What is a rare book?

Many booksellers define a rare book as one they may have encountered only once or twice in their entire career. We have a few of those upstairs in Walden Pond Books' Rare Book Room, but the majority of books we collect there are better defined as "scarce", or "uncommon", or "unusual", or just plain... "interesting".

Some are first editions of works by famous (and not yet famous) authors, and some are signed by those authors. Some are noteworthy for their age, or for their beautiful bindings, or for their unique illustrations. And some are just books that need care and protection. We value them all, and we hope you'll find a book or two in the Rare Book Room that you'll value enough to take home with you. Stop by and browse or call 510-832-4438 for an appointment.

Be sure to browse through our current offering of books on eBay. We take pride in our status as a Top Rated Plus Seller with 100% customer satisfaction! We add books weekly so check back often!


A few examples of what we're currently offering on eBay:

TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf Hogarth Press | London | 1927 12mo | First Edition, First Printing Housed in custom box Hardcover volume bound in blue cloth with gilt titles to spine. Page ends are slightly foxed, else exterior is pristine. Cloth is vibrant and clean. Spine is straight, binding is tight and firm, boards are sound, joints and hinges are taut, and corners are sharp. No markings or tears to interior whatsoever. Some foxing throughout. Pp. 16-17 show wear with stains and cracked hinge. Ivory dust jacket with printed blue and black illustrative titles. Jacket design by Vanessa Bell. Rubbing and toning to jacket all around, with spine slightly sunned. No tears or chips. Dust jacket has been professionally restored at spine caps and corners. Jacket is fully protected in an archival sleeve. Volume is housed inside a specially crafted folding box bound in navy cloth with gilt titles to spine. One two inch split to top of front joint and light bumping of two corners. Otherwise, box is clean and sturdy. A stunning first edition of Woolf's masterwork! It is very rare to encounter a copy with its original dust jacket in this excellent condition. The perfect addition to any collector's library. CONDITION: VERY GOOD + PRICE: US$ 6,750.00 CURRENTLY AVAILABLE

A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH by Jules Verne Henry L. Shepard & Co. | Boston | c.1874 Illustrated by Riou Hardcover bound in vibrant green cloth, gilt title, illustration, and adornment to spine and front cover. Some bumping and fraying to spine caps, edges, and corners, most pronounced at spine caps. Spine panel and front board are faded toward top. Cloth of rear board shows a few stains, scuffs, and smudges, as well as faded marks. Edge of text block is age-toned. Spine is slightly cocked. Binding is tight. Interior pages show occasional foxing and dark stains and smudges, as well as faint moisture staining along the bottom edge. Page 10 has a closed tear. Apart from a few erased marks to front matter, no notation or marking. Hinge is fragile, beginning to crack at front endpaper, and already cracked at the rear endpaper, yet binding remains firm. A few small crinkles, tears, and folds to page corners and edges. Text and illustrations are clear and legible. CONDITION: GOOD PRICE: US$ 225.00 CURRENTLY AVAILABLE

THE DAY OF THE JACKAL by Frederick Forsyth Illustrated by Christopher Zacharow The endpaper maps and the foldout schematic drawing of the Jackal's custom-built rifle were specially commissioned for this edition from artist Walter Hortens by the Franklin Library. Franklin Library | Pennsylvania | 1987 pp. 380 | Franklin Library Collectors Edition Hardcover bound in midnight blue leather. Silver gilt titles to spine and silver gilt pictorials to front and back boards. Silver gilt page edges. Exterior is pristine. Boards are smooth and clean. Spine is straight. Hinges are taut. Text block is firm. Corners are sharp. Interior is immaculate. Pages are bright and crisp. No markings, tears, foxing, nor soiling. No toning, dogears, nor wrinkles. Equal parts political intrigue, mystery, and historical fiction, The Day of the Jackal was the 1971 recipient of the esteemed Edgar Award by The Mystery Writers of America and is acclaimed as one of literature's iconic suspense novels. A beautiful collectable edition for any mystery lover's library! CONDITION: NEAR FINE PRICE: US$ 50.00 CURRENTLY AVAILABLE

Here are a few of our past favorites - already sold and typical of others currently shelved in the Rare Book Room:

THE NAKED LUNCH by William Burroughs Olympia Press, Paris, 1959 First Printing, First Edition 226 pp. A VERY SCARCE first printing of the "Travellers Companion" first edition that was banned by obscenity laws in the U.S. and the U.K. Olive green paperback with original dust jacket and all first edition points: green decorative border on title page "Francs: 1,500" and "Not to be sold in the U.S.A. or U.K." on both the back cover and the rear flap of the dust jacket. A slight inward bow to spine, although binding remains tight with no loose or torn pages. A bit of shelf-wear to head-cap and tail-cap, otherwise exterior is pristine. Miniscule stains to the edges of a few pages, else interior is immaculate - bright pages unmarred by markings, creases, or foxing. The extremely rare dust jacket is worn and fragile, but is unclipped with the cover illustration remaining clear and vibrant. DJ is now housed in a protective archival sleeve which holds it together quite nicely. A true first edition with its original dust jacket - one of only 5,000 copies of the first printing. VOLUME CONDITION: VERY GOOD DUST JACKET CONDITION: GOOD- PRICE: US$ 850.00 SOLD!

MOBY DICK or THE WHALE by Herman Melville Illustrated by Rockwell Kent The Lakeside Press, Chicago, 1930 Limited edition of 1000 copies Three-volume set: 279, 284 & 282 pp. ~ Dimensions: 8" x 12" This set is regarded as the definitive illustrated edition of Moby Dick and hailed as a masterpiece of 20th century book illustration. Only 1000 copies were ever printed. A three-volume set of hardcovers in black cloth with silver abstract decorations to cover and vignette and titles to spine. Black stained top edges and deckled fore edges. Volumes show negligible rubbing to covers. Silver decorations remain bright and unmarred. Corners slightly bumped. Some slight wear and fading to head cap and tail. Top edge of front cover of Vol. I is slightly frayed. Volume interiors are pristine, with light toning to end papers. Several leaves are unopened. No writing or tears noted. Pages are clean, crisp and bright. No aluminum slipcase. Ink-and-wash illustrations by Rockwell Kent throughout. Limited run of 1,000 copies. One of four books, including Edgar Allan Poe's Tales, Henry David Thoreau's Walden, and Richard Henry Dana's Two Years Before the Mast, produced for R. R. Donnelley and Sons' Lakeside Press "Four American Books" campaign. Moby Dick was the only one illustrated by Rockwell Kent and proved to be by far the most popular of the series. The artist noted that his illustrations were meant to evoke the "midnight darkness enveloping human existence, the darkness of the human soul, the abyss - such is the mood of Moby Dick." CONDITION: VERY GOOD+ to NEAR FINE PRICE: US$ 2,950.00 SOLD!

BABE RUTH'S OWN BOOK OF BASEBALL by George Herman Ruth G.P. Putnam's Sons, (Knickerbocker Press), New York/London, 1928 First Edition (so stated) 301 pp. ~ Dimensions: 5 & 1/2" x 8" AN INDISPENSABLE BASEBALL MEMOIR - SCARCE IN THIS CONDITION A handsome copy of the scarce stated first edition of Babe Ruth's autobiographical book of baseball strategy and tactics. The gilt titles and crossed bats decoration on the front board are bright and unrubbed. The spine is slightly rippled and sunned yet its titles are clearly legible. The royal blue cloth covers are clean and bright with just a bit of rubbing to the corner tips. The binding is very firm and tight with no endpaper gutter cracks or splits. All is intact and complete with all 31 photographs present. The interior is fresh and crisp though with a slight crease to the bottom inner edge of some pages. There are no tears or dogears, no previous owner's name, no bookplate, no writing or marking whatsoever. The rear affixed endpaper bears a tiny label from the original bookseller (J.W. Robinson Co. of Los Angeles) with the original price ($2.50) still attached. CONDITION: VERY GOOD PRICE: US$ 950.00 SOLD!

TWO IN VAGABONDIA ~ An Interlude by Mary Lyle McClure and Mary Louise Sims Inscribed and signed by Mary Lyle McClure on the front free endpaper Illustrated with full-page photographic plates Meador Publishing Co., Boston, 1932 FIRST PRINTING, FIRST EDITION 198 pp. ~ Dimensions: 5 & 3/4" x 8 & 1/8" A scarce and sought-after travelogue/memoir - rarely found in this excellent condition, signed by Mary Lyle McClure, and with an unclipped dust jacket. The remarkable experiences of two American girls travelling through Germany in the first decade of the 20th century. Even more remarkable a century later is the experience of reading of a world now forever gone - of characters, institutions, buildings, and beliefs which the ravages of two World Wars would destroy. The charm and innocence of this book (and of its authors) has only been enhanced - heartbreakingly so - by history. VOLUME CONDITION: NEAR-FINE DUST JACKET CONDITION: VERY GOOD PRICE: US$ 350.00 SOLD!

LOLA BLANCA Y AZULEJO DE PUEBLA Texto, fotografias y dibujos de Enrique A. Cervantes (Text, photographs, and drawings by Enrique A. Cervantes) IN TWO VOLUMES: Tomo Primero (Volume I): Pre-colonial to 16th century history, overview of techniques, makers' marks, ceramic composition, etc. Tomo Segundo (Volume II): 17th to 20th century history, architecture, design, techniques, etc. Privately printed in Spanish in a limited and numbered edition Mexico, 1939 ~ First edition, First printing Dos mil ejemplares numerados - 629 (2000 numbered copies - this copy is 629) Vol. I: 303 pp. + index and prelim. / Volume II: 332 pp. + index Dimensions of each volume: 8 & 5/8" x 11 & 1/4" Enrique A. Cervantes' work is the most comprehensive and detailed study of over four centuries of Mexican earthenware and ceramics ever written. Almost never found outside libraries and private collections, these volumes in the Walden Pond Rare Book Room are perhaps the last available copies in pristine condition and in their original glassine jackets as first issued. Hundreds of drawings and photographs of tile design, architectural exteriors and interiors, etc. Scores of full-page tipped-in plates - most in bright color - of statuary, ceramic vases, pitchers, plates and tiles. The ceramic ware examined by Cervantes is known in Mexico today as "talavera poblana", named after the colonial ceramic center of Puebla de los Angeles (commonly known as Puebla). CONDITION: FINE PRICE: US$ 400.00 SOLD!

THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J. R. R. Tolkien Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1974 Collector's Edition First edition, stated first printing of the one-volume slip case edition Hardcover bound in red leatherette. Exterior is immaculate. Vibrant gilt titles to spine and boards. Boards are clean and smooth. Corners square and sharp. Binding firm and tight as a drum. No rubs, bumps, or scuffs whatsoever. Other than a very slight bump to its spine, the slipcase is near mint and houses the volume snugly. Interior is near perfect. The sole flaw to the interior is located on page 11 of the Prologue: a small patch of faded text (see photo). Otherwise, pages are pristine: all is crisp and bright. Illustrations clean and vivid. No markings, tears, creases, wrinkles, or foxing. It appears this volume was never read. This is the first printing of the Collector's Edition that was issued on November 1, 1974. An indispensable volume for any Tolkien collector! CONDITION: NEAR-FINE PRICE: US$ 375.00 SOLD