•  Brunet, I, 1056; DeBacker, Auteurs du XVIIe siècle, 1020; Tchemerzine, II, 271. Binding as above, nearly perfect save for just a touch of rubbing to the spine extremities, in cloth-covered slipcase, worn, with cloth starting to split over edges. Frontispiece and title-page separating from binding; title with red-tinted signs, near edges, that the marbling process did not go entirely smoothly; upper margins of several other leaves with hints of very faint waterstaining. Otherwise, clean and quite lovely.

Click the image to the left
for an enlargement.

The third volume includes two plates and one oversized, folding plate reproducing two inscriptions and a frieze, engraved by E. Malpas.

Uncommon outside of Great Britain.

•  ESTC T113913; Brunet, I, 26; Lowndes, I, 5. Contemporary treed calf, spines gilt extra, with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels; leather worn at edges and moderately rubbed with joints cracking. Front pastedowns with private bookplates and signs that a plate was removed on front free endpaper (one vol. endpaper holed); impressions of old pencilled shelf numbers on title-pages (and one lightly inked old date). First two leaves of vol. III with upper margins stained and final leaf browned; some pages with a few spots of faint foxing, most clean and crisp.

Binding: Half tan cloth and marbled paper sides; round spines with five gilt-ruled raised bands, compartments gilt extra, oxblood-colored gilt-stamped leather title labels and black gilt-stamped leather volume labels. Endpapers done in same marbled paper as binding sides, with all page edges marbled in the same colors and pattern; red and yellow headbands.

•  NCBEL, II, 1101 (for the first printing of Chalmer’s ed.). Bindings as above, leather showing moderate wear with a few abrasions; upper page edges dust-darkened. Each volume with ownership inscription inked on reverse of front free endpaper. Pages mostly clean with occasional instances of age-toning or light spotting.

All 16th-century editions are scarce. Via NUC, OCLC and RLIN we locate only this copy of this edition (now deaccessioned) and that at Princeton.

Binding: Contemporary alum-tawed sheep over wooden boards with partially bevelled edges. Elaborately blind-embossed with a roll and a center panel ornament. Front cover with initials “H. S.” and date “1597” in gilt. Rear cover with gilt putti in the areas where initials and the date appear on the front.

Evidence of readership: Marginalia in the prefatory index; very scattered early underscoring.

•  VD16 A969; Goedeke, II, 8. Binding as above, lacking clasps and with old paper spine label; ex-library with bookplate and call number in old, faded, white numbering on spine. Title-page browned and tipped in; loss of paper to fore- and bottom margins of same. Some age-toning to paper and several leaves with natural paper flaws, repaired with archival tissue; three other leaves also with natural paper flaws repaired at time of binding or shortly after printing. Approximately 12 leaves with inkstains, sometimes obscuring text. One leaf (178) with a hole costing a significant loss of text. A marginally acceptable copy as regards text, in a good binding.

Present here is vol. I containing the original Greek text, the Latin translation having been printed in a separate volume. Incomplete at the end, lacking the final eight leaves, this is sold as a binding only.

Binding: Contemporary alum-tawed pigskin over bevelled boards, remnants of the metal closures. Covers elaborately blind-embossed with several rolls and devices. Front cover has in its center panel the initials “A. W.,” the date 1539, and medallions of Manfred of Saxony and Luther, while the rear cover's center panel has medallions of Melanchthon and Erasmus.

•  Graesse, I, 227; Legrand, Bibliographie hellénique, III, 388; Adams A2009.   Binding toned to a pleasing dark tan. Old bookplate on front pastedown. Front free endpaper torn with loss. Vol. I only, and lacking the final eight leaves. (20418)

Provenance: The inscription on the front fly-leaf reads “Miss Augusta E. Luckenback [/] presented to her by her dear sister Em [/] Feb.y 11th/53.”

Binding: Publisher’s red morocco, spine gilt extra, front and back covers with gilt-stamped vignettes of Queen Victoria, front vignette surrounded by gilt-stamped floral border. All edges gilt.

•  Binding as above, edges and spine rubbed, still bright and attractive. Mild foxing to some leaves and plates.

Binding: Publisher’s color-illustrated wrappers, chromolithographed by F. Motas, Philadelphia.

•  Binding as above, spine reinforced with cellophane tape, corners and edges worn, back wrapper creased. Sewing going; pages slightly age-toned, otherwise clean, with a few corners dog-eared.

There are many kinds of bindings to be intrigued by . . .

Binding: Bound by Granghaud in full red morocco with tooling in gilt and black. Wide turn-ins with gilt dentelles; marbled endpapers; top edge gilt. In marbled, morocco-edged slipcase.

•  Excellent condition.

Sadleir's analysis suggested to him the following probable sequence: a) the private edition, b) copies of the public edition with p. 236 in the same form as it appears in the private edition, c) copies of the public edition with p. 236 blank; and d) copies of the public edition with the complete new version of the text on p. 236.

However, the remnants of the binding preserved at the back of the present first volume — see note below andtop-right image above — are red moiré silk (as opposed to the brown cloth of the public edition), with the side panels and spine ornately blocked with a gilt design and the title within the gilt frame (the spine is rather worn, but legible). This suggests that only some of the twelve private copies were bound in leather, and others, or at least one, bound in this special silk cloth, gilt extra.

Barham began writing the short pieces making up this series as contributions to his friend and classmate's Bentley's Miscellany. The subject matter was “at first derived from the legendary lore of the author's ancestral locality in Kent, but soon [was] enriched by satires on the topics of the day and subjects of pure invention, or borrowed from history or the ‘Acta Sanctorum’. . . . The success of the ‘Legends’ was pronounced from the first, and when published collectively in 1840 they at once took the high place in humorous literature which they have ever since retained” (DNB).

Provenance: With R.H.D. Barham’s signature as noted above, and with the armorial bookplate of Sir David Lionel Salomons (1851–1925) in each volume.

•  NCBEL, III, 365; Sadleir 156a; Tinker 216 (public edition); Carter, Binding Variants, p.92. Bindings a bit darkened and slightly discolored at extremities, light rubbing to joints, some foxing to the prelims of the first volume, with an old tide-mark in the lower gutter areas of the plates; a tipped-in bookseller's description in the first volume. A very good, very interesting example of a very rare thing.

Bindings: Contemporary signed bindings by E.P. Dutton & Co., of red morocco with covers framed in gilt triple fillets; spines with raised bands, gilt-stamped titles, and compartments framed in gilt double fillets. Board edges gilt-ruled, gilt inner dentelles. Upper page edges gilt. Original cloth covers and spines bound in at the back.

•  Sadleir 156b, e, & f; NCBEL, III, 365. Bindings as above, spines and upper board edges darkened with a bit of rubbing; free endpapers with offsetting from turn-ins. One volume with lower part of cover stained and the lower inner margin of the title-page and plates (not the text leaves!) waterstained. One plate evenly age-toned.

•  New, in publisher's gilt-stamped green cloth.

The typography is by the Royal Press and is handsome, employing roman and italic faces in a variety of point sizes. The text is presented in single and double-column format with finely engraved initials, and head- and tailpieces. The title-pages are printed in red and black with an engraved vignette.

Binding:  Contemporary treed sheep, covers framed in double gilt fillets, spines with gilt-stamped red leather label, gilt-ruled raised bands, and elaborately gilt-tooled floral decorations in compartments.   A most pleasing production!

•  Bound as above, covers with some cuts/abrasions, rubbing at corners and joints, surface cracks on spines; spines of vols. I and II with head and foot chipped. Front pastedowns with institutional bookplates; front free endpapers with early inked ownership inscriptions. Ex-library with old shelf labels to spines, and pressure-stamps (not rubber-stamps) including some on title-pages. All edges marbled, and marbled endpapers. Imposing.  (21444)

Binding: Modern dark green morocco by Riviere & Son as classic from this binder; covers framed in triple gilt fillets, raised bands on spine, spine gilt extra, gilt-ruled board edges, gilt inner dentelles. Top edge gilt.

•  Pottle 57; Rothschild 456; Tinker 333. Binding as above, spine evenly sunned to brown, otherwise showing only very minor traces of wear to extremities. Scattered spots of light foxing, with pages predominantly clean. A handsome copy, with untrimmed pages, complete with the half-title and the errata leaf.

Provenance:  Each front pastedown with armorial bookplate of William Arthur, sixth Duke of Portland.

•  NSTC 2B46491; Allibone 240; Brunet, II, 1215.   Binding as above, minor shelf wear to lower edges and corners, vol. I with front board expertly reattached and with small dent to outer edge of front cover. Joints delicate, due to size and weight of volumes, but holding. A few pages and plates with faint foxing, otherwise clean.  (24100)