Decorative Bindings
Bindings and library sets of rare books from Peter Harrington. From children's books to ancient literature, you'll find first editions, fine bindings and autographed sets across hundreds of authors.
Video: Jane Austen First Editions: How Bindings Affect Value.
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CHURCHILL, Winston S. The First Collected Works. Centenary Limited Edition.London : 1973-76
First complete collected edition, number 853 of 1,750 sets. The Centenary Edition is the only full collected works of Winston Churchill, reproducing his 50 books in 34 volumes. The Library of Imperial History went bankrupt before the projected run of 3,000 sets could be completed, so "the print run never exceeded 2,000 copies and only 1,750 sets were... Learn More£4,500.00Stock Code: 137778
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BIBLE; English, Douai-Rheims version. The New Testament of Jesus Christ translated faithfully into English,Rheims [NT] & Douai [OT] : 1582 & 1609-10
First edition in English of the Roman Catholic version of the Bible, the Old Testament in a contemporary Douai binding and a presentation copy from John Knatchbull, vice-president of the English College at Douai, offered here with a pleasing copy of the Rheims New Testament in 17th-century calf.
Knatchbull presents the Old Testament to Lady Joanna... Learn More£45,000.00Stock Code: 108480
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MILNE, A. A. When We Were Very Young.London : July 1925
Tenth impression, second deluxe edition. When We Were Very Young was first published on 6 November 1924. Copies of the seventh and tenth impressions were later issued in deluxe bindings. Milne had no particular ambition to write for children, but in 1922 a glimpse of his two-year-old son Christopher being taught to pray by his nanny inspired him to... Learn More£1,000.00Stock Code: 96008
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KESSEL, J. & Hélène Iswolsky. Les Rois Aveugles.Paris : [c.1925]
Limited to 400 numbered copies printed on japon ("vellum paper"). With the monogram and bookplate of Victoria Sackville-West, mother of writer and gardener Vita Sackville-West. A handsomely bound copy. Learn More£75.00Stock Code: 81169
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CHURCHILL, Winston. Into Battle.London : 1943
Tenth edition, presentation issue, inscribed by the author on the first blank: "To Monsieur V. V. Tilea With best wishes from Winston S. Churchill 1946". The recipient Viorel Virgil Tilea (1896-1972) was the Romanian Government-in-exile's representative in London during the war, making this a particularly appropriate volume to have been presented at... Learn More£8,500.00Stock Code: 145711
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DICKENS, Charles. The Posthumous Papers of The Pickwick Club.London : 1837
First edition in book form of the novel that transformed the obscure journalist into England's most famous writer in a matter of months. The novel was first published in serial form from March 1836 to November 1837. Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 134818
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SCOTT, Sir Walter. The Lyrics and Ballads.London : 1894
An attractive copy of Scott's poetical works. Learn More£95.00Stock Code: 145592
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MILTON, John. The Poetical Works.London : 1857
A handsomely bound Victorian illustrated edition, with elegant gauffred edges, of Milton's poetry. Learn More£675.00Stock Code: 145336
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CHURCH, Alfred J. The Story of the Last Days of Jerusalem.London : [before 1898]
A handsomely bound copy of this retelling of the last days of Jerusalem. Learn More£95.00Stock Code: 145585
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BRANGWYN, Frank (illus.); FITZGERALD, Edward. Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám.London & Edinburgh : 1919
Deluxe edition, limited to 350 unnumbered copies. Rubáiyáts with Brangwyn's illustrations were published from 1906 onwards; this edition, the most comprehensive and elaborate, includes seven illustrations by the artist hitherto unpublished. The text is that of the first edition of 1859. Learn More£375.00Stock Code: 138906
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DICKENS, Charles. The Posthumous Papers of The Pickwick Club.London : 1837
First edition, bound from the original monthly parts, in a very handsome binding by the leading British bookbinders Bayntun-Riviere, and delightfully extra-illustrated with the full suite of Frederick Pailthorpe's 24 additional illustrations which were issued in 1882, retaining the front wrapper of that publication with the publisher's presentation... Learn More£2,750.00Stock Code: 145656
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LANG, Andrew. Helen of Troy.London : 1882
First edition, in an exquisite Sangoski & Sutcliffe binding preserving the original cloth, of Lang's retelling in verse of the classical narrative of Helen of Troy.
The Scottish poet, author, and anthropologist Andrew Lang (1844-1912) is best-known as a collector of folk and fairy tales, and for being the author of the Fairy Book series. He... Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 144513
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RACKHAM, Arthur (illus.); IRVING, Washington. Rip Van Winkle.London : 1905
Second impression. Signed by Rackham on the title page. Learn More£975.00Stock Code: 129291
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DICKENS, Charles. The Nonesuch Dickens.London : 1937-9
First Nonesuch edition, number 9 of 877 sets, here with the original steel plate "The Boarding House" engraved by George Cruikshank for Sketches by Boz, with a proof pull and letter of authentication from Chapman and Hall signed by Deputy Chairman Arthur Waugh.
The peculiar limitation is due to the inclusion, enclosed in the 24th volume of each... Learn More£9,750.00Stock Code: 145586
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WHITE, Gilbert. The Natural History and Antiquities of SelborneLondon : 1900
Large paper edition, number 86 of 160 copies signed by the editor and artists, lavishly bound and illustrated.
First published in 1789, White's Selborne is one of the great English books of the 18th century, "the first book which raised natural history into the region of literature" (Encyclopaedia Britannica). The work is arranged into three... Learn More£3,750.00Stock Code: 139565
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MITFORD, Nancy. The Sun King.London : 1969
Signed limited issue, number 83 of 265 copies signed by Mitford on the limitation leaf and specially bound by Zaehnsdorf. Nancy Mitford (19041973) won great acclaim with this lavishly illustrated biography of the French King Louis XIV. Learn More£575.00Stock Code: 144643
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AUSTEN, Jane; THOMSON, Hugh (illus.) The Works.London : 1925-26
A handsomely bound set of the Illustrated Pocket Classics. Hugh Thomson was one of the most notable book illustrators of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and his illustrations for Jane Austen's novels remain widely regarded as classics in the field. Learn More£1,950.00Stock Code: 142090
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AUSTEN, Jane. The Novels.Edinburgh : 1911-12
The Winchester edition; considered the most attractive of the unillustrated editions of Jane Austen's works produced around this time. In this enlarged issue, the set has two additional volumes, comprising Lady Susan and The Watsons, taken from the 1871 Memoir, together with Jane Austen's letters. Rare in contemporary binding and in this condition. Learn More£5,000.00Stock Code: 135931
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TROLLOPE, Anthony. The Bertrams.London : 1859
First edition, issued without half-titles or ads, of Trollope's "curiously uncommon book" (Sadleir). Much of the novel's action takes place in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, unlike the author's best known novels mostly based in England.
An attractive set. Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 128270
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AUSTEN, Jane. The Novels.Boston : 1900
A handsomely bound set. Learn More£3,000.00Stock Code: 86986
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CHRISTMAS - CALLIGRAPHIC MANUSCRIPT. The Wonderful Christmas Story told by St Luke.Snowshill, Cotswolds : November 1928
A beautiful arts and crafts style calligraphic Christmas gift, inscribed in orange ink to the final leaf "Written for Miss Ellen D. Sharpe by her friend S. B. Russell at Snowshill, on the Cotswolds, in November 1928".
The work was created by Sydney Bolton Russell (1866-1938), the father of the arts and crafts furniture designer Gordon Russell... Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 145380
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![Alice's Adventures in Wonderland [together with] Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There.](https://d3dzzbbvj9im7s.cloudfront.net/media/catalog/product/cache/ae0834d12b7cf129fc73bcc000ea526a/1/4/145478.jpg)
CARROLL, Lewis. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland [together with] Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There.London : 1868 & 1872
First edition of Through the Looking-Glass, together with an early edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, this being from the 12th thousand, published just three years after the first edition of 1865, handsomely bound as a set by Bayntun of Bath. The Alice books earned the author "a place in the firmament of the great, for they are not only acts... Learn More£7,500.00Stock Code: 145478
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SPENSER, Edmund. Epithalamion and Amoretti.London : 1903
First edition thus, number 198 of 250 copies finely printed by Bumpus of Spenser's poems of love and marriage, attractively illustrated with etchings. This fine press edition in the publisher's deluxe binding is quite scarce.
There were also copies bound in cloth and vellum, and an additional 14 copies printed on vellum which were intended for... Learn More£600.00Stock Code: 145497
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KIPLING, Rudyard. The Works.London : 1904-28
An attractively bound set of Kipling's works. With three of the volumes containing Barrack-Room Ballads, Departmental Ditties, The Years Between, Songs from Books, The Seven Seas and The Five Nations published by Methuen. Learn More£3,500.00Stock Code: 145156
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TWAIN, Mark. Following the Equator.Hartford, Connecticut : 1897
First edition, handsomely bound for the luxury purveyors Asprey. This copy with the favoured single Hartford imprint, and the signature mark 11 at p. 161. Having invested heavily in revolutionary but flawed typesetting machinery, by 1894 Twain was practically bankrupt. His solution was to undertake a tour of the British Empire, ensuring an enthusiastic... Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 134919
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DOYLE, Arthur Conan. The Hound of the Baskervilles.London : 1902
First edition, first impression. The Hound was Sherlock Holmes's "comeback" novel after his shocking demise on the Reichenbach Falls stunned his loyal Victorian readership. When first serialized in the Strand Magazine in 1901 it was a feverish success, with queues at the publisher's office and throughout the country. Learn More£3,000.00Stock Code: 132284
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HEMINGWAY, Ernest. Men Without Women.New York : 1927
First edition, first printing. Learn More£1,375.00Stock Code: 40090
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THESIGER, Wilfred. Desert, Marsh and Mountain.Dubai : 1993
Signed limited edition, number 70 of 250 copies signed by the author on the limitation page, of the 1993 re-issue, with new foreword, of a title first published in 1979.
"This book has always been a personal favourite, capturing as it does my affinity with the nomadic way of life I am delighted that after a considerable time out of print... Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 145348
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DICKENS, Charles. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit.London : 1844
First edition.
Dickens's biographer places Martin Chuzzlewit as marking "a great change in Dickens's conception of moral characteristics... For the first time Dickens begins to explore the contradictions and difficulties of the contemporary human world; these are no longer figures defined by a single characteristic or animated by the wilful... Learn More£975.00Stock Code: 145353
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DICKENS, Charles. The Mystery of Edwin Drood.London : 1870
First edition, bound from the original monthly parts published between April and September 1870. The author's final work, it remained unfinished at the time of his death, in June 1870, and has prompted much speculation as to the resolution of the mystery. Learn More£375.00Stock Code: 145355
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![The Essays of Elia; [together with:] The Last Essays of Elia.](https://d3dzzbbvj9im7s.cloudfront.net/media/catalog/product/cache/ae0834d12b7cf129fc73bcc000ea526a/1/4/144785.jpg)
CHIVERS BINDING - LAMB, Charles. The Essays of Elia; [together with:] The Last Essays of Elia.London : 1902
A highly attractive copy in a beautiful example of a "vellucent" binding, by Cedric Chivers of Bath, of Charles Lamb's largely autobiographical pseudonymous essays, dealing with mankind at large through the medium of his own experiences and impressions.
Chivers's binding style is produced by hand-painting the backing sheet of the binding, which... Learn More£2,000.00Stock Code: 144785
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KEYNES, Geoffrey. William Blake's Illustrations to the Bible: A Catalogue.Clairvaux, France : 1957
Limited edition, copy V of 20 copies with additional proof states of the frontispiece at rear and bound in full morocco, out of 506 copies in total.
A fine copy of this grand book, here from the Garden collection of Haven O'More, with his black morocco monogram book label to the front pastedown. One of the greatest book collectors of the latter... Learn More£1,500.00Stock Code: 145346
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QUILLER-COUCH, Arthur (ed.) The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900.Oxford : 1902
Early edition of Quiller-Couch's collection of English poetry, first published in 1900, in a handsome art nouveau-influenced style binding. "This volume soon became the standard anthology of English verse and sold nearly a million volume during Quiller-Couch's lifetime" (ODNB).
Loosely inserted is a contemporary silk bookmark hand-decorated with... Learn More£650.00Stock Code: 145284
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DICKENS, Charles. The Works.London : 1874-76
An attractively bound complete set of Dickens's works with a commemorative British "Charles Dickens" postage stamp pasted to the front free endpaper of each volume. As part of the Charles Dickens Centenary celebrated in 1912, a London Committee was established to collect funds for the benefit of the author's descendants. The committee, which included... Learn More£2,750.00Stock Code: 138660
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WYNDHAM, John. The Day of the Triffids.London : 1951
First edition, first impression, of Wyndham's science fiction classic. Learn More£1,375.00Stock Code: 37511
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KINGLAKE, Alexander William. The Invasion of the Crimea:Edinburgh and London : 1863-87
First editions throughout. A handsomely bound set.
Kinglake was in the Crimea in 1854, "witnessed the battle of the Alma from close hand, dined that night with Lord Raglan... helped the wounded, sketched and recorded the scenes in his diary. Kinglake rode with the allies towards Sevastopol and watched them take up siege positions on upland to... Learn More£1,750.00Stock Code: 145242
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GRAY, Thomas. Poems.[Eton] : 1894
First edition thus, presented to Edouardo Arcibaldo Douglas Collins as a retirement gift upon leaving Eton in 1897 by Edmond Warre, master, and later Head master and Provost of Eton; printed presentation label to first free binder's blank. A handsomely bound copy. Learn More£200.00Stock Code: 145207
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CHOLMONDELEY-PENNELL, H. The Book of the Pike.London : 1865
First edition. A handsomely bound copy. Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 145210
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SHAKESPEARE, William. The Complete Works.London : 1913
A handsomely bound copy including his poems and sonnets. "After retiring from teaching, Craig devoted himself to reading, research, and publication in the area of Shakespeare studies In 1894, he edited the complete works of Shakespeare in one volume with a brief glossary and an appended 'Index of characters' as well as an 'Index of first lines of songs,... Learn More£150.00Stock Code: 145221
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SHENSTONE, William. The Poetical Works.Edinburgh : 1854
A handsomely bound copy of Shenstone's poetry. Learn More£75.00Stock Code: 145223
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THEOCRITUS. Idyls.Philadelphia : 1902
Limited edition, number 547 of 1,000 copies, all printed on japon, with the original Greek parallel with the English translation, within architectural borders; a very attractive book, handsomely bound and elegantly printed. The volume was published as part of the series "Antique Gems from the Greek and Latin", covering many classical writers. Learn More£300.00Stock Code: 145098
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HORACE. Odes, Epodes, Carmen Seculare.Philadelphia : 1902
Limited edition, number 547 of 1,000 copies, all printed on japon, with the original Latin parallel with the English translation, within architectural borders; a very attractive book, handsomely bound and elegantly printed. The volume was published as part of the series "Antique Gems from the Greek and Latin", covering many classical writers. Learn More£400.00Stock Code: 145099
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VIRGIL; CATALLUS. The Bucolics; Odes to Lesbia and the Nuptial Song of Peleus and Thetis.Philadelphia : 1902
Limited edition, number 547 of 1,000 copies, all printed on japon, with the original Latin parallel with the English translations, within architectural borders; a very attractive book, handsomely bound and elegantly printed.
The volume was published as part of the series "Antique Gems from the Greek and Latin", covering many classical writers,... Learn More£400.00Stock Code: 145100
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PROPERTIUS. Elegies.Philadelphia : 1902
Limited edition, number 547 of 1,000 copies, all printed on japon, with the original Latin parallel with the English translation, within architectural borders; a very attractive book, handsomely bound and elegantly printed. The volume was published as part of the series "Antique Gems from the Greek and Latin", covering many classical writers. Learn More£250.00Stock Code: 145102
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ACHILLES TATIUS. Leucippe and Clitophon.Philadelphia : 1902
Limited edition, number 547 of 1,000 copies, all printed on japon, with the original Greek parallel with the English translation, within architectural borders; a very attractive book, handsomely bound and elegantly printed. The volumes were published as part of the series "Antique Gems from the Greek and Latin", covering many classical writers. Learn More£300.00Stock Code: 145104
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LONGUS. Daphnis and Chloe.Philadelphia : 1902
Limited edition, number 547 of 1,000 copies, all printed on japon, with the original Greek parallel with the English translation, within architectural borders; a very attractive book, handsomely bound and elegantly printed. The volume was published as part of the series "Antique Gems from the Greek and Latin", covering many classical writers. Learn More£300.00Stock Code: 145113
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BYRON, George Gordon Noel, Lord. The Works.London : 1832-3
An attractive library set of Byron's works, complete with the three Don Juan volumes added to the edition, including all his poems and plays, letters and journals, and the Life by his friend Thomas Moore. Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 145033
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APOLLONIUS; MUSAEUS. Jason and Medea; Hero and Leander.Philadelphia : 1902
Limited edition, number 547 of 1,000 copies, all printed on japon, with the original Greek parallel with the English translations, within architectural borders; a very attractive book, handsomely bound and elegantly printed.
The volume was published as part of the series "Antique Gems from the Greek and Latin", covering many classical writers,... Learn More£350.00Stock Code: 145089
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LUCIAN. The Ass.Philadelphia : 1902
Limited edition, number 547 of 1,000 copies, all printed on japon, with the original Greek parallel with the English translation, within architectural borders; a very attractive book, handsomely bound and elegantly printed. The volume was published as part of the series "Antique Gems from the Greek and Latin", covering many classical writers. Learn More£200.00Stock Code: 145090
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LUCIAN. Dialogues of Courtesans.Philadelphia : 1902
Limited edition, number 547 of 1,000 copies, all printed on japon, with the original Latin parallel with the English translation, within architectural borders; a very attractive book, handsomely bound and elegantly printed. The volume was published as part of the series "Antique Gems from the Greek and Latin", covering many classical writers. Learn More£300.00Stock Code: 145096
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ELIOT, George. The Writings.Boston and New York : 1908
Large-paper edition, number 10 of 750 copies only, the first volume with a tipped-in 4-page autograph letter signed from George Eliot, signed as Mary Evans Lewes, using the surname of her longtime partner George Henry Lewes, although they were in fact not married.
On her house stationary of The Priory, Regent's Park, Eliot writes to a Mr Benecke... Learn More£8,750.00Stock Code: 145316
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TAYLOR, Bayard (ed.) Picturesque Europe.London : 1875-9
First issue in book form, originally published in 60 parts from 1875 to 1879. A very handsome production, the first two volumes on the British Isles, the latter three on the rest of Europe; the lavish illustrations depict natural wonders alongside notable and rustic architecture, often highly romanticised. Learn More£1,875.00Stock Code: 145358
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JEKYLL, Gertrude. Lilies for English Gardens.London : 1901
First edition, first impression. Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 95231
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ELIOT, George. The Novels.Edinburgh and London : c.1900
New edition. Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 145187
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PROUST, Marcel. Les plaisirs et les jours.Paris : 1896
First edition, first printing, of the first book published by Proust before his rise to stardom, in an attractive art déco binding by the French bookbinder Max Fonsèque (1891-1965), and superbly illustrated by the society-painter Madeleine Lemaire (1845-1928).
Some of the poems and short stories in this work had appeared in print from 1892... Learn More£2,500.00Stock Code: 144631
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DICKENS, Charles. A Christmas Carol in Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas.1922]
A handsomely bound facsimile of the first edition of Dickens's first and most enduring Christmas gift book. This copy has been bound without the extra title page and prefatory matter by G. K. Chesterton and B. W. Matz, rendering it even more persuasive. Learn More£1,350.00Stock Code: 145198
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MILNE, A. A. Winnie-the-Pooh.London : 1976
Rare presentation copy of the 50th anniversary edition, number 27 of 300 copies signed by Christopher Robin Milne. This copy has been fulsomely inscribed by Christopher Robin to the winner of "The Hum with Pooh" poetry competition:"Dear Mubina Punjani, this book tells you that you have been awarded First Prize in your age group in The Hum with Pooh... Learn More£3,000.00Stock Code: 145209
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VERNE, Jules. The Works.New York, : [1911]
Edition Decorée. Limited to 300 numbered sets of which this is number 19. Learn More£7,500.00Stock Code: 144429
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PRESCOTT, H. William. Prescott's WorksPhiladelphia and London : [1904]
A handsomely bound set of the Montezuma edition, limited to 1,000 copies of which this is number 656. Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 144244
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RACKHAM, Arthur (illus.); GRAHAME, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows.London : 1951
Deluxe edition, number 323 of 500 copies. This the one-hundredth edition of Grahame's timeless classic, which was originally published in 1908, with just a frontispiece, by Graham Robertson. Rackham's illustrations for the text first appeared in the Limited Editions Club edition of 1940, and it was the last work he illustrated. "During his last illness... Learn More£4,250.00Stock Code: 110662
