Fine Set

London: Tinsley Brothers, 1867. 3 volume set, 9 inches tall. A very handsome binding by Bayntun Riviere with gilt raised bands, regal gilt centre tools and gilt top edges. Armorial bookplate. Extra-Illustrated with 30 fine engraved illustrations, 10 of which are hand coloured. One of the most active and crucial reigns of all the British Monarchs covering many great events at home but also the American War of Independence and the French Revolution.

London: Edward Moxon, 1836. 2 volume set, 8 inches tall. Neat half later morocco bindings by Birdsall with gilt raised bands, smart gilt tooling framing the boards and gilt top edges. Charles Lamb was at the heart of a literary circle in the early 19th century along with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey, William Wordsworth, Dorothy Wordsworth and William Hazlitt, he was described by his biographer E. V. Lucas as "the most lovable figure in English literature".

Edinburgh & London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1849 - 1850. 15 volume set, 9 inches tall. Superb Victorian full calf bound by Zaehnsdorf, with gilt raised bands, triple labels in red, black and green, and superb gilt tooling. With the armorial bookplate of Allan Harvey Drummond. Some marks and superficial loss to a long defunct insect to some boards, and some foxing to several plates, but overall in wonderful condition. Sir Archibald Alison's great history consists of 14 volumes plus a uniformly bound Atlas, which contains all 108 maps. The Atlas volume is 11 inches deep. With portraits. These 15 volumes cover the Commencement of the French Revolution in 1789 to the Restoration of the Bourbons in 1815'. This set is complete as it was first published. It was continued some years later (See our other set).

London: Nattali and Bond, 1831. 2 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. A charming and very scarce work describing a critical period in the history of Paris. Smartly bound in half morocco with a title label and dense gilt tooling on a smooth back. Embellished with a folding map of Paris, 13 engraved views and 26 wood-cuts. Armorial bookplates. Some foxing. This history contains an account of the revolution of 1789; the Tuileires, the Massacre of St Batholomew, Sieges of Paris and the Louvre.

Edinburgh: Cadell & Co. and London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, & Green, 1827. 9 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A lovely William IV half pink calf binding with gilt raised bands and delicate gilt tooling to the panels, The second edition, published in the same year as the first. Sporadic light foxing. A splendid set of this great biography by the most popular novelist and historian of the period.

London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1831. 3 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A plain but handsome half calf binding with raised bands and twin maroon labels. Lord Canning held senior cabinet posts before becoming Prime Minister in 1827, he also famously fought a duel with Lord Castlereagh, causing outrage that two cabinet ministers had resorted to such a method.

Paris: Chez Antoine Boudet. Nicolas Desaint. Avignon : Chez François-Barthelemi Merande. 1767-1773. 17 volume set 10 1/2 inches tall. A magnificent edition in full 18th century French mottled roan with gilt raised bands, contrasting orange and green labels and elegant gilt tooled panels. Pink speckled edges. Embellished with 33 engraved plates (some folding) plus 6 letterpress tables (some folding). From the Library of Madame de Simiane, collected by her at the Chateau de Cirey, but without her bookplates. An exceptionally handsome set in superb condition..

London: Cadell et al., 1841-1846. 17 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A magnificent Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and very fine, dense and bright gilt tooling to the panels. Twin gilt fillets frame the boards. Portraits of Hume and Smollett. With the armorial bookplate of Ramsey Abbey. The first 6 volumes cover the 'History of England' from the 'Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution in 1688' by David Hume. The next four volumes are a continuation by Tobias Smollett 'From the Revolution to the Death of George the Second'. The concluding seven volumes, by T.S. Hughes, cover the period from 'The Accession of George III., 1760, to the Accession of Queen Victoria, 1837'. A beautiful looking set of this great history.

London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., 1882-3. 12 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. A delightful set in late Victorian full vellum, rarely found in this condition. Bound with a smooth back with titles in black and red. Gilt top edges, the remaining edges untrimmed. Finely printed on hand-made paper. A splendid complete set of the Bard's great works, including the Sonnets.

London: Bradbury & Evans, 1850. 2 volume set, 9 inches tall. A superb tree calf binding by the great firm of Hayday with gilt raised bands, extra gilt panels and contrasting labels. A striking gilt roll frames the boards. Illustrated by Thackeray himself with vignettes and full page engraved plates throughout. Light foxing. The classic tale of a young English gentleman, Arthur Pendennis, born in the country who sets out for London to seek his place in life and society encountering a satirical picture of human character and aristocratic society.

London: Adam and Charles Black, 1893. 2 volume set, 8 inches tall. An exceptionally nice Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, bright twin labels and delicate gilt tooling to the panels. With the gilt blocked heraldic device for Oriel College, Oxford on the upper boards. With the armorial bookplate of Edward Seymour Forster, the famous Greek classicist and scholar, and a neat prize inscription to him on the first blank. A superb set on this great study on the classic Greek poets.

London: Cassell & Company, 1887 - Bristol: J. W. Arrowsmith, 1917. 45 volumes, 5 1/2 inches to 8 inches. An extraordinary and unique set of first editions of works by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, also known as 'Q', all in uniform beautiful half morocco bindings by Zaehnsdorf. With raised bands and glorious floral gilt tooling in the Art-Nouveau style. Many have their original cloth covers bound in. All have the bookplate of Charles Plumptre Johnson. Arthur Quiller-Couch was a Cornishman and prolific novelist and poet. In 1887 he published 'Dead Man's Rock', a romance in the style of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. He continued to write popular novels and poetry as well as celebrated anthologies of poetry and Fairy-Tales throughout the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. A unique collection, in superb bindings, in absolutely pristine condition.

London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1895. 2 volume set, 11 inches tall. A pristine and very good looking half mottled calf by the Geneva bookbinder Asper with gilt raised bands, maroon label, gilt framed panels and gilt top edges. Embellished with 18 full page plates by E. R. Hughes. A splendid English language edition of 1000 copies of the great work of the 15th century Italian poet best known for his 50 celebrated bawdy short stories, here first translated into English.

London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1894. 2 volume set, 11 inches tall. A pristine and very good looking half mottled calf by the Geneva bookbinder Asper with gilt raised bands, maroon label, gilt framed panels and gilt top edges. Embellished with 18 full page plates by E. R.Hughes. A splendid English language edition of 1000 copies of the great work of the early 16th century Italian writer of bawdy short stories, which include some of the original versions of well known fairy stories. This translation into English is the first collected English language version of Straparola's 'Nights', 'The Pleasant Nights' or 'Facetious Nights', as they are also known.

London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1892. 2 volume set, 11 inches tall. A pristine and very good looking half mottled calf by the Geneva bookbinder Asper with gilt raised bands, maroon label, gilt framed panels and gilt top edges. Embellished with a portrait and 14 full page plates. A splendid English language edition of 1000 copies of the great work of the early 16th century French renaissance satirist Francis Rabelais. Described as the first great French prose writer he revelled in the bawdy, grotesque, extravagant and robust tales that he is still celebrated for.

London: Cassell, Petter & New York, c.1890. 2 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A lovely Victorian tree calf with gilt raised bands, sparkling twin labels and extra gilt panels. A gilt roll frames the boards and the gilt prize block of Rossall School on the upper boards. With the prize bookplate of Rossall school on the first paste down endpaper. Embellished with colour maps showing St. Paul's missionary journeys.

London: J. G. & F. Rivington, 1838. 2 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A handsome early Victorian half calf from the recently dispersed Country House library of Bridehead in Dorset, with gilt raised bands, twin labels and delicate gilt tooling to the panels. Pink speckled edges. With the armorial bookplate of Robert Williams of Bridehead. A fine copy of the first edition of this treatise 'Designed Chiefly for the use of Students in Theology'.