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Two first edition hardcovers from my collection.
Vanishing Point (Hodder & Stoughton, 1955)
The Silent Pool (Hodder & Stoughton, 1956)
Hank Janson, a pseudonym used by Stephen Frances, D. F. Crawley, Victor Norwood and others, was the most popular and successful of British pulp fiction authors of the 1940s and 50s. The main character in Janson’s novels (of which there are over 200) is alternatively portrayed as a tough Chicago reporter or as an assistant to a private detective.
Excited to announce I am today launching a Kickstarter campaign to publish a first edition book of my candid street photography! To reserve your copy please click on the link:
www.kickstarter.com/projects/nothinglikesomething/nothing...
Jack Ehrlich - Revenge
Dell Books A168, 1958
Cover Artist: Robert McGinnis
"She'd never forget him – he'd see to that."
This is my 1941 first edition of A Choice of Kipling’s Verse made by T.S. Eliot published by Faber and Faber – for whom Eliot worked for many years as Literary Editor. He joined the company in 1925 and remained there until his death forty years later. Along the way, in 1948, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, and is regarded as one of the great poets in the English language.
In his 32-page essay/introduction to the book, Eliot describes Kipling as "the most inscrutable of authors" and "a writer impossible wholly to understand and quite impossible to believe". However, he also declares, “I can think of a number of poets who have written great poetry, only of a very few whom I should call great verse writers. And unless I am mistaken, Kipling’s position in this class is not only high, but unique.”
Far be it from me to take issue with a Nobel Laureate, but I think Eliot was mistaken; I don’t believe for a moment that Kipling’s work, much of it jingoistic and in the vernacular, has stood the test of time. Even so, this is an interesting edition on many levels, and a pleasure to have on my bookshelf.
♦ While you’re here… I have two Galleries that might interest you: a Bookshops gallery and a Public Libraries gallery. Happy browsing!
A colorful bustling town from 1955's “The Summer Noisy Book” by Margaret Wise Brown.
Illustrated by Leonard Weisgard
A pretty little possum form "Never Tease a Weasel" by Jean Conder Soule, illustrated by Denman Hampson. Published by Parents' Magazine Press, 1964.
A starlet comes to Reno to start a new life—and end her old one forever
Sylvia Shoreham’s Hollywood dreams came true long ago. Critically beloved for her beauty, talent, and style, she was on her way to international stardom when a bad contract committed her to seven years of trashy comedies and half-baked melodramas. Her marriage to her producer husband has become a rotten, loveless sham, so Sylvia’s silver screen life verges on a nightmare. To escape her celluloid hell, she’s got only one option: Forget Hollywood. It’s time for a Reno vacation.
She comes to Nevada hoping for a divorce from her husband, Vicki, and an end to her contract, but the ugly side of the business follows her. To protect herself from Vicki, she enlists Nevada’s biggest Sylvia Shoreham fan. He’s six feet tall, strong as a mule, and just happens to be Reno’s sheriff. When her divorce turns into a war, this Hollywood icon will be glad to have him on her side.
Der Lotus Emira ist ein Mittelmotor-Sportwagen des britischen Automobilherstellers Lotus Cars. Es soll das letzte Modell des Herstellers mit Verbrennungsmotor sein.
The Lotus Emira is a mid-engine sports car from the British automobile manufacturer Lotus Cars. It is said to be the manufacturer's last model with a combustion engine.
On the dust jacket is Rockwell's "Triple Self-Portrait' which first appeared as a cover illustration on the "The Saturday Evening Post," February 13, 1960.
Humor and humility were essential aspects of Norman Rockwell’s character, so when asked to do a self-portrait, the results were lighthearted and somewhat self-deprecating. Rockwell was a stickler for neatness, but here he has scattered matchsticks, paint tubes, and brushes over the studio floor. The glass of Coca-Cola, his usual afternoon pick-me-up, looks as if it will tip over at any moment.
A little older artist is gazing at himself in the mirror and he looks very different on canvas. He’s got a little more hair, his pipe is a little perkier and he’s looking out directly at you, without glasses.
Paint rags and pipe ashes sometimes conspired to ignite small fires in Rockwell’s brass bucket, so the wisp of smoke in the painting rings true. It is a reminder that once Rockwell’s studio caught fire as a result of his carelessness with pipe ashes. His brass helmet, a French fireman’s helmet he acquired in Paris in 1923, usually placed on an unused easel, crowns this one.
The four self-portraits on his canvas – Albrecht Durer, Rembrandt, Pablo Picasso, and Vincent Van Gogh – are his references. He did tack or tape studies to his drawings or canvases and he did immerse himself in favorite artwork before beginning a project.
[Source: Norman Rockwell Museum]
From the back cover:
A living dead man, tortured beyond recognition. A suitcase crammed with a million dollars in fresh, green currency. An eerie island. A sadistic millionaire. An exotic girl who knew all the answers, but whose lips didn't look like they had been kissed as often as her manner indicated. That's what Sam sailed into. That, and murder; murder and more murder.
So I’ve been looking to buy a Rollei 35 camera for some time and my delay was due to my criteria. It had to be black and made in Germany. Recently I came across two cameras that met this and purchased them both for a decent price. This is the second one and it has the original smaller lock for the back (or base), it is uncommon.
Lighting by Marcel.
Please respect copyright. Do no use without written permission.
From the Introduction:
"Some of the terrible desire in her communicated itself to him. He fought to get free, but her arms were like steel wires. His passion was no match for hers. The violence in his green eyes only stirred her more . . .
"When he tried to fall away, she moaned, 'No, Carlos, no. Don't stop, Carlos. For the love of God."
"For a moment, her breath rasping across her taut lips, she clung to him, her face twisted with hatred and desire."
From the back cover:
Bernice tried to live twice, by bringing death to one man that she might live with another.
Instead of the paradise she sought, she found herself in a self-created hell, married to the devil, and death in her life her portion.
A penetrating, relentless search into the soul of a woman.
From the blurb on the dustjacket:
“With this new departure – a ‘special’ in ‘The Young Traveller Series’ – we present a book for young people in which space science is taken out of the realms of fiction and fantasy into those of fact and probability.
“. . . It is by the foremost authority on the subject (and lately Chairman of the British Interplanetary Society) . . . Man’s curiosity about worlds beyond his own is unlimited. Arthur Clarke tells us of the history of this curiosity from the visions of de Bergerac in 1656, through the prophesies of Verne and Wells, to recent experiments of sending animals into space by rocket, and man’s deepening knowledge of life on other planets. . .
“There is an account of the solar system; of what life would mean on a space station; of the solutions which must be found before space travel becomes a practical reality; and of the engineering problems connected with rocket construction. Thirty-two plates and six diagrams prepared especially for the book combine to make a volume to be recommended as an authoritative, reliable and exciting account of the problems of man’s greatest adventure, the conquest of space.”
James Bond - 1964 First Book Club Editions
I went away for a few days and stayed in an apartment overlooking the sea in Porlock, Somerset.
On the top book shelf, there were 4 James Bond books written by Ian Fleming.
I have seen most of the films but having never read any of the books, I decided to read "You Only Live Twice". It is a superb book. Nothing like the film, which was written to entertain cinema audiences by Roald Dahl.
Bond at his best for me.
The title of the book comes from the 17th Century Japanese poet, Matsuo Basho who wrote:-
"You only live twice,
Once when you are born,
And once when you look death in the face."
The 300 year old poem inspired Ian Fleming who took the first line as the title to his book and the poem is again referred to in the book by Bond when dealing with a Japanese ally.
Doughty’s short-lived magazine “The Cabinet of Natural History and American Rural Sports” is an important imprint in the history of American printing. It contained the first colored sporting prints made in America. Issued in monthly parts and published from the end of 1830 until the spring of 1834, “The Cabinet” featured articles on hunting, detailed descriptions of newly discovered flora and fauna, and some of the finest examples of early American hand-colored lithography. It was originally the work of the Doughty brothers, Thomas and John, with virtually all of the plates being the work of Thomas, who also founded the Hudson River School. But, by the spring of 1832, the partnership had broken up and Thomas had moved to Boston. An abbreviated third volume (not included here) lacked Thomas’ touch.
"The boy has left us for a time; but, Sagamore, you are not alone."
"The Last of the Mohicans" is set in 1757, during the French and Indian War, when France and Great Britain battled for control of North America. During this war, both the French and the British used Native American allies, but the French were particularly dependent, as they were outnumbered in the Northeast frontier areas by the more numerous British colonists.
The novel is primarily set in the upper New York wilderness, detailing the transport of the two daughters of Colonel Munro, Alice and Cora, to a safe destination at Fort William Henry. Among the caravan guarding the women are the frontiersman Natty Bumppo (known as Hawkeye), Major Duncan Heyward, and the Indians Chingachgook and his son Uncas. These characters are sometimes seen as a microcosm of the budding American society, particularly with regards to their racial composition.
[Source: Wikipedia]
The complete title is “Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. Also Two Treatises of the Species and Magnitude of Curvilinear Figures.”
The book contains a multitude of theories and experiments including the corpuscular theory of light , the experimental proof that all colors are contained in white light, a full explanation of the rainbow, and the first organized color circle with seven primary colors (illustrated with a figure of a color wheel used in some form in virtually all later art theory.) The book also includes 19 folding plates and an appendix with Newton’s first published mathematical works, in which he states that he invented the calculus in 1665-66; these are written in Latin and were dropped from later editions.
From the back cover:
Rand Hammond had treated many kinds of animals -- but he'd never been forced to handle the kind of seething wildcat who'd just dropped in on him out of nowhere . . . a wildcat who walked on two feet, with lust in her eye and a lie in her soul.
Hilliar listed himself as the "author", but the only part he may have actually written was the small section on hand shadows (a reprint from his 1900 booklet). The rest was taken from Nelson Downs, his book for Howard Thurston, Hoffmann's "Modern Magic" (1876), "More Magic" (1890), Roterberg's "New Era Card Tricks" (1897) and material from Selbit's book with a similar name "The Magician's Handbook" (1901). According to a review of Hilliar's book by Paul Fleming, "It was not a good book."
[Source: Magicpedia at geniimagazine.com/magicpedia/Modern_Magician's_Hand_Book]
(I like the little red devils on the cover anyway.)
The book is by an anonymous author and is the first magic book to have photographic plates as illustrations throughout the text, a total of 31 plates.
This is plate 2 in Gaspey’s “Book of the World,” which contains 35 full-page, hand-colored engravings. Colored engravings of that period were virtually always colored by hand with water colors.
From the blurb on the dust jacket:
The human body is a physical miracle we all take for granted. Now John Fisher unveils the body as a self-contained magic show, with the brain directing the performance and the senses and powers of imagination exhibiting their enormous capacity to amaze, deceive, instruct and entertain. He strips away some of the mystique and pretension from the world of magical arts and the paranormal, and in a fully illustrated series of fascinating tricks shows how easily we can realise our body potential and perform all kinds of seeming miracles that hypnotists, magicians and illusionists have practised and exploited for centuries.
Mirror-writing, table-tilting, mind reading, the "law of reversed effort" which allows matches to walk along a knife-blade -- this is an absorbing book of entertainment, and more -- "Body Magic" opens up a vital new awareness of our miraculous human mechanism and in exploring our positive body functions and defining the general principles of psychology, acoustics, optics and mnemonics pinpoints the source and potential of our own and others "body magic." This highly original view of the human body as a treasure-house of illusion offers an enlightening entree to an apparent magical expertise which will both baffle and entertain.
"When the pilot chosen for the task of guiding the canoe had taken his station, the whole band plunged again into the river, the vessel glided down the current and in a few moments the captives found themselves on the south bank of the stream."
"The Last of the Mohicans" is set in 1757, during the French and Indian War, when France and Great Britain battled for control of North America. During this war, both the French and the British used Native American allies, but the French were particularly dependent, as they were outnumbered in the Northeast frontier areas by the more numerous British colonists.
The novel is primarily set in the upper New York wilderness, detailing the transport of the two daughters of Colonel Munro, Alice and Cora, to a safe destination at Fort William Henry. Among the caravan guarding the women are the frontiersman Natty Bumppo (known as Hawkeye), Major Duncan Heyward, and the Indians Chingachgook and his son Uncas. These characters are sometimes seen as a microcosm of the budding American society, particularly with regards to their racial composition.
[Source: Wikipedia]
From the blurb on the dust jacket:
“Something was moving about the house. It was not alive, nor was it being propelled. Yet it moved.” That is the beginning of one of the most engrossing science novels ever to appear in print. Charged with thrills and suspense, it grips and holds your attention from the very first word.
When Captain Robert Lane of the U.S. Marines leaves for the Orient on the day before Easter, he has no idea that his young wife and four-year-old son are to become involved in a conflict far more deadly than the one in which he is to engage, a war older than the human race. Nor does he realize that he himself is potentially the most dangerous man in the world.
“The Crystal Horde” begins with an Easter egg, a storage egg dyed a virulent green, and it concludes with one of the most tremendous – and unique – battles ever conceived by the mind of man. The body of the tale is made up of action and mystery, beginning in California and moving from there to the interior of China.
Written by Dr. E.T. Bell of the California Institute of Technology (who writes science fiction as “John Taine”), “The Crystal Horde” displays the author’s customary ingenuity and originality in dealing with the unusual. In marked contrast with the otherworldly menace which supplies the basic plot of the story is the array of all-too-human characters. Dr. Saxby, who collects earthquakes, is definitely not a conventional science fiction scientist. He might well be one of Dr. Bell’s colleagues. You will be interested in meeting Hu the Good and his daughter, White Lily; the communist agents, Markoff and Liapanouff; and other ordinary and extraordinary people.
It is worth noting that, although “The Crystal Horde” cannot be called a satire in any sense of the word, Dr. Bell was unable to resist completely the thrusting of a satiric scalpel into some of the infected areas of modern society – and on occasion giving it a not-too-gentle twist!
“The Crystal Horde,” to summarize, is adult, literate reading fare – entertaining and thought-provoking, and written with the skill you’d expect to find in the work of an author who has produced twenty-five reasonably successful books.
A rare and wonderful 1970s book about different types of imaginary and fantastical birds by the Great Mr. Lobel.
"The Ice-Cream Cone Coot and Other Rare Birds"- Written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel
First Edition (1971)
A pic of some of my much loved first editions. Apart from a rogue V.S. Naipaul book, these are all Australian authors from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.
Among them are two of my favourite authors, Frank Hardy and George Johnston. Also, some Barry Oakley books. Oakley was an Australian book critic who wrote some energetic novels in the 1970s. As of the time of writing he is still around at the grand age of 91.
For me the holy grail has been to get a copy of Power Without Glory with its original dust jacket. Quite a feat given how poorly made the first edition was, but a year or so ago I managed it.
Hardy was known mainly for this book but, later in life, he wrote a few exceptional works, namely The Unlucky Australians and But The Dead Are Many.
Vignette from "The Golden Treasury of Natural History."
by Bertha Morris Parker.
Published by Golden Press; First Edition edition (1952)
De nieuwe P.C. Hoofttractor is gearriveerd. Dit is de First Edition van de eerste SUV uit het Britse Crewe: de Bentayga. Chique hoor, maar een schoonheid is het zeker niet. Al begint het design te wennen. Van de First Edition worden/zijn 608 exemplaren gebouwd. Wat dat moet kosten? Bijna drie (3!) ton. Oké, je krijgt er ook een Breitling horloge bij, maar voor dat geld koop ik een mooi wagenpark van leuke occasions.
Amsterdam, Nederland
A new SUV has arrived in the P.C. Hooftstraat. This is the First Edition of the first SUV from the British Crewe: the Bentayga. Chic, but certainly not a beauty. Although the design is already starting to get used to. There are/were 608 units built of the First Edition. What are the costs? Nearly three (3!) hundred thousand euros, but for that money I'll buy a fleet of beautiful used cars.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
This is plate 12 in Gaspey’s “Book of the World,” which contains 35 full-page, hand-colored engravings. Colored engravings of that period were virtually always colored by hand with water colors.
Car: Lotus Emira V6 First Edition.
Engine: 3456cc V6.
Power: 400 BHP.
Fuel: Petrol.
Year of manufacture: 2022.
Date of first registration in the UK: 7th December 2022.
Place of registration: Not kmown.
Date first MOT due: 6th December 2025.
Date of last V5 issued: 30th January 2023.
Date taken: 1st September 2024.
From the introduction:
THEY WERE ALL GIRLS OUT OF HELL!
Nina – whose soul cried out for the happiness that only her body could give her!
Sally – whose innocent young face made her a topnotch call girl!
Rosemary – whose early experiences with men taught her the ropes about women!
Ginger – rough, tough and dependable – all the men counted on her!
“GIRLS OUT OF HELL!” is the powerful, shocking story of their joys, their sorrows and their men – the men they loved and the men they allowed to love them! You won’t believe it – and you won’t be able to forget it!
From the back cover:
REFORM SCHOOL GIRLS . . .
You will be shocked by Nina Castrop’s story – shocked and fascinated. For all her youth and great beauty, Nina’s life had never been anything but hell. Her father’s suicide, her mother’s betrayal, her own incarceration in the penal institution where sadism and violence flourished – all these hardships Nina had known before she reached maturity. How, then, could this naturally warm, lovely and desirable girl retain her great passion for loving and living? In bold, original strokes, the author gives you the answer, sketching in every intimate detail of Nina’s whole, sordid existence, fashioning an inspiring and unforgettable story of a lonely, unwanted girl who fights – and loves – her way to happiness.
“The ability to read minds isn't an unmixed blessing, so learns George Hanlon, Secret Operative of the Inter-Stellar Corps. His unique gift helps him with his assignments, of course -- except that he has a lot of trouble with alien minds. He encounters a whole planet full of alien minds on Estrella when the semi-human inhabitants of this Earth-like world of another sun decide that they want nothing to do with the Federation Planets. Hanlon's investigation's lead him into complications and troubles, all of which contribute to the entertainment of this tale of intrigue on a distant world. The striking jacket of this book is by the master of science fiction art – Hannes Bok.” [Summary at Goodreads.com]
Doughty’s short-lived magazine “The Cabinet of Natural History and American Rural Sports” is an important imprint in the history of American printing. It contained the first colored sporting prints made in America. Issued in monthly parts and published from the end of 1830 until the spring of 1834, “The Cabinet” featured articles on hunting, detailed descriptions of newly discovered flora and fauna, and some of the finest examples of early American hand-colored lithography. It was originally the work of the Doughty brothers, Thomas and John, with virtually all of the plates being the work of Thomas, who also founded the Hudson River School. But, by the spring of 1832, the partnership had broken up and Thomas had moved to Boston. An abbreviated third volume (not included here) lacked Thomas’ touch.
This is plate 44 in Gaspey’s “Book of the World,” which contains 35 full-page, hand-colored engravings. Colored engravings of that period were virtually always colored by hand with water colors.
FIRST EDITION is a selective perfume line developed by French perfumers specifically for NL. For strong, passionate and free people.
This is the first magic book to have photographic plates as illustrations throughout the text, a total of 31 plates.
The image on the cover was inspired by Cooper's title character Uncas, who is Hawkeye's friend, the son of Chingachgook and "The Last of the Mohicans."
"The Last of the Mohicans" is set in 1757, during the French and Indian War, when France and Great Britain battled for control of North America. During this war, both the French and the British used Native American allies, but the French were particularly dependent, as they were outnumbered in the Northeast frontier areas by the more numerous British colonists.
The novel is primarily set in the upper New York wilderness, detailing the transport of the two daughters of Colonel Munro, Alice and Cora, to a safe destination at Fort William Henry. Among the caravan guarding the women are the frontiersman Natty Bumppo (known as Hawkeye), Major Duncan Heyward, and the Indians Chingachgook and his son Uncas. These characters are sometimes seen as a microcosm of the budding American society, particularly with regards to their racial composition.
[Source: Wikipedia]
This 1960s children's book by Helen Borten is a lovely introduction to sounds and how they intertwine so readily with emotions.
"The scout having ascertained that the Mohicans were sufficient of themselves to maintain the requisite distance, deliberately laid aside his paddle, and raised the fatal rifle."
"The Last of the Mohicans" is set in 1757, during the French and Indian War, when France and Great Britain battled for control of North America. During this war, both the French and the British used Native American allies, but the French were particularly dependent, as they were outnumbered in the Northeast frontier areas by the more numerous British colonists.
The novel is primarily set in the upper New York wilderness, detailing the transport of the two daughters of Colonel Munro, Alice and Cora, to a safe destination at Fort William Henry. Among the caravan guarding the women are the frontiersman Natty Bumppo (known as Hawkeye), Major Duncan Heyward, and the Indians Chingachgook and his son Uncas. These characters are sometimes seen as a microcosm of the budding American society, particularly with regards to their racial composition.
[Source: Wikipedia]