Full calf

Edinburgh: Printed at the Apollo Press , by the Martins for the John Bell British Library, 1782-1803. 109 volume set, 5 inches tall. A fabulous Regency tree calf in superb condition with gilt bands, triple labels and Grecian lyre centre tools, so typical of the period. Complete sets of this work are very scarce, in this condition almost unheard of. There is no splitting or wear to the volumes. There is the occasional scratch and mark but even these are few and far between. The volumes have the armorial bookplate of William McCall and come from the estate of the late Lady Penn. Prudence, Lady Penn was a former lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and a close friend of the late Queen Elizabeth II. 107 of the volumes have additional engraved titles and there are 36 engraved portraits. An exceptional survival.

Edinburgh: Printed for John Bell British Library at the Apollo Press, 1780-84. 53 volumes, 5 inches tall. A beautiful 18th century full tree calf with gilt bands on a smooth back, gilt Grecian lyre centre tools and triple labels. A gilt roll in the Greek key pattern frames the boards. Yellow edges. With engraved titles and portraits throughout. Housed in an original travelling case resembling calf folios stacked dos-a-dos. The 53 consecutive volumes eventually were extended to 109 volumes (see our complete set) but as there is no indication of a volume number on the case it would seem that this was all that the original owner possessed. The volumes are in excellent condition the case itself, still with its original watered silk lining, is in good solid condition but has some scuffing, rubbing and worm holed from a long defunct insect. A remarkable survival.

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 floral gilt tooling to the panels, almost certainly bound by the great firm of J. Leighton of Brewer Street. 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'. We have handled very many sets of this title have never seen a smarter set. From the library of Alfred de Rothschild but without his bookplate.

London: Chapman & Hall, 1887. 34 volumes, 8 1/2 inches tall. A superb late Victorian set bound by Zaehnsdorf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and very fine gilt tooling to the panels. The Monogram and coronet of The Marchioness of Londonderry is gilt embossed on the upper boards framed within a double fillet. With her bookplate. A letter is slipped in reading: "June 24th 1889. My Dear Lady Londonderry, I send you a set of Carlyle's Works - Please accept in memory of such kindness received from Ireland's best of Kings & sweetest of Queens.....Edmund Talbot". A few marks and scratches but a superb set in near pristine condition. A fine set of the best edition of the works of one of the greatest influences of the Victorian Age.

Paris: Tenon, 1828-29. 4 volume set, 8 1/4 inches tall. First Edition. A splendid full calf of the period, an ancient catalogue slip attributes it to the great C. Lewis, with dense gilt tooling and olive labels on smooth backs. The arms of the 3rd Earl of Clare are gilt blocked onto the boards. Signed by Vidocq in the first 3 volumes as called for. Eugene Vidocq was an adventurer and detective who helped create the 'secret police' in France and is considered the father of modern criminology. Dismissed in 1832 for a theft that he allegedly organised, Vidocq created a police agency 'Police de Sûreté", the prototype of modern detective agencies. Known all over France as a remarkably audacious man, Vidocq was a friend of such authors as Victor Hogo, Honoré de Balzac, Eugène Sue and Alexandre Dumas père and influenced Edgar Allen Poe. The figure of Vidocq is believed to have inspired Balzac's creation of the criminal genius Vautrin, one of the most vivid characters to appear in his novelistic series La Comédie Humaine. From the residual library of Charles Butler (1821-1910) of Warren Wood in Hatfield. The majority of his library was sold at Sotheby's on 5th April 1911. A wonderful set of this great work In the original French.

Madrid: En la Imprenta del Norte, 1815. 10 volume set, bound in 6, 9 3/4 inches tall. A fabulous early 19th century Spanish full calf with twin red labels and Grecian urn centre tools on a smooth back. A splendid wide gilt roll frames the boards. Speckled blue edges and remarkable endpapers. This style of staining calf in such an extraordinary and attractive style became very popular with the finest English book binders towards the end of the Victorian era and well into the Edwardian. See our examples by Leighton, Tout and White. This fine edition, with the text in very large type in Spanish and Latin, is extremely scarce with only one other set located by Palau 199404 and OCLC in the Spanish National Library. A partial set is in the Saxon State Library in Dresden and a few parts are found in an Italian library. On the first blank is found an old Barcelona bookseller's ticket. In pristine condition.

London: Robinson, 1787. 2 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A wonderful 18th century calf binding with gilt bands, superb twin labels and splendid floral gilt tooling to the panels. An ornate gilt fillet frames the speckled boards. With the 2 folding engraved maps and 3 folding engraved plates. The first English edition of what has been described as "The first trustworthy record of life in the United States." Howes. U.S. Iana. Slight superficial loss to a long defunct insect to the foot of volume 2 and slight rubbing and marking the the boards but overall in excellent condition. With the bookplate of Vane Londonderry. From the library of Charles William Vane (formerly Stewart), third Marquess of Londonderry. Vane served with distinction throughout the Peninsula War. His dashing and dandified portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence is at the National Portrait Gallery. He amassed magnificent libraries in his various Country Houses. The Marquis of Chastellux, French general and author. In 1870 he went to the U.S., where he served with honour for 3 years, as Major General, in Rochambeau's forces. He was a personal friend of George Washington. This work contains reminiscences of Washington, La Fayette and General Knox amongst many others. It abounds, not only with observations of importance, but also with details of even the most trifling, but fascinating, incidents that bad roads, inconvenient inns, and distracted times usually afford.

Edinburgh: Bell & Bradfute, 1810. 5 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A remarkable and most attractive full Regency calf binding with twin inked raised bands and inked, blind and gilt tooling to the panels and boards, so typical of this period. With the bookplate of the famous collector Robert J. Hayhurst and neat stamp of R. Parker on the reverse of the free endpaper. 4 engraved plates. "Thomson's System was the first extensive treatise on Chemistry written in Great Britain....the objectives of the work were to promote the advancement of chemistry by collecting the numerous facts from their scattered sources, to incorporate the history of the development of Chemistry and to give exact references to the original works in which the discoveries were reported. To make this edition up to date important additions and alterations were introduced into almost every chapter, also some new sections were added increasing the text to five volumes." (Cole). A splendid set of the expanded and improved 4th edition of this landmark scientific work.

London: Nicholson and Knaplock, 1707. Full calf, 14 3/4 inches tall. A magnificent full speckled calf with raised bands, label and gilt pallets. Pink speckled edges. With the armorial bookplate of Vane Londonderry. From the library of Charles William Vane (formerly Stewart), third Marquess of Londonderry. Vane served with distinction throughout the Peninsula War. His dashing and dandified portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence is at the National Portrait Gallery. He amassed magnificent libraries in his various Country Houses. On the title page is the signature of Geo. Howard of Norfolke. On the front free end paper, just above the case and shelf number the very corner has been clipped. With full page engraved plates, many folding, and vignettes throughout. A fine and impressive copy of this Royal History.