Antiquarian and Collectors’ Books

KAEMPFER, Engelbert. The History of Japan, Together with a Description of the Kingdom of Siam. Glasgow: James MacLehose and Sons, 1903. 3 vols., first edition, 8vo (223 x 137mm.) Half-titles, photogravure portrait, facsimiles, plates and maps, some folding, illustrations in the text. (Spotting to first and last leaves, scattered spotting thereafter, toning.) Original red cloth, spine gilt, t.e.g. (extremities rubbed, spines faded, stain to lower cover of vol. 1). – And a further ten related volumes (including Peter Pratt’s ‘History of Japan’, 2 vols. in 1, 1972, 8vo, and James Murdoch’s ‘A History of Japan’, vol. 1 [only], 1925, 8vo, and George Sansom’s ‘A History of Japan’, 3 vols., 1964, 8vo) (13).

BURNS, Robert. Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. Edinburgh: T. Cadell and William Creech, 1794. 2 vols., new edition, 12mo (185 x 109mm.) Engraved portrait frontispiece. (Spotting to title of vol. 1, light to moderate spotting thereafter, occasional crease, blanks replaced.) 20th century brown half morocco over marbled paper-covered boards, black morocco lettering pieces to spines (endpapers replaced). Provenance: George Giddins (ink name to titles). – And a further thirteen volumes (including ‘Reliques of Robert Burns’, 1808, 8vo, and James Boswell’s ‘The Life of Samuel Johnson’, 4 vols., 1807, 8vo) (15).

HERALDRY. – John BURKE and John Bernard BURKE. A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England. London: Scott Webster and Greary, 1844. Second edition, 8vo (228 x 142mm.) Portrait frontispiece, tissue-guard, chromo-illuminated title, crest illustrations to text. (Toning, pencil marks to margins.) Contemporary red half morocco (some fading). Provenance: Theobold Blake Butler (armorial bookplate to front pastedown); Vincent Powell-Smith (armorial bookplate to front-free endpaper); Barry Maclean-Eltham (armorial bookplate verso front-free endpaper). – And a further eleven volumes related to heraldry (including J.R. Planché ‘The Pursuivant of Arms’, [1887], 8vo, and Arthur Charles Fox-Davies’ ‘Armorial Families, a Directory of Gentlemen of Coat-Armour’, 2 vols., 1929-1930, 4to) (12).

CANALS. – J. PHILLIPS. A General History of Inland Navigation, Foreign and Domestic: Containing a Complete Account of the Canals Already Executed in England, with Considerations on Those Projected. London: I. and J. Taylor, 1793. New edition, 4to (268 x 209mm.) Large engraved folding ‘Map of England Shewing the Lines of all the Navigable Canals’ with outline hand-colouring, 4 engraved plates. (Title and first quire loose, heavy spotting to plates, small crease tears to the folding map, toning.) Contemporary calf (covers detached, loss to spine panel, worn).

HUTCHINSON, William. An Excursion to the Lakes in Westmoreland and Cumberland; with a Tour Through Part of the Northern Counties, in the Years 1773 and 1774. London: J. Wilkie, 1776. First edition, 8vo (214 x 133mm.) 19 folding engraved plates, 2pp. ‘Itinerary’ to rear. (Title to B2 with marginal loss, B1 torn with repair and paper repairs to two plates, marginal tear to S3, toning.) Near contemporary marbled calf (rebacked, extremities lightly rubbed). – And a further seven volumes (‘The Speeches of the Right Honourable Richard Brinsley Sheridan. With a Sketch of His Life’, 3 vols., 1842, 8vo, and William Napier’s ‘The Life and Opinions of General Sir Charles James Napier’, 4 vols., 1857, 8vo) (8).

POETRY. – James HURDIS. Lectures Shewing the Several Sources of that Pleasure which the Human Mind Receives from Poetry. Sussex, Bishopstone: at the Author’s Own Press, 1797. First edition, 4to (258 x 208mm.) (Browning, scattered spotting.) Contemporary calf (rebacked, tips repaired, tape residue to base of spine). Note: Hurdis was Oxford Professor of Poetry from 1793 to 1801. Provenance: Worthing Public Library (bookplates to pastedowns). – And a further seven related volumes (including William Hayley’s ‘The Triumphs of Temper’, 1781, first edition, 4to, and James Hurdis’ ‘The Favourite Village’, 1800, 4to, and Thomas Wright’s ‘The Life of William Blake’, 2 vols., 1929, 4to) (8).

[DODGSON, Charles Lutwidge.] Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Oxford, Hanborough: Artists’ Choice Editions, 2009. Limited edition, this being number 131 of 348 copies signed by the artist John Vernon Lord, 4to (309 x 191mm.) Numerous colour illustrations by John Vernon Lord. (Mild toning, slight spotting to half-title.) Original blue cloth-backed pictorial boards (lightly rubbed). Provenance: from the estate of the late Raymond Briggs.

FOLIO SOCIETY (publisher). – Kazuo ISHIGURO. The Remains of the Day. London: The Folio Society, 2009. 8vo (222 x 152mm.) Illustrations by Finn Campbell-Notman. Original pictorial cloth, slipcase. – And a further two volumes published by The Folio Society (Truman Capote’s ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’, 2013, 8vo, and Joe Simpson’s ‘Touching the Void’, 2008, 8vo) (3).

DICKENS, Charles. A Christmas Carol, in Prose. London: J.M. Dent, 1905. 8vo (178 x 113mm.) Colour frontispiece, 7 colour plates. (Lacking 1 plate, browning.) Original vellum, gilt decoration, t.e.g. (dust-soiling to lower cover). Provenance: J. Coulsborough [?] (ink name to initial blank, dated 1905); Basil Readman (bookplate to front pastedown); Graham Lay (bookplate to front-free endpaper). – And a further fourteen literary or illustrated volumes (including Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’, illustrated by Lynd Ward, 1934, 8vo, and J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’, 1970, 8vo, and Herbert A. Giles’ ‘Quips from a Chinese Jest Book’, 1925, 8vo, and Charles Kingsley’s ‘The Water-Babies’, 1910, 8vo) (15).

AUSTEN, Jane. [The Novels.] Cambridge: W. Heffer and Sons Limited, [circa 1930.] 7 vols., Adelphi edition, 8vo (173 x 118mm.) (Mild toning.) Original blue cloth (sunned to spine of ‘Sense and Sensibility’), dust-jackets (browned to spines, price-clipped, minor chipping, loss to spine panel of ‘Sense and Sensibility’, occasional creasing) (7).

BINDINGS. – Kenneth GRAHAME. The Wind in the Willows. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1970. 8vo (224 x 147mm.) 12 colour plates by Arthur Rackham, introduction by A.A. Milne. (Mild toning.) Contemporary full blue morocco by Bayntun, Bath, gilt characters to upper cover and spine, red and green morocco lettering pieces, g.e. (faint scuffing). – And a further three volumes (including René Préjelan’s ‘La Légende de Béguinette’, 1903, 8vo, and ‘The Heroes of England’, [edited by John G. Edgar], 1884, 8vo) (4).

BINDINGS. – Henry STEVENSON. The Birds of Norfolk. London and Norwich: John van Voorst and Matchett and Stevenson, 1866-1890. 3 vols., first editions, 8vo (215 x 136mm.) Half-titles, errata leaf bound-in, portrait plate of the author, 3 lithographic plates, 1 being coloured and 2 tinted. (Lacking 5 plates, considerable pencil annotation to vol. 1 and some to vol. 3, ownership name crossed out to half-title of vol. 2, toning.) Contemporary green half morocco (fading, scuffing, lower joint of vol. 1 splitting). – And a further twenty-one volumes (including George Barnard’s ‘The Theory and Practice of Landscape Painting in Water-colours’, 1871, 4to, and Algernon Swinburne’s ‘Poems and Ballads’, 1878, 8vo, and Lucy Taylor’s ‘The Story of Sir Henry Havelock, the Hero of Lucknow’, 1896, 8vo) (24).

CONRAD, Joseph. [The Works.] Edinburgh and London: John Grant, 1925. 20 vols., 8vo (212 x 134mm.) 20 photogravure frontispieces. (Occasional spotting to preliminaries.) Original blue cloth. Provenance: Malcolm Edward Morgan (bookplate to front pastedown of vol. 1) (20).

[BADER, Douglas.] The Manston Spitfire TB 752. Kent: Foreland Arts by Lanes, [n.d.] Limited edition, being number 29 of 100 copies signed by Douglas Bader, Alan C. Deere, James E. Johnson and Robert R. Stanford-Tuck, oblong 4to (210 x 294mm.) Photographic illustrations, 2 colour illustrations, signed by the pilots in ink verso the front-free endpaper, loosely-inserted certificate of authenticity from The Spitfire Memorial Fund, includes 4pp. booklet ‘A Profile of Four Legendary Fighter Pilots’. (Mild toning.) Original blue faux leather, gilt lettering.

MILITARY. – Evelyn WOOD. Winnowed Memories. London: Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1917. First edition, signed and inscribed by Evelyn Wood, 8vo (235 x 157mm.) 8 photogravure plates, a loosely inserted signed postcard of Lieutenant Colonel Harry Daniels. (One plate loosening, spotting to half-title and ‘Contents’ leaves.) Original green cloth, gilt lettering to spine (fading to spine, lightly rubbed). Note: inscribed by Evelyn Wood to his daughter Ella: ‘To Ella, from her loving father Evelyn Wood, February 15th 1917’. Evelyn Wood was an army officer who won the V.C.  for his role in the Indian Mutiny and he served in numerous other conflicts afterwards, including the Third Anglo-Ashanti War, Anglo-Zulu War, the First Boer War and the Mahdist War. Provenance: Ella Blount (bookplate on initial blank).

MONTGOMERY, of Alamein [Bernard Law.] A History of Warfare. London: Collins, 1968. First edition, signed by Montgomery of Alamein, 8vo (247 x 175mm.) Photographic illustrations. (Toning.) Original red cloth (slight weakening to inner hinge), dust-jacket (price-clipped, small tears to edges). Note: includes a hand-written letter addressed to Montgomery seeking an invitation to meet him so that Montgomery can sign this book. Overleaf in red ink Mongtomery has written: ‘Yes, certainly. Come on Tuesday October 22, at 11 am. Or on Thursday October 24, M of A, 17-10-68’.

LYTTON, Neville. The Press and the General Staff. London: W. Collins Sons & Co. Ltd., 1920. Author’s Proof copy, signed, 8vo (222 x 139mm.) Half-title, 13 plates. (Spotting, several plates loose, some annotations to text, loosely inserted notes with text amendments, a plate with a tear.) Original black cloth (extremities rubbed). Note: on the half title the author has written: ‘This copy is the original unbowdlerized version. When the first edition was on the verge of being published, Sir Godfrey Collins (coalition M.P.) happened to read the book and objected to what I said about Lloyd George. In order to get the book published I had to tone down certain passages, but I acted under compulsion. Neville Lytton. For Trudie, from Neville, Balcombe, May 8th 1921’. Provenance: Thomas Denman, Governor-General of Australia (armorial bookplate to front pastedown).

BADEN-POWELL, Robert. Scouting For Boys. London: C. Arthur Pearson Ltd., 1967. Reprint, with a loosely inserted card signed by Robert Baden-Powell, 8vo (197 x 126mm.) Numerous illustrations by the author. (Mild toning.) Original cloth, dust-jacket (lightly rubbed). Note: the card reads: ‘I hope you will continue this very important log, Baden-Powell of Gilwell, Chief Scout, Malta 22.2.33’. – And a further nine volumes related to scouting (including ‘The Gilwell Book’, 1938, 8vo, and Ralph Reader’s ‘Boy Scout’, 1938, 4to, and Hilary St. George Saunders ‘The Left Handshake’, 1949, 8vo) (10).

TRADE CATALOGUE. Catalogue of Military Goods for Sale by Francis Bannerman. New York: F. Bannerman, July 1907. 4to (298 x 221mm.) Numerous illustrations of military hardware. (Browned, marginal losses to first leaves.) Original wrappers (detached, corner losses). – And a further six volumes (including ‘Wallace Collection Catalogues: European Arms and Armour’, 2 vols., 1962, 8vo, and two copies of J.F. Hayward’s ‘European Armour’, 1951, 8vo, and a duplicate copy of volume 2: Arms of the ‘Wallace Collection Catalogue’ (7).