Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Morley, Christopher. Where the Blue Begins. William Heinemann / Doubleday Page, London / NY, 1922.
Price: US$29.50 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: xii 227 pages + 3 glossy color plates + frontis; blue illustrations on eps; 16 b/w illustrations + b/w il'd title pg; moisture stains to fore edge & bottom corner of all plates & a few text pp; back hinge starting; top edge gilt; 10" tall; wear & darkening to edges of blue cover with gilt decor & lettering on front & on darkened spine; no dj
Seller: THE OLD LIBRARY SHOP, Bethlehem, PA, U.S.A.
Price: US$30.00 + shipping
Condition: Fair
Description: Octavo. x, [1], 227 pages. 4 color illustrations by Arthur Rackham. Blue cloth hardcover with gilt title and illustration on the front cover. Faded gilt title on spine. Blue cloth is worn and faded with stains. Spine is darkened. Edge wear to cloth head and base of spine. Interior content and illustrations in good condition. Fair only.
Seller: Americana Books, ABAA, Stone Mt, GA, U.S.A.
Price: US$38.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: . . . . 8vo, hardcover. No dj, blue cloth. Vg condition. Covers lightly soiled; contents clean, no marking or writing. Binding square and tight. 227 pp., 4 color illustrations, + illustrations in the text.
Seller: Tiber Books, Cockeysville, MD, U.S.A.
Price: US$50.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 227pp. Blue boards, gilt lettering and design. Corners lightly rubbed, spine very darkened, slight darkening to edges, contents mildly age-toned, former owner's bookplate on front pastedown, binding is tight and sound. 4 color illustrations by Rackham and 16 black and white in-text illustrations.
Seller: Old Bookshelf, Wilmington, DE, U.S.A.
Price: US$60.00 + shipping
Description: First U.S. Edition. Good copy. No jacket. In light blue cloth covers with gilt (good) lettering and design on front cover and gilt lettering on spine (faded). Four color plates by Arthur Rackham in beautiful condition. Intact binding. No writing on text pages. Inscription dated 1924 on front free endpaper. Small stains on pages 4 and 5. Stain or paper defect on page 147, which doesn't bleed through or offset to facing page. Browning of endpapers. Fraying of ends of spine and corners. Moderate shelf rubbing. Darkened edges. Pictures upon request. Thank you for your patronage. Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall
Seller: Quaker House Books, Catawissa, PA, U.S.A.
Price: US$75.00 + shipping
Description: First edition of Morley's classic canine story, wonderfully illustrated by Arthur Rackham. Quarto, original publisher's cloth, top edge gilt, pictorial endpapers, illustrated with four color plates and numerous line drawings by Arthur Rackham. In very good condition with light rubbing to the crown and foot of the spine. A nice example. "Morley admirably creates a canine world through names alone. There are Mike Terrier, the curate Mr. J. Rover Poodle, the upper-class and working-class neighbors Mrs. Airedale and Mrs. Collie, the nursemaid Mrs. Spaniel and little Shaggy, her puppy, Gissing's adopted puppies Groups, Bunks, and Yelpers, haughty Mr. and Mrs. Chow and their "intolerably spotless" little Sandy, the landlady Mrs. Purps, the salesclerk Miss Whippet, the matronly Mrs. Mastiff, the compulsive shopper Mrs. Dachshund, the parishioners Mr. Dobermann-Pinscher, Mrs. Griffon, and Mrs. Retriever. There are the place names like Dalmatian Heights and the little shrine of St. Spitz. These are intermixed with humanless real locales like Paris and Atlantic City, Murray Hill and Fifth Avenue and Broadway and Wall Street, Delmonico s Restaurant and Trinity Church, and real historical personages like the Grimm brothers, Hans Christian Andersen, and Masefield; to make this our real world only inhabited by dogs, rather than some imaginary planet of dogs" (Fred Patten).
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
Morley, Christopher. Where the Blue Begins. Doubleday, 1922.
Price: US$78.12 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: William Heinemann Ltd. And Doubleday, Page & Co., London and New York, 1922. Cloth. Book Condition: Near Fine. No Jacket. Arthur Rackham (illustrator). First Edition. 10" x 7-1/2". x, 227 pp. Original blue cloth with bright gold gilt titles and decorations on the front cover and spiine which are still bright and clear. TEG. Endpapers are decorated with blue and white illustration. 4 lovely full-color, full-page illustration plates and 16 B&W drawings. A few small dents to the FC are the only distraction to this otherwise near fine copy. A clean and bright example of this scarce Rackham illustrated book
Seller: White Mountains, Rare Books and Maps, Lincoln, NH, U.S.A.
Christopher Morley. Where the Blue Begins. William Heinemann, 1922.
Price: US$85.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Nicely illustrated antique copy of "Where the Blue Begins" by Christopher Morley. 1922; William Heinemann; London. This edition features four full-page color plates and 16 line drawings by ARTHUR RACKHAM. Illustrated end papers in color. From a review: "A story of an anthropomorphized dog named Mr. Gissing, living his life in an ordinary way which turns into a search for truth, God, and the meaning of life. Elements of philosophy, religion, humor, and insight are all combined alongside the wonderful illustrations from Arthur Rackham." Condition: Light soiling to the covers and spine; light stain at the bottom edge of the front cover; tiny cloth tears to the corner tips, and at the top and bottom edges of the spine. Tight binding with no loose pages. The front pastedown has a 3" paper tear along the inner edge near the spine; there are also 2 bookplates affixed, one placed over the other. Light tanning to the end papers and pastedowns. Nice pages - mostly clean with only a few random, light smudges found. Overall the book is in Very Good- condition.
Seller: CraigsClassics, Hudson, NH, U.S.A.
Morley, Christopher. Where The Blue Begins. William Heinemann/Doubleday Page, 1922.
Price: US$125.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First American edition. 7 1/2" x 10 1/2", 227 page hardcover bound in light blue cloth with gold decorations and lettering on the spine. Blue pictorial designed endpapers and illustrated title page. Top edge gilt. A Very Good copy. Rubs and small bumps to the book's corners. Rubbing to the head and base of the spine. The book's spine is faded. Some dust spotting to the edge of the page block. Tiny dust spots and tanning to the endpapers. Name inked on the front fly leaf. No dust jacket. Four color plates and numerous black and white line drawings by Arthur Rackham.
Seller: Dearly Departed Books, Alliance, OH, U.S.A.
Price: US$170.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Quarto (10 1/4" x 7 3/4" x 1 1/4"), blue half leather with five hubs and gold lettering on spine over lighter blue cloth, illustrated by Arthur Rackham with glossy color frontispiece, 3 color plates + several line drawings, marbled endpapers, x, [xi-xii] + 227 pages. Issued without dust jacket. SCARCE Rackham and UNCOMMON Morley. The book is tight and internally clean. The leather is excellent; spine is lightly sunned. The cloth has faint mildew-like speckles. The Rackham plates are immaculate! Christopher Morley (1890 - 1957) was an prominent American journalist, novelist, essayist, and poet. He also produced stage productions and was a college lecturer. He is most remembered for light humor, The Haunted Bookshop (1955), and his studies on Sherlock Holmes.
Seller: Borg Antiquarian, Lake Forest, IL, U.S.A.
Morley, Christopher. WHERE THE BLUE BEGINS. William Heinemann, 1922.
Price: US$189.37 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 1st 1922. Almost very good condition with no wrapper. Gissing lived alone on the Canine Estates, had an income of 1000 bones a year but was not happy. A story about dogs. 4 unusual colour plates and 16 b/w line drawings. Blue cloth, gilt titles and vignette to front cover and spine. Blue and white pictorial endpapers. Top edge gilt. 227 pages. Spine and corners bumped with a little wear. Covers slightly grubby and spotted. Name plate to front pastedown. Front joint cracked at top (between pastedown and endpaper) and at base (between free-endpaper and half-title page). Foxing to prelims. Some light fingering to page margins. Contents generally clean. Packaged with care and promptly dispatched!
Seller: Stella & Rose's Books, PBFA, Tintern, MON, United Kingdom
Price: US$195.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Copyright 1922 by Doubleday, Page & Company; no other dates, indications. Large 8" x 10 1/4" design. Deep sky blue boards, gilt impressed cover and spine titles, design, moderate shelf wear, bow. Winged dog-heads in gilt at cover among the stars and curvy bi-pedal dog figure donning tophat and cane at spine. Pages very good; moderate discoloration, toning. Frontispiece color plate by Arthur Rackham with three additional whimsical color plates throughout. Additionally, decorated in b & w imagery throughout. Bind good; hinges intact. Small owner's plate at front endp: Mrs. Stanley A. Hunter, 2901 Benvenue Ave., Berkeley, Calif." Antiquarian bookstore label w/three armed spiral symbol at back endp: "Paul Elder & Co. San Francisco". Illustrated monochromatic endps. depicting canine-like human characters on horseback w/winged dog-heads overhead. Near very good rarity. Morley and Rackham! A combination calculated to bring delight to all those who appreciate artistic merit in any field. The Odyssey of Mr. Gissing has become an American classic. Sheer enjoyment from cover to cover. Its charms lighten and its satire is never bitter. Arthur Rackham is the one artist whose draughtmanship and scollery can match the rare wonder of Christopher Morley's story. A fine tale for young and old warmly illustrated by the iconic Arthur Rackham. As a child, the fable and designs are exciting and enchanting and for those of age more truths may be discovered. Morley's essential message is do not be afraid to seek out your dreams and do not be surprised if what you desire can be found right where you are. "Each in turn may call this a fairy story, a dog story, an allegory or a satire, but all will be moved by the beauty and the meaning - that seems to live within the realm of those books that go on and on making friends and spreading enchantment. Gissing, its hero, is a dog who searches the world for an ideal, and then finds in the smoke of his own furnace fire a hint of the heavenly blue that he had been seeking." "Morley admirably creates a canine world through names alone. There are Mike Terrier, the curate Mr. J. Rover Poodle, the upper-class and working-class neighbors Mrs. Airedale and Mrs. Collie, the nursemaid Mrs. Spaniel and little Shaggy, her puppy, Gissings adopted puppies Groups, Bunks, and Yelpers, haughty Mr. and Mrs. Chow and their "intolerably spotless" little Sandy, the landlady Mrs. Purps, the sales clerk Miss Whippet, the matronly Mrs. Mastiff, the compulsive shopper Mrs. Dachshund, the parishioners Mr. Dobermann-Pinscher, Mrs. Griffon, and Mrs. Retriever. There are the place names like Dalmatian Heights and the little shrine of St. Spitz. These are intermixed with humanless real locales like Paris and Atlantic City, Murray Hill and Fifth Avenue and Broadway and Wall Street, Delmonicos Restaurant and Trinity Church, and real historical personages like the Grimm brothers, Hans Christian Andersen, and Masefield; to make this our real world only inhabited by dogs, rather than some imaginary planet of dogs." - Fred Patten. Christopher Morley was an American journalist, novelist, essayist and poet. Born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and graduated in 1910 as valedictorian. He then went to New College, Oxford University for three years on a Rhodes Scholarship. He was one of the founders and a long-time contributing editor of the Saturday Review of Literature. A highly gregarious man, he was the mainstay of what he dubbed the "Three Hours for Lunch Club". 227 pages. Insured post. Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall
Seller: The BiblioFile, Rapid River, MI, U.S.A.
Price: US$222.87 + shipping
Description: FIRST EDITION T 4to. bright blue clothbound hardback with decorative gilt titles to spine and upper board, in remains of original dust jacket. Illustrated endpapers. 227pp., illustrated with 4 colour plates and 16 b/w line drawings. Previous bookseller's description in pencil to ffep. Endpapers rather tanned and light foxing to prelims and foredge. Dust jacket not price-clipped. Light edgewear to head and foot of spine. Rather tattered remains of dust jacket held in place over a piece of marbled paper. A VERY GOOD COPY IN REMAINS OF DUST JACKET. (Shelf 4) NOTE: Heavy Book (1 kg+): postage outside the UK might incur a surcharge.** Pictures available upon request, if not already displayed here.** The shop is open 7 days a week. Over 20,000 books in stock - come and browse. PayPal, credit and most debit cards welcome. Books posted worldwide. For any queries please contact us direct.
Seller: Chaucer Bookshop ABA ILAB, Canterbury, United Kingdom
Christopher Morley / Arthur Rackham. Where the Blue Begins. William Heinemann, 1922.
Price: US$225.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: "Where the Blue Begins", by Christopher Morley, and illustrated by Arthur Rackham. William Heinemann, London. 1922, first UK edition. Slightly better than very good condition in a very good dustwrapper, with 15 s net to dust jacket spine. 4 colour plates and 9 b/w line drawings. Blue cloth, gilt titles and vignette to front cover and spine. Blue and white pictorial endpapers. 227pp. Cr 4to Condition. In very good condition. No inscriptions. Dust jacket suffering some loss to bottom edge. Professionally protected. Bright clean pages and boards tightly bound. 2 corners slightly bumped. Overall very good.
Seller: Neverland Books, waalre, Netherlands
Price: US$395.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Stated Copyright 1922 by Christopher Morley. Early printing; no other dates, indications. Large 6 3/4" x 9 3/4" design. Blue boards, black spine titles, moderate shelf wear, some whitish areas of discoloration. Spine vignette of bi-pedal dog figure donning tophat and cane at spine. Pages near fine; no writing. Frontispiece color plate by Arthur Rackham: "Sometimes he suspected that he loved them as God does - at a judicious distance." Three additional whimsical color plates and b&w Rackham designs and vignettes throughout. Bind good, square; hinges intact. Scarce original wrapper, some edge wear, closed tears, rub, spine sunning; clipped, protected in acid-free clear sleeve. Front panel in blue with titles features color design matching Rackham frontispiece; front and back flaps feature summary and excerpts from this tale with small Rackham devices. Back panel advert for Books by Christopher Morley Now Published by J. B. Lippincott. Near good with very good interior of early trade volume of Rackham in same intact wrapper. Morley and Rackham! A combination calculated to bring delight to all those who appreciate artistic merit in any field. The Odyssey of Mr. Gissing has become an American classic. Sheer enjoyment from cover to cover. Its charms lighten and its satire is never bitter. Arthur Rackham is the one artist whose draughtmanship and scollery can match the rare wonder of Christopher Morley's story. A fine tale for young and old warmly illustrated by the iconic Arthur Rackham. As a child, the fable and designs are exciting and enchanting and for those of age more truths may be discovered. Morley's essential message is do not be afraid to seek out your dreams and do not be surprised if what you desire can be found right where you are. "Each in turn may call this a fairy story, a dog story, an allegory or a satire, but all will be moved by the beauty and the meaning - that seems to live within the realm of those books that go on and on making friends and spreading enchantment. Gissing, its hero, is a dog who searches the world for an ideal, and then finds in the smoke of his own furnace fire a hint of the heavenly blue that he had been seeking." "Morley admirably creates a canine world through names alone. There are Mike Terrier, the curate Mr. J. Rover Poodle, the upper-class and working-class neighbors Mrs. Airedale and Mrs. Collie, the nursemaid Mrs. Spaniel and little Shaggy, her puppy, Gissings adopted puppies Groups, Bunks, and Yelpers, haughty Mr. and Mrs. Chow and their "intolerably spotless" little Sandy, the landlady Mrs. Purps, the sales clerk Miss Whippet, the matronly Mrs. Mastiff, the compulsive shopper Mrs. Dachshund, the parishioners Mr. Dobermann-Pinscher, Mrs. Griffon, and Mrs. Retriever. There are the place names like Dalmatian Heights and the little shrine of St. Spitz. These are intermixed with humanless real locales like Paris and Atlantic City, Murray Hill and Fifth Avenue and Broadway and Wall Street, Delmonicos Restaurant and Trinity Church, and real historical personages like the Grimm brothers, Hans Christian Andersen, and Masefield; to make this our real world only inhabited by dogs, rather than some imaginary planet of dogs." - Fred Patten. Christopher Morley was an American journalist, novelist, essayist and poet. Born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and graduated in 1910 as valedictorian. He then went to New College, Oxford University for three years on a Rhodes Scholarship. He was one of the founders and a long-time contributing editor of the Saturday Review of Literature. A highly gregarious man, he was the mainstay of what he dubbed the "Three Hours for Lunch Club". Printed in the United States of America. 227 pages. Insured post. Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall
Seller: The BiblioFile, Rapid River, MI, U.S.A.
Price: US$467.50 + shipping
Description: First edition, American issue. With 4 colour plates and 16 line drawings by Arthur Rackham. 4to, publisher's original royal blue cloth lettered and decorated in gilt on the spine and upper cover. x, 227 pp. A handsome copy, clean and tight and in pleasing condition with little evidence of age or use. SCARCE FIRST EDITION AND A FINE COPY. A wonderfully imaginative tale out of Christopher Morleys oeuvre. Rackhams colour illustrations are quite unusual and marry perfectly to this splendid story. A highly unusual story in which Mr. Gissing, a gentledog of leisure contentedly residing in Canine Estates with Fuji, his butler (a Japanese pug), on an income of 1,000 bones a year, becomes dissatisfied and leaves home to search for where the blue begins (a purpose to life). "Morley admirably creates a canine world through names alone. There are Mike Terrier, the curate Mr. J. Rover Poodle, the upper-class and working-class neighbors Mrs. Airedale and Mrs. Collie, the nursemaid Mrs. Spaniel and little Shaggy, her puppy, Gissings adopted puppies Groups, Bunks, and Yelpers, haughty Mr. and Mrs. Chow and their "intolerably spotless" little Sandy, the landlady Mrs. Purps, the salesclerk Miss Whippet, the matronly Mrs. Mastiff, the compulsive shopper Mrs. Dachshund, the parishioners Mr. Dobermann-Pinscher, Mrs. Griffon, and Mrs. Retriever. There are the place names like Dalmatian Heights and the little shrine of St. Spitz. These are intermixed with humanless real locales like Paris and Atlantic City, Murray Hill and Fifth Avenue and Broadway and Wall Street, Delmonicos Restaurant and Trinity Church, and real historical personages like the Grimm brothers, Hans Christian Andersen, and Masefield; to make this our real world only inhabited by dogs, rather than some imaginary planet of dogs." - Fred Patten
Seller: Buddenbrooks, Inc., Newburyport, MA, U.S.A.
Price: US$500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: New York and London: Doubleday, Page & Co. and William Heinemann, 1922 first American trade edition now bound in three quarter leather by Zaehnsdorf with gilt devices to 5 hubbed spine. Top edge gilt. B47 Please email for photos. Larger books or sets may require additional shipping charges. Books sent via US Postal
Seller: Griffin Books, Stamford, CT, U.S.A.
Christopher Morley / Arthur Rackham. Where the Blue Begins. William Heinemann, 1922.
Price: US$625.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: "Where the Blue Begins", by CHristopher Morley and illustrated by Arthur Rackham. William Heinemann, London. Deluxe limited edition, being no 22 of 175 copies. Signed by Arthur Rackham. Signed limited edition. Boards toned/marked. Split to cloth of the spine running down each gutter but spine still attached. Slight toning to text pages. One or two light spots of foxing. No inscriptions. All plates present.
Seller: Neverland Books, waalre, Netherlands
Price: US$682.50 + shipping
Description: London/NY, William Heinemann/Doubleday, Page, 1922, first edition. TEG, black cloth spine with label to front board, issued without dust jacket, color frontispiece and three other color illustrations by Arthur Rackham along with 16 line drawings, this de luxe edition is limited to 100 copies Signed by both Morley and Rackham, this copy is unnumbered. Extremity wear and some discoloration to the boards, else very good.
Seller: James M. Dourgarian, Bookman ABAA, Concord, CA, U.S.A.