WILDE, Oscar. THE BALLAD OF READING GAOL by C.3.3. - First edition

London: Leonard Smithers, 1898. 8vo (8.8 in, 22.4 cm). viii, 1-31 on every recto [3 blanks] pp. C. & p. For the first edition, 800 copies were printed on handmade paper and 30 copies on Japanese vellum. Of these, 800 handmade paper copies plus 20 Japanese vellum copies sold out in a few days. Printed at the Chiswick Press; no printer's imprint.

First edition: Brilliant Irish dramatist and wit, Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was gay so convicted of gross indecency and given the maximum sentence of two years' hard labor. Wilde was declared bankrupt while in prison. The following year he published The Ballad of Reading Gaol by C.3.3. to refer to prison cell 3 on the third landing of gallery C.

CBEL. OCEL. Mason 371. Vellum spine lettered in gilt over mustard-yellow cloth. All edges deckle. Dutch handmade paper watermarked "Van Gelder." Pastedown with armorial bookplate and first free endpaper with brief bookseller's imprint in blind. Vellum somewhat sunned, covers slightly soiled with minor cockles, endpapers plus reverse show paste action, deckle edges age-toned. Well-preserved, tight, and clean first edition. Very good+. Hardcover. (1085)

$2,000

FRANK, Anne. ANNE FRANK: The Diary of a Young Girl. - First English language edition

Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1952. 8vo (7.4 in, 18.8 cm). 285 pp. B. M. Mooyaart-Doubleday (translator); Eleanor Roosevelt (introduction).

First English language edition: First edition stated on copyright page and $3.00 on jacket flap. Anneliese Frank's diary documents her life in hiding during the Nazi occupation of Holland beginning in 1942. It is a harrowing narrative.

Topstain red. Publisher's black cloth with silver lettering to spine. Pictorial endpapers with photos and text of their "Secret Annexe" and Anne's diary. Introduction by Eleanor Roosevelt. Jacket with clear archival protector. Front pastedown with neat last name under jacket flap, verso of front free endpaper with tidy name dated 1952. Rear board with bottom edge dented, margin with closed tear, pages toned. Jacket head with shallow chipping, lower rear panel with closed tear, toned except front cover. A well-preserved copy of a powerfully compelling book. Very good in very good+ dust jacket. Hardcover. (800)

$1,250

JACOBS, Jane. THE DEATH AND LIFE OF GREAT AMERICAN CITIES. - First edition

New York & Toronto: Random House, 1961. 8vo (9.1 in, 23.2 cm). [x], 458 [2] pp. C. & p.

First edition: First printing stated. Jane Jacobs (1916-2006) was an American-born Canadian community activist noted for her incisive observations of urban planning and design. In her landmark book, Jacobs passionately criticizes the incoherence wrought by Modernist buildings upon city neighborhoods and their vitality.

Britannica com. Price intact on front flap. Dust jacket spine subtly sunned. Well-preserved, tight, and clean first edition. Fine in near fine dust jacket. Hardcover. (1058)

$800

ELIOT, T.S. ANIMULA. - Signed first edition

London: Faber & Faber, [1929]. First Edition. Folio (7.3 in, 18.5 cm). 4 unnumbered pp.; frontis.

Signed first edition: This wrappered first edition of 9 October 1929 preceded the hardcover signed edition of 28 October 1929. Ariel Poem, No. 23. T.S. Eliot's (1888-1965) signature verified unofficially through emailed photographs by a long-standing International Society of Appraisers (ISA) specialist in books, manuscripts, and autographs. Gifted engraver and sculptor, Gertrude Hermes (1901-1983) taught at London art schools including The Royal Academy of Schools, which awarded her Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE). Hermes supported initiatives for women in the arts.

Gallup A14a. Author Price Guides 014b. Rare Book Hub. Original sewn wrapper. Two wood engravings by Gertrude Hermes on pictorial wrapper and frontispiece. Signed by Eliot under his printed name at the poem's conclusion. Wrapper is faintly dusty. Tight, square, clean, superbly-preserved signed first edition. Probability of reappearance: 25+ years. Fine in near fine wraps.

Signed by Author (716)

$700

BRODRICK, Thomas. A COMPLEAT HISTORY OF THE LATE WAR. IN THE NETHERLANDS. - First edition

A COMPLEAT HISTORY OF THE LATE WAR. IN THE NETHERLANDS. Together with an Abstract of the Treaty of Utrecht. The whole Illustrated with 15 Curious Copper Plates; And the Coat of Arms of most of the Nobility, and several other Eminent Persons.

London: William Pearson for Thomas Ward, 1713. 2 vols. 8vo (9 in, 22.9 cm). [2] [10] 23 [1] xvi, 218; [2] 221-448 [12]; copper plates: maps and plans. Map "page 305" at p.317. Vol. 1 with initial advertisement leaf, folded frontispiece, and subscribers list; Vol. 2 with index.

First edition: During a formative period for Britain and Parliament following the Revolution of 1688 and the Union with Scotland in 1707 when Whigs opposed Tories, Thomas Brodrick (1654-1730) was a member of the Irish and British parliaments under William and Mary, and Anne and George I. Leading Whig politician, in support of constitutional as opposed to absolute monarchism, Broderick "generally supported government, but not uniformly" and was known for his anticlerical views. - Collins's Peerage of England, vol. 8, p. 464.

ESTC T114756. Cruikshanks, History of Parliament, overview. Contemporary paneled calf; gilt spine with red morocco label. Red speckled edges. Headpiece and floriated initial to chapters; tailpiece to sections. 15 double-page engraved plates of maps and plans. Bookplate of Francis Pigott, Esq., possible relation to Brodrick's wife Anne Pigott at pastedowns; bookplate of Sir Willoughby Jones, Baronet to front free endpapers. Extremeties worn, top edges dusty, vol. 1 front blank with perforated tear. Tight, clean copy. Very good+. Full calf. (883)

$670

HEIDEGGER, Johann Heinrich. HISTORIA PAPATUS. - First edition

HISTORIA PAPATUS. Novissimo Historiae Lutheranismi & Calvinismi fabro kata biaion reposita. Qua Ecclesiae Romanae, septem Periodis distinctae, origo & progressus, ad nostra usque tempora, pertexitur. Amsterdam: Printed by Heinricum Wetstenium, 1684. 4to (8.1", 20.6 cm). [28], 598 40 [20] pp. Latin. Francesco Guicciardini (editor).

First edition: The preeminent Swiss theologian of his time (not the 20th-century philosopher), Heidegger (1633-1698) was a professor of Hebrew, philosophy, dogmatics and ecclesiastical history, moral philosophy, and theology. This is a chief example of his influential writings, which were largely leveled against the Roman Catholic Church; though not antagonistic, all his works were on the list of forbidden books. The Protestant Reformation sought to end church injustices and hierarchies and sought secular religion, priests relieved of celibacy, and dismissed opulence. Post-reformation, Heidegger sought to unify the Swiss Reformed churches, still organized as separate entities. Also, the Age of Enlightenment of the 17th century characterized by the scientific revolution, philosophers circulating their ideas, and printed works served to undermine the authority of the monarchy and the church.

Encyclopaedia Britannica. British Library online. CERL online. Heritage Auctions catalogue of 2015. Catalogue of the Library of the Late William R. Williams, STD, LLD. of 1896, Part II, Item no. 686. Rear pastedown with bookplate of Rev. William Robert Williams noted for his library of church history and theology remarkable for its breadth and historic provenance; title-page with small William R. Williams on upper outer corner. Contemporary vellum binding, author and title neatly written at top of spine. All edges speckled red. Red and black text to title page. Decorated capitals and endpieces. Ex-library with Newton Theological Institution subtly labeled on spine and blind-stamped to upper-right corner of title-page, p.3, p.301, and p.597. Vellum binding lightly soiled and lightly bowed, trace of pale foxing, and handful corner creases. Excellent, tight, clean copy. Very good+. Vellum. (880)

$450

PUGH, John. REMARKABLE OCCURRENCES IN THE LIFE OF JONAS HANWAY, ESQ. - First edition

Comprehending an abstract of such parts of his travels In Russia, and Persia, as are the most interesting; a short history of the rise and progress of the charitable and political institutions founded or supported by him; Several Anecdotes, and an Attempt to Delineate his Character. London: Printed by J. Davis for the author, 1787. 8vo (9", 22.9 cm). [2], x, 262 pp., folded plate: map. Printed by J. Davis for the author, and sold by Payne and Son, at the Mewse Gate; Cadel, in the Strand; Sewel, in Cornhill; and Flexney, in Holborn.

First edition: A biography of Jonas Hanway noted traveler, philanthropist, and social reformer. A governor of Foundling Hospital and founder of Magdalen House, Hanway took on many causes. He sought to assist the poor, especially poor youth, by addressing infant mortality and the plight of chimney sweeps. Jonas Hanway advocated individual confinement for prisoners.

ESTC T76848. Lowndes II, p.993. DNB 24, p.312-316. Encylopaedia Britannica XII, p.932. Contemporary quarter calf with paper covers. Top edge trimmed; fore and lower deckle edges. 1888 ownership to front pastedown. Opens to fold-out map of the Caspian Sea. Closes with "A correct list of all the writings of Jonas Hanway, Esq. arranged in the order in which they were published." Head, tail, and spine label chipped, joints starting, pages with sporadic small stains; rear fly-leaf lacking large chip, edges age-toned. Very good. 1/4 Calf. (878)

$380

FROST, Robert. A WAY OUT A One Act Play. - Signed limited edition

New York: Harbor Press, 1929. 4to (7.8 in, 19.7 cm). [i-xiv], [1] 2-19 [20-22] pp.

First separate edition: Limited #226/485. Signed by Robert Frost in holograph at the end of his introduction. Appeared as part of an anthology in 1927. Frost "maintained a lasting wish that someday he himself might achieve success as a dramatist." - Latham & Thompson, Robert Frost Reader, p. 307. "Everything written is as good as it is dramatic. It need not declare itself in form, but it is drama or nothing." - introduction by Frost.

Crane A11. Clymer & Green p. 48. Quarter fine black linen cloth with salmon paper sides, spine lettered in gilt and double rickrack lines stamped in gilt on cloth portion of covers. Scarce glassine wrapper in clear archival protector. Book with touch of shelf wear, wrapper with faint trace of scratches. Near Fine in near fine glassine wrapper. Hardcover.

Signed by Author (717)

$300

GENLIS, Stéphanie Félicité comtesse de. MEMOIRES INEDITS DE MADAME LA COMTESSE DE GENLIS - First ed

MEMOIRES INEDITS DE MADAME LA COMTESSE DE GENLIS, sur le dix-huitième siècle et la Révolution française, depuis 1756 jusqu'à nos jours. Paris: Chez Ladvocat, Libraire de S.A.R. Monseigneur le duc de Chartres, au Palais-Royal, 1825. 10 volume set. 12mo (7.3 in, 18.5 cm). [6] i-viii i-xviii 399 [1], xx 380, xxiii 374, xi 370, xvi 375, xi 367, xii 387, xi 368, xi 414, viii 400 pp.

First edition: Madame la Comtesse de Genlis (1746-1830) wrote 120 published works for a large audience in Europe. Genlis had extensive influence on women writers, read by Mary Wollstonecraft, Jane Austen, Hannah More, and Frances Burney. An early feminist, Genlis campaigned for education, especially female education. Self-taught, Genlis was the first woman to be appointed "governor" to royal children including the future King of France.

Larousse, Grand dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle p. 990. Bibliotheque Nationale FRBNF30495670. Library Hub Discover. Contemporary half calf, sides overlaid with green paper and marbled paper corners; spine with two tan compartments plus gilt rules, gilt decoration, and gilt title. Volume 1 with two portraits of Madame de Genlis at 25 and 80 years of age by Miss Coignet and Deveria. Though she mocked autographs, Madame de Genlis consented to a facsimile note bound into volume 1. Each volume with an index. Volume 10 encloses an undated letter written by M Ed Volm of Dutch patisserie B.Lem Gerodias and addressed to Madame Labouchere. Exteriors somewhat worn, Vol 1 head and front joint fragile with pages intermittently stained, Volumes 2-10 with front joints starting to strong and pages faintly foxed to clean. First edition by prominent proponent of female education also offers first-person insight into an important period of French history. Very good. 1/2 Leather. (856)

$300