Fine Bindings and Sets

Confucius

The Morals of Confucius, A Chinese Philosopher.

London : T. Horne, 1706.

Rare second edition in English of The Morals of Confucius. Small octavo, bound in full contemporary sheep contemporary sheep. In very good condition, toning to the extremities.

Butler, Samuel

The Way of All Flesh.

London : A.C. Fifield, 1919.

Finely bound example of Butler’s semi-autobiographical Bildungsroman. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards by Sangorski and Sutcliffe with gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, red morocco spine label lettered in gilt, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. In very good condition.

Paine, Thomas

Dissertations on Government, the Affairs of the Bank, and Paper-Money.

Philadelphia : Printed by Charles Cist, 1786.

First edition of Paine’s defense of the Bank of North America. Small octavo, bound in three quarters leather over marbled boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine. Rare.

Hugo, Victor

The Novels of Victor Hugo.

Boston : Dana Estes, n.d.

The Illustrated Cabinet edition of the novels of Victor Hugo. Octavo, 12 volumes. Bound in three quarters navy blue morocco over blue cloth, elaborate gilt decorated spines with raised bands, marbled endpapers, top edges gilt, with illustrated plates, frontispieces. In near fine condition. An exceptional set.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Cambridge : Riverside Press, 1903.

Autograph Centenary edition with a double sided manuscript in Emerson’s hand bound into volume one. Octavo, 12 volumes, bound in three quarters contemporary morocco over cloth, elaborately gilt-decorated spines, raised bands, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. Numerous mounted photogravure illustrations. One of 600 copies. In near fine condition.

Dryden, John

Fables Ancient and Modern; Translated into Verse, From Homer, Ovid, Boccace, & Chaucer: With Original Poems.

London : Jacob Tonson, 1700.

First edition of this collection of fables with nearly 12,000 verses translated or paraphrased from various including Homer, Chaucer and Ovid. Quarto, bound in contemporary calf Cambridge binding, tooled and lettered in gilt on spine, raised bands. In very good condition.

Moliere, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin

Oeuvres Completes de Moliere.

Paris : Imprimerie Nationale, 1878.

Finely bound set of Moliere. Quarto, 5 volumes, bound in full red morocco, illustrated with plates, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, all edges gilt, original wrappers bound in, inner dentelles, marbled endpapers. Edited by Adolphe Regnier. With the slipcovers in marbled paper. In near fine condition. An exceptional example.

Missale Romanum, ex Decreto Sacrosancti Concilii Tridentini Restitutum S.PIIV. Pontificis Maximi Jussu Editum: Clementis VII. Et Urbani PP. VII.

Augsburg : Philippi Jacobi Veith, 1739.

Rare 18th century printing of the Roman Missal. Folio, bound in full contemporary black morocco with gilt tooling to the spine in seven compartments within raised gilt bands, elaborate triple gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, brass edges and engraved clasps, gauffered edges, marbled pastedowns and green, blue, and purple silk ribbons laidContinue reading "Missale Romanum, ex Decreto Sacrosancti Concilii Tridentini Restitutum S.PIIV. Pontificis Maximi Jussu Editum: Clementis VII. Et Urbani PP. VII."

Stanley, Henry M

In Darkest Africa or, The Quest, Rescue, and Retreat of Emin, Governor of Equatoria.

New York : Charles Scribner's Sons, 1890.

First edition of Stanley’s classic work. Octavo, 2 volumes, bound in the original publishers three quarters morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles to the spine, marbled edges and endpapers. Two steel-engraved portrait frontispieces, three folding maps, with numerous illustrations. In near fine condition.  

Eliot, George

The Works of George Eliot [Including Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Romola, Middlemarch, and Daniel Deronda].

Boston : Houghton Mifflin Company, 1908.

Large paper edition of the works of George Eliot, with an autographed signed letter tipped in. Octavo, 25 volumes, bound in full morocco with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, elaborate tooling to the front and rear panels, raised gilt bands, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, elaborately illustrated withContinue reading "The Works of George Eliot [Including Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Romola, Middlemarch, and Daniel Deronda]."

Fielding, Henry

Amelia.

New York : White and Stokes, 1882.

Finely bound example of Fielding’s fourth and final novel. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, top edge gilt, others uncut, marlbed endpapers. In near fine condition.

Kneeland, Samuel

The Wonders of the Yosemite Valley, and of California.

Boston : Alexander Moore, 1871.

First edition of Kneeland’s historic guide to Yosemite; “one of the better early guide books to the Yosemite Valley” (Cowan, 333). Quarto, bound in full dark blue morocco with gilt titles and ruling to the spine, illustrated with 10 tissue-guarded mounted albumen photographs by John P. Soule. In near fine condition.

Barton, Lucy

Historic Costume for the Stage.

London : Adam and Charles Black, 1957.

First edition of Barton’s best-known work. Quarto, bound in full morocco by Asprey with gilt titles and raised gilt bands to the spine, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. Illustrated with 76 pages of drawings by David Sarvis including tissue-guarded frontispiece in color. In fine condition.Continue reading "Historic Costume for the Stage."

Dickens, Charles

A Curious Dance Round a Curious Tree.

London : St. Lukes Hospital, 1860.

First edition, first issue of Charles Dickens’ article on Saint Luke’s Hospital “for the gratuitous treatment of the insane poor.” Octavo, loosely bound in wrappers. In near fine condition. Housed in a custom full morocco and chemise pull-off box. Rare.

Machiavelli, Niccolo. Illustrated by Claude Durrens

La Mandragore: Comedie en Cinq Actes de Machiavel Gentilhomme Florentin. (The Mandrake).

: Soixante-Dix_Sept Bibliophiles, .

Soixante-Dix-Sept signed limited edition of Machiavelli’s classic comedy, The Mandrake. Folio, loose leaves as issued, illustrated with 12 original lithographs by Claude Durrens, additional suite of lithographs in rear. One of only 77 copies signed by the artist on the colophon. In very good condition. housed in the original one quarter morocco and chemise slipContinue reading "La Mandragore: Comedie en Cinq Actes de Machiavel Gentilhomme Florentin. (The Mandrake)."

France, Anatole. Translated by Robert B. Douglas. Illustrated by Frank C. Pape

Thais.

New York : John Lane, 1926.

First Frank C. Pape illustrated edition of Anatole France’s novel based on the life of Saint Thais of Egypt. 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, illustrated with engravings and decorations by Frank C. Cape. InContinue reading "Thais."

Laski, Harold Joseph

The Political Works of Harold Joseph Laski.

London, New York, New Haven : GeorAllen & Unwin Ltd.; Harper & Brothers; Yale University Press, 1919-1941.

Finely bound collection of the political works of English political theorist and economist Harold Laski. Octavos, 22 volumes, uniformly bound by Bayntun Riviere Bindery in three quarters morocco with gilt titles and raised bands to the spine, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. Titles include Laski’s well-known An Introduction to Politics, The State in Theory and Practice, The American Democracy,Continue reading "The Political Works of Harold Joseph Laski."

Hallam, Henry

View of The State of Europe During the Middle Ages.

London : John Murray, 1880.

Finely bound volume of Hallam’s history of the United States. Bound in three quarters morocco with gilt tooling to the spine and red morocco spine label lettered in gilt in five compartments within raised bands, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled, gilt emblem to the front panel. From the library of I.H. Echalaz with a periodContinue reading "View of The State of Europe During the Middle Ages."

Chaucer, Geoffrey

Poetical Works of Geoffrey Chaucer.

London : George Bell and Sons, 1878.

Finely bound set of Chaucer’s poetical works. Small octavos, four volumes bound in three quarters morocco by Bayntun Bindery with gilt tooling to the spine and red morocco spine labels lettered in gilt in six compartments within raised bands, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, tissue guarded frontispiece portrait of Chaucer to volume one. In nearContinue reading "Poetical Works of Geoffrey Chaucer."

Alhazen (Hasan Ibn al-Haytham)

Opticae Thesaurus Alhazeni Arabis. [Alhazen’s Book of Optics].

Basel : Eusebius Episcopius, 1572.

First edition of Alhazen’s fundamental work on optics and vision, which influenced Galileo and Kepler and paved the way for the modern science of physical optics. Folio, bound in full contemporary Basel vellum with central arabesques blind-stamped to the front and rear panels, titles stamped in black and five raised bands to the spine, woodcutContinue reading "Opticae Thesaurus Alhazeni Arabis. [Alhazen’s Book of Optics]."

Conrad, Joseph

The Works of Joseph Conrad: Signed Limited Edition [Including Almayer’s Folly; An Outcast of the Islands; The Nigger of the Narcissus; Heart of Darkness; Lord Jim; Nostromo; The Secret Agent; Under Western Eyes].

London : William Heinemann, 1921-1927.

Signed limited edition of the complete works of Joseph Conrad, signed by Joseph Conrad on the limitation-page of Volume I. Octavo, 20 volumes, finely bound in three quarters morocco, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised bands, marbled endpapers, top edges gilt. One of 780 copies signed by Conrad. In near fine condition. AContinue reading "The Works of Joseph Conrad: Signed Limited Edition [Including Almayer’s Folly; An Outcast of the Islands; The Nigger of the Narcissus; Heart of Darkness; Lord Jim; Nostromo; The Secret Agent; Under Western Eyes]."

Aquinas, Thomas

Summa Theologica Sancti Thomae Aquinatis, Divinae Voluntatis Interpretis: Sacri Ordinis Praedicatorum.

Parisiis : Sumptibus Maturini Henault, 1638.

Early printing of Aquinas’ seminal work. Folio, bound in full leather with a red morocco spine label lettered in gilt, woodcut engraving of Aquinas in prayer to the title page. In very good condition with tape repairs to the title page.

Dickens, Charles

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club.

London : Chapman and Hall, 1837.

First edition in book form of Dickens’ first novel and one of his greatest works. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, marbled endpapers, with the first state Veller title page, with 43 engraved plates by Seymour andContinue reading "The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club."

Dickens, Charles

The Personal History of David Copperfield.

London : Bradbury and Evans, May 1849-November 1850.

First edition in parts of “the most perfect of all the Dickens novels” (Virginia Woolf). Octavo, original blue-green illustrated serial issue wrappers being twenty parts in nineteen with the majority of  preliminary advertisements present, frontispiece, vignette title-page and forty engraved plates. In excellent condition, an unrestored example of Dickens’ classic work, with some of theContinue reading "The Personal History of David Copperfield."