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It Walks By Night -
John Dickson Carr
1930 - Harper & Brothers, New York - First Edition, First Impression
First edition of John Dickson Carr’s first novel, and introducing the flamboyant Parisian juge d’instruction, Henry Bencolin.
First edition, first impression, in blue cloth with light blue lettering, copyright page stating ‘First Edition’ and with correct first impression code of 'A-E'.
This is ‘A Harper Sealed Mystery’ - the gimmick employed by Harper & Brothers between 1929 and 1934, in which a yellow tissue paper certificate was wrapped around the final pages that revealed Whodunnit. If the seal was unbroken the purchaser could return the book for a refund. In this copy the remnants can be seen attached to the rear pastedown, so no refund.
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Price HK$ 2,000
1930 - Harper & Brothers, New York - First Edition, First Impression
First edition of John Dickson Carr’s first novel, and introducing the flamboyant Parisian juge d’instruction, Henry Bencolin.First edition, first impression, in blue cloth with light blue lettering, copyright page stating ‘First Edition’ and with correct first impression code of 'A-E'.
This is ‘A Harper Sealed Mystery’ - the gimmick employed by Harper & Brothers between 1929 and 1934, in which a yellow tissue paper certificate was wrapped around the final pages that revealed Whodunnit. If the seal was unbroken the purchaser could return the book for a refund. In this copy the remnants can be seen attached to the rear pastedown, so no refund.
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Price HK$ 2,000
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - with - Through the Looking Glass -
Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], Bruno Rollitz after John Tenniel (illustrators)
1932 - Limited Editions Club, New York - Each copy is number 1300 of a 1500 limited edition
With the signature of the ‘Original Alice’ to Through the Looking Glass.
The Original Alice’ is Alice Hargreaves née Lidell, for whom Lewis Carroll originally wrote the books. In 1932, during the celebrations of the centenary of Carroll’s birth, Alice, who had lived a peaceful life in the south of England for many years, suddenly became a public figure. Her most notable and watched action was a trip to New York to receive an honorary degree from Columbia University, at which time she was invited to sign this work, something that in the past she had been extremely reluctant to do.
These two finely bound limited editions where published to mark that centenary, with Tenniel’s original illustrations re-engraved on wood, and the typography and binding designed by Frederic Ward who has signed Adventures.
‘Whilst Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass were intended for children “fresh from God’s hand”, it is equally enthralling and delightfully magical for adults as they follow Alice on her vibrant adventures escorted by her famous companions. Who can possibly not have been carried away into the fantastically crazy world of the Mad Hatter? Or never have heard of Tweedledee and Tweedledum? Who cannot have been struck by Carroll’s love for sophisticated play with words?’
‘Tenniel’s illustrations perfectly capture Alice’s upside-down world and are considered to be his finest and most enduring achievement. They were an integral part of creating Alice’s fairytale world and are without doubt some of the best-known images, indelibly etched into the memory of countless children.’ – Stephanie Chan.
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Price HK$ 21,000
1932 - Limited Editions Club, New York - Each copy is number 1300 of a 1500 limited edition
With the signature of the ‘Original Alice’ to Through the Looking Glass.The Original Alice’ is Alice Hargreaves née Lidell, for whom Lewis Carroll originally wrote the books. In 1932, during the celebrations of the centenary of Carroll’s birth, Alice, who had lived a peaceful life in the south of England for many years, suddenly became a public figure. Her most notable and watched action was a trip to New York to receive an honorary degree from Columbia University, at which time she was invited to sign this work, something that in the past she had been extremely reluctant to do.
These two finely bound limited editions where published to mark that centenary, with Tenniel’s original illustrations re-engraved on wood, and the typography and binding designed by Frederic Ward who has signed Adventures.
‘Whilst Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass were intended for children “fresh from God’s hand”, it is equally enthralling and delightfully magical for adults as they follow Alice on her vibrant adventures escorted by her famous companions. Who can possibly not have been carried away into the fantastically crazy world of the Mad Hatter? Or never have heard of Tweedledee and Tweedledum? Who cannot have been struck by Carroll’s love for sophisticated play with words?’
‘Tenniel’s illustrations perfectly capture Alice’s upside-down world and are considered to be his finest and most enduring achievement. They were an integral part of creating Alice’s fairytale world and are without doubt some of the best-known images, indelibly etched into the memory of countless children.’ – Stephanie Chan.
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Price HK$ 21,000
The Hunting of the Snark, An Agony in Eight Fits -
Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], Henry Holiday (illustrator)
1876 - Macmillan and Co., London - First Edition
‘Just the place for a Snark!’
A finely bound first edition of the author’s magnificent nonsense verse, the tale of the Bellman and his crew’s strange voyage in search of a Snark, and featuring an unlikely cast of characters drawn from his other works, Jabberwocky and Through the Looking Glass Wonderfully illustrated with nine imaginative woodcuts by Henry Holiday.
‘The Hunting of the Snark is a poem over which an unstable, sensitive soul might very well go mad.’ - Martin Gardner, The Annotated Snark.
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Price HK$ 6,000
1876 - Macmillan and Co., London - First Edition
‘Just the place for a Snark!’A finely bound first edition of the author’s magnificent nonsense verse, the tale of the Bellman and his crew’s strange voyage in search of a Snark, and featuring an unlikely cast of characters drawn from his other works, Jabberwocky and Through the Looking Glass Wonderfully illustrated with nine imaginative woodcuts by Henry Holiday.
‘The Hunting of the Snark is a poem over which an unstable, sensitive soul might very well go mad.’ - Martin Gardner, The Annotated Snark.
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Price HK$ 6,000
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - together with - Through the Looking-Glass, and what Alice found there -
Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], John Tenniel (illustrator)
1870 - Macmillan and Co., London - Early Edition, First Edition
“Whilst Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass were intended for children “fresh from God’s hand”, it is equally enthralling and delightfully magical for adults as they follow Alice on her vibrant adventures escorted by her famous companions. Who can possibly not have been carried away into the fantastically crazy world of the Mad Hatter? Or never have heard of Tweedledee and Tweedledum? Who cannot have been struck by Carroll’s love for sophisticated play with words?.” - Stephanie Chan.
A finely bound pair, in which Tenniel’s illustrations, 42 in Wonderland and 50 in Looking-Glass, perfectly capture Alice’s upside-down world and are considered to be his finest and most enduring achievement.
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Price HK$ 15,000
1870 - Macmillan and Co., London - Early Edition, First Edition
“Whilst Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass were intended for children “fresh from God’s hand”, it is equally enthralling and delightfully magical for adults as they follow Alice on her vibrant adventures escorted by her famous companions. Who can possibly not have been carried away into the fantastically crazy world of the Mad Hatter? Or never have heard of Tweedledee and Tweedledum? Who cannot have been struck by Carroll’s love for sophisticated play with words?.” - Stephanie Chan.A finely bound pair, in which Tenniel’s illustrations, 42 in Wonderland and 50 in Looking-Glass, perfectly capture Alice’s upside-down world and are considered to be his finest and most enduring achievement.
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Price HK$ 15,000
The Big Sleep -
Raymond Chandler
1939 - Alfred A. Knopf, New York - First Edition
‘What did it matter where you lay once you were dead? In a dirty sump or in a marble tower on the top of a high hill? You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep, you were not bothered by things like that. Oil and water were the same as wind and air to you. You just slept the big sleep, not caring about the nastiness of how you died or where you fell.’
Chandler's first book and the introduction to the world of the famed private eye, Philip Marlowe, and established Chandler as the master of the 'hard-boiled' detective novel. The basis for the 1946 film starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and an endless source of private eye quotes.
‘It seemed like a nice neighborhood to have bad habits in’.
A lovely bright copy, and absolutely no sign of restoration, rare and honest as you can expect this ‘dust jacket’ to be in a world where its going out of style (apologies). Housed in a custom clamshell cloth case.
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Price HK$ 70,000
1939 - Alfred A. Knopf, New York - First Edition
‘What did it matter where you lay once you were dead? In a dirty sump or in a marble tower on the top of a high hill? You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep, you were not bothered by things like that. Oil and water were the same as wind and air to you. You just slept the big sleep, not caring about the nastiness of how you died or where you fell.’Chandler's first book and the introduction to the world of the famed private eye, Philip Marlowe, and established Chandler as the master of the 'hard-boiled' detective novel. The basis for the 1946 film starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and an endless source of private eye quotes.
‘It seemed like a nice neighborhood to have bad habits in’.
A lovely bright copy, and absolutely no sign of restoration, rare and honest as you can expect this ‘dust jacket’ to be in a world where its going out of style (apologies). Housed in a custom clamshell cloth case.
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Price HK$ 70,000
Sea Spy. A Naval Novel -
E. Keble Chatterton
1937 - Hurst & Blackett, London - First Edition
First edition in the rare and evocative dust jacket. Chatterton was one of Britain's best-known yachtsmen and maritime writers in the early part of the century.
‘Mr. Keble Chatterton has the art of the sea story at his finger tips and in “Sea Spy” he has combined a fast moving plot with plenty of thrills and action. John Trevenna, late of His Majesty’s Navy, is persuaded by his old chief, now the head of a new department of the Secret Service to give up a pleasure cruise in his one-man yacht, and use it instead to follow the activities of one Zouleki and his henchman Ptemnoff round the coasts of France... a vivid and fascinating tale.” – The Straits Times, Singapore 1937.
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Price HK$ 3,500
1937 - Hurst & Blackett, London - First Edition
First edition in the rare and evocative dust jacket. Chatterton was one of Britain's best-known yachtsmen and maritime writers in the early part of the century.‘Mr. Keble Chatterton has the art of the sea story at his finger tips and in “Sea Spy” he has combined a fast moving plot with plenty of thrills and action. John Trevenna, late of His Majesty’s Navy, is persuaded by his old chief, now the head of a new department of the Secret Service to give up a pleasure cruise in his one-man yacht, and use it instead to follow the activities of one Zouleki and his henchman Ptemnoff round the coasts of France... a vivid and fascinating tale.” – The Straits Times, Singapore 1937.
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Price HK$ 3,500
The Paradoxes of Mr. Pond -
G. K. Chesterton
1937 - Dodd, New York - First American Edition
A superb copy of G. K. Chesterton's final “collection”, eight detective stories, published after his death in 1936. The main characters in the book are Mr. Pond, his friend Captain Peter Gahagan, a romantic and impulsive Irishman, and a well-known government official, Sir Hubert Wotton.
‘ …he was curiously like the pond in the garden. He was so quiet at all normal times, so neat in shape and so shiny, so to speak, in his ordinary reflections of earth and sky and the common daylight. And yet I knew there were some queer things in the pond in the garden. Once in a hundred times, on one or two days during the whole year, the pond would look oddly different; or there would come a flitting shadow or a flash in its flat serenity; and a fish or a frog or some more grotesque creature would show itself to the sky. And I knew there were monsters in Mr. Pond also: monsters in his mind which rose only for a moment to the surface and sank again. They took the form of monstrous remarks, in the middle of all his mild and rational remarks. Some people thought he had suddenly gone mad in the midst of his sanest conversation. But even they had to admit that he must have suddenly gone sane again. . .’
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Price HK$ 3,800
1937 - Dodd, New York - First American Edition
A superb copy of G. K. Chesterton's final “collection”, eight detective stories, published after his death in 1936. The main characters in the book are Mr. Pond, his friend Captain Peter Gahagan, a romantic and impulsive Irishman, and a well-known government official, Sir Hubert Wotton.‘ …he was curiously like the pond in the garden. He was so quiet at all normal times, so neat in shape and so shiny, so to speak, in his ordinary reflections of earth and sky and the common daylight. And yet I knew there were some queer things in the pond in the garden. Once in a hundred times, on one or two days during the whole year, the pond would look oddly different; or there would come a flitting shadow or a flash in its flat serenity; and a fish or a frog or some more grotesque creature would show itself to the sky. And I knew there were monsters in Mr. Pond also: monsters in his mind which rose only for a moment to the surface and sank again. They took the form of monstrous remarks, in the middle of all his mild and rational remarks. Some people thought he had suddenly gone mad in the midst of his sanest conversation. But even they had to admit that he must have suddenly gone sane again. . .’
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Price HK$ 3,800
Four Faultless Felons -
G. K. Chesterton
1930 - Dodd, New York - First American Edition
A fine copy in a rare fine example of the dust jacket designed by Arthur Hawkins.
Four stories bound together by a basic paradox. The stories are ‘The Moderate Murderer’, ‘The Honest Quack’, ‘The Ecstatic Thief’, and ‘The Loyal Traitor’.
‘Dazzling reading from cover to cover.’ – The New York Times.
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Price HK$ 16,000
1930 - Dodd, New York - First American Edition
A fine copy in a rare fine example of the dust jacket designed by Arthur Hawkins.Four stories bound together by a basic paradox. The stories are ‘The Moderate Murderer’, ‘The Honest Quack’, ‘The Ecstatic Thief’, and ‘The Loyal Traitor’.
‘Dazzling reading from cover to cover.’ – The New York Times.
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Price HK$ 16,000