Illustrated (all items)
First editions and rare illustrated books where the primary appeal is the illustrations, including early printed books with woodcut engravings, colour plate and aquatint, photographically illustrated books, and deluxe illustrated gift books by Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, Kay Nielsen, Harry Clarke, and others.
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ROBERTS, David.
Egypt & Nubia, from Drawings Made on the Spot … 1846–49
£165,000
First edition in the preferred deluxe coloured format of "one of the most important and elaborate ventures of nineteenth-century publishing, and it was the apotheosis of the tinted...
3 volumes, large folio (595 × 430 mm). Contemporary blue hard-grain half morocco on matching pebble-grained cloth, title gilt to spines, spines gilt in... Read more
GOULD, John.
The Mammals of Australia. 1863
£165,000
A superb copy of the first edition of Gould's work on the Mammals of Australia. Gould's interest in Australia was piqued by specimens sent back by his wife's brothers who had settled...
3 volumes folio (555 × 365 mm). Contemporary green half morocco on matching pebble-grained boards by Blunson & Co., spines divided into in seven compartments with... Read more
GOULD, John.
The Birds of Great Britain. 1873
£75,000
First edition, first issue. With the Snowy Owl plate in first state (with uncracked image). A fine copy of the work of which Gould was most proud. This work is "the most sumptuous...
25 original parts, large folio ( 573 x 394 mm). Original cloth-backed green printed boards with vignette. Boxed in five green quarter morocco solander boxes 367... Read more
HOOKE, Robert.
Micrographia: 1665
£65,000
First edition, first issue, of this "early landmark in microscopy, containing the first illustration of cells [plate xi]" (Horblit). Published under the aegis of the Royal Society,...
Folio (300 × 192 mm). Contemporary calf, gilt arms to covers, rebacked to style with endpapers renewed. Red morocco-backed folding box. Licence leaf facing title... Read more
SALT, Henry.
Twenty-Four Views in St. Helena, the Cape, India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia and Egypt. 1809
£50,000
First edition, with plates watermarked 1824. Having failed in his original ambition to be a portrait painter, "On 20 June 1802 Salt left England on an eastern tour, as secretary and...
Large folio (751 × 534 mm). Original marbled boards, with red morocco patch title label to the upper, rebacked and recornered in red morocco to style, title gilt... Read more
(RACKHAM, Arthur) BARRIE, J. M.
Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. (From 'The Little White Bird'). 1906
£50,000
First edition, out-of-series from the deluxe signed limited edition of 500 copies, a special copy for presentation from the artist to the author, with an original watercolour drawing...
Quarto. Bound for presentation in original vellum, titles and decoration to front cover and spine gilt, original yellow silk ties, map to front endpaper, top edge... Read more
[PHILLIP, Arthur]
The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay; 1789
£45,000
First edition of this foundation work on Australia as a European colony, the official account of the voyage of the First Fleet to Botany Bay and the settlement of Australia, based on...
Quarto (280 × 215 mm). Contemporary tree calf, professionally rebacked to style and recornered, red morocco label, flat spine, compartments with foliate arabesque... Read more
DODWELL, Edward.
Views in Greece, from drawings ... 1821
£37,500
First edition of one of the most spectacular aquatint travel books of its era, with good quality plates and excellent colouring; those engraved and coloured by Havell in particular...
Folio. Six parts, as issued, in original buff wrappers, green roan spines, titles printed to front wrapper, pasted errata slip on rear wrapper of part 5. Housed in a... Read more
REED, Ethel, illustrator.
The Arabella and Araminta Stories 1895
£37,500
First Edition, limited edition large paper copy, one of fifteen copies only printed on Royal Japanese paper, containing original extra illustrations on the endpapers by Ethel Reed,...
Folio (439 × 298 mm). Publisher's floral cloth-covered boards, blue morocco backstrip lettered and dated in gilt, vellum tips. Housed in a cloth slipcase. Front... Read more
![Ars Moriendi [Inspiration Against Despair].](/content/store/products/17988/2/19813.jpg)
(BLOCK BOOK.)
Ars Moriendi [Inspiration Against Despair]. c. 1470–80]
£37,500
An extremely rare block book leaf, one of only two known to survive from this edition of the Ars Moriendi (The Art of Dying). Block books were a short-lived book format that...
Quarto (248 × 188 mm). Single leaf from a block book, contemporary hand-coloured woodcut printed on one side of the leaf only. Mounted and framed. A few small... Read more
LA FONTAINE, J[ean] de.
Fables choisies, mises en vers, 1755–9
£35,000
Large-paper issue of one of the most ambitious and successful of all illustrated books, the zenith of the 18th-century decorated book in France. In his Avertissement de...
4 volumes, large folio (485 × 325 mm). Contemporary French red morocco, spine compartments with morocco labels and large gilt urn device surrounded by small... Read more
[NIELSEN, Kay]
East of the Sun and West of the Moon. [1914]
£25,000
First Edition Limited Issue. One of 500 copies, of which this is number 127, signed by Kay Nielsen on the limitation page. Nielsen's masterpiece, of great scarcity in this condition.
Quarto, pp. 206 + [ii]. Original full vellum, decoration and titles to spine gilt, decoration to boards gilt with bright blue trim, yellow silk ties. Housed in a... Read more
ADAM, Robert.
Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Dalmatia. 1764
£24,500
First edition. During a five week detour from his Grand Tour, Adam, joined by the renowned French draughtsman C.-L. Clérisseau, set about studying, measuring and recording the...
Folio (534 × 368 mm). Contemporary tree calf neatly rebacked to style retaining old black morocco label, sides bordered in gilt with decorative dotted roll and... Read more
(SANGORSKI, Alberto) TENNYSON, Alfred, Lord.
Illuminated manuscript A Dream of Fair Women. c. 1910]
£22,500
Alberto Sangorski (1862-1932), one of the early twentieth century's most highly regarded illuminators, developed his skills at calligraphy and illumination working with his brother...
Manuscript on vellum (225 × 165 mm), 14 leaves plus 4 blanks, in disciplined calligraphic hand in black and red ink to recto and verso. Contemporary blue-green... Read more
RAMELLI, Agostino.
Le diverse et artificiose machine … 1588
£20,000
First edition of a fundamental book in the history both of technology and of book design, and "one of the most elegantly produced of all technological treatises" (Norman). The...
Folio (307 × 206 mm). Contemporary French mottled calf, spine gilt in compartments between raised bands, lettered in second compartment, sides ruled in blind.... Read more
LAFOSSE, Philippe Étienne.
Cours d'Hippiatrique, ou Traité Complet de la Médecin des Chevaux, 1772
£20,000
First edition of this celebrated work of animal anatomy. Lafosse had considerable anatomical skill, coupled with a profound knowledge of horses and equitation, and his work ranks...
Folio (503 × 335 mm). Contemporary calf, skilfully rebacked to style with gilt spine retaining old morocco label, marbled endpapers, edges stained red. Engraved... Read more
(RACKHAM, Arthur)
How Galahad Drew Out the Sword from the Floating Stone at Camelot. 1905
£20,000
Superb original drawing as used in Arthur Rackham's first and subsequent editions of Malory's Morte d'Arthur, The Romance of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table. The...
Original artwork in pen and ink and watercolour on board, signed lower right in pen by Arthur Rackham. Approx. image size 28 x 20 inches. Framed. Read more
(RACKHAM, Arthur) WALTON, Izaak.
The Compleat Angler, [1931]
£19,500
Signed Limited Edition, Special Issue. The book is signed on the limitation page by Rackham and opposite is an humorous original ink and watercolour image, signed in full by the...
Quarto. Beautifully bound for the publishers to Rackham's design by Sangorski & Sutcliffe in full red morocco, covers elaborately panelled gilt with fish design in... Read more
(RACKHAM, Arthur) IBSEN, Henrik.
Peer Gynt. A Dramatic Poem. 1936
£19,500
Signed Limited Edition. Special Copy. Number 9 of a special deluxe edition of ten copies containing an original watercolour by Rackham. One of the charming aspects of the watercolour...
Quarto. Bound for the publishers by Sangorski & Sutcliffe in full green morocco, with raised bands and vignettes of Rackhamesque goblins in gilt. The watercolour... Read more
MCKENNEY, Thomas Loraine, & James Hall.
History of the Indian Tribes of North America, 1854
£18,750
Second octavo edition. A highly successful publication running to five impressions within the first few years of publication. The same plates were used for all the early editions of...
3 volumes, octavo (260 × 164 mm) original red hard-grain morocco, raised bands to the spine, title gilt direct to the spine, compartments gilt, elaborate gilt... Read more
(RACKHAM, Arthur) ROSSETTI, Christina.
Goblin Market. 1933
£18,500
Signed limited de-luxe edition, no. 6 of approximately 8 special copies with an original watercolour, this of a goblin offering a selection of fruit, watched by a rat-like creature.
Octavo. Bound for the publishers by Sangorski & Sutcliffe in green morocco, spine lettered and date gilt, gilt rules either side of raised bands, ornamental rolls gilt... Read more
BROOKSHAW, George.
Pomona Britannica, or a collection of the most esteemed fruits at present cultivated in Great Britain; 1817
£17,500
Second edition, in smaller format than the first, of the finest English work on fruit; "one of the finest colour-plate books in existence" (Prideaux); this copy with an additional...
Large quarto. Late 19th-century green half morocco, spine with raised bands decoratively gilt, gilt lettered in two compartments, double gilt rules, gilt border at... Read more
REPTON, Humphry.
Fragments on the theory and practice of Landscape Gardening. 1816
£17,500
First edition of Repton's last treatise, this copy from the library at High Legh, Cheshire. The Legh family had held substantial property in the Cheshire area since the time of...
Large quarto (339 × 276 mm). Near-contemporary red half morocco, spine with gilt devices between raised bands, gilt-lettered direct in second compartment, pink... Read more
SERRES, Dominick, R.A. & John Thomas
Liber Nauticus, and Instructor in the Art of Marine Drawing. 1805-6
£16,500
First edition. An excellent copy of probably the grandest English naval aquatint book, eight of the plates here being coloured, in Abbey's copy only plate XVII was coloured. Dominick...
2 parts in 1 volume, folio (475 × 330 mm). Recently bound to style in eighteenth-century half diced russia, marbled boards, matching russia patch label with gilt... Read more
(RACKHAM, Arthur) BROWNING, Robert.
King of the Golden River 1932
£16,500
Signed limited deluxe edition. In an edition of 570 copies, 550 of which were for sale.
Octavo. Bound for the publishers by Sangorski & Sutcliffe in full green morocco, titles and decoration to spine gilt, gilt fillet to boards gilt, twin rule to... Read more
