London: Printed for R. Phillips, 1798. Edition: First English edition. ¶ Anne Plumptre (1760-1818) was contracted by Richard Phillips to translate a series of plays by the popular German dramatist August Von Kotzebue, one of the first attempts “to make German plays known in London” - (DNB). Plumptre was a.... More
Paris: Michel Lévy Frères, Libraires-Éditeurs, 1858. Edition: First edition of the first French translation of The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. Bibliographical References: OCLC records numerous copies. ¶ One of Baudelaire's famous translations of the works of Poe. More
Paris: J. Hetzel, Librairie Claye, [1862]. Edition: First edition of the first French translation of eleven stories and nine poems by Poe. Bibliographical References: OCLC records numerous copies. More
Paris: Michel Lèvy, Frères, Libaires Éditeurs, 1864. Edition: Second edition of the first French translation of Eureka. Bibliographical References: OCLC records numerous copies. ¶ The famous translation by Charles Baudelaire, first published in 1838 together with the Adventures of Arthur Gordon Pym; here separately issued with a French translation of... More
Paris: Éditions RenéKieffer, Relieur d'Art, 1926. Edition: First French edition illustrated by Louis Marque, number 63 of 75 numbered copies, with an original drawing by Margue tipped in. ¶ Bauderlaire's famous translation of "The Gold Bug" with illustrations by Louis Margue. The drawing tipped into this copy is of the... More
Paris: Librairie de L. Hachette et Cie, 1853. Edition: First edition of the first French translation of "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall," together with the second French translation of "The Gold Bug." Translated by Alphonse R. Borghers. From the library of Edouard Avril with his stamp on the... More
Amsterdam: Antonium Schonenburg, 1730. Edition: Eighth edition; the first was published in 1658. ¶ A handbook to the gods of the ancients by Francisco Pomey, S.J. (1619-1673), prefect of Lyon and author of other educational books and well-known mythographer. From the library of 20th century scholar Gershon Legman, with his... More
Amsterdam: Engraved by J. Houbraken for J. & P. Knapton, London, 1747. Bibliographical References: Wimsatt, Portraits of Alexander Pope, 66.15. One of many famous portraits of the great poet of the Augustan age, Alexander Pope. This truncated engraved version of Van Loo's oil portrait is surrounded by an elaborate allegorical... More
London: Printed for Lawton Gilliver, 1733. Edition: First edition. Bibliographical References: Griffith 329; Rothschild 1611; NCBEL II, 507. ¶ An epistle dedicated to Sir Richard Temple, Lord Cobham (1675-1749), a friend of Pope who had been disgraced by Walpole. Pope comes to Cobham's defense obliquely, writing about the difficulty of... More
London: Printed for J. Wright, and sold by J. Roberts, 1737. Edition: First edition. Bibliographical References: Griffith 443; Foxon P-896; NCBEL II, 507. One of Pope's Hor An imitation of an ode by Horace in which the poet reflects on his advancing age and urges Venus to leave him be... More
London: Printed by J. Wright, for Lawton Gilliver, 1735. Edition: First edition, second issue with the correct spelling of Fleetstreet on the title-page. Bibliographical References: Griffith 361; Foxon P-917; NCBEL II, 507. Pope's thinly veiled poem to Martha Blount, with whom he had a life-long flirtation, romance and friendship. The... More
London: Printed for John and Paul Knapton, 1742. Edition: A revised and enlarged edition of Warburton's A Vindication of Mr. Pope's Essay on Man (1740). Bibliographical References: NCBEL II, 1870. ¶ Warburton's spirited defense of his friend Alexander Pope against the numerous and vociferous criticisms about the religious implications of... More
London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1824. Edition: First edition. Bibliographical References: Wolff 5605; Garside & Schöwerling 1824:77; NCBEL III, 758;. A historical romance set in 17th-century Balkan Peninsula about the Duke Christian of Luneburg's efforts to free the Bohemians, Croats and others from domination by the Turks. More
London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1817. Edition: Second edition, published the same year as the first. Bibliographical References: Cf. Garside, Raven & Schöwerling 1817: 49 & Wolff 5606. ¶ A historical romance that begins in Lindisfarne shortly after the first Jacobite uprising. Porter’s popular novels served as one... More
N.p., n.d., but 1910 or before. An unfinished story by William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), famously known as O. Henry, first published in Short Stories in 1911 and shortly after in Rolling Stones in 1912. It was written, as noted by the editor of Rolling Stones, "several years before his death."... More
Paris: P. Persan, 1824. Edition: First edition. An interesting work of short fiction by French author and polymath Charles Pougens (1755-1833). A female orangutan on a jungle island encounters a Portuguese man, Fernandez, who gives her the name Jocko. They become friends and engage in numerous activities together, including having... More
Bristol: Albion Press: Printed by Wansbrough and Saunders, 1821. Edition: First edition. Bibliographical References: Jackson, Romantic Poetry by Women, page 262. Poems centering on the ancient history of Bristol and its surroundings by a woman who was apparently a local. The Albion Press flourished in Bristol for about 12 years... More
London: Various publishers, 1717, 1731 & 1735. Edition: Various contemporary editions. On the front blank is the contemporary inscription ". . . Jesus College / 1738 / Entered July the 21st 1738." Below that is notation in a different hand "Pownall / the Gift of T. Nevile." Thomas Pownall (1722-1805)... More
![Liberal Opinions, upon Animals, Man, and Providence. In which are Introduced, Anecdotes of a Gentleman . . . By Courtney Melmoth [pseud]. SAMUEL JACKSON PRATT.](/pictures/thumb/25193.jpg?v=1517533277)
London: Printed for G. Robinson and J. Bew, 1775-77. Edition: First edition. Bibliographical References: Garside, Raven and Schöwerling 1775: 30; NCBEL II, 677. The first novel and second book by Samuel Jackson Pratt (1749-1814), the story of the adventures of the clergyman Benignus, who searches for answers about goodness and... More
London: Printed for F. Fayram and W. Meadows, 1731. Edition: First edition. Bibliographical References: ESTC T166155 (six locations, two in North America). ¶ A grammar of the Portuguese language for English speakers and writers, with interesting American provenance: On the front paste-down is the bookplate of William Hickling and on... More
New York: Baker & Scribner, 1848. Edition: First edition. Bibliographical References: Sabin 65546. ¶ Prime’s first book, a collection of sketches and tales of genteel outdoor life, written in the manner of Washington Irving. Prime was a young New York City lawyer at the time of this book, and later... More
London: Printed, Anno, 1628. Edition: First edition, one of two issues, the difference being the spelling of "needs" on page 19. Bibliographical References: STC 20477.5. A rare and early work by pamphleteer and lawyer William Prynne (1600-1669), who was tried twice by the Star Chamber for sedition, but later served... More
New Haven: Yale University Library, 1928. Edition: First edition, one of 25 copies on rag paper, designed by Carl Purington Rollins. ¶ Presentation copy from Purdy to American Literature scholar and curator, Gilbert Troxell, with a note and Hardy keepsake, also produced by Purdy, laid in. More
London: Printed by W. Owen, 1757. Edition: First edition. Bibliographical References: ESTC N4876. ¶ A scarce epistolary travel guide to Paris, with extensive descriptions of matters useful to the traveler, including information about museums, theaters, parks, libraries, monuments, etc. The author, who remains known only by the initials "A.R." was... More
London: Printed for the Author and Sold by C. Dilley, 1780. Edition: First edition. Bibliographical References: Jackson, Romantic Poetry by Women, page 266; ESTC T109806 records three copies in the British Isles (BL, Oxford & Cambridge) and five copies in North America (HEH, LCP, UCLA, Chicago & McMaster). ¶ A.... More