If you’ve just recently arrived on Planet Earth, you’ll probably have no idea who Samuel Johnson was, literarily speaking. I happen to have a full beautiful and crisp collection in my library of Circle of Johnson, all in very closely matching 18th century bindings, to wit:
Female Spectator in 4 Volumes, London: 1748, by Elizabeth Fowler, one of the inventors of the modern novel, and one of the most important female literary figure of her time.
Miscellaneous Works in Verse & Prose in 3 Volumes with 4th volume Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, by Joseph Addison, London: 1767.
The Rambler in 4 Volumes, London: 1771. Published as a small periodical from 1750 to 1752, this is a fine, crisp set of the 1771 edition.
The World in 4 Volumes, London: 1772, by Adam Fitz-Adam. An important milestone in English Literature.
The Guardian in 2 Volumes, London: 1767, Addison & Steele’s major contribution to the Literary field, and one of the most important “Coffee-House” periodicals of its time.
The Tatler in 4 Volumes, London: 1764; the definitive contribution of three major Literary Figures of the 18th Century, Richard Addison, Joseph Steele and Jonathan Swift (Gulliver’s Travels).
This set is offered at a very modest $5000 to benefit the Ashram. You can donate directly to IDHHB, Inc. and I will carefully ship the books to you from my library, where they’ve been for the past 25 years. I still have the invoice from Ursus Books in NYC — I’m asking exactly what was paid 25 years ago, regardless of the fact that, although the books have retained their value, the money hasn’t.
I also have an incredible 10 volume set, to wit:
Diary of Samuel Pepys, Edited with additions by Henry Wheatley, 10 Volumes, with 10 frontispiece engravings, 30 illustrations, 3 fold-out pedigrees and one fold-out map not called for in the register. Bound in breathtakingly beautiful full green polished calf, London: George Bell & Sons, 1904, first unexpurgated edition and UNCUT!!!
I’m asking $1850 for this full incredibly RARE uncut set of Samuel Pepys. Again, it came from Ursus Books in New York City; Ursus is among the 10 most highly respected booksellers in the world.
These are only two of the items I have on my Antiquarian Bookseller’s Shelf. Would you like to know more? You have but to ask. I am hoping to pass on my book trader’s skills to someone who will take over the shop and run it, learning to buy as well as sell rare books and prints. No one I know who is in this profession hates to go to work in the morning.
See You At The Top!!!
gorby
This is a very unusual form of Jasper Johns’ zero through nine series; it’s pencil-signed and numbered by the artist. It’s small, personal, and very, very limited in the edition size. JASPER JOHNS — Zero Through Nine (0-9) — color lithograph — Ca. 1978 — Edition 60 — Signed – Numbered – Dated – C 160×124 – S4 – G 781 – Full Margin — Sotheby New York – 05/13/87 – # 833.