New Arrivals
Nansen
New York: Viking Press, 1945. 170 pp. Approximately 5 1/2 x 8 1/2". First Edition, third printing (July, 1945). Illustrated wrappers, some tears and missing sections but front cover is mostly intact, in very good condition. Blue cloth over boards with black design on cover and lettering on spine, some wear to spine top and bottom, INSCRIBED by author on the front free endpaper, beautifully illustrated in blue tones, slightly musty smell, otherwise in near-fine condition.
A beautiful book, illustrated by Boris Artzybasheff, Caldecott Honor recipient noted for his strong work and surreal designs, this is a biography about Fridtjof Nansen, a noted Norwegian scientist, explorer, and diplomat. A fascinating look at this influential and humanitarian person. Winner of a Newberry Honor award in 1941. Scarce in jacket and signed.
The Wayward Bus
New York: Viking Press, 1947. 312 pp. Approximately 5 1/2 x 8 1/4". Pictorial jacket is in very good condition, with some wear, slight chipping of the spine, tape repairs to the inside of the jacket, original price of $2.75 intact, first edition first printing dust jacket. Grey cloth over boards with crisp lettering on cover and spine, blindstamp on front cover the same shade as the rest of the binding, top stained red, in near-fine condition. (Goldstone & Payne A23 third issue)
Originally thought to be one of Steinbeck's weaker novels, it was actually financially successful. The interesting thing about it is that no one single character in the book dominates. Rather, the viewpoint shifts from one character to another quite frequently, with access to the character's thoughts through an internal monologue. Adapted to film in 1957 to some success at the box office, it starred Jayne Mansfield, Joan Collins, Dan Dailey and Rick Jason.
Licence Renewed
London: Jonathan Cape, 1981. Approximately 5 1/4 x 8". Pictorial jacket is in near fine condition, with only a tiny bit of wear at the bottom of the spine, not price-clipped. Black cloth over boards with crisp gilt lettering on spine, slight bumping to spine bottom, some slight foxing to page edges, otherwise in near-fine condition. Overall, a lovely copy of this first edition of the first James Bond continuation novel by John Gardner.
John Edmund Gardner (1926 - 2007), was a British novelist who not only wrote fourteen original James Bond novels, but also wrote the novel versions of two Bond films. The exciting plot of this book, from the jacket, involves the deranged Dr. Anton Murik, a terrorist named Franco, and a beautiful woman, of course, named Lavender Peacock.
Early 1800s Friendship Album
Regensburg, Germany: n.p., 1806. Approximately 7 x 4", oblong. Red leather over boards with gilt designs on covers and spine, front cover has gilt initials "J. A. S." and back cover has date of 1806, vibrant marbled endpapers with the front one having a minor corner missing, nice quality paper with watermark and chain lines still visible, back cover has some sort of split-open box attached, introduction loosely translates to "Great praise and good wishes, and be assured that I am eternally your respected brother, Joseph Scheller, Regensburg, Year 1806", many friendship entries in German along with some beautiful hand-drawn and sometimes colored illustrations, in very good + condition.
Not much can be known about Johan Andreas Scheller except that he had many friends. As is traditional with friendship albums of this time, they are filled with poems, drawings, personal messages, and small pieces of verse, some religious in nature. The first drawing, for instance, refers to the sacredness of friendship. These friendship books were popular until the mid-19th century, when they were gradually replaced by yearbooks for university students.
Cup of Gold
New York: Covici Friede, (1936). 269 pp. Approximately 5 1/4 x 7 3/4". Second Edition. Decorative dust jacket in very good condition with author of "Of Mice and Men" on cover, some darkening to spine, minor edge wear and small enclosed tear on bottom of front cover, price clipped, repair tape on the inside. Blue cloth over boards, top stain blue, blind stamping of ship and scroll on front cover, gilt-stamped spine slightly faded, near-fine condition. (Goldstone & Payne, A1c)
John Steinbeck (1902 - 1968) was an American author who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962. This is John Steinbeck's first novel and is an historical fiction loosely based on the life and adventures of privateer Henry Morgan. The "Cup of Gold" refers to Panama City, where a lot of the action takes place.
Double O Seven. James Bond. A Report.
London: Neville Spearman, Holland Press, 1964. 160 pp. Approx. 5 1/2 x 8 1/2". Dust Jacket in fine condition. Black cloth over boards with crisp and bright silver lettering lettering on spine, SIGNED and INSCRIBED on the front free endpaper to Raymond Toole-Stott (an MBE, a well-known collector of circus books and bibliographer, as well as a personal friend of Somerset Maugham), very minor foxing to top edges, otherwise in near-fine condition.
Oswald Frederick Snelling (1916 - 2001) was a British author, best known for this book, the only analysis of the James Bond series that was personally authorized by Ian Fleming. Snelling met Fleming while working at Sotheby's Rare Book Department. Selling over a million copies, Double O Seven was published in several languages and was published in the American market in 1965.
Masses of St. Francis of Assisi and of St. Anne, Facsimile
Yorktown Heights, NY: Belser Incorporated, Publishers, 1988. 63 pp. Also described as Vat. Lat 11254 - Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, this is a facsimile copy of the 16th century work by an unknown artist. Summary book approximately 4 1/8 x 5 3/4", 63 pages. First limited and numbered edition for the English-speaking market of 1000 copies, this being #101. Miniature book with leather binding and gilt decorations on the cover, measuring 1 x 1 1/2", 30 pages, is an exact reproduction of the original in terms of color/size/extent, housed in a silver case with necklace, all original packaging intact, all in fine condition.
The miniature book itself is very charming. It contains beautiful color pictures and ornamental designs as well as the masses by St. Francis of Assisi and St. Anne. St. Francis was best known for being humble and living a life close to that of Jesus Christ and the "F" on the outer locket is a tribute to his work. St. Anne was the mother of Mary and grandmother of Jesus Christ and the "A" on the outer locket is a tribute to her work. The summary book was written by Dr. Robert Moynihan, a veteran Vatican analyst and the founder and editor-in-chief of "Inside the Vatican" magazine. A beautifully packaged and meaningful collection, showing only 1 holding for the English version in Worldcat.
Adlai: The Wit and Wisdom of Adlai Ewing Stevenson
Sausalito, CA: Castle Baird Press, 1993. 32 pp. Approximately 2 x 2 1/2 ". LIMITED EDITION of 75 copies, this being #8. Printed paper boards with design and lettering by Susan Acker and Mary McDermott at the Feathered Serpent Press, printed endpapers with the United Nations emblem repeated, US Postage stamp of Adlai Stevenson tipped in at front, Doonesbury cartoon by Gary Trudeau folded in, miniature bookplate of well-known scholar and miniature book collector Kalman Levitan (also the founder and first president of the Miniature Book Society) on front paste-down endpaper, signed by both the author and publishers, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Castle Baird 3)
A brief but compassionate bio about Adlai Stevenson II (1900 - 1965), a Governor of Illinois, a U.S. Presidential Candidate, and a U.N. Ambassador. levitan
Press-o-grams
(Pettigrew, AR): Burt Randle, 1939. (40 pp). Approximately 1/2 x 5/8". LIMITED EDITION of unknown quantity, usually done in 50 - 80 copies at most. Green leather cover, paper label on front cover, wire clasp. A fine copy, scarce. (Bradbury, Burt Randle, 1)
The miniature books published by Burt Randle were usually "photographic reproductions of his [Randle's] very small handwriting" according to Bradbury. This is Burt Randle's first publication, full of little snippets of sage advice. Very scarce, none currently listed in the trade and only 2 copies in WorldCat.
Poems of Rudyard Kipling
(Pettigrew, AR): Burt Randle, 1940. (34 pp). Approximately 1/2 x 3/8". LIMITED EDITION of unknown quantity, usually done in 50 - 80 copies at most. Green leather cover which is rubbed and has a few spots on the rear cover, paper label on front cover, wire clasp. A very good copy, scarce. (Bradbury, Burt Randle, 5)
The miniature books published by Burt Randle were usually "photographic reproductions of his [Randle's] very small handwriting" according to Bradbury. This is a very tiny collection of some of Kipling's inspirational poetry. "Lest we forget".