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Lot 1389
the folding swivel top inset with view of an abbey, enclosing an inlaid chequerboard, backgammon and cribbage surface, over a pull out compartmentalised drawer and well on turned and scroll supports, height 73cm, width 58cm, 43cm deep. *Condition: Split to bottom half of games board, top 'smiles', one caster broken, light surface marks, minor veneer loss.
Lot 394
London Underground station forecourt display sign UNDERGROUND. Screen printed aluminium with central illuminated underground and red circle in perspex. Double sided with internal fluorescent tubes (currently disconnected) which light up both sides of the centre. Measures 40in x 40in and the mounting pole 22in. Would make a superb display item when lit, one of the panels is loose and appears to be missing a peice of plastic trim. Note this is being sold as non working without any wiring connections and will need to be PAT tested.
Lot 90
Shedplate 72A Exmouth Junction 1950- September 1963. This ex LSWR shed to the east of Exeter had over 120 locos allocated throughout this period. At its peak it had 33 Bullied Light Pacifics and 7 Merchant Navies as well as 5 of those exotic Z class 0-8-0 tanks. In September 1963 it received the WR code 83D. Face restored condition with the BR(S) Eastleigh triangle cast into the back and typical Southern region casting marks on the front.
Lot 115
Shedplate 73A Stewarts Lane 1950 to June 1962. This ex SECR shed had an allocation of over 100 locos during this period. Of note were 7 King Arthurs, 6 Schools 13 Bullied Light Pacifics and 3 Merchant Navy's. In June 1962 it was recoded 75D, and lost its steam allocation in September 1963. It is still a Repair and Maintenance depot for diesel and electric locos and a servicing point for steam locos. Face lightly restored with the BR(S) Eastleigh triangle cast into the back and typical Southern region casting marks on the front.
Lot 921
Great Western Railway Wartime Gantry Lamp. Similar in appearance to a General Purpose Handlamp with curved top and fixed handle but, the front glass has a triangular cowl fitted to direct the light downwards as black-out lamps. The cowl is clearly stamped Gantry No 2 and both sides are stamped GWR in small lettering. Complete with an unmarked reservoir and a BR/WR burner
Lot 503
Great Western Railway Reform Patent 3-aspect HANDLAMP. The top is clearly embossed GWR. Reform Patent. The reducing-cone bears a curved brass plate, embossed Petroleum. Light 10 Minutes Before Using. Complete with vessel; Reform Patent brass/ceramic burner; reflector; wide brass lens bezel, and all glasses.
Lot 146
LYELL, Charles (1797-1875). Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man with Remarks on Theories of the Origin of Species by Variation, London, 1863, 8vo, 2 plates, illustrations, later half calf gilt. FIRST EDITION.LYELL, Charles (1797-1875). The Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man with Remarks on Theories of the Origin of Species by Variation. London: John Murray, 1863. 8vo (215 x 135mm). Half title, 2 wood-engraved plates, illustrations, diagrams and maps, 32-pages of publisher's advertisements at the end dated January 1863 (half title browned at edges and spotted, occasional light mainly marginal spotting and staining, a few darker spots and stains). Later half calf, spine gilt with red morocco lettering-piece, later endpapers. Provenance: From the Collection of Professor Jonathan Brostoff, D.M., D.Sc., FRCP, FRCPath (1934-2020). FIRST EDITION of a work whose "evidence in favour of assigning an extreme antiquity to the human remains found in certain caves and gravels made a deep impression on the public mind" (DNB). Although the wording of Lyell's title refers to 'theories' in the plural, passages in the book clearly show their debt specifically to Darwin's On the Origin of Species, published just three years before, both in Chapter XXL which is dedicated to a discussion of Darwin's magnum opus, and on pp.472-473, for example, where Lyell's own words seem to accord with Darwin's theories: "But will not transmutation, if adopted, require us to include the human race in the same continuous series of developments, so that we must hold that man himself has been derived by an unbroken line of descent from some one of the inferior animals? We certainly cannot escape from such a conclusion without abandoning many of the weightiest arguments which have been urged in support of variation and natural selection, considered as the subordinate causes by which new types have been gradually introduced into the earth." Challinor 192; Freeman Natural History 2369; Garrison & Morton 204.1; Norman 1400; Sabin 42758; Ward & Carozzi Geology Emerging 1439.
Lot 118
DUMOURIEZ, Charles François du Périer (1739-1823). Thoughts on the French Invasion of England ... Translated from the French ... The Third Edition, London, 1798, 4to, folding hand-coloured engraved chart, contemporary wrappers. VERY RARE.DUMOURIEZ, Charles François du Périer (1739-1823). Thoughts on the French Invasion of England ... Translated from the French. Illustrated ... The Third Edition. London: Printed for John Stockdale, 1798. 4to (280 x 220mm). Large folding engraved "Chart of Great Britain & Ireland, with the Coasts of France, Spain, Portugal &c: Exhibiting all the Channels, Harbors[sic], Bays & Islands, with the exact Bearings and Distances Between any two Places" by John Stockdale, hand-coloured in outline, 12-pages followed by 4-pages of publisher's advertisements (chart repaired with very slight loss, short tear without loss, some spotting to B2, some light mainly marginal spotting and staining to other leaves). Contemporary plain wrappers, stitched (some fraying). Provenance: Pasted onto the back of the upper wrapper is a contemporary printed sheet, with "4 Days Reading" in autograph at the top, and with 3 printed columns headed, respectively, "When received. Order of Circulation. When sent away", containing a list of 18 printed names and the day and month, but not the year, of their respective borrowing dates added in manuscript - almost invariably for 4 days - and a printed note at the bottom, "To be returned to the Steward", signed "Wm. [?]Briggs". The title page [mis]spells the author's surname 'Dumourier'. The printed note on the map, repeated on the title page, that the chart has "... the exact Bearings and Distances between any Two Places", is not borne out in reality since no distances appear on the chart, nor does it even have a scale. VERY RARE, with no copy of this, or any other edition, in the British Library.
Lot 78
WHEELER-BENNETT, John (1902-75). Munich. Prologue to Tragedy, London, 1948, 8vo, original cloth. FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY, A HIGHLY IMPORTANT COPY, ANNOTATED AND HIGHLIGHTED IN INK BY ANTHONY EDEN.WHEELER-BENNETT, John W. (1902-75). Munich. Prologue to Tragedy. London: Macmillan & Co., 1948. Large 8vo (220 x 150mm). Half title, 9 full-page illustrations of contemporary cartoons from "Punch" and the "Evening Standard", 3 folding maps (some faint staining to p.ix of the Foreword, one leaf creased at lower fore-corner with a short tear without loss). Original plum cloth, the spine lettered in gilt (some extremely light and inconspicuous staining, lacks dust-jacket). Provenance: Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (modern armorial bookplate loosely-inserted). FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY, the half title inscribed, "For Anthony Eden, with warmest best wishes and very many thanks, John W. Wheeler-Bennett, May, 1948." A HIGHLY IMPORTANT COPY, ANNOTATED AND HIGHLIGHTED IN INK BY ANTHONY EDEN, principally to the first half of the book. (It is very unusual for Eden's annotations to be in ink and not pencil.) For example, on p.15 (commenting on Sir Nevile Henderson, British Ambassador to Germany from 1937-39), Eden writes: "Disastrous man and disloyal to me. Note his conversation with Buchanan in our Embassy Berlin day 1 ... He proclaimed his delight & added now we shall be able to make friends with Germany"; on p.16 (commenting on a printed passage which reads 'Unheedful of the more cautious views of Mr. Eden, who, having formed a not wholly unfavourable view of Hitler when he first met him in 1934, had soon seen the light and realized the dangers of placing trust in Nazi pledges', and in which Eden has underlined the word 'soon'): "Rhineland did this for me"; on p.29 (commenting on the printed passage 'The Czech calculations had gone awry in that they had expected Schuschnigg's resistance to continue a year longer'): "Precisely my hope & calculation too. If N. C. [Neville Chamberlain] had been prepared to take advice it might have been"; on p.36 (commenting on the printed passage 'On March 22 [1938] the British Cabinet decided to reject this proposal [of the Soviet Government for a Four-Power Conference]): "unforgivably"; on p.39 (commenting on Neville Chamberlain's approach to Czechoslovakia): "Later he did this for Poland & Rumania. [Sir John] Simon took his line against me in debate after Hitler had entered Prague (see Hansard). In face of public opinion N. C. was compelled to abandon it at B'ham day or two after"; on p.40 (commenting on the lines quoting Chamberlain's assertion that "'In the meantime ... there is no need to assume the use of force, or, indeed, to talk about it'"): "Ass!"; on p.43 (commenting on Basil Newton, then the British Ambassador to Czechoslovakia): "Very weak man. Poor in Baghdad later"; also on p.43: "N. C. was smug about rearmament & took little direct interest. He left it to [Sir Thomas] Inskip who was well meaning but utterly [?]futile"; on p.44 (in response to Chamberlain's assertion to the House of Commons that 'The almost terrifying power that Britain is building up has a sobering effect on the opinion of the world'): "a terrible untruth"; on pp.44-45 (on Chamberlain) he writes, in an extensive note that fills two thirds of a largely blank page: "If he had really been concerned he should have presided over our rearmament [illegible word] - as I frequently urged him to do in vain. In the autumn of 1937 I was so horrified at state [sic] of our rearmament especially in [illegible word] that I went to see N. C. about it. He maintained Tom [Inskip] & [Leslie Hore-] Belisha are quite satisfied. Eventually I [?]persuaded to a meeting of the three of us & he was much disturbed. [?]A. A. [i.e. Anti-Aircraft] guns were thus given an effective priority. A further difficulty about rearmament was that neither N. C. nor Inskip knew the simplest rudiments of military matters"; on p.49 (commenting on the line 'Mr. Chamberlain, however, demurred'): "Typical of his talk"; on p.73 (commenting on Pierre-Etienne Flandin, former Prime Minister of France): "Perhaps the crookedest of them all"; on p.75 (the context unclear): "Also intended to silence criticism here, no doubt"; on p.105 (commenting on the printed passage 'It was thus possible that, in the event of war, the Anti-Comintern Pact of 1936 might provide a serious factor in hampering Russian aid to Czechoslovakia by a Japanese attack on the Soviet Union, and, though this prospect did not appear to agitate Moscow, it undoubtedly played a part in Mr Chamberlain's calculations'): "I doubt it"; on p.106 (commenting on the printed passage 'It was his [Neville Chamberlain's] belief that Russia, who, it was said, would like nothing better than to see the capitalist States at each other's throats, would either not fight at all ... or, if she did fight, would, by reason of the bad state of her armaments and the difficulties of logistics, be able to offer little of value in the way of assistance'): "N. C. thought Russia quite useless militarily; he wasn't alone in that. What is less excusable is that he thought Italy militarily [?]formidable encouraged [?]thereto by weak & woolly [followed by two illegible words]"; on p.114 (commenting on the printed passage 'Chamberlain now interpreted this view as meaning that France could not expect British intervention unless and until her own territory were attacked'): "Yet we guaranteed Poland & Rumania a few months later, without a hope of defending either!"; on p.174 (commenting on Sir Horace Wilson): "A very bad man"; whereupon the annotation largely ceases, except that, on p.177, Eden - as if in disgust - boldly highlights and underlines the printed sentence 'In effect, however, Hitler had gained everything.'
Lot 175
PSALTER, in Hebrew - Psalterium, Leiden: "Ex officina Plantiniana apud Franciscum Raphelengium," 1595, 16mo, woodcut ornaments, contemporary calf (heavily rubbed, hinges weak).PSALTER, in Hebrew - Psalterium. Leiden: "Ex officina Plantiniana apud Franciscum Raphelengium," 1595. 16mo (107 x 80mm). Title in English and Hebrew with woodcut printer's device, woodcut ornament at head of first text leaf, text in Hebrew throughout (title with piece torn away from edge without loss, headings cropped, one leaf torn without loss, some mainly light browning, staining and spotting). Contemporary calf (heavily rubbed, hinges weak). Provenance: From the Collection of Professor Jonathan Brostoff, D.M., D.Sc., FRCP, FRCPath (1934-2020); "Ex libris Rod: Howard" (old signature on title); "Beneficum daudo accipit qui digno dedit" (old Latin inscription on verso of title); old inscriptions and signatures on endpaper.
Lot 168
PASTEUR, Louis (1822-95). Etudes sur le Vin, Paris, 1866, large 8vo, 32 lithographed plates printed in colours, original wrappers, slipcase. FIRST EDITION.PASTEUR, Louis (1822-95). Études sur le Vin, Ses Maladies causes qui les Provoquent Procédés Nouveaux pour le Conserver et pour le Vieillir. Paris: "Imprimé par Autorisation de son Exec. le Garde des Sceaux. A L'Imprimerie Impériale," 1866. Large 8vo (240 x 160mm). Half title, 32 lithographed plates printed in colours, illustrations (some light spotting and staining). Original grey printed wrappers with small woodcut armorial device on upper wrapper, uncut (lightly stained, repair with adhesive tape to head of backstrip and corner of lower wrapper), later buckram slipcase. Provenance: From the Collection of Professor Jonathan Brostoff, D.M., D.Sc., FRCP, FRCPath (1934-2020); A. [?]Méyret (old signature on upper wrapper and front free endpaper); "Agriculture 3070" (old [?]library note on title and corresponding label at head of backstrip), modern buckram slipcase. FIRST EDITION of this work in which the author establishes the role of atmospheric oxygen in causing the 'diseases' of wine which, along with various other works (cf. PMM 336), led the author to the discovery of bacteria from which he went on to develop the germ theory of disease. Bulloch p.61; Duveen p.260; Garrison & Martin 2479; Norman 1655; Sparrow Milestones of Science 160.
Lot 16
COWLEY, Abraham (1618-67). The Works, London, 1708-10, 3 vols., 8vo, 33 engraved plates, contemporary calf. Mixed editions. With 14 other works in 32 volumes. (35)COWLEY, Abraham (1618-67). The Works ... Consisting of those Which were formerly Printed; And those which He design'd for the Press; Publish'd out of the Author's Original Copies. With the Cutter of Coleman-Street ... [Vols. I-II] The Eleventh Edition [Vol. III] The Eighth Edition. London: Printed for T. Tonson; and Sold by D. Browne (and others), [Vols. I-II] 1710 [Vol. III] 1708. 3 volumes, 8vo (194 x 120mm). Engraved portrait of the author and 32 plates, including one folding (some light staining and browning, a few darker spots). Contemporary panelled calf (rebacked preserving old lettering pieces). Provenance: The Rt. Hon. Robert d' Arcy, Earl of Holdernesse (armorial bookplate). With 14 other works in 32 volumes, namely Agabito Pei's Vita e Miracoli dei Glorioso S. Antonio da Padoa (Florence, 1633, 8vo, engraved title and portrait, one full-page woodcut, contemporary decorated vellum, spine gilt, stained and worn), Histoire Veritable de la Duchesse de Chatillon (Cologne, chez Pierre Marteau, 1699, 12mo, contemporary red morocco, inscribed "Jack, from Goonie [i.e. Lady Gwendeline Churchill], 31st May 1910 on the occasion of John George's 1st birthday"), John Norris's The Theory and Regulation of Love. A Moral Essay. With Some Motives to the Study and Practice of regular Love, by way of Consideration. To which are added, Letters Philosophical and Moral between the Author and Dr. Henry More ... The Seventh Edition (London, 1723, 8vo, contemporary calf), Henry Fielding's The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews ... The Fifth Edition (London, 1751, 2 vols., 8vo, engraved plates, contemporary calf), John Vanbrugh's Plays ... In Two Volumes (London, 1759, 2 vols., 8vo, contemporary calf, old armorial bookplate of Anthony Eden), [Claude Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon's] Le Sopha, Conte Moral. Nouvelle Édition ("A Pekin", chez l'Imprimeur de l'Empereur," [?but Paris], 1762, 2 parts in one vol., small 8vo, 19th-century red calf), Henry Fielding's Amelia (London, 1775, 3 vols., 8vo, later calf preserving old spines), Thomas Warton's Poems. A New Edition, with Additions (London, 1777, large 8vo, contemporary calf, old armorial bookplate of Anthony Eden), [Mercier de Saint-Léger Barthélemy's] Quinque illustrium poetarum ... Lusus in venerem partim ex codicibus manuscriptis nunc primùm editi (Paris, "Prostat ad pistrinum in vico suavi", 1791, contemporary calf), William Shakespeare's The Plays ... Accurately printed from the Text of the corrected Copy left by the late George Steevens (London, 1805, 10 volumes, large 8vo, engraved plates by Henry Fuseli, contemporary calf elaborately decorated in gilt, rebacked, heavily rubbed and scuffed, old armorial bookplates of Anthony Eden), [James Beresford's] The Miseries of Human Life ([London, c.1806, 2 vols., [including, bound in at the end of the second vol., Peregrine Bingham's The Poems of Memory, A Poem, in Two Books (London, 1811)], 2 folding engraved frontispieces, one hand-coloured, contemporary calf, old armorial bookplate of Anthony Eden, with later pencil inscriptions in an unidentified hand regarding provenance at the beginning of the first vol. ("These 2 vols. shd. not have AE's bookplate in them - they belonged to Harold Baker who left them to me ...."_)), Oliver Goldsmith's The Citizen of the World: or, Letters from a Chinese Philosopher Residing in London, to his Friends in the East (London, 1809, 2 vols., 8vo, engraved plates, contemporary calf gilt, neatly rebacked, armorial bookplate of William Fawcett), John Selden's The Table Talk ... A New edition, corrected (Chiswick, 1818, 12mo, engraved frontispiece, contemporary turquoise calf gilt, highlighted in pencil throughout with some sparse annotation by Anthony Eden) and Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote de la Mancha (London, 1818, 4 volumes, large 8vo, engraved plates by Robert Smirke, contemporary calf, upper board of vol. one detached, old armorial bookplate of Anthony Eden). The lot sold not subject to return. (35)
Lot 65
SCHMIDT, Paul-Otto (1899-1970). Hitler's Interpreter, London, 1951, 8vo, half tone illustrations, original buckram. FIRST ENGLISH ABRIDGED EDITION, A HIGHLY IMPORTANT COPY, ANNOTATED AND HIGHLIGHTED IN PENCIL BY ANTHONY EDEN THROUGHOUT.SCHMIDT, Paul-Otto (1899-1970). Hitler's Interpreter ... Edited by R. H. C. Steed. London: William Heinemann, 1951. 8vo (213 x 135mm). Half title, half tone portrait frontispiece of the author, 10 full-page half tone illustrations. Original red buckram, spine lettered and ruled in gilt (gilt faded, corners lightly rubbed, some very light staining, without the dust-jacket). Provenance: Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (modern armorial bookplate loosely-inserted). FIRST ENGLISH AND ABRIDGED EDITION, A HIGHLY IMPORTANT COPY, ANNOTATED AND HIGHLIGHTED IN PENCIL BY ANTHONY EDEN THROUGHOUT. For example, the front free endpaper is inscribed by Eden in pencil: "Sent to me by Schmidt. A.E." (although the author has not signed or inscribed the copy); on p.24 (commenting on the printed passage 'At noon [?on March 26, 1935] there were refreshments at the British Embassy at which Hitler made an appearance; this was the first time that he had been seen at a foreign embassy'), Eden writes: "No - two years earlier where he met me"; on p.86 (referring to Sir Nevile Henderson, British Ambassador to Germany from 1937-39): "& yet he was pathetically pro-German"; on p.57 (commenting on the printed passage 'Lloyd George took this opportunity of expressing himself very definitely, if in quite general terms, about the German peace efforts, "which," he said, "have unfortunately been frustrated by the staff talks"'): "he was against them"; on p.88 (the context unclear): "Strange. The [?]Govt. thought they had had a success"; on p.107 (commenting on the printed line 'It was at this moment that the decision in favour of peace was made'): "Hitler had won"; on p.131 (commenting on the printed passage 'Throughout the summer [of 1939] tension in Europe increased daily. Preparations for war were put in hand more or less openly in every country; menaces, warnings, and challenges filled the ether and the columns of the Press'): "Yet [Sir John] Simon persuaded the Cabinet to lay down no [?]destroyers. What did that cost in lives?"; on p.150 (commenting on the printed passage 'In this critical discussion [Sir Nevile Henderson] would have been able to express himself with more clarity and ease in English'): "Foolish"; on p.235 (commenting on the printed line referring to 'the Pact concluded by Soviet Russia with Yugoslavia just before the outbreak of war with that country and Germany'): "It always puzzled me why Stalin did this. I asked him and he replied that they felt sympathy with Yugo & that they knew by then that they would be attacked anyway. The coup d' etat we organised in Belgrade may therefore have helped the German Russian breech"; and on p.237 (commenting on Pearl Harbour and Germany's declaration of war on the United States): "It was a turning point of the war because it made possible a U.S. western strategy." The rear endpapers are filled with Eden's pencil notes referring to various pages in the book, and, occasionally, with his commentary on them [see illustration]; for example: "Page 64. Proof once again of what I told Neville: that Mussolini had already done a deal with Hitler - March 1937 - I put it later. P.211. Date of Hitler's decision to attack Russia ... Page 237. Astonishing that Germans did not know in advance of Pearl Harbour ... Page 265. Morgenthau Plan at Quebec, which I [?]opposed on my arrival before [Cordell] Hull came & to W's [Winston's] exasperation." Schmidt opens his book with the printed sentence: "The first time I interpreted for Hitler was on March 25, 1935, when Sir John Simon and Mr Anthony Eden came to Berlin for talks on the European crisis caused by German re-armament." On pp.18-19, he goes on to give a more detailed printed account of the first meeting of Simon (then British Foreign Minister) and Eden (then Lord Privy Seal) with Hitler in the Reich's Chancellery: "Simon, with his large brown eyes, looked at Hitler with by no means unsympathetic interest as he listened to him. His face naturally expressed a certain paternal benevolence ... On the other hand, I occasionally noticed a rather more sceptical expression flit over the face of Eden, who understood enough German to be able to follow Hitler more or less. Some of Eden's questions and observations showed he had considerable doubts about Hitler and what he was saying. 'There are actually no indications,' he once observed, 'that the Russians have any aggressive plans against Germany.' And in a slightly sarcastic tone he asked: 'On what are your fears actually based?' 'I have rather more experience in these matters than is general in England,' Hitler parried, and added heatedly, throwing out his chin: 'I began my political career just when the Bolshevists were launching their first attack in Germany.' Then he went off again into a monologue on Bolshevists individually and in general which, with translation, lasted until lunch." The editor R. H. C. Steed's printed preface to the book provides an assessment of its author's character and motivations: "... Schmidt saw ... that between hommes de bonne volonté, men of good will, regardless of nationality, even the greatest difficulties could be overcome. Twenty years of unique experience of diplomacy in its most intimate top-level aspect confirmed this opinion, and added to it the conviction that 'the real enemies of mankind are the fanatics, in whatever camp they may be'. Schmidt is at pains to make it clear that he places the Nazis in that category - especially Hitler and Ribbentrop. He is damning and often contemptuous in his judgments of the men for whom he worked so loyally and for so long - and has been criticised on that account. He claims that he was never a Nazi sympathiser, that he merely did his job as a civil servant and expert technician, that he made no secret of his independent outlook and that this was duly noticed against him in his dossier. This account of himself seems to be borne out by the impression he made, among others, on Sir Nevile Henderson, British Ambassador in Berlin until the outbreak of war. He certainly showed considerable courage of a negative kind in that, despite his very special position, he resisted pressure to join the Nazi Party until 1943 ... I think Schmidt might fairly be described as an enlightened, cosmopolitanised German nationalist, and find it a little hard on him that we have to hand him down to posterity as 'Hitler's Interpreter' and not, perhaps more aptly, as 'Stresemann's Interpreter' - a title to which he has at least an equal claim."
Lot 108a
CHAPBOOKS - Literary Miscellany: containing Humourous Pieces, Poughnill, 1801, small 8vo, original printed wrappers. With 3 other similar chapbooks. RARE. Please see the full description below. (4)CHAPBOOKS - [Upper wrapper:] Literary Miscellany: containing Humourous Pieces; viz. Sermon on the Word Malt, - Paris Jobbing, - &c. &c. [Title page:] Humourous & Satirical. A Sermon on the Word Malt; Parish Jobbing; The Cards Spiritualised; &c. &c. Poughnill, near Ludlow: "Printed and sold by G. Nicholson," 1801. Number 6, small 8vo (153 x 98mm). 24-pages, wood-engraved vignette on title and at the end (some light spotting and staining). Original blue printed wrappers, stitched. Provenance: Wm. Pollock (old signature on upper wrapper). With 3 other chapbooks from the same series, namely Moral Tales. The Grateful Turk; Androcles and the Lion; The Horse; Phillis and Damaris (Poughnill, 1801, no. 14), Robert Dodsley's The Economy of Human Life (Poughnill, 1805, no. 44) and Goethe's The Letters of Werter (Poughnill, 1802, no. 54), all small 8vo, in original printed wrappers. "It is an evident and acknowledged fact, that our most celebrated authors have their excellencies and defects; their admirable and less interesting compositions; and they they wrote, not only on important and permanent subjects, but on such as were temporary, adventitious and local. We, therefore, have engaged in the task of selecting the 'valuable parts' ... Subjects of utility; whatever can amend and humanize the heart, inform the understanding, correct the judgment, and establish first, general, and liberal principles; whatever can awaken attention to obvious and important truths, will be carefully preferred. We shall avoid the adulation of power, the celebration of offensive atchievements[sic], and of savage and unmanly sports; absurd traditions; mythological fictions; unnatural allegories, visions, and fables; and details of mad or violent passions" (from the "Outlines of the Plan" printed on each wrapper). RARE. (4)
![[SIBLY, Ebenezer (1751-1800), Carl LINNAEUS (1707-78)], and others. An Universal System of Natural History, London, [?1794-1](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/9f62f50f-e3e9-488b-bedd-b02f00c8e0e3/70b74a85-9258-44a5-853e-b03000b5820d/468x382.jpg)
Lot 183
[SIBLY, Ebenezer (1751-1800), Carl LINNAEUS (1707-78)], and others. An Universal System of Natural History, London, [?1794-1808], 14 volumes, 8vo, 401 engraved plates only, 112 hand-coloured, 85 folding, half calf gilt. Sold not subject to return. (14)[SIBLY, Ebenezer (1751-1800, editor), Carl LINNAEUS (1707-78)], and others. [Volumes I - VII titled:] An Universal System of Natural History, including the Natural History of Man; The Orang-Outang; and Whole Tribe of Simia; all the known Quadrupeds, Birds, Fishes, and Amphibious Animals ... Forming a Magnificent View of the Three Kingdoms of Nature Divided into Distinct Parts, the Characters Separately Described, and Systematically Arranged [Volumes VIII - XIV titled:] A Genuine and Universal System of Natural History; Comprising Three Kingdoms of Animals, Vegetables, and Minerals, Arranged under their Respective Classes, Orders, Genera, and Species. By the late Sir Charles Linnæus ... Improv'd, Corrected, and Enlarged by J. Frid. Gmelin [etc., etc.]. London: Printed for the Proprietor, and Sold by Champante and Whitrow [with variants to the imprints in other vols.], [?1794-1808]. 14 volumes, 8vo (207 x 130mm). 401 engraved plates only ([?]of 424), of which 112 hand-coloured and 85 folding (vol. one lacking the engraved general title and two "zodiac" plates at the front called for in the list, also lacking the portrait of Linnæus in vol. VII, some variable light spotting, staining and browning, one plate detached, a few plates cropped, a few small holes, one plate torn with loss at corner, a few leaves torn without loss, Qq2 (text leaf) in vol. II with printing flaw). Very attractively bound in later half calf and marbled boards, spines gilt with red morocco lettering pieces stamped "Linnæus [sic] Natural History" (upper hinges of spine of last vol. broken, some ink spotting to a few spines, most pronounced to that of vol. VIII, lightly rubbed). Provenance: From the Collection of Professor Jonathan Brostoff, D.M., D.Sc., FRCP, FRCPath (1934-2020); some pencil annotation to a few leaves. The decision to colour some plates and not others seems to have been made quite arbitrarily throughout the set: for instance, vols. I and II have no coloured plates, whereas all the plates are coloured in vols. VIII and XIV. Most of the folding plates are coloured. In general, the proportion of coloured and folding plates increases in the later volumes. Individual volumes or short runs of the work occasionally appear at auction or in the trade; the full set of 14 volumes - as here - is rare, and, so far as we can see, unheard of with a full complement of plates. Since many of the volumes are lacking their list of plates, and we have been unable to locate a detailed collation for the work, it is, with regret, sold as a collection of plates, not subject to return. (14)
Lot 114
Code Civil des Français, Paris, 1804, 8vo, contemporary French calf-backed marbled boards. FIRST EDITION of the "Napoleonic Code".Code Civil des Français. Édition Originale et Seule Officielle. Paris: De l' Imprimerie de la Rpublique. An XII, 1804. 8vo (200 x 125mm). Half title, large woodcut allegorical device on the title captioned in a panel beneath "Grand-Juge et Ministre de la Justice", woodcut device of "Le Grand-Juge, Ministre de la Justice, Regnier" on the verso of the final text leaf (some fraying to half title, variable but mainly light spotting, staining and browning). Contemporary French calf-backed marbled boards, the spine lettered and decorated in gilt (boards lightly rubbed). Provenance: From the Collection of Peter and Margarethe Braune; Mairie de Bourmont, Haute-Marne (old stamp on title); some early pen and pencil annotation to front free endpaper. FIRST EDITION of the "Napoleonic Code" which, under the direction of Napoleon Bonaparte and a special commission led by J. J. Cambaceres, gave post-revolutionary France its first coherent set of laws concerning individual rights, the family, property and the colonies. While all male citizens were granted equal rights, including that of religious dissent, and the secular character of the state was recognised, there was much about the new code that was strikingly illiberal and reactionary: women were deprived of individual rights, as were illegitimate children, and colonial slavery was re-introduced. The statutes were finally approved in March 1804 and published shortly after for the first time in the present volume. Brunet II, 118.
Lot 91
ACKERMANN, Rudolph (1764-1834, publisher). The History of the Abbey Church of St. Peter's Westminster, London, 1812, 2 vols., folio, portrait, plan, 82 hand-coloured aquatint plates, contemporary morocco (rubbed). FIRST EDITION. With another book. (3)ACKERMANN, Rudolph (1764-1834, publisher) & William COMBE (1742-1823). The History of the Abbey Church of St. Peter's Westminster, its Antiquities and Monuments. London: Printed for R. Ackermann, 1812. 2 volumes, folio (345 x 285mm). Half titles, engraved portrait of William Vincent, Dean of Westminster, engraved plan, 82 aquatint plates by J. Bluck, T. Sutherland and others after F. Mackenzie, A. Pugin and others, all hand-coloured except one (portrait spotted and creased, title in vol. one browned, some light spotting, staining and browning to 'Introduction', plate 28 detached, with the margins trimmed, not affecting image, some light manly marginal spotting and staining but plates generally clean, plates offset onto text). Contemporary half brown morocco gilt, top edges gilt, others uncut, marbled endpapers (extremities heavily rubbed and scuffed, spines faded). Provenance: From the Collection of the late Seymour Stein (1942-2023); Ferdinand M. [?]McVeagh (armorial bookplate). FIRST EDITION. Abbey Scenery 213, 214; not in Brunet; Hardie English Coloured Books pp.103-4 (calling for 80 aquatint plates only); Lowndes 2880; Tooley 2; Upcott II, 859-68. With a fragment of Rudolph Ackermann's The History of St Paul's School (London, 1816, folio, 2 hand-coloured aquatint plates (only), modern marbled boards). (3)
Lot 189
SPEED, John (1552-1629). Barkshire Described, London, 1676, hand-coloured engraved map of Berkshire, panoramic view of Windsor Castle at the top, title within baroque figural cartouche, coats-of-arms, compass rose, 382 x 510mm., framed and glazed.SPEED, John (1552-1629). Barkshire Described. [London:] Thomas Bassett and Richard Chiswell, [1676]. Hand-coloured engraved map of Berkshire, title within baroque figural cartouche, panoramic view of Windsor Castle at the top, coats-of-arms, compass rose, English text on verso (some light mainly marginal staining), 382 x 510mm., framed and glazed (upper segment of frame detached).
Lot 190
STANFORD, Edward (1827-1904, publisher) - The Family Atlas ... including the Geological Map of England and Wales, by Sir I. Murchison, London, 1865, folio, 80 hand-coloured engraved maps, half morocco (worn). With a folding map of London (c.1854). (2).STANFORD, Edward (1827-1904, publisher) - The Family Atlas Containing Eighty maps, Constructed by Eminent Geographers, and Engraved on Steel, under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, including the Geological Map of England and Wales, by Sir I. Murchison, F.R.S., the Star Maps by Sir John Lubbock, Bart. and the Plans of London and Paris, with the New Discoveries and Other Improvements to the Latest Date. London: Edward Stanford, 1865. Square folio (454 x 385mm). 80 hand-coloured engraved maps including 6 star charts and plans of London and Paris (one map and one star chart torn without loss, some light spotting and staining). Contemporary black half morocco (worn and stained). Provenance: From the Collection of the late Seymour Stein (1942-2023); J. M Gillespie (old signature on title). With Davies' Map of the British Metropolis with Extension to the Crystal Palace [title from wallet] (London, Edward Stanford, [1854 or later], large hand-coloured engraved map in sections mounted on linen, folding into original cloth wallet). (2)
Lot 122
EMMANUEL-AUGUSTIN-DIEUDONNE-JOSEPH, Comte de (1766-1842). Memorial de Saint Helene, London, 1823-35, 8 parts in 8 vols., 8vo, 20 plates and maps, attractively bound in 19th-century half red morocco gilt by Bumpus. (8)EMMANUEL-AUGUSTIN-DIEUDONNE-JOSEPH, Comte de (1766-1842). Memorial de Saint Helene. Journal of the Private Life and Conversations of the Emperor Napoleon at Saint Helena. London: Printed for Henry Colburn and Co., 1823-35. 8 parts in 8 volumes, 8vo (216 x 135mm). Folding plan as a frontispiece to the first vol., 19 plates and maps, 3 of which folding (occasional very light spotting, staining and browning). Attractively bound in 19th-century red half morocco by Bumpus, spines gilt with French Imperial eagle and Napoleon's bee motifs stamped in compartments, top edges gilt, others uncut (upper board of vol. VIII a little bowed with split to marbled paper, extremities rubbed). Provenance: From the Collection of the late Seymour Stein (1942-2023); Harold Harmsworth (armorial bookplate). FIRST U.K. EDITION. (8)
Lot 128
FREMONT, J. C. (1813-90). Report of the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the Year 1842, and to Oregon and North California, Washington, 1845, 8vo, 16 plates only, 5 maps including folding map by Fremont and Preuss, cloth. FIRST EDITION.FREMONT, John Charles (1813-90). Report of the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the Year 1842, and to Oregon and North California in the Years 1843-'44 ... Printed by Order of the House of Representatives. Washington: Blair and Rives, Printers, 1845. Large 8vo (226 x 140mm). 16 lithographed plates only (?of 22) and 4 maps, of which 2 folding, including the very large folding "Map of an Exploring Expedition to the Rocky mountains in the Year 1842 and to Oregon & North California in the Years 1843-44 by Brevet Capt. J. C. Frémont of the Corps of Topographical Engineers Under the orders of Col. J. J. Abert, Chief of the Topographical Bureau. Lith. by E. Weber & Co. Baltimore Md." by J. C. Frémont with the assistance of Charles Preuss (although Preuss's name does not appear on the map), with rivers hand-coloured in blue, astronomical tables at the end (the large folding map by Frémont and Preuss complete but detached and torn neatly in half along the centrefold without significant loss [although the illustration erroneously gives the impression that the lower corners are lacking], a few tears at other folds without significant loss, occasional spotting and staining to the text and plates, with some darker ink spots). Original brown publisher's cloth decorated in blind, spine lettered in gilt (part of the spine torn away with loss of letters, lower cover detached, rubbed with some light staining, lacking the pocket for the folding map at the end although with its green silk ribbon still intact). Provenance: From the Collection of the late Seymour Stein (1942-2023); "Ministry of Defence Library Services. Withdrawn" (stamp on title with library shelf numbers and library label at the foot of the spine); "Geographical and Statistical Depot. War Department" (blindstamp on title above imprint); "Libreria Estrangera Cientifica y Literaria de Carlos Bailly-Bailliere, Madrid" (label on front pastedown). FIRST EDITION. Howes F370; Graff 1436; Rumsey Map Collection: "The large map of the west is one of the most interesting and beautiful government maps of the 1840s. It filled in many of the gaps in cartographic knowledge of the west. Charles Preuss was the cartographer"; Sabin 25845; Schwartz & Ehrenberg The Mapping of America 275 (folding map); Streeter Sale 3131; Wheat Mapping the Transmississippi West 1540-1861 497: "[Frémont's work] can only be described as one of the monumental works of [American] Western Exploration and became the vade mecum of Manifest Destiny [i.e. the 19th-century doctrine that the expansion of the United States through the American continents was both justified and inevitable]. Its words, maps, and pictures paved the way for future waves of overlands culminating in the flood tide of the Gold Rush ... The great folding map is an altogether memorable document in the cartographic history of the West."
Lot 10
BYRON, Lord (1788-1824). Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, London, 1812, Cantos I-II in one vol., 4to, facsimile letter, FINELY BOUND in contemporary red morocco, FIRST EDITION. With Cantos III & IV (1816-18, 2 vols., FIRST EDITIONS) in wrappers and boards. (3)BYRON, George Gordon Noel, Lord (1788-1824). Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. A Romaunt [and] Poems. London: "Printed for John Murray ... William Blackwood, Edinburgh; and John Cumming, Dublin," [March] 1812. Cantos I - II and Poems bound in one volume, 4to (270 x 208mm). 4-lines of errata on verso of "Contents" leaf, engraved facsimile of a Romaic letter at the end ([?]lacks half title and advertisements, first few leaves and a few others very lightly browned, occasional mainly marginal light spotting and staining, a few darker spots, linear stain to L1, more staining to facsimile letter). FINELY BOUND in contemporary red panelled morocco elaborately decorated in gilt and blind, gilt edges (extremities rubbed, some scuffing). Provenance: George Chetwynd (armorial bookplate); "Sotheby's April 22 1837" (old pencil inscription on front free endpaper); Grendon Hall, 1850 (small blindstamp to title). FIRST EDITION, with "vengeance forego" on p.97, line 11. "Murray had printed the usual 500 copies [of the first edition], at the time considered adequate for any book of verse. The edition was sold within three days ... [I]t was the very 'romanticism' of Childe Harold that established Byron and Byronism as a temporarily national and centennially international force in the western mind. What the whole of the nineteenth century admired most was the fascinating blend of aristocratic arrogance and revolutionary enthusiasm, sexual licentiousness and purity of love, glowing passion and deep melancholy, bitter irony and lachrymose sentimentality, exquisite dandyism and high personal courage. All these traits, and many more beside them, the public found in the mixture of realistic confession and stylized saga with which Byron expressed as well as veiled himself in the guise of Childe Harold ... The Byronic combination of oriental enchantment and nature worship, pessimism and pantheism, stamped itself upon European civilization" (PMM). "The Poem enjoyed tremendous success. After the publication of Cantos I and II in March 1812 Byron wrote, 'I woke one morning and found myself famous'" (The Oxford Companion to English Literature, ed. M. Drabble, 1985). Grolier English 68; PMM 270; Randolph pp.19-20; Wise Byron I, p.50. With the same author's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. Canto the Third (London, John Murray, 1816, large 8vo, 4-pages of publisher's advertisements dated December 1816 at the end, original or contemporary wrappers, FIRST EDITION, the issue with the exclamation mark at the end of the first line on p.4) and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. Canto the Fourth (London, John Murray, 1818, large 8vo, contemporary paper boards, spine very defective but retaining part of the lettering-piece, FIRST EDITION, second issue). (3)
Lot 38
HOOKER, William Jackson (1785-1865). A Century of Ferns, London, 1854, folio, 100 coloured lithographed plates by Fitch, 19th-century half green morocco gilt by Zaehnsdorf. FIRST EDITION.HOOKER, William Jackson (1785-1865). A Century of Ferns; being Figures with Brief Descriptions of One Hundred New, or Rare, or Imperfectly Known Species of Ferns. London: William Pamplin, 1854. Folio (260 x 172mm). Half title, 100 coloured lithographed plates by William Pamplin after Walter Hood Fitch (some very light mainly marginal staining and spotting). 19th-century green half morocco gilt by Zaehnsdorf, spine with fern motifs stamped in gilt in the compartments, top edges gilt, others uncut, marbled endpapers (extremities lightly rubbed). Provenance: "Given to me by Clarissa [i.e. Clarissa Spencer-Churchill, later Eden] on my birthday the 20th November 1939. She was 19 years old -" (unidentified inscription on front free endpaper). FIRST EDITION. cf. Nissen BBI 917 (citing also the Second Century of Ferns published in 1861, not included here).
Lot 179
RAMPANT LIONS PRESS - The Song of Solomon, Cambridge, Rampant Lions Press, 1937, 4to, printed in red and black, 6 linocut illustrations by Harry Hicken, 4 of which full-page, original hessian-backed boards. NUMBER 12 OF 125 COPIES.RAMPANT LIONS PRESS - The Song of Solomon According to the Authorised Version. Cambridge: Rampant Lions Press, 1937. 4to (330 x 255mm). Printed in red and black, hand-set in Goudy text, 6 linocut illustrations by Harry Hicken, 4 of which full-page, with some details hand-coloured in red and blue, the colophon with printer's device stamped in red (some marginal staining, lightly spotted throughout). Original hessian-backed paper boards, the spine titled in black, uncut (a little bowed, some light staining). NUMBER 12 OF 125 COPIES on "Arches mould-made paper" by Will Carter.
Lot 135
HARVEY, William (1578-1657). Opera omnia, London, 1766, 4to, engraved portrait, plate, contemporary calf gilt (rebacked). "The best collected edition of his works is that published by the College of Physicians, edited by Dr Lawrence, in 1766" (see DNB).HARVEY, William (1578-1657). Opera omnia: a Collegio Medicorum Londinensi edita, edited by Thomas Lawrence and Mark Akenside. [From the colophon:] London: "Excudebat Guilielmus Bowyer," 1766. 4to (285 x 230mm). Engraved portrait frontispiece of the author by John Hall after Cornelius Johnson [signed "Jonson" in the engraving], engraved plate, text in Latin throughout, "Emendanda" [i.e. errata] leaf at the end (some mainly light marginal spotting and staining, some heavier staining and spotting to a few leaves, a few signatures starting). Contemporary calf gilt (rebacked with [?]later tan morocco lettering-piece, rubbed and scuffed, corners worn, inner hinges reinforced some time ago). Provenance: From the Collection of Professor Jonathan Brostoff, D.M., D.Sc., FRCP, FRCPath (1934-2020); "Bruce" (old signature at head of title); one-page typed letter to Professor Jonathan Brostoff, relating to the work, dated 18 April 2007, and signed "Geoff Davenport", loosely-inserted (see illustration). The first work in this collection, in which Harvey outlines for the first time the idea of the circulation of blood, is "Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus" which is described by Garrison & Morton as "[t]he most important book in the history of medicine." (See PMM 127.) "The best collected edition of his works is that published by the College of Physicians, edited by Dr Lawrence, in 1766" (see DNB). Heirs of Hippocrates 444; Keynes 47: "Harvey's chief works in Latin have only twice been printed in a collected form, first by van Kerckherm at Leyden in 1737, and secondly by Bowyer for the Royal College of Physicians in 1766. The latter is an imposing volume with a fine engraved portrait"; Waller 4128; Wellcome III, 220.
Lot 137
HUMPHREYS, Henry Noel (1810-79) & John Obadiah WESTWOOD (1805-93). British Butterflies and their Transformations, London, 1841, 4to, additional hand-coloured lithographed title and 42 plates, contemporary black half calf (rubbed). FIRST EDITION.HUMPHREYS, Henry Noel (1810-79) & John Obadiah WESTWOOD (1805-93). British Butterflies and their Transformations. London: William Smith, 1841. 4to (274 x 205mm). Half title, additional hand-coloured lithographed title, 42 hand-coloured lithographed plates by Henry Noel Humphreys (some light spotting and staining). Contemporary black half calf, spine gilt with red morocco lettering-piece (heavily rubbed and scuffed, corners worn, front free endpaper brown and spotted). Provenance: Mr Floyer Cornish, June 1st 1847 & Arthur Marshall (old signatures on front free endpaper). William Floyer Cornish (1769-1858) was Rector of Hooke, Dorset, from 1827 until his death. Arthur Marshall was his nephew. FIRST EDITION. Nissen ZBI 2049.
Lot 66
SETON HUTCHISON, Graham (1890-1946). Kitchener, London, 1944, small 4to, FIRST EDITION, NUMBER 52 OF 100 COPIES SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed extensively by the author to Anthony Eden. RARE.SETON HUTCHISON, Graham (1890-1946). Kitchener. The Man ... With a foreword by Field-Marshall Lord Birdwood. [London: The Fanfare Press], 1943. Small 4to (205 x 158mm). Half title, half tone plates. Original russet buckram lettered in gilt (spine faded, some very light staining). Provenance: Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (modern armorial bookplate loosely-inserted). FIRST EDITION, NUMBER 52 OF 100 "SPECIAL BOUND" [sic] COPIES SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, PRESENTATION COPY, the front free endpaper inscribed, "To the Rt Hon Anthony Eden, who at the helm of the State Department of Foreign Affairs, weathering all storms, has guided the ship until at last she is within sight of good anchorage, this story of another man who well served his Country is respectfully committed as a slight signal of admiration by the Author, July 1944." RARE.
Lot 59
PATTERSON, John Henry (1867-1947). The Man-Eaters of Tsavo, London, August 1910, large 8vo, original pictorial buckram gilt. Reprint. INSCRIBED in pencil by Anthony Eden, "This book belonged to my younger brother, Nicholas. A."PATTERSON, John Henry (1867-1947). The Man-Eaters of Tsavo and Other East African Adventures ... with a Foreword by Frederick Courteney Selous. London: Macmillan and Co., August 1910. Large 8vo (217 x 140mm). Half title, half tone frontispiece and illustrations, map, one-page of publisher's advertisements at the end (some very light mainly marginal spotting and staining, marginal tear to one leaf). Original dark blue pictorial buckram gilt (extremities lightly rubbed, without the dust-jacket). Provenance: Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (old armorial bookplate); Nicholas Eden (pencil signature ("William Nicholas Eden") on front free endpaper). Reprint. The work was first published in 1907. Czech pp.213-4. INSCRIBED in pencil by Anthony Eden on the front free endpaper, "This book belonged to my younger brother, Nicholas. A[nthony]." Midshipman Nicholas Eden was killed on board HMS Indefatigable during the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916: he was just 16. Anthony Eden's elder brother, John, had been killed in action at the age of 26 in Belgium on 17 October 1914.
Lot 95
BEAUMARCHAIS, Pierre-Augustin Caron de (1732-99). La Folle Journée, ou Le Mariage de Figaro, Paris, 1785, large 8vo, 5 engraved plates, 19th-century red half morocco gilt. FIRST EDITION, later issue with illustrations.BEAUMARCHAIS, Pierre-Augustin Caron de (1732-99). La Folle Journée, ou Le Mariage de Figaro, Comédie en Cinq Actes, en Prose. Paris: Chez Ruault, 1785. Large 8vo (258 x 165mm). Half title with list of 12 booksellers and "Avis de l' Editeur" regarding a pirated Amsterdam edition on the verso, engraved frontispiece and 4 plates by Claude Nicolas Malapeau after Jacques Philippe Joseph de Saint-Quentin (frontispiece spotted and stained, other plates spotted mainly at margins, some light spotting to text mainly at margins, without the errata leaf). 19th-century French red half morocco gilt by Charles-François Capé [binder's stamp on front free endpaper], spine elaborately decorated in gilt, top edges gilt, others uncut (extremities quite heavily rubbed, boards scuffed, inner hinges weak). Provenance: DUFF COOPER (armorial bookplate); "Ex P. G. Libros. Skinos" (modern label); [?]Augustine [?]Brohay (old signature on front free endpaper); Maud Russell (later signature beneath, probably that of the British socialite, collector of French art and diarist); pencil note on front free endpaper stating "with aut. letter inserted", although, sadly, this is no longer present. FIRST EDITION, the later issue with illustrations, by a renowned French polymath who was, by turns (according to a certain on-line encyclopaedia), "a watchmaker, inventor, playwright, musician, diplomat, spy, publisher, horticulturist, arms dealer, satirist, financier and revolutionary (both French and American)." But Beaumarchais is perhaps best remembered today as the author of "The Marriage of Figaro", the comic play on which Mozart's operatic masterpiece was based. Cohen - de Ricci 125; PMM 230: "Public interest was whetted by [the play's] satirical references to the aristocracy, and it was this that first won its fame. Although greeted with enthusiasm by French society, it in fact contributed largely to its destruction. It is, however, the music of Mozart which has immortalised it as the perfect type of comedy. To Beaumarchais, a controversial figure, whose other principal achievement was his edition of the complete works of Voltaire, its transformation would probably be surprising, but no one can doubt its immortality"; Tchemerzine II, pp.14-15: "The first edition was published without illustrations. Very soon after 5 illustrations were added by Saint-Quentin."
Lot 170
PETRUS DE NATALIBUS (1370-1400). Catalogus sanctorum, Venice, 1516, small 4to, woodcut illustrations and initials (staining, spotting and light browning), contemporary panelled calf elaborately decorated in blind.PETRUS DE NATALIBUS (1370-1400). Catalogus sanctoru[m et] gestorum eorum. [Colophon:] Venice: Nicolaus de Franckfordia, 1516. Small 4to (214 x 152mm). Full-page woodcut of the Crucifixion surrounded by 14 smaller narrative scenes, the opposite page with 9 woodcut scenes and woodcut foliate borders to two sides, numerous initials, many historiated, the text printed in double column (lacks all before title and with 2 stubs [?for initial blanks], a few leaves loose, variable staining, spotting and light browning throughout). Contemporary panelled calf elaborately decorated in blind (rebacked preserving old spine, a few other repairs, rubbed). Provenance: Petrus Franciscus Passerini (old label on front pastedown); later library label and later pencil collation on the same pastedown; contemporary annotation mainly to first few leaves and, more extensively, at the end. A history of the lives of the Saints, first published in Vicenza in 1493. Adams N47; cf. Brunet III, 496 (citing the first edition); Essling 1511; Sander 4941.
Lot 144
LARKIN, Philip (1922-85). The North Ship, London, 1945, 8vo, original black cloth, dust-jacket. FIRST EDITION of the author's first book. Bloomfield A1a: "... it is not likely that the edition exceeded 500 copies."LARKIN, Philip (1922-85). The North Ship. London: The Fortune Press, 1945, 8vo (188 x 130mm). Half title (some light spotting, more pronounced to the last few leaves). Original black cloth, spine lettered in gilt, uncut, red dust-jacket lettered in black, price label of 10/6 laid down on front turn-in (head of cloth spine a little bumped, small piece torn away from head of backstrip of jacket without loss of letters, corners chipped, backstrip a little faded, turn-ins clipped without loss of letters). Provenance: William Van O'Connor, California (label on front pastedown). FIRST EDITION of the author's first book, with a significant provenance. William Van O'Connor (1915-66) attended Syracuse and Columbia Universities. He had a wide-ranging academic career, teaching English literature at the Universities of Minnesota (1946-62) and California (1962-66), and including time at the University of Hull (1964-65) where he would have met Larkin who was chief librarian at the Brynmor Jones library in the same university. "Larkin's reputation as a poet did not, in fact, begin with The North Ship, which on its first appearance was hardly noticed. It was with the publication of The Less Deceived, late in 1955 when he was thirty-three, that he began to be recognised. By the time he died thirty years later, he had become one of the best-known poets in the English-speaking world, and one of the best loved" (from Anthony Thwaite's introduction to the Collected Poems (1988)). Bloomfield A1a: "... it is not likely that the edition exceeded 500 copies."
Lot 103
BROWN, Thomas (dates unknown). A Letter in Reply to the Report of the Surgeons of the Vaccine Institutions, Edinburgh,1809, 8vo, contemporary or original grey paper-backed wrappers. FIRST EDITION of this anti-vaccination tract. RARE.BROWN, Thomas (dates unknown). A Letter in Reply to the Report of the Surgeons of the Vaccine Institution, Edinburgh; With an Appendix, Containing a Variety of Interesting Letters on the Subject of Vaccination, and Including a Correspondence with Dr Duncan, Dr Lee, and Mr Bryce: from which also the Public will be able to Appretiate[sic] the Authority of the Surgeons of the Vaccine Institution, and to Form a Correct Opinion of the Whole Subject. Edinburgh: "Printed by George Ramsay and Co for John Ballantyne and Company, Edinburgh; and John Murray, and S. Highley, London," 1809. 2 parts in one volume, 8vo (225 x 145mm). Half title (some light browning, staining and spotting, a few darker spots). Contemporary or original grey paper-backed blue wrappers, uncut (backstrip largely lacking, some staining). Provenance: From the Collection of Professor Jonathan Brostoff, D.M., D.Sc., FRCP, FRCPath (1934-2020); the author's name written faintly in blue pencil on the upper wrapper; some pencil highlighting to the text. FIRST EDITION of this vituperative, not to say topical, anti-vaccination tract which includes, in the Appendix, a printed exchange of letters between the author and his disputants (Andrew Duncan, John Lee and James Bryce). One of the author's printed letters, dated in the text "Musselburgh, 14th July, 1809", ends, in typically combative style, "... I shall now conclude, by wishing your efforts may tend to place vaccination on a basis that is consistent with the comfort of the public; I must beg leave, however, frankly and sincerely to state, that I have now no doubt of the leading facts and opinions I have published, and I distinctly assert, that vaccination will be found, from daily experience, to be only a temporary expedient; that the practice will be allowed to sink silently into oblivion, from the aversion that such numerous and respectable bodies and individuals must labour under in contradicting themselves; and also out of respect to Dr Jenner, who, whatever shall be the result, is certainly entitled to public gratitude for his exertions. I am, dear Sir, yours, respectfully, Thos. Brown." Of the author, little is known except that information provided of him beneath his name on the title page: "Surgeon, Musselburgh." RARE.
Lot 11
BYRON, Lord (1788-1824). The Poetical Works ... A New Edition, London, 1855-56, 6 volumes, large 8vo, attractively bound in full contemporary calf gilt. (6)BYRON, George Gordon Noel, Lord (1788-1824). The Poetical Works ... A New Edition. London: John Murray, 1855-56. 6 volumes, large 8vo (211 x 140mm). Half titles, engraved portrait frontispiece of Lord Byron in vol. one (occasional light spotting and staining). Attractively bound in full contemporary calf gilt, the spines elaborately decorated in gilt with red and green morocco lettering-pieces, gilt edges, marbled endpapers (lightly rubbed, some scuffing to covers). Provenance: Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (old armorial bookplate). (6)
Lot 125
EVELYN, John (1620-1706). Sylva, or a Discourse of Forest Trees, London, 1670, folio, engraved illustrations including one full-page, modern half calf. Second edition.EVELYN, John (1620-1706). Sylva, Or A Discourse of Frest Trees, and the Proagation of Timber in His Majesties Dominions ... To which is annexed Pomona; or, An Appendix concerning Fruit-Trees in relation to Cider ... Also Kalendarium Hortense; Or, the Gard'ners Almanac; Directing what he is to do Monthly throughout the Year ... All which several Treatises are in this Second Edition much Inlarged and Improved. London: Printed for Jo. Martyn, and Ja. Allestry, 1670 [Kalendarium Hortense dated 1669]. Folio (301 x 185mm). Woodcut coat-of-arms on title, head-pieces and initials, engraved illustrations including one full-page, errata leaf at end (some mainly light browning, spotting and staining). Modern half calf and marbled boards, spine gilt, new endpapers (extremities lightly rubbed). Provenance: D'Arcy Power (old stamp at head of first title). The first edition was printed in 1664. "... Evelyn's most celebrated horticultural work ... The Sylva was written as a protest against the destruction of trees in England which was being carried on by the glass factories and iron furnaces; it succeeded in inducing land-owners to start in on a much needed reforestation program that had a lasting effect on the British economy ... [I]n [Evelyn's] horticultural works we find the public servant and country gentleman combined, in essence the best product of the English way of life" (Hunt). cf. Brunet II, 233; Freeman 1152; Henrey 133; cf. Hunt 296 (citing the first edition of 1664); Keynes 41; cf. Maggs Medicine, Alchemy, Astrology & Natural Sciences. Catalogue 520 486; Wing E3517.
Lot 185
SLAVERY - James RAMSAY (1733-89). An Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the British Sugar Colonies, London, 1784, 8vo, errata and advertisement leaf, unbound but spine solid and text-block holding. FIRST EDITION.SLAVERY - James RAMSAY (1733-89). An Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the British Sugar Colonies. London: "Printed and Sold by James Phillips, George-Yard, Lombard-Street," 1784. 8vo (206 x 125mm). Errata leaf and one-page of publisher's advertisements for books "Published by the same Author, and sold for the Benefit of the Maritime School" at the end (without a half title, ink-spotting to pp.116 and 117, occasional very light mainly marginal spotting and staining, a few darker spots). Unbound but spine solid and the text-block holding with no loose leaves. The spine appears to have been made up from part of an old form, headed "Number as a Transport", with a column of numbers (*82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89 and 90), possibly representing years (i.e. 1782, 1783, etc.) beneath. Provenance: "Board of Trade Library" (old stamp on title); some passages marked with pencil crosses in the margins. FIRST EDITION of this work whose "publication was the most important event in the early history of the anti-slavery movement" (DNB). "The abolitionist movement had already made a small beginning, and, on the advice of neighbours, Ramsay revised and published in 1784 'An Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of African Slaves in the British Sugar Colonies', which he had been working at for several years. In this work he discussed the position of master and slave in ancient and modern times, argued that society and the owners themselves would benefit by free labour and that under existing conditions the slave could not be benefited morally or intellectually, and finally, meeting the various objections that had been made on the ground of the inferiority of the negro, concluded with suggestions which practically meant the abolition of slavery. The publication of this essay was the most important event in the early history of the anti-slavery movement. It at once drew a number of angry replies and personal attacks upon the author; and during that year and the next the brunt of the controversy was borne by Ramsay almost unaided ...." (DNB). Goldsmiths' 12770; Kress B772; Sabin 67716.
![MILTON, John (1608-74). Paradise Lost ... The Eighth Edition [Third vol:] Paradise Regained [etc], London, 1775-77, 3 volumes](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/9f62f50f-e3e9-488b-bedd-b02f00c8e0e3/78d90f9d-7101-436e-a4d7-b03000b1b34b/468x382.jpg)
Lot 50
MILTON, John (1608-74). Paradise Lost ... The Eighth Edition [Third vol:] Paradise Regained [etc], London, 1775-77, 3 volumes, 4to, 20 engraved plates, contemporary calf (rebacked). (3)MILTON, John (1608-74). Paradise Lost. A Poem in Twelve Books ... The Eighth Edition, With Notes of Various Authors, By Thomas Newton [Third volume:] Paradise Regain'd. A Poem in Four Books. To which is added Samson Agonistes: and Poems upon Several Occasions ... A New Edition, With Notes of Various Authors, By Thomas Newton. London: Printed for J Beecroft, W. Strahan, J. and F. Rivington (and others), 1775-77. 3 volumes, 4to (291 x 222mm). 3 engraved portraits of the author and 17 engraved plates by G. Vertue, S. F. Ravenet, C. Grignion and J. S. Miller after F. Hayman and I. Richardson (plates offset onto text, occasional light spotting and staining, a few leaves more heavily browned and spotted in vol. III). Contemporary marbled calf (rebacked by A. & M. Winstanley's, Salisbury, in 1968, preserving old lettering-pieces and bookplates, new endpapers). Provenance: William Charles Henry (armorial bookplate). Brunet III, 396. (3)
Lot 153
MORGAGNI, Giovanni Battista (1682-1771). Adversaria anatomica omnia, Venice, 1762, 6 parts in one volume, folio, 11 engraved plates, later half calf.MORGAGNI, Giovanni Battista (1682-1771). Adversaria anatomica omnia. Archetypis æris tabulis cominianis ab auctore ipso communicatis, & universali accuratissimo indice ornata. Opus nunc vere absolutum, quibus universa humani corporis anatome, & subinde etiam quæ ab hac pendent, res medica, & chirurgica admodum illustrantur. Venice: Ex Typographia Remondiniana, 1762. 6 parts in one volume, folio (395 x 245mm). Half title, title printed in red and black with woodcut vignette, 11 engraved anatomical plates, one of which folding, vignettes, ornaments and initials, text printed in double column (occasional light spotting and staining to the text but the plates generally very clean and crisp). Later half calf and marbled boards, spine gilt with tan morocco lettering-piece, uncut. Provenance: From the Collection of Professor Jonathan Brostoff, D.M., D.Sc., FRCP, FRCPath (1934-2020); "Prof G. J. Cameron with the sender's regards, [illegible signature]" (modern inscription in red ink to half title). The work, whose parts were first published between 1706 and 1719, comprises, in its first part, "... a series of researches on fine anatomy conducted according to the tradition established by Malpighi. Morgagni's book actually records a whole succession of discoveries regrading minute organic mechanisms, including the glands of the trachea, of the male urethra, and of the female genitals. These represent new contributions to the mechanical interpretation of the structure of the organism, as do the descriptions in the five subsequent Adversaria" (DSB). Blake p.312; cf. Brunet III, 460; Osler 1182; Waller 6669.
Lot 124
EVELYN, John (1620-1706). Silva, London, 1776, 4to, 40 plates (lacks portrait), calf (rebacked). EDITOR'S PRESENTATION COPY, inscribed by A. Hunter to his son. With another edition in 2 vols. (3)EVELYN, John (1620-1706) & Alexander HUNTER (1729-1809, editor). Silva: Or, A Discourse of Forest-Trees, and the Propagation of Timber in his Majesty's Dominions ... Together with An Historical Account of the Sacredness and Use of Standing Groves ... With Notes by A. Hunter. York: Printed by A. Ward for J. Dodsley (and others), 1776. 4to (297 x 235mm). 40 engraved plates, including one folding, folding letterpress table at the end (lacking portrait, some light browning and offsetting of plates onto text, occasional light spotting and staining, final leaf of index torn without loss). Contemporary calf (rebacked, rubbed and scuffed). Provenance: some early informed ink annotation to folding letterpress table. EDITOR'S PRESENTATION COPY, the front free endpaper inscribed, "To Master George Hunter from his affectionate Father, A: Hunter." cf. Brunet II, 233; Henrey 137; Keynes 98; Nissen BBI 615. With another edition of the same work in 2 vols. (1812), with portrait and plates, bound in contemporary diced calf. (3)
Lot 121
ELLIS, Henry (1788-1855). Journal of the Proceedings of the Late Embassy to China, London, 1817, 4to, 7 hand-coloured aquatint plates, 2 engraved maps only (lacks folding map), calf (worn). FIRST EDITION. With another related book (incomplete). (2)ELLIS, Henry (1788-1855). Journal of the Proceedings of the Late Embassy to China; Comprising a Correct Narrative of the Public Transactions of the Embassy. Of the Voyage to and from China, and of the Journey from the Mouth of the Pei-Ho to the Return to Canton. Interspersed with Observations upon the Face of the Country, the Polity, Moral Character, and Manners of the Chinese Nation. London: Printed by John Murray, 1817. 4to (264 x 210mm). Engraved portrait frontispiece of Lord Amherst, 7 hand-coloured aquatint plates by J. Clark after Charles Abbot, 2 engraved maps only (of 3, lacking the large folding map), errata leaf at the end (frontispiece spotted, the maps browned and spotted, some light mainly marginal spotting and staining but the aquatint plates generally very clean). 19th-century calf gilt decorated in blind (worn, covers detached along with the frontispiece, title and errata leaf). FIRST EDITION. In the "Directions for Placing the Drawings" the entry for the folding map, lacking from this copy, has been deleted with a series of small printed typographical ornaments [illustrated], as if amended by the printer. This map is often lacking: was it, perhaps, removed from later printings? and, if so, why? Abbey Travel 536; Cordier Sinica III, 2393; not in Hardie; Hill I, 94; Prideaux pp.250-1; Tooley 208. With Edward Daniel Clarke's Travels to Various Countries of Europe, Asia and Africa ... Part the Second. Greece, Egypt and the Holy Land. Section the Second [only] (London, 1814, 4to, engraved plates and maps, some folding, contemporary calf with [volume] "3" stamped in gilt on the spine, worn, upper cover detached). The lot sold not subject to return. (2)
Lot 133
HALL, Marshall (1790-1857). On The Diseases and Derangements of the Nervous System, London, 1841, 8vo, 8 engraved plates, later half calf gilt. FIRST EDITION.HALL, Marshall (1790-1857). On The Diseases and Derangements of the Nervous System, in their Primary Forms and in their Modifications by Age, Sex, Constitution, Hereditary Predispositions, Excesses, General Disorder, and Organic Disease. London: H. Baillière, 1841. 8vo (224x 138mm). 16-pages of publisher's advertisements dated October 1841 at the front, half title, 8 engraved plates bound at the end (some spotting and light browning to plates, some very light mainly marginal spotting and staining to text). Later half calf and marbled boards, spine lettered in gilt (spine faded, lightly rubbed). Provenance: From the Collection of Professor Jonathan Brostoff, D.M., D.Sc., FRCP, FRCPath (1934-2020) (small signature on front free endpaper). FIRST EDITION. Heirs of Hippocrates 1466; not in Garrison & Morton; Hirsch III, pp. 27-29; Waller 3984.
![CRESSWELL, Thomas (1712-88). A Narrative of the Affair, London, [1747] [Bound with:] Miss Scrope's Answer, London, 1749, SIGN](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/9f62f50f-e3e9-488b-bedd-b02f00c8e0e3/34ce0917-c4af-49cf-9789-b03000b28c4e/468x382.jpg)
Lot 17
CRESSWELL, Thomas (1712-88). A Narrative of the Affair, London, [1747] [Bound with:] Miss Scrope's Answer, London, 1749, SIGNED and numbered by the author at the end. 2 works bound in one vol., 8vo, contemporary boards (later spine). FIRST EDITIONS.CRESSWELL, Thomas Estcourt (1712-88). A Narrative of the Affair between Mr. Cresswell, and Miss Sc--e, Addressed to G----v----e Sc------e, Esq. By which may be discover'd the Falsities, Misrepresentations, &c., in a Letter in the General Evening-Post, October 31; signed Lancelot Lee. London: "Printed for Charles Green ... And Sold at the Pamphlet Shops," [n.d. but preface dated 1747]. 78-pages (some old stitching holes at gutter, not affecting text). [Bound with:] Miss Scrope's Answer to Mr. Cresswell's Narrative. London: Printed for R. Baldwin, 1749 [but dated 1748 at the end]. 232-pages, the final page SIGNED and numbered "Eliz: Scrope, No. 466". 2 works bound in one volume, 8vo (196 x 125mm). (Some mostly light browning, a few darker spots including to the head of the first title, a few leaves creased.) Contemporary calf-backed marbled boards (later spine lettered in gilt, rubbed and scuffed). Provenance: Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (old armorial bookplate). Both works FIRST EDITIONS.
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