The Shadow of the Wind
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The Shadow of the Wind
£500.00
The Shadow of the Wind
By Carlos Ruiz Zafón
First US edition, first impression (Penguin, 2004). Signed by the author to the title page. Precedes the Weidenfeld & Nicolson limited edition, which was published the following year in 2005.
Quarter-bound in burgundy cloth with lettering to spine and upper board in gilt. A touch of pushing to spine ends, else fine in a fine dust jacket. An excellent, crisp copy.
1 in stock
The Shadow of the Wind
By Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Signed First US Edition
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First Love, Last Rites
First Edition, Ian McEwan, Modern First Editions, Signed First Editions
First Love, Last Rites
By Ian McEwan
First edition, first impression. Inscribed by the author to the title page: 'To John best wishes Ian McEwan'. The author's first book.
Original black cloth with lettering to spine in gilt. A fine book with a little faint dustiness to top edge, in a fine and unclipped dust jacket with only one very minor instance of wear to spine head. A brilliant copy.
£550.00
New
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The Old Man and the Sea
Ernest Hemingway, First Edition, General Literary Fiction, Modern First Editions
The Old Man and the Sea
By Ernest Hemingway
First UK edition, first impression. Originally published in the US a few months earlier in the same year. The novel received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953 and was an important factor in Hemingway being awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954.
Original blue cloth with lettering to spine in dark red and fish and fisherman motif in red to upper board. A fine and clean copy with a couple of small areas of rubbing to the bottom fore-edge of of lower board.
The original and unclipped dust jacket features the striking artwork of Hans Tisdall and is the first state without the reviews to verso. A hint of minor rubbing here and there to edges with a few nicks to edges of lower panel and an associated crease to top and bottom edges that are only visible on verso.
A superb, bright and near fine copy overall.
£450.00
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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 Winter of Our Discontent
First Edition, John Steinbeck, Modern First Editions
The Winter of Our Discontent
By John Steinbeck
First UK edition, first impression. The author's last novel, published in 1961.
Original dark purple cloth with lettering to spine in gilt. Slight bowing to boards with a previous owner name and date to front endpaper. A few peripheral spots to opening leaves and to edges.
The original and unclipped dust jacket shows a little edge wear with a couple of very small nicks and some spotting to verso. A very good example overall.
£50.00
