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141 POWELL, Anthony. A Dance to the Music of Time. London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1951–75 First editions of the complete series of the celebrated novel sequence on which the author’s reputation rests. A Dance to the Music of Time, likened by Evelyn Waugh to “a continuous frieze in high relief, deep cut and detailed” (p. 548), covers more than 50 years in the life of Nicholas Jenkins. 12 volumes, octavo. Original red cloth, spines lettered in gilt on black ground, publisher’s blind device on rear covers. With dust jackets. Bookseller’s ticket of Galignani, Paris in The Kindly Ones and The Valley of Bones ; ownership signatures in The Soldier’s Art and The Military Philosophers . Infrequent rubbing and spots of bumping, more prominent bump to head of Books Do Furnish a Room covers leaving three short closed tears on jacket, edges and outer leaves with occasional splash marks, foxing, and browning, A Buyer’s Market with mark to lower margin of pp. 270–1, affecting neighbouring leaves, content otherwise clean. A very pleasing set indeed in like dust jackets, three price-clipped, minor nicks and chips, closed tear at head of A Buyer’s Market , occasional

143 RACKHAM, Arthur (illus.); MOORE, Clement C. The Night Before Christmas. London: George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd, 1931 First Rackham edition, limited issue, number 128 of 550 copies signed by the artist; this one of 275 copies for Great Britain, the rest for the US. This limited edition sold out on publication. Rackham later wrote to a correspondent that “there was quite a fight over it. America went very strong for it”. Octavo. Original limp vellum, front cover lettered in gilt, pictorial endpapers, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Original card slipcase, printed paper spine label, with matching limitation number in manuscript by the publisher. Title page printed in red and black. Frontispiece and 3 colour plates, illustrations in the text, all by Arthur Rackham. A fine and crisp copy. Toned slipcase slightly worn at extremities; a very good example. ¶ Latimore & Haskell, p. 66; Riall, p. 174; Hamilton, Arthur Rackham: a life with illustration, 1990, p. 142. £3,000 [155503]

144 REED PALE PRESS: BIBLE. The Book of Ruth. London: Reed Pale Press, 1934 a stunning production, inscribed by the press’s founder Deluxe limited issue, number 2 of 10 copies printed on vellum and bound in morocco, inscribed by Edmund Wilson Brooks, the founder of the Press, on the front free endpaper: “To Roxy from Edmund”, with his initials pencilled to the rear pastedown. Brooks was the son of a Philadelphian book collector and dealer Edmund D. Brooks, who had a close working friendship with Sangorski and Sutcliffe, the binders of this edition. This work is an example of the later luxury private press movement, which was typified by lavish editions produced slowly and in small numbers by those invested in collecting. Quarto. Publisher’s blue crushed morocco by Sangorski and Sutcliffe, spine lettered vertically in compartments with raised bands, spine and covers tooled with delicate

creasing to flaps, light toning or fading in places, remaining sharp. ¶ Evelyn Waugh, The Essays, Articles and Reviews , 1983. £7,500 [158988] 142 PRATCHETT, Terry, & Neil Gaiman. Good Omens. London: Victor Gollancz, 1990 with suitably fiendish inscriptions from both authors First edition inscribed by both authors on the title page, “Paul, reading this book will send you straight to Hell . . . Neil Gaiman”, “See you. Terry Pratchett”, with a drawing of a bat-winged hourglass. Good Omens was made into television series of the same name in 2020, starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen. Octavo. Original red cloth, spine lettered in black. With dust jacket. Spine a little cocked, spine ends and lower corners just bumped. A very good copy indeed in near-fine jacket, lower corners just nicked and creased, else sharp and fresh. £1,250 [159684]

interlocking Celtic knot pattern, turn-ins and top edge gilt, others uncut, blue silk page marker. In the original card slipcase. Printed on vellum in red and black in gothic types. Negligible rubbing, faint offsetting to free endpapers, end of silk page marker a little frayed, a near-fine copy, the printing crisp on the rich vellum. £6,500 [158854]

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All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk

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