Libros raros de Stanley Louis Remarkable Books (IOBA)

London: Printed for Henry Rhodes, next door to the Swan-Tavern, near Bride-Lane in Fleet Street, 1687. Early editont in English. 140. Very Good-. Considered one of the very earliest science fiction stories, The Comical History of the States and Empires of the World of the Moon was the first of three satirical novels written by Cyrano de Bergerac. It was originally published posthumously in 1657 and, along with its companion work The States and Empires of the Sun.  Arthur C. Clarke credited the book with the first description of rocket-powered spaceflight, and with the invention of the ramjet. The book is narrated in the first person by a character also named Cyrano. Cyrano attempts to reach the Moon to prove there is a civilization that sees the Earth as its own moon. He launches himself into the sky from Paris by strapping bottles of dew to his body, but lands back on Earth. Believing he had traveled straight up and down, he is confused by local soldiers who tell him he is not in France; they… Leer más

London: Macmillan and Co, 1869. Second Edition. Very Good. Alfred Russel Wallace (1823 â€" 1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural selection His paper on the subject was jointly published with some of Darwin's writings in 1858This prompted Darwin to publish On the Origin of Species Like Darwin, Wallace did extensive fieldwork; first in the Amazon, and then in the Malay Archipelago, where he identified the faunal divide now termed the Wallace Line, which separates the Indonesian archipelago into two distinct parts: a western portion in which the animals are largely of Asian origin, and an eastern portion where the fauna reflect Australasia This 2 volume set is the second edition, 1869, of his seminal work in the Malay Archipelago Includes half-titles, and one folding color map only (of 2, lacking the Physical Map in vol1), wood-engraved plates, other maps… Leer más

London: John Murray, 1869. Fifth (Tenth Thousand). Good. Considered one of the most important books every published, any edition (there were six) of The Origin of Species that was published during Darwin's lifetime (he died in 1882) is exceptionally sought after, since the print runs were relatively small for such a significant work Only 10,000 copies were printed cumulatively through this fifth edition (which was for only 2,000 copies) This copy was custom bound in full leather with gilt tooling, but the spine and front board are loose and the back board has detached But the hinge breaks are clean and should be repairable The text block is very sound however, and except for the hinge detachments, the leather binding is in relatively good condition There is modest foxing on the ffeps, but otherwise the contents are in very good condition with only minor age toning The edges are marbled, as are the endpapers.

Bologna: Heirs of Dozza, 1655. Second. Fine. Baldessare Capra, Usus Et Fabrica Circini Cuiusdam Proportionis, Per Quem Omnia Fere Tum Euclidis, Tum Mathematicorum Omnium Problemata Facili Negotio Resolvuntur, (in Latin) Bologna, heirs of Dozza, 1655 title page, 6 pp of prefaces and 80 pp of text Galileo Galilei, Difesa di Galileo Galilei Contro alle calunie & imposture di Baldessar Capra, (in Italian) Bologna, heirs of Dozza, 1655, title page and extracted text paginated 83-160 Both volumes contain multiple woodcut decorations to titles, woodcut initials, head-pieces and diagrams Both have been rebound in uniform, very attractive modern blind-stamped calf, and preserved in custom drop-back boxes, [Tomash & Williams C24 & G7], 4to These are extracts from the first volume of the 1655-1656 Dozza (2nd) edition of Galileo's work The original edition was published in 1607 As described below, these scarce, paired works together document an important controversy of scientific history; Capra's work on… Leer más

London: Macmillan and Co, 1876. First. Near Fine. Geographical Distribution of Animals, with twenty engraved plates and seven colored maps (5 in Vol 1 and 2 in Vol 2) This is an exceptional set of this seminal work in scientific evolution Light pencil notations in margins on at least one plate London: Macmillan and Co, 1876 First Edition Two octavo volumes Original full green cloth with gilt titles and designs in excellent, sound condition, after a professionally done reinforcement of hinges for both volumes, (since these are heavy books), but all of the original binding and brown endpapers are preserved Corners are slightly bumped Slight foxing on first few and last few pages of each volume, but otherwise text is undamaged throughout Mostly unopened Near fine Provenance: Estate of Russell Johanson, Ravenna Rare Books, Seattle, Wa Ink ownership signature on FFEP's of WA Herdman, (Sir William Abbott Herdman (1858-1924) and eminent Scottish marine zoologist and oceanographer in his own right and… Leer más

London: G. Woodfall, 1754. First. Very Good. Elizabeth Canning (1734 â€"1773) was an English maidservant who claimed to have been kidnapped and held against her will in a hayloft for almost a month She ultimately became central to one of the most famous English criminal mysteries of the 18th century She disappeared on 1 January 1753, before returning almost a month later to her mother's home, emaciated and in a "deplorable condition" After being questioned by concerned friends and neighbors she was interviewed by the local alderman, who then issued an arrest warrant for Susannah Wells, the woman who occupied the house in which Canning was supposed to have been held At Wells' house, Canning identified Mary Squires as another of her captors, prompting the arrest and detention of both Wells and Squires London magistrate Henry Fielding (yes, the famous author of Tom Jones!) became involved in the case, taking Canning's side Further arrests were made and several witness statements were taken, and… Leer más

London: Printed for W. Johnston, 1762. First Edition. Near Fine. Thomas Leland was an Irish historian, translator and academic and the author of the early Gothic novel "Longsword, Earl of Salisbury: An Historical Romance," published in 1762 It is a medieval romance based on the life of William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, the son of Henry II "some would argue that Thomas Leland's 'Longsword, Earl of Salisbury' (1762) - subtitled 'A[n] Historical Romance' - is really the first Gothic novel" Rictor Norton, Gothic Readings : the first wave, 1764-1840 London Leicester University Press, 2000 Both leather-bound volumes of this very scarce first edition feature an illustrated frontispiece Both have been neatly repaired with new spines and endpapers Each text's bindings and hinges are solid and intact Some remnants of library treatments remain visible on the title page and first few pages of each volume A small handwritten note in pencil appears on the first page of the first chapter in each book… Leer más

London: Heinemann, 1966. First editions, first printings all. Fine/Near Fine. This is a complete set of the 8-volume official biography of Winston Churchill, together with the complete 13 companion volumes of Churchill's papers up to 1939 (Four additional volumes of his wartime papers were published later) All 21 volumes are the British first (i.e. "true first") editions, first printing All are in near fine to fine condition, and all include dust jackets There are some minor tears on several dust jackets, apparently from shelf wear, but the books themselves appear unread The companion volumes are all essentially pristine There is really nothing else in print to rival the scale and comprehensiveness of this set, which documents the life of one of the 20th century most important leaders (The last three companion volumes total nearly 5,000 pages by themselves!) In 1966, Winston Churchill's son Randolph began writing a was intended to be a definitive, comprehensive biography of his father However, he… Leer más

London: Cassell, 1948. First. Very Good+/Very Good-. A complete set of first editions of all of Churchill's speeches after WWII These volumes are scarcer than his War Speeches, since they were published in smaller quantities These are all the "true first" British editions US editions were published for the first four, but there was no US edition of the last, The Unwritten Alliance All DJ's are in protective mylar covers The Set includes: 1 The Sinews of Peace - 1948, 256 pp Book is fine in orange cloth, with no marks or damage at all Unclipped DJ is near fine, with just slight edge wear at spine ends [Woods A124] 2 Europe Unite - 1950, 506 pp Book is near fine in green cloth, with just very slight bumping at spine ends and extremely slight fading at top spine end Unclipped DJ is very good, with slight chipping at spine ends, and slight darkening on rear [Woods A128] 3 In the Balance, 1951, 406 pp Book is near fine in blue cloth, with just slight bumping on spine ends Cipped DJ is very good, with… Leer más

Los Angeles: General Publishing Group, 1994. First. Very Good+/Fair. A possibly unique artifact of one of the most famous soaps of them all! All My Children was one of the most popular daytime "soap operas" of all time and ran for 41 years, from 1970 to 2011 One of its main characters, Erica Kane, portrayed by Susan Lucci, became well known even beyond the show's base audience In 1995, the show held a 25th anniversary celebration, which was attended by most of the many actors and production team, as well as many of the celebrity guests who had appeared over the years This book was published in recognition of that anniversary This book's original owner, named Thomas, attended that celebration, (his ticket in laid in the book) and he apparently spent most of his time circulating the crowd and collecting autographs in this book By my count, there are at least 65 signatures, many of them personalized to Thomas In addition to most of the primary cast members (yes, including Susan Lucci), it's been… Leer más

New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc, 1931. First. Near Fine/Good. A near fine copy in burgundy cloth with paper title label on spine Signed by Pirandello on ffep but no other marks at all Minor darkening to endpapers Unclipped DJ has some edge wear and chipping, but overall good Works signed by this Nobel laureate are exceedingly scarce, particularly in dust jacket From Wikipedia: Luigi Pirandello (1867 â€" 1936) was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his almost magical power to turn psychological analysis into good theatre" He was an Italian nationalist and supported Fascism in a moderate way, at one point giving his Nobel Prize medal to the Fascist government to be melted down as part of the 1935 Oro alla Patria [it] ("Gold to the Fatherland") campaign during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War Pirandello's works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays,… Leer más

New York: Harper & Row, 1973. First. Near Fine/Near Fine. A near fine copy in red cloth with gilt titles on spine A small water spot on front cover and very slight bumping at corners and spine ends Otherwise, in pristine condition Unclipped DJ is also excellent, with just very slight edge wear Now in protective mylar cover Signed by both Arthur C Clarke and Ray Bradbury on title page A certificate of authenticity is laid inside the front cover Overall an excellent copy signed by two towering figures in science and science fiction "Gift Quality" 143 pp.

Oxford and San Francisco: W.h. Freeman & Company, 1982. First UK edition. Near Fine/Near Fine. Richard Dawkins FRS FRSL (b 1941) is a famous and sometimes controversial, British evolutionary biologist and author An emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, he was Professor for Public Understanding of Science at Oxford from 1995 to 2008 In recent years, he has used his role as a public voice for science to criticize religion and all unscientific beliefs But he originally established his scientific reputation on the basis of his first two books, The Selfish Gene, and The Extended Phenotype, both published before he became publicly known In The Extended Phenotype (1982), essentially a sequel to The Selfish Gene, Dawkins introduced a biological concept of the same name, which presented the idea is that phenotype should not be limited to biological processes such as protein biosynthesis or tissue growth, but extended to include all effects that a gene has on its environment, inside or outside the body of… Leer más

Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Priinting Office, 1882. First. Hardcover. On July 2, 1881, Charles Guiteau, usually described as a "disgruntled office-seeker", shot President James A. Garfield in a Washington railway station in an assassination attempt. The bullet hit the President in the back, and Garfield, who was only 50 years old and in excellent physical condition, might have survived the attempt, if his medical doctors had not been so incompetent. Tragically, an infection set in, and he lingered in agony until he died almost three months later, on September 19, 1881. I would strongly recommend Candace Millard's excellent Destiny of the Republic, which describes the story in captivating and tragic detail. Guiteau was quickly put on trial. His trial defense was based on a plea of temporary insanity, one of the first significant cases in the United States to use that defense. Much of the trial transcript consists of the testimony about the definition of insanity. Psychiatry was in its early days… Leer más

London: Faber and Faber, 1940. First. Hardcover. Near Fine/Very Good. Strangers and Brothers is the first volume of what became C.P. Snows 11 novel series of the same name.  Published in the early days of WWII, it is by far the scarcest volume in the series, and dust jackets are extremely scarce.  Paper was in short supply during the war, and one can see from the photos that the publisher resorted to printing the dust jackets for this title on the reverse of leftover dust jackets from other titles (in this case a jacket from Perkin the Pedlar, but Eleanor Farjeon).  This copy is near fine in green cloth with red titles on the spine. Slight scuffing at the corners and bumping at the spine ends are the only issues.  No other marks or damage at all.  The clipped DJ has minor soiling and some chipping and small tears at the edges, but is overall very good and is still quite bright. FO.