Vellum Bindings

Paris: Garnier Frères, c.1900. 8 volume set, 9 inches tall. A striking set in half vellum with hand painted love birds and rosebuds framing the volume number. Vignettes throughout. A handsome set, in the original French, of possibly the most reliable and entertaining description of European social life during the 18th century.

Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1906. Quarter Vellum, 7 inches tall. A sparkling half vellum on a smooth back with twin labels and gilt floral tooling in the Art Nouveau style. A splendid anthology containing 100 songs and ballads about the sea over a period of 500 years.

London: Henry Frowde, 1912. Quarter vellum, 8 inches tall. An attractive binding in the Art Nouveau style with gilt bands on a smooth back with a gilt rose design. Gilt top edge. Some foxing to the preliminaries, then clean. This edition "including materials never before printed in any edition of the poems".

Napoli: Gio. Batista, 1818. Full Vellum, 6 1/2 inches tall, A charming Italian 'rustic' full velum from the early 19th century with gilt framed painted labels and blue speckled edges. In Italian.

Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905. Full vellum, 10 inches tall. A pristine example of this fine facsimile reproduction of the first edition of 1609. Bound in full limp vellum with yapp edges and leather ties. There is gilt lettering to the spine and simple paneling to the covers. A super copy.

Florence: Baracchi, 1860. 2 volume set, 7 inches tall. A delightful full vellum with a smooth back and very ornate gilt tooling to the spine and boards. Pink edges. With the armorial bookplate of R.P.Stuart. Slight foxing, but a fine copy of this very scarce work by the son of Felicia Hemans.

Paris: Baudouin Fréres, 1824. Half vellum, 8 inches tall. an elegant volume in a neat half vellum binding with gilt pallets and centre tools and contrasting green label. With the bookplate of Vane Londonderry. From the library of Charles William Vane (formerly Stewart), third Marquess of Londonderry. 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. Engraved frontispiece. Following the revolution, Antoine, the younger brother of the last King of France, fled France and died in exile in England. In the original French.

London: The Stock Keeper Company, 1899. Half vellum, 11 1/4 inches tall. A splendid example of the scarce first edition in original half vellum with gilt titles and pallets on the spine and gilt decorated cloth upper board. All edges gilt. With colour frontispiece and photographic illustrations throughout.

Göttingen: Ruprecht, 1807. 6 volume set, 7 inches tall. A handsome full vellum with calf labels, some chipped. Foxing. A set of Livy's Histories in the original Latin edited by Georg Alexander Rupert. From an Oxfordshire Country House.

Paris: Curmer, 1858. 2 volume set, 10.5 inches tall. A simple but pleasing mid 19th century full vellum with gilt bands, dentelles and all edges gilt. Each page decorated with wide lithographic borders. With the gilt stamp of 'Schafer of Piccadilly', purveyors of luxury items. A fine set of this classic Christian guide based on the monastic practice of devotional reading by the 'Gentleman Saint'.

London: Dent, 1906. Full vellum, 7.5 inches tall. A delightful copy of this scarcer title from the 'The series of English Idylls' collection. With 24 colour plates by C. E. Brock. An unusually nice 'unbowed' example

Augsburg (Augustae Vindelicorum): Sumptibus ignatii adami & Francisci Antonii Veith, 1759. 6 volume set, 14.5 inches tall. Full vellum, dating from the middle of the 18th century with gilt tooled labels and unusual pink and green edges. The Codex Regularum, created in Aachen in 817, was designed by Benedict to restore the strict observation of monastic life which had been relaxed over recent centuries. Complete sets in contemporary bindings are scarce. There is some scuffing and staining to the vellum, in particular at the tails of each volume but there is no splitting and the bindings are in excellent condition. 2 bookplates. In the original Latin.

Paris: Charles Hingray, c.1840. Vellum, 4.5 inches tall. A delightful little volume in full vellum with red calf label, gilt pallets and pink edges. A charming work containing useful everyday phrases such as "I'd have killed myself, had I not been restrained by the remembrance of her", "Give me my drawers, stockings and pantaloons" and "Then I shall have spared that wretch but for my own ruin".

London: Dent, 1904. Full vellum, 8 inches tall. A most attractive binding with dense gilt floral tooling to the spine and boards. With 25 colour plates by Brock. A charming edition of this classic eighteenth century novel.

London: Dove, 1827. Full vellum, 5 inches tall. A beautiful little vellum binding with label and fine gilt tooled panels, the boards are framed within a blue outline. A particularly clean copy inside and out. A collection of letters critical to George III, the true authorship has been much debated but never verified.

London: J.F. Dove, 1826. Full vellum, 5 inches tall. A delightful little full vellum with gilt bands and delicate gilt tooling to the panels. A blue fillet frames the boards. With 'The Life of Robert Burns' by Dr. Currie. Engraved frontispiece and title page.

London: J.F.Dove, 1826. Full vellum, 5 inches tall. A delightful little full vellum with gilt bands and delicate gilt tooling to the panels. A blue fillet frames the boards. Engraved frontispiece and title page.

London: Field & Tuer, 1880. Full Vellum, 6 inches by 9 inches. An extraordinary work bound in vellum. Beautifully printed on hand made paper with 8 etchings by Tristram Ellis on various shades of blue. A curious and rather exotic work on bathing in rivers and the sea.

Vellum wallet, 4.5 inches tall. Very fine gilt tooling by Guilio Giannini, the famous Florentine binders, covering a double pocket watered silk lining.

London: Routledge, 1905. Half vellum, 9 inches tall. A smooth back with a gilt label and fine gilt tooling in the 'Art Nouveau' style. Illustrated with12 photogravures.