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Portrait of Jennie -
Robert Nathan
1940 - Alfred A. Knopf, New York - First Edition
The basis for the 1948 William Dieterle film starring Joseph Cotten and Jennifer Jones, which won academy award for special effects, and was nominated for Best Cinematography.
The supernatural love story of a depression era artist in New York and a young girl slipping through time’, a modern Dorian Gray...
‘So brilliant is Nathan's execution that one is entirely lost in the tender love story of two immortally designed for each other, one a spirit out of the past seeking to catch up with the present, the other a man rooted in the present and caught in an urgency to accept the gift of the past . . . Portrait of Jennie will perhaps most vividly recall Balderston's Berkeley Square, for, like that, it is a love story that transcends the boundaries of time. It is told with tenderness and with beauty. Its mood lingers in the heart, and its planes challenge the mind.’ – New York Times.
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Price HK$ 3,000
1940 - Alfred A. Knopf, New York - First Edition
The basis for the 1948 William Dieterle film starring Joseph Cotten and Jennifer Jones, which won academy award for special effects, and was nominated for Best Cinematography.The supernatural love story of a depression era artist in New York and a young girl slipping through time’, a modern Dorian Gray...
‘So brilliant is Nathan's execution that one is entirely lost in the tender love story of two immortally designed for each other, one a spirit out of the past seeking to catch up with the present, the other a man rooted in the present and caught in an urgency to accept the gift of the past . . . Portrait of Jennie will perhaps most vividly recall Balderston's Berkeley Square, for, like that, it is a love story that transcends the boundaries of time. It is told with tenderness and with beauty. Its mood lingers in the heart, and its planes challenge the mind.’ – New York Times.
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Price HK$ 3,000
The Magic Bed-Knob -
Mary Norton, Joan Kiddell-Monroe (illustrator)
1945 - J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd., London - First Edition
Finely bound and charmingly and profusely illustrated throughout in colour and black and white.
Three children are sent off to stay with an old Aunt in the countryside during WWII, which is where they bump into Miss Price, or more precisely she bumps into the ground trying to ride her, well you know where this is going so we shall not spoil the story for you, needless to say there is a magic bed.
The subtitle ‘Or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons’ was added to later editions. This is the first in a series of books that became the basis for the wonderful Disney musical ‘Bedknobs and Broomsticks’.
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Price HK$ 2,600
1945 - J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd., London - First Edition
Finely bound and charmingly and profusely illustrated throughout in colour and black and white.Three children are sent off to stay with an old Aunt in the countryside during WWII, which is where they bump into Miss Price, or more precisely she bumps into the ground trying to ride her, well you know where this is going so we shall not spoil the story for you, needless to say there is a magic bed.
The subtitle ‘Or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons’ was added to later editions. This is the first in a series of books that became the basis for the wonderful Disney musical ‘Bedknobs and Broomsticks’.
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Price HK$ 2,600
The Motives of Nicholas Holtz. Being the Weird Tales of the Ironville Virus -
Thomas Painter, Alexander Laing, Lynd Ward (illustrator)
1936 - Farrar &, New York - First Edition
A sharp and bright first edition, rather scarce in such nice condition. With frontispiece and dust jacket illustrated by Lynd Ward.
“‘The Ironville Virus’, a bacterium capable of reproduction at a terrific rate, which to one man’s grief, proves to be the carrier of a deadly plague and which, as far as anyone knows, has no antivirus...”
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Price HK$ 2,200
1936 - Farrar &, New York - First Edition
A sharp and bright first edition, rather scarce in such nice condition. With frontispiece and dust jacket illustrated by Lynd Ward.“‘The Ironville Virus’, a bacterium capable of reproduction at a terrific rate, which to one man’s grief, proves to be the carrier of a deadly plague and which, as far as anyone knows, has no antivirus...”
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Price HK$ 2,200
Candlenight -
Phil Rickman
1991 - Duckworth, London - First Edition
Author’s first novel. A gothic horror, based in 1980’s Wales, when Welsh homes were being taken over by wealthier English inhabitants. Scary.
Perhaps best described in the reviews:-
'Grimly sinister. Written with blood-curdling aplomb' - Sunday Telegraph.
'Gripping throughout. Powerful, classic stuff.' - The Times.
'Crisp prose, excellent dialogue and a real sense of mounting evil' - Time Out.
'A brooding first novel... credibly fuses Celtic myth with contemporary Welsh politics' - The Sunday Telegraph.
More details
Price HK$ 800
1991 - Duckworth, London - First Edition
Author’s first novel. A gothic horror, based in 1980’s Wales, when Welsh homes were being taken over by wealthier English inhabitants. Scary.Perhaps best described in the reviews:-
'Grimly sinister. Written with blood-curdling aplomb' - Sunday Telegraph.
'Gripping throughout. Powerful, classic stuff.' - The Times.
'Crisp prose, excellent dialogue and a real sense of mounting evil' - Time Out.
'A brooding first novel... credibly fuses Celtic myth with contemporary Welsh politics' - The Sunday Telegraph.
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Price HK$ 800
A disturbing duo - The Family Arsenal - with - My Secret History -
Paul Theroux
1976 - Hamish Hamilton, London - First Editions
Two first editions of of Paul Theroux’s more exotic and disturbing works.
The Family Arsenal - Hood, a renegade American diplomat, envisions a new urban order, flirts with terrorists. Mayo, has just made a political statement - stealing a Flemish painting. Murf the bomb-maker scrawls 'Arsenal Rule' across the city's walls, whilst Brodie bombs Euston and afterwards worries about her complexion. A novel of London lowlife and the dispossessed, and a powerful and violent thriller of disenchanted people.
‘One of the most evocative, intelligently crafted suspense novels in years - like the early fiction of Graham Greene.' - The New York Times.
'Brilliant and haunting. . . the ingenious of the plot, the London setting. . . the trapped and interwoven people, and the balefully witty observation, have an undistracted force' - Observer.
My Secret History - 'Nothing on the shelf has quite prepared the reader for My Secret History… Parent saunters into the book aged fifteen, shouldering a .22 Mossberg rifle as earlier, more innocent American heroes used to tote a fishing pole. In his pocket is a paperback translation of Dante's Inferno… He is a creature of naked and unquenchable ego, greedy for sex, money, experience, another life' - Observer.
‘Merges the two genres he's famous for... My Secret History is about the permanence of marriage in the face of mistrust and infidelity; it's about the wisdom of women and the foolishness of men; and it's about mature love as the necessary and sometimes successful antidote to youthful selfishness.’ - New York Times Book Review.
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Price HK$ 900
1976 - Hamish Hamilton, London - First Editions
Two first editions of of Paul Theroux’s more exotic and disturbing works.The Family Arsenal - Hood, a renegade American diplomat, envisions a new urban order, flirts with terrorists. Mayo, has just made a political statement - stealing a Flemish painting. Murf the bomb-maker scrawls 'Arsenal Rule' across the city's walls, whilst Brodie bombs Euston and afterwards worries about her complexion. A novel of London lowlife and the dispossessed, and a powerful and violent thriller of disenchanted people.
‘One of the most evocative, intelligently crafted suspense novels in years - like the early fiction of Graham Greene.' - The New York Times.
'Brilliant and haunting. . . the ingenious of the plot, the London setting. . . the trapped and interwoven people, and the balefully witty observation, have an undistracted force' - Observer.
My Secret History - 'Nothing on the shelf has quite prepared the reader for My Secret History… Parent saunters into the book aged fifteen, shouldering a .22 Mossberg rifle as earlier, more innocent American heroes used to tote a fishing pole. In his pocket is a paperback translation of Dante's Inferno… He is a creature of naked and unquenchable ego, greedy for sex, money, experience, another life' - Observer.
‘Merges the two genres he's famous for... My Secret History is about the permanence of marriage in the face of mistrust and infidelity; it's about the wisdom of women and the foolishness of men; and it's about mature love as the necessary and sometimes successful antidote to youthful selfishness.’ - New York Times Book Review.
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Price HK$ 900
The Ship That Sailed to Mars. A Fantasy -
William Timlin
1923 - George G. Harrap &, London - First Edition
‘I will go to Mars; sailing by way of the Moon, and the more friendly planets.’
Beware, for there is magic within this large tome. A beautiful first edition of William Timlin’s wonderful, lavishly illustrated tale of fantasy and adventure, The Ship That Sailed to Mars, featuring 48 stunning mounted colour plates accompanying 48 mounted leaves of equally gorgeous calligraphic text also by Timlin. In the publisher’s stunningly gilt decorated vellum and paper binding.
Begun as a project to distract his young son, architect William M. Timlin’s masterpiece tells the story of a courageous Old Man, who despite dissuasion from scientists and astronomers, sets about designing himself a ship to sail to Mars. With the help of the Elf King’s favourite metalworker, and a lot of fairies, he eventually completes building his vessel, launching his marvellous machine into the skies, and encountering all manner of creatures – enchanting and otherwise – on his magical journey to Mars.
One of an estimated 550 copies of the first edition [see note].
More details
Price HK$ 18,000
1923 - George G. Harrap &, London - First Edition
‘I will go to Mars; sailing by way of the Moon, and the more friendly planets.’Beware, for there is magic within this large tome. A beautiful first edition of William Timlin’s wonderful, lavishly illustrated tale of fantasy and adventure, The Ship That Sailed to Mars, featuring 48 stunning mounted colour plates accompanying 48 mounted leaves of equally gorgeous calligraphic text also by Timlin. In the publisher’s stunningly gilt decorated vellum and paper binding.
Begun as a project to distract his young son, architect William M. Timlin’s masterpiece tells the story of a courageous Old Man, who despite dissuasion from scientists and astronomers, sets about designing himself a ship to sail to Mars. With the help of the Elf King’s favourite metalworker, and a lot of fairies, he eventually completes building his vessel, launching his marvellous machine into the skies, and encountering all manner of creatures – enchanting and otherwise – on his magical journey to Mars.
One of an estimated 550 copies of the first edition [see note].
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Price HK$ 18,000
The Ring of the Niblung -
Richard Wagner, Arthur Rackham (illustrator), Margaret Armour (translator)
1910 - William Heinemann, London - Edition de luxes, each one limited to 1, 150 copies signed by Rackham
A magnificent set of Rackham's dramatic interpretation of Wagner's libretti, in the large deluxe vellum bindings, each one numbered and signed by Rackham.
Wagner’s ‘Trilogy, with a Prelude’, his libretti for The Ring of Niblung cycle, stunningly illustrated by Arthur Rackham, featuring sixty-four beautiful tipped-in colour plates each with descriptive tissue guards, and twenty-three black and white drawings across two volumes.
Translated from the German into English by Margaret Armour.
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Price HK$ 48,000
1910 - William Heinemann, London - Edition de luxes, each one limited to 1, 150 copies signed by Rackham
A magnificent set of Rackham's dramatic interpretation of Wagner's libretti, in the large deluxe vellum bindings, each one numbered and signed by Rackham.Wagner’s ‘Trilogy, with a Prelude’, his libretti for The Ring of Niblung cycle, stunningly illustrated by Arthur Rackham, featuring sixty-four beautiful tipped-in colour plates each with descriptive tissue guards, and twenty-three black and white drawings across two volumes.
Translated from the German into English by Margaret Armour.
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Price HK$ 48,000
The Invisible Man. A Grotesque Romance -
H. G. Wells
1897 - C. Arthur Pearson Limited, London - First Edition
A bright, attractive copy of the first edition of one of the most important books of science fiction ever written.
‘I was invisible, and I was only just beginning to realise the extraordinary advantage my invisibility gave me. My head was already teeming with plans of all the wild and wonderful things I had now impunity to do’....
Wells' cult sci-fi novella is a commentary on the misuse of science for selfish ends; the famous story of a scientist who tampers with nature in his pursuit of superhuman powers.
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Price HK$ 26,000
1897 - C. Arthur Pearson Limited, London - First Edition
A bright, attractive copy of the first edition of one of the most important books of science fiction ever written.‘I was invisible, and I was only just beginning to realise the extraordinary advantage my invisibility gave me. My head was already teeming with plans of all the wild and wonderful things I had now impunity to do’....
Wells' cult sci-fi novella is a commentary on the misuse of science for selfish ends; the famous story of a scientist who tampers with nature in his pursuit of superhuman powers.
More details
Price HK$ 26,000