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.
    Love Among The Haystacks & Other Pieces.

    Lawrence, D.H. With a Reminiscence by David Garnett

    Love Among The Haystacks & Other Pieces.

    London: The Nonesuch Press, 1930.

    First edition of this collection of four of Lawrence’s short stories, posthumously published by close friend David Garnett. Octavo, original publisher’s half buckram over bright yellow boa...
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-143228
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    Animal Farm.

    Orwell, George

    Animal Farm.

    New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1946.

    Early printing of Orwell’s timeless allegorical novel—a scathing satire on a downtrodden society’s blind march towards totalitarianism. Octavo, original black cloth. Near fine in a very good dust jack...
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-147916
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    The Laws of Human Nature.

    Greene, Robert

    The Laws of Human Nature.

    New York: Viking, 2018.

    First edition, later printing of this classic work. Octavo, original half cloth. Boldly signed by Robert Greene on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket.
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-150340
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    Lara, A Tale. Jacqueline, A Tale.

    Byron, Lord George Gordon and Samuel Rogers

    Lara, A Tale. Jacqueline, A Tale.

    London: Printed for John Murray, 1814.

    First edition of Byron’s tragic narrative poem, Lara, published in conjunction with Samuel Rogers’ Jacqueline. Octavo, original boards with paper spine label. Bookplate and three generatio...
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-120644
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    Lasher.

    Rice, Anne

    Lasher.

    New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993.

    First edition of the second book in the author’s Lives of the Mayfair Witches series. Octavo, original half cloth. Boldly signed by Anne Rice on the front free endpaper and additionally signed t...
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-151288
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    Triangular Road: A Memoir.

    Marshall, Paule

    Triangular Road: A Memoir.

    New York: Basic Civitas Book, 2008.

    Uncorrected proof of the first edition of the famed author’s insightful memoir. Octavo, original illustrated wrappers, illustrated. Boldly signed by Paule Marshall on the the title page. In near...
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-129301
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    After Henry.

    Didion, Joan

    After Henry.

    New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992.

    First edition of this collection of eleven essays. Octavo, original half cloth. Boldly signed by Joan Didion on the colophon page. Near fine in a very good dust jacket, name to the front free endpaper...
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-151447
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    I Married A Communist.

    Roth, Philip

    I Married A Communist.

    Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998.

    First edition of this classic work. Octavo, original half cloth. Signed by Philip Roth on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Milton Glaser.
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-132747
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    What Is Art?

    Tolstoy, Leo

    What Is Art?

    London: The Brotherhood Publishing Company, 1898.

    First edition of this work by the Russian master. Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece of Tolstoy. In near fine condition, contemporary name to the half-title page. Translated by A. Maude.
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-133803
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    The Stories of Bernard Malamud.

    Malamud, Bernard

    The Stories of Bernard Malamud.

    New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1983.

    First edition of this collection of stories. Octavo, original half cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “For Susie and Paul Old and dear friends- a long l...
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-99856
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    The Hotel New Hampshire.

    Irving, John

    The Hotel New Hampshire.

    New York: E.P. Dutton, 1981.

    First edition of the author’s fifth novel. Octavo, original half cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the half-title page, “For John & Maggie...
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-150633
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    The Shards.

    Ellis, Bret Easton

    The Shards.

    New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2023.

    First edition of this New York Times bestselling thriller from the author of American Psycho. Octavo, original publisher’s half-cloth. Signed by the author on the second free endpaper, “Br...
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-151153
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    Stone Raft.

    Saramago, Jose

    Stone Raft.

    New York: Harcourt, 1995.

    First edition of the Nobel Prize-winning author’s third book to be translated into English. Octavo, original half cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page,...
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-140682
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    The Poetical Works of Robert Herrick.

    Herrick, Robert

    The Poetical Works of Robert Herrick.

    London: The Cresset Press Ltd, 1928.

    The Cresset Press limited edition of Herrick’s collected poems. Octavo, four volumes bound in full publisher’s parchment with gilt titles to the spine, top edge gilt, frontispieces and dec...
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-148572
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    Critical and Historical Essays Contributed to the Edinburgh Review by Lord Macaulay.

    Macaulay, Thomas Babington

    Critical and Historical Essays Contributed to the Edinburgh Review by Lord Macaulay.

    London: Longmans, Green, and Co, 1878.

    Finely bound new edition of the historical essays of Macaulay. Octavo, 3 volumes, bound in full polished tree calf with elaborate gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands...
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-138519
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    People Like Us.

    Dunne, Dominick [Erica Jong]

    People Like Us.

    New York: Crown Publishers, Inc, 1988.

    First edition of Dunne’s richly textured novel of New York society in the eighties. Octavo, original half cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “For Erica...
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-142904
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    Novelle Ventotto.

    Boccaccio, Giovanni

    Novelle Ventotto.

    Padua: Giuseppe Comino, 1769.

    Eighteenth century edition of Giovanni Boccaccio’s twenty-eighth novella from his ‘Decameron.’ Octavo, original full vellum, engraved frontispiece portrait of Boccaccio. In very good...
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-146403
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    The War of The End of The World.

    Vargas Llosa, Mario

    The War of The End of The World.

    New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1984.

    First edition of this classic work. Octavo, original half cloth. Boldly signed by Mario Vargas Llosa on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. A pamphlet from Gergetown University for a symposium...
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-148333
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    Beau Geste.

    Wren, Percival Christopher

    Beau Geste.

    New York: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, 1926.

    The screenplay edition of this classic adventure novel. Octavo, original publisher’s cloth, frontispiece, illustrated with scenes from the 1926 Paramount Pictures film. Very good in a good price...
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-148590
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    Cicero.

    Bailey, D. R. Shackleton. [Bernard Knox]

    Cicero.

    New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971.

    First American edition of Baileys classic work on Cicero. Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece. From the library of Bernard Knox with his ownership signature to the front free endpaper. English classi...
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-134285
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    Due Considerations: Essays and Criticism.

    Updike, John [Erica Jong]

    Due Considerations: Essays and Criticism.

    New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007.

    First edition of Updike’s sixth collection of essays and literary criticism. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. Association copy, warmly inscribed by the author on the title page, “For E...
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-142377
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    Code to Zero.

    Follett, Ken [Erica Jong]

    Code to Zero.

    New York: Dutton, 2000.

    Advance reading copy of the first edition of Follett’s page-turning thriller. Octavo, original pictorial wrappers. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page,”To Ken...
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-142730
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    Crum Elbow Folks.

    Barnes, P.R. Foreword by Sara D. Roosevelt

    Crum Elbow Folks.

    Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1938.

    First edition of Barnes’ classic tale of the small Quaker settlement of Crum Elbow with a foreword by Sara D. Roosevelt. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, lengthily inscribed by Sara D....
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-100315
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    The Clocks.

    Christie, Agatha

    The Clocks.

    London: The Crime Club by Collins, 1963.

    First edition of this classic murder mystery. Octavo, original publisher’s cloth. Fine in a very good dust jacket. Jacket design by Michael Harvey.
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    $400.00 Item Number: RRB-150711
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