Search Results: Authors starting with F from Whitmore Rare Books

London: Henry G. Bohn, 1850. Second edition. Very Good +. Contemporary half morocco over marbled boards with gilt to spine. Light rubbing to boards and spine, and gentle bumps to corners. Marbled endpapers. Early ownership signature of Emma Billings Hathaway to front endpaper. Frontis a bit loose at bottom corner but holding well; first signature a bit proud. Tape repairs to margins of pages 5-6 and 7-8 not affecting text. Occasional light scattered foxing. Measures 127 x 190mm. Collating [ii], 126, [2, adverts]: complete, including frontis and 3 coloured plates. First published in 1846 under the title Memoirs of a London Doll, the book's popularity led to a second edition in 1850 under the present title. A scarce children's book written and illustrated by women for little girls, OCLC reports that both the first and second editions are quite scare, with only 3 institutionally held copies of this edition. It is currently the earliest edition available on the market. Beginning with her creation in… Read More

Philadelphia: W. S. Martien, 1840. First edition. [bound with] The Petition of Henry C. De Rham, to the General Assembly of Rhode Island, To Except Paul Daniel Gonsalve Grand d'Hauteville, From the Operation of the Law 'To Secure the Fulfillment of Certain Contracts and for the Relief of Married Women in Certain Cases.' Together with a Remonstrance of Ellen S. d'Hauteville...Providence: Knowles & Vose, 1841. First edition. [bound with] Review of the d'Hauteville Case: Recently Argued and Determined in the Court of General Sessions...Boston: Weeks, Jordan, and Co., 1841. First edition. Three volumes bound in one. Finely bound by Bradstreet's in half morocco over marbled boards with gilt to spine. Top edge gilt. Marbled endpapers. Armorial bookplate of Samuel F. Barger to front pastedown. Measuring 225 x 135mm and collating complete including titles: 295, [1, blank]; 124, [2, errata]; [2], 44. A just about Fine copy, with some inoffensive pencil annotations and corrections to volume I and occasional… Read More

Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow Press, 1982. First edition. Fine/Good +. One of 500 trade edition copies. A nearly Fine copy in Good + publisher's acetate jacket. Bound in cream and blue boards with red cloth backstrip and maintaining paper title to spine. Minor wear to extremities and two small stains to closed text block foredge. Jacket with expected scuffing with old price sticker and residue on back panel. Fante's novel, and follows the character Arturo Bandini, a "quintessential starving artist" (LA Times) as he dreams and succeeds at being a writer in Los Angeles. Fante imbues Bandini with a similar background as himself and wrote about the character throughout his career, publishing four works often referred to as the Bandini Quartet. Suffering complications and blindness from diabetes, Fante wrote the book via dictation. Fine in Good + dust jacket.

London: Printed for W. Webb, 1742. First edition. Bound to style in 19th century sheep with morocco and gilt to spines. Measuring 168 x 96mm and with occasional mispagination but collating complete: xxiv, 300; [2], 336. Some offsetting to preliminary and terminal leaves and occasional light foxing and marginal chips not affecting text; discreet archival repairs to short tear on pages 115-116 and long tear to 285-286 of volume I preserving all text. Early amateur cloth tape repair to recto of front endpaper to volume II. Pinholes to lower spines of both volumes with minor associated worming to the lower front hinges. A scarce example of early erotic literature centered on London's famous courtesans, ESTC lists only 6 copies with institutions. The present copy aside, the last example to appear at auction was in 1882. Published two years apart, the two volumes of Memoirs of the Nobility are different in their approaches to London's elite, including the infamous Great Impures who hosted the wealthiest… Read More

New York: Random House, 1939. First Edition. About Fine. Octavo, with burgundy quarter cloth over wood-grain papered boards. Copy 148 of two hundred fifty copies, signed by Faulkner on the limitation page. Slightest bit of chipping to edges, otherwise Fine. A clean, square and bright copy of this literary classic. Consisting of two interwoven short stories with opposing perspectives on love, grief, and sacrifice, The Wild Palms is one of Faulkner's most experimental works. "When I reached the end of what is now the first section of The Wild Palms, I realized suddenly that something was missing, it needed emphasis, something to lift it like counterpoint in music. So I ...raised it to pitch again with another section of its antithesis, which is the story of a man who got his love and spent the rest of the book fleeing from it" (Faulkner). About Fine.

New York: Random House, 1938. First Edition. Near Fine. Octavo, original half burgundy cloth and patterned paper boards, top edge gilt. Number 164 of two hundred fifty signed copies. Complete with author's signature on the limitation page. A Near Fine copy of the book with the spine a bit faded and a previous owner's stamp on the half-title, otherwise a very pleasing copy. Lacking the publisher's acetate jacket, but with a new mylar. Personal responsibility and the fall of Old Southern gentility take center stage in Faulkner's The Unvanquished. Set in Mississippi and spanning the Civil War and Reconstruction, the story follows the Sartoris family and their attempt to maintain a sense of identity as the nation changes. "Having chosen warfare as the exciting backdrop for The Unvanquished, Faulkner writes of it well. By the time of the fall of Vicksburg, when the novel begins, the Confederate defeats at Shiloh and Corinth had opened northern Mississippi to the Federal armies...the border region of… Read More

New York: Random House, 1951. First edition. Near Fine/Near Fine. Number 9 of 750 copies of the signed limited edition. Book in Near Fine condition with spine a trifle faded at the base and a previous owner's stamp on the half-title, otherwise quite fresh. In a Near Fine example of the publisher's acetate dust jacket with a small chip out of the lower corner and one or two short cracks. "This sequel to Faulkner's most sensational novel Sanctuary was written twenty years later but takes up the story of Temple Drake eight years after the events of its prequel. Temple is now married to Gowan Stevens. And the book begins as the death sentence is pronounced on the nurse Nancy for the murder of Temple and Gowan's child. Told partly in prose and partly in dramatic form, Requiem for a Nun is a haunting exploration of the impact of the past on the present" (Random House). Adapted by Camus for the French stage, this novel contains one of Faulkner's most famous lines: "The past is never dead. It's not even… Read More

New York: Random House, 1954. First edition. Near Fine/Near Fine. Number 825 of a thousand copies of the signed limited edition. A Near Fine copy of the book with a long gift inscription on the front end paper and the spine a bit faded. With the original publisher's Near Fine slipcase and the tissue dust wrapper that is Very Good, with several chips along the edges. Winner of both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize in 1955, the author considered this work his masterpiece. The novel that Faulkner called "the best work of my life and maybe of my time." After over a decade of work on A Fable, he created one of the most dense and complex novels of his career. "The novel won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in 1955. An allegorical story of World War I, set in the trenches of France and dealing ostensibly with a mutiny in a French regiment, it was originally considered a sharp departure for Faulkner. Recently it has come to be recognized as one of his major works...His… Read More

New York: Jonathan Cape & Harrison Smith, 1931. First edition. Near Fine/Very Good +. A lovely, Near Fine copy of the book with a previous owner's bookplate on the front paste-down and some minor dampstaining to the rear end leaves, otherwise a bright, crisp copy. In a Very Good+ to Near Fine dust jacket with the spine panel a bit toned and two clean tears on the rear panel, without loss (the larger about an inch long and a corresponding crease across the panel). Completely unrepaired and unrestored, and presenting very well. This copy with grey pattern on the magenta end-papers, and price of $2.50 on the bottom of the front flap. Faulkner's controversial prohibition era novel was a commercial and critical success; and along with his novels The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying, Sanctuary led to his Nobel Prize for literature in 1949. "The theme of Sanctuary is the discovery of reality with the concomitant discovery of evil...instead of victory and moral vindication, [the characters] receive a… Read More

New York: Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith, 1929. First edition. Near Fine/Very Good +. A Near Fine copy of the book in a Very Good+ dust jacket. Book with a bright white spine, previous owner's bookplate on the front paste-down and just slight toning and wear at extremities. Jacket with the spine well faded, as usual, and a small repair to the front lower corner, replacing a small chip. Additional wear at the crown, but no other repairs or restoration. First state jacket with "Humanity Uprooted" correctly priced at $3.00. Faulkner's masterpiece - and one of the towering classics of American literature. The Sound and the Fury follows the travails of the Compsons, a once prominent family in Jefferson, Mississippi. Originally Faulkner began the work as a group of short stories about the Compsons, but decided it would be better suited as a novel - and a very experimental one, at that. A contemporary review in the Nashville Tennessean described it: "Not an easy book. It cannot be read objectively; the… Read More

New York: Random House, 1951. First edition. Fine/Near Fine. Number 210 of 750 copies of the signed limited edition. A Fine book in a Near Fine example of the publisher's acetate dust jacket with minor chipping to the corners and spine ends of the acetate jacket. "This sequel to Faulkner's most sensational novel Sanctuary was written twenty years later but takes up the story of Temple Drake eight years after the events of its prequel. Temple is now married to Gowan Stevens. And the book begins as the death sentence is pronounced on the nurse Nancy for the murder of Temple and Gowan's child. Told partly in prose and partly in dramatic form, Requiem for a Nun is a haunting exploration of the impact of the past on the present" (Random House). Adapted by Camus for the French stage, this novel contains one of Faulkner's most famous lines: "The past is never dead. It's not even past." Fine in Near Fine dust jacket.

New York: Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, Inc, 1935. First edition. Near Fine. Octavo. Original blue cloth over silver boards with blue airplane stamped on the front board, silver top-stain. Number 133 of 310 signed limited copies, with the signed limitation page in the rear. A Near Fine copy of the book with the spine faded, minor rubbing to silver boards and a previous owner's stamp on the half-title, otherwise appearing clean and unread. Lacking the publisher's cardboard slipcase. "While most critics consider Pylon to be Faulkner's most flawed novel ("unnecessary horror and violence," "unintelligible descriptive passages," an "inconceivable climax"), Faulkner himself is reported to consider it the best of his works to be adapted to screen" (University of Michigan). It was an admitted departure for the author, as it was one of his few works to be set outside the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, instead unfolding in a thinly disguised New Orleans (here called New Valois). There, a nameless… Read More

New York: Boni & Liveright, 1926. First edition. Near Fine/Very Good. A Near Fine copy of the book in Very Good only dust jacket. Book clean and fresh, with a small Nashville bookseller's label on the rear paste-down. Dust jacket only Very Good on account of some moderate chipping at the spine ends and corners, one inch tear near the crown repaired on the verso with tape. Flap folds starting to crack, reinforced on the verso with archival, binder's tape. Spine a bit toned. An uncommon book in dust jacket, one of just 2500 copies originally printed. Housed in a custom black quarter-leather slipcase with chemise. "Soldier's Pay is William Faulkner's first published novel. It begins with a train journey on which two American soldiers, Joe Gilligan and Julian Lowe, are returning from the First World War. There they meet a scarred, lethargic, and withdrawn fighter pilot, Donald Mahon, who was presumed dead by his family. The novel continues to focus on Mahon and his slow deterioration, and the various… Read More

New York: Random House, 1957. First edition. Fine/Very Good +. Number 204 of 450 copies of the signed limited edition. A Fine book in a Very Good+ example of the publisher's acetate jacket with a crack at the rear flap, otherwise in excellent condition overall. This is the second book in the Snopes trilogy. "The second work in the Snopes family trilogy, which includes The Hamlet and The Mansion," The Town presents Faulkner's "vision of the disintegration of the South after the Civil War...Flem's coldly calculated vengeance on his wife Eula and her lover culminates in Eula's suicide and Flem's rise to power in Jefferson, the county seat. Because Flem longs for respect as well as money, he turns against the clan of shiftless Snopes cousins who have followed him...In his hunger for social validation, he denies his own origins and the book ends with the hint that the cousins' revenge will follow" (Britannica). Fine in Very Good + dust jacket.

New York: Random House, 1962. First edition. Fine/Fine. Number 164 of 500 copies of the signed, limited edition of this Faulkner high spot. A Fine copy of the book in like publisher's acetate dust jacket. Red spine remains unfaded, a lovely copy overall. Published in 1962, The Reivers was Faulkner's final novel. It would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize, making Faulkner one of only a handful of authors to win the prize multiple times. Set in Faulkner's famous Yoknapatawpha County, The Reivers takes place in the early 20th century and follows the adventures of the young Lucius Priest. The title of the book comes from the fact that Lucius and his friend become reivers when they steal - reive - his grandfather's car. The book was also adapted into a film in 1969, starring Steve McQueen. "The good news about The Reivers is that it is one of the best novels Mr. Faulkner has written and much the most direct, simple and readily comprehensible" (Contemporary New York Times review). Fine in Fine dust jacket.

New York: Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, 1932. First edition. Fine/about Fine. A Fine copy of the book in about Fine jacket and original publisher's glassine. Book Fine and unused with just a few spots of dust to the orange top-stain. Dust jacket exceptionally bright and fresh, but with slight wear to the edges of the flaps. Original glassine with a long tear at the front flap fold and some overall toning. Written on the verge of the outbreak of World War II, William Faulkner's Light in August examines complex moral issues and race dynamics within a conservative and prejudiced southern landscape. The story follows two strangers, Lena Grove and Joe Christmas, who move to Mississippi. Lena, a pregnant woman looking for the father of her unborn child, struggles for acceptance as Joe grapples with his suspected black heritage. Stylistically modern, Faulkner's drama is non-linear and paints an unforgiving portrait of his protagonists and southern culture. In a contemporary review, The New York Times… Read More

New York: Random House, 1959. First edition. Fine. Number 27 of 500 copies of the signed limited edition. A Fine copy of the book, clean and fresh; lacking publisher's acetate jacket. "The Mansion completes Faulkner's great trilogy of the Snopes family in the mythical county of Yoknapatawpha, Mississippi -- which also includes The Hamlet and The Town. Beginning with the murder of Jack Houston and ending with the murder of Flem Snopes, the novel traces the downfall of this indomitable post-bellum family, who managed to seize control of the town of Jefferson within a generation" (Vintage). Fine.

New York: Boni and Liveright, 1927. First edition. Fine/Near Fine. A Fine copy of the book in a Near Fine dust jacket. One small tear at the crown repaired on the verso with tape. Spine a bit toned, otherwise a fresh example. Housed in a custom clamshell box. Faulkner's second novel, Mosquitoes provides "a fascinating glimpse of the author as a young artist...introducing us to a colorful band of passengers on a boating excursion from New Orleans. This engaging, high-spirited tale -- which Faulkner wrote 'for the sake of writing because it was fun' -- provides a delightful accompaniment to his more canonical works" (Norton). On its release, Lillian Hellman declared Mosquitoes "full of the kind of swift and lusty writing that comes from a healthy, fresh pen" (NY Herald Tribune). Fine in Near Fine dust jacket.

[Oxford, Mississippi], 1920. First edition. Embossed sheep over card, stamped in gilt to front board. Marbled endpapers. A bit of rubbing and shelfwear to covers; spine cracked and several signatures loose but in all holding well. Ownership stamp to front pastedown. Internally a pleasing example, with minimal wear and no marking. A Fine copy of this scarce piece, which does not appear in the auction record and of which there is no other example on the market; the present yearbook contains Faulkner's first literary appearance in book form, his poem To a Co-Ed (page 174). "The Ole Miss annuals have a particularly treasurable quality about them; they breathe with the life of Faulkner's first creativity...which annuals to collect may seem a question of some complexity when all the choices are considered" (Petersen). After all, they show a young man engaging with peers, imagining a career in art, and testing out new facets to his identity. But the 1919-1920 annual stands out. To a Co-Ed was "his first… Read More

London & Edinburgh: T. C. & E. C. Jack, 1912. First edition. Fine. Small octavo (measures 165 x 107mm). Original green publisher's cloth binding with spine and front board lettered in black. A clean, square, tight copy. Offsetting to front and rear endpapers, else internally a surprisingly fresh, clean-margined copy. Well represented institutionally but uncommon in trade, this title rarely appears in such pleasing condition. "The torch which was lighted by Mary Wollstonecraft was never afterwards extinguished," Fawcett asserts at the beginning of her book, as she considers the early founders of the women's equality movement including Wollestoncraft and Mott. In the face of insult and ignorance, she explains, women have pushed forward to create a more just world through their writing (as in the case of Elizabeth Barrett Browning) or their activism (as in the case of Elizabeth Fry). But Fawcett is not only focused on the history of the movement -- though she does recount its high spots. She is even… Read More