Provenance:  The Huth copy, with his gilt-stamped white oval “Ex Musaeo Huthi” bookplate.

•  ESTC T50473.   Period-style (impeccably so) mottled calf framed in double gilt fillets, spine with gilt-stamped title and gilt-stamped decorations at extremities; bookplate as above transplanted from original binding. Pages untrimmed save for last two leaves; lightly age-toned, with a few scattered spots of foxing. Inner margin of title-page unobtrusively repaired; one leaf with small burn hole in lower outer corner, not touching text. A handsomely clad copy with excellent provenance.  (30324)

•  Pictoral wrappers, chipped and fragile.

•  VD16 F 2908. See Brunet, II, 1401 for 1585 and 1596 eds. On Fenton, see: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online.   Contemporary vellum, covers framed in blind, spine with early hand-inked title; vellum moderately dust-soiled, joints repaired, upper corners and edges rubbed. Early pages with inked underlining; a few subsequent instances of pencilled bracketing. Scattered light staining, pages mostly clean.  (27755)

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.

Scottish author John Galt (1779–1839) pursued legal studies, business, travel, politics, and prolific writing in London and Glasgow before joining the Canada Company. Traveling back and forth to North America in the late 1820's, he was appointed superintendent of the Company and founded the city of Guelph, Ontario, in 1827. Galt continued writing to support his family throughout his life and published many books, including an autobiography documenting his experiences abroad and a biography of Lord Byron, whom he knew personally. His Lives of the Players was first published in London, also in 1831.

•  American Imprints 7212.   Publisher's brown cloth over boards, printed paper label on spines, cloth stained and worn; hinges repaired with brown tape. Ex–social club library: bookplate and call number in ink on front pastedowns, pressure-stamp on title-pages and sticker on upper spines. Corners creased and one tip lost in vol. I; and one leaf in vol. II creased across middle horizontally in the press. Foxing and staining of expectable sorts. A good set.  (30842)

•  Fair in printed paper wrappers, front cover lacking, sewing starting to go.

•  Spine and covers chipped, rear cover separating, lower corner of front cover dog-eared. Title-page chipped at one corner.

•  ESTC S111817; STC (2nd ed.) 14751; NCBEL, I, 1657.   Green cloth over limp boards, front cover with title and publication information stamped in gilt; spine and extremities lightly rubbed. One page with pencilled annotation in lower margin, partially shaved; two smaller notes elsewhere. Pages lightly age-toned, with occasional small spots of mild staining; title-page and final page gutters reinforced with cloth tape. A very accessible piece of Jonsoniana; a veritable cornucopia of misogynies.  (32709)

•  ESTC S111817; STC (2nd ed.) 14751l.   Green cloth over limp boards, front cover with title and publication information stamped in gilt; spine and corners very slightly rubbed; gutters of title-page and last leaf affixed to endpapers with cloth tape. Pages age-toned especially at edges, with scattered spots; one leaf with paper flaw in outer margin, not touching text; one leaf with small inked lines in outer margin. A nice copy of one of Jonson's most important plays.  (32720)

•  ESTC S111817; STC (2nd ed.) 14751; NCBEL, I, 1657.   Green cloth over limp boards, front cover with title and publication information stamped in gilt; spine and corners lightly worn. Pages gently age-toned with a few scattered spots; some inner margins waterstained. Some signatures starting to pull away, title-page and final page with gutters reinforced with cloth tape; one leaf with short tear from lower margin, not touching text, one lower outer corner torn away. A desirable First Folio printing of a popular play.  (32716)

Kelly's first production, this play enjoyed great success both onstage and in print. Garrick wrote the prologue and epilogue to this rather provoking tale of an entire circle of friends attempting to get themselves successfully paired off, most of them foolishly determined to marry people they don't love for the sake of nobly sparing everyone else's feelings, and all of them completely misunderstanding the true natures of the various relationships.

This is almost certainly the first edition; of the four printings in 1768, one identifies itself as the fourth edition and the other two both seem to have been labelled "A new edition."

•  NCBEL 2, 845. On Kelly, see: DNB. Recent wrappers. Lacking half-title. Three pages including title stamped by now-defunct library. Pages with previous sewing-holes and some light foxing towards the end.

true first edition of the unofficial second series

several on plays and actors

The first series made its first appearance in book form in London, 1823. The authorized second series was not published until 1833, under the title The Last Essays of Elia; the pieces selected for the unauthorized American second series offered here are different from those contained in that volume, and mistakenly include three essays written by other hands.

•  Shoemaker 33813 & 33814; NCBEL, III, 1225; NSTC 2L2346.   Vol. I: Uncut copy. Publisher's quarter once-red cloth and paper sides, covers printed with “Elia” within a simple frame, spine with printed paper label; binding rubbed and lightly soiled, spine sunned to yellow. Repaired tear to one leaf, touching text without loss; remarkably clean and sound. Vol. II: Contemporary speckled sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; rubbed, and head of spine chipped with old refurbishing. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate and call number ticket on front pastedown, front free endpaper with inked numerals, title-page pressure-stamped. Author's name inked on title-page; front free endpaper and title-page reinforced at fore-edge (the latter from the back). Both volumes age-toned, with intermittent spots of staining; advertisements absent. The set now housed in a quarter blue morocco and blue cloth–covered clamshell case with marbled paper–covered sides and gilt-stamped spine.  (26434)

Searches of NUC, COPAC, WorldCat, Catálogo Colectivo del Patrimonio Bibliográfico, REBUIN, and the OPAC of he Spanish National Library locate only four copies, all in Spain.

•  Stitched, never bound. Age-toned, staining, dust-soiling. Paper limp.  (31343)

Provenance:  Front pastedown with simple, nicely lettered bookplate of Broadway producer, printer, publisher, author of a famous mixological work, and collector Crosby Gaige (born Roscoe Conkling Gaige).

•  BAL12788.   Publisher's blue-gray paper–covered sides; spine with (chipped) printed paper label darkened and rubbed at tips, small areas of insect damage to front joint (showing more extensively inside at front hinge), and paper across back hinge (inside) partially cracked. Pastedown with bookplate as above. Uncut pages very faintly age-toned, otherwise clean. The extra spine label tipped to rear free endpaper.  (29723)

•  Palau 144343.   Contemporary limp vellum, lacking the ties; fore- and top edges of vellum rodent gnawed, top corner of all leaves slightly rodent gnawed, some staining to early fore-edges and a few others. Text almost throughout browned from iron in water used in paper manufacture, sometimes heavily enough to make this a good example of the extreme of the phenomenon, sometimes lightly enough to be called just “foxing and spotting”; paper absolutely unweakened and volume fine for use.  (28390)

Binding:  Publisher's tan cloth, front cover with double iris design stamped in green, white, and violet.

•  Binding as above, minimal rubbing only. Pages and plates clean. A beautiful copy.  (28613)

Click the images for enlargements.

•  Gamba 2323; not in Brunet. Contemporary vellum over paste boards, outer edges yapp, spine with hand-inked title; vellum torn and partially lost over lower edge of front cover, with signs of wear and small spots of staining elsewhere. Ex-library, front pastedown with Italian institutional bookplate; yet volume otherwise free of markings. Title-page verso with affixed scrap of paper. Intermittently occurring light dampstaining in upper margins; otherwise clean.

The volume was lithographically printed on Arches Rivoli paper by Northend Printers of Sheffield, with the typesetting done by Charles Hall and the binding by The Fine Bindery. This isnumbered copy 76 of 280 printed, signed at the colophon by the artist.

•  Publisher's brick paper–covered boards, spine with title and sides with images printed in maroon, minimal shelfwear to extremities; overall a clean and handsome copy.  (32634)

•  Contemporary vellum, spines with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels and gilt-stamped decorative bands; bindings lightly soiled, with spine labels chipped and rubbed, spines with shelving numbers in white. All page edges stained gold. Front pastedowns with institutional bookplates, title-pages with shadows of pencilled numerals. Vol. III lacking half-title. Intermittent light foxing, most pages clean. (14112)