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Our monthly newsletter will alert you to new B & B Rare Books catalogues, upcoming fairs, special sales, and book collecting news.
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30 East 20th Street, between Park Avenue & Broadway HOLIDAY HOURS: Monday - Friday 11 - 7 PM Weekends by appointment: please call 646-652-6766 Closed: Monday, Dec. 24 through Friday, Dec. 28th & Tuesday, Jan. 1st
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Rare books make unique and thoughtful gifts for the holiday season! All of us here at B & B have picked out our personal favorites, listed below. Please contact us if you're looking for something specific or would like some ideas...we are happy to help! Need your book before Christmas? For delivery by Saturday, December 22nd, order before 5pm on Friday, December 21st. There is no delivery available Sunday through Tuesday. Please note that rush shipping charges may apply to orders placed after December 17th for delivery by Saturday December 22nd.
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Irving, Washington, and Rackham, Arthur (illustrator). Rip Van Winkle. London: Heinemann, 1905. First edition, second printing, finely bound in quarter leather and white silk. Signed with an original sketch by Rackham. $2,750 Sunday says, "A beautiful edition of this classic story, made even better with the itsy bitsy spider added by Arthur Rackham." |
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Conrad, Joseph. Laughing Anne & One Day More. London: John Castle, 1924. First edition, in the original dust jacket. $150 Sunday says, "These plays by Conrad are next on my reading list. Also, the palm trees on this dust jacket beckon." |
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Milton, John. Paradise Lost. A Poem in Twelve Books. London: Simmons, 1674. Second edition, with the frontispiece portrait of Milton (not found in all copies). Finely bound in 19th century straight grain morocco. $9,500 Sunday says, "I love how diminutive this volume is. I like to think of it as the 17th century version of a Pocket Edition, ready for travel. I also can't resist the engraved frontispiece of Milton." |
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Sue, Eugene. The Mysteries of Paris. London: Chapman and Hall, 1845. First authorized English edition, bound from the original illustrated parts. Finely bound in red morocco and red cloth. $300 Sunday says, "Who among us cannot be seduced by the mysteries of Paris? Not me (see above)." |
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Van Dyke, Henry. The Blue Flower. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1902. First edition, first printing. Publisher's decorative cloth designed and signed by Margaret Armstrong. $100 Sunday says, "This charming collection includes a story called 'The First Christmas Tree.' Also, my mom has quite the green thumb, and my favorite flower that she grew when I was little was a blue rosebush."
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Broom, Richard. On the Origin of Mammals. London: Spottiswoode and Co., 1907. First separate edition. Inscribed by the author to fellow paleontologist Barnum Brown. $1,000 Josh says, "This guy (Barnum Brown) who discovered the first T-Rex is like Indiana Jones and John Hammond (Jurassic Park), but a real person." |
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Milne, A. A. and Grahame, Kenneth. Toad of Toad Hall. London: Methuen & Co, 1929. Limited edition of 200 copies printed on handmade paper and signed by the authors to the limitation page. $1,500 Josh says, "Although Mr. Toad is the most reckless amphibian in literature, we love him nonetheless." |
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Twain, Mark (Clemens, Samuel). The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. New York: C. H. Webb, 1867. First edition, first printing of Mark Twain's first book, in the original publisher's cloth. $13,500 Josh says, "I don't know why, but naming a frog Daniel Webster and using him for gambling is hilarious." |
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Fleming, Ian. You Only Live Twice. London: Jonathan Cape, 1964. First edition, first state. $450 Josh says, "My favorite dust jacket, and this is the point in which everyone should know I have an obvious amphibian bias. I have a large collection of rare live frogs, which I'm currently breeding for 2019." |
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Benchley, Peter. Jaws. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974. First edition, signed and inscribed by the author. $1,500 Josh says, "The best way to overcome your fear of sharks is to buy this book (and it's uncommonly inscribed by Benchley if you need another reason)." |
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Kipling, Rudyard. The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book. London: Macmillan and Co., 1895-1895. First editions, first printings, in the original publisher's cloth $3,500 Josh says, "So many great, lovable characters. I still have yet to meet a wise snake like Kaa I could call my friend." |
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Ricketts, Charles. Oscar Wilde: Recollections. Bloomsbury: Nonesuch Press, 1932. Limited edition of 800 copies. $400 Patricia says, "Something about books in white bindings... they can't hide anything, not even a smudge." |
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Nabokov, Vladimir. Nine Stories. New York: New Directions, 1932. First edition thus, designed by Alvin Lustig. $180 Patricia says, "Alvin Lustig's design for this short story collection is one of more than seventy that he did for New Directions Press. Though perhaps not as iconic as his design for the first edition of A Streetcar Named Desire, his modernist style comes through clearly here and stands out against the drab blue-gray wrappers." |
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Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics: Nineteen Sonatas for the Piano. New York: G. Schrimer, 1894. Later edition. Finely bound in red morocco and marbled paper. $250 Patricia says, "Having played classical piano for many years, I can say with some certainty that based on the lack of scribbles, handwritten notes, or dog-eared pages throughout this book, its original owner was severely slacking on their practice regimen." |
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Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1951. First edition, first printing, in the first issue dust jacket. $5,000 Patricia says, "I read this for the first time recently, and was amazed at how quickly the story pulled me in. I was haunted by the last chapter for a while after putting it down." |
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Stoker, Bram; and Irving, Henry. Autograph Letters Signed. New York: 1893-1894. Group of five letters including three autograph letters signed by Stoker, and two signed by Irving. $3,500 Marlowe says, "These guys keep talking about dinner...it's making me hungry." |
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Freuchen, Peter; [Lowe, George]. The Arctic Year. London: Jonathan Cape, 1969. First edition, first printing. Personal copy of mountaineer George Lowe. $150 Marlowe says, "These amazing animals survive in a very cold, harsh environment. I salute them (from my warm and cozy bed.)" |
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Irving, Washington. Rip Van Winkle. New York: Limited Editions Club, 1930. Limited edition of 1,500 copies. Signed by book designer Frederick Goudy. $225 Marlowe says, "Speaking of warm and cozy bed, this man sure knows a thing or two about sleep. I know Mom already picked this book, but this one is signed by a different guy. Woof." |
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Kipling, Rudyard. The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book. London: Macmillan and Co., 1895-1895. First editions, first printings, in the original publisher's cloth $3,500 Marlowe says, "I'm ferocious, I could join the Seeonee wolf pack. Squeak, squeak!" |
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Woolf, Virginia. Flush: A Biography. London: The Hogarth Press, 1933. First edition. $500 Marlowe says, "Like me, this dog makes the newsletter every year. When do I get a book published about my life?" |
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Thompson, Kay. Eloise in Moscow. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1959. First edition, first printing. Inscribed by Illustrator Hilary Knight. $500 Marlowe says, "Thank you for not naming me 'Weenie'." |
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Bonus! Other new arrivals...
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Waugh, Evelyn. Scoop: A Novel About Journalists. London: Chapman and Hall, 1938. First edition. Signed and inscribed by the author. Scoop is a humorous novel in which Waugh satirizes foreign correspondence and sensational journalism. $5,000 |
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[Fore-edge painting]. The Holy Bible. Oxford, 1849. Finely bound in black morocco with a fore-edge painting of Lichfield Grammar School. A fore-edge painting is a piece of artwork done on the outer edge of a book's text block, opposite the spine. Traditionally, these images were painted on the edge of a closed text block as an alternative to gilt or marbling. In the 17th century, the practice changed when artists discovered that by painting on the inner edges of the pages, the paintings would only visible if the book's pages were fanned, and hidden from view when the book was closed. $500 |
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Fleming, Ian. On Her Majesty's Secret Service. London: Jonathan Cape, 1963. First edition, third printing. Signed and inscribed by the author, Ian Fleming. Rare with his signature. On Her Majesty's Secret Service is Fleming's second novel to feature the malicious spy organization SPECTRE and its villainous leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld, first introduced in the ninth novel, Thunderball (1961). $9,500 |
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Thompson, Kay. Eloise at Christmastime. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2003. Illustrated by Hilary Knight. New edition. Signed and inscribed by Knight. Eloise at Christmastime is the second in Kay Thompson's series of children's books about the rambunctious Eloise, a resident of the Plaza Hotel. This copy was personally retained by Hilary Knight after its publication. $125 |
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Just in... - Eloise books from the personal collection of illustrator Hilary Knight - A privately printed book signed by Thomas Edison - Macbeth illustrated by Salvador Dali - Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations from 1811 - Books signed by Arthur Rackham with original drawings ... and more! Please call or email for more information, and keep checking back on our website as we add new books throughout the week. All U.S. orders placed this week will arrive before Christmas!
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * We offer complimentary gift wrapping on any order, and are happy to include a card with a gift message! Please let us know if you would like your order gift wrapped when you call or email, or select the gift wrap option when you order online. Each gift wrapped order is unique - here are some examples!
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Keep an eye on your inbox, we'll be sending out our 50 Books $50 and Under next week! If you've been waiting until the last minute to buy your gifts, we've got you covered. We will ship until Friday, December 21st! Please feel free to call or email with any questions. |
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