
SETS . . .
As
old-time auctioneers called it, “'X'-many FOR ONE MONEY”!
A-C D-M N-Z
[
]
Ellis on “the Whole Law of Woman's Life” — Complete Set
in the
SCARCE PRESENTATION CASE
(ALL FOUR in a BOX)! Ellis, Sarah Stickney. (The Englishwoman's Family Library). The daughters of England, their position in society, character & responsibilities. The mothers of England[,] their influence & responsibility. The wives of England, their relative duties, domestic influence, & social obligations. The women of England, their social duties, and domestic habits. London: Peter Jackson & Fisher, Son, and Co., [ca. 1845]. 8vo (17.7 cm, 6.96"). 4 vols. Daughters: Frontis., 400 pp. Mothers: Frontis., [8], 390 pp. Wives: Frontis., 371, [1] pp. Women: Frontis., 343, [1] pp.
$5500.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Ellis's popular “Women of England” series: Moral education aimed not at fine ladies but rather at middle-class women, of “that estimable class of females who . . . enjoy the privilege of liberal education, with exemption from the pecuniary necessities of labor” (Women, p. iv). These volumes seek to teach Englishwomen to be observant, kind, and humble as girls; thrifty, domestic, and comforting as wives; dedicated instructors and guides as mothers; good, soothing Christian influences on those around them throughout their lives; and above all, patient and submissive — in short
the embodiment of the Angel in the House, though these books preceded the publication of that poem. Ellis grants the necessity of some degree of education for women primarily in order to make them better housekeepers and more interesting companions to men, noting that “so far as cleverness, learning, and knowledge are conducive to woman's moral excellence, they are therefore desirable, and no further” (Daughters, p. 105) — but still she reinforces women's agency, responsibility, and need for self-awareness and self-management, particularly in the daunting task of choosing husbands who will respect them and treat them well.
The four volumes, each with its own engraved frontispiece, appear here
in the publisher's leather-covered wooden display casewith shaped roof-like pediment, gilt decorations, gilt-stamped “Library” title, glass-fronted door, and push-button metal catch. The works were first published separately in 1839 (Women), 1842 (Daughters), early 1843 (Wives), and late 1843 (Mothers); the case, apparently first advertised in 1843, could be “had separately” and assembled sets then ensconced in it, or one could buy handsome, variously bound complete sets already encased when new.
Uniform sets are uncommon, and contained in cases like this one are even more so.
Provenance: Daughters with inked ownership inscription of Josephine Sparre, dated 1856; Women with early inked inscription of A.M. Kirwan of Well Park, Drumcondra (Ireland).
Publisher's red pebbled cloth, covers elaborately stamped in blind, spines with gilt-stamped titles and embossed decorations; volumes with edges and extremities rubbed, small scuffs and spots of discoloration to sides, spines gently sunned, Daughters cloth somewhat lighter overall. Daughters: Offsetting from frontispiece to title-page. Mothers: Frontispiece lightly foxed; light pencilled marks of emphasis. Wives: Front free endpaper lacking; frontispiece foxed. Inscriptions as above; occasional small spots of foxing, smudges, and edge chips scattered throughout; box with scuffs and wear, cracks to leather at top refurbished. A removable dais has been added to the foot of the box in order to fit the presently contained volumes more snugly; markings to the cloth lining of the box suggest that, at one time, taller volumes resided there.
Some of Ellis's most successful and influential writing in a desirable uniformly bound set, within the rarely surviving and quite charming display case. (41250)

WONDERS ~ Oddities ~ *&* Good Old-Fashioned
ENTERTAINMENT!
(Varia Par Excellence across ALL FOUR VOLUMES)

(A WEALTH OF RECREATION). Hone, William; George Cruikshank, Samuel Williams, et al., illus. The every-day book, and table book; or, everlasting calendar of popular amusements, sports, pastimes, ceremonies, manners, customs, and events, incident to each of the three hundred and sixty-five days, in past and present times ... [WITH!] The year book of daily recreation and information; concerning remarkable men and manners, times and seasons, solemnities and merry-makings, antiquities and novelties, on the plan of the Every-day book and Table book, or, everlasting calendar of popular amusements, sports, pastimes, ceremonies, customs, and events, incident to each of the three hundred and sixty-five days, in past and present times; forming a complete history of the year; and a perpetual key to the almanack. London: William Tegg & Co.; Glasgow: R. Griffin & Co.; Dublin: Cumming & Ferguson (pr. by J. Haddon), 1826–28; 1848. 8vo (22.8 cm, 8.98"). 4 vols. I: Frontis. (incl. in pagination), viii pp., 1720 col., 8 (adv.) pp.; illus. II: Frontis., [6] pp., 860, 888 col.; illus. III (marked II): Frontis., viii pp., 1712 col.; illus. IV: Frontis., [4] pp., 1644 col., [2] pp.; illus.
$625.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Originally issued as weekly numbers and here in their first book form: descriptions of the customs and traditions associated with various celebrations, many now obscure. Hone (1780–1842), a bookseller, author, and reformer noted for battling censorship and other injustices, here takes advantage of the topic's broad scope to incorporate an impressive variety of antiquarian anecdotes, folklore, natural history, travelogues, historical tales, and literary quotations (plus the odd scrap of sheet music) along with the hagiographies found in the Every-Day volume — though the Table Book, written in response to the success of the first series, dispenses with many of the religious associations and generalizes shamelessly in its topics. The Year Book, first printed in 1832 and appearing here in a slightly later edition, adds entries on an equally striking variety of subjects including chess, Old Edinburgh taverns, whale fishing, the life and songs of Walther von der Vogelweide, witches, “Lawless Day” at Exeter, morris dancing, the Riding of Lanark Marches, booksellers of Little Britain, “a Chinese tea-man's shop-bill,” and an array of biographical and historical notes along with astronomical, agricultural almanac, and medical information, while continuing with the generous helpings of poetry and illustrations seen in the previous volumes.
Americana content is not lacking, with entries appearing, e.g., on Niagara Falls and “Penn and the Indians.”
“These publications were at once popular, educational, quaint, and socially pertinent,” says the DNB. Assorted contributors including Charles Lamb supplied the pieces not written by Hone himself for this entertaining grab-bag, illustrated with
over 700 wood engravings, some of which were done by George Cruikshank.
Evidence of Readership: In addition to one mischievous artistic addition (pencilled glasses and a mustache on the illustration of Blind Hannah), there are several highly indignant comments regarding an account of duelling in Charleston, South Carolina: “A lie! . . . how English these lies are! English lies!” — obviously suggesting an American reader.
Cohn, George Cruikshank, 402 & 403; NCBEL, III, 1285. On Hone, see: DNB (online). All four volumes are in matching publisher's brown cloth bindings, covers with blind-stamped arabesques, spines with gilt-stamped title and volume number. Volumes worn overall, cloth splitting along spines of the hefty volumes and one with chip to cloth at top of spine, front covers and spines sunned, hinges (inside) starting. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplates, call number and paper label on endpapers, title-pages pressure-stamped. Some signatures opened roughly, with chipping and sometimes short tears; vol. II with occasional pencilled markings, including those embellishments to the image of Blind Hannah (col. 221/222), and one page with faint markings in light blue. Scattered minor foxing.
With all four volumes present, a massive amount of wonderfully various reading, offering engaging evidence of readership and lots and LOTS of evocative illustrations. (27545)


An Elegant Production!
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres. Choix des mémoires de l’Academie Royale des inscriptions et belles-lettres. Londres: T. Becket & P. Elmsly, 1777. 4to (27 cm, 10.6"). 3 vols. I: [2], iii, [1], lx, 656 pp. (pagination skips 17–32, text uninterrupted). II: [2], iii, [1], ccviii, 495, [1 (blank)] pp. III: [2], iii, lxviii, [1], 696 pp.; 1 fold. plt., 2 plts.
$1250.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Sole edition thus: Three-volume set of selected pieces from the Histoire et mémoires de l’Académie, a massive collection of French-language commentary and criticism on Greek and Latin classics. The printing of the Histoire et mémoires commenced in 1717 and ran through 1809, with the total number of volumes coming to 51; the present compilation offers especially noteworthy treatises from the beginning of the series through 1763.
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. (13107)

Lane's
ILLUSTRATED Arabian Nights
(Arabian Nights). Lane, Edward William. The thousand and one nights, commonly called, in England, the Arabian nights’ entertainments. London: Charles Knight & Co. (I & III pr. by William Clowes & Sons, II by Whitehead & Co.), 1840–1841. 8vo (26 cm, 10.25). 3 vols. I: xxxii, 618, [2] pp.; illus. II: xii, 643, [1] pp.; illus. III: xii, 763, [1] pp.; illus.
$750.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Edward William Lane’s translation of this classic work — the most accurate English version to that date — illustrated with
“many hundred” delightful in-text wood engravings from designs by William Harvey. An Egyptologist and noted scholar of Arabic language and literature, Lane made use of the Egyptian manuscripts, becoming
the first English translator to work from a primary source. He chose to bowdlerize portions of the tales he found “objectionable,” but added extensive anthropological and cultural annotations as well as explanations of many of his choices in translation and transliteration.
The work was originally published in monthly serialized form from 1830 to 1840, printed for Charles Knight by Whitehead & Co., who also printed the first volume of the book-form edition in 1839; that run of the first volume having sold out by the time the third was ready, the publisher found a new printer to reprint it, and the present set comprises the Clowes (second) printing of vols. I and III with the Whitehead (first) of vol. II, all in the publisher's matching red cloth.
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabels (“AHA”) at rear.
NSTC 2L3671 (for first ed.). Publisher's red cloth, spines with gilt-stamped title and vignette, covers with blind-stamped vignette; cocked yet solid, with hinges/extremities rubbed and cloth (especially of spines) having uneven discolorations from sunning or other exposures. Endpapers and next adjacent leaves with variably light discoloration to gutter areas from binding process; text blocks otherwise gently age-toned but with very little foxing, this mostly confined to first and last few leaves of vol. I. Two facing pages in vol. III with traces of small spot of adhesion from organic matter; occasionally, elsewhere, another sort of spot.
A well-used set of this landmark work described and priced accordingly, yet a respectable set; here in an early (partial-first!) appearance in the original bindings. (41416)
For ARABICA, click here.
For ILLUSTRATED BOOKS, click here.
For TRANSLATIONS, click here.
For LITERATURE, click here.

The “BIRDS in Miniature” with their
Better “Habitats”
Audubon, John James, & William MacGillivray. The birds of America, from drawings made in the United States and their territories. New York: V.G. Audubon, Roe Lockwood & Son, 1859. 8vo (27.5 cm; 10.875"). 7 vols. I: [iii]–viii, [1], 12–246 pp., 70 plts. II: [iii]–vii, [2], 12–199 pp., 71–140 plts. III: [iii]–viii, [1], 10–233 pp., 141–210 plts. IV: [iii]–viii, [1], 10–321 pp., 211–280 plts. V: [iii]–viii, [1], 10–346 pp., 281–350 plts. VI: [iii]–viii, [1], 10–456 pp., 351–420 plts. VII: vii, [2], 10–372 pp., 421–500 plts.
$27,500.00
Click the images for enlargements.
After Audubon (1785–1851) completed his landmark work The Birds of America and collaborated with Scottish naturalist William MacGillivray (1796–1852) to write the accompanying text Ornithological Biography, he elected to produce a “popular” edition by combining the images and text in an elegant and portable format — the octavo.
For this essentially new work Audubon increased the number of colored plates from 435 to 500, reordered the text, and edited the content to include more ornithological information and less travel narration. Plates were produced through the camera lucida process, using a prism to trace reverse images from the elephant folio prints onto lithographic stones.
“The octavo edition of Audubon's Birds was probably the greatest commercial success of any color plate book issued in 19th-century America.” While it was not inexpensive, the price was such that the octavo “achieved widespread circulation and brought the work into the homes of many well-to-do Americans” (Reese, p. 58).
Present here is the third octavo edition, all title-pages bearing the date of 1859, and containing
500 fine hand-colored lithographed plates by Philadelphian J.T. Bowen after J.J. and J.W. Audubon. Ayer notes that where backgrounds were plain in the first octavo they were tinted in later ones and that some already tinted backgrounds were attractively altered, with plates
more closely approximating those of the elephant folio through the addition of more detailed scenery.
Catalogue of the Edward E. Ayer Ornithological Library, pp. 22–23; Reese, Stamped with a National Character, pp. 57–58. Brown publisher's leather, spine lettered in gilt and compartments with a blind device; covers triple-ruled and with an ornate arabesque frame containing the title, all in blind; binding lightly rubbed and refurbished. All edges gilt. One leaf with a curious internal closed tear, possibly created in the press, with no loss of text. Two pairs of plates transposed; five plates trimmed closely, in one case just touching type, in three cases with loss of publication information, and in one case with the line identifying the bird's perch partially lost in addition to partial loss of publication line.
An excellent set of a splendid edition of one of the most influential color plate books of the 19th century. (36084)

Jane Austen's Works — A Handsome,
Limited Edition
Illustrated by the Brock Brothers
Austen, Jane. The novels and letters of Jane Austen. New York & Philadelphia: Frank S. Holby, 1906. 8vo. 12 (of 12) vols. I: Frontis., [6], vii–lix, [6], 255 pp.; 5 plts. II: Frontis., [8], 302 pp.; 6 plts. III: Frontis., [4], v–vii, 3–283 pp.; 5 plts. IV: Frontis., [8], [3]–299 pp.; 5 plts. V: Frontis., [4], v–vii, [5], 338 pp.; 5 plts. VI: Frontis., [8], 347 pp.; 5 plts. VII: Frontis., [6], vii–viii, [4]–339 pp.; 5 plts. VIII: Frontis., [8], 359 pp.; 5 plts. IX: Frontis., [4], v–viii, [4]–338 pp.; 5 plts. X: Frontis., [4], vii–viii, [4]–362 pp.; 5 plts. XI: [10], 3–392 pp.; 3 plts. XII: Frontis., [8], 3–393 pp.; 3 plts. (1 fold.).
$3575.00
Click any interior image for enlargement.
PRB&M offers a small prize to anyone who can, without looking anything up,
identify all the scenes shown . . .
The complete set in 12 volumes of the Chawton edition, limited to 1,250 numbered and registered copies — this is copy no. 1,029. An elegant, limited reissue of the same publisher's 10-volume Old Manor House edition, published the same year, this like that was edited by R. Brimley Johnson and introduced by William Lyon Phelps, the Lampson Professor of English Literature at Yale and an early champion of Austen's works. The introduction is itself a good read and gives insight into the life and character of the author, as well as a critical appraisal of the “qualities that place the novels of Jane Austen so far above all her contemporaries except Scott.”
The first 10 volumes consist of the novels — Sense and Sensibility (vols. I & II), Pride and Prejudice (vols. III & IV), Mansfield Park (vols. V & VI), Emma (vols. VII & VIII), Northanger Abbey (vol. IX), Persuasion (vol. X). Volumes XI and XII contain the minor works and letters. A bibliography of Austen's writings is included in vol. I.
Illustrated with
69 plates, including a wonderful series of color drawings to accompany the text, done by the brothers Charles Edmond and Henry Matthew Brock, this is
additionally embellished with portraits of the author, pictures of her residences in Bath and Winchester, a view of her burial place inside Winchester Cathedral, a facsimile autograph letter, and a facsimile title-page of the first edition of Sense and Sensibility. Each plate is accompanied by a protective tissue guard, printed with a descriptive caption in red ink. Title-pages are printed in red and black, and each has its own unique engraved vignette.
The delights in this production abound. On the whole, very satisfying!
Publisher's brown cloth, spines with brown paper label; several labels with ssmall brown spots, cracks, and edge chips, not too conspicuous and not affecting printing. Two leaves (pp. 343–346 of vol. X) detached from binding; long tear down center of pp. 283/284 (vol. IV), without loss of text; except for two leaves with some offsetting from laid-in scrap of paper, interiors clean. Outer and lower edges deckle, with a few signatures opened unevenly and some unopened. A very good set. (24537)
For LITERATURE, click here.
For ILLUSTRATED BOOKS, click here.
For more of WOMEN's interest, click here.
For COLLECTED PRESSES
& TYPOGRAPHY, click here.
This also appears in the GENERAL
MISCELLANY click here.

The Andrade Set in
Quarter Red Morocco
Barcía, Andrés González de. Ensayo cronologico, para la historia general de la Florida. Madrid: Imprenta de los Hijos de Doña Catalina Piñuela, 1829. 12mo. 2 vols. I: [2] ff., 508 pp., fold. table. II: [2] ff., 512 pp.
$1675.00
Click the page-images for enlargements.
Written under his nom de plume of Gabriel de Cardenas Z
Cano, the Ensayo cronologico, para la historia general de la Florida
of Andrés González de Barcía has enjoyed constant readership
since its initial publication in the early 18th century, when it was composed
as a companion to González de Barcía's magisterial edition of
Inca Garcilasso de la Vega's La Florida. The Ensayo is a history
of not just Florida but virtually all of America north of Mexico from 1512 to
1722 and details the activities of the Spanish, French, and English, covering
not just wars but offering much on the indigenous populations, New
World diseases, and so on.
The present edition forms volumes 8 and 9 of the series Historia de la
conquista del Nuevo Mundo.
Provenance: Bookplate of
the great 19th-century Mexican collector J. M. Andrade on the front pastedown
of each volume.
This edition not in Sabin. 19th-century quarter red morocco
with red textured cloth sides. Spine with raised bands and very good gilt
tooling including center devices in spine compartments. Interiors clean. A
very good set. (25271)
The Private Edition, One of 12 Copies Only
A Family Copy
[A Conundrum Here as to “Original” Bindings]
Barham, R. Harris. The Ingoldsby legends or mirth and marvels by Thomas Ingoldsby Esquire [with] The Ingoldsby legends ... Second series. London: Richard Bentley, 1840 & 1842. 8vo. 2 vols. I: [6], v, [3], 338, [2] pp. with inserted extra-engraved title (a proof before letters), numbered colophon leaf, engraved title, and six etched plates; II: vii, [3], 288 pp. with engraved title and seven etched plates.
$12,500.00
Click the images for enlargements.
The very rare private issue of the first two volumes of Barham's most successful work, specially printed on heavier cream-toned paper, with the special limitation leaf, numbered and signed by Richard Bentley in the first volume. Plates and illustrations are by Leech, Cruikshank, and Buss. This copy is denoted copy #1 in ink, but a trace of an erasure suggests it may have been denoted #12, and then corrected at some point. The ownership signature of the author's son, R.H.D. Barham, who edited the third volume in 1847, appears on the half-title of the second volume. No private issue of the third volume was prepared.
The rather complex bibliography of this private issue, as well as that of the public issue, is discussed at length by Sadleir in the context of his entries for the copies in his collection, pp. 27– 29. He owned copy #8 (the publisher's copy) of the private edition of the first volume, but lacked the second volume in this form. He had knowledge of only two other copies, Barham's own copy (later Owen Young's) at the NYPL, and a catalogue reference to a copy from the collection of D. Phoenix Ingraham, sold in “February 1836 [sic, i.e. 1936].” This copy of the first volume, like Sadleir's and the others, has on p. 236 the incomplete printing of “The Franklyn's Dogge.”
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.
The set in hand raises a new question in regard to the form of the binding of the private edition in its original state. Sadleir's copy, like the copy he located at NYPL, was bound in “Full brown Russia,” with the title, imprint, and date on the spine, and the title on the upper board, and he describes that binding as “original.” The binding described by Carter in reference to the twelve private copies is also in accord with Sadleir's description.
However, the remnants of the binding preserved at the back of the present first volume — see note below and
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.
Binding: Full claret crushed levant, gilt extra, all edges gilt, by Riviere, with the side panels and spine of the original binding of the first volume bound at the end.
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. (18236)
First Publicly Available, “Real” Editions,
in
Signed Bindings
[Barham, Richard Harris, a.k.a.] Ingoldsby, Thomas. The Ingoldsby legends or mirth and marvels. London: Richard Bentley (pr. by Samuel Bentley), 1840–47. 8vo (20.5 cm, 8.1"). 3 vols. I: Engr. t.-p., v, [3], 338, [2] pp.; 6 plts. II: Engr. t.-p., vii, [3], 288 pp.; 7 plts. III: Engr. t.-p., vi, [2], 364 pp.; 6 plts.
$950.00
Click the images for enlargements.
All three series of these entertaining tales, here in the first editions following the extremely scarce author’s edition of 12 copies. The Legends made their original appearances in Bentley’s Miscellany, as a favor to Bentley, a former schoolmate of Barham’s; Bentley here collects the pieces in book form with a life of the author (illustrated by an appealing engraved portrait done by R.J. Lane). The stories and poems are illustrated with
18 plates engraved by George Cruikshank, John Leech, and John Tenniel.
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. (12844)



A Dramatic, Beautiful Bible & BCP Pairing
(A Drama-Associated Provenance, Also)
Bible. English. 1775. Authorized (i.e., King James Version). The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments; translated out of the original tongues, and with the former translations diligently compared and revised. Cambridge: Pr. by John Archdeacon, 1775–76. 4to in 8s (28.8 cm, 11.33"). Frontis., [639] ff. [with accompanying volume] The book of common prayer, and administration of the sacraments, and other rites and ceremonies of the Church, according to the use of the Church of England: Together with the psalter or psalms of David. Cambridge: Pr. by John Archdeacon, 1781. 8vo (20.7 cm, 8.15"). [376] ff. [bound with] Vickers, William. A companion to the altar: Shewing the nature and necessity of a sacramental preparation, in order to our worthy receiving the holy communion. London: Pr. for Thomas Beecroft, 1783. Frontis., [2], [v]–55, [1 (adv.)] pp. (lacking half-title or initial blank?) [and with] Bible. Psalms. English. Sternhold and Hopkins. The whole book of psalms, collected into English metre. Cambridge: Pr. by John Archdeacon, 1785. 8vo. [64] ff.
$7500.00
Click the images for enlargements.
This striking 18th-century set — owned by a wealthy Englishwoman who spent much of her life in Switzerland, for more on which see below — pairs a handsome Cambridge Bible and BCP in
masterfully designed and executed deluxe matched bindings. The Bible opens with a frontispiece engraved by Charles Grignion after Francis Hayman; the Apocrypha are present in this copy, and the New Testament has a separate title-page dated 1776. The BCP is bound with Companion to the Altar (“Note, This Book is bound up with the Common-Prayers of several sorts, printed by the University of Cambridge,” as per the title-page); Sternhold & Hopkins bring up the rear.
Bindings: Contemporary mottled green morocco, covers framed in Greek key roll and dentelles composed of urn and flower motifs surrounding central JHS medallions with red morocco inlays and gilt-tooled flames; spines with gilt-tooled compartment decorations, Bible spine with gilt-stamped red leather title-label. While the covers of the two volumes are strongly similar overall (and “read” as
identical on first glance), the details of the design vary slightly between the Bible and the BCP, as the size disparity — and possibly the time gap between the publication dates — necessitated the use of different tools. The spine designs differ more notably but still most companionably, with the Bible's spine decorations being built up with foliate and floral motifs and the BCP's with suns and stars.
To engage in minute comparison of these bindings' detail is an entrancing exercise.
Provenance: Front free endpaper of Bible used for family record: Francis James Barwell de Sandol Roy, born in 1793 and died in 1813 (“Quel angoisse!”); Henri Guillaume de Sandol Roy, born in 1797; and a list of grandchildren: François, Sophie, Anna, and Alfred. The title-page inscription confirms that this set was owned by Sophie Bridget Barwell de Sandol Roy (1769–1850), daughter of William Barwell, a director of the East India Company; her brother Richard became a famously wealthy (and scandalous) nabob. Dubbed “la belle Anglaise” following her arrival in Neuchâtel, Sophie made a great splash in Swiss society and received a proposal from Colonel François Isaac de Sandol Roy (sometimes given as Sandol-Roy) — a proposal which she at first rejected, until he subsequently saved her from the guillotine in revolutionary Paris! For more on their story, please see Musée Neuchatelois, 1923 ed., pp. 2–4 (which includes a reproduction of a portrait of Sophie de Sandol-Roy done by Sir Joshua Reynolds).
Bible: Darlow & Moule 1247; ESTC T88808. BCP: Griffiths, Bibliography of the Book of Common Prayer, 1781:1; ESTC T212010. Companion: ESTC T76554. Psalms: ESTC T221010. Bindings as above, moderate rubbing to extremities and sides with limited scuffing only; all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, and original matching dark blue bookmarks present (still attached). Bible with small area of waterstaining to lower inner margins of first few leaves, including frontispiece; varying faint to moderate foxing; one leaf with small repair to upper outer margin. BCP with a few instances of light foxing, pages mostly clean; laid in is a stitched pamphlet which seems to be a record of additional family information involving Albert, Victor, and Mary, although written in a challenging hand.
A gorgeous, lavish production altogether, with a remarkable, arresting provenance. (41458)

Didot Printed — Petit Bound — BEAUTIFUL Biblical Antiquarianism
Bible. Latin (Old Latin). Vulgate. 1785. Bibliorum sacrorum vulgatae versionis editio. Parisiis: Excudabat Fr. Amb. Didot natut maj., 1785. 8vo in 4s (19 cm, 7.5"). 8 vols. I: xvi, 501, [1] pp. II: [2] ff., 450 pp. III: [2] ff., 393, [1] pp. IV: [2] ff., 428 pp. V: [2] ff., 400 pp. VI: [2] ff., 444 pp. VII: [2] ff., 407, [1] pp. VIII: [2] ff., 373, [1] pp.
$2500.00
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Produced here in fine French bibliophilic style is “the most extensive collection of
Old Latin versions, which exist only in fragments, compiled from manuscripts and the writings of the Fathers” by Pierre Sabbathier and continued after his death under the care of Vincent de La Rue (Darlow & Moule). This edition, following the first (Rheims, 1739–49) was issued In the Didot series Collection des auteurs classiques, françois et latins.
Binding: Full red crushed morocco, gilt spine and boards; gilt rule on board edges; gilt rolls on turn-ins; marbled endpapers. All edges gilt.
Bindings signed Petit Succs. de Simier.
Provenance: Bookplates of Casimir L. Stralem, Clarence E. Clark, and Brian Douglas Stilwell.
WorldCat locates only six U.S. libraries reporting ownership of
all eight volumes as present here (NYPL, Cornell, Seton Hall, Holy Cross College, New York Historical Society, UC-Berkeley Law) and two libraries reporting ownership of incomplete sets (Harvard Divinity [vols. 1, 2 only], University of Dayton [vol. 3 only]).
Darlow & Moule, III, 6263; Jammes, Les Didot, 25. Bound as above, some joints (outside) showing cracking but all intact. All volumes housed in light marbled-paper open-back cases, some with tape repairs.
Very good. (40318)
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The State of
Early 19th-Century Austrian Medical Knowledge
Bischoff, Ignaz Rudolph Edler von Altenstern. Grundzüge der allgemeinen Naturlehre des Menschen ... Mit vorzüglicher Hinsicht auf die praktische Medicin. Wien: A. Strauss's sel. Witwe, 1838–39. 8vo (21 cm, 8.3"). 2 vols. I: Frontis., [22], 352, [2] pp. II: xvi, 492 pp.
$950.00
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Bischoff's comprehensive overview of human physiology and medical practice, in
somewhat surprisingly festive — considering the topic — signed contemporary bindings. This is the first edition to encompass all four parts: Grundzüge der allgemeinen Naturlehre des Menschen (books one through three) and Grundzüge der speciellen Naturlehre des Menschen (book four), here in two volumes. The author (1784–1850) was a professor at the Josephinum Academy of Vienna, a charter member of the Gesellschaft der Ärzte (the medical society of Vienna), and chief physician to the Austrian Army. His portrait, engraved by Andreas Staub after Friedrich von Amerling (of whom he was an early patron) and printed by Johann Höfelich, opens vol. I, and a bibliography of his works, including foreign-language editions, with documentation of their appearances in various journals and other publications, closes vol. II.
Bindings: 19th-century bright red embossed cloth sides with gilt frame and panel rolls stamped over embossing; darker red leather shelfbacks, spines with gilt-stamped decorations and titles. All edges gilt. Bindings done by
Anton Lehenbauer, with his bookbinder's ticket on each back pastedown.
Provenance: From the residue of the stock of the F. Thomas Heller bookselling firm (est. ca. 1928).
Searches of NUC and WorldCat find no U.S. library reporting ownership and precious few in Europe.
Bindings as above, joints and edges rubbed, gilt dimmed or darkened in spots. Occasional light to mild foxing, pages otherwise clean.
An attractive and interesting production. (39910)

History of Malta & the Knights Hospitallers — Well Bound, Handsomely Illustrated
Boisgelin de Kerdu, Pierre Marie Louis de. Ancient and modern Malta: Containing a full and accurate account of the present state of the islands of Malta and Goza, the history of the knights of St. John of Jerusalem, also a narrative of the events which attended the capture of these islands by the French, and their conquest by the English: and an appendix, containing authentic state-papers and other documents. London: Richard Phillips, 1805. 4to (27.5 cm, 10.75"). 2 vols. I: [6], xlviii, 326 pp.; 2 fold. plts., 3 fold. tables, 17 plts. (fold. map & 1 prelim. f. lacking). II: [8], vi, xxxi, [1], 258, [2], 315, [9 (index)] pp.; 5 plts.
$1600.00
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Second edition, following the first of 1804–05. The author, who was himself a Knight of St. John, here covers the culture, language, economy, natural history, and costume of the Maltese — as well as describing the Bichon or Maltese dog (also rendered pictorially in one of the plates) — before moving on to the history of the Hospitallers from the 16th century onwards.
Vol. I includes catalogues of scientific names of the plants and fish of the area as according to various authors, and is illustrated with an
oversized, folding detailed view of the city and port of Malta (with an accompanying folding map identifying the major landmarks); at the back of that volume there are also two folding tables accounting for treasury expenses of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Vol. II features a view of Messina, along with several portraits. In total, the work is illustrated with
24 copper-engraved plates, some aquatint, done by Merigot and others.
Binding: Contemporary stained calf, panelled in dramatically mottled calf with inlaid corner fleurons, framed in gilt double fillets; spine with gilt-stamped title and gilt-stamped Greek key bands.
NSTC B3507; Abbey, Travel, 194. Bound as above with leather expectably acid-pitted, scuffing with small cracks and spine titles partially rubbed away; joints(outside) expertly repaired. Folding map and one preliminary leaf (the list of plates) lacking in vol. I, and this volume with a light old waterstain occasionally visible across a gutter, mild to moderate offsetting, plates with likewise mild to moderate foxing; vol. II plates with slightly darker spotting. A strong and attractive set of one of the significant early works on Maltese history. (33600)
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A Not-So-Brief History of
Time
Brady, John. Clavis calendaria; or, a compendious analysis of the calendar: Illustrated with ecclesiastical, historical, and classical anecdotes ... second edition. London: Pr. for the author & sold by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, et al., 1812–13. 8vo (21.6 cm, 8.5"). 2 vols. I: xxxvi, 387, [1] pp.; 1 plt. II: [2], 395, [1] pp.
$325.00
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Second edition of this popular survey of the history of time and calendars from the ancient world onwards, following the first edition of 1812. Brady here describes the rituals and lore associated with the regulation of time, in all its divisions and subdivisions; much material from the lives of the saints is present. Allibone quotes the London Quarterly Review's assertion that “Especially to students in divinity and law, [the work] will be an invaluable acquisition; and we hesitate not to declare that, in proportion as its merits become known to the public, it will find its way to the libraries of every gentleman and scholar in the kingdom.” Contemporary opinion seems to have borne that prediction out, as the subscribers list here (carried over from the first edition) is substantial and the work went through several editions in the first few years after its initial publication.
Vol. I is illustrated with one wood-engraved plate depicting a Saxon almanac, and seven in-text engravings depicting Odin, Frigga, Thor, and the other deities with days named in their honor.
Provenance: Signature on title-pages of George Buckton, vol. I dated 1812 and vol. II dated 1813.
Allibone 237 (listing 1813 & 1814 eds. only); NSTC B4120. Contemporary treed calf, rebacked preserving original spines with gilt-stamped titles, gilt-ruled and -dotted compartment bands, and gilt-stamped compartment decorations; original spine leather chipped, cracked, and darkened as by fire. Covers with corners and edges unobtrusively rubbed; portions nearest spines showing evidence of heat exposure; hinges (inside) reinforced. Front pastedowns each with institutional bookplate, vol. I front pastedown with bookseller's ticket and affixed early cataloguing slip, vol. I back pastedown and vol. II front pastedown with inked library inscription. Title-pages with inked ownership inscriptions as above. Offsetting from plate and to endpapers from binding, pages otherwise clean though with all edges (i.e., of closed book) darkened.
A particularly handsome exemplar of popular scholarship of the day. (25436)
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“Large Scale” in Several Respects . . .
62 Engravings & Bedford Bound WESTMINSTER ABBEY
A Classic of English Antiquarianism, Illustration,
& Book-Making
Brayley,
Edward Wedlake. The history and antiquities
of the abbey church of St. Peter, Westminster: Including notices and biographical
memoirs of the abbots and deans of that foundation. London: J.P. Neale for Longman,
Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, 1818–23. Folio (37.9 cm, 14.9"). 2 vols.
I: [18], 227, [19], 72, [10] pp.; 13 plts. II: [2], 304, [40] pp.; 49 plts.
$2250.00
Click any image where the hand appears on
mouse-over, for an enlargement.
First edition, illustrated with a total of 62 engraved plates. Allibone describes Brayley “a laborious and accurate topographer”; he compiled and edited a wide range of works with titles featuring assorted Beauties, Picturesques, Histories, Antiquities, etc. The present work provides a history of Westminster Abbey and some of its associated luminaries, along with extensive descriptions of its architecture, sculptures, and paintings. The illustrator who portrayed many of the above, John Preston Neale, was an architectural draftsman and landscape painter “best remembered for his views of the nation's country houses, churches, and public buildings,” according to the Oxford DNB.
Binding: By Francis Bedford, signed, in dark brown morocco done between 1851 and 1880, covers framed and panelled in ornate gilt rolls with gilt-stamped corner fleurons and midpoint decoration. Spines gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels. Board edges gilt-tooled with triple fillets, turn-ins with gilt-tooled rolls and corner fleurons. All edges gilt. Stamped “F. Bedford” on lower front turn-in.
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)
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Works of the
Brontë Sisters
Brontë,
Anne; Charlotte; & Emily. The Shakespeare
Head Brontë. Oxford: Basil Blackwell & Houghton Mifflin Co. (pr. at
the Shakespeare Head Press), 1931. 11 vols. 8vo (24 cm, 9.45"). I [Charlotte]:
Frontis., x, [2], 312 pp.; 2 plts. II: Frontis., [6], 284 pp.; 2 plts. III:
Frontis., [8], 351 pp.; 2 plts. IV: Frontis., [6], 362 pp.; 2 plts. V: Frontis.,
[8], 319, [1] pp.; 2 plts. VI: Frontis., [6], 313, [1] pp.; 2 plts. VII: Frontis.,
[10], 283, [1] pp.; 1 plt. I [Anne]: Frontis., [8], 220 pp.; 2 plts. II: Frontis.,
xi, [1], 282 pp.; 2 plts. III: Frontis., [6], 278 pp.; 1 plt. I [Emily]: Frontis.,
xii, 385, [1], 9, [1] pp.; 1 plt.
$1500.00
Click the interior images for enlargement.
Large-paper issue of this 11-volume set of the works of all three Brontë sisters, illustrated by Jack Hewer with a total of 30 architectural and landscape views. The novels are complete here, including Agnes Grey, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Shirley, Villette, and The Professor. (There were several additional volumes of miscellaneous writings, letters, and biography published in this “Shakespeare Head” series, which was not complete until 1938; they are not part of this set.)
The lovely illustrations are of real places fictionally transfigured in the novels . . .
Of the 1000 copies printed of this, 500 were printed on large paper and reserved for issue in America. The present example (numbered 452) is of the large paper size and in green cloth; it is not clear to us by what rule copies were bound in this green cloth and which in the orange reported elsewhere.
NCBEL, III, 865. Original green cloth, spines with printed paper labels, lacking the dust wrappers (which are scarce and almost never seen); labels darkened, a few starting to peel up at corners. Pages untrimmed, with some signatures unopened. A beautiful, clean example of this set. (24629)
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The State of
19th-Century Metaphysics
Brown, Thomas. Lectures on the philosophy of the human mind. Andover: Mark Newman (pr. by Flagg & Gould), 1822. 8vo (22.3 cm, 8.8"). 3 vols. I: 536 pp. II: 528 pp. III: 574, [2] pp.
$600.00
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First U.S. edition: Discussion of the characteristics and essence of thought, and the relation of thought and philosophy to natural history, the sciences, and morality. Brown (1778–1820) was a Scottish philosopher, poet, and professor at the University of Edinburgh; this, his most significant work, went through 20 editions in the years following its initial Edinburgh publication in 1820.
Shoemaker 8196; NSTC 2B53063. Period-style quarter light grey cloth and light blue paper–covered sides, spines with printed paper labels. One leaf with short tear from outer edge, not touching text. Pages age-toned with a scant handful of scattered small spots, otherwise
remarkably clean. (30339)
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Buffon's Natural History in the “Short” Version: Four Volumes
“Upwards of Four Hundred Engravings on Wood”
Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de; John Wright, ed. Buffon's natural history of the globe and of man; beasts, birds, fishes, reptiles, and insects. London: Printed for T.T. & J. Tegg (by C. Whittingham at the Chiswick Press), 1833. 12mo (16.8 cm, 6.6"). 4 vols. I: vi, 463, [1] pp.; illus. II: [2], 492 pp.; illus. III: [2], 476 pp.; illus. IV: [2], 470 pp.; illus.
[SOLD]
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Buffon was widely admired by the public for his numerous scientific publications, although his disagreement with the church's position on the age of the earth and his musings on the connections between men and apes did not earn him much support from contemporary scholars. His Histoire Naturelle, originally published in 15 volumes, is given here in an abridged rendition more suitable for “the rising generation” (p. vi), with additional material adapted “from the writings of . . . Cuvier, Lacépède and other eminent naturalists,” and also with “Elements of Botany.” Wright first published his version in 1831; this second Chiswick Press printing features
over 400 wood-engraved illustrations of birds, animals, and denizens of various lands, along with the title-page vignettes done by John Thompson after William Harvey.
Binding: Contemporary dark red textured roan, covers with gilt-stamped foliate cartouches; spines with gilt-stamped title, band decorations, and volume number; spines gently sunned and scuffed, board edges and extremities rubbed. All edges gilt.
Provenance: Inked ownership inscriptions of Clara Gibbons, one dated 1850; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabels (“AHA”) at rear.
NSTC 2L8393. This ed. not in Osborne. Vols. I and II with Gibbons inscription on front pastedown, vol. III on title-page, vol. IV without inscription; front hinge (inside) of vol. III starting from head, with text block pulling. Gentle age-toning, occasional light spotting; title-pages mildly foxed; a few leaves in vol. II affected by small spot of staining in upper margins, two of those leaves with resulting adhesion and loss of perhaps ten words (total). Pages overall clean.
A very nice set on shelf and in hand. (41038)
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Managing the Empire
Carleval, Tomás. Disputationum juris variarum ad interpretationum regiarum legum regni Castellae, et illis similium, tam ex jure neapolitano, quam ex utroque communi civili & canonico. Valentiae: ex typographia Benedicti Monfort, 1768. Folio (30.5 cm; 11.75"). 2 vols. I: [7] ff., 590 pp. II: [4] ff., 416, lxxxvi pp.
$735.00
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Spain's empire in the 16th and the first half of the 17th centuries included not only the bulk of the New World, island nations of the Pacific, and entrepots in Africa and Asia, but also the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, parts of Germany and France, and most of Italy including Naples. In this work Carleval (1576–1645) studies the administration of justice, judges, civil procedure, canon law, Spanish law and law in general in the Spanish kingdom of Naples.
Includes decisions of the Sacro Regio Consiglio and an index. Title-page in black and red; text printed in double-column format in roman and italic.
Palau 44244. Contemporary vellum over paste boards with remnants of ties; vellum of the back cover of vol. I and front cover of vol. II rodent-gnawed along fore-edge with loss of vellum exposing the boards. Front hinges (inside) of of both volumes mostly open but text blocks still adhering nicely to binding. Occasional age-toning. Good++. (29363)
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The Year in
Four Vols. & Beautiful Bindings
Catholic Church. Liturgy & ritual. Breviaries. Breviarium romanum ex decreto sacrosancti Concilii tridentini restitutum S. Pii V. pontificis maximi iussu editum, Clementis VIII. ac Urbani VIII. auctoritate recognitum, cum officiis sanctorum novissimis usque ad SS. D.N. Pium VI, pro recitantium commoditate diligenter dispositis. [Romae]: A. Galler , 1781. 8vo (18 cm, 7.1"). 4 vols. I: [20], 632, cclxxxviii, 19, [1] pp.; illus. II: [18], 646, ccliv, 21, [1] pp.; 1 plt. III: [54], 566, cclxxvi, 26 pp.; 1 plt. IV: [20], 608, cclxx, 15, [1] pp.; illus.
$2750.00
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Beautifully printed and handsomely bound set of the Roman Breviary. The text is printed in double-column format, in black and red, with a vignette on each title-page and an engraving
in each volume.
Binding: Contemporary's black goat sides with simple roll gilt border and gilt corner devices, spines gilt extra. The top panel of each volume indicates contents with abbreviation: P. V. (“Pars Vernalis”), P. AE. (“Pars Aestivalis”), etc. Block-printed decorated endpapers; all edges gilt. Silk place markers.
Not in Weale & Bohatta. Bindings as above, edges and extremities rubbed, spine leather with tiny cracks, one spine head chipped, one joint starting. Ex-library with bookplates, rubber-stamp on lower edges of pages of the closed volumes. One volume with text block separating from spine and sewing loosening; this with the most leather rubbed away and the darkest instances of the usually-light waterstaining and spots of foxing seen occasionally throughout. Endpapers bear early inked ownership inscriptions and annotations.
An elegant quartet. (12406)
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A Thoughtfully Cautious Gift
Cavendish, George; Samuel Weller Singer, ed. The life of Cardinal Wolsey ... Metrical visions, from the original autograph manuscript. Chiswick: C. Whittingham, 1825. 8vo (23.2 cm, 9.125"). 2 vols. I: [5], x–xxvii, [5], 344 pp. (lacking half-title); 6 plts. II: lxxii, 304 pp.; 3 plts.
$125.00
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Chiswick Press edition of what some consider to be the first major English biography along with Cavendish's verse tragedies, here with supplementary material including illustrative letters and documents; a dissertation on the true author of the Life by Reverend Joseph Hunter; and “Extracts from the life of . . . Queen Anne Boleigne, by George Wyatt” with a series of letters about her. Elizabethan scholar Singer (1783–1858), who edited these texts, also owned a bookshop, wrote a history of playing cards, and served as the librarian to the Royal Institution in Albemarle Street. The volume is illustrated with
nine plates of portraits, facsimiles, and scenes from the cardinal's life.
Evidence of Readership: A past reader has added several lengthy marginal notes as well as a few smaller ones in pencil in both volumes, usually in relation to
women mentioned in the text.
Provenance: An armorial bookplate of Samuel Edward Herrick with the motto “virtus omnia nobilitat” appears on the front pastedown of both volumes with the inked note “Gift of Jno. M. Fiske Xmas 1892" at the bottom (Fiske and the Rev. Herrick were both members of the City Missionary Society of Boston); a one-page letter from Fiske to a Mr. Doer written on Boston Custom House Stationary and tipped into the first volume notes, if he already owns the set, “I have the assurance of friend Bartlett of Hornhill that he will exchange it for something not already on your shelves.” Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
NSTC 2C12319. On Cavendish & Singer, see: DNB (online). Half red roan in imitation of morocco and Papier Tourniquet paper–covered boards, spines lettered and compartments stamped in gilt, overprinted marbled endpapers, top edges gilt, others uncut; gently rubbed, hinges (inside) starting to crack. Light age-toning with the very occasional stain, light foxing or offsetting around plates. Provenance and readership indicia as above, some pencilled notes very faint. A nice edition of an influential work. (39444)
Chalmers, Alexander. The British essayists: With prefaces, historical and biographical, by A Chalmers. Boston: Little, Brown, & Co., 1856–57. 12mo (18 cm, 7"). 38 vols. (1, 2, 5, 6, 13, 14, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 27, & 32 with frontis.)
$2200.00
Click the image above for an enlargement.
First American edition thus, reprinting the 1823 London edition of this extensive collection compiling material from the Tatler, Guardian, Spectator, Adventurer, Rambler, World, Connoisseur, Idler, Mirror, Lounger, Observer, and Looker-On periodicals. Chalmers, a prolific journalist and editor, is now best remembered for his General Biographical Dictionary, a massive undertaking which occupied years in its original preparation and subsequent revisions; the DNB lists some of his other publications with the comment that “No man ever edited so many works as Chalmers for the booksellers of London.”
An early purchaser has recorded the cost of binding the set (60 pence per book) in a pencilled note on the front fly-leaf of vol. I: “Aug. 15th 1864 in 38 vol bound in fine 1/2 moroco [sic] per vol c/60 d.”
The essays and authors here were all once fashionable as well as interesting; they are no longer at all fashionable, but they are interesting in ways that their authors and original readers never imagined.
Bindings: Contemporary half morocco over attractive marbled paper–covered sides, each spine with gilt-stamped title, volume number, and elegant arabesque decorations. Top edges gilt.
On Chalmers, see: The Dictionary of National Biography. Bindings lightly rubbed, a few with leather showing slight cracking over spines. Frontispiece with bookplate of private collector. Pages age-toned, with edges slightly embrittled; some occurrences of staining and pencilled underlining, with the majority of pages clean. An attractive set; many hours’ worth of reading.
For anyone who savors slices'o'life, and slices'o'time, very rich fare. (14180)
PERSIA in
10 Volumes & 79 Plates
Chardin, John. Voyages de Mr. le chevalier Chardin, en Perse, et autres lieux de l'Orient. Paris: André Cailleau, 1723. 8vo (16.5 cm, 6.5"). 10 vols. I: Frontis., [10], 254 pp.; 1 fold. map. II: 334 pp.; 4 fold. plts., 5 plts. III: 285, [1 (blank)] pp.; 4 fold. plts., 3 plts. IV: 280 pp.; 2 fold. plts., 3 plts. V: 312 pp.; 4 fold. tables, 5 plts. VI: 328 pp.; 4 plts. VII: [10], 15448 [i.e., 446] pp. VIII: 255, [1 (blank)] pp.; 10 fold. plts., 6 plts. IX: 308 pp.; 1 double-spread fold. plt., 8 fold. plts., 19 plts. X: [22], 3220, [82 (index)] pp.
$4000.00
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Attractive French edition of Sir John Chardin's Persian travelogue, originally published in 1686. Brunet calls the account, which covers Chardin's voyages through India, Russia, and Persia, “un des plus intéressants que l'on ait publiés” in the 18th century; the work was and continues to be a major source of information on contemporary Persian politics, government, religion, and culture. The title-pages are printed in red and black, and the 10 volumes are illustrated with a total of 79 plates (many folding) and tables, including one map and one frontispiece.
Brunet, I, 1802. Contemporary speckled calf, spines extra gilt; edges, joints and extremities rubbed, leather in some cases cracked or starting along joints or chipped at spine extremities, two spines with compartments chipped. All edges speckled. Front pastedowns each with institutional bookplate, front free endpapers rubber-stamped and with inked ownership inscriptions dated [18]67, title-pages except for vol. I rubber-stamped, reverse of map in vol. I rubber-stamped, some vols. with first text page rubber-stamped. Additional plate (creased) laid in, seemingly excised from another work. (19664)

Four Tiny, Lovely Fairy Tales — Brightly Illustrated & in Their Box
Chatelain, Clara de. The Lilliputian library. London: A.N. Myers & Co., [1850]. 16mo (8.7 cm, 3.4"). 4 vols. I: 54 pp.; 2 col. plts. II: 39, [1] pp.; 2 col. plts. III: 46 pp.; 2 col. plts. IV: 46 pp.; 2 col. plts.
[SOLD]
Click the images for enlargements.
A set of sparkling baubles: Four original, utterly charming fairy tales from a prolific and popular Victorian author, in their first editions and presented in child-sized (near-miniature) fancy dress form. Madame de Chatelain here offers Babyland, The Night Laundresses, Pot-Luck, and Up! Horsie!, all of which are engagingly written — and morally instructive without being tediously or overtly pedagogical. The present examples are actually the F. Fechner productions printed in Guben in 1850, but bear affixed paper labels bearing the imprint of A.N. Myers & Co. (undated).
These little gems are beautifully and brightly illustrated: Each story features two hand-colored lithographed plates, touched up by hand with gum arabic or egg white to enhance the vivid colors.
Bindings: Each in different metallic-patterned glazed cloth with embossed flower applied to front cover, housed in publisher's pale pink moiré paper–covered box.
Provenance: From the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabels
(“AHA”) at rear.
Welsh 1745-8; Opie V 23 (describing a three-volume set with two vols. matching). Not in Gumuchian, not in Osborne. Bindings as above, virtually unworn save for small chips to some spine extremities; box faded, edges rubbed, an embossed lozenge on one side now mostly lacking. A few pages with minor foxing, most clean.
A delightful set, seldom seen intact. (41052)
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The Other Side of Chaucer
Chaucer, Geoffrey. Chaucer's romaunt of the rose[,] Troilus and Creseide[,] and the minor poems. London: William Pickering [colophon: C. Whittingham, Chiswick], 1846. 12mo (19.3 cm, 7.625"). 3 vols. I: 7, 10–144, [1], 2–230 pp. II: [7], 2–348 pp. III: 7, 2–352 pp.
[SOLD]
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Neatly packaged Pickering edition of Chaucer's works beyond The Canterbury Tales, here with an extensive biography of the author from antiquarian Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas (1799–1848), of whom the DNB notes “his literary output was considerable and of high quality.” The text was produced by the Chiswick Press, with Keynes Pickering device no. iv on all title-pages.
Binding: Expertly rebacked 19th-century tan polished calf, covers framed in gilt double fillets, spines with gilt-lettered black and blue leather labels, raised bands, and compartments set off by gilt double fillets. Board edges and turn-ins with foliate zigzag rolls; nonpareil marbled endpapers and edges. “Bound by Nutt” stamped on endpaper, possibly indicating work by British bookbinder William Henry Nutt of Green Street, Cambridge.Provenance: Armorial bookplate of socialite and world traveler Lady Jane Davy (1780–1855; wife of chemist Sir Humphry Davy) on each front pastedown; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear of each volume.
Kelly, Checklist of Books Published by William Pickering, 1846.2; Keynes, William Pickering (rev. ed.), p. 57. On Lady Davy and Sir Nicolas, see: DNB (online). Bound as above; spines sunned to old gold, covers rubbed with small leather loss at corners, two repaired tears plus a few small spots, indents, glue residue, and one cut. Light pencilling on endpapers and small marks on first and last leaf of text in each volume. Faint offsetting (most noticeable on title-page), scattered foxing and some edges unevenly trimmed; a few spotted leaves.
A solid and handsome set owned by a fascinating woman. (38362)
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Pickering & Whittingham's
SEVEN BCPs
Church of England. Book of Common Prayer. [Seven editions of the Book of Common Prayer, 1549–1844 ]. London: William Pickering (pr. by Whittingham), 1844. Folio (35.8 cm, 14"). 7 vols. I: [264] ff. II: [314] ff. III: [134] ff. IV: [130] ff. V: [142] ff. VI: [140] ff. VII: [154] ff.
[SOLD]
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Complete set of Pickering's handsome homages to important editions of the Book of Common Prayer, consisting of six early versions and one contemporary: Edward VI, 1549; Edward VI, 1552; Elizabeth, 1559; James I, 1604; Charles I, 1637 (for the use of the Church of Scotland, commonly called Archbishop Lauds); Charles II, 1662; and Victoria, 1844. The uniform black-letter printing was done by Charles Whittingham the younger, of the Chiswick Press, “distinguished for . . . tasteful design and excellent presswork” (Oxford DNB online).
Griffiths, Bibliography of the Book of Common Prayer, 1844/26–32; Gewirtz, But One Use, 62 (for Victoria, 1844 and discussion of others); Lowndes, 1945; Brunet, I, 1108. Publisher's quarter vellum and marbled paper–covered sides, spines with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels, vellum variously dust-soiled and showing short cracks on some spines (rubbed through in small spots at the feet of two spines); boards and edges rubbed, a few spine labels with chips or cracks, one volume with hinges (inside) reinforced, two volumes with
minor repairs to joints. Bookseller's small ticket on back pastedowns in two volumes; each title-page save one stamped in upper outer corner by a 19th-century collector as above. Occasional minor foxing only, as a rule, with greater spotting in one section of one volume only. Many signatures unopened.
A monument. (24828)
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Clarendon's Rebellion — Three Folio Vols. from Oxford “at the Theater”
Clarendon, Edward Hyde, Earl of. The history of the rebellion and civil wars in England, begun in the year 1641. With the precedent passages, and actions, that contributed therunto, and the happy end, and conclusion thereof by the King's blessed restoration, and return upon the 29th of May, in the year 1660. Oxford: Pr. at the Theater (by Ro. Mander & Guil. Delaune), 1702–04. Folio (39.7 cm, 15.75). 3 vols. I: Frontis., [4], xxiii, [1], 557, [1] pp. II: Frontis., [14], 581, [1] pp. III: Frontis., [22], 603, [23] pp. (half-titles lacking).
$2000.00
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First edition of this crucial account of the tumultuous 1640s and 50s in England, written by an author whom Allibone lauds as “one of the most illustrious characters of English history”; Allibone also quotes the Edinburgh Review's description of the present work as “one of the noblest historical works of the English nation.”
Each volume commences with a copper-engraved frontispiece and title-page vignette, the former done by Robert White after a painting by Lely, the latter signed M[ichael] Burg[hers]. Burghers also engraved a substantial number of head- and tailpieces for the work, as well as decorative capitals.
ESTC N9847, N9850, T147811; Brunet, I, 81; Allibone 385. Contemporary speckled calf panelled in blind with plain calf, decorated with blind-tooled corner fleurons, spines with gilt-stamped leather title-labels; edges and extremities rubbed, joints cracked or starting, some acid-pitting to speckled portions, spines each with small paper shelving label. Each front pastedown with institutional bookplate over private collector's bookplate, and with early inked gift inscription. Title-pages with small institutional rubber-stamp in lower margin; half-titles lacking. Pages generally clean; occasional minor spotting mostly confined to margins. One instance of early
inked marginalia. (24574)
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Capturing an Age
One Biography at a Time
[Clarke]. The Georgian era: Memoirs of the most eminent persons, who have flourished in Great Britain, from the accession of George the First to the demise of George the Fourth. London: Vizetelly, Branston, & Co., 1832–34. 8vo (19.5 cm, 7.65"). 4 vols. I: Frontis., 582 pp.; 12 plts. II: Frontis., [2], 588 pp. III: Frontis., [2], 588 pp. IV: Frontis., 588 pp.
$450.00
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First edition: Concise yet entertainingly anecdote-laden biographies recounting the accomplishments and characters (foibles and all) of the most prominent figures of the age: nobles, churchmen, politicians, dissenters, military and naval officers, jurists, physicians, voyagers and travelers, scientists, writers, economists, architects, artists and musicians, etc. All the expectable princesses, duchesses, and countesses are present, along with a handful of women represented in other categories — the preponderance falling under the “Vocal Performers” and “Actors” headings.
The first volume is illustrated with
12 plates each offering four rows of small portraits, some intriguingly expressive; each volume opens with an engraved frontispiece portrait of a royal George.
NSTC 2C23867. Recent textured maroon cloth, spines with gilt-stamped black leather title and volume labels; title-pages institutionally pressure- (not rubber-) stamped. Scattered light spots of staining, pages generally clean; first few leaves of voI. \ II with outer margins chipped.
A hefty, substantive evocation of Georgian life and times. (30012)
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Creation of a Dynasty The Kings of Spain of the House of Bourbon
Coxe, William. Memoirs of the kings of Spain of the house of Bourbon, from the accession of Philip V. to the death of Charles III. 1700 to 1788. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, 1815. 8vo. 5 vols. I: xxvii, [13], 475, [1] pp. II: [6], 396 pp. III: [6], 389, [1] pp. IV: [6], 421, [1] pp. V: [6], 393, [37 (index)] pp.
$585.00
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Second edition, following the first of 1813, of this painstakingly well-researched study of the period. The author was a historian who served as tutor to the sons of the Duke of Marlborough and the Earl of Pembroke, as well as travelling companion to Lord Herbert, Lord Brome, and various other noblemen; he published several works recounting his tours through Poland, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, and Switzerland.
NSTC C4019. Contemporary calf, covers framed in gilt dotted roll, spines with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels, compartments with gilt-stamped decorations; rubbed and scuffed overall with a hinge or two just “tender,” some sides showing signs of waterstaining, spine heads reinforced some time ago with paper and two feet chipped with tape reinforcement. Ex–social club library with paper shelving labels on spines, 19th-century bookplates, call number on endpapers, old rubber-stamp on title-pages and a few others. First or last pages of some volumes with light to moderate waterstaining almost entirely confined to margins; scattered spots of light foxing. A compromised set, priced accordingly; complete, however, and not without its points. (29495)

Anti-Romantic VERSES of
Love & Loss
Crabbe, George. Tales of the hall. Boston: Wells & Lilly, 1819. 12mo (20 cm, 7.9"). 2 vols. I: xxi, [1], 250 pp. II: ix, [1], 267, [1] pp.
$275.00
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First U.S. edition, printed in the same year as the London first, of the last volume of poems published by the Rev. Crabbe — Jane Austen's favorite living poet — in his lifetime. This is an uncut copy, in publisher's original bindings.
Bindings: Publisher's plain light blue paper–covered sides with tan shelfbacks, spines with printed paper labels; uncut.
NSTC 2C41665; NCBEL, II, 611; Shaw & Shoemaker 47741. Spine paper darkened and cracked, joints and spines of both volumes restored with long-fiber tissue; inner margins of first and last few leaves unobtrusively repaired; as noted, page edges uncut.. Vol. I with front cover waterstained and back cover inkstained(?); title-page of vol. II with pencilled ownership inscription in upper portion. Foxing variously; one pencilled correction. (30085)
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Crawfurd, John. Journal of an embassy from the governor-general of India to the courts of Siam and Cochin China; exhibiting a view of the actual state of those kingdoms ... second edition. London: Henry Colburn & Richard Bentley, 1830. 8vo (23 cm, 9"). 2 vols. I: Fold. frontis., vii, [1], 475, [1] pp.; 3 fold. plts., 8 plts., illus. II: [2], v, [1], 459, [1] pp.; 4 fold. plts., 7 plts., 1 fold. chart.
$5000.00
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Second edition, following the first of 1828: Description of a diplomatic voyage through Thailand, Vietnam, and the Malay Peninsula, undertaken by a Scottish surgeon who had worked for the East India Company before becoming an envoy and colonial administrator. Following his retirement from public service, Crawfurd dedicated himself to Oriental studies, and published such works as A Grammar and Dictionary of the Malay Language, A Descriptive Dictionary of the Indian Islands and Adjacent Countries, and A History of the Indian Archipelago.
The present account is one of the most important descriptions of the region in the early 19th century, incorporating cultural and religious assessments as well as economic and political. The two volumes are illustrated with 8 oversized, folding plates; 1 folding chart; 15 plates (many depicting variations in regional costume for both men and women), and a number of in-text engravings.
NSTC 2C42639; Goldsmiths’-Kress 26080; not in Maggs, Bibl. Asiatica. On Crawfurd, see: Dictionary of National Biography. Publisher’s dark green cloth, blind-stamped, spines with gilt-stamped title; spines very slightly sunned and showing faint traces of now-absent paper labels, cloth lightly rubbed at corners and spine extremities. Hinges cracked (inside). Front pastedowns rubber-stamped (no other institutional markings). Title-pages with pencilled owner’s name in upper margins; contents pages with inked owner’s name dated 1865. Frontispiece, plates, and a few pages in proximity to plates lightly to moderately foxed; one plate in vol. II torn from inner margin, tear not touching image.
Absorbing reading, evocative images. (19179)
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Bite-Sized
Theatrical Morsels
in
Fancy
Dress — Signed
Bindings
Cruz, Ramón de la. Sainetes de D. Ramón de la Cruz. Barcelona: Biblioteca “Arte y Letras” E. Domenech y Ca., 1882. 8vo (20.5 cm, 8"). 2 vols. I: [4], xliii, [1], 338, [2] pp.; 16 plts. (some incl. in pagination). II: [4], 343, [5] pp.; 5 plts.
$275.00
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Resplendent
collection of
clever, satiric 18th-century theatrical vignettes, originally intended to be
performed as intermedios during longer plays. The pieces, which include
“La Comedia de Maravillas,” “El Café de Máscaras,”
“La Duda Satisfecha,” “Manolo,” and many others, appear
here illustrated with
21
plates and numerous in-text engravings by José Llovera
and A. Lizcano, most depicting lively social scenes, musicians, dancers, and
flirtatious maidens. Although the second volume contains fewer plates than the
first, it makes up for the difference with extra in-text images.
Signed Binding: Publisher's teal pebbled cloth, front covers with striking chariot and armorial scene in light blue, tan, and gilt. The “Cibeles” statue found in Madrid's Cibeles Plaza and the coat of arms (and gilt monogram) of the city of Madrid appear with de la Cruz's name stamped in gilt below; spines offer gilt-stamped title and black-stamped griffin decoration. Cover of vol. II is signed “J. Orba.” All page edges are stamped in a Greek key pattern in blue and gilt.
Provenance:
Half-titles each with old-fashioned rubber-stamp of José Carmona y
Ramos.
Palau 65340. Bindings as above, edges and extremities
showing minor shelfwear, back cover of vol. I with small spots of faint discoloration,
front joint of vol. II rubbed. Collector's stamp as above, each front pastedown
with small paper label bearing hand-inked numeral. Pages age-toned; edges
slightly embrittled, occasionally with small chips or short tears. Scattered
light smudges in vol. I; vol. II with mild to moderate foxing.
A
peacocky set. (29262)
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