The Demolished Man
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£165.00
The Demolished Man
By Alfred Bester
First edition, first impression. The first ever winner of the Hugo Award in 1953.
Original red cloth with lettering to spine in gilt. A little dustiness to top edge with slight evidence of knocking to corners and a black dot to spine. Otherwise very good, in the original and unclipped dust jacket with some chipping to spine head, several tears to edges and moderate sunning to spine panel.
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Categories: First Edition, Modern First Editions, Science Fiction
The Demolished Man
By Alfred Bester
First UK Edition
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The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side
Agatha Christie, First Edition, Modern First Editions
The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side
By Agatha Christie
First edition, first impression. A Miss Marple novel and the subject of several TV and film adaptations.
Original red cloth with black lettering to spine. Some browning/off-setting to front and rear endpapers and paste-downs with a few spots to edges, mainly to the top. Otherwise very good and clean internally.
The original and unclipped dust jacket has a closed tear to spine head and a couple of other smaller nicks to edges. A couple of areas light staining to upper and lower panels with a soft vertical crease running along upper panel that is only visible upon inspection of the reverse of the jacket. Very good.
£125.00


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The Harry Palmer Books: Ipcress File, Horse Under Water, Funeral in Berlin, Billion Dollar Brain
Crime and Thriller, First Edition, Modern First Editions, Showcase, Signed First Editions
The Harry Palmer Books
By Len Deighton
Four Volumes. All first editions, first impressions, published between 1962-1966. Vol I is the correct first issue, without the reviews. Vol II contains the rare crossword competition insert (here blank). Volume I is inscribed by the author to the title page with the note from the author “there are not many copies of this edition!”
Orange, red, black and blue boards, consecutively; lettered in gilt to spines with publisher’s devices to foot; Vol II and III with classification stamp in colour and blind to upper board; Vol IV with white brail design to upper cover, and in the iconic silver dust jacket; all dust jackets unclipped, and designed by Raymond Hawkey; decorative endpapers in all but Vol I; the books generally very good to near-fine, clean, with some mild pushing to spine tips and marking to outer edges of the text block; small stain to p. 11 of Vol I; the wrappers with some darkening to edges and pushing to spine tips; a couple of small creases, nicks and closed tears; front flap of Vol II with paper flaw causing crease and particularly obscuring the price; Vol III a little more rubbed to spine ends, and faint spotting to inside flap; Vol IV a little more creased to the flaps, and lightly rubbed to rear panel.
Deighton’s pinnacle works, and the books which “challenged the nature of British spy fiction”. The series follows protagonist Harry Palmer through a variety of challenges and settings, which include Cold War brainwashing, atomic weapons tests, ice-melting technology, secret plots, murders, and eggs contaminated with a deadly virus.
Inspired by his experiences working for an advertising agency (when he was the only employee not to have been educated at Eton), Deighton wrote a novel based around a gritty, nameless, working-class protagonist who he later named Harry Palmer. The character proved hugely popular with the British public, the success of which the author (modestly) puts down to the fact that The Ipcress File was published in the same year as Fleming’s Dr. No. As well as this series, Palmer also featured in a series of later novels, including An Expensive Place to Die (1967) and Spy Story (1972). Of the present four books, Horse Under Water was the only one not to be adapted to film. The others all starred Michael Caine in the lead role.
Deighton famously avoids book signings, interviews and literary festivals, making signed copies of his works rare indeed.
£2,750.00
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The Sword of Honour Trilogy
First Edition, History, Modern First Editions
The Sword of Honour Trilogy
By Evelyn Waugh
Three volumes. All first editions, first impressions, published by Chapman & Hall between 1952-1961.
All three volumes bound in blue cloth with lettering to spines in gilt and blue top-stain, which remains bright and well-preserved. A little toning to edges of vols I and II. Vol I has a tear to fore-edge of page 145 with some associated creasing and a thin and unobtrusive strip of discolouration to the bottom edge of upper board. The contents, aside from a couple of light and small areas of soiling to pages 310 & 313, are clean throughout. Vol II has some off-setting to front and rear endpapers and paste-downs and a small Foyles sticker to front paste-down, else a near fine book. Vol III is a fine and bright copy with just the slighted off-setting to fron and rear endpapers and paste-downs.
A few chips and tears to the edges of the dust jacket of the first two vols with a little spotting or light soiling in places and a couple of tape repairs to upper panel fore-edge of vol I. The dust jacket of vol III is near fine and bright, but for a touch of faint soiling to lower panel and a few light spots to verso.
A very good set overall.
£250.00
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Planet Plane
John Wyndham, Modern First Editions, Science Fiction
Planet Plane
By John Beynon (John Wyndham)
First edition, first impression in the rare green first issue cloth, rather than the later yellow binding. Later re-published under the title 'Stowaway to Mars'. The author's second science fiction novel and third published novel overall, preceding those he wrote as 'John Wyndham', such as 'The Day of the Triffids', 'The Chrysalids' and 'The Midwich Cuckoos' that so dramatically influenced the genre.
Original green cloth. Gift inscription to front paste-down. Some spotting, primarily to preliminaries, edges and final leaves with far lighter and more isolated spotting to contents, else very good. Lacking dust jacket. A rare edition of one of the author's earliest works, seldom found in its first issue green binding.
£400.00