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London: Hunter; Baldwin et al., 1825. 14 volume set, 6.5 inches tall. A lovely set in full straight grain morocco with gilt raised bands and extra gilt panels. The boards are framed with gilt and blind rolls, so typical of bindings of this period. All edges gilt. This is a scarce first collected edition (Sadleir 784- "of extreme scarcity"). Engraved vignette on all title pages. Maria Edgeworth was a highly prolific writer of adult and children's literature and very influential in the development of the English novel.

London: Printed for the Ballad Society by Taylor, 1871. Hertford: Austin, 1874-1889. 6 volumes, 9 inches tall. A beautiful late Victorian half morocco with gilt raised bands, gilt pallets, titles and top edges. With the bookplate of West Dean Library (West Dean House, near Chichester, Sussex). Some foxing. A magnificent collection of ballads, originally formed by Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, enlarged by successive owners, among them, by John, Duke of Roxburghe, after whom the collection is named. 3 further volumes were printed up to 1899. Any decent runs are scarce, but especially so in a fine binding. Illustrated with delightful cuts throughout.

London: Hughs, 1789. 8 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A wonderful late 18th century straight grain morocco with gilt bands on a smooth back with fine gilt tooling to the panels. The initials M.W. embossed in gilt to the upper boards are framed within a series of gilt fillets. All edges gilt. The green of the boards has slightly faded on the spine and there is some rubbing to the heads and tails but with no splitting or loss. From the library of Michael Walker of Eastwood Hall whose letter, recommending this set to his niece, dated 1791 is tipped onto the second blank. A super copy of this tall and finely printed edition.

London: The Leadenhall Press, 1892. 2 volume set, 6 inches tall. A delightful little set in Spanish Calf by Zaehnsdorf with gilt bands and twin labels. The boards are framed within triple gilt fillets and a gilt roll. A charming gilt wreath and portrait is blocked on both upper boards. No. 9 of just 112 copies, signed by Andrew Tuer, printed by the Leadenhall Press on hand made paper. Armorial bookplate. The original title page, dated 1809, and frontispiece are reprinted in volume I. A beautiful copy.

London: Ackermann, 1823. 3 volume set, 5 1/2 inches tall. The exquisite miniature edition of 1823 bound in later full calf by Bayntun with gilt raised bands, twin labels, fine gilt tooling to the panels, twin gilt fillets framing the boards, dentelles and all edges gilt. Illustrated with 80 hand-coloured plates by Thomas Rowlandson, including two pictorial title pages, as called for. Brilliant comic satirical verse matched by Rowlandson's equally comic hand coloured aquatints.

London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1870-81. 11 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A sparkling set in Victorian half calf by J. Larkins with gilt raised bands, twin labels and fine gilt tooling to the panels. Gilt top edges. Portrait. Foxing to the preliminaries, then clean. A smart set of the "Collected Edition" of the works of this great 19th century novelist and favourite Prime Minister of Queen Victoria.

London: Dodsley, 1782. 5 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A delightful Georgian full speckled calf with gilt bands, twin labels and very fine gilt tooling to the panels including that of a Grecian urn. Yellow edges. An ornate bookplate bearing the motto 'appetitus rationi pareat' (Let your desires be ruled by reason). A beautiful set of the 3rd, enlarged edition of a work that analyses English art and society during the early eighteenth century.

London: Bathurst, Strahan, et al, 1770. 9 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A splendid 18th century full speckled calf with gilt tooled panels, twin labels and yellow edges. From the library of Lord Kinnaird of Rossie Priory and with his bookplate. With full page steel engravings. A very clean set of the works of one of the early 18th century's greatest and most influential poets and satirists.

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.

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.

Augsburg (Augustae Vindelicorum): Sumptibus ignatii adami & Francisci Antonii Veith, 1759. 6 volume set, 14.5 inches tall. Full vellum, dating from the middle of the 18th century with gilt tooled labels and unusual pink and green edges. The Codex Regularum, created in Aachen in 817, was designed by Benedict to restore the strict observation of monastic life which had been relaxed over recent centuries. Complete sets in contemporary bindings are scarce. There is some scuffing and staining to the vellum, in particular at the tails of each volume but there is no splitting and the bindings are in excellent condition. 2 bookplates. In the original Latin.

London: Chapple, 1814. 2 volume set, 7 inches tall. A very fine full calf by Robson & Kerslake with gilt raised bands, fine floral gilt tooling to the panels, twin labels, dentelles and all edges gilt. Bookplate. Some wear to the joints, especially the upper joint of the first volume but still solid. The text block is spotless. There are earlier editions of Selections from La Fontaine's Tales but this is the first complete edition in English and as such is highly sought after. With 40 full page engraved plates. A beautiful set of the works of this great 17th century French fabulist and poet.

Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1850. 2 volume set bound in 3, 9 inches tall. A magnificent Victorian full hard grain morocco with gilt raised bands, extra gilt panels and boards, Gilt dentelles and all edges gauffered. Embellished with 1700 woodcuts, some in colour. Parker 'was of considerable importance to Ecclesiology, the Gothic Revival, and the huge national upsurge of nineteenth century Anglicanism.....his Glossary.....must stand as one of the earliest (and most scholarly) influential texts of the whole ecclesiological movement' (James Curl: Oxford Dictionary of Architecture).

London: Henry G. Bohn, 1851. 6 volume set, bound in 3, 10 inches tall. An exceptionally good looking mid-Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and really fine dense gilt tooling to the panels. Twin gilt fillets frame the boards. With the armorial bookplate of Evan Charles Sutherland-Walker of Skibo Castle. A superb copy of this profusely illustrated and highly entertaining work.

Paris: Cellot, 1768. 7 volume set, 8 inches tall. A fine 18th century full mottled calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and floral gilt tooling. Pink Edges. Decorated with a portrait of Racine, 12 plates designed by Gravelot. A splendid set, in the original French, of the works of one of the great French dramatists.

London: Rivington, et al., 1811. 4 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A glorious mid-Victorian binding in full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and exceptionally fine gilt tooling to the panels. Twin gilt fillets frame the boards. Portrait. With the bookplate of Alfred de Rothschild. A splendid set of the poetical works of this great 17th century poet, play wright and translator.

Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1875-77. 15 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A smart set of these great histories in Victorian half calf with gilt raised bands and fine gilt tooling to the panels. Portraits. A splendid set of the works of this great American historian.

Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1826. 8 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. An elegant full morocco bound set with gilt raised bands and gilt framed panels and boards. Slight foxing and some superficial marks on the bindings, but overall a very smart set of this definitive work on the English Civil War, written during and just after the events related.

London: Bickers and Sons, 1864. 4 volume set, 9 inches tall. A classic Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, elaborate gilt tooling to the panels and densely tooled labels. The prize block of Rugby School is on the upper boards and a neat ink inscription is on the reverse of the free endpapers dated Midsummer 1865. Offsetting facing the portrait frontispiece, otherwise perfectly clean. A splendid set of all of Shakespeare's works including his Sonnets.