The Complete Works: History of England and Miscellaneous Works by Lord Thomas Macaulay - 1890

Hurst and Blackett. London. 1856 . FIRST EDITION. Three volumes. 8vo. (7.8 x 5.2 inches). Integral publishers advert leaves at the end of each volume (iii, i, ii) but bound without the publishers catalogue in volume one. Some minor foxing to a few pages but generally a very good clean copy finely re-bound by Bayntun of Bath. Half brown morocco. Spines with raised bands, each with gilt decoration. Compartments double ruled, lettered and decorated in gilt. Tan cloth on boards Marbled endpapers. Top edges gilt. A lovely copy in a fine quality, highly attractive leather binding. Loosely inserted is a 4pp hand written letter from the author (" Your affectionate Dinah") to "My Dear Alice" ( her God Daughter, the subject of the poem "My Godchild Alice"), closely written in black ink on four sides of folded leaf, each side measuring 4.5 x 3.5 inches. The letter is undated but circa 1859 and discusses, among other things, the publisher Alexander Macmillan's approval of Clarence Dobell's illustrations for her… Read More

Fleet Street, London: Printed for Benjamin Motte. Good+ with no dust jacket. 1728. Hardcover. Collection of poems and essays from Jonathon Swift, Alexander Pope. Strong binding and minor edgewear to leather bound volume. Pages show some foxingd and very minor damp stains, also remnants of apparent bookplate stuck to front free end paper and lightly pencilled notes from previous bookseller. Lovely crest bookplate still inside front cover for Chris. Jeaffreson, Esq. Dullingham. Notably clean and straight pages. Contents (abbreviated) include; Discourse of the Contests and Dissensions between the Nobles and the Commons in Athens and Rome, The Sentiments of a Church of England Man, A Project for the Advancement of Religion and the Reformation of Manners, A Letter from a Member of the House of Commons in Ireland, A Tritical Essay upon the Faculties of the Mind, Predictions for the Year 1708, The Accomplishment of the First of Mr. Bickerstaff's Predictions, Squire Bickerstaff detected, A… Read More

Washington D.C.: The Smithsonian Institution, 1896. Hardcover. Excellent. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. Large octavo. Original green cloth, titles to upper board gilt, yellow coated endpapers. Corners and tail of spine bumped slightly affecting leaves, else a very fresh copy in excellent condition. First separate edition, first printing of the first publication on the discovery of argon, which led to Nobel Prizes for its co-discoverers. "Few discoveries have been as dramatic as the discovery of argon in the atmosphere by Lord Rayleigh and William Ramsay, professor of chemistry at University College, London. The discovery of argon involved a bitter public dispute concerning the legitimacy of a chemical element whose most important characteristic was its inertness, and which forced the chemists to reassess the very notion of a chemical element." Rayleigh had begun work to determine the densities of atmospheric gases in 1882. In 1892 he uncovered a strange discrepancy between the atomic weight of… Read More

London: Henry Colburn, 1829. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Very Good. First edition, octavo, three volumes; 315, 319, 356pp. In contemporary half leather over marbled boards (a little worn), four raised spine bands, gilt lettered red morocco title labels to second compartments, remaining compartments richly gilt. Spotting and staining to early and closing leaves of each volume, author's name inscribed to title page, first quire of vol.1 misbound, otherwise a very good clean copy. Attractive copy of St.Leger's increasingly uncommon final novel, the last before his untimely death at the age of thirty following an epileptic seizure.

Small octavo : pp. 4 blank (28) 436, 2 blank : new eps : gilt dentelles with floral motif : polished calf boards with triple gilt ruled border surrounding a floral and foliate border : rebacked with red leather title panel lettered in gilt and the publication year in gilt to tail of spine. Long note in small hand to first blank detailing the purchase of the volume in 1840 and some notes on the poet : trimmed at the head of the leaves : corners slightly rounded and gilt worn in patches but mostly bright. Thomas Randolph (1605-1635) was a poet, playwright and wit of great promise who was expected by many to become poet laureate after his mentor Ben Johnson. His early death at 29 (two years before Johnson) prevented this ambition from being realised.The note at the first blank reads, "Purchased at the sale of J. Abbot's Library Dublin 1840, for 15/6. Priced Bibl. Ang. Poet. 1/15/ : Randolph was greatly admired in his day, and, high in favour with Ben Johnson, who considered him and Cartwright his "dear… Read More

In 2 volumes. All pages tight, a little foxing and age-darkening, a couple of small tears, page edges age-soiled, particularly on top. Monumental sculptures in the cemetery of Bologna, formerly the Certosa – Zecchi's famous and rare work of Bolognese history, with 160 copperplate engravings of tombstones and funerary monuments erected to eminent persons buried there, along with the inscriptions and brief biographical notes in Italian and French. With views of the Certosa cemetery and environs, the grand hall of tombs, etc.
Includes the indices and the history and fold-out plan of the Certosa ("Ridotta a Cimitero Comunale) di Bologna. Includes the material published in 1829.
Engravings chiefly by Francesco Franceschini and Pietro Romagnoli, after local Bolognese engraver Gaetano Canuti. Originally issued in monthly fascicles.

P(ierre) P(rosper) Boileau, Traité de la mesure des eaux courantes ou expériences, observations et méthodes. Concernant les lois des vitesses, le jaugeage et l'évaluation de la force mécanique des cours d'eau de toute grandeur; le débit des pertuis des usines, des fortifications et des canaux d'irrigation; et l'action dynamique des courants sur les corps en repos. Paris, Mallet-Bachelier, 1854. Quarto, 4+XIV+361 pp., 7 foldout plates. Marbled half calf with gilt titles on spine, 6 false bands. Very rare (we found no copies for sale since 2015) treatise on hydraulic engineering, in which the author (1811-1891) introduced many innovative methods and apparatuses for the measurement and gauging of tunning waters. A nice copy, spine and boards rubbed, some foxing to title and plates (text is clean and bright), no markings or creases. Complete with all 7 fouldouts, showing many diagrams of tubes, wheels and other hydraulic devices. Pictures available upon request. Ships by DHL or Fedex worldwide,… Read More

The Letters of Pliny the Younger With Observations on each Letter; And an Essay on Pliny's Life, Addressed to Charles Lord Boyle By John Earl of Orrery. 1751, two volumes. 4to, 25x20 cm (9¾x8"). [iv], lxxxvii, 440, [16]; [iv], 509, [32] pp. Engraved allegorical title-page device by Michael Van der Gucht, twenty-three large head- & tailpieces engraved by Jacob Bonneau after designs by Samuel Wale, and numerous decorative initials. Period full calf, red leather spine labels. First Edition thus.
About this book
First Edition of this translation of the classic letters first issued between c.100 and c.109. John Boyle, fifth Earl of Cork, fifth Earl of Orrery, and second Baron Marston (1707-1762) had literary aspirations and became a friend of Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, and Samuel Johnson. But they had no illusions about his intellectual gifts; and Boyle took some revenge on Swift's condescension in Remarks on the Life and Writings of Jonathan Swift (London, 1751). His translation and commentary on… Read More

Green calf binding with red title plate, gilt decoration, banding and title on the spine. Gilt decorative edging on both boards. Humberstone school emblem on the front board. Green marbled edges and pastedowns. Presentation copy.
In French.

Green leather spine with gilt banding and decoration. Red marbled boards.
The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit (commonly known as Martin Chuzzlewit) is a novel by Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialised between 1842 and 1844. While he was writing it Dickens told a friend that he thought it was his best work, but it was one of his least popular novels. The late nineteenth century English novelist George Gissing read the novel in February 1888 "for refreshment" but felt that it showed "incomprehensible weakness of story". Like nearly all of Dickens's novels, Martin Chuzzlewit was first published in monthly instalments. Early sales of the monthly parts were disappointing, compared to previous works, so Dickens changed the plot to send the title character to the United States. Dickens had visited America in 1842 in part as a failed attempt to get the US publishers to honour copyright laws. He satirized the country as a place filled with… Read More