Modern First Editions

Frank Meier

<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">First limited edition</a> of The Artistry of Mixing Drinks, <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> and numbered by the author, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Frank+Meier&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Frank Meier</a>.<ul><li>Frank Meier (Austrian).</li><li>Paris: Fryam Press, 1936.</li><li>Limited to 123 numbered and signed copies on handmade paper, this being copy #120.</li><li>Signed and dated 1936 by Meier on the limitation page.</li><li>Illustrated, bound in a designer binding of green and various horizontal shades of brown calf, silver gilt lettered red leather spine label, silver gilt cocktail drinking and mixing devices to covers, marbled pastedowns and endpapers, all edges uncut as issued, by an unknown but skillful binder.</li></ul> Meier was an innovative and renowned cocktail maker, working in The Hotel Ritz in Paris from the 1920s to the 1940s. This work is considered a key text for cocktail enthusiasts.

The Artistry of Mixing Drinks | Signed First Edition

A.A. Milne | Ernest H. Shepard

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 issue of Winnie the Pooh 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.&nbsp;Milne (English).</li><li>Illustrated by E. H. Shephard (English). </li><li>London: Methuen &amp; Co. Ltd., 1926.</li><li>Bound in the publisher's original gilt stamped green cloth, top edge gilt, pictorial pastedowns and endpapers.</li></ul>

Winnie The Pooh | First Edition

Winston Churchill

<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">First editions</a> of The Second World War in six volumes, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Winston+Churchill&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Winston Churchill</a>, accompanied by a framed signature.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 6 volumes, 1 framed signature.</li><li>Winston Churchill (English,1874-1965).</li><li>London: Cassell, 1948.</li><li>Original cloth, in unclipped dust-jackets.</li><li>Accompanied by a framed display with signatures of Sir Winston Churchill and Clementine Churchill, mounted beneath a contemporary black-and-white portrait.</li></ul> Written with the authority of a wartime Prime Minister and the literary skill that would earn him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953, The Second World War is both an indispensable military history and a deeply personal memoir of Britain's darkest and finest hours. No other participant in the conflict occupied such a commanding position, and few have left so compelling a record. Accompanying the books is a framed display bearing signatures of both ‘Winston Churchill’ and his wife, ‘Clementine Churchill,' mounted beneath a portrait photograph.

The Second World War In Six Volumes | With Framed Signature of Winston and Clementine Churchill

John Le Carré

<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 impression of Call For The Dead by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=John+Le+Carre&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">John Le Carre</a>.<ul><li>John Le Carre (English, 1931-2020).</li><li>London: Victor Gollancz, 1961.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Publisher's red cloth, gilt lettering to spine, with the unclipped first issue dust-jacket with Bingham quotation on front panel.</li></ul> The exceedingly scarce first edition of the author's first novel, introducing the character of George Smiley.

Call for the Dead First Edition 

Ken Kesey

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 One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest, <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=ken+kesey&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ken Kesey</a>.<ul><li>Ken Kesey (American).</li><li>London: Methuen, 1962.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>311 pages.</li><li>Signed to the front free endpaper by Kesey without dedication.</li><li>Maroon cloth, spine lettered in gilt with blue-stamped illustration, in the unclipped wrapper.</li></ul>

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest | Signed First Edition

Ian Fleming

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 <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/james-bond" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Bond</a> novel Diamonds Are Forever 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 (British).</li><li>Wrapper design by Richard Chopping.</li><li>London: Jonathan Cape, 1956.</li><li>In the unclipped wrapper, in a custom made solander box.&nbsp;</li></ul> First edition, first printing of For Your Eyes Only by Ian Fleming, published by Jonathan Cape, London in 1960.

For Your Eyes Only | First Edition

Kenneth Grahame

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 Wind in the Willows by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Kenneth+Grahame&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kenneth Grahame</a>, with "Presentation Copy" stamp.<ul><li>Kenneth Grahame (Scottish).</li><li>London: Methuen, 1908.</li><li>Complete with half-title and the frontispiece by Graham Robertson.</li><li>The title-page bears a neat circular blue "Presentation Copy" ink stamp, indicating an early publisher's issue.</li><li>Publisher's original pictorial blue green cloth, elaborately blocked in gilt to the upper cover and spine, top edge gilt, the remaining edges untrimmed.</li></ul> The true first edition of one of the greatest works of English literature, an enduring celebration of friendship, adventure and the English countryside. Published in 1908 after Grahame's earlier stories had appeared in correspondence to his young son, The Wind in the Willows was initially greeted with a mixed critical reception before rapidly assuming the status of a modern classic. Today it stands amongst the most desirable first editions of the Edwardian period, its appeal extending equally to collectors of children's literature, private presses and landmark works of fantasy.

The Wind in the Willows | First Edition Presentation Copy

Aldous Huxley

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 Brave New World by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Aldous+Huxley&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Aldous Huxley</a>; Sir John Gielgud’s copy, gifted him by Sir Ralph Richardson&nbsp;.<ul><li>Aldous Huxley (English, 1894-1963).</li><li>London: Chatto and Windus, 1932.</li><li>With the contemporary ownership inscription of John Gielgud to front free endpaper, “John Gielgud : 7, Upper St. Martin’s Lane, W.C.2”, with a further inscription in Gielgud’s hand to the lower left of the same page, “from [Aldous, inked out] Ralph Richardson / Romeo and Juliet : Oxford 1932 / February 9th”, John Gielgud’s bookplate to front pastedown.</li><li>Original blue cloth, gilt-lettered spine, dust-wrapper not price-clipped, retaining the original 7s. 6d. price.</li></ul> An exceptional theatrical association copy of Huxley’s dystopian masterpiece, owned by John Gielgud and apparently presented to him in connection with his 1932 Oxford production of Romeo and Juliet. Gielgud’s production for the Oxford University Dramatic Society was his directorial debut and featured Gielgud himself as Romeo, with the young Peggy Ashcroft as Juliet and Edith Evans as the Nurse. The further inscription, in Gielgud’s hand, records the book as from Ralph Richardson, who would shortly afterwards play Mercutio in the BBC National Program broadcast of Romeo and Juliet produced by Gielgud’s brother Val. Richardson and Gielgud remained lifelong friends and, together with Laurence Olivier, formed the celebrated triumvirate of British stage actors who dominated much of twentieth-century theater. The association is especially pleasing given the Shakespearean architecture of Brave New World. The title itself is taken from Miranda’s line in The Tempest, while ‘Romeo and Julie’ recurs throughout the novel, most notably in the Savage’s passionate identification with Romeo and his reading of the play in relation to Lenina. A copy linking Huxley’s great novel of the future with two of the central figures of the British stage, at the very moment of Gielgud’s emergence as a director. A remarkable association copy of one of the defining novels of the twentieth century, in its completely original, unrestored dust-wrapper.

Brave New World | First Edition, Sir John Gielgud Association Copy

Beatrix Potter

First commercially published edition, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first issue</a> of The Tale of Peter Rabbit by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Beatrix+Potter&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Beatrix Potter</a>.<ul><li>Beatrix Potter (English).</li><li>London: F. Warne and Co., 1902.</li><li>Grey boards, leaf-patterned end-papers, all first issue points sated.</li></ul> The first trade edition has leaf-pattern end-papers and the text "wept big tears" on page 51 (the text reads "cried big tears" in the privately printed edition; "wept big tears" in the first three impressions of the trade edition; and "shed big tears" from the fourth impression onwards).

The Tale of Peter Rabbit | First Issue

Agatha Christie

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 Murder is Easy 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 Christie (British).</li><li>London: Collins [The Crime Club], 1939.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>First printing.</li><li>Signed by Agatha Christie on the front free endpaper.</li><li>Publisher’s original orange cloth, lettered in black to the spine, with two pages of advertisements at the rear, complete with the original dust wrapper, correctly priced at 7s. 6d. to the front flap,</li></ul> One of Christie’s most ingenious village mysteries, in which retired policeman Luke Fitzwilliam becomes convinced that a succession of apparently accidental deaths in the quiet village of Wychwood-under-Ashe are, in fact, the work of a calculating murderer.&nbsp;

Murder Is Easy | Signed First Edition

James Gordon Farrell

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> presentation copy of Troubles by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=J.G.+Farrell&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">J.G. Farrell</a>.<ul><li>James Gordon Farrell (American).</li><li>London: Jonathan Cape, 1970,</li><li>Signed by the author on the title-page.</li><li>Original cloth, dust-jacket.</li></ul> A superb presentation copy of Farrell’s finest novel, inscribed by him on the front free endpaper: “Norma supplied the money/ I supplied the ink/ Happy birthday, David/ Jim Farrell/12 July 1971”. Additionally signed in full ‘J G Farrell’ to the title-page. Norma di Marco, a fairly well renowned cellist who studied under Jacqueline Dupree, was Farrell’s landlady in London. This, signed after the author’s trip to India to research The Siege of Krishnapur is a warm one. The first part of Farrell’s celebrated Empire Trilogy, is set in the decaying Hotel Majestic in Ireland during the War of Independence, its crumbling architecture mirroring the collapse of British imperial confidence. Long admired as one of the great post-war comic novels, it was later awarded the Lost Man Booker Prize in 2010.

Troubles | Signed First Edition

Bernard Law Montgomery

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 Memoirs of Field Marshal The Viscount Montgomery, <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 both <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Bernard+Law+Montgomery&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Montgomery</a> and Spike Milligan.<ul><li>Bernard Law Montgomery (British).</li><li>Collins, (1958).</li><li>Dual signed by Montgomery of Alamein and Spike Milligan, the latter with a lengthy inscription and occasional text annotations.</li><li>Red cloth boards with gilt lettered spine, and the supplied dust wrapper.</li></ul> A fascinating and unique dual signature example of the biography of the man who won the second world war. Signed ‘Montgomery of Alamein FM November 1958,’ and below ‘I wrote- enclosing this book. Saying- I had done his bidding during the war. Would he now do mine and sign this book. Within 48 hours it was signed and returned. S Milligan’. In addition to Milligan’s inscription, he has also annotated the first photo page, opposite p.40, which depicts a young Montgomery, his father and his mother. He writes beneath the image of Montgomery’s father, ‘A c*nt’, his mother, ‘A monster’, and next to an image of a child Montgomery, ‘Ok-&gt;’. Cunt has been drawn over in purple pen, possibly by the recipient of the book who didn’t enjoy Milligan’s use of language. Additionally, on page 152, where Montgomery has published a letter written to him by a private attached to 8th army in Libya, which is gushing over Montgomery’s message to the troops a while before. Milligan has written ‘Grovel Grovel.’ Milligan had seen significant action during the second world war, fighting both in the North Africa Campaign, as a signaler, and was appointed lance bombardier. He was wounded at the battle of Monte Cassino and saw out the war playing jazz guitar and performing comedy for the troops. He wrote several autobiographies of his time during the war, including Monty: His Part in My Victory, and the humorous annotations and irreverent inscription regarding Montgomery are very much in keeping with Milligans life.

The Memoirs of Field-Marshal The Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, K.G. | First Edition, Signed by the Author and Spike Milligan

The World Crisis 1911-1914, <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>, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Winston+Churchill&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Winston Churchill</a>.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 5 volumes in 6.</li><li>Winston Churchill (British).</li><li>London: Thornton Butterworth, 1923-1931.</li><li>Octavos.</li><li>Volume V 'Inscribed by/ Winston S. Churchill/ June 21 1929.'</li><li>Staggered publication from 1923 - 1931.</li><li>Vols I, IV &amp; V with the errata slip.</li><li>Illustrated throughout with portraits, maps and plans, some folding.</li><li>Publisher's navy blue cloth, blind embossed panels to upper boards, gilt lettering to spine.</li></ul> A superlative account of the prelude to and events of the First World War. It is still regarded as a defining work of twentieth-century history, reconstructing the action on the Western and Eastern Fronts, the wars at sea and in the air and the advent of tanks and U-boats. Churchill describes the Lusitania's sinking, the heroics of the Battle of Jutland, Verdun's 'soul-stirring frenzy', the bloodshed of Gallipoli, the Somme and Passchendaele, as well as the USA's entry into the conflict. It confirmed the author's reputation as a brilliant historian.

The World Crisis 1911-1914 | Signed First Edition

Robert Frank

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 New York Is by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Robert+Frank&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Robert Frank</a>, previously owned by Frank's publisher, Motomura Kazuhiko.<ul><li>Robert Frank (American, 1924-2019).</li><li>Introduction by Gilbert Millstein.</li><li>[New York]: [New York Times Company], [1959].</li><li>Quarto.</li><li>56 pages.</li><li>Signed in black ink on verso of front free endpaper.</li><li>Black and white photographs.</li><li>Black front and red rear endpapers, printed paper-covered boards, white, titles in black, in Motomura Kazuhiko's card sleeve titled in black ink on upper side.</li></ul> Motomura Kazuhiko's copy, signed by Robert Frank. Robert Frank's scarcest book, signed: 'Robert Frank / N.Y.C. March 27. 96.' New York Is was published between Les Americains (1958) and The Americans (1959). Frank supported himself at this time with sporadic commercial work for supportive art directors, including Cipe Pineles at Charm magazine, Alexey Brodovitch at Harper's Bazaar, and Lou Silverstein at The New York Times. When Lou Silverstein died in 2011, Robert Frank sent a note to his memorial service saying, 'He gave me moral support as well as financial – and this made my life in New York City possible.' New York Is gathers a series of print advertisements featuring photographs by Robert Frank for a campaign run by The New York Times to target and attract prospective advertisers. Frank's photographs are paired with advertising copy extolling the city's virtues, each ending with the line 'New York is The New York Times. New Yorkers live by it. It serves them with the most news. It sells them with the most advertising.'

New York Is | Signed First Edition

Ernest Shackleton

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 South by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Ernest+Shackleton&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ernest Shackleton</a>.<ul><li>Ernest Shackleton (Irish).</li><li>London: Heinemann, 1919.</li><li>Accompanied by the Heinemann Advertising Postcard.</li></ul> A gripping account of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914–1917), led by Shackleton. The book details the incredible survival story of Shackleton and his crew after their ship, the *Endurance*, was trapped and crushed by Antarctic ice. Stranded in one of the harshest environments on Earth, Shackleton led a daring open-boat journey to seek rescue, ultimately saving all 28 men without loss of life. Blending adventure, leadership, and resilience, ‘South’ is a powerful testament to human endurance, courage, and the unbreakable will to survive against overwhelming odds.

South | First Edition

F. Scott Fitzgerald

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 All The Sad Young Men by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=F.+Scott+Fitzgerald&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">F. Scott Fitzgerald</a>.<ul><li>F. Scott Fitzgerald (American).</li><li>New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1926.</li><li>Original full green cloth, lettered in blind on front board and in gilt on spine, original unclipped brown pictorial dust jacket with flapper on front panel by Cleonike Damianakes Wilkins, Scribner's seal on copyright page.</li></ul> Fitzgerald's third collection of short stories, this book followed directly in the wake of Gatsby's success.&nbsp;

All The Sad Young Men | First Edition

Graham Greene

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 Man Within by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Graham+Greene&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Graham Greene</a>.<ul><li>Graham Greene (English).</li><li>Heinemann: 1929.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>[x], 354 pages.</li><li>In the first issue dust wrapper, with original black cloth with blind-stamped border and publisher’s device to upper and lower board respectively, the spine is lettered in gilt.</li></ul> The wrapper is the correct first issue with the price of 7/6 net to the spine and the Oliver Onions ‘Painted Face’ review to the rear flap. A tale of betrayal among smugglers – the author’s first novel, preceded only by a book of poems entitled Babbling April. The title for the book was taken from Sir Thomas Browne’s (1605-1682) ‘There’s another man within me that’s angry with me’. The film adaptation of the book, starring Michael Redgrave &amp; Richard Attenborough, was made in 1947.

The Man Within | First Edition

J.R.R. Tolkien

<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">First editions</a>, early mixed impressions of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, each <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.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 (British).</li><li>London: George Allen &amp; Unwin, 1965-1966.</li><li>Each individually signed by J.R.R. Tolkien. </li><li>With the folding map at the end of each volume. </li><li>Publisher’s red cloth, in the original dust-jackets</li></ul> A complete signed set of The Lord of the Rings, with Tolkien’s signature appearing in each of the three volumes. The present set combines early impressions, Tolkien’s signature in all three volumes and an unusually attractive group of original dust-jackets.

The Lord of the Rings | Signed First Editions, Early Impressions

Friedrich August von Hayek

<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 Law, Legislation, and Liberty, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Friedrich+August+von+Hayek&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Friedrich August von Hayek</a>, with two <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> volumes.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 3 volumes.</li><li>Friedrich August von Hayek (Austrian).</li><li>[Chicago]: The University of Chicago Press, 1973, 1976, 1979.</li><li>Octavos.</li><li>Inscribed on the front free endpaper of volume one: "To David Glasner with best wishes F. A. Hayek June 16, 1975."</li><li>Signed flat by Hayek on the title page of volume two.</li><li>Spines blue with black lettering, each in dust jacket.</li></ul>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Friedrich Hayek was a leading figure in the Austrian school of economics. Law, Legislation and Liberty is widely regarded as the culmination of Hayek's philosophical career; Hayek argues that human reason is structurally incapable of comprehending, let alone deliberately directing, the complex social orders that emerge from centuries of human interaction. He shared the 1974 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Gunnar Myrdal. Hayek spent a year in 1968-1969 as a visiting professor of philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he continued work on his later book Law, Legislation and Liberty, teaching a graduate seminar by the same name and another on the philosophy of social science.

Law, Legislation And Liberty | First Edition, Two Signed Volumes

Langston Hughes

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 Simple Speaks His Mind by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Langston+Hughes&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Langston Hughes</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.<ul><li>Langston Hughes (American).</li><li>New York: Simon and Schuster, 1950.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>231 pages.</li><li>Inscribed by the author to Harold Courlander on front free endpaper; inscription reads: "For Harold Courlander, / with gratitude for the fine work you've done in the folk field ~ / Sincerely, Langston Hughes / New York, January 20, 1954."</li><li>Bound in publisher's green cloth boards with black and gilt lettering to spine, top edge of text block dyed black.</li></ul> Harold Courlander was a prolific and much-awarded novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist specializing in African, Caribbean, and African-American cultures.

Simple Speaks His Mind | Inscribed First Edition

Roald Dahl

An <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> <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 BFG by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Roald+Dahl&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Roald Dahl</a>.<ul><li>Roald Dahl (British).</li><li>London: Jonathan Cape, 1982.</li><li>Signed on the front endpaper by Dahl (‘To Richard/love/Roald Dahl/7/4/85/). </li><li>In the unclipped dust wrapper.</li></ul>

The BFG | Inscribed First Edition

James Hilton

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> first edition, first printing of Goodbye Mr Chips! by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=james+hilton&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Hilton</a>.<ul><li>James Hilton (British-American).</li><li>Hodder and Stoughton, 1934.</li><li>Signed on the title page: “Anne Scott-Russell / Sincerely / James Hilton.”</li><li>Hilton has additionally written the passage from page 95: “For the first time in his life he felt necessary — and necessary to something that was nearest his heart. There is no sublimer feeling in the world, and it was his at last.”</li><li>In the unclipped Bip Pares-designed dust wrapper, complete with the rare Evening Standard Book of the Month wrap-around band.</li></ul>

Goodbye Mr Chips! | Signed First Edition

Vargo Statten

A first edition of The Creature From the Black Lagoon.<ul><li>Vargo Statten.</li><li>Dragon Publications Limited, 1954.</li><li>In publisher’s blue boards with pictorial dust jacket.</li></ul> A first edition, first printing The Creature From The Black Lagoon published by Dragon Publications Limited, [Luton, Beds.], 1954. Written by John Russell Fearn, using his pseudonym Vargo Statten.

The Creature From The Black Lagoon | First Edition

H.G. Wells

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 Little Wars by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=H.G.+Wells&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">H.G. Wells</a>.<ul><li>H.G. Wells (English).</li><li>Frank Palmer, 1913.</li><li>Complete with the tipped on frontispiece.</li></ul> “Little Wars” is a set of rules for playing with toy soldiers and is widely considered a foundational text for the modern hobby of miniature war gaming. It provides simple, engaging rules for simulating battles using infantry, cavalry, and artillery, including a toy cannon that fires projectiles to knock over enemy figures. Wells wrote the book in a whimsical style, aiming it at “boys from twelve years of age to one hundred and fifty and for that more intelligent sort of girl who likes boys’ games and books.”

Little Wars | 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> 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>London: George Allen &amp; Unwin, 1955.</li><li>[vi], 423, [1] pages.</li><li>“First published in 1955” to verso.</li><li>In the unrestored dust wrapper.</li></ul> 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 Return of the King at 7,000 copies and the amount of unrestored dust-jackets now, was 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 Return of the King | 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> of The Fellowship of the Ring 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>London: &nbsp;George Allen &amp; Unwin, 1954.</li><li>[vi], 423, [1] pages.</li><li>“First published in 1954” to verso.</li><li>Presented in the original unclipped dust wrapper.</li></ul> 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 and the amount of unrestored dust-jackets now, was 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 Fellowship of the Ring | First Edition

Stephen King

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 set of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=stephen+king&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Stephen King</a>'s The Dark Tower series.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 9 volumes.</li><li>Stephen King (American).</li><li>Includes: The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands, Wizard and Glass, Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah, and The Dark Tower, with The Wind Through the Keyhole, and related short story The Little Sisters of Eluria as issued in Legends.</li><li>Each is in its original dust jacket.</li></ul> All volumes are first editions, first printings, a notably scarce assembly when found complete in such uniform and well-preserved condition. King’s genre-defining fusion of fantasy, western, and speculative fiction unfolds across these volumes in an expansive narrative centered on Roland Deschain and his quest for the Dark Tower.

The Dark Tower Series | First Editions

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 Spy Who Came in from the Cold, <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> with the first line of the story and dated by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=john+le+Carr%C3%A9&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">le Carré</a>.<ul><li>John le Carré (English).</li><li>United Kingdom: Gollancz, 1963.</li><li>Inscribed by the author to the title page, ‘The American handed Leamas another cup of coffee and said, ‘Why don’t you go back and sleep? We can ring you if he shows up’ – John Le Carre/New Year/2009.’</li><li>Presented in the unclipped dust wrapper, accompanied by the wrap-around band with Graham Greene’s quote about the book.</li></ul> A first edition, first printing of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. A bleak Cold War thriller about Alec Leamas, a weary British agent drawn into one last operation against East German intelligence. What begins as a spy mission becomes a study in deception, sacrifice, and moral compromise. Le Carré strips glamour from espionage, showing it as brutal, shabby, and ethically corrosive, which helped redefine the modern spy novel. Le Carre, a reluctant inscriber, inscribed this unique copy using the opening line of the novel.

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold | First Edition Inscribed by the Author

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>, first printing of Black Mischief 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, 1932.</li><li>With frontispiece, map on page 303.</li><li>Signed by the Author to the endpaper ‘With Best Wishes From/ Evelyn.’</li><li>In the original patterned faux-snakeskin cloth, with spine lettered in gilt, in the unclipped wrapper, accompanied by the rare Book Society ‘Book of the Month For October’ wrap-around band. </li></ul> A sharp, comic satire about politics, modernization, and imperial absurdity. Set in the fictional African state of Azania, it follows the well-meaning but chaotic Emperor Seth as he tries to westernize his country, helped by the dubious Englishman Basil Seal. Waugh uses farce, cruelty, and brilliant exaggeration to expose vanity, incompetence, and cultural arrogance, making the novel funny, unsettling, and deliberately outrageous all at once

Black Mischief | Signed First Edition

V.S. Naipaul

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 A House For Mr Biswas by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=V.S.+Naipaul&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">V.S. Naipaul</a>.<ul><li>V.S. Naipaul (British).</li><li>London: Andre Deutsch Limited, 1961.</li><li>Signed on the title page without dedication, and additionally dated: “New York / April 1 1961.”</li><li>In the vibrantly pink dust wrapper.</li></ul> Naipaul’s masterpiece: comic, poignant, and deeply humane in its account of Mohun Biswas’s struggle for independence, dignity, and a house of his own.

A House For Mr Biswas | 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 Deluxe edition</a> of The House At Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne, <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> and numbered by the author and illustrator.<ul><li>A.A. Milne (English).</li><li>Illustrated by E.H. Shepard (English).</li><li>London: Methuen &amp; Co. Ltd., 1928.</li><li>Limited to 350 numbered and signed copies by Milne &amp; Shepard, this being copy #224.</li><li>Bound in the publisher’s original blue cloth backed boards, entirely uncut and unopened, with the original dust jacket.</li></ul>

The House At Pooh Corner | Signed First Deluxe Edition

Keith Haring 

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> signed coloring book, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Keith+Haring&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Keith Haring</a>, 1982.<ul><li>Keith Haring (American, 1958-1990).</li><li>32 offset lithographs, staple bound.</li><li>Cover signed and dated in pen.</li></ul> A blank coloring book designed and printed by American Pop artist Keith Haring. This copy is signed and dated in pen by the artist and features several illustrations in the artist's classic style.

Signed Coloring Book

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

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

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>

Modern First Editions

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Frank Meier

A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard

Winston Churchill

John Le Carré

Ken Kesey

Ian Fleming

Kenneth Grahame

Aldous Huxley

Beatrix Potter

Agatha Christie

James Gordon Farrell

Bernard Law Montgomery

Winston Churchill

Robert Frank

Ernest Shackleton

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Graham Greene

J.R.R. Tolkien

Friedrich August von Hayek

Langston Hughes

Roald Dahl

James Hilton

Vargo Statten

H.G. Wells

J.R.R. Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien

Stephen King

John Le Carré

Evelyn Waugh

V.S. Naipaul

A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard

Keith Haring

Evelyn Waugh

J.R.R. Tolkien

B. Traven

Stephen King