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Ian Fleming (1908 - 1964) First Edition Octopussy With dust jacket

Stoker (Bram) Dracula, first Dutch edition, half-title, title with newspaper clipping tipped onto verso, lightly browned throughout, a little heavier at points, gutter neatly repaired to half-title, title and final f., original red cloth, lettering and central medallion in gilt, neatly recased with repairs to spine ends and joints, gilt lettering faded at spine ends, a few faint marks, slight shelf-lean, new endpapers, 8vo, Amsterdam, Van Holkema & Warendorf, [1928].⁂ A rare early edition of Dracula, the red cloth with gilt medallion seemingly a more expensive alternative to the off-white cloth, with apparently also mustard and green variants. Aside from the off-white variant sold in these rooms in March 2023, we can trace no example of this edition at auction or on WorldCat.

Rowling (J.K.) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, first paperback edition, with "Joanne Rowling", no space between "Taylor" and "1997" and full 10 to 1 number line on title verso, "wand" listed twice on p.53, light soiling to margins of first and last few pages, margins toned, otherwise clean internally, original pictorial wrappers with misprint "Philospher's" to lower cover, a little creased, very light nicking along edges and corners, spine faded, still an excellent example overall, [Errington A1(aa)], 8vo, 1997.

[Bird (Cyril Kenneth)] "Fougasse". Stop or Go: A Diary for 1939, first edition, original drawing in pen and ink with coloured pencil on half-title, signed by the artist in ink beneath, original pictorial cloth, 1938; Jotsam, first edition, presentation copy from the illustrator to "Freda" with pen and ink drawing of 2 birds on a branch, signed beneath, original pictorial cloth, 1939; and 11 others by Fougasse, all presentation copies inscribed to the same recipient Freda, original cloth or boards, 4to, 8vo or oblong 8vo (13)

Europe.- Dibdin (Rev. Thomas Frognall) A Bibliographical Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, 3 vol., first edition, 83 plates (1 colour, 2 sepia and several folding), as well as vignette illustrations within text, tissue guards, faint off-setting, occasional marginal foxing or finger soiling, contemporary calf, covers with ornate gilt borders enclosing a central gilt armorial crest, neatly rebacked, g.e., 8vo, Shakespeare Press, 1821.

Beckford (William).- Maddox (Wiles) Views of Lansdown Tower, Bath. The Favourite Edifice of the Late William Beckford Esqr., first edition, chromolithograph title with hand-coloured vignette, lithograph dedication, 6 tinted lithograph illustrations in text, 13 hand-coloured lithograph plates on 12 card leaves, by C.J. Richardson after Maddox, list of subscribers, some repairs to margins of text leaves, some foxing and soiling, leaves guarded, later half roan over original cloth, lettered in gilt, rubbed, [Abbey, Scenery 420], folio, Bath & London, Edmund English & Thomas McLean, 1844.⁂ Provenance: Urban Huttleston Rogers, Lord Fairhaven (bookplate).

Wodehouse (P.G.) Great Sermon Handicap, first edition, very small abrasion marks to endpapers, original red boards, lightly scuffed, dust-jacket, light creasing and chipping to extremities, overall an excellent copy, [McIlvaine A49a], housed in custom-made drop back box, 12mo, [1933].

Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Lord of the Rings, 3 vol., comprising The Fellowship of the Ring, fifth impression, sunning to spine ends, jacket spine chipped with loss, 1956, The Two Towers, second impression, ink ownership inscription, toning to spine, spotting to covers, third impression jacket, 1956, The Return of the King, first edition, first impression with signature mark '4' and sagging text to p.49, ink ownership inscription, jacket price-clipped, fading to lower panel, 1955, folding maps, browning to endpapers, original cloth, some shelf-lean, spine ends and corners a little bumped and frayed, dust-jackets, all broken along lower joint, spines browned, spine ends and corners chipped with loss, some creasing and fraying to head, light surface soiling and toning to panels, 8vo.

Botany.- Vallet (Pierre) Les Jardin du roy tres Chrestien Loys XIII, hand-coloured engraved title, one hand-coloured engraved portrait only (of 2), 93 hand-coloured plates, occasional marginal water-staining, faint staining to plate 39, marginal pencil marking and numbering to text ff., scattered faint spotting, new endpapers, modern vellum, [cf. Hunt 187], folio, Paris, 1623.⁂ "The first important Florilegium ... a work of great beauty" (Hunt). This was first published in 1608, with this, the second edition, expanded with a further 20 plates and re-dedicated to King Louis XIII.

Reissner (Adam) Ierusalem vetustissima illa et celeberrima totius mundi civitas, ex sacris literis et approbaris Historicis ad unguem descripta, first Latin edition, collation: A6 A-Z a-z Aa-Hh6 Ii4 Kk6, double-page woodcut bird's eye view of Jerusalem, woodcut illustrations, small repaired tear to final leaf of index, not affecting text, sig Gg and Hh misbound, some foxing and browning, contemporary German blind-stamped pigskin over wooden boards, with religious scenes in borders and date stamped '1565', original brass clasps and corner-pieces, preserved in modern suede-lined morocco drop-back box, folio (303 x 181mm.), Frankfurt, Georg Raben, Sigmund Feyerabend & heirs of Weigand Han, 1563.⁂ A superb, unsophisticated copy of the first Latin edition of this important and finely illustrated history of the city of Jerusalem before its destruction, which was published in the same year as the original German edition. This version was never completed and comprises the translation of only the first volume of the original German. Reissner (1496-1575) studied at the University of Heidelberg, taught theology at Strasburg and worked as a chronicler in his hometown of Mindelheim. The abundant illustrations include the wonderful panoramic view and 43 woodcuts by Virgil Solis depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments as well as views of cities and buildings.Provenance: from the library of a Franciscan convent in Vienna (with engraved bookplate and inscription on title dated 1654).Literature: VD 16 R1058; Röhricht 708.

Clandestine atheism.- Freret (Nicolas) Lettre de Thrasybule a Leucipe, Traduite du Grec, manuscript in French on paper, 281pp., 22 lines, ruled in red throughout, some light foxing, contemporary calf, spine gilt, corners, joints and spine ends worn, 8vo, n.p. [France], 1722.⁂ Rare example of a work circulated in manuscript form before the printed edition, which in this case did not appear till 1768. This copy is dated 1722, the time around which the first copies were known to be circulating, either being bought or borrowed for a small sum.Considered as one of the most hostile works to religion, a prelude to atheism, this Letter from Trasibule was also very innovative, introducing the study of history and comparative religions in the critique of dogma. Voltaire noted in his copy "livre dangereux" and the Marquis de Sade literally borrowed half of the Letter in his Histoire de Juliette.

Wodehouse (P.G.) The Man With 2 Left Feet, first American edition, endpapers toned with ink ownership name to pastedown, original pictorial cloth, spine ends lightly bumped, dust-jacket, spine very lightly foxed, spine ends with very small tape reinforcements verso, otherwise an excellent and near-fine copy, [McIlvaine A21b], 8vo, New York and Chicago, 1933.⁂ Three additional stories were added to the American edition.

Greene (Graham) The Quiet American, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author "For David, affectionally from Graham" on front free endpaper, lightly spotted, original boards, lightly cockled, dust-jacket, toned along spine and joints, light nicks to extremities, lower panel foxed, 8vo, 1955.⁂ Possibly inscribed to Bishop David Mathew, sometime friend of Greene.

India.- Valentia (George Annesley, Viscount) Voyages and Travels to India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia, and Egypt, in the years 1802, 1803, 1804, 1805, and 1806, 3 vol., first edition, half-titles, 3 engraved vignette illustrations and 69 engraved plates, maps and plans, 12 folding, lacking advertisement leaf at end of vol.3, some light offsetting but a very good, clean copy generally, contemporary speckled calf, spines gilt with red and black morocco labels, vol. 1 neatly rebacked, retaining original backstrip, vol. 2 & 3 joints cracked, extremities rubbed, [cf.Abbey, Travel 515], 4to, 1809.

Mining.- Chipman, M.D. (M.M.) Report of the committee made to the Medical Society of the State of California...Subject Mining debris deposits, off-print, very short split to lower margins, original printed wrappers, lightly spotted and soiled, San Francisco, W.M. Hinton & Co., 1881 § Rocha (José) Estudios sobre la estadistica minera de Guanajuato, first edition, signed presentation copy from the author, inscription little trimmed at outer margin, pp.8, 9 and 70 with a few juvenile colour pencil markings / scribbles, occasional spotting, lightly browned, modern dark blue half calf, gilt spine in compartments, Leon, Jesus Villalpando, 1884; and 3 others, early 20th century Mexican mining, 8vo (5)

Central Asia.- Abbott (Capt. James) Narrative of a Journey from Heraut to Khiva, Moscow, and St. Petersburg, during the late Russian invasion of Khiva, 2 vol., first edition, portrait lithograph, folding engraved map, bound without half-titles, bookplate, contemporary calf, rebacked retaining original backstrip, a little rubbed, 8vo, 1843.⁂ Provenance: Bookplate of Frederick Abbott (1805-92), brother of the author.

Darwin (Charles) The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication, 2 vol., first edition, first issue, illustrations, previous owner's ink signature to blanks, faint spotting to first few blank ff., original green cloth, gilt, bumping to corners and spine extremities, 8vo, 1868.

Dickens (Charles) The Mystery of Edwin Drood, first edition in 6 monthly parts, 14 wood-engraved plates after Luke Fildes, earliest issue of part 6 with the "eighteenpence" slip over the one shilling price on the upper wrapper, all front adverts present, all but one back adverts present including part 2 with the rare fragile "Cork Hat" slip (lacking only 8pp. "Chapman & Hall" advert to part 5 rear), all other adverts as called for, occasional spotting, original wrappers, light toning, creasing and fraying to edges but remarkably crisp overall, preserved in drop-back box, [Eckel pp.96-98; Hatton & Cleaver pp.373-384], 8vo, Chapman and Hall, 1870.⁂ An exceptionally complete and bright set, lacking just one advert.

[Dodgson (Charles Lutwidge)], ''Lewis Carroll". The Hunting of the Snark, first edition, [one of 100 copies], 9 wood-engraved plates by Henry Holiday, tissue guards, ink gift inscription to half-title dated 1879, title and frontispiece lightly browned, some light spotting or finger-soiling, original pictorial red cloth, gilt, Burn & Co binder's ticket to rear pastedown, gilt very slightly dulled, spine a touch darkened and with slight fraying to ends, corners lightly rubbed, slight shelf-lean, still an excellent copy overall, g.e., [Crutch 115], 1876.⁂ In addition to the buff cloth binding issued to the public, Carroll ordered a small quantity of variant colour bindings for presentation, including blue, green, white, and "to match Alice", 100 copies in the present red cloth. His own copy, sold at the sale of his books in 1898, was bound in the same red.

Thucydides. The hystory writtone by Thucidides the Athenyan of the warre, whiche was betwene the Peloponesians and the Athenyans, translated by Thomas Nicolls, first edition in English, black letter, title within elaborate historiated woodcut border with royal arms at head, historiated and decorative woodcut initials, with the rare errata leaf at end, often missing, lacking Z1&6 (both provided in facsimile), wormed, mostly marginally, but some within text (this mostly small holes), decreasing in severity as the work proceeds, water-stained, heavier in places towards end (see in particular sigs. 2I&K), occasional spotting, 19th century blind-stamped calf, gilt, central episcopal arms to covers, spine in compartments, rubbed and little scuffed, [STC 24056], small folio, [by William Tylle], 25th July, 1550.⁂ One of the earliest printed translations of Greek literature into English. Thucydides recounts the 5th-century B.C. war between Athens and Sparta and analyses the political and moral policies that fueled the combat.Provenance: Robert Savile (ink signature and 'Delicta Juventutis mea, & ignorantias meas ne memineris domine' to recto and verso (here dated 1570) of title). Probably a member of the prominent Lincolnshire family of the same name.

[Barrie (J.M.)] The Greenwood Hat. Being a Memoir of James Anon 1885-1887, first edition, one of 50 copies, initialed presentation inscription from the author "To Jack [Llewellyn Davies] affectionately from J.M.B. Christmas 1930" on title, frontispiece with ink inscription below in author's hand "Yours truly James Anon", scattered spotting to endpapers, some smoke odour, original limp roan, lettered in gilt, spine slightly faded, glacine dust-jacket, short tear to head of lower cover, 8vo, Privately Printed, 1930.⁂ A presentation copy of this collection of memoirs by Barrie, inscribed to his informally-adopted son Jack Lewellyn Davies, one of the principal inspirations for Peter Pan and the Lost Boys. Jack was one of the three older boys who would feature in Barrie's photo book The Boy Castaways, in which the boys were depicted fighting pirates on a desert island. See also lots 125, 126 and 171.Provenance: By descent through the family of Jack Llewellyn Davies and thence to the present owner.

Alciatus (Andreas) Les Emblemes, collation: A-P8 Q4, French and Latin text, woodcut device on title, another version on final recto, 113 emblematic woodcut illustrations by Jean or Mercure Jollat, tiny repaired hole in A5, slight stain to title, some early ink annotations washed causing ink to leave some stains, later citron morocco, gilt, by Duru, g.e., 8vo (153 x 94mm.), Paris, Chrestien Wechel, 1540.⁂ One of two 1540 editions, illustrated with the same woodcuts from the first French edition of 1536, attributed to Mercure Jollat. The solemn Gothic type of the earlier edition is replaced by a more easily readable roman and italic. The first edition appeared in 1531, but it was the Paris editions that 'set the standard for the popular field of emblematic literature' (Mortimer). Provenance: Contemporary annotations in French (washed); bought from Antonio López, 1944; Isidoro Fernandez (2 ex-libris).Literature: Landwehr, Romanic Emblem Books, 21; cf. Mortimer, Harvard French, 13; not in Praz.

Webster (Noah) The American Spelling Book: Containing an Early Standard of Pronunciation, twelfth edition, some foxing and browning, ink inscription and warning on blank verso of final leaf, no front free endpaper, contemporary calf-backed boards, rubbed and stained, preserved in fleece-lined chemise and cloth drop-back box, 8vo, Providence, R.I., Printed by John Carter, 1789.⁂ Seemingly the only complete copy recorded.Better known nowadays for his monumental dictionary, first published in 1828, yet had Webster never completed nor even conceived this remarkable work, his would still have been a household name throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, due largely to the extraordinary success of his little book that came to be known as the Blue-Back Speller, so named for the distinctive paper covering used in many later editions. First published as The First Part of the Grammatical Institute of the English Language at Hartford in 1783 (the Second Part was a grammar, the Third Part a reader), Webster thoroughly revised its text and gave it a simple new title in 1787 that would see it through dozens of editions over the decades to come: The American Spelling Book. Thus remade, it would become the best-selling book of any kind during the early years of the Republic. And so it would remain through no fewer than 260 editions, when in 1829 he issued The Elementary Spelling Book as an "improvement" on the old American speller.The present example is just the second known copy of the 1789 Providence issue (the only Providence issue of Webster's speller. Apart from this, the only known copy - in the collections of the American Antiquarian Society - is imperfect, lacking all after p. 146 and with pp. ii-iv and 142-146 described as mutilated. This is therefore the only known complete copy of this edition.

[Crawhall (Joseph)] The Compleatest Angling Booke that Ever was Writ, first edition, [one of 40 copies], signed inscription by the author "Compleatest Angling Booke - unique copy in sheets - coloured - many proofs & plates in duplicate - finished & unfinished - many impressions from ancient wood cuts printed on the reverse of sheets" to leaf inserted at start, ink inscription "insert in binding W.W.S" beneath in a different hand, printed on rectos only (unpaginated), 42 engraved plates, some duplicates in different states, 4 with hand-colouring, most on india paper and mounted, but some tipped-in or pasted on text versos, some other plates (facsimiles, music etc.), numerous vignettes in the text, many hand-coloured, original watercolour of a trout over pencil with varnish bound in (slightly discoloured), some light foxing and offsetting, handsomely bound in later crimson morocco, richly tooled in gilt, each cover with central angling motif, spine gilt in compartments and with five raised bands, decorative tooled turn-ins, t.e.g., others uncut, housed in a custom cloth drop-back box (little rubbed), [Westwood & Satchell pp.69-70], 4to, [Newcastle upon Tyne, by and for the author], [1859].⁂ The author's first book, published anonymously. "A very curious and original work and one of the chief rarities of the angling bibliophile's collection...only forty copies were struck off for private circulation." W & S. Copies appear to vary as to contents.Provenance: John Wilson (bookplate).

Craddock (Harry) The Savoy Cocktail Book, first edition, colour illustrations, occasional foxing, original cloth-backed pictorial boards, 8vo, 1930.⁂ A much better than usual copy, both internally with less foxing and externally with the binding less rubbed than is so often the case with this still hugely popular Art Deco book.

Sleidanus (Johannes) A Famouse Cronicle of oure time, called Sleidanes Commentaries, concerning the state of Religion and common wealth, during the raigne of the Emperour Charles the fift, translated by John Daus, first edition in English, black letter, large woodcut arms to title, woodcut historiated or decorative initials and tail-pieces, A6 blank, lacking final blank, title neatly mounted on stub, first few signatures with small wormholes within text, F3 and 2Q4 part of lower blank corner torn away, 3O6 short marginal tear, occasional marginal water-staining (mostly at foot), some spotting and staining, lightly browned, later endpapers, contemporary calf, gilt, covers with arabesque centre-piece with rosette to either side and initials 'RL' within an outer single filet border, sympathetically rebacked, spine in compartments and with green leather label, remains of metal clasps, [STC 19848], folio, [by Ihon Daye, for Abraham Veale, and Nicholas England], [25th September, 1560].⁂ A solid copy of this important record of The Reformation. It chronicles the reign of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and records the spread of Luther's ideology and other key events, including Henry VIII's break with Rome and the great conflict with the Turks. Provenance: 'RL' (initials to binding); 'Ro. Gregge' (contemporary ink signature to upper corner of title); Henry Oxenford Aveline Maybery (19th century engraved armorial bookplate to front pastedown).

Malta.- Sovereign Military Order of Malta.- [Bosio (Giacomo)] Histoire des Chevaliers de l'Ordre de l'Hospital de S. Iean de Hierusalem, translated by Pierre de Boissat, 2 vol. in 1, first French edition, engraved architectural title, decorative head-pieces and initials, title laid down, worm hole to title and following 3ff. within image and text, title also with minor losses at margins (touching engraving but no loss) and a small closed tear to foot (affecting engraving, no loss), the following 7ff. also with marginal defect at gutter foot and paper repair (touching text, a few letters lost), 6A2 with a few small holes and paper repairs (loss of letters), first two gatherings possibly washed, some light damp-staining to lower margin, eighteenth century calf with gilt arms to covers, spine gilt with label in vellum, 4to, Lyon, Guillaume Roville, 1612.⁂ First French edition of Giacomo Bosio's important history of the Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem, the first complied, originally published in Rome 1594. From foundation in 11th century Jerusalem across their subsequent military campaigns, the work contains much about Malta, Rhodes, Cyprus and the countries of the eastern Mediterranean. Literature: not in Blackmer

Lewis (John) The Life of Mayster Wyllyam Caxton, of the Weald of Kent; the First Printer in England, first edition, [one of 150 copies on fine paper], engraved portrait frontispiece, 2 woodcut plates of watermarks, errata leaf, contemporary panelled calf, red morocco spine label, slight split at head of upper joint, 8vo, 1737.⁂ A very good copy in contemporary binding of the first biography of an English printer, by a clergyman and antiquary at Margate in Kent. "Only 150 copies of this work having been printed, it is of rare occurrence and of high value...This memoir of Caxton is a very remarkable work, on account both of the fulness and accuracy of its material. The subsequent biographers of the first English printer, such as Ames, Herbert, and Dibdin, added, in fact little that was new to what Lewis had collected." (Bigmore & Wyman, p. 436).Provevance: Sir George Shuckburgh (armorial bookplate).

Annotated.- Saint-Omer.- Coutumes Locales, tant anciennes que nouvelles des Bailliages, Ville et Echevinage de Saint-Omer, d'Audruic & Pays de Bredenarde..., first edition, half-title, woodcut head- and tail-pieces and decorative initials, contemporary ink marginalia throughout, frequently extensive, small piece from lower margin of title, some spotting and staining, lightly browned, contemporary mottled calf, gilt spine in compartments, lacking label, worn, but holding, 4to, Paris, Pierre-Guillaume Simon, 1744.⁂ With evidence of intensive contemporary study.

Tutuola (Amos) The Palm Wine Drinkard, first edition, browning to endpapers, original cloth, bumping to foot of lower cover, dust-jacket, designed by Barnett Freedman, light browning to spine, light creasing to tips of spine and corners, a near-fine example generally, 8vo, 1952.⁂ Tutuola's first book and the first African novel published in English outside of Africa. The Palm Wine Drinkard was reviewed enthusiastically by Dylan Thomas and was translated into French by Raymond Queneau.

Le Carré (John) The Honourable Schoolboy, first edition, double-signed by the author "John Le Carré a.k.a David Cornwell 26 ii 02 Cornwall" on title, plain endpapers, original boards, slight bumping to spine tips, dust-jacket, light rubbing to upper edge, small patch of laminate lifting to upper panel, but a near-fine example overall, 8vo, 1977.⁂ The second title in the Karla trilogy, rare double-signed. There are two issues with either map or plain endpapers, seemingly without any established primacy.

Paleontology.- Mendes da Costa (Emanuel) A Natural History of Fossils, Vol. 1. Part 1 [all published], first edition, first issue with " Vol. 1. Part 1" to title, single engraved plate as frontispiece, list of subscribers, title with manuscript ink presentation inscription to head and ink library stamp "Geological Society. Burlington House" to foot, label laid down to front pastedown, title and frontispiece with tiny marginal chip and silked repair, spotting to title and initial leaves, occasional thereafter, p.55 closed tear and paper repair, nineteenth century half calf, rebacked preserving original spine, 4to, for L. Davis and C. Reymers, 1757.

Fleming (Ian) Moonraker, first edition, state with "shoot" on p.10, light browning to endpapers and light foxing marks to title, original boards lettered in silver, dust-jacket, spine lightly browned and chipped at ends, light surface soiling, heavier to lower panel, rubbing to joints, evenly toned, 8vo, 1955.

Bonaventura (Saint) [Meditationes] Vita Christi, collation: [a8] b-m8, 95ff. (of 96, lacking final blank), 32 lines, Gothic type, rubricated, large woodcut printer's device on title, a few marginal notes in ink in an early hand, early 20th century brown morocco, upper cover with on-laid green morocco corners and centre surrounded by gilt gouges, leaves and flowers on stems with a dotted background, lower cover with gilt flower in each corner and cross at centre with small circular white onlay, hearts and dots, spine in 5 panels, lettered in first and second, others with gilt flower, leaves, stems and dots, turn-ins tooled with gilt roll, plain endleaves, g.e., upper hinge broken, 8vo (132 x 91mm.), Paris, Pierre le Dru [for Jacques Moraert], [c.1495].⁂ This devotional work, traditionally attributed to St. Bonaventura (1221-1274) but probably by the late 14th century Franciscan Johannes de Caulibus of San Gimignano, was immensely popular at the end of the 15th century. It was first printed at Augsburg in 1468, followed by a series of incunabula editions all of which are now rare. According to ISTC this edition is only know in five copies, two at Cambridge, and one each at Yale, Poitiers and Copenhagen.Provenance: Capuchins of Saint-Trond, Limbourg (ink inscription at head of title).Literature: Goff (Supp) B-896a; GW 4753; Pellechet 2684; Polain 4089; ISTC ib00896500.

Lewis (C.S.) The Last Battle. A Story for Children, first edition, illustrations by Pauline Baynes, occasional very light spotting, neat ink ownership inscription to endpaper, original boards, light fading to spine and foot of upper cover, sunning to spine tips, dust-jacket, light browning to spine, chip to head of spine strengthened with archival tissue, spotting, minor chipping to corners neatly repaired, light creasing to head with a few short nicks neatly repaired, extremities a little rubbed, 8vo, 1956.⁂ The final book in the Chronicles of Narnia series.

Benson (E. F.) Mapp and Lucia, first edition, signed presentation inscription to John Fowler from the author "for J. Fowler from E. F. Benson, Lamb House, Sept 10 31" on front free endpapers, light scattered spotting, original cloth, soiled and discoloured, spine faded, 8vo, 1931.⁂ Rare. we can trace no other auctioned copy similarly signed of this comic masterpiece. Inscribed to the vicar of Rye, from Lamb House, where Benson lived from 1919 to 1940. His Mapp and Lucia novels were set in the fiction town of Tilling, which was based on Rye, with Lamb House cast as the home of Miss Mapp, 'Mallards'.

China.- Mennie (Donald) The Grandeur of the Gorges, second edition, title in green and black, 50 tipped-in plates, including 12 hand-coloured, original gilt-sprayed half calf over black silk with gilt lettering, 4to, Shanghai, 1932.⁂ A fine copy of the second edition of a work which first appeared in 1926. Mennie was a Scottish-born American photographer and entrepreneur. In China he first worked for MacTavish, Lehmann & Co. of Shanghai, later the MacTavish Photo Shop, one of the first producers of picture post-cards of Shanghai. He then moved to A.S. Watson & Co., rising to become their managing director.

Kelmscott Press.- [Gulielmus, Archbishop of Tyre.] The History of Godefrey of Boloyne and of the Conquest of Iherusalem, from William Caxton's edition of 1481, edited by H. Halliday Sparling, one of 300 copies on Flower paper, printed in red & black with text in Troy type and glossary in Chaucer, wood-engraved title, borders & initials designed by William Morris, very occasional spotting, bookplate to pastedown, faint ink library stamp to head of title and number to front free endpaper, original limp vellum with silk ties (ties lacking), yapp edges, spine titled in gilt, uncut, a little rubbed and rather soiled, especially spine, a few creases, [Peterson A15], 4to, Kelmscott Press, 1893.⁂ One of Caxton's most important works, according to Morris, and with many ornaments including the first use of the larger Kelmscott printer's mark. It was also the first book to be sold by the press itself and not through a publisher.A printed presentation label to front pastedown reads: "Given by Mrs William Morris in memory of her husband 1897."

Galilei (Galileo) Le Operazioni del Compasso Geometrico, e Militare...con le Annotazioni di Mattia Bernaggieri, folding engraved plate, woodcut illustrations and diagrams, later morocco-backed boards, a few worm-holes, 8vo, Milan, Francesco Agnelli, 1741.⁂ A new edition of Galileo's first book, originally published in Padua 1606.

Wodehouse (P.G.) The White Feather, first edition, first issue without advertisements at rear, 12 plates by W. Townend, foxing, heavier to first and last few pages, original pictorial cloth, lightly rubbed, corners bumped, a little rubbed and darkened but excellent otherwise, [McIlvaine A8a], 8vo, 1907.

Rowling (J.K.) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, first edition, first state with line break on p.7, original pictorial boards, fine, dust-jacket, slight creasing to tip of spine, else fine, [Errington A7(a)], 8vo, 1999.⁂ A superb example of the third novel in the Harry Potter series.

Orwell (George) Animal Farm, first edition, endpapers toned with pencil inscription, original cloth, discoloured and faded along edges, dust-jacket with red Searchlight advertisement to verso, spine ends and corners chipped, larger portion of loss to spine tail, torn along joints, tear to upper panel head and other nicks along edges, joints rubbed, [Fenwick A10a], 8vo, 1945.

Marx (Karl) Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Oekonomie, vol. 1 only [all published in Marx's lifetime], second improved edition, without half-title and final advertisement f., bound in dark brown goatskin by K.H. Neumann, spine with five raised bands and lettered in silver, matching goatskin doublures, signed with stamp at foot of rear turn-in, marbled endpapers, chemise of suede-lined dark brown goatskin with yapp edges, spine ruled in blind, upper panel titled in silver and with onlay of repeating red-tinted photographic portrait of Marx, housed in a matching suede-lined goatskin drop-back box, 8vo, Hamburg, 1872.⁂ Revised by the author from the first edition of 1867, with the addition of a 10pp. afterword. Only one volume of Das Kapital was published in Marx's lifetime, with volumes two and three prepared by Engels from Marx's notes after his death.

Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, first impression, frontispiece, one plate and 8 illustrations, including 7 full-page, map endpapers printed in red & black, all by the author, 2" tear to lower edge endpapers, 2pp. advertisements, occasional light pen mark or finger-soiling mark to pages, small marginal hole to pp.223/4, pen colouring and writing to fore-edge, original pictorial cloth, light shelf-lean, spine darkened, chipping and fraying to spine ends and corners, light soiling, 8vo, 1937.

Hebraica.- Fagius (Paul).- Sententiae vere elegantes, piae, mir(a)eque, cum ad linguam discendam, tum animum pietate excolendum utiles, veterum sapientum Hebraeorum, quas Pirke Avot [hebraice], first Latin edition, collation: ℵ4, a-t4, text in Hebrew and Latin, large printer's woodcut device on title and t4 verso, woodcut initials, early red ink marginal flourish to first word of title and to dedication, a few neat annotations and markings, seemingly all in the same hand, bookplates to front and rear pastedowns, modern red morocco-backed boards, rubbing to spine tips, a fine copy, small 4to (217 x 150mm.), Isny im Allgäu, Paul Fagius, 1541.⁂ The second of seven works printed by the Hebrew scholar Fagius and his small press in Isny, Germany, between 1541 and 1542.Provenance: John Ehrman (his Bibliotheca Broxbourniana bookplate to rear pastedown, sold his sale, Sotheby's London, 15 November 1977, lot 211). Literature: VD 16 F 554.

Opthalmology.- Guillemeau (Jacques) Traité des Maladies de l'Oeil, first edition, title with woodcut device, woodcut head-pieces and initials, small rust-hole to M2, touching text but without loss of sense, final 2 ff. with very small chip to lower outer corner, occasional light spotting and soiling, but overall a very good copy, later vellum, a few very small puncture marks, some skilful repairs, toned and lightly soiled, modern slipcase, [Adams G1564; G-M 5818; Krivatsy 2219], 8vo, Paris, Charles Macé, 1585.⁂ The first French work on ophthalmology. Jacques Guillemeau (1550-1613) was surgeon to Charles IX, Henri III and Henri III of France. He studied under his father-in-law Ambroise Paré, to whom this work is dedicated. The first monograph on ophthalmology to achieve an international readership, it was considered the epitome of existing work on the subject, compiled mainly from Greek and Arabian sources.

Melville (Herman).- Beale (Thomas) The Natural History of the Sperm Whale...to Which is Added, a Sketch of a South Sea Whaling Voyage, second edition, without adverts, frontispiece and 2 plates, ex-library copy with stamps and markings, ownership name to endpapers, original blind-stamped mauve cloth, spine faded, corners bumped, 8vo, 1839⁂ Scarce in original cloth. This expanded edition is the first to contain the account of the whaling voyage, and also has the distinction of being the main technical source for Melville's Moby Dick.

Churchill (Sir Winston Spencer) [The War Speeches], 7 vol., first edition, half-titles, frontispieces and plates, scattered spotting to one or two vol. but generally clean, modern half crushed blue morocco, red morocco spine labels, gilt, [Woods A66a, A89, A94, A101, A107, A112 & A114], 8vo, 1941-46.⁂ Comprising: Into Battle; The Unrelenting Struggle; The End of the Beginning; Onward to Victory; The Dawn of Liberation; Victory; Secret Session Speeches

Dickens (Charles) Bleak House, first edition in the original 19/20 parts, 40 plates by H.K. Browne, with the explanation of the accident to plate 17 in part 9, all but one adverts present (lacking only "New Geographical & Educational Works" 2pp. from part 14 rear), all other adverts as called for, plates browned or offset, some light soiling, original wrappers, rubbing and browning, some spines chipped with portions of loss, still overall an excellent and unrestored copy, [Hatton & Cleaver pp.273-304], preserved in custom drop-back box, 8vo, Bradbury & Evans, 1852-53.⁂ A remarkably complete copy, lacking just one advert.

Flaubert (Gustave) Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners, 2 vol., first edition, contemporary ink ownership name to endpaper or half-title, contemporary calf-backed boards, rubbed, preserved in custom-made drop-back box, 12mo, Paris, Michel Lévy Frères, 1857.

Rowlandson (Thomas).- [Hartley (J.)] History of the Westminster Election, first edition, variant with single leaf dedication "To the Free and Independent Electors of Westminster...", folding etched frontispiece and 15 satirical plates by Rowlandson, 12 of which folding, errata leaf, some plates with very short tears at folds without loss, Q gathering with a few repaired tears, obscuring a few words to Q2-3, some scattered spotting and light browning (heavier to peripheral ff.), the odd small marginal stain, upper hinge repaired with tape, uncut in original drab boards, rebacked in cloth, old paper label to spine (chipped), quite worn, 4to, for the Editors, 1784.⁂ On the election of Fox, Hood, and Wray in 1784.

Surgery.- Vigo (Giovanni da) The most excelent worckes of Chirurgery...traunslated into Englishe. Whereunto is added an exposition of straunge termes and unknowen symples, belongyng unto the arte, second edition in English, black letter, text in two columns, title within woodcut architectural border, woodcut initials, [par.]3-6, 2F4 and final 16 leaves (including final blank) supplied from another, shorter copy, skilful restoration to title, including small loss to border at upper corner restored in manuscript, a few marginal repairs, just touching text to G3, a few tears into text neatly repaired (repair obscuring some text to U5), Y3-4 & 2C5 repaired with loss to a few letters, the odd small stain, obscuring a couple of letters to I1, occasional contemporary ink marginalia, water-staining, some light browning, contemporary blind-stamped calf over wooden boards, neatly rebacked and recornered, preserving original spine, brass catches (lacking clasps), rubbing to spine ends and joints, endpapers renewed but with most of original pastedown with contemporary ink inscription preserved, [STC 24721; cf. G&M 5559.1], Edwarde Whytchurch, 1550.⁂ Vigo's surgical compilation, first published in 1514. "The first complete system of surgery after that of Guy de Chauliac. It contains an account of gunshot wounds and a section on syphilis" (G&M).The English translation by Bartholomew Traheron first appeared in 1543.

Foxe (John) Actes and monuments of these latter and perillous dayes, touching matters of the Church, wherein ar comprehended and described the great persecutions [and] horrible troubles, that haue bene wrought and practised by the Romishe prelates, first edition, black letter, double column, 2 folding woodcut plates, woodcut illustrations in text, woodcut historiated or decorative initials (including one large depicting Queen Elizabeth enthroned in her coronation robes) and tail-pieces, printed slip at foot of AAa2v, duplicates of EEE2&5 bound in (the signature complete), occasional contemporary or later ink marginalia, lacking *1&2 (including title), [fleuron]1-4 (calendar), B6 ('The utility of this history') and VVVV1-4 (index and colophon), all supplied in facsimile, also lacking the 2 slips with the woodcut illustration for pp.25 and 41 (these pp. with blank space for illustration), and the plate of King John at p.69 (this provided in facsimile), KKk2 torn at head and repaired (with loss of text) and with marginal repairs, folding woodcut plate at p.1548 with minor loss to border and mounted on stub, closely trimmed at head in places, occasionally affecting a headline, a few small wormholes in places, occasional marginal repairs, some spotting or staining, lightly browned, endpapers renewed, antique style calf, spine in compartments, covers with metal centre- and corner-pieces (1 corner-piece missing from lower cover), remains of metal clasps, joints starting, but holding firm, ?spine repaired, rubbed and marked, [STC 11222], folio, By Iohn Day, dwellyng ouer Aldersgate, [20th March, 1563].⁂ A rare appearance at auction of the first edition of Foxe's monumental work of early English Church history. It is most often found defective. This vividly illustrated work is comprised of five books, which include the early Christian martyrs; a brief history of the medieval church, and the Lollard movement; the reign of Henry VIII and the break with Rome; and finally the reign of Queen Mary and the Marian Persecutions.

Medicine.- Surgery.- Vigo (Giovanni da) Practi. Io. de Vigo. Copiosa in arte chirurgica..., title and following 9ff. with central defects to top edge, paper and silked repairs with some ?glue staining, affecting first few lines of text with some losses, lacking final blank, some light marginal damp-stains, bound with Practica Compendiosa..., 2D3 mounted on stub and small chip at top edge, likewise affecting previous 8ff. (not affecting text), lacking final blank, together 2 parts in 1, woodcut initials, ink ownership inscriptions and a couple of small ink notes and markings in a later hand, a few ff. browned, scattered spots and stains, modern diced calf, [Edit 16 CNCE 16101; 16102], folio, Venice, heirs of Ottaviano Scoto, 1520 ⁂ First Venice edition, and virtually the earliest attainable. The Practica addresses the two great problems for Renaissance surgery; gunshot wounds and syphilis, with da Vigo the first Italian to publish on the former. The first complete system of surgery after that of Guy de Chauliac (1478), it was hugely successful, appearing in multiple editions and languages. Originally published in Rome in 1514, the Compendiosa followed in 1517.

Economics.- Petty (Sir William) Another Essay in Political Arithmetick, Concerning the Growth of the City of London, first edition, light soiling (dust) to title, A2 with short marginal tear, C1 with paper defect to bottom corner just touching text, worming to bottom edge not affecting text, unbound, [Wing P1915], small 8vo, by H.H. for Mark Pardoe, 1683.⁂ Sir William Petty (1623-82) was the first person to carry out a statistical survey on a large scale when he made the Down Survey in Ireland on behalf of the Commonwealth. The implication of the title is that a previous work on political arithmetic had already been published. In fact, this essay was the first to be printed: Keynes points out that the 1686 reprint explains that 'an extract of a Letter' was incorrectly thought to have been another essay. This is thus Petty's first work on political arithmetic and his calculations and ingenious deductions set the tone for his later statistical analysis. Another Essay is a landmark in the history of statistical analysis, leading towards Babbage's Analytical Engine.

Newton (Sir Isaac) Opticks: or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. Also Two Treatises of the Species and Magnitude of Curvilinear Figures, first edition, first issue, title in red and black, within a double-rule border and without author's name, 19 folding engraved plates, some foxing, soiling and occasional light water-staining, disbound and broken, bound with the single leaf following Tt1 (ie the divisional title to Enumeratio linerum tertii ordinis), [Babson p.66; Gray 174; Wallis 174], 4to (241 x 190mm.), Printed for Sam. Smith, and Benj. Walford, Printers to the Royal Society, 1704.⁂ "Newton's Opticks did for light what his Principia had done for gravitation, namely, placed it on a scientific basis" (Babson, p.66).Provenance: from the library of George Fuller (1829- 1907), Member of the Institute of Civil Engineers. Professor of Civil Engineering at UCL and then later at Belfast University. He is best known for having invented the "Fuller's Spiral Slide rule", a game-changer in terms of calculation; it was marketed by W F Stanley, patented in Britain in 1878 and in the US the following year, sold and used widely from the 1880s to early 1970s - used until the advent of the electronic calculator became affordable thus making it redundant; thence by descent in the family.

Le Carré (John) Smiley's People, first edition, double-signed by the author "John Le Carré a.k.a. David Cornwell" to title, original boards, slight bumping to spine tips, dust-jacket, near-fine, 8vo, 1979.⁂ The final title in the Karla Trilogy, rare double-signed.

Darwin (Charles) On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, second edition, second issue with "fifth thousand" on title, half-title, folding lithograph diagram, 32pp. publisher's catalogue dated January 1860 at end, hinges broken, original blind-stamped cloth, spine gilt, overall a sharp, near-fine copy, preserved in modern cloth drop-back box, [Freeman 376], 8vo, 1860.⁂ The first edition had a print run of only 1250 copies and was sold out in a day. The book was republished in a printing of only 3000 copies literally within days of the first issuance. Darwin himself considered this edition "little more than a reprint of the first edition".A very nice and completely unsophisticated copy of "the most influential scientific work of the nineteenth century" and "the most important biological work ever written" (Horblit, Freeman).

Wodehouse (P.G.) The Gold Bat, first edition, first issue with 2pp. advertisements for 3 titles at rear, 8 plates by T.M.R. Whitwell (one detached), light spotting, heavier to first few pages, bookplate, offset to endpapers, original pictorial cloth, spine faded, ends lightly creased and rubbed, still overall an excellent, sharp copy, [McIlvaine A4a], 8vo, 1904.

Great Game.- Pottinger (Lt. Henry) Travels in Beloochistan and Sinde, first edition, hand-coloured aquatint frontispiece (frayed), large folding engraved map in outline hand-colouring (laid down), title, frontispiece and final leaf also laid down, some soiling and marginal staining, last few leaves with marginal repairs, modern crimson half calf over marbled boards, spine slightly faded, [Howgego P43. Wilson p.178; Ghani p.305; Diba p.224], 4to, 1816.⁂ Disguised as Muslim horse-traders, British secret service officers Henry Pottinger and Charles Christie, in 1810 followed orders "to explore the Baluchi country and the east of Persia, tracts at that time were wholly unknown to Europeans" (Elphinstone), as well as "to collect information on roads and other means of moving troops and to study the political situation in Herat... noted for its strategic position, which at that time was the trading crossroad of central Asia" (Howgego, 489). The mission was undertaken in order to help prepare the Persian army against foreign invasion; a promise Britain had made in return for the Shah's influence on the Afghans in negotiating peace with the British in India. Based upon his official report to "the Right Honorable Governor-General in Council," Pottinger's Travels was an immediate best-seller, describing his under-cover activities, including "such incidents as I thought curious or amusing," and outlining the routes that were taken by advancing troops of the East India Company and then by the British Empire.