Search Results: Titles starting with D from Sumner & Stillman

1852. With Illustrations by Phiz. London: Chapman and Hall, 1852. Front endpaper of Vol II printed with Chapman & Hall ads. Original blind-stamped rose-brown cloth. First Edition in book form of this tale of "the downside of an irresponsible lifestyle when one enters middle age. The picaresque hero has now become a family, rather poor, but convinced of its aristocratic entitlement as it dwells on its recent Irish past and travels the Continent" [Murphy]. The Irish Lever had himself left Ireland to travel the Continent. This pair of volumes is in what Cater labels as "binding B" -- rose-brown blind-stamped cloth with a gilt vignette on the spines. As Carter points out, the "A" binding of dark brown cloth was used for the binding-up of parts (with stab-holes evident on the leaves); this "B" binding was used for copies initially issued, as here, in cloth. (One could argue that the sheets in "A" copies were first issued earlier than those in "B" bindings, but also that bound "B" copies preceded bound… Read More

1904. With Illustrations by Frank E. Schoonover. New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1904. Original red cloth. First Edition of this tale of the Reconstruction Era -- the author's fifth book, and the concluding volume in a trilogy (following VOICE OF THE PEOPLE of 1900 and THE BATTLE-GROUND of 1902) that deals with life in Virginia from the end of the Civil war until the turn of the century. THE DELIVERANCE deals with the Blake family, prosperous landowners for over two centuries, who after the war are defrauded by the white overseer managing their property and wind up having to switch homes with him -- he buys their estate at auction, while the Blakes move into his former house. Ellen Glasgow, born and raised in Richmond, would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1942, for IN THIS OUR LIFE. This is a fine, bright copy of the first book that brought Glasgow some real popular success.

1892. [the copy of Gissing's agent] London: Lawrence & Bullen, 1892. Original olive-green cloth. First Edition. This was Gissing's only one-volume novel published during the three-decker era (which ended in 1894). Gissing would have liked to write shorter, more-concise fiction, but the lending libraries demanded three volumes; after 1894 Gissing tried to shorten some of his earlier novels, but died too young (at 46, in 1903) to do much. DENZIL QUARRIER was the first of his six collaborations with Arthur Henry Bullen, the principal of Lawrence & Bullen. Gissing had titled this book THE RADICAL CANDIDATE, but reluctantly agreed to the publisher's request for a change ("so as to avoid alarming women readers by mention of the word 'radical'" [S&C]). This copy bears on its title page the ink-stamp of "The Authors' Syndicate, 4 Portugal Street, Lincolns Inn Fields, W.C." -- the company of the well-known literary agent William Morris Colles. Colles was not Gissing's agent for DENZIL QUARRIER, however, as… Read More

1890. New York: United States Book Company. Successors to John W. Lovell Company, n.d. [1890]. Original maroon cloth, on beveled boards. First (though pirated) Edition of both the "Barrack-Room Ballads" and the "Other Verses" (not published in England until 1892); first American edition of "Departmental Ditties." The "Barrack-Room Ballads" include some of Kipling's best-loved verse, such as "Gunga Din," "Danny Deever," "Tommy," "Mandalay" and "Fuzzy-Wuzzy." This copy is in the first binding state, with "Lovell" at the foot of the spine (even though Lovell had been "succeeded" by United States Book Company). The volume is in very good-plus, perhaps near-fine condition (spine gilt less than bright, very light wear at the foot of the spine); the spine is not faded, which is atypical for maroon cloth. Richards A48; Stewart 79.

1904. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1904. Original red cloth. First Edition of the author's third collection of short stories. The title story is quite appropriate more than a century later: an eminent scientist decides to have a bit of a joke on the general public by publishing a perfect parody of the kind of pseudo-scientific nonsense that... is just a little bit too believable to make disproving it an easy task. His book a resounding success, and the public clamoring for more, the professor faces a dilemma: let everybody down by exposing his satire, thus earning eternal enmity and likely ostracism, or give in to the public for more of the same [Sherrod]. This is a fine, bright copy; atypically, the red spine is NOT faded. Garrison A9.I.a. Provenance: bookplate of the collector Christopher Clark Geest.

1916. Garden City NY: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1916. [Together, four volumes.] Original light yellow wrappers lettered in green. First Editions, being the American copyright issues -- consisting of only 70 copies each, published separately between October 18th and 30th, 1916. Each volume consists of Kipling's account of specific sea warfare, preceded by an original poem written for the occasion (including Vol I's "Have you news of my boy Jack?"). As with THE FRINGES OF THE FLEET, Kipling wrote these articles with the permission of the British Admiralty, for appearance in British and American newspapers; he ceded copyright so that they could be used for propaganda purposes. Two months later they were all collected in Kipling's book SEA WARFARE. All four volumes are in fine, clean condition (the usual minor rusting of the staples). Richards A287; Stewart 402.

1878. New York: George Munro, 1878. 2 pp undated ads. Original green cloth. First Edition in English of this new and brilliant narrative of adventures by sea and land, embracing exciting incidents of the whale fishery in the Southern Ocean, and the African Slave Trade, all told in the inimitable graphic manner which has made Jules Verne the most popular author of the century [from Munro's contemporary ad, cited in T&M]. Published in France as UN CAPITAINE DE QUINZE ANS, this tale was first published in English, in November 1878, by the American pirate publisher Munro: The 1878 hardcover edition entitled DICK SAND; or a Captain at Fifteen is the best manufactured of all Verne books published by Munro. It is bound in green cloth, extra, illustrated with 20 engravings, including a map, priced at $1.00. [T&M] (The book was also issued by Munro, at the same time, in a two-volume wrappered format.) Sampson Low's authorized London edition was published the following month, in December, at the end of which… Read More

1855. Containing: The Seven Poor Travellers. Nine New Stories by the Christmas Fire. Hard Times... With a Portrait of the Author, engraved on steel. Philadelphia: T.B. Peterson, n.d. [1855]. Original dark brown cloth, blind-stamped, with spine vignette in gilt. First Edition so collected, first issue (in the dark brown binding with spine vignette in gilt, "T.B. Peterson" at the foot of the spine, and 102 Chestnut Street as the title page address). Although the volume consists of six works "by Dickens," the last three are not ("Lizzie Leigh," "The Miner's Daughters" and "Fortune Wildred"). The first two pieces in the volume, which really do involve Dickens, are "The Seven Poor Travellers" and "Nine New Stories by the Christmas Fire": these were the "Extra Christmas Numbers" of Dickens's periodical Household Words for 1854 and 1853 respectively. "Nine New Stories" is the American title for "Another Round of Stories": of the stories, Dickens himself wrote "The Schoolboy's Story" and "Nobody's Story."… Read More

1871. Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1871. Original bright green cloth decorated in gilt, beveled. First Edition. This is actually what Longfellow considered to be Part I of a trilogy, the other two parts of which had already been published. It had to do with Cristendom through the ages -- the Apostolic, Middle and Modern Ages. THE GOLDEN LEGEND (1851) constituted Part II, and THE NEW ENGLAND TRAGEDIES (1868) Part III. This copy is green (one of several colors used); in addition to regular copies such as this, a large paper issue was printed. Though a rather common book, this is an unusually fine, bright copy. Blanck 12157.

1883. Edited with Preface and Notes by Julian Hawthorne. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1883. 12 pp ads dated Sept 1882. Original grey cloth decorated in black and blue. First English Edition (simultaneous with the American, both published in December 1882). Hawthorne worked on this in 1860-1861, but then put it down and never completed (or felt satisfied with) it; it is considered to be one of Hawthorne's most autobiographical tales, especially the central character himself, who like Hawthorne's childhood guardian is a spider-cultivating eccentric. After Hawthorne's death, this was the third and last of his unpublished manuscripts to be published by his heirs, following SEPTIMIUS FELTON (1872) and THE DOLLIVER ROMANCE (1876). This copy is in near-fine condition (just a touch of wear at the spine ends). This English edition is much scarcer than the simultaneous American edition. Clark A31.2; Blanck 7642.

1866. being A Narrative of Certain Events in the Life of an Orthodox Minister of Connecticut. By the Author of "My Farm of Edgewood." In Two Volumes. New York: Charles Scribner and Company, 1866. Original green cloth. First Edition of this "delicate and leisurely story of New England village life in the early 19th century, concerned with the contrast between the rigid Calvinism of Connecticut and the external influence of Catholicism through two French women characters" [OCAL]. This copy is in Blanck's "binding B" (no priority), with a fillet-and-leaf design rather than a triple gilt rule at top and bottom of spine. Curiously the author's name appears on the spines, but not on the title pages. This is a remarkably fine set (corner of one endpaper chipped away). Blanck 13943.

1929. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, (1929). Original dark blue cloth lettered in orange. First Edition of the fifth and last of Lewis's great novels of the 1920s -- preceded by MAIN STREET, BABBITT, ARROWSMITH and ELMER GANTRY. In these novels, Lewis savagely mocked the provincialism, conformism and hypocrisy he saw at the heart of middle American culture. His central characters strive to escape their emotionally and intellectually repressive environments... [DAB] The year after DODSWORTH was published, Lewis became the first American author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature; ARROWSMITH had won the Pulitzer Prize in 1926, but Lewis had turned it down. This is a just-about-fine copy. [Note: this copy came to us with a facsimile first-edition dust jacket, which we shall pass along if a buyer wishes.].

1894. Being a Set of Twelve Stories by [twelve different authors] with Twelve Illustrations by [twelve different illustrators]. London: Blackie and Son, 1894. Original dark blue cloth decorated in orange and green. First Edition of this anthology of twelve original tales (for adults) accompanied by twelve illustrations. Henty's contribution is "A Shark's Fin" (illustrated by Frank Brangwyn) -- which Newbolt notes is "probably his only adult fiction published by Blackie." Newbolt also notes that there is no copy at the British Library. This copy is in very good-plus condition (minor rubbing at the extremities). Quite a difficult book for Henty collectors to find. Newbolt 141.1.

1958. London: Jonathan Cape, (1958). Original black cloth (with silhouette of dancing woman in dark brown) lettered in silver, with dust jacket. First Edition of the sixth James Bond thriller -- in which Bond travels to a fictional Caribbean island to investigate the disappearance of two MI6 agents. This was the first 007 book to be filmed (in 1962), in which Sean Connery made his debut as "007". This copy does have the front-cover silhouette of Honeychile Rider (who in the film was Honey Ryder, played by Ursula Andress). The front cover of some copies is plain black -- which is considered to be the first state, although there is no known priority of issue between the two. This volume is in close-to-fine condition (a few faint scratches on the rear cover, spine slightly aslant); the silver lettering on the spine remains very bright. The dust jacket, still with its "13s.6d.net" price, is near-fine as well -- essentially no external wear or soil at all, with a faint ink-stamp on the front flap… Read More

1874. With Numerous Illustrations. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Low, & Searle, 1874. Original deep red pebble-grain cloth pictorially decorated in black and gilt, board edges beveled, all page edges gilt. First English Edition (and first fully-illustrated edition in the English language) of these four tales, three of which are among Verne's earliest: "A Drama in the Air" (appeared in a periodical in 1851, his second story), "Master Zacharius" (1854, his fourth), and "A Winter amid the Ice" (1855, his fifth). Also included (of course) is "Dr. Ox's Experiment" from 1872 -- plus "Ascent of Mont Blanc" by Jules's brother Paul Verne. "Dr. Ox's Experiment" is a great tale: Doctor Ox and his assistant Ygene come to the small quiet community of Quiquendone located in Flanders. He promises to light this town with a network of oxyhydric gas pipes. During the construction of this network, the quiet community becomes quite excitable, to the point where they are ready to go to war against a neighboring… Read More

1875. With Numerous Illustrations. Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1875. Original terra-cotta cloth pictorially decorated in black and gilt, beveled. First American fully-illustrated edition, from the sheets of the first British edition. These four tales include three that are among Jules Verne's earliest: "A Drama in the Air" (appeared in a periodical in 1851, his second story), "Master Zacharius" (1854, his fourth), and "A Winter amid the Ice" (1855, his fifth); "Dr. Ox's Experiment" itself did not appear until 1872. (Also included is "Ascent of Mont Blanc" by his brother Paul Verne.) Osgood had published the first edition in English in mid-1874, in a small unillustrated volume. William F. Gill of Boston published the first American (somewhat-) illustrated edition, dated 1874, under the title FROM THE CLOUDS TO THE MOUNTAINS. Then this copiously-illustrated Osgood edition came out in mid-1875, priced at a hefty $3.00. The front cover shows Master Zacharius raising the trap door in the floor… Read More

1907. London: Chatto & Windus, 1907. 1 preliminary page ads plus 32 pp undated ads. Original blue-green cloth. First Edition of this novel by the younger brother of novelist George Gissing. Having been unsuccessful in a legal career, Algernon tried his hand at writing -- and though he wrote and published some thirty novels, he never demonstrated the talent of brother George. Very good-plus condition (slightly rubbed, with a W.H. Smith label on the front pastedown). Not in the Wolff collection.

1846. Browne, Hablot K.. [a handsome set] Wholesale, Retail, and for Exportation. With Illustrations by H.K. Browne. [In 20-in-19 monthly serial parts.] London: Bradbury & Evans, 1846-1848. Original light blue-green pictorial wrappers. First Edition, as issued in 20-in-19 monthly serial parts beginning in October 1846 and ending in April 1848. The serialization of this novel began upon the end of serialization of OLIVER TWIST (the scarcest of all "Dickens in parts," occurring eight years after its publication in book form); until OLIVER TWIST these monthly parts of Dickens's works were issued by Chapman & Hall, but were now being issued by Bradbury & Evans. Part XVIII of DOMBEY AND SON includes the first so-called "dark plate" (appropriately, "On the dark Road") to appear in a Dickens work -- possible due to a new process; there would be another in DAVID COPPERFIELD, followed by ten in BLEAK HOUSE and eight in LITTLE DORRIT. At the end of serialization, DOMBEY AND SON was published in book form --… Read More