Search Results: Authors starting with J from Sumner & Stillman

1847. London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1847. 4+32+1 pp Vol I ads dated January 1847. Original drab boards with purple ribbed cloth spines and printed spine labels, title pages printed in black and red. First Edition of this supernatural tale about the goings-on in a haunted castle -- with the opening line (borrowing from a notorious 1830 Bulwer-Lytton novel) "It was an awfully dark and tempestuous night...". James (1800-1860) trained for medicine but became a prolific novelist after meeting Sir Walter Scott; James's 40 three-volume novels, most of them historical, exceeded the number written by Scott himself. In 1845 he and his family made a planned short visit to Germany so that he could do research for a novel, but two of the children's illness detained them there for a year, where he wrote two tales including this one. (In 1850 James and his family moved to Massachusetts; two years later, he was appointed British Consul in Norfolk, where over the next seven years his health suffered from the climate… Read More

1884. Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1884. Original chocolate brown cloth. First American Edition, which consisted of 1500 copies printed from the plates of Macmillan's London edition, issued a month earlier. The "places" portrayed are on the Continent, in England and in North America. This copy is in chocolate brown cloth (one of five colors used, without priority), with the JRO monogram at the foot of the spine. This is a near-fine copy, mildly rubbed at the spine ends. Supino 21.5.0; Edel & Laurence A21b.

1914. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1914. Original olive-brown cloth. First American Edition, which consisted of 2000 copies and was published one day after Dent's London edition. Novelists covered by James include Robert Louis Stevenson, Emile Zola, Gustave Flaubert, Honore de Balzac and George Sand. This was one of several James titles that was unfortunately bound for Scribner's in this unattractive olive-brown cloth that is very prone to soil and fading; this, however, is a fine copy with very little fading. Supino 73.2.0; Edel & Laurence A73b. Provenance: the front paste-down bears the bookplate of Theodore Woodman Gore (1847-1923), which bookplate was designed by the renowned American artist Edwin Howland Blashfield.

1885. London: Macmillan and Co., 1885. 2 pp undated Vol III ads. Original dark blue-green cloth. First Edition, which consisted of only 500 copies. These three volumes consist of fourteen tales here "revived," that James had written some years earlier -- most from the 1870s, with some from the 1860s. Eight of them had been collected in America, either in A PASSIONATE PILGRIM (1875) or in THE AUTHOR OF BELTRAFFIO (1885, three months earlier). The other six appear here in book form for the first time: "A Day of Days," "A Landscape Painter," "Rose-Agathe," "Poor Richard," "Master Eustace" and "A Most Extraordinary Case." As James points out in his Vol I "Notice," "... these earlier stories have been in every case minutely revised and corrected -- many passages being wholly rewritten." This set is in E&L's binding variant "a" (no priority) -- with the "V" no larger than the "OL" on the spines, and with dark brown coated endpapers. Condition is very good-plus: there is minor wear in a few places along… Read More

1893. [the John Quinn copy] New York: Harper & Brothers, 1893. 4 pp undated ads. Original blue-grey cloth decorated in silver and gilt. First American Edition, primary binding state (with the elaborate silver grille-work on front cover and spine, and with the leaves' top edge stained ochre). This primary binding also appears, less commonly, in olive cloth; there is also a total of seven secondary, less ornate, bindings. THE WHEEL OF TIME... was soon issued as the companion volume to this one, containing the other three stories that had appeared in the six-story English edition of THE PRIVATE LIFE. This is a close-to-fine copy (spine cloth slightly darkened). Supino 39.2.0; Edel & Laurence A39b. Provenance: bookplate of John Quinn (1870-1924) -- the Ohio-born lawyer who was not simply a major collector of 1890-1924 literature, he was an important patron of literary figures. He bought up most of Joseph Conrad's manuscripts to provide the author with much-needed cash, he gave advice and financial… Read More

1899. London: William Heinemann, 1899. 2 pp undated ads. Original blind-stamped blue cloth. First Edition of this novel, written almost entirely in dialogue, of Nanda Brookenham's "awkward age" of transition away from her mother's marriage-marketing and toward taking charge of her own life. This appears to have been a colonial copy that was transferred back for domestic use (according to E&L, 475 copies were so transferred): the book is in the second binding state (with nine tulip buds rather than four irises on the front cover), is printed on smooth wove paper, and has a title page that is printed all in black and is dated in Arabic numbers -- all aspects denoting colonial copies. The half-title, which would have identified this as a copy meant for the colonies, was excised by the publisher when it was re-designated for domestic use; most such copies do not have the final ad leaf either, but this one does. On the front cover, "THE AWKWARD AGE" measures 2-7/8" across (shorter than on all three… Read More

1903. From Letters, Diaries, and Recollections. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1903. Original dark green cloth. First American Edition, first state, of this bibliographically-complex biography by James. William Wetmore Story (1819-1895) graduated from Harvard College in 1838 and Harvard Law School in 1840, but after practicing under his father for a decade, in 1850 he moved permanently to Rome to follow his real passion, sculpture. HJ had met Story in Rome in the 1870s. After Story's death, his family asked HJ to write a biography -- which HJ did, but with difficulty, because he thought Story was more of a wealthy dilettante than an accomplished artist. Hence the "and His Friends" -- HJ concentrated on Robert and Elizabeth Browning, James Russell Lowell, and others of greater fame than Story. According to E&L, a total of about 2250 sets were printed by Blackwood in five indistinguishable printings, and of these, 1800 were exported to the U.S. and issued with Houghton Mifflin title pages dated… Read More

1893. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1893. Original dark green cloth decorated in gilt. First Edition of this collection of seven literary essays, issued as a volume in the "Harper's American Essayists" series. There was no corresponding English edition. This copy is in the primary, elaborately-gilt binding (there were also four secondary bindings), and is in bright, just-about-fine condition. Supino 38.1.0; Edel & Laurence A38.

1875. Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1875. Original terra-cotta cloth, beveled. First Edition of Henry James's first book, which consisted of only 1,500 copies. This is a collection of six tales that had appeared in American periodicals (mostly the Atlantic Monthly) over the preceding years. In 1873 James's father wrote him to say that he had had discussions with Osgood about publication of some of the son's tales, but Henry Jr. replied (to his mother, not his father), "I value none of my early tales enough to bring them forth again, and if I did, should absolutely need to give them an amount of verbal retouching...". He added that he wished to issue instead a volume "of tales on the theme of American adventurers in Europe, leading off with the Passionate Pilgrim." [E&L] There was no equivalent English edition, though half of these tales would appear in the 1879 two-volume London collection titled THE MADONNA OF THE FUTURE. This copy is in the first of the four American binding states, with… Read More

1880. [a fine copy] Boston: Houghton, Osgood and Company, 1880. Original green cloth, beveled. First American Edition, which consisted of 1500 copies -- issued two months after the 500-copy English two-decker (which is now quite scarce). And what is interesting is that in the ensuing weeks [following his brother William's marriage], Henry wrote his worst novel... it bears the uncommonly ineffectual title of CONFIDENCE. Its plot is like an old eighteenth century comedy, or a theme for a strange three-figure ballet, in which two young men... become involved with a woman named Angela. First, one of the young men loves Angela; she rejects him and he marries someone else. Then the other young man wants to marry her. She accepts him, and in the climax there is much dashing about and a frantic scene of jealousy in which the first young man offers to divorce his wife if Angela will still have him... [Edel] This copy is in the primary binding (which comes in either green or terra-cotta, without priority),… Read More

1875. Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1875. One preliminary page undated ads. Original green cloth, beveled. First Edition of Henry James's second book, which consisted of either 1500 (per E&L) or 1578 (per Blanck) copies. Published in the same year as his first (A PASSIONATE PILGRIM), this is a collection of travel sketches from his journeys around Europe in 1872-1874. This copy is in the first binding state, with "J.R. Osgood & Co." at the foot of the spine (later copies read "Houghton, Osgood & Co." and then "Houghton, Mifflin & Co."). The cloth color is green; other copies were in purple or terra-cotta, without priority. It is a near-fine copy (minor rubbing at the corners, rear endpaper cracking but tight). Supino 2.2.0; Edel & Laurence A2a; Blanck 10530.

1885. London: Macmillan and Co., 1885. 2 pp undated Vol III ads. Original dark blue-green cloth. First Edition, which consisted of only 500 copies. These three volumes consist of fourteen tales here "revived," that James had written some years earlier -- most from the 1870s, with some from the 1860s. Eight of them had been collected in America, either in A PASSIONATE PILGRIM (1875) or in THE AUTHOR OF BELTRAFFIO (1885, three months earlier). The other six appear here in book form for the first time: "A Day of Days," "A Landscape Painter," "Rose-Agathe," "Poor Richard," "Master Eustace" and "A Most Extraordinary Case." As James points out in his Vol I "Notice," "... these earlier stories have been in every case minutely revised and corrected -- many passages being wholly rewritten." This set is in E&L's binding variant "a" (no priority) -- with the "V" no larger than the "OL" on the spines, and with dark brown coated endpapers. Condition is only very good: there is some wear along the volumes' joints… Read More

1914. [Sendak copy in 1914 dj] New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1914. Original olive-brown cloth, with dust jacket. First American Edition, which consisted of 2000 copies and was published one day after Dent's London edition. Novelists covered by James include Robert Louis Stevenson, Emile Zola, Gustave Flaubert, Honoré de Balzac and George Sand. This was one of several James titles that was unfortunately bound for Scribner's in this unattractive olive-brown cloth that is very prone to soil and fading. This, however, would be a fine copy were it not for some cracking of the endpapers. The clean, unfaded exterior is due to the presence of the original dust jacket, in very good condition (edge-wear that is minor except for one chip affecting about one-half of "SCRIBNER'S" at the foot of the spine). Supino 73.2.0; Edel & Laurence A73b. Provenance: from the personal library of author Maurice Sendak. He did not often sign or affix bookplates (and none is here), but included with this set is a… Read More

1899. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1899. 2 pp undated ads. Original brown cloth. First American Edition, which consisted of only 1,000 copies (half as many as the English edition published a few weeks earlier). Nanda Brookenham's "awkward age" begins when her mother enters her into the marriage market and ends when she decides to be in charge of her own life. This copy is what Edel & Laurence calls the primary state, and is Supino's Impression A (but neither Supino nor Blanck attempt to assign precedence): the use of thicker paper (compared to "B") results in leaves bulking just under 1-1/2 inches, and the "s" of the publisher's spine imprint is non-italic. This is a bright copy, fine except for the slightest of rubbing at the corners; the volume is only a little askew, almost-unavoidable for a thick 557-page novel. Supino 53.6.0; Edel & Laurence A53b; Blanck 10636.

1881. In Three Volumes [sic]. London: Macmillan and Co., 1881. Original dark blue-green cloth lettered in gilt and stamped in black. First Edition of the middle volume of this three-decker novel, often considered James's greatest work. Edel & Laurence and Blanck (BAL) both indicate that all 750 copies of the first impression (dated 1881) of Vol II have blank leaf R8 at the end; Supino more recently says that the first impression lacks this leaf, and that the 1882 second impression retains it. In this Vol II (dated 1881, and in the primary binding), not only is R8 present, it is in fact still unopened along the fore-edge with leaf R7. This is a bright, near-fine copy (one bumped fore-corner, a barely-visible hairline crack at the top of the rear joint, minor cracking of the original dark brown endpapers); unlike most copies that surface today, there is NO evidence of a lending library label on the front cover. It is sad that this volume has gone missing from its mates -- especially as the complete… Read More

1885. [the fine Currie / Sendak copy] London: Macmillan and Co., 1885. 2 pp undated Vol III ads. Original dark blue-green cloth. First Edition, which consisted of only 500 copies. These three volumes consist of fourteen tales here "revived," that James had written some years earlier -- most from the 1870s, with some from the 1860s. Eight of them had been collected in America, either in A PASSIONATE PILGRIM (1875) or in THE AUTHOR OF BELTRAFFIO (1885, three months earlier). The other six appear here in book form for the first time: "A Day of Days," "A Landscape Painter," "Rose-Agathe," "Poor Richard," "Master Eustace" and "A Most Extraordinary Case." As James points out in his Vol I "Notice," "... these earlier stories have been in every case minutely revised and corrected -- many passages being wholly rewritten." This set is in Supino's binding "B" (E&L's binding "b"), with the "V" larger than the "OL" on the spines, and with blue mosaic-patterned endpapers (no known priority between the two… Read More

1895. A Study of Torpedo Warfare in 189-. Illustrated by the Author. London: Tower Publishing Company, 1895. 2 pp undated ads. Original grey-green cloth pictorially decorated in black and orange. First Edition of the first of Jane's scientific romances -- visions of future war, fought with future ships and aircraft. Not only is the book by Jane, but the action illustrations are too. Subsequent Jane titles, published over the following four years, included THE INCUBATED GIRL, TO VENUS IN FIVE SECONDS and THE VIOLET FLAME ("A Story of Armageddon and After"). Since his death in 1916, Jane has been best-known for the military annuals that bear his name today -- ALL THE WORLD'S FIGHTING SHIPS and ALL THE WORLD'S AIRCRAFT. This is a bright copy, fine except for a little ruffling at the spine ends. Currey p. 264; Bleiler Checklist p. 109.

1878. To "My dear Mrs. Wood." 4 pages (all sides of a bifolium). South Berwick [Maine]: 13 August 1878. Signed "Sarah O. Jewett." The text of this letter reads: Here is the Boat song for you, and it was very good of you to care for it. And I am very glad to have the chance to tell you how much I enjoyed being with you while I was at Rye and how sorry I am that we live so far apart that I shall not be likely to see you often. It was so kind of you to ask Julia and me to visit you and wouldn't it be charming if some happy day that plan came true! But I am afraid Julia and I will hardly see each other for a long time to come, though I made brave plans when I was with her, for joining her abroad. That is the sorrow of being so fond of one's friends as I am -- one is so sorry when one sees one's best friends seldom but after all I can't help remembering that by and bye when one looks back from another world, separation will seem such a little thing and the lessons learned from it so grand and so sweet. I… Read More

1882. Five pages, to "Dear Uncle William". Salisbury England, 26 June 1882. In this lengthy letter, the American author reports on her improving health (rheumatism), writes of visiting Portsmouth Harbour and Stonehenge (on her trip with Annie Adams Fields), and asks about their mutual relatives back home in South Berwick, Maine. ... I came up from the Isle of Wight [where they called unannounced upon Poet Laureate Tennyson] to old Portsmouth... We saw the old man-of-war lying off in the stream on which Lord Nelson died... the harbor was full of vessels. It is a naval station like our Portsmouth [NH] ... Later we came to Salisbury... and went to see the famous old cathedral and then drove out across Salisbury Plain several miles to see the old Druid monuments of Stonehenge. The stones are enormous ... and you can trace the shape of the old temple though many of the pillars have fallen... Mrs. Fields sends you her regards and with much love I am Yours affectionately Sarah O. Jewett Although she uses… Read More

1881. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1881. 1 page preliminary ads, undated. Original dark green cloth, beveled boards. First Edition, which consisted of 2000 copies. This is "early Jewett" -- her fourth book, after DEEPHAVEN (1877), PLAY DAYS (1878) and OLD FRIENDS AND NEW (1879). It is a collection of eight short stories, including "River Driftwood," "Andrew's Fortune" and "Miss Becky's Pilgrimage." This is a nearly fine copy, with scarcely any soil or wear (one faint dent on the spine); this has become a tough title to find in such condition. Blanck 10878 (citing blue or green cloth; we have also had light brown).