[Rarebooks] FS: Classics: beautifully printed, bound, and illustrated
Charles Agvent
agvent at erols.com
Tue Dec 18 08:50:50 EST 2007
From our Last-Minute Gift List now posted on our website. It is
comprised of 75 items priced from $10 to $30,000 and includes both new
arrivals and selections from stock, mostly illustrated books, classics,
fine bindings, and limited editions. We can get any of these to you by
Christmas if ordered by Thursday, December 20.
1. COOPER, James Fenimore. THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. New York:
Limited Editions Club 1932. Quarto (7-1/2" x 10-5/8") bound in half
buckskin, blindstamped, with marbled paper sides. Introduction by
Edward Everett Hale. Designed by Will Ransom. Illustrated with color
drawings by Edward Wilson. Copy #31 of 1500 copies SIGNED by the
illustrator. An unusual binding, rarely seen on a book and usually
used to make gloves, the buckskin is very susceptible to wear and
scratching and is seldom found in nice condition. This copy much
better than average with a few light scratches to the spine. Near
Fine in Fine slipcase. $250.00
2. DANTE, Alighieri. THE DIVINE COMEDY OF DANTE ALIGHIERI. New York:
Limited Editions Club 1932. Folio (8" x 12-3/4") bound in full cloth
specially woven in rose and buff by Fortuny of Venice with a
gold-stamped linen spine label. Translated and annotated by Melville
Best Anderson with an introduction by Arthur Livingston. Designed,
printed, and bound by Hans Mardersteig at the Officina Bodoni in
Verona, Italy. Copy #31 of 1500 SIGNED by the designer on the
colophon page. Touch of sunning to spine. Slipcase soiled with some
splitting but intact. Handsome book, beautifully printed. Just about
Fine in Very Good slipcase. $350.00
3. DIAZ DEL CASTILLO, Bernal (COVARRUBIAS, Miguel). THE DISCOVERY AND
CONQUEST OF MEXICO, 1517-1521. Mexico: Limited Editions Club 1942.
Quarto (9" x 12-1/2") bound in Mexican hand-marbled sheepskin with
leather spine labels stamped in gold. Printed in Mexico City by
Rafael Loera y Chavez. Edited from the only exact copy of the
original manuscript by Genaro Garcia, translated by A. D. Maudslay,
with a new introduction by Harry Block. Illustrated with color plates
by Miguel Covarrubias. Copy #834 of 1500 SIGNED by the printer, the
editor, and the illustrator. Minor bump to bottom front corner;
edgewear to slipcase. About Fine in a Near Fine slipcase. $350.00
4. HENRY, O. THE VOICE OF THE CITY AND OTHER STORIES. New York:
Limited Editions Club 1935. Quarto (7-1/2" x 10-1/2") bound in black
buckram. Selected with an introduction by Clifton Fadiman. Copy #501
of 1500 illustrated with 21 full-page color plates and line drawings
by George Grosz and SIGNED by the artist on the colophon page. Some
browning to the front endpaper and pastedown. Very minor wear. Near
Fine, lacking the slipcase. $250.00
5. HUGO, Victor. LES MISERABLES. New York: Limited Editions Club
1938. Five quarto (7-1/4" x 10-1/2") volumes bound in black Irish
linen with rust-colored, gilt-lettered cloth spine labels. The
translation by Lascelles Wraxall authorized by the author.
Illustrated by Lynd Ward. Copy #72 of 1500 SIGNED by the illustrator
on the colophon page. Very mild sunning to spine. Slipcase present
but in several pieces. About Fine in battered slipcase. $250.00
6. MACHIAVELLI, Niccolo. THE PRINCE. New York: Limited Editions Club
1954. Octavo (6-1/4" x 9-3/8") bound in full green Florentine morocco
with gilt stamping on the spine and a gilt-stamped fleuron pattern on
the covers copying the design of a book in the library of Lorenzo the
Magnificent. Translated from the Italian by Hill Thompson with a new
preface by Irwin Edman. Copy #557 of 1500, issued unsigned. Fine in
Near Fine slipcase with typical rubbing and scratching. $300.00
7. MILTON, John. PARADISE LOST AND PARADISE REGAINED. San Francisco:
Limited Editions Club 1936. Small folio (8-1/4" x 13-1/2") bound in
half natural Irish linen and rose pastepaper boards with a black vein
design; printed paper spine label. Designed, printed, and bound by
John Henry Nash. Illustrated by Carlotta Petrina. Copy #31 of 1500
SIGNED by the artist on the colophon page. Mild sunning to spine.
Near Fine in Good slipcase with the backstrip partly detached.
$250.00
8. SPENSER, Edmund. THE FAERIE QUEENE. DISPOSED INTO TWELVE BOOKES
FASHIONING XII MORALL VERTUES. Oxford: Limited Editions Club 1953.
Two large quarto volumes (7-3/4" x 11-3/4") bound in gilt-decorated
green cloth and illustrated with pen decorations by John Austen and
wood engravings by Agnes Miller Parker. Copy #1144 of 1500 SIGNED by
Parker on the colophon page. A nicely printed set beautifully
illustrated. The uncommon dustwrappers are present as is the
slipcase. The spines of the dustwrappers are sunned with some foxing
on the panels, as usually the case. The slipcase is lightly sunned
but solid and intact. One of the underrated books of the press. Fine
in Very Good dustwrappers and Fine slipcase. $300.00
9. STOWE, Harriet Beecher (COVARRUBIAS, Miguel). UNCLE TOM'S CABIN.
New York: Limited Editions Club 1938. Quarto (7-1/2" x 10-1/2") bound
in half brown morocco with morocco corners and marbled boards.
Introduction by Raymond Weaver. Copy #31 of 1500 copies illustrated
with sixteen powerful lithographs drawn on the stone by Miguel
Covarrubias and SIGNED by the artist on the colophon page. Mild
sunning to the spine with a few small rubbed spots. Near Fine in Fine
slipcase. Uncommon thus. $600.00
10. TWAIN, Mark [CLEMENS, Samuel]. THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER.
Cambridge: Limited Editions Club 1939. Octavo (6-1/4" x 9-1/2") bound
in full blue denim with a paper spine label, here a little wrinkled.
Edited with an introduction by Bernard DeVoto. Designed by C. P.
Rollins. Illustrated with 70 drawings by Thomas Hart Benton. Copy
#371 of 1500 copies SIGNED by the artist on the colophon page. Light
foxing to the endpapers. Lightly soiled slipcase is intact with neat
repair to top edge split. Spine a bit sunned, as usual. Near Fine in
Very Good slipcase. $600.00
11. WILDE, Oscar. THE BALLAD OF READING GAOL. New York: Limited
Editions Club 1937. Quarto (7-1/2" x 11"). This copy beautifully
rebound in elegant full black morocco with gilt rules on the covers
and spine, gilt-lettered spine, gilt dentelles, all edges marbled,
and purple silk endpapers and pastedowns. Copy #343 of 1500
illustrated with 8 full-page ORIGINAL LITHOGRAPHS by Zhenya Gay and
SIGNED by the artist. Fine, beautifully bound, without slipcase.
$350.00
12. WILDER, Thornton. OUR TOWN. Avon, CT: Limited Editions Club 1974.
Quarto (8-1/4" x 11-3/4") bound in full brown corduroy with an oval
leather spine label. With an introduction by Brooks Atkinson and a
note by the author. Illustrated by Robert J. Lee with four
double-page color plates, three full-page monochrome plates, and
eighteen marginal sketches printed in a rosy terra-cotta. Copy #802
of 2000 numbered copies SIGNED by the artist and by the author, the
only limited edition of this play and certainly the easiest and least
expensive way to obtain a signed copy. Mild sunning to the spine.
About Fine, lacking the slipcase. $250.00
--
All books subject to prior sale. Cash with order; institutions may be
billed. Postage additional: $10.00 for the first book, $5.00 each
thereafter. Overseas postage billed at approximate cost. Pennsylvania
residents must add 6% sales tax. Mastercard, Visa, American Express and
Discover accepted. Books may be returned within 10 days of receipt for
any reason provided they are in the same condition as sent and prior
notice is given. Please insure returns for their full value. We carry a
diverse stock with major specialties including Modern and 19th Century
Literary First Editions, Autographed Books, and Limited Editions Club
books. We are celebrating our 20th year of business and are proud to be
members of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA) and
the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) as well as
the Manuscript Society and the Universal Autograph Collectors Club
(UACC). Please feel free to contact us with any wants or offerings.
Thank you.
CHARLES AGVENT
291 Linden Road
Mertztown, PA 19539-8750
610-682-4750
agvent at erols.com
Visit our home page: http://www.erols.com/agvent
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