Fine Bindings and Sets

Carlyle, Thomas

Carlyle’s Works. [Including: The French Revolution; Sartor Resartus; Lectures on Heroes, Hero-Worship; Past and Present; History of Frederick the Great].

London : Chapman and Hall, 1891.

The Ashburton edition of Carlye’s complete works. Octavo, seventeen volumes bound in three quarter morocco over marbled boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raise bands, top edge gilt with others uncut, marbled endpapers, frontispiece portrait of Carlyle to volume one. In very good condition.

Dickens, Charles

Great Expectations.

London : Chapman and Hall, 1861.

First edition, second impression of Dickens’ popular Victorian bildungsroman. Octavo, bound in three quarter morocco over marbled boards with gilt tooling to the spine in three compartments within raised gilt bands, morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Second impression lacking the advertisements, quite likely as issued. Edition statements neatly removedContinue reading "Great Expectations."

Dickens, Charles

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby.

London : Chapman and Hall, 1839.

First edition, first issue in book form of one of Dickens’ most popular novels. Octavo, bound in three quarter calf over marbled boards by Zaehnsdorf with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, marbled endpapers gilt topstain, with 39 engraved plates by Phiz, frontispiece portrait of Dickens. First issueContinue reading "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby."

McCrary, Tex and Jinx Falkenberg. [William Safire]

New York Close-Up.

New York : New York Herald Tribune, 1949-1951.

Bound collection of New York Close Up columns, from the library of American Journalist William Safire. Folio, original boards with gilt titles to the spine and front panel. From the library of American journalist William Safire with his bookplate to the pastedown. William Safire was an important American author, columnist, journalist, and presidential speechwriter. HeContinue reading "New York Close-Up."

Du Maurier, Daphne

The Scapegoat.

London : Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1957.

First edition of du Maurier’s classic work, adapted into the 1959 film of the same name starring Sir Alec Guinness. Octavo, bound in full morocco to mimic a gentleman’s coat with five buttons. In near fine condition.

Trollope, Frances

The Barnabys in America; or, Adventures of the Widow Wedded.

London : Henry Colburn, Publisher, 1843.

First edition of the third installment in Frances Trollope’s greatest work, The Widow Barnaby Trilogy. Octavo, three volumes bound in three quarter morocco over marbled boards, tissue-guarded frontispieces and 6 plates by John Leech. In very good condition. Bookplates and blindstamps of Bowdoin College.

Perez, Antoni

Institutiones Imperiales Erotematibus Distinctae.

Amstelodami [Amsterdam] : Danielem Elzevirium, 1669.

Scarce 17th century printing of Perez’s early legal treatise. 12mo, bound in full contemporary vellum, engraved pictorial title page. In near fine condition.

Dickens, Charles

Master Humphrey’s Clock.

London : Chapman and Hall, 1840-1841.

First edition of this collection of short stories. Large octavo, 3 volumes bound in three quarter morocco over marbled boards by Sangorski and Sutcliffe with gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, tissue-guarded engraved frontispiece to each volume, illustratedContinue reading "Master Humphrey’s Clock."

Kipling, Rudyard

Kim.

London : Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1901.

First English edition of what many consider Kipling’s masterpiece. Octavo, original cloth. Illustrated with photographs of clay reliefs by John Lockwood Kipling including tissue-guarded frontispiece, two pages of advertisements at rear. In near fine condition. An exceptional example.

Greeley, Horace

The American Conflict: A History of the Great Rebellion in the United States of America.

Hartford : O.D. Case & Company, 1865.

First edition of this classic work. Octavo, 2 volumes, bound in three quarters calf, gilt titles to the spine, illustrated. In near fine condition. Uncommon in this condition.

Moliere. [Poquelin, Jean-Baptiste]

The Dramatic Works of Moliere.

Edinburgh : William Paterson, 1875-1876.

Finely bound example of Henri Van Laun’s important translation of Moliere’s complete dramatic works. Quarto, 6 volumes, bound in full straight-grain royal blue morocco, gilt titles and elaborate gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, triple gilt ruling and miniature fleuron cornerpeices to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-insContinue reading "The Dramatic Works of Moliere."

Tocqueville, Alexis Charles Henri Clérel. Translated by Henry Reeve

Democracy in America.

London : Saunders and Otley, 1835.

First edition in English of Tocqueville’s magnum opus. Octavo, 2 volumes, bound in three quarters period calf over marbled boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled, half-titles, folding engraved map. I very good condition. An attractive contemporary binding.

Yan, Liu (Liu Dezhi). [Ye Zipei]

Complete Map of the World with All Nations.

China : Wanguo Dadi Quantu, 1851 [Xianfeng period].

Exceptionally rare second edition of Ye Zipei’s complete map of the world, one of only two known copies produced by terrestrial globe expert Liu Yan. The terrestrial map is comprised of six accordion-style albums bound in handmade paper with white titular labels lettered in hand to each front panel. A woodblock print in red andContinue reading "Complete Map of the World with All Nations."

Trollope, Anthony

The Prime Minister.

London : Chapman and Hall, 1876.

First edition of this classic work, which examines one of the most enduring questions in government; whether a morally scrupulous gentleman can make an effective leader. Octavo, original cloth, four volumes. In near fine condition. An exceptional example, one of the nicest examples we have seen.

Gogol, Nikolai V

Dead Souls.

London : Vizetelly & Co., n.d..

Finely bound example of Gogol’s masterwork, “the first novel from which the world began to form its ideas of 19th-century Russia” (Hornstein, 139). Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments, raised bands, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt. In near fine condition.

Austro-Hungarian Nobility Patent

Vienna 1911.

Rare Austro-Hungarian Nobility Patent bestowing upon Brunn industrialist Adolf Noble von Kurschner and his descendants a Hungarian noble title. Folio, bound in full morocco with elaborate gilt metal onlays embellished with precious stones, inner dentelles, silk-watered endleaves, tasseled ribbon bound in. The patent is richly decorated with hand-painted illuminated borders, large hand-painted coat of arms.Continue reading "Austro-Hungarian Nobility Patent"

Victoria, Queen. Edited by Arthur Christopher and Viscount Esher

Letters of Queen Victoria: A Selection from her Majesty’s Correspondence Between the Years 1837 and 1861.

London : John Murray, 1907.

First edition set of this selection of the letters of Queen Victoria, written between 1837 and 1861. Octavo, bound in three quarter morocco by Henry Southeran and Co. with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, illustrated with tissue-guarded engravings including tissue-guarded frontispiecesContinue reading "Letters of Queen Victoria: A Selection from her Majesty’s Correspondence Between the Years 1837 and 1861."

Beveridge, Albert J

The Life of John Marshall.

Boston : Houghton Mifflin Company, 1916-1919.

First edition of Beveridge’s Pulitzer Prize-winning work. Octavo, four volumes bound in three quarter morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, illustrated, tissue-guarded frontispiece portrait of Marshall to each volume. In near fine condition. A sharp set.

Dickens, Charles

The Christmas Books: The Chimes; The Battle of Life; Cricket on the Hearth; The Haunted Man and The Ghost’s Bargain.

London : Chapman and Hall/Bradbury & Evans, 1845-1848.

First editions of the four final novellas in Charles Dickens’ Christmas Book series. Octavo, 4 volumes bound in three quarter morocco over marbled boards with elaborate gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt. The set is comprised of aContinue reading "The Christmas Books: The Chimes; The Battle of Life; Cricket on the Hearth; The Haunted Man and The Ghost’s Bargain."

Dickens, Charles

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby.

London : Chapman and Hall, 1839.

First edition in book form of one of Dickens’ most popular novels. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards, elaborate gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, with the steel-engraved frontispiece portrait of Dickens in the firstContinue reading "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby."