sow the thought seeds

At auction this month, with no reserve, are many more rare children's books.  This theme proved very popular in November.

This month's theme is signed books -- these make very special Christmas gifts which is why they are available exclusively at Buy it Now or Best Offer prices. No need to wait ten days for an auction to end, Buy it Now and your gift is straight in the post.

And if you're looking for stocking fillers, why not buy some brand new fiction and non-fiction also on Buy it Now or Best Offer.

There is even an option for gift wrap and shipping to the recipient of your choice, together with personal greeting (see below for details).

Wishing a Merry Christmas to all,

dene october

Look out for

Buy it Now or Best Offer

Brand new books at least 33% off publisher prices in the December auctions

Gift wrap option available 

The following is the system I use for grading books ~

Mint ~ New or as new, clearly unread, no tanning to pages, no creasing to spine or cover, no marks or inscriptions. This is the condition you would expect to find in a high street bookstore or on mail-order.

Excellent ~ The book appears to be in fine condition. A closer look reveals some signs of previous ownership, such as shelf-rubbing and in some cases an inscription. Yet on the whole, the book is perfect.

Very Good + ~ Less than excellent condition with no more than mild tanning or foxing to pages, minor creasing to spine or cover, possible shop sticker/pencilled price or previous owner name, but no other marks or inscriptions. This is still a tight and bright copy.

Very Good ~ The book shows clear signs of previous ownership / shelf wear. There may be some tanning / foxing to pages, slight creases to spine or cover, inscriptions from previous owner (typically their name or words of presentation).

Good + ~ The book cover and contents may have faded in colour and there may be creases, wear and inscriptions. However the book is still intact and readable and there is no loosening to spine or pages.

Good ~ This is an acceptable reading copy and there may be several of the reported problems above as associated with age and/or mishandling.

Poor ~ A book such as this is sent to auction for reasons such as the edition's rarity. This will probably not make an acceptable reading copy, and is more likely to have value in relation to its collectable status.

N.B. where a double grading is given, the latter refers to the dust-jacket, wrapper or cover

This grading guide is updated monthly to save you scrolling through archives. 

Your book can be gift-wrapped with festive wrapping paper and ribbon, together with your message.

Simply request the service when paying indicating the recipient, recipient address and 'your message'.

Your book will then be gift-wrapped, placed in bubble-wrap and secured in a thick, corrugated card sleeve before being sent to the recipient address.

The cost is £1.25. Please add this to the p&p box on your invoice.

Old Stories Retold, Series 1 and 2, Charles H. Kelly, 1897.  This two volume set is first edition [published date 1897 for series 1 and 1902 for series 2].  It is part of a private collection and set of similar children’s rare books at auction end November / early December. These copies are in g/vg condition, with bumping/rubbing to spine and tanned pages ends. Bookseller inscriptions from late eighties asking £60 for the 2 vols. Also a gift inscription. All neat – no other writing. The binding is open on series 1 but no loose pages. Series 2 in vg condition with some foxing and tan but clear text.  Lots of b/w illustrations. Decorated cloth boards (for guidance on the grading of this book, please see below).  Interesting pair.

Old Stories Retold, Charles H. Kelly, 1897

Former United States president, Herbert Hoover was a keen angler and enjoyed waxing lyrical on the philosophical basis of fishing.

'Man and boy, the American is a fisherman,' he declared. 'That comprehensive list of human rights, the Declaration of Independence, is firm that all men (and boys) are endowed with certain inalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which obviously includes the pursuit of fish.' 

Hoover's Fishing for Fun is in fine condition inside, with lovely bright pages, clean text and blue illustrations. The dust-jacket is chipped a little at the spine, but has now been placed in a protective clear wrapper.

The price may seem steep, but hunt around, for the first US printing of Fishing for Fun in this condition, it really is a catch (sorry, couldn't help myself).

Herbert Hoover, Fishing for Fun – And to Wash Your Soul. 1963. Random House.

This is the December 2007 list of autographed books at Buy it Now price / UK p&p (overseas rate on request):

24.99 / 3.99

Paul & Jeanne Rankin / Gourmet Ireland

Double signed upon title page

Status: First edition

Condition: Excellent (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: Excellent + unclipped (see below for guidance)

Publisher: BBC Books

Edition date: 1994

22.49 / 2.90

Bruce Russell / GMT Glyphs, Morphs and Tropes

Signed upon front-free-endpage

Status: First edition

Condition: Excellent  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: Excellent + unclipped (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Art Books International

Edition date: 1999

124.99  / 5.99 RECORDED

Orhan Pamuk / My Name is Red

Signed upon front-free-endpage

Status: US 1^st / Fourth printing

Condition: Excellent  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: VG + unclipped (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Alfred A Knopf

Edition date: October 2001

9.99 /3.99

E. C. Vivian / Fields of Sleep

Signed by illustrator Thomas Canty on artcard frontis

Limited edition 1/ 1200

Status: Limited signed edition

Condition: VG+ with some marks to page edges  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: VG + unclipped in clear protective wrapper, w chipping to bottom spine / corners (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Donald M Grant

Edition date: 1980

SOLD  George R Martin / The Armageddon Rag

Signed upon title page

Status: First US edition

Condition: Excellent  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: VG + unclipped + w small closable tear to bottom right front (see image + see below for guidance)

Publisher: Poseidon Press

Edition date: 1983

7.49 / 3.99

Geoff Ryman / Was

Signed upon title page

Status: First edition

Condition: VG+  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: Good + unclipped, w discolouration + tear to spine(see image + below for guidance)

Publisher: Harper Collins

Edition date: 1992

12.99/3.99

Brian Dollan / Ladies of the Grand Tour

Signed upon title page

Status: First edition

Condition: VG+  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: Excellent + unclipped (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Harper Collins

Edition date: 2001

12.99 / 4.99

Iain Banks / Whit

Signed upon pre-title page

Condition: VG+  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: VG+ + unclipped (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Edition date: 1995

28.99 / 4.99

Jeffrey Eugenides / Middlesex

Signed upon title page, Berlin 2003

Status: First / second impression

Condition: VG  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: VG+ + unclipped (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Edition date: 2002

17.99 / 2.90

Sally Vickers / Mr Golightly’s Holiday

Signed upon title page

Status: First edition

Condition: Excellent  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: Excellent  + unclipped (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Fourth Estate

Edition date: 2003

12.99 / 2.49

D. M. Thomas / Charlotte – The Final Journey of Jayne Eyre

Signed upon title page

Status: First edition

Condition: Rxcellent  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: VG+ (+ unclipped) apart from tear along spine, now in clear protective wrapper (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Duck editions

Edition date: 2000

* with personal cheques, please allow up to 10 days for clearance of funds / books dispatched after payment clears

49.99 / 3.99

Tom Russell / I Have the Honour To Be

Signed upon title front-free-endpage

Status: First edition

Condition: Excellent (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: Excellent + unclipped (see below for guidance)

Publisher: The Memoir Club

Edition date: 2003

12.99 / 2.49

Paul Roche / Cooking With a Poet

Signed upon front-free-endpage

Status: First edition

Condition: Excellent  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: no dust-jacket issued, excellent cloth boards (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Writers Workshop Greybird Book

Edition date: 1998

33.99 / 3.49 (recorded)

Anthony Capella / The Food of Love

Proof copy # 3 of 75 copies

Signed upon limited edition status page

Status: First edition proof, limited edition of 75

Condition: Excellent  (see below for guidance)
Format: Softcover
Dust-jacket: Excellent  (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Time Warner

Edition date: 2004

14.99 / 2.90

Xinran/ The Good Women of China

Signed upon title page

Status: First edition

Condition: Excellent  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: VG+ + unclipped (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Chatto & Windus

Edition date: 2002

9.99 / 2.90

Kathryn Fox / Without Consent

Signed upon title page

Status: First Australian pb edition

Condition: Excellent  (see below for guidance)
Format: Softcover
Dust-jacket: No dust-jacket issued (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Macmillan

Edition date: 2006

SOLD Adele Parks / Young Wives’ Tales

Signed upon title page

Status: First edition

Condition: Excellent  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: Excellent  + unclipped (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Michael Joseph

Edition date: 2007

* with personal cheques, please allow up to 10 days for clearance of funds / books dispatched after payment

8.99 / 1.99

Melvin Burgess / Lady: My Life as a Bitch

Signed upon title page

Status: First pb edition

Condition: VG w some creases / wear  (see below for guidance)
Format: softcover
Dust-jacket: none issued (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Penguin

Edition date: 2003

SOLD Paolo Hewitt and Mark Baxter / The Fashion of Football: From Best to Beckham, from Mod to Label Slave

Double signed upon pre-title page

Status: First pb edition

Condition: VG  (see below for guidance)
Format: softcover
Dust-jacket: none issued (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Mainstream

Edition date: 2006

13.99 / 1.99

Emilia di Girolamo / Freaky

Signed upon pre-title page

Status: First edition paperback

Condition: VG  (see below for guidance)
Format: softcover
Dust-jacket: none issued (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Spacehopper

Edition date: 1999

SOLD Gillian Clarke / Selected Poems

Signed upon title page

Status: First edition

Condition: VG++  (see below for guidance)
Format: softcover
Dust-jacket: none issued (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Carcanet

Edition date: 1985

56.99 /2.99

Fred Hoyle / Of Men and Galaxies

Signed upon front-free-endpage

Status: Reprint 1965

Condition: Excellent  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: Excellent + unclipped, in clear protective wraper (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Heinemann

Edition date: 1965

269.99 / 3.49 Recorded

Herbert Hoover / Fishing for Fun – And to Wash Your Soul

Signed upon pre-title page

Status: First printing

Condition: Excellent  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: VG+  in clear protective wrapper (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Random House

Edition date: 1963

56.99/2.90

Fred Hoyle / Frontiers of Astronomy

Signed upon title page

Status: 1963 reprint

Condition: VG+  (see below for guidance)
Format: softcover
Dust-jacket: none issued (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Mercury No 1

Edition date: 1963

SOLD Paul Gallico / The Lonely

Signed upon front-free endpage

Status: First thus (this edition)

Condition: VG  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: none, boards VG w slight fading to spine

Publisher: Michael Joseph

Edition date: 1951

17.49 /2.49

Paul Gallico / The Foolish Immortals

Signed upon front-free endpage

Status: First edition, third impression

Condition: VG+ w neat presentation (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: VG + clipped, some chipping to spine, shelfwear (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Michael Joseph

Edition date: 1953

17.49 / 2.49

Alfred Tack / The Great Hijack

Signed upon title page

Status: First edition

Condition: VG+  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: VG+ + unclipped, some shelfwear (see below for guidance)

Publisher: John Long

Edition date: 1970

8.99 / 1.99

Rachel Zadok / Gem Squash Tokoloshe

Signed upon title page

Status: second pb impression

Condition: VG+, some interior page creases  (see below for guidance)
Format: Softcover
Dust-jacket: none issued, cover Excellent (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Pan

Edition date: 2005

8.49 / 1.99

Maureen Freely / Under the Vulcania

Signed upon title page

Status: First edition

Condition: VG+  (see below for guidance)
Format: Softcover
Dust-jacket: none, cover = VG+ w some indents, reading crease on spine (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Edition date: 1994

7.99 / 1.99

Mark Billingham / Sleepy Head

Signed upon title page

Condition: VG+  (see below for guidance)
Format: Softcover
Dust-jacket: none, cover = VG+ (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Time Warner

Edition date: 2002

10.99  /1.99

Peter Morgan / A High Tide in the Caribbean

Signed upon inside front cover

Status: Presumed first edition, no details given

Condition: VG+  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: none, cover = VG+ (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Caribbean Communications

Edition date: ndg [1990], signed 1996

SOLD Maria Reiche / Mystery on the Desert

Signed upon pre-title page

Status: third? (first in 1968)

Condition: VG but spine showing inside and some loose pages all accounted for and very bright (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: none, laminated pictorial boards VG (see below for guidance)

Publisher: author

Edition date: 1980, Text in German, English and Spanish. 

4.99 / 1.99

Julia Wendell / An Otherwise Perfect History

Signed + dated upon title page

Status: First edition

Condition: Excellent  (see below for guidance)
Format: Softcover
Dust-jacket: none issued, cover Excellenr (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Ithaca House Books

Edition date: 1988

12.99 / 1.99

Anne Ridler / Some Time After & Other Poems

Signed upon front-free endpage

Status: First edition

Condition: Excellent  (see below for guidance)
Format: Softcover with wraps
Dust-jacket:  Ex w slight wear to spine (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Faber

Edition date: 1972

24.99 / 1.99

Helen Long / Safe Houses are Dangerous

Signed + dated upon title page

Status: First thus edition

Condition: VG +  (see below for guidance)
Format: Softcover
Dust-jacket: none issued, cover VG+/Ex (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Abson Books

Edition date: 1989

10.99 / 1.99

Dr Richard Woolfson / Understanding Children: A Guide for Parents and Carers

Signed upon pre-title page

 Status: First thus Caring Books

Condition: xxx  (see below for guidance)
Format: Softcover
Dust-jacket: none, cover Ex (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Caring Books

Edition date: 1994

8.99 / 1.99

Christine Leov Lealand / Quintessence – Erotic Adventures of Fantasy and Desire

Signed upon dedication page

Condition: VG+  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: VG+ w crease to back corner (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Penguin

Edition date: 1999

45.99 / 3.49 Recorded

Bart de Smit / An Academic Brief

Signed + dated upon title page

Status: First edition

Condition: Excellent (see below for guidance)
Format: Softcover
Dust-jacket: none, cover Ex w reader crease on spine (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Minerva

Edition date: 1999

11.99 /1.99

Dennis Etchison / Shadowman

Signed upon title page

Status: First edition

Condition: Excellent, unread, w slight sunning to page ends (see below for guidance)
Format: softcover
Dust-jacket: none, cover = Excellent (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Raven Books

Edition date: 1994

12.99 / 1.99

David Roberts / A Grave Man

Signed upon title page

Status: First edition

Condition: Excellent  (see below for guidance)
Format: softcover
Dust-jacket: none, cover = excellent w reader crease to spine (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Robinson

Edition date: 2005

13.99 /1.99

Sophie Marceau / Telling Lies

Signed upon title page

Status: First thus Phoenix edition

Condition: Excellent  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: none, cover = excellent (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Phoenix paperback original

Edition date: 2001

9.99 / 2.49

Walter Rowley / 48 Hour Pass – Hong Kong

Signed upon title page

Status: First edition

Condition: G+  with some stain to lower corner (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: G+ as above (see image and see below for guidance)

Publisher: Square One Publications

Edition date: 1995

44.99 / 2.49 Recorded

Dick Francis / Risk

Signed upon front-free-endpage

Status: First edition

Condition: VG+/Ex  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: Excellent + unclipped + in clear protective wrapper (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Michael Joseph

Edition date: 1977

29.99 / 3.99 Recorded

Dick Francis / Break In

Signed upon title page

Status: First edition

Condition: Ex w sunning to page edges (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: Excellent +unclipped, in clear protective wrapper (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Michael Joseph

Edition date: 1985

22.99 / 3.99

Sue Krisman / So Long as They’re Cheering

Signed upon title page

Status: First edition

Condition: VG+ (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: VG+ + unclipped (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Weidenfeld and Nicolson

Edition date: 1986

15.99 / 3.99

Jay Rayner / Star Dust Falling – The Story of the Plane that Vanished

Signed upon title page

Status: First edition

Condition: VG+  (see below for guidance)
Format: Hardback
Dust-jacket: Excellent + unclipped (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Doubleday

Edition date: 2002

9.99 / 2.90

Martha Peace / The Excellent Wife

Signed upon title page  + comes with Excellent Wife bookmark

Status: Revised US edition

Condition: VG+  (see below for guidance)
Format: softcover
Dust-jacket: none issues, cover VG+ (see below for guidance)

Publisher: Focus

Edition date: 1999

22.99 / 2.99

Kim Wilde / LP /SRAK 544

Signed upon front sleeve

Condition: Ex

Format: LP
Sleeve: VG++ (with old shop label to right corner)

Label: RAK

Edition date: 1981

20.99 / 2.99

Black  / LP / Comedy

Signed by Colin Vearncombe upon front sleeve

Condition: Nr Mint

Format: LP
Sleeve: VG++ (with old shop label to right corner)

Label: A&M

Edition date: 1988