Search Results: Authors starting with P from Whitmore Rare Books

Philadelphia: Re-Printed by Samuel Harrison Smith, 1791. First American edition. Very Good. An exceptional survivor in wrappers as issued. With both issue points present: stating "Second Edition" on the title page and containing the infamous "Jefferson extract." Measuring 220 x 140mm and collating complete: [1]-105, [1, blank]. With general toning and light soiling throughout. Contemporary ownership signature to title page, with loss to paper (but no text) where a prior owner's name has been defaced. Edges and upper right corner chipping and bumped; rear leaf present but detached, with loss including text from a portion of the upper left corner. The last true first London edition to sell at auction (one of just about 100 copies that were sold before the run was recalled hours after release) which was a 1st edition of part one and a 2nd edition of part two, sold for $250,000. Here we have the first American edition of part one. ESTC records copies at only 14 institutions, all within the U.S. We could… Read More

New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1996. First Edition. Fine/Fine. True first printing with full number line on copyright page. Book is Fine and appears unread. Inscribed by the author on the title page: "To Ray - Enjoy your fights! Chuck Palahniuk." A cult classic that was launched into widespread success through its film adaptation, featuring Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, and Helena Bonham Carter. When the unnamed narrator begins struggling with insomnia due to the stress of his job, he takes his doctor's advice to attend a testicular cancer support group to "see what real suffering is like." What he discovers is the catharsis of other people's pain -- and his own tears become a pathway to sleep. But the narrator's period of rest is short-lived, thanks to Marla Singer, a fellow support-group "tourist" and Tyler Durden, a charismatic extremist who lures the narrator into a world of underground bare-knuckle fighting and, ultimately, domestic terrorism. Ultimately, through Fight Club and its more… Read More

New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1977. First edition. Near Fine/Near Fine. A Near Fine copy of the book in like dust jacket. Book with a contemporary owner's name on the front free end paper along with a notation that the book won the Newberry in 1977. Otherwise an excellent copy overall. Jacket retains original $7.95 price, with a few short tears or creases, but overall bright and unrestored. Printed in an inital printing of 7,000 copies, first printings are relatively scarce on the market. When Jesse befriends the class outcast Leslie, the two join forces to create a rich imaginary world called Terabithia. Together in their wooded kingdom, the two children face ogres and encounter magical creatures that help them sort through the difficulties they confront in their real lives. And then, an unexpected tragedy brings adulthood all too soon. Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket.

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1948. First edition. Near Fine/Near Fine. First printing with Scribner's A and seal on the copyright page. A Near Fine copy of Paton's famous first novel. A Near Fine copy with a previous owner's name on the front end paper and a small blemish to the front board. In a price-clipped Near Fine example of the fragile dust jacket with a few short tears to the rear panel (without loss). Nonetheless, a lovely copy and scarce in this condition. Cry, the Beloved Country follows the story of Stephen Kumalo, a Black priest who goes to Johannesburg to help his sister -- and find his brother. The book is a critique of South African society, released just a year before Apartheid was instituted. It was adapted into two films, including one in 1995 that would star James Earl Jones and Richard Harris. Cry, the Beloved Country was enormously successful - it would become a worldwide bestseller with upwards of 15 million copies in over twenty languages. It was also a selection of… Read More

London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1909. First edition. Publisher's blue cloth, front cover with a gilt camel and tribesman within a double circular frame, spine ruled and lettered in gilt, top edge gilt. Front inner hinge cracked but still a near fine copy with the just the mildest of rubbing to cloth extremities. xvi, 389, [1, blank], [1, Map], [1, imprint], [2, advertisements]. With 104 photogravure illustrations (some full-page) 8 maps and General Map of British East Africa at end. "In the following pages I have endeavoured to give a plain account of the trials and adventures which befell me on two recent expeditions through the nyika, or wilderness, in British East Africa. On the first trip there were three of us, and all returned safely to civilisation, although dangers were not wholly absent. On the second and longer expedition there were also three Europeans, but, alas! only two got back, the nyika having claimed the third; nor was the god of the wilds content with this sacrifice, for, in… Read More

London: George Routledge, 1846. First Thus. Bound by Root & & Son ca. 1910. Three-quarter green morocco ruled in gilt over green cloth boards. Spine with five raised bands, decoratively tooled and lettered in gilt in compartments, pale green marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Spine very slightly faded, otherwise near fine. Octavo (9 3/8 x 5 5/8 inches; 239 x 143 mm.). Collating [viii], 104, with ninety-two fine engraved plates with original tissue-guards, including frontispieces and pictorial titles. This work was first published from 1832-34 and contained eighty-six plates. Robert Seymour (1798-1836) was a popular and prolific illustrator and satirical cartoonist specializing in sporting subjects. "Influenced by the work of caricaturist George Cruikshank (1792-1878), Seymour gave up a career as a draftsman to devote himself to illustration, beginning under the pseudonym Short Shanks. By 1830, his political caricatures were widely circulated through the satirical journals Figaro in London and The… Read More

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1989. First edition. Fine/Near Fine. A Fine presentation copy in a Near Fine dust jacket. On the verso of the front end paper is an original drawing of a lion, inscribed: "To George Hooker, with best wishes Bill Peet, August 24, 1989. Publisher's blue cloth over boards, front cover with vignette in black, spine lettered in black, yellow endpapers. Collating [2], 190 pages. Vignette title-page, extensively illustrated throughout in black & white with Disney characters including Snow White and Seven Dwarfs, Monstro, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Brer Rabbit, Gus, Jacques, Lucifer, Alice, Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, 101 Dalmations, Cruella De Ville, Sleeping Beauty, Mowgli, Bagheera, Baloo along w/many pages showing Walt Disney. William Bartlett "Bill" Peet (January 29, 1915 - May 11, 2002) was an American children's book illustrator and a story writer and animator for Walt Disney Animation Studios. Bill Peet joined Disney in 1937 and worked first on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)… Read More

London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1805. First edition. Modern quarter cloth over patterned boards. Measuring 210 x 120mm and collating complete including half title and adverts to rear: [4], 85, [3]. Light scattered foxing, but a largely clean, tall copy. Scarce institutionally and in trade, OCLC records 4 copies at libraries, with no examples listed in the modern auction record. "Elizabeth Simpson Inchbald was one of the first leading literary figures of the late eighteenth century--an actress, a successful playwright and editor of several dramatic collections, a popular novelist, and a drama critic...Inchbald was involved in almost every aspect of the theatrical, literary, and publishing life of London" (Jenkins). Her stage career began at age eighteen, followed by extensive work in elocution to assist her with her childhood speech disorder (stuttering) which had made vocal performances challenging. Widowed by her actor husband at the age of twenty-six, Inchbald made a shift; capitalizing… Read More

Paris: [Imprimerie de Schneider et Langrand], 1843. First edition. Contemporary 19th century quarter calf binding with green boards; gentle wear to edges. Internally an excellent copy with original wraps bound in; occasional light foxing and small paper loss to margins of last two leaves, neither affecting text. Octavo collates complete with 31 pages. An exceptionally rare copy of Sand's first work on social justice, of which only 500 were printed. This copy is the only one known to have come onto the market, with none in the modern auction records and the only other held at La Bibliotheque Nationale de France. Having dedicated the first decade of her career toward writing novels about women's internal and social struggles, George Sand made her first move into activism with Fanchette. Shocked by the story of a young girl with mental illness, who had been refused refuge in a convent and was soon after discovered pregnant and arrested for begging, Sand opted to expose the events in a set of letters… Read More

London: Richard Tottelli, 1572. Early edition. Contemporary calf rebacked to style with five raised bands. Measuring and 140 x 90mm collating complete: [16], 159 leaves. Boards somewhat cracked and dry, with bumps to corners; some soiling to both pastedowns. Heavily annotated in a contemporary secretary hand throughout, as well as later additions from a nineteeth century owner; these are most noticeable to the title page, contents, and final leaf with some text affected. Small hole to second leaf affecting two words of text; ink stains obscuring some words on leaf 80; marginal holes not affecting text on leaves 91-92 and 159. Originally published in 1548, with most early editions scarce in ESTC. The present edition is held at 5 institutions. A lawyer, pediatrician and author, Thomas Phayer is best known as the creator of The Boke of Chyldren (1545), the first book on pediatrics written in English. The present work was his influential register of legal precedents, here updated to reflect changes in… Read More

London: Albion Press, 1804. First edition. Contemporary calf with black morocco label to spine, and embossed in gilt. Front joint starting but firm; upper front corner rubbed. Early ownership signature of E. Griffith to front pastedown, else unmarked. Front and rear endpapers a bit loose but holding well. Measuring 102 x 92mm and collating [10], 346: complete, including all 12 engraved portraits inserted in the order called for by the instructions to the binder (though with Mrs. Cowley's used as a frontis rather than facing page 126). OCLC reports only 14 copies at U.S. institutions, with this being the only complete copy on the market. A prolific author, Mary Pilkington drew on her firsthand experiences as an orphan and a governess to create her most important work. While the majority of her writing centered on fiction (she produced over 40 novels leading up to 1825), she was also deeply invested in the education of girls. Early works such as A Mirror for the Female Sex (1798) addressed the… Read More

New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co, 1910. First American edition. Publisher's tan buckram over pictorial paper boards, spine decoratively tooled and lettered in gilt, top edge gilt, others uncut, pictorial endpapers. 128 unnumbered pp. Twenty-four tipped-in color plates, including frontispiece, all mounted onto heavy stock card. A few of the tipped-in color plates have a light crease on the lower corner and a couple of the heavy card mounts have been neatly repaired with archival tape. Otherwise this is a very Fine copy in the original brown paper dust jacket decoratively printed in dark brown. Housed in a cloth slipcase. The card mounts in this edition are notoriously fragile. "Had Omar Khayyam, the old tentmaker, visioned the beauty of his verses centuries later in Western dress, as embroidered by a Hungarian artist, he might have had a new conception of the meaning of immortality. For Pogany, the Hungarian, had made Omar, the Persian, live again" (Crowell). Willy Pogany had previously illustrated… Read More

London: Harrap, 1913. First thus. Near Fine. Deluxe limited edition, this copy number 34 of 525 copies signed by the illustrator. Publisher's vellum stamped in gilt to spine and front board. Top edge gilt. Pictorial endpapers. Measuring 280 x 190mm and profusely illustrated throughout in color and black and white. Boards slightly bowed with minor toning. Internally clean. A Near Fine copy without the scarce publisher's slipcase. Inspired by Wagner's haunting opera, The Tale of Lohengrin follows the titular knight, son of Percival, on his mission to rescue a damsel in distress. Here brought to life with Pogany's stirring visuals, which highlight the romance and darkness inherent to chivalric epics. Near Fine.

London: Printed for C. Bathurst, 1770. Nine octavo volumes (8 3/8 x 5 1/16 inches; 212 x 129 mm.). Contemporary tree calf. Smooth spines decoratively tooled in gilt in compartments with red morocco gilt lettering label and a circular red morocco gilt numbering label on a rectangular green morocco label, board edges decoratively tooled in gilt, edges stained yellow. Bindings lightly rubbed. Minimal foxing and browning. Each volume with armorial bookplate on front pastedown with penciled initials "A H" on front free endpaper. Front pastedown of Volume I has pencilled note "J[ack]. Joseph's set." Small hole in Z3 (pp. 341/342) in Volume VII, just affecting a couple of letters (five). Paper flaw (3/4 inch tear) in the outer blank margin of B1 (pp. [1/2]) in Volume VIII. Twenty-four engraved plates by J.S. Müller, G. Grignion, Ant. Walker, C. Mosely, and Ravenet after S. Wale, F. Hayman, and N. Blakey. A Fine set. Comprising: Volume I: Juvenile Poems ([8], xlv, [1, blank], [2], 49-288); Volume II:… Read More

New York: Frederick Warne & Co, 1912. First American edition. Original gray boards decoratively stamped and lettered in dark green on front cover within a brown single rule border and decoratively stamped and lettered in brown on spine. Large color pictorial label on front cover within a blind rectangular panel surrounded by a broad brown single rule border. Color pictorial endpapers (Quinby Plate XI). 93, [1]. Color frontispiece and fourteen color plates (included in pagination). Black and white vignette on title-page and forty-one black and white vignettes in the text. A very fine copy in the original (very slightly chipped) glassine wrapper. "Beatrix Potter, writer of some of the most beloved children's books of all time, was a woman of immense talent, indefatigable spirit, and a generous heart...Although she grew up in London, she was deeply influenced by long family holidays in the countryside, first in Scotland and later in the English lake district. As was the custom in families of her… Read More

New York: Frederick Warne & Co, 1909. First American edition. Original pale green boards stamped in darker green on front cover and spine. Color pictorial label on front cover within a rectangular blind panel with scalloped bottom edge. Color pictorial endpapers. Small quarto (7 x 5 7/16 inches; 178 x 137 mm.). 51, [1]. Color frontispiece (included in pagination) and nine full-page color illustrations. Black and white vignette on title-page and nineteen black and white vignettes in text. Minimal darkening to spine, still a near fine copy. "Beatrix Potter, writer of some of the most beloved children's books of all time, was a woman of immense talent, indefatigable spirit, and a generous heart...Although she grew up in London, she was deeply influenced by long family holidays in the countryside, first in Scotland and later in the English lake district. As was the custom in families of her class, she was educated at home by governesses. An eager student of languages and literature, she grew up loving… Read More

New York: Frederick Warne & Co, 1912. First American edition. Original tan boards decoratively stamped and lettered in dark brown on front cover within a brown single rule border and decoratively stamped and lettered in brown on spine. Large color pictorial label on front cover within a blind rectangular panel surrounded by a broad brown single rule border. Color pictorial endpapers (Quinby Plate XI). 93, [1]. Color frontispiece and fourteen color plates (included in pagination). Black and white vignette on title-page and forty-one black and white vignettes in the text. The absolute bare minimum of rubbing to board extremities. A near fine copy in the original (chipped and torn) glassine wrapper. "Beatrix Potter, writer of some of the most beloved children's books of all time, was a woman of immense talent, indefatigable spirit, and a generous heart...Although she grew up in London, she was deeply influenced by long family holidays in the countryside, first in Scotland and later in the English lake… Read More

New York: Frederick Warne & Co, 1911. First American edition. Original dark green boards ruled and lettered in white on front cover and lettered in white spine. Color pictorial label (measuring 2 5/8 x 2 1/4 inches; 67 x 57 mm.) on front cover within a blind arch-shaped panel outlined in blind. Color pictorial endpapers (Quinby Plate X). Minimal rubbing to lower corners and spine extremities. 84, [1], [1, blank]. Color frontispiece and twenty-six color plates (included in pagination). Black and white vignette on title-page. A near fine copy in the original (slightly chipped) glassine wrapper. "Beatrix Potter, writer of some of the most beloved children's books of all time, was a woman of immense talent, indefatigable spirit, and a generous heart...Although she grew up in London, she was deeply influenced by long family holidays in the countryside, first in Scotland and later in the English lake district. As was the custom in families of her class, she was educated at home by governesses. An eager… Read More

New York: Frederick Warne & Co, 1913. First American edition. Original light gray boards stamped in brown. Color pictorial label on front cover. Twelvemo (5 3/8 x 4 1/8 in; 138 x 104 mm). 93, [1]. Color frontispiece and fourteen color plates (included in pagination). Black and white vignette on title-page and thirty-seven black and white vignettes in the text. Quinby Plate XIIA endpapers as called for. A very fine copy in the original (chipped) glassine wrapper. "Beatrix Potter, writer of some of the most beloved children's books of all time, was a woman of immense talent, indefatigable spirit, and a generous heart...Although she grew up in London, she was deeply influenced by long family holidays in the countryside, first in Scotland and later in the English lake district. As was the custom in families of her class, she was educated at home by governesses. An eager student of languages and literature, she grew up loving classic folk and fairy tales...Her talent for drawing and painting was… Read More

London and New York: Frederick Warne & Co, 1905. First edition. Third printing (March 1905). Twelvemo ( 5 7/16 x 4 1/16 in; 138 x 105 mm). Original gray boards lettered in green with color pictorial label on front cover, ruled and lettered in dark green on front cover and lettered in dark green on spine. Small crack at bottom of lower joint, slight rubbing to extremities. 84, [1], [1, printer's imprint]. Color frontispiece and twenty-six color plates. Black and white vignette on title-page. Quinby Plate II endpapers as called for. A very good copy, internally fine. "Beatrix Potter, writer of some of the most beloved children's books of all time, was a woman of immense talent, indefatigable spirit, and a generous heart...Although she grew up in London, she was deeply influenced by long family holidays in the countryside, first in Scotland and later in the English lake district. As was the custom in families of her class, she was educated at home by governesses. An eager student of languages and… Read More