home Book Price Guide
First American edition, first printing. Octavo. 429 pages. Publisher's original beige boards and matching cloth backstrip with titles in gilt on the spine. Full numberline on copyright page with 1 present.
Jacket priced at $6.95 at the front flap, first issue with British reviews on the rear panel with a rabbit and compass illustration at the top, author's photo at the rear flap, shelf wear at the edges, darkening at the jacket spine, spots on the jacket, tear at the head of the front panel.
Beware of later printing with 1974 date on copyright page, these are worth a fraction of true first printing's price.
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home Book Price Guide
4 volumes, "double-elephant" broadsheets (979/975 x 650/632 mm). Engraved title-page in each volume and 435 hand-colored, etched and aquatint plates, by William H. Lizars (Edinburgh), Robert Havell, Sr. and Robert Havell, Jr. (London), after Audubon's original life-size watercolor drawings, on J. Whatman and J. Whatman Turkey Mill paper with watermarks dated 1827-1838.
First state of the title in volume I, containing 13 lines (before the addition of two extra lines listing Audubon's memberships to learned societies and without volume number). The plates in this set are arranged in order of publication (not by families) and numbered I-X, 11-14, XV, 16-100, CI-CCCCXXXV. Thus, most of the first 100 plates (Vol. I) are early states with Arabic numbering. All of the first ten plates are engraved by William Home Lizars alone, before retouching by R. Havell, Jr.
Two paper stocks were used throughout the production, both bearing the name of the English paper-maker James Whatman. William Balston, the apprentice and successor of the younger James Whatman, shared the rights to the old Whatman company and used the watermark "J Whatman"; the Hollingsworth family had the rights to the watermark "J Whatman Turkey Mill." The sheet size of the paper is known as "double elephant," measuring 39 x 29 inches, approximately the same size of the drawing paper that bears the same name.
Size: 993 x 655 mm (39 1/8 x 25 inches). Full contemporary English crimson morocco, richly gilt, covers paneled a wide decorative roll-tooled outer border surrounding a central panel with a roll-tooled border, a stylized scallop corner-piece built up of smaller tools at each outer corner of central panel, spines in nine compartments with eight double-raised bands, two with onlaid green morocco lettering pieces, the others with a repeated richly gilt panel, board edges and turn-ins elaborately gilt, marbled paper pastedowns and free endpapers, blank flyleaves watermarked "J. Whatman 1838," stamp-signed "J. Mackenzie" on free endpapers of plate volumes (Vol. 3 with a tiny stain on fore-edge, some slight areas of darker discoloration partially due to orientation of the leather hides, some minor surface wear and abrasions skillfully restored and refurbished by James & Stuart Brockman Ltd.); plate volumes in four velvet-lined quarter leather buckram over wooden board folding boxes.
As a subscription publication, The Birds of America was issued over a decade according to demand, and the plates bear a range of imprints, which varies from set to set. We know that Robert senior died in 1832 and that Robert junior then styled himself R. Havell. Fries cites the variants in the names on the first ten plates, which are likely to cause the most confusion as they were the ones engraved by Lizars. They were handed over to the Havells as soon as they had been engaged for the project, and the imprint was amended to reflect this. The earliest states of plate I have "Engraved by W.H. Lizars Edinr.", while later states have "Retouched by R. Havell Junr." Although Havell junior engraved all the plates after number 10, there is no evidence to support a conclusion from the final variants of plates III, IV, V and X, that Havell completely re-engraved the plates, despite the removal of Lizars name from the imprint. Some plates bear no distinction between the senior and junior Havells. Others mention Lizars engraving, but Havell senior printing and coloring (e.g. plate VII), or Robert junior retouching and Robert senior printing and coloring (see Appendix B for imprints on the plates in the present set).
EDITION SIZE AND RARITY
Although the final list of subscribers to The Birds of America totaled 161, a somewhat greater number of sets certainly was produced. Bibliographers of the double-elephant folio have calculated the edition size at approximately 200 completed copies. In her updating of Fries' 1973 census, Susanne Low writes, "119 complete copies are known to exist in the world today. 108 are in institutions such as universities, libraries, museums, athenaeums, societies, and the like. 11 are in private hands."
Since 1973, 24 copies of the book have been sold at auction. Of these, 14 have been sold on a sheet-by-sheet basis, many of these lacking plates, and are dispersed (including the Earl of Carnarvon copy comprising 159 plates only), and another incomplete set which lacked volume IV was sold together but presumably is now dispersed (the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences copy). At the present time, 107 copies remain in institutions and 13 are in private hands (which includes the Fox-Bute copy, previously unaccounted for by Fries and Low).
PROVENANCE
Presumably purchased sometime after 1838 as a bound complete set, by William Henry Cavendish Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, 4th Duke of Portland PC, FRS, FSA (24 June 1768 - 27 March 1854), styled Marquess of Titchfield until 1809. He was a British politician who served in various positions in the governments of George Canning and Lord Goderich. Portland was the eldest son of Prime Minister William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland and Lady Dorothy, daughter of William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire and Charlotte Boyle, Baroness Clifford. He was the elder brother of Lord William Bentinck and Lord Charles Bentinck. He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford.
Each volume in this set contains the armorial bookplate of the 6th Duke of Portland. However, according to the keepers at Welbeck, there seems to be little consistency of the "bookplating" in the library. There are many volumes presently in the library without any bookplate at all, as well as many books acquired by the 4th Duke with no earlier bookplate than the 6th Duke's on their pastedowns. Other books in the library that are known to have been purchased by the 4th Duke show his serious interest in natural history, and therefore may indicate he was the original purchaser of this Audubon set soon after publication in 1838 and prior to his death in 1854. It is possibly, however, that this set may also have been purchased later by the 5th or 6th Dukes of Portland, the son of the 4th Duke and his cousin, respectively.
William John Cavendish Cavendish-Scott-Bentick, 5th Duke of Portland (1800-1879), styled Lord William Cavendish-Scott-Bentick before 1824 and Marquess of Titchfield between 1824 and 1854, was a British aristocratic eccentric who preferred to live in seclusion. On 27 March 1854 he succeeded his father as 5th Duke of Portland. He had an underground maze excavated under his estate at Welbeck Abbey, near Clumber Park in North Nottinghamshire, where he kept his library.
William John Arthur Charles James Cavendish-Bentick, 6th Duke of Portland (1857-1943), known as William Cavendish-Bentick until 1879, was a British landowner, courtier and Conservative politician. He notably served as Master of the Horse between 1886 and 1892 and again between 1895 and 1905. He inherited the Cavendish-Bentick estates, based around Welbeck Abbey, from his cousin William Cavendish-Scott-Bentick, 5th Duke of Portland, in 1879.
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home Big Little Book Price Guide
Title Page states "Story Of Moby Dick." Adapted from the Novel by Herman Melville. Illustrated with Scenes from "The Sea Beast." Warner Brothers movie photo edition.
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home Book Price Guide
First trade edition, first issue, with publisher’s seal on copyright page and no legal disclaimer on p. [x]. Octavo (7 3/8 x 5 1/8 inches; 187 x 130 mm.). [10], 355, [3, blank] pp.Original black cloth with gold paper labels ruled and lettered in black on front cover and spine.
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First trade edition, second printing, with the legal disclaimer on p. [x]. With the correct first issue jacket (the name of the heroine, Catherine Barkley is misspelled "Katharine Barclay" on the front flap). Octavo. [x], 355 pages, [3, blank] pages. Publisher's original black cloth with gold paper labels ruled and lettered in black on front cover and spine, dust jacket.
"[Hemingway’s] first full-length novel and probably his best, closely rivaled by To Have and Have Not. Its success was so enormous that it may be said to have ended Hemingway’s influence as a writer. After it one could no more imitate that musical crystal-clear style; blown like glass from the white-heat of violence" (Cyril Connolly, The Modern Movement, 60).
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home Book Price Guide
First British edition, first printing with "First Printing 1944" opposite title page.
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home Big Little Book Price Guide
From the screenplay by Karl Brown and Robert D. Andrews. A Monogram picture starring Jackie Cooper, with Robert Warwick and Lucy Gilman. Movie photo edition.
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home Book Price Guide
First edition, second issue, with "Published June, 1936" on copyright page; in the second issue dust jacket, with "$3.00" price in lower corner of front flap and with "Gone with the Wind" in first column on rear panel. Octavo. 1037 pages. Original gray cloth decoratively stamped and lettered in blue on front cover and spine.
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home Big Little Book Price Guide
Adapted by Wallace West. Based on the Paramount Picture featuring Charlotte Henry as "Alice." Illustrated with scenes from the movie.
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home Big Little Book Price Guide
By Grace Mack. Pictures supplied through the courtesy of Fox Film Corporation and Paramount Studio. Movie photo covers and interiors.
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home Big Little Book Price Guide
36 pages, including covers. 6-5/8" wide by 8-3/4" high by 3/8" deep. Black and white pages with 3 full-color pop up pages. Hardcover without a dust jacket. A Blue Ribbon Book. 1933 Walt Disney Enterprises copyright. Stories and Illustrations by the Staff of the Walt Disney Studios.
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home Big Little Book Price Guide
190 Authentic Photographs - a pictorial history of the battles in Europe, Asia, and Africa, in the air and on the seas. Arranged and edited by Otto Kurth. Inspired by Laurence Stellings' famous collection of war pictures.
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home Big Little Book Price Guide
Original Pop-Up Book with 3 Pop-Ups and dated 1935. By Lt. Dick Calkins and Phil Nowlan. WARNING: Not to be confused with the 1994 reprint.
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home Big Little Book Price Guide
First edition, first printing. Oblong octavo. Original green cloth, title to spine gilt, image pasted down to front board. Walt Disney Studio black and white cartoon illustrations throughout. The book contains several short story adaptations of Mickey Mouse cartoons of the time.
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home Big Little Book Price Guide
Authorized edition based on the television series. CBS Television Enterprises a service of CBS television. Story by Doris Schroeder. Illustrated by John Ushler.
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home Book Price Guide
First edition of the author's first book for children (preceding the first English edition by six years). First issue, with "Bound by H. Wolff, New York" on the colophon page. Small quarto (10.0625 x 7.0625 inches; 256 x 180 mm.). [8], 118, [1], [1, colophon] pages. Four color plates and numerous black and white and color text illustrations.
Publisher's red cloth with front cover pictorially stamped in blind with a portrait of James surrounded by wreath, back cover stamped in blind with the publisher's device, and spine decoratively stamped and lettered in gilt. Top edge stained peach. Green endpapers. In original color pictorial dust jacket.
"In 1953 [Dahl] married the actress Patricia Neal; they had three children, to whom he began to tell bedtime stories. James and the Giant Peach (1961), the first of these to reach print, is a comic fantasy about a small boy who travels the world inside a huge peach, in company with several giant insects. Like most of Dahl's children's books, it first appeared in print in the USA" (The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature).
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home Book Price Guide
First edition, first issue in the first issue first state dust jacket with the reading "Katharine Barclay" in the blurb on the front flap. Octavo. Original black cloth, printed gold labels to spine and upper board. One of 510 numbered copies signed by the author.
First state of text without disclaimer and earliest state of dustwrapper with "Katherine Barclay" reading
The original dustjacket shall have the $2.50 price present and the first issue point with "Sun Also Rises" and "Men without Women" titles listed on back panel of the dustjacket.
"[Hemingway’s] first full-length novel and probably his best, closely rivaled by To Have and Have Not. Its success was so enormous that it may be said to have ended Hemingway’s influence as a writer. After it one could no more imitate that musical crystal-clear style; blown like glass from the white-heat of violence" (Cyril Connolly, The Modern Movement, 60).
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home Book Price Guide
First edition of the second collection of Lovecraft's work, and the fourth Arkham House publication. Collected by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei. One of approximately 1,200 copies printed. Octavo. [xxx], [462] pages.
Publisher's full black cloth, spine ruled and lettered in gilt, dust jacket
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home Book Price Guide
First edition in book form. With illustrations by H. K. Browne. 8 3/8 x 5 inches; 624 pp., 39 plates plus engraved title. Bound in contemporary green polished morocco over marbled boards, with bands ruled in gilt to the spine, separating ornate panels of flora, tooled in gilt. The title in gilt to a morocco claret label. Original plain endpapers.
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home Book Price Guide
First Edition not stated. Original pictorial dust jacket, art by Stanley Burroughs.
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home Big Little Book Price Guide
Vintage 1939 SUCH A LIFE! SAYS: DONALD DUCK from the Better Little Book Series. Hardcover. Size: 3 1/2" x 4-1/2" x 1-1/4"; 425 pages; (c) 1939 Walt Disney Productions.
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home Big Little Book Price Guide
By Stuart Davidson. Illustrations from the photoplay produced by Warner Brothers. Movie photo editon starring James Cagney and Pat O’Brien.
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home Book Price Guide
Bound in yellow cloth with black lettering on spine. The first volume in the Pern series, published first as a paperback original. The hardcover, issued in limited quantities, went mostly to libraries. True first edition first printings have the 1968, not 1969, date.
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home Book Price Guide
Octavo. 318 pages. Original pictorial dust jacket. Five inserted plates by J. Allen St. John. Publisher's blue cloth with red titles. Top edge red.
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home Big Little Book Price Guide
Movie photo edition. Produced as a Motion Picture by MGM with Ronald Colman. Novelized by Gerald Breitigam, from the screen play by W. P. Lipscomb and S. N. Behrman.
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home Big Little Book Price Guide
By Edgar Rice Burroughs. Illustrated with Scenes from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Production starring Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan.
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home Big Little Book Price Guide
Softcover. Movie photo edition starring Jack Hulbert. Illustrations from the photoplay by Guy Bolton. A Gaumont-British Production.
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home Big Little Book Price Guide
By Eleanor Packer. MGM movie photo edition. With Summaries of the motion pictures, "Tarzan, The Ape Man" and "Tarzan And His Mate." Adapted from the famous stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
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home Big Little Book Price Guide
A Universal Picture. Movie tie-in with photo cover and interiors. Adapted from the famous newspaper cartoon strip by Hal Forrest.
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home Big Little Book Price Guide
Authorized TV edition based on the television series, "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp." Story by Davis Lott. Illustrated by John Ushler.
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home Book Price Guide
First edition, first printing, with "Published May, 1936" on copyright page and no note of other printings. In first issue dust jacket with Gone with the Wind listed in the second column of Macmillan Spring Novels list on rear panel. Octavo. 1037 pages. Original gray cloth decoratively stamped and lettered in blue on front cover and spine.
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