17th Century Literature

London: Macmillan and Co., 1892. Full morocco, 6 1/4 inches tall. A very pretty binding by Bumpus with gilt raised bands and charming gilt tooling with hearts and leaves in the panels. Twin gilt fillets and the same tooling in the corners frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. There is a large bookplate on the free end paper and foxing on the half title, otherwise clean. A delightful copy of the selected verse of this great 17th century English lyric poet.

London: Chatto and Windus, 1909. Full morocco, 6 inches tall. A delightful full pink crushed morocco binding by Bumpus with gilt raised bands and very fine and unusual gilt tooling to the panels. Triple gilt fillets and ornate corner tooling frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Watered-silk doublures and endpapers. A scarce anthology, beautifully bound, in pristine condition.

Boston, Lincolnshire: Robert Roberts, 1875, 1875 & 1876. 3 Volume Set, 7 inches tall. A beautiful late Victorian full crushed morocco binding Andrew Grieve of Edinburgh in pristine condition. With gilt raised bands and extra gilt tooling to the panels. Dense gilt corner tooling and a single pallet frame the boards. Gilt top edges. These reprints are limited to 400 copies and were originally printed in the seventeenth century. With 2 blookplates to each volume. A selection of Restoration poetry for 'Lovers of Wit' and as an 'Antidote Against Melancholy'.

London: John Routledge, 1910. Full calf, 8 1/2 inches tall. A splendid full mottled calf binding by Bumpus with gilt raised bands, label and fine gilt tooling to the panels. Gilt fillets frame the boards. With gilt dentelles and all edges. There is a neat ink previous owner's name on the front paste down endpaper. Renowned for his gaiety and wit as well as his prowess as a poet, dramatist, courtier and soldier Sir John was a prominent 'Cavalier Poet'.

London: John Macrone, 1835. 6 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. A very bright and fine early Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and delicate gilt tooling to the panels. A gilt fillet and series of blind fillets frame the boards. With the armorial bookplate of James Alexander and bookseller's ticket. With portrait and engraved frontispieces to all volumes and 'imaginative illustrations by J.M.W. Turner' as engraved title pages to all volumes. The engravings are foxed, the rest of the text blocks perfectly clean.

London: Lawrence & Bullen, 1891. 2 volume set, 7 inches tall. A splendid tree calf binding by Otto Shulze of Edinburgh with raised bands, fine gilt tooling to the panels and labels. A delicate gilt fillets frames the boards, wide dentelles and gilt top edge. Bookplate. This excellent large paper edition is printed on hand made paper and limited to just 200 copies. Edited by Alfred Pollard and with a preface by Algernon Swinburne, who considered Herrick to be "the greatest song writer ever born of English race". A lovely set of the most celebrated works of this great English 17th century poet.

London: Arthur L. Humphreys, 1911. Half morocco, 6 inches tall. A delightful little robust half morocco binding with gilt raised bands and gilt tooling to the panels. Top edge gilt. From the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey. A finely printed work on hand-made paper. First printed in 1665 his Maximes portraying the callous nature of human conduct, with a cynical attitude towards putative virtue and avowals of affection, friendship, love, and loyalty. These established La Rochefoucauld in his position among the men of letters of the period.

Paris: J. Techener, 1861. 11 volume set, 8 inches tall. A superb half crushed morocco by David with gilt raised bands and exquisite gilt tooling to the panels. Gilt top edges. From the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey. With 2 splendid portraits of mother and daughter as frontispieces to volume I. A fine edition printed on hand made paper. Madame de Sevigné was incomparably the most influential woman writer of French literature. Her letters are frequently found to be the most reliable source for important events of the Ancien Régime.
A beautiful set in the original French.

London: Arthur L. Humphreys, 1901. Half morocco, 6 1/2 inches tall. A simple but elegant binding for Sawyers with raised bands, gilt titles and top edge. From the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey. A fine printing on hand-made paper in pristine condition. Words of wisdom from the 17th century of Francis Osborn; Sir George Savile; Sir Walter Raleigh; Lord Burleigh; Sir Mathew Hale and William, Earl of Bedford.

Edinburgh: James Ballantyne and Company, 1812. 14 volumes, 8 1/2 inches tall. A superb Georgian 'Country House' half morocco bound set with gilt raised bands, blind pallets and very handsome gilt centre tooling. Portraits. With the armorial book plate of Baldwin Bastard of Buckland Court. Some foxing especially to the preliminaries. This fine edition includes, for the first time from manuscript, Fletcher's tragicomedy 'The Faithful Friends'. Not printed in its own century, it is one of the most disputed works in English Renaissance drama. English dramatists Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher collaborated in their writing in the early 17th century.

London, Whitehall, 1884. Half morocco, 7 inches tall. A neat and simple late Victorian binding with raised bands and gilt titles and top edge. No.1 in a series entitled 'Rochester Series of Reprints, limited to 100 copies, was printed privately owing to the erotic and bawdy nature of the verse. John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester is considered the most learned among the Restoration wits and was censored throughout the Victorian period, appearing only occasionally in print in such privately printed works as this.

London: Thomas McLean, 1819. 2 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A beautifully bound set in full straight grain morocco with wide raised gilt bands and extra gilt panels. Gilt and blind rolls frame the boards. All edges gilt. With the armorial bookplate of Geoffrey Ecroyd. With 12 full page hand coloured aquatints. Foxing, but still a fine and very good looking set of this great 17th century satirical poem.

London: Bickers, 1906. 4 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A sparkling tree calf with gilt raised bands, beautiful floral gilt tooling to the panels and twin labels. Prize bookplate. A very neat set of these 17th century diaries.

London: Tilt and Bogue, 1843. 2 volume set, 8 inches tall. A splendid early VIctorian classic full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and very fine extra gilt panels. Gilt corner tools, gilt and blind fillets frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Slight foxing to the preliminaries, otherwise pristine. Embellished with 120 fine engraved vignettes. From the library and with the bookplate of Alfred de Rothschild. Facing the title page is the following poignant ink inscription: Natty de Rothschild (Nathaniel Mayer de Rothschild) from his affectionate sister Evelina (Evelina Gertrude de Rothschild).

London: Sewell, Longman et al., 1801. 7 volume set, 7 1/4 inches tall. A beautiful full Georgian speckled calf binding with gilt raised bands, twin labels and gilt centre tools. The boards are framed within a delicate gilt fillet. With the bookplate of Ellen James. This set looks superb on the shelf but does have condition issues. A long defunct insect has nibbled at a few boards, the worst example is on the lower board of the first volume, which can be viewed in one of the images. The letters of Madame de Sévigné are revered in France as one of the great works of French 17th century literature. In English.

London: Chapman & Hall, 1911. Full morocco, 8 inches tall. A superb full morocco by Bayntun with gilt raised bands, elegant gilt tooled panels and boards, wide dentelles and top edge gilt. A fine edition of this great English 17th century theologian's select essays.

London: R. and J. Dodsley, 1764-1769. 3 volume set, 9 inches tall. 18th century full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and extra gilt panels. The boards are framed within a gilt roll. There is a little cracking of the joints but still perfectly firm and solid. A previous owner's ink stamp, B.Girlie, is at the head of the title pages. A handsome set of the first collected edition of the works of this English poet, who was also one of the earliest practitioners of landscape gardening.

London: Akerman (sic) et al., 1822. 2 volume set, 8.5 inches tall. Superb later crushed morocco by Bayntun with gilt raised bands, gilt panels, framed boards, dentelles and all edges. With 12 hand coloured aquatints. A pristine copy of this great mock heroic Civil War poem through the story of Sir Hudibras and his comic adventures.

London: Routledge, 1879. Full morocco, 9 inches tall. A very handsome binding by Field of Regent Street with gilt raised bands, extra gilt panels, dentelles, prize inscription on the upper board and all edges. Prize bookplate to the upper board. Embellished with 110 engravings.