The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. London: A. Millar , 1749

FIRST EDITION of the greatest English novel of the eighteenth century and one of the most influential works of fiction ever published.

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Autograph note signed to John H. Johnston. Camden, March 7, 1887

Whitman writes to his good friend and benefactor John H. Johnston, the New York jeweler, evidently congratulating him on the birth of his child: “Bless the dear baby, & all babies – Love to you & wife, Walt Whitman.”

$6,500

Leaves of Grass: the original printed paper wrappers. [Brooklyn], [1855]

Although the green cloth bindings for the 1855 first edition of Leaves of Grass are familiar, the rare paper wrappers are little known. This set survived only because Whitman preserved them until his death in 1892.

$6,500

Autograph manuscript signed “Walt Whitman on the Poets.”. No place, [1885]

In this fascinating manuscript Whitman provides a newspaper with an article defending himself against attacks that he did not respect the great American poets of the day.

$7,500

Autograph letter signed to F. P. Church.. Washington, 1871

In this fine, boldly penned letter, Walt Whitman sends the manuscript of his poem “The Mystic Trumpeter” for possible publication in the January 1872 number of The Galaxy. Whitman would include the poem in the final edition of Leaves of Grass (1891).

$8,500

Leaves of Grass. Camden, NJ: [for Walt Whitman], 1876

The 1876 Author’s edition, sometimes called the Centennial edition, features two portraits of the poet, young and old, and the author’s signature on the title of some copies. The increasingly cash-strapped Whitman published these himself, binding and printing them in different forms to meet demand.

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The Hound of the Baskervilles. London: George Newnes, 1902

The Hound of the Baskervilles, the third Sherlock Holmes novel, is widely regarded as the best of the series.

$10,000

Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, life among the lowly. Boston: Jewett, 1852

FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING. “These books are of such paramount historical importance that it is difficult to evaluate them as literature” (Merle Johnson). “Three thousand copies were sold on the day of publication, and before its first anniversary, over 300,000 copies were sold in America … More than twenty London editions appeared in 1852, so the English audience must have been as large as the American. No other American novel has been translated into so many foreign languages” (Grolier/American).

$15,000

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and Other Sketches. C. H. Webb, New York, 1867

FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING. One of only 1000 copies.

$16,000

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade). New York: Webster, 1885

FIRST AMERICAN EDITION, with all of the first state text points found in cloth copies. A variety of errors were discovered and corrected during the course of printing the first edition, and collectors have always preferred the earliest, uncorrected states.

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