Rare books from The Second Shelf

London: Richards Phillips, 1810. Beautiful and incredibly scarce collection of Regency fashion plates from subscription magazine illustrated with 185 engraved plates, 181 hand-colored and an additional hand-colored allegorical vignette on title page.Rare to find such a large grouping of plates, bound in a single volume, although bound rather haphazardly (several plates out of order, issues run from issue no. 88, May 1805 – no. 142 followed by a number of undated plates from 1810-11).Octavo, half-calf paneled binding with marbled paper inset matching marbled endpapers. Original wrappers not bound in. Also included is one issue of 'La Belle Assemblee', March 1808 with Lady in a Parade Dress in Hyde Park. Internally a little foxed, repairs in inner hinges to (unconvincingly) match the marbled endpapers. Plates in remarkably bright condition. Scarce.

Playland is an example of the many screenplays written by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne that were never produced. In the wake of several cancelled contracts, they wrote this script about the gangster Bugsy Siegel for Lorimar Productions, Inc. Warner Bros. subsequently acquired Lorimar and axed most of the ongoing projects. Some of the material was incorporated into Dunne's 1994 novel of the same title. This rare copy of an unproduced screenplay is a wonderful example of Didion's style and thematic interests, as well as her creative relationship and artistic collaboration with her husband.
Unpublished, 1988. 144 pages. 29.5 x 22 x 2. Light blue card covers, bound with two brass metal brads as standard professional screenplay binding, title written on spine in black marker. Photocopied. Interior pages are clean, overall in very good condition. Unproduced screenplay, extremely scarce, no copies seen in WorldCat.

Beautifully bound illustrated souvenir missal evoking the great places of Marian pilgrimage in France: Notre-Dame du Loos, Verdelais, Pontmain, Sainte Radegonde, Notre-Dame de Liesse, Fourvière, La Délivrande, Buglose, La Salette, etc.
Missali et Brevario Romano, 1899. 12mo. No. 511. Maison Alfred Mame et Fils. 15 x 11.5 x 2.5. 507 pages. Rich blue-green morocco decorated in red, blue and gilt on all boards, all edges decorative gilt in a floral design reflecting the design of illustrations on the interior pages, raised bands to spine gilt. Monogrammed (J.M.) silk moire endapers, dated in gilt MAI 1906, thus binding near-contemporary. Light spotting throughout but otherwise incredibly fresh and clear. Loving contemporary inscription to 'Jeanne Momerat' in celebration of her confirmation on the front free endpaper. Presented in the original binders box. A funeral card dated 1916 of a French Brigadier tucked in pages. Stunning in every way.

First edition, first printing. Barbara Comyn's second novel, set in 1930's London, is an intense and dark account of a marriage's failure, childbirth, and financial difficulty. Our Spoons goes into significant details about an arduous pregnancy and delivery, and as Emily Gould notes in The Paris Review, this was provocative and unusual for 1950. She explains, "Comyns elevates what might have been a commonplace melodrama about a girl led astray into much more unusual sort of novel."
A cult classic by an underrated writer. Incredibly rare and highly desirable.
Hardcover, 223 pp. Green cloth binding, very slight toning on edges and almost imperceptible wear on the top and bottom edges of the spine. Original jacket, shows age related darkening, toning of the spine and signs of wear around the edges, and a minor scratch on the centre of the front cover. Significant foxing in the edges of the book, no markings or annotations. Binding is intact. Overall in very good condition.

Philadelphia editions of all four volumes of Yearsley's Gothic novel inspired by The Man in the Iron Mask. Known as "Lactialla" or the poetical milkwoman, Yearsley was a poet with a basic education, born in Clifton. She came to the charitable notice of Hannah More of Bristol, who edited her poetry and managed her monies, a dependency that led to a falling out and accusations of classism against More. While mainly noted for her poetry, Gothic thriller The Royal Captives addresses the mistreatment of women, the poor and the lower classes, themes that resonated for Yearsley. These two volumes were owned by Sally Dimon of Fairfield. Yearsley was also an abolitionist.Royal Captives 1: Philadelphia: Two volumes bound in one. Printed for Robert Campbell, 1795. Volume I, iv, 128. Volume II, 122. 12mo. First American edition, published the same year as the first edition. Vol. I: minor pen marks pages 53 and 79, loss to page 105, intact tears 52, 107, 112, 113, 115, and 127. Vol II: leaves partially loose,… Read More

A rare copy of the screenplay for Play It As It Lays, Didion's adaptation of her 1970 novel of the same name. The relatively well-received film, starring Tuesday Weld (turning in a Golden Globe nominated performance) and Anthony Perkins, is an observation of Hollywood from the perspective of an actress in a state of crisis after a series of professional and personal setbacks. A close and careful study of alienation, efforts to hide the effects of alienation, and how hard it can be to recover from existential crises. The movie has fallen into a bit of obscurity, and it is not currently available on any streaming service, except for a middling quality YouTube upload, and the screenplay itself was never published, leading fans of Didion clamoring for insight into her writing process, from novel, to film adaptation, without access to either. In a 2015 article for The Los Angeles Times, writer David Ulin wrote about as short sample of the screenplay he'd come across in a book called "Works in Progress" and… Read More

A comic and camp original musical adaptation of Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbon's best known novel and one of the funniest ever written. Miller was best known as writer of "Dames at Sea" which helped launch Bernadette Peters's career. Faris was a distinguished conductor and composer of film and TV music (Georgy Girl, Upstairs Downstairs). Never known to be performed, no other known copies. Two act play with 17 musical numbers, lyrics only included here.
London, privately printed, no date, likely 1970s. 100 pages. 25.5 x 20.5 x 1.5 cm. Playscript, stapled, bound with black tape, sunned green card cover with typed label. Some fading, light mark to back cover, in very good condition.

A superb manuscript book recording events at Burlington House Girls High School, Spring Grove, Isleworth, Hounslow from 1887-1890, with most of the materials produced by students. The school was established by Medina Griffiths (1840-1927) in September 1886. In an essay, printed and placed in the back of the book, she details her views on education and states: "I would have girls placed on an equality with boys so far as educational advantages are concerned… I would have girls stand in the foremost ranks of learning". She was witty and musical, and though at times caustic and frightening, she was adored by a vast number of her pupils. Griffith's personality clearly permeated the school, resulting in the lively students' work bound in Ort and Naughts, including cartoons, original poetry and comic writing alongside accomplished art and trompe l'oeil work. A number of the event programmes bound in are hand printed and painted. Records of her pupil's names and examinations included, and a carefully… Read More

London: Gaberbocchus Press [Printed by Moll-Winter in Lubeck], 1949. First Edition. 8vo. 112pp. Publisher's grey cloth titled in dark red to the spine. Slight soiling and discolouration of the cloth, otherwise a very clean, sharp copy. Internally clean, although the poor paper stock has resulted in some uniform toning. One of the scarcest Gaberbocchus publications, and a fine collaboration from the wildly creative Kavan, one of the few authors to have constructed a nom-de-plume, and then adopted that pseudonym as their real name, amongst numerous other achievements, of course.

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1930. First edition. 8vo. 284pp. + xxxivpp. Index. Publisher's blue grey cloth titled and decorated in red and brown, minor wear, and very good copy indeed in a similarly attractive example of the dustjacket, lightly discoloured to spine and with some very light chipping to the extremities. Strong and bright. Internally clean. Found within this copy is a letter about Gertrude Bell's involvement with the anti-suffrage movement, from Lady Jersey to Lady Bell written in April 1927. The letter is in reply to a request for Lady Jersey's memories on this topic by Lady Bell, who was editing and publishing Gertrude Bell's writings. Lady Jersey was President of the Women's National Anti-Suffrage League. The letter begins "As regards the Anti-Suff in which Gertrude took such inspiring care, I fear nothing beyond memory remains." After detailing some recollections, Lady Jersey writes: "The last thing I clearly remember about Gertrude in this connection is that she and I as… Read More

Paris: Saussine, 1865. Magnetic fortune telling board game, 21cm x 26cm. Constructed of painted wood and cardboard, significant wear, most notably to corners and extremities, the lid consists of the decorated top panel but has lost three of the four strengthening "lips" that would have firmly attached it to the base, although as a whole it is appreciably solid. A self-contained game in the form of a box with a painted glass and wood top with applied chromolithograph decoration, the magnetic blue bird moves beneath the window when a card and bone spinner with a metallic element is spun above it. The spinner has various fortune subjects written on it in French to "ask" the blue bird about. Once the bird stops spinning, its beak will be pointed at one of eight small circular lidded boxes affixed to the game surface (some of these are a trifle worn to the decorative paper covers, but still bright and attractive). Once opened, the boxes contain tiny circular handwritten paper "fortunes" which can be… Read More

New York: Random House, 1937. To Nathalie [sic], who does not have to go out to come in, and is in - Gertrude"The recipient of this extremely Stein-y inscription is Natalie Clifford Barney, the energetic lesbian expat poet, patron dame of the Lost Generation and founder of the Women's Academy (in response to the Paris based Men's Academy). She was famous for her salons, held at her home in Paris on Rue Jacob, and frequented by the glittering nobility of the Modernist movement including, at various points, Andre Gide, Pierre Louys, Sinclair Lewis, Rilke, Louis Aragon, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the doomed but talented Harry and Caresse Crosby, not to mention the regular visits from Peggy Guggenheim, and Sylvia Beach, founder of the English bookshop in Paris, Shakespeare and Company. Barney was instrumental in the translation of passages from Stein's The Making of Americans, and Stein seems to have attended the salons on at least a couple of occasions; her partner Alice B. Toklas became a regular… Read More

New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 1969. Didion's earth-shattering essay collection, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, was an immediate success on its publication. It showcases Didion's lifelong obsessions, from essays on the culture of her native state of California, to reflections on writing and her personal values in 'On Keeping a Notebook' and "On Self-Respect". A quintessential book and cornerstone of American essay writing, a transcendent reading experience for its many devotees.First edition, first printing. Quarter orange cloth and cream boards. Slightly bumped on corners, and marginal mild soiling. Bright and graphic dust jacket has very little edgewear and some soiling. Overall a very good copy.

New York: Perigee Books, 1983. First edition. Quarto. 111pp. Publisher's card covers, very light edgewear, clean and bright, a near fine copy. Internally clean.
The typescript, on Lenono letter head, of Yoko Ono's introduction to the book. Made up of three paragraphs, followed by the poem "Sky People". Signed in black ink by Yoko Ono at the end of the poem. this is the actual manuscript used in the production of the book, with this introduction and poem being reproduced on pages 6 and 7. Ono's signature here was the one photographed and printed in the book underneath the introduction. A unique object.

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1957. Highsmith's suspense novel, published after The Talented Mr. Ripley. A thriller delving into the twists and turns of a deeply flawed relationship, claustrophobic and unsettling, Deep Water has been filmed twice and adapted for television. First book edition, previously serialised under the title The Mask of Innocence. Blue boards with black cloth spine titled in silver gilt, light bumping to corners. Dust jacket in very good condition, small loss to top of spine, light toning to edges, wear to hinges. Book and dust jacket bright, clean, and in very good condition.