Robert Louis Stevenson, A Child's Garden of Verses (Early Edition)

Stevenson, Robert Louis. A Child’s Garden of Verses. Charles Scribner’s Sons Edition. 1920. Hardcover with pictorial front cover. It is black cloth with gilt stamped spine titles. It is in very good condition, with minor fraying and mild rubbing. Illustrations by Jessie Willcox Smith.

This is an early edition of the children’s classic from Charles Scribners’ Sons, the original American publisher. It is a collection of poetry for children by the Treasure Island author Robert Louis Stevenson. Stevenson originally created these sixty-five poems for his own children. The book was first made available to the public in 1885 under the title Penny Whistles. It has been reprinted many times since, but this large Scribner's edition with twelve full-page color plates and countless b & w illustrations, is one of the most attractive.

$100.00 (SOLD)

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Hollywood Undressed

Sylvia. Hollywood Undressed, Observations of Sylvia, as Noted by Her Secretary. First Edition. 1931. Book and dust jacket are both in good minus condition. Pages show wear and evidence of age; the jacket shows chipping, soiling, and fading.

This book by the famed masseuse and nutritionist to the stars is evidence that the Hollywood tell-all is nearly as old as the film industry itself. Sylvia’s vigorous rubdowns reputedly took off the ten or twenty pounds that the camera adds. Her stellar client list suggests that there was some truth to that. The first half dishes on Sylvia’s famous clients, such as Joe Kennedy and Gloria Swanson, Norma Shearer, Ina Claire, and Marion Davies. The second half offers nutrition and fitness advice that is not as antiquated as one might expect. A classic book on Hollywood. First editions with original dust jacket are rare.

$225.00

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Osbert Lancaster, Here, of All Places

Lancaster, Osbert. Here, of All Places, The Pocket Lamp of Architecture. First English Edition Thus. 1959. Book is in very good condition; dust jacket is in good condition.

This droll but informative look at architectural styles through the ages combines Lancaster’s two earlier works Pillar to Post and Home Sweet Homes. In this edition, there is also section of styles unique to the United States. The book is the English cousin of T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Good-bye, Mr. Chippendale. It is every bit as scathing and as humorous. In one section on the late Regency period, Lancaster wryly concludes that it was a blessing ancient Greek furniture had not survived, because it meant, “designers were forced to use their own imagination,” thereby avoiding the “soulless mechanical copying” that ruined all other revivals. Pen & ink illustrations (also by Lancaster) accompany each style.

$60.00

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Dreamers of Decadence, Symbolist Art of the 1890s

Jullian, Philippe. Dreamers of Decadence, Symbolist Painters of the 1890’s. First English Language Edition, First Printing. 1971. Book is in good plus condition; dust jacket is in very good condition (binding is slightly loose).

Great works of art are reproduced and written about so frequently that there is the risk they become unexciting. That is not the case here. This book is thrilling. The Decadent artists have remained surprisingly underexposed, heightening the pleasure of this seductive book. It is imaginative and intellectual but never academic. Jullian has no interest in the banal, and his eye appeals not only to those interested in art but also to those in fashion. The book is small for a monograph (seven by ten inches), but there are one hundred fifty illustrations (sixteen in color). A gem.

$50.00

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Twentieth-Century Decoration, Stephen Calloway

Calloway, Stephen. Twentieth-Century Decoration. First Edition, First Printing. 1988. Book is in very good condition; dust jacket is in very good minus condition—there is light edgewear to the jacket.

This classic from Rizzoli is an essential component of any design library. It is a lavishly illustrated survey of the styles and movements that shaped the Twentieth Century. The author is a curator of Interior Design at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. It contains hundreds of images, many in color. Decade by decade, the book traces Beaux Arts, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and the Modern movements, with photos and drawings of rooms by Stanford White, Elsie de Wolfe, Robsjohn-Gibbings, Billy Baldwin, etc.

$125.00

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Warmly Inscribed to George Cukor, Hedda and Louella

[Signed; George Cukor Bookplate] Eells, George. Hedda and Louella. First Edition. 1972. Book and dust jacket in good plus condition.This copy is ex libris George Cukor. Cukor’s bookplate is attached the front endpaper. Book in inscribed, “For George c. the best foul weather friend anyone could have, Fondly, George E.”

Cukor is interviewed and mentioned in the text of this dual biography, making this an Association copy. Nothing is as enjoyable as a good Hollywood feud, and these two Golden Age gossip columnists rivaled Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in vindictiveness and acrimony. Part-time actress Hopper once gave tips to her good friend Louella, but when Hopper jumped ship and launched a rival column, all niceties ceased. This book was the basis for the television film Malice in Wonderland starring Elizabeth Taylor and Jane Alexander.

$175.00 (SOLD)

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Signed Presentation Copy--Olivia de Havilland to George Cukor

[Signed Presentation Copy to George Cukor] de Havilland, Olivia. Every Frenchman Has One. First Edition. 1962. Book and dust jacket are both in very good condition. Book is signed “For George, Love Olivia.” Cukor’s famous Paul Landacre-designed bookplate is attached the front endpaper.

This is a unique Association Copy pertaining to Gone with the Wind. George Cukor was the original director of the film (about a third of the final cut is his) and when he was released, he continued coaching de Havilland for her role as Melanie Wilkes. This fun and breezy memoir compares the French and the Hollywood ways of life. De Havilland has resided there since the 1950s when she married the editor of Paris Match Pierre Galante.

$950.00 (SOLD)

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Queer Horses and Queer People

Fitch, C.G. Queer Horses and Queer People. First Edition. 1947. Book and dust jacket are both in good plus condition—there is light foxing to the page edges, and the jacket shows mild discoloration and light fraying.

According to George Bernard Shaw, “If you eliminate smoking and gambling, you will be amazed to find that almost all an Englishman’s pleasures can be, and mostly are, shared by his dog.” We would add “and horse” as a coda, but Shaw’s aphorism could easily be describing the author of this attractive autobiography. Fitch loved both Country and countryside. He devoted his life to traveling to the faraway territories of the British Empire, playing polo, fox hunting, and racing horses. Very rare in dust jacket.

$275.00

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Signed Rosalind Russell Letter, Life Is a Banquet

[Signed Handwritten Letter Laid In] Russell, Rosalind. Life Is a Banquet. First Edition. 1977. Book and dust jacket are both in very good condition. Laid in is a handwritten, signed note from Russell recommending three restaurants (The Bistro, Le Restaurant, L’Ermitage, and Le St. Germain).

There are no signed copies of this book, because Rosalind Russell died prior to its publication. Therefore, the next best thing is this letter written five months prior to her death, in which she advises an acquaintance from the Midwest on the chicest restaurants of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. Russell never let stardom overtake gracious living. She was suffering from a terminal illness when she wrote the letter. That she took the time to write it is indicative of the tone one finds throughout this memoir.

$350.00

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Our Years at Mortimer's

[Bernbaum, Glenn] Our Years at Mortimer’s with Glenn Bernbaum. Privately Printed. 1998. Spiral-bound softcover. Book is in very good minus condition. Foreword by Dominick Dunne.

As we enter the second decade of the new century, we at last have enough distance to put the 1990s into focus. It was an era of refined simplicity—we were still recovering from the excesses of Nouvelle Society but not yet embarked on the excesses of the Second Gilded Age. Mortimer’s epitomized the decade, and this book of recipes is very much its artifact. Each recipe is presented by a Mortimer’s regular (Nan Kempner, Bill Blass, etc.). There are many color images, as well as illustration by the restaurant’s resident artist Joe Eula. Very rare.

$550.00

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Dorothy Parker, Death and Taxes

Parker, Dorothy. Death and Taxes. First Edition, Second Printing Before Publication. 1931. Book is in very good condition; dust jacket is in very good minus condition.

Dorothy Parker was one of the New York writers lured West by the Hollywood gold rush. She resided in a West Hollywood bungalow just a few blocks down the hill from where Nick Harvill Libraries is based today. Her husband died of an apparent suicide at the home in 1964. When a Mrs. Kravitz-like neighbor inquired whether she needed anything, Parker stoically replied, “Get me a new husband.” That best sums up the satirical flavor in this slender collection of approximately fifty poems. Most are one page or less and have a sting at the end. Still so contemporary.

$150.00 (SOLD)

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Signed Anita Loos, But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes

[Signed] Loos, Anita. But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes. First Edition. 1928. Book and dust jacket are both in good condition. Illustrations by Ralph Barton. Book is amusingly inscribed, “Love to Carmen, from Anita Loos. Jan 15—1960!!! P.S. The Brunette is now gray!”

Is it possible to pen a roman à clef about personalities who have not yet entered the scene? In this sequel to Gentlemen Marry Blondes, Loos seems to be sweetly satirizing the courtship of society golden boy Billy Woodward and his showgirl wife Ann (never mind that it not yet occurred). Lorelei steps aside to narrator and sidekick Dorothy takes center stage. How much of Loos was in Dorothy? The inscription indicates quite a bit. Loos was seventy-two by 1960, and indeed, the brunette was “now gray.”

$425.00

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