Leather Bound Sets

London: Baynes and Son et al., 1825. Full calf, 5 inches tall. A gorgeous Georgian full calf binding with gilt raised bands and splendid gilt tooling around a Tudor rose centre tool. A fine gilt roll and blind floral roll frame the boards. Very slight foxing to the engraved frontispiece and engraved title page. A selection of the great poems of Alexander Pope, one of the greatest English poets of the early 18th century enlightenment.

London: Baynes and Son et al., 1825. Full calf, 5 inches tall. A beautiful little Georgian full calf with wide gilt raised bands and exquisite gilt tooling to the panels. A wide gilt roll and floral blind roll frame the boards. There is some slight foxing to the engraved frontispiece and the engraved title page, otherwise perfectly clean. Very popular in his day, James Thomson was a great 18th century poet, famous for these two poems and also for writing the lyrics of "Rule, Britannia!"

Oxford: University Press, 1845 & 1846. Velvet binding, 3 1/2 inches tall. A beautiful early Victorian miniature velvet binding with brass edges and perfectly functioning clasp. Superb velvet and floral sprig decorated silk doublures and gilt trimmed silk free end papers. A neat ink inscription dated 1846 on the first blank. On the clasp are the initials M.J.A.L. for Mary Jane Annabella Legh of Adlington Hall in Cheshire. Internally spotless. The velvet on the upper board is very slightly paler than on the lower board.

Oxford: J. Cooke et al.. 1795. 5 volumes, 8 3/4 inches tall. A superb English Country House 18th century tree calf with gilt bands on a smooth back, triple labels and delicate gilt tooling to the panels. A Greek key pattern roll frames the boards. Gilt dentelles and speckled blue edges. All in pristine condition. George Horne was a great defender of the High Church tradition in Anglicanism.

London: John Slark, 1886. 6 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A most good looking Victorian full calf binding with gilt raised bands, twin labels and extra gilt panels. Portrait. Some loss to the head cap of the third 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".

London: John Murray, 1888. 2 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A smart late Victorian half morocco binding by Birdsall with gilt raised bands and finely gilt tooled panels. Gilt top edges. Foxing to the preliminaries, then clean, and a nick to the head cap of volume 2. An elegant set of this early edition.

London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green, 1865-1861. 5 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A splendid Victorian full calf by Bickers with gilt raised bands, twin labels and very fine gilt tooling to the panels. The title labels are slightly faded but still bright and good looking. With bookplate. Slight foxing to the preliminaries then clean. A most handsome set of this classic history of England.

London: Bradbury and Evans, 1846. Half calf, 6 1/2 inches tall. A neat little Victorian binding with gilt raised bands, twin labels and gilt pallets. All edges gilt. The Author's label has been damaged and rather crudely repaired. The engraved frontispiece and title page have been trimmed. 2 ink inscriptions, the first dated Dec. 25. 1845 on the second blank. A very clean example of one of Dickens' great Christmas Books

Cologne: Chez Pierre du Marteau, 1666. 2 volume set, 5 1/2 inches tall. A splendid later, 19th century, full straight grain calf with raised bands and gilt pallets. Star corner tools and twin gilt fillets frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. With the armorial bookplate of Helen de Guerry Simpson. An interesting early biography of this great 17th century French prelate and statesman who wielded enormous influence in civil and religious affairs. In the original French.

London: J Dodsley, 1774. 4 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A slightly later, Regency, full calf with wide gilt raised bands, twin labels and a twin fillet framing the boards. With the Fothergill armorial bookplate. The spine is faded from the original lilac but still bright and very attractive. Possibly the most celebrated letters in the English language, the Earl's are full of fascinating insights to the period being a guide for worldly success in the 18th century, giving perceptive and nuanced advice for how a gentleman should behave. A fine edition in a very smart binding.

Edinburgh: A. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1788. 4 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A handsome 18th century full calf with raised bands, twin labels and pink speckled edges. Some minor superficial marks and stains to the boards and a nick to the head cap of volume IV, otherwise in excellent condition.
There is the signature of Jame Sterling on the title page of volume I. James Sterling was one of the foremost mathematicians of 18th century Europe and a protégé of Sir Isaac Newton. Lord Kames was a Scottish philosopher and a major influence on the development of the Scottish Enlightenment. The 3rd edition, which was considerably enlarged, in a handsome binding with a great provenance.

London: Printed by T. Bensley, for J. White et al., 1809. 3 volume set, 8 1/4 inches tall. A remarkable Regency full 'russia' diced calf in superb condition with gilt raised bands, and exceptionally fine gilt tooling in the head and tail panels. Twin gilt fillets and a gilt roll frame the diced boards. This set is embellished with 37 engraved portraits. Some offsetting from the plates. "The book is the most entertaining of contemporary memoirs, in no other book is there a description so vivid, truthful and graceful of the licentious court of Charles II.....Grammont's scandalous tongue knew no restraint....". (Ency.Brit.). A superb set of this classic work.

London: Richard Bentley, 1890. 2 volume set, 8 inches tall. An extra-illustrated set in an elegant binding, though expertly re-backed with gilt bands, triple labels and fine gilt tooling to the panels. The boards are framed within a twin gilt fillet and a wide blind roll. With a total of 28 plates. A good looking set of one of Lady Jackson's studies of the Court and characters of French History.

London: Printed at the Chiswick Press, 1863. Full calf, 11 inches tall. A most impressive binding by Riviere with gilt raised bands, black label and gorgeous gilt tooling to the panels. The boards are framed within a double fillet. Gilt dentelles and all edges. A finely printed edition, with 4 photographic plates, of these great English 18th century poems, including 'Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard’.

London: John Murray, 1854. 4 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. An exceptionally attractive Victorian full blue calf with gilt raised bands, triple labels including superb volume number labels and fine gilt tooling to the panels. With a portrait and 4 engraved title pages. There are some scratches to the boards and the spine is slightly faded, otherwise pristine. Irish born Oliver Goldsmith was one of the most popular writers of the Georgian era and is still admired for the humour and brilliance of his writing.

London: James Carpenter, 1807. Full calf, 6 1/2 inches tall. A beautiful Regency mottled calf in pristine condition. With extra gilt tooling on a smooth back with a label and extraordinary mottling to the boards within a fine gilt roll. With the Fothergill bookplate and the stenciled mark of the Earls of Belmore, one of the great Irish titles. Philip John Ducarel was born in Calcutta and became known as the poet of the Forrest of Dean, where he resided for the rest of his life.

London: John Murray, 1887. 2 volumes, 7 inches tall. Smart Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, labels and neat gilt tooling to the panels. Gilt prize blocks to the upper boards and prize paper labels on the paste down end papers. Hugely influential works, Smiles was described as the 'New Plutarch' by George Bernard Shaw. 'Self-Help' was referred to as "the bible of mid-Victorian liberalism" raising Smiles to celebrity status on its publication.

Amsterdam: 1745. 2 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. An exquisite full crushed morocco binding by Reymann with gilt raised bands and exceptionally fine and delicate tooling to the panels. Triple gilt fillets frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. The whole work is remarkably bright and clean. There is a small black ink stain in the margin of pages 3-6 in volume one and no frontispiece to volume 2 was ever bound in. Embellished with an engraved frontispiece to volume 1, engraved vignettes to both title pages, Engraved tailpieces and 68 engravings illustrating the tales. In the original French.

London: George Routledge and Sons, c.1880. 3 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A bright half calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and gilt tooling to the panels. Profusely illustrated throughout. A smart little set of this popular edition of one of the greatest biographies in the English language.