King Kong by Delos W. Lovelace, First Photoplay Edition, 1932

Stevenson, Robert Louis. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, [1932]. First Grosset & Dunlap Edition. 8ov. Presented rebound in ¼ navy leather and red cloth boards, with raised bands, gilt tooling, and gilt titles to the spine and a matching archival red slipcase. Presented is the first Grosset & Dunlap edition of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, published in 1932. The book is presented rebound in ¼ navy leather and red cloth boards, with raised bands, gilt tooling, and gilt titles to the spine and a matching archival red slipcase. First published in 1886, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. Inspired by both a murder trial and a subsequent nightmare, Stevenson wrote this novel as an examination of the duality of human nature and the inner struggle between good and evil. The tale is about a London legal practitioner named Gabriel John Utterson who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr Henry Jekyll, and the murderous criminal Edward Hyde. Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is considered to be a defining book of the gothic horror genre. The book was initially sold as a paperback for one shilling in the U.K. These books were called "shilling shockers" or “penny dreadfuls.” The first American edition was published on January 5, 1886, four days before the U.K. edition published by Longmans. Scribner's published 3,000 copies, only 1,250 of them bound in cloth. Initially, stores did not stock it until a favorable review appeared in The Times in January of 1886. Within the next six months, close to 40 thousand copies were sold. A wildly captivating story, there have been numerous adaptations of the novella, including over 120 stage and film versions alone. In 1931, Paramount Pictures produced an adaptation directed by Rouben Mamoulian, starring Fredric March...

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, [1931]. 8vo. Rebound in red 1/.4 leather and black cloth boards, with raised bands, gilt stamps, and gilt titles to spine. New matching archival slipcase. Presented is a photoplay edition of Mary Shelley’s masterpiece of horror, Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus. This printing was published by Grosset & Dunlap, in New York, in 1931. One of the most collectible Grosset & Dunlap photoplay editions, this book was published to accompany the 1931 Universal Pictures James Whale horror film starring Boris Karlof, Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boless, and Dwight Frye. It is illustrated throughout with scenes from that production. The book has been beautifully rebound in striking ¼ red leather and black cloth boards, with raised bands and gilt stamps and tiles to the spine, and a matching black archival slipcase. Mary Shelley was just nineteen when she wrote her classic novel. The circumstances of its composition are by now well known. In 1816, Mary was in Switzerland with Percy Shelley, Byron, and Byron’s physician John Polidori when the evening’s discussion turned to one of Shelley’s favorite topics, the supernatural. Byron proposed that all members of the party write a romance or tale on the subject. The resulting efforts were Polidori’s The Vampyre, Byron’s unfinished narrative about a vampire, and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The first edition of Frankenstein was published anonymously in London, 1818, and is exceedingly rare. An 1831 edition was published in London, for which Shelley wrote an introduction describing the circumstances surrounding the creation of the work. The first American edition was published in 1833. Frankenstein has been named “the most famous English horror novel… a defining model of the Gothic mode of fiction, and… the first genuine science fiction novel, the first significant rendering of the relations between mankind and science through an image of mankind’s dual nature appropriate to an age of science” (Clute and Nicholls, Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, 1099). Alexander Grosset and George T...

Presented is a photoplay first edition of London After Midnight by Marie Coolidge Rask. This printing was published by Grosset & Dunlap, in New York, in 1928. The book has been beautifully rebound in striking ¼ green leather and cloth boards, with raised bands and gilt stamps and tiles to the spine, and a matching green archival slipcase. The book is illustrated with eight stills from the original silent film. One of the most collectible Grosset & Dunlap photoplay editions, this book was a novelization of the 1927 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer mystery horror film of the same title, co-produced and directed by Tod Browning. The movie starred Lon Chaney in a dual role of Scotland Yard Inspector and vampire; this was his only movie role as a vampire. Due to the success of the film, Marie Coolidge Rask penned the novelization of the movie. Rask worked from Tod Browning’s screenplay as well as the original source material, Browning’s short story "The Hypnotist.” The book was published by Grosset & Dunlap in 1928 and included eight stills from the silent film. The last known copy of the film was destroyed in the 1965 MGM vault fire, along with hundreds of other rare early films, making it one of the most sought-after “lost” silent films. Copies of the film have never surfaced. This 1928 book is therefore important and collectible, as it is one of the few remaining records of the film’s content and storyline. Alexander Grosset and George T...

Fitzgerald, F. Scott, The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1925. First edition, first printing. Rebound in full blue morocco leather with gilt tooling, raised bands a...

Clinton, Bill. My Life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004. First edition, first printing, 8ov. Signed by Bill Clinton on the title page. Presented in original blue boards and pictoria...

Byrd, Richard E. Skyward. New York: Blue Ribbon Books, 1931. Octavo. First edition, eleventh printing. In original hardcover boards and original pictorial dust jacket. Presented in a new archival slipcase. This is a 1931 first edition, eleventh printing of Richard Byrd’s Skyward. The book was published in New York by Blue Ribbon Books in 1931. This is the eleventh printing of Skyward, which was first published in 1928. The book is presented in its original hardcover boards and pictorial dust jacket, with a new archival slipcase. Rear admiral Richard E. Byrd (1888-1957) is celebrated as a pioneering American aviator, polar explorer...

AUTHOR: POE, Edgar Allan. TITLE: The Murders In The Rue Morgue. PUBLISHER: New York: Grosset & Dunlap, n.d. [1932]. DESCRIPTION: FIRST PHOTOPLAY EDITION. 1 vol., publisher...

The first American edition, second issue, of Twain's satirical time travel fantasy where the lead character travels backward in time into Arthurian England. Published by Charles L. W...

AUTHOR: GOSSE, Phillip. TITLE: The History Of Piracy. PUBLISHER: London: Longmans, Green, & Co., 1932. DESCRIPTION: FIRST EDITION. 1 vol., 8-5/8" x 5-7/8", illustrated, bound in ...

A rare example of a first edition Candide, published in Geneva by Cramer, 1759. 299pp. Woodcut ornaments and Voltaire's corrected pages (pp. 31/32, 41/42, 83/84, 85/86) all corresp...

This is the FIRST edition, FIRST printing of Gertrude Stein's (1874-1946) FIRST published book and is from the FIRST issue of 700 copies, with a further 300 copies exported to Britai...

This exceedingly rare hardcover first edition, first printing of E.B. White's timeless classic, "Charlotte's Web" is a literary classic and trophy for the book collector. The book ...