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Edinburgh: William Paterson & and London: H. Sotheran & Co., 1874, 74, 75, 75, 79. 5 volumes, 8 inches tall. A sparkling half crushed morocco by Ramage with gilt raised bands, superb gilt framed panels and gilt top edge. 5 limited edition titles 'Printed for Subscribers Only' from the series 'Dramatists of the Restoration'. The outrageous and often sexually explicit texts were written for the stage during the reign of Charles II following the puritan interregnum. They are celebrated for their wit and brilliant humour, hence the need to be privately printed, and again today are rarely performed through fear of offending today's delicate audiences. A very nice collection of these scarce editions in pristine condition.

London: John Murray, 1819. 7 volume set, 8 inches tall. A very pleasing Regency full calf in fine condition with blind tooled raised bands and panels, twin labels and a series of blind fillets and a wide roll frames the boards. Internally and externally very clean with just a few small scuffs and marks to the bindings. There is a neat ink inscription of the period to a Louisa Blaxlund (?). This anthology, "with Biographical and Critical Notices, and an Essay on English Poetry" represents a comprehensive selection of poets from the age of Chaucer, John Gower and John Lydgate.

London: John Sharpe, 1817. 3 volumes, 5 1/2 inches tall. A pretty little Regency full calf with gilt decorated panels and red labels. Twin gilt fillets frame the ornately blind tooled boards. Each volume has an engraved frontispiece by Westall. The neat ink inscription "C.G. Geddes 1829" is on the reverse of the front free endpapers and another neat ink former owner's name on the top corner of the first blanks. A forerunner of Romantic Poetry, William Cowper was hugely popular and influential in his day.

London: Baldwin and Craddock & Dublin: Wakeman, 1836. 5 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. An early Victorian half calf with wide gilt bands, label and dense blind tooling to the panels. Portrait, engraved title pages and full page engravings from illustrations by W. H. Brooke throughout, of a scurrilous nature! Rubbed and chipped and foxing to some plates, but a solid and complete set of this scarce work.

London: MacMillans' 1892. Full morocco, 7 1/4 inches tall. A superb full crushed morocco with raised bands, gilt titles, dentelles and all edges. A gilt coronet atop the initial 'R' is on the upper board. Some rubbing to the shoulders. With the bookplate of Durdans, Rosebery's Surrey country house. Inscribed to The Earl of Rosebery on the first blank, a letter in the same hand is loosely inserted and a blind stamp on the title page. Lord Rosebery famously said that he had three aims in life: to win the Derby, to marry an heiress, and to become Prime Minister. He achieved all three.

London: Routledge, c.1895. Full calf, 8 inches tall. An adaptation of this great early 17th century novel 'for the young', bound in splendid tree calf by Bickers, with gilt raised bands, contrasting label and fine gilt tooling to the panels, all in pristine condition. An ornate gilt roll frames the prize device of Wellington College on the upper board. The prize bookplate of Wellington College is on the front paste down end paper. Embellished with 206 illustrations by Sir John Gilbert and other artists, including 4 in full colour.

London: J. Johnson, 1808. 2 volume set, 5 1/4 inches tall. Beautiful little Regency mottled calf in pristine condition. With extra gilt tooling on a smooth back with twin labels and extraordinary mottling to the boards within a fine gilt roll. With the Fothergill bookplate and the stenciled mark of the Earls of Belmore, one of the great Irish titles. Portrait. William Cowper was one of the greatest of all English 18th century poets. His description of nature and of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside inspired the great Romantic Poets.

Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1910. Full calf, 7 1/2 inches tall. A fine binding in pristine condition with gilt raised bands, label and superb gilt tooling to the panels. The gilt embossed stamp of Marlborough College is framed within gilt twin fillets on the upper board. There is the prize bookplate of Marlborough College, dated 1912, on the paste down end paper. Double column. A neat copy of the complete works of the greatest English poet of the 14th century.

London: J Dodsley, 1774. 4 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A slightly later, Regency, full calf with wide gilt raised bands, twin labels and a twin fillet framing the boards. With the Fothergill armorial bookplate. The spine is faded from the original lilac but still bright and very attractive. Possibly the most celebrated letters in the English language, the Earl's are full of fascinating insights to the period being a guide for worldly success in the 18th century, giving perceptive and nuanced advice for how a gentleman should behave. A fine edition in a very smart binding.

London: John Fairburn, 1822. 9 inches tall. A beautiful later full straight grain calf by the brilliant and elusive Lucien Broca. With gilt raised bands and superb extra gilt tooling to the panels. Triple gilt fillets frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and top edge. Embellished with 21 comic hand-coloured aquatints by George Cruikshank and a further 22 wood engravings. An exceptionally lovely copy of the rollicking adventures of a band of young English Gentlemen enjoying life to the full in Paris in excellent condition in a binding by one of the greatest craftsmen of his generation.

London: J. Johnson, 1798. 2 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. Very pretty little 18th century tree calf bindings with gilt bands on a smooth back, twin labels and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. With a neat ink previous owner's name "Mary Anne Watten (?) November 1825". Embellish with engravings by Stothard. A firm and clean set of these once hugely popular and influential poems.

Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1826. 8 volume set, 9 inches tall. A superb, if slightly faded, full William IV hard grain morocco with raised bands, gilt titles, dentelles and all edges. With the armorial bookplate of Laurence Currie. Slight rubbing but a very handsome and clean set of Clarendon's great 'History of the Rebellion'.

London: John Fairburn, 1822. Full calf, 9 1/2 inches tall. A sparkling later full calf binding by Tout with gilt raised bands, superb extra gilt tooling to the panels and triple labels. Delicate gilt tooling frames the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. With the armorial bookplate of George Seton Veitch. Original wrapper bound in. Embellished with 21 hand comic hand-coloured aquatints by George Cruikshank and a further 22 wood engravings. This unique copy also contains a tipped in signature of George Cruikshank, a tipped in note by Robert Cruikshank and a tipped in letter of George Bell. Slightly rubbed but still a super copy of the rollicking adventures of a band of young English Gentlemen enjoying life to the full in Paris.

London and Paris: Boussod, Valadon & Co. (GOUPIL), 1896. Full calf, 12 3/4 inches tall. A superb full calf binding by Henderson & Bisset with raised bands and 'regal' centre tools framed within a series of pallets to the panels. A series of gilt and blind fillets with the gilt 'regal' corner tools frame the rose and crown insignia of Elizabeth Regina. Gilt dentelles and top edge.. This is the best edition of this lavish work with the plates in 2 states in a limitation of 200 numbers and 100 lettered copies of which this is number 70. Colour frontispiece and many monochrome plates throughout. A bookplate has been removed and there is some superficial damage caused by a long defunct insect, overall a magnificent copy.

Paris: Garnier Frères, c.1900. 8 volume set, 9 inches tall. A striking set in half vellum with hand painted love birds and rosebuds framing the volume number. Vignettes throughout. A handsome set, in the original French, of possibly the most reliable and entertaining description of European social life during the 18th century.

London & Edinburgh: W. & R. Chambers, 1885. 2 volume set, 10 inches tall. A very handsome set in late Victorian half calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels , gilt and blind pallets and neat gilt centre tools. With full page plates. A chronological encyclopaedia of English Literature from the 'earliest times to the second half of the nineteenth century.

London: C. Baldwyn, 1823. 2 volumes bound in 1, 9 1/4 inches tall. A wonderful full morocco binding by the great firm of Bedford from the library of a Scottish Gentleman. Gilt raised bands, exceptionally fine gilt tooling to the panels and triple gilt fillets framing the boards. Gilt dentelles and top edge. A curious comic work in which Cruikshank " selects or invents those incidents which might be interesting or amusing in themselves, while they afford scope for the peculiar talents of the artist who adorns them with his designs". Both volumes contains 10 themes, each illustrated with a full page wood engraving. There are further engraved vignettes on India paper throughout. With 6 leaves of advertisements bound in. An absolutely pristine copy of the first edition.

London & Boston: The Medici Society, n.d. c.1920. Full morocco, 5 1/2 inches tall. A scarce little edition in a full crushed morocco binding by Hatchards. A delightful volume containing several obscure as well as more familiar Christmas Carols.

London, The Punch Office, 1845. Full morocco, 10 inches tall. A pristine example of this classic comic work bound in sumptuous full morocco by the great firm of Bedford, from the library of a Scottish Gentleman. An exceptionally tall copy with gilt raised bands, ornate floral gilt tooling to the panels, triple gilt fillet framing the boards, wide gilt dentelles and top edge gilt. Embellished with 12 full page steel engravings and 117 superb engraved vignettes. With over 50 leaves of highly entertaining advertisements. As fine a copy as one could hope to find.

London: Thomas Boys, 1820. Full morocco, 10 inches tall. A wonderful tall late Victorian binding by the great firm of Bedford in pristine condition, inside and out. With gilt raised bands and luxurious floral gilt tooling to the panels. Gilt triple fillets frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and top edge. With an engraved title page and 12 hilarious full page hand coloured plates by Isaac Robert Cruikshank. From the library of a Scottish Gentleman. As fine a copy as one could possibly find of the first edition of this hilarious work advising much scrimping and saving.