Search Results: Books from Main Street Fine Books & Manuscripts, ABAA

London: The Folio Society, 1995. Hardcover. Edited and introduced by Merlin Holland. Illustrations by Ian Archie Beck. Complete 3-volume set. Small 4to. Beige cloth with gilt spine lettering and decoration, slipcase. xxii, 456pp; x, 492pp; viii, 576pp. Color frontispieces, illustrations. Fine/very good. All volumes tight and pristine, while slipcase shows touch of rubbing and bit of archivally mended edgewear. A handsome third printing of this large trio of all of the controversial Irish poet and playwright's work, as edited by his one and only grandson.

New York: Crown Publishers, 1962. Hardcover. 8vo. Quarter yellow cloth with orange spine lettering and orange patterned paper over boards. 479pp. Map endpapers. Near fine. Lacks dust jacket. A tight and nice first edition of this oddball novel by the Chinese politician and historian (1903-84) who became mayor of Shangai and head of the Taiwan Provincial Government. Half-title page bears choice presentation inscription, boldly penned in black ballpoint: "For Ambassador Adlai / Stevenson -- the fellow / Princeton Democrat. / K.C. Wu / [signature in Chinese characters] / Sept. 9, 1962." From the library of U.S. Senator Adlai E. Stevenson III (1930-2021) and before him his father, Adlai E. Stevenson II (1900-65), Illinois governor and twice Democratic presidential candidate -- and from 1961 until his death the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Wu received his doctorate in political science from Princeton in 1926, Stevenson a bachelor's degree in literature and history in 1922. Quite unusual.

London: The Folio Society, 2000. Hardcover. Small 4to. Brown decorative cloth with gilt spine lettering, brown paper over boards slipcase. 254pp. Fine/fine. Pristine copy of the poet's celebrated memoir and the first of the Folio Society's two editions (the 2020 version illustrated). Angelou co-authored a screenplay, turned into a made-for-television film that aired on CBS in 1979 -- and this sharp copy bears on front flyleaf a fine heavy stock 5" X 3" card signed by one of the stars of that film: RUBY DEE (1922-2014; portrays Grandmother Baxter) signs huge and bold in black fineline, dating it 16 July 1970 at upper right. A lovely copy with relevant autograph addition.

New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1996. Hardcover. Folio. White cloth with gilt lettering, pictorial dust jacket. 292pp. Extensive illustrations (most color), 2 large foldouts, maps, pictorial endpapers. Very good/very good. Top and bottom edge of binding (only) shows minor dampstain, else tight and internally fine; circular blind-embossed ownership imprint on front flyleaf. Handsome first edition of this lavishly illustrated survey of The Eternal City from its origins to its decline and fall.

Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1957. Hardcover. Small 4to. Tan cloth with gilt spine lettering. xi, 692pp. Very good. Faint bit of binding wear; light stain to outer page edges, else tight and internally near fine. Tight and attractive first edition. From the collection of Adlai E. Stevenson III (1930-2021), U.S. Senator from Illinois (1969-81) -- whose large, bold ownership signature in blue ballpoint appears on the front flyleaf.

New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1958. Hardcover. Foreword by Bell I. Wiley. Complete 2-volume set. (35pp), 707pp; (17pp), 808pp. Frontispieces, illustrations, maps. Near fine. Very faintest of binding wear and volume II spine ever-so-lightly sunned, else both are tight and internally fine. First of this edition -- other than Wiley's excellent introduction, a facsimile of the 1881 first edition (New York: D. Appleton and Co.). Albert W. Johannsen notes (Nevins, p. 51) that Davis "Conceals more than it reveals of the inner history of the Confederacy; mainly an agrumentative dissertation on secession and states rights." Intriguing provenance: From the collection of Adlai E. Stevenson III (1930-2021), U.S. Senator from Illinois (1969-81), and certainly before him of his Civil War buff father Adlai II (1900-65), Illinois governor and two-time presidential candidate. HOWES D 120.

Leningrad: Aurora Art Publishers, 1975. Hardcover. Square 16mo. Glossy pictorial paper over boards, slipcase. (Ca. 200pp). Color frontispiece, extensive illustrations (most color). Near fine/very good. Card stock slipcase faintly edgeworn. Handsome and tight second edition of this survey of the holdings of Russia's largest art museum -- one hundred works pictured and described from the 14th through 20th centuries. From the collection of Adlai E. Stevenson III (1930-2021), U.S. Senator from Illinois (1969-81).

Cincinnati: The Society, 1893. Hardcover. Small 4to. Emerald green blind-embossed pebble-grained cloth over beveled boards with gilt lettering and decorations. 578pp, (26pp). Tissue-guarded color frontispiece, tissue-guarded full-page plate, decorative endpapers. Near fine. Very faintest of minor binding wear to otherwise spectacularly fine copy. Superb, tight first edition of this reunion series, here containing reports for the 21st, 22nd and 23rd proceedings. This exceptional copy, with gilt as bright as the day published, bears the large ownership signature on front flyleaf of "D.B. Henderson / Dubuque Iowa." David B. Henderson (1840-1906) served Congress as U.S. Representative from Iowa from 1883 to 1903 and as Speaker of the House from 1899 to 1903 -- more importantly, he served valiantly in the Union army from 1861 to 1864, getting shot in the neck at the Battle of Fort Donelson and losing a foot and part of a leg in the Second Battle of Corinth, both in 1862. An outstanding copy with… Read More

London: Elek, 1971. Hardcover. Translation by Eveline Hart. 8vo. Salmon cloth with gilt spine lettering, pictorial dust jacket. 256pp. Numerous illustrations (some color). Fine/near fine. Superb, tight, bright first edition of this survey -- and with surprising autograph addition, for this copy has been extra-illustrated with a tip-in facing the title page (frontispiece, in effect) from a well-known modern practitioner from the printmaking world: A 5" X 6½" glossy heavy stock color picture postcard, a publisher's promotional piece for the book "Mystery" by Arthur Geisert depicts an etching of a note-taking pig studying the back side of a large picture frame, signed boldly in blue fineline by Geisert. Art Geisert (born 1941) is a premiere etcher whose award-winning prints and many children's books often feature pig characters; his work has been exhibited at Chicago's Institute of Art Institute and many other museums. Pristine, with mailing portion verso blank.

New YT: The Century Co, 1902. Hardcover. 12mo. Olive green cloth with ivory lettering and ivory/blue/burgundy pictorial front board stamping. 153pp. Near fine. Most mild of binding wear, else tight and internally fine; tiny Christmas 1902 nonauthorial gift inscription on front flyleaf. Quite tight and attractive early printing of this 1901 bestseller about poverty in a Louisville neighborhood, the first and by far best known novel by this Kentucky novelist (1870-1942, later known as Alice Hegan Rice).

New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Publishers, 1969. Hardcover. Small 4to. Green cloth with gilt spine lettering, dust jacket. 228pp. Fine/near fine. Tight and handsome first edition of this two-column compendium that begins in 105 BC and ends in 1967.

New York: The Heritage Press, 1938. Hardcover. Translation by Constance Garnett. Illustrations by Fritz Eichenberg. 8vo. Red cloth with gilt lettering and decoration, pictorial dust jacket. 484pp. Frontispiece, full-page illustrations. Very good/very good. Jacket a bit edgeworn, with slightly sunned spine and several miniscule edge chips. Tight, handsome "Heritage Reprints" war-date printing -- one of very few titles that the Limited Editions Club (who owned Heritage) printed in their signed and numbered edition AFTER the Heritage edition (see pp. 105, Fitzgerald's "The History of the Limited Editions Club"). Eichenberg's wood engravings are as usual powerful and evocative. Front flyleaf bookplate of Frank S. Hanlin (924-82, noted bibliographer and University of Iowa special collections director).

New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1876. Hardcover. 8vo. Brown blind-embossed cloth over beveled boards with gilt spine lettering. xii, 398pp, (6pp ads). Tissue-guarded frontispiece. Near fine. Faint wear to binding only, else tight and internally fine. Superb first edition of this biography of the Iowa Republican who served as that state;s third governor and then senator. Inner flyleaf bears ownership signature of Julius K. Graves (1837-98), Iowa banker and Republican state legislator and mayor of Dubuque (1867).

New York: David Lewis, 1970. Hardcover. 8vo. Blue with gilt and red spine lettering, pictorial dust jacket. xi, 287pp. Fine/near fine. Superb, tight 1st edition of the 1st biography of the eccentric pub-lisher (1884-1933) who founded The Modern Li-brary and Boni & Liveright in 1917 with partner Albert Boni -- first American publishers of William Faulkner, Sigmund Freud, Ernest Hemingway, Hart Crane, S.J. Perelman, Lewis Mumford and Dorothy Parker as well as publisher of Bertrand Russell, Theodore Dreiser, T.S. Eliot and other literary luminaries. Tipped to inner flyleaf of this sharp copy is a great content Typed Letter Signed (in pencil) from Liveright, 1p, 5½" X 8½", New York, NY, 10 November 1924. Addressed to Henry Albert Phillips. Fine. On "Boni & Liveright Publishers" letterhead, Liveright chats with this author (1880-1951) whose book "Other People's Lives" he had just published: "I'm glad that you and Mrs. Phillips liked The Firebrand. I think it's a damn good play and I am happy to say that… Read More

New York: Doubleday & McClure Co, 1899. Hardcover. Small 8vo. Tan cloth with orange and black lettering, rules and pictorial stamping. 339pp. Very good. Binding slightly age toned and rubbed, else internally tight and fine; contemporary ownership signature on inner flyleaf. Attractive first edition of the short-lived writer's fourth book, a fictionalized account of Norris's courtship in San Francisco with Jeannette Black, who he married in 1900.

New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc, 1969. Hardcover. Small 4to. Teal blue cloth with white spine lettering, pictorial dust jacket. viii, 279pp. Near fine/near fine. Tight and attractive third printing of this first history of American magazines from 1741 on up through 1969.

London: The Batchworth Press, 1953. Hardcover. Small 4to. Blue cloth with glt spine lettering, pictorial dust jacket. xii, 140pp. Numerous illustrations. Near fine/very good. Jacket mildly edgeworn, with single edge chip. Quite tight and nice first edition.

Des Moines: F.R. Conaway, State Printer, 1896. Hardcover. Small 4to. Grey blind-ruled cloth with gilt front board lettering and pictorial stamping. 85pp. Frontispiece, 5 full-page illustrations. Near fine. Faint handling to binding only, else tight and internally near fine. Handsome first edition of this "Report of the Battle Flag Committee Appointed by the Twenty=Fourth General Assembly to Provide Cases and Transfer the Iowa Battle Flags from the Arsenal to the Capitol," being the text of the state governor's proclamation and speechifying from him and other dignitaries, as well as an itemized inventory of all 138 flags. Front flyleaf bears a large, bold presentation inscription in black ink: "Hyde Clarke Post G.A.R. / Dubuque Ia / Compliments of / Jno. R. Prime." Prime (1847-1923), whose signature also appears in facsimile on the opening text page, was a career Army officer who first served as private with Company K of the 27th Iowa Infantry in the Civil War, served as adjutant-general and was… Read More

Köln / London: Taschen, 2001. Hardcover. Folio. Pictorial paper over boards. 504pp. Color frontispieces, extensive color illustrations, decorative endpapers. Fine. Tight and handsome first edition of this enormous, broad and generous survey of manuscript treasures, superbly illustrated and with informative accompanying text.

Norfolk, CT: New Directions, 1938. Hardcover. 16mo. Black cloth spine with silver lettering and 2-color patterned paper over boards. 111pp. Near fine. Front pastedown ownership signature and front flyleaf scuff. Tight, handsome first thus of this cute-as-a-button selection from the "Anthologia Palatina" (or simply "AP"), a collection of ancient Greek poems and epigrams ranging from 7th century BC to 7th century AD discovered in the early 17th century. Here the noted American poet, translator and critic Fitts (1903-68) offers his condensed versions. A lovely volume, with rear colophon noting limitation of 500 copies printed in January 1938.