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London: Rudolph Ackermann, 1837. Full morocco, 9 1/2 inches tall. An exceptional copy of this remarkable work in a beautiful binding by the elusive and brilliant Lucien Broca with, most uncommonly, his own stamp. The full morocco binding has gilt raised bands and wonderfully intricate gilt tooling to the panels. Heavily crushed morocco with a surround of fillets and a splendid gilt roll form the doublures, facing watered silk free endpapers. All edges gilt. First edition, with errata slip to the last printed leaf. With 15 absolutely lovely aquatints from drawings by J. T. Rawlins. Gamonia is 'One of the most attractive colour plate books, with the aquatints all beautifully coloured and with the skilled application of gum arabic making them especially bright and sparkling.'- Ford. Eric Parker, in an 1930 edition of this book, notes: "'Gamonia' is valuable not only for its rarity and charm . It was published privately and gifted to friends by the author and is recognised as is the first treatise devoted solely to the subject of pheasant rearing, covert shooting, and the management of woodlands for the special purpose of preserving game . We can see much of what is in Rawstorne's mind in the treatment of the subjects he has chosen for illustration: in the quiet ridicule of the unskilled, in the hint of knowledge of how the thing could and should be done; in the cold and snow in which he likes to set his sportsmen seeking their quarry, and in the serenity of sunlight in which in each drawing stands Penwortham, his home". Lucien Broca was recently revealed by Marrianne Tidcombe to have created the finest bindings attributed to Sarah Prideaux, to her designs and instructions. He was born in France and bound to the highest level in Frith Street, Shaftesbury Avenue, Percy Street and Gerrard Street. A superb copy of this fascinating work.

1936. Full morocco, 13 inches by 11.5 inches. A superb binding by Asprey & Co. with gilt raised bands, panels framed with single pallets and the Regimental badge of the Scots Guards on the upper board framed by a single fillet. Wide dentelles and all edges gilt. Containing 10 original watercolours by A.E.Haswell-Miller of selected orders of dress worn by the Regiment since the Duke of Gloucester became their Colonel in 1936. From the library of the Duke of Gloucester at Kensington Palace. Prince Henry Duke of Gloucester was the third son of King George V, brother of King George VI and King Edward VIII. This magnificent and unique volume was presented to the Duke in 1961 on the occasion of his review of the Regiment marking his 25th year as Colonel.

London: Ackermann, 1815. 2 volume set, 9 3/4 inches tall. A wonderful copy in full straight grain morocco by Lloyd, Wallis and Lloyd. This tall set has gilt raised bands, superb gilt tooling to the panels, triple gilt fillets framing the straight grain boards, gilt dentelles and all edges. With 72 hilarious colour aquatint plates and a further 2 frontispieces and one engraved title page. The concept of the Dance of Death or Danse Macabre was a powerful medieval theme showing the all conquering power of death. Holbein, in the 16th century, immortalised the idea with his exceedingly grim series of allegorical woodblock prints. In stark contrast to such Germanic horrors Rowlandson and Combe create an hilarious series of brilliant comic representations of death getting involved with every aspect of English Regency high jinks.

Madrid: En la Imprenta del Norte, 1815. 10 volume set, bound in 6, 9 3/4 inches tall. A fabulous early 19th century Spanish full calf with twin red labels and Grecian urn centre tools on a smooth back. A splendid wide gilt roll frames the boards. Speckled blue edges and remarkable endpapers. This style of staining calf in such an extraordinary and attractive style became very popular with the finest English book binders towards the end of the Victorian era and well into the Edwardian. See our examples by Leighton, Tout and White. This fine edition, with the text in very large type in Spanish and Latin, is extremely scarce with only one other set located by Palau 199404 and OCLC in the Spanish National Library. A partial set is in the Saxon State Library in Dresden and a few parts are found in an Italian library. On the first blank is found an old Barcelona bookseller's ticket. In pristine condition.

Birmingham: G. Baskerville, 1773. 4 volume set, 11 3/4 inches tall. A magnificent set in 18th century full straight grain morocco with gilt bands, extraordinary centre tools, dentelles and all edges gilt. A delightful gilt roll frames the boards. With the bookplates of Sir William Eden Bart. From the library of a County Durham Country House. With an engraved portrait frontispiece and a further 46 engraved plates. Curiously, an extra suite of plates from another edition, after Cipriani, Moreau le jeune, Eisen and Cochin has been quite crudely pasted onto the reverse of the plates. These additions were obviously made before the book was bound as the shape of the volumes is perfect. Very slight rubbing, some marks to the binding and a superficial area of staining to the upper board of volume 4. There is a degree of foxing, in particular around the plates. A tall and superb set of the most celebrated English printing of this epic 16th century Italian poem in the original Italian.

Paris: Tenon, 1828-29. 4 volume set, 8 1/4 inches tall. First Edition. A splendid full calf of the period, an ancient catalogue slip attributes it to the great C. Lewis, with dense gilt tooling and olive labels on smooth backs. The arms of the 3rd Earl of Clare are gilt blocked onto the boards. Signed by Vidocq in the first 3 volumes as called for. Eugene Vidocq was an adventurer and detective who helped create the 'secret police' in France and is considered the father of modern criminology. Dismissed in 1832 for a theft that he allegedly organised, Vidocq created a police agency 'Police de Sûreté", the prototype of modern detective agencies. Known all over France as a remarkably audacious man, Vidocq was a friend of such authors as Victor Hogo, Honoré de Balzac, Eugène Sue and Alexandre Dumas père and influenced Edgar Allen Poe. The figure of Vidocq is believed to have inspired Balzac's creation of the criminal genius Vautrin, one of the most vivid characters to appear in his novelistic series La Comédie Humaine. From the residual library of Charles Butler (1821-1910) of Warren Wood in Hatfield. The majority of his library was sold at Sotheby's on 5th April 1911. A wonderful set of this great work In the original French.

Dublin & London: Various, 1839-79. 39 volumes, 6 - 9 inches tall. Remarkable and very attractive turquoise half morocco bindings by Riviere with very ornate gilt tooling to the panels and gilt top edges. Many are finely illustrated by Hablot K. Browne 'Phiz'. There are some bumped corners, a little rubbing and the odd mark but no splitting or loss. With the bookplate of C. H. Waterland Mander. All the titles are first editions excepting 'A Day's Ride' "Second edition" but first published separately, and all are complete excepting 'Tony Butler' which lacks the third volume. A splendid collection of the works of this great Irish novelist who in his day rivaled Dickens in popularity. Some titles are particularly rare, including 'A Rent in a Cloud', which is "not in Sadleir: "It has been impossible to locate a copy ..."

London: The Grolier Society, 1893. 17 volumes, 9 inches tall. This is a unique collection with the 16 volume set published by the Grolier Society, uniformly bound with 'Napoleon Intime' ('Intimate Napoleon'), all in English, in a superb half crushed morocco binding. The elegant spine has gilt raised bands and delicate gilt tooling with red calf onlays. Gilt top edges. There is slight rubbing to the first volume and the green of the morocco has faded to a handsome and bright tan. This set is number 49 of the 'Édition Connoisseur Astrale' and is limited to just 75 sets with the plates in 2 states. 'Napoleon Intime' was 'Privately Printed for Subscribers Only'. A wonderful set of 'the Life of Napoleon' in its most exclusive limited edition with its extra volume.

London: Chapman & Hall, 1924. Full morocco, 9 1/2 inches tall. A beautiful mosaic binding By Riviere with gilt raised bands, exquisite floral centre tools framed in the panels, gilt dentelles and all edges. Both boards have fine and elaborate gilt fillets and corner tools and the upper board has a superb mosaic series of inlays representing a Regency dandy wooing his lady. The inlays and binding itself are in sparkling pristine condition having been housed in its original felt lined slip case, which is present. The full page illustrations and decorations are by John Austen in a striking and somewhat decadent manner. There is very slight offsetting from the dentelles to the facing free endpapers otherwise pristine and with no inscriptions. A beautiful decorated 'Miscellany of Eighteenth Century Poems'.