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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.

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: Effingham Wilson, 1832. 4 volume set, 7.75 inches tall. An extraordinary and most attractive half calf of the period with eccentric gilt tooling on the 'flat back' spine. Blue speckled edges. From the Library and with the bookplate of Robert J. Hayhurst. In 1828 Prince Puckler-Muskau came to England to restore his diminished fortune by marrying an English heiress. This and his subsequent adventures shocked his friends, led to a successful marriage and inspired a passionate admirer, Sarah Austen to translate the Diary into English.

Lugd. Batav. Roterodami: Hackios, 1669. 3 volume set, 7.75 inches tall. A splendid later binding from the beginning of the nineteenth century, unsigned but almost certainly by Clarke with gilt raised bands, gilt titles, dentelles and all edges. There is some fading but it remains a very handsome set. One of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman Empire to the present day, this encyclopaedic work covers all aspects of natural history. In the original Latin.

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: 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.

(London) Londra: Presso C. Corrall A Spesi di G. Pickering, 1822. Full crushed morocco 3.25 inches tall. An exquisite binding of the highest quality with gilt raised bands, dense gilt tooling to the panels, dentelles and all edges. Portrait. One of the beautifully printed works from Pickering's series of 'Diamond Classics'.

Paris: Joseph Barbou, 1754. Full calf, 6.25 inches tall. A superb early nineteenth century binding possibly by White, with gilt raised bands, delightful dense pomegranate gilt tooling to the panels, double gilt fillet framing the boards, dentelles and all edges gilt. From the Sotheby sale of 29th April 1852. Engraved frontispiece. Phaedrus was a 1st century A.D. Roman fabulist, now known to be the first writer to compile entire books of fables, retelling the tales of Aesop. A wonderful copy in the original Latin.

London: Longmans, Green and Co, 1957. Full crushed morocco, 8.5 inches tall. An elegant binding by Morrell with gilt raised bands, twin fillets framing the panels and boards, label, gilt dentelles and all edges. The first edition inscribed by the author 'With my respects to your Royal Highness (The Duke of Gloucester)...' From the library of Kensington Palace. La Maison Prunier was opened in Paris in 1872 and moved to St. James's in 1934. Famed for its fish dishes and a regular haunt of Edward Prince of Wales and Wallis Simpson it closed in 1976.

Londres: (Cazin), 1784. Full morocco, 5.25 inches tall. A fabulous little binding of the highest quality by the great Parisian binder Paul Charles Allo. One of the celebrated editions of Cazin. With the red leather bookplate of Leon Rattier. A superb example in pristine condition.

Stockholm: Bectman, 1848. Full vellum, 5 inches tall. A delightful little binding with embossed and hand painted decoration to the spine and boards. Note the kissing cupids atop the heart. Fully working brass clasps on vellum tags. Gauffered edges.

London, Paris and New York: Goupil, 1902. Half morocco, 13 inches tall. A handsome half crushed morocco by Wood with gilt raised bands, elegant gilt panels and top edge. From a limited edition of 1050 copies on fine paper. Colour frontispiece. light foxing and fading to the cloth foredge. Classic biography in deluxe limited edition beautifully printed by Goupil in Paris.

Tours: Maison Alfred Mame et fils, c.1900. 4 volume set, 5 inches tall. A delightful little set in full crushed morocco with gilt bands, gilt tooling to the panels, twin labels, charming gilt rolls and swags framing the boards. Watered silk endpapers and all edges gilt. With no inscriptions, a pristine set of these devotional works with their original box.

Edinburgh: Sterling, 1818. 2 volume set, 9 inches tall. Full speckled calf with multiple gilt bands, twin labels and very delicate centre tools typical of this regency style. With plates and folding map. A lovely copy.

London: John Walker, 1794. 4 volume set, 8.5 inches tall. A most attractive Georgian full tree calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and delightful gilt tooling to the panels. The tree calf is framed with a gilt Greek roll. Yellow edges. Loss to one headcap, some rubbing and occasional superficial loss of leather to a long defunct insect, but still a fine looking set of the poetical works of this great satirist.

London: Richard Bentley, 1838. 3 volume set, 8.5 inches tall. A classic half calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and extra gilt tooling to the panels. First Edition. Internally very clean excepting the portraits which have marginal stains. A superb set of this famous history.

London: Company of Stationers, 1787. Full straight grain morocco, 8.5 inches tall. With gilt bands, charming cherub centre tools, simple gilt rolls framing the boards, dentelles and all edges. Armorial bookplate. A beautiful foredge of an English cathedral. A lovely copy with no splitting.