" It is a man's duty to have books. A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessaries of life. "
— Henry Ward Beecher
Literature
The Comic Blackstone.
London: At the Punch Office, 1846. 8vo.; pp. 252, with 3 illustrations by Cruikshank: a frontispiece, an engraved title page printed in red and black, and a cartouche at foot of last page. Bound in later (20th century) tan half calf with dark brown title label, gilt titles and extra... More
So Long And Thanks For All The Fish.
London: Pan, 1984. Inscribed First Edition. Octavo. pp. [5], 191. Bound in publisher's black cloth with titles in silver to spine. Black dust jacket, designed by Gary Day-Ellison, with holographic panel to front cover, and titles in white to front cover and spine, unclipped. Includes publisher's compliment slip. Binding shows... More
The Plague Dogs.
London: Allen Lane, 1977. FIRST EDITION, advance copy for review. Octavo. pp.461. Bound in publisher's brown cloth, with gilt titles and reproductions of plate illustrations stamped in black to front board and spine. Pictorial dustwrapper, illustrated by Martin White, shows eponymous dogs in a sea of heather. A very good... More
Household Tales With Other Traditional Remains. Collected in the counties of York, Lincoln, Derby, and Nottingham.
London: David Nutt, 1895. FIRST EDITION. Octavo, pp.vii, 163. Bound in publisher's green cloth, blind rules to boards, gilt rules and gilt titles to spine, top edge untrimmed, geometric patterned endpapers. Internally clean, browning to endpapers. Binding is tight and presentable, with spine ends rolled, minor bumping and rubbing to... More
Adomnan's Life of Columba.
London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1961. FIRST THUS. Octavo, pp.xxiv; 590; [2]. A superior edition with a large introduction and duel Latin / English text on facing pages. In publisher's green cloth with gilt titles to spine. With original green dust-jacket. Top edge green. Some very light rubbing to jacket... More
Aesop's Fables. A new translation by V.S. Vernon-Jones with an introduction by G.K. Chesterton.
London: William Heinemann, 1912. FIRST RACKHAM EDITION. Octavo, pp.xxii; 223. Recently bound in half green calf over green cloth, with five raised bands, and gilt titles to spine. Green stained top edge. Contains 13 colour plates, including frontispiece, all protected with captioned tissue guards, plus numerous black and white illustrations... More
The Fables of Aesop (Aesops' Fables); with a Life of the Author. Embellished with 112 Plates.
London: John Stockdale, 1793. 2 volumes; 4to. Full original tree calf binding, rebacked with original spines laid back on, titles in gilt on red morocco label to spines with additional gilt decoration. 112 fine, sharp copper plate engravings, vignette to title pages. Some bumping and scuffing to boards and edges... More
Select Fables of Esop and Other Fabulists. In Three Books. [Aesop's Fables].
Birmingham: Printed by John Baskerville for R. and J. Dodsley in Pall-Mall, 1764. The celebrated fabulist. Crown octavo, pp.lxxvii; 186; [28], index; [2], blank. Bound in full tan calf with red title label to spine, five raised bands with extra gilt, marbled endpapers. A few marks to boards and minor... More
A Death in the Family.
New York: McDowell, Obolensky, n.d. [1957]. FIRST EDITION. Octavo, pp.[10]; 339; [3]. In publisher's blue cloth with silver titles to spine and upper board, as well as metallic green mountain-scapes. With original blue pictorial dust-jacket. Slight reading lean. Top and bottom 2mm of cloth edges sunned to grey. Some light... More
Costumes by Eros.
London: Jonathan Cape. 1929. First edition. Octavo, pp. 255. Publisher's plum cloth with gilt titles to spine, white paper dustwrapper with a depiction of Eros by Gower Parks. Slight lean to the book, light spotting to the prelims and moderate spotting to the edges. Covers show general wear and dustiness... More
Roads to Glory.
London: Chatto & Windus, 1930. SIGNED LIMITED FIRST EDITION. Demy Octavo. pp. 278. no. 199 of 360 copies, signed by the author to limitation page. With original glassine jacket. In quarter blue cloth with gilt titles to spine and orange / white patterned paper-covered boards. All edges untrimmed. Near-fine with... More
The Brightfount Diaries.
1955. FIRST EDITION. This is the author's first book. Octavo, pp. 200. Bound in blue publisher's cloth with author's name and title in yellow lettering to spine, in a pink pictorial dustjacket designed by Pearl Falconer who provides illustration throughout. Boards in excellent condition with no visible signs of wear... More
Reaching for the Moon.
New York, NY: Harper Collins, 2005. SIGNED. Slim quarto, unpaginated. Publisher's pictorial boards and dust-jacket, blue endpapers. Illustrated throughout by Wendell Minor. Signed by Buzz Aldrin to the title page. Slight shelf wear, near fine. More
Waters of Arun.
London: Methuen, 1930. FIRST EDITION. Octavo, pp.xiv; [2]; 170; [2]. Publisher's green cloth with gilt titles to spine, in photographic dust-jacket. With 21 maps and 6 illustrations. Some offsetting to endpapers, some rubbing to spine ends. Dust-jacket has some loss at the top, rubbing to folds, and some tears. A.... More
Hilda Wade.
London. Grant Richards. 1900. First Edition. 8vo. Publisher's dark blue cloth titled and decorated in gilt to spine and front board. A used copy with some shelfwear,rubbed to extremities, gilt illustration rubbed to upper, discreet owner stamp to flyleaf, inside paper joint cracked. Very good. Illustrated throughout by Gordon Browne... More
The Woman Who Did.
London; John Lane, The Bodley Head. 1895. 21st edition. Keynotes Series edition. 8vo. Publisher's decorated olive green boards with keynote Beardsley design. Titled in gilt to spine. An attractive copy, some light edgewear. Ink owenership to front pastedown. Very good. More
An Account of the Behaviour of Mr. James Maclaine, from the time of his condemnation, to the day of his execution, October 3 1750. By the Reverend Dr. Allen, who attended him all that time, to assist him in his preperations for ETERNITY. Drawn up and published at the earnest desire of Mr. Maclaine himself. The second edition, with the addition of a LETTER written by Mr. Maclaine to a friend, the morning of his execution. Which did not come to hand time enough to be inserted before.
London: Printed for J. Noon in Cheapside, and A. Millar in the Strand, 1750. RARE. Octavo, pp.36. Recently hand-bound in marbled blue card covers, with title label affixed to front panel, and a red cloth spine. Externally fine, with no signs of wear. A delightful binding. Very clean internally, particularly... More
The Mysterious Mr Campion. An Allingham Omnibus
London: Chatto and Windus 1963. FIRST EDITION. Octavo, pp.505. Publisher's cloth in Youngman Carter designed wrapper. A fine copy. No inscriptions or price-clipping. Minor wear and soiling. Contains four Albert Campion stories; The Case of the Late Pig; Dancers in Mourning; The Tiger In the Smoke; On Christmas Day In... More
The Schirmer Inheritance.
London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1953. Thriller. FIRST EDITION. Octavo, pp.[vi]; 270. Publisher's red cloth with gilt title to spine, original pictorial dust-wrapper. No inscriptions, book appears unread. Jacket is bright with some some rubbing and edgewear, one tear to rear, price-clipped. Shows well. Eric Ambler was an influential author who... More
The Night-Comers.
London: William Heinemann, 1956. FIRST EDITION. Octavo, pp.[6]; 233. Publisher's orange cloth with gilt titles to spine, in decorative dust-jacket designed by Judith Bledsoe. Small area of toning to the bottom right corner of a few of the early pages, price clipped dust-jacket shows well with a couple of small... More
The Night-Comers.
London: William Heinemann, 1956. FIRST EDITION. Octavo, pp.[6]; 233. Publisher's orange cloth with gilt titles to spine, in decorative dust-jacket designed by Judith Bledsoe, priced at 13/6. A very good copy in similar, lightly edgeworn jacket. Set in Southeast Asia, 'The Night-Comers' covers 24 critical hours in a military coup... More
The Green Man.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1969. First Edition. Octavo. Publisher's hardback in pictorial dustwrapper. A lovely fine copy. A pub landlord starts seeing ghosts, in a particularly literate tale that must have inspired John Cleese's Basil Fawlty. Listed in Jones & Newman; 100 Best Horror Novels. More
My Enemy's Enemy, Stories.
London: Victor Gollancz. 1962. First Edition. Octavo, pp. 224. Red publisher's cloth with gilt titles to spine, in strikingly restrained yellow dustwrapper. Top and fore edge slightly browned, slight bumping to head and tail caps. Some wear to the top and bottom edges of the dustjacket with some marking and... More