Fine Leather Bound Books

London: F.C. and J. Rivington, 1807. 2 volume set, 8 1/4 inches tall. A really good looking full Regency full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and unusual and striking gilt tooling to the panels. Triple fillets frame the boards. Blue speckled edges. An interesting book of anecdotes, which was extended to 6 volumes in 1812. At the end of volume 2 there is a manuscript leaf describing how Beloe lost his situation as librarian at the British Museum having allowed 'Deighton who stole the fine prints from the Museum' free access to volumes of prints which he proceeded to strip and replace with lesser prints!

London: John Major, 1836. 2 volume set, 9 inches tall. A beautiful early Victorian full morocco by Riviere with gilt raised bands and ornate gilt tooling of the highest quality to the panels. Triple gilt fillets and corner tools frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and top edges. With the armorial bookplate of William Charles Smith. With 10 engraved plates. A splendid set of this most entertaining work by the great English bibliographer, Thomas Frognall Dibdin.

London: John Macrone, 1838. 2 volume set, 9 inches tall. An exquisite late Victorian half morocco by Worsfold with gilt raised bands, very fine 'Napoleonic' gilt tooling to the panels and gilt top edges. Engraved portrait. The Extraordinary Francis Maceroni was an inventor, diplomat, balloonist and soldier. As a Colonel of Cavalry he was aide de camp of Murat during the Napoleonic Wars. Later he developed steam carriages but after various misfortunes was left penniless. A splendid set of this remarkable history.

London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1872-1874. 3 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A handsome set in full calf with twin labels and delicate gilt tooling to the panels. With the armorial bookplate of the 1st Earl of Northbrook of Stratton Park, Viceroy of India 1872–1876. Slight foxing to the title pages, then clean. Originally planned as a 2 volume set, was then extended to 3. A fine set of this interesting work.

Madrid: Imprenta de José M. Ducazcal, 1853. Full calf, 8 3/4 inches tall. A beautiful full Spanish calf by Riviere with triple olive labels, gilt bands and floral centre tools on a smooth back. Triple fillets and corner tools frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. With the armorial bookplate of renowned connoisseur and collector Reginald Huth, his neat signature, dated 1880 on the first blank, and 2 address labels addressed to him slipped in. There is the stamp of a Madrid bookseller on the title page. A superb example of the second edition, with the 13 full page engravings, as called for, in pristine condition. In the original Spanish.

London: Griffith, Farran, Okeden & Welsh, c.1882. Full calf, 7 1/2 inches tall. An exceptionally bright and good looking Victorian tree calf on this fine edition of Longfellow's Poetry. With gilt raised bands, fine gilt tooling to the panels, a contrasting blue label and all edges gilt. Foxing to the preliminaries, otherwise clear.

Oxford, The University Press, 1841. Full velvet, 5 3/4 inches tall. A most attractive velvet binding by Hayday with brass edging, fully functioning clasp and brass crest with the title 'Holly Bible' on the upper board. All edges gilt gauffering and ornate watered silk doublures and free 'endpaper'. All in superb condition having been housed in a full morocco bound box, also with a fully functioning clasp.

Oxford, The University Press, 1843. Full morocco, 6 inches tall. A pristine and very good looking early Victorian full morocco with raised bands and extra gilt tooling to the panels and fine gilt and blind panels to the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges.

London: Edward Moxon, 1836. 2 volume set, 8 inches tall. Neat half later morocco bindings by Birdsall with gilt raised bands, smart gilt tooling framing the boards and gilt top edges. Charles Lamb was at the heart of a literary circle in the early 19th century along with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey, William Wordsworth, Dorothy Wordsworth and William Hazlitt, he was described by his biographer E. V. Lucas as "the most lovable figure in English literature".

London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1909. Half morocco, 8 3/4 inches tall. A superb half morocco binding by Asprey with gilt raised bands, appropriate gilt centre tools within smart gilt framed panels and gilt top edge. Embellished with a colour frontispiece and 51 half-tone plates. A thorough and nostalgic history of drinking and drinking culture in England going back to ancient times.

London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1907. Half morocco, 8 3/4 inches tall. A superb half morocco binding by Asprey with gilt raised bands, appropriate gilt centre tools within smart gilt framed panels and gilt top edge. Considerable foxing. Embellished with a colour frontispiece and 5 further colour plates and 32 half-tone plates. A thorough and nostalgic history of sport in England going back to ancient times.

London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1911. Half morocco, 8 3/4 inches tall. A superb half morocco binding by Asprey with gilt raised bands, appropriate gilt centre tools within smart gilt framed panels and gilt top edge. Embellished with a colour frontispiece and further black and white plates throughout. A thorough and nostalgic history of food and drink in England going back to ancient times.

London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1873. Full Calf, 7 3/4 inches tall. A splendid Victorian tree calf binding by Riviere with gilt raised bands, contrasting red label and fine dense gilt tooling to the panels. With a Harrow School prize book plate on the front paste down end paper. A fine copy of this great Roman epic poem, translated into English verse.

London: John Lane The Bodely Head Limited, 1922. Quarter morocco, 11 1/2 inches tall. A pristine quarter morocco by Asprey with gilt raised bands, nautical centre tools and top edge. Illustrated with 21 superb woodcuts. Limted to 75 copies printed on Japon vellum and signed by the artist, this example being number 52. Some foxing and marks to the original endpapers which are bound in. A superb copy of this evocative work.

Edinburgh & London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1849 - 1850. 15 volume set, 9 inches tall. Superb Victorian full calf bound by Zaehnsdorf, with gilt raised bands, triple labels in red, black and green, and superb gilt tooling. With the armorial bookplate of Allan Harvey Drummond. Some marks and superficial loss to a long defunct insect to some boards, and some foxing to several plates, but overall in wonderful condition. Sir Archibald Alison's great history consists of 14 volumes plus a uniformly bound Atlas, which contains all 108 maps. The Atlas volume is 11 inches deep. With portraits. These 15 volumes cover the Commencement of the French Revolution in 1789 to the Restoration of the Bourbons in 1815'. This set is complete as it was first published. It was continued some years later (See our other set).

London: Nattali and Bond, 1831. 2 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. A charming and very scarce work describing a critical period in the history of Paris. Smartly bound in half morocco with a title label and dense gilt tooling on a smooth back. Embellished with a folding map of Paris, 13 engraved views and 26 wood-cuts. Armorial bookplates. Some foxing. This history contains an account of the revolution of 1789; the Tuileires, the Massacre of St Batholomew, Sieges of Paris and the Louvre.