THE HOLY LAND. Volume 1: Jerusalem and Galilee. -- Volume 2: The Jordan and Bethlehem. -- Volume 3: Idumea and Petra. With Historical Descriptions by The Revd. George Croly by ROBERTS. DAVID - 1855

Chatto & Windus. London. 1888. FIRST EDITION. 3 Volumes. 8vo. (7.5 x 5 inches). Inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper of volume I, "A. P. Watt. From the Author". Original brown cloth blocked in metallic blue in a geometric pattern to the spines and front boards. The spines are lettered in gilt. Floral patterned endpapers. Spines rolled a little, some light spotting to endpapers and title pages but generally a clean, tight and bright copy. Overall a better than very good set. Alexander Pollock Watt (1838–1914) was the first successful British literary agent. His agency, started in 1875, is still active today and is, in fact, the longest-established literary agency in the world. He acted as Besant's agent, and also his literary executor.

John Murray. London. 1927. FIRST EDITION. 8vo. (7.4 x 5 inches). A fine clean copy throughout. Finely bound, by Zaehnsdorf for Asprey and Co, in recent full black morocco. Spine with five raised bands, each with gilt wavy lines. Compartments ruled and lettered in gilt. Boards with gilt ruled border. Board edges with single gilt ruled lines. Turn-ins with elaborate floral gilt decoration. Marbled endpapers. All edges gilt. A highly attractive leather binding.

Cassell & Co. ltd. London. 1948-54. FIRST EDITION. First impression. Six volumes. 8vo. Illustrated throughout with maps and plans, many folding. A bright, clean set, which has been finely bound in recent full dark blue morocco leather. The spines with raised bands, twin red labels, gilt. Spine compartments ruled and decorated with gilt stamped rampant lion device. Single gilt ruled border on boards. All edges gilt. A fine set of Churchill's monumental history.

Richard Bentley. London. 1847. Bentley's Standard Novels and Romances, volume 25. Reprint of the 1833 edition. 8vo. (7 x 4.5 inches). Illustrated frontis engraving by Pickering. Publishers dark brown morocco grained cloth with elaborate blind stamped decorative border to the boards. Spine lettered and decorated in gilt. Yellow endpapers with lists of other titles published by Bentley. Neat previous owner bookplate to the top of the front paste down endpaper. Some staining to the bottom of the frontispiece, not affecting the image or type, otherwise a very clean and fresh copy. The cloth is clean and tidy, with sharp corners, and the gilt on the spine still bright and fresh. A little rubbing to the extremities but this is a superior copy. Scarce in such nice condition.

J. M. Dent and Co.. London. 1909. FIRST RACKHAM EDITION. 4to. (11.5 x 8.8 inches). LIMITED EDITION, SIGNED BY RACKHAM. One of only 750 numbered copies. Beautifully illustrated with 13 mounted colour plates, the frontis with a tissue guard, two full page black and white plates, and 31 line drawings as chapter headings and tail pieces. Publishers white cloth with gilt lettering and illustration to front board. Spine lettered in gilt. Two sets of rose coloured silk ties, still present. Top edge gilt, the others untrimmed. Decorative endpapers, printed on vellum style paper with a blue tint, with gold ink. Red silk book marker. A very small bump to the top outer corner of the front board otherwise a fine and bright copy. Uncommon in such nice condition. --- This deluxe edition includes one extra colour plate, an image of the Yahoos, that wasn't included in the regular trade edition. --- Riall. Bibliography of Arthur Rackham. Page 91 (incorrectly listing fewer line illustrations and the wrong title of the… Read More

Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co. Ltd. London. 1907. Small 8vo. (6.2 x 4 inches). Fine early twentieth century full vellum hand painted binding. Fine binding decorated with a painted scene on the front cover depicting a woman and two children in a rustic garden scene, the spine is decorated with a matching design of a variety of painted flowers and the back cover has a single painted flower in the bottom left corner. Marbled endpapers. All edges gilt. The book is miss-titled in gilt and black on the spine reading 'The Christian Year' so the binder may have been working on more than one book at a time and got two mixed up. The binding is unsigned but similar to several made by the Royal School of Art Needlework around the same period and is in remarkably good condition, only some slight wear on the border of the front cover and the gilded bands on the spine-ends.

R. Ackermann. London. 1813 (Circa 1870?). PORTFOLIO OF 13 PLATES. No text, as issued. (Paper size 14.9 x 11.3 inches. The portfolio is 15.5 x 12 inches). Portrait of Blake, by T. Phillips, RA; Engraved title page (dated 1808) and 11 plates, all stating Ackermann as publisher, dated 1813 and engraved by Louis Schiavonetti, after Blake's designs. The pages have a little bumping to the edges but well away form the engraved area. Plates a little dusty and toned but the impressions are good. The original portfolio is brown Morocco grained cloth with elaborate blind tooled designs to both boards. Gilt lettering to the front board. Only one small piece of one silk tie remaining. Yellow coated endpapers. 3 small clippings from bookseller catalogues, each listing copies of the Blair/Blake book, tipped in to the front pastedown endpaper. Some minor rubbing and bumping to the cloth but the gilt is still very bright and the cloth clean. Overall a very good example of this rare edition. ----- "When Gilchrist's… Read More

Leonard Smithers and Co. London. 1899. FIRST EDITION. Small 4to.(8.4 X 6.3 inches). xvi, 213pp. Original light purple cloth with gilt lettering to the spine and decorative designs by Charles Shannon in gilt to both boards and spine. All edges untrimmed. A small amount of light offsetting to the blank endpapers. Some mottling to the spine and a little bubbling to the cloth on the front board but overall a very good copy. One of 1000 copies, published July 1899. -- Mason 385.

Bradbury, Evans & Co. London. - No date. Circa 1901. FIRST EDITION. 4to. (13 x 10.2 inches). Illustrated with 116 full page plates, many larger and fold-out. Finely bound in attractive early binding of full tan morocco. Spine with five raised bands, each with gilt dots. The compartments with single blind ruled boxes plus double gilt ruled lines around a fully gilt decorated panel, each featuring a dark green leather flower onlay to the centre. Front board with elaborate floral gilt roll within double ruled lines and 48 dark green leather flower onlays round the edge. Central panel double ruled, lettered and with two floral devises, all in gilt. The rear board has the same roll design around the board, again featuring 48 green leather flower onlays, but with the floral parts in blind, all in double gilt ruled lines. Three gilt ruled lines form a panel to the middle. Board edges with single gilt ruled lines. Ruled lines to the leather turn-ins consisting of four gilt and one in blind around dark green… Read More

Fred De Fau & Company. New York. 1902. LIMITED EDITION. One of 1,000 numbered sets, this number 942. 10 volumes. 8vo. (7.7 x 5.5 inches). Finely bound by Brentanos in contemporary half tan morocco. Each spine with five raised bands, decorated with gilt piping. Compartments multi ruled and lettered in gilt and with blind tooled centre decorations. Marbled paper on boards. Gold on grey marbled endpapers. Top edges gilt, the others untrimmed and a few gatherings still unopened. Illustrated with decorative head and tail pieces, vignettes in the text and multiple full page black and white illustrations by F. S. Coburn throughout. Each frontis plate protected with a printed descriptive tissue guards. Title pages printed in red and black. Pages nice and clean throughout. There is some minor bumping and rubbing to the corners of the bindings and a couple of small scratches to the lower board of volume 9 but overall this is a near fine, handsome set in excellent condition that looks wonderful on the shelf.