Inscribed Books

An inscribed book bears the hand of its author. The inscription is a handwritten dedication addressed to a named person: a friend, a fellow writer, a critic — a recipient whose own history adds something of its own to that of the book. The signed copy bears only the signature, without any dedication. The distinction matters: for a collector, an inscription to someone close to the author or to a figure of his time does not carry the same weight as a signature appended at a signing.

This selection brings together both categories — inscribed copies and signed copies — across every type of item in the collection. Each inscription is transcribed and described in the listing; the recipient, when identified, is named there and added to the bookshop's index of provenances. Filters allow inscribed copies to be separated from copies bearing only a signature, or to be cross-referenced with first editions.

From a contemporary inscription on a first edition to a volume signed at a public meeting, these copies are unique by nature: an edition may exist in hundreds of copies, but the dedication exists only once.