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| Back in Orbit |
Montgomery, Scott and Timothy R Gaffney. Back in Orbit: John Glenn's Return to
Space. Atlanta: Longstreet Press, 1998. Foreword by Mercury astronaut Scott
Carpenter. First edition, first printing. Inscribed by John Glenn, the first American
to orbit the Earth and the oldest Shuttle astronaut, to Scott Carpenter, the
second American to orbit the Earth.
Included is a letter of authenticity.
This book is both a great provenance and association copy. Back in Orbit has become a scarce book
unsigned and rare book if signed by John Glenn.
This book goes even beyond that, becoming a unique copy signed by the
subject of the book to a fellow astronaut who wrote the foreword.
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| Three Plays |
Greene, Graham.
Three Plays. London:
Mercury Books, 1961. Omnibus of
Greene's first three plays, The Living Room, The Potting Shed,
and The Complaisant Lover. This
copy is inscribed by Greene to Max and Joan Reinhardt. Max Reinhardt was a long-time publisher at The
Bodley Head, Nonesuch Press, and Max Reinhardt Ltd. He and Greene met in 1957 and after Greene
fulfilled his contractual obligation with William Heinemann, Reinhardt
published all of Greene's books from 1961 forward. The two maintained both a close personal and
professional relationship for 34 years, until Greene's death in 1991. This copy was acquired from the collection of
Clive Francis.
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| The Penguin New Writing, 30 |
Lehmann, John, ed. The Penguin New Writing, No. 30. London: Penguin Books, 1947. An anthology of short stories by established
writers such as V. S. Pritchett, Graham Greene, and John Lehmann, and young
"new contributors" such as Boris Pasternak and Stuart Hood. This copy is signed by V. S. Pritchett on the
opening page of his story, "Men of the World," and came from the
collection of American book collector Rolland Comstock. Comstock's library contained an estimated
100,000 books, and he had a passion for attending readings and signings across
the country in an effort to discover new writers—tomorrow's greats—before most
readers heard of them. In 2007, Comstock
was shot twice while in his library and his murder remains legally unsolved; his
ex-wife was sued by their daughter in civil court for wrongful death and found
culpable for Comstock's death, but she was never criminally charged.
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| This Gun for Hire |
Greene, Graham.
This Gun for Hire. New
York: Triangle Books, 1942. Reprint
movie tie-in edition. This copy signed
by actors Frank Ferguson and Marc Lawrence; Ferguson played Albert Baker in the
film adaptation and Lawrence played Tommy.
Affixed is the personalized Ex Libris Picturis Moventibus (from
books to moving pictures) bookplate of Art Ronnie. Art Ronnie was a Hollywood unit publicist and
a collector of books-to-film autographed books. In his role as a unit publicist, he had access
to actors and actresses on movie sets and sought them out for signatures in
books adapted to films with which they were associated.
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| A Gentleman from Mississippi |
Toombs, Frederick R. A Gentleman from Mississippi. New York: J. S. Ogilvie Publishing Company,
1909. First edition in original blue
illustrated cloth. This copy is from the
personal library of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., famed actor, director and producer,
and bears his bookplate on the inside front cover. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. was the son of Douglas
Fairbanks, who starred in the title role of Bud Haines in the Broadway
production of the play A Gentleman from Mississippi, on which this
novelization is based. Novelized by
Frederick R. Toombs, the book contains 8 black-and-white illustration plates
with photos of the original Broadway cast, including Fairbanks. The play debuted on Broadway in 1908 and played
for 407 performances before closing a few months before the birth of Fairbanks's
son, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (Dec. 9, 1909). This novelization also first
appeared in 1909. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
was an avid book collector, and his collection was generously donated to a
local non-profit by his widow, Vera Fairbanks.
His books were consigned to auction with the proceeds going to charity.
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| A Gentle Madness |
Basbanes, Nicholas A. A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles,
Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1995. While this particular copy has no particular
provenance or association, it is a great resource for book collectors. Basbanes profiles a number of living book
collectors, both famous and infamous in the book world. For collectors who enjoy acquiring books from
other collectors' libraries—as some of the books above demonstrate—this book is
a veritable Who's Who of Twentieth Century collectors to keep an eye out
for in the hope their collections one day reach the market. This copy is signed by the author on the half
title page.
