"Outside of a dog, man's best friend is a book. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
— Groucho Marx

London: Printed for W. Strahan; and T. Cadell, 1782; 1787; 1787; 1788; 1788; 1788. [Late Antiquity] FINELY BOUND QUARTO EDITIONS, first three volumes New Edition, final three volumes First Edition. Complete in six volumes. Quarto (29 x 23 x 31cm), pp.xx; 704; pp.[12] 640; pp.[12] 640; pp.[4] xvi; 620; pp.[12]..... More
London: Macmillan and Co., 1900-1901. [Literature] ALL FIRST BROCK-ILLUSTRATED EDITIONS. 5 volumes, octavo (19 x 13 x 19cm). Abundantly illustrated with line drawing black and white full page plates. Finely bound in mid-green half calf with raised bands, gilt decoration, twin red title labels to spines; cloth boards; top edges..... More
London: W. Kent & Co., 1859. [Poetical Works] FINELY BOUND, a later edition thus. Two volumes. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.vii-lxxii; 274 [2]; pp.viii; 336 [2]. With 75 in-text engravings after Gilbert. Contemporary brown full morocco for Hatchard's, with raised bands, gilt titles and decoration to spine, and panelled decoration..... More
Oxford: at the Clarendon Press, 1923, 1932. First Oxford Edition. Large Paper. Limited to 1000 sets. Seven volumes. Coloured frontispieces. Beautifully bound in recent half blue oasis morocco with gilt titles and ornate gilt tooling to spines, blind rule to boards, cloth sides, top edge gilt others untrimmed. Internally clean..... More
Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran and Company, Inc., 1930. [Literature] The Crowborough Edition, Limited to 760 sets of which this is number 214, SIGNED by the Author in the first volume. 24 volumes. Publisher's brown paper covered boards with the author's facsimile signature in gilt to uppers; oatmeal-coloured buckram spines..... More
London: The Bodley Head, 1958-63. FIRST BODLEY HEAD EDITION. Complete in 6 volumes. Octavo. Publisher's red cloth in pale grey/cream dust wrappers printed in black and red. Both the books and jackets are in clean, fresh condition without the often-seen toning to the spines. A striking set. The only collected..... More
London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1874. [Plays of Shakespeare] FINELY BOUND CENSORED PLAYS. Large octavo (24 x 17cm), pp.[4] x; 910 [2]. Very small print set in two columns. With an engraved head piece for each play. Contemporary black full morocco with raised bands, gilt title to spine, and heavy..... More
London: Cassell & Company, no date [circa 1880s]. [Drama] FINELY BOUND AND ILLUSTRATED, a later printing. Three volumes. Quarto (32 x 25cm), pp.[12] 712 [2]; pp.[10] 596 [2]; pp.[2] xlii [10] 775 [3]. With numerous in-text and full page engravings by Selous, a facsimile and transcript of Shakespeare's Will, and..... More
London: Chapman and Hall, no date [circa 1880]. [Literature] FINELY BOUND SET. Nineteen volumes bound as thirteen. Octavo (18 x 13 x 42cm). Each title with eight illustrated plates. Contemporary tan half calf with gilt titles to contrasting red and green labels, further gilt decoration to spines, and marbled paper..... More
London: Swordfish, an imprint of Orion Publishing Group, 2011. [Spy novels] BOX SET. Quality hardback re-issues of the first Jonathan Cape editions (1981-6) featuring the same dust-jacket artwork. FIRST EDITIONS thus, with a full strike-line number sequence. Octavo, five volumes in publisher's illustrated red card slip-case, showing original printed price..... More
Edinburgh: John Grant, 1925. [Literature] THE WORKS. Complete in 20 volumes. Octavo (22 x 14cm). Frontispiece photogravure to each volume. Facsimile signature of the author printed to first and final leaves. Handsomely bound in half dark blue oasis morocco with gilt titles and gilt raised bands to spines, blue cloth..... More
New York and London: Harper and Brothers / Hartford, Conn: The American Publishing Company, 1906. The Hillcrest Edition, complete in 25 volumes; Octavos (20 x 14cm). Elegantly hand-bound in half brown calf over marbled paper-covered sides, with contrasting orange title labels, gilt decoration to spines, top edge gilt, others untrimmed..... More
London: Penguin Books / Past Times, 2002. [Spy series] THE COMPLETE JAMES BOND SERIES, LIMITED EDITION. 14 volumes, small octavo (19 x 12 x 27cm). Softcovers with photographic cover art by Toby MacFarlan Pond. This is the paperback version of Penguin's Anniversary edition. Limited to 2000 numbered sets, of which..... More
London: Frederick Warne and Co., no date [circa 1900]. [Poetical Works] FINELY BOUND. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.x; 630 [2]. With an engraved frontispiece portrait of the author. Contemporary navy full calf with raised bands, gilt titles to red label, and further gilt decoration to spine. All edges and endpapers..... More
Stratford-on-Avon: Shakespeare Head Press, 1908. FIRST COMPLETE WORKS. 8 volumes. octavo. Portrait frontispiece (including a Sargent charcoal drawing that makes Yeats look like Dr. Nikola without his cat) to four volumes (alternate: vol.I, III, V, and VII), title-page printed in red and black. Publisher's pale green linen spines with titles..... More
London: Egmont [and] New York, NY: HarperCollinsPublishers, 2001-2004. [Children's Fantasy] MIXED COLLECTION. 12 volumes. Octavo (19 x 13 x 28cm). With in-text illustrations by Helquist. Including volumes 1-11 of the series (lacking volumes 12 and 13), as well as the autobiography. All UK first editions, except volumes 6 and 7..... More
London: Macmillan and Co., 1904. [Complete Works] FINELY BOUND, a later printing thus. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[4] viii; 900 [6]. With an engraved frontispiece portrait of the author. Very fine contemporary brown full crushed morocco, possibly by Zaehnsdorf or similar, with raised bands and gilt titles to spine. All..... More
London: Edward Moxon, 1845. [Poetical Works] FINELY BOUND. Large octavo (24 x 17cm), pp.[6] xxiv; 619 [7]. With an engraved frontispiece and vignette title page by William Finden. Text printed in two columns. Contemporary red full morocco, with raised bands, gilt titles and decoration to spine, and gilt symbols of..... More
London: John Bell [and] John Cawthorn, 1784-1807. [Shakespeare] JOHN BELL EDITION, later printings, mixed issue. 36 of 38 volumes. Duodecimo in half-sheets (16 x 10cm). Most volumes dated 1788 or 1803, with just a few intersectional exceptions. All volumes with two engraved title pages of varying dates ranging from 1784..... More
London: Doubleday, 2001-2006. [Children's Fantasy Humour] COMPLETE SIGNED FIRST EDITIONS. Six volumes. Octavo (22 x 15 x 17cm), pp.220 [4]; pp.253 [3]; pp.316 [5]; pp.304; pp.335 [1]; pp.332 [4]. With chapter headings illustrated by the author. Each volume SIGNED by the author to title page in ink matching the colour..... More
London: George Routledge and Sons, 1883. [Poetry] FINELY BOUND. Octavo (20 x 15cm), pp.[2] viii; 680; [2]. With 14 engraved plates. Contemporary red full morocco with raised bands and gilt titles to spine. Elaborate gilt decoration to spine and boards. Gilt textured endpapers; all edges gilt. Spotting to preliminaries and..... More
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
Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, 1849. [Poetry] FINELY BOUND. Octavo (24 x 17cm), pp.xii; 652 [2]. Small print in two columns. With an engraved frontispiece of the author and a vignette title page. Contemporary green full morocco, with raised bands, gilt titles to spine, and elaborate gilt decoration stamped all..... More
New York, NY: MJF Books, 1994. [James Bond] COMPLETE MJF BOOKS EDITIONS. 12 volumes, octavo (21 x 14 x 29cm). Publisher's hardbacks in illustrated dust-wrappers. A fine/as new set, housed in a custom-made felt-lined cloth slipcase with ribbon pull. A handsome collection. The entire run as published in America by..... More
London: Scholastic Press, 1995-2000. ALL FIRST EDITIONS. 3 volumes, octavos. Publisher's cloth in original pictorial dust-jackets. The set housed in a custom felt lined slipcase. A fine set. Lyra's quest weaves fantasy, horror and the play of ideas into a truly great contemporary children's book. 'Northern Lights' was listed in..... More