Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - July - 2011 Issue

Signed Modern Literature from Peter Harrington

Signed modern literature from Peter Harrington.

Signed modern literature from Peter Harrington.

Peter Harrington, the London bookseller, has issued their catalogue Peter Harrington 76. Modern Literature - 100 Signed and Inscribed Books. Very little in the way of explanation is needed beyond that title. These are 20th century (or just before) literary masterpieces, signed and mostly inscribed by their authors. Many carry interesting provenances, as the recipients weren't just fans but friends, family, and other associates. This is a catalogue for people who collect great books with personal connections. Here are some examples.

 

Item 37 is a copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald's first collection of short stories, released the same year as his first novel - 1920. That novel, This Side of Paradise, propelled Fitzgerald to fame, paving the way for an opulent, beyond their means lifestyle for Fitzgerald and his new bride, Zelda. The collection of short stories here offered is titled Flappers and Philosophers, and this copy is inscribed to "George W." from Fitzgerald. No, that was not Mr. Bush. "George W." was George W. Stair, a notable bookseller in 1920s New York. Priced at £30,000 (British pounds, or roughly $48,700 in U.S. currency).

 

The next one is an even more spectacular Fitzgerald piece, a first edition, first printing presentation copy of his most famous work, The Great Gatsby. Gatsby was published in 1925, at a time before life began to slide for Scott and Zelda. This copy includes an inscription with a drawing of two letter-sweatered college students, written to Fitzgerald's college classmate Gilbert Browne. The students in the drawing have big "R's" on their sweaters, and the inscription states, "To Gilbert Browne from his old Rutgers Classmate F Scott Fitzgerald Los Angeles 1927." Of course, Fitzgerald never went to Rutgers, nor did Browne. They both attended Princeton, this evidently being something of a joke targeting a college with lesser prestige then their Ivy League school. Item 38.  £300,000 (US 486,680).

 

Here is a book that will make you rethink your image of rabbits:  Richard Adams' Watership Down. The amount of intrigue and violence taking place in the bunny community is astonishing. Adams' 1972 book is inscribed to Amy Wisdom, his future sister-in-law. £2,750 (US $4,462).

 

Item 31 is a collection of poetry by Emily Dickinson, though it is inscribed by her niece instead. There are no known copies of Dickinson's works inscribed by her, nor are there likely to be any. Dickinson was virtually unknown during her lifetime, no collected works, and only 10 published poems, seven in her local newspaper a couple of decades before she died. Emily Dickinson showed little inclination to publish, even though she wrote almost 2,000 poems, primarily during the 1860s. The few that were published were edited to make them more suitable to conventional tastes of the time. Dickinson was a recluse, a woman who lived for reading and writing, and rarely ventured from home, or even her room as she grew older. However, she did maintain an active correspondence with several friends, including men she considered masters or teachers, perhaps the closest she came to romantic interests. She died in 1886, single, still living at home, at the age of 55. It was not until after he death that her sister discovered her handwritten books of poems and realized her skill. That led to a series of published collections that became very popular and sealed her reputation as one of America's foremost poets. Item 31 is a copy of The Single Hound, published in 1914, with an introduction by and an inscription from her niece, Martha Dickinson Bianchi, who published some of her collections. The book comes with a handwritten copy of 12 lines from Dickinson's poem beginning, "To love thee year by year." It is signed "Emily." One other manuscript copy of this poem in Dickinson's hand is known. £50,000 ($81,136).

Rare Book Monthly

  • Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly! Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
    Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
    Rare Book Hub is now mobile-friendly!
  • DOYLERare Books, Autographs & MapsJuly 23, 2025 DOYLERare Books, Autographs & MapsJuly 23, 2025
    DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
    DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
    DOYLE, July 23: ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Estimate $1,200-1,800
  • Forum AuctionsFine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper  17th July 2025 Forum AuctionsFine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper  17th July 2025
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Lucianus Samosatensis. Dialogoi, editio princeps, second issue, Florence, Laurentius Francisci de Alopa, 1496. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Boccaccio (Giovanni). Il Decamerone, Florence, Philippo di Giunta, 1516. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Henry VII (King) & Philip the Fair (Duke of Burgundy). [Intercursus Magnus], [Commercial and Political Treaty between Henry VII and Philip Duke of Burgundy], manuscript copy in Latin, original vellum, 1499. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bible, English. The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New, Robert Barker, 1613. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Bond (Michael). A Bear Called Paddington, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, 1958. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    17th July 2025
    Forum, July 17: Yeats (William Butler). The Secret Rose, first edition, with extensive autograph corrections, additions and amendments by the author for a new edition, 1897. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, bound in dark green morocco elaborately tooled in gilt and with 3 watercolours to fore-edge, by Fazakerley of Liverpool, 1841. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Miró (Juan), Wassily Kandinsky, John Buckland-Wright, Stanley William Hayter and others.- Spender (Stephen). Fraternity, one of 101 copies, with signed engravings by 9 artists. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Sowerby (George Brettingham). Album comprising 22 leaves of original watercolour drawings of fossil remains of Cheltenham and Vicinity, [c.1840]. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Mathematics.- Blue paper copy.- Euclid. De gli Elementi, Urbino, Appresso Domenico Frisolino, 1575. £12,000 to £18,000.
  • Sotheby’sGeek Week2-17 July | New York Sotheby’sGeek Week2-17 July | New York
    Sotheby’s
    Geek Week
    2-17 July | New York
    Sotheby’s
    Geek Week
    2-17 July | New York
    Sotheby’s, July 15: Buzz Aldrin's FLOWN Apollo 11 Crew-Signed NASA Manned Spacecraft Center Cover. $15,000 to $20,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 15: Lunar Surface Flown Mission Emblem Presented to Tom Stafford by John Young. $8,000 to $12,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 17: Albert Einstein. Typed Letter Signed ("A. Einstein."), to Ann Morrisett, Affirming a Pacifist's Right to Self-Defense, March 21, 1952. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Geek Week
    2-17 July | New York
    Sotheby’s, July 17: Operating and Maintenance Manual for the BINAC Binary Automatic Computer Built for Northrop Aircraft Corporation. Philadelphia, 1949. $30,000 to $50,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 17: Steve Jobs Apple Computer Business Card, c. 1977. $5,000 to $8,000.
    Sotheby’s, July 15: Extensive Chronology of Spacecraft From Apollo to Skylab, Signed by a Member of Every Crewed Apollo Flight and the Commanders of Each Skylab Mission. $5,000 to $8,000.

Review Search

Archived Reviews