What's New
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DOYLE, Arthur Conan. The Hound of the Baskervilles.London : 1902
First edition in book-form, first impression. The Hound of the Baskervilles was Sherlock Holmes's comeback 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 great success, with queues at the publisher's office and throughout the country.... Learn More£3,000.00Stock Code: 137416
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NEWTON, Isaac. Opticks: or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions, and Colours of Light.London : 1704
First edition, first issue, without Newton's name on the title. Newton's Opticks expounds his corpuscular or emission theory of light, and first contains his important optical discoveries in collected form. It also prints two important mathematical treatises (omitted in later editions) describing his invention of the fluxional calculus, which are the... Learn More£85,000.00Stock Code: 137818
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FREEMAN, Kathleen. The Work and Life of Solon.Cardiff : 1926
First edition, first impression. Presentation copy of the author's first book, inscribed by the author to her long-term partner, at the very start of their acquaintance, on the front free endpaper, "Lilian M.C. Clopet, from Kathleen Freeman July 14th, 1926". This work, "considered essential reading", is uncommonly found in the jacket or inscribed, this... Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 142281
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BURKE, Edmund. A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful.London : 1757
First edition of Burke's treatise on aesthetics, published in what Todd calculates to have been "a rather small edition, possibly limited to 500 copies". The Philosophical Enquiry was Burke's first truly successful work, winning praise in many quarters: Dr Johnson, "an example of true criticism"; Hume, "a very pretty treatise"; Reynolds, "the... Learn More£3,500.00Stock Code: 141332
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GREENE, Graham. The Comedians.London : 1966
First UK edition, first impression. The Comedians, first published in the US the same year, was the basis for the 1967 film of the same name, starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Learn More£45.00Stock Code: 141537
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GREENE, Graham. Our Man in Havana.London : 1958
First edition, first impression. Greene's thriller was adapted the year following publication into a film of the same name, directed by Carol Reed and starring Alec Guinness. Learn More£125.00Stock Code: 141329
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MUN, Thomas. England's Treasure by Forraign Trade.London : 1664
First edition of the bible of mercantilism and the first exposition of the theory of the balance of trade. "For those who want to read a single example of mercantilist writing, it is difficult to better Thomas Mun's England's Treasure by Forraign Trade, completed in 1628 and published posthumously in 1664. Adam Smith at any rate regarded it as perfectly... Learn More£95,000.00Stock Code: 134494
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HOCKNEY, David. My Window.Cologne : 2020
First edition, first impression. Signed by Hockney on the statement of limitation page. The total edition of the book was 2,000 copies including Art editions A, B, C and D, each of these limited to 250 copies each. Learn More£1,750.00Stock Code: 138893
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BOCCACCIO, Giovanni. The Decameron,London : 1822
First edition thus, which prints for the first time in an English edition two previously censored sections: Day III novella 10 and Day IX novella 10, which are included in their full form, part of a "dynamic trend towards greater sexual explicitness in the English publications" of Boccaccio's masterpiece (Armstrong, p. 243). The translation is that... Learn More£400.00Stock Code: 140144
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(FASHION.) Extensive 1920s atelier archive of beadwork couture detailing.Nancy, France : c.1920
Exceptional artefact of the extravagant Parisian fashions of "les années folles", a mammoth studio sample album crammed with wonderfully flamboyant examples of the complex beaded tambour work known as Lunéville embroidery, a hugely popular feature of 20s haute couture.
By the end of the 1920s, driven by the demands of designers such as Madeleine... Learn More£6,000.00Stock Code: 141909
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(TARTAN.) WHYTE, John. Clan Tartans [Spine title] - Coats of Arms, Crests, Clan Tartans &c. Designed for Embroidery by …Edinburgh : c.1845
No other copy recorded institutionally, fascinating, and enterprising exercise in "pattern drawing", making available the 75 designs published in John Sobieski Stuart's Vesitiarium Scoticum of 1842 in a format enabling their manufacture. This is an important early record of the adoption of the Sobieski Stuart patterns, and an extremely appealing and... Learn More£7,500.00Stock Code: 135594
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(KLIMT, Gustav.) EISLER, Max. Gustav Klimt. Dernière gerbe.Vienna : 1931
First edition, first printing, number V of 20 "cuir doré" deluxe copies. This spectacular portfolio preserves six of Klimt's paintings that were destroyed at the end of the Second World War.
The total edition comprised 500 numbered copies, issued in French, German, and English. Of these, 150 copies were printed in French, as here, of which 20... Learn More£35,000.00Stock Code: 140713
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LOZANO, Lee. Lozano Tools.New York : 2011
First edition thus, first printing, one of 500 only. A selection of Lozano's drawings from 1963-1964, with a text by Sabine Folie. Lozano has been described as one of the least known great artists of the New York scene of the 1960s and early 1970s. Her work was a radical, sexual, provocative body of work in a male-dominated art world. Learn More£250.00Stock Code: 141611
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WOOLF, Virginia. The Years.London : 1937
First edition, first impression, rare with the jacket in such good condition. This is Woolf's penultimate novel, also the most popular during her lifetime. She began writing it in the early 1930s as a novel-essay titled The Pargiters, and subsequently divided it into two parts: the fiction portion became The Years and the essay portion... Learn More£2,000.00Stock Code: 141987
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[SHELLEY, Mary.] The Last Man.London : 1826
First edition of Mary Shelley's great apocalyptic novel, set at the end of the 21st century among the last survivors of a global pandemic. Perhaps the first to explore the theme was Byron in his desolate poem "Darkness" (written at the Villa Diodati in 1816); and Thomas Campbell in 1823 published a poem entitled "The Last Man" (which was widely discussed... Learn More£25,000.00Stock Code: 138435
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ROOSEVELT, Theodore. African Game Trails.New York and London : 1910
A family copy, specially bound for presentation to Elliott Roosevelt by the American artist Pilides Tino Costa, with Costa's presentation inscription on the front free endpaper dated 24 December 1938 and with Elliott's name emblazoned in gilt on the front cover. Elliott Roosevelt was the son of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and consequently grandnephew... Learn More£850.00Stock Code: 132029
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(FLEMING, Ian.) GILBERT, Jon. Ian Fleming: The Bibliography.London : 2017
Second edition, first printing, one of 500 copies. Gilbert's bibliography was first published in 2012, and serves as a comprehensive guide to the work of Ian Fleming, covering everything from the first draft of Casino Royale in 1952 to editions still in print today. Learn More£175.00Stock Code: 122758
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HELLER, Joseph. Catch-22.London : 1962
Scarce prepublication proof review copy of the first UK edition of Heller's masterpiece, this copy from the library (though without ownership inscription) of Sunday Times reviewer Philip Oakes (1925-2008), who began his journalistic career as a conscript in the Second World War, working on the troop newsletter. It is offered with four scarce postcards... Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 123116
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YOUNG, Arthur. The Farmer's Guide in Hiring and Stocking Farms.London : 1770
First edition of agricultural reformer Arthur Young's third work. "Arthur Young, like Jethro Tull, was a great agricultural reformer whose influence reached far beyond his own country. England, however, with its increased acreage of cultivated land resulting from the enclosure system, and the consequent rise of great landowners and farmers in the eighteenth... Learn More£625.00Stock Code: 123355
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ROOSEVELT, Franklin D. Log of the Cruise of President Franklin D. Roosevelt aboard the Schooner Yacht Sewanna to Maine, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, 14 July 1936 - 28 July 1936.[Washington : 1937]
First and only edition. A superb association copy, inscribed by President Roosevelt to his son John A. Roosevelt: "For John A. Roosevelt from his affectionate father Franklin D. Roosevelt". John accompanied his father during the presidential trip aboard the schooner, where they fished for tuna and cod. The sojourn was a brief break following Franklin's... Learn More£7,500.00Stock Code: 129128
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(HEFNER, Hugh.) HEIDENRY, John. What Wild Ecstasy: The Rise and Fall of the Sexual Revolution.New York : 1997
First edition, first printing, the copy of the Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, extensively annotated by him, with two annotated slips inserted on his and the Playboy Mansion's letterhead.
Heidenry's book charts the history of the Sexual Revolution, and naturally both Hefner and Playboy are mentioned many times in the narrative; Hefner's annotations... Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 142331
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(HEFNER, Hugh.) HENTOFF, Nat. Free Speech For Me - But Not For Thee:New York : 1992
First edition, first printing, the copy of the Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, with his annotations to the text.
Hentoff (1925-2017) was a frequent contributor to Playboy, and like Hefner, a champion of civil liberties. In 1980, he received one of the first Hugh H. Hefner First Amendment Awards for his book The First Freedom. The present book... Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 142334
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VIDAL, Gore. Rocking the Boat.London : 1963
First UK edition, first impression. Rocking the Boat was first published in Boston in 1962. Vidal examines the American political and literary scene since the Second World War in a collection of essays and commentaries. Learn More£65.00Stock Code: 142076
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(HEFNER, Hugh.) KOCH, Howard. Casablanca.New York : 1973
Book Club edition of the script of Casablanca, the copy of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, with his posthumous bookplate to the front pastedown.
Hefner's wrote in his Little Black Book (2001) that "Casablanca is my favorite film for many reasons. It has everything - lost love, redemption, friendship, patriotism, humor, adventure, and a great... Learn More£225.00Stock Code: 142322
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(HEFNER, Hugh.) ANOBILE, Richard J. (ed.) The Film Classics Library: Casablanca.New York : 1974
First edition, first printing, the copy of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, with his posthumous bookplate to the front pastedown. The book presents each shot of Casablanca with a caption of script.
Hefner's wrote in his Little Black Book (2001) that "Casablanca is my favorite film for many reasons. It has everything - lost love, redemption,... Learn More£200.00Stock Code: 142323
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(HEFNER, Hugh.) PETERSEN, James R. The Century of Sex.New York : 1999
First edition, first printing; Hugh Hefner's own copy of this Playboy History, which he edited and for which he contributed the foreword, signed by himself and the author on a Playboy slip affixed to the front free endpaper, and with his posthumous bookplate to the front pastedown.
Hefner commissioned the book in 1995, envisaging that "over a one-hundred-year... Learn More£1,350.00Stock Code: 142325
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(HEFNER, Hugh.) LLOYD, Suzanne (ed.) Harold Lloyd's Hollywood Nudes in 3-D!New York : 2004
First edition, first printing, the copy of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, with the presentation card from Prometheus Entertainment president Kevin Burns loosely inserted, inscribed "Hef - this is a side of 'old Hollywood' I never knew existed. Here's to another great year!! love, Kevin".
The book collects the stereoscopic photos taken by the silent... Learn More£400.00Stock Code: 142326
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DE GAURY, Gerald, & H. V. F. Winstone, (eds). The Road to Kabul.London : 1981
Superb presentation copy of the first edition of this anthology of work by travellers in Central Asia, signed by the author, and with a letter presenting the book to Robert Heber-Percy, 'The Mad Boy', young lover of the eccentric Lord Berners, with whom de Gaury became fascinated, and who accompanied him on his delicate diplomatic mission to visit Ibn... Learn More£275.00Stock Code: 141824
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CHRISTIE, Agatha. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.London : 1926
First edition, first impression, of Christie's first book published by Collins. It is Christie's third novel to feature Hercule Poirot as the lead detective. Learn More£3,000.00Stock Code: 141976
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KEROUAC, John [Jack]. The Town and The City.New York : 1950
First edition, first printing, of the first major work published by Jack Kerouac, who became famous for his second novel On the Road (1957). Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 141991
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SACKVILLE-WEST, Vita. The Edwardians.London : 1930
Signed limited edition, number 77 of 125 copies signed by the author. This novel "celebrated the lavish style of country house life that she had observed in her parents' heyday at Knole" (ODNB). Learn More£800.00Stock Code: 141992
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BROCK, William. A Biographical Sketch of Sir Henry Havelock, KCB.London : 1858
Ninth edition, first published in the same year. Brock's biography of one of the great Victorian "Christian soldiers" enjoyed "an enormous circulation" (ODNB) and "was written to satisfy a public demand for details of the life of a fallen hero" (Ladendorf). Sir Henry Havelock (1795-1857), one of the most capable British commanders during the Mutiny,... Learn More£45.00Stock Code: 142058
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(ISLAM; HAJJ.) Two related documents concerning the Hajj,Mecca : 1974 and 1978
Two very scarce, ephemeral pieces concerning the Hajj.
1. Enumeration of Pilgrims to Holy House of God
The title refers to the Kaaba within the Great Mosque at Mecca, the front cover featuring a portrait of Crown Prince Khaled. At this time Khaled was dealing with the affairs of the Governorate of Mecca on behalf of his brother, King Faisal,... Learn More£950.00Stock Code: 141613
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MOHAMMED ALI TEWFIK, HRH Prince. Breeding of Pure Bred Arab Horses.Cairo : 1935-36 and 1948
First editions. Superbly provenanced pairing of these rare and important monographs: the first work presented by the author, Prince Mohammed Ali Tewfik, to Brigadier Sir Eugene Gorman at the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) Race Meeting at Gaza in 1940, in turn presented by him to his son Pierre in 1944; with Sir Eugene's lengthy explanatory inscription... Learn More£2,750.00Stock Code: 141617
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[POLIDORI, John William.] The Vampyre; A Tale.London : 1819
First edition, in the second and earliest realistically obtainable issue, of this seminal vampire novella. This attractive, untrimmed, copy is beautifully presented in a 20th-century morocco binding signed "J. G. 81" to the rear turn-in. It additionally, and highly unusually, has two sets of integral publisher's advertisements bound to the rear, dating... Learn More£8,500.00Stock Code: 141658
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BEGUIN BILLECOCQ, Xavier. Un Vaisseau Français a Bahreïn 1842. Une Première Diplomatique.Paris : 2001
First edition, one of 300 copies. An attractively produced work presenting extracts from the log kept by Commander Théogène François Page and describing the first diplomatic mission to Bahrain (1841-44), including the visit to Sheikh Abdullah bin Ahmed al Khalifa in February 1842. It comprises numerous sketches from the visit, maps, royal pedigrees,... Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 141676
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MEHMED EMIN ÂLI PAÇA. Documents relating to Baron Maurice de Hirsch's concessions to build and operate the Ottoman Empire's railway lines from Constantinople to Vienna.Turkey : 1874 - 86
Fascinating group of documents relating to Baron Maurice de Hirsch's concessions to build and operate the Ottoman Empire's railway lines from Constantinople to Vienna, dating to the time the agreements were revised (1872) to when he was seeking to extricate himself (1887):
1. Covering letter to the annotated Actes 1874 document addressed to Baron... Learn More£1,850.00Stock Code: 141678
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KUWAIT OIL COMPANY. Information for New Engagements on Joining the Kuwait Oil Company, Limited, Kuwait.Al Ahmadi : 1952
Rare, unrecorded and remarkably detailed guide for employees of the Kuwait Oil Company, obviously printed in small numbers for in-house circulation only. This early, cheaply produced and ephemeral document was prepared for new staff arriving in time for the commencement of drilling in Al Ahmadi in 1953.
Included here is information on procedures... Learn More£700.00Stock Code: 141702
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CARTIER-BRESSON, Henri Face of Asia.New York : 1972
First edition, first printing. Signed by Cartier-Bresson on the half title. Cartier-Bresson's stunning photographs were taken over a period of twenty years, capturing daily life as well as historical upheavals, such as Gandhi's death or the transition of China into The People's Republic. Countries covered are Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Uzbekistan, Mongolia,... Learn More£600.00Stock Code: 141594
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NEWTON, Helmut. Playboy.Munich : 2005
First edition, first printing. Text in German. Learn More£125.00Stock Code: 141597
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BOWIE, David, & Geoff MacCormick. From Station to Station. Travels with Bowie 1973-1976.Guildford : 2007
First edition, number 170 of 350 deluxe copies signed by Bowie and MacCormack, and with the additional portrait of Bowie signed by MacCormack in the printed envelope.
This richly illustrated work documents the three years MacCormack spent writing, recording, performing, living and travelling with David Bowie. The book presents photographs and items... Learn More£3,750.00Stock Code: 139485
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DICKENS, Charles. Autograph letter signed.1842
Autograph letter signed from Charles Dickens to Thomas C. Grattan (1792-1864), Irish novelist and British consul in Boston, upon Dickens's return from his first trip to America, in total around 200 words in his hand. A bitter Dickens reflects upon his trip, generally seen as unsuccessful following controversies over copyright, and has come back to find... Learn More£15,000.00Stock Code: 137058
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(CHINDITS.) Collection of material relating to Wingate's Chindits and their campaigns in Burma.1940s-1980s]
Superb collection of material concerning the Chindits, includes Wingate's Report on the Operations of 77th Brigade; the original MS of the Hedley's book Jungle Fighter; a number of SEAC Chindit publications; a small trove of pieces from the collection of a serving Chindit officer, including intelligence reports, some excellent press photographs, and... Learn More£7,500.00Stock Code: 65880
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(WOMEN'S RIGHTS.) WOMEN'S NATIONAL ABORTION ACTION COALITION. Abortion is a Woman's Right to Choose.New York : [1971]
A striking original poster publicising the first abortion rights march on Washington D.C., part of a series of events on 20 November 1971 which constituted the largest protests for women's rights since the suffrage campaign over fifty years before.
The poster, which depicts a silhouetted female figure with a clenched first looking upwards to the... Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 142343
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LE CARRÉ, John. A Delicate Truth.London : 2013
First edition, signed limited issue, signed by the author on the edition page. Learn More£125.00Stock Code: 142389
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[STERNE, Laurence.] The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman.York & London : 1760-67
First edition, first state throughout, with Sterne's signature in ink in vols. V, VII and IX as called for. Sterne signed those volumes to protect his book from piracy. The episodic nature of its publication means that Tristram Shandy is rare in first edition throughout.
Sets in uniform bindings were necessarily bound after completion of the entire... Learn More£17,500.00Stock Code: 139638
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UPDIKE, John. Still Looking.New York : 2005
First edition, first printing. This title is the follow-up book to Updike's 1989 art criticism classic, Just Looking. Learn More£75.00Stock Code: 141275
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LE GUIN, Ursula K. Rocannon's World.New York : 1966
First edition, first printing, inscribed by the author on the title page "To John Baxter Ursula K. Le Guin", the recipient likely the fellow sci-fi writer. This title was Le Guin's literary debut, in which she coined the word "ansible" for a faster-than-light communicator, a since staple term in sci-fi literature. Learn More£250.00Stock Code: 141567
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HIRST, Damien. Damien Hirst.London : 1991
First edition, first impression, trade issue. Interweaving Hirst's art works with a transcription of his discussion with French artist Sophie Calle, this catalogue was published to accompany Hirst's solo exhibition held at the ICA between 13 December 1991 and 2 February 1992. This show included Hirst's first exhibited work incorporating formaldehyde... Learn More£250.00Stock Code: 141610
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MEHRETU, Julie. Drawings,New York : 2007
First edition, first printing. Mehretu, recent recipient of the highly prestigious MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant", is renown for her large-scale installation pieces. Primarily known as a painter, Mehretu's drawings are nonetheless central to her practice, and this book is the most comprehensive study of her drawings. Learn More£325.00Stock Code: 141633
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DARWIN, Charles. The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species.London : 1877
First edition, published in a single issue of 1,250 copies in July 1877, with adverts dated either January or March 1877 without priority. One of Darwin's more technical books, much of the content had previously been published in journals.
Freeman notes that "had Darwin not chosen such genetically complex examples, he might have approached more... Learn More£1,500.00Stock Code: 142072
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BELL, Henry. Historical Essay on the Original of Painting.London : 1728
First edition of a scarce work on the history of painting. According to a manuscript note to page 34, presumably by Mr Forster, much of the work apparently derives from Dryden's Ancient Masters of Paintinge, Mr Forster supplying page references to Dryden's work to several pages here, with extensive cross-referencing to the Chronological Account... Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 122232
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TENNYSON, Alfred, Lord. Poems.London : 1842
First edition of Tennyson's important early collection, quite scarce, and containing the first appearance of "Ulysses". This work was Tennyson's second publication with Edward Moxon, following Poems (1833), and contains original unpublished poetry that was written in the intervening decade. This was one of Tennyson's saddest yet most creative periods,... Learn More£1,000.00Stock Code: 141374
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NICKERSON, Hoffman. The Armed Horde, 1793-1939.New York : 1942
Second edition of this influential, if controversial, study, first published in 1940. This copy inscribed by the author, "To General Martel from a follower in the wake of the Tank, Hoffman Nickerson". The recipient was Sir Giffard Le Quesne Martel (18891958), and the inscription refers to his 1931 publication In the Wake of the Tank, which is an account... Learn More£275.00Stock Code: 142036
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(DU CHAILLU, Paul.) VAUCAIRE, Michel. Paul du Chaillu: Gorilla Hunter.New York : 1930
First edition of this racy biography of the famed African explorer and naturalist, widely recognised as the discoverer of the great gorilla, and as a possible inspiration for Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan, but his reputation more recently the subject of some controversy. A wonderful example of 30s American book production, retaining the striking jacket,... Learn More£375.00Stock Code: 142108
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BENNEY, Mark (pseud. Henry Ernest Degras). Low Company.London : 1936
First edition of this fascinating memoir of a British burglar turned University of Chicago sociologist. Coming from London's underclass Benney chronicles his desperate childhood and his experiences in the Soho underworld between the wars, as he built his reputation as "The man who committed a hundred burglaries". Scarce in jacket.
Degras (1910-1973)... Learn More£300.00Stock Code: 142121
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CHAMBERS, Ephraim. Cyclopaedia: or, an universal dictionary of arts and sciences;London : 1728
First edition of Chambers's influential encyclopaedia, this copy with the very rare Addenda and an interesting contemporary provenance.
"Though to Harris must go the honours of compiling the first true English encyclopaedia, Chambers is clearly the father of the modern encyclopaedia throughout the world" (Collison, p. 103). Ephraim Chambers (c.1680-1740),... Learn More£27,500.00Stock Code: 141307
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SUIDAS. Lexicon graecum [Greek].Milan : 1499
Editio princeps of the archetypal Greek encyclopaedic dictionary, the largest Greek book to be printed in the 15th century; the sole extant source for many lost texts, the sole bearer of decisive variants for many other texts, and the most comprehensive witness to Byzantine culture and scholarship at the end of the first millennium.
As a printed... Learn More£65,000.00Stock Code: 141308
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(MILITARY DICTIONARY.) A military dictionary.London : 1702
Rare first edition of this military dictionary, a technical dictionary explaining military terminology for the edification of the interested civilian and neophyte soldiers alike, which was later expanded and went through several editions in the 18th century. ESTC records editions from c.1730 onwards to be by "J. W., Esq."
"Blunderbuss. A short... Learn More£2,250.00Stock Code: 141309
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MACFAIT, Ebenezer. A New System of Geography, in which the Principles of that Science are explained;Edinburgh : 1780
First and only edition, scarce, with long sections devoted to the seasons in North America (pp. 233-63), and to the North-West Passage (pp. 342-56), including a history of voyages and a month by month description of the weather at Hudson's Bay, "by means of a friend well acquainted" with the region.
The voyages of Anson and Cook provide Macfait... Learn More£2,250.00Stock Code: 141310
