First Impressions - 2015 July - Jan.

                                                                            

First Impressions - July 2015

New Arrivals:

 

 Joyce, James. Ulysses.

Eleventh printing, presentation copy, signed and inscribed to Martin and Lily O'Connor by Joyce, 1930.

Joyce presented this copy to the O'Connors as thanks for supporting him during his brief tenure in England. Enraged by Joyce's abuse of her husbands' generosity and at the explicit, banned text he offered as compensation, Lily tore the front wrapper off in an attempt to destroy this copy, which has since been repaired to preserve the volume and its inscription.

 

Wharton, Edith. The Age of Innocence.

First printing, in the extremely scarce and completely unsophisticated dust jacket, 1920.

Winner of the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction -  the first book by a female author to win the prestigious award.

 

 

 

 

Wilde, Oscar. Poems.

Limited edition, 1/220 copies, signed by Wilde, 1892.

Wilde's poetry, an example of the Aesthetics Movement, of which the poet was a forerunner, are perfectly complemented by Ricketts' decorative binding - "a striking departure from high Victorian norms."

 

 

 

Book Collecting News:

James Bond and the Art of Richard Chopping

 Ian Fleming conceived the dust jacket illustrations for his first three Bond novels, Casino Royale (1953), Live and Let Die(1954), and Moonraker (1955), and his designs were executed by artist Ken Lewis. Fleming requested a new artist for his fourth novel, Diamonds Are Forever (1956) and was assisted by Pat Marriot, who also executed Fleming’s design for his 6th Bond novel, Dr. No (1958). Richard Chopping met Fleming through fellow book jacket designer Paul Bacon, who showed Fleming’s wife Ann some of Chopping’s artwork. Taken with his work, Ann encouraged her husband to employ Chopping as a jacket designer, and Fleming granted him the commission for the 5th Bond novel, From Russia with Love (1957).

 Fleming continued to work with Chopping for the last eight novels in the series, and these jackets are easily identifiable by their realistic trompe l’oeil style and wood-grain backgrounds. As he did with Marriot and Lewis, Fleming conceived the dust jackets himself and provided Chopping the key elements for each design while leaving the style and layout up to the illustrator. Notably, Chopping's illustrations for the last two Bond novels The Man with the Golden Gun (1965) and Octopussy and the Living Daylights (1966) were created after Fleming’s death and constitute the artist's designs free of Fleming’s influence. Interestingly, both of these designs include a notable amount of flies - the subject of Chopping’s first book The Fly (1964).

                   

                                                                            

First Impressions - June 2015

New Arrivals:

Slave Narratives

A form of literary memoir that developed as a result of American slavery practices in the 18th and 19th centuries that were printed by sympathetic publishers to support abolitionist movements. Slave narratives were popularized by the narratives of prominent African-Americans such as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman.



Arter, Jared Maurice. Echoes from a Pioneer Life.

First edition, 1922. Rare.

Echoes from a Pioneer Life is the slave narrative of Baptist minister and educator Jared Maurice Arter, who was born into slavery near Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, in 1850.

 

 

 

Clarke, Lewis; Clarke, Milton. Narratives of the Sufferings of Lewis and Milton Clarke.

First edition thus, Inscribed on the front free endpaper: "Presented by the author / 1847", 1846.

Narratives of the Sufferings of Lewis and Milton Clarke contains the slave narratives of Lewis Clarke and Milton Clarke. Lewis Clarke's narrative was first published as Narrative of the Suffering of Lewis Clarke in 1845 and was expanded upon for this publication by the inclusion of his brother Milton's narrative

                                                                            

First Impressions - May 2015

New Arrivals:

 Brontë, Charlotte. Wuthering Heights.

First American edition, two volumes, in the original publisher's wrappers, completely unsophisticated, 1848.

Although published simultaneously in hardcover format, first editions of Wuthering Heights in wrappers are decidedly more rare.

Events:

We'll be in London this month for the book fairs!

Bloomsbury Book Fair 
Stand 89
at the Royal National Hotel

Sunday, May 24th
10 AM - 4 PM

PBFA - London International Premier Fair
 Stand 51
at the IBIS Earl's Court hotel

Friday, May 29th
2 PM - 7 PM
Saturday, May 30th
10 AM - 4 PM

                                                                            

Home Office - Forbes, April 30, 2015

What Does a $1 Million Book Look Like?

It is common to see art, or other types of antiques, sell for over one million dollars. But what about books? While it is easy to conjure the mental image of a $10M Picasso, a humble-looking book bound in leather or cloth could also easily be worth in the thousands or even millions. Rare books occupy a small but very unique subsection of the valuable collectibles market. They are collected both as physical objects, and for their content—books represent the history of human thought and ideas.

As you can imagine, books that are signed will generally fetch higher prices than unsigned ones. Even without signatures, though, rare books can command $1M+ price tags. Here are five that are valuable all on their own:

Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies by William Shakespeare – 1623 Shakespeare wasn’t as celebrated during his lifetime as he is today. In fact, it wasn’t until after he died that the first collected edition of his plays was printed. These 1623 First Folios sell between $2-4 million, even if they have missing pages. We have been lucky enough to acquire and sell later editions, the 1663 Third Folio and the 1685 Fourth Folio, which felt a little like touching history itself. It was these Folio editions that first allowed Shakespeare’s words to be widely read and talked about, setting the stage for the lasting influence he continues to have on us today.

        

A Shakespeare Folio; Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll – 1865 Complicated printing histories not only make for good stories, but also higher prices. Alice, one of the earliest and most important works of children’s literature, was printed in London by Macmillan in 1865. However, after it was printed, neither author Lewis Carroll nor illustrator John Tenniel approved of the quality of the printed illustrations. Macmillan scrapped the entire print run and reprinted the book in 1866, but a few 1865 copies were bound and sold before the recall occurred (approximately 30 or so). If you are the lucky owner of an 1865 Alice, it could easily fetch over $1M.

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra – 1605 Like Alice, this is speculative $1M, because it is so rare that true first editions really never even see the market (there are a total of 10 known today). Published first in Madrid, its instant popularity led opportunistic printers in Lisbon to print several pirated editions. Authorized and revised second and third editions were printed in Madrid and Valencia respectively, all within months of the first printing. These later printings all vary, as editors and printers working from the text of the first printing made changes in spelling and punctuation, corrected errors, and made new ones. A true 1605 first printing could be valued over $1M; a handful of later printings have been offered over the last 20 years, all selling in the six figures.

De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, libri VI by Copernicus – 1543 Remember when I said that books represent the history of human thought and ideas? This book is the very first appearance of the sun being described as the center of our solar system, and the earth as rotating and revolving around it. It was a great risk for Copernicus to assert this idea, and an equally great risk for German printer Johann Petreius to publish it. A groundbreaking work in science, De revolutionibus is a six-figure book, with one recently selling at auction for over £825,000 GBP, pushing it over the $1M USD threshold.

The Bay Psalm Book – Boston, 1640 A copy of the Bay Psalm Book sold recently in 2014 for over $14 million, and was the first copy to reach the open market since 1947. This little hymnal is notable and valued because it is the first printed text in British North America. The Bay Psalm Book is rich in American history, containing primary information about the nation’s colonial history, the history of American publication, and the history of Protestant Christianity. What also lends to its value is that unlike the Holy Bible, which was generally only afforded by wealthy colonists, the Bay Psalm Book was printed for the masses. At a time when religious freedom was sacred, this book allowed more people to read and worship according to their own ideas. Indeed, book collectors collect for a number of reasons, investment value being one of them. A trip to a book fair, or even a quick perusal through any rare bookseller’s shop or online catalogue, can inform you about which books are rare and collectible.

                                                                            

First Impressions - April 2015

Events:

Come visit us at Booth #E13!

The Park Avenue Armory
643 Park Avenue at 67th Street,
New York, NY

 

55th Annual New York Antiquarian Book Fair
 

Please join us next week in Booth E13 the New York Antiquarian Book Fair, April 9-12 at the Park Avenue Armory!

One of the largest and most esteemed book fairs in the world, the NYABF is the premier event of Rare Book Week, a week-long bibliophilic celebration complete with book fairs, exhibitions, and other "bookish browsing" in New York City from April 7-15.

Have some rare books you’d like to have evaluated? Come to Discovery Day on Sunday, April 12th from 12-3 to get free informal appraisal son up to 5 books.


See you there!

                                                                            

First Impressions - March 2015

Events:

Washington Antiquarian Book Fair

Holiday Inn Rosslyn at Key Bridge
1900 North Fort Myer Drive
Arlington, VA 22209


Find us in Booth 13 in the main room! If you'd like to be on our guest list for free admission, please email us, we'd love to see you there!

Book Collecting News:

The Stylized Dust Jacket Art of Arthur Hawkins, Jr.

Arthur Hawkins, Jr. (1903-1985) was an American illustrator and graphic designer who created over 1,500 memorable dust jackets in the first half of the 20^th century. In addition to illustrating and designing dust jackets, Hawkins created posters and other image-based ads for several advertising firms in New York City. Accordingly, his dust jacket designs have a stylized poster-like quality that make them both instantly recognizable and stylistically ahead of their time. Among Hawkins’ most iconic designs are his dust jackets for James Cain’s The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934), John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row (1945), and William Faulkner’s Light in August (1932).  Other notable designs include James Cain’s The Moth (1948) and Galatea (1953), William Faulkner’s Sartoris (1929), Sanctuary (1931) and These 13 (1931), and Thornton Wilder’s The Long
Christmas Dinner (1931).  

                                                                            

First Impressiosns - February 2015

Events:

Greenwich Village Antiquarian Book Fair

The main room at PS 3 (booth #A23), John Melser Charrette School, 490 Hudson Street, New York, NY.

Contact us for a complimentary pass!

Book Collecting News:

Revisiting Maycomb: Harper Lee’s New Novel

          On July 14th, fans of To Kill a Mockingbird will receive what Jonathan Burnham of Harper Collins calls an “extraordinary gift” from Harper Lee - a companion novel featuring Scout Finch as an adult revisiting her hometown of Maycomb, Alabama. Titled Go See a Watchman, this new novel explores the relationship between Scout, now grown and living in New York, and her father Atticus as they both consider the implications of Maycomb’s history. Notably, while To Kill a Mockingbird had an initial print run of 5,000 copies, there will be 2 million copies of Go See a Watchman printed for its initial printing.
          While it may be her second published book, Go See a Watchman is actually Lee’s first novel and preceded To Kill a Mockingbird; when Lee presented the original novel about the adult Scout, her publishers encouraged her to rewrite the novel by expanding on Scouts’ flashbacks to her childhood in Maycomb. Lee’s lawyer Tonja Carter discovered the manuscript for Go See a Watchman, which Lee presumed had been long destroyed, affixed to an early typescript of To Kill a Mockingbird within the author’s personal archives. After much deliberation, Lee agreed to publish her first novel in its original state, gracefully claiming “I am humbled and amazed that this will now be published after all these years.”
          Although to To Kill a Mockingbird has remained a bestseller since its initial publication in 1960, Lee became reclusive after receiving literary fame and, much to the displeasure of her readers and publishers, she staunchly refused to write a sequel to her award winning novel, claiming that she had said all she had to say in that one text. Naturally, her refusal caused some skepticism and conspiracy in the literary community as to why such a gifted author would produce only one work, prompting some to speculate that her neighbor Truman Capote was the actual author. Accordingly, in addition to being the literary event of the year, the publication of Go See a Watchman could answer longstanding questions about Lee's writing abilities.

                                                                            

First Impressions - January 2015

January Sale!

Select books 40 - 80% off!

Prices $5 - $1200... there's something for everyone!

* Happy New Year from B & B! *

                                                                            

~ Sunday, Josh, & Julie
B & B Rare Books, Ltd.
(646) 652-6766

info@bbrarebooks.com
www.bbrarebooks.com
Members: ABAA, ILAB & PBFA (UK)


Questions? Comments? Please email info@bbrarebooks.com