Beautiful Leather Bound Books

London: George Bell and Sons, 1874. 2 volume set, 11 1/4 inches tall. A magnificent Victorian full morocco with gilt raised bands, superb gilt tooling to the panels and triple calf labels. The boards are decorated with a series of gilt panels the main panel being of the highest quality. Gilt dentelles and all edges. There is heavy foxing to the preliminaries which is gone almost completely after the title page. Embellished with hundreds of vignettes, very many full page plates and a dozen coloured maps and plans. A remarkable set.

London: Cassell and Company, 1901. 2 volume set, 9 inches tall. A handsome Edwardian half calf with gilt raised bands, splendid gilt tooling to the panels and twin labels. With bookplate reading: "George McKay. First King's Dragoon Guards". Illustrated with 16 colour plates and a plan of the castle, which is complete but with a tear on its fold.

London: James Toovey, 1869. 3 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A fine little set in crushed half morocco by Bickers with raised bands, gilt titles and top edges. Bookplate. Ford collaborated with various playwrights during the Jacobean and Caroline eras and is best known for the 8 plays he wrote as sole author, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore'; 'The Broken Heart'; 'The Queen'; 'The Lover's Melancholy'; 'Love's Sacrifice'; 'Perkin Warbeck '; 'The Lady's Trial' and 'The Fancies Chaste and Noble'. All with themes of passion and morality. A scarce title in a very neat binding.

Oxford: University,1772. Full morocco, 11 inches tall. A spectacular full red straight grain morocco with wide gilt bands and flamboyant gilt tooling to the panels on a smooth back. On the boards a gilt roll frames a fiery gilt central device incorporating green calf onlays and tiny gilt angels. All edges gilt. Two armorial bookplates, the earlier of John Ludford Esq. of Ansley Warwickshire and an neat ink inscription on the reverse of the front free end paper. A finely printed tall 'Book of Common Prayer' which includes the 'Rites and Ceremonies of the Church' and the 'Psalter or Psalms of David' in excellent condition.

London: George Bell and Sons, 1887. 2 volume set, 7 inches tall. A superb Victorian full calf binding by Worsfold with gilt raised bands, twin labels and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. Pink edges. From the library and with the gilt leather plate of Hannah, the Countess of Roseberry. Some offsetting of the plates and a small neat ink previous owner's name on the first blank. Lady Mary wrote notable letters describing her travels through Europe and the Ottoman Empire where she saw and wrote extensively concerning the practice of slavery along with the treatment of slaves by the Turks.

Edinburgh: William Paterson, 1870. 2 volume set, 8 inches tall. A rather beautiful full crushed morocco binding by Grieve of Edinburgh with gilt bands, a tall olive label and fine gilt floral tooling to the panels on a smooth back. Double gilt fillets and corner tools frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Armorial bookplate. A very fine reprint of the 1776 edition. One of a limited edition of 201 copies.

Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1863-1887. 8 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A very good looking Victorian half calf binding by Mudie with gilt raised bands, neat gilt tooling to the panels and contrasting red and black labels. With the armorial bookplate of Sir Thomas Longmore, the highly distinguished military doctor and surgeon famed for serving in every major engagement of the Crimean War, even while suffering from frostbite. Illustrated throughout with plans, many folding, of battle sites. A superb set of this great Military history with a splendid provenance.

London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1883. 3 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A superb full Victorian calf binding with gilt raised bands, extra gilt panels and twin labels. Twin gilt and a blind filet frames the boards. With the tiny bookplate of S.A.G.. There is a strange pink stain on the margin of the first leaf of text. Completed and edited by Froude after the death of Thomas Carlyle, the great historian and philosopher, and husband of Jane Welsh Carlyle.

Paris: Printed by Jules Didot senior, published by Baudry and Amyot, 1825. 7 volume set, 8 inches tall. A most attractive early nineteenth century half calf with gilt raised bands, delicate gilt tooling to the panels and unusual green and citrine labels. Speckled pink edges. Portrait. Armorial bookplate of Robert Hosier Halford. A fine early complete set of these great poems published in Paris where they were immensely popular and influential.

London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1889. Full morocco, 10 inches tall. A very fine binding by Edmund Worrall, and with his ticket. Bound with gilt raised bands, splendid floral gilt panels and decoration to the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Bookplate. This is a deluxe large paper copy limited to 200 copies, of which this is number 174. Portrait. John Richard Jefferies was an English nature writer, who, in his very short life was celebrated for his depiction of English rural life in essays, books of natural history, and novels.

London: E. Moxon, Son and Co., 1870. 4 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A sparkling late Victorian binding by Hopkins of Glasgow with gilt raised bands, gilt Aldine leaf centre tools and gilt top edges. Engraved frontispiece to the first volume. Best know for his 'Tales from Shakespeare' and 'Essays of Elia', Charles Lamb was at the heart of a major English literary circle, which included Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey, William Wordsworth, Dorothy Wordsworth and William Hazlitt. His great biographer, E. V. Lucas described him as "the most lovable figure in English literature". A fine set in pristine condition.

Cambridge: The University Press, 1939; 1932 & 1938. 3 volume set, 9 1/2 inches tall. A superb full red crushed morocco by Zaehnsdorf with gilt raised bands, gilt framed panels and boards. With a gilt prize block on the upper boards and bookplates. Gilt dentelles and all edges. A remarkable set of this great modern economic history.

London: William Pickering, 1846. 2 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. An exquisite late Victorian crushed morocco by Ramage, with gilt raised bands and superb gilt tooling to the panels and the boards in the form of a Cambridge panel. Gilt dentelles and all edges. With the label of George Sherriff. This fine printing for William Pickering also contains a reprint of the 1647 edition of Herrick's 'Noble Numbers: or, His Pious Pieces'. Robert Herrick was a great 17th century English lyric poet and theologian.

c. 1850. Full morocco, 24 inches tall. A magnificent and colossal full morocco by the great firm of Leighton of Brewer Street, with their ticket. A unique deluxe copy from the Rothschild library at Exbury. Bound with gilt raised bands, natural calf label and absolutely superb gilt tooling to the panels, a fabulous series of huge gilt rolls to the boards, gilt dentelles and all edges. Illustrated with an engraved title page, a dedication leaf and 50 India proof engraved plates, each with an accompanying leaf of text. Some foxing in to the preliminaries and the margins, rather than the actual images, then clean. A stunning and unique example of this very rare complete deluxe edition.

Paris: Baudry's European Library, 1835. Full calf, 8 1/2 inches tall. A superb full calf by the Parisian binder Auguste Petit (1807-1877). Bound with gilt raised bands, extra gilt panels, twin labels and extraordinarily fine and precise gilt lettering. Triple gilt fillets frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. A splendid copy of this edition by Baudry, as part of their 'European Library', printed in English on hand-made paper. Set in Athens in the 3rd century A.D., 'The Epicurean' claims to be a translation of an ancient Greek manuscript found in the Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great in Egypt around 1800.

Berlin: Photographische Gesellschaft, 1895. Full morocco, 26 inches tall. A magnificent and colossal full morocco by the great firm of Leighton of Brewer Street, but without their ticket. A unique deluxe copy from the Rothschild library at Exbury. With gilt titles and tooling on a smooth back, a fabulous series of huge gilt rolls to the boards, gilt dentelles and all edges. Embellished with 27 superb photogravures. Some foxing in particular to the preliminaries and the margins, rather than the actual images, but a stunning and unique example of this very rare edition.

Edinburgh: Cadell and Co. and London: Simpkin & Marshall, 1829-1852. 48 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. A splendid set and perhaps the most popular and influential titles in the 19th century in neat Victorian half calf. Bound with wide gilt raised bands, maroon labels and gilt and blind pallets. There is foxing to, and facing, the engraved frontispieces, mostly light but occasionally heavy, otherwise a clean complete set without a hint of any loss or splitting.

London: John Murray, 1818. Full morocco, 8 3/4 inches tall. A remarkable and beautiful Regency binding in full straight grain citron morocco. Gilt raised bands, twin labels and superb blind and gilt tooling to the panels. A series of blind and gilt rolls and fillets, fan corner tooling and inked tooling (typical of this period) embellish the boards. All edges gilt. With the grand martial bookplate of Stewart, Lord Londonderry, from the library of Wynyard Hall, the magnificent family home of the Vane-Tempest-Stewart family, Marquesses of Londonderry, until 1987. This volume contains the fourth Canto, comprehensive notes as well as 'Other Poems'. (This binding is more yellow than our other Londonderry Byron, though has the same tooling). A beautiful Regency binding.