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DICKENS, Charles. American Notes for General Circulation. London: Chapman and Hall, 1842. 2 volumes, 8° (199 x 120mm). (Very occasional light spotting, C1 of vol. I slightly thumb-soiled.) Original reddish brown cloth by Leighton and Eeles, with their ticket, decorated in blind, spines gilt lettered (spines frayed at head, a few ink specks on vol. I). Provenance: James Ludovic Lindsay, Earl of Crawford (Biblioteca Lindesiana bookplate). FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE with page x incorrectly numbered xvi. Dickens's letters to John Forster and other friends revealed some disillusionment with America, exacerbated by adverse press reactions to his campaign for International Copyright and the exhausting number of public receptions. GOOD COPY. Eckel pp. 108-109; Gimbel A66; Smith II, 3 [his binding variant]. GILL, Thomas and William ENGLISH. Report of the Dinner given to Charles Dickens, in Boston, February 1, 1842. Boston: William Crosby, 1842. Small 8° (172 x 105mm). (Title spotted.) Later blue morocco gilt. FIRST EDITION. Dickens's speech at the dinner, with its praise of American writers, is given on pp. 10-15. Gimbel B112. (3) View on Christie's.com

[DICKENS, Charles]. Little Dorrit. London: Bradbury and Evans, December 1855-June 1857. 20 original parts in 19, 8° (224 x 135mm). Etched frontispiece, additional title and 38 plates by and after Hablot K. Browne. (Plates heavily browned, offset or spotted, pts 12 and 17 creased at upper margin, nick to first plate in pt. 18, lacking some advertisements and slips including all the rear ads in pt 4, pp. 7-8 of front ads in pt 8 torn with severe loss.) Original blue-green pictorial wrappers etched by Hablot K. Browne (some nicks to covers, chips and neat repairs to spines, occasinal soiling but covers generally clean and fresh). FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL PARTS. First issue of part 15 with name 'Rigaud' used instead of 'Blandois', and with correction slip in part 16. Dickens's eleventh novel, written in the aftermath of the Crimean war, is dominated by the Marshalsea Prison, where his own father had been a 'boarder', and shows its lasting effect on the heroine's family. The downfall and suicide of Merdle, the swindling financier, was based on two real cases. Despite critical opposition, the book became a firm favourite, the parts issue reaching a circulation of 35,000. Eight 'dark' plates are included among Phiz's illustrations. Eckel pp. 82-85; Haton and Cleaver pp. 305-330; Gimbel A140. (19) View on Christie's.com

[DICKENS, Charles]. A Child's History of England. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1852-53-54. 3 volumes, square 8° (152 x 118mm). Wood-engraved frontispiece to each vol. after F.W. Topham. (Frontispiece in vols. II-III spotted, half-title and title to vol. III also spotted.) Original brown cloth, front covers with gilt vignette after Topham, marbled edges (a few spots to front cover of vol. II, spine ends a little frayed). Provenance: Harry V. Tebbs (bookplate in vol. III). FIRST EDITION IN BOOK FORM, first state of the advertisements in vol. I. This patriotic narrative for children, leading up to the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688, was first serialised in Household Words, 25 January 1851-10 December 1853. Eckel pp. 128-130; Gimbel A128; Smith II, 10. (3) View on Christie's.com

DICKENS, Charles. Our Mutual Friend. London: Chapman and Hall, 1864-1865. 20 parts in 19, 8° (222 x 140mm). 2 half-titles, 2 printed titles. 40 wood-engraved plates, including frontispiece, after Marcus Stone by Dalziel and W.T. Green. (Plates and text lightly browned, light spotting, p.193 torn with loss of blank margin, clean tear also affecting text on verso, pencil drawing on verso of last advertisement leaf in pt VIII). Original green printed wrappers, uncut (a few wrappers soiled, some spines chipped, front wrapper of pt.II detached, extremities chipped, occasionally with loss affecting image). FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL PARTS, with the printer's imprint on front wrapper of part I and with the slip addressed to the reader. This copy contains all advertisments called for by Hatton & Cleaver; part XVIII contains a rare additional 8pp. advertisement ('Messrs. Chapman and Hall's new publications') which is not called for, though the same advertisement is included in part XVII. Eckel pp. 94-95; Hatton & Cleaver pp. 343-370; Gimbel A149. (19) View on Christie's.com

HUXLEY, Aldous (1894-1963). Brave New World. London: Chatto and Windus, 1932. 8°, original blue cloth, gilt-lettered spine, top edge blue (one or two faint spots on spine), dust-jacket (loss at head of spine just affecting title lettering and adjoining areas of covers, smaller chips at corners and other extremities). FIRST TRADE EDITION. Connolly, The Modern Movement, 75. WOOLF, Virginia (1882-1941). Between the Acts. London: Hogarth Press, 1941. 8°, original gilt-lettered blue cloth (spine faded at head and tail), dust-jacket (chipped with loss to title panel, rear cover and base of spine). FIRST EDITION, posthumously published. (2) View on Christie's.com

JACOBS, W.W. The Lady of the Barge. London and New York: Harper and Brothers, 1902. 8°, 12 plates by Maurice Griefenhagen (some spotting, first two leaves of the first story torn at upper corners). Original pictorial orange cloth (extremities lightly rubbed, a few flecks of white on spine). Provenance: W.W. Jacobs (signed and dated 'Oct 1902' on blank recto of first leaf; bookplate). FIRST EDITION, AUTHOR'S COPY. The Lady of the Barge contained three master-tales of horror, 'The Monkey's Paw', 'The Well', and 'In the Library'. 'The Monkey's Paw', frequently anthologized and also dramatized by L. N. Parker, is described in ODNB as Jacobs' 'most enduring piece of writing'. View on Christie's.com

JOHNSON, B.S. (1933-1973) Travelling People. London: Constable, 1963. 8°. Original cloth, original dust-jacket (light spotting on the back panel). FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY OF HIS FIRST NOVEL inscribed by the author: 'For Uncle Phil and Auntie Pat with best wishes from Bryan 20/3/63'. Inscribed copies of Johnson's books are distinctly uncommon. With another copy of the first edition in dust-jacket and the following works by Johnson: Albert Angelo. London: Constable, 1964. 8°. Original cloth, original typographic dust-jacket (jacket lightly rubbed and soiled). FIRST EDITION. -- The Unfortunates. London: Panther Books and Secker & Warburg Ltd., 1969. Small 2°. 27 sections as issued, with the original wrap-around band and in the original printed clamshell box (light soiling on the first section). FIRST EDITION. -- Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry. London: Collins, 1973. 8°. Original cloth, original dust-jacket (light wear and light soiling on the jacket). FIRST EDITION. Johnson was one of the most innovative post-war writers in English. Travelling People, with its black pages and inventive typography, makes a direct nod to Tristram Shandy; die-cuts in Albert Angelo give the reader a glimpse ahead of the dramatic denouement; and The Unfortunates, issued in sections, allows reading in any order. (5) View on Christie's.com

LESLIE, Sir John Randolph [Shane] (1885-1971). Poems. [N.p.: privately published for the author,] 1915. 8° (182 x 123mm). 6 leaves printed on laid paper with horizontal chain-lines, together with 12 further leaves with anvil watermark (of which 6 blank at beginning), 5 with ink manuscript poems possibly in the author's hand on rectos, 2 printed poems by Leslie on browned paper pasted in at end with corrections and markings in pencil. (Title and first leaf with light crease to bottom corner, light marginal mark to title, light offsetting from pasted-in poems.) Contemporary three-quarter green morocco over marbled-paper covered boards, lettered in gilt to upper cover (extremities lightly rubbed, spine faded and more heavily rubbed). UNRECORDED UNIQUE COPY OF SHANE LESLIE'S FIRST BOOK. Leslie, first cousin of Winston Churchill, was born at Glaslough, Co. Monaghan, into a wealthy Anglo-Irish family. He converted to Roman Catholicism while up at King's College, Cambridge, adopted Irish nationalism, and started to use the Irish version of his name - Shane. Churchill introduced his cousin to John Redmond, leader of the Irish nationalists, and later to the American orator William Bourke Cockran. In 1912, while in America raising awareness of Irish nationalism, Leslie met and married Marjorie Ide, sister of Anne, the third wife of Cockran. It was at this time that Leslie started to produce poetry. The present work was produced for Leslie's sister-in-law, with the printed note on the title-page: 'OF THIS EDITION THERE IS ONE COPY, which is the property of Anne Ide Cockran ["Cochran" corrected in ink ms]'. During WWI, Leslie was attached to a British ambulance corps, and in 1915 retrieved the body of his brother, Norman, from the battlefield near Armentières. Five manuscript poems present here, entitled 'Poems Written During the War' include one to his deceased brother, and another to Rupert Brooke. View on Christie's.com

THACKERAY, William Makepeace (1811-1863). Vanity Fair. A Novel without a Hero. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1848. 8° (205 x 121mm). Engraved frontispiece, title and 38 plates, wood-engraved illustrations, after the author. (Light browning to plates, last two plates and final quires waterstained at upper margin.) 'Cosway' binding in gold-tooled blue morocco by Sangorski and Sutcliffe, with quill pen and mask motifs and red morocco rosettes on spine and covers, red morocco and red satin doublures with inset miniature portrait of Thackeray at front, gilt edges (light rubbing to extremities). FIRST EDITION IN A SUMPTUOUS 'COSWAY' BINDING, EARLIEST ISSUE from the original parts with the rustic heading on p. 1, portrait of the Marquis of Steyne on p. 336, and 'Mr. Pitt' for 'Sir Pitt' on p. 453. Van Duzer 231. View on Christie's.com

[DALI, Salvador (1904-1989)] -- Dali illustra Casanova. Rome: Delfino, 1980. 2° (474 x 328mm). 13 offset lithographs in colours and 7 drawings in the text. Publisher's binding of blue velvet, with central metal medallion lettered 'Dali illustra Casanova', complete with original gilt metal double-s scroll stand on rectangular transparent perspex base (velvet faded and extremities lightly rubbed, light wear to front pastedown). Provenance: Ettore Greco Scribani (metal bookplate). FIRST ITALIAN EDITION, translated from the original French edition published in Paris by Cercle du Livre Précieux in 1967. RARE -- number 164 of 1500 copies. (2) View on Christie's.com

KELMSCOTT PRESS -- MORRIS, William. The Wood Beyond the World. Hammersmith: Kelmscott Press, 1894. 8° (208 x 145mm). Printed in red and black. Woodcut frontispiece, borders and initial capitals by William Morris. (A few light spots in a few margins.) Original limp vellum, spine lettered in gilt, cloth ties (light spotting on the edges, minor soiling). LIMITED EDITION. One of 350 on paper, from an edition of 348 copies. Peterson A27. [With:] -- Gothic Architecture: A Lecture for the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society. Hammersmith: Kelmscott Press, 1893. 8° (146 x 104mm). Printed in red and black. Woodcut capital initials by William Morris. (Minor spotting.) Original cloth-backed drab papered boards (some spotting and soiling). FIRST EDITION. One of 1500 copies. Peterson A18. (2) View on Christie's.com

KELMSCOTT PRESS -- [ORBELIANI, Sulkhan-Saba.] The Book of Wisdom and Lies. Translated by Oliver Wardrop. Hammersmith: at Kelmscott Press for Bernard Quaritch, 1894. 8° (206 x 140mm). Printed in red and black in Golden type. Woodcut title, border and initials by William Morris. Original limp vellum, spine lettered in gilt, cloth ties (very light soiling). LIMITED EDITION, and first edition in English of this collection of Georgian fables. One of 250 copies on paper. Peterson A28. View on Christie's.com

PHOTOBOOKS -- COBURN, Alvin Langdon. Men of Mark. London and New York: Duckworth & Co, and Mitchell Kennerley, 1913. Quarto (305 x 235 mm). 33 photogravures. (Occasional light spotting in the margins.) Original linen-backed cloth, front cover lettered in gilt (endpapers lightly browned, some spotting on the edges). Provenance: Alvin Langdon Coburn (presentation inscription to:) -- Edith Coburn. FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY COBURN TO HIS WIFE: 'To my dear little wife. From the author. Christmas 1914.' An excellent copy of Coburn's best-known book. Coburn married Edith Wightman Clement of Boston on 11 October 1912 in Trinity Church, New York. Perriton Maxwell, editor of Metropolitan Magazine, called Coburn 'the Sargent of Photography'. Imagining Paradise, p.236. View on Christie's.com

PHOTOBOOKS -- RIEFENSTAHL, Leni. Schönheit im Olympischen Kampf. [Beauty in the Olympic Games.] Berlin: Deutschen Verlag, 1937. 4° (310 x 235mm). 273 black and white photographs. Original cloth, spine and front cover blocked in gilt, original pictorial dust-jacket, publisher's slipcase stamped 'Riefenstahl' (dust-jacket with light wear at the edges including a short tear near the spine, slipcase lacking the flap but otherwise strong and fresh). FIRST EDITION, A BRIGHT COPY IN THE ORIGINAL SLIPCASE. Riefenstahl's monument to the 1936 Olympics. 'These are such exquisite, such transcendentally beautiful images of athletes, that one almost forgets their context' (101 Books). 101 Books, pp.96-7; Auer, p.255; The Photobook, vol. I, p.151 ('a lavish photobook'). View on Christie's.com

BAKST -- ALEXANDRE, Arsène and Jean COCTEAU. L'Art Decoratif de Léon Bakst. Paris: Maurice de Brunoff, 1913. 2° (400 x 275mm). Title printed in red and black. Mounted photogravure portrait frontispiece, 77 mounted plates, all but one after Bakst, 50 printed in colour and 4 folding, head- and tailpieces after Bakst. Original half vellum gilt, Bakst signature in facsimile on the front board, the spine lettered and decorated in gilt, top edge gilt, others uncut (vellum lightly soiled). Provenance: small shelf ticket on the front pastedown. FIRST EDITION of this luxurious, richly illustrated publication with full page reproductions of Bakst splendid designs. View on Christie's.com

BARATYNSKII, Evgenii Abramovich (1800-1844). Stikhotovoreniia. [Poems.] Moscow: Avgust Semen, 1835. 2 parts in 1 vol., 8° (210 x 130mm). With the half-titles and contents leaves. Engraved portrait frontispiece. (Faint dampstain on the portrait, some spotting mostly in the margins.) 19th-century Russian half-leather, spine lettered in gilt (extremities rubbed). Provenance: Paul M. Fekula. FIRST EDITION. The Fekula copy, complete with the portait by Skotnikov after Briulov. Baratynskii 'was a poet much admired by Pushkin, whose closest rival he was' (Fekula). V. Belinsky remarked that 'of all the poets who appeared at the same time as Pushkin, pride of place undoubtedly belongs to Baratynsky'. Fekula 4518 (this copy); Kilgour 103; Smirnov-Sokol'skii 504. View on Christie's.com

BASHUTSKII, A.P. (ed.) Nashi Spisannye s Natury Russkimi. [Our Compatriots Portrayed from Life by Russians.] St. Petersburg: Isakov, 1841. 4° (260 x 180mm). Original frontispiece, 7 plates, and woodcuts throughout after Timm, Shchodrovskii and Shevchen. (Some spotting.) Publisher's original burgundy cloth, spine and upper side lettered in gilt, original illustrated front cover (spine lightly faded). FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST RUSSIAN BOOK ILLUSTRATED BY TIMM. RARE. In the original binding and complete with the front wrapper, frontispiece and all plates. Vereshchagin notes that this richly illustrated work was instantly popular and became rare soon after publication. Burtsev 1033; Fekula 4522; Obol'ianinov 1700; Smirnov-Sokol'skii 514; Vengerov, Staraia Russkaia Kniga, 95; Vereshchagin 570. View on Christie's.com

BERKH, Vasilii Nikolaevich (1781-1834). Tsarstvovanie Tsaria Feodora Alekseevicha i istoria Pervago Streletskago Bunta. [The Reign of Tsar Feodor Alekseevich and the History of the First Rifles Rebelion.] St. Petersburg: Kh. Gintse, 1834-35. 2 parts in 1 vol., 8° (198 x 130mm). Engraved view of the Kremlin, printed in sepia. (Dampstain in the last few gatherings.) 20th-century black quarter cloth. Provenance: Imperial Public Library (de-accession stamp dated 1905 on the last printed leaf). FIRST EDITION, COMPLETE WITH THE VIEW OF THE KREMLIN CA.1679. An important history of the Russian Tsars before Peter I, and of the Moscow Uprising of 1682 which followed the death, without issue, of Feodor III. View on Christie's.com

BETSKOI, Ivan Ivanovich (1704-1795). Ustav vospitaniia dvukh sot blagorodnykh devits. [And:] Kratkoe Nastavlenie s nekotorymi fizicheskimi primechaniiami o Vospitanii Detei. St. Petersburg: Imperial Academy of Sciences, 1768-69. 3 parts in 1 vol., 8° (240 x 194mm). Engraved allegorical frontispiece, engraved title vignettes and head- and tailpieces. (Some mostly marginal soiling and occasional spotting.) Contemporary Russian calf (front cover detached, spine foot chipped, lower joint starting). Provenance: a 19th-century reader (large signature on front blank dated 1843) -- P.A. Efremov (author, publisher, collector; shelf label) -- P.V. Gubar (bookplate) -- V.I. Klochkov (bookseller's label) -- Martin Winkler (bookplate). FIRST COLLECTED EDITION. FROM THE LIBRARY OF P.A. EFREMOV. With the allegorical frontispiece by Srebrenitskii after Kozlov. A collection of treatises on education by Betskoi, the chief architect of school reforms under Catherine II, one of which on the education of noble women, and another on the education of children. The collation of part 3 differs from that in SK (ie. [6], 50 rather than 54, [2], [4]). Bitovt 1642; SK 558; Sopikov 12203. View on Christie's.com

BOGOLIUBOV, Andrei Andreevich. Kobrovyia izdeliia srednei azii. [Carpets of Central Asia.] St. Petersburg: Expedition for the Preparation of State Papers, 1908. 2 volumes, plates 2° (c.687 x 508mm), text (c.474 x 345mm). 43 plates, 36 chromolithographed, 2 double-page coloured maps, all loose as issued. (Outer margin of a few plates very lighty browned.) Text: Teppiche Zentralasiens (Leipzig, Karl Hiersemann, 1910), text also supplied (without title) in French and Russian, unbound as issued (light marginal thumb-soiling). Plates in cloth portofolio (spine repaired with adhesive tape, rubbed, label on front cover with closed tear), text in German bound in original printed wrappers (a few tears, lightly soiled). FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY inscribed by Bogoliubov to Gustav Frank on the title. View on Christie's.com

DANILOV, Kirsha. Drevniia Rossiiskiia Stikhotvoreniia. [Ancient Russian Rhymes.] Moscow: Semen Selivanovskii, 1818. 4° (260 x 205mm). Interleaved with blanks showing English annotations. 35 engraved headpieces of musical notation. (Faint dampstain and crease on the title.) Contemporary English half-calf (extremities rubbed, spine head chipped). Provenance: Henry Edward Fox Strangways, 5th Earl of Ilchester (Melbury bookplate). Second, significantly enlarged and revised edition of ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS AND IMPORTANT WORKS IN RUSSIAN FOLKLORE. This edition adds music and nearly 100 pages to the first of 1804 and, according to Smirnov-Sokol'skii, is the first to make apparent the full importance of the text. The original manuscript belonged to P.A. Demidov and passed to Kliucharev who published the first edition. But it was M.P. Rumiantsev who commissioned K.F. Kalaidovich to re-examine the manuscript for this more complete and more accurate edition. An excellent copy with noble provenance. Kilgour 256; Smirnov-Sokol'skii 1271 ('otlichno izdannyi tom'). View on Christie's.com

GRUZINTSOV, Aleksandr Nikolaevich (1779-1840). Petriada. Poema Epicheskaia. [The Petriad. An Epic Poem.] St. Petersburg: Imperial Press, 1812. 4° (254 x 195mm). Engraved portrait frontispiece, engraved additional title, 2 engraved vignettes. (Occasional spotting, faint dampstain on frontispiece and engraved title.) Contemporary Russian red half morocco (some wear on the front board and spine, edges rubbed). FIRST EDITION, COMPLETE WITH THE ENGRAVED PORTRAIT. Kilgour 416; Smirnov-Sokol'skii 656. View on Christie's.com

IVAN IV -- Sudebnik Gosudaria Tsaria i Velikago Kniazia Ioanna Vasil'evicha. [The Law Code of Ivan Vasilievich.] Moscow: Imperial University, 1768. 4° (240 x 191mm). (Faint dampstaining.) Contemporary Russian mottled calf (spine foot chipped, joints starting, corners rubbed). Provenance: a Russian reader (indistinct title signature) -- Martin Winkler (bookplate). FIRST EDITION. Ivan IV's reform of the law code shifted power from the aristocracy to State and local institutions. This edition was prepared by G.F. Miller from the manuscript owned by Vasilii Tatishchev. Bitovt 1638; SK 6936; Sopikov 11593. View on Christie's.com

KHEMNITSER, Ivan Ivanovich (1744-1784). Basni i skazki. [Fables and Tales.] St. Petersburg: Imperial Press, 1799. 8° (193 x 125mm). Engraved frontispiece printed in two colours, ten vignettes some of these printed in various colours. (Some soiling on the half-title and frontispiece.) 19th-century Russian half-calf (joints starting, extremities rubbed). Provenance: 'A.G.' (small title stamp) -- a Russian noble library (armorial bookplate) -- 'Printed in Russia' (title stamp) -- Martin Winkler (bookplate). First complete edition of this collection of tales by 'one of the most important precursors of I. A. Krylov' (Smirnov-Sokol'skii). A very elegant edition with colour-printed vignettes by A. Olenin and published by the author's friends N. L'vov and V. Kapnist. The edition was selected by the Russian State Library for its publication of highlights from the collection (Rossiiskaia Gosudarstvennaia Biblioteka, M: Klassika, 2006, 170). Some copies, issued later, were published without the vignettes. The first three editions comprised only two parts. Bitovt 2587; Kilgour 503; SK 7958; Smirnov-Sokol'skii 284. View on Christie's.com

KHERASKOV, Mikhail Matveevich (1733-1807). Rossiiada. Iroicheskaia Poema. [The Rossiad. A Heroic Poem.] [Moscow:] Imperial University, 1779. 4° (240 x 185mm). (Some dampstaining and soiling, mostly in the first few leaves, occasional spotting, a very few early small repairs.) Contemporary Russian mottled calf (spine ends chipped, joints starting, corners rubbed, remnants of spots of red seal wax on the endpapers). Provenance: Peter Zinov'ev (inscription dated 1795) -- a Russian reader (inscription dated 1850) -- Archive of the Museum of the Revolution (stamp) -- Russian booksellers (stamps). FIRST EDITION. 'VERY RARE' (Bitovt). Kheraskov's Rossiad is one of the first and longest Russian epic poems, describing Ivan IV's victory over the Kazan Khanate -- a crucial event in Russian history commemorated by the construction of St. Basil's cathedral in Moscow. Bitovt 1944; Kilgour 506; SK 8024; Sopikov 8730. View on Christie's.com

KROTKOV, A., Major-General. Morskoi Kadetskii Korpus. [The Corps of Sea Cadets.] St. Petersburg: Eksp. Zagat. Gos. Bumag, 1901. 8° (244 x 170mm). Portrait frontispiece of Nicholas II, and illustrations throughout. Original printed wrappers bound-in contemporary Russian half sheep (extremities rubbed). FIRST EDITION of this rare jubilee publication issued to celebrate 200 years of the Corps of Sea Cadets, originally founded in Moscow as the Navigation School. Prepared under the patronage of Grand Duke Aleksei Aleksandrovich. View on Christie's.com

KRUGLYI, Aleksandr. Dvor Imperatritsy Ekateriny II. [The Court of Empress Catherine II.] St. Petersburg: E. Goppe, 1899. 2 volumes, 4° (245 x 180mm). 189 lithographed portraits. Near contemporary Russian pale green-tan half morocco, printed wrappers bound-in, top edge gilt (extremities rubbed). Provenance: Klotchkov booksellers (book ticket) -- 'P.V.' (binding) -- Leningrad University (stamps) -- 'Printed in Soviet Union' -- Paul M. Fekula. FIRST EDITION. The Fekula copy. The first publication of this series of silhouette portraits of the court of Catherine the Great, which had only recently been found in the library of the Imperial Hermitage. Fekula 2563 (this copy). (2) View on Christie's.com

KRYLOV, Ivan Andreevich (1768-1844). Fables Russes. [Basni Ruskiia.] Paris: Bossange, 1825. 2 vols., 8° (220 x 135mm). Text in Russian, French and Italian. Engraved portrait frontispiece and 5 engraved plates. (Some spotting, small dampstain in the bottom margin of some leave.) Original printed wrappers preserved in early 20th-century green quarter morocco (wrappers lightly soiled). Provenance: Henri Leblanc (sale description laid in). First French edition. Published under the aegis of Count Orlov, this edition shows the Russian original with facing translations in French and Italian by various authors. According to Quérard the literary elite of both countries (Ségur, De L'Isle, etc.) collaborated on the translation; 'the work is the first and only to offer such a varied and such a precious gathering of distinguished talents'. Rare: ABPC records only one copy sold at auction. Fekula 4857; Quérard IV, 318. (2) View on Christie's.com

LE CLERC, Sebastien. O Piati Chinakh Arkhitekturnykh. [On the Five Orders of Architecture.] St. Petersburg: I.K. Shnor, 1790. 8° (205 x 130mm). 22 engraved plates including the frontispiece here bound ahead of the plates. (Some soiling, mostly in the margins.) Contemporary half sheep and blue papered board (spine foot chipped, corners and sides rubbed). FIRST EDITION OF LE CLERC IN RUSSIAN, and in a contemporary binding. Translation by F.V. Karzhavin. Obol'ianinov 1471; SK 3576; Sopikov 2069. View on Christie's.com

LYALL, Robert. The Character of the Russians, and a detailed history of Moscow. London: T. Cadell, 1823. 4° (275 x 215 mm). Half-title. Hand-coloured aquatint frontispiece, and 22 plates of which 12 hand-coloured and some folding, folding engraved plan of Moscow. (Some offsetting, occasional spotting, tear in the plan not affecting the engraving.) Contemporary calf by J Goodwin with ticket, sides ruled in gilt (rebacked, sides scuffed, extremities rubbed). Provenance: a 19th-century collection (armorial bookplate). FIRST EDITION. With fine hand-coloured aquatint views of the Kremlin by Edward Finden after Lavrov, including a folding panorama from the river. Lyall lived in Russia, practising as a young doctor after graduating in medicine at Edinburgh. The varied subject matter includes a catalogue of plants and edible mushrooms found near Moscow, as well as an essay on the progress of Russian architecture. Abbey, Travel 227. View on Christie's.com

MALEVICH, Kazimir, and EL LISSITZKY. O novykh sistemakh v iskusstve: Statika i skorost. [On New Systems in Art: Statics and Speed.] Vitebsk: Art Labour Cooperative, 1919. 4° (232 x 190mm). 3 lithographs after Malevich, lithographed text throughout. (Plates bound-in at rear, faint browning, light wear to edges.) Original stapled printed wrappers (repaired loss to rear wrapper affecting part of the imprint, some spotting and soiling). FIRST EDITION OF THIS LANDMARK OF BOOK DESIGN. Produced under El Lissitzky's supervision, who designed the covers, these 'perhaps the most remarkable use of Malevich's ideas' (Compton, p.114). Karshan 27-35; MoMA, The Russian Avant-Garde Book, p.147. View on Christie's.com

MININ -- IL'INSKII, Nikolai Stepanovich (1759-1846). Opisanie Zhizni i Bezsmertnago Rodviga Koz'my Minina. St. Petersburg: Government Administration, 1799. 8° (155 x 100mm). (Dampstained throughout.) Contemporary Russian red calf, tooled in black (rubbed). Provenance: Martin Winkler (bookplate). FIRST EDITION. Minin, with Prince Trubetskoi, drove the Poles from Moscow, and governed the city until Michael Romanov's election in 1613. Fekula 1833; SK 2496. View on Christie's.com

MININ -- [SEVERGIN, V.M.] Pokhval'noe Slovo Kniaziu Pozharskomu i Kuzme Mininu. St. Petersburg: Medical Press, 1807. 8° (199 x 122mm). Contemporary Russian tree calf (some wear at the spine and corners). Provenance: indistinct Russian stamps on the endpapers. FIRST EDITION. Rare work in praise of the two great heroes of Russia during the Time of Troubles. The year after publication Ivan Martos won the commission to build the monument to the two now standing in front of St. Basil's cathedral. View on Christie's.com

NABOKOV, Vladimir Vladimirovich (1899-1977). Zashchita Luzhina. Roman. [The Luzhin Defence. A Novel.] Berlin: Slovo, 1930. 8° (215 x 140mm). Original black wrappers with yapp edges, sides and spine printed in gold (edges heavily chipped, spine repaired with tape, covers detached). Provenance: Vladimir Nabokov (gift inscription to:) -- Anna Feigin -- Vladimir Nabokov (book label) -- by descent to the consignor. FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR to Anna Feigin, in Russian: 'To dear, beloved Aniut, from the author, IX 1930, Berlin'. Anna Feigin was Vera's cousin and lived with the Nabokovs for extended periods. In the foreword to his 1964 English translation, Nabokov wrote 'of all my Russian books, The Defense contains and diffuses the greatest "warmth", which may seem odd seeing how supremely abstract chess is supposed to be'. Nabokov, a keen player, found inspiration for Luzhin in the German master Curt von Bardeleben, whom Nabokov knew personally. Rare. View on Christie's.com

NABOKOV, Vladimir Vladimirovich. Podvig. [Glory.] Paris: Sovremennyia Zapiski, 1932. 8° (193 x 142mm). Original printed wrappers (small chips along the bottom edge, front wrapper nearly detached). Provenance: Vladimir Nabokov (gift inscription to:) -- Anna Feigin -- Vladimir Nabokov (book label) -- by descent to the consignor. FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR to Anna Feigin, in Russian: 'To my dear, good, beloved Aniutochka, from the author, XII 1932 Berlin'. Anna Feigin was Vera's cousin and lived with the Nabokovs for extended periods. In the introduction to the English translation Nabokov wrote that his novel Glory, 'my only one with a purpose', 'soars to heights of purity and melancholy that I have only attained in the much later Ada'. Juliar A13.1. View on Christie's.com

NABOKOV, Vladimir Vladimirovich. Otchaianie. [Despair.] Berlin: Petropolis, 1936. 8° (200 x 135mm). (A few leaves with shallow creases.) Original printed wrappers (small chips on the front cover, tear and French censor's stamp on the rear cover). Provenance: Vladimir Nabokov (ink gift inscription, later cancelled in pencil, to:) -- Iosif Aleksandrovich Hessen -- Vladimir Nabokov -- by descent to the consignor. FIRST EDITION, INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR, in Russian, to his friend Hessen: 'Iosif Aleksandrovich, as a sign of long-standing and constant friendship! V. Nabokov. April 36.' Close ties existed between the Nabokovs, both Vladimir father and son, and the Hessen family, particularly with Iosif Vladimirovich, publisher at Berlin's 'Slovo'. Despair had appeared in serial form in 1934 in Sovremennie Zapiski. Rare: ABPC records only the copy inscribed by Nabokov to his wife and son. Juliar A15.1. View on Christie's.com

OSTROVSKII, Aleksandr Nikolaevich (1823-1866). Bednaia Nevesta. [The Poor Bride.] Moscow: Stepanov, 1852. 8° (265 x 160mm). (Occasional minor spotting.) Original printed wrappers (light wear at the extremities, bookseller's small stamps on the back cover). FIRST EDITION. IN THE ORIGINAL PRINTED WRAPPERS. A rare early play by one of the great Russian dramatists of the mid-19th century, no less controversial than his first play, Bankrupt, which too was banned from production. Not in Kilgour or Smirnov-Sokol'skii. COPAC locates no copy in the UK. View on Christie's.com

PETER I -- Dukhovnyi reglament. [The Spiritual Regulation.] St. Petersburg: Senate, 1749. 2 parts in 1 vol., 8° (160 x 102mm). With index. 153 leaves (of 154, without blank leaf 48 in part 2). (Occasional soiling and spotting, worm track in the margin of the first few leaves.) Contemporary Russian calf, spine tooled and titled in blind (corners rubbed, some wear). Provenance: a few early pen trials -- a 20th-century Russian bookseller (small stamps). PETER I'S SUBORDINATION OF THE CHURCH TO THE STATE, one of his most important domestic reforms, whereby the Church became fully linked to the state by the Holy Synod. First published in 1721 this edition is rare, and apparently not recoded in the Svodnyi Katalog. cf. Bitovt 281; cf. SK 2069. View on Christie's.com

PUSHKIN, Alexander -- Sobranie novykh ruskikh stikhotvorenii vyshedshikh v svet s 1823 po 1825 god. [A Compilation of New Russian Verse issued between 1823 and 1825.] St. Petersburg: Imperial Russian Academy, 1826. 8° (206 x 126mm). (?Lacking the half-title, spotting in a few leaves, old repair in the last leaf.) Contemporary Russian morocco spine and calf sides (one panel chipped from spine, extremities rubbed, some wear, lacking rear free endpaper). Provenance: a Russian reader (indistinct title signature). FIRST EDITION. The second of two volumes in this series gathering work in verse and prose by some of the great names of the period; includes Pushkin's 'Otryvki iz poemy "Bakhchisaraiskii Fontan"', and 'Elegiia' ('Ia perezhil svoi zhelan'ia'). Zhukovskii, Krylov, and Glinka are among the many other contributors. Smirnov-Sokol'skii, Pushkin, pp.492-3. View on Christie's.com

RYLEEV, Kondratii Fedorovich (1795-1826). Dumy. [Meditations.] [Bound with:] Voinarovskii. Moscow: Selibanovskii, 1825. 2 works in 1 vol., 8° (185 x 110mm). With the half-title. Engraved title. (Occasional light browning.) Contemporary Russian green half-leather, flat spine lettered and tooled in gilt (corners rubbed). Provenance: 'A.R.' (binding) -- G.D. Kseniia Aleksandrovna (bookplate) -- Mariia N. Troinitskaia (bookplate) -- V.I. Klochkov (book label) -- Paul M. Fekula. FIRST EDITION, GRAND DUCHESS KSENIIA ALEKSANDROVNA'S COPY, later in the collections of Mariia Troinitskaia, wife of the curator of the Imperial Hermitage Museum, and Paul M. Fekula. The initials in gilt on the contemporary binding indicate that the copy may have been first owned by the author's mother Anastasia, or his half sister Anna. In January 1825 Pushkin wrote to Ryleev that he was impatient for 'Voinarovskii' to be published: 'this poem must enter our Literature'. Ryleev was executed the year after publication for his part in the Decembrist revolt. Fekula 5242; Kilgour 994-5; Smirnov-Sokol'skii 1081. View on Christie's.com

SAKHAROV, Ivan Petrovich (1807-1863). Skazaniia Russkago Naroda. Tom pervyi. [Legends of the Russian People. Vol. 1.] St. Petersburg: for the author, 1841. 4 parts in 1 vol., 4° (260 x 170mm). All part titles within engraved borders. (Light spotting and light soiling on first and last leaves, two leaves with repaired tears.) Contemporary Russian half-calf, flat spine tooled in blind (hinges split, spine and extremities rubbed). Third, preferred edition of SAKHAROV'S KEY WORK, an important survey of Russian folk tales, including an extensive section on songs. A second volume was published in 1849. Smirnov-Sokol'skii 1109 (this edition). View on Christie's.com

SOLLOGUB, V. A., Count (1813-1882). Tarantas. Putevyia vpetchatleniia. [The Tarantas. Travel Impressions.] St. Petersburg: Andrei Ivanov, 1845. 4° (280 x 235mm). Half-title printed in red. Engraved illustrations throughout by Bernardskii, Greim, and others, after A. Agin, and G. Gagarin. (Without the frontispiece, a number of leaves with repaired margins, leaf 32/5 remargined, scattered spotting.) Nineteenth century Russian quarter sheep, cloth sides blocked in blind, spine titled in gilt (corners rubbed). Provenance: Miller (signature on half-title) -- 'V.K.' (binding) -- Martin Winkler (bookplate by Kravshchenko). FIRST EDITION OF ONE OF THE BEST RUSSIAN ILLUSTRATED BOOKS OF THE MID-19TH CENTURY. 'Very rare' (Burtsev). The eminent critic V.G. Velinskii wrote upon its publication that Tarantas had enlivened the 'dried up field of contemporary Russian literature' (quoted in Sobranie S.L. Markova, St. Petersburg 2007, p.229). Burtsev 2179; Fekula 5288; Kilgour 1103; Obol'ianinov 2575; Smirnov-Sokol'skii 1144 ('one of the best illustrated editions of the 1840s'); Vereshchagin, Russkiia Illiustrirovannyia Izdaniia, 813 ('a beautiful edition and rather rare'). View on Christie's.com

STEFAN, Metropolitan of Ryazan (Iavorskii, Semen Ivanovich; 1658-1722). Znameniia prishestviia antikhristova i konchiny veka ot pisanii bozhestvennykh iavlenna. [The Omens of the Antichrist's Coming and of the End of Time.] Moscow: Holy Synod, 1752. 8° (159 x 100mm). 167 leaves. (Some mostly marginal soiling; possibly lacking a frontispiece.) Early 19th-century Russian calf, sides panelled in blind and black, central gilt ornament on the upper side, brass catches (lacking clasps and straps, joints split, spine ends chipped.) Stefan's refutation of the then increasingly widespread legends about imminent apocalypse, and in particular Talitskii's claim that Peter I was himself the antichrist. This copy is from the third edition, first published in 1703 and 1748; all editions are rare. An important transitional figure in Russian Orthodoxy, Stefan was both locum tenens of the Patriarchal Throne after the death of Patriarch Adrian in 1700, and the first presiding member of Peter I's new Holy Synod. Not in SK. Sopikov 396; cf. Op. Izdani Napechatannykh kirillitsei 26. View on Christie's.com

TATISHCHEV -- DRUKOVTSOV, Sergei Vasil'evich (1731-1786; ed.). Dukhovnaia Vasiliia Nikiticha Tatishcheva cynu ego Evgrafu Vasil'evichu. [The Testament of Vasilii Tatishchev to his son Evgraf Vasill'evich.] St. Petersburg: [Sukhoputn. kad. korpus,] 1773. 8° (195 x 120mm). (Some tears in the gutter, some mostly marginal soiling.) Near contemporary Russian half-calf (spine-foot chipped, corners rubbed, scuffed). Provenance: a contemporary Russian reader (inscriptions on endpapers). FIRST EDITION, published from a manuscript copy of the original composed in 1733. Bitovt 1770; SK 7160; Sopikov 3503. View on Christie's.com

SHCHERBATOV, Mikhail Mikhailovich (1733-1790). Istoriia Rossiiskaia. Volumes 1-5, part 1. St. Petersburg: Imperial Academy of Sciences, 1770-1786. 7 parts in 5 vols, 4° (250 x 190mm). 41 folding tables, mostly genealogical. Contemporary Russian red morocco, sides with gilt foliate frame, spines gilt in compartments (the last volume with slightly different tools), gilt edges (extremities lightly rubbed, light wear). Provenance: Frederick North, second earl of Guilford (1732-1792; British prime minister). FIRST EDITION. LORD NORTH'S COPY IN CONTEMPORARY RUSSIAN RED MOROCCO of 'the first detailed pragmatic account of Russian history' (Vernardsky). Whereas Tatishchev's history was based solely on the Russian chronicles, Shcherbatov's also made extensive use of the archive of the College of Foreign Affairs. Lord North, George III's prime minister from 1770-1782, had favoured a policy of rapprochement with Russia throughout his premiership and after. In 1791 he opposed Pitt's proposed support of Turkey, and the following year, in his last public political address, Lord North declared that 'it was the interest of this country, to keep up a good understanding with Russia' (Cobbett, Parl. hist., 29.855-60, quoted in DNB). Bitovt 1685; SK 8525; Sopikov 4888; Vernardsky, Russian Historiography, p.40. (5) View on Christie's.com

TATISHCHEV, Vasilii Nikitich (1686-1750). Istoriia Rossiiskaia. Volumes 1-3. Moscow: at the Imperial University Press, 1768-1774. 3 vols, 4° (240 x 180mm). (Occasional light browning, second title with early repair in the fore margin.) Contemporary Russian red morocco, sides with gilt foliate frame, spines gilt in compartments, gilt edges (extremities lightly rubbed, light wear). Provenance: Frederick North, second earl of Guilford (1732-1792; British prime minister). FIRST EDITION. LORD NORTH'S COPY IN CONTEMPORARY RUSSIAN RED MOROCCO of the first outstanding Russian historian of 18th century. It is usual for the first three volumes of Tatishchev to be offered on their own: volume 4 was published 10 years after volume 3, and volume 5 did not appear until 1848. Bitovt 1617; Drage 706; SK 7161; Sopikov 4889. (3) View on Christie's.com

UKHTOMSKY, Esper Esperovich., Prince. Voyage en Orient de Son Altesse Impériale le Césarevitch. Volume 2 (of 2). Translated by Louis Leger. Paris: Charles Delagrave, 1893. 2° (370 x 270mm). Portrait frontispiece on china paper, colour-printed map of Egypt, and 54 plates (of 55? possibly lacking one between pp.124 and 125) after N. Karazin, and illustrations throughout. (Some spotting.) Publisher's original calf, richly tooled, white moir© silk endpapers blocked in gilt, gauffred gilt edges (some scuffing and spotting). Provenance: a European Royal collection. FIRST EDITION IN THE PUBLISHER'S DELUXE BINDING of the first French edition of this richly illustrated account of Tsarevich Nicholas's journey to the east. This volume, published 5 years after the first, details the journey through Siberia, China, South East Asia, and Japan -- where Nicholas survived an attempt on his life. View on Christie's.com

UKHTOMSKY, Esper Esperovich., Prince. Voyage en Orient de Son Altesse Impériale le Césarevitch. Volume 1 (of 2). Translated by Louis Leger. Paris: Charles Delagrave, 1893. 2° (370 x 275mm). Portrait frontispiece on china paper, colour-printed map of Egypt, and 55 plates after N. Karazin, and illustrations throughout. Publisher's original green cloth, spine and upper side blocked in gilt (extremities rubbed). Provenance: C. von Platen (bookplate). FIRST EDITION of the first French edition of this richly illustrated account of Tsarevich Nicholas's journey to the east, reusing Karazin's fine original illustrations. View on Christie's.com

USTRIALOV, N. Imenitye Liudi Stroganovy. [Eminent Stroganovs.] St. Petersburg: at the Press of the State Institution for War Education,1842. 8° (270 x 170mm). Frontispiece portrait of Peter I, map hand-coloured in outline, 2 plates. (Spotting throughout, some wear in the first few leaves.) Original printed wrappers (spine defective, some gatherings loose). Provenance: A. Nikolaev (title signature dated 1901) -- Martin Winkler (bookplate). FIRST EDITION. View on Christie's.com

VAKHTANG IRAKLIEVICH, Crown Prince of Georgia (1761-1814). Obozrenie Istorii Gruzinskago Naroda. [Survey of the History of the Georgian Nation.] St. Petersburg: I. Ioannesov, 1814. 8° (203 x 128mm). (A few tears, occasional small loss in the margins.) Original wrappers (spine defective, worm track on the upper cover, light wear). Provenance: V. I. Klotchkov (bookseller's ticket) -- Martin Winkler (bookplate). FIRST EDITION, IN THE ORIGINAL WRAPPERS, published in the year of Lermontov's birth and at the beginning of a period of renewed interest in Georgia by Russian authors, following the country's annexation in 1801. Pushkin's Kavkazkii Plennik was published in 1820. View on Christie's.com

DOUGLAS CORAM, "Aston Martin" The Story of a Sports Car, book one & two bound as one volume. Photographic illustrations throughout, first edition 1957. Published by Motor Racing publications Limited London, hard cloth.

A signed first edition copy of "How to draw merchant ships" by Leonard Sharp, various books on ships to include "Wonder Book of Ships", "The Book of British Ships" illustrated by Frank H Mason, "A Book of Ships" pub. by Blackie with various colour plates and two books on collecting shipping memorabila

ROTHMANS Hardback copy of the First Edition, Rothmans Football Yearbook, 1970-71, 992 s, Queen Anne Press, scarce. Good

1966 INTERCONTINENTIAL CUP First Leg, Penarol v Real Madrid, magazine La Manana El Diario dated Oct 1966 and entitled "Penarol Campeon Mundial 1966". The matches were played 12 and 26 Oct and no official programmes were issued at either match, so this edition is highly regarded as the programme. Good

IPSWICH First Day cover for 1978 Cup Final v Arsenal, signed by goal scorer Roger Osborne, limited edition . Good

Boer War interest; an unusual two shilling voucher redeemable at "The Mafeking Branch of the Standard Bank on the Resumption of Civil Law", dated February 1900, also a first edition of Joseph Goebbels, A Biography of Curt Reiss (2).

"The First for the Few", signed limited edition print of a Spitfire by W Hatton; a print of a Spitfire by B A S Clark; etc.

The Observer Book of Herbs" (first edition)"

Henry Cooper autograph on first edition stamp

A A MILNE `THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER` first published by Methven 1918; and `Winnie the Pooh third edition`, both with illustrations by Ernest H Shepherd (2)