Poetry

London: John Murray, 1819. 7 volume set, 8 inches tall. A very pleasing Regency full calf in fine condition with blind tooled raised bands and panels, twin labels and a series of blind fillets and a wide roll frames the boards. Internally and externally very clean with just a few small scuffs and marks to the bindings. There is a neat ink inscription of the period to a Louisa Blaxlund (?). This anthology, "with Biographical and Critical Notices, and an Essay on English Poetry" represents a comprehensive selection of poets from the age of Chaucer, John Gower and John Lydgate.

London: Macmillan and Co., 1908. Full calf, 6 inches tall. A delightful Edwardian full calf with raised bands and fine gilt tooling to the panels and boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. There is some blotchiness to the title panel and a slight dark mark near the fore-edge of the upper board and slight rubbing. On the second blank is a long ink inscription dated, Edinburgh, 1911 and the letters T.Y.S. appear in the cartouche on the upper board. The binding has the stamp 'Bound by Otto Schultze & Co. Edinburgh'. A lovely little copy of this famous anthology "Selected from the Best Songs and Lyrical Poems in the English Language".

Not known c.1890. Full vellum, 6 1/2 inches tall. A wonderful Florentine illuminated binding with elaborate manuscript illumination around a raised gold leaf initial to the upper board and manuscript decoration to the spine, lower board and title page. This is probably the nicest Florentine vellum binding of its type that we have ever seen, being in superb condition with no repair or touching up, a vellum blank and decorated title page replacing the printed title page and being a great title, in English.

London: John Sharpe, 1817. 3 volumes, 5 1/2 inches tall. A pretty little Regency full calf with gilt decorated panels and red labels. Twin gilt fillets frame the ornately blind tooled boards. Each volume has an engraved frontispiece by Westall. The neat ink inscription "C.G. Geddes 1829" is on the reverse of the front free endpapers and another neat ink former owner's name on the top corner of the first blanks. A forerunner of Romantic Poetry, William Cowper was hugely popular and influential in his day.

Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1860. 12 volume set, 6 3/4 inches tall. A very neat Victorian half calf in lovely condition with gilt raised bands, ornate gilt tooling to the panels and contrasting twin labels. Pink edges. Each volume has an engraved frontispiece and an engraved title page. A splendid set of probably the most popular of all Victorian poems.

London: Cadell and Davies et al.' 1803-1805. 2 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. Beautiful little Regency mottled calf in pristine condition. With extra gilt tooling on a smooth back with twin labels and extraordinary mottling to the boards within a fine gilt roll. With the Fothergill bookplate and the stenciled mark of the Earls of Belmore, one of the great Irish titles. Embellished with 8 full page engravings. Bowles was inspired by the beauty of nature and his first published collection of sonnets was enthusiastically received by the public and by the Romantic Poets, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth. This is a remarkably fine set, pristine inside and out.

London: Jones & Co., 1822. Full calf, 3 1/2 inches tall. A delightful miniature Georgian full calf with gilt raised bands, red labels and gilt tooled panels. The blocked basket weave boards are framed within blind and gilt rolls. With the armorial bookplate of Robert Williams of Bride Head, a recently dispersed Dorset Country House. There is the Bookseller & Stationer (and Bookbinder's) ticket of J. Nisbet of Oxford Street. Portrait. Both binding and text block are in fine and clean condition. A lovely copy of one of the 18th century's most popular poems.

London: F.C. and J. Rivington, 1823. Full calf, 5 inches tall. A delightful little Georgian full calf binding with wide gilt raised bands, superb extra gilt panels and a series of gilt and blind fillets and rolls framing the boards. The neat previous owners name, "Anne Sandars", dated 1827 on the first blank. A superb little edition of two highly influential and, in their day, very popular 18th century poets in pristine condition.

London: J. Johnson, 1808. 2 volume set, 5 1/4 inches tall. Beautiful little Regency mottled calf in pristine condition. With extra gilt tooling on a smooth back with twin labels and extraordinary mottling to the boards within a fine gilt roll. With the Fothergill bookplate and the stenciled mark of the Earls of Belmore, one of the great Irish titles. Portrait. William Cowper was one of the greatest of all English 18th century poets. His description of nature and of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside inspired the great Romantic Poets.

London: John Sharpe, 1818. Full calf, 6 3/4 inches tall. A lovely Regency binding with gilt raised bands, extra gilt panels and twin gilt fillets and a gilt roll frame the boards. With the Fothergill armorial bookplate and the ink stamp of Baron Belmore, of Castle Coole in County Fermanagh. Embellished with the engravings of Richard Westall, which all have a degree of foxing. A splendid copy of one of the 18th century's most popular poems.

Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1910. Full calf, 7 1/2 inches tall. A fine binding in pristine condition with gilt raised bands, label and superb gilt tooling to the panels. The gilt embossed stamp of Marlborough College is framed within gilt twin fillets on the upper board. There is the prize bookplate of Marlborough College, dated 1912, on the paste down end paper. Double column. A neat copy of the complete works of the greatest English poet of the 14th century.

London: John Bumpus, et al., 1822. Full morocco, 6 inches tall. A rather splendid binding with wide gilt raised bands, gilt, blind and inked tooling to the panels. A very smart gilt roll with inked thistle corner tools frames the boards. All edges gilt. With the armorial bookplate of Robert Williams of Bride Head in Dorset. There is a stain to the engraved portrait and slight darkening of the spine, otherwise clean. A delightful little copy of the works of this great Scottish 18th century poet.

London: Baynes and Son et al., 1825. Full calf, 5 inches tall. A gorgeous Georgian full calf binding with gilt raised bands and splendid gilt tooling around a Tudor rose centre tool. A fine gilt roll and blind floral roll frame the boards. Very slight foxing to the engraved frontispiece and engraved title page. A selection of the great poems of Alexander Pope, one of the greatest English poets of the early 18th century enlightenment.

London: Baynes and Son et al., 1825. Full calf, 5 inches tall. A beautiful little Georgian full calf with wide gilt raised bands and exquisite gilt tooling to the panels. A wide gilt roll and floral blind roll frame the boards. There is some slight foxing to the engraved frontispiece and the engraved title page, otherwise perfectly clean. Very popular in his day, James Thomson was a great 18th century poet, famous for these two poems and also for writing the lyrics of "Rule, Britannia!"

London: James Carpenter, 1807. Full calf, 6 1/2 inches tall. A beautiful Regency mottled calf in pristine condition. With extra gilt tooling on a smooth back with a label and extraordinary mottling to the boards within a fine gilt roll. With the Fothergill bookplate and the stenciled mark of the Earls of Belmore, one of the great Irish titles. Philip John Ducarel was born in Calcutta and became known as the poet of the Forrest of Dean, where he resided for the rest of his life.

London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1850. Full Calf, 9 1/2 inches tall. A splendid Victorian full calf by Riviere with gilt raised bands, contrasting label and fine gilt tooling to the panels. Triple gilt fillets frame the boards. With the bookplate and signature of Lord Eldon, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain between 1801 and 1806. Double Column. Robert Southey was a great English romantic poet and biographer and a close friend and collaborator of Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

London: Cadell and Davies et al., 1807. 124 volume set bound in 61 volumes, 5 1/2 inches tall. A remarkable survival of the complete set of 124 volumes, here bound in 61, (with 2 volumes, occasionally 3, bound together). In a simple Regency half red straight grain morocco, with gilt titles, pallets and tiny centre tools. Contrast this set with our other complete set (5955), shown in the image of the complete run, which is bound in an elegant Regency tree calf. There are some marks and rubbing to some volumes but overall they are in excellent condition with no splitting or loss and the text blocks, including the engravings, are exceptionally clean. Each work has a fine engraved frontispiece and engraved title pages. Not many complete sets have survived of this great anthology.

Oxford: University Press, 1909. Full calf, 7 inches tall. A beautiful 'Oxford Binding' with gilt raised bands, floral tooling to the panels and a gilt fillet framing the tree calf boards. With an ink previous owner's name dated 1913 on the first blank. A fine anthology 'Being 1150 Poems and Extracts by 300 Authors' covering over 600 years, in a delightful Edwardian tree calf.

Edinburgh & London: James Nichol & James Nisbet, 1853. 2 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A very smart Victorian pink full calf by Bickers, with gilt raised bands, twin labels and fine gilt tooling to the panels. A readable edition 'With Life, Critical Dissertation, and Explanatory Notes' by Gilfillan. Slight rubbing, but a clean set in excellent condition of the works of one of the greatest 17th century English poets.

Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1926. Full calf, 7 inches tall. A superb full calf binding by Riviere with gilt raised bands, twin labels, ornate floral gilt tooling to the panels dentelles and all edges gilt. The finely decorated boards combine gilt tooling on a ground of speckled and plain calf. A splendid anthology in a beautiful binding.