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Click here to subscribeA collection of WWI interest crested china by various makers, including: a scarce Despatch Rider by Arcadian; a scarce monoplane by W&R; a field ambulance; Zeppelin; Machine Gunner; plus 2 crested Grenades. 7 items. (All appear to be in generally good condition - some minor rubbing to the crests and gilt detail.)
A selection of 19th century and later military related items.To include: a fine quality late Victorian era miniature Volunteer Officers Decoration, in silver and silver gilt.With the VR Royal cypher and crown to the centre - no apparent marks.Complete with ribbon, brooch bar and an original fitted case for R&S Garrard & Co.A WW2 era silver and enamel pilots Fleet Air Arm sweetheart brooch with safety chain (solder repair to reverse), a WW1 ‘On War Service 1915’ brass badge with button hole fitting to reverse, a miniature silver Boer War photograph frame, hallmarked for Birmingham 1899 and containing a picture of Field Marshal Lord Roberts (missing strut to reverse), a gilt metal circular photo frame containing an image of Field Marshal Lord Roberts to one side, and the other with an image of Baden Powel, an unidentified hallmarked silver badge (HM B’ham 1991), 2 Victoria Cross copy medals (both marked as copies to the reverse), plus a set of gilt metal Masonic interest cuff link and collar studs, contained in a fitted box.9 items.Condition: good unless noted in the description above.
A collection of assorted vintage Triang / Tri-ang 00 gauge model railway trackside accessories and track pieces. Examples comprising; R.460 Straight Platform Unit, R.81 Station Set, R.119 Operating Mail Coach Set and a selection of straight, curved and points track pieces. All contents with original boxes.
12 BOTTLES CHINESE RED WINEYantai Changyu Wine R+D and Production Co 2 x J-Lormin V9 Cabernet Sauvignon; Chateau Changyu 2 x Chateau Rena R388 Syrah 2018; Chateau Changyu Moser XV 2 x Longyu M8 2018; Tianjin Century Vine 2 x Petit Mont M4 2020; Yimao 2 x Merlot 2020 and 2 x Cabernet Sauvignon 2020
Tamiya - A boxed vintage 1980s radio control Tamiya Striker off road racer in 1:10 scale. It includes 2 x battery packs, a plug in Acoms Charger a Futaba Attack-R FP-T2NBR controller and a boxed Mirahamm Quick Charger. The car shows some signs of age and use and appears in Fair to Good condition overall. (This does not constitute a guarantee)
Hornby - two OO gauge model diesel shunter locomotives, 0-4-0 running no 06008 'Pullman' blue livery # R, and 0-4-0 running no DH16, DCC fitted, MSC Sentinel blue livery # R3482, both appear ex or better in f to g window boxes with internal packing pieces (this does not constitute a guarantee) [2]
Hornby - two OO gauge model 4-6-2 locomotives comprising Britannia class running no 70038 BR lined green livery # R 2142, and 'Duke of Gloucester' running no 71000 (loco only - no tender), both appear vg to ex, in incorrect fair window boxes lacking internal packing piece (this does not constitute a guarantee) [2]
° ° The Self-Interpreting Bible, with an evangelical commentary, by the late Revd. John Brown.....2 vols. (in one). portrait frontispieces, engraved pictorial title (general title) and printed title (NT), num. plates; earlier 19th century blind-ruled and gilt lettered black morocco, ge., folio, London: R. Evans, 1814 and Thomas Kelly, 1820
A SMALL QUANTITY OF TOPOGRAPHICAL PRINTS ETC, to include views of Lichfield in Staffordshire, including a view of Market Square published in Gentleman Magazine 1785, a View of Dr Johnson's Willow with St Chads published 1804, a View from the West the City of Lichfield published 1826 etc, with The Lichfield Willow Warwickshire, Shugborough Park, Darling Harbour - Night scene, R Crighton map of Derbyshire, Map of Derby form Encyclopaedia Britannica ninth edition etc (15)
This is a panoramic album entitled “Les Boulevarts De Paris”, published by Lemercier circa 1855, with designs by Paul Lancel (“dessine par Lancel”); there are 24 hand-colored lithographs in the album, with gilt lettering and fancy gilt decorations on the brown embossed front cover and French titles on each leaf, the individual scenes are 4 1/2 in. high x 7 3/4 in. long and all attached to each other to create one continuous view of the streets of Paris - we had to lay out the scenes on the floor to measure the album full length, and they come to 184 inches - an astounding 15 1/3 feet long when fully extended. In fancy language, the album has a leporello binding with concertina-style pages - they fold out like an accordion - but it also has front and back boards, so it can be handled like a normal book. The last lithograph says “Imp. Lemercier 57 r de Seine Paris” at the bottom of the leaf; Imprimeries Lemercier & Cie was a French publishing house which operated between 1803 and 1901, and the views here were published between 1845 and 1860, according to similar prints at the Library of Congress. The scenes show street level views of Paris in the 1850’s, and these views include theaters, the Cirque Olympique, kiosks and arches, hansom cabs, pedestrians and street vendors in contemporary dress, and the Place de la Bastille and Column of July (“Colonne de Juillet”) to commemorate the French Revolution. These color views start with the Boulevart de la Madeleine and include the Boulevart Capucines, Boulevart Monmartre, Boulevart du Temple, Boulevart des Filles du Calvaire, and Boulevart Beaumarchais, among others. “Boulevart” in French means “Boulevard” and these are some of the main streets in Paris. There are only four other known albums with views of Paris by Lemercier, but those copies are in black and white. The Library of Congress has a few individual scenes from the set, but no complete sets; Indiana University, Harvard, and the Boston Athenaeum have complete sets in their Special Collections departments, according to WorldCat, but those sets are in black and white, and this set is in color. The spine panel is missing and the album needs to be reattached at the spine, but it still operates fully like an accordion, and this is a rare color archive of Paris in the 1850’s. The original owner’s name is inscribed on the back board, underneath the last leaf - “Mr. W M Kinsley Paris 1860”, and he may well have walked these very streets of Paris in his day, just loving the stroll.
This is a two-volume set of John Milton’s famous epic poems from the seventeenth century. Paradise Lost is a poem in blank verse. The first version, published in 1667, consisted of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse; a second edition followed in 1674, arranged into twelve books (in the manner of Virgil's Aeneid) with minor revisions throughout. It is considered to be Milton's masterpiece, and it helped solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poets of all time.The poem concerns the biblical story of the Fall of Man, the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan, and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Paradise Regain’d is apoem by Milton first published in 1671.The volume contained the poet's closet drama Samson Agonistes, and Paradise Regain’d is connected to his earlier and more famous poem, Paradise Lost, because they share similar religious themes. Indeed, the title, its use of blank verse, and its progression through Christian history bring to mind Milton’s earlier work. However, this poem deals primarily with the temptation of Christ as recounted in the Gospel of Luke. Milton composed Paradise Regain'd at his cottage in Buckinghamshire, England: Paradise Lost is twelve books long and comprises 10,565 lines, while Paradise Regain’d is four books long and comprises only 2,065 lines, which is why this title has been called a “brief epic”. The title page for Paradise Lost reads “Paradise Lost. A Poem in Twelve Books. The Author John Milton. From the Text of Thomas Newton D.D., Birmingham, Printed by John Baskerville for J. and R. Tonson in London. MDCCLVIII [1758]. The title page for Paradise Regain’d reads “Paradise Regain’d. A Poem In Four Books. To which is added Samson Agonistes: And Poems upon Several Occasions. The Author John Milton. From the Text of Thomas Newton D.D. Birmingham, Printed by John Baskerville For J. and R. Tonson in London. MDCCLVIII” [1758]. Paradise Lost has a three-page Preface by John Baskerville, followed by an eighteen-page list of Subscribers, two pages in Latin by Samuel Barrow and two more in English by Andrew Marvel, then a page on the meter used in the Verse here, and 69 pages on the life of Milton (a to lxix) before the text. Paradise Lost is 416 pages long and Paradise Regain’d 390 pages. Paradise Lost also has a point of issue that hasn’t been corrected yet - on page 75,line 3, it reads “God is light”, with faint impressions of an h before “is”; it reads “God his light” in the first uncorrected state, and here the h is present, but faint, and it has not been corrected to read “God is light” yet. Each volume is 3/4 bound, with five raised bands, gilt titles on red and burgundy labels and elaborate gilt tooling on the spines, beige boards, marbled endpapers, “bound by Riviere” lightly pencilled on the front free endpapers in both volumes, and all the edges are gilt. Both volumes are 8vo. and measure 9 x 6 1/8 in. wide, the bindings are tight, with clean text, light wear and light rubbing on the leather, and the gilt is exquisite - bright and you can’t miss it. These editions by John Milton are scarce and hard to find, and make an attractive addition to anyone who collects Milton.
This book has a rather long title - The Theory Of The Earth: Containing an Account Of The Original of the Earth, And Of All The General Changes Which it hath already undergone, Or Is To Undergo, Till The Consummation of all Things. The Last Two Books, Concerning the Burning of the World, And Concerning the New Heavens and New Earth. It was published in London by Walter Kettilby and printed by R. Norton at the Bishop’s Head in St. Pauls Church-Yard in 1690.The book was an old view of the world - Thomas Burnet, who wrote the book, suggested that the Earth was hollow, with most of the water inside until Noah’s Flood, and his calculations of the amount of water on the Earth’s surface led him to believe that there was not enough water to account for the flood.The book is bound in brown boards, there are blank endpapers with an inscription of “Thomas Boyd Croome, Reudcomb, Oct 14th 1690” on the front paste-down, then an illustrated frontis of The Sacred Theory of the Earth, followed by the title page, three pages dedicated to the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, a Preface to the Reader, five pages of Contents for the Third and Fourth Books, 224 pages of text, followed by “A Review of the Theory Of The Earth And of its Proofs Especially in Reference to Scriptures”, which is 52 pages long, and one leaf at the end for Books Printed for Walter Kettilby. The book also has marginalia from the printer.Reudcomb Park was in Gloucester, England, and Thomas Burnet (1635 - 1715) was one of the founding fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and served as its president for two years, from 1696 to 1698. He was physician to Charles II, James II, William and Mary, and Queen Anne, and was knighted sometime before 1691. He was also an English theologian and a notable writer on cosmogony, the scientific theory of how the universe was created.This is a first edition, but is supposed to be a two-volume set and is missing the first volume, which was published in 1684 and contains the first and second books (about the Deluge and Paradise).The book measures 12 x 8 1/4 in. wide, the pages are rather clean, but it has a loose binding, heavy wear on the covers, the spine panels are gone, and is a prime candidate for rebinding and becoming a star in the universe again.
Dombey And Son, By Charles Dickens, With Illustrations By H. K. Browne. London: Bradbury And Evans, 11, Bouverie Street. 1848, imprint of Bradbury And Evans, Printers, Whitefriars on reverse of the title page; Dealings With The Firm Of Dombey And Son, Wholesale, Retail, And For Exportation. By Charles Dickens, London, Bradbury & Evans, Bouverie Street, 1848 on the vignette title page, in a fine binding by Riviere & Son, first edition, first issue, 8 vo., with five raised bands, gilt lettering and six compartments with gilt tooling on the spine and “1848” in gilt at the bottom of the spine, in wine crushed morocco with triple gilt fillet borders on both covers; a lion couchant (a lion laying down) is nestled inside two gilt rings on the front cover, and the lion is holding a star-like cross called a “patoncy" in heraldry; on the front paste-down, an original water color drawing on calf by Helen R. Haywood is bordered by wide gilt dentelles, with red moire silk on the front and rear free endpapers. The binder’s name is at the bottom of the front paste-down, just below the gilt dentelles, and a preliminary leaf reads “With Water Colour Drawing on Calf Doublure by Helen R. Haywood”; the illustrated frontispiece is by H. K. Browne, with a List of Plates and an eight-line Errata page following the List of Plates, and counting the frontispiece and the vignette title page, there are forty plates altogether. The Preface page is unnumbered and dated “Devonshire Terrace, Twenty-Fourth March, 1848”. The original tissue guard between the frontispiece and the illustrated vignette title page is present, there are 624 pages altogether, as called for, and all the edges are gilt. The book has virtually all the points of issue that make this a first edition, first issue. Eckel (page 76) notes one error by the author that was not included in the errata. On page 284, the fifth and sixth lines from the bottom, Dickens mixed up the name of Mr. Toot’s boat - twice he called the little cutter “Delight” when it should have been called “Joy.” That error occurs here - the boat was called “Delight” instead of “Joy” - and Eckel says this detail must be in the book for it to be considered a first edition, first issue. The eight-line errata leaf is present, and this is necessary to be a first issue. We are aware of an eleven-line errata leaf in a later issue, and nearly all the points of issue documented by Walter Smith are present here too - there are over fifty uncorrected points of issue in the book - these include the famous hook on Captain Cuttle’s left hand instead of the right hand, spelling mistakes, raised letters, missing words or quotation marks - all uncorrected details in the book here - and those speak volumes about whether this is a first edition first issue or a later copy. Dombey and Son also contains the first published example of the so-called dark plate (“On the Dark Road” page 547), and the lines on the plates here are clean and clear, not smudgy, which indicates the plates were from an early printing, not a later one. H. K. Browne (Hablot K. Browne 1815 - 1822) was an English artist who illustrated many of Dickens’ novels - his pen name was “Phiz” - and Helen R. Haywood (1908 - 1995) was an English painter who illustrated children’s books and was also the granddaughter of Robert Riviere, founder of the noted bindery which bears his name and which executed this binding; she painted a similar watercolor in Little Dorrit, which is being sold by David Brass Rare Books for $7500, and the watercolor she did here looks like a beautiful wall painting that reproduces in color the plate titled “Paul And Mrs. Pipchin” facing opposite to page 75. This is Dickens’ seventh novel, and it was first issued in monthly parts, and the bound volume which sold for one guinea was published after that; this is the first edition in book form. The book was bound by Riviere about 1930, it comes in a slipcase which measures 8 15/16 x 5 3/8 in. wide and the book measures 8 3/4 x 5 3/4 in. wide, and the book is in exquisite condition … the text and plates are clean and quite attractive. See The First Editions Of Charles Dickens, Their Points and Values, John C. Eckel 1932 and Walter E. Smith, Charles Dickens In The Original Cloth, A Bibliographical Catalogue Part I, Los Angeles: Heritage Bookshop 1982.
The Life Of Charles Dickens, By John Forster, London: Chapman And Hall, 193, Piccadilly 1873 - 1874, in three volumes, with the imprint of Bradbury, Agnew, & Co, Printers, Whitefriars on the reverse of the title page, The Life Of Charles Dickens on the half-title, 8vo., five raised bands, gilt titles on red and black labels and geometric gilt patterns on the spine, gilt borders on the front and back covers, gilt dentelles on marbled endpapers with the bookplate of Wilson Noble on the front paste-downs, all edges beautifully marbled; the three volumes in fine bindings in full calf by Riviere & Son (Riviere & Son noted at the bottom of the leaf on the reverse of the front free endpaper). Volume The First, 1812 - 1842, thirteenth edition, has a portrait of a young Dickens on the frontispiece; the frontispiece was done after a painting of Dickens by D. Maclise when Dickens was just 27, and it was engraved here by R. Graves, with corrections to the first edition noted on the page before the Table of Contents, which is 12 pages long, and there are 9 illustrations listed after the Table of Contents, and this volume is 398 pages long. Volume The Second, 1842 - 1852, was published by Chapman and Hall in 1873, the frontispiece has a portrait of Dickens engraved by R. Graves after a painting done by W.R. Frith, when Dickens was 47 years old, with a tissue guard between the frontispiece and the title page; with three pages of corrections made in the later editions of the first volume noted just before the list of illustrations and 12 pages for the Table of Contents, and this volume is 462 page long. Volume The Third, 1852 - 1870, Tenth Thousand, was published by Chapman and Hall in 1874, and it has a frontispiece of Dickens engraved by J.C. Armytage after the last photo of Dickens taken when he was in America in 1868 - Dickens was 56 at the time - with a tissue guard between the frontispiece and the title page; there are 13 illustrations followed by 9 pages for the Table of Contents; this volume is 552 pages long, including the Appendix and Index, and the Appendix has some uncut pages. Each volume measures 8 1/2 x 5 3/4 in. wide, with light scuffs on the back of Volume I and on the front and back of Volume II and Volume III, and they don’t detract from the attractiveness of the set. John Forster (1812 - 1876) was an important Victorian English biographer and literary critic who became a close friend of Charles Dickens, he was also the literary executor of Dickens’ estate and had access to virtually all of Dickens’ letters and writings, and he was considered the officially recognized biographer of Dickens because of their friendship and his handling of Dickens’ literary estate; he began this biography of Dickens shortly after Dickens died in 1870 and finished it in 1874, and this three-volume set is the primary work by which Forster is remembered. Wilson Noble (18554 - 1917) was a barrister and Conservative Party politician in England who served as a member of Parliament (an MP) from 1886 to 1895.
The Life Of Charles Dickens, By John Forster, London: Chapman And Hall, 193, Piccadilly 1872 - 1874, in three volumes, tenth edition, bound by Morrell in red crimson, 8vo., 3/4 bound, with gilt ruled compartments and gilt lettering and gilt devices on the spine, crimson boards, with the bookplate of William King Richardson on the marbled endpapers, the half-title reads The Life Of Charles Dickens, and the top edges are gilt. Volume The First, 1812 - 1842, 1872, has a portrait of Dickens on the frontispiece; the frontispiece was done after a painting of Dickens by D. Maclise when Dickens was just 27, and it was engraved here by R. Graves, with a tissue guard between the frontispiece and the title page; with no notes about corrections to the first edition, the Table of Contents is twelve pages long, with nine illustrations listed after the Table of Contents, and this volume is 398 pages long. Volume The Second. 1842 - 1852, has a portrait of Dickens on the frontispiece when he was “AET 47”, and it was engraved again by R. Graves, with a tissue guard between the frontispiece and the title page and “1873” at the bottom of the title page, followed by the imprint of Bradbury, Evans, And Co., Printers, Whitefriars on the reverse of the title page, then three pages of Corrections Made In The Later Editions Of The First Volume - it appears to be a tenth edition set which Forster himself said was needed because the demand for this biography was so high - followed by an Illustrations page with eleven plates listed, followed by twelve pages for the Table of Contents (ix - xx), with 462 pages of text, and light wear along the edges of the spine. It also has the name of the binder “Morrell, Binder, London” on the reverse of the front free endpaper. We originally believed this to be a first edition set because there are no additional printings on the title page or the reverse of the title page (see Bill McBride, A Pocket Guide to the Identifications of First Editions, West Hartford, Ct., 1995 for first editions by Chapman And Hall), but the three pages about “Corrections Made In The Later Editions Of The First Volume” appear to indicate this is a tenth edition, not a first edition of Forster’s biography of Dickens. Volume The Third. 1852 - 1870, has a frontispiece portrait of Dickens when he was “AET 56”, the frontispiece was engraved by J.C. Armytage, with a tissue guard between the frontispiece and the title page and “1874” at the bottom of the title page, followed by the imprint of Bradbury, Evans, And Co., Printers, Whitefriars on the reverse of the title page and a list of Illustrations with thirteen plates, then nine pages for the Table of Contents, followed by 504 pages of text and a seventeen page Appendix, a blank leaf, and a thirty page Index, for a total of 552 pages, with very light rubbing on the edge of the spine, and it has the name “Morrell, Binder, London” on the reverse of the front free endpaper. John Forster was the officially recognized biographer of Dickens because they were such close friends and he handled Dickens’ literary estate. William King Richardson was a prominent Boston lawyer and bibliophile who assembled a remarkable collection of rare books and manuscripts that are now housed at the Houghton Library at Harvard University. Each volume measures 8 11/16 x 5 5/8 in. wide and this is an attractive set in red crimson.
Child Characters From Dickens Re-told For Children By L. L. Weedon, With 6 Color Plates And 70 Half-Tone Illustrations By Arthur A. Dixon, Published by Ernest Nister in London and E.P. Dutton in New York circa 1890’s, with a decorated spine and colored figures of Tiny Tim and a young girl on the cover, with gilt lettering and gilt decorations on the front; illustrated endpapers and inscribed “Edward R. Hutton” on the front free endpaper, all edges gilt, and the six color plates are full-page chromolithographs; Lucy L. Weedon (1862 - 1939) was a prolific author who wrote books for children and produced simplified stories from the Bible and classic novels; she also translated a selection of Grim’s Fairy Tales for Nister and Dutton; Arthur A. Dixon was a British figurative painter who worked in oil and watercolors and exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Royal Society of British Artists; the book has light rubbing and a small dent on the spine and measures 8 1/2 x 6 1/2 in. wide, with beveled edges; a simple book, yet actually hard to find - only three books with this title are listed on the rare book website we use.
The Dickens- Kolle Letters, Edited by Harry B. Smith, New York, Supplemental To The Letters From Charles Dickens To Maria Beadnell, Printed For Members Only, Bibiliophile Society, Boston 1910, a first edition, limited to 483 copies, 8vo., 3/4 bound, with a white spine, white tips, and brown boards, gilt lettering on the spine, blank endpapers, with tissue guards, a frontis portrait of Charles Dickens from a study in oil by W. R. Frith in the collection of Harry B. Smith, with a facsimile note and cartoon by Dickens from 1838 preceding the frontispiece and a facsimile of a pencil sketch by Dickens after the preface; the book is 90 pages long, with uncut pages and light foxing towards the top of some pages. Maria Beadnell was the first love of Charles Dickens; they met in 1830, and for Charles it was love at first sight, but the romance didn’t work out because her parents did not approve of the relationship; her father was a banker and he felt Charles was too young a suitor and lacking in prospects; Dickens worked as a court stenographer and shorthand reporter at the time, and his dissatisfaction with his own career and a desire to make a more favorable impression with the Beadnells led him to consider becoming an actor, but that didn’t work out, nor did his relationship with Maria; they courted for three years, and eventually Maria broke off the relationship; however, her influence can be seen in David Copperfield and Little Dorrit - she inspired the character of Dora in David Copperfield and Flora Flinching in Little Dorrit. Dickens was a friend of Kolle’s, who was going to marry Maria’s sister, and that’s how these letters came about; the book measures 9 1/2 x 6 7/8 in. wide, and it comes with a two-part slipcase - a smaller one that fits inside an outer one - and both are present here. You can get a sense of what Dickens was like from the books he wrote, but this book offers insights into the life of Charles Dickens that are a little more personal.
This lot contains three books about Charles Dickens, two written by prominent authors and the third a valuable resource for anyone dong research about Dickens. One was written by G. K. Chesterton, an English writer who dabbled in crime novels; the second by Francis Hopkinson Smith, who descended from one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and helped build the foundation for the Statue of Liberty; and the third is about the Dickens material housed at Yale University’s library. a) Appreciations And Criticisms Of The Works Of Charles Dickens, By G K Chesterton, London: 1911 J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd. and New York: E.P. Dutton, a first edition (the 1911 date on the title page matches the 1911 date on the copyright page), with dark green cloth, gilt lettering on the spine, an embossed cover with gilt lettering, blank endpapers, a frontis portrait of Dickens from an oil painting by R. J. Lane, with a tissue guard protecting the portrait, 8 illustrations including the frontispiece, the book is 243 pages long, the top edge is gilt, and the book measures 8 7/8 x 6 1/8 in. wide. G. K. Chesterton (1874 - 1936) was an English writer, theologian, and literary critic who created the fictional priest-detective Father Brown that we know from the television series by the same name. b) In Dickens’s London, By F. Hopkinson Smith, Illustrated With Charcoal Drawings By The Author, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons 1916, with 1914 on the copyright page, which makes this a second printing, green cloth with title stamped in gilt on the spine and the front cover and a green wreath below the title on the front, blank endpapers with the bookplate of Charles Irving Thayer and a small label at the bottom of the front free endpaper saying “Chas. E. Lauriat Co.” in Boston, where the book was sold, there are 23 illustrations and 5 documents and photographs in the book, the book is 8vo. and measures 9 5/8 x 6 1/2 in. wide, with a total of 127 pages; Francis Hopkinson Smith was an American author, artist and engineer who is credited with designing the foundation for the Statue of Liberty. c) Dickens And Dickensiana. A Catalogue Of The Richard Gimbel Collection In The Yale University Library, By John B. Podeschi. New Haven: Yale University Library, 1980. A first edition - the dates on the title page and copyright page match, making this a first edition - and the catalogue includes information about major and minor editions by Dickens, translations and adaptations, periodicals, manuscripts, autographed letters and documents, sheet music, playbills and much more. An absolutely great resource for collectors and people wanting to do research on Dickens. Green boards with a paper label on the spine, brown endpapers, with 532 pages of text and a 37-page index at the end. The book measures 9 7/8 x 6 1/4 in. wide, clean and tight, and a great resource for for students and enthusiasts about Dickens.
The Pickwick Papers was Charles Dickens’ first novel. The full title was “The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, and it was originally published in twenty monthly parts or numbers, bound in nineteen parts, priced at one shilling apiece, except the last two (XIX and XX), which were bound as a double issue - it was a double number, so it was priced at two shillings, instead of one. The first part appeared in April 1836 and ran all the way through November 1837, except for a lapse of one month - June 1837 - when Part XV was put off by a death in the author’s family. The monthly parts were like a serial designed to get people to read and anticipate what was coming next, and they’d go out and buy more.Dickens was commissioned to write the novel when he was just 24 because he was working in Parliament as a reporter and a roving journalist, and he had published a collection of sketches on London life known as Sketches by Boz. The publisher of theses sketches, Chapman & Hall, wanted to publish a series of cockney sporting illustrations or plates by Robert Seymour, full with a club, members who were sent on hunting and fishing expeditions into the countryside, their guns would go off by accident, fishhooks would get caught in their hats and trousers, and these and other misadventures would be depicted in Seymour's comic plates.Chapman and Hall asked Dickens to supply the descriptions necessary to go with the plates and to connect them into a sort of picture-novel that was fashionable at the time. He protested that he knew nothing of sport, but still accepted the commission.In a few instances Dickens had to adjust his narrative to plates that had been prepared for him, but typically he led the way with an installment of his story and the artist was compelled to illustrate what Dickens had already written. The story thus became more important than the illustrations, and there you have it - a plot that enriched the lives of English people and others all over the world.Except there were twists. The artist, Robert Seymour, committed suicide, after providing illustrations for just the first two monthly parts. His successor, Robert Willam Buss, illustrated the third installment, but Dickens did not like his work, so the hunt went on for a third artist to illustrate the monthly parts; Dickens finally settled on H K. Browne, otherwise known as Phiz, and Browne - Phiz - subsequently illustrated most of Dickens’ other novels after that.The plot gets better - Chapman and Hall did not expect the novel to sell well, so they only printed 400 copies of the first part and just 500 copies for the second monthly - and lo and behold, sales took off. The public really liked Dickens’ characters and style of writing - and the publishers were caught with their pants down. They had to increase production to meet demand - and here’s where it gets sticky - older plates had to be re-etched as the original plates became soft and worn, this led to plates being mixed up and substituted by other plates, advertisements got cancelled and others added, then the suicide of the first artist and the death of Dickens’ sister-in-law - all this threw the idea of a perfect first edition of Pickwick up in the air - and no one has ever found a perfect copy of the first edition in its first state because of all these changes and unexpected happenings, which makes for a ton of difficulties trying to figure out if the copy you have of The Pickwick Papers is that elusive first edition with all the points of issue that would make it a first edition in the first state. And points of issue are the name of the game from here on out. Raise your hand if you don’t know what a point of issue is - ah, lots of you have raised your hands - they are merely mistakes or details that were made when a book or novel was first printed, and no one ever caught the mistakes till after the book was published. These uncorrected errors or mistakes - errata, in literature circles - give books like The Pickwick Papers its value - and can drive you nutty if you don’t know what to look for - and in Pickwick Papers, there are over 500 points of issue to find or discover that would make this a first edition in the first state - and no one has ever found a perfect copy in the first state. Eckels was probably the first serious bibliographer of Dickens to come along. He wrote The First Editions Of The Writings Of Charles Dickens, Their Points and Values, way back in 1913; he revised it in 1932 and came up with Eleven Points he considered to be essential for a copy of Pickwick Papers to be considered “perfect”: We will use these guidelines to see how close this copy of the Pickwick Papers comes to a perfect edition - and these points don’t even touch on the ads that are supposed to be included in the monthly parts or other errors made in the text or on the plates. Remember, there are over 500 points of issue to look for in the Pickwick Papers - and the very first point Eckels makes is a sticking point: the Parts here have only ten covers (wrappers) with “1836” on the front cover and ten have “1837” on the front wrapper, so right away this is a first edition for some covers, and a later or mixed state for the other covers.Parts I and II only say “With Illustrations”, instead of “With Four Illustrations By Seymour”, and Part III only says “With Illustrations”, instead of “With Illustrations By R. W. Buss.” Part I has two of the four plates signed by Seymour, and Part II has all three plates signed by Seymour, as called for. Part III has both plates signed “Drawn and etched by R.W. Buss” along with the page numbers, as called for. We believe Part IV has the two plates indistinctly signed “Nemo” and not “Phiz” - they are definitely not signed by Phiz - when he signs something, his name is usually easy to make out. Parts X and XV have the addresses by the authors, but Parts II and III are lacking the addresses by Dickens, largely because there were only 500 copies of Part II ever issued in the first state. Parts XVII and XVIII have the addresses by the publishers, but Part XX does not. Point 10 by Eckel is as called for - Plates in Parts I to XII have no captions, only references to the pages where they were inserted, and Parts XIII to XX have neither titles nor numerical guides. And finally, on the vignette title page, in Part XIX and XX, the name “Weller” on the signboard over the door has a “V”, instead of a “W” to spell Sam Weller’s name, and “Phiz fecit” surrounds the tablet at the bottom of the frontispiece. So many of the first edition first state points of issue are present and uncorrected here, but not all. All the plates are present as called for; some of the plates have offset on them and many are very clean, especially towards the last Parts. There a few brown spots or soiling on the plates in Parts XIII and XVIII, but the rest of the plates are pretty clean; the text pages are generally very clean, with just a few brown spots on pages 88 and 89 in Part IV and Pages 214 and 215 in Part VIII, and the Pickwick Advertiser is present from Part XI to the last Parts, XIX - XX. The set comes in a dark green slipcase which measures 9 5/8 x 6 1/8 in. wide, with gilt lettering and “1836 - 7” on the spine, with a couple of bumps and dings on the slipcase, and the wrappers measure 8 7/8 x 5 5/8 in. wide. There are no repairs or restoration to any of the spines or wrappers.So overall a nice set, with some first edition first state points of issue, but definitely not the elusive perfect copy, as many Dickens fans are looking for. Maybe it will turn up one day, but don’t bet the farm on it.
The English Dance of Death, From The Designs Of Thomas Rowlandson, With Metrical Illustrations. By The Author Of Dr. Syntax. London: Printed By J. Diggens, St. Ann’s Lane; Published by R. Ackermann’s Repository Of Arts, 101, Strand; And To Be Had Of All the Book and Print-sellers in the United Kingdom. 1815 at the bottom of the title page in the first book and 1816 at the bottom of the title page in the second book. A first edition set, in two volumes. With five raised bands, six-gilt-ruled compartments and elaborate gilt tooling on the spines, gilt lettering on orange brown panels, double gilt-fillet borders with corner devices on the calf boards, marbled endpapers, followed by a quill pen inscription on a front-free endpaper which reads “Wm Coombe the author of this book is well known never to have affixed his name to any of his books _ For a list of them vide Gents. Mag: vol xciv _ Pub. pt 2nd _ 1824 _”, then the terrific colored frontispiece and the vignette title page, the title page, a three-page advertisement, 295 pages of text in Volume I and 297 pages of text in Volume II, with a four-page index at the end of both volumes, and all the edges are gilt. “William Coombe Esqre” is also inscribed in quill pen below “Doctor Syntax” on the title page of the first volume. There are seventy-four hand-colored aquatint plates altogether, including the frontispiece and vignette title page in Volume I, all designed by Thomas Rowlandson, and the second plate in the text of Volume I says it was published April 1, 1814 and the last plate in the second volume says it was published March 1, 1816. (We couldn’t read the date on the first plate in Vol. I because it was too close to the binding.) The advertisement in the first book also says there were twelve successive numbers in the first volume of the English Dance of Death and “The Second Volume will follow in the same mode of Publication”, so the title came out in twenty-four monthly parts before it was published in book form. William Coombe’s name was never mentioned anywhere except for the hand-written inscriptions in the front of Volume I, but he was the author of this lengthy poem. He was a British miscellaneous writer who spent a lot of time in prison for debt, and Rowlandson was an English artist known for his political satire and one of the top illustrators of the eighteenth century. The books are 8vo. and measure 9 3/4 x 6 3/8 in. wide, the bindings are tight, the text is very clean, with a little offset from some of the plates, light rubbing at the crowns and heels of the spine, modest rubbing on the edges of the spines and at the tips, and very light browning on some of the plates. “London” is faded at the heel of the first volume and bright on the heel of the second one, and a small abrasion on the front of Volume II. Still an attractive first edition of this main work of Rowlandson, with all the satire and humor you’d ever want to find in artwork that poked fun at the grim ways people viewed death in the Middle Ages, and a much easier way to read this poem without trying to find all the monthly parts, which is nearly impossible.
The Dance of Life, A Poem, By The Author of “Doctor Syntax;” Illustrated With Coloured Engravings, By Thomas Rowlandson, London: Published By R. Ackermann, Repository Of Arts, 101, Strand. 1817. This is the sequel to The Dance of Death, published a year later, and a first edition. With five raised bands, six compartments with gilt lettering on burgundy and black panels and gilt tooling on the other panels, triple gilt-fillet borders with corner devices on the calf boards, wide gilt dentelles on marbled endpapers, “bound by Tout” on the first blank endpaper, followed by the colored frontispiece and the colored vignette title page, the title page, an advertisement by the author saying he completed the eight monthly parts which preceded this book, so he is going on to the “accumulated Volume”, which means it is being published for the first time here in book form; a second small advertisement by R.A.(R. Ackermann, the publisher) says the author’s books have been so successful, he plans to write another one, then there is an Index to the Plates, followed by 285 pages of text, and at the bottom of page 285, it reads “J. Diggens, Printer, St. Ann’s Lane, London.” There are twenty-six hand-colored plates by Rowlandson, including the frontispiece and vignette title page, and all the edges are gilt. So the poem was published in eight monthly parts before it came out in book form, the poem was written by William Coombe, even though his name does not appear on the title page, and all the plates by Rowlandson are here. The book is 8vo. and measures 9 5/8 x 6 1/4 in. wide, with tissue guards to protect each plate, the binding is tight, with light rubbing at the heel and at the tips, some of the gilt has rubbed away on the gilt borders of the boards, light foxing on some of the plates, and an attractive companion piece to the Dance of Death.
This is a second lot of Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers, this one with the original monthly parts bound in book form, and the same print history as the previous lot. It was published in twenty monthly parts, from April 1836 to November 1837, with a one-month lapse in June 1837, when one part was put off by a death in Dickens’ family. All the parts were priced at one shilling, except for the last double issue, which was priced at two shillings, and the whole set of twenty parts was bound as nineteen because of the double issue at the end. There are five raised bands, with six gilt-ruled compartments and “Pickwick Club - Dickens” in gilt letters on a black panel near the top of the spine and “London 1837” in gilt on a black panel at the bottom of the spine; there are triple-gilt fillets on a calf cover, gilt dentelles and a note from 1767 about a “Good Dwelling to be lett at Pickwick, in the County of Wilts” on the marbled endpapers. The front wrapper of Part No. I is included near the beginning of the text and the rest of the original front wrappers are bound in at the rear, a Message to Sergeant Talfourd after the title page, then a three-page Preface, four pages of Contents followed by Directions to the binder, and the text, which is 609 pages long. There’s also a white slip about the death of Robert Seymour and several addresses by the author and the Chapman and Hall, the publisher, at the rear (the slip about Robert Seymour is dated April 27, 1836, the first address is dated December 1836, the next is an author’s address dated June 20, 1837 and was written at 186, the Strand; then a publisher’s address dated August 26, 1837, and a final publisher’s address dated September 29, 1837, from the Strand) and one leaf with the Pickwick Advertiser bound in at the rear and no other ads in the book, except for the addresses about the books by published by Chapman and Hall.In a few instances Dickens had to adjust his story to the plates which had been prepared for him, but typically he wrote an installment and the artist was obliged to illustrate what Dickens had written about. The story became more important than the illustrations, and that propelled Dickens to the top of the literary world.It still took time for Dickens to find the right illustrator for the novel. The first artist, Robert Seymour, provided illustrations for the first two monthly parts, then committed suicide; Robert Willam Buss illustrated the third installment, but Dickens did not like his work, so Dickens kept up the search for an artist he liked and finally settled on H. K. Browne, otherwise known as Phiz, who illustrated most of Dickens’ other novels afterwards.Again, Chapman and Hall did not expect the novel to sell well, so they printed only 400 copies of the first part and just 500 copies for the second monthly, then sales took off unexpectedly, and the publishers had to readjust their plans - they had to increase production to meet demand, and older plates were re-etched as the original ones wore out, which led to plate errors being made, some ads were cancelled and others added, then the suicide of Robert Seymour and the death of Dickens’ sister-in-law - all this meant there would never be a perfect copy of the first edition in the first state - too many changes and unexpected events, which made for lots of headaches trying to figure out how many errors there were in your copy of the Pickwick Papers - were your errors close to a first state edition, or were they printed and corrected later on?Remember, there are over 500 points of issue in the Pickwick Papers to find or discover, and no one has ever found a perfect copy in the first state. There are about fourteen or fifteen copies that come close, but no one has ever found the elusive perfect copy, so we’ll use John Eckels’ bibliography to sort things out as far as we can. In his book about the writings of Charles Dickens, Eckels came up with eleven points he considered essential for a copy of Pickwick Papers to be called “perfect”:1. All covers must bear the date 1836.2. Parts I and II must carry the words “With Four Illustrations By Seymour”.3. Part III the words “With Illustrations By R. W. Buss.” 4. Part I must have four plates by Seymour, signed, and not re-etched by “Phiz.”5. Part II must have three plates by Seymour signed.6. Part III must have the two plates signed “Drawn and etched by R.W. Buss” and the page numbers.7. Part IV has the two plates indistinctly signed “Nemo” and not “Phiz”.8. Parts II, III, X, and XV must have the addresses by the author.9. Parts XVII, XVIII, and XX must have the addresses by the publishers.10. Plates in Parts I to XII must have no captions, only references to the pages where they were inserted; parts XIII to XX have neither titles nor numerical guides.11. On the vignette title page, the name “Weller” on the signboard over the door must appear with a “V”, and the signature “Phiz fecit” must surround the tablet at the bottom of the frontispiece. “Phiz fecit” means “Phiz made it.”The first point by Eckels is in our favor - all but one of the original front wrappers is dated 1836, the exception being No. XVII, which is dated 1837 in Roman numerals.But Parts I and II say “With Illustrations”, instead of “With Four Illustrations By Seymour”, and Part III only says “With Illustrations”, instead of “With Illustrations By R. W. Buss.” Part I has two of the four plates signed by Seymour, and Part II has all three plates signed by Seymour, as called for. Part III has both plates signed “Drawn and etched by R.W. Buss” along with the page numbers, as called for. We believe Part IV has the two plates indistinctly signed “Nemo” and not “Phiz” - they are definitely not signed by Phiz. Most of the addresses by Dickens and the publishers are bound in at the end, behind the original front wrappers. The plates in Parts I to XII conform to Eckels - there are no captions, only references to the pages where they were inserted, and Parts XIII to the end have no titles or page numbers, per Eckels. On the vignette title page, in Part XIX and XX, the name “Weller” on the signboard over the door has a “V” instead of a “W”, so it reads Sam Veller instead of Sam Weller, and “Phiz fecit” is at the bottom of the tablet on the frontispiece. I.e., there are many first state points of issue uncorrected here, but not all. All the plates are present as called for; the plate on page 89 has very light soiling at one edge, a few of the plates towards the end have offset on them from the text, but most of them are exceptionally clean and bright, with no browning at all. The text is very clean as well, with light offset on a couple of them from the plates, but overall a very clean edition of the Pickwick Papers.The boards measure 9 x 6 1/8 in. wide, the front covers of the original wrappers in back are very clean, especially after being well hidden for over a century, there are a couple of hard-to-see scratches on the covers, with tender joints along the front edge of the spine. So an attractive set, with some first edition first state points, but still not the elusive perfect copy of Pickwick Papers which has every single point of issue Dickens enthusiasts are looking for. Perhaps it will turn up one day … one day … See The First Editions of The Writings of Charles Dickens by John Eckels, Their Points and Values, published in New York by Maurice Inman and in London by the Maggs Bros in 1932, and see A Bibliography of the Periodical Works of Charles Dickens by Thomas Hatton and Arthur Cleaver, published by Chapman and Hall in 1933.
This is a complete four-volume set of Don Quixote De La Mancha in Spanish from 1738, and it represents a significant landmark in the printing history of Cervantes' Don Quixote: the first deluxe edition of the novel, and the first edition in Spanish published in England. The title in Spanish is Vida y Hechos del Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Compuesta por Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. En Quatro Tomos, En Londres: Por J. y R. Tonson, 1738, which means The Life And Adventures Of That Ingenious Gentleman, Don Quixote of La Mancha, composed by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, in four volumes, published by J. and R. Tonson in 1738. Hechos can mean facts, and here we believe it refers to the exploits or adventures of Don Quixote. The set is a large quarto profusely illustrated with 69 copperplate engravings, including the first ever portrait of Cervantes and an allegorical frontispiece. The portrait was painted by William Kent and engraved by George Vertue, John Vanderbank designed 66 of the plates and William Hogarth created one and part of another. The engravers were Gerard Vandergucht, Bernard Baron and Claude du Bosc for the other plates, and since there was no known painting or drawing of Cervantes at the time, Kent composed one by following Cervantes' detailed self-description included in the preface to his Novelas Exemplares. All four volumes have five raised bands, gilt titles on burgundy labels, six compartments and gilt tooling on the spines, geometric borders in gilt on dark blue boards, marbled endpapers with gilt dentelles, and the bookplate of William Adair Esq. on the rear endpapers of each book. Volume I has an allegorical frontispiece followed by the title page, four pages addressed to the Contessa Montijo, who used to be the ambassador at the court of Great Britain, then three pages of advice from John Oldfield (D. Juan Oldfield), three pages from Lord Carteret ((Don Juan Baron de Carteret), who sponsored the printing of the novel, 103 pages about the life of Cervantes by Mayans Isiscar, a nine-page prologue (Prologo), some poetry and sonnets about Don Quixote, four pages of the chapter titles (Tabla de los Capitulos), and 296 pages of text. Volume II has 368 pages of text, Volume III has 311 pages of text, and the last volume has 333 pages of text. Prior to this London edition of 1738, the quality of the letterpress and the engravings contrasted strongly with the low printing standards of many of the seventeenth-century editions. Through the backing of John Carteret, the second Earl of Granville, the text finally received the treatment reserved for works that were considered classics. The printing was commissioned to the heirs of a famous dynasty of English publishers, Jacob and Richard Tonson were the sons of Jacob Tonson the younger, who was the nephew of Jacob Tonson, the exclusive publisher of John Dryden. Many readers viewed the novel as a burlesque piece, a parody about chivalry as well as an example of popular humor. With Lord Carteret’s sponsorship, people started to see the satirical and moralizing aspect of the novel, and it conveyed a sense of the righteousness of Christianity in Spain. The quality of the illustrations told the same story - the triumph of one religion over another. That is why this is called the Carteret edition. Hogarth probably dropped out because he disagreed with William Kent, the painter who designed the portrait of Cervantes - Hogarth’s vision of art differed from the artistic sense presented in the Carteret edition. Hogarth believed that art should be a detailed imitation of life, and many of the illustrations in the Carteret version were allegorical and strove for a much higher purpose. The four volumes are 4 to. and measure 11 5/8 x 9 1/2. wide, with wear at the crowns, heels and edges of the spines, and at the tips. There is browning on the plates and some of the text, and the set is still desirable because it is a first deluxe edition of the novel and the first edition to be published in Spanish in England.
The Life of Admiral Lord Nelson K.B. from His Lordship’s Manuscripts, By The Rev. James Stanier Clarke, F.R.S. Librarian to The Prince, And Chaplain Of His Royal Highness’s Household. And John M’Arthur, Esq. LL. D. Late Secretary To Admiral Lord Viscount Hood, London, Printed By T. Bensley, Bolt Court, Fleet Street. For T. Cadell and W. Davies, In The Strand. And W. Miller, Albermarle Street]. 1809. In Two Volumes. This is a first edition set, extra illustrated, of Clarke and M’Arthur’s important biography of Lord Nelson. The two volumes are 3/4 bound on half blue morocco, with five raised bands, gilt titles, six gilt compartments with corner devices, marbled endpapers with bookplates from the libraries of R. C. Anderson and Ira Dye, U.S.N. and a small green bookseller’s label from George Gregory, Bookseller to H.M. Queen Alexandra, Bath. The color frontis depicts Nelson dying (“The Immortality of Nelson”) engraved by Charles Heath after a painting by Benjamin West, with a dedication page to His Royal Highness George Augustus Frederick The Prince (The Prince of Wales), then a two-page advertisement from the authors thanking the Prince, William Earl Nelson (Lord Nelson’s brother), Lady Nelson for providing letters from her late husband, and several other dignitaries, including the Earl of Egremont, in helping the authors write this biography. A fifteen-page list of orders received for the set prior to publication has a one-line erratum at the end, adding one name to the list, then there are thirty-five pages of Contents for both volumes (i - xxxv), followed by Explanations of the Engravings for the two books (i - xiv), a facsimile of a letter from Lord Nelson, beautiful colored portraits of Lord Nelson and Emma Hart (Lady Hamilton) as “A Baccanth”, then an introduction and 359 pages of text and engravings in Volume I, an Appendix with Lord Nelson’s family tree and details about the Battle of Trafalgar, for a total of 375 pages in Volume I and 511 pages in Volume II, with four maps of battle plans in Volume II, including a fold-out map for the Battle of the Nile, a regular map for the Attack off Copenhagen, and two maps for the Battle of Trafalgar - one at the commencement and one at the close of the battle; fifteen of the extra illustrations are hand-colored, all the pages are printed on high-quality thick paper, and all the edges are gilt. James Stanier Clarke was Nelson’s librarian and chaplain, and the two-volume set was printed by Thomas Bensely and published by Thomas Cadell and William Davies, a publishing firm established in London in the mid 1790’s. The authors relied on the collection of manuscripts now in the British Museum and known as the Bridgeport Collection, and they borrowed letters from friends of Lord Nelson as well as from his wife, Lady Hamilton, to complete this important biography. We are not sure how many first editions were printed, but Lowndes notes there were about 1200 subscribers who signed up before publication to receive these two volumes, and if that is any indication of how many first editions were printed, that’s a small number indeed. (William Thomas Lowndes was an English bibliographer whose principal work, The Bibliographer’s Manual of English Literature, was the first systematic work of its kind and was published in four volumes in 1834. It took Lowndes fourteen years to complete.) The set is 4 To. and each volume measures 13 1/2 x 11 1/4 in. wide, and Volume I is 2 1/2 in. deep while Volume II is 2 3/4 in. deep. The gilt on the spines is lightly faded, with light rubbing at the tips, and the second volume has wear at the crown; there is light browning on the front blank endpapers of the first volume, not on the marbled endpapers, and the colored frontis at the beginning of the first volume has light browning in the margins, otherwise the plates and text are very clean, the binding is tight, and still a rare and attractive first edition set about the life of Lord Nelson.
Victories Of The Duke Of Wellington, from Drawings by R. Westall, R.A. London: Printed For Rodell And Martin, New Bond-Street 1819, with the printer’s imprint on the reverse of the title page (London: Printed By Thomas Davison, Whitebriars). The book is a first edition and has 12 hand-colored aquatints that show heroic images from Wellington’s triumphs at Vintera all the way to Waterloo, where Napoleon met his match and lost an epic battle against the British, and this battle shaped the future of Europe for decades to come. The book is 1/2 bound, with roan leather, gray-green marbled boards and a paper label on the front board showing the title and how much it originally cost to buy the book, blank endpapers, a colored frontis showing British troops fighting in Spain at the Battle of Vimiera, then the title page and printer’s imprint, followed by a two-page preface dedicated to honor Wellington’s leadership and the British soldiers who died at Waterloo, followed by 47 pages of text and the hand-colored aquatints that portrayed Wellington’s victories. There is also a small bookseller’s label on the front paste-down which reads “John Pennington & Son, Importers & Booksellers 127 S. 7th St. Philadelphia” and a note listing the battles won by Wellington depicted in the book, and under the black border for the colored frontis it reads “London Published June 20, 1819, Drawn by R. Westall, R.A.”, “Engraved by T. Fielding” and the title “Vimiera”. The titles and size of the plates make a difference in telling whether the book is a first edition or not, as well as the price for the book. The first issue has titles underneath each plate, while the third issue lacks the titles; the page sizes are much smaller in the first issue than in the third issue and the plates in the later issues are also mounted on blue-gray cards, without the titles, and the first edition cost £3, 13 shillings, and 6 pence, while the third issue cost 10 guineas. The colored frontis here has black borders and the title “Vimiera” under the plate, and all the other plates follow suit - they have the name of the battle and a black border around each plate, rather than being mounted on cards - the pages are smaller than the ones in the third issue, and the book here cost £3, 13s, and 6d, so we believe this is a first edition, first issue of the Westall book. The book is a folio size and the boards measure 13 1/8 x 10 1/4 in. wide, while the pages for the plates are 12 1/4 x 9 1/2 in. wide and the actual plates within the black borders measure 10 3/8 x 8 1/4 in. wide. There are condition issues present - the leather and boards have wear, the binding is loose, and there is soiling and browning on some of the pages - but this is a first edition, probably a first issue, and exceptionally rare.
Queen Victoria, By Richard R Holmes F.S.A., Librarian to the Queen, London and Paris, Boussod, Valadon & Co. Fine Art Publishers to Her Majesty 1897, a first edition of this biography (the dates on the title page and copyright page match), with a gilt title, gilt decorations and five raised bands on the spine, green morocco boards, gilt dentelles with marbled endpapers and a green and gilt bookplate which reads “Diamond Jubilee Gift to Robert and Eliza Cumming with Much Love from William and Elizabeth 1897”, “Queen Victoria” on the half-title, then a colored frontispiece of Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales with a lettered tissue guard. The text was set up and printed in London by J S Virtue, the plates were engraved and printed by Boussod, Valadon near Paris in 1897, and the top edge is gilt. There are 41 plates altogether (the colored frontispiece and forty plates in black and white), with tissue guards protecting all the plates and red titles on each of the tissue guards, and there are 195 pages of text, followed by the Contents and List of Illustrations at the rear. The book is 4 To. and measures 13 x 10 14 in. wide. We’ve seen other copies with wormholes and detached boards, and this is nothing like that. The hinges and boards are solid, and there’s not a worm in sight. There’s light rubbing at the edges of the spine and light wear at the heel and tips, light foxing on three pages (177, 185, and 193), and the rest of the pages are clean and bright. Queen Victoria was a British monarch who reigned for over sixty years. She ascended the throne in 1837 and the Diamond Jubilee celebrated her 60th year as Queen, and her reign was longer than that of any previous British monarch; she died three and a half years after this book was published. See A Pocket Guide to the Identification of First Editions, Compiled By Bill McBride, McBride Publisher, 585 Prospect Ave., West Hartford CT 06105.
A Victorian mahogany circular railway clock, the dial signed B-R (S) John Walker London, with fusee movement and pendulum, dia.37cmPlease note the marks to the dial. It looks as though this has been made up of different clocks, wrong bezel, marks on dial (suggest possible later movement etc). Needs a polish but otherwise condition seems ok. We cannot get it to run for long.
19th Century Lewis and Allenby Regent Street, London Cream Cut Velvet Fitted Bodice, with elbow length sleeves, black and cream lace trims to the opening and cuffs, bead appliqués to the collar and lower sleeves Brown Velvet Cape Labelled 'R Goodson London & Leeds, Branches Throughout the Kingdom' hung with brown silk trims, knots and woven appliqués to the front, brown lace trim to the collar, pale brown silk lining (2)
R Altman & Co Paris and New York Circa 1920 Black Silk Evening Coat with lapels, long sleeved, single button fastening, satin inserts and silk embroidered insertionsCirca 1920s Houff’s Madison, Ind Black Wool Coat with turn over and buttoned collar, button fastening, long sleeves, front pockets with brown silk woven trim, same trim used to the split side seams and reverse in military style with black embroidery, black and white silk patterned lining(2)Private Collection of Millinery and CostumeR Altman evening coat - repair to the shoulder, slight wear, collar split or detail?Houff coat - small hole and slight wear to the collar, another to the hem. Wear/rubbing to the wool, some fading and slight discolouration to the linin
Circa 1940-50s Dresses, comprising a Nettie Vogue blue and black striped wool dress with three quarter length sleeves, shawl style collar and pleated skirtSylvern green wool dress with three quarter length sleeves, and button detail to the necklineblue crepe capped sleeve dress with scalloped neckline, embroidered and beaded decoration, waist detail blue crepe dress with elbow length sleeves, wriggle work appliqué and beaded flower headsR&H Grossmark pale green crepe dress with elbow length sleeves, multi pleated stitched detail to the bodice and skirt (size 40)Moorville black jersey crepe long sleeve dress, with pink contrast trim to the neckline, bead and knot embroidery to the bodice with beltbrown crepe dress with floral appliqué detail to the neckline, three quarter length sleeves and peplum Gilray Model pale green grosgrain two piece comprising a sleeveless dress and matching jacketpink wool style dress with floral embroidery and bead decoration, three quarter length sleeves and buttons to the bodice, matching jacketpink straight skirt and matching long sleeved jacket with pink and cream striped buttons navy crepe short sleeve dress with button fastening to the bodice and decorated with white beads in floral designnavy textured dress with elbow length sleeves, V-neckline, tiered peplum detail to the waist, fabric belt with paste clasp(12)Blue and black dress - collar loose, slight wear overall, 36" bust.Sylvern dress - 40" bust, slight wear and belt missing.Blue crepe capped sleeve dress - 38" bust, fading to the shoulders and slight wear overall.Blue crepe dress wrigglework - 40" bust, belt missing and slight wear.R&H Grossmark dress - 32" bust, part of seam to one armhole open, some fading and wear, belt missing.Moorville dress - 40" bust and slight rubbing and wear.Brown crepe dress - loose seam to the waist and some thread pulls, slight fading to the shoulders, 34" bust, belt missingGilray Model suit - 42" bust, fading around the armholes, belt missing, some discolouration to the jacket, only two paste set crescents to the pockets.Pink two piece - 38" bust, two small holes to one shoulder, slight discolouration to the collar and shoulders and wear overall.Pink skirt suit - slight wear overall.Navy dress with beads - 32" bust, slight fading and wear, seam open to zip.Navy crepe textured dress - 38" bust, slight fading to the shoulders and neck, slight wear overall.
Assorted 20th Century Costume Accessories comprising a 1920s Abel Morall Cross Fox Handy Pack containing knicker elastic, needles and cottons, hair grips, silk hose mending and darners etc'Studs and Links' brass circular box embossed with a gent in a top hat and contents Henry A La Pensée powder compact with glass domed lid contain two birds made from feathers seated on a branch deco powder compact with a powder release mechanism and a sunburst design to caseIva Fun Puff yellow fluffy powder puff with silk brown and yellow patterned scarf attachedShocking de Schiaparelli dusting powder contains powder and puffblack resin brooch of a stag, red double acorn brooch with clear diamantes, lipstick case with brown reptile style pattern mountLeather coin purse with image of Queen Nefertiti, Egyptian style tie pin and similar screw on earrings and broochJB Keath & Sons glasses case with velvet lining enclosing blue tinted spectacles, owl shaped beaded glasses case holdergold fabric clutch bag mounted with a trellis of diamantes with red surrounds, with internal purse and mirrorChinese silk embroidered evening bag embroidered with two figures and a dog, gilt metal clasp that has four hinges pink and gold sequined clutch bag with internal purse and mirror, also contains a double sided mirror in a pink sheath and a pink tassel and a cigarette card 'Famous Film Scenes - My Heart Is Calling'(one box)Private Collection of Millinery and CostumeAll items have signs of wear1920s Abel Morall Cross Fox Handy Pack - remnant of patterned tape to baseStuds and links circular box - some tarnishing to box and contentsHenry A La Pensée powder compact - no powder and puffMetal powder compact - may have some red and green decoration missing to outside Iva Fun Puff yellow fluffy powder puff - some stiching has come awayShocking de Schiaparelli dusting powder - staining to lidRed double acorn broach - some pin tarnished and discoloured diamantesLipstick case - mark on outside and no lipstickRed box with Egyptian style tie pin - staining to lining of boxGold coloured metal Egyptian style head screw on earrings - may have slight tarnishingBrevete gold coloured metal broach - tarnishedLeather coin purse - paint has flakedJ.B.Keath & Sons glasses case velvet lined containing blue tinted spectacles - slight fading to logo, glasses okOwl shaped beaded glasses case holder - discolouration to beadsGold fabric clutch bag covered with clear diamantes - one diamante missing has been replaced with a pearl style beadFabric bag embroidered in a colourful asian scene - metal tarnishedPink and gold sequined clutch bag - may have some sequind missingDouble sided mirror - marks on sheathCigarette card - staining to back of card
RAF WW2 1943 Suits Aircrew Battledress Blouse Tunic, war example tailored with Flight Sergeant chevrons and Crown to the right sleeve only. The interior with clear issue label "Suits Aircrew Blouse Size no 10 Hirst and Trackway 1943' together with RAF Officer's Side Cap, maker S & R Harris Ltd, Glasgow
An Aynsley porcelain commemorative limited edition 'Battle of Britain' two-handled urn-shaped vase and cover. Printed and painted marks, no. 33 of 100, produced for the Peter Jones Collection, painted by R. Band with a vignette of spitfires, the reverse with the Royal Air Force cipher and verse, with lavender-ground cover gilt with coronet finial, on wooden stand, 20cm high exc. stand
An early to mid-20th century gold and diamond single stone gypsy ring. The round brilliant approx. 0.55cts, claw set to a tapering shallow 'D' section shank stamped '18ct', size R, 7.5g gross Condition Report: Overall good/fair condition, general wear and tear commensurae with age and use, would benefit from a re-tip as some claws worn. Diamond measures approx. 5.4mm x 3.1mm, colour about K/L, clarity about SI2.
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