16th Century Literature

London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1892. 2 volume set, 11 1/2 inches tall. A magnificent set in a beautiful half morocco in the Art Nouveau style with gilt raised bands, dense gilt tooling to the panels with red calf floral onlays. From the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey. Some marks to the cloth boards, otherwise pristine. With a portrait and 16 illustrations by Louis Chalon, and an extra 160 expertly inlaid illustrations in colour by Jules Garnier. Translated into English by Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty and Peter Anthony Motteux. This set is from a Deluxe limited edition of 210 copies printed on Japanese vellum. A superb set of the greatest work of the first great French prose author, François Rabelais, in a splendid binding, uniquely illustrated.

Paris: Jouaust / Librairie des Bibliophiles, 1880. 2 volume set, 8 inches tall. A very fine full crushed morocco with gilt raised bands, delicate gilt tooling to the panels and boards. Gilt top edges. From the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey. With all the original fine engravings reprinted. Following the pattern of Bocaccio's Decameron, Marguerite of Navarre intended to write 100 tales but died after completing 72, into the 8th day. Many of the stories deal with love, lust, infidelity, and other romantic and sexual matters. A very fine set of these 16th century tales in the original French.

Paris: Isidore Liseux, 1879. 2 volume set, 6 3/4 inches tall. A superb half morocco by Bumpus with gilt raised bands and fine extra gilt panels and gilt top edge. The title pages are printed on vellum. Very slight wear to the joints but very solid and in a beautiful binding. From the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey. Poggio Bracciolini, writing in the 16th century is celebrated for rediscovering many classical Latin manuscripts, many otherwise unknown, from monastic libraries. He made important finds in St. Gallen, Cluny Abbey, Langres, Monte Cassino and Hersfeld Abbey, amongst many others. The texts here are in English with the original Latin in a smaller type below.

London: William Pickering, 1829-39. 3 volume set, 7 3/4 inches tall. A stunning full crushed morocco binding by 'The French Bindery Garden City N.Y.', in pristine condition. With raised bands, fine extra gilt tooling to the panels and a splendid gilt 'Cambridge panel' to each board. Gilt dentelles and top edge. With the bookplates of 'E.V.C.H'. and Beeleigh Abbey. George Peele was a 16th century English translator, poet, and dramatist, who is most noted for his supposed but not universally accepted collaboration with William Shakespeare on the play Titus Andronicus. He was renowned for his dissipated life style and little is actually known about his short life other than his remarkably influential output.

London: William Pickering, 1825. 5 volume set, 7 3/4 inches tall. A very unusual Victorian full orange straight grain morocco for Sotheran of Piccadilly with gilt raised bands and gilt pallets framing the panels and rolls the boards. Gilt dentelles and top edges. Armorial bookplates. A beautiful set of the Poetical Works of Edmund Spenser, most famous for 'The Faerie Queene', one of the greatest of all English poets.

London: Johnson, Cuthell et al., 1804. 2 volume set, 11 1/4 inches tall. A simple but elegant later half morocco by Ramage with gilt raised bands, ornate centre tools and top edges gilt. Decorated with portrait frontispiece and 14 very fine full page engravings. Bookplate. This hugely successful epic poem, written by Tasso in the middle of the 16th century, tells the story of the First Crusade in which Godfrey of Bouillon leads the Christian Knights into battle, and eventual victory, against the Muslims, to take Jerusalem in 1099. The Poem is a heady mixture of violence and romance set in a romantic and exotic setting that proved particularly popular before the French Revolution and during the Romantic period. A splendid copy in pristine condition.

Paris: Carrington, 1906. 2 volume set, 9 inches tall. A handsome set with raised bands, delicate gilt tooled panels and top edges. Limited to one thousand copies and published in Paris due to its somewhat racy contents. Sometimes known as 'The Pleasant Nights' or 'The Facetious Nights', these 16th century fables and tales contain several of the first appearances of fairy stories still that are still familiar today.

London: Privately printed for the Navarre Society, 1922. 5 volume set, 9 inches tall. A very handsome half morocco with gilt raised bands, finely gilt and inked tooling to the panels and gilt top edges. A strictly limited edition printed on laid paper. A splendid and profusely illustrated edition of these sixteenth century tales.

London: Routledge, 1872. Full calf, 9.75 inches tall. A most handsome Victorian binding with gilt raised bands, label and fine gilt floral tooling to the panels. The gilt prize block of Rugby School on the upper board. Neat ink inscription dated 1873 on the reverse of the paste down endpaper. Armorial bookplates. Scuff on lower corner of the upper board. Double column.

London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1892. 2 volume set, 11.25 inches tall. Magnificent full red morocco with bold and very unusual gilt tooling to the spine and upper boards and gilt top edge. Blind tooled pigskin endpapers. Number 153 of a Deluxe limited edition of 210 examples on japanese vellum. Embellished with portrait and 16 fine plates by Louis Chalon.

Delft et Leiden: Beman et Samuel Luchtmans, 1729. Full morocco, 8.5 inches tall. A glorious binding by Clarke & Bedford with gilt raised bands, superb gilt tooling around a pomegranate centre tool, dentelles quadruple gilt fillet framing the boards. All edges gilt over marble. Engraved frontispiece and title page. A superb copy of these dialogues on many and various subjects, hugely influential on Christian Humanists, by the greatest scholar of the northern Renaissance. In the original Latin.

London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co, 1824. 2 volume set, 10 inches tall. A glorious full morocco binding with wide gilt raised bands, multiple gilt pallets framing the panels, multiple gilt fillets and floral corner tools framing the boards, dentelles and all edges. Armorial bookplate. Translated into English by J.H. Wiffen. Only 250 copies were printed in royal octavo. Engraved vignettes. The list of subscribers includes many Royal and Noble figures as well as Sir Walter Scott, David Wilkie, John Flaxman and many other literary characters of the period. A superb set of this epic poem relating the tale of the First Crusade.

London: Longman et al, 1830. 2 volume set, 6.5 inches tall. A good looking full calf binding of the period with gilt raised bands, twin labels and ornate blind tooling to the panels and boards. Portrait and vignettes to the text. A lovely red calf gilt bookplate referring perhaps to an educational establishment.

London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1892. 2 volume set, 11 inches tall. A very smart full morocco binding with gilt raised bands, gilt fillets to the panels and rolls to the boards. Gilt top edges. Limited to 1000 copies of which this is number 73. Portrait and 14 full page plates by Louis Chalon. Translated into English by Sir Thomas Urquart of Cromarty and Peter Anthony Motteux. A handsome set of this great 16th century fantasy.

London Sold in Livorno: 1778; 1779; 1780 & 1780. 4 volumes, 6 inches tall. 4 uniformly bound volumes of 16th and early 17th century Italian poetry, in the original Italian. Stunning full cat's paw calf with raised bands, gilt pallets and red labels. Speckled pink edges. As was the fashion at the time, the marbled endpapers are just on the paste down and not free, they vary in colour and style and have a wonderful look. Engraved frontispieces and many further full page engravings. Stain to the corner of the fist few leaves of 'Mondo Creato'. A delightful collection.

London: The Society of English Bibliophilists, 1894. 5 volume set, 9 inches tall. A very neat half morocco of generous proportions with gilt raised bands, tooling and top edge. One of 312 copies on hand made paper. The 73 full page plates by Freudenberg printed on Japanese paper and mounted. 150 head and tail pieces by Dunker. Bookplates. A pristine set of this splendid edition.