Rare books from Idler Fine Books

New York : Ballantine Books, 1955 First printing of the first edition, first state, with the "BB" monogram on spine of book inverted, red cloth with black lettering on spine, 8vo, 306pp. Preceded by a limited edition of 50 copies bound for the author. Signed by Ray Bradbury directly on the title page. Minor rubbing to board edge (primarily to spine ends), else book in fine condition; dust jacket with tanning to spine, minor paper loss to spine ends, lightly rubbed/soiled panels, a few short close tears to top and bottom front cover, and light paper loss (primarily at spine ends), else fine.

New York : William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, 1886 First printing of the first American edition and first English edition. Brown cloth boards with gilt lettering and black line illustrations. Five volumes of a 6 volume set, missing the last volume, vol. II Borodino 1812-1820. Vol.I Before the Tilsit: head of spine chipped, paper along gutter of endpaper slightly cracked, moderate age-toning to page margins; vol. II Before the Tilsit: head of spine chipped, light rubbing to covers, moderate age-toning to page margins; vol. I The Invasion: head of spine chipped, light rubbing to board edge, moderate age-toning to page margins; vol. II The Invasion: bottom corner slight bump, light rubbing to corners, endpaper slightly cracked, faint age-toning to page margins; vol. II Borodino: 1 inch chip to head of spine, light rubbing to covers, light age-toning to page margins; vol. II Borodino: missing from set. Overall in very good to near fine condition.

California: Providence Art Club, 1940 8 by 10 inches, oil on canvas board, 10 by 12 inches framed. Signed by Norwood MacGilvary on lower left corner.

New York: Little, Brown & Company, 2000 First printing of the first American edition. Signed by Paul McCartney directly on the half-title page. Light shelf wear else book and dust jacket in fine condition.

Providence, Rhode Island: Providence Art Club, 1916 32 x 26 inches, oil on canvas. Signed by Norwood MacGilvary on the bottom right corner.

Wellesley, Massachusetts: Harvard University, 1931 20 x 24 inches, oil on canvas.
Mary Brewster Hazelton (November 23, 1868 – September 13, 1953) was an American portrait painter. She attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where she was later an instructor.

Among her other achievements, Hazelton was the first woman to win an award open to both men and women in the United States when she won the Hallgarten Prize from the National Academy of Design in 1896.

Her portrait paintings are in the collections of the Massachusetts State House, Harvard University, Peabody Essex Museum, and Wellesley Historical Society.

Signed by Mary Hazelton on upper corner. Small area repaired and a slight puncture to canvas, else fine.

New York: Viking Press, 1952 First printing of the first edition, first state. Original green cloth boards, front cover printed in dark green, spine printed in black on brown background, pictorial jacket., 602pp., with the word "bite" present on page 281, line 38. First issue jacket with photo of Steinbeck on rear panel with no photo credit mentioned. Steinbeck's epic novel about two families who settle in the rich farmlands of California [Goldstone-Payne A32.b.]. Book with light toning to edge of boards and two small, faint blemishes to top page edge, else in fine condition; dust jacket with a couple tiny rubbed spots, edges lightly toned, and light wear to extremities, else fine. A lovely copy, seldom seen in this condition. Basis for the 1955 film starring James Dean.

New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1947 First printing of the first edition. Inscribed and signed by Robert Frost to poet, teacher, and friend, Samuel French: "To Samuel [French] Morse / from his fellow in the art / Robert Frost / in great hopes for us all." Light rubbing to board ends and faint toning to page margins, else book in fine condition; light toning to jacket spine and cover margins, trace of shelf wear, else dust jacket in fine condition. Among his many lifetime achievements, Frost was a four time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.

Boston: Little, Brown and Company / Atlantic Month Press /Atlantic-Little, Brown Books, 1983 First printing of the first edition, in original dust jacket. Faint rubbing to bottom edge of boards, else book in fine condition; with light wear to spine ends / corners and light rubbing to back fold, else fine.

Oliver was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for American Primitive.

New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1965 First printing of the stated first edition. Signed by John Ball directly on the title page, including a unique, pithy inscription from Ball, incorporating the most famous quote from the 1967 film that won five Academy Awards: "'They call me Mr. Tibbs.' / They call me / John Ball."

Book and dust jacket in fine condition, with minimal signs of wear. A beautiful copy of an historically significant work. Scarce thus.

The first appearance of African-American police detective Virgil Tibbs, receiving the Edgar Award for Best First Novel from the Mystery Writers of America and made into an Oscar winning film of the same name, starring Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, and Warren Oates.

Chicago: Sydney Harris, 1958 Black-and-white print depicting the civil rights leader against a black background, signed by Civil Rights photographer, Sydney Harris.

Matted and framed, 19 x 17 inches, in fine condition. Provenance: From the estate of Addie Wyatt, who appears in an Associated Press photograph by Nam Huh with the print.

The Reverends Addie and Claude Wyatt, Jr. were fixtures of the American Civil Rights movement through the second half of the 20th century.
Addie began her career working with the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America in Chicago in 1941. Together they founded Chicago’s Vernon Park Church of God in 1956, and for the next twelve years were closely associated with Dr. Martin Luther King’s peace movement, joining him at the March on Washington in 1963, the Selma to Montgomery Marches in 1965, and the Chicago demonstration in 1966.
In the early 1960s Eleanor Roosevelt appointed Addie to a position on the Labor Legislation Committee on… Read More

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1977 First printing of the stated edition. Signed by Toni Morrison directly on the title-page.
Corners slightly bumped, minor edge wear, foot of spine softly pushed, a few pages with faint soiling, and a stamp size ghost to back paste-down, else book in fine condition; original dust jacket with minor edge wear, faint toning to spine, else fine. Housed in a custom black cloth clamshell case, spine stamped in gilt.

New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1958 First printing of the first American edition, with 1955 as the publication date: black cloth-backed gray patterned boards, spine lettered in gilt, with the red endpapers, and red top-stain, in original first issue jacket without the "Complete Unexpurgated Edition" statement on the front panel and with the original price of $5.00 listed on the inside front flap. A light bump to upper back corner, else book in fine condition; original dust jacket with a couple tiny closed tears at spine ends, light creasing to upper back cover and upper back spine fold, light creasing near center of bottom back cover, faint creasing near front spine folds, and faint soiling to front cover, else fine. A lovely copy with minimal flaws!

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1933 First printing/first issue of the first edition, with the Scribner's "A" and the Scribner's Seal on the copyright page (Hanneman A12a). The book is in fine condition, with minimal wear; dust jacket with some chipping along edges, light toning to spine/folds/upper edge, a short tear to bottom back panel, and light shelf wear, else fine.

West Bloomfield: Phantasia Press, 1985. A deluxe limited edition of only 35 lettered and signed copies; this being the letter K. Signed by Isaac Asimov directly on the colophon page. Bound in full black morocco with leather appliqués on the front cover depicting the sun and the heads of two robots. Silver lettering on spine. A trace of rubbing to bottom edge, else book in fine, as new condition.