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De Quincey (Thomas) Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, first edition in book form, lacking half-title and advertisement leaf at end, bookplate to front pastedown, the odd spot, modern dark blue calf by Hatchards, g.e., slightly rubbed, spine lightly sunned, 12mo, Taylor and Hessey, 1822. *** “The most famous account of drug addiction in English literature.” - Norman.

Southey (Robert).- Cottonian binding.- [Mailles (Jacques de)] The Right Joyous and Pleasant History of the Feats, Gests, and Prowesses of the Chevalier Bayard, 2 vol., first edition, translated by Sarah Coleridge, half-titles, vol.1 with ownership signature of Katharine Southey at foot of half-title and with cut signature of her father Robert Southey at foot of title, some foxing, contemporary Cottonian binding of brown patterned cloth, paper spine labels slightly rubbed and chipped, 8vo, 1825.*** Many of Southey's books are bound in this fashion, executed by his daughters or female friends using coloured cotton prints over the original worn boards. They filled a room in his house which became known as the "Cottonian Library". This copy with the added bonus of bearing Southey's and his daughter's signature. A pencil note in a later hand on front free endpaper reads "Bought at Lairbeck Cottage Keswick after the death of Katharine Southey, August 1864."

Byroniana.- Battaglia (Alessandro) Sopra il Risorgimento della Grecia, first edition, errata slip at end with 2 ms addenda, broken, contemporary roan-backed boards, spine ends worn, uncut, 8vo, J. Booth, 1827.*** The dedication of this rare work, published in London, is to Lady Byron and Ada Byron (later Lovelace). Provenance: Nottingham Public Library (ink stamp to title verso and small embossed stamp to title); acquired from Alan G. Thomas, bookseller, with his cataloguing slip loosely inserted, dated May 1958 and the book priced at 30/-; Sir Francis Boileau from Lord Nugent's Library (pencil note on front pastedown and referred to in Thomas' note).

Blake (William).- Hayley (William) The Life, and Posthumous Writings, of William Cowper, 4 vol. in 3 including supplement, second edition, 5 engraved portraits and plates, 4 engraved by William Blake after others and one engraved by Caroline Watson, engraved tail-piece designed and engraved by Blake, second state of the "Weatherhouse" engraving as usual (only a few copies known of the first state), vol.3 a little browned, engraved bookplate of Mrs. Gosling, contemporary tree calf, gilt, rubbed, spine ends and corners a little worn, joints split, [Bentley 468], Chichester, J. Seagrave, 1803-06 § Blair (Robert) The Grave, a Poem, engraved portrait of William Blake by Louis Schiavonetti after T.Phillips and engraved additional pictorial title and 11 plates by Schiavonetti after Blake, tissue guards, list of subscribers, some light marginal soiling but generally a good clean copy, tissue guards a little browned, original blind-stamped black cloth, rubbed, rebacked, corners repaired, new endpapers, [Bentley 435E], T.Bensley for R. Ackermann, 1813 [but John Camden Hotten, 1870]; The Grave...transposed into Rhyme, by G.W.Bulkley, first edition of this version, signed and dated by Bulkley and with extensive ink manuscript corrections by him to the first four lines and a few others, book-label of J.O.Edwards, old blue cloth, cockled and lightly stained, spine faded, 1833, 4to & 8vo (5)

Foscolo (Ugo) Vera storia di due amanti infelici, ossia Ultime lettere di Jacopo Ortis, 2 parts in 1, first edition, divisional title, engraved medallion portrait frontispiece, ink note front endpaper and ownership inscription final leaf part 1, foxing, upper hinge weak, contemporary mottled calf, spine gilt but ends worn with portions chipped, wear to upper joint, 16mo, [Bologna], [Jacopo Marsigli], 1799.*** The extremely rare first edition of Foscolo's masterpiece, which is considered the first Italian epistolary novel - here in the 'Austrian' issue known as '1799A', printed during the Austrian occupation of Bologna. 

Ballard (J. G.) The Drowned World, first English [and first hardback] edition, very faint spotting to fore-edge, original boards, light bumping to spine ends, dust-jacket, light toning to edges, spine ends a little chipped, one or two faint foxing marks to lower panel, 8vo, 1962.

Architecture.- Middleton (Charles) The Architect and Builder's Miscellany, or Pocket Library..., first edition, 60 charming etched plates and plans, many with aquatint, all but a few with early hand-colouring, ink ownership inscription front endpaper verso, contemporary calf, gilt, red morocco spine label, upper joint split at head, lower cracked but holding, scuffed, [Berlin Kat. 2310; Not in Abbey], 8vo, for the author, sold by J. Debrett et al., 1799.*** Delightful architectural pattern book with unusual plates by a pupil of James Paine, from primitive huts to grand mansions. The designs include Gothic cottages, Regency villas, Chinese and Turkish garden buildings.

Blake (William) The Book of Thel, second Muir facsimile, number 5 of 50 copies, 8 hand-coloured plates printed in green, with signed note of limitation by William Muir mounted on front free endpaper and signed "Number 5" slip on front pastedown, slight staining to head of first leaf (Thel's Motto) from slip pasted to previous leaf, modern half red calf, upper cover lettered in gilt, wormhole to head of upper joint, [Bentley 249B], 4to, Edmonton, William Muir, 1920.*** Muir's note states, "This Book is copied from a very richly coloured Original which was lent to me by Mr.Bernard Quaritch of 15 Piccadilly in 1887. I now issue this edition of fifty copies through Messrs. Quaritch of Grafton Street. London August 1920. Wm. Muir". This second edition was coloured after Copy J in the Houghton Library.

Waugh (Evelyn) Decline and Fall, first edition, first printing with ""Martin Gaythorne-Brodie"" and ""Kevin Saunderson"" unchanged on pp.168-9, frontispiece, very faint and occasional foxing marks, original cloth, near-fine, dust-jacket, usual fading to spine and extremities, a few nicks to edges, light surface marking to title label on upper panel but still overall a sharp and unrestored example, 8vo, 1928. *** An excellent example of Waugh's first novel, scarce in the dust-jacket.

Bio-Bibliography of Englishmen.- Pitts (John) Relationum historicarum de rebus Anglicis, Vol.1 [all published], first edition, title printed in red and black and with large woodcut printer's device, woodcut head-pieces and decorative initials, lacking final blank, title with small piece cut from upper blank corner, 6H4 lower corner torn just within text without loss, water-stained, some spotting, lightly browned, contemporary speckled calf, rebacked preserving original backstrip in compartments (with some loss at ends; later but to style brown leather label loosely inserted), rubbed and marked, thick 4to, Paris, Rolin Thierry Rolin Thierry & Sébastien Cramoisy, 1619. *** One of the earliest bio-bibliographies of Englishmen. It is divided into four parts: English writers; Kings; Bishops; and 'Apostolic men'. Three further parts remained in manuscript. The work concludes with a section listing Pitts' manuscript sources and an index. Pitts (1560-1616) was an English Roman Catholic scholar, who was a professor at the English College in Rheims, confessor and almoner to the Duchess of Cleves, and after her death Dean of Liverdun, where he died. Provenance: Sir Thomas Shirley (c.1590-1654), antiquary and Catholic recusant, for which he was heavily fined (ink signature to title); Henry Johnson (ink signature to upper corner of a2). 

Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord) Hebrew Melodies, first edition, half-title, lacks final advertisement leaf (issue thus unknown), occasional pencil underlining, contemporary half morocco, joints and spine ends repaired, upper cover with small paper label to foot, rubbed, [Wise I, pp.104-5], Printed for John Murray, 1815; The Giaour, A Fragment of A Turkish Tale, first published edition, copy on ordinary wove paper, lacks half-title, later half morocco, spine and corners rubbed, joints marked and cracked but holding, [Wise I, p.78], T. Davison for John Murray, 1813; Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice, first edition, first issue with 5 1/2 line speech on p.151, half-title, final advertisement f., occasional foxing or light dust-soiling, mainly to margins, library cloth, [Wise II, pp.29-30], John Murray, 1821, ex-library with usual ink-stamps, including to titles; and 3 others by the same, including the rare third edition of The Island (1823), small 4to & 8vo (6)

Spain.- Mayerne (Louis Turquet de) The Generall Historie of Spaine... translated into English, and continued unto these times by Edward Grimeston, first edition in English, with initial blank, title within woodcut architectural border, woodcut initials and headpieces, title with tiny hole (no text loss), some staining to first few ff. (heaviest to A3), 3A2, 5I1 & 5D5 small mark or hole causing loss to few letters, 2F1 tear within text but no loss, occasional very small worming to lower margin of first half, water-staining, quite frequent but usually marginal, some toning, without free endpapers, later calf, covers with central gilt-tooled lozenge, spine gilt with raised bands and morocco label, portion of old manuscript used as binder's waste, small paper labels to spine ends, rubbed and worn in places, upper joint split at foot, [STC 17747], folio, A. Islip and G. Eld, 1612.  *** Grimeston continued Mayerne's work to cover the period of 1583-1612, including the defeat of the Armada and Drake's raids on Cadiz and Lisbon.Provenance: "Ex dono Johannis Bingley Armiger" (contemporary inscription to head of initial blank); Earls of Macclesfield (small embossed stamp to first few leaves). 

American kitchen gardens, orchards & vineries.- Wilson (William) Economy of the kitchen-garden, the orchard, and the vinery,  first and only edition, engraved plate of vines, related contemporary ink note and cuttings on grafting to rear endpapers, foxed and stained, mostly lightly browned, new front endpapers, original boards, rebacked in blue morocco, gilt, with red morocco label, spine stained, chip from outer edge of upper board, corners worn, rubbed, 8vo, New York, Anderson, Davis, & Co., 1828.  *** Rare at auction, with the Crahan / Crahan-Heck copy being the only other we can trace (1984 ($522) & 1986 (with another related $825). Wilson is described as a 'Nurseryman' on the title. 

Play.- Brome (Richard) The Northern lasse, a comoedie. As it hath beene often acted with good applause, at the Globe, and Black-Fryers, first edition, woodcut ornament to title, woodcut head-pieces and decorative initials, title trimmed at foot, with loss of date and very small part of imprint, final f. trimmed at foot (with loss of final line of text recto & verso and word 'Finis') and little torn and repaired at upper corner, with minor loss, A2&3 working loose, closely trimmed at head and foot, some spotting and mostly light staining, lightly browned, modern calf-backed marbled boards, [Greg II, 463a; STC 3819], small 4to, Printed by Aug. Mathewes, and are to be sold by Nicholas Vavasour, dwelling at the little South dore of St. Paul's Church, 1632. *** Rare at auction, with only a handful of copies offered since the early 1900s, often with condition issues. With commendatory verses by Ben Jonson, John Ford, Thomas Dekker and others. The play was one of Brome's earliest successes. A variant has 'Vavasor' in imprint.

Steinbeck (John) The Grapes of Wrath, first edition, original cloth, dust-jacket, light creasing and a few nicks to extremities, two 1" closed tears to spine head (not affecting text) and front flap (slightly affecting text), overall an excellent copy, preserved in custom-made drop-back box with stamped relief echoing dust-jacket design, [Goldstone & Payne A12a], 8vo, New York, 1939. *** An excellent copy of Steinbeck's landmark novel, winner of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. One of the most influential books of the century. 

Rowling (J.K.) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, first edition, first printing, usual light marginal toning, original boards, first issue dust-jacket, light fading to spine and edges very slightly affecting boards, otherwise excellent, [Errington A2(a)], 8vo, 1998.

Coffee.- Slavery.- Laborie (P.J.) The Coffee Planter of Saint Domingo...Containing a View of the Constitution, Government, Laws and State of that Colony... To which are Added, some Hints on the Present State of the Island, Under the British Government, 2 parts in 1 (including Appendix), first edition, 22 engraved plates on 21 sheets (18 folding), ex-library copy with ink stamps (including to versos of plates), plate 10 little trimmed at lower corner just within border, pencil notes to verso of title, occasional spotting, lightly browned, modern tan morocco, spine gilt (including library numbering) and with red morocco label, [Hünersdorff, Coffee, p.839; Mueller p.124; Goldsmiths' 17286; Sabin 38430], 8vo, Printed for T. Cadell and W. Davies, in the Strand, 1798. *** Rare at auction, with only two other copies traced since 1963 (the last of which The Rothamsted Collection copy, in our rooms 11th July, 2018, lot 701, £4600 hammer).  Account of coffee planting and life in 18th century Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti), which at that point accounted for around sixty percent of the world's coffee production. This extensive work was written as a manual for British coffee planters, and includes a chapter on slave management, along with an account of the 1790s slave revolt.

Polar.- Weddell (James) A Voyage towards the South Pole, first edition, hand-coloured aquatint frontispiece, 8 engraved maps, most folding, 6 aquatint plates, some folding, folding maps and plates linen-backed, soiling, ex-library copy with ink stamp 'Portico' on plate versos and occasionally in text and on one plate recto, modern green morocco, spine faded, [Abbey, Travel 609; Hill p.322; Sabin 102431], 8vo, 1825.*** Weddell's expedition 'visited and described the Cape Verde Islands, South Orkney Islands, South Shetland Islands, and South Georgia Islands, wintered in the Falkland Islands, and described Tierra del Fuego, Patagonia, and Montevideo. During their southward sailing, they reached the lowest latitude as yet then recorded. This area explored now bears the name Weddell Sea' (Hill).

Byroniana.- Blaquiere (Edward) Narrative of a Second Visit to Greece, including Facts connected with the last days of Lord Byron, first edition, presentation copy inscribed by the author, lithograph frontispiece on india paper, folding facsimile, lacks half-title, small embossed library stamp to title, contemporary green calf, gilt, rebacked preserving original spine, new spine label, [Atabey 117; Blackmer 150], 8vo, 1825.*** "Blaquiere played a decisive role in the philhellenic movement in Britain; he and Bowring together set up the London Greek Committee. Blaquiere's connection with Byron is of particular interest; he saw Byron at Genoa in 1823 (on his way to Greece to collect information for the Committee) and was instrumental in persuading him to go to Greece." (Blackmer).The inscription is to Jane S. Tait and is dated April 1828.

Russia.- Alexander (William) Costume of the Russian Empire, first edition, additional engraved title and 72 plates, all hand-coloured stipple-engravings, titles and text in English and French, plate XIV misbound before plate XIX, faint offsetting, contemporary crimson straight-grain morocco, decorated in blind and gilt, spine richly gilt, g.e., rubbing to joints and extremities, a few small marks to upper cover, folio, Edward Harding, 1803.

London.- Campbell (R.) The London Tradesman. Being a Compendious View of All the Trades, Professions, Arts, both Liberal and Mechanic, now practised..., first edition, H6-8 small defect or tear to upper corner affecting text but without loss (very small portion of marginal loss to H6), N1 working loose at foot, some fractional worming to lower margin, some soiling but generally good, contemporary sheep, spine with central vertical split, rubbed and worn, joints split but holding firm, [Goldsmiths' 8262; Kress 4846], 8vo, T. Gardner, 1747. *** Rare at auction. 

Byroniana.- Howitt (William) A Poet's Thoughts at the Interment of Lord Byron, first edition, 14pp., wood-engraved title-vignette, title and verso of final leaf lightly browned, some foxing, later cloth-backed boards, spine slightly worn, 8vo, Printed for Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, 1824.*** Very rare with no auction appearance in the last 100 years.

Defoe (Daniel) [Works], 30 titles by, attributed, or related to Defoe bound in 35, including An Essay Upon Projects, The Life, Adventures, and Pyracies, of the Famous Captain Singleton, and The Life and Adventures of Roxana, mostly first or early editions, some engraved frontispiece portraits and plates, some with early ink inscriptions to titles, margins or endpapers, some light browning or scattered spotting, Miscellaneous Tracts with some leaves laid down, uniformly bound in later red morocco, gilt, spines gilt in compartments, double morocco spine labels, spines sunned straying onto a few covers, g.e., 8vo, 1692-1754. *** A handsomely bound collection of Defoe and Defoeiana, covering a cross-section of his literary, historical and political texts, including novels, histories, essays and tracts, but also ranging from his earliest texts such as the cosmic satire The Voyage to the World of Cartesius (1692) to his last such as A Plan of the English Commerce (1728), both first editions. Other first editions include the rare An Essay Upon Projects (1697), Captain Singleton (1720), Memoirs of a Cavalier (1720), The Political History of the Devil (1726) and A True Collection of the Writings of the Author of the True Born English-man (1703), in which a contemporary ink note on the title verso warns the public not to buy the false pirated first edition published earlier in the year. Full list of titles and editions available upon request.

Book of Hours, Use of Poitiers, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on vellum, 107 leaves (plus modern vellum endleaves at front and back), wanting two bifolia from the sixth quire, collation: i12, ii-v8, vi4 (wanting 4 leaves with end of Sext and much of Nones in Hours of Virgin), vii-xii8, xiii7 (last leaf a cancelled blank), xiv4, written in single column of 17 lines of a rounded lettre bâtarde, one to 4-line initials in gold on pink and blue grounds, line-fillers in same, major text sections opening with a coloured initial enclosing a floral spray on gold grounds and borders of foliage and acanthus leaf sprays on three sides, two full-page miniatures (opening Hours of the Virgin and Seven Penitential Psalms) in arch-topped frames within borders of woody branches and coloured acanthus leaves, the second with a bird in the border, pilgrim’s badge glued to modern front flyleaf (no marks from this in the volume and so most probably a modern addition), marks to last leaves showing the volume once had a single clasp, flaking from both miniatures, first leaf quite scuffed, numerous leaves becoming transparent, water damage, cockling and small spots and stains throughout, overall fair condition, bound in padded red velvet over wooden boards, leaves 98 x 76mm., [France (probably north-west, perhaps Rennes or vicinity)], [second half of the fifteenth century]. *** Text: Calendar; Passion readings; Obsecro te; the Hours of the Virgin, with Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, (Nones is missing), Vespers, Compline; the Seven Penitential Psalms, followed by a Litany of Saints and prayers; and the Office of the Dead; ending with additional prayers in French and Latin in two fifteenth-century hands.Provenance: (1) Written and decorated for a patron probably from the vicinity of Rennes: the style of the hand and decoration is rustic, the use of volume is that of nearby Poitiers, and the Calendar includes the rare local saint, Moderamnus (bishop of Rennes, d. c. 390) on 16 May. The presence of St. Theobald of Provins (d. 1066) on 1 July, whose cult centred on Provins, Sens and Auxerre to the south-east of Paris, might also suggest some form of connection to that region as well. (2) Sold in public auction by Swann Galleries of New York, 1 April 1993, lot 106, for $5500. (3) Sold by Edition Deluxe Rare Books on ebay, 18 September 2013, for $22,000.

Spenser (Edmund) The Faerie Queene, Disposed into XII. Bookes, large woodcut device to title, Q5 divisional title and colophon, woodcut initials, head- and tail-pieces, woodcut cartouches to head of each canto, lacking final blank, title heavily restored with extensive but mainly marginal losses expertly repaired (touches of pen facsimile), G2, V2 & 2C4 small rust-hole affecting couple letters (G2 just into cartouche to verso), H4 portion of abrasion/repairs with loss to some words, I1 paper-flaw to fore-edge affecting few letters, 2F6 small hole with loss to few words, a few other minor marginal defects, some light browning, some spotting and soiling, occasional light marginal damp-staining, final 2ff. little frayed at fore-edge and lightly creased, contemporary calf, covers with central gilt-tooled lozenge, spine gilt and with raised bands, binder's waste endpapers, some wear to corners, rubbed, [Pforzheimer 971; STC 23083], folio, H.L. for Mathew Lownes, 1609. *** The first folio edition of Spenser's epic poem, also the first to include the two cantos of Mutabilitie. 

Confectionery.- Cox (James) The Practical Confectioner. Embracing the whole system of pastry, and confectionery, in all their various branches, first and only edition, 4 bills of fare, all but one folding, some spotting and staining, lightly browned, later dark blue crushed half morocco, gilt, spine in compartments, spine faded, rubbed, large 12mo, [Newcombe of Bristol for] Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Browne, 1822.  *** Rare. The only other copy at auction we can trace was the Crahan ($495) / Crahan-Heck copy in 1984 and 1986. It is not recorded by any of the standard bibliographies. Includes jellies, ice-creams, soufflés, candies, cakes and biscuits. Provenance: M A Reid (contemporary ink inscription to head of title).  

America.- Monardes (Nicolas) Joyfull Newes Out of the New-found Worlde, third English edition, translated by John Frampton, 4 parts in 1, collation: A-Z, Aa-Yy4,  lacking A1, largely printed in black letter, title to first and third part within typographic border, woodcut illustrations, initials and decorations, occasional light foxing and staining, near contemporary limp vellum, yapp edges, small piece missing from top edge of upper cover, small 4to, Printed by E. Allde, 1596.*** Important early work on American pharmacopeia, describing amongst others, the use and cultivation of quinine, sassafras and cassava as well as tobacco. There is also a description and woodcut illustration of the armadillo. This edition was preceded by the first edition of 1577 and another dated 1580.Provenance: Richard Haydocke (ink name at head of title); James Stevens Cox (bookplate).Literature: Arents 24A; Church 253; ESTC S112807; Hunt 173; Norman 1535; Wellcome 4397.

Boyle (Robert) The General History of Air, first edition, some light marginal browning, [Wing B3981], contemporary calf, rebacked, 4to, for Awnsham and John Churchill, 1692 *** The first clear statement on the kinetic theory of gases. Posthumously published, it was seen through the press by John Locke, Boyle's friend, and contains some of Locke's own meteorological observations. The work is of considerable importance in the history of science - the views Boyle expressed here became the basis for the phlogiston theory of combustion, and it is the product of his life's work. Provenance: Robertson Morgan; George Bird [ink ownership inscriptions to title]; Michael Sharpe [leather book-label to pastedown]. 

London.- Dugdale (Sir William) The History of St. Pauls Cathedral in London, first edition, title printed in red and black, lacking portrait frontispiece but with 44 etched plates and illustrations by Wenceslaus Hollar and others, most plates double-page or folding and mounted on stubs, all but one illustration full-page, final blank present, a few plates trimmed just within image at fore-edge, damp-staining, often very light and marginal, occasional minor soiling, front free endpaper soiled and with vertical tear, contemporary mottled calf, morocco spine label, rather rubbed, upper joint split at head and foot, [Wing D2482; Pforzheimer 341], folio, Tho. Warren, 1658. *** Provenance: George Simon, Earl of Harcourt (bookplate).

Blake (William).- Malkin (Benjamin Heath) A Father's Memoirs of his Child, first edition, half-title, engraved frontispiece by R.H.Cromek after William Blake and 3 plates, one a folding map, light foxing to plates and occasionally text, short tear to outer margin of p.i/ii, modern half morocco, spine gilt in compartments with five raised bands, uncut, [Bentley 482], 8vo, for Longman, Hurst, Rees and Orme by T. Bentley, 1806.*** Contains the first recorded account of Blake by a contemporary. Malkin knew Blake well, and herein devotes 24pp. in the preface to an account of his friend's life and genius, largely recorded from conversations with Blake himself. The preface also contains the first typographic printing of several of Blake's poems including a variant of 'The Tyger'.

Middle East.- [La Roque (Jean de)] A Voyage to Arabia Foelix, first English edition, initial approbation leaf, 2 folding engraved plates, slight marginal worming throughout but not affecting text, contemporary panelled calf, some worming to both covers, 8vo, Printed for E. Symon, 1732.*** The last quarter of the book is devoted to An Historical Treatise concerning the Original and Progress of Coffee, as well in Asia as Europe.

Vegetarian.- Evelyn (John) Acetaria. A discourse of sallets, first edition, folding letterpress table of blanched and unblanched salad greens, errata f., lacking initial blank, browned / foxed (as often; sigs. B&C less affected, as on better quality thicker paper (as noted by Keynes)), later endpapers, contemporary speckled panelled calf, spine in compartments and with later brown paper manuscript title label, head of spine and corners worn, upper joint starting but holding firm, rubbed, [Bitting p.149; Cagle 669; Henrey 117; Hunt 401; Keynes 105; Oxford p.46; Wing E3480], 8vo, Printed for B. Tooke, at the Middle-Temple-Gate in Fleetstreet, 1699. *** On the growing, preparation and medicinal properties of salads. 'It is a cookery-garden book with excellent recipes for unusual dishes of all sorts flavored with the ever useful pot herbs grown so universally in the 17th century' (Hunt).

Newton (Sir Isaac) Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John , first edition, contemporary calf, gilt, joints cracked, extremities worn, 4to, by J. Darby et al., 1733.*** First edition of Newton's only "major work on the subject" of prophecy and symbolic writings; a clean, large paper copy.Provenance: The Hon. Rev. S. Barrington [bookplate to pastedown]. 

Persia.- Sherley (Sir Antony) Sir Anthony Sherley his Relation of his Travels into Persia, first edition, trimmed close in places, occasionally just touching headline or sidenotes, title lightly soiled and with upper inner corner repaired, later russia, gilt, rebacked, slightly rubbed, [STC 22424], 4to, Printed for Nathaniell Butter, and Joseph Bagset, 1613.*** First edition of this important Elizabethan work on Persia. Sherley left Venice in 1599 with his brother, Robert and John Manwaring. They journied to Persia "with the intention of promoting Persian trade with England. Travelling by way of Cephalonia (in Greece), Crete, and Cyprus, he reached Aleppo in August 1599, then proceeded down the Euphrates to Baghdad and across the mountains to Esfahan. From there, in 1608, Robert Sherley returned to Europe as an envoy of the Shah. Anthony Sherley entered the service of Shah Abbas...and arrived at the Caspian Sea sometime in 1600" - Howgego. Provenance: William Douglas Dick (bookplate).

Erasmus (Desiderius) Colloquiorum familiarium opus, collation: A-Z a-z Aa-Ll8, italic type, title with small circular woodcut portrait of Erasmus, woodcut decorative initials, final f. blank, early and later marginalia in a few hands, title small piece neatly cut from outer margin seemingly to remove a name, some spotting and staining, lightly browned, contemporary ornately blind-stamped panelled pigskin over wooden boards, spine in compartments, upper cover with central portrait of Lady Justice, lower cover with central portrait of Lucretia (in Roman legend the wife of Collatinus, first Consul of Rome; she committed suicide in 509 BC), both enclosed by a roll featuring medallion portraits of ?church reformers, lacking clasps, head of spine and corners worn, rubbed and scuffed, 8vo (158 x 98mm.; binding 172 x 110mm.), Frankfurt, Heirs of Christian Egenolff, 1562.  *** Scarce edition at auction.Provenance: Wildius of Jena (early ink inscription to lower margin of title); ‘Hoercher, 1735’ (ink inscription to title).

Gruel (Léon, binder).- Hugo (Victor) Hernani ou l'Honneur Castillan, first edition, half-title, 12pp. publisher's catalogue & 4pp. advertisements at end, splendid purple morocco mosaic binding, by Gruel, covers with ornate design inlaid in red, tan, olive, green & cream morocco and elaborately tooled in gilt, spine titled in gilt and with inlaid decorative compartments with five raised bands, ornamental doublures of all-over arabesque design of grey morocco inlaid with red & green morocco and richly gilt, black silk flyleaves, original printed wrappers bound in, g.e., signed "Gruel" at foot of front turn-in, purple morocco-backed chemise, board slip-case (slightly rubbed), 8vo (c.225 x 145mm.,), Paris, 1830.

Fleming (Ian) Dr No, first edition, original second state boards with silhouette in brown, spine lettered in silver, fore-edge very lightly spotted, dust-jacket, spine head a little frayed along upper joint, other small nicks and creases to spine ends and corners, otherwise excellent, 8vo, 1958.

Čapek (Karel) R.U.R. Rossum's Universal Robots, modern half reverse calf, Prague, Fr. Borovy, 1935; Bílá Nemoc, first edition, original upper cover bound at end, contemporary cloth, a little rubbed, slight bumping to corners and extremities, Prague, Fr. Borovy, 1937; Krakatit, first edition, scattered faint marginal spotting, modern half reverse calf, Prague, 1924, all signed by author, 8vo (3).  *** The first mentioned is a signed copy of the book which coined the word "robot".

Pepys (Samuel) Memoires Relating to the State of the Royal Navy of England, For Ten Years..., first edition, issue with Griffin-Keble imprint, engraved portrait after Kneller, title in red and black, folding table of accounts mounted on stub, William Sacheverell's copy with his ownership inscription "20. May. 1691. Will: Sacheverell" to rear pastedown, the same date in different early hand to front free endpaper, a few ink corrections at D4 and E5, marginal annotation to Q3v, some browning and spotting, heavier to frontispiece and title, contemporary mottled calf, rebacked, spine gilt, covers rubbed at extremities, [Pforzheimer 793; Wing P1450], 8vo, for Ben. Griffin, by Sam. Keble, 1690. *** Pepys' only work to be published in his lifetime. The copy of politician William Sacheverell, a Whig from Nottinghamshire and one of Pepys' political foes. Sacheverell was a zealous pursuer of Pepys and his clerk, Samuel Atkins, during the Popish Plot fury of 1678-9. In May 1679, he moved to take both Pepys and Anthony Deane into custody, under suspicion of leaking naval secrets to the French. Sacheverell was also involved in the Navy, serving as a Lord of the Admiralty in 1689, the same year in which Pepys' public career came to an abrupt end.  Provenance: William Sacheverell; John Stuart Groves (morocco bookplate); Robert Zimmermann (bookplate). 

Lloyd (Charles) and Charles Lamb. Blank Verse, first edition, faint stain to front free endpaper and title, spotting, some light toning, uncut in original yellow boards, early reback preserving original printed label, corners little worn, rubbed at extremities, housed in a folding cloth chemise and slipcase by James MacDonald Co. of New York, [Hayward 210], 8vo, T. Bensley, 1798. *** Comprising thirteen poems by Lloyd and seven by Lamb, including "The Old Familiar Faces". Lamb's first significant selection of verse to appear in print.Provenance: G. Birkbeck (ink name to head of pastedown); Alfred Ainger, Hampstead (Lamb scholar, pencil ownership inscription to front free endpaper); John A. Spoor (bookplate); Carroll Atwood Wilson (bookplate); H. Bradley Martin (bookplate to inside chemise); J.O. Edwards (book-label to inside chemise). 

Orwell (George) Nineteen Eighty-Four, first edition, very faint spotting to first few pages, original cloth, lightly sunned leaving fading of lettered title on cloth, green dust-jacket by Michael Kennard, small portion of loss to upper panel lower edge, extremities chipped and creased, spine ends frayed, light rubbing along joints, very slight shelf-lean, [Fenwick A12a], 8vo, 1949.

Dick (Philip K.) The Penultimate Truth, first English [and first hardback] edition, ink ownership inscription from same year as publication on front free endpapers, original boards, dust-jacket, spine toned, a few light surface marks to covers, spine ends very lightly creased, still overall a very crisp copy, 8vo, 1967.*** The rare science-fiction novel by the American author is set in a future (the year 2025) where the bulk of humanity is kept in underground shelters under the guise that World War III is playing out above them. Perhaps one of his more cynical depictions of a duplicitous U.S. government, the story sets out another characteristic vision of a post-atomic holocaust future. It was written during one of Dick's most prolific periods, and was the first of four novels that he saw published that year alone. The work was originally released in 1964 as a Belmont paperback, thus making this edition the first English hardback edition. Rare in commerce. 

Locke (John) An Essay concerning Humane Understanding, fourth edition, engraved portrait, 18th century ownership inscription to front free endpaper, very occasional correction or annotation in a contemporary hand, c2-3 little dust-soiled at fore-edge, 3C1 & 3C4 lower margin foreshortened, 2Z1 small paper-flaw hole affecting few words, occasional spotting, minor worm trace to blank lower corner towards end, final few ff. little creased, contemporary panelled calf, neatly rebacked, small repairs to lower cover fore-edge, wear to corners, covers rubbed, [Wing L2742], folio, for Awnsham and John Churchil...and Samuel Manship, 1700. *** First published in 1690. In this edition, the last published in his lifetime, Locke makes important alterations in his use of the terms "determinate" & "determined" ideas, also adding two new chapters.

Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord) Hebrew Melodies, first edition, first issue, with 4-line announcement of Samuel Rogers' Jacqueline on verso of final advertisement leaf, lacking half-title, occasional foxing, later half calf, a little rubbed, [Wise I, pp.103-104], 8vo, Printed for John Murray, 1815.

Southey (Robert, poet and reviewer, 1774-1843) Autograph Letter signed to "Dear Sir" [the publishers John Murray or John Major], 2pp., 4to, Keswick, 21st March 1829, concerning his new edition of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, explaining that he has begun "a careful collation of the text" with the aim of "as it will be the means of presenting the work in Bunyan's own vigorous vernacular English, which had been greatly corrupted in the easiest & worst of all ways, that of compositors & correctors following inadvertently their own mode of speech... These are minute pains, of which the public will know nothing, - but of which a few readers will feel the worth", and a related enquiry from the bookseller Thomas Rodd, "Mr. Rodd kindly offers some books in his possession; - if he still retains them there are two which I very much wish to see, The Pilgrim's Progress in Poesy from the Palace Beautiful to his meeting with faithful 1698, and a second part of the Progress, which is not Bunyan's, tipped on to an album leaf, folds, slightly offset on first page, slightly browned; and an engraved portrait of Southey, v.s., v.d. (2 pieces). *** Apparently unpublished. Southey's edition of Pilgrim's Progress was published in 1830, by John Murray and John Major. It has hitherto been assumed that Southey wrote only the introductory Life for the new edition, but this letter shows plainly that he extensively edited the text. Thomas Rodd the younger (1796-1849), bookseller.

Criticism of Thucydides.- Dionysius, Halicarnassensis De Thucydidis Historia Iudicium, first Aldine edition, collation: A-Y4 Z6, Roman and some Greek letter, woodcut printer's device to title and verso of otherwise blank final f., initial spaces with guide-letters, occasional early ink marginalia and underlining, final 2 ff. stained, occasional spotting or light staining elsewhere, 18th century panelled red morocco, gilt, spine in compartments and with floral decoration, covers with central double filet panel with floral corner-pieces and an outer double filet border, small neat loss to spine ends, rubbed, small 4to (172 x 118mm.), Venice, [Paulus Manutius], 1560.  *** First Aldine edition of this criticism of Thucydides for his unnatural style and inappropriate treatment of subject matter.Provenance: H. Nazeby Hattington; Michael Tompkinson, Franche Hall, Worcs. (bookplates). Literature: Adams D638; Ahmanson-Murphy 611; Renouard 181:15; EDIT 16 CNCE 17250. 

Bible, English. The New Testament of Jesus Christ faithfully translated into English, [Douai-Rheims version], title within decorative woodcut border, woodcut initials, head- & tail-pieces, printed side-notes very occasionally trimmed, Sig. H-Q worming to foot not affecting text, 2Q3 small paper-flaw hole affecting few words, 3M2 tiny rust-hole within text, very small worming to gutter towards end, some very light toning or spotting, contemporary panelled calf, rebacked and recornered, covers rubbed and little scratched, [Herbert 258; STC 2898], 4to, Antwerp, Daniel Vervliet, 1600. *** A good copy of the second edition of the Roman Catholic version of the New Testament in English, first published in Rheims in 1582.Provenance: M. M. Ellis (ownership name to head of title); Stonyhurst (cancelled ink library stamp to title).

Blake (William).- Blair (Robert) The Grave, a Poem, first Blake edition, engraved portrait frontispiece of William Blake by Louis Schiavonetti after T.Phillips, engraved additional pictorial title and 11 plates by Schiavonetti after Blake, list of subscribers, 4pp. advertisements at end, plates with light marginal foxing and a couple with slight water-staining at edges, some soiling and offsetting to text, crease and marginal tear to second leaf of subscribers' list, original boards, paper label to upper cover, uncut, rubbed, corners bumped and worn, rebacked, new endpapers, preserved in modern cloth drop-front box, split to joint, [Bensley 435B], 4to, T.Bensley for R.H.Cromek, 1808.*** A rare untrimmed copy in the original boards and with "Subscriber's Copy" still present at foot of title.Blake's best known work in the 19th century. Cromek had commissioned him to produce 40 drawings but disliked the sample etching which Blake submitted and turned to Schiavonetti to engrave Blake's 12 plates, resulting in a bitter dispute.  

Bible, English. The Holy Bible faithfully translated into English out of the authentical Latin, 2 vol., [Douai-Rheims version], woodcut device to titles, woodcut head- and tail-pieces and decorative initials, leaf with printer's note at end vol. 1, privilege/errata leaf at end vol. 2, lacking additional engraved titles in both vol., vol. 1 Sig. 3Q bound in wrong order, vol. 2 title soiled with small chip to upper corner and repaired tears affecting ruled border (small loss to border to verso), following 3ff. with short repaired tears affecting text but no loss, vol. 2 single small wormhole within text of first quarter and small worming to gutter foot at end, trimmed, very occasionally shaving headline, sometimes cropping ruled border or printed side-note to vol. 2, vol. 1 5Q2 diagonal paper-flaw/tear, a few very small rust-holes within text, damp-staining to foot (vol. 1 throughout but generally rather light), some very light browning and occasional spotting, vol. 2 final few ff. little chipped and stained but no text loss, later calf, rebacked preserving much of original backstrips, rubbed, [Herbert 499; STC 2321], 4to, [Rouen], Printed by John Cousturier, 1635. *** Second edition of the Roman Catholic version of the Old Testament in English, first published in Douai in 1609-10. The additional engraved titles are only "found in some copies" (Herbert). Provenance: Seminario S. Joannis de Wonersh (bookplates). 

Architecture.- Gandy (Joseph) Designs for Cottages, Cottage Farms, and other Rural Buildings; including Entrance Gates and Loges, first edition, 43 aquatint plates printed in sepia, advertisement leaf at end of text, bookplate, spotting to plates, initial plates small water-stain top corner, later paper covered boards with paper labels to upper cover and spine, edges uncut, [Abbey Life 18], 4to, for John Harding, 1805*** Extraordinarily modern-looking asymetric designs by the pupil of Sir John Soane. 

Donaldson (Julia) The Gruffalo, first edition, illustrations by Axel Scheffler, original pictorial boards, very light rubbing to spine ends and corners, white label with ownership name in child's writing on corner of lower cover, otherwise a fine copy, 4to, 1999.

Byroniana.- Cornell (J.H.), translator. Manfred: A Dramatic Poem by Lord Byron...Adapted for the Use of the N.Y. Philharmonic Society, first edition, ex-library with embossed stamp to title and small ink reference to foot to verso, original wrappers bound in (dust-soiled), modern blind-stamped library cloth, New York, Torrey Brothers, 1869 § 'Don John,' or Don Juan Unmasked; Being a Key to the Mystery..., second edition, engraved portrait (offset), lacking half-title and 2ff. advertisements at end, ex-library with circular ink-stamps to portrait, title and a few ff. and small ink reference to foot of title verso, light spotting to portrait and title, later cloth-backed boards, paper labels to upper cover, for William Hone, 1819; and others relating to Byron, including a Narrative of Lord Byron's Voyage to Corsica and Sardinia (1824), 8vo (12)

Eliot (T.S.) The Waste Land, "Second Edition" [but first edition, second impression], one of 1000 copies,  original boards lettered in gilt, fine, dust-jacket, very light creasing to upper edge, otherwise a fine copy, [Gallup A6b.], 8vo, 1922 [but 1923]. *** Although called the 'Second Edition' on the colophon, this is actually a second impression from the same setting of type as the first edition, but with alteration in the colophon as indicated. Yet the reading "mount in" in line 339 on p.41 is unusually correct in this copy to "mountain". - Gallup p.31. 

Wordsworth (William) Poems, 2 vol. in 1, first edition, first state, cut signature of the author to front pastedown, half-titles, erratum leaf at end of vol. 1, with cancels D11 & 12 in vol. 1 and B2 in vol. 2, and with "fnuction" in the last line of F1 in vol. 2, light occasional foxing, later blue morocco, t.e.g., spine slightly sunned, 12mo, Longman, Hurst, Rees, & Orme, 1807. *** Comprising the majority of Wordsworth's poetic writings since the second edition of Lyrical Ballads in 1800. Much of Wordsworth's most memorable verse is first printed here, including 'She was a Phantom of Delight', 'The World is too much with us' and 'I wandered lonely as a Cloud'.Provenance: "Robert Gran..." (trimmed signature, dated 5th June 1807).

Coleridge (Samuel Taylor) Poems on Various Subjects, first edition, tipped-in A.L.s in which Coleridge enquires after the health of Sir Basil Montagu, half-title, errata and advertisement leaves at end, light spotting to first and last couple of leaves, otherwise a remarkably bright copy, later blue gilt-ruled morocco by Riviere, inner gilt dentelles, spine richly gilt, g.e., 8vo, printed for C.G. and J. Robinson, and J.Cottle, 1796.*** First edition of the poet's first book of poems, which also contains the first published verses of Coleridge's lifelong friend Charles Lamb.In the heartfelt and somewhat urgent letter, addressed to 'my dear Madam', Coleridge enquires anxiously after the health of his friend Sir Basil Montagu, whom he last saw rushing off 'in such a thick fog and chilling damp' that the poet fears he may have 'caught cold'. Wordsworth, who introduced Montagu to Coleridge at Racedown in 1797, describes the former as 'very kind, very humane, very generous, very ready to serve with a thousand other good qualities: but in the practical business of life the arrantest Mar-plan that ever lived' (Letters).

Dickens (Charles) The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, first edition in book form, early issue, cut signature of the author to front pastedown, half-title, etched frontispiece, additional title and 41 plates by R. Seymour and H.K. Browne ("Phiz"), a few plates expertly laid down with repaired tears, very occasional light spotting mainly to margins of plate leaves, handsomely bound in modern gilt-stamped crimson morocco by Bayntun-Rivière, g.e., modern red cloth slip-case, one corner slightly bumped, 8vo, Chapman & Hall, 1837. *** A handsomely bound copy of the first edition in book form of Dickens' first novel.

Byroniana.- Medwin (Thomas) Journal of the Conversations of Lord Byron: noted during a Residence with his Lordship at Pisa, first edition, half-title with corner torn away and repaired, engraved facsimile frontispiece (offset), advertisement leaf at end, occasional spotting, K1 and 2 with corner/margin torn away but no loss of text, lacks front free endpaper, small embossed stamp to frontispiece and title, hinges repaired with tape, uncut in original boards, rebacked in cloth, rubbed, [Wise 2, p.82], 4to, Printed for Henry Colburn, 1824.*** Provenance: Newstead Abbey, Byron's ancestral home (small bookplate). A newspaper cutting relating to the fate of "the yacht, the Don Juan, or the Ariel, as he renamed it, from which Shelley was drowned" stuck to front pastedown.

Beardsley (Aubrey).- Malory (Sir Thomas) [Le Morte Darthur] The Birth and Life and Acts of King Arthur, 2 vol., one of 1500 copies, from an edition of 1800, photogravure frontispieces, 18 plates (of which 5 double-page), illustrations and decorations by Aubrey Beardsley, light offsetting, occasional very light marginal spotting, original pictorial cloth, gilt, rebacked with original backstrips laid down (lightly browned), top edge slightly trimmed removing gilt, some toning and light scattered spotting, a few marks, some wear to extremities and vol. 2 lower cover, new endpapers, 4to, 1893-94.  *** Beardsley's first major commission and an early masterpiece, produced when he was only 20 years old. The young artist met the publisher J.M. Dent who was looking for someone to illustrate an edition of Morte d'Arthur. On seeing Beardsley's trial drawing 'The Achieving of the Sangreal' the publisher was reputedly rendered speechless by its quality. Duly commissioned, Beardsley produced a body of work which took the medievalism of the Pre-Raphaelites and married it to his own bizarre imagination and Japanese-influenced style, making his reputation. They are among the most stunning illustrations he ever produced.

Woolf (Virginia) Orlando: A Biography, first English edition, light toning to endpapers, foxing to half-title and index pages, spotting to fore-edges sometimes straying onto page margins, original boards, spine very lightly faded, dust-jacket, a few short closed tears expertly reinforced with tape verso, overall near-fine, preserved in custom-made drop-back box, [Kirkpatrick A11b; Woolmer 185], 8vo, Hogarth Press, 1928. *** A remarkable copy with the scarce dust-jacket, exceptionally rare in such pristine condition. The first limited edition was published in New York a few days prior. 

O'Brien (Flann) The Hard Life, first edition, signed by the author "from the author Brian O'Nolan, 26 January 1962" on front free endpaper, light strip of toning on front free endpaper, fore-edge very lightly spotted, original boards, dust-jacket, spine faded, light creasing and one or two nicks to edges, light surface soiling, slight shelf-lean, 8vo, 1961. *** Known widely under his pen name, Brian O'Nolan's chief literary achievement is considered his first novel At Swim-Two-Birds, a comedy that was published on the eve of the Second World War. This work, his second published novel, is rare signed.