Search

London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1913. 7 volume set, 7 1/4 inches tall. Splendid set in full calf with gilt raised bands and gilt tooled panels. Gilt corner tools and twin fillets frame the prize gilt block on the upper boards. Prize bookplate on the paste down endpaper. Slight fading of the spines but still a very bright smart set by this great Irish historian.

Paris: Chez Ambroise Tardieu, 1821. 4 volume set, 8 inches tall. A delightful full mottled calf by Bayntun of Bath with gilt raised bands, twin labels and very fine gilt tooling to the panels. A wide gilt roll frames the boards. Dentelles and all edges gilt. Decorated with 8 engravings by Alexandre-Marie Colin, a student of Girodet. Slight rubbing to the edges and some light foxing. An exceptional set of this licentious novel.

London: Richard Bentley, 1840-48. 8vo (9½" tall). Superb full red crushed morocco, by TOUT. Gilt raised bands and pallets, fine gilt tooling to panels. Boards framed with gilt floral corner tool. Gilt doublures with floral patterned endpapers. Top edge gilt. Slightly foxed. Armorial bookplate. Original issues of Bentley's Magazine. Bound with special title page, contents and a preface dated 1889 by the collector John Waugh. Autograph letter in black ink bound in, dated 6 March 1863, 2 pages.

Paris: Saugrin, L'An V. - 1797. 2 volume set, 6 inches tall. An exquisite full straight grain morocco by C. Lewis with twin blind tooled bands, beautiful gilt tooling to the panels, dentelles and all edges. The straight grain of the boards is framed within a frame of gilt and blind tooled fillets. Bookplate. 8 glorious copper engravings by Moreau le Jeune and a frontispiece portrait of La Fontaine after Rigeau. Slight rubbing to the head and tail cap and boards, and slight fading to the spine but a beautiful set of this delightful and scarce work from the original tale by Ovid, retold by La Fontaine.

Amsterdam: Chez Pierre Humbert, 1731. 2 volume set, 10 inches tall. A superb early 18th century full French calf with gilt raised bands, twin morocco labels and extra gilt tooling to the panels. Pink edges. Fine full page engravings throughout. Slight foxing to the title page, otherwise clean. From the library of Madame de Simiane at the Chateau de Cirey. A fine set.

Paris: Didot, 1810. 2 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. Scarce utopian novel in superb full mottled calf from the beginning of the 19th century. With gilt bands, twin labels and very fine gilt tooling to the panels. Speckled edge. A neat ink owner's name 'Stewart' at the head of the first title page. A remarkable work purporting to be the travels of a Chinese explorer in Europe 100 years in the future. 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. A splendid example of this rare and fantastical work.

Paris: Kugelmann, 1844. 2 volume set, 10 inches tall. A fine and very bright half morocco with gilt raised bands, floral gilt tooling to the panels and yellow edges. With the binder's ticket of Albert Günther of Vienna, and from the Library of the Auersperg Palais, though with the bookplates neatly removed. Numerous wood engraved plates and vinettes by Célestin Nanteuil and others illustrating the colourful, romantic and savage history of these famous streets and boulevards. A fine set of the first edition.

London: Payne, 1811. Full morocco, 11 1/2 inches tall. A magnificent binding by J. Rodwell of Golden Square and with their ticket, in full straight grain morocco. With gilt and blind raised bands, elaborate gilding to the panels, dentelles and all edges. The boards are framed within a sequence of gilt and blind rolls and fillets. Engraved frontispiece and folding hand coloured map. There is some staining to the margin of the frontispiece, otherwise the text is clean. The binding is heavily rubbed but not splitting and without loss, the edges of the boards are heavily scuffed. Rodwell was a great binder in the Regency period and examples of his work, with their ticket, are scarce.

London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., 1822. 4 volume set, 6 3/4 inches tall. A very attractive Georgian full calf bound set with wide gilt raised bands, twin labels and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. Gilt and blind fillets frame the boards. With the celebrated engravings by Robert Smirke. There is a neat ink inscription on the first blank. Some foxing to the plates, otherwise a perfectly clean set of this hugely popular 18th century French novel, here translated into English.

London: Longman, Hurst, Rees et Orme, 1809. 4 volume set, 9.5 inches tall. Very finely bound in half calf with gilt raised bands, label and ornate gilt tooling around a gilt tooled onlay in each panel. Engraved plates by Smirke. From the Library and with the bookplate of Robert J. Hayhurst. An English edition in the original French. Very slight fading. A splendid copy of this celebrated 18th century picaresque novel.

London: Longman, Hurst, Rees and Orme, 1808. Full morocco, 7.5 inches tall. A very fine crushed morocco by Riviere with gilt raised bands, densely tooled gilt floral panels, triple fillets framing the boards, dentelles and all edges gilt. Bookplate. First edition.

London: Macmillan and Co., 1888. 2 volume set, 7 inches tall. A very smart half crushed morocco binding with gilt raised bands and most attractive gilt tooling to the panels. Gilt top edges. From the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey. With 78 interesting extra-illustrations. Essayist, critic, poet, and playwright Charles Lamb achieved lasting fame as a writer during the years 1820-1825, when he captivated the discerning English reading public with his personal essays in the London Magazine, collected as Essays of Elia and The Last Essays of Elia , known for their charm, humor, and perception.

London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1893. Half morocco, 7 1/2 inches tall. A superb late Victorian binding with gilt raised bands and extremely ornate and dense gilt tooling to the panels. Top edge gilt. Slight foxing to the preliminaries. A terrific example of the first edition of these rollicking tales of adventure.

London: Longman et al., Printed by Gedge and Barker, Bury, 1812. Full calf. 5.75 inches tall. A fine example of this curious and rare title. With gilt raised bands, extra gilt panels, dentelles and all edges. Portrait of Shakespeare. Not signed but bound by Clarke and Bedford toward the end of the Victorian era. Expert repair to the top corner of the title page and slight stain to upper board, but overall a splendid copy.

Philadelphia: Carey and Hart, 1840. Full morocco, 7.5 inches tall. A most attractive binding in exceptional condition with extra gilt tooling to the spine and boards and all edges gilt. The contributions include Edgar Allen Poe's 'William Wilson' and Harriet Beecher Stowe's 'Justice and Charity'. With all 9 engraved plates. A neat small square patch has been pasted to a corner of the front free endpaper, presumably to cover up a previous owner's name and a stamp has been obscured at the head of the title page. A superb example of this celebrated annual.

London: Bell & Daldy, 1865. 6 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. An elegant half calf binding by Larkins with gilt raised bands, twin labels and fine gilt tooling to the panels. Gilt top edges. With armorial bookplate. This is a new, revised, corrected and enlarged edition.

Geneva: Paschoud, 1802. 5 volume set, 6.75 inches tall. A fine binding of the period in quarter calf with gilt raised bands, gilt tooling to most panels and splendid blind tooling to the other.First edition in french of Lafontaine's popular novel Leben eines armen Landpredigers.

London: Printed by W. Bowyer for William and John Innys, 1720. 8vo (9.25" tall). Full straight grain aubergine morocco. Wide gilt raised bands, gilt lettering to panels. Double gilt rule with small corner tools framing boards. Dentelles and all edges gilt. Wide margins and lovely woodcut head- and tail-pieces. All published. A superb copy.

London: John Murray, 1804. 2 volume set, 7 inches tall. Half speckled calf with gilt bands, a red title label and black volume cartouche. A superb set in pristine condition.