First Edition or First of Type

The Way of the East – Arthur Weigall – First Edition 1924

Published by Fisher Unwin, London a first edition 1924. Blue cloth covered boards, 318 pages, the odd spot mark but on the whole a very good copy of a scarce and interesting book.

An unusual romance involving the an English Colonel Romance in Egypt. The setting and circumstances demand an explanation by the author for which he apologises. He need not as it is all quite dapper and intriguing.

Rare first edition from literary Egyptologist

Arthur Weigall (1880-1934) was a distinguished Egyptologist and author of biographies of Cleopatra, Marc Anthony, Alexander the Great, Nero and Sappho. He studied hieroglyphics at Oxford: by age 24, he was appointed Inspector General of Antiquities for Upper Egypt and supervised excavations in the Valley of the Kings. During his career, Weigall made several important discoveries, mostly about the reign, life and death of Akhnaton. Later in life he wrote novels, stage plays, poems and was rather successful at it – viz this work.

$80.00

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Memoirs of a Coxcomb – John Cleland – Numbered Limited Hand-Made Paper – 1926

A fine edition by Fortune Press, London 1926. Original quarter mottled calf over marbled papers, gilt titles. Number 389 of a limited 575 copies printed on Verge Montgolfier hand-made paper by Maurice Darantier. Very light rubbing a very good if not fine copy.

John Cleland the author of Fanny Hill, which he wrote in debtors prison. Memoirs of a Coxcomb was first published in 1751 and contains a parody of Mary Wortley Montagu who is famous for her Turkish letters (her description of nudes inspired Ingres in his famous painting of same), spurning Alexander Pope and other “love affairs”.

A witty and complex portrait of aristocratic life in the 18th century through the memoirs of our vain dandy our coxcomb, Sir William Delamore. A sophisticated examination of masculine identity in direct contrast to Fanny Hill.

Coxcomb Memoirs Proudly Presented – beautifully written.

$90.00

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Unproduced Film Script – Joseph Conrad’s “The Heart of Darkness”

Late 1970’s unproduced film script titled “Voyage to the Inner Station: Joseph Conrad’s Descent and Return from the Heart of Darkness” 134 pages of script in the agency covers of Paul Kohner – Michael Levy.

The author is named John nelson Reid and believed to be one of the many pseudonyms of successful writer Shimon Wincelberg (Naked City, The Time Tunnel, The Paper Chase, Have a Gun – Will Travel etc).

The copy of Ilse Lahn who as a successful producer and worked at the agency around that time. Paul Kohner was in the movie business from the early days and would have been in his seventies when this script appeared. He was very successful and managed Ingmar Bergman, Maurice Chevalier, Dietrich, Garbo, Huston and many more. Michael Levy headed up CBS Theatrical Films which was generally unsuccessful.

There are no telling reasons why this script didn’t get to production. One of the difficulties would be that there was another unfulfilled script based on the book written by Orson Welles … it did not make it either … it was regarded as to difficult (read expensive) to produce but many think it was because Welles was frozen out of Hollywood because he upset Randolph Hearst when he made Citizen Kane.

We have read it through and we like it!

We also have the book see separate listing for the summary storyline.

Could be a gold mine waiting – Conrad’s Heart of darkness scripted but not acted

$190.00

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Forbidden Books (Victorian Erotica) – An Old Bibliophile – 1902 Privately Printed 375 Copies.

Notes & Gossip on Tabooed Literature … The Old Bibliophile was John S Farmer. This book published for the author and his friends in Paris 1902.

Limited edition of 375 copies. Small quarto 227 pages khaki marbled paper covered boards vignettes at chapter headings. Very good condition.

Summaries of banned books largely with an erotic content. John Farmer was a brilliant lexicographer and this book is supposedly based on publications by Charles Carrington who was known for his naughtiness.

Rare and naughty from the Old Bibliophile

$140.00

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War and Peace – The book of the picture story of Leo Tolstoy’s great novel.

Published by Frederick Fell. New York in 1956. Large octavo 120 pages after preliminaries. Very good condition with near full dust jacket just some signs of ageing particularly the back of the dust jacket. Internally fresh and clean. Over 120 images from the screen and how good are they.

Adapted from the novel and the motion picture by Bernard Geis and he did a good job given the size of the Tolstoy volume and the length and complexity of the film. A relevant forward by Professor Atwood Townsend, New York University. The cast as famous as the book with the gorgeous Audrey Hepburn as Natasha and Henry Fonda as Pierre Bezukhov and then we have John Mills, Herbert Lom (a very Napoleon Napoleon) and Anita Ekberg as Helene.

A special book for fans of Tolstoy, War and Peace, Fonda and Hepburn and the cinema

$40.00

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The Complete Works of Francois Villon – Translated by J.U. Nicolson – Illustrated by Alexander King – Fine First Editions 1928

Superior two volume set published by Covici, New York in May 1928 part of limited set of 960 this copy numbered 427 signed by the translator J.U. Nicolson. Typography by C. McMurtie.

Royal Octavo 809 pages all up after preliminaries. A near fine set rich red cloth covered boards with gilt title to spine and front unmarked, fully protected by complete heavy black dust jackets with a slight edge crease and a small closed tear. Top edge rich gilt very clean internally pages bright as new. Dust jackets nearly always missing with this set. Lovely full page sepia-tone illustrations as frontispiece and throughout the volumes. A heavy set near 3 kgs so may require some extra postage dependent on your location.

The volumes are set out side by side original French and English translation. Villon (1431 to c1463) by far the best-known French poet of the late Middle Ages, a renowned and shady character whose verses chronicle his escapades. He was born in Paris and disappeared from “historical” view in 1463. He had multiple encounters with the law. His real name may have been Francois de Montcorbier or Francois des Loges. Whatever, his nom de plume “Villon”’ appears everywhere in his writing. His work suggests he was born into poverty and raised by a foster father (from whom he adopted the name Villon). He was bright and received qualifications from the University of Paris at an early age. His first real skirmish with the law came in 1455 when he “accidentally” killed a man during a scuffle. He was banished and then pardoned when evidence was produced that the dead party had forgiven him before the lights went out. Shortly afterwards he was involved in a serious robbery and after various complexities was banished and wandered the country supposedly as part of a gang of thieves. In 1461, he spent the “summer” in the Bishop’s prison at Meung-sur-Loire and dodgey things went on from there.

All of this makes for interesting poetic accounts of life as Villon experienced it. Le Testament written in 1461 is regarded as his greatest work, His work is sprinkled with mystery and hidden jokes and include much slang from the underworld he inhabited. His texts include the real names of many influential people of the time … the rich, royal officials, lawyers, police and prostitutes. The most quoted refrain “Mais ou sont les neiges d’antan?” (Where are the snows of yester-year?) comes from the Ballade des dames du temps jadis and has been quoted from Rossetti to the hit TV program Downton Abbey. We cannot write about Villon’s influence in Film, Theatre, Poetry etc. as we would be here all year!

All of Villon in French and English in Fine Presentation.

$180.00

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The Way of the East – Arthur Weigall – First Edition 1924

Memoirs of a Coxcomb – John Cleland – Numbered Limited Hand-Made Paper – 1926

Unproduced Film Script – Joseph Conrad’s “The Heart of Darkness”

Forbidden Books (Victorian Erotica) – An Old Bibliophile – 1902 Privately Printed 375 Copies.

War and Peace – The book of the picture story of Leo Tolstoy’s great novel.

The Complete Works of Francois Villon – Translated by J.U. Nicolson – Illustrated by Alexander King – Fine First Editions 1928

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