Gift Ideas
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FEDORCHENKO, Sophia and Afanasy KULIKOV.
На Крылышах [On little wings].
Moscow, Gosudarstvennoe izdatelstvo ‘Krasnyi Proletarni’, 1927.
First edition of this collection of verses for children on birds and butterflies, deftly illustrated by Kulikov.
£300
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[ARP.]
County of the Isle of Ely, Public Air Raid Warning.
County Air Raid Precautions Committee, [c. 1943].
A very rare survival from the Second World War. During the war, Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely were strategic positions as home to 28 airfields for both the RAF and the USAAF. The flat topography, proximity to the coast and continental Europe made it an ideal location for runways and bases.
£300
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[POETRY.]
Anthology of manuscript floriographic poetry.
June 1853.
A collection of twenty-six apparently unpublished poems in manuscript, presented as an alphabetical acrostic. The poems express the perfection and the language of flowers – that is, the meaning embodied by each variety. Examples given here include ox-eye for patience, quince blossom for temptation,...
£250
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LAWRENCE, Thomas Edward.
The Mint. A Day-Book of the R.A.F. Depot between August and December 1922 with Later Notes, by 352087...
London: The Alden Press for Jonathan Cape, 1955.
First British edition, the trade issue. 'One of Lawrence’s avowed purposes in joining the RAF, though not the only one, was to write of the ranks from the inside. He began immediately making notes when he enlisted in 1922. With his dismissal in January 1923, because of unfavourable publicity,...
£120
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MONETA, José Manuel, and Robert Keith HEADLAND, (ed.).
Four Antarctic Years in the South Orkney Islands: an Annotated...
London, Bernard Quaritch Ltd, 2017.
One man’s fascinating record of four winters in the Antarctic during the 1920s, the period of transition from the isolation of the Heroic Age to the beginnings of radio communication with the world outside.
£50
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SCOTT, Sir Walter.
The Lady of the Lake … with all his Introductions and Notes, various Readings, and the Editor’s Notes.
Edinburgh, Robert Cadell, 1851.
An attractive Scottish 'Mauchline ware' tartan binding. Mauchline ware bindings – the name comes from Smith’s boxware factory at Mauchline in Ayrshire – were made from thin wooden boards (often sycamore) decorated with tartan or pictorial designs, heavily varnished, and attached to the text...
£750
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[KEENE, Marian].
The History of a tame Robin. Supposed to be written by Himself.
London: Printed for Darton, Harvey, and Darton … 1817.
First and only edition. The tame Robin recalls a life of adventure enriched by human and avian friendships. A childhood spent in a school-room helped him attain ‘a sufficient knowledge of literature to relate my adventures’. His life, though happy, is not without its vicissitudes: he loses...
£325
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PRESENT FOR THE YOUNG (A).
London: Printed for The Religious Tract Society … and sold at their Depository … also by J. Nisbet...
[c. 1827]
First edition. A finely illustrated anthology of religious verse, contemplations, and prayers for children. Pieces include poems on the seasons and stories about a Welsh Shepherd, and ‘The Hill and the Valley’, all with heavily metaphorical content.
£175
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CARDONNEL, Adam de.
Picturesque Antiquities of Scotland [I–II] …
London: Printed for the Author, and sold by Edwards … also by Edwards’s, in Halifax. 1788.
First edition, the very rare issue with the plates in sepia, printed directly onto thick wove paper.
£975
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DALI, Salvador.
Alpes: French Railways.
France, Draeger for SNCF, 1970.
A gorgeous and colourful surrealist design of delicate butterflies fluttering against a rugged Alpine backdrop, one of six designs commissioned from Dali by SNCF, French national railways, to promote travel into the Alpine region.
£250
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CHAUCER, Geoffrey. FRINK, Elizabeth, illustrator.
Etchings illustrating Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’. Introduction...
[London,] Waddington, 1972.
First edition of Frink’s monumental Canterbury Tales, one of 50 copies in the standard edition, numbered B 70 and signed by Frink, from an entire print run of 300 copies.
£4250
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QUARITCH, Bernard Alexander Christian, editor.
Contributions towards a Dictionary of English Book-Collectors as also of...
London, Bernard Quaritch Ltd, 1969.
A facsimile reprint of Quaritch’s series of profiles of bibliophiles, with brief lists of the treasures of their collections and notes on their dispersal at auction or in the trade, which remains a useful resource both for the history of book-collecting in Britain and for provenance research. Contributions...
£25
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CAYLEY, John, XU BING and others (Katherine SPEARS, ed.).
Tianshu: Passages in the Making of a Book.
[London], Bernard Quaritch Ltd, 2009.
This is the most comprehensive study on Tianshu to date, focusing on both the bibliographic and technical details of the work. The text contains new essays by Xu Bing (published both in Mandarin and in translation), John Cayley (Brown University), Professor Lydia Liu (Columbia University) and Professor...
£45
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FREEMAN, Arthur.
Bibliotheca Fictiva: a Collection of Books and Manuscripts Relating to Literary Forgery 400 BC – AD 2000.
London, Bernard Quaritch Ltd, 2014.
An inventory of books and manuscripts relating to literary forgery. Spanning some twenty-four centuries, the book seeks also to define and describe the controversial genre it represents. Individual entries offer specific commentary on the forgers and their work, their exposers and their dupes. A broad...
£60
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BINGFIELD, William, pseud.
The Travels and Adventures of William Bingfield, Esq; containing, as surprizing a Fluctuation...
London: Printed for E. Withers ... and R. Baldwin ... 1753.
First edition of one of the most entertaining imaginary voyages of the eighteenth century.
£2100
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VALENTINE, James (photographer).
Album of Scottish views, mainly of Stirling and surroundings.
Circa 1870s.
A handsome example of a topographical view album by the Scottish photographer James Valentine, focusing on Stirling and the surrounding areas.
£600
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[VITTORIO EMANUELE II.]
Alla gloriosa memoria di Vittoria Emanuele primo re d’Italia, gli Italiani residenti in New York convenuti...
New York, Tipografia della scuola italiana, 1878.
First edition of a commemorative tribute to the late Vittorio Emanuele II, first king of Italy, by the Italian community of New York.
£500
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GARINEAU, Sylvain-Jean.
Rhum du Marin. S. Garineau, Bordeaux. En vente à La Brède chez Madame Vve Magna. Prix: 3 Francs le litre.
[Bordeaux,] Moffre & Renouil, [c. 1890].
An extremely rare broadside advertisement for rum, splendidly printed in the fin de siècle style, with vibrant colours, depicting anthropomorphic acrobatic animals.
£300
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LA SERRIE, François-Joseph de.
Dithyrambes, ou petites élégies; dédiées à Madame Le Pédour, Annette-Sergent Pain (de Rochefort);...
Nantes, chez Brun, 1816.
Very rare first edition of this collection of twenty-one elegies composed by the writer, artist and engraver François-Joseph de La Serrie (1770–1819), largely inspired by the deaths of his two daughters Marie Louise Aspasie, who died aged 15 in 1812, and Marie Rosalie-Cecile Virginie, who passed...
£375
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[UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, OXFORD.]
Subscription list for repairs to the College Chapel.
[Oxford, c. 1860].
A printed appeal from University College, signed by the Master Frederick Charles Plumptre (1796–1870), for funds to improve the interior of the Chapel, with an admission that ‘the College has no funds whatever to devote to such a purpose’. The list of subscribers contains some ninety names.
£50