Search Results: Titles starting with E from ReadInk

New York: Henry Holt and Company. Near Fine in Near Fine dj. (c.1988). First Edition. Hardcover. 0805004599 . [very nice copy, no significant wear, just some very VERY light soiling to the page edges, trace evidence of a single careful reading by a singularly careful reader, and a couple of tiny abrasions of mysterious origin on the rear pastedown; the jacket is darn near perfect, with just a teensy bit of surface wear (many would call it Fine without blinking, but a bit of yellowing on the jacket flaps made me blink)]. The fifth -- wait, wait (A, B, C, D, E...) -- yep, fifth in the author's immensely popular and long-running Kinsey Millhone series. An awfully nice copy at an awfully nice price. (No marks of any kind, no spine lean, full number line, it's the real thing; if this one doesn't make you happy, you're clearly the "glass half empty" type.) .

New York: Henry Holt and Company. Near Fine in Near Fine dj. (c.1988). First Edition. Hardcover. [nice copy, a single tiny dent in the bottom edge of each cover, light age-toning to edges of text block, faint trace of foxing to top edge; jacket shows very light surface wear only]. The fifth -- wait, wait (A, B, C, D, E...) -- yep, fifth in the author's popular and long-running Kinsey Millhone series. (No marks, full number line.) .

New York: Grosset & Dunlap. Very Good+ in Very Good dj. (c.1938). Reprint. Hardcover. [a solid, clean book, slightly bumped at top front corner, spine cloth a little mottled, vintage bookseller's label on rear pastedown (The Village Book Shop, Carmel, Calif.); jacket is edgeworn, with a 2-inch closed tear at top of front panel, slight fading to spine]. Novel about a young newspaperman who gets the goods on a bunch of crooked politicians, but is kidnapped and framed on a hit-and-run manslaughter charge and sent to the state pen before he can give crucial testimony in court. Turned into a hard-hitting 1938 film by Warner Bros. with Jimmy Cagney and George Raft in the leads. (This edition was apparently printed from the first edition plates; although the binding and dust jacket state G&D, the internals include the original Bobbs-Merrill front matter, including the "First Edition" statement.) .

New York: Grossman Publishers. Very Good in Very Good dj. 1975. First Edition. Hardcover. (price-clipped) [light shelfwear to bottom edge, slight exposure of boards at lower corners, no other significant wear; the jacket is a bit scuffed, with a little array of light surface-scratches in the middle of the front panel, very slight dog-earing at base of spine]. (B&W photographs, other illustrations) "This first full-scale biography of Eadweard Muybridge fills in the details of an extraordinary life -- controversy, scandal, trial for the murder of his wife's lover -- and against this backdrop examines the remarkable progress of Muybridge's photographic work. His efforts in California in the 1870s and the success he achieved in his work at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1880s -- most notably his experiments in the photography of movement -- stimulated interest among scientists, inventors, and artists throughout the world, and thus led directly to the invention of the… Read More

New York: Simon and Schuster. Very Good+ in Very Good+ dj. (c.1947). First Edition. Hardcover. NOISBN . [good solid copy, mild shelfwear, light dust-soiling to top edge, one tiny smudge on bottom edge; jacket shows a bit of shelfwear here and there, minor paper loss (no text affected) at spine ends, light soiling/browning to rear panel]. Novel set in a small town in upstate New York, one of "a number of towns and villages which live outside the stream of 20th Century American life. [This is] an unusual tale of such a hidden community and its singular inhabitants." .

Brattleboro VT: The Stephen Greene Press. Very Good+ in Very Good dj. 1962. 1st American Trade Edition. Hardcover. (price-clipped) [modest wear and very light soiling along top and bottom edges of book's covers; the jacket is lightly age-toned and has a handful of short closed edge-tears, a bit of wear at the extremities, and some minor damage at the spine ends]. (full-color drawings) Oversize oblong volume (approx. 19" x 14"), with beautiful full-page illustrations of a dozen vintage aircraft, each accompanied by a discussion of its history and technical aspects. "Each plate has been drawn to scale with absolutely accuracy, and depicts an individual plane as it looked at a specific period -- for instance, the Fokker D-VII is that flown by Goering when commander of the Richthofen 'circus' during the last months of the war." Edition limited to 500 copies, ****NOTE that additional postage charges will be assessed for international shipping of this large… Read More

New York/London: Harper & Brothers. Very Good. [1920] (c.1918). Later Printing (I-U). Hardcover. NOISBN . (no dust jacket) [moderate wear and light soiling to edge of covers, slight darkening to spine cloth, tiny light stain at top of front cover, one-time owner's ink signature on ffep]. Novel about the picaresque adventures of a young girl who, following the death of her vagabond father, goes through various travails (and a bad marriage) before rising to fame as a music-hall performer. Basis for the 1935 George Cukor film, which first teamed Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant; a flop in its day, the film has nonetheless achieved a kind of minor-classic status, as much for its titillating subtext (Kate spends most of the film disguised as a boy) as for its genuine (albeit limited) charms. [The I-U code dates this printing from September 1920.] .

Brattleboro VT: The Stephen Greene Press. Fine in Near Fine dj. 1960. Limited/Numbered Edition. Hardcover. [beautifully-produced book, in beautiful condition, with just the slightest bumping to the bottom front corner; the jacket shows very minor wear to the dust jacket here and there (at edges and a couple of corners), slight yellowing and some faint soiling, but NO tears or chips or any kind]. (12 color plates) Oversize oblong hardcover book (approximately 14" x 19"), with 12 full-page color illustrations, by "a leading Scottish artist and old car buff," of "twelve veteran cars which made automobile history throughout the world." This is the "first American edition," limited to 750 copies, of which this is copy number 9. The cars depicted are: Oldsmobile runabout (1904); De Dion Bouton three-seat touring car (1904); White rear-entrance tonneau (1905); Rolls-Royce Roi-des-Belges touring car (1908); Renault doctor's coupé (1910); Daimler… Read More

Boston/Toronto: Little, Brown and Company. Near Fine in Very Good dj. (c.1979). First Edition. Hardcover. [nice tight copy with minor shelfwear only; jacket browned along spine and edges, some soiling to rear panel]. SIGNED (no inscription) by the author on the front endpaper. "Scenes from a Life" -- specifically, the childhood and early life of this distinguished actress, in which she tells of her "warm but trying family life" in rural Pennsylvania and Brooklyn, and how her 12-year-old "movie-mad" and stage-struck self had her showbiz career launched by winning a talent contest at a Brooklyn theatre. Signed by Author .

New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company. Very Good. [1916]. Probable 1st U.S. edition. Hardcover. (no dust jacket) [moderate external wear, some dust-soiling to page edges, light foxing to fore-edge, one-time owner's initials and date and place of purchase all floridly-rendered in pencil on ffep; hinges and binding fully intact]. A collection of 25 stories by the Irish author (1863-1932), who wrote under this pseudonym for nearly half a century. According to her obituary, sixteen of her plays were produced in London and New York between 1887 and 1913; she also wrote dozens of novels, among which the best known was probably "The Dop Doctor" (1910), a novel of the Boer War. Another source notes that she was known for her "humorous novels and stories of witchcraft and pagan religions." The present collection includes a number of tales set in a somewhat bohemian section of London, and featuring a character called The MacWaugh, "a huge Scotchman with rugged… Read More

New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company. Very Good+ in Very Good+ dj. (c.1935). First Edition. Hardcover. [quite a decent copy, moderately shelfworn and with some smudging and marking to the cloth (mostly on the back cover), but nice enough that's it a bit of a shock to discover (from the rear endpaper) that it was once a lending library book (see notes); jacket is lightly soiled, some wear at edges and corners, neat internal tape-reinforcement at top of spine, all in all very well-preserved and quite attractive]. First novel by this New York-born writer, who went on to a long and successful career as a Hollywood screenwriter. Derived from his personal experience as a "sandhog" working on the construction of the Holland Tunnel, the book was sold to the movies prior to its publication and adapted for the 1935 film "Under Pressure," directed by Raoul Walsh for Fox. Chase himself had a hand in the screenplay, which also had some (uncredited) additional dialogue supplied… Read More

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Very Good+ in Very Good dj. (c.1950). 1st U.S. ed.?. Hardcover. [good solid copy, mild shelfwear, top edge a little dust-darkened, thin pen mark on bottom edge, a little soiling/sunning to cloth along top of rear cover; jacket has minor paper loss at top and bottom of rear hinge, ragged tear at top of rear panel, 1- inch split along top front hinge, front panel intact and quite attractive]. Short stories by a young Greek author (her first book), whom Miss Sackville-West in her Foreword predicts "will go very far -- a true discovery." [Edition disclaimer -- this book is "printed in Great Britain,"and has a plain rear panel, with no printed price anywhere (although a price in dollars, $2.50, is stamped on the front flap).] .

New York: Tempo Books. Very Good+ in Very Good+ dj. (c.1936). First Edition. Hardcover. [a good sound copy with just light shelfwear, modest soiling to lower edges of covers; the jacket is very lightly stained along top of spine and rear panel, but the front panel is remarkably clean and fresh-looking]. INSCRIBED generically and SIGNED by the author (as "B.G. Hauser") on the front endpaper. "A completely new and more logical approach to Beauty by the man who has been diet advisor to the world's most beautiful women." The author -- later and more commonly known as simply Gayelord Hauser -- was one of the first major diet/self-help gurus of the twentieth century, and is still a somewhat controversial figure, dismissed by some as a quack and a crank but recognized by others as a founder of the natural foods movement. A canny and tireless self-promoter, he landed in Hollywood in 1927 and cultivated a movie-industry clientele that most famously included Greta Garbo,… Read More

New York: Plume. Very Good+. 1992. First Edition. Softcover. [modest edgewear to covers, some browning/discoloration around inside edges of covers]. Trade PB INSCRIBED by Elaine ("La La") LaLanne on the front endpaper, and SIGNED by her and "Jack"; in addition, a handwritten letter (ALS) from the pair to the inscribee is laid in, signed by both Elaine and Jack. This book "explores the special nutritional needs of everyone over 50. It explodes common myths about the way we eat and drink and explains how good dietary habits help reduce the risk of cancer, depression, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other dangerous diseases. In addition, Elaine LaLanne provides 175 great recipes that can reduce dierary fat, dairy, sugar, and salt, plus tips on cooking techniques, suggested menus, a health and fitness diary, and more." Signed by Author .

[n.p.]: Bartholomew House. Near Fine in Near Fine dj. 1966. 4th printing. Hardcover. [nice tight copy, bottom front corner bumped but otherwise a nice clean book with a solid binding; the notoriously fragile thin-paper jacket (now in protective mylar) shows just a bit of scuffing to the rear panel and some minor edgewear]. (B&W photographs) In retrospect -- although I haven't done a scientific survey -- this seems perhaps the first of the modern-era movie-star memoirs, which is to say that its author focuses, in large measure, on her off-screen sex life. (All the more sensational, I suppose, in that Ms. Lamarr rose to stardom in Hollywood's "Golden Age," during which era the depiction of ON-screen sex was carefully regulated by the Production Code Administration watchdogs.) It would be a mistake, however, to dismiss the book as trashy and titillating -- it is, rather, refreshingly candid and occasionally quite insightful about how sexuality fueled and informed the… Read More

Philadelphia: Dorrance and Company. Very Good. (c.1928). First Edition. Hardcover. (no dust jacket) [moderate shelfwear, foxing/spotting to top edge, front hinge a little weak, horizontal scrape to gilt spine lettering in first word of title]. (illustrated endpapers) "The frank and original Chronicles of a young Doctor serving as an Interne in the Knickerbocker Maternity Hospital of New York City," as related a friend back home in a series of "Dear Joe" letters. It should be noted that "back home" is Georgia, and that the author/narrator displays the prejudices of his background, at one point experiencing "a feeling of Nausea" after discovering that a young Swedish woman who he's been called on to attend in the late stages of her pregnancy is married to (gasp) "a full-blooded, black-as-the-Ace-of-Spades West Indian Negro." (In fact, in the course of his assigned duties he encounters a wide variety of New York's ethnic minorities,… Read More

Boston: Meador Publishing Company. Good. (c.1948). First Edition. Hardcover. (no dust jacket) [spine cloth faded (gilt title still fully readable), top corner of ffep cut away, light bumping to several corners]. Uncommon novel which (from my brief skim of it) seems to be a tale of Jewish village life in some unspecified Eastern European location. (I've seen it described elsewhere as a "fantasy romance about a group of people that follow a town 'crier' for a round of constant parties and romance," which may be a grab from the jacket blurb (no jacket present on this copy to help me, alas) but I honestly cannot discern any "fantasy" element.) This seems to have been the only foray into fiction by this author, who was better known (although "known" is probably an exaggeration) for several books on psychic matters. .

New York/London: Harper & Brothers. Good+. 1927. 1st Edition (H-B). Hardcover. (no dust jacket) [sound reading copy, most corners a bit bumped/worn, slight fraying to cloth at spine ends, spine somewhat darkened, some scuffing/scraping to covers; binding is firm, text is unmarked]. Gunther's second novel, a fantasy tale about a bored young man, Peter Lancelot, who is granted his every wish by a mysterious fellow named Mr. Dominy. The New York Times critic felt that the book "seems a little thin, as if Mr. Gunther had overexerted himself to put everything he had into it, where a book of the philosophical fable type should be written out of a superabundance of material." (Originally published in England by Martin Secker, as "Peter Lancelot: An Amusement.") .

[New York]: Bernard Geis Associates. Very Good+ in Good dj. (c.1967). First Edition. Hardcover. [light shelfwear, one tiny nick at top edge of front cover; jacket worn at extremities, a couple of small tears at top of front panel, a couple more at bottom of rear panel]. Novel set in Detroit, "a story of violence -- of brother against brother in brutal battle; of man against the union, where simple strength is pitted against dynamite and numbers; of man against a system, where he cannot be his own master." The author was a Detroit native and a Korean War veteran; this was his first (and apparently only) novel. .

Pordenone (Italy)/Washington DC: Le Giornate del Cinema Muto / Smithsonian Institution Press. Near Fine. 1997. First Edition. Hardcover. (pictorial boards; no dust jacket, as issued) [nice clean copy, slight indentation at top of spine, faint handling wear]. (B&W photographs) A deeply researched, fantastically detailed chronicle of all known motion pictures produced by the Edison company -- both at the Thomas Edison Laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, and at numerous locations in the U.S. and abroad -- during the last decade of the 19th century, during the infancy of the medium. In addition to providing in-depth information on nearly 950 individual films (most of which were less than a minute in length), drawn from original sources (including the films themselves), the volume also reprints contemporary press accounts of various early motion picture presentations. Also, and not incidentally, it highlights the contributions of a number of early experimenters and cameramen, among… Read More