Rare books from Peter Austern & Co. Books & Ephemera / Brooklyn Books

New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1963. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). One of the 20th century's mos influential philosophers and writers, posits an essay that seeks to reconcile Marxism with existentialism. Exploring the complicated relationship the two philosophical schools of thought have with one another, Sartre proposes that the two are in fact compatible and complimentary towards one another. An importfiant work of leftist philosophy, Search for a Method is a major influence on current perceptions of existentialism and Marxism..

Los Angeles: Church of Scientology of California, 1978. Book. Illus. by L. Ron Hubbard , Photographer. Very Good. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). 1st Edition. Signed on the front free endpaper 'L. Ron Hubbard / Founder'. L. Ron Hubbard is perhaps best known for his book, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (first published in 1950), and as the founder of the Church of Scientology. According to the church, his written teachings make up approximately 500,000 pages and 3,000 recorded lectures, totaling about 65 million words. Hubbard also produced a hundred films, and 500 short stories and novels in a wide variety of genres, including science fiction, fantasy, adventure fiction, aviation, travel, mystery, western and romance..

2001. Ephemera. Illus. by Illustated. Fine. No Binding. Signed by Author(s). July 26, 2001. Certificate of 'RECOGNITION'. SIGNED by FIDEL CASTRO. Large and graphic, this award (written in Spanish) was awarded to Danais Lima Gomez, for his 'excellent work' doing social work/public service in Havana's barrios and acknowledging the anniversary of the Cuban Revolution in 2001 -- 26 de Julio del 2001, Ciudad de La Habana and "Ano de la Revolucion Victoriosa en el Neuvo Milenio"-- a patriotic description of Cuba's Independence Day, July 26th, and the July Movement of the Cuban Revolution. Castro spearheaded the popular revolution that overthrew Cuban then dictator Fulgencio Batista. From 1959-2008, Castro served as Cuba's president and revolutionary leader. Signed by FIDEL CASTRO in bold, blue ink-- next to design-photograph of a large, carved statue of a strong worker holding a small, dependent child. Certificate: 16.75" x 11.5", full color printing and… Read More

New York: Collier Books, 1926. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). 8vo - over 7¾. The Chinese Parrot (1926) is the second novel in the Charlie Chan series of mystery novels by Earl Derr Biggers. It is the first in which Chan travels from Hawaii to mainland California, and involves a crime whose exposure is hastened by the death of a parrot. The story concerns a valuable string of pearls which is purchased by a wealthy and eccentric financier. The handsome young son of the jeweler is assigned to shepherd the transfer of the pearls to the financier's vacation home in a desert area of California. Because of his long association with the owner of the pearls- before joining the police force, he was her houseboy-Charlie Chan travels from Hawaii to California with the pearls. After two mysterious deaths, first of a Chinese-speaking parrot and then of the household's Chinese man-of-all-work, Charlie Chan masquerades as a pidgin-speaking cook named Ah Kim and works underground to… Read More

NY: W.W. Norton, 1949. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. Inscribed by Author(s). 1st Edition. Front hinge shows a hairline split of the paper. Still firm, tight, clean , and bright. Overall VG. Philo Taylor Farnsworth (1906 - 1971) was an American inventor and television pioneer. His patents were crucial to the development of television.He is perhaps best known for his 1927 invention of the first fully functional video camera tube, the "image dissector", as well as the first fully functional and complete television system. Farnsworth developed a television system complete with receiver and camera, which he produced commercially in the form of the Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation, from 1938 to 1951, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In later life, Farnsworth invented a small nuclear fusion device, the Farnsworth-Hirsch fusor, or simply "fusor", employing inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC). Although not a practical device for generating nuclear energy, the fusor serves as a… Read More

Boston: Little Brown & Co, 1994. Book. Illus. by Illustrated from Photographs. Very Good. Hardcover. Signed Nelson Mandela. 1st Edition. 8vo - over 7¾.

NY: The Century Co., 1907. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). 1st Edition. 1907, 1st edition, 1st printing. Inscribed by Luther Burbank- superstar botanist, American plant breeder, pioneer of agricultural science. Beginning in 1880s, Luther Burbank developed 800+ strains and varieties of plants during his 55-year career. Burbank gained fame by saving U.S. potato crops from the deadly blight through cultivating russet potatoes-- thus cementing public opinion of Luther Burbank as a major influence in American botany, horticulture and agricultural science. Burbank's plant studies led him to become a major and influential proponent of Eugenics, the dominant social philosophy of the Western world in 19th to mid-20th century-- advocates included American President Woodrow Wilson & birth-control activist Margaret Sanger. "The Training of the Human Plant" is a highly readable book of Luther Burbank's views on Eugenics and how best to raise children into capable, healthy… Read More

England: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 1992. Book. Fair. Hardcover. inscribed by Mother Teresa. 1st Edition. 1992. 1st edition, 1st printing. -- 'MOTHER TERESA - A Life in Pictures'. INSCRIBED-- 'God bless you', M. Teresa, 19/4/93' -- on half-title page. Hardcover in dustjacket. A handsome book - 160 pages of b&w photographs and descriptions show Mother Teresa and her long life of service to humanity. Chapters include: Introduction/ The Early Years in Skopje/ The Long Awaited Arrival in India/ Home Away From Home; The Loreto Convent/ Loretto Entally, Calcutta; The Vocation Expands/ The Great famine And Direct Action Day/ The Call Within A Call/ The First True Home; Mother House/ Shishu Bhavan - Children's Home For The Blind, Dumb, Crippled And Abandoned/ Nirmal Hriday - The Place Of The Pure Heart, Home For The Dying Destitutes/ Calcutta/ Mother Teresa receives The World's Recognition For Her Work. In very good condition overall-- clean square, bright, and tight, with… Read More

NY: Doubleday, 1969. Book. Near Fine. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). 1st Edition. 4to - over 9¾. 237 pp. Decorated endpapers. Signed on a tipped in White House carte-de-visite. the story begins with his Kansas boyhood, service in the Army, rise to General in WW II, his presidency and major events, and then home to Gettysburg..

NY: Lothrop Company, 1960. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). 1st Edition. 1960, You Learn By Living by Eleanor Roosevelt, signed 1st edition, Harper & Brothers. Signed on the front endpaper by Eleanor Roosevelt. and later inscribed [as a Christmas gift] by Abba Schwartz, a close political associate of J FK, Robert F. Kennedy, and Eleanor Roosevelt's trusted advisor. When Kennedy became President he named Schwartz Assistant Secretary of State for Security and Consular Affairs. One of the most admired people of the twentieth century, Eleanor Roosevelt remains a role model for a life well lived. At the age of seventy-six, just two years before her death, Roosevelt wrote this simple guide toward a more fulfilling life. Her commonsense ideas-and heartfelt ideals-presented in this volume are as relevant today as they ever were. Her keys to a life well lived? Learning to Learn Fear: The Great Enemy The Use of Time; The Difficult Art of Maturity Readjustment Is Endless… Read More

San Antonio, TX: Southern Literary Institute, 1935. Book. Good. Hardcover. Inscribed by Author(s). 1st Edition. 1st edition. Scarce- 1935 San Antonio, TX imprint. A rare book with a rare autograph and inscription of Carrie Rodgers. Mississippi is home to the blues, birthplace of Elvis Presley -first star of rock n' roll, and home to Jimmie Rodgers "The Father of Country Music." Rodgers had two other nicknames during his career, "The Singing Brakeman," which referred to his work on trains, and "America's Blue Yodeler," which described one of his distinctive contributions to country music. A partial dust jacket remains [front cover & flap]. The text block is uniformly edge-toned.The remains of damp stain and mildew are many decades old- mainly to the back cover, rear pastedown & last 3 pages. A scarce item of a precious icon of American music. .

London: Printed by John Murray, 1845. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. 2nd Edition. RARE LIMITED EDITION of a CELEBRATED, IMPORTANT & UNCOMMON EARLY EDITION A NATURALIST'S VOYAGE in a FINE LEATHER BINDING JOURNAL OF RESEARCHES INTO THE NATURAL HISTORY AND GEOLOGY of the Countries Visited During THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. BEAGLE ROUND THE WORLD by CHARLES DARWIN Second Edition, Corrected, With Additions LONDON: Printed by John Murray. 1845, Albemarle Street (Published date 1845). Rare Second edition Corrected with Additions - stated on the title page. 8vo. 7" x 5" inches (LxB). Pp. viii, [2], 519, [1, ads] pages, with in-text wood engraved illustrations. Preface dated June 1845. A rare book bound in later Fine original 3/4 dark brown calf leather binding over marbled boards, attractive gilt decorated gilt ruled spine with 4 raised bands & a red gilt lettered morocco label in the second compartment, handsomely bound at a later date to style. Darwin added a fulsome dedication to Lyell and a considerable amount of… Read More

NY: W. W. Norton & Co., 1963. Book. Good. Hardcover. Inscribed by Author(s). 1st Edition. 1963. INSCRIBED, 1st EDITION (2nd PRINTING) --'THE FEMININE MYSTIQUE'-- author BETTY FRIEDAN inscribed her book, 'For Jean Dietz - companion in a torturous hour'. Laid-in is a hand-written invitation to Jean Dietz to meet with Betty Friedan at another woman's home in Brookline, Mass., and hear Friedan 'talk about full equality for women in truly equal partnership with men --'Pretty heady stuff!' Betty Friedan's 'The Feminine Mystique' is often credited with kicking off the "second wave" of feminism-- Friedan's treatise dealt with social issues such as workplace equality, birth control, abortion, and women's education; she tapped into middle-class American women's dissatisfaction with their lives, the routine of domestic life, chores and caring for children. Her book addressed women's discontent with ingrained societal sexism that limited… Read More

NY: Simon & Schuster, 1959. Book. Very Good. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). 8vo - over 7¾. 1959, EARLY PRINTING, SIGNED --LEONARD BERNSTEIN'S 'THE JOY of MUSIC'-- Bernstein's pioneering work is in very nice condition. The dust jacket has some shelf wear but presents well. JSA certificate of authority included..

NY: Harper and Row, 1981. Book. Good. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). 8vo - over 7¾. 1981 printing. .