•  Binding as above; edges and extremities rubbed, small cracks in leather of front cover and spine, a few small abrasions to back cover. Pages age-toned with occasional light spotting, otherwise clean. Evocative, charming.  (27354)

Signed binding: Contemporary half tan morocco with marbled paper–covered sides, spine with raised bands each accented above and below with single gilt rule and single black rule; gilt-stamped title, spine compartments framed in gilt with gilt dots in each corner and each with gilt center device. Front free endpaper stamped “Bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe.” Top edge gilt; silk ribbon place marker.

Click the interior image for an enlargement.

•  Binding as above, spine slightly sunned, corners and extremities showing minor rubbing. Front pastedown with private collector’s armorial bookplate. Pages clean.

The additional engraved title-page, done by P. Sluyter after a design by J. Groere, depicts the author at work on a moonlit night, and is decorated with medallions of Athena and her owl; the title-page is printed in red and black, with an engraved vignette of an Attic city.

Binding: Prize binding (without certificate) of contemporary vellum, covers framed and panelled in double blind fillets with gilt-stamped corner fleurons, gilt-stamped medallion on each cover showing a scimitar-wielding knight bearing two crossed keys on his shield, supported by monkeys and surmounted by lounging figures grasping snakes. Spine with gilt-ruled raised bands, gilt-stamped compartment decorations, and early inked title.

•  Brunet, II, 1524; Graesse, II, 46; Schweiger, II, 379.   Binding as above, small areas of discoloration, ties now lacking; front hinge (inside) very unobtrusively reinforced. Front pastedown with affixed slip of old cataloguing, partially obscuring an early inked annotation. Title-page with shadows of pencilled numeral and publication annotation. Some margins darkened or with mild spotting, pages otherwise clean, and all edges red.  (25963)

The work was additionally printed in Dublin and Basil in the same year. OCLC notes that a third volume was printed almost ten years later, by J. Murray; that supplementary volume is not present here.

Signed binding: Contemporary treed calf, covers framed in gilt rolls, beautifully rebacked with gilt-stamped spines preserving handsome original gilt-stamped, two-color leather title and volume labels, turn-ins with gilt rolls. Front pastedown of vol. I with binder's ticket: “Pigge Binders, Lynn.”

A charming silhouette of Gibbon serves as frontispiece to volume I.

•  ESTC T79696; Allibone 663; Brunet, II, 1586; Norton, Gibbon, 131.   Bindings as above with original leather showing some scuffs and abrasions; gilt on original spine labels a little (but a little only) dimmed. Hinges (inside) reinforced. Final page of each volume, back pastedown of vol. I, and title-page of vol. II institutionally rubber-stamped; no other such marks. Intermittent spots of light foxing. A lovely, wide-margined, archetypically “18th-century” quarto production for this quintessentially 18th-century writer.  (23770)

signed by the author at the colophon

Binding:  Publisher's quarter black morocco with deliberately distressed grey and cream marbled paper–covered sides, spine gilt simply DG, BC, HP; by the Gray Parrot Bindery.

•  Spine gently faded; pages clean.  (30603)

Uncommon: WorldCat locates only one U.S. institutional holding of this 1911 (as per the imprimatur) edition.

Binding:  Cream-colored plasticized boards (with cream cloth intentionally visible at joints), front cover with color-printed overlay of an angel delicately tinted in light blue and pink with gilt backdrop beneath a rose and grapevine motif, turn-ins with gilt roll, moiré silk endpapers. All edges gilt.

•  Binding as above, corners slightly rubbed, minor discoloration to sides and spine head. Lacking pp. 19–30 (though with its not being entirely clear whether these were ever present). Pages age-toned; lower outer corners of first few leaves bumped. A beautiful little prayerbook.  (30391)

•  A copy in lovely condition, imperceptibly rebacked with the original spine retained. Original wrappers bound in. Protected in a crimson morocco-edged slipcase.

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This is numbered copy 616 of 1200 printed, and is signed at the colophon by the artist.

•  Limited Editions Club, Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by the Limited Editions Club, 164.   Bindings and blue cloth slipcase as above; case with “spine” and top sides sunned, one joint just starting and lower edge showing light shelfwear. Books clean and bright; despite minor wear to slipcase, a beautiful set.  (30541)

Binding: Publisher's brown suede, front cover with embossed Celtic designs, signed by Galwey & Co. of Dublin (with their ticket on the front pastedown).

delicately tinted fore-edge painting on the gilt edges depicting a red-jacketed fisher

Provenance: Front pastedown with armorial bookplate of John Train.

Binding:  Signed binding by Riviere & Son of full brown morocco, spine with raised bands and gilt-stamped title, board edges with gilt double fillets, turn-ins with one wide and one narrow gilt roll. All edges gilt.

•  NSTC 0337624 (for 1877 Golden Treasury ed.).   Binding as above, joints and lower corners carefully repaired with toned long-fiber tissue. Offsetting to endpapers from turn-ins; unobtrusive repair to upper inner portion of front free endpaper; back free endpaper starting to separate. Pages clean and gently age-toned. A lovely portable edition of Herrick's lyrics, in a simple but elegant Riviere binding with attractive fore-edge painting.  (30083)

This edition is limited to 1,500 copies of which this is copy no. 398, beingsigned by the illustrator at the colophon.

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by The Limited Editions Club, 1929–1985, 63.   Binding as above, in original glassine dust wrapper and publisher's slipcase; binding clean and fresh, wrapper with edge chips, slipcase unworn save for mild sunning to spine label. Pages clean. A very nice copy.  (30454)

The monograph's originalcolor-painted beaux-arts wrappers are bound in at the front and back here, including the spine in front (rubbed and faded, hinting at original splendor). The title-page is printed in red and black. An extensive index appears at the end.

Binding: Three-quarter evergreen morocco bordered with gilt fillets over bubble gum and mint marbled paper boards; spine with raised bands, gilt-framed compartments containing author, title, date, and appropriate devices in gilt; endpapers matching marbled boards and top edge gilt.

•  For J. Jacquemart, see: The Nineteenth Century, Vol. IX, pp. 681–90.   Leather lightly scuffed at extremities and sunned to a woody green on spine and upper front cover; offsetting from turn-ins onto endpapers. Mild to (occasionally) moderate foxing throughout and old water damage on a few leaves only.  (30132)

Binding: Contemporary calf over heavy boards, panelled and framed in blind with floral, geometric, and armorial blind-tooling within panels; a pencilled note on the front free endpaper says, “Richardson binding.” There once were clasps, now lost.

Provenance:  Title-page with small inked inscription, dated 1836, of Charles Nice Davies (1794–1842), a Welsh linguist, librarian at the Congregational Library, and divinity tutor at Brecon College.

•  STC (2nd ed.) 14600.5; ESTC S112182.   Bound as above, rebacked preserving original spine; leather cracked, edges and extremities rubbed, clasps now lost, hinges (inside) reinforced some time ago. Institutionally rubber-stamped on lower closed page edges, front pastedown, and first contents page. Title-page provided in early pen and ink facsimile, with inscription as above; last text page with commentary on the book's age, dated 1724 and 1913. Early inked underlining and marks of emphasis throughout; occasional marginalia, two pages dealing with women and the Church having extensive annotations. Pp. 675/76 lacking. One leaf with tear from upper margin extending into three lines of text, without loss; one leaf with large chip from lower margin, not affecting text. Scattered spots of staining only — a clean, strong volume.  (24511)

lectures Napoleon

Signed binding: Publisher's finely ribbed brown cloth, covers blind-stamped with arabesque designs, spine gilt extra in foliate patterns; binding stamped by Colton & Jenkins of New York. All edges gilt.

Provenance: Front free endpaper with early inked ownership inscription of Louise D. Brown.

•  Binding as above, gently cocked, extremities mildly rubbed, front joint with tiny pinhole spots of insect damage, lower back joint with slightly larger spots. Ownership note as above. Foxing to some portions of the volume, never very dark; frontispiece image bright and clean.  (30203)

Provenance:  19th-century engraved bookplate of Joannes Thomae Aubry, “Doct. Theol. Soc. Sorb., Rector S. Ludovici in insula.”

Binding:  18th-century crushed red morocco, gilt spine extra; triple fillet gilt border on covers; single gilt rule on board edges; gilt dentelles on turn-ins; French combed pattern endpapers. All edges gilt. Green silk placemarker.

•  Not in Schweiger.   Binding as above. A very good copy.  (22246)

the Shagbark Press in Maine

signed at the colophon by the artist

Binding:  Parchment paper–covered limp boards with sewing bands left visible, in original tan linen cloth–covered clamshell case with printed paper spine label.

•  Bound and cased as above, clamshell cases being unusual for the LEC. A clean, crisp copy in excellent condition. Fine copy.  (30564)

•  Binding as above, very slightly worn at extremities. An artistic and ambitious project, richly executed.  (30620)

Click the interior image for an enlargement.

The Abbé Ladvocat, librarian of the Sorbonne and a prominent Hebraist and Biblical exegete, also compiled the Dictionnaire géographique-portatif and a Grammaire Hébraïque à l’usage des Ecoles de la Sorbonne.

Binding:  Contemporary vellum, spines with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels and gilt-stamped compartment decorations.

•  Quérard, La France littéraire, IV, 387.   Some volumes somewhat sprung and spines slightly darkened, one spine label chipped (refurbished) and one spine with small area of insect damage. Front free endpapers each with inked ownership inscription dated 1833, front pastedowns each with institutional rubber-stamp (no other markings). Occasional small early inked shouldernotes, scattered light to moderate foxing and spotting. Pp. 181–88 of vol. IV bound in upside down and in reverse order. One leaf with closed tear from upper margin, just extending into text. (20682)

The elegant frontispiece is a portrait of Mrs. Fitzherbert by J. Broum after Richard Cosway, R.A. (1742–1821), the famous miniaturist who painted her on numerous occasions and whose portraits of her were so admired by her husband the King, that he took one to his grave.

Binding:  Full later brick red calf by Root & Son, double-ruled in gilt with leafy flowers in the board corners and in four of six spine compartments; gilt title, etc., on black morocco lettering pieces in the remaining spine compartments. Gilt-rolled board edges and turn-ins; mottled amethyst and emerald endpapers and a red silk marker.

•  On Mrs. Fitzherbert, see: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online.   Bound as above, spine a little scratched. Small tear repaired in margin of frontispiece and a bit of paper supplied to repair one lower inner margin; insignificant little nicks to a very few sheets, and a crease in one lower outer corner. Clean, LOVELY.  (30075)

Provenance:  Front pastedown with armorial bookplate of John Train; front fly-leaf with inked gift inscription to Dorothea Mary French from F.D., dated 1908.

•  Binding as above, lightly rubbed; joints tender with front one just starting at head. Occasional faint foxing; some lines of print offset. A lovely, quintessentially late-19th century production.  (30136)

This is numbered copy 1475 of 1500 printed, with the colophon signed by the artist.

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by The Limited Editions Club, 1929–1985, 432.   Binding as above, in original slipcase; slipcase showing tiny traces of shelfwear at corners, the whole otherwise pristine. A gorgeous copy.  (30465)

Binding / Provenance: Contemporary calf, framed in gilt triple fillets and panelled in gilt quadruple fillets with gilt-stamped corner fleurons and gilt-stamped central coat of arms of the Wilder family, with the motto “Virtuti moenia cedant.”

•  Schweiger, II, 565; Dibdin, II, 186–87. Binding as above, rebacked making use of most of the original spine, spine with gilt-stamped compartments and gilt-stamped leather title-label; edges worn and rubbed, portions of original spine leather cracked and chipped. Front pastedown with small abraded area; front fly-leaf with inked inscriptions dated 1834 and 1938. Some leaves with faint waterstaining in upper margins and lower outer corners. Attractive.

Binding: Contemporary treed calf, spines gilt extra with red labels and covers gilt-framed; gilt edges and gilt inner dentelles. Marbled endpapers in a French shell pattern. All edges gilt.

Provenance: Small booklabel of William Salloch on rear pastedown.

•  Schweiger, Handbuch der classischen Bibliographie, II, 568. Cohen & DeRicci, Livres à gravure du XVIII siècle, 662. Not in Ray, The Art of the French Illustrated Book 1700–1914. Leather on spines and edges of covers dry and chipped; joints open, but sewing holding. Some closed tears to endpapers and front free endpaper of vol. I partially detached; paper generally clean with occasional spots of light browning or foxing. Bookplate on front pastedowns. Plates clean and charming.

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Thewoodcut border on the four present title-pages feature emblems of the four evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John floating amidst clouds and cherubs, with a vignette below of Luther and Frederick the Wise, his most important patron, in contemporary dress kneeling before the crucifix. Text is in Latin, printed in roman and occasionally gothic type with a few instances of Greek, decorated with fine woodcut initials of varying sizes, many historiated; the margins are filled with side- and shouldernotes (very densely on some leaves). In one margin of vol. I, there is a narrow woodcut with the abbreviation “Pet Ant Ber” for Petrus Antonius Berrus, named in the adjacent passage.

Vol. II offerstwo full-page woodcuts of the monsters “pope-ass” and “monk-calf” — the subjects of the anti-Catholic pamphlet by Luther and Melancthon first published in 1523 with woodcuts by Lucas Cranach the Elder.

Bindings: All very handsome 16th-century alum-tawed pigskin over bevelled wooden boards, elaborately worked in blind with rules and concentric rectangular panels with a variety of stamps and rolls including acorns, flowers, leaves, and historiated compartments accompanied by captions in Latin: “Ecce ancilla domini fiat” (Luke 1:38); “Mors ero mors tua” (Hosea 13:14); and “Ecce agnus dei qui tol[lit peccata mundi]” (John 1:29). The binding appears to besigned NM in small round stamps surrounding the innermost panel. Spines have raised bands and a manuscript title in the upper compartment, blue edges, and title inked on the top edge. Embossed metal and leather clasps intact on all volumes.

Provenance:  Theophilus Natingus (contemporary owner's inscription in ink on each title-page.

•  Benzing 2 (vols. IV & V); Adams L-1741, L-1746, L-1749, L-1752 (vol. I not in Adams). These edd. not in VD16.   Bindings as above, first five vols. only of a seven-volume set; covers soiled and abraded to varying degrees, extremities rubbed with a few minor chips. Ex-library: attractive 19th-century bookplate on front pastedowns; old pencillings. Light marginal worming on the first and last few leaves of vols. II–IV and final six leaves of vol. V All volumes with some deckled leaves and natural paper flaws, resulting in a handful of small holes and occasionally minor marginal tears; with mild foxing and age-toning on a small portion of leaves; with a reader's distinctive pencil marks in some margins. A few other spots and smudges, but overall a monumental set in contemporary clothes and good condition.  (30356)

Binding:  An example of a painted and tooled vellum binding known in Germany as a “Bauern Einbände,” or “Peasant Binding” — but, though betraying a strong influence of folk art, such bindings were certainly not for peasants! The style almost certainly began in Hungary with early examples first appearing in southern Germany, and it was to gain greatest favor in northern Germany and Holland during the 18th century.

This vellum binding is elaborately tooled, embossed, and painted. There is an outer border on each cover lettered in black with a motto; the center area is occupied by an embossed and painted bouquet arising from a heart-shaped jar inscribed with “Das herze mein soll dir Allen a Jesu sein.” The bouquet is painted in red, green, and yellow, and below the quoted matter is a stylized device of a “4" above the letters “C G R” (or “C R G”). All edges gilt.

•  Bound as above, lacking the metal and vellum clasps; binding rubbed, but charming and evocative. Overall in good+ condition.  (29117)

Binding:  Splendid18th-century embroidered binding of gold wire and silver and colored threads over white silk, each cover featuring one pink flower with a long green stem and leaves at its center. Raised wide swirls of silver with touches of gold surround this in relief, the whole cartouche being set on a background of densely laid-on metallic (silver?) threads semé in gold; a thin gold border edges the covers, with spine sewn in a relatively simple pattern of leaves and crossbars. Boards cut flush with text block, text of calendar section interleaved with blanks for memoranda. All edges gilt.

Contained in this little book, surrounded on each page by a simple woodcut border, are the birthdays of European royals, including newborns; woodcut illustrations of moon cycles and numismata; tables of international currency values, tariffs, and taxes; names of government officials in Liege; a town calendar of events, meetings, and saints' days; and anadvertisement for the publisher, who sold the present almanac in various bindings and other such “cute New Year's Gifts,” including Paris almanacs, at his local shop.This was the fanciest binding style offered chez Dessain, according to his ad!

Provenance:  Ex musaeo Hans Furstenberg (gilt-stamped russet leather bookplate, front pastedown), the famous collector of 18th-century French books.

WorldCat finds similar little almanacs from the same period, butnot this.

•  Binding as above; worn at edges, longest stitches across spine loosening, silver thread tarnished as virtually always and colored threads fading. Minor offsetting from bookplate onto title-page, else in good condition.  Housed in a 19th-century marbled paper–covered slipcase.  (30397)