Search Results: Authors starting with R from Louise Aird

This is a lovely copy of The Swiss Family Robinson, the famous book, written in 1812, by the German-Swiss writer Johann Wyss. It is about a family of Swiss immigrants who were sailing to Australia when their ship was blown off course and they were stranded in the East Indies. This copy is liberally illustrated by the American illustrator and cartoonist Frank Godwin (1889-1959), who is best known for the comic strip Connie. 340 pages. Blue boards with a signed Godwin painting on the cover6 1/8" x 8 3/4"There are some little spots on the cover and spine but they're barely noticeable--if they bother you, it would be worth it to have the book cleaned. There is some discoloration to the back cover and the inside front cover.The spine has some looseness to it but is not breaking.Inside, all is fine. Clean, creamy white pages. No dogears.Overall superb condition.

This is a first edition of Man of Valour: The Life of Field-Marshal The Viscount Gort, VC, GCB, DSO, MVO, MC by Sir John Colville. It is a solid assessment of an underappreciated figure in the Allied war effort of World War II.
Known in Britain as 'our man in France', Gort was decorated with the Victoria Cross for his actions during the Battle of the Canal du Nord (WWI). During the 1930s he served as Chief of the Imperial General Staff (the professional head of the British Army). He is best known for commanding the British Expeditionary Force that was sent to France in the first year of the Second World War, only to be evacuated from Dunkirk the following year.
Copies of this book are now rare and are quite expensive.
This one is in particularly good condition.
The dust jacket (unclipped) is not in great shape. There has been a spill to the front endpaper only. The edges of the pages are darkening. Other than that, it's in perfect condition.

This is a stated first edition of Emperor of the North: Sir George Simpson and the Remarkable Story of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Canada, and North America, cannot be understood without discussing the influence of the Hudson's Bay Company, which once covered 1/12th of the world's land, and remains the world's oldest retailer. It played a huge role in the creation of Canada, and that would not have been possible without George Simpson, who was the HBC governor for 40 years. Simpson not only made the company profitable, he ensured British control of western and northern Canada by negotiating with Americans, First Nations and Russians.
This is a lovely book, full of maps, photos and drawings. Unclipped dust jacket.
It has not been read and is in pristine condition.
Note: The price for shipping this book outside of North America is for surface mail without tracking. For other options, please contact me.

This is a first edition of the revised edition of Autumns in Skye, Ross and Sutherland, a travel chronicle written by the Reverend Thomas Ratcliffe Burnett (1868-1946). Burnett was a Presbyterian minister, mountaineer and lecturer in English Literature who wrote several travel chronicles on various parts of Scotland.He wrote this book in the 1920s and it was first published in 1930. He then continually updated and revised it. When he died in 1946, the son of his original publisher issued the revised version.Other copies of this revised version state 'London 1946'; this one is the original, published in Edinburgh.It is a travel book, 'exploring the Glens, Castles and towns within Skye, Ross and Sutherland'.It has black and white plates, and maps to the endpapers.198 pages. Blue boards. I don't have the dust jacket.The exterior of this book is not in the best of shape, because the person who gave it to me went on his own tour of Skye, Ross and Sutherland, and took the book with him, following… Read More

This is a first edition of The Impressionists, part of the The Universal History of Painting, a series published in 1979 by Ferni Geneva. (I also have The Primitives of Italy from the same series.)
It was written by the highly-regarded French art critic and journalist Raymond Cogniat (1896-1977) who was, among other things, heads of the arts section at Le Figaro. However, he died while writing the book, so it was finished by the French art historian Antoine Terrasse (1928-2013).
This book does not just focus on the most famous Impressionists--it includes all of the Impressionists; the index of names is 8 columns, in small print. It is also laid out in such a way that you can cut out the color plates for framing, without interfering with the text or structure of the book. There are dozens of color plates and many drawings. Weight is 4 lbs.
It has not been read and is in mint condition.

This is a pristine copy of Caning and Rushwork, an illustrated guide to the repair of basketry, rushwork and cane pieces. It was written by Yvonne Rees, editor of Home Improvement Guides. 95 pages, full of photographs and drawings. This copy has not been read, or even opened. There are no marks of any kind in or on it.

This is a reproduction of The Eagle and the Frog, one of five Haida Myths images created by the legendary Canadian/Haida artist Bill Reid (1920-1998). The five images were for the book Raven Steals the Light, co-written by Reid and published by Douglas & McIntyre in 1982."The prince and three companions went on a fishing trip and caught some trout. They were cooking the fish that evenings when a frog hopped out of the bushes and landed on the fish the Prince was cooking...The same thing happened when he tried to cook another fish...he threw both the fish and the frog into the fire. The frog just sat in the flames for a long time glowing like a coal and then suddenly it exploded and put out the fire." - Bill Reid
Those five images were made into limited edition prints.Then they were made into smaller reproductions--gold foil on paper. This is one of those reproductions.They are now sold as art cards, however the art cards were produced after Reid's death in 1998, and are signed 'The Estate of Bill… Read More

This is the "unforgettable", "riveting" first-rate biography of Dr. John Reid, a Canadian doctor who was serving in Hong Kong in 1941. After the Japanese victory, he spent a year in a Hong Kong prison camp before being sent to Japan as a slave labourer. His efforts to save his men were heroic, but he would never be the same. He was a complex man--an outstanding doctor and war hero but, after returning home, a damaged and deeply troubled man. It was written by his son, the journalist Jonathan Reid.It was published in 2020--I don't believe it was issued in hardcover, so this is a first edition. Trade paperback. 455 pages including photographs. Two faint dogears, the last at page 71. Tiny bits of shelfwear.Otherwise pristine.

This is a first edition of The Bridesmaid, a best-selling 1989 novel by the British author Ruth Rendell. It is about a man whose feminine ideal is a Greek goddess; when he meets a woman who matches that image, he thinks he's found true love—until she demands that he commit murder. In 2004, it was adapted into the acclaimed French film La Demoiselle d'honneur.
This copy has not been read, or even opened. The spine is uncracked; the dust jacket is unclipped. There are no marks of any kind in it or on it.

Note: If you are outside of North America, the quoted shipping price is for surface mail without tracking. For other options, please contact me.

This is a mint-condition first edition of Black Watch: Liberating Europe and Catching Himmler - My Extraordinary WW2 with the Highland Division, written by the Scottish physicist, and Black Watch veteran, Tom Renouf (1925-2016).

It was Renouf's division which captured Heinrich Himmler in 1945, and this is his wartime memoir.

312 pages, including lots of photos and maps.
This book has not been read and is pristine condition.

This is an unread first edition of Baudelaire, written by the English journalist Joanna Richardson and published in 1990.
It is a full biography of the French poet Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), which was a best-seller and very well received by critics.
It's a big book with few photos.
It is mylar-wrapped--you can remove it if you like. The spots you see on the cover are from the price tag. No one has ever read this book, or even opened it. It is in mint condition.

This is two matching paperbacks of early works of the Canadian novelist Mordecai Richler (1931-2001).They're a bit hard to find.Son of a Smaller Hero
is Richler's 2nd novel, published in 1955. It is gritty and realistic and is about an idealistic young Jewish man rebelling against the social and cultural divides in Montreal.A Choice of Enemies
is his 3rd novel, published in 1957. It is set in London, where writers and filmmakers are living to escape the McCarthy witch hunts. As their idealism becomes more rigid, the protagonist is forced to take sides.These copies were purchased in 1982. A Choice of Enemies was read once; Son of a Smaller Hero has not been read. Their front endpapers have a small signature and the paper has darkened somewhat, but they have very little shelfwear and no damage.

This is a lovely book. First edition of this series.
From the introduction by Christopher Ricks:
In this generously replete anthology, the International Collectors Library offers this selection of the poetry of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, together with fifty of the letters in which the pair carried on their courtship under the nose of Elizabeth's tyrannical father -- including the brief, frenzied notes in which they made arrangements for their secret marriage and their elopement to the Continent. Among the works of Elizabeth included here are, of course, the exquisite Sonnets from the Portuguese, celebrating the perfect union of herself and her lover; excerpts from Aurora Leigh; and complete versions of more than two dozen other poems. Robert Browning is represented by one hundred or so poems, with excerpted portions of The Ring and the Book and Pippa Passes, plus complete versions of Andrea del Sarto, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, Fra Lippo Lippi, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, and… Read More

This is three books from the Allan Quatermain series written by the English author H Rider Haggard (1856-1925). Quatermain, who has been portrayed numerous times in film and television, is an English big game hunter and trader in southern Africa, who supports colonial efforts to 'spread civilization in the dark continent'.
Three of the best-known books of the series are in this book: King Solomon's Mines (1885), She (1921), and Allan Quatermain (1887).
This is a first edition of this set, published in Britain in 1979. It is 638 pages with several black and white illustrations.
The book is navy blue boards with brilliant gold lettering on the cover and spine. The cover is a bit faded and dusty but the interior is perfect.
The dust jacket is mainly red and yellow, with a color illustration on the cover, and another on the back. The dust jacket is unclipped and, aside from some fading on the spine, is in perfect condition.
NOTE: My quoted price for shipping OUTSIDE of North America is for surface mail… Read More

In 1963, an Italian company gathered together the works of various artists and published them as a series called The Great Artists: A library of their lives, times and paintings.In 1978, Funk & Wagnalls published them in the US.Each book is the same: 10" x 14", high quality images and paper, an essay on the life of the artist, and then several color plates, most of which can be cut out and framed. There is a short paragraph about each painting as well.I have Gainsborough, Vermeer, Whistler, and Monet, all listed separately.I bought them in 1978 but haven't opened them until just now. They are all in mint condition, save for a little bit of darkening to the edges of the covers only.You can buy one or all--if you want more than one, message me.The plates in this one are:Sophia Charlotte, Lady Sheffield Gainsborough's ForestMary, Countess Howe Landscape with a Woodcutter Courting a Milkmaid Margaret and Mary Gainsborough Mr & Mrs Robert Andrews (double-page spread) Elizabeth and Mary LinleyCaptain Thomas… Read More

This is the official program of the Scottish World Festival which took place in Toronto in 1973.
It is rather more than a program--it's a 144-page book packed with photographs, lists and interviews with pipers, dancers and athletes.
Aside from a dog-ear on the cover, it's in pristine condition.

This is an original watercolor by the Canadian architect and artist Hugh Douglas "Bungje" Robertson (1900-1996). Its title is Harbour at Stockholm. It is signed and dated 1972.
Robertson was born in Hamilton ON and attended the School of Architecture at Montreal's McGill University, graduating in 1925. He was formed in drawing by his friend, the French-Canadian artist Edmond Dyonnet but, in painting, was mainly self-taught.
As an architect, he was in partnership with Lester Birley Husband, off and on, until 1953--this was interrupted by periods working as a draftsman and architectural designer in Miami, Montreal, and New York. During World War II, he worked as an Assistant Architect in the Naval Services Branch of the Royal Canadian Navy in Ottawa. In 1957, he retired from architecture to paint full-time. He traveled extensively in Europe and the West Indies painting in oil but, mostly, in watercolor. Robertson was a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Royal Canadian Academy.… Read More

This is an unread copy of Vines, Grapes, & Wines, the Wine-Drinkers Guide to Grape Varieties, written by the English wine critic and journalist Jancis Robinson. It was first published in 1986, when it won the Veuve Clicquot Wine Book of the Year award; this is the 1996 reprint.
It covers the numerous grape varieties that are grown internationally, examining an extensive range of the varieties that the enthusiast is likely to encounter, both as a plant and as a wine style. Each one is described in its geographical context, and there are hundreds of maps and color illustrations.

This is a first edition (1980) of The Swinging Sporran, A lighthearted guide to the basic steps of Scottish reels and country dances, by the Scottish journalists ROddy Martine and Andrew Cambell. It provides detailed instruction for 16 Scottish dances, complete with diagrams and amusing illustrations. 120 pages.This book has not been read and is in pristine condition.

This is an excellent cookbook. But it's not just recipes; it tells the story of Italian Cooking. The editorial goes into great detail and there are loads of color photos, including maps and demos.Hard cover, 208 pages.There are a few marks on the cover. The spine is greatly darkened, just from sitting on a shelf for all of these years.The front endpaper is signed by the original owner and some of the pages have darkened a little.The rest of the inside is perfect. Pristine.