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First Edition or First of Type

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One Arm and Other Stories (A Collection of Eleven Short Stories) – Tennessee Williams – First of Type New Directions – 1959

A first trade edition published by special publisher New Directions of New York in 1959.

Octavo, 211 pages comprising eleven short stories. Dust jacket by the super designer Alvin Lustig although not one he had put a lot of thought into!. One page had thinned through to a hole … looks like a printing flaw. Otherwise a very good copy of a scarce work.

By this time Williams was already a successful dramatist but his short stories had only ever been published in a limited private form.

The stories are – One Arm; The Malediction; The Poet; Chronicle of a Demise; Desire and the Black Masseur; Portrait of a Girl in Glass; The Important Thing; The Angel in the Alcove; The Field of Blue Children; The Night of the Iguana and The Yellow Bird. As you can see some of these short stories are inspiration for his later plays, some are about characters in them and some are completely independent works.

A broad short read introduction to Tennessee Williams. .

$40.00

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The Magician – Georges Simenon – First English Edition

Published by Hamish Hamilton, London a first English edition 1974. Translated from the French by Helen Sebba.

Octavo, 188 pages all in pretty good condition.

The conjurer liked a drink in the Montmartre after his show. He overindulged and caused issues in his marriage. Their relationship continued with quiet intimacy … until ill health changed all that …

Simenon at his most poignant

$30.00

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Three Beds in Manhattan – Georges Simenon – First English Edition

Published by Hamish Hamilton London, a first English edition 1976. Translated from the French by Lawrence G. Blochman.

Octavo, 186 pages, fine dust jacket, all in super condition.

Two lonely people meet in Greenwich Village and a night filled with drink propels them into intimacy but they may be too afraid to believe a new life might have begun. Reality that is Simenon.

The sensitive side of Simenon

$30.00

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Secret Memoirs of the Duke and Dutchess of O***** (Orleans) – Madame d’Aunoy – First Edition 1708

Title continues … Intermix’d with the Amorous Intrigues and Adventures of the Most Eminent Princes of The Court of France

Made into English from the Paris Edition. Published in London, and printed by S.P.R. Burrough and J. Baker in Cornhill E. Curll without Temple Bar. E Sanger at the Post-House, and A Collins at the Black Boy on Fleetstreet, and Sold by J. Morphew near Stationers-Hall, 1708

First English edition translated from the French of the 1690’s. Small octavo, 293. Strange pagination as the printer obviously had his pages mixed up so several times out of order but text runs exactly. Rebound in full leather, in period style by Roger Perry. Four raised bands with separate red leather title label to second compartment. Blind rules to bands and board edges. A delightful item.

An expose of the amorous goings on of the Duke and Duchess of Orleans. The Duchess was Henrietta of England (1644-1670) youngest daughter of King Charles I. She fled England at the age of three with her governess for the French Court. She married King Louis XIV brother Philippe Duke of Orleans. Phillipe a reputed bisexual had been party to a series of sexual scandals prior to the marriage which was secured after the restoration of the Monarchy in England by a dowry from her brother Charles II.

An interesting piece if factually based fiction and not at all vulgar.

The author Madame d’Aulnoy was Marie Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Baroness d’Aulnoy (1650-1705). Lucky to have got away with it we would say.

Early expose of the amorous lives of the Duke and Duchess of Orleans.

$290.00

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Mary Anne – Daphne du Maurier – First Australian edition 1954

Published by Angus and Robertson, Sydney 1954. Octavo, 389 pages. A little ageing and some minor dust jacket edge chips. Still a very good copy.

First Australian edition of the novel about her great-great-grandmother Mary Anne Clarke (1776-1852) who led a most interesting life.

She was the mistress of Prince Frederick, Duke of York Commander in Chief … seemingly she liked her men to be well heeled.

Extravagant Mary Anne was in the family

$35.00

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The Man Who Was Murdered Twice – Leitfred – First Edition 1932

Published by Green Circle books, New York first edition 1932.

Octavo, 255 pages in excellent condition bar some dust jacket chips. Classic period dust jacket design …. Well better than that!

Author Robert Leitfred had also penned “The Corpse that Spoke” so this is not the first time he has tackled life after death.

A wealthy playboy returns home to find he has been swindled out of his inheritance. The swindler dies in a car crash … but has he? … fast moving drama 1930’s style

Double the suspense with “twice murdered”

$60.00

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