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: 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.

Birmingham: Printed by John Baskerville for J. and R. Tonson, 1761. 3 volume set, 9 inches tall. An exquisite 18th century full calf with gilt raised bands, twin olive labels and superb gilt floral and star tooling to the panels. A triple gilt fillet and corner tools frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Slight rubbing and scuffing and occasional foxing to the preliminaries but overall in excellent condition. With an engraved portrait frontispiece to vol. 1 and a further 5 engraved plates. An exquisitely bound set of the only edition of the works of English poet and Restoration playwright William Congreve. Printed by the fine typographer, printer and publisher John Baskerville, of Birmingham.

Paris: Joseph Barbou, 1755. 2 volume set, 6 inches tall. A beautiful set bound by White of Pall Mall in pristine condition in full crushed morocco. A flat back with gilt bands and delicate tooling in the style of Derome. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Frontispiece and two folding maps. A truly delightful set in the original Latin. From the library of Charles William Vane (formerly Stewart), third Marquess of Londonderry. Vane served with distinction throughout the Peninsula War. His dashing and dandified portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence is at the National Portrait Gallery. He amassed magnificent libraries in his various Country Houses.

London: R. Ackerman, 1817. Full calf, 10 inches tall. A superb full calf by Riviere with gilt raised bands, label and dense floral gilt tooling to the panels. A triple gilt fillet and corner tools frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Armorial Bookplate of Marcus Brown-Westhead of Lea Castle. Decorated with hand coloured aquatint frontispiece, vignette on the title page and a further 24 full page plates throughout, all by Thomas Rowlandson.

London: McLean, 1821. Full morocco, 11.25 inches tall. A superb Victorian full morocco binding with gilt raised bands, very fine floral gilt tooling to the panels, wide dentelles and all edges gilt. Large paper copy with the half title present and original paper label bound in. 24 superb and most amusing hand coloured aquatints 'by one of the family' illustrating the (mis)adventures of an English Squire of the period.

Paris: Chez Sylvian Sauvage, 1927. Half morocco, 9.5 inches tall. with raised bands and fine gilt tooling with onlays, gilt top edge. This is example V of XX lettered 'examplaires de collaboration'. With splendid illustrations by Andre Dignimont including an original watercolour signed and inscribed to Pierre Macorlan, the celebrated french novelist and songwriter.

London: Strahan and Woodfall, 1792. 6 volume set, 9.5 inches tall. An extraordinary 18th century binding in full sheep with blind bands, splendid triple labels and twin blind fillets framing the boards. With exceptional speckled pink lettering to the edges indicating that this set belonged to the Circuit Library of the Chester Crown Court. There are no other inscriptions and the text is very clean. There has been expert repair to the joints of two of the volumes. We can find no other examples of this style of lettering on the edges. A remarkable set of this scarce work.

London: Cadell and Davies, 1807. 2 volume set bound in 3, 10 1/2 inches tall. A magnificent full speckled calf Regency Binding with gilt raised bands, twin labels and delicate tooling to the panels. Blue Speckled edges. With fine folding hand-coloured map. With the Stewart bookplate. Emblazoned with foreign orders and decorations, Stewart was appointed ambassador to Vienna attending, with his brother Castlereagh and Wellington, the congress convened there to determine the future of Europe following the fall of Bonaparte. However, his dissolute behaviour, womanizing (he was widowed in 1812) and preposterous love of display, which earned him the sobriquet of "The Golden Peacock", created more comment (and enjoyment) than his skills of diplomacy. A splendid looking set with a great provenance.

London: Richard Phillips, 1809. 7 volume set, 6 1/4 inches tall. First edition thus. A simple but charming Regency binding in full diced calf. with gilt bands, nautical centre tools and single gilt fillet framing the boards. With the bookplate, and from the estate of Lord Kenyon of Gredington. The bindings are solid and firm but several are creased, there are chips to one headcap and some very slight splitting as well as foxing to some of the plates. Embellished with a portrait, 2 folding maps and 29 folding engraved plates. A scarce edition of Cook's Voyages.

London: Strahan, Rivington et al., 1779. 9 volume set, 9 inches tall. A beautiful 18th century full calf with gilt bands, most unusual twin labels and a sequence of gilt pallets to the panels. A gilt roll frames the boards. Slight splitting but a firm, clean and most attractive set. Containing a genealogical and historical account of all the Peers of England, embellished with 'their Paternal Coats of Arms, Crests, Supporters and Mottoes, curiously engraved on Copper-Plates'.

London: W. Wright, 1820. Full Calf, 9 1/2 inches tall. A superb full mottled calf by Riviere with gilt raised bands, twin labels and fine gilt floral tooling to the panels. A gilt roll and twin gilt fillets frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Embellished with 17 full page hand coloured aquatints and a splendid illustrated title page by Charles Williams. A Lovely copy of this hilarious Doctor Syntax spinoff.

aris, Emile Hazan, 1930. Full crushed morocco, 10.5 inches tall. A striking binding with 3 wide gilt raised bands and fine gilt designs to the boards. Wide gilt dentelles and watered silk doublures. Top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. On 'Japon Imperial'. From a limited edition of 833, one of only 7 examples with an original watercolour, this being number 6. Dignimont's wonderful illustrations are in 2 states. In pristine condition housed in a slightly worn slip case.

London: Chapman and Hall, 1846. 3 volume set, 9 inches tall. A stunning full 'Spanish Calf' with gilt bands, twin labels and dense, and most unusual, gilt tooling to the spine. The boards are framed within gilt corner tools and twin fillets. Pink speckled edges. With the armorial bookplate of Christopher Turnor of the the magnificent Stoke Rochford Hall. There is quite heavy foxing, almost completely confined to the portrait and title page of volume I. This is the second, enlarged edition. A splendid set.

Leipzig: Typographia Giesecke & Devrient, 1880. Full calf, 15.5 inches tall. A truly magnificent volume in excellent condition. Gilt raised bands and gilt and blind tooling to the panels. The upper board shows a Portuguese caravel framed within an architectural arch and the Portuguese Coat of Arms. The edges are gauffered with a rose design. Bookplate. Slipcase. 10 Chromolithographs and 21 engraved plates. Luiz de Camoes is the great 16th century Portuguese literary figure compared to that of Shakespeare, Cervantes, Homer, Virgil and Dante and this is his great epic poem.

London & Paris: (Goupil) Boussod, Valadon & Co., 1896. Full morocco, 12.75 inches tall. A stunning copy of the best edition bound by Zaehnsdorf for Wm. Brown in full crushed morocco with raised bands and elegant gilt panels. The royal crest on the boards is framed within a series of gilt and blind fillets and corner tools. Gilt dentelles and top edges. Colour portrait and monochrome and sepia full page plates and vignettes throughout. Limited to just 300 copies (200 in Great Britain and 100 in America) with a duplicate series of plates in 2 states, of which this is number 195. Armorial bookplate. The spine is somewhat faded but still bright. A splendid copy of this luxurious edition.

Lausanne: Chez Marc-Mic. Bousquet & Comp, 1759. 2 volume set, 6.5 inches tall. Fine full speckled calf in pristine condition. With gilt raised bands, twin labels and floral gilt tooling to the panels. Woodcut ornaments. 13 full page engraved plates. A superb copy of a scarce edition.

London: Longman et al., 1830; 1831 & 1831. 3 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. Exquisite little set with gilt raised bands, extra gilt panels and triple labels. The tree calf boards are framed within an ornate floral gilt roll. Each title page has an engraved vignette. From the library of Edward Nicholas Hurt, most of whose books were of this highest quality.

London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley. 3 volume set, 7.5 inches tall. A most attractive half calf from the 1830's with gilt raised bands, twin labels and gilt tooling to the panels. With the bookplate of W.E. Powell of Nanteos. The English first edition came out a year before the American. The Water Witch is a rollicking tale of 18th century New York.