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London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1892. 2 volume set, 11 inches tall. A pristine and very good looking half mottled calf by the Geneva bookbinder Asper with gilt raised bands, maroon label, gilt framed panels and gilt top edges. Embellished with a portrait and 14 full page plates. A splendid English language edition of 1000 copies of the great work of the early 16th century French renaissance satirist Francis Rabelais. Described as the first great French prose writer he revelled in the bawdy, grotesque, extravagant and robust tales that he is still celebrated for.

Berlin: Photographische Gesellschaft Berlin, 1895. Full morocco, 26 1/2 inches tall by the great London firm of Leighton of Golden Square and with their ticket. A binding of the finest quality with 2 raised bands on a smooth back and an elaborate series of gilt rolls to the boards. Gilt dentelles and top edge. Scratch to the lower board and light foxing, otherwise pristine. An elephant folio with 51 photogravures printed on hand-made paper of works by Rembrandt. With 3 title pages listing 16 plates from the Dresden Gallery, 17 from the Cassel Gallery and 18 from the Berlin Gallery. The blind stamp of the Photographische Gesellschaft Berlin is found in the margin under each plate. This is a Rothschild copy from the Exbury House Library.

London: Patrick Martin, 1816. Full calf, 9 inches tall. A splendid later full calf with gilt raised bands, ornate gilt panels and twin labels. Gilt dentelles and top edge. With 15 full page hand-coloured aquatints, as called for. With its felt lined buckram slip case. Predating Mitford's 'Adventures of Johnny Newcombe in the Navy' this hilarious satire presents our hero as he begins his military career on dry land. We witness his experiences in Pall Mall and then onto The Peninsula War in which he helps repel the invading French forces of Napoleon.

London: John Sharpe, 1825. 2 volumes bound in 1, 5 1/4 inches tall. A charming little Georgian full calf binding with gilt raised bands, label and fine embossed blind tooling to the panels and boards which are framed within triple gilt and blind fillets. All edges gilt. A neat ink inscription is on the first blank from a previous owner, Elizabeth Shyring (?), dated 1829. The 2 engraved frontispieces are foxed, otherwise clean.

London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly, 1876. 2 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A splendid Victorian full grain calf with gilt raised bands, contrasting twin red labels and highly ornate gilt tooling to the panels. Twin gilt and single fillet frame the straight grain on the boards. A classic history of the extraordinary Giovanni di Lorenzo de Medici, the future Pope Leo X in a striking binding.

London: Cadell and Moxon, 1834. Full morocco, 8 inches tall. A superb early Victorian full hard grain morocco binding by the great firm of Hayday with the following inscription in pencil on the paste down endpaper: "Bound in prize leather, Exhibited at the Great Exhibition, Hyde Park 1851". With raised bands, fine ornate gilding around a single 'Aldine' vine leaf. A series of gilt rolls and fillets frame the Grecian Urn device on the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. Armorial bookplate. Roger's poetry is mostly remembered for the fine engraved vignettes by Turner and others in this edition rather than for its artistic merit. Slight foxing, as usual.

Shaftesbury: Printed and Published by the author & London: Longman, Rees et al., 1829. Half calf, 10 inches tall. A charming Georgian binding with wide gilt raised bands and extra gilt panels. Armorial bookplate. Embellished with engraved frontispiece, folding map and 12 lithographs. A fine tall copy.

London: G. Bell and Sons, 1910. 2 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A classic Edwardian full calf binding by Spottiswoode with gilt raised bands, twin labels and delicate gilt tooling to the panels. The tree calf boards have a gilt armorial block and a gilt fillet border. Embellished with 25 maps and plans. A handsome copy of this life of Napoleon Buonaparte.

Glasgow: Hopkins, 1869. 2 volume set, 8 inches tall. A handsome edition in a full crushed morocco binding by Grieve with gilt bands on a smooth back, twin olive labels and superb gilt floral tooling to the panels. Gilt triple fillets and floral corner tools frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and top edges. Portrait and engraved vignettes. Joseph Ritson was an 18th century English Antiquarian who first published his 'Scotish Songs' in 1794, this mid Victorian edition is printed on hand-made paper and is in pristine condition.

London: C and J Rivington, T. Cadell et al., 1827. 6 volume set, 9 inches tall. A very handsome early Victorian full calf by Wiseman of Cambridge. With blind tooled raised bands and smart gilt framing to the panels. The gilt embossed crest of Queen's College Cambridge within gilt and blind fillets frames the boards. Some rubbing but a solid and firm set. Subtitled 'The History of Modern Europe with an account of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; and a View of the Progress of Society, from the Rise of the Modern Kingdoms to the Peace of Paris in 1763, in a Series of Letters from a Nobleman to his Son. A New Edition with a Continuation, Terminating at the Death of Alexander, the Russian Emperor, in 1825.

London: R. Ackermann, 1815: 1815. Full morocco, 10 inches tall. A tall and sumptuous later full crushed morocco binding by the great firm of Bedford. With gilt raised bands and exceptional gilt tooling to the panels. Gilt dentelles and top edge. Very slight fading to the spine but still a wonderful copy from the library of a Scottish Gentleman. Hand-colored aquatint frontispiece, engraved title page and a further 16 hand-colored aquatint plates, as listed. First edition in book form. As good a copy of this highly entertaining work as one could hope to find.

Chiswick: Printed by C. Whittingham for R. Triphook, 1822. Half Calf, 6 1/2 inches tall. A good looking later binding in half mottled calf with a smooth back, gilt pallets, centre tools and label. Gilt top edge. Portrait. Small split to the head of the upper board but perfectly firm and solid. Foxing to the preliminaries. Martyred for his opposition to the Protestant Reformation, More is venerated as a Saint by the Catholic Church.

London: T. Cadell, 1825. 2 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A splendid Georgian full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels including finely tooled volume labels and highly ornate extra gilt panels. Portrait. A celebrated biography of the great 15th century Italian statesman, ruler of the Republic of Florence, Politician, banker and the most important patron of the Italian Renaissance sponsoring Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo amongst many others. A very good looking set.

London: G. Bell and Sons, 1922. Full calf, 7 3/4 inches tall. Two volumes bound as one. A splendid tree calf binding by Bickers with gilt raised bands, twin labels and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. A single gilt fillet frames the boards. Portrait and 20 further illustrations. Eighth edition, revised. Slight foxing on the portrait, otherwise clean. A handsome copy of the Life of Napoleon Bonaparte.

London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1892. 2 volume set, 11 1/2 inches tall. A magnificent set in a beautiful half morocco in the Art Nouveau style with gilt raised bands, dense gilt tooling to the panels with red calf floral onlays. From the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey. Some marks to the cloth boards, otherwise pristine. With a portrait and 16 illustrations by Louis Chalon, and an extra 160 expertly inlaid illustrations in colour by Jules Garnier. Translated into English by Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty and Peter Anthony Motteux. This set is from a Deluxe limited edition of 210 copies printed on Japanese vellum. A superb set of the greatest work of the first great French prose author, François Rabelais, in a splendid binding, uniquely illustrated.

London: Arthur L. Humphreys, 1906. Half morocco, 6 1/2 inches tall. A good looking Edwardian binding with gilt raised bands, neat gilt panels and gilt top edge. From the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey. A pristine example of a finely printed work on hand-made paper by Humphreys. 'Sesame and Lilies', first published in 1865, stands as a classic nineteenth-century statement on the natures and duties of men and women.

London: Arthur L. Humphreys, 1911. Half morocco, 6 inches tall. A delightful little robust half morocco binding with gilt raised bands and gilt tooling to the panels. Top edge gilt. From the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey. A finely printed work on hand-made paper. First printed in 1665 his Maximes portraying the callous nature of human conduct, with a cynical attitude towards putative virtue and avowals of affection, friendship, love, and loyalty. These established La Rochefoucauld in his position among the men of letters of the period.

London: Arthur L. Humphreys, 1906. Half morocco, 8 3/4 inches tall. A rather spectacular half morocco by Bumpus with wide gilt bands and highly decorative gilt tooled panels. Gilt top edge, the remainder deckled. With the bookplate of Annie Cowdray, Viscountess Cowdray, English suffragist and philanthropist and that of the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey. This is a typically luxurious printing by Humphreys, finely printed on hand-made paper. A splendid copy of this controversial biography of Christ translated from the original French.