Rare books from Lucius Books

London: Jonathan Cape. 1988. First edition, first printing. First edition, first printing. Inscribed by the author. Publisher's original red cloth with gilt titles to the spine, in dustwrapper. A lovely near fine square copy, the contents without foxing or previous owner's inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the near fine lightly creased dustwrapper which remains without fading of the red lettering. A beautiful example of one of Dahl's most popular titles. Housed in a bespoke half morocco solander case. Inscribed by Roald Dahl in black ink on the front free endpaper "Johanna / Love / Roald Dahl". Provenance: Private UK collection (Signed by the author for the recipient in person at Waterstones bookshop in Bath, 1988). Further details and images for any of the items listed are available on request. Lucius Books welcomes direct contact with our customers.

Los Angeles: Warner Brothers. 1968. The original album cover artwork for the U.S. issue of Jimi Hendrix's 1968 masterpiece, Electric Ladyland. Photo collage on board. The "mechanical" for an unreleased alternate version created by the Warner Brothers Records art department prior to the album release in 1968. Unique. The artwork for the hand-lettered type is believed to have been drawn by Los Angeles designer John Van Hamersveld, and the mechanical laid out by the album's art director, Ed Thrasher. In the design and print process "mechanicals" were sent to the label's colour separator, and used to make film for the album cover printer. Provenance: In the mid 1970s the Warner Bros. art department hired a freelance art director to go through their archives and dispose of old files, to create space for newer projects. He was given permission to keep a number of pieces, and gifted these to a friend. Further details and images for any of the items listed are available on… Read More

London: Orskey - Bonham - Niner; Scott Polar Research Institute - Bonham. 2002 & 2010. Four volumes. Quarto. Limited edition. Publisher's original blue cloth with titles in gilt to the upper boards and spines and mounted colour illustrations within gilt borders to the upper boards. Blue silk page-markers. Profusely illustrated throughout in colour and black and white. A fine set, the bindings square, firm and bright, the contents immaculate throughout. The first three volumes were originally published 1907-14, this facsimile offered in a numbered edition of 350 (this being number 227). The fourth volume was never previously published, this being copy 227 of an edition of 500 in which a facsimile of the text held by the Scott Polar Institute is accompanied by an extensive introduction by Ann Savours. This details the production of the South Polar Times; a comprehensive biography of the explorers who contributed to it; and a short section on "the tradition of polar publishing". The… Read More

London: Hodder & Stoughton. 1906. First trade edition, first printing. First trade edition, first printing. Original russet cloth with gilt titles to the spine and upper board, along with a gilt illustration. With beautiful colour illustration plates by Arthur Rackham. A very good copy, the binding square and firm with some rubbing to the extremities and a mark to the lower board and spine. The contents, with a short closed tear and a small contemporary inscription to the half title and some light foxing to the prelims and infrequently throughout, along with the odd finger mark to the margins, are otherwise clean and bright throughout. All 50 plates, one at the front as the frontispiece and the other 49 grouped together at the back, are present with their captioned tissue guards and in fine condition without corner creases or marks. Peter Pan first appeared in the chapters 13 to 18 of Barrie's 1902 novel "The Little White Bird". Barrie extracted the story and following the success… Read More

London: Jonathan Cape. 1935. First trade edition, first printing. First trade edition, first printing. Finely bound by The Chelsea Bindery in full brown morocco, gilt crossed swords device to the upper board, five raised bands and titles in gilt to the spine. Triple gilt ruled inner dentelles, marbled endpapers. Top edge gilt. Illustrated with a black and white portrait frontispiece, 53 additional plates, and 4 maps by Eric Kennington, William Rothenstein, Augustus John, William Roberts and others. The binding is square and firm, the contents with occasional light spotting to the margins of some text pages are otherwise clean throughout. A beautifully presented example of the first publicly available edition published immediately after the author's death. The publication of this complete text is preceded by the very limited privately printed 'subscriber's' or 'Cranwell' edition of 1926. This first trade edition includes 3 illustrations not previously published. (O'Brien… Read More

London: Methuen Children's Books. 1971. First edition thus. First edition thus. Deluxe signed limited edition. Original publisher's full green morocco by Zaehnsdorf, in the publisher's printed slipcase. Five raised bands and titles in gilt to the spine, the upper board illustrated in gilt. All edges gilt. Full colour endpapers, illustrations throughout by E. H. Shepard. A lovely fine copy, the binding square and tight, and without fading or toning of the spine. The contents with a small previous owner's bookplate to the blank front free endpaper are clean, bright and fine throughout. The original slipcase remains firm with just the lightest of rubbing at the extremities. A beautiful example. Limited to 250 copies of which this is hand numbered 110 and signed by E. H. Shepard in black ink on the limitation page. Originally illustrated by Shepard in black and white for the 1931 printing of Kenneth Grahame's classic tale, for this edition the artist redrew the illustrations based… Read More

Original Artwork: later published by Little Brown, Boston & New York. 1961. Original dustwrapper designs produced for the 1961 first edition of Franny and Zooey, annotated by J. Original dustwrapper designs produced for the 1961 first edition of Franny and Zooey, annotated by J. D. Salinger. Two dustwrapper designs on gloss white card. The first is a trial design in blue, orange and black, folded as a dustwrapper with blank flaps. This design was evidently under early consideration by the author and is referred to in a letter to his editor Ned [Bradford] dated May, 10 1961 "That's a very nice blue. I feel, too, that the red-line border is better, livelier than the black" [a photocopy of the letter is included]. The second artwork is what would become the actual design used for the first edition and is annotated by J. D. Salinger in pencil "This is the one I like, but with the diagonal stripe removed [with an arrow to the subsequently removed (clipped) stripe]. Many… Read More

London: William Heinemann; New York: George H. Doran Company. 1922. First edition, first printing, American issue. First edition, first printing, American issue. Publisher's original pictorial paper-covered boards in dustwrapper. Illustrated with four full page and three double page richly coloured lithographs by William Nicholson. A superb, very near fine copy, the binding square and firm, without paper loss and with a little bumping at the lower edge. The contents are spotlessly clean throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the near fine, very lightly rubbed and dusty dustwrapper that has a couple of tiny nicks at the folds without loss. Both the book and the dustwrapper are entirely without repair or restoration. Housed in a bespoke quarter morocco solander case. This copy is the earliest state of the American issue, the printed paper covered boards a slightly different shade and a few millimetres taller than the UK issue. Correctly dated 1922 and… Read More

London: Michael Joseph. 1979. First UK edition, first printing. First UK edition, first printing. Signed by the author. Publisher's original black cloth with gilt titles to the spine, in dustwrapper. A lovely fine copy, the binding square and firm, the cloth and gilt bright and fresh. The contents are clean throughout and without previous owner's inscriptions or stamps. Complete with the original dustwrapper that remains without fading, loss or tears. Not price-clipped (£6.95 net to the front flap). A superb example. Signed by James Baldwin in blue ink on the dedication page, scarce thus. The author's sixth and final novel. Further details and images for any of the items listed are available on request. Lucius Books welcomes direct contact with our customers.

London: Little, Brown and Company. 1994. First British edition. First British edition. Signed limited edition. Publisher's quarter black morocco over green cloth boards, titles in gilt to the spine. Top edge gilt. Map endpapers, illustrated with photographs. A fine copy, the binding square and tight, without fading or loss. The contents are clean throughout and without previous owner's marks. A superb example. Limited to 1000 copies of which this is hand numbered 70 and signed in black ink by Nelson Mandela to the limitation page. The Alan Paton Award winning autobiography of the anti-apartheid activist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient who served as the first elected president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. Further details and images for any of the items listed are available on request. Lucius Books welcomes direct contact with our customers.

Stockholm: Rabén and Sjögren. 1945, 1946 and 1948.. First edition, first printing of the three Pippi Longstocking novels. First edition, first printing of the three Pippi Longstocking novels. Publisher's pictorial paper covered boards, grey or brown cloth spines with titles stamped in black. Illustrated with full page line drawings by Ingrid Nyman. A very near fine set, each volume in a remarkable, original state of preservation. The bindings with just mild rubbing and a few small scuffs to the extremities remain bright, square and tight. The contents, with the unavoidable toning to the cheap paper stock are otherwise clean throughout and without previous owners' marks. Very scarce thus. A wonderful set of first editions in the eponymous series of children's books by the Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. After being rejected by the publishing firm Bonniers in 1944, Lindgren's manuscript 'Pippi Långtrump' was accepted for publication by Rabén and… Read More

Buenos Aires: Editorial Claridad. 1956. Reprint of the Argentinean edition. Reprint of the Argentinean edition. Inscribed by the author to the Czech-American photographer, composer and adventurer Eduard Ingris. Later green cloth with the original upper wrapper laid down to the upper board, incorporating the original endpapers, titles in gilt to the spine. Housed in a green card slipcase. Publisher's spine panel tipped in at the rear. A very good copy, the binding square and tight. The contents, with the unavoidable toning of the text block are otherwise clean throughout. Housed in the lightly rubbed, structurally sound slipcase. Inscribed by the author in blue ink on the half title "To Eduard Ingris. / with admiration wishing / him all good things / Ernest Hemingway". The 1956 publication date of this volume is significant, as it was in May 1956 that Ernest Hemingway first met Eduard Ingriš in Cabo Blanco, on the north coast of Peru. Ingriš, an adventurer, composer and… Read More

London: Bloomsbury. 1998. First edition, first printing. First edition, first printing. Publisher's original matt laminated pictorial boards, in the Cliff Wright illustrated dustwrapper. A near fine copy, the binding firm with just light bumping at the tips of the slightly rolled spine, the boards are bright and fresh. The contents are clean throughout and without foxing, inscriptions or stamps, the paper stock toned as always. Complete with the lightly creased that is faded to the spine and without loss or tears. Not price-clipped (£10.99 to the lower front flap). The true first edition, first printing of the second Harry Potter book. (Errington A2a). Further details and images for any of the items listed are available on request. Lucius Books welcomes direct contact with our customers.

London: Jonathan Cape. 1982. First edition, first printing. First edition, first printing. Signed by Roald Dahl and also signed with a full page original drawing by Quentin Blake. Publisher's original grey cloth boards with gilt titles to the spine, in dustwrapper. An excellent near fine copy, the binding square and firm with a little bumping at the spine tips and corners, the cloth and gilt bright and fresh. The contents, with the unavoidable toning of the text block due to the quality of the paper, are otherwise clean throughout and without foxing or previous owner's marks. Complete with the very near fine lightly rubbed and creased dustwrapper which has a touch of fading to the spine. Not price-clipped (£6.50 net to the lower front flap). Housed in a bespoke quarter black morocco solander case with titles in gilt to the spine. Inscribed by the author in blue ink on the front endpaper "To William / with love / Roald Dahl", overleaf on the half title the illustrator has… Read More

London: Siegle, Hill & Co. [1910]. First deluxe edition. First deluxe edition. Number 80 of 550 copies, printed on handmade paper and signed by Sangorski and Sutcliffe. Publisher's original full vellum with intricate gilt decoration to the upper board and spine, titles on an brown morocco label to the spine. Top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Colour decorated endpapers. Frontispiece and title page illuminated in full colour with ten further colour illuminations throughout the text. The calligraphic text is printed in red and black, decorative initials in red and gold. An excellent near fine copy, the binding square and firm, the vellum with a little natural patina and mild dustiness to the spine. The spine label with a couple of small chips to the right edge. The contents, with a small previous owner's bookplate to the front pastedown, and minor marks to the blank margins are otherwise clean throughout. A very attractive example of a beautiful production. Signed by Francis Sangorski and… Read More