Rare books from B Street Books, ABAA

Doubleday, Doran, 1930. Hardcover. Very Good. This set includes the complete works of the iconic crime fiction author, including of course the four novels and over fifty short stories about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, as well as all his non-Sherlock works such as his plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's signature in the first volume of this set is interesting in that the set was published during the last year of his life, before he died of a heart attack at age 71 in 1930. Octavo. Signed by Arthur Conan Doyle in the first volume. Number 612 of 760 copies. Complete 24 volume set. Brown boards with tan cloth spines, gilt "A Conan Doyle" title to front board, paper titles to spines. Does not include dust jackets. As a whole set the books are clean and unmarked, T.E.G. intact, paper titles on spine intact, no foxing to pages, no writing inside whatsoever. A number of the books show some discoloration to the tan cloth. Those and other flaws are listed… Read More

1965. Paperback. Very Good. The 330 GT were V12-powered Ferraris produced from 1963-1968, this book appears to have been sold along with the 2+2 Series II. 106 pp., printed in Italian, French, and English. Original manual, not a facsimile. Black front cover with photo of 330 GT, red rear cover, no title to spine. Interior of front cover is red with Ferrari logo near hinge, title page specifies "300/GT 1965", and "modifications introduced in respect of the 1964- 330/GT". Five pages of modifications, followed by 1965 330/GT operation guide. Chapters include: general specification, running instructions, lubrication, routine maintenance, chassis servicing, electrical installation, and tool kit. Detailed diagrams and photos throughout. Condition: Edges of covers are rubbed, spine is rubbed. Binding is tight and sturdy, pages are clean and without any marks. Ferrari dealership (Luigi Chinetti Motors) stamp on front free endpaper. Necessary for any owner of a 330 GT, or Ferrari enthusiast.

New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1892. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Unique, complete 13 volume set printed on Holland hand-made paper in November 1892. Limited edition no. 83 of 250 sets. Tan cloth wrappers with decorative gilt spine. vol. I : The Warden vol. II: Barchester Towers vol. I; vol. III: Barchester Towers vol. II; vol. IV: Framley Parsonage vol. I; vol. V: Framley Parsonage vol. II; vol. VI: Doctor Thorne vol. I; vol VII: Doctor Thorne vol. II; vol. VIII: The Small House at Allington vol. I; vol. IX: The Small House at Allington vol. II; vol. X: The Small House at Allington vol. III; vol. XI: Last Chronicles of Barset vol. I, small tear at top edge of front cover, cracked front hinge; vol XII: Last Chronicles of Barset vol. II; vol. XIII: Last Chronicles of Barset vol. III; Most volumes exhibit cocked spines, light scuffing on the covers and light edgewear. Overall very good condition. Additional shipping fees may apply due to weight of this item.

New York: C. H. Webb, 1867. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Good. First edition, first printing of Mark Twain's first book, in the original binding. Gilt stamped green front cover, blind stamp back cover. Unbroken 'this' on final page, unbroken 'life' on page 66, unbroken '21' on page 21. Wear to corners, edges of spine fraying (see photos). Binding is sound. Text leans. Lacking the advertising page facing the title page. Previous owner's inscription on the dedication page. Significant foxing throughout (photos of the title page and copyright page are representative of the whole).

New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1896. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine. First edition, first printing of Mark Twain's parody of adventure stories. 1896 on the title page, copyright page has four lines of text, no boxed ads. 410 pages. Two pages of ads in the back: Mark Twain's Joan of Arc; By Richard Harding Davis. Red covers with gilt stamped cornhusk on the front, blind stamp on the back cover. Spine has faded with the sun. Pages are bright and unmarked. Slight lean to the text block. BAL 3447.

Fleet-Street: Bernard Lintott, 1710. Hardcover. Good. The first volume of Lintott's Collection of Poems in Two Volumes collects, for the first time, "Venus and Adonis", "The Rape of Lucrece", "The Passionate Pilgrim" and "Some Sonnets Set to Sundry Notes of Musick". The second adds the most accurate early edition of all 154 Sonnets and "A Lover's Complaint of his Angry Mistress", to form the first complete collection of Shakespeare's poetry. This book has been professionally restored to reattach the covers and strengthen the binding, leaving it ready for study or display. In 1640, John Benson had published a collection of Shakespeare's sonnets and miscellaneous poems, rearranging and altering the sonnets, most notably by obscuring the references to the "fair youth." In contrast, Lintott's work maintains a remarkable fidelity to his sources. In the "Advertisement" to the first volume he notes: "I will say nothing of Venus and Adonis, nor of the Rape ofLucrece, they being universally allow'd to be… Read More

London: Printed by the Author and sold by J. Bowen, 1780. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. A history of America written by a British Loyalist at the height of the Revolution, drawing upon extensive archival research, and so invaluable to early American historians with very different political views. Although Chalmers intended a second volume (and the title page describes the volume as 'Book I') this was the only volume published. ESTC T149593. Three quarter binding, front upper joint starting. Small 'Liverpool Library' stamp to title page, minor foxing throughout, with the worst on the title page (pictured). [10], [1]-695 pp. 11.5 x 9.5". From the first chapter: "Of these colonies it cannot be asserted, as it is of European nations, that their origin is uncertain or unknown; that their ancient history is fabulous and dark; or that their original institutions have come down the current of time, loaded with the disputation have come down the current of time, loaded with the disputations of the… Read More

San Francisco: Eastside Editions, 2001. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. A large accordion book of prints by Art Hazelwood, inspired by Francois Rabelais, in a signed limited edition of twenty-five, of which this is no. 1. The ten prints form a continuous image measuring 18" x 288". They are accompanied by the cover image, title page and colophon. In this work Hazelwood combines linocut, etching, and aquatint, in a process he describes in detail in his article "Gargantua and the Book" (The California Printmaker, 2002). As David Berona outlines in "Art Hazelwood: A Graphic Witness of America" (Image & Narrative, 2005), "Gargantua in the Vineyard" combines an engagement with literary works, political concerns, and a striking use of storytelling in the extended print: "To appreciate the power of Hazelwood's narrative these prints should be viewed in the entire, scrolling form. The use of analogous color in these prints, the migration of figures and objects from one print to the next print, and… Read More

1931. No Binding. Very Good. A unique collection of galley sheets for four of Thornton Wilder's short plays, first performed at the Yale University theater by the Yale Dramatic Association and the Vassar College Philatheis and then published as "The Long Christmas Dinner and Other Plays in One Act" in 1931, with an autograph letter from Wilder. The sheets were presented to the collector George Fitch, who housed them in a custom slipcase along with a newspaper clipping from 1933 ("Fame as Novelist Fails to Dim Wilder's Hope of Writing Plays", New York Herald Tribune) and a brief letter from Wilder dated May 11, 1939 thanking him for his support and noting some of his theatrical influences (Sam Goldwyn, Sean O'Casey and Shakespeare). The clipping and the letter thus bracket the premier of "Our Town", marking Wilder's struggle and eventual success at establishing himself as a playwright. The green slipcase has three panels, reading: "The Long Christmas Dinner, Wilder", "Presentation Galley Sheets",… Read More

Hartford: American Publishing Company, 1899. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. As one early seller promised of this set: "The original, autographed and strictly limited edition of the works of Samuel L. Clemens complete in twenty five volumes. This edition was published at enormous expense, printed on hand made paper water marked. Each set is signed by Clemens, Charles W. Warner, Brander Matthews and the signatures of at least seventeen artists appear in the various volumes. Many so called "autographed editions" have been issued since this particular set was published, but none of them compare with this edition that was really the work of Samuel L. Clemens and published under his personal supervision". (John J. Newbegin). The lavishly produced 'Autograph Edition', in three-quarter morocco and gilt tops. The first 23 volumes were printed on special paper with a 'Clemens' watermark. All 25 volumes have the limitation page with number 374 in red ink, their frontispieces (depicting Twain at the… Read More

London: Printed for Dan. Brown at the Black Swan; Tho. Bennet; D. Midwinter; Tho. Leigh; R. Wilkin, 1699. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. The first English translation of 'De l'art de la verrerie' offers detailed instructions for the making of glass, crystal, enamel, jewels and mirrors, guiding readers through different techniques for achieving the remarkable colors of Renaissance glass. 9 illustrated plates offer detailed diagrams of equipment and furnaces, with legends and explanations in the facing text. The work concludes with "An Appendix Shewing how to Make Glass-Eyes Very Natural", beginning: "This Secret is fine, and never made publick before..." A lovely record of the intersection of art and science. ESTC R16918. Octavo. 16 unnumbered pages (half-title, title, and "Preface"), 1-355, 13 unnumbered pages ("Index"). 9 plates of illustrations facing pages 19, 21, 27, 31,103, 243, 270, 327, and 355. The plate facing page 21 is folded and bound horizontally. p.197 is misnumbered '167'. Worn… Read More

London: Cassell and Company, 1954. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine. Four volumes, beautifully bound by Bayntun-Riviere in full red morocco. All edges gilt, lettering and rule in gilt, feather-patterned endpapers, inner gilt dentelles. xxi, [1], 416; xi, [1], 344; xi, [1], 332; xi, [2], 322pp. 9.25 x 6.25 x 5". As a heavy set that will be packed and shipped with care, this order will incur additional shipping charges.

New York: E.P. Dutton & Co, 1960. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. Stated first edition. SIGNED by all seven of the Project Mercury Astronauts to the free endpaper: Leroy Cooper, Walter M Schirra, Virgil I. Grissom, M. Scott Carpenter, Donald K. Slayton, Allan B. Shepard, and John H. Glenn, Jr.. Illustrated from photographs and drawings by Fred. L. Wolff. Caidin's book provides a detailed account of Project Mercury, on the eve of the first human spaceflight. "The astronauts of Project Mercury are going to bring to reality the most fascinating adventure in all of man's history - man leaving the planet of his birth and beginning the great step outward that will take him to the moon and then to other worlds in space.." (p.175) Illustrated dust jacket in mylar, slight fading to spine and wear to joints, head and tail. Slight wear to edges of black covers, mild toning throughout with offsetting to endpapers. 192pp. 8.25 x 5.75

J. Johnson by T. Bensley, 1803. Hardcover. Very Good. A New Edition, Very Much Enlarged". Having previously published his work anonymously in an octavo edition 1798, Malthus considerably expanded his essay for the second edition, declaring in his preface "In its present shape, it may be considered as a new work, and I should probably have published it as such" (v). In addition to adding further evidence and restructuring his argument, Malthus notes that his views softened: "Throughout the whole of present work, I have so far differed in principle from the former, as to suppose another check to population possible, which does not strictly come under the head either of vice or misery; and, in the latter part, I have endeavoured to soften some of the harshest conclusions of the first essay. In doing this, I hope that I have not violated the principles of just reasoning; nor expressed any opinion respecting the probable improvement of society, in which I am not borne out by the experience of the past.… Read More

London: Printed for A. Millar, over against Catharine-street in the Strand, 1749. Hardcover. Fair. First edition, first issue, with errata leaf following the "Table of Contents" and all noted errors uncorrected. [i]-lxii, errata, [1]-214; [ii], [1]-324; [ii], 1-370; [ii], 1-312; [ii], 1-294; [ii], 1-304. Previous owner's name neatly in ink to endpaper of volumes II-VI. Slight toning throughout. While the pages are undamaged, the early binding is in poor condition, in need of either rebinding or serious repair.