Leather Bound Books

London: Richard Bentley, 1891. 9 volume set, 9 inches tall. A handsome Victorian half calf by Bickers with gilt raised bands, twin labels, ornate gilt centre tools and gilt edges.With the striking bookplate of Dorothy Moulton Mayer. Illustrated with frontispieces, a vignette on the title pages and and engraved portraits. Horatio Walpole the 4th Earl of Orford, creator of the Gothic masterpiece Strawberry Hill House, wrote 'The Castle of Otranto', considered the first Gothic novel. Slightly rubbed but a good looking set.

Edinburgh: John Grant, 1911-12. 12 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. An elegant Edwardian half crushed morocco binding by the great firm of Birdsall with raised bands, delicate centre tools and gilt top edges. This is the first edition of the celebrated Winchester Edition of 1911, with the 2 volumes that appeared in 1912 that include 'Lady Susan', 'The Watsons' and 'The Letters of Jane Austen'. It is not easy to locate sets of the Winchester Edition in this superb condition bound in the period of publication, the majority of sets being offered are in highly inferior 'recent morocco bindings'. A splendid set of these hugely popular works.

Edinburgh: William Paterson, 1879. 3 volume set, 8 inches tall. A neat crushed morocco by Ramage with gilt raised bands and neat gilt floral tooling to the panels. Gilt top edges. From a limited to 485 copies. Sir David Lyndsay was a 16th century knight and herald whose poetry is still celebrated today.

London: Philip Lee Warner Publisher to the Medici Society, 1912. Full morocco, 10 1/4 inches tall. A wonderful and unique binding by Bumpus with raised bands and onlays on the panels. The crushed morocco on the boards is framed with a beautiful gilt border with a green Greek key design and further onlays. Watered silk doublures and all edges gilt. Printed on hand-made Riccardi Paper in a limited edition of 500 copies. With 12 superb illustrations in colour by William Russell Flint. A unique volume, in pristine condition, of Kingsley's great retelling of the Myths and Legends of Greek Mythology.

London: Printed by C. Wittingham for J. Sharpe et al., 1809. 4 volumes, bound in 2, 5 1/4 inches tall. A delightful little set in a full Regency straight grain morocco with gilt raised bands and very fine gilt tooling to the panels. A wide floral gilt roll and blind fillet frame the boards. All edges gilt. All 4 volumes have an engraved frontispiece. Slight rubbing. These volumes also contain Homer's Batrachomuomachia, or, the Battle of the Frogs and Mice as well as his Hymns, Epigrams and Odes, all done into English. Alexander Pope's translation was celebrated during his life and has been ever since, with his use of heroic couplets being the model for all future translations of Homer's epic poem.

London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1854. 3 volume set, 6 3/4 inches tall. A classic Victorian full calf binding by the great firm of Hayday with gilt raised bands, twin labels and very fine gilt tooling to the panels. Armorial bookplate. Sir James Mackintosh was a politician and liberal philosopher most remembered for his views on the French Revolution.

London: John Murray, 1901. 2 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A beautiful Edwardian full calf binding from the library of Alfred de Rothschild, but without his bookplate. With gilt raised bands, twin labels and fine gilt tooling to the panels. Gilt and blind fillets frame the boards. Foxing to the preliminaries, then pristine. Illustrated throughout. The notorious Lady Sarah Lennox was 'Daughter of Charles, 2nd Duke of Richmond, and successively the Wife of Sir Thomas Charles Bunbury, Bart,; and of the Hon: George Napier'. The work also includes 'a short political sketch of the years 1760 to 1763 by Henry Fox, 1st Lord Holland'. A favorite of both King George II and King George III she led a remarkable and scandalous life.

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.