Rare books from Stella & Rose's Books

Published by Ackermann & Co., 1841. Hardback. Very Good. Very good condition with no wrapper. Full polished brown leather binding with gilt borders and embossed decoration at corners. Red title label to spine. 12 beautiful mounted hand-coloured aquatint plates with tissue guards. Endpapers browned. Light browning to contents. Professional paper repair to edge of one page, hardly visible. A truly handsome copy of this scarce book.

Published by Augener Ltd., 1912. 1st edition.. Hardback. Very Good. Illustrated by Willebeek Le Mair, Henriette. Very good condition with no wrapper. De-luxe edition limited to 450 copies. Cream vellum binding, gilt titles, pictorial onlay to front cover. Very pretty illustrations in delicate pastel colours. Oblong format. All edges gilt. Rhymes set to music. SIGNED by illustrator. Covers ever so slightly marked, corners a little bumped and rubbed. Ties missing. Endpapers heavily foxed. Grubby fingermarks to some page margins but generally contents clean. A nice example - copy no. 4.

Published by Hodder & Stoughton, 1909. Hardback. Very Good. Illustrated by Robinson, W. Heath. Very good condition with no wrapper. Autograph Edition De Luxe, Limited to 50 copies. Large format (32 x 26cm). Bound in attractive brown leather with gilt titles, vignettes and borders. 30 lovely tipped-in colour plates mounted on cream card with green decorative borders and captioned paper guards. Top edge gilt, others untrimmed. This is copy no. 22, SIGNED by the author. Corners are slightly worn and covers a little edge rubbed. Spine has been professionally rebacked retaining the original spine piece (which is worn). A few light fingermarks and tiny foxspots else contents clean. A very nice copy of a handsome and very scarce book.

Published by George Humble, 1623. Hardback. Very Good. Very good condition with no wrapper. Their Originals, Manners, Habits, Warres, Coines and Seales: with the Successions, lives, acts etc. of the English Monarchs. Second Edition. Revised and enlarged. Contents lists 10 books; this binding contains the following: Contents, plus 8 page proeme; Books 5 - 10, plus Summary of the whole and 78 page index table. Very large format. Leather binding with raised bands to spine and black title labels and gilt titles. Contains woodcuts. Leather binding is a modern binding, which is faded to spine. NO frontis. Book reads complete with in itself - but starts at book 5. A rare survivor of this historical book!

Published by Macmillan & Co. Ltd., 1901. 1st edition.. Hardback. Very Good/Good. Very good condition in an almost very good dustwrapper. Red cloth covers. Gilt title to spine and gilt elephant head vignette to front cover. 413 pages, top edge gilt. B/w photo plates. 8 x 5.25 inches. Spine and corners bumped. A couple of very small marks to front cover. Name to half-title, foxing throughout else contents clean. With extremely scarce dustwrapper with six shillings printed to bottom of spine and 14 titles listed as "uniform editions" on rear panel. Dustwrapper is a bit grubby and worn at spine and corners, there is a large closed tear across the front panel. A nice copy with a decent wrapper.

Published by James Ridgway. Hardback. Very Good. Very good condition with no wrapper. This is Volumes 1 & 2 ONLY (of a 5 volume set). More modern binding of plain green covers. 192 beautiful hand coloured engraved plates. Comprising the numerous and beautiful mule-varieties cultivated in the gardens of Great Britain, with directions for their treatment. Plain covers are very marked, with uneven browning. Corners are bumped and worn. Bookplates to front pastedowns. Page browning and some foxing. A few margin marks. Some tissue-guards are worn and creased, but all present, as are all hand coloured plates.

Published by Ben Griffin, 1700. 1st edition.. Hardback. Good. Good condition with no wrapper. Large format. Full leather binding with raised bands to spine and gilt title and decoration to spine, gilt borders to covers. Only 500 copies printed. Reference book states 66 engravings including 2 maps, no list of plates in volume. Subtitle: "with the Original of Counties, Hundreds or Wapentakes, Boroughs, Corporations, Towns, Parishes, Villages and Hamlets. The Foundation and Origin of Monasteries, Churches, Advowsons, Tythes, Rectories, Impropriations and Vicarages in General. Describing the County..." 1 or 3 plates missing, depending on your research, a missing plate is North Prospect of Town of Hertford. Leather edges worn with small split at top of spine. Front endpaper almost detached, but otherwise binding sound but front and rear joints showing. Previous owners notes to first blank page which has a corner loss. 1 plate has a little margin loss, 2 plates have closed tears. Some page browning… Read More

Published by Hodder & Stoughton, 1908. 1st edition.. Hardback. Very Good. Illustrated by Robinson, W. Heath. Very good condition with no wrapper. Signed limited edition of 350 copies. Printed on handmade paper and bound in white vellum, gilt. 40 superb tipped-in colour plates on dark green mounts with captioned tissue-guards. 143 pages. Large, heavy format. SIGNED by the artist, this is copy no. 53. A few small, light marks to covers. Silk ties are missing. Foxing to textblock and to some page margins. Inscription in ink to front fly-leaf.

Published by Constable and Company Ltd., 1912. 1st edition.. Hardback. Good. Illustrated by Robinson, W. Heath. Almost very good condition with no wrapper. Limited edition of 380 numbered and signed copies. Gilt decorated vellum. 16 superb tissue-guarded mounted colour plates with captioned tissue-guards. B/w text illustrations throughout. 254 pages. SIGNED by Robinson plus and inscription in ink "To Peter & Christopher Brinsmead, with best wishes for Xmas 1944 from Granny Heath Robinson". Copy no. 213. Very faint musty smell to contents. Covers are a little soiled. Spine and corners bumped and slightly worn. Lacking silk ties. Joints are cracked but binding still tight. Endpapers browned. Foxspots to endpapers and some page margins. Pale page browning. A nice copy of this scarce item.

Published by Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1943. 1st edition.. Hardback. Very Good/Good. Illustrated by Abbey, J.. Very good condition in a good dustwrapper. The First Adventure of the Five Find-Outers and Dog. Discoveries, Shocks, Surprises and Excitements by the dozen! Blue cloth, magnifying glass vignette to front cover. B/w illustrations. 164 pages. SIGNED by the author on an autograph slip which has been stuck to the front free-endpaper and dedicated to Ria. Spine and corners slightly bumped and rubbed. Autograph slip is foxed but contents are fine. Dustwrapper is edge creased and torn with some slight loss and tape repairs on verso.

Published by Edmund Ward, 1945. 1st edition.. Hardback. Good/Good. Illustrated by Middleton, William. Almost very good condition in a good dustwrapper. The first title in the Railway series. The three engines all lived in the same shed and worked on the same railway... Small oblong format. Cream boards with green title and border to front cover. 62 pages. Colour illustrations. The first printing WITHOUT the advert at the rear of the volume for Thomas the Tank Engine which was published in 1946 and the use of the term fat director which is present on pages 40, 42, 52, 54, 56 and 60. In the 1947 edition and after he was renamed famously The Fat Controller. Covers slightly edge worn, some light foxing to covers. Small split to base of spine. Inscription in ink to front free-endpaper. Stitching slightly pulled causing contents to be a little loose. Some small, light fingermarks to contents. Dustwrapper is edge worn with small chips and slight loss and grubby. Still a nice, desirable copy of the scarce… Read More

Published by Longmans, Green & Co., 1889. 1st edition.. Hardback. Good. Illustrated by Ford, H.J.. Almost very good condition with no wrapper. Blue cloth covers, gilt title to spine and vignettes to spine and front cover. B/w illustrations throughout. 390 pages plus 16 page booklist to rear. All edges gilt. Catalogue to rear of book is dated August 1889. Spine is bumped with wear and faded. Corners are bumped. Front hinge next to frontis page is cracked, with browning glue marks showing. Frontis is edge-creased with a few nicks and some foxing. Tissue guard to frontis is heavily foxed. A couple of hinges are pulled. Foxing to varying degrees to pages throughout book.

Published by Longmans, Green & Co., 1935. 1st edition.. Hardback. Very Good/Good. Illustrated by Townsend, William. Very good condition in a good dustwrapper. The only children's book by the author of Cold Comfort Farm. Gerda, a little girl who is taken prisoner by the Elves and kept in a cave with an old gnome, is rescued by the princess of the fairies. Beige cloth, red titles and illustration to front cover. 180 pages. Two-colour text illustrations throughout. Spine bumped, some very slight darkening to lower edge of front cover. Name in ink and small embossed booksellers stamp to front free-endpaper. Contents clean. Dustwrapper is browned, chipped and torn to front edge of spine with loss at top and tail of spine. There are splash marks to spine of wrapper. A nice copy of a very scarce children's book. This copy would make a wonderful gift.

Published by William Heinemann, 1907. 1st edition.. Hardback. Good. Illustrated by Rackham, Arthur. Almost very good condition with no wrapper. With a Proem by Austin Dobson. Limited edition of eleven hundred and thirty copies, of which 1100 were for sale and the remaining 30 copies were reserved for presentation. Large format. White cloth, gilt titles and vignette to front. Brown and white pictorial endpapers. 13 tipped in colour plates plus b/w illustrations. xi and 161 numbered pages. Spine and corners bumped and worn, fraying to cloth at top and tail of spine and a small section of the front edge starting to split (but hasn't yet). Spine is grubby/sunned with grubby marks to covers are well (see photos). Endpapers are browned. Rear joint is cracked (possibly very neatly repaired). There is a light crease to one of the plates, all others are present and in fine condition. Light page browning and fingering to contents and some light foxing. A small brown spot affects the margins of pages 105 to… Read More

Published by Hodder & Stoughton, 1944. 1st edition.. Hardback. Very Good/Good. Illustrated by Soper, Eileen. Very good condition in an almost very good dustwrapper. Blue boards with black titles. Blue pictorial endpapers. B/w and two-colour illustrations. Colour frontis. The third Famous Five book. Spine and corners bumped and slightly rubbed. Some very faint white spots to spine edges and a light tape(?) mark to rear cover and spine. Contents are clean. Dustwrapper is edge worn with a small patch of loss to base of spine, slightly grubby to spine and rear panel and some tears tape repaired on verso. Overall, a nice copy in a decent wrapper of this scarce Blyton first edition. This copy would make a wonderful gift.