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First edition. First printing, American issue; Garrison's Binding A. 4to, 250pp; + endmatter (List of Books Mentioned; Architects and Landscape-Gardeners Mentioned; and, Index); decorated trade binding designed by Decorative Designers: at the front cover, gold-stamped lion and shield design above a pale blue-stamped picture of a garden, gold-stamped pedestal design, with shield and scroll at bottom, and surrounding seven lines stamped in dark grayish-green. Top edge gilded. Contemporary ink inscription (Christmas, 1904) to upper margin of front pastedown; small owner's library ticket front pastedown. Touch of fraying to tips; spine a trifle dimmed; shallow bump to top edge of rear cover; two shallow pin scratches to front cover. A firm, fresh copy. Near fine. Illustrated by Maxfield Parrish with 15 color and 11 black and white plates. Also illustrated with photographs and additional drawings by E. Denison, Malcolm Fraser and C.A. Vanderhoof. The design at the front cover is inspired by Maxfield Parrish's illustration of the "Villa Pia: In the Gardens of the Vatican". A lush, handsome production that reflects the golden age of American publishing. Each detail of the book has been carefully designed: a large, elegant typeface; generous margins; illustration captions, running heads and page numbers printed in a delicate shade of umber. As a trade publication ITALIAN VILLAS AND THEIR GARDENS would be hard to surpass. Mrs. Wharton's text is equal to its beautiful setting. She prepared herself to write the book by first reading relevant texts in French, German and Italian, studying old plans and examining prints and drawings from Peter Paul Rubens' depictions of Genoese villas to Gianfresco Costa's etchings of villas [Dwight, EDITH WHARTON An Extraordinary Life]. She and Teddy traveled to Italy and visited some 70 villas and her account still is invaluable as a guide for the traveler as well as the gardener. For Mrs. Wharton a successful garden possessed "garden-magic", an ineffable quality that suggested 'it was born, not built'. In conveying such garden-magic, Mrs. Wharton created her own. Garrison A10.I.a. Dwight, EDITH WHARTON An Extraordinary Life, pp. 102-111.

ITALIAN VILLAS AND THEIR GARDENS
Wharton, Edith.
New York: The Century Co., 1904. First edition. First printing, American issue; Garrison's Binding A. 4to, 250pp; + endmatter (List of Books Mentioned; Architects and Landscape-Gardeners.. more
Price: $2,500.00

First edition. Large 8vo, 259pp; + end matter; signed Margaret Armstrong trade binding, deep blue cloth with, at the front panel, a brilliant green-yellow leaf-and-vine frame pink parrots stamped at the corners; gilt-stamping at spine. Minute touches of wear to tips and ends. A lovely, bright, firm, fresh copy. Near fine. Illustrated with half-tone plates. Mrs. Wharton's last and most exotic travelogue. She and her longtime friend and companion Walter Berry visited Morocco, then under French rule, at the invitation of General Hubert Lyautey. The French took care to show that despite World War I Morocco remained undisturbed. Mrs. Wharton and Berry toured by automobile for three weeks concentrating on Rabat, Salé, Volubilis, Moulay Idriss, Keknez, Fez and Marrakech. At the behest of their French hosts the writer gained admission to harems and other places generally off-limits to foreigners. Mrs. Wharton disliked travel guides as a rule and here she offers, not facts and dates, but the spirit of the country. In an introduction she wrote for the second edition, she described the country as like a "Persian illuminated manuscript all embroidered with bright shapes and subtle lines". Garrison A29.I.a.

IN MOROCCO
Wharton, Edith.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1920. First edition. Large 8vo, 259pp; + end matter; signed Margaret Armstrong trade binding, deep blue cloth with, at the front.. more
Price: $375.00

First edition. 8vo, 368pp; green cloth stamped in silver; top edge stained pale yellow; pictorial dust jacket with illustration by Edward Shenton. Pictorial endpapers and text decorations by Edward Shenton. Dustiness along top edge. Mild overall use to jacket with some creasing. Generally bright and attractive. Very good.

CROSS CREEK
Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1942. First edition. 8vo, 368pp; green cloth stamped in silver; top edge stained pale yellow; pictorial dust jacket with illustration by.. more
Price: $150.00

First edition. 8vo, 160pp; black boards with yellow cloth spine stamped in black; blue pictorial dust jacket. The writer's first book, an evocative account of life along the banks of North Carolina's Lower Neuse River. Fine. 500 GREAT BOOKS BY WOMEN, p. 260.

RIVER TIME The Frontier on the Lower Neuse
Lembke, Janet.
(New York): Lyons & Burford, (1989). First edition. 8vo, 160pp; black boards with yellow cloth spine stamped in black; blue pictorial dust jacket. The writer's first.. more
Price: $50.00

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