Literature

"Nata in Arabia": The Phoenix in Tasso's own hand

A great rarity: an autograph fair copy of Tasso's poem "La Fenice", published twelve years after Tasso's death as part of his great, posthumous "Sette Giornate del Mondo Creato" (and subsequently included as a separate poem in his "Rime"). In this long poem, Tasso celebrates the glorious Arabian-born bird as created by God to symbolize His only son, and the resurrection of the Christ.

“War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner.”

First edition, first printing of McCarthy’s brutal, unsentimental and beautiful portrayal of the Wild West, in the original dustjacket.

"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

First edition, first impression of Animal Farm, one of the greatest satires of the English language, in the original dustjacket.

“Few things are sadder than the truly monstrous.”

First edition, first printing of West’s great Hollywood novel, in the original dustjacket.

First American edition of the first of Dostoevsky’s books to be translated into English, a fictionalized account of imprisonment in a Siberian labor camp.

First American edition of one of Dostoevsky’s most universally-recognized works, The House of the Dead (also known as Notes from the Dead House). The novel is a fictionalized account of his imprisonment in a Siberian labor camp. After his mock execution in December 1849, Dostoevsky was sentenced to four years imprisonment at Omsk in western Siberia. Drawing from his experience, the novel portrays the lives of convicts in a Siberian prison camp through a loosely-knit collection of descriptions, events and philosophical discussions, organized around themes and characters rather than plot.

Melville’s greatest work

First US edition of Melville's greatest work, in the first issue binding (BAL's "A" state, with the publisher's device on the covers and orange endpapers). The US edition was the first to bear the title Moby Dick and contains 35 passages and the epilogue by Richard Bentley, the British editor, omitted from the slightly earlier British edition. Red cloth is the rarest of the first issue binding colours, and more sought after that the more common blue examples.

First edition of the Arte de Ingenio.

First edition, very rare, one of the most important productions of the Golden Century of Spanish literature, and an influential work in world literature, specifically on literary aesthetics, and certainly the crowning jewel of Gracian´s ouevre. An unusually fine copy of a book that, when found, is usually in terrible condition or simply incomplete.

First English edition of Cervantes’ Novels

First edition in English of Cervantes’ Novelas Exemplares, arguably his most famous work after the Quijote and certainly the most reproduced during the 17th century; the English translation was prepared by James Mabbe (1572-1642), English scholar, translator and poet.

Remarkable ensemble of Brussels editions of the Quijote

An exceptional ensemble of lifetime editions, pairing the first edition published outside of Spain of the second part (the second overall, published only months after the first), with an early edition of the first part, incorporating corrections to the text, published six years after the first.

The most important literary work produced in fifteenth century Spain.

Early Italian edition of the Celestina, surely the most remarkable works produced in 15th century Spain. It has enjoyed a huge, lasting influence; it is valued as one of the best examples of Spanish-language literature. A novel consisting of a series of dialogues that can also be read as a play, it has been staged as such.

Illustrated incunable Fable Book, with a fascinating contemporary English provenance.

Early illustrated fable-book with 121 popular fables in prose—some of which derive from Aesop—each accompanied by 121 woodcuts from 119 blocks; bound in is a recipe written in English from the second half of the 15th century. “One of the most disarming of early printed books” (Yale, University Gazette, 1968). First published in 1480 in Gouda, birthplace of Gerard Leeu (c.1450–1492), regarded as the most important printer of the Pays Bas and friends with Erasmus; the work was again printed by him, here already in its fifth edition (after those of Cologne, Stockholm, Lyon).