Lot 155 - Grouping of Four Antique and Vintage Books Including "The Royalty of Friendship" Inscribed to Actor William Gillette at the Garrick Theatre, New York City, 1906, "Captains Courageous" By Rudyard Kipling, and "Spinifex Walkabout"

Grouping of four antique and vintage books. "The Royalty of Friendship" by Alice L. Williams is a cream cloth hardcover with gold-stamped classical column design on the front board. Published by Samuel Edson Cassino, Salem, Massachusetts, with copyright dates of 1886 and 1902. The flyleaf bears a handwritten inscription reading: "To Mr. William Gillette - America's Greatest Actor - With every possible good wish and in grateful appreciation of a most delightful evening spent at the Garrick Theatre New York City. Saturday evening December 22nd 1906 - Geo. Merwin K. Nelson." William Gillette was the celebrated American actor and playwright known for his stage portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. The cover shows soiling and light staining.

"Captains Courageous" by Rudyard Kipling is bound in red cloth with a gold-stamped elephant medallion on the front board and gilt-decorated spine. Copyright 1896 and 1897 by Rudyard Kipling, printed at The Country Life Press, Garden City, New York. Published by Doubleday, Page & Company, 1924. Dedicated to James Conland, M.D., Brattleboro, Vermont. The copyright page bears Kipling's swastika colophon, a personal mark used by the author. The spine shows splitting and wear at the head and tail.

"Spinifex Walkabout: Hitch-hiking in Remote North Australia" by Coralie and Leslie Rees was first published in Great Britain in 1953 by George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd, London, in association with The Australasian Publishing Co. Pty Ltd. The frontispiece shows an aerial photograph of the Hermannsburg Aboriginal Mission in Central Australia. Pages show foxing throughout.

The fourth volume is a dark cloth-bound illustrated book with a gold-stamped knight on the front board. The text block is loose with detached pages, and content includes illustrated sections. This volume is in poor condition with heavy wear to the boards, exposed spine, and loose pages.