Welcome to Alexander Rare Books
Literary Firsts & Poetry
Please scroll down to see our Featured Items
I am a full-time bookseller specializing in literary firsts, especially poetry, important fiction, fine printing and publishing ephemera; with a particular interest in signed/inscribed books, association copies, books by and about Vladimir Nabokov, and advanced and uncorrected proof copies.
All domestic orders are shipped free of charge. Overseas shipped at approximate cost. You can usually reach me by phone during the day, from 8 to 8 ET. I enjoy talking directly with my customers, and am happy to answer questions by phone or email. Although I do not have an open shop, customers are very welcome by appointment.
I accept most credit cards, PayPal, money orders or checks. The checkout on this website is through PayPal. Institutions are billed according to need.
I am always buying interesting books, individually and as a collection, in my field of interest.
Want lists in my field are welcomed. If you would like to be on my mailing list (both paper—quarterly, and/or electronic—somewhat more often) please email me at AlexanderBooks@Charter.net.
Featured Items
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The Quack Dentist
Stallings, A. E.
Price: US $35.00
Tower Poetry, Christ Church, Oxford
Book Condition: Fine
Edition: First edition
Sewn printed wrappers; 8vo. [8 pp.] Number 5 in a series of pamphlets of poems commissioned each to respond to a painting from the Picture Gallery of ... Details
The Dainty Monsters
Ondaatje, Michael
Price: US $1000.00
Coach House Press, Toronto
Book Condition: Near fine
Edition: First edition
Brown cloth in dust jacket; 8vo. 77 pp. Inscribed with quite an attractive signature by the poet on the title page; additionally laid in is the rare b... Details
THE BATTLEFIELD WHERE THE MOON SAYS I LOVE YOU
Stanford, Frank
Price: US $950.00
Lost Roads/Mill Mountain, Fayetteville
Book Condition: Near fine
Edition: First edition
Photographic wrappers, red lettering; thick 8vo. A 542 page epic, begun by the poet when he was a teenager, by the founder along with C. D. Wright of ... Details
THE PHASE AFTER HISTORY
Graham, Jorie
Price: US $200.00
The Academy of American Poets, [New York]
Book Condition: Fine
Edition: First edition
Stapled wrappers in blue paper covers with paper label; small 8vo. [10 pp.] One of 200 copies "for friends of the The Academy of American Poets... Details
RED WAGON
Berrigan, Ted
Price: US $500.00
The Yellow Press, Chicago
Book Condition: Fine
Edition: First edition
Red cloth, gold stamped in dust jacket. On of 26 signed and lettered copies with a holograph poem. This is letter "P", with a poem reading ... Details
A Useless Death
Smith, Patti
Price: US $1500.00
Gotham Book Mart, New York
Book Condition: Fine
Edition: First edition
Stapled pictorial wraps; small 8vo. [4] pp. A single poem signed by Smith. Copy number 23 in a signed and numbered edition of 300. A very near fine co... Details
THE MADISON POEMS OF D. A. LEVY
Levy, D. A.
Price: US $350.00
Quixote, Madison, WI
Book Condition: Very good -
Edition: First edition
Side stapled mimeograph sheets; with front cover consisting of a collage by Levy promoting MC5 (a broadside poster), back cover also a photo collage/a... Details
THE MAN WITH THE BLUE GUITAR INCLUDING IDEAS OF ORDER
Stevens, Wallace
Price: US $300.00
Knopf, New York
Book Condition: Near fine
Edition: First edition
First edition of this combined volume. Green cloth in dust jacket; 8vo. 185 pp. One of 2000 copies. Near fine in a very pretty example of the jacket; ... Details
THE MAKING OF THE AMERICANS
Stein, Gertude
Price: US $200.00
Something Else Press, New York
Book Condition: Fine
Edition: First Thus
Cream cloth in dust jacket; large 8vo. 925 pp. This edition was the first published in the US: the "Complete Version" of Gertrude Stein's ... Details
IN A GREEN NIGHT (first edition and proof)
Walcott, Derek
Price: US $2500.00
Jonathan Cape, London
Book Condition: Near fine
Edition: First edition
Cloth-backed patterned boards in dust jacket; small 8vo. 78 pp., with the uncorrected proof in patterned wraps and dust jacket, both handsomely inscri... Details
WITT
Smith, Patti
Price: US $2250.00
Gotham Book Mart, New York
Book Condition: Near fine
Edition: First edition
Black cloth with pictorial paper cover label; small 8vo. 45 pp. Copy no. 62 of 100. Contains 22 poems, including "Dream Of Rimbaud", "Rape... Details
Where
Snyder, Gary
Price: US $65.00
Hit & Run Press, Berkeley
Book Condition: As new
Edition: First edition
Illustrated broadside approx. 9 x 13 imches. Art work by Davis Te Selle; design by Colored Horse Studio; letterpress printed using Spectrum type on BF... Details
Hay for the Horses
Snyder, Gary
Price: US $95.00
Hit & Run Press, Berkeley
Book Condition: As new
Edition: First Separate Printing
Illustrated broadside approx. 9 x 13 imches. Art work by Davis Te Selle; design by Colored Horse Studio; letterpress printed using Berthold Baskervill... Details
SUNRISE IN SUBURBIA
Ashbery, John
Price: US $600.00
The Phoenix Book Shop, New York
Book Condition: Fine
Edition: First edition
Sewn card covers in decorated wrappers, with paper label; oblong 12mo. Letter B of 26 copies (of 126 total) signed by the author. Additionally inscrib... Details
LAND OF UNLIKENESS
Lowell, Robert
Price: US $3500.00
Cummington Press, Cummington
Book Condition: Very good
Edition: First edition
8vo. Original blue paper boards with red stamping, in unprinted tissue jacket. One of 224 copies (of 250 total) printed. Introduction by Allen Tate. T... Details
STAGE-DUO
Waldman, Anne; Kenward Elmslie; Joe Brainard
Price: US $200.00
Rocky Ledge Cottage Editions, Cherry Valley, NY
Book Condition: Near fine
Edition: First edition
Single sheet, card stock, folded to 8 1/2 x 11 inches; 4pp. "Written for the occasion of a reading by Anne Waldman & Kenward Elmslie at the Savoy ... Details