mapping the unreal lots 76 – 260

76

oVID

Ovid’s metamorphoses in fifteen books. Translated by the most eminet hands. London: Printed for Jacob tonson, 1717. First edition thus.

three-quarter leather over marbled boards (39 cm. tall); handsomely rebound in period style. Contents collated; lacks engraved title page. Illustrated with frontispiece and 16 plates.

A neo-classical production, with individual parts of ovid’s work translated by John Dryden, Joseph Addison, Alexander Pope, and others. All sixteen of the engraved plates are dedicated to aristocratic women of the period. $600-800

77

[HoLBERG, LuDVIG]

Voyage de Nicolas Klimius dans le monde souterrain, contenant une nouvelle teorie de la terre, et l’histoire d’une cinquieme monarchie inconnue jusqu’a present. Copenhagen: J. Preuss, 1741. French translation by Eleazar Mauvillon, from the Latin work of Baron Ludvig af Holberg.

Contemporary leather boards (16 cm. tall), rebacked, with five raised bands and gilt lettering to red leather compartment. Illustrated with frontispiece and folding map. With nineteenth century annotations to rear endpaper (in English), providing biographical information about the otherwise anonymous author.

Bleiler 1114: “Essentially a satire on European culture and institutions in the guise of an imaginary voyage;” one of the cultures especially satirized being the French. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $400-600

76

78

anonYMouS

A voyage to the world in the centre of the Earth, giving an account of the manners, customs, laws, government, and religion of the inhabitants, their persons and habits described: with several other particulars: in which is introduced, the history of an inhabitant of the air. London: Printed for s. Crowder and H. Woodgate, 1755.

Full leather boards (17 cm. tall), with inset and blind-stamped design. Five raised bands to spine, with gilt lettering to green leather compartment. Contents collated as complete, with xii, 275 numbered pages, followed by single page of advertisements. Bleiler 2273. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $600-800

79

SHELLEY, MaRY WoLLStonEcRaFt

Frankenstein or the modern Prometheus. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea and Blanchard, 1833. the first American edition, with “Shelly” for Shelley.

two volume set. original drab boards (21cm. tall) with cloth spines, featuring two sets of paper titles, both printed and manuscript; expectedly worn. Dampstaining to second volume, which has slightly shaken binding. Collated as complete, with two leaves of ads to front of first volume and twelve leaves of ads bound at rear of second. ownership inscription to endpapers of both volumes, with library stamp for the U.s. Naval Lyceum to both title pages.

A presentation inscription from M. C. Perry appears to the front pastedowns of these volumes (dated 1842); presumably the same Matthew C. Perry who founded the Naval Lyceum in 1833, the same year as this first American appearance of Frankenstein. Property from the collection of Katherine Karamigios Metter, Morrison, Colorado $10,000-12,000

79A

SHELLEY, MaRY WoLLStonEcRaFt

Frankenstein or, the modern Prometheus. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea and Blanchard, 1833. Another copy of the first American edition.

Volume one only; featuring only a single leaf of ads bound at the beginning. With two bookplates to preliminaries; one for John King’s Circulating Library in Philadelphia, the other from the library of William Wurts. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $800-1,200

80

PoLIDoRI, JoHn WILLIaM

The vampyre; a tale. London: sherwood, Neely, and Jones, 1819.

Plain brown wrappers (23 cm. tall), coming undone from binding. Contents collated as complete, xvi, 84 numbered pages. With “almost” mispelled on last line of page 36. With endpaper used as contemporary manuscript leaf to document Lord Byron’s letter to Galignani’s Messenger in which he repudiated authorship of this work. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $1,500-3,000

79 80

81

82 81

SuE, EuGEnE

two illustrated works published by Chapman and Hall: (1) The wandering jew (1844) and The mysteries of Paris (1845).

six volumes total; handsomely-bound in midnineteenth century leather boards. With dozens of atmospheric illustrations throughout the works. the mapping of alternative cities. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $400-600

82

REYnoLDS, GEoRGE W. M.

Wagner, the wehr-wolf. A romance. London: Published by the proprietor by John Dicks, 1857. First edition thus.

Rebound in three-quarter leather over fine cloth boards (25 cm. tall), with gilt lettering to spine. Collated as complete. Illustrated with numerous engravings. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $100-200

83

LocKE, RIcHaRD aDaMS

The moon hoax: or, a discovery that the moon has a vast population of human beings. New York: William Gowans, 1859. First edition.

Printed wrappers (23 cm. tall), with some staining and creasing; some material loss to spine. Binding remains robust. Collated as complete. Illustrated with frontispiece of moon, “as seen by Lord Rosse’s telescope.” Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $300-500

84

[cHESnEY, GEoRGE toMKYnS]

The battle of Dorking: reminiscences of a volunteer. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and sons, 1871. First edition.

Illustrated purple wrappers (18 cm. tall); fading, with some discoloration to rear. some foxing to contents; 64 pages, followed by 8 pages of ads. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $400-600

85

o’BRIEn, FItZ-JaMES

The poems and stories of Fitz-James O’Brien. Boston: James R. osgood and Company, 1881.

Blue cloth boards; spine somewhat sunned. With previous owner’s bookplate to front pastedown and publishers ads at rear. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $100-200

86

HaGGaRD, H. RIDER

Allan Quartermain. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1887. Copy number 62 of 112, from the original large paper edition.

Half-leather over cloth boards (25 cm. tall), with simple gilt lettering to spine. Illustrated with engraved frontispiece of author and dozens of plates. Bleiler 973: “the lost-race novel par excellence.” Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $600-800 87

HaGGaRD, H. RIDER

She: a history of adventure. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1887. First edition.

Decorative blue cloth boards. spine slighty cocked, with both front and rear hinges starting. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $200-400 88

HaGGaRD, H. RIDER

A group of three of Haggard publications: (1) When the world shook. London: Cassell and Company, 1919; (2) The virgin of the sun, London: Cassell and Company, 1922; and, in its American manifestation, (3) The virgin of the sun, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1922. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $100-200

86

89

BELLaMY, EDWaRD

Looking backward: 2000-1887. Boston: ticknor and Company, 1888. First edition, with J. J. Arakelyn imprint to copyright page.

Cloth boards (20 cm.), with black lettering and gilt-stamps to both front board and spine; some scuffing to rear board. Slightest lean to textblock. Housed in green half-leather clamshell case, lined, with gilt lettering to spine on red leather compartments. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $600-800 90

BELLaMY, EDWaRD

Equality. New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1897. First edition.

Decorative cloth boards (19 cm. tall); some light wear to spine. Light toning to paper, with bookplate to front pastedown. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $400-600

90A

GaRnEtt, RIcHaRD

The twilight of the gods and other tales. London: t. Fisher Unwin, 1888. First edition, presentation copy.

Cloth boards (20 cm.), lettered in black and gilt. Gatherings uncut. With 30 pages of advertisements bound to rear. A cryptic inscription from the author appears on half title-page: “Presented to the Archives of the odd Volumes, in rememberance of Feb 6, 1891.” Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $200-400

91

[atHERton, GERtRuDE]

What dreams may come. Chicago: Belford, Clarke and Co., 1888.

Blue cloth boards (20 cm. tall), with light wear to spine. Portrait of “Gerrude Atherton, a well-known Californian writer” laid in. Already ostracized for her previously serialized novel, Atherton published this work under the pseudonym Frank Lin. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $200-400

89

91

92

StocKton, FRanK RIcHaRD

The great war syndicate. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1889. First edition, signed.

Stiff illustrated wrappers (18 cm. tall); fresh, with slight bumping to corners. With author’s clipped signature affixed to verso of front wrapper, above red star. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $200-400

92

93

MoRRIS, WILLIaM

two of Morris’ works published by Reeves and turner: A tale of the house of the Wolfings and all the kindreds of the mark, written in prose and in verse (1889) and The roots of the mountains wherein is told somewhat of the lives of the men of Burgdale, their friends, their neighbours, their foremen, and their fellows in arms, 1890.

Red cloth boards, showing some scuffing, with scuffed paper labels to spines. With two bookplates to front pastedowns; one for the California Book Club. With 32 pages of ads to rear of first volume; 3 pages of ads in second. $100-200 93A

BRaDSHaW, WILLIaM R.

The goddess of Atvatabar, being the history of the discovery of the interior world and conquest of Atvatabar. New York: J. F. Douthitt, 1892. Presentation copy

Green cloth decorative boards (22 cm. tall), with front hinge starting. Modern bookplate to front pastedown. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $200-400

94 95

96 97

94

GRIFFItH, GEoRGE

The angel of the revolution: a tale of the coming terror. London: tower Publishing Company, 1893. First edition.

Decorative cloth boards (21 cm. tall). Front hinge starting, with minor edge-wear. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $200-400

95

GRIFFItH, GEoRGE

Olga Romanoff or the syren of the skies. London: tower Publishing Company, 1894.

Decorative cloth boards (21 cm. tall); front hinge starting. Another striking cover for Griffith. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $200-400 96

GRIFFItH, GEoRGE

Valdar the oft-born: a saga of seven ages. London: C. Arthur Pearson, 1895. First edition.

Decorative cloth boards (21 cm. tall). With bookplate to front pastedown; cosmetic split to front hinge. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $100-200

97

GRIFFItH, GEoRGE

The outlaws of the air. London: tower Publishing Company, 1895. First edition.

Decorative cloth boards (21 cm. tall). spine slightly cocked. Previous owner’s name embossed to several pages. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $100-200 98

GRIFFItH, GEoRGE

A group of three works, including: (1) The romance of the golden star.... London: F. V. White & Co., 1897; (2) Gambles with destiny. London: F. V. White & Co., 1899; and (3) The world masters. London: John Long, 1903. Accompanied by: The raid of ‘le vengeur’, Ferret Fantasy Press, 1974. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $200-400

99

StEVEnSon, RoBERt LouIS

Island nights’ entertainments, consisting of the Beach of Falsea, The bottle imp, The isle of voices. London: Cassell and Company, 1893. First edition, with hand-corrected price list facing half-title page.

Green cloth boards (21 cm. tall), with gilt-stamped design and gilt lettering to front board and spine. Illustrated by Gordon Browne and W. Hatherell, with frontispiece, color map, and 26 black-andwhite pages. With 16 pages of ads at rear. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $200-400

100

StEVEnSon, RoBERt LouIS

The body snatcher. New York: the Merriam Company, 1895. First separate edition.

Violet cloth boards (14 cm. tall), with blackstamped design to front panel; fading to the lettering on spine. With later green cloth jacket. With bookplate of collectors Florence and Edward Kaye on front pastedown. Minor split to front hinge. Illustrated with frontispiece and four additional black-and-white plates. Bookseller’s ticket to rear pastedown, with three pages of ads at rear. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $600-800 100A

aSH, FEnton

A trip to Mars. London: W. & R. Chambers, 1909.

Decorative cloth boards; remarkably bright, with some scuffing. Illustrated with color frontispiece and five additional color plates by W. H. C. Groome. Some flecking to edges of textblock. With bookseller’s ticket to rear pastedown. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $200-400

101

cHaMBERS, RoBERt W.

Two variant bindings of the first edition of The king in yellow. Chicago: F. tennyson Neely, 1895.

The first issue, without the frontispiece portrait and featuring a lizard design on the front board, is a presentation copy signed by the publisher. the later issue, also published in 1895, feaures a butterfly design on the rear board, with ownership inscription to front endpaper.

Bleiler 396: “A small volume that is one of the basic documents in the history of fantastic fiction.” Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $800-1,200 101A

caInE, WILLIaM and JoHn FaIRBaIRn

The confectioners. Bristol: J. W. Arrowsmith, 1906. First edition, signed.

Green decorative cloth (19 cm. tall), with fold-out frontispiece. Inscribed by the author on the front endpaper. Bleiler 353. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $50-100

100

100A 101

102

102

WELLS, H. G.

Autograph letter signed. Bifolium on Wells’ blindembossed Spade stationery. Accompanied by corresponding envelope postmarked 1903.

Wells writes to Albert M. Bullard, Lufton College, Massachusetts: “So far as I can recollect the complete list is as follows. (I’m not sure of all the publishers).” Following is an auto-bibliography of Wells’ works up to that point. $800-1,200

102A

WELLS, H. G.

Carte-de-visite (4 x 8 cm.), with Wells’ name and Hanover Terrace address printed in calligraphic script to front, with short note in Wells’ hand to verso.

Addressing himself to his mistress (and supposed spy) Baroness Moura Budberg, Wells asks for her opinion on a translation of a Pushkin poem. $600-800

103

WELLS, H. G.

The time machine: an invention. London: William Heinemann, 1895. First edition.

tan cloth boards (18 cm. tall), decoratively stamped in purple. staining to upper right corner of front board. some foxing to endpapers. With eight pages of advertisements at rear. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $2,000-3,000 104

WELLS, H. G.

The wonderful visit. London: J. M. Dent, 1895. First edition.

Red cloth boards (20 cm. tall), with gilt-stamped design. With sinister bookplate to front pastedown. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $100-200 105

WELLS, H. G.

The invisible man, a grotesque romance. London: C. Arthur Pearson Limited, 1897. First edition.

Red cloth boards (19 cm. tall) decoratively stamped in black and gilt, with gilt ruling and lettering to spine. slight lean to text-block. With single leaf of advertisements at rear. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $1,500-2,000

103 105

106

106

WELLS, H. G.

The war of the worlds, as it first appeared serially in the United States across nine issues of The cosmopolitan; April - December, 1897.

Nine issues, bound in illustrated wrappers. Housed in custom-made clamshell slipcase, with illustrations by Warwick Gobel. Published simultaneously by Pearson’s magazine in Great Britain, this appearance preceded the 1898 book publication by a year. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $1,500-2,000

107

WELLS, H. G.

Twelve stories and a dream. London: Macmillan and Company, 1903.

Green cloth boards (20 cm. tall), stamped in blind, with gilt lettering to cover and spine. Minor wear to spine ends and corners. slight lean to text-block. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $400-600 110

WELLS, H. G.

In the days of the comet. London: Macmillan and Company, 1906.

Green cloth boards (20 cm. tall), blind-stamped, with gilt lettering to front board and spine. Minor edge-wear; hinge starting. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $100-200

108

WELLS, H. G.

The food of the gods and how it came to earth. London: Macmillan and Company, 1904.

Green cloth boards (20 cm. tall), stamped in blind, with gilt lettering to front board and spine. Minor edge-wear. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $200-300

109

WELLS, H. G.

The food of the gods and how it came to earth. London: Macmillan and Company, 1904. Presentation copy. 111

WELLS, H. G.

The war in the air. London: George Bell and sons, 1908. First edition.

Blue cloth boards (20 cm. tall), gilt-stamped lettering to front and spine. Endpapers toned. Fading to spine. Illustrated frontispiece. With advertisements at rear. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois inois $200-400

112

WELLS, H. G.

Men like gods. London: Castle and Company, 1923.

Green cloth boards (20 cm. tall), stamped in blind, with gilt lettering to front board and spine. Minor edge-wear. Featuring a self-deprecating (and scatalogical) cartoon from Wells on his spade House stationary, affixed to front endpaper; “With H. G. Wells’ best compliments.” Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $1,000-1,500 Green cloth boards (20 cm. tall), blind stamped boarder and title, gilt lettering to spine. With full jacket, showing only minor chips to spine ends. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $400-600

109 113

WELLS, H. G.

The short stories of H. G. Wells. London: Ernest Benn Limited, 1927. First edition, signed.

Green cloth boards (19 cm. tall), with gilt lettering to spine. With author’s inscription on half-title page (“Friendly memories...”). Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $400-600

114

H. G. WELLS

A group of eight works from Wells (published in London, unless noted): (1) The dream. New York: the Macmillan Company, 1924; (2) Mr. Blettsworthy on Rampole Island. Bouverie House, 1928; (3) The autocracy of Mr. Parham. William Heinemann, 1930; (4) the new America. the Cresset Press, 1935; (5) The croquet player. Chatto & Windus, 1936; (6) The star begotten. Chatto & Windus, 1937; (7) Babes in the darkling wood. secker & Warburg, 1940; and (8) The wealth of Mr. Waddy. southern Illinois University Press, 1969. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $200-400

115

115

(BuRton, RIcHaRD) LEtcHFoRD, aLBERt

A series of seventy original illustrations to Captain Sir R. F. Burton’s ‘Arabian Nights’ and a portrait of Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton reproduced from the original pictures in oils. London: H. s. Nichols Ltd., 1897. Choice Edition de Luxe; an un-numbered copy from an edition of 250.

three-quarter leather, with cloth boards (56 cm. tall); some bubbling to cloth. All edges gilt. Binding remarkably robust. From series C of the large paper edition, printed on plate paper. With xiii pages of text preceding 71 sepiatoned plates (proofs before letters), hand-numbered in pencil, preceded by corresponding captioned tissues. Foxing to tissues, with minor dampstaining affecting the extreme margins of a handful of plates. $1,000-2,000 116

BuRton, RIcHaRD

The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night. Privately printed by the Burton Club, circa 1900. Manuscript edition; number 49 of 99 copies, with original leaf of manuscript.

16 volume set, with text following from the Benares edition. Green leather boards (25 cm. tall), elaborately gilt-stamped, with Arabic script. With five raised bands to highlyornamented spine. Some rubbing to joints. Top edges gilt and gilt turn-ins. Each volume illustrated with a double suite of frontispieces, after Albert Letchford; the second being colored. The title page for the first volume incorrectly identifies itself as the third.

While Penzer identifies a number of Burton Club publications, he does not mention this “Manuscript Edition,” which boasts 99 copies with original manuscript leaves from Burton bound into the preliminaries of the first volume of each set. this particular set features what appears to be the opening leaf from a rather convoluted book review by Burton, of a French translation of Johannis de Capua’s Latin translation of a Hebrew translation of the Panchatantra. $6,000-8,000

116

117

119

118

117

coRY, cHaRLES B.

Montezuma’s castle and other weird tales. Boston: [Press of Rockwell and Churchill], 1899. Author’s edition; presentation copy.

Full leather boards (20 cm.), with striking giltstamped design duplicating the work’s half-tone image of tixinopa, “the bad Indian.” With gilt dentelles, marbled endpapers, and all edges gilt. Illustrated with nine black-and-white plates. Author’s inscription on preliminary leaf; with additional ownership inscription of Vincent starrett opposite. Pencil notes to rear endpaper, concerning this and other works by Cory. In fine condition.

Cory was a Boston-born natural historian, whose stories, according to Bleiler, were partially “inspired by hallucinogenic Jou Jou powder.” Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $400-600 118

(on WaR)

A group of three late-nineteenth century works in decorative cloth boards on the speculative theme of war. Namely: (1) W. Laird Clowes, The captain of the “Mary Rose:” a tale of to-morrow. London: tower Publishing, 1892; (2) The great war of 189: a forecast. London: William Heinemann, 1893 (illustrated throughout, with folding frontispiece); and (3) Fred t. Jane, Blake of the ‘Rattlesnake’ or the man who saved England. A story of torpedo warfare in 189-. London: tower Publishing Company, 1895 (illustrated with frontispiece and numerous plates). Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $200-400 119

(on tRanSPoRtatIon)

A group of five pre-WWI illustrated works pertaining to the theme of transportation. Including: (1) The startling exploits of Dr. J. B. Quies, translated from the French of Paul Celiere. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1887; (2) The enchanted automobile, Boston: L. C. Page & Company, 1906 (with color plates); (3) Harry Collingwood, With airship and submarine: a tale of adventure. London: Blackie and son, 1908; (4) F. Lovell Coombs, Young Crusoes of the Sky. New York: the Century Co., 1911; and (5) Lt-Col. F. s. Brereton, The great airship: a tale of adventure, London: Blackie & son, circa 1914. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $100-200

120

121 122

120

(on tHE EXotIc)

A group of seven pre-WWI works bound in decorative cloth, pertaining to the theme of the exotic. Including: (1) Charles Lotin Hildreth, The mysterious city of OO. New York: Belford Company, 1889; (2) Frank Aubrey, The devil-tree of El Dorado. New York: New Amsterdam Book Company, 1897; (3) Edward Markwick, The city of gold: a tale of sport... travel, and adventure in the heart of the dark continent. London: W. thacker & Co., 1898; (4) Le Roy Hooker, Enoch the Philistine: a traditional romance of Philstia, Egypt and the Great Pyramid, Chicago: Rand, McNally & Company, 1898; (5) Edward s. van Zile, Perkins the Fakeer: a travesty on reincarnation. New York: the smart set, 1903; (6) Robert W. Chambers, In search of the unknown. New York: Haper & Brothers, 1904; and (7) Beatrice Grimshaw, The sorcerer’s stone. Philadelphia: the John C. Winston Company, 1914. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $200-400 121

(on outER SPacE)

A group of six pre-WWI works bound in decorative cloth, pertaining to the theme of outer space. Including: (1) A P. Russell, Sub-coelum: a skybuilt human world. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1893; (2) Gustavus W. Pope, Journey to Mars: the wonderful world: its beauty and splendor; its mighty races and kingdoms; its final doom. New York: G. W. Dillingham, 1894; (3) John Jacob Astor, A journey in other worlds: a romance of the future. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1894; (4) Garett P. serviss, The moon metal. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1900; (5) Jean Delaire, Around a distant star. London: John Long, 1904; (6) Nettie Parrish Martin, A pilgrim’s progress in other worlds: recounting the wonderful adventures of Ulysum Storries and his discovery of the lost star “Eden”. Boston: Mayhew Publishing Company, 1908. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $400-600 122

[MccoY, JoHn]

A prophetic romance: Mars to Earth. Boston: Arena Publishing Company, 1896. First edition; presentation copy, twice-signed.

Green cloth boards (20 cm. tall), with gilt-stamped design to front board and lettering to spine. With signed halftone portrait of author affixed as makeshift frontispiece and his gift inscription to title page, thus erasing the work’s pseudonymous conceit. the prophecy envisions humanoid Martians visiting a utopian America, governed by a female President. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $600-800

125 126

123

LonDon, JacK

Moon-face and other stories. New York: the Macmillan Company, 1906. First edition.

Decorative cloth boards (20 cm. tall), with bumping to lower corner of front panel. top edge gilt. With two pages of ads at rear. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $100-200

124

LonDon, JacK

The iron heel. New York: the Macmillan Company, 1908. First edition.

Decorative cloth boards (20 cm. tall), with minor scuffing and edge-wear. Ownership inscription to front endpaper, along with ghosting from previous jacket protector. With four pages of ads at rear. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $100-200 125

LonDon, JacK

The scarlet plague. New York: the Macmillan Company, 1915.

Decorative cloth boards (20 cm. tall), showing some wear to spine ends. With fragmented jacket; title to spine largely chipped, with some marginal chipping to front panel. Illustrated by Gordon Grant, with haunting frontispiece and numerous in-text illustrations. With four pages of ads at rear. Accompanied by promotional pamphlet from Macmillan, Novels of 1915 by the foremost American and English authors. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $400-600

126

LonDon, JacK

The star rover. New York: the Macmillan Company, 1915.

Decorative cloth boards (20 cm. tall); minor scuffing and edge-wear. Illustrated with color frontispiece. With eight pages of ads at rear. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $200-400 126A

BLacKWooD, aLGERnon

A prisoner in fairyland. London: Macmillan and Co., 1913. First edition.

Decorative green cloth boards (20 cm. tall), with full jacket, showing minor chipping and closed tears. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $200-400

127

BLacKWooD, aLGERnon

A group of three first editions, comprising: (1) Jimbo: a fantasy, 1908 (inscribed, with Blackwood’s calling card laid in loose); (2) The human chord, 1910; and (3) Pan’s garden: a volume of nature stories, 1912. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $200-400

128 129

128

StoKER, BRaM

The lair of the white worm. London: William Rider and son, 1911. stamped as presentation copy.

Red cloth boards (20 cm. tall); blind-stamped, with gilt lettering to front board and spine. some marginal foxing. Illustrated with six colour plates, one misbound as frontispiece. With 20 pages of advertisements bound at rear. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $200-400

129

tRaIn, aRtHuR

The man who rocked the earth. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1915.

Decorative blue cloth (19 cm. tall); spine slightly sunned. ownership inscription on front pastedown. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $100-200 129A

SMItH, cLaRK aSHton

The star-treader and other poems. san Francisco, CA: A. M. Robertson, 1912. First edition.

Green cloth (19 cm. tall) with white paper labels. of this work, 2000 copies were printed, with approximatley 1000 copies of the unbound sheets destroyed by fire. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $100-200

130

RoHMER, SaX

A group of three works by sax Rohmer, including: The quest of the golden slipper, 1919 (in jacket); Fire tongue, 1922; and Seven sins, 1944 (in jacket). Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $100-200 130A

BLaYRE, cHRIStoPHER

The purple sapphire and other posthumous papers. London: Philip Allan & Co., 1921. First edition, signed.

Cloth boards (19 cm. tall), with some sunning to spine. Inscribed and dated by Blayer on the front endpaper. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $200-400

132

131

131

toLKIEn, J. R. R.

The hobbit or there and back again. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1937. First edition.

Green cloth boards (20 cm. tall), decoratively stamped in black. Featuring an unrestored jacket in first state (with “Dodgeson” hand-corrected on rear flap). Jacket is unclipped, with minor tear to top of spine and minimal edge-wear to bottom of inner flaps. Some foxing to edge of texblock, affecting the margins of a handful of pages. Includes inserted plate of Mirkwood. With one leaf of advertisements at rear. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $30,000-40,000 132

toLKIEn, J. R. R.

A typed letter signed from tolkien, with manuscript post-script, dated July 10th, 1964. With 6 cm. tear mended on verso.

Responding to a Mrs. Marcus of Ojai, California from his oxford address, tolkien discusses the development of the Lord of the Rings universe in rather counter-intuitive terms: “But one might say that the opposite of what you surmised is the fact: the hobbits are a late addition.”

In the space of a single typescript page, tolkien further addresses his passion for language, landscape, and history, while despairing, in his manuscript post-script, that “there are no legends current (i.e. popular and oral) in England, other than those presented in books and the films.” Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $6,000-10,000

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toLKIEn, J. R. R.

A set of Tolkien’s trilogy, with each of the works in their first impressions.

The fellowship of the ring. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954. First edition, first impression, with signature mark at bottom of page 49. Folding map laid-in loose. Red cloth boards (23 cm. tall), with red top-stain. With full jacket (21s net); sunned, with front flap split at fold and minor chipping to spine ends.

The two towers. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954. First edition, first impression. Red cloth boards (23 cm. tall), with red top-stain. With folding map tipped to rear endpaper. With full jacket (21s net), showing some sunning and minor soiling and with minor chipping to spine ends. The return of the king. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1955. First edition, first impression, with no signature mark on page 49 and solid block of text. Red cloth boards (23 cm. tall), with red top-stain. With folding map tipped to rear endpaper. With price-clipped jacket, in first state (without reviews to rear flap), showing only minor sunning. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $15,000-20,000 134

toLKIEn, J. R. R.

The two towers. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954. Proof copy.

Brown paper wrappers (23 cm. tall), with typescript paper labels to front wrapper, for both title and price (partially clipped). With rear wrapper starting to lift at joint.

In this proof, the synopsis (save for its title) remains blank on pages 9 through 11. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $600-800

135

toLKIEn, J. R. R.

Tree and leaf. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1964. signed copy.

Green cloth boards (19 cm. tall), with gilt lettering to spine. With price-clipped jacket; moderately sunned, with closed tear to bottom of front panel. With tolkien’s signature to title page. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $1,500-3,000

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toLKIEn, J. R. R.

A group of three works in four editions, including (1) Smith of Wootton Major, 1967; (2) Mr. Bliss; and (3) The Silmarillion, in both American and English editions. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $200-400

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EDDISon, E. R.

The worm ouroboros: a romance. London: Jonathan Cape, 1922.

Cloth boards, with gilt stamp design to front board and gilt lettering to spine. With full jacket, showing some sunning and minor tears to top of spine. With frontispiece and five full-page illustrations from Keith Henderson. Hinges tender, with cosmetic splits.

“A most curious story. Here is no photographic realism, no divorces, no drugs, nor neurasthenics, but the humours and splendours of a spacious life, the clash of noble wills and circumstances.” Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $600-800 138

EDDISon, E. R.

The mezentian gate. Printed at the Curwen Press for Mrs. E. R. Eddison, 1958. First edition.

Green cloth boards (21 cm. tall). With price-clipped jacket, showing light wear to edges; otherwise bright and clean. With ownership inscription to front pastedown. Property from the Collection of Ronald Kuntz, sugar Grove, Illinois $200-400

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tIMLIn, WILLIaM M.

The ship that sailed to Mars. London: George Harrap, 1923. First edition. one of 2000 copies.

Quarter vellum over papered boards; spine elabrately lettered and decorated in gilt. Front hinge starting, with tape repair to lower spine. 96 leaves, with 48 decorative text plates tipped-in and a further 48 color plates. $600-800