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.
    The First Book of Negroes.

    Hughes, Langston

    The First Book of Negroes.

    New York: Franklin Watts, Inc, 1952.

    First edition of this first work in a series aimed to educate children on the history of African people and the accomplishments of African Americans. Square octavo, original cloth with gilt titles to...
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    $1,500.00 Item Number: RRB-147830
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    The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood.

    Huxley, Elspeth

    The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood.

    London: Chatto & Windus, 1959.

    First edition of Huxley’s autobiographical work based on her early life among white settlers on her father’s coffee plantation in Kenya. Octavo, original cloth. Signed by Elspeth Huxley on...
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    $1,500.00 Item Number: RRB-110441
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    Native Son.

    Wright, Richard

    Native Son.

    New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1940.

    First edition, first issue binding with “A – P” on the copyright page. Octavo, bound in full morocco, gilt titles to the spine, raised bands, gilt ruled to the front and rear panels,...
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    $1,500.00 Item Number: RRB-118656
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    The Innocents Abroad, Or The New Pilgrims’ Progress.

    Twain, Mark

    The Innocents Abroad, Or The New Pilgrims’ Progress.

    Hartford: American Publishing Company, 1869.

    First edition, third state of the author’s second book with “The History of the Bible advertisement on page 654. BAL 3316. Octavo, bound in three quarter morocco with gilt titles and tooli...
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    $1,500.00 Item Number: RRB-127837
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    The Magus.

    Fowles, John

    The Magus.

    Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965.

    First American edition, preceding the British edition by one year of the author’s most well-known work. Octavo, original half cloth. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket, bookplate of famed coll...
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    $1,500.00 Item Number: RRB-142119
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    Slouching Towards Bethlehem.

    Didion, Joan

    Slouching Towards Bethlehem.

    New York: The Modern Library, 2000.

    First Modern Library edition of what many consider her magnum opus. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Joan Didion on the half-title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Introduction by Elizabeth H...
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    $1,500.00 Item Number: RRB-79043
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    Maurice Sendak “So Sue Me” Signed Original Costume Design.

    Sendak, Maurice

    Maurice Sendak “So Sue Me” Signed Original Costume Design.

    :, 1993.

    Rare original Maurice Sendak watercolor costume design for Arthur Yorinks’ 1993 play “So Sue Me”. One page, watercolor and ink on cardstock, Sendak has signed and annotated the desig...
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    $1,500.00 Item Number: RRB-117308
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    A Quartette of Comedies.

    Wells, H.G

    A Quartette of Comedies.

    London: Ernest Benn Limited, 1928.

    First British omnibus edition of four comic novels culminating in “1100 pages from Mr. Wells’ magic pen.” Octavo, original publisher’s green cloth with gilt titles to the spine...
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    $1,500.00 Item Number: RRB-148954
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    Forrest Gump.

    Groom, Winston [Tom Hanks]

    Forrest Gump.

    New York : Doubleday & Company, Inc, 2014.

    First commemorative edition of this modern classic, basis for the 1994 film starring Tom Hanks, with the screenplay by Eric Roth. Octavo, original half cloth. Boldly signed by Winston Groom and additi...
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    $1,500.00 Item Number: RRB-150570
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    Dawn: A Novel.

    Butler, Octavia

    Dawn: A Novel.

    New York: Warner Books, 1987.

    First edition of the first installment in the Xenogenesis trilogy. Octavo, original half cloth. Boldly signed by Octavia E. Butler on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket illustration by...
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    $1,500.00 Item Number: RRB-151099
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    Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator.

    Dahl, Roald

    Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator.

    London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1978.

    First British edition, early printing of the sequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, continuing the story of young Charlie Bucket and eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka as they travel in the Great...
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    $1,500.00 Item Number: RRB-151318
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    Autobiography of a Yogi.

    Yogananda, Paramhansa

    Autobiography of a Yogi.

    New York: The Philosophical Library, 1946.

    First edition of one of the most important spiritual books of the twentieth century, Octavo, original cloth, frontispiece. Very good in a very good dust jacket. Preface by Walter Evans-Wentz. Uncommon...
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    $1,500.00 Item Number: RRB-130643
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    The Name of the Rose.

    Eco, Umberto

    The Name of the Rose.

    New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1980.

    First edition of one of the best-selling books of all-time, basis for the film starring Sean Connery. Octavo, original cloth. Translated from the Italian by William Weaver. Presentation copy, warmly i...
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    $1,500.00 Item Number: RRB-146943
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    Accident.

    Mosley, Nicholas

    Accident.

    London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1965.

    First edition of the author’s classic work. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, lengthily inscribed by the author on title page, “For William with all very best wishes from Nicholas...
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    $1,450.00 Item Number: RRB-114589
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    Exodus: A Novel of Israel.

    Uris, Leon

    Exodus: A Novel of Israel.

    New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1958.

    First edition of the author’s magnum opus. Octavo, original half cloth, cartographic endpapers. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “For Lois Shapiro Shalom Leon U...
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    $1,450.00 Item Number: RRB-108911
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    The Indian In The Cupboard.

    Banks, Lynne Reid; Illustrated by Brock Cole

    The Indian In The Cupboard.

    Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1980.

    First edition of the author’s classic work. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated by Brock Cole. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “For Andrew – Best w...
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    $1,400.00 Item Number: RRB-121662
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    The Manchurian Candidate.

    Condon, Richard

    The Manchurian Candidate.

    New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc, 1959.

    First edition of this brilliant, controversial novel, basis for the 1962 film adaptation, which has been called “the most chilling piece of cold war paranoia ever committed to film” (New York Times)....
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    $1,400.00 Item Number: RRB-143983
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    The Front Runner.

    Warren, Patricia Nell

    The Front Runner.

    New York: William Morrow & Company, Inc, 1974.

    First edition of the first contemporary gay novel to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success. Octavo, original half cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page,...
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    $1,400.00 Item Number: RRB-129832
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    Baltasar and Blimunda.

    Saramago, Jose

    Baltasar and Blimunda.

    New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, 1987.

    First American edition of Saramago’s first book to be translated into English. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed and dated by the author on the half-title page, “To Haro...
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    $1,400.00 Item Number: RRB-100019
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    Black Mischief.

    Waugh, Evelyn

    Black Mischief.

    London: 1932, Chapman & Hall.

    First edition of “one of the century’s great masters of the twentieth century” third novel. Octavo, bound in full morocco by the Harcourt Bindery, frontispiece, gilt titles and tooli...
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    $1,400.00 Item Number: RRB-147543
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    The Auroras of Autumn.

    Stevens, Wallace

    The Auroras of Autumn.

    New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1950.

    First edition of this classic National Book Award winning collection. Octavo, original cloth. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell and chemise box. An except...
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    $1,400.00 Item Number: RRB-142950
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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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    $1,400.00 Item Number: RRB-110596
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    Oil! A Novel.

    Sinclair, Upton

    Oil! A Novel.

    Long Beach, CA: Published by the Author, 1927.

    Early printing of Upton Sinclair’s self-published social and political satire and the basis for the film ‘There Will be Blood’ starring Daniel Day Lewis. Presentation copy, inscribed...
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    $1,400.00 Item Number: RRB-146702
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    Where the Sidewalk Ends: Poems and Drawings.

    Silverstein, Shel

    Where the Sidewalk Ends: Poems and Drawings.

    New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1974.

    First edition of the author’s first collection of children’s poetry. Small quarto, original brown cloth, illustrated. Fine in a near fine dust jacket.
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    $1,400.00 Item Number: RRB-151077
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