The Hydrogen Sonata
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£250.00
The Hydrogen Sonata
By Iain M. Banks
First edition, first impression. Signed and dedicated by the author to the title page. Original black cloth with lettering to spine in gilt. A fine copy, with a touch of toning to edges, in a fine dust jacket.
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Categories: Iain Banks, Modern First Editions, Science Fiction, Signed First Editions
The Hydrogen Sonata
By Iain M. Banks
Signed and Dedicated First Edition


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The Wind in the Willows
Children's Fiction, First Edition, Modern First Editions
The Wind in the Willows
By Kenneth Grahame
First edition of the first illustrated Arthur Rackham edition published in the United Kingdom, featuring illustrations that originally appeared in the US Limited Edition Club edition in 1940. 97th edition overall. 12 colour plates and 15 line drawings by Rackham.
Original green cloth with lettering to spine in gilt. Some fairly light spotting to fore-edge. Contents are lovely and clean and free from names and inscriptions, save for a touch of very faint spotting to endpapers. Very good or better.
The original and unclipped dust jacket has a few tears to edges with some edge wear and rubbing and fraying, primarily to hinges and folds. A very good copy.
£475.00
New


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Salem’s Lot
First Edition, Horror, Modern First Editions, Stephen King
Salem's Lot
By Stephen King
First UK edition, first impression. Adapted into mini-series in 1979 and 2004 with a film adaptation released in late 2024.
Original black cloth with lettering to spine in gilt. Faint off-setting to front and rear endpapers and paste-downs. A few light spots to opening few pages with the usual toning to edges.
The original dust jacket is price-clipped with the publisher's reprice sticker to the top corner of upper flap and some spotting to verso. Spine panel lettering very slightly faded.
A very good or better example of an uncommon edition of the author's second published novel.
£750.00


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The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage
First Edition, Modern First Editions, Signed First Editions
The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage
By Philip Pullman
First edition, first impression. Signed by the author to the title page. A fine book in a fine, unclipped dust jacket.
£100.00
New


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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