Fine Bindings and Sets

Halley, Edmond

Astronomical Tables with Precepts both in English and Latin for Computing the Places of the Sun, Moon, Planets, and Comets.

London : Printed for William Innys, 1752.

First edition in English of Halley’s classic work. Quarto, bound in contemporary full calf, gilt titles to the spine, gilt embossed stamp of The Society of Writers to the Signet on the front and rear panel, copper-engraved frontispiece portrait. Edited by John Bevis. In very good condition with light rubbing and wear.

Muir, John

The Writings of John Muir: The Manuscript Edition.

Boston : Houghton Mifflin Company, 1916-24.

The Manuscript edition of The Writings of John Muir. Octavo, 10 volumes, bound in original special deluxe three quarters morocco over marbled boards, leather edges ruled in gilt, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised bands, matching endpapers, top edges gilt. With volumes 1 through 8 of this set each containing an original gelatinContinue reading "The Writings of John Muir: The Manuscript Edition."

Dodge, Mary Mapes

Hans Brinker Or, The Silver Skates. A Story of Life in Holland.

New York : James O'Kane, 1866.

First edition of the author’s second and best known work. Octavo, original green cloth, gilt titles to the spine. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “Presented to Robert Dale Owen by the author January, 1866.” The recipient Robert Dale Owen was responsible for introducing the legislation to establish the Smithsonian. HeContinue reading "Hans Brinker Or, The Silver Skates. A Story of Life in Holland."

Sterne, Laurence

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy.

London : T. Becket, 1777.

Finely bound set of Sterne’s Tristram Shandy. Octavo, 6 volumes, bound in contemporary full polished brown calf, black morocco spine labels, smooth spines with gilt rules and decorations, marbled endpapers. Frontispiece in volume one after Hogarth. In near fine condition.

Twain, Mark [Samuel L. Clemens]

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn [Tom Sawyer’s Comrade].

New York : Charles L. Webster and Company, 1885.

First edition, first issue of Twain’s masterpiece, one of approximately 500 copies bound in publisher’s three-quarters morocco binding. Octavo, original three-quarters brown morocco and marbled boards, gilt-decorated spine, marbled endpapers. Lithographic frontispiece and with 174 illustrations by E.W. Kemble, photographic portrait frontispiece of the bust of Mark Twain by Karl Gerhardt. Copies of Huckleberry FinnContinue reading "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn [Tom Sawyer’s Comrade]."

Photographic View Book of China, Manchuria, and Korea.

Japan c. 1930.

First edition, oblong quarto, original boards. Gilt-lettered cloth, string-bound. Text in Japanese with captions in both Chinese and English. Illustrated with  photographs throughout, large folding panorama of the Great Wall of China; folding map of Korea, Manchuria and portions of northeastern China. A unique record of history.

Thackeray, William Makepeace [Cosway]

Vanity Fair: A Novel Without a Hero. [Cosway].

London : Bradbury and Evans, 1848.

First edition, first issue of Thackeray’s masterpiece. Octavo, bound in full red morocco by Bayntun Riviere in Cosway-style binding with a miniature portrait of Thackeray inset into the front panel, engraved frontispiece, engraved additional title, and 38 engraved plates, spine in gilt compartments, gilt inner dentelles, all edges gilt, ivory silk doublures. The first issue,Continue reading "Vanity Fair: A Novel Without a Hero. [Cosway]."

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 contemporary polished calf, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, rebacked. Lightly rubbed, moderate wear. A veryContinue reading "The Law of God."

Sheridan, Richard Brinsley; Illustrated by Hugh Thomson

The School For Scandal.

London : Hodder & Stoughton, c. 1911.

Finely bound by Asprey. Quarto, bound in full morocco, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised bands, gilt ruled to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins, all edges gilt. Illustrated with 25 tipped in color plates by Hugh Thompson. In near fine condition.

Foxe, John. [Wright, Paul]

The New and Complete Book of Martyrs, or, An Universal History of Martyrdom: Being Fox’s Book of Martyrs.

London : Printed for Alex Hogg, 1784.

Folio, bound in full brown calf, gilt title and tooling to the spine, front and rear panel, raised bands. Engraved frontispiece, copiously illustrated with engravings throughout. In very good condition with some spotting.

Falconer, William

The Poetical Works: With a Fore-Edge Painting of a British Flagged Frigate. [Fore-Edge Painting].

London : William Pickering, 1836.

Octavo, bound in straight-grain full green morocco, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, all edges gilt. With a fore-edge painting of a British-flagged three-masted frigate, sails full, with land on the horizon.

Bacon, Francis

The Works of Francis Bacon, Baron of Verulam, Viscount St. Albans, and Lord High Chancellor of England.

London : J. Johnson, 1803.

Large octavo, 10 volumes. Bound in full contemporary calf. Gilt titles and tooling to the spine, edges speckled. Frontispiece of Francis Bacon in volume one. With the early armorial bookplate of J. Lawson Whalley and the modern bookplate of Elmer Holmes Bopst, namesake of New York University’s Bopst Library. In very good condition.

Brunt, Samuel

A Voyage to Cacklogallinia: with a Description of the Religion, Policy, Customs and Manners of that Country.

London : J. Watson, 1727.

First edition of this early 18th century satire published in imitation of Jonathan Swift’s masterpiece Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, or, Gulliver’s Travels. Octavo, bound in full brown morocco by Charles Thurman, Binder. Raised bands, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, embossed front and rear panels, engraved frontispiece. From the libraryContinue reading "A Voyage to Cacklogallinia: with a Description of the Religion, Policy, Customs and Manners of that Country."

Power, Sir D'Arcy and H.J. Waring [King Edward VIII]

A Short History of St Bartholomew’s Hospital 1123-1923, Specially Bound on the Occasion of the 800th Anniversary of Its Foundation.

London : Charles Whittingham and Griggs, Ltd, 1923.

Elaborately bound presentation copy, belonging to King Edward VIII. Octavo, full tan morocco, elaborately gilt tooling to the spine, front and rear panels with black morocco inlays, cornerpieces of thistles and flowers, front panel with central crown and gilt medallion portraits of Rahere and Harvey, silk endpapers. Full-color frontispiece illustration of The Tomb of Rahere in theContinue reading "A Short History of St Bartholomew’s Hospital 1123-1923, Specially Bound on the Occasion of the 800th Anniversary of Its Foundation."

Williams, John H. (Editor)

The Canoe and the Saddle or Klalan and Klickatat to Which Are Now First Added His Western Letters And Journals.

Tacoma : John H. Williams, 1913.

Octavo, bound in three quarters morocco over cloth, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, gilt topstain, marbled endpapers, frontispiece. With sixteen color plates and more than one hundred other illustrations. Signed by John H. Williams on the title page. Edited, with an Introduction and Notes by John H. Williams. In near fine condition.

Fyvie, John [Cosway]

Comedy Queens of the Georgian Era. [Cosway].

London : Archibald Constable, 1916.

Octavo, bound in full dark blue morocco Cosway-style binding by Bayntun. Both the front and rear panels with a double gilt fillet border around an inner border incorporating ornamental cornerpieces, upper cover set with an oval portrait miniature of an actress under glass, within an ornamental gilt border, lower cover with panel border; raised bands,Continue reading "Comedy Queens of the Georgian Era. [Cosway]."

Bugatti

Bugantics: Bugatti Owner’s Club.

London : Bugatti Owner's Club, 1931-1955.

One Hundred Issues of Bugantics. Octavo, 9 Volumes, bound in the original publisher’s cloth, gilt titles and decorated tooling. Profusely illustrated with photographs, tables, brilliant period advertising and drawings. These bound volumes, prepared by the Bugatti Owner’s Club by special subscription, were compiled without covers, the design of which has remained the same since itsContinue reading "Bugantics: Bugatti Owner’s Club."

Thackeray, William

The Works of William Thackeray.

London : Various Publishers, 1840-1867.

First edition of the works of William Thackeray. Octavo, 34 volumes, uniformly bound in three-quarters morocco. From the library of Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, with his bookplate to each volume. Harmswoth was a British newspaper and publishing magnate who exercised vast influence over British popular opinion. Gilt titles and tooling to the spine, allContinue reading "The Works of William Thackeray."

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth

The Writings of Longfellow.

Cambridge : Riverside Press, 1886.

Octavo, three-quarters leather, 14 volumes. Top edge gilt, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, gilt ruled to the front and rear panel, marbled endpapers. One of 500 numbered copies. This is set number 144. It also includes the three volume Final Memorials of Longfellow by Ticknor and Company published in 1887. All volumes areContinue reading "The Writings of Longfellow."

Cooper, James Fenimore

The Writings of James Fenimore Cooper.

New York : Stringer and Townsend, 1856.

Octavo, 17 volumes. Bound in full tan leather, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, tooling to board edges. Raised bands, marbled endpapers, marbled edges. In near fine condition.

Surtees, Robert Smith; Illustrations by John Leech & H.K. Browne

The Works of Surtees. . . : Ask Mamma; Handley Cross; Mr. Sponge’s Sporting Tour; Plain or Ringlets; Hawbuck Grange; Mr. Romford’s Hounds.

London : Bradbury Agnew & Company, .

Octavo, 6 volumes. Three quarters red leather over marbled boards, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, top edge gilt, gilt lined, marbled endpapers, colored frontispiece to each volume, as well as the title page. Illustrations by John Leech and H.K. Browne. In near fine condition.

Detaille, Eduoard; Text by Jules Richard

L’Armee Francaise. Types et Uniformes.

Paris : Boussod et Valadon, 1885-89.

First edition of this wonderfully illustrated work. Large folios, 3 volumes. Elegantly bound in full red morocco, gilt titles to the spine, raised bands, top edge gilt. Limited to 100 sets with the 2 volumes suite of 150 plates on Japanese paper.

Fourcroy, Antoine-Francois De

Systeme des Connaissances Chimiques, et de leurs applications aux phénomènes de la nature et de l’art..

: Paris, An IX-X, 1800-01..

First Octavo edition, published simultaneously with an edition in quarto format. Contemporary vellum, gilt lettered spine-labels, 10 volumes in 5. With the stamped signatures of Fourcroy and the publisher on verso of titles for authentication purposes, and the publisher’s voucher for the separately published index tipped in Volume I. Institutional stamps on titles, generally veryContinue reading "Systeme des Connaissances Chimiques, et de leurs applications aux phénomènes de la nature et de l’art.."

O'Hara, John

The Works of John O’Hara.

New York: : Random House, .

First editions. Octavo, 16 volumes. Elegantly bound in three quarter red morocco. Gilt titles and tooling to the spine, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt topstain, marbled endpapers. An attractive group.