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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: Trübner & Co., 1889. Half morocco, 8 inches tall. A very good looking half crushed morocco with gilt raised bands and fine gilt floral tooling in the Art Nouveau style to the panels. Gilt top edge, the remaining edges deckled. A splendid new edition on hand made paper and Illustrations by Alfred Crowquill. Baron Munchausen's fictionalized adventures were first published anonymously in the original German by Raspe in magazine pieces and then in English in book form in 1785. Published anonymously as he feared litigation from the living and actual Baron Munchausen. He is not portrayed as dishonest but with an enormous capacity to exaggerate and elaborate his genuinely remarkable life into a ridiculous and comic one.

London: Longman, Rees, et al., 1837. 4 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. An exceptionally fine mid-Victorian full calf from the library of Alfred de Rothschild, but without his bookplate. With gilt raised bands, twin labels and flamboyant gilt tooling to the panels. Twin gilt fillets frame the boards. Some foxing to the preliminaries, otherwise pristine. William Russell's history has here been edited and revised with some important corrections and continued to the death of William IV of England.

London: T. Cadell, 1827. 4 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 history of the second son of Lorenzo de Medici, the Magnificent. Leo, born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, was Pope in the early sixteenth century. He was a highly cultured and artistic man although his virtues as the leader of the Catholic Church are debated to this day. A very good looking set.

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.

London: Rivington et al., 1810. 8 volume set, 6 inches tall. A handsome later (c.1890) full calf with gilt and blind bands and red labels. At the head of each title page a strip has been removed (presumably to remove an owner's name) and expertly repaired. Minor foxing. Richardson's masterpiece is considered one of the greatest, earliest and longest of English novels. A novel written as a series of letters it is the tragic tale of Clarissa Harlowe, a young woman whose quest for virtue is continually thwarted by her family.

Glasgow: Robert Forrester, 1875. 2 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A superb Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and finely gilt panels. Gilt and blind fillets and corner tools frame the boards. A neat ink inscription on the first blank. A collection of Scottish Verse, 'Wrote by the Ingenious before 1600'. Slightly marked boards but overall a fine copy of this anthology.

London: Her Majestys Stationery Office, 1954, 1956, 1960 & 1961. 3 volume set bound in 4 volumes, 9 1/2 inches tall. It is very unusual to find this great title in a fine leather binding. This set is in a very smart half crushed morocco by Maltby's of Oxford with gilt raised bands, twin labels and neatly gilt framed panels. With gilt top edges. Bookplate. All first editions. Roskill's masterpiece is the celebrated, official history of Britain's war at sea in the Second World War. It is still considered the definitive work on the subject and is packed with over 180 illustrations and over 150 folding maps and plans. There is some tiny loss to the bottom corner of the first volume's text block, otherwise in pristine condition.

Paris: D'Heran, 1807. 5 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A pristine and beautiful Georgian full crushed morocco bound set by A. Tarrant with gilt raised bands, delicate gilt tooled floral designs to the panels and contrasting twin green labels. Twin gilt fillets and pomegranate corner tools frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and top edges. With the morocco bookplate of Charles Rugge Price, the bookplate of Sir David Salomons and an ink inscription on the first blank. Portrait and plates after Moreau and another series by Giradet on india paper added. A splendid set of the works of one of the greatest French dramatists of of 17th-century France and a great figure of Western literature.

London, Whitehall, 1884. Half morocco, 7 inches tall. A neat and simple late Victorian binding with raised bands and gilt titles and top edge. No.1 in a series entitled 'Rochester Series of Reprints, limited to 100 copies, was printed privately owing to the erotic and bawdy nature of the verse. John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester is considered the most learned among the Restoration wits and was censored throughout the Victorian period, appearing only occasionally in print in such privately printed works as this.

Glasgow: David Brownlie, 1802. 2 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A very handsome Georgian full calf with gilt bands and triple labels in red, green and black.

London: Richard Bentley, 1852. 2 volume set, 8 inches tall. A classic Victorian full calf binding with gilt raised bands, bright twin labels and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. Twin gilt fillets frame the boards. A neat ink inscription dated 1858, "on leaving Eton" is on the first blank. A fine copy, in English, of a scarce work by Ranke, the great German historian.