Search

Bruxelles: Paul Lacomblez, 1914. Full morocco, 13 inches tall. A truly magnificent binding in pristine condition by Paul Affolter with gilt raised bands, superb gilt tooling with onlays to the panels and framing the boards. Wide gilt dentelles and watered silk doublures and free endpapers. Number 50 of 75 copies on 'japon imperial' with an extra suite of colour plates. In the original felt lined and leather trimmed slipcase also signed by Affolter. Based on an obscure 16th century romance, Coster's masterpiece tells of the adventures of a Flemish prankster, Thyl Ulenspiegel, during the wars of the Reformation in the Netherlands and became popular all over the world.

London: Strahan and Cadell, 1785. 9 volume set, 8.5 inches tall. A spectacular 18th century tree calf, unrestored and in pristine condition with gilt bands, triple labels and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. Yellow edges. With an engraved frontispiece, portrait and 307 engraved plates of which 7 are folding. A magnificent set of the English translation of the work of "the father of all thought in natural history in the second half of the 18th century" (Ernst Mayr).

London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly, 1851: London: Walton and Maberly, 1852-53; London: Chapman and Hall, 1852. 14 volume set, 8.75 inches tall. Bound in splendid Victorian full calf by Nutt of Drury Lane with gilt raised bands, twin labels and most attractive extra gilt panels. It is very unusual to find these works bound uniformly in English. Born in Denmark, Barthold Niebuhr became Germany's greatest historian of Ancient Rome and a founding father of modern scholarly historiography.

London: Privately printed for the Casanova Society, 1922. 12 volume set, 10 inches tall. A magnificent set in luxurious full crushed morocco with gilt raised bands and neat gilt panels. The boards have a series of five gilt panels. Wide gilt dentelles and scarlet crushed morocco doublures, watered silk free end papers and gilt top edge. Limited to 1000 numbered copies. An exceptional set of the Memoirs of this celebrated chronicler, adventurer, social historian and lover.

London: Bohn, 1848. Half morocco, 15 inches tall. A glorious tall copy 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. In pristine condition this copy was bound by J. Wright, one of the finest binders of the early Victorian period, with gilt raised bands, label and magnificent gilt armorial centre tools. All edges gilt. Decorated with 60 full page hand coloured plates, all dated 1811-13.

London: John Bell, 1779-1782. 100 (of 109) volumes, 5.25 inches tall. A splendid collection of this span of English poets from Chaucer to Churchill in stunning 18th century full calf with gilt bands, triple labels and delicate gilt centre tools. We rarely stock incomplete sets but this title is extremely rare in this condition in such a long run. There are some minor chips and marks but generally in excellent condition. Lacking volumes 24,26,28,29,50,72,74,88 & 104, thus the vast majority of the titles are complete, including the 14 volume set of Chaucer at the very beginning of the collection.

Printed for Private Circulation only, 1883-1884. 6 volume set, 10 inches tall. A truly magnificent full morocco binding with gilt raised bands, very fine gilt tooling to the panels and boards, dentelles and all edges. This is the first collected edition of the Works of Nashe, the great English Elizabethan pamphleteer, satirist, novelist, playwright and poet. Printed for the Huth Library in an edition of 50 sets for private circulation only.

London: John Thomas, 1840. 3 volume set, 10 inches tall. A gorgeous Spanish calf binding by Tout with gilt raised bands, triple labels and fine gilt tooling to the panels. Gilt Cambridge panels to the boards, dentelles and gilt top edges. With 800 engraved vignettes from designs by Tony Johannot. A remarkable set bound in this very scarce style in a most unusual colour by one of London's greatest late Victorian binders.

Paris: Libraires Associes, 1770 - 1771. 3 volume set, 11.75 inches tall. A splendid set in full cat's paw calf with raised bands, twin labels and floral gilt tooling to the panels. With all 100 engraved plates, mostly folding. An interesting work covering civil, military and naval architecture. A very good looking set. With a small stamp on the title pages and small ticket of 'Domus Aquensis Societatis Jesu' on the pastedown endpapers. In the original French.

Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1857. 25 volume set, 8.75 inches tall. A truly spectacular set in full dark pink morocco in marvellous condition. With gilt raised bands, twin green labels and extra gilt panels. The boards are decorated with a very delicate and ornate panel framed within a triple roll. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Engraved frontispieces, title pages, portraits and views throughout. Other than a few very superficial marks this set is in pristine condition with no wear or fading.

(Paris: Barbou) Amsterdam, 1762. 2 volume set, 7 inches tall. The celebrated and very scarce Fermiers-Generaux edition. Complete with half-titles, 2 engraved portraits and 80 superb plates after Eisen by Aliamet, Delafosse, Longueil, Le Mire et al.. with over 50 delightful and ornate vignettes by Choffar. The later binding is by Sangorski & Sutcliffe in the style of the period with gilt raised bands, extra floral gilt tooling to the panels, fine and ornate gilt tooling to the boards, gilt dentelles and all edges. The bindings have been expertly rebacked. Internally exceptionally clean and fresh with slight creasing to a couple of plates. A fine set of this great example of French 18th century printing.

New York: Gabriel Wells, 1924. 30 volume set, 9 inches tall. Half crushed morocco with gilt raised bands, titles and fine gilt tooled panels. Gilt top edge. Deluxe edition, limited to 1075 sets, the first volume of each set is signed by the author. Portrait. The definitive set of this great writers works in English in excellent condition.

London: Baynes, 1813. Full straight grain red morocco, 20 inches tall. A monumental binding with wide gilt raised bands and Superb gilt tooling to the panels. The boards are embellished with very wide blind and gilt rolls. Gilt dentelles and all edges. With the vignette on the title page and 108 engraved portraits. A spectacular example of this great book.

London: The Punch Office, 1847-1848. Bradbury and Evans. 3 volumes, 9 inches tall. A wonderful set of the first editions of these great comic works. Bound by Bradstreet in the finest full crushed morocco with raised bands and gilt dentelles. From the Duke of Gloucester's library at Kensington Palace, each volume with his bookplate. Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester was the third son of King George V, brother of King George VI and King Edward VIII. Original wrappers bound in. With a total of 30 hand coloured engravings and over 300 woodcuts by John Leech.

London: Chapman and Hall, c.1875. 30 volume complete set. 7.75 inches tall. Classic half calf binding with twin labels, gilt raised bands and fine gilt tooling to the panels. Beautifully illustrated throughout. Light foxing to prelims. This is a very fine and readable set of the works of England's great novelist.

London: Robinson, 1796. 3 volume set, 8.25 inches tall. A beautiful set of the first English edition in remarkably fine condition. In full 18th century cat's paw calf with twin labels and gilt bands. Blue edges. A neat ink inscription 'Marcus Gage' is on the top of the title pages. From the collection of Martin Orsky, a pencil inscription on the free endpaper states 'bound by Mackenzie of Dublin', though I can see no evidence for this assertion. A neat ink shelf number is on the pastedown endpapers. With the map and plates. As fine a copy of this work as one could hope to find.