Rare books from The Accidental Bookseller, IOBA, FABA

London: William Heinemann 1935. First Edition.
This polemic on the First World War ("a lively indictment of Mars and his backers.") appeared in the run up to WWII and provides a fascinating view into the appeasement debate of the time. The work was inspired by Tomlinson's hatred of war, reflected in both the book's title and amazing jacket art, gained through his years as war correspondent in Belgium and France during the Great War.
A lovely copy, near fine if not better, in an equally near fine, bright dust wrapper with some wear to the bottom folds, two miniscule edge tears and slightly soiled rear panel and spine.
A scarce book in this condition.

New York: Living Hand, 1976. First Edition.
Limited Edition this is #260 of 500. Though not called for, signed by Auster.
After graduating Columbia in 1970, Paul Auster moved to Paris where he earned a living working as a telephone operator for the Paris bureau of the New York Times and translating French poetry. While in Paris, Auster founded Living Hand, both a little magazine and a small, independent publishing house. Living Hand took its name from Keats ("This living hand, now warm and capable"). Eight issues of Living Hand were published, containing a great number of Auster's translations. This is issue # 7, a full length monolog of Selected Poems from Andre Du Bouchet, translated by Auster.
A fine copy in wrappers.

The King's Printers: London 1930. Limited edition 350 numbered copies, of which 188 only (numbered 1 to 188) are for sale in the British Empire and 150 only (numbered i to cl) are for sale in the United States of America. This is # 167. Folio. xvi, 17-39pp Transcript, 20 plates by Inigo Jones and [40pp] facsimiles of the original manuscript. Boards bowed and soiled. Trace of removed bookplate. Pages uncut. About very good.

The Gehenna Press: Northampton, MA 1963. Limited edition to 300 numbered copies, this is #22. Not to be confused with the subsequent unnumbered trade edition. Colophon illustrated by Press Founder Leonard Baskin. A presentation copy from Baskin, signed and inscribed "for Louis". Though not certain, it seems likely that the recipient is Baskin's close friend Louis Smith. Smith (known as Smitty) ran a framing, glazing and art supply store in Northampton, and between 1955 and 1974, Baskin engraved a series of rooster illustrations for Smith's shop. In 1999, this series was printed under the title "Smitty's Cocks" in a limited signed edition, noting "The friendship between the Smiths and Baskin was legendary and fruitful. These special labels adorned the letterheads, billheads and...backs of pictures framed at Smith Glass & Mirror."Illustrator Barry Moser also credits Smith with introducing him to Baskin, a collaboration that would inspire Moser to found the Pennyroyal Press.31 pp, brown cloth spine… Read More

Knopf: New York 1990. First Edition. Author's Binding, a specially bound copy in quarter leather to be presented to close associates of the author. Top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, five raised bands, gilt titling. Inscribed by the poet to friends from his time at Amherst on the Frost Fellowship.A fine copy.

Faber and Faber London:1950. First edition of Robert Lowell's second trade published book and first published in UK. There was no comparable American issue. A very good copy indeed in orange cloth. One corner little bumped and slightly rubbed, bottom spine slightly rubbed also. Hinge a little weak between pages 32 and 33. Near fine, notoriously fragile purple dust wrapper not price clipped but is a little rubbed; spine a bit toned with two small / one tiny chip at the extremities.

Dublin: Wolfhound Press, 1976. Published to honor the author's eightieth birthday, bringing together 21 stories, many of which first appeared in magazines and journals. Limited edition 100 copies signed by the author. This is number 70. Quarter leather. A near fine copy with sharp edges and corners; spine slightly faded and rubbed. Slipcase slightly dust soiled but still fine.

New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1967. First Edition. Advance Review Copy with publisher's slip laid in. Signed by the author in his characteristically illegible hand. Fine in a little yellowed dust wrapper.

Signed by the author, a core member of The Inklings, an informal literary discussion group associated with J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis at Oxford for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1949.
A fine copy in fine dust wrapper save for 3 small closed edge tears and some general toning. An uncommon book in fine condition with Barfield's very scarce signature.
Barfield is known as "the first and last Inkling": "first" owing to his book of fantasy (The Silver Trumpet) appearing in 1925, before any of his peers' fantasy works; and "last" because he survived many of his contemporaries.
Barfield had a profound influence on C. S. Lewis and, through The Silver Trumpet and Poetic Diction (dedicated to Lewis), an appreciable effect on Tolkien.>
Barfield and C. S. Lewis met in 1919 as students at Oxford University and were close friends for 44 years. "It is no exaggeration to say that Lewis's friendship with Barfield was one of the most important in his life…". Barfield was an important… Read More

Complete in ten volumes.
Limited edition 1030 sets of which 1000 were for sale. Beautifully bound by Bayntun binders in half morocco. Top edge gilt; spine with raised bands, compartments lettered and decorated in gilt. A fine set.
Note: additional postage required

First edition of the classic 19th-century account of African exploration.
A signed presentation copy from Stanley to Dr William Garden Blaikie, author of the definitive biography of Dr. Livingstone: The Personal Life of David Livingstone (1880), with materials chiefly from Livingstone's unpublished Journals and Correspondence in the possession of his family, at whose request the book was undertaken.
Inscribed "To Professor Blaikie of Edinburgh reciprocating with many thanks his late courtesy, July 3rd, 1890, London".
A marvelous and historically important association copy.
Two volumes, 8vo. Original red pictorial cloth, decorated in gilt, map endpapers in pale green. Frontispiece in each volume plus 36 plates, 3 folding maps (2 in color), and 150 woodcut illustrations. Lower half of spine to volume 1 damp-stained, extending into the rear board. A little foxing to preliminary pages, one page with a small piece missing but not affecting text. Rubbing to extremities and corners, boards shaken and hinges… Read More

Signed by both Albert Schweitzer and his wife Helene. Books signed by Albert alone are uncommon; books signed by both Albert and Helene are scarce indeed.
While Albert received many of the accolades, including winning the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize for his "reverence for life" philosophy, Helene's biographer noted that she edited and proofread a number of Schweitzer's books in multiple fields as they worked together to realize their shared dream of devoting their lives to humanity. Together in 1913, Albert and Helene Schweitzer founded what is now the longest-running hospital established by Europeans in Africa, the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in current-day Gabon. With her quiet strength, clear sense of purpose, independent spirit, and wide range of skills and talents, Helene was a model for many other women who later served the Schweitzer Hospital.
Fine in like dust wrapper, preserved in a custom chemise and quarter leather slipcase.

Signed by Scalia as "Nino" and inscribed "with respect and affection" for Henry Abraham. Nino is the nickname Scalia acquired early in life, partly in remembrance of his grandfather, for whom he was named, and is how he was known to close friends.
The recipient is almost undoubtedly Henry J. Abraham, University of Virginia Law Professor, scholar on the judiciary and constitutional law, and friend to Scalia (as well as Justices Brennan, Powell, and Ginsberg). In his honor, Professor Abraham's former students and colleagues established the Abraham Distinguished Lecture Series at UVA Law School in 1997. Scalia was the 2010 Abraham Lecturer.
A fine copy in similarly fine, unclipped dust wrapper.
Association copies with Scalia's signature are uncommon indeed.