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Songs of the Doomed - INSCRIBED -
Hunter S. Thompson
1990 - Summit Books, New York - First Edition
Volume 3 of the ‘Gonzo Papers’ viciously and magnificently inscribed and violently signed by HST across the first page -
Stay away from me
you PIG FUCKER
This is Not a Good Time
I STILL Have a Half Bottle
OK!!
This volume of the Gonzo Papers, charts ‘the long, strange trip from Kennedy to Quayle in Thompson's freewheeling, inimitable style. Spanning four decades – 1950 to 1990 – Thompson is at the top of his form while fleeing New York for Puerto Rico, riding with the Hell's Angels, investigating Las Vegas sleaze, grappling with the "Dukakis problem," and finally, detailing his infamous lifestyle bust, trial documents, and Fourth Amendment battle with the Law. These tales – often sleazy, brutal, and crude – are only the tip of what Jack Nicholson called "the most baffling human iceberg of our time”.’ [from the intro to a later edition].
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Price HK$ 30,000
1990 - Summit Books, New York - First Edition
Volume 3 of the ‘Gonzo Papers’ viciously and magnificently inscribed and violently signed by HST across the first page -Stay away from me
you PIG FUCKER
This is Not a Good Time
I STILL Have a Half Bottle
OK!!
This volume of the Gonzo Papers, charts ‘the long, strange trip from Kennedy to Quayle in Thompson's freewheeling, inimitable style. Spanning four decades – 1950 to 1990 – Thompson is at the top of his form while fleeing New York for Puerto Rico, riding with the Hell's Angels, investigating Las Vegas sleaze, grappling with the "Dukakis problem," and finally, detailing his infamous lifestyle bust, trial documents, and Fourth Amendment battle with the Law. These tales – often sleazy, brutal, and crude – are only the tip of what Jack Nicholson called "the most baffling human iceberg of our time”.’ [from the intro to a later edition].
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Price HK$ 30,000
Open Letter San Francisco October 25, 1960 - SIGNED -
Hunter S. Thompson
1996 - White Fields Press, Kentucky - One of 118 copies signed by HST
Number 44 of 92 numbered examples of this large single sheet broadside reproducing Thompson’s iconic letter to San Francisco, it seems so much has changed but yet so little...
Initialled in large letters "H.S.T." by Thompson with a silver metallic pen in the margin next to his photograph. In fine condition, printed on glossy stock paper, measuring 66x34.5cm.
"At the end of 1960, Thompson and Semonin traveled cross-country together from New York to Seattle, and then hitchhiked down the coast to San Francisco, where Thompson settled. In a stream of consciousness letter dated 25 October 1960, Thompson writes from a bar in the Fillmore district, referring to himself as “Doctor Jazz”, who “prowls the foggy streets, seeking food. / O where is the jazz of yesteryear, the lost paycheck of my servile youth? where are the sacked liquor lockers of my Kempian days?…” Four days later he writes, “I commence walking my thumb toward Carmel & Big Sur…found slur on my ego…”
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Price HK$ 12,000
1996 - White Fields Press, Kentucky - One of 118 copies signed by HST
Number 44 of 92 numbered examples of this large single sheet broadside reproducing Thompson’s iconic letter to San Francisco, it seems so much has changed but yet so little...Initialled in large letters "H.S.T." by Thompson with a silver metallic pen in the margin next to his photograph. In fine condition, printed on glossy stock paper, measuring 66x34.5cm.
"At the end of 1960, Thompson and Semonin traveled cross-country together from New York to Seattle, and then hitchhiked down the coast to San Francisco, where Thompson settled. In a stream of consciousness letter dated 25 October 1960, Thompson writes from a bar in the Fillmore district, referring to himself as “Doctor Jazz”, who “prowls the foggy streets, seeking food. / O where is the jazz of yesteryear, the lost paycheck of my servile youth? where are the sacked liquor lockers of my Kempian days?…” Four days later he writes, “I commence walking my thumb toward Carmel & Big Sur…found slur on my ego…”
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Price HK$ 12,000
Le Bon-Bock - 321 Letterpress Invitations in two Folio Albums -
Various
1886-1936 - Printed for Le Bon-Bock, Paris
An incredibly rare collection of 321 original illustrated letterpress dinner invitations from Le Bon-Bock society (each approximately 33x23cm), whose soirees on the second Tuesday of each month near Montmartre were frequented by Paris’ most flamboyant and original writers and artists of La Belle Époque and Les Années Folles.
The artists competed to have their work used for the next invitation, and together with their work each invitation provides an account of the previous dinners activities, beginning with opening speeches, notices and announcements, and then other activities, which usually include poems, prose, texts, songs, instrumental pieces.
The invitations are dated from April 1886 to April 1936, with the first thirty or so addressed to Monsieur Régnier, one of the founders of the association. Individually rare, a collection of this size and association provides one of the most important associations of these periods in Paris.
Inspired by Edouard Manet’s painting Le Bon Bock (The Good Pint), and the democratic, nationalistic ideals that it symbolised, Emile Bellot (the printmaker and model for Manet’s beer drinker) established the Bon-Bock Society in 1875. Consisting mainly of artists, writers and performers, the society sought to re-define France’s national spirit by delving into the country’s cultural past. The inseparable ideals of freedom and humour within their community created opportunities for artistic experimentation; the Bon Bockers and their carefree attitude would go on to inspire generations of Montmartre natives for years to come.
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Price HK$ 90,000
1886-1936 - Printed for Le Bon-Bock, Paris
An incredibly rare collection of 321 original illustrated letterpress dinner invitations from Le Bon-Bock society (each approximately 33x23cm), whose soirees on the second Tuesday of each month near Montmartre were frequented by Paris’ most flamboyant and original writers and artists of La Belle Époque and Les Années Folles. The artists competed to have their work used for the next invitation, and together with their work each invitation provides an account of the previous dinners activities, beginning with opening speeches, notices and announcements, and then other activities, which usually include poems, prose, texts, songs, instrumental pieces.
The invitations are dated from April 1886 to April 1936, with the first thirty or so addressed to Monsieur Régnier, one of the founders of the association. Individually rare, a collection of this size and association provides one of the most important associations of these periods in Paris.
Inspired by Edouard Manet’s painting Le Bon Bock (The Good Pint), and the democratic, nationalistic ideals that it symbolised, Emile Bellot (the printmaker and model for Manet’s beer drinker) established the Bon-Bock Society in 1875. Consisting mainly of artists, writers and performers, the society sought to re-define France’s national spirit by delving into the country’s cultural past. The inseparable ideals of freedom and humour within their community created opportunities for artistic experimentation; the Bon Bockers and their carefree attitude would go on to inspire generations of Montmartre natives for years to come.
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Price HK$ 90,000
The First Men in the Moon -
H. G. Wells
1901 - George Newnes, London - First English Edition, first state binding
A superior copy of this science fiction landmark. Wells’ wonderful 1901 tale of space travel, featuring twelve black and white illustrations by Claude Shepperson. The novel was heavily criticised upon publication due to its fantastical ideas but was later recognised as a milestone of the genre.
‘Written with astonishing animation and lucidity.’ – G. K. Chesterton
When Dr Cavor, a brilliant but absent-minded scientist, accidentally creates a gravity-defying substance, he and his companion – a penniless businessman named Mr Bedford who has retreated to the coast of Kent to write a play – journey to the moon. While the materialistic Bedford is driven by possible fortune and Cavor by his unquenchable thirst for knowledge, neither man is prepared for what they discover: an alien world where a frightening race of biologically engineered creatures will go to sinister lengths to defend their planet.
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Price HK$ 16,000
1901 - George Newnes, London - First English Edition, first state binding
A superior copy of this science fiction landmark. Wells’ wonderful 1901 tale of space travel, featuring twelve black and white illustrations by Claude Shepperson. The novel was heavily criticised upon publication due to its fantastical ideas but was later recognised as a milestone of the genre. ‘Written with astonishing animation and lucidity.’ – G. K. Chesterton
When Dr Cavor, a brilliant but absent-minded scientist, accidentally creates a gravity-defying substance, he and his companion – a penniless businessman named Mr Bedford who has retreated to the coast of Kent to write a play – journey to the moon. While the materialistic Bedford is driven by possible fortune and Cavor by his unquenchable thirst for knowledge, neither man is prepared for what they discover: an alien world where a frightening race of biologically engineered creatures will go to sinister lengths to defend their planet.
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Price HK$ 16,000
The Day of the Locust -
Nathanael West
1939 - Random House, New York - First Edition
A very difficult first edition to find in a reasonable dust jacket with the price intact on the front flap (those without price should be treated with caution as there was an unpriced book club edition) no restoration or tape repair, with the commonly encountered toning to the spine label due to the publisher’s adhesive.
‘Admired by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker, and Dashiell Hammett, and hailed as one of the “Best 100 English-language novels” by Time magazine, The Day of the Locust continues to influence American writers, artists, and culture.’ [New Directions].
‘In The Day of the Locust a young artist, Tod Hackett, arrives in LA full of dreams. But celebrity and artifice rule and he soon joins the ranks of the disenchanted that drift around the fringes of Hollywood. When he meets Faye Greener, an aspiring actress, he is intoxicated and his desperate passion explodes into rage...’ [Penguin]
‘Los Angeles has been the subject of, and setting for, many fine novels yet The Day of the Locust still feels like the single best-achieved piece of fiction the city has inspired.’ – The Los Angeles Times.
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Price HK$ 16,000
1939 - Random House, New York - First Edition
A very difficult first edition to find in a reasonable dust jacket with the price intact on the front flap (those without price should be treated with caution as there was an unpriced book club edition) no restoration or tape repair, with the commonly encountered toning to the spine label due to the publisher’s adhesive.‘Admired by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker, and Dashiell Hammett, and hailed as one of the “Best 100 English-language novels” by Time magazine, The Day of the Locust continues to influence American writers, artists, and culture.’ [New Directions].
‘In The Day of the Locust a young artist, Tod Hackett, arrives in LA full of dreams. But celebrity and artifice rule and he soon joins the ranks of the disenchanted that drift around the fringes of Hollywood. When he meets Faye Greener, an aspiring actress, he is intoxicated and his desperate passion explodes into rage...’ [Penguin]
‘Los Angeles has been the subject of, and setting for, many fine novels yet The Day of the Locust still feels like the single best-achieved piece of fiction the city has inspired.’ – The Los Angeles Times.
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Price HK$ 16,000
The Head of Kay s -
P. G. Wodehouse
1905 - Adam &, London - First Edition
An elegantly bound 120 year old first edition of Wodehouse’s sixth novel, featuring Eckleton boys school and encapsulating Wodehouse’s writing on boarding school life, the sports, camaraderie, Latin teachers, high jinks, and jolly good adventures. Illustrated with eight black and white plates by T.M.R. Whitwell. Housed in a bespoke blue cloth slipcase.
‘It is the general view at Eckleton school that there never was such a house of slackers as Kay's. Fenn, head of house and county cricketer, does his best to impose some discipline but is continually undermined by his house-master, the meddlesome and ineffectual Mr Kay. After the Summer Concert fiasco, Mr Kay resolves to remove Fenn from office and puts his house into special measures, co-opting Kennedy, second prefect of Blackburn's, as reluctant troubleshooter with a brief to turn the place around. But without the backing of Fenn, and the whole house hostile towards him, how can he achieve the impossible ...?’ [Penguin]
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Price HK$ 7,000
1905 - Adam &, London - First Edition
An elegantly bound 120 year old first edition of Wodehouse’s sixth novel, featuring Eckleton boys school and encapsulating Wodehouse’s writing on boarding school life, the sports, camaraderie, Latin teachers, high jinks, and jolly good adventures. Illustrated with eight black and white plates by T.M.R. Whitwell. Housed in a bespoke blue cloth slipcase.‘It is the general view at Eckleton school that there never was such a house of slackers as Kay's. Fenn, head of house and county cricketer, does his best to impose some discipline but is continually undermined by his house-master, the meddlesome and ineffectual Mr Kay. After the Summer Concert fiasco, Mr Kay resolves to remove Fenn from office and puts his house into special measures, co-opting Kennedy, second prefect of Blackburn's, as reluctant troubleshooter with a brief to turn the place around. But without the backing of Fenn, and the whole house hostile towards him, how can he achieve the impossible ...?’ [Penguin]
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Price HK$ 7,000
Louder and Funnier -
P. G. Wodehouse
1932 - Faber &, London - First Edition
Fine first edition elegantly bound by Bayntun-Riviere of Bath and housed in a bespoke blue slipcase.
A collection of articles originally written by Wodehouse for the magazine "Vanity Fair", many under pseudonyms, any reader of Wodehouse’s stories will be familiar with the topics covered here which preoccupied him all his life, ranging from Shakespeare, Hollywood and musical comedy, to butlers, thrillers, ocean liners and income tax.
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Price HK$ 4,000
1932 - Faber &, London - First Edition
Fine first edition elegantly bound by Bayntun-Riviere of Bath and housed in a bespoke blue slipcase.A collection of articles originally written by Wodehouse for the magazine "Vanity Fair", many under pseudonyms, any reader of Wodehouse’s stories will be familiar with the topics covered here which preoccupied him all his life, ranging from Shakespeare, Hollywood and musical comedy, to butlers, thrillers, ocean liners and income tax.
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Price HK$ 4,000