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London: Adam and Charles Black, 1893. 2 volume set, 8 inches tall. An exceptionally nice Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, bright twin labels and delicate gilt tooling to the panels. With the gilt blocked heraldic device for Oriel College, Oxford on the upper boards. With the armorial bookplate of Edward Seymour Forster, the famous Greek classicist and scholar, and a neat prize inscription to him on the first blank. A superb set on this great study on the classic Greek poets.

London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1894. 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 18 full page plates by E. R.Hughes. A splendid English language edition of 1000 copies of the great work of the early 16th century Italian writer of bawdy short stories, which include some of the original versions of well known fairy stories. This translation into English is the first collected English language version of Straparola's 'Nights', 'The Pleasant Nights' or 'Facetious Nights', as they are also known.

Edinburgh: Adam & Charles Black, 1871. 25 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A very handsome Victorian half calf in pristine condition with gilt raised bands, twin labels and gilt tooling incorporating a thistle to the panels. Embellished with engraved frontispieces to each volume. An attractive set of the most popular novels of the the 19th century.

London: Archibald Constable and Co., 1899-1901. 12 volume set, 9 inches tall. A very handsome Edwardian half calf binding with raised bands, twin labels and delicate gilt tooling to the panels, top edges gilt. Foxing to the preliminaries. An illustrated frontispiece to each volume. A splendid set of this great 18th century writer of picaresque novels which were hugely popular and which influenced later generations of British novelists, including Charles Dickens.

Paris: Chez Garnery, Libraire, 1825. 3 volume set, 5 inches tall. A charming full vellum binding from the early 1800's with gilt bands, twin red labels and dense gilt tooling on a smooth back, a gilt roll frames the boards. All edges gilt. Stipple engraved portrait and folding genealogical table. With the inscription 'Anna Jane Pochin, Florence 1828' on the first blank. Madame de Genlis was a novelist and children's educationalist who is best remembered for her letters and journals of the late 18th and early nineteenth century of which this is a fine selection. In the original French.

London: John Murray, 1833. 6 volume set, 9 inches tall. A handsome half morocco with gilt raised bands and neat gilt tooling to the panels. Gilt top edges. James Shirley was an important and popular English playwright and poet who was prolific in the first half of the 17th century. This scarce set is the first collected edition of his works.

London: C. S. Arnold, 1827. Full calf, 5 inches tall. A delightful little Georgian full calf with gilt raised bands, ornate gilt tooling to the panels and contrasting bright red label. With an engraved vignette on the title page. Smollett's last, and in the view of many, his best and funniest novel.

London: William Tegg, 1812-1815. 12 volume set, 8 inches tall. A superb Regency full calf binding with wide gilt bands, delicate gilt tooling with a Greek lyre centre tool to the panels and contrasting maroon label. A gilt roll and blind fillets frame the boards. Portrait, engraved title pages and full page engravings throughout. There is considerable fading to the spines and some boards, in particular that of volume I, otherwise a fine clean firm set. On the reverse of the paste down endpaper of volume one are are 2 ink inscriptions. Overall a splendid set of this scarce edition.

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.

Edinburgh: C. Elliot, 1809. 5 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A very neat Georgian full calf with gilt raised bands, pallets and contrasting twin labels. With the armorial bookplate of John Burton Philips of Heath House. Embellished with an engraved portrait and 26 splendid engravings by Rowlandson and others. Although entitled Miscellaneous Works, this charming set includes all of Smollett's major literary works other than his continuation of Hume's History of England. Each work has its own title page and collation. Slight rubbing and slight foxing to the plates but overall a fine set of the Works of one of Scotland's best novelists.

Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and London: Hurst, Robinson and Co., 1822-1830. 53 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A magnificent set in bound in the highest quality Georgian full hard grain morocco with gilt raised bands and superb extra gilt panels. Gilt and blind fillets frame the boards. All edges gilt. Each volume has an engraved title page and further full page engravings. There is a degree of foxing, mostly to the engraving, but a generally very clean set. There is some scratching and a couple of small gouges, but is very smart and has absolutely no splitting or loss. A remarkable set.

London: John Murray, 1887. 2 volumes, 7 inches tall. Smart Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, labels and neat gilt tooling to the panels. Gilt prize blocks to the upper boards and prize paper labels on the paste down end papers. Hugely influential works, Smiles was described as the 'New Plutarch' by George Bernard Shaw. 'Self-Help' was referred to as "the bible of mid-Victorian liberalism" raising Smiles to celebrity status on its publication.

Edinburgh: Adam & Charles Black, 1853. 60 volumes, 6 1/2 inches tall. A bright Victorian half calf with raised bands, twin labels and extra gilt panels. Each volume has an engraved title page and frontispiece. The occasion mark and minor scuff, overall in excellent condition with no loss or splitting. The Novels are complete in 48 volumes, the Poetical Works complete in 12 volumes, resulting in this superb uniformly bound collection. A splendid set of these classic works, some of the most influential writing of the 19th Century.

London: J. Nichols, F.C. and J. Rivington et al., 1813. 21 volumes, 9 1/2 inches tall. A remarkable and beautiful Regency full tree calf binding with gilt bands, triple labels, including charming olive volume number labels, and lovely gilt tooling to the panels. The striking tree calf boards are framed within a rather jaunty gilt roll. A name has been removed from the head of the title page of the first volume, there are a few scratches, a little superficial loss to the ubiquitous defunct insect and occasional light foxing but overall a splendid bright set in wonderful condition with absolutely no splitting. With notes by Samuel Johnson and George Steevens, revised by Isaac Reed with is a particularly respected edition with a large, highly readable text.

London: J. Valpy, 1832. 15 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. A splendid William IV half vellum with fine contrasting calf labels, gilt bands and extra gilt tooling to the panels. Speckled pink edges. Some marks and stains and foxing on the preliminaries and plates, otherwise clean. With a previous owner's name (Edmund Salwey Ford) on the paste-down endpapers. With 170 line engravings after the plates in Boydell's edition. With a life, glossary and notes.

Edinburgh: Adam & Charles Black, 1871. 25 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A very handsome Victorian half calf in pristine condition with gilt raised bands, twin burgundy labels and delicate gilt tooling to the panels. This is a well illustrated edition with engraved frontispieces, title pages and full page engravings throughout. An attractive set of the most popular novels of the the 19th century.

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: Lawrence and Bullen, 1894. 2 volume set, 11 1/4 inches tall. An elegant set in half crushed morocco bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe with gilt raised bands and neat gilt framed panels and gilt top edges. A slight blotchiness to the spines. Limited to 1000 copies, of which this is no. 57. With 20 plates by E.R. Hughes. A collector and writer of short stories, Straparola published this collection of stories sometimes called 'The Facetious Nights' or 'The Pleasant Nights'. This collection includes some of the first known printed versions of fairy tales in Europe. Charles Perrault and the brothers Grimm both developed some of his tales.

London: John Murray, 1813. 3 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A superb set, fresh from an English Country House, of this scarce history in Regency tree calf with gilt pallets and fine title labels. Speckled edges. With an armorial bookplate and the neat ink former owner's name at the head of the title pages, 'James F. Leitch'. Some scuffing and superficial scratches, overall a lovely set of this history in English, translated from the French.