Bleak House -
Charles DIckens, Hablot Knight Browne (illustrator)
1853 - Bradbury and Evans, London - First Edition
A handsomely bound first edition of Dickens’ best and most popular works, described by Claire Tomalin (Charles Dickens: A Life) as a ‘masterpiece, with the best opening page and the richest plot, part detective story, part attack on the abuses of the legal system and sexual hypocrisy as he lays out the condition of England, moving from child workers to comfortable aristocrats’.
Wonderfully illustrated with 38 engraved plates and title page vignette by Hablot Knight Browne aka ”Phiz”.
Introducing Inspector Bucket, the first English fictional detective, who was probably based on C.K. Field of the recently formed Scotland Yard.
‘As the interminable case of 'Jarndyce and Jarndyce' grinds its way through the Court of Chancery, it draws together a disparate group of people: Ada and Richard Clare, whose inheritance is gradually being devoured by legal costs; Esther Summerson, a ward of court, whose parentage is a source of deepening mystery; the menacing lawyer Tulkinghorn; the determined sleuth Inspector Bucket; and even Jo, the destitute little crossing-sweeper. A savage, but often comic, indictment of a society that is rotten to the core, Bleak House is one of Dickens's most ambitious novels, with a range that extends from the drawing rooms of the aristocracy to the poorest of London slums.’ – from the Penguin Classics introduction.
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Price HK$ 14,000
1853 - Bradbury and Evans, London - First Edition
A handsomely bound first edition of Dickens’ best and most popular works, described by Claire Tomalin (Charles Dickens: A Life) as a ‘masterpiece, with the best opening page and the richest plot, part detective story, part attack on the abuses of the legal system and sexual hypocrisy as he lays out the condition of England, moving from child workers to comfortable aristocrats’.Wonderfully illustrated with 38 engraved plates and title page vignette by Hablot Knight Browne aka ”Phiz”.
Introducing Inspector Bucket, the first English fictional detective, who was probably based on C.K. Field of the recently formed Scotland Yard.
‘As the interminable case of 'Jarndyce and Jarndyce' grinds its way through the Court of Chancery, it draws together a disparate group of people: Ada and Richard Clare, whose inheritance is gradually being devoured by legal costs; Esther Summerson, a ward of court, whose parentage is a source of deepening mystery; the menacing lawyer Tulkinghorn; the determined sleuth Inspector Bucket; and even Jo, the destitute little crossing-sweeper. A savage, but often comic, indictment of a society that is rotten to the core, Bleak House is one of Dickens's most ambitious novels, with a range that extends from the drawing rooms of the aristocracy to the poorest of London slums.’ – from the Penguin Classics introduction.
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Price HK$ 14,000
The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit -
Charles DIckens, Hablot Knight Browne “Phiz” (illustrator)
1844 - Chapman and Hall, London - First Edition
A handsomely bound first edition of Dickens’ satirical comedy of hypocrisy, selfishness, and greed, the picaresque story of young Martin Chuzzlewit who, together with the scheming architect Pecksniff, journeys to America to seek his fortune.
With 39 engraved plates and engraved title page vignette by Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz").
‘Any man may be in good spirits and good temper when he’s well drest’.
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Price HK$ 12,000
1844 - Chapman and Hall, London - First Edition
A handsomely bound first edition of Dickens’ satirical comedy of hypocrisy, selfishness, and greed, the picaresque story of young Martin Chuzzlewit who, together with the scheming architect Pecksniff, journeys to America to seek his fortune.With 39 engraved plates and engraved title page vignette by Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz").
‘Any man may be in good spirits and good temper when he’s well drest’.
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Price HK$ 12,000
Our Mutual Friend -
Charles DIckens, Marcus Stone (illustrator)
1865 - Chapman and Hall, London - First Edition
Handsomely bound first edition of Charles Dickens’s last complete novel and a glorious satire spanning all levels of Victorian society. Illustrated with forty engraved plates by Marcus Stone.
‘Our Mutual Friend centres on an inheritance – Old Harmon’s profitable dust heaps – and its legatees, young John Harmon, presumed drowned when a body is pulled out of the River Thames, and kindly dustman Mr Boffin, to whom the fortune defaults. With brilliant satire, Dickens portrays a dark, macabre London, inhabited by such disparate characters as Gaffer Hexam, scavenging the river for corpses; enchanting, mercenary Bella Wilfer; the social-climbing Veneerings; and the unscrupulous street-trader Silas Wegg. The novel is richly symbolic in its vision of death and renewal in a city dominated by the fetid Thames, and the corrupting power of money’.
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Price HK$ 10,000
1865 - Chapman and Hall, London - First Edition
Handsomely bound first edition of Charles Dickens’s last complete novel and a glorious satire spanning all levels of Victorian society. Illustrated with forty engraved plates by Marcus Stone.‘Our Mutual Friend centres on an inheritance – Old Harmon’s profitable dust heaps – and its legatees, young John Harmon, presumed drowned when a body is pulled out of the River Thames, and kindly dustman Mr Boffin, to whom the fortune defaults. With brilliant satire, Dickens portrays a dark, macabre London, inhabited by such disparate characters as Gaffer Hexam, scavenging the river for corpses; enchanting, mercenary Bella Wilfer; the social-climbing Veneerings; and the unscrupulous street-trader Silas Wegg. The novel is richly symbolic in its vision of death and renewal in a city dominated by the fetid Thames, and the corrupting power of money’.
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Price HK$ 10,000
The Novels of F. Dostoevsky -
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky [Dostoyevsky], Constance Garnett (translator)
1949-1951 - William Heinemann, London
A finely bound twelve volume set of Dostoevsky’s novels and short story collections, first translated by Constance Garnett between 1912 and 1920, and now difficult to assemble in this format.
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Price HK$ 32,000
1949-1951 - William Heinemann, London
A finely bound twelve volume set of Dostoevsky’s novels and short story collections, first translated by Constance Garnett between 1912 and 1920, and now difficult to assemble in this format.
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Price HK$ 32,000
The Adventures and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes -
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
1892 - George Newnes, London - First Editions
A finely bound set of first editions of the first two short story collections, up to the Reichenbach Falls episode of The Final Problem.
Magnificently illustrated throughout from wood engravings by Sidney Paget.
The Adventures containing twelve stories including A Scandal in Bohemia, introducing Irene Adler and The Speckled Band.
The Memoirs containing eleven stories including The Final Problem, and “Silver Blaze”.
These legendary Sherlock Holmes stories all initially appeared in The Strand Magazine, the year before.
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Price HK$ 45,000
1892 - George Newnes, London - First Editions
A finely bound set of first editions of the first two short story collections, up to the Reichenbach Falls episode of The Final Problem. Magnificently illustrated throughout from wood engravings by Sidney Paget.
The Adventures containing twelve stories including A Scandal in Bohemia, introducing Irene Adler and The Speckled Band.
The Memoirs containing eleven stories including The Final Problem, and “Silver Blaze”.
These legendary Sherlock Holmes stories all initially appeared in The Strand Magazine, the year before.
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Price HK$ 45,000
The Four Quartets: Burnt Norton; East Coker; The Dry Salvages; Little Gidding -
T.S. Eliot
1941 - Faber and Faber, London - First Editions
Four first editions of what Eliot himself considered to be his finest work finely bound into one volume, housed in a matching custom slipcase.
‘Four Quartets’ is a rich composition that expands the spiritual vision introduced in ’The Waste Land’. First published individually from 1936 to 1942. Here, in four linked poems (’Burnt Norton’, ‘East Coker’, ‘The Dry Salvages’, and ‘Little Gidding’), spiritual, philosophical, and personal themes emerge through symbolic allusions and literary and religious references from both Eastern and Western thought. It is the culminating achievement by a man many feel to be the greatest poet of the twentieth century and one of the seminal figures in the evolution of modernism.
‘Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.’ – Burnt Norton
‘In my beginning is my end.’ – East Coker
‘I do not know much about gods; but I think that the river
Is a strong brown gold – sullen, untamed and intractable...’ – Dry Salvages
‘Midwinter spring is its own season
Sempiternal though sodden towards sundown,
Suspended in time, between pole and tropic.’ – Little Gidding
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Price HK$ 8,000
1941 - Faber and Faber, London - First Editions
Four first editions of what Eliot himself considered to be his finest work finely bound into one volume, housed in a matching custom slipcase.‘Four Quartets’ is a rich composition that expands the spiritual vision introduced in ’The Waste Land’. First published individually from 1936 to 1942. Here, in four linked poems (’Burnt Norton’, ‘East Coker’, ‘The Dry Salvages’, and ‘Little Gidding’), spiritual, philosophical, and personal themes emerge through symbolic allusions and literary and religious references from both Eastern and Western thought. It is the culminating achievement by a man many feel to be the greatest poet of the twentieth century and one of the seminal figures in the evolution of modernism.
‘Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.’ – Burnt Norton
‘In my beginning is my end.’ – East Coker
‘I do not know much about gods; but I think that the river
Is a strong brown gold – sullen, untamed and intractable...’ – Dry Salvages
‘Midwinter spring is its own season
Sempiternal though sodden towards sundown,
Suspended in time, between pole and tropic.’ – Little Gidding
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Price HK$ 8,000
Complete James Bond series -
Ian Lancaster Fleming
1963-1979 - Jonathan Cape, London - Early Editions
A magnificent and complete 14 volume set of the Jonathan Cape printings (the original publisher of the James Bond novels), the final title Octopussy being a first impression, as this book was never reprinted in the original format.
Each book is in publisher’s cloth, with the creative embellishments in gilt silver or gilt matching those of the first editions. All dust jacket designs match those of the first Cape Editions with the exception of Casino Royale which was changed, after the third impression, to the wonderful ‘Vesper Lynd’ playing card style shown here, and Moonraker is in the 1965 design.
Comprising: Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, Diamonds Are Forever, From Russia With Love, Dr. No, Goldfinger, For Your Eyes Only (short stories inc. From A View To A Kill and Quantum of Solace), Thunderball, The Spy Who loved Me, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, You Only Live Twice, The Man with the Golden Gun and Octopussy and The Living Daylights (short stories).
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Price HK$ 25,000
1963-1979 - Jonathan Cape, London - Early Editions
A magnificent and complete 14 volume set of the Jonathan Cape printings (the original publisher of the James Bond novels), the final title Octopussy being a first impression, as this book was never reprinted in the original format.Each book is in publisher’s cloth, with the creative embellishments in gilt silver or gilt matching those of the first editions. All dust jacket designs match those of the first Cape Editions with the exception of Casino Royale which was changed, after the third impression, to the wonderful ‘Vesper Lynd’ playing card style shown here, and Moonraker is in the 1965 design.
Comprising: Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, Diamonds Are Forever, From Russia With Love, Dr. No, Goldfinger, For Your Eyes Only (short stories inc. From A View To A Kill and Quantum of Solace), Thunderball, The Spy Who loved Me, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, You Only Live Twice, The Man with the Golden Gun and Octopussy and The Living Daylights (short stories).
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Price HK$ 25,000
The Centenary Edition of Ian Fleming's James Bond Novels -
Ian Lancaster Fleming
2008 - Penguin 007, London - Centenary Edition, First Printings
A complete 14 volume collection of the Bond novels, issued to celebrate the 100th birthday of Ian Fleming (28th May 2008).
With the magnificently ‘retro’ style artwork by Michael Gillette to dust jackets.
A fine and particularly uncommon set, all first printings in first printing dust jackets, housed in a custom-made cloth slipcase with fleece lining and ribbon pulls, each dust jacket with archival cover.
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Price HK$ 25,000
2008 - Penguin 007, London - Centenary Edition, First Printings
A complete 14 volume collection of the Bond novels, issued to celebrate the 100th birthday of Ian Fleming (28th May 2008).With the magnificently ‘retro’ style artwork by Michael Gillette to dust jackets.
A fine and particularly uncommon set, all first printings in first printing dust jackets, housed in a custom-made cloth slipcase with fleece lining and ribbon pulls, each dust jacket with archival cover.
More details
Price HK$ 25,000