New Arrivals
Wooden Willie
Chicago: M. A. Donohue & Company, 1927. 95 pp. 6 x 9"; Illustrated dust jacket has really minor wear, a small tear to the back cover, in near fine condition; Illustrated boards with black cloth spine, beautiful full-color illustrations throughout including some fantastic endpapers, some rubbing to bottom edges of book and a little only at the top, otherwise a lovely copy in very good + condition.
Johnny Gruelle (1880 - 1938), was an American children's book author, comics author, illustrator, and political cartoonist. He is probably best known for his Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy dolls and books.
Prelude to Space
[New York]: Gnome Press, Inc., 1954. 191 pp. 5 1/2 x 8"; First American edition, first printing; Illustrated dust jacket by EMSH with some slight rubbing, original price of $2.50 intact, in very good condition; Blue boards with red lettering on spine, some foxing to page edges, age toning of paper throughout, some stains to front cover, a lovely copy in very good condition.
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (1917 - 2008) was a British science fiction writer, among other things . Best known for his screenplay for 2001: A Space Odyssey, he was a lifelong advocate of space travel.
Bones: A Nameless Detective Mystery
New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985. 5 3/4 x 8 1/4". 196 pp. Illustrated dust jacket with some creasing and wear at the edges, in very good + condition; Black cloth over boards with silver lettering on spine, in near fine condition.
Bill Pronzini, winner of the Best Novel of 1981, awarded by the Private Eye Writers of America for his novel "Hoodwink", Pronzini lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, as does his nameless detective. Bones is a mystery about a dead man's reasons for suicide and end up involving a figid wife, a ruthless lawyer, a bitter ex-wife, and a beligerant taxidermist turned landlord (according to the dust jacket flap). Full of deceit, intrigue and murder, it's an exciting mystery.
The Bookman's Wake
New York: Scribner, 1995. 6 1/4 x 9 1/2". 351 pp. First edition; Illustrated dust jacket in near-fine condition; Tan cloth over maroon boards with red lettering on spine, signed by the author on the title page with date of "4-12-95", binding a little loose in the spine, otherwise in near-fine condition.
This is the author's second book and the second time with the Cliff Janeway character. It involves a mysterious and rare Edgar Allan Poe book that someone might kill for and probably did.
10-lb Penalty
London: Michael Joseph, 1997. 6 x 9 1/2". 272 pp. First edition; Pictorial dust jacket in fine condition; Black cloth over boards with gilt stamped lettering on spine, signed by the author on the title page, in fine condition.
In Dick Francis' 36th novel, Benedit Juliard is an amateur jockey whose father has political ambitions which end up embroiling them both in lies and treachery. Born Richard Stanley Francis (1920 - 2010), Dick Francis was a British crime writer whose novels were mostly centered on horse racing in England (he was a former steeplechase jockey himself).
Trouble with Trolls
New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1992. Approximately 9 1/4 x 11 1/4". Illustrated dust jacket in fine condition; Illustrated paper over boards, inscribed by author on title page, a few small water marks on title page, in near fine condition.
Beautiful picture book, from Jan Brett, an American write and illustrator. A Scandanavian tale about a girl named Treva who tries to keep the Trolls on Mount Baldy from stealing her dog. Lovely to find a first edition, first printing, and signed copy.
The Burglar in the Library
New York: Dutton, 1997. 342 pp. 6 1/4 x 9 1/4"; First Edition. Pictorial dust jacket in fine condition; Black cloth over black paper boards with crisp gilt lettering on spine, author inscribed on title page, in fine condition.
A delightful mystery with the scenario from the flap describing, "What do you get when you combine an English-style inn, a group of snowbound guests, and a dead body in the library". A fun bibliographic whodunit.
The Passions of the Mind
Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1961. 808 pp. + acknlowledgments, glossary and bibliography. Approx. 6 1/4 x 9 1/2"; First edition printed after limited edition. Marbled dust jacket with some creases and rubbing, otherwise in very good condition; Blue cloth over boards with clear lettering spine, some spotting to top page edges, signed on the Sigmund Freud quote page, in near fine condition.
Irving Stone (1903 - 1989), was an American writer, best known for his novels of famous politicians, artists, and intellectuals. His best known works are Lust for Life, about the life of Vincent van Gogh, and The Agony and the Ecstasy, about the life of Michelangelo. This book is a biographical novel of Sigmund Freud.
Shambleau and Others
New York: Gnome Press, Inc., 1953. 224 pp. 5 1/2 x 8 1/4"; First Edition. Pictorial dust jacket with some minor creases and rubbing, original price of $3.00 intact, cover art by Ric Binkley, some tanning on inside flaps, in near fine condition; Turquoise cloth over boards with crisp maroon lettering on spine, bookplate on front paste-down endpaper of William Robards Wetmore, some ink lettering on copyright page, some spotting to top page edges, otherwise in very good + condition.
Catherine Lucille Moore (1911 - 1987), was an American science fiction and fantasy writer at a time when women were first starting to write in this field. Most of her work during the years of 1940 - 1958 was done in collaboration with her husband, Henry Kuttner. Moore was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1998.
Children of the Dark
New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1956. 270 pp. 5 1/2 x 8"; First Edition. Original dust jacket with some creases and small repaired tears, slight waterstain on rear cover, otherwise in very good condition; Black cloth over boards with crisp gilt lettering to cover and spine, crisp and bright, in near fine condition.
Irving Shulman (1913 - 1995) was an American author and screenwriter. Many of his books were adapted into movies. This book was developed after the film "Rebel Without a Cause" came out, however; and, it was based on the story ideas that Shulman had and fleshed out with the screenplay writer, Stewart Stern, and director, Nicholas Ray. The movie was best known for its great performances by James Dean, Natalie Wood, and Sal Mineo.