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Oxford: W. Dawson at the Oxford Bible Warehouse, 1790. Full morocco, 12 inches tall. A fabulous late 18th century binding with gilt bands and exceptional gilt tooling to the panels and boards. The boards are framed withing double fillets, garlands and a series of masonic tools. At the centre of the upper board is the name of the original owner 'Lord Spencer Chichester'. All edges gilt. A remarkable copy of 'The Book of Common Prayer' in an exceptional binding in fine condition.

London : to be had by the Subscribers of those Booksellers to whom they have subscribed, and at W. Bristow's late Shop in St. Paul's Church Yard, or at his House in Roll's Buildings, Fetter-Lane, 1766-1767. 4 volume set, 7 1/4 inches tall. A superb full 18th century calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels, delightful gilt pomegranate tooling to the panels and a simple gilt chain roll framing the boards. Yellow edges. With the magnificent armorial bookplate of Vane Londonderry. An early advocate of women's rights having escaped an unhappy marriage and hostile husband. Early copies of her works are very rare even in institutions. A superb set.

London: Printed for the Villon Society by Private subscription and for Private Circulation Only, 1882-1884. 9 volume set, 9 inches tall. A very handsome set with raised bands and splendid gilt centre tools. Gilt top edges, the other edges deckled. This privately printed edition is limited to 500 copies of which this is number 14. Slight foxing to the preliminaries, otherwise pristine.

London: George Goulding and John Walker, 1793. 3 volume set, 10 1/2 inches tall. Superb 18th century 'Country House' full calf with raised bands and splendid gilt tooling to the panels and exceptionally fine twin labels. With the splendid martial bookplate of Stewart. 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. There is an ink stain to one foredge and two stains on the reverse of the frontispiece, not affecting the portrait itself, otherwise very clean internally and magnificent externally.

Paris: Perlet, 1803. 23 volume set, 8 1/4 inches tall. A most attractive and unusual full calf from the period of publication. The very elegant spines have gilt bands, twin labels and ornate and delicate centre tooling, typical of the period. A fine gilt roll frames the boards which blend tree calf with speckled lozenges in a superb fashion. Minor rubbing. With the armorial bookplates of Lord Kinnaird. A lovely set of Petitot's greatest work.

Paris: Chez Apollon, au Mont-Parnasse, 1782. Full morocco, 5.5 inches tall. A superb binding by Zaehnsdorf, one of the greatest London bookbinders. with gilt raised bands and splendid rococo gilt tooling to the panels and boards. Dentelles and all edges gilt. An engraved frontispiece and 17 further full page engravings. A charming 18th century anthology of French tales and poems.

Amsterdam: Johannis van Someren, 1670. 3 volume set, 7.75 inches tall. A wonderful set in a full crushed morocco, unsigned but possibly by Clarke at the beginning of the 19th century. With raised bands, twin labels and superb gilt floral tooling to the panels. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Armorial bookplate. Fine engraved title pages to the first 2 volumes. In the original Greek. Slightly faded spines but still a splendid set which describes the rise of the Roman Republic to the status of dominance in the ancient Mediterranean world. Famously it includes Polybius's eyewitness account of the Sack of Carthage and Corinth in 146 BC and the Roman annexation of the mainland Greece after the Achaean War.

Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1864. 15 volume set, 8 inches tall. A classic mid-Victorian half calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and finely gilt tooled panels. Engraved portraits. A very handsome set of these great histories of late Renaissance Spain and the early Spanish Empire.

AMSTERDAM: Louys & Daniel Elzevier, 1661. Full morocco, 5 1/2 inches tall. A beautiful little volume bound in a later (c.1820) full straight grain morocco by SIMIER, the great Parisien bookbinder, with gilt raised bands and magnificent gilt tooling to the panels. Signed at the foot 'Relié par Simier'. Simier is described thus by Ramsden 'His variety and technique were superb; he had no superior and few rivals during his career". The boards are framed within a gilt roll, fillets and corner tools. All edges gilt, gilt dentelles and pink watered silk endpapers. From the Hayhurst collection. A lovely copy in superb condition. In French.

Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1850. 2 volume set bound in 3, 9 inches tall. A magnificent Victorian full hard grain morocco with gilt raised bands, extra gilt panels and boards, Gilt dentelles and all edges gauffered. Embellished with 1700 woodcuts, some in colour. Parker 'was of considerable importance to Ecclesiology, the Gothic Revival, and the huge national upsurge of nineteenth century Anglicanism.....his Glossary.....must stand as one of the earliest (and most scholarly) influential texts of the whole ecclesiological movement' (James Curl: Oxford Dictionary of Architecture).

London: Longman et al., 1847. 8 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A classic mid-Victorian calf by Nutt with gilt raised bands, twin labels and dense gilt tooling to the boards. A single gilt fillet frames the boards. Some scuffing and marking to the boards and foxing to the preliminaries but still a very handsome set of the Works of one of the enlightenment's greatest poets and satirists.

Paris, London & New York: Goupil & Co, 1906. Full crushed morocco, 12.75 inches tall. A splendid binding by Gruel with raised bands and simple yet elegant gilt framed panels, boards and dentelles. Top edge gilt. Limited to just 200 copies of which this is number 11 printed on Japanese paper with the plates in duplicate. Fine colour frontispiece.

London: Wilkie and Robinson et al., 1810. 3 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A neat set bound in a later full calf by Zaehnsdorf with gilt raised bands, triple labels and delicate gilt tooling to the panels. The boards are framed within a triple fillet and corner tools. Gilt dentelles and top edges. With the armorial bookplate. With all 44 plates, as called for. Some fading to the spines but still a very good looking set.

Paris: L'Auteur, 1831. Half calf, 19 inches tall. An elegant binding by Simier, with his ticket. I very wide raised band and superb gilt tooling to the spine. 40 full page lithographs. Some Foxing. A neat ink owners inscription at Hickstead Place on the first blank.The ticket states 'Simier, Relieur du Roi, Rue St Honore 152, a Paris'. Binder to the King, Simier's "variety and and technique were superb; he had no superior and few rivals during his career" ( Ramsden's French Bookbinders 1789-1848 ).

London: Henry Colburn, 1848. 5 volume set, 7 3/4 inches tall. A handsome mid-Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and fine gilt tooling to the panels. Triple blind fillets and corner tools framing the boards. Portrait. With the armorial bookplate of William Balfour. A fine set of the considerably enlarged 3rd edition.

London: Printed by Charles Rivington for the Company of Stationers, 1772. Full calf, 8.25 inches tall. A pristine copy in full calf with gilt raised bands, boldly gilt tooled panels and the boards framed by a gilt roll. All edges gilt. Armorial bookplate. Internally spotless with wide margins.

Edinburgh: The Apollo Press, 1780. 4 volume set, 5 inches tall. An exquisite 18th century tree calf with beautiful gilt tooling on a smooth back and twin labels. A gilt key roll frames the tree calf boards. Yellow edges. With the armorial bookplate of Sarah Phillott. A delightful little edition of the poetical works of one of England's greatest 18th century poets, in pristine condition.

Oxford: Bliss,1808. 2 volume set, 4 3/4 inches tall. Delightful little set in Regency straight grain morocco with gilt bands, titles and all edges in pristine condition. On the first blank leaf is a neat ink inscription, 'Lawrence Oliphant Octobr. 11th 1816 London.' These superb volumes contain the Victory Odes named after the Olympian, Pythian, Isthmian and Nemean games, in the original Greek. Pindar was one of the great Greek lyrical poets.

London: G. Bell, 1926. Full morocco, 6.5 inches tall. A neat little volume of these great tales by one of the greatest Russian writers, translated into English by T. Keane. A fine binding by Morrell with gilt raised bands, splendid tooling to the panels and framing the boards. A slight stain to the foot of the upper board not effecting the shape or interior. Gilt dentelles and top edge.