Search Results: Titles starting with N from Sumner & Stillman

1924. Garden City NY: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1924. Original decorative boards with black cloth spine and printed labels, with dust jacket. First American Edition of this last of the three "collaborations" between Conrad and Hueffer/Ford (following THE INHERITORS and ROMANCE). (The English edition is by Conrad and "F. M. Hueffer"; the American is by Conrad and "Ford Madox Ford," using his de-Germanized adopted name). The book was actually written in 1906, at a time when their relationship was disintegrating, and it was virtually all Hueffer's work -- it is really nothing more than a "thinly disguised autobiographical memoir by Ford, to which he evidently wanted Conrad to contribute". As Conrad lay dying in 1924, Hueffer asked his permission to publish it with Conrad's preface, to which Conrad reluctantly agreed. Conrad called it "'that idiotic publication,' and he refused to allow it to appear in THE BEST STORIES OF 1924. He was outraged that people were speaking of it as a fresh collaboration,… Read More

1868. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1868. Original terra-cotta cloth decorated in gilt. First American Edition (published on the same day as the London edition and the Leipzig edition) of these two plays in verse form -- "John Endicott" sited in 1665 Boston and "Giles Corey" in 1692 Salem. This copy is in terra-cotta cloth (one of three colors that were used in addition to several leather bindings), and has the TF pendant device in the supposed second state (with a hollow pendant). As Blanck points out, there were four identical printings dated 1868 (the first almost double the size of the other three combined), though there are at least two instances of type-batter (which this copy does exhibit) that may indicate a copy from late in the first printing or from one of the other three. This is a fine, bright copy. Blanck 12150.

1898. London: William Heinemann, 1898. 4 pp undated ads plus 16 pp ads dated Autumn 1897. Original dark grey cloth with life preserver in gilt. First English Edition of Conrad's third novel (the slightly earlier American edition was titled THE CHILDREN OF THE SEA). This tale was the novel which he saw as a turning point in his imagination and in his career... [It] was to shift his concern from Malay subjects to a much deeper and more intense concern with life and death, the mythical sea and the transient individual, survival itself, themes which in ensuing years would become his major subject matter. [Karl] Conrad planned NARCISSUS to be a short story, to accompany several others he was writing (which would become TALES OF UNREST) -- first referring to it as consisting of "25,000 words at least," six days later projecting it to consist of 30,000, and ultimately bringing it in at well over 50,000. This copy has the ads in the earliest state (16 pp dated Autumn 1897), and is in Supino's binding state… Read More

1898. London: William Heinemann, 1898. 4 pp undated ads plus 16 pp ads dated Autumn 1897. Original dark grey cloth with life preserver in gilt. First English Edition of Conrad's third novel (the slightly earlier American edition was titled THE CHILDREN OF THE SEA); 1,519 copies were printed, and the actual date of publication was in late 1897. This tale was the novel which he saw as a turning point in his imagination and in his career... [It] was to shift his concern from Malay subjects to a much deeper and more intense concern with life and death, the mythical sea and the transient individual, survival itself, themes which in ensuing years would become his major subject matter [Karl]. Conrad planned THE NIGGER to be a short story, to accompany several others he was writing (which would become TALES OF UNREST) -- first referring to it as consisting of "25,000 words at least," six days later projecting it to consist of 30,000, and ultimately bringing it in at well over 50,000. This copy has the ad… Read More

1862. London: Sampson Low, Son, & Co., 1862. Original blind-stamped pebbled orange cloth with gilt-decorated spines. First Edition of "the most unjustly neglected of all Wilkie Collins's novels" [Robinson]. Written at the peak of Collins's career just after THE WOMAN IN WHITE, Sampson Low paid Collins 3,000 for NO NAME, and then produced 4,000 copies -- all but 400 of which were sold by the afternoon of the first day [Gasson]. The novel centers about the theme of illegitimacy, and Collins's condemnation of the laws that govern it. It is the story of 18-year-old Magdalen Vanstone's attempt to regain control of her father's fortune (she and her sister are the children of a common-law marriage; just when their parents finally are able to marry, the father suddenly dies before writing a new will -- leaving the two girls with "no name" and thus with no claim upon his fortune). Though her elder (and quieter) sister Norah resigns herself to her impoverished fate, Magdalen enlists the aid of the "delightful… Read More

1867. Being The Extra Christmas Number of All The Year Round. London: Chapman & Hall, Christmas 1867. Original blue wrappers. First Edition, being the last of Dickens's nine extra Christmas numbers of his periodical All The Year Round. Dickens himself wrote The Overture, Act III, and portions of Acts I and IV; his son-in-law's brother, Wilkie Collins, wrote the rest. This is a near-fine copy (some wear along the fore-edge of the rear wrapper). Podeschi (Yale) E20; Eckel p. 196.

1923. Edited with a Preface by Michael Sadleir. London: Constable & Company, 1923. Original blind-stamped deep red cloth with gilt-decorated spine. First Edition, which consisted of only 500 copies. This is one of only two plays that Trollope ever wrote, as "the genre was uncomfortable to him." He wrote it early in his career, in 1850, at about the same time as his third novel (LA VENDÉE). He later used the germ of THE NOBLE JILT to create "one of his best known novels; to it is due the existence of CAN YOU FORGIVE HER?" (Sadleir, the editor who had this book published from the original manuscript -- and from whom these quotes are drawn -- gives a character-by-character comparison between this play and that novel in his preface.) The binding is an exact facsimile of that used in 1864 for CAN YOU FORGIVE HER?. This is a near-fine copy, without wear but with the spine slightly faded (as usual with this color cloth). Sadleir (Trollope) 70.

1888. With Numerous Illustrations. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, 1888. Original blue-grey cloth pictorially decorated in black and red, all page edges gilt. First British Edition of this adventure tale taking place during the American Civil War. This is the tale of the antagonism between Burbank (an anti-slavery Northerner now living near Jacksonville, Florida) and Texar (a pro-slavery Southerner); Texar winds up kidnapping Burbank's daughter and hiding her in the Everglades, and Burbank heads off in search of his daughter -- all as the Civil War rages around them. NORD CONTRE SUD came out in France in 1887, and by the end of the summer of that year the American pirate publisher George Munro came out with TEXAR'S VENGEANCE in his wrappered Seaside Library. In November 1887, Rand McNally published a hardbound American edition (a different translation) titled TEXAR'S REVENGE. Then this British edition, hardbound and illustrated and the same translation as Rand McNally's, came out… Read More

1862. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1862. Original blind-stamped brown pebbled cloth. First Authorized American Edition, believed to have followed Harper's pirated edition by a mere four days. This work is not only a geographical description of North America; Trollope also gets into such questions as "Deficiencies in the Post Office System," "Amount of the Debt - Can the Burden be Borne?" and "Rights of Women" -- topics no less timely now. Given the year, Trollope also discusses the Civil War then raging. Trollope's wife Rose accompanied him on most of this trip, acting as his amanuensis; it is said that the book's spontaneity declines at the point she left for London -- reflecting how much harder it was for him to write out his thoughts rather than to dictate them freely. The preliminary "Author's Edition" note (added to the two-in-one copies) indicates that this edition was "published by special arrangement with the Author, at whose urgent request it was undertaken, and to whom we pay… Read More

1904. London and New York: Harper & Brothers, 1904. Original dark blue cloth decorated in light blue. First Edition of Conrad's great novel involving a South American silver mine, and the corruption and dishonesty fostered by its riches. Conrad was extending his "Lord Jim" theme: that the man who slowly grows rich can be a victim of the silver, not its conqueror; that wealth is not something gained but a trap for those who relinquish, however momentarily, their sense of themselves... It was no coincidence that Conrad was in severe financial straits during the years that he wrote these novels. Despite (or perhaps reflecting) the two and a half years Conrad spent laboring over NOSTROMO, the book was not widely acclaimed upon its publication: The reviews were nearly all bound to discourage the reader. [John] Buchan's estimation is characteristic: "It is not a book which the casual reader will appreciate. The sequence of events has to be sought painfully through the mazes of irrelevancy with which the… Read More

1904. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1904. Original green cloth decorated in orange and black. First American Edition of Conrad's well-known novel involving a South American silver mine, and the corruption and dishonesty fostered by its riches. Conrad was extending his "Lord Jim" theme: that the man who slowly grows rich can be a victim of the silver, not its conqueror; that wealth is not something gained but a trap for those who relinquish, however momentarily, their sense of themselves... [Karl] This copy is bright and near-fine (very slight rubbing at the extremities). Cagle A10b.

1904. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1904. Original green cloth decorated in orange and black. First American Edition of Conrad's well-known novel involving a South American silver mine, and the corruption and dishonesty fostered by its riches. Conrad was extending his "Lord Jim" theme: that the man who slowly grows rich can be a victim of the silver, not its conqueror; that wealth is not something gained but a trap for those who relinquish, however momentarily, their sense of themselves... [Karl] This copy is bright and just about fine, with a touch of rubbing at the tips. Supino A10.6.0 and Plate 11; Cagle A10b.

1904. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1904. Original green cloth decorated in orange and black. First American Edition of Conrad's well-known novel involving a South American silver mine, and the corruption and dishonesty fostered by its riches. Conrad was extending his "Lord Jim" theme: that the man who slowly grows rich can be a victim of the silver, not its conqueror; that wealth is not something gained but a trap for those who relinquish, however momentarily, their sense of themselves... [Karl] This copy is fine and bright -- and is rather uncommon thus. Supino A10.6.0 and Plate 11 (this copy); Cagle A10b. Provenance: bookplates of Eugene S. Brewer Jr. and of the Conrad bibliographer David J. Supino.

1914. [Sendak copy in 1914 dj] New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1914. Original olive-brown cloth, with dust jacket. First American Edition, which consisted of 2000 copies and was published one day after Dent's London edition. Novelists covered by James include Robert Louis Stevenson, Emile Zola, Gustave Flaubert, Honoré de Balzac and George Sand. This was one of several James titles that was unfortunately bound for Scribner's in this unattractive olive-brown cloth that is very prone to soil and fading. This, however, would be a fine copy were it not for some cracking of the endpapers. The clean, unfaded exterior is due to the presence of the original dust jacket, in very good condition (edge-wear that is minor except for one chip affecting about one-half of "SCRIBNER'S" at the foot of the spine). Supino 73.2.0; Edel & Laurence A73b. Provenance: from the personal library of author Maurice Sendak. He did not often sign or affix bookplates (and none is here), but included with this set is a… Read More

1921. London & Toronto: J.M. Dent & Sons, 1921. Original olive-green cloth, with dust jacket. First Edition (preceded by a 35-copy privately-printed issue). This is a collection of pieces that had appeared, over the prior two years, as 25-copy pamphlets produced by Clement Shorter and by T.J. Wise. This copy is in the third and usual state, with a cancel leaf for pages xi-xii, to correct the "S" and "A" of "SEA" lacking in the Table of Contents. The first state lacks these two letters entirely; the second state retains the original leaf but with those two letters hand-stamped in. Supino, drawing from a statement from a Dent official, says that the 9,450-copy first edition consisted of 100, 900 and 8,450 copies in the three states respectively. This is a fine, bright copy; the notoriously brittle dust jacket is very good (minor edge-wear that includes a few small chips, spine slightly faded). Supino A23.4.0 (this copy); Cagle A51a(2). Provenance: discreet bookplate of the Conrad bibliographer David… Read More

1921. [one of 35 (now 21) copies] London & Toronto: J.M. Dent & Sons, 1921. Original olive green cloth. First Edition, of which this is one of 35 (Wise says 33) privately-printed advance copies that "were sent to friends of the publisher." These pieces primarily come from the limited pamphlets that were privately printed for Thomas J. Wise during the two preceding years; Conrad's friend Richard Curle was instrumental in having them combined into this volume. These advance copies are slightly taller, and somewhat slimmer, than trade copies -- and read "Privately Printed..1921" on the title verso; as with all known advance copies, the contents leaf is in the earliest state, with the "S" and "A" missing from the word "SEA". As Supino gleaned from Conrad's letters, "Sixteen copies were given by Conrad and J.M. Dent to friends, Conrad kept five copies, which he sold through Wise, and the remaining copies were destroyed" -- which, if accurate, means that today a maximum of 21 copies might be extant. This… Read More

1921. London & Toronto: J.M. Dent & Sons, 1921. Original olive-green cloth, with dust jacket. First Edition (preceded by a 35-copy privately-printed issue). This is a collection of pieces that had appeared, over the prior two years, as 25-copy pamphlets produced by Clement Shorter and by T.J. Wise. This copy is in the second state (with the "S" and "A" of "SEA" hand-stamped onto page xi). The first state lacks these letters entirely; the third and usual state has a cancel leaf with the letters properly printed. Supino, drawing from a statement from a Dent official, says that the 9,450-copy first edition consisted of 100, 900 and 8,450 copies in the three states respectively. This is a fine copy, in a very good jacket (minor edge-wear and creasing; the jacket's spine is quite darkened). Supino A23.3.0 (this copy); Cagle A51a(2). Provenance: discreet bookplate of the Conrad bibliographer David J. Supino (plus his brief notation on the endpaper).

1921. Garden City NY & Toronto: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1921. Original navy-blue cloth decorated in gilt. First American Edition, first printing (which is to say, in the standard navy-blue cloth binding). This is a collection of many of the pieces that had been published in 25-copy private issues (by Clement Shorter and by T.J. Wise) during the preceding two years. The title of the American edition includes the word "AND," where the English edition has an ampersand. Although the number of American copies printed is unknown, it is quite a scarce edition; its only reprints in early years were as a "Deep Sea" flexible-leather volume and for collected editions of Conrad's works, such as the "Sun-Dial," the "Canterbury," and the "Kent." This is a fine, bright copy. Supino A23.7.0 (including this very copy); Cagle A51b(1). Provenance: discreet bookplate of the Conrad bibliographer David J. Supino (also, loosely inserted in this copy is a card with his penciled notes regarding the collation).

1921. London & Toronto: J.M. Dent & Sons, 1921. Original blue cloth stamped in black. First Trade Edition, third and usual state (with pp xi-xii a cancel leaf), secondary (blue) binding. Supino notes that according to Dent records, 890 copies of the third state were bound as a colonial edition -- yet neither Cagle nor Supino ever saw a self-described colonial copy. Thus these blue copies MAY constitute the colonial edition; it is interesting to note that this copy originally came to us from Sweden. This is a very good copy, with the spine faded to tan; there are endpapers applied over the original ones, but the front one bears the date 1921 and the price 2/6 -- so this may have been the original state. We do not know if these blue copies were equipped with dust jackets. Supino A23.4.0 (binding B) -- this copy); Cagle A51a(2), binding b. Provenance: discreet bookplate of the Conrad bibliographer David J. Supino.

1914. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1914. Original olive-brown cloth. First American Edition, which consisted of 2000 copies and was published one day after Dent's London edition. Novelists covered by James include Robert Louis Stevenson, Emile Zola, Gustave Flaubert, Honore de Balzac and George Sand. This was one of several James titles that was unfortunately bound for Scribner's in this unattractive olive-brown cloth that is very prone to soil and fading; this, however, is a fine copy with very little fading. Supino 73.2.0; Edel & Laurence A73b. Provenance: the front paste-down bears the bookplate of Theodore Woodman Gore (1847-1923), which bookplate was designed by the renowned American artist Edwin Howland Blashfield.