Fine Set

London: Richard Bentley, 1891. 9 volume set, 9 inches tall. A handsome Victorian half calf by Bickers with gilt raised bands, twin labels, ornate gilt centre tools and gilt edges.With the striking bookplate of Dorothy Moulton Mayer. Illustrated with frontispieces, a vignette on the title pages and and engraved portraits. Horatio Walpole the 4th Earl of Orford, creator of the Gothic masterpiece Strawberry Hill House, wrote 'The Castle of Otranto', considered the first Gothic novel. Slightly rubbed but a good looking set.

Edinburgh: John Grant, 1911-12. 12 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. An elegant Edwardian half crushed morocco binding by the great firm of Birdsall with raised bands, delicate centre tools and gilt top edges. This is the first edition of the celebrated Winchester Edition of 1911, with the 2 volumes that appeared in 1912 that include 'Lady Susan', 'The Watsons' and 'The Letters of Jane Austen'. It is not easy to locate sets of the Winchester Edition in this superb condition bound in the period of publication, the majority of sets being offered are in highly inferior 'recent morocco bindings'. A splendid set of these hugely popular works.

Edinburgh: William Paterson, 1879. 3 volume set, 8 inches tall. A neat crushed morocco by Ramage with gilt raised bands and neat gilt floral tooling to the panels. Gilt top edges. From a limited to 485 copies. Sir David Lyndsay was a 16th century knight and herald whose poetry is still celebrated today.

London: Printed by C. Wittingham for J. Sharpe et al., 1809. 4 volumes, bound in 2, 5 1/4 inches tall. A delightful little set in a full Regency straight grain morocco with gilt raised bands and very fine gilt tooling to the panels. A wide floral gilt roll and blind fillet frame the boards. All edges gilt. All 4 volumes have an engraved frontispiece. Slight rubbing. These volumes also contain Homer's Batrachomuomachia, or, the Battle of the Frogs and Mice as well as his Hymns, Epigrams and Odes, all done into English. Alexander Pope's translation was celebrated during his life and has been ever since, with his use of heroic couplets being the model for all future translations of Homer's epic poem.

London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1854. 3 volume set, 6 3/4 inches tall. A classic Victorian full calf binding by the great firm of Hayday with gilt raised bands, twin labels and very fine gilt tooling to the panels. Armorial bookplate. Sir James Mackintosh was a politician and liberal philosopher most remembered for his views on the French Revolution.

London: John Murray, 1901. 2 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A beautiful Edwardian full calf binding from the library of Alfred de Rothschild, but without his bookplate. With gilt raised bands, twin labels and fine gilt tooling to the panels. Gilt and blind fillets frame the boards. Foxing to the preliminaries, then pristine. Illustrated throughout. The notorious Lady Sarah Lennox was 'Daughter of Charles, 2nd Duke of Richmond, and successively the Wife of Sir Thomas Charles Bunbury, Bart,; and of the Hon: George Napier'. The work also includes 'a short political sketch of the years 1760 to 1763 by Henry Fox, 1st Lord Holland'. A favorite of both King George II and King George III she led a remarkable and scandalous life.

London: G. Bell and Sons, 1910. 2 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A classic Edwardian full calf binding by Spottiswoode with gilt raised bands, twin labels and delicate gilt tooling to the panels. The tree calf boards have a gilt armorial block and a gilt fillet border. Embellished with 25 maps and plans. A handsome copy of this life of Napoleon Buonaparte.

London & Glasgow: Blackie and Son, 1840. 5 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. A very attractive little set in early Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and smart gilt tooled panels. Fine gilt and blind tooling decorate the boards. All edges gilt. Engraved frontispieces and title pages. Popular poet in his day much admired by his peers including Sir Walter Scott. He came from a humble background working as a shepherd, before achieving success as a poet in both English and Scottish.

London: C. & J. Rivington, 1826-1827. 16 volume set, 9 inches tall. A lovely Regency full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and superb extra gilt panels. Triple blind fillets and corner tools frame the boards. Speckled edges. There is foxing, fugitive from the endpapers, to the title pages and blanks, the rest of the text is perfectly clean. There is some superficial staining to a few volumes which has not effected the shape of the boards or text block. There is a neat ink inscription (Dudley Pelham (?)) on the reverse of the free endpaper. Edmund Burke was an 18th century philosopher and statesman who is considered to be the philosophical founder of Conservatism.

Edinburgh: William Paterson, 1874. 4 volume set, 8 inches tall. A superb full crushed morocco by the great Edinburgh firm of bookbinders Andrew Grieve. With gilt bands, splendid gilt tooling to the panels and a green label on a smooth back. Triple gilt fillets and corner tools frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and top edges. Illustrated. Gavin Douglas, Bishop of Dunkeld was a Scottish poet of the late 15h and early 16th centuries whose major literary achievement is the Eneados, a translation of Virgil's Aeneid into Scottish, completed in 1513, it is the first full translation of a major poem from classical antiquity into any modern Germanic language. His translation is faithful throughout. A fine and beautiful set.

London: Edward Moxon, 1849. 7 volume set, 7 inches tall. A very pretty Victorian full calf binding by Zaehnsdorf with floral gilt tooling and a green shield label on a smooth back. A single gilt fillet frames the boards. Gilt dentelles and top edges. Portrait. The spines are slightly darkened and rubbed but overall a fine little set of the poetical works of one of the greatest English romantic poets.

Edinburgh: William Paterson, 1877-79. 6 volume set, 9 inches tall. A superb late Victorian full straight grain morocco binding by Kerr & Richardson with gilt raised bands, delicately gilt framed panels and a gilt bust of Burns in the top panels. Twin gilt fillets frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. The text block is exceptionally clean. Profusely illustrated with portraits, plates and vignettes. A first edition of the the great William Scott Douglas edition in which the poems are arranged chronologically and in which the text and notes are the most complete and correct. A splendid set of this great edition in a fine binding by a great firm of Glasgow binders.

London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1870. 3 volume set, 9 inches tall. A classic Victorian full calf by Bickers with gilt raised bands, twin labels and extra gilt tooling to the panels. With the bookplate of Charles J. Dobson. Foxing to the preliminaries, otherwise perfectly clean.

Glasgow: Hopkins, 1869. 2 volume set, 8 inches tall. A handsome edition in a full crushed morocco binding by Grieve with gilt bands on a smooth back, twin olive labels and superb gilt floral tooling to the panels. Gilt triple fillets and floral corner tools frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and top edges. Portrait and engraved vignettes. Joseph Ritson was an 18th century English Antiquarian who first published his 'Scotish Songs' in 1794, this mid Victorian edition is printed on hand-made paper and is in pristine condition.

London: Nimmo, 1898. 24 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A very bright and good looking classic late Victorian half calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. This the 'Large Type Border Edition' and is illustrated throughout. An unusually fine set directly from a country house.

London: George Bell & Sons 1878. 2 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A neat Victorian full calf binding by Hatchards with gilt raised bands, twin labels and delicate gilt tooling to the panels. A gilt prize block is framed on the upper boards by gilt and blind fillets. Prize bookplate. A very fine copy of the revised 4th edition.

London: George Allen, 1893. 3 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A neat Edwardian half calf with gilt pallets and top edges. Profusely illustrated throughout. Previous owners ink names on the paste down end papers and half title.

London: Sharpe and Son et al., 1819. 4 volume set, 9 inches tall. A beautiful Regency full red morocco by the great firm of White of Pall Mall with gilt raised bands, gilt pallets and simple centre tools. Double gilt fillets frame the boards. Gilt dentelled and all edges. Portraits in volume I and an engraved frontispiece in volume II, as called for. Very slight fading to the spines of volumes III & IV, but overall an exceptionally fine set.

London: Longman, and Co. et al., 1847. 8 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A classic Victorian half calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and bold gilt tooling to the panels. There is foxing to, and facing, the engraved portrait in volume I, otherwise clean. A fine edition of the works of one of the greatest English poets of the 18th century with a new life of Pope by William Roscoe.