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Soviet Russia in China (First Edition, Signed Association Copy)

$9,500.00

The first American edition of Soviet Russia in China: A Summing-Up At Seventy, signed by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.

Octavo, 432pp. Blue cloth, title stamped in gilt on spine. Stated “first printing 1958” on copyright page. Offsetting to endpapers, dust jacket previously taped down. Light toning to leafends, some foxing to endpapers. Complete with 9 fold-out maps of China and Taiwan, from 1923-1949. In the publisher’s dust jacket, $6.00 on front flap, tape marks to both flaps, bright illustrations, a near fine example.

Stamp on front free endpaper, with “Compliments of Gen. Peng Meng-Chi Ca, Chief of the General Staff, Ministry of National Defense, The Republic of China.” This copy is signed by twice by Chiang Kai-shek on the half title, in Mandarin and English, with date below in English.

This work was translated under the direction of Madame Chiang Kai-shek. It was preceded by a condensed version in 1957, also published by Farrar, Straus and Cudahy. The work from 1958 was revised and enlarged to provide “the English reading public a more exact and idiomatic rendering of the book from the original Chinese.”

Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) rose to power as a member of the Kuomintang (KMT) and became the leader of the Nationalist government in China after the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925. Chiang led the Northern Expedition to unify China under the KMT, and subsequently, he served as the leader of the Republic of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) and the Chinese Civil War (1945-1949). After the KMT’s defeat by the Communist Party of China, Chiang fled to Taiwan in 1949, where he continued to lead the Republic of China until his death in 1975.

Peng Meng-chi (1908-1997) was a diplomat of the Republic of China and a member of the Kuomintang. Following the retreat of the Republic of China to Taiwan, Peng served as commander of Kaohsiung Fortress in Taiwan. During and in the aftermath of the February 28 incident in 1947, he pursued a suppressive policy and ordered a massacre in Kaohsiung, earning him the nickname "Butcher of Kaohsiung" (高雄屠夫). This titled was signed during the years that Peng was the Chief of the General Staff, Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of China in the 50s to 60s.

This title is housed in a royal blue quarter morocco solander box with chemise by the Chelsea Bindery. Dustwrapper now covered in protective mylar.

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The Silmarillion 2002 Deluxe Edition

$950.00

Harper Collins Publishers, 2002 Deluxe Limited Edition.

Quarter Bound in Black Leather with gilt title, Author, Publisher and Tolkien Monogram to the spine.

Matching in size and design the Harper Collins Black Limited Editions of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The History of Middle Earth Series.

Large Silmarillion design gilt stamped on front boards. Housed in original publishers slipcase with the same design gilt stamped to the exterior, matching the gilt design on the book. All edges gilt.

A beautiful example of the Limited Deluxe edition in unread, mint condition.

Finn and Hengest (First American Edition)

$400.00

J.R.R. Tolkien, Finn and Hengest

(First U.S. Edition, 1982)

An Essential Scholarly Work on Old English Literature

This is a first edition (1982) of Finn and Hengest: The Fragment and the Episode, written by J.R.R. Tolkien and edited by Alan Bliss. It offers an extensive philological and historical analysis of the Finnsburg Fragment, a crucial Old English text that provides insight into early medieval culture and Germanic heroic tradition.

The Old English Exodus

$2,750.00

This first edition (1981) of The Old English Exodus is an essential work for Tolkien scholars and collectors. It features J.R.R. Tolkien’s translation and detailed commentary on the Old English poem Exodus, a retelling of the biblical story of Moses and the Israelites. Originally derived from Tolkien’s lecture notes from the 1930s and 1940s, this book was compiled and edited by Joan Turville-Petre, presenting an in-depth philological study of the text.

This volume represents a significant piece of Tolkien’s scholarly work, highlighting his expertise in Old English poetry and its historical context.

This book collects Tolkien’s text and translation of the Old English poem that is known as Exodus. They are accompanied by a commentary that has been produced by editing his notes for a series of informal lectures given in the 1930 and 1940s.

Although dated 1981, the book was actually published in January 1982.

1 of 3,000 copies printed. Not reprinted. Most uncommon.

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