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.
    Dog Years.

    Grass, Gunter

    Dog Years.

    New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1965.

    First British edition of the Nobel Prize-winning author’s third and final novel in his acclaimed Danzig Trilogy. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed and dated in the year of publication by Gun...
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-145663
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    The Art of Drowning.

    Collins, Billy

    The Art of Drowning.

    Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1995.

    First edition of this early work by Collins. Octavo, original cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “To Stephen whose poetry rocks. Billy.” The recipient Step...
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-104532
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    The Marble Faun: or, the Romance of Monte Beni.

    Hawthorne, Nathaniel; Carl Strauss [Illustrator]

    The Marble Faun: or, the Romance of Monte Beni.

    Zurich: Fretz Brothers, 1931.

    The Limited Editions Club signed limited edition of Hawthorne’s last major work of fiction. Octavo, two volumes, bound in full modern morocco with gilt titles to the spine in six compartments within r...
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-148391
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    The Great Santini.

    Conroy, Pat

    The Great Santini.

    Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1976.

    First edition of the author’s classic work. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, warmly inscribed and dated by the author on the half-title page, “To Virginia Norwood, Merry Christmas to B...
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-117671
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    Maggie-Now.

    Smith, Betty

    Maggie-Now.

    New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1958.

    First edition of this unforgettable masterpiece from one of the twentieth century’s greatest talents and author of A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Betty Smith...
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-150549
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    Collected Verse of Rudyard Kipling.

    Kipling, Rudyard

    Collected Verse of Rudyard Kipling.

    London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1912.

    First limited edition De Luxe of the definitive collection of Kipling’s verse. Royal octavo, bound in full limp vellum with gilt titles and tooling to the spine and front panel, top edge gilt, d...
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-150966
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    Ghost Story.

    Straub, Peter

    Ghost Story.

    New York: Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, 1979.

    First edition of this classic novel, the basis for the 1981 film directed by John Irvin – widely regarded as Peter Straub’s masterpiece and one of the foundational works of the modern Amer...
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-152000
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    South Wind.

    Douglas, Norman

    South Wind.

    London: Martin Secker, 1917.

    First edition of the author’s classic work based on the island of Capri. Octavo, original cloth. In near fine condition. Housed in a custom half morocco and chemise case.
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-142093
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    The Heavenly Host.

    Asimov, Isaac. Illustrated by Bernard Colonna

    The Heavenly Host.

    New York: Walker and Company, 1975.

    First edition of Asimov’s classic juvenile science fiction adventure. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated by Bernard Colonna. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page,...
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-142300
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    The Double.

    Saramago, Jose

    The Double.

    Orlando: Harcourt, 2004.

    First edition of this work by the Nobel Prize-winning author. Octavo, original boards. Boldly signed and dated by Jose Saramago on the title page. Additionally signed twice by jacket designer Claudine...
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-148275
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    Naked.

    Sedaris, David

    Naked.

    Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1997.

    First edition of the author’s classic work. Octavo, original illustrated boards. Presentation copy, warmly inscribed by the author on the title page, “To Annette So sorry I missed you in p...
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-151628
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    Oeuvres Completes Illustrees de Gustave Flaubert.

    Flaubert, Gustave

    Oeuvres Completes Illustrees de Gustave Flaubert.

    Paris: Librairie de France, 1922-1924.

    The Edition du Centenaire of the complete illustrated works of Gustave Flaubert. Quarto, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in five compartments...
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-137205
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    The Military Philosophers.

    Powell, Anthony

    The Military Philosophers.

    London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1968.

    First edition of the ninth novel in the ‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ series. Octavo, original red cloth. Fine in a near fine dust jacket. Light rubbing to the extremities of the cloth an...
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-145149
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    The Ginger Man.

    Donleavy, J.P

    The Ginger Man.

    New York: McDowell, Obelensky, 1958.

    First American edition of the author’s first book. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by the author on the half-title page, “J.P. Donleavy Washington D.C. March 1994.” Fine in a near fin...
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-3965
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    Arrival and Departure.

    Koestler, Arthur

    Arrival and Departure.

    London: Jonathan Cape, 1943.

    First edition of the third novel in the author’s classic trilogy. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author in the month of publication on the half-title page, “El...
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-5695
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    Cadillac Jack.

    McMurtry, Larry

    Cadillac Jack.

    New York : Simon and Schuster, 1982.

    First edition of “the best novel Larry McMurtry ever wrote.” Octavo, original half cloth. Boldly signed by Larry McMurtry in full on the half-title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket...
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-150406
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    Extract From Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven.

    Twain, Mark [Samuel L. Clemens]

    Extract From Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven.

    New York: Harper & Brothers, 1909.

    First edition of the last work published by Twain during his lifetime with C-F on the copyright page. Octavo, original half cloth over pictorial boards, paper spine label, frontispiece in blue and whi...
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-129139
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    Be Cool.

    Leonard, Elmore

    Be Cool.

    New York: Delacorte Press, 1999.

    First edition of this classic work. Octavo, original half cloth. Boldly signed by Elmore Leonard and inscribed on the dedication page by the book’s dedicatees, “for Hannah with all the bes...
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-148374
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    Ethan Frome.

    Wharton, Edith

    Ethan Frome.

    New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1911.

    First edition, first issue with “wearily” in perfect type on penultimate line of page 135 and with four pages of publisher’s advertisements at rear, of Wharton’s greatest tragic story, a “grim tale of...
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-150097
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    Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi. Edited by “Boz.”

    Dickens, Charles

    Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi. Edited by “Boz.”

    London: G. Routledge & Co, 1853.

    Finely bound example of Dickens’ popular retelling of the memoirs of celebrated English clown Joseph Grimaldi. Octavo, bound in full crimson crushed levant morocco by Baytun with morocco spine l...
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-119805
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    The Day of the Locust.

    West, Nathanael

    The Day of the Locust.

    New York: Random House, 1939.

    First edition of West’s masterpiece. Octavo, original bound in full leather, raised bands, title to the spine and front panel. In near fine condition.
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-140694
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    Mr. Sammler’s Planet.

    Bellow, Saul

    Mr. Sammler’s Planet.

    New York: The Viking Press, 1970.

    First edition of the author’s third and final National Book Award-winning novel. Octavo, original half cloth. Signed by Saul Bellow on the title page. Review copy, with the slip laid in, fine in...
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-184
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    Poems.

    LORD BYRON. [GEORGE GORDON BYRON]

    Poems.

    London: Printed for John Murray, 1816.

    First edition of this collection of poems and verses. Octavo, bound in contemporary half morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine. In near fine condition.
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-89120
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    The Double.

    Saramago, Jose

    The Double.

    Orlando: Harcourt, 2004.

    First edition of this work by the Nobel Prize-winning author. Octavo, original boards. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “To Valerie Jose Saramago 29.10.2008....
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    $750.00 Item Number: RRB-149868
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