(Whittington Press.) LISTER (R.P.) & Miriam Macgregor (Illustrator)
58/300 COPIES (from an edition of 335 copies) printed on Zerkall mouldmade paper and signed by the author and artist, 41 wood-engravings by Miriam Macgregor, text printed in black and green, pp. [44], oblong 8vo, original quarter brown cloth, printed label to backstrip, cream boards with repeated pale and dark green engravings overall, untrimmed, board slipcase with printed label, fine. (Butcher 81)
(Whittington Press.) (ERAGNY PRESS.)
VI/100 COPIES (of an edition of 300 copies) printed on Flower paper originally produced for the Kelmscott Press, 24 of Lucien Pissarro's wood-engravings printed from the original woodblocks held in the possession of The Ashmolean Museum, produced for 'The Queen of the Fishes', 'Daphnis & Chloe', 'Un Coeur simple' and other works, also for Christmas cards and an unpublished Eragny Press book; the frontispiece (used in 'The Queen of the Fishes') printed in four colours, each engraving printed on the recto of a leaf with the plate number beneath blocked in blind, title printed in black and light blue, these copies with a portfolio of the 24 engravings, each on a separate leaf, and a further large colour printed engraving (25.5 x 18.5cms.) in its own paper folder, all inserted in a folder of cloth and boards, pp. [vi], 12, (23 Plates), royal 8vo, original quarter pale blue morocco, the title blocked in blind on morocco to upper board, pale blue Fabriano Ingres paper boards, Pissarro's device for the Eragny Press to upper board, hint of sunning to backstrip, faint handling mark to upper board, untrimmed, Press subscription form and note regarding the paper laid in, the book and additional folder of engravings together in slipcase of cloth and boards (striped with blue and matching portfolio), slipcase with a couple of very faint marks, near fine. John Randle writes of this book that, having declined an invitation by the Ashmolean to print the catalogue for their exhibition of Pissarro's work, 'I suggested that we might be able to do something with Pissarro's original blocks which I knew they had, and this is what happened. I made an arbitrary choice of the blocks I particularly liked, and the title suggested itself when they turned out to be mostly of French peasant life as Pissarro remembered it. We found with the blocks Pissarro's proof book which was a help particularly with the colour blocks, and Miriam Macgregor, who herself had engraved colour wood-engravings, helped us with the critical mixing of the colours. Pissarro had been advised by his friend Ricketts to use Batchelor's paper (made originally for William Morris) for his Eragny Press books but had preferred to use the French Rives. I think our edition proved how right Ricketts was, we achieved a sharper result on the more glazed surface of the Batchelors, perhaps one of the nicest papers we have ever had to print on. Fortunately we had some packets of Batchelors, and even more fortunately the Morgan Library allowed to have another 2000 sheets from their precious stock, left over from an abandoned project a century earlier. This made the whole project viable, and the result was one of the prettiest books to come from the Press. The design of the three bindings echoed the Eragny style, and John Bidwell's foreword explained the provenance of the three different Batchelor papers, one used for each edition.'
(Raverat.) WEDGWOOD (Henry Allen)
FIRST RAVERAT EDITION, frontispiece and 7 full-page colour-printed woodcuts, 47 further illustrations in the text, all by Gwen Raverat, a couple of tiny spots to borders of prelims, pp. vii, 70, crown 8vo, original blue cloth, backstrip with lettering and border stamped in gilt against a pink ground, tail edge roughtrimmed, edges spotted, free endpapers a little browned and spotted, dustjacket repeating Raverat frontispiece to front panel, price-clipped by publisher with new price stamped, shallow chipping to extremities, a few spots to borders, backstrip panel and head of rear panel very faintly browned, very good.
Lawrence (T.E., Contributes)
FIRST EDITION, frontispiece portrait photograph of Allenby, 1 plate of military symbols and 55 maps all colour-printed, a few faint marginal spots, pp. [vi], 113 + the plates (each with pages of explanation and commentary), 4to, original buff wrappers backed with terracotta cloth, backstrip lettered in black with the cloth slightly frayed at tips, wrappers dustsoiled overall with a few spots, a little bumping to corners, suggestion of re-gluing at foot of lower joint, good. The sections on 'Sherifian Co-operation in September' and the 'Story of the Arab Movement' that accompany plates 49-50 and 51-3 respectively, are unsigned but compiled from notes written by Lawrence for the Arab Bureau. (Roberts A011)
Stokes (Henry Sewell)
a little toned, with some very light spotting to the prelims and endleaves, but a very good copy; pp. [6], 99, [3], 12mo; full contemporary coarse-grained green morocco, neatly rebacked, upper cover lettered in gilt within an attractive cartouche, boards ruled gilt with a blind floral roll, gold edges; book label of of Lord Raglan and (facing) of Cefn Tilla Court (see below). First edition of this collection of poems by the Gibralterian-Cornish poet Henry Sewell Stokes (1808-1895). Stokes was born in Gibraltar but educated in England, where he was a school fellow of Dickens. He followed his father into the law, settling and establishing a successful legal practice in Truro. His published poems were mainly on Cornish topics - he was sometimes known as 'The Cornish Laureate' - from which the present volume represents a divergence. It contains fifteen Crimean poems: The Alliance, The Parting, The Expedition, The Battle of Alma, The Marshall's Death, After the Battle, The Dirge, The Siege, Balaklava, The Nurses, Who are the Brave, Inkerman, Widows and Orphans, A Lament for Eliot, and Christmas Night. 'A critic in the Westminster Review described the volume in July 1855 as 'the sincere response of a warm British heart to the tales of noble deeds, and nobly endured suffering, which have come to us from the Crimea'. Stokes's poem 'Inkerman' was especially singled out for praise as 'an easy, spirited ballad of the kind we wish our war-poets had hit on more frequently, instead of the high-flown metaphysical strain' (See ODNB). Crimea was rich fodder for those with poetical ambitions; Stokes was also a literary friend of Alfred Lord Tennyson, whose own narrative poem on the Charge of the Light Brigade had been published the previous year. This copy from the library of Fitzroy Somerset, Lord Raglan (1788-1855), one of the leaders of Britain's forces in the Crimea, who issued the order for Lord Lucan to carry out what would prove to be the disastrous 'charge of the light brigade' during the Battle of Balaclava, in October 1854. Although this led to some 278 British casualties and an indecisive result in the battle as a whole, the British and French allied army gained a victory at the Battle of Inkerman in November 1854 and Raglan was promoted to the rank of field marshal. The bookplate here belongs to Cefn Tilla Court, which was purchased in 1858 by a group of the late Lord Raglan's admirers, and presented to his son Richard and his heirs in perpetuity. See: W.P. Courtney and Jane Potter, 'Stokes, Henry Sewell (18081895), poet' ODNB (2004).
(Raverat.) CORNFORD (Frances)
FIRST EDITION, numerous wood-engravings by Raverat, including 3 full-page, tiny handling mark at edge of one page, pp. viii, 65, crown 8vo, original blue cloth, backstrip lettered in gilt, dustjacket with Raverat engravings to front panel, a couple of spots to top edge, others roughtrimmed, ownership inscription in pencil to flyleaf, backstrip faintly browned with very shallow chipping at head, very good. A collaboration between cousins, both née Darwin. The wide thematic variety of poetry gathered here gives Raverat free rein - with illustrations featuring intimate interiors, decorative friezes, mountain landscapes, the ballet etc. (Anderson A7)
Russell (Bertrand)
FIRST EDITION, pp. 538, [2, ads], 8vo, original green cloth, backstrip lettered in gilt, top edge green, dustjacket slightl yrubbed and nicked at extremities, nick at centre of lower joint-fold, very good. The dust jacket, of which this is a very bright example, has, as usual, a section of a War Office map on its verso (here of Indonesia). Russell's 'last major contribution to philosophy, [.] in which he developed at length his view that certainty in human knowledge was impossible and that the best to be hoped for was the probable truth afforded us by what he called "postulates of scientific inference"' (ODNB).
(Whittington Press.) CRAIG (John)
23/352 COPIES (from an edition of 440 copies) signed by Craig, text printed in brown, the title-page printed in black, all on Zerkall mouldmade paper, 81 excellent wood-engravings, including 2 tipped in folding-plates, all printed in black, and 3 tipped in folding 2-colour linocuts, including one printed on grey paper, all by John Craig, pp. [67], folio, original half pale grey cloth, the boards with a design in shades of grey, untrimmed, bookplate to flyleaf, matching cloth and board slipcase, fine.
(Whittington Press.) MORGAN (Gwenda)
XXXVII/50 COPIES (from an edition of 300 copies) printed on Zerkall mould-made paper, this copy additionally signed by the printer, John Randle, 31 wood-engravings with some full-page, 4 photographic plates, title-page printed in green and black, these special copies with a folder of cloth and boards containing proofs of 8 additional engravings, pp. xii, 151, royal 8vo, original half dark green morocco, pale green boards, the upper board with a Morgan engraving printed in green, backstrip lettered in gilt, t.e.g., others untrimmed, endpapers with facsimile of original manuscript printed in brown, the book and additional portfolio together in matching cloth and board slipcase, fine. A 'meticulous wartime diary of her time as a Land Girl, working on farms in and around her native Petworth' (John Randle).
[Caylus (Comte de)]
wood-engraved frontispiece depicting Joseph's rescue from a well, damp stain at lower fore-corner through first gathering, one page number pencilled through, a few spots pp. [iv], 130, 12mo, original green roan-backed marbled boards, gilt-ruled spine, worn at edges, boards with a few abrasions, good. Set from the text of the 1798 edition (the only other edition recorded), which was also printed in Doncaster, 'for the Use of Schools.' The Lilly Library has the only known copy of this 1798 edition (by a different printer). The original is a French work of the mid eighteenth century. Of this edition, WorldCat records copies at the British Library, Doncaster Central, Leicester and NLW.
Henley (William Ernest)
FIRST EDITION, with an etched vignette on the title-page depicting the old Edinburgh Infirmary, this tissue-guarded, a few faint spots to half-title, pp. xi, 167, foolscap 8vo, original pale-grey card wrappers printed in brown, over-lapping top and fore-edges, some light rubbing to extremities, textblock edges untrimmed and spotted, good. The work that brought Henley to prominence, his first book of poems - an uncommon book.
(Fleece Press.) (Whittington Press.)
275/350 COPIES printed on Zerkall mouldmade paper, 45 wood-engravings, each printed on a separate page and with one further engraving above the Colophon, title, engraver's name beneath each engraving and the colophon all printed in brown, bookplate to initial blank, pp. [xii] + Engravings, imperial 8vo, original quarter dark green cloth, backstrip gilt lettered, mid-green marbled boards, top edge green, other edges untrimmed, Press ephemera (both for Lawrence and The Whittington Press) laid in, board slipcase slightly sunned at opening, the book fine. Exhibits work by many of the finest wood-engravers of the period: including, Douglas Percy Bliss, John Biggs, Peter Forster, Jane Lydbury, Angela Lemaire, Enid Marx, Howard Phipps, Rachel Reckitt, Margaret Wells, Graham Williams, et al. (Butcher A2)
(Whittington Press.) JOHN (John St.)
559/588 COPIES printed on Saunders' mouldmade paper and signed by the author, line-drawings by Peter MacKarell, photographic portrait tipped in as frontispiece, title printed in green, pp.xi, 56, [1], roy.8vo., original Morris-style green willow-leaf decorated white cloth, printed oval label to upper board, top edge yellow, others untrimmed, marbled endpapers, bookplate to verso of flyleaf, glassine jacket, fine. Wartime experiences with Evelyn Waugh in the Royal Marines, and in particular the abortive attack on Dakar. (Butcher 2)
Lack (David)
FIRST EDITION, 10 plates and 25 figures (some graphs or maps), some faint spotting to plates and adjacent pages, pp. [vi], 239, crown 8vo, original blue boards, backstrip lettered in gilt with swift decoration in same, edges spotted (occasionally encroaching at head of pages), free endpapers a little browned and spotted, contemporary ownership inscription to flyleaf, front pastedown with small bookseller ticket concealed by front flap, dustjacket with a design by Ralph Thompson, backstrip lightly sunned, some light spotting, very good. A seminal study in its field; the Oxford Swift Research Project, begun by David and Elizabeth Lack in 1947 and focusing on the colony nesting in the ventilator shafts at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, is still ongoing.
(Whittington Press.) O'CONNOR (John)
VI/55 COPIES (from an edition of 200 copies) initialled by John O'Connor, printed on blue, cream and white Fabriano, Hahnemuhle Ingres and Oxford cream laid papers, and with 33 full-page engravings printed in a variety of colours and 4 other engravings in the text, the title printed in brown, these special copies with an additional folder of cloth and boards containing proofs of 2 of the colour-printed engravings from the book, and another (here 'Girl Picking Fruit') additionally hand-coloured by the artist (and singed and titled by him in pencil at foot), along with the cyclamen engraving used on the cover, pp. [ii], [32], [4], 4to, original half red morocco, pink boards each repeating an O'Connor engraving printed in red, untrimmed, the book and additional portfolio together in matching cloth and board slipcase, fine. The last of the Press's books with O'Connor, who died in 2004.
Britten (Benjamin) and Peter Pears.
FIRST EDITION, pp. 38, crown 8vo, original sewn cream wrappers printed in red, slightly faded cover edges, some light handling and a touch of corner creasing, good. Laid in is a slip, conveying 'best wishes for Christmas and the New Year', signed by both Britten and Pears - who adds '& love' to the printed message. 'This casual record of a very happy month is left as it was written, inconsistent in spelling and punctuation. Such interest as it has would not be increased by editing!' From the collection of John Moody, opera director, and his wife Nell she a singer and née Burra, the sister of author and music critic Peter Burra, who had been a close friend of Peter Pears.
Montagu (George)
FIRST EDITION, parts (vols) 1 and 2 with engraved titles with hand-coloured engraved vignettes, supplement with engraved title, 30 hand-coloured plates drawn and engraved by Elizabeth Dorville, the majority with tissue-guards, a few early gatherings in vol 1 with scattered spotting, several pencil annotations in near contemporary hand, pp. [iv], xxxvii, [iii], 291, [i]; [iv], 293-606; [iv], 16 plates; [iv], 183. [I], 17-30 plates, large 4to, modern half calf, gilt-lettered spines with blind-stamped motifs between raised bands, very good. Though George Montague, British Army officer and amateur naturalist, is most well-known for his contribution to the study of British birds, notably his Ornithological Dictionary of 1802, this work, published only a year later, marks a significant advance in the field of British shells, describing 470 species of molluscs, 100 of which were new to the British record. Montagu's sea snail was named in his honour, and his shell collection is housed in Exeter's Royal Albert Museum and the Natural History Museum in London. Montague left his first wife, the daughter of the Earl of Bute, for Elizabeth Dorville, illustrator and engraver, with whom he had four children. The pencil annotations generally describe observations eg. 'The animals of P. Dactylus, Candidus and Parvus are luminous in the dark when living' (vol 1, p.20), one notably recounting an episode where '.an elegant shell supposed to be a nautulus was found in the [rubbed away] Island sand by by C.P. and given to G. Montagu, miniscule. it is transparent and strongly ribbed.' (vol 1, p.199). [with:] small sheet (loose) written on both sides in contemporary hand, (verso written in two directions), listing, in Latin, predominantly marine species - sea worms, sea snails, bivavles etc. - land snails and one bird, Hoopoe Prima Musicale. Two names are bracketed together with the words 'in Box no 13', which suggests that this is a list of specimens, and further, given the pencil annotation in volume one referring to an encounter with the author and the nature of the specimens listed, that this may be a contemporary record of part of the collection of Montagu himself.
Sterling (Bruce)
FIRST EDITION, pp. [iv], 245, 8vo, original quarter black cloth with black boards, backstrip lettered in metallic blue, light spotting to edges, dustjacket, near fine. Inscribed by Sterling on the fly-title, at time of publication, to a fellow author: 'For the immortal Lisa Tuttle, cleverest critter to ever set foot in shoe leather, Luv ya kid, Bruce Sterling'.
(Whittington Press.) THOMAS (Edward & Helen)
II/45 COPIES (from an edition of 200 copies) printed on Zerkall mouldmade paper, this copy with the additional signature of the printer, John Randle, title and the wood-engraved head-pieces by Hellmuth Weissenborn all printed in brown, these special copies with a board portfolio containing proofs of Weissenborn's engravings (here printed in black), pp. v, 23, royal 8vo, original quarter chestnut morocco, boards with a covering of terracotta handmade paper, upper board with a Weissenborn engraving printed in brown, edges untrimmed, the book and additional suite of engravings together in cloth and board slipcase, fine. Six letters between Edward and Helen Thomas.
(Whittington Press.)
213/250 COPIES on Zerkall mouldmade paper, wood-engraved frontispiece by Leo Wyatt printed in brown, and 37 other wood-engravings by the leading engravers of the period, each printed on a separate leaf with the engraver's name printed in brown beneath, title-page printed in black and brown, pp. [92], royal 8vo, original quarter mid brown cloth with vertical gilt rule and marbled sides, backstrip lettered in gilt, t.e.g., others untrimmed, board slipcase, fine. This copy with the additional signature of its printer, John Randle.
