LITERATURE
LITERATURE
To go directly to a “shelf” devoted entirely to the THEATER/THEATRE,
click here.
An AMERICAN Edition — Complete & Attractive 
(A
Long Lovely Shelf). Chalmers,
Alexander. The British essayists: With prefaces, historical and
biographical, by A Chalmers. Boston: Little, Brown, & Co., 1856–57.
12mo (18 cm, 7"). 38 vols. (1, 2, 5, 6, 13, 14, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 27, & 32
with frontis.)
Click the image above for an enlargement.
An early purchaser has recorded the cost of binding the set (60 pence per book) in a pencilled note on the front fly-leaf of vol. I: “Aug. 15th 1864 in 38 vol bound in fine 1/2 moroco [sic] per vol c/60 d.”
The essays and authors here were all once fashionable as well as interesting; they are no longer at all fashionable, but they are interesting in ways that their authors and original readers never imagined.
Bindings: Contemporary half morocco over attractive marbled paper–covered sides, each spine with gilt-stamped title, volume number, and elegant arabesque decorations. Top edges gilt.
• On Chalmers, see: The Dictionary of National Biography.
Bindings lightly rubbed, a few with leather showing slight cracking over spines.
Frontispiece with bookplate of private collector. Pages age-toned, with edges
slightly embrittled; some occurrences of staining and pencilled underlining,
with the majority of pages clean. An attractive set; many happy hours’ worth
of reading. 
For
anyone who savors slices'o'life, and slices'o'time, very rich fare.
This
set also appears in the GENERAL
Complete
8-Vol. Spectator
Set — Handsomely Bound[Addison,
Joseph; et al.]. The spectator:
With a historical and biographical preface. Boston: Little, Brown, & Co.,
1864. 8vo (16.6 cm, 6.5"). 8vols. I: Frontis., 405, [1] pp. II: Frontis., 408
pp. III: 408 pp. IV: 407, [1] pp. V: 397, [1] pp. VI: 395, [1] pp. VII: 397, [1]
pp. VII: 435, [1] pp.
Binding:
Half tan cloth and marbled paper sides; round spines with five
gilt-ruled raised bands, compartments gilt extra, oxblood-colored gilt-stamped
leather title labels and black gilt-stamped leather volume labels. Endpapers
done in same marbled paper as binding sides, with all page edges marbled in
the same colors and pattern; red and yellow headbands.
• NCBEL, II, 1101 (for the first printing of Chalmer’s ed.). Bindings as above, leather showing moderate wear with a few abrasions; upper page edges dust-darkened. Each volume with ownership inscription inked on reverse of front free endpaper. Pages mostly clean with occasional instances of age-toning or light spotting.
Inscribed by
the Author Angney, Lydia F. California and other poems. Gilroy, CA: Pr. for the author by A.C. Eaton, 1900. 8vo. 96 pp.
“Californianum” — this copy with a laid-in slip of paper reading “Christmas Greeting to Frank & Annie, from Aunt Lydia.” Lydia Francis Witham Angney authored two volumes of poetry, both published in Gilroy, the home of the annual Garlic Festival, and endured a long widowhood following the death of her husband W. Z. Angney. W.Z. served in the Mexican War and played a major role in the U.S. occupation of New Mexico and in the territorial government, then moved on to California, settling in Gilroy to raise tree fruit in his orchards, but being sent to the state senate and called on by the governor for other civic duties. He died in January 1878.
Click the interior image for an enlargement.
• Publisher's green cloth, front cover and spine with gilt-stamped title; light shelf wear to corners and spine extremities. (22223)
A
RARE Poetic
Encomium
Anonymous. La opinion de un mexicano el dia 4 de marzo de 1813. Mexico: Oficina de D. Mariano Ontiveros, [1813] . 8vo. [8] ff.
Click either image• Medina, Mexico, 10842; Garritz, Impresos novohispanos, 1826; Sutro, Supplement, 125. Folded and never bound; uncut, unopened. Small hole in blank area of inner area of title-page and its conjugate. Faint stain. (21278)
Illustrated & AnnotatedArabian Nights. The thousand and one nights, commonly called, in England, the Arabian nights’ entertainments. London: Charles Knight & Co., 1839–41. 8vo (25.3 cm, 10"). 3 vols. I: Add. engr. t.-p., xxiii, [3], [xxv]–xxxii, 618 pp.; illus. II: Add. engr. t.-p., xii, 643, [1] pp.; illus. III: Add. engr. t.-p., xii, 763, [1] pp.; illus.
Click the interior images for enlargements. 
A lavishly produced set, attractively illustrated and bound.
For
ARABICA, click here. For
more TRANSLATIONS, click here.
Greek & Latin — Large Paper Copy — Handsome!Aristophanes. Aristophanis comoediae ex optimis exemplaribus emendatae studio Rich. Franc. Phil Brunck Argentoratensis. Argentorati: Joh. Georgii Treuttel, 1781–83. 4to (26.8 cm, 10.5"). 3 vols. I: Frontis., [16], 295, [1], 182, 291, [1] pp. II: [2], 310, 199, [1], 257 (i.e., 259: 63/64 repeated in pagination), [1] pp. III: [2], 291, [1], 128, 228, [160 (index)] pp.
Click
the interior image for an enlargement.
• Brunet, I, 453–54; Dibdin, I, 301–02; Graesse, I, 207; Schweiger, I, 46. Recent quarter calf and marbled paper–covered sides, leather edges tooled in blind, spine with gilt-dotted raised bands, gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels, and gilt-stamped decorations in compartments. All edges gilt. Vol. I title-page with inked ownership inscription dated 1884 in upper outer corner; frontispiece with ink stain to outer margin not touching image (in our picture above, this misleadingly looks like it could be a wormhole). Faint spots of foxing in some sections, pages otherwise clean.
Fanny & Friends forAMERICANS Austen, Jane. Mansfield Park: A novel. Philadelphia: Carey & Lea, 1832. 2 vols. I: 200 pp. (lacking 4 pp. of prelim. adv.). II: 204 pp.
Click the interior images for enlargements. Uncommon: Only 10 U.S. institutions report holding copies; one guesses that most have had them for quite some time.
• Checklist American Imprints 11021. Recent quarter red calf and marbled paper–covered sides, spines with gilt-stamped leather title-labels. Four pages of preliminary advertising lacking (only). Moderate to heavy foxing without apparent weakening to paper or harm to reading; pages clean otherwise. (20926)
Goosing the GothicAusten, Jane. Northanger Abbey. [Baltimore]: Printed for the members of The Limited Editions Club, by the Garamond Press, 1971. Folio (27.8 cm, 11"). [4 (1 blank)], v–xi, [5 (3 blank)], 3–210, [3 (2 blank)] pp.; 12 plts. 
• Bibliography of the Fine Books of the Limited Editions Club
1929–1985, 436. Binding as above, clean and unworn, in original
glassine wrapper and slipcase; wrapper chipped at head of spine and with small
edge tears; spine and top of slipcase sunned, back of case with a small, faint
spot of soiling, spine label with some soiling, small scrapes, and a small
chip at bottom edge. A fine, very attractive copy. Heroine
Catherine might have liked the cover fabric here as dress material.
First of theSpasmodics, in a Medievalesque BindingBailey, Philip James. Festus a poem...from the third London edition. Boston: Sanborn, Carter, & Bazin, 1857. 8vo (23.5 cm, 9.25"). Add. engr. t.-p., 6, [4], [9]–635, [1] pp.; 12 plts.
Binding: Publisher’s gothic-inspired embossed morocco; covers with embellished gilt-stamped title within elegant, overall blind-embossed frames and flourishes. Spine with gilt-stamped title, raised bands, and black-stamped decorations in compartments. Handsome marbled endpapers, all edges gilt.
• Not in Wolf, From Gothic Windows to Peacocks. Binding as above, with some minor scuffing; front cover with scrape to central medallion (identical back cover, pristine), head of spine with rather odd pinhole through leather. Plates and surrounding leaves lightly foxed. A beautiful production.
For
more AMERICAN
PUBLISHER'S
The Private Edition, One of 12 Copies OnlyA Family Copy Barham, R. Harris. The Ingoldsby legends or mirth and marvels by Thomas Ingoldsby Esquire [with] The Ingoldsby legends ... Second series. London: Richard Bentley, 1840 & 1842. 8vo. 2 vols. I: [6], v, [3], 338, [2] pp. with inserted extra-engraved title (a proof before letters), numbered colophon leaf, engraved title, and six etched plates; II: vii, [3], 288 pp. with engraved title and seven etched plates.
Click any image where the hand appears on
Sadleir's analysis suggested to him the following probable sequence: a) the private edition, b) copies of the public edition with p. 236 in the same form as it appears in the private edition, c) copies of the public edition with p. 236 blank; and d) copies of the public edition with the complete new version of the text on p. 236.
However, the remnants of the binding preserved at the back of the present first volume — see note below and
Barham began writing the short pieces making up this series as contributions to his friend and classmate's Bentley's Miscellany. The subject matter was “at first derived from the legendary lore of the author's ancestral locality in Kent, but soon [was] enriched by satires on the topics of the day and subjects of pure invention, or borrowed from history or the ‘Acta Sanctorum’. . . . The success of the ‘Legends’ was pronounced from the first, and when published collectively in 1840 they at once took the high place in humorous literature which they have ever since retained” (DNB).
Provenance: With R.H.D. Barham’s signature as noted above, and with the armorial bookplate of Sir David Lionel Salomons (1851–1925) in each volume.
• NCBEL, III, 365; Sadleir 156a; Tinker 216 (public edition); Carter, Binding Variants, p.92. Bindings a bit darkened and slightly discolored at extremities, light rubbing to joints, some foxing to the prelims of the first volume, with an old tide-mark in the lower gutter areas of the plates; a tipped-in bookseller's description in the first volume. 
A very good, very interesting example of a very rare thing.
A
PRB&M “FEATURED BOOK” —
First
Publicly Available, “Real” Editions,Signed Bindings[Barham, Richard Harris, a.k.a.] Ingoldsby, Thomas. The Ingoldsby legends or mirth and marvels. London: Richard Bentley (pr. by Samuel Bentley), 1840–47. 8vo (20.5 cm, 8.1"). 3 vols. I: Engr. t.-p., v, [3], 338, [2] pp.; 6 plts. II: Engr. t.-p., vii, [3], 288 pp.; 7 plts. III: Engr. t.-p., vi, [2], 364 pp.; 6 plts.
18 plates engraved by George Cruikshank, John Leech, and John Tenniel.
Bindings: Contemporary signed bindings by E.P. Dutton & Co., of red morocco with covers framed in gilt triple fillets; spines with raised bands, gilt-stamped titles, and compartments framed in gilt double fillets. Board edges gilt-ruled, gilt inner dentelles. Upper page edges gilt. 
Original cloth covers and spines bound in at the back.
• Sadleir 156b, e, & f; NCBEL, III, 365. Bindings as above, spines and upper board edges darkened with a bit of rubbing; free endpapers with offsetting from turn-ins. One volume with lower part of cover stained and the lower inner margin of the title-page and plates (not the text leaves!) waterstained. One plate evenly age-toned.
PHOTOPLAY EDITIONBarrie, J.M. The little minister. New York & Boston: H.M. Caldwell Co., (copyright 1898). 8vo. ix, [3] 454 pp.; 16 plts. 
• Publisher's green cloth, front cover and spine stamped in black and gilt; spine with stamping a bit dimmed and extremities lightly rubbed, binding otherwise clean and handsome. Very appealing copy. (16731)
Amores — A Partial ElzevirBaudius, Dominicus. Amores, edente Petro Scriverio, inscripti Th. Graswinckelio. Lugduni-Batavorum: Francisci Hegerus & Hackius, 1638. 12mo. [6] ff., 518 pp., [1] f.; illus. 
Click the interior images for enlargements. This work is the first listed in all bibliographies under Louis Elzevir’s press at Amsterdam. In fact both the Elzevir edition of 1638 and this have the same colophon: “Lugduni-Batavorum: Typis Georgii Abrahami vander Marse, MDCXXXVIII.” And both collate the same, the only difference being the printer’s device and imprint information on the title-page.
Uncommon: Searches of OCLC, RLIN, & NUC locate fewer than ten copies in U.S. libraries.
Provenance: The Rev. Edward A. Dalrymple (Baltimore collector, mid–19th century); his collection given to the Maryland Diocesan Library; that library sold in 2006.
• Rahir 1876; Willems 961 note. Contemporary vellum over light boards; spine delicately and lightly tooled in gilt. Ex–Maryland Episcopal Diocesan Library with stamp on front pastedown. One natural paper flaw; occasional early underlining.
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more 17TH-CENTURY BOOKS, click here.
CanTeenage Girls Be Taught SELFLESSNESS? Bell, Catherine D. Hope Campbell; or, know thyself. London: Frederick Warne & Co., [1884?]. 8vo. [8], 331, [13 (adv.)] pp.
Click the interior image for an enlargement. Binding: Publisher's dark green cloth, front cover and spine stamped in black and gilt with the cover incorporating an elegant emblematic device featuring Apollo/Hyperion and his horses, and the spine an angel holding a small child; the number 18 can be seen in the right raking light, stamped in blind, within the bottom element of the front cover.
• Binding cocked, corners and spine extremities a touch rubbed. Page edges age-spotted; pages faintly and evenly age-toned. In fact a bright, handsome copy. (23190)
“Cancion
Patriotica de Caracas”
— RareBELLO
Poetry BroadsideBello, Andrés. Broadside, begins: “Cancion Patriotica de Caracas.” [Caracas: Gallagher y Lamb, 1810]. Folio (31 cm; 12.25"). 1 p.
Click the image for an enlargement.
It was sung for the first time by Cayetano Carreño and six other voices, the night of 23 April 1810 with the accompaniment of the military orchestra of the “Batallon Veterano.” The performance took place below the balcony on which were assembled the members of the Supreme Junta.
In addition to the historic collaboration of Bello and Carreño, this fabulous document has the distinction of having been printed by Venezuela’s first press, that of Gallagher and Lamb, which only arrived in Caracas in October of 1808, and was almost certainly printed on 24 April, the day after the hymn was first sung!
Very Rare. This broadside was unknown to both Medina and Pedro Grases. Searches of NUC, OCLC, and RLIN fail to find any copy at all, as is the case when searching the OPACs of the national libraries of Venezuela, Colombia, Spain, France, and England.
• Not in Medina, Caracas; not in Grases, Historia de la imprenta en Venezuela; not in Villasana. As issued. Worming in foremargin, repaired. A very good copy.
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SOUTH AMERICANA, click here.
Hilaire Handwritten Belloc, Hilaire. Manuscript on paper, in English. “A Chinese litany of odd numbers.” London: 1933. 4to (24.5 cm, 9.7"). [26] pp.
Poetic PearlsBethune, George W., ed. Pearls from the British female poets. New York: World Publishing House, 1876. 8vo (23.8 cm, 9.4"). Frontis., xv, [1], [13]–490 pp.
brief biographies provided. The first edition was illustrated, as this one claims to be on the title-page; but only the engraved frontispiece portrait, present with its tissue guard, is actually called for.
Binding: Publisher’s full sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label.
• Binding as above, joints starting, rubbed over edges and extremities, spine darkened and scraped, leather lost over head of spine. All edges marbled. Front free endpaper with early pencilled ownership inscription. Pages clean.
Harper’s ILLUMINATEDFamily Records including Two for “Colored Servants”Bible. English. 1846. Authorized (i.e., "King James Version"). The illuminated Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments...With marginal readings, references, and chronological dates. Also, the Apocrypha....Embellished with sixteen hundred historical engravings by J.A. Adams, more than fourteen hundred of which are from original designs by J.G. Chapman. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1846. Folio (34.6 cm, 13.75"). Frontis., add. engr. t.-p., [4], 844, [2], 128, [6], frontis., add. engr. t.-p., [2], 256, 3, [1], 8, 14, 34 pp.; illus.
Single-click any image where the hand appears on
At the bottom of the reverse of the “Death” leaf are two names inscribed in a different but also carefully ornate hand, within a circular title reading “Colored servants.”
• O’Callaghan 288–89; Hills 1161. Binding as above, carefully and reasonably rebacked, with portion of uppermost spine compartment left free of gilt; a few small scuffs, and some minor refurbishing over extremities. All edges gilt. First few leaves with outer edges ragged; pages very faintly age-toned, otherwise clean. A gorgeous copy, with the interesting manuscript additions described above.
Rhymed
English Psalms — Merrick
& TattersallToo
“Poetical”?Bible. O.T. Psalms. English. 1805. Merrick. A version of the Psalms ... formed into stanzas, and divided into short portions, for the use of the Church ... the seventh edition. London: Pr. by C. Rickaby for Messrs. Rivingtons; Longman, Hurst, Rees, & Orme; Leigh & Sotheby; et al., 1805. 12mo (18.3 cm, 7.2"). [4], 389, [1 (blank)] pp.
Binding: Contemporary red straight-grain morocco, covers framed in gilt single fillet, spine with gilt-stamped title. All edges gilt.
• NSTC B2162; Lowndes, Bibliographer’s Manual, 2002 (for 1798 Tattersall ed.); Allibone, Critical Dictionary of English Literature, 1269 (likewise). Binding as above, spine and outer edge of front cover darkened, joints and edges with moderate shelf wear. Front pastedown with institutional bookplate and donor bookplate; front free endpaper reverse with inked ownership inscription and pencilled inscription dated 1814; title-page with small inked initials in upper outer corner. Light foxing. In fact quite nice.
“Oh,
Wha’ll
Gie MeWings
like the Doo?”Bible. O.T. Psalms. Scots. Waddell. 1871. The Psalms: Frae Hebrew intil Scottis. Edinburgh: J. Menzies & Co.; Glasgow: T. & J. Lochhead and Wm. Love, 1871. 4to (21.7 cm, 8.5"). [2], 2, 105, [1] pp.; illus.
Click the interior images for enlargements.
• Publisher’s cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped title; cloth faded along edges and spine. Front hinge (inside) slightly tender. Pages faintly age-toned; in fact, a very clean nice copy.
Illuminated
byValenti
Angelo
Bible. O.T. Song of Songs. English. 1935. Authorized. The song of songs which is Solomon's. New York: The Heritage Pess, 1935. 8vo. [32] ff.
Click the interior images for enlargements. Unlike virtually all other Heritage Press books, this is NOT a reprint of a Limited Editions Club edition.
• Red leather, covers stamped in blind, title stamped in gilt on spine; spine lightly rubbed. Slipcase slightly faded and lightly worn at edges. Early owner's name on front free endpaper. (22082)
NOT the London, 1637 — English Octavo Bible Printed at OxfordBible. English. Authorized (i.e., King James Version). 1680. [The Holy Bible containing the Old Testament and the New. Oxford: At the Theater for Moses Pitt, Peter Parker, Thomas Guy, and William Leak, all in London, 1680]. 8vo (17 cm, 6.75"). A–Z8 Aa–Zz8 Aaa–Ggg8 Hhh2 Iii–Zzz8 Aaaa8 Bbbb4; [558] ff.; lacking engraved title (replaced with title and prelim. leaf from another edition).
Click
any image where the hand appears on
This edition is printed in two unruled columns with shouldernotes, sidenotes (including dates), and italic headers. Acts 6:3 wrongly reads “ye may” for “we may.” Tables of kindred and affinity, weights and measures, money, and time are found on the last two pages. The New Testament sectional title has a woodcut vignette showing the arms of the University.
Binding: 19th-century black calf, elaborately tooled in blind in imaginative evocation of an “over the top” 17th-century binding, being horizontally, vertically, and diagonally ruled, foliate and floral devices within. Spine compartments tooled within, with gilt title in second one and gilt “Barker 1637” gilt at base. Red marbled endpapers. All edges gilt.
Provenance: 20th-century bookplate of C. ( or J.?) F. Weidmann, D.D. on front pastedown.
• Herbert 757; Darlow & Moule 595; Wing (rev.) 2315; Loftie, A
Century of Bibles,
354; ESTC R213033. (The title-page is from ESTC S90540 or S90541.) Binding
as above, a little rubbed, and refurbished. Occasional light browning, soiling,
and shallow bumping or chipping (not touching text).
Lacking engraved title (replaced with title and preliminary leaf from another
edition). A
bibliophile’s delight, and warning.
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more BIBLIO-FRAUD, click here. For
an OXFORD “shelf,” click
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& others also —
Lovely French Printing — GORGEOUS! French BindingBoileau
Despréaux, Nicolas. Œuvres diverses du Sieur D*** avec le traité du sublime ou du merveilleux dans le discours, traduit du Grec de Longin. Paris: Claude Barbin (pr. by Denys Thierry), 1674. 4to (25.3 cm, 10"). π2A–R4S8T–Y4Z
Click any image where the hand appears on
• Brunet, I, 1056; DeBacker, Auteurs du XVIIe siècle, 1020; Tchemerzine, II, 271. Binding as above, nearly perfect save for just a touch of rubbing to the spine extremities, in cloth-covered slipcase, worn, with cloth starting to split over edges. Frontispiece and title-page separating from binding; title with red-tinted signs, near edges, that the marbling process did not go entirely smoothly; upper margins of several other leaves with hints of very faint waterstaining. Otherwise, clean and quite lovely.
For
BOOKS IN FRENCH, click here.
To Scotland with Samuel — A Lovely CopyBoswell, James. The journal of a tour to the Hebrides, with Samuel Johnson. London: Charles Dilly (pr. by Henry Baldwin), 1785. 8vo (23 cm, 9.1"). vii, [1], 524 pp., [1 (errata)] f. 
Click the left or middle image for an enlargement.Binding: Modern dark green morocco by Riviere & Son as classic from this binder; covers framed in triple gilt fillets, raised bands on spine, spine gilt extra, gilt-ruled board edges, gilt inner dentelles. Top edge gilt.
• Pottle 57; Rothschild 456; Tinker 333. Binding as above, spine evenly sunned to brown, otherwise showing only very minor traces of wear to extremities. Scattered spots of light foxing, with pages predominantly clean.
A handsome copy, with untrimmed pages, complete with the half-title and the errata leaf.
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SCOTLAND & SCOTS, click here.
Maritime Derring-Do —
Romance for Boys?Brady, Cyrus Townsend. The Quiberon touch. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1901. 8vo. Frontis., viii, 410, [14 (adv.)] pp. 
• Publisher's blue cloth, front cover and spine stamped in white, green, and gilt; binding slightly cocked, with light rubbing to extremities. Front pastedown with institutional bookplate ("Fifth Form English Library"); front free endpaper with small bookseller's ticket and pencilled owner's name. A clean, handsome copy. (16721)
A
“Private” Edition
Brady, Nicholas. Virgil's
Æneis translated into blank verse. London: Pr. for the author, 1714. 8vo
(20 cm, 7.9"). [2 (lacking half-title)], 56 (i.e., 112), viii pp. 
• ESTC T50917; Foxon B375. On Brady, see: Dictionary of National Biography, VI, 192–93. Library cloth binding, faded and slightly cocked; library bookplate and charge slip; title-page and one other very faintly stamped; lacking half-title. Page edges browned and title-page with small ownership inscription in upper margin; dedication with traces of paper adhesion. Occasional inked corrections in an early hand.
Letters to aSister
in Stockholm — A Swedish FeministAmericaBremer, Fredrika. The homes of the New World; impressions of America. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1853. 12mo (20.2 cm, 7.9"). 2 vols. I: xii, 651, [1 (blank)] pp. II: 654,2 (adv.) pp.
Click the image to the left The first London edition appeared in three volumes, but the present edition in two, as stated on the title-page.
• Howes B-745. Publisher’s charcoal blind-stamped cloth, spines with gilt-stamped title; cloth showing mild wear overall, with spine gilt attractively oxidized. Front free endpapers with pencilled owner’s inscription dated 1869. Pages slightly age-toned, with scattered small spots of staining. Quite a nice set.
For
more POST-1820 AMERICANA,
Political/Jurisprudential/ Theatrical SATIRE
[Broome, Ralph]. Letters from Simpkin the second to his dear brother in Wales, containing an humble description of the trial of William Hastings, Esq. with Simon's answer. Dublin: P. Byrne & J. Moore, 1788. 8vo (18.5 cm, 7.25"). 46 pp. (lacking half-title). 
• ESTC N2497. Recent marbled-paper wrappers, front wrapper with paper title label. Lacking half-title. Title-page with lower corner neatly off, otherwise in excellent, clean condition.
For
ENGLISH POLITICS, click here.
Design, Beauty, Gout, Tobacco, “Chickens”Browne, Isaac Hawkins. Poems upon various subjects, Latin and English. London: J. Nourse, 1768. 8vo (24 cm, 9.4"). [10], 160 pp. (frontis. lacking).
• ESTC T116967. Recent marbled paper–covered boards, spine with printed paper label. Frontispiece lacking; title-page and a few others stamped by a now-defunct institution. Inner margins of the first two leaves and outer margin of the final leaf repaired.
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Chiswick Press — Limited Edition Browne, Thomas. Religio Medici. London: George Bell & Sons, 1898. 8vo. Frontis., x, [2], 187, [1] pp.
Binding: Publisher's quarter vellum and cream-colored cloth, front cover and spine with gilt-stamped title; spine and board edges a bit darkened. Top edges gilt, other edges untrimmed.
• Front free endpaper with offsetting from now-absent laid-in item; frontispiece browned around edges. Pages clean. (20609)
The Ring & the BookBrowning,
Robert. The ring and the book. Los Angeles: Pr. for the members of the Limited Editions Club by Plantin Press, 1949. 2 vols. I: xxi, [3], 340 pp.; 8 plts. II: [4], [341]–690, [4] pp.; 8 plts.
• Bibliography of the fine books published by the Limited Editions Club 1929–1985, 194. Bindings as above, spines very slightly rubbed. In original cloth-covered slipcase sunned where exposed on a shelf, slightly scuffed on the sides, and paper spine label detaching from bottom edge with lower right corner chipped (but no loss to printing). Top of case not quite solid—the top right edge is cracked within its cloth covering, though this is not immediately apparent. A fresh, handsome set.
Buckingham,
John Sheffield, duke of.
An essay on 
poetry:
By the ... earl of Murlgrave [sic]. London: Pr. & sold by H. Hills,
1709. 8vo. 16 pp.
$200.00
• ESTC T207675; Foxon S388. Removed from a nonce volume. Very good copy.
Officina Bodoni
Bulwer-Lytton, Edward. The last days of Pompeii. Verona: Printed for the members of The Limited Editions Club, 1956. Small folio. [1 (blank)] p., [1 (blank)] f., [4 (1 blank)], v–xxi, [3 (1 blank)], 3–513, [3 (1 blank)] pp., [1 (blank)] f., [1 (blank)] p.
Click the interior images above for enlargements. 
The book is illustrated with woodcuts by Kurt Craemer, each one based on a motif he saw at Pompeii. The design is by Giovanni Madersteig who chose a monotype Bembo font; the printing was done on Muslianco paper (with deckle edges) at the Officina Bodoni. The binding is full light grey Italian linen printed with an overall “Pompeian” design in dark grey; the red spine label is stamped in gold.
This edition is limited to 1500 copies, and this offering includes the monthly newsletter and mailing notice. The colophon is signed by Giovanni Madersteig and Kurt Craemer.
• Limited Editions Club, Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by The Limited Editions Club, 1929?1985, 270. A very good copy (spine a little darkened) with the slipcase.
NOT the Progress — The Pharisee & Publican & the Dying Sayings Bunyan, John. A discourse upon the Pharisee and Publican. Wherein several weighty things are handled ... the twelfth edition, corrected. To which is added his last sermon; as also his dying sayins [sic]. London: John Marshall, 1725. 12mo (14.7 cm, 5.75"). 166 pp. (lacking final blank f.).
Click the images for enlargements. John Marshall also issued this work in the same year as the present example with a slightly different title-page, reading “Wherein several great and weighty things . . . ,” this being a copy of the issue with a cancel title-page.The text is illustrated with one woodcut scene. A few copies are described as having a frontispiece, which would not be integral to the collation; presumably it was added later and so not original.
Provenance: John Kinsman, jun., 1760; Edwin P. Farnham, 1903.
• ESTC T58485. Recent speckled paper wrappers. Free endpapers and first and last leaves with worm damage to edges; final blank leaf lacking. Front free endpaper and dedication page with rubber-stamped numerals (no other markings). Lower outer corners waterstained in first portion of volume; some darker stains from laid-in plant matter, with several leaves having words obscured or lost due to botanical adhesions — in the worst case, one leaf with hole affecting about 30 words from having adhered to plant matter, subsequent leaf with about 15 words obscured. Some headers just shaved but no catchwords touched. Title-page verso and back free endpaper with inked ownership inscriptions as above. (20618)
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RELIGION, click here.
AMERICAN BUNYAN Bunyan, John. The pilgrim's progress from this world to that which is to come ... a new edition, divided into chapters. New York: William Borradaile (pr. by Samuel Marks), 1822. 8vo (22 cm, 8.55"). Frontis., add. engr. t.-p., 271, [1], frontis., add. engr. t.-p., [273]–496 pp. (175/76 repeated in pagination of first vol.).
Click the images for enlargements. • Shoemaker 8213. Contemporary speckled sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; leather scuffed, front joint starting from top. Front free endpaper with ownership inscriptions, one dated 1938 and one much older. A little spotting and staining, light to very moderate — a nice copy. (21041)
A Lancashire Story — First Edition Burnett, Frances Hodgson. Surly Tim and other stories. New York: Scribner, Armstrong, & Co., 1877. 12mo. [4] ff., 270, [3 (adv.)] pp.
• BAL 2036, first state with p. 274 left blank. Publisher's terra-cotta cloth binding, front stamped in gold and black, back stamped with publishers' seal in blind. Small areas of gold on front darkened. Traces of wear at head and base of spine. Previous owner's penciled signature on the front free endpaper; no other markings. Pages clean, binding tight. In fact, an uncommonly nice copy. (23461)
By a Man ofWide-Ranging — Catholic — InterestsButler, Charles. Reminiscences of Charles Butler, Esq. of Lincoln’s Inn, with a letter to a lady on ancient and modern music. New York: E. Bliss & E. White, and Collins & Hannay (pr. by H.C. Sleight), 1825. 12mo (20 cm, 7.9"). Frontis., viii, 350 pp.
Click the image for an enlargement.
• NSTC 2B62711; Shoemaker 19905. On Butler, see: Dictionary of National Biography. Contemporary paper-covered boards, spine with printed paper label; sides with spots of light discoloration, paper split and cracked along joints and spine, paper shelving label on spine. Front pastedown with institutional bookplate; front free endpaper with inked ownership inscription dated 1828; front free endpaper, title-page, and dedication rubber-stamped. Back free endpaper affixed to back pastedown. Sewing loosening. Pages untrimmed.
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CATHOLICA, click here.
First AMERICAN Hudibras —Troy,
1806Butler, Samuel. Hudibras, in three parts: Written in the time of the late wars... First American edition. Troy (NY): Wright, Goodenow, & Stockwell, 1806. 12mo (17.7 cm, 7"). xi, [1], 286, [14 (index)] pp.
• Shaw & Shoemaker 1178. Contemporary speckled sheep, worn
and rubbed; joints cracked, spine with cracking gilt-stamped leather label
and chipped paper shelving label. Front pastedown with small institutional
bookplate. One
“somewhat immodest”proverb carefully excised from footnotes, with
no other loss of text.
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