Rare books from THE FINE BOOKS COMPANY

EARTHLIGHT, Ballantine, 1955, first edition, fine in just about fine Powers dust-wrapper with some slight rubbing to the rear dust-wrapper panel. Among the authors most difficult first editions to locate in cloth. And this is a superb copy. SIGNED by the author on a bookplate laid in. Among those titles listed in BALLANTINE BOOKS: THE FIRST DECADE, Bailiwick Books, 1987.

WAY STATION, Doubleday, 1963, first edition., minor bump/crease to the spine extremities, else just about fine in near fine dust-wrapper save for some light rubbing and dust-soil to the front and rear dust-wrapper panels. SIGNED by the author. Among the most difficult HUGO winning novels to locate in first edition.

CUP OF GOLD, Mcbride, 1929, first edition., spine and upper 2cm of front panel lightened, some off-setting to the front cover, else a tight vg+ or better copy in just about vg second printing dust-wrapper with some wear and tear, mostly to the dust-wrapper spine extremities. Actually a very nice copy of this, the second issue of the first edition sheets of the authors first book bound in maroon cloth with the McBride colophon on the last page of text and released here in 1936. (Not to be confused with the very common 2ND EDITION (NOT second issue) published by Covici Friede in blue cloth without the McBride colophon on the last page of text).

BLACK-BELT DIAMONDS, Fortune and Scott, 1898, first edition, some mild age toning to the t.p.e.'s, very slight rubbing to the corner tips, else a near fine copy. Quite scarce thus. Gems from the Speeches, Addresses and Talks to students. Selected and arranged by Victoria Earle Matthews and with an introduction by T. Thomas Fortune, the later being an important African / American orator, civil rights leader, journalist, writer, editor and publisher.

LAST WORDS, Digby, Long & Co., 1902, first edition, spine a tad lightened, some modest silverfish to the rear cover, else a tight vg copy of this most uncommon book, perhaps his rarest trade edition, which has several stories appearing only here in book format. There is no American edition of this book. 

WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, Stokes, 1933, 1st edition, a bright near fine copy of this classic world catastrophe novel in an equally bright vg+ first printing full color pictorial dust-wrapper with a small chip missing from the upper left corner of the bit faded dust-wrapper spine panel. Of three binding states, this is by far the scarcest and while we cannot prove it to be the first of the three such bindings, the logical evidence certainly seems to support this case as this binding has gold lettering on the spine only and measures an 1/8 inch higher than its other two counterparts; both shorter and identical in size, one with powder blue lettering on both the burgundy cloth spine and front cover and the other with black lettering on both the brick red cloth spine and front cover. While the priority of these bindings may remain unknown, it certainly was a long time custom for first state bindings to have gold-gilt lettering and later state bindings to be without. Also it seems most illogical for a… Read More

KING KONG, Grosset & Dunlap, 1932, first edition, some expert professional color retouch to the fore edge margins of the covers, else near fine in bright vg/vg+ full color pictorial dust-wrapper with some light wear and tear and chipping, the latter quite shallow and only at the spine and flap extremities. Stills from this marvelous groundbreaking epic film (the first of now three such productions) make up the photo end-papers. A very nice copy. 

DOWN ALL THE DAYS, Secker & Warburg, 1970, first edition, fine in vg/vg+ color pictorial dust-wrapper with some slight rubbing. SIGNED and dated at time of publication by the author with the added phrase, "Here's to rum!" Rare when encountered SIGNED or INSCRIBED.

THE RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE MAD, World Publishing Company, 1969, first edition, fine like full color pictorial dust-wrapper with just the slightest of wear to the dust-wrapper spine extremities and with all inserts present and unused. Profusely illustrated in both color and black & white on every page. "A collection of the worst from 17 years of MAD." Quite scarce in this condition.

AVENTURES D'ALICE AU PAYS DES MERVEILLES, Macmillan, 1869, first French edition, some wear to the spine extremities, inner hinges just barely starting, else a tight, bright vg or better copy in the publishers original blue cloth binding with all page edges gilt, spine lettering gold-gilt, triple rules to both covers likewise in gold-gilt as well as the circle encased Alice avec cochon on the front cover and the similar circle encased Cheshire Cat on the rear cover.

SCIENCE FICTION BECOMES SCIENCE FACT THE AMERICAN GUN CLUB ( FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON), Scribner, Armstrong & Company, 1874, first edition, obvious wear to the fore edge corner tips and bottom edges with some cloth loss, spine darkened with cloth loss at head & heel of spine, covers somewhat soiled and rubbed, rear inner hinge open, else perhaps a decent copy in the publishers original gold-gilt pictorial cloth. This copy INSCRIBED by Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin to a most prominent collector and Sam Moskowitz Archive award winner. This title re-publishes the first half of its earlier released version FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON including 24 full page illustrations. Translated from the French by Louis Mercier. and Eleanor E. King. An instant heirloom virtually impossible to find INSCRIBED as this is.

NOW WAIT FOR LAST YEAR, MacFadden Books, 1968, first soft-cover edition, front cover reveals a modest reading crease along the entire length of the front cover about a half inch from the spine, else vg+ in full color pictorial wraps. SIGNED by the author. Quite scarce thus. 

( THE BRADBURY CHRONICLES / MARTIAN LANDSCAPE ) LARGE FULL COLOR OIL PAINTING MEASURING 42 BY 25 INCHES DEPICTING VARIOUS SCENES FROM THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES. FRAMED AND READY TO BE HUNG. This painting was commissioned by Phantasia Press and was to be used for their publication of what later became THE BRADBURY CHRONICLES when another publisher received the contract to produce the book when Phantasia Press decided not to do it afterall. A stunning work and what may be Barclay Shaw's largest work to date. The perfect piece for the Bradbury collector who has everything.

THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS, Walker, 1969, first edition, near fine in like illustrated dust-wrapper with a half inch closed tear to the lower margin of the rear dust-wrapper panel. The first of the authors 2 HUGO winning novels. SIGNED by the author on a bookplate laid in. $3,277 postpaid $2,875

THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ, G.M. Hill, 1900, first edition (3rd issue binding with plain unserified type in red lettering as opposed to green and with the "o" imbedded within the C for company), some light soiling to the covers, binding recased, small nick to the fore edge of the front cover, else a tight vg copy in the publishers original pictorial binding with points in the second state (that is corrected text) and all 24 full color plates present. Still a quite nice copy actually.