Search

London: Henry Colburn, 1817. Half morocco, 13 inches tall. A smart later half morocco by Zaehnsdorf with gilt raised bands, fine gilt tooling to the panels and all edges gilt. From the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey. Half title, additional decorative title, frontispiece, 26 aquatint plates with contemporary hand-colouring, including a folding view of the Battle of Waterloo, and 2 folding maps. The colouring is exceptionally bright and fresh. Tooley states that the frontispiece is often missing and replaced with the 'Portraits of General Officers', as in this case. Minor repair to the margins of the title page. A super copy of this classic work.

New York & London: M. Walter Dunne, 1903. 17 volume set bound in 34, 8 inches tall. A delightful half crushed morocco with gilt raised bands, floral gilt tooling in the 'Art Nouveau' style. Illustrated throughout. Very slight staining to a few leaves, otherwise pristine. A splendid set of the works of this great French writer of the 19th century, considered one of the greatest short story writers. Translated into English.

London: William Miller, 1804. Full morocco, 14.5 inches tall. A magnificent Georgian full straight grain morocco with gilt raised bands, extra gilt panels, dentelles and all edges. The ornately gilt tooled centre tooling is framed within a series of blind and gilt tooled rolls and fillets. This is the tall folio edition and is adorned with 50 hand coloured aquatints. 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.

London & Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1861. 7 volume set, 9 inches tall. A simple very handsome full calf by Zaehnsdorf with wide gilt raised bands, framed panels and a series of 6 gilt fillets framing the boards. Dentelles and top edge gilt. An ink inscription, dated 1906, on the first blank. Charles Forbes René de Montalembert wrote his great work 'Moines d'occident' in 1860 and this is the authorised English translation, published the following year. He wrote in a style at once picturesque, fiery and polished while his mastery of the Middle Ages was tempered by his religious sentiments.

Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1884. 2 volume set, 11 inches tall. An elegant full crushed morocco by Zaehnsdorf with gilt raised bands and the panels and boards framed with gilt pallets and rolls. Wide gilt dentelles and gilt top edges. Armorial bookplates. 11 Japan mounted proofs and hundreds of woodcut illustrations throughout.

London: Thomas Tegg, 1835. 8 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. A delightful little set in a classic early Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and extra gilt panels. Gilt and blind fillets frame the boards. Bound by Cleaver of Baker Street, Portman Square and with their ticket. Engraved title pages to all the volumes.

London: John Murray, 1853-54 & 1871. 8 volumes, 9 inches tall. The Earl Stanhope was styled Viscount Mahon between 1816-1855, the later volume precedes the text of the 7 volume set and is uniformly bound in an elegant half crushed morocco by Roger De Coverley, one of the greatest binders of the period. The bindings have gilt raised bands, splendid gilt centre tools and gilt top edges. There is some foxing to the preliminaries, then perfectly clean. Stanhope was an antiquarian politician and much respected historian.

London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1897. 2 volume set, 9 inches tall. This great 'Life of Nelson', first edition, in a very smart half navy blue morocco by Riviere with gilt raised bands and fine gilt naval centre tools within neat gilt frames on the panels. Gilt top edges. With 20 full page illustrations and a further 20 maps and battle plans. Captain Mahan of The United States Navy wrote several of the most important and influential naval histories of the 19th century. From the library of Alfred de Rothschild, but without his bookplate. A magnificent set.

London: Nicol, Rivington et al, 1813. 4 volume set, 9 inches tall. A simple but very fine later half crushed morocco by Ramage with gilt raised bands, titles and top edges. Bookplate. Portrait. A splendid set of the second edition of the dramatic works of this great seventeenth century English playwright.

London: John Murray, 1872. 9 volume set, 7 inches tall. A splendid full vellum bound set of this classic work with raised bands, fine gilt tooled panels and twin labels, double gilt fillets frame the gilt embossed crest of the Hulme Bequest on the boards. Pink edges. Some marks to the bindings and foxing confined to the preliminaries. A handsome set of the greatest work of this English historian and ecclesiastic.

The Leadenhall Press Limited, 1897. Full morocco, 11 inches tall. A fabulous full morocco by Zaehnsdorf with gilt raised bands, and very fine gilt tooling to the panels and boards. Finely gilt tooled dentelles and all edges. Silk endpapers. Though the binding is still firm there are cracks running the length of the spine on both boards. Limited to 1050 copies of which this is number 362.

London: Longman et al., 1835; 1837; 1840 & 1845. 4 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. Exquisite little set with gilt raised bands, extra gilt panels and triple labels. The tree calf boards are framed within an ornate floral gilt roll. Each title page has an engraved vignette. The title label of volume 4, which appeared 5 years after the third volume, is of a different colour. From the library of Edward Nicholas Hurt, most of whose books were of this highest quality.

London: Tilt and Bogue, 1843. 2 volume set, 8 inches tall. A splendid early VIctorian classic full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and very fine extra gilt panels. Gilt corner tools, gilt and blind fillets frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Slight foxing to the preliminaries, otherwise pristine. Embellished with 120 fine engraved vignettes. From the library and with the bookplate of Alfred de Rothschild. Facing the title page is the following poignant ink inscription: Natty de Rothschild (Nathaniel Mayer de Rothschild) from his affectionate sister Evelina (Evelina Gertrude de Rothschild).

London: John Murray, 1858. 7 volume set, 7 inches tall. A most attractive Victorian full calf binding with gilt raised bands, twin labels and extra gilt panels. Gilt corner tools and fillets and a blind fillet frame the boards. A couple of edges are badly scuffed, otherwise in fine condition. Philip Henry Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope, Viscount Mahon was a politician, antiquarian and historian, this history of England being his greatest work.

London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1903. 2 volume set, 9 inches tall. A superb half crushed morocco by Zaehnsdorf with raised bands and splendid gilt tooling in the Art Nouveau style and gilt top edges. Some rubbing to the edges and bumps to the corners but still an impressive set. From the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey. This very scarce work has been controversial since its publication with vociferous critics for and against. Myers was a British poet and a founder of the Society for Psychical Research whose conception of human self and its survival of bodily death was influential up to the present day. Aldous Huxley considered this work to be "an amazingly rich, profound and stimulating book."

London: Newbery, 1798. 5 volume set, 6 inches tall. A wonderful full straight grain morocco in exceptional condition with gilt bands and simple late 18th century gilt tooling to the panels and a single gilt fillet framing the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. This is the complete first edition, with later editions expanded to 6 volumes. Embellished with 4 hand coloured folding maps. This charming work 'comprehends' tours taken by Moritz, Twiss, Johnson, Pennant, amongst many others. There are a few small marks but the set is otherwise pristine indicating that it has spent no time in any traveller's pocket since publication. The set is housed in a modern open front cloth box.

London: Longmans, Green, and Co.,1896. 8 volumes, 8.75 inches tall. This run contains the Complete Works of Macaulay but it lacks the final 2 volumes (of 10) which contained the Life of Macaulay. A very handsome late Victorian full calf by Deighton Bell with gilt raised bands, twin labels, extra gilt panels and a double fillet and corner tools framing the boards. There is a prize gilt block on the boards and a prize bookplate (for Trinity College, Cambridge) in the first volume.