Edward Reginald Frampton, ROI (British, 1873-1923)'Or in a clear-wall'd city on the sea Near gilded organ pipes, her hair wound with white roses, slept St.Cecily, An angel look'd at her' signed 'E Reginald Frampton' (lower left)oil on canvas laid to panel94 x 40cm (37 x 15 3/4in).Footnotes:ProvenancePrivate collection, UK.The subject of the present work is taken form Tennyson's poem The Palace of Art, first published in 1832 and extensively revised by the poet ten years later. The poem expresses the spiritual despair of the Soul who isolates herself in her arts and can only be cured by leaving the palace of art for a cottage among men. Frampton would certainly have been familiar with The Palace of Art: St Cecilia published by Edward Moxon in 1857 with engraved illustrations by the Dalziel brothers after original designs by Rossetti.In the introduction to the Frampton Memorial Exhibition catalogue of 1924 the art critic Rudolf Dircks noted that the artist 'was amongst the few distinguished modern painters who sought to express decorative form in his pictures...his spirit moved in the type of legendary or religious subject which lends itself particularly to decorative treatment...' and 'the poetic and decorative fervour' of his works, which were 'all accomplished in detail, beautiful and sensitive in colour'1Frampton had travelled in Italy as a young man and this, combined with his love of the work of Puvis de Chavannes and Edward Burne-Jones informed his art and resulted in easel and mural painting and stained glass characterised by a 'restful and dignified serenity'.2Saint Cecilia is famous in Christian iconography as the patron saint of music and is shown here having fallen asleep whilst playing the organ, the instrument most usually associated with her. Her hair is adorned with a garland of white roses (an attribute often associated with her) and by her feet grow poppies a well-known emblem of oblivion and sleep as her guardian angel looks on.Frampton is known to have painted this subject on several occasions and exhibited versions at The Royal Academy in 1911 and 1917. Writing in The Art Journal in 1907, Rudolf Dircks reflects on Frampton's treatment of the subject 'In St Cecily, have we not a precise and sympathetic interpretation of the lines of Tennyson – in which the full poetic beauty is apprehended pictorially?'1R. Dircks, cited in Memorial Exhibition of Paintings and Water-Colours by the Late E.Reginald Frampton, London, 1924, pp. 3-4.2Aymer Vallance, The Paintings of Reginald Frampton, R.O.I., International Studio, 1919, p. 66.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
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ROSSETTI (CHRISTINA)Time Flies: A Reading Diary, FIRST EDITION, AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed 'Lisa Mary Wilson with Christina G. Rossetti's love', and dated 'May 27 1885' by Lisa on front free endpaper, ANNOTATED WITH 16 FINE BOTANICAL WATERCOLOUR ILLUSTRATIONS and ink and pencil annotations by Lisa Wilson, 2 four-leaf clovers mounted with paper tabs beside the entry for April 2, other actual pressed flowers or fauna loosely inserted, together with additional loose leaf with autograph inscription 'Lisa M. Wilson with Christina G. Rossetti's grateful love. St Valentine's Day 1888', publisher's decorative gilt cloth, hand-stitched jacket in white and gold-coloured thread over cream silk, presumably made by Lisa Wilson, the upper cover with design incorporating the initials 'C.G.R.[Christina Georgina Rossetti]' and 'I.H.S.', 8vo, S.P.C.K., 1885; Annus Domini: A Prayer for Each Day of the Year, FIRST EDITION, AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed 'Dear Lisa M. Wilson with Christina G. Rossetti's love, New Year 1889' on the front free endpaper, 3 small silver gelatin print photographs captioned 'Convent of Annunciata' on verso, publisher's cloth, spine detached, split and with loss, 12mo, Oxford and London, James Parker & Co., 1874; The Face of the Deep: A Devotional Commentary on the Apocalypse, FIRST EDITION, AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed 'With much love to my Lisa* Christina G. Rossetti's dear friend May 4 1892' on the front free endpaper, 8pp. advertisements at end, pressed flower with ribbon pasted to a sheet of paper loosely inserted, publisher's cloth, 8vo, S.P.C.K., 1892; Verses, FIRST EDITION, AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed 'Dear Lisa Wilson from Christina G. Rossetti, September 25 1893' on the front free endpaper, publisher's blue buckram, t.e.g., 8vo, S.P.C.K., 1893 (4)Footnotes:POIGNANT ASSOCIATION COPIES INSCRIBED BY ROSSETTI TO LISA WILSON, Christina's 'Fior-de-Lisa', an aspiring poet who was Rossetti's 'most important admirer... close friend and companion' (Jan Marsh, Christina Rossetti. A Literary Biography, 1994, p.538). Having been deeply moved on reading Rossetti's poetry Wilson struck up a correspondence with her in the early 1880s before, on 27 May 1885, paying a visit to the poet at Torrington Square to collect an inscribed copy of Time Flies from the author. 'From that point on, Wilson came to call quite often. Concerning the last years of his sister's life, the years following her mother's death in 1886, William Michael Rossetti writes, 'In these painful years one of the friends whom Christina saw with most satisfaction was Miss Lisa Wilson; a lady accomplished in verse and sketching who had been drawn to my sister by her poetry, and viewed her with deep affection and reverential regard' (Diane D'Amico, 'Lisa Wilson: 'A Friend of Christina Rossetti'', The Journal of Pre-Raphaelite Studies, Vol. 10, Fall 2001, p.112). In 1896 Wilson published her own volume of lyric poetry, titled Verses, which she dedicated to 'To the sweet and gracious memory of Christina G. Rosetti, who honoured me with the name of friend', and in which the poem 'First Meeting' recalls lovingly the May day on which they first met. Our copy of Time Flies, the very book that brought them together, is handsomely decorated with botanical watercolours by Wilson (see lot 120). Besides many of the poems Wilson has put dates, presumably of meaning to her, including for instance 'C.G.R. 1885' beside the poem for 27 May commemorating the first meeting, and '1894' with 17-lines of poetry ('In the octave of my Christmas my love fell asleep...') beside the poem for 29 December, the date of Christina's death. Other annotations include a pencil correction to a poem (May 1) on the Feast of St. Philip, noting 'Philip the Evangelist - not the Apostle dear Christina!', and beside the entry for 4 April two four-leaf clover 'pressed specimens gathered in Cornwall, which Christina inserted into the volume' (Marsh, ibid, p.538).Provenance: Mary Louisa 'Lisa' Wilson (1850-1934, poet, artist and friend of Christina Rossetti); her god-daughter Christina Maude Evelyn Corkran (1903-1979); thence by descent.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
WORLD WAR II - M.I.9 'AIDS TO ESCAPE'Per Ardua Libertas, FIRST EDITION, titled on upper cover, printed in red, black and blue, numerous photographic illustrations, 3 tipped-in 'letters', 3 tipped-in silk maps, one tipped-in tissue map, EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED WITH 7 ADDITIONAL MAPS (3 tissue, 4 silk, one marked 'Secret' in red) and original 'Prisoner's Leisure Hours Fund... Post for Prisoners of War Postkarte' (15 August 1941) loosely inserted, lacks opening 2 leaves of text (one marked 'Most Secret', one ?blank), publisher's red morocco gilt with title lettered on upper cover, folio (398 x 303mm.), [1942]Footnotes:'AIDS TO ESCAPE' - RARE EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED RECORD OF SECRET WARTIME GADGETS AND MAPS PRODUCED BY M.I.9 DURING WORLD WAR II, WITH IMPORTANT PROVENANCE. It reproduces details of 'Aids to Escape - Pre-Capture and Post-Capture' issued to personnel of the three services between February 1940 and February 1942. These include maps printed on silk and tissue, luminous buttons, fountain pen compasses and pipes, 'Special R.A.F. Boot' (with hidden knife), chess, and games sets with hidden escape aids, combs and tooth brushes with hidden maps, replica foreign military costumes, etc. This copy belonged to Clayton Hutton, the technical director of M.I.9, who 'after a brief interview... was appointed to help Norman Crockatt set up a new semi-secret service, MI9, whose tasks included training fighting men in how to evade capture or escape if they found themselves in enemy-held territory' (ODNB).This copy includes 7 extra 'escape maps' and an original code message in the form of a prisoner-of-war letter.Provenance: Christopher William Clayton Hutton (1893–1965), bookplate ('Clayton Hutton') on blank page 1. A real-life 'Q', he was responsible for the invention, or inception of most of the gadgets depicted in this work, managing 'to get all this done in the teeth of every sort of shortage of materials, and of much bureaucratic obstruction' (ODNB).This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
ROWLING (J.K.)Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, FIRST EDITION, third printing, SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR on the dedication leaf, with number sequence of 10 through to 3 on the verso of the title, publisher's pictorial boards, dust-jacket, 8vo, Bloomsbury, [1998]Footnotes:A FINE SIGNED COPY OF THE THIRD PRINTING OF THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE, the first to be issued with a dust-jacket.Provenance: Signed for the vendor, who from 1995-2000 was the children's book buyer at a large Edinburgh book shop. See lot 122 for more details.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
![LONDON - EVELYN, THE GREAT FIRE AND POLLUTIONComposite volume, containing the following plans and works:[KITCHIN (THOMAS)] A](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/0bd63aaa-74ab-480d-abc7-b12c00be1b45/2c6db093-f12c-4fa4-aa50-b12c00c12d0e/468x382.jpg)
LONDON - EVELYN, THE GREAT FIRE AND POLLUTIONComposite volume, containing the following plans and works:[KITCHIN (THOMAS)] A New and Correct plan of the Cities of London, Westminster, and Borough of Southwark... to the Present Year 1781..., engraved folding map in 12 sections, extending from Islington to Newington Butts, and from Stepney to Hyde Park, with tables of buildings, parishes and churches in corners, heading slightly cropped, one or two tears at folds [Howgego 163 (4)], 448 x 725mm., R. Sayer & J. Bennett, 1781HOLLAR (WENCESLAS) A True and Exact Prospect of the Famous Citty of London; Another Prospect of the Sayd Citty Taken... After the Sad Calamitie and Destruction by Fire, engraved folding panorama showing London before and after the fire, single tear affecting image but without loss, 230 x 723mm. 1666 [but John Overton, 1669-1707, state iii][EVELYN (JOHN) and CHRISTOPHER WREN] First Plate. Londinum redivivum. Presented by me to His Majesty, a Week after the Conflagration... J.E.; Another Projection; Second Plate. A Plan of London... described by J. Evelyn; A Plan of the City of London, after the great Fire... according to the design and proposal of Sir Christopher Wren, together 2 folding engraved plans on 4 sheets, Society of Antiquaries, 1748FITZ-STEPHEN (WILLIAM) Description of the City of London, newly translated from the Latin [by Samuel Pegge], translator's name and biographical note added in ink on title-page, B. White, 1772E[VELYN] (J[OHN]] Fumifugium: or the Inconvenience of the Aer, and Smoake of London Dissipated, editor's name ('Thomas White Esq. F.R.S.') supplied in ink on title, Re-printed for B. White, 1772together 7 items bound in 1 vol., including (at front) the section on London extracted from Lysons' 'Magna Britannia', occasional light soiling, several library stamps to Lysons extract, on reverse of one of the Evelyn plans and in the upper margin of the 'To the Reader' leaf in the last work, contemporary calf, rebacked, 4to, [eighteenth-century]Footnotes:A curious sammelband of works and plans relating to London, several by John Evelyn including the second edition of his work on pollution in the city and the Overton printing of Hollar's panorama.Provenance: Benjamin White, Lambeth (publisher and brother of Gilbert White), circular book label dated 1777; John White, Selborne, bookplate; George Soaper (of Guildford, who purchased Gilbert White's diaries and papers from the family in 1843), bookplate on fly-leaf; Free Public Library, Southampton, ink stamps.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
SUFFRAGETTE 'VOTES FOR WOMEN' SASHOriginal 'Votes for Women' tri-coloured suffragette sash, woven in purple, green and white with 'Votes for Women' printed in blue on central stripe on front and reverse, hook for banner pouch and hook and eye fastening stamped 'Nicklin's', colours strong, a few brown marks and smudging to white areas, hook bent, 104mm. wide, overall length c.1150mm., folded, c.1908Footnotes:Emmeline Pethick Lawrence introduced purple (for dignity), white (for purity) and green (for hope) as the colours for the Women's Social and Political Union at the Hyde Park Rally of 21 June 1908, the sashes designed by Sylvia Pankhurst clearly visible against the suffragettes' white dresses. The sashes were originally woven by Toye & Co. of Birmingham, who had a large female workforce, and became an essential part of the suffragette uniform. Suffragette accoutrements were retailed through a network of independent shops and department stores such as Selfridges which opened its doors in the same year.Provenance: Given by an unidentified suffragette friend to Minnie Elizabeth Marsh (1899-1986, teacher and headmistress) of Birmingham; thence by descent. Minnie became involved in the suffrage movement around the end of World War I and was a key figure in the first women-only teaching union, where she fought for equal pay for women teachers. She was also involved in the Independent Labour Party and the White Poppies for Peace movement.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
LINCOLN (ABRAHAM)Autograph note signed ('A. Lincoln') on a small card, giving permission for Mr Kilgore and friend to visit USS Monitor ('I think the Sec. of Navy might allow Hon. Mr Kilgore & his friend to visit the Monitor'), mounted in a card wallet bearing collection label '203', one page, mounted on card using photo corners, 12mo (48 x 80mm.), [n.p. but Washington], 4 November 1862Footnotes:'TO VISIT THE MONITOR': ABRAHAM LINCOLN GIVES PERMISSION TO VISIT HIS IRONCLAD WARSHIP DURING THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR.The USS Monitor was built at the behest of Abraham Lincoln for the US Navy during the American Civil War in response to the Confederates' own ironclad Virginia. The Union had blockaded the port of Hampton Roads and it was feared the Virginia would be able to break through. Under commanding officer Lieutenant John Lorimer Worden, the Monitor famously encountered the Virginia at the Battle of Hampton Roads in March 1862, the first battle fought between armoured warships. It was deemed to be a draw, but the encounter ensured that '...the worldwide strategies of naval warfare and shipbuilding were changed forever...' (Monitor National Marine Sanctuary website). The Virginia was to be destroyed by its own commander in May that year in order to prevent it falling into Union hands. Distinguished by its revolving 'Ericsson' turret (named after the designer John Ericsson), the Monitor was completed in early 1862 and the design established the blueprint for the Monitor class of warship built for the American Navy for decades to come. At the time of our note, the Monitor was in dry dock at the Washington Navy Yard for repairs, where it had been greeted by thousands of cheering admirers. A welcome ceremony in October was attended by Lincoln and many distinguished guests and the ship became rather a tourist attraction, the victim of souvenir hunters who, it is reported, stripped it bare. By November, however, it was fully repaired and ready to return to service. Its triumphant return was to be short lived. On the last day of the year, the Monitor foundered while under tow during a storm off Cape Hatteras, its wreck lying undiscovered until 1973.Provenance: Private European collection formed by the owner's father some 50 years ago; purchased from Studio Albertino Mussato (bookseller's catalogue description inside presentation folder).This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
ROWLING (J.K.)Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, FIRST EDITION, third printing, WITH ROWLING'S SIGNATURE on a loosely inserted Bloomsbury label, with number line 10 down to 3 on verso of title, publisher's pictorial boards, dust-jacket, 8vo, Bloomsbury, [1997]Footnotes:An exceptionally fine copy of the third printing of The Philosopher's Stone, the first to be issued in a dust-jacket, with a Bloomsbury adhesive label signed by Rowling loosely inserted.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
CARTWRIGHT (JOSEPH)Selections of the Costume of Albania and Greece, with Explanatory Quotations from the Poems of Lord Byron and Gally Knight. Including a Highly Finished Portrait of Ali Pacha, FIRST EDITION, 12 hand-coloured aquatint plates by R. Havell after Cartwright (dated February-June 1822, one watermarked 'J. Whatman 1821'), light off-setting onto blank versos, contemporary half morocco over boards, gilt morocco lettering label ('Greek Costumes') on upper cover, worn with some loss to spine and corners, label scuffed [Colas 544; Tooley 131; cf. Abbey, Travel 134, note; not in Atabey, Blackmer or Lipperheide], folio (460 x 310mm.), R. Havell, [1822]Footnotes:VERY RARE COMPLETE COPY IN THE ORIGINAL BINDING - only one other complete copy traced at auction in the past fifty years.Known primarily for his marine paintings Joseph Cartwright was Paymaster-General of the British forces in Corfu during 1816-1820, publishing his Views in the Ionian Islands in 1821 and this work on his return to Britain in 1822. Published during the campaign for Greek Independence, eight of the plates are accompanied by quotations from works by Byron, including Childe Harold, The Giaour, and Don Juan.Provenance: Charles Richard Fox, ink inscription 'Charles R. Fox 1822', with price '2£-10' on upper cover. Fox (1796–1873) was an army officer, member of the Society of Dilettanti and numismatist whose important collection of 11,500 Greek coins was purchased after his death by the Royal Museum in Berlin. His early interest in coin collecting was strengthened by his travels in Greece and Turkey in 1820 while aide-de-camp to Sir Frederick Adam at Corfu, at which time he would possibly have become acquainted with Joseph Cartwright.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
![WILDE (OSCAR)Lady Windermere's Fan. A Play About a Good Woman, FIRST EDITION, [LIMITED TO 500 COPIES], 16-page publisher's c](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/0bd63aaa-74ab-480d-abc7-b12c00be1b45/7ef7c0b4-1e60-4956-8c26-b12c00c135db/468x382.jpg)
WILDE (OSCAR)Lady Windermere's Fan. A Play About a Good Woman, FIRST EDITION, [LIMITED TO 500 COPIES], 16-page publisher's catalogue at end (September 1893), publisher's decorative cloth gilt designed by Charles Shannon, light soiling (spine slightly darker) [Mason 357], small 4to, Elkin Matthews and John Lane, 1893Footnotes:Provenance: Charles Stevens, pencil ownership inscription dated November 1893 on front free endpaper.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
![WILDE (OSCAR)A House of Pomegranates, FIRST EDITION, [LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES], pictorial title, endpapers and other illustra](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/0bd63aaa-74ab-480d-abc7-b12c00be1b45/17350b19-af78-4609-b196-b12c00c14884/468x382.jpg)
WILDE (OSCAR)A House of Pomegranates, FIRST EDITION, [LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES], pictorial title, endpapers and other illustrations by Charles Ricketts, 4 plates by Charles Shannon, pictorial endpapers, light spotting, modern cloth [Mason 347], James R. Osgood, 1891; Lord Arthur Savile's Crime & Other Stories, FIRST EDITION, AMERICAN ISSUE, [500 copies], publisher's decorative cloth [Mason 346], New York, Dodd, Mead and Co., 1891; Epigrams & Aphorisms, NUMBER 31 OF 50 COPIES PRINTED ON JAPAN PAPER, publisher's boards, t.e.g., soiled and rubbed, small loss to foot of spine [Mason 641, ordinary copy only], Boston, John W. Luce, 1905; Poems... Together with his Lecture on the English Renaissance (Now first Published), NUMBER 104 OF 250 COPIES, modern cloth, Paris, [no publisher], 1903; The Portrait of Mr. W.H., NUMBER 60 OF 200 COPIES, small rust stains on half-title and final leaf, publisher's blue printed wrappers [Mason 611], Privately Printed, [c.1904]--For the Love of the King, LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES, on hand-made paper, publisher's white buckram gilt, t.e.g., spine soiled, Methuen, [1922]; Letters after Reading. I. Bernaval, NUMBER 4 OF 23 COPIES, signed by the publisher, 1921; Letters after Reading II. Naples and Paris, NUMBER 1 OF 23 COPIES, signed by the publisher, 1921, VYVYAN HOLLAND'S COPIES signed by him on front free endpapers, contemporary morocco-backed buckram gilt lettered on spine, publisher's wrappers bound in, New York, Paul R. Reynolds--HYDE (H. MONTGOMERY, editor) The Trials of Oscar Wilde, second printing, 16 plates, publisher's cloth, soiled, William Hodge, [1948], 8vo; and the chromolithograph of Oscar Wilde ('Oscar') from Vanity Fair, 1884 (10)This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
WILDE (OSCAR)The Importance of Being Earnest. A Trivial Comedy for Serious People, FIRST EDITION, LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES, this copy unnumbered, half-title, uncut in publisher's lilac cloth gilt designed by Charles Shannon, slightly worn, spine faded with some marks, upper cover faded at upper margin and single ink spot, slight rubbing [Mason 381], small 4to, Leonard Smithers and Co., 1899This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
![WILDE (OSCAR)[Works], 14 vol., FIRST COLLECTED EDITION, ONE 0F 80 COPIES ON JAPANESE VELLUM, from an overall edition of 1080](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/0bd63aaa-74ab-480d-abc7-b12c00be1b45/5cc05a29-5c3f-4733-acbf-b12c00c147ac/468x382.jpg)
WILDE (OSCAR)[Works], 14 vol., FIRST COLLECTED EDITION, ONE 0F 80 COPIES ON JAPANESE VELLUM, from an overall edition of 1080, publisher's limp vellum gilt, design by Charles Ricketts on upper covers, flat spines lettered in gilt, yapp edges, t.e.g., small ink spot on spine of 'Importance' [Mason pp.459-490], 4to, Methuen [except for Dorian Gray which is imprinted Paris, Charles Carrington], 1908Footnotes:ONE OF 80 COPIES PRINTED ON JAPANESE VELLUM. 'The text is taken in most instances from the last editions issued under the superintendence of the author. In some cases the volumes contain additional matter which had not previously been reprinted, while some of the volumes contain matter here published for the first time' (Mason).This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
ROWLING (J.K.)Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, FIRST STATE UNCORRECTED PROOF COPY, SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR 'to my dear old friend Catriona with many thanks. J.K. Rowling' on the dedication leaf, [ONE OF 50 COPIES], sequence of numbers 10 through to 1 and author's name as 'Joanne Rowling' on the verso of the title-page, '? Dedication' printed on dedication leaf, publisher's purple and white wrappers (some fading and a few light abrasions) [Errington AA4(a)], 8vo, Bloomsbury, [1999]Footnotes:VERY RARE INSCRIBED AND SIGNED COPY OF THE FIRST STATE OF THE UNCORRECTED PROOF OF THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN. The bibliography notes that only approximately 50 copies of this first state of the proof were printed. A second issue, in green and white wrappers, followed with slightly altered text in a print run of approximately 250 copies. We have been unable to trace any other signed and inscribed copies of this book. The warmth of this inscription reflects the fact that Rowling and the recipient had known each other from almost the beginning of the Harry Potter journey. Catriona was the children's book buyer for a famous book shop in Edinburgh, advocating the merits of Rowling's first book from the moment she read the uncorrected proof copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 1997, and met Rowling on several occasions when she visited the shop, first to write in the café, later to sign books or attend events that Catriona helped to organise. Errington notes in the bibliography that these initial 50 copies were 'released to a very select readership, with the publisher expecting to issue the text in a later state to a greater number of readers'. That Catriona was one of these 'select' readers, and that Rowling signed it for her, suggests that her opinion was greatly valued. Provenance: Catriona, the vendor, who from 1995-2000 was the children's book buyer at a famous large Edinburgh book shop. This copy was signed by Rowling at the shop, shortly after publication.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
WORLD WAR II - SECOND ARMYAn Account of the Operations of Second Army in Europe 1944-1945... Compiled by Headquarters Second Army, 3 vol. (including map case), FIRST EDITION, ONE OF APPROXIMATELY 48 COPIES MARKED 'SECRET', this copy number 20, foreword by Lieut.-General Sir Miles C. Dempsey, 18 photographic plates (some folding), numerous colour maps (many folding, including 18 with tabs loose as issued in the separate case), illustrations and diagrams, publisher's red morocco, upper covers titled in gilt with blue and white emblem of the Second Army (slight abrasions to 2 emblems, map box one corner split but firm), folio (332 x 215mm.), Compiled by Headquarters Second Army, [August 1945]; sold with 2 photographs of Major Dempsey, and 2 Panora monocular viewing glasses by Wray of London (7)Footnotes:The Second Army account, one of some only 48 copies printed, and marked 'Secret', is the premier source material for the ground campaign in Europe. The work was compiled by Second Army Headquarters Staff on the instruction of Lieut.-General Sir Miles Dempsey, just after the end of the war whilst memories were fresh ('the staff officers were available, and the orders, instructions and other documents readily accessible', Foreword). It includes details of Belsen Concentration Camp and casualty statistics.Jisc Library Hub lists only the Imperial War Museum copy (no. 37); others are located at the Joint Services Command and Staff College and the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum, whilst the National Archives and Wellcome Institute have only volumes one and two respectively. 2024 is of course the eightieth anniversary year of the D-Day landings, the liberation of France and the Allies' major land based actions against the Nazis in Holland, Belgium and Germany.Provenance: Major John Whitworth, the ADC to General Dempsey through the campaign; by descent. Accompanying the lot are 2 photographs of Dempsey, including one in which he stands in uniform acting as best man at the wedding of Whitworth. The other (a press photo) shows Dempsey with Churchill, Montgomery and other senior officers.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
WIGAN (ELEAZAR)Practical Arithmetick. An Introduction to ye Whole Art... Adorn'd with a Great Variety of Flourishes Perform'd by Command of Hand... to be interleav'd for ye more speedy fitting of youth for Merchandize or Trade, engraved portrait by J. Sturt after I. Closterman dated 1695, 61 engraved calligraphic leaves after Sturt, including title and dedication, some soiling, first few leaves a little damp-stained and softened at edges with slight loss, contemporary panelled sheep, worn around edges with some loss, joints cracking [cf. ESTC R18813, variant issue; cf. Heal, English Writing Masters, p.163], small folio, Sold by ye author, [1696]Footnotes:EXTREMELY SCARCE ARITHMETIC AND PENMANSHIP MANUAL - ONE OF ONLY TWO KNOWN COPIES OF THIS ISSUE.There are two issues of this rare work, ours and the Harvard copy being the only ones traced with the imprint simply reading 'Sold by ye author'; no copies giving this imprint have been found in auction records. The other issue bears the imprint 'sold by I. Lenthall Stationer att the Talbott against St. Dunstans Church in fleet Street'; of this several copies are recorded in institutions and in auction records.Although John Sturt was the leading calligrapher of the time, little seems to be known of Eleazar Wigan. Over twenty years earlier Edward Croker had dedicated his morality and writing manual (Croker's morals, 1675) 'to my Honoured Friend Mr. Eleazar Wigan That Famous Writing-Master; Living at the Hand and Pen on Great Tower-Hill', but as Mark Noble wrote in 1806 (A Biographical History of England, vol. 1, p.310), 'the only publication of Wigan's now known is his 'Practical Arithmetic', in which are given the titles and principal rules for common arithmetic, adorned with flourishes 'by command of hand'... The book was dedicated to the rev. Samuel Hoadly, master of a boarding-school at Hackney, father of bishop Hoadly, who had the education of two of his sons'.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
WILDE (OSCAR)The Ballad of Reading Gaol by C.3.3., FIRST EDITION, ONE OF 800 COPIES ON HAND-MADE PAPER, approximately 30 small 'ticks' in margin in pencil or purple pencil, a few single spots to opening leaves, untrimmed in publisher's white linen-backed cinnamon cloth, spine lettered in gilt, light soiling and spotting [Mason 371], 8vo, Leonard Smithers, 1898This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
LEWIS (WYNDHAM)Timon of Athens, FIRST EDITION, 16 plates (of which 10 monochrome and 6 in colour), a few light spots or marks, loose as issued in publisher's pictorial printed portfolio wrappers, original ties (one broken, light toning and a few spots to upper cover) [Morrow & Lafourcade A1], folio, Cube Press, [1913]Footnotes:Rare complete set of Wyndham Lewis's Vorticist designs. Originally commissioned by Max Goschen to illustrate an edition of Shakespeare's Timon of Athens, the designs were rejected, whereupon Lewis had them published under the imprint of 'The Cube Press'. The original drawings were shown at the second Post-Impressionist Exhibition held at the Grafton Galleries in 1912.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
RICARDO (DAVID)On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation, FIRST EDITION, without publisher's advertisements at end as usual, some spotting to first and last few leaves, occasional faint browning but overall a clean, crisp and unpressed copy, slightly later half calf over marbled boards, gilt panelled spine with red morocco label, very slight rubbing at extremities [Goldsmiths 21734; Kress B7029; PMM 277], 8vo (209 x 128mm.), John Murray, 1817Footnotes:FIRST EDITION OF DAVID RICARDO'S LANDMARK CONTRIBUTION TO THE SCIENCE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY.Initially inspired by the works of Adam Smith, and encouraged in person by James Mill and other Scottish economists, Ricardo dedicated some six months to the composition of Principles, a systematic account of his theories on production, trade, labour, currency and banking, the last two of which have 'proved of lasting value' (PMM).This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
![SHAKESPEARE (WILLIAM)The Works... Collated and Corrected by the Former Editions, by Mr. [Alexander] Pope, 7 vol., FIRST POPE](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/0bd63aaa-74ab-480d-abc7-b12c00be1b45/3f0ea707-b619-4d4f-ae6a-b12c00c1315a/468x382.jpg)
SHAKESPEARE (WILLIAM)The Works... Collated and Corrected by the Former Editions, by Mr. [Alexander] Pope, 7 vol., FIRST POPE EDITION, engraved portrait of Shakespeare by G. Vertue, title to volume 1 printed in red and black, woodcut head- and tail-pieces, full dark red levant moroco by Charles McLeish (stamped 'C. McL.' inside lower covers), lettered and decorated in gilt within 7 compartments within raised bands, g.e., 4to, Jacob Tonson [-A. Bettesworth, etc.], 1725Footnotes:The first Pope edition, which was also the first quarto edition of Shakespeare's works. Published by Jacob Tonson in six volumes, this set includes the scarce seventh volume of poems published under a different imprint.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
DARWIN (CHARLES)On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, FIRST EDITION, AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed in a secretarial hand 'Dr. Weddell/ Bagnères-de-Bigorre/ from the author' on the front free endpaper, half-title (verso with quotations by Whewell and Bacon only), folding lithographed diagram by W. West, 32pp. publisher's catalogue dated June 1859 bound at end (Freeman's form 3, no priority), light marks and spots on preliminary leaves, occasional light single spots to text, publisher's green cloth, spine gilt (Freeman variant b, no priority), light brown endpapers, corners and spine ends slightly bumped, lower cover with a few minor marks and light small dampstain in upper gutter corner (showing as small v-shaped shadow to lower endpapers) [Freeman 373; Garrison-Morton 220; Norman 593; PMM 344], 8vo, John Murray, 1859Footnotes:FINE COPY OF AN AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPY OF THE FIRST EDITION OF 'THE MOST IMPORTANT SINGLE WORK IN SCIENCE' (Dibner), and 'a turning point... in the history of ideas in general' (DSB).Dr H.A. Weddell's name appeared on the manuscript list of persons to receive copies of the first edition of Origin of Species drawn up by Darwin sometime between August and October 1859. Weddell was a distinguished British-born botanist and physician who spent his entire career in France or in the service of France in South America. As early as 1856 Darwin had consulted Weddell's monograph on the Urticaceae 'when he was calculating the number of species and varieties in large and small genera' (Darwin Correspondence, Vol. 8, p.569). DCP cites a letter sent by Weddell to Darwin on 13 May 1863, in which he discusses searching for Ophrys (bee orchids) locally, fertilisation, and other botanical matters suggested by a reading of Darwin's On the Various Contrivances by Which British and Foreign Orchids Are Fertilised by Insects, a copy of which he was sent in 1862.Weddell's death in 1877 opened up a place in the botanical section of the Académie des Sciences. Darwin had twice applied unsuccessfully to be a corresponding member; on 5 August 1878, at last, the secretaries wrote to him inviting him to take up the position left by Weddell (DCP).Provenance: Hugh Algernon Weddell (1819-1877), presentation inscription from the author; Louis Devergne, neat ink ownership inscription on front free endpaper. Presumably this the Louis Devergne (1891-1941), who was archpriest at Loudon, some 40 miles from Poitiers where Weddell had died; private French owner.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
MANUSCRIPT – EMBLEM BOOKIllustrated manuscript notebook, 'Loves Emblems', dating from the latter half of the seventeenth-century, illustrated with some 100 line drawings and densely written in ink recto and verso on ruled pages, beginning with the dedication 'To all pious and vertuous widows' ('...the cause of my writing this was Love... Being by death deprived of what in my eyes was most Loveworthy to me in the world, and finding some relief in venting my grief and passion in this manner; I writ some few of these Emblemes, only in remembrance of my love... to ease my overburdend heart...'), followed by a preface 'To the indifferent Reader', apologising for any errors ('...if you find repetitions, know it is because one and the same grief still troubles my heart... his memory still is loved, honored and esteemed, wherever he was known...'), continuing with four sections of her own verses, each emblem accompanied by a verse from the bible and a line drawing, the sections titled 'Introduction' ('Love is strong as Death'); 'The Motive' ('...think not this strange, for it is any wonder/ to find such pangs where hearts are split assunder...'); the main part entitled 'Loves Emblemes The Season' ('...for all future days a constant Frost? Has nipd my budding hopes, my hopes are crost...'); a table of contents; and ending with 'Heiroglyphicks' ('...My anxious soul can find no ease at all/ with fears and doubts my heart is so oppressed/ my task is great, but my endeavours small/ as is my power, Lord teach me what is best...'), the last spread illustrating the story of Doctor Peter du Moulin ('...he is author of that excellent book contentment of mind; which he write when he was king Charles 2nd's chaplain...'), c.107 numbered leaves, dust-staining, marks, some small tears, later quarter calf, marbled boards, worn, some loss to head of spine, 4to (202 x 160mm.), [late seventeenth-century]Footnotes:'THE CAUSE OF MY WRITING THIS WAS LOVE': A poignant memorial from a widow to her lost love dedicated to 'all pious and vertuous widows'.The author of this emblem book is unknown, but she explains in the preface that the omission of her name is deliberate: '...my knowledge of my works imperfection forceth me to conceal my name... yet it is impossible for me to conceal my love...'. She notes that she spent '...six or seven weeks of single days in compyling it...'. It takes the typical form of an emblem book, each spread comprising a charming and idiosyncratic line drawing in pen and ink, a motto taken from the bible and her accompanying text in the form of a verse inspired by that motto, in this case usually two pages in length. She may have been inspired by Francis Quarles' book Emblems, published in 1635. The volume is a heartfelt, and by her own admission cathartic, outpouring of grief after the death of her beloved husband: '...This my grief hath no relenting, knows of no relief/ since I must live although my life begone/ the joys of all my wretched life in one/ were here confined...'. Her utter despair and grief, which she admits is worse than the '...fires of hell...', emanates from every page ('...Nothing but death can ease my troubled soul/ Nothing but death can my just grief control...'). Within the framework of religious fervour, she speaks of sudden death ('...let him for death each single day prepare...'), and suffering ('...This sentence is pronounced to all/ that lead a life/ of Godliness, both great and small/ must suffer strife/ this suffering is so Generall/ both man and wife/ are Comprehended in this Lot,/ his suffrings must not be forgot/ who first to die for us refused not...'). The bookplate indicates that the volume was once in the collection of James John Forbes Leith (1780-1840) of Whitehaugh, Aberdeenshire, and his wife Williamina Helen Stewart Forbes Leith (1804-1866). He spent most of his career in India in the service of the Company and retired with the rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1826. The Beinecke Library holds a manuscript volume of sentimental acrostic poems by the couple, dated 28 November 1827 (Osborn d225) and, in 1848, Williamina privately published Whitehaugh, a poem addressed to her eldest son after the death of his father. It may be that the author of our manuscript was an earlier member of the Forbes Leith family. Provenance: Colonel & Mrs Forbes Leith, Whitehaugh (bookplate); purchased by book collector Alexander Macdonald (1910-1998, Professor of Bacteriology at Aberdeen Medical School); thence by descent.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
![TOLKIEN (J.R.R.)[The Lord of the Rings] The Fellowship of the Ring; The Two Towers; The Return of the King, together 3 vol.,](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/0bd63aaa-74ab-480d-abc7-b12c00be1b45/9744cb83-46b8-46fe-9764-b12c00c0f2c9/468x382.jpg)
TOLKIEN (J.R.R.)[The Lord of the Rings] The Fellowship of the Ring; The Two Towers; The Return of the King, together 3 vol., FIRST EDITION, FIRST IMPRESSIONS, 'The Return of the King' with signature mark '4' and sagging text on p.49, folding map printed in red and black at end of each volume, publisher's red cloth (worn, 'Fellowship' with upper cover damp-stained, upper joint split; 'The Two Towers' with lower spine frayed; 'Return' with mild damp-stains to spine and lower parts of cover, spine ends frayed), dust-jackets (all with some soiling, spine of 'Fellowship' with loss to lower third and upper section including author's initials, joints splitting; 'Two Towers' with short tear at lower joint, frayed at spine ends and corners; 'Return' with split at lower joint and front flap, rear flap near loose, spine soiled and frayed affecting a few letters), 8vo, George Allen and Unwin, [1954-1955]This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
BORGES (JORGE LUIS)El Aleph, FIRST EDITION, THE AUTHOR'S SIGNED AND ANNOTATED COPY, with the author's signature on the title-page, his ink emendations on 22 pages, the otherwise blank 'Indice' page at the end filled with a list of quotes from the book (this also signed), and underscoring throughout, varying degrees of browning to text, untrimmed in publisher's illustrated olive wrappers over limp boards, extremities rubbed, some staining mainly to spine and lower wrapper [Becco 37; Loewenstein 355; Vallely 112], 8vo, Buenos Aires, Editorial Losada, 1949Footnotes:BORGES'S ANNOTATED COPY OF THE FIRST EDITION OF THE ALEPH, his 'second great gathering of Ficciones, a worthy successor to the first, and the confirmation of Borges' international stature... Borges himself conceded that, along with Ficciones [1944], this was his major book' (Charles Vallely, Jorge Luis Borges. A Catalogue of Unique Books and Manuscripts, Lame Duck Books, 2003). The collection comprises thirteen short stories and an epilogue, including the famous title story, which was first published in the magazine Sur in September 1945, and Deutsches Requiem, a manuscript of which is included in the present sale.In the present copy Borges has underscored words, phrases and sentences on over 50 pages, with authorial deletions and corrections on 22 of them, ranging from a single word to a longer phrase. On the page with the printed heading 'Indice' at the end, he adds a list of 10 phrases taken from the book, with their page references. The corrections and this list appear not to have found their way into modern editions (although it has not been possible to consult the 1952 augmented second edition), but Borges was famous for endlessly revisiting, revising and annotating his manuscripts and books: 'There is no such thing as a first reading; for Borges, a first writing... His texts are always rewritten, never (I think) given once and for all... He insistently declares that texts are not finished, because they need to be completed by generations of readers. I take it that he also thinks that no writer ever really finishes anything' (Daniel Balderston, How Borges Wrote, University of Virginia Press, 2018).Provenance: Private collection.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
MILNE (A.A.)The House at Pooh Corner, light off-setting from jacket flap to free endpapers, dust-jacket (loss to head of spine), [1928]; Now We Are Six, neat ownership inscription ('1927') on front free endpaper, spine ends faded, [1927], FIRST EDITIONS, illustrations by E.H. Shepard, publisher's pictorial cloth gilt, the first mentioned in a dust-jacket, 8vo, Methuen; and 2 further first edition copies of The House at Pooh Corner (4)This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
BORGES (JORGE LUIS)El jardin de senderos que se bifurcan, FIRST EDITION, AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPY TO VICTORIA OCAMPO, inscribed on half-title 'Para Victoria Ocampo, amiga e colaboradora de esta iniciativa feliz, con todo mi agradecimiento y admiración. Jorge Luis Borges. San Isidro, 1942', a little light browning, one short nick to fore-edge of title, untrimmed and partially unopened in publisher's light blue wrappers printed in white, a little light soiling and creasing towards edges, spine slightly faded but otherwise very good [Becco 29; Loewenstein 355; Vallely], 8vo, Buenos Aires, Editorial Sur, 1942 [colophon: 30 December 1941]Footnotes:'ARGUABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT WORK OF MODERN LATIN AMERICAN LITERATURE': INSCRIBED BY BORGES TO HIS 'COLLABORATOR' VICTORIA OCAMPO, THE DEDICATEE OF THE TITLE STORY AND ONE OF THE FIRST LATIN AMERICAN FEMINISTS.'This is Borges's crucial book, arguably the most important work of modern Latin American literature.... it is easy to forget how original, indeed revolutionary, were Borges's procedures, especially in Latin America, which international modernism had yet to penetrate... The light blue wrappers... seem an unmistakable reference to James Joyce's Shakespeare & Co.. Ulysses... of which Borges proclaimed himself the first hispanic explorer in his callow youth' (Charles Vallely, Jorge Luis Borges. A Catalogue of Unique Books and Manuscripts, Lame Duck Books, 2003).El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan ('The Garden of Forking Paths') was Borges's first collection of short stories, most of which had previously been published by Victoria Ocampo in Sur. Although it was critically lauded, the book failed to win the literary prizes many expected, leading Ocampo to dedicate a large part of the July 1941 issue of Sur to a 'Reparation for Borges'. The eight stories in El jardín, augmented by nine new ones, were then published as 1944's Ficciones, the work that would herald the author's international breakthrough. One of new stories was 'Funes el memorioso', a manuscript of which is included in the present sale.A key figure in Borges's life as far back as 1925, Victoria Ocampo (1890-1979) was an Argentinian writer, publisher, feminist and influential intellectual. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970, and is perhaps best known for having founded the most important Latin American literary magazine of the time, Sur, in the 1930s. During the same decade she also developed a close friendship with Virginia Woolf following her involvement in Borges's translations of A Room of One's Own and Orlando, but this ended after Ocampo attempted to persuade the camera-shy author to have her photograph taken. She also radically shifted her political views as the decade progressed. Having shown some initial admiration for Mussolini in Italy, she gave her support to the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, edited an anti-Nazi magazine during World War II, was the only Argentinian to attend the Nuremberg Trials, and spent time in prison for expressing her anti-Peronist views in 1953.In her later life Ocampo became the first woman to be admitted to the Argentine Academy of Letters, and her many famous friends and guests included Stravinsky, Malraux, Tagore and Graham Greene, who dedicated The Honorary Consul to her. 'Elegant and aristocratic, Ocampo was one of the first Latin American feminists, and fought to uphold the rights of women authors; her 'Letter to Virginia' documents her beliefs' (E. Fishburn & P. Hughes, A Dictionary of Borges, Duckworth, 1990).Provenance: Victoria Ocampo, inscribed to her by Borges on half-title; private collection.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
MOORE (THOMAS)The Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland... edited by John Lindley... Nature-printed by Henry Bradbury, half-title, 51 nature-printed plates, all printed in colours by Bradbury & Evans, spotting (heavier to titles and 9 plates), contemporary half morocco, upper cover detached, losses to spine [Nissen BBI 1400; Pritzel 6405; Stafleu & Cowan 6275], folio (550 x 360mm.), Bradbury and Evans, 1855[-1856]Footnotes:The 'first English attempt at applying Nature-Printing to Botanical sciences' (Preface), the author explaining that previously, in order to convey 'the necessary accuracy, the art of a Talbot or a Daguerre was insufficient, nor could they be represented pictorially until Nature-Printing was brought to its present state of perfection'. The plates were executed by Henry Bradbury (1831-1860), who had learned the process whilst studying under Alois Auer at the Imperial Printing Office in Vienna.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
ORWELL (GEORGE)Animal Farm. A Fairy Story, FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE (with 'May, 1945' on copyright page), publisher's green cloth, lettered in white on spine (spine ends faded), dust-jacket printed in grey and green with white text, with 'Searchlight Books—each 2s net' and train engine printed in red on inside of jacket (spine worn along joints and with loss at ends including 'A' of 'Animal', upper edge of upper cover frayed with short tear) [Fenwick A10a; Connolly 93], 8vo, Secker & Warburg, 1945This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
ALBINUS (BERNARD SIEGFRIED)Tables of the Skeleton and Muscles of the Human Body... Translated from the Body [-A Compleat System of the Blood-Vessels and Nerves], 2 parts in 1 vol., first edition in English, large engraved vignette by G. Scotin after N. Blakey on title, 51 engraved plates after Jan Wandelaar and others, lacks title to second part, light dampstaining to title with short marginal tear, a few other light stains, light spotting and off-setting, nineteenth-century cloth, gilt lettered on upper cover, worn [Russell 6; cf. Garrison-Morton 399, first edition], folio 645 x 510mm.), Printed by H. Woodfall, for John and Paul Knapton, 1749[-1750]Footnotes:First edition in English of one of 'the most artistically perfect of anatomical atlases.. Wandelaar placed his skeletons and musclemen against lush ornamental backgrounds to give them the illusion of vitality, using contrasts of mass and light to produce a three-dimensional effect. The most famous plate in the atlas depicts a skeletal figure standing in front of an enormous grazing rhinoceros, sketched by Wandelaar from the specimen which had arrived at Amsterdam zoo in 1741' (Norman).Provenance: Bedford General Infirmary Medical Library, 2 stamps on title-page.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
SUFFRAGETTE INSIGNIA – DEPUTATIONDeputation ribbon, possibly worn at the Black Friday Demonstration on 18 November 1910, woven in purple and green with the word 'Deputation' on white moire silk, hanging from a green enamel badge with 'Deputation.1910' in gold lettering, maker's mark 'Toye 57 Theobalds/ Rd. London' on reverse, some discolouration and marks, frayed at lower edge, 130 x 50mm. (badge 15 x 64mm.), Toye & Co., 1910Footnotes:The most famous Deputation of 1910 was that of 'Black Friday' on 18 November. In January of that year, Emmeline Pankhurst suspended all militant campaigning in anticipation of the approval of the Conciliation Bill, which would give property-owning women the vote. Asquith, more concerned with pushing through his plans to tax the wealthy, called an election in December, which scuppered any chance of the Conciliation Bill being considered. There were already plans for a peaceful Deputation to the House of Commons on Friday 18th November, but after the announcement of the election, tempers were high on both sides and the protesters were refused entry on Asquith's orders. Efforts to storm the House met with brutal force, and the violent treatment of the women by the police, including sexual assault, is well documented in contemporary accounts, epitomised by the image of Ada Wright thrown to the ground by police (her hunger strike medal sold in these rooms June 2023).Provenance: Given by an unidentified suffragette friend to Minnie Elizabeth Marsh (1899-1986, teacher and headmistress) of Birmingham; thence by descent. Minnie became involved in the suffrage movement around the end of World War I and was a key figure in the first women-only teaching union, where she fought for equal pay for women teachers. She was also involved in the Independent Labour Party and the White Poppies for Peace movement.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
YEATS (WILLIAM BUTLER)The Collected Works in Verse and Prose, 8 vol., FIRST COLLECTED EDITION, limited to 1060 copies, photogravure frontispiece portrait in volumes 1, 5 and 7 with tissue guards as issued, titles printed in red and black, publisher's vellum-backed boards, gilt lettered on spine, t.e.g. [cf. Wade 75-82], 8vo, The Shakespeare Head Press, for Chapman & Hall, 1908This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
HOBHOUSE (J.C.)A Journey through Albania, and Other Provinces of Turkey in Europe and Asia to Constantinople, 2 vol., FIRST EDITION, engraved frontispiece and 2 folding double-page maps (one with small tear), 17 hand-coloured aquatints (7 double-page), one plan, 2 plates of facsimile handwriting, 2 plates of sheet music, occasional offsetting and light spotting, calf gilt with ornate roll tooled borders, rebacked, some wear, corners bumped [Atabey 584; Blackmer 821], 4to, James Cawthorn, 1813Footnotes:Provenance: William Rendell Beer, manuscript inscription.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
DICKENS (CHARLES)A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, with title-page dated 1843 and printed in red and blue, the text uncorrected, 'Stave I' on p.[1] and light green endpapers, half-title, hand-coloured etched frontispiece and 3 plates after John Leech, 4 wood-engravings by W.J. Linton after Leech in the text, 2pp. advertisements at the end, tissue guards, uneven fading to endpapers, publisher's cinnamon vertically-ribbed cloth, stamped in blind and gilt, g.e., sunned, corners slightly rubbed [Eckel pp.110-115; Smith II:4; William B. Todd, in The Book Collector, Winter 1961, pp.449-454], 12mo (164 x 100mm.), Chapman & Hall, 1843Footnotes:FIRST EDITION OF DICKENS'S FIRST AND MOST ENDURING CHRISTMAS BOOK. A Christmas Carol was published on 19 December 1843, priced at 5s. Dickens initially requested green endpapers but discarded them due to the colour rubbing off. Demand for the book probably grew at such a pace that the stock of yellow endpapers was soon exhausted, necessitating the use of the discarded green endpapers. So although the green endpapers were produced first, the first copies issued had yellow endpapers.William B. Todd concluded that priority was impossible to determine due to the use of different stocks of text and plates, but that priority could be determined by the state of the binding. This is his first impression, first issue, first state, with a gap of 14-15mm. between the closest points of the blind-stamping and gold wreath on the upper cover, and the 'D' of 'Dickens' unbroken.Provenance: Unidentified monogram bookplate inside upper cover; S. Bothemley, ink ownership inscription in upper corner of half-title.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
WILDE (OSCAR)The Ballad of Reading Gaol by C.3.3., FIRST EDITION, ONE OF 800 COPIES ON HAND-MADE PAPER, untrimmed in publisher's white linen-backed cinnamon cloth, spine lettered in gilt, soiling [Mason 371], 8vo, Leonard Smithers, 1898Footnotes:Provenance: E. Hubert Litchfield; The Brother Julian F.S.C. Collection, New York City, bookplates.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
DARWIN (CHARLESOn the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection... Third Edition, with Additions and Corrections. (Seventh Thousand), half-title, one folding plate, advertisement leaf at end, pp.121-23 and plate loose, pp.73-120 working loose, ink numeral '5' on front free endaper, paper 'pocket' pasted on front pastedown, publisher's blind-stamped green cloth gilt, with Edmonds & Remnants binders' ticket inside lower cover, rubbed, spine ends turned with short tear at upper edge [Freeman 381], 8vo, John Murray, 1861Footnotes:This third edition ('seventh thousand') edition is the first to include Darwin's 'Historical sketch of the recent progress of opinion of the Origin of Species,' in which he describes his predecessors, those 'few naturalists... [who] believe that species undergo modification, and that existing forms of life have descended by true generation from pre-existing forms'.Provenance: ?T.E. Miln, pencil inscription on half-title.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
FARADAY (MICHAEL)Experimental Researches in Electricity (Nineteenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-first Series.)... from the Philsosophical Transactions - Part I. for 1846, AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed to '?E. Selby Esq. from the Author' on the title-page, passage on p.62 marked in margin in pencil, contemporary plain stiff wrappers, pencil note saying 'see page 62' on front wrapper, age-soiling, spine defective, vertical crease to cover and contents, 4to, Printed by R. and J.E. Taylor, 1846Footnotes:RARE OFFPRINT OF ARTICLES DEMONSTRATING 'THE FARADAY EFFECT', INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR. The three articles, from Faraday's ground-breaking 'Experimental Researches in Electricity' series which helped to demonstrated the link between magnetism and light, here comprise: On the magnetization of light and the illumination of magnetic lines of force; On new magnetic actions, and on the magnetic condition of all matter; On new magnetic actions, and on the magnetic condition of all matter – continued.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
MILNE (A.A.)Winnie-The-Pooh, FIRST EDITION, NUMBER 21 OF 350 LARGE PAPER COPIES SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR, printed on hand-made paper, illustrations by E.H. Shepard, large folding map of 100 Acre Wood, 2-page autograph letter signed and dated (12 December 1952) by Shepard loosely inserted, uncut in publisher's cloth-backed boards, printed label on upper cover, publisher's wrappers, toned, preserved in purpose-made blue morocco solander case, gilt spine in 6 compartments (3 lettered, others with Pooh device), small 4to, Methuen, [1926]This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
BORGES (JORGE LUIS)Autograph manuscript of his short story 'Deutsches Requiem', signed ('Jorge Luis Borges') at the end, seemingly a corrected final draft of the version published in El Sur and then in El Aleph, with ink corrections, deletions (in some cases giving 3 options for a word and crossing through 2 of them), and re-arrangements of phrases or paragraphs, 8pp., written in black ink on 8 sheets of squared graph paper, recto only, some browning, 8vo (242 x 165mm. and slightly smaller), [c.1946]Footnotes:'MUCHAS COSAS HAY QUE DESTRUIR PARA EDIFICAR EL NUEVO ORDEN' - AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT OF BORGES'S POWERFUL HOLOCAUST NOVELLA.Written at the time of the Nuremberg Trials, first published in the magazine Sur in February 1946, and included in the collection El Aleph three years later (see adjacent lot), 'Deutsches Requiem' is the fictional last testament of Otto Dietrich zur Linde, an unrepentant Nazi concentration camp Commander, torturer and murderer. After being tried and found guilty of crimes against humanity, he reflects on his own sins and those of Nazi Germany whilst awaiting the firing squad. Borges was always keen to stress that he was not solely concerned with the physical horror of the genocide, but also with 'lo trágico del destino alemán', the destruction of German spirit and culture as a whole (Epilogue to El Aleph).Some critics over the years have suggested that the author's technique of putting distance between the reader and the horrific events that took place represented a shying away from the subject. Apart from the fact that 1946 was undoubtedly too soon for such fictional depictions, it is difficult to avoid finding parallels with Michael Glazer's recent Oscar-nominated film, Zone of Interest, which adopts its own distancing technique by setting the entire film outside the camp walls. A loose adaptation of Martin Amis's 2014 novel, the film tells the story from the point of view of the Auschwitz Commandant, Rudolf Höss, and his family. Like the dispassionate zur Linde, Höss is 'less the ideologue and passionate Nazi of his professional career, more of a dispassionate strategist'. Our manuscript would seem to be a near-final draft, written on Borges's famous mathematical graph paper, which was perfectly suited to his methodical and precise methods of composition. The first few pages are written on every other line, with numerous alterations, whilst the second half is more neatly written on every line. Although there are numerous deletions, corrections and markings to indicate that various paragraphs, sentences and phrases are to be re-arranged or swapped (one paragraph is entirely crossed through but rewritten verbatim elsewhere), we can find only one textual difference from the version printed in El Aleph, which adds the final short sentence sentence 'Mi carne puede tener miedo; yo no.' ('My flesh may feel fear; I do not'). One other manuscript of the story is recorded by Daniel Balderston (How Borges Wrote, University of Virginia, 2018), presumably in private hands with no details given.Provenance: Lame Duck Books, purchased 2006; private collection.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
WILDE (OSCAR)A Woman of No Importance, FIRST EDITION, ONE OF 50 LARGE PAPER COPIES ON HAND-MADE PAPER, toning to endpapers, publisher's buckram gilt designed by Charles Shannon, soiled and darkened [Mason 365], 4to, John Lane, 1894Footnotes:Provenance: Thomas Jefferson McKee, bookplate; J.O. Edwards, book label; Estelle Doheny Collection, gilt morocco bookplate; Sotheby's, 19 December 2000, lot 129.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
DICKENS (CHARLES)The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, FIRST EDITION IN BOOK FORM, VERY EARLY ISSUE, 43 etched plates (including frontispiece and additional title) by R. Seymour, R.W. Buss and 'Phiz', with half-title and Directions to the Binder leaf, plates with the usual foxing, mostly in margins but heavy and affecting image in some cases, modern red calf gilt, spine with decorative tooling and lettering in gilt, 8vo (212 x 127mm.), Chapman & Hall, 1837Footnotes:AN EXCEPTIONAL COPY OF 'PICKWICK' IN BOOK FORM: WITH ALL THE EARLY ISSUE TEXT POINTS, ALL THE KEY PLATES IN THE FIRST STATE, AND ONE OF 'THE RAREST OF ALL PICKWICK PLATES'.Text:Rather remarkably, this copy has every first issue point noted by Hatton & Cleaver, with the exception of the impossibly rare early page variant ('only twice has it come under writer's notice', Hatton & Cleaver, p.56), being page 261 with the signature mark N2 rather than the correct X2 as in our copy. Plates:The present copy has the vast majority of the plates in the first state recorded by either Johannsen, Miller & Strange or Hatton & Cleaver (or all three), including the Seymour plates, and also has the two Buss plates. A few of the plates are Hatton & Cleaver's 'second plate', but according to Johannsen at least two of these are not genuine second plates but simply have the page number burnished out.Copies with the first plate ('Mr. Pickwick addressing the Club') in the first state are particularly scarce, John F. Dexter suggesting that of the first issue of 400 copies of part 1, 'I very much doubt whether more than 50 impressions in first state were obtained from the first set of steels' (Johannsen, p.2). Also present here is the extremely scarce Plate 14, one of two incorrectly paginated (as 169): 'In point of rarity, however, none exceed the two plates as originally etched for Part 6. To quote again the words of J.F. Dexter, 'they are the greatest rarity known to me in this book'' (Hatton & Cleaver, p.22). Plate 15 has the correct page number (154).List of plates with Johannsen and Hatton & Cleaver references:1. Mr Pickwick Addresses the Club: Plate A, First state, signature faint but visible.2. The Pugnacious Cabman: Plate A, First state, signature legible. 3. The Sagacious Dog: Plate A, the gun with hammer and trigger and no break in the barrel. Johannsen, Miller & Strange and J. Christian Bay all disagree with Hatton & Cleaver's assertion that the first state has the break in the gun.4. Dr. Slammer's Defiance of Jingle: Plate A, First state.5-7: All Plate A, First state.8-9: The two Buss plates.10. The Breakdown: Plate A, First state (the 'NE' in 'NEMO' just visible under magnification).11. The First Appearance of Mr. Samuel Weller: Plate A1 (cane showing a break), First state, with 'NEMO' signature.12. Mrs. Bardell Faints in Mr Pickwick's Arms: Plate A2 (faces slightly retouched), First state.13. The Election at Eatonswill: Plate A1 (staff faintly etched), First state.14. Mrs. Leo Hunter's Fancy-Dress Dejeune: Plate A (with incorrect page number 169, making it 'the rarest of all Pickwick plates'), First state.15. The Unexpected Breaking-Up of the Seminary for Young Ladies: Plate A (correctly paginated 169), First state.16-21. All Plate A.22. Christmas Eve at M. Wardle's: Plate A, First plate.23. The Goblin and the Sexton: Plate B1 (knot in place of a face in tree trunk), First plate.24. Mr. Pickwick Slides: Plate A, First state.25. The First Interview with Mr. Sergeant Snubbin: Plate B1 (no roll of paper), Second plate.26. The Valentine: Plate A2 (with number burnished out), Second plate, first state. This and all following plates have no etched page number.27. The Trial: Plate B1, Second plate, first state.28. The Card Room at Bath: Plate A, First plate.29. Mr Winkle's situation when the door blew to: Plate B1, Second plate..30. Conviviality at Bob Sawyer's: Plate A, First plate.31. Mr Pickwick Sits for his Portrait: Plate B1, Second plate.32. The Warden's Room: Plate A, First plate.33. Discovery of Jingle in the Fleet: Plate A, First plate.34. The Red-nosed Man Discourseth: Plate B1, Second plate.35. Mrs Bardell Encounters Mr. Pickwick in the Prison: Plate A, First plate.36. Mr Winkle Returns under Extraordinary Circumstances: Plate A, First plate.37. The Ghostly Passengers in the Ghost of a Mail: Plate B1, Second plate.38. Mr. Bob Sawyer's Mode of Travelling: Plate A, First plate.39. The Rival Editors: Plate A, First plate.40. Mary and the Fat Boy: Plate A, First plate.41. Mr. Weller and His Friends Drinking to Mr. Pell: Plate A, First plate.42. Frontispiece: Plate A, First plate.43. Etched title: Plate A: First plate.References:Albert Johannsen, Phiz Illustrations from the Novels of Charles Dickens, 1956; Thomas Hatton & Arthur. H. Cleaver, A Bibliography of the Periodical Works of Charles Dickens,, 1933; W. Miller & E.H. Strange, A Centenary Bibliography of the Pickwick Papers, 1936; J. Christian Bay, ('The Pickwick Papers', in Amateur Book Collector I, December 1950, pp.7-8).This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
ORTELIUS (ABRAHAM)Theatre de l'Univers, engraved allegorical title-page, engraved portrait of Ortelius, 119 double-page engraved maps, with 2 additional maps of France (one from the 1579 Ortelius edition, loosely inserted), some browning and soiling, occasional marginal damp-staining, Burgundy map split at central fold and repaired, the text on the reverse of approximately 6 maps cropped, a few corners creased, eighteenth-century marbled boards over original vellum, worn, loss to spine, lower joint split [Koeman III, Ort 32], folio (420 x 270mm.), Antwerp, Christopher Plantin for the author, 1598Footnotes:THE LAST EDITION OF THE 'THEATRUM' TO BE PUBLISHED IN FRENCH. Originally published in 1570 with 53 maps, this French edition was extended to include 119. 'The publication of this atlas [the 1570 first edition] marked an epoch in the history of cartography. It was the first uniformly sized, systematic collection of maps of the countries of the world based only on contemporary knowledge and in that sense may be called the first modern atlas' (Tooley, Maps and Map-Makers, p.30). The Atlas includes Ortelius' famous world map (Typus orbis terrarum), the Americas (Americae sive novi orbis nova descriptio) and maps of Asia, Africa and Europe.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
THOMSON (JOHN)Illustrations of China and its People. A Series of Two Hundred Photographs, With Letterpress Description of the Places and People Represented, 4 vol., FIRST EDITION, 96 plates of photographic illustrations, publisher's maroon morocco-grain cloth gilt, bevelled edges, corners bumped, rebacked, g.e., folio (480 x 360mm.), Sampson Low, 1873-1874Footnotes:One of the most extensive photobooks of nineteenth-century China. It is thought that only 750 sets were published. Thomson's original photographs are beautifully reproduced by 'autotype', a form of collotype patented by the publisher Sampson Low to maintain the high level of resolution of the original albumen prints. Between 1870 and 1872 Thomson 'undertook four distinct journeys, up the north branch of the Pearl River, up the River Min to the area around Foochow (Fuzhou), to Peking (Beijing), and finally up the great Yangtze (Yangzi) River. The photographs taken on these journeys form one of the most extensive photographic surveys of any region taken in the nineteenth century. The range and depth of his photographic vision mark Thomson out as one of the most important travel photographers' (ODNB). Images include Imperial China, portraits of high government officials, and spectacular architectural and scenic views, showing 'the many sides of China: sweeping landscapes, royalty and ruling classes, merchants and economic activity, everyday life, and the faces of men, women and children' (Western Travellers in China, 91).This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
WILDE (OSCAR)The Importance of Being Earnest, FIRST EDITION, NUMBER 92 OF 100 LARGE PAPER COPIES SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, a few light marks at fore-edge of opening few leaves, off-setting onto front free endpapers, publisher's decorative lilac cloth gilt designed by Charles Shannon, fore-edges of covers with old damp-stains neatly refurbished [Mason 382], 4to, Leonard Smithers, 1899Footnotes:Provenance: Johann & Dora Kruse, bookplate.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
WILDE (OSCAR)The Picture of Dorian Gray, FIRST EDITION IN BOOK FORM, half-title and title designed by Charles Ricketts, with Preface and with misprint 'nd' for 'and' on page 208, blue crushed morocco gilt by Bayntun-Riviere of Bath, g.e. [Mason 328], 8vo, Ward, Lock & Co., [1891]This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
BULL (HENRY GRAVES)The Herefordshire Pomona, Containing Original Figures and Descriptions of the Most Esteemed kinds of Apples and Pears, FIRST EDITION, 2 vol., 4 uncoloured plates and 77 chromolithographed plates by Severeyns of Brussels, the majority after Edith E. Bull (daughter of the author) and Alice B. Ellis, fruit cross-section illustrations in the text, errata slip tipped-in, contemporary green half morocco, g.e., joints starting, some wear and loss to covers [Great Flower Books, pp.59-60; Nissen BBI 29], large 4to (375 x 300mm.), Hereford, Jakeman and Carver, and London, Journal of Horticulture Office, 1876-1885Footnotes:'ONE OF THE FINEST FRUIT BOOKS EVER ISSUED' (Great Flower Books), richly illustrated with fine bright chromolithographs.Provenance: Woolhope Naturalists Field Club 1851, bookplate.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTDE PAPE (FERDINAND AND CHARLES) Recueil de pieuses prières, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM, 209 pages (numbered in lower margin), illuminated throughout including title, 33 full-page illuminations, and 264 pages of text, each within elaborate borders of different colours (gold, green, blue, lilac, red and white) filled with flowers, birds, insects and butterflies, the last 12 pages with gold floral corner-pieces left blank for additions, illuminated initials heightened in gold throughout, illumination on p.7 neatly restored, original brown morocco by De Samblanx-Weckesser, covers and spine with blind-stamped floral decoration, green and red inlaid monogram on upper cover, red morocco doublures with all-over pattern of gilt stars, crescent moon and roses, gilt dogtooth border, red watered silk endpapers, leather ties with decorative metal clasps, g.e., contained in original diced roan box with gilt monogram on upper cover (light wear), small 4to (150 x 330mm.); together with a note by Charles de Pape, SIGNED and DATED, 4-page vellum bifolium in brown ink (160 x 120mm.), Bruges, 1908 (2)Footnotes:AN EXQUISITE AND RARE EXAMPLE OF NEO-MEDIEVAL ILLUMINATION. Ferdinand De Pape (1801-1885) was a Belgian painter and foremost representative of the revival of medieval illumination who attained national and international success. Ferdinand described himself as a 'peintre en moijen âge'; and his known works suggest that he drew most of his inspiration from the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Brugean illumination. Ferdinand worked with his brother François (1814-1863) and later, from 1859, with his son Charles who eventually took over the workshop in 1882 when Ferdinand retired due to his failing eyesight. (see W. Dumond, 'The Bruges Illuminator Ferdinand de Pape', in The Revival of Medieval Illumination, 2007, pp.245-67).No other complete manuscripts have been traced at auction. The only other comparable example is held at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York, MS M.1115, Legende et déscription de la châsse de St. Ursule par Memling à l'hôpital Saint Jean à Bruges.The manuscript offered here was made for 'Monsieur and Madame Norbert Le Gallais-Metz' as is explained in the accompanying note in Pape's note. The manuscript, which celebrated the marriage between Norbert Le Gallais and Juliette Metz, was started as a collaboration between Ferdinand and Charles, and it was eventually finished by Charles in 1908. The 33 full-page fine illuminations depict scenes from the New Testament and various Saints, including St Norbert and St Juliet, who share the first names of the couple the manuscript was made for.ILLUMINATIONS: p.1 Le Gallais coat of arms; p.2 Salvator Mundi; p.4 Virgin Lactans crowned by angels; p.5 Angel musicians; p.6 Donor in prayer; p.7 Donor in prayer; p.8 Annunciation; p.15 St Peter; p.16 Visitation; p.21 St John the Evangelist; p.51 Annunciation to the Shepherds; p.29 St Catherine of Alexandria; p.30 Nativity; p.39 St Paul; p.40 Flight to Egypt; p.47 St Anthony; p.48 Presentation to the Temple; p.64 St Catherine of Alexandria; p.75 St Nicholas; p.76 St Barbara; p.81 St Luke; p.82 Agony in the Garden; p.107 St Mark; p.108 Altar with Host; p.125 St Matthew; p.126 Crucifixion; p.145 Bishop martyr; p.146 St Louis; p.158 Angel musician; p.176 St Francis receiving the stigmata; p.177 Coronation of the Virgin; p.197 St Norbert; p.198 St Juliet.TEXT: pp.9-38 Prières du Matin; pp.41-63 Messe de Mariage; pp.65-83 Exercice Pour la Confession; pp.83-107 Exercice Pour la Communion; pp.109-157 Prières durant la Saincte Messe; pp.160-176 Prières pendant la salut; pp.178-195 Prières du Soir; pp.194-209 Souvenirs de Famille LGM.The fine binding is by the Belgian master craftsman Charles de Samblancx [or Samblanx] (1855-1943), who began his binding career at age 11, as an apprentice to Coppens. He worked in partnership with the gilder Jacques Weckesser from 1889 to 1909. Samblancx worked in a variety of period styles, masterfully reproducing the bindings of previous centuries.Provenance: Norbert Le Gallais (1860-1934) and Juliette Metz; by descent to the present owner.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
JOYCE (JAMES)Ulysses, FIRST ENGLISH EDITION, limited to 2000 copies, half-title, 8pp. errata (uncut) at end, later quarter blue morocco gilt, marbled sides, publisher's blue upper and lower wrappers (with flaps) bound in [Slocum & Cahoon A18], 4to, Egoist Press, by John Rodker, 1922This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
KELMSCOTT PRESSRUSKIN (JOHN) The Nature of Gothic: A Chapter of The Stones of Venice, LIMITED TO 500 COPIES, first page of text within wide floral woodcut border, woodcut illustrations and initials, woodcut printer's device, original stiff vellum with yapp edges, gilt lettering on spine, light staining mostly at head of spine, original ties detached but loosely inserted [not in Peterson], small 4to (210 x 150mm.), Hammersmith, Kelmscott Press, 1892This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
WILDE (OSCAR)The Picture of Dorian Gray, NUMBER 41 OF 250 LARGE PAPER COPIES SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, half-title and title designed by Charles Ricketts, publisher's grey parchment-backed bevelled boards, upper cover with gilt design by Ricketts incorporating title and funnel of 'butterflies', gilt lettered spine, t.e.g., others untrimmed, soiled, rebacked preserving most of original spine, neat repairs to endpapers [Mason 329], 4to, Ward, Lock & Co., 1891Footnotes:THE SIGNED LARGE PAPER ISSUE OF THE FIRST EDITION. This copy has a variant form of the title-page with a full stop after the word 'Gray'; the full stop is not present in Mason's reproduction of the title-page but is seemingly often found.Provenance: Christian Heuer, bookplate; Sotheby's, 18 December 1995, lot 229.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
SUFFRAGE HANDKERCHIEFSatirical handkerchief titled 'Women's rights and what came of it '1981'', depicting women of the future fulfilling traditional male roles such as Politics, Science, Law, the Army, Navy and Police, a group of men doing the laundry ('Now we're busy') and a group of 'Frozen Out M.D.'s' complaining 'We've got no work to do-o-o', printed in black on fine cotton, registered number 364805, in fine condition, one or two small marks, 610 x 545mm. [1881]Footnotes:THE CONSEQUENCES OF ALLOWING WOMEN THE VOTE.This satirical handkerchief warns of what life would be like in 100 years if women were given equal rights, predicting the unconceivable possibility of women working in traditionally male roles, and showing a future where men are forced to (somewhat haplessly) undertake roles previously the preserve of women. The design '...contains all the tropes – the embodiment of light-hearted, but deeply-rooted prejudice – that are now so familiar to us through the comic postcards that were produced in response to the suffragette campaign in the years before the First World War...' (Elizabeth Crawford, Women and Her Sphere blog, September 2015). The design number was registered on 7 May 1881 by Carslaw & Henderson, fabric manufacturers, of 68 Gordon Street, Glasgow (Museum of London website).It is thought by the family that this suffrage handkerchief may have been given as a gift to the vendor's great grandmother Emma Laming Shepherd (1855-1930) possibly on her marriage to William Tombs (1858-1942) in August 1881. Three generations of the vendor's family were in service to the households of Richard Attlee (1795-1873) and his son Henry (1842-1908), and were held in high regard. Emma was the illegitimate child of Martha Laming, who held the position of maid with the Attlees and she, in her turn, was taken on as nursemaid to the Attlee children and is listed as part of the household in the 1881 census. On her marriage, it is believed that the Attlees gave her a house in Clapham Park, London so she could support herself by taking in lodgers. Her daughter Cecilia also worked for the family as lady's maid and was a childhood friend of the future Prime Minister, Clement Attlee.Provenance: Emma Laming Shepherd (1855-1930); thence by descent.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
LAWRENCE (D.H.)Bay. A Book of Poems, FIRST EDITION, ONE OF 30 COPIES PRINTED ON JAPANESE VELLUM AND SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR on the half-title, from an overall edition of 200, this copy not numbered, 10 woodcut illustrations (of which 6 hand-coloured) by Anne Estelle Rice, publisher's vellum-backed patterned boards designed by Rice, gilt lettered on spine [Roberts A12c], 8vo, [Printed by Hand at the Press of C.W. Beaumont, 1919]Footnotes:ONE OF THIRTY COPIES SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR. The poems in Bay 'comprise the greater part of Lawrence's literary reaction to the war... Bay was the first of many Lawrence books to be issued in an expensive format from a private press... [it was] illustrated by Anne Estelle Rice, an American, who Lawrence said, belonged to the 'Matisse' crowd in Paris' (Roberts).Provenance: Anne Estelle Rice; thence by descent.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
MILNE (A.A.)When We Were Very Young, NUMBER 8 OF 100 LARGE PAPER COPIES SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR, on hand-made paper, illustrations by E.H. Shepard, publisher's cloth-backed boards, printed label on upper cover, blue printed wrappers, preserved in cloth chemise (one joint split) and morocco-backed cloth slipcase (soiled), small 4to, Methuen, [1924]Footnotes:A FINE COPY OF THE FIRST AND RAREST OF THE DE LUXE FIRST EDITIONS OF THE MILNE-SHEPARD WINNIE-THE-POOH BOOKS, OF WHICH ONLY 100 COPIES WERE PRINTED.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
ROWLING (J.K.)Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, FIRST EDITION, SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR on the dedication leaf, publisher's pictorial boards, dust-jacket [Errington A9(a)], 8vo, Bloomsbury, [2000]Footnotes:Provenance: Signed for the vendor, who from 1995-2000 was the children's book buyer at a famous large Edinburgh book shop. See lot 122 for further details.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
ROSSETTI (CHRISTINA)The Poetical Works... With Memoir and Notes &c. by William Michael Rossetti, EDITOR'S PRESENTATION COPY, with an autograph note 'Presented to Miss Lisa Wilson 'my Fior-di-lisa' of Christina's little poem with affectionate regard by W.M. Rossetti Jan. 1904' on paper headed '3 St. Edmund's Terrace...' pasted on front free endpaper, chemise made from embroidered fabric, Macmillan, 1904; For Remembrance. Daily Selections from the Poems of Christina Rossetti. Compiled by Frances Maclean. With a Preface by Lisa Wilson, EDITOR'S PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed to Lisa Wilson (who wrote the preface) 'Lisa from Frances. Dec. 5 1913' above 2-line poetry quotation, annotated by Wilson in margins with the names and dates of friends (i.e. 'Christina 1894' beside the poem for 29 December), Winchester, Warren & Son, and London, Simpkin & Co., [1913]; Sing-Song. A Nursery Rhyme Book... illustrations by Arthur Hughes, inscribed by Lisa Wilson 'Christina Maude Evelyn Corkran with her Godmother's love, Feb 24th 1903', Macmillan, 1893; Speaking Likenesses... with Pictures Thereof by Arthur Hughes, FIRST EDITION, Lisa Wilson's copy inscribed 'Lisa from Jessie, Christmas 1883' on front free endpaper, spine soiled, Macmillan, 1874--ROSSETTI (DANTE GABRIEL) Ballads, PRESENTATION COPY FROM W.M. ROSSETTI, inscribed 'To Miss Lisa Wilson with best regards W.M. Rossetti, Novr. 1899', Ellis & Elvey, 1899--Of the Imitation of Christ... New Edition, PRESENTATION COPY FROM CHRISTINA TO WILLIAM MICHAEL ROSSETTI, inscribed in William's hand 'W.M. Rossetti from Christina 1890' inside upper cover, 3 CUT SIGNATURES OF CHRISTINA ROSSETTI, a 2-page note probably by Maria Rossetti and photograph of her loosely inserted, lacks front free endpaper, contemporary half calf, rubbed, Oxford, J.H. Parker, 1845--WILSON (LISA) Verses, FIRST EDITION, AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed 'Maude Corkran from Lisa Wilson with her love, Oct. 12. 1900', sprig of leaves loosely inserted (resulting in light off-setting to 2 pages), Bliss, Sands & Co., 1896--BELL (MACKENZIE) Christina Rossetti. A Biographical and Critical Study, FIRST EDITION, presentation copy with note 'To Miss Lisa Wilson with the good wishes of her friend Mackenzie Bell, Jan 1898' pasted onto the half-title, FLOWERS FROM THE WREATH PLACED ON CHRISTINA'S COFFIN loosely inserted within paper wallet folder inscribed by Lisa Wilson 'Flowers & leaves from the wreath which was laid on my beloved Christina's coffin, and buried with her - Jan 2 1892 - Highgate', a postcard from Mary Rossetti to Lisa Wilson (29 December 1930), a 4-page programme for a dedication service for the Memorial of Christina Rossetti held at Christ Church, Woburn Square on 1 November 1898, and a couple of other items loosely inserted, 2 small pencil annotations by Wilson, Hurst and Blackett, 1898--SANDARS (MARY F.) The Life of Christina Rossetti, FIRST EDITION, AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed 'To Miss Lisa Wilson with many thanks for her kind help from Mary F. Sanders, Oct. 10 1930' on the half-title, 3 autograph letters signed by the author to Wilson (12 pages, dated between August to September 1930, discussing the book) loosely inserted, APPROXIMATELY 25 PENCIL ANNOTATIONS AND CORRECTIONS BY LISA WILSON in the margins, Hutchinson, 1930, 8vo; and 13 others, biographies and reference works about Christina Rossetti, including the 4-volume Letters, works inscribed by Jan Marsh and Diane D'Amico, and 3 with the ownership inscription of Lisa Wilson (22)Footnotes:'SHE WOULD NOT HEAR OF FATE!': A group of books by, about and associated with Christina Rossetti belonging to Lisa Wilson, her closest friend in later years, and as her brother William Michael Rossetti notes in one of the volumes, 'the Fior-de-Lisa of Christina's little poem'. Two books are inscribed by William Michael, another has 3 cut signatures by Christina loosely inserted, whilst a third has dried flowers taken from the wreath laid upon her coffin. Christina Rossetti died on 29 December 1894 and Lisa was one of only a handful of guests accompanying the burial party on a snowy day at Highgate Cemetery on 2 January 1895, following a ceremony during which two hymns by Christina were sung. Also between the pages of this book can be found an order of service for Rossetti's memorial service on 1 November 1898. The editor of Rossetti's letters notes that in the last years of her life she was more aware of her growing fame and even joked to her brother William Michael that an annotated copy of Sing-Song would one day be 'priceless', warning him not to disperse her library without looking carefully for inscriptions (Antony H. Harrison, ed., The Letters of Christina Rossetti, Vol. 4: 1887-1894, 2004, xii). Lisa Wilson was consulted by Christina's early biographers, including Mackenzie Bell and Mary F. Sanders, in whose book Lisa has made some 25 revealing comments, such as 'Horrid', 'But she believe in the infinite mercy of God', 'I am sure she never thought this', and 'She would not hear of Fate!'. To Sanders' statement that Lisa was her 'most intimate friend to whom she poured out all her thoughts', Lisa responds tartly 'her thoughts were only poured out to her God'. As Lisa and Christina's correspondence was destroyed, these notes form a rare insight into their relationship. Provenance: Mary Louisa 'Lisa' Wilson (1850-1934, poet, artist and friend of Christina Rossetti); her god-daughter Christina Maude Evelyn Corkran (1903-1979); thence by descent.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
ROWLING (J.K.)Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, FIRST EDITION, SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR on the dedication page, with the sequence of numbers 10 through to 1 on the verso of the title-page, publisher's pictorial boards, dust-jacket [Errington A2(a)], 8vo, Bloomsbury, [1998]Footnotes:FINE FIRST EDITION COPY, SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, OF THE SECOND OF THE HARRY POTTER SERIES.Provenance: Signed for the vendor, who from 1995-2000 was the children's book buyer at a large Edinburgh book shop. See lot 122 for further details.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
WILDE (OSCAR)An Ideal Husband, FIRST EDITION, LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES, toning to front endpapers, publisher's lilac cloth gilt designed by Charles Shannon, light fading to spine, very short tear at foot of spine [Mason 385], 4to, Leonard Smithers, 1899Footnotes:Provenance: Panos Gratsos (1909-1990), bookplate.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
LE FANU (JOSEPH SHERIDAN)Wylder's Hand: A Novel, 3 vol., FIRST EDITION, publisher's mauve blind-stamped cloth lettered in gilt on spine, rebacked preserving original spines (with part loss of a couple of letters to volumes 1 and 2), new endpapers [Sadleir 1389; Wolff 4028] , Richard Bentley, 1864; Uncle Silas: A Tale of Bartram-Haugh, 3 vol., FIRST EDITION, second issue (with 'Second Edition' on the title of volume 1), half-titles, near contemporary half calf, spines tooled in gilt with morocco lettering labels (one with loss), rubbed [cf. Sadleir 1386; Wolff 4025a], Richard Tinsley, 1864--The Tenants of Malory. A Novel, 3 vol., FIRST EDITION, half-titles [Sadleir 1385; Wolff 4024], Tinsley Brothers, 1867; A Lost Name, FIRST EDITION, without advertisements in volume 3 [Sadleir 1381; Wolff 4018], Richard Bentley, 1868, bookplate of Sir. W.G. Gordon Cumming, later morocco-backed cloth by Birdsall & Son of Northampton, 8vo (12)Footnotes:A collection of four of Le Fanu's 1860s triple-deckers, of which Uncle Silas is described by ODNB as 'his best novel'.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
![[MOLIERE (JEAN BAPTISTE POQUELIN DE)]Oeuvres de Monsieur Molier, Tome premier, vol. 1 (of 2), engraved frontispiece, woodcut](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/0bd63aaa-74ab-480d-abc7-b12c00be1b45/7155a764-8fd2-4622-8077-b12c00c107e6/468x382.jpg)
[MOLIERE (JEAN BAPTISTE POQUELIN DE)]Oeuvres de Monsieur Molier, Tome premier, vol. 1 (of 2), engraved frontispiece, woodcut printer's device, woodcut head- and tail-pieces, light spotting, contemporary speckled calf gilt, initials PC blind-stamped on each cover, neatly rebacked preserving original gilt panelled spine with raised bands, 8vo, Paris, Estienne Loyson, 1664Footnotes:THE UNRECORDED FIRST VOLUME OF LOYSON'S PRINTING OF MOLIERE WITH A CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH PROVENANCE. Three editions of the collected works by Moliere were published in Paris between 1663 and 1664 without the consent of the author - these are known today as 'éditions collectives factices'. Our edition was previously known only by volume 2 referred to by Guibert in his bibliography, who writes 'le Tome I à son nom n'a été jamais découvert' (Guibert II, p. 560). The works contained in this first volume are:Les Précieuses ridicules, Paris, Claude Barbin, 1660Sganarelle ou Le Cocu imaginaire, Paris, Estienne Loyson, 1665L'École des maris, Paris, Jean Guignard, 1663Les Fâcheux, Paris, Jean Guignard, 1663Provenance: Phillip Constable, early ownership inscription dated 1669 and initials blind-stamped on covers. Philip Constable can be identified as possibly either Philip Constable (b.1622), brother of Sir Marmaduke Constable, 2nd Bt. of Everingham; or Philip Constable (b.1651), son of Sir Marmaduke Constable. The family had ties with the continent, and with Louvain in particular (see A. Hamilton, The Chronicle of the English Augustinian canonesses regular of the Lateran, at St. Monica's in Louvain (now at St. Augustine's priory, Newton Abbot, Devon) 1548[-1644], pp.232-234.).This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
COLLINS (WILKIE)No Name, 3 vol., FIRST EDITION, half-titles in volumes 1 and 2 (as called for), recased in publisher's orange cloth, new endpapers, worn, joints refurbished [Sadleir 601; Wolff 1371], Sampson Low, 1862; Armadale, 2 vol., first published edition, 20 wood-engraved plates by G.H. Thomas, rebacked preserving original spines [Sadleir 588; Wolff 1345], Smith, Elder and Co., 1866; The Two Destinies. A Romance, 2 vol., half-title in volume 1, lacks front free endpaper of volume 1 [Wolff 1376], Chatto & Windus, 1876; The Haunted Hotel. A Mystery of Modern Venice, 2 vol., FIRST EDITION, 6 wood-engraved plates by Arthur Hopkins, 40pp. publisher's advertisements (dated October 1878) in volume 1, one gathering loose in volume 1 [Wolff 1355], Chatto & Windus, 1879; Jezebel's Daughter, 3 vol., FIRST EDITION, half-titles, 32pp. of advertisements (dated Feb. 1880) in volume 1, spines soiled [Wolff 1359], Chatto & Windus, 1880, 8vo; and 6 others by Collins (18)This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
ROSSETTI (CHRISTINA)Autograph poem 'On Occasion of her Book to my Fior-di-Lisa' signed ('Christina G. Rossetti'), 8 lines beginning 'The Rose is Love's own flower – And Love's no less/ The Lily's loftiness...', affixed to the flyleaf of a volume of thirteen manuscript poems dedicated to Christina Rossetti, composed, written and illustrated by her close friend Lisa Wilson, beginning 'To Christina, My Dearest Friend', and including the poems 'Consecrations', 'Of My Lady', 'Her Birthday', and 'For Love's Sake', finely decorated in watercolour throughout with flowers such as forget-me-nots, honeysuckle and blossoms, 13 leaves of watercolour paper, printed gilt floral endpapers, vellum, ruled in gilt with initials 'C.G.R.' on upper cover, 8vo (178 x 125mm.), [1892]; with a separate autograph fair copy of Rossetti's poem titled 'In honour of her Book, and still/ more of my own/ Fior-di-Lisa' signed with initials ('C.G.R.') on a bifolium, one page, 8vo (175 x 111mm.), [?1892]; and group of associated ephemera including a cabinet photograph of Lisa Wilson and two botanical watercolours signed 'Helen Rossetti' (small group)Footnotes:'TO MY FIOR-DI-LISA': A VOLUME OF ILLUSTRATED POEMS DEDICATED TO CHRISTINA ROSSETTI BY HER CLOSE FRIEND, WITH TWO COPIES OF ROSSETTI'S VERSE WRITTEN IN RESPONSE. This beautifully decorated vellum-bound volume was presented by Lisa Wilson to Christina Rossetti in 1892, soon after Rossetti's operation for breast cancer in May of that year, and bound in haste when it was thought that she had not long to live. The women had corresponded since the 1880's when Lisa Wilson '...a very invalidish girl, obliged to lie down a great deal...' (Mary F. Sanders, The Life of Christina Rossetti, London, 1930, p.254) wrote Rossetti an admiring letter. They finally met in 1885 when Christina offered to send her a copy of her new book Time Flies (see lot 118). Grasping the opportunity to meet in person, Lisa collected the book herself, thus beginning a close lifelong friendship, becoming her '...most important admirer... close friend and companion...' (Jan Marsh, Christina Rossetti, a Literary Biography, 1994, p.538). The moment is captured in her poem 'The Meeting' included here ('...let me recall the time when we first met... you came and let my hands clasp yours... Your lips, with their sweet melancholy curve and rare swift smile. Your musical low voice Thrilled through me...'). Rossetti herself was less poetic at the prospect of their meeting: 'Don't expect me to be as nice as my poems or you will be disappointed', she had written (Marsh, p.538).The collection of intense love poems, religious verses and thoughts on death has been described as '...the most public statement Wilson made of her love for Rossetti...' (Diane D'Amico, 'Lisa Wilson: 'A Friend of Christina Rossetti'', The Journal of Pre-Raphaelite Studies, Vol. 10, Fall 2001, p.118). D'Amico argues that the poems must, however, be read in the context of female friendship at a time when intense expressions of love between women were allowed without being interpreted as sapphic, and that they can also be seen in the concept of a spiritual friendship that brought them closer to God, with Rossetti as Lisa's spiritual guide: '...Wilson's love for Rossetti and her poetry inspired by this love are influenced by a religious faith that allowed for such a concept of friendship...' (D'Amico, p.121). After Rossetti's death, Lisa requested William Michael Rossetti return the volume, in which Christina had inscribed a short verse dedicated to her, and inserted at the front of the book. 'Fior-Di-Lisa' casts Lisa as a lily and herself as a rose, and the book is full of the symbolic language of flowers through which their friendship was communicated. The poem was published in New Poems by Christina Rossetti, edited by William Michael Rossetti in 1896.As well as requesting the return of our volume, she also burned all Christina's correspondence and, apart from publishing these poems, never commented about a friendship she considered sacred, thinking it was enough, and indeed a privilege, to be remembered merely as Rossetti's friend. All the poems inscribed here, apart from the preface 'To Christina' were included in Lisa Wilson's only published work, Verses, of 1896, in which she revealed her pseudonym Christina Grey, under which she may have published other work. Whilst their close relationship is acknowledged by biographers, and our volume consulted by them, further detail is scarce and she is depicted as a rather shadowy figure of whom little is known. Diane D'Amico has put this deficiency right in her comprehensive essay 'Lisa Wilson: 'A Friend of Christina Rossetti'', (ibid, pp.109-129), where she talks about Lisa and our volume in detail. D'Amico identifies her as Mary Louisa Wilson (1850-1934), the daughter of a solicitor from Oundle. She remained unmarried and lived with her widowed mother and brother as companion and housekeeper in Gilston Road, London. A devout Christian, she was a regular attendee at her local church, St Mary's The Boltons, and devoted much time to visiting the poor and sick. She moved to Cornwall after the death of her sisters and her good friend Maude Corkran, and spent the last years of her life in Penzance. The book was passed on to her god-daughter Christina Corkran, and has remained in the family since then.Provenance: Mary Louisa 'Lisa' Wilson (1850-1934, poet, artist and friend of Christina Rossetti); her god-daughter Christina Maude Evelyn Corkran (1903-1979); thence by descent.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: •• Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
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