Beautiful Leather Bound Books

London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1855. 2 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A splendid Victorian full straight grain calf from the recently dispersed Country House library of Bridehead in Dorset. With gilt raised bands, twin labels and superb gilt tooling to the panels. Sydney Smith, author, philosopher, humourist and wit, whose opinions on early American literature had huge impact. A "sincere friend of America", he founded the Edinburgh Review, lectured at the Royal Institution and is still known for his rhyming salad dressing recipe!

London: Macmillan and Co., 1908. Full calf, 6 inches tall. A delightful Edwardian full calf with raised bands and fine gilt tooling to the panels and boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. There is some blotchiness to the title panel and a slight dark mark near the fore-edge of the upper board and slight rubbing. On the second blank is a long ink inscription dated, Edinburgh, 1911 and the letters T.Y.S. appear in the cartouche on the upper board. The binding has the stamp 'Bound by Otto Schultze & Co. Edinburgh'. A lovely little copy of this famous anthology "Selected from the Best Songs and Lyrical Poems in the English Language".

Not known c.1890. Full vellum, 6 1/2 inches tall. A wonderful Florentine illuminated binding with elaborate manuscript illumination around a raised gold leaf initial to the upper board and manuscript decoration to the spine, lower board and title page. This is probably the nicest Florentine vellum binding of its type that we have ever seen, being in superb condition with no repair or touching up, a vellum blank and decorated title page replacing the printed title page and being a great title, in English.

London: William Tegg, 1812-1815. 12 volume set, 8 inches tall. A superb Regency full calf binding with wide gilt bands, delicate gilt tooling with a Greek lyre centre tool to the panels and contrasting maroon label. A gilt roll and blind fillets frame the boards. Portrait, engraved title pages and full page engravings throughout. There is considerable fading to the spines and some boards, in particular that of volume I, otherwise a fine clean firm set. On the reverse of the paste down endpaper of volume one are are 2 ink inscriptions. Overall a splendid set of this scarce edition.

London: John Sharpe, 1817. 3 volumes, 5 1/2 inches tall. A pretty little Regency full calf with gilt decorated panels and red labels. Twin gilt fillets frame the ornately blind tooled boards. Each volume has an engraved frontispiece by Westall. The neat ink inscription "C.G. Geddes 1829" is on the reverse of the front free endpapers and another neat ink former owner's name on the top corner of the first blanks. A forerunner of Romantic Poetry, William Cowper was hugely popular and influential in his day.

London: John Sharpe, 1817. Full calf, 6 1/4 inches tall. A delightful Regency full calf binding with gilt and ink raised bands, so typical of the period, extra gilt panels and contrasting label. The diced boards are framed within triple gilt fillets and a wide gilt roll. With the Bookseller's Ticket of Bowdery & Kerby of 190 Oxford Street. With an engraved title page and 3 further full page engravings, all of which have some foxing, the rest of the text being clean. A fine copy of this charming tale.

Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1860. 12 volume set, 6 3/4 inches tall. A very neat Victorian half calf in lovely condition with gilt raised bands, ornate gilt tooling to the panels and contrasting twin labels. Pink edges. Each volume has an engraved frontispiece and an engraved title page. A splendid set of probably the most popular of all Victorian poems.

London: Various, 1818-1823. 8 volumes, 6 1/4 inches tall. A delightful collection of works by Thomas Moore in Georgian half 'Russia' calf with gilt raised bands and superb extra gilt panels. A splendid selection of the works of Ireland's "National Bard" in a fine binding in pristine condition.

London: J.M. Dent and Company, 1893-1894. 10 volume set, 7 inches tall. A delightful little set in a neat half morocco binding with raised bands, gilt centre tools, titles and top edges. Some rubbing and loss of head cap to the final volume. Slight fading. Embellished with illustrations by William C. Cooke and ornamentation by F.C. Tilney. A pretty set of these great novels.

London: James Duncan, 1834. 6 volumes, 8 1/2 inches tall. Two fine sets in uniform early Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, gilt tooling to the panels and twin labels. Blind fillets and corner tools frame the boards. Portrait. Foxing to the preliminaries and then clean. From the recently dispersed Country House library of Bridehead in Dorset.

Edinburgh: C. Elliot, 1809. 5 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A very neat Georgian full calf with gilt raised bands, pallets and contrasting twin labels. With the armorial bookplate of John Burton Philips of Heath House. Embellished with an engraved portrait and 26 splendid engravings by Rowlandson and others. Although entitled Miscellaneous Works, this charming set includes all of Smollett's major literary works other than his continuation of Hume's History of England. Each work has its own title page and collation. Slight rubbing and slight foxing to the plates but overall a fine set of the Works of one of Scotland's best novelists.

London: John W. Parker and Son, 1858-1870. 12 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A splendid set in Victorian full straight grain calf with gilt raised bands and fine gilt tooling to the panels. Foxing to the preliminaries, then clean. The 12 volume set is divided into two sets of 6 volumes both entitled 'The Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth'. Portrait. A fine Country House set from the Library of Bridehead in Dorset.

London: W. Allason; et al., 1819. 12 volume set, 8 1/4 inches tall. A exceptionally good looking Regency full calf with wide extra gilt raised bands, blind tooling to the panels and twin labels. With one engraved portrait and two folding maps, as called for. A few small marks to the boards, otherwise in excellent condition, inside and out. First published in 1776, Gibbon's 'Decline and Fall' was initially planned as a history of the final years of the Roman Empire but was expanded in scope to the history of the whole Roman Empire. It is still considered to be one of the greatest histories ever written.

London: The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1849. Full morocco, 7 1/2 inches tall. An impressive Victorian binding with gilt raised bands, fine extra gilt tooling to the panels and boards, gilt dentelles and all edges. Engraved illustrations throughout. Slight rubbing and a neat ink inscription, dated 1852, on the first blank. Philip Henry Gosse was an English naturalist who popularised many aspects of natural science. He natural created the world's first public aquarium at London Zoo in 1853, and coined the term "aquarium".

London: Baldwin and Craddock & Dublin: Wakeman, 1836. 5 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. An early Victorian half calf with wide gilt bands, label and dense blind tooling to the panels. Portrait, engraved title pages and full page engravings from illustrations by W. H. Brooke throughout, of a scurrilous nature! Rubbed and chipped and foxing to some plates, but a solid and complete set of this scarce work.

London: Cadell and Davies et al.' 1803-1805. 2 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. Beautiful little Regency mottled calf in pristine condition. With extra gilt tooling on a smooth back with twin labels and extraordinary mottling to the boards within a fine gilt roll. With the Fothergill bookplate and the stenciled mark of the Earls of Belmore, one of the great Irish titles. Embellished with 8 full page engravings. Bowles was inspired by the beauty of nature and his first published collection of sonnets was enthusiastically received by the public and by the Romantic Poets, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth. This is a remarkably fine set, pristine inside and out.

London: T. Caddell, 1822. 10 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A very smart country house set in full Georgian blue straight grain calf with wide gilt raised bands and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. There is an armorial device on the boards, framed within a wide blind roll and twin gilt fillets. With the Fothergill bookplate of the library from which the books were recently dispersed. Although perfectly smart on the shelf and with no splitting and with a clean text, many of the boards have evidence of being nibbled by long defunct insects. An early octavo edition in a very good looking, though blemished, Georgian full calf binding.

London: Jones & Co., 1822. Full calf, 3 1/2 inches tall. A delightful miniature Georgian full calf with gilt raised bands, red labels and gilt tooled panels. The blocked basket weave boards are framed within blind and gilt rolls. With the armorial bookplate of Robert Williams of Bride Head, a recently dispersed Dorset Country House. There is the Bookseller & Stationer (and Bookbinder's) ticket of J. Nisbet of Oxford Street. Portrait. Both binding and text block are in fine and clean condition. A lovely copy of one of the 18th century's most popular poems.