Literature & Children's Books by Top Authors

J.R.R. Tolkien

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> 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

J.K. Rowling

A Bloomsbury Deluxe United Kingdom edition of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Harry+Potter+and+the+Philosopher%27s+Stone&amp;pfilters.dateRange=past" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone</a>, accompanied by 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> photograph of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=J.K.+Rowling&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">J.K. Rowling</a>.<ul><li>J.K. Rowling (British).</li><li>London: Bloomsbury, 1999.</li><li>A signed photograph of the author loosely inserted.</li><li>Hardcover, publisher's red cloth.</li></ul>

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | Bloomsbury Deluxe Edition with Signed Photograph of J.K. Rowling

Charles Dickens

A fourth edition of A Christmas Carol 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>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>London: Chapman and Hall, 1844.</li><li>Illustrated with 4 hand colored engraved plates by John Leech and 4 black and white illustrations by W.J. Linton.</li><li>Bound in the original straight grained rose colored cloth, gilt tile and wreath to spine and front cover, yellow pastedowns and endpapers, all edges gilt.</li></ul> Regarded as Dicken's most widely read novel and considered to be "the greatest Christmas book ever written in any language" 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 In Prose Being A Ghost Story of Christmas | Fourth Edition

A.A. Milne | Ernest H. Shepard

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> presentation copy 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. Milne (English)</li><li>Illustrated by E.H. Shepard (English).</li><li>London: Methuen &amp; Co. Ltd., 1929.</li><li>Ninth edition.</li><li>Inscribed by Milne on the front leaf "Joyce Redfern's book A.A. Milne Nov 12th 1930."</li><li>Bound in the publisher's original gilt stamped green cloth, top edge gilt, pictorial pastedowns and endpapers.</li></ul> Joyce Redfern was related to the Seligman family. Vincent Julian Seligman was a descendant of a German Jewish mercantile family that emigrated to the USA and London in the 19th century. Vincent’s father ran the London bank Seligman Brothers; his mother came from an artistic and musical family. Vincent Seligman and Milne became lifelong friends, although it is uncertain how and where they first met, and along with Vincent's wife Barbara, became close. In 1923 Seligman dedicated his book, Oxford Oddities, to A.A. Milne and, soon after the publication of the Pooh books, Milne gave prototypes of Pooh and Piglet soft toys to Barbara.

Winnie The Pooh | Inscribed Presentation Copy

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

Ian Fleming

A set of the complete <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/james-bond" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Bond</a> first editions in facsimile.&nbsp;<ul><li>Sold as a set of 14 volumes.</li><li>Ian Fleming (British).</li><li>Comprising: Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, Diamonds Are Forever, From Russia With Love, Dr. No, Goldfinger, For Your Eyes Only (short stories including From A View To A Kill and Quantum of Solace), Thunderball, The Spy Who Loved Me, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, You Only Live Twice, The Man with the Golden Gun, Octopussy and The Living Daylights (short stories).</li><li>Shelton, Connecticut: First Edition Library, 1980s-90s.</li><li>Small octavos.</li><li>Replica hardcover volumes of foil-stamped book cloth, illustrated dust-wrappers, with the complete set in the original pictorial card slip-cases.</li></ul> Please note: This item is excluded from complimentary shipping. Shipping quote will be calculated at time of purchase.

James Bond First Editions in Facsimile | Complete Set

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Fine%2520Bindings%2520and%2520Sets" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">set</a> of the Nonesuch Press edition of the works of <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 25 volumes.</li><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>Edited by Arthur Waugh [and others].</li><li>London: The Nonesuch Press, 1937-38.</li><li>Large octavo.</li><li>Nonesuch edition, number 433 of 877 limited sets.</li><li>With illustrations printed from the original plates.</li><li>With the original steel plate 'Fagin in the condemned Cell' from Oliver Twist, with a letter of authenticity from the publisher.</li><li>Text based upon the Charles Dickens Edition, the last to be revised by Dickens himself.</li><li>Publisher's vari-colored cloth, morocco labels, top edges gilt on the rough, others uncut.</li></ul> After the Depression of the early thirties, the Nonesuch Press was effectively saved from bankruptcy by the intervention of the American, George Macy. 'The Dickens' set was very much his project and it was due to his great energy that it was produced so quickly. It was described at the time by the Daily Telegraph as 'one of the most glorious achievements of publishing in our time. Robert Lynd in the News Chronicle declared it the most pleasant Dickens to read that has ever been published, while The Scotsman observed: No more handsome edition of Dickens has yet appeared; nor is it easy to conceive of any which might surpass this one.'

The Nonesuch 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 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

Virginia Woolf

A limited edition of A Room of One's Own, signed by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Virginia+Woolf&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Virginia Woolf</a>.<ul><li>Virginia Woolf (English).</li><li>New York / London:&nbsp;The Fountain Press / Hogarth Press,&nbsp;1929.&nbsp;</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>159 [1] pages.</li><li>Limited Edition, #408/450.&nbsp;</li><li>Signed flat by Virginia Woolf on the half-title page.</li><li>Bound in publisher's red cloth with gilt lettering along the spine.</li></ul>

A Room Of One's Own | Signed by Woolf

Ernest Hemingway

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

For Whom the Bell Tolls First Edition

George Orwell

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

Nineteen Eighty-Four [1984] First Edition

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

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

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

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

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

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

A.A. Milne

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

When We Were Very Young | Inscribed First Edition

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 <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Charles+Dickens&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charles Dickens</a>' A Christmas Carol.<ul><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>London: Chapman and Hall, 1843.</li><li>Illustrated with 4 hand colored engraved plates by John Leech and 4 black and white illustrations by W.J. Linton.</li><li>Chapter heading reading "Stave One."</li><li>Bound in the original straight grained rose colored cloth, gilt tile and wreath to spine and front cover, front cover has a perfect 'D' in 'Dickens', yellow pastedowns and endpapers, all edges gilt.</li></ul>

A Christmas Carol | First Edition

William Shakespeare

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Fine%2520Bindings%2520and%2520Sets" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">finely bound</a> set of The Dramatic Works of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=William+Shakespeare&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">William Shakespeare</a>.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 10 volumes.</li><li>William Shakespeare (English).</li><li>Notes by S. W. Singer, A Life... by W. Watkiss Lloyd.</li><li>London: George Bell and Sons, 1888.</li><li>Bound in full tan calf, ribbed gilt decorated spines, gilt lettered red and black morocco spine labels, covers ruled in gilt and blind, blind tooled dentelles, marbled pastedowns, endpapers, and edges, engraved bookplate to front pastedowns of Ascott House Buckinghamshire.</li></ul>

The Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare | With A Life Of The Author

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

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

On Her Majesty's Secret Service Signed First Edition

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

Thunderball  Signed First Edition

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

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | First Issue

Jane Austen

<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">First Illustrated edition</a> of Mansfield Park 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>Jane Austen (English).</li><li>London:&nbsp;Richard Bentley,&nbsp;1833.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>[4], 424, [4] pages.</li><li>Illustrated with frontispiece scene of Mary Crawford and Fanny Price, publisher's ads at rear.</li><li>Original plum cloth, black gilt-stamped spine labels, with series printed title, engraved title, and individual printed title.</li></ul> First illustrated edition, and first single-volume edition, of Austen's third published novel — in the exceptionally scarce first issue cloth binding. Mansfield Park centers on the comedic neighborhood drama caused by the amateur theater production: Morally upright Fanny gets pulled into a neighbor's scheming via an adaptation of Elizabeth Inchbald's well-known play, Lovers' Vows. Among Austen's works, Mansfield Park especially demonstrates how careful contrasts of characters and plot twists can bring out subtle ironies. In 1832, publisher Richard Bentley acquired the rights to all of Austen's novels and set about a project that would define the Victorian reception of her work. First published in 1814 in three volumes, this first Bentley printing of Mansfield Park was the third edition overall, and issued as part of Bentley's Standard Novels — "one of the longest lasting and most influential series in the Victorian period" (Troy J. Bassett). The series republished books that had been first printed in the standard triple-decker (i.e. three volume) format into a new, single-volume format. Bentley's editions were also the first of Austen's novels to be illustrated in Britain, thus exerting an immense influence on the visual iconography of the classic romances. Copies of the Bentley edition are extremely rare in the original cloth binding as here and thus highly desirable.

Mansfield Park | First Illustrated Edition

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 edition</a>, first printing of Dubliners 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>United Kingdom: Grant Richards, 1914.</li><li>Bound in the publisher's red cloth with gilt title.</li></ul> James Joyce’s landmark collection of fifteen short stories portraying ordinary Dublin life in the early 20th century. Through characters trapped by routine, poverty, and social expectation, Joyce explores themes of paralysis, epiphany, and the quiet struggles of everyday existence. Stories like “Araby,” “Eveline,” and “The Dead” reveal moments of painful insight that illuminate the gap between aspiration and reality. Written in a clear, restrained style, ‘Dubliners’ offers a profound, humane portrait of a city and its people on the edge of modernity.

Dubliners First Edition

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=J.K.+Rowling&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">J.K. Rowling</a>.<ul><li>J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – First UK Edition 2000 – SIGNED by Rowling</li><li>London: Bloomsbury, 2000.</li><li>Signed without dedication by the Rowling to the dedication page.</li><li>In the unclipped wrapper.</li></ul>

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire First Edition Signed by Rowling

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

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 

Emily Dickinson

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Fine%2520Bindings%2520and%2520Sets" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">set</a> of early 20th-century printings of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Emily+Dickinson&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Emily Dickinson</a>'s first book-length series of poetry.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 3 volumes.</li><li>Emily Dickinson (American).</li><li>Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1908, 1906. </li><li>152; 230; 200 pages.</li><li>Original gilt-stamped grey cloth, top edges gilt. </li></ul> "I died for beauty, but was scarce / Adjusted in the tomb, / When one who died for truth was lain / In an adjoining room." In her lifetime, Dickinson was viewed as an eccentric recluse with an unusual gift at poetry. She would send poems to friends as "flowers," but less than a dozen of her poems appeared in print during her lifetime (anonymously, and some possibly unauthorized). Upon her death in 1886, Dickinson's sister Lavinia discovered a chest full of verse. Nearly half of them were bound in forty fascicles, little booklets sewn together by Dickinson herself. All told, there were nearly 1800 poems. Dickinson's reputation as "the Myth," the odd woman in white, persisted: no one in the family believed there would be an audience for these poems except Lavinia. It was at Lavinia's request that Mabel Loomis Todd became involved, one of the few friends of the family with a deep conviction of the importance of the poems. They also approached Dickinson's old friend, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, but he "did not think a volume advisable — they were too crude in form, he said, and the public would not accept even fine ideas in such rough and mystical dress" (Todd, November 1889, quoted in Sewell, 220). Nevertheless, Todd persevered, showing Higginson some of her favorites and obtaining a commitment to "look them over" if she organized them. Todd is often justly criticized for her editorial overreach (especially in punctuation and capitalization), but as Richard B. Sewell notes, "without the spiritual kinship she [Mabel Todd] felt with the poet and with the poems we might have had no poems (or letters) at all" (219). The poems were rejected by the first publisher Todd and Higginson approached, Houghton Mifflin, who called them "queer — the rhymes were all wrong" (Sewell, 221). The next publisher, Roberts Brothers, agreed to take on the project if the family paid for the plates, issuing POEMS in 1890. The Second Series followed in 1891, and the Third Series in 1896. Until 1914, these were the only published collections of Dickinson's poetry. These publications, later printings but issued before 1914, retain all the quirks of poems' complicated publication history: the titles supplied by Higginson, the smoothed out bits by Todd, the organization of poems into topics like "life," "love," and "nature." They retain the iconic cover design of early variants — in especially fresh condition, the beveled edges of the cloth boards sharp, the grey shade bright and clean. An unusually lovely set of early editions from this distinctly American voice.

Poems | First, Second, And Third 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 the <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/james-bond" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Bond</a> novel From Russia With Love by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Ian+Fleming&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ian Fleming</a>.<ul><li>Ian Fleming (English).</li><li>London: Jonathan Cape, 1957.</li><li>The dust wrapper is finely illustrated by Richard Chopping, and has been neatly clipped.</li></ul> The fifth title in the James Bond series. One the original 15,000 printed in 1957.

From Russia With Love First Edition

<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 Northanger Abbey by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Jane+Austen&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jane Austen</a>, in a <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Subject=Fine%2520bindings" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">fine art binding</a> by the acclaimed Argentinian design bookbinder Sol Rébora.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2 volumes.</li><li>Jane Austen (English).</li><li>Philadelphia:&nbsp;Carey &amp; Lea,&nbsp;1833.</li><li>12mo.</li><li>195, [1]; 196 pages.</li><li>Cotton and abaca handmade paper grey-pink endpapers.&nbsp;</li><li>Modern full grey-lavender 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.</li></ul> Often misread as critical of the gothic novels that were popular at the period of its first composition, Northanger Abbey is a more complex exploration of the genre that is especially notable for its passages in defense of the novel form – written, uncharacteristically, in first person directly from the narrator. First published in late 1817 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 1250 copies; it includes the famous "Biographical Notice of the Author" that first revealed Austen's name to the public as the author (as her books were all published anonymously in her lifetime). 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."

Northanger Abbey First American 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 Mansfield Park by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Jane+Austen&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jane Austen</a>, in a silk-impressed <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Subject=Fine%2520bindings" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">fine binding</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>4, 200; 204 pages.&nbsp;</li><li>Publisher's catalogue bound at front of volume I. </li><li>Cotton and abaca handmade paper peach endpapers.</li><li>Modern full pink 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. </li></ul> First US edition of Austen's third published novel — in a stunning fine art binding by the acclaimed Argentinian design bookbinder Sol Rébora. "I was quiet but I was not blind." Among Austen's works, Mansfield Park especially demonstrates how careful contrasts of characters and plot twists can bring out subtle ironies. First published in 1814 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 1250 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."

Mansfield Park | First American 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 Animal Farm by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=George+Orwell&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">George Orwell</a>.<ul><li>George Orwell (English).</li><li>United Kingdom: Secker and Warburg, 1945.</li><li>'Searchlight Books’ advertisement printed in red to the verso as called for.</li><li>In the unclipped dust wrapper, housed in a custom-made solander box.</li></ul> A political allegory that uses farm animals to depict the corruption of socialist ideals and the rise of totalitarianism, mirroring the Russian Revolution and Stalin’s regime. The story follows the animals’ rebellion against their human owner, only for their leader, Napoleon the pig, to become as oppressive as the humans they overthrew. Written during World War II, the novel was initially rejected by several publishers due to its criticism of the Soviet Union but was finally published in 1945 by Secker &amp; Warburg, achieving immediate success and lasting global influence.

Animal Farm | First Edition First Printing

First US edition of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=jane+austen&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Austen</a>'s first novel — in a stunning <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Subject=Fine%2520bindings" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">fine art binding</a> by the acclaimed Argentinian design bookbinder Sol Rébora.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2 volumes.</li><li>Jane Austen (English).</li><li>Philadelphia:&nbsp;Carey &amp; Lea,&nbsp;1833.</li><li>12mo.</li><li>199, [1]; 189, [1] pages.</li><li>Modern full grey-pink 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 grey-pink endpapers.</li></ul> Austen's first novel uses the love stories of two sisters to explore the complexities and contradictions in the gendered expectations of the Regency era: a woman will be praised for her capacity to feel emotion (her sensibility), but not too much; a woman will be praised for her independent and responsible nature (her sense), but not too much. First published in late 1811 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 1250 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.

Sense And Sensibility | First American 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 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

Charlotte Brontë | Emily Brontë | Anne Brontë | Elizabeth Gaskell

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Fine%2520Bindings%2520and%2520Sets" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">finely bound</a> and illustrated Haworth edition of works by the <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Bront%C3%AB+sisters&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Brontë sisters</a>.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 7 volumes.</li><li>The Life and Works of Charlotte Brontë and her Sisters. With Introductions to the Works by Mrs. Humphry Ward and an Introduction and Notes to the Life by Clement K. Shorter.</li><li>Charlotte Brontë (English).</li><li>Emily Brontë (English).</li><li>Ann Brontë (English).</li><li>Elizabeth Gaskell (English).</li><li>London:&nbsp;Smith, Elder, &amp; Co,&nbsp;1905-1914.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Illustrated with frontispieces in each volume.</li><li>Full red morocco, spines gilt with raised bands, boards ruled in gilt, turn-ins gilt, top edge gilt, others untrimmed, by Zaehnsdorf.</li></ul> An excellent set of these classics of world literature by the Brontë sisters: Wuthering Heights by Emily; Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne; Jane Eyre, Villette, Shirley, and The Professor, by Charlotte; with the Poems of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell; and Mrs. Gaskell’s Life of Charlotte Brontë.

Works of the Bronte Sisters, with The Life and Works of Charlotte Brontë and her Sisters

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.

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