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Literature

Rare & Classic, American or English Literature Books for Sale Online

Browse rare first edition classics in American, English, world literature, poetry, and plays. View our entire collection of rare literature below, search our inventory with advanced search, or use our sorting tools to find exactly what you’re looking for. Please call with any questions you may have on a specific item or order online today.

Showing items 2448-2472 of 4680

Tartt, Donna

The Little Friend.

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2002.

First edition of this work “destined to become a special kind of classic” (The New York Times Book Review). Octavo, original boards. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “Merry Christmas Mark! from Donna.” Additionally signed three times by jacket designer Chip Kidd, on the title page, front panel and on theContinue reading "The Little Friend."

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$400.00
Item Number: RRB-140777
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Nabokov, Vladimir; Introduction by Dmitri Nabokov

The Original of Laura (Dying is Fun): A Novel in Fragments.

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2009.

First edition of Nabokov’s final and incomplete novel which he was in the process of writing at the time of his death in 1977. Octavo, original pictorial cloth. Signed by Dmitri Nabokov on the title page and additionally signed three times by the jacket designer Chip Kidd, on the title page, front panel and onContinue reading "The Original of Laura (Dying is Fun): A Novel in Fragments."

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$750.00
Item Number: RRB-140672
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Sackler, Howard. [Jack Johnson]

The Great White Hope: A Play.

New York : The Dial Press, Inc, 1968.

First edition of the author’s Pulitzer and Tony award-winning play based on the career of heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, basis for the 1970 film. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “For Iris – with great affection & continual gratitude – Howard.” Near fine in a very goodContinue reading "The Great White Hope: A Play."

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$600.00
Item Number: RRB-140735
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Kipling, Rudyard

Debits and Credits.

Garden City, NY : Doubleday, Page & Company, 1926.

First edition of one of the Nobel Prize-winning author’s most sorrowful collections. Octavo, original cloth with gilt titles to the spine and front panel, black stamped ship vignette to the front panel. Boldly signed by Rudyard Kipling on the title page. In very good condition.

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$2,000.00
Item Number: RRB-140953
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Lindbergh, Charles A

We.

New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1927.

First edition of Lindbergh’s definitive autobiography. Octavo, original pictorial cloth, pictorial endpapers, illustrated. Near fine in the rare original dust jacket and glassine.

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$475.00
Item Number: RRB-112449
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Baker, Dorothy

Young Man with a Horn.

Cambridge, MA : Houghton Mifflin Company, 1938.

First edition of this novel, which was the basis for the classic 1950 American film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, Doris Day, Hoagy Carmichael, and Juano Hernandez. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on front free endpaper, “For Nell- Hommage de l’lauteur Dorothy.” Near fine in aContinue reading "Young Man with a Horn."

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$500.00
Item Number: RRB-140685
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Gaiman, Neil

American Gods.

New York : William Morrow, 2001.

First edition, early printing of Gaiman’s classic work. Octavo, original half cloth. Signed by Neil Gaiman on the title page. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Russell Gordon.

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$475.00
Item Number: RRB-141802
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Conrad, Joseph

Tales of Unrest.

London : T. Fisher Unwin, 1898.

First edition of Conrad’s classic work. Octavo, original cloth. In near fine condition, pictorial bookplate, ownership signature to half-title page. Housed in a contemporary clamshell and chemise box. A very sharp example.

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$1,250.00
Item Number: RRB-139203
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Collins, Billy

Pokerface.

Los Angeles : Kenmore Press, 1977.

First edition of Collins’ first collection of poetry. Oblong octavo, original wrappers. One of 400 numbered copies, this is number 302. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “To Joanne once again Billy Collins 2016.” In near fine condition.

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$2,800.00
Item Number: RRB-140906
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Tesnohlidek, Rudolf. Illustrated by Maurice Sendak

The Cunning Little Vixen.

New York : Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1985.

First edition of Rudolf Tesnohlidek’s classic Czech tale, translated into English and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. Quarto, original cloth, illustrated by Maurice Sendak. Presentation copy, inscribed by the illustrator on the half-title page, “For Nicholas Robertson Maurice Sendak.” Translated by Tatiana Firkusny, Maritza Morgan, and Robert T. Jones. Afterword by Robert T. Jones. Near fineContinue reading "The Cunning Little Vixen."

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$275.00
Item Number: RRB-140351
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Baldwin, James

Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone.

New York : The Dial Press, Inc., 1968.

Rare uncorrected galley proof of Baldwin’s fourth novel. Square quarto, original spiral bound wrappers. Signed by the author on the title page, “Peace James Baldwin.” In very good condition. Publication date annotated in ink on the front wrapper. Very uncommon signed.

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$9,500.00
Item Number: RRB-140823
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Janis, Harriet and Sidney. [Pablo Picasso]

Picasso: The Recent Years 1939-1946.

Garden City, New York : Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1946.

Signed limited edition of this compendium of over one hundred reproductions of Picasso’s wartime paintings. Quarto, original  publisher’s half buckram, illustrated with 135 plates. One of three hundred and fifty numbered copies signed by Pablo Picasso on the limitation page, this is number 188. Near fine in the original glassine and rare original slipcase whichContinue reading "Picasso: The Recent Years 1939-1946."

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$4,000.00
Item Number: RRB-140734
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Hardy, Thomas

The Dynasts: An Epic-Drama of the War with Napoleon, In Three Parts, Nineteen Acts, and One Hundred and Thirty Scenes, the Time Covered by the Action Being About Ten Years.

London : Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1927.

First edition, signed limited issue of Hardy’s epic drama. Quarto, three volumes, original half vellum over decorated paper boards with gilt titles to the spine, etched frontispiece portrait by Francis Dodd. One of five hundred and twenty-five copies signed by the author on the limitation page. Near fine in the rare original dust jackets whichContinue reading "The Dynasts: An Epic-Drama of the War with Napoleon, In Three Parts, Nineteen Acts, and One Hundred and Thirty Scenes, the Time Covered by the Action Being About Ten Years."

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$2,000.00
Item Number: RRB-140594
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Wilde, Oscar

Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime. A Study of Duty.

[London] : Privately Printed, 1904.

First separate edition of Wilde’s classic collection of of mystery tales; a pirated edition produced by Leonard Smithers. Octavo, bound in three quarter morocco over marbled boards with gilt titles to the spine, original wrappers bound in. One of 300 numbered copies, this is number 125. In fine condition. A very rare Wilde title.

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$975.00
Item Number: RRB-140581
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Eliot, George

The Mill On The Floss.

Edinburgh and London : William Blackwood and Sons, 1860.

First edition, first issue of Eliot’s classic work without the advertisement leaf to volume I and with the seventh edition of Adam Bede cited in the advertisements at rear of volume III. Octavo, three volumes bound in three quarter crushed dark green morocco by Sotheran & Co. with gilt titles and tooling to the spineContinue reading "The Mill On The Floss."

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$1,250.00
Item Number: RRB-140537
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Twain, Mark. [Samuel L. Clemens]

The Prince and the Pauper.

James R. Osgood and Company : New York, 1882.

First edition, early state of this classic work. BAL 3402. Johnson p. 39-41. Octavo, original publisher’s green pictorial cloth decorated in gilt, with one hundred and ninety-two illustrations. In good condition.

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$750.00
Item Number: RRB-140372
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Miller, Arthur

The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts.

New York : The Viking Press, 1953.

First edition of Miller’s Tony Award-winning play, a bitter satire inspired by the heightened political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals during the McCarthy era. Octavo, original half cloth over patterned boards, top edge red. Association copy, inscribed by Arthur Miller on the front free endpaper to his mother and father, “To Mother & DadContinue reading "The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts."

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$25,000.00
Item Number: RRB-140347
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Poe, Edgar Allan

Eureka: A Prose Poem.

New York : George P. Putnam, 1848.

First edition, first issue of Poe’s classic work. Duodecimo, original publishers blind stamped black cloth with gilt lettering to the spine. First issue, without the review for Eureka on page 2 of the 16 page catalogue at the end of the book, but reads simply: “Poe. — Eureka, A Prose Poem: Or the Physical andContinue reading "Eureka: A Prose Poem."

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$14,000.00
Item Number: RRB-140614
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Flaubert, Gustave

Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners.

Paris : Michel Lévy frères, 1857.

True first edition of the author’s masterpiece. Octavo, two volumes, bound in three quarters leather. In near fine condition. A very sharp example.

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$7,500.00
Item Number: RRB-140448
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McGuffey, William

The Eclectic Fourth Reader: Containing Elegant Extracts in Prose and Poetry, From the Best American and English Writers. With Copious Rules for Reading, and Directions for Avoiding Common Errors.

Cincinnati : Published by Truman and Smith, 1838.

Finely bound sixth edition of the fourth McGuffey Reader. Octavo, bound in full contemporary mottled calf with gilt ruling to the spine, morocco spine label lettered in gilt. In very good condition.

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$975.00
Item Number: RRB-140352
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Faulkner, William

Afternoon of a Cow Original Typed Manuscript Drafts.

.

Three original typed drafts of William Faulkner’s parodical short story “Afternoon of a Cow.  By Ernest V. Trueblood.” Two complete copies, each 17 leaves; bound with brass clasps in green folders with the third copy lacking the first leaf; with 49 strikethroughs in Faulkner’s hand throughout most excising a single word. When Faulkner returned toContinue reading "Afternoon of a Cow Original Typed Manuscript Drafts."

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$15,000.00
Item Number: RRB-139485
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Proulx, Annie

Bird Cloud: A Memoir.

New York : Scribner, 2011.

First edition of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author’s magnificent memoir. Octavo, original half cloth. Signed by Annie Proulx on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Rex Bonomelli. Jacket photograph of Bird Cloud by Annie Proulx.

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$100.00
Item Number: RRB-140722
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Hughes, Langston and Milton Meltzer

A Pictorial History of the Negro in America.

New York : Crown Publishers, Inc, 1956.

First edition of this important compilation on the history of African Americans. Quarto, original half cloth, illustrated. Boldly signed by Langston Hughes and Milton Meltzer on the front free endpaper. Near fine in a very good price-clipped dust jacket. Uncommon signed.

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$1,850.00
Item Number: RRB-140222
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McCarthy, Cormac

The Orchard Keeper.

New York : Random House, 1965.

First edition of the author’s rare first book. Octavo, original half cloth. Boldly signed by Cormac McCarthy on the front free endpaper. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket with some light wear to the extremities, closed tear with archival tape repair. Jacket design by Muriel Nasser. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshellContinue reading "The Orchard Keeper."

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$12,500.00
Item Number: RRB-140633
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