards (8.5 x 6cm approx); printed one one side with 'Whitman' logo in red, and the other in full-colour; complete in the original box with a photograph of the famous bear, and BBC logo; a couple of cards with some small red marks, else fine; the box a trifle creased and sunned, else also near-fine. Here, the author of Paddington has signed the box in black biro 'I REFUSE TO SIGN EACH CARD! Michael Bond'. This set together with one additional card (36 called for). A simple game, with nine sets of 4 cards, each showing the bear in a variety of different poses. The aim of the game is for players to collect sets, and the first to place down two correct sets is the winner. Released concurrently with the BBC series, production of which was completed in 1975. The first series did not air until 1976. Scripted by Bond himself, it proved extremely popular, and ran up until the early… Read More

John Lehmann. First edition published by John Lehmann Ltd in 1952. This is a very good copy. The John Minton illustrated dustwrapper has around 1cm loss to the top of the spine and a tiny amount to the bottom. There is wear to the corner tips. The lower panel has the odd mark. The jacket in general is lightly toned. The spine of the book has associated patches of fading to correspond with the loss to the jacket. There is a previous owner's neat name to the front free end paper. Paul Bowles second novel and third published works. Set in Tangier this novel is about a US bank clerks escape through Morocco. A rare book as a first edition with the John Minton artwork  . Very Good. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1st Printing. 1952.

Jonathan Cape. First edition published by Jonathan Cape in 1998. This is a near fine copy. The jacket has a couple of faint strips of browning to the back panel and a couple of spots. Otherwise it is as new and is not price clipped. The book is square and firm. There are a few foxing marks to the upper text block. There are no inscriptions, foxing or ink to the pages. Overall a near fine copy and rare to find signed without dedication by Raymond Briggs to the title page. Briggs' story about his parents that has been adapted to TV. A rare book signed.  . Near Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 1998.