Grotius, HugoDe Jure Belli Ac Pacis Libri Tres. Amsterdam: Joan Blaeu, 1650. 8vo, archival binding, paper label on spine; pp. [24], 618, [45]; title printed in red and black, floriated initials and decorative tail-pieces. New edition, with annotations by the author.The book which made Grotius famous throughout Europe was first published in 1625. Grotius was living in Paris, having made a daring escape from Dutch prison - where he had fallen foul of intra-Calvinist dispute - in a chest of books. The work is widely regarded as the foundation stone of modern political philosophy through its anticipation of the political theorists of the 18th century. It argued for a 'natural law', based on the social contract, in opposition to theocratic revelation or monarchical edict, and as such paved the way for modern international law. £100 - 200
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Varchi, BenedettoStoria Fiorentina. Colonia: Pietro Martello, 1721. Folio, full calf, speckled edges; pp. [28], 677, [3]; add. eng tit., port. frontis., tit. printed in red and black with vignette, double-page genealogy, decorative head- and tail-pieces and initials. First ed. £100 - 200
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Ackermann, Rudolph; Rowlandson, Thomas; Pugin, AugustusEight plates from The Microcosm of London. Ackermann, c.1810. Comprising: Doctor's Commons; Guildhall (Examination of a Bankrupt); Court of King's bench (Westminster Hall); Court of Common Please (Westminster Hall); Court of Chancery (Lincoln's Inn Hall); The Old Bailey; The Great Hall (Bank of England); and Christie's Auction Room. All hand-coloured and mounted. With original accompanying letterpress pp. 31- 40, 42-48 (42 modern copy), 81-96 and 193-212. Also with Pembroke, Cambridge. [9] £150 - 200
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Bishop of Cloyne [Berkeley, George]A Miscellany, containing several Tracts on various Subjects. Printed for J. and R. Tonson and S. Draper, 1752. 8vo, full calf, sometime rebacked; pp. 267, [1] [A3 cancel as common]; provenance: Matthew Boulton (business partner of James Watts, his Soho [Birmingham] library bookplate to upper pastedown). First London edition (previously published in Dublin in the same year).Among the pieces present are his critical economics text The Querist and the first printings 'Farther Thoughts on Tar-Water' and the revised text of 'Verses by the Author, on the Prospect of planting Ars and Learning in America.'Higgs 248; Sabin 4877; ESTC T39487 £80 - 120
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[Burke, Edmund].Broken run of The Annual Register or a View of the History, Politics and Literature for the Years 1762, 1763, 1767 [all later], 1772, 1776, 1777, 1779, 1781-90 [all Dodsley], 1791-3 [Rivington, along with Robinson's New Register for 1792], 1794, 1796 [G.G.J. & J. Robinson], 1795, 1798, 1799 [Proprietors of Dodsley's Annual Register]. Various publishers, principally J Dodsley, varying dates and editions. 8vo (36 vols). Variously bound in leather; provenance: some volumes with bookplate of William Robertson, Senator of the College of Justice, other bookplates.Perhaps the two most significant volumes in this run both relate to America. That of 1776 (published in 1777) features the first British publication of the Declaration of Independence, along with contextual matter and historical accounts of its promulgation. The second is that for 1787 which included an early UK printing of the full text of the new Constitution of the United States, along with the text of Washington's transmittal letter from the Convention to Congress. This volume was printed in 1789 - the year in which Washington became President and the first Congress convened. There are two other moments of Revolutionary War interest in 1781 and 1783. 1781 features detailed accounts of the Battles of Guildford Court House and Yorktown (with the surrender of Cornwallis) as well as the story of Benedict Arnold and the hanging of his co-conspirator Major Andre. 1783 concentrated on the end of the War and the peace negotiations which followed (negotiations which had been pushed for by Burke and his allies in the House). It printed the text of the peace treaty, George III's 1782 speech and the contract between America and the French King to repay 18 million livres of loans. Finally it printed Washington's letter resigning from the Continental Army which had far-reaching influence on American constitutional history.Together with the other volumes during this period the Annual Register is a very important contemporary source for early American history from the Declaration to peace and on to the Constitution itself. According to Gephart many leading historians of the American Revolutionary period, including David Ramsay, James Murray, and William Gordon "borrowed heavily from the Annual Register"Gephart 1016, 2565, Lowndes 48, Sabin 1614 £300 - 400
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Slave TradeThe Debate on a Motion for the Abolition of the Slave-Trade in the House of Commons on Monday and Tuesday, April 18 and 19, 1791. Printed by and for W. Woodfall, 1791. 8vo, later cloth; pp. [4], 123, [1].The drive to abolition was a difficult one, against significant entrenched interests in the House. Outside, the campaign sought to harness indignation and revulsion, aided by a remarkable range of propaganda efforts. At its heart though, it was always the Parliamentary campaign which would see it through. William Wilberforce, at the request of Pitt, became the Parliamentary spokesman for the campaign in 1787. With the support of evidence gathered by an Enquiry, he was able to bring the matter to a vote. Despite dramatic and skilful rhetoric and knowledge of the evidence, the motion was struck down 163 to 88. However, the seeds had been sown and the issue would come again before the House in 1792, to increasing success.Hogg, African Slave Trade, 2343 £100 - 200
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Walker, Capt. CharlesAuthentick Memoirs of the Life Intrigues and Adventures of the Celebrated Sally Salisbury. London: Printed in the Year, 1723. 8vo, cloth-backed marbled boards; port. frontis.The life and times of a notorious prostitute, dearly loved by her influential patrons. She ended her days of 'brain fever' (almost certainly syphilis) in Newgate after stabbing John Finch (a politician and son of the Earl of Nottingham). £80 - 100
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Mayall, John Jabez EdwinSeries of Photographs of Eminent Men. Messrs Marion & Co., 152 Regent St., 1862. Seven albumen prints after photographs by Mayall, all flush mounted to captioned card mounts, five signed and dated 1861 in the negative, 6 in original paper wrappers printed with title details, all signed by subjects on the mount, all contained in likely original folio folder.The seven photographs comprise:Prince Albert, the Prince Consort - this photograph was taken two months before Albert's death from typhoid and is likely the last taken of him. After his death the picture was hugely popular, with 70,000 of the carte de visite ordered from Mayall.W.E. Gladstone; John Russell, 1st Earl Russell; Edward Smith Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby; Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux; John Singleton Copley, 1st Baron Lyndhurst; John BrightMayall was a devoted believer in the photographer as artist. He used his background in chemical dye works to continually refine the process of Daguerreotypes. He was a pioneer of allegorical photographs and his work led him into a friendship with Turner, with whom he exchanged ideas on light and shadow. It was the Great Exhibition though which propelled him to the forefront of British photography. After this, his portrait work was in high demand and in 1860 he was called upon by the Royal Family. These pictures made his name and fortune, as he was granted the rights to sell the pictures as cartes de visite. The photograph of Albert comes from this period and was likely his most famous and desired print. £600 - 800
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Churchill, WinstonMarlborough. His Life and Times. George Harrap & Co., 1947. 8vo (2 vols). Quarter blue morocco over linen, t.e.g. in slipcase; illus. with portraits, maps and facsimile MSS. First edition in two books. £60 - 80
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Churchill, WinstonTyped letter signed 'Winston S. Churchill" to T.H. Moore, 2 Sussex Square, 14th December 1923, folded for posting, sending general thanks for a letter. With a photograph of Moore. The date of the letter would put it just over a week after Churchill lost the West Leicester by-election (his last as Liberal), suggesting that Moore's letter was one of commiseration. £100 - 200
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Suffragette MovementIn Memoriam Miss Emily Wilding Davison, B.A. Philp [sic] & Sons, [June] 1913. 12mo, single bifolium printed in black with photograph of Davison in scrollwork roundel. With a cutting from the Montreal Family Herald June 25 1913, headline 'Militants declare they are prepared to die to get vote'. Intriguingly, there is a piece on the reverse about a copycat incident at Royal Ascot by a disturbed man called Harold Hewitt, who appears not to have had a connection to the WSPU.At the 1913 Derby, Emily Davison entered the racetrack and seized the bridle of the King's horse, Anmer. She suffered terrible injuries and died a few days later. Despite opprobrium amongst the wider populace, this propaganda piece very deliberately aligns Davison's death with martyrdom. Its rhetorical flourishes position her almost as a second Christ, a human sacrifice for the benefit of all. Although modern historians question whether Davison intended to commit suicide, the narrative of the noble death for a higher cause became a powerful rallying symbol for the Suffrage movement. £60 - 80
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Ballet RusseA collection of c.25 ballet programmes, dated 1916-1943, including Col. de Basil, Covent Garden and the Theatre de Monte-Carlo; along with photograph album, 24 leaves mounted variously recto-and-verso with b/w photographs of the ballet (and one on rear pastedown) and with c.20 loosely inserted photographs. £300 - 500
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Peacock, Francis Sketches Relative to the History and Theory, but more especially to the Practice of Dancing. Aberdeen: J. Chalmers & Co., 1805. 8vo, later rebound in half leather over marbled boards; pp. 222 [text ends subscribers' list 'K', lacking to end]; provenance: Prof. Airey (Dancing Master in the Hawkshead area in the 1900s, bookplate to upper pastedown).Blasis, Carlo Notes Upon Dancing, Historical and Practical. M. Delaporte, 1847. 8vo, half calf over marbled boards; three engravings; provenance: George Grote (?author and radical MP, armorial bookplate on upper pastedown) — Prof. Airey (as above, lower pastedown).Peacock was a Scottish dancing master of six decades experience when he published this book - many of these as the only Dancing Master in Aberdeen. He draws on previous books, not least John Locke, as well as personal experience to portray dance as a highly desirous part of education of the young. In its curated but vigorous expression it offers health, promotes social development and gives a safe outlet for youthful high spirits.Blasis was an important figure in the development of dance theory and the analysis of individual movements using geometry. He advocated a serious of figures, which should be learnt by students. From this, the student would learn to add emotional expression, drawing the action out of the regimented and into the artistic. He was in some ways ahead of his time, studying moves then considered too difficult or demanding for general dancers of the age. [2] £300 - 500
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Neagle, AnnaSeven typed letters signed "Anna Neagle", dated variously 1937-83, principally thank you letters to fans for their letters; with three autograph letters signed "Anna" (2) or "Anna Neagle" (1), all undated (though one mentions "Charlie Girl" so would be c.1964-70); and with two b/w photographs, one of her as Victoria (stamped Publicity Department Republic Pictures on verso).Neagle was a hugely successful box office draw for British cinema, frequently working with her husband, producer/director Herbert Wilcox. Neagle appears to have taken correspondence with fans seriously, as almost all the letters have some personal touch and variation, and her personal correspondence has a similar friendly tone. One intriguing 1957 letter thanks a Mr Guy Bucceri for coming to Tottenham and Mill Hill to do Frankie Vaughan's hair. Neagle and Vaughan worked on a series of films in the late 50s which were ultimately commercial failures. £200 - 250
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Callot, JaquesDe Droeve Ellendigheden van den Oorloogh seer aerdigh en konstigh afgebeeldt door Jaques Callot. Loreijns Edelman, 1730. Oblong 12mo, half calf over marbled boards, upper board and pre-lims detached but present; eng. tit. and 17 plates.Callot's most famous suite, Les Misères et malheurs de la guerre was produced in 1633 in Lorraine. It was created as a response to Richelieu's invasion of Lorraine during the Thirty Years War. It remains a brutally unflinching statement on a terrible and destructive conflict, showing the soldiers pillaging the countryside, and their fates at the hands of their superiors or the angry mob - the lucky survive as cripples and beggars. Callot's work was a direct inspiration for Goya's similar series Los desastres de la Guerra. £80 - 100
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[Michell, Abraham Louis]Exposition of the motives, founded upon the universally received Laws of Nations, which have determined the King (of Prussia) upon the repeated instances of his subjects trading by sea, to lay an attachment upon the capital funds, which his Majesty had promised to reimburse for the subjects of Great-Britain, in virtue of the Peace-Treaties of Breslau and Dresden; and to procure, out of the said capitals to his said subjects, an indemnity for the losses which they have sustained by the depredations and violences of the English privateers, exercised upon them on the High Seas. Printed for J. Raymond, 1752. 8vo, marbled wrappers.The arguments about seizure of enemy property aboard neutral ships during war were a major development in international law. The Duke of Newcastle's arguments in reply to Michell's letters were a deliberate vindication of Prize Courts in relation to international law. £60 - 80
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Tomlinson, LieutenantA Plan for A Practicable, Easy, and Constitutional Method of Manning the Royal Navy, upon any Emergency, without the usual mode of Impressing Seamen. Printed only for the Author, by J.W. Pasham, Black-Friars, 1774. 4to, later cloth-backed boards. £80 - 100
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Clarke, J. and M'Arthur, J. (eds)The Naval Chronicle. Joyce Gold, 1799-1818. 8vo (39 vols). Contemporary half red leather over marbled boards; over 500 engravings including engraved titles in first 10, folding charts, maps, plans, figures and portraits, figures and illus to text (lacking some called for across volumes), decorative head-pieces; provenance: Robert Thompson (armorial bookplate to upper pastedowns).An unbroken run from Jan-Jun 1799 to Jan-June 1818 (lacking only the July-Dec 1818 volume). The run of the journal covers the period of the Napoleonic Wars and a significant selection of its contents was supplied by serving officers. Nelson sent the editors material, such as a sketch of his life sent after the Battle of the Nile. Whilst all contemporary sources are to be regarded with care, the Chronicle is generally held to be accurate and certainly contains a huge wealth of information not available from other sources. Not only are there historical details, accounts of battles, promotions and courts martial, details of ports and technical data on ships, but also strange detail on naval life of the time, exemplified by the contributions of poetry and letters to the editors. The details include the politically charged court martial of Admiral Gambier, at the behest of Lord Cochrane; both the edited and original Life of Collingwood (submitted post Trafalgar) and details of Nelson's death and funeral. The editors had both served at sea and known Nelson, and M'Arthur had been Lord Hood's Secretary. This personal knowledge allowed them to gather and present information in a way impossible to outsiders, making the Chronicle the premier source of information on Nelson's navy. £2000 - 3000
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Napoleon; De Chair, Somerset (trans.)Napoleon's Memoirs. The Golden Cockerel Press, 1945. Small folio (2 vols). Org. green cloth, upper boards with central N motif after Buckland-Wright, spines lettered in gilt; frontis in both, title page vignettes after Buckland-Wright. Limited ed. no. 148 of 500. [2] £80 - 100
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Cousen, John after Stanfield, ClarksonHMS Victory being towed into Gibraltar after Trafalgar. Manchester: Thomas Agnew, 1856. Framed and glazed. Signed by both with signatures cut out and preserved on back. £100 - 200
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Lawrence, T.E. Secret Despatches from Arabia. The Golden Cockerel Press, [1939]. 4to, quarter Niger over linen by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, t.e.g.; port. frontis. Limited ed., no. 940 of 1000.idem The Mint. Jonathan Cape, 1955. 4to, org. cloth and jacket. First ordinary ed.Bell, Gertrude The Arab War. The Golden Cockerel Press, [1940]. 4to, quarter Niger over linen by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. Limited ed., no. 240 of 500. [3] £100 - 150
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Stoker, Commander H.G.Straws in the Wind. Herbert Jenkins, 1925. 8vo, org. green cloth, upper joint starting; port. frontis., 13 photographic plates (two misplaced, one loose but present), w.a.f.; provenance: lengthy gift inscription on ffep, dated 1925. First ed.Stoker was a decorated naval officer who commanded the first submarine into the Dardanelles in 1915. He became an actor in 1920 but returned to active service during the Second World War. He was Bram Stoker's cousin. £60 - 80
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The Military GalleryBomber Aircrew Collection. The Military Gallery, 1984. Square 4to, blue leather album. Contains 28 leaves, of which 26 have photographs, biographies and signatures of Bomber Command pilots. This includes VC winners such as Bill Reid and Leonard Cheshire, as well as members of 617 ('Dambusters') Squadron. £150 - 250
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Military HistoryA library of books on WWI and II aviation (with a few on other topics such as the sea war inc. Hashimoto's Sunk), 1950-60s, all in jackets, almost all first eds. The collection includes memoirs of pilots from both sides of the conflict (such as Reitsch, Flying is My Life; Sakai, Samurai; and Knoke, I Flew for the Fuhrer); aeroplanes and their test pilots (Ziegler, Rocket Fighter; Gallico, The Hurricane Story; and Heinkel, He. 1000) and other topics such as Bowman and Mackersey's works on the Caterpillar Club and works on Zeppelins (Eckener, My Zeppelins). [55] £60 - 100
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Shaw, L.O. The Duel, the Battle of Waterloo, and other poems. Haslingden: For the Author, [1836]. 8vo, org. moire cloth.Bobbin, Tim (pseud.); [Collier, John]. My Lodger's Legacy. For the Editor, 1819. 8vo, org. boards.Douglas, Jonathan. Miscellaneous Poems. Maryport: Robert Adair, 1836. 8vo, org. cloth.White, John Nesbitt. Poems. Doncaster: W. Sheardown, 1806. 8vo, unbound pamphlet.With two other poetical collections (Rev. Charles Watkins and Henrietta Rhodes) and a number of broadsides and poetical ephemera. [qty] £100 - 200
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Millar, William. The Fairy Minstrel. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1822. 12mo, cloth-backed boards.Allan, Robert. Evening Hours. Glasgow: David Robertson, 1836. 8vo, decorative cloth.McCarthy, Justin Huntly. The White Carnation. Printed for Private Circulation, [1892]. 8vo, org. wrappers: authorial gift inscription to contents.Mac-Carthy, Denis Florence. The Two Lovers of Heaven. Dublin: John F. Fowler, 1870. 8vo, org. wrappers.Jones, Jos. Lorin: or, The Wanderer in Wales. Longman, Hurst, Rees et al, 1821. 8vo, wrappers.Williams, Taliesin; Bruce, Henry (trans.). Welsh Ode on The British Druids. Longman, Rees, Orme, et al, 1835. 8vo, wrappers.Llwyd, Richard. Beaumaris Bay. A Poem: with Notes. Chester: J. Fletcher, [nd]. 8vo, unbound pamphlet, spine reinforced with tape. [7] £100 - 200
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Rural PoetryFranklin, Robert. The Miller's Muse. Hull: Printed and Sold by I. Wilson, 1824. 8vo, wrappers.Cole, William. Rural Months. Printed for the Author, 1824. 8vo, org. paper-backed boards.Anstey, Christopher. The Famer's Daughter. Bath: Printed by S. Hazard for T. Cadell Jun. and William Davies, 1795. 8vo. later marbled wrappers.Gisbourne, Thomas. Walks in a Forest. Printed by J. Davis for B. and J. White, 1794. 4to, unbound pamphlet. [4] £100 - 200
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In MemoriamA series of poetical musings on death, including Elegies for Edmund Burke and Robert, 3rd Earl of Essex and the Rev. Kennedy's Tribute in Verse for George Canning (1827), along with Thomas Denton's Immortality: or, the Consolation of Human Life (1754) and W.R. Spencer's The Year of Sorrow (1804). Also with J. Carvell Williams' The Present Position of the Burials Question (1879), an effort to return religious liberty to the churchyard. [9] £60 - 100
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Brangwyn, Frank (illus.). The Thousand & One nights; or Arabian Nights' Entertainments. Gibbings & Company Limited, 1896. 8vo (6 vols). Yellow buckram, paper labels on spines; illus by Frank Brangwyn. Limited ed. no. 52 of 100 large paper copies.Walpole, Hugh. Judith Paris and The Fortress. Macmillan & Co., 1931-32. 8vo, cloth-backed boards, paper label to spine. One of 350 large paper copies, signed by author.De Maupassant, Guy. Caresses. The Hand and Flower Press, 1946. Oblong 12mo, blue leather in org. box; frontis. Limited ed, no. 265 of 750.Navarre Society. The Heptameron of the Tales of Margaret, Queen of Navarre. Privately Printed for the Navarre Society, 1922. 8vo (5 vols). Org. white cloth gilt; illus. by Freudenberg, head and tail-pieces by Dunker. Limited ed. [14] £100 - 200
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Deighton, LenHorse Under Water. Jonathan Cape, 1963. 8vo, org. cloth in unclipped jacket (priced 16s). First ed., with crossword endpapers but no inserted crossword.Pasternak, BorisDoctor Zhivago. Collins and Harvill, 1958. 8vo, org. cloth in unclipped jacket (priced 21s). First English ed. [2] £50 - 60
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AnonThe Hampstead Congress: or, the Happy Pair. Printed: And sold by M. Cooper, A. Dodd, and G. Woodfal, 1745. 8vo, half calf over marbled boards in a period style; pp. 23, blank; provenance: North Library (bookplate upper pastedown) — J.O. Edwards (book label upper pastedown). First ed.A scarce item (we have only traced on copy at auction in 1997). This light-hearted poem traces an argument between newly-weds about where is best to live - town or country. The argument going nowhere, Sir John retires to his country seat, from whence the news is brought to his wife of his death from a broken heart. She races to his side and weeps, at which he ups with a start and they are re-affirm their love for each other, conveniently just after she has pledged to bow to his Will in all things, if only he will be restored to her...ESTC T35963; Foxon H30 £200 - 300
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Burrage, A.M.Some Ghost Stories. Cecil Palmer, 1927. 8vo, org. black cloth, upper board ruled and titled in white with lower white vignette, spine lettered in white. First ed.Burrage was best known in his day as a writer of fiction for boys and comic fiction. However, it is his horror writing for which he is chiefly remembered today. M.R. James praised this book (Burrage's first horror collection), saying "if about half his ghosts are amiable, the rest have their terrors, and no mean ones."With Du Maurier, Daphne, Rebecca. Victor Gollancz, 1938. 8vo, org. black cloth. Third Imp. before publication. £60 - 80
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Dickens, Charles (ed.)The Daily News. January 21, 1846. Broadsheet, eight pages on four folded sheets, text in six columns.The first issue of Dickens' own newspaper dedicated to 'Principles of Progress and Improvement; of Education, Civil and Religious Liberty, and Equal Legislation'. Dickens' hope was to offer a Liberal alternative to The Times and Morning Chronicle. Dickens himself contributed. This issue features the first of his letters from Italy as "Travelling Letters. Written on the Road". This would later be published as the first chapter of Pictures from Italy. Amongst the more traditional news, the paper championed the development of and investment in railway companies and often featured other commercial news. The paper started well, selling 10,000 copies (as compared to The Times circulation of around 25,000) but it soon fell to 4,000. Dickens grew disillusioned and handed it over after seventeen issues to John Forster. Despite the rocky start, the paper would grow in prominence and circulation. By the end of the century it was claiming to have 'the largest circulation of any Liberal Paper in the world.' This first issue appears rare and is an intriguing ephemeral piece of Dickensiana. £100 - 200
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Dickens, CharlesWorks. Chapman and Hall, c.1890-2. 4to (22 works in 8 vols). Half red calf over marbled boards, spines with contrasting morocco lettering-pieces, marbled endpapers and edges; illus by Phiz, Barnard et al. [8] £80 - 100
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Dickens, CharlesMaster Humphrey's Clock. Chapman & Hall, 1840-1. 8vo (3 vols). Half calf over marbled boards (Vols 1+2 uniform)' woodcuts to text. First eds in book form.idem Bleak House. Bradbury & Evans, 1853. 8vo, half calf over marbled boards; frontis., add. eng. tit. (1853 imprint), 38 plates (including dark plates), no half-title. First ed. with "elgble" p.19; "chair" p.209; and "counsinship" p.275; five-line errata below plate list.idem Little Dorrit. Bradbury & Evans, 1857. 8vo, half calf over marbled boards, joints cracking, lower board detached but present, upper loose but attached; frontis., add. eng. tit. (1857 imprint), 38 plates (with dark plates, Damocles detached but present). First ed. with three-line errata below plate list; "Rigaud" errata slip at p.467 and uncorrected text on following pages; "William" p. 317; "B2" p.371. And another similar copy though without "Rigaud" slip. [6] £150 - 250
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E.P. [Ellis Pratt M.D.]The Art of Dressing the Hair. A Poem Humbly Inscribed to the Members of the T[uesday] N[ights] Club. Bath: Printed by R. Cruttwell, for the Author, 1770. 4to, wrappers; pp.18.An intriguing little item by the self-described 'Philocosm And Late Hairdresser to the said Society'. The poem was well reviewed by several periodicals of the time, making sly comment on their suspicion that E.P. was not the mere hairdresser he purported to be. The Monthly Review (Vol. 43) said 'it is evident that he is not unacquainted with the internal cultivation of the head; for his poem is more spirited, correct, and harmonious than most pamphlets of this kind that come under our review.'Higgs (Economics) 5081 [Forster Book Reviews 2267 for other reviews] £100 - 150
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Shaw, George BernardFour autograph letters and one typed, signed variously 'G.B.S.' or 'G. Bernard Shaw', 4 Whitehall Court, dated 1930-37 to The Leighton-Straker Bookbinding Company, relating to the bindings of his works, one (1934) with original envelope.Two show Shaw's hands-on concern with the appearance of his Collected Works (which initially consisted of 30 works published in 1932). He pushes for a specific green dye for the cloth (as it remains fast even at the Equator) and advocates against the 'holland back' because he wants a decorative element to the presentation on a shelf. One (1930) is interesting bibliographically: Shaw requests they run a copy of one work up from waste in order to secure an interim American copyright. There is also a letter from Leighton-Straker in 1939 requesting the right to act on Shaw's behalf in securing War Risks insurance. Shaw's MSS reply at the foot displays a sanguine attitude to government actions. Finally there is a slip (from R.M.S. Empress of Britain, Haifa, 24/12/32) sending his compliments to an unnamed party. With two other letters from Dan H Lawrence (editor of the Collected Letters and Literary and Dramatic Advisor to the GBS estate) relating to these letters. [9] £500 - 700
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Jonson, BenThe Works of Ben Jonson, Which were formerly Printed in Two Volumes, are now Reprinted in One. To which is added a comedy, called The New Inn With Additions never before Published. Printed by Thomas Hodgkin, for H. Herringman, E. Brewster, T. Bassett, R. Chiswell, M. Wotton, G. Conyers, 1692. Folio, full calf, joints cracking, signs of damp with some mould; port. frontis.; pp. [x], 264, 281-382 [380], 393-794 [4 (Leges Convivales)]. Third Folio ed., but the first in one volume and the last Folio edition. w.a.f. £200 - 300
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Lewis, WyndhamOne-Way Song. Faber and Faber, 1933. 8vo, original full vellum, upper board and spine lettered directly in gilt, top edges gilt, others untrimmed; decorated title page, four illus by Lewis. Signed limited ed., no. 21 of 40. £100 - 200
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Prescott, William H.; Kirk, John Foster (ed.)Works. J.C. Nimmo and Bain, 1884 [but Philadelphia: J. B Lippincott]. 8vo (15 vols). Brown cloth, paper labels on spines; steel-engraved portraits on India paper and maps. Fine paper edition, Limited ed., no. 7 of 25 offered 'by courtesy of the English holders of the Copyright' for sale in the US by Lippincott. Some water-staining. [15] £100 - 200
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Ramsay, AllanPoems. Edinburgh: Printed by Mr Thomas Ruddiman for the Author, 1721. 4to, full calf, spine gilt in compartments, contrasting morocco lettering-piece, marbled endpapers. First ed. of Ramsay's rare first volume of poetry (the second being published in 1728). Ramsay was a wig-maker turned bookseller whose contributions to the literary life of Edinburgh earned him recognition on the Scott Monument. £150 - 250
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Sabatini, RafaelThe Writings of Rafael Sabatini. Boston and New York: Printed at the Riverside Press Cambridge for the Houghton Mifflin Company, 1924-37. 8vo (34 vols). 24 finely bound in full red crushed morocco, boards with gilt roll-tooled borders around single gilt-ruled fillet borders enclosing two entwined double gilt-ruled fillets with alternating arch and mitre corner-pieces, spines gilt in compartments, lettered directly in two and at foot in gilt, others with gilt panels, five raised bands with central gilt decorative rule, gilt single-ruled fillet board edges, doublures of crushed green morocco within red crushed morocco turn-ins with gilt roll-tooled borders alternating twice with triple gilt-ruled fillet borders, white watered-silk endpapers, t.e.g, white silk markers, 6 others in original red pebble-grain-cloth-backed boards, paper labels to spines, edges uncut. Vol 23 lower board detached but present, spine detached at lower hinge but still attached at upper. Limited edition, no. 295 of 750, signed by Sabatini in the first. [34] £300 - 500
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Shakespeare, WilliamShakespere's Works. Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., 1882-3. 12mo (12 vols). Full vellum, upper boards and spines lettered in red and black with vignette in black to lower corner, t.e.g. £60 - 80
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Shelley, Percy ByssheThe Complete Poetical Works. Cambridge: The Riverside Press, 1892. 8vo (8 vols). Finely bound in full red crushed morocco, boards with gilt roll-tooled borders around double gilt-ruled fillet borders, enclosing gilt panel with four floral and pointillé corner-pieces with central on-laid black morocco discs, spines gilt in compartments, lettered directly in two and at foot in gilt, others with elaborate floral panels, five raised bands with decorative central rule, gilt-ruled board edges, doublures of black crushed morocco with two double gilt-ruled fillet borders enclosing floral corner-pieces depicting roses surrounded by wreaths of leafed branches with two additional branches either side, within red crushed morocco turn-ins with gilt roll-tooled borders around triple gilt-ruled fillets enclosing gilt fillet border with small gilt disc corner-pieces, white watered-silk endpapers, top edges gilt, white silk markers; frontis. in I. Limited edition, no. 127 of 250. [8] £800 - 1000
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Stewart, Rev. Charles EdwardA Collection of Trifles in Verse. Sudburn: Printed by J. Burkitt, 1797. 8vo, wrappers.A delightfully self-effacing collection of verses, with friendly criticisms on the contents page ("Long and dull", "Unnatural") and racing poems amongst the Epilogues to the famous and the apologies for the apologies for the Epilogues. £80 - 120
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Stokes, Henry SewellThe Gate of Heaven. Bodmin: Liddell & Son, 1876. 12mo, org. green card wrappers (upper cover detached but present); authorial gift inscription on title.idem The Chantry Owl and Other Verses. Longmans et al, 1881. 8vo, org. cloth; authorial gift inscription on title.idem Scattered Leaves. Longman et al, 1862. 8vo, org. green cloth.Along with The Vale of Lanherne (1836); Restormel (1875 first and 1882 revised eds); Echoes of the War (1855); The Voyage of Arundel (1884 New ed.); Lines in Memory of Thomas Simon Bolitho (1887); and Poems of Later Years (1873). [10] £80 - 100
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Swift, JonathanWorks. Printed for C. Bathurst et al, 1765 and by W. Bowyer et al, 1765. 16mo (17 vols). Full calf, spines with contrasting morocco lettering-pieces.The first 12 volumes (1-11 with Vol 2 in 2 parts) are Bathurst, the remaining 5 are Bowyer's continuation (though without the index volume 18). With one other. [18] £60 - 80
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Talander (pseud.); [Bohse, August]Der Liebe Irregarten : In welchem Hoher Personen unterschiedene Liebes-Geschichte sam[m]t andern merckwürdigen Begebenheiten auff das anmuthigste vorgetragen werden. Leipzig: Johann Caspar Mernern, 1684. 8vo, contemporary parchment-backed boards, boards detached but present, title and A2 with horizontal tear with loss of upper halves of pages.Bound with second Talander work, likely Liebes-Cabinet der Damen (Leipzig, 1685, identified on internal textual evidence), lacking title (A1) and 623 to end (likely only 623-4), with pp.313-336 supplied in early MSS.Bohse was an early proponent of the gallant novel, seemingly harkening back to court histories, but with courtly plots replaced with romantic entanglements, and often reaching towards eroticism. £150 - 250
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Tolkien, J.R.R.The Lord of the Rings trilogy. 8vo (3 vols). Org. cloth and jackets; folding maps at rear of all three. Second revised editions (Fellowship Second Imp of this ed.). £80 - 100
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Tolkien, J.R.R.The Hobbit; Lord of the Rings; Poems and Songs. George Allen & Unwin, 1979 and 1980. 8vo (3 vols). Org. decorative cloth in boxes, retaining glassine wrappers (with some wear, Rings wrapper torn in two both parts present). De Luxe eds, Hobbit 2nd imp., Rings 7th imp. £100 - 200
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