BERKELEY, Calif. – On Thursday, June 27, PBA Galleries will offer an auction of over 500 lots of fine literature with mystery and detective fiction. The first 121 lots in the auction comprise a selection of mystery and detective fiction, with a large section dedicated to the works of Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring many first and scarce editions of titles from his iconic Sherlock Holmes series. Bid absentee or live online through LiveAuctioneers.
Also featured are desirable titles by Ian Fleming, Rex Stout, and Dashiell Hammett, among other classic writers of the genre. The second section comprises a large selection of scarce literature and poetry from the 19th and 20th centuries. Featured are a number of scarcer works by Charles Bukowsi and Raymond Carver, many signed. Also well represented are many other perennially collectible authors of the 20th century, including William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck.
PBA Galleries will offer exciting first editions from the 20th-century’s most collectible authors. Ian Fleming’s Dr. No (below) will be on the auction block. The first edition, first state of the iconic sixth James Bond novel is available in the original dust jacket ($1,500-$2,000).
The auction also features a first printing of Ginsberg’s revolutionary Howl and Other Poems, with a dedication to Lucien Carr still present ($800-$1,200) and three wrapper-bound first editions of Raymond Chandler mysteries: Five Murderers, Five Sinister Characters and Finger Man and Other Stories ($800-$1,200).
Notable literary periodicals also feature in the sale. Dashiell Hammett’s first 10 books of collected short fiction (below) are offered in the complete run as published by Lawrence E. Spivak ($800-$1,200).
Other periodical rarities include a limited edition of the first volume, first issue of the infamous literary magazine, Laugh Literary and Man the Humping Guns. This issue is signed by Bukowski with an additional original illustration by him ($700-$1,000). Additionally, PBA Galleries will offer volumes 1-8 of The Strand Magazine, which feature the first appearance of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, alongside volumes 9-10, which include Doyle’s Brigadier Gerard stories ($700-$1,000).
Other lots expected to draw competitive bidding include Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock, offered in a true first edition in the original dust jacket ($3,000-$5,000) and Raymond Carver’s The Pheasant, a particularly scarce hardcover edition made more desirable by Carver’s signature at the colophon ($1,000-$1,500).
The sale will begin at 11 a.m. Pacific time. For more information, contact PBA Galleries at 415-989-2665 or pba@pbagalleries.com.
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