Modern First Editions

London: William Heinemann Ltd.. 1949."sitting in the kitchen sink"First edition. 182x120mm. pp. [4], 338. Illustrated with engravings by Ruth Steed from drawings by Dodie Smith herself. Blue cloth decorated and lettered in gilt. Fading to spine and to edges of boards. Illustrated dustjacket (supplied from another copy) with some creasing, chipping and closed tears.

London: Hutchinson and Co.. 1942.Rare supernatural crimeFirst edition. 184x130mm. pp. 184. Pale blue cloth, lettered in red. Original illustrated dustjacket. Top and bottom edges of jacket a little chipped and two small closed tears to foot of jacket. Internally very good but with some toning to the edges. Overall a very good copy. Rare (Worldcat recording ten copies) and especially so in the dustjacket.Margaret Long wrote under seven pseudonyms, principally as Marjorie Bowen. As Joseph Shearing she wrote crime mysteries, based on true stories overlaid with the supernatural.

New York: Simon and Schuster. 1968.First edition, first printing. 195x125mm. pp. 215 [1bl]. Blue cloth. Original illustrated dustjacket. Spine of jacket has some fading and a repaired closed tear and there is some light foxing to lower cover.

[London]: Macgibbon & Kee.. 1966.Inscribed by Naughton to the critic John Russell Taylor.First edition of the novel taken from the 1963 stage play, itself adapted from a radio play. 196x127mm. pp. [8], 9-208. Brown cloth, original illustrated dustjacket. Some rubbing to extremities of jacket and a small mark on upper cover but otherwise in excellent condition throughout. Front free endpaper is inscribed "To John Russell Taylor with good wishes from Bill Naughton. 13th Feb 66".

London: Burke Publishing Co. Ltd. 1961. First edition. 183x120mm. pp. 158. Green cloth, lettered in black to the spine. Original illustrated dustjacket. Slight creasing and two closed tears to head of jacket and rubbing to foot of spine of jacket but otherwise a very good copy of the sixth of MacVicar's Lost Planet series.

London: Hamish Hamilton.. 1951.Presentation copy with inscription to Alvilde Lees-Milne.First edition. Presentation copy with inscription to Alvilde Lees-Milne. 183x120mm. pp. 270. Red cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Illustrated dustjacket (supplied from another copy). Extremities bumped and lower board a little stained and cockled. Tears, with some loss, to head and foot of spine of jacket and slight chipping to edges at the flaps. Internally, there is some foxing, heavier to the half title and title page. Dedication page is inscribed "Alvilde with love from Nancy" and there is the ownership inscription of Alvilde on the front free endpaper.

London: Victor Gollancz Ltd. 1951.Who is Lovecraft? H.P.Lovecraft's first appearance in the UK.First UK edition. 8vo. 183x120mm. pp. [4], 5-303 [1bl]. Orange cloth, original yellow Gollancz jacket. Some fading to edges of boards. Chipping to edges of jacket and at head of spine and some soiling to spine and lower cover of jacket. Internally very good. A nice copy of the first collection of Lovecraft's work published outside America.

New York: Harper Row. 1984.Signed by Kundera on the title page. First US edition and the first edition in English translation. 219x138mm. pp. [6], 314. Publishers black paper covered boards, and tan cloth, spine lettered in black. Original dustjacket.

London: Rider & Co.. [1940]."one of the great novels of supernatural horror"First edition. 182x115mm. pp. 288. Blue cloth, lettered in gilt to spine. Original illustrated mauve dustjacket. Rubbing and slight chipping to edges of the jacket, marking and slight soiling to spine and lower cover of jacket. Internally very good but the text block is a little cocked and there is some spotting in places and slight soiling to the edges. Overall a very good copy of what is widely regarded as one of the great novels of supernatural horror and an important successor to the work of H.P.

London: Hutchinson Junior Books. 1968.First edition. 184x120mm. pp. 184. Grey cloth, spine lettered in red. Original illustrated dustjacket. Apart from some light shelfwear and a little foxing to the edges, this is in excellent condition throughout. The Giant under the Snow was John Gordon's first novel and established him as a striking new voice in children's supernatural fiction. It concerns mystery dogs, lost treasure and epic battles between good and evil.

London: Victor Gollancz Ltd.. 1932.Inscribed by the author to Dennis Wheatley.Inscribed to Dennis Wheatley and with Wheatley's bookplate. First edition. 195x120mm. pp. 607 [1bl]. Black cloth, lettered in gilt to spine. Original dust jacket, lettered in black and with removable red band indicating "The Book Society's "first" recommendation for January". Some minor chipping to head of spine of dust jacket and some creasing and a closed tear to top edge and spine a little faded. Internally very good with slight foxing to fore-edges. Overall an excellent copy in the rare dust-jacket and the even rarer band.

New York: E.P.Dutton & Company. 1923.First US edition in the scarce dustjacketFirst US edition. 8vo. 185x125mm. pp. [8], 368. Black cloth, lettered in red to upper cover and spine. Original dustjacket. Repaired closed tear to fold of dust jacket at spine and upper cover and small tears at the fold with the flap on the lower cover.

Translated from the French by Stuart Gilbert. Introduction by Cyril Connolly.London: Hamish Hamilton. 1946.First edition in English. 8vo. 185x120mm. pp. [iv], 3-103 [1]. Grey cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Original dustjacket illustrated by Edward Bawden. Bumping to head and foot of spine. Repair to top and bottom edges of dustjacket and two closed tears to top edge and slight chipping to bottom edge of rear of dustjacket but otherwise in very good condition and internally excellent. It is not common in a good jacket. Camus's concise, dense, absurdist novel of alienation first appeared in 1942.

New York: Ballantine Books Inc.. 1953. No false prophet First trade edition. 197x126mm. Pp. [6], 199 [3]. Red cloth, lettered in yellow to upper cover and spine. Original illustrated dustjacket. Some chipping and creasing to the edges of the jacket but otherwise in very good condition and internally excellent. Jacket is Currey's state D (no priority). Front free endpaper has a gift inscription dated October 22, 1953 "To Don – With the hope that we can prove Ray Bradbury as false prophet! Polly".

Edinburgh: Canongate Publishing. 1985.SIGNED LIMITED "DEFINITIVE" EDITIONLimited edition, signed by Alasdair Gray and numbered 603/1000. 233x155mm. pp. [6], 560, [2]. Original black cloth lettered in gilt "Endure You are not alone" on the boards and with the title, author and imprint on the spine. Original illustrated dust jacket. Slight fading to jacket but otherwise in immaculate condition throughout.

Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow Press. 1982.SIGNED WITH AN ORIGINAL PAINTINGLimited edition number of 67/100, signed by Bukowski and with an original oil painting by Bukowski on a blank preliminary. 228x150mm. pp. 283 [5]. Half blue cloth, illustrated paper covered boards, protected by original acetate wrapper. In very good condition throughout. The painting is of a human head in profile. Owing something to cubism (in its structure), Mondrian (in its colour) and Gaudier-Brzeska (in its monumentality), this is a striking work in thickly applied oils. Ham on Rye is widely regarded as among Bukowski's finest works.

North Hollywood, California Essex House. 1968.First edition. 170x108mm. pp. 255. Original paperback, pictorial card cover with postscript by Theodore Sturgeon. Very good condition with a little light rubbing to covers. Internally fine.