Literary Acquisitions from Honey and Wax Booksellers

Item 25 is a complete set of Marcel Proust's masterpiece, A la Recherche du Temps Perdu (Remembrance of Things Past, or more literally, In Search of Lost Time). It includes the scarce first volume, Du Cote de chez Swann, published in 1913, and the remaining 12 volumes published 1918-1927. Proust had to pay for the printing of the first volume, but after the recognition he received, he obtained a major publisher for the remaining volumes. This first volume comes with an ironic inscription, to fellow writer Marcel Prévost. Prévost was far more successful than Proust at the time, with the result that people constantly confused Proust with him. Proust noted that letters he got from articles he wrote showed the writers often thought his name was just a misprint for Prévost, even his London publisher becoming confused. $65,000.

Item 10 is an unusual piece. It is a first edition of a small piece held together by silk ties, in its original pictorial wrappers. Its title is A Happy Pair, written by Frederic Weatherly and illustrated by “HBP.” It's the illustrator that matters. HBP was Beatrix Potter, and the happy pair are a pair of rabbits. This book was produced a decade before that naughty bunny, Peter Rabbit, made his debut, but Potter was already drawing images of rabbits. These fellows look much like the bunnies who appeared in Peter Rabbit. Potter had been commissioned by a London company to draw up some illustrations for stock, which were then used in Weatherly's short book in 1890. This copy is without a title page, as is often the case. They were assembled by hand and sometimes the title page was not included. $24,000.

Honey & Wax Booksellers may be reached at 917-974-2420 or info@honeyandwaxbooks.com. Their website is www.honeyandwaxbooks.com.