Modern First Editions

Evelyn Waugh

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of Scoop by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Evelyn+Waugh&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Evelyn Waugh</a>.<ul><li>Evelyn Waugh (English).</li><li>London: Chapman and Hall, 1938.</li><li>Signed by the author on the front endpaper, ‘For Elizabeth Herbert/Evelyn Waugh’. </li><li>In the first state, unclipped dust wrapper with Daily Beast to the front panel, with the rare wrap-around band, stating ‘Stop Press’ – Chosen by the Book Society.</li></ul> The recipient, Elizabeth Herbert was sister to Laura, the author’s second wife (after Evelyn). Scarce with these attributes.&nbsp;

Scoop Signed First Edition

J.R.R. Tolkien

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of The Return of the King by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=J.R.R.+Tolkien&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">J.R.R. Tolkien</a>.<ul><li>J.R.R. Tolkien (English).</li><li>United Kingdom: George Allen and Unwin, 1955.</li><li>Original fold out map is still present to the rear.</li><li>Bound in the publisher’s rich red boards, in the dustwrapper.</li></ul> The third installment in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The Return of the King First Edition

B. Traven

The <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first American edition</a> of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=B.+Traven&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">B. Traven</a>.<ul><li>B. Traven (unkown).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Alfred A. Knopf,&nbsp;1935.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>[vi], 366 pages.</li><li>Bound in black cloth, with the dust jacket, in a custom morroco backed box.</li></ul> The American edition is an original English language version by Traven. This book is the basis of the John Huston directed film classic starring Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston. "The treasure which you think not worth taking trouble and pains to find, this one alone is the real treasure you are longing for all your life. The glittering treasure you are hunting for day and night lies buried on the other side of that hill yonder."

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre | First American Edition

Stephen King

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of The Dark Half by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=stephen+king&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Stephen King</a>.<ul><li>Stephen King (American).</li><li>United States: Viking Press, 1989.</li><li>Signed and dated 2/8/90 by Stephen King to the title page.</li><li>In the unclipped dust wrapper.</li></ul>

The Dark Half | Signed First Edition

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=stephen+king&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Stephen King</a>, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">inscribed</a> by the author, and accompanied by a letter from King's secretary.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 1 book and 1 postcard.</li><li>Stephen King (American).</li><li>United States: Grant, 1987.</li><li>Signed to the front endpaper, ‘For Cassey Clark-/With best wishes/from Roland...and me,/Stephen King/19/27/92.'</li><li>In the clipped wrapper.</li></ul> Accompanying the book is a signed postcard, stating, ‘Dear Cassy, Enclosed please find your books which Stephen has signed for you. Please be advised that he has had to set a two-book limit, total due to the large amount of requests he receives. Thank you and enjoy. Nancy.’ Nancy Gilbert worked as a secretary and administrative assistant to Stephen King during the earlier years of his career. She was involved in handling correspondence and office administration at a time when King’s popularity — and fan mail — was expanding rapidly. Her name appears in acknowledgements in some of King’s earlier books and is occasionally encountered in relation to typed letters or office responses sent on King’s behalf. The 'Roland' in the inscription refers to The Dark Tower’s protagonist, Roland Deschain.

The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three | Signed First Edition Book, with a Letter from the Author's Secretary

Agatha Christie

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of The Body in the Library by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Agatha+Christie&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Agatha Christie</a>.<ul><li>Agatha&nbsp;Christie (English).</li><li>London: Collins Crime Club, 1942.</li><li>Presented in the price-clipped dust wrapper.</li></ul> Agatha Christie’s The Body in the Library (1942) features Miss Marple investigating the shocking discovery of an unknown young woman found dead in the Bantrys’ library. The seemingly respectable setting contrasts with the lurid nature of the crime. As Miss Marple unravels alibis, social pretenses, and hidden motives, the case leads to a seaside resort and a web of deceit involving identity, greed, and manipulation. The novel showcases Christie’s skill in misdirection and village-society observation.

The Body in the Library First Edition

Ernest Hemingway

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of For Whom the Bell Tolls by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Ernest+Hemingway&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ernest Hemingway</a>.<ul><li>Ernest Hemingway (American).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Scribner's,&nbsp;1940.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>471 pages.</li><li>In the first state dust jacket, publisher's coarse calico grain cloth with facsimile of the author's signature in black on the uppers cover in custom half-morocco clamshell box.</li></ul> Hemingway's celebrated novel of the Spanish Civil War, difficult to find in such nice condition, as any rubbing stands out against the black background, and the red and blue of the spine are generally found faded.

For Whom the Bell Tolls First Edition

George Orwell

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of Nineteen Eighty-Four by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=George+Orwell&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">George Orwell</a>.<ul><li>George Orwell (English).</li><li>United Kingdom: Secker and Warburg, 1949.</li><li>In the original unclipped maroon wrapper, designed by Michael Kennard.</li></ul> Nineteen Eighty-Four was first published in 1949, almost simultaneously in Britain and the United States. The British first edition appeared on 8 June 1949 from Secker &amp; Warburg, Orwell’s long-time publisher, while Harcourt, Brace &amp; Company issued the American edition five days later. Both printings reflected wartime paper shortages, resulting in modest production quality.

Nineteen Eighty-Four [1984] First Edition

Michael Bond

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of A Bear Called Paddington by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Michael+Bond&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Michael Bond</a>.<ul><li>Michael Bond (English).</li><li>London: Collins, 1958.</li><li>In the unclipped wrapper.</li></ul>

A Bear Called Paddington First Edition

Dashiell Hammett

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of The Maltese Falcon by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Dashiell+Hammett&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dashiell Hammett</a>.<ul><li>Dashiell Hammett (American).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Alfred Knopf,&nbsp;1930.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Original light gray cloth decoratively stamped in dark grayish blue and black on front cover and spine, top edge stained dark blue with deckled fore-edges, in a custom morocco backed box. </li></ul>

The Maltese Falcon First Edition

J.K. Rowling

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which has been <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=J.K.+Rowling&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">J.K. Rowling</a> and actor <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Daniel+Radcliffe&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Daniel Radcliffe</a>, who portrayed the boy wizard in the Harry Potter films.<ul><li>J.K. Rowling (English).</li><li>London: Bloomsbury, 2000.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Signed by both J.K. Rowling (without dedication) and actor, Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter in the eight motion pictures.&nbsp;</li><li>Accompanied by a typed Letter with a facsimile signature from the author to a fan thanking them for enjoying the book (having been signed) loosely inserted.</li><li>In the original dust wrapper.</li></ul>

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | First Edition Signed by the Author and Daniel Radcliffe

Truman Capote

A <a href="sothebys" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Breakfast+at+Tiffany%27s&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Breakfast at Tiffany's</a> by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Truman+Capote&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Truman Capote</a>.<ul><li>Truman Capote (American).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Random House,&nbsp;[1958].</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>179 pages.</li><li>Publisher's yellow cloth with black leather spine label lettered in gilt, with original typographic dust jacket, In a quarter red morocco clamshell box.</li></ul> With three stories in addition to the title novella: "House of Flowers," "A Diamond Guitar," and "A Christmas Memory."

Breakfast at Tiffany's | A Short Novel and Three Stories | First Edition

E. M. Forster

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a>, limited <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of Passage to India by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=E.M.+Forster&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">E.M. Forster</a>.<ul><li>E.M. Forster (English).</li><li>London:&nbsp;Edward Arnold,&nbsp;1924.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>[2, blank], [i, half title], [ii, limitation], [1]-[4], 5-325, [326, blank], [2, blank] pages.</li><li>Number 188 of 200 copies signed by the author.</li><li>Title page printed in red and black.</li><li>Grey boards, brown cloth spine with paper label, extra label at back, in the original grey board slipcase.</li></ul>

A Passage to India | Signed First Edition

George Harrison

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=George+Harrison&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">George Harrison</a>'s limited edition autobiography.<ul><li>George Harrison (English).</li><li>Guildford, U.K:&nbsp;Genesis Publications Ltd,&nbsp;1980.</li><li>Quarto.</li><li>Part of an edition of 2000 signed and numbered copies, this being 1981.</li><li>Illustrated throughout with photographs and facsimile song lyrics, with one fold-out.</li><li>Half-bound dark brown calf and cloth, decorative guitar stamped on front in gilt with inlaid red calf; stamped in gilt on spine with additional red calf inlay,&nbsp;all edges gilt, decorative musical score endpapers, ribbon marker bound in; in publisher's original brown buckram slipcase with printed label.</li></ul> I, Me, Mine was The Beatles' lead guitarist George Harrison's musical memoir, originally published in 1980 as a hand-bound, limited edition book by Genesis Publications. Opening with a foreword by Derek Taylor, it was profusely illustrated throughout with vintage photographs and color facsimiles of Harrison's autograph song lyrics, and issued in a variety of different leather bindings, including light and dark brown, light and dark green, black, and a small variety of 23 other colors (this copy is bound in dark brown). Perhaps unsurprisingly, the 2,000 signed copies quickly sold out. John Lennon — who would be murdered in December 1980 just a few months after the book's release — took offense with Harrison's text, stating, "I was hurt by it ... By glaring omission … my influence on his life is absolutely zilch and nil ... I'm not in the book." (He was, in fact, mentioned several times.) Harrison later responded to Lennon's comments in a December 1987 television interview, noting "[Lennon] was annoyed ’cause I didn't say that he'd written one line of this song 'Taxman.' But I also didn't say how I wrote two lines of 'Come Together' or three lines of 'Eleanor Rigby,' you know? I wasn't getting into any of that. I think, in the balance, I would have had more things to be niggled with him about than he would have had with me"

I, Me, Mine | First Edition

A set of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printings of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=The+Lord+of+the+Rings&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Lord of the Rings</a> trilogy by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=J.R.R.+Tolkien&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">J.R.R. Tolkien</a>.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 3 volumes.</li><li>J.R.R. Tolkien (English).</li><li>Published by George Allen &amp; Unwin.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Half-titles, folding maps printed in red and black at rear of each volume.</li><li>Original publisher’s red cloth, spines lettered and decorated in gilt with Tolkien’s ring device, top edges stained red; original first issue dust-jackets, priced 21s net.</li><li> </li></ul>The Fellowship of the Ring (1954):<ul><li>[vi], 423, [1] pages.</li><li>“First published in 1954” to verso.</li></ul> The Two Towers (1954):<ul><li>[vi], 352 pages.</li><li>“First published in 1954” to verso.</li></ul> The Return of the King (1955):<ul><li>[vi], 416 pages.</li><li>“First published in 1955” to verso, text complete with Appendix and Index, the name “Legolas” in its characteristic staggered typographical setting, corrected in later impressions.</li></ul> All three volumes retaining correct early maps and red top stain. Rear panels with advertisements referencing The Hobbit (Second Edition, Fifth Impression) and Farmer Giles of Ham, consistent with early states. When The Lord of the Rings appeared between 1954 and 1955, it was issued quietly, in modest print runs, by the London publisher George Allen &amp; Unwin. Tolkien’s achievement was not merely narrative but architectural. Drawing upon philology, medieval literature, mythology, and his own linguistic inventions, he constructed a secondary world of unprecedented depth and internal coherence. Middle-earth was not a setting but a civilisation: languages, genealogies, cosmology, and moral philosophy interwoven with epic narrative. In doing so, Tolkien effectively established the template for modern high fantasy. The trilogy’s publication history underscores its rarity. The first impression of The Fellowship of the Ring numbered only 3,000 copies; The Two Towers followed at 3,250; The Return of the King at 7,000. Survival rates in original, unrestored dust-jackets were never high. More than seventy years after publication, The Lord of the Rings remains one of the most widely read and culturally resonant works of the modern era. The present set — preserved in its original cloth and correctly priced dust-jackets — represents not only a landmark of imaginative literature but a cornerstone of serious book collecting.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy | First Edition, First Printings

Winston Churchill

<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Subject=Fine%2520bindings" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Finely bound</a> collection the <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first British Edition</a> of Churchill's speeches.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 12 volumes.</li><li>Winston Churchill (English).</li><li>Collection of His Speeches: Into Battle, The Unrelenting Struggle, The End of the Beginning, Onwards to Victory, The Dawn of Liberation, Secret Session Speeches, Victory, The Sinews of Peace, Europe Unite, In the Balance, Stemming the Tide, The Unwritten Alliance.</li><li>London:&nbsp;Cassell,&nbsp;1941–1961.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Full modern navy crushed morocco with gilt, raised bands, lion emblems, teg. A few volumes with very light spotting, otherwise fine.</li></ul> A finely-bound collection of Churchill's separately published World War II and Post-War speeches, including his rare last book. The war speeches, published between 1941 and 1946, "constitute a contemporary history of the war with is as lively as it is authoritative...they may be said to be the last word upon the war" (Randolph Churchill). The post-war speeches trace his calls for European Unity during the beginning of the Cold War era. Finally, this set contains the rare first and only printing of the last book printed in his lifetime, The Unwritten Alliance.

Collection of His Speeches | First British Editions

Walter Tevis

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of The Hustler by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Walter+Tevis&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Walter Tevis</a>.<ul><li>Walter Tevis (American).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Harper and Brothers,&nbsp;[1959].</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Signed by the author on the title page.</li><li>In the original dust jacket, now in a custom morocco backed box.</li></ul> A crisp signed copy of the author's signature title, chronicling the rise and fall of pool shark Fast Eddie Felson. Basis for the classic 1961 film of the same name, starring Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, and George C. Scott.

The Hustler Signed First Edition

Ernest Thayer

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of Casey at the Bat by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Ernest+Thayer&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ernest Thayer</a>.<ul><li>Ernest Thayer (American).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;New Amsterdam Book Co,&nbsp;[1901].</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Illustrations printed in sepia.</li><li>Bound in the original publisher's illustrated wrappers, enclosed in a quarter-leather slipcase.</li></ul> The famous baseball poem, one of the most celebrated of all American popular poems, was first published in The San Francisco Examiner in June 1888. This is its first appearance in book form, which is now extremely scarce, especially in its fragile original wrappers.

Casey at the Bat First Edition

Ernest Howard Shepard | A.A. Milne

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of The House At Pooh Corner by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=A.A.+Milne&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">A.A. Milne</a>, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> by the illustrator <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=E.H.+Shepard&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">E.H. Shepard</a>, with an additional signed letter tipped in.<ul><li>A.A. Milne (English).</li><li>E.H. Shepard (English).</li><li>London: Methuen &amp; Co. Ltd., 1928.</li><li>Signed by the illustrator E. H. Shepard on the title page.</li><li>Bound in the publisher's original gilt stamped pink cloth, pictorial pastedowns and endpapers, top edge gilt.</li></ul> Tipped to the verso of the front endleaf is a one page signed letter by Shepard which reads: "28 November: 57Dear Mrs. McCreedy,I have heard from Miss George of the Oxford University Press that you are staying in the neighborhood. It will give great pleasure to my wife and to myself if you will come and see us. I would like to suggest Dec. 17th Tuesday, at 4 oclock, If your husband and daughter are able to come as well we shall bt most pleased,Yours SincerelyErnest H. Shepard"

The House At Pooh Corner | First Edition Signed by the Illustrator

Theodor Seuss Geisel

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of How The Grinch Stole Christmas, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">inscribed</a> by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Dr.+Seuss&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dr. Seuss</a>.<ul><li>Dr. Seuss (American).</li><li>New York: Random House, 1957.</li><li>Inscribed by Seuss on the verso of the front end leaf "for Martha with Best Wishes - Dr. Seuss."</li><li>Bound in the publisher's original pictorial boards, pictorial pastedowns and endpapers.</li></ul> All first issue points present.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas | Inscribed First Edition

A.A. Milne

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first American edition</a> of When We Were Very Young by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=A.A.+Milne&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">A.A. Milne</a>.<ul><li>A.A. Milne (English).</li><li>New York: E. P. Dutton &amp; Co., 1924.</li><li>Inscribed by Milne to the recto of the frontis "For Mrs. Burnside from A. A. Milne Christmas 1924."</li><li>Bound in the publisher's original gilt stamped red cloth, pictorial pastedowns and endpapers, with the original dust jacket.</li></ul>

When We Were Very Young | Inscribed First Edition

Stephen Hawking

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of My Brief History by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Stephen+Hawking&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Stephen Hawking</a>, bearing the author's thumbprint.<ul><li>Stephen Hawking (English).</li><li>New York: Bantam Books, 2013.</li><li>Black ink thumbprint by Hawking.</li><li>Illustrated.</li><li>Hardbound, with the unclipped dust jacket.</li></ul> Hawking’s thumb print appears to a clear area of the title-page with a black ink annotation "With best wishes Stephen Hawking”, with the witness stamp of Jeanna Lee York and signed by her, together with an white card insert headed Stephen Hawking. Jeanna Lee York was Stephen Hawking's former Executive Assistant (PA) and a close friend, until his death in March 2018, managing his busy schedule, events, and communications, and sharing a unique bond marked by laughter despite his condition. She described working with him as a "once in a lifetime experience" and considered herself fortunate to have been part of his life during that period, often seen alongside him in his office, assisting with his famous speech synthesis technology.

My Brief History | First American Edition, Bearing the Author's Thumbprint

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first paperback edition</a> of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Harry+Potter&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Harry Potter</a> and the Philosopher's Stone by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=J.K.+Rowling&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">J.K. Rowling</a>.<ul><li>J.K. Rowling (English).</li><li>London: Bloomsbury, 1997.</li><li>Includes relevant first edition points: "1 wand" twice on page 53; 'philosphers' misspelling on rear; correct print line number and date.</li><li>Paperback, in a custom red cloth display box.</li></ul>

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone First Edition

Nelson Mandela

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of Long Walk To Freedom by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Nelson+Mandela&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nelson Mandela</a>.<ul><li>Nelson Mandela (South African).</li><li>London:&nbsp;Little, Brown and Company,&nbsp;1994.&nbsp;</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>630 pages.</li><li>Limited Edition #439/1000.&nbsp;</li><li>Signed flat by Mandela and enumerated on tipped-in limitation page. </li><li>Bound in publisher's half black leather and green cloth boards, housed in a brown slip case, top edge of text block gilt. </li></ul>

Long Walk To Freedom | Signed by Mandela

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of Farewell to Arms by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Ernest+Hemingway&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ernest Hemingway</a>.<ul><li>Ernest Hemingway (American).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Scribners,&nbsp;1929.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>[10], 355 pages.</li><li>Number 56 of 510 copies signed by the author on the limitation leaf.&nbsp;</li><li>Publisher's light bluish-green boards backed and cornered with vellum, black morocco spine label lettered in gold, in custom half-morocco clamshell box.</li></ul> The only signed limited issue of Hemingway's work, and one of the greatest war novels of all time.

A Farewell to Arms | Signed First Edition

Charles Portis

<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Signed</a>, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of Portis's True Grit, inscribed just months after publication.<ul><li>Charles Portis (American).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Simon and Schuster,&nbsp;(1968).</li><li>215 pages.</li><li>Inscribed on the front free endpaper by Portis: "For Gerald Cathey / who I hope has / given me a clean / title, with every / good wish / Jan 7, 1969 / Charles Portis."</li><li>Original blue-grey cloth, in original unclipped ($4.95) dust jacket designed by Paul Davis, ochre endpapers.</li></ul> "People do not give it credence that a fourteen-year-old girl could leave home and go off in the wintertime to avenge her father's blood but it did not seem so strange then, although I will say it did not happen every day."

True Grit | Signed First Edition

Ian Fleming

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a>, limited <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of the <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/james-bond" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Bond</a> novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Ian+Fleming&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ian Fleming</a>.<ul><li>Ian Fleming (English).</li><li>Oxford: Jonathan Cape, [1963].</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>288 pages.</li><li>Signed Limited Edition, one of 250 copies, this being number 38.</li><li>Frontispiece portrait in color of Ian Fleming from the painting by Amherst Villiers.</li><li>Publisher's quarter vellum and black boards, gilt titles and stamp to spine, white wavy line decoration to front boards, top edge gilt, complete with original clear mylar, in a custom quarter blue morocco slipcase with chemise.</li></ul> The only signed limited edition of any of Fleming's books.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service Signed First Edition

A signed <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of the <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/james-bond" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Bond</a> novel Thunderball by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Ian+Fleming&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ian Fleming</a>, with a fine proof pull of the jacket.<ul><li>Ian Fleming (English).</li><li>London:&nbsp;Jonathan Cape,&nbsp;1961.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Signed by Ian Fleming on the front flyleaf.</li><li>Jacket signed by artist Richard Chopping.</li><li>Original black boards, titles to spine in silver, skeletal hand motif to upper board in blind, with two states of the dust jacket; proof jacket with variant text on front flap and back flap blank, housed in a black morocco backed folding box.</li></ul> Of the preliminary dust jacket, Gilbert notes “a very few copies of the published book came in a trial dust-jacket … likely a tiny number were produced.”

Thunderball  Signed First Edition

The Mademoiselle magazine file copy of the typescript of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Truman+Capote&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Truman Capote</a>’s acclaimed story, “House of Flowers,” with a note from Capote’s agent.<ul><li>Truman Capote (American).</li><li>New York: Mademoiselle, April 1951.</li><li>Quarto.</li><li>17 pages.</li><li>Carbon typescript with manuscript and typed corrections, dated August 3, 1950, and marked 'Inventory.'</li></ul> The Mademoiselle magazine file copy of the typescript, with editorial corrections, of Truman Capote’s acclaimed story, “House of Flowers.” With a short typed note from Capote’s agent Marian Ives to Rita, the long-time editor Margarita G. Smith, dated 7/24/50, which reads, in part: “Although I don’t think this is for MLLE, nor did T think so, yet it is honestly the best story he’s done recently and I wanted you to take a look at it anyway …”, and with a pencil reader’s report, “whether this particular story isn’t a bit too strong for those in less sophisticated areas (and in Catholic schools‚ … believe it or not, there are still a lot of college girls who are utterly naive”, and three Mademoiselle reader’s report forms recording considerable editorial back and forth, responses from Catholic readers, and Smith’s decision, “I think we should buy it. M.G.S.”, with a note of a payment of $750. “House of Flowers” was published in the issue for April 1951, and was winner of the third prize in that year’s O. Henry Awards. The story was adapted into a musical in collaboration with composer and lyricist Harold Arlen, and ran for 165 performances on Broadway in 1954. “House of Flowers” was later collected in Breakfast at Tiffany's. The sale of this item includes only the physical object itself. No copyright, reproduction rights, or intellectual property rights are transferred with the purchase. All such rights remain with the original copyright holder, the Truman Capote Literary Trust.

The House of Flowers | Corrected Typescript

<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">First edition</a> of this guide to botany for the amateur, an ambitious production with over 200 actual botanical specimens mounted to its plates.<ul><li>J. Gourdon and Ch. Fourcade.</li><li>Principes de Botanique Comprenant l'Anatomie, l'Organographie et la Physiologie Végétales avec une Planche Lithographiée et un Atlas Naturel Composé de Seize Planches Renfermant Environ 250 échantillons fournis par des plantes diverses. </li><li>Toulouse:&nbsp;L. Hébrail, Durand et Delpuech,&nbsp;1875.</li><li>VIII, 52, 17 numbered plates.</li><li>Text in French and Latin.</li><li>Plate I lithographed, all other plates with fifteen mounted specimens tipped onto each (6 specimens perished, thus 234 of 240).</li><li>Original red cloth ruled in blind and lettered in gilt.</li></ul> Two of the most flourishing scientific activities by everyday people in the 19th century were plant pressing and making herbariums. This production seeks to serve as a bridge between the specialist's science and its popular application, for example by focusing on the most easily found plants native to France and fore-grounding the common French terms, followed by the Linnean Latin names. What sets this production apart is its painstaking format: for each copy, 240 plant specimens (leaves, flowers, seeds, roots) were carefully collected, preserved, and mounted to their delineated place on each plate. The introduction emphasizes the importance of this approach, arguing that one learns differently "par la vue et le toucher" [by seeing and touching], as well as more accurately and thoroughly than with illustrations.

Principes De Botanique First Edition

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=J.K.+Rowling&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">J.K. Rowling</a>.<ul><li>J.K. Rowling (English).</li><li>London: Bloomsbury, 1999.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>The&nbsp;first&nbsp;issue&nbsp;with 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1,&nbsp;and&nbsp;with Joanne Rowling&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;copyright page,&nbsp;the&nbsp;incorrectly dropped text block on page 7,&nbsp;and&nbsp;no advertisements at&nbsp;the&nbsp;end.</li><li>Publisher's pictorial boards with illustration by Cliff Wright; publisher's pictorial dust-jacket, correctly priced at £10.99, now housed in a solander box.</li></ul>

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | First Issue

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Harry+Potter&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Harry Potter</a> and the Chamber of Secrets, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=J.K.+Rowling&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">J.K. Rowling</a>.<ul><li>J.K. Rowling (English).</li><li>London: Bloomsbury, 1998.</li><li>Signed without dedication to&nbsp;the&nbsp;dedication page by Rowling.</li><li>In&nbsp;the&nbsp;correct&nbsp;first&nbsp;issue&nbsp;dust wrapper with&nbsp;all points: "front flap&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;dust jacket: Paragraph 5, lines 1&nbsp;and&nbsp;2: "Harry&nbsp;Potter&nbsp;and&nbsp;the&nbsp;Philosopher's Stone" is not italicized; Paragraph 5, line 7: "Tom El-Shawk Age 11" has no comma after&nbsp;the&nbsp;name&nbsp;and&nbsp;age has a capital "A"; Paragraph 6, line 1: "Harry&nbsp;Potter" is not italicized; Paragraph 6, line 5: "Harry&nbsp;is not italicized; Paragraph 6, line 7: "Katrina Farrant Age 10" has no comma after&nbsp;the&nbsp;name&nbsp;and&nbsp;age has a capital "A".</li></ul>

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | Signed First Edition

J.M. Barrie

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of The Little White Bird by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=J.M.+Barrie&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">J.M. Barrie</a>, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">inscribed</a> to his friend and agent.<ul><li>J.M. Barrie (Scottish).</li><li>London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1902.</li><li>With contemporary gift inscription from Barrie on the half title page, ‘To Addison Bright the best of friends from J. M. Barrie, Nov. 1902’,</li><li>Includes a frontispiece map of Kensington Gardens.</li><li>Boards bound in publisher’s original black morocco cloth with gilt titling to the spine, gilt top edge to the text block.</li></ul> The very first appearance of Peter Pan, inscribed by Barrie to his closest friend and literary agent. Arthur Addison Bright (1861-1906) was a theatrical agent, most famous for his close friendship with J.M.Barrie, but who also acted for a number of successful playwrights including Arthur Conan Doyle, E.W. Hornung and Stephen Phillips. Bright was more than an agent to Barrie; he was a close friend and confidential adviser and played a key role in persuading Barrie to take up play writing. It was Bright who introduced Barrie to the Broadway producer Charles Frohman, who was ultimately responsible for the production of Peter Pan in Britain and America. In 1906 it was discovered that Bright had embezzled royalties from many of his clients, including Barrie and Arthur Conan Doyle. In spite of the financial loss, Barrie staunchly supported his agent. Bright however, found the prospect of legal proceedings too much to bear and on a trip to Lucerne, ostensibly to take the air, he committed suicide. Barrie wrote a short but loving obituary for Bright, which appeared in the Times on Friday, 1st June, 1906, "To the many to whom the keenly intellectual face and noble character of Arthur Addison Bright were incentives to well-doing, it will come as a painful shock that he died suddenly on Tuesday night... Mr Bright had represented a number of authors besides myself in their affairs of the theatre, and it was owing to his encouragement and zealous help more than any other cause that novelists and poets have of late years produced plays. He was a man of a mind the most catholic and cultured, and so beautiful and modest a nature that it may be said of him, he had never time to be much interested in himself, he was so interested in his friends. For many years he had been my most loved friend." The&nbsp;Little&nbsp;White&nbsp;Bird&nbsp;introduces Peter Pan as a magical baby who escapes from being human as an infant, and flies around Kensington Gardens with fairies. This episode, which began as a single chapter, grew into an "elaborate book within a book" as Barrie worked on the novel. Seeing the appeal of the character, Barrie developed Peter Pan into a play first performed in 1904, and following its outstanding success, published a slightly expanded version of the Peter Pan chapters as a single work, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, published in 1906, with illustrations by Arthur Rackham.

The Little White Bird | Inscribed First Edition

Sir Norman Hartnell

The <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?Book%20Subject=Archives%2520and%2520collections" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Archive</a> of Ivy Godley, assistant to Sir Norman Hartnell, including a sample of the Coronation dress worn by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Queen+Elizabeth&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Elizabeth II</a>.<ul><li>A royal archive including a sample of Queen Elizabeth II’s 1953 coronation dress designed by Sir Norman Hartnell. </li><li>As displayed in Claridges Hotel, London, for the platinum jubilee in 2023.</li><li>Also included in the collection are an inscribed book, as well as a collection of hand-made Christmas cards from Hartnell to Godley: the cards chart the formal early years of their relationship to a much closer one in the latter years with the warmth of the tone of the cards changing immeasurably towards the end of the collection.&nbsp;</li><li>A first edition of Hartnell’s autobiography, Silver and Gold is included. </li><li>The book has been inscribed by Hartnell to Godley and reads: ‘To Dear Miss ‘G’/Ivy Gladys Ashley Godley/ – a ‘Backroom Girl’ maybe but ever in the forefront/ of [sic] my admiration, appreciation/ and everlasting gratitude/Sincerely/Norman Hartnell/Nov. 24th 1955/.</li><li>The archive also includes an extensive amount of signed portraits of Hartnell, correspondence, and original dress designs in Hartnell’s hand.</li></ul> The centerpiece of this extensive archive is a framed sample of the Coronation dress worn by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. The sample has been signed and inscribed on the rear by Hartnell with a detailed description and an explanation as to what each segment of the design represents in terms of the Commonwealth. Accompanying it is a letter from Buckingham Palace about its scarcity. Very few samples were made with three belonging to the Royal family, two of which were those of the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret. The letter is signed by the Deputy Surveyor of the Queen’s Works of Arts. Godley’s invite to the Coronation is also included in the archive and is seen in the photograph. In 1952, Hartnell was asked by Queen Elizabeth II to design her 1953 Coronation Dress. In addition, Hartnell designed dresses for most of the Royal ladies in attendance, coining his ‘Silver and Gold’ collection of that year – this was also the name given to his autobiography which, in part, outlined the struggle Hartnell had with the construction of the dress. The actual Coronation dress involved soft folds of silk, embellished with varied embroideries, including the depiction of the national botanical emblems of the UK and Commonwealth. In his book, Hartnell describes his feelings when asked by Queen Elizabeth II to design the dress: “…I can scarcely remember what I murmured in reply. In simple conversational tones the Queen went on to express her wishes. Her Majesty required that the dress should conform in line to that of her wedding dress and that the material should be white satin.” Hartnell was knighted in 1977, with The Times terming him ‘The First Fashion Knight’ and his work as ‘The Norman Conquest’. Sir Norman Hartnell died on 15th of June 1979 and was buried next to his mother and sister in Clayton Church, West Sussex, England. Ivy Godley was Hartnell’s bookkeeper. In his biography, ‘Norman Hartnell – The Biography’, Michael Pick describes one night in 1948 when Godley returned to the office late one night and saw Hartnell dressed in a metallic evening dress. Pick describes how a mystery was solved for Godley on this night, as she had always wondered “who was placing orders for dresses with rather larger measurements”. The archive shows the warmth between the two of them, from personal letters to the gift of the sample of the Coronation dress itself. A totally unique collection for lovers of the royal family and fashion.

The Archive of Ivy Godley, Assistant to Sir Norman Hartnell | With a Sample of the Coronation Dress Worn by Elizabeth II

Chinua Achebe

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> first printing of Things Fall Apart by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Chinua+Achebe&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Chinua Achebe</a>.<ul><li>Chinua Achebe (Nigerian).</li><li>London / Melbourne / Toronta:&nbsp;Heinemann,&nbsp;(1958).</li><li>[viii], 188 pages.&nbsp;</li><li>One of 2000 copies.</li><li>Original full orange cloth, in original price-clipped color pictorial jacket designed by C.W. Bacon.</li></ul> "Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten." First in the Nigerian author's African trilogy, which also includes No Longer At Ease (1960) and Arrow Of God (1964), Things Fall Apart was selected by Time magazine on one of its "100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005," and by the BBC for its "100 Novels That Shaped Our World." An enduring and landmark book, central to the development of the 20th-centuy novel in English.

Things Fall Apart First Edition

Takei Takeo

<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">First edition</a> of the first book written for the Japanese public on the atomic bombs, printed a little more than a month after the events at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and issued days after stringent allied censorship regulations went into effect.<ul><li>Takei Takeo (Japanese).</li><li>(Tokyo):&nbsp;Dōmei Tsūshinsha,&nbsp;(September 20, 1945).</li><li>32 pages.</li><li>Text in Japanese.</li><li>Original printed self-wrappers.</li></ul> The history of the documentation of the atomic bomb sites in the months after the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is one of censorship. Shortly after the surrender of Japan, comprehensive censorship policies were implemented by Occupational authorities: "On September 18th, 1945, just over a month after Japan surrendered, the U.S. government imposed a strict code of censorship [...] The edict read, in part: 'nothing shall be printed which might, directly or by inference, disturb public tranquility'" (Levy 30-32). Soon after, in October 1945, a more specific ban on photographing the atomic bomb sites was announced (Jenkins 114). These dual policies — combining to produce a "total blackout" according to Walter Cronkite — served to "keep the United States and the rest of the world ignorant of the horrors of nuclear war" (foreword to Weller, ix). In such a context, this publication is especially interesting. Carrying a printing date of September 15th, 1945 and a date of issue of September 20th, Takeo's pamphlet would appear to have been circulated just after these censorship regulations went into effect. However, according to the rear imprint, it was printed in an edition of 200,000 and its rarity both on the market and in institutional holdings (OCLC locates just 2 in Japan, and 2 more in the US) would strongly suggest that it was in fact suppressed. The text contains a summary of the events in Hiroshima and Nagasaki (gathered mainly from news reports), an explanation of the mechanics and science of an atomic explosion, a description of radiation and its effects, an account of the development of the bomb, a section on the politics and ethics of the weapon, a consideration of the future of atomic science (including an extended section on the potential of nuclear power), as well as an overview of US newspaper coverage of the bombings (much of it quoted directly). Published by the official news agency of the empire as the first of a six volume series describing and justifying Japan's surrender, Takeo directly addresses a nervous and bewildered Japanese public: "I will not discuss whether the atomic bomb was inhumane or not [... ] Instead, I would like to explain the principle of the atomic bomb itself, what destructive powers it possesses, and how it was planned and constructed, in order to understand why the highest leadership of the Imperial Government came to make such a crucial decision [i.e. surrender at Potsdam]." A rare document from one of the defining events of the 20th century, told from the Japanese perspective just as such voices were officially being silenced. Important and worthy of further study.

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