Binding:  Publisher's scarlet morocco, covers framed in blind with blind-tooled corner fleurons surrounding a central gilt-stamped wreath, spine with gilt-stamped title within decorative wreath/cartouche. All edges gilt.

The Fore-edge Paintings: This presents a double fore-edge painting, one view of Dieppe and one of Le Havre, each maritime scene captioned within the image by the artist. The Havre portscape is rendered in particularly pleasing sunset colors.

Provenance:  Front pastedown with bookplate of collector John Train, and with small ticket of binder F. Westley.

•  NSTC 2S36004.   Binding as above, spine slightly darkened, light mottling to sides, joints skillfully repaired, minor leather losses refurbished with toned long-fiber tissue and (reversible) polyvinyl adhesive. In later plain terra-cotta cloth slipcase, case showing light shelf wear. Some plates with foxing offset onto tissue guards and added engraved title-page showing offsetting from frontispiece; pages clean. Evocative both textually and visually.  (30211)

•  Sewn as issued. Once folded in six parts. Long 2 1/2 inch tears extending from fore-edges, to first three leaves. Two dog-eared corners, a few short tears to final leaf, two small holes with loss of a few words of text. (557)

•  Publisher's printed paper wrappers, apparently removed from a nonce volume, with sewing holes; paper split over spine, with edges chipped and corners creased. Pages showing light foxing.  (15359)

All images were drawn and etched by the author himself.

Provenance:  Front free endpaper with inked inscription of Fairman R. Furness, of the prominent Furness-Bullitt family. Title-page with earlier signature of “A.G. Findlay.”

•  Hill, Collection of Pacific Voyages, 1563; Howgego, Encyclopedia of Exploration, II, S42; Sabin 80483; NSTC 2S19683.   Contemporary half calf and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; binding rubbed and abraded overall, spine head and label chipped. Front pastedown with small booklplate bearing no name; ownership inscriptions as above. Lower outer corner of title-page torn away; list of Briton officers with small tear repaired some time ago, tissue now lifting from repair. Pages and plates browned at edges with moderate spotting, staining, and dust-soiling; four pages with ink blurred from press. A fascinating book, an interesting copy.  (28374)

The second story [6 pages] is a vividly dramatic account of the narrow escape of sailors whose ship is set on fire by lightning.

•  Not located in RLIN. Very good. Original self wrappers (unbound; removed). (17584)

The book is profusely illustrated with pen drawings by Eric Palmquist, who has signed the colophon; of these, some are full-page, and some are spread across two pages with the text printed beneath. Most are smaller in-text drawings, including an extensive series of decorative tailpieces.

This edition was prepared under the supervision of Ragnar Svanström at the Royal Printing House in Stockholm, Sweden, and is limited to 1500 copies. Designer Karl-Erik Forsberg used a hand-set Berling Roman font which he himself designed; Forsberg also drew uncial letters, printed in red ink, for use on the title-page and for the canto-opening initials.

The binding is half natural Swedish linen stamped on the spine in red and black; the sides are covered with Swedish paper hand-grained to look like wood, and bear a small gold-stamped design of a warship, the Norse drakkar.

This is numbered copy 972 of 1500 printed; it wassigned by the illustrator.  The relevant Club newsletter is laid in.

Binding:  Quarter tan Swedish linen with streaked red paper–covered sides, front cover with gilt-stamped Viking ship, spine with decorative title in black and red, in the original matching slipcase with printed paper spine label.

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by the Limited Editions Club, 232.   Binding as above, spine slightly sunned, slipcase with moderate shelfwear to edges and one edge opening. A solid, attractive copy of a handsome book.  (29946)

Fore-edge: This beautiful example bears a subtly shaded (and therefore hard to photograph)fore-edge painting showing Westminster Abbey in the background behind a waterfront view with sailboats.

Binding:  Full straight-grain dark olive green morocco, covers framed in elegant feather and pearl twist gilt roll, turn-ins with floral gilt roll. Stone-pattern marbled endpapers. All edges gilt.

•  Griffiths, Bibliography of the Book of Common Prayer, 1802/1.   Binding as above, mild rubbing overall with some abraded areas consolidated, joints and extremities subtly repaired, aesthetically appropriate endbands supplied. Title-page with inked ownership inscription dated 1803, “The gift of my beloved husband.” Intermittent faint spots of foxing, mostly confined to early leaves. One inked marginal annotation in an early hand, three psalms (145–47) with small inked emphasis marks, pages otherwise clean.  (28715)

The present volume (XIV) covers 2 January 1808 through 16 April 1808, in other words till just before news arrived of Napoleon's treachery in Spain, with coverage of the war in Europe; British military actions in the Caribbean, Uruguay, and Argentina; ship arrivals; cargoes unloaded; notices from the provinces; Miranda's revolt in Venezuela; and even a comet seen in Europe.

Provenance:  Ex-John Carter Brown library, properly deaccessioned.

•  Sewn, removed from and now loosely laid into its original Mexican mottled sheep binding, this with a modestly gilt spine bearing a green leather gilt title-label and with an old paper label on its front cover. Some issues lightly soiled or with a bit of spotting/staining, else generally clean and very good.  (29691)

Click the image for an enlargement.

•  Disbound; three holes in inner margin, not touching text. Ink notation and numeral on first page. Some dog-earing and tattering in corners and outer margins. Pencillings in several margins. Occasional mild spotting. Now housed in a simple archival phase box. (13455)

Scarce: OCLC, RLIN, and NUC-Pre1956 locate only six U.S. holdings.

•  Brunet, V, 1118. Contemporary limp paste paper–covered wrappers, spine with hand-inked label; paper chipped at edges and front joint open; spine label darkened and peeling. Front pastedown with bookseller’s ticket and institutional bookplate; front free endpaper and title-page with institutional stamp; front free endpaper with ownership inscriptions dated 1829. Pages untrimmed.

After staying in Cadiz for several months (a sojourn left undetailed here, with a teasingly blank gap of three pages), Walton departed for London aboard the Cross Isle, under Capt. Robert Leake. That passage was more dramatic than the first, involving sightings of Spanish and French ships of war and a collision between the brigantine Betsy of Hull and the Crescent.

Many entries in this journal are dedicated to the weather (including the types and directions of wind encountered) and to record of Walton's dining companions at various points along the way (“Capt. Silvester, onboard the General Washington,” among others). Others mention the commemoration of the birthday of “the late unfortunate Queen of France . . . celebrated with all the Splendor of Cadiz,” the cargo rescued from the unfortunate Betsy (“very valuable, being of Silks & choice Goods of Leghorn”), and a stop at Cork.

Walton's serviceable script is generally decipherable throughout. The paper bears a Britannia watermark, sans motto or initials, resembling but not identical to Britannia examples in Churchill's Watermarks in Paper.

•  Sewn, with pencilled annotation on front wrapper; front wrapper tattered and with an ink-spill along outer edge of front wrapper and on first text page partially obscuring a few words of text. Folded, with short tears starting along some folds; light waterstaining to upper outer corners and on a couple of leaves elsewhere; lower corners bumped. An evocative “read”!  (25689)

•  Goldsmiths'-Kress 18239; NSTC W529. Recent paper wrappers. Some instances of light foxing and offsetting.