NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR : A NOVEL. by ORWELL, George" - [BLAIR, Eric Arthur, 1903-1950] :

London : Tinsley Brothers, 1877. First edition : in the primary binding. "The leading idea in the tale is this: at Birmingham there is an immense property without an owner, and two years ago over 100 claimants from America and other countries held a family council there ... Something similar (under different names of localities etc.) forms the nucleus of my novel which shows how this vast property influences the lives of many people" (Jefferies in a letter of July 1876). His rare third novel, intended to appeal to lovers of the sensational in the style of Wilkie Collins - "He certainly succeeds in seizing on his reader's attention from the first start, and his story, with all its faults, is never for a moment dull or trivial" (The Graphic, 25th August 1877). Three volumes. Crown 8vo (20cm). [iv],(250),[ii]; [iv],278; [iv],(290)pp. Original dove-grey cloth, lettered in gilt, and ruled and blocked in black and gilt; spines a little darkened; a little rubbed; some slight splash-marks and faint spots;… Read More

London : Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1830. First British edition. Alida de Barbérie is abducted by pirates - the brigantine "Water Witch" is pursued by Captain Ludlow. Set in and around the still half-Dutch New York of the early eighteenth century - the press was unanimous: "the mystery of the story, and the life and spirit of his characters, have, indeed, seldom been equalled, and is nowhere surpassed" (Morning Chronicle) - "Cooper, the American novelist, has no living superior" (The Scotsman). Precedes the American edition by two months, although a slightly earlier edition improbably published in Dresden is known in a handful of copies. Three volumes. Demy 12mo (188 x 114mm). viii,(322); [ii],316; [ii],308pp. Bound, without the advertisement leaves, in a smart contemporary half blue-green calf, banded and gilt; red labels; marbled sides; sprinkled edges; a few internal marks and spots, but still overall an excellent set. With the contemporary armorial bookplate in each volume of the… Read More

[North Tawton] : Morrigu Press, (1982). First edition : one of just seventy-five numbered copies, signed by Ted Hughes. A poem hand-printed on and bound in hand-made Fabriano papers, with a colophon by Leonard Baskin. Loosely inserted are the original hand-printed press flyer for the publication and two signed autograph notes to the great poetry collector and publisher Alan Clodd (1918-2002) on Morrigu compliments slips, the first from Nicholas Hughes (Ted Hughes' teenage son), dated 27th August 1984, offering Clodd a copy of the publication - "our best piece of work so far" - and the second from Carol Hughes (Hughes' second wife) dated 27th September, confirming receipt of the order and the despatch of the book. Royal 8vo (25cm). [12]pp. Original grey-brown stitched wrappers, with a white title label printed in red; a very good copy of a scarce and fragile publication, with an attractive provenance.

London : by J. Streater, for Henry Twiford, George Sawbridge, Thomas Dring, and John Place, 1657. First edition. One of the earliest printed histories of London, second only to the early editions of Stow in terms of chronology. Compiled by the versatile and engaging Welsh author, royalist, politician and traveller, James Howell, after his release from a lengthy imprisonment at the time of the Interregnum. With accounts of St. Paul's and the other ancient churches; the individual wards and precincts; the governance of the City; the walls, streets, gates and prisons; the Inns of Court; the twelve great livery companies; the company halls; the Tower, the Royal Exchange, the Guildhall and other prominent buildings; the Thames; London Bridge; the mayoralty; the city of Westminster and the Abbey; the Strand; Covent Garden; Lincoln's Inn; Westminster Hall; Parliament, the Admiralty, etc. Pott folio (270 x 166mm). [x],1-128,301-(408),[viii]pp - collates as institutional copies and complete despite the lacuna… Read More

London : Macmillan & Co., 1887. First edition : one of just 860 copies in the primary binding. The story of Grace Melbury, the faithful Giles Winterborne, and the faithless Edred Fitzpiers. Controversial for its time, but "his loveliest if not his finest book" (Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch) and "the most beautiful and most noble of Hardy's novels" (William Lyon Phelps) - and indeed Hardy's own favourite - "On taking up 'The Woodlanders' and reading it after many years, I like it as a story best of all". Three volumes. Crown 8vo (20cm). [iv],302,[ii]; [iv],328; [iv],316pp. Original holly-green cloth, ruled in black and lettered in gilt; a touch dulled; lightly worn at extremities; endpapers strained at hinges (two with neat repair); vol. i. recased and tightened; vols ii and iii a little shaken and slack; a handful of minor flaws, but a rare cloth set. Purdy pp.54-57.

London : Tinsley Brothers, 1877. First edition : in the primary binding. "The leading idea in the tale is this: at Birmingham there is an immense property without an owner, and two years ago over 100 claimants from America and other countries held a family council there ... Something similar (under different names of localities etc.) forms the nucleus of my novel which shows how this vast property influences the lives of many people" (Jefferies in a letter of July 1876). His rare third novel, intended to appeal to lovers of the sensational in the style of Wilkie Collins - "He certainly succeeds in seizing on his reader's attention from the first start, and his story, with all its faults, is never for a moment dull or trivial" (The Graphic, 25th August 1877). Three volumes. Crown 8vo (20cm). [iv],(250),[ii]; [iv],278; [iv],(290)pp. Original dove-grey cloth, lettered in gilt, and ruled and blocked in black and gilt; spines a little darkened; a little rubbed; some slight splash-marks and faint spots;… Read More

London : Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1830. First British edition. Alida de Barbérie is abducted by pirates - the brigantine "Water Witch" is pursued by Captain Ludlow. Set in and around the still half-Dutch New York of the early eighteenth century - the press was unanimous: "the mystery of the story, and the life and spirit of his characters, have, indeed, seldom been equalled, and is nowhere surpassed" (Morning Chronicle) - "Cooper, the American novelist, has no living superior" (The Scotsman). Precedes the American edition by two months, although a slightly earlier edition improbably published in Dresden is known in a handful of copies. Three volumes. Demy 12mo (188 x 114mm). viii,(322); [ii],316; [ii],308pp. Bound, without the advertisement leaves, in a smart contemporary half blue-green calf, banded and gilt; red labels; marbled sides; sprinkled edges; a few internal marks and spots, but still overall an excellent set. With the contemporary armorial bookplate in each volume of the… Read More

[North Tawton] : Morrigu Press, (1982). First edition : one of just seventy-five numbered copies, signed by Ted Hughes. A poem hand-printed on and bound in hand-made Fabriano papers, with a colophon by Leonard Baskin. Loosely inserted are the original hand-printed press flyer for the publication and two signed autograph notes to the great poetry collector and publisher Alan Clodd (1918-2002) on Morrigu compliments slips, the first from Nicholas Hughes (Ted Hughes' teenage son), dated 27th August 1984, offering Clodd a copy of the publication - "our best piece of work so far" - and the second from Carol Hughes (Hughes' second wife) dated 27th September, confirming receipt of the order and the despatch of the book. Royal 8vo (25cm). [12]pp. Original grey-brown stitched wrappers, with a white title label printed in red; a very good copy of a scarce and fragile publication, with an attractive provenance.

London : by J. Streater, for Henry Twiford, George Sawbridge, Thomas Dring, and John Place, 1657. First edition. One of the earliest printed histories of London, second only to the early editions of Stow in terms of chronology. Compiled by the versatile and engaging Welsh author, royalist, politician and traveller, James Howell, after his release from a lengthy imprisonment at the time of the Interregnum. With accounts of St. Paul's and the other ancient churches; the individual wards and precincts; the governance of the City; the walls, streets, gates and prisons; the Inns of Court; the twelve great livery companies; the company halls; the Tower, the Royal Exchange, the Guildhall and other prominent buildings; the Thames; London Bridge; the mayoralty; the city of Westminster and the Abbey; the Strand; Covent Garden; Lincoln's Inn; Westminster Hall; Parliament, the Admiralty, etc. Pott folio (270 x 166mm). [x],1-128,301-(408),[viii]pp - collates as institutional copies and complete despite the lacuna… Read More

London : Macmillan & Co., 1887. First edition : one of just 860 copies in the primary binding. The story of Grace Melbury, the faithful Giles Winterborne, and the faithless Edred Fitzpiers. Controversial for its time, but "his loveliest if not his finest book" (Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch) and "the most beautiful and most noble of Hardy's novels" (William Lyon Phelps) - and indeed Hardy's own favourite - "On taking up 'The Woodlanders' and reading it after many years, I like it as a story best of all". Three volumes. Crown 8vo (20cm). [iv],302,[ii]; [iv],328; [iv],316pp. Original holly-green cloth, ruled in black and lettered in gilt; a touch dulled; lightly worn at extremities; endpapers strained at hinges (two with neat repair); vol. i. recased and tightened; vols ii and iii a little shaken and slack; a handful of minor flaws, but a rare cloth set. Purdy pp.54-57.