Antique & Collectible Books

Full calf. Probable first issue of the Stowe Edition with Chaucer's arms dated 1560 and before woodcut additions. Relative to the precedence of issues of the 1561 Stowe edition David R. Carlson ("The Woodcut Illustrations in Early Printed Editions of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales," in Chaucer Illustrated: Five Hundred Years of The Canterbury Tales in Pictures [British Library, 2003]) states "the most plausible explanation seems to be that the printer and publisher of the [Stowe] edition, came into possession of the woodcuts belatedly after most of the press work for the edition had been done. After obtaining the blocks, they ran up a new issue of the beginning of the book, incorporating a "General Prologue" illustrated with woodcut. In all documented cases, the unillustrated [i.e. first]"General Prologue" occurs with a title page showing the Chaucer arms, dated 1560 at the top of the shield. A different title-page, dated 1561, is found in copies incorporating the [woodcut] illustrated… Read More

Hardcover. Non-Fiction. Memoirs. 310 pp. Secker & Warburg, London (1960). First Edition. First Printing (FPu). Clean, tight copy with no bumped corners and no markings inside or out. Near Fine/ Near Fine. The unique feature of the book, however, is the gift inscription on the front pastedown, all but hidden by the DJ flap. The book's gift inscription is from Graham Greene to his former constitutional law professor (and later dean) Sir David Keir at his alma mater Balliol College, Oxford University. The unique feature of the inscription is that it is written and signed in the looping cursive script of Greene's natural handwriting and legal signature; versus the printed hybrid script and autograph that he had adopted for public consumption at his booksignings. (Greene's upper-case G' s in his public and semi-private booksignings and inscriptions had evolved to more closely resemble lightning bolts or radically elongated, linear letter S's.) In reality, author Graham Greene was a champion of literate… Read More

THE GREATEST BOOK OF RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTUREIllustrated with 205 large woodcuts, including 74 full-page and 7 double-page blocks; magnificent allegorical woodcut title border; large woodcut head-pieces and large floriated and grotesque woodcut initials; leaf I4 slightly taller than the rest of the text block, to accommodate a tall column woodcut, with about 2 cm section at top folded in. Royal Folio. 19th-century ¼-vellum over marbled boards; spine decorated and lettered in gilt; edges gilt. Paris: Fédéric Morel, 1567. First Edition. First Issue. The most influential and most lavishly illustrated handbook of French Renaissance architecture. The first and only published volume. A second volume was planned by the author but never completed.Mortimer, Harvard College Library Cat.: French 16th-Century Books, no.355; Brunet, Supple. I, 888-9; Fowler Architect. coll. 99; Clouzot, Philibert de l'Orme, pp. 90-107; Berliner Ornamentstichkatalog 2362; Pettegree, French Vernacular Books 15434; cf. Adams L… Read More

Probaly Venice, 1825. An exquisite suite of watercolours, including a beautiful series of scenes documenting a Venetian commedia dell'arte troupe, by the Italian artist Francesco Novelli. Francesco Novelli (1767-1836), one of the preeminent artists of his generation, lived in Venice where he was best known for his outstanding book illustration. He enjoyed a long and successful career that culminated in the landmark editions of Don Quixote (1819) and Gil Blas (1820). Novelli is also known for illustrating works such as the Fasti Veneziani (1794), hinting at his abiding interest in the theatre and the performing arts. In this unmatched collection of Novelli's watercolours, the greatest number are piquant images of a troupe of the commedia dell'arte, with especially fine depictions of Pierrot himself, as well as other key figures such as Columbine and Harlequin. There is a remarkable series of scenes from a play, as well as studies of individual performers, many so precisely rendered that it is almost… Read More

New York: S. Converse, Printed by Hezekiah Howe, New Haven, 1828. First Edition. Very Good. First edition, first printing. Complete in two volumes. Contemporary mottled calf with black morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, with the "Additions and Corrections" leaf bound at the end of Volume II; November 28 Advertisement absent, as is nearly always the case. Engraved frontis provided in sympathetic facsimile, lacking tissue guard. Internally Very Good with offsetting and several instances of penciled marginalia. Previous owner name in light pencil on title page. One of only 2,500 copies. An extremely important early declaration of American cultural identity, which heralded the nation's linguistic independence from Britain, inspiring the many dictionaries that to this day carry Webster's name.

Approximately 3200 booking records (approximately 20 of which have been contemporaneously blotted-out) numbered 37888 to 41109 accompanied by individual 2 x 3 inches photographs and description of the person and their alleged crime. Full brown cloth. Front board separated at hinge (see image). Marbled endpapers. Index of names in alphabetical order. Lacking page 289/290. Heavy shelf wear given the size, weight and regular usage; moisture mark to lower edge. [52], 358 pp. 16.5 x 19.65 in.; 24 pounds (10.8 Kilo)

1792. Kiøbenhavn, Høppfner, (16. Martius, 1792). 4to. The entire volume of "Forordninger...", 1792 bound with the entire volumes of 1790 and 1791 as well in a very nice strictly contemporary brown full calf binding with four raised bands, gilt title-label and lovely gilt ornamentatiions to spine as well as the gilt, crowned monogram of King Chritian the VII to top of spine. Light wear and a closed tear to top capital. Otherwise in splendid condition, in- as well as ex-ternally. Stamp from the Danish Royal Military Library to front free end-paper. Pp. 69-71. [Entire volume: 146, 12 pp., 1 f. blank + 288, (8) pp., two folded tables + 323, (13) pp. woodcut vignettes of the Danish Elephant-order to title-pages]. Extremely rare first printing of the very first law anywhere in the world to abandon slave trade. From the library of King Christian VII, who passed the law, with his crowned gilt monogram to spine. With the completely groundbreaking "Forordning on Neger=Handelen" ("Decree about the… Read More

Toulouse, J. F. Desclassan, 1779. *** Seule édition de ce splendide ouvrage illustré de deux frontispices, un portrait, 82 planches à pleine page et 11 vignettes dans le texte. EXEMPLAIRE COMPLET de toutes ses planches et du très rare PROSPECTUS. Jacques Gamelin (1738-1803), natif de Carcassonne s'était installé à Toulouse où il avait organisé un atelier de dissection en vue de l'oeuvre qu'il voulait réaliser : un monument consacré à l'ostéologie et à la myologie. Dans cet atelier, entouré de préparateurs pour la dissection, il dessinait et gravait lui-même ses compositions les plus difficiles, particulièrement les tableaux historiques et les scènes de genre, aidé par deux de ses meilleurs élèves Martin et Lavallée. " L'ostéologie montre une série de très belles compositions à l'eau-forte qui donnent à l'ouvrage toute son originalité et dont certaines représentant des scènes animées, font penser à Rembrandt et à Goya. C'est Rembrandt qui est évoqué dans le… Read More

THE WORKS OF MR. WILLIAM SHAKESPEAR IN SIX VOLUMES: ADORN'D WITH CUTS was published in 1709 by Jacob Tonson & edited by Nicholas Rowe. They are the 1st edition of Shakespeare's plays published after the four folios. These are the first illustrated edition of Shakespeare's plays, 1st edition to indicate acts, scenes & dramatis personae, 1st to provide stage directions, 1st to include a formal biography of Shakespeare. Also includes THE WORKS OF MR. WILLIAM SHAKESPEAR. VOLUME THE SEVENTH. CONTAINING VENUS & ADONIS, TARQUIN & LUCRECE AND HIS MISCELLANY POEMS published in 1710 by Edmund Curll. "The significance of the 'volume the seventh' as has been generally understood, is in the fact that the book was intended as a supplementary volume to be sold to purchasers of the set of Rowe's Works of Shakespeare" (Alden, 1916). This octavo set is bound in full calf, with gilt & blind tooled covers, gilt tooled spines with five raised bands, gilt titles to spines. Frontispiece & plates present all volumes. The… Read More

Rare complete set of 26 volumes of this zoological masterpiece
24 volumes bound in 12 of the Naturalist's Miscellany and 2 volumes bound in 1 of The Zoological Miscellany by William Elford Leach (the continuation published after George Shaw's death with illustrations by Richard Nodder)
With all 1,185 engraved plates in superb hand-colour
Engraved dedication leaf to Queen Charlotte, 1,065 hand-coloured engraved plates in the Naturalist's Miscellany, and 120 hand-coloured engraved plates in The Zoological MiscellanyA very good copy of this "remarkable serial" (Wood), a monumental work on natural history. Devoted to zoological subjects, and including a high proportion of birds, but also mammals, marine creatures, amphibia, reptiles, shells and insects; each subject is described in both Latin and English, and illustrated by a plate, the majority by George Shaw, Frederick Polydore Nodder and his son Richard Nodder.
Complete sets are very rare, since the work was published in 287 monthly parts over some 24… Read More

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1925. First Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. Very Good+ in the original third state dust jacket professionally restored Very Good+. Scribners Seal Errors not corrected that verify true first printing: p.60, line 16–“chatter”; p. 119, line 22–“northern”; p. 165, line 29–“away”; p. 205–lines 9-10–“sick in tired”; p. 211, lines 7-8–“Union Street station”. The first issue dust jacket had a lowercase “j” in “jay Gatsby” on the back panel, the First issue jacket was corrected by hand and the capital letter “J” was hand written over the lower case these are considered the second state. For the third state the jacket has book reviews on the back of the dust jacket, as well as on both inner flaps. There were 20,870 copies of the first second and third states only 3000 copies of the third state. With 3,000 third state jackets printed this is… Read More

Tan leather binding with red title plate, gilt decoration and title on the spine. Gilt 'Cambridge panel' decoration on the boards. In Latin. Rebacked many years ago.
Chacón, A., Historia utriusque belli Dacici a Traiano Caesare gesti. With 2 coppers on 1 l. and 132 ( 2 multiple folding) copper plates. Rome, J. Mascardi 1616. Please download the enclosed selected photographs - upon application all 132+ photographs can be forwarded to interested parties. Naturally, galleries and museums can benefit from a discounted price as it is preferred that this precious volume remains intact.


This is a great book, a magnificent work of art perfected on a series of coppers on Trajan's Column in Rome by the best the world has seen.


The First Edition (1576) was crafted by Giulio Pippi (after Raphael)


This 1616 book (the second edition) is one of the most remarkable Renaissance series of illustrations. These coppers were made by Francesco Villamena, who followed the models & workings of Raphael and his students… Read More

All four volumes are signed in ink at the top of the title page by Cuthbert Collingwood. With the small size of these four volumes, they had been bought by Collingwood to be taken onboard ship during his campaigns. There is more than a distinct possibility these books were present on HMS Sovereign during The Battle of Trafalgar. An unrepeatable set of books, linked to a pivotal event in history. On the death of Nelson, Collingwood assumed his position as Commander-in-Chief, transferring his flag to the frigate HMS Euryalus. Without Collingwood the outcome of the 21st October 1805 might have been very different. All four volumes are Very Good+, bindings are tight, pages clean, no signs of cracking. Other than the signature in each volume, there are no inscriptions or book plates. A superb unique set.

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller A signed and inscribed first printing. Publisher and Year: Paris: The Obelisk Press, 1934. - Edition: First edition, first printing ("First Published September 1934"). Signed and inscribed on the flyleaf to American artist Beatrice Heide Thomas (1913-2002) in 1938, a friend of Henry Miller during his time in Paris: "To Beatrice Heide, Henry Miller, Paris, 6/38." The book is also accompanied by a signed letter written by Miller to Beatrice in 1971, in which he expresses gratitude that she lent him $100 when he "was desperate." Only 1000 copies of the first printing were produced, many of which were destroyed by authorities in countries where the book was banned. Shifreen & Jackson A9a. - Condition and Description: Contemporary quarter leather rebinding, with the front wrap featuring the iconic Maurice Kahane art and the rear flap bound in. Signed and inscribed on the front flyleaf in June of 1938. Clean pages without any writing or underlining. Tropic of Cancer is not… Read More

Charles Scribner's Sons, 1929. First Printing. AsNew Hardcover. Fine DJ protected by Foldon Adjustable Cover, (unclipped). 7.75"x5.5"x1.8". be20.