Search Results: Titles starting with F from Sumner & Stillman

1929. Philadelphia: David McKay Company, (1929). Original dark green cloth with front cover pictorial onlay. First Edition of this collection of tales outside of the "Peter Rabbit" series, about a traveling circus that was invisible to humans. According to her Preface these tales "were not meant for printing... I send them on the insistence of friends beyond the sea [i.e. Alexander McKay]." Beatrix Potter did not wish for an English edition of THE FAIRY CARAVAN, because she felt that the stories were 'too personal -- too autobiographical' to publish in [that] country [Linder]. Thus the first edition was this American one (100 sets of the McKay sheets, with a different first section, became "Beatrix Potter's Limited Edition" in the UK -- to secure copyright there); it was not until 1952 that a UK trade edition appeared, almost a decade after the author's death. Included are six color plates including the frontispiece, plus another on the front cover; there are also numerous drawings within the text,… Read More

1879. London: Chatto & Windus, 1879. Bound in three-quarter red morocco with gilt-paneled spines, red cloth boards, marbled endpapers. First Edition of this novel about "fallen leaves... the people who have drawn blanks in the lottery of life... the friendless and the lonely, the wounded and the lost." The novel follows the fortunes of four women, all in one way or another 'fallen leaves', who are linked by their relationship with the hero, Amelius Goldenheart, and also by secrets from the past. Their histories are looked at from two perspectives: that of the ruthless capitalist society of England in which they live, and that of the Christian Socialism of the hero who has been brought up in a Utopian community in America. Collins modeled his description on the Oneida communities of New England, in which sexual relationships were not restricted to marriage but had to be sanctioned by the elders [Gasson]. Perhaps appropriately, Collins dedicated this book "To Caroline [Graves]", the woman with whom he… Read More

1899. Being His Commonplace Book for 1898. With 2 Maps and 36 Illustrations by G. Leon Little. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1899. 32 pp ads dated Sep 1898. Original dark blue cloth decorated in gilt. First Edition, which consisted of 3000 copies. This was Haggard's second volume of non-fiction (his first was his first book, CETYWAYO AND HIS WHITE NEIGHBOURS, in 1882). The volume is a month-by-month chronicle of the "struggles of those who were engaged in agriculture during that trying time" (per his later autobiography). As many veteran Haggard collectors know, it is these non-fiction Haggard titles that are among the most elusive, since the number of copies issued was a small fraction of the size of his fiction printings. A bright, near-fine copy (small area of front cover rubbed). Scott 32; Whatmore NF2.

1913. Illustrations by W. Herbert Dunton and J. N. Marchand. New York: G. W. Dillingham Company, (1913). 4 pp undated ads. Original red cloth. First Edition of the sixth and last volume of Southwestern tales sited in Lewis's fictional town of "Wolfville" -- following WOLFVILLE (1897), SANDBURRS (1900), WOLFVILLE DAYS (1902), WOLFVILLE NIGHTS (1902) and WOLFVILLE FOLKS (1908). This volume consists of twelve tales, such as "Dead-Shot Baker," "Old Monte, Official Drunkard" and "How Tutt Shot Texas Thompson." This copy is in Blanck's state "A" (priority unknown), with the first page of ads listing "Seven Splendid Novels by William MacLeod Raine" (state "B" lists three Lewis books instead, including this title). Also, state "A" has a flat spine with a publisher's imprint 1/8-inch high, while state "B" has a rounded spine with a publisher's imprint 5/32-inch high. Condition is near-fine, with scarcely any external wear or soil (endpapers a bit damaged near the hinges). Blanck 11764.

1892. New York: Cassell Publishing Company, [1892]. Original light grey cloth stamped in black, with a facsimile scrap of newspaper (touting this project) affixed to the front cover. First American Edition, published six months after the London edition, of this collaborative novel written by 24 noted authors of the day -- including (in addition to Doyle) Bram Stoker, Florence Marryat, Frances Eleanor Trollope, and G. Manville Fenn. Doyle wrote Chapter IV, "Between Two Fires," on pp 41-50. This book was the brain-child of J.S. Wood, the editor and proprietor of The Gentlewoman. To quote from the Publisher's Note: The publishers claim with no little satisfaction that in this book they offer the reading public a genuine novelty. The idea of a novel written by twenty-four writers is certainly an original one. The ladies and gentlemen who have written "The Fate of Fenella" have done their work quite independently of each other. There has been collaboration but not consultation. As each one wrote a… Read More

1890. An Open Letter to the Reverend Doctor Hyde of Honolulu. London: Chatto and Windus, 1890. Original brown wrappers. First Trade Edition, consisting of 1,000 copies (preceded only by 25 copies issued in Sydney and 30 issued in Edinburgh). On the Stevensons' voyage to the South Pacific they had visited the leper colony on Molokai, founded by Dr. Damien (who had himself died of leprosy the year before they arrived). A missionary named Hyde wrote a letter denouncing Damien; this piece is Stevenson's open (and irate) reply to Hyde. It was first published (25 copies) when the Stevenson party arrived in Sydney; Stevenson boasted of it as being blatantly libellous. This is a very good copy of this fragile piece (a few wrapper corners chipped away, some wear to the fragile spine). Beinecke 510; Princeton 44B.

1833. Translated into English prose, with remarks on former translations, and notes, by The Translator of Savigny's "Of the Vocation..." [Abraham Hayward]. London: --MDCCCXXXIII. First Edition in the English language of Goethe's final version of the legend of Faust -- this being a copy of the private issue printed for the translator (considered to have preceded the trade issue). The legend of Faust, and his pact with Mephistopheles whereby he pledged his soul for the instant gratification of unbound earthly knowledge, is known as far back as a German chap-book in 1587. Christopher Marlowe wrote his dramatic version around 1604, and a 1725 version of the chap-book is known to have been read by young Goethe (1749-1832). In Goethe's reworking of the story (as a hybrid between a play and an epic poem), which in all took him about sixty years to write, Faust becomes a dissatisfied intellectual who yearns for "more than earthly meat and drink" in his life; nonetheless, his first use of his new power is to… Read More

1893. London: Elkin Mathews & John Lane, 1893. 2 pp undated ads. Original dark blue cloth. First Edition, which according to the limitation page consisted of only 300 copies (though the book does not seem as scarce as that). The title comes from Davidson's membership in the Rhymers' Club (Yeats et al.), which met regularly at the Cheshire Cheese public-house on Fleet Street. This copy, complete with the errata slip, is in fine condition except for almost-imperceptible cover soil. Nelson 50; Krshnmrti 174.

1897. New York: W.L. Allison Company, n.d. [1897]. Original tan cloth pictorially decorated in brown and white. First American Edition of this remarkable tale of "an enormous ship built by the Yanks, that has a great city on it, and is navigated about the world, playing ducks and drakes with geography and the balance of political power in the South Seas, until finally the savages of the New Hebrides and the forces of Nature rise up and annihilate it" [from a contemporary review cited in T&M]. L'ÃŽLE À HÉLICE ("Propeller Island") was first published in the original French in 1895; later that year Sampson Low of London announced it would soon be publishing it in English as SCREW ISLAND, but changed its title to THE FLOATING ISLAND when published in October of that year. Curiously, it would not be published in America for two more years, when Allison issued it, as here -- a volume in their "Fireside Series" (though not so identified). Apparently no other American editions came out until 1903. The… Read More

1897. A Journey around the World. Hartford: The American Publishing Company, 1897. Original blue cloth with front cover plate and gilt-decorated spine. First Edition, with the title page in the first and usual state (with no mention of McClure). This was Twain's travel narrative (beginning in Vancouver and ending in Cape Town, by way of Australia and India), illustrated by eleven artists of the day, with which he had "hoped to make good the tangled finances of the ill-fated publishing firm, Charles L. Webster & Company, of which Mark himself was the company" [Johnson]. It was Twain's last travel book, and it was also the last of his books to be sold on a subscription basis. In this copy, the signature mark "11" is apparently not present on page 161 -- but under a magnifying glass, it does appear that the digits were once there. (This is not an issue point, as priority is unknown, but most copies do have the "11".) This is an attractive, near-fine copy (the slightest of rubbing at the extremities,… Read More

1897. Hartford: The American Publishing Company, 1897. Original blue cloth with front cover plate and gilt-decorated spine. First Edition, with the title page in what is generally considered the first state (with no mention of McClure). This was Twain's travel narrative (beginning in Vancouver and ending in Cape Town, by way of Australia and India), illustrated by eleven artists of the day, with which he had "hoped to make good the tangled finances of the ill-fated publishing firm, Charles L. Webster & Company, of which Mark himself was the company" [Johnson]. It was Twain's last travel book, and it was also the last of his books to be sold on a subscription basis. As with most copies, the signature mark "11" is present on page 161 -- but this is not an issue point, as priority is unknown. This is an attractive, near-fine copy (some rubbing of the cover plate and at the extremities). Blanck 3451; Johnson pp 65-68.

1887. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1887. 12 pp undated ads. Original reddish-brown cloth decorated in pink and green. First Edition of Harris's fourth book, a collection of five tales of the South. Harris's wife was later to say that the story "Free Joe and the Rest of the World" was his favorite among all the tales he had written: "Harris provides a portrait of Joe, an African American freedman living in the town of Hillsborough, Georgia in 1860, who finds himself isolated from any community due to his ill-defined social position between enslaved blacks and poor whites. The slave community rejects him out of envy for his freedom, and the poor white community only grudgingly acknowledges his humanity." [UNC]. This volume was once sought as the very first of Margaret Armstrong's 270+ decorative bindings, but it has since been decided that it was not in fact done by her. Nonetheless it is an attractively-bound book, and this is a near-fine copy (just a touch of wear at the ends of the spine).… Read More

1883. Illustrated. London: Griffith & Farran, 1883. 32 pp ads dated Sept 1883. Original pictorial brown cloth. First Edition of this early Henty boys' tale taking place during the English Civil War. According to Newbolt (and to the printer's code on the title verso), 3000 copies were initially printed (in August 1882, though dated 1883); this copy has one of the earliest states of the ad catalogue (dated Sept 1883 -- there are some copies with ads dated May 1882, though that was several months before actual publication). This copy does have the early binding state -- without beveled edges on the boards or gilt edges on the leaves. It also has the p. 118 illustration in the first state -- located at that page, rather than where it belongs opposite p. 106; according to Newbolt, most copies with the 1883 ads have this illustration properly relocated. Condition is close to fine, with scarcely any wear, and with the original peach endpapers still intact. The book is a little askew, which is typically the… Read More

1915. I & II. The Auxiliary Fleet. / III & IV. Submarines. / V & VI. Patrols. [Together, six volumes.] Garden City NY: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1915. Original light yellow wrappers lettered in green. First Editions, being the American copyright issues, limited (according to DP&Co's annotated copy) to 75 copies each. These six articles, written at the instance of the Ministry of Information, were issued separately from November 19th through December 1st, 1915. The English and American book editions were then published sometime in December; a year later, they were collected in Kipling's book SEA WARFARE (December 1916). Each of the six volumes leads off with an original poem written by Kipling for the occasion. The Vol VI poem reads "(Twelve verses omitted.)" between the third verse and the last verse: this "was only a little joke of Kipling's to indicate that it would, of course, take a very lengthy poem to give any idea of the dangers and tribulations incurred by the [North Sea] patrol"… Read More

1899. [in jackets and original case] New York: Doubleday & McClure Company, 1899. Original blind-stamped sea green cloth, with dust jackets and with publisher's printed paperboard slipcase. First Edition (published eight months before the 1900-dated English edition) of this collection of pieces that had appeared in Indian periodicals prior to 1890. These volumes include the first authorized edition of "American Notes," of "Letters of Marque," of "The City of Dreadful Night" and of "The Smith Administration"; according to Kipling's Preface he was "forced" to issue this title "by the enterprise of various publishers" who were pirating and embellishing his earlier works. The half-title versos bear Kipling's usual icon from India, the swastika -- which until the 1930s signified peace and continuity. This is an amazing set. The two volumes are absolutely fine and bright. Their two dust jackets are likewise fine (a few trifling edge-nicks, but that's all). The reason everything is virtually as-new is that… Read More

1907. [in 1907 dust jacket] With Illustrations by Alonzo Kimball. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1907. 4 pp undated ads. Original red cloth, with dust jacket. First Edition of this novel set against the background of American industry, published in the year the author left America for Europe. This little-known novel... was considered controversial for its frank treatment of such issues as labor and industrial conditions, drug addiction, mercy killing, desire, and divorce and second marriages. John Amherst, an idealistic middle-manager in a New England textile mill, is committed to improving the deplorable working conditions of the laborers in his charge. But upper management, whose only concern is maximizing profits, frustrates his efforts. When Amherst eventually marries Bessy Westmore, the widow of the former mill owner, he is able at last to initiate an ambitious project of reform. But happiness for John and Bessy proves to be short-lived. It quickly becomes clear that Bessy does not… Read More

1845. New York: published respectively by H.G. Daggers, 1845 | Harper & Brothers, n.d. | D. Appleton and Company, 1868 | Hurst & Co., [1889]. The first is in later grey wrappers; the second is without wrappers; the final two are in the original printed wrappers. Generally very good condition. Housed in four simple hard-board folders.