{"title":"Modern Fiction (1900-1959)","description":"\u003cp\u003eFiction published between 1900 and 1959, mostly in first or early editions. Dust jackets are a significant part of the value of books from this period, so their condition is described in detail.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"miguel-de-cervantes-saavedra-don-quixote-de-la-mancha-with-arthur-boyd-houghton-illustrations","title":"CERVANTES SAAVEDRA, Miguel de, Don Quixote de la Mancha, Illustrated by Houghton","description":"\u003cp\u003eA finely produced illustrated edition of \u003cem\u003eDon Quixote de la Mancha\u003c\/em\u003e by \u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMiguel de Cervantes Saavedra\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e, translated from the Spanish by Charles Jarvis and illustrated by Arthur Boyd Houghton. Published by \u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrederick Warne \u0026amp; Co.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e, London \u0026amp; New York, circa 1920\/30s. A very good copy, with clean, bright pages, a firm binding, and no internal inscriptions or marks. Housed in the original red cloth boards, blocked in black with a pictorial vignette to the front board and spine. Dust jacket in very good condition for age, with only mild spine discolouration. Light handling wear consistent with age, but overall well-preserved and visually striking.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDon Quixote\u003c\/em\u003e is one of the foundational works of Western literature, blending satire, romance, and philosophical inquiry in the story of the deluded yet idealistic knight-errant and his loyal squire, Sancho Panza. Arthur Boyd Houghton’s illustrations are among the most expressive visual interpretations of Cervantes’ masterpiece, capturing both the humour and melancholy of the novel. This early twentieth-century Warne edition represents the Edwardian revival of illustrated classics, produced as a gift book and valued today for its craftsmanship, design, and enduring readability.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ink \u0026 Signature Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47464632909876,"sku":null,"price":160.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0745\/3648\/4916\/files\/370AB52C-409D-4AF8-BACD-CBCCDED06DC2_1_105_c.jpg?v=1769849634"},{"product_id":"rudyard-kipling-thy-servant-a-dog-macmillan-co-1928-first-edition","title":"KIPLING, Rudyard, Thy Servant a Dog, First Edition, Fourth Printing (1930)","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"1081\" data-end=\"1355\"\u003eAn early twentieth-century Macmillan edition of \u003cem data-start=\"1129\" data-end=\"1148\"\u003eThy Servant a Dog\u003c\/em\u003e by \u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRudyard Kipling\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e. Fourth printing of November 1930. This copy represents a later early printing, issued in red cloth and retaining the original illustrated dust jacket priced at 5\/- net.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1357\" data-end=\"1583\"\u003eThe dust jacket is present but well worn, with losses, creasing, and toning consistent with age, while the underlying cloth binding remains clean and sound. The text block is complete and internally clean, with no loose pages.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1585\" data-end=\"1916\"\u003e\u003cem data-start=\"1585\" data-end=\"1604\"\u003eThy Servant a Dog\u003c\/em\u003e collects three of Kipling’s best-known dog stories, narrated from the animal’s perspective, and remains one of his most enduring and accessible works. Copies are collected less for edition priority than for survival in jacket, making this a straightforward, honest example of a well-used but intact early issue.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ink \u0026 Signature Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47465818128436,"sku":null,"price":60.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0745\/3648\/4916\/files\/D9EFCF40-BF4D-44FB-B286-86A81DF77BFE_1_105_c.jpg?v=1769913841"},{"product_id":"rare-1950-dust-or-polish-norman-lindsay-1st-edition-hardcover-with-jacket","title":"LINDSAY, Norman, Dust or Polish, First Edition (1950)","description":"\u003cp\u003eA first edition of \u003cem\u003eDust or Polish\u003c\/em\u003e by \u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNorman Lindsay\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e, published in 1950. A good, solid copy in the original boards, with the original illustrated dust jacket, the binding firm and sound, and pages clean overall with expected age-toning and no loose leaves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn a complete dust jacket, protected in a removable sleeve, showing age-related wear including edge chipping, small losses, creasing, soiling to the rear panel, and minor tears at the lower spine, though remaining visually appealing and increasingly uncommon for this title.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWritten during a mature and confident phase of Lindsay’s career, \u003cem\u003eDust or Polish\u003c\/em\u003e reflects his sharp wit and seasoned social observation. Moving beyond his more overtly mythic or pastoral works, the novel offers controlled satire and character-driven realism, revealing the authority of an established cultural figure unafraid to challenge social convention.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ink \u0026 Signature Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47538455609396,"sku":null,"price":60.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0745\/3648\/4916\/files\/5EAE671C-CF92-485C-B9B0-76914CA54895_1_201_a.jpg?v=1785673221"},{"product_id":"ian-fleming-dr-no-uk-1st-edition-2nd-impression","title":"FLEMING, Ian, Dr No, UK First Edition, Second Impression (1958)","description":"\u003cp\u003ePublished in black cloth boards with silver titling to the spine and the iconic red-brown silhouette of a dancing girl printed to the front board. The title page verso confirms the printing history precisely: \"First published March 1958 \/ Second Impression May 1958,\" True first-impression copies were issued in plain, undecorated black boards without the silhouette; the appearance of the dancing-girl design on the boards themselves is the reliable identifier of the second impression onward.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHoused in the original Jonathan Cape dust jacket, carrying the same silhouette artwork to the front panel against a textured brown ground, with \"Dr. No\" in bold hand-lettering and the author's name in cream to the upper edges. The rear panel carries Cape's promotional copy for the preceding title,\u003cem\u003eFrom Russia, with Love.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA contemporary ownership signature appears to the front free endpaper, accompanied by a pencilled bookseller's notation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCondition: the jacket shows genuine handling consistent with age with some chipping and fraying to the spine ends and corner tips, overall toning, and some foxing concentrated on the rear panel. The boards remain sound, with the silhouette design and spine titling still clear and legible, light rubbing at the extremities. Internally, scattered foxing is present throughout the text block and endpapers, consistent with age; the text itself is complete and the binding tight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDr No\u003c\/em\u003eis the sixth of Fleming's James Bond novels and, notably, the first to be adapted for the screen, launching the Bond film series in 1962.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ink \u0026 Signature Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47947455594548,"sku":null,"price":550.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0745\/3648\/4916\/files\/FA717DDD-54AF-4EED-B41B-0592EC1117BF_1_201_a.jpg?v=1782481768"},{"product_id":"ivan-cankar-the-bailiff-yerney-scarce-true-uk-first-edition-1930","title":"CANKAR, Ivan, The Bailiff Yerney and His Rights, UK First Edition (1930)","description":"\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCANKAR, Ivan\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Bailiff Yerney and His Rights\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eLondon : John Rodker, 1930.\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFirst edition in English.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eOctavo, original cream cloth boards lettered in red to the spine and front board; in the original pictorial dust jacket, printed in black and red with a design incorporating the tag \"A Slovene Tolstoi\" to head and foot; translated from the Slovene by Sidonie Yeras and H. C. Sewell Grant, with an introduction on Cankar by Janko Lavrin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe first English translation of Ivan Cankar's\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eHlapec Jernej in njegova pravica\u003c\/em\u003e, the best-known work of the man generally regarded as the foundational figure of modern Slovene literature. Cankar (1876–1918), a contemporary and admirer of the great Russian and Scandinavian social realists, wrote this novella, a story of a wronged farmhand's doomed pursuit of justice against his employers, as a searing allegory of exploitation and futile rebellion; it remains a set text in Slovenia today and lent its central figure's name, \"Martin Krpan\"-like, to the Slovene language itself as a byword for the powerless labourer. This Rodker edition, issued with Janko Lavrin's introductory essay on Cankar's life and place in Slavic letters, appears to be the first appearance of the novella in English and was published by John Rodker, the avant-garde poet-publisher better known for his editions of Joyce, Pound, and Eliot under the Ovid Press imprint.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eSurviving copies of this small-press first  with original jackets are scarce. The jacket cover evidently drawn and lettered specifically for the book rather than pulled from a house style, was never likely to have been printed in great quantity or to have survived the decades since in any number. It is the single most distinctive and fragile element of the book, and the reason a complete jacketed copy commands real interest beyond the text alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eBoards with some discolouration, apparently from a combination of fading and light foxing; text block otherwise clean and tight, with foxing confined to the inside endpapers and the top edge. First penicilled name of previous owner on free front endpaper. Dust jacket discoloured and toned at the edges of the pictorial panel, with two small holes to the spine panel as illustrated. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eA good, complete copy of a scarce small-press first English edition of an important work of Central European modernism, honestly described and priced.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ink \u0026 Signature Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48228997267508,"sku":null,"price":165.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0745\/3648\/4916\/files\/E1598064-899F-48D8-BA68-338D10EFE146_1_105_c.jpg?v=1787544840"},{"product_id":"dickens-charles-the-personal-history-of-david-copperfield-1906","title":"DICKENS, Charles, The Personal History of David Copperfield (c.1906)","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDICKENS, Charles\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe Personal History of David Copperfield\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eLondon: Chapman and Hall; New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, n.d. The Authentic Edition, The Works of Charles Dickens, in twenty-one volumes, this the tenth. Text printed from the edition corrected by the author in 1867 and 1868. With forty illustrations by Phiz.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e[i]-xvi, 735, [5] pp. Octavo, 20.5 x 15 cm. Contemporary tan calf, the leather turn in stamped 1906, spine with five raised bands, lettered in gilt \"DAVID COPPERFIELD\" and \"BY CHARLES DICKENS\" to two compartments, the remaining compartments and board edges decorated with small gilt floral tools; plain boards.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eThe Authentic Edition of Dickens's collected works, complete with David Copperfield's full text and all forty Phiz illustrations in contemporary tan calf.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eVolume ten of The Authentic Edition of The Works of Charles Dickens, presenting David Copperfield complete in a single volume, printed from Dickens's own final corrected text of 1867 and 1868 and retaining all forty of Phiz's original illustrations, in a handsome contemporary tan calf binding dated 1906 to the leather turn in.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eBoards clean and sound, corners lightly worn. Hinges and joints strong and square throughout. Spine bright, gilt lettering and tooling crisp and legible. Foxing confined to the page edges only, with no bleed into the printed text. Illustrations clean throughout, with no foxing, all forty present and complete. Front free endpaper carries an ink ownership inscription, \"Charles Courtney, John Charles Hodgson Courtney, 1957,\" with a pencilled dating note \"(circa 1900)\" above.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ink \u0026 Signature Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48264799322164,"sku":null,"price":95.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0745\/3648\/4916\/files\/39D90797-8259-4385-A614-D862BC43FB8E_1_105_c.jpg?v=1788159757"},{"product_id":"tolkien-j-r-r-the-hobbit-or-there-and-back-again-tenth-impression-1958","title":"TOLKIEN, J.R.R., The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, Tenth Impression (1958)","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eLondon: George Allen and Unwin Ltd, 1958. Tenth impression, second edition text. Illustrated by the author.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA 1958 impression of Tolkien's first published novel, with the revised 1951 text, in the original unclipped dust jacket designed by the J.R.R. Tolkien.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e315 pp. Colour frontispiece, \"The Hill: Hobbiton across the Water,\" the only colour plate as issued in impressions of this period, with black and white illustrations throughout (earlier editions which had colour plates were removed p\u003cspan\u003eresumably\u003c\/span\u003e due to wartime restirctions). Thror's Map and Wilderland are printed in black and red as endpapers. Octavo, 19.5 x 13 cm. Original green cloth, spine lettered and decorated in dark blue with Tolkien's mountain and rune devices, \"Allen and Unwin\" at the foot. The original pictorial dust jacket has press opinions on the front flap, priced 12s. 6d. net and marked \"Tenth Impression.\" The rear flap advertises The Lord of the Rings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eFirst published in 1937, The Hobbit was revised by Tolkien for the second edition of 1951. He rewrote the chapter \"Riddles in the Dark\" so that Bilbo's encounter with Gollum, and the finding of the ring, matched the story he was then completing in The Lord of the Rings. This impression carries that revised text. It also has Tolkien's own jacket design, maps and frontispiece, so the book appears as he illustrated it. Jackets from this period of the book's publication are often missing, clipped or badly worn.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eCloth bright and clean, the spine lettering sharp, with only light rubbing to the spine ends and corners. Binding square and firm. Foxing confined to the title page and to the front and rear endpapers; the rest of the text block is clean. The top edge is toned, with some spotting. The front free endpaper carries the ownership signature of Anthony Cooke and an early pencilled bookseller's price of £8.50. The dust jacket is bright on both panels, with chipping and small losses to the head of the spine panel, minor loss at the foot of the spine panel, and light creasing along the edges. The inside of the jacket is toned with scattered foxing, not visible from the outside.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eA tenth impression of The Hobbit in its original unclipped dust jacket, the cloth bright and the text clean apart from foxing confined to the preliminaries.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ink \u0026 Signature Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67599772123188,"sku":null,"price":2450.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0745\/3648\/4916\/files\/2C72FC74-120D-41A8-AE6A-03A512476508_1_201_a.jpg?v=1790837069"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.inkandsignaturebooks.com.au\/collections\/modern-fiction-1900-1959.oembed","provider":"Ink \u0026 Signature Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}