Rare books from Bath and West Books (PBFA)

London: Bickers and Son, 1889. New Edition . Full Leather. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Complete three volume set. Uniform prize binding of full black calf with Charterhouse School arms in gilt to upper boards, double gilt borders to both boards, and five raised bands to spines with gilt titling and decoration in compartments. Marbled page edges and endpapers. Charterhouse bookplate to each front pastedown. Each flyleaf bears the neat 1899 ownership inscription of H S Oppe who is believed to be Henry Sigismund Oppe who was killed in action in Turkey in 1935, at the age of 35. A handsome set with minor wear to binding including light scratching to boards and slight fading to upper top edge of Vol. III. Light rubbing to some joints but no separation and no cracking to hinges. All volumes firmly bound. A very clean set without annotations, foxing or other markings. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. An early edition of 'The Rise of the Dutch Republic'… Read More

London: George G. Harrap & Company, 1911. First Edition, First Impression First Printing. Hardcover. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Paul, Evelyn. Scarce first edition, beautifully bound in contemporary tree calf with gilt borders to boards and edges, and blind-stamped dentelles. Five raised bands to spine, elaborate gilt decoration and gilt-stamped leather labels. Marbled endpapers and page edges. A very attractive copy. Sixteen beautiful colour plates by Evelyn Paul, depicting subjects such as 'The Breaking of the Bow of Janaka', 'Prahlada Overcoming the Elephants', 'Draupadi Dragged from her Chamber' and 'Bhima Hurled his Mace with Fury'. The text block has been cut down during rebinding making the height of this book 7¾" rather than 8½" in the original binding. Tissue-guards have been added to protect the illustrations. There is a Bowden House School prize bookplate to the front pastedown. Occasional light foxing… Read More

Colorado Springs, CO: Gauntlet Press, 2022. Limited Edition First Printing. Hardcover. New/New. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Bradbury, Ray. With each of their many Ray Bradbury titles, Gauntlet Press had extra tipsheets signed by Bradbury, and those that were unused were stored. Gauntlet are now using these 'classic' tipsheets on other Bradbury books. This copy of 'Phoenix 451' has a tipsheet for 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' that has been signed by Ray Bradbury, Joe Lansdale and Peter Crowther. Originally limited to only 150 numbered copies, Gauntlet Press increased this number to 170 when a few more signed tipsheets were found. Here we have #167. In 'Phoenix 451' you will find three variations of Bradbury's script adapting his novel, 'Fahrenheit 451'. One is a musical, another for the stage, and one a screenplay. You'll also have a chance to peruse Bradbury's typed second draft of the novel, which differs from the version… Read More

London: George Bell and Sons, 1899. First Edition, First Impression First Printing. Hardcover. Good/Good. Folio - over 12" - 15" tall. First edition in the rare dust jacket. Binding and dust jacket designed by Laurence Housman. xxiii, 270pp. Numerous plates and illustrations including tissue-guarded photogravures. Buff paper jacket with Housman's design in dark blue to front and spine. General wear and soiling to jacket including offsetting from cloth binding, tanning to spine and top edges, chips to edges and corners, short tears to flap joints and across middle of spine, small hole to front, and losses to spine tips which were previously reinforced with tape. Binding of dark blue cloth with matching Housman design in gilt to upper board and spine: generally clean and bright with some wear, rubbing and bumping. Top edges gilt, others untrimmed. Light age-toning to paper. Light spotting to endpapers. Contents clean. Gutter cracked in several places and two plates detached but… Read More

Zagreb, Croatia: Amaranthine Books, 2019. Limited . Hardcover. As New. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Klemens, Vedran . Sumptuous limited edition of Bram Stoker's classic 19th-century vampire novel, Dracula. Published by the Croatian fine press, Amaranthine Books, in a limitation of 666 copies, this being #561. Removed from publisher's shrink wrap but as new o/w and will be sent in publisher's protective packaging. Draped in blood red, velvet-like fabric, featuring glow-in-the-dark covers, spine and illustrations; housed in a coffin-like slipcase with wood motif, and including a stake-shaped bookmark for protection, everything about this unique edition screams vampire. To complete the experience, there are sixteen coloured and glow-in-the-dark illustrations by Vedran Klemens; black, bat-themed endpapers; black page edges; small illustrations for every entry type and several hidden design details. 666 pages plus afterword. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall.… Read More

Croatia: Amaranthine Books, 2021. Limited Edition . Hardcover. New. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Mazinjanin, Damir. Sumptuous limited edition of Lewis Carroll's classic 19th-century children's stories: 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking-Glass, and what Alice Found There'. Published by the Croatian fine press, Amaranthine Books, in a limitation of only 260 copies. Signed by Marko Matijasevic (creative concept) and Damir Mazinjanin (illustrations). 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Removed from publisher's shrink wrap but as new o/w and will be sent in publisher's protective packaging. This copy is number 109 and comes with the 'swag' that was only available with books purchased directly from Amaranthine: Alice-themed playing cards and notebook (sealed in publisher's shrink wrap). 'Alice' is draped in luxurious, blood-orange, textured fabric, featuring intricately woven illustrations on the covers, and it… Read More

The Folio Society, 2010. Limited Edition First Printing. No Binding. Fine. The Folio Society's definitive reproduction of the Hereford World Map, the largest surviving Mappa Mundi, was produced in a strictly limited edition of 1,000 numbered copies of which this is low number 167. Printed in 4 colours plus metallic gold, with light-fast ink, on Neobond - a specialist material with exceptional resemblance to vellum, which can be rolled and unrolled without developing spring and curl. Mounted on a canvas backing woven in England and supported by two battens cut from English oak with a brass D-ring for hanging. The map is labelled on the reverse with a hand-numbered limitation panel. Map dimensions: 56" x 47¼". Presented in a large wooden map box (51" x 5½") which is covered with burgundy cloth, lined with red velvet fabric, finished with three brass hinges and two clasps, and blocked in gold with calligraphy by Stephen Raw. Also included here is The Folio… Read More

London: Folio Society, 2021. Limited Edition First Printing. Hardcover. New. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. Marston, George. Folio Society limited edition of 500 copies, this being #107. A new copy as received directly from the Folio Society, and stored in the original FS protective packaging. Devised by Ernest Shackleton to sustain his men's spirits during the winter darkness of 1908, 'Aurora Australis' was the first book ever produced in Antarctica: a beautifully illustrated miscellany of polar life printed inside the British Antarctic Expedition's cramped hut. To mark the centenary of Shackleton's death, the Folio Society created a superb replica of the copy that Shackleton presented to Rudyard Kipling. The calfskin leather quarter-binding and Venesta beechwood boards, originally fashioned by Bernard Day, expedition electrician and motor-engineer, have been faithfully reproduced by Ludlow Bookbinders. Day made the bindings from various expedition packing cases, with… Read More