Royal Books

Munich: Grauf Haufen and Frank Trebbin, 1993. First Edition. An utterly obsessive, minutely detailed examination of Spanish exploitation director Jess Franco's illustrious career, divided into two sections: an extensive, photo-illustrated filmography that includes analysis and reproductions of even the most obscure country-of-origin posters and advertisement for each film, and a....

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Beverly Hills: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM], 1927. Draft script for the 1928 silent film.Possibly the least bizarre of actor Lon Chaney's collaborations with director Tod Browning, in which he plays a ruthless mob boss in a feud with a rival mob of thieves. Chaney is convinced by his heroine (Marceline Day) into...

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New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1937. Advance Reading Copy, preceding the First American Edition. Very Good in publisher's standard card wrappers, stating "SPECIAL ADVANCE COPY: For private and confidential use only." Tipped on to the front wrapper, as issued, is the full-color illustration from the first edition jacket. Basis for...

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N.p. N.p. ca. 1977. Original manuscript by Joey Ramone for an unrecorded Ramones song, "Let's Go Playmates," executed by the punk legend in holograph pencil on both the recto and verso of a legal size sheet of lined notebook paper. The lyrics appear in every orientation, a beautiful, messy gathering...

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Paris: Telemondial, 1973. Original French Grande poster and double sided French flyer for the 1973 Situationist film by René Viénet, which repurposes the 1972 Hong Kong martial arts film "Crush," directed by Kuang-Chi Tu, overdubbing the dialogue to create "a critique of class conflicts, bureaucratic socialism, the failures of the...

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Soviet Union: Mosfilm, 1969. Working post-production script for the 1969 film. Combination of typescript and carbon typescript, with notations in red holograph ink throughout. Laid in is a vintage borderless reference photograph from the film.An unusual internal script from the production of the Soviet-Italian co-production that was ultimately distributed worldwide...

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Los Angeles: J.E.R. Pictures, 1961. Original one sheet poster for the 1961 film.A rare artifact from the second of eight nudism-related films produced and directed by the prolific sexploitation director Doris Wishman. Working with a large sum of inherited money, two scientists build a rocket to take them to the...

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Culver City, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM], 1967. Revised draft script for the 1968 film. Copy belonging to an uncredited crew member, with notations in holograph pencil on the versos of pages throughout, mostly numeric notations, with a few pages noting on-the-set supplies, and some personal notations. Based on Alistair MacLean's 1963...

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Tokyo: Nikkatsu, 1959. Draft script for the 1959 film. Text in Japanese. Based on Sueko Yasumoto's novel, and one of the first examples of media dealing with the plight of zainchi or ethnically Korean Japanese citizens, and their identity and struggles. One man has always worked faithfully for the Toho...

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New York: Macmillan, 1947. First Edition. INSCRIBED by the author on the half title page in the year of publication: "For Sam Geiser. / Dear [illegible] Geiser: For the friendship you have [illegible] given me I am most grateful. Here's to its long continuousness! / John A. Lomax / Dallas...

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Paris: Olympia Press, 1959. First Edition, a paperback original, preceding all others. First issue, without the price stamp on the rear wrapper. Basis for the wild 1991 film written and directed by David Cronenberg, entirely faithful to the thematic spirit of the novel, if not the actual text. Fine in...

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Los Angeles: ABC / Contemporary Productions / Harold Hecht Productions, 1960. Draft Script for the 1961 film, "The Young Savages" (here under its working title, "A Matter of Conviction"), SIGNED by director John Frankeheimer on the front wrapper. Directed by Frankenheimer, based on the 1959 novel, "A Matter of Conviction,"...

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London: Abelard-Schuman, 1966. First UK Edition, preceding all others. Reprinted in 1969 as "The Violent Enemy," with Patterson writing as Jack Higgins, and basis for the 1967 Don Sharp film, "The Violent Enemy," starring Tom Bell, Susan Hampshire, and Ed Begley. Very Good plus in a Very Good plus dust...

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Los Angeles: Paramount, 1945. Post-production Release Dialogue Script for the 1946 film. The only script associated with the legendary noir that we have ever seen, and presumably the earliest continuity, dated 7 months prior to the film's release. "The Blue Dahlia" got off to a shaky start, as Raymond Chandler...

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Chicago/Berkeley: Jump Cut Associates, 1974-1979. Archive of 24 single issues and three double issues of "Jump Cut" on 27 newsprint journals. Issue No. 1, May-June 1974, to Issue No. 30, March 1985. Included is an 8 x 10 inch photograph of founding "Jump Cut" editors Chuck Kleinhans, Julia Lesage and...

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London: Amicus Productions, Circa 1970. Draft script for the 1971 film. SIGNED by screenwriter Robert Bloch on the title page in 1982. Brief notations throughout in holograph ink and pencil. An anthology horror film, featuring four different stories, including vampires, witchcraft, wax ladies, and eerie stranglers. In one story, a....

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Los Angeles: Paramount, 1933. Original lobby card for the 1933 pre-code film, based on William Faulkner's 1931 novel, "Sanctuary." Based on William Faulkner's 1931 novel, "Sanctuary." An extremely rare film, only shown at festivals on occasion since its release, with only one known nitrate print in storage at UCLA. Along...

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New York: Marian Zazeela, 1966. Vintage flyer advertising a 1966 performance by The Theatre of Eternal Music, an improvisational music group consisting of La Monte Young (voice), Terry Riley (voice), Marian Zazeela (voice, light projections), Tony Conrad, Marvin Carpenter, David Hayes, Jim Kirker (projections). This formidable group, formed in 1964...

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Garden City: Doubleday, Doran, 1928. First American Edition. Near Fine in an attractive, Very Good plus dust jacket. with small chips at the crown and a couple of corners, and some light toning along the spine and flap folds. A cornerstone of espionage fiction, based on the author's experiences as...

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New York: Grenfell Press, 1986. Deluxe Edition. One of 15 numbered copies (this being No. IV) SIGNED by the author and the artist on the limitation page and bound in full inlaid morocco. Fine and unread in a Near Fine clamshell box. Clamshell has a few light scuffs and a....

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New York: Filmways Pictures, 1980. Revised draft script for the 1981 film. Included is a second script, a revised draft in wrappers containing the latest revisions, and two shooting schedules, one detailing shooting dates beginning Week Three, and one detailing dates beginning about Week Nine. Notations throughout both scripts in...

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Boston: Little, Brown, 1938. First Edition (Arundel Edition), one of 1075 copies (this being No. 618) SIGNED and numbered by both Kenneth Roberts and illustrator N.C. Wyeth. This copy is additionally inscribed by Kenneth Roberts to legendary director John Ford: "Doubly inscribed for John Ford / with the admiration of...

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N.p. N.p. circa 1930s - 1950s. Collection of 16 black-and-white portrait photographs by Carl Van Vechten, printed on card stock, many as postcards, all but three with his blindstamp to the lower portion. Six of the photos contain the subjects' names in holograph ink on the verso, two of which...

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New York: J.B. Lippincott, 1973. First printing of this edition, and first American edition in hardcover. INSCRIBED in the year of publication on the front endpaper to Denver Post book editor Clarus Backus: "For Clair and Earlene / Thank you for one of those very good, very rare evenings /...

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Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. First Edition. Octavo, three volumes. Beginning with Roman Britain and ending with theatre of the late 1990s, the collection presents a picture of the evolution of British theatre. Includes a bibliography and index. Contributors include Dennis Kennedy, Sophie Nield, Jan McDonald, John Bull, and Liz...

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1980. Draft script for the 1980 stage version of "Harold and Maude," adapted by Colin Higgins from his 1971 novel and screenplay. Actress Ruth Ford's copy, effusively inscribed to her on the title page by Higgins, actress Janet Gaynor (who played Maude, 23 years after her last film appearance), Keith...

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Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1971. First American edition in hardcover. First issue jacket, with a code of "971" at the top right corner of the front flap, and a price of $5.50 at the bottom of same. The ninth Travis McGee mystery, with especially compelling jacket photographs.Just a hint of...

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Bensenville, IL: Open Skull Press, 1965. First Edition. One of about 500 copies published by Douglas Blazek's Open Skull Press, and the introduction of “Henry Chinaski," Bukowski’s favorite anti-hero, to the world. INSCRIBED by Bukowski to Blazek inside the front wrapper: "For Douglas Blazek / Doug, you know what I....

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New York: Vanguard Press, 1936. First Edition. An attractive copy of a rare book in or out of jacket, a mid-depression novel inspired by the career of Oklahoma country gangster Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd, a nearly unique gangster novel in that it mixes with proletarian sensibilities. Cunningham and Jim Thompson...

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Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2000. First Edition, two volume limited edition set containing "Over the Line: The Art and Life of Jacob Lawrence" and "Jacob Lawrence: A Catalogue Raisonne." One of 250 copies SIGNED by Lawrence.A prolific and groundbreaking painter working largely in a cubist style, Lawrence concentrated on...

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London: The Archers, 1946. Vintage black-and-white photograph from the 1946 film. With the stamp of the production company, The Archers, on the verso, crediting photographer Eric Gray, along with a mimeo snipe describing the scene, in which Peter (David Niven) has a discussion with The Conductor on the steps of...

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N.p. UFA, 1941. First Edition. Hungarian film annual for German films released between 1931 and 1941, containing full page advertisements for 31 films, several with stunning illustrated transparency overlays. Bound in printed wooden boards, as issued.The majority of the films were released by UFA, although Terra-Filmkunst and the Wien Film...

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New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2002. First Edition. Two volumes. A chronological reference of Alfred Stieglitz' work, spanning the length of his illustrious career in American photography. Both volumes Fine and unread with no dust jacket in a Fine linen slipcase as issued, and housed in the publisher's shipping carton...

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Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1931. Later printing. INSCRIBED by the author on the front endpaper: "For Virginia Allan / from Margaret Ayer Barnes." Winner of the 1931 Pulitzer Prize for Literature. Barnes also wrote "Dishonored Lady," a play twice adapted to film. Beginning in the 1890s, the story follows an upper-middle...

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New York: William Morrow, 1936. First Edition. INSCRIBED by the author on the front endpaper: "To Noni / With best from the 'boss' / Erle Stanley Gardner." According to Dorothy Hughes' biography of Gardner, Noni Bibler was one of Gardner's early assistants, and clearly took down much of this novel...

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New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1966. First Edition. INSCRIBED by Cliff Robertson, who portrayed the title character in the 1968 film adaptation of Keyes' novel, "Charly." Fine in a Fine dust jacket. An impeccably fresh, Fine copy of Keyes' science fiction classic, normally found well-worn. Basis for the 1968...

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