Rare books from Cleveland Book Company

London: Anthony Treherne, 1905. First Edition (thus). Flexible boards. Very good. Miniature (5cm x 7cm). A very good copy in the publisher's limp brown leather, stamped in blind. Rubbing to extremities and the binding a touch shaken, but a clean copy of this miniature book. All edges gilt,though the gilt is somewhat dulled. Appears to be genuinely rare; we note just three library holdings, all in the USA (Harvard, UVA, and Worcester PL [MA]).

New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1968. Later printing (?). Hardcover. Good +/Very good. Quarto, 243pp., illustrated. Harry N. Abrams did not state first or later printings during this period, but we presume this is a later printing, as the Abrams logo on the front panel appears to be that of ca. 1970-74. A slightly shaken copy, good or better, with general scuffing to the edges, especially the corners. Still a crisp, sound copy. In a very good dust jacket, showing mild edgewear and some scrapes/abrasions to the rear panel, which is typical for this title. Nevertheless a fantastic copy, SIGNED boldly in purple ink by Dali and dated 1976 on the blank leaf opposite the title page. Signed copies of this excellent volume are rather uncommon compared to some of other of Dali's books.

New York: Harper and Brothers, 1949. Early printing. Hardcover. Fine/Near fine-. Octavo, 276pp. Code "D-Z" on copyright page indicates a printing date of April 1950, which is within a year of the first printing, and as such among the earliest copies we've seen offered in commerce. A crisp, clean, probably unread copy in the publisher's blue cloth, with ust a touch of rubbing to the board edges; just about fine, with the spine gilt entirely unfaded. The dust jacket is also nicer than usual, just about near fine, with the spine entirely unfaded and no significant tears; some rubbing to corners and spine ends, and an area of scuffing about the size of a penny at the base of the spine, defacing the "PER" in "HARPER." Publisher's $3.50 price intact. First printings of this landmark investment manifesto are extremely scarce, and command healthy five-figure prices. The only one ever to appear at auction out-performed its high estimate. Though not quite perfect, nevertheless a quite handsome early copy of… Read More

[various places], 1947. A full-to-bursting photograph album, bound in tan suede and string-bound, measuring about 13" x 9.5". 732 photographs on 89 album pages. Photographs vary in size, but are nearly all in the snapshot category, smaller than 4" x 4". The photographs are uniformly in excellent condition; nearly all of them are inserted into clear corner mounts. May of these mounts are aprtly torn or cracked, and the glue from the mounts has occasionally bled onto the photos, making them hard to lift. Nevertheless, the contents are very nearly displayed, and in near fine overall condition. The vast majority of photographs have captions, though many of these are inked on the versos of the snapshots. A smaller, but significant number of captions are neatly inked on the album leaves. At rear are ten leaves of ephemera and paperwork related to the compiler's service in the R. A. F., and some other souvenir ephemera, which is discussed in more detail below. The compiler has also added a brass R. A. F.… Read More

New York: Random House / Beginner Books, 1960. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good-/very good. Large octavo, 62pp., illustrated. Just about very good in the publisher's printed boards. Some rubbing to the bottom edges, as often, with a tiny stress crack at one corner. Two owner's names erased on the front paste-down, and the erasure has slightly discolored that area of the yellow endpapers. In the rare first-issue dust jacket, bearing the 195/195 price, and which has very evident sticker ghost below the printed "I can read it all by myself" design (the first issue had a sticker which read "50 word vocabulary." While that sticker is missing here, the ghost is evidence that it was once here. Besides, in later issues, the publisher simply printed the sticker design on the dust jacket.) Jacket in very good condition, with some short closed tears, mild creasing, and shallow wear to the spine ends; less than is often seen. Uncommon true first printing of this landmark book by Dr. Seuss, which has never… Read More

New York: McDowell, Obolensky, 1959. First American Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/very good. Octavo, 215pp. A crisp, clean copy in the publisher's grey cloth (the second issue binding; sometimes called the second printing), near fine, with very gentle rounding to the corners. In a very good example of the fragile dust jacket, with a number of small chips at the extremities and attendant creases, but the spine almost entirely unfaded; genuinely scarce thus. Jacket is also the second issue, with $3.95 flap price and five blurbs on the rear panel. A very important debut novel by the Nigerian writer; one of the first post-colonial African novels to be widely read and engaged with by a Western audience. Despite its flaws, an attractive copy with appealing shelf presence.

Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1873. Fourth Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. Near fine. Octavos. 6.25 x 9.5 in. xxxii + 752; 737 pp. A near fine set in three-quarter dark green morocco over marbled boards, spines extra gilt, teg by R.B. Sanford. Handsome bookplates of Winthrop W. and Harriet Aldrich on each front pastedown. A lovely set of the important fourth edition of an important book on the American Constitution with Cooley's updates and additions. Howes S-1047.

London: Chatto and Windus, 1926. First U.K. Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. Fine. Octavo, 218pp. A stunning copy, bound in full crushed deep blue Levant goatskin, with gilt edges, borders, dentelles, and elaborate spine compartments. French marbled endpapers. Original navy cloth from boards and spine bound in at rear. An exquisitely beautiful copy of the truly rare first UK edition of Fitzgerald's undisputed masterpiece. Matthew Bruccoli, Fitzgerald's premier bibliographer, notes that just 3,000 copies of the UK edition were printed, compared to the ~20,000 examples of the first American printing. Those 3,000 copies were bound in two different cloths--navy and maroon--navy having established priority. "The Great Gatsby" was received with ambivalence upon publication, and with Fitzgerald off in Europe and dead within fifteen years of its first appearance, the author never enjoyed public or critical recognition for it in his lifetime. Fitzgerald often expressed a desire to earn a literary… Read More

(New York): HarperCollins, 1999. First Edition thus. Hardcover. Fine/fine. Octavo, 323pp. First printing of this edition. One top corner just slightly tapped, but a fine, crisp, unread copy in like dust jacket. Red band just a 1/4 shade sunned at the spine. SIGNED by Harper Lee on the half-title page. A sharp and lovely signed copy of this attractive edition, scarce in the first printing.

Roma: Generoso Salomone, 1760. Hardcover. Very good +. 12mo, 2 parts in one volume, 418pp., plus eighteen folding plates, four of which are signed in plate by Piranesi. A very nice unrestored copy in a contemporary full vellum binding, with no repairs or sophistications; very good or better. Vellum evenly soiled, inked title to spine still bold, crisp, tight, and clean, with an old amrginal dampstain at the base of the gutter, affecting many pages, but not approaching any text. The folding plates are in excellent condition. Two stately bookplates on the front endpapers. A charming guidebook to Rome, which went through many editions. Chronologically, this is the second of several editions to include engravings by Piranesi. The book appears infrequently in commerce, but when it does, it is often lacking at least one plate; this copy is complete.

[no place given]: [W. B. Conkey Co., printer], 1929. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Octavo, 280pp. A very good copy in the publisher's blue cloth. Boards slightly dust-soiled, top edge and fore-edge with scuffing/sahallow insect damage, but the contents clean and bright. Gutter very thinly split at p. 80; still a strong, sound copy. This copy bears the ownership signature (dated 1929) of Howard Kester, the left-wing Christian preacher and activist, best known for his influence in organizing the Southern Tenant Farmer's Union. The book is scarce in commerce, and is a hopeful and defiant treatise celebrating recent and ongoing progress of African-American life in the south in the 1920s, all in the face of a tyrannical Jim Crow regime. Not in Work. Not catalogued in the Blockson collection.

New York: Macmillan, 1903. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine +. Octavo, 231pp., plus advertisements. Illustrated by Philip R. Goodwin and Charles Livingston Bull, with decorations by Chas. Edw. Hooper. A crisp, clean, very nice copy in the publisher's decorative freen cloth, stamped in gilt, black, red, and white. Some gentle, even fading to the white pigment on both the front board and spine, the bottom corners lightly bumped, but still sharp. Very near fine, with strong inner hinges and no markings, but for a tiny contemporary bookseller label to the front paste-down. Lacking the rare dust jacket. A pleasing, gift-quality example.

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1899. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. Octavo, 298pp., illustrated. A near fine, tight copy, with sharp corners, spine gently sunned, some tiny spotting on the front board, and the page block pulling just slightly at the middle; still a sound, fresh example, probably unread. Contemporary owner's name on front fly leaf in faded ink.

New York: Outing Publishing Company, 1913. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good/good. Octavo, 395pp., illustrated. A very good copy in the publisher's maroon cloth. Notable rubbing along the bottom edges, and some offsetting to the endpapers, but an internally clean, sound example. In the extremely scarce dust jacket, the only we've been able to trace in commerce, which has a long, not-quite-complete tear along the front flap joint, a large chip at the crown joint, and some spotting to the spine panel, but still complete and miraculously present. This copy also SIGNED and INSCRIBED by Kephart on the front free endpaper in the year after publication: "For Mr. C. E. Wood, with best wishes of the writer. Horace Kephart, Bryson CIty, N. C. 1914." Though born in Pennsylvania, from a northeastern family, and raised in the midwest, Kephart is deeply associated with the Great Smoky Mountains. "Our Southern Highlanders" is his best-known work, and it gives a richly detailed portrait of life among remote… Read More

New York: Putnam, 1928. First Edition. Hardcover. Good. Octavo, 314pp., illustrated. A good copy only in the publisher's maroon cloth. Spine dulled, mild wear to corners and spine ends, and some unexplained residue to the verso of the rear free endpaper. Possibly ex-private library, as there is a tiny area of sticker ghost to the bottom of the spine, but there are no internal markings whatsoever, except a contemporary bookseller label to the front free endpaper. Lacking the scarce dust jacket. A fantastic copy, boldly SIGNED by Earhart on the verso of the frontispiece. This title has become quite scarce signed, especially in the first printing.