Fine Leather Bound Books

London: G. Bell and Sons, 1910. 2 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A classic Edwardian full calf binding by Spottiswoode with gilt raised bands, twin labels and delicate gilt tooling to the panels. The tree calf boards have a gilt armorial block and a gilt fillet border. Embellished with 25 maps and plans. A handsome copy of this life of Napoleon Buonaparte.

London & Glasgow: Blackie and Son, 1840. 5 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. A very attractive little set in early Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and smart gilt tooled panels. Fine gilt and blind tooling decorate the boards. All edges gilt. Engraved frontispieces and title pages. Popular poet in his day much admired by his peers including Sir Walter Scott. He came from a humble background working as a shepherd, before achieving success as a poet in both English and Scottish.

London: Adam and Charles Black, 1894. Half morocco, 7 1/4 inches tall. An ornate and very fine binding by Zaehnsdorf with the title in a cartouche surrounded by pointillist gilt tooling on a smooth back. Gilt top edge. With the rather foxed 'Arthurian' bookplate upside down on the rear paste down endpaper. Subtitled ...'as Connecting Religion and Science. The Confession of Faith of a Man of Science'. Translated into English from the original German. Haeckel was an extraordinary and flamboyant figure who, amongst many other claims to fame, promoted and popularised Charles Darwin's work in Germany.

London: C. & J. Rivington, 1826-1827. 16 volume set, 9 inches tall. A lovely Regency full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and superb extra gilt panels. Triple blind fillets and corner tools frame the boards. Speckled edges. There is foxing, fugitive from the endpapers, to the title pages and blanks, the rest of the text is perfectly clean. There is some superficial staining to a few volumes which has not effected the shape of the boards or text block. There is a neat ink inscription (Dudley Pelham (?)) on the reverse of the free endpaper. Edmund Burke was an 18th century philosopher and statesman who is considered to be the philosophical founder of Conservatism.

London & New York: The Grolier Society, 1909. Full morocco, 9 1/4 inches tall. A remarkable binding with gilt raised bands and floral gilt tooling and green calf onlays in the Art Nouveau style to the panels and boards. Splendid gilt tooled doublures and watered silk free endpapers. Armorial bookplate of Henry von Beyr. Illustrated with 6 etched portraits by C.X. Harris. Signed by the author in an edition limited to 1250 copies of which this is number 2. The spine is faded by the sun and there are a few superficial marks to the blanks and limitation page, and there is some minor scratching to the back board, but overall still a lovely copy.

Edinburgh: William Paterson, 1874. 4 volume set, 8 inches tall. A superb full crushed morocco by the great Edinburgh firm of bookbinders Andrew Grieve. With gilt bands, splendid gilt tooling to the panels and a green label on a smooth back. Triple gilt fillets and corner tools frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and top edges. Illustrated. Gavin Douglas, Bishop of Dunkeld was a Scottish poet of the late 15h and early 16th centuries whose major literary achievement is the Eneados, a translation of Virgil's Aeneid into Scottish, completed in 1513, it is the first full translation of a major poem from classical antiquity into any modern Germanic language. His translation is faithful throughout. A fine and beautiful set.

London: Edward Moxon, 1849. 7 volume set, 7 inches tall. A very pretty Victorian full calf binding by Zaehnsdorf with floral gilt tooling and a green shield label on a smooth back. A single gilt fillet frames the boards. Gilt dentelles and top edges. Portrait. The spines are slightly darkened and rubbed but overall a fine little set of the poetical works of one of the greatest English romantic poets.

Edinburgh: Silvester Doig et al. and London: Longman et al., 1812. 2 volumes bound in 1, 7 inches tall. A lovely full crushed morocco by Ramage with gilt raised bands, superb extra gilt panels and a gilt 'Cambridge ' panel to both boards. Gilt dentelles and top edge. With the armorial bookplate of Robert Kirk M.D.. On the dedication page and the title page of volume II is the neat ink stamp of Hill (booksellers of) Perth. Embellished with 2 portrait frontispieces and a further 6 engraved plates.

London: Macmillan, 1893. Half morocco, 9 inches tall. A very fine binding by Zaehnsdorf with gilt raised bands and exceptional extra gilt tooling to the panels. Top edge gilt. An impressive 'Arthurian' bookplate. Some light pencil annotations. This is the very scarce first edition, which caused an international sensation on its appearance. Theodore Roosevelt wrote to Pearson to praise the book; Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone recommended it highly, but today its theme of the white man under siege is less enthusiastically received.

Edinburgh: William Paterson, 1877-79. 6 volume set, 9 inches tall. A superb late Victorian full straight grain morocco binding by Kerr & Richardson with gilt raised bands, delicately gilt framed panels and a gilt bust of Burns in the top panels. Twin gilt fillets frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. The text block is exceptionally clean. Profusely illustrated with portraits, plates and vignettes. A first edition of the the great William Scott Douglas edition in which the poems are arranged chronologically and in which the text and notes are the most complete and correct. A splendid set of this great edition in a fine binding by a great firm of Glasgow binders.

Edinburgh: Constable and London: Vernor & Hood, 1801. 2 volume set bound as 1, 7 1/2 inches tall. A later Victorian beautiful full crushed morocco binding by the great firm of Ramage with gilt raised band and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. Gilt fillets frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Bound with the glossary, errata and advertisements. Sir John Graham Dalyell was a Scottish advocate, antiquary and naturalist who studied 700 manuscripts in the preparation of this work.

London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1870. 3 volume set, 9 inches tall. A classic Victorian full calf by Bickers with gilt raised bands, twin labels and extra gilt tooling to the panels. With the bookplate of Charles J. Dobson. Foxing to the preliminaries, otherwise perfectly clean.

Glasgow: Hopkins, 1869. 2 volume set, 8 inches tall. A handsome edition in a full crushed morocco binding by Grieve with gilt bands on a smooth back, twin olive labels and superb gilt floral tooling to the panels. Gilt triple fillets and floral corner tools frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and top edges. Portrait and engraved vignettes. Joseph Ritson was an 18th century English Antiquarian who first published his 'Scotish Songs' in 1794, this mid Victorian edition is printed on hand-made paper and is in pristine condition.

London: G. & W. Whittaker, 1824. Half morocco, 7 1/4 inches tall. A superb half morocco with delicate gilt tooling on a smooth back. All edges gilt. Von Chamisso's fable about a man who sells his shadow to the devil in exchange for limitless wealth, first published in Germany in 1814. That edition was edited by Fouqué leading to the title page attribution to him. With 8 engraved plates by George Cruikshank. With slight rubbing otherwise a delightful clean example of the rare first edition in English.

London: Nimmo, 1898. 24 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A very bright and good looking classic late Victorian half calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. This the 'Large Type Border Edition' and is illustrated throughout. An unusually fine set directly from a country house.

London: George Bell & Sons 1878. 2 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A neat Victorian full calf binding by Hatchards with gilt raised bands, twin labels and delicate gilt tooling to the panels. A gilt prize block is framed on the upper boards by gilt and blind fillets. Prize bookplate. A very fine copy of the revised 4th edition.

London, Savoy: Printed by Tho. Newcomb, for the author, 1667. Full morocco, 14 1/2 inches tall. A superb tall later binding by the great firm of Bedford, with gilt raised bands, twin labels and magnificent gilt tooling to the panels. A series of gilt fillet frame the boards, wide dentelles and all edges gilt. First edition in red and black, embellished with 5 double page engraved plates and 57 full page. With the armorial bookplates of the Hon. Hugh Howard and the Fox Pointe Collection. Slight rubbing but a very good, clean copy with wide margins.

London: Seeley & Co., 1908. Full calf, 4 3/4 inches tall. A tiny and delightful full calf binding by Riviere with gilt raised bands, label and extra gilt tooling to the panels. Elegant gilt tooling frames the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. An ink previous owner's name Walter Jodak Kohler (Governor of Wisconsin) on the reverse of the free endpaper and a date on the first blank, otherwise pristine. Curious pagination. A colour frontispiece and title page, and further line illustrations by H.M. Brock. A scarce anthology of quotations from Dr. Johnson.

Wien (Vienna): Verlag von H.O. Miethke, 1886. Full morocco, 26 1/2 inches tall. A colossal and superb full morocco binding by the great firm of J. Leighton of Brewer Street from the library of Alfred de Rothschild, but without his bookplate. With twin gilt raised bands and wonderful gilt tooling to the panels and boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. With 100 copperplate engravings, as called for. A huge and very heavy volume in excellent condition.