GOLDSMITH, Oliver.
8vo, pp. [iv], 39, [1] on thick paper, illustrations. Brown cloth, stamped in gilt and blind, binder's ticket (Leighton). Gutta percha perished, some leaves loose. [Not in King, Victorian Decorated Trade Bindings (British Library & Oak Knoll, 2003).]
WILLS, W. H, editor.
4to, pp. 287, [1], wood engraved illustrations. Title spotted. Text block cracking in places, currently secure. Green cloth, upper cover with red lozenge inlay, stamped in gilt and black. [Not in King,Victorian Decorated Trade Bindings (British Library & Oak Knoll, 2003).]
HALL, Mrs. S.C.
4to, pp. [4], vi, 168, [8], including colour printed frontispiece and title, illustrations. Green cloth, stamped in gilt and blind, large colour printed onlay to upper cover, printed adverts to all endpapers. Rubbed. [Not in King, Victorian Decorated Trade Bindings (British Library & Oak Knoll, 2003).]
INGELOW, Jean.
4to, pp. xiv,[2], 318, [2], wood engraved illustrations. Blue cloth stamped in black and gilt, white inlay to upper cover. Covers slightly smudged, perhaps from an attempt to recolour in blue, spine ends chipped. [King 703, Victorian Decorated Trade Bindings (British Library & Oak Knoll, 2003).]
MOORE, Thomas.
4to, pp. xxiv, [2], 381, [3], additional title printed in colours, wood engraved illustrations. Mauve cloth, stamped in silver, gilt and blind, binder's ticket (Leighton Son and Hodge) at rear. Slightly faded, some wear to corners and spine ends. [Not in King, Victorian Decorated Trade Bindings (British Library & Oak Knoll, 2003).]
HOOD, Thomas.
4to, pp. vii, [1], 180, [4], plates. Plum cloth, stamped in gilt and blue. [King, Victorian Decorated Trade Bindings (British Library & Oak Knoll, 2003), 716 (Unisgned).]
BUNSEN, Christian Carl Josias von, Baron. Catherine WINKWORTH, translator.
4to, pp. xvi, 254, 2 (adverts), illustrations by Leighton, Armitage and Madox Brown. Green and red cloth stamped in gilt and blind, binder's ticket (Edmonds & Remnants). Spine ends slightly rolled. Early gift inscription. [King, Victorian Decorated Trade Bindings (British Library & Oak Knoll, 2003) 486]
First edition of an ingenious perpetual calendar, serviceable to the year 2000. and including a folding engraved lunar chart. The preface suggests its utility to 'l'Homme d'État, le Magistrat, l'Homme de Lettres, le Particulier même'. Duplessis was a map publisher, who also issued a variety of calendars. The advert after the preface offers geographical and historical maps and charts, a large map of France on 175 sheets but also calendar mounted on card with elaborate engraved borders which could be supplied glazed in gilt frames. 4to (240 × 175 mm), pp. 86, plus folding engraved table. Occasional minor ink marks, some spotting, slightly heavier to the engraved plates, old waterstain to lower inner corners. Slightly later (c. 1800) quarter sheep, gilt spine. [No US or UK copies in Worldcat.]
The earliest portrait of Leopold Bloom? Mariette Lydis contributed one illustration to the first issue of "900", placed with the fragment of Ulysses in the French translation by Auguste Morel. The image is clearly identifiable as a Leopold Bloom-like figure, yet is perhaps not a direct illustration (what are we to make of the Ostende tourist poster in the background?). It is dated 1925 in the lower corner and is captioned 'Illustration' at the foot. No earlier illustration of Bloom is known (nor indeed any earlier illustration of Ulysses) and the standard idea of him is drawn partly from Joyce's own inept sketch of him made in Paris in 1926.Joyce was nominally a joint editor of the radical literary review "900", with Massimo Bontempelli. Mariette Lydis was Bontempelli's lover at this period (her letters to him are preserved at the Getty Institute) and probably also know Joyce. She sketched his portrait the following year in Paris.The Ulysses excerpt translated by Morel is episode 4, 'Calypso', introducing Leopold Bloom with his morning visit to the butcher's shop for a kidney for Molly's breakfast. James Joyce is listed among the journal's editors on the half-title verso (along with Bontempelli, Ramón Gómez de la Serna, Jerog Kaiser and Pierre Mac Orlan). Among the adverts at the end of the volume is a full-page for the forthcoming German edition of Ulysses by Rheinverlag of Zurich (the book appeared in the autumn of 1927). Another advert is for the journal Critica Fascista (a 'Fornightly Fascist Review'). 8vo (192 × 130 mm), pp. 203, [13] (including adverts), the Ulysses fragment on pp. 107-131, illustrations. Original yellow wrappers. Contemporary bookseller's stamp to upper cover (Les Arts et le Livre, Paris). Slightly dust-stained and with creasing to the spine, but actually a good copy of this fragile journal. [Slocum & Cahoon, A Bibliography of James Joyce (953), D25 (p. 113).]
First edition of this extensive pocket guide to London, England and Wales for a juvenile audience. The description of London is admirably complete, with notes on the principal monuments as well as its people and customs ('The Lord of Merry Disports' and 'Itinerant Musicians' among them). The plates (originally appearing London, or interesting Memorials published by Thomas Boys in London in 1823) depict The Custom House, Somerset House, Hanover Terrace and Westminster Abbey. 12mo (168 × 90 mm), pp. [4], 348, xi, [1], complete with half-title, plus engraved portrait of George IV by Fry after Reynolds and 4 plates 'Printed by H. Adlard. Engraved on steel by W. Cooke, Junr.', original tissue guards. Occasional light browning. Contemporary tree sheep, gilt panelled spine, red morocco label, contemporary Parisian bookseller's ticket (Forest). Rubbed, joints cracked but secure. An attractive copy. [Adams, London illustrated, 1604-1851 (1983), 150. No US copies in Worldcat and JISC/COPAC records the Bishopsgate Institute and Bodley copies only.]
First edition of this British political satire, co-opting Aesop's animals of in a series of witty verses, capitalising on the popularity of the Aesop in English via the editions of Ogilby and L'Estrange. 'In 1698 a whole series of fables began to appear anonymously which set Aesop on a journey through England and the rest of Europe. He comments through his animal characters about the Jacobite threat, William's government of England, and Louis XIV's ambitions on the continent. As one writer put it, "It is now the Mode, it seems, for Brutes to turn Politicians," and Aesop was chosen as their main expositor. Aesop at Tunbridge (1698) was a structured attack on William and on Whig principles in general. In the same year Aesop at Bath criticized the Jacobites; Aesop Return d from Tunbridge committed the hapless supporter of the Jacobites to Bedlam; Old Aesop at Whitehall defended the government; and Aesop at Amsterdam objected to the very monarchical forms of government supported in one way or another by Whig, Tory, and Jacobite factions' (Daniel, 'Political and Philosophical Uses of Fables in eighteenth-century England', The Eighteenth Century, 23, 2, 1982, p. 153). 8vo (192 × 120 mm), pp. [6], 31, [1] (without initial blank leaf). Slightly thumbed and browned. Stitched in later blue wrappers, a waste sheets from a wrapper for a part of an edition of Johnson's Dictionary. A little frayed. [Wing O196. ESTC lists US copies at Clark (UCLA), Folger, Harvard, Cincinnati and Texas.]
A superb 'game of goose' on the theme of the peoples of the known world, with fine engraved corner vignettes representing Africa, America, Europe and Asia and 63 vignettes representing different peoples. They include native Americans (of California, Mexico, the Amazon, Iroquois, Brazil, Chile, Tierra del Fuego, Paraguay and Nootka Island), inhabitants of Java, Sumatra, China, Japan, Tahiti, Australia (Nouvelle Hollande) and New Zealand, as well as Africa, the Middle East and Europe. In common with other games of this type, the cultural attitudes represented by the symbolism and mode of play is worthy of decoding. With dice and counters, the players are to navigate (culturally, not geographically) from China (evidently still at the furthest reaches of the European geographical imagination) to France, via the 63 numbered squares, with their various characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. Mexico (square 6) is shown as a bridge and players landing there jump straight to square 12 (the Amazon); at 19 (Tahiti) the islanders' hospitality detains players for two turns; at 31 (Siberia) the players waits in exile until another player reaches the same square and rescues them, at square 42, traditionally the 'puzzle' square (Japan) the player is refused landing and goes back to 30 (Abyssinia) and just before the end, square 58 (New Zealand) the player encounters the reputed anthrophages (man-eaters) and returns to the start. Single engraved sheet (525 × 354 mm, plate size 485 × 660 mm). A single vertical fold, with an early guard on verso, some very pale browning in the vicinity of the fold, with a few light spots. A very good copy. [Ciompi/Seville Collection 32; Adrian Seville, 'The geographical Jeux de l'Oie of Europe. Les Jeux de l'Oie géographiques de l'Europe', Belgeo, 3-4, 2008, 427-444 (56).]
First edition, preserved in original wrappers, of this popular and critically-acclaimed roman de moeurs. It was widely-read around Europe and, interestingly, appeared on the advert leaves of numerous English books (in its original French). The Quarterly Review commented: 'M. Picard is well known to be the most celebrated dramatic writer in France. The French Critics have pronounced this to be one of the best novels that has appeared since Gil Blas' (1815). Picard was variously a playwright, actor, novelist, poet and musical director in Paris. 4 vols, 12mo (180 × 108 mm), pp. viii, 320; [4], 347, [1]; [4], 332; [4], 300, complete with half-titles. Uncut in original printed pink wrappers, titles to upper covers, glove device to the lower. Spines faded and slightly frayed, but an excellent, unsophisticated copy.
First edition with this title and introductory part, a very rare opportunistic edition of Lettres Portuguaises, which found itself onto the Index librorum prohibitorum in 1727. The epistolary novel Lettres Portugaises was one of the publishing sensations of the late seventeenth century and beyond, first published in Paris in 1669, purporting to be the genuine letters between a Portugese nun, Mariana Alcoforado, and the French nobleman, the Marquis de Chamilly. Despite its passionate tone it was not outlawed and indeed it was widely reprinted and set the tone for much of the sentimental and epistolary fiction of the eighteenth century. Though the letters have been proved to be fictional, both parties were real.This edition, probably clandestine, seems to have been a step too far in the eyes of the censors. Apparently a reissue of the sheets of a 1696 Lyon edition, it was augmented with a 48-page prequel in which the first encounters between Maria and the Marquis in Portugal are recounted. This text was cast as a seduction scene, in which the young nun entertained the Marquis in a private apartment beside her cloister, dressed in a pale blue nightgown adorned with red ribbons. Suppression seems to have been effective and it is unrecorded in public collections, as far as we can tell, besides a single copy in the library at Bourg-en-Bresse. Gay mentions it among the reprints of Lettres Portugaises, citing a copy offered for sale in Paris in 1869. 12mo (143 × 78 mm), three parts in one, each with separate title, pp. 48; [4], 116; 119, [1], woodcut and typographical ornaments. Some light waterstaining, a small scatter of worming to blank lower margin of final 20 leaves or so, old inkstain to first title. Contemporary sprinkled sheep, gilt panelled spine, lettered direct. Rubbed, head of spine slightly chipped/torn with minor loss. Early woodcut armorial bookplate with the motto 'Vincet amor patriae'. A good copy. [Gay II, 847. Not found in Worldcat.]
A delightful, accomplished and idsiosyncratic illuminated manuscript in neo-gothic style by a French woman, one Sophie Mallet, probably as a wedding gift for a female friend or relation: Jeanne or 'JMN'. The texts include familiar words of advice for a young wife, scriptural and otherwise, while a section titled 'Vie du monde' includes personal and original advice addressed to 'ma Jeanne'. Among the texts are: 'Qui trouvera une femme forte?.' (Proverbs 31 [incorrectly given as Ecclesiasticus here], 'Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies'); 'Bienheureux les pauvres d'esprit.' (Matthew 5, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven); 'Faites comme les petits enfants qui de l'une des mains se tiennent à leur père' (St Francis of Assisi, 'Suffer Little Children to Come Unto Me'), and there are excerpts from the Imitation of Christ and from St Bernard.The real pleasure of the manuscript lies in its illumination, expertly done with unusual and quirky details. The borders include numerous recognisable birds, insects and flowers rendered in impressive detail. Colours are applied very skilfully as are metallic highlights, including burnished and liquid gold, often on raised or otherwise textured grounds. Best of all is the colophon or tailpiece, which includes an entwined pair of longtailed dragons looking more like dinosaurs than medieval beasts. Illuminated manuscript on vellum, 18mo (104 × 80 mm), 17 leaves, each with decoration/text on each side. 2 full-page miniatures, 2 decorated section titles, one colophon piece, numerous 2- and 3-line initials, decorative line fillers, each page with borders on 3 sides, each page to different design scheme, text in differing styles (from a neat cursive to an imitation of gothic) script. Occasional marginal browning. Original cream morocco gilt, sides with black onlaid borders, pale blue silk endpapers, one embossed with the initials 'JMN', gilt edges. Contained in the original silk lined black morocco box with the initials repeated on the lid. Box a little scratched, the upper joint of the book very slightly tender. A beautiful survival.
First edition, presentation copy. A witty imaginary Voyage autor de ma chambre in the spirit of Le Maistre. In just nine steps the author circumnavigates his room, bumping into Napoleon and traversing Europe. There are verses, riddles, enigmas and an acrostic on the Swedish succession: 'Charles Jean Prince Royal de Suede'. The ninth step is a long verse dedicated to the elderly British King George III. The allegorical plate depicts voyagers in an elegant state of undress on the back of a flying horse. The dedicatee of this presentation copy is Maria Juliana Wahrendorff von Rosen (1763-1820). 8vo (192 × 110 mm), pp. [4], 113, [1], plus one aquatint plate in sepia. Contemporary tree calf, gilt, orange morocco label. Slightly rubbed, joints just starting at foot, but a pretty copy. Contemporary inscription '. Rosen' [partly illegible]. Shield-shaped bookplate with inscription 'A Madame la Comtesse de Rosen née Wahrendorff hommage de l'auteur' [Worldcat locates the Yale copy only in the US. JISC/Copac lists no UK copies.]
A Starbuck family atlas, owned by one of the British branch of the family, with annotations recording the Pacific discoveries of the whaling captain Valentine Starbuck [b. 1791]. The initials of the pencil Starbuck signature are difficult to decipher, but are likely to be 'E.F.', probably Edward Folger Starbuck [1801-1855] son of Samuel and Lucretia [Folger] Starbuck, New England Quakers who in the 1790s had settled at Milford Haven (Pembrokeshire, Wales). The early annotations mark the family origins at Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard as well as Valentine Starbuck's 1823 discovery of the Pacific Island which took his name [Starbuck made the discovery as captain of the British whaling shipL'Aiglewhile carrying KingKamehameha IIofHawaiiand Queen Kamaluand their retinue to England. He settled in England thereafter and was living at the time this atlas was in use: he was probably a cousin of its owner]. The family were notable as a dynasty of Whalers, prosperous Quakers and Abolitionists, making this Atlas an evocative association.The annotations, in an early hand comprise:-Double hemisphere map: Starbuck Island marked on the map with the marginal note: 'Starbuck Island Discovered by Captain Valentine Starbuck in the ship L'Aigle in latitude 5 deg. 58.1.2 min South and Longitude 155 deg 58 min West'-Mercator map: 'Polynesia' and 'Australasia' added in pale red ink.-Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland map: 'Duna' and 'Vistula' rivers named at their mouths at Danzig and Riga.-Russia in Europe: Odessa named in pencil, the coastlines of the Black and Caspian seas extended into the margins.-Africa: Liberia coast marked with a pencil cross and the marginal note 'Now Liberia American Col[?] Ap 28 1822. Colonists 2000 Native allies 10,000 Total cost 130,000 Dollars. Cost of each emigrant $30 was [?given] on landing 30 [?] free of expense Freedom offered to many thousands more gratuitously Great aim of the "American Colonization Soc" to abolish the slave trade and slaveholding'.-The United States of America: red line drawn between the US and Canada with the note in the upper margin 'Lake of the Woods. The Red line in the North part of this map is to represent neatly the Boundary lines between the United States and the British Colonies'. Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard named in manuscript.-West Indies: Mexico City marked in the margin in red ink.Wilkinson's Atlas was first published in 1794 and reissued with updated maps several times into the nineteenth century. The map of the United States in the present edition is of interest for its inclusion of the short-lived 'Franklina', located between Tennessee and North Carolina. Large 4to (338 × 275 mm), engraved title, 2 pp. letterpress (Geography and Contents, with imprint 1807) and 48 hand-coloured engraved maps, including double-page double hemisphere and Mercator projection world maps, with varying imprints including T. Conder, D. Wright, E. Bourne, J. Roper, T. Fool, B. Smith, W. Harrison, George Allen and B. Baker dated variously 1794-1807. Title quite spotted and slightly frayed at margins, the Mercator map slightly soiled, all other maps generally very clean. A slight splitting to folds of both double-page maps. Several early annotations, see note. Contemporary boards, worn, the original spine replaced, perhaps more than once, with sheep and oilcloth, endpapers somewhat soiled and frayed, one with the pencil inscription, probably 'E.F. Starbuck 1827'.
First edition of this very scarce novel by a significant British Catholic author. She was born Gertrude Hext in Cornwall in 1812 and became a Catholic in 1844. A review of Edith Mortimer in The Rambler enthused: 'Mrs. Parsons is one of our best writers of Catholic fiction. There is a heartiness and energy about almost every thing that comes from her pen.''A deeply religious woman, Gertrude Parsons was charitable to the poor and a leading benefactor of the mission at Little Malvern. Gertrude Parsons's enthusiastic commitment to her adopted faith was most apparent, however, in many of her published works. Thornberry Abbey (1846), in which the heroine and her clergyman fiancé are both converted to Catholicism, is clearly semi-autobiographical. In another early novel, Edith Mortimer, or, The Trials of Life (1857), a young Roman Catholic convert learns to conquer her pride, breaking off her engagement to a rich protestant cousin. In the 1860s Gertrude Parsons wrote four tract tales for Burns and Oates's Tales and Narrative series, which was aimed at a working-class audience; these included Lent Lilies and The Muffin Girl' (Rosemary Mitchell in Oxford DNB). 8vo (170 × 98 mm), pp. [8], 168, 48 (adverts for other Catholic works published by Dolman), compete with half-title. Publisher's ribbed and embossed brown cloth, gilt spine. Very slightly rubbed but an excellent, bright copy. [WorldCat lists US copies at Brigham Young and Huntington only.]
One of Heath's famous graphic satires on the theme of The March of Intellect, which expressed contemporary anxiety over technological progress and social change in England brought about by science, education, industrialisation and commercialisation. This one shows a London street corner at the edge of open country and the sea, with numerous figures, including a street-sweeper, horse-drawn carriage, two men playing chess, musicians and singers and street-sellers, with wealthy figures being sent down a mechanical lift beside giant shop window stuffed with milliner. A steam carriage full of redcoat soldiers is seen in background, along with passenger balloons and a flying warship (raining canon-fire at ships below) in the air beside bridge crossing the English Channel between Dover and Calais. Etched and engraved print (230 × 350 mm), cut within plate mark, just touching border in places but not affecting imprint, image or caption. Original hand colouring. Lightly pasted at corners to an old drab paper album leaf, very light offset from another leaf, probably of pink paper, but still an excellent example.