Literature & Children's Specialist Selections

René Char | Henri Matisse

Le Poème Pulvérisé (The Scattered Poem), <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=Matisse&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Matisse</a> and <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Ren%C3%A9+Char&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Char</a>.<ul><li>Henri Matisse (French, 1869-</li><li>René Char (French, 1907-1988).</li><li>Paris: Fontaine, 1947.</li><li>Quarto.</li><li>One of the 65 deluxe copies on Johannot laid paper, this being xxxiii.</li><li>Linocut frontispiece, signed in pencil by Matisse.</li><li>Text in French.</li><li>Signed by René Char in blue in ink on the justification, partially uncut.</li><li>Original printed wrappers.</li></ul> René Char approached Matisse in the spring of 1946 to create a frontispiece for this collection of poetry. The publisher initially misunderstood the nature of the illustration, but Matisse insisted that it would be an original engraving, not a reproduction: 'my intention is to show René Char more than a simple tribute.' The woman depicted by Matisse is that of Lucienne Bernard, widow of the poet Roger Bernard, to whom the author pays homage in the eleventh poem of the collection, entitled 'Affres, détonation, silence.'

Le Poème Pulvérisé [The Scattered Poem] | Signed by Matisse and Char

James Joyce

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first United Kingdom edition</a> of Ulysses by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=James+Joyce&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Joyce</a>.<ul><li>James Joyce (Irish).</li><li>London: John Lane The Bodley Head, 1936.</li><li>Quarto.</li><li>Part of an edition of 900, this being #726, from an overall limitation of 1000.</li><li>Japon vellum, original green buckram with gilt Homeric bow designed by Eric Gill to upper cover, titles to spine gilt, top edge gilt, others untrimmed, with the unclipped dust-jacket.</li></ul> The first truly complete edition of Joyce's literary masterpiece, incorporating the author's corrected text and complemented by a prefatory list of previous editions and three appendices, including a legal history of the novel and a bibliography of the author's works.

Ulysses | First United Kingdom 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

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

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 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

Ernest Hemingway

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

Beatrix Potter

A preparatory sketch for the 1905 <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 Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Beatrix+Potter&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Beatrix Potter</a>, accompanied by a first printing of the book.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2.</li><li>Beatrix Potter (English).</li><li>London: Warne, 1905.</li><li>Sketch is pencil on paper, and has been mounted, framed and glazed.</li><li>The illustration itself appears on page 22 in the 1905 edition.</li></ul> Potter’s enchanting tale of the little hedgehog washer woman, an exceptionally scarce item, coupled with the first edition book; with an association to writer and Beatrix Potter expert Leslie Linder.

The Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle First Edition, with Preparatory Sketch

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 For Your Eyes Only, <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 to <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Nancy+Cunard&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nancy Cunard</a>.<ul><li>Ian Fleming (English).</li><li>London: Jonathan Cape, 1960.</li><li>Signed presentation inscription from the author "To Nancy [Cunard] with one warm kiss from Ian" to front free endpaper, below ink inscription in another hand.</li><li>In the unclipped dust wrapper, original black boards with white eye to upper cover, spine lettered in gilt, preserved in custom morocco-backed drop-back box.</li></ul> Nancy Cunard (1896–1965) was a British writer, publisher, and political activist known for her influential role in modernist culture and anti-racist advocacy. Born into the prominent Cunard shipping family, she rejected aristocratic convention and immersed herself in the artistic circles of London and Paris. In the late 1920s, she founded the Hours Press, publishing innovative writers such as Samuel Beckett and Ezra Pound. Her most significant achievement was editing the Negro Anthology (1934), a groundbreaking 900-page collection documenting Black culture, history, and oppression across the diaspora. Cunard was a committed anti-fascist, campaigning actively during the Spanish Civil War and speaking out against racism in Europe and America. The Flemings were known to have attended parties hosted and including Cunard in the 1950s-60s.

For Your Eyes Only | First Edition, Inscribed to Writer and Activist Nancy Cunard 

Jane Austen

The <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first US edition</a>, first printing of Pride and Prejudice by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=jane+austen&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jane Austen</a>.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2 volumes.</li><li>Jane Austen (English).</li><li>Philadelphia:&nbsp;Carey &amp; Lea,&nbsp;1832.</li><li>12mo.</li><li>199, [1]; 209, [1] pages</li><li>Publisher's catalogue bound at front of Volume I.</li><li>Modern full peach design binding by Sol Rébora in Can Can structure with one layer of cotton cloth and two layers of Japanese paper, each element hand-painted with acrylics and textured with a patterned design impressed with deep-relief hot-stamping from silk; spines and boards stamped in dark grey, cotton and abaca handmade paper peach endpapers.</li></ul> First US edition in a stunning fine art binding by the acclaimed Argentinian design bookbinder Sol Rébora. Austen's most beloved novel is simultaneously a unique production of profound artistic confidence and an entertaining popular love story: it builds on a long-established tradition of English courtship novels in conversation with many women authors before her like Frances Burney (from whose book Cecelia Austen may have borrowed the very phrase "pride and prejudice"). Austen admitted in a letter that she thought her book's heroine, Elizabeth Bennett, "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print" (29 January 1813) – and generations of readers have agreed with her. First published in 1813 in three volumes, this is the first edition to appear in the United States, published in two volumes by Carey &amp; Lea in an edition of only 750 copies. Sol Rébora is an internationally recognized design bookbinder based in Buenos Aires. Her works embody a minimalistic elegance that is nevertheless subtly complex, as in the carefully structured multiple layers used here. They are not only visually stunning, but supremely tactile. From Rèbora's artist statement: "The cloth texture is achieved using silk with a patterned design that evokes the aesthetic of the time period in which the original edition was produced, creating a visual connection with antique paper. This design also appeals to the collective memory of how custom bindings from the early 19th century might have appeared, complete with deep-relief hot-stamping impressions." A magnificent, unique copy of an Austen first.

Pride And Prejudice | First American Edition

William Nicholson | Margery Williams Bianco

The rarest variant of the <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=Margery+Williams+Bianco&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Margery Williams Bianco</a>'s beloved children's tale, The Velveteen Rabbit.<ul><li>Margery Williams Bianco (American).</li><li>Illustrated by William Nicholson (British).</li><li>New York &amp; London:&nbsp;George H. Doran &amp; Heinemann,&nbsp;1922.</li><li>[8], 19, [1] pages.</li><li>Illustrated with 4 full-page and 3 double-page color lithographs.</li><li>First printing, US issue in a variant (likely trial) UK jacket.</li><li>Original pictorial paper boards, original unclipped (no price) variant pictorial dust jacket (printed in single color, no logo on spine, blank rear panel), color pictorial rabbit endpapers, housed in a custom full leather clamshell box.</li></ul> "The truth is I don't think I've ever found anything as purely 'moving' as the end of The Velveteen Rabbit" – David Foster Wallace This book captures the wistful attachment to our childhood toys through the story of a stuffed rabbit that hopes the love of its owner can make it real. It is one of the great collaborations in modern children's books, with the lithographs and the text equally invoking bittersweet affection: "You were Real to the Boy [...] because he loved you." Later printings did not use lithography to produce Nicholson's drawings, making the first printing especially distinctive in the quality of its lustrous illustrations. This is a remarkable copy of one of the first modern picture books. Scarce, in an unrestored dust jacket, and especially in this variant.

The Velveteen Rabbit | First Edition

The <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=James+Joyce&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Joyce</a>'s first fiction, Dubliners.<ul><li>James Joyce (Irish).</li><li>London: Grant Richards Ltd, [1914].</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>278 pages.</li><li>One of 746 bound for Richards (1250 copies printed).</li><li>Original dark red cloth, gilt stamped lettering on the spine and front cover.</li></ul> The rocky publishing history of Dubliners is well documented: finished in 1905, it was rejected by 15 publishers before Grant Richards accepted it. Richards' printers refused to set some of the type – inaugurating Joyce's lifelong struggle with censorship – and Joyce refused most of Richards' changes. It was then taken up by Maunsel &amp; Roberts of Dublin, who eventually came to a similar conclusion. Maunsel even burned all but one of the copies of the sheets, which Joyce managed to wheedle out of him, and it was given back to Richards, who set the type from the lone Maunsel sheet saved from the flames. Joyce subsequently added "A Little Cloud" and "The Dead" – possibly his most famous single story – to the collection.

Dubliners | First Edition

Andy Warhol

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 From A to B and Back Again: The Philosophy of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Andy+Warhol&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Andy Warhol</a>.<ul><li>Andy Warhol (American).</li><li>London: Cassell, 1975.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>241 pages.</li><li>Presentation copy, signed by author ‘To Ian / Dog / Andy Warhol, London 1975’. </li><li>With an original drawing of dog’s head on the half-title.</li><li>Publisher’s cloth, dust-jacket.</li></ul> With a very rare inscription in that Warhol has drawn a dog’s head, and not the familiar soup.

From A to B And Back Again: The Philosophy of Andy Warhol | 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 edition</a> of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=A+Woman+of+No+Importance&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">A Woman of No Importance</a> 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, printed on hand-made paper.</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 slipcase.</li></ul> One of only 50 large paper copies. This play contains some of Wilde's most famous epigrams. 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 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 <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/james-bond" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Bond</a> book You Only Live Twice, by Ian Fleming, 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">inscribed</a> by the author.<ul><li>Ian Fleming (English).</li><li>London: Jonathan Cape, 1964.</li><li>Signed and inscribed to Aubrey Forshaw.</li><li>With presentation note in blue ink to flyleaf; 'To / Forshaw-san / from / Fleming-san [underline].'</li><li>Publisher’s black cloth-effect paper over boards with silver titles to spine and Japanese characters in gilt to upper, bamboo patterned endpapers, in original pictorial dust-wrapper by Richard Chopping.</li></ul> This is the first issue with ‘First published 1964’ to the copyright page. This copy was presented by Ian Fleming to Aubrey Forshaw. The inscription incorporates the traditional Japanese honorary title ‘san’, used to show respect to the person being mentioned. In the novel, Tiger Tanaka, the head of the Japanese Secret Service, refers to 007 throughout as ‘Bondo-san’. Fleming used this device only when inscribing the book to his closest friends and colleagues. Examples presented in this way include: “Brilliant Chopping-san” [for the jacket artist Richard Chopping], “Dikko-san” [Richard Hughes, journalist and model for the character 'Dikko Henderson' in the novel], “Connolly-san” [author Cyril Connolly], and “From Fleming-san” [to Sunday Times editor Denis Hamilton, the dedicatee of Fleming's Thrilling Cities]. The present 'Forshaw-san' is thus far unrecorded. Forshaw was Managing Director at Pan Books from 1952, following the death of its founder Alan Bott. The first Bond novel Casino Royale was published as a Pan edition in 1955 and each subsequent Bond novel would be published by Pan, as well as Fleming’s other three books The Diamond Smugglers, Thrilling Cities and Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang. In The Man With the Golden Typewriter, letters between Fleming and Forshaw are included on pages 319, 321, 322 and 371. It also appears that Fleming consulter Forshaw about the details of Bond’s Bentley Continental. The car was owned by Fleming and was driven and one by Bond in the film Thunderball. One of the letters from The Man With The Golden Typewriter from Forshaw to Fleming is an invite to an awards dinner to celebrate the fact that Casino Royale has sold over a million copies. By the 1960’s Pan was the second-largest paperback publisher (after Penguin), largely thanks to the phenomenal global success of Ian Fleming and his James Bond series.

James Bond You Only Live Twice Signed and Inscribed 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 <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/james-bond" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Bond</a> book On Her Majesty's Secret Service, by Ian Fleming, 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">inscribed</a> by the author.<ul><li>Ian Fleming (English).</li><li>London: Jonathan Cape, 1963.</li><li>Signed and inscribed to Joss Pender.</li></ul> Inscribed by the author on the front free end-paper: "To/ Joss/ from/ Ian/ 1963." With the former owner's name Pender and date in his own hand on the front paste-down. Joss Pender was a member with Ian Fleming of the Royal St George's Golf Club in Kent. Pender and Fleming were contemporaries at Eton. They died within a year of each other at relatively young ages. The families were subsequently to be linked through marriage and Denison-Penders and Flemings can still be found playing golf together at Sandwich to this day.&nbsp;

James Bond On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Signed and Inscribed 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 <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/james-bond" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Bond</a> book Live and Let Die, by Ian Fleming, 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">inscribed</a> by the author.<ul><li>Ian Fleming (English).</li><li>London: Jonathan Cape, 1954.</li><li>Inscribed to Muriel Williams&nbsp;.</li><li>The book is accompanied by the correct first state dust wrapper without the artist's (Kenneth Lewis] credit on the front flap, correctly priced at 10s.6d. net to both the front and rear flaps.</li></ul> Inscribed by the author on the front free end-paper: "To/ MW/ The faithful &amp;/ true!/ from/ The Author". With an additional ownership inscription and date (1954) of M J Williams on the front paste-down. Muriel Williams (often referred to as MJW or MW) was Fleming's Assistant at Kemsley Newspapers when he was the Foreign Manager. She was responsible for the day-to-day running of the Department in particular liaison with the "stringers" who, from far flung parts of the world, submitted stories for inclusion in the Kemsley Publications (including the Sunday Times). The dust wrapper artist, Kenneth Lewis (who worked in the Art Department at Kemsley), remembers her well commenting on her flat-chested appearance, strong and forceful personality, her use of bright red lipstick and that Fleming deferred to her. Fleming inscribed several of his other early novels to her, including Casino Royale and Moonraker.

James Bond Live and Let Die Inscribed 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 <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/james-bond" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Bond</a> book From Russia with Love, by Ian Fleming, 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">inscribed</a> by the author.<ul><li>Ian Fleming (English).</li><li>London: Jonathan Cape, 1957.</li><li>Inscribed by Fleming to R. Singleton-Ward&nbsp;.</li><li>Bound in the original black boards with silver titles on spine, red rose and metallic gun to the front board, in the rare dust wrapper.</li></ul> The book is inscribed with the author’s signed presentation inscription to the front endpaper, ‘To R. Singleton-Ward/ In (I hope)/Gratitude/ Ian Fleming/ 1957.’ Singleton-Ward was born in Droitwich at the turn of the century and studied as a masseur and physiotherapist in the area and was certainly still operating in the area in the 1940s. Singleton-Ward operated in Harley Street as a specialist physiotherapist in the 1950s and 1960s. This is born out in his book, My Two Hands Talk, published by Christopher Johnson in the same year as From Russia With Love, 1957. It is possible that Fleming used the book as background (as he had for Patrick Leigh Fermor’s, Traveller’s Tree for Live and Let Die) for the health clinic scenes in the book of Thunderball, either introduced to the text by a member of the publishing house, or introduced to it by one of the man Harley Street specialists he used to visit. There is a no coincidence perhaps that Thunderball (published 4 years later) opens with Bond on the physiotherapist’s table having a massage. It is possible that Singleton-Ward was able to give Fleming some background about this. The association in the presentation inscription suggests they were close or certainly friends. The rare use of Fleming's full name and date in an inscription (1957) is evidence of this. With the early Bond books, he invariably preferred to use just his Christian name or the more formal "The Author". Singleton-Ward’s address appears as 46 Portland Place W1 in 1965 (London Phone Book), but no trace after this with no mention after 1965 in the British General Chiropractors register/council.

James Bond From Russia With Love Inscribed First Edition

Roald Dahl | Quentin Blake

A deluxe limited <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first US edition</a> of this <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=roald+dahl&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dahl</a> classic, <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 the author and illustrator.<ul><li>Roald Dahl (English).</li><li>Illustrated by Quentin Blake (English).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Farrar, Straus, Giroux,&nbsp;(1982). </li><li>x, 222 pages.&nbsp;</li><li>Limited edition, one of 300 numbered copies, this #208, signed by both Dahl and Blake to the limitation page.&nbsp;</li><li>Original red publisher's cloth with gilt titles, in original blue-grey slipcase.</li></ul>

The BFG | First Edition, Signed by Both Author and Illustrator

William Golding

True <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 classic novel <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Lord+of+the+Flies&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lord of the Flies</a> by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=William+Golding&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">William Golding</a>.<ul><li>William Golding (English).</li><li>London:&nbsp;Faber and Faber Ltd,&nbsp;(1954).</li><li>248 pages.</li><li>Original red cloth, in original unclipped (12s 6d, with summary on front flap) first issue color pictorial jacket.</li></ul> Frequently challenged for its portrayals of violence and grim assessment of human nature, Lord of the Flies remains a classic — if psychologically dark — young adult novel. It is also a reflection of the post-World War II white British mindset, as the boys use racial slurs and stereotypes as comparisons for their increasingly unruly behavior; these ideas are made explicit as their rescuer remarks, "I should have thought that a pack of British boys would have been able to put up a better show than that."

Lord of the Flies First Edition

Patricia Highsmith

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=The%20Talented%20Mr%20Ripley&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Talented Mr Ripley</a> by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Patricia%20Highsmith&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Patricia Highsmith</a>.<ul><li>Patricia Highsmith (American).</li><li>London: Cresset, 1957.</li><li>In a fine, neatly clipped wrapper. </li></ul> The author's second book and notably filmed in 1999 starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon and Jude Law. An excellent title to possess and very scarce.

The Talented Mr Ripley First Edition

Virginia Woolf

<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 Night and Day by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Virginia%20Woolf&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Virginia Woolf</a>, in the rare dust jacket.<ul><li>Virginia Woolf (English).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;George H. Doran Company,&nbsp;1920.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>508 pages.</li><li>Bound in green cloth, in a custom cloth clamshell box.</li></ul>

Night and Day First American Edition

<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, first issue, and first state of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Ian%20Fleming&amp;tab=objects" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ian Fleming</a>'s <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/james-bond" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Bond</a> novel Live and Let Die.<ul><li>Ian Fleming (English).</li><li>London:&nbsp;Jonathan Cape,&nbsp;1954.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>240 pages.</li><li>Black cloth covered boards, in colorful dust jacket, housed in a custom half-morocco clamshell box.</li></ul> A very pretty copy of Fleming’s second novel, written in just two months at his Goldeneye estate, before the reviews of the first Bond novel, Casino Royale, landed.

Live and Let Die First Edition

Samuel Beckett

An inscribed <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> in English (translated by the author), of Waiting for Godot by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=samuel%20beckett&amp;tab=objects" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Samuel Beckett</a>, preceding the British edition.<ul><li>Samuel Beckett (Irish).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Grove Press,&nbsp;(1954).</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Pagination irregular, [vii] pages.; 7-60 ff. (numbered on left page); [5] pages.</li><li>Illustrated with portrait and three leaves of stills from the stage production.</li><li>Inscribed by Beckett to another writer: "for Dan Pope from Sam Beckett".</li><li>Additionally signed by Grove Press publisher Barney Rosset.&nbsp;</li><li>In dustwrapper, housed in a quarter morocco and cloth clamshell case.</li></ul> Probably the scarcest and most preferred issue of the Nobel Prize winner's most famous title, one of the great works of the world stage. A major innovation in modern drama, possibly the most important play of the 20th Century, and certainly the first theatrical success of the Theatre of the Absurd.

Waiting for Godot Inscribed First Edition in English

Walt Whitman

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 href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=walt%20whitman&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Walt Whitman</a>'s Leaves of Grass.<ul><li>Walt Whitman (American).</li><li>New York, 1855.</li><li>Small folio.</li><li>xii, [13]–95 pages.&nbsp;</li><li>Engraved frontispiece portrait of Whitman by Samuel Hollyer after a photograph, printed on thick paper.</li><li>Bound in the original green cloth, boards with blind-stamped floral decorations, title and triple-fillet border gilt, spine with title and floral ornaments gilt, marble endpapers, all edges gilt, housed in a custom half morocco folding case.</li></ul> “He was and is the poet and prophet of democracy, and the intoxication of his immense affirmative, the fervor of his ‘barbaric yawp,’ are so powerful that the echo of his crude yet rhythmic song rings forever in the American air” (Grolier One Hundred). The self-published&nbsp;Leaves was at least partially personally&nbsp;type-set by the author on a small handpress in Brooklyn. The portrait of Whitman is here in superior condition, without the foxing often encountered. This copy bears the printed copyright statement on the verso of the title page and has the first version of line 2 of page 49 (“And the night is for you and me and all”) identified by Schmidgall in his article, “1855: a Stop-Press Revision.” Of the original 795 copies, only 337 were issued in this first binding with extensive gilt stamping, marbled end-sheets, and gilt edges (in the second binding only the title was gilt, and plain yellow end-sheets were used).

Leaves of Grass 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 UK edition</a> of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=oscar%20wilde&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Oscar Wilde</a>'s De Profundis, accompanied by Wilde's silver cigarette holder.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2: 1 book, and 1 cigarette holder.</li><li>Oscar Wilde (Irish).</li><li>United Kingdom: Methuen, 1905.</li><li>Accompanied by a silver cigarette holder with the makers mark Frederick Wald.</li><li>The cigarette holder was taken from Wilde's cache of items following his death at the Hotel D'Alsace in Paris.</li><li>Housed in a custom made box.</li></ul> A first edition, first printing of De Profundis by Oscar Wilde, published posthumously in 1905 by Methuen. Accompanied by a silver cigarette holder, embossed with foliate scrolls and a vacant shield cartouche, hallmarked Birmingham 1894, with the maker's mark that of Frederick Wald. The holder beautiful amber ending which pulls in and out. The renowned Irish playwright and poet, died on November 30, 1900, at the Hotel d’Alsace in Paris (now L'Hôtel). After serving two years of hard labor for "gross indecency" due to his homosexuality, Wilde fled to France, impoverished and shunned by society. Living under the name Sebastian Melmoth, he took up residence at the modest hotel. His health declined rapidly due to meningitis, complications from an earlier ear infection. Wilde reportedly quipped on his deathbed, "My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has to go." He passed away destitute but surrounded by a few loyal friends. Wilde was initially buried in a pauper's grave at Bagneux Cemetery, but his remains were later moved to Père Lachaise Cemetery, where his tomb, adorned with a modernist angel, now draws admirers from around the world. His wit and tragedy remain enduring symbols of artistic genius and societal hypocrisy.

De Profundis First Edition Book, Accompanied by Oscar Wilde's Cigarette Holder

Richard Chopping

A final proof of the cover art for Ian Fleming's <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/james-bond" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Bond</a> novel Goldfinger, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Richard%20Chopping&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Richard Chopping</a>, signed by the artist.<ul><li>Richard Chopping (British, 1917-2008).</li><li>Commissioned by the publisher, Jonathan Cape.</li><li>This work is presented framed.</li></ul> The proof is believed to be one of fewer than ten copies. It features the iconic trompe l’oeil skull embedded with $20 gold coin eye sockets together with a rose stem beneath the skull’s teeth, and is signed in pencil by Richard Chopping (1917-2008), who designed a number of James Bond first edition book covers. The proof is lighter in color to the final dust wrapper artwork finally used by Cape. The piece was commissioned by UK publisher Jonathan Cape and is custom-framed in a light oak satin-wood frame. “The Chopping jacket was a tremendous success, both in England and America, and from that day on he and I and Michael Howard of Cape’s have devised all the James Bond jackets, which have now become something of a hallmark with the book trade and have earned prizes for Cape’s.”&nbsp;Ian Fleming (1964).

Signed Final Proof for Goldfinger Cover Art

J.K. Rowling

The English Proof of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Harry%20Potter&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Harry Potter</a> and the Prisoner of Azkaban in green wrappers, printed by Bloomsbury on wove paper in 1999.<ul><li>J.K. Rowling (English).</li><li>London: Bloomsbury,</li><li>In green wrappers.</li></ul> There were two issues of a proof for the third Harry Potter book. The state here, in green wrappers, is closer to the published version. Errington notes “an unconfirmed print-run of 250 copies is generally accepted. Bloomsbury, however, provides a figure of 150 copies” (pp. 470-1).

Proof of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

A complete 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 the <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Harry%20Potter&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Harry Potter</a> series.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 7 volumes.</li><li>J.K. Rowling (English).</li><li>London: Bloomsbury, 1997-2007.</li><li>Octavos.</li><li>Softcover.</li><li>Pictorial card wrappers.</li></ul> A complete set of first edition, first printing paperback novels, variously dated, including the true 1997 first edition, first issue of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone with all relevant issue points. The paperback First of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was printed on the very same day as the hardcover First Edition (of which only 500 copies were printed) and neither has bibliographical priority. The Harry Potter series has had a profound cultural impact, shaping a generation’s imagination and fostering a global fan community. It popularized the fantasy genre, leading to a surge in young adult literature. The books’ themes of friendship, bravery, and the fight against prejudice resonated widely, influencing social discussions. The series also spawned a massive franchise, including films, merchandise, theme parks, and fan events, contributing to popular culture. Harry Potter’s world became a cultural touchstone, inspiring fan fiction, academic studies, and even influencing educational initiatives, making it a lasting symbol of modern literature and entertainment.

First Editions of the Harry Potter Series

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%20potter&amp;tab=objects" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Harry Potter</a> and the Prisoner of Azkaban.<ul><li>J.K. Rowling (English).</li><li>London: Bloomsbury, 1999.</li><li>One of fourteen working copies, with Clays LTD., ink stamp dated 05 May 1999 (two months before the original date on 8th July 1999) to the rear pastedown, and the Clays LTD. adhesive ‘Standard EDTN’ sticker.</li><li>This copy correctly reads ‘Joanne Rowling’ on the copyright page, complete with the one to ten number line.</li><li>The dust wrapper, illustrated by Cliff Wright, has not been clipped showing the correct £10.99 price.</li></ul>

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Subject=Letters&amp;Book%20Subject=Manuscripts%252C%2520Letters%252C%2520Documents&amp;Book%20Subject=Manuscripts%252C%2520Letters%252C%2520Documents%252C%2520Ephemera" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">letter</a> from <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?locale=en&amp;Book%20Subject=Letters&amp;Book%20Subject=Manuscripts%252C%2520Letters%252C%2520Documents&amp;Book%20Subject=Manuscripts%252C%2520Letters%252C%2520Documents%252C%2520Ephemera&amp;query=J.R.R.%20Tolkien&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">J.R.R. Tolkien</a> to Ken Jackson concerning a production of The Hobbit.<ul><li>J.R.R. Tolkien (English).</li><li>Dated January 4th, 1968.</li><li>Handwritten and signed.</li><li>1 ½ pages.</li><li>Signed by JRR Tolkien with the characteristic 3 dots and underscore.</li><li>Written on blind stamped headed paper: 76 Sandfield Road, Headington, Oxford.</li></ul> A fine original Tolkien letter, handwritten and signed to Ken Jackson, technical director of Humphrey Carpenter's musical adaptation of The Hobbit. An adaptation of The Hobbit, dramatized and produced by Humphrey Carpenter, was staged by New College Choir School in the late 1960s. Tolkien provided autographs for the actors but neglected the technical crew. Tolkien offers to send some 'stick-in autographs" to Mr. Jackson, technical director of Humphrey Carpenter's musical adaptation of The Hobbit at the end of 1967, who was "left out" of an autographing session Tolkien. The author then apologizes to "the back-room boys of the drama" noting their "necessary, indeed very important, functions". He explains that his eldest son, John Tolkien Jr, “used to perform the same functions at his school". Tolkien also signed copies of the program for the performance for Mr. Jackson and the children.

Handwritten Letter From J.R.R. Tolkien

C.S. Lewis | Pauline Baynes

A complete leatherbound 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 impressions of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=The%20Chronicles%20Of%20Narnia&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Chronicles Of Narnia</a>.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 7 volumes.</li><li>C.S. Lewis (English).</li><li>Illustrated by Pauline Baynes.&nbsp;</li><li>The Complete Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew; The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair; The Horse and His Boy; The Last Battle.</li><li>London: Geoffrey Bles [and] The Bodley Head, 1950-1956.</li><li>Octavos.</li><li>The maps from Prince Caspian, The Horse and His Boy, The Silver Chair, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader are bound into those books.&nbsp;</li><li>Bound in dark green full morocco, with gilt titles on tan leather labels, raised bands, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt.</li></ul> The famous magical adventure series for which C.S. Lewis was awarded the prestigious Carnegie Medal.

The Complete First Edition Set of the Chronicles Of Narnia

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 William Golding’s <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Lord%20of%20the%20Flies&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lord of the Flies</a>.<ul><li>William Golding (English).</li><li>London: Faber, 1954.</li><li>Accompanied by the rare wrap-around band.</li><li>White titles on red cloth, in clipped wrapper.</li></ul> Faber produced the E. M. Forster’s choice band after the first copies had sold out (before being reprinted). Such bands are scarce now and not mentioned in the bibliography.

Lord of the Flies

Uncorrected proof of the <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first US edition</a> of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?locale=en&amp;query=Tolkien&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tolkien</a>'s long essay on fairy tales, accompanied by an exemplary story — W.H. Auden's copy.<ul><li>J.R.R. Tolkien (English).</li><li>Tree and Leaf, Includes Mythopoeia and The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth.</li><li>Boston:&nbsp;Houghton Mifflin Company,&nbsp;1965.</li><li>82 pages.</li><li>With Auden's marginal marks throughout and his notes on the final leaf.&nbsp;</li><li>Original plastic-comb-bound printed pale blue wrappers.</li></ul> "In describing a fairy story which they think adults might possibly read for their own entertainment, reviewers frequently indulge in such waggeries as: 'this book is for children from the ages of six to sixty'. But I have never yet seen the puff of a new motor-model that begun thus: 'this toy will amuse infants from seventeen to seventy'; though that to my mind would be much more appropriate." Though unsigned, this copy is W.H. Auden's, with his markings in the text and notes (including a list of the seven deadly sins) on the blank verso of the last leaf. Auden famously wrote a 1954 New York Times review raving about The Fellowship of The Rings, which in no small part helped legitimize Tolkien in literary circles: "No fiction I have read in the last five years has given me more joy." He also shared a friendly correspondence with Tolkien, exchanging letters frequently over the years and receiving advance copies of the next two installments of the series. He also, the year after Tree And Leaf appeared, spoke at a New York gathering of the Tolkien Society. Tolkien himself later contributed a lovely poem in Anglo-Saxon and English titled "For W.H.A." as part of a festschrift for Auden's sixtieth birthday in Shenandoah. This book, in many ways a critical defense of the kind of stories Auden had previously so lavishly praised, would have undoubtedly been of particular interest. An excellent association and rare in this format.

Tree And Leaf

<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Harry%20Potter&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Harry Potter</a> Series, Complete Deluxe <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?Book%20Subject=Sets" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Set</a>, with supplementary works.&nbsp;<ul><li>Sold as a set of 10 volumes.</li><li>J.K Rowling (English).</li><li>The Philosopher’s Stone; The Chamber of Secrets; The Prisoner of Azkaban; The Goblet of Fire; The Order of The Phoenix; The Half-Blood Prince; The Deathly Hallows; Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them; Quidditch Through the Ages; and The Tales of Beedle the Bard.</li><li>London: Bloomsbury, 1999-2008.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>First impressions thus, with the three supplemental works.</li><li>Original uniform harlequin cloth (7 volumes), with gilt decoration, illustrations to upper covers, and all edges gilt (some in shrink-wrap).</li><li>Additional volumes (3 volumes) in publisher’s illustrated covers.</li></ul> The deluxe issue is a larger format, in decorative cloth binding. Harry Potter's award-winning wizarding adventures have had an unrivalled impact in popular culture today; indeed, some experts have referred to adults between the ages of roughly 20-30 years old as 'the Harry Potter generation', who are seen to hold markedly different values to their parents. Harry Potter is a series of many genres, including fantasy, bildungsroman, and the British school story (which includes elements of mystery, thriller, adventure, and romance). According to Rowling, the main theme of the books is death – although prejudice, corruption, and madness can be seen as dominant motifs.

Harry Potter Series

Charles Dickens

An attractive set of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Great%20Expectations&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Great Expectations</a>, the most popular of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=charles%20dickens&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dickens</a>’ novels, in a contemporary binding.&nbsp;<ul><li>Sold as a set of 3 volumes.</li><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>London: Chapman &amp; Hall, 1861.&nbsp;</li><li>Octavos.</li><li>Second, second, and third ‘editions’ [impressions].</li><li>Contemporary half calf gilt over marbled boards, morocco labels. </li></ul>&nbsp;&nbsp;Although the title-pages states ‘Second and third editions’, in fact the first five editions are really only different impressions of the same edition. Apart from the title-pages the only differences are in the text where the type in the earliest impressions shows fewer signs of wear and damage. The title-pages were altered to encourage sales.&nbsp;

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René Char, Henri Matisse

James Joyce

J.R.R. Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien

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