Calf Bindings

Chiswick: Printed by C. Whittingham for R. Triphook, 1822. Half Calf, 6 1/2 inches tall. A good looking later binding in half mottled calf with a smooth back, gilt pallets, centre tools and label. Gilt top edge. Portrait. Small split to the head of the upper board but perfectly firm and solid. Foxing to the preliminaries. Martyred for his opposition to the Protestant Reformation, More is venerated as a Saint by the Catholic Church.

London: Methuen & Co., 1910. Full morocco, 6 1/2 inches tall. A very smart copy in full crushed morocco Edwardian binding by Bumpus with gilt raised bands, simple gilt framing to the panels and boards, gilt dentelles and all edges. Slight fading to the spine but still a luxurious and neat volume.

London: William Pickering, 1840; Cambridge: Deighton, 1848. 5 volume set, 9 inches tall. A most handsome Victorian full calf binding with gilt raised bands, twin labels and delicate gilt tooling to the panels. A fine set of the lectures of William Smyth, an English poet and historian celebrated for his analysis of both the American and French revolutions.

London: Elliot Stock, 1897. Full calf, 6 1/2 inches tall. A charming work in a very pretty binding by Bumpus with gilt raised bands. gilt rose centre tools to the panels and delightful gilt tooling to the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Armorial bookplate. Decorated throughout. Foxing to the endpapers and blanks, otherwise clean. A lengthy ink inscription on the first blank. Some rubbing and a scuff to one panels but still a lovely volume.

London: Tilt and Bogue, 1842. Full morocco, 9 1/2 inches tall. In pristine condition in a wonderful binding by the great firm of Bedford from the library of a Scottish Gentleman. With gilt raised bands and very fine gilt floral tooling to the panels. Triple gilt fillets frame the boards, gilt dentelles and top edge. The first edition of this classic comic work embellished with 22 full page engravings and a further 78 woodcut vignettes by George Cruikshank. Bound with 48 leaves of advertisements and the original covers of the original parts. As fine a copy of this splendid work as one could hope to find.

London: Reeves & Fisher Unwin. January 1882- June 1884. 5 volumes, 8 3/4 inches tall. A handsome half vellum with extra gilt panels and gilt bands on a smooth back. Pink top edges. Armorial bookplates. Run of the first five volumes (eventually running to 12 volumes with changes to the title and publisher over time). With 29 plates, 2 coloured. A scarce work with much fascinating information.

London: Chatto and Windus, 1909. Full morocco, 6 inches tall. A delightful full pink crushed morocco binding by Bumpus with gilt raised bands and very fine and unusual gilt tooling to the panels. Triple gilt fillets and ornate corner tooling frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Watered-silk doublures and endpapers. A scarce anthology, beautifully bound, in pristine condition.

Dublin: William Curry, Jun.. London: Simpkin Marshall, 1837. 2 volume set, 7 inches tall. A beautiful late Victorian full polished calf by Riviere with gilt raised bands, twin labels and fine gilt floral tooling to the panels. Gilt dentelles and top edges. The first edition of this obscure and scarce work, illustrated with etchings by George Cruikshank. With the original cloth spine bound in. There is foxing to the preliminaries, otherwise fine. A splendid set from the library of a Scottish Gentleman.

London: Printed by C. Wittingham for J. Sharpe et al., 1810. 4 volume set, bound in 2, 5 inches tall. A delightful little Regency set bound in full plum straight grain morocco with gilt bands and ornate gilt tooling on a flat back. A gilt roll frames the boards. All edges gilt. An engraved frontispiece to each volume. Some foxing to and facing the engravings, otherwise clean. With a neat ink former owner's name 'John Pocock Jnr.' on the title pages of volumes I and III, otherwise clean. A charming little set of the works of one of the greatest Latin poets, in English including three of the most famous poems in Latin literature, the Eclogues, the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid.

London: Macmillan and Co., 1932. Full morocco, 7 1/2 inches tall. A super mosaic binding by Riviere with gilt raised bands fine gilt floral tooling to the panels, gilt dentelles and all edges. On the boards, within elaborate gilt borders, splendid colourful morocco onlays illustrate two of the "Bab" Ballads, 'The Yarn of the "Nancy Bell"' on the upper board and 'For he who'd make his Fellow-Creatures Wise should always Gild the Philosophical Pill' on the lower. Embellished with 350 illustrations, also by W. S. Gilbert. Very slight rubbing and an extensive neat ink inscription on the first blank, otherwise a pristine collection of Gilbert's light verse, named after is childhood nickname, in which he developed his "topsy-turvy" style of humour.

London: T. Tegg, 1815. Full morocco, 10 inches tall. A fabulous later tall full crushed morocco by the great firm of Bedford from the library of a Scottish Gentleman. With gilt raised bands, superb gilt tooling to the panels of the highest quality, wide gilt denteles and gilt top edge. With 30 hand-coloured aquatints, by George Cruikshank, including the title page, as called for. There is a small gouge in one of the panels, otherwise a sparking, pristine and exceptionally tall copy of this great and highly disrespectful comic work by 'Doctor Syntax'.

London: William Pickering, 1835. 2 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. A handsome little set in a Victorian full straight grain calf binding with raised bands, twin labels and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. All edges gilt. Portrait. Slight foxing to the preliminaries otherwise a neat, clean set of the poetic works of this 'charmingly humorous' lyric poet.

London: Scott, Webster, & Geary, 1839. Full morocco, 5 1/2 inches tall. A very pretty little early Victorian binding in pristine condition with raised bands and ornate gilt tooling to the panels and boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. With a neat ink inscription, dated 1842 on the first blank. Sturm's 'Reflections' was hugely popular and influential in its day and has been in print ever since. Beethoven owned A copy of 'Reflections' which he annotated extensively.

London: John Scott, 1806. 5 volume set, 9 inches tall. A beautiful Regency set in straight grain morocco bindings with gilt raised bands, blind bands and fine gilt tooling to the panels. Splendid panels have been constructed with gilt and blind tooling to the boards, so typical of the period. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Watered-silk end papers. With the armorial bookplate of Frederick H. Dutton of Sherborne House. There is a neat previous owner's name in ink on the title pages. Embellished with 150 engraved plates. A very fine set.

London: M. Cooper, 1744. Full roan, 8 inches tall. An exceptionally clean copy of the scarce first English edition of this guide intended to be "A System of Rules and Instructions, to qualify the Fair Sex to be useful and happy in every State". In full mid 18th century roan with raised bands and simple blind roll and fillets to the board. With the armorial bookplate of William Danby Esq. and the neat ink inscription 'Eliza Danby' on the title page. Some superficial marks to the lower board.

Boston, Lincolnshire: Robert Roberts, 1875, 1875 & 1876. 3 Volume Set, 7 inches tall. A beautiful late Victorian full crushed morocco binding Andrew Grieve of Edinburgh in pristine condition. With gilt raised bands and extra gilt tooling to the panels. Dense gilt corner tooling and a single pallet frame the boards. Gilt top edges. These reprints are limited to 400 copies and were originally printed in the seventeenth century. With 2 blookplates to each volume. A selection of Restoration poetry for 'Lovers of Wit' and as an 'Antidote Against Melancholy'.

London: Trübner & Co., 1889. Half morocco, 8 inches tall. A very good looking half crushed morocco with gilt raised bands and fine gilt floral tooling in the Art Nouveau style to the panels. Gilt top edge, the remaining edges deckled. A splendid new edition on hand made paper and Illustrations by Alfred Crowquill. Baron Munchausen's fictionalized adventures were first published anonymously in the original German by Raspe in magazine pieces and then in English in book form in 1785. Published anonymously as he feared litigation from the living and actual Baron Munchausen. He is not portrayed as dishonest but with an enormous capacity to exaggerate and elaborate his genuinely remarkable life into a ridiculous and comic one.

London: John Routledge, 1910. Full calf, 8 1/2 inches tall. A splendid full mottled calf binding by Bumpus with gilt raised bands, label and fine gilt tooling to the panels. Gilt fillets frame the boards. With gilt dentelles and all edges. There is a neat ink previous owner's name on the front paste down endpaper. Renowned for his gaiety and wit as well as his prowess as a poet, dramatist, courtier and soldier Sir John was a prominent 'Cavalier Poet'.

London: John Macrone, 1835. 6 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. A very bright and fine early Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and delicate gilt tooling to the panels. A gilt fillet and series of blind fillets frame the boards. With the armorial bookplate of James Alexander and bookseller's ticket. With portrait and engraved frontispieces to all volumes and 'imaginative illustrations by J.M.W. Turner' as engraved title pages to all volumes. The engravings are foxed, the rest of the text blocks perfectly clean.