We've been very fortunate in procuring several wonderful new items about which we're extremely excited.  Since the Oscar season is almost upon us we've brought in some really exciting one-of-a-kind  items of Hollywoodiana which certainly won't remain here for long.  One, the shooting script of the blockbuster film BARBIE, signed by both writer-director Great Gerwig and star Margot Robbie, and presented in a gorgeous, obviously pink, four-paneled chemise case highlighted with the Barbie poster on the cover.

The other, an original shooting script of THE STING, the huge box office blockbuster and Oscar winner for Best Original Screenplay.  This  truly one-of-a-kind item signed by Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning, Ray Walston and Eileen. Brennan.  A truly amazing collectible presented in one of our wonderful four-paneled cases, complete with the great Newman-Redford graphic illustration on the cover. 

But what we're both truly over the moon about (other than some other recent purchases) is our acquisition of Oscar Wilde's very own (and obviously treasured) copy of Shelley's poems. This made infinitely more important as Wilde has written on the rear cover his own name and address.

 

And now to 2025.... with hopes, prayers and heartfelt wishes for the conclusion and permanent end to these catastrophic fires... with a restoration of peace accompanied by flourishing, continuous good health, and an absence of any and all torment or troubles.   

Here at Mystery Pier, we remain grateful to each and every one of you who have brought us -- and who continue to bring us -- such joy with your custom, your friendships, and the priceless value of your loyalty.

Our heartfelt thanks to you is truly limitless.

 https://www.ft.com/content/7fb7f53e-d2d8-48e9-8f8f-c4f91c730e29 

 

Different strokes…….

Sunday June 15, 2014

When Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow" was first published, the New York Times reviewer said it was "bonecrushingly dense, compulsively elaborate, silly, obscene, funny, tragic, pastoral, historical, philosophical, poetic, grindingly dull, inspired, horrific, cold, bloated, beached, and blasted."
If that sounds good to you, we've got a gorgeous First Edition: $3,500.

How 'bout this?

Friday June 13, 2014

Who'da thought?  --  Arthur Conan Doyle's original name for the world's most famous detective was -- would you believe? -- Sherringford Hope.  Who knows where Sherringford comes from, but Hope was the name of a whaling ship that the author loved.  In any case, Doyle's wife Louisa thought her husband's name choices were awful and she urged him to come...

Uh-Oh

Monday June 9, 2014

Immediately upon the publication of "Ulysses" James Joyce was considered a genius.  Like a modern day rock star he was invariably stopped on the street and asked for his autograph.  One day, in Switzerland, a stranger walked up to him and said, "Oh, Mr Joyce, please -- May I kiss the hand that wrote "Ulysses?"  Joyce looked at him, shook...

ORIGINAL TITLES

Saturday June 7, 2014

How's this for some trivia?

Actual, Original Titles (which fortunately got changed):

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter was originally called The Mute

All the President's Men was originally At This Point in Time

The Blackboard Jungle was originally To Climb the Wall

Brideshead Revisited was originally The House of the Faith

Lolita was originally The Kingdom by the Sea

Roots was originally Before This Anger

The Red Badge of Courage was originally Private Fleming, His Various...

Interesting Fact

Friday June 6, 2014

It was Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland, who was the very first person to suggest putting the title of the book on the paper dust jacket.  He proposed the idea to his publisher and -- voila! -- it became the accepted practice from then on.  So the one that started it all was Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark.

Cool stuff

Wednesday June 4, 2014

Fascinating what people say on their deathbeds. The following are true quotes, actually documented by witnesses:

Oscar Wilde: "Either that wallpaper goes, or I do."

Lord Byron: "Now I shall go to sleep. Good night."

Eugene O'Neill: "Born in a hotel room -- and God damn it -- died in a hotel room."

Emily Dickinson: "The fog is rising."

Edgar Allen Poe: "Lord, help my...

News for Tuesday 06.03.14

Tuesday June 3, 2014

First a bit of explanation and a bid for your kind patience. This new site of ours obviously requires hours and hours (if not days and weeks) of adding and refining new titles, current titles, photos, descriptions, etc., and of course nothing is ever fast enough for us. Please, PLEASE bear with us. We’re trying. We’re trying hard. And we’ll...

The New MysteryPierBooks.com

Sunday June 1, 2014

Welcome to the new enlarged and enlivened website of Mystery Pier (called “One of the Most Important First Edition Bookshops in the United States”). We hope and trust that you’ll find the site easily navigable as well as informative, educational and, most importantly, enjoyable.

Since the shop’s opening in 1998 (a nice long time now), we’ve had the great good fortune...