Books
Browse our collection of rare books, first editions, signed editions and valuable printed books, written by the world's greatest authors, in a wide range of subjects.
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MAXWELL, James Clerk. Matter and Motion.London : 1876
First edition of this late work by the Scottish physicist, "a masterpiece of natural philosophy" (Routledge Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, p. 209), and one of the first scientific texts to use the phrase "relativity". This copy is in a particularly crisp example of the original cloth binding.
By 1876, Maxwell was paying closer attention to... Learn More -
VERNE, Jules. The Exploration of the World.London : 1879
First British edition of the first work in the "Celebrated Travels and Travellers" series. Learn More -
VERNE, Jules. The Great Explorers of the Nineteenth Century.London : 1881
First British edition of the third instalment in Verne's "Celebrated Travels and Travellers" series. Learn More -
VERNE, Jules. The Sea Serpent.London : 1967
First edition in English of this adventure novel following the voyage of the St Enoch, a French whaling ship. It was first published in French in 1901. Learn More -
VERNE, Jules. From the Earth to the Moon Direct in 97 Hours 20 Minutes.London : 1876
An early edition of "the most important lunar voyage in science-fiction; the first hard science-fiction novel with full recognition that the preparations for a moon voyage may be just as interesting as the lunar voyage itself. It is also one of the first lunar voyages written from the point of view of scientific adventure" (Bleiler, p.... Learn More -
VERNE, Jules. Godfrey Morgan: A Californian Mystery.New York : [1883]
First American illustrated edition. A robinsonade, the novel follows the eponymous character as he is stranded on an uninhabited Pacific island. Learn More -
VERNE, Jules. Floating Island or The Pearl of the Pacific.London : 1896
First British edition of Verne's novel set in a city floating in the Pacific Ocean and inhabited entirely by millionaires. Learn More -
VERNE, Jules. Hector Servadac.London : 1878 [1877]
First British edition in book form of the work better known as Off on a Comet. It is "a mixture of forms: geography, a puzzle story, astronomical fiction, the last man, plus a great deal of unconscious projection on the part of Jules Verne" (Bleiler, p. 763).
Although the title page is dated 1878, the book was published in November 1877,... Learn More -
VERNE, Jules. Michael Strogoff.London : 1877 [1876]
First British edition. It prints the title story alongside the first revised version of Verne's first published story, "The Mutineers", a Mexican romance that appeared in the magazine Musée des familles in 1851.
Though its title page is dated 1877, this book was published in 1876, following serialization in London Society from March 1876.... Learn More -
VERNE, Jules. The Exploration of the World.New York : 1880
First American illustrated edition of the second work in the series. Learn More -
GOLDMAN, William. The Temple of Gold.New York : 1957
First edition, the author's copy, from the library of the Oscar-winning screenwriter, with his posthumous ink stamp on an initial leaf. It was Goldman's first novel. He went on to write such works as The Princess Bride, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and Marathon Man. Learn More -
VERNE, Jules. The Fur Country or Seventy Degrees North Latitude.Boston : 1874
First American edition of this Arctic instalment in the Extraordinary Voyages series. Learn More -
WATKINS-PITCHFORD, Denys, as "BB". The Little Grey Men.London : 1942
First edition of the author's fantasy novel about four gnomes in rural Warwickshire. A contemporary review in the TLS noted that the book "is full of country lore and there is plenty of good sound information to be gained from these little gnomes". The novel won the Carnegie Medal for 1942. Learn More -
FRENCH REVOLUTION. Tableau général du maximum de la république françoise, décrété par la convention nationale le 6 ventôse.Paris : 1794
First edition. Bertrand Barère presented these tables of official prices to the Convention nationale in March 1794 as a way to establish the value of goods throughout the Republic on a common basis. He advertised that the controlled prices would curb the cupidité ("greed") of merchants; they were, however, an attempt by the revolutionary... Learn More -
VERNE, Jules. In Search of the Castaways:Philadelphia : 1873
First edition in English. It has been adapted into several films, including the French silent Les Enfants du capitaine Grant (1914), the Soviet Deti kapitana Granta (1936), and Disney's In Search of the Castaways (1962). Learn More -
VERNE, Jules. The Chase of the Golden Meteor.London : 1909
First edition in English. The novel was started in 1901, but was still unfinished at the time of Verne's death; it was substantially reworked by his son Michel Verne for posthumous publication. Learn More -
HEANEY, Seamus (trans.). Beowulf.London : 1999
First edition, presentation copy, inscribed by Heaney on the title page to his friends, "to Andy and Michelle, So! Hwaet! Seamus. 6. X. 99". Heaney's translation of the Anglo-Saxon epic, dedicated to the memory of Ted Hughes, won the 1999 Whitbread Book of the Year award.
Andy and Michelle were long-standing personal friends of the Heaney... Learn More -
HEANEY, Seamus. Crediting Poetry.Loughcrew/Oldcastle, Co. Meath : 1995
True first edition, presentation copy, inscribed by the poet on the title page, "To Andy - a credit himself - Seamus Heaney, December 30th 1995". This edition was published just five days after Heaney's Nobel lecture, which the poet delivered on 7 December 1995.
The recipient was a long-standing personal friend of the Heaney family who... Learn More -
IBBETSON, Sir Denzil. Panjab Castes.Lahore : 1916
First edition thus, the first separate printing of this section of Ibbetson's three-volume Report on the Census of the Panjáb (1883), "a classic text for the study of the caste system" (ODNB); 1,000 copies were printed, although wartime paper quality meant that rates of attrition would have been fairly high, and today copies seldom appear on the... Learn More -
MILLER, Edith Starr. Occult Theocrasy.Abbeville, France : [1933]
First edition of this comprehensive study of secret societies, comprising 137 chapters on occult organizations, religious and political movements, including the Illuminati, Ordo Templi Orientis, and the Knights Templar.
Miller (1887-1933) advances an anti-Semitic and anti-Masonic conspiracy framework, portraying these organizations as... Learn More
