Abibliophobia Rare Books

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. Original pictorial blue-gray cloth stamped in dark blue, white and gold and the profile of what can only be described as an angry beaver. First edition. A collection of short fiction and verse by a Montreal author. A clean, very good copy with some slight foxing. Includes the stories "A Pythagorean Interlude" and "The Way Of a Man With a Maid." Both classics. The poem "Shake-Spear" is a cipher sonnet. If you don't get itthe solution is found on page 223.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. No Jacket. 1st Edition. Brown cloth over boards. Gold lettering on spine and front boards. A strange tale about one John Meredith, a bad tempered, morbid, and egotistical chap. A look at how he became this wayand his eventual redemption! A beautiful copy.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. This, Barnard's las title, is a collection of 22 short stories written mostly during WW II. Jacket is very near fine, save for a few tiny tears at the top of the spine. Zero fading to jacket as its been kept in the rare publishers box. The box itself has a few tears to the spine edges, but it otherwise in great condition. Just like the book.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. A curiosity bound in the red cloth binding with spine stamped in black for Helen Ashton's YEOMAN'S HOSPITAL, published in Toronto by Collins in 1945. The title and author lightly crossed out in ink with Baird's name written in ink on spring, proper title & author by hand in ink on front cover. We presume this is an error by the commercial binder, as it does not like a "home made" production. As this mistake happened no earlier than 1945, we sonder whether there were multiple binding lots for the 1939 book. An important novel of the Depression in Western Canada, based on the march to Victoria of about 1,000 unemployed who were expelled by force from the Vancouver Post Office in 1938, after staging a sit-down demonstration.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. BEARDSLEY, Aubrey, illus. (illustrator). First American edn. 8vo, pp. 241, plus publisher's catalog. Rare red cloth variant with patterned end papers, stamped in black with gilt lettering on spine. Title and cover design by Cover slightly worn at edges and ends of spine, some water staining on bottom of first couple of pages, does not affect text or design, o/w a VG copy. Novel about a university educated Victorian woman who has a child out of wedlock! Herminia Barton is a university-educated woman who defies societal expectations and conventions. She has a child out of wedlock and is prepared to face the consequences of her actions. Herminia's beliefs about love, freedom, and marriage conflict with the patriarchal society of late Victorian England.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Cloth and boards in very good dust jacket with hairline crack to front inner hinge; else fine. First edition of Creal s first novel, a coming of age piece set in in an all girls school Western Canada that has become a classic of lesbian fiction. Margaret Creal was a Canadian-born resident of upstate New York whose first novel, ''A Lesson in Love,'' was published in 1957 and received good reviews in the New Yorker and NY Herald Tribune.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Green cloth over boards in good dust jacket. Some bumps and creases to the head and toe of spine and top and bottom edge of dust jacket. Much nicer than it sounds. The protagonist, Hansen, grapples with the meaning of love for his adopted country and the challenges of assimilation. Bridle was born in the U.K in 1868 and was the founding member of The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto, a meeting place for members of the Group of Seven. Bridle was a journalist and author of several books. He died in December 1952 in Toronto.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. Yellow lettering on orange cloth in un-price clipped dust jacket. Jacket is near fine; small fleck of jacket missing at top of jacket and small closed tear at bottom of jacket otherwise great condition for a dust jacket that is roughly 90 years old. This, the fourth and final novel by Pearl Foley was inspired by her father's stories of soldiering in India. A murder mystery novel that takes place in and around then "modern New York." Canadian issue.

Soft cover. Condition: Fine. Stiff, paperbound edition of this historical novel set, initially, in Austria. Everything works out in the end. Inscribed by the author under his image on the title page.

Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: New. 1st Edition. Yellow boards in dust jacket. A stunning copy of this first edition. Also includes the uncorrected manuscript in cerlox binding. A finalist for the Governor General's Literary Awards, Highways and Dancehalls is a novel that mines experience from Atkinson's own experiences as a stripper. The story follows a girl of 17, a product of a broken marriage and preoccupied parents, who finds herself stripping in bars along the West Coast of Canada. The critically acclaimed novel mainly deals with healing from childhood pain rather than concentrating on sexuality. I don't think she wrote another novel, which is tragic, since this one was so well written and engaging.

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. First Edition. Green cloth with gilt lettering and publisher's device on spine. Dust jacket is in very good condition, some very minor rubbing. and browning to rear jacket. Anthology of stories by Canadian writers: Susanna Moodie, Charles G. D. Roberts, Frederick Philip Grove, Morley Callaghan, Sinclair Ross, Patricia K. Page, and others. Dust jacket illustration and lettering by Thoreau MacDonald. This copy inscribed by Desmond Pacey on the front free end paper, "With the best wishes of Desmond Pacey." Above is the ownership signature of "Connie Carruthers." Rare signed.

Fine Hardcover / Good Dustjacket, 160 pages, 8.5" x 11", dustjacket with edgewear, otherwise clean and tight. In December 1970, Regina born Dr. Daivd S. R. Leighton became Director of the Banff Centre. Over the next 12 years, he guided the Centre through a period of unprecedented growth. Under his leadership, a master plan was developed and executed in order to enhance the role of this unique institution that encourages the advancement of Canadian cultural and professional life. Author of a number of books on marketing and editor of business publications, Dr. Leighton, with his wife Peggy, researched and wrote the book Artists, Builders, and Dreams - 50 years at the Banff School which was published in 1982 to commemorate the Centre's 50th Anniversary. Signed by both David and Peggy and dated December 1982. Ownership signature of Carolyn Tavender on front free end paper. Tavender was a highly influential Calgary-based interior designer and art consultant, recognized as a pioneer in Canadian interior design. JS.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Durie's novel John Dangerfield's Strange Reappearance takes place in Toronto between the wars and portrays a valiant son who comes back from death at the front to take revenge on those who conspired against his family, and a daughter who has married an English lord, and lives in a stately home with two "perfect" children. Beautiful dust jacket.

Eldrige Hardie (illustrator). First edition. 8vo (9.25 x 6 inches), pp. (12), 1-145, (1), numerous illustrations after drawings by Eldridge Hardie. Original gilt lettered blue cloth in original pictorial dust jacket. Dust jacket is near fine, save for some sunning to the spine; not price clipped $8.95. Dana Lamb was educated at Lawrenceville, Dartmouth, and Princeton, and, for many years, was a partner at Ingalls & Snyder, a New York investment firm. Perhaps more interestingly, he was also a fly fisherman, outdoorsman, and writer. This title collects nearly 50 articles/stories related to fishing and the outdoors. (JS).

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. First Edition pink paper boards in a matching pink dust jacket. Lightly bumped at head and foot of spine which is also sunned, and two small closed tears on front of jacket. Much nicer than it sounds. This copy is inscribed by Coates, "For Perce in gratitude Carol Stoke d'Abernon February 1976." This title also comes with a heart felt handwritten letter dated February 2, 1976 from her home in London, England. The letter starts, "My Dear, It's quite impossible to convey in an ordinary letter, what the weekend-end meant to me on many levels" The letter is roughly 250 words long. Also includes a handwritten copy of the poem Father and Son. Coates was born in Japan in 1906 but lived predominantly in Vancouver, England (London, Oxford, Forest Row), and Scotland. She died in Ploughley, Oxfordshire, England in 1992. Inscribed by Author(s).

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Black lettering on red cloth in dust jacket. Jacket has some small tears on top and bottom of spine as well as along the tom and bottom of the front and back of the dust jacket panel Not found in Watters. This 1923 novel is about Canadian trappers and lumberman in New Brunswick, Canada and the protagonist, Mark, who, in search of work befriends a priest and discovers a love interest!

Hardcover, no dust jacket, 4to pp.519, Save for a bump on the front of the right hand side of the cover and small gift inscription on the front free endpaper, the book is in near fine condition. Over 100 years of history from the rural area surrounding the Sunshine Trail south and east of High River, Alberta, Canada. This book will require extra postage. (JS).

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. First, and probably, only edition of Rainbow at Night. Blue boards in dust jacket, which has some small bumps along top and bottom of spine and top of dust jacket. Mary Graham Bonner was born in 1890 in New York City but moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia at two months. Rainbow at Night is a fishing themed novel set in Nova Scotia; or rather, a warm, salty story of the fisherfolk of Nova Scotia. The story concerns Jenny Macdonald, and how her hard-working life gets upended with the arrival of a stranger, a man who makes her life something more than milking her cow, helping with fish, a man who can appreciate Jenny s special awareness and fondness for the seas, the birds, the fog.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. 1st Edition. Black cloth in good dust jacket. Some loss at the head and foot of spine and bottom front edge of dust jacket. Covers partly damp stained. Nicer than it sounds. Fabulous dust jacket art of a couple in front of their homestead ploughing the field. Presumed first edition, though not stated as such on copyright page; simply says printed in Great Britain. Brief autograph note from the author the W.A. Deacon thanking him for the review pasted on front free end paper. From the library of Canadian academic W.A. Deacon. Inscribed by Author(s).

First American edition. Near fine in near fine dust jacket. 207pp. 8vo. Mustard cloth boards, lettering with ornate boarder in gold to spine, publisher's monogram in gold at center of top board, publisher's device blind stamped at foot of rear hinge (denoting this copy as the publisher's edition, as opposed to book club edition). Not price clipped. Review slip laid in. Publication date of February 26, 1970. Book of 8 interconnected short stories was noted by Laurence as being "semi-autobiographical." Series chronicles the growing up of a young agnostic writer, Vanessa MacLeod, in the fictional town of Manawaka, Manitoba.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. Brown cloth over boards. Some dents/fraying to top of spine and along board edges. Some foxing throughout. Presumed first edition; there being no mention of other printings etc. The full title of the book adds on the title page, "being a full and particular account of his reasons for emigrating his passage across the Atlantic His arrival in New York his brief sojourn in the United States and his further emigration to Canada." That pretty much sums up the novel. An uncommon novel and one that provides an early look at New York City in the 1860s. 362 pages.

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Cream boards in dust near fine dust jacket. Inscribed by Itanai on the flyleaf, "For Kevin with love & good wishes Fran Dec 7,/89." Oberon hardcovers are notoriously difficult to find. The print run for hard cover titles was reportedly in the 100 to 300 range, with most copies going to libraries. An excellent copy of Itani's first book of short stories.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. First edition in dust jacket and uncorrected proof (blue wraps). Book and proof in near fine condition.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Black cloth in rare dust jacket. About fine in reinforced, oddly stained jacket. There is another state in red boards with a different dust jacket. No preference given. Dunham's second novel, deals with the Mennonites and historical events that took place in Waterloo County, Ontario between 1850 and 1880.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Red cloth with gilt lettering and image on cover. Some spotting on cover. Includes seven illustrations; one with a knock-out boxing theme! Sir Clive Phillipps-Wolley was a British-Canadian official, author, and big game hunter. The Queensberry Cup is set in an English boarding school called 'Fernhall', is likely based on Rossall, a school on the Irish Sea coast of Lancashire. The story's secondary theme is boxing, a subject Phillipps-Wolley was familiar with. Appears as though this copy has never been read. A beautiful first edition copy of this rarely seen title.

Soft cover. Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. Original softcover in cerlox binding. Small bump to top right hand corner of cover. An early title detailing Canadian furniture. It's pretty much a self-published item; covering 74 pages of black and white images of some of the best designed mid century modern Canadian furniture. Starts with a small one-page introduction then covers everything from dining chairs, occasional chairs, easy chairs, sofas, coffee tables, side tables, dining tables, desk, bedroom furniture etc. You get the idea. An indispensable reference guide for any collectors, dealers, designers or anyone interested in post-war Canadian design. Before this title, there really wasn't much out there for collectors etc. to reference. Unknown number of copies printed, but the edition was certainly small.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Very Good. First Edition. xii, [2], 290, [5] p. 20 cm. B&w frontispiece. Burgundy cloth with blank and gilt impressing, gilt lettering. Spine of dust jacket is a little dull. Small chips and tears to top of the front panel. From the back of the dust jacket: ".a romance that clothes in flesh and blood those keepers of the Faith who dares face the power of Imperial Rome. It is an experience to read a novel that catches so thrillingly the spirit that fired men and women to carry onward." An esoteric classic. Agnes Christina Laut was born in Brucefield, Ontario, educated at the University of Manitoba, and moved to upstate New York in 1901.

223 pp. Octavo. Original green cloth with silver lettering on spine. Illustrated dustjacket which is not price clipped. A very small amount of fading on the spine. Some light soling to top of dust jacket and rear panel. Text block is clean and square. A very nice copy of the UK first edition & 'true' first printing.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Only novel written by Nova Scotia writer Irene Fennell. Little is actually know about Fennell. That said, this well received novel is about the strong protagonist (Merry) who was found, as a young girl, in a swamp and raised by two rough men. Also about a young medical student who takes a summer job as a preacher! Suffice it to say, the protagonist Merry does not love wisely. Great copy in very good dust jacket, not price clipped; some bumping to head and tail of spine and top and bottom of dust jacket. Much nicer than it sounds. In addition to being an exceptionally difficult, if not rare book to find in dust jacket (or period Watters shows only two institutional holdings) this copy also bears a long inscription by Fennel on the front free endpaper. Inscribed by Author(s).

Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. 1st Edition. First edition first printing of an as new hardcover in an as new dustjacket. The 1st novel in the Joanne Kilbourn mystery series (now at 23 titles), a political science professor in Regina Saskatchewan Canada. This novel was the basis for the 2000 Canadian CTV network TV movie of the same name starring Wendy Crewson. Also accompanying this title is the advanced uncorrected proof that is in very good/near fine condition.