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London: Peter Jackson, Late Fisher, Son & Co., c.1860. 3 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. An elegant mid Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. Armorial bookplate of Alfred Dent and a neat ink inscription to him 'On leaving Eton Christmas 1862' on the first blank. Embellished with 3 engraved frontispieces, 3 engraved titles and a further 43 engraved portraits and views. Complete, as listed. Slight foxing to, and facing, the plates as usual. A particularly attractive set of this much admired biography.

Paris: Baudry's European Library, 1835. Full calf, 8 1/2 inches tall. A superb full calf by the Parisian binder Auguste Petit (1807-1877). Bound with gilt raised bands, extra gilt panels, twin labels and extraordinarily fine and precise gilt lettering. Triple gilt fillets frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. A splendid copy of this edition by Baudry, as part of their 'European Library', printed in English on hand-made paper. Set in Athens in the 3rd century A.D., 'The Epicurean' claims to be a translation of an ancient Greek manuscript found in the Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great in Egypt around 1800.

London: Blackie & Son, 1878. Full calf, 8 1/2 inches tall. A very good looking Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, label and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. Blind and gilt fillets frame the embossed gilt stamp of Cheltenham College on the upper board. There is a neat prize bookplate on the reverse of the front board. Vignettes and full page engravings. A superb example of this scarce title.

London: Orr & Co., 1838. Full calf, 9 inches tall. A splendid copy of the first edition bound in full calf by Riviere with gilt raised bands, twin labels and fine gilt floral tooling to the panels. Gilt top edge and dentelles. Some foxing to and facing the plates but overall a very smart copy. With 24 humorous engraved plates by "Phiz" and others. A selection of entertaining tales of London, with such titles as 'Debtor's Prisons'; 'Penny Theatres'; 'Lunatic Asylums'; 'Gaming-Houses and Gamblers'.

London: F.C. and J. Rivington, 1807. 2 volume set, 8 1/4 inches tall. A really good looking full Regency full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and unusual and striking gilt tooling to the panels. Triple fillets frame the boards. Blue speckled edges. An interesting book of anecdotes, which was extended to 6 volumes in 1812. At the end of volume 2 there is a manuscript leaf describing how Beloe lost his situation as librarian at the British Museum having allowed 'Deighton who stole the fine prints from the Museum' free access to volumes of prints which he proceeded to strip and replace with lesser prints!

London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1872-1874. 3 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A handsome set in full calf with twin labels and delicate gilt tooling to the panels. With the armorial bookplate of the 1st Earl of Northbrook of Stratton Park, Viceroy of India 1872–1876. Slight foxing to the title pages, then clean. Originally planned as a 2 volume set, was then extended to 3. A fine set of this interesting work.

Madrid: Imprenta de José M. Ducazcal, 1853. Full calf, 8 3/4 inches tall. A beautiful full Spanish calf by Riviere with triple olive labels, gilt bands and floral centre tools on a smooth back. Triple fillets and corner tools frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. With the armorial bookplate of renowned connoisseur and collector Reginald Huth, his neat signature, dated 1880 on the first blank, and 2 address labels addressed to him slipped in. There is the stamp of a Madrid bookseller on the title page. A superb example of the second edition, with the 13 full page engravings, as called for, in pristine condition. In the original Spanish.

London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1873. Full Calf, 7 3/4 inches tall. A splendid Victorian tree calf binding by Riviere with gilt raised bands, contrasting red label and fine dense gilt tooling to the panels. With a Harrow School prize book plate on the front paste down end paper. A fine copy of this great Roman epic poem, translated into English verse.

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: 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: 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: 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.

Londres (London): J. J. Stockdale, 1814. Full calf, 7 inches tall. A splendid 'Romantic' binding with gilt raised bands, red label and dense and intricate gilt tooling to the panels and blind tooling to the boards within gilt detail. French writer and classicist Jacques Delille's poem illustrates his Royalist sympathies and distaste for the Republican regime that forced him into exile. Embellished with an engraved portrait and 2 further engraved plates. With the neat ink inscription 'G. H. Wheeler' on the half title. A beautiful copy in fine condition, in the original French.

London: C. S. Arnold, 1827. Full calf, 5 inches tall. A delightful little Georgian full calf with gilt raised bands, ornate gilt tooling to the panels and contrasting bright red label. With an engraved vignette on the title page. Smollett's last, and in the view of many, his best and funniest novel.

London: Patrick Martin, 1816. Full calf, 9 inches tall. A splendid later full calf with gilt raised bands, ornate gilt panels and twin labels. Gilt dentelles and top edge. With 15 full page hand-coloured aquatints, as called for. With its felt lined buckram slip case. Predating Mitford's 'Adventures of Johnny Newcombe in the Navy' this hilarious satire presents our hero as he begins his military career on dry land. We witness his experiences in Pall Mall and then onto The Peninsula War in which he helps repel the invading French forces of Napoleon.

London: John Murray, 1819. 7 volume set, 8 inches tall. A very pleasing Regency full calf in fine condition with blind tooled raised bands and panels, twin labels and a series of blind fillets and a wide roll frames the boards. Internally and externally very clean with just a few small scuffs and marks to the bindings. There is a neat ink inscription of the period to a Louisa Blaxlund (?). This anthology, "with Biographical and Critical Notices, and an Essay on English Poetry" represents a comprehensive selection of poets from the age of Chaucer, John Gower and John Lydgate.

London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1855. 2 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A splendid Victorian full straight grain calf from the recently dispersed Country House library of Bridehead in Dorset. With gilt raised bands, twin labels and superb gilt tooling to the panels. Sydney Smith, author, philosopher, humourist and wit, whose opinions on early American literature had huge impact. A "sincere friend of America", he founded the Edinburgh Review, lectured at the Royal Institution and is still known for his rhyming salad dressing recipe!

London: Macmillan and Co., 1908. Full calf, 6 inches tall. A delightful Edwardian full calf with raised bands and fine gilt tooling to the panels and boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. There is some blotchiness to the title panel and a slight dark mark near the fore-edge of the upper board and slight rubbing. On the second blank is a long ink inscription dated, Edinburgh, 1911 and the letters T.Y.S. appear in the cartouche on the upper board. The binding has the stamp 'Bound by Otto Schultze & Co. Edinburgh'. A lovely little copy of this famous anthology "Selected from the Best Songs and Lyrical Poems in the English Language".

London: John Sharpe, 1817. 3 volumes, 5 1/2 inches tall. A pretty little Regency full calf with gilt decorated panels and red labels. Twin gilt fillets frame the ornately blind tooled boards. Each volume has an engraved frontispiece by Westall. The neat ink inscription "C.G. Geddes 1829" is on the reverse of the front free endpapers and another neat ink former owner's name on the top corner of the first blanks. A forerunner of Romantic Poetry, William Cowper was hugely popular and influential in his day.