Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - November - 2011 Issue

First Books and Before from Between The Covers

First books from Between the Covers.

First books from Between the Covers.

Between the Covers Rare Books has printed a catalogue of First Books & Before. The Gloucester City, New Jersey, bookseller quickly points out that what constitutes “first books” is not quite so obvious as it may first appear. If a writer's first creation is a full-length novel, the definition might be clear, but it rarely is that easy. His or her first printed work could be a magazine article, part of an anthology, a printed high school play or entry in a yearbook. Some started out writing pulp fiction under assumed names. The reality may be that the author has one or more “pre-first” books that came before that great novel. So, what Between the Covers has done is include works that fit various definitions of “first,” meaning that the same author may have several “firsts” offered in this catalogue. Each is a first, or pre-first, in some way. What you won't find here is their second novel – no Gatsbys, no Bridge of San Luis Rey. They arrived one too late for this catalogue.

Speaking of The Great Gatsby's author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, his career took off five years before his most famous novel when he published This Side of Paradise. If not quite as successful as Gatsby, this 1920 novel was successful enough to quickly make him one of America's most popular writers. This was certainly Fitzgerald's first book. However, it was not his first appearance in print. Between the Covers has two items that represent his first before the first. In 1914, when these pieces were printed, Fitzgerald was a student at Princeton University. He was a member of the university's Triangle Club, a noted college touring theater group that put on student written musical comedies. For the 1914-15 season, one of those plays was entitled Fie! Fie! Fi-Fi! Fitzgerald wrote the lyrics for the musical, though not the score. Words, not melodies, was his specialty. Fitzgerald would go on to write more material for the Triangle Club, but this was his first contribution. Item 22 is a copy of the music and lyrics for this play, the first printed piece by Fitzgerald save for the actors' printed copy of the script. Priced at $2,250. Item 23 is a program for this same musical, a string-tied eight-page piece. $2,500.

The uninitiated might think Rabbit, Run was John Updike's first book. Those more familiar would cite The Poorhouse Fair, his first novel, published a year earlier, or a book of poetry published the year before that (1958). However, Updike made another appearance in 1958, one that is not as well remembered or celebrated as his later works. That year, a group of Harvard students, Updike included, published a tribute to a local tobacconist. Today, we would be less inclined to honor someone who got us hooked on a life-threatening drug, but this was 1958, and we didn't know better. The tribute is entitled 75 Aromatic Years of Leavitt & Pierce in Recollection of 31 Harvard Men 1883-1958. Updike was one of those Harvard men. Item 524. $50. If you would prefer Updike's first true book, item 525 is The Carpentered Hen and Other Tame Creatures, that volume of poetry also published in 1958. This copy contains an inscription from Updike to a good friend. $2,500.

Item 331 is the first book by a man better known for speaking than writing. He was one of, if not the greatest American orator, his words changing his country and the world. This is a particularly opportune time to remember Martin Luther King as his memorial in Washington was just dedicated a couple of weeks ago. His first book is Stride Toward Freedom, published in 1958, and it is an account of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The boycott began in 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to relinquish her bus seat to a white man. The rule at the time was that when all of the seats on a bus were taken, and a white person entered, the black people closest to the front of the bus had to give up their seats, and stand the rest of the journey. Rosa Parks was arrested and fined. She went to court to fight the fine, and eventually won when the Supreme Court overturned the local rules that created the policy. However, the black people of Montgomery were not content to hope for an eventual favorable court decision. They quickly began refusing to ride the buses. The city held out, but it was devastating financially as three-quarters of the bus riders in Montgomery were black. For over a year, the boycott continued, until a favorable Supreme Court decision. Rather than standing in the bus door, as would happen later in a schoolhouse, Montgomery quickly acceded rather than face continuing financial loses. It was one of the first important victories for the civil rights movement, and one of its leaders was a young local preacher named Martin Luther King. This copy of his account is inscribed by King to North Carolina Central University professor Dr. Charles W. Orr. $10,000.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 155
    Saturday April 26, 2025
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 962. Baird. United States Exploring Expedition. Philadelphia 1858.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 772. Edith Holland Norton. Brazilian Flowers. Coombe Croft 1893.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 49. Petrarca. Das Gluecksbuch, Augsburg 1536.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 155
    Saturday April 26, 2025
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 1496. Jacob / Picasso. Chronique des Temps, 1956.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 8. Augustinus. De moribus ecclesie. Cologne 1480.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 17. Heures a lusaige de Noyon. Paris 1504.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 155
    Saturday April 26, 2025
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 13. Schedel. Buch der Chronicken. Nürnberg 1493.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 957. Donovan. Insects of China. London 1798.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 123. A holy martyr. Tuscany, Florence, mid-14th century.
    Jeschke Jádi
    Rare Book Auction 155
    Saturday April 26, 2025
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 438. Dante. La Divine Comédie. Paris 1963.
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 602. Firdausi. Histoire de Minoutchehr. Paris 1919
    Jeschke Jádi, Apr. 26: Lot 994. Westwood. Oriental Entomology. London 1848.
  • Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: The Shem Tov Bible, 1312 | A Masterpiece from the Golden Age of Spain. Sold: 6,960,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Ten Commandments Tablet, 300-800 CE | One of humanity's earliest and most enduring moral codes. Sold: 5,040,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: William Blake | Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Sold: 4,320,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: The Declaration of Independence | The Holt printing, the only copy in private hands. Sold: 3,360,000 USD
    Sotheby's
    Sell Your Fine Books & Manuscripts
    Sotheby’s: Thomas Taylor | The original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sold: 1,920,000 USD
    Sotheby’s: Machiavelli | Il Principe, a previously unrecorded copy of the book where modern political thought began. Sold: 576,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Leonardo da Vinci | Trattato della pittura, ca. 1639, a very fine pre-publication manuscript. Sold: 381,000 GBP
    Sotheby’s: Henri Matisse | Jazz, Paris 1947, the complete portfolio. Sold: 312,000 EUR
  • Fonsie Mealy’s
    Rare Books & Collectors’ Sale
    April 30th & May 1st
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Taylor (Geo.) & Skinner (A.) Maps of the Roads of Ireland, Surveyed 1777. Lond. & Dublin 1778. €500 to €750.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Messingham (Thos.) Florilegium Insulae Sanctorum seu Vitae et Acta Sanctorum Hibernia, Paris 1624. €350 to €500.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus). The Haw Lantern, L. (Faber & Faber) 1987, First Edn., Signed and dated. €225 to €350.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Valencey (Lt. Col. Chas.) Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, Vols. I-IV, 4 vols. Dublin 1786. €400 to €600.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Powerscourt (Viscount). A Description and History of Powerscourt, Lond. 1903. €350 to €500.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Moryson (Fynes). An Itinerary ... Containing His Ten Yeeres Travel Through the Twelve Dominions of Germany, Bohermerland, Sweitzerland…, Lond. (John Beale) 1617. €700 to €1,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: After Buffon, Birds of Europe, c. 1820. Approx. 120 fine hd. cold. plts., mor. backed boards. €125 to €250.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Dunlevy (Andrew). An Teagasg Criosduidhe De Reir Ceasda agus Freagartha... The Catechism or Christian Doctrine by Way of Question and Answer, Paris (James Guerin) 1742. €400 to €700.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: The Georgian Society Records of Eighteen-Century Domestic Architecture in Dublin, 5 vols. Complete, Dublin 1909-1913. €500 to €750.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Scale (Bernard). An Hibernian Atlas or General Description of the Kingdom of Ireland, L. (Robert Sayer & John Bennet) 1776. €625 to €850.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: [Johnson (Rev. Samuel)]. Julian the Apostate Being a Short Account of his Life, together with a Comparison of Popery and Paganism,L. (Langley Curtis) 1682. €300 to €400.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Nichlson (Wm.) Illustrator. An Almanac of Twelve Sports, Lond. 1898. €300 to €400.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus) trans. The Light of the Leaves, 2 vols., Mexico (Imprenta de los Tropicos/Bunholt) 1999. €1,500 to €2,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Fleming (Ian). Moonraker, L. (Jonathan Cape) 1955. €1,500 to €2,000.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus) & Egan (Felim) artist. Squarings, Twelve Poems, D. (Hieroglyph Editions Ltd.) 1991. €1,750 to €2,250.
  • Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: ANDERSEN'S EXTREMELY RARE FIRST APPEARANCE IN PRINT. "Scene af: Røverne i Vissenberg i Fyen." in Harpen, 1822.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: FIRST ISSUE OF THE FIRST THREE FAIRY TALE PAMPHLETS, WITH ALL INDICES AND TITLE PAGES. Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. 1835-1837.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: THE FIRST FAIRY TALES WITH A SIGNED CARTE DE VISITE OF ANDERSEN AS FRONTIS. Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. 1835-1837.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: KARL LAGERFELD. Original pastel and ink drawing in gold, red and black for Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes (1992), "La cassette de l'Empereur."
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY OF THE SIXTH PAMPHLET FOR PETER KOCH. Eventyr, Fortalte For Børn, Second Series, Third Pamphlet. 1841. Publisher's wrappers, complete with all pre- and post-matter.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN RARE AUTOGRAPH QUOTATION SIGNED IN ENGLISH from "The Ugly Duckling," c.1860s.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: HEINRICH LEFLER, ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR FOR ANDERSEN'S SNOW QUEEN, "Die Schneekönigin," 1910.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: FIRST EDITION OF ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES IN ENGLISH. Wonderful Stories for Children. London, 1846.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: ANDERSEN ON MEETING CHARLES DICKENS. Autograph Letter Signed ("H.C. Andersen") in English to William Jerdan, July 20, 1847.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY FOR EDGAR COLLIN. Nye Eventyr og Historier. Anden Raekke. 1861.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: DOLL HOUSE FURNITURE BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON, DECORATED WITH FANTASTICAL CUT-OUTS, for the children of Jonna Stampe (née Drewsen), his godchildren.
    Bonhams, Apr. 21-29: PRESENTATION COPY FOR GEORG BRANDES. Dryaden. Et Eventyr fra Udstillingstiden i Paris 1867. 1868.

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