"There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a favourite book."
— Marcel Proust
Gift Books & Fine Bindings
Hellenica: A Collection of Essays on Greek Philosophy History and Religion.
London: Rivingtons, 1880. [Classics] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (22 x 15 cm), pp.[1] x; 492; [2]. Contemporary dark brown full morocco with raised bands and gilt titles to spine. Gilt armorial stamp to upper board, impaling the arms of the Bishop of Winchester and New College Oxford. Marbled endpapers and all..... More
Dictionary of English Literature, being a Comprehensive Guide to English Authors and their Works.
London: Cassell Petter & Galpin, no date [circa 1880s]. [Literary Reference] FINELY BOUND, a revised edition. Octavo (21 x 17cm), pp.[2] iv; 708 [2]. Fairly small print in two columns. Contemporary black full calf for Merchiston Castle School, with raised bands, gilt titles to orange label, further gilt decoration to..... More
England Delineated.
London: Printed for Lackington, Allen and Co., 1804. [Topography] FINELY BOUND AND ILLUSTRATED. Two volumes. Octavo (24 x 15cm), pp.[2] vi; 148; pp.[2] iv; 148. With 149 copper engraved plates including vignette title pages. Contemporary brown half calf with gilt titles and blind decoration to spines. Marbled paper over boards;..... More
Westmorland, Cumberland, Durham and Northumberland, Illustrated. From Original Drawings by Thomas Allom, George Pickering etc., with Descriptions by T. Rose.
London: H. Fisher, R. Fisher, and P. Jackson, 1832-1834. [Northern Topography] FIRST EDITIONS. Three volumes bound as two. Folio (29 x 23cm), pp.[2] 116; pp.[6] 117-220. With 111 engraved plates, including a vignette title page to volume I and a frontispiece to volume II. Contemporary maroon half calf with raised..... More
The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen.
London: George Newnes, 1899. [Children's Illustrated] FINELY BOUND, FIRST STRATTON ILLUSTRATED EDITION. Quarto (28 x 22cm), pp.[2]; xvi; 320; [2]. With over 400 in-text wood engravings by Stratton. Contemporary green full morocco dated 1900, with raised bands, gilt titles to spine and gilt decorations to upper board. All edges gilt;..... More
Fairy Tales by Hans Andersen. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham.
London: George G. Harrap and Co., 1932. [Children's Illustrated] FIRST RACKHAM ILLUSTRATED EDITION. Large octavo (26 x 20cm), pp.288. With 12 very fine colour plates, including a frontispiece, each with a captioned tissue guard, as well as numerous in-text illustrations. Publisher's red cloth with gilt titles to spine and upper..... More
The Okavango River: A Narrative of Travel, Exploration, and Adventure.
London: Hurst and Blackett, 1861. [Colonial Exploration] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.xxii; 364. With 17 wood engravings by Zwecker and Pearson, including a frontispiece and vignette title page. Contemporary red full calf with raised bands, gilt titles to a navy label on spine, further gilt decoration to spine..... More
A Book of Designs of Deep Sea Racing Craft. Issued Under the Auspices of the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club.
London: Ernest J. Day and Company, [1932]. FIRST EDITION. Oblong quarto, pp.viii, 116. Bound in full dark blue Morocco with gilt emblem to upper board, later respine to style. Marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Introduction by Malden Heckstall-Smith, followed by 116 pages of plans. Some light spotting to prelims, some..... More
The Metropolis. And the Second Part of the Metropolis.
Dublin: John Barlow, 1805 and 1806. SECOND EDITION. Duodecimo. pp. 69, 87. In recent marbled paper-covered boards with navy titles to cream paper label on spine. Top right corner of title page to part two damaged and repaired. Text unaffected. Otherwise a near-fine example in an attractive new binding. An..... More
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[A Sample Book of Snuff Boxes 1820-1830].
[Private Compilation]. n.d. [c.1830's]. ORIGINAL ENGRAVED DESIGNS. 157x217mm. 16 thick card leaves featuring 104 individual engraved designs for snuff boxes printed on india paper and pasted to leaves. In contemporary dark brown mottled calf boards, re-backed in later tan calf. Held together by two strong brass clasps. Title neatly added..... More
Tales of the Classics: A New Delineation of the Most Popular Fables, Legends, and Allegories commemorated in the works of Poets, Painters, and Sculptors. Selected and Written by a Lady, for the amusement and instruction of her own daughters.
London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1830. [Greek Mythology] FINELY BOUND FIRST EDITION. Complete in three volumes. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[4] xxiv; 302 [4]; pp.[4] iv; 302 [4]; pp.[4] iv; 370 [4]. Contemporary black half calf with raised bands, gilt titles to burgundy labels, further gilt decoration to spines..... More
Wood's Royal Almanack for 1846.
London: J. T. Wood, 1846. MINIATURE BOOK. 30x17mm, unpaginated. With a calendar and lists of eclipses, holidays, the birthdays of members of the royal family, bankers and prices for stamps. Also with 14 engraved portraits of the royal family and Sir Robert Peel (then Prime Minister). In original blue paper..... More
The Light of Asia or The Great Renunciation. Being the Life and Teaching of Gautama, Prince of India and Founder of Buddhism.
London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., 1908. Deluxe Edition. Octavo, pp.xv; 158. Illustrated with thirty two pictures of Indian scenery from photographs taken by Mabel Eardley-Wilmott. Bound in cream vegetable parchment boards with gilt titles to spine and upper board, and illustrated to the upper and lower boards. Top..... More
The History of Gambling in England.
Chicago, MI: Herbert S. Stone & Company, 1899. [Gambling] FIRST US EDITION. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.[8] viii, 286 [8]. In contemporary maroon half morocco by the Eagle Art Bindery, with raised bands, gilt titles to spine and marbled paper over boards. Top edge gilt, others untrimmed; marbled endpapers. Text..... More
An Art Tour to Northern Capitals of Europe.
London: Macmillan and Co., 1873. [Russian and Scandinavian Museum Tour] FINELY BOUND FIRST EDITION. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.[2] xii; 455 [3]. Contemporary dark brown half morocco, with raised bands, gilt titles and blind decoration to spine, and lighter brown cloth over boards, with a gilt institutional device to upper..... More
Histoire des Diables de Loudun, Ou de la Possession des Religieuses Ursulines, Et de la condamnation et du suplice D'Urbain Grandier, Cure de la meme Ville. Cruels effets de la vengeance du Cardinal de Richelieu.
Amsterdam: Aux Depens de la Compagnie, 1740. [Huguenot History] EARLY EDITION. Octavo (16 x 10cm), pp.[8] 378 [4]. With a copper engraved frontispiece. All text in French. Contemporary speckled calf with raised bands, gilt titles and gilt decoration to spine. Marbled endpapers; edges speckled red. Recent repairs to head and..... More
A Companion to the Almanack, containing an Explanation of the Saints' Days and Holidays, with Biographical Sketches of the Persons, and Historical Accounts of the Events, on which the Festivals are founded. To which is prefixed, and Introduction, Explaining the Chronological and Astronomical Terms, and the general Contents of Modern Almanacks; with a brief inquiry into their origin.
London: Printed for J. Mawman, 1808. [Calendars] CONTEMPORARY BINDING, the Third Edition. Duodecimo (16 x 11cm), pp.151; [7]. Contemporary brown full calf with gilt titles and decoration to spine. Light browning and spotting to preliminaries. Contemporary black ink ownership to flyleaf. Joints rubbed and starting, but holding well. Corners bumped..... More
Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers and Other Poems.
Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, 1870. [Poetry] FINELY BOUND AND ILLUSTRATED, a later edition. Quarto (26 x 19cm), pp.[12]; 268. With frequent wood engraved vignettes by the Patons. Contemporary green full morocco by R. and A. SUTTABY of London, with raised bands, gilt titles and decoration to spine, and gilt..... More
Cricket. With 52 Illustrations.
London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1920. FIRST APPEARANCE OF THIS TEXT. Octavo, pp.348. Includes a large number of illustrations. Publisher's original pictorial brown cloth blocked in gilt and colours, plain endpapers. A little edge-spotting, gift inscription to flyleaf; bing clean and fresh. A particularly sharp-looking copy. Stated as 'A New..... More
Boating
Longmans Green and Co., London 1888. FIRST EDITION. Octavo. Illustrated throughout. Elegantly hand-bound in half dark blue oasis morocco leather over marbled sides, spine gilt-lettered in six compartments with raised bands, top edge gilt. A little spotting to first and final leaves else a fine copy in attractive recent leather..... More
Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. From the Little White Bird. A New Edition.
London: Hodder and Stoughton Limited, no date [1912]. [Children's illustrated] REVISED 'BEST' EDITION. Quarto (29 x 22cm), pp.[8]; 126 [2]. With 50 chromolithographic plates by Rackham, as well as further occasional wood engravings. Exquisitely bound in full native red oasis morocco, gilt, by Sangorski and Sutcliffe, with gilt character tools..... More
Historic Memoirs of Ireland; comprising Secret Records of the National Convention, the Rebellion, and the Union; with Delineations of the Principal Characters connected with these transactions.
London: Henry Colburn, 1835. NEW EDITON. In two volumes. Large Quarto, pp.[2] xlii, 358 [2]; pp.[4] x, 464 [2]. With 38 copper engraved portraits, including a frontispiece of Barrington to vol. I, and two plates preceeding the title page in vol. II. Also with three facsimile letters and an index..... More
The Book of Household Management.... Also Sanitary, Medical, and Legal Memoranda. With a History of the Origin, Properties and Uses of all Things connected with Home Life and Comfort. Entirely New Edition, Revised, Corrected with New Coloured Illustrations and Several Hundreds of New Recipes.
London: Ward, Lock, n.d. [c.1880]. Three Hundred and Forty-Ninth Thousand. Plump octavo. pp.xlix, [1] advert, 1296. With 13 colour plates including frontispiece. In near-contemporary blue buckram with gilt titles to spine, drab endpapers, marbled edges. A few marks within but generally clean for a cookery book, bookshop ticket to pastedown..... More
A General History of Quadrupeds.
Newcastle Upon Tyne: T. Bewick and Son, 1824. [Zoological Engraving] ILLUSTRATED. The eighth edition. Octavo (23 x 15cm), pp.[2] x, 526 [2]. Illustrated throughout with Bewick's iconic wood engravings. Recent speckled half calf with raised bands, gilt titles to dark green labels on spine, and marbled paper over boards. All..... More
Sand and Canvas; a Narrative of Adventures in Egypt, with a Sojourn Among the Artists in Rome.
London: Charles Gilpin, 1849. [Travel Memoirs] FIRST EDITION, an association copy. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.[4] xii; 370 [2]. With eight engraved plates, including a frontispiece, after drawings by the author, six being hand-coloured, each with a tissue guard. Pencil note to verso of fly-leaf stating: 'Wm. Bevan - my..... More