Books: The Latest Acquisitions

True Tales From the Annals of Crime and Rascality, by St. Clair McKelway, cover illustration by Edward Gorey, published by Vintage Books, 1951.
Among the books that Edward Gorey contributed illustrations to there are two books that every Gorey collector scours used bookstores for: The War of the Worlds and True Tales From the Annals of Crime and Rascality.
In the early 1950s, Gorey worked for Vintage Books, a division of Alfred Knopf publishing, designing cover illustrations for the works of Henry James, Josph Conrad, Herman Melville and others. This particular book, with Gorey's illustration of a typical 1890s cad, fetches a higher price than any of the others which one can pick up for $5.00 to $10.00 each.

Garrets and Pretenders by Alfred Parry, published by Covici Friede, 1933.
My friend Matt mentioned one day that he'd picked up a Dover edition of this book on American Bohemianism and it seemed interesting enough to me to seek out my own edition. Written in the basement of the Great Depression, no one was terribly interested in the antics of American Bohemians and the book quickly went out of print, becoming so immediately scarce that the author had a terrible time getting copies of his own book to give to friends. I now have a first edition of this very fascinating book!

The Pilgrims of Hope, by William Morris, published by Thomas B. Mosher, 1901.
The Pilgrims of Hope was originally printed in a Socialist journal in the middle 1880s. It was subesquently reprinted in private editons before being brought out in 1901 by Mosher. Recounting in thirteen parts the rise of a Socialist Utopia and its resistance against the forces of Capitalist oppression. A brilliant and accessible work. The Socialist works of Morris need to be revived and disseminated in todays rapacious Capitalist world. One of 400 editions printed on hand-made Van Gelder paper.