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Abbey's Road - Inscribed -
Edward Abbey, Jean Pruchnik (illustrator)
1979 - E. P. Dutton, New York - First Edition
A fine first edition, illustrated by Jean Pruchnik, signed and inscribed ‘all the best! Edward Abbey Santa Fe 11/56/88’
‘In the spirit of Desert Solitaire and The Journey Home, Abbey's Road is a personal odyssey. Edward Abbey's explorations include the familiar territory of the Rio Grande in Texas and Canyonlands National Park and Lake Powell in Utah. He also takes us to such varied places as Scotland, the interior of Australia, and the Sierra Madre and Isla de la Sombra in Mexico.’
‘I've been along a few of Mr. Abbey's roads. He sees much more than I did. Indeed, reading him is often better than being there was.’ – John Leonard.
‘Abbey's the original fly in the ointment. Give him money and prizes. Don't let anything happen to him.’ – Thomas McGuane.
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Price HK$ 6,000
1979 - E. P. Dutton, New York - First Edition
A fine first edition, illustrated by Jean Pruchnik, signed and inscribed ‘all the best! Edward Abbey Santa Fe 11/56/88’‘In the spirit of Desert Solitaire and The Journey Home, Abbey's Road is a personal odyssey. Edward Abbey's explorations include the familiar territory of the Rio Grande in Texas and Canyonlands National Park and Lake Powell in Utah. He also takes us to such varied places as Scotland, the interior of Australia, and the Sierra Madre and Isla de la Sombra in Mexico.’
‘I've been along a few of Mr. Abbey's roads. He sees much more than I did. Indeed, reading him is often better than being there was.’ – John Leonard.
‘Abbey's the original fly in the ointment. Give him money and prizes. Don't let anything happen to him.’ – Thomas McGuane.
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Price HK$ 6,000
The Education of Henry Adams: An Autobiography -
Henry Adams
1918 - Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York - First Trade Edition
A fine first trade edition of Henry Adams influential and Pulitzer-winning autobiography, that records the struggle of the Bostonian Henry Adams (1838–1918), in his later years, to come to terms with the dawning 20th century, so different from the world of his youth, whilst charting the great transformation in American life during the so-called Gilded Age.
First circulated privately in a run of 100 copies, and then published here posthumously and with an added preface by Henry Cabot Lodge. The Modern Library placed it first in a list of the top 100 English-language non-fiction books of the 20th century.
Housed in a bespoke leather clamshell case.
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Price HK$ 5,000
1918 - Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York - First Trade Edition
A fine first trade edition of Henry Adams influential and Pulitzer-winning autobiography, that records the struggle of the Bostonian Henry Adams (1838–1918), in his later years, to come to terms with the dawning 20th century, so different from the world of his youth, whilst charting the great transformation in American life during the so-called Gilded Age.First circulated privately in a run of 100 copies, and then published here posthumously and with an added preface by Henry Cabot Lodge. The Modern Library placed it first in a list of the top 100 English-language non-fiction books of the 20th century.
Housed in a bespoke leather clamshell case.
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Price HK$ 5,000
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men -
James Agee, Walker Evans
1941 - Houghton, Boston - First Edition
First edition of what is considered one of the most influential works on the great depression and collaborations between author and photographer, of all time. In a superior and thus scarce dust jacket without restoration or price clipping. Illustrated with 31 photographs by Walker Evans.
Eclipsed by Steinbeck’s ‘Grapes of Wrath’ and only selling 1,000 copies on publication, Agee’s ferocious portrait of life among American sharecroppers remains the true classic of the Great Depression. [The Guardian Newspaper, 2008]
‘In the summer of 1936, Agee and Evans set out on assignment for Fortune magazine to explore the daily lives of sharecroppers in the South. Their journey would prove an extraordinary collaboration and a watershed literary event. This unsparing record of place, of the people who shaped the land, and of the rhythm of their lives today stands as one of the most influential books of the twentieth century.’
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Price HK$ 32,000
1941 - Houghton, Boston - First Edition
First edition of what is considered one of the most influential works on the great depression and collaborations between author and photographer, of all time. In a superior and thus scarce dust jacket without restoration or price clipping. Illustrated with 31 photographs by Walker Evans.Eclipsed by Steinbeck’s ‘Grapes of Wrath’ and only selling 1,000 copies on publication, Agee’s ferocious portrait of life among American sharecroppers remains the true classic of the Great Depression. [The Guardian Newspaper, 2008]
‘In the summer of 1936, Agee and Evans set out on assignment for Fortune magazine to explore the daily lives of sharecroppers in the South. Their journey would prove an extraordinary collaboration and a watershed literary event. This unsparing record of place, of the people who shaped the land, and of the rhythm of their lives today stands as one of the most influential books of the twentieth century.’
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Price HK$ 32,000
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Inscribed -
Maya Angelou
1969 - Random House, New York - First Edition
A fine first edition signed and inscribed by Maya Angelou: ‘Joy! The caged bird sings of freedom.’
‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ marks the first volume in what would ultimately become a seven volume autobiography. It was written in the months following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on 4 April 1968 - coincidentally, also Maya Angelou's birthday - at the suggestion of James Baldwin, as a way of working through her grief and depression over King's death. Baldwin would later call the resulting work "a Biblical study of life in the midst of death." Its themes of identity, racism, trauma, and literacy led to equal parts acclaim and criticism, with the book hailed as one of the greatest works of biography ever produced by an American author and one of the most frequently banned or challenged books in the United States.
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Price HK$ 30,000
1969 - Random House, New York - First Edition
A fine first edition signed and inscribed by Maya Angelou: ‘Joy! The caged bird sings of freedom.’‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ marks the first volume in what would ultimately become a seven volume autobiography. It was written in the months following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on 4 April 1968 - coincidentally, also Maya Angelou's birthday - at the suggestion of James Baldwin, as a way of working through her grief and depression over King's death. Baldwin would later call the resulting work "a Biblical study of life in the midst of death." Its themes of identity, racism, trauma, and literacy led to equal parts acclaim and criticism, with the book hailed as one of the greatest works of biography ever produced by an American author and one of the most frequently banned or challenged books in the United States.
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Price HK$ 30,000
The Sot-Weed Factor -
John Barth
1960 - Doubleday, Garden City - First Edition
First edition of John Barth's satirical epic set in the 1680s–90s in London and colonial Maryland, cementing his reputation as one of the leading experimental writers of his generation. Accompanied by two examples of the scarce and delicate dust jacket, suitably designed by Edward Gorey.
The main character - Ebenezer Cooke - was considered by Time to be ‘one of the most diverting... to roam the world since Candide’.
The Sot-Weed Factor ‘recounts the widely chaotic odyssey of hapless, ungainly Ebenezer Cooke, sent to the New World to look after his father’s tobacco business and to record the struggles of the Maryland colony in an epic poem. On his mission, Cooke experiences capture by pirates and Indians; the loss of his father’s estate to roguish impostors; love for a former prostitute; stealthy efforts to rob him of his virginity, which he is (almost) determined to protect; and an extraordinary gallery of treacherous characters who continually switch identities. “ [Atlantic]
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Price HK$ 6,000
1960 - Doubleday, Garden City - First Edition
First edition of John Barth's satirical epic set in the 1680s–90s in London and colonial Maryland, cementing his reputation as one of the leading experimental writers of his generation. Accompanied by two examples of the scarce and delicate dust jacket, suitably designed by Edward Gorey.The main character - Ebenezer Cooke - was considered by Time to be ‘one of the most diverting... to roam the world since Candide’.
The Sot-Weed Factor ‘recounts the widely chaotic odyssey of hapless, ungainly Ebenezer Cooke, sent to the New World to look after his father’s tobacco business and to record the struggles of the Maryland colony in an epic poem. On his mission, Cooke experiences capture by pirates and Indians; the loss of his father’s estate to roguish impostors; love for a former prostitute; stealthy efforts to rob him of his virginity, which he is (almost) determined to protect; and an extraordinary gallery of treacherous characters who continually switch identities. “ [Atlantic]
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Price HK$ 6,000
You Can't Win -
Jack Black, Robert Herrick (Foreword)
1926 - The Macmillan Company, New York - First Edition
The classic American anti-hero narrative of West Coast hobo safecracker and petty thief, Jack Black—a work which William S. Burroughs cited as one of his favorite books. The acknowledgment page sets the tone for Black's journey through the American underworld, "This book is dedicated to Fremont Older, to Judge Frank H. Dunne, to the unnamed friend who sawed me out of the San Francisco jail and to that dirty, drunken, disreputable, crippled beggar, 'Sticks' Sullivan, who picked the buckshot out of my back—under the bridge—at Baraboo, Wisconsin".
‘A journey into the hobo underworld, freight hopping around the still Wild West, becoming a highwayman and member of the yegg (criminal) brotherhood, getting hooked on opium, doing stints in jail or escaping, often with the assistance of crooked cops or judges.’ - A K Press.
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Price HK$ 7,500
1926 - The Macmillan Company, New York - First Edition
The classic American anti-hero narrative of West Coast hobo safecracker and petty thief, Jack Black—a work which William S. Burroughs cited as one of his favorite books. The acknowledgment page sets the tone for Black's journey through the American underworld, "This book is dedicated to Fremont Older, to Judge Frank H. Dunne, to the unnamed friend who sawed me out of the San Francisco jail and to that dirty, drunken, disreputable, crippled beggar, 'Sticks' Sullivan, who picked the buckshot out of my back—under the bridge—at Baraboo, Wisconsin".‘A journey into the hobo underworld, freight hopping around the still Wild West, becoming a highwayman and member of the yegg (criminal) brotherhood, getting hooked on opium, doing stints in jail or escaping, often with the assistance of crooked cops or judges.’ - A K Press.
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Price HK$ 7,500
Fahrenheit 451 - Signed -
Ray Bradbury
1953 - Ballantine Books, New York - First edition
One of the Most Desirable Rarities in Modern Science Fiction.
First edition, one of 200 copies, of which this is number 36, signed by Bradbury and bound in ‘an asbestos material with exceptional resistance to pyrolysis’.
An outstanding, tight and bright copy, whose magnificently named binding material ‘Johns-Manville Quinterra’, a fireproof asbestos material, is prone to crumbling, staining, and soiling.
‘Frightening in its implications.’ - New York Times.
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Price HK$ 250,000
1953 - Ballantine Books, New York - First edition
One of the Most Desirable Rarities in Modern Science Fiction.First edition, one of 200 copies, of which this is number 36, signed by Bradbury and bound in ‘an asbestos material with exceptional resistance to pyrolysis’.
An outstanding, tight and bright copy, whose magnificently named binding material ‘Johns-Manville Quinterra’, a fireproof asbestos material, is prone to crumbling, staining, and soiling.
‘Frightening in its implications.’ - New York Times.
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Price HK$ 250,000
The Last Night of the Earth Poems -
Charles Bukowski
1992 - Black Sparrow Press, Santa Rosa - Letter ‘U’ of 26 lettered and signed copies. First Edition
A special deluxe copy with an original Bukowski silkscreen print signed ‘Buk ‘92’, also signed in the colophon, only 26 were produced each hand-bound by Earle Gray.
One of Bukowski’s most successful collections of poetry.
‘These poems were written when Bukowski was in his seventies. Old man Bukowski reflects on his life in his typical raw style. It features classic Bukowski poems like the beautiful ‘The Bluebird’ and the epic apocalyptic horror that is ‘Dinosauria, we’.’ - Outsiders & Misfits.
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Price HK$ 9,000
1992 - Black Sparrow Press, Santa Rosa - Letter ‘U’ of 26 lettered and signed copies. First Edition
A special deluxe copy with an original Bukowski silkscreen print signed ‘Buk ‘92’, also signed in the colophon, only 26 were produced each hand-bound by Earle Gray.One of Bukowski’s most successful collections of poetry.
‘These poems were written when Bukowski was in his seventies. Old man Bukowski reflects on his life in his typical raw style. It features classic Bukowski poems like the beautiful ‘The Bluebird’ and the epic apocalyptic horror that is ‘Dinosauria, we’.’ - Outsiders & Misfits.
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Price HK$ 9,000