[Rarebooks] FS: TEN ITEMS GREATLY DISCOUNTED

[Stephen Johnson]

Greetings to All.



The below items are at substantially reduced prices today (Wednesday) and
tomorrow (Thursday) subject to the terms set forth below:


Stille, Charles J.
Studies in Mediaeval History

Philadelphia: J. D. Lippincott & o., 1882. First Edition. Hardcover. A Very
Good copy of the SCARCE first edition, first printing, in the Publisher's
original brown cloth with the spine decoration and lettering in gilt. The
Mediaeval Period (often called the "Middle Ages") encompasses the period
running from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 to the conquest of
Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453. The binding shows general
wear, and the leaves within are in rather nice condition and show a prior
owner's signature to the front free endpaper. In his Preface, the author
states his purpose in writing the book thusly: "My object in preparing the
'studies' has been to illustrate the life of the Middle Age by a sketch of
some of its characteristic institutions. I have selected those prominent
features in that life which it inherited from Roman and Christian society
before the extinction of the Western Empire in 476, and which were moulded
and shaped after that event by the peculiar ides and habits of the
barbarian invaders." Born in Philadelphia in 1819, Charles J. [Janeway]
Stillé, descended from of some of the first European colonists to settle in
the Delaware Valley and served as the tenth provost of the University of
Pennsylvania and authored numerous works. SCARCE. Very good. Item #3111

Price:  WAS $225.00. TEMPORARILY AVAILABLE AT $ 50.00


Williams, Tennessee [Williams III, Thomas Lanier]
The 1932 Savitar A History of the University of Missouri for the Year
1931-1932 [First Appearance of any Tennessee Williams Poem in book form --
and possibly the first appearance by him of any work in any published
book]; [Annual/Yearbook for the University of Missouri]

Columbia, MO: University of Missouri, 1932. First Edition, First
Printing. Hardcover.
A Very Good copy of the first edition, first printing, of the Savitar, the
1931 -1932 Annual (or Yearbook) for the University of Missouri, published
in 1932. The volume is in Very Good condition with rubbing to the covers --
primarily to the board edges and spine extremities -- and some scratches to
the rear board. The volume contains seven (7) tissue guards, one located
prior to each "Book" within. Each is toned, with the one located at "BOOK
I" being more deeply toned than are the others and also being partially
detached but holding well. The title page is signed and dated as follows:
"Robert N. Stennis / May 28, 1932". Thomas Lanier Williams (generally known
by his pen name "Tennessee Williams") attended the University of Missouri
from 1929 to 1931. While there, Williams joined the Alpha Tau Omega
fraternity. While he did not fit in well at his Fraternity, being a member
of it led to his obtaining the name by which he later came to fame as it
was during his time there that his fraternity brothers dubbed him
"Tennessee" for his rich southern drawl. His earliest writings named him as
Thomas Lanier Williams, but he published his later, and famous, works under
his "new" name "Tennessee Williams". This issue of Savitar contains the
first of his Poems to be published in book form and is (as far as we have
been able to determine) his first published Poem and the first publication
of any work by him in book form. The Poem is therein printed on page 229
under the title "Not Without Knowledge" (some may identify the Poem as "The
Kiss"). No other text is located on that page. His Fraternity is featured
on page 224 where he is named as "Thomas L. Williams" of Saint Louis and
the Class of 1933, but his image does not appear. Under his Poem on page
249, he is identified as "Thomas Lanier Williams", a member of the
"Missouri Chapter of the College Poetry Society." Thus we have hear a quite
scarce copy of the first appearance of any work by the renowned writer's in
book form ( and also perhaps the first appearance in any form of any
published Poem by him) issued by the institution where his famous name
"Tennessee" was born but not published. QUITE SCARCE INDEED. Very good.
Item #3086

*P**rice:  WAS *$850. TEMPORARILY AVAILABLE AT $225.
Hesse, Hermann
Magister Ludi [Das Glasperlenspiel] [Also sometimes published as "The Glass
Bead Game"]

New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1949. First American Edition, 1st
Printing. Hardcover.
A Very Good copy of the first American Edition, first printing, in the
Publisher's black cloth with the spine lettering in white (leading lower
board corners bumped) in a Very Good dust jacket which shows some small
chips and tears. Hesse's last full-length novel, it was first published
"Das Glasperlenspiel" ["The Glass Bead Game"]. The American edition was
published using sheets for the first UK edition and thus the book has
neither a statement of edition nor a number line. The novel was first
published in Switzerland in 1943 after being rejected for publication in
Germany due to Hesse's antifascist views. Hesse won the 1946 Nobel Prize in
Literature "for his inspired writings which, while growing in boldness and
penetration, exemplify the classical humanitarian ideals and high qualities
of style", with this book playing an important role in his winning the
Prize. In his Presentation Speech for the Prize, Anders Österling,
Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, with respect to Hesse: "He
escaped from political pressure earlier than other German writers and,
during the First World War, settled in Switzerland where he acquired
citizenship in 1923. It should not be overlooked, however, that his
extraction as well as his personal connections had always justified Hesse
in considering himself as much Swiss as German. His asylum in a country
that was neutral during the war allowed him to continue his important
literary work in relative quiet, and at present Hesse, together with Mann,
is the best representative of the German cultural heritage in contemporary
literature." As to "Das Glasperlenspiel" ("Magister Ludi"), he further
stated: "In Hesse’s more recent work the vast novel Das Glasperlenspiel
(1943) [Magister Ludi] occupies a special position. It is a fantasy about a
mysterious intellectual order, on the same heroic and ascetic level as that
of the Jesuits, based on the exercise of meditation as a kind of therapy.
The novel has an imperious structure in which the concept of the game and
its role in civilization has surprising parallels with the ingenious study
Homo ludens by the Dutch scholar Huizinga." In his biography of Hess, Ralph
Freedman stated that "...the tensions caused by the rise of the Nazi Party
in Germany directly contributed to the creation of the Glass Bead Game as a
response to the oppressive times." Copies of the first American edition in
the dust jacket are surprisingly uncommon. A Very Good copy of a notable
work of fiction by Herman Hess. QUITE UNCOMMON. Very good / very good. Item
#3078

*WAS *$265. TEMPORARILY AVAILABLE AT $85.
Dana, Katharine Floyd
Our Phil, and Other Stories

Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin and Company, 1889. E. W. Kemble. First
Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. A Virtually Fine, tight, and unread
copy of the first edition, first printing, of this collection of
African-American stories by a female author (slight rubbing to the spine
ends and leading board corners), with illustrations by E. W. Kemble [who
also illustrated Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", Harriet Beecher
Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin", and other books] without the Rare Dust Jacket,
and with the original Publisher's marketing pamphlet loosely laid in.
During her life and in Dana's social circle, a woman's working as a writer
was seen as inappropriate.  Consequently, Dana published under the pen name
Olive A. Wadsworth which stood for "Only A. Woman". As this work was
published posthumously, it was published under her given name, making it
the first of her works so published. [The story "Our Phil" and the "Other
Stories" in this book first appeared in the Atlantic Monthly under her pen
name.] Virtually all of the dust jackets for the book would have been
discarded as they were of plain paper and were intended to protect the book
until it was put out for sale and not intended to help sell the book (as
they are now). A scarce work and a quite nice tight and unread copy. Fine /
fine. Item #3072

*P**rice:  WAS *$95. TEMPORARILY AVAILABLE AT $35.

Johnson, Kenneth M.
The Sting of the Wasp; Political & Satirical Cartoons from the Truculent
Early San Francisco Weekly, with an Introduction & Comments by Kenneth M.
Johnson

San Francisco: The Book Club of California, 1967. First Edition, First
Printing. Hardcover. A Very Good + to Near Fine copy of the first edition,
first printing in book form of Cartoons earlier published in "The Wasp"
(some rubbing to the spine ends and leading board corners). The Wasp was an
illustrated weekly magazine devoted to social and political satire which
was published from 1876 to well after the turn of the twentieth century. It
was founded by the Korbel brothers who had immigrated from Czechoslovakia.
After a period of time spent working as skilled mechanics, they pooled
their resources and founded a cigar box factory and becoming one of the
earliest firms to use redwood to produce cigar boxes. To further their
business, they bought a half-interest in a redwood country sawmill and
thereafter bought out their business partner(s), becoming full owners of
the sawmill and added nearby land. After the wood was exhausted, they
planted grapevines amongst the stubs and thus was born the Korbel Winery
which stayed in the family until 1954 and remains in operation. This
volume, of which only 450 copies were produced, contains many reproductions
of colored lithographs. [PLEASE NOTE: This is a large book and Buyer's
shipping cost may exceed that quoted by this site.]. Near fine. Item #3057

*P**rice:  WAS *$90. TEMPORARILY AVAILABLE AT $35.

Spark, Muriel
The Driver's Seat

London: Macmillan, 1970. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. A Near
Fine copy of the first edition, first printing (slight bumping the to the
front board's leading corners) in a fine, unusually bright, dust jacket
(slight wrinkling to the front panel's leading corners); a psychological
thriller, one of six novels to be nominated for “Lost Man Booker Prize” of
1970 (as the books published in 1970 were not eligible for the Man Booker
Prize due to a rules alteration), and the basis for the 1974 Italian movie
"Identikit", a psychological drama starring Elizabeth Taylor and Ian Bannen
and with Andy Warhol as an English Lord. Copies of this first UK edition of
this novel are surprising uncommon to the market and copies in a condition
as nice as is this copy are scarce. A Near Fine copy. SCARCE. Near fine /
fine. Item #3018

*P**rice:  WAS *$75. TEMPORARILY AVAILABLE AT $25.

Coetzee, J. M. [Coetzee, John Maxwell]
Life & Times of Michael K

New York: The Viking Press, 1984. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover.
A Near Fine copy of the first edition, first printing (quite mildly askew
with some lean to the volume, thin fade line to each spine end) in a Fine
dust jacket, being Coetzee's fourth novel, a book about the value of human
life, race, a mother and son relationship, and war, and winner of the 1983
Booker Prize. A highly-acclaimed author, Coetzee has won the Booker Prize
twice and won the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature as an author "who in
innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider."
Coetzee also won the Jerusalem Prize, the CNA Prize (thrice), the Prix
Femina étranger, The Irish Times International Fiction Prize, and many
other awards and honours, including a number of honorary doctorates. A Near
Fine copy of this early J. M. Coetzee work. Near fine / fine. Item #2920

*P**rice:  WAS *$65. TEMPORARILY AVAILABLE AT $25.

Lessing, Doris
Briefing for a Descent into Hell

London: Jonathan Cape, 1971. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. A
Fine, Virtually Superior, copy of the first edition, first printing (slight
push to the spine head), in a Fine, bright, and unfaded dust jacket,
Doris Lessing won the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature for being "that
epicist of the female experience, who with skepticism, fire and visionary
power has subjected a divided civilization to scrutiny". In his
Presentation Speech for the Prize, Per Wästberg stated of Lessing: "Doris
Lessing writes as she breathes – to approach closer the trials and
revelations of our existence. Eschewing protective gloves, she grasps our
reality like a grubby root vegetable, uncovering experiences we did not
realize we could access. Via thousands of intimate details and in
lower-case letters – dare we call them feminine? – she phrases the eternal
questions of how and why we live." Lessing described "Briefing for a
Descent into Hell" as a novel of inner space. The work centers on a
Cambridge Professor of Classics who is found wandering without knowledge of
who he is. He then is confined to a mental hospital where doctors try to
bring him back to reality. However, the Professor is instead on a
psychological adventure in his own mind. The Professor's journey takes him
from a spinning raft in the Atlantic to a ruined stone city on a tropical
island, to an outer-space journey through singing planets. As he travels in
his mind through memory and the farther reaches of his imagination, his
doctors try to subdue him with ever more powerful drugs in a competition
for the man himself. A well-received work, the novel was shortlisted for
the 1971 Booker Prize. A Fine, near Superior, copy -- the best we have
seen. Fine / fine. Item #2917

*P**rice:  WAS *$80. TEMPORARILY AVAILABLE AT $25.


Behar, Ruth; Mayol, Humberto [Photographs]
An Island Called Home; Returning to Jewish Cuba

New Brunswick, NJ and London: Rutgers University Press, 2007. First
Edition. Hardcover.
A Fine copy of the first edition, first printing, in a Fine dust jacket,
INSCRIBED, SIGNED, DATED, AND PLACED BY RUTH BEHAR on the title page as
follows: "for Sandi - with a big Cuban hug! [drawing of a flower] / Ruth
Behar / 3-4-[?] / Boca". Behar was born in the United States, the daughter
of Jewish exiles who left Cuba after Castro took power in 1959. To satisfy
her wonderings about the lives of Jewish Cubans who did not flee Castro,
she took a trip to that Island, a journey which resulted in this book.
Signed copies of the first edition, first printing, are quite uncommon,
especially when in a condition as nice as is this copy. A Fine copy,
INSCRIBED, SIGNED, DATED, AND PLACED BY RUTH BEHAR. Fine / fine. Item #3107

*P**rice:  WAS *$125. TEMPORARILY AVAILABLE AT $35.
Muller, Marcia
There Hangs the Knife [Signed]; A Joanna Stark Mystery

New York: St. Martin's Press, 1988. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover.
A Near Fine copy of the first edition, first printing (bump to the front
board's upper right corner) in a Fine dust jacket (tiny wear to the front
panel's lower right corner), SIGNED BY MARCIA MULLER on the title page; a
novel wherein female Joanna Stark develops an intricately plotted plan to
entrap and expose her worst enemy, art thief Anthony Parducci, about whom
she earlier cared. A Near Fine copy, SIGNED BY MARCIA MULLER. Near fine /
fine. Item #3099

*P**rice:  WAS *$40. TEMPORARILY AVAILABLE AT $20.


Multiple images of each item can be found at www.allingtonbooks.com

 *Immediate payment is required*.  *To purchase at the above discounted
prices, please email us and we will send the Buyer a PayPal invoice**. *

All items are returnable (in the same condition as delivered to Buyer)
within 15 days of delivery (or attempted delivery, if earlier) of the item
to Buyer's mailing address.

Media Mail shipping to destinations in the continental USA is free,
elsewhere at cost minus $5.00

Each item is subject to prior sale.

With Thanks for your consideration of the above and

Best Wishes,

Stephen

Allington Antiquarian Books



Stephen Johnson
Allington Antiquarian Books, LLC
Rare and Collectible Books, both Antiquarian and Modern
www.allingtonbooks.com
336-414-0435