Tag Archives: old books

First Edition: Ulysses

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In 2009, a well-preserved first edition of Ulysses by James Joyce, first published in 1922, was sold for £275,000. It had hardly been read, except for the racy bits. The book had previously been lost, having originally been bought surreptitiously in a Manhattan bookshop despite it being banned in the USA. The book was banned throughout the 1920s in the UK and USA. Another first edition [below right] was defaced by a reader who condemned the book as pornographic; the book was still valued at €13,500. The novel was banned in the UK until 1936. James Joyce

Ulysses was first serialised in parts in the American journal The Little Review between March 1918 and December 1920, before being published in its entirety by Syliva Beach [above left] in Paris on February 2, 1922 [Joyce’s 40th birthday]. Ulysses is the Latinised name of Odysseus, the hero of Homer’s epic poem Odyssey. The novel has a number of parallels with the poem including structure, characters. Leopold Bloom echoes Odysseus; Molly Bloom/Penelope; Stephen Dedalus/Telemachus; taking place in the 20th century. James Joyce

A first edition dated 1922 [above] by Shakespeare & Company in Paris is for sale [at time of going to press] at Peter Harrington for £87,500. Number 136 of 150 copies, this is noted in Syliva Beach’s notebook as being one of three copies sent to James Whitall on March 28, 1922. It is signed and dated by Joyce

The story
Set in Dublin, June 16-17, 1904, the action starts at about 8am. Stephen Dedalus wakes up and talks with his two housemates, Buck Mulligan and student Haines. The action continues for 24 hours when Stephen, having politely refused lodgings at the home of two other principal characters, Leopold and Molly Bloom, discovers he is no longer welcome to stay with Mulligan and Haines. During the course of the day the characters move through their day in Dublin.

The film
James Joyce A 1967 film of Ulysses [above] starring Milo O’Shea as Leopold Bloom was nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Watch Molly Bloom’s soliloquy here.

In 2003, another film, Bloom [below] starred Stephen Rea. Watch the trailer here.

James Joyce

Other editions

James Joyce

 

‘Ulysses’ by James Joyce [UK: Wordsworth Classics]

If you like old books, check out these:-
‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman’ by John Fowles
‘The Sea The Sea’ by Iris Murdoch
‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
First Edition: ULYSSES by James Joyce #oldbooks https://wp.me/p5gEM4-3aq via @SandraDanby

First Edition: Mrs Dalloway

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Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf was published in 1925 and was actually created from two short stories – Mrs Dalloway in Bond Street, and The Prime Minister. It is one of Woolf’s best known novels as all the action takes place on one day in June 1923. The story moves backwards and forwards in time, and in and out of character’s minds, as a picture of Clarissa’s life is constructed. Virginia Woolf

A first edition of the Hogarth Press 1925 edition [above right] is for sale at Peter Harrington, at time of going to press, for £1,750. Around 2000 copies of the first printing were produced.
A rare first edition of the American book [below] with the Vanessa Bell dust jacket, published in 1925 by Harcourt, Brace and Company, is for sale at Raptis Rare Books for $5,500. Virginia Woolf

The story
Clarissa Dalloway is making preparations for a party she will host that evening. The day reminds her of her childhood spent in the countryside at Bourton and makes her wonder at her choice of husband. She married reliable Richard Dalloway rather than the demanding Peter Walsh. When Peter arrives, the tension of her old decision resurfaces.

The film
A 1997 film starred Vanessa Redgrave in the title role of Clarissa Dalloway, with her younger self played by Natasha McElhone and Michael Kitchen as Peter.Virginia Woolf

Watch the trailer here.

Other editions

Virginia Woolf

 

‘Mrs Dalloway’ by Virginia Woolf [UK: Vintage]

If you like old books, check out these:-
‘The Moonstone’ by Wilkie Collins
‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte
‘Rebecca’ by Daphne du Maurier

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
First Edition: MRS DALLOWAY by Virginia Woolf #oldbooks via https://wp.me/p5gEM4-39X @SandraDanby

First Edition: Rebecca

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Never out of print, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is loved for its opening line: “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” It is a timeless combination of romance, jealousy, intimidation, mystery & death. First published in 1938 it was an immediate hit and sold nearly 3 million copies between 1938 and 1965. Ultimately, there are a lot of secondhand editions out there. It has been translated into Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese, Russian, German, Portugese, Spanish, Persian, Hungarian, Romanian, Polish, Greek, Latvian, Dutch and Czech. That’s quite a list. Daphne du Maurier

This first UK edition [above right] comes with a Menabilly headed letter from du Maurier which briefly discusses her Christmas and New Year, and is signed ‘Yours sincerely, Daphne du Maurier’. Rare, it is for sale [at time of going to press] by John Atkinson Books for £2,750.

The story
A naïve young woman marries wealthy older widower Maxim. When he takes her to his home, Manderley, the unnamed narrator, the young wife, learns about the first Mrs de Winter, Rebecca. Housekeeper Mrs Danvers continually tries to undermine the second Mrs de Winter, showing her contempt for the young woman, her inefficiency, her mousiness, her naivety. Believing Maxim still loves Rebecca, the new wife is encouraged by Mrs Danvers to wear a replica of one of Rebecca’s dresses to a costume ball.

The film
The best known film adaptation of Rebecca is the 1940 movie starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine. Daphne du MaurierDirected by Alfred Hitchcock, Rebecca won 11 Oscar nominations and won two – for Best Picture and Cinematogrophy. Watch the trailer here.

Daphne du MaurierVarious television adaptations include the 1979 BBC production [above] starring Jeremy Brett as Maxim, Joanna David as the second Mrs de Winter, and Anna Massey as Mrs Danvers. Watch the first episode here.

In 1997, a Carlton Television production [below] cast Joanna David’s daughter, Emilia Fox, as the second Mrs de Winter, with Charles Dance as Maxim and Diana Rigg as Mrs Danvers. Daphne du Maurier

Other editions

Read here why Rebecca is the ‘Porridge & Cream’ comfort read of novelist Jane Lambert.

Daphne du Maurier

 

‘Rebecca’ by Daphne du Maurier [UK: Virago]

If you like old books, check out these:-
‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte
‘A Passage to India’ by EM Forster
‘Watership Down’ by Richard Adams

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
First Edition: REBECCA by Daphne du Maurier #oldbooks https://wp.me/p5gEM4-39q via @SandraDanby

First Edition: The Hundred and One Dalmations

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My first memory of the iconic children’s book The Hundred and One Dalmations by Dodie Smith, is actually the Disney animated film. This was quickly followed by a Puffin edition, which I sadly no longer have. That films are still being made of the story, and there is demand for old copies of the novel at rare booksellers, is, I think, testamount to the longevity of the book. Long may it continue, even if it includes no fight scenes, no dragons, no magic, no vampires or spaceships.

First editions
At bookseller Peter Harrington, there are three first editions available [at time of going to press].

 

A special edition by Heinemann 1956, £1,500, bound in white morocco with black onlay patches to resemble the coat of a Dalmation dog [above left].

The second example for sale is also a 1956 Heinemann first edition, £975, including black and white illustrations by Janet and Ann Grahame-Johnstone [above top right].

The third book, a pink leather first edition by Heinemann, 1956, £2,000, features an onlaid Dalmation on the front cover plus paw prints above lower right].

The story
Pongo and Missis are a pair of spotty Dalmation dogs which live with Mr and Mrs Dearly. Missis has a litter of 15 pups. Concerned that Missis will be unable to feed all her puppies, Mrs Dearly looks for a canine wet nurse to help and discovers a liver-spotted Dalmation lost in the rain. The dog is named Perdita who tells Pongo the real reason she was outside in the rain: she was searching for own lost litter of puppies which had been sold by her owner. Trouble really arrives when Mr and Mrs Dearly host a dinner party at which one of the guests is Cruella de Ville, who is fixated on fur clothing.

The film
The Walt Disney animated film of 1961 [below left] varies the story slightly in that Missis does not exist, Pongo and Perdita have their own little of puppies. Actor Rod Taylor was the voice of Pongo, Cate Bauer played Perdita, and Betty Lou Gerson was Cruella de Ville. Watch an excerpt here.

The 1996 film [above right], starring Glenn Close as Cruella de Ville, was a live-action comedy adventure. It was praised for its faithfulness to the 1961 film and was a commercial success, though it received mixed reviews. Watch the trailer here.

Other editions

Dodie Smith

 

‘The Hundred and One Dalmations’ by Dodie Smith [UK: Egmont]

If you like old books, check out these:-
‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ by Lewis Carroll
‘The Secret Garden’ by Frances Hodgson Burnett
‘The Hobbit’ by JRR Tolkein

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
First Edition: THE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIONS by Dodie Smith #oldbooks https://wp.me/p5gEM4-38Q via @SandraDanby

First Edition: Jane Eyre

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Is there a more iconic novel than Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte? Beloved by generations of teenage girls who identify with the eponymous Jane, her suffering, her fortitude and generosity, Jane Eyre also plays a key role in the acceptance of female authors. Bronte famously submitted the novel to her publisher under the pseudonym Currer Bell.

First editions of Jane Eyre by Currer Bell are available rarely for sale. See [above] the title page of the first issue which did not include a preface by the author, something remedied in the second edition; you can read the preface here, the book is held by the British Library. The most recent sale of a first edition [above] was at Bonhams, London in 2013 for £39,650. Jane Eyre

A three-volume edition published by London, Smith Elder & Co [above], available at Peter Harrington, is for sale [at time of going to press] for £4,500. This is a third edition; given the popularity of the novel when it was first published, around October 19, 1847, it was quickly followed by second and third editions on January 22, 1848 and April 15, 1848 respectively. This particular edition attracts a high price as there are a number of typographical errors that make it unique.

Another example of how a printer’s error can boost the price of a book is the 2012 Penguin Classics edition [below] which is wrongly credited on the spine as being written by Emily Bronte. At the time of going to press, this hardcover edition was for sale at Amazon for £199.99.

The story
When the novel starts, Jane is 10 and living with her maternal uncle’s family. Her uncle has since died. Mistreated by her relatives, Jane’s only comfort is a doll and some books. She is sent to Lowood Institution, a charity school for girls. The life at Lowood is harsh but Jane makes a friend, Helen Burns. During an outbreak of tuberculosis, Helen dies and the director’s maltreatment of the girls is discovered; conditions subsequently improve. On leaving Lowood, Jane secures a position as governess at Thornfield Hall to the ward of the mysterious Mr Rochester.

The film
Many film and television versions of Jane Eyre have been made, starting in 1910 with a silent movie [below] produced by the Thanhouser Company and starring Marie Eline as Jane and Frank H Crane as Mr Rochester. Unfortunately the reel of this is presumed lost. Jane Eyre
The most recent adaptation in 2011 starred Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska. Watch the trailer here. Jane Eyre

Other editions

Jane Eyre
‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte [UK: Penguin Classics]

If you like old books, check out these:-
‘Jurassic Park’ by Michael Crichton
‘The Hobbit’ by JRR Tolkein
‘An Ice Cream War’ by William Boyd

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
First Edition: JANE EYRE by Charlotte Bronte #oldbooks https://wp.me/p5gEM4-37V via @SandraDanby

First Edition: Jurassic Park

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First published in the USA on November 20, 1990, Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton would, like HG Wells and Jules Verne, bring science fiction to the masses and to the movie screen. The book actually started life as a screenplay written in 1983 in which a graduate student creates a dinosaur. Then, given the fact that genetic research is expensive and there was no need to create a dinosaur, Crichton changed the story so the dinosaurs were made to put into an entertaining wildlife park. Another thing changed from first to final draft was the point of view: originally it was told from a child’s viewpoint, but Crichton changed it when everyone who read the draft felt it would be better told by an adult.

A signed US 1st edition [above] is for sale [at time of going to press] on eBay for $225. Read more about the first edition of the 1991 UK hardback edition [below] published by Century at Biblio. Michael Crichton

The story
Following strange animal attacks in Costa Rica and nearby island Isla Nublar, one of the animals involved is identified as an extinct dinosaur. Palaeontologist Alan Grant and paleobotanist Ellie Satler are asked to confirm this, but are whisked away by billionaire John Hammond to visit his nature reserve on Isla Nublar and calm his investors. Hammond’s park contains not lions and tigers but cloned dinosaurs. Fellow consultant, mathematician and chaos theorist Ian Malcolm, predicts the park will collapse into chaos.

The film
Released on June 9, 1993, the film of Jurassic Park by Steven Spielberg was a monumental success and has taken well over $1bn worldwide.Michael Crichton

The film closely follows the storyline of the book, though there are slight differences in some of the characters. Nedry is much the same, but both children have stronger roles in the film while Alan Grant in the novel is considerably scruffier than the movie version as played by Sam Neill. Watch the original film trailer here.

Other editions

Michael Crichton

 

‘Jurassic Park’ by Michael Crichton [UK: Arrow]

If you like old books, check out these:-
‘The Moonstone’ by Wilkie Collins
‘A Passage to India’ by EM Forster
‘The Sea The Sea’ by Iris Murdoch

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
First Edition: JURASSIC PARK by Michael Crichton #oldbooks https://wp.me/p5gEM4-37x via @SandraDanby

First Edition: The Secret Garden

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First published as a US serial in The American Magazine beginning in 1910, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett [below] was first published as a book in 1911. The American edition by Stokes [below] featured illustrations by Maria Louise Kirk, while illustrations in the British edition published by Heinemann were by Charles Heath Robinson. Burnett was born in Manchester, England in 1849 but after the death of her father, she emigrated with her family to the Knoxville, Tennessee, USA in 1865. Frances Hodgson BurnettRead more about the Stokes first edition at Bauman Rare Books.

The story
Mary Lennox, born at the turn of the twentieth century to wealthy British parents in India who do not want her, is cared for by servants. After the death of her parents she is sent to England to Yorkshire, to live with her Uncle Archibald at Misselthwaite Manor. There she is bad-tempered and dislikes everything about her new home until Martha, a maid, tells her the story of Mrs Craven who loved her private walled garden of roses. When his wife died, Mr Craven locked the garden and buried the key. As Mary wonders about the secret garden, her humour and behaviour improves and she makes friends with the gardener. When she finds the key, Mary’s brother Dickon helps Mary to learn about gardening, plants and wildlife. Then one night, exploring a cry in the night, she discovers a boy living in a hidden bedroom. This is Colin, her cousin, who has a damaged spine. She tells Colin of the secret garden and when they visit it together, Colin finds his weak legs can stand after all.

The film
The 1993 film The Secret Garden starred Kate Maberly, Heydon Prowse, Andrew Knott, John Lynch and Maggie Smith. Exterior shots of Misselthwaite Manor were shot at Allerton Castle in Yorkshire, internal scenes at Fountains Hall near Ripon. Watch the film trailer.

Other editions

Read here why The Secret Garden is the ‘Porridge & Cream’ comfort read of novelist Laura Wilkinson.

Frances Hodgson Burnett

 

‘The Secret Garden’ by Frances Hodgson Burnett [UK: Virago] Buy now

If you like old books, check out these:-
‘An Ice Cream War’ by William Boyd
‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman’ by John Fowles
‘Watership Down’ by Richard Adams

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
First Edition: THE SECRET GARDEN by Frances Hodgson Burnett #oldbooks http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2TQ via @SandraDanby

First Edition: A Passage to India

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EM Forster was born in 1879 and was the author of a number of hugely successful novels. Many were turned into films including Where Angels Fear to Tread [1991], Room with a View [1985] and Howards End [1992]. A Passage to India was his last, and most successful novel, but he was to live on. He died in 1970 at the age of 91. This portrait [below] of Forster by Dora Carrington is dated 1924.

This hardback first edition [above] is one of the rare examples which still has its dust jacket. Published in 1924 by London Edward Arnold & Co, it is now worth £9,750 at rare bookseller Peter Harrington.

The story
Set in the context of India during the British Raj of the 1920s, with the growing Indian independence movement, A Passage to India tells the story of four key characters: Dr Aziz, Cyril Fielding, Mrs Moore and Miss Adela Quested. Aziz is garrulous and naive, Adela something of a prig. During a trip to the Malabar Caves, Adela finds herself alone in a cave with Mr Aziz. She panics and flees. The assumption is made that Aziz assaulted her. The story of his subsequent trial examines the racial tensions and prejudices between the Indians and the British rulers.

The film EM ForsterThe 1984 film, directed by David Lean, featured Alec Guinness, Dame Peggy Ashcroft and Victor Banerjee. It won two Oscars: Dame Peggy Ashcroft [Mrs Moore], Best Actress in a Supporting Role; and Maurice Jarre for Best Music, Original Score.

Watch the official film trailer here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The current UK edition EM ForsterThe current Penguin edition features a detail from ‘English Women visiting caves near Bangalore’ [c. 1880s]. Photograph courtesy of The British Library.

Other editions
My own copy [below] is a Penguin Modern Classics edition, which I have dated 1979. The cover shows Indore in Central India, where a stone bridge spans the river Soor. It is a detail from a drawing by William Simpson in India, Ancient and Modern. EM ForsterAs a classic, A Passage to India has been published in many editions and languages. Here is a selection of some of the covers. The Italian cover is particularly dashing.

‘A Passage to India’ by EM Forster [UK: Penguin] Buy at Amazon

If you like old books, check out these:-
‘The Moonstone’ by Wilkie Collins
‘An Ice Cream War’ by William Boyd
‘The Sea The Sea’ by Iris Murdoch

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
First Edition: A PASSAGE TO INDIA by EM Forster #oldbooks via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2vK

First Edition: An Ice Cream War

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Published in 1982 by Hamish Hamilton in the UK, An Ice Cream War by William Boyd is a darkly comic novel set in colonial East Africa during the Great War. It is one of the first novels by Boyd which I read, the others being A Good Man in Africa and Stars and Bars. This first edition hardback is signed by the author and selling [at time of going to print] for £175.

William Boyd

[photo: Eamonn McCabe]

William Boyd

It was shortlisted for the 1982 Booker Prize, won that year by Schindler’s Ark by Thomas Keneally, and won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize.

The story
An Ice Cream War follows the fortunes of several disparate characters, including an expat farmer and a young English aristocrat, as they are swept up in the fighting in German East Africa during the First World War, their lives converging amid battle, betrayal, love, comedy and tragedy. Temple Smith is an American expat who runs a successful sisal plantation in East Africa, near Mount Kilimanjaro. Before war breaks out in August 1914, Smith is on cordial terms with his German half-English neighbour, Erich von Bishop. These separate strands gradually converge as the complacency of the artificial world of the British expat is swept away by war. Themes include greed, nationalism, love, and the futility of war.

The current UK edition
The current UK edition [below], published by Penguin, was re-issued in 2011. The images used on the front and back covers are from war footage from the Press Association archive. William BoydOther editions
My copy of An Ice Cream War [below] is well-thumbed, as are all my Boyd novels. William BoydThere have been many editions of this novel, here are some of the other British and US covers.

Read more about William Boyd’s books at his website.

‘An Ice Cream War’ by William Boyd [UK: Penguin] Buy at Amazon

If you like old books, check out these:-
‘The Sea The Sea’ by Iris Murdoch
‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman’ by John Fowles
‘Watership Down’ by Richard Adams

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
First Edition: AN ICE CREAM WAR by William Boyd #oldbooks via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2rN

First Edition: The Moonstone

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Before Philip Marlowe, Sherlock Holmes and Adam Dalgliesh. Before Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. The first full-length detective novel ever published was The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. First serialised in Charles Dickens’ magazine All the Year Round, the story revolves around the theft of a precious stone. A diamond, actually, not a semi-precious moonstone. The title page of the first edition [below] shows the publisher as Tinsley Brothers, Catherine Street, The Strand, London in 1868. Wilkie CollinsThe story
On her 18th birthday, Rachel Verinder inherits a large Indian diamond as a legacy from her uncle, a corrupt British army officer serving in India. However the diamond is not only valuable but has great religious significance, and so three Hindu priests dedicate their lives to recovering it. At her birthday party Rachel wears the Moonstone on her dress for all to see. Later the same night, the diamond is stolen. The Moonstone follows the attempts of Rachel’s cousin Franklin Blake to identify the thief, trace the stone and recover it.

The first edition
Of course there are many ‘first editions’ and not all date from the original publication, they may simply be the first printing by a particular publisher. Although I could find online a first edition of Collins’ The Woman in White, dated 1860 and costing £2,500, I could find no similar edition of The Moonstone. I wonder where they are and who owns them? Fans of crime fiction? Wilkie CollinsThis first edition dates to 1959 and was published in the USA by the New York Heritage Press. George Macy’s Heritage Press reprinted classic volumes previously published by the more exclusive Limited Editions Club. Bound in red Morocco leather and including colour lithographs, it costs £450 at rare bookseller Peter Harrington.

The current UK edition
Wilkie Collins There are many editions of The Moonstone now listed at Amazon, many are self-published and take advantage of the lack of copyright. Above is the current Penguin Classics edition.

The films

There have been many television, radio and film adaptations, including in 1997 a BBC/Carlton TV production featuring Greg Wise as Franklin Blake and Keeley Hawes as Rachel Verinder. Watch at You Tube below.

 

Watch the trailer here for the most recent BBC mini-series in 2016 [below].

Other editions
Cover designs for older editions of The Moonstone tend to be romanticized, often featuring details from larger classical paintings.

My copy of The Moonstone [below] is a Penguin Popular Classics edition dating back to 1994. The cover shows a detail of ‘The Honeymoon’ by Alfred Joseph Woolmer [below]. wilkie collins wilkie collins ‘The Moonstone’ by Wilkie Collins [UK: Penguin Classics] Buy now

If you like old books, check out these:-
‘Watership Down’ by Richard Adams
‘The Sea The Sea’ by Iris Murdoch
‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman’ by John Fowles

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
First Edition: THE MOONSTONE by Wilkie Collins #oldbooks via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2sF