Hello All,
Here it is, Capitol Hill Books' inaugural E-List! Our Rare Book Cataloger, Aaron Leis, has been hard at work cataloging and photographing new items for this list and for our website, so there's more to gander at www.capitolhillbooks-dc.com.
For our "30 Over $30" list we've included an assortment of first editions, signed books, and a couple funky items dropped in between.
You may order through our website, and email us at info@capitolhillbooks-dc.com if you have any questions.
Enjoy,
Capitol Hill Books Team
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1. ROMBAUER, Irma S. The Joy of Cooking [1943 Wartime Edition].
Philadelphia: The Blakiston Company / Bobbs-Merrill, 1943. Third Edition [New and Enlarged; "Wartime Edition"]. Octavo; 884p. Illustrated dustjacket with original $2.50 price; book in patterned blue cloth. Jacket shows a couple small chips and tears along edges and some smudging to back, but is clean and crisp overall. Boards are sturdy and square. Binding is sound and pages clean and unmarked. A clean and sturdy copy, scarce in dustjacket.
The second revision of Rombauer's classic cookbook, often referred to as the "Wartime Edition," including a section on substitutions for ingredients subject to wartime rationing and a preface invoking our "mighty weapon, the cooking spoon," along with the addition of many time-saving recipes from 1939's Streamlined Cooking. Because of World War II paper quotas, some printings of this edition (including this copy) were printed by the Blakiston Company (a Philadelphia-based Doubleday subsidiary) rather than Bobbs-Merrill, with the latter's imprint missing from the base of the spine. While the prior 1936 edition had sold well enough to merit six printings, it was the 1943 edition that became a bestselling sensation, securing its place as a culinary classic and inspiration to home cooks across the country--among them Julia Child, whose first cookbook was a copy of the 1943 Joy given to her as a wedding gift.
$300
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2. ADICHIE, Chimamanda Ngozi. Americanah: A Novel.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013. First Edition. Printed dustjacket with original $26.95 price; book in brown and blue paper-covered boards with gilt lettering to spine. Jacket is clean and crisp with very light rubbing at bottom corners, but no chips, tears, or marks. Boards are sturdy and square. Binding is sound and pages unmarked.
$50
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3. Automobile Register Company. The Southern Road Book: A Guide for Motorists, Covering the Territory South of Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Pittsburg.
Baltimore: The Automobile Register Company, 1907. 12mo (8" x 4.5"); xxvi, 288p. 25 maps (4 foldout), all present, with photo illustrations and adverts throughout. Limp textured red leather covers with gilt lettering. Covers dulled with light edgewear and a bit of curving at fore-edge. Dampstaining to last few pages and back pastedown, with some chips along fore-edges of back endpapers and a portion missing from bottom corner of last page, losing a first initial and a full name in list of Maryland Trust Company directors. A couple maps show clean tears and some creasing from hasty closure, but others are clean and crisp with some toning along edges, and all are present and legible. Binding is sound and pages unmarked.
A follow-up to the Automobile Register and Road Book for Maryland, District of Columbia and Adjacent Territory (1906), with mostly new content based on touring notes by motorists made during the previous year. Numerous routes are tracked starting from around 230 starting points in Maryland, the Virginias, D.C., Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and a few in North Carolina and Tennessee, providing general route information, lists of hotels, garages, and supply depots. Foldout maps are of Maryland, Virginia, and Adjacent Territories; Baltimore and Vicinity; Philadelphia; and Washington and Vicinity. Other full-page and inset maps are of specific routes. Numerous automotive-related ads throughout, mainly for businesses in the Baltimore and D.C. areas. Contemporary reviews and ads for this volume found in The Horseless Age, Automobile Topics, and Automobile Trade Journal. No copies currently found in the trade or in institutional holdings.
$100
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4. MARVIN, Kaye. Witches & Warlocks: Tales of Black Magic, Old and New. Jacket by Edward Gorey.
Garden City: GuildAmerica Books, 1989. First Edition with no additional printings listed. Original dustjacket illustrated by Edward Gorey; book in blue paper-covered boards with black cloth spine and silver lettering. Jacket shows a few small tears and some shallow creasing along edges, but is clean and crisp overall. Boards are square. Binding is sound and pages unmarked.
$60
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5. POE, Edgar Allan. Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Illustrated by Harry Clarke.
New York: Brentano's, [c. 1923]. Early edition with no additional printings on copyright. Quarto. 412 pages. 32 plates including frontis, 8 of which are full-color and tipped in. Publisher's black cloth-covered boards with illustrated title card and gilt lettering to spine. Missing dustjacket, but now in an impressive vernacular psychedelic sewn fabric cover (removable, but why would you?). Covers bumped at corners and spine ends with some superficial chewing to cloth. Spine faded, with a small bit of writing in red grease pen. Front board opens shakily but is holding soundly at center without cracks to joint or hinge. Pages a bit toned with a few spots of foxing, else unmarked. Page binding is sound.
$225
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6. Psychedelic Review Numbers 1-6.
Cambridge, MA: Psychedelic Review, 1963. Wraps as issued. First Editions of the first six issues. All are first printings. Interior pages are clean and unmarked in all. Collectively about 5 spots/stains to the outer text blocks. Bindings are sound. Light toning to the top of the front covers of all. Light shelfwear. Front cover of volume 5 is creased. Volume 6 is more rubbed and worn at corners than the others. One small stain to front hinge as well. Photos available upon request.
Includes articles such as "The Hallucinogenic Fungi in Mexico," "The Treatment of Frigidity with LSD and Ritalin," and "Transcendental Experience in Relation to Religion and Psychosis," along with reviews and reprintings of works by authors such as William James and G.I. Gurdjieff.
$500
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7. HEMINGWAY, Ernest. In Our Time.
New York: Boni & Liveright, 1925. First Edition, First Printing with publisher's device on copyright and no additional printings listed. Octavo; [i-xiv], 15-214p. Publisher's black cloth with gilt lettering and geometric design. Lacks dustjacket. Spine professionally rebacked with fragments of the original spine cloth mounted on the new (~15% loss to original cloth, with gilt previously rubbed away but stamped lettering and publisher's device still just visible). Boards sturdy and solid with a small speck and a couple light scuffs to back. Small sticker from the Holliday Bookshop in New York on back pastedown. Clean 1/4" tear at fore-edge to second half title, else pages clean, crisp, and unmarked. Binding is tight.
Hemingway's second book and first collection of short stories, including "Indian Camp," "Big Two-Hearted River," "The Battler,""My Old Man," and others. This First Edition was printed in a run of 1335 copies, preceded only by the 170 copy Limited Edition published in Paris by Three Mountains Press and sold at Shakespeare & Company. Collection begins in true Hemingway fashion, "Everybody was drunk." [Hanneman A3a]
$1000
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8. HEANEY, Seamus. Beowulf: A New Translation.
London: Faber & Faber, 1999. First Edition. Illustrated dustjacket with original £14.99 price; book in dark blue boards with gilt lettering to spine. Jacket shows very light edgewear and a few faint scuffs, but is clean and crisp with no chips or tears. Boards are sturdy and square. Binding is sound and pages unmarked.
$45
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9. MURRAY, Pauli. Song in a Weary Throat.
New York: Harper and Row, 1987. Stated First Edition. Octavo; 451 pages. Unclipped dust jacket has ghost of a sticker and rubbed at base of spine. Some slight creasing along edges and at corners. Dent at bottom edge of rear panel. Tight and square in binding. Bookplate on front pastedown. Dent at bottom of rear board as well, and rubbed at base of spine. Light fading at edges, else fine. An uncommon first edition of one of the most important civil rights and feminist leaders of the 20th century.
$125
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10. BRITTAIN, Vera. Testament of Youth: An Autobiographical Study of the Years 1900-1925. [Wartime Edition].
London: Victor Gollancz, 1945. Seventeenth Impression. Wartime "Cheap Edition." Printed dustjacket over blue cloth boards. Jacket shows a few small chips and tears along edges, with toning to spine, a small stain on back, and some general smudging to face. Boards bumped at corners and spine ends with fading along edges and dulling to lettering on spine. Pages and endpapers toned as expected, but unmarked. Binding is sound.
First installment of Brittain's memoirs, considered a classic of both World War I and feminist literature for its description of the war's impact on women and middle-class civilians of her own attempt to navigate an independent career, beginning as a Voluntary Aid Nurse and then returning to study history then working as a journalist for Time and Tide Magazine and lecturing for the League of Nations.
$125
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11. SAUNDERS, George. Lincoln in the Bardo.
New York: Random House, 2017. First Edition, First Printing. SIGNED by the author without inscription on flyleaf in black, red, and light blue marker, dated 2017. Unclipped dust jacket very lightly worn at corners with a small bump at head of spine. Boards sturdy and square. Binding is tight and pages unmarked.
$70
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12. MURRAY, James A.H., et al. A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles; Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by The Philological Society [Oxford English Dictionary]. 8 of 10 Volumes.
Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1884-1928. Missing Vol I Pt I (A) and Vol III Pt II (E), and not including the 1933 Supplement. Uniformly bound in black leather with gilt lettering and Oxford device to spines. All are sturdy and solid, with some expected light edgewear at spine ends. A couple volumes show light blemishes or scuffs to the face, but none of any real significance and most are scuff-free. Occasional instances of tape reinforcement in margins on a few pages with small chips to fore-edge, but none were noticed extending into the text, and the only observed markings are small number notations in pen on many of the title pages under the publication year.
$3000
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13. CHILD, Julia. Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Two Volumes).
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1972, 1971. Twenty-second Printing and Fourth Printing, respectively. Both volumes signed by Julia Child without inscription on full titles. Printed dustjackets each showing $12.50 price; books in fleur de lis patterned white cloth-covered boards. Dustacket for Volume One has a .75' diameter chip near base of spine, with both jackets show a few clean tears along edges (most of which are repaired on the inside with tape), along with a few smudges and light toning to face. Jackets now in protective mylar covers, removed for photos. Boards are clean and square with light edgewear. Some fading to topstain on Vol. Two with a small waterspot that has not bled into the pages. Previous owner's gift inscriptions on front free endpapers, dated Christmas 1972, else pages unmarked. Bindings are sound. From the estate of Harold Herman and Harold Mays, partners and long-time collectors who together ran Two Harolds Antiques in Alexandria, Virginia.
$1000
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14. PEAKE, Mervyn. The Gormenghast Trilogy.
New York: Weybright and Talley, 1967. Three Volumes. First thus in unclipped dust jackets. Illustrated by the author. Bindings are sound. Interiors are clean though edges show some spotting. Jackets are lightly creased at spine ends and corners, but otherwise complete aside from one small chip on volume three. Spines are unfaded. The prices on the jackets for volumes two and three are present, but have been crossed out with blue pen and lower prices written in. A clean and collectible set of this fantasy classic of which C.S. Lewis wrote: "Mr. Peake created a new classic, the Gormenghastly, and we wonder already how we did without it and why no one defined it before."
$200
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15. LORD DUNSANY [Edward Plunkett]. The Book of Wonder: A Chronicle of Little Adventures at the Edge of the World.
London: William Heinemann, 1912. First Edition. Brown paper-covered boards with inset illustration, gilt lettering, and green cloth spine; xi, 97p. Ten illustrations including frontis, all present. Covers bumped at corners and spine ends, with a couple small chips to paper at fore-edge and nicks to cloth at head of spine. Light to moderate foxing to text pages but not to plates. Binding is sound and pages unmarked.
$125
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16. WILLIAMS, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie.
Directions Paperback Edition ("First Printing" stated). SIGNED by the author "Another small contribution to Dakin[s?] campaign. Peace & Love, Tennessee 1972." Covers toned along edges with a small dent to bottom front corner near spine and some general smudging (amplified a bit by lights in photo, but more muted in person). Spine is straight and unbroken. Opens easily to after first page gathering, but binding is sound. Pages unmarked.
Between 1972 and 1980, Williams's younger brother Dakin ran three unsuccessful campaigns for the US Senate and one for Governor. Of The Glass Menagerie, his favorite of his brother's plays, he said in an interview "Every word is so beautiful and right...And of course, Amanda Wingfield is our mother Miss Edwina, beyond any doubt. I used to hear those lines of dialogue every morning as a child: 'Rise and shine!' And her talk about gentleman callers is right there in the play. 'I understand the art of conversation,' she'd say. What she didn't understand was how to stop; she talked constantly. But because he drew the character from her, Tom gave Mother the 'Glass Menagerie' royalties, and she willed them to me. I'm living off them now, instead of the kindness of strangers." While the inscription and the signature's familiar lack of surname lead us to guess this copy was given to Dakin, we have not been able to determine so conclusively.
$700
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17. SHAKESPEARE, William. The Handy-Volume Shakespeare (13 Volumes in Box).
London: Bradbury, Agnew & Co., (ca. 1880s). Thirteen Volumes in gift box (Books 4.75" x 3.12"; Box 9" x 5.25" x 3.25"). Books and box in green cloth with gilt lettering and purple page edges. Covers all clean with some light edgewear and some tugging to heads of spines. Individual volume notes: I: Front hinge cracked halfway down between endpapers and halfway up from bottom at half title, III: Gathering 19-30 separated but clean and present, IV: Shadow on one spread from laid in ribbon bookmark, V: Toning to pages at bottom corner of last 20 or so pages, not involving text, XI: rear hinge cracking. All other volumes sturdy with solid binding, and all pages unmarked. Box is cracking 3" along lid hinge with some bumping to corners, a few scuffs to top, and fraying to ribbons, but no splits to edges.
$200
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18. SANCHEZ, Sonia. We a BaddDDD People.
Detroit: Broadside Press, 1973. Fourth Printing. SIGNED by the author with inscription to the Black Culture Center dated 1974 on half title. Side-stapled paperback; 72p. Light edgewear to covers with a few scuffs to face, but no chips, tears, or marks. Binding is sound and pages unmarked.
$100
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19. HEMINGWAY, Ernest. El Viejo Y El Mar.
Mexico City: Publicaciones Helios, 1956. Possible Pirated/Unauthorized Edition [?]. Illustrated dustjacket over matching illustrated paper-covered boards. Jacket rubbed along edges with a number of shallow chips and tears, along with a small dampstain to bottom back and some general smudging and toning. Boards bumped at spine ends and lightly at corners, with toning along top edge. Pages moderately to heavily toned throughout. "Edición Pirate" written in pencil at top corner of front free endpaper, with stamp of "Publicaciones Alfonso Orozco G." following text at end, else pages unmarked. Binding is sound.
Apart from a prior seller's pencil note suggesting this edition's shady origins, we have not yet found more information regarding its printing history or any disputes involving it. Scarce, regardless, with only a few showing in institutions and none elsewhere. Not in Hanneman.
$120
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20. TWAIN, Mark [Samuel Clemens]. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer's Companion).
New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, 1885. First Edition, with all BAL cloth-bound First Issue points except for a Second Issue portrait frontis (see below). Octavo, 366p. Engraved Huck and photographic Twain bust frontispieces with tissue guard between, along with numerous illustrations throughout. Green publisher’s cloth with gilt- and black-stamped lettering and illustration. Professionally rebacked with original backstrip retained and mounted on the new (original backing missing a shallow chip’s-worth at tail and a diagonal inch or so at head). Bottom edge rubbed with bumping to corners, with boards showing general scuffing and a few smudges. Paper repair to front free endpaper 2.5” down along top hinge, with shallow diagonal loss along top edge of leaf toward fore-edge. Huck frontis had been tipped in backwards during an apparent earlier attempt at repair, but has been corrected and reset, leaving some remnants of earlier adhesive along fore-edge. Old owner’s initials and price in pencil on front pastedown. Pages show a few small, clean tears at one margin or another, not involving text, a few flattened dog-ear creases, and some occasional smudges, but no writing. Binding is tight.
Points: Title leaf a cancel [BAL 2, with 1 only seen in the prospectus and advance sheets]; Frontis portrait with Heliotype imprint, “Karl Gerhardt, Sc.” added to shoulder of bust, and cloth not visible; Chapter VI header in Contents reads “Huck decides to leave”; p13 “Him and another man” illustration incorrectly listed on p 88; p57 11th line from bottom reads “with the was” [BAL 1], p143 “Col” missing the “l” at top of illustration, “b” in body broken on line 7; p155 Final “5” missing on page number; p283 Cancel with lewd Uncle Silas replaced [BAL 3, with 1 and 2 only seen in the prospectus, excised sheets, or a few leather-bound subscriber copies].
The above variations were introduced during an erratic and rather slapdash run-up to publication, with all versions hitting the streets at the same time upon release. Of these, the misprints on the Chapter VI header, the illustrations list on page 13, and in the text on page 57 are the three “agreed-upon” First Edition points, with discussions as to the priority of the rest often becoming more acrobatic. An overall solid copy of what is perhaps Twain’s most enduring work.
$2600
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21. WHITEHEAD, Colson. The Intuitionist: A Novel.
New York: Anchor Books, 1999. First Edition with full numberline. SIGNED by the author without inscription on full title. Unclipped dustjacket is clean and crisp with no chips, tears, or marks. Boards are sturdy and square. Binding is sound and pages unmarked. Author's debut novel.
$50
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22. ROWLING, J.K. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
London: Bloomsbury, 1997. First Edition, 18th printing. SIGNED by Rowling on the title page, "To General Powell, best wishes, JK Rowling." Illustrated dustjacket showing £10.99 price; book in matching illustrated boards. Jacket is clean and crisp with light rubbing / shallow creasing along top edge and a tiny tear at top back corner at flap fold. Boards are sturdy and square. Opens easily to signed full title page, but binding is holding soundly. Pages toning a bit along edges but unmarked.
Included is a note from General Colin Powell clarifying that, to his knowledge, this book was never in his possession. Also included with the book is a letter from a British bookseller affirming the signature's authenticity.
$3500
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23. WHITNEY, Catherine, et al. Nine and Counting: The Women of the Senate; Barbara Mikulski, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, Patty Murray, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Mary Landrieu, Blanche L. Lincoln.
New York: William Morrow, 2000. Stated First Edition with full numberline. SIGNED by all contributing Senators except for Diane Feinstein on half title. Unclipped dustjacket shows some rubbing along edges but no chips, tears, or marks. Boards are square with some nudging to spine ends. Binding is sound and pages unmarked.
$80
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24. CULLEN, Countee. Color.
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1925. Stated First Edition, with code H-Z on copyright page. Small Octavo. 108 pages. Yellow cloth spine with black, red, and yellow patterned paper over boards. Previous owner's bookplate attached to front pastedown. Spine and label are darkened and boards are worn at edges, heavily worn and cracked at corners, and moderately soiled. Pages are toned and lightly spotted. Previous owner's bookplate attached to front pastedown. Binding is sturdy. Inserted in book is a single-sheet folded Harper & Brothers catalog titled "Eight Important Modern Poets And Some Others." 13 poets included in all. A good copy of an important work by the Harlem Renaissance poet.
$85
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25. THOMAS, Dylan. A Child's Christmas in Wales.
Norfolk: New Directions, 1954. First Edition. Tan dustjacket over tan paper-covered board with red and black lettering, with red titles and decorations to interior. Price-clipped dustjacket is toned along edges with a small stain at bottom, but no chips or tears. Boards are sturdy with some toning and a small bump at tail of spine. Calligraphic gift inscription dated 1956 on front free endpaper. Binding is sound and pages unmarked.
$30
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26. DAHL, Roald. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1964. First Edition, First State with 6-line colophon at back. Octavo; [xii], 161p. Illustrated throughout (including oompa-loompa illustrations removed from later editions). Red cloth-covered boards with red topstain and mustard endpapers. Missing dustjacket. Covers show a light dampstain to cloth at top front corner and fading along spine edge, with a few light scratches to face. Previous owner's bookplate attached to front free endpaper. Small circles around page numbers on pages 12 and 17, else unmarked. Binding is sound.
$350
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27. COMSTOCK, Jane. I Go to the Blackboard; Ke Hele Nei Au i ka Papaeleele: Simple, Original Verse in Hawaiian with English Translations.
Honolulu: Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 1929. First Edition. Kapa cloth covers with illustrated paper title card. 32p, with illustrations throughout. Front cover a bit soft at front fore-edge from opening, but covers are clean and crisp overall with no tears or marks. Previous owner's name on first blank. A few smudges and some foxing to first and last pages, else pages unmarked.
Kapa is a barkcloth often interwoven into varied linear elements, and was traditionally used for clothing such as wraps and robes. Here the author has used Kapa for her series of poems evoking Hawaiian life and language. Hawaiian and English versions face each other, with a one-page glossary of Hawaiian terms at back.
$100
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28. LORDE, Audre. From a Land Where Other People Live.
Detroit: Broadside Press, 1983. Reprint of the 1973 Edition. SIGNED by the author without inscription on title page. Side-stapled orange paper covers; 46p + publisher's order page at back. Covers are clean and crisp with very light bumps to corners. Binding is sound and pages unmarked.
$300
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29. GOREY, Edward. The Sinking Spell.
New York: Ivan Obolensky, Inc., 1964. First Edition with no additional printings listed. SIGNED by Gorey on bookplate attached inside front cover. Covers are crisp with very light edgewear and a few faint marks near fore-edge. Binding is sound.
$300
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30. VICO, Giambattista. Principj di Scienza Nuova.
Napoli: Dalla Tipograpfia Masi, 1817. Octavo; [iv], 402p +1 errori at back. Engraved portrait frontis. Brown boards with leather spine and gilt lettering. Joints splitting with amateur rust-colored tape repair over spine ends and down front joint from a previous owner (an unfortunate repair to say the least, but does seem fairly on-brand for CHB). Boards otherwise edgeworn with a few bumps and the starts of a few thwarted wormholes to front board near spine. More wormholing at bottom margins of initial pages, not involving text and disappearing by the Introduction. Pages lightly foxed but unmarked, and binding is sound despite what the repair might suggest.
Vico's major work, influential across the disciplines of history, philosophy, sociology, rhetoric, and others, and anticipated many concepts that would be expanded throughout the Enlightenment. The book was included in Martin Seymour-Smith's 1998 collection of the 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written.
$200
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TERMS: We accept all major credit cards, paypal, and checks. Reply to "info@capitolhillbooks-dc.com" for further questions or inquiries, or call Aaron at 202-834-4725. All items offered are subject to prior sale. Returns will be accepted for any reason within 10 days of receipt.
Reciprocal courtesies to the trade.
Institutions may be billed according to their needs.
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