Full Morocco

London: Printed for Thomas Macklin, by Thomas Bensley, 1800. 8 volumes, 19 inches tall in original box. A magnificent set of this 'sumptuous edition' (Herbert) bound by Lovejoy in superb full morocco. With double gilt raised bands, delicate gilt tooling to the panels and a series of wonderful rolls framing the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Sewn leather joints. The Box measures 25 x 18 x 22 inches. With the binder's ticket of John Lovejoy, one of the great binders of the period, celebrated almost exclusively for his masonic bindings, this example being a rare and spectacular exception. Embellished with 76 full page engravings by the great artists of the time including Henry Fuseli, P.J. de Loutherbourg, James Northcote, Benjamin West, William Hamilton, Thomas Stothard, Richard Cosway, Sir Joshua Reynolds and Angelica Kauffman. A further 111 ornate vignettes are present.
The condition is excellent with no splitting or loss, even all 16 sewn leather joints are present and correct, a feature found in only the finest bindings. There is some minor rubbing, scuffing and scratching and the margins of one leaf have been expertly repaired with no loss.
The subscribers list is found in volume 1 and includes The King, The Queen, The Prince of Wales et al..
One of the rarest and most impressive features of our extraordinary set is that it is in 8 volumes, all with their respective title pages. Originally intended to be printed in 3 volumes, it was actually published in 6. The Apocrypha (Published in 1816) is occasionally found with the set, making 7 volumes. We can only find record of one other set in 8 volumes (in a much poorer condition) where, as here, the New Testament is bound in 2 volumes, each with a title page, making a spectacular 8 volume set.
The box dates from around the date of publication and no doubt explains the remarkable condition of this huge and impressive set.
Macklin announced plans for his great folio Bible in 1789 to promote 'the glory of the English school of painting and engraving and the interests of our Holy Religion'. New type (cut by Joseph Jackson and Vincent Figgins) and new paper were created for the venture, and the historic paintings were to be 'finished in a style of elegance (and magnificence in Paper, Printing, and engraving) of which there is not in Europe or the world any example'. Macklin's project was costly and ambitious. He paid Reynolds £500 for his Holy Family and William Sharp £700 for its engraving. The average cost for 45 of the Bible's other engravings was £220 and the total cost of the publication was an estimated £30000, a truly vast sum at the time.

Edinburgh & London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1863. Full morocco, 10 inches tall. A fabulous full morocco by Ramage, noted for their luxurious gift and presentation bindings, with gilt raised bands and a plethora of inlays, onlays and gilt tooling. This remarkable volume is so richly decorated in coloured inlaid extra gilt morocco that the crimson ground of the binding appears at first to be merely a border. Five panels of the spine have inlaid brown morocco gilt tooled with thistles, crowns and the onlaid stars that also border the boards. The sixth panel on the spine is a turquoise blue morocco title-label, gilt. The design on both boards, has five heraldic shields, King James, Montrose and three others. These shields are inlaid with various leathers and embellished with ornate gilt tooling and surmounted by fine gilt tooled crowns. The background is a large panel, of the same brown as the panels on the spine, spangled with tiny gilt tooled thistles. Wide gilt dentelles and all edges gilt. The text is the first illustrated edition of Aytoun's Lays with fine wood engravings by Dalziel, Linton, Thompson, E. Evans, Whymper and others, after the notable drawings by Noel Paton and W. H. Paton. There is some light foxing particularly on the preliminaries. From the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey, and the bookplates of Thomas Gaisford (1779-1885, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford) and that of A. F. L.. A truly spectacular example of late Victorian English Book Binding.

In black: London: Eyre & Strahan, 1813; Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1816; London: Company of Stationers, 1810; London: Bent, (1818). In Red: Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1823; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1820; London: Company of Stationers, 1825; London: Rivington et al, 1827. 8 volumes, 6.25 inches - 13.5 inches tall. A magnificent and unique collection of devotional works belonging to Nicholas Robinson, Lord Mayor of Liverpool in 1828-1829.
On his becoming the Bailiff of Liverpool in 1818 he had the 4 great devotional works bound in uniform full black morocco with gilt raised bands, superb gilt tooling to the panel and boards, dentelles and all edges.
On becoming Lord Mayor he had another set of the 4 works bound in even more sumptuous uniform full red morocco. These have gilt raised bands, extra gilt panels, glorious gilt flourishes to the boards, gilt dentelles and all edges. These volumes also have watered silk doublures and free endpapers.
All 8 volumes have his autographed armorial bookplates and his gilt embossed inscriptions on the upper boards.
There is minor rubbing and scuffing, otherwise all the volumes are in superb condition. An extraordinary collection.

London: David Nutt 1890 & 1894. Full morocco, 10 inches tall. Wonderful full crushed morocco bindings, executed in 1898, by Riviere & Son with superb gilt olive branch tooling to the spine and boards. With gilt dentelles and top edges. Illustrated by John D Batten with 12 plates, all in 2 states, headpieces, vignettes and initials throughout. Original paper spine bound in. Signed by the author, publisher and illustrator. First edition, Deluxe issue being numbers 33 of 80 copies, and 22 of 160 copies respectively, printed on Japanese vellum. Joseph Jacobs, the editor of the society journal 'Folk-Lore', was a noted collector and publisher of English folklore. He was responsible for popularising such familiar fairy tales as 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears', 'Jack and the Beanstalk', 'Jack the Giant Killer', 'The History of Tom Thumb' and 'The Three Little Pigs'. A splendid set of these two scarce deluxe limited editions.

London: Seeley and Co., 1889. 2 volume set, 10 1/2 inches tall. A glorious full morocco binding by S.David in pristine condition with gilt raised bands and flamboyant and luxurious gilt tooling to the panels and boards. Equally sumptuous tooling to the blue crushed morocco doublures and all edges gilt. This set has been embellished with around 200 extra-illustrations, many being very fine and rare images, making a single volume work a 2 volume set. This set is number 126 of a large paper limited edition of 150 copies. From the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey. Frances Burney, known as Fanny Burney and then, at the age of 41, Madame d'Arblay, having married the French exile General Alexandre d'Arblay. She was the daughter of Charles Burney, English music historian, composer and musician. Frances Burney was a great English satirical novelist and diarist. She wrote her most celebrated novel, 'Evelina' in 1778 which she followed with 'Cecilia', 'Camilla' and 'The Wanderer'. Between the years 1786–1790 she was 'Keeper of the Robes' to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, George III's queen. A wonderful set.

London: Rudolph Ackermann, 1837. Full morocco, 9 1/2 inches tall. An exceptional copy of this remarkable work in a beautiful binding by the elusive and brilliant Lucien Broca with, most uncommonly, his own stamp. The full morocco binding has gilt raised bands and wonderfully intricate gilt tooling to the panels. Heavily crushed morocco with a surround of fillets and a splendid gilt roll form the doublures, facing watered silk free endpapers. All edges gilt. First edition, with errata slip to the last printed leaf. With 15 absolutely lovely aquatints from drawings by J. T. Rawlins. Gamonia is 'One of the most attractive colour plate books, with the aquatints all beautifully coloured and with the skilled application of gum arabic making them especially bright and sparkling.'- Ford. Eric Parker, in an 1930 edition of this book, notes: "'Gamonia' is valuable not only for its rarity and charm . It was published privately and gifted to friends by the author and is recognised as is the first treatise devoted solely to the subject of pheasant rearing, covert shooting, and the management of woodlands for the special purpose of preserving game . We can see much of what is in Rawstorne's mind in the treatment of the subjects he has chosen for illustration: in the quiet ridicule of the unskilled, in the hint of knowledge of how the thing could and should be done; in the cold and snow in which he likes to set his sportsmen seeking their quarry, and in the serenity of sunlight in which in each drawing stands Penwortham, his home". Lucien Broca was recently revealed by Marrianne Tidcombe to have created the finest bindings attributed to Sarah Prideaux, to her designs and instructions. He was born in France and bound to the highest level in Frith Street, Shaftesbury Avenue, Percy Street and Gerrard Street. A superb copy of this fascinating work.

MANUSCRIPT, 1961. Full morocco, 13 inches by 11.5 inches. A superb binding by Asprey & Co. with gilt raised bands, panels framed with single pallets and the Regimental badge of the Scots Guards on the upper board framed by a single fillet. Wide dentelles and all edges gilt. Containing 10 original watercolours by A.E.Haswell-Miller of selected orders of dress worn by the Regiment since the Duke of Gloucester became their Colonel in 1936. From the library of the Duke of Gloucester at Kensington Palace. Prince Henry Duke of Gloucester was the third son of King George V, brother of King George VI and King Edward VIII. This magnificent and unique volume was presented to the Duke in 1961 on the occasion of his review of the Regiment marking his 25th year as Colonel.

Birmingham: G. Baskerville, 1773. 4 volume set, 11 3/4 inches tall. A magnificent set in 18th century full straight grain morocco with gilt bands, extraordinary centre tools, dentelles and all edges gilt. A delightful gilt roll frames the boards. With the bookplates of Sir William Eden Bart. From the library of a County Durham Country House. With an engraved portrait frontispiece and a further 46 engraved plates. Curiously, an extra suite of plates from another edition, after Cipriani, Moreau le jeune, Eisen and Cochin has been quite crudely pasted onto the reverse of the plates. These additions were obviously made before the book was bound as the shape of the volumes is perfect. Very slight rubbing, some marks to the binding and a superficial area of staining to the upper board of volume 4. There is a degree of foxing, in particular around the plates. A tall and superb set of the most celebrated English printing of this epic 16th century Italian poem in the original Italian.