Fine Bindings and Sets

Maugham, W. Somerset

The Moon and Sixpence.

New York : The Heritage Press, 1941.

The Heritage Press illustrated edition of this classic novel. Octavo, original publisher’s cloth, floral stamped detailing to the front panel, top stain brown, pictorial endpapers, frontispiece self-portrait of Paul Gauguin, with black and white illustrations and decorations. In fine condition. Illustrated by Frederic Dorr Steele and Paul Gauguin. Housed in the original slipcase.

[Napoleon Bonaparte]. Emil Ludwig. Translated by Eden and Cedar Paul

Napoleon. [Cosway Binding].

London : George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., 1927.

Elaborately bound Cosway style first edition in English of Emil Ludwig’s biography of Napoleon Bonaparte. Octavo, bound by Bayntun-Riviere in full Cosway style scarlet morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, inset ivorene hand-painted portrait of Napoleon depicting him with medals to the front panel, giltContinue reading "Napoleon. [Cosway Binding]."

Atherton, Gertrude Franklin

The Conqueror: Being the True and Romantic Story of Alexander Hamilton.

New York : The Macmillan Company, 1902.

First edition of this historical novel that blends biographical narrative with romanticized fiction to construct a dramatic portrait of one of America’s founding figures. Octavo, original publisher’s cloth with gilt titles and detailing to the spine and front panel, top edge gilt. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “To Ms. ArelinaContinue reading "The Conqueror: Being the True and Romantic Story of Alexander Hamilton."

Cervantes, Miguel de

Vida Y Hechos del Ingeniso Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha.

Tarragona : Joseph Barber, 1757.

Eighteenth century finely bound example of Cervantes’ masterpiece “which is to Spanish literature what Shakespeare is to English” (Bloom). Duodecimo, four volumes, bound in full uniform contemporary limp parchment, woodcut title page vignettes, illustrated with woodcuts throughout. In very good condition. Housed in two custom board book boxes with morocco spine fronts. Ownership inscriptions toContinue reading "Vida Y Hechos del Ingeniso Hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha."

Salinger, J.D

The Catcher In The Rye.

Boston : Little Brown and Company, 1951.

First edition of the author’s classic first book. Octavo, bound in full morocco by the Harcourt Bindery with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in five compartments within raised bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt stamped signature to the front panel, gilt ruled inner dentelles stamp-signed by the Harcourt Bindery,Continue reading "The Catcher In The Rye."

Locke, John

The Works of John Locke [Including: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Some Thoughts Concerning Education, Some Considerations of the Consequences of Lowering the Interest, and Raising the Value of Money, An Essay for the Amendment of the Silver Coin, Some Thoughts Concerning Education, Etc.]

London : Printed for A. Churchill and A. Manship, 1722.

Rare second edition of the collected works of John Locke, “the most worthy… of the indisputably great philosophers.” Folio, three volumes, bound in full speckled brown calf with gilt titles and tooling to the spine with morocco spine labels in seven compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt turn-ins, all edges stained red. Frontispiece of JohnContinue reading "The Works of John Locke [Including: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Some Thoughts Concerning Education, Some Considerations of the Consequences of Lowering the Interest, and Raising the Value of Money, An Essay for the Amendment of the Silver Coin, Some Thoughts Concerning Education, Etc.]"

Auchincloss, Louis; Gary Hart; Michael F. Holt; George McGovern; Garry Wills; Et. Al

Collection of Presidential Biographies.

New York : Times Books, 2004-2015.

Collection of biographies of the presidents of the United States. Octavo, forty-one volumes, frontispiece portrait to each volume, original boards. Each are near fine to fine in near fine to fine dust jackets.

Dickens, Charles

The Old Curiosity Shop: A Tale.

London : Chapman And Hall, Strand, 1841.

First edition of Dickens’s classic novel. Octavo, bound in half calf, full morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, all edges gilt, with illustrations by George Cattermole and Hablot K. Browne. In very good condition, bookplate to the front pastedown.

The Holy Bible Containing the Old Testament and The New. Newly Translated out of the Original Tongues. And With the former Translations dilligently compared & revised. [with] The Book of Common Prayer, And Administration of the Sacraments, and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, According to Use of the Church of England; Together with the Psalter or Psalms of David.

London : Printed by Charles Bill and Thomas Newcomb, Printer to the King and Queens most Excellent Majesties, 1692-1693.

Rare 17th century Holy Bible and Book of Common Prayer uniformly and exquisitely bound. Octavo, two volumes uniformly bound in full crushed levant morocco with elaborate gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt ruling and scrolling to the front and rear panels with fleuron cornerpieces, engraved silver central ornamentContinue reading "The Holy Bible Containing the Old Testament and The New. Newly Translated out of the Original Tongues. And With the former Translations dilligently compared & revised. [with] The Book of Common Prayer, And Administration of the Sacraments, and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, According to Use of the Church of England; Together with the Psalter or Psalms of David."

Cervantes, Miguel de

Comedias y Entremeses.

Madrid : En la Imprenta de Antonio Marin, 1749.

Finely bound example of this collection of plays from the author of “Don Quixote”. Octavo, two volumes, written in Spanish, bound in full contemporary Spanish limp parchment with alum-tawed knot-and-loop closures, woodcut title page vignettes, illustrated with woodcut head- and tail-pieces throughout. In good condition with chipping to the extremities. With a prologue about theContinue reading "Comedias y Entremeses."

[The Bible. Translated according to the Ebrew and Greeke].

London : Robert Barker, 1605.

Rare early 17th century printing of Robert Barker’s Geneva Bible. Small quarto, bound in three quarter calf over marbled boards, morocco spine label lettered in gilt, text in black letter, double column, lacking general title-page, New Testament title-page with woodcut border, Concordances and Psalms bound in at rear [Herbert 280]. Period family ownership inscriptions andContinue reading "[The Bible. Translated according to the Ebrew and Greeke]."

Ovid [Sandys, George]

Ovid’s Metamorphosis Englished, Mythologized, And Represented in Figures. An Essay to the Translation of Virgil’s Aeneis.

London : Printed by J. L. for Andrew Hebb, 1640.

Fourth edition of George Sandys’ revered English translation of Ovid’s Metamorphosis. Folio, contemporary paneled boards, rebacked, morocco spine label lettered in gilt, illustrated with two copies of the engraved portrait of Ovid (one opposite engraved title, the other opposite the Life), engraved title page, and 15 full-page plates (one at the beginning of each book ofContinue reading "Ovid’s Metamorphosis Englished, Mythologized, And Represented in Figures. An Essay to the Translation of Virgil’s Aeneis."

Locke, John

An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding: In Four Books.

London : Printed for Awnsham and John Churchil, at the Black-Swan in Pater-Noster Row, and Samuel Manship, at the Ship in Cornhill, near the Royal-Exchange, 1694.

Rare second edition of this fundamental work in the history of Western thought, the first to name Locke as the author and to include the frontispiece portrait of him. Folio, bound full paneled calf, morocco spine label lettered in gilt, elaborated diced stamping to the spine in five compartments within raised bands, engraved frontispiece portraitContinue reading "An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding: In Four Books."

Kazantzakis, Nikos

Odyssey: A Modern Sequel.

New York : Simon & Schuster, 1958.

First edition, first printing of Kazantzakis’ masterpiece. Octavo, original cloth. Translated into English by Kimon Friar; illustrations by Ghika. Near fine in a very good dust jacket, inscription to the front free endpaper. Uncommon.

Churchill, Winston S

My Early Life; Thoughts and Adventures; Great Contemporaries; Step by Step.

London : Odhams Press Limited, 1936-1939.

First Odhams press edition of four of Churchill’s best-known works. Octavo, 4 volumes, original cloth with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, illustrated. Presentation set, inscribed by Churchill to his financial adviser on the front free endpaper of My Early Life, “To T.E.R. Harris from Winston S. Churchill Christmas 1947” and initialed by ChurchillContinue reading "My Early Life; Thoughts and Adventures; Great Contemporaries; Step by Step."

By a Loyal Subject

A Letter to the Right Honorable the Earl of Warwick, Upon the Subject of Opposition, in Consequence of the Speeches of His Lordship in the House of Peers, on the 23d and 27th of March, 1797, in Opposition to the Motions of the Earls of Oxford and Suffolk, to Address His Majesty for Peace, and for the Dismissal of the Right Honorable William Pitt.

[London] : Printed for the Author, 1798.

First edition of this appeal to the King of Great Britain and Ireland, King George III, during the French Revolutionary Wars. Duodecimo, bound in full contemporary straight-grain red morocco with elaborate gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments, elaborate gilt ruling with a gilt coronet and monogram ‘Y’ to the front and rear panels,Continue reading "A Letter to the Right Honorable the Earl of Warwick, Upon the Subject of Opposition, in Consequence of the Speeches of His Lordship in the House of Peers, on the 23d and 27th of March, 1797, in Opposition to the Motions of the Earls of Oxford and Suffolk, to Address His Majesty for Peace, and for the Dismissal of the Right Honorable William Pitt."

Huxley, Aldous

Brave New World.

London : Chatto & Windus, 1932.

First edition of Huxley’s masterpiece. Octavo, bound in full morocco by the Harcourt Bindery with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in five compartments within raised bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt ruled inner dentelles stamp-signed by the Harcourt Bindery, hand-made Italian marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Boldly signed andContinue reading "Brave New World."

Fleming, Ian [Roger Moore]

Live and Let Die.

London : Jonathan Cape, 1954.

First edition of the second James Bond novel, Octavo, bound by in full morocco by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised bands, inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, inscribed to two-time Oscar winner Leslie Bricusse by Roger Moore and the director, Guy Hamilton. Association copy, inscribed on the versoContinue reading "Live and Let Die."

Carlyle, Jane Welsh; Thomas Carlyle; David G. Ritchie [Editor]

Early Letters of Jane Welsh Carlyle Together with a Few of Later Years and Some of Thomas Carlyle.

London : Swan Sonnenschein & Co, 1889.

First edition of this collection of letters reflecting Victorian life. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, and tissue-guarded frontispiece. In very good condition. Clipped newspaper article regarding Edinburgh University acquiring the collection of forty originalContinue reading "Early Letters of Jane Welsh Carlyle Together with a Few of Later Years and Some of Thomas Carlyle."

Sassoon, Siegfried

The Heart’s Journey.

New York : Crosby Gaige, 1927.

First signed limited edition of Sassoon’s classic poetry collection. Octavo, bound in full tan crushed morocco by Sangorski & Sutcliffe with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, all edges gilt, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, and titleContinue reading "The Heart’s Journey."

Cannon, Richard

Historical Record of the Twenty-First Regiment, or the Royal North British Fusiliers. Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1678, and of its Subsequent Services to 1849.

London : Parker, Furnivall, & Parker, 1849.

First edition of this official chronicle of the twenty-first regiment’s origins, campaigns, and traditions. Octavo, original publisher’s red cloth with gilt titles to the spine and front penal, triple ruling and detailing stamped in blind to the front and rear panels, engraved title page vignette, illustrated with three hand colored lithographic plates. In very goodContinue reading "Historical Record of the Twenty-First Regiment, or the Royal North British Fusiliers. Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1678, and of its Subsequent Services to 1849."

Wollstonecraft, Mary

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects.

London : Printed For J. Johnson, 1792.

First edition of this landmark work—among the earliest and most influential feminist manifestos—presenting a groundbreaking critique of the social and educational structures that enforced women’s subordination. Octavo, original boards, sympathetically rebacked, printed spine label. [Windle A5a; PMM 242; Goldsmiths’ 15367]. In very good condition with scattered toning. Housed in a custom clamshell box. Exceptionally rareContinue reading "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects."

Burroughs, John

The Writings of John Burroughs: Accepting the Universe.

Boston and New York : Houghton Mifflin Company, 1921.

Volume XXI of the Autograph edition of Burroughs’ collected writings. Octavo, elaborately bound in full crushed levant morocco by H. R. Johnson with gilt titles and elaborate gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, double gilt ruling and large gilt cornerpieces to the front and rear panels, gilt-ruled turn-ins, innerContinue reading "The Writings of John Burroughs: Accepting the Universe."

Sarmiento de Gamboa, Pedro

Viage al Estrecho de Magallanes Por el Capitan Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa En los anos de 1579. y 1580.

Madrid : En la Imprenta Real de la Gazeta, 1768.

Rare first edition of Sarmiento’s account of his 1579–1580 survey of the Straits of Magellan. Octavo, bound in full contemporary marbled calf with gilt tooling to the spine, morocco spine label lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers, all edges speckled red, illustrated with 3 folding views. Headland 35. Hill 267. Sabin 77094. Stamp of Jose JimenezContinue reading "Viage al Estrecho de Magallanes Por el Capitan Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa En los anos de 1579. y 1580."