First Edition Literature & Children's Books

Lewis Carroll

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>, second issue of Alice's Adventures In Wonderland by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Lewis+Carroll&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lewis Carroll</a>.<ul><li>Lewis Carroll [Charles L. Dodgson] (English).</li><li>New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1866.</li><li>Frontispiece, and 42 illustrations by John Tenniel.</li><li>Bound in the publisher's original gilt stamped red cloth, all edge gilt, original dark green pastedowns and endpapers, original tissue guard present before title-page, housed in a red cloth clamshell slipcase, vertical gilt lettered spine.</li></ul> This is the earliest obtainable issue with the Appleton cancel title page. Macmillan printed around 2,000 copies of the book in 1865, but both artist and author were unhappy with the poor quality printing and insisted it was reprinted before being published. Macmillan sold the rest of the print run to Appleton in New York who published a US edition using a new title page but with the first printing sheets from the 1865 London edition.

Alice's Adventures In Wonderland | First Edition

Charles Dickens

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 A Christmas Carol, accompanied by the other Christmas Books, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Charles+Dickens&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charles Dickens</a>.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 5 volumes.</li><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>The Christmas Books: A Christmas Carol; The Chimes; The Battle of Life; Cricket on the Hearth; The Haunted Man and The Ghost's Bargain.</li><li>London: Chapman and Hall 1843-48.</li><li>Christmas Carol:" reading "Stave I," green pastedowns and endpapers, and unbroken “D” in Dickens to gilt front cover.</li><li>First edition first state of The Chimes, first edition of The Cricket, first edition fourth state of engraved title-page to The Battle Of Life, first edition of The Haunted Man.</li><li>All the volumes bound in their original gilt decorated cloth, all edges gilt, housed in red leather backed clamshell slipcase, ribbed gilt decorated spine.</li></ul> A Christmas Carol, regarded as Dicken's most widely read novel, selling more than 6000 copies in the few days leading up to Christmas. The work was extravagantly costly as Dickens for the first time (and incidentally his last) used color in the title-page and etchings as he wanted to make the book a beautiful gift and to be a celebration of the Christmas spirit. After the initial success, Dickens continued the series throughout the 1840's, maintaining "the Carol" philosophy to "strike a sledgehammer blow" for the poor, uneducated, and repressed.

A Christmas Carol | First Edition, First Issue | Accompanied by the Christmas Books

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

Lewis Carroll | John Tenniel

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 Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Lewis+Carroll&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lewis Carroll</a>.<ul><li>Lewis Carroll (English).</li><li>Illustrated by John Tenniel (English).</li><li>London: Macmillan &amp; Co., 1872.</li><li>Tipped to the recto of the final advert leaf is the small four page 1871 "Christmas Greeting" pamphlet by Carroll.</li><li>Bound in fine full red morocco, ribbed gilt decorated spine, covers double ruled in gilt, gilt cover center pieces, gilt dentelles, all edges gilt, marbled pastedowns and endpapers, by Zaehnsdorf.</li></ul> In Christmas of 1871, Carroll created and published a special 4 page letter To all Child-Readers of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," a heartfelt leaflet of holiday wishes, which coincided with the publication of Through the Looking-Glass.

Through The Looking-Glass And What Alice Found There | First Edition

H.G. Wells

<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>, first issue of The Time Machine An Invention 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>New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1895.</li><li>Tipped in frontis, with the author's name incorrectly spelled on the title-page as "H. S. WELLS."</li><li>Original publisher's tan cloth, top edge gilt, others uncut, housed in a purple cloth clamshell slipcase, gilt lettered purple leather spine label.</li></ul> The American first edition was published before the British edition and the text, presumably an earlier version of the story, differs significantly from the British edition.

The Time Machine An Invention | 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

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

Oscar Wilde

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first large paper edition</a> of A Woman of No Importance by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=oscar+wilde&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Oscar Wilde</a>.<ul><li>Oscar Wilde (Irish).</li><li>London: John Lane, 1894.</li><li>Quarto.</li><li>One of 50 large paper copies.</li><li>Printed on hand-made paper, publisher's straw colored buckram with gilt decorations by Charles Ricketts, gilt lettering to spine, housed in custom purple cloth chemise and matching quarter morocco slip-case.</li></ul> First performed in April 1893, prior to being published in book form, A Woman of No Importance addresses many social issues with Wilde's wit and dark humor. The run of the play was cut short as a result of Wilde's arrest and prosecution. The scandal dampened enthusiasm for Wilde's work until after his death in 1900, when interest in his work began to revive.

A Woman of No Importance | Large Paper 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 one of 50 large paper copies of Lady Windermre's Fan by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=oscar+wilde&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Oscar Wilde</a>.<ul><li>Oscar Wilde (Irish).</li><li>London: Elkin Mathews and John Lane, 1893.</li><li>Small quarto.</li><li>Publisher's straw colored buckram with gilt decorations by Charles Ricketts, gilt lettering to spine, housed in custom purple cloth chemise and matching quarter morocco slip-case.</li></ul> One of 50 large paper copies of Wilde's four-act comedy, first performed on Saturday, 20 February 1892, at the St James's Theatre in London. Like many of Wilde's plays, it bitingly satirizes the morals of society.

Lady Windermere's Fan | 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

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

William Faulkner

Faulkner, WilliamThe Sound and the Fury. New York: Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith, [1929] 8vo. Original black and white boards with white cloth spine; some fading to head and foot of spine, and rubbing along bottom edge. No price on dust jacket and $3.00 price on rear panel for "Humanity Uprooted"; unrestored dust-jacket with usual fading to spine, two small chips to top of back panel and one to top of front panel, small bit of loss to head of spine, spine with visible crease. First edition, first printing of Faulkner's pioneering work of American modernism. The Sound and the Fury was Faulkner's fourth novel and employed a stream-of-consciousness technique and multiple narrators. The flap copy says it "suggests Joyce in its technique and the Russians, – perhaps Dostoyevsky – in its theme," but in retrospect the work is purest Faulkner, with multiple narrators and cascading layers of history, telling the story of the fall of a grand Southern family through the generations. REFERENCESPeterson A6b

The Sound and the Fury, 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

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

Percy Bysshe Shelley

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 Cenci: A Tragedy, In Five Acts by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Percy+Bysshe+Shelley&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Percy Bysshe Shelley</a>.<ul><li>Percy Bysshe Shelley (English).</li><li>[Livorno], Italy: for C. And J. Ollier, Vere Street, Bond Street, London, 1819.</li><li>(xiv)104 pages.</li><li>Bound in full red morocco, ribbed gilt decorated spine, covers triple ruled in gilt, gilt dentelles, top edge gilt, others entirely uncut as issued, by Zaehnsdorf with their exhibition stamp to the lower edge of the rear pastedown.</li></ul> First edition of Shelley's dramatization of this dark tale of parricide, child abuse, and incest based on actual events and arguably the most enduring Romantic verse-play. Only 250 copies were printed, according to Shelley himself. According to Granniss, "With the exception of Queen Mab, The Cenci is the only one of Shelley's works which reached a second edition during his lifetime ." On the other hand, the play was never staged until the Shelley Society produced it on the occasion of Robert Browning's birthday, on May 7, 1886.

The Cenci: A Tragedy, In Five Acts | First 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> 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."

First Edition Literature & Children's Books

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Lewis Carroll

Charles Dickens

A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard

Lewis Carroll, John Tenniel

H.G. Wells

Winston Churchill

John Le Carré

Ken Kesey

Ian Fleming

Kenneth Grahame

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Oscar Wilde

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Vargo Statten

J.R.R. Tolkien

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Stephen King

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Evelyn Waugh

V.S. Naipaul

A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Evelyn Waugh

J.R.R. Tolkien

B. Traven