Search Results: Authors starting with D from Peter Harrington

Edinburgh., 1850. Large and accurate map of Asia in two parts, north and south. Although aspects of the map are in a copperplate style, the degree of detail and the date suggest this is a steel engraving. Lizars illustrated natural history books, and also engraved bank notes Steel engraving. Original colour. Very good condition, good margins Size: 87 x 77 cm. MacKenzie, British Prints

Paris: Denys Thierry,, 1681. When I look at you even for a short time, it is no longer possible for me to speak First edition of the first translation of Sappho by a woman, paired with her version of Anacreon, in a contemporary binding and complete with the often-lacking frontispiece. Prior to Dacier, Louise Labé in France and Gaspara Stampa in Italy published poetic imitations of Sappho, but Dacier was the first woman to translate the poems themselves into any modern language. The only daughter of the noted Hellenist Tanneguy Lefèvre, Anne Dacier (c.1654-1720) translated classical works from an early age, beginning with Callimachus and progressing to Anacreon and Sappho. "By choosing to translate Anacreon and Sappho into French, instead of presenting them with a Latin translation, as her father did, Anne Le Fèvre was seeking to introduce these two authors to a larger audience. That is indeed what she says in her preface to Anacreon, specifying that she is particularly thinking about women: 'By… Read More

Paris: Rigaud,, 1716. The first female translator of Homer First Dacier edition, in a beautiful contemporary French binding decorated with small gilt shell tools. Dacier's celebrated translation into French of the Odyssey is considered her "crowning achievement" (Folger, p. 34) alongside her equally successful translation of the Iliad (1711). The only daughter of the noted Hellenist Tanneguy Lefèvre, Anne Dacier (c.1654-1720) began translating classical works from an early age, beginning with Callimachus and progressing to versions of the poems of Anacreon and Sappho. She was a staunch champion of Homer in the Ancients and Moderns debate, in which she defended his works against what she saw as the contemporary decline in standards of taste. Despite literary feuds with Antoine Houdar de la Motte and Thémiseul de Saint-Hyacinthe, and her differences in particular with Alexander Pope, with whom she fundamentally disagreed on how best to approach translating Homer, Dacier was held in high regard by her… Read More

London., 1892. Size: 255 x 350 mm. Mounted size: 447 x 540 mm. Lithograph from the Graphic Magazine. Hand coloured. Good condition.

Kansas City: Hudson-Kimberly Publishing Company,, 1903. The Boxer Rebellion, as recounted by America's last Union general First edition, first printing, familial association copy, with the ownership signature of the author's daughter Helen Daggett Patterson (1881-1970) on the front free endpaper. Patterson subsequently passed this copy to Trevor Washington Swett Jr, a US Army colonel; his ownership inscription is below her signature. Aaron Daggett (1837-1938) was appointed brivet brigadier general by Andrew Johnson in February 1866, having served with distinction during the Civil War. Following service in the Indian Wars and the Spanish-American War, he was appointed brigadier general in the regular army in 1900, leading the 14th Infantry Regiment during the Boxer Rebellion. By his death, he was the last surviving high-ranking officer to have fought on the Union side. His account describes American and allied troop movements in China, as well as day-to-day experiences of battle and the conduct of key… Read More

London: Hamish Hamilton,, 1946. The author's first adult book First UK edition, first impression, presentation copy, inscribed "E. K. / [diagonal line] / R. D. / March '47" on front free endpaper. This collection of stories, based on his experiences in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, was Dahl's second book, his first of short stories and his first for adults. The US edition was published earlier the same year. Octavo. Original blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt. With dust jacket. Bookplate to front pastedown. Extremities a little bumped, spine lightly sunned; some minor loss to extremities of slightly toned dust jacket, unclipped, a few adhesive tape repairs to reverse: a very good copy in a very good dust jacket.

London: Jonathan Cape,, 1991. Commemorative Edition, first impression, one of 500 copies, this copy unnumbered. Published on the 75th anniversary of the author's birth on 13 September 1991, this is the most lavishly produced edition of Dahl's story ever published from the "Commemorative Limited Edition", and single volumes from the set are uncommon. The story was originally published in 1990. The publishers announced the edition with the statement that "only 500 sets are being produced and no further similar commemorative editions will be permitted for a period of 50 years". The paper used on the boards was a "special paper design... reproduced by courtesy of the Board of Trustees of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the machine plates and film to be destroyed after printing". Furthermore, the text was "redesigned in a uniform typeface, and printed on heavy-weight Consort Royal Sword Tint, especially manufactured for this edition. The text plates and film will be destroyed after printing". The full set… Read More

New York: Random House,, 1943. First edition, first printing, of the author's first book. As noted by the original jacket blurb, "Everybody has heard about the gremlins, the fantastic Little People whose antics have become one of the great legends of the R.A.F." The book was written as a promotional device for a feature-length Disney animation that was never produced, partly because the studio could not establish firm copyright in the "gremlin" characters (Dahl claimed to have invented them, though they had been common currency in the RAF and had appeared in print at least once before) and partly because the British Air Ministry wanted final approval of the script and production. It was eventually agreed that royalties would be split between the RAF Benevolent Fund and Dahl. The book is described on the title and the front cover as being "From the Walt Disney Production"; the Disney studio wrote to Dahl in August 1943 after publication cancelling any further preproduction work. Quarto. Original… Read More

London: Puffin Books,, 2004. First edition, first impression, of this alphabetical primer to Dahl's life and books by Wendy Cooling, the founder of the children's reading charity Bookstart. Square octavo. Original dark purple boards, spine lettered in silver, red endpapers. With dust jacket. Line drawings by Quentin Blake. Unclipped jacket spine partially sunned, panels and flaps bright, light edge creasing: a fine copy in very good jacket.

London: George Allen & Unwin Limited,, 1970. First UK edition, first impression. The US edition was published earlier the same year. Fantastic Mr Fox formed the basis for Wes Anderson's 2009 film of the same name and has been successfully adapted into both a stage play and an opera. Octavo. Original laminated pictorial boards, titles to front cover and spine in red and black. Without dust jacket, as issued. With numerous in-text and full-page illustrations by Donald Chaffin. Head and foot of spine slightly bumped, corners bumped, crease to rear cover, minor dents to top edge of covers, corner of front free endpaper excised, some minor soiling but generally clean: a very good copy.

London: Michael Joseph,, 1979. Presentation copy First edition, first impression. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "Jan & Colin, Love Roald 1979". The recipients were Jan and Colin Ross-Munro. Jan, an art historian who regularly lectured at the Victoria and Albert Museum, was a close friend of Dahl's second wife, Liccy. Octavo. Original dark blue boards, spine lettered gilt. With dust jacket. Spine gently rolled, small bump to lower fore tip of front board, an excellent copy in the jacket with slight creasing to extremities, small nick to foot of front flap.

London: Jonathan Cape,, 1981. First edition, first impression. Jeremy Treglown found that the book "owes something to a circus act or a Punch and Judy show" and notes that Quentin Blake "lightens things by visually reminding the reader both how small George is, and... how lonely and innocent" (p. 229). A contemporary review noted that, "For some time now Roald Dahl has been the most popular living novelist that we have for children, despite, or sometimes possibly because of, lapses in taste... George's Marvellous Medicine is a good example of this ability he has to entertain the young often at the cost of offending many of the other sort". Octavo. Original light blue boards, spine lettered in gilt. With dust jacket. Illustrated throughout by Quentin Blake. Head of spine very slightly bumped, minor foxing to fore edge; light surface scoring and creases to clipped jacket, some corners rubbed: a near-fine copy in a very good jacket. Times Literary Supplement, 24 July 1981, p. 839; Jeremy Treglown, Roald… Read More

London: Viking,, 1991. First edition, first impression, of the Dahl family recipe book, sprinkled with anecdotes of their lives. Roald Dahl wrote it with his wife Felicity during his final year and publication came after his death in 1990. Quarto. Original red boards, spine lettered in gilt, patterned endpapers. With dust jacket. Colour photographic illustrations throughout. Tiny spots to top edge, else clean; bright, unclipped jacket lightly creased, single tape reinforcement on verso: a fine copy in near-fine jacket.

London: Collins,, 1949. The author's first novel which he later suppressed First UK edition, first impression, signed by the author on the front free endpaper. The book was first published the previous year in the US, and is notable as the first book about nuclear war to be published there after the bombing of Hiroshima. The final chapter is slightly rewritten and expanded in the UK edition. Jeremy Treglown notes that "Dahl may... have had Tolkien in mind in writing the story... there are echoes too of Lewis Carroll's mixture of the irrational and the commonsensical. But these elements are combined with the realism of his tougher war stories". Treglown also suggests that the Leader of the Gremlins in the novel "is a prototype of Mr Willy Wonka". Octavo. Original purple cloth, spine lettered in gilt, cream endpapers, lower edge untrimmed. With dust jacket. Contemporary ownership signature to front free endpaper. A crisp copy, spine slightly bumped, minor crease to spine, some foxing; extremities of… Read More

London: Jonathan Cape,, 1986. First edition, first impression, signed by the author on the half-title. Going Solo continues Dahl's autobiography from his account of his childhood years in Boy, describing his travels in Africa and his experiences in the RAF. Octavo. Original blue boards, spine lettered in gilt, illustrated endpapers. With dust jacket. Portrait frontispiece, 2 maps, numerous photographs throughout text. Jacket unclipped: fine copy in a fine jacket.

New York: Alfred A. Knopf,, 1974. First edition, first printing, preceding the UK edition by a few months. The four short stories in this book comprise "The Visitor", "The Great Switcheroo", "The Last Act", and "Bitch". They originally appeared in Playboy in 1965, 1974, 1966, and 1974, respectively. The dust jacket blurb proudly notes "Here at last... is a new collection of (adult) stories by the Supreme Master of Nastiness". Octavo. Original orange cloth, spine lettered in gilt, front cover with "RD" and border in gilt, top edge orange. With dust jacket. Foot of spine very slightly bumped; a near-fine copy. Extremities of dust jacket very slightly creased and rubbed in places, slightly toned on reverse; a near-fine, unclipped and bright example.

London: Jonathan Cape,, 1982. First edition, first impression. Dahl's fantastical tale was expanded from a short story found in his 1975 book Danny, the Champion of the World and was described in the dust jacket blurb as "Dahl's most startling and wonderful tale since Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". A film adaptation, directed by Steven Spielberg, was released in 2016. Jeremy Treglown assesses Dahl's legacy in his biography and notes that not all of the author's books will last, but concludes "the best - especially The BFG - surely will" (Treglown, p. 9). Octavo. Original light grey boards, spine lettered in gilt. With dust jacket. Black and white illustrations within the text, all by Quentin Blake. Minor spot of adhesive residue to rear cover, trace of foxing to fore edge, a near-fine copy in fine, unclipped jacket. Jeremy Treglown, Roald Dahl, 1994.

London: Harper Collins and Jonathan Cape,, 1991. The limited commemorative edition The Commemorative Edition, limited to 500 sets of which this is a mixed set with numbers 459, 464 (Danny the Champion of the World and Esio Trot), and 465 (Matilda). This edition was published on the 75th anniversary of the author's birth on 13 September 1991. The publishers announced this special limited edition stating that "only 500 sets are being produced and no further similar commemorative editions will be permitted for a period of 50 years". The paper used on the boards and the slipcases was a "special paper design... reproduced by courtesy of the Board of Trustees of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the machine plates and film to be destroyed after printing". Furthermore, the text was "redesigned in a uniform typeface, and printed on heavy-weight Consort Royal Sword Tint, especially manufactured for this edition. The text plates and film will be destroyed after printing". The books were available only on… Read More

New York: Alfred A. Knopf,, 1953. Presentation copy First edition, first printing. Presentation copy, inscribed by Dahl on the front flyleaf: "For Kate from Roald Dahl. Nov. 9, 1953." Octavo. Original cream cloth, titles to spine and front board in black on purple ground, top edge purple, fore edge untrimmed. With dust jacket. Spine a touch cocked, boards slightly splayed, joints tender, final few leaves with a faint crease to the upper corner. A very good copy in an excellent jacket with toned spine panel and slightly rubbed extremities.

London: Collins,, 1949. First UK edition, first impression. The title was first published the previous year in the US, and is notable as the first book about nuclear war to be published there after the bombing of Hiroshima. The final chapter is slightly rewritten and expanded in the UK edition. Dahl would later suppress the novel. Jeremy Treglown notes that "Dahl may... have had Tolkien in mind in writing the story... there are echoes too of Lewis Carroll's mixture of the irrational and the commonsensical. But these elements are combined with the realism of his tougher war stories". Dahl's biographer also suggests that the Leader of the Gremlins in the novel "is a prototype of Mr Willy Wonka" (Treglown, p. 82). Octavo. Original purple cloth, spine lettered in gilt, cream endpapers, lower edge untrimmed. With dust jacket. Extremities a little bumped, crease to front free endpaper, minor foxing to endpapers; unclipped jacket worn with loss to head and foot of spine, closed tear to rear panel, spine… Read More