[Rarebooks] Twenty Items, Signed / Inscribed / Associational copies (and a few letters).

[Michael John Thompson]

Twenty Items, Signed / Inscribed / Associational copies (and a few letters).

25% Discount applied. Terms as usual.


1.  BINYON, Laurence [British poet, 1869-1943]. 
AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, One page, to the 
publisher John Lane, concerning the artist Victor 
Reynolds. London. circa 1910. Autograph letter 
Signed, One page, dated simply "15 August". To 
"Dear Lane" [obviously the publisher John Lane] 
asking to be allowed to introduce him to his 
friend the artist Victor Reynolds who was 
desiring to find work doing book illustration and 
title-page design, etc. On the letterhead of the 
British Museum Department of Prints and Drawings. 
Signed in full. Binyon was appointed Assistant 
Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British 
Museum in 1909. He is most remembered for his WWI 
poem THE FALLEN, the fourth verse of which has 
become known as "The Ode" and is engraved on 
cenotaphs and recited at Rememberance Day 
ceremonies Worldwide. Folded once, but in fine 
condition. Very Good.          $85.00

2.  BLAKE, Snowdon [pseudonym of Freda Blake?]. 
NEXT PORT ELDORADO. London: Stanley Paul & Co., 
Ltd.  No Date [1937]. First Edition, First 
Printing. First edition. Octavo, original blue 
cloth titled in white on spine and front panel. 
287 pp + 40 pp publisher's catalogue at rear. 
INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR on the front free 
endpaper: "Louise & Otto Theis / With love from / 
Freda / (Snowdon Blake)". Spine panel tanned, 
light foxing, a nearly fine, fresh copy in the 
original colour pictorial dust jacket, lightly 
browned and with minute chips at spine head. The 
jacket is the first issue, priced at 7/6 on the 
spine panel. An excellent copy of a very scarce 
book. ¶ Nautical adventure novel, involving a 
quest for buried treasure in South America. 
Louise Morgan and Otto Theis were editors of 'The 
Outlook', an English political-literary magazine. 
In the 1930's and 40's, Otto Theis worked as a 
literary agent; he was likely the agent 
representing Snowdon Blake's work. Near Fine in 
Dust Jacket. Hardcover.           $250.00

3.  CABELL, James Branch. THE CREAM OF THE JEST. 
A Comedy of Evasions. New York: Robert M. McBride 
& Company. 1917. First Edition, First Printing. 
First edition. Octavo, original brown cloth 
stamped in gilt. Presentation copy, "Inscribed 
for / T.R. Smith / This miscellany, in the hope / 
he may like some of it / James Branch Cabell / 10 
March 1921" on the front free endpaper. Spine 
dull, hinges a bit loose; a very good copy 
without dust wrapper. ¶ An important association 
copy. T.R. Smith was the editor of CENTURY 
magazine, later the editor at Boni and Liveright. 
He was the editor of The Modern Library, 
publishing Cabell's novel BEYOND LIFE in 1923. 
The Modern Library was sold to Bennet Cerf and 
Donald Klopfer in 1925 and several books by 
Cabell, including this title, were later 
published under a their editorship. Very Good. Hardcover.          $225.00

4.  DERLETH, August. THE ADVENTURE OF THE UNIQUE 
DICKENSIANS. With Illustrations by Frank Utpatel. 
Sauk City: Mycroft & Moran [Arkham House]. 1968. 
First Edition, First Printing. First edition, 
2012 copies printed. Octavo, original stiff green 
paper wrappers printed in red and stapled at 
spine. A Chapbook. SIGNED by the author on the 
title page: "Sincerely / August Derleth". Tiny 
bumps to the corners, a nearly fine copy. ¶ Solar 
Pons solves a mystery concerning two book 
collectors and a Charles Dickens manuscript. 
Fine. Staplebound Wraps.                $65.00

5.  DERLETH, August. MR. FAIRLIE'S FINAL JOURNEY. 
Sauk City: Mycroft & Moran [Arkham House]. 1968. 
First Edition, First Printing. First edition, 
3493 copies printed. Octavo, original black cloth 
titled in gilt on spine panel. SIGNED by the 
author on the front free endpaper: "Regards - / 
August Derleth". Corner tips and head of spine a 
trifle bruised, a nerly fine copy in like dust 
jacket. ¶ Detective novel featuring Solar Pons, 
the "Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street". Fine in 
Dust Jacket. Hardcover.          $75.00

6.  DERLETH, August. A PRAED STREET DOSSIER. With 
Illustrations by Frank Utpatel. Sauk City: 
Mycroft & Moran [Arkham House]. 1968. First 
Edition, First Printing. First edition, 2904 
copies printed. Octavo, original black cloth 
titled in gilt on spine. 108 pp. SIGNED by the 
author on the front free endpaper "Cordially, / 
August Derleth". A fine copy in a fine dust 
jacket. ¶ "An associational item for the growing 
numbers of Praed Street Irregulars, for who Solar 
Pons has proved to be an entertaining latterday 
Sherlock Holmes." Fine in Dust Jacket. Hardcover.              $125.00

7.  FRASER, Ronald. FLOWER PHANTOMS. London: 
Jonathan Cape, 30 Bedford Square. [1926]. First 
Edition, First Printing. First edition. Octavo, 
original green cloth titled in gilt on spine 
panel. 158 pp. Signed by the author on the 
half-title leaf, date 1/July/1926. Endpapers 
browned along the gutters, a fine copy in a very 
good dust jacket which has some very light wear 
and fraying at the edges. Quite a nice copy of 
the author's third book. ¶ Supernatural fantasy. 
Fraser's "most distinctive and memorable book is 
surely Flower Phantoms (1926) in which a fey 
art-deco girl who works in Kew Gardens finds that 
her spiritual yearnings lead to a passionate 
mystic communion with an orchid. The exquisite 
prose, all redolent of the hothouses and their 
exotic occupants, is a remarkable experience in 
itself, but the hints of higher realms of 
consciousness also have a rarefied interest" - 
Mark Valentine. "Flower Phantoms is a seductive 
visit into the rich and glowing dreamworld of 
plant life, symbolically used as background to a 
young girl's spiritual awakening." - Douglas A. 
Anderson. Near Fine in Dust Jacket. Hardcover.            $275.00

8.  FRASER, Ronald. MISS LUCIFER. An Inscribed 
First Edition in Dust Jacket. London: Jonathan 
Cape. [1939]. First Edition, First Printing. 
First edition. Octavo, original tan cloth titled 
in red. 316 pp. Inscribed by the author on the 
half-title leaf: "To Robert / with love from / 
Ronald / 2/xi/39. A fine copy in a fine dust 
jacket. ¶ Fantasy. Auriol, 'Miss Lucifer', has 
the mysterious power of existing in the world of 
the twentieth century and yet in dreams, in 
visions, in 'out-of-the-body' excursions 
exploring and reliving certain significant phases 
of her past, including previous incarnations. 
Fine in Dust Jacket. Hardcover.             $250.00

9.  GRANT, Kenneth. THE MAGICAL REVIVAL. Signed 
Limited Deluxe Edition. London: Starfire 
Publishing. 2010. Limited Edition. The Deluxe 
edition, bound in marbled paper-covered boards 
with black leather spine titled in gilt, limited 
to 118 numbered copies signed by Kenneth and 
Steffi Grant, this being copy # 42. 264 pp., 
Illustrated, index at rear. A very fine copy in 
dust jacket and cloth slipcase, as issued. ¶ 
First published in 1972, this new edition is 
printed on high-quality paper, with a new 
frontispiece, a section of seventeen plates (many 
in color, some unpublished) and includes a 1954 
unpublished photograph of Spare. Photo-gallery 
endpapers, full-color dust-jacket designed by 
Steffi Grant. The first book in Grant's 
"Typhonian Trilogy", in which he analyzes the 
links he finds between various ancient traditions 
and the occult practices of Aleister Crowley, 
Austin Osman Spare, Dion Fortune and others. This 
special signed & limited edition was sold out 
almost instantaneously, Kenneth Grant died within 
a year of publication; copies are - simply put - 
rare. Fine in Dust Jacket and Slipcase. Hardcover.                 $1,250.00

10.  KLINE, Otis Adelbert. THE PLANET OF PERIL. 
[Chicago]: A.C. McClurg & Co. 1929. First 
Edition, First Printing. First edition. Octavo, 
original green cloth stamped in black on spine & 
front panel. 358 pp. SIGNED by the author on the 
front free endpaper. Mild tanning to spine panel. 
The original colour pictorial dust jacket was 
sectioned and tipped into this copy, there are 
some old glue stains to the edges of the 
endpapers and to the verso of the half-title 
leaf, otherwise this is a fine copy. The jacket 
pieces have been removed and neatly mounted onto 
matching paper - all parts, the spine, front & 
rear panels and the flaps. There is some loss to 
the edges of the pieces where they have been 
trimmed. These were from the batch of Burroughs, 
Cummings, Merrit, Kline and related authors that 
came out of Seattle in the 1980's - all the books 
had the original jackets sectioned and tipped 
into the books. This copy has an old pencil note 
on the front free endpaper: "Autographed by 
author. Received Sept 28, 1929". The collection 
was bought by Serendipity Books in Berkeley; this 
copy was sold in 1988 to John Ruyle, who removed 
the sections and created the neat jacket - and we 
bought the book from John Ruyle's estate. ¶ The 
author's first science-fantasy novel, in the 
tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs. First 
published as a six-part serial in Argosy, 20 
July-24 August 1929. The first of the three 
Grandon of Venus novels. Very Good in Dust 
Jacket. Hardcover.                 $350.00

11.  LETHEM, Jonathan. AMNESIA MOON. New York: 
Harcourt, Brace & Company. 1995. First Edition, 
First Printing. First edition. Octavo, cloth & 
boards. Signed by the author on the title page. A 
fine copy in dust wrapper. Fine in Dust Jacket. Hardcover.              $50.00

12.  LONDON, Jack. THE GAME. With Illustrations 
and Decorations by Henry Hutt and T.C. Lawrence. 
New York: The Macmillan Company. 1905. First 
edition. The second issue, with the Metropolitan 
magazine stamp applied to the copyright page. 
Octavo, original teal cloth, pictorial device in 
white and brown and titles in red on front panel, 
titles in gold and small decorations in white on 
spine. Decorated endpapers, top edges gilt. 182 
pp + 6 pp publishers ads at rear. Colour 
frontispiece with tissue guard and 5 additional 
full-page colour plates, decorated title page, 
vignettes and line drawings throughout the text. 
Contemporary ink name on recto of frontispiece, 
mild bumps to the corners, a very good, bright 
copy. Laid in is an original Autograph Check 
SIGNED by Jack London, made out to Geo. W. Austin 
for $27.50 and drawn on the Central Bank of 
Oakland, dated August 4, 1904.¶ London's novel of 
boxing, set around the turn of the last Century. 
Very Good. Hardcover.            $250.00

13.  MACHEN, Arthur; CRAIG, Edward Gordon; 
GAWSWORTH, John [pseudonym of Terence Ian Fytton 
Armstrong]. DRAWING OF ARTHUR MACHEN BY EDWARD 
GORDON CRAIG, Signed by Arthur Machen, Edward 
Gordon Craig, and John Gawsworth. [London?]: 
[Issued by John Gawsworth (T. Fytton Armstrong)]. 
[1930]. First Edition, First Printing. A 
Christmas Card, 140 x 90 mm, reproducing a 
portrait of Machen in black & white by Edward 
Gordon Craig, signed below the image by Craig; 
with the larger signature of Machen below this, 
"T. Fytton Armstrong" imprinted below. On the 
verso is written in ink "No. 4. Eleven cards only 
signed by Edward Gordon Craig Jr. and Arthur 
Machen for Christmas 1930. "John Gawsworth". 
Minor foxing, a near fine example. Certainly, a 
great rarity. ¶ "John Gawsworth" [Terence Ian 
Fytton Armstrong, 1912-1970], British writer, 
poet and editor, close friend of Arthur Machen 
and M.P. Shiel, editor of several anthologies of 
supernatural fiction. He 'succeeded' Shiel to the 
throne of the Kingdom of Redonda in 1947 as 'King 
Juan I'.  Near Fine. Card.           $500.00

14.  MERRITT, A [Abraham]. TYPED LETTER SIGNED. 
Typed Letter Signed. One page, 8-1/2 x 11 inches, 
on 'The American Weekly' letterhead. Dated August 
3rd, 1932. 23 lines, signed at end "A. Merritt", 
to a Mr. F.G. Turner of Catonsville, Maryland. 
"Dear Mr. Turner.... You have the complete list 
of all the stories I have written. I have no copy 
of "Three Lines of Old French" or I would send 
you one. I have a copy of "The Dragon Glass" and 
I will have a typewritten copy of it made and 
sent to you... "The Metal Monster" and "The Metal 
Emperor" were the same story, except that I was 
dissatisfied with the way I had written I for the 
Argosy, and revised it.... The Russians... 
appropriated this story - there is no copyright 
between the two countries - and published it 
under the title of "The Lightning Witch". This is 
such a good title that if it ever gets in book 
form I will steal it... "The Moon Pool" first 
appeared as a novelette, then came the serial 
"The Conquest of the Moon Pool". I took the 
novelette and the serial an stitched them 
together into the book which Putnam published 
under the title "The Moon Pool".... A fine letter 
with excellent literary content. VG, neatly 
folded for mailing. Very Good.           $250.00

15.  RILEY, James Whitcomb. SONGS OF FRIENDSHIP. 
With Pictures by Will Vawter. Indianapolis: The 
Bobbs-Merrill Company. [1915]. Early Edition. 
Octavo, original green cloth titled in gilt, 
decorations in black & gilt. [190] pp. 
Illustrated throughout with full-page and 
vignette illustrations by Vawter. Printed calling 
card from the author laid in, inscribed in 
Riley's hand "With love and thanks". Also laid in 
is an original photograph of the author, oval, 
3.5 x 5 inches, mounted on a 4.25 x 6.5 inch 
card, inscribed by Riley in the lower margin: "To 
S.E. Kiser, Esq., Sept 27, 1900. With hale 
Fraternal Greetings - James Whitcomb Riley". The 
book is in fine condition, the photo is a bit 
chipped at the edges of the mounting card. Kiser 
was the author of "Poems That Have Helped Me" and 
other works. Fine. Hardcover.            $250.00

16.  STERLING, George; BRUGUIERE, Francis. THE 
EVANESCENT CITY. With Nine Illustrations after 
Photographs by Francis Bruguiere, and a Cover in 
Color after the Painting by Will Sparks. San 
Francisco: A.M. Robertson. 1916. First Edition, 
First Printing. First edition. Octavo, original 
card covers with folding cardstock dust jacket, 
gilt designs and lettering, colour pictorial 
label on front panel of wrapper. 16 pp., 
tipped-in frontispiece with tissue guard, eight 
additional tipped-in illustrations. Inscribed by 
the author on a preliminary blank leaf "For / 
Miss Louise Mahony / with the best wishes of / 
George Sterling. / San Francisco, / Feb. 1st, 
1916." Wrappers worn at edges, binding slightly 
cracked; a good to very good copy. ¶ Sterling's 
commemorative poem of the Panama-Pacific 
International Exposition, held in San Francisco 
in 1915. Very Good in Dust Jacket. Original Wraps.               $125.00

17.  THAYER, Tiffany. ONE-MAN SHOW. New York: 
Julian Meddner, Inc. 1937. First Edition, First 
Printing. First edition. Octavo, original 
brownish-red cloth titled in gilt on spine. 314 
pp. Inscribed by the author on the front free 
endpaper to Nathan Wallack: "Dear Mr. Wallack: | 
This is the most | first edition I ever | saw. 
The ink is | still wet. | Tiffany Thayer | 10 - 
22- 37". Loosely laid into this coy is a 
cancelled cheque made out to Tiffany Thayer from 
the Munsey Trust Company, dated Sept 26, 1937, 
signed by Nathan N. Wallack and endorsed by 
Thayer on the verso. A near-fine copy, in a very 
good dust jacket; the jacket has some minor 
chipping at the edges and a vertical spine crease 
(from being folded while off the book). Quite 
scarce. ¶ Supernatural novel. A screenplay writer 
is killed in an automobile accident. His (ghost?) 
returns to our world as one of the undead (an 
"astral-gypsy"). He becomes an expert painter and 
sets up an art show - the "one-man show" of the 
title. Very Good in Dust Jacket. Hardcover.                 $250.00

18.  VISIAK, E.H. [pseudonym of Edward Harold 
Physick, 1878-1972]. MEDUSA. A Story of Mystery, 
and Ecstasy, & Strange Horror. By E. H. Visiak 
[pseudonym]. With an Original Letter Signed by 
Visiak. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd. 1929. First 
Edition, First Printing. First edition. Original 
black cloth, spine lettered in green. 286 pp. 
Minor browning to endpapers, a fine copy. Laid in 
is an Autograph Letter Signed by Visiak, on his 
letterhead from 30 Cavendish Rd, N.W.6., dated 
Feb 8, 1935. Addressed "Dear Mr. Miller", it 
states: "How very kind of you to send us the 
delightful little almanac - which hangs nicely on 
the wall! We have never forgotten you, you may be 
sure, and those pleasant visits and talks, which 
we shall hope some day to renew. With kind wishes 
to you and Mrs Miller from us both, Very 
sincerely yours, E.H. Visiak". The letter is 
folded several times but is in attractive, very 
good condition. ¶ Supernatural horror novel. "The 
tale moves gradually, in a slow crescendo, from 
its beginnings in a normal-seeming 
nineteenth-century England through adventures at 
sea and finally into a literal pit of fantasy - a 
vast circular hole occupied by the eponymous sea 
monster which eats sexually aware men alive. The 
protagonist is a young boy who remains sexually 
innocent, though haunted by other guilts: he 
survives while his companions perish." - Clute 
and Grant, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997). 
"Degenerate survivors of Atlantis, psychoactive 
rays; unspeakable horror! WEIRD!" - John Ruyle. 
The author, born Edward Harold Physick 
(1878-1972), adopted the name "E.H. Visiak" after 
1910. He wrote literary criticism, poetry and 
three novels, of which MEDUSA is his outstanding 
triumph. Fine. Hardcover.             $850.00

19.  WHEATLEY, Dennis. "OLD ROWLEY". A Private 
Life of Charles II. Illustrated by Frank C. Papé. 
AN INSCRIBED COPY. London: Hutchinson & Co. 
[1933]. First Edition, First Printing. First 
edition. Octavo, original blue cloth titled in 
gilt on spine panel. 201 pp + [3] pp ads for 
Wheatley books + 12 pp publisher's catalogue at 
rear, dated Autumn, 1933. Frontispiece and seven 
additional full-page black & white plates by 
Papé, Index and Key. INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR ON 
THE TITLE PAGE: "For / Harry L. Bantock / with 
all kind thoughts / from / Dennis Wheatley". 
Spine panel and edges of boards faded, vertical 
stain near fore-edge of front panel, a very good 
sound copy. ¶ Biography of King Charles II, 
focussing on his amorous adventures. The author's 
third book, preceded only by THE FORBIDDEN 
TERRITORY and SUCH POWER IS DANGEROUS; very 
scarce inscribed. Harry L. Bantock is the father 
of Nick Bantock, author of the GRIFFIN AND SABINE 
books. Curiously, the book is illustrated by 
Frank Papé, the artist who designed Wheatley's 
bookplate. Very Good. Hardcover.           $200.00

20.  WILKINS, Mary E. THE WIND IN THE ROSE-BUSH 
And Other Stories of the Supernatural. 
Illustrated by Peter Newell. [Algernon Charles 
Swinburne's copy]. London: John Murray. 1903. 
First British Edition. First British edition. 
Octavo, original green cloth with pictorial paper 
label on front panel, spine lettered in gilt with 
elaborate design in black. 237pp. Frontispiece 
with tissue guard, plus seven additional 
full-page black & white plates by Peter Newell, 
capturing the eerie mood of these classic ghost 
stories. Algernon Charles Swinburne's copy, with 
the small label on the inner front cover "From 
the Library of A.C. Swinburne, Sold by Messrs. 
Sotheby, June 19-21st, 1916. With the ownership 
signature of Isabel Swinburne (his Sister), dated 
July, 1903, on front free endpaper, and the later 
bookplate of author and bibliophile Olive 
Percival (Olive May Graves Percival, 1869-1945), 
also on the inner front cover. Tissue guard 
browned & offsetting to title page, a little 
light foxing on margins of plates, two nice 
bookplates, a very bright & clean copy, nearly 
fine. Scarce, especially in this condition. ¶ 
Supernatural & Ghostly tales. "Simple stories 
which are among the best from the American 
Edwardian period": Bleiler, Guide to Supernatural 
Fiction, 662. Near Fine. Hardcover.            $275.00





---
Michael John Thompson, Antiquarian Bookseller
'Imladris'
5275 Jerow Road
Hornby Island, BC
Canada V0R 1Z0
250-335-1182

http://www.ThompsonRareBooks.com
http://www.BeltaneBooks.com
http://www.Mjtbooks.com