CHARLES AGVENT

SIGNED BOOKS
AUTOGRAPHS
FIRST EDITIONS
MANUSCRIPTS
The Rare & Unusual

1669 JAPAN
013951

Our Spring Catalogue contains 42 select items in a variety of fields. Highlights include the plate volumes from the quarto edition of Diderot's Encyclopedia 1779; Montanus on Japan 1669; scarce first books by Gerard Manley Hopkins (an association copy), Donald Justice. and William Stafford; finely bound sets; a collection of signed books and letters by Darwin contemporary Herbert Spencer who coined the term "survival of the fittest"; books signed by David Ben-Gurion, Albert Einstein, Billie Holiday, Gertrude Stein, Kurt Vonnegut, Virginia Woolf, and others. Future monthly catalogues will feature strong collections of literary manuscripts, letters, and photographs; Hand-colored Ornithology books; a fine Mountaineering collection; and much more. You may also use our FAST SEARCH ENGINE to locate an item not on this list from our inventory of over 5500 fine books and autographs. Click on Order to send us a message; please be sure to include the Title and the Item Number.

013948 ORGELSDORFER EULENSPIEGEL. NO 1, 15. OKT. 1918 - NO. 10, 25. MAI 1919. Ft. Oglethorpe, GA: Internierungslager 1918 - 1919.First Edition. Square octavo (7-1/8" x 7-3/8") bound in original cloth-backed batik boards with a mounted hand-colored woodcut on the front cover. A very nice copy of a rare periodical from the American internment camp Orgelsdorf printed in an obviously small number by German prisoners. OCLC locates only one copy worldwide at the DIE DEUTSCHE NATIONALBIBLIOTHEK in Germany. Complete with all eleven numbers printed and bound by hand in one volume. With 10 ORIGINAL WOODCUT title pages printed in two colors and 42 ORIGINAL WOODCUT and LINOCUT illustrations by A. Schneider, M. von Recklinghausen, L. Schlimbach, and others. The first number is represented in two states, one with the illustrations hand-colored and one with the illustrations in black and white. The illustrations depict scenes from the camp, portraits, and views. Presentation copy from the editor Erich Posselt on the verso of the title page dated "Ft. Oglethorpe Ga, Okt. 23. 1918." Cheap paper browned rather evenly. Near Fine and a very scarce survival. (Internment Camps, Americana, Prisoner of War, German, Original Woodcuts, Illustrated, Periodicals, Georgia, World War I)

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013976 ABBOT, REV. ABIEL. LETTERS WRITTEN IN THE INTERIOR OF CUBA, BETWEEN THE MOUNTAINS OF ARCANA, TO THE EAST, AND OF CUSCO, TO THE WEST.... Boston: Bowles and Dearborn 1829.First Edition. Original cloth-backed boards with printed paper spine label, slightly chipped; top and fore-edge uncut, largely unopened. A fascinating look at Cuba in the early 19th century. Clean, Very Good or better copy. (Cuba, Travel, Americana, Latin America)

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013969 BARTLETT, THOMAS. NEW HOLLAND: ITS COLONIZATION, PRODUCTIONS & RESOURCES, WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THE RELATIONS SUBSISTING WITH GREAT BRITAIN. London: Longman, Brown, Green 1843.First Edition. Octavo bound in the original cloth rebacked with a later brown calf spine; ix, [i], 312 pages. The author was the Assistant Surgeon of the 51st Light Infantry. Most of the book concerns Australia though the author also deals with ways of improving British agriculture. Bookplate of Bernard Gore Brett on the front pastedown. Very Good copy of an uncommon book. (England, Travel, 19th Century, Australia, Agriculture, New Holland, Farming)

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013963 BEN-GURION, DAVID. ISRAEL: A PERSONAL HISTORY. New York: Funk & Wagnalls (1971).First Edition. Copy #1035 of 2000 numbered copies bound in blue padded leather and SIGNED by Israel's first prime minister below the photographic portrait of him opposite the title page. Illustrated with photographs. Fine, bright copy in Fine slipcase. (Signed, Autograph, Limited, Judaica, Jewish History, Modern Firsts, Historical, David Ben-Gurion, Autographs)

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013949 (BEN-GURION, DAVID) HARMAN, AB. & YADIN, YIGAEL (EDITORS). ISRAEL. Tel-Aviv/Jerusalem: Massadah Publishing Co. Ltd. [1958].First Edition. Large quarto (8-3/4" x 11-1/4") bound in original cloth with the name of the owner, General John H. Hilldring, stamped in gilt on the front cover. Text in French and English. Preface by David Ben-Gurion. Illustrated with photographs in black-and-white and in color. INSCRIBED and SIGNED by Israel's first prime minister in English on the half-title page: To General/John H. Hilldring/in friendship/D. Ben-Gurion/Jerusalem/5.6.58." Not only is this inscribed while Ben-Gurion was in office, it is also inscribed to an important figure in Israel's early history. General John Hilldring was the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Occupied Areas during World War II and was responsible for organizing military governments for countries to be liberated or conquered. Hilldring recommended Colonel David "Mickey" Marcus, a Jewish officer who had been under his command, to Ben-Gurion. Marcus, under the name of "Michael Stone," designed a command structure for Israel's new army and wrote manuals to train it. As a result of his efforts Israel, when it declared independence and the Arab armies attacked in May 1948, defended itself successfully. In gratitude, Ben-Gurion made Marcus the first general in the army of Israel since Judah Maccabee nearly two thousand years ago. He was accidentally killed at the age of 46 by a Jewish sentry six hours before a United Nations negotiated cease fire began. The film CAST A GIANT SHADOW was based on his life. Ben-Gurion said of him, "He was the best man we had." Fine without dustwrapper, as issued (Signed, Association Copy, Israel, Judaica, Jewish History, Modern Firsts, Inscribed, David Ben-Gurion, Autographs)

$3500.00
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013975 [BOUDINOT, ELIAS]. THE SECOND ADVENT, OR COMING OF THE MESSIAH IN GLORY, SHOWN TO BE A SCRIPTURE DOCTRINE, AND TAUGHT BY DIVINE REVELATION.... Trenton, N.J.: D. Fenton & S. Hutchinson 1815.First Edition. Bound in modern brown morocco stamped in gilt. SIGNED by the author on the title page. Elias Boudinot, an American revolutionary statesman serving as commissary-general of prisoners and colonel in the continental army (he was with George Washington at Valley Forge), as well as president (1782-1783) and secretary for foreign affairs of the Continental Congress, signed the treaties of peace with Great Britain and of alliance with the French king. He also helped ratify the United States Constitution in New Jersey and conducted Washington into New York for the first inauguration. He was a member of the House of Representatives, second director of the U.S. Mint (1795-1805), and the first counselor named by the United States Supreme Court. Boudinot was also a trustee and benefactor of Princeton University and a founder and first president of the American Bible Society. Perhaps his two best known books are The Age of Revelation (1790), a reply to Thomas Paine, and A Star in the West, or a Humble Attempt to Discover the Long Lost Ten Tribes of Israel (1816), an attempt to prove that the American Indians may be the lost tribes. Pages evenly browned. Small institutional blindstamp to title page and one text page. Tear to one page without loss of text. Near Fine and scarce. (American Revolution, Americana, Religion, Colonial, Autographs, Elias Boudinot, Signed)

$1500.00
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013957 (BRAQUE, GEORGES) GROHMANN, WILL AND TUDAL, ANTOINE. THE INTIMATE SKETCHBOOKS OF G. BRAQUE. New York: Harcourt Brace & Co. (1955).First Edition. First American Edition after the original publication issued as Verve 31-32. Folio (10-1/2" x 14") in pictorial boards. With an Appreciation by Rebecca West. Illustrated with numerous black-and-white plates and twenty full-page color plates including one double plate. This work has been produced under the directions of Teriade by the master printers Draeger Freres for the heliogravures in colors and in black and by Mourlot Freres for the lithography in color. Small splits to the spine edges near the top and bottom. Bookplate of artist Estelle Conniff on the front pastedown. Very Good, contents Fine. (Illustrated, Georges Braque, Lithographs, Modern Art)

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013959 BUSH, GEORGE AND SCOWCROFT, BRENT. A WORLD TRANSFORMED. New York: Alfred Knopf 1998.First Edition. Cloth-backed boards. Illustrated with photographs. SIGNED by both authors on the half-title page. Fine in a Fine dustwrapper. (Presidential, Modern Firsts, Signed, Autographs, Autobiography, George Bush)

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013956 BYRD, RICHARD EVELYN. DISCOVERY. THE STORY OF THE SECOND BYRD ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons 1935.First Edition. Large octavo (6-1/2" x 9-3/4") bound in the original blue cloth spine over paper-covered boards with gilt stamping and a black cloth spine label, housed in the publisher's slipcase with a gold star pattern over white. Illustrated with photographs. Copy #9 of 500 numbered copies printed on Strathmore permanent rag paper and signed by the author on the limitation page. Largely unopened. Small areas to the front and rear boards where the paper has been peeled; slight spotting to the spine which is a bit sunned. Bookplate of Arthur G. Rippey on the front pastedown. Still Near Fine in a Near Fine original publisher's slipcase. (Polar, Signed, Nautical, Limited, Exploration, Richard Byrd, Antarctica, South Pole, Travel)

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013954 [CARROLL, LEWIS] DODGSON, CHARLES L. THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS AND WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE. New York: Limited Editions Club 1935.In original full blue morocco binding with heavy gilt decorations. Copy #1452 of 1500 copies with typography and binding by Frederick Warde. With the original John Tenniel illustrations. This is one of about 1000 copies SIGNED by Alice Hargreaves, "the original Alice," on the colophon page. Alice refused to sign other editions of the Alice books in her lifetime, written by Carroll for her when she was young Alice Liddell, but she was convinced with the help of monetary compensation and an advanced age to sign here. Mild sunning to spine. Fine in Fine slipcase and uncommon thus. (Modern Firsts, Children's, Limited Editions, LEC, Signed, Association, Fine Binding, Limited, Lewis Carroll)

$2250.00
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013960 [DIDEROT, DENIS & D'ALEMBERT, JEAN LE ROND]. RECUEIL DE PLANCHES, POUR LA NOUVELLE EDITION DU DICTIONNAIRE RAISONNE DES SCIENCES, DES ARTS ET DES METIERS.... Neufchatel/Geneva: La Societe Typographique 1779.The First Edition of the three plate volumes of the First Quarto Edition (7-3/4" x 10") of this landmark work (There were also 36 text volumes not present here.). Bound in uniform contemporary diced calf with elaborately gilt-decorated spines and contrasting morocco spine labels. Complete with a total of 448 copper engravings, many folding and ten of which are maps, and various tables. Of the first edition published in 1751-1765, Carter and Muir in PRINTING AND THE MIND OF MAN state: "A monument in the history of European thought; the acme of the age of reason; a prime motive force in undermining the ancien regime and in heralding the French Revolution; a permanent source for all aspects of eighteenth-century civilizations" (PMM 200).Insignificant wear. A Fine set with wonderful plates. (Copper Engravings, Encyclopedia, 18th Century, Diderot, Rare, PMM, Illustrated)

$12,500.00
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013968 DUPIN, JACQUES. AUSTER, PAUL (TRANSLATOR). CALDER, ALEXANDER (ILLUSTRATOR). FITS AND STARTS: SELECTED POEMS OF JACQUES DUPIN. (Berkeley): Living Hand (1973) [1974].First Edition. Quarto (8-3/4" x 11") bound in publisher's gray cloth. Translated with a three-page introduction by Auster. Copy #22 of 100 numbered copies SIGNED by the poet and the translator on the colophon page and including an ORIGINAL LITHOGRAPH by Alexander Calder as the frontispiece numbered and SIGNED by the artist. Slightly cocked, still Fine. (Modern Poetry, Modern Firsts, Signed, Limited, Paul Auster, French Literature, Alexander Calder, Original Lithograph, Signed Lithograph)

$1500.00
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013983 EASTMAN, MARY H[ENDERSON]. THE AMERICAN ABORIGINAL PORTFOLIO. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co. (1853).First Edition. Small Folio (9-1/2" x 12-1/2") bound in the publisher's gilt-decorated blue cloth. Illustrated with an engraved title page and 26 steel-engraved plates by Seth Eastman, the author's husband and one of the finest artists of the frontier American West. The Eastmans depict in words and pictures from their own firsthand experiences the life and manners of Native Americans in the 1840s. The plates are generally bright and fresh with all tissue guards present. There are spots of foxing here and there to some of the text pages and some of the plates. The binding is completely original with no restoration. The spine edges and tips are somewhat worn and the spine is rubbed, but the gilt is still visible. The covers are bright and strong. Still a Near Fine copy of this important title. (19th Century, Steel Engravings, Native Americans, Seth Eastman, Western Americana, Indians, Illustrated, Americana, Mary Eastman)

$2500.00
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013966 EINSTEIN, ALBERT. THE MEANING OF RELATIVITY. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press 1953.Black cloth. The Fourth Edition of this science high spot first published in 1922. In this edition, Appendix II on the Generalized Theory of Gravitation has been completely revised. This copy is SIGNED by the author as "A. Einstein" and dated in 1953 on the front endpaper. Fine in close to Fine, price-clipped dustwrapper. (Science, Modern Firsts, Philosophy, Signed, Albert Einstein, Physics, Relativity, Atomic Power)

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013946 FERBER, EDNA. SHOW BOAT. Garden City: Doubleday, Page & Co. 1926.First Edition. Copy #190 of only 201 numbered and SIGNED copies of perhaps Ferber's best known book, published a year after her Pulitzer-Prize winning SO BIG. Source for the musical and film starring Paul Robeson. Rebacked with a new spine very similar to the original. Attractive period bookplate on front pastedown. Near Fine, lacking the slipcase. (Signed, Limited, Movie Fiction, Women's Literature, Modern Firsts, Literary Firsts, Musicals, Edna Ferber)

$600.00
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013965 FORD, GERALD R. A TIME TO HEAL. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GERALD R. FORD. New York: Harper & Row/Readers Digest (1979).First Edition. Illustrated with photographs. SIGNED by the late President on the front endpaper and dated 11/5/79. Internal dampstain to bottom front of dustwrapper. Near Fine in a lightly soiled, Very Good dustwrapper. (Signed, Gerald Ford, Modern Firsts, Presidential, Autographs, Political, Americana, Autobiography)

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013952 FRANCIS OF ASSISSI. THE LITTLE FLOWERS OF SAINT FRANCIS. London: The Medici Society Ltd. (1930).Small octavo (4" x 6") bound in full blue polished calf with double gilt-ruled borders, a gilt-decorated spine with a floral pattern, gilt dentelles, pretty marbled endpapers, and contrasting gilt-lettered morocco spine labels, top edge gilt; xxxvi, 311 pages. The binding is signed but the stamping on the verso of the front free endpaper is not clear. Housed in a cloth slipcase. About Fine and nicely bound. (Fine Binding, Fine Bindings, Gift Ideas, Religion, Catholicism, Saints, St. Francis Assissi, Spiritual)

$250.00
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013953 GRAVES, ROBERT. I CLAUDIUS. FROM THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF TIBERIUS CLAUDIUS. EMPEROR OF THE ROMANS. [London]: Paradine [1977].First Edition. Bound in full purple morocco decorated in gilt on the front cover and housed in the publisher's slipcase. First published in 1934, this is the First Limited Signed Edition of this novel and was published at the time of the successful television mini-series. Copy #86 of only 100 numbered copies SIGNED by the author. Owner blindstamp on a front blank; mild rubbing to the spine. Slipcase with small stain at the bottom. About Fine in a Near Fine slipcase, as issued. (Modern Firsts, 20th C. Brit. Lit., Fiction, Signed, Limited, Movie Fiction, High Spot, Robert Graves, Roman Empire)

$3000.00
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013978 HAWTHORNE, NATHANIEL. THE COMPLETE WRITINGS OF NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin (1900).The Old Manse Edition complete in 22 octavo (5-1/8" x 7-7/8") volumes. Nicely bound in red half morocco with matching corners and marbled boards, gilt lettering and decorations on the spines, matching marbled endpapers, top edges gilt. Illustrated with portraits, facsimiles, and drawings by Alice Barber Stephens and others. Pale damp stain to the lower borders of a few volumes. Close to fine and very attractive on the shelf. (Nathaniel Hawthorne, Sets, Fine Bindings, 19th C. Amer. Lit., 19th C. Literature, Classics)

$2500.00
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013958 HELLER, JOSEPH. CATCH-22. New York: Simon & Schuster (1994).Copy #131 of 750 numbered and SIGNED copies of this classic with a new preface by Heller. Published in 1994 to coincide with the publication of its sequel, CLOSING TIME, and to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original publication. Small bump to bottom corner of front board and slipcase. Still Fine in slipcase without dustwrapper, as issued. (Modern Firsts, Signed, Limited, Movie Fiction, First Book, High Spots, Joseph Heller)

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013964 HOLIDAY, BILLIE AND DUFFY, WILLIAM. LADY SINGS THE BLUES. Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc. 1956.Illustrated with photographic endpapers and containing a chronological discography at the end. Early but not first printing of this autobiography of perhaps the most influential jazz singer of all time, INSCRIBED and SIGNED by the author/singer on the front blank "For Mr. & Mrs. Chuck Landis/Stay Happy always/Billie Holiday." Co-authored by William Duffy, this book was made into a film starring Diana Ross as Holiday. Chuck Landis was the owner of a famous strip club, the Largo Club on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, hangout of gangster Mickey Cohen and others. A very scarce signature, especially in a book and in this condition. Dustwrapper with some edgewear and long closed tear along front spine edge, but quite presentable under mylar. Near Fine in Good, complete dustwrapper and quite uncommon. (First Book, Modern Firsts, African-American, Billie Holiday, Signed, Inscribed, Jazz, Music, Movie)

$6000.00
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Shipping: Domestic shipping charges: $8 for first book; $4.00 each thereafter. International charges handled on an individual case. All books shipped upon receipt of payment or clearance of funds if a new customer. Institutions may be billed. Domestic packages usually shipped via UPS or Priority Mail. International shipments are made via Courier Service or in some cases U.S.P.O. Air or Global Priority. Please let us know if you have specialized shipping requirements.

CHARLES AGVENT
291 Linden Road
Mertztown, PA 19539
610-682-4750
agvent@erols.com

 

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