"If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all. "
— Oscar Wilde
Poetry & Drama
The Holy Grail. And Other Poems.
London: Strahan and Co., Publishers, 1870. [Arthurian Legend] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (18 x 12cm), pp.[8] 222 [2]. Publisher's green cloth with gilt titles to spine. Brown endpapers. Heavy pencil ownership to first blank. Rubbing to cloth, small split to top of lower joint. Very good. Begun in 1859, Tennyson's classic..... More
Idylls of the King.
London: Edward Moxon, 1859. FIRST EDITION. Crown Octavo, pp.[16], 261 [3]. With adverts bound in at front dated July 1859. In publisher's gilt-titled blind-stamped olive cloth, with coated yellow endpapers. Blue ink ownership inscription to front free endpaper, dated august 1859. Reading lean and sunning to spine. Pencil notes to..... More
Idylls of the King.
London: Henry S. King and Co., 1874. [Arthurian Legend] FINELY BOUND, a later edition. Small octavo (17 x 11cm), pp.[2]; x; 405' [3]. In contemporary navy full morocco with raised bands, gilt titles and decoration to spine, and gilt panelled decoration to boards with the initials B.M.T. stamped to upper..... More
Uniform Collection of Leatherbound works. Including Poems, The Princess, Idylls of the King, In Memoriam, The Holy Grail, Maud, Gareth and Lynette, and Enoch Arden.
London: Henry S. King and Co., 1874. [Poetical Works, Arthurian Legend etc] FINELY BOUND. Eight volumes, o ctavo (16 x 11 x 17cm). Handsomely bound in full dark green calf, delicately tooled in blind, gilt titles on red morocco labels, all edges coloured red, combed marble endpapers. Same dated ownership..... More
The Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson: Poet Laureate.
London: Macmillan and Co., 1923. [Poetical works] FINELY BOUND BY RIVIERE. Octavo (19 x 12cm), pp.viii; 901; [4] blank. Blue full morocco, gilt titles to spine, elaborate gilt decoration to spine and boards. All edges gilt, marbled endpapers. Portrait frontispiece. Copious annotation to reverse of flyleaf, light spotting to preliminaries..... More
The Works of Alfred Tennyson. Poet Laureate.
London: C. Kegan Paul and Co., 1878. [Poetical Works] FINELY BOUND. Large octavo (25 x 18cm), pp.iv; 665 [3]. With an engraved frontispiece portrait of the author. Bound for Hatchards in contemporary blue full calf with straight grain panels to boards, gilt titles and decoration to spine, and gilt decoration..... More
The Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate.
London: Macmillan and Co., 1905. [Poetical Works] FINELY BOUND. Octavo (19 x 14cm), pp.[2] viii; 900; [4]. Contemporary green full morocco, raised bands, gilt titles to spine, and further elaborate gilt decoration to spine and boards. All edges gilt; marbled endpapers. Some occasional spotting to preliminaries, else internally clean. Spine..... More
The Works.
London: Macmillan, 1907. Prize binding. Octavo. Finely bound by Bickers and Son in tree calf bordered with foliate gilt ruling, central gilt motif of the "Girls Public Day School Trust" to front board, raised bands, brown label and extra gilt decoration to spine; all edges vividly marbled, matching marbled endpapers..... More
Concert For George.
UK: Genesis Publications, 2004. [Rock photo-documentary]. DELUXE EDITION, signed by Olivia Harrison. Folio, pp.306 STRICTLY LIMITED; No 21 of 350 numbered copies, not to be confused with the 'Collector' edition which was numbered up to 2500. Deluxe copies were bound in half-terracotta goatskin over padded cloth sides with rose gold..... More
18 Poems.
London: The Fortune Press, 1934. [Poetry] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (23 x 15cm), pp.32. Publisher's blue / grey cloth with gilt titles to spine. With the yellow dust-jacket, priced at 6s. Hinges starting; possibly re-cased. Rubbing and bumping to board edges and corners. Gilt largely worn from spine. Jacket heavily rubbed..... More
Twenty-Five Poems.
London: J.M. Dent and Sons, 1936. [Modern Verse] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.48. Publisher's grey paper over boards, top edge tinted blue, printed dust-wrapper priced at 2/6. Some offset toning from jacket flaps, light wear and dustiness to jacket, some rubbing and wear to spine, chipped to ends..... More
The Seasons. From the Revised Edition of 1746.
New York, NY: Harper and Brothers, no date [circa 1847]. [Poetry] FINELY ILLUSTRATED AND BOUND. Octavo (21 x 16cm), pp.[xlviii]; 320; [iv], blank. Full red morocco binding lettered in gilt, with ornate gilt decoration to all faces, all edges gilt. Frontispiece with tissue guard, and further illustrations for each season..... More
The Seasons. A New Edition.
London: J. F. Du Roveray, 1802. FINELY BOUND, with steel engravings. Octavo, pp.xxiv, 262 [4]. With a fine steel engraved plate for each season and a frontispiece, by various artists. In contemporary brown latticed full calf, with gilt titles and decoration to spine and gilt ruling to boards. Marbled endpapers;..... More
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Parts One and Two. Special Rehearsal Edition Script.
London: Little, Brown, 2016. [Drama] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (24 x 16cm), pp.[8] 343 [1]. Publisher's black cloth with gilt titles to spine and gilt device to upper. Gold illustrated endpapers. With the illustrated dust-jacket, priced at £20.00. A couple of small chips to jacket rear flap fold. Near fine... More
Home Truths.
Hessle: The Marvell Press, 1957. [Poetry] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.61 [3]. Publisher's blue cloth with gilt titles to spine. With the cream dust-jacket, not priced. A damp mark to lower spine corner. Cloth and jacket spine lightly toned; bruising and closed tears to jacket edges. Very good..... More
Floating Spars.
Privately Printed, 1876. Octavo, pp. 63. In brown cloth with gilt titles to spine, gilt titles and decoration to upper and rear boards. Top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Marbled endpapers, with the bookplate of Julian Tindale Pym affixed to the front pastedown, with a gift inscription to him from his..... More
The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun.
London: HarperCollins Publishers, 2009. [Poetry] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (23 x 15cm), pp.[viii]; 377. Publisher's brown cloth lettered in gold on spine, pictorial dust-jacket, photographic frontispiece. Internally clean and bright, slight wrinkle to upper spine-end, faint mark on back cover, cut in dust-jacket back cover. Near fine. This book is formed..... More
Foolery A Comedy in Verse.
London: Arthur L. Humphreys, 1912. [Poetry] FIRST EDITION WITH A LETTER FROM THE AUTHOR. Slim octavo (18 x 12cm), pp.[viii]; 69; [3] blank. Publisher's green cloth titled in gilt to spine and upper board, hand-written paper note laid onto upper board, top-edge gilt, others untrimmed. A manuscript letter on Foreign..... More
Modern Chinese Poetry.
London: Duckworth, 1936. [Chinese Poetry] FIRST EDITION THUS. Octavo (21 x 16cm), pp.176. Publisher's blue cloth with gilt titles to spine and gilt Chinese characters to upper board. Top edge gilt; others untrimmed. Illustrated bookplate of Ella M. Scrymsour-Nichol to front pastedown. Some marks and shelf wear to boards. Good..... More
Vintage Verse. An Anthology of Poetry in English.
London: Hollis and Carter Ltd., 1945. [Poetry] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 15cm), pp.vi; 338. Publisher's burgundy cloth, gilt titles to spine and upper, top edge red, patterned endpapers, dust-jacket with repeating vine and grape motif, price clipped and repriced with an ink stamp at 10/6 net. Some light spotting..... More
Phoenix. New Quarterly Series. A Review of Poetry / Criticism / the Arts. Summer 1967. Number Two.
Belfast: Pheonix, 1967. [Poetry Periodical] ORIGINAL PERIODICAL ISSUE. Octavo (20 x 17cm), pp.64. With occasional black and white photographic illustrations. Publisher's orange card covers, with two staples. Corners thumbed; light wear to spine. Very good. An early appearance of Heaney's 'The Wife's Tale'. More
Anthology of Japanese Literature from the earliest era to the mid-nineteenth century, complied and edited by Donald Kean.
London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1956. [Poetry] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.442; [2] bibliography; [4] publisher's colophon and advertisements. Publisher's orange cloth, title in red to spine, top edge red, typographic dust-jacket with printed price of 30s. net. Neat ownership to flyleaf, edges a little toned. Wrapper..... More
Six Modern One-Act Plays.
London: University of London Press, 1950. SIGNED FIRST EDITION, thus. Octavo, pp.160. Publisher's softcovers. SIGNED BY JOHN LENNON. An interesting school text-book borrowed by Lennon whilst a student at Quarry Bank School, Liverpool. Lennon has signed the lending stamp to the inside cover 'J[ohn] W[inston] Lennon, IVC', and dated this..... More
Million — New Left Writing. First Collection.
Glasgow: William MacLellan, no date [1943]. [Socialist Literary Magazine] ORIGINAL MAGAZINE. Octavo pamphlet (22 x 14cm), pp.64. With two double-sided illustrated plates, one side being printed in colour. Publisher's paper covers, stapled twice and priced at 2s. The lightest of handling. A fine, almost as-new copy. A selection of Socialist..... More
Secret Springs of Dublin Song.
Dublin: The Talbot Press, 1918. [Irish Poetry] LIMITED FIRST EDITION. Octavo (25 x 18cm), pp.xii; 51 [1]. Number 327 of just 500 copies printed by letterpress on fine handmade paper. Publisher's green/brown cloth with gilt titles to burgundy label on upper. Grey endpapers; all edges untrimmed. Browned throughout. Spine sunned..... More