2-101. Lewesdon Hill, with other poems. A corrected and much enlarged edition, with notes. London: John Murry, Albemarle-Street, 1827.
$200
12mo, pp. xii, 240; original drab paper-covered boards, printed paper label on spine; small chip at the corner of the label, else near fine, largely unopened. Bookplate of John Sparrow.
This copy inscribed "From the author" on the half title. Also with the word "Dup." in ink at the top of the front board
2-102. Scotish poems of the sixteenth century. Edinburgh: printed [by D. Willison] for Archibald Constable, Edinburgh, and Messrs Vernor & Hood, London, 1801.
$250
First edition, 2 volumes, 8vo, pp. [2], xiv, [3],6-152, 106; [5], 108-380, [1] errata, [3] Constable ads; partially unopened; original marbled boards, yellow paper shelfback, printed green labels and stamped volume designation numbers on spines; spines darkened, labels rubbed with minor loss, small holes (paper defect?) in b6 and d1 of volume I; generally good and sound.
2-103. Miscellaneous poems. London: published by Effingham Wilson, 88, Cornhill, and sold by Messrs. Sharpe and Hailes, Piccadilly. [Printed by G. Hazard, Beech-Street, London], 1812.
$200
First edition, 12mo, pp. [12], 130; engraved frontispiece by Samuel Lacey after Henry Corbould; original drab paper-covered boards, marbled paper shelfback, printed paper label on spine; frontispiece spotted, label soiled, spine worn with cracks an small pieces lost; a good, sound copy, unrestored. Bookplate of Anne and F. G. Renier.
An early work of verse by Daniels (1789-1864), who perhaps now is best known for his library, sold after his death by Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge. The 2278 lots realized almost 16,000 pounds. "His Elizabethan and Shakespearean library was one of the choicest in private hands..." (De Ricci, pp. 148-9).
2-104. The vision; or hell, purgatory, and paradise, of Dante Alighieri. Translated by the Rev. Henry Francis Cary, A.M. In three volumes. The second edition corrected. With the life of Dante, additional notes, and an index. London: printed for Taylor and Hessey, Fleet Street, 1819.
$2,000
3 volumes, 8vo, pp. [12], lii, [2], 303, [1]; xi, [1], 309, [1]; [4], 297, [1], [28] index, [6] Taylor and Hessey ads; original drab paper-covered boards, printed paper labels on spines; joints and labels rubbed, the occasional stain and a small tear in the gutter of the front flyleaf of volume I, all else very good and sound. With the early ownership signature in each volume of Harriet Waddilove August 20th [18]23."
Watermarks on the flyleaves (1822) plus the owner’s signature suggest the volumes were bound ca. 1822-23.
Second and best edition of Cary's famous translation. "In January 1797 Cary began his translation of Dante's Divina Commedia into blank verse. He started with the Purgatorio in 1797-8, but in 1800 he turned his attention to the Inferno, and it was this part which was published first, in 1805-6, accompanied by the Italian text. Sales were small, but Cary continued, and his translation [of the complete Divine Comedy] was completed in 1812. Cary was not adept at self-promotion, and his translation initially attracted little attention Then in October 1817 he made the acquaintance by chance of Coleridge at Littlehampton, and the praise which Coleridge gave to Cary's Dante in a lecture early in 1818 (reinforced by a favourable article by Ugo Foscolo in the Edinburgh Review) led to the sale of 1,000 copies [of the collected edition] in less than three months, and the publication of a second edition in 1819.
"This work is his chief claim to fame, and it remained a standard text well into the twentieth century, despite the fact that the number of translators of the work between 1782 and 1966 amounted to eighty-four. Cary's version was admired by Wordsworth, Keats, Lamb, Coleridge, Macaulay, and Ruskin, and in 1966 the author of a work on translations of the Divina Commedia wrote 'Cary's version still holds its place as a minor classic, thanks to the fact that its author was a competent versifier with some poetic perception' [G. F. Cunningham, The 'Divine Comedy' in English: a critical bibliography, 2 vols. (1965-6)]" (ODNB)
2-105. An arrangement of English grammar; with critical remarks, and a collection of synonymes. Edinburgh: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, London; Macredie, Shelly, and Muckersy, 52, Prince’s Street, Edinburgh; Brash and Reid, Glasgow; J. Sinclair, and Preacher and Dunbar, Dumfries; A. M’Millan, Castledouglas; and T. M’Millan, Kirkcudbright., 1815.
$750
First edition, 12mo, viii, 303, [1]; original drab boards, printed paper label (somewhat toned) on spine; very good and sound. With an early owner's inscription on the front cover reading in faint ink: "James Maxwell Esq. / of Kirkconnell." And with the heraldic bookplate of Maxwell of Kirkonnell. Contained in a blue cloth clamshell box with black morocco label lettered in gilt, with the bookplate of Geoffrey Cains.
Only 5 copies located in OCLC: Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, University of St. Andrews, and only Wisconsin in the U.S. To which can be added the copy at the BL.
2-106. Celtic researches, on the origins, traditions & language of the anceint Britons; with some introductory sketches, on primitive society. London: printed for the Author, and Sold bt J. Booth, Duke-Street, Portland-Place, 1804.
$425
First edition, 8vo, pp. x, lxxiii, [1], 561, [1]; uncut, and a large copy (page height is 10 inches); 2 engraved plates of alphabets, original drab paper-covered boards, printed paper label on spine (rubbed and slightly chipped), some creasing to the last few leaves, otherwise, good and sound. Includes an impressive 47-page list of subscribers.
The printed price of 12s. on the spine label is adjusted by hand to read 12/6. A label on the lower margin of the front cover gives instructions for paying for a copy of the work.
Welsh antiquary and grammar school teacher, Davies "was never wanting in ingenuity, though the extent of his critical powers may be illustrated by his contentions that in the mystic Welsh bards he found certain terms evidently pertaining to the Hebrew language, and that the British mysteries commemorate the deluge and those characters which are connected with its history" (DNB). Celtic Researches is the best known and most important in Davies' canon.
2-107. An examination of the fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of Mr. Gibbon’s history of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. In which his view of the progress of the Christian religion is shown to be founded on the misrepresentation of the authors he cites: and numerous instances of his inaccuracy and plagiarism are produced. London: printed for J. Dodsley, in Pall-Mall, 1778.
$850
First edition, 8vo, pp. [8], iv, 284; original blue-gray paper-covered boards, cream paper shelfback, manuscript titling (faded) on spine; a very good copy. Bookplate of "Rev. J. Jenkins, / Kerry" on front pastedown.
The Rev. John Jenkins of Kerry (1770-1829) was a Welsh pastor and antiquary who graduated from Oxford in 1791. See his short but interesting entry in the Dictionary of Welsh Biography where we learn of his appointment to chaplain on two ships in the West Indies, and the building of a new parsonage at Kerry.
Davis was only 21 years old and an Oxford undergraduate when he wrote this book, and it was this work which prompted Gibbon, finally, to reply to the attacks on his History. Davis, however, did detect a number of genuine errors in the work, and Gibbon himself felt obliged to declare (not without a little irony), "I sincerely admire his patient industry, which I despair of being able to imitate; but if a future edition should ever be required, I could wish to obtain, on any reasonable terms, the services of so useful a corrector."
2-108. The stranger’s guide to Holkham, containing a description of the paintings, statues &c. of Holkham House, in the country of Norfolk; the magnificent seat and residence of T. W. Coke, Esq. M. P. Also a brief account of the park, gardens, &c. &c. with a short narrative of the sheep-shearing, annually held at Holkham. Embellished with a view of the south front. Burnham: printed, published and sold by J. Dawson, 1817.
$350
First edition, 8vo, pp. [6], v, 1-151; engraved frontispiece; original printed tan paper-covered boards; spine partially perished revealing sewing structure, label chipped and rubbed, boards a bit soiled, joints cracked, but the binding is sound and the textblock clean; good copy, or better.
Attributed in some records to John Dawson (1734-1820) a British mathematician and surgeon, but likely erroneously. The cover imprint continues: "Best edition 5s - Interleaved 7s - Com. edition 3s.6d. Neatly done up in extra boards."
2-109. Confessions of an English opium-eater ... Third edition. London: printed for Taylor and Hessey, Fleet Street, and 13, Waterloo Place., 1823.
$350
12mo, pp. iv, 206, [6] ads, original blue paper-covered boards, cream paper shelfback, boards soiled, overall wear; a good, sound, and clean copy. Early gift inscription on the front free endpaper: "H. Moore / from John Rashdall / Oct. 31st 1827."
John Rashdall (1809-1869) minister of Bedford Chapel, Exeter; afterwards vicar of Dawlish, was a life-long friend of Alfred Tennyson.
First published in 1821, De Quincy (1785-1859) garnered instant success and admiration for his autobiographical account of addiction. The work was very influential in both literary and medical circles, and remains a literary staple.
2-110. The life and adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, mariner. With an account of his travels around three parts of the globe. Written by himself. In two volumes. London: printed at the Chiswick Press by C. Whittingham, for J. Carpenter, Old Bond Street; J. Booker, New Bond Street; Sharpe and Hailes, Museum, Piccadilly; and Gale, Curtis, and Jenner, Paternoster Row, 1812.
$450
2 volumes, 12mo, pp. xvi, 392; [4], 360; vignette title pages, and 23 woodcut vignettes throughout the text; original drab paper-covered boards, blue marbled paper shelfbacks, printed paper labels on spines; spines and labels rubbed, slight chipping at the tops of the spine; all else very good.
Handwritten label in the top left corner of each pastedown: "H. E. Hawksworth 2/25/1892."
2-111. Les jardins ou l’art d’embellir les paysages, poëme. Nouvelle édition, revue, corrigée, et considérablement augmentée. Nouvelle édition, revue, corrigée et augmentée. Londres: de L’Imprimerie de Ph. Le Boussonier, No. 5, Hollen Street, Soho Square, 1801.
$750
First complete edition, with the addition of better than 1100 lines over the first edition; 4to, pp. [4], iv, xxii, 143, [1], xii; original blue paper-covered boards, cream paper shelfback; manuscript title on spine; very nice copy.
First published in octavo in 1782 in Paris, the book enjoyed a long and popular run, and was still in print as late a 1844. In 1801 alone there were three editions one in duodecimo, one in octavo, and this handsome quarto. And, there were many translations of the poem: into Polish (1783); three into Italian (1792, 1794, 1808); into German (1796); into Portuguese (1800); and three into Russian (1804, 1814, 1816). Inspired by Virgil's The Georgics (which he translated) and Nicolas Rapin's The Art of Gardens, this work brought Delille to the height of his notoriety. He praises and poetically describes the English garden, with its immense landscaped parks made up of trees and bodies of water.
2-112. The royal eclipse; or, delicate facts exhibiting the secret memoirs of Squire George and his wife. With notes. By Diogenes. London: printed by D. N. Shury, Berwick Street, Soho, for J. F. Hughes, Wigmore Street. Cavendish Square, 1807.
$225
First edition, 12mo, pp. xi, [1], 172, [8] ads; original printed tan paper-covered boards, title printed direct on spine; some rubbing and wear, but generally good, sound, and clean.
"Diogenes" is a pseudonym used by an unknown author. The work is a satire of the "Delicate investigation" into the conduct of the Princess of Wales.
2-113. Tancred: or, the new crusade. By B. Disraeli, M.P. ... Author of “Coningsby,” “Sybil,” etc. In three volumes. London: Henry Colburn, Publisher, Great Marlborough Street, 1847.
$250
First edition, 12mo, pp. [2], 338; [2], 340; [2], 298, [12] Colburn ads; original brown paper-covered boards, printed paper labels on spines; vertical cracks along the spines, one label chipped with the loss of a letter, small losses at spine ends, ink splash on fore-edge of volume III; good, sound, and clean in the original binding. Ownership signature of C. C. Eames on the front free endpaper of each volume.
Sadleir 728a (also noting a half-cloth binding); Wolff 1842.
2-114. The Voyage of Captain Popanilla. By the author of “Vivian Grey”. London: Henry Colburn, New Burlington Street, 1828.
$275
First edition of the author's second novel; 8vo, pp. viii, 243, [1]; uncut in original drab paper-covered boards, later green cloth shelfback and later paper label on spine; boards soiled, edges rubbed, else very good and sound.
This copy with occasional pencil markings in text, and a 6-line comment in three languages on verso of the rear free endpaper. Ownership signature on the front free endpaper of : "Charlotte Charlton Fothingbury (?) Decr. 1832."
Sadleir, 735; Wolff, 1847.
2-115. Venetia. By the author of "Vivian Grey" and "Henrietta Temple" ... In three volumes. London: Henry Colburn, 13, Great Marlborough Street, 1837.
$400
First edition, 3 volumes, 8vo, pp. [4], 346; [2], 377, [1]; [2] ads, [2], 324; original brown paper-covered boards, printed paper labels on spines; paper cracking along the joints, bindings a little skewed, and labels rubbed with small chips out; a good, sound copy.
"Byron and Shelley are the principal male characters. Perhaps Disraeli asked Mary Shelley to supply details. He did know her. See a letter from her to him just after his election to parliament ... Byron and Shelley also appear in Marry Shelley's own novel, The Last Man" (Wolff).
Sadleir 732; Wolff 1845.
2-116. Quarrels of authors; or, some memoirs for our literary history, including specimens of controversy to the reign of Elizabeth. By the author of “Calamities of Authors.” In three volumes. London: printed for John Murray, Albemarle Street [by Nichols, Son, and Bentley, Red Lion Passage, Fleet Street], 1814.
$400
First edition, 3 volumes, 8vo, pp. xiii, [3], 308; [4], 316; [4], 320; largely unopened; original blue paper-covered boards, tan paper shelfback, printed paper labels on spines; some chipping at the spine extremities, labels a little rubbed and with a chip out of that on the first volume (no loss of text), boards lightly soiled; on the whole a very good copy. Yet, once a library copy, as on the verso of each title page is the label of the Coventry City Libraries with de-accession details dated Jan 16 1956. And also very slight traces on the other pastedowns of something else removed.
On the front pastedown of volume I is a dull orange octagonal bookseller’s ticket: "Meriden & Son, / Printers, / Booksellers, Stationers & Binders, / at the / Repository of Literature, Coventry. / The utmost Value given for Libraries."
2-117. An autumn near the Rhine; oil sketches of courts, society, scenery, &c. in some of the German states bordering on the Rhine. London: printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, Paternoster-Row [by A. Strahan, New-Street-Square, London], 1818.
$500
First edition, 8vo, pp. [4], 524, [2] Longman ads; 4-page Longman ads tipped in at front endpaper, errata slip tipped in after p. 524; folding hand-colored frontispiece map (A Map of the Eastern Part of Germany according to the new Political divisions arranged at the Congress of Vienna) engraved by Sidney Hall; original blue paper-covered boards, brown paper shelfback, printed paper label on spine; some rubbing and light chipping at the edges, top of upper joint with a small crack; a very good copy.
An epistolary account in 32 letters.
2-118. An historical and topographical account of the town of Woburn, its abbey, and vicinity; containing also a concise genealogy of the house of Russell, and memoirs of the late Francis Duke of Bedford. Woburn: published and sold by S. Dodd; sold also by the booksellers in the neighbouring towns; and Baldwin, Cradock and Joy, London. S. Manning, printer, Newport, 1818.
$350
First edition, 12mo, pp. xvi, [1], 18-140, [2] ads; 2 plates showing "Woburn Abbey," and "Woburn Church"; hand-colored crest on title page; original drab paper-covered boards, printed paper label on spine; a few spots on the binding but overall, very good and sound. Early ownership signature of G. W. Platt.
The earliest guide to Woburn and Woburn Abbey, seat of the Dukes of Bedford. In addition to sections noted on the title, this work also contains a list of subscribers, "Stanzas on the Russell Family," and appendices charmingly recording some of the minutiae of Woburn life: public offices with names of agents, societies, the Woburn coach schedule, and local inns. Woburn was best known for its annual sheep-shearing festivities and the abundance of fuller's earth found in its soils; both essential elements of the English textile industry. There are also some anonymous poems by Jeremiah Holmes Wiffen (1792-1836), librarian to the 6th Duke.
2-119. Poems, legendary, incidental, and humorous. Shrewsbury: printed and republished by and for W. Morris, Shrewsbury, 23rd April 1825, 1825.
$425
"Third edition, with additions" (half-title); 12mo, pp. [6], 460, [8]; engraved vignette title page (signed: T. Higham sc.), wood-engraved tailpiece by Thomas Bewick; original drab paper-covered boards, brown paper shelfback, printed paper label on spine; small crack along the front joint, and the whole lightly worn, still a very good, sound copy.
Dovaston's Fitz-Gwarine: a ballad of the Welsh border in three cantos with other rhymes, legendary, incidental and humorous was published at Shrewsbury in 1812, and in an enlarged edition in 1816. The present edition contains, among other additions, a collection of songs entitled "British Melodies" (some of them originally published in the "Selection of British Melodies" in 1817).
The amusing Bewick vignette depicts a man skating, while a monkey is mischievously breaking the ice with a hatchet, described by Hugo as "admirable."
Hugo 469.
2-120. Poems to Thespia. Exeter: printed by Trewman and Son, sold by them, and by Cadell and Davies, London, 1805.
$325
8vo, pp. 106; engraved portrait frontispiece by Downman after H. Landseer; original yellow paper-covered boards, cream paper shelfback; spine with cracks, edges rubbed, light foxing on the prelims and terminals, text clean and unopened; good and sound, or better. With the oval bookseller's ticket of: "La Libraireie Francaise et Etrangere de Galignani, Rue Vivienne No. 47. Abonnement de lecture en toutes sortes de langues."
Presentation copy from the author, inscribed on the title page: "Hon. T. S. Tucker Esq. / from his friend / H. Downman."
The titular Thespia was Downman's wife, Frances, with whom he had a long, happy marriage, and whose image graces the frontispiece portrait. Other poems were dedicated to friends within his medical and literary circles. The book was first published in Exeter in 1781. He is best remembered for his poem on the care of infants in which he stressed the importance of breast feeding and proper examination.
This edition located at Newberry, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Washington U and UC Davis in OCLC.
2-121. Travels in New-England and New-York ... In four volumes. Illustrated with maps, &c. London: printed for William Baynes and Son, and Ogle, Duncan, & Co. Paternoster Row; and H. S. Baynes and Co., Edinburgh [by Charles Wood, Poppin’s Court, Fleet Street], 1823.
$450
First British edition, 4 volumes, 8vo, pp. xxxi, [1], 483, [1]; 540; xi, [1], 514; xi, [3], 514; volumes II-IV are largely unopened; engraved frontispiece portrait of Dwight and 3 engraved folding maps by George Gillet and printed by W. Wright (all of which are slightly foxed); volume I with a chipped label (no loss of lettering) and with a cracked front joint and chips in the spine, volumes II and III with spots on the covers, and volume III with top of spine chipped, volume IV with a crack starting at the front joint; faults aside a good, sound copy or better.
The portrait did not appear in the American edition.
Dwight (1752-1817), a grandson of Jonathan Edwards, was the 8th president of Yale College and one of the most important academics of his age. This work, published posthumously, is his most important work.
Howes D-612; Sabin 21559.
2-122. Essays on the principles of morality, and on the private and political rights and obligations of mankind. London: Hamilton, Adams, & Co., paternoster-Row; and by T. Balle, Exeter, 1829.
$750
First edition, 2 volumes, 8vo, pp. xi, [1], 487, [1]; vi, 475, [1]; original drab paper-covered boards, printed paper labels on spines; top of both spines cracked, one repaired with glue, boards a bit spotted; all else very good, clean and sound. Early ownership signature of "W. D. Crewdson, 5 mo. 5, 1829" on both front free endpapers
Dymond (1796-1828) was a British Quaker who viewed war as "an evil before which, in my estimation, slavery sinks into insignificance," and spent what there was of his short life working for peaceful causes. He died of cholera in the United States in 1828. Dymond has three works to his credit: An inquiry into the Accordancy of War with the Principles of Christianity, and an Examination of the Philosophical Reasoning by which it is defended: with Observations on Some of the Causes of War and Some of Its Effects (1823); Observations on the Applicability of the Pacifist Principles of the New Testament on the Conduct of States, and on the Limitations which those principles impose on the Rights of Self-defence (1825); and the last, published posthumously, Essays on the principles of morality, and on the private and political rights and obligations of mankind (1829).
In the March 8, 1834, issue of The Liberator, William Lloyd Garrison wrote a brief review. Garrison laments that Dymond, “was—alas! (for he is now dead) a prodigy among mankind – the Lord Bacon of our times. His mind was like the sun in its glory, seldom showing the least obscuration. Its amplitude was vast, its power almost super-human, its perceptions wonderful. The field which he occupies in his essays covers the globe, and embraces the whole human race. . .”
2-123. Curiosities of literature. Fifth edition. Revised, altered, and enlarged with new articles. London: John Murray, Fleet-Street; and Archibald Constable, and Co. Edinburgh, 1807.
$350
2 volumes, 8vo, pp. xix, [1], 508; vi, 494, [2] ads; folding facsimile of Pope's handwriting; original blue paper-covered boards, blue paper shelfback, printed paper labels on spines; labels darkened, spine ends chipped, cracks along the joints (but the hinges are sound); a good, sound copy.
The work began as a single volume published in 1791, and was continually revised and edited until the work reached 6 volumes in 1834. The 12th edition of 1841 was the last in D'Israeli's lifetime.
2-124. Romances; second edition, corrected. to which is now added. a modern romance. London: printed for Murray and Highley, Fleet-Street, 1801.
$150
12mo, pp. vi, [2], 230; engraved frontispiece; original blue paper-covered boards, cream paper shelfback; upper joint cracked, spine with hairline cracks, upper board quite soiled; a good copy. Includes 'The Daughter, or A Modern Romance' which was not included in the first edition of 1799.
Not in Wolff.
2-125. Castle Rackrent; and Hibernian tale. taken from facts, and from the manners of the Irish squires, before the year 1782 ... The third edition. London: printed for J. Johnson, St. Paul’s Church-Yard by H. Bryer, Bridewell-Hospital, 1801.
$850
8vo, pp. [2], xvi, 214, [2] blank; original blue-gray paper-covered boards, cream paper shelfback, printed paper label on spine; small cracks in the joints at the extremities, edges rubbed, corners bumped; all else very good. With the ownership signature of El[izabeth] Rose of Kilravock dated 1802.
Third edition of "the masterpiece by which her name will live," a rattling narrative of three generations of an Irish estate, first published the previous year. In this edition, Edgeworth's name appears for the first time on the title page.
Slade 5C.
2-126. Harrington, and Ormond, tales ... The second edition, corrected. In three volumes. London: printed for R. Hunter, successor to Mr. Johnson, 72, St. Paul’s Churchyard, and Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, Paternoster Row, 1817.
$250
3 volumes, 12mo, pp. [2], v, [1], 513, [1]; [4], 422, [2]; [4], 352; original drab paper-covered boards, green muslin shelfbacks, printed paper labels on spines; shelfbacks faded, labels rubbed with some loss, particularly on the first volume; boards rubbed, spine ends chipped and joints cracking; internally clean and the bindings, for all their external problems, are still reasonably sound.
The uncommon second edition, with corrections, and published in the same year as the first edition.
2-127. Patronage. London: J. Johnson and Co. St. Paul’s Church-Yard, 1814.
$1,500
First edition, 4 volumes, 8vo, pp. [4], 418; [4], 431, [1]; [4], 402; [4], 389-[1]; half-titles in volumes II-IV and with the errata leaf in vol. IV as called for; original blue paper-covered boards, cream paper shelfbacks; spines partially perished, printed paper labels intact but lightly chipped and rubbed; hinges tender; a good copy at best; unrestored. Each volume contained in a cloth chemise and green cloth box with a green morocco cover lettered in gilt.
Early ownership signature of A. S. Were Clarke, 1814 in each volume.
Edgeworth begin writing Patronage in 1809, and it is the longest of all her works. "As a book it is path-making; it was among the first novels with a thesis and as such, it opened the way for Sir Walter Scott's historical novels. In the novel, Edgeworth focuses on and scrupulously explores the various types of patronage and the many forms it takes in all strata of English society" (Wikipedia).
Sadleir 780; Slade 16a; Wolff 1993.
2-128. Walks through Bath, describing every thing worthy of interest connected with the public buildings, the rooms, crescents, theatre, concerts, baths, its literature, &c. including Walcot and Widcombe, and the surrounding vicinity; with sketches of Prior-Park-House, the Rocks of Wick, Corsham-House, and its fine collection of paintings: also an excursion to Clifton and Bristol hot-wells, with a visit to Lord de Clifford’s house, and some remarks upon its pictures: the whole forming a complete guide to the visitors of the above city. Bath: printed for Meyler and Son, at the Bath Herald Office; Barry and Son, Bristol; J. Vincent, Oxford; and Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, London, 1819.
$500
8vo, pp. [2], xii, 202; uncut and largely unopened; 21 engraved plates, including frontispiece; original printed tan pictorial boards with vignette illustration on upper board and ads on lower; corners bumped, spine cracked and with a one-inch chip out at the top, upper joint starting, occasional scattered foxing to plates, good or better.
2-129. Specimens of early English metrical romances, chiefly written during the early part of the fourteenth century; to which is prefixed an historical introduction, intended to illustrate the rise and progress of romantic composition in France and England ... In three volumes. London: printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, Paternoster-Row; and A. Constable and Co. Edinburgh, 1805.
$175
3 volumes, 8vo, pp. vii, [1], 387, [1]; [4], 404; [4], 419, [1] Longman ads; original pink paper-covered boards, cream paper shelfback, printed paper labels on spines; boards soiled, labels chipped, but without major loss, front joint of volume I cracked, small piece cut from the top of each title page to remove (likely) a mark of ownership; all else good and the bindings remain sound.
Divided into six sections: Arthurian romances, Anglo-Saxon romances, Anglo-Norman romances, romances relating to Charlemagne, Oriental romances, and miscellaneous romances. A contributor to both the "Rolliad" and the "Anti-Jacobin," Ellis's selection here "obtained a well-merited reputation as one of the most judicious of such compilations," which had gone through at least six editions by the middle of the century.
2-130. An essay towards the history of Leverpool, drawn up by papers left by the late Mr. George Perry, and from other materials since collected, by William Enfield, with views of the principal public structures, a chart of the harbour, and a map of the environs. The second edition, with additions. London: printed for Joseph Johnson, No. 72, St. Paul’s Church Yard, 1774.
$750
Folio, pp. vi, [6] subscriber list, 116; large folding map at the back, 2 folding charts, 9 engraved plates; one leaf loose (present) in the subscriber's list; all else near fine in contemporary limp pastepaper boards, manuscript titling on spine.
A re-issue of the first edition of 1773, with cancel title page, a new preface and additional Y* signature.
Enfield (1741-1797) became the minister at Benn's Garden Chapel in Liverpool, a wealthy and well-connected congregation. He was also the author of a well-received book on oratory, The Speaker, which went through many editions from 1774 to the mid-19th century; and the popular Institutes of natural philosophy, theoretical and practical which also went through many editions in both Britain and America.
2-131. A sketch of the denominations of the Christian world; with a persuasive to religious moderation. To which is prefixed an introductory outline of atheism, deism, theophilanthropism, judaism, mahometanism, and christianity. With an essay on enthusiasm and superstition, a plan of the divine attributes, a schedule of the sects, and a chronological table of the leading events of ecclesiastical history, from the birth of Christ to the present time ... The twelfth edition, containing, beside many other additions and improvements, an original account of the Shakers, who neither marry nor are given in marriage, but promises to be as the angels in heaven. London: printed by J. & E. Hudson, Cross-street, Hatton-Garden, for Crosby and Co. Stationers’ Court, Ludgate-Street, and sold by every bookseller and stationer in the United Kingdom., 1811.
$750
12mo, pp. lxxii, 332, [4] ads; engraved composite frontispiece with oval portraits of 9 theologians; original blue printed paper-covered boards, title, decorations, and information about this edition printed direct on spine; some cracking along the front joint, the boards soiled, the front hinge weak, but in all, a good, sound copy.
The spine is printed, with ornamental dividers: Evans’s / Sketch / of all / Religions. / — / Twelfth Edition. / — / With a Scripture Chrono- / logy; some Account of / Joanna Southcott, the / Shakers and Dunkers, / with other improve- / ments. / — / With / Nine / Portraits / Newly Engraved, / and / Lives / of the / Founders / Of the / Principal Sects. / — / 5s. Boards.
While this is the 12th edition, it is the first to contain the sections on the Shakers and the Dunkers, and the account of Joanna Southcott, the Devon prophetess and self-anointed "Woman of the Apocalypse."
2-132. The aegis of England; or the triumphs of the late war, as they appear in the thanks of Parliament, progressively voted to the navy and army; and the communications either oral or written on the subject. Chronologically arranged, with notices biographical and military. London: printed for the author. Sold by Longman and Co. Baldwin and Co.; Law and Whittaker; Black, Parbury, and Allen; Egerton; Westley and Parrish; and all other booksellers., [1817].
$650
First edition, 8vo, pp. xxx, [2], 608; uncut and largely unopened; original drab paper-covered boards, printed paper label on spine; label slightly chipped affecting 2 letters, corners bumped, front joint starting; all else very good and sound.
Includes sections on Waterloo, The Reduction of Algiers, The Battle of Albuera, Operations in the Eastern Seas, Java, The Capture of Martinique, Corunna, Capture Off Santo Domingo, Egypt, Mahratta War, etc.
Includes a lengthy list of subscribers, including the Dukes of Kent, Cumberland, and Cambridge, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Stamford Raffles, and many other naval and military figures.
2-133. A demonstration of the existence of God: deduced from the knowledge of nature, and more particularly from that of man. Translated from the French by Samuel Boyse. A.M. ... A new edition. London: printed for John Bumpus, 6, Holborn Bars; and Richard Baynes, Paternoster Row, 1821.
$75
Small 12mo, pp. xii, 204; engraved frontispiece; original drab paper-covered boards, printed paper label on spine; a very good, sound, and clean copy, but with the front free endpaper excised.
Includes a 6-page preface by the editor of the French edition.
2-134. Illustrations of Sterne: with other essays and verses ... Second edition. London: printed for Cadell and Davies; by J. and J Haddock, Horse-Market, Warrington, 1812.
$375
2 volumes, 8vo, pp. xii, [5], 20-193, [1]; [8], [9]-222; front free endpaper of volume I and rear free endpaper of volumes I and II not present (as issued?); original blue paper-covered boards, marbled paper shelfbacks, printed paper labels on spines; spines and labels a bit darkened and rubbed, else a very good, sound, and clean copy.
Both spine labels print the title of the book and its author, but added are the words: "With Bibliomania &c." which references "The Bibliomania, an epistle, to Richard Heber, Esq." on pp. [199]-215 in volume II - Herber (1773-1833) the noted English book collector and one of the founders of the Roxburgh Club.
John Ferriar (1761-1815) was a Scottish physician and a poet, noted for his leadership of the Manchester Infirmary, and his studies of the causes of diseases, including typhoid. This book was first published in 1798.
2-135. A history of the early part of the reign of James the Second; with an introductory chapter. To which is added an appendix.. London: printed for William Miller, Albemarle Street; by William Savage, Bedford Bury, 1808.
$350
First edition, large 4to, [4], li, [1], 277, [3], clviii; engraved portrait frontispiece; errata slip tipped in at the back; original paper-covered boards recovered in buff paper concealing the original blue paper spine covering, printed paper label on spine; front hinge starting, boards faded and soiled; all else very good and sound.
The half-title notes this is on "Demy Paper - One Pound Sixteen Shillings, Boards."
The work was never finished and this only volume was published posthumously.
2-136. The rival roses; or wars of York and Lancaster. A metrical tale. London: printed for the author; Sold by J. J. Stockdale, No. 4, Pall-Mall, 1813.
$650
First edition, 8vo, 2 volumes, pp. [4], viii, [9]-209, [1], [2] ads; [2], [5]-163, [1], 8 (ads); original blue paper-covered boards, cream paper shelfback, printed paper labels on spines; labels virtually rubbed away, boards soiled, edges rubbed and worn; a good, sound set, internally clean.
Little seems to be known about Eliza Francis. This appears to be her first book, a rare narrative poem in five cantos relating to the War of the Roses, with notes by the anonymous female author.
2-137. Junius: including letters by the same writer, under other signatures, (now first collected.) To which are added, his confidential correspondence, with Mr. Wilkes, and his private letters addressed to Mr. H. S. Woodfall. With a preliminary essay, notes, fac-similes, &c. In three volumes. London: printed by G. Woodfall, for F. C. and J. Rivington; T. Payne; Wilkie and Robinson; Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown; Cadell and Davies; J. Murray; J. Mawman; and R. Baldwin, 1812.
$850
First collected edition, 3 volumes, 8vo, pp. xii, *336, 248; xi, [1], xiii, [3], 511, [1] errata; 6 engraved folding facsimiles on 3 sheets; original drab paper-covered boards, printed paper labels on spine; vertical crease in the spine on volume I, some chipping along the joints, minor cracking at extremities, corners bumped, but all else very good and sound.
"The secret of the authorship of these letters which puzzled the men of the last century still remains unsolved, and it may be added that with our present information it is practically insoluble" (Halkett & Laing III. 327), although current scholarship seems to suggest that they are the work of Sir Philip Francis (1740-1818).
"The first of the letters of Junius appeared in Woodfall's Public Advertiser in London, Jan. 21, 1769. Further letters appeared irregularly until 21 Jan. 1772. The series attracted enough attention to make it profitable for various booksellers to bring out editions of the letters before the series was concluded. At least 16 of these unauthorized partial editions were published before the end of 1771. In addition, individual letters were published in other political collections" (NCBEL, II, 1178).
2-138. The works of Dr. Benjn. Franklin; consisting of essays, humorous, moral, and literary: with his life, written by himself. London: printed for J. Walker; F. C. and J. Rivington [and 15 others], 1819.
$250
12mo, (approx. 6" x 3"), pp. xi, [1], 310; engraved title page and frontispiece; original tan printed paper-covered boards; boards rubbed with some loss to the printing on both covers and spine (sense remains clear in most instances), text clean and sound, very good. From the Walker's British Classics series for which there is an ad on the back, including this title.
2-139. The trial and life of Eugene Aram; several of his letters and poems; and his plan and specimens of an Anglo-Celtic lexicon; with copious notes and illustrations, and an engraved facsimile of the handwriting of this very ingenious but ill-fated scholar. Richmond: printed by and for M. Bell: sold also by Bell & Wood, 186, Fleet-Street; Whittaker and Co., Ave Maria Lane, London; Mosley, derby; and all other booksellers, 1842.
$750
First edition, 8vo, pp. [4], 124, [2]; engraved facsimile frontispiece, engraved portrait and skull of Eguene Aram; original drab paper-covered boards, green diaper-patterned cloth shelfback, printed paper label on spine; label rubbed, spine with vertical crack, old ink stain at the top of the upper board; all else very good.
With an early ownership signature of Effingham Wilson (1785-1868), the British radical publisher and bookseller, on the front free endpaper, and his bookplate on the pastedown. Additionally, he has penned the following: "This volume was written by Michael Fryer fortmerly a schoolmaster in Reeth (no kidding;) afterwards librarian to John Hutton Esq. of Marske Hall - on the death of Mr. Hutton he went to Newcastle-upon-Tyne where he died." Also, with occasional marginal comments and underlinings, in pencil and ink, throughout the text, presumably by Wilson.
In real life Eugene Aram (1704-1759) was an English philologist, made infamous for the murder of one Daniel Clark, a shoemaker in Knaresborough, and a close friend of Aram's, celebrated by Thomas Hood in his ballad "The Dream of Eugene Aram," and later by Bulwer-Lytton in his 1832 novel, Eugene Aram. A Tale.
"When still a boy [Effingham Wilson] was removed to Knaresborough, where he resided with his physician uncle, Dr. Thomas Hutchinson, to be trained in the medical profession. Dr Hutchinson was 'a man of taste and literature' and a friend of William and Dorothy Wordsworth. He owned the skull of the murderer Eugene Aram, having taken the head from the gibbet where the murderer hung, and was assisted in the task by Wilson."
2-140. Annals of the parish; or the chronicle of Dalmailing; during the ministery of the Rev. Micah Balwhidder. Written by himself. Arranged and edited by the author of “The Ayrshire Legatees,” &c. Edinburgh: printed for William Blackwood, Edinburgh; and T. Cadell, Strand, London [by James Ballantyne and Co., Edinburgh], 1821.
$225
First edition, 12mo, pp. [4], 400, [2 (ads); contemporary pastepaper-covered boards, brown paper shelfback, printed paper label on spine; boards rubbed, spine ends pushed, endpapers renewed; good and sound.
John Galt (1779-1839) was a Scottish novelist and often referred to as "the first political novelist in the English language, due to being the first novelist to deal with issues of the Industrial Revolution." Annals of the Parish was his most popular novel and gave him a lasting reputation. The novel concerns Scottish country, and its main character, Micah Balwhidder, is "considered to be the finest character created by Galt, [who] reveals himself in the fictional first-person account to have human failings including conceit and vanity, as well as a keen interest in how the economy prospers. The book provides a humorous and realistic account of a typical parish minister of the late 18th and early 19th century, the way of life in rural Scotland, and the social changes of the Industrial Revolution" (Wikipedia).
2-141. [Garrick, David.] The life of David Garrick, Esq. London: printed for J. Wright, Piccadilly, by J. Foot, Red Lion Passage, Fleet Street, 1801.
$425
First edition, 2 volumes, 8vo, pp. [4], xxv, [1], 3289, [1]; [4], xvi, 387, [1], 11 (ads), [5] ads; engraved frontispiece portrait of Garrick after Joshua Reynolds; original blue paper-covered boards, cream paper shelfbacks, printed blue labels on spines; joints cracked or starting, the bindings scuffed and rubbed, front board of volume I with 1" x 3" abrasion, volume I lacking the front free endpaper, verso of rear endpaper in volume II cleaned of pencil scribblings; all else good and sound.
Armorial bookplate of Charles Thellusson. Thellusson (1770-1815) was a British banker and merchant, and an MP for Evesham 1796-1806.
This copy with an unusual series of ads, including those for East India paper (attn. Grocers, Chemists and Gun- Powder-Makers, Paper-Makers), a 5-page advert for plates for the first 31 volumes of the European Magazine as published by J. Sewall, a 5-page table of contents for A Collection of Papers on Naval Architecture, and a 4-page list of books on Oriental literature.
2-142. The history and antiquities of Croydon, with a variety of other interesting matter; to which is added sketch of the life of the most reverend father in God John Whitgift, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury; and an appendix. Croydon: printed for W. Annan, High-Street: and sold by Geo. Cowie & Co. 31 Poultry, London, 1818.
$175
First edition, 8vo, pp. [9], iv-viii, 407, [1], [8] index; engraved frontispiece of Croydon Church and 2 other engraved plates; original drab paper-covered boards, cream paper shelfback, printed paper label on spine; front joint cracked, spine soiled, label darkened, good and sound, with a 4-page subscriber list.
2-143. Poems by John Gay, with the author’s life. Poughmill: printed & Sold by George Nicholson, Poughmill, near Ludlow. Sold also in London by T. Wonder, Bucklesbury, Champagne & Whiter, 4 Jewry Street, Aldgate; R. Bickerstaff 210 Strand; and by all other Booksellers, 1801.
$250
16mo (approx. 6" x 3¾"), pp. [2], x, 11-61, [1]; stipple-engraved vignette portrait of the author on the title page by Chapman after Ailman; original blue paper-covered boards with a later red cloth rebacking; a few small stains on the boards, else very good. Early ownership signature on the front pastedown of Charlotte Moore.
Poughmill is in Devon, and Gay was a Devonshire man having been born in Barnstaple, 25 miles or so to the west. This provincial edition is rare: only the University of Nevada at Las Vegas in OCLC. The National Library of Wales has the title page only.
2-144. A memoir of Felix Neff, pastor of the high alps; and off his labour among the French Protestants of Dauphiné, a remnant of the primitive Christians of Gaul ... Third edition. London: J. G. and F. Rivington, St. Paul’s Church Yard, and Waterloo Place, Pall Mall, 1833.
$125
12mo, pp. xvi, 351, [1]; engraved folding map showing location of Neff's ministry in the Alps; original brown paper-covered boards, printed paper label on spine; label dull, top of spine chipped level with textblock, upper joint cracked; all else good and sound.
2-145. Chelsea Hospital, and its traditions. London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street, 1838.
$275
First edition, 3 volumes, 12mo, pp. xii, 307, [1]; [4], 342; [4], 295, [1]; original drab paper-covered boards, printed paper labels on spines; edges worn, labels and spines darkened, some cracking of the spine on volume III, and the prelims of volume III miscreased at the top; good and sound.
Made interesting by its being a lending library copy, with a printed subscriber list of the St. Mary Cray Book Society pasted to the front pastedown on volume I, listing 21 names, beneath which a second (and likely earlier) list, partially obscured by the first which is pasted over it.
2-146. The enquirer. Reflections on education, manners, and literature. In a series of essays. London: printed for G. G. and J. Robinson, Paternoster-Row, 1797.
$950
First edition, 8vo, pp. xii, 481, [3]; original blue paper-covered boards, cream paper shelfback, manuscript titling on spine; spine worn, free endpapers lacking (if they were ever present), overall soiling and wear; a good, sound, clean copy.
In pencil, on the title: "Edwin Dodd 1886." He proves to be a conscientious reader having filled in the errata corrections given at the end on [483], underlines passages in the text, comments on and disputes with others, and signs off on the final page 481 with 6 April 1886.
Arguably Godwin's most neglected and undervalued work. The essay "Of Avarice and Profusion" is particularly notable as the inspiration for Malthus's "Essay on Population."
Goldsmith 16911; Kress B337.
2-147. The works of Thomas Gray; Vol. I. Containing the poems, with critical notes; a life of the author; and an essay on his poetry; by the Rev. John Mitford. Vol. II. Containing the letters; with important additions and corrections from his own manuscripts. Selected and edited by the Rev. John Mitford. London: printed for J. Mawman, 39, Ludgate-Street, by H. Bryer, Bridge-Street, Blackfriars, 1816.
$500
First edition, 2 volumes, 4to, pp. [12], clxxvi, 242, [2]; xviii, [2] errata, 586, [2] Mawman ads; engraved frontispiece portrait in each volume; original blue paper-covered boards, brown muslin shelfbacks, printed paper labels on spines; joints cracked on volume I, boards soiled, labels rubbed, light foxing on prelims and terminals; a good set, or better.
Above the table of contents in volume II, in a contemporary hand: "Gray's letters are delightful." A printer's imprint on the final leaf of volume I reads: "S. Hamilton, printer, Weybridge, Surrey" (possibly just the final I gathering?) and the rear free endpaper bears an 1825 watermark suggesting the sheets were bound ten years after publication.
2-148. An impartial history of the late revolution in France, from its commencement to the death of the queen, and the execution of the deputies of the Gironde party. In two volumes. London: printed for G. G. and J. Robinson, Paternoster-Row, 1794.
$400
2 volumes, 8vo, pp. xi, [1], 518; vii, [1], 466; uncut; contemporary brown paper-covered boards, tan sheep shelfback; rubbed and worn, joints cracked, spine lettering flaked away, internally clean; a good copy. Lacking the map and the plate as called for in some records. As these volumes were presumably rebound for lending-library purposes, it's possible they were removed at that time.
"Attributed to John [sc. George] Gregory and William Godwin by William St. Clair (The Godwins and the Shelleys, 1989, p. 520: "Principal author Gregory, Godwin's successor at the New Annual Register." "Godwin contributed to Chapter 1 and possibly to some of the later chapters taken from the New Annual Register for 1790 and subsequent volumes.") Formerly thought to be a translation of Jean-Paul Rabaut, Précis historique de la révolution françoise, continued by J.C.D. de la Cretelle.
"Originally published in the New Annual Register of 1791-1793" (OCLC). This is a lending library copy, with names of ten readers, together with dates (of lending) listed on the front pastedown of volume I (March 11 to July 2, 1794), and another contemporary signature of "Tho. Howes" on the front free endpaper. The first name in the list is that of the Rev. T. Howes (presumably the same as "Tho. Howes"). Within four months ten persons, half of them clergymen, had read the book - a measure of the astonished urgency and curiosity the revolution was arousing in England.
2-149. The miniature, a periodical paper. By Solomon Grildig of Eton College. Inscribed, by permission, to the Rev, Dr. Goodall. London: printed for John Murray, 32, Fleet Street; J. Hatchard, Piccadilly; J. Harding, St. James’s Street; Pote and Williams, Eton; C. Knight, Windsor; Hanwell and Parker, Oxford; and Barrett, Cambridge, 1805.
$400
8vo, pp. viii, 368, [2], plus two leaves outside of pagination inserted; original salmon boards with green shelfback, original printed paper label, textblock untrimmed; boards faded and toned, light edgewear, corners bumped, one leaf with a closed tear repaired with tape; very good. Early ownership inscription of "A. Wilkinson / Houghton le Spring / Durham" and the later bookplate of Anne and F. G. Renier.
An Eton periodical, printed on wove paper and a collational nightmare but apparently complete, though gathering 2H has been bound inside 2I. Stab holes in the gutter suggest that the books was produced by gathering remainders of individual issues. Nos. XXVIII and XXIX have no title page (as issued). Text comprises the original 34 numbers of The Miniature: Monday, April 23, 1804—Monday, April 1, 1805. "The second periodical work which issued from the college of Eton: the joint production of Dr. Rennell, Mr. Knight, Mr. Canning, and the sons of the Marquis of Wellesley" (Lowndes). The first was The Microcosm, 1778. Stratford Canning was the working editor.
2-150. Fragmenta vetusta or the remains of ancient buildings in York, drawn and etched by Jospeh Halfpenny. York: Jospeh Halfpenny, 1807.
$650
First edition, folio, pp. [6], iii, [1], 10, [24]; engraved title page and 34 etched plates with tissue guards; original blue paper-covered boards, cream paper shelfback, printed paper label on spine (curled along one edge) reading "Halfpenny’s / Vetusta / Price Three Guineas"; spine with minor loss at the ends, boards a bit soiled, joints cracked, cords holding; good and sound; unrestored. On the verso of the half-title: "Printed at the office of G. Peacock, York."
A 3-page list of 143 subscribers took 167 copies, so the edition was likely small. Among the subscribers is William Danby (1752-1833) of Swinton Park, Yorkshire, whose ownership signature is on the front pastedown. Folios of this period are uncommon in original boards.
2-151. The truth of the Christian religion. Boston: printed and published by Munroe, Francis, & Parker, No. 4 Cornhill, 1808.
$125
12mo, pp. 167, [1]; original blue paper-covered boards, cream paper shelfback, printed paper label on spine; chip out of the lower spine, label darkened, boards a bit worn and with paper peeling from two corners; good, sound, and relatively clean.
Inscribed on the recto of the front free endpaper, "John Bigelow's property / presented April 6th 1814 / by the Revd. Carolus Wellington."
American Imprints 15198.
2-152. The triumphs of temper, a poem: in six cantos ... A new edition. Chichester: printed by William Mason, for T. Cadell, and W. Davies, Strand, 1817.
$250
12mo, pp. xii, 166; hand-colored stipple-engraved frontispiece showing the young protagonist, Serena, reading by candlelight by T. Brown after George Romney; original pictorial paper-covered boards, blue paper shelfback; front board loose, spine perished, overall soiling; a fair, but interesting copy. Early ownership signature of H K Burnett. Later bookplate of Eric Gerald Stanley, Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor, University of Oxford.
The paper used for the covers is advertising copy for the wine merchants, George Henekey and Co., 23 High Holborn, London. The covering paper post-dates the appearance of the work (in 1817) by almost twenty years. A full-scale version of the advertisement, printed on blue paper, appeared in August 1836 at the back of No VIII of Dickens’s Pickwick Papers. The only difference between what appeared in that advertisement and what is used on the Hayley volume is in the color of the paper—plain on the Hayley as distinct from blue in the Pickwick number —and the extent of the copy used, only a small part on the Hayley, and full version in the Pickwick ad. The full ad mentions 1833 as being the date on which the wine Henekey is promoting first appeared in England: the ad, then, is more recent, and possibly as late as the Pickwick appearance in 1836.
An ironic if not comic pairing of the alcoholic covering and the moralistic poem about the chaste young Serena.
2-153. Characters of Shakespeare’s plays. Boston: published by Wells and Lilly, 1818.
$300
First American edition, 8vo, pp. xxiii, [2], 26-323, [1]; original blue paper-covered boards, cream paper shelfback, printed paper label on spine; spine darkened and label rubbed; all else very good. Two bookplates on front pastedown, including an armorial bookplate with motto "Anchora Tutissima Virtus."
His approach was something new. There had been criticisms of Shakespeare before, but either they were not comprehensive or they were not aimed at the general reading public. As Ralph Wardle put it, before Hazlitt wrote this book, "no one had ever attempted a comprehensive study of all of Shakespeare, play by play, that readers could read and reread with pleasure as a guide to their understanding and appreciation. Somewhat loosely organized, and even rambling, the studies offer personal appreciations of the plays that are unashamedly enthusiastic. Hazlitt does not present a measured account of the plays' strengths and weaknesses, as did Dr. Johnson, or view them in terms of a "mystical" theory, as Hazlitt thought his contemporary A.W. Schlegel did (though he approves of many of Schlegel's judgements and quotes him liberally). Without apology, he addresses his readers as fellow lovers of Shakespeare and shares with them the beauties of what he thought the finest passages of the plays he liked best."
American Imprints 44291.
2-154. The eloquence of the British senate; being a selection of the best speeches of the most distinguished parliamentary speakers, from the beginning off the reign of Charles I to the present time. With notes, biographical, critical, and explanatory. London: printed for J. Murray, Fleet-Street, and J. Harding. St. James’s-Street, London; and A. Constable and Co. Edinburgh, 1808.
$650
First edition, second issue; 2 volumes, 8vo, pp. viii, 525, [1]; [2], 591, [1]; original blue paper-covered boards, brown paper shelfback, volume designation numbers stamped on spines; a very good copy. "J. Syrett" in blind at the top of the front pastedown
Other copies we have seen in boards do not have printed labels, and the positioning of the volume number suggest this copy never had labels either. That said, Hazlitt notes copies were issued with "pink paper backs and labels." An 1815 watermark on the endpapers suggests this copy was bound later, with brown, not pink shelfbacks.
From the collection of bibliophile Brent Gration-Maxfield, with his characteristic manuscript ex-libris, wax seal, and tidy bibliographic notes on the front endpapers. The Gration-Maxfield library was dispersed in a series of sales by Sotheby's in the early 1980s.
Keynes, Hazlitt, 6: "The edition of 1807 is so scarce that it has been overlooked, and this reissue has usually been regarded as the first edition." Hazlitt also notes: "The publisher [of the 1807 edition], Thomas Ostell, is not known to have had any other dealings with Hazlitt, and he was soon to pass out of his sphere. The first edition of 1807 is an exceedingly scarce book, and my own copy is the only one I have ever seen ... Very few copies, in fact, with Ostell's imprint seem to have been sold, and the bulk of the sheets were transferred to John Murray and others, with whose imprint the book was reissued in 1808."
2-155. Plans for the government and liberal instruction of boys, in large numbers; drawn from experience. London: G. and W. B. Whittaker, Ave-Maria Lane, 1822.
$750
First edition, 8vo, pp. xv, [1], 238; errata slip tipped in at the back; original blue paper-covered boards, printed paper label on spine; boards soiled, label chipped with loss of 2 letters, light overall wear; a good, sound, and clean copy.
This copy inscribed on the half-title: Richard Taylor Esq. from his friend the author."
Authorship variously attributed to Matthew Davenport Hill (1792-1872) by Halkett & Laing; to Arthur Hill (1798-1885) by Harvard College Library; and to Rowland Hill (1795-1879), the postal reformer, by Wikipedia. All three may have had a hand in it. Founded by Matthew's father Thomas Wright Hill, the Hazelwood School at Birmingham offered a revolutionary system of education which entailed government by the students themselves with a constitution and court of justice. Dr. Arnold, Jeremy Bentham and other leading radicals were considerably influenced.
For his part, Matthew Davenport Hill later became "a British lawyer and penologist, many of whose suggested reforms in the treatment of criminals were enacted into law in England" (Britannica). His other brother, Arthur Hill, was headmaster of Bruce Castle School. This is, apparently, Matthew's first book in which he argues that kindness, instead of caning, and moral influence, rather than fear, should be the predominant forces in school discipline.
2-156. The friends: a poem. In four books. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1818.
$225
First edition, 12mo, pp. [4], 189, [1]; original tan paper-covered boards; a very good, sound, and clean copy. On the front pastedown in ink: 'Hopton 1818.' Hopton - Derbyshire, ten miles south of Bakewell, Hodgson’s parish.
Hodgson (1781-1852) was a reforming Provost of Eton, educator, cleric, writer of verse, and friend of Byron.
2-157. Some account of the life and writings of Lope Felix de Vega Carpio. London: printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, Paternoster-Row; E. Jeffrey, Pall Mall; and J. Ridgeway, Piccadilly, 1806.
$175
Large 8vo, pp. viii, 294; engraved portrait frontispiece; original drab paper-covered boards, printed paper label on spine; label rubbed and chipped (no loss of letters), edges worn, corners bumped, covers stained; rough-looking, but sound.
This copy inscribed: "From the author" on the front free endpaper.
Biography of playwright and poet Lope de Vega (1562-1635).
2-158. The plea of the midsummer fairies, Hero and Leander, Locus the centaur, and other poems. London: printed for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, Paternoster-Row, 1827.
$250
First edition, 8vo, pp. viii, 222, [2]; original drab paper-covered boards with a contemporary green cloth shelf-back; top of spine chipped level with text block, boards soiled, corners bumped; a good, sound copy and internally clean.
Hayward, 242: "The best of his serious poetry was printed in this volume, which was dedicated to Charles Lamb."
2-159. Original poems, in the moral, heroic, pathetic, and other styles. By a traveller ... Ninth edition. Halesworth: printed for the author, by T. Tippell, 1829.
$150
First edition, 16mo, pp. [2], 42; original drab paper-covered boards, printed paper label ("Original Poems, / in the / Moral, Heroic, Pathetic, / and other styles.") on upper cover; a bit of flaking to the spine, but otherwise, very good and sound. Early ownership signature of F. Searle on the title page. Small bookplate of J. O. Edwards.
Of this ninth edition OCLC locates only 2 copies: Wisconsin and Leeds, plus 3 copies at the ever-suspicious British Library Reference Collection. First published in 1825 and reprinted at various places some 18 times by 1835.
2-160. Memoirs of George the Fourth, descriptive of the most interesting scenes of his private and public life, and the important events of his memorable reign; with characteristic sketches of all the celebrated men who were his friends and companions as a prince, and his ministers and counsellors as a monarch. London: printed for T. Kelly, Paternoster-Row; Fisher, Son, and P. Jackson, Newgate-Street; Jones and Co., Temple of the Muses, Finsbury-Square; and G. Virtue, Ivy-Lane, 1830.
$250
First edition, 2 volumes, 8vo, pp. [2], 572; 427, [5] Kelly ads; inserted engraved title page and frontispiece in each volume plus 15 engraved plates (1 folding); original drab paper-covered boards, green muslin shelfback, printed paper labels on spine; labels rubbed and slightly chipped, hinges starting; all else good and sound.
Huish (1777-1850) "wrote a short treatise on bee-culture, which was afterwards expanded and issued in various forms. His other works are nearly all poor examples of anecdotal, quasi-historical bookmaking; the Quarterly Review spoke of him as an obscure and unscrupulous scribbler. He was prolific, as witnessed by his voluminous compilations during 1835–6. He executed a few translations from the German, and in his later years some novels. Nearly all his books exhibit anti-Tory prejudices" (Wikipedia).
2-161. The story of Rimini, a poem.. London: printed by T. Davison, Whitefriars; for J. Murray; W. Blackwood, Edinburgh; and Cumming, Dublin, 1816.
$500
First edition, 12mo, pp. xix, [1], 111, [1]; original blue paper-covered boards, brown paper shelfback, printed paper label on spine; front hinge partially cracked at half-title, fore- and bottom edges rubbed, front board shows a loss of paper (2" x 1/2") at the fore-edge, small cracks in the spine, not a bookplate but perhaps a letter removed from the front pastedown; a good copy, or better; in a red cloth folding box lettered in gilt on spine.
Dedicated to Lord Byron, this is Hunt's retelling of the tragedy of Paulo and Francesca from Dante's Inferno.
2-162. Wit and humour, selected from the English poets; with an illustrative essay and critical comments. London: Smith, Elder and Co., 65, Cornhill, 1846.
$250
First edition, 12mo, pp. xi, [1], 357, [1], [2] press notice, 32 (Smith, Elder ads for July, 1846); original brown paper-covered boards, printed paper label on spine; joints cracks, chips out along the hinges and at spine extremities, label chipped (no loss of lettering), internally clean and the binding is sound; a good copy. In a soiled clamshell box, gilt lettering on spine. Armorial bookplate of Oliver Brett. Ownership signature on title page of "Ellen Baker / 1857."
2-163. A treatise on the mineral waters of Harrogate and its vicinity. London: Longman and Co.; Black, Edinburgh; Langdale, Harrogate; Inchbold, and Cross, Leeds., 1830.
$950
First edition, 12mo, pp. vii, [1], 138; original printed green silk (an early example of printed cloth), some fraying along the joints and spine, spine sunned, else very good.
The text treats of the medical history of mineral baths, sulfur springs, chalybeate springs, saline springs, directions for taking the waters, baths, exercise, and diet.
The binding is one of the first cloth bindings with printed covers. Books bound in full cloth date from the 1760s onwards. These early cloth bindings were generally of coarsely woven hessian cloth or canvas and used most frequently on school textbooks. Publishers' full cloth bindings date from the early to mid-1820s, William Pickering being one of the early innovators. In 1829 gilt was used to label the spines on these cloth-bound volumes, and by 1834 the cloth was finally embellished with an illustration. I can find no books in the bookbinding literature with printed cloth covers of an earlier date.
OCLC locates copies at the BL, Oxford, Leeds, Cambridge, U. of St. Andrews, York, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland, McGill, 1 in Paris, and in the U.S. only 3: College of Physicians in Philadelphia, Wisconsin, and Penn.
2-164. [In Memoriam.] To my family, and a select few, this memoir of the late Mrs. Penkivil, is affectionately submitted, by her sorrowing husband. Devonport: printed by H. T. Harris, 80, George-Street, 1824.
$175
16mo (approx. 6½" x 4¼"), pp. 38; title within decorative border; unadorned plain glazed black paper-covered boards - a mourning binding; edges worn, front joint and hinge cracked, cords holding; all else very good.
"To oblige the Relatives and Friends of the Deceased, a few Copies of the following pages are printed to save the necessity of transcribing. It is to be understood, though printed, they are not published, being intended merely for private perusal" (from the verso of the title page).
A small decoratively-framed label on the front pastedown reads: "It is particularly requested this Memoir may be kept among private Papers, and not left to the casual inspection of Strangers, Servants, or Children."
OCLC locates only the BL copy.
2-165. Stultifera navis; qua omnium mortalium narratur Stultitia. The modern ship of fools. London: printed for William Miller, Albemarle Street, 1807.
$135
First edition, 8vo, pp. xxiv, 295, [1], [8] Miller ads; folding hand-colored frontispiece drawn & etched by John Augustus Atkinson, woodcut vignette title page; original drab paper-covered boards, gray paper shelfback, printed paper label on spine; worn, soiled, and shaken; a good copy, at best, internally clean. On the front pastedown the armorial bookplate of: Lloyd Lord Kenyon / Baron of Grevington and an ownership signature on p. v of "S. S. Vernon."
A modern reenactment of Brandt's 15th century classic allegory by the Shakespeare forger.
2-166. Bracebridge Hall; or the humorist. By Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. ... A new edition. In two volumes. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1823.
$250
2 volumes, 8vo, pp. iv, 336; iv, 347, [1]; original blue paper-covered boards, brown paper shelfbacks, printed paper labels on spine; corners lightly bumped and rubbed, small cracks starting at the extremities of the joints, light foxing to endpapers, B gathering on volume II loose at top but still firm; in all very good.
The third British edition with additional text not included in either the first American or first British edition, but included in the second editions. See BAL 10110.
The first editions (British and American) are represented in so many libraries we can't count them all. Of this edition OCLC locates 23 worldwide, and only 7 in the U.S.
2-167. A dictionary of the English language: in which the words are deduced from their originals, explained in their different meanings, and authorized by the names of the writers in whose works they are found. Abstracted from the folio edition, by the author ... The eighth edition. London: printed for J. F. and C. Rivington, L. Davis, W. Owen, T. Longman, B. Law, J. Dod sley, C. Dilly, G. G. J. and J. Robinson, T. Cadell, J. Robson, W. Goldsmith, J. New, J. Murray, R. Baldwin, S. Hayes, and G. and T. Wilkie, 1786.
$500
2 volumes, 8vo, pp. [576]; [544]; lexicon in double column; unusually bound in 19th century continental paper-covered boards, green morocco spine labels; the boards are substantially faded, the prelims are a bit spotted, all else very good and sound.
Alston V, 202; Fleeman 56.1DA/12.
2-168. [Juvenile.] Village annals, containing Austerus and Humanus. A sympathetic tale. Philadelphia: published by Johnson & Warner, No. 147, Market Street, Griggs & Dickinsons, printers, 1814.
$75
First American edition (first published in London in 1808); 16mo (5¼" x 3½"), pp. 35, [1] (including pastedowns); woodcut frontispiece on the inside of the front cover, and the last page of text on the inside of the back cover; woodcut vignette on title page, 6 full-page woodcuts, and woodcut headpiece and tailpiece; tan paper-covered boards flecked with gilt; pages 29/32 unopened; very good.
American Imprints 33546; Rosenbach 514; Welch 1381 noting a publisher's remainder.
2-169. An only son; a narrative. By the author of "My Early Days". London: Frederick Westley and A. H. Davis, Stationers’ Hall Court, 1831.
$225
First edition, 12mo, pp. iv, 340; original blue paper-covered boards, brown paper shelfback, printed paper label on spine; joints starting, small loss at the bottom of the spine, label rubbed to the point of illegibility; remains of a lending library subscriber list on front free endpaper, with an ownership signature of Harriet C. Lyons written over the remains of the lending library label; another removal from rear pastedown, no doubt associated with the lending library. A good, sound, and clean copy.
Not in Sadleir or Wolff.
2-170. Memoirs of the Baron de Kolli, relative to his secret mission in 1810, for liberating Ferdinand VII, King of Spain, from captivity at Valency. Written by himself. To which are added, memoirs of the Queen of Etruria, written by herself.. London: Treuttel and Würtz, Treuttel, Jun. and Richter, 30 Soho Square., 1823.
$400
First edition, 8vo, pp. [2] ii, [2], 340; engraved portrait frontispiece, engraved vignette title page; original blue paper-covered boards, brown paper shelfback, printed paper label on spine; a bit of soiling but generally a near fine copy.
2-171. La Fontaine's fables. Now first translated from the French; by Robert Thomson. Paris: Sold by Chenu, Librarie, au Palais Royal, Gallerie des Offices, 1806.
$1,500
4 volumes, 8vo, pp. [4], 32,105, [3]; [4], 139, [1]; [4], 147, [1]; [4], 128; uncut and partially unopened; numerous decorative woodcut cul-de-lampe tailpieces throughout all four volumes (I: 41; II: 49; III: 58; IV: 46), many used more than once, and including tiny abstract designs, floral arrangements, and outdoor scenes; some gatherings printed on tinted paper; original blue paper-covered boards, brown paper shelfback, printed paper labels on spines; label on volume III largely perished; cracks and minor loss of paper at the joints and spines, moderate foxing; a good copy or better, and rare in boards. Preserved in a blue cloth dropback box.
Another issue (edition?), decidedly later, contains a portrait and 15 plates by Perdoux and has a varying imprint. In that, the title is expanded to read: La Fontaine's fables. Now first translated from the French, with elegant engraved figures...
First edition of this verse translation. Includes "A sketch of La Fontaine's Life and Character," La Fontaine's original preface here translated into English, and Thomson's translator's preface. In volume II is added "A sketch of Æsop's life from Croxall."
"Although Jean de la Fontaine (1621-95) is the author of a rich and varied body of writing, he is known in English for one masterwork only. The Fables (1668-93), a subtle, varied, witty reworking of Aesop and other fabulists, seem quintessentially French, but in their freedom offer a wonderful opportunity to the poet-translator ... Early renderings by John Dennis (in his Miscellanies of 1693) and particularly by the author of The Fable of the Bees, Bernard de Mandeville, recast a few fables in jolly octosyllables in the manner of Butler's Hudibras ... [but] the first more or less complete translation was published over a century later by Robert Thomson (fl. 1790-1810). His verse lacks the terseness and subtly of the original, but gives a truer idea of it than the cavalier version of John Matthews [published in London in 1820]" (Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation).
In his preface, Thomson admits the difficulty of translating the Fables ("I have heard it urged by gentlemen ... that a La Fontaine only could translate La Fontaine...") but he wanted to free a text which has "remained locked up in its own language for near a century and a half, or known only in English by some wretched translations in prose ... In all the performances I have seen, wearing the mask of his name, I see nothing but La Fontaine wholly misunderstood, mangled, or murdered" (Thomson's preface).
2-172. The confessions of J. Lackington, late bookseller at the temple of the muses, in a series of letters to a friend. To which are added two letters on the bad consequences of having daughters educated at boarding-schools. London: printed by Richard Edwards, Crane Court, Fleet Street, for the author; and sold by all booksellers in the United Kingdom, 1804.
$300
First edition, 12mo, pp. viii, 212, [4] index and errata; original blue paper-covered boards, cream paper shelfback, printed paper labels on both the front board and (unusually) on the back board as well; front cover loose, spine largely perished; all else good or better.
Lackington (1746-1815) was a prosperous and innovative bookseller who "is credited with revolutionizing the British book trade ... He is best known for refusing credit at his shop which allowed him to reduce the price of books throughout his store. He printed catalogues of his stock; according to Lackington's biography, the first edition contained 12,000 titles. He bought whole libraries and published writers' manuscripts. He also saved remaindered books from destruction and resold them at bargain prices, firmly believing that books were the key to knowledge, reason and happiness and that everyone, no matter their economic background, social class or gender, had the right to access books at cheap prices" (Wikipedia).
2-173. The works of Charles Lamb. London: C. and J. Ollier, Vere-Street, Bond-Street, 1818.
$650
First collected edition, 2 volumes, 12mo, pp. ix, [3], 291, [1]; [6], 259, [1], [2] Ollier ads dated June 1818; original blue paper-covered boards, brown paper shelfback, printed paper labels on spines; bottom 1" of spine lost on volume I*, spines otherwise lightly chipped and cracked, labels rubbed and darkened, joints starting; a good set in the original binding. Blue cloth fleece-lined box with a broken hinge.
2-174. An inquiry into the nature and origin of public wealth, and into the means and causes of its increase. Edinburgh: printed for Arch. Constsable and Co., Edinburgh; and T. N. Longman and O. Rees, London, 1804.
$850
First edition, 8vo, pp. [10], 482; folding table of farm expenditure and produce; original green marbled paper-covered boards, printed paper label on spine; label rather darkened, joints and hinges cracked, both covers nearly loose, spine worn with losses at top and bottom; a fair copy overall but the textblock is clean and the sewing structure is sound. Early ownership signature on the front free endpaper of "Culcreuch 23rd Jan'y 1806" and with a few markings of the text in pencil and 1 or 2 in ink in a small, neat hand.
Lauderdale's work on economics attracted considerable attention at the time and produced a bitter controversy between the author and Lord Brougham who reviewed it in the Edinburgh Review. The work provides an important commentary on Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, highly regarded by later economists. Palgrave remarked that "Lauderdale's importance in the history of economics lies, not in his conclusions, but in the fact that he was the first in England to consider systematically the fundamental conceptions on which the science is based. In this respect alone he is in advance of Adam Smith."
2-175. The poetical works of the late Thomas Little, Esq. ... The tenth edition. London: printed for James Carpenter, Old Bond Street [ by J. Moyes, printer, Greville Street, Hatton Garden], 1810.
$75
12mo, pp. xxiv, 175, [1]; original blue paper-covered boards, blue paper shelfback, printed paper label on spine; a bit rubbed and soiled but good and sound.
"The late Thomas Little, Esq." was the pseudonym of the Irish poet Thomas Moore. This, the first volume of original verse by the poet, had first appeared in 1801 and was a great commercial success.
2-176. Some passages in the life of Mr Adam Blair minister of the gospel at Cross-Meikle. Edinburgh: William Blackwood, Edinburgh: and T. Cadell, London, 1822.
$400
First edition, 8vo, pp. [4], 337, [1], [12] Blackwood ads; original pink paper-covered boards, printed paper label on spine; binding a touch soiled, but nonetheless a near fine copy.
The second of just four novels written by Lockhart, now famous as a source for Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter (see "Adam Blair and The Scarlet Letter" by Will and Mimosa Stephenson in The Nathaniel Hawthorne Review, vol. II, no. 19). Lockhart was married to Sir Walter Scott's eldest daughter Sophia, and they settled on Scott's estate until he became editor of The Quarterly Review in London. His biography of Scott was his greatest book. "He had admirable materials in Scott's letters and journals, but he turned them to such account that the biography may safely be described as, next to Boswell's 'Johnson,' the best in the language" (DNB).
Sadleir 1447; Wolff 4173 (lacking half-title and adverts).
2-177. Poems. Edinburgh: printed by George Ramsay and Co. for the author; and sold by Archibald Constable and Co. Edinburgh, and Constable, Hunter, Park, and Hunter, London, 1809.
$250
12mo, pp. viii, 157, [1], 14 (subscribers); largely unopened; original blue paper-covered boards with cream paper shelfback, printed paper label on spine; spine darkened, boards a touch soiled and bumped, text clean save some penciling in the subscriber's list counting the total copies noted (704); very good.
William Macdonald was a Catholic priest, born in Scotland, educated partially in France and Spain, and from 1826 was a member of the Canadian clergy. His literary output appears to have been minimal. This is likely his first published work of poetry, with a second following in 1818. A portion of this work is written in Latin, mostly under the section "Juvenilia." The 14-page subscribers' list consists mostly of Scots, an often includes their occupations, such as clockmaker, vinter, surgeon, etc.
2-178. The poetical works. London: printed by T. Bensley. Bolt Court, Fleet street, for T. N. Longman and O. Rees; and A. Guthrie, Manners and Miller, and A. Constable, Edinburgh, 1801.
$400
First edition, foolscap 8vo, 2 vols, pp. xv, [1], 166; 175, [1]; the second volume largely unopened; engraved frontispiece in each volume and 8 engraved plates; original blue paper-covered boards, cream paper shelfbacks, spines toned, text clean and sound; very good. With a glossary of Scots at the end of volume II. Bookplate of John Sparrow.
His first collected work of poetry. Hector MacNeill was "a Scottish poet who wrote primarily in English, although some of his most popular poems are in Scots. He is considered a significant figure in the Scottish literary revival of the 18th century. MacNeill's poetry often explores themes of love, nature, and Scottish identity. He is known for his use of vivid imagery and his ability to capture the rhythms and cadences of Scottish speech" (allpoetry[dot]com).
2-179. The poems of Ossian, originally translated by James Macpherson, Esq. Attempted in English verse by the late Rev. John Shackleton. Birmingham: printed by J. Ferrall; and sold by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orem, and Brown, London; and all other booksellers, 1817.
$85
2 volumes, 8vo, pp. [2], xiv, [5], 10-227, [1]; [5], 6-238, [1]; original blue paper-covered boards, cream paper shelfback; spines largely perished revealing sewing structure, joints cracked; all else good and the text block remains reasonably sound.
Volume I contains a 14-page list of subscribers.
2-180. The poems of Ossian, translated by James Macpherson, Esq. In two volumes. London: published by W. Suttaby and B. Crosby & Co. Stationer’s Court; Lackington, Allen & Co. Finsbury Square, and C. Corrall, Charing Cross, 1807.
$250
2 volumes, 24mo, pp. xliii, [1], 338; 335, [1]; uncut; engraved vignette title pages and engraved frontispieces; original printed tan paper-covered boards; head and tail of spines chipped, both spines with old, neat repair, joints starting, text clean. A good copy, or better. Ownership signature in each volume of "M. A. Wheeton / May 6th 1828."
Advertisements on the lower covers for "Uniform editions of the following popular works are published by W. Suttaby, Crosby and Co., and C. Corrall" - a list of nearly 30 titles.
These traditional tales were preserved in Ireland and in the Scottish Highlands, with Ossian as the bard who sang of the exploits of Finn and his Fenian cohorts. A later cycle of Ossianic poetry centered on Cuchulain, another traditional hero. Ossian is generally represented as an old, blind man who had outlived both his father and his son. The name is remembered by most people in connection with James Macpherson, who published translations of two poems that he said had been written by Ossian; scholars subsequently proved that they were actually a combination of traditional Gaelic poems and original verses by Macpherson himself.
2-181. The poems of Sir Richard Maitland, of Lethingtoun, Knight. With an appendix of selections from the poems of Sir John Maitland Lord Thirlestane, and of Thomas Maitland. [Edited by Joseph Bain]. Glasgow: [printed for The Maitland Club, by Hutchison & Brookman], 1830.
$150
First edition (70 copies only were printed for members of the club), 4to, pp. lxviii, [2], 176; frontispiece, engraved facsimile; original chocolate boards, printed paper label on spine; edges rubbed, upper joint starting; all else very good. Armorial bookplate of William Ralston Patrick.
Among the club members listed are Sir Walter Scott and Robert Adam.
The Maitland Club took their name from the courtier and writer, Sir Richard Maitland (1496-1582), "an amiable and accomplished poet, as well as the tasteful and industrious collector and pious preserver of Ancient Scottish poetry" (Preface). The Maitland manuscripts form one of the three most important collections of Early Scottish poetry - the others being the Asloan manuscript of 1515 and the Bannatyne manuscript of 1568.
2-182. The poetical works of David Mallet. With the life of the author. Cooke’s edition. Embellished with superb engravings.. London: printed and embellished under the direction of C. Cooke, No. 17, Paternoster-Row: and sold by all booksellers in Great-Britain and Ireland, [?1796-98].
$85
12mo, pp. xii, 132; 2 engraved plates; original drab paper-overed boards, printed paper label on spine; near fine copy. Early ownership signature of J. Reginald H. Crawford.
2-183. Poems ... Second edition. London: printed by John Bell, British Library, Strand, bookseller to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, 1793.
$350
4to, pp. [4], 128; contemporary gray paper-covered boards, pink paper shelfback, printed label on spine; spine and label faded, boards a little soiled, else a very good copy.
Catherine Rebecca Gray (1766-1852) of Lehena in County Cork, Ireland, an Anglo-Irish aristocrat and poet, married William Manners, Lord Huntingtower of Leicester. Her first collection of poems under her own name was published in 1793 in quarto, and she was described as having "claims ... to the praise of harmony of verse and purity of sentiment ... not exceeded by those of any among her fair contemporaries." This first book was reprinted once in 1793 (as here), also in quarto, and again in 1794 in duodecimo. Her only other volume of verse was Review of Poetry, Ancient and Modern, addressed to 'a son,' and where most of the major poets get a mention, from Homer through Milton and Shakespeare, to Johnson, Thomson, et al."
2-184. The epigrams of M. Val. Martial, in twelve books: with a comment: by James Elphinston. London: printed by Baker and Galabin, Ingram-Court, Fenchurch-Street: and sold (Price a Guinea in Boards) by B. White, Fleet-Street; C. Dilly, Poultry; J. Robson, Bond-street; J. Walter, Charing-cross; P. Elmsly, Strand; J. Bew, Paternoster-row; D. Prince and J. Cook, Oxford; J. Deighton, Cambridge; W. Creech, and J. Dickson, Edinburgh, 1782.
$375
First Elphinston edition, 4to, pp. xxxviii, 574, [2]; engraved frontispiece portrait engraved from the gem by Jas. Caldwall (dampstained in lower margin not affecting the image); original blue paper-covered boards, later manuscript label on spine; joints cracked, spine ends chipped, edges rubbed, corners bumped; good and sound, internally clean. Later ownership signature on front free endpaper of Henry Bedingfield.
With an 8-page list of subscribers, among whom Samuel Johnson, Adam Smith, Lord Monboddo, James Beattie, and a host of others.
2-185. Traditions of Palestine. Edited by Harriet Martineau. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, Paternoster Row, 1830.
$500
First edition, 12mo, pp. [4], 148; original full terracotta muslin, printed paper label on spine; some fading along the edges, but on the whole, a very good, sound copy in an early full publisher's cloth binding. Bookplate of Anne and F. G. Renier. Bookseller's ticket of Stillie's, Edinburgh on front pastedown. Early ownership signature of M. & D. Viner / 1834 at the top of the title page.
Martineau's sixth separately published book, and aside from moralizing tales, this is her first work of fiction. Her first book was Devotional Exercises … with a Guide to the Study of the Scriptures (1823).
2-186. Remarks on the present system of road making; with observations, deduced from practice and experience, with a view to a revision of the existing laws, and the introduction of improvement in the method of making, repairing, preserving roads, end defending the road funds from misapplication. Seventh edition, carefully revised, with an appendix, and report from the select committee of the House of Commons, June 1823, with extracts from the evidence. London: printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, Paternoster Row, 1823.
$500
8vo, pp. [6], vii, [1], viii, [1], 6-236; original blue paper-covered boards, brown paper shelfback, printed paper label on spine; a near fine copy.
An important edition containing a new preface, a new "advertisement," a 12-page "Minutes of Evidence," dated May 1823, and a 23-page "Report of the Select Committee ... Extracts from Evidence Relating to [McAdam's] Improved System of Constructing and Repairing the Public Roads of the Kingdom," dated June 1823 - none of which appeared in earlier editions.
2-187. Facetiae — Musarum deliciæ: or, the muses recreation. Containing several pieces of poetique wit. By Sr. J. M. and Ja. S. 1656. — Wit restor’d, in several select poems, not formerly publish’t. 1658. — Wits recreation, deleted from the finest fancies of moderne muses. with a thousand out-landish proverbs. 1640. the whole diligently compared with the originals; with all the Wood Engravings, Plates, Memoirs, and Notes. New edition. With additional Notes, Indexes, and a portrait of Sir John Dennis, Kt. London: John Camden Hotten, Piccadilly, n.d., [ca. 1874].
$75
2 volumes, 12mo, pp. xx, 339, [1]; xxvi, [1], 530; frontispiece, facsimile title page from the 17th century edition; original blue paper-covered boards, cream paper shelfback, printed paper labels on spines; spines darkened and slightly chipped, front board of volume I reattached; a good set.
A reprint of an 1817 reprint of 17th century texts, in a revival board binding, edited by E. Dubois.
2-188. Lady Jane Grey; an historical romance ... In three volumes. London: Henry Colburn, Publisher, Great Marlborough Street, 1840.
$250
First edition, 3 volumes, 12mo, pp. [6], 299, [1]; [4], 300; [2], 284; original drab paper-covered boards, brown ribbed cloth shelfback, printed paper labels on spines; rubbed and worn, extremities cracked and chipped, spine labels darkened, a fair but sound copy.
A lending library copy with old library labels on the upper cover of each volume reading: "Library, / (No. 7,) / Ladbroke Grove." and the first page of text of each volume is embossed with the library stamp: "Reynolds Library - 7 Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill W."
From volume II onwards the chapter numbers are altered by hand to provide continuity from the conclusion of chapter XVI in volume I. In volume II Chapters I - XVII are altered to numbers 17 - 33, and in III Chapters I - XIV are altered to numbers 34 -47.
Wolff 4796.
2-189. The martyr of Antioch: a dramatic poem. London: John Murry, Albemarle-Street, 1822.
$225
First edition, 8vo, pp. vii, [1], 168; 16-page 'Supplement to G. and W. B. Whittaker's Catalogue" (dated 1821) inserted prior to the half-title; original tan paper-covered boards, printed paper label on spine; boards a little spotted, label and spine toned; all else very good, clean, and sound. Bookplate of Simon Nowell-Smith.
Milman (1791-1868) was an "English clergyman, poet, and historian, dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, from 1849. He was the author of several dramatic poems as well as some important historical works. His History of the Jews (1830) was the first work of English theology to subject the Bible to historical criticism. Other works include History of Christianity under the Empire (1840) and his chief work, History of Latin Christianity (6 vol., 1854–55)" (allpoetry.com).
"He was the first to translate Sanskrit epics into English. He edited Gibbon in 1838, and Horace in 1849. His ecclesiastical and theological sympathies were very liberal, as is shown by his History of Latin Christianity" (jewishencyclopedia.com).
2-190. The works of the right honourable Lady Mary Wortley Montague. Including her correspondence, poems and essays. Published by permission from her genuine papers. London: printed for Richard Phillips, No. 71, St. Paul’s Church-yard, 1803.
$650
First collected edition, octavo issue, 5 volumes, original tan paper-covered boards, blue paper-covered spines, paper labels on spines; 2 engraved portraits (Lady Mary Pierrepoint. 1710; and, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. 1720), 8 facsimiles (4 folding); spines creased and chipped with hairline cracks, joints cracked on volume I; top of spine chipped on vol. II; moderate wear all around; still a good, sound, venerable set.
With the bookseller ticket of Booth / Bookseller Stationer & Binder / Duke Street, Portland Place / London on the front pastedown of each volume.
A commanding figure of the 18th century, Lady Montague evinced an admirable style with her intelligence, independence and sense of adventure. She defiantly noted the prevailing attitudes towards women: "There is no part of the world where our sex is treated with so much contempt as England" -- which is perhaps why she settled in Italy, choosing to live apart from her husband for a period of twenty-three years. She maintained "an undisputed supremacy as hostess in the intellectual society of London, and to her assemblies was, apparently for the first time, applied the now accepted epithet of "blue-stocking" (DNB).
2-191. The works of the right honourable Lady Mary Wortley Montague. Including her correspondence, poems and essays. Published by permission from her genuine papers. In five volumes. London: printed for Richard Phillips, No. 71, St. Paul’s Church-yard, 1803.
$500
5 volumes, 12mo, 2 engraved portrait frontispieces (Lady Mary Pierrepoint. 1710; and, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. 1720); original blue paper-covered boards, cream paper shelfback; volume designation numbers in ink on spines (variously faded); short cracks starting at the joints, but overall very good and sound.
First collected edition, the duodecimo issue: this is the cheaper, unillustrated edition which followed the octavo edition of the same year which contained 8 facsimile plates.
A commanding figure of the 18th century, Lady Montague evinced an admirable style with her intelligence, independence and sense of adventure. She defiantly noted the prevailing attitudes towards women: "There is no part of the world where our sex is treated with so much contempt as England" -- which is perhaps why she settled in Italy, choosing to live apart from her husband for a period of twenty-three years. She maintained "an undisputed supremacy as hostess in the intellectual society of London, and to her assemblies was, apparently for the first time, applied the now accepted epithet of "blue-stocking" (DNB).
2-192. The pelican island, and other poems. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, Paternoster-Row, 1827.
$375
First edition, 12mo, pp. xii, 264; original brown paper-covered boards, neatly rebacked with brown paper shelfback, preserving the original printed label on spine; endpapers renewed, prelims lightly spotted; all else very good, sound, and clean.
Montgomery (1771-1854) was a Scottish poet and writer of hymns. "He was raised in the Moravian Church and theologically trained there, so that his writings often reflect concern for humanitarian causes, such as the abolition of slavery and the exploitation of child chimney sweeps" (Wikipedia). Early in life he worked for an auctioneer and bookseller in Sheffield, and published the local newspaper, the Sheffield Iris. For his political views he was twice imprisoned for sedition, and his time in jail was the seed for his first book, Prison Amusements. He wrote a number of books of poetry, and among his many hymns was "The Lord Is My Shepherd" which is still a favorite today. "The subject of The Pelican Island was suggested by a passage in Captain Flinders's Voyage to Terra Australis" (preface, p. [v]).
Ferguson 1134.
2-193. The enchanted plants, fables in verse. Inscribed to Miss Montolieu, and Miss Julia Montolieu. Second edition. London: printed by Thomas Bensley, Bolt Court, Fleet Street, 1801.
$200
Small 8vo (6¾" x 4¼"), pp. viii, 95, [1]; engraved frontispiece by L. Schiavonetti after W. Hamilton; original gray-green paper-covered boards, tan paper shelfback; spine largely perished, upper board and first gathering almost loose, cords holding; text clean; good.
Written for the author's children, to whom the poems are inscribed. Maria Henrietta Montolieu (1763-1817, née Heywood) was the daughter of James Modyford Heywood, an English MP for Fowey, plantation owner in Jamaica, and Lord of the Admiralty.
2-194. Mordaunt. Sketches of life, characters, and manners, in various countries; including the memoirs of a French lady of quality. By the author of Zeluco and Edward. Dublin: printed for W. Watson and Son - G. Burnet - P. Wogan - P. Byrne - H. Colbert [and 12 others in Dublin], 1800.
$625
3 volumes, 12mo, pp. [2], ii, 239, [1]; [2], ii, 276; [2], ii, 283, [1]; original blue-gray paper wrappers, manuscript designation numbers on spines; spines with vertical cracks and partially perished, bindings skewed, covers curled and lightly chipped; skeptically, a good copy at best, but an original, unrestored paperback of the 18th century.
First published in London earlier the same year. Moore (1729-1802) was a Scottish physician and writer who spent much time traveling on the continent. Much of his early writing focused on the society and manners of Europeans, but he also wrote novels such as the proto-Gothic Zeluco (1789), and Edward (1796). He was present in Paris during part of the French Revolution and his Journal during a Residence in France (1793) is the careful record of an eye-witness to some of the events. His last novel, Mordaunt, is "an epistolary novel ... in which acquaintances of the gentleman traveller Mordaunt reveal their lives and character. Though the novel is mainly a satire of English manners, the letters from a French marquise in the central section allow Moore to explore his interest in revolutionary France" (Oxford Companion to English Literature).
OCLC locates 13 copies: Columbia, Berkeley, San Diego, Iowa, Notre Dame, Tufts, Case Western Reserve, Wayne State, Athenaeum of Philadelphia, Rice, Trinity (Dublin), Cambridge and the Univ. of Manchester.
2-195. The Fudge family in Paris. Edited by Thomas Brown, the Younger, author of the twopenny post-bag. London: printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, Paternoster-Row, 1818.
$250
First edition, 12mo, pp. viii, 168; original blue paper-covered boards, cream paper shelfback, printed paper label on spine; boards stained, but otherwise, a very good, sound, and clean copy.
"A set of verse epistles attributed to writers ranging from a servile creature of the Tories to a passionate champion of Ireland, with some light relief from Miss Biddy Fudge, a young lady of fashion" (ODNB). The book depicts the visit of the fictional British Fudge Family to Paris, where the daughter Biddy had fallen in love with a young man whom she had taken to be the King of Prussia but was in fact a draper.
The last 20 pages consist of "occasional pieces" of poetry by Moore which "have already appeared in my friend Mr. Perry's paper, and here, 'by desire of several persons of distinction,' reprinted."
2-196. The Fudge family, in Paris. Edited by Thomas Brown, the Younger, author of the twopenny post-bag ... Ninth edition. London: printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, Paternoster-Row, 1818.
$100
12mo, pp. viii, 168; original red paper-covered boards, printed paper label on spine; top of spine chipped, vertical crack along the length of the spine, joints cracked; all else good and the binding remains sound.
This ninth edition is printed in the same year as the first and is from the same setting of type. "A set of verse epistles attributed to writers ranging from a servile creature of the Tories to a passionate champion of Ireland, with some light relief from Miss Biddy Fudge, a young lady of fashion" (ODNB). The last 20 pages consist of "occasional pieces" of poetry by Moore which "have already appeared in my friend Mr. Perry's paper, and here, 'by desire of several persons of distinction,' reprinted."
2-197. The loves of the angels, a poem. London: printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, Paternoster-Row, 1823.
$225
First edition, 8vo, pp. [5], viii-x, 148, [2] ads; original blue paper-covered boards, brown paper shelfback, printed paper label on spine; joints cracked and chipped, the binding shaken; a good copy at best.
Having returned from his exile in France in 1823, Moore completed The Loves of the Angels, "his last long poem, interconnected confessional narratives about three angels who fall in love with mortal women and become caught in mortality themselves. Although the tension between the spiritual and the explicitly sensual is resolved in accord with the morality of Moore’s time, the theme of angels desiring physical union shocked orthodox Christians and caused enough stir to guarantee sales. Moore accommodated his critics in the fifth edition of the book (1823) by turning his Christian angels into Moslem angels, adding bookish footnotes to explain and support the Levantine substance. The poem is redeemed by the separation of the real and the ideal, and, like Shelley and Keats, Moore is successful in making earthly life spiritually acceptable. Music becomes the link between love and religion, and Moore’s musical expression reiterates the Romantic theme in tones alternating between melancholy and delight" (poetryfoundation.org).
2-198. Ayesha, the maid of Kars. By the author of “Zohrab,” “Haji Baba,” &c. London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street (successor to Henry Colburn), 1834.
$950
First edition, 3 volumes, 12mo, pp. vii, [1], 317, [1]; [2], 330; [2], 335, [1]; original brown paper-covered boards, printed paper labels on spines; upper joint of volume II cracked, light to moderate foxing throughout; all else approaching near fine.
Sadleir 1796; Wolff 4927.
2-199. Translations of M. Gener, being a selection of letters, on life and manners. By John Muckersy, minister of West Calder. Edinburgh: printed for Peter Hill, printer to the Church of Scotland; and Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, London, 1808-12.
$150
First edition, 3 volumes, 8vo, pp. xv, [1], 331, [1]; vi, [2], 353, [1]; [8], 357, [1]; later blue paper-covered boards, glazed green paper shelfback, printed paper labels on spines; spines rubbed, labels darkened, small cracks starting at the joints; rear board of volume III a little stained; good and sound, or better. Imprints vary slightly.
Gener ostensibly is a cloistered French monk writing on the education and comportment of youth, and the impediments along the way to adulthood. I can't find anything about him and he may be Muckersy's alter ego. Muckersy (1755-1824) was the author of Old Statistical Account of West Calder, written in 1796.
2-200. [Napoleon I, Emperor of the French.] The historical and unrevealed memoirs of the private and political life of Napoleon Bonaparte; serving as an illustration of the manuscript of St. Helena. From 1781 to 1798. London: published for the Author, by Le Comte Charles d’Og****, Ex attaché à l’Etat-Major Général, &c. &c. &c. and sold by F. C. and J. Rivington; J. Walker; I. W. Whiteley; J. M. Richardson; H. R. Young; Taylor and Hessey; Edward and Knibb; T. Hookham; Rowell and Martin; B. E. Lloyd and Son; W. Lindsell; Ridgeway; Pearman; Ebers; Earle; T. J. Allman; Sams; Chapple; H. Setchell and Son; Hailes; W. Reynolds; And all Booksellers in the United Kingdom., 1819.
$400
First edition, 12mo, pp. iv, [1], 14-172; folding frontispiece facsimile plus 2 other facsimile plates (1 folding); original blue paper-covered boards, brown paper shelfback, printed paper label on spine; label rubbed, crack in the bottom third of the front joint; all else very good and sound.
Halkett & Laing attribute this to Madamoiselle R. d' Ancemont, likely a pseudonym and the text is likely a fabrication.