Fine Bindings and Sets

Lord Byron. Drawings by Chalon, Leslie, Harding, Herbert, Meadows, Stephanoff, E. Corbould, Fanny Corbaux, Jenkins & Westall. Engraved under the Superintendence of Mr. Charles Heath

Heath’s Illustrations to the Works of Lord Byron, From Drawings by The First Artists.

London : A. Fullarton, And Co, c.1830.

Finely bound example of the poems of Lord Byron, each accompanied by a period engraving. Quarto, bound in three quarters morocco over decorative boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised gilt bands, inner dentelles, all edges gilt, frontispiece engraved portrait of Lord Byron. Illustrated with 36 full page engraved plates. In very goodContinue reading "Heath’s Illustrations to the Works of Lord Byron, From Drawings by The First Artists."

Bysshe Shelley, Percy

The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. Revised by William Michael Rossetti.

London : E. Moxon, Son, & Co, 1870.

Finely bound example of the Poetical Works of Shelley. Octavo, 2 volumes. Bound in full contemporary calf by Zaehnsdorf, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, morocco spine labels, gilt ruled, raised bands, inner dentelles, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. Frontispiece of Shelley to volume one. Folding facsimile manuscript of Shelley’s writing to volume two. CarefullyContinue reading "The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. Revised by William Michael Rossetti."

Moliere, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin

Les Oeuvres De Monsieur De Moliere, Reveues, Corrigees & Augmentees (Tartuffe).

Paris : Chez Denys Thierry, 1682.

First complete and first illustrated collected edition, including 6 previously unpublished plays of the works of Moliere. Small octavo, 8 volumes. Finely bound in full crushed red morocco by Pouillet, gilt titles to the spine, raised bands, inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, illustrated with engravings throughout. In near fine condition. An exceptional example.

Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de

Vida Y Hechos Del Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote De La Mancha: Con Muy Bellas Estampas Gravadas Sobre Los Dibujos de Coypel, Primer Pinto de el Rey de Francia.

En Haia [The Hague] : Por P. Gosse y A. Moetjens, 1744.

Rare early printing and one of the most highly coveted editions of Cervantes’ masterpiece. Octavo, 4 volumes, bound in full calf, gilt titles and elaborate gilt tooling to the spine, burgundy spine labels, triple gilt ruled, marbled endpapers, all edges red, ribbons bound in, with numerous engravings after the drawings of Antoine Coypel, renowned forContinue reading "Vida Y Hechos Del Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quixote De La Mancha: Con Muy Bellas Estampas Gravadas Sobre Los Dibujos de Coypel, Primer Pinto de el Rey de Francia."

Holinshed, Raphael

The First and Second Volumes of Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland With: The Third volume of Chronicles, beginning at Duke William the Norman [Holinshed Chronicles].

London : John Harrison, George Bishop, Rafe Newberie, Henrie Denham, and Thomas Woodcocke, 1587.

Preferred second edition of the greatest Elizabethan repository of English history which served as an important source for Shakespeare’s plays. Folios, 3 volumes bound into 2, bound in full calf, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised bands, red morocco spine labels, gilt ruled, woodcut initials and title pages. Separate title pages and pagination forContinue reading "The First and Second Volumes of Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland With: The Third volume of Chronicles, beginning at Duke William the Norman [Holinshed Chronicles]."

Cooley, Arnold J

A Dictionary of the English Language Exhibiting the Orthography, Pronunciation, and Definition of Words According to the Prevailing Usage of Correct Writers and Speakers.

London and Edinburgh : W. and R. Chambers, 1861.

First edition of Cooley’s Dictionary of the English language. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, black spine label, raised gilt bands, marbled endpapers. Author’s preface. In very good condition.

Nadaud, Gustave

Chansons De Salon Populaires et Legeres Operettes.

Paris : Henri Plon, 1867.

Finely bound example of the popular songs and operettas of French chansonnier Gustave Nadaud. Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised bands, marbled endpapers. In very good condition with light rubbing to the extremities.

Thackeray, William

The Virginians.

London : Bradbury and Evans, 1858-59.

First edition of Thackeray’s memorable historical novel. Octavos, 2 volumes, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards,  raised bands, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled, illustrated. In near fine condition with light rubbing to the extremities.

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). Original serial issue. Twenty parts in nineteen, octavo four to thirty-two pages of preliminary advertisements; text continuously paginated 1-624; eight leaves of preliminaries follow text in final part. Frontispiece, vignette title-page and thirty-eight additional inserted plates, the majority with tissueContinue reading "The Personal History of David Copperfield."

Schola Italica Artis Pictoriae sive Tabulae insigniores in Romanis Pinacothecis Adservatae.

Rome : Petri Pauli Montagnani-Mirabili, 1806.

Rare first edition of Schola Italica Artis Pictoriae sive Tabulae insigniores in Romanis Pinacothecis Adservatae. Folio, bound in three quarters morocco, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised bands, fine engraved pictorial title and 39 plates. In very good condition. Rare.

Nobbes, Robert

The Compleat Troller, or, The Art of Trolling.

London : Printed for T. James for Tho. Helder, 1682.

Rare first edition of Nobbes’ authoritative work on the history and methods of trolling. First issue with the engraved hook on page 37 pointing to the right and two woodcut illustrations in the text. Small octavo, bound in three quarters morocco over marbled boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised bands, marbled endpapers.Continue reading "The Compleat Troller, or, The Art of Trolling."

Doughty, James and Thomas

The Cabinet of Natural History and American Rural Sports.

Philadelphia : J. and T. Doughty, 1830-33.

First edition of “The first color-plate sporting book printed in America”(Grolier/Henderson). Quarto, 3 volumes. bound in contemporary half morocco over marbled boards, top edge gilt. Three engraved titles, 2 engraved portraits, and 57 lithographic plates after Thomas Doughty and others (comprising 53 hand-colored lithographs, one colored etching, two uncolored engravings and one uncolored wood-engraving), 17Continue reading "The Cabinet of Natural History and American Rural Sports."

Homer. Translated by Raphaello Maffei

Odissea Per Raphaelem Volaterranum in Latinum Conversa (The Odyssey of Homer translated by Raphael of Volterra in Latin).

Rome : Per Lacoubum Mazochium, 1510.

One of the earliest Latin translations of Homer’s epic poem, translated from the Greek by Roman Hellenic scholar Raphaello Maffei (Raphael of Volterra). Quarto, bound in contemporary vellum, rebacked, woodcut titles and printer’s device to the title page and at end of text. From the library of Robert R. Dearden, Jr. of Philadelphia with hisContinue reading "Odissea Per Raphaelem Volaterranum in Latinum Conversa (The Odyssey of Homer translated by Raphael of Volterra in Latin)."

Halford, Frederic M

Making a Fishery.

London : Horace Cox, 1895.

Signed limited first edition of Frederick Halford’s extensive guide on the creation of river and stream fisheries for sport. One of 150 numbered copies signed by Halford, this is number 35. Large octavo, original publisher’s full green morocco, gilt titles to the spine, gilt ruled, inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, frontispiece portrait of Halford with tissueContinue reading "Making a Fishery."

Leeser, Isaac

The Law of God.

Philadelphia : C. Sherman, 5605, 1845-46.

First edition of the “first English translation of the Pentateuch in America,” the 1845 Hebrew-English Bible by one of the most prominent and influential figures in American Jewish history. Octavo, 5 volumes. Translated by Isaac Leeser. Bound in full contemporary calf, gilt titles and tooling to the spine. In near fine condition. A nice example,Continue reading "The Law of God."

Boynton, Henry Walcott

Two Editions of the Golfer’s Rubaiyat.

Chicago/ New York : Herbert S. Stone/ Duffield, 1901, 1907.

Both the first and second editions of the Golfer’s Rubaiyat. Octavo, original cloth, two volumes, illustrated throughout. In near fine condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box.

Irving, Washington

The Works of Washington Irving: The Autograph Edition [The Legend of Sleepy Hollow; Rip Van Winkle].

New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1895–97.

The Works of Washington Irving: The Author’s Autograph edition. Octavo, 40 volumes, uniformly bound in full morocco by the Knickerbocker Press, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, with suede doublures and endleaves. One of 500 sets, this set contains a page of original manuscript by Irving tipped in toContinue reading "The Works of Washington Irving: The Autograph Edition [The Legend of Sleepy Hollow; Rip Van Winkle]."

Horace

Quintus Horatius Flaccus.

London : Gulielmus Pickering, 1824.

Rare second Pickering Diamond edition, large paper issue, with an additional engraved title page. 12 mo, bound in full morocco, gilt titles to the front panel, raised bands, marbled endpapers. In very good condition. Housed in a custom chemise and half morocco slipcase.

France, Anatole

Le Puits de Sainte Claire.

Paris : Calmann Levy, 1895.

First edition of this novel by the Nobel Prize-winning French writer regarding tales based on Italian historical characters and events. Octavo, original printed wrappers and glassine wrapper, Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “Fernand Calmettes son vieil ami Anatole France.” The recipient, Fernand Calmettes was a writer and editor and contemporaryContinue reading "Le Puits de Sainte Claire."

Disraeli, Benjamin

Vivian Grey.

London : Henry Colburn, 1826-27.

First edition of Disraeli’s first novel. Octavo, original gray boards with printed spine labels, 5 volumes, half-titles present in Volumes 2 and 5, as issued; terminal ads in Volumes 1-4. Bookplates to each volume, in very good condition. Housed in a brown cloth clamshell box. Complete first editions are uncommon, especially in the original boards.

Horatius Flaccus, Quintus (Alexis de Tocqueville)

Horatii Opera (The Complete Works of Horace).

John Pine : London, 1733-37.

First Pine edition of the collected works of ancient Roman poet and political figure Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace), “the most elegant of English eighteenth-century books in which text and illustrations alike are entirely engraved” (Ray). French statesman Alexis de Tocqueville’s copy, inscribed to him by his father in Volume I, “Donné à mon fils AlexisContinue reading "Horatii Opera (The Complete Works of Horace)."

Campbell, John

A Political Survey of Britain: Being a Series of Reflections on the Situation, Lands, Inhabitants, Revenues, Colonies, and Commerce of This Island.

Dublin : T. Ewing and C. Jenkin, 1775.

Rare second edition of John Campbell’s classic survey of late sixteenth century Britain. Octavo, four volumes, bound in full contemporary calf, raised bands, red and green morocco spine labels, gilt titles. In good condition.    

Boswell, James

The Life of Johnson.

London : Printed by Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, in The Poultry, 1791.

First edition, first issue of both volumes of the most celebrated biography in the English language, which was published on May 16, 1791 in a print run of only 1,750 copies. Quarto, bound in contemporary half calf over marbled boards. Frontispiece portrait of Samuel Johnson, engraved by J. Heath after the Sir Joshua Reynolds (1756) painting. Volume one isContinue reading "The Life of Johnson."

Voltaire (Arouet, François-Marie)

Vie de Moliere.

Lausanne : Chez Francois Grasset & Comp, 1772.

Early edition of Voltaire’s biography of one of the most influential and widely translated writers of all time. Octavo, bound in full sprinkled sheepskin. Gilt titles and tooling to the spine, pictorial endpapers, all edges red, ribbon bound in. In very good condition with some rubbing to the extremities. Tasteful period bookplate.