W

London: Printed at the Shakspeare Press for John Major and Robert Jennings, 1828. 5 volume set, 10 inches tall. A splendid tall set in full hard grain morocco by Clarke & Bedford, one of the greatest names of the period. With gilt raised bands and very fine extra gilt tooling to the panels. Gilt fillets, and superb gilt tooling with corner devices frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. With the bookplates of William Strahan and Alfred de Rothschild. This celebrated edition has the plates in 2 states, with the proofs laid down on india paper. Slight foxing but overall a fine set of this great edition.

London: T. Edgerton, Military Library, Whitehall, 1815. Full morocco, 9 1/2 inches tall. A wonderful copy of a scarce book in full Regency straight grain morocco with gilt raised bands, gilt pallets, the board framed with a wide blind roll and a double gilt fillet. All edges gilt. Embellished with 27 folding hand coloured engraved plans illustrating the cavalry manoeuvers. This copy is inscribed ' from the author' and was from the library of Lord Londonderry, though without his bookplate.

London: John Scott, 1806. 5 volume set, 9 inches tall. A wonderful full straight grain morocco with the ticket of C. Hering, one of the greatest English binders of the period. With gilt raised bands end dense and very finely tooling to the panels and gilt fillets, rolls and corner tools to the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. With over 145 superbly engraved portraits. From the library of Evelyn de Rothschild.

London: Orr, 1853. Full morocco, 10 1/4 inches tall. A stunning mid-Victorian full straight grain morocco by Mansell. With gilt raised bands and superb extra gilt tooling to the panels. The straight grain of the boards is framed within a series of gilt fillets and rolls. All the edges are gauffered. Embellished with 25 full page steel engraved views and further vignettes and full page wood engravings throughout. Slight foxing to the frontispiece and title page, otherwise clean and with minor abrasions to the upper board. A remarkable example of this fine edition.

London: William Pickering, 1830. 4 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A beautifully bound set of the first collected edition. Full crushed olive morocco with gilt raised bands and very fine gilt tooling to the panels. Triple gilt fillets frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and top edges gilt. 250 copies were printed (Keynes p.95). A wonderful set in pristine condition of the plays of John Webster, the English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi, still frequently performed today.

London: Dodsley, 1782. 5 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A delightful Georgian full speckled calf with gilt bands, twin labels and very fine gilt tooling to the panels including that of a Grecian urn. Yellow edges. An ornate bookplate bearing the motto 'appetitus rationi pareat' (Let your desires be ruled by reason). A beautiful set of the 3rd, enlarged edition of a work that analyses English art and society during the early eighteenth century.

London: T. Bensley for J. White, 1802. 2 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. The first collected edition. A remarkable full pigskin binding by Zaehnsdorf with double raised bands, blind pallets to the panels and a triple blind fillet framing the boards. A little discolouration to the boards otherwise a very fine set. Blind tooled dentelles and all edges gilt. With the armorial bookplate of Alfred Acland of Feniton Court, Devon. Engraved frontispiece and folding plate in volume 1, hand-coloured folding frontispiece and hand-coloured plate in volume 2.

London: Edward Moxon, 1841. 6 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. A superb early Victorian calf binding with gilt raised bands, twin labels, the volume labels being especially ornate and extra gilt panels. Portrait. With a neat ink inscription on the first blank "Emily Westmacott....1845". Some scuffing to the edges but overall a particularly attractive set, published in the great romantic poet's lifetime.

London: Richard Bentley, 1859. 2 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A delightful full Edwardian calf binding with gilt raised bands, twin labels and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. Portraits. A neat ink previous owner's signature on the title pages.From the library of Alfred de Rothschild but without his bookplate. A well written and fascinating memoirs covering, amongst many other subjects, The Union with Ireland, The American Wars of Independence, The French Revolution and his own mental illness. A superb set in pristine condition.

London: John W. Parker, 1847. 2 volume set, 9 inches tall. A splendid set from Alfred de Rothschild's library (but without the bookplate) in classic Victorian full calf in pristine condition. With gilt raised bands, twin labels and extra gilt panels. Twin fillets and tiny corner tools frame the boards. The remarkable English polymath, William Whewell, scientist, natural philosopher and theologian, was an important and influential figure still recognized today, partly from his skill as a neologist, coming up with such terms as scientist, physicist, linguistics, consilience, catastrophism, uniformitarianism, and astigmatism and, with Michael Faraday, such words as electrode, ion, dielectric, anode, and cathode. An impressive set.

London: Privately Printed, 1871. Full straight grain calf, 8.75 inches tall. A superb copy of this notorious item of erotica. With wide gilt raised bands, fine gilt tooled panels, boards, dentelles and all edges. Printed in black and red, reportedly in a deluxe edition of 250. The extraordinary Wilkes, member of the Knights of St. Francis of Wycombe, also known as the Hellfire Club, wrote this pornographic poem dedicated to the courtier Fanny Murray entitled "An Essay on Woman" as a parody of Alexander Pope's "An Essay on Man". Having been outlawed in 1769 he became Lord Mayor of London in 1774!

London, Paris, New York: Goupil & Co., 1903. Full Morocco, 13 inches tall. A stunning full crushed morocco by Zaehnsdorf with gilt raised bands elegant gilt centre tools to the panels and boards. Wide gilt dentelles, red watered silk endpapers and gilt top edge. One of One Thousand Copies on Fine Paper, of which this is No. 248. A fine colour portrait frontispiece and vignettes, initials and full page plates throughout.

London: Richard Bentley, 1841-42. 8vo (9½" tall). Superb full red crushed morocco, by TOUT. Gilt raised bands and pallets, fine gilt tooling to panels. Boards framed with gilt floral corner tool. Gilt doublures with floral patterned endpapers. Top edge gilt. Slightly foxed. Armorial bookplate. Original issues of Bentley's Magazine, bound with special title page, contents and a preface dated 1889 by the collector John Waugh.

Chester: J.Seacombe & London: Baldwin and Cradock, 1834. Full morocco, 8.75 inches tall. A beautiful binding by Bickers with gilt raised bands, very fine floral gilt tooling to the panels and a triple gilt fillet framing the boards. Top edge gilt. Armorial bookplate of Sir William Bass. Striking and sometimes fantastic full page engraved plates.

London: Times Newspapers / The Royal Academy, 1973. Full morocco, 9 3/4 inches tall. A fine binding by Zaehnsdorf with raised bands, gilt titles, design to upper board, dentelles and all edges. Rubbing to the joints and a musty aroma, otherwise a very fine copy. This is the scarce full leather deluxe edition to celebrate this great exhibition of the finds of the People's Republic of China at the Royal Academy, London from September 1973 to January 1794. Many of the 365 exhibits are illustrated in colour with the rest in black and white.

London: Robinson et al., 1783. Full calf, 11 inches tall. A splendid 18th century tree calf with raised bands, gilt pallets and red label. Blue edges. From the library of Charles William Vane (formerly Stewart), third Marquess of Londonderry, and with his elaborate bookplate. Vane served with distinction throughout the Peninsula War. His dashing and dandified portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence is at the National Portrait Gallery. He amassed magnificent libraries in his various Country Houses. A little scuffing, otherwise a superb copy.

London: Rivington, 1818. 6 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. An elegant Regency full speckled calf in pristine condition with a flat back, gilt raised bands and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. Pink speckled edges.

London: Richard Bentley, 1836. 3 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A striking set in half green early Victorian calf with gilt bands and contrasting red labels. Red speckled edges. The splendid armorial bookplate of Lord Londonderry. A fascinating memoir decorated with 6 full page engraved portraits.

London: Fisher, Son, & Co., 1844-1846. 3 volume set, 11 inches tall. A handsome set in half morocco with gilt raised bands, finely gilt tooled panels and all edges gilt. With all 193 engraved plates. Some marginal foxing and slight rubbing to the joints. A very nice set.