Fine Set

Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1860. 12 volume set, 6 3/4 inches tall. A very neat Victorian half calf in lovely condition with gilt raised bands, ornate gilt tooling to the panels and contrasting twin labels. Pink edges. Each volume has an engraved frontispiece and an engraved title page. A splendid set of probably the most popular of all Victorian poems.

London: Various, 1818-1823. 8 volumes, 6 1/4 inches tall. A delightful collection of works by Thomas Moore in Georgian half 'Russia' calf with gilt raised bands and superb extra gilt panels. A splendid selection of the works of Ireland's "National Bard" in a fine binding in pristine condition.

London: J.M. Dent and Company, 1893-1894. 10 volume set, 7 inches tall. A delightful little set in a neat half morocco binding with raised bands, gilt centre tools, titles and top edges. Some rubbing and loss of head cap to the final volume. Slight fading. Embellished with illustrations by William C. Cooke and ornamentation by F.C. Tilney. A pretty set of these great novels.

Liverpool: Henry Young & Sons, 1917. 3 volume set, 9 inches tall. A splendid half crushed morocco bindings by Henry Young with gilt raised bands and extra gilt panels. Gilt top edges. Illustrate with 30 full page plates. With added personal recollections illustrated of the reigns of Louis XIV, XV and XVI as well as 'Memoir of Madame Campan' by F. Barrière. Madame Campan was in the service of Marie Antoinette before and during the French Revolution. In 1807 she was appointed by Napoleon to promote the education of girls. This is a new, revised edition in a sparkling binding.

London: James Duncan, 1834. 6 volumes, 8 1/2 inches tall. Two fine sets in uniform early Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, gilt tooling to the panels and twin labels. Blind fillets and corner tools frame the boards. Portrait. Foxing to the preliminaries and then clean. From the recently dispersed Country House library of Bridehead in Dorset.

Edinburgh: C. Elliot, 1809. 5 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A very neat Georgian full calf with gilt raised bands, pallets and contrasting twin labels. With the armorial bookplate of John Burton Philips of Heath House. Embellished with an engraved portrait and 26 splendid engravings by Rowlandson and others. Although entitled Miscellaneous Works, this charming set includes all of Smollett's major literary works other than his continuation of Hume's History of England. Each work has its own title page and collation. Slight rubbing and slight foxing to the plates but overall a fine set of the Works of one of Scotland's best novelists.

London: John W. Parker and Son, 1858-1870. 12 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A splendid set in Victorian full straight grain calf with gilt raised bands and fine gilt tooling to the panels. Foxing to the preliminaries, then clean. The 12 volume set is divided into two sets of 6 volumes both entitled 'The Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth'. Portrait. A fine Country House set from the Library of Bridehead in Dorset.

London: W. Allason; et al., 1819. 12 volume set, 8 1/4 inches tall. A exceptionally good looking Regency full calf with wide extra gilt raised bands, blind tooling to the panels and twin labels. With one engraved portrait and two folding maps, as called for. A few small marks to the boards, otherwise in excellent condition, inside and out. First published in 1776, Gibbon's 'Decline and Fall' was initially planned as a history of the final years of the Roman Empire but was expanded in scope to the history of the whole Roman Empire. It is still considered to be one of the greatest histories ever written.

London: Cadell and Davies et al.' 1803-1805. 2 volume set, 6 1/2 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. Embellished with 8 full page engravings. Bowles was inspired by the beauty of nature and his first published collection of sonnets was enthusiastically received by the public and by the Romantic Poets, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth. This is a remarkably fine set, pristine inside and out.

London: T. Caddell, 1822. 10 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A very smart country house set in full Georgian blue straight grain calf with wide gilt raised bands and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. There is an armorial device on the boards, framed within a wide blind roll and twin gilt fillets. With the Fothergill bookplate of the library from which the books were recently dispersed. Although perfectly smart on the shelf and with no splitting and with a clean text, many of the boards have evidence of being nibbled by long defunct insects. An early octavo edition in a very good looking, though blemished, Georgian full calf binding.

Edinburgh: Sutherland and Knox and London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co., 1850. 4 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall, A classic Victorian full calf by Hatchards of Piccadilly with gilt raised bands, twin labels and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. An ink inscription dated Christmas Day, 1850 on the third blank. From the country house 'Bride Head' Library. With 2 engraved portraits and 4 engraved title pages. A fine set on the life of the great Scottish economist and churchman, Thomas Chalmers, by his sin-in-law.

London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1848. 3 volume set, 9 inches tall. A remarkable Victorian full mottled extra gilt calf binding. We have never seen a binding quite like it, with gilt raised bands, twin labels, the volume labels being extraordinarily ornate and with very fine extra gilt panels. Gilt dentelles and all edges. A neat ink inscription 'on leaving Eton, 1866' on the first black. Slight foxing to the preliminaries, otherwise clean, the bindings themselves are in pristine condition.

London: Printed by T. Bensley for Wynne, Scholey and J. Wallis, 1803-1805. 10 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A delightful Regency tree calf binding with wide gilt bands on a smooth back with triple labels, including impressively tooled green labels listing the plays within, and a fine gilt centre tool. The portrait of Shakespeare in volume is, along with it's tissue, foxed, the charming vignettes which illustrate all the plays are clean despite the foxing on some of their tissues. The edition, that of Mr. Steevens, is excellent, as is the type. Speckled edges. A splendid set.

London: John Murray, 1835. 2 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A very good looking Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and handsome gilt tooling to the panels. Triple blind fillets frame the boards. Speckled edges. With the armorial bookplate of Charles Finch Foster of Anstey Hall in Trumpington. The engraved portrait is foxed, the rest of the text and further engravings are all clean. With fine engraved portraits throughout. Samuel Butler's great 17th century satirical mock-heroic poem, inspired by Cervantes' 'Don Quixote', was written just before the restoration of Charles II. The plot is one of continuous humiliation for Hudibras, one of Cromwell's knights in the New Model Army.

Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and London: Hurst, Robinson and Co., 1822-1830. 53 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A magnificent set in bound in the highest quality Georgian full hard grain morocco with gilt raised bands and superb extra gilt panels. Gilt and blind fillets frame the boards. All edges gilt. Each volume has an engraved title page and further full page engravings. There is a degree of foxing, mostly to the engraving, but a generally very clean set. There is some scratching and a couple of small gouges, but is very smart and has absolutely no splitting or loss. A remarkable set.

London: Thomas and William Boone, 1853. 6 volume set, 7 3/4 inches tall. A very neat Victorian full calf by T. Hatchard with gilt raised bands, twin labels and handsome gilt tooling to the panels. Triple blind fillets and corner tools frame the boards. Red speckled edges. Embellished with 55 full page engraved maps and battle plans. A fine set of one of the most celebrated works on the battles on the Iberian Peninsular during the Napoleonic Wars fought between the ultimately successful forces of Great Britain, Spain and Portugal against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire.

Paris: Chez Pierre Ribou, 1715. 5 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. A lovely full early 18th century mottled calf with raised bands, twin labels, which vary in colour, and ornate floral gilt tooling to the panels, so typical of the period. Triple gilt fillets frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. With the bookplate of N. F. B. le Sage and that of the Bibliotheque de Cirey, the library of Madame de Simiane at the Chateau de Cirey. With fine engraved plates throughout. Quinault was a celebrated playwright and perhaps most famous for composing libretti for Lully's works. A very scarce edition, in the original French.