Full Calf

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.

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.

London: Nichols; Rivington et al., 1816. 12 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A very smart Regency full speckled calf with an usually bright patina. With gilt raised bands, red labels and delicate gilt tooling to the panels. There are some very small superficial niblings of a long defunct insect on some edges but no splitting or wear. An essay on his life by Arthur Murphy. An exceptionally splendid set of this great title.

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.

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: Seeley & Co., 1908. Full calf, 4 3/4 inches tall. A tiny and delightful full calf binding by Riviere with gilt raised bands, label and extra gilt tooling to the panels. Elegant gilt tooling frames the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. An ink previous owner's name Walter Jodak Kohler (Governor of Wisconsin) on the reverse of the free endpaper and a date on the first blank, otherwise pristine. Curious pagination. A colour frontispiece and title page, and further line illustrations by H.M. Brock. A scarce anthology of quotations from Dr. Johnson.

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 corner tool 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.

London: T. Longman, B. Law et al., 1796. 2 volumes bound in 1, 11 1/4 inches tall. A magnificent large quarto in full 18th century speckled calf with raised bands, gilt pallets and a most attractive label. Some marks and scuffs to the binding but no loss or splitting. An exceptionally clean copy of Boyer's Royal French and English Dictionary.

Edinburgh: At the Apollo Press, 1777. 4 volume set, 5 inches tall. A very pretty little set in 18th century tree calf with twin labels and dense gilt tooling on a smooth back. With a neat ink previous owner's name on the first blanks. Engraved portrait and 4 engraved title pages. Excellent condition with no splits or loss. Complete in 4 volumes but printed as part of Bell's 'Poets of Great Britain'. A delightful little set of Young's Poetical works including his "Complaint: or, Night Thoughts", one of the most popular and influential poems of the 18th century.

London: John Murray, 1834-1838. 12 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. An exceptionally good looking late Victorian full calf with wide blind tooled raised bands, twin labels and extra gilt tooling to the panels. A gilt roll and fillets frame the monogram on the upper boards. Scuffs on the upper board of volume XII, otherwise a clean and very smart set. An extraordinary insight into the Napoleonic campaigns from the dispatches of Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington.

Paris: Michel Lévy Frères, 1860. 2 volume set, 9 inches tall. Full calf by the great firm of Leighton, from the library of Alfred Rothschild, but without his bookplate. With gilt raised bands, twin labels and neat centre tools to the panels. Twin gilt fillets and corner tools frame the boards. Pink edges. A fine copy of the first edition of this scarce title. In the original French.

London: John W. Parker, 1855: 1855. 4 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A spectacular mid-Victorian full hard grain pink morocco by Grieve of Edinburgh, with gilt raised bands, green labels and a blind Aldus leaf centre tool. Wide gilt rolls and blind fillets frame the boards. With the armorial bookplate of Peter Carmichael. Maps, including 2 double page. A superb set of this great history devoted to the relationship between the conquering Spanish forces and the native American Indians.

London: C and J Rivington, T. Cadell et al., 1827. 6 volume set, 9 inches tall. A very handsome early Victorian full calf by Wiseman of Cambridge. With blind tooled raised bands and smart gilt framing to the panels. The gilt embossed crest of Queen's College Cambridge within gilt and blind fillets frames the boards. Some rubbing but a solid and firm set. Subtitled 'The History of Modern Europe with an account of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; and a View of the Progress of Society, from the Rise of the Modern Kingdoms to the Peace of Paris in 1763, in a Series of Letters from a Nobleman to his Son. A New Edition with a Continuation, Terminating at the Death of Alexander, the Russian Emperor, in 1825.

London: Bickers and Son, 1873. 2 volume set, 9 inches tall. A superb Victorian full calf binding by Mansell. With gilt raised bands, delicate gilt tooling to the panels and very fine labels, in particular the radiant volume labels. The bookplates have been rubbed to obscure the name and there is considerable rubbing to the shoulders but still a sparkling set of these great theatrical works.

Chiswick: From the Press of C. Whittingham, 1822. Full calf, 5 inches tall. A charming little Regency straight grain by T. Smyth of Exeter, and with their ticket. With gilt bands and elaborate gilt tooling to the panels. A flowery gilt roll frames the boards. Speckled edges. A neat ink former owner's name, Mary Anne Davey, on the first blank and inside the rear free end paper. With an engraved title page and vignettes.

London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1898. Full calf, 7 1/2 inches tall. A most attractive binding by Zaehnsdorf with gilt raised bands, extravagant floral gilt tooling to the panels and contrasting red label. With the gilt embossed crest of Uppingham School on the upper board and their prize bookplate on the paste down end paper. Gilt dentelles and all edges. With portraits and facsimiles.

London: Sharpe and Son et al., 1819. 4 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A superb later full straight grain calf by Riviere with gilt raised bands, twin labels and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. Twin gilt fillets frame the boards, gilt dentelles and all edges. Portraits in volumes I & II, as called for. A fine edition of the works of this great 18th century novelist in pristine condition inside and out.