B & B Rare Books NYC

Specializing in English and American Literature, Modern First Editions, Victorian Literature, Poetry, Mystery and Detective Fiction, Children's Literature and Signed Books.

[bbrarebooks]

Marbled collage by John Coventry (early 1970s) from Pattern and Flow: A Golden Age of American Decorated Paper @grolierclub by Mindell Dubansky @metlibrary @metmuseum ❤️‍🔥 Coventry, born Donato Coviello (b. 1943), marbled outdoors in Berkeley with his colleague Olaf, using a tank made from the inverted roof of a Volkswagen bus 🚌 #marbledpaper #grolierclub #watsonlibrary #mindelldubansky (at The Grolier Club of New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/CqYaAkPuRSm/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bbrarebooks]

Purple Monochromatical Monomaniacal Merry-Go-Round, marbled paper by Olaf (1990), from Pattern and Flow: A Golden Age of American Decorated Paper @grolierclub by Mindell Dubansky @metlibrary @metmuseum 💜 Olaf, active 1969-75, is a self-taught marbler living in Berkeley, CA. He marbled outdoors in a tank made from the inverted roof of a Volkswagen bus. #marbledpaper #grolierclub #watsonlibrary #mindelldubansky (at The Grolier Club of New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/CqWq4aEs06t/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bbrarebooks]

that time I levitated in the @parkavearmory and they let us capture it #booksellercouture #nyiabf #bookfair (at New York International Antiquarian Book Fair) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp0xhOEJmSs/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bbrarebooks]

my beloved Hogarth Press 🐺#virginiawoolf #hogarthpress #vanessabell (at B & B Rare Books, Ltd.) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpp35FOu3jS/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bbrarebooks]

🫀✊ @justseeds 💔❤️‍🩹 https://www.instagram.com/p/CpWNdpHMHso/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bbrarebooks]

Rear panel of Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach (1961) 🍑 #roalddahl #jamesandthegiantpeach #childrensliterature #illustratedbooks #dustjacket #rarebooks #firstedition (at B & B Rare Books, Ltd.) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpN1dK0O6vF/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bbrarebooks]

Edward Hopper’s New York @whitneymuseum 🏙️ So much of NYC has changed, but what I love most about his work is that the buildings and interiors he was inspired to paint are the few bits of NY that actually still look the same today. The enduring look and feel of the city. I particularly loved his theatre scenes, and hats off to a person who kept every ticket from every show he ever saw! 🎭 🎟️ #edwardhopper #edwardhoppersnewyork #whitneymuseum #nyc (at Whitney Museum of American Art) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpGF-o6JZbR/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bbrarebooks]

Already counting down to #nyiabf23! Who’s coming with us? @nybookfair #bookfair #rarebooks #firsteditions #booksellers (at New York International Antiquarian Book Fair) https://www.instagram.com/p/Co8ULLErbBp/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bbrarebooks]

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925), first edition, second printing with errors corrected, one of 3,000 copies. Seconds (printed in August) are actually scarcer than firsts (printed in April) but they are 1/3 the price. While it has since been regarded as a masterful piece of classic literature, The Great Gatsby did not gain popularity until after the author's death in 1940. The novel tells the story of the star-crossed lovers Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan against the backdrop of wealthy and materialistic West Egg, Long Island, during the Prohibition Era. Although Fitzgerald meant the text to be critical of the 1920s social climate, today The Great Gatsby is beloved for its vivid descriptions of extravagant parties, palatial homes, and eccentric characters that are emblematic of the Jazz Age. The text remains extremely popular today and is widely taught in schools across the United States. The first edition was printed in a run of 20,870 copies; today, Scribner's sells almost 25 times as many copies per year as printed books and e-books. #thegreatgatsby #fscottfitzgerald #roaring20s #jazzage #firstedition #rarebooks #gatsby #fitzgerald (at B & B Rare Books, Ltd.) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmXF5-DJppW/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bbrarebooks]

From custom gift wrap to personalized cards, we look forward to making your holiday extra special! 📚🎁 Visit our gallery or call us… we are accepting orders until 3 pm on 12/23 (FedEx overnight for Saturday 12/24 delivery) 📷: @did_i_stammer https://www.instagram.com/p/CmHt5d5pgC9/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bbrarebooks]

Philly Rare Book Fair this weekend, free and open to the public! 📚 #prbf22 #bookfair #rarebooks #firsteditions @finebookfairs (at Trinity Memorial Church) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl9YsVdJ-B8/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bbrarebooks]

Destination Unknown (1954) by Agatha Christie. This spy novel follows Hilary Craven, a woman with nothing to lose, on a search for missing nuclear scientists. Hilary, abandoned by her husband and child, is on the verge of taking her own life when a British secret agent asks her to undertake a dangerous mission as an alternative. The book was written during the Cold War, and the mounting fear of nuclear war pervades the plot. It is also speculated that Christie's 1920s failed marriage inspired the character of Hilary. #firstedition #rarebooks #agathachristie #destinationunknown https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl1ipmYJ9ah/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bbrarebooks]

The @bostonbookfair is back after 3 years! 📚 #bookfair #rarebooks #firsteditions #bostonbookfair #bostonbookfair2022 (at Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck4HeCRJN3x/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bbrarebooks]

@joshrarebooks delivering his lively booth talk 🗣️Presentations & Provenance: How Signatures Add Value to Books — If you have questions about inscribed books or signed material, please ask us… it’s our specialty (and one of our favorite things about what we do!) 🖋️ #signedbooks #inscribed #provenance #signatures #rarebooks #firsteditions (at Baltimore Art, Antique & Jewelry Show) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj_KQbeJ-Sh/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bbrarebooks]

#newarrivals in our latest newsletter! Go Down, Moses; and Other Stories by William Faulkner, #firstedition (1942). Go Down, Moses is a collection of seven #shortstories relating to themes of nature, identity, and race in the American South. Like many of his other works, these stories are set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County in Mississippi, based on Faulkner's childhood experiences in Oxford. While they can all be read independently of one another, each story features the same overall cast of characters and together they span almost a century, beginning right before the Civil War in 1859 and ending with World War II in 1940. Specifically, this volume includes "Was," "The Fire and the Hearth," "Pantaloon in Black," "The Old People," "The Bear," "Delta Autumn," and "Go Down, Moses." Because of the stories' natural cohesion, Go Down, Moses was subsequently published as a complete (albeit somewhat fragmented), epistolary novel without the half-title "And Other Stories." The title Go Down, Moses is taken from the African American spiritual of the same name, which draws parallels between plight of enslaved African Americans and the Biblical Egyptian enslavement of the Israelites in the Old Testament. #godownmoses #faulkner #williamfaulkner #southerngothic #rarebooks https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj5wr6SOF55/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bbrarebooks]

The @york_book_fair is officially open! 📚 @pbfabooks #yorkbookfair #pbfa #pbfabookfair #bookfair (at The York National Book Fair 2022) https://www.instagram.com/p/CiR81chuSLI/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bbrarebooks]

A very happy #marbledmonday! Lovely red endpapers and boards of The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication (1868) by Charles Darwin, first issue, one of 1500 copies. #darwin #charlesdarwin #rarebooks #firstedition #finebindings (at B & B Rare Books, Ltd.) https://www.instagram.com/p/Chk5kmXJE4n/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=