Gift Ideas

  1. HEBER, Reginald, and Nicolas BARKER (editor).

    A Letter from India.

    The Roxburghe Club, 2020.

    'I do not expect that with fair prospects of eminence at home, you should go to the Ganges for a mitre,’ wrote Sir Charles Watkin Williams Wynn, President of the Board of Commissioners for Indian Affairs, in 1819 to Reginald Heber at Hodnet in Shropshire, but in vain. Despite a growing reputation...

    £100

  2. GANF, Iulii Abramovich, and P. PISKUNOV, editor.

    Да здравствует конституция страны социализма!...

    Moscow, Gosudarstvennoe izdatel’stvo izobrazitel’nogo iskusstva, 1953.

    Typically Soviet poster illustrated by graphic artist Iuli Ganf, whose satirical work was published in magazines and newspapers such as Krokodil.

    £700

  3. [PARIS UPRISING.]

    Votez toujours. Je ferai le reste [Always vote. I’ll do the rest].

    Paris, Comite d'initiative pour un movement revolutionnaire, Imprimerie Robert et Cie, 1968.

    First edition. A striking image of General De Gaulle patting France on the head for obediently voting, a baton cunningly concealed behind him. 1968 was a year when passions were flying high in France. The communist and socialist parties had formed an alliance in February with a view to replacing...

    £550

  4. PARLIAMENTARY RECRUITING COMMITTEE.

    Which? Have you a reason or only an excuse for not enlisting Now!

    London, The Abbey Press, 1915.

    A forthright call to the men of London, encouraging them to enlist for military service during World War One.

    £250

  5. [CHINESE ARTS DEALER.] ISKANDRIAN-HUPEDEN, A.

    [Cover title:] ‘My Treasure Box’ [Title-page:] ‘Some selected...

    Shanghai, Spring 1938.

    A charming and insightful trade catalogue compiled by a female Chinese arts dealer, covering porcelains, cast bronzes and irons, stone and wood sculpture, lacquered figures, furniture and screens, pottery and embroidery. The colours and dimensions are often described in the text, and the final...

    £1600

  6. ALEKSANDROVA, Zinaida and Dmitry GORLOV.

    Мишкины соседи [Little Bear’s neighbours].

    Moscow, VLKSM Izdatelstvo Detskoi Literaturi, 1936.

    First edition. A very nice copy of this collection of verses for young children, composed by one of the most prolific Soviet children’s poets, and illustrated by one of the most prolific of Soviet children’s artists. The tales tell of the lives of a selection of farm and wild animals, including...

    £350

  7. VERLAINE, Paul, and Léon LEBÈGUE (illustrator).

    Fêtes gallantes.

    Paris, F. Ferroud for the Librairie des Amateurs, 30 July 1913.

    Limited edition on vélin teinté d’Arches, numbered 430 of 500 copies, with etchings by Lebègue. First published in 1869, Verlaine’s Fêtes gallantes are here exquisitely printed and illustrated by Léon Lebègue (1863 – 1944) and finely bound by Flammarion.

    £750

  8. [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

  9. 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

  10. 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

  11. 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

  12. [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

  13. 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

  14. 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

  15. 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

  16. 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

  17. 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

  18. 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

  19. 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

  20. 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