History & culture
A wide selection of rare first editions, signed and inscribed copies, deluxe and collectible editions of books, pamphlets, and ephemera relating to history, archaeology, anthropology, folklore, occult, and religion.
From the blog: Magna Carta: Evolution and Emblem
A Noiseless Flash: Hiroshima by John Hersey
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BURCKHARDT, Jacob. Die Cultur der Renaissance in Italien.Basel : 1860
First edition. Written by Burckhardt (1818-1897) between 1855 and 1858, Die Kultur der Renaissance is a milestone in cultural history. While the author's definition and historical description of the Renaissance have been rightfully questioned, "no criticism can detract from the powerful spell which Burckhardt's book has exercised upon such widely different... Learn More£850.00Stock Code: 91256
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GAZETTEER. The New London Universal Gazetteer.London : 1831
A very handsomely bound set. Learn More£350.00Stock Code: 93160
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CLARENDON, Edward Hyde, Earl of. The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England.Oxford : 1807
Large paper issue - Lowndes notes that only 50 such sets were printed - of this very appealing Oxford edition presented here in a choice Regency binding. First published between 1702 and 1707 (with the first octavo edition appearing in 1705-06) Clarendon's great History has "remained in the mind because of his literary achievementthe fashioning of the... Learn More£1,875.00Stock Code: 106106
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BARING, Maurice. Robert Peckham.London : 1934
Signed limited edition of 100 copies, this copy number 59. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author "To J. B. Morton, from Maurice Baring, New Year 1935" on the front free endpaper. Morton is best remembered under his pseudonym, "Beachcomber", which he used throughout his career as a satirical columnist at the Express; both he and Baring belonged... Learn More£125.00Stock Code: 106538
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ISHERWOOD, Christopher. My Guru and His Disciple.New York : 1980
First edition, first printing. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author "for Carole, with admiration from her friend Chris. June 14 1980" on the title-page. Learn More£225.00Stock Code: 106764
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GIGLIO, Giovanni. The Triumph of Barabbas.London : 1937
First UK edition, first impression. From the publisher's archive, with their ink stamp to the front free paste down, title page and front panel of the dust jacket. Author was the Daily Herald correspondant in Rome from 1919 to 1924 and later in 1930-1936. Learn More£50.00Stock Code: 108669
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BIBLE; English; Geneva version. The Bible: that is the Holy Scriptures conteined in the Old and New Testament.London : 1615
A most attractive Jacobean Bible in the Geneva version, the version still used by Oliver Cromwell in the middle of the 17th century. Herbert describes this 1615 printing as "the last roman type quarto edition of this version printed by Barker". Learn More£4,250.00Stock Code: 110558
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SAUNDERS, Richard, as Cardanus Rider. Rider's British Merlin: For the Year of Our Lord God 1778.London : 1778
A handsome Georgian-era almanac, in a highly attractive contemporary binding. Cardanus Rider is now believed to have been the pseudonym of physician and astronomer Richard Saunders (1613-1675). He was a member of the circle of William Lilly, whose own Merlin was first published in 1644; Rider's British Merlin was first published in in 1653, and was... Learn More£950.00Stock Code: 111954
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FERGUSON, Adam. Geschichte des Fortgangs und Untergangs der Romischen Republik.Leipzig : 1784-86
First edition in German. "During 1782 and 1783 Ferguson helped found the Royal Society of Scotland. His three-volume History of the Progress and Termination of the Roman Republic, narrating the rise and fall of the republic as a story of civic virtue and its corruption, appeared in 1783. The book was warmly received in Scotland, where excerpts were... Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 98845
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STEADMAN, Ralph. The Big I Am.London : 1988
First edition, first impression. Learn More£65.00Stock Code: 103772
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GUISCHARDT, Karl Gottlieb. Mémoires critiques et historiques sur plusieurs points d'antiquités militairesBerlin : 1773
True first edition, predating the Paris edition by a year. Guiscahrdt was born in Magdeburg in 1724, the son of Huguenot refugees he was intended for the church, "and at Leiden actually preached a sermon as a candidate for the pastorate. But he abandoned theology for more secular studies, especially that of ancient history" (Britannica, 1911). He served... Learn More£4,000.00Stock Code: 104149
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[WALTER, Eugene.] Whittenbury Kaye. The Romance & Adventures of the notorious Colonel Blood,Manchester : 1903
First edition. Uncommon account of the dramatic tale of Colonel Blood's clumsy plot to steal the Crown Jewels, Library Hub has just BL for this John Heywood-published standard edition and also a copy of the Subscriber's edition; WorldCat adds a copy of the latter at New York University and the former at the University of Minnesota. Rev. Whittenbury... Learn More£95.00Stock Code: 44274
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BRAUN, Dietrich E. A Twenty Years Struggle in South Africa. A Souvenir.[c. 1918]
Inscribed by the author on the title page "To Mrs. Walter Meyer from the author Dietrich E. Braun, 1953". Learn More£125.00Stock Code: 52085
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APTHEKER, Herbert. To Be Free.New York : 1968
Second edition. First published in 1948; this edition with a new preface by the author. Inscribed on the half-title " Feb 1969 For Bobby Seale with best wishes Herbert Aptheker." Aptheker was an American Marxist historian and political activist. Seale was co-founder of the Black Panther Party which he formed with Huey Newton in 1966. Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 60782
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TARBOTTON, M. O. History of the Old Trent Bridge,1871
First edition, first impression. Learn More£100.00Stock Code: 60987
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KOESTLER, Arthur. Janus.London : 1978
First edition, first impression. Presentation copy inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, " To Tony, hopefully, from Arthur". Koestler had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in early 1976, the effects of which are evident here. Learn More£120.00Stock Code: 61022
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HAINES, William Amos. Mission San Luis Obispo de Tulsa.[c.1910]
One of a series of photos taken by William Amos Haines (1877-1953), who travelled through the United States in the first decades of the 20th century making early panoramas with a rotating Kodak Cirkut camera. He was particularly interested in California's Spanish missions, and took photographs of a number of these sites around 1910. Mission San Luis... Learn More£375.00Stock Code: 64969
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LEENHARDT, Maurice. Notes d'Ethnologie Néo-Calédonienne.Paris : 1930
First edition. A Protestant pastor to the Kanak people of New Caledonia, Leenhardt became fascinated with their way of life and dedicated more than 30 years of his life to the study of their culture. The founder of oceanic ethnology, he established the Société des Oceanistes in 1927, and was closely involved with the Musée de l'Homme. Ownership inscription... Learn More£185.00Stock Code: 67564
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WAUGH, Evelyn. The Holy Places.London & New York : 1953
First US edition, signed limited issue, number 36 of 50 specially bound copies, signed by both the author and illustrator, from a total edition of 1,000 copies. The Holy Places is based on an article Waugh wrote for Life magazine, "The Plight of the Holy Places," (24 December 1951) after visiting Israel Palestine in 1951 with his friend Christopher... Learn More£2,750.00Stock Code: 67863
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MACAULAY, Catharine. The History of EnglandLondon : 1769-72
First octavo edition, complete to that date (the first four volumes are dated 1769, while the fifth bears no edition statement and is dated 1772). Catharine Macaulay's history was published episodically, the first volume in 1763, the fourth in 1768, and the fifth (covering events to the Restoration) in 1772. Her decision to leave London for Bath in... Learn More£1,750.00Stock Code: 68942
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PRESCOTT, William H. The Works.[1904]
The Aztec edition, limited to 250 numbered sets. A stunning set beautifully bound and well illustrated. Includes his History of the Conquest of Mexico, History of Ferdinand and Isabella, History of the Conquest of Peru, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, plus his biographical and critical miscellanies. Learn More£4,750.00Stock Code: 69123
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HERZOG, Asa S., & A. J. Ezickson. Camera, Take the Stand!New York : 1940
First edition, first printing. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author, "To A. G. Corley - Who can transmit congeniality & friendship at all times - A. J. Ezickson". "Modern crime fighters have discovered science to be their firmest ally... This book tells the story of that little magic black box and the part it plays in fighting the criminal" (Preface).... Learn More£375.00Stock Code: 116419
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GILLETT, James B., Capt. Six Years with the Texas Rangers, 1875-1881.New Haven : 1925
First Yale edition, which was revised and updated by Gillett and the editor, to include additional historical photos which did not appear in the 1921 privately-printed first. Gillett's memoir is widely considered to be one of the best personal accounts of the Texas Rangers ever written. Decidedly uncommon in the original dust jacket. Learn More£300.00Stock Code: 114050
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LELAND, Charles Godfrey Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches.London : 1899
First edition, in notably bright condition, of this uncommon work. Aradia is study of the persistence of "la vecchia religione" in Italy and despite being the subject of continuing controversy, the text undeniably exercised a persuasive influence over Gerald Gardner in the development of his ideas of witchcraft, and is widely considered to be the foundation... Learn More£2,000.00Stock Code: 114094
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PASLEY, Fred D. Muscling In.[New York] : 1931
First edition of this stark exposé of the impact of the Mob at the onset of the Great Depression. " 'There is scarcely a commodity exposed for sale today that does not cost more because of the racket ' Col. Robert Isham Randolph, President, the Chicago Association of Commerce" (epigraph). The author details how the Mob made its moves into legitimate... Learn More£375.00Stock Code: 114051
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MACPHERSON, Duncan. Antiquities of Kertch and Researches in the Cimmerian Bosphorus.London : 1857
First and only edition, uncommon. "An example of the degree of technical virtuosity reached by this time in lithography, giving plates brilliant in effect, the equivalent of modern four-colour process work from photographs. It is very difficult to tell whether, or to what extent, the plates are touched by hand The inks are excellent, with some strong... Learn More£2,875.00Stock Code: 71516
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[HAWKINS, Thomas.] A View of the Real Power of the Pope, and Of the Power of the Priesthood over the Laity.London : 1733
First edition. An interesting example of the apparently widespread attitude of ordinary English Catholics at this time, exhibiting considerable anti-clericalism and impatience bordering on disgust with papal temporal power. The work includes one chapter rich with thinly disguised personal details settling the author's score with various English priests.... Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 72617
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PATON, Alan. Apartheid and the Archbishop.Cape Town : 1973
First edition, first impression. One of a limited edition of 100 numbered copies signed by the author on the limitation leaf. Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 77968
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JUAN DE SANTA MARÍA, fray. Christian Policie: or, The Christian Common-Wealth.London : 1632
First edition in English; rare. The translation is actually by the Hispanophile James Mabbe, though Edward Blount, as was his habit, signs the dedication as if he were its translator. (A variant issue of the same year has Blount's name instead of Richard Collins's in the imprint: the two booksellers were close neighbours in St Paul's Churchyard.) Edward... Learn More£4,000.00Stock Code: 81871
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GIDDINGS, J. L. The Archaeology of Cape Denbigh.Providence, RI : 1964
First edition, first impression. James Louis Denbigh (1909-1965) was a professor anthropology at Brown University and pioneer in the application of dendrochronology (the study of tree rings) to Arctic archaeology. "Working with samples from living trees and driftwood from old Eskimo village sites on the Kobuk, he established a tree-ring chronology for... Learn More£125.00Stock Code: 86686
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MARIANA, Juan de. The General History of Spain.London : 1699
First edition in English, and still the only complete edition, of "the standard work on Spanish history up to the 18th century which does not merely report events in lucid chronological order and with admirable objectivity, but includes analyses of the mechanisms of princely power" (Braun, Juan de Mariana and Early Modern Spanish Political Thought,... Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 93999
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WEIL, Gustav. Geschichte der Chalifen. Nach handschriftlichen, größtentheils noch unbenützten Quellen.Mannheim : 1846-51
First edition of Weil's path-breaking history of Islam, which relied in large part on Muslim sources still in manuscript. Sets are fairly common in institutions, but rarely encountered on the market.
Weil (1808-1889) was born in Sulzburg in Baden, and was originally destined for the rabbinate, but at a young age found that he had little taste... Learn More£4,500.00Stock Code: 94297
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POUJADE, Jean. Documents d'Ethnographie Navale.Paris : 1946-8
First editions, all published. Uncommon. An excellent set of these important works of naval ethnography, forming a series on boat construction around the world. The series was planned as a supplement to Admiral François-Edmond Paris' famous Souvenirs de Marine Conservés , first published in 1877, the Fascicule Introductif including an index to Paris'... Learn More£2,250.00Stock Code: 94734
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CONDÉ, J. A. History of the Dominion of the Arabs in Spain.London : 1854-5
First edition in English, first published in Madrid in 1820-1; far from common in the market. Condé was the director of the library of the Escorial. His work is "characterized by a strong sympathy for Arab culture. For the first time a complete survey, based on Arab sources, was provided of the history of Islamic Spain from 711 to 1492, and a framework... Learn More£1,750.00Stock Code: 95147
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NIMATULLAH; DORN, Johannes Albrecht Bernhard (trans.) History of the Afghans:London : 1829-36
First edition. Dorn (1805-1881) was a pioneer in many areas of Iranian studies in Russia. "He was particularly interested in the Pashtuns and published annotated editions and translations of texts on tribal history. Dorn never visited Afghanistan, but he nevertheless established the scientific basis for Afghan studies, particularly the first systematic... Learn More£1,200.00Stock Code: 96543
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BROWNE, Edmond Charles, Major. The Coming of the Great Queen,London : 1888
First edition. Attractive and authoritative contemporary account, the Army and Navy Gazette considered that the "chapters on "The Commerce of Burma" on "Dacoity", and on "The Native Races of Indo-China" are of great and permanent value", while the Saturday Review thought that the story of the Third Anglo-Burma War "by river and land, of the taking of... Learn More£650.00Stock Code: 96838
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HUBBARD, L. Ron. Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health.New York : 1950
First edition, first printing of the canonical text of Scientology, through which the Dianetic movement was first launched, later developing into the religion of Scientology. In it, Hubbard introduced a branch of self-help psychology called Dianetics that proved extremely popular, despite widespread condemnation by the medical and scientific establishment.... Learn More£975.00Stock Code: 98090
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AMERICANA. Nigger Melodies;New York : [c.1849]
Seemingly first edition, predating editions published by Cornish, Lamport and Co., successors to Nafis & Cornish, around 1851. All early editions uncommon, with perhaps two dozen copies on WorldCat, all of them in North America. This copy with the armorial bookplate of Edward Royall Tyler, son of the Rev. Edward Royall Taylor, abolitionist Connecticut... Learn More£675.00Stock Code: 98782
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BENTLEY, Nicolas. "Farmer George".[c.1960s]
A lively caricature of King George III planting a tree, dubbed "Farmer George" for his passionate interest in agriculture.
The cartoons and illustrations of Nicolas Bentley (1907-1978) were part of the warp and weft of English popular culture in the 1950s and 60s. Never savage, though often waspishly accurate and exuding an urbane air of amusement... Learn More£250.00Stock Code: 100796
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ROCKWELL, Norman (illus.); GUPTILL, Arthur L. Norman Rockwell Illustrator.New York : 1946
First edition, first printing. Inscribed by the author and with his original ink drawing of a dog in a bow tie smoking a pipe. Rockwell's inscription is written on the front free endpaper, directly beneath the drawing, and reads: "Best wishes to the Hirschys, sincerely, Norman Rockwell". Laid in is a colour reproduction printed on card of Rockwell's... Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 103298
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JACKSON, Lady Catherine Charlotte. The Works.c.1899
Édition des Aquarelles. Limited to 26 numbered copies for England and America. Lady Jackson (1824-91) was the wife of diplomat Sir George Jackson, known for accompanying Sir Charles Stuart to Germany and entering Paris with him in 1815, and for his efforts to abolish the slave trade. After his death she edited his papers for publication and then turned... Learn More£2,500.00Stock Code: 61558
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BARZUN, Jacques. Race: A Study in Superstition.New York : 1965
Second edition, revised. Inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper "For Lionel & Diana, with ever affectionate thoughts, this dull old book that faithfully reflects the dull old friend who sends it, Jacques. Dec 22/64". Literary critic Lionel Trilling (1905-75) worked at Columbia during the same period as Barzun, and for thirty years the two... Learn More£775.00Stock Code: 61792
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FULLER, Buckminster - LÉVI-STRAUSS, Claude. Structural Anthropology.London : 1968
First UK edition, first impression. This copy from the library of Buckminster Fuller, with his ownership signature on the front free endpaper. Originally published in France in 1958. Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 63480
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QUINE, Willard Van Orman. Los Métodos de la Lógica.[1980s]
Second edition, Spanish language translation. Inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "a Burt un saludo de Van". The recipient was Burton Dreben, an influential Harvard professor and Quine's "closest philosophical ally". Learn More£175.00Stock Code: 68123
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BANCROFT, Hubert Howe. The Works.San Francisco : 1886
First edition, the complete set of what is still considered by historians to be the most important single source of early Western American history. "Colossal co-operative undertaking; nothing approaching it has ever been attempted in this country" (Howes). Although the first title-page is dated 1886, the set was published 1883-90. Vols. 11 and 33 were... Learn More£7,500.00Stock Code: 68597
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HEARD, Gerald. These Hurrying Years.London : 1934
First edition, first impression; rare in the dust jacket. Gerald Heard (1889-1971) was a British author and philosopher whose innovative works examined history in the context of humankind's evolving consciousness. This book is his attempt to write a "history of our own times" and to determine the underlying causes of modern events. His conclusion, that... Learn More£375.00Stock Code: 68865
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WILSON, James. The Life and Dreadful Sufferings of Captain James Wilson, In various Parts of the Globe,Portsea : 1810
First edition of the first biography of James Wilson, captain of the Duff on her first missionary voyage to the South Seas.
"Although there are several accounts of James Wilson's life, sufferings and missionary voyage, this was the earliest biography of him to appear. Written anonymously, this lively telling follows Wilson's life from his birth... Learn More£4,500.00Stock Code: 70373
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DUNSANY, Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, Lord. Tales of Three Hemispheres.London : 1920
First UK edition, first impression, using the sheets of the American edition (published by Luce in Boston in 1919); most uncommon in the jacket, whose blurb describes this as "a collection of twelve fantastic stories, nearly all Oriental, or semi-Oriental". Dunsany (1878-1957) was "unquestionably one of the most important writers of heroic fantasy of... Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 106480
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LITURGY; Catholic. L'Office de la Vierge Marie,Venice : 1759
A very attractive Venetian printing of the Little Office of Our Lady, in the reformed Breviary of Pius V, the text in French and Latin, prettily bound. This particular edition is rare, with no copy located in institutional holdings worldwide. Giambattista Albrizzi is best known as the printer of a monumental edition of Gerusalemme liberata (1745). Learn More£2,250.00Stock Code: 108420
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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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LINDSAY, Jack. A Short History of Culture.London : 1939
First edition, first impression. From the publisher's archive, with their ink stamp to the title page and front panel of the dust jacket. Learn More£75.00Stock Code: 108657
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[WOLLSTONECRAFT, Mary.] A Vindication of the Rights of Men, in a Letter to the Right Honourable Edmund Burke; occasioned by his Reflections on the Revolution in France.London : 1790
First edition of each work, a highly interesting assemblage of three works relating to Burke's controversial Reflections on the Revolution in France, also published in 1790. "Mary's fervour for the principles of the Revolution developed rapidly and was unmixed with any doubts; having learnt her politics from the Dissenters, she continued to adopt their... Learn More£12,500.00Stock Code: 110724
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[LEE, N. K. M.] The Cook's Own Book:Boston : 1832
First edition, first issue, of "the first alphabetically arranged culinary encyclopaedia to appear in the United States" (Oxford Companion to Food, p. 17), and one of the most popular American cookbooks of the 19th century (Michigan State University introduction, online). The author's sources are mainly British. The first issue lacks the later 37-page... Learn More£1,750.00Stock Code: 110873
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WESTON, Stephen. The Praise of Paris:London : 1803
First edition. Weston (1747-1830) was an antiquarian and classical scholar who wrote some fifty books, including various editions of Persian poetry, commentaries on Shakespeare, and several studies of classical architecture; notably he produced the first English translation of the Rosetta Stone, presented verbally at a Society of Antiquaries meeting... Learn More£450.00Stock Code: 111913
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RASK, Rasmus Kristian. Vejledning til det Islandske eller gamle Nordiske Sprog.Copenhagen : 1811
First edition, a rare interleaved copy owned by Swedish philologist Sven Hylander (1797-1825) with his comments and additions to the work. Hylander was lecturer at the University of Lund and studied Icelandic manuscripts. The famous Swedish poet Esaias Tegner, who was a lecturer in Greek at Lund, wrote an elegy for Hylander on his early death in 1825,... Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 112682
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COULANGES, Fustel de. La Cité antique.Paris : 1864
First edition of the author's best known work, published at a time of renewed interest in religious history. "Its fundamental idea is that the beliefs of man are the determinants, and even the creators, of his institutions. In the preface to La Cité antique Coulanges wrote: 'The past never completely dies for men. Man may forget it, but he keeps it... Learn More£425.00Stock Code: 114886
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![The Works [together with] The Private Correspondence.](https://d3dzzbbvj9im7s.cloudfront.net/media/catalog/product/cache/ae0834d12b7cf129fc73bcc000ea526a/1/1/114126.jpg)
WEBSTER, Daniel. The Works [together with] The Private Correspondence.Boston : 1858
Eleventh edition. Daniel Webster (1782-1852), US Senator and Secretary of State, was one of the most important figures in US politics in the first half of the 19th century. An attractively bound set preserving speeches, legal arguments, diplomatic papers touching on and influencing all the important events of the first half of the 19th century. Learn More£875.00Stock Code: 114126
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DÖDERLEIN, Christian Albrecht. Ueber Toleranz und Gewissensfreyheit, nach den Grundsätzen des allgemeinen und protestantischen Kirchenrechts.Berlin : 1777
First edition of two works discussing tolerance and freedom of conscience, according to the principles of general and Protestant church law, written in reply to Lüdke's 1774 work on the same subject. Learn More£375.00Stock Code: 114655
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![Dog Soldiers; [with:] A Hall of Mirrors.](https://d3dzzbbvj9im7s.cloudfront.net/media/catalog/product/cache/ae0834d12b7cf129fc73bcc000ea526a/1/1/116247comp.jpg)
STONE, Robert. Dog Soldiers; [with:] A Hall of Mirrors.New York : 1975
First Ballantine Books editions, first printings. Presentation copies, inscribed by the author on the title pages, "For Dink Bruce, with thanks and best wishes, Bob Stone". The recipient was Benjamin "Dink" Bruce, a cult figure in Key West, Florida. Dink's father Telly Otto Bruce ("Toby") originally moved to Key West at the behest of his Arkansas friend... Learn More£375.00Stock Code: 116247
