Introduction to the Literature of Europe.
HALLAM, Henry 3 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A very good looking Victorian full calf binding with gilt raised bands, extra gilt panels and twin labels, the volume label being particularly ornate. Some rubbing but overall a most handsome binding. This fine set does not have the bookplates but it has come from the library of Alfred de Rothschild. Covering the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries this classic work by Henry Hallam is still considered the definitive work on the subject.- $734
- $734
A New Dictionary of the Italian and English Languages.
BARETTI (based upon that of). DAVENPORT, John and COMELATI, Gulglielmo (compiled by). 2 volume set, 9 inches tall. Superb early Victorian full hard grain morocco binding with gilt raised bands, gilt pallets and blind fillets framing the boards. With the bookplates of Leopold de Rothschild. A very fine set .- $667
- $667
The Life of Lorenzo de Medici, called the Magnificent.
ROSCOE, William 2 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A splendid Georgian full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels including finely tooled volume labels and highly ornate extra gilt panels. Portrait. A celebrated biography of the great 15th century Italian statesman, ruler of the Republic of Florence, Politician, banker and the most important patron of the Italian Renaissance sponsoring Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo amongst many others. A very good looking set.- $734
- $734
History of the English People.
GREEN, John Richard 4 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A sparkling late Victorian half calf binding by Mudie with gilt raised bands, contrasting twin labels and gilt floral centre tools. A fine set of this classic work by the English historian Richard Green, in pristine condition, inside and out.- $774
- $774
The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, Founded upon their History.
WHEWELL, William 2 volume set, 9 inches tall. A splendid set from Alfred de Rothschild library (but without the bookplate) in classic Victorian full calf in pristine condition. With gilt raised bands, twin labels and extra gilt panels. Twin fillets and tiny corner tools frame the boards. The remarkable English polymath, William Whewell, scientist, natural philosopher and theologian, was an important and influential figure still recognized today, partly from his skill as a neologist, coming up with such terms as scientist, physicist, linguistics, consilience, catastrophism, uniformitarianism, and astigmatism and, with Michael Faraday, such words as electrode, ion, dielectric, anode, and cathode. An impressive set.- $1,134
- $1,134
Waverley Novels.
SCOTT, Sir Walter 48 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. An exceptionally pretty early Victorian full calf binding with gilt raised bands, twin labels in scarlet and olive and extra gilt panels. Red speckled edges. Bookplates. Every volume has a fine engraved frontispiece and vignette on the title page. A really fine, clean set of probably the most influential and popular set of novels in the 19th century.- $3,735
- $3,735
Real Life in London.
EGAN, Pierce (?) 2 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. Handsome set in a later half blue crushed morocco binding with raised bands, blind pallets and gilt titles. Much read and admired, not many sets have survived in fine condition. This set is a little grubby, especially round some plates and a little closely cropped in places, touching the titles in places. A few leaves and plates are chipped with some repairs, there are occasional nicks and crease else the majority of contents are in clean and firm condition. Embellished with a series of superb hand-coloured aquatint plates designed and engraved by Alken, Dighton, Brooke and Rowlandson. First Edition. This set contains 34 plates, including the 2 not listed and often absent. The plates are charming and highly amusing with fascinating details of life in Regency England. Subtitled 'The Rambles and Adventures of Bob Tallyho, Esq. and his Cousin The Hon. Tom Dashall through the Metropolis exhibiting a Living Picture of Fashionable Characters, Manners and Amusements in High and Low Life by an Amateur'. The identity of this 'amateur' has been much debated. 'Real Life in London' is a pleasanter book than its prototype 'Life in London'. Some have held that Egan wrote it; but the author had a purer style, a cleaner mind and a wider knowledge of London than Egan. The book shows many more sides of London life than his; though the formal descriptions of well known scenes or buildings, here and there inserted amid matter of a very different character, recall very forcibly Mr. Bouncer's letters to his aunt in Verdant Green. This work was very popular, more so than even Egan's Life in London' and Combe's three tours of Dr. Syntax. A neat set of this great comic and enigmatic work.- $1,134
- $1,134
The Greville Memoirs. A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV. And King William IV.
GREVILLE, Charles C.F. 3 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A most attractive Victorian half calf set with gilt raised bands, twin labels and dense gilt tooling to the panels. Some foxing to the preliminaries, then clean. From the library and with the bookplates of L. Rothschild. A handsome set of the the work of this great diarist who, at a later date, extended his journal to cover much of the reign of Queen Victoria.- $600
- $600
The Lives of the Chief Justices of England.
CAMPBELL, John Lord 3 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A very handsome Victorian half calf bound set in superb condition with gilt raised bands, twin labels and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. Armorial Bookplate. Originally published in 2 volumes this set comprises all 3 volumes published, 'from the Norman Conquest till the Death of Lord Tenterden'. A neat set of this classic history.- $600
- $600
The Lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal of England.
CAMPBELL, John Lord 7 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. In a really superb half Victorian calf binding in absolutely pristine condition. With gilt raised bands, ornate floral gilt tooling to the panels and twin labels, the volume labels being really striking. This title was originally published in three volumes and continued to a complete 7 volume set, 'from the earliest times till the reign of King George IV'. A splendid set of this great legal work.- $1,667
- $1,667
Antiquities of Great Britain. Illustrated in views of Monasteries, Castles, and Churches, now existing.
HEARNE, Thomas (drawings by). BYRNE, William (engraved by). 2 volumes bound in one, 16 1/2 inches tall. A beautiful tall, full Regency diced calf with blind tooled raised bands, ornate gilt tooling to the panels and a wide gilt roll framing the boards. The first title page is engraved and the second undecorated title page to volume 1 is not bound in. The title page to the second volume is present, as are all the large and highly attractive engraved view, 52 (including the engraved first title page) in the first volume and 32 in the second, making a total of 84. Each engraved view is followed by a leaf with details in English and French. Copies with all the plates are very rare, especially in such a magnificent binding of the period. There is some rubbing to the shoulders but no splitting or loss. There is some foxing to the preliminaries but otherwise remarkably clean. The Memoirs of Count Carlo Gozzi.
SYMONDS, John Addington. (Translated into English by). 2 volume set, 10 1/2 inches tall. A very fine full morocco binding by the great firm of J. Leighton of Brewer Street. With gilt raised bands, superb gilt tooling to the panels and boards, gilt dentelles and all edges. With the bookplate of Alfred de Rothschild. Some superficially marking to the binding, but a super set. From a limited edition of 210 copies with the etchings in 2 states and the 'Masks', illustrating the Italian Commedia dell' Arte, hand coloured. A wonderful set of the Memoirs of this great Venetian 18th century playwright in English.
The Constitutional History of England.
HALLAM, Henry 2 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A very good looking Victorian full calf binding with gilt raised bands, extra gilt panels and twin labels, the volume label being particularly ornate. Some rubbing but overall a most handsome binding. This fine set does not have the bookplates but it has come from the library of Alfred de Rothschild. Covering the period from the Accession of Henry VII to the Death of George II, this work has long been considered a classic on the subject. The Life and Pontificate of Leo the tenth.
ROSCOE, William 4 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A splendid Georgian full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels including finely tooled volume labels and highly ornate extra gilt panels. Portrait. A celebrated history of the second son of Lorenzo de Medici, the Magnificent. Leo, born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, was Pope in the early sixteenth century. He was a highly cultured and artistic man although his virtues as the leader of the Catholic Church are debated to this day. A very good looking set. The Poems and Plays of Oliver Goldsmith. With a Biographical Memoir of the Author.
GOLDSMITH, Oliver Half vellum, 9 1/2 inches tall. A very unusual binding with an extra gilt smooth back and curiously shaped green label. All the edges are dauffered gilt. Very attractive end papers with gilt stars on a blue ground. There is no title page (as issued?),so we have no details of publication. There are several sub title pages. The volume comprises: Memoir; Poems; Miscellanies; The Good-Natured Man; She Stops to Conquer; Letters from a Citizen of the World; Essays, Etc. etc.; The Vicar of Wakefield. Double column. Some rubbing and marking but overall a fine copy. Legends of the Madonna, as Represented in the Fine Arts.
Jameson, Mrs. Full calf, 8 1/4 inches tall. A superb binding with gilt raised bands, twin labels and extra gilt panels. All edges gilt and dentelles on large squares. With the bookplate of Alfred de Rothschild. Embellished with 152 woodcuts and 29 line engravings, as called for. Slight blotchiness on the labels and boards, overall a wonderful volume of one of Dublin born, Anna Brownell Jameson's, great art histories. The Pictorial History of England.
KNIGHT, Charles (editor) 8 volumes, 10 1/2 inches tall. A magnificent set in heavy early Victorian full morocco by Riviere with gilt raised bands, sumptuous gilt tooling to the panels, dentelles and all edges gilt. With the bookplate of Leopold de Rothschild in every volume. With 'many hundred wood-cuts'. This highly entertaining history is 'A History of the People, as well as a History of the Kingdom'.'Monumental Records; Coins; Civil and Military Costume; Domestic Buildings, Furniture, and Ornaments; Cathedrals and other great Works of Architecture; Sports and other illustrations of Manners; Mechanical Inventions; Portraits of the Kings and Queens; and Remarkable Historical Scenes'. Slight occasional rubbing. As fine a copy of this set as one could find. The Works of Charles Dickens. (The Centenary Edition in 36 Volumes).
DICKENS, Charles 36 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall beautifully bound by the great Glasgow bookbinders, Maclehose. A very smart half morocco with gilt raised bands and elegant gilt framed panels. Gilt top edges. Slight scratching on a few boards and minor marks but overall an exceptionally fine set. Profusely illustrated throughout by, amongst others, Phiz and George Cruikshank. This edition, published on the 100th anniversary of Dickens's birth, is a reissue of the deluxe Gadshill edition of 1903, using the original illustrations and text. This 'Centenary Edition' has the reputation of being one of the finest collected works of Charles Dickens, the greatest novelist of his day. The History of Freedom and Other Essays. Historical Essays & Studies.
ACTON, John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, First Baron 2 volumes, 8 1/2 inches tall. Both volumes bound in splendid tree calf by Bickers with gilt raised bands, twin labels and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. A gilt roll frames the boards. From the Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey. English Catholic historian, politician, and writer. He is best remembered for the remark he wrote in a letter to an Anglican bishop in 1887: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Amongst his friends were Montalembert, Tocqueville, Fustel de Coulanges, Bluntschli, von Sybel and Ranke. He became Regius Professor of Modern History in the University of Cambridge. A very close friend of Gladstone, Matthew Arnold said: "Gladstone influences all round him but Acton; it is Acton who influences Gladstone."