{"title":"highlights","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"whitechurch-thrilling-stories-of-the-railway-first-edition-100556","title":"Thrilling Stories of the Railway.","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003ethe first railway detective stories\u003c\/h4\u003eAn extremely rare early detective fiction title, with only one previous auction record we could find, describing a copy rebound in custom boards. No records in the original wrappers. Ellery Queen gives it the Queen's Quorum top rank, 'HQR' ('Historical Significance', 'Quality' \u0026amp; 'Rare'). The first of the 'railway' subgenre, Whitechurch's collected stories introduce his detective Thorpe Hazell, a railway expert. They were subsequently adapted for BBC Radio, read by Benedict Cumberbatch, no less.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition; 8vo; advertisements, in-text plans, typical toning; publisher's pictorial wrappers, several soft creases to wrappers, light edge wear with some paper loss at corners and spine ends, some repair work to backstrip, general mild rubbing with very little colour loss, two short tears to rear wrapper; housed in custom book-backed slip-case, one-quarter reddish-brown leather over brown cloth, brown leather spine label stamped in gilt.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eQueen's Quorum 51\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"WHITECHURCH, Victor L.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45547155980593,"sku":"100556","price":8500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/100556_0.jpg?v=1783687901"},{"product_id":"graham-greene-complaisant-lover-1959-signed-104860","title":"The Complaisant Lover:","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003epresentation copy\u003c\/h4\u003eAuthor's signed presentation inscription to the front free endpaper, 'For Ragnar \u0026amp; Greta (my collaborator) with love from Graham, Capri: July 1, 1959'. An intriguing and crucial association copy. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Complaisant Lover contains a suicide scene which, as was noted in Sweden at the time of publication, bore remarkable similarities the that of the Swedish journalist and playwright Stig Dagerman. Dagerman had killed himself in 1954 and Greene had subsequently been introduced to his widow Anita, with whom he had an affair. Anita is generally thought to have provided the details and background to the suicide; Anita having been introduced to Greene by Ragnar and Greta. This we believe this to have been the 'collaoration' referred to in Greene's inscription. We tend to agree with the notion that the scandal cost Greene his chance of a Nobel Prize. Certainly why he was never nominated has been a mystery for many years. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRagnar Svanström (1904-1988), Swedish historian and literary director, was the long-time contact of Greene at Norstedts Publishing House in Stockholm. He edited the 'Introduction to Three Novels', published by Norstedts in 1962. The friendship that developed between Greene and Svanström, and his wife Greta spanned many decades. Their correspondence is kept at the Royal Library in Stockholm.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst edition, first impression, inscribed on the front free endpaper by the author; small 8vo; publisher's blue cloth, titles to spine gilt; dust jacket, a single short tear repaired with tissue to verso.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"GREENE, Graham.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45547277451569,"sku":"104860","price":3250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/104860_0_cfbcec94-26e8-4257-9d89-ce0289935602.jpg?v=1783687867"},{"product_id":"cramer-stoll-papillons-exotiques-colour-plates-105283","title":"Papillons Exotiques","description":"\u003ch4 class=\"srb-faux-head\"\u003eimportant history of entomology\u003c\/h4\u003eThis important history of entomology, abundantly described and beautifully illustrated, is the first book on exotic butterflies using the new system developed by Carl von Linné (1707-1778) for naming and classifying animals.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePieter Cramer (1721-1776) was a wealthy Dutch Spanish wool merchant and entomologist who had a passion for insects. He built up a large collection, especially of butterflies, from Dutch traders and settlers in Surinam. Wishing to publish the rarest pieces of his collection, Cramer called upon Gerrit Wartenaar Lambertz who painted more than 1650 of the rarest specimens from the two Indies, Asia, Africa and America from his collection and from other Dutch collectors. With the help of the entomologist Caspar Stoll and the booksellers S. J. Baalde of Amsteldam and J. van Schoonhoven of Utrecht, who took on the publication at their own expense, the first issues appeared in 1775. Cramer died in 1776 before the publication was completed. Caspar Stoll took over the project, wrote the last part of the 4th volume (on the lepidoptera) and published a supplement on the caterpillars and chrysalids of Surinam in 1791. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOriginally published in 34 parts gathered in 4 volumes from 1775 to 1782, this important history of entomology, abundantly described and beautifully illustrated, is the first book on exotic butterflies using the new system developed by Carl von Linné (1707-1778) for naming and classifying animals. It is here enlarged by its supplement published in 1791. The plates show 1650 fine life-size specimens, drawn on the originals by Lambert, engraved and illuminated under the supervision of Pieter Cramer.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e5 vols, 4to (29.3 x 24 cm); text in Dutch and French in two columns; with two frontispieces engraved by Th. Koning after J. Buys, including one enhanced in colour, hand-coloured title engraved by C.J. de Huyser, and 442 hand-coloured plates (42 of which are in the Supplement), with 10 titles including one engraved and hand-coloured, and two leaves of subscribers; beautifully bound in full contemporary red morocco (for the first 4 vols), spines with raised bands, richly decorated, titles, volume numbers and provenance in green morocco, gilt fillets on the boards and on the edges, gilt inner dentelle, all edges gilt, identical pastiche binding for the 5th volume (Supplement); a very good copy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eGraesse II, 294 ; Cohen, 262 ; Brunet, II, 404; Nissen 985; Quérard II, 329\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"CRAMER, Pieter; STOLL, Caspar.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45988117938481,"sku":"105283","price":32500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/105283_0.jpg?v=1783687869"}],"url":"https:\/\/shapero.com\/en-us\/collections\/highlights.oembed","provider":"Shapero Rare Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}