111. Meister, Ernst.

Ausstellung – Gedichte von Ernst Meister [Originalausgabe / wahrscheinlich das originale Korrekturexemplar des Autors oder Verlags].

Erste Ausgabe. Marburg, Verlag Marburger Flugblätter, 1932. Oktav. 64 Seiten. Original Softcover (cremefarbene Englisch-Broschur mit roter Betitelung). Der Buchblock minimal von der Broschur gelöst. Sonst in sehr gutem Zustand, mit Merkmalen eines Korrekturexemplars: Der obere Schnitt etwas uneben, einige Seiten mit handschriftlicher, zusätzlicher Numerierung (und auch Anmerkung) die eine andere Paginierungsfolge oder Reihenfolge der Gedichte suggeriert. Einige Textstellen mit handschriftlicher Änderung einzelner Buchstaben. Kurze Widmung auf dem Vorsatzblatt: “f. Ulla” (nicht verifizierbar ob von Meister). Das Gedicht “Der Gebückte” mit einer handschriftlichen Anmerkung die eine eventuelle, dreimalige Wiederholung des ersten Teiles (‘Er geht’) mit zwei Fragezeichen erwägt. Sehr seltene, erste Veröffentlichung von Ernst Meister. Der Fund dieser Ausgabe ist eine kleine Sensation da Ernst Meister die Auflage persönlich vernichtete nachdem der Verlag Ihm die Bücher zurückgesendet hatte. Seine Ehefrau Else Meister rettete, laut einigen Quellen, nur einige wenige Exemplare aus der Mülltonne. / Als Zugabe zu der Ausgabe liegt dem Band eine Sammlung von sehr seltenen “Mitteilung[en] für Freunde” bei. Ernst Meister hat diese “Im Handsatz als Manuskript gedruckt”. Beiliegen No.2 – 6 der Mitteilungen”. Diese sind signiert mit dem Namenszug “Ernst Meister” versehen und der Jahreszahl der Herausgabe auf der Titelbroschur.

112. Gerhardie, William Alexander / Kingsmill, Hugh / Youngman Carter, Philip.

The Casanova Fable. A Satirical Revaluation. Illustrated by Philip Youngman Carter.

Rare, limited and signed first edition (No.20 of only 150 copies). London, Jarrolds, 1934. 15 cm x 22 cm. Frontispiece, 223 pages. With seven full-page illustrations in colour. Hardcover / Original, spectacular quarter vellum binding. Signed by William Gerhardie and Hugh Kingsmill. Bookplate / Exlibris of Liverpool book-collector, John Raymond Danson, to pastedown. Excellent condition with only very minor signs of external wear.

113. Skinner, B.F.

Has Gertrude Stein a Secret ?

First Edition Offprint. Atlantic Monthly, 1934. 8°. 8 pages. Stapled Softcover. Original offprint from “The Atlantic Monthly” (1959).

114. Deluxe Illustrated Children’s Book – Kipling, Rudyard.

All the Puck Stories. With Illustrations by H.R.Millar and Charles E.Brock.

First Deluxe Edition (Published simultaneously with the trade edition). London, MacMillan and Co., 1935. Octavo. Frontispiece-Illustration, X, 670, [2] pages. Illustrated throughout. Original Hardcover / Decorative full red leather with gilt lettering and gilt illustration of Puck on the front board. In its original, rare dustjacket. The dustjacket frayed with some loss. The Volume itself in excellent condition with some minor signs of wear to upper and lower hinge only.

115. Grant, Joan.

Winged Pharaoh.

Second Edition, fifth printing. London, Arther Baker Ltd, 1937. 14.5 cm x 22.2 cm. 382(x) pages. Original Cloth Hardcover with gilt decoration on spine. Binding is professionally repaired with new endpaper. Stronger rubbed and discoloration on spine. Top and bottom of spine is slightly teared. Some minor stains and rubbed on cover. Slight wear on board edges. Spine and backing materials are separated. However, overall very good condition with firm binding and very clean interior.

116. Priestley, John Boynton ( J.B.) / Jaroslav Šváb.

Dálava.

Praze / Prague, Ant.Sveceny, (1938). Octavo. 420 pages. Original Hardcover with original dustjacket, designed by Jaroslav Šváb in protective collector’s mylar. First edition. Signed by Priestley on title page. Half-leather with gilt lettering and illustration on spine. In publisher’s marbled boards in dust jacket. Few tiny wormholes to hinge. Jacket spine is torn and browned, else good. Inside near fine. Very Rare !

117. O’Casey, Sean.

Three Volumes of Sean O’Casey’s famous Autobiography: I. I Knock at the Door – Swift Glances Back at Things That Made Me (Rare Second Edition, Printed in the year of the First Edition, 1939) / III. Drums under the Windows (First Edition 1945) / VI. Sunset and Evening Star (First Edition, 1954).

Three Volumes (of Six). London, MacMillan & Co., 1939 – 1954. Octavo (15 cm x 22 cm). Volume I (″I Knock at the Door”): includes a fine Frontispiece-Photograph of “Mrs.Susan Casside in a Gala Dress”, VII, 268, [3] pages / Volume III (″Drums under My Window”): includes a Frontispiece-Photograph of “The Rev.E.M.Griffin”, 339, [2] pages / Volume VI (″Sunset and Evening Star”: includes a very fine Frontispiece-Photograph of “The O’Casey’s” [Niall O’Casey, Breon O’Casey, Sean O’Casey, Shivawn [Shivaun] O’Casey, Eileen O’Casey], VII, 311, [1] pages. Original Hardcover with illustrated dustjackets. All three Volumes in their original state with the original dustjackets frayed but still very good. Volume I and III with two excellent Bookplates / Giftnote to dustjacket of Volume I; Giftnote to endpaper of Volume VI. Exlibris to pastedown “The Vernons” with artwork from artist H. Cutler” .

118. Shaw, Bernard.

Back to Methuselah [A Metabiological Pentateuch]. [With several items of Ephemera included] With a Preface by Mr.Shaw and with Wood Engravings by John Farleigh.

New York, The Limited Editions Club, 1939. 19 cm x 28 cm. LVI, 260 pages. Original Hardcover with illustrated dustjacket in protective slip-case. Excellent condition edition with only very minor signs of external wear to the slipcase. The ephemeral items include an advertising card for this publication from “The Leicester Galleries, London” , The Monthly Letter of the Limited Editions Clb from July, 1939, Number 119. The printed Letter’s title was: “If there are Four Hitlers” / Also included is a pamphlet of the Limited Editions Club on the artwork of John Farleigh.

119. Lewis, Sinclair.

It Can’t Happen Here [The Novel that tells you what will happen to your family if America gets a Dictator].

4th Reprint of the 1939 Edition (with the rare dustjacket). New York, Triangle Books, 1941. Octavo. 458 pages. Original publisher’s Hardcover with the rare, illustrated dustjacket, including the rear flap with the photograph of an idyllic american living-room secenery. In protective Mylar. From the private library of Walter Blake, with his personal stamp to the titlepage. In excellent condition with only minor signs of wear. The dustjacket extremely scarce in this condition.

120. Yeats, William Butler / [George [Georgie] Yeats / Mrs. Eva Hempel / Eduard Hempel].

Pages from a Diary Written in Nineteen Hundred and Thirty. [Signed / Inscribed by George Yeats to Mrs. [Eva] Hempel, wife of german ambassador to Ireland during World War II].

No.8 / 200 copies, of the original limited edition. Dublin, The Cuala Press, 1944 [September 1944]. Octavo. 58 pages. Original Hardcover. Inscribed by George Yeats on the front free endpaper: “Mrs. Hempel from George Yeats, April 1944”. This has to be of course “April 1945”. The impossibility of signing/inscribing a book in April 1944 if it was only published in September 1944 is easily explained with the classic everyday-mistake of still writing the previous year in the first few months of the following year. A stunning association. The signature and inscription is a solid match to George Yeats’ autographs in her later hand and William Butler Yeats and George Yeats were frequent visitors to the Hempel’s in Dublin. In addition, the low number of the edition (8/200) suggests this being one of the reference copies given to George Yeats, who contributed heavily to the volume and even added an explanatory note (in print) verso the titlepage. This copy is near fine, bound in the publisher’s quarter buckram over yellow, paper-covered boards. The books pages remained unopened. Eva Hempel’s husband Eduard Hempel is one of the most controversial figures in modern Irish history, excoriated by some as ‘Hitler’s man’, defended by others such as the country’s first President, Eamon De Valera. Certainly, Hempel presented William Butler Yeats in 1938 with a copy of ‘Germany Speaks’ whose inscription described an ‘unforgettable afternoon’ spent together by Yeats and Hempel. Eduard Hempel and his wife were accepted socialites in the Dublin world of World War II, famously receiving a condolence call by de Valera upon the death of Hitler. Eduard Hempel and his wife Eva were granted asylum in Ireland after world war II and stayed way beyond the end of World War II.