Rare & Exceptional

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&nbsp;Orwell (English).</li><li>London: Secker&nbsp;and Warburg, 1949.</li><li>In&nbsp;the&nbsp;unclipped&nbsp;wrapper&nbsp;which still retains its red color, which is rare for this title, accompanied by the Evening Standard ‘Book of the Month’&nbsp;wrap-around&nbsp;band, housed&nbsp;in&nbsp;a&nbsp;solander box.</li></ul> The novel depicts&nbsp;a&nbsp;totalitarian state—Oceania—where surveillance, propaganda,&nbsp;and linguistic manipulation enforce&nbsp;absolute power. The novel follows Winston Smith, who works rewriting history for the Party but secretly longs for truth&nbsp;and personal freedom. His relationship&nbsp;with&nbsp;Julia&nbsp;and brief rebellion bring him&nbsp;into conflict&nbsp;with&nbsp;the omnipresent Big Brother&nbsp;and the enigmatic&nbsp;Inner Party. Through Newspeak, thoughtcrime,&nbsp;and the terror of Room 101, Orwell explores&nbsp;authoritarian psychology, the fragility of&nbsp;individuality,&nbsp;and the systematic destruction of reality. The novel remains&nbsp;a&nbsp;foundational critique of modern political oppression. This, the variant&nbsp;maroon&nbsp;wrapper&nbsp;usually browns&nbsp;and fades&nbsp;with&nbsp;large chipping. This example has neither&nbsp;and is&nbsp;almost the perfect&nbsp;copy.&nbsp;

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 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

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

Margery Williams Bianco | William Nicholson

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

James Joyce

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

J.K. Rowling

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>, first impression, hardback issue of the first <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Harry+Potter&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Harry Potter</a> book; the rarest and most desirable format of the series 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>Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.</li><li>London: Bloomsbury, 1997.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Original matt laminated printed paper boards, spine and front cover lettered in white, yellow, dark green and black, without dust jacket, as issued, housed in a red quarter morocco solander box by the Chelsea Bindery.&nbsp;</li></ul> All the required points of the first printing are present: Bloomsbury imprint, 10-down-to-1 number line, no space between “Thomas” and “Taylor” on p. 4, the list of equipment on p. 53 with “1 wand” appearing twice, and the misprint “Philospher’s” on the rear cover. Both paperback and hardback issues of the first impression were published on 26 June 1997. Only 500 copies of the first printing of Philosopher’s Stone were issued in hardback, of which it is thought around 300 were sold to libraries and schools. The publisher has stated “I think the assumption in 1997 would have been that you would sell 500 hardcovers of any good book to public libraries so that edition would be aimed at them. The general edition for the market would be a paperback” (Errington, p. 4). Identifying libraries as the intended buyers of this issue explains the lack of a dust jacket (Errington states a jacket “was simply not required by libraries”). The small number of copies not accessioned by libraries explains the scarcity of this issue, and why copies in collectible condition are rare. This copy, bearing a price sticker from W. H. Smith on the rear cover, identifies it as one of a small number sold on the high street.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | First Edition, First Impression

John F. Kennedy

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 Profiles In Courage by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=John+F.+Kennedy&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">John F. Kennedy</a>, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">inscribed</a> to Lem Billings.<ul><li>John F. Kennedy (American).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Harper &amp; Brothers,&nbsp;1956.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>xix, [2], 266 pages, plus [8] pages of captioned images.</li><li>Inscribed in black ink on front flyleaf by John F. Kennedy: "To Lem / my "oldest" friend / John Kennedy", with bookplate on front pastedown of K. LeMoyne Billings.</li><li>In black buckram quarter binding with blue cloth boards, with gilt lettering to spine, jacket is beige and blue with red, white, and blue lettering, additionally, jacket is wrapped in an archival mylar sleeve, price uncut: "$3.50." </li></ul> This is an incredible association copy, evidencing the close and enduring relationship between Kennedy and Billings.

Profiles In Courage | First Edition, Inscribed to Lem Billings

Johannes Gutenberg

A single leaf from the <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Gutenberg+Bible&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gutenberg Bible</a>.<ul><li>Biblia Latina;&nbsp;A leaf from the Book of Jeremiah.</li><li>Mainz: Johann Gutenberg et Johann Fust, 1455.</li><li>Royal folio.</li><li>Single leaf, on thick paper.</li><li>42-lines, double column; type: 1:140G.</li><li>Bull’s head watermark.</li><li>Two initial ‘I’s, book headers and chapter numbers rubricated in alternating red and blue ink.</li><li>Capitals highlighted with red strokes.</li></ul>&nbsp;A remarkably clean, well-margined and rubricated leaf from the 1455 Biblia Latina — the first substantial European book to be printed with movable types and the symbol of the printing revolution. This Bible was produced in the course of five years, from 1450 to 1455, at the workshop of Johann Gutenberg and Johann Fust in Mainz, Germany. Each of the two volumes featured over 300 leaves of text in double column, the majority of which has 42 lines per page. Only 64 copies (several of which fragmentary) have survived out of approximately 158 to 180 originally produced, a quarter of which were probably printed on vellum. These copies all required the addition of initials and book headers by the hands of rubricators. In 1455, the then papal legate, and future Pope Julius II, wrote to the Cardinal Juan de Carvajal that he had seen quires from the Bible exhibited by Gutenberg in Frankfurt: “The script is extremely neat and legible, not at all difficult to follow. Your grace would be able to read it without effort, and indeed without glasses. […] buyers were said to be lined up even before the books were finished”.&nbsp;The present leaf features a section from the Old Testament of St Jerome’s Vulgate: Jeremiah 25:19 to 27:6, mentioning the Seventy Years of Captivity of the tribe of Judah, Jeremiah being threatened with death and God’s command that the tribe of Judah serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The leaf has been identified as vol. II, quire 9 (leaf 3), fol. 83; the Bull’s Head (type I or II) watermark suggests this was a first setting.&nbsp;This leaf—one of the ‘Noble Fragments’, so named by the book collector A. Edward Newton (1864-1940)—comes from an imperfect copy once in the Mannheim library of Carl Theodor von Pfalz-Sulzbach (1721-94), Electoral Prince of Palatinate and later Bavaria. In 1803, the copy was transferred, with Carl Thedor’s other books, to the Royal Library of Munich. It was thence sold as a duplicate in 1832 and purchased by Robert Curzon, Baron Zouche (1810-73). Next sold at Sotheby’s in 1920, the copy was acquired by Joseph Sabin and, subsequently, by the bookdealer Gabriel Wells. Wells removed the eighteenth-century binding with the gilt Palatine arms and subdivided the copy into smaller fragments or individual leaves. He sold these separately (several with initials replaced in facsimile), the great majority bound in gilt dark blue morocco and accompanied by A. Edward Newton’s bibliographical essay, ‘A Noble Fragment: Being a leaf of the Gutenberg Bible’. Many are now preserved in institutional libraries. In the past few years, individual leaves, rather than longer excerpts, have been offered for sale. The ‘Noble Fragments’ are the closest a dedicated bibliophile can get to acquiring of this monument of Western printing.

Single Leaf from the Gutenberg Bible | 1455 Biblia Latina

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 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/search?query=Encyclopaedia%20Britannica&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Encyclopaedia Britannica</a>.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 3 volumes.</li><li>Edited by William Smellie (Scottish).</li><li>Engravings by Andrew Bell.</li><li>Printed by Colin Macfarquhar.</li><li>Encyclopaedia Britannica; or, a Dictionary of Arts and Sciences compiled upon a New Plan. In which the Different Sciences and Arts are digested into Distinct Treatises or Systems; and the Various Technical Terms, etc. are explained as they occur in the order of the Alphabet.</li><li>Edinburgh: Printed for A. Bell and C. Macfarquhar, 1771.</li><li>Quarto in half-sheets.</li><li>Half-title to each volume, 159 engraved plates (of 160, lacking plate 112 in 'Midwifery' section').</li><li>viii, 586, [10], 587-697; [4] 1009, [3]; [4], 280, 283-678, 879-953, [1]pp.</li><li>Contemporary calf-backed glazed blue paper boards,&nbsp;</li></ul> The first edition of 'the most famous of all encyclopaedias in the English language' (PMM). A landmark Enlightenment text, the Britannica was the brainchild of the Edinburgh-based bookseller and printer, Colin Macfarquhar, and the engraver Andrew Bell. At the time, the city was arguably the intellectual center of Britain, host to many of the nation's leading thinkers from David Hume to Adam Smith, and the gathering place of discussion clubs like The Select Society and The Poker Club where members met to debate advances in the arts and sciences. Macfarquhar and Bell conceived of the Britannica as a conservative reaction to the French Encyclopédie of Denis Diderot (published 1751 to 1766), which was widely viewed as heretical, but the key initiative that set the Britannica apart from other earlier encyclopaedias was its layout. Related topics were to be grouped together into longer essays, then organized alphabetically. Previously technical terms had been listed generally in alphabetical order, an approach that the Britannica derided as 'dismembering the sciences' (Preface). The 28-year-old press-corrector William Smellie was employed to provide the text. The result was originally issued in 100 parts (called 'numbers' and equivalent to thick pamphlets), which were later bound into three volumes. The first number appeared on December 6, 1768 in Edinburgh, priced 6d or 8d on finer paper, with the last issued in 1771. With two of the three midwifery plates depicting childbirth in clinical detail that so shocked King George III that he commanded that the pages be ripped from every copy. These plates are consequently rarely found (see Kogan, The Great EB: The Story Of The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1958, p.13). The other plates include human anatomy, animals and other natural history subjects, scientific instruments and industrial apparatus, geometrical propositions, and miscellaneous subjects ranging from types of cannon to specimens of shorthand; there are also several plates of music score and a small number of maps. Sets in any state of completeness are rare.

Encyclopaedia Britannica

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> book Casino Royale, 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, 1953.</li><li>Inscribed to Lisl Popper.</li></ul> Inscribed to the front endpaper by the Author - ‘To Lisl/Despite whose loving/care this book was/written/X/Ian.' Ian Fleming first met Lisl Popper (then Lisa Jokl) at age nineteen during the "golden time" at Kitzbuhel in Austria in 1926. She was eight years older than Fleming, and worked a local cafe. Described as a "plain-looking Jewish girl", she and her friends first spotted young Fleming when he walked into their cafe and ordered coffee. As was usual for Fleming, he sat and read a book by himself. Lisl recalled his appearance "with sleepy blue eyes and a romantic face" - but his good looks were not the only factor attracting the girls. He wore a navy blue knitted shirt of a kind which had never been seen in Kutzbhel before. Fleming soon became acquainted with Lisl and her friends at the cafe and her simple outdoor lifestyle appealed to Fleming immensely - skiing in winter, and swimming and tennis in the summer. Another physical activity - sex - kept Fleming and Lisl very active as lovers, and some years later he commented that despite the air of sexual liberation, he did show some reservation about the manner in which Austrian girls threw themselves at his young English body. Lisl and Fleming became lifelong friends, and in 1960, Fleming signed a copy of his latest James Bond installment For Your Eyes Only (a collection of five short stories) to Lisl with the personal inscription "noch ein paar Eier fr Ostern!" ("yet another pair of eggs for Easter"). It is perhaps no coincidence that the female character in the fifth short story in the collection is named Lisl Baum. Upon Fleming's death in 1964, he left Lisl £500 in his will. Lisl later said that "all the things said about Ian -- his gloom, his melancholy, his solitariness -- frankly amaze. To all of us who knew him in Kitzbuhel he was exactly the opposite -- gay, care-free, terribly happy, the most exciting and vital sort of person. Not like an Englishman at all." Lisl Popper makes a brief appearance in archive footage used in the documentary "Ian Fleming - 007's Creator" on "The Living Daylights" Special Edition DVD. This is perhaps the most important signed copy of the first installment of the James Bond series ever to come on to the market. The book had been in a private family collection until 1992, then to a prominent collector and on to another collector.

James Bond Casino Royale 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 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 Moonraker, 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, 1955.</li><li>Inscribed to Joyce Emerson on the front end paper.</li><li>The dust wrapper is correctly priced at 10s.6d net to both the front and rear flaps.</li></ul> The inscription reads - To Joyce / The happy ghost / from / Ian Fleming / 1955. The Joyce in question was Joyce Emerson (1921-1979), a journalist by trade, who worked at The Sunday Times during the 1950's and 60’s. She befriended Fleming whilst working on the Atticus team alongside Ian Fleming. Atticus was a weekly society gossip column, which Fleming joined in the autumn of 1953 (during the release time of his first novel Casino Royale). As the inscription suggests, Emerson would (almost certainly) have ghost-written many of the pieces carrying his name. The book is free of any owner names or inscriptions, with the correctly printed SHOOT found to page 10. An incredibly scarce title to acquire, signed and inscribed by the author and more so as the inscription includes Fleming’s full name as well as the year of publication.&nbsp;

James Bond Moonraker 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

John Tenniel | Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson]

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first London edition</a> of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Alice%27s%20Adventures%20in%20Wonderland&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alice's Adventures in Wonderland</a> by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Lewis%20Carroll&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lewis Carroll</a>.<ul><li>Lewis Carroll (English).</li><li>Illustrated by John Tenniel (English).</li><li>London: Macmillan &amp; Co., 1866.</li><li>Final 'S' on the contents page inverted, page '30' numbered '3.'</li><li>Bound in fine full red morocco, in the style of the original cloth, gilt Alice and pig to front cover and the Cheshire cat to rear cover, covers ruled in gilt, gilt dentelles, all edges gilt, marbled pastedowns and endpapers, both blue endpapers bound in, the front blue endpaper with a gift inscription dated Christmas 1866, original cloth covers and spine bound in the rear, by Bayntun.</li></ul>

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland First Edition

D.H. Lawrence

The pre-publication proof of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Lady%20Chatterley%E2%80%99s%20Lover&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lady Chatterley’s Lover</a> by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=D.H.%20Lawrence&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">D.H. Lawrence</a>, withdrawn by Hazell Watson and Viney.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2 volumes.</li><li>D.H.&nbsp;Lawrence (English).</li><li>London: Penguin, 1959-60.</li><li>This proof copy constitutes the first appearance in English of the unexpurgated version of the novel, meant for readers in 1928 by Lawrence and is of institutional importance. </li><li>Accompanied by a first edition of the Penguin paperback printed by Western Printing Services. </li><li>Presented in archival box and with a first edition of the transcripts from the trial with a foreword by Hyde.&nbsp;</li></ul> A pre-publication 'dummy,' or proof copy of Penguin's unexpurgated version of Lady Chatterley's Lover, printed before the landmark trial of Regina vs Penguin Books.&nbsp; The proof, bound in buff colored card with front and rear staples was printed for Penguin by Hazell Watson and Viney Ltd. The company later withdrew from printing the book as workers at Hazell Watson and Viney felt the book inappropriate. It was later printed by Western Printing Services. Western Printing Services were responsible for the 200,000 copies of the first Penguin edition, printed prior to the outcome of the trial. The 1960 trial of Regina v. Penguin Books Ltd over the publication of Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence marked a watershed moment in British literary, legal, and cultural history. It was the first major test of the Obscene Publications Act 1959, a law intended to protect the public from explicit material unless it could be shown to have redeeming literary or artistic value. Lady Chatterley’s Lover, originally published privately in Italy in 1928, had long been banned in the United Kingdom due to its explicit depiction of sex and frequent use of then-taboo language. The novel centers on the passionate affair between Constance Chatterley, an upper-class woman, and Oliver Mellors, a working-class gamekeeper. It challenged social class boundaries and is notable for its frank portrayal of physical intimacy, especially from a female perspective. In 1960, Penguin Books decided to publish an unexpurgated version of the novel. As part of its mission to make great literature available to the public at affordable prices, Penguin believed the book’s literary merit outweighed its controversial content. However, the British government quickly brought charges against the publisher under the new Obscene Publications Act. The trial began at the Old Bailey in London on October 20, 1960. The prosecution, led by Mervyn Griffith-Jones, argued that the novel was obscene and would corrupt readers, famously asking in his opening statement: “Is it a book that you would even wish your wife or your servants to read?” This outdated sentiment immediately alienated many observers and highlighted the generational and class divides at the heart of the case. Penguin’s defense, led by Gerald Gardiner QC (later Lord Chancellor), brought in an impressive list of expert witnesses, including academics, writers, clergy, and critics, who testified to the novel’s serious literary, moral, and social value. They argued that Lawrence’s use of explicit language was not pornographic, but integral to his message about emotional and physical connection, human dignity, and the dehumanizing effects of industrial society. After a six-day trial, the jury found Penguin Books not guilty. The verdict was a landmark victory for freedom of expression, effectively ending book censorship in the UK and opening the door for more open discussions of sexuality and class in literature. Penguin sold over 200,000 copies on the first day of release, with sales reaching millions soon after. Over just three months following the verdict, three million copies of Lady Chatterley’s Lover were sold, reportedly outselling the bible. Selfridges sold 250 copies in minutes. A spokesman told The Times newspaper: “It's bedlam here. We could have sold 10,000 copies if we had had them.” The trial became symbolic of the liberalizing cultural shifts of the 1960s, representing a victory not just for Penguin and literature, but for changing attitudes toward morality, authority, and individual freedom.

Lady Chatterley’s Lover Pre-publication Proof

Kenneth Grahame

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Kenneth%20Grahame&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kenneth Grahame</a>'s <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=The%20Wind%20in%20the%20Willows&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Wind in the Willows</a>, in the second issue dust-jacket.<ul><li>Kenneth Grahame (English).</li><li>London:&nbsp;Methuen,&nbsp;1908.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>302 pages.</li><li>Frontispiece by Graham Robertson with tissue guard.</li><li>Original blue cloth with gilt decoration and lettering on front cover and spine, top edge gilt, others uncut.</li></ul> This classic was developed out of bedtime stories Grahame told to his son Alastair, known in the family as Mouse.

The Wind in the Willows First Edition

Andy Warhol

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=Andy%20Warhol&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Andy Warhol</a>'s Index, <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> eleven times by the artist.<ul><li>Andy Warhol (American).</li><li>New York:&nbsp;Random House,&nbsp;1967.</li><li>Quarto.</li><li>Profusely illustrated from "Factory Fotos," with all pop-ups and inserted items, as issued.</li><li>Number 26 of 355 copies signed by Warhol on the cover.</li><li>The first fifty copies included a slipcase and Warhol's autograph initials on all ten pop-up segments.&nbsp;</li><li>Half cloth and paper covered boards with holographic cover.</li></ul> One of the most iconic photobooks ever printed. Completed with the assistance of Factory regulars Stephen Shore, Paul Morrissey, Ondine, Nico, Christopher Cerf, Alan Rinzler, Gerald Harrison, Akihito Shirakawa and David Paul, with photographs by Nat Finklestein and Billy Name. The special sections are all initialed by Warhol, as issued: 1) castle pop-up; 2) red accordion; 3) bi-plane pop-up; 4) Chelsea Girls disk on a spring; 5) polyhedron on the string (pages still sealed shut); 6) Lou Reed record; 7) the triple-page fold-out nose; 8) Hunt's Tomato Paste can pop-up; 9) Andy Warhol tabs; 10) balloon, melted and sealing together facing pages, as usual. "Index (Book) is one of the important and exuberant Pop art objects ever published. From its holographic bubble-wrap cover to the various pop-ups and 'gifts'... it is also on of the most ultimate photobooks-as-objects. It is, in addition, the primary Factory photo album, one of the most authoritative biographies of Warhol" (Parr/Badger).

Index Signed 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

<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Subject=Photographs&amp;Book%20Subject=Photography" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Photographs</a> of the Indian Tour of Archduke <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?locale=en&amp;Book%20Subject=Photographs&amp;Book%20Subject=Photography&amp;query=Franz%20Ferdinand&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Franz Ferdinand</a> of Austria, January to March 1893.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2 volumes.</li><li>Photographers:&nbsp;Eduard Hodek, Lala Deen Dayal.</li><li>193 original albumen prints, ranging in size, mounted on card, most captioned in ink in English in a fin-de-siècle Vienna hand.</li><li>Approximately 60 with small printed captions mounted to boards.</li><li>8 photographs untitled.</li><li>Oblong quarto.</li><li>Housed in two contemporary morocco backed cases stamped in gilt “Indien” on spine and upper covers, with third box to match.</li></ul> Group of 193 original albumen print photographs documenting the Indian portion of the world tour of Archduke Franz-Ferdinand of Austria (1863-1914). This official voyage of the Archduke, lasting from December 1892 to October 1893, had explicit diplomatic, ethnographic, and scientific aims, as well as an unspoken goal of permitting the Archduke to recover his health after a diagnosis of tuberculosis. The royal party traveled aboard the imperial cruiser Kaiserin Elisabeth, the most modern vessel of the Austrian fleet. They spent two weeks in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) before arriving in India in mid-January 1893. The party spent two-and-a-half months in India before touring Nepal, returning briefly to Calcutta to embark for Singapore at the end of March. The world tour continued with visits in Australia, the Pacific Islands, Japan, Canada, and the American West, before the Archduke sailed from New York to Le Havre. The Archduke’s stay in India included diplomatic engagements, military reviews, and a formal visit to the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad, who was in late Victorian times the richest man in the world. The Archduke was put up in the Nizam’s Bashir Bagh palace. The Archduke also spent considerable time hunting, hawking, pigsticking, bagging some 20 tigers, and leopard, antelope, sambhur, black buck, and just about every other beast of the chase (in Ceylon he had hunted elephant). Franz-Ferdinand was a devoted hunter, whose lifetime game bag exceeded 200,000 animals; on the world tour, his entourage included a huntsman and his taxidemist, Eduard Hodek (1858–1929), who was also the Archduke’s photographer and boon companion. The itinerary of the Archduke’s travels permits the close dating of many of the photographs and events of the trip. (A detailed list of the photographs is available.) An exhibition in Vienna in 1894 publicized the collections made by the Archduke during his world travels, and his diary was published as Tagebuch meiner Reise um die Erde, in two volumes, 1895-6. Upon the death of his father in 1896, Franz-Ferdinand became the heir to the Austrian throne. His assassination at Sarajevo in 1914 proved the spark that sent Europe and the world into war. The photographs document a wide range of subjects, both formal and informal, including views of the Archduke's activities, grand receptions by the Nizam of Hyderabad, military reviews, sporting and equestrian events, topographical vistas, palace scenes, as well as ethnographic and hunting images, including substantial game bags. Many of the formal photographs of events in Hyderabad were taken by Lala Deen Dayal (1844-1905), noted court photographer to the Nizam, and the first Indian photographer to gain international recognition for his work as a pioneer of photography in India (only a few bear his studio stamp; but the images are identified in Höfer). Some of the views of and around Calcutta are from Samuel Bourne or Bourne and Shepherd. A spectacular visual record of 1890s India, the opulence of the court of Hyderabad, and sporting episodes in the life of Franz-Ferdinand.

Photographs of the Indian Tour of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

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

Charles Darwin

A true first issue, <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=charles%20darwin&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Darwin</a>'s The Descent of Man.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2 volumes.</li><li>Charles Darwin (English).</li><li>London: John Murray, 1871.</li><li>With "transmitted" the first word on p. 297 in the first volume.</li><li>In the second, the printer's note on the verso of the half-title, errata on title verso, and the postscript leaf after p. viii.</li><li>The first issue had a print-run of just 2,500 copies.</li></ul> Charles Darwin expands on his theory of evolution, focusing on human origins and the role of sexual selection. In this groundbreaking work, Darwin argues that humans share a common ancestor with other animals, particularly apes, emphasizing the continuity between humans and the rest of the natural world. He explores how natural selection and sexual selection have shaped human physical and behavioral traits, including differences between sexes and races. Darwin also discusses the development of moral sense, intellect, and social behavior, suggesting that these too evolved gradually. The book was controversial, challenging religious and scientific views of the time by placing humans firmly within the framework of evolutionary biology. The Descent of Man not only deepened public understanding of human evolution but also laid the foundation for later studies in anthropology, psychology, and evolutionary theory, making it a landmark in scientific literature and is claimed to be such by Sigmund Freud, "One of the ten most significant books ever written". [ref: 20642 ] £15,000

The Descent of Man (First Edition, First Issue)

A collection 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> <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/james-bond" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Bond</a> books, by Ian Fleming.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 16 volumes.</li><li>Ian Fleming (English).</li><li>Includes: Casino Royale; Live and Let Die; Moonraker; Diamonds are Forever; From Russia, with Love; Dr. No; Goldfinger; For Your Eyes Only; Thunderball; The Spy who Loved Me; On Her Majesty’s Secret Service; You Only Live Twice, Golden Gun and Octopussy.&nbsp;</li><li>London: Jonathan Cape, 1953-1966.</li><li>Each is a first printing.</li><li>Casino Royale is a true first edition in the first issue dust wrapper.</li><li>Live and Let Die is Raymond Chandler’s personal copy.</li><li>Moonraker is the variant ‘shoo’ issue in the dust wrapper.</li><li>Goldfinger was previously the property of Ian Fleming bibliographer, Jon Gilbert.</li><li>The Man With The Golden Gun is the white endpapered edition.</li></ul>

James Bond First Edition Collection

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/search?query=James%20Bond&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Bond</a> novel Casino Royale, by Ian Fleming.<ul><li>Ian Fleming (English).</li><li>London: Jonathan Cape, 1953.</li><li>With the first issue dust-jacket, without the Sunday Times review, in the rare unclipped wrapper.</li></ul> Casino Royale is the first novel by Fleming and the first appearance of James Bond, one of the 20th Century’s most enduring characters.

Casino Royale

Agatha Christie

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first printing of Murder on the Orient Express by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Agatha%20Christie&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Agatha Christie</a>.&nbsp;<ul><li>Agatha Christie (English).</li><li>London: Collins [The Crime Club], 1934.</li><li>Complete with the wrap-around band, declaring the book to be ‘Book of the Month.’</li></ul> The classic detective novel, written by Christie and featuring Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot. A luxurious train journey on the Orient Express turns sinister when a wealthy American, Samuel Ratchett, is found murdered in his compartment, stabbed multiple times. As the train is stranded by a snowstorm, Poirot investigates the passengers, uncovering hidden connections and motives. The plot twists reveal Ratchett was a fugitive involved in a child kidnapping and murder. In a dramatic conclusion, Poirot discovers all the passengers conspired to kill Ratchett as an act of justice. The novel is celebrated for its ingenious resolution and moral complexity.

Murder On The Orient Express

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

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

The proof-reader's personal copy 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=harry%20potter&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Harry Potter</a> and the Philosopher's Stone.<ul><li>J.K. Rowling (English).</li><li>London: Bloomsbury, 1997.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Softcover.</li><li>223 pages.</li><li>Pictorial card wraps by Thomas Taylor with Harry and the Hogwarts Express to upper cover and wizard to lower.</li></ul> The first edition paperback of the first book in the phenomenally popular Harry Potter series. Both the hardcover and paperback of the first edition were printed on the same day, with neither having bibliographical priority. All of the first issue points are present with the complete number sequence of 10 down to 1, ‘1 wand’ repeated twice on the equipment list on p. 53 and and the misprint “Philospher’s” on the lower cover. This, Pippa Le Quesne’s personal copy – Editorial Assistant at Bloomsbury during the period of publishing the first two instalments of the Harry Potter serie (1996 to 1998). As Pippa explains, “One of my jobs was to proof-read both type-set books and their covers. Although I had been on a proof-reading course, this was my first job in publishing and my eye clearly wasn’t very sharp as it was me that made the infamous errors in the school list (a wand listed twice) within the text and the errors on the back cover of the Philospher’s Stone. I met Jo Rowling when she came down from Scotland to see my boss (Sarah Odedina) and her editor (Emma Matthewson). She brought with her her daughter Jess, who I played with whilst she was busy talking to them. She signed another copy of the paperback first edition of the Philosopher’s Stone for me, with the inscription 'To Pippa, thanks for all of your help with me and my commas, love Jo. Sadly, I had to sell that in 2003 to pay my electricity bill (famously starter publishing salaries do not match the cost of living in London), but I do like the thought that it is out there somewhere in the world and someone is wondering who Pippa is! Another of my jobs was to clear the manuscript cupboard where we kept the original manuscripts until a book had been published, then they would be thrown away to make way for the next lot of commissioned manuscripts waiting to be edited/printed. So, another claim to fame (or biggest regret) is that I will have thrown into the bin various drafts of the first and second Harry Potter books, having no idea of their worth or interest in years to come. Jo Rowling worked on a typewriter rather than a computer initially (and yes, she really did hand write the first book in a cafe in Edinburgh). When she had finished the Chamber of Secrets she typed it up, packaged it up and sent it in the post to Bloomsbury. She did not even take a photocopy (because of the expense) but trusted Royal Mail entirely (bearing in mind this was before the first Harry Potter book had exploded) She phoned to say she had sent it, so we were expecting it within a couple of days. For some reason it took five or six days to arrive and we (including Jo) assumed it had got lost in the post! Huge relief all round when it arrived at Bloomsbury." An exceptional association copy of the first Harry Potter story – the first edition, first printing, famous for the two typographic errors and owned by the editorial assistant who missed them

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Jacques Barraband

Watercolors <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?Book%20Type=Signed%2520and%2520Inscribed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed</a> by Jacques Barraband for the <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Description%20de%20L%27Egypte&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Description de L'Egypte</a>.&nbsp;<ul><li>Sold as a set of 3.</li><li>Jacques Barraband (French, 1768-1809).</li><li>[L'aigle criard; L'aigle criard (jeune); L'élanoide blanc / The Greater Spotted Eagle; The Greater Spotted Eagle (young); White swallow-tailed kite).</li><li>Circa 1801.</li><li>Watercolors with gouache highlights on the pencil line.</li><li>These three watercolors are plate numbers one and two in vol. I, Zoologie.</li><li>2 of the 3 watercolors described here are signed: 1 is unsigned as it was part of the other signed plate.</li><li>Each is presented framed.</li></ul> Jacques Barraband (1767-1809) was one of the finest ornithological artists of his time. The son of a weaver at the Aubusson Factory, he is first mentioned as a pupil of Joseph Malaine (1745-1809), the eminent flower painter, and is known to have worked for both the Gobelin Factory and the porcelain factory of Sèvres. These watercolors are excellent examples of Barraband's remarkable talent and meticulous detail when it came to depicting plumage and color. These watercolors were in fact intended to illustrate the System of Birds of Egypt and Syria written by the zoologist Marie-Jules César Lelorme de Savigny (1777-1851) and published in 1809. This text was itself part of Volume I of the Natural History of the Description of Egypt, or Collection of observations and research that were made in Egypt during the expedition of the French army, published by the orders of his majesty the Emperor Napoleon the Great. This work, which consisted of 9 volumes of texts and 11 volumes of plates, was the fruit of the important scientific expedition that accompanied Napoleon's Egyptian campaign which was launched in April 1798. The Description de l'Egypte work aimed to highlight the greatness of Egypt, which at the time was extremely popular in Europe. In order to produce the most complete vision of Egypt, as well as the antiquities and architecture, the fauna and flora were also described with contributions by scholars such as Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, whose texts Barraband also illustrates. In total, the artist contributed 44 plates of birds to the Description de l'Egypt. His drawings were then engraved for Savigny were engraved by Louis Bouquet. The richness and quality of Barraband's work was recognized as early as 1804, when he was awarded a gold medal for his illustrations for the Description de l'Egypt and Levaillant's Natural History.

Signed Watercolors for the Description de L'Egypte

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>

Rare & Exceptional

Filters

Way to Buy

Book Type

Author

Price

Book Subject

Book Special Feature

Book Language

Era

Materials

Color

Region of Origin

Country of Origin

Item Location

Available for International Shipping

George Orwell

George Orwell

Jane Austen

Margery Williams Bianco, William Nicholson

James Joyce

J.K. Rowling

John F. Kennedy

Johannes Gutenberg

Oscar Wilde

Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming

John Tenniel, Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson]

D.H. Lawrence

Kenneth Grahame

Andy Warhol

Virginia Woolf

Ian Fleming

Samuel Beckett

Walt Whitman

Oscar Wilde

Charles Darwin

Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming

Agatha Christie

Richard Chopping

J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling

Jacques Barraband

J.K. Rowling