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London: Chapman and Hall, 1861. Full calf, 9 inches tall. A superb Victorian binding with gilt raised bands, triple labels and elaborate gilt tooling to the panels. Twin gilt fillets and centre tools frame the boards, gilt dentelles and top edge. Armorial bookplate. In his day the Irish novelist, Charles Lever, was hugely popular and influential. This is a fine copy of the first edition beautifully illustrated with full page engravings by Phiz.

Paris: Garnier Frères, 1864. 2 volume set, 9 1/4 inches tall. A splendid full honey calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and extra gilt panels. Triple gilt fillets and corner tools frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and top edges. Steel engravings after designs by G. Staal. From the library of Alfred de Rothschild. Very slight occasional foxing. 'Histoire de Gil Blas de Santillane' was an early eighteenth century picaresque novel, popular all over Europe and translated into English several times, most famously by Tobias Smollett as as 'The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane'. Here in the original French.

London: Nunn et al., 1818. 2 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A handsome set of this influential work in half calf with gilt raised bands and beautifully gilt tooled panels. Some scuffing to the boards. With a previous owner's name 'Mr Moon' neatly written in ink on the paste down end paper.

London: Richard Taylor, 1832. Full morocco, 11 inches tall. A superb c.1835 full red morocco with gilt raised bands, ornate floral gilt tooling to the panels and a wide gilt roll and fillets to the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. With a tiny ink inscription on the first blank reading: ‘With E. C. Harding’s best wishes 1835’. With this work Lucretius was a great influence on the Augustan poets and on philosophers of the Enlightenment constructing a new Christian humanism. In the original Latin.

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: Crosby, 1804. Full morocco, 7 1/4 inches tall. A very pretty Georgian straight grain morocco binding with gilt raised bands and delicate centre tools. The boards are framed within a lovely gilt roll and triple fillets. All edges gilt. Illustrated with fine engraved vignettes throughout. A neat ink inscription on the reverse of the free end paper and a previous owner's name on the title page. The half title has been torn out. Slightly grubby but still a charming volume.

London: The Leadenhall Press, 1892. 2 volume set, 6 inches tall. A delightful little set in Spanish Calf by Zaehnsdorf with gilt bands and twin labels. The boards are framed within triple gilt fillets and a gilt roll. A charming gilt wreath and portrait is blocked on both upper boards. No. 9 of just 112 copies, signed by Andrew Tuer, printed by the Leadenhall Press on hand made paper. Armorial bookplate. The original title page, dated 1809, and frontispiece are reprinted in volume I. A beautiful copy.

Dublin: William Curry 1841. 2 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A very bright half calf with gilt raised bands, red label and striking floral gilt tooling to the panels. Illustrated throughout with full page plates by Phiz. Hugely popular in his time Lever, 'The irish Dickens', is now out of fashion, but this tale of an rogue Irish dragoon who witnesses the Battle of Waterloo is still a good read.

London: Charles Tilt, 1840. Full calf, 7 1/2 inches tall. A very fine binding by Riviere with gilt raised bands, olive label and delicate floral gilt tooling to the panels. The boards are framed within gilt corner tools and a triple fillet. Gilt dentelles and top edge. The original cloth covers and spine are bound in. First edition. With 8 engraved plates and many vignettes by Leech. A very fine example with a few marks to the binding.

London: Richard Bentley, 1840. Full calf, 7 1/2 inches tall. A very fine binding by Riviere with gilt raised bands, olive label and delicate floral gilt tooling to the panels. The boards are framed within gilt corner tools and a triple fillet. Gilt dentelles and top edge. The original cloth covers and spine are bound in. First edition. With over 50 comic vignettes by Leech.

London: Bohn, 1844. Half calf, 6 1/2 inches tall. A charming little volume with gilt raised bands, labels and blind tooled panels. Foxing to the portrait and title page.

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.

Göttingen: Ruprecht, 1807. 6 volume set, 7 inches tall. A handsome full vellum with calf labels, some chipped. Foxing. A set of Livy's Histories in the original Latin edited by Georg Alexander Rupert. From an Oxfordshire Country House.

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.

London: Chapple, 1814. 2 volume set, 7 inches tall. A very fine full calf by Robson & Kerslake with gilt raised bands, fine floral gilt tooling to the panels, twin labels, dentelles and all edges gilt. Bookplate. Some wear to the joints, especially the upper joint of the first volume but still solid. The text block is spotless. There are earlier editions of Selections from La Fontaine's Tales but this is the first complete edition in English and as such is highly sought after. With 40 full page engraved plates. A beautiful set of the works of this great 17th century French fabulist and poet.

London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1838. Full morocco, 9.25 inches tall. A most impressive early Victorian binding with gilt raised bands, extra gilt panels and elaborate and fine gilt tooling to the boards within gilt and blind rolls and blind corner tools. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Decorated with portrait and 15 steel engravings. Foxing to the plates. First edition of this classic novel of deeds of derring-do in Ferdinand and Isabella's final siege of Moorish Granada.

London: Bulmer, 1796. 2 volume bound in 1, 9.5 inches tall. A 20th century good quality binding with gilt raised bands, titles and centre tools. A fascinating collection of fables and tales collected from manuscript sources in the Bibliothèque Nationale when Le Grand held the position of conservator of manuscripts after the Revolution in 1795. Embellished with some charming engravings, several by Bewick.

London: Joseph Thomas 1841. Full calf, 10 inches tall. A glorious Spanish calf by Tout with gilt raised bands, triple labels and fine gilt tooling to the panels. A Cambridge panel is framed within triple fillets on the boards. Gilt dentelles and top edges. Profusely illustrated throughout by Tony Johannot. A stunning copy of this picaresque novel, first published in 1714. This comic novel concerns the wanderings of Asmodeus, a worn out, refined and likeable devil, and Zambullo, his new companion. Translated into English by Joseph Thomas.

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.