[DE LA COSTE.]

Voyage philosophique d’Angleterre fait en 1783 et 1784.

A Londres. Et se trouve à Paris, chez Poinçoit … 1787.

First edition, second issue, with cancel title-pages redated 1787 (first 1786) – an interesting and detailed sociological discussion of England and in the English on the eve of the French Revolution, in the form of discursive letters. The author deals with London’s institutions and buildings, taverns...

£250

TENNYSON, Alfred, Lord.

A Welcome …

London: Edward Moxon & Co. … 1863.

Second edition, distinguished from the first by the hollow diamond at the centre of the French rule beneath the title.

£40

[SHIDYĀQ, Ahmad Fāris, attributed author].

Kitāb al-muhāwarah al-unsīyah fī al-lughatayn al-Inklīzīyah wa-al-ʿArabīyah...

[Malta, 1840.]

First edition, an English grammar and vocabulary designed for Arabic students, attributed to the Lebanese-born Shidyāq, who lived between Cairo and Malta in the 1820s-40s, and is best known for his well-regarded Arabic translation of the Bible (1857), and for his less well-regarded opinion that Shakespeare...

£450

[MULLIS, William].

A brief Account of the Blue Coat Hospital, and Public Library, in the College, Manchester, founded by Humphrey...

Manchester: Printed by Leech … 1826.

Sole edition, privately printed and very rare. William Mullis was the deputy librarian of Chetham’s Library, the oldest free public reference library in the English-speaking world. It was founded in 1653, along with the Blue Coat School (two years earlier), by bequests from the merchant and banker...

£600

MEAD, Richard.

A Short Discourse concerning pestilential Contagion, and the Methods to be used to prevent it … The third Edition.

London: Printed [by William Bowyer] for Sam. Buckley … and Ralph Smith … 1720.

‘Third edition’ of the most famous medical tract on the plague scare of 1720-1, written at the request of James Craggs, the secretary of State following the bubonic outbreak in Marseilles in late 1719. There were seven London editions within the year, those from the third on being re-impressions...

£375

MACDONNEL, David Evans.

A Dictionary of Quotations, in most frequent use. Taken from the Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, and Italian...

London: Printed for G. G. and J. Robinson … 1797

First edition of the first English dictionary of quotations (Alston), albeit in foreign tongues. Drawn principally from Latin authors, with some quotations from living languages (mainly French) and some phrases from the law, the dictionary was compiled over some years by ‘look[ing] into every publication...

£650

[FORD, James, editor].

The Suffolk Garland: or, a Collection of Poems, Songs, Tales, Ballads, Sonnets, and Elegies, legendary and...

Ipswich: Printed and Sold by John Raw; Sold also by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown; and Rodd and Son, London. 1818

First edition of a miscellany of verse, much of it ephemeral, selected by the antiquary James Ford (1770-1850), perpetual curate of St. Laurence, Ipswich. In the preface Ford provides an outline of the history of ballads, drolleries, and penny literature and of how they have been collected by Pepys and...

£275

HEADRICK, Rev.

James. View of the Mineralogy, Agriculture, Manufactures and Fisheries of the Island of Arran. With Notices of Antiquities,...

Edinburgh: Printed by D. Willison, for Archibald Constable and Co. Edinburgh, and John Murray, 32. Fleet-Street, London. 1807.

First edition. The eccentric clergyman and geologist James Headrick (1759-1841) pursued a lifelong interest in the natural sciences and for a time found employment with Sir John Sinclair, probably working on The Statistical Account of Scotland. He was disappointed in repeated attempts to secure an academic...

£250

HOLCROFT, Thomas.

The Family Picture; or, domestic Dialogues on amiable and interesting Subjects: illustrated by Histories, Allegories,...

London: Printed for Lockyer Davis … Printer to the Royal Society. 1783

First edition of an early work by the radical playwright and novelist Thomas Holcroft. The Egerton family gather in the library every evening to tell stories for their mutual instruction and amusement. The novel takes the form of twenty dialogues, and each includes a number of shorter tales. Several...

£950

[BROWN, Thomas, M.D.].

The Bower of Spring, with other Poems … Edinburgh: Printed for Archibald Constable and Co. and Longman,...

Edinburgh: Printed for Archibald Constable and Co. and Longman, Hurst Rees, Orme and Brown, London. 1817

First edition. Brown was professor of Moral Philosophy at Edinburgh and a prolific versifier (‘among the few Classical Writers of this scribbling generation’ according to the Edinburgh Review – for which Brown was a regular contributor).

£225

TRIMMER, Mrs.

[Sarah]. An Explanation of the Office for the public Baptism of Infants; and of the Order for the Confirmation of...

London: Printed for T. Longman, and G. G. J. and J. Robinson … and J. Johnson … 1791

First edition, dedicated with the Queen’s permission to the royal princess, Princess Mary. According to the Analytical Review there were two versions of his work with the same imprint, this one (not in ESTC), which sold for 1 s., and one with added catechistical questions for teachers (BL. Bodley,...

£650

WALKER, John.

An economical History of the Hebrides and Highlands of Scotland ... in two Volumes ... Edinburgh: Printed at the...

Edinburgh: Printed at the University Press; 1808

First edition. The eminent naturalist John Walker (1731-1803), professor of natural history in the University of Edinburgh (Smollett was one of his students) and keeper of the university museum, made six long journeys into the Highlands and Islands from 1760 to 1786. He was commissioned by the General...

£450

MARTIN, Benjamin.

The Young Student’s Memorial Book, or pocket Library.

London: Printed for J. Noon … 1736.

First and only edition. A self-taught schoolmaster in Chichester, Benjamin Martin (1705-1782) ‘began to write, with the avowed intention of bringing down the price of books, especially for the benefit of those who were trying to educate themselves as he had done’ (Oxford DNB). ‘One of the great...

£650

BURLINGTON FINE ARTS CLUB.

List of Books in the Library of the Burlington Fine Arts Club. London: Printed for the Burlington Fine...

London: Printed for the Burlington Fine Arts Club … 1887

First edition, ‘printed for circulation among the Members of the Club … to direct their attention to the fact that the nucleus of an Art Library exists’ and to encourage donation of books and subscriptions to the library fund.

£450

WILMOT, John, Esq.

Memoirs of the Life of the Right Honourable Sir John Eardley Wilmot, Knt. Late Lord Chief Justice of the Court...

‘Second edition’, expanded; first published in quarto in 1802. The Memoirs of John Eardley Wilmot (1709-1792) were authored by his son John Wilmot (1748-1815), likewise a lawyer. This copy belonged to John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon (1751-1838), who records this copy as having been given by Wilmot’s...

£450

ANDERSEN, Hans Christian.

The Improvisatore: or, Life in Italy. From the Danish … Translated by Mary Howitt. In two Volumes …...

London: Richard Bentley … 1845

First edition in English of Andersen’s autobiographical novel reflecting his travels in Italy. The poet and novelist Caroline Norton (1808-1877) obviously valued it highly, and there are pencilled marginal scorings and underlings throughout. She was a granddaughter of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and...

£550

BATTY, John.

London: George Redway … 1883. [Bound with:]
 
KERSLAKE, Thomas. The Liberty of independent historical...

 
First edition of The Liberty of independent historical research, second edition of The Scope and Charm of Antiquarian Study.
 
‘What is the use of bothering your head about the past?’ asks John Batty, a Yorkshire antiquary; he provides an answer in this beguilingly written guide...

£150

TENNYSON, Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington… London: Edward Moxon …1852.

TENNYSON, Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

First edition. Wellington died at Walmer Castle on 14 September, and Tennyson’s ode was published on 18 November, the day of the funeral. One of his earliest Laureate poems, it was, of course, a patriotic piece, but also, as a Horatian ode in English, a notable technical achievement. Tennyson was to...

£100

MILL, James.

Elements of political economy … Second edition, revised and corrected.

London, Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, 1824.

Second edition of what Palgrave terms ‘Mill’s masterpiece’, extensively revised with alterations ‘too numerous to be specified’. This copy with a presentation inscription to Thomas Love Peacock signed ‘the author’.

£1250

[SHAKESPEARE]; ‘HAMILTON, N.E.S.A.’ [i.e. COLLIER, John Payne].

An inquiry into the genuineness of the manuscript corrections...

London, Richard Bentley, 1860.

First edition, the result of research by the Keeper and Assistant Keeper of manuscripts at the British Library, Frederic Madden and Nicholas Hamilton.

£75