Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Strong, L.A.G. Dewer Rides. Charles Boni, 1929.
Price: US$15.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Cream paper covers with muted green illustration of books and trees in a storm, black titles, 12mo, 350 pages plus a note from the publisher, beautiful endpapers; slight warp to text block, toning to spine. An installment of The Boni Paper Books series. The Boni Paper Books series was the brain child of Charles and Albert Boni, and an experiment in the new field of American paperback book publishing and the brand-new field of subscription mail order book clubs. The club launched in September of 1929 with The Bridge of San Luis Rey being the first title. The series lasted for 16 issues, but was not able to weather the financial strain of the great depression and ceased publishing in 1930. Along the way, the brothers created the spin-off paperback series Bonibooks, which reprinted many of the Paper Books titles as well as a number of other titles. Bonibooks were not sold by subscription.
Seller: Crooked House Books & Paper, CBA, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
Thornton Wilder, Rockwell Kent. THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY. Charles Boni, New York, 1929.
Price: US$20.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 5 x 8 in. Paper wraps. Condition is VERY GOOD ; one corner chipped. edges woen, spine ends chipped, spine and surrounding area toned with a few water spots. Binding tight and text unmarked. Fic. Stax.
Seller: Andre Strong Bookseller, Blue Hill, ME, U.S.A.
Price: US$25.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: 5 x 8 in. Paper wraps. Condition is GOOD ; covers darkened and scuffed with loss to paper at spine. Binding tight. Text clean and unmarked. RK. Stax.
Seller: Andre Strong Bookseller, Blue Hill, ME, U.S.A.
Thornton Wilder. The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929 Paperback). Charles Boni, New York, NY, 1929.
Price: US$46.90 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: Charles Boni Paper Book 1929. Near fine paperback. Spine is somewhat darkened by the sun, otherwise no visible use. Not ex-library, no markings of any kind. Stiff wraps, tight sewn binding, Seems to be a first paperback edition, not a reprint. To see our collection of rare and unusual books click "More information about this seller", then choose "List this seller's books". Email for photos and additional information. Ships media rate with tracking from Alaska (MAY TAKE LONGER THAN ABEBOOKS ESTIMATE). Separate arrangements are required for international or expedited shipping
Seller: Observance of Hermits, Fritz Creek, AK, U.S.A.
Thornton Wilder. The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Charles Boni Papert Books, New York, 1929.
Price: US$50.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: 142pp. FIRST TRADE PAPERBACK IN THE USA. An important prototype edition in the history of book publishing. According to the publisher's statement, "The Paper Books was founded in nineteen twenty-nine by Charles Boni to place good books, well designed and carefully made, within reach of any reader." The Bridge of San Luis Rey was set up and printed in May, 1929, as an example of the format. Boni offered, for a subscription of $5 per year, a new Paper Book on the twenty-fifth of each month. Sixteen issues came out, and then the series ended after the economic crisis of 1929. This precedes the first Penguin paperback and the first Pocketbook. A near fine copy in orange wraps illustrated by Rockwell Kent, showing the wind blowing Paper Books through the sky. Very light rubbing to extremities, light fading of spine and some faint smudges to covers. Internally pristine.
Seller: Bryn Mawr Bookstore, Cambridge, MA, U.S.A.
Wilder, Thornton. The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Albert & Charles Boni, New York, 1929.
Price: US$100.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Limited edition of which this is no. 63. Signed by both Thornton Wilder and the illustrator Rockwell Kent on the last page. Lacks the slipcase and the set of proofs (which came only with the first hundred copies)). Good. Boards with wear at corners and spine-ends. Small area of loss to cloth at head of spine. Previous owner bookplate affixed to front pastedown. Persistent foxing throughout - heavier on the first few pages. Binding is sound. 120 pages.
Seller: Brazos Bend Books, Houston, TX, U.S.A.
Price: US$100.00 + shipping
Description: Octavos. (18.5cm x 12 cm.); (18 cm. x 12 cm.) 142 pp.; 269 pp. Pictorial wrappers with graphics in orange and green, respectively. Pictorial endpapers. Edgewear, with some loss to heads and tails of spine with little loss to lettering. Modest toning and light spotting to both volumes. Interiors remain clean and text blocks tight. Overall, Very Good. Legendary publisher, Charles Boni, was a risk taker. In the 1920s, he bet that newly middle-class Americans who were enjoying a bit of a financial boom would be willing to invest in books to fill the libraries of their larger, middle class homes. Boni, once part owner of the Boni & Liveright publishing company, knew that hardcover books were still expensive to the general public. With his new company, Charles Boni and the promise ".to place good books, well designed and carefully made, within reach of any reader.", Boni would experiment with a new subscription-based book company. "Paper Books" were launched. Designed by artist, Rockwell Kent, "Paper Books" became the first trade paperbacks published in the United States and an affordable option for a home library. Largerly criticized by traditional publishers, "Paper Books" eventually fell victim not to their critics, but to fate and timing as their initial publishing was September, 1929 -- one month before the great Stock Market Crash and the beginning of The Great Depression. Only 16 "Paper Books" were eventually published but Boni's legacy and premonition proved correct as paperback publishing now far superceeds hardback publishing. These two books represent the very beginning of paperback publishing. Thornton Wilder's classic, "The Bridge of San Luis Rey", was the first "Paper Book" printed and designed as a show of format, given to the consumer "for free" at subscription. "The Golden Wind" by Takashi Ohta (translated by Margaret Sperry), is the first published book by Charles Boni's "Paper Books". Boni, himself a child of immigrants, placed another bet on the well-travelled, immigrant, Ohta, who had been exiled from Japan because of his noble family's involvement in democratic reform in his home country. Both books serve as fine examples of the history of mass-market book publishing in the United States.
Seller: The Beautiful American, Jersey City, NJ, U.S.A.
Price: US$200.00 + shipping
Description: Octavo, 120 pages. In Good plus condition. Bound in light green cloth gilt text on brown spine label and illustrations on both covers. Housed in publisher's Good plus blue slipcase. Slipcase has mild edgewear and shelfwear and slight tearing to head edge of spine. Boards have sunning to both covers and spine. Textblock has light foxing to some pages and to edges. Signed by Thornton Wilder and Rockwell Kent on opposite of dedication page. RWO. 1371855. Special Collections.
Seller: Second Story Books, ABAA, Rockville, MD, U.S.A.
Wilder, Thornton. The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Albert & Charles Boni, New York, 1929.
Price: US$225.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Italian Brother Juniper, in Peru in 1714 converting heathens, witnesses the seemingly random deaths of five people in a bridge disaster and attempts to determine 'why THOSE five?' Published in 1927, the book was a best-seller, winning the Pulitzer prize in 1928 and first filmed in 1929, and is here offered by the original publisher in a limited edition, illustrated with seven nearly full page color lithographs by Rockwell Kent; number 117 of 1100 printed, SIGNED by Wilder and Kent on the last page. Hardcover in slipcase, as pictured; book shows some rubbing & spotting, minor tanning to endsheets; slipcase a bit rubbed & chipped. Size: Quarto
Seller: Bookworks [MWABA, IOBA], Beloit, WI, U.S.A.
Wilder, Thornton. The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Albert & Charles Boni, New York, 1929.
Price: US$225.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Limited edition of 1,100 copies, of which this is no. 892. Signed by both Thornton Wilder and the illustrator Rockwell Kent at the back. Good. The leather title label on the spine is largely chipped off. Boards a bit toned at edges and on spine. Some browning/foxing to blank endpapers, contents clear and bright. Housed in a Good, quite sound slipcase, which is also numbered "892" at bottom of spine. 120 pages.
Seller: Brazos Bend Books, Houston, TX, U.S.A.
Wilder, Thornton. THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY. Albert and Charles Boni, New York, 1929.
Price: US$245.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Illustrated by Rockwell Kent. Sm 4to. Paper covered boards with wraparound Rockwell Kent illustration, and gilt lettering on vellum spine label. Gilt top stain. 123 pages. Limited/numbered signed: 674/1100. SIGNED by both Thornton Wilder and Rockwell Kent on the illustration facing the limitation page. No other names. Lacking the publisher's slip case. Collectable copy of the Limited, Signed edition issued in 1929.
Seller: Waugh Books, Lawrence, KS, U.S.A.
Price: US$265.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Signed by Thornton Wilder and Rockwell Kent on the colophon. Limited edition, hand-numbered 89 of "nineteen hundred twenty-nine, eleven hundred copies". Illustrated in color. Pictorial yellow cloth binding with a leather spine label, and gilt tops. Label is chipped at the bottom. The edges and spine are lightly rubbed and fraying, with mild occasional wear. Bookplate on the ffep. Tight, crisp, and unmarked interior.
Seller: The BOOKtique, Lake Oswego, OR, U.S.A.
Wilder, Thornton. THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY [Rockwell Kent]. Albert & Charles Boni: New York, 1929.
Price: US$287.50 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Color illus. by Rockwell Kent, 10.5 x 7", pict green cloth, 120pp. Covers have light soiling and spotting, spine sunned, minor scuffing to leather spine label else good to very good condition. LIMITED TO 1100 COPIES, THIS IS NUMBER 328 AND SIGNED BY BOTH THORNTON WILDER AND ROCKWELL KENT. SCARCE.
Seller: John K King Used & Rare Books, Detroit, MI, U.S.A.
Wilder, Thornton. The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Albert & Charles Boni, New York, 1929.
Price: US$300.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Hardcover, signed by Wilder and Kent, limited no. 571/1100, has very slight skew to spine, very slight bumps to spine ends and corners with boards at spine ends starting to peek through, light sunning to spine, and some rubbing to covers with slight soiling, otherwise a solid Good+ copy.
Seller: Fahrenheit's Books, Denver, CO, U.S.A.
WILDER, THORNTON.. THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY. Albert and Charles Boni, New York, 1929.
Price: US$300.00 + shipping
Description: This is copy #599/1100, SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR AND THE ILLUSTRATOR. Housed in acustom slipcase with only minor wear. 120pp. This was Wilder's second novel, after "The Cabala" in 1926. The book was first published in 1927, and he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Literature for the book in 1928 (the first of three he would win). Rockwell Kent (1882-1971) was an American painter, printmaker, book illustrator, writer, adventurer. Size: Imperial Octavo
Seller: Glenn Books, ABAA, ILAB, Prairie Village, KS, U.S.A.
Wilder, Thornton. The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Albert & Charles Boni, NY, 1929.
Price: US$400.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Textblock very clean, unmarked and tight; Signed by Thornton Wilder and Rockwell Kent on the full-color lithograph at the rear, facing the limitation page; The boards are lightly edge-rubbed and minimally sunned; The spine is sunned to a light brown with the leather spine title complete and bright; This is copy 516 of 1100 and is protected by the original clear, five-mil mylar jacket. Lacks the slipcase. 123p. Size: 4to - Over 9 ¾" -12" Tall
Seller: Clausen Books, RMABA, Colorado Springs, CO, U.S.A.
Wilder, Thornton. The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Albert & Charles Boni, New York, 1929.
Price: US$400.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 10.75" x 7.5" SIGNED by author and illustrator. Limited Edition number 580 of 929. Wilder's classic tale-- on July 20, 1714, "the finest bridge in all Peru" collapses and five people die. Signed by Wilder and Kent on the full-color lithograph at the rear, facing the limitation page; Light discoloration to spine. Light foxing to back cover. Includes slipcase. Textblock clean, unmarked and tight.
Seller: B Street Books, ABAA and ILAB, San Mateo, CA, U.S.A.
Wilder, Thornton Niven. The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Albert & Charles Boni, New York, 1929.
Price: US$400.00 + shipping
Description: Kent, Rockwell. No. 606 of 1100 copies, signed by Wilder and Kent. Illustrated with 7 colour lithographs including title-page by Rockwell Kent. 120 pp. Printed on Vidalon, designed and made at the Pynson Press. 1 vols. Tall 8vo. Wilder's classic tale of five random individuals who meet their deaths together in 18th century Peru; a splendid example of bookmaking by Elmer Adler's Pynson Press. It also was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize and basis for 3 movie versions, in 1929, 1944 and 2004. Original specially designed decorated pictorial cloth designed by Kent, leather spine label, t.e.g. In blue paper slipcase Illustrated with 7 colour lithographs including title-page by Rockwell Kent. 120 pp. Printed on Vidalon, designed and made at the Pynson Press. 1 vols. Tall 8vo No. 606 of 1100 copies, signed by Wilder and Kent.
Seller: James Cummins Bookseller, ABAA, New York, NY, U.S.A.
THORTON WILDER. THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY. Albert & Charles Boni, New York, 1929.
Price: US$400.94 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Pictorial cloth binding, Title Leather Label on Spine. Cover with very superficial fading. (Request Picture) otherwise Very Good. INSIDE IS CLEAN, COMPLETE, AND TIGHT. 120 Pages plus limitation page with illustration SIGNED BY BOTH THORTON WILDER AND ROCKWELL KENT. THIS IS NUMBER #469 OF 1,000 COPIES SIGNED BY BOTH AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR. (There were also 100 Deluxe copies printed) Slipcase Good only but still holding tight with a bit of tape.
Seller: Barry's Books, San Antonio, TX, U.S.A.
Price: US$500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Some tanning to the clith and spine, else.
Seller: Arundel Books, Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
Price: US$625.00 + shipping
Description: Edition limited to 1100 copies signed by both Wilder and Kent, this being copy no. 170; small folio, pp. 120, [3]; illustrated title-p. and 6 near full-p. color lithographs by Kent; original pictorial cloth also by Kent, leather label on spine lettered in gilt, publisher's slipcase; spine slightly discolored, slipcase a little soiled, else about fine throughout.
Seller: Rulon-Miller Books (ABAA / ILAB), St. Paul, MN, U.S.A.
Price: US$1250.00 + shipping
Description: 120 pp. Illustrated by Rockwell Kent. Small folio, publisher's illustrated cloth with leather label. First illustrated edition; No. 807 of 1100 copies, signed by Wilder and Kent. Slightly cocked; cloth a little browned; some chipping to leather label. A very good copy. This copy is inscribed by Thornton Wilder to actress Ruth [Gordon] on the front free endpaper in 1933.
Seller: Jeffrey H. Marks, Rare Books, ABAA, Rochester, NY, U.S.A.