Rare books from Adrian Harrington Rare Books

London: Queen Anne Press, 2011. FINELY BOUND. Ten volumes bound by Shepherds, Sangorski and Sutcliffe in black full goatskin, gilt titles to spine and various onlays. Red endpapers and gilt top edges, each volume housed in a custom, lined slipcase with leather trim. The set housed in a black cloth box lined in red. Profusely illustrated. Set 'C' of 26 sets produced lettered A-Z. An exemplary presentation of Peake's work. A new set listed at the retail price. Fine. The definitive collection of Mervyn Peake's works, comprising four novels (The Gormenghast Trilogy and Mr Pye), two books for children (Letters from a Lost Uncle and Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor), a volume of poetry, a short story collection, a new volume of miscellaneous writings and rarely seen material, and a collection of illustrations painted for his two sons. The Queen Anne Press was founded in 1951 to publish limited editions by notable authors, including such luminaries as Evelyn Waugh, Patrick Leigh Fermor and Cyril Connolly.

London: Chatto and Windus, 1939. [Classic man-hunt adventure] FIRST EDITION, PROOF COPY, with an original 4-page advert/order form. Octavo, pp.[vii]; 271; [1], imprint. Publisher's brown card softcovers, with printed label to upper, handwritten details to spine. Contents clean, some wrinkling and lean to spine, covers lightly handled. A very good copy indeed, housed in a leather-spined clamshell box. An extremely scarce proof copy with a loose order form from Basil Blackwell, describing this novel as 'A Thriller of Thrillers'. The published book is a celebrated rarity in jacket however this is the first proof we have encountered, with none having appeared at auction. The thrillers of Geoffrey Household greatly influenced the writing of Ian Fleming. Hubin; Crime Fiction IV. p763. Gilbert, Jon; Ian Fleming The Bibliography pp.616-7.

Edinburgh: William Blackwood, March 1823. [Literary Magazine] CONTEMPORARY REVIEW. Octavo magazine in the original grey paper wrapper. pp.[2] 263-384 [4]. Edges untrimmed. An astonishingly well-preserved example, with just the slightest of spotting to preliminaries and some light thumbing and wear to the covers. Near-fine. A rare contemporary review of Mary Shelley's historical novel concerning the Guelph and Ghibelline factions of mediaeval Florence. With her identity revealed after the publication of 'Frankenstein', the review is inevitably somewhat patronising, but it takes the book seriously and concludes it is 'on the whole, a clever novel.'. Jean de Palacio, Mary Shelley Dans Son Oe uvre (Paris: Klincksieck, 1969), pp.654-656.

New York, NY: Random House, 1957. [Children's reading book] FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, with all points present. Quarto (23 x 17cm), pp.62. Illustrated throughout. Bound in publisher's pictorial blue boards, in illustrated dust-jacket repeating the cover design. Contents clean, page edges toned, jacket is edgeworn, one-inch chip to foot of spine, rubbed and creased. An inexpensive copy of the true first. Hirsch and Younger [7].

London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, 1887 [1886]. [Science Fiction Adventure] FIRST UK EDITION. Octavo (19 x 15cm), pp.viii; 234 [32]. Publisher's catalogue dated October 1886. With 42 wood engraved plates by Benett, including a frontispiece. Publisher's blue cloth with gilt titles and black, brown and white decoration to spine and upper. All edges gilt; cream endpapers. Two plates tipped back in, with a little rubbing to edges. Some very minor occasional marks to leaves, and a gentle tobacco scent. Heavy rubbing to cloth, with some colour lost to both boards, and toning to spine. Very good. A thrilling tale of round the world air travel under the the wing of Robur the master engineer, all the more remarkable for the fact that it was written a good fourteen years before the Wright brothers first got their ideas off the ground. First published in French in 1886, and the rarest mid-period Verne in English.

London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1900. [Adventure] FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.viii; 408. With 59 wood engraved plates by Roux, and the folding plate of 'The Noble Game of the United States of America' on india paper to preliminaries. Publisher's green cloth with gilt titles and white, black, and orange decoration to spine and upper. All edges gilt; patterned green endpapers. Gently toned with a light tobacco scent; slightly cocked. Some light occasional marks to leaves, with a small marginal tear to p.1/2. Moderate rubbing to cloth. Four plates tipped back in; somewhat rubbed and chipped to edges. Very good. One of Verne's later novels, first published in French in 1899, and curiously never published in America, where it is set. In a re-hash of the 'impossibly vast inheritance' genre, an American leaves $60,000,000 to the winner of a huge Goose Game laid out over the whole continent of North America, the seven contestants being specifically named in his Will. Printed in… Read More

London: Queen Anne Press, 2017. Royal quarto, with black and white illustrations throughout plus four suites of eight colour plates. Set in Albertina type and printed in two colours. Elegantly bound in full green cloth with black endpapers, gilt lettering and ornament. SIGNED by the author. Supplied with a felt lined custom slipcase in black cloth with the Fleming crest in gilt. New book, sold at the published RRP of £175, plus bespoke slipcase at £35 and global shipping. A comprehensive guide to the work of Ian Fleming by Jon Gilbert, an expert on the literary James Bond, covering everything from the first draft of "Casino Royale" in 1952 to editions still in print today. Published by Queen Anne Press, the imprint once managed by Ian Fleming, the book includes a preface from his nephew Fergus. First published in 2012 and having rapidly sold out, this award-winning bibliography is now back in print; the 2017 edition features some textual revisions and a handsome new binding of 'racing green' cloth,… Read More

Guildford: Genesis Publications Limited, 2010. [Rock music] FIRST EDITION. Folio, with 650 photographic illustrations. Limited edition, number 903 of 2500 copies SIGNED by Jimmy Page. Quarter bound in black morocco leather over unique perspex covers with screen-printed photograph portraits, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. In a leather and silk slipcase blocked in gilt and an outer protective drawstring bag. An unopened COMPLETE example, in the protective wrapping paper within original printed outer card mailer (titled in ink), which includes an integral tray to hold the publisher's glossy catalogue (usually lacking from copies not contained in the carton). The first official published work from the legendary Led Zeppelin guitarist. Page' photographic autobiography is a visual history of one of the world's most iconic and gifted rock musicians. A heavily subscribed title and now a Genesis Publications 'Hall of Fame' book, with all copies being sold out within days of publication.

London: Bloomsbury, 2007. [Fantasy adventure] FIRST DELUXE EDITION, SIGNED BY THE ARTIST. Octavo (24 x 16cm), pp.607; [1], blank. Publisher's black cloth, all edges gilt, purple endpapers, gilt titles to spine and upper with pictorial illustration laid down. Signed by the artist Jason Cockroft to the upper board. A fine, unread copy, in the scarce accompanying promotional gift bag with ribbon handles and printed details; these were available for one day only- the book launch date 21st July 2007. A unique presentation set. Over many years Adrian Harrington Ltd have built an unequalled relationship with all the illustrators of the Harry Potter jackets and are the primary source for autographs and artwork. Errington A14(aaa).

London: Jonathan Cape, 1965. [Pop culture] UNCORRECTED PROOF COPY IN DUST-WRAPPER, with various differences to the published version. Duodecimo (18 x 14cm), pp.96. Printed sheets, sewn, with blank endleaves, in a proof-only dust-wrapper. Profusely illustrated with Lennon's idiosyncratic drawings. A lovely fine copy, inside and out. The most important and obvious difference between this proof and the trade edition is the presence of a dust jacket. The published version featured photographic covers, but no jacket. This proof jacket has the same design as the hard covers, but carries an exclusive blurb to the front flap and publication details to rear flap. Within the book there are also a number of significant changes, primarily concerning the colour. In the trade version the two colours brown and green are used within the text and for the illustrations. These colours vary in the proof- the brown is much paler and the green less olive and more mint in shade; the most noticeable feature however is the… Read More

Jonathan Cape and Queen Anne Press, 2014. 4 volumes, quarto. Green cloth boards, spine and front boards lettered in gold and red, green car-patterned endpapers. Housed in grey cloth slipcase. Illustrated by John Burningham. A fine set. Deluxe limited edition, one of just 50 sets, accompanied by two prints, measuring 295 x 210mm, signed and numbered by John Burningham. A facsimile of the first edition of Ian Fleming's famous children's story. The original edition was illustrated by the renowned book-artist John Burningham as only his second commission; for this edition he has re-worked some of his original artwork for the book. This copy is from the significant Ian Fleming collection of Martin Schøyen (b.1940), whose private collection of manuscripts, which span all cultures and all time periods, is one of the largest and most comprehensive of its kind. The Schøyen Collection No. 200.

London: Bloomsbury, 2000. [Fantasy adventure] FIRST DELUXE EDITION, SIGNED by the author. Octavo (24 x 16cm), pp.636; [4], blank. Publisher's purple cloth, all edges gilt, gilt titles to spine and upper with pictorial illustration laid down, autographed by Greenfield. This copy autographed by J.K.Rowling at the 2004 Edinburgh International Book Festival, complete with related postcard and dayglo paper entry wristband. A fine, unread copy. This copy was previously sold by Adrian Harrington in 2013, and includes a letter of provenance accompanying that listing.

Guildford: Genesis Publications, 2016. [Rock Autobiography] DELUXE LIMITED EDITION. Quarto (43 x 38cm), pp.352. Number 256 of 350 deluxe copies, SIGNED by Jeff Beck. Bound by hand in full Italian leather, with silver page edging and hand tooling. A stamped metal front cover reproduces a Californian number plate from the year Beck was born. The large format book (280 mm x 320mm; 11 in x 12.5 in) is housed in an archival case. The case features a foil-blocked illustration inspired by Von Dutch's legendary pin striping designs. Deluxe copies include an exclusive signed print suitable for framing. A fine, as-new copy, still in the original card mailer. 'In BECK01 Jeff Beck takes us on the journey of a lifetime. Over five decades, he has blazed a trail forging a unique style lauded by critics, fans and fellow guitar legends. Telling the story behind the music, Beck's twin inspirations - hot rodding and rock'n'roll - are now bound together in the official signed limited edition book of his career. Beck has… Read More

London: Fourth Estate, 2009; 2012; 2020. [Historical fiction] COMPLETE SIGNED LIMITED EDITIONS. Octavo (24 x 16 x 15cm). Publisher's quarter black cloth over red cloth sides, decorated in gilt to spines and uppers; coloured flipped for 'Bring Up the Bodies'. Each SIGNED by Hilary Mantel, priced at £30, £35, and £50 respectively. Fine, as-new copies still in the original shrink-wrap, but for a light water stain to top right of the upper board of the third volume.

London: George Allen and Unwin, 1961. [Fantasy Classic] FIRST EDITION, the eleventh, eighth, and eighth impressions respectively. Complete in three volumes. Octavo (23 x 15 x 10cm), pp.423 [1]; pp.352; pp.416. With a folding map at the rear of each volume. Publisher's red cloth with gilt titles to spines and top edges red. With the cream typographic dust-jackets, each priced at 21s. No ink names or ownership. Crisp, clean, fine copies of the books in fine jackets with some gentle tonign to the spines. Housed in a modern card slipcase replicating the publisher's original box. A fantastical trilogy, "The Lord of the Rings" is one of the greatest books of the twentieth century, containing amazing details of a new mythology, never really surpassed. Basis for the epic film series directed by Peter Jackson, 'The Return' (2003) winning a record 11 Oscars from 11 nominations. This is an attractive set, bought at the same time in 1961 and carefully kept since.