Rare books from For the Love of Used Books

"The Innocent Curate" by Paris Leary. Published in 1963. First Edition! Rare, Rare Book!
Dustjacket is Illustrated by EDWARD GOREY! DJ is covered with a protective mylar cover.
Additionally, this is an Advanced Review Copy (includes the "Book for Review" notice from Doubleday & Company).
"This is a satirical novel on the religious world - without malice, but witty, cerebral and funny - set in the imaginary town of Schinderhook in upstate New York. The population is comprised of wealthy descendants of the old Dutch settlers, faculty of the local college, and employees of one of the country's largest electrical companies. The innocent curate is handsome, healthy, normal and pure of spirit. While carrying a tray of cocktails to his friends at the country club, he suddenly receives the Stigmata. He is soon beset on all sides by people who wish to see this matter handled to suit their own wishes - and for their own ends."
Book itself is in Near Fine/Fine condition. Dustjacket is in Very Good condition.… Read More

"Eloise at Christmastime" by Kay Thompson. Published in 1999 by Simon & Schuster. Stated First Edition, Full Number Line (First Printing). Special, Limited Edition!
SIGNED by the illustrator, Hilary Knight. ONLY 250 copies of this Special Limited First Edition were produced. This is Number #207 (it is marked as such in the book).
An amazing collectible book for any Eloise lover! It is a lovely green cloth bound book with an image of Eloise at Christmas as a frontispiece. That book comes in its own green cloth slipcase with the title Eloise on the front in gold gilt.
"Christmas comes to the Plaza Hotel, and that pint-sized terror Eloise is in the thick of things in this third picture-book adventure, bringing her own inimitable style to the seasonal celebration."
Condition is BRAND NEW! The slipcase and book are shrink-wrapped and still sealed in the original box the book came in! Never been opened! Brand New! Mint Condition!
NOTE: Other than the images of the actual box my book is stored in, the other… Read More

"My Friends the French" by Robert Harborough Sherard. Undated. Published in London by T. Werner Laurie. Believe First Edition. ILLUSTRATED!
The book is dedicated to Sherard's wife, Irene Osgood. Osgood has inscribed and signed this book to a "Mr. Ester" for Christmas 1909!
This is a RARE book, but having such a signature makes it extremely rare!
"Sherard was a friend of Oscar Wilde's, his primary biographer in the early twentieth century, and wrote numerous biographies on prominent French writers. Sherard counted as Sherard's acquaintances are Pierre Louÿs, Ferdinand de Lesseps, Jules Verne, and Alphonse Daudet. "
Book is in Very Good condition! Some darkening on the covers. Corners are bumped a bit. Bent corner on bottom front cover.Top/bottom of spine is bumped. Gilt is in Very Good condition! Interior is in Good condition. Some staining/browning on the some of the pages. Still, Book is in Very Good condition!

RARE BOOK! "The Making of a Moron" by Niall Brennan. Published in 1953. Believe First Edition. DJ is covered with a protective mylar cover.
"A wartime experiment where mentally defective people were drafted into industry, and proved themselves more easily disciplined, more content with their tasks, and more efficient. The author decided to run his own experiment to find out what the effect must be on normal people of doing the same work that had been done so well by the mentally challenged. His findings seemed to lead to the conclusion that work which makes sub-human demands results cumulatively in the narrowing, and finally the mutilation, of the human personality, and that the continuous sense of frustration avenges itself by strange and disturbing means."
Book: Very Good condition. Rubbing on the edges of the covers & corners. Interior: Great condition! Dustjacket: Very Good condition! Some chipping/creasing on the edges. Small piece missing at the bottom of the spine. Rubbing on the DJ.

"The Dramatic Works of Moliere Translated into English Prose with Short Introductions and Explanatory Notes by Charles Heron Wall." Three Volumes, Complete Set! Published by George Bell and Sons in 1883.
A fine, three-volume set of the works of Moliere published in the late 19th-century. This 1883 English edition was published in London and features introductory and notes by Charles Wall of Brighton College. Like other complete works of Moliere, this example includes his most famous works such as The Misanthrope, Tartuffe, the Impostor, and Don Juan.
First volume has a B&W illustration of Moliere at the title page.
Books are in Fine/Great condition! Just slight wear/staining on the covers. Corners are bumped a bit. Interiors are in Great condition! Really a lovely set and in Fantastic condition for being over 130 years old!

"Sibs" by F. Paul Wilson. Published in 1991 by Dark Harvest. First Edition. Illustrated by Phil Parks.
LIMITED NUMBERED EDITION (#259/400). SIGNED by Author & Illustrator!
Dustjacket has been covered in an archival protective BrodArt covering.
"Kara Wade arrives in New York City to claim the body of her twin sister Kelly - and find out how she died. No secret as to the cause of death - a nearly nude, twelve-story plunge from a room in the Plaza Hotel. Kara is determined to learn what led to that plunge. And why Kelly was dressed like a whore when she died."
Book and Slipcase are in Great condition! Slight scuffing on the top of the slipcase (very minor). Book is like New! Binding is super tight. Probably has never been read.

RARE BOOK! "A Finger to Her Lips" by Evelyn Berckman. Published in 1971. First Edition. (Possible a Review Copy)
Dustjacket is Illustrated by EDWARD GOREY! DJ is covered with a protective mylar cover.
"Now the young Duchess is a hunted fugitive in her own castle. Her aristocratic husband's love had become poisoned by jealousy. She knew that he and the sinister adviser who was his dark inspiration had sworn to destroy not only Sybilla but also her defenseless young son whom they held as a hostage. Disguised as the lowest of servants, exposed to the scorn of other women and the casual lusts of men, Sybilla-Marie staked her honor and her life on a desperate gamble against evil."
Book itself is in Near Fine Condition! Just a little rubbing on the edges of the cover-very minor. Top/bottom of spine is bumped a little. Interior is in Fantastic condition! Lightly penciled words on an early page (stating it is a Review copy & "First" - I am not able to confirm that it is a Review copy). Dustjacket is in Near… Read More

RARE! "The Scottish Chiefs: A Romance" by Jane Porter. Undated, but due to the publisher, it was printed between 1867-1895. Advance Edition.
This Edition of this classic story is RARE! I could only find one other for sale - a couple others *might* be this edition, but I doubt it. It has a lovely decorated front cover and spine. Gilt on spine.
"Jane Porter is considered to have "crafted and pioneered many of the narrative tools most commonly associated with both the national tale and the historical novel," though her claims during her lifetime to have done so were often ridiculed and dismissed. Her 1810 work The Scottish Chiefs, about William Wallace, one of the earliest examples of the historical novel, was very successful and the French version was banned by Napoleon. It has remained popular with Scottish children."
Book is in Great condition! There is a scrape and a little staining on the back cover. Otherwise, very, very minor wear on the covers. Interior is in really Great condition! A few of the… Read More

"The Snow Baby: A True Story with True Pictures" by Josephine Peary. Published in 1901. First Edition Thus! NO later printings/editions stated. RARE BOOK! Lots of B&W Photographs!
"The Snow Baby is the name that the Esquimaux gave to little Miss Peary, and Mrs. Joseph D. Peary has written a delightful account of her little daughter who was born far in the north, and whose early months were spent near the North Pole. She explained the Esquimaux term for "The Snow Baby," which is "Aphoomikaninny," and gives an account of the strange huts of skin and wood in which they live, of the dogs and queer animals which were her playmates, of the brown-faced men and women and children, who gaped in wonder at the little white baby. She gives an interesting account of the long Arctic night which lasts for months, when the sun never rises. That little Miss Peary was a pet of the White Man's expedition is not to be wondered at. There are many photographs of the Arctic life which illustrate this remarkable book."
Book… Read More

SIGNED! By both the Author & the Illustrator! Special Edition Book packaged in Slipcase!
"The Face that Must Die" by Ramsey Campbell. Published in 1983 by Scream/Press. First Edition! Illustrated by J.K. Potter. Introduction by Robert Bloch.
This is a special illustrated edition with both Campbell's & Potter's signatures on the title page!
"Ramsey Campbell's daring look into the mind of a psychotic killer was published in truncated form in 1979; an expanded edition was later published in 1982. The paranoid outlook of the book's main character, Horridge, is a grim commentary on a bleak Liverpool suburb and Thatcher-era England. Ramsey Campbell is Britain's most respected living horror writer. He has been given more awards than any other writer in the field, including the Grand Master Award of the World Horror Convention and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Horror Writers Asssociation, as well as numerous World Fantasy Awards."
Slipcase is in Near Fine condition with just a little faint scuffing.… Read More

"In the Footsteps of Orpheus" by R.F. Paget. Published in the United Kingdom in 1967 by the Scientific Book Club. RARE BOOK! With B&W photographs.
"Is the story of Orpheus in the Underworld merely a legend, a figment of the Ancients' picturesque imagination, or is it, like the story of the Trojan War, based on historical fact? Dr. Paget, with his colleague Keith JOnes, set out to do the same for Vergil, and to discover the entrance to the Underworld and the Oracle of the Dead by the crater of Avernus, directing his steps according to clues in the Aeneid...This remarkable book brings the past to life with a description of the ancient rituals, reconstructed on the very site that Vergil knew."
Book is in Very Good condition. Corners are bumped a bit. Staining on the top page edges. Interior is in Great condition. Dustjacket is in Near Fine condition. A little creasing at the corners. Slight other wear/creasing on the edges of the DJ.

"Tales to be Told in the Dark" edited by Basil Davenport. Published in 1957 by Dodd, Mead, & Company. SCARCE.
Dustjacket has been covered with a protective archival BrodArt covering.
"This is a masterful collection assembled by a master editor from the master writers: Saki, Arthur Machen, Lord Dunsany, Thurber, Lafcadio Hearn and others. Here are horrors upon ingenious horror, fiends, werewolves, witches and warlocks, supernatural beasts that will tear your throat out, a bird that will shatter your sanity and a sundry selection of creeping and crawling repulsions that will guarantee you weird, shivering nightmares for a week."
Book is in Very Good condition. Dustjacket is in Fair condition. Chipping/rubbing on the DJ. Section missing from the top of the spine as well at the back top corner. A lot of creasing on the back DJ. Book itself is in Very Good condition. Some rubbing on the covers. Corners are bumped a bit. Interior is in Great condition. Pages are bright and clean with slight foxing on the… Read More

"Shadows: Second Series" by Charles H. Bennett. Undated but probably published ~1856-1860 by W. Kent & Clo (Late D. Bogue) in London, Britain. Believe this to be the original boards so most likely First Edition. Believe this is a complete set of illustrations.
Charles Henry Bennett (1828–1867) was a British Victorian illustrator who pioneered techniques in comic illustration.
Volume contains 32 illustrations (including title page and frontis) of hand-colored humorous drawings by Bennett of various British characters and the shadows they create that reveal their true nature. Satire that caricatures Victorian society.
WorldCat has only 4 of these books listed (of which only 1 appears to be the same as this one). Could only find one other copy of this book for sale (and the illustrations are in B&W and not the original boards).
Book is in Fair condition. Original outer spine is missing. Corners are bumped/split. Rubbing/staining on covers. Part of the front cover by right edge has top layer of cover… Read More