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Run River - Signed -
Joan Didion
1963 - Ivan Obolensky, New York - First Edition
A fine first edition of Joan Didion’s debut novel, in a superior example of the dust jacket and signed by Didion to the title page.
‘Run River’ begins with a murder on the bank of the Sacramento River--a murder that is at once an act of vengeance and a blind attempt to shore up a disintegrating marriage. Out of that act, Didion constructs a tragic and beautifully nuanced work of fiction.
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Price HK$ 21,000
1963 - Ivan Obolensky, New York - First Edition
A fine first edition of Joan Didion’s debut novel, in a superior example of the dust jacket and signed by Didion to the title page.‘Run River’ begins with a murder on the bank of the Sacramento River--a murder that is at once an act of vengeance and a blind attempt to shore up a disintegrating marriage. Out of that act, Didion constructs a tragic and beautifully nuanced work of fiction.
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Price HK$ 21,000
Slouching Towards Bethlehem - Signed -
Joan Didion
1968 - Farrar, New York - First Edition
First edition of Joan Didion’s groundbreaking and classic non-fiction collection of essays, in a superior dust jacket, and signed by Didion to the title page.
‘More than perhaps any other book, this collection by one of the most distinctive prose stylists of our era captures the unique time and place of Joan Didion’s focus, exploring subjects such as John Wayne and Howard Hughes, growing up in California and the nature of good and evil in a Death Valley motel room, and, especially, the essence of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury, the heart of the counterculture. As Joyce Carol Oates remarked: “[Didion] has been an articulate witness to the most stubborn and intractable truths of our time, a memorable voice, partly eulogistic, partly despairing; always in control.”’
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Price HK$ 48,000
1968 - Farrar, New York - First Edition
First edition of Joan Didion’s groundbreaking and classic non-fiction collection of essays, in a superior dust jacket, and signed by Didion to the title page.‘More than perhaps any other book, this collection by one of the most distinctive prose stylists of our era captures the unique time and place of Joan Didion’s focus, exploring subjects such as John Wayne and Howard Hughes, growing up in California and the nature of good and evil in a Death Valley motel room, and, especially, the essence of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury, the heart of the counterculture. As Joyce Carol Oates remarked: “[Didion] has been an articulate witness to the most stubborn and intractable truths of our time, a memorable voice, partly eulogistic, partly despairing; always in control.”’
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Price HK$ 48,000
Welcome to Hard Times - Signed -
E. L. Doctorow
1960 - Simon and Schuster, New York - First Edition
A signed first edition of E. L. Doctorow’s debut novel, a searing allegory of frontier life.
‘Perhaps the primary theme of the novel is that evil can only be resisted psychically: when the rational controls that order man’s existence slacken, destruction comes. Conrad said it best in “Heart of Darkness,” but Mr. Doctorow has said it impressively. His book is taut and dramatic, exciting and successfully symbolic.’ – Wirt Williams, New York Times.
‘A forceful, credible story of cowardice and evil.’ – The Washington Post..
The basis for the 1967 movie of the same name starring Henry Fonda.
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Price HK$ 8,000
1960 - Simon and Schuster, New York - First Edition
A signed first edition of E. L. Doctorow’s debut novel, a searing allegory of frontier life.‘Perhaps the primary theme of the novel is that evil can only be resisted psychically: when the rational controls that order man’s existence slacken, destruction comes. Conrad said it best in “Heart of Darkness,” but Mr. Doctorow has said it impressively. His book is taut and dramatic, exciting and successfully symbolic.’ – Wirt Williams, New York Times.
‘A forceful, credible story of cowardice and evil.’ – The Washington Post..
The basis for the 1967 movie of the same name starring Henry Fonda.
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Price HK$ 8,000
Sister Carrie -
Theodore Dreiser, Reginald Marsh (illustrator)
1939 - The Limited Editions Club, New York - First Edition illustrated by Marsh, Number 1194 of 1500 copies.
A handsomely bound limited edition, signed by the illustrator, with an introduction by Burton Rascoe and illustrated throughout from crayon drawings by Reginald Marsh
Banned on publication for its questionable morals, Sister Carrie is the great American novel of seduction, a masterpiece of insight into appetite and innocence.
Long before she was seduced by the cautious and ordinary man whose life she would unravel with no malice and only intermittent interest, the young Carrie Meeber was seduced by the promise of the city–its vitality and reckless possibility, the thrill of material luxury, and the spectacle of power and industry.
Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all time.
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Price HK$ 4,000
1939 - The Limited Editions Club, New York - First Edition illustrated by Marsh, Number 1194 of 1500 copies.
A handsomely bound limited edition, signed by the illustrator, with an introduction by Burton Rascoe and illustrated throughout from crayon drawings by Reginald MarshBanned on publication for its questionable morals, Sister Carrie is the great American novel of seduction, a masterpiece of insight into appetite and innocence.
Long before she was seduced by the cautious and ordinary man whose life she would unravel with no malice and only intermittent interest, the young Carrie Meeber was seduced by the promise of the city–its vitality and reckless possibility, the thrill of material luxury, and the spectacle of power and industry.
Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all time.
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Price HK$ 4,000
Rebecca -
Daphne Du Maurier
1938 - Victor Gollancz Limited, London - First Edition
‘Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.’
A finely bound first edition of this iconic gothic mystery, the source for Alfred Hitchcock's haunting cinematic adaptation, produced in 1940. Part of Queen's Quorum, and a Haycraft-Queen cornerstone mystery.
Considered du Maurier’s finest work, the novel is narrated by the second Mrs de Winters, the naive second wife of wealthy widower, Maxim de Winter, owner of the renowned estate, Manderley. As the story unfolds, the second Mrs de Winter increasingly finds herself haunted by her glamorous predecessor, Rebecca, and tormented by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs Danvers, subsequently leading her to uncover an unexpected tragedy...
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Price HK$ 10,000
1938 - Victor Gollancz Limited, London - First Edition
‘Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.’A finely bound first edition of this iconic gothic mystery, the source for Alfred Hitchcock's haunting cinematic adaptation, produced in 1940. Part of Queen's Quorum, and a Haycraft-Queen cornerstone mystery.
Considered du Maurier’s finest work, the novel is narrated by the second Mrs de Winters, the naive second wife of wealthy widower, Maxim de Winter, owner of the renowned estate, Manderley. As the story unfolds, the second Mrs de Winter increasingly finds herself haunted by her glamorous predecessor, Rebecca, and tormented by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs Danvers, subsequently leading her to uncover an unexpected tragedy...
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Price HK$ 10,000
Geek Love - Signed -
Katherine Dunn
1989 - Alfred A. Knopf, New York - First Edition
Signed and fine first edition of this classic cult novel. The story of an enterprising American family who, according to sound free market principles, decide to raise their own freakshow by breeding their own mutants – thereby cutting costs. In a splendid nod to the book's contents, designer Chip Kidd has given Knopf's logo of the "coursing Borzoi" 3 forelegs on the jacket spine above publisher's imprint.
When Katherine Dunn’s novel “Geek Love” became Sonny Mehta’s first purchase as editor-in-chief at Knopf, she became famous in the literary world, at the age of forty-three, after years of obscurity. The book is about what happens after the circus impresario Aloysius Binewski feeds “cocaine, amphetamines, and arsenic” to his repeatedly pregnant wife, a retired geek named Crystal Lil, to genetically engineer a family of circus freaks.
“Geek Love” is historically beloved by dark and eccentric artists, many of whom are famous. Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love, Flea, and the Monty Pythonite Terry Gilliam were all outspoken fans. According to Gilliam, Johnny Depp wanted to play the book’s most interesting character, Arturo the Aqua Boy, so badly that he tried to get Gilliam to make “Geek Love” into a movie—Tim Burton ended up buying the rights. The book was so resonant for Gilliam that as recently as 2010 he was still trying to adapt the novel, this time as a West End stage play.’ - Eric Rosenblum, New Yorker, 1st December 2022.
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Price HK$ 6,000
1989 - Alfred A. Knopf, New York - First Edition
Signed and fine first edition of this classic cult novel. The story of an enterprising American family who, according to sound free market principles, decide to raise their own freakshow by breeding their own mutants – thereby cutting costs. In a splendid nod to the book's contents, designer Chip Kidd has given Knopf's logo of the "coursing Borzoi" 3 forelegs on the jacket spine above publisher's imprint.When Katherine Dunn’s novel “Geek Love” became Sonny Mehta’s first purchase as editor-in-chief at Knopf, she became famous in the literary world, at the age of forty-three, after years of obscurity. The book is about what happens after the circus impresario Aloysius Binewski feeds “cocaine, amphetamines, and arsenic” to his repeatedly pregnant wife, a retired geek named Crystal Lil, to genetically engineer a family of circus freaks.
“Geek Love” is historically beloved by dark and eccentric artists, many of whom are famous. Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love, Flea, and the Monty Pythonite Terry Gilliam were all outspoken fans. According to Gilliam, Johnny Depp wanted to play the book’s most interesting character, Arturo the Aqua Boy, so badly that he tried to get Gilliam to make “Geek Love” into a movie—Tim Burton ended up buying the rights. The book was so resonant for Gilliam that as recently as 2010 he was still trying to adapt the novel, this time as a West End stage play.’ - Eric Rosenblum, New Yorker, 1st December 2022.
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Price HK$ 6,000
Justine, Balthazar, Mountolive, Clea; Being the Alexandria Quartet. -
Lawrence Durrell
1957 - Faber and Faber, London - First Editions
A fine set in first issue dust jackets in superior condition.
'One of the most important works of our time.' - New York Times Book Review.
The Alexandria Quartet is Durrell’s most succesfull and admired work, at heart a sensuous and brilliant evocation of wartime Egypt.
In this world of corrupt glamour, L. G. Darley attempts to reconcile himself to the end of his affair with the dark, passionate Justine Hosnani - setting alight a beguiling exploration of sexual and political intrigue that Durrell himself described as 'an investigation of modern love'.
'A formidable, glittering achievement.' - Times Literary Supplement.
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Price HK$ 30,000
1957 - Faber and Faber, London - First Editions
A fine set in first issue dust jackets in superior condition.'One of the most important works of our time.' - New York Times Book Review.
The Alexandria Quartet is Durrell’s most succesfull and admired work, at heart a sensuous and brilliant evocation of wartime Egypt.
In this world of corrupt glamour, L. G. Darley attempts to reconcile himself to the end of his affair with the dark, passionate Justine Hosnani - setting alight a beguiling exploration of sexual and political intrigue that Durrell himself described as 'an investigation of modern love'.
'A formidable, glittering achievement.' - Times Literary Supplement.
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Price HK$ 30,000
The Name of the Rose - Signed -
Umberto Eco
1983 - Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, San Diego - First Edition in English
Signed first edition in bright dust jacket without fading.
‘Whether you're into Sherlock Holmes, Montaillou, Borges, the nouvelle critique, the Rule of St. Benedict, metaphysics, library design, or The Thing from the Crypt, you'll love it. Who can that miss out?’ - Sunday Times.
Originally published in Italian in 1980, this is the first edition in English, published simultaneously by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in San Diego, and Martin Secker & Warburg in London, both using the same illustration taken from a manuscript of the Apocalypse.
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Price HK$ 12,000
1983 - Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, San Diego - First Edition in English
Signed first edition in bright dust jacket without fading.‘Whether you're into Sherlock Holmes, Montaillou, Borges, the nouvelle critique, the Rule of St. Benedict, metaphysics, library design, or The Thing from the Crypt, you'll love it. Who can that miss out?’ - Sunday Times.
Originally published in Italian in 1980, this is the first edition in English, published simultaneously by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in San Diego, and Martin Secker & Warburg in London, both using the same illustration taken from a manuscript of the Apocalypse.
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Price HK$ 12,000